#i love characters who think they broke the cycle but actually just repeated the cycle in a slightly different way!!

[laughatlocksmiths]

today i am thinking about bella swan, as a vampire arrested in time who will always have the psychology of a 19yo and can no longer fully remember how it felt to be human anyway, trying to parent teenage!renesmee.

maybe bella ends up being the same kind of parent her own mother was: sweet and fun and completely out of touch with the real world. well-intentioned, but unreliable. someone who loves her daughter very much but doesn't know her daughter very well.

maybe renesmee learns early in life that she can't go to her mother with anything important, because bella won't understand. maybe renesmee learns to indulgently tolerate her mother's moods and melodramas, just like bella learned to indulgently tolerate renee. maybe renesmee has to grow up too fast, just like bella did.

maybe bella never fully realizes this is happening.

[sofoulandfairaday]

Actually very curious to hear your thoughts and head canons on Sirius + Walburga + Orion

Under the cut, because it's very long. But I'd love it if you read it all. I hope it succeeds in being eloquent, it's hard to put my thoughts into coherent writing for such a sensitive topic.

I don't think that the majority of this fandom actually understands the subtleties of abuse. Also, too many people weirdly like the idea of abused characters, and emphasize their torments, especially physical ones, as a way of... I don't know, evoking more sympathy for them? This happens all the time with Sirius Black.

@ sofoulandfairaday, was Sirius Black abused in your opinion?

Yes.

But not in the way people think.

I am fascinated with stories that explore generational trauma, the cycles of abuse that get repeated over and over. I think Sirius was abused in the way the Roy kids in Succession are abused, in the way that the people in The Crown are abused. It's not that the people in themselves are abusive it's that the family system is.

This doesn't excuse individual adult responsibility because, at a certain point, it becomes your duty not to pass on your traumas to your children. But traumatized adults raising traumatized children is something much more realistic, to me, than “The Blacks liked torturing their children for fun” (wtf?).

The Blacks were an upper-class family in the 1950s. To put this in perspective, my parents both got physically reprimanded as children (1970s), and my grandparents did too (1950s-1940s). It was just the way things were. It wouldn't have been seen as weird if they had been hit, at the time. Do you know when corporal punishment was abolished in UK schools? 1986. And people say Snape was abusive to his students. Bro, 1986. The world has changed a lot in the last 20/30 years but it's a little unfair, in my opinion, to judge their times entirely through our lenses.

And even in light of this... I don't think the Blacks were that physically violent. Maybe Orion clipped his sons behind the ear when they really misbehaved, or threatened physical punishment, but they most likely never truly hurt their kids. I also don't think they raised their hands like filthy Muggles, so maybe... Stinging Hexes? Going to bed without supper? They definitely did not use the fucking Cruciatus curse on their children. The torture curse. The one that scrambles people's brains if used for too long. Sometimes I think that authors don't put thought behind what they write, or exaggerate for the shock value, which... doesn't really sit right with me, to say the least. I don't really care for character bashing of any character. I don't care for painting Walburga & Orion as Disney villains who hurt their children because... they? like? hurting children?

With this being said, I'm pretty sure they were emotionally abusive, maybe psychologically abusive. Tons of families are like that, even nowadays.

Master always liked his little joke,” said Kreacher, bowing again, and continuing in an undertone, “Master was a nasty ungrateful swine who broke his mother’s heart — ” “My mother didn’t have a heart, Kreacher,” Sirius snapped. “She kept herself alive out of pure spite.” Kreacher bowed again and said, “Whatever Master says,” then muttered furiously, “Master is not fit to wipe slime from his mother’s boots, oh my poor Mistress, what would she say if she saw Kreacher serving him, how she hated him, what a disappointment he was — ”

According to Kreacher, Sirius broke his mother's heart when he left. That might have been a dramatic choice of words (Sirius definitely thinks it is because he replies in kind) but perhaps it wasn't.

The problem with the Blacks' love for their children isn't that it wasn't there, it's that it seems very conditional. I fully believe that for a time, when he was a kid, Sirius was a little prince, a perfect pureblood heir. Given his temperament, he might have been the bad child, always in detention compared to Regulus, who was probably quieter, more shy, more poised. Except. Despite all of this or maybe because of all of this, he was probably the more respected out of the two: more handsome, more charismatic, more outspoken, stronger, quicker. Someone like Bellatrix (and Walburga too, I think) must have respected him much more than his brother, even though they probably said the opposite out loud. Sure, they liked Regulus more, but everyone knew he wasn't the brightest out of the two stars. I think the Blacks respected and praised strength.

Want proof of this? Sirius himself calls Regulus soft and an idiot. How many times do you think he heard that sentence as a child?

For these reasons, it's always been my headcanon that the two brothers grew up resenting each other subtly: Sirius probably envied that his brother was their mama's favourite, the one who was shown more affection, despite being not as bright as him, not as good. But children are petty and have very strong senses of pride. In stressful environments they latch onto the identities they create for themselves: if Sirius painted himself, in the family dynamics, as the strong one, the one who doesn't care, the one who rejects even his parents' rare moments of affection, he will most likely never be the one to go to them to beg for their love, or kisses or whatever. On the other hand, Regulus was probably babied by their parents, but never truly treated like the heir, like the competent, brilliant one. His mother might have been more tender with him and yelled at him less, but children are perceptive.

Also, Grimmauld Place has all the characteristics of the Haunted Hause trope, horror film style (which I cannot get into here lest this becomes a dissertation), but generational trauma likely permeates those walls. Merely being back in the house is enough to trigger Sirius' depression.

Sirius is my pride, but Regulus is my joy sort of dynamic for the Blacks and their parents, me thinks.

They love each other but are also constantly pitted against each other. They fight for their parents' love. They think the other had it easier.

Then, Sirius is sorted into Gryffindor. Now, he's already fighting back against his parents now (he's almost 12, the perfect age), but it's always been a little headcanon of mine that Sirius doesn't know how much this will damage him until it happens. We see, again and again and again, in-universe, how much stress the Sorting put kids through - what if I'm not in this house my parents were sorted into? From the way he appears in Snape's memories on the Hogwarts Express, I think Sirius must have thought it hilarious if he was sorted into Gryffindor, the first Black ever to be one. Truly a most rebellious act. This lasted about... seven seconds?

The next day, Walburga sends a Howler and she's the most displeased Sirius has ever heard her, this is not a joke, Sirius, how dare you? You are such a disappointment etc.

Disappointment. The family disappointment.

This becomes Sirius' new persona. The more he leans into it, the more his mother doubles down. Headcanon n°2: they have the same personality, Walburga and Sirius; Regulus takes after Orion.

Golden-child/scapegoat dynamic ensues, worse than ever. This is the abuse I was referring to: no matter how brilliant, how high his grades, how good Sirius is, it'll never be enough. He's the foil to Regulus - less good in school, less brilliant, less popular, less... So. He fraternizes with Mudbloods and werewolves and dissenters of our Lord and Saviour Voldemort, which is a disgrace. He comes back from his first year saying Muggleborn instead of Mudblood, puts up semi-naked Muggle girl posters in his room with a permanent sticking charm - every time Walburga is in there her stomach flips in disgust. He buys himself a Muggle motorbike.

He can never bring himself to tell his parents that he wants their love and approval and they think he wants everything but. Not just that, they think he's actively trying to drive them to an early grave with all of that rebelling.

This, by the way, puts an enormous amount of stress on Regulus. Now he has to step up, wants to step up, to prove himself as finally better, but also he doesn't want to lose his older brother, but also he can never live up to the comparison, but also why do his parents love him now that Sirius is gone, why couldn't they love him better, sooner? This breeds resentment. Desperate to prove himself, he joins the Death Eaters (whose ideas he fully embraced anyway, let's not forget that Reggie was a racist little arse).

Why did Sirius run away?

This fandom makes the MISTAKE of thinking that Sirius ran away because his parents were evil and mean. No. Nu-uh. That's not what happened.

“But… why did you…?” “Leave?” Sirius smiled bitterly and ran his fingers through his long, unkempt hair. “Because I hated the whole lot of them: my parents, with their pure-blood mania, convinced that to be a Black made you practically royal… my idiot brother, soft enough to believe them… that’s him.” Sirius jabbed a finger at the very bottom of the tree, at the name Regulus Black. A date of death (some fifteen years previously) followed the date of birth. “He was younger than me,” said Sirius, “and a much better son, as I was constantly reminded.”

Sirius hated his parents and his brother, but he doesn't offer any indication that they were physically violent towards him - sure, they sound like dicks and they definitely created a situation of emotional abuse (why can't you be more like your brother?), which is still very scarring for a child/teenager, but no indication that they ever brutalized him.

I'm not saying this to argue that emotional or psychological abuse (lying, gaslighting, justifying treating your children horribly with oh, but I'm doing it for your own good, etc.) is less damaging than physical abuse. But I think that half the fandom just writes in a few rounds of Cruciatus to get out of writing the hard stuff - the complexities, subtleties, two-way pain of dysfunctional households.

When Sirius ran away from home, Orion and Walburga blasted him off the family tree. That means that he couldn't come back even if he tried to. He had no family any longer. Running away from home is something that a teenager in Sirius' situation and with his personality might conceivably do - and I'm sure it did hurt his family. But his betrayal was followed by their own betrayal.

Also, I want to contrast this with BELLATRIX and the way she speaks of Andromeda (because we all know that she's actually referring to Andromeda in that first quote):

“Cissy, your own sister? You wouldn’t — ” (HBP) “She is no niece of ours, my Lord,” she cried over the outpouring of mirth. “We — Narcissa and I — have never set eyes on our sister since she married the Mudblood. This brat has nothing to do with either of us, nor any beast she marries.” (DH)

and Walburga:

“- comes back from Azkaban ordering Kreacher around, oh, my poor mistress, what would she say if she saw the house now, scum living in it, her treasures thrown out, she swore he was no son of hers and he’s back, they say he’s a murderer too -”

Bella, even after 25 years, still calls Andromeda her sister. Sure, Ted and Dora can rot - nay, she wants to actively kill them -, but Andy is her sister. Walburga declares that Sirius is no son of hers. She cut ties with him just as much as he cut ties with them. He lived with the Potters until Alphard died and miraculously left him gold; he didn't have a Galleon to his name otherwise. This is incredibly hurtful for a child. He was sixteen.

So. Anyways. This is getting rambly, but I hope I got my point across.

As for pure headcanons, that have no actual basis in the text:

All the Blacks are hot, but Orion & Burgie were not the hottest of them. That title goes to Alphard & Lucretia and then Sirius & Bellatrix in the next generation.

Orion is like Regulus in nature, and Walburga is like Sirius. Ice and Fire. On the other hand, physically, Sirius looks like his dad and Reggie looks like his mum. (Which is not to say much because they are second cousins, and the Black genes are strong lol)

(By the way, they are second cousins guys, not first cousins, not brother and sister!)

Orion wears exclusively shades of black and grey.

He's a quiet man, likes to read, despises noise.

A heavy drinker since he was young, it became a coping mechanism after Sirius' turbulent teenage years, almost drank himself to death when Regulus died. That's not what got him in the end, but it could have very well been.

Walburga always had a temper on her, could scream like a banshee, but she wasn't insane until one son abandoned her for the lowliest of scum and she lost her youngest boy and her husband in the span of six? three? months.

Austere. I can imagine her with her hair pinned up, high necklines... always very proper, with a severe type of beauty. I really like that aesthetic for her.

Crack: Definitely involved in the infamous Love Triangle of '43 when Tom Riddle tried to ask her out (to get access to the Black Family library's Dark Arts books) and she rejected him (not my headcanon btw, I remember reading it on here but I can't remember who came up with it rn - if anyone knows, I'll give credit!). Guess who was smitten with him? Alphard. Chaos of the kind you're thinking ensues.

Theirs was a semi-arranged marriage (there were wink-wink, nudge-nudges from other members of the family and the two of them decided it would be advantageous). I don't think they loved each other but they had a good partnership, gave the House of Black two heirs. (lol, see how that turned out)

Walburga had pregnancy issues, which I headcanon for every single woman of the House of Black, except the only one who was-maybe-sorta-kinda relying on them: Andromeda.

That's all, folks!

(I think.)

[yogfan14]

What are your thoughts on Ganondorf in TotK?

HOUGH okay

I'm gonna be honest, TotK stresses me tf out when it comes to the lore and Ganondorf himself as well. As someone who tends to read the lore a lot more and a lot deeper than normal fans of the series do, I have a lot to say lmao

TL;DR: phenomenal design, character writing is not as shitty but still shitty

I don't wanna take up y'all's entire dashboards so feel free to keep reading if you wanna hear me ramble

So first off, I do genuinely love Ganondorf's new design. Honestly, I just love the fact that he's back at all. We haven't seen Ganondorf in a mainline game since 2007, with the Wii release of Twilight Princess. Honestly, the only complaint I have about TP Ganondorf is the hairstyle, like what was bro thinking. Otherwise he was downright terrifying, loved his overall design, and how he linked back to OoT so well.

In 2013, we got the spinoff game Hyrule Warriors, which introduced to us the fan favorite long-haired Ganondorf (that, let's be real, we all just willed into canon for TotK), and honestly my favorite design of him thus far. I mean, look at him. He's slayin without even trying.

But the one thing that bugs me about them is that their designs don't feel "Gerudo". Definitely speaks evil, King of Demons, the whole shebang that is, y'know, his entire theme. But while there are a few obvious references to it, it doesn't really speak Gerudo. It doesn't actually feel Gerudo, it feels like he would have grown up outside the culture when he probably didn't see the grass of Hyrule field until he was at least mid to late teens. The only things making him Very Obviously Gerudo are the dark skin and red hair.

TotK Ganondorf broke that cycle.

In TotK, Ganondorf actually feels Gerudo. His overall design is V E R Y reminiscent of his culture and background and I actually like it. He doesn't feel like this Guy who just happens to share traits with the other Gerudo. All of the stylized jewelry, the sweatpants, the hairstyle, even his robe actually screams Gerudo. He actually feels like he belongs to the culture.

And that's just on his design. If you really pay attention in the Dragon Tears memories, he's actually given a bit more character than normal and possibly motives outside that of just pure power and greed. Which tbh I'm fucking bored of in regards to Ganondorf but that's for another rant on another day.

In the memory where Ganondorf and his people meet up with Rauru, Ganondorf mentions a key bit of information that I don't think many people noticed.

"Allow me to offer you my deepest apologies on behalf of the Gerudo for taking so long to accept your repeated invitations."

That last bit right there, repeated invitations. This line alone implies that the Gerudo as a whole probably weren't on board with the idea of coming under Hyrule's guard, but more importantly, that Rauru wouldn't take no for an answer. As the leader of the Gerudo at the time, Ganondorf probably dealt with letter after letter after letter of Rauru trying to get them to join Hyrule, when it's likely that the Gerudo made it very clear that they weren't interested and were satisfied just vibing on their own. So, right there, that gives Ganondorf reason to dislike Rauru greatly. I know I would in his position.

While it is shown that Ganondorf most certainly still has that hunger for power, his people were backing him up for the most part. They probably wanted Hyrule to leave them tf alone too and thought that the attack memory was their way of saying "hey, we're fine on our own, fuck off" (at least that's the vibe I've gotten from it). Ganondorf definitely still wanted power, that much was obvious, and it probably wasn't obvious to his people until he started conquering everything after Sonia's death and his takeover of the kingdom. He actively betrayed the trust of his people and everyone who looked up to him. Which he did in OoT too, but you had to do a little more digging on that one.

While I still have my complaints about his character, at least he feels a little more fleshed out in TotK. Granted that I haven't finished the game yet; I'm taking my sweet time just exploring and causing problems and riding the dragons for hours at a time. I may be missing some key details as a result and if anyone spoils me I'm going to hunt you down and eat your toes

I'll go on about the overall lore around TotK and why it hurts my brain so much another time bc this post is already absurdly long but uh yeah lol

[kats-kradle]

Do you listen to music when you write?

3. Computer or pen and paper?

17. What writing habits or rituals do you have?

18. If you could collaborate with anyone, who would it be, and what would you write about?

21. Who is/are your favourite character(s) to write?

27. Favourite line/scene

36. Last sentence you wrote

40. Share some backstory for one of your characters

45. How much world building do you do?

46. Do you reread your own stories?

Answer any one/combination of these that you'd like! I'd love to hear anything you want to share about your stories, friend :)

Thank you friend! 🥰

1. Do you listen to music when you write?  

For writing fanfiction, I don’t really listen to music unless it’s a song that inspired that fic. Then I listen to it in repeat😂😂 When I’m writing my own stuff I tend to listen to a few playlists on YouTube that are like “epic music for writing” or other various playlists that don’t have music with words. I’ve got a few I cycle through depending on the type of scene I’m writing.

3. Computer or pen and paper? 

For fanfiction, the notes app of my phone because I can just do it whenever. When I’m writing my own stuff I use my laptop because its easier for me to think bigger if that makes sense😂😂

17. What writing habits or rituals do you have?

Hmmm I think the only habit/ritual I really have is that every other time I sit down to write I read through and tweak the last thing I wrote. I know that TECHNICALLY you’re not supposed to edit as you go but it just makes it so much tidier in my brain.

18. If you could collaborate with anyone, who would it be, and what would you write about?

Honestly if I could collaborate with anyone it would be my older sister. The biggest fan of our original writing is our younger sister and my older sister and I want to write her a story that has two of our characters interacting together (her two favorites). The problem is we can’t find time to plan it since my little sister is always in the house😂😂

21. Who is/are your favourite character(s) to write?

Oooooo this one is actually tricky😂😂 I think for fanfiction I more enjoy playing around and pushing preexisting dynamics so I don’t think there’s a specific character right now. For my personal writing… oh boy my babies. So far I think it’s Quinn, the snarky and jovial sci-fi pilot/smuggler who’s moral compass points firmly towards money… until children are involved. He also has a British accent. Yes, it is important to his character. He’s one of those characters who feels things very deeply but tries to put on a facade about it. Absolutely delightful to write he’s here for a good time, not for a long time (much to the chagrin of his first officer and close friend whose self appointed job is keeping Quinn alive).

27. Favourite line/scene

Favorite scene I’ve written (this is cheating) is probably my fic Little Talks. It’s a Les Mis Jacert lives and is redeemed fic and it’s got so many good scenes in it that came out even better than I thought they would that I can’t pick one. 

36. Last sentence you wrote

Last line I wrote was from a WIP for Star Trek TNG. It’s a fic where Riker gets deaged by Q and it’s discovered that his father was abusive to him. Because that ep with his father… super dubious parenting and I think someone should address it so what’s fics for besides forcing people to address things? Also of those lowkey vent fics tbh😂

“What you deserved,” Picard said lowly, “was nothing but love from your father, and it pains me to hear that you believe you deserved such abuse from him.” 

40. Share some backstory for one of your characters

I’ll give you the backstory for one of my side characters in one of my fantasy stories. His placeholder name is Romeo and he was like the equivalent of a medieval fantasy playboy. A true bard. He broke the heart of a sorceress and she cursed him to be nothing but a skeleton until he learned how to love selflessly. He is AWFUL and I love him. He’s just sour and feral all the time and regularly eggs people on the make bad decisions. Which is objectively hilarious coming from a skeleton.

45. How much world building do you do?

Before I start writing, I like to have done enough world building that I understand the general vibes and structure of the world. This looks different for every story tho tbh. One story I’ve been meticulously building for four years and another I made up as I went along. I guess it’s more accurate for me to say then that I do enough that I can understand the characters’ relationships with the world. I’m very much a “people” writer and focus on the characters more than anything else (like, unfortunately, the plot😭)

46. Do you reread your own stories?

Look at risk of sounding arrogant there are very few of my stories that I do not enjoy rereading, and it’s mostly just the ones I wrote when I was like 15. I am the target audience for all of my stories and I will unashamedly admit that I regularly go to my own AO3 page and read my own fics and go “that was a good one good job me”

Thank you for all the questions friend! Prepare your inbox 😈😈

ask game here

[quiveringdeer]

AOT for the ask game! 😊

Thanks hon! ☺️

Fave Male Character: We all know who I'mma say, Reiner. 😩

Fave Female Character: This is so hard!! I have like a top 3 and it all depends on who I recently thought about last, ya know?

Sausha, Gabi, Annie

Least Fave character: A copout but, Historia's dad?

Fave ship: I'm a huge multi-ship person. But at my core?

All of them x happiness, love and peace

Least fave ship: Jean x Mikasa -I read something this morning that had me understanding why some like it. With Mikasa loving Eren so much but being able to move on with someone and such, but I just wish Jean coulda moved on to someone who actually had given him the time of day, ya know? Like as faras I know Marco x Jean or Jean x Reiner have more moments that could make way for romantic feelings. :/

Fave friendship: I adore Sasha, Connie and Jean's friendship. They all grow so damn much and love eachother so much 🥺

Fave Quote: I'll have to think back on this. Maybe after a second watch through.

Worst character death: Sasha. Hands down. I had just recently read it on the wiki but was not prepared for how much a punch in the gut it would be. Still cried so hard.

This made me so happy you have no idea moment: When Sasha's family stopped the cycle of hate by not seeking revenge on Gabi. Like it was the culmination and whole point of the show, in my opinion. And later when Sasha's little sister hugs Gabi for their reconciliation. Ugh my heart. The kids really could be alright, if adults would stop fucking up everything.

Saddest Moment: Colt holding onto Falco when Zeke signals for all the infected to turn to titans. Colt is holding on tight and just repeating how he's there for him and shit i'm tearing up writing this.

Fave location: The world before Rei and Bertl broke the gates and everything was sweet and idealic. lol

[natewriteslol]

May I request a reaction(?)/headcanon?

(twst boiz }:‑))

Rook, Sebek, Idia, Jack and Azul reacting to a secretly ripped reader.

Explanation!: Reader wears a lot if oversized stuff, lazy af, tends to skip PE classes and etc. You know acting like they're weak and stuff while in reality they're just lazy. For some reason Vargas saw the potential and the true power in reader, so he decided to add them to the team of [insert a really brutal sport or smt]. Everyone r like: "Y?? They weak!" When it's Readers time to enter the game, they take their hoodie off and omG those muscles. I swear someone fainted right on spot. And someone went 🧎🤰 After Absolutely destroying opponents team, they're just like "ok, I did the thing! Now I want my super duper rare chips".

A/N: This is such a creative premise, thank you for sending it!!

MC goes by they/them pronouns :)

Warnings: none except that MC takes off their shirt

Honestly Y/N was known to be one of the most laziest people on campus, so lazy that it even rivaled Leona! Which there has to be some form of intervention for them because it’s just getting out of hand. And while it benefitted in certain situations, such as annoying Grim to actually start moving his lazy ass around the house, or bullies leaving them alone since Y/N couldn’t bother to muster a reaction.

However they continued to skip P.E classes, and just all around not doing anything. So it came to a surprise that when they were called to Vargas’ office.

“Wait. Y/N where are you going?” Ace questioned, as their friend went with their backpack toward the door.

“I got an interview with Vargas for something. Watch Grim for me please, later” they replied relaxed. And while both Deuce and Ace questioned what their friend was going to be interviewed for, the pair just looked at each other, shrugged and went back to their schoolwork.

Once Y/N got to Vargas’ office, they sat on the chair on the other side of his desk. The student gazed at the sports paraphernalia on the walls, before Vargas started talking.

“Well Y/N, I bet you’re wondering why I called to talk to you?” He asked.

“Yup” the student said, keeping their answers short and concise.

“You tend to skip my classes a great amount, and while both you and Grim are enrolled as one student your lack of participation is dropping your grade,” Vargas said while standing up.

Y/N started to feel bad, sure they didn’t really care to participate but they didn’t want to inconvenience Grim.

“But, I will promise you one thing, I can feel the potential in you Y/N!” the man said excitedly, slightly spooking you. “As a man who is incredible person overflowing with talent,” Vargas started,

‘Wowee, pretty narcissistic’ you thought, but then you started to pay attention again.

“I can see greatness within others, it’s almost like my 6th sense. And I can feel it within you. Now all I ask of you Y/N, is that you participate in the Great Dodging Tournament try outs. And I will raise your grade” The older man offered, Vargas really believed in you.

And that really put a smile on your face, “You know what, I’ll do it.”

“Thanks kiddo!” the man boomed with a great smile on his face while ruffling your head.

I mean, if he’s this excited you can try for him.

~

It was tryouts, Deuce and Ace were a little apprehensive for Y/N to be participating. I mean the Great Dodging Tournament involves one person dodging great magical attacks from the opposite team, in order to get at least one of the balls from the other team. And while you didn’t technically need magical powers to compete, it certainly did help.

“Y/N L/N, you’re up!” It was their turn. Whispers broke out, everyone didn’t understand why they were even allowed to participate.

“Have you even seen them run?” Someone whispered.

The heat was rising despite it being the afternoon, “Damn, I’m getting hot” Y/N says and they start to strip, taking off their oversized shirt.

What came to a great surprise was their physique, incredibly ripped abs. Strong shoulders, back and arms now exposed to everyone.

They did absolutely fantastic for their tryouts, moving across the field with great speed, dodging every single attack and they were able to take 2 out of the 7 balls from the other team. Y/N was excellent, and absolute essential to the Great Dodging Tournament team. Every person was in great shock, they didn’t even break a sweat.

“Alrightie! Now where’s my snacks?” They said, sitting down on the bench.

Rook:

-Oh mon cherie, what have you been hiding from him? ~

-Rook had alot of information on almost everyone at the school, so this definitely came to a shock to him

-A strong advocate for keeping them shirtless all the time

-I mean Y/N lays around all the time, they might as well look good while doing it

-It's just him and Sebek arguing (well it's Sebek who is actually arguing) about what Y/N should do once they come back: Shirt or no shirt?

-He’s very impressed with their strengt and willpower to get that physique

-Very mischievously looks down at Y/N while they complete their audition

-Rook I love you but what are you planning-

Sebek:

-He goes bright red, and starts yelling at Y/N to put a shirt on

-”I-it’s inappropriate for you to be walking around like this! Do you humans not have any shame?!”

-”D-don’t come closer! I don’t want a hug from you!”

-W-what? How could he miss that this mere human held this much power?

-He was incredibly observant (or so he claimed)

-Sebek didn’t know weak, puny humans could possess that type of strength

-If Y/N as a non-magic user were able to obtain this level of power, you were a threat

-Definitely not intimidated by them (he lowkey is intimidated by them)

-While he’s still incredibly opposed to Y/N’s lazy behaviors, he has a newfound respect for them

-Later on he thinks about it more and is marching to their dorm inorder to force them into doing more powerful stuff

-”YOU COULD HAVE GREAT LEVELS OF POWER, JUST WORK YOU LAZY HUMAN!”

-” Naw man, but since you’re up can you get the tv remote? It’s pretty far.”

Idia:

-Of course this happens the one time he goes outside in person!

-Erupts into flames and has a bright ass blush

-Has Ortho calm down his flames with his built in fans

-Idia literally hides inside his hoodie so that no one could notice him

-But I mean it’s kinda hard since at this point he’s looks like a campfire but go off-

-He literally can’t look Y/N in the eyes omg

-Idia tries to talk to them but he just ends up spluttering

-He thought that Y/N had put their shirt back on so he takes his head out of his hoodie and NOPE they still have it off and the cycle of embarrassment repeats

-Idia manages to compliment Y/N, comparing them to a powerful anime character from a show he watched

-The man cannot look at Y/N the same anymore now that he knows what’s under all that baggy clothing

Jack:

-Jack definitely did not see this coming

-Can admit that he is a little flustered (Alot of people teased him since his tail started to wag at the sight of Y/N’s body

-He couldn’t imagine the Y/N he knows doing all of this activity, let alone dodging such powerful magic attacks with this much skill

-They’re a perfect candidate for the team and Jack grows really passionate about you wanting to pursue sports

-Has alot more respect for you

-He will drag Y/N to do a bunch of brutally, active shit with him since the whole “I’m too weak” jig is up

-”Jack pls no”

-”But when you were soaring through the air during Dodging tryouts I heard no complaints. Get your ass up, Y/N”

-While their P.E grade is saved, at what cost?

Azul:

-Azul thought that it was going to be a fun little attempt on Y/N’s part

-Were they joking? I mean he’s never seen them move a muscle for extracurricular activities like sports. Honestly-

-And oh dear oh it’s them shirtless

-Azul is so caught off guard

-He turns away so that Floyd and Jade don’t see his face, but those sneak boys know what’s going on

-”Boss you’re so red!”

-”Ooooh, are you flustered by shrimpy taking off their shirt~”!

-So that’s what you’ve been hiding under your clothing!

-He’s very impressed by your strength, Azul is wondering why you decided to hide it?

-Are you involved in shady business too? Hence why you’re laying low? (Sounds like projection but okay Azul-)

-He’s also thinking about getting you to sign some form of deal so that they can take advantage of your strength (Sorry Y/N)

[keijislove]

Hi babe! I was wondering if I could request a Tony Stark x daughter reader? With lots of angst and her being locked in her room because she’s being bullied for her darker skin

(I understand if you’re not comfortable with this)

Safe Place: Tony Stark X Daughter!Reader

I think this turned out a bit longer than I expected.

Sorry :(

I hope you like this, I don’t really have a lot of experience with this matter, so I hope I captured the emotions right!

I AM APOLOGISING IN ADVANCE, THE HURTFUL COMMENTS MENTIONED HERE ARE NOT ONES I WOULD EVER USE IN MY LIFETIME.

GIRL, YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL JUST THE WAY YOU ARE – YOU DON’T NEED DIMWITS LIKE RACISTS TO DEFINE BEAUTY. YOU WANT THE DEFINITION OF BEAUTY, GO LOOK IN THE MIRROR.

PUT A STOP TO RACISM.

WARNINGS: Slight EXTREMELY racial comments, mentions of death, toxic relationship, angst, Tony being a little... well, Tony.

Being Tony Stark’s daughter was nearly everyone’s dream. Well, everyone you’d come across at school, anyway. It seemed rational from their point of view – big house, big bedroom, expensive branded clothing, basically an overall exquisite lifestyle coupled with fame of being his daughter which was sure to earn popularity points anywhere and everywhere. A man rolling in that amount of money would make a great dad... right?

You thought differently. Which was one of the main reasons you did not tell anyone who your father really was and your teachers understood your predicament and played along to your story of being an ordinary girl with no scope for coolness whatsoever.

Your mother had met your father a long, long time ago – when Tony was still in university. Of course, he’d left her before he even knew she was pregnant, and they never saw each other again. You didn’t exactly love your life as his daughter. In fact, from what your mother had told you, he was (in your vision) a complete monster whom your mother had the sad misfortune to meet.

It was her untimely death that had forced you to go live with the man who was the reason you were born and the man who ruthlessly left your mother to fend for herself and a baby. You had tried for foster care, but the agents told you that your father was still alive and more than capable of taking care of you – being the famous Tony Stark and all.

So it would suffice to say that Tony was lowkey shocked when you turned up at his doorstep one day with a grudging expression and declarations of being his daughter. He actually didn’t believe you at first and asked you to piss off which confirmed your earlier assumptions about his character – asshole. After you’d snapped at him and showed him all the legal documentations stating that you two were blood-related as father-daughter after all, Tony was even more shocked than earlier.

Though he would rather die than admit it, he felt sad after seeing your fourteen-year-old self standing at his doorstep. He’d missed your birth, your first steps, your first words, he even missed helping you with homework in preschool – basically all precious moments you enjoy with a child. But you made it pretty clear that you didn’t want to be here – something that made Tony’s already overlarge pride swell like a bullfrog and stopped him from ever getting close to you. While you were busy thinking he didn’t want you, you overlooked a small detail – he took you in.

If anyone had the power to bribe an adoption agency to get rid of their kid, it was Anthony Stark, yet he never gave you away. The simple explanation (that he would never, in a million years, admit it to you) was that he didn’t want to lose you – around the only blood-related family he had left.

And so began your life as Y/N Stark. It functioned surprisingly well for your expectations. Pepper was really nice to you and those few occasions when the Avengers came over, you were able to talk to Natasha about ‘girl things’, her presence reminding you of the mother you had lost only too young. You sometimes even asked Bruce for help with homework, too proud yourself to go to Tony. Overall, you stayed out of his way while he stayed out of yours – an arrangement you were both satisfied with.

The worst part was that you never talked. Ever. You would wake up and walk to school, refusing Jarvis’ continued protests of letting you use the self-driving car, came home the same way where you did your homework and grabbed a snack before you ‘father’ came back upstairs from his little man cave in the basement and a small ‘good-evening’ passed between you two as you went your separate ways. This cycle repeated itself every day. Recently, your life at school hadn’t been going great.

You’d known that your skin tone was a notch darker than the others at your school – something you had gotten from your mother – and this was not something you really cared about. That’s when they started coming – the comments. What were originally small, snide retorts of ‘wash your face, ew!’ (A/N: I AM SO SORRY) had now escalated to them calling you obscene names you’d never heard before and asking you to leave ‘their’ school

Which was why, instead of being at school today, you were locked in your bedroom, sobbing into your pillow.

It had started out as a very unusual morning. After getting comments hurled at you left right and centre the previous day, you’d had enough. You’d woken up and declared to Jarvis that you were skipping school and he was to, under no circumstances, notify your father about this. After that you tried to eat some cereal, but the bubbling dread in your stomach made it taste like dry carpet, so you gave up and stomped into your room, locking the door before flinging yourself onto the bed and crying your heart out.

It was in times like these that you felt the need for something – a gaping hole in your chest. It seemed foolish to even admit it to yourself, but you really wanted someone like a parent. Someone who listened to your problems and comforted you accordingly, someone who actually cared about you. And since Tony Stark filled neither of these requirements, you gave up the foolish dream and sunk, once again, into your self-fashioned depths of misery.

-------

Tony casually sipped on his wine, putting one last screw into place to make the latest piece he was testing out. As he powered the device on, it vibrated for a moment before the words ‘model failed’ appeared on the screen Tony was examining.

He swore loudly and shoved it ungracefully aside before running his hands through his hair. There had been many an occasion where Tony seriously considered going to your room to just say something to you that wasn’t a monotonous ‘good evening’ or ‘the milk’s finished’ or something else like that. He wanted to talk to you. To you.

He wanted to get to know the real Y/N – what you were like when you weren’t too busy being bold and refusing to appear vulnerable. As if reading his thoughts, Jarvis’ voice filled the room suddenly.

“Sir, I do believe that Ms Stark is currently locked inside her bedroom. She refused to go to school just this morning.”

“What?” Tony exclaimed, “Why, did she tell you anything else?”

“Just this, Sir, along with a few obscene warnings of not informing you about this occurrence. If I recall correctly, Ms Stark told me she would rip out my sockets with her bare hands had I come to you.”

Ignoring the small smirk that was growing on his lips at the thought of you behaving exactly as he would, Tony wiped his tired hands on a nearby cloth before sprinting out the door and up the stairs to your bedroom.

He knocked on the door.

“Go away Pepper, not in the mood,” came your muffled voice. It was weak and raw – evidently, you had been crying.

Ignoring the poking feeling of dread bubbling in his stomach, Tony knocked again.

“Open up, kid, it’s me,” he shouted.

“Definitely not in the mood, thanks.”

Tony sighed. This was exactly what he had tried so hard to avoid –turning out like his own father. Not knowing how to deal with a daughter properly, he just let you go about your business as you wanted, hoping that it would yield better results than what his childhood had been like. Now, looking back at how much he’d neglected you, he suddenly realised that he had done the exact thing he was afraid of – hurt you.

“Y/N Y/M/N Stark, open the door. Please.”

Perhaps it was the please at the end or the way he acknowledged you as his living, breathing daughter for the first time that made you stagger limply over to the door and push it open.

Your eyes were puffy, red and swollen from bawling nonstop and your brows were knitted into a disapproving frown. It broke Tony’s heart to see you like this.

“Listening,” you sniffed, crossing your arms.

“Okay, why don’t you sit down,” Tony frowned slightly.

You gave another hearty sniff and led him to your bed where you flopped down and watched as he took a seat beside you.

You both sat in a very painful, deafening silence for the next few minutes.

“You didn’t go to school today,” Tony casually remarked as you played with your pillow, refusing to meet his eyes.

“I did,” you said simply.

“Wanna tell me what’s going on?” Tony offered.

“I really don’t,” you admitted as he burst out laughing and you gave a grudging giggle despite yourself.

“Seriously, kid,” Tony said in an undertone, “You’ve gotta open up a bit more. I mean, it’s been like what, two years since you moved here and you never bother telling me what’s going on. And look where that got you – come on, tell me what’s going on. Is it school?”

“Partially,” you quietly said to which he cocked an eyebrow.

“Completely,” you amended, sighing, “Kids, you know, they’re just being – well, mean.”

“Okay,” Tony nodded slightly, “You want to talk about it?”

“They... they make fun of me,” you admitted, “About – about my skin colour and stuff. And I know I’m being stupid, getting upset over this –”

“It’s not stupid,” Tony broke in, “It’s not stupid at all. Nothing gives anyone a right to talk to you that way.”

“Try telling that to them!” you burst out, final letting go of the pent-up emotions you’d been holding for days, “What did I ever do to them – it’s not my fault I look like this, maybe if I could choose what to look like, I’d choose something they want! Just about everyone seems to have a problem – what the hell do they expect me to do? It’s unjust, unfair, unsettling and unkind, but of course they don’t care, do they?!”

Tony didn’t even flinch throughout your entire outburst until you broke down and tears began rapidly pouring out of your eyes once more.

“Hey, hey, stop, listen to me,” Tony sternly said, seizing your shoulders and turning you to face him.

“You’re a Stark,” he said, gazing you dead in the eyes, “You are beautiful, you’re smart and you’re kind. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.”

This was too much for you to handle and you started sobbing again – sobs of partial happiness and partial guilt that didn’t look like they would stop anytime soon.

“Come here, kid,” was all Tony could say as he pulled you into a hug, allowing you to sob into his shirt while he stroked your hair, trying to calm you down.

“I’m sorry if I’ve ever been mean to you,” you whispered finally.

“It’s okay, kid,” Tony murmured, pressing a kiss to your forehead, “I’m sorry I haven’t been a great father all this time.”

You two sat in a now comfortable silence, occasionally clearing your throats or sniffling a bit before Tony finally spoke.

“If anyone says that to you again, I will have them cut up and fed to the fish in my house in Malibu.”

“Thanks, dad.”

[archived-kin]

local cashless god nearly loses you your job (but you’re okay with it)

note from kin: *throws this at you* please take it i’ ve been stuck on the blasted thing for hours (peepaw i promise i’ll write you something where you’re better characterised another day)

fandom: genshin impact

character(s): gn!reader, zhongli, xingqiu

pairing(s): zhongli/reader

warning(s): none! (though i do want to give a heads up for some out of character stuff since i started this when i still wasn’t too familiar with the liyue characters)

genre: fluff

“How many copies of Encyclopaedia of Liyue does one man need?”

You shush Xingqiu as the man just across the shop continues to browse at his leisure, golden eyes furrowed in concentration as he trails his gloved fingers across the books’ spines. “Maybe he’s here to buy something else this time! You never know.”

“He’s bought the exact same book seven times in a row now,” Your little brother insists, pulling his nose out of his novel for once to regard the tall figure drifting listlessly from one end of the shop to the other. “I doubt he’s going to break the cycle now.”

“He could be a collector,” You suggest, dropping your voice slightly when the man’s eyes flicker over to you briefly. “This shop’s older than us - maybe it has a bunch of different editions that he wants to get.”

“Well, wouldn’t it make sense for him to find all the different editions and then buy them all at once?” Xingqiu whispers in reply, tapping restlessly at the countertop with one hand. “Then he wouldn’t have to stop by every day and charm you into paying for him.”

You don’t have a reasonable argument for that, so you don’t reply. Xingqiu really is too smart for his own good sometimes.

The man - who you can see is now flicking curiously through a copy of The Founder of Diabolism - isn’t someone you know particularly well, but he’s visited the bookshop where you work enough times that you do know the essential facts: his name is Zhongli, he likes drinking tea, and he’s broke. In every sense of the word.

That last point is quite the source of exasperation on your part. No matter how many times you remind him as he leaves, he never fails to turn up with a completely empty Mora pouch the next time you see him. At first it hadn’t been so much of a problem - he’d just come in, browse the books, start a little small talk with you, then leave. But then he’d actually started wanting to buy the books, and buying usually involves money - something that Zhongli seems to forget exists.

If it had been any other ridiculously handsome guy, you might have sent them packing, but there’s something about the lost look on Zhongli’s face when you ask him for his payment and he realises that he has no way of giving you one that never fails to make you get out your own Mora pouch and suggest that you foot the bill for him instead. Zhongli always tries to refuse your offer, but, in kind, you always insist. You have no idea why he has such an affinity for that particular book, but the way he smiles at you as you as you drop your own coins into the payment pouch is more than enough to make up for the money you lose. It’s not like you actually need the funds, anyway, considering who your father is.

Today, however, Zhongli has neglected the shelf of encyclopaedias in favour of drifting over to the Xianxia section. You’re not sure what’s spurred this change in interest, but maybe it’s the little toy dragon you’ve set on top of the shelf? Zhongli seems rather enamoured by it - he keeps glancing up at it while he reads.

Speaking of the book that he’s skimmming through, it’s a rather odd choice on his behalf. You haven’t gotten the opportunity to read it yourself, busy as you usually are between your work shifts, adventurer’s guild commissions, and making sure your little brother doesn’t get himself into trouble by wandering directly into a gang of hilichurls in the middle of reading a book again. You’re pretty sure Xingqiu has read it at some point, though - to be honest, you wouldn’t be surprised if he’s already read every book in this shop several times over. (Part of you wonders if the only reason he’s so supportive of you venturing into the world and taking this job is because he gets to sit with you and read all the books he likes during your shifts.)

You don’t remember all the details he’d spewed off to you over the week or so he spent reading it, but you vaguely remember him crying into your sleeve about something to do with trees and lanterns and hugs. You’re also pretty sure that it got kind of… what’s the word? Risqué? Adult? Well, whatever word you use to describe it, it doesn’t really seem like the sort of thing that someone like Zhongli would read. Then again, you wouldn’t have ever expected your innocent gentleman of a little brother to read something like that, either.

“At least he seems to have good taste in fiction,” Xingqiu sighs as Zhongli continues to skim over the first few pages, looking rather intrigued. “I suppose that’s about as much as I can ask for…”

“He seems pretty invested,” You observe. “Reckon he’s going to buy it?”

Xingqiu shakes his head. “No. He’s going to come up here and realise he’s forgotten all his Mora again, and then you’re going to end up buying it for him again because you have a giant crush—”

You shove him in the shoulder so hard that he falls off his stool. “Oh, shut up.”

Xingqiu quickly catches himself on the side of the table and shoots you a glare, fumbling to retrieve the book that he’s accidentally dropped in the process. “Hey! This book doesn’t belong to us, you know.”

“It’s one book, A-Qiu,” You sigh as he turns away from you, clutching the book to his chest like it’s some precious child that you’re threatening to kidnap. “Mr Yao isn’t going to condemn you if it gets a little dusty.”

“Books should be treated with respect,” Xingqiu sniffs, turning up his nose at you like some nobleman - which he technically could be considered, now that you think about it. “You of all people should know that.”

“Just because I work at a bookshop doesn’t mean I think they’re Morax’s gift to man like you do,” You snort, noting in the corner of your eye that Zhongli’s eyes had flickered over to you briefly as you spoke. “Sure, books are neat, but they’re not holy.”

“‘Books are neat?’” Xingqiu repeats disbelievingly. “Of all the words to—”

“Excuse me.”

Both you and Xingqiu jump in startled surprise - neither of you had noticed Zhongli approach the front desk. You gather yourself quickly and smile at him as he quietly sets the book on top of the counter and pushes it towards you with a small nod.

“Will that be all?” You ask, reaching for one of the complimentary bamboo bookmarks that you’re obligated to give out with every purchase. You’re pretty sure that Zhongli has more than enough at this point, but you don’t want to risk getting into hot water with Mr Yao for not doing it.

Zhongli takes the bamboo bookmark with a small smile. “Yes, thank you.”

You nod and flick the book open to check the price label on the inside of the cover. “Alright, that’ll be… 5000 Mora, please.”

Xingqiu mutters something resignedly under his breath as Zhongli reaches into his pocket and fumbles about for a moment, clearly not particularly hopeful that the man has actually brought his money with him today. Your little brother, as usual, is perfectly correct in his intuition; after a second of slightly embarrassed silence, Zhongli pulls his hand out of his pocket with nothing in it.

“My apologies,” He sighs, bowing his head in shame. “I’ve forgotten my money pouch again.”

“I knew it,” Xingqiu whispers.

“A-Qiu, shut up,” You hiss back, then turn back to Zhongli, your smile back in place. “No worries, I’ll buy it for you.”

His brows pinch together slightly in the smallest of frowns. “No, no, you shouldn’t. You’ve already spent so much money on me…”

“It’s no big deal!” You assure him brightly, already reaching into your lapels to find your coin pouch. “You seemed to be really into it earlier, so it’d be a shame if you couldn’t keep it, right?”

Zhongli’s frown deepens. “Even so...”

“You could always pay back with something else,” Xingqiu chimes in, the exasperated look on his face replaced with a shit-eating grin that you know all too well. Before you can step in and shove him into the cabinet or something to shut him up, though, he continues, turning to you in a parody of innocence, “What do you say? Mr Zhongli clearly has some time on his hands…”

You narrow your eyes at him, not liking what he’s implying with that grin. “I’m still on shift, A-Qiu, I can’t just up and leave. Mr Yao would probably kill me.”

“You’ve been working shifts for two weeks straight,” He counters, crossing his arms stubbornly. “I can mind the shop for a long enough for you to take a walk. He won’t notice a thing.”

“You won’t ‘mind the shop’, you’ll just sit there and read,” You shake your head and tussle his hair with a flippant hand. “Don’t think I haven’t seen you eyeing up those antiques at the back.”

He looks affronted. “Are you accusing me of stealing intent?”

“I’m not accusing you of anything,” You explain patiently. “I’m just saying that your moral compass is very easily diverted when it comes to books.”

“If I may,” Zhongli begins, cutting off Xingqiu’s indignant spluttering. “I do not mind the idea.”

You turn to look at him in shock, only to see that his golden eyes are already fixed intently on you. He has the sort of gaze that makes you feel as if he’s seeing right through you, as if all of your faults and flaws and wishes and dreams are laid out bare for him to examine at his leisure - but Zhongli doesn’t look at you with any judgement. In fact, if you hope hard enough, you think that there might be some affection in his eyes.

“W-well, I—” You glance quickly back at Xingqiu, who pointedly refuses to help you, evidently offended by the moral compass comment. “I- I’d love to, honestly, but I need to finish my shift…”

“This young gentleman has already volunteered to take care of that for you,” Zhongli counters. There’s a strange intensity to the way he’s looking at you now - hope? Determination? “I know of a quiet spot just outside the harbour. If you would…?”

You glance at Xingqiu, who, despite still looking a little miffed, gives you a begrudging nod. After another moment of thought, you turn back to Zhongli, who gazes expectantly back at you.

“I’d love to go for a walk,” You say, standing up. “Lead the way.”

He smiles then, holding the door-curtain open for you to exit first. You pause briefly to wave a goodbye to Xingqiu, who pointedly sticks his nose in his book and pretends not to see it.

The two of you walk in silence for ten minutes or so, with him in the lead and you occasionally glancing behind you to make sure Xingqiu hasn’t already set the bookshop on fire or something. Zhongli walks rather more quickly than you’re used to, mostly because you usually walk with Xingqiu, who has refused to grow more than half an inch in the last three years and still has legs substantially shorter than yours. Zhongli seems to notice you lagging behind a little after a minute or so, slowing down his pace slightly so that the two of you can walk side by side properly.

“The breeze is pleasant this time of year,” Zhongli comments as the two of you cross the bridge to the mainland and begin to leave the harbour. “Particularly as the sun is going down.”

“I’ll have to get out to see the sunset more often, then,” You sigh. The amount of people milling about around you thins out the further the two of you walk from the harbour and along a grass-lined path, until the two of you are alone.

“I’d be happy to escort you,” He says, glancing quickly back at you, then snapping his head forward again. “...that is, if you’d like me to.”

You’re glad he isn’t looking at you, because you’re pretty sure that the look on your face is smitten to an absolutely ridiculous degree. It takes everything in you not to reach forward and grab Zhongli’s hand right then and there, but you restrain yourself just in time, knowing full well that initiating sudden physical contact with someone that you still don’t know all too well is incredibly rude.

“Of course I would,” You answer. “Just name a time and a place.”

He looks at you again, a gentle smile curving at his lips. “I’ll be sure to.”

The walk takes the two of you through a grove of trees dappled by the rich afternoon light. Zhongli speaks at length about the various different species that you pass; part of you is listening attentively, but the other part of you is far too distracted by the elegance of his quiet footsteps and the way the sunlight glows softly at the edges of his hair to register the information.

Leaves and branches crunch underfoot as Zhongli finally leads you out of the trees and out onto a quiet spot on the mountainside overlooking the harbour. He sits down on the ledge, legs dangling precariously over the edge, and you follow suit, quietly settling down beside him, leaving about two inches’ space between the two of you. Zhongli doesn’t say anything for a minute or so; he’s absorbed in watching the city below him, golden eyes darting back and forth as he watches the tiny figures of the people bustle about the streets.

You notice that he’s still holding the book you bought him earlier, keeping it set carefully in his lap with both hands placed firmly on top of it, as if he thinks it might slip out of his grasp and off the mountain if he isn’t careful.

“I’ve been meaning to ask,” You begin, catching his attention. He turns to look at you, and the sudden sight of his content expression, framed by the sprawling fields and trees in the distance behind him and the light casting his features into sharp relief, knocks all the air from your lungs for a moment. You very nearly choke on your words, but manage to gather yourself in time to ask, “Why the sudden change in interest?”

He cocks his head ever so lightly to the side in confusion, then realises what you’re referring. “Ah - the book? I just wanted a change of pace, really.”

You nod in understanding. “I see. A-Qiu’s read that one. He says it’s one of his favourites.”

“Is A-Qiu the young gentleman accompanying you in the bookshop?”

“Yup.” You sigh, leaning back and kicking your legs slightly, noticing with some fascination that you can faintly see yourself reflected on the water far beneath you. “Xingqiu. He’s my little brother.”

If you squint hard enough, you can see Zhongli’s reflection in the water as well. He’s shifting slightly - is he moving closer to you? You can’t quite tell from the reflection alone, and you’re not about to risk looking at him. Zhongli is a little like the sun in that respect: warming you indirectly with his presence, but damn near blinding (and incredibly flustering) to look directly at or make eye contact with. He’s almost ethereal-looking - as if he isn’t quite of this world.

“He seems a well-intentioned boy,” Zhongli comments quietly.

You respond with a light-hearted scoff. “I’m not too sure about that. He’s good at hiding it behind a book and all those airs and graces, but he’s always annoying me.”

“Is that not what younger siblings are for?” He counters, eyes twinkling slightly as you laugh in reply.

“I guess they are, huh?” You shake your head, a grin continuing to play on your lips as you finally turn to look back at him. Somehow the blinding beauty of before feels as if it’s mellowed out, become softer around the edges - like a surging river calming to a trickling stream.

The two of you sit in comfortable silence for a while. The late afternoon breeze picks up a little, and Zhongli’s hair dances about on the air, twisting and curling in swirls as if the very wind is playing with it. You’re so occupied by (subtly) staring at him that the small movement of him lifting a hand to adjust his tie makes you jolt slightly on the spot.

You can tell that he’s noticed as well, so you hurry to start a conversation before he can bring it up. “So… what’s the fascination with Yi Xichen?”

“...ah.” You might be imagining it, but you think you can see a faint flush forming over his cheeks. “The encyclopaedias?”

“What else?” You swing your legs back and forth restlessly, leaning forward and resting your cheek in your hand. “You must have at least fifteen copies by now. Are you collecting them or something?”

“Well, no...” He glances away from you, intertwining his fingers. “I suppose I’m not particularly good at ‘acting natural’, am I?”

You cock your head to the side. “What do you mean?”

Zhongli fiddles slightly with the seam of his glove, looking uncharacteristically bashful. “I have no need for encyclopaedias, but after the first few days, I found that I had fallen into the routine of selecting one every time I visited.”

“Why did you visit, then?” You ask.

He glances quickly at you, then back down at the water. He doesn’t answer at first, as if mulling over what to say, until finally, he replies, “...I suppose I just wanted to see you.”

It takes you a good moment to fully process what he’s just said to you. Once you do, though, your entire body implode. Well, it feels it does, anyway.

“I— you— me— huh?” is all you manage to get out at first, hands dancing around in front of you like two birds trying to escape from a net, as if they’re trying to physically pluck some words to say from the air. It’s a bad habit you’ve always had, throwing your hands about when you’re stressed; it drives you mad sometimes, but you can’t stop yourself.

Zhongli closes his eyes and bows his head, and there’s no mistaking it - his cheeks are definitely pinker than usual. “Is that alright?”

You nearly choke on air, but you force yourself to take a deep breath instead, fanning yourself briefly with one hand. Getting flustered heats you up surprisingly quickly. “Y-yeah! Of course it’s okay.”

“I’m glad.” He smiles a little bashfully, leaning forward and tilting his head slightly to look at you. “I don’t want to overwhelm you, but, if it’s alright… could I see you more often after today as well?

The sheer adrenaline rushing through you is so intense that you’re surprised that you haven’t busted a blood vessel yet. Actually, as far as you know, you might as well have - you’re far too focused on the man in front of you and his… confession? Is this a confession? You’ve read romance novels, sure, but is that how it works in real life as well? What are you supposed to do?

Your head is so filled with pure chaos that you just know that, if you speak, you’re going to say something completely inane and stupid. So, instead, you reach forward, and take his hand in your slightly shaky one.

He looks down at your intertwined fingers with mild surprise for a moment, then raises his gaze to you once more, eyes lighting up slightly. “...I’ll take that as a yes, then.”

You nod quietly, hesitantly shuffling closer to him. He squeezes your hand almost experimentally, then glances quickly back up at you as if trying to gauge your reaction. You offer him a smile; he returns it wholeheartedly.

You’re sure that you’ll have missed the rest of your shift by now, but you can’t seem to bring yourself to care. Zhongli doesn’t let go of your hand, and you in turn do not move away from him - if anything, you move closer, leaning slightly into his side. He doesn’t seem to notice, and if he does, he doesn’t object.

The sun is slowly beginning its descent, staining the sky a pale orange that reflects from the waters below you. It seems that the two of you will be seeing that sunset together a lot sooner than you had anticipated.

[linkspooky]

This is kinda random, but what is your top 10 favorite otps?

Sure.

#1 of All Time SPUFFY

Spuffy, it wrote the book on both beauty and the beast archetypes, and enemies to lovers. For me the most important thing in a ship is the character development it brings about. Spike's redemption doesn't work without Buffy, because it's meeting the one person who expects better than him and won't put up with his selfish crap, that forces his character arc. Buffy's development is also nothing without Spike, it's meeting Spike that makes Buffy confront her dark side, and realize that being a good person isn't something you are, but something you work towards for the sake of your loved ones. The ideal ship should inspire this permanent character development and chane (Unless it ends tragically), they should be an inseperable part of each other's character arcs.

#2 Kumagawa / Ajimu

This is what I was talking about when I said "unless it ends tragically". Sometimes you ship two people who should never end up together, because they probably won't accept their differences. However, even in a failed relationship, two people can be important to each other. There's not really a hapyp ending for Ajimu and Kumagawa, despite their similiarities when they're together they just seem to make each other worse. In Medaka Box they are the anti-Zenkichi and Medaka. However, for Ajimu Kumagawa represents her only human connection, and for Kumagawa Ajimu represents the first person to be "good" to him even though their relationship soured at one point. Therefore I find the ship interesting because despite the fact that they are permanently separated they are still an incredibly important part of each other's identities and who they are now.

# 3 Matsuda / Junko

Basically for the same reason as what I said above. There is no universe where Junko and Matsuda end up in a happy relationship, as long as Junko is still Junko. However, Matsuda and DanganRonpa Zero as a whole add so much to Junko as a character. As long as Matsuda exists, Junko's more than just a black hole that only cares about despair, and I think together the side materials like IF and Zero show that Junko actually is capable of caring for people outside of her natural tendency to want to throw everything into despair, however, humanizing Junko in this manner doesn't actually make her a better person. She can have feelings like romantic, and familial love, and she still chooses to destroy those things and the people in her life. It just adds so much to Junko as a character, which is what I like ships as, an extension of characterization through character interaction.

#5 UIHAI

I love Ui and Hairu because it's like a broken fairy tale. It was a love that could have saved Hairu, but it didn't, because for Ui he always realized his feelings too late to save anyone. Hairu was obsessively chasing after Arima for the smallest amount of approval, when Ui was right there, and already in love with her. They seem like the perfect couple that could never get together, because Hairu is too fixated on Arima, and Ui is too fixated on his job. They are perfectly suited to giving each other what they wanted, and even in lots of side materials and sketches they seem like a pair, or Ui's feelings for Hairu come across as pretty clear but it never came to be in canon.

#6 ZACK / AERITH

Once again for the same reasons as above, it seems like a fairy tale romance of a knight, and a girl he wants to protect, but it fails completely to live up to that story. Zack and Aerith is a tragic story of first love for both of them, and it's also really formative for who Aerith is now as a character. Zack tried to be there for her, and he tried to be a hero to Aerith, only to very consistently not be there for her, and then disappear from her life all together. Much later on, Aerith is incredibly isilated, unable to fall in love with the real cloud without projecting Zack onto him. It's a relationship where in a better world they could have been there for each other, but also the failure of the relationship develops them as much as characters as them getting together might have. Zack and Aerith are one of those relationships that seems ideal on the surface but they are very different people with different wants, Zack wants to be a hero, Aerith just wants to be a person first.

#7 LINK / MIDNA

The best zelda ship period. Once again the most important part of a ship interaction is the change that both characters inspire in each other. Midna begins not caring about Link at all, never referring to him by name, only seeing him as an object, an old legend, a hero to be used instead of a person. Midna's a manipulative freak, and Link breaks through to her because he actually isn't interested in being the hero of legend, he just wants to save the people closest to him at the village because he feels indebted to them, and Midna inevitably becomes one of those people. Link and Midna's partneship makes the game, because it's Midna who pushes him and makes him into a hero, but it's Link through his unfledging acceptance of her who inspires her to be a person once more, and not just the twilight priness.

#8 Morrigan / Warden from DRAGON AGE ORIGINS

This and Spuffy are like the only two on this list who actually end up together, so let me just have this. Once again my favorite aspect of a ship is the transformation the relationship brings baout in a character. The warden is a non-character, but for Morrigan herself, her relationship with the warden is what allows her to escape an abusive household, and beyond that decide not to repeat the cycle of abuse with her new family. What made this ship an all time fave was in witch hunt when the Warden gets to ask her what she wants, and she's just completely confused. Even with her mother dead, Morrigan is still a tool of her mother's ambitions, it's still all about her mother wants. It's her love with the warden, either through friendship or romance that awakens Morrigan to the fact she's allowed to exist as a person with wants and needs outside of what her mother wants her to be.

#9 Kaine / Nier

It's the Most Humanizing Ship Ever Between Two Mass Murderers. As a story, I think Nier is about finding the life, and love, in a story that is ultimately, fatally doomed. Nier only worse and worse as the game goes on but that doesn't mean there was never any love in his life. For every bad thing Nier does, he was not bad to every single person, specifically Kaine, it was Nier's love and belief in her that allows the wounds in her heart to start to heal. As Nier and Nier gets worse, Kaine's own shadow self says, that her feelings in her heart are no longer hatred, or even revenge, there's just a pure white light of love left. In a game where everything only rots, Kaine has healed to the point where she can love again when she never thought it was possible. It's why I like ending D the best, because it's Nier knowing he can never escape his own sins, but he can use his last action to heal Kaine fully all the way and allow her to live on a few more years.

#10 SATOSUGU

Once again, there's no universe where they end up together, and yet still on opposite sides of a conflict they remain each other's closest friends. The most important thing about a ship is the character development it leads to and Gojo would not be who he is today without Suguru. I generally get the sense that Gojo's idea of a good person isn't himself, but rather who Geto used to be before he broke. Gojo actually relied on on Geto for a lot more than he realized, considering it was the one connection he had that seemed to humanize him. Geto provided the chosen one who can do literally anything in the world with his powers, support and guidance. He was the jade, and the foundation of their two person friendship, and then the jade broke.

Gojo and Geto's broken relationship is not only the most emotional thing in the series to me, it's also an incredible part of who they are ten years after the fact. Gojo straight up didn't bother to make friends for ten years later after the fact even though he could have, Geto still told his daughters that Gojo and him were best friends, they just had a fight. He couldn't comperehend in Volume Zero that Gojo would still regard him as a friend after everything that they had done.

It's like one of those "Can't live with them, can't live without them" pairs. They want to be each other's one and only but it just won't work because they don't understand each other, and neither of them is willing to compromise. They are also each other's perfect yin / yang complement. Gojo is the opposite of Geto, and still carries a part of Geto within him, and Geto even after becoming the enemy of the sorcery world while Gojo is the savior, still carries that friendship with Gojo inside of him as well. While their relationship is a failed one, it's also a past I hope that the next generation Megumi and Itadori both learn from, even if Geto never truly comes back.

[dollanganger-in-the-attic]

hi! i know you said that the way you see chris/cathy keeps changing with time but i’ve just read the whole saga and (even without any shipping goggles on) i’m wondering if he wasn’t actually the best man for cathy, at least out of the ones she’s been with. hear me out!

chris’ biggest sin would obviously be the rape/dubcon at the end of the first book. yet, looking at all cathy’s relationships, he somehow feels like the most decent one out of all these men, in my opinion.

paul was obviously a creep who adopted cathy and then groomed her. plus he played the victim cause, what? he raped his wife, over and over, and she tried to kill herself and their son? you are the villain here! absolutely no excuses

then, julian who was so abusive and pretty much manipulated her since day one, pressured her into being with him way more than chris ever did imo. he’d hit her, rape her, not let her see anyone including friends and family and even broke her fingers when she didn’t listen to him, just once

and then there’s bart… maybe what they had didn’t feel that wrong in the end but the beginning of that relationship? oh boy. i mean, she had to kick him in the balls when he wouldn’t take ‘no’ from an answer! again, very rape-y and sick

at the end of the day, i feel like chris is the only who technically had an excuse (the attic, what they were to each other then and how it screwed them). and you know what? considering all of that, it still feels like he’s the only guy who really ever tried getting better, being better for her.

it’s just something i’ve been thinking about a lot lately and i’d love to know your opinion on that!

Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

Ah yeah ive made a post before ranking all cathy’s lover and what makes them trash. But i do like chris as a character i always have. And i always wanted them to be together

However i think the whole point of chris and cathy ending up together is the tragedy of the story. Their relationship is the “horror” part of the gothic horror genre. The whole series is about being haunted by- and doomed to repeat- the mistakes of your parents/ancestors. Its a story about repeating cycles. Chris and Cathy were always meant to end up together BECAUSE they were doomed to.

I think for the story it makes the most sense for them to be together to drive home the point of “we are our parents’ children” etc etc its supposed to be sad and bittersweet that she ended up with the one person she felt she couldnt love. Its not rly meant to be a happy ending.

Bonus: heres a response i posted during the FitA discussion in my discord bookclub. Regarding whether i thought chris and cathy would have had interest in each other if the attic never happened

[kaypeace21]

So weird crack theory/ thought.

What if Lonnie & victor creel are related (like they're brothers or 1/2 brothers or something)? Like lonnie is Victor's younger brother? Son? Etc?

1 )duffers are fans of the xmen comics and reference it every season. ‘ victor creel’ (from ST) sounds like the the xmen character ‘victor creed’ who had an ab*sive dad- and because of that ab*sed his younger siblings , growing up. victor as a kid had a birthday tradition of ab*sing other relatives-specifically on their b days . His fav target as a kid was his little brother. Sort of like how lonnie  made Jonathan cry on his birthday ...and in s4 Lonnie may return (near Will's bday) . 2)if creed=creel. creed is also the surname of the main family/characters from the stephen king novel pet semetary. The Duffers love stephen king (and have used him as an influence in St’s plot in the past).  Beky ives’ actress-aka El’s aunt- was also in the remake of pet semetary ,and Duffers love referencing shows/films their actors have been in. The young son/boy  in the novel/og film was named William Creed who (in the novel) became a zombie and he had a sis named ELlie. Also, Bob referring to Joyce in highschool as " the Joyce byers" implies Byers is HER last name . Not lonnie's- sooo what's lonnie's last name? He's only ever referred to by his first name? If it was Creel... than technically William byers... could be William Creel (zombie boy) which =William Creed (zombie boy from sk novel)

4) Also the kids made a whole joke in s1 of "family " being at penthurst (where creel is) .Nancy in s3, goes to a hospital and pretends to be related to Mrs Driscoll and even changes her last name to driscoll. She claims to be her granddaughter. Mrs Driscoll was also in the hospital because everyone assumed she had a schizophrenic episode. So... someone in the gang is probably related to creel even if not the byers. So that could be foreshadowing that someone will be related to Creel? Of course, who knows, maybe it's just a ref to brenner /papa working at penthurst?

Or total crack theory: maybe el and Will are both related to Creel- aka William &ellie creed. since both were called "schizos" (whenever people talked about their powers in s2 )?And both have maternal aunts who hallucinated things. Also, i think of the did theory,but i do remember in s1 someone remarking El could be "lonnie's kid". So who knows who /how anyone could be related to Creel. XD

5) lonnie's actor said he's a "product of his environment "... what could that mean... hmm 6)maybe lonnie saying trauma makes you "make up things to cope" could be him referring to victor ... and the dialogue isn't just foreshadowing/narrative device for other characters?But he knows from observation of his own family?

7) st s4 movies: trigger warning for s.a which may relate to victor's eye thing

in the s4 movies inspos: they had a guy s*xually ab*se both his kids. 1 of the kids-grows up and ab*ses his other relatives ,repeating what his father did(Lonnie?). And other films also showed the generational cycle of ab*se too. 1 movie also had a "plot twist" of 2 male villains being brothers . And another movie had the ‘plot twist’ of a villain being a 1/2 sibling to another character.  The whole creel allegedly stabbing his eyes out reminds of the oedipus story- which again would make sense in relation to such ab*se elements involving parents. Again , oedipus gouges his eyes out after k*lling his dad/ having inc*st with a parent. The eye gouging was metaphorical for the shame he had in regards to this.And a lot , like 20+ movies, had parents/ older relatives conduct s.a on their younger (kid) relatives.

And another movie ex) creel's actor plays freddie creuger. In one of the s4 movies a woman working for a psych ward revealed she was actually related to freddie . But she kept it a secret initially, because they're related because of a r*pe done.

This plot would also show the cycle of ab*se but show how unlike lonnie- Will and Jonathan break the cycle. For instance the stephen king "shinning" book was said to be inspo for st - in the st book "stranger things: worlds turned upsidedown." And "shinning" is on the st movie list. In the novel and the novel's sequel its about how Jack (ab*sed by his dad) repeated the cycle of ab*se by ab*sing his own son, Danny.Danny breaks the cycle and the story ends with him telling his kid- relative (who is also related to jack-aka Danny's father) to not repeat old familial patterns . (He says this to her , on her bday, and she promises she won't be like those relatives ) . It makes me think of jonathan and Will tbh- since jonathan already said to Will to not mimic Lonnie. If jonathan said such a thing to Will, on Will's bday- it would be a very significant narrative contrast to Lonnie : given the whole possible " familial birthday ab*se tradition" that was inflicted on jonathan, by lonnie. it'd show in a very symbolic yet overt way the boys breaking the cycle of ab*se.

Its also possible creel isn't evil at all- just in a psych ward after everything that happened. To subvert expectations :since the actor usually plays villains/ sadly people often demonize people with mental health issues.

Of course, victor creel may be as important as Mrs Driscoll or something lol...who knows.XD

Or “Creel” is based off a different marvel comic book character maybe? : carl creel , who broke out of pr*son with his newfound powers & closed a portal called a “door” to another dimension? Who knows... but I think if victor creel is substantial to the plot... him being related to the byers in some capacity would be interesting.

[kaitycole]

chapter 5: let the schemes begin

Summary: Two little friends have always desired one thing: to end up as siblings. So when the chance presented itself after a finalized divorce, who were they to decline such an opportunity to finally bring their parents together?

Pairings: Bokuto Kōtarō x f!Reader

Word Count: 4453

Warnings: Angst. Fluff. Mentions of divorce, cheating, cussing

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters portrayed in this series. Part of the @babythotshq​​​​​​ Dearest Daddy Collab

Tags: open (send me an ask to be added!)

January 5, 2026

Jess watches her daughter through her laptop screen, the little girl has been quiet for about five minutes and she looks worried which makes her mother want to reach through the screen and comfort her.

“Seiko, baby, what’s bothering you?”

She sighs, swinging her feet back and forth. Ever since Misaki’s birthday something’s been on her mind, but she’s been too afraid to ask her dad or her mom. Usually Seiko would just say what was on her mind, ask whatever questions she had that popped into her head, but this was different, her dad and Y/N whispered when they talked and stopped when her or Haruki came into the room.

“Nothing, Mama.”

“It makes Mama sad when you’re upset.” Jess pokes out her bottom lip which gets a giggle from Seiko.

“Daddy said he made that face up!”

“Oh, he did? That sounds like Daddy.”

Seiko smiles a little, “can I ask you something, Mommy?”

Her sweet and low tone melts Jess’ heart as she gives her daughter a smile. “Of course baby girl.”

“What’s a divorce?”

Jess sucks in a quick breath, trying to decide how best to approach it while also curious as to where the subject even came up.

“Well, it’s when a mom and dad stop living together.”

“Why?”

“Sometimes it’s because they may be fighting a lot.”

“Why?”

“Because sometimes people stop getting along.”

“Oh.” Seiko starts wringing her hands again. “I heard Haruki ask Daddy about it. Does that mean they don’t love him anymore?”

“No baby. Y/N and Youta love Haruki very much, just like Mommy and Daddy love you. Divorce is a grownup thing, but it has nothing to do with Haruki.”

Her golden eyes start shining, filling with tears. “Promise, Mama? I don’t like Haruki sad.”

“I promise. Can you go get Daddy?”

Seiko bounces out of the chair, quickly returning to her usual energetic self as she runs out of the room, shouting for her dad. Jess laughs when Bo walks into the room, carrying their daughter upside down as she squeals.

“Daddy put me down!”

“If you say so.” He acts like he’s going to drop her which only makes her start to squeal louder before he finally sits her down on the floor.

“Mommy wants you. I think you’re in trouble.”

Bo looks directly at Jess with a puzzled expression before she shakes her head. Seiko giggles before running up to the laptop.

“Bye Mommy!” She leans forwards, kissing the screen. “I love you!”

“I love you too baby girl! I’ll talk to you tomorrow!” She waves as Seiko runs into her room, leaving her parents alone.

“You look radiant as ever, Jess.”

She blushes, “you, as handsome as ever Bo.”

“Seiko said I was in trouble.”

“You are. How dare you not tell me about Y/N and Youta’s divorce.” She shakes her head, quickly checking her phone after it pings, Bo catches the way she bites her lip as she smiles at whatever she’s reading.

“I didn’t know you were so invested in their marriage.”

“I’m not, but I am invested in the happiness of my baby daddy.” She smiles wide, knowing Bo doesn’t really care for that term, that it makes him feel cheap, but she can’t let a teasing moment pass them by

“I’m not happy about it.”

“Maybe not directly, but it does leave Y/N open for new ventures. New possibilities. New relationship with an old friend, perhaps?”

“Jess! The papers aren’t even signed.” It wasn’t like the thought hadn’t briefly, very briefly, crossed his mind. A chance to finally tell you how he felt, but just like back in high school, the timing was all wrong.

She repeats what he said, mocking him which makes him roll his eyes. “Well either you can tell her or I will.”

“You wouldn’t.” Bo narrows his eyes at her and she mimics the expression.

“Do you really want to test that theory?”

There’s no doubt in Bo’s mind that Jess would actually do it which slightly worries him. He knows her better than himself most days and that she only has the purest intentions when it comes to him, it was something that he saw a lot in Seiko too. Even if there was a chance for him, he knows he has to tread lightly since it’s not just you he has to worry about but also Haruki and somewhere in there Youta counts too.

“Just promise me you won’t wait forever?” She tilts her head with a soft smile on her face. It’s the same one Seiko makes when she first wakes up and Bo feels a tug on his heart. “Even the knight deserves happiness in the fairy tales.”

“I promise. Just want to make sure the timing’s right.”

*                      * Mid-April – 2010

Bokuto had realized his feelings for you on a seemingly random day after the first volleyball practice of your second year. He was thrilled when he heard that a first year named Akaashi Keiji was a setter, but the first person that he wanted to tell wasn’t there: you.

He had a few crushes before this, but he could tell this time it was different. The only downside to this realization was that now he found himself nervous to be around you alone. Before it didn’t bother him to sit next to you, shoulders brushing against each other’s, but now he opted for a seat across from you and if he had to sit next to you, his face was red the whole time. Then came the struggle between telling you or not telling you, both sides had a plus and negative.

Telling you meant you had the chance to share his feelings.

Not telling you meant he could keep you as a friend.

Telling you meant you could reject his feelings.

Not telling you meant you two would only be friends.

And of course, the one person who Bo would normally go to when he needed serious advice was you, but you were the one person who couldn’t help him with this one.

** “Yukippe!” He called out to the second-year manager at the end of practice.

“Ko-chan!” She smiled as she turned to face him. She raised an eyebrow at his demeanor, he was chewing the inside of his cheek while nervously shifting weight between his feet.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Which class?” She put a hand on her hip, a small smirk on her face.

“Huh?”

“You need notes, right?”

“Oh, no.” He shook his head, “It’s uhm…I need advice.”

Her eyes widened, grabbing his hand she dragged him over to the bleachers, patting the stop next to her for him to sit. “Advice about what?”

“Well I think I like someone…”

She cut him off, “Is it Y/N? Tell me it’s Y/N!”

He wanted to deny it, but if she guessed that easily, obviously he wasn’t good at hiding his feelings. Or it could have just been you’re the only person he really hangs out with outside of the volleyball team. But if it was obvious, had you picked up on it? Or was that a sign you didn’t like him back?

“If it’s that obvious how come she didn’t already notice?” He sighed, shoulders dropping.

“She could just be shy. You two are really close, maybe she’s just nervous. Or she could want you to make the first move, some girls like that.” Yukie shrugged.

“What if I tell her and it ruins our friendship?”

“But what if you tell her and you have a really great relationship?” She placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, “you can’t be in the game if you just stand on the sidelines, right?”

*                      * The first time Bo went to confess he had practiced his small speech all night, not falling asleep until close to 2:45am. He even asked one of his sisters to iron his uniform in exchange for doing the dishes all week and made sure he left a bit earlier. If there was a pre-confession checklist, he had all the boxes checked and ready to go. It was all planned, he wanted to tell you his feelings as soon as he saw you, but he also didn’t want it to distract you from classes, you were very serious about getting into a good university. So as much as he hated to wait, he held out until the end of the day, right before practice.

He had told you to meet him at your locker after your last class and he pepped up when he got a quick glimpse of you waiting there for him. Taking one last deep breath, he continued to walk towards you until he saw something that brought him to a complete halt. You throw your arms around some guy he doesn’t recall seeing around Fukurōdani Academy, but to be fair that wasn’t saying much. He didn’t really keep up with people who weren’t in his class or on the volleyball team. He tried to hold on to the confidence he had all day, but it was shattered when you waved him over, introducing whoever the guy was as your boyfriend.

That’s how Bokuto spent all of his second year and most of his third year, watching you get into a relationship with what felt like everyone but him. He’d smile when you introduced the newest guy who confessed, whisper how sorry he was when you came to him crying when the relationship inevitably ended, help you pick up all the pieces. He became the one you could turn to who didn’t have an ulterior motive, the one who was just there for you without you even asking him to be.

Then after Bo felt he had waited long enough, that you were in a good place after the break-up, he’d get ready to confess only to have it shot down by you introducing him to the guy who managed to confess a day or so before he had the confidence to. And the cycle just continued, you got in a relationship, broke up, Bo went to confess, you already had a new guy, leaving Bokuto’s self-esteem to slowly be chipped away.

*                      * February – 2012

“Bokuto-san, you should really say something to Y/N.” Akaashi said, helping the ace pick up a few stray volleyballs from their extra spiking practice.

The ace just shrugged, he had realized that it had been a while since your last break up and you hadn’t been acting like you were in a new relationship like you usually did. But for longer than he’d care to admit, he’d held on so tightly to his feelings that he wondered if he could even let them go.

“I’ll support whatever you decide, but I’d hate for you to regret not telling her years from now.” Akaashi gave Bokuto a small pat on the shoulder before he headed for the locker room.

** March – 2012

Bokuto took a deep breath and smoothed the wrinkles on his shirt. Today was the day, he was finally going to confess his feelings for you. He had it all planned out, with Akaashi’s help of course. He had bought the small owl keychain you had said you liked last weekend when out shopping.

His heart fluttered when he heard your laugh and his pace increased even though his legs felt like they’d give out at any moment. He swallowed thickly, the heaviness of his nerves filling his chest with each step he took. The butterflies in his stomach multiplied making him feel a slight wave of nausea when he finally sees your face. You jumped up from the bench you’ve been sitting on, waving him over eagerly with a huge smile on your face. Something about this time felt right to Bo and he dug into his pocket, tightly holding on to the keychain.

“Bo!” You throw your arms around him and he let the floral scent of your perfume calm him.

“Y/N.” He cleared his throat, “I want to tell you something.”

“Can I tell you something first?” You smiled at him and gave him a small pout which he knows he can’t refuse. How could he ever say no to you?

“Of course.” What was a few more minutes?

“I got into Kyoto University!” You started to jump up and down, hugging him once again.

“Y/N, that’s awesome! I’m so proud of you!” The two of you sat down on the bench, knees slightly touched when you turned a bit to the side to face him.

“Thank you!” You let out a breath, “it might sound odd, but I’m glad to be going to university single. No distractions, I can just focus on me and my degree.”

You had started to ramble about the course catalog and the two different majors you were torn between, but Bo didn’t hear any of it. Your words repeated on a loop in his mind, breaking his confidence and maybe even a little of his heart. He wanted to get up and just go home, skip practice, he didn’t care about Nationals right now. Once again, he was too late, but for some reason this time felt more permanent.

“Bo! Bo!” You called out, “what did you want to tell me?”

When he looked up at you, you had that signature smile on your face, the one he always looked for on a bad day or the same one Akaashi would point out when he hit a slump during a game and it broke his heart.

“Nothing. Oh wait,” he stood up, pulling the keychain out of his pocket. “I just wanted to give you this.”

Your eyes widened and you squealed when the owl keychain was placed in your hand. You had briefly mentioned you liked it while the two of you walked past the small shop. To be fair you weren’t sure he had even heard you, but you weren’t surprised, Bo always came through. You pressed yourself up on your tiptoes, pressing a kiss to his cheek, thanking him over and over for the gift.

At that moment, Bokuto wasn’t sure which had hurt him more. Coming to confess to you, just to see someone had beat him to it or coming to confess just to hear you say you didn’t want a boyfriend. Each time had taken a toll on him, each time carrying the heavy weight of rejection, but this time Bo knew it would be the last time because he couldn’t take that pain anymore.

*                      * January 13, 2026

“Let’s go to the swings, Hakkun!” Seiko grabs the boy and drags him across the playground.

“No. I don’t want to!” He tugs his arm away from her which causes her to stop and look at him. Haruki didn’t normally act like that, usually he just went along with whatever she wanted to do, but lately he’d been acting differently and Seiko didn’t like it.

“Fine! Play by yourself!” Seiko stomps away, crossing her arms as she goes. When she finally hops up on the swing, there’s an older girl on the one next to her.

“Don’t worry. Brothers can be moody sometimes.”

It isn’t the first time someone called them siblings, assuming they were related which usually bothered her because she didn’t think they looked anything alike. But this time, it gave her an idea that she wanted to share with him. Though it would have to wait because she was still mad at him.

*                      * January 20, 2026

You and Youta have been sitting across from each at the kitchen table going over the fine details of your divorce for the last half hour. It still feels weird to you, for months the two of you could barely hold a conversation, but within the last few weeks it was as if you were back in college. As if this whole process was the same as a college debate and you both were able to effortlessly keep up the conversation. It was as if when you both accepted the end of your relationship had come, that pressure to make things work, to keep up the facade was gone and you two could breathe again.

It feels weird that 12 years of your life was now simplified into a small stack of papers, that somehow the love that you two had stumbled upon on a college campus was just gone. The same love that brought your beautiful son into the world had somehow vanished without you noticing. Maybe you had noticed, maybe you saw the way Youta’s eyes never stayed focused on you for long, how even when he was there he seemed to be somewhere else. Maybe it was something you had known when the lack of your husband’s touch had stopped bothering you and you’d wish he had stayed out all night rather than stumbling in at 3am just to end up waking you.

Your son walks by the table, going into the kitchen and grabs a snack that he knows he shouldn’t have because it’s almost time for dinner. He tries to walk by you, without a word before you reach out, stopping him.

“Ruki, it’s almost dinner. Let’s wait on the snack, okay?” You say, your tone gentle as you reach out to pull him into a hug. You were used to your son being more reserved than outgoing, he usually preferred to read or draw and always opted to be in the living room so he was around you but could still be alone. But recently you noticed that he preferred spending most of his time alone, if there wasn’t a specific reason to be around you or Youta, he holed up in his room.

“But I don’t want to.” He puts up his arms, pushing away from your embrace before he starts to open the foil package.

“Haruki, I asked you to wait for dinner.” You reach for the package, but he yanks it out of your reach.

“I don’t care!” He shouts, walking back towards his room.

“You need to apologize, Haruki. That’s not how you speak to your mother.” Youta stands up from the table, a serious expression on his face as his words come out steady and firm.

Haruki stops midway down the hall, turning his head slightly to the side and he mumbles an apology, heading back into his room before you or your husband could say anything further.

*                      * February 22, 2026

“Hakkun!” Seiko throws her arms around her best friend, squeezing him a bit tighter than usual. She had been talking to her parents about what was going on between you and Youta and when she asked how she could help, they told her just to make sure he knew he was loved.

“Hey Seiko.” He gave her a small smile. You had dropped Haruki off with Bo since you had a job interview and Youta had to travel to Miyagi for a short business trip.

“My daddy said we can watch him practice if we want!” She smiles, taking his hand in hers, “you still wanna play volleyball, right?”

He shrugs, “I guess.”

“Maybe you and Saki-chan could practice together! Uncle Kaashi is gonna teach her!”

Haruki follows her to the top of the bleachers, she swears it’s the best spot to watch, but Haruki would’ve been fine on the first row. Both of them are watching the MSBY team run drills when Seiko screams before turning to Haruki.

Bo immediately starts apologizing to the team who just waved him off, telling him that it’s fine, they love Seiko and the slight distraction was the perfect chance for a small break.

Sakusa’s eye twitches as he glares towards Bokuto, “I really wish she was more like Jess.”

“Seiko is perfect the way she is.” Hinata quickly adds, giving the outside hitter a thumbs up.

“Is she?” Sakusa raises his brows before walking away, leaving both Hinata and Bokuto speechless.

“Speaking of Jess, how is she doing?” Meian jogs over to his teammates, water bottle in hand.

Atsumu cocks his head to the side, curious about his captain's seemingly sudden interest in Jess, but before he can ask, Bokuto begins to tell him that they had just talked earlier that morning and she’s been doing fine.

** “I FORGOT TO TELL YOU ABOUT AN IDEA!” Seiko shouts before Haruki reaches over to cover her mouth with his hand.

“Seiko, inside voice.”

Her cheeks turn red and she gives Haruki her signature sorry smile before waving at her dad telling him the same.

“Sorry, I just got so excited.”

“What did you forget to tell me?”

“Remember when we were at the park and I wanted to swing?”

He just nods, he didn’t like thinking about how mean he had been and what made it worse was when he tried apologizing, Seiko just brushed it off, telling him that it was her fault not his.

“A girl called you my brother.”

“People do that a lot.” Haruki turns his head when he hears the smack of a volleyball, his attention going back to the MSBY practice. It wasn’t anything new for them to be mistaken for siblings even though they didn’t really look anything alike.

“But what if we were siblings?”

“Then one of us would have totally different parents.”

She huffs, annoyed with his attitude, but remembers what her mom said and calms down. “No, I mean what if your mom and my dad got together.”

His head snaps towards the little girl, his attention completely on her. “What?”

“My dad always smiles around your mom.”

“And my mom really likes being around your dad.” He taps his chin with his index finger, thinking. You did seem a bit sadder since he learned his parents were getting a divorce and he knows Uncle Bo makes you laugh a lot. He looks over to Seiko who has a grin on her face, “what did you have in mind?”

“I’m glad you asked.” Seiko leans towards Haruki, cupping her hand and whispering in his ear.

** “Seiko! Haruki! Get your jackets ready, I’ll be back shortly.” Bo calls up to the two kids who are both smirking.

“Okay Daddy!”

“I’m serious. We have to meet Y/N on time.” He points at his daughter before heading into the locker room, but stops when he hears Jess’s name come up in conversation.

“What yer askin’ about Jess for?” There’s a slight amount of teasing in his curious tone.

“Just making conversation since Sakusa brought her up.” Meian’s almost boring response slightly irks the setter, but the faint blush on his cheeks aren’t lost on Atsumu.

“If yer that worried, I’m sure Bo would give ya her number.” Atsumu raises his eyebrow at his captain who seems to be a bit flustered now.

“I uhm—it’s really fine. I was just making conversation.” Meian shuts his locker a little too hard.

“You’re sure Bo would what?” Bokuto lets his presence known, a puzzled look on his face.

“Invite the team to Seiko’s birthday party, of course.” Atsumu smirks.

“Yeah, of course.” He goes to his locker, grabbing his stuff for a quick shower. It had never crossed his mind before, not that he was opposed to it, but thinking of Jess with someone else left a weird feeling in his chest.

*                      * February 27, 2026

“What do you think they are talking about?” You ask Bo, both of you looking at the table next to yours. Despite popular opinion, Bo didn’t take Seiko out for fast food often, but you managed to convince him this one time wouldn’t hurt, so here you all were at McDonald’s much to Bo’s distaste.

Seiko and Haruki are sitting close to each other, hands cupped over their mouths as they whisper to each other, eyes going back and forth between their parents and each other. Both of your children had begged to sit at their own table, claiming they were discussing their next big adventure where no adults were allowed.

Bo shrugs, “probably scheming something or another. Seiko’s birthday is coming up.”

“That’s true. Can you believe they’ll be six this year?”

“Sometimes I still can’t believe I’m a dad.” He laughs.

“Anything special planned?”

He leans over, whispering in your ear, “Jess is coming in, it’s a surprise.” When he sits back up, he sees Seiko giggling before she looks down at her food, almost like she had been caught.

** “What do you think they are talking about?” Seiko looks over at Haruki when she sees her dad lean over towards you.

“Adult stuff, probably.” Haruki takes a bite of a chicken nugget.

“Haruki, c’mon. We have to think of ways to get them together.” Seiko grabs one of his fries despite his protests.

“Maybe we should ask an adult.” He shrugs, “they’d probably have more experience with this.”

“But who?” She rests her chin on her hand, looking over at her dad who is laughing with you. Her eyes widen along with the smirk on her face, “I know the perfect person.”

*                      * February 28, 2026

A yawn comes from the other end of the video call before the lamp on the nightstand flicks on, the once black screen now showing a very sleepy woman, brown hair thrown up in a messy bun.

“Sei…ko? Is everything alright?” She looks at the clock on her nightstand: 4:35am.

“Hey hey hey!” Seiko yells, waking her mother even more. “I have a favor to ask.”

At 4 in the morning? You really are Kotaro’s daughter. “Can it wait until Mommy wakes up,  princess?”

Jess already knows by the small pout on her bottom lip that that is just not going to be an option. She sighs in defeat, wondering if she should just get up and get a coffee.

“It’s really important, Momma.”

“What is this favor that simply cannot wait?”

“Haruki and I need help getting Daddy and Y/N together!”

Jess fully supported the idea of Bo and you together, just a few weeks ago she too was advocating for him to tell you of his feelings. But hearing her daughter advocate for the cause left a funny feeling in her chest. She put that feeling to the side, the look on her daughter’s face as she anxiously waited for her answer was enough to take precedence and hearing about the McDonald’s table set-up she had come up with made Jess feel proud. Seiko takes so much after Bo that it’s rare Jess sees herself in her,  but when she does, it’s a great feeling.

“Okay, here’s what you do.”

Previous/ Masterlist /Next

[monoxidecahedron]

drunk on you (julian bashir x elim garak)

wrote a thing for deep space nine (because garashir my beloved), it's long, so i broke it up into two parts. here's the first one, it's 2k words and tw for blood mention, other than that it should be fine! enjoy!

“Mister Garak,” Julian Bashir slurs, leaning against said man’s couch, “has anyone ever told you how very precious you are?”

Garak tilts his head in that Cardassian way of his and gently pulls the bottle of kanar out of his drinking partner’s grip. “I do believe you’ve had enough, Doctor. You of all people should know how potent this sort of drink is in Humans.”

Julian offers him a loopy grin. “Aw, come on, Garak, it’s only two glasses, I’m fine,” he protests. His point is undermined by the fact that he keeps swaying unsteadily as he sits cross-legged on the couch cushion, not bothering to try and stabilize himself. Garak presses his lips together and tries to put on an exasperated expression. He thinks he does fairly well- in any other case it would’ve been impeccable acting, but the glass of kanar he’s already had makes the amusement he’s feeling shine through a little more than he’d like.

His friend doesn’t notice, lost in the alcohol and too busy further destabilizing himself, giggling as he tilts closer and closer to Garak next to him. “Whoa,” he mutters as he tips out of balance, twisting at the last moment and landing with his head in Garak’s lap. Garak freezes, and he has the odd urge to slowly raise his hands in a placating gesture, as if to demonstrate he doesn’t mean this beautiful creature in his lap any harm.

He doesn’t. There isn’t much reason to, anyways. They’re alone in his quarters- no one to be suspicious of him except, of course, himself- and it’s not like he’d hurt Julian anyways. Or want to. The man himself doesn’t seem very worried; in fact, there’s a fond look in his eyes, an adoring, trusting, almost-loving sort of look that he hasn’t seen directed at himself in a while. People look at him, yes, but always with fear or distrust or hatred tainting their expressions. Take your pick of reasons- Tain’s man, Obsidian agent, Cardassian, rumoured spy- but it’s always there, lurking beneath a thin veneer of politeness (or, more likely, outright glaring, veneer nonexistent).

Julian, though. Julian Bashir has always trusted him, from the moment he sat across from him in the Replimat to the time Garak raged and flipped tables at him to now, alone with him and drunk and vulnerable and feeling totally, utterly safe. It almost makes him uncomfortable, seeing the extent to which Julian trusts him. He knows he  doesn’t deserve it, knows the doctor’s illusions of his mysterious but altogether clean past would shatter upon hearing of even the most irrelevant of errands he ran for the Order. Still, even with no small amount of guilt, he savors the kind curve of Julian’s mouth when he catches sight of his Cardassian friend.

Julian, not bothering to get off Garak’s lap, giggles and reaches up. He almost flinches away instinctively, but all Julian does is tap his nose once. “Boop,” he says with yet another giggle. Garak raises an eyeridge.

“And what, exactly, does that mean, Doctor?”

“Nothing.”

“I see,” Garak says, leaning back against the couch and looking around the rest of the room, content to sit in silence for a while.

“No- wait, it’s an Earth thing,” Julian says hurriedly, as if Garak had threatened him.

“Ah, I believe I’ve heard of it,” he responds absentmindedly, reaching down to thread his fingers through Julian’s hair.

“You’re lying,” Julian pouts. His mood suddenly turns serious, and he peers intently at him. “Why do you always lie to me, Garak?”

“Oh, I wouldn’t take it personally, my dear,” he says. He’s vaguely aware that he keeps forgetting to add “Doctor”, but at the moment Julian is warm in his lap and his mind is foggy and he can’t bring himself to deny this simple affection. “It’s simply a habit of mine.”

Julian hums in acknowledgement, but doesn’t seem to have anything to say to that. He makes a grab for the kanar bottle, still in Garak’s other hand, and sits up, taking another drink before the bottle’s taken away again.

Garak, kanar in hand again, chides, “ Julian. You really should stop,” but for once he feels relatively safe and isn’t cycling through all the reasons he should stay far, far away from the Doctor and the tangled mess of feelings that come with him and so he tips the bottle up.

He sighs afterward, setting the bottle on the coffee table in front of him with a satisfying clunk , other hand still in Julian’s hair. Julian’s got a face full of anguish when he looks down at him, and Garak tilts his head, inviting him to explain. He shakes his head, but a moment later he lets out a long breath and says, “He annoys me so much.”

Garak laughs. “There’s a lot of men who annoy you, Doctor. You’ll have to be more specific.”

Julian goes on as if he never heard him. “Really, though, I wouldn’t have it any other way. He’s splendid, you know?” He gestures wildly on splendid, somehow managing to smack Garak in the face and nearly overturn the kanar bottle sitting on his coffee table. “So mysterious.”

Garak, clenching his jaw against the bitter taste of jealousy, manages to get out an “I see”, but it doesn’t really matter; Julian’s far gone at this point and continues to ignore him, lost in thoughts of this mystery man.

“He doesn’t love me,” he says, giving Garak heartbroken puppy eyes. “He doesn’t love me… he said he hated me, once. He was lying. I think. He always lies but he doesn’t lie sometimes and it’s so confusing- Garak, it’s so confusing. ”

“He doesn’t sound all that nice.”

“He isn’t, really- he’s nice to me, though. Makes me feel nice.”

“That’s nice, then.” Even with years of Obsidian training, it’s still a concerted effort to keep his voice steady. Damn Federaji , damn Humans, damn this particular Federaji Human with his honeyed smile and his charming naivete and his slender body and his brilliant fucking arguments and-

“He’s brilliant, did you know?”

“You seem to have forgotten you still haven’t told me who he is, dear,” Garak says. It’s an indulgement he can’t help but allow himself. He’s lost his Doctor; what’s one little word?

“I don’t know who he is, either.” Garak makes a questioning face. “I don’t know if he knows who he is either. He’s kind of lost. Stuck.”

“Ah.”

“It’s a sad thought.”

“That your-” he pauses for a second- “that he’s stuck?” He feels silly, trying to talk to an obviously drunk, in-his-head Julian who keeps ignoring him. He might as well have put on a movie and tried to talk to the characters.

“Most people have never heard their friends’ actual voice,” Julian says. Garak pauses, considering. It’s an interesting sort of thing to think about, if (as Julian said) a bit sad.

“I learned Kardasi for him,” he continues. And that’s even more interesting- this man speaks Kardasi? He dismisses a thought before it can form. Some aren’t worth entertaining, even for a moment; hope is a dangerous thing, flighty and tempting and ultimately disappointing, and he isn’t such a fool as to invite that sort of creature into his head.

“I learned it for him,” Julian repeats. “It’s a very nice language, you know. Very interesting. I speak it to my friends and no one notices. He didn’t notice either.” So he talks to the mystery man. Hm. He starts to analyse the information, mind almost subconsciously going through the steps and piecing together what he knows. So far, very little.

“Tell me about this man,” he says.

Julian gives him a little head-tilt. “Whatever do you mean? I’ve been telling you about him,” he says. Garak can’t tell if he’s genuinely confused or if alcohol makes him more of a little shit than usual. It’s certainly making himself more impatient.

“I mean that I don’t know who this man is, and if you’ll excuse my bluntness, I would like to know,” he says shortly.

Understanding seems to dawn in Julian’s eyes. “Oops.” Scale-less arms wrap around his neck and he pulls himself up and before he’s got a chance to think bad idea bad idea bad idea soft lips are on his and suddenly all he can think is OH! and Julian’s kissing him harder and maybe the Humans were on to something with their kissing because dear god it’s so good and he leans closer and Julian hums against him and

crash

He’s on the floor, rubbing at his shoulder, at the place where Garak shoved him away. “Garak-”

“Out.”

His eyes widen. “Garak, I’m so sorry,” he says, but his words are slurred and bad idea bad idea bad idea is rushing through and he gets up off the couch ( my dear Cardassia what have I done ) and picks Julian up and goes for the door ( damage control damage control ).

“No- Garak- wait- no don’t leave me I’m sorry we can talk about it-” the door slides open with that same mechanical beep-whoosh as he approaches- “Garak, please- you can’t just leave me out here-”

“I can and I will, Doctor,” he grits out. “You’re drunk. Go home.” Bashir is set down just outside his door.

“Garak- Garak wait- no-” the door starts to slide shut again- “Elim!”

whoosh-click.

He sighs heavily, leaning against it, head in his hands.

bad idea bad idea bad idea bad idea

~~

The pieces of the kanar bottle are sharp as he picks them up off the floor. Julian’s momentum had knocked it against the opposite wall, shattering it, breaking it beyond repair just as surely as he’d broken any semblance of camaraderie between them, and now they lie glimmering in the window's meagre light. He can’t simply leave the pieces on the floor, jagged and dangerous- can’t keep seeing Bashir, all of our usual engagements will have to go, and then some- and so he picks them up, slowly, even though they slide against his palm when he closes it around them, edges breaking skin when he shifts the wrong way ( it’ll hurt, yes, but I can deal with it, I can deal with it, I’ll have to deal with it ).  He can’t feel it, can’t feel much over the roaring in his head- Tain’s voice, of course it’s Tain’s voice, it’s always Tain’s voice- you knew this would happen, it’s your fault, you knew you shouldn’t have gotten closer to him don’t be so selfish now look what you’ve done. He’s gone and deluded himself into wanting someone like you and he’ll never have happiness and it’s your fault your fault your

There’s a sharp pain and the feeling of cold blood trickling down his hand. The glass piece slides out of his grip and lands on the carpet, dripping in the stuff and staining the carpet.

He huffs. Control, Elim. Control is the key. The memories seem to dissipate as he shakes his head, along with Tain’s admonishments.

There’s a knock at his door. Doctor Bashir. He’s the only person who actually knocks, like the Humans used to in the old days before automated doors. He’s also the only person who’d want to come see him in his quarters. “I’m not here!” Garak calls.

There’s a thump that sounds suspiciously like a human fist hitting the door in frustration, a groan, and then Bashir calls, “Let me in, Garak! I just want to talk!”

Unfortunately for the doctor, talking is the last thing he wants to do. Bashir keeps yelling, desperation seeping into his voice, but he simply turns and continues picking up more pieces of the glass bottle. There’s a flash of pain and then cold blood dripping from a fresh cut ( go talk to him, what the fuck are you doing, he wants you, go out there and just take him ) and he shakes his head, sighing, but he tips the piece into the bag he’s using to hold them all because he can’t just leave them on the floor ( the fuck do you mean just go out there and take him you can’t do that you’d destroy him, you know it, you and all your secrets and your cruelty would crush his bright-eyed smile ) and it’s always the harsher voices that are loudest but this one’s right. He can’t give in to the man outside his door, has to not be selfish for once in his entire bloodstained life and so he just keeps going, collecting cuts as he handles the edges of what used to be a beautiful, whole bottle and grits his teeth against the sting.

Eventually, footsteps sound, padding away from his door, and he sighs and slumps against the edge of the coffee table. It digs into his back scales uncomfortably, but he can't bring himself to move.

...

hooray! tumblr didn't kill my formatting (i think)! part two will be up soon, i pinky promise i'll deliver this time i swear it. comments fuel my soul and my writing if you reblog i am legally required to love you forever same goes for comments x

[chanchanchanko]

im so fucking mad at the great pretender ending there are so many problems???? anyways gp spoilers ahead

those assholes fucking BROKE him as a human being and at the end theyre just like aha we got u ;) confidence mans ;))))

hoenstly there is just too much to say but like ill start with the overarching problem of both seasons which is that they keep repeating the same tropes and same twists, which is like... fine i guess if they did something with it? if the cyclical patterns had a point or some kind of build up for character development? but no it has no bearing on Makoto or even Laurent as people which is GARBAGE give me a crumb of character development or tangible stakes PLEASE

on that note, would have loved to see a story where damage begets damage and trauma is taken a little more seriously. what really gets my goat is that there was so much potential for like the motif of cycles/generations of damage begetting damage and i kept hoping for it because they recycled the same tropes and scenarios so much that it felt pointed

i know its supposed to be a fun/goofy series but i wish they had the balls to go dark like. i would have loved to see an ending where laurent is treated like the asshole/complicated human he is? or idk a story that reckons with the fact that makoto is so broken that he runs a human trafficking ring ??? 

also kinda wish abby stood up for makoto more because their friendship fuels me and it sucks that she stood by and watched team confidence absolutely fuck him over

if i had to distill my grievances into a single point i think itd be that they totally sacrificed the characters for the sake of ~conning~ the audience which felt kinda belittling. like in some way it felt very, aesthetics over content in that it quite literally looked beautiful and had a really interesting vibe but idk you cant rely on the ~vibes~ to carry the story?? case in point bringing back the old villains in the finale. the weird thing about that was, in season 1, they had to be unsympathetic and evil enough for the con against them to feel morally acceptable, but then they just bring them back like nothing? like the vibes of the show suggest that theyre scooby doo villains and theyre pretty harmless but for season 1 to make sense they had to be Evil so idk. 

the high point of season 2 is the relationship between makoto and akemi tbh, its the only thing that felt tangible and also lol akemi (and maybe abby) feel like the only 2 who actually give a shit about makoto

also dorothy is a gem of a character shes so cute

anyways makoto deserves better abby deserves better dorothy deserves better season 1 deserves a better sequel fuck laurent thierry all my homies hate laurent thierry 

[husbandograveyard]

The drunk prompt, 15 I believe, and Zoro, pretty please? :) Congrats on 300, Love!

Breaking the cycle of endless Law fics with your other babe! I hope you enjoy some drunk ramblings with our favorite swordsman my love!! Sending you many many many fluffy hugs! 

Cliche with bae event Prompt #15: Drunken confessions  Character: Zoro Word Count: 1.6k  Warnings: mentions of alcohol, drunkness, and some swearing. 

Contest & Habits - Zoro x Reader 

“Ten each!” Nami counted enthusiastically. You put your mug down roughly, wiping your mouth. At this point, you were barely registering the taste of the booze anymore, that stopped after mug number three. You were getting a little lightheaded, and you were starting to doubt this whole ordeal. Who had even proposed a drinking contest? Oh right, you did.

The green-haired man in front of you grinned. “Already ready to give up y/n? I am disappointed in you, but that’s okay, I knew you wouldn’t be able to defeat m-” “Fuck of Roronoa”, you interrupted him, before chugging another mug, and smugly stating: “you’re one behind”. The crew hollered at your remark, and Zoro could only respond by angrily chugging another mug as well. Like hell was he going to lose.

It had started off as a normal party. A normal banquet. You were close to reaching the next island, where no real adventure was planned, just to stock up on supplies and food. And Sanji wanted to make sure no food was wasted, so all the leftovers were turned into the most beautiful banquet you had laid eyes upon, and a barrel of booze was opened. You had made a remark amongst the lines of the barrel not being enough for you, and Zoro with his big mouth had said you probably wouldn’t even be able to get through one third on your own.

That was something you had taken as a challenge. Yes, you were the one that had proposed the drinking contest you were now slowly starting to regret. But you were way more stubborn than you were tipsy and you were not going to give up. You wanted to prove this moss head for once and for all that you were just as good a drinker. Even in your buzzed state, you realized that was terrible motivation, but sometimes sheer spite was enough to keep you going.

And thus, you kept drinking, now over fifteen mugs in, and while the barrel was getting more and more empty, and your head was buzzing more and more, but neither of you was ready to back down yet. Sanji had tried to intervene multiple times, saying a lady like you was already miles above Zoro in any way, and that you shouldn’t hurt your body with so much alcohol, but you didn’t pay any attention to it. Your focus was on Zoro, and trying to keep your thoughts straight.

“Guys. The barrel is finished. There are no drinks left… So I guess you’re even?” Usopp announced with an insecure smile. “Nonsense, I am still way more sober than Zoro is!” Your words were definitely slurred and you tried to stand up but needed two attempts -”a wave hit the sunny, no fair” “y/n we’re in still waters”-. Zoro immediately retorted: “Look at you, you can barely stand! No way you won y/n. Don’t think you could ever defeat me”

You stumbled forward, poking an accusatory finger at his chest. “Nu-uh. I am standing here. And I am….” You trailed off, as your eyes were too focussed on his pectorals where you placed your finger and the places where beer had spilled over his white shirt, clinging even more to his muscled torso. You blinked. You tried to rearrange your thoughts.

“You are drunk y/n”, Zoro grabbed the hand that was now resting on his chest as you were staring at him, pretty creepily at that. “Well, you are drunk too” was the best retort you could come up with, and before you knew you were flying.

At least that is what it felt like. Zoro had wrapped his hand around your arm and swiftly used his other hand to pick you up and sling you over his shoulder, using the fact that you were a little wobbly on your feet against you. He was not entirely sober anymore either, otherwise, he definitely wouldn’t have offered the others to take you to your room and make sure you were in bed so you could sleep off the haziness and hopefully be not too hungover the next day.

You wanted to loudly protest, but the sudden movement made you a little nauseous, so you settled for slapping his back. Strong as he was, Zoro didn’t even react, to him, it probably felt like a massage or something. “Hold still y/n” Of course, that only made you move more.

It took Zoro only three attempts to find the correct room. Which was not that bad, considering his clearly intoxicated state. He kind of inelegantly dropped you on the bed, looking around, searching for a bottle or something so he could leave some water behind. “Oi stupid moss head, why’d you carry me to my room?” “I’m not a moss head” “That was not my question.” “What was your question?”

You stared at him for a bit. This conversation of drunken nonsense was leading you nowhere. And you had to focus so hard to not get distracted again. Mind you, it was already hard for you not to stare at the man whenever you hadn’t touched a single drop of alcohol. But for your intoxicated mind it was even harder to tear your eyes away from him. It wasn’t your fault that he was so fine-looking. Too bad he was too stubborn. And to rude. And always got lost. And always stuck up for you. And was really nice when he needed it, just in his own blunt way. And actually kind of funny. And oh, when he smiled…

Wait. What was your drunken brain trying to do? Well, nothing more than what your sober subconscious brain had been trying to scream at you for months. But you had been way too stubborn to actually do something about it. Besides, Zoro seemed to only be interested in training, sleeping, and drinking, so like hell were you going to embarrass yourself by having feelings for him or something stupid like that. But now the nagging voice in the back of your head had gained power through the alcohol, and you had to physically stop yourself from actually saying something stupid.

“I don’t know anymore. Maybe I should just go to sleep.” You were ready to give up the fight. The useless bickering wasn’t even fun when you were drunk and Zoro looked like he could use a nap too. You nodded at him. “Thanks for carrying me here I guess. Even though you didn’t have to” “Yeah” He sheepishly nodded back, not really sure why he had done it either. But here you were. Both drunk off your asses, admiring each other's beauty and ready for naps.

Because Zoro had been staring at you too. You could mistake his frown for confusion, maybe he was thinking, probably not, when did he ever really think about things, but he was staring nonetheless. Frowning a little, and you were starting to feel terribly insecure. “Yeah, I’ll leave”, he suddenly broke his stare away from you and simultaneously spoke up. He stepped a little closer to the bed, you were not entirely sure why, surely his inner compass couldn’t be that bad that he didn’t realize the door was behind him? “Goodnight Zoro” “Goodnight Y/n,” he suddenly leaned forward and kissed the top of your head, something you had seen him do to chopper whenever he thought no one could see him and the little reindeer lay on top of him for a shared nap, “I love you, sleep tight.” He said is all so smoothly, out of such a habit, the words didn’t even get through to your brain before you realized what he had said.

“I’m sorry what?” your cheeks were burning up from the alcohol already, but now you were sure you were red all the way to your shoulders. Zoro did not seem to realize yet what exactly he had done until he was about to repeat his words. “Oh shit” You giggled. He didn’t even try to take his words back, and in your hazy state, your mouth made words before your mind could even process what you were about to do. “It’s okay, I kind of love you too moss head”

He didn’t even say something about the hated nickname as he stared at you again. For an outsider, the whole situation must’ve been hilarious, the two of you slurring words and having very slow movements as you were confessing your feelings while both your brains were desperately trying to make either of you stop.

“How about we repeat that in the morning? Making sure your little challenge didn’t mess with your head?” You nodded in agreement, sleeping seemed like a great idea regardless of what you just said.

You crawled under the covers, ready to say something to Zoro, but before you could even open your mouth, he had crawled in the bed beside you. The bed was too small for people and you ended up all pressed up against him, even more flush after he wrapped his arms around you, already closing his eyes and mumbling ‘perfect’ before you could even think about protesting.

It wasn’t ideal and you were pretty sure hungover you in the morning would be angry for sleeping with Zoro in your bed with your dirty day clothes on and all, but for now, this felt like heaven and the best plan ever. You almost regretted not napping with Zoro earlier, confessions or not. You looked up at his sleeping face and lazily placed a kiss on his lips.

“Then tomorrow I’ll tell you I love you for real.”

[wildcrisis]

The Detriment of a Pro-Hero Society

Also known as: Kids are kind of being brainwashed into being heroes, let’s look into that.

Dedicated to @deafmic for getting me back into this bullshit and inspiring me to finish something I had started noting out about two years ago. By now, I’m sure much of this has been said over time by various people, and it makes me happy to know that there are others out there who like to look deep into the background culture and settings of their favorite manga!

I apologize in advance if you notice an idea of yours here; I haven’t been active in the fandom in two-ish-years, so I may be restating some things you guys already have. I consider this rambling analysis to be free to use and abuse by anyone, no credit necessary! I only get a little bit of time on the weekends to really be on my PC, so if you send me an ask or reply to this, it may take me some time to reply back!

Anywho, onto this mess I’ve made. It’s not very tidy and is more a collection of thoughts than a properly detailed analysis, but I ain’t got all day. Again, this is messy but I don’t really have the energy to make it nice and neat.

Looking for something in specific? You might wanna ctrl+f around these titles, because this is very long and rambling.

Part I: The Beginning of Quirks and their Effect on Society Part II: What Makes a Villain Part III: M O N E Y and F A M E Part IV: Brainwashed Part V: Ignoring Those Who Need Help Part VI: Cycle/Conclusion

Part I: The Beginning of Quirks and their Effect on Society

So, we know through the manga that, as quirks first began to evolve and more and more people obtained them, the world was thrown into chaos. People had obtained power, and power is as power does, and it corrupts.

As people began using their quirks for evil deeds that broke the law, law enforcement around the world was essentially powerless. After all, during the birth of the quirk age, quirks were the minority. The powerful minority. Against that, men with tasers, batons, and guns hardly stood a chance.

However, just as the rise of quirks gave birth to people who would use that power for misdeeds, so did it bring life to those who had the inherent desire to protect others. The beginning of the age of vigilantes, which would lead to the age of Pro Heroes.

Obviously, All for One was very relevant during this time, but we’re not here to talk about him. For once. We’re here to talk about society as a whole.

The world order was too chaotic. We are aware of this due to the monologues of certain characters, and I assume we’ll be learning more as more of the former carriers of One for All become present in Deku. In this beginning, it wasn’t so much “heroes” versus “villains”, more than it was law abiding citizens versus law breakers. It’s likely that precedent hadn’t yet been established for “no quirk use”, as there were hardly enough people who could actually enforce such a law.

As more of society began to develop quirks, the Police Force made a decision to not use their quirks to take down law breakers. They moved to a more leadership position, and took a backseat to those who did use their quirks for good. At first, it was a hard decision to allow such things as Pro Heroes to take on law breakers who were too dangerous for someone to take down without a quirk.

But why, after all this time, have the Police and the Pro Heroes remained separate entities? Why have they never combined, and why do they remain so polarized in how they approach situations?

The answer is simple, yet multi-layered. Heroes and Villains ... they’re popular. They attract attention.

Part II: What Makes a Villain

If you assign a person the label “Villain”, you de-humanize them. They are no longer a “person”, per se, but a monster. Evil, in the eyes of most people. It’s easier, then, to accept their fate of being beaten by a Hero, and being carted off to prison.

This is an important distinction to make. If you remove the labels of Hero and Villain. If you remove their Quirks. Do people still react the same way? Do they cheer and adore the hero, as the hero beats the opponent senseless? Of course not. In a battle of man vs man, in the moment, humans don’t react in such a way.

We can understand why an adult who lived a hard life may turn to a life of crime. But, hardly to we look as to why or how they got there.

In this world where quirks have become the norm, but are constantly evolving, we must wonder; how are quirks judged? How are they defined? How are people treated, for the quirk they possess?

We have many examples of outcasts, and they possess a wide variety of quirks from “extremely destructive” to simply “strange, odd, not okay in society”.

Shigaraki and Overhaul are both examples of terrifying, destructive quirks. Is it any wonder that their lives turned out the way they did? The power of death was etched into their very DNA. We know Shigaraki’s backstory and how he became who he is today. It’s implied that Chisaki was abandoned or ran away as well.

Then, you have the more odd quirks that, on the surface don’t seem nefarious, but when explained in context, would make people feel uncomfortable. Toga, who’s quirk is to drink blood and transform into another person. Twice, who can make copies of any person and used his quirk for an evil deed. Nemoto, who can force anyone to tell the truth, and lived a life where he realized everyone was lying to him.

Even Shinsou Hitoshi, desperate to become a hero, was put down for what his quirk DOES. Brainwashing. That’s a “villain’s quirk”. Fellow children said that to him so casually, and behaved as if they were terrified of him!

Eri, with her quirk that made her father disappear from existence itself ... Had she not been rescued from Overhaul, what would have become of her? Forced to believe her entire existence was a curse, told that she does nothing but harm people -- as she grew older and gained control of her power, would anyone honestly think she would have led a life of goodness, considering how she was raised?

How many people labeled Villains are currently in prison, because they were treated like outcasts from the moment they developed a terrifying quirk? Was there anyone there to help them figure their way through this world, considering what they’d been born with? Are there services for people who have trouble controlling their quirks, which are truly destructive? Even with laws in place saying that you can’t use your quirk publicly, just LIVING with that knowledge that you were born ... with a scary quirk ... a villain’s quirk ... How people treat you because of that, how you look, what your quirk can do -- do you ever have any friends? Any real friends, that aren’t just people who are scared of you?

Is it any wonder, that people like this turn out to be “villains”? Society is GROOMING THEM to BE VILLAINS, simply for who and what they are and are born with.

Part III: M O N E Y and F A M E

Throwing oneself into harms way sure is a dangerous move, that most people would never bother doing. How, then, do you entice more people to become heroes and take on the villains that are popping up all around for obvious reasons?

You make your Heroes popular. You make sure they look stylish. They have cool attitudes. You make them popular among the children. After all, getting fellow adults in on the Pro-Hero train is good and all, but much like a pro-athlete, one can likely only do Hero work for a certain span of time before their body is unable to take the strain. Maybe say, ages 18-40?

Besides, with more and more people being born every day with quirks, the number of people who turn to villainous activity will grow, right? Especially if you’re not actively helping people manage their quirks, because hey, they’re not allowed to use them publicly so what does it matter?

Kids. Kids will watch heroes on TV, and see it just like any other super-hero show or cartoon. They’ll buy the merchandise. People will begin to hemorrhage money over these heroes, because they’re flashy. They’re kind. They save lives.

Now, not to say that Heroes are just there for the paycheck -- not at all. Many people become heroes simply because they do love to help people. Some become heroes because they want to stop bad guys. Sure, there are some who do it to maybe someday live an easier life, or because it pays really well and they have family to support. But, I do believe that most people go into the Pro Hero business with good intentions.

THIS, is part of the reason that Pro Heroes have remained separate from law enforcement. They are now a business. A very wealthy business. It’s not just hero agencies that make money off of the Pro Hero business. It’s toy manufacturers. Comic book stores. Prisons. Hospitals. Roots of Pro Hero society reach into nearly every type of business that there is, whether directly or indirectly.

Nobody wants that money to disappear by folding Heroes back into the police force. No, they want MORE heroes. More heroes, and more people for the heroes to fight.

tldr: heroes = $$$, so keep ‘em coming

Part IV: Brainwashed

There are a lot of factors that go into making society as a whole okay with something. It takes a lot of time, for one. It takes powerful, well spoken people. It takes lots of media attention. Before you know it, everyone is eating up the same exact thing quite willingly ... and it spreads to the next generation. And the next. After that happens, its something that is well integrated into society, like a freckle that’s always been on your arm -- its just “always been that way”.

I’ve mentioned several times that its odd for people to be so okay with one person beating another person senseless. Again, we know that its considered acceptable, because of the labels we’ve put on these individuals based on their actions: Heroes and Villains.

What I wonder is: How long have people been okay with this? Do they not realize that, in a way, this is history repeating itself?

We know why people don’t dig deeper into this. Pro Heroes are popular and people love them. The media has hand fed the Hero lifestyle to children for some time now. There are schools, MORE THAN ONE SCHOOL, that teach your child how to become a pro hero.

Think about that. It’s not just some extra-curricular activity, like sports. These are schools, designed to take in freshly graduated MIDDLE-SCHOOLERS who have not finished their regularly schooling education, who still have growing bodies and minds, and ... crafts them into perfect pro-heroes. AND PARENTS ARE OKAY WITH THIS -- SOMETIMES EVEN MORE THAN OKAY WITH IT.

These schools send young teenagers onto the streets under a pro-heroes wing to witness and be a part of fighting crime. Not organized crime, like a ring of bad guys or something, but ... random crime. Disasters. From a young age, they may encounter situations with actual dead people. Their training is dangerous. Their powers can be dangerous. One wrong move, and a student, someone you worked alongside, had lunch with everyday, is just ... gone.

There exists a police force in society. There are already pro-heroes. Why, then, is society okay with multiple schools that are practically breeding child soldiers? They are teaching kids everything about how to kick ass, how to take down these terrifying people, how to fight, how to save lives ...

Why is no one looking into why villains exist in the first place? Are these kids ever taught de-escalation tactics? To talk their opponents down? Not everyone out there is using their quirk to be evil for the sake of being evil. There’s always a reason, a purpose.

Part V: Ignoring Those Who Need Help

Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.

Hey, Star Wars had some good points!

I’ve discussed before what makes a villain. People who are afraid of what they’re capable of. People who society has turned their back on. People who desperately need help, but there is no one out there willing to give it.

These people will always find each other in the shadows. They begin, at a young age, being terrified of what they are. What they’ve done. What they can do. Maybe they’ve been kicked out of their families. Maybe they’ve killed before, completely on accident.

The average person turns their back on people like this.

These people begin their lives terrified. Constantly being told that their quirks, their past, their family, what ever it is, will make them end up a bad person. Or, maybe they tell them they’re already a bad person. That fears breeds anger and hate. Hate for this society that would rather see them burn, than offer them any help.

A young boy grows up into a man. He had a potentially devastating quirk that he never really got a good hold on, because he was never allowed to practice with it. Everyone is too scared to let him try. Then, one day, something happens -- completely by accident. He causes a scene. A massacre. He hurts people.

Parents are excited to see which of their quirks their baby displays. Instead of being one or the other, or even a fusion of both, the unthinkable occurs. Its a mutation. The toddler hurts a sibling, a parent, a friend. Terrified, the parents abandon the child, for fear of losing their entire family.

A child is told, over and over, that his quirk will never be good for anything other than being evil. This knowledge rests heavy on his shoulders, its repeated to him yearly as he grows. Then, when he acts on what everyone has TOLD HIM FOR YEARS HE WILL DO, they are surprised. As if they hadn’t imprinted the very notion into his mind.

In a way, Overhaul was right about one thing. Hero society is a disease. People look forward to watching Heroes take down Villains and save the day. They don’t think at all about why these people are villains, how they got there, where they came from. They will never admit to potentially being the reason villains exist in the first place.

Part VI: Cycle/Conclusion

Wow, I have rambled a lot. I don’t think I hit every point that I’ve ever thought of for sure. There’s ... a lot of them. And a lot of comparisons I wanted to make to other superhero anime, specifically Tiger and Bunny, which I believe does an excellent job of showing the ups and downs of hero societies.

What I wanted to make clear in all this rambling mess (which, if you read all of it, I am SO SO SORRY), is that the very existence of Pro Heroes and Villains exist solely because of a few factors that exist in a cycle.

Pro Heroes = $$$ -> Schools for more heroes -> ignoring quirk-related-problems -> more villains -> pro heroes beat up villains -> pro heroes =$$$ etc

There is someone, or some organization, that sits above all of this. There has to be. There has to be some more logical explanation as to why this type of Hero v Villain culture has been allowed to exist all of this time, and things have not drifted more back in the direction of police vs lawbreakers. There has to be a reason that its okay for heroes to be so popular. There has to be a reason that children are allowed to be groomed into becoming heroes. There has to be a reason that there isn’t more help out there for people with these types of potentially destructive quirks.

There has to be reasons.

There has to be reasons for how the Hero Commission moves. There has to be reasons for how the police move. There has to be a reason that society is still allowed to go on like this, and that its become culturally acceptable.

If anyone out there can put all my rambling into clearer words and actively wants to, I would love that. Thank you for taking the time to read my mess!

xoxo Wild