#if it's the usual i can go on boldly / even though that's my personality / no matter how hard i try i can't tear down the wall

[hannie-dul-set]

plz matthew for the reverse harem hell

[a losing game]. seok matthew may not be the most perceptive person in the room, but even he could notice the underlying competition going on within the publication office. well, it can’t even be considered underlying because even if there’s no explicit declaration of war from any party—

“s—seonbae, this is for you!”

“nice hair clip. it suits you.”

“are you free tonight? do you wanna grab dinner together?”

the gifts, the flowers, the compliments, the attention can all be considered as firearms and attacks in this funny, seven-way tug-of-war.

“oh, actually—” 

and seok matthew simply can’t miss out on all the fun.

“sorry, hyung!” target locked. calculating move. matthew quickly maneuvers past the flower bouquet wielding kim gyuvin and the observant kim jiwoong to cut in between you and hanbin. he arms with himself with an easy smile, bright and wide as he throws an arm of your shoulder, pulling you into his chest in a half-hug. “she’s already eating out with me.”

matthew decides that he has won this skirmish when hanbin’s face freezes. “oh,” his editor in chief says, followed by a pause, finished by a laugh and the resumption of his smile. “oh! well, i hope you two have a nice dinner!”

“hahaha, yes, thank you, hanbin,” you force out, a streak of discomfort in your expression even though you’re smiling as politely as you can, and it’s just too out in the open for matthew not to notice. 

“if you’re gonna be out late, my line is always open if you need a ride home.”

with that, hanbin shuffles back to his desk, and matthew is declared victorious. at least until you wiggle yourself out of his grapple and look at him with the same strained, same forced politeness that you were giving hanbin earlier. “haha, anyway,” you cough out, and matthew bites down his tongue because it would be inappropriate to laugh at you right now. “i still have some articles to copyread. if you’ll excuse me—”

“oh, i already did them, seonbae! the papers are on your desk!”  

now, matthew isn’t even sure he likes you. and quite frankly, he doesn’t care to know. he’s just in this fray because he’s irredeemably competitive and doesn’t like it when he’s left out of things.

“gunwook! why would you— i never asked you to—”

“hold on.”

oh. he has one more reason.

“there’s something in your hair.” reaching out to the side of your temple, matthew gently bristles away some hair out of your face and very boldly unclips the hair clip that jiwoong allegedly got you. it’s a frontal attack. the silence in the office is tense. “you’re prettier without it.”

you look at him. then your eyes dart down to his hand, holding the accessory. then look back up to meet his eyes again— confused, flushed, and flustered.

“uhm— oh, uh— thanks…?”

the last reason that your reactions are always cute and funny whenever he strikes an attack.

the tension is palpable. matthew hums and goes on with his day until daybreak comes, and it’s finally evening. meaning, it’s time to have dinner with you and he can finally escape from the drilling stares jiwoong has been sending him all day. you finally come back to the office— gyuvin in tow, and while you were out, matthew was doing some thinking.

if he thinks you’re cute, wouldn’t that mean he likes you? but he doesn’t think he’s as passionate as ricky or as earnest as hao when it comes to you. he’s just having a bit of fun. a bit of excitement to spice out the usual boring day-to-days in the publication office. 

well, he can just confirm his feelings over dinner. and so he does. you’re both sitting by the window at this nice thai restaurant he recently discovered. the vibe is nice. warm lights. good food. a live band in the corner. and seok matthew is currently very intently staring at your face— brows furrowed and all— because he’s trying to figure out if thinking that you’re still pretty even after a full day of work means that he does indeed like you.

“what?” you prod, setting down your water on the table because his staring interrupted your hydrating. “is there something on my face again?”

“yes.” now, you’re just giving him an opening to make an attack. matthew simply cannot help himself. “prettiness.”

this time, matthew doesn’t get the same reaction as he usually gets in response to his attacks.

huh.

you set down your fork. you wipe your lips with a napkin before setting them down, too. you’re looking serious. you don’t look flustered or uncomfortable at all and it’s starting to scare him a little. his heart rate picks up. his palms get sweaty. and for some reason, you’re looking like you’re just about to break his heart in the worst way possible.

“matthew.”

wait—

“there’s something i want to tell you.” 

—if he’s scared of getting his heart broken—

“i’m dating someone.”

—wouldn’t that mean he likes you?

“h—huh?” matthew stammers. “come—come again?”

you pressed your lips together, a sharp inhale before repeating, “i’m dating someone already.” wow. he shouldn’t have asked you to repeat that. “i only agreed to see you tonight to tell you this...so that you’d stop...you know, trying anymore.”

matthew is quite for a moment. “is...is it hanbin hyung?” he asks after the pause, and you don’t respond. “jiwoong hyung?” but your phone answers his question for you in the form of an incoming call from someone that he didn’t even think was in the competition.

“taerae?”

right when he had just realized his feelings, seok matthew just realized that he had lost.

“sorry, i need to take this.”

maybe he’d lost more than just this dumb competition. maybe this had been a losing game in the first place.

send me a kpop boy (txt/enha/zb1/bnd/dream) to toss into reverse harem hell! [taerae]

[scarlettsandmaroons]

midnight rain | n. romanoff

about me | series masterlist | natasha romanoff masterlist

pairing: professor!natasha romanoff x collegestudent!reader

chapter eleven | chapter twelve: it came like a postcard

chapter summary: sometimes, weather forecasts can be wrong; yours said it would be sunny yet a storm came. the same way the bestest days can take a turn for the worst. you'd never choose rain. you did it once and now you're lost. but when you are, the sun always comes. and it envelops you in its warmth. it finds you, it makes you follow it, and you're secure. you'd must always choose the sun.

warnings: angst; non-aggressive fighting, guilt.

a/n: i know it took so long, but im too busy!!! i barely have time for anything so please understand! this took so little time actually, i wrote this in class for 30 minutes, and while i do hate the way i wrote it (for some reason i could never write proper angst?) my creative juices won't allow me for more. so please bear with me. ALSO, LITERALLY ONE CHAPTER AWAY FROM THE ENDING, YAY US.

a few months ago, you attended a sophomore party around the first few days of your sophomore year. it was at the university, in the event hall which happened past midnight where none of the teachers would have known the drinking, the dancing, and the sex on each corner of the space. 

of course, natasha knew about it. she always knew everything. more so if it's something about you. you weren't supposed to go. but you and natasha had a small argument the day before the party—something about the way she so boldly touches you even when people were around. so to get your mind of it, you went; to get back at her, you didn't tell her and planned on going home drunk; and to taunt her, you wore the most absurdly revealing outfit in your dresser. 

you were expecting to go home to her waiting for you in a robe and red wine, as she usually does when you come home past midnight. but she didn't. a few shots, and some minutes of dirty dancing later, you were pulled off the dance floor but her harsh grip, and everyone stunned at the professor's actions. 

she pulled you in her office, trapped you between her and the desk, and when you thought she'd lecture you, she didn't. she dropped her forehead on your shoulder, and she bathed you in her warmth. 

she told you she loved you. that she loved you so much. that she loved you dearly, sincerely, desperately. and the next day, you woke up with flowers and a bottle of her perfume on your bed. you need not a note to know what she was implying—you can try to grind on every person you want, but they'd know. 

that's been your routine after every fight. 

flowers, and a present. 

today was undeniably one of the best days ever. granted, you and natasha had a little argument the night before, but that's what led you to the flower shop for the first time. you spent an hour smelling every plant; feeling the difference between the patterns of every petal; basking in the colors of the life the surrounds you. 

and then you rode a bike to the mall. it wasn't your bike, it was wanda's old one from when she and vision had just moved to westview. but you found it in the shed. and with the flowers you bought in its little brown basket, you went toe to toe with the massive cars driving right next to you. and somehow, you felt like you were saving the world. 

wanda, that morning, cooked you breakfast. and then she gave you ice cream in a bowl as dessert which doesn't happen at all. wanda can be a nag about health, and you often find the domesticity of having a mother nag you for eating junk very endearing, but it never hurts to have ice cream. and did you jump out in joy when she handed you a bowl. 

billy wasn't home. wanda sent him to an errand outside westview. but he left you a sweet note and a sandwich on your bedside table before he left, and before you woke up. he should be home long past 12pm though, which would give you the very opportunity to make it right with your girlfriend before he comes back. 

she wasn't here. 

she's never here when she gets into a fight with you. she cools off her head, gives you your space, then she comes back to talk. 

you assume that's how she'd always been, even with wanda given that she did use to live away from her family that you assume is because of a blowout. you never asked. and you knew she didn't want you to.

you bought her flowers and a scented candle that smelled like your favorite perfume. something that she can put in the office that's been home to too much of your sins, and overflowing with so much of your love. 

the sun was out, and for the first time, it didn't seem to burn. it was just... warm. no chance of rain, said the weather forecast. 

but of course, sometimes, they're wrong. 

"do you know i cheated on natasha with vision?" 

and it rained. 

"sorry, what?" 

the moment you closed the door behind you, and right after wanda called for you in the kitchen, it poured. harsh, angry rain. 

"it was over a year ago," wanda clarifies. "natasha was getting too busy with work, and vision happens to drop by." 

"wanda, i don't—"

"and i slept with him." 

you stiffed. your chest tightened, and the grip you had on the bouquet you couldn't be bothered to hide behind you became strained.

you weren't sure why wanda was telling you. neither did you want her to. but suddenly you feel for natasha. like that very thing wanda did was enough to justify and save natasha from every argument, every fight, every bad thing between you two. 

"wanda, i really don't know why you're telling me this," you whisper, voice shaking, resisting. "i think it's none of my business." 

you didn't know what to do, what to feel. wanda cheated on natasha. and natasha is cheating right back. should it be called even? you couldn't say. the anger of knowing what natasha had to go through, vs wanda... your mother. sweet sweet wanda. you justified wanda in your heart. 

she was standing behind the kitchen island, looking at the yard over the floor to ceiling windows. and then she turns to you, pauses when she sees the flowers and paper bag in your hands. 

she smiles, tiredly. "is that for her?" 

you didn't have to be asked twice. your mind didn't scramble for an excuse either. surprisingly, no "for who?" or "it's for billy". just silence. 

she looks at you. 

she knew. 

her eyes stayed the exact same green shade as they were earlier. or yesterday. or the many days before that. there was nothing different. she looked the same. but she knew. 

you'd already betrayed her, you couldn't lie to her. and your mind didn't allow you to even dig through your raging thoughts for an apology. 

and she beats you to it. "i'm sorry," she tells you; her voice raspy, coated in what pain you could feel her hide. 

all thoughts left your body. and you weren't sure why it was only now that guilt surged through your every vein, every muscle. 

you might have not chosen natasha, but a part of you knew that she would choose you. that she would always choose you. and somehow, that was able to keep you in your bubble. to spare you the guilt. to keep you safe. knowing that while you would choose wanda, that you would do what's right; she wouldn't. she would choose you. even if it's wrong. and that makes the weight of your sin much much lighter. 

"wanda i—" she gave you the chance. she stayed silent. she waited, she hoped, she looked at you with eager eyes. but you couldn't say anything. you didn't say anything. 

she walked closer to you. you could tell her knees were weak, barely carrying the weight of her body. then she smiled, a sad comforting smile. like when she told you what she'd done to your mother. like when she offered you a way out. 

you yelled in your mind. screamed. the voice begged to be ousted; 

don't touch me. 

don't touch me, wanda. 

please, it's my fault. 

don't smile at me. 

slap me. curse me. swear at me. 

throw me away.

force me to go. 

don't... 

please don't be nice. 

please don't smile. 

please... 

don't make it harder for me...

you stayed silent. 

something about the way her eyes sparkled with threatening tears made you feel a sense of home and longing. like the feeling you get when you know you'd have to travel the next day so you clean your home, and enjoy the few hours you have in your room. and you feel at peace. the dread, the excitement, and the longing. you feel everything all at once. 

"i'm sorry," she tells you again. raising her visibly shaking hand to caress your cheek. you didn't know what to do. you froze. "i was supposed to protect you, i was supposed to be your mother," her voice decreased to a whisper. but you still heard the way it cracked. the way it got stuck in her throat. "it's all my fault." 

and your heart broke. your heart broke for her. your heart broke for the crying eyes staring into you—the same ones the would shine when seeing her wife, or would sparkle when billy gives her a hug. your heart broke for the hurting mother. for your hurting mother. for the mother you hurt. 

"wanda, it's not...," you whisper.

she stuttered for words. avoiding your eyes, struggling to keep her composure, "i really love her," she cries. "and i needed her. and she wasn't here. and i was desperate."

she was defending herself for a crime she didn't commit. you're supposed to be the one justifying. you're supposed to be the one crying—looking at her with grieving eyes. 

but how could you? what could you say? 

i didn't love her, wanda. but i would long for her touch, crave for her lips, burn for her warmth the same way i long for air, and crave for love, and burn for every bit of earth that falls on my skin.  

i didn't love her, wanda. but when i go to heaven, and god tells me that this very sin is what would send me to hell, i'll tell him how ironic it was to have the only heaven i'd ever known be what would send me to burn down in hell. 

i didn't love her, wanda. 

but i did. 

oh how i did. 

"i'm sorry....," you finally say. you finally gathered the courage, the words, the thoughts to apologize. may it be the wrong ones, for the wrong person, but you were sorry for tolerating natasha. you were sorry for the indulgence. you were sorry for granting yourself the heaven when you were only meant to stay on earth. 

you were sorry for natasha. for everything that you did. but not for loving her. never for loving her. 

"no, darling i...," how could she call me that? "it's my fault. i should've—i should've known. i should've realized. you should have never been in that situation if i—"

"wanda what are you—"

"she wouldn't have used you."

she wouldn't have used you. 

she wouldn't have used you. 

she wouldn't have used you. 

she wouldn't have used you. 

but she loved me...

"at least it—it wouldn't have...," she choked. "it wouldn't have gotten this far, i—" 

she told me she loved me. she whispered it to me in bed, she wrote it to me in class, she moaned it in my ear. she loved me. 

"you were a kid, i—"

she wasn't looking at you. she was avoiding your eyes, guilt surging through her body, and pain glinting her eyes. she was shaken up, she was confused. and you... you were lost. 

"i married a beautiful woman. she is kind, she is thoughtful, she is caring," and she loved her deeply. you could hear it from her voice. and see it with the way a smile crept her face through her tears. the thought of her alone is enough to put her in a trance, in her own little bubble. 

and then the bubble pops. and she looks back at you, unaware that she'd been looking away. "i...," she searches for words, looking in your soul; holding it, hugging it through the windows of your eyes. "i didn't think she'd be the kind to... take advantage of a child so she could get back at me." 

i didnt think she'd be the kind to take advantage of a child so she could get back at me.

i didn't think she'd be the kind to take advantage of a child so she could get back at me.

i didn't think she'd be the kind to take advantage of a child so she could get back at me.

suddenly the memory of her touch burns your skin. the memory of her kisses slices you. the memory of her, and everyday of the past year, and you, and the both of you—suddenly, everything was hell. and you were on fire. 

your ear rings. 

she used you.

she loved me. 

she was using you for revenge.

she loved me. 

she took advantage of you. 

she loved me. 

she pretended. 

she asked me to run away. she loved me.

she's taking it too far. 

she told me she loved me. 

did she really?

no. 

"she loved me," you resisted her touch. you moved away from her. you insisted, you screamed, you cried. "she loved me wanda." 

you saw pain through the wrinkles on her face. you saw pain for the family she's losing, and pity for the daughter she'd come to love as her own. she grieved for her family. and mourned for your innocence in your place. 

you saw it overtake her—the broken woman whose family's at loss overtake the sweet mother who'd cared for you for over a year. and more as a child. you saw it glint her eyes, the change from pity to anger. 

"she loved me...," you cried, dropping to the floor. 

you knew she was torn. should it be pity that you loved her wife, or anger that you loved her wife. she was fighting in her head. you can see the way she defended you in her own mind. you were just a kid that her wife took advantage of. but also, you were the stain in the family that she's been trying to fix.  

you didn't know which one won, which side of her. the subtle cruelty of the way she dropped an envelope on the floor to your knees, and the love that it was to crouch to your level and look at you. 

"you're breaking my family...," she told you. "i can't let you do that anymore." 

you wonder which wanda your talking to. while her words were thorned, her voice was coated with the love of a mother. 

"this is enough to get your mother out of the hospital, and last you until you graduate."

she had kept a distance between you two, especially when she stood up. she's calmer now as if she'd already decided. 

"for what it's worth...," she trailed off. "i wish you never had to hurt billy."

the fight is over. you were the kid who her wife took advantage of, and let it happen. you were the woman who betrayed her son. and she hates you. like a mother who hates her child: forever.

just like that, you were out of the house you'd called your home for the last year, and under the blazing storm. you were lost. 

"y/n!" 

until your beacon shines again. 

"oh my lord, what are you doing outside!" 

billy runs over you from his car with an umbrella. he hadn't heard. but he takes you in his arms, and wraps you around his coat. "i left early," he whispers. "what happened?"

you were lost. you always had been. but billy always found you. and you always followed him. you were lost as a child, and followed billy to his home. you were lost after graduation, and followed him to university. you're lost now. and you knew you'd chosen well. because he always found you. 

[mazeinthemiroh]

Could you do headcanons on how skz would act around their crush? 😂

how stray kids would act around their crush

genre: headcanons; romance, fluff, slight crack

word count: 1k

warnings: cursing, you stan 8 dorks btw i hope you know that

pls like and reblog if you enjoy! feel free to request anything <3

bangchan

he's actually such a flirt, bro-

but he's also shy so it's like... pick a lane, yk??

because when he's like not-so-subtly flirting with his crush and they flirt back?? he's all giggly and stuff

such a dork lmao

compliments you as much as he possibly can without seeming like a simp

but he is so

wants to get closer to you and be your bestie. finding out more about you and getting to know you on a more personal level is his goal

because, in his mind, there's one thing having a crush on someone. but it's another thing entirely once you build a special connection with someone based on that initial attraction

lee know

ahh minho

ahsdbdjhdbuwegfu

he's my favourite when it comes to his response to a crush because it is pure taking the absolute piss

minho builds a playful connection with his crush; he wants to tease them, mock them, and make fun of them any chance that he can get, without completely hurting their feelings and missing his chance.

he is learnt over time how to balance his playfulness in this way

spends a lot of time thinking about you

so much so that it distracts him from his daily tasks

he would never admit this though. it makes him frustrated

like "how dare they consume my thoughts 24/7"

overall, it's totally obvious that he has a crush on you to onlookers because he can't help his ever-growing smile when talking to you

his mission overall is to make you smile or laugh

changbin

invites you out A LOT

yeah he doesn't really try hiding his crush on you because he doesn't really see the point

in his opinion, he shouldn't have to hide such feelings

talks to his friends about you

so they definitely know

wooyoung and yeonjun be sighing dramatically as changbin brings you up in their conversation yet again

"we went to the arcade the other day an-" "y/n love arcades, we should totally go with them next time! they said they were good at the claw machine but-"

you get the idea

he's super sweet about you. gushes and brags about you to no end

and this doesn't really change once he actually starts dating you

he's a very consistent boy

hyunjin

this man has probably written poetry about you before he even talks to you

anyways

he's such a cute little dumpling, wtf

smiles softly at you

compliments you boldly but with a shy tone

tries not to make it obvious that he likes you. idk he's very aware of himself so he is always second-guessing his actions

each time he sees you, he seems to find it harder and harder to talk to you without you knowing he's head-over-heels in love

he just falls deeper and deeper

until he just comes out and says it

abruptly and messily

yeah <3

han

very engaging

probably a tad bit hesitant going up to you but does it anyways

he fights through his little bit of nerves because seeing you smile means more to him

he will try and find any excuse to be next to you and talk your ear off

he wants to get to know you. wants to know what you like, what you dislike. what makes you tick?

he can be a master of small talk when he needs to be so easing himself into any conversation with you proves to be straightforward to him

laughs louder than usual around you

talks faster, too

he just gets excited once he's finally up and talking to you, it's hella cute

felix

has eyes only for you

very obvious that he likes you

and it's because he always singles you out

he makes a beeline to where you are as soon as he clocks you're in the same room as him

unintentionally flirty

overall just super friendly and wants to get to know you from the get-go

but doesn't want to come across too strongly

probably overthinks everything he does or says to you

will meditate and reflect on how he interacted with you later that night when he is alone with your thoughts, probably torturing himself over things he said or things he didn't say

overall he has a very conflicting time

i relate to him so much, dammit 🚶

seungmin

he doesn't stop smiling around you

so smiley that his cheeks hurt after being near you for at least five minutes

but then he realises in order to actually be with you he needs to try and talk to you first

baby step seungmin, come on

so he's racking his brain to say something funny or interesting. if you look at him, it's like you can see the cogs in his brain working at full speed. fascinating to watch i must say

but what comes out of his mouth is a simple "hey, how have you been?"

impressive, isn't it?

honestly, it's good to start simple. and seungmin finds that these little interactions with you are better than he could have ever dreamed of.

jeongin

he does not SPEAK

avoids you at all costs, no i'm not exaggerating

so awkward bro, the amount of harassing the other members had to do to get him to talk to you is embarrassing

but honestly same, innie. it's hard speaking to your crush, cut him some slack!

once he's into it, he's fine

"what was i worried about?"

all he has to do is be his cute and awesome self and there's not much else to it!

is kind of formal when he speaks to you

once he loosens up and gets closer to you, he starts becoming more casual and relaxed

[boinin]

Can I get 17, 18, 19, 20, and 29 for Kunigiri and AiSen (Aiku x Sendou)

Hi Mr. Smithereens! You sure can. I'm happy to blab about Aikusen in particular! Such a good rarepair.

17. Who says I love you first?

Kunigami, in nearly every scenario. He's too honest to keep it to himself. Conversely, Chigiri's more guarded, so even if he falls in love first, he'd wait until he's certain before admitting his feelings so boldly.

With AikuSen, it's a drawn out process. Sendou would be too insecure to admit his feelings to someone he knows fools around casually, even where he and Aiku are dating exclusively. I personally headcanon Aiku as somewhat emotionally avoidant, and perhaps freaking out about feeling for Sendou on a deeper level. That said, I think Aiku would accept the risk of heartbreak and say I love you first.

18. Who leaves little notes in the other’s one lunch? (Bonus: what does it usually say?)

Let's be real, it's only ever Kunigami making lunches for the princess ❤️ I think he'd write corny jokes to make Chigiri laugh or roll his eyes. Puns in particular, since Chigiri likes wordplay. He probably Googles them specifically.

Aiku and Sendou don't strike me as big lunch makers, but Aiku would probably include notes of encouragement, like Knock 'em dead today, ace. Sendou reads them and cringes (but secretly enjoys them).

19. Who tells their family/friends about their relationship first? & 20. What do their family/friends think of their relationship?

Answering these together as they compliment one another!

Kunigami tells his family first, casually mentioning that he's dating Chigiri. Chigiri's mom and sister wrangle the news out of him after seeing him post a suspiciously couple-y photo with Kunigami on social media. Both families are supportive, particularly the sisters.

Literally none of Kunigiri's friends would be surprised. If anything, they're surprised it took this long to happen.

Aiku tells his family first, although he'd probably take his time to do so. I'm guessing they'd be pretty chill about it—his dad is Swedish-German and fairly liberal, as is his mom. Sendou would worry that his folks would respond negatively to him dating a man. To his surprise, that's not an issue so much as him dating a known cheater / womaniser. Aiku charms them though as soon as they meet him, and reassures them he's not going to hurt Sendou.

There's mixed responses from their friend group. The original U20 teammates would find it hilarious, given how much both of them emphasised dating women in their early careers. Anyone from their days in Ubers sees them getting together a mile off.

29. one headcanon about this OTP that breaks your heart

Kunigiri are overall so wholesome, there's little to report on this front! But the idea of Chigiri being the first (and maybe only) person Kunigami is willing to talk about Wild Card pulls on my heartstrings.

For AikuSen, what gets me is Sendou's inevitable meltdown when he realises he's started to catch feelings for Aiku. I headcanon Sendou doesn't have the self esteem to believe he has enough worth for Aiku to be exclusive with him. Internalised homophobia (or biphobia?) also packs a punch with these two.

[vampirzina]

Could you do headcanons of Fujin with a punk reader? (Especially with how calm he can be mixed with the reader’s chaotic energy)

⛧ ┆ FUJIN w. PUNK!READER HCS

tw(s): gn pronouns (you), sfw, fluff (mostly)

note: although i’m not punk i’ll do my best!!!!! my most exciting ask yet. i’m also so grateful to have been graced with a shot at it after seeing the goth & metalhead ones in other tags. i loved them.

masterlist

— Fujin’s love for the human spirit is undying, and it only grows more when he came across you for the first time.

— You interested him, and you interested him a lot. What is a… Punk? He’s always known it an insult, but why were you calling yourself that? Were you evil?

— His personality is able to sift through your chaotic one, and he actually finds himself seeking you out just to hear you/your thoughts

— He doesn’t mind a chaotic personality, as he’s met humans with a plethora of different personalities. He just needs to learn when and how to talk you away from those reckless moments when the situation is dire and dangerous.

— Would jump to your defense but apologize for you when you got mouthy with a judgy rule-obedient Raiden.

— He’s the one who asked for no pickles, you’re the one who tells them he asked for no pickles. If that makes any sense lol

— Even though he usually has such a high tolerance for humans indiscriminate of who they are, he can see why the scene of punk is the way it is. Injustices are everywhere.

— Eventually, you two become really close, close enough that one day you casually introduce him to The Ramones, Sex Pistols and The Clash.

It’s a new sound, to him, but he doesn’t hate it at all. He’d actually sometimes make a mental note of the song name when you tell him, and sometimes ask if you could play it.

— When/if you two eventually started dating, he would sow something onto your battle vest. It’ll remind you of him, he says, and it does. He would hang a cuff or something of yours on his belt in turn.

ᐟᐟ☆

“Fujin, have you seen my vest? The one I always wear,” you frustratedly lifted a pillow, before throwing it down. You almost cuss—you’ve been looking for an hour and you’ve got places to be.

Innocently does he look over his shoulder with it in hand. He lifts it, “This?”

“Yes, that,” your gaze wishes to turn into a glower at him, but you don’t find the will. He lets you find his work yourself, even if embroidery doesn’t really go with the style of it.

☆ ᐟᐟ

— If you do your hair up with a lot of gel/spray, then he’d attentively watch and, boldly one day, ask to try it. Even if he doesn’t do it perfectly, the gesture is tooth-rotting sweet.

If you shave or cut your hair, he would be the type to notice when you do… And ask if you did something new with your hair. The slightest change can prompt the question, so that there’s a chance to flatter you.

If you are in a band, he would do his best to support you from afar; his presence alone could offset the entire room, making it hard to blend in.

— Make him a battle vest. It’ll look ridiculous on him in contrast to what he normally wears, but he’ll keep it bedside or when he needs something to think back on. If you’re cold, he’ll give it to you again. He smiles sometimes at it.

— Punk!Fujin? He’d be so absorbed into the scene and the meanings behind things that he occasionally begins to know more than you. Unbeknownst to you though, it’s all to impress you... ❤︎

— But getting into fights and protests so often makes him worry for you. He’d try not to make it into an argument about your safety knowing how you are but he’d help you learn a new thing or two to defend yourself (to help him more than you, really).

@𝐕𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐈𝐑𝐙𝐈𝐍𝐀೨

[innerpalaces]

The Doting Love Story's Female Supporting Role Has Quit - 4

Chapter 4: The Thing She Feared Most

Nian Chaoxi closed her eyes slightly, as Yan'er stood behind her unbraiding her hair.

She looked at her young miss once, then again, with an expression of wanting to say something but restraining herself.

When she looked up again, she saw that her young miss had opened her eyes and said lazily, "If you have something to say, just say it."

So Yan'er asked boldly, "Miss, did you...quarrel with the young masters again?"

Nian Chaoxi corrected her: "I didn't go there to quarrel, I went there to break off the engagement."

Yan'er was so startled that she almost pulled out a strand of her hair: "Cancel, cancel the engagement? Why do you suddenly have this idea?"

Nian Chaoxi corrected her again: "You shouldn't ask me why I suddenly had this idea, you should ask me why I suddenly came to my senses."

Yan'er: "..." She was almost crying.

Nian Chaoxi could only comfort her: "Don't be afraid. Without this husband, your young miss will definitely find someone better looking and more considerate than Mu Yunzhi to be your young master."

Yan'er wanted to cry even more: "Why?"

Nian Chaoxi thought very seriously about how to answer Yan'er's "why".

After a moment's silence, she said, "Maybe it's because our personalities are incompatible."

She and Mu Yunzhi can share the hardships, but not the happiness.

The period from when her father died in battle to when Mu Yunzhi took the position of City Lord was a time of external and internal troubles, and it was the time when the two of them were closest to each other.

But things will be different after everything is settled.

Mu Yunzhi has a strong desire for control, but Nian Chaoxi is domineering and outspoken by nature, which is precisely the biggest variable.

Those who cannot be controlled by him will only make him wary.

If there is love between two people, this is not an insurmountable obstacle, but is there really such a thing as love between them?

Obviously not.

So, without her noticing, the relationship between the two of them became more and more like strangers.

All his love and hate, which he never showed in front of her, were all given to Wu Yan.

She had never seen it before, so she thought he was naturally like this, but in fact he was only this way in front of her.

In fact, it's not just Mu Yunzhi, Zong Shu is also like this.

She was the one who rescued Zong Shu. If it followed the usual novel plot, she was his savior, who took care of him day and night to help him recover and ease his worries. That would definitely be the beginning of a redemption novel.

But Nian Chaoxi was not like that. She didn't have the patience and didn't know how to take care of people. After bringing him back to Yuejian City, she only saw him twice in total, and she provoked him every time because she couldn't bear to see his listless appearance.

The one who took care of him sweetly was Wu Yan.

So, two months later, Zong Shu recovered from his injuries, and Wu Yan became the most important person to him. Even though she and Zong Shu had experienced life and death several times and called each other a friend for all lifetimes, she was still not as important as Wu Yan in his heart.

So she figured it out.

But if that's the case, there is one thing that must be considered.

——Could her death... be related to Mu Yunzhi and the others?

Nian Chaoxi waved for Yan'er, who had just finished doing her hair, to come over.

Yan'er approached obediently: "Young miss, what's wrong?"

Nian Zhaoxi: "Give me a dream."

Yan'er was used to it: "Miss, you can't sleep again? What kind of sweet dream do you want this time?"

Nian Chaoxi made a shocking statement: "Give me a nightmare!"

Yan'er's hands trembled in shock and she almost dropped the heater in her hands.

She stammered, "Young miss!"

Although her true form was a nightmare beast, how dare she give nightmares to her young miss!

She wanted to cry but had no tears.

Nian Chaoxi got impatient when she didn't get a response after a while: "Just give it to me if I ask you to! You won't even listen to me?"

Yan'er was about to cry: "Yes... yes!"

Her face was full of confusion, and a black mist emerged from her fingertips, covering Nian Chaoxi, and then disappeared.

Nian Chaoxi was suspicious: "Can I have a nightmare like this?"

Yan'er was about to cry: "Yes, that's right."

Nian Chaoxi waved her hand and said, "Go out, I want to sleep."

Yan'er's face was full of worry and she looked back every few steps.

Nian Chaoxi lay down and prepared to sleep.

The nightmare beast can give people thousands of beautiful dreams, but the nightmares it creates will only show people the thing they feared most in their hearts.

Nian Chaoxi felt that since she knew she would die, the thing she feared most in her heart would be her own death.

After all, she had read that novel, but she completely forgot it. Under the influence of the nightmare of the nightmare beast, she might remember it.

In fact, there is a simpler solution. Since she knows that she will die in the novel, she can just leave and find a place where no one can find her and stay in seclusion for decades.

But by then, the first ones to die will probably be the people of Yuejian City.

Because she is in charge of the blood seal of Kunlong Abyss.

Without her to strengthen the seal, by the tenth year, the dark dragon would emerge from Kunlong Abyss and Yuejian City would be destroyed.

So, it was impossible for her to just run away.

She must first find out how she died in the novel.

So she asked for a nightmare and fell asleep.

That evening, Nian Chaoxi did not dream about anything related to the novel.

She dreamed of the night before her father died in battle.

...

Nian Chaoxi suddenly sat up from bed, and the sky was bright.

Her eyes were stung by the sunlight and she squinted slightly.

There was a knock on the door from outside: "Miss, are you awake?"

Nian Chaoxi: "Come in."

Yan'er pushed the door open and walked in carrying a basin of water.

After taking two steps, she suddenly opened her mouth wide, quickly put down the basin and ran to the bedside, asking anxiously, "What's wrong with the young miss?"

Nian Chaoxi was puzzled: "What do you mean?"

Yan'er stretched out her finger and touched her eyelids.

She hissed in pain and slapped her hand away: "You are so clumsy!"

Yan'er still looked worried and asked, "What happened to the young miss' eyes?"

Nian Chaoxi reached out and touched her eyes, and felt a little twinge of pain.

She said calmly, "Maybe I stayed up too late. Go get me some ointment to reduce the swelling."

Yan'er looked as if she wanted to say something but was hesitant.

This doesn't seem like the result of a late night at all.

It was more like the results of crying all night.

But she didn't dare to refute Nian Chaoxi, so she could only go out to get the ointment with a heavy heart.

As soon as Yan'er left, the expression on Nian Chaoxi's face faded.

She was silent for a while, and suddenly pulled out a gold chain from her collar. At the end of the gold chain hung a jade pendant that was completely turquoise blue.

She reached out and touched the jade, injecting a little spiritual power into it, which immediately bounced off.

As usual.

This was something her father left for her the night before he died in battle, a very sturdy container.

Before he could tell her the secret to opening the container, he was caught off guard and died on the battlefield.

And what is contained in this jade pendant is the Manual of the God of War that stirred up the world in the novel.

Ever since her father died in battle, countless people in the cultivation world have speculated on the whereabouts of the "God of War's Manual" that recorded everything he had learned, and countless people have been keeping a close eye on her, the only daughter of the God of War.

Year after year, what she learned and used day and night did not show any trace of the God of War's inheritance. Gradually, people felt that perhaps the "God of War's Manual" was not in her hands at all.

No one knew that the Manual of the God of War that they had been longing for was hanging around her neck.

And she had never been able to open the jade pendant in all these years.

Nian Chaoxi held the pendant and suddenly said, "Yan'er, I'm going out."

Yan'er rushed in and asked, "Miss, where are you going?"

Nian Chaoxi: "Duheng Academy."

...

She was always decisive in her actions, and never delays once she says she is going to do something.

Not far from the yard, she passed by a rockery. From behind the rockery, she heard faint sounds, as if someone was hiding there and talking.

Normally, Nian Chaoxi would not have paid any attention to it, but when she thought of what Shen Tui said yesterday about a traitor, she stopped.

Then a voice full of unwillingness was heard.

"What right does the Vice City Lord have!"

Hm?

The master and servant looked at each other.

The next moment, a low voice said softly, "Keep your voice down. What if someone hears you? The Vice City Lord is not someone you can easily cross and get away with it."

Then the voice became lower.

Nian Chaoxi hadn't reacted yet. Yan'er realized that the two maids were gossiping about their own young miss behind her back. Her face immediately turned unpleasant and she wanted to go around the rockery to drag those two people out.

Nian Chaoxi held her back and motioned for her to continue listening.

The two maids' voices were intermittent.

"The Vice City Lord is too much. She ran to the City Lord's main courtyard in a rage yesterday. After she left, Miss Yan knelt all night. Who knows what she said in front of our City Lord. Why should Miss Yan kneel?"

The gentle voice said sadly, "It can't be helped. Our Miss Yan has been living under someone else's roof since she was young, and her adopted sister is like that... The Vice City Lord lord is used to doing what she wants, and there is nothing the City Lord can do."

"What do you mean by doing what she wants? She's clearly arrogant and domineering!"

Then, the two maids recounted all her arrogant and domineering deeds.

Yan'er was almost furious when he heard this, and the nightmare beast's pointed white ears popped out uncontrollably.

She wanted to rush over and slap each of them, but she didn't understand why the girl wouldn't let her pass.

The next moment, she heard her young miss speak. 

Nian Chaoxi asked her: "Can you tell which courtyard these two are from?"

Yan'er was stunned for a moment, and her white animal ears immediately moved.

After a moment, she said with certainty: "They are all maids in Wu Yan's courtyard. The one with a soft voice has been with Wu Yan for more than 20 years, and the one with a sharp voice is new."

Nian Chaoxi nodded.

Yan'er excitedly transmitted: "Miss, what do you want to do?"

Nian Chaoxi: "Don't do anything, just let them go back."

Yan'er was stunned.

Nian Chaoxi slightly curled her lips and said, "Then you send someone to Wu Yan's yard to arrest these people and throw them out of the mansion. The charge is insubordination."

What's the point of slapping someone twice? It would be better to let others know how lax some people are in controlling their subordinates and how they gossip right in front of the owner of the house.

Yan'er said excitedly: "Okay!"

No matter how you look at it, it's exciting.

The more Nian Chaoxi watched, the more she felt they were like villains in a novel. She was the main villain, and Yan'er was her lackey.

...

Not long after they left, Mu Yunzhi brought Wu Yan to Nian Chaoxi's yard.

He said to her soothingly: "It's just an apology, don't worry about the rest."

Wu Yan responded obediently.

But the two of them didn't even enter the yard.

The guard was positioned outside the yard, and said with embarrassment: "My Lord, the Junior Lord is not in the yard. She has ordered us not to let anyone in."

Mu Yunzhi frowned: "Where did she go?"

The guard told the truth: "She went shopping with Miss Yan'er."

Mu Yunzhi pursed his lips.

She said yesterday that she wanted to cancel the engagement, but today she was still in the mood to play. Was the cancellation of the engagement just something she said casually, or... did she not actually care about the engagement at all?

Wu Yan pulled his sleeve: "Brother Yunzhi, should I apologize?"

Mu Yunzhi was about to say something when a maid from Wu Yan's yard suddenly ran over in a panic: "Miss, something bad has happened! Yue'er and Xiaojin were thrown out of the City Lord's Mansion by the Vice City Lord's men!"

She only saw Mu Yunzhi when she got closer and her face turned pale.

But Wu Yan didn't realize this at all. Upon hearing this, she asked anxiously, "What's going on? How did they offend my elder sister?"

The maid didn't dare to speak.

Mu Yunzhi, who was standing by, said coldly, "Speak."

The maid knelt down immediately: "Yes... Sister Yue'er was talking about the Vice City Lord behind her back, and the Vice City Lord happened to hear it."

Wu Yan's whole body stiffened.

Mu Yunzhi snorted coldly upon hearing this: "What did she say?"

The maid didn't dare to speak.

Mu Yunzhi asked again: "Where is the Vice City Lord?"

Maid: "The Vice City Lord didn't come, it was her guards."

Upon hearing this, Wu Yan closed her eyes tightly, feeling embarrassed.

Before anyone arrived, they could just break into her yard and take people away.

Mu Yunzhi wanted to ask something else, but Wu Yan suddenly grabbed his sleeve and said awkwardly: "Brother Yunzhi...don't ask anymore. It's my fault for not being strict with my subordinates. I'll apologize to my elder sister."

Mu Yunzhi was silent for a moment, then said, "Just kick this kind of maid out. I'll find you a new one."

Wu Yan forced a smile and nodded.

Get up to 15 advanced chapters on Patreon

[deceptive-lily]

TITLE: Guns & Blood

Chapter 1

Nagato's POV

Fuck that vampire.

After I killed him, the drug he injected to me started to work and now I'm feeling fatigue all of a sudden while trying to get my ass up walking on my way home.

It was already midnight, where vampires of course, is all awake. I just had a fight with one of them, that prick managed to hurt me for once and injected something of a damn drug.

I have to at least reach my house.

I cannot be vulnerable outside.

Not when a group of vampires were living somewhere near me. Yeah, it's a dumb decision for me all right but you know what they say, keep your enemies close.

Come to think of it, there was another group of vampires living somewhere here in the forest too. As far as I know, they were all sons of a Vampire King. I might try to use it as our advantage. We've been searching where all the vampires came from, where do they exactly reside but nothing gave us a clue. That's why I took the risk and decided to live near one of them.

As I was struggling to keep my eyes open, my knees became heavy and I immediately held onto a nearby tree. My breathing grew ragged, I was feeling hot and lightheaded.

Don't fucking give in, Nagato.

Just when I'm desperately keeping my ass awake, my eyes accidentally landed on the mansion just infront of me.

Great.

My jaw clenched and I sighed heavily.

Vampires couldn't determine if I'm a human that's why I can easily blend along, but they can still feel my existence or presence. Right now, they could've already noticed my presence. I have to go away.

But the drug injected on me wouldn't let me get away, as I stood up, my surroundings went black and my body dropped on the ground.

Third Person POV

A blonde-haired young man finally arrived in front of the mansion, he just finished working for his show. He's actually a half-vampire, he works as an idol and he's really famous. Girls in their school watches his show and admires him a lot. Even boldly asking to come to their place.

He was about to go inside but notices instantly a figure lying on the ground. He was surprised to see a girl unconscious infront of their mansion.

Is she one of my fans and followed me here?

He took several steps towards her, crouched and peered over her face.

Or she might be someone suspicious.

He debated on his head whether to leave her be or take her inside to the mansion. In the end, he had no choice but to bring her inside.

"What do you think, Ruki?" he asked and looked at the black-haired guy whom he called Ruki.

She was now lying on the long couch while Azusa, a blue-dark grey haired gloomy-looking guy was sitting near her and openly staring.

Ruki let out a deep, stressed sigh.

"It is possible that she was sent here by him, but then she wouldn't carelessly let herself unconscious infront of the gate. It could also be just a coincidence."

"What's going on here?" Their another brother, a tall young man with light-brown hair that was usually tied in a bun.

"Yuma..."

"Kou found this girl outside of our gate," Ruki responded and pointed the unconscious Nagato. Yuma followed the direction of where his index finger is pointing at, he couldn't help but study her whole sleeping face.

She was quite a looker, though he hates to admit it.

She had long eyelashes, small face, and kissable lips. Hell, he'd even make her lipstick smudge with his lips if given a chance.

"What should we do then?" His eyes stayed long on her before finally looking at Ruki.

"We have to interrogate her." All of them agreed on the decision.

Little do they know, this will be the start of something big changing and things are about to go down.

End of Chapter 1

N: I decided to post the chapters here about my Diabolik Lovers fanfic, but I'm only going to post for about 2 to 4 chapters to give you idea how my fanfic goes like. I just wanted to share it to you guys, that's all! (　＾ω＾)

[nicsnort]

Gravita Anima (part 59)

Nightcrawler/Fem!OC/Quicksilver Long-form romance and drama fic. All chapters have been posted on Ao3.

Intro (with link to Ao3 story) First Previous

Once her daughter was away from the table, Julia Hughes looked at the boy across from her with an appraising eye. “So you think you are good enough for my daughter?”

At the question, he turned to look at Elle’s mother. He didn’t feel nervous or dread the question; in fact, he was smiling. “I do, Dr. Hughes. I believe we are good for each other. I believe God has put her in my life and me in hers to help both of us grow. Being with her, everything's better. Things taste sweeter, colors are brighter, the air is purer. I want to protect her. With the recent bill that is being voted on...we both have worried. I want to be with her to fight against it, together.” 

Dr. Hughes breathed in deeply at his words before looking him dead in the eye. “I have sacrificed a great deal for my daughter, raising her alone wasn’t easy. I want her to have the best life possible, be successful, but mostly I want her to be happy. With her powers, she has always worn her heart on her sleeve and perhaps you know this but she has been hurt by men before.”

Julia kept the wording vague in case he did not know about Micheal. “You seem to mean well and I can see Elle deeply cares for you. But I hope you can understand my concern given your...vigilantism.”

It took a great deal of effort for Kurt not to gulp at the reference to Elle being hurt before. It was unsettling that he knew more of this than she did, and it was best to keep it that way. There was a brief primal pleasure in recalling how he had teleported Pietro into confusion far away and beaten him pretty badly. His knuckles had ached the next day, but it was a welcomed ache.

Her next words, however, made him pause. His tail moved behind him slowly. “Elle has shown that she is able to keep herself safe if the worse were to happen if I could not be there. She is strong...stronger than you realize, I think. Elle has made great leaps in her power...and in control.”

Dr. Hughes nodded just a bit. “She has always been a fighter, I just never thought her body would be at risk...you seem like you are a good man, Kurt. My Elle deserves someone special and I hope you are it. Make sure she is safe and keep her happy.”

Without hesitation, he agreed: she deserved someone special. He thought briefly back to the weeks of pacing, worrying, praying, and lately stalking. He would help keep her safe. And as for happiness...when Elle returned, the kiss on his cheek made him smile. Yes, he could do that part easily enough. His tail reached out and wrapped gently around her arm in affection.

Once her daughter was back Julia excused herself to go to the bathroom as well. With her mother gone, Elle looked at Kurt. “What did she say to you?”

Kurt looked at Elle when they were alone. “The usual worries of a good mother.” He said vaguely, leaning forward to press his lips to hers boldly. “I think she likes me.” He remarked as he sat back. “This was...less terrifying than I expected. What do you think?” 

Kurt’s kiss made Elle hum with delight. “That’s good. I know she can be intimidating but I think she likes you too. Trust me if she didn’t she would let you know.”

She rested her head against his shoulder. “I like being out with you, you know. It is so much better than hiding in my apartment. Thank you for not wearing your inducer. It wouldn’t be the same if you were hiding.”

Her mother wasn't the only person he had been concerned about seeing him in his natural blue, fuzzy form. Of course, her opinion mattered more by far than the rest of the people in the restaurant, but still. What if someone had said something? Become irate? He wasn't sure what might happen. Luckily though, none of that occurred.

Of course, Elle could feel some disdain and fear from the people around them but many more felt curious or simply uncomfortable. Even without her powers, she knew Kurt could feel that too in a way. Still, Elle was determined to not act differently with Kurt than she would with someone who was standard in appearance. They would run into issues at some point someday when a bigot approached them but she felt like today they were going to have a nice peaceful evening. After all, tomorrow was the Senate vote, the universe owed them a nice night out.

Dr. Hughes returned and the waiter came over with the bill. Elle’s mother paid and Elle left a hefty tip. “Well then,” Dr. Hughes said looking over at the couple. “I suppose you two better start heading back. You have a big day tomorrow.”

“Yeah, we’re going to be outside of the capitol until the vote is over.”

“Just be careful, dear, you never know if it is going to turn violent.”

“I know, Mom,” Elle half sighed. They all made their way out of the restaurant and walked back towards the bus stop for Elle and Kurt. At the stop, Dr. Hughes gave Elle a tight hug once more. As they pulled back her eyes went to Kurt.

“It was nice to meet you, Kurt. I look forward to seeing you again.”

When they left, he thanked Dr. Hughes profusely for dinner. He made sure that he would pick up the tab next time. Perhaps it would be nice to have her at the school...well, maybe not next time. Given how chaotic it could be at times… 

"We will be mindful tomorrow." Kurt agreed, knowing they would have to be mentally prepared for anything. It wouldn't surprise the X-Men if the Brotherhood were to make a surprise entrance. He hoped not though. 

"Yes, it was a pleasure to meet you, Dr. Hughes." Kurt smiled and placed his arm lightly around Elle's waist. "We will have to have dinner soon. Hopefully, it will be a celebratory one, if tomorrow goes well."

With that, they went their separate ways. Kurt kept his arm around Elle, tempted to teleport but remembering what she said about being out. Taking the normal way home would be good for them.

The weight of Kurt’s hand on her waist was pleasurable. Elle could feel the strength in his fingers and instead of possessive - as it had been with Pietro - it felt protective. She felt safe. Elle was half tempted to ask Kurt to teleport them home but it was better that they ride the bus and train. Normalization.

"Your mom is very smart and caring. I can see where you get it from." He smiled at her. "What happened to your father…?" 

Elle just shrugged. “Honestly, I don’t know. Mom always said that he left before I was born. I know she isn’t telling the whole truth about that but she doesn’t like talking about it. When I was a kid I was curious but I’ve gathered that whoever he was, he wasn’t a good person. So I never tried to find out more. Why should I care about a man who was never there? He’s not my father as far as I am concerned, just a sperm donor.”

Elle gave him a smile but there was a curious light in her eyes. “You’ve never really mentioned your family before. You were raised in the circus I know. Can you tell me about who raised you?” Elle wasn’t interested in biology. He had mentioned he was adopted but she was interested in those that actually cared for him.

Kurt looked thoughtful as they walked. She had said she had Elle in graduate school, a time when it would have been intense and challenging. He wondered if the father had been around at all during that time. "It is magnificent how from a kind woman and a mysterious, perhaps questionable man, you come out more like your mother and yourself than of him." Did he make a vague half-hearted parallel to his own family history? Yes, a little bit. But he couldn't deny that it was there.

He caught the way she asked about his parents. It wasn't of the ones who created him, it was of the ones who raised him. His smile softened as he thought back. "I suppose it is because it has been so long ago. I think of them often, of course, but I am called more and more to live and be grounded in the present. Still," his voice took on an airy quality of nostalgia, "I am grateful for where I came from. I was founded and raised by a fortune teller and sorceress, Margali Szardos. She was kind but she was confident in herself. I grew up in Herr Getmann’s Traveling Circus and we were wunderbar." His eyes went distant as he thought of their acts. 

“Hmmm,” Elle sighed as Kurt reminisced about the past. “Those must be some nice memories,” she commented. “You think about them so fondly. It is nice...I wish I could have seen you perform. I know it must have been spectacular. Maybe you’ll have to give me a private show one day”

Kurt’s smile complimented the twinkle in his eye. “I’d love to give you a private show -- I am sure I am flexible enough still. Wouldn’t you agree?” He teased gently with a squeeze of her waist. 

The bus pulled up and they boarded taking a seat near the back so their conversation would be private, though the bus was fairly empty. “So your mother was a fortune teller...I don’t suppose she ever saw me as a part of your fate?” Elle giggled, smiling up at him before kissing his nose. 

When they got on the bus, he was glad to see they were mostly alone. In the back of his mind, perhaps for the first of his life, he would be half-expecting a confrontation anywhere they went. He felt warm at her light, playful kiss. “Oddly enough, I don’t think I ever asked her many times for my fortune. I always thought it would be better as a surprise...and you are the greatest surprise of all.”

“You have been a wonderful surprise for me too,” Elle told Kurt. She wasn’t going to ask and instead wait for Kurt to offer but Elle hoped to meet his mother someday. If she was anything like Kurt Elle knew they would get along well.

_____

Next

Fanfic Masterlist

[renatogpadilla]

OH GODS I SAID A THING™ AND NOW I CAN'T GET IT OUT OF MY HEAD:

Probably because of the Announcement of the Animated M9 Series, but...

"Wildemount. The final Continent. This is the story of a rag-tag band of mercenaries and sellswords. Their five year Campaign? Prevent a reality altering relic from falling into the wrong hands, discover new conspiracies between warring nations, and boldly go where no one has gone (for good reason) before."

I call this abomination of an idea: DEEP SPACE NEIN!

And yes, it's every bit as cursed as you can imagine a CR / Star Trek crossover to be!

Everyone needs their space on the UNSC-1909 "Mighty Nein":

Fjord "The Unwitting Face of the group" Stone: Captain. That one's obvious.

Beauregard "Beau" Lionett: Number One. Because she gets physical and FUCKS. You can blame Ryker for this one...

Yasha "Worf WISHES he hit this hard" Nydoorin: Security. Nuff said.

Caleb "my phaser doesn't have a Stun setting" Widogast: Navigation. Keen Mind once again comes in clutch!

Nott/Veth "The Brave" Brenatto: Engineering. Yeza helps as well! She's still CONSTANTLY smashed and that's how she does her best work!

Genevieve "Jester" Lavorre: Comms. This one is primarily because of the Message spell... During their travels, she finds a sterile Tribble she names "Sprinkle". Hilarity ensues.

Caduceus "Earl" Clay: Ship Doctor. Always a bit of tea on hand to talk about somebody else's problems. The crew knows better than to ask why he gets a new batch of tea whenever Spurt gets killed, though...

Mollymauk "Nine Eyes" Tealeaf: The hot bartender who illegally smuggled himself into the ship to escape a past he himself doesn't remember... Sees EVERYTHING. Knows everyone's secrets.

Essek "The Hover" Thelyss: That ONE guy in the Transponder room that energizes the teleporters. He seems unimportant until he gets promoted to Series Regular halfway through Season 2 due to his unexpected Political connections and insight.

He accidentally invented hover boots while messing around Engineering and now NEVER takes them off...

Bonus:

+ Pumat S.0.L: Ship's AI voice. Occasional holograms of him show up to manage the built-in shops, respectfully.

+ Kiri: Baby on board. The Wesley Crusher of the show. She and Luc get along quite well!

+ Shakaste: Chief Science Officer. Don't even give him LaForge shades. Have a little robotic Hummingbird called the Grand Duchess scan the area with sonar and directly transmit the info to his brain!

+ Calliana: Pilot. She flies the ship. Whether it's smooth sailing or crazy, death-defying acrobatics depends on her mood that day.

+ Spurt: The Red Shirt. It's always him. The same one. He always dies and comes back next episode like nothing ever happened. Nobody acknowledges this. "It's been 11 days since Spurt last went Splat".

+ Keg: A down-on-her-luck space smuggler the crew encounters on occasion. She's almost never followed by good news, but she's good for her word, and (with some "persuasion" from Beau) will usually help the crew out of a pinch.

+ Nila: She and her family were diplomats/emissaries for a pacifist race, but when her husband and child get kidnapped by Keg's old partners in crime, the Iron Shepherds, Nila proves to be a formidable spy on top of a ferocious fighter...

+ Reani: Still a vigilante, plain and simple. She goes from planet to planet "rescuing" people with her own lethal brand of justice. Her abilities as a shapeshifter and her interest in biology make her a valuable ally though, not to mention that she knows just about every shady person on any given sector...

+ Twiggy: The ship's resident Archeologist, albeit the most eccentric member of the crew. She specializes in identifying where magical artifacts come from, and dragging the crew on "archeological escapades" for "Science". Her pet squirrel Trixie and Caleb's cat Frumpkin seem to be good friends, but neither of them feel comfortable around Sprinkle for some reason...

+ Yussa: The Negotiator. Not because he can smooth-talk anyone, that's Fjord's thing. No, Yussa's the negotiator because of how EASILY he can figure out what everybody wants. Although he keeps a calm exterior, he has a habit of taking EVERYTHING regarding anything that resembles a puzzle or a mystery as a challenge, and his hubris WILL get the crew into trouble more than once...

Occasional antagonists include:

# The Iron Shepherds: Led by the dreadful Lorenzo, these low life slavers make their credits pulling the most despicable jobs... Regardless of who pays for them, so long as the job is paid for.

# Captain Avantika: Obligatory femme fatale with a thing for Fjord. Whether it's a relationship born of convenience, manipulation or simply blind worship towards the same thing, nobody can really tell. The pirate captain of the "Squalleater" is OBSESSED with releasing an entity which she believes to be an ancient god, hidden in the farthest reaches of space... And only the crew can stop her from achieving her malicious goal.

# Obann and the Unkillable Family: Much like Avantika, the God-releasing MO stands, but rather than getting their followers by power of charisma or duty, the crew of the ravager ship "Angel of Irons" directly controls the minds of the people they believe might help them accomplish their goal... Including the Nein's own Chief of Security for a time.

# Special Guest Star Matthew Mercer as "The Traveler": He's Q. That's it. He's JUST Q. There is no joke, there is no agenda other than wanting to become a God himself, but taking such a liking to Jester that he can never endanger the crew to continue his schemes, so he finds ways to trick them into helping him out... Mostly by pretending to be a sterile Tribble and arousing chaos wherever he goes.

And that's what I've got! Let me know what you think! I'm not very good at AUs, but I couldn't get this idea out of my head!

[ferromagnetiic]

"Heard you can control magnetism and I can't help but wonder how that works exactly. I mean technically all matter is magnetic, some more than others, but you catch my drift." Undeterred the brunet genius carries on. "So are you creating your own magnetic field then and can manipulate how electrons interact with each other or are you limited to the usual type of ferromagnetism? If it's the latter, do you need a certain percentage of, lets say iron, in a material so your powers have an effect on them? Or does it not matter?

To say that Tony thought about this a lot would be an understatement.

[Feel free to ignore this if you want, he's just been curious and wants to know everything about Kids powers >:) ]

          【 UNPROMPTED ASK. 】                      @ravarui 【 Tony 】

          It's not often someone takes the time to inquire about the mechanics of his devil fruit ability, and it's even less often that he answers them sincerely. On occasion his nakama have tempted him with the question, though more often than not, the individual asking hasn't been expecting a sincere explanation and they tended to give up trying to make sense of him halfway through. Kid remains notoriously terrible at explaining things. He works on visuals and feelings, and has a tendency to leave out important details; he gets irritable when people don't already know the basic principals he's relying on and he has to go back and explain things further. Most commonly, anyone who investigates how his abilities function will get a clipped answer something along the lines of ❛ Because I ate a rotten fruit, now quit worryin' about it. ❜ Over time, similarly to a father who does not have the energy to explain complicated subjects to their infant child, he started to give up on trying to go into graphic detail of how he was able to control magnetic properties, and tends to not even bother.

This time, it is not his loyal friends asking him at all. It is a total stranger, no less, and his paranoia of what consequences may occur if he provides untrustworthy people with too much information is rearing its ugly head. He doesn't know this guy, so why should he hand out all his secrets to him for him to use as his pleases? Why should he give him an opportunity to use his honesty against him? Distributing free instruction manuals for his devil fruit powers to anybody who asks is a horrible idea, and this particular man in question doesn't exactly strike him as someone stupid enough to find this information utterly useless. He's composed, well kept, displaying a degree of quiet confidence that doesn't need to be boldly stated. Kid can read his intelligence in the way his eyes move — focused, attentive, but yet somehow simultaneously distracted, as if he's juggling multiple thoughts and ideas whilst still effortlessly managing to carry their conversation. He reminds Kid of the people who have the ability to both read a book and speak to others at the same time, without one action compromising the other. People like him put him on guard. The ones who didn't need to demonstrate their intelligence were generally the most dangerous.

Maybe he was an undercover marine? His clothes didn't match, but that didn't prove his innocence. His well-groomed appearance seemed like something a marine would want to don, anyway. He should dismiss the question and tell him to fuck right off and leave him alone. None of his business, was it?

          ...Still.

He seems to know what he's talking about. At least, more than the last person who tried to make sense of Kid's powers. He wondered how much he could even really do with the most basic walkthrough of how his magnetism functioned. Understanding a concept didn't necessarily make that information particularly helpful, after all.

Besides. Something about this man was intriguing to Kid. He could sense something he couldn't name; a very particular energy that he can't pin down. At the very least, he detected no active hostility from him. Kid considered himself to be fairly good at reading people when he wanted to — this is partially due to honing his haki to be especially sensitive to the auras surrounding a person and recognizing how to detect any malice in their intentions, but additionally, it was also simply a learned behavior that stemmed from having a dear friend who could not regularly show his face. He learned to understand body language in order to adapt for his sake. Movements. Tone of voice. Choice of wording. This man was not giving off obvious signals of being an enemy, at least for now.

Kid watches him for a long time. He sucks his teeth, making an audible clicking sound with his tongue when he releases them. He's trying to decide if it's worth it or not.

Well, maybe an incredibly vague rundown of his powers wouldn't be the worst thing. He could leave out anything that might be readily used against him, and he could stop if the stranger started probing for more than he was willing to offer. Even if Kid didn't trust him, he did pique his curiosity.

     ❝ Ya answered yer own question. 'S like ya said — everything is kinda magnetic; just not always enough to do a whole lot with. ❞

There's a slight pause here as he shifts on his seat, leaning his right elbow to rest against his knee. He deeply exhales as he moves, in a way one might expect from a much older gentleman, rather than a healthy young man in his early twenties.

     ❝ Ya know all about atoms, don't ya? I ain't gonna explain that shit if ya don't. ❞

He should, since he already brought up electrons. This isn't necessarily a subtle insult. Multiple members of his crew had a limited understanding of basic scientific principals due to their upbringing and home environment. It wasn't unusual for his question to be answered 'no', and at which point, Kid was quick to lose interest in continuing the conversation. Trying to tell someone that there are tiny little specs smaller than dust that made up everything in the universe sounded like the nonsensical ramblings of a madman. The only reason he even knew about the existence of atoms to begin with was because Old Man Ketil had taken the time to tutor him, even if he hadn't been particularly happy about it at the time.

The stranger doesn't stop him, so Kid continues.

     ❝ Atoms have their own force fields, right? They got their core — their nucleus, protons, neutrons — then ya got the space around them, these little... loops, I guess. Yer electrons spin and orbit and make these electrical rings that circle them. When they move in the same direction, that's their magnetic field, right? This charge that goes all around the core. ❞

He can already feel himself struggling to tell what areas should elaborate on, and what he should skim over. He wonders how long it will take for the stranger to give up trying to follow.

     ❝ It ain't like I can see atoms or some shit; that's not what my fruit does. But I don't need to, 'cause I can feel those loops. See, the Jiki Jiki no Mi, it gives that magnetic charge a physicality. It makes it tangible. Makes ya more aware of it being there. So every one of those loops stops being this force ya can't touch, and instead it's like, they're all made of strands of thread, or silk or somethin'.      Ya try to touch one strand of silk, it's just gonna break. Ya can't move anythin' with one strand of silk. But when ya get a fuck ton of those strands all together, and ya grab them all at once.... ❞

To demonstrate, he makes a tight fist with his right hand. In conjunction, an empty, partially crushed beer can that he had earlier discarded on the ground then begins to levitate, moving closer towards him and hovering just inches below his enclosed palm; it deliberately swings, almost as if he's trying to make it resemble a yoyo on an invisible string.

     ❝ — That's how ya make rope. Then ya just gotta tug that rope in the right direction. Ya gotta decide if ya want to attract or repel, and it's like contractin' the muscles in yer arm. ❞

He squeezes his fist closer towards his bicept at this, tensing the muscle fibers below his skin. But then, he slackens, and releases his fist entirely, letting the can immediately succumb to gravity and fall to the ground with a tinny clang.

     ❝ Anyway, that's why it ain't easy to, say, control blood through the iron cells. The iron is too diluted; not enough to grab onto. Doesn't do shit. ❞

The average human being has approximately around four grams of iron in their body, though the exact quantity depends on a large number of variables. When that's dispersed, there isn't a whole lot of force to be created from moving those individual iron molecules. What created significantly more force than moving those four grams of iron was Kid's fist, punching them in the gut at full strength and rupturing their spleen. However, that didn't mean he wasn't capable of magnetizing the human body at all; since his devil fruit's awakening, he has since acquired the ability to do just that.

     ❝ — But if ya can give tangible loops to any atom, ya can start makin' the whole person into one huge magnet, and ya don't have to worry about findin' the right cells to single out. Ya just start screwin' with the electrons to stitch stronger loops to all the atoms, even if they're usually too weak to do anythin' with. ❞

The problem with that was the energy expenditure required to create a significant magnetic field for almost every individual atom that made up a human person, as well as the concentration it took. It was a work in progress, and admittedly, even just being able to do it for a short amount of time was impressive enough; but this skill is still in its primitive stages, and requires significant work before it is honed to its fullest potential. He still has yet to master isolating oxygen atoms in order to repel them from a person's body and suffocate them, for example. When it came to ambitious desires, Kid always preferred to go big. He longs for the day that he can control the entire world through its geomagnetic field. He impatiently waits for the day that he can hold the entire Earth hostage, if such a thing were possible. He has visions of controlling the tides of the seas through the movements of the moon, and the ground would split apart at his will, because the stranger was right — magnetism is potentially present in all things, if he is only able to utilize it, manipulate it, and create that which he needed in order to control anything he desired. Playing God has nothing to do with it; he just enjoys tearing things apart for the sake of seeing how they work.

This is an awful lot of time spent on conversing with someone he doesn't even know. He doesn't feel particularly compelled to elaborate in too much more detail beyond this, though the explanation is certainly missing some key elements. Manipulating the shape of magnetic materials was more complicated than simply moving an object around in the air, and involved more focused work on pinpointing individual areas and applying force to alter the structure of the metal, as if he were playing cat's cradle. Altering the patterns of electrons and changing the relationship between north and south poles were other topics that he didn't need to bother with right now. Whatever. He got his answer. Maybe's Kid would give him a few crumbs more if he bought him another beer or something. Dinner, maybe. Was he even listening? If he wasted all that time yapping to this guy and he wasn't even paying attention, Kid might just shoot him in the head out out of sheer annoyance.

     ❝ Ya get all that shit, Buttercup? ❞

[nickgerlich]

Too Much Bread

At the risk of sounding really old—I know, that may be a foregone conclusion already—it’s fun to slip into storytelling mode. And believe me, now that I’m into my 36th year at WT, I have plenty of them. Your job is to nudge me if I start to tell you the same story again down the road.

I remember my very first semester here in the Fall of 1989. I was teaching a Principles of Marketing class among others, and since we didn’t have the internet on campus, and certainly not online courses, this was a twice-weekly face-fo-face encounter.

And there was a young woman in that class who brought plenty of her own stories to each session. As much as my Midwest accent betrayed my origins, her thick eastern European accent suggested strongly she wasn’t at all even remotely from around here.

Turns out she and her family had recently immigrated to Amarillo from Poland, or as it was known when they were escaping it, the Polish People’s Republic. It was anything but a republic, because it was under the control of the USSR. Think rationing, shortages, and the usual ineptness associated with that regime.

In one particular class session we were discussing consumer choice. I had thrown out such lofty topics as product attributes, price, manufacturers, and the like, things we kind of take for granted. We know we can just go to any supermarket and enter a world bazaar of products. We are pretty accustomed to having choices.

But she wasn’t.

She related how people relied on the grapevine and scattered news alerts that bread was available at the local supermarket, which, based on her recollections, wasn’t all that super. Think empty shelves. And when they did have bread, there was one kind. Take it or leave it. One size fits all. If they ran out, oh well.

It was thus no surprise when she and her family froze in our supermarkets, because not only did we have bread all the time—well, aside from when they put the word “snow” in the weather forecast—we have 30 or more varieties. Cheap bread. Whole wheat bread. Rye bread. Fancy breads. You name it, we have bread. You might think we grow some wheat around here.

My student went on, one tale after another, of how their transition to the US, albeit one they wanted, was difficult if only because we have it so good here. I wisely put down my lecture notes and let her do the talking, because I couldn’t begin to teach as well as she was doing.

In contrast, we have grown numb to so much choice, and once we have determined “our brand,” we can boldly walk down the bread aisle and quickly cut through all the clutter, grabbing the one we always do.

Well, that is until they are out of it, or life throws you a curveball, like my wife and a recent diagnosis of being pre-diabetic. Another family member was just declared Type 1 diabetic. Both are having to make massive dietary changes, which essentially means reading every damn label and trying to cut out carbs. That’s no easy task in a country that grows so much wheat and corn. Most of our food is little carbohydrate bombs.

The same holds true when you are trying something new, like following a recipe for a new dish, and you are starting with a clean slate, no accumulated memory, little or no product knowledge. A person could spend an hour in the store trying to figure out which curry or pho noodles to buy.

It’s an interesting conundrum we have here, living in the land of abundance with more choices than we can begin to tally. Amazon alone has more than 12 million products. Enter a search query and wait to be overwhelmed. And yet we somehow manage to survive.

Sometimes, though, too much choice can be crippling, as I was trying to convey a few days ago when I said that “less is more.” At least sometimes it is, and only to a point. Grocery chains like Aldi and Trader Joe’s abide by this mantra, with only about 4000 items, compared to the 45,000 you will find at major chains.

There’s actually a line of academic inquiry of this phenomenon called the Paradox of Choice. As you can imagine, the conclusion is that having too many options can lead to decision fatigue, and even post-purchase regret. It’s a topic we will discuss again later in the course. It is also a topic that can be applied into other arenas, like the Mating Game. Think about all of the prospects for the partner of your dreams. Yikes! It is no wonder that dating can be exhausting. It’s kind of like shopping in the world’s largest supermarket.

Thankfully, when it comes to less complicated acquisitions—bread versus a life partner—we have developed a defense system, as I noted earlier. We can blur the background like on a Zoom call, and focus on the one thing we want. It’s just that it doesn’t always work like that.

I wonder whatever happened to that young woman. She’s got to be in her late-50s now, and no doubt long acclimated to the land of plenty. In her extreme state, though, as a newbie here, it was the perfect illustration for how too much choice can lead to headaches.

I am sure, though, that it was a hell of a lot better than standing in a queue in Krakow hoping there’s still a loaf of bread left when it’s my turn to get in.

Dr “I’ll Take Paradoxes For $1000, Alex” Gerlich

Audio Blog

[mindsmade]

what i don’t wish is for you to leave. 🥲

meme

He never thought he'd be on the receiving end of that line. It'd always been him to think it, though rarely to say it — too scared of the repercussions of airing out his worst fears like that. V thinks it makes him a coward and therefore, by extent, this makes So Mi brave. For a moment, in his puzzlement, he wonders if she struggles with telling him this, with confiding in him so, just like he knows he would had their roles been reversed.

His end lies looming on the horizon, though, so maybe she's simply recognized she doesn't have anything to lose now. Neither does he, really, but he supposes his avoidant is also a real fuckin' stubborn one. So he chews on the sentiment she's just shared with him, his eyes searching hers for some indication of a lie — perhaps a white lie to placate him because, despite his best intentions, maybe she's seen through his forced distance; his eternal self-restraint, because what if his presence repels her, or what if his feelings do?

He sees none of that, not even with his signature paranoia keeping his expectations on a tight leash. V tips his head sideways some as such, his eyebrows knitting together.

❛  Y'mean it?  ❜

He hadn't wanted to leave, anyway. Ironically, being stuck with the bastard that is Johnny Silverhand has made him all the more keen on sticking around; on living to see the end of this fucked-up tale. Quite the change from his usual disregard for his own life.

He'd be one big liar if he'd deny the role others have played in the second spark given to his will to live, though. Jackie ( man, how he misses him, still ), Panam, Judy — and, despite their rocky track record ( or maybe even because of it ), So Mi. Oh, So Mi, the one that fucked him over the hardest, and contrarily did the most to undo any damage done.

A slight smile splits his features, overpowering the bemusement stuck fast till now. Though reading facial expressions is hardly one of his strengths ( that unyielding scepticism of his sees to that ), he's sure he detects a current of sadness sweeping across her features. Not even the iridescent gradient of her hair he so loves could distract him from that.

Uncharacteristically boldly, he pierces the perimeter of the personal space he always ensures he sticks to ( even if others are invited into it ), placing his right hand on her shoulder — closer to her neck than to her upper arm.

As the silence stretches on a moment longer, he considers his chances; whether they're good enough to merit a promise from his end. Mikoshi, for all intents and purposes, should be the panacea he's been after. One assault, one cure, one escape, and that's it.

Still, he doesn't have the courage to commit to any promises. The uncertainty underscoring that fact frightens him somewhat, but he swallows it down for now, comforted by the knowledge that he's not alone in the fight of and for his life.

❛  I'm doin' all I can to stick around, So Mi. Somehow, this mess has gone and done the impossible of actually makin' me want to live.  ❜ He squeezes her shoulder gently, cementing his resolution to stay. Before he finishes his train of thought, he withdraws his touch, gesturing towards her. ❛  I'll even admit to wantin' to stay just to spend more time with you.  ❜

Here, his gaze peels off her, briefly flitting towards the NCART coasting along the tracks in the distance. It sticks there only for a second or two for that penetrating silence's sake, before his eyes inevitably find hers again. This time, the smile on his face bears a sheepish quality.

❛  Unless you're talkin' about not wantin' me to leave this specific spot just now — in which case: my bad, first of all. Second: I've got some time left 'fore I have to go meet Rogue.  ❜

[akumanoken]

Natural causes or illness? All things die, so Sakura to go in this manner is not unexpected. By such a time, he would have left behind 3 beloved daughters, & a thriving island that mourned their greatest Queen yet. The public mourned for a week, though the sorrow lasted months.

Rosa, the Crown Princess, so much like her father, was quick to fully take on the Queen's duties, preparation for her own approaching Queendom. Even taking the Queen's office, but she touched nothing in it. She left it just as Sakura had, the only thing ever to change were the flowers in the vases & bowls with the new seasonal blooms, as her dear mother always did. This helps, being in his space, & repeating the flower changing habits Sakura did, like his light was still there, & that Sakura's hand will help guide Rosa's when she is in need.

Higana suddenly became more spiritual then usual. Her gardens, normally filled with poisonous flora, gained a new spot, where her namesake blooms, a sakura tree & a new small shine would be. When public mourning was over, she would come here once a week, if not nightly, both to pray & use a oujia board before the personal shrine. She tries very hard to stay in contact with her beloved mother, even beyond the grave. Whether if it works or not, this gives her comfort, as it still lets her feel like one of the few who knew her the most is still near.

Botan became very silent for a while. Sakura's brightest daughters, of course, would come to learn of death eventually. She was... unsure how to handle knowing she would never see Okaa-san again, & retreated into a quiet so very unnatural for the talkative & lively. Until the day comes she is allowed once more into the pearl values below the Makoto Castle. With her own mother of pearl box now, she can choose from her ancestors pearl jewels, & she refuses to take any other pearls then her mother's. It's the first time she's said something so boldly since Sakura's death: "I will only wear Okaa-san's... Queen Sakura's pearls." These golden pearls are her comfort. It fills her with confidence, the kind she believed Sakura had, & the kind she hopes will guide her the rest of her life.

Slane is.... He & Sakura lived a full life together, & though his beloved was taken sooner then expected, it was at least natural & not by someone's hand. He, of course, still appears as the strong king Makoto needs, now more then ever, & is still the doting father, his daughters too need him now more then ever... but there is so much pain inside. He will never marry, never love again as he did Sakura, his princess, his queen, his temperance, his light... his other half. He's a bit more gentle now. The court worried, without the Queen to weaken his ire, Slane would become untapped & ruthless, but it feels more as if he'd taken part of Sakura's soul into him, forever retraining his wrath. He allows Rosa to have more duties in Makoto's royal affairs, he joins Higana in her seances by her small shrine, & allows Botan to have all of the pearls(golden or not) Sakura owned, & promises a vast amount of his own to her when it is his time as well. He's thinking of everyone but himself in their grieving of Sakura. Because in his own mind, he does not need to, he has his own solace waiting for him.

When Sakura is buried, the King requests the Queen's coffin to be extra large. Big enough for two. When it is Slane's time, he will be buried with Sakura. That is his solace. Their time apart will be brief. He will join his beloved in eternity soon enough.

My muse has died. Send in your muse’s reaction. @liroyalty

Look okay... I will say that Sakura could not have gone out more peacefully and more happily... To know that he lived a life full of love and purpose... to have raised three beautiful daughters with a man he loved with all of his heart, to have seen Makoto flourish under their rule, and to know that the country he loved so much was left in such capable loving hands. He loves his family so much he would absolutely watch over them, waiting until his husband joined him in the afterlife I'm so soft rn

[myjisung]

stray kids : the nickname they would call you !

content. stray kids ot8, headcanons, established relationship, gn!reader, skz head over heels in love — fluff.

warning. none

wordcount. 850+

a/n. this is only a headcanon, feel free to disagree with my opinion

bang chan ( 방찬 ) ; darling

though shy at first, chan decided pretty quickly on the nickname he would call you. it rolled off his tongue easily and whenever he heard the word being pronounced or read it, you were the only person he could picture. if he had to be cheesy and say what he held to be the truth, he would say that the nickname had been made for you and no one else. he uses it a lot, way too much if you have to be honest but nothing beats the curl of his lips whenever chan utters his favorite nickname.

"sorry darling, i won't be home before 3 in the morning again"

lee know ( 리노 ) ; honey

part of honeyracha it is no surprise that i would pick this one for him. honestly, it had started as part of a joke. you had expressed faux jealousy over the fact that he called both jisung and hyunjin 'honey'. as minho's actual significant other, you claimed to deserve the nickname more than his friends did. true to himself, your boyfriend had decided to play into that little act of yours, and over time, the nickname stuck.

"honey? since you're going to the grocery store, can you get a few cups of pudding for me?"

changbin ( 창빈 ) ; beloved

changbin likes to be over the top, he likes to go all out; especially for you. so, when he asked whether you were comfortable with being called nicknames, you knew he was going to pick something a little unusual. when he introduced the idea of calling you his beloved, you could not help but giggle a little bit. though it was not the one you expected then, it was so him, so very seo changbin that you were surprised you did not figure it out. it was more than okay, obviously.

"you're fine my beloved, cry it out if you need to."

hyunjin ( 현진 ) ; love

a simple man of simple words. hyunjin loves you, therefore you are his love. he does not call you it that often, reserving the nickname for times he feels especially soft and enamored with every little thing that makes you you, his love. 'love' just sounds right to him, he could not explain it in better words. to hyunjin, calling you 'my love' is beyond natural, it is like that is what you always have been to him: love.

"what's wrong, love? do you want to talk about it?"

han ( 한 ) ; babe

you see, jisung tends to find nicknames a little cheesy. usually, he would stick to your preferred name, which he absolutely loves and finds to suit you the best out of every word he could ever come up with. yet, without even realizing it, the word 'babe' escapes his lips from time to time. when he is in a rush for example, he cannot help but choose to call you that term of endearment. it is like it is out of his control, whether he likes it or not, you are his babe and that is all there is to it.

"uh babe, have you seen my keys?!"

felix ( 필릭스 ) ; angel

though slightly unusual, felix feels that 'angel' is what suits you the most. you have lost count of how many times he has said that you are like an angel who fell down from heaven for him. so, it came as no surprise when he ended up using it to refer to you instead of your name. honestly, it makes you feel a little shy, especially when he absentmindedly says it in public. but, each and every single time, it makes you feel giddy inside so, who cares?

"angel, i'm so happy you're here."

seungmin ( 승민 ) ; dear

even if he tries to hide it, seungmin is a sucker for cute nicknames. he wanted to pick the one he would call you carefully, which is why it took him a while before he found the perfect one. not only that, but seungmin is of reserved nature, pretty shy when it comes to displaying his love so boldly. so, the first time 'dear' escaped his lips, a pinkish blush crept up his cheeks. he tried really hard to hide his nervousness so you did not say much about it. 'dear' was more than fine to you; especially if it meant you would get to see him like this everytime he called you that.

"how was your day, dear?"

i.n ( 아이엔 ) ; baby

at first, he was petrified at the idea of calling you anything but your name. what if he picked something you particularly disliked? what if you found him corny or absolutely hated the thought of him using terms of endearment? so, naturally, he asked you whether it was okay for him to use them or not. of course it was. then, he tried out a few nicknames, the safest ones he could think of; yet, none of them ever sounded right to him and neither did they to you. only one seem to satisfy him: 'baby'. unoriginal you would think, and you would not be wrong, but uttered by jeongin, it was the most perfect nickname you could have ever imagined. and, it being chosen for you made it even more meaningful.

"baby, i'm home!"

taglist. @zoe8stay @starlostseungmin @starzzns @dumbfound-princess — let me know if you would like to be added / removed.

[funkybotwstuff]

Hello! Can i request headcanons for Revali, Sidon and/or Link (i love them all so if i can only request one please pick whoever you like best) with a cinnamon roll performer S/O? Like s/o does theater and a variety of dances and arts but is a shy and quiet when not performing? (If its not to much to add maybe s/o can also fight when needed but it looks like dancing? Kinda like Lizzie from Black Butler?) Im sorry thats a lot thank you so mucb!!

Hello!! I absolutely loved this prompt, so tysm for the request! I hope you enjoy it!

Sidon:

FULLY SUPPORTS YOU 100%

Shows up to every single rehearsal and performance of yours, and will even hold up some other plans to go and watch you because he knows you’re sometimes more relaxed with him there for reassurance

However, if you ever don’t want him to watch when you’re feeling anxious, he’ll completely understand and give you space to be in your element

He’s constantly astonished on how you go from a reserved, quiet person to a confident, brilliant performer effortlessly reciting your lines or bounding across the stage

But he’s not completely taken aback of course!

He expects this much talent and vigor from his darling

Believes you're the sweetest most talented person in the world :D

Loudest cheer from the crowd every time

“Marvelous job, my love!”

“Fantastic, aren’t they?”

He'll quiet down though if you're feeling distressed, he knows how to take a hint

Since he’s aware of how shy you are outside performing, he’ll usher you away from the stage area as quickly as possible once you’ve finished to avoid crowds of fans

He constantly makes sure you’re comfortable

Always brings flowers and such for you following each performance and gushes about how amazing you are

Seriously, expect many compliments because he will not stop

How can he not compliment the most pleasant performer in the world?

If he does take notice that you’re feeling overwhelmed with all the attention, he’ll leave you be on your own for a moment to have some quiet time

He’ll help you practice your routines with you to make sure you’re well prepared by being a stand-in for other actors or dancers

Evidently, he’s not the most nimble partner to practice with (difficult to dance when you’re basically a giant), but you appreciate it nonetheless

He especially loves when you dance; to him you’re a graceful angel

But when you’re fighting, man

He’s absolutely infatuated about your fighting style

The way you maintain your elegant persona from your performing while in the midst of battle is extremely fascinating to him

You still look like an angel to him, but a badass angel that can swing a sword just as well as any baton

He'll shout stuff like "Perfect form!" while you're fighting to motivate you more

He truly does think you’re extraordinary 😫💞

Link:

It honestly depends on if this is Pre Calamity or Post Calamity Link, but either way he doesn’t have as much time as he would like to attend your performances

If it’s Pre Calamity, of course he has to be the Zelda’s bodyguard, so he’s gonna be a no-show most of the time

If it’s Post Calamity, he won’t be as busy, however he still has duties to fulfil

He’s a busy guy running errands for others and fighting monsters ykyk

He does tries to go as often as he can to support you tho

If he does show up, you can bet on him being the first one to come and pick the closest seat to the stage to watch you up close

He’s aware that you’re much more composed when he’s around before any performances

Since Link doesn’t typically attend these kinds of productions, he isn’t used to seeing how you dance and sing

That makes every show he does go to 10 times more special!

He’s not usually the one to sing praises, so he gives little gestures like a thumbs up to reassure you you’re doing a great job

Because he’s accustomed to you being equally as quiet as he is, Link’s especially astounded when you become someone completely different person when you’re acting

You would never speak as loud or as boldly as you do on stage in public, so he’s proud that you found something you’re so passionate about and that you cherish deeply enough to put your all in

He loves when you play the roles of feisty or brazen characters in a play the most because of this reason

He likes to watch your ribbon dancing performances

Those are without a doubt his preferred shows of yours, he loves the way you twirl and the way the ribbon coordinates with your dancing

After every show he attends, he’ll whisk you away from the stage and oncoming crowds and bring you to somewhere tranquil so you wouldn’t have to confront hordes of people

If you wanna talk about the performance, then he’ll gladly (briefly) say how you nailed your role

If not, he’ll sit in silence and quietly appreciate you

Since your dancing style is similar to his sword fighting (big sweeping movements, quick steps, etc.), he was pleasantly surprised to find out that you’re decent with a weapon

For him, this makes it so much easier to coordinate during training and actual battles

But sometimes, he gets enamored looking at your sophisticated combat skills that he pauses fighting whatever he’s battling for a split second to see your technique 😭

He gets inspired by your performances too

There are certain points where he’ll ask you how to do fancy but effective sword maneuvers similar to how you dance so that he can apply them to his training regimen

11/10 very sweet and supportive boy

Revali:

He’s a busy bird (his words not mine AHA)

So don’t expect him to show up as often as you’d may like him to

HOWEVER, this doesn’t mean he doesn’t care, even though he’ll sure act like he couldn’t give a damn at first

When he does come to your performance, he'll be in the very back leaning against a post because he doesn't want to distract everyone with his presence (obviously)

If you make eye contact, he'll do a small nod to assure you he's there for you

Since he knows how timid and anxious you are all the time, he was practically blown away when he saw your first dance performance

He’ll never say it out loud near other people tho, he can’t ruin his reputation by turning into some corny fanboy allegedly

He was almost (key word, almost) slack-jawed, but kept his stoic composure

You just looked so graceful and calm??? You, the apprehensive and gentle person performing gorgeous dances effortlessly in front of people??? He could barely fathom it

He was honestly a bit impressed, which is a huge accomplishment on your part so pat yourself on the back for that

Your singing voice is among his favourites

It’s not AS good as a Rito he supposes, but it’s charming and delightful

Literally anything having to do with music he’ll like, especially singing

It honestly surprised him when you started singing on stage for the first time

If you play any instruments too he really loves that

He appreciates string or woodwind instruments the most, like the violin, guitar, harp or flute

Once you’re finished a performance, he’ll tell off anyone who’s making you uncomfortable and antsy with his usual Revali sarcastic ass tone and bring you to a more serene location to unwind

Don’t expect a barrage of compliments initially either, the most you’ll get out of him is lackluster praise

“I suppose it was acceptable…”

Just know he means to be a tad more sincere than that

Once you continue down the relationship and he becomes more vulnerable, he’ll tell you how amazing your show was, but never directly (only in front of you tho)

“Another success today hm? One might even say it was quite sensational.”

Your dances are quite handy in combat as well

His complex aerial abilities coupled with your fluid dance-like finesse is an impeccable match for fighting against adversaries

It’s actually almost baffling how perfect it works out, it appears nearly flawless every time the two of you engage in combat together

That’s why he sort of likes having you around during battles; he admires your drive and cooperation

Overall salty birb has a little soft spot for his talented darling