#i've had them since i was like 9 and they have grown!!!! so!!!!!!!!!! much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[gyeomsweetgyeom]

The Return of Superman- Mark

(cw: f!reader called “mama”, a child duh)

Mark had spent a good few decades with a lot of his life documented on cameras. There were music videos, behind the scenes vlogs, cameras, talk shows, selfies, you name it- he did it. There was however, one area of his life that wasn't show or documented for the public. That was you, your marriage, and his son.

There had of course been the announcement on SM's end about Mark being in a relationship, then there was SM the announcement five years later about the two of you being married paired with a post from Mark with a wedding picture of the two of you where your face wasn't seen, and then the last announcement 3 years ago announcing the birth of his son.

Mark completely understood and agreed with your apprehension to show aspects of your life to the public, especially regarding your son. There was the occasional post with you and you can recall the uproar it caused across social media when Mark finally posted your full face on his public account. It was complete madness. People had managed to track down your place of work and even found other pictures of you from your friend's account. You had reason to be apprehensive regarding the privacy of you family.

However, as your son got older, you and Mark got more comfortable sharing more and more about your life, still being mindful of your privacy. So when Mark's managers called and mentioned his own episode on The Return of Superman, you had both discussed it and cautiously agreed with a few conditions. Conditions that were met with no argument since Mark was such a big celebrity to lock in.

--

Mark was sitting in the confessional, the familiar black curtain behind him as he introduced himself to the camera, "uh yeah, hi. My name is Mark Lee, I've been a member of NCT since 2016. My wife and I have been married for almost 9 years and our son is 3 years old."

He pauses as he listens to a producer as a question. He chuckles and shakes his head, "My son and I spend a lot of time together, but loves his mom. I try to take him out for some father and son bonding, but he cries for mom after an hour, when he play together he always involves her. It's great, I obviously love her too, but I think these few days the two of us will be kind of rough."

The scene cuts to the cameras panning over the space of yours and Mark's home as the commentators laugh and predict what they think will happen.

Mark is shown sitting up in bed, rubbing his eyes tiredly before putting on his glasses and heading for his son's room. You had left the night before for a much needed girl's weekend with friends. You waited until your son was gone, peppering his chubby cheeks with kisses as he slept in his toddler bed before sneaking out of the room and bidding Mark goodbye with his own barrage of kisses and watery eyes. You knew Mark would be fine alone. He was a good dad and his confidence had skyrocketed once his son had grown out of the shaky steps phase.

"Wow, that is such a cool boy room!" One of the commentators marveled as the camera in Mark's son’s room showed the room covered in Spider-man. He had Spider-man sheets, blankets, wall stickers, toys, books- everything.

Mark smiled softly at the sight of his son sprawled across his little bed, still deeply asleep. Mark made his way to the kitchen and began making breakfast. He turned on the rice maker and began cracking eggs into the pan, watching tiredly as they turned from translucent to white.

One commentator cleared her throat, "this is interesting. Isn't it well-known that Mark can't cook eggs? I wonder if he's gotten better or his son likes them?"

The scene shows Mark and his son sitting at the dining table, his son blinking slowly and using both his hands to keep his head up. Mark laughs softly, scooping up a spoonful of rice and fried egg to feed his son. Usually, he'd be able to feed himself but this morning he's just too sleepy and Mark admittedly likes babying him. He is still a baby.

His son tiredly chews, his eyebrows furrowing and his face falling into one of confusion. He opens his eyes fully as he leans away from the next spoonful of food heading for him. "What's that?" his little voice asks as his finger points at the egg.

"It's eggs and rice, bub. Say ah," Mark instructs.

"Mama made it?" his son asks while turning his cheek away from the spoon.

"No, I made it," Mark replies, deciding to instead take the bite of food for himself.

His son scrunches his face up and takes the fried egg from his bowl and places it into Mark's, "yucky, Appa. No thank you!"

Mark tilts his head back with a roll of his eyes as the commentators laugh and compliment his son's good manners despite him calling the egg 'yucky.'

The scene cuts to Mark and his son standing in the entryway of your home, putting on their shoes. As Mark opens the door, his son freezes, "is Mama sick?"

Mark is hesitant to respond, "no, Mama isn't here. Remember it's going to be just me and you until tomorrow night?"

He can hear the familiar catch of his son's breath as he nervously looks up at Mark, "she's ok? She's coming tomorrow?"

Mark feels his heart melt, and the commentators all aww and coo over how cute the 3 year old is. Mark crouches down in front of him, picking him up and hosting him onto his hip, "of course she's coming back. Come on, we're going to go ride bikes at the park and get dinner with uncles later. Does that sound fun?"

His son sniffles and nods, "and ice cream?"

Mark laughs, "yes, and ice cream."

--

The camera crew follows Mark and his son around the park, watching as Mark teaches the boy to pedal and steer the bike. He eventually gets the hang of it and begins riding around on his own with a big smile. His little laughs and giggles fill the air as he zooms in every direction much faster than Mark or any of the cameramen expected, especially the cameraman tasked with following the boy around with his heavy camera.

It's all going well, no tears, no complaints, not even a mention of you, until the tricycle comes to an abrupt stop and turns when it gets too close to the edge of the grass. Mark sprints over the second he sees the tricycle teeter over and makes it to his son before the tears start.

He keeps calm as he looks his son over for any wounds, finding none and immediately being filled with relief. His son must have just gotten scared from the fall. Nonetheless Mark holds him close and rocks him as he cries into Mark's t-shirt.

"I want Mama," his son cries.

"I know buddy, I'm sorry. Does it hurt anywhere?"

His son continues to cry and shakes his head, his sobs turning into sniffles as he calms down. Mark pushes the hair away from his son's forehead and presses a long kiss to the sweaty skin, "you are being so brave, bub. I know it was scary, huh? I am so proud of you."

"And Mama too?" his son asks with watery eyes.

"Yes, and Mama too. You can tell her all about it when she comes home tomorrow. You can tell her that you heal fast like Spider-man."

His son perks up and his eyes brighten, "like Spider-man?"

Mark nods and stands, with his son in one arm and the tricycle in the other, "Oh yeah, big guy. Just like Spider-man, whenever he gets scared he keeps going, right?"

This sets his son off on his little tangent about Spider-man fighting the Green Goblin, then Doc Oc, and how he uses his webs and how the bad guy loses and Spider-man always wins.

The scene cuts to Mark in the confessional, "I really have enjoyed my time on the show, but I may be worse than my son. If you have me back, can she stay too? Please."

[cy-cyborg]

Tips for Writing and Drawing Amputees: Bandaged Stumps

When writing and drawing amputee characters, unless your character only just lost their limb, they don't need to wear a bandage over their stumps.

to be clear, eda's depiction in the show was fine, since she'd only just lost her arm and went (presumably) without any medical attention, but because the show didn't have much time to show her afterwards, I've noticed a tendency of the fandom to draw her wearing the bandage permanently, so that's why I'm picking on her for my example lol.

It's a bit of a trope at this point, and I think it comes from one of a few different places:

Amputees do wear bandages on their stumps, but usually only for the first 6-12 weeks post-amputation, sometimes longer if the amputation was a result of a burn. It's possible people saw this though and assumed it was permanent.

Most amputees wear a sock made of either cotton or silicone under their prosthetics to provide them with some extra padding. These socks, called liners, often stick out from the top of the prosthetic socket and could possibly be mistaken for a bandage from a distance.

Some amputees will wear compression garments for a few months to a few years after their amputations which could also be mistaken for a bandage from a distance. These garments are designed to stop swelling and reduce phantom pain, but they aren't bandages.

Stumps get cold easier because their circulation typically isn't as good as the rest of the body, so some amputees will wear socks over them even if they aren't wearing a prosthetic to keep warm, which again could be mistaken for a bandage from a distance.

This one is funny, but in my experience unfortunately, it's the most common: people think the end of an amputee's stump is just a perpetual open wound that never heals. Meaning to avoid "gore" it needs to be covered. I've met fully grown adults who believed this until I showed up to work/uni without my prosthetics or socks on.

People are uncomfortable with seeing an uncovered stump and so put bandages over it to avoid confronting their biases.

Some combination of these points.

But yeah, unless your amputee has only just lost their limb in the last few weeks, they don't need a bandage.

The ironic thing too, is that for most amputees, bandaging a stump is nearly impossible. I've been in and out of hospital since I was 1 year old and only ever met 3 nurses and no doctors/surgeons who could successfully bandage my stump in a way that the bandage would even stay on. This is because stumps are usually tapered in shape (meaning they are wider at the top, closer to the body, and thinner at the bottom), so gravity will pull the bandage off 9 times out of 10.

On a final note: it's ok to show your amputee's stump, it's not gore, there's no blood, it just looks like a regular limb that just stops early. In fact, if you are writing/creating anything for kids or that is likely to be seen by kids, I encourage you to show your amputee's stumps at least once. I used to work on a disability awareness program for kids, and I lost count of the amount of times kids were terrified of me, because they all expected my leg to be bloody and gory. For a lot of kids, I was their first real-life exposure to an amputee, meaning they'd never even heard of people like me, or they had seen an amputee on TV, but because the show went out of its way to avoid showing the person's stump, they assumed it must have been because there was "something scary at the end" that they weren't supposed to see (kids are surprisingly perceptive, they will pick up on stuff like that without you realising). And scared kids aren't good at articulating why they're scared, and would often say really mean or hurtful things to me. I knew not to take it personally and learned how to handle those situations, but not everyone is used to dealing with kids. For a new amputee (or anyone who's less confident in their disability), the kinds of things those kids would say could be absolutely confidence destroying. I never blame the kids, it's not their fault, but the whole situation could have been avoided if they had seen people like us before they had the chance to hear the wrong info. Good representation like this can be the difference between a kid crying, making throw-up sounds and calling an amputee "disgusting monsters" (all things I've had kids do/say) and them just being like "oh ok, cool."

[k9catastrophe]

A BIG list of entirely free games therians and alterhumans can get !!! This isn't like an ad for them or anything, but when i was younger i never really had games that fit my theriotypes :( so why not start now!! this is in no real order.

These are all games where you play AS the animal, most of them being semirealistic? They're all free, so they aren't super realistic sorry!!! These are all also games i find on my tablet, so im not sure if they're available on pc!!

Wildcraft: As of today, Wildcraft updates every once and awhile, usually for the Wildpass thing they do almost weekly[? i took a large break from this game, forgive me if im misremembering.] Wildcraft was made by Turbo Rocket Games in early 2018. The multiplayer servers arent as active as they used to be, but it's still fun to play with friends sometimes!! I usually play in singleplayer though!! (Also, there is a settings option to make it first person, and one to hide the buttons!)

Playable Animals: Right now there are 12 land animals: Wolf [Default], Fox [Common], Lynx, Bear, Lion [Rares], Cheetah, Horse, Eagle, Crocodile, Tiger, Gorilla, and Kangaroo! [Ledgendaries], all of which are obtainable through the chests!! There are also 9 transformations [which are more difficult to get !!]: Raccoon, Deer, Hippo, Giraffe, Gazelle, Hyena, Rhino, Parrot, and Snake! There are also 5 Sea creatures: Dolphin [default], Stingray [Rare], Shark, Seal, and Sea turtle! You can have up to eight family members for every animal, who are also customizable! [not including transformations]

Customizability: There are TONS of skins and accessories for every animal, and you can adjust the size of their body parts, making your character entirely customizable! There are also LOTS of pets!

I give it a solid 10/10!! I've loved this game since it came out!! Me and my brother @whisperrdrrop [hii] played it like the year it came out!! I highly recommend playing this one ! >w< The community also has tons of fun creepypastas, and though the only real one is 'Niddhogg,' it's super fun to just learn about them!

Wolf Tales (Home & Heart (IT MIGHT BE 'WILD ANIMAL SIM' NOW IDK)): (The icon may have changed, my ipad doesn't update icons very much!!!) As of Today, Wolf Tales has basically stopped updating from what i can see. However this doesn't take away from the fun of it!! The game was created around 2020 by Foxie Ventures. Servers are multiplayer by default, but there is a singleplayer option!

Playable Animals: There are currently only 5 animals: Wolf, Fox, Bear, Wild/Big cat, and Dragon! All are unlocked by playing through the quests, though you can use moonstones (ingame 'rare' currency) to auto-buy most of them! Your families/packs are grown through opening chests and breeding!

Customizability: There are quite a few skins for every animal, ranging in rarity. you can obtain skins through buying the 'summoning' of the animal you'd like with moonstones and getting a random skin, or buying one directly. Skins are also not changeable! Let's say you're a grey wolf, and you get the sand wolf skin. You would have to enter your den and find that skin, and switch into that one, meaning it could have a different level! There are also LOTS of pets, though i do not remember how to get them. The only way to change your character is through changing limb sizes, there are no accessories!!

I give it a nice little 9/10, as much as i love this game i don't play it too often, but it really is fun! I think i got this game when it came out, and it was really fun watching the game and the community grow and change!! When i joined, not every player had a jump button, and there was this cool feature called 'Clans' (replaced by the player clans, sadly :() where there were 5 packs that you had to either defeat the alpha of or become besties with, and you'd get a packmate of any rarity from them daily!! My bestie pack was called 'the moonrise pack' and the #1 public enemy was 'The tooth pack' or something. I definitely recommend it :3!!

Ultimate Wolf/Fox/Forest/Savanna/Dinosaur/Cat/Shark/Bird/Jungle Simulator: they made a LOT of these games. These are only the ones that are free on my tablet, but im also seeing 'ocean,' 'dog,' 'arctic,' and 'lion' simulators for a dollar, you'd have to check and see if those are free. I'm mostly focusing on the WOLF simulator here, because i do NOT want to download all of those games. There is no multiplayer option for any of them. All made by gluten free games, no idea the release dates.

Playable Animals: The animals depend on which game you get. I know forest has bears, Savanna has cheetahs, Dinosaur has T-rex, triceratops, and ankylosaurus, bird has parrots and eagles, and jungle has tigers, but these are definitely not every animal !!

Customizability: you unlock a skin for every few levels, and you can tint them, but that's about it. For every game. There's like... 8-15 for most?

I give it a 7/10. As much as i do really, really love this game and all the memories playing it, it's really not the most entertaining game out there. If you're really bored and have nothing to do, sure, go wild with it!!

Dog Sim: I just got this game and it's so silly !! Made by Turbo Rocket Games in 2016, the multiplayer servers are surprisingly still decently active! Obviously it doesn't update anymore.

Playable Animals: The only animals in these are: (you guessed it) dogs. There's a single skin that... might? be a wolf, and there's two robo dog skins. There's a total of 38 skins!

Customizability: The only thing you can customize is your breed, sorry!

Other than that, theres a LOT to play with! With 5 bosses, 25 enemy/prey creatures, 1 map, 1 den, a max level of 200, a maximum family size of 4, 20 achievements, and 30 quests, there's plenty to do!

I give it a nice 8/10, the only points taken being because the game itself isnt the highest quality, and the models arent all 10/10, but it's still a really silly game! I do recommend it :)

Cat simulator - animal life: created in 2019 by Pocket Games entertainment, i think this one is pretty cute! With active multiplayer servers!!

Playable Animals: Just kitties! silly little kitties on big adventures!!

Customizability: Lots of cute skins and accessories!!!

There are tons of quests, camp upgrades, and more included in this!!

I didn't play this one for too long, but there are some pvp servers aswell. Overall really cute game, not too buggy/laggy! 10/10 :3

Wild Cougar Sim (3D): Another game made by Turbo Rocket games before their big success that was Wildcraft, Cougar Sim was created in 2015 (I think? I'm only finding the youtube trailer, dont be afraid to correct me.) I'm not seeing an option for multiplayer unfortunately :(!

Playable Animals: Yeah, It's just Cougars! What did you expect?

Customizability: With eight skins (Must be purchased with ingame currency), 9 coat marking options (Almost like tattoos!) including a Shark, Wolf, Lizard, Scorpion, Butterfly and Bird (Phoenix?), and options to change body/limb sizes, there's actually really good customization here!

With 3 unlockable family members, 30 quests, 20 achievements, 18 enemy/prey creatures, 4 biomes, and 8 dens, there is plenty to keep yourself busy with here! That accompanied by the fact that this isn't even a bad looking game, i honestly give it a nice 10/10! Very cute game, not much lag, pretty good in terms of realism, it's pretty cool!! :)

Dragon Sim Online: Yet another game made by Turbo Rocket in 2016, i quite like this one! With semi-active multiplayer servers!!

Playable Animals: Quite a few different types of Dragons, varying in element, colour, and breeds!

Customizability: With 4 elements, 46 (VERY pretty) skins, and limb/body adjustment sliders, you can customize your dragon pretty well!

Similar to both Cougar Sim and Dog Sim, Dragon Sim has plenty to offer: 30 quests, 20 achievements, 27 enemy/prey creatures, 3 bosses, 6 islands and 4[?] dens, there's plenty there to keep you busy! another 10/10 from me :)

[luciferlightbringer]

Love in a Hopeless Place

Chapter 10

Chapter 9|Chapter 10|Chapter 11|Updated through Chapter 12

Lucifer x prostitute fem!reader Word Count: 3.6k CW: Slowburn, Angst, Prostitution, Hurt/comfort, trauma, fluff, depression, anxiety, insecurity,

Over the next couple of days, Charlie and the hotel crew started to prepare for their little "intervention" dinner with her dad. Charlie and Vaggie worked together to make up dinner while the others made sure the place was kept up, mostly Niffty.

Later that night, Charlie heard a knock on the front door. Was that him? Why didn't he just teleport in like usual? Charlie went to open the door and saw Lucifer giving his big focused smile.

"Charlie! It's so good to see you," he said enveloping his daughter in a big hug. It had been weeks since he had hugged anyone, the sting of how much he missed it had started to grow back.

"Hi Dad," Charlie said hugging her father back tightly and swinging him around. "I've missed you so much, it's been weird not having you around as much."

Lucifer tightened his grip on Charlie as they hugged, "I'm- sorry about that sweetie, I just... got busy. I'll try to be better about that, I promise."

Charlie loosened the hug enough to study her dad's face, it was tired and worn out, he looked like he hadn't slept in days. Lucifer tried hard to keep his facade up, but he knew his daughter was trying to read him.

"Dad... are you sure you are ok?" Charlie asked with concern.

"Yes. Why do you ask?" he said still trying to hold a smile, holding a silence but futile prayer that he could find a way to fool her into thinking he was ok.

The other members of the hotel, Angel, Husk, Niffty, Cherri, Vaggie, even Alastor started to walk in from the shadows of the hotel lobby.

"Cuz, with all due respect your highness," Husk chimed in "One, you are a bad liar, two, we actually do care about you," Husk looked over to Alastor out of the side on his eye, "well... most of us care about you, and three... we are also worried about (y/n)."

"Ya!" Angel added in, "You two were a couple of peas in a pod, she was even talkin' 'bout wantin' to move in here, den 'poof', ya both are nowhere ta be seen fa' weeks. What gives?! I thought we mattered to you guys!"

"Ya! I miss you and our girl, where is she?!" Cherri pipped in, "We loved watching you two hangin' out here togetha."

"She was a bad girl! But she was really nice! I liked when she would listen to me talk about my bugs fights!" Niffty added, holding up her knife.

Alastor sighed, "Honestly, I'm mostly here for the entertainment of your sorrow... but (y/n) was important to the growth of the hotel and it's community. Plus, she amuses me. I had grown unfortunately fond of her charms," Alastor said with a wicked smile, his comment made the room pause a moment, Lucifer glared at him.

"We miss both of you, sir, it's just not the same here without you. We just kinda feel like we've been left in the dark," Vaggie added, rubbing her arm.

Lucifer sighed, he didn't realize just how much you had meant to not just Charlie, but to the entire hotel. That you guys together had been. It was important for them to know the truth.

"Ok, ok... I'll tell you the truth... but it isn't going to be pretty," Lucifer said with shame painting his face. Lucifer went to go sit on the couch and the others came to sit around him and listen to the story. Lucifer gave an abbreviated story of the last several months of his time with you, truth that you were actually a prostitute he had hired, the story with how it all started with the conversation with Ozzie, the first appointment and the chaos and joy that cam from it, how you had helped him to connect with Charlie and the hotel again, how you supported either other through the stresses of the war with Heaven, how he protected you, how he realized he had fallen in love with you, and then the last night you were together, the blur and confusion of it all, and how finally you had banned him from being able to be scheduled with you again and how you had been told that the whole dynamic was just her acting like she cared about him. He didn't blame or try to paint you in a bad light, he was just defeated and sad.

During the story, the group went through a series of emotions, all of them now understanding why you had not able to talk about your relationship with him at all.

"Damn it! No wonder I liked her so much! She's in da same industry as me!" shouted Angel when the story was over, "She felt so kindred and I couldn't fuckin' see it. Oh, she is good."

"So... none of your relationship was real?" Charlie asked, sadly.

Lucifer shook his head, "No... no I don't think it was."

Husk shook his head, "You're wrong." Everyone looked at him. "Something here doesn't add up, Angel, Cherri, you remember our conversation with (y/n) the night before the war with heaven?" They nodded, Husk looked at Lucifer, "The only lie I have ever seen (y/n) tell you was that she was sad that night because of the war, which... she still was... but the reason she was sad before you came over to check on her was because she was sad that she could not be honest with us about your guy's relationship. We had asked her about what was up because you guys seemed more than friends, and she told us she could not talk about it. And she has tried to bluff some things about how she presents herself before when we first met her, probably all just to protect the secret you guys had. Trust me when I say, she was never fake with how much I saw she cared about you."

Lucifer shrugged, "It doesn't seem to matter though it though... in the end, she banned me."

"Why?" asked Angel, "Did she tell you? Did you ever hurt her?"

"No. Someone else at the place she works called me and told me, she was gone or... something. I don't know if I hurt her, never physically, but I was so drunk at the end of our last night together... I don't know what I did or why I got banned... and I'd never want to cross a boundary like that... she's had too many fucked up people in her life... I don't want to add to that club any more than I already had," he buried his face in his hands, "it sounds like keeping the secret was already a lot of weight on her, I didn't realize..."

"King, listen, I've been in the sex business for a long time, nothin' about this situation makes sense ta me, both from a sex worka' standpoint or from what I know about her. Did you pay her well?" Angel ask inquisitively.

Lucifer nodded, "Ya, I gave her big tips too, I wanted to to be happy and get what she needed."

"No good sex worka' in their right mind would full on ban you for one weird night, even if you did rough 'em up a bit. You told us there was some other client that had been roughin' her up a bit that you took care of. Tell me, did she ban him on the first night of havin' any issues with him?" Angel asked. Lucifer shook his head, starting to think about Angel's words.

"Right. So unless she was stupid, which I know she aint, she wouldn't've cut off probably the best paycheck in hell just because you had one sloppy drunk night where something may have gone weird. Also, on top a dat, sex worka's can be good actors and can pretend like they care. But they try not to get attached, and like Husker said earlier, she got attached, and boy it was obvious. That's probably a big reason why I didn't sus her out sooner. By da time we met her, nothin' about ya relationship was actin' anymore, on either side. Cuz you love 'er, dontcha?" Angel pointed while he leaned back on the couch.

Everyone looked at Lucifer, he nodded, "I do, I love her."

Angel nodded, "And you would do anythin' to make 'er happy, including keepin' yourself away from her if you thought it would make her happier, isn't dat right?"

Lucifer started to tear up, "Yes..." Charlie started to tear up and hugged her dad.

"Therefore... there is something fishy happenin' here, there must be some form of miscommunication, or... a third party that likes messin' with shit," Angel looked up at the ceiling thinking.

"How do you know all this?" asked Vaggie suspiciously. Angel looked over at Vaggie and have her a sly smile, "When you're life was spent in da Mafia and your afterlife was spent around shitty desperate sex worka's that are dying to get a taste of your success by any means necessary, you pick up on a few things, baby."

Charlie perked up, "You think someone at her work did this?"

Angel shrugged, "It's very possible, not 100%, but it's possible. Lucifer, did (y/n) ever talk about having any issues with other girls at her workplace?"

Lucifer thought a moment, "Hmm... she mentioned there being some annoying girls that she some sometimes needed to put in their place, but nothing this crazy hostile. But then again, she didn't like talking about the Lounge much, and I didn't like asking because I started to get more sad whenever I was reminded that I was just a client to her."

"The Lounge, like the Luxurious Lady's Lounge in the Entertainment district?" asked Angel.

"Ya... you know it?" asked Lucifer.

Angel smiled, "Know it? Ha! Sure do. I know exactly where it is too. May have even seen 'er once or twice without knowin' it"

Charlie smiled at her dad, "Dad, if we know where she is, we should just go and talk to her!"

Lucifer shook his head, "Oh. No, no, nonononono, Charlie... I can't do that."

"Why not? Dad, come on, we can try clearing all this up!" Charlie pleaded.

Lucifer sighed, "I just... until I know for sure that she didn't actually ban me, I won't want to risk that. It's just not a good idea... Plus, I don't want to attract more attention to her if she is having issues there," Lucifer hung his head.

Charlie thought for a minute, then a lightblub went off, Charlie got down to Lucifer's eye level, "Dad, she may have "banned" you for seeing her... but not me! I could go talk to her!"

"Charlie, hold on, dis is a bad idea," Angel piped up, everyone looked at him confused, "Rememba' what happened when you tried to talk to Val for me?" Charlie thought for a second remembering the disaster that was, feeling the guilt return at the memory. Angel smiled, "Obviously I need to go with you!" The room erupted into laughter, Angel almost had them for a second, even Lucifer managed to crack a smile in his down mood.

"You guys are really willing to do this for me?" he asked looking to Charlie and Angel.

Charlie looked at Angel and back to her dad, and grabbed Lucifer's hands, "Yes, for you... and for us."

Lucifer smiled, "Ok... but can we actually have dinner before you go? I was anticipating an actual dinner instead of an intervention, but I guess I should have expected both." The room filled with laughter again and the group set up for dinner before Charlie and Angel would head out to find the Lounge, and more importantly, you.

______________________________________________________________

Later that evening, you were hanging out in the lobby of the Lounge, the same way that you had the nights before Lucifer had started to take up more of your schedule. You were still getting clients, but it was back to the old torturous monotony as before, but it somehow felt worse now that you had gotten a taste of love... or what you thought had been love. Every client made you wish you were back in Lucifer's arms, wanting to explore Lucifer's body... not this shithole and all it's shitty clients.

You felt yourself grow more bitter as you saw Cynthhhhia grow back in popularity with the customers, it seemed her few days on the phones really scared her into staying in her lane, especially because Larry had apparently made her take all of the calls during those three days. Something did not sit right with you about her more recent success, but you didn't want to turn into another her. Plus, the happier she was, the more she left you alone. Guess there had to be a bright side, somewhere.

You were sitting on your favorite couch in a long, blue, shear, flowy robe, when you saw a tall pair of individuals walk into the lobby. But not just any two tall people, two that you recognized, Angel and Charlie. You eyes went wide, and you quickly slinked off to the dressing room to hide.

'What the hell? What are they doing there?!' you thought to yourself. You hoped they hadn't seen you, even though your time with Lucifer was up, you still wanted to keep his secret about the two of you.

Charlie and Angel walked up to the front counter where Larry was standing he did a double-take seeing both of them.

"Whoooaaa, Princess Morningstar! And the famous Angel Dust! What an honor to have you two in to join us this evening. Are we interested in having a little fun tonight? I am surprised, I didn't think one of Val's best boys would be needin' to pay for fun. Unless... you are looking for a change in employment?" He flashed a sharp smile.

Charlie piped up, "Hi! Uhh, Charlie is just fine. And no, neither of those things. We are here looking for one of your girls, (y/n)."

"Is she here tonight?" Angel added.

"Uhh... ya. What business do you have with her?" Larry asked, wondering how they knew her.

"She's a friend ah mine," Angel chimed in, "She's mean MIA for a few weeks and we have been worried about 'er, we were wantin' to check in on her. Charlie has gotten to know her a little too and wanted to come with."

"Can we pleaseee see her?" Charlie pleaded.

Larry thought for a moment, "I don't know, she is still on the clock for several more hours. I can't just let her off early." Charlie and Angel look at each other and nod, Charlie pulls out an bunch of cash, "Will this cover her for the rest of the night." Larry smiled as the amount of money in her hands, it was more than enough.

"I do believe that will work Ms. Mornin- uhh, Charlie," Larry said taking the cash, "Let me go get her." Charlie is glad that she learned that in some situations like this, money talked more than words or power. She came more prepared than she had with her conversation with Valentino over getting more of Angel's time.

Larry searched around before finding you in the dressing room, "Hey Babydoll, you've been bought out for the rest of the night by some friends of yours, Angel Dust and Charlie Morningstar. I didn't know you knew them." He said giving you a look.

They bought you out for the rest of the night? Did they come here specifically to find you? How did they know you were here? Did... did Lucifer tell them? You felt some fear and hope bloom in your chest.

"Oh, haha ya, you know me, I'm just not one to talk about my personal life at work," you gave Larry a big smile. He laughed, "Alright, keep your secrets, sounds like they wanted to talk to you about something, worried about you. Go show 'em a good time tonight, ok?" You nodded, and quickly switching out to a more solid less see-through robe, before walking out to the lobby.

Angel and Charlie saw you coming, Charlie ran to you but you stopped her short of you, "Not here, come with me," and you led your friends up to you apartment. Once you were inside you room and the door was locked, you said "Ok now you can hug me if you want to."

This time, both Charlie and Angel want to embrace you at the same time, starting to tear up a little.

"Oh my god, (y/n)! It's so good to see you! We were so worried about you!" Charlie asked.

"Ya! When you and Lucifer stopped showing up at the hotel to visit, we started worrying, babe," Angel added.

"Wait... hold up, Lucifer stopped showing up to the hotel? How did you know I was here?" you asked.

"We sat my Dad down and he finally broke and told us the truth about everything," Charlie said.

"Ya, he spilled da beans on your guy's relationship, you don't have to keep his secret from us anymore," Angel added.

Tears started to well up in your eyes, "I don't?!" The two nodded. You started to sob and hugged them back. "I- I'm so sorry, I- I didn't want to lie to anyone but he wanted to keep it discreet, which I understand, he is the King! And it was so confusing, and then, one night he got really drunk one night, and it worried me, he wasn't acting like himself, and told me he loved me, but, but I didn't know if I could believe him. And he was getting all touchy and doe eyed, and I didn't know what was really what he wanted because it was all so sudden. So I ran! I ran because I was so scared, and- and- and-" Charlie and Angel both hugged you and tried to shushed you through your crying.

"It's ok, no one is mad at you. That sounds like a hard position to be in, it sounds like there was a lot of confusion on both sides," Charlie said.

"Confusion?" you sniffled, "Is that why he hasn't called to schedule with me again?"

Charlie and Angel looked at each other then back to you, "You didn't ban him then?"

You blinked, "WHAT?! Why on earth would anyone think I blocked him?! No! I freaked out and went on a trip for a few days to clear my head. I came back and I was told that he said he would call to reschedule, and then he just never did! I thought he hated me!"

"No!" Charlie cried, "No, Oh my god, he is a total wreck without you! He misses you like crazy! He thinks he was put on your "No Kiss List" or something"

"We can't even say your name without him shuttin' down and lookin' like we killed his dog or somethin'," Angel added, Charlie gave him a look, "What?! It's true!"

You sat down on the couch and stared out for a minute, thinking, "Why didn't he come to ask me himself?"

Charlie shrugged, "He doesn't remember what happened that night, he is convinced that he hurt you terribly and that it's why you banned him. He didn't want to hurt you so he respected that wish. We tried to get him to come tonight but he was scared in case you really had banned him."

You thought for a few more moments, who could have caused this? Who would have done this to you both. Your eyes widened. No, could this have been... did Cynthhhhia do this? Would she have been the one to make the calls that day since that was her punishment. You were pretty sure, but you didn't want to act without proof. You clenched your fists, starting to fill with rage.

"Is he at the hotel?" They nodded. You thought again, "Can you take me to him?" They nodded again with more excitement.

"I have just one question for you, before we go," Charlie started, looking into your eyes, "Tell me truthfully, do you actually care about my dad, not just for an income, but as a person?"

You took Charlie's hands in your own, "Charlie, I really do... more than anything... in fact... I'm pretty sure I'm in love with him." Charlie and Angel squealed and jumped up and down.

"That's all I needed to hear, let's do this!" Charlie declared.

You took a few minutes to get dressed, and soon you were off to see Lucifer again. Cynthhhhia eyed you a little as you left, wondering what you were doing with the most famous porn star in the Pride Ring and the Princess of Hell. She rolled her eyes and went back to chatting it up with her next client out it the lobby, it was probably nothing of substance, and she already had big enough fish to fry to keep her focused on herself. Although, she did briefly amuse herself with the idea of seducing the Princess' father, oh how wonderful a dream that would be, but she knew better than to put more thought into that. Why would the King of Hell ever need a prostitute? She laughed to herself.

You, on the other hand, were so full of fear and excitement at the idea of seeing actually Lucifer again, it felt like a dream and you were scared to wake up. But if Charlie and Angel's reaction was any indication of anything, maybe Brooklyn had been right after all.

______________________________________________________________

Thank you for putting up with torment! I made sure to get through this one quickier so that there was a return of hope. Next chapter they will finally talk in out, and then... a certain someone may see justice 😈

As usual, leave a comment if you want added to the taglist so that you can get notifications when future chapters drop! xoxo, dany (OMG there are so many of you!😍 Please let me know if the tag isn't working for you) Taglist :(red names are not tagging for some reason 😢)

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[herejusttosufferalong]

I've been a Lukola shipper since last year, and I've been reading all the male POVs. So, I decided to ask the dudes in my life about this whole situation. I talked to some of my male BFFs and my brother. I'll start with what my brother, who's 15 (I'm 19), had to say.

Over the past three days, I showed him most of the interviews, especially the unhinged ones, all the hand-holding clips, Tif's edits, etc. Then I introduced him to the GF and gave him a brief rundown of all the antics - Instyle, NY and London premieres, Deuxmoi, pool pics, Milan, GQ.

Here’s what he thinks:

Luke and Nic LOVE each other. Luke probably loves her more, or maybe she's just better at hiding it. Nic is affectionate towards everyone, so it’s not as apparent. My brother thinks Nic is really funny and obviously beautiful, especially after watching her solo interviews like "9 Things I've Never Tried Before," ASMR, and accents.

Luke is being hot and cold. After I told him about the break after Brasil, he said that makes sense. It seems like whenever Luke goes back to his friends, he comes back acting like a dick. I showed him Luke's hot boy summer phase and the NYE video of them dancing. He said Luke acts like a dick when he's with his friends, especially Rory, who seems like the leader. He even noticed Tom and said Luke should hang out with him more. When I mentioned Rory breaking up with his GF and now dating Sienna (who's 23), he immediately clocked it and said, “Wow, Lukey did the same.” In a very not impressed tone. I couldn't stop laughing.

Nothing happened in Brasil. My brother thinks Nic would never do anything shady. The interviewers and overall vibes of Brasil were super chill, so Luke let himself loose a bit. However Nic seemed the same, maybe a little more giggly.

NY and London premieres:

NY: They looked fine, but Luke seemed pissed for some reason. The hand moment was insane. He thinks the GF blindsided Nic and set up the videos of them hugging, because why aren’t there videos of others?

London: Nic seemed a little wary, and Luke looked downbad. Luke T and Nic either need to work together or date, or both, because they're cute. Simone is definitely a shipper. He also thinks Golda might be a shipper, but she seems to have clocked Luke’s shit and is side-eyeing, which he is too. The Deuxmoi stunt was dumb and embarrassing.

About A, R, and S:

Rory: Luke hangs onto Rory’s every word, so the GF might not be going anywhere as long as she's in the friend group. My brother hates Rory and thinks he's Luke’s constant during the hot boy summer phase. Rory wasn't seen much before that. Other Anons, is this true?

A: A is in the relationship for the perks. The Hailey Bieber cosplay is gross. My brother almost puked when I showed him the thread comparing A and HB’s outfits. A is obviously trolling the fans, which is boring.

S: He doesn’t think there’s anything nefarious going on with S, and it’s good for her that she’s going to Jack M's classes, but it’s weird that it's only happening now.

In conclusion, my brother thinks this whole thing is going to drag on for a lot longer, but that’s a huge maybe since Luke and Nic are coming back for S4. If Luke's friend group manages to infiltrate the sets, it won't matter much because everyone adores Nic and seems protective of her. A is going to stay as long as she can. Right now, my brother hates Luke and thinks he screwed up royally, even as a friend. It’s a bigger deal if there are non-platonic feelings involved. He wants to see Luke make a thank you post for S3, because that's the least he can do. Luke needs to figure his stuff out, and it seems like whenever he's on vacation, things just get worse. Basically, he needs to GET A JOB and things will sort themselves out.

Wow, that was a lot. Never thought my brother would be so mature!

Also can someone clarify if R was still such a huge part of L's life before his HBS?

Damn the 15 yo is smarter than some grown ass folk in the fandom lmao

LOVE x

[miss-oranje-disco-dancer]

you are my sunshine (not old enough ch.9)

pairing: leon x reader

cw: oral sex, only a lil smut, so much fluff, brief mentions of labor and birth

summary: the final chapter, little snippets of your life with leon <3

a/n: i'm sorry i'm awful at fluff :( i've been lowkey dreading this chapter, but i have to give them the happy ending they deserve. thank you all for reading the series! there may be more sexy spinoffs of this, but for now, this is the end <3

wc: 3.7k

ao3 link

Before Matilda made her appearance, the nursery needed to be finished. Since neither of you had any friends or relatives with kids who’d grown up that could give you hand-me-down baby furniture and accessories, you had to go on a shopping spree. A crib, a rocking chair, a changing table, a dresser - Leon didn’t even let you look at the receipt, fearing you’d pass out and endanger the baby. 

As it turned out, a crib has to be built, which was obviously Leon’s job. This was one of the few times that you didn’t protest his insistence on you doing as little work as possible during your pregnancy. You’re all for getting rid of stereotypical gender expectations, but you would’ve posed yourself as ‘just a fragile little lady’ if he’d asked you to help build any sort of furniture whether you were pregnant or not. 

There was an added plus to Leon doing all the handy work that you had not anticipated - he looked hot as fuck doing it. You walked in to offer him something to drink and you caught him lifting his t-shirt to wipe sweat off his forehead. His biceps in the tight shirt, his abs, the v-line of his hips, the light trail of hair leading down from his belly button - you caught a glimpse of it all. It didn’t take an expert in psychology or mathematics to understand the association -  sweat plus striptease equals sex. You were no longer thinking about offering him a drink or asking him how he was doing or anything other than getting on your knees and -

He caught you standing in the doorframe, gawking at him. 

“Whatcha lookin’ at?” He could tell exactly what you were looking at by your face. 

You didn’t say anything, just walked closer, dropping to your knees in front of him. 

“Honey, what are you doing?” he asked as if it wasn’t entirely obvious. 

You still declined to respond, mind fixated on one task, your small hands found their way to the zipper of his jeans. Before actually ripping off his clothes, you looked up, asking, no, begging, for consent. You saw the two sides dueling behind his eyes - should he do the ‘right’ thing and offer to do this in the bedroom or at least, grab a pillow for your knees, or should he give in right here and now? As usual, arousal beat reason and he nodded, gently running his hands through your hair, pulling it back for you. He sighed, fully resigning himself to the fact that he was not going to be the hero in this situation.

When his cock sprung out, ready, like it’d been waiting for this moment, Leon said, “Do you think this is wrong to do it in the nursery?”

With his dick in hand, already stroking it because you both knew how this was going to pan out anyway, you said, “Leon, we had sex to make her. It’s a human thing.”

“Isn’t a blowjob a little diff-” he tried to say, but was cut off by a groan when you licked one long stripe from his balls all the way to the tip and then immediately took as much of his cock into your mouth as you could. 

You pulled off to ask, as a tease, “What were you saying?”

“Never mind,” he said, his hand on the back of your head coaxing you to continue.

He watched your head bob up and down and said, tilting his head back as if to speak to God, “What did I do to deserve this?”

God did not respond. And neither did you, mostly because you had his dick down your throat - Leon’s not God’s - and were trying not to choke.

You might’ve told him, “you deserve so much more than this because you’re such a good person and yadda yadda yadda” or, more likely, you would’ve said, “it’s not like I’m doing you a favor, in fact, it’s mostly selfish, I’m trying to memorize the way you look right now, so I can touch myself later while picturing it”. That is, if you couldn’t goad him into fucking you. 

You lost yourself in the sounds of his moans, and your mind was entirely empty until he pulled your head away. He didn’t respond to the pout on your face, instead he said, “close your eyes,” with a devious smile. You obeyed without question and he finished himself off. You didn’t see it, of course, but you felt something hot and sticky hit your face in spurts. 

“Wait there and keep your eyes closed,” Leon said and grabbed something from across the room. 

He wiped your eyelids and lashes with a tissue because, despite being naughty enough to come on your face, he didn’t want you to get any in your eyes. 

Then he said, “you can open your eyes now.”

When you did, you smiled at him - instinctively, though well-timed because Leon had grabbed his phone and was taking a picture of you.

Half-amused, half-surprised, your mouth was wide open, but you couldn’t help laughing when you saw his shameless grin. 

“You look pretty like this,” he said, patting your cheek.

“I’m sure I do,” you said, a bit sarcastic.

“You wanna see?” he asked, proudly holding out his phone to show you the picture of yourself. 

You looked at it and said, “I suppose I can see the appeal.”

“Yeah, see,” he zoomed in, “I got a good shot of your tits, too.”

“You act like this is art.”

“Is it not?”

“A photo of jizz on my face, which as you noted, also captures my cleavage.”

“Exactly. It’ll come in handy later.”

“Double entendre?”

“Huh?”

“Come in hand-y.”

“Unintended, but I wish I had thought of that.”

“You’re a builder, a photographer, and a comedian. How lucky am I?”

“You forgot a fine artist,” he pointed out, “I did a fantastic job painting your face in my opinion.”

“Gross,” you laughed and playfully smacked him on the thigh.

He helped you stand up before finally pulling his pants back up. You were about to exit the room to find a washcloth when you said, “Send me that pic, so I can get it framed for you as a father’s day gift.”

You winked at him and then made your way to the bathroom, all the while, you could still hear his laughter from down the hall. 

You were biting your nails waiting for Leon to speak with Chris. Leon said they’d have a talk after your little dalliance with Chris while Leon was away. The guilt festered inside you until the moment Leon set up a time to meet with Chris. Much to your disappointment, you were not allowed to mediate. You really hoped ‘have a talk with’ did not mean get into a physical fight, similar to the one in the parking lot outside that club. 

He was gone for a lot longer than you thought he’d be. You knew this meant one of two things: either it was going phenomenally well or it was going catastrophically badly. 

According to Leon, it went well, and since he came home with a smile on his face rather than any bruises, you took him at his word. 

It was awkward at first. They met on a Saturday at the park because Leon was trying to quit drinking again and you wanted him far away from any temptation in case things went awry - no bars, you told him. 

Leon sat on a park bench overlooking the Potomac, watching couples walking hand-in-hand, families, friends, getting lost in thought, when Chris sat down beside him. 

“Hey,” Chris said, unintentionally startling Leon. 

“Jesus, when did you get there?” Leon, the dramatist, held his hand over his heart like he was about to drop dead from fright. 

“About five seconds ago.”

Leon didn’t respond, but refused to break eye-contact, trying to see if he could get Chris to speak first. 

But it was Leon who bit the bullet and began with, “So…” “Look, I’m sorry,” Chris began, “and I know that doesn’t cut it, but I want you to know that I mean it.”

“Were you going to tell me?” Leon asked in a prickly tone. 

“Honestly, no. I didn’t want to ruin what you two have.”

“Didn’t think of that beforehand? What if she hadn’t told me?”

Chris looked toward the sky and sighed in genuine contemplation, “I don’t know… I’ve made a lot of bad calls. If you want someone to blame, blame me.”

“Blame doesn’t get me shit. I just want to know that my girlfriend and my friend won’t go behind my back like that again.” It was a threat. And if you do… the rest was left unspoken. 

“Swear on my life. I can’t swear on hers, but she loves you, but I think you already know that.”

“I do know that, yeah.”

A woman jogging, a couple with a picnic basket, the boats in the Potomac - Leon watched them all pass in front of his eyes. Time passed quickly as he aged, and wisdom brought him the revelation. A sense of urgency, too. “Fuck it, I forgive you,” he said. 

Sometimes - far too often - Leon was too forgiving, and people had been known to take advantage of his kindness. Forgiveness was his knee-jerk response, he was a natural people-pleaser. A therapist had advised him to weigh the pros and cons in situations like this and to be a little bit selfish in his choice. This time forgiveness was the right decision. 

“Thanks, I appreciate it. I didn’t want to lose your friendship over this,” Chris said.

“Yeah, well, I’m getting out of shape, so you’d have an edge over me if we fought, so I feel like forgiveness is my only option,” Leon opted to lighten the mood. 

“You think I don’t already have an edge over you?”

“Are you challenging me right now?”

“No, I’m just stating the obvious.”

“Do you think you would’ve beaten me back at that club?”

“Hell yeah. You were wasted. I could’ve taken you down in one punch.” “That’s where you’re wrong. My alcohol intake would’ve lowered my inhibitions and my pain tolerance.” “Sure, but you were practically tripping over your own feet.”

“If you could’ve beaten me, then why didn’t you?”

“Because Claire pulled me away.”

“You said you could’ve taken me down in one punch. You got more than one in, and guess what? I’m still standing.”

“Yeah, okay, maybe I didn’t want to leave you unconscious in the parking lot.”

“Hmph. I guess I should thank you then.”

“Let’s just call it even… after everything that’s happened.”

And that was the last they spoke of the matter. 

The day was nice, though, so they lingered at the park. Leon watched as a mother walked by with a stroller and smiled, thinking of you. 

He realized that he wasn’t sure if Chris knew.  

“I suppose I should tell you the good news.”

“You’re retiring,” Chris said, assuming that was the answer. “Yes, but no, and who told you that?”

“Just a guess.”

Leon couldn’t hold back the secret. With a hint of giddiness, he said, “I’m gonna be a dad.”

“No fucking way.”

“Way.”

“Holy shit. Congrats.”

Chris went in for the hug, and Leon accepted. Yeah, it went well.

You weren’t sure how to feel about having a full-on baby shower, but Leon’s friends - now, your friends, too - insisted on planning you one. 

“We have to celebrate,” Claire insisted, “this is the first baby to be initiated to the friend group.”

“Initiated? Is that what they’re calling being born these days? ‘Initiation to life’,” Leon joked. 

“Ugh. I don’t even want to think about giving birth,” you said.

“Sweetheart, I hate to tell you this, but,” Leon said, pointing to your bump, “you’re gonna have to do it.”

“I’ve heard it’s not that bad, you know, once you get the epidural,” Chris offered.

“You’ve heard it’s not that bad? From whom?” Claire asked in disbelief. 

“Women I know,” Chris responded. 

“We’re like, the only women you know,” Claire said, “and neither Jill, nor I, have ever given birth.”

“Yeah, well, I don’t need to,” Jill said, “I take care of babies

for a living regardless.” She tilted her head towards Chris, who didn’t deny the accusation.

“Agreed. I could never do the whole pregnancy thing,” Claire said, “this one is much stronger than me.” She playfully nudged you. You didn’t believe that for a second, but you were fully aware of how rough pregnancy was, and may never have wanted to go through with it if it weren’t for Leon. 

Claire appointed herself as party planner, so she gave the orders - to everyone besides you. “The future mom deserves some rest,” she said. 

“But the future dad doesn’t?” Leon said. 

“Men,” she scoffed, “you’re all the same.”

Cake, decorations, invitations - they handled it all. Leon was the one to write the guest list. You didn’t know many people in the city, but it was far from lonely. Your tight knit circle, which would soon add another member, was all you needed. 

“Just keep it short,” you said. 

Claire, Chris, Jill, who else did he know? Hunnigan? He’d pretty much patched things up with her, might as well. Ashley? Leon hadn’t heard from her in a bit. Definitely should invite Sherry, she’d come. Ada? No way. It’d be a little funny to send her an invite though. Too bad Leon didn’t have her address. It came down to this: Claire, Chris, Jill, Hunnigan, Rebecca, Helena, Ashley, Sherry (Jake, by extension), not Ada. 

“Does this look good, honey?” he asked, handing you the list. 

You didn’t look up from your book, What To Expect When You’re Expecting. Oh, if only a book could tell you. “Just tell me how many people we’re having,” you said.

Leon counted on his fingers like a grown man should. “Including me?”

“Sure.”

“10.”

You could handle 10. Hopefully, they didn’t expect anything fancy. You struggled to fit in your party outfits, and you rarely had the energy to do a full face of makeup and style your hair these days.

The day of the shower, Claire walked in at 11:30 AM, cake already in hand, frantically calling Jill. 

“I can help you put up decorations,” Leon offered.

“I don’t trust your interior decorating skills,” Claire said. 

“Fine, put me to work wherever I can be of use.” His tone was already snippy. 

You walked downstairs in a pink sundress and got a standing ovation from the two people in your living room. Claire put a sash around you that said “Mama to be”. Flashy glitter wasn’t really your style, but it was kind of cute, and apropos of the event. 

All of Leon’s friends were lovely, and you shouldn’t have been surprised - they’re Leon’s friends, of course they’re sweet. 

Ashley had always been a story to you. She looked even prettier in person than in the tabloids, and she really was America’s sweetheart, her bubbly personality was as real as her blonde hair. As it turned out, she has a great taste in baby clothes, too. 

Similarly, Sherry was only a voice over the phone until the party, granted you’d seen a picture of her once. She brought a man with her - you’d heard only a little about him, but they seemed like a cute couple. You could see yourself attending her baby shower. She seemed like she’d be a good mom. 

You were nervous to meet Hunnigan, but you shouldn’t have been. Similar to how you felt when you met Ada, you could see how Leon liked Hunnigan, and you felt bad for harboring a bit of a vendetta against her. She was nothing but friendly, and she even apologized for the fact that she didn’t let you speak to Leon while he was away. 

“No, it’s okay,” you told her in response, “I understand why you did it”. You hoped she knew what you meant, which was “you got the love of my life home safely, nothing else matters”. 

When it came time for you to open your gifts, you realized the purpose of baby showers. Clothes, bibs, pacifiers, diapers, you name it, you got it. 

You weren’t expecting a gift from Leon. After you’d opened your gifts from the rest of the partygoers, Leon stood up, and said, “Can I take my turn now?”

A hush fell over the room, as many of your friends were privy to the event that was about to unfold. Leon got down on one knee. 

“Yes!” You said before he could open his mouth to give you a speech he’d prepared and immediately forgotten. It all amounted to “I love you”, his mantra when it came to you, plus four new words: “Will you marry me?”

You nodded with your face already buried in his neck, hiding your tears from the audience that surrounded you, clapping as they watched the spectacle unfold before their eyes. 

Leon slid the ring onto your finger. It fit perfectly. “How’d you know my size?”

“You’re a heavy sleeper.”

“You measured my finger in my sleep?”

“I sure did.”

“You did a good job picking out the cut, too.”

“I had some assistance,” he admitted, looking at Claire and Jill, who were both grinning ear-to-ear. 

As were you.  

A package arrived a day after the shower. No return address. It had your name on it, but Leon insisted on being the one to open it because he was paranoid about it being anthrax or whatever. It was not anything deadly. It was a gift, in fact. A teddy bear with a note that said, “Congratulations!” signed “A.W.”, and you both knew who it was. Ada, of course. 

“Aw,” you said, “that’s so thoughtful. I wish we knew her address so we could send her a thank you note.”

“Very thoughtful,” Leon echoed your words, but they seemed to hold a greater weight when he said them. 

“What?” you asked when you noticed the amusement on his face. 

He told you about the charm on the key to the jetski - the one Ada gave him back in Spain when he was famously rescuing the president’s daughter. 

“Would Ashley recognize it?”

“Maybe. Why?”

“I was gonna text her.”

“You have her number?”

“Yeah, she gave it to me. I’m stealing your friends and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

The baby arrived early. On Halloween of all nights. Your water broke at a get-together with friends. You couldn’t party while pregnant, but you could eat a fuckton of candy and wear a cute costume. Leon drove you to the hospital without changing his - or your - clothes, so you both showed up in costume. One day you would be able to tell Matilda how you and Leon were dressed as Daphne and Fred from Scooby Doo the day you got to meet her. What To Expect When You’re Expecting did not contain any information about how to prepare for labor when you’re wearing a Halloween costume. Like most of life’s greatest joys, Matilda Grace Kennedy took her sweet time to arrive after a long, exhausting labor.

It was all worth it. One night, looking down at your baby girl you sang to her as Leon looked upon you both fondly.

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine.

You make me happy when skies are gray.

You’ll never know, dear, how much I love you.

I love you more and more everyday.

The other night, dear, while I was sleeping,

I dreamt I held you in my arms.

When I awoke, dear, I was so happy

That I hugged you all day long. 

You’d noticed the confusion on Leon’s face towards the end of the first verse, but he didn’t comment until the song was over. Once he was done clapping for you - which made you roll your eyes - he said, “The lyrics - did you change them? Or am I misremembering the song?”

“My mom changed them. She used to sing to me when I was a baby, and she thought the song was too sad so she made up her own words. They’re hers, not mine, but I’m gonna pass them on.”

“How does the original go?”

“The ending of the first verse is ‘please don’t take my sunshine away’, and the ending of the second verse is ‘I was so sorry that I hung my head and cried’.”

“Those are depressing. Yours are better. Plus, you have a beautiful voice.”

“You’re just saying that.”

“I’m not. If you sang to me, I’d fall asleep, too,” Leon said, pointing to Matilda who was passed out in your arms. 

One afternoon, you heard Leon in his home office - he was singing something. You approached quietly, knowing that if he heard you, he’d stop. On your tiptoes, you pressed your ear against the door, and heard him singing your mother’s version of You Are My Sunshine. It was a catchy tune. 

You didn’t tell him about it at the time, but that night, he was holding Matilda in the rocking chair in her nursery, and you walked in to find him singing it to her. You started to tear up and couldn’t even blame it on the pregnancy hormones anymore. 

Leon didn’t notice you standing in the doorway. He was much too focused on the little girl in his arms. Towards the end of the song, he stopped, forgetting the lyrics, so you jumped in and sang the ending for him. 

“I didn’t know you were standing there.”

“I know. I didn’t want to say anything because I didn’t want you to stop. You have a beautiful voice.”

“You’re just saying that.”

“She likes it.” You pointed towards the sleeping baby. 

“I wish I could sleep like her.”

Once Matilda started sleeping through the night, so did you and Leon. According to scientists, dreams are our subconscious processing our waking hours, reliving our days in fragments. Agent Kennedy - briefly Officer Kennedy - a man married to his work who carried a gun as his sidekick, had frequent nightmares. Leon S. Kennedy, your husband who carried a little girl up on his shoulders while you walked alongside the Potomac on spring mornings when the cherry blossoms were in bloom, had only good dreams.  

[hozierandco]

Callum Turner x Reader - The match-maker (Pt. 1)

AN: A few months ago (oopsie), someone requested that I write about Y/N meeting Callum Turner through Austin Butler, a common friend. TW: none except maybe drama regarding past relationships. No smut.

I've changed the set from L.A that was originally requested to New York but it's only to squeeze in gowns and a red (pinkish?) carpet. Part 2 will be up very soon.

If you have any requests, do send a message, I love receiving them. I take requests on Hozier, Callum Turner and Robert Pattinson mostly but feel free to contact me for whoever :)

_________________________________________________

Y/N could count on Austin to get her through ups and downs. Ever since they had met in primary school back in Anaheim, they had grown a strong relationship. They had been through so much together and considered each other to be like brother and sister. When Y/N was not at Austin’s, then it was Austin being at Y/N’s house. 

If at some point, they had thought of getting together as they knew each other so well and had grown out to be beautiful young people besides being beautiful souls, they had abandoned the idea as they cherished their friendship too much for any of the drama. That being said, they LOVED talking about their more or less chaotic experiences when it came to the subject of relationships. Austin had far more luck on that one than her as, after being with Vanessa Hudgens for so long, he had found his significant other responding by the name of Kaia Gerber. 

Kaia was great to her best friend and Y/N sensed that she was ready to commit to such a relationship as she noticed the two blooming. For years, Y/N had nourished disastrous relationships with men, between those who cheated on her, those who needed a nurse rather than a lover and those who just ghosted her. Austin had always been there to support her through break ups and was ready for her to meet someone new that she could trust. It pained him to see her feeling less and less self-confident because of the attitude of some jerks.

*** On the set of Masters of the Airs. Newland Park, February, the 14th of 2022 ***

Austin had begun working on an upcoming TV show in which he was fulfilling one of his boyhood’s dreams of becoming a pilot. It was one of many perks of becoming an actor and he had the chance to fulfill that dream with his colleagues that he had learnt to call his friends. Among them, he mostly loved working with Callum Turner.

He had seen him in productions such as War and Peace and Emma but never had the opportunity to work with him, nor to meet him. Since the beginning of the show’s filming, the two of them had become good friends, sharing most of their time on and off set together.

They found themselves to have many shared interests but what Austin liked the most about his colleague and friend was his integrity. He had not met a humble actor like him in a while and it was a fresh view for him who had gotten used to obnoxious people in the industry. 

Austin did not think of Callum to be a great match for Y/N from the beginning, nor in fact did he think of taking the role of a match-maker at all. But it struck him on a strange day, in February of 2022. Well, to put some context there, it was Valentine’s Day and Austin hated not having the opportunity to spend it with Kaia. He grunted all day about this missed chance to which Callum, always so light-hearted, made him aware that he could be happy to have a Valentine to wish it to.

Callum was not the sort of man to talk about his personal life to anyone but he had known Austin for the past seven months. He felt as though he was ready to share more information about him, such as his traumatic past when it came to dating. And of course, that resonated with what Austin was hearing from Y/N. 

By 2 pm London time (6 am L.A time), Austin was trying to comfort Callum about the fact he had no Valentine to celebrate while by 9 pm London time (1 pm L.A time), Austin was receiving a text from Y/N complaining about not having a boyfriend to go on a date with. It did not take much thinking for Austin to come up with a plan.

In the next few weeks, he tried to convey some hints towards Callum, letting him know that his best friend was the greatest person he had ever met while simultaneously texting Y/N about how excited he was to be playing with no less than Callum Turner.

Mind you, Y/N had already heard of that name somewhere. It rang a bell but she did not know much about his filmography and quite frankly, did not bother looking any further than that. She was just happy that her best friend could play with someone that he apparently was fanboying over.

And Callum… What is there to say? He was completely oblivious about those hints that Austin made more and more obvious. It was as though he did not think to be worthy of her if she was as great as Austin described her to be.

Austin was convinced that the two should give it a go as Callum expressed interests for things Y/N was crazy about or that time when he mentioned that he had a dog that was looking just like Y/N’s childhood dog. And yeah, lots of people have a dog growing up and like music and photography but Austin was a sucker for a good love story. Screw that, he would be a match-maker, he decided as the Met Gala was near. He had to do something about it.

*** Met Gala. New York, May, the 2nd of 2022 ***

Finally, Austin had gotten back from the set of Masters of the Airs for a stay in New York. He was determined to enjoy his night at the Met Gala along with his girlfriend and had insisted that Callum join him, letting him know that it would do him good to go on a trip and forget about yet another date gone wrong.

It did not take much convincing as Callum was tired of staying in England for so long and had not seen New York in years because of Covid. Though he was not invited to the Met Gala, he was more than happy to attend it vicariously through his friend and his friend’s girlfriend. 

It was somewhat more difficult to convince Y/N to come to New York as she was a girl from the West who only came to the East in case of an emergency. The Met Gala surely was no emergency from her but Austin could not let go of his plan that easily. 

If there was something Y/N cared truly about, it was Austin of course but also her career as a photographer. And though she personally had no intention of following the Met Gala, Austin had made calls here and there to squeeze a spot as one of the official photographers of the event.

Y/N had repeatedly asked Austin not to go full-on nepotism with her as she saw him getting famous. She wanted her career to be defined only by her work and not by the people she counted as friends so when Austin told her the opportunity he had ahead of her, she first scolded him for that but it also was clear that she had no job offer as huge as this one. 

She made him promise that it would be last time he interceded in her career while thanking him for the occasion. She packed her suitcase and left to the airport.

[onskepa]

HELLO HALO HELLO! I SAW THE UPDATE THINGY AND NOW I HAVE ARRIVED WITH A REQUEST! Whew!

Okay so here me Out! I've been thinking about neteyam alot but I have yet to request maybe some neteyam and Aonung together falling for reader

My request is based of a made up Tribe I Made,

/backround information/

the tribe is called the Tawsyuram (Aurora Mountain) tribe who live on a mountain high above a sea of clouds.

The original Tawsyuram clan had almost gone extinct due to a destructive Na'vi clan, but was saved and had grown anew due to the help of a large close knit group of humans from the slums on earth. Due to they're now Tsahik, Mai a human woman who was a doctor trained in surgery and herbal medicine was able to regrow and heal the spirit tree using an earth seed (when I do my full info thing on my tumblr you'll learn more, but that's later!)

Due to the healing of the spirit that houses Mother earth's (daughter 'Rrta) spirit herself a plant had blossomed allowing the humans to breath great mother Eywa's air the humans along side they're now Na'vi spirit family live in harmony over many years.

(They live within the mountain caverns)

/the request/

The Sully's were originally traveling to hide away from the RDA and Quaritch, were going to seek uturu from the Metakiyan, that was until they cam across this young avatar driver? Na'vi teen? Saying her clan would be able to hide them from the RDA gladly.

Neteyam who was intranced by this strange bubbly and wild girl who (as his father called it) talked like an excitable hippie, was absolutely gorgeous... and it would seem his soon to be mate Aonung would agree, also just a little question but, how the HELL IS SHE FLYING AN IKRAN WITHOUT TSAHEYLU!?!?

\Basically I would like to request the Sully's and Tonowari's family having to go into hiding and stuff meet this Ki (a character from Mars needs Moms) like teen girl who finds the Sully's mid travel and offers to shelter them within her tribe since they'll be much more accepted there. They arrived at the floating Mountain, though quite dizzy since they aren't used to being this high above, and are welcomed by the Tsahik who is a bit ditzzy though very calming and understanding, high difficult to anger see's there strife and welcomes them wholeheartedly all the while kinda jokingly yet a tad bit seriously scolding her daughter (the reader) about how she wasn't supposed to leave the Mountain until she was 18 to pass her Iknimaya (since those in the tribe bond with they're ikran's just before they hatch at a young age, giving them time to learn how to fly and practice the bonding dance when they are 18.) Along the way Neteyam and Aonung fall pretty hard for the happy go lucky tsakarem.

Basically the Sully's coming to learn a different side to humanity than they're used to./

\a bit more info to help with the story/

That Tawsyuram's healing hut is sheltered between three gigantic curly trees with book shelves holding many medical records, medicine information and tactics. With a huge curly tree in the middle with glass jars holding glowing bug fireflies to light of the room, tables and comfy sleeping mats and big pillows on the floor in the open spaces of the room for the patients.

Little ones at the age of 6 to 9 will go up to the Ikran nest that house the expecting ikran parents to be with either a food gift or a nesting gift, That is only given when the the egg wiggles in the direction towards its chosen, sensing its soon to be rider. After the gifts are given the children will carry the egg in a type of bundle strapped to they're chest making it easier to carry to a large crystal that gives off heat, watching as the ikran hatches from its egg on a soft nesting near the crystal. The baby will then nip its chosen on they're skin too show they have chosen they're future rider.

Once a year has passed, the child and its somewhat grown ikran who know are coming into they're colors will learn to fly together as a part of their training. The child with a sky diving wingsuit and the youngling ikran, with jump off a not so high ledge gliding of floating above a somewhat deep lake.

The Iknimaya is quite dangerous, so the Na'vi and humans alike agreed that it will only be carried out when the child has become 18 years of age. To do the Iknimaya they must fly on the back of they're ikrans back and then are left to climb up the flat faced mountain, which is even high than they're home's mountain. They meet their ikran onto of it and then jump sky dive off the mountain with a special wingsuit material made to look like they're ikran, which is made by the parents as a sign of sending them off into adult hood. They will then fly with they're and must land on their back and bond mid flight, strengthening the already growing bond they had when they were little.

The humans planters who run the fields found ways to plant human food, while the doctors and a few scientists found ways to detoxify the pandora meat so they may eat it. Their cook fire has a huge round island like table where the cooks cook the food inside the circle. The cook fire room if big to hold many of the tribe with two stories with pillows on the floor to sit on. Even sweets like cakes and such are on the menu!

The Na'vi and humans also wear clothing like the Omaticaya and Metakiyan but also wear winter clothing using wool from a pandora like sheep that are taller than humans but only come up to a Na'vi's waist.

The Tawsyuram clothing

All the images were made from using Bing AI prompts I made.

(I hope this is an okay request? And not like too much, if the whole neteyam and Aonung thing isn't cool, then I'm fine with you just doing Lo'ak. Thank you for taking the time to read this!

I hope you are having a wonderful morning/evening/afternoon/night! Hun!

Helloooooooooooo darling! Honestly you have such a big imagination and vast ideas here. It took me a good while for this story to be as good as you visioned it to be. Unfortunatly some stuff was cut out but I hope that what stayed is good for you and everyone to read! So sit back and relax! Enjoy!

--------------

Tawsyuram clan

It wasn't easy. Leaving all that you know for somewhere that beyond what you are literally built for. And to look for a clan that is willing to welcome a family that seeks refuge from a way is even harder. There is a lot to gamble on. Child born living only the life of war, and to live a life of peace is very desirable but would be getting used to. 

So that is what Jake and Neytiri sully do. Leaving their home for the sake of their children. The question is, where? Where can they go? Who is willing to accept them? While Jake sully had an idea of heading to the islands of the reef na’vi where they are more isolated. He needs a plan B in case the reef clans reject them. 

If only by Eywa’s miracle can a open chance appear before him.

“Why not join us?” 

A human. With an ikran. A Human riding an Ikran was standing before the sully family. A Human, without a MASK. And very short too. Everyone was staring at the human in unbelievable shock. None uttered a word. 

“Hello…..? Is something on my face?” The human asks her ikran who only grunts in response. 

“Who are you?” Neytiri was quick to react, her blade ready to strike. The human raised her hands to show she meant no harm and didn't take another step.  “Easy, I am not here to bring you harm. My name is Danu”. 

“What do you want?” Jake asks/demands. 

“It's not what I want, it's more like what you need,” Danu replied. 

“And what would that be?” Kiri asks, feeling a slight irk prickling behind her head. 

“Protection from the RDA. My clan can help you with that and more” Danu adds. 

“What clan would have humans in it?” Neytiri hisses, not liking the young human by the second. 

“The Tawsyuram clan” .

The travel towards wherever the girl was leading them to didn't take that long. Only about a day. The family would have gone longer if they still headed towards the reef islands. Instead of going north, the girl led them south. Where neytiri can remember, is just pure open mountains and large bodies of water. No clan inhabits those areas. At least clans neytiri is familiar with. 

“We are here!” the girl shouts behind her. The family looks around, but all they see is thick clouds surrounding them. Cant see anything further than 15 feet of range vision. “Where is here?” *Jake asks. The girl didn't answer. The view did. 

High above, in the middle of vast floating mountains stood one massive floating island. Large and vast. As they get closer, more details are easy to see. The island has its own mountains, its own clouds! Everyone was in awe. 

“Welcome everyone! To Aurora mountain!” 

Words cannot even begin to describe the beautiful mountain. Wild ikran flying freely, clouds forming above the mountain peak. Plants grow in so many shades and colors. It was vibrant. And it felt so familiar yet new to the sully family. And as they landed on the ground of the mountain, the gentle breeze welcomed them. Everyone got off of their ikrans and looked all over at the new location. 

Danu happily jumped off of her ikran and skipped along. “Come on, there is so much to show you. My mother would love to meet you all” gesturing to follow her. 

The family all stuck together, still wary of this place. Unsure of what to think of it. “Ma’jake, what if it's a trap?” Neytiri suspects, holding tuk close to her as the child wanted to follow Danu. Jake reassured her by holding her close, “our ikrans are ready to take flight again, we are armed and ready to fight. We should be fine” he replies. 

Kiri and lo’ak on the other hand were admiring the new view and happily followed Danu as they entered the save. The entrance was hidden by massive leaves that can move by a single touch. Inside was a path full of colorful paintings and murals. So many details and no doubt so many stories it holds.

“Come on, don't slow down on me! Everyone is excited to meet you!” Danu’s voice echoed in the cave. Picking up speed, everyone followed Danu, where she stood in an open area, her smile big and bright and arms wide in a welcoming gesture. “Welcome to our home!” she announces proudly. 

“Oh my Eywa….”

The inside literally looked like a whole new world. Ikrans flying high above the massive cave, hanging flowers from the cave sides or from smaller floating rocks. Waterfalls everywhere, little creatures flying or running about. And most of all, na’vi and humans were together. Many playing games, farming, chatting, anything they did together. What Jake noticed was that the humans were not wearing masks. And neytiri noticed that there was a mix of pure na’vi and what looks like hybrid na’vi’s like her children. It was a perfect utopia. Perhaps suspiciously too perfect. 

As they continue deeper into the village, the locals all stop to look at them, curiosity evident in their eyes. Some children even follow them closely. 

“This is so weird…” Lo’ak whispers, kiri was quick to shush him. 

“Come, my mom will be super excited to meet all of you!” Danu says, learning them through the village, and through another patch of forest. “I know the village must have overwhelmed you but it was to give you the view of your possible life here. Of course if you choose to stay” Dany informs, moving some plants out of the way without the need to cut them. 

“Who is your mother…?” Neytiri asks. 

She wasn't given much of an answer as Danu climbed a set of stone stairs leading up to an uphill. The family quickly followed and coming in view was a tree. But not just any tree, a tree so different yet so familiar. With a hue of glowing teal color and Atokirina floating about, this was the people’s spirit tree. However, something else floats alongside the Atokirina. Something neytiri has never seen before. 

“MAMAAAAAAAAA~!!” Danu calls out in a happy cheery voice. 

At the base of the tree stood a human woman. Long braided hair, the ends with what seem like white stone and beads spreaded around her braids. Her outfit seeming to tell she is of higher status. 

The woman looks over at danu and smiles, welcoming the girl in a tight embrace. “Mom! I have brought some new guests! Meet the Sully family!” Danu happily introduces and she points to the family. 

The woman looks at the family, and greets them in the na’vi way, with grace and elegance sewn in every movement. “Welcome to our home, it seems like you have traveled a lot. Perhaps some rest is needed before you can ask your question"

They were given a home. Looked like a mix of a marui and a hut if Jake could describe it as best as he could. It was spacious, the kids got to have a private spot each and the pit for a cook fire was in the middle. They got to settle down and gather their thoughts, until jake called in for a family meeting. 

“Look, I get this is all new. For you, for us. But it seems they are willing to take us in without even asking. So try to be on your best behavior, all of you. Especially you lo’ak” jake says, looking at his second son. Lo’ak wasnt making eye contact so neteyam grabbed him by the neck making him face his dad. 

“Will we really stay here…?” Tuk asks nervously. While it seemed very exciting exploring a new place and meet new people, it was also scary. Jake took a moment and answered, “if they let us baby”. Tuk made a whining noise, frowning “I want to go home!” she whimpers. Close to crying. Neytiri looks at her baby with sadness, “oh tuk…”. Jake holds tuk’s hand to comfort her. “This is most likely to be our home now…and we will make most of it” 

“What does your father always say?” Neytiri asks her children…

“I hope you have all settled well. Come, you must all be famished” the woman says with an unusual softness to her voice. The sully family were invited to her home, where danu happily helped in serving the food for the newcomers. 

“I'm sorry, but what was your name again…?” Jake asks, wondering of the lady. And the woman lightly taps her head, “oh where are my manners. My name is Mai, the tsahik of the Tawsyuram clan” mai introduces herself. 

Neytiri’s tail sways curiously, “tsahik? You? But you are a human” she says. 

“Indeed, but soon you will learn neytiri, that this clan, this mountain, is not like what you know” Mai says, giving a playful wink. 

Mai gestures to everyone to take a seat as Danu serves everyone their portion. The food looked and smelled delicious, and from long travel, all of a suddenly everyone was starving. Tuk was all too happy to dig in, lo’ak doing the same. Both humming at the welcoming taste on their tongues. 

“Hungry I take it?” Mai teases as she takes a bite from her food. Neytiri cautiously takes a bite, her ears perking up liking the taste. It taste familiar yet different at the same time. Kind of tricky to describe the taste. But it had meat and other nutritional pieces of food. 

Danu sat next to neteyam, the boy looked over at her, really taking in her appearance. 

“You can stare at me all you like, pretty boy, but later, it's meal time” Danu winks at him. Neteyam nervously smiles but looks away, feeling his cheeks heat up in embarrassment. He didn't say anything further and just ate in silence. 

After their hearty meal, questions flowed out like an endless river. But everyone asked so many questions at the same time, it was a mumbling mess. So, with a simple gesture of a hand, mai lowers the volume collectively. “One by one, all of your questions will be answered” was all she said. 

“Exactly, what is this place…?” Jake asks. A lot has happened in the few hours they have been exposed to something this strange. Even for pandora standards. 

“A floating mountain. Well, to be more specific, it is a mountain cut from the northern mountains. It is so big, it created its own ecosystem. I found it many years ago and settled in” mai explained. 

“Found it…? How?” 

“I was a scientist when the RDA arrived, much like many, I fell in love with this planet. It's precious and pure. I remember crying for seeing something so beautiful, so natural and colorful. To say, it didn't take a whole lot to change my mind. So secretly I planted my own ideas. Quiet literally” 

Mai turns to point at the spirit tree.

“That tree? It grew from a single seed that I brought with me from earth. Originally, the seed was of a red oak tree. However, when infused with the pandora soil it grew to something different. Something more beautiful. I see it as something from Eywa, her way of blessing the tree, blessing this mountain. And through this miracle tree, we humans can breathe the same air as the na’vi”

Once the na’vi were mentioned, it was neytiri’s turn to ask, “Why would na’vi come here?” 

Mai offered tuk a sweet treat as she continued, “why wouldn't they? After many raids from the RDA, many lands destroyed and their homes gone, where else could they have gone? Yes to another clan, but who is to say that clan won't be targeted next? They are tired of constant loss, so here is their answer”

Jake knew there will be many more questions to ask, so he thought of telling his kids to go out and explore, but mai beat him to it. 

“Danu my love, why dont you give the sully kids a proper tour of our home? Make sure they know and learn everything of their new home” mai tells danu. Her daughter nods in glee and leads the kids outside of her home. 

“Now, with them being entertained, lets talk about…”

“C’mon, this way!” Danu tells the four kids as they follow her closely. Neteyam being very close, might as well be at equal sides, lo’ak not too far and kiri carrying tuk as to not fall behind. Through the many plants, trees, and small bridges, they return back to the village where everyone was doing something. 

Tuk smiles as she gets to see the village life in a longer range. Everyone looked so busy, chatting, moving cattle from one place to another, people in stalls trading some items for others, others cooking and feeding those who are hungry. There is something going on in every corner. 

“It looks so……busy” lo’ak says as he observes the people. 

Danu lets out a short cackle, “of course! It is always busy here, wither hunting, weaving, trading, there is something going on and there is always something new! Come on, let me show you!” 

Once again Danu leads the siblings. Weaving a path through the busy crowd, neteyam follows easily, not losing sight of her noticeable hair. He and his siblings silently say “excuse me” and “I'm sorry” as they catch up to danu. They caught up to her as she stood in front of an older na’vi. Sitting on his seat as he fans the smoke of something he is cooking. 

“Welcome danu, are those the newcomers I see?” the kind elder na’vi asks, danu nods eagerly. “Yes, I am showing them around the village and soon the whole mountain!” she answers happily. The sullys introduce themselves one by one. While they chatted, tuk couldn't help but drool as the tasty looking food. The elder na’vi noticed and asks, “Would you like one young tuk?” 

Tuk hides her face behind kiri’s arm but shyly nods, the elder na’vi chuckles and hands her the most delicious looking treat. “Here, all yours, it is a fish kabab, but be careful. It is really hot” he says, tuk accepts and gently blows on it before taking a bite. Her big eyes sparkle with delight. 

“MMNNNNN~!! Its so yummy!!” she happily praises. The elder na’vi smiled with joy, then he handed a fish kabab to each sully. “Enjoy your treat” he says, everyone happily thanked him and soon they made their way again through the paths. 

“Damn, this is good” lo’ak comments as he enjoys the fish kabab. Danu turned to him, “trust me, that kabab is just the start. Our cooks are so talented and know just how to use everything and make a delicious meal!”. As she goes on to explain what each clan member does, of all the siblings, neteyam seems to hear but not 100% listen. 

He focuses more on danu’s voice and her personality. Something about her seems to draw him in. Is it her enthusiasm? Her boldness? Her extroverted ways? Neteyam doesn't know himself, but if they really are going to stay, he has time to figure it out.

“Oooooooohhh~!! They look so fluffy!!” Tuk says as she points at cute, sheep looking creatures that are being hurdled by a human farmer. Danu took her time to introduce the kids to many aspects of the mountain, To show them that here, it is safe. 

“What are they exactly? I have never seen or heard of them before?” kiri asked curiously. 

Danu snickered a bit, her shoulders shaking from trying not to laugh “they are called…..floofers. I am not joking, that is what they called”. Tuk looks back at the cute creatures, three yellow beady eyes on each side, 2 sets of horns curled backwards with six hooved feet and remarkably pure white floof as their fur. However small, they look tough. 

“I like it, floofers is an interesting choice of a name” lo’ak comments as he twirls a hanging vine nearby. 

“But why that name?” it was neteyam’s turn to ask, danu shrugged. “I'm not sure, my mom named them that. I guess because they are floofy? I really don't know but I like it either way” . 

They all admired the different herd animals in the massive farm land, until danu led them somewhere else. But as they keep on exploring, kiri notices that a few here and there are interesting glowing insect like creatures. They remind her of Atokirinas, they fly gracefully in a delicate manner. Close to a butterfly shape, they seem to be a bit see-through, almost as if they are either made of thin glass or thin fabric. The light they produce is beautiful, a gentle white glow. And for some reason they are getting closer to her, and kiri in return getting closer to them. 

“So pretty!” tuk notices the pretty looking insects, letting one land on her hand. 

“Awe, they like you” Danu coos as the glowing beauties land on kiri, taking interest. “What are they…?” Kiri whispers as to not scare them. 

“Tswatuhì” Danu replies slowly, admiring the little display in front of her. “They are like atokirina, little blessings of our great mother. And it seems they have taken you quite well kiri” 

The little butterflies then left kiri and landed on tuk, lo’ak and neteyam, giving each of them their own glow. “Oh ma’eywa, truly a lovely blessing” Danu says in awe. Humming a bit, Danu enjoys the scenery. 

“Truly, truly you guys are like disney princesses” she comments. 

“What's a disney princess?” Tuk asks 

“It's a Earth thing” 

“Ma’jake…are you certain?” Neytiri asks nervously. They have returned back to their new temporary home after talking with mai. They had a lot to think over. So Jake, rubbing his chin as he sits with his mate by his side. 

“You heard what mai said. This place is hidden in the clouds and aware from any RDA areas. It is just…too good. Too good of everything. The mountain, the environment, the people…” he goes on. 

Neytiri lingers on the people part. Yes, the people. Human and na’vi and the inbetween. As they made their way back, she noticed many romantic couples that were na’vi and human. If they are going to stay, this is something she has no choice but to tolerate. Yet the irony is there, to run away from humans they now have to live with the humans. 

“And our children…?” she asks more. But before Jake could respond, as if on cue, their children returned with baskets full of things and big smiles on their happy faces. 

“Mom! Dad! You won't believe what we saw!” Lo'ak said eagerly, tuk light slapped his arm because he beat her to it. 

“Look look, this fruit is called a watermelon! And it is so good! Very sweet and we can make all sorts of treats with it!” tuk showed the big green melon to her parents. Jake saw it and couldn't believe his eyes. 

“Watermelon…huh, this was long gone back in my time…” he whispers. 

“We had fish kebabs and we gotta try to make some! Oh! And some of the locals were kind enough to give us these….” 

The kids happily spoke of their little journey through the mountain, the people they met, the foods they tried and the overall culture thanks to their new friend Danu. But as they chatted away, Neytiri and Jake shared a look. Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad to stay.

As the sun sets below the horizon and darkness covers all sky and land, the mountain and the life inside comes to life. Bioluminescent colors glow in beautiful colors, and like any part of Pandora, the mountain was its own other word once darkness falls. 

Nocturnal creatures come out, and the daytime creatures lay in their nests to sleep. 

And the Tawsyuram mountain? They thrive. 

Like any tribe, the Tawsyuram clan was no different when it came to communal meals. Everyone went to the main center of the village, light hearted laughter, people dancing, singing, enjoying the moot. It was different yet it felt so familiar to the Sully family. The 5 gather together in a huddle like grip, many other locals surrounding them, giving their greetings and offerings to make them feel welcome. 

They appreciate it, Jake is neytiri still feel nervous but the kids have gotten more used to the welcoming treatment and more comfortable talking with the other villagers. Even tuk managed to chat with other kids around her age! 

“So…I take it you kids like it?” Jake asks his children, they all nodded eagerly. “Do you feel safe here? Welcomed?” Neytiri asks after him. 

“As welcoming as they can get mom” lo’ak grins as he presents her a basket full of unfamiliar fruits and flowers. Kiri snatches a mango from the basket and happily munches on it. “What about you neteyam?” neytiri turns to ask her eldest child. 

But neteyam didnt respond, not immediately. 

In the center of the moot, there was a ring of young teens, many around his and his siblings' age, dancing and enjoying the moment. Among the youth was danu, who was dancing in a very grateful way. The rhythm of the music flowed around her, keeping up with the pace and matching every beat and note. She looked so lovely with the lighting of the fire. Really hypnotizing really. 

Until danu’s eyes met his. Her smile widened more and she makes her way over to neteyam, grabbing his arm tugging him forward. “Come on, dance with me” danu invites. Feeling hesitant, neteyam respectfully tries to deny, “oh no, I dont know how” he says. Earning a little giggle from danu, she tugs him harder making him stand, “it is the way” danu said. 

She successfully brings him to the center of the moot where he begins to follow her moves and quickly gets the hang of the dance. 

Neytiri and Jake look in awe as they are reminded of their night. 

“I believe that answers your question” jake whispers as they take in the full warmth and welcome of the Tawsyuram clan. 

Okie this one seriously took me a looooooooooong time! There was so much re-writing and adjusting, I feel like despite how much I did, its not enough to truly cover what I envisioned but I did my best to fit everything in. So I hope you all enjoyed this one! Until next time! See ya!

[lemontunasoup]

2024 game journal entry ✨️

I grew up with the Final Fantasy series, so delving into its newest entry was a great adventure.

Pages written out under the cut.

Final Fantasy XVI logged into the game journal.

Full post under the cut.

Final Fantasy XVI

Start date: 12/16/2023

End date: 2/5/2024

Platform: ps5

Hours played: 137 hours

Positives:

- characters were compelling, and I genuinely cared about them

- lore was very engaging

- combat felt fun and snappy

- side quests were engaging and fleshed out the world a lot!

Negatives

- very easy to get over-powered very quickly

- a LOT of side quests! I loved the lore but sometimes it was hard to get back to the main story

- no chocobo theme :(

Final Fantasy is a series I've grown up with. I remember sitting on the floor of my cousins playroom at 9 years old, both of us freaking out over how much we loved Squall. Despite that, it's been a while since I genuinely enjoyed a modern Final Fantasy title, so I went into this with cautious optimism, and I was greatly rewarded with a game I thoroughly loved!

When I heard the phrase "mature Final Fantasy" I was afraid it would be misery porn. A lot of the time people seem to think of "mature" as frit, gore, sex, profanity, and death for deaths sake because the equate maturity to misery. Nit only did this game avoid being overly miserable and edgy, but it leaned into themes of hope and positivity while not straying from themes of grief. It was a refreshing approach.

I had one gripe with gameplay, and that was I felt very overpowered early on. I quickly fixed it by only doing plot necessary fights and leaning into story over playing around in the field. Sometimes the side quests felt like they pulled away from the main story during moments of urgency (even if I loved the side quests) which sometimes made the pacing jarring. I can't, however, imagine the game without them. They breathed an incredible amount of life into the world, so I learned to enjoy them as breaks and a breather between action.

Something I really valued was how the game set up a villain to be BIG and IMPOSING, a threat to be reckoned with, and time after time it delivered on that feeling. No boss or built up force felt like it was a let down. If an event was shown to be life or death, it truely was life or death!

"It wasn't a good death we should be fighting for, but a better life."

I didn't expect to love Clive as a character as much as I did, but I'm a sucker for a man who goes through unspeakable trauma and comes out the other end kind. It was also nice to finally have an older protagonist.

While talking about characters, I found myself feeling deeply for all of their struggles. The world felt big and lived in, and the characters themselves felt alive. Towards the beginning, when Cid died, I remember thinking, "wow this is actually rough. I really liked Cid!" I remember thinking, "the deaths of any more main characters would be painful as I get to know them more is THAT hurt!" So I was hoping it wouldn't happen! And oh boy... this game isn't afraid to kill it's darlings.

By the end, I was sitting with my mouth hung open like "oh okay, they really just did that."

But I think it was the perfect ending, the only way to end a game that places importance on life after grief, on a legacy, on choosing your own life AND death, on planting a seed you'll never see grow into a tree.

"My dad always said there's two ways to live life; chasing after a dream or slowly shuffling to your grave"

Sometimes, I need that message of hope. Humanity is messy. We don't have a reason to go on, but we do. We reach out for a shoulder to lean on and keep going even if it seems hopeless to do so long down the line.

That part is very much true.

[steamberrystudio]

31/12/2023 Devlog

Hey everyone! Time for the bi-weekly tumblr update for Steamberry stuff! Except I skipped one because I can't remember why.

I half-wrote it but I think I just wasn't feeling up to finishing and posting.

I haven't been doing extremely well health-wise lately but still powering through.

Summary

Finished writing Chapter 5.5 (the new chapter in WSC)

Finished editing Chapters 6, 7, and 8 of Asher's path

Finished all the profiles for the GS lore book

Have started wrapping up the "side stories" and additional content for the GS lore book

Ramble

Okay so in my last update I was in the middle of editing chapter 5 and was nearly to the start of chapter six in editing Asher's route. I finished up chapter 5...

At that point when I was looking ahead, I started feeling like I wanted to add in a transition scene to move between Chapter 5 and Chapter 6.

As I started plotting out this scene, one of my ideas took on a life of its own and I realised that it might be better to interject a new, fleshed out story incident that would allow me to slow the pacing as well as flesh out the setting and universe a little more. This incident would also let me tie into some earlier events and connect them to something that occurs in chapter 6, also foreshadowing the chapter 6 incident.

Ultimately, this became too much to call a "scene" and I decided to branch it off into a supplementary chapter (IE a chapter a bit shorter than the others and meant to be released along with another chapter.)

Then that chapter ended up being 30,000 words.

So that happened.

After finishing that I went on to finish editing chapters 6, 7, and 8. I am currently on chapter 9. I only have a few more chapters before I'm finished editing Asher's path. As always, during my edits, one of the main things I do is flesh things out.

So obviously the word count has grown from that (and, you know, the 30k extra chapter I invented).

Currently the word count is 468,000 words.

Other Stuff:

I have received several new BGs and a new BG sketch. BGs are continuing to come in at a fairly steady pace.

I now have all the BGs for The Ophelia and the artists are working on other locations finally. OwO

I've also been, here and there, doing small tweaks to the sprites, small additions and fixes.

Gilded Shadows:

As I mentioned, I finally got through all the character profiles. There are so many more characters than I remembered in this game.

Then I got halfway through and realised that I forgot five. And had to insert them, which...meant rearranging pages, which is a pain in the butt. However, that is now complete.

What I'm working on now is finishing up some of the short stories and drabbles I have planned or partially written out and getting them into the lore book. 

As well as gathering any other content. The lore book is currently about 350 pages. And I am really hoping to wrap it up soon.

Upcoming Weeks:

Next couple of weeks I will be trying to wrap up the lore book and wrap up editing Asher's Path.

When I finish editing Asher's path I'll be moving on to finish drafting the end sequences for the four remaining characters. I'm starting to have an idea of where the word count is going to end up but will have a better idea for sure when Asher's edit is complete.

I have written over 100,000 words since mid-August, just plugging away and trying to hit at least 1000 words a day.

I hit my year end word count goal of 466,000 words for When Stars Collide but unfortunately did not finish the draft because the draft has grown in size.

But I am really hoping to finish it early next year so we can fully move into phase 2 of When Stars Collide.

I am also hoping to get the final KS stuff resolved for Gilded Shadows early next year as well (the lore book, art book, and some residual art and stuff).

For now, I shall just keep plucking away at it until it's all done.

And that is all for now. I will see you all next year.

[s-i-n-i-s-i-n]

Carmen Sandiego

Outfit Ranking. Season 1

Here is Part 2

Here is my very own ranking for Carmen Sandiego outfits in season 1.

I feel it is necessary to mention that she is so fucking hot and wicked-awesome that she looks amazing in everything. She would look beautiful in a potato sack.

Warning: this is a long post that may contain my bad resolution images and poorly made gifs.

13. Gray Vile Uniform.

It is weird that having Countess Cleo on the very faculty, the students' uniforms are so ugly. 0/10 Ugly crap. Even the cleaners look better.

12. Dark Vile Uniform.

It is an upgrade. Still not very stylish. Kinda neutral, but at least black and green get along fine enough. But it is a uniform... her personality doesn't shine through this one.

11. Overalls.

She still hasn't grown into her own style but at least I believe it is a personal choice. And green is so not her color.

10. Lab Coat.

She looks so sexy with glasses. She looks classy and smart. But at the end of the day, it is just a lab coat. We know she can rock anything she puts on, but there is no much effort in this, since it is a disguise, a quite simple one at that. Still, baby you look great!

9. The jammies!

So cozy. We get a glimpse at her everyday life. Still very practical and very red. She seems to wear her make up to bed and leave her clothes on the floor.

We are not only seeing a superthief here, but a beautiful woman that just woke up... literally.

8. Diver suit.

Red, red all over. Completely in character. It is obvious the effort in making this piece useful efficient and stylish all in one. Probably one of Ivy's best works.

7. Duchess disguise.

How did Devineaux didn't recognize that beautiful gray eye! Black suits her just fine. Mysterious and fancy. Shows her figure well and the pantsuit compliments her nice strong legs. Looks good with straight hair (that's the only straight thing that suits her).

You can see here she likes chokers. They are part of most of her outfits.

6. Denim shorts.

Wow talking about nice strong legs! Girl you're just showing off. Don't blame you, keep it up. Sporty look here appropriate for the weather. How can she make a short and a t-shirt look so good is beyond me.

With a matching hoodie when it gets cold.

5. Bikini.

Sadly we could not get a good look at this piece. She was on a bad mood at that particular time and didn't want to get off the chair. Too much sun, she said I've had enough tropical beach to last me a lifetime, she said.

Despite how awesome she probably looks in this swimsuit, I think it does not deserve to be in the top 3.

We know she likes wide hats :)

4. Auction Dress.

Hot hot hot hot! Oh boy it's burning baby! No words for this. My brain just melted when I saw her in this dress for the first time. Red and gold combine so well.

The gloves! so elegant!!!

Did you see her back?! asdjkwashgdfhf!!!! Also I told you she likes chokers.

Bonus! We get a closer look at her shoes! And so does Devineaux :)

Now the next is the Top 3. I believe the next ones really look good on her. Not only because she looks pretty but also because it shows her personality. She feels so confident and comfortable wearing them that she puts them on regularly. Therefore it may not be a surprise they are the top 3.

But before that, the 3 honorable mentions.

Honorable mention # 1.

A cute dress for a cute girl.

Honorable mention #2.

Olé!

Honorable mention #3.

Black sheep.

3. Mumbai outfit.

She wears this the first time in Mumbai. Where she meets Jules. Perfect for hot weather. Nice and casual. Little red belt and unavoidable chocker. Love it. I don't know what else to tell you. Simply fabulous.

She is just so unbelievably cool.

2. The RED COAT.

This is the most recognizable of all. The signature. The trademark. This one is what earns her the nick names. La femme rouge! The crimson ghost! Fedora the explorah!

The agility, the sneakiness, the skillfulness!

This coat represents the path she chose. This is the person she has become. Where the world is in danger of loosing its history she's made her mission to preserve it.

Iconic. Just iconic.

So resourceful! She makes me weak in the knees.

NUMBER 1.

Red Hoodie.

Where the Red Coat dresses the thief, the Red Hoodie warms up the woman. This is Carmen, the girl in her comfy everyday clothes. If she had had a normal life, this is what she would wear.

You know that shirt that you barely take off? The one pair of pants that you wear so often it gets holes at the knees? This is it for Carmen.

This is what she feels most comfortable wearing on a daily basis. It is my opinion that this is the more genuine expression of Carmen Sandiego when it comes to clothes. And for that I give this outfit the first place.

Gorgeous!

Thank you for coming!

Here is Part 2

[zai-doodles]

Yeah!! Please rank the spirit dresses!

LETS GOOOOOOO

ok ok ill try to not ramble too much but this will def be long lol

im not perfect by any means and these r just my opinions so idk don't kill me ig, if u disagree u can say that but be polite

10. OK so in LAST PLACE WE HAVE

CAPRICORN!

ok put down ur pitch forks and let me talk-

its not a BAD design aesthetically or in concept, I've seen ppl say its kinda leaning into a like, spy vibe or something and I really like the sunglasses and horns!

BUT capricorn never read as a spy to me?? maybe its just me but he always came off as more of a butler parody especially w the tailcoat he gets in this screenshot

i think both capricorn and the stardress suffer from not having a very visually distinct concept so when put together its barely feels like they match at all, its its v clear that putting lucy in a skimpy dress took priority over making a cool design that connected to the story

i dont even love my redesign for this dress anymore bc I feel like I just need to redo Capricorn first to give him a stronger concept then deal w the dress later

OK

9.

AQUARIUS

this is blasphemy i know but PLEASE HEAR ME OUT

this one is way more personal preferance so if u disagree that's so chill there's just too many things w this dress that bother me

I hate the hair, i really do like grown women w pigtails is already a pet peeve of mine bc its so male gazy to me but combining that with the bikini top and super short skirt just annoys me

and let me say again THERES NOTHING WRONG WITH LIKING THIS but in the larger context of this being the AQUARIUS dress it just doesn't read like her at all!! Sure she has a bikini but she also has v ling hair!

where capricorn suffers from too little visual concept aquarius has so much of it!! The gold to me reads v fancy and royalty esque which makes sense for her personality, just changing the hair to something more like what aquarius has would do wonders I feel like

plus i hate the green-

my first redesign ever was this dress bc it annoyed me soooo much

ANYWAY-

8.

VIRGO

this fit is fine, just boring

but virgos design is also boring and the one interesting thing, her chains, NOT being part of the star dress or alluded to makes me angry

also pigtails so it loses points

NEXT

7.

ARIES

again its fine but its boring, mainly bc aries' design is also boring so-

idk i wish they went more bo peep with it cuz I feel like that could have been cute

also more fucking pigtails-

6.

TAURUS

if any fit deserved to have horns its this one TAURUS IS A BULL-

anyway this fits is also fine but damn they could have gone so much harder w the cowgirl thing

i do still stand by my redesign for this stardress bc I think it fits canon without redoing taurus

she should have a nose ring its just facts-

5.

GEMINI

love the concept and idea! kinda meh execution

its fine ig but its also like gemini don't look anything like this? which makes this another one were I feel ud have to rework gemini to give them more visual cues u could take

the headdress specfically confuses me since the wiki says its a Kokoshnik but after looking at the wiki for that I found nothing in the history that makes that make sense for this fit?? like concept wise??

its only so high up bc i respect that they did something different and creative with this dress and the way they split the colors on the dress itself is cute, just wish they went more magician or even jester w it

the only pigtails im kinda ok w bc symmetry

(when i say more magician i did it this way:

4.

SCORPIO

its cute, i wish the tail was bigger and I see v little reason for the fit to be skin tight when scorpio himself literally has a half skirt thing going on

i still like this so here, as u can see I liked the idea with the hair and headband combo I just wish they had pushed it further

3.

SAGITTARIUS

again, cool concept, weird execution?

this one is the only one i feel that THRIVES from not taking any visual cues from the spirit bc honestly his design just sucks I'm sorry ik its supposed to be funny but its just stupid to me idk

however even if i like thaty they did something different AND gave her the bow and arrow, it annoys me still that nothing about the fit reads equestrian or archery? there's SO MANY historical fits they could have used as inspo for this and they just chose not to and that's lazy to me idk

also also i hate that for a while bc of the way the manga was colored it looked like she was fully just wearing underwear bc of the white fabric with nothing on her thighs like that's dumb he's a horse u WANT something there to protect that area when riding

2.

LEO

its cute, it matched loke design AND personality wise, wish there were more lion elements but overall v cute

CANCER

i already talked abt my thoughts on this dress here so yeits just good AND the pigtails r ok bc they r meant to mimic cancers silhouette which I really like

summary:

[xxnashiraxx]

WIP Wednesday/Snippet Someday

A big HUGE thank you to everyone who's been tagging me in stuff while I've been out on vacation!!! I'm finally back, and I have so much to catch up on! (I'll be trying to post every single one of those tag games and asks as soon as possible!)

Please have a snippet of Chapter 7, going up this Sunday 9/8!!! I know some have been looking forward to it (you have no idea how over the moon that makes me!!!)

Anywho, please enjoy this hefty offering!

“His rules were absolute- it’s why I can't turn you into a vampire, Ofelia. I’m only a spawn- I’ve no freedom or thoughts of my own. I was nothing but a slave, forced to survive on vermin and hide from the sun. To enact his twisted will on the city without any say- he had total control of me and my siblings, I was on a leash at all times,” He barks a laugh, her eyes wide and her voice dead in her throat. “Then I was abducted and this is the best thing that’s ever happened to me- I can’t feel him constantly choking me, constantly watching me. This parasite may have stolen you all away from whatever lovely lives you’ve been living, but for me…” His voice is strong and deep, her chest caving in as she listens. “It’s the best thing that's happened to me since I died.”

She sits silently for a while, her mind a cyclone of emotion. Pity, compassion, sadness. All of it swirls around inside until they lock eyes again. He doesn’t look receptive to a tearful hug or anything of that sort, but she mouths the I’m sorry that’s been echoing in her skull since his pained confession. His jaw clenches and he nods sharply before looking away again, her tongue heavy in her mouth.

“You just have to ask me, and I’ll give.” She says, twisting her fingers around. That look of surprise is on his face again, in his eyes. It fills her with some kind of purpose- she’s not been able to do much in combat here, or really offer their party that much… but at least she can do this. At least she can give someone a hand. At least this way she can be useful.

“Why? Why do you offer so freely? What’s in it for you?” She stills at his words, the razor edge of wariness making her chest ache. Oh distrust, the ever flighty bird she’d once grown accustomed to.

“Nothing’s really in it for me, Astarion. I’d just like to help… I can tell you don’t really care for pity. So let me help in a way you’ll at least appreciate.” She doesn’t look up to meet his eyes. It feels strange somehow, like the things she’s saying are something to be bashful about. She’d do this for anyone. She’d bend over backwards for anyone. She’s just like that.

“You won’t try to suffocate me with embraces and heartfelt words?”

“Can’t promise the latter- space I accept. But you’ll have to put up with me caring.” When she looks up, his head is cocked as he appraises her curiously. His lips twist in discomfort at her mention of “caring”, but otherwise he doesn’t look angry. “If you want to keep drinking from me, you’ll just have to put up with the compassion. Got it?”

“I… suppose.” He grinds out through his teeth, fangs flashing in the sunlight. They’re smaller when he isn’t trying to bite her, just barely peeking out from below his upper lip when he speaks. When he’s about to drink, they’re long- an inch or two, if she’s right.

“Have your eyes always been red?” She asks after some time has passed, mind lingering on some of the finer details.

“No… that’ll be another symptom of vampirism.” He mumbles, and she turns to look at him lazily again.

“What color were they before?” His brow furrows and he looks genuinely lost- almost adrift. It’s replaced by a grim look of anger just as fast as she can blink.

“I don’t remember. I don’t remember a lot of things, actually…” She wants to say something, but he’s so closed off. She can tell he’s barely allowing this bit of conversation between them, and she doesn’t want to press… but she did tell him he’d have to endure a bit of her tender understanding, and what better time to pester him than now?

“I think the red looks really nice,” She says, watching his face stray into awe before settling on confusion. “And the fangs- they look good too. The paleness. It kind of suits you and all that… you’re not going to stop me, are you?” He smirks, lips lifting over one fang, and she can’t tell if he’d always done that or if he’d been hiding it before his identity had been revealed to her. Or if he’s only showing them off because of what she’d just said. Everything feels like a churning ocean in her gut and she doesn’t like the way staring at him twists up her insides and makes her sound stupid. Well. Stupider than usual.

“Do go on, not enough people mention my good looks.”

“Oh, I’m sure you haven’t heard a compliment in ages. Let me pull out all the stops for you.”

“I’m listening,” He analyzes his nails.

“Snobby.” He snickers. “Pretentious.” He grins. “Ungrateful.”

“Now I’m insulted, I came and thanked you, didn’t I?”

“Not since last night.”

“You need another reminder? Greedy.” They’ve leaned in close, so close she can see every pore on his face. She stiffens and pulls back, hiding the warble in her voice with a light cough as she’s sure her cheeks paint her in an embarrassing scarlet.

Tagging all you fine folks- can't wait to catch up on all your updates!

@khywren @verbenaa @inkymoonbunny @ladyduellist @elinorbard @preciouslittlebhaalbae and maaaaaaany mooooore ❤️

[give-grian-rights]

Where can I watch the beginning of Hermitcraft? I never watched it before and I wanna try and watch it, and you're the first person who I found, honestly.

? On YouTube! Considering it would take like. 2 years straight of watching to get it right, you'd want to start from this current season which, at time of writing this, is 9. Personally, I watched one Hermit and decided from there who else was interesting and watched them when I ran out of videos. I'm gonna try and pick POVs who are most active, as in no sudden and longterm hiatuses, and are relatively involved with major plots.

The generic answer of mine would be Grian, you can't go wrong with making him your first POV especially since his series is fairly short compared to others. Other good options would probably be:

GoodTimesWithScar! Super fun, super great builder, involved in So Much and very funny but in a way that kinda makes you want to pull your hair out sometimes?

Bdoubleo100! BDUBSSS he's a freak. shoutout to a real grown man with children for coming on minecraft and becoming a sulky mean yappy little dog

Pearl . I cannot say I've had the time to watch Pearl . I do have the knowledge that she is APESHIT and does so much. all the time. mad mad mad good builder does literally impossible stuff just for funsies.

anyway . have fun . get addicted. there's zero escape

[bangchansgirlsblog]

My Biggest Regret

Part four:

**

"Y/n pass me the tomatoes please,"

Chan's mum and Y/n had started cooking a big meal for the boys. It was currently 5 in the evening and Chan's dad had gone to pick up the boys from the airport leaving Hannah, Y/n and his mum cooking in a hot kitchen for 9 men. 9 grown men meant a lot of meat, a lot of bread and a lot of food in general.

"Here you go auntie," she passed the tomatoes and started on the dessert. Chan's favorite cheesecake. She hadn’t cooked it in a while but she knew she could, after all she made sure to in-grave the steps in her brain just incase Chan had ever asked her to make it for him.

"Mum I don't know why we're cooking so much for him!" This was the 50th time that evening that Hannah was complaining, "there just going to finish all this in 10 minutes!"

"Aish!" She smacked Hannah’s arm lightly causing Y/n to smile at the two and giggle, "all you've done is complain since morning! Be like Y/n and actually help," Hannah rolled her eyes and walked over to the oven to check on whatever was inside there.

"Y/nnie, my love, maybe go rest a little bit? You've been on your feet for a few hours,"

"It's okay auntie, we're almost done anyway so don't worry about it," Y/n assured Mama Bhang.

"Okay sweetie but aren't you so excited! Channie comes home!" She clapped her hands and spun a little.

"Yes I am excited, woah woah-" Y/n quickly grabbed the spoon that was about to hit the ground and handed it back to her.

"We must celebrate today don't you think?" The older lady stood by the stove and stirred one of the broths that were cooking, "how about some wine?"

"Mum, where shall I put this?" Hannah was holding a tray and it looked very hot. She was sweating a little too just like the rest of them.

"Just put it by the counter and start plating everything baby," she instructed the girl before turning back to a very concentrated Y/n, "so wine?"

"Yeah sure, I can go out and get some-"

"Oh! Don't be silly! You really thought I wouldn't have a stash of wine?" She teased and walked over to the caboards in the leaving room and walked back with two bottles in hand.

"Are we finishing both of them?" Y/n asked in shock looking at her elder grabbing three cups and setting them down.

"Oh sweetie! If we can, why not? We've been in the kitchen for hours! Don't we deserve this?" She poured and filled the glasses with wine and handed them out.

"Okay! I'm almost done with the sauce, I'm moving the hotpot onto the dining table, you two finish dishing up plates and start bringing them out,"

"Okay Mum, what about the ice cream? Should we put them in the coolers?"

"No, just feel the coolers with ice," she instructed Hannah before leaving the two in the kitchen.

"I've never seen her this happy before," Y/n giggled and started to stack the foods on the plates.

"Same to be honest, I don't think she was even this happy when I graduated," Hannah rolled her eyes and took a sip of her wine.

"Oh! Don't say that Hannah, you know we were all so excited," Y/n had attended the graduation and made sure to take a lot of pictures cause she was proud and she wanted to make an album of memories to give to Chan when he came back. She had stacked a lot of pictures of things he had missed including birthdays, graduations (including hers) and just casual dinners and parties. The book was thick and she couldn't wait to hand it to the boy.

"I just don't under why-"

"Hannah you can't have this grudge with your brother, I was also in pain and I was hurt but you can't keep holding onto the grudge, his on his way home right now, you should be celebrating. Don't ruin it by being angry! Let him get home and after dinner you can talk to him about it okay?"

"Ugh I hate it when you're right," Hannah rolled her eyes. They both took another sip from their glasses and finished up setting the dining table.

The balcony door was open revealing the hot grill outside waiting for Chan's dad to put the steak's on the grill.

It was around 6:30. The glasses of wine were empty and now filled again. They were all washing up the dishes and cleaning up the house because Mama Bhang had recieved a text saying they were pulling up in the drive way.

Y/n's stomach started to churn, she couldn't believe. Chan was here. Chan was finally here. The glass in her hand was suddenly empty again. She had chugged it down.

"Okay should we go take a shower now?" Hannah asked as she finished wiping the table. Her mum was laying blankets on the couch incase anyone was going to sleep on it and she put out a few snacks on the table for the boys.

"Yeah let's go," Y/n agreed and headed to Hannah's room. She closed the door behind them and Hannah poured another glass for Y/n.

"Are you trying to get me drunk?" Y/n asked already tipsy. They both giggled as Hannah nodded her head.

"If we're going to do this, let's atleast do it drunk?" She justified, well questioned.

"You're so silly!" Y/n chuckled and grabbed her towel to head into the bathroom.

Her head was spinning a little but she couldn't help but overthink everything. She couldn't contain her emotions. She couldn't explain how she felt. She could just simple day she was happy but that couldn't explain all of her emotions. She wanted answers from Chan. Why did he disappear? Did he still love her? Because she made sure to keep herself pure for him. She made sure to keep herself innocent for him because he had promised to be her first in everything.

"Y/n! Hurry up girl!" The knock on the door causes her to jump out of her trance and quickly get out of the bathroom. Hannah was sat on the bed scrolling through her socials.

“Okay I’m done,” she said while rolling her eyes playfully.

"Finally! I thought you passed out or something," Y/n put down her toilet bag and get dressed as Hannah was taking her shower.

She had decided to wear a cute blue body hugging dress that she had gotten from skims with a white and blue cardigan.

She then went on to put on some perfume and do a little bit of makeup. Her hair was then slicked back into a pony tail.

When Hannah was done she also wore something similar to Y/n's but hers was in red and she let her hair fall since it wasn't long enough to be put up.

They decided to take a few selfies and pictures since they both could agree they looked really cute and wifey material.

"Girls?! There here!" They hear Chan's mum yell throught he house. The two got up and finished the wine in their glasses and made their way downstairs.

"Oh my girls! You both look so beautiful," she cooed at the sight of both of them.

"Thank you mum! Now where are they?" Hannah was impatient, she wanted to see her brother and his friends.

The door handle wiggled and then opened revealing her dad and a bunch of people behind him.

"Geuss who's home," his voice boomed throughout the whole house.

"Move!" His mum run past his dad and jumped into Chan's arms. Her body trembled against his as she started to cry.

It was a beautiful sight and Hannah and Y/n couldn't help but tear up a little.

"Oh my baby Boy! I missed you so much. This can't be real," she cried in his arms as Chan allowed her too.

"Hey Mum, I missed you so much," he wouldn't admit it but tears dropped from his eyes aswell. He did miss his mum with everything in him.

"Well since those two are busy," Chan's dad cleared his throat while chuckling, "girls these are the guys, introduce yourselves," he encourages the two girls that stood behind the couches.

"Hey, I'm Hannah, Hannah Bhang. His little sister and this is Y/n, Y/n Y/l/n. She's a family friend." Hannah smiled and waved. Y/n waved too, since she wasn't used to being people around her age she looked terrified but in all honesty she was just shy.

"Nice to meet you finally! I'm leeknow," he walked over to them to shake their hand. "That's Changbin, Han, Felix, Hyunjin, Seungmin and I.N," he points at the different guys. They both smiled and waved at each of them. Y/n was trying so hard to remember all their names.

The blonde guy caught her eye though. Hyunjin was it? His was so pretty but what made her fall for him more was his soft plump lips.

"Welcome to Australia," Y/n finally said, "Make yourself at home." She smiled and lead them to sit down.

"Hey! hey! hey! I haven't met them yet!" Chan's mum said after she finally let go of Chan and dragged the boy into the house, they all chuckle and get up again to greet their elder. She made sure to give them hugs and kisses.

"Hannah!" A not so familiar voice called distracting them from the sight in-front of them. They both turn to Chan. "Are you not going to kiss your brother hello?" He chuckled and wrapped his arms around her. His eyes automatically falling on Y/n.

He gasps and analyzes her figure, she was even more beautiful than he could remember. She looked so innocent and so grown up now.

The guilt started to eat away at him. It started to slowly creep up and it made his body heat up.

"Okay okay you're squeezing me to death!" Hannah was panting and trying to wiggle out of his strong grip.

"Woah," was all he could say. He almost even dropped his travel bag. "Y/n?"

"Hey Channie!" She smiled and waved at the boy who quite literally looked like he was about to pass out.

"Long time no see ehhh?"

**

[staceymcgillicuddy]

Prompt #9 please!

Oh, Nonnie, this is my last prompt in the inbox and it got me all in my emotions as well! Love an established relationship feelings-fest! (Prompt is "Listen to me.")

~~~~~~~

“Chrissy?” 

Eddie taps on the door of their overpriced hotel room and waits. He has a key, but he wants to respect her need to take a moment. After all, it isn’t every day that your wife flees her little brother’s rehearsal dinner in tears after telling her own sainted mother to “just shut up, okay?” 

Not that Laura Cunningham’s much of a saint. Still, Eddie’s treading carefully because this is the first significant time they’ve spent with the Cunninghams since the Christmas disaster of ’91, and there’s nothing that can send Chrissy spiraling back into the abyss of her childhood faster than a scathing comment from her mother. 

“Hey, Bets,” he says, trying again with a nickname that he only pulls out when the stakes are high. He can’t remember how it started—Christine Elizabeth shortened to Lizzie, Beth, Betty, Bets, maybe—but after eleven years together, eight of them married, and a hundred pet names split between them, what does remembering matter?

Pressing his ear to the door, he waits until he hears a sob before deciding that she’s had warning enough and uses his key.

The room smells like Chrissy’s perfume with an undercurrent of faux-floral toilet scrub. It’s not a place they could ever have afforded alone, which is part of the problem. As parents of the groom (and at said groom’s request), Phillip and Laura are paying for their attendance, which has set Chrissy on a self-destructive path where she has to battle a tornado of tolerance and an earthquake of obligation and yes, sure, Eddie’d suggested they just get a room at the Motel 8 and save themselves the hassle, but she’d wanted to do it for her brother. For Charlie. For his bride-to-be, Addie, who’s actually a cool girl. They’ve been to stay with Chrissy and Eddie in Chicago twice now, and Eddie digs her taste in music more than he’ll ever admit. 

(Addie also said she dug Eddie’s band-on-the-side, which is all he needs to love someone forever.) 

“Eddie,” comes a plaintive wail from the bed.

Chrissy’s curled on her side with a pillow hugged to her abdomen, still wearing the blue floral dress she’d sported to dinner. It has ridden up her thighs considerably, and Eddie must have grown as a person because he only thinks about that for maybe .02 seconds as he crawls onto the bed behind her and wraps an arm around her waist to pull her against his chest. 

“She had it coming,” he says into her artfully coiffed hair, which rests shellacked and sticky against his lips. “Baby. She did.” 

“Is Ch-Ch-Addie mad?” 

“Nobody’s mad except your mother.” In fact—and he won’t tell her this now—Addie’d been hiding a giggle behind a napkin. Eddie knows for a fact that she feels about Laura much the same as he does. Only, you know, she can’t say that to Chrissy because while Chrissy’s allowed to hate her mother, nobody else can say a word, and God, yeah, families are complicated. Eddie’s grateful that he only has to worry about Wayne, and Wayne never gives them any trouble. 

“I shouldn’t have said anything,” she says around another miserable little sniffle. 

“Eh.” He shrugs and kisses the spot where her shoulder meets her neck. “She was picking at you, and you snapped. It happens.” 

“But I wasn’t going to do it this time! I was… I worked on all those coping m-mechanisms!” That brings a fresh volley of tears. “Sandra’s going to be so disappointed.” 

“What, like you’re gonna get a bad grade in therapy?” 

“Yes!” She trills the word out on a wail.

Eddie loves her so much, but she’s making a mountain out of a molehill, and while he never minds comforting this particular damsel in distress, he’s also not gonna let her beat herself up when Laura’s the one who threw the first punch. 

“Alright, buddy, c’mon.” He pulls away enough to coax her onto her back, where she stares up at him from puffy, red-rimmed eyes and a blotchy complexion. “Hey.” 

“Hi,” she says. 

There’s snot beneath her nose, so he grabs a Kleenex from the box on the nightstand and holds it to her face. “Blow.”

She blows—honks if he’s honest—and he chucks the tissue onto the table before focusing on her. 

“Okay, counselor, facts of the case. Did your mother kick the evening off by telling you your dress was too tight?” 

Chrissy frowns. “It is, and—”

“Bzzt!” Eddie digs his fingers into her side, which has the intended effect of shocking her into a squeal. “Irrelevant. Conjecture. Also, bullshit. You look hot. So, true or false, counselor? Did she do that?” 

Chrissy nods, mute, pressing her lips into a thin line. But, hey. Not crying, so that’s something. 

“And did she, or did she not, tell everyone at the table that they’re paying for us to be here?” 

Another nod. 

“After which—and correct me if I’m wrong here—she put her hand over your plate so the waiter couldn’t give you any of the lobster risotto.” 

Chrissy’s mouth twists into what might be termed a smile, and she shrugs. 

“So then I switched plates with you, and she gave me that look she always gives me.” 

“What look?” 

“The look where I’m a pile of actual dogshit she’s just stepped in.” 

“Oh.” Chrissy’s smile widens, and she shrugs. “Right. That look.” 

“All of that to say, by the time she gave her little speech about grandchildren and welcoming a daughter into the family… I dunno, Bets, it felt like justifiable homicide to me.” 

“But I did it in front of everyone…” 

“Yeah, well, so did she.” 

“But—“ 

“No buts. Listen to me. Your mother’s never going to change, but you change every day. That’s why you’ve got me, and Sandra, and all our friends who actually like you instead of the stupid little dress-up doll your mother spent eighteen years trying to turn you into.” 

This is not the first time they’ve had this conversation. Chrissy already knows how he feels. However, if the message takes a million times to sink in, Eddie’s willing to keep talking. 

Chrissy blinks, sniffs, and rubs her eyes. “Okay,” she says because she’s not so good at acknowledging the truth of the matter. “I should call Charlie’s room. Apologize to him and Addie and—”

“Or,” Eddie says, cutting her off before she can work herself into another lather. “We could call up room service and charge two fucking massive slices of chocolate cake to your parents.” 

“Eddie…” 

“Best part is, they’re both for you.” 

"Eddie."

"I'll have a bite. And you can call your brother, too."

~~~~~~

All the prompts I've answered!