#it also has these really cute barrels that you put on the deck!!

[sir-buddy]

Slightly random but a Barnes & Noble near me was having a really big sale and I found this cool 3d ship puzzle thing:

And the coolest part about it is that the pieces are transparent so you can see through the whole puzzle!

[2ofswords]

I cannot draw but I still wanted to bother everyone with assigning Tarot cards for the Patho Characters. It just combines two fixations of mine and so I absolutely couldn’t resist. First and obvious disclaimer: Since I am only doing the major arkana and I have some more abstract concepts for the cards not every important NPC is assigned a card. I tried to include as many as I can by making some groupstuff but not everybody made it. Sorry Grief, I still love you!

Here is just the list, some ramblings and explanations are under the cut. (Btw. this is after the Rider Waite deck, since there are other tarot variations)

0 The Fool - Tragedian I The Magician - Isidor II The High Priestess - Clara III The Emperor - Big Vlad IV The Empress - Capella V The Hierophant - Khan VI The Lovers - The Saburovs VII The Chariot - Block VIII Justice - Dankovsky IX The Hermit - Rubin X Wheel of Fortune - Victor + Clockwork XI Strength - Notkin + Jester XII The Hanged Man - Eva + Cathedral XIII Death - Executor / Murky’s Friend XIV Temperance - Artemy XV The Devil - Immortell + The Theater XVI The Tower - Polyhedron + The Stamatins XVII The Star - Lara XVIII The Moon - Maria XIX The Sun - Sticky and Murky XX Judgement - Aglaya  XXI The World - The Town

The Fool: I mean... not much to say here. I wanted to include some more abstract and general things, since I couldn’t bare to put anything but the town itself as the world. And the Tragedians are such an important part of Pathologic that fit the Fool quite well. 

The Magician: Isidor just has this role as a powerful figure and this “controlling the forces of nature” thing that the magician has going on. And he has a face which at least makes including him in a deck... doable. Not that it really matters here but even inner visualization is fun. Btw. I also had this image of Rubin as a Magician where the table on the Rider Waite deck is the autopsy table with Simon on it. That was nice but Rubin as a character just makes for a better Hermit and again, I think Isidor is a nice fit as an important power figure with mystical inclinations and this controlling aspect. If we want to include a character that is alive in the game, Georgiy and his house in the crucible would also be a good fit.

The High Priestess: Again one I find easy to justify. The High Priestess as the person inclined to the mystical nature behind things works really well for Clara. Also the high priestess is considered to have the highest mythological value in Tarot, so this is kind of nice. Clara has a lot of Cards that fit her, but this one is a position not a lot of other characters fit into. Another person I could see as the High Priestess is Aspity though.

The Emperor: I once wanted to have the head of every ruling family here, to also include Gerorgiy in the deck but then I got a big problem with the lovers and the lack of canon relationships to represent it, so we only get him. That’s fine too, even if I would love to exclude him in favour of some characters, I appreciate more.

The Empress: Capella fits perfectly and I kind of like to keep this cards to the Olgymski’s, because it does make for a nice connection in between. But the nurturing way of ruling is nicely represented by her.

The Hierophant: Khan is also a person of mystical inclinations and also a very strict keeper of secrets that fits with the Hierophant. He is a leader and having him next to Capella in the Arkana also fit quite well, so I like him in this spot a lot.

The Lovers: Again, the lovers are kind of a character set, so having multiple here was just a nice touch. I think Saburov and Katerina are the only couple that really fit for me, since their love for each other is a very important aspect of their characterization while most other characters are very independent. (There is an amazing version of the Saburovs as the lovers by Yura btw.) I have discussed a patho tarot and there was also Clara brought up as a possibility but that could have been interpreted visually in a bad way… Still I think the theme of connection and love would also fit her quite well.

The Chariot: The army arrives with the train which already made this quite fitting just by imagining the card. Also including the Canon which is, driving the plot and time forward by brute force. (After all the army strike marks the end of the game.) His arrival and appearance in the game just marks a “point of no return” driving the game to it’s conclusion, so it’s a nice reference for him. Character-wise there might be better fits for him but… I don’t know I think it fits the narrative.

Justice: Yeah, I know, weird fit for Dankovsky. To be honest, if I could decide freely my favourite place for him would have been “The Fool” but I really wanted to include the Tragedian and that one literally only fits there and it’s pretty much perfect. And I wanted to have the Polyhedron for the Tower (and the Stamatins fit there also quite well), while giving all healers their own space, so that was also taken… Justice is my third option for him. I think it still fits, especially with the opening and the “You will act justly but the justice will blind you and become his demise” Also the visual of blindfolding him can also be a nice metaphor. ^^

The Hermit: Come on, Rubin just makes for a great Hermit! His whole way of dealing with the plague has a “lone wolf” vibe and he has this silent wisdom and knowledge. Also a lot of self-contemplation even if it mostly consists of him thinking that he is a bad person. God, now I have made myself sad for Rubin yet again…

Wheel of Fortune: I just couldn’t shake the image of Victor and one of the game saving Clocks for this one so this it is! I mean, a Clock as a wheel of Fortune just makes sense, especially in a game where time is of the essence and the rather abstract card also fits the Kains. There are some other cool options though, involving either Grief and his gear filled warehouse or the fellow traveller with dice (though this also would be a brilliant death card)

Strength: Artemy could also be a strong contender for this one, but I wanted to include Notkin and his connection to animals fits rather nicely. His way of applying force but also being tender and caring fits the card well, I think.

The Hanged Man: Again, one of the cards where I just couldn’t shake the image and Eva barely hanging onto the cathedral’s railing with her foot will now haunt me forever. I could also see Yulia for this one though since she has a rather contemplative way of thinking that is about dealing with one’s fate while bearing and contemplating it.

Death: Again, if we include some more abstract characters there is just no way around the Executors and Death is just a no brainer for them. They are literally a costume for death in game. The fellow Traveller could obviously work as well.

Temperance: I have seen a card with Artemy as Temperance by sneez and it just blew my mind since the card fits him perfectly and since then I just cannot imagine him as anything else (even if I have also seen some amazing versions with him as strength and this is also a very fitting card). His whole attitude being about preserving and offering stability is just amazing. Also it is a card about upholding duty so… heck yeah!

The Devil: I will be honest with you, I am not satisfied with putting Mark Immortell and the Theatre here. It is fitting but a bit too much on the nose and I think it lets the theatre appear a bit blander than it is. I just have literally no other idea about what to do with the devil. Also I wanted to include the theatre and both my other spots – judgement and wheel of fortune – where kind of occupied… At least you can use the image to maybe chain Mark to either the puppet versions of the main characters or to the tragedians and have the whole “who is controlling who?” thing in there, which is also nice.

The Tower: I definitely wanted to use the Polyhedron there. The Stamatins can be here too. Firstly because I just tried to fit more characters into the deck and secondly because forcing things to be broken in order to be rebuild is kind of their thing. It still has the tower theme with them and is not only “look! It’s a tower! For the… Tower!”

The Star: Lara is a very nurturing and also honest person which fits the star very well. It is a card about harmony and selflessness but still has a rather nocturnal side, which is also nice. Also the Rider Waite deck shows a woman getting spring water, which fits her fabled barrel quest and her hunt for supplies to give to other people.

The Moon: I mean the moon exactly has the vibe that fits Maria and the mistresses in general. It is about inner power, dreams and inner darkness, which fits the Scarlet mistress. It also links to her mother the mistress of the night quite well.

The Sun: A bright card and a card that literally shows children, so including Sticky and Murky here might be simple but is also quite nice. I think they would make for a very cute and happy card and god, we need some of them here!

Judgement: Aglaya often gets the justice card but that one was already taken. I also kind of think that judgement fits her slightly better, since she is the person judging the situation and her giving out sentences and defining what crime is, is kind of her thing. She also is a power house who appears more at the end and decides, so putting her in one of the most important and strongest cards in the deck feels quite fitting. The picture of a person who stands above the rest to tell what shall be told also… literally happened in one of the theatre plays, which is a nice touch and the inquisition gets compared to angels as well.

The world: I mean… the town is the world and it also fits the “completion and harmony” vibe, even if it is also fractured. Not to get sappy, but for me the town and it’s different aspects felt always more complete than any of the endings and it is the thing, that makes the game what it is in the first place. It is… kind of everything what is happening, the game is about the town and it is the protagonist (as it is stated in the Artbook (god that sentence reads like the Artbook is the holy text of Pathologic xDD)). I just think it fills this card the best and having the town as its own entity and character just feels right for me.

[quickspinner]

Finding Harmony - Ch 1 The Key of M

This story is complete on AO3

Season 3 was still coming out when I wrote this one, but it’s still probably my favorite of my works so far, so I hope you enjoy it. This is part of my ongoing effort to get my AO3 works posted to tumblr; you can filter the tag ‘backlog’ if you’d rather not see them.

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7

Summary: Before any note can harmonize with another, it has to be on pitch. When Luka agrees to work with Marinette on a design project, he's happy to see that she's started making some changes for her own happiness. “It’s like you’re tuning your strings right now. You started out a little flat, and then you tuned too sharp. So now you're working back towards your true pitch." As she gets closer to striking her true note, he can't help but think how beautiful they sound together. He wishes she could hear it too.

“Marinette wants your body.”

Luka nearly swallowed the guitar pick he had clamped between his lips. He made a muffled sound and dropped the sheet music he’d been trying to arrange so he could whip the pick out of his mouth to demand, “What did you say?” He moved his guitar off his lap and turned to hang his legs off the edge of the bed so he could face his sister as she crossed from the door towards her end of the cabin.

“Finally,” Juleka smirked. “I’ve called your name three times. Marinette’s been trying to call you for like an hour.” 

“What?” Luka frowned and shuffled around on his bed, finally finding his phone half-buried under his pillow. Sure enough, he had a bunch of missed notifications. “Oops,” he muttered.

“I just got back from her place,” Juleka told him, sitting sideways in her vanity chair to face him. “She’s got an idea that she’s all fired up on and she’s wondering if you’d be willing to model with me for it.”

“You know I’d do anything for you, Jul,” he said almost automatically.

Juleka smirked. “I know you’d do anything for Marinette.”

Luka smiled ruefully. “Yeah, that too.”

“Sap.” 

“Like you can talk. I’m gonna go call her back now.” He stood up and walked out to the deck.

Marinette picked up on the first ring with a delighted “Luka!” that made his heart skip a bit. 

“Hey, Marinette, sorry I missed your messages, I was kinda in the zone and I wasn’t paying attention to my phone. Juleka just told me you were trying to reach me.”

“No problem, I understand, I’ve been there! I’m sorry I interrupted, though, I guess this could have waited, it’s just I was excited and you know I’m a planner and—”

“Breathe, Marinette, it’s fine.” He smiled, leaning on the rail of the boat. “What do you need?”

“Well, you know I felt really bad about that whole Reflekdoll thing a while back—”

“That wasn’t your fault.”

“I know, but—“ Marinette sighed. “Well, never mind about that. I still feel bad for Juleka and now that I know she wants to model I started thinking about what would look good on her, because you know the suit before was cute all but it didn’t really scream Juleka, and so I started messing around with some designs, more of my edgy stuff, you know, the kind of thing I do for Jagged Stone and Kitty Section, and the more I thought about it the more excited I got and I think I have some really cool concepts—”

“Breathe, Marinette,” he repeated, grinning. 

“Right. Sorry. Anyway um I guess designing for Juleka kind of got me thinking about you, and I have some things in mind that I think would look really good on you and I was wondering if you would mind taking some pictures with Juleka when the pieces are done? What do you think?”

“I think all you had to say was ‘Hey Luka, will you model my designs with Juleka,’ and I’d have been sold,” Luka chuckled. “I don’t know if I’ll be any good but you know I’d do anything to help my two favorite girls. Just tell me when and where and what you need me to do.”

The delighted squeal that answered him left him grinning for an hour.

***

“Mom Luka’s here we’ll be in my room see you later!”

“Good afternoon, Mrs. Cheng,” Luka said with a chuckle, as he followed Marinette through the bakery at a slightly more civilized pace.

“Good to see you, Luka. There’s a plate of snacks in the fridge if you two get hungry.”

“Thank you, ma’am.”

It was a good thing he’d been to Marinette’s place with the rest of the band, because she was so far ahead of him he might as well have been by himself. When he climbed up through the hatch into her bedroom (her room was really pretty cool for not being a boat), Marinette nearly barreled right into him. “Whoa!” he cried, catching her around the waist just in time to keep her from falling over. “Relax, Marinette, I’m not going to turn into a pumpkin. You can slow down a little.” He waited until she was sure she had her balance back, and then let her go.

“Sorry,” Marinette said, bouncing slightly on her toes and then grabbing his hand to drag him to her chaise. “I’m just so excited to show you. I hope you’ll like it.”

Luka took a seat on her chaise as she directed and smiled as he watched her rush around. “It’s great to see you so inspired. Maybe I’m off base, but it just feels like you’ve been missing a little bit of your spark lately.”

“Yeah,” Marinette sighed, and it was like all the frenetic energy drained out of her at once. She came and sat next to him on the chaise, looking almost...mournful. “A lot of things have been happening, and I’m starting to realize that I’ve been...prioritizing the wrong things. Sometimes the wrong people.” She glanced at him and then away, twisting her fingers. “I didn’t like the person I was becoming. Which is complicated, because I didn’t like the person I was before, either. Before I met Alya and A-Adrien and got to be better friends with Nino and Kitty Section.” She flashed him a crooked smile. “You wouldn’t have liked me then either. I was a pushover and a victim and a...a bystander.” Luka moved closer and put his hand on her shoulder in silent encouragement. “Some things happened at the beginning of the school year that really pushed me out of that comfort zone, and I started really trying to be a friend, someone my friends can rely on, and for a while it was great. I still messed up a lot but I started standing up for myself and other people, and I wasn’t such a spectator. But...” Marinette chewed her lip. “I don’t know, I feel like somewhere in the last few months I got confused.”

“Yeah?” 

“Yeah.” She nodded slowly. “I need to find a way back to the person I wanted to be. Except I don’t even know who that is, because if I don’t like who I was before and I don’t like who I became, then where am I trying to go?” She moaned faintly and put her face in her hands. “And all you did was compliment me and now I’m just spewing this out all over you and you didn’t ask for any of this, I’m so sorry. I’m probably not even making sense.”

“Marinette, you’re making perfect sense,” Luka said, squeezing her shoulder, and reaching down for the guitar case. “It sounds like you’ve been bottling that up for a while.” She nodded, face still in her hands. “It’s like...you’re tuning your strings right now,” he continued. He set his guitar on his lap, set his fingers and plucked a string. “That’s G, right? You started out a little flat.” He moved his fingers and played a G flat. “So you started tuning towards your true pitch.” He played G again. “But you overshot and you went sharp.” He played the G sharp. “So now you’re working back towards G again.” He plucked the G one more time and grinned. “Or maybe it’s M in your case.”

”There isn’t any M, Luka,” Marinette giggled. 

“I think there is,” Luka smiled, fingers fluttering in a familiar pattern as he played up and down a G major scale. “I think you’ll find it.” He looked up and met her eyes. “And when you do, it’ll be beautiful.” 

Marinette held his gaze for a moment, then blushed and looked at her hands. “Thanks Luka. I know—well, you’re one of the people I haven’t treated so well, so...thanks for understanding.��

“I could tell it wasn’t the true note, the real you. We all make mistakes, Marinette. You’ve always been honest and sincere with me, and I value that more than anything.”

Marinette smiled weakly. “I feel like that should be part of the Couffaine family motto. Liberté, sincerité, originalité.”

Luka laughed out loud. “I like it.” 

Marinette, smiled, and the light came back into her eyes as she jumped up. “Enough navel gazing. How do you feel about snakes?”

Luka’s eyes widened slightly and he felt a flicker of panic. “Uh—”

“Because I have the greatest plan for you,” Marinette said, rushing over to her desk. “Check this out.” She pulled up a board that had been laying flat on her desk and held it vertical so he could see it. Front and center was a large picture of a blue and black striped snake with a red head and tail. It was bold and striking and it looked nothing like Viperion. Luka relaxed a little. He should have known better.

“Snakes are cool,” he grinned. “I like the colors.” 

Marinette squealed and bounced a little. “I know, they’re perfect for you! I mean blue was the easy choice but I was afraid that would be predictable and boring but then I found this picture and—Can you help me hold this? Thanks. So the snake—it’s called a Malasian coral snake by the way—is the inspiration for collection, see? I’m working out an embroidery design, and I’m also incorporating the colors, although not as much on Juleka’s, I want to use mostly black for her with maybe a bright pop of color, maybe the red, see? And if she’s posing with you, maybe she won’t be so nervous. It’ll be a good way to help her get a little more experience so she’ll be more comfortable next time, and if the photos turn out well she’ll have a start to her portfolio.”

“Sounds great. You’re so thoughtful, Marinette. I know Juleka will appreciate it,” he told her admiringly.

“I really haven’t been lately,” Marinette sighed, as he helped her lay the board back down flat. “But I’m trying to be better.”

Luka touched her shoulder. “If you really want to change yourself, I know you can, Marinette. If it’s worth anything, I think you’re pretty great the way you are.”

He jolted when Marinette turned to him and threw her arms around his waist and hugged him tight, but he put one arm around her and hugged her back. “Thanks Luka,” she whispered. “You’re the best.”

He patted her back gently, resisting the urge to really hold her. “So, what do I need to do?”

“Measurements!” Marinette snapped back on task. “I need to take some measurements. Especially for the shirts and jacket, I’ve got to make sure there’s room for all—” she gestured vaguely at his shoulders. “That.” 

He raised an eyebrow. “All what?”

She rolled her eyes at him and turned to her desk to dig out a measuring tape. “Take off your jacket, Luka.”

He did as she asked, laying the guitar back in the open case and dropping his denim jacket and hoodie on the end of the chaise. Marinette pursed her lips as she turned back to him, then took his wrist and held up his arm so that his bicep was flexed. “Yep. That’s what I meant.” Luka felt a sudden flush as she ran her hand up his arm and onto his shoulders. “You’ve got a lot more muscle than the guys in my class—except Kim but he’s a special case—and your shoulders are broader.”

“Um...thanks?” Luka cleared his throat.

Marinette jumped back. “Sorry! Sorry, I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. I was just thinking out loud.”

“It’s fine,” he said, though he knew he was blushing, and he couldn’t quite keep from smirking just a little bit. “Go ahead.”

Luka stood patiently while she measured what felt like every inch of him. 

“Sorry,” she said, writing numbers down. “I just don’t want to have to make you come back, so I’m trying to get everything I think I possibly could need. Once I’ve gotten a little further in the designs, I can bring fabric samples over to the Liberty for you guys to look at.”

“I appreciate that, Marinette, but these are your designs, you don’t need our approval.” 

“I know, but I want you guys to be comfortable with the clothes, especially Juleka now that I know she’s so nervous. And the best part of designing is seeing how excited people are to wear the finished product. I really want you guys to be thrilled.”

Luka smiled at her enthusiasm. “I have confidence in you, Marinette.”

She flashed him a soft smile that made his heart flutter. “You always have, Luka. I appreciate it.” She straightened up and put her pencil down. “I think that’s everything I need.” Marinette bit her lip, and looked a bit...shy? That was new. “Um...do you have to go right away? We could hang out for a bit if you’re free...do you play video games?”

“Not really,” he admitted, with a shrug, and then added quickly as her face fell, “I’m always up for trying something new though.”

The way she lit up at that was not good for his heart. “Well, I’ll go easy on you since you’re a beginner.”

Luka chuckled. “Teach me your ways, master.”

Even ‘going easy,’ she destroyed him. His quick fingers and excellent hand-eye coordination were his only chance for redemption. At the same time, he’d never enjoyed losing more. Competitive Marinette was a side she’d never shown him before and Luka was hard pressed to pay attention to the game, distracted as he was by her wide smile and sparkling eyes. After she’d pounded him a few times, she had mercy on him and switched modes so that they battled together against online opponents. He was still pretty useless but she didn’t seem to need him to win anyway, and playing cooperatively gave her more opportunity to coach him. By the time he had to leave, he could at least survive through the fight while Marinette took their opponents apart. That was good enough for him; the game was okay but he mostly just enjoyed watching her have fun. This was clearly one of her passions and he loved watching her be so gung-ho over it.

“You’re amazing,” he sighed finally, putting down the controller. “I think I’d have to practice a long time to get good enough to even come close to beating you.” 

“Oh, I didn’t—you did really well for your first time!” She hastened to reassure him. He laughed at her round eyes and panicked expression.

“Relax, Marinette, I don’t mind. Even losing to you is fun. You’re cute when you win.” He winked at her and she blushed, but recovered quickly.

“You’re right, I am amazing,” Marinette said airily, and then giggled. “At least at video games. My classmate Max and I played in the interschool tournament and we tore the competition apart.” She looked down at the controller and sighed, putting it down on the coffee table. “I actually haven’t taken much time to play lately, I’ve been so busy. Another reason to make some changes.”

Luka put his hand on her shoulder and squeezed lightly. “I don’t know what happened and I wish you weren’t so sad about whatever it was, but it sounds like you’ve got a good handle on what you need to do, so I know you’ll be fine. Thanks for teaching me, Marinette. I had fun.” 

“Me too,” she smiled at him. “Thanks, Luka, your support means a lot to me. And,” she blushed a little, “Thanks for hanging out with me.”

“I love spending time with you,” Luka said, letting go of her shoulder and getting to his feet. “I do need to get home now though. I’ll go grab my stuff.” He went up the stairs to her room, giving her time to recover from her spluttering. Luka sensed that she felt lonely and unappreciated lately, and he didn’t want to pass up a chance to let her know how much he appreciated her, or how happy he was to spend time with her.

Luka put his jackets back on, zipped up the open guitar case, and lifted the strap over his head. He stopped by the desk, looking down at the snake image, and smiled to himself before going back down the stairs.

Marinette walked him out through the bakery, where her mother pressed a small box of sweets into his hands. “Be safe getting home, Luka,” Marinette told him at the door.

“See you soon, Marinette.” He smiled at her, squeezing her shoulder once more before walking away.

As he walked he thought about what Marinette had said to him. Luka was glad she was taking some time and space to take care of herself, but he couldn’t help wondering what brought on the change. Marinette seemed so down about it...He hoped she felt better about it soon, because the changes she was making seemed good for her. So far, he certainly liked what he was seeing. It was great to see her investing in her art. Just spending time with Marinette was enough for him, but getting to be involved in something she loved so much made it that much better.

Luka sighed, adjusting the guitar case and smiling at himself. He’d long ago accepted that he was hopelessly deep in a hopeless love when it came to Marinette. He knew Juleka thought he was an idiot, but he really just didn’t mind it. 

Loving her made him happy.

[pops-and-kids]

Hey! This is the first birthday fic in...a while! Since last year I believe. Its late, I know, I messed up Namurs birthday date and realized time has been lost to me. Regardless, I hope you enjoy this short and sweet fic for the fish boi!

   The deck was alight with energy, laughter and music booming from the deck. Namur finished off his mug and sighed, satisfied. The part had been on for hours and yet it was still going strong. Pops’ laughter rocked the ship as he swayed with the music Kingdew was playing with some from other divisions. Namur smiled as he watched his family have fun. The lively energy put a good buzz in him alongside the beer, he caught a glimpse of the full preset table as his brothers and sisters mingled around. It gave him a heartwarming feeling knowing they were all there for him.

   But even if this was technically his birthday party he was more then happy that everyone treated it like a normal party, just with some streamers and cake. Namur thanked everyone who wished him a happy birthday, but the attention wasn’t fully on him, and for that he was more than grateful. He waded through the sea of family members towards the drinks table, getting pulled aside by a couple brothers for a quick “Hey happy birthday, man.” Pouring himself some more booze he took a moment to watch the dancers.

   Thatch and Izou were having a battle by the looks of it, tap dancing vs the traditional dance of his homeland. Clearly Izou was winning but Thatch was also not giving up. Until he tripped somehow (Namur couldn't see his footwork) and went down. Laughter exploded over the deck as Thatch took his defeat with grace and walked over to the drinks table.

“Good time?” Namur asked with a chuckle.

“He took classes, that was a loss from the start.” Thatch said with a smile, out of breath.

“Hey, we’ll be setting off the fireworks soon,” He rasped, pouring himself a cup, “Then we’ll have cake. Savvy?”

   Namur nodded as his brother chugged down his drink. “Sounds good. I’ll be off deck.”

   Thatch let out a hum in acknowledgement and gave a thumbs up, walking off to probably find a seat. Namur took a swig and waded back through the crowd, more birthday wishes given along the way. By the time he had gotten to the railing he felt like he had been the one to have challenged Izou, who was still taking on challengers if the cheers of his name were anything to go by. Taking a deep breath he looked down at the water. The gentle lap of the sea at the sides of Moby had a calming energy, a stark contrast to the pure hyperactive feeling on the ship itself.

“Mister Nam?” A small voice peeped next to him.

   Lil Red looked up at him with her cute eyes, holding a cup of cola in her secondary paws.

“Hello, Red.” He crouched down and gave her a head pat, “Enjoying yourself?”

“Ye!” She chirped, “Happeh birtday Mister Nam!”

   Namur chuckled, “Just Namur will do. Thank you! We’ll be having fireworks soon. Will you be okay with the noise?”

   Red tilted her head, her face scrunching up in confusion, “‘Fiwrworks’?”

“They explode in the air,” He explained, “They make bright colours and patterns. I think you’ll like them, but the noise may scare you.”

   Her satellite ears flopped down as she understood what he meant. “Oh….”

   Namur frowned and thought for a moment. He could hear Curiel and Jozu setting up the specialized canons already.

“Would you like to join me in the water and watch from there?”

   Red ears perked back up, looking up at him with excitement, “Really?”

   He nodded, “Yes, of course. Come on, we have to hurry though.”

   The two of them chugged what was left in their cups and left them on the deck for later. Namur scooped her up with a toothy smile and climbed over the railing, jumping down to the deep blue sea below. The water was cold on impact, the distant wound of a whale greeting the two of them from under the surface. Swimming away from the ship he zigzagged and barrel rolled, Reds muffled chirping and laughter reminding him just how fun it was to swim with other sea-faring folk. They couldn’t just enjoy the water, sadly, they’d miss the fireworks. Swimming back up to the surface Namur relaxed, floating on his back and letting the little dragon lay on his stomach.

   Not a moment too soon. A bang echoed over the water, followed by a brilliant sparkling red ball in the sky. Red gasped, her ears pointing straight up into the sky as she stared in awe.

“Fiwrworks?” She squeaked.

“Mhm. Fireworks.”

   The two of them stayed like that for the whole show, watching the fireworks go off together and deciding which were their favorites. Namur was partial to the blue ones while Red said “That ones my favorite!” for all of them. He couldn't stop smiling the whole time. The party, the fireworks, spending time with their newest little sister. It was the best thing this fishman could ever ask for on his birthday.

“Let’s hurry back, we’ll miss out on the cake if Ace gets to it first.”

“Caaaake!”

[larryfanfiction]

ABO 

Alpha Harry / Omega Louis

🌕 Where You Lay by HamPalpert (86k)

When Louis’s upcoming heat threatens his success at his new dream job, he asks the best (and only) person he can think of to help him through it: his best mates’ best mate, Harry Styles. Harry reluctantly accepts, and together the two navigate a strange friends with benefits relationship that quickly turns complicated.

🌕 Like Candy In My Veins by littlelouishiccups (31k)

“Um…” Harry said slowly after a moment. “Okay. That’s… this is… Let me get this straight.” He lifted up a hand and swallowed. “You told your family that you have a boyfriend… and my name was the first one you thought of?”

“Harry Potter was on TV, alright? It wasn’t that much of a stretch.” Louis pinched the bridge of his nose. He couldn’t believe he was explaining himself to Harry fucking Styles. He couldn’t believe he was stooping this low. “Forget it. I’m sorry I even thought about bringing you into this.”

Harry snorted. “What? Did you want me to pretend to be your boyfriend or something?” (Basically the A/B/O, enemies to lovers, fake relationship, Christmas AU that nobody asked for.)

🌕 falling into you by stylinsoncity (143k)

In the grand scheme of adolescence and boyhood, Harry was still working himself out, so far with little luck. But four things he could say for certain: 1) he'd been at the top of his class all through primary and secondary school, 2) he was the shittiest alpha to ever walk the earth, 3) Liam Payne never let him forget it, and 4) he’d been in love with this boy, Louis Tomlinson, ever since he was fifteen years old.

🌕 i want you so much (but i hate your guts) by becauselarry (83k)

AU in which Louis gets accepted to play for the Manchester University Alpha-Beta Football Team. The only problem: Louis is actually an Omega. He is determined to make it big in the football world, though, and he can't do that bound to an Omega team. With the help of a faked doctor's certificate and some pretty strong suppressants he is ready to fight for his dream.

That Harry Styles (Alpha, second year and youngest football captain of the A-B team in ages) doesn't seem to like him complicates matters, though.

🌕 Strawberries & Cigarettes by dimpled_halo (74k)

Harry looks up and immediately freezes. Next to Ms. Archie stands the boy from just the other day. The boy with the leather jacket and chipped black nails, that might or might not be sketched in the very book Harry has just placed on the table in front of him. The leather jacket is missing today, probably because they aren’t allowed as part of their required uniform attire, but Harry can still see the fading black nail polish on his nails, and eyeliner around his eyes. Harry’s mouth goes a little dry. This boy is so intriguing to him.

“Ye-yes, Ms. Archie?” Harry tries to play it cool, but he’s almost positive that his cheeks are burning red, and he’s relieved neither of them can tell how fast his heart is beating in his chest.

The boy seems to also recognize Harry, because his lips curve into a knowing smirk.

“Harry is at the top of his class. He’s your best bet at getting familiar with things around here.” She explains.

Louis nods, his smirk still very prominent on his face. “Thank you Ms. Archie. I’ll be sure to take advantage of young Harold here.”

*

Summary: Two stories, eleven years, and the two boys that never stopped loving each other.

🌕 Love is like this; not a heartbeat, but a moan by angelichl (13k)

"He hates this, more than anything in the world he hates this. His title, his rank, his DNA. Unchangeable. Fated.

And then there’s Harry, born to be unobjectively superior to Louis and all other O’s. Unlike other A’s, Harry doesn’t wear his alpha-ness very well. He’s clumsy with it, like walking around in a pair of shoes a size too big. His life is defined by uncertainty and tentativeness, and those are definitely not qualities alphas should have.

Sometimes, when Louis ponders it for too long, he thinks that maybe Harry resents being an A just as much as Louis resents being an O."

In which Harry loves Louis, but Louis has been cold to him ever since he presented as an omega at age fifteen. Eight years later, Louis approaches Harry with a request, and who is Harry to deny him?

🌕 Cold Little Heart by seducedbycurls (194k)

Louis is a soft omega with an abusive past and an alpha child A few months after getting a divorce, Louis meets Harry, an ex-military alpha wolf that offers him something -odd.

In exchange for teaching him how to cook, Harry will babysit his son, Abraham Louis really could use the help.

🌕 Symphony Hall Series by HelloAmHere @helloamhere  (137k)

“I think I have an idea,” Louis said. Slowly, and reluctantly, but with a growing sense of the inevitable. “God damnit, I think I have a really good idea.”

“Oh christ, that’s the problem-solving face,” Babs said. “Last time we saw that face, he sold a company.”

“Wait, what?” Zayn asked.“Right place, right time,” Louis said. “Also, fuck my life,”

“What?” Zayn repeated. Niall patted his hand.“I usually just roll with whatever Louis is about to do,” he said. “It’s better for us all.”

“That’s the attitude,” said Louis, “I’ll tell you tomorrow. Tonight, I need to do some research. Zayn, give me your number. I’m gonna save our symphony.”

🌕 Pray for some Sweet Simplicity by delsicle (237k)

Louis is the only omega to ever make it in the cut-throat world of competitive motorcycle racing—that is, he would be if anyone actually knew about his identity. Now, his sights are set towards competing in—and winning—the European Grand Prix, the biggest and most difficult race of the entire year, so he can disappear underground for good. He’s close enough, too, until an alpha sports journalist is assigned to follow Louis’s every move as he prepares for the event of his career.

Or, an AU where motorcycle racing is the biggest sport in a heavily divided world, Louis is trying to take control of his own destiny, and Harry is in for more than he bargained for.

🌕 As Deep as the Sky by swallowsmateforlife (12k)

A passed-out omega on the bathroom floor isn’t exactly what Harry had in mind when he thought about taking a cute boy home. The idea of leaving Louis there, vulnerable and unresponsive, weighs guiltily at Harry’s conscience. Turns out it’s the best decision he’ll ever make.

🌕 You Burn With the Brightest Flame by sarcasticfluentry (34k)

Harry frowns, thinking that he shouldn’t have to be glad about what gender he is, just like omegas shouldn’t have to be scared and nervous that anyone they meet might want to hurt them. He wonders why none of this occurred to him before, how he possibly could’ve just sailed through life before this without realizing how fortunate he was being born a beta. That seems a bit too serious of a conversation for Simon Cowell’s waiting room, though, so Harry puts an arm around Louis’s shoulders and teases, “You say that like you’re old or something. Two years isn’t that big of a difference!”

“Tell me that when you’re eighteen and looking back on this conversation,” Louis says.

“Well that’s - that’s different, isn’t it? We could be anywhere in two years, we could be famous.

”Louis’s eyes light up, his smile widening. “You think so?”

…or, the X-Factor Era A/B/O fic.

🌕 Swim In The Smoke by whoknows (101k)

 “What about this, Captain?” Liam asks, nudging the boy kneeling between their feet with the toe of his boot. The boy hisses and swipes at him, slurring out something unintelligible around the makeshift gag Niall had to stuff in his mouth. He misses by a mile and tries again, just as ineffectively. Harry looks down at him, at the way the sun streams over his face and shoulders, at the way the gag stretches his mouth, lips pink and chapped. He’s lithe and pretty, smudged all over with dirt. They had found him tied up below deck, mostly unconscious, next to a barrel full of gold. He’s clearly a prisoner, but there’s something familiar about him, something that niggles at Harry’s brain. Something he can’t quite put his finger on. “Put him in my cabin,” Harry decides, turning back to deal with the rest of the loot. The boys screams out jumbled curse words at Harry’s back, muffled by the gag, and Harry can’t understand any of it.

🌕 With Love Comes Strange Currencies by mediaville (16k) 

One day One Direction will be over and Louis won’t be around Harry every waking moment. He’ll be able to finally get some space, let their bond dissipate as it’s bound to do, if they don’t mess up again. He can move to Costa Rica and forget that Harry Styles popped his first knot inside him. Until then, he’s going to have to deal with this. or, They’re Accidentally Mated and Dealing With It Rather Badly.

🌕 Mr. Tomlinson by iwillpaintasongforlou (4k)

Louis is a billionaire CEO who makes grown men cry and rival companies crumble. He’s also an omega. Harry is the quiet cupcake of a man he calls his alpha and the only one who gets to see Louis as anything less than fearsome.

🌕 If Anyone Knew by StarFar (50k)

Harry’s a young alpha who’s strangely gentle. Louis’ an omega who’s strangely protective. Being the only ones in the band who aren’t betas they automatically empathise with each other and decide that it’s their job to look after each other.

Or Harry and Louis through the early One Direction years in an a/b/o universe.

🌕 Settle Down With Me by ItsLivvvy (12k)

I have always loved him, Louis. I will always love him. From childhood till the day we part.

OR

When Louis and Harry slowly fall in love from childhood forward and build their dream together.

🌕 Cameras Flashing by juliusschmidt (81k)

With his breakout single platinum three times over and his second album still selling out in stores around the world, Louis Tomlinson has made it to the top. However, his position as Pop Heartthrob of the Decade is threatened by the edgier, more artistic Zayn, who happens to be releasing an album a week after Louis’ upcoming third. Louis needs something groundbreaking- scandalous, even- to push past him in the charts. Much to Louis’ dismay, his PR team calls in The Sexpert.

Consulting with PR firm Shady, Lane and Associates pays the bills so that Harry Styles can spend his down time doing what he really loves: poring over data. On weekends and late into the evenings, he researches gender, presentation, and sexual orientation, analysing the longitudinal study that is his father’s life’s work. That is, until his newest client, the popstar with the fascinating secret, drags him off his couch and frighteningly close to the spotlight.

As the album’s release date approaches, will Tomlinson and Styles be able to pull off the most risky PR scheme of the millennium and beat Zayn in sales or will the heat of their feelings for each other compromise everything?

🌕  Didn’t Fall For You (You Fucking Tripped Me) by @allwaswell16 (15k)

These days Louis tends to steer clear of dating alphas. He’s dated too many knotheads in his time, and he’s ready to just focus on school and his friends and his pet monitor lizard, of course.

Too bad the alpha next door won’t take a hint and stop using the worst pick up lines of all time on him. He’s really got to stop laughing with him–and talking to him and walking to class with him and letting him bring him coffee and tea and gifts for his lizard and watching Netflix together and…

Alpha Louis / Omega Harry

🌕 Stars Will Align For Us by 2tiedships2 (15k)

"The serial monogamist is single," Niall said by way of introduction when he sat down across from Harry in the canteen.

Harry sipped his chocolate milk. "What are you going on about?"

"Your alpha dream boat," Niall said. "That tiny little footie player? I heard from Hannah that he's broken it off with his boyfriend so he’s single and ready to flamingle. Now's the time to make your move."

Harry sipped his chocolate milk harder to keep himself from replying.

Or the one where Harry is an omega at a loss of how to get past his pining and gain the attention of Louis...especially considering the alpha is always in a relationship.

🌕 But Please, Don't Bite by shyserious (122k)

"Melodic little jingle sounded from a bell hanging over the doorframe and warm indoor air curled heavily around his shivering body for the first time in months. Harry suddenly felt a sting in the corners of his eyes and had to force down a broken sob. Fuck, he was a mess. Such a mess. He had to focus."

🌕 wanna taste your heart, don't interfere by (orphan_account) (16k)

Harry still remembers how unsure he felt when he first told Louis, how self-conscious he was. Louis had been nothing but understanding and kind, though, reassuring him that nothing’s going to change between them, that they’re still best friends regardless of sex. Harry had been mostly relieved at that, because he really doesn’t want to lose Louis as a friend over this, but another part of him had been a bit sad because… well, because nothing changed between them. Or rather, there is change, but it’s completely one-sided as far as Harry can tell.

This change being him not getting enough of the way Louis smells. He just can’t help it, is the thing, unable to stop himself from trying to subtly press his nose against the fabric of Louis’ shirt by his shoulders. He still smells like faint cologne and sweat, which is enough to make Harry start feeling slightly dizzy.

(harry presents as an omega, louis is his alpha best friend, and there are hidden feelings that just get harder to control.)

🌕 lemon eyes by turnyourankle (50k)

It's not proper for omegas to mess around with alphas before finding their bondmate. But Harry doesn't give a damn what's proper and fully intends on getting as much experience as he can before even trying to find one. As far as he's concerned, the right alpha won't care, and he'll have some fun on the way.

And who better to start with than Louis Tomlinson, the alpha with the worst reputation on campus?

🌕 hard to confess by hereforlou (24k)

One, they only did it without a condom once (and a half) and not during his heat. Never during his heat. Two, he never once forgot to take his birth control (he’s almost sure). Three, his plan is to be married for a year before he even starts trying for a baby, and not only is he very, very single, him and Louis aren’t even sleeping together anymore. Which brings him to reason number four why this can’t be happening: Louis. Louis doesn’t want a baby with Harry. (Or, the one where Harry knows he messed up and Louis knows nothing.)

🌕 Drunk on Rose Water by brainwaves (9k)

It’s the first time in a few years that Harry has a strong desire to risk everything for something he loves.The last time, it was being a fashion model. This time, it’s Louis.

🌕 The Beast You’ve Made of Me by ashtarok/ orphan_account (4k)

The bell tinkled, and Harry froze as an overpowering scent, musky and thick, crisp and slightly sweet, yet utterly masculine, delightfully tickled his senses. Harry’s eyes slowly slid up to see the source of this wonderful scent, and his breath was taken away at the sex god before him, all muscled and compact and utterly screaming of Alpha. Icy blue eyes stared him down, set off by sharp cheekbones, a stubbled jaw that looked yummy enough to nibble on, and caramel hair, which was lazily gelled, a few pieces falling over his forehead. His skin was tan, his hands strong and steady, his biceps still clearly visible even through his jacket. Every fiber of Harry’s being stood at full alert. The one where Harry’s a vanilla-sweet Omega and Louis walks into his bakery one day.

🌕 The Bond That Can't Be Broken by louisgrindsonharry (10k)

Louis’ an alpha and Harry’s an omega. They never really stood a chance.

🌕 Between the Shadow and the Soul by MiniMangaFan/ orphan_account (6k)

“It’s just easier to stay in Donny and train, Haz,” Louis says quietly. “Two transatlantic flights in less than a week right before a big match is a terrible idea. We should have known that before, but...”

Harry nods. It’s reasonable. It’s totally, completely reasonable and Harry can support that. Another five or six days of not being able to hold Louis’ hand and kiss him sweetly is killing Harry, but he can handle it. “Okay, so that’s, what, the 20th that you’ll be coming over here?”

Louis hesitates, and Harry has to bite back a frustrated growl. “I’ve got writing sessions and time in the studio scheduled as of yesterday, plus I’m supposed to get papped clubbing in London again and just… it’s shit but there’s no time to make the trip until early May, at the least.”

Or, Harry and Louis spend a month apart.

🌕 Let’s Embrace The Point Of No Return by sweaterpawstyles (6k)

Louis was a whole new scale of beautiful, he was richer than Harry could've ever imagined, and he was the most powerful, dominant alpha that Harry had ever come in contact with. The only problem now is that Louis is also Harry's boss.

Louis believed Harry was an alpha, and had no idea about how he had lied about his status just to get an interview with Louis. He was in too deep now and he couldn't look back.

Or

Harry is an omega intern at an all alpha company. Louis is his boss. There's some complications.

🌕 All These Lights by MediaWhore (34k)

“People vote for alphas because they’re strong and they’re not only beautiful but also mesmerizing. They make you want to give them all of your attention, make you want to beg for some of theirs back. They’re shiny, oozing sex appeal and a commanding presence, and people always want more and more. Omegas are enticing too for sure, but it’s not the same. It makes people uncomfortable. It doesn’t make them want to root for you.”the canon fic where Harry is an omega and dreams come with a price.

🌕 resolutions and lovers in the kitchen by MarchieTheHare/orphan_account (10k)

Their dinner’s probably going cold, but this feels monumental. So instead of sitting them down on the table and talking about it face to face over chicken and pasta, Harry just puts his hands over Louis’ where they’re settled on his lower stomach, not letting the moment slip past them. He takes a deep breath, carefully arranging his thoughts. “She looks really lovely, Louis. Positively glowing. Her bump’s so big, and…” he trails off, breath hitching slightly when Louis lifts his hand higher, settling it right over Harry’s stomach, and that’s—

“And what, baby?” Louis asks, voice now dropped to a whisper, and Harry has to take a moment to collect his thoughts.

“She, um. She knows about you, of course, and she asked me when we’re—when we’re having a baby of our own.”

(harry teaches little kids and louis writes sports articles. they're trying for a baby.)

🌕 i’ll be hurt from the heat (running from the heat) by itiswhatitisbutterfly (11k)

It’s engrained into him, nothing else matters, protecting Harry at all costs is what pumps his heart and floods his veins. It’s just, he didn’t count on the one thing Harry would need protecting from would be himself.

(Harry and Louis are in love, and they are probably soul mates. They just can’t be bond mates because despite the undeniable pull, it’s them against the world.) 

Alpha Harry / Alpha Louis

🌕 No Easy Love (Could Make Me Feel This Way) by allwaswell16 (17k)

There’s never been anyone for Harry but Louis. He had always thought their love would last forever, despite society’s pressures on an alpha/alpha relationship. When Louis breaks up with him and moves to Chicago, he’s suddenly left behind to pick up the pieces of the life they once shared. Instead of moving on, he finds reasons to keep Louis in his life and in the process begins to piece together what went wrong.

Or an Alpha Louis/Alpha Harry au where they get a second chance to make things right with the love of their life.

🌕 Alpha Seeking Alpha by jaerie (3k)

Maybe it's taboo, but Louis can't stop thinking about a strong alpha holding him down and filling him with a knot. Louis may be alpha himself yet there's a corner of the internet where he can get what he wants. He finally has the courage to do it.

🌕 Cancel your reservations, no more hesitations by 14hrflight (22k)

Louis still has his eyes on the bill when he barges into Harry’s room without knocking because he doesn’t want to get evicted and the smell hits him first.

It’s overly sweet and unnatural, and his stomach drops because it smells like an omega. Louis eyes widen and he looks up and - Harry’s on his hands and knees, a half spilled bottle of synthetic omega slick next to him and a huge, knotted dildo pressing into his hole. Harry’s face is flushed and he looks fucked-out and -

“I’m sorry!” Louis squeaks out and quickly backtracks, face red, because he wasn’t supposed to see that and Harry’s an alpha but he - Louis isn’t going to judge him.

--

Louis is an alpha and so is Harry, but Louis helps him through his rut anyway.

🌕 swimming in a champagne sea by delsicle (16k)

Louis is a supermodel. Harry is a celebrity photographer known for capturing the brightest up and comers in their most candid moments. They meet at London’s most exclusive New Year’s Eve party.

An alpha/alpha fic filled with confusion, banter, Ubers, and glitter

Omega Harry / Omega Louis

🌕 A Firm Believer and a Warm Receiver by objectlesson (10k) @horsegirlharry

a few months ago, Louis had his first heat. It was no big deal, aside from it being awkward and weird and all the other things it was supposed to be. He figured he would present as an omega, so he wasn’t exactly surprised or anything.

But then, last week, Harry had his first heat, too.Or, the omega/omega sleepover fic no one asked for but y'all really, really need.

🌕 Even Your Honey Dew by objectlesson (9k)

It probably says something about Harry that he’s so obsessed with another omega’s arse.

[cloudchaserandflitterexplain]

Cloudchaser and Flitter Explain: Top 10 Friends Forever Cards

But you said—

Hi everypony! Are you ready for the next set to drop? Because Cici and I sure are!

When Cici isn’t freaking out about what deck to run for continentals, that is.

I’m not freaking out. I’m deliberately taking my time analyzing my choices so I can pick the deck that’ll let me win continentals this year.

Got it narrowed down yet?

...No.

That’s our Cici, always worrying until the last possible moment.

But anyway, as much as I’d love to tease Cici about her deck, we just don’t have the time! Leaders and Legends is right around the corner, and we’ve not given you all our top 10 lists for Friends Forever yet.

So let’s get right to it! Cici?

Oh, right!

What do you call a Pegasus wearing a—

I said we have no time for jokes, Cici! I mean what’s your first card?

Oh, okay.

So I wasn’t ever sure when we’d get to this, so I’d been kind of updating my list throughout the year. And, uh, there have definitely been a lot of changes… And not just because of the Banlist. My original #1, for example, is much lower…

But the actual ten cards haven’t changed much. They honestly weren’t that hard to figure out.

Well, top 11 if you count Old Money. But banned cards don’t really count anymore…

Anyway, my top 10 card is Lacking Lesson Plans

Huh. WIth how much you’d been ranting and raving about that card when the set first came out, I’d have thought it’d be much higher.

Well it was! Originally, anyway.

The fact that it let so many Manes flip through Tempest seemed great at first. I was looking forward to breaking in some new Manes and see what they could do!

But in practice, it’s not really enough. Tempest’s opening Grubber: Minion play can still slow them down enough to where they’re not flipping early, or still deny req, or what have you. So it’s really only helpful for the absolute most aggressive confront to flip Manes.

I just wanted more, you know?

If you don’t think it does enough, why’s it on your list, then?

Huh? No, it’s amazing.

I basically include it in all my decks nowadays!

But you said—

While, yeah, it doesn’t really enable many more confront to Flip Manes, it’s still incredibly valuable for decks that confront a lot, just because being able to ignore Troublemakers is really good.

It’s basically to the point where as long as strong Troublemaker control decks are in the meta, you basically have to run 2 of these!

It’s a problem the game’s needed for awhile now, and it’s great to see it in action. So yeah, not as high as I originally thought, but still an easy number 10.

So unlike silly old Cici, I had a lot more trouble narrowing down my top 10 cards! There’s so many fun arts and flavour texts and I love the set for that!

But on the other hoof, there weren’t actually a lot of silly fun build around cards in the set. So there’s not a lot of those my list.

But that’s okay, because the art is just so fun and I love it, hehe. And let’s start with Skipping Class!

Uhh, what’s fun about that?

Oh come on, Cici. It’s six best friends just hanging out together and having fun in the sun, relaxing without a care in the world.

So ditching school is something you endorse then?

Well, no…

But it’s still nice seeing them enjoying each other’s company. It’s very relaxing!

It was a tough call between this and another similar art, but I just had to go with this in the end. Paving the way for a new generation!

Which other card?

I can’t tell you that, Cici! These are top ten lists, not top eleven lists!

There’s no harm in mentioning your runner ups, though.

Top. Ten.

Okay, okay, sheesh.

Moving on, my number 9 will likely surprise no pony for being on this list: The Fire of Friendship.

Oooh, that’s a good one!

The Fire of Friendship lives in our hands! As long as it’s there, we foil Grubber’s plans!

Uhh, yeah, actually. Basically exactly that.

When Tempest fist hit the scene, she was infamous for locking ponies out of Entry thanks to Grubber frequently showing up turn 1. Now there’s a card that helps fight that, thanks to Fire of Friendship, being Entry that protects your entire hand.

It even works against other discard effects like Rarity: Soprano and can work with your own discard synergies like Tank: Burrower.

Not costs, though. If you want to exhaust Apple Bloom: Re-Markable to reduce the cost of a card, you can still discard Fire of Friendship to do it, but you can’t put it into play. Since costs can’t be replaced.

Sure, but that’s not the worst thing ever.

It’s still incredibly versatile while still being helpful Entry that does double duty for protecting your hand.

It does only provide 2 req unlike Singing Barrel and Motivational Speech, which is a notable downside. But if you build your deck accounting for that, it shouldn’t be a major issue.

So, yeah. Good card. Goes in a lot of decks. Highly recommend it.

It’s my number nine.

Or is it five or seven?

Kettle Corn’s so cute!

What was that all about.

Silly Cloudchaser!

Everypony else get it.

Check her cutie mark.

Okay...

Anyway, Kettle Corn is just absolutely precious! The haikus, the circles, the combinations of the two. She’s also one of Rumble’s new friends! What’s not to love?

I suppose she’s not bad entry either. Not amazing, but, you know. Respectable.

Whatever makes you recognize she’s amazing!

...That it?

That’s it! Kettle Corn’s just fun is all!

Uhh, guess I’ll move on, then?

So these next three are all pretty similar cards. Just a bit different in application each. But they’re all on the list for the same reason, more or less.

I was originally going to put them all as a tie, but Flitter said my list had to be exactly ten cards...

Top. Ten. It’s not that hard, Cici!

So here we are with Daring Do: Crafty Collector as my number 7.

Did you know A.K. Yearling was secretly Daring Do this whole time? I was so surprised!

Nah, it was definitely obvious. I knew all along.

Hehe, sure you did Cici.

I did!

Anyway, Daring Do is… kind of nuts. The amount of AT value she can provide you is just incredibly high. An AT every time you can confront with her, and saving an AT every time you need to move her to a problem.

Which, if you confront that turn, gets you the AT you spent on moving her right back.

The only reason she’s the lowest of these three is because if you can’t confront with her, due to eccentric or a TM or whatever, she’s not doing much for you. You can’t just exhaust her for AT like most other common AT gens. So she definitely has the worst floor...

But when she’s at full capacity, she’s just fantastic, and definitely worth a slot on the list.

So, to properly introduce the next card on my list, we’ll need an expert on fashion.

Gee, where could we find one of those in this town?

Well, Cici, you’re in luck! Since, as everypony knows, I happen to be a fashion expert!

You are?

Of course I am, Cici! That’s why you always see me in this bow! It’s the absolute pinnacle of fashionably cute.

...I genuinely have no idea if you’re making this up or not.

So, as a pony who knows all things fashionable, I am proud to present to you my next card, Rarity: Shine on the Inside.

...Another Eccentric 1 entry?

Yup! Quite the coincidence, don’t you think?

No. I’m pretty sure you’re doing this just to mess with me.

An added bonus!

But no, I just really like the art they got for these cards!

Plus, you’ve gotta admit Rarity looks fantastic with a three colour mane. And she just rocks that jacket!

If you say so…

I do say so! Your turn!

Hold on, let me just brace myself for the oncoming onslaught.

Onslaught?

You’ll see.

So, uh, my next card is, uh, us.

Eeeeeeeee!

Hug. Too. Tight.

Just look at how adorable we were back then! And that flavour text is so us! Right down to you being moody about not coming in first place, hehe.

I don’t get moody…

Yeah, just like that!

Anyway, uh, this card is pretty good.

Eh, who am I kidding. We’re amazing.

And you’re not just saying that cause it’s us, are you?

Nope. I looked at every card in the set and decided this legitimately deserved to be included. It’d have the same position even if it were Gyro on the art.

You shouldn’t joke about that, Cici. He’s been complaining again lately he still only has one card...

But yeah, this is basically everything I wanted in a Blue Yellow card! Saving AT, giving extra power to confront, 1 play reqriement so you can play it early with Trading Traditions. What more could a girl want?

It’s even an Immediate ability, allowing you to combo with Hasty Friends, or even just exhaust on the opponent’s turn to avoid a single problem faceoff. It’s just a great card!

That being said, unlike Daring Do and the next card, this doesn’t actually give you AT. If you don’t have Friends to play, you’re not getting as much value as you’d like.

But on the other hoof, you can get value out of us basically every turn so long as you can play Friends. Unlike Daring Do, who needs a free problem. And it’s in a colour combination that kind of needed it more. So despite not giving actual AT, I think overall we’re the better card.

So it gets your stamp of approval?

Absolutely!

Know what gets my stamp of approval?

Uhhh, cakes?

Uh, sure, but not what I was getting at?

Pancakes?

Are you hungry Cici?

A little.

Anyway, what I was trying to get at is that Sorry Stamp gets my stamp of approval!

Didn’t we just talk about that the other day?

Sure did! Aren’t you sorry I didn’t stamp your forehead back then?

This better not go where I think it’s going.

I wouldn’t dream of it!

Anyway, despite the sad nature of the stamp itself, this art just makes me smile! It’s just kind of ridiculous going around with a stamp like that on your head, you know?

Plus, just look at Princess Twilight’s face! It’s just wonderful!

Shouldn’t you, you know, be sad that she’s sad or something?

Well, I am! A little bit. Twilight is genuinely very sorry about the situation she found herself in...

But the whole thing is also pretty ridiculous, so it makes me smile a little too. And I think a card that can evoke both emotions at once is pretty amazing, don’t you?

Sure, I guess.

Well, I like it a lot, and that’s good enough for my list.

Yeah, for sure. Your list is your list.

As for my list, well, I’m sure everypony’s already guessed my number 6 card based on what I’ve said in my picks for the 7 and 8 spots. Starlight Glimmer Guidance Counselor.

Which is honestly kind of surprising. At first, ponies thought she was only going to be so-so since there were already a ton of good AT generator options out there, like Princess Twilight Sparkle: Cover to Cover. Plus she costs 3, which means it takes a long time for her to pay for herself.

But in practice, she’s definitely proven to be an absolute all star.

I think you mean an “All Starlight”, Cici!

Sure...

So, to explain why people weren’t that excited about her at first… In the Seaquestria and Beyond Meta, ponies had the mentality that 5-6 AT generators was usually enough. More than that and you were diluting your deck with too many AT gens and not enough other cards that do other things.

Turns out, uhhh, that was just plain wrong. And in the Friends Forever Meta, we’ve seen decks with 8, 12, and even 18 AT generators! And almost every one of those decks was running Starlight here.

So what changed? Well I’ll get to one of those reasons later in the list, but the other thing is just there are so many good AT gens now, that running as many as you can just means you can have a tremendous advantage over your opponent.

I mean, which pony’s more likely to win? The one getting 3 AT a turn or the one getting 9?

Probably the one getting 9, yeah… You can’t catch up if you’re doing only a third of what the opponent’s doing.

Basically, yeah. Once you’re generating at least 2 more AT than the opponent, chances are you’re a mile ahead. At 3, it’d take a miracle for the opponent to beat you.

Anything past that and you’ve basically already won the game, regardless of what the scores are.

Unless it’s 14-0! Then they might still have a chance! Hehe.

Okay, in the vast majority of circumstances.

Anyway, Glimmer is incredibly key in these strategies for two reasons. First is her 1 req, allowing her to be played early even without flipping your Mane. So you can get her out turn 2 and start getting an influx of AT ASAP.

Second, turns out that 3 power is really helpful. Like Filly Racers, you get the benefit of a lot of power to confront in addition to increasing your AT economy. This has actually sped up a lot of slower Purple strategies. Cover to Cover’s 0 power doesn’t help confront, but Glimmer absolute does.

Also, being mono-coloured means she’s a lot easier to play than Filly Racers or Daring Do, giving her that much more utility. And, well, that goes a long way towards making it on my list, really.

So would you say she guides people to victory?

Hey, yeah! I get that one.

Hehe. Way to go Cici! Rah rah!

“Rah rah?”

Cici, Cici, she’s our Mare! Her deck will take Continentals unawares.

Why thank you!

Though I’m not sure it will. I mean, Nothing I’m considering is really that out of the ordinary…

Wait… you’re doing something weird to set up the next card, aren’t you?

Is it that weird for me to be my besty’s cheer squad?

...No? But I can’t shake this feeling...

Maybe I should wear a mask of you at Continentals like Rainbow Dash’s Parents in Cheering Section?

Please don’t…

But look at them! They’re so happy! Giving their daughter their full support, 110%! 220% even!

That makes even less than 110%.

Don’t be silly, Cici. There’s two of them, so of course it’s 220%.

You might even say it’s 20%—

Don’t.

Spoilsport.

But no, seriously, I love seeing Rainbow’s parent so into supporting her. It’s all sorts of heartwarming, and just fun! Such an easy inclusion for my list, hehe.

Yeah… I guess that would be nice.

Oh no, Cici. I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking.

No, no. It’s fine. You didn’t do anything wrong. I just miss them sometimes, you know?

Of course.

But now’s no time to worry about that. We’ve got our top 10 lists to complete, and I’m finally done with the AT gens.

And next up’s an absolute juggernaut! Daybreaker: Blinding Light!

Oooh, she’s a fun one, yeah.

I’m not sure I like the idea of Princess Celestia going evil at all...

But it’s just pretend, so it’s okay, right?

I’m sure no matter what happens, Celestia’d never turn her back on us.

But anyway, this card is just fantastic.

While you don’t get as many points from a single faceoff as you would from a Night Glider: Overpowering, you also don’t need to win by any threshold. Plus she works in any faceoff, meaning she can score you points off of Troublemakers, or any other faceoff she finds herself in.

And of course, she brings a lot more power to those faceoffs, due to her extra base power and extra point of Competitive. 6 is a lot of power for a 3 cost Friend.

She does cost more, though, and, again, gives fewer points. So there are definitely reasons to use Night Glider over her.

But all in all, she’s different enough to be a great option for different kinds of decks. And a very solid number 5 pick for me.

My number 5 pick also also very competitive.

Huh, really? You tend to pick build arounds or just flavourful stuff.

I don’t know what you’re talking about. It’s the most competitive card in the set?

Heh, we’ll see about that.

I mean, just look at the fierce competition going on in Smolder & Sandbar: Pillow FIght!

I… should have seen this coming.

Probably.

But just look at how much fun they’re having! Whap! Pow! Hehehehe.

Hey Cici! Think fast!

Gah!

You almost hit me.

Well, yeah! That is the point of a pillow fight, silly.

Great reflexes, though.

Thanks! We’ve been training a lot lately, and—

Ow.

You shouldn’t close your eyes in a pillow fight, silly!

Oh it’s on now, Flitter! Come here!

Don’t you have a list to finish?

Oh, right. I guess I’ll have to get you later.

I look forward to it.

So this next one, when she was spoiled, I could have sworn was going to be the top of my list. She seemed insane, and exactly what the game needed. And, well, she is. Mage Meadowbrook: Pillar of Healing is the answer a lot of decks were looking for.

Which is why it’s a shame she’s only number 4.

Which isn’t to say she’s not as good as I thought. It’s just, well, other cards wound up being a bit better than I expected. Cause Meadowbrook is absolutely insane.

There are a ton of great Resources out there right now. And Troublemakers have basically always been a problem for aggro decks. It’s kind of what they’re for. And while there have been a few cards that can deal with one or the other before, there’s never been one that deals with both.

And definitely not one that just deals with them all. Unless the opponent has a Desert Road, Meadowbrook just answers everything, no questions asked. And she even comes with a 3 power body to help you confront that turn. She’s amazing.

Plus, just look at that action pose!

Resources and Troublemakers beware, Mage Meadowbrook is coming for you!

Now she is a bit expensive, and she’s not all that great against decks that don’t rely on resources or TMs, so not every deck’s going to want her. But if you’re in Yellow, you should definitely consider her. Nopony does what she does nearly as effectively.

She may not be an all star, but what she does do, she excels at.

Well your number 4 may be a specialist, but mine’s a generalist: Ocellus: Master of Disguise.

She does a little bit of everything!

Sure, but why’s that fun?

Cause mix and matching abilities is just super fun! And you get a different combo of abilities every time, or at least in a different order, hehe.

Agile and Swift and Showy and Dilligent and Eccentric. There’s a lot of fun possibilities!

Kind of disappointed Purple’s is just Meticulous cause it doesn’t really synergize with the other 5 as well, but it’s not bad, I guess.

Plus they brought Transform back just for her and Silverstream! That’s one of my favourite mechanics!

Yeah, it’s not bad.

and for maximum fun, just stick an Alicorn Costume on her. Then she’s automatically fully enabled!

So long as you don’t put any resources on anypony else, of course.

Since when do you suggest not putting resources on Friends?

Not every silly strategy works with every other silly Strategy, Cici.

Alternatively, you could just put all the hats on Ocellus. That way you won’t have a problem!

Uh huh. No way that could go wrong.

Are you doubting the power of my hats, Cici?

Anyway, moving on to the top 3. And, considering how good my top 4 card was, you know the rest have got to be pretty amazing. Pony of Shadows: Pure Darkness is no exception.

The sheer raw value you get out of this card is insane. That’s 1 AT for a Friend. 1! By passing all colour req and everything. And it doesn’t even matter who beats the Pony of Shadows.

Sure, it does need to be beaten, but if you build your deck right, that’s not too hard. And if the opponent beats it, they only get 1 point while you get what’s likely to be an incredibly powerful Friend.

Now I’ve seen some ponies try and use this to put some of the 5 cost tri-colour alicorns into play…

Like me! I’ve done that!

...but it’s honestly not really worth it. They tend to be difficult to play if ever drawn, and usually you don’t have a guarantee you’ll even hit one.

The better way to use it, honestly, is to just include a bunch of medium-cost friends that you’re okay with drawing or with playing for free. This way you’re happy if you draw them or if you get them off of Pony of Shadows.

Farming decks particularly get a lot of usage from this as they can defeat it, then put a large friend into play at another problem with an epic and have a good chance at beating that too. Plus farm decks don’t tend to run all that many friends, so you increase the odds of getting what you want.

I’ve even seen some farm decks run exactly one kind of friend to guarantee hitting it. The results can be a bit scary.

I like using Purple effects like Scope Things Out to stack my deck so I know what Friend I’m getting!

Yeah, that’s not a bad plan either. Though usually you don’t have to. It’s just handy.

Anyway, give it a try. It seriously does a lot more than you might think at first glance. And you probably think it does a lot. I’ve seriously been incredibly impressed with how good it is.

My number three pick is also great value at 1 AT! Rockhoof: Pillar of Strength

Want to guess how many coutners I’ve put on him, Cici?

Nah. I’m going to guess some big number and you’re just going to top it with some ludicrously large number like eighty trillion or something.

Oh, Cici. You always think so small.

Eighty trillion is a lot!

Sure, but we got him to eighty trillion and one

...You’re kidding me.

Of course, that’s when we were just doing silly things to see how big we could get him, hehe. And we kinda just started rounding once it got too big, hehe.

In a normal match, I think it was maybe 100 or so?

That’s still way bigger than you need…

Well, yeah, Cici! That’s what makes him so fun! Rockhoof just refuses to not be the biggest pony around, it’s great!

But what’s even better than just growing Rockhoof yourself is dueling Rockhoofs! You have one at 2 power and have your opponent have one at 3 power and they’ll never stop trying to best each other. It’s great!

“I’m the biggest pony around!” “No, I’m the biggest pony!” hehehe.

Are you quite done?

Yup! I have more power than you, so I’m not growing anymore this turn.

Wah?

Just go, Cici!

So I think a lot of ponies underestimated this next card at first. A couple other cards did a pretty similar thing, and so it was a lot easier to dismiss.

But then ponies started using it and found out, wow, it was absolutely the real deal. And now School Shut Down is a staple in basically any Purple control deck.

So the cards it was being compared too, obviously, were Party of One and Applejack: Captain of the Seven Seas, being the previous board wipes. Each of which was, and still is, very good, but left you with something, while School Shut Down does not.

But the thing is, it gets rid of everything. Nothing stays behind, short of Persistent Friends. Not even discard piles! And that can matter a lot too. It’s definitely not as great as Party of One if your only goal is to get rid of Friends. But that’s not its only purpose.

It’s almost like different cards can have different strengths and weaknesses!

Heh, yeah, exactly.

Being in the colour that gains lots of AT certainly helps as well. Especially in the current meta with basically all the AT Gens. It may be more Expensive than Party of One, but that’s not always a factor when you’re getting extra AT.

And I guess that’s it. It’s a board wipe. It gets rid of everything. That’s all you need to be a super strong card, really.

Well, we’re at the third and last card on my list because it’s just pure fun: Silverstream: Fish out of Water!

Nopony else in the game does what she does, hehe.

Huh. I wouldn’t have even begun to assume that Silverstream would have made your list, let alone as your number 2. She seems kind of… tame.

Are you kidding? Silverstream is insane!

With the right deck, she’s an invitation to put whatever problem you want into play! Or even all of them!

Please tell me you didn’t put all 20 problems at once.

Oh, Cloudchaser. Still thinking so, so small.

We worked together to put all 116 problems in play at once!

116?

Yup! 3 copies each of all sixteen dilemmas for each player. Plus both players 10 problems, of course. That makes 116!

It was the biggest multi problem faceoff ever!

Whatever makes you happy, I guess.

Of course, that’s not the best thing you can do with Silverstream. But I’ll tell you about dismissing problems and uniqueness later, hehe. It’s a whole lot of nonsense.

Wha?

Basically, Sivlerstream lets you do a lot of fun and silly things that couldn’t be done before. And, well, Cici, you may not know this… but I just love fun and silly things!

I think I may have heard that once or twice.

Cici, you made a joke! I’m so proud of you!

Gah! No hugs while we’re doing top 10 lists!

All the hugs while we’re doing top 10 lists!

So we’re finally at my last card and, uh... yeah. All of you probably guessed it’s Mistmane: Pillar of Beauty.

Now, I wasn’t sure she was all that great at first, but the fact she does four different things across two abilities is what makes her absolutely insane. Four. That’s a lot of things for one card to do, and they’re all notable.

Sure, she’s primarily used for her ability to get you a card back while also getting you a point, but that’s only half of what she can do. She also can get herself out from the discard pile while filling it with stuff you might want to get back. Not to mention also filling the opponent’s discard pile.

This makes it incredibly difficult to get rid of her short of banishing her.

Most of you are also probably aware of the fact that being Unique lets you use two of them to just score a point for every 3 AT you spend. Having 2 in play means one is dsimissed immediately due to Uniqueness, and then can be gotten back thanks to her Trigger.

Then, since you’re back where you started just with 3 less AT and 1 more point, you can do it again. And again. And again.

Put simply, she is a finisher, and very effective at it in this meta of a million AT gens. 3 AT per point is kind of expensive, but if you can stall the game long enough to be able to do it 8 or 10 times in one turn, the cost begins to not matter much anymore.

How often does that happen? Seems unlikely.

More often than you’d think or I’d like…

Now she does come with the drawback of letting the opponent get a card back as well, but…

It usually doesn’t matter. Ponies tend not to play Mistmane if the opponent can get something important back, unless they don’t care. It’s mostly meaningless. Kind of disappointing, really.

Long story short, she is incredibly versatile while also being exceptionally good at a single thing, which isn’t a combination you see very frequently. She’s trivially the best card in the set, even more so than Old Money, who got banned.

Which isn’t to say I think she should necessarily be banned…

But I wouldn’t mind it.

Cici!

I just don’t find her very fun to play against.

But that’s just me. I’ve actually heard a lot of ponies talking about wanting to ban her... But I don’t think it’s necessary. At least not yet since rotation is right around the corner. Which isn’t something we need to get into today.

We’ll just have to wait and see, I guess. And it’s not like every powerful card needs to be something I like specifically or anything.

Different cards appeal to different ponies.

Exactly! Part of what makes a card game great.

I do hope she’s being watched for the possibility of banning, if only because a lot of ponies think it might be necessary. But I doubt it’ll need to happen any time soon.

And that’s my whole list. Lots of powerful stuff this time around. Mostly good stuff too.

Well, my last card’s one we don’t even need to talk about…

Wah?

...Since Cici already did that for me!

Look! it’s us again!

Heh, yeah, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.

It’s always nice seeing us on a card, and this one’s particularly nice.

Plus we’re just so gosh darn cute! Filly us is the best!

Shame I was wearing the bow that day and not you. That was back when we were taking turns, remember?

Flitterrrrrrr.

But yeah, I don’t really have much more to say that I didn’t already say when Cici talked about us! We’re adorable, we work great together, and we’re the perfect team. Always!

Always and always.

So, that’s our lists! Now if you’ll excuse us, Cloudchaser’s got a lot of freaking out to do now that there’s nothing else to do between now and Contientals.

I do not freak ou—

Gah, Continentals is like 2 days away and I have so much playtesting I need to do! Why did I let you waste so much time trying to teach me how to tell dumb jokes? I’ve got to go now! Later Flits.

That’s our Cloudchaser, hehe.

Bye everypony! See you all at Continetals!

[wtfrace]

my favorite moments in newsies (live)

this is pretty much entirely for my own reference but i hope ur entertained by it anyway! and also love some of these moments! also I wrote these really quickly while watching it so it’s all just a big mess

- jack’s striped shirt that u barely get to see for the rest of the show

- all the nudging & swatting & flicking that takes place at the beginning of carrying the banner

- the beginning of kathrine’s never ending sass towards jack

- i’m crushed!

- jack in the background tying crutchies shoes shshsh

- spec’s looking at his cup, shrugging, and then downing it

- just everything specs does, what a cutie. like when he grins after all of his solo flips shshs

- and elmer!! is so adorable he’s like a little lost puppy

- how bout a crooked politician! (it took me a month to figure out they were saying, hey nitwit, it always just sounded garbled to me)

- smalls just?? on henry’s back for some reason

- when albert fuckin sprints across the stage with crutchie in his arms, while he pumps his fist victoriously

- the fact that weisel’s lines in the broadway show & 1992 movie are very similar, he just gets a lot angrier in the broadway show

- don’t worry kid, it rubs right off!

- sure, buy a ticket, they let anyone in! OHHHH

- crutchie just being jack’s hype man

- specs incredulous & impresses expression after les says “50/50”

- mike & ike saluting after they flip eachother

- when les bashes the delancey brother’s heads together & davey immediately lifts him up proudly.

- the synchronized cartwheel in the seize the day dance break !! and then the kick !!

- jack seamlessly pulling les out of a barrel and then fuckin chucking it across the stage

- kathrine’s expressions throughout the entirety of the king of new york, like amusement & fondness & being very impressed by the newsies tap dancing

- i just really love when albert intensely takes the newspaper from race as he intensely sings “nobbin with all the muckity mucks”

- albert looking mildly annoyed & unimpressed throughout most of the show.

- when davey & one of the twins hold out the “pulitzer’s poodles” pose for longer than everyone else, and then laugh at each other

- when kathrine whips the paper up during “cause look at that pape with my face beamin” and it makes a little gust of wind shshsh

- she is just so fond & adorable in king of new york i love it (it’s by far my favorite sequence)

- i have no clue who says it but the really loud “c’mon kathrine!”

- elmer in general!! my eyes always go to him (and tommy boy) in any group shot because he is so freakin adorable & his expressions & reactions are so cute

- oh yeah jack, this is crutchie by the way!

- ha-ha

- so you tell all the fellas for me, to protect one another! i just really love crutchie ok

- davey’s adorable expression when he goes “is that a real place? that santa fe?” SHHS and his grin when he goes “above. the fold.” what an adorable little loser.

- davey having to kneel and stand up like 4 times to keep up with jack

- even horace greely moved back to new york. yes he did, and then he died.

- lighten up no one died! *afronted expression* oh! is that what you’re aiming for?

- davey throughout the entirety of watch what happens reprise,, y’all already know i love this boy & i have too many favorite parts from that song to name (the poor guys head is spinning)

- the manhattan newsies standing behind the brooklyn newsies acting almost more dramatically then them.

- spot conlon being a dramatic little shorty and doing an odd amount of sticking his tongue out during brooklyn’s here (i love u tommy bracco)

- the little eyebrow raise & grin after spot shushes the newsies

- davey’s increasingly upset / confused expression during jack’s monologue in medda’s theatre :(( (davey.)

- if i was a boy you’d be looking at me through one swollen eye! (ngl i wish kathrine would have just fuckin decked him) (but the kiss was good too)

- this would be a good time to shut up!

- jack’s little nudge during “just someone sweet passin by” what a loser, i love him

- mini seize the day reprise? hell yeah!!!

- we could hold a hoedown in here and no one would be the wiser. hoedown. take a minute to think about this line & wonder how no one questions davey’s sudden use of the freakin word hoedown.

- once and for all is my FUCKIN JAM!! davey and kathrine joining in at the beginning? race’s dramatic here they come? they gonna damn well pay? joe you can stop counting sheep, we gonna sing you to sleep? spot looking intensely angry? the freaking key change? yes to all!!!

- these kids put out a pretty good paper! they’re very convincing!

- that old printing press in the cellar? ohh.

- spot just? starring at everyone intensely for the entire scene? i laugh every time why didn’t he get any lines HSHS

- i get GOOSEBUMPS when the newsies start singing seize the day from above & jack&company/pulitzer&company look over the edge of the stage

- and then spot ACTUALLY talking what a legend!

- the WAVES (i don’t see anyone talk about this part and it’s seriously one of my favorites)

- teddy roosevelt u legend! but in your case i simply mean— bully.

- jack’s ohmygodheshookmyhand to davey

- he doesn’t do HAPPINESS does he?

- tommy boys facial expressions in every single scene

- slightly off topic but? the fact that for the entirety of the scenes with the dark blue lighting ben cook’s eyes looking freakin radioactive & i love it

- albert suddenly not wearing his hat? and sky’s lucius hair?

- hiya fella’s! ya miss me?

- what me work for your fadda? you.. already work for my father. oh. yeah.

- race and albert’s incredulously expressions after jack pulls away from the kiss

[kaylieishere]

I was hit with an idea!!

Magazine cover : [Marinette on a popular magazine’s cover, decked out in cute workout gear, arms flexed, posing like the goddess she is]

[next to her poppin’ bicep] : MARINETTE DUPAIN-CHENG, PARIS’S MOST POPULAR TRAINER

[down near the bottom where they put a teaser about the article] : Marinette dishes on “SUPERHERO” training for model and movie star, Adrien Agreste

[snippets from the article]

“Owner of LADYBUG’S HEROES, Cheng shares why she decided to start a gym.”

“Our femfatale of the month tells me she was working as a fashion designer before opening her own gym.”

“ “I turned to exercise as a stress reliever.” “Was working in fashion really that stressful?” Cheng laughs, folding her arms across her chest. I can’t help staring at her impressive muscularture. “We have deadlines too. We have projects, teams, bosses, and models to answer to. If one thing is out of place, it’s on our heads.” ”

“When co-workers noticed her changing body, they began asking who she was seeing as a personal trainer. “No one, I was doing it all by myself.” They begged her to help them get into shape. Eventually, her boss found out. “I thought he was going to fire me. He’d called me into his office and looked all stern. He told me that he knew I had become something of a personal trainer to many of the staff.” Cheng leans back in her seat, forgetting her dinner for the moment. “Then he asks me to train his son. [The son] had been slacking in the exercise department and he had this big shoot coming up in a few months for a really big project we’d been working on.” Of course she jumped at the opportunity, and not long after that she left her position in order to start the gym.”

“Cheng leans forward on her stool, her glass raised to her lips. We’ve moved from the hotel restaurant, to the bar. She has ordered a cosmo, and I’m staring down the barrel of a whiskey with soda. Her lips pull in to a pretty smile as she watches. “What?” I ask. Her smile becomes a full grin. “I have a secret.” Immediately I’m interested, but I do have decency as a reporter. “Is this an off the record kind of secret?” Cheng shakes her head, her hair escaping from the little hair band she’s tied it up with. You’ll see from the shoot how pretty her hair is. It’s long, black, and so damn shiny. “I may, or may not, have a line coming out.” I’m confused. “A line?” Her eyes go bright, she looks mischevious. “You mean, a clothing line?” All she does is continue to smile. “With who? When?” I don’t expect her to lean in close, but she does and I’m frozen. “I won’t tell you who, but I will tell you.. they were a previous employer of mine.” We stare at each other, both smiling. I won’t tell you who either, but some research and you’ll figure it out.”

“We end our interview with a hug and a kiss on both cheeks. Miss Cheng wishes me well, and I wish her good luck. I will admit, I did fall slightly in love with her that evening, so I walked away with a phone number and a confused sexuality. Despite this, I believe that Marinette and I could have a lovely friendship. I just hope I won’t try to kiss her. -Alya Cesaire”

***just a post script: even though they’re written kinda flirty during the article, if I was to make a full story from this, the ship would be adrinette. however, if you wanna ship alyanette, feel free to write or draw or just ship as you please*** also please don’t steal this, I really love this idea. BUT I do wanna see what people could do with it, whether that’s art or fiction!

[emzymakesbelieve]

not to be fake deep but let's talk about all your old walt babies that you haven't mentioned (because i love the hainline's okay and you and all your kids and i miss you

Send me an old muse and I’ll gush about them.

oKAY SIT DOWN AND BUCKLE UP, KIDDOS.

(I love you, too, sweet pea.  *smooch*)

Frank Hainline

So Frank is a prick, to start off, but he’s my prick and you’re not allowed to trash talk him without my say so (which of course you have because he’s A PRICK).  He was the kind of kid who wore an anarchy symbol on his jacket but never actually did anything to represent or invoke anarchy.  He’s also a gigantic slut and can’t keep his pants zipped for longer than ten minutes.  Fidelity is not this man’s middle name (*CoUgH* illegitimate child he never knew about).  He definitely wasn’t ready to become a father when Victoria got pregnant (and more or less trapped him into marriage), but by the time baby Penelope came, he devoted every ounce of energy he could to making sure she had a good life, and the two of them actually grew very close.  He passed away from cancer when Penelope was about ten.

Norma Hainline

Penelope’s eldest.  The two most important things you need to know about Norma are that she’s a dancer and she’s gay as a maypole.  Her main focuses are tap and ballet.  She loves old Hollywood - she got her start watching Singin’ in the Rain and Fred & Ginger films - but definitely prefers to live in the here and now where she can express herself both as an artist and as a lesbian.  The dance world, much as she loves it, is a crusty old institution that needs to break some pointless rules and get over itself.  She is also Grade A Mom Friend Extraordinaire™.  Her love language is definitely acts of service, particularly making sure you’re eating and sleeping well and taking your medicine on time (though turns out she’s a terrible patient herself).  Much to her frustration, her two closet friends - Noah and Nick - are both more or less bent on self destruction and driving her completely bonkers, but she loves them just the same.

Francis Hainline

Francis, the third eldest, has no business being in this family with how shy he is, but nevertheless.  Definitely the black sheep of the family, but his siblings defend and support him with everything they have.  (Well, Kath usually does it with a lot of sarcasm, but you can tell she loves him.)  He’s a total hipster and has a special love for anything that was built before the year 2000.  His prize possession is an old camcorder that uses real VHS tapes, so naturally he becomes a film student.  I envision him growing up and working as a cinematographer and eventual director of poignant indie films and documentaries - stuff with lots of lingering, fly-on-the-wall shots.  Also, special shoutout to Seraphina, the love of his got dang life.  Those two gave me so many freaking cavities with their cuteness.

Kathleen Hainline

So Kath is a mess, but that’s just par for the course in this family, I suppose.  She’s the baby of the family and has always felt like she’s living in her sister Norma’s shadow.  She’s a bit of a wild child, but certainly not to the extent Victoria was.  It’s all just a cry for attention, trust me.  She wants to feel needed, she wants to feel wanted, she wants to feel special.  And anything that takes the attention of the people she loves off of her needs to die, plain and simple.  She’s best friends with Daisy and is technically endgame with Jonas (though we really didn’t get to write them that far), so here goes a prayer candle for my lovely Becca.

Dory Novak

As you can probably guess by the name, Dory is based on that delightful blue tang we know and love.  In the Walt universe, she developed her short term memory loss after an accident that killed her parents, and was adopted by Marlin.  She loves swimming and her family and especially anything combining the two.  She’s a freaking sweetheart who is actually pretty hard on herself, and it was so heartbreaking to play her in any kind of stressful situation because five minutes later she would still be freaked out by have no idea as to why (looking at you, Scream event).  Also, Scooby liked her a lot and I felt so freaking blessed???  She ends up becoming a social worker and helping kids in the foster system like her.

Charlie Harper & Jenny Harper née Parkington

I never got to properly play Dory’s parents, but here’s the fast and skinny on them.  Jenny was a shy bookworm who never thought boys would be interested in her and (for the most part) had made peace with that theory.  Charlie was a jock who was head over heels for Jenny but never knew how to communicate it without being a sleaze.  Eventually, he manages to ask her out, she says yes, and they pretty much become attached at the hip.  She comes to his basketball games and swim meets decked out in the school colors and cheering like a maniac.  My guess is Dory came a little earlier than they were expecting, but not so early that it would be considered scandalous - probably when they were almost finished with college or something.  Dory became their world and they spoiled that little girl beyond belief.  Unfortunately, both of them were killed in a car wreck when Dory was very little.

Marlene Novak

Dory’s first kid, adopted.  To sum it up nicely, Marlene’s a hot mess because she was never able to come to terms with the fact that her birth mother didn’t want her.  I tried to start this whole plot where she ran into her birth mother just out in the wild and that made her get even messier, but I think I was just throwing crap on the fire to see what blew up at that point.  She also has a…flirtatious arrangement, shall we say, with her friend Viv.

Lyle Novak

Dory’s second kid, also adopted.  *sigh*  Lyle, Lyle, Lyle…  He’s a cutie, don’t get me wrong, but I feel like I didn’t give his character enough punch?  He just seems kind of blah now that I look back at him.  I have a history of being super self conscious about my male characters if they don’t have like a Super Archetype personality for some freaking reason, and Lyle is definitely an example of that.  He’s a little shy, but not so shy that it’s endearing, and he’s also a little courageous, but not so courageous that he actually gets crap done.  He’s a little complacent, looking back on him, which is kind of the opposite of how I wanted to play him...?  I dunno.  Maybe I’m being too harsh on myself.  HE’S CUTE.  LIFE GOES ON.

Cinderella Tremaine

To the surprise of absolutely no one, I’ve actually played a Cinderella counterpart in a few different groups, but let’s just talk about how I portrayed her at Walt.  French transfer student in America (I changed her to straight up American after a point) who loves animals arguably more than life itself and tries her best not to cry over things she can’t control.  She’s also daydreamy as FRICK.  Loves to get lost in her own imagination.  If she’s not engaged in conversation or work of some kind, I can guarantee you her conscience isn’t even on this plane.  Also, can I just shriek about the superhero AU version of her where she was a counterpart to Zatanna and literally became her own fairy godmother?  Because I think about that far more than is probably healthy.

Emmett Tremaine & Johanna Tremaine née Cartier

Same thing as Dory’s parents, just gonna give you a quick lowdown.  Johanna came from a fairly well off family in France (distantly related to those guys, but far enough away that it doesn’t really count), but her parents thought she was an absolute embarrassment.  She was never afraid to speak her mind when it came to things like etiquette and politics, and she had a fabulously wild imagination.  She never stopped believing in fairies, ghosts, gremlins, things like that.  Emmett was that quiet nerd dreamer type, very much obsessed with travel and history.  And like I need to spell it out for you, but they were LUDICROUSLY in love with each other.  Like, nauseatingly so.

Robby Tremaine

Robby is Cindy’s son I whipped up real quick one next gen when I was going crazy and wanted to snatch Nick Robinson’s beautiful face.  He’s a hardcore farm boy who doesn’t mind a little mud behind his ears and super environmentally conscious.  Not just recycling and veganism and all that, but he will go off on you about sustainable farming and animal raising, and how the hydrogen fuel cell is the way of the future.

Taige Bailey

Based on Terk from Tarzan, Taige is a super jock, total butch lesbian, and altogether DUMBNUT.  Like, GOD she’s so stupid sometimes because she just barrels into crap with reckless abandon and doesn’t think things through.  Dear God, she will PUNCH you if you so much as look at her funny, just ‘cause she feels bored.  And she walks around like she’s God’s gift to creation, but she’s just a little twerp.  But she’s my twerp.  (Huh.  I’m just now realizing how similar Taige and Pen are.  In a weird way, Taige is like the tomboy version of Pen.)  Here, you can imagine me lighting a prayer candle because I never got to play her against her two best friends and I’m SAD.  Y’ALL NEVER GOT TO EXPERIENCE THE TOUR DE FORCE THAT IS T CUBED.  Also *cough* she and Vitani may have had a *coUGH* flirtationship.

I would also put Taige’s parents on this list, but they’re so hardly even developed that it’s not really worth mentioning them.  I only know their names: Lamarr and April.

Jared Bailey

Taige’s only child, Jared’s still trying to figure out what masculinity means to him, what with being raised by two women and all.  He can get a little “dudebro alpha male” sometimes, but he’s also that kid you definitely want to have your back when things get rough.  He’ll help you with your homework, teach you how to shoot a three-pointer, and walk you home when it’s dark like the gentleman he is.

[blouisparadise]

Upon request, here is a list of bottom Louis fics with needy Louis.

Happy reading!

1) Give and Take | Explicit | 1837 words

Sometimes Louis just needs.

2) It’s Your Soul That I’m Caught In Yet You Don’t Hear Me Call Your Name | Explicit | 4433 words

The one in which Harry goes out for a run in the early morning rain without telling Louis and Louis wakes up alone, cold and needy.

3) Incalescent | Explicit | 5649 words

The onset of heat is something Louis still hasn’t learned to recognize.

4) Gnossiene | Explicit | 11276 words

Louis sets a challenge for himself; it gets a bit out of hand.

5) As Deep As The Sky | Explicit | 12265 words

A passed-out omega on the bathroom floor isn't exactly what Harry had in mind when he thought about taking a cute boy home. The idea of leaving Louis there, vulnerable and unresponsive, weighs guiltily at Harry's conscience. Turns out it's the best decision he'll ever make.

6) No One Else Will Do | Mature | 13237 words

It takes Louis' early heat for Harry and Louis to figure things out.              

7) Just Let Me | Mature | 14714 words

The party was going well. So well, Niall had already sworn undying love to one multi-tiered chocolate cake, two friendly corgi-poodle mixes, Zayn’s hair, and the entire population of Los Angeles. So well, Zayn had only laughed and ruffled Niall’s hair and not even twitched towards a cigarette. So well, nearly everyone had spilled far past the boundaries of the night’s original plans, extracting bottles of vodka from the cabinets and losing a lot of clothes. Harry had proclaimed that he was finally going to throw a small and very grownup dinner party and of course here they were three hours later, fifty people half-naked in the pool. Soon to be full-naked, if Louis had to guess. Everybody in LA loved a heated pool. Everybody loved Harry.

8) This Play Between The Sheets | Explicit | 15746 words

The totally gratuitous BDSM fic where Louis is a drama queen and gets far too excited to pay attention to who he's texting.

9) With Love Comes Strange Currencies | Explicit | 16508 words

One day One Direction will be over and Louis won’t be around Harry every waking moment. He’ll be able to finally get some space, let their bond dissipate as it’s bound to do, if they don’t mess up again. He can move to Costa Rica and forget that Harry Styles popped his first knot inside him. Until then, he’s going to have to deal with this. Or, They’re Accidentally Mated and Dealing With It Rather Badly.

10) A Grocery List Pinned In Blue | Not Rated | 19839 words

After eight years, Louis finally has everything he’s wanted. Except for Harry.

11) Boiling Blood Will Circulate | Explicit | 42420 words

The wait isn’t long before something starts rustling in the bushes. Harry takes aim, squeezes the trigger, body moving unconsciously. They’re motions he’s done a thousand times before, and his body knows how to do it without the input of his brain now. It’s what makes him such a good shot.

He misses. The shot misses.

Something howls in the woods, a pretty clear indication that Harry hit it, but there’s no telltale sounds of a big body dropping, no animal charging out at him to take him out before he can finish the job.

Something does turn and run, though. “Fuck,” Harry spits out, scrambling to his feet and slinging the rifle back over his shoulder, giving chase. He’s not going to lose this hunt.

The trail of blood goes on longer than Harry thought it would. He doesn’t know how long he runs for, but his muscles are burning, chest heaving with exertion, until the trail just - goes dead. No more blood, just like that.

“Fuck,” Harry says.                        

12) King and Lionheart | Mature | 46130 words

Louis can't remember a time when he didn't hate being an omega. But maybe he just needed Harry to come along and make him his.              

13) I Found A Love For Me (Darling Just Dive Right In) | Explicit | 46657 words | Sequel

Louis, an omega with very little control. Harry, an alpha with a lot of emotion. Neither of them have any idea what do to with this little thing called love, but they'll be damned if they don't put up a good fight.

14) Something In The World Today | Explicit | 48027 words

It shouldn’t be a surprise, the first time that Louis drops to his knees in front of Harry. It shouldn’t be, because it’s been something that Louis has needed for a long time. It shouldn’t be, because he’s been crawling out of his skin for weeks on end. It shouldn’t be, because Harry always makes him feel better. It shouldn’t be, because he’s needed this even when he didn’t know that he needed it.    Somehow, it still is.

15) Nobody Does It Like You | Not Rated | 58520 words

Louis isn't looking for a home, but he finds one in Harry.

16) Waiting On You | Explicit | 76571 words

“Vampires,” Louis says with disgust, glaring over at the vampire who is noisily slurping from the woman’s neck nearby.

Zayn gives the neat fang marks on Louis’ neck a meaningful look.

“Can’t live with them, can’t live without them,” Louis finishes, ignoring Zayn when he rolls his eyes.

Louis takes a long sip of his milkshake, presses his fingers against the marks on his neck, and definitely doesn’t think about the vampire who left them there.  

17) Swim In The Smoke | Explicit | 101778 words

“What about this, Captain?” Liam asks, nudging the boy kneeling between their feet with the toe of his boot. The boy hisses and swipes at him, slurring out something unintelligible around the makeshift gag Niall had to stuff in his mouth. He misses by a mile and tries again, just as ineffectively.

Harry looks down at him, at the way the sun streams over his face and shoulders, at the way the gag stretches his mouth, lips pink and chapped. He’s lithe and pretty, smudged all over with dirt. They had found him tied up below deck, mostly unconscious, next to a barrel full of gold. He’s clearly a prisoner, but there’s something familiar about him, something that niggles at Harry’s brain. Something he can’t quite put his finger on.

“Put him in my cabin,” Harry decides, turning back to deal with the rest of the loot. The boys screams out jumbled curse words at Harry’s back, muffled by the gag, and Harry can’t understand any of it.

18) Saving Symphony Hall | Mature | 24767 words

Note: This fic is a sequel to this. It is locked and can only be read by AO3 users.

“I think I have an idea,” Louis said. Slowly, and reluctantly, but with a growing sense of the inevitable. “God damnit, I think I have a really good idea.”

“Oh christ, that's the problem-solving face,” Babs said. “Last time we saw that face, he sold a company.”

“Wait, what?” Zayn asked.

“Right place, right time,” Louis said. “Also, fuck my life,”

“What?” Zayn repeated. Niall patted his hand.

“I usually just roll with whatever Louis is about to do,” he said. “It’s better for us all.”

“That’s the attitude,” said Louis, “I’ll tell you tomorrow. Tonight, I need to do some research. Zayn, give me your number. I’m gonna save our symphony.”

19) Cold Little Heart | Teen & Up | 194584 words

Louis is a soft omega with an abusive past and an alpha child. A few months after getting a divorce, Louis meets Harry, an ex-military alpha wolf that offers him something odd.

In exchange for teaching him how to cook, Harry will babysit his son, Abraham. Louis really could use the help.

Check out our other fic rec lists by category here and our full rec list here.

[foxofsunholt]

I need to start by saying every time I think I can't love this game more, Camille suddenly attacks! Or Addie does something cute and I'm like, well need to raise the bar again, is anyone headed to Venus anytime soon? I also wanted to point out that spirit son is missing a hobby, jenja-blocking the Mc!Also I wanted to ask (I hope this hasn't been asked) how would the RO's react to the Mc coming to the rescue and saving them from something dangerous/getting hurt doing so? Much love and good vibes

I really love the Jenga has become a thing now lol

It hasn’t been asked! I’ve put my answers under the cut because they got kinda long haha-- hope everyone likes

Adelaide

Adelaide hates being rescued, she can’t stand the idea of being made to feel like she needs help. And princesses needing to be saved? A cliche Addy could do without. So she’s there, steaming, until the MC barrels in. She forgets about her gripe with recusing and is just so happy to see the MC. She knows deep in her heart that the MC would never once make her feel inferior, so she doesn’t feel like a damsel in distress but like an equal....who just so happened to need some help.

And then the MC gets hurt, saving her no less. She’s out for blood right at whoever/whatever hurt the MC but then she’s getting the MC out of there as quick as she can and tending to their wounds as she goes. She’s apologizing the entire time; “I’m so sorry you got hurt”, “this is my fault I shouldn’t have..”, “I’m so sorry”. 

She’s by the MC’s bed, she sleeps on the floor and forgets to eat.

She doesn’t let the MC out of her sight for a couple of days, clinging to them out of worry. She needs a bit of convincing to realize that the MC is okay...but once she gets it, she’s the happiest she’s ever been.

Mars

Mars is pretty embarrassed he got himself into any sort of situation in the first place...but as a knight, he’s accepted the idea that he might just be expendable. He doesn’t hope for anyone to help him, and for the first time in his life since childhood, he prays. He prays that his friends will be okay, that the MC will be happy and that they will somehow know the breadth of his care for them. He thinks he dreams the MC coming for him, and he goes along with it. Maybe it’s what you see before you die...he doesn’t know. In his mind, the MC is an angel coming to take him and he’s okay with that...

Until the MC gets hurt, and Mars snaps out of his daze. He might be injured himself, but fueled by pure adreneline he carries the MC to safety, not stopping for a single second. He shields the MC will his body, and won’t listen to a single word anyone says until he knows for certain that the MC is okay.

He was just about ready to die, but at the same time he learns that he can’t go. He needs to be able to make sure the MC is okay, is happy. 

He leans to live for them....and plans the most eleborate vacation for them as both a thank-you and a please-don’t-get-hurt-again.

Camille

Camille would rather be left to die than have to face that she couldn’t do something by herself. As she’s being rescued, she’s complaining. She’s arguing. She’s letting the MC know that she could have done this herself. Deep inside though, she knows that’s not true. There’s a part of her that has to reconcile that she wasn’t good enough. And what does that mean for her and the MC? That she’s just not good enough? She’d rather be left to die than for the MC to ever realize that they could be doing much better than her...even if that might eventualy happen, for now, she just wants to be a little selfish.

When the MC gets hurt she forgets all about her insecurity. She makes sure the MC is safe before she burns whoever did this to the ground and then burns their ghosts ten times over. When she gets back to the MC, she is exhasted, but not enough to cast as many healing spells as she knows before she eventually faints.

The path to recovery is hard for them both, but Camille is there for every step. 

Every fight following, she takes special care to watch over the MC (more care than she was giving before...which admitaedly was still probably a lot of care). She learns how to cast shields, how to make protective charms. She spends days learning how to protect and help instead of scream and burn.

When they’re both better though, she makes sure to tell the MC what an idiot they are.

Sid

Is no stranger to nearly dying, or even having to be pulled out from sticky situations. And somehow, even when he’s in danger, he always gets himself into more trouble. The journey to help Sid is needlessly complicated, but when the MC does save him there’s a big smile and a hug waiting for them. He believes wholeheartedly in the MC and their ability. If the MC wanted to move mountains, he believes that they could...and he’d be right there to help.

But when the MC gets hurt he’s a little unsure what to do. He’s no stranger to seeing people get hurt...and maybe that’s the issue. He thinks of the worse-case scenario and is flooded with fear. He does everything in his power to get the MC to safety, to help them in every way he can.

He isn’t there when the MC wakes up...or the day after...or the day after that.

But one day he stumbles in, bloody and bruised but grinning like a madman. “I got ‘em,” he says, and he lets the MC know that he made sure the people/thing that hurt the MC won’t be bothering them again...which probably earns him a stern yelling. But he smiles and he picks up the MC and swings them around despite the pain in his back. 

He buys them flowers as an appology and cooks them the greatest feast they’ve ever had as a thank you. He makes up for lost days by being there in anyway the MC wants/needs.

Faith

She’d probably get herself into dire situations just for the hell of it, or to fawn over the MC as they come get her out of whatever pickle she’s got herself into this week. Faith is thankful, of course, and there’s a part of her that knows that one day the MC just won’t come. She might sound like she’s joking when she calls the MC her hero, flirting rediculosly with them, but she is very serious. No matter her injury, her situation, she plays it off like a joke. 

But she’d never do that if the MC were hurt. She’s the one first by their side, wishing that they hadn’t come to help her. She’s quiet as she tends to the MC, no jokes or suggestive remarks. She simply mumbles “why” every so often. Why did the MC come for her? Why does she care so much? Why did they have to get hurt? Why did it have to be them?

She hovers awkwardly as the MC heals, refusing any invitation to stop standing by the door like a maniac. She’s gentle with the MC, fueld by confusion and concern. She’s not sure what this means, she’s never cared so much about someone getting hurt. 

But she is willing to find out, and maybe she can start with letting the MC know just how genuinly thankful she is.

Yoon

Yoon would never really need to be saved. If he gets kidnapped by bandits, he somehow becomes their leader. A dragon hunts him down? Suddenly it’s his best friend. There’s never a situation he can’t talk himself out of, and he’s cocky for it. If the MC comes save him, he doesn’t think he needs it. He jokes about how the MC “ruinied his fun” or how he was “just getting to know the prision guard”.

The MC gets hurt, for his sake, and that’s not something he could ever talk himself out of. He panics, and delegates a small army to getting the MC to safety and tending to their wounds. He gets the MC into the best clinic, with the best bed with needlessly fancy slik-sheets. There are trinkets scattered all around of Yoon being unsure what the MC might need...a mirror, a deck of cards, a puppy....

For the first time, the MC sees a side of Yoon that isn’t confident. He visits every day with flowers and poetry he’s written. He says he’s sorry for getting them into this mess in the first place, that next time the MC should just leave him and run.

When the MC tells him they’d never just leave him behind...Yoon learns what love means, and that’s something that talking just might be good for. 

Of course, there are other ways he can use his tongue, if the MC wants. And Yoon is pretty good with his tongue...for...speaking purposes...of course...

[blficarchive]

✨ ABO Fic Rec ✨

Hi yall! This is my first fic rec post it’s a good way for me to keep all the fics I’ve read and liked together in an organized way! I’m actually really excited and I hope at least someone likes this because these are some of my favorites! If anyone has any recommendations or suggestions feel free to message me! :’)

~ Cold Little Heart by seducedbycurls

Summary:

Louis is a soft omega with an abusive past and an alpha child

A few months after getting a divorce, Louis meets Harry, an ex-military alpha wolf that offers him something -odd.

In exchange for teaching him how to cook, Harry will babysit his son, Abraham

Louis really could use the help.

~ Love is like this; not a heartbeat, but a moan by angelichl

Summary:

“He hates this, more than anything in the world he hates this. His title, his rank, his DNA. Unchangeable. Fated.

And then there’s Harry, born to be unobjectively superior to Louis and all other O’s. Unlike other A’s, Harry doesn’t wear his alpha-ness very well. He’s clumsy with it, like walking around in a pair of shoes a size too big. His life is defined by uncertainty and tentativeness, and those are definitely not qualities alphas should have.

Sometimes, when Louis ponders it for too long, he thinks that maybe Harry resents being an A just as much as Louis resents being an O.”

In which Harry loves Louis, but Louis has been cold to him ever since he presented as an omega at age fifteen.

Eight years later, Louis approaches Harry with a request, and who is Harry to deny him?

~ Just My Style by Anonymous

Sunmary:

Harry is sick, and the only thing that might help him is the pheromones from his mate–problem is, he hasn’t got a mate.

Louis’ just been disowned, and taking part in a medical study where he has to cuddle with some strange alpha seems to be his only option for earning a bit of cash.

The hippies and Omega Rights campaigners are busy changing the world–but all Harry wants is a chance to live.

~ Gentle Autumn Rain by alex4968

Summary:

Louis Tomlinson moved to London with a big heart and a big dream. Harry Styles moved to London, fresh out of the police academy, with the hopes of helping as many people as he could in his eyes. When a deranged alpha forces their paths to cross, their ideas of what is meant to be will never be the same.

~ Kiss me on the Mouth and Set me Free (but please don’t bite) by seducedbycurls

Summary:

Harry is the CEO of Flora Corp, Louis is his new secretary.

“…Louis wanted him so badly. Wanted Harry to pick him up, bite him, and break him. Make Louis his, make Louis cry, make Louis a beautiful, plump, pregnant omega…”

~ I’m On the Hunt Now (I’m After You) by AFangirlFantasy

Summary:

Omegas haven’t been able to shift into their wolves for two hundred years. That is, until Louis Tomlinson changes everything. 

Or…an AU where Alpha Harry and Omega Louis have a lot more than falling in love to deal with after The Mating Ceremony.

~ If I don’t have you (there’ll be nothing left) by SadaVeniren

Summary: 

“What is his problem?” Louis demanded as he stalked around Niall and Ed’s kitchen. They were gonna have a pow-wow and figure out what was going on with Harry.

“Maybe he can’t pop a knot?” Niall suggested.

“Ew,” Liam said.

“Doubtful,” Louis said. “He seemed perfectly fine up until his friend pulled him off of me. Also I may have called him a knothead earlier in the night and he didn’t make a single comment to me about it.”

AKA Louis thought after meeting Harry at a party everything would fall into place. If only life worked out that nicely.

~ Something to Prove by trysomecats

Summary: 

Louis is the first and only omega to work at Red Valley Medical Center. Despite being more than qualified, he still faces prejudice for his career choice everyday. From patients refusing his treatment to condescending alpha doctors intervening with his work, practicing medicine in Boston is more challenging than Louis had ever thought it would be.

~ where the lights are beautiful by twoshipsdrifting

Summary: 

Harry wasn’t wrong about that, not in a general sense. Lots of omegas did seek out rich alphas and betas, hoping or planning to go into heat at the right time. Plenty of omegas saw this as their duty, especially if their families weren’t well off. Worse, Louis couldn’t honestly say he’d never thought about it. If that had been his life, his goal, Louis would feel pretty good about himself now. As it is…Louis feels like shit.

.:. .:. .:.

Or the accidental bonding a/b/o fic.

~ Breathe For Me by trysomecats

Summary: 

“Harry Styles?” A voice called out, and Harry blinked in shock as he was assaulted by a sweet, luscious scent. There was an omega standing in the doorway, and his looks certainly matched his smell.

Or, Harry is an alpha with a severe phobia of needles, and Louis is the cute omega phlebotomist who needs to get a blood sample from him.

~ Do You Like My Sweater? by kiwikero 

Summary: 

“Look, for a Sadie Hawkins dance the omegas are supposed to invite the alphas instead of the other way around.”

Niall and Liam shared a look. “That… sounds like the sort of thing you would usually be all over, Lou,” Liam said, face pinched in confusion. Niall nodded his agreement.

“Yeah, if omegas were hosting it,” Louis replied sourly. “It’s one thing if we decide that we’re going to ask the alphas for a change. It’s insulting that they think we need their permission.”

When Harry’s alpha fraternity decides to host a Sadie Hawkins dance, outspoken omega Louis has a thing or two to say about it.

~ Mark my word (we gon’ be alright) by harioandlouigi

Summary: 

“He’s always known that there would come a time when Harry would bond with some beautiful, quiet omega, and they would have lots of curly-haired pups and live happily ever after.

Knowing it and living it are two very different things, though. Watching the object of your affection desperately search for a mate and completely disregard you as an option is all sorts of painful, but it is what it is, and Louis is just going to have to learn to live with that.”

Or, an A/B/O AU featuring an oblivious Harry as the pack leader, a pining Louis as his second-in-command, and an entourage of friends and family who are a little too good at keeping their mouths shut.

~ Like Candy In My Veins by littlelouishiccups

Summary: 

“Um…” Harry said slowly after a moment. “Okay. That’s… this is… Let me get this straight.” He lifted up a hand and swallowed. “You told your family that you have a boyfriend… and my name was the first one you thought of?”

“Harry Potter was on TV, alright? It wasn’t that much of a stretch.” Louis pinched the bridge of his nose. He couldn’t believe he was explaining himself to Harry fucking Styles. He couldn’t believe he was stooping this low. “Forget it. I’m sorry I even thought about bringing you into this.”

Harry snorted. “What? Did you want me to pretend to be your boyfriend or something?” (Basically the A/B/O, enemies to lovers, fake relationship, Christmas AU that nobody asked for.)

~ roll like thunder, burn like stars by hilourry

Summary:

In a world where the hierarchy of society is omegas and they get to pick their alphas. Omega Louis really wants Professor Harry Styles as his alpha.

~ You’ll Hear Me Calling for You by pinky_heaven19

Summary:

“I don’t know, I don’t know you,” Harry said with a shrug, knowing his replies were dumb but not able to think of anything better to say. “You don’t know me either, so I don’t know why you’re acting like this,” he said, slouching on his seat.

“Oh, but I do know you,” Louis replied, raising his eyebrows in a gesture of disdain.

His attitude made Harry stare at him in confusion. Had they met before and he didn’t remember? Was that why Louis was mad?

“You do?”

“I know the likes of you,” Louis said with a shrug of his shoulder.

“The likes of me? Excuse me?” Harry was offended and confused.

“Alpha males who enter cock first in any room and think people should bow to them or some shit like that,” Louis answered bitterly.

OR the one where Harry is an Alpha and Louis has a problem with it - until he doesn’t.

~ friends don’t kiss me like you do by larrysoulmates

Summary:

Omega Louis is a teacher at a primary school. He gets a student teacher, an alpha named Harry, to observe his class. Louis thinks they are just friends, but they are much more.

~ As deep as the sky by swallowsmateforlife

Summary:

A passed-out omega on the bathroom floor isn’t exactly what Harry had in mind when he thought about taking a cute boy home. The idea of leaving Louis there, vulnerable and unresponsive, weighs guiltily at Harry’s conscience. Turns out it’s the best decision he’ll ever make.

~ Swim In The Smoke by whoknows

Summary:

“What about this, Captain?” Liam asks, nudging the boy kneeling between their feet with the toe of his boot. The boy hisses and swipes at him, slurring out something unintelligible around the makeshift gag Niall had to stuff in his mouth. He misses by a mile and tries again, just as ineffectively.

Harry looks down at him, at the way the sun streams over his face and shoulders, at the way the gag stretches his mouth, lips pink and chapped. He’s lithe and pretty, smudged all over with dirt. They had found him tied up below deck, mostly unconscious, next to a barrel full of gold. He’s clearly a prisoner, but there’s something familiar about him, something that niggles at Harry’s brain. Something he can’t quite put his finger on.

“Put him in my cabin,” Harry decides, turning back to deal with the rest of the loot. The boys screams out jumbled curse words at Harry’s back, muffled by the gag, and Harry can’t understand any of it.

~ Going Nowhere Alone by SS98

Summary:

Nothing can save you from the night, and if it can then it was born there.

* * * * *

There’s Harry, Edward and Marcel. Harry serves as pack leader to the last remaining house of werewolves. Edward, his brother, finds joy in sex and banter with strangers. Marcel plays along for as long as he can before morals corrupt his act.

Louis romanticises life so it doesn’t seem as shallow to him. Being Omega isn’t a joyride but three Alphas are determined to change that.

[mandakatt]

Which holiday is each kitty's favorite?

A/N: Right then, I apologize for this taking absolutely figgen forever Anon-san. I’ve had so many issues lately with, well what I want to call writer’s block, but I have a feeling it’s not that - my muse seems to have no interest in any of my current projects. But I’m going to strap her down and get this done for you. ♥ Also, my muse and I based this off of Holidays that are celebrated in the US - as that’s what’s the easiest for us cause.. Dat’s where I’m from. =p

Muse: HEY! LEMME GO!Me: C’mon now. You’ve put this off long enough, you have to do this.Muse: THE HELL I DO!Me: Get it done, or I take away iced coffee for 2 weeks.Muse: *whines* We haven’t had any in a week…!Me: I’ll make it longer. Muse: *whinnnne* FINE! INSPIRATION EVERYWHERE!Me: *goes wide eyed* Oh, Holy shi–

Tagging: @itshaejinju @major-artery @momokitty27 @sweetchocobae @blossattic @princess-of-lucis @ravenvelith @suzunesays @ultimate-flavor-experience 

[Also - if you want me to tag you, or you no longer want to be tagged, please let me know! ♥ ]

So here you are Anon-San, Which Holiday is the Kitter’s favorite:

Kitty!Noctis - He seems indifferent to most holidays, except for Halloween. You’re not sure if it’s the decorations you put out, the spooky music, or the fact that he gets to see all sorts of strange and unique critters [kids in costumes] that come to your door. He’s also super proud to wear his little vampire cape you got him.

Kitty!Prompto - He gets hyper the moment the weather starts getting cooler. In Lestallum however, snow doesn’t fall, but it’s like the moment it gets close to November, he gets excited. Even more so when you drag out the Christmas Tree. You’ll find him meowing and burbling at you with each thing you put on the tree, or decorate your home with, curious, and you have learned to show him each piece before you put it somewhere, less he climbs up and tries to investigate [by knocking it down onto the floor.]

Kitty!Ignis - The moment you bring out the turkey to thaw for Thanksgiving, he moves to the edge of your kitchen to watch. And if you happen to move out of sight when you’re preparing things, he’ll jump up onto the kitchen counters, to see just what exactly you’re doing. He’ll sniff and softly burble now and then as you talk with him while you peel potatoes, and make stuffing.  Though you swear he judges you when you make gravy saying to yourself softly “Please no lumps…”

Blind Kitty!Ignis - Is still the same, and Thanksgiving seems to be his favorite thing, especially when you start cooking for your family. Though he’ll hide himself under the dining room table and will listen to you, only coming out from time to time if you curse about something.

Kitty! Gladio - He gets excited the long weekend for Memorial Day shows up. You often wonder how he knows for sure when it’s coming till you realize that he’s hanging out in the camping gear you’ve got set up in the living room to throw out into your car the next day. He’s all too eager to have you snap on his harness so he can get out into the car to go with you.

Kitty!Cor - He doesn’t seem to really have a favorite holiday. But, there’s those times at Christmas time where you’re relaxing, just sitting there sipping cocoa and watching your tree twinkle in the dark that you will find he gets the most cuddly. He’ll demand, by meowing up at you, for you to make room on your lap, so he can hop up, and curl up and lay down and cuddle with you.

Kitty!Iris - She adores Easter - Between her and Talcott you’re not sure who likes it more, or if it’s more just because you hide things around the house, and she has an absolute blast trying to find everything…even though they’re the toys and boxed candies that are for your god kids, and not her.

Kitty!Aranea - Honestly, she could really give two shakes of her tail what day of the week it is, let alone what holiday. Though, she seems to come a bit more out of her shell at Thanksgiving, and you’re not quite sure if it’s because, like Ignis, she takes an interest in what you’re doing in the kitchen, or if it’s cause you give her scraps here and there. [Shhh! Don’t tell the others!]

Kitty!Cindy - Independence day seems to be the one that she’s most content with. You’ll find her on top of your shed, sitting there, tail swaying as the sun starts to set. And when the fireworks start to go off, she’ll watch them in what appears to be awe, her ears turning slightly as her soft purring fills the air.

Kitty!Luna - She, like noctis, adores Halloween. You have a specific collar for her to wear that has a shiny little crown that flutters over her head, and a pair of fairy like wings on her back. The critters that come to the door [again, kids. X3] will coo at the pretty fairy princess, getting her extra pets for the evening, and she waits at the door expectantly for more to show up and lavish her with attention.

Kitty!Ravus - He’s much like Aranea, in the fact that he seems indifferent, and uninterested in almost every holiday…except for Thanksgiving. And once again, you make it well known to him, that he’s the only one getting scraps. [If he knew Aranea and Ignis were, well, you don’t think he’d like Thanksgiving as much.]

Kitty!Cid - You find your old codger sitting on the back deck, on independence day, snuggled in between Regis and Clarus as the fireworks go off. You thought the noise might bother him, but he seems more interested in the bright flashing lights that are exploding in the air than anything else going on about him for a change.

Kitty!Regis - He will burble and meow and follow you up from the basement as you drag up the Christmas tree. He’s all too content to circle about your legs as you try to set it up the tree, you know being the helpful kitter that he is, before you finally settle down on the floor once done, and he can take up your lap, purring and kneading contentedly as he seems to observe the tree.

Kitty!Clarus - You find that your king��s shadow is much like his king’s son. He adores Halloween. You’ll watch him sit off to the side of the door, ears turning as each kid comes up to ring the doorbell, begging for treats. He gives off contented rumbly purrs when the kids notice him and pet the ‘big panther’ at your door.

Kitten!Talcott - Easter. Easter is his thing because of all the toys you hide about your home for the holiday for your god kids. He always manages to bring out one of the stuffed animals you had for them, in his jaws, looking rather proud before he flops down on top of it near you, purring and kneading away against it.

Kitty!Gentiana - You find that she seems to grow a bit more clingy around you when the Christmas months get closer. She’ll be your constant companion, instantly appearing on your lap, or on the back of your chair, or next to you, just to contentedly keep you company, and watch the twinkling lights on the tree.

Kitty!Ardyn - You swear he likes Halloween just because he can scare you, and everyone else that happens to come to the door. Almost every time you hand out a treat, he’ll come barreling around the corner, hissing and spitting and arching his back, causing some to scream, which makes him happy. Though when someone actually ‘roars’ back at him, he skitters like mad back around the corner.

Kitty!Nyx - He’s all about any holiday where your family and friends gather around. Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, Birthdays… he’s all for it. The more people that surround you and him, it seems the more content he becomes. Rubbing up against everyone’s legs as they converse, or snuggling up on everybody’s lap. Yes. He takes turns sleeping on EVERYONE’S lap.

Kitty!Libertus -  He gets goofy around your Birthday. It’s technically a holiday as you take the day off from work just to spend time at home. And, it could also be because you share your ‘specially made lunch’ with him. Well, the bits of meat off the skewer anyway, that you consider a rare treat.

Kitty!Crowe - She seems indifferent most of the time, but seems to enjoy New Years. Something about everyone gathering at your house for a celebration seems to make her content. She’ll jump down as you all countdown to midnight, cheering in the new year, and she’ll wander the group, rubbing against everyone’s legs gently, earning her a few pieces of shrimp off the shrimp tray.

Kitty!Pelna - He’s big on the family gathering holidays, much like Nyx - So New years, Christmas, and Thanksgiving. Though instead of getting up on everyone’s lap, he’s more of a shadow. He’s constantly seen but he’s not particular to anyone thing. However, he will make himself quite known with a loud meow, and purrs when one of your relatives calls to him, and gives him a bit of a human treat.

Kitty!Titus - He is indifferent, but when there’s people over, he knows that means there’ll be food. He’ll deliberately wiggle his stubby tail, and meow cutely, rubbing on your friends, and relatives legs as he purrs and kneads hard enough he brings his paws up as he stands. They’ll give in, and give him all the treats that he begs for - He does hate the diet you put him on the following day however.

Kitty!Dino - This doofy kitter absolutely adores Christmas, because everything and ANYTHING is shiny. The decorations, the tree, the lights. All of it. He wanders about your living room, looking wide eyed at everything when you first put it out, only to burble and meow at you shortly after. By the next morning, HALF of the decorations from on the tree, and the tinsel are under the couch in his hoard. He has a bit of a fit everytime you pull the decorations out, so you actually went and got some tinsel of his own to put into his hoard, and he is now content to leave the stuff on the tree alone. But you can’t help but smile as you find him and Prompto sleeping under your tree almost every morning.

[justsomelarryfics]

100k+ fics

Fics so good I read them in one sitting, bc who needs sleep.

Give Me Truths - 'Just like a little cat,' Louis thought later, as he drifted off to sleep. 'A little kitten with his claws sunk right into me.' It isn’t that terrible of a thought, after all. ............. Louis is a psychology student with a tattoo count as high as his genius IQ. Harry is in a (sort-of) relationship with a homophobic man and hates himself a little more every day. Things fall apart and Louis puts him back together.Or, the one in which Louis falls in love with a fragile boy and tells him every beautiful truth in the world, as long as it makes him happy.  (chaptered, complete, 110k, painful but also so cute)

Darkness -  Innocent, wealthy, and sheltered Louis Tomlinson arrives to London for a new life and in hope of adventure but instead he meets local badboy Harry Styles. Louis has no idea who Harry really is or what he's capable of but once he finds out that his angel is no angel at all it's a bit too late because Louis has already fallen. But will Harry's Darkness consume him completely? Based on the youtube video Dark. (chaptered, complete, 116k)

But Please, Don’t Bite -  "Melodic little jingle sounded from a bell hanging over the doorframe and warm indoor air curled heavily around his shivering body for the first time in months. Harry suddenly felt a sting in the corners of his eyes and had to force down a broken sob. Fuck, he was a mess. Such a mess. He had to focus."  (chaptered, complete, 122k, not sure if it made me cry or smile more)

Loved You First - Harry has lived his life ruled by anxiety, bullied by overbearing work-mates and ridiculed for his geeky look. When a new boss starts Harry can barely look him in the eye but Louis appears to be on his side. Soon Harry develops feelings for the protective and supportive Louis but Louis tries to fight it at first. There's rumours about Louis at his last work place and his penchant for his secretaries so Harry has a right to feel insecure. Harry slowly lets his curls break free as Louis thaws him and they embark on a new beginning together. Featuring Harry styled as Marcel, Niall as Louis' best friend and Zayn as Harry's gay mentor.  (chaptered, complete, 100k, everything by this author is honestly a blessing)

Run Like the Devil - Harry stops pouting, but his frown is still fixed in place. “Are you sure?” he asks. “You know it’s your soul you’re signing away.” He sounds…sad? No, that’s not right, but there’s something. Christ. This is the most incompetent demon Louis’ ever met. If he hadn’t seen the red of his eyes he wouldn’t believe he was a demon at all. How’d he get this job if he isn’t trying to convince Louis to deal? Or is it just another trick? A ploy for sympathy?“I’m sure,” Louis says. “Come over here and kiss me.” *Supernatural AU. Louis hunts demons; Harry's the strangest demon he's ever met, and he keeps fucking meeting him.  (chaptered, complete, 138k, has a short sequel, this fic physically hurt me but it was worth it)

Swim In The Smoke - “What about this, Captain?” Liam asks, nudging the boy kneeling between their feet with the toe of his boot. The boy hisses and swipes at him, slurring out something unintelligible around the makeshift gag Niall had to stuff in his mouth. He misses by a mile and tries again, just as ineffectively. Harry looks down at him, at the way the sun streams over his face and shoulders, at the way the gag stretches his mouth, lips pink and chapped. He’s lithe and pretty, smudged all over with dirt. They had found him tied up below deck, mostly unconscious, next to a barrel full of gold. He’s clearly a prisoner, but there’s something familiar about him, something that niggles at Harry’s brain. Something he can’t quite put his finger on. “Put him in my cabin,” Harry decides, turning back to deal with the rest of the loot. The boys screams out jumbled curse words at Harry’s back, muffled by the gag, and Harry can’t understand any of it.  (chaptered, complete, 101k, I wasn’t sure about this fic at first but it’s so worth it if you read all of the way through)

I Can Feel the Draw - Louis, not having pulled a job in a while, is convinced to help con millionaire art collector Harry Styles. To do so, Louis has to keep Harry safe. It should be easy, but Louis finds himself possibly falling in love with him, which compromises himself and the others.  (chaptered, complete, 113k, part of a series, the ending made me sad but I still loved it)

Gods & Monsters -  The instructions were simple: seduce and destroy Harry Styles. Not once did they discuss the option of Louis actually falling in love. So, naturally, that's exactly what he did. (chaptered, complete, 201k, I literally read this in less than 36 hours instead of sleeping)

Worth Killing For, Worth Dying For -  Louis was born into the Mafia and someday will take over as Boss. Harry is a college freshman who thinks his biggest worries are keeping up with his classes and avoiding his meddling neighbor. Featuring Zayn and Liam who are never on the right page, while Niall only sits back and watches the drama unfold. (chaptered, incomplete, 241k, absolutely incredible) 

Updated 6/11/18

[roomshxmbles]

what do you headcanon the thousand crew's reaction to lawlu would be? i feel like nami and zoro would be protective, while chopper wouldn't care and robin would be the most supportive

i deffo reckon nami and zoro would be the most shocked and the most protective; luffy has refused a naked boa hancock of all people so nami really didn’t think luffy even knew what the concept of a relationship was. in fact, everyone on board the ship thinks that luffy is so innocent and childlike that when he prances around and beams “i really like torao!” they all just smile and think he means like....in a friendly way because that’s just how luffy is

then, one by one, every member of the crew starts seeing weird things. definitely un-luffy-like things.  zoro isn’t sure if it’s sleep-deprived hallucination but upon relieving law of his watch on the ship he swears he sees luffy stealing a chaste kiss off the surgeon up in the crow’s nest. brook enters the bathroom only to see the two of them sat way too close together, law’s arm slung around luffy’s shoulders. robin sees luffy sitting in law’s lap at the desk in the library, both of them sound asleep with law resting his head on top of luffy’s and the younger boy occasionally mumbling in his slumber as he squeezes law’s hand, she’s definitely the first to twig what’s going on but she’s the last to say anything

when the rest of the strawhats finally catch on nami and zoro laugh in disbelief, doubled over on the deck in their howling laughter. sanji, being romance coinosseur #1 is like “guys are you kidding me you can smell the sexual tension from a mile away” and nami and zoro just stare at him as they realise, holy shit, their captain might just have a boyfriend

nami is fucking furious initially, mostly at herself because how did she not notice luffy had fallen for the SURGEON OF DEATH and spends an entire night writing down things she can charge money for (”taking luffy’s heart; that’ll be another 100k”). she then promptly thrusts the list into law’s hands at breakfast and winks dangerously at him

zoro isn’t really angry but this news puts him and his pride as a first mate on edge a lot. so he starts getting really petty because he somehow feels like his honour is slighted; luffy asks law to pass the salt, zoro reaches for it instead.  law wants to bathe with luffy, zoro steps in the doorway and just goes “two at a time” and heads inside with luffy (law momentarily panics that zoro is trying to do dubious stuff with his captain but then remembers how clearly nuts for sanji the swordsman is and relaxes) luffy leans in towards law on the deck, zoro zooms over and stakes one of his swords with a clang between them and just comments “it’s a lovely night, isn’t it, trafalgar?”

eventually law has to make his way up to the crow’s nest and just look at zoro and be like “i’m not going to hurt your idiot of a captain, don’t worry.” and zoro grunts in affirmation; he gets a lot more relaxed but mainly he’ll look at the pair cuddling and then glance at sanji, blush, kick himself mentally, and start a fight with the cook just for even daring to unconsciously make him feel that way. this happens nearly every day. 

sanji, brook, usopp and franky are respectfully indifferent towards them but all of them will sometimes tease luffy and law when they’re trying to get some alone time. brook will take out the violin and start playing romantic music when the two of them sit on the head of the sunny as franky sometimes drums along and usopp and sanji croon along with awful nails-down-a-chalkboard voices before, inevitably, zoro comes barreling out the door and screams “SHITTY COOK, STOP FUCKING SINGING” (although very, very occasionally, to franky’s delight, robin will serenade the pair and send flowers cascading down around them; law finds this really embarrassing but luffy’s amazed reaction to it is so fucking adorable he can’t protest)

(also franky keeps trying to act like a cool uncle and extend his mini arm to try and hi-five law around the deck all the time for getting some action. law gives in once and nobody lets him hear the end of how his cool facade has been broken by a fucking robot hi-five)

chopper is blissfully, BLISSFULLY innocent of anything remotely sexual going on but feels a lot more encouraged to approach law now that luffy is dating him and eventually the two become a lot more talkative about doctor-y subjects, medicine and surgery, everybody actually agrees it’s super cute and yet very unnerving to see law, ex-shichibukai, peering over a book with chopper in his lap

robin is the most quiet on the subject but she’s also the one that law fears out of the strawhats. there’s something equally unnerving and equally trustworthy about her, however, so when she taps law with a finger to speak to him, he feels kind of soothed in her motherly presence. she smiles and all she says is “he’s very young and very trusting...please, don’t make him waste his time, or we won’t let you go unscathed”. law pauses and looks out across the pitch-black ocean as robin continues with a smile, “the funny thing about luffy is that he can be a gullible, trusting idiot...but he has a habit of turning everyone else into gullible idiots too” and law quietly replies with “yeah, he’s sure made me a fool for him” before he smiles at nico robin, heading back inside, and she never has to question him again 

[melancholic-cloud]

I think we should rule out commitment for now, cause we’re falling apart | François | CHP6 Trial ATTN: ALL

He paused to at least break everything up, his throat was dry and he was still bitter and angry. He really wanted to be done with this already but pausing was necessary. “In VR there was the chapel, which caused physical sickness, and had a monitor in the cell Sachiko died in showing off her death. She was lying on the ground tied up in vines, covered in cuts and water and looking to be in immense pain. A shotput ball tied to a vine falls on her head. It stays on her like that for a second then loops. After we turned away from where her body was located the fake body fell down from wherever in the exact spot we found her. This repeats for all the rooms that we found bodies in, and also the game modders room where you can put your minifigure in the Observatory to activate Ochako’s death monitor and a minifigure of her body drops in her stead. The acting room also had the sickness there. But it was near the monitor for building sets, about right beside it, and like a fool I forgot to check it for anything. I just wanted out of there after the body appeared. On top of the fixer’s room’s desk was the contact card for Taro. Taro, strength hacking, weakness contained in the Game Modder Room. In the cabinets were more cards, some recognizable.”

Another short pause before a rapid fire. “Sasaki, specialties: hacking, information gathering; weaknesses doesn't work in person, difficult to contact. Katsumi Sakamoto, specialties heavy lifting, hacking, dagger throwing; weaknesses difficult to convince to help you, has difficulty being involved with death. Hozuki Sakamoto, specialties speed, sniping, has her own equipment; weaknesses child and stands out, bad for crowd stealth. Tatsuki Yanagi, specialties connections, dagger throwing; weaknesses old and retired from yakuza work, will not act directly. Sasaki Yuzuki, specialties hand-to-hand combat, disarming, and interrogation assistant; weaknesses easily angered, and has a hard time removing emotions from work. Takara Hiiragi, specialties sword-wielding and melee combat; weaknesses well-known, difficult for low-profile jobs, and is not good with public speaking. Kosei Yosano, specialties will do just about anything for the thrill of it, and is athletically capable; weaknesses does not reliably follow orders, is prone to backstabbing. Campana Suona, specialties thievery and stealth; weaknesses known for deserting, is distractible.”

“Moving to the the game modders room, the VR pod was open and running. The game inside was 'Taro Simulator', and playing the game revealed that the arch nemesis asked Taro 'their little hacker friend' to help them with a death game. From the sounds of it they may have lied to get their way, since telling the truth gets you a bad end. The informants room caused a little bit of sickness, and that would be because the dresser in there had this lock box-” he didn’t bother being gentle, practically tossing the locked box onto the floor. “It has an electronic lock. Being in the first aid room causes actual physical pain, not the sickness from the other rooms, but nothing else was in there. In the zoo keepers room you spawn in the middle of an enclosure between two cages. A cage with a black bear, and a cage with a bear and a rabbit. In the teachers lounge on top of the foosball table was what looked like a deck of cards. White box saying nothing but ‘outside’ on it, and inside the code cards. Double sided, one side red one blue. 'Where would your contacts put the curtain? - Anonymin Theatre' was the message. Inside with the cards was also the keycard to the lock box.” One again he opens the lock box, pulling out the gun. He considers tossing it out on the floor but it would be a shame if it went off and shot two people. “The gun has a barrel on each side, meaning shooting it would shoot yourself. It’s a handgun, and it’s loaded.”

Criss, he really wished he brought at water bottle, talking this much well this full of rage was taxing. It left his stomach unsettled, slightly more than the damn box and gun. “The art room also caused some sickness, being caused by the window in the back. You could open the window and walk right through. From there you’re in a white passageway and then it ends in a room. There is only a table and chair in the room, and under the table is carved ‘Chris Eades-Kiane King-Hisako Inoue-Isamu Kimura’. In the library we found these authors in the catalogues. C.E. Life and Freedom; K.K. Astonished, Picturesque, and Vanished; H.I. Those Who do not Study History and Thrice in a Lifetime; I. K. Always, All Ways. Life and Freedom is a memoir, and is in non-fiction. The other three are YA. The clue I got from the machine gave us the right names. Walking near the books they pours out a sick feeling, and opening them to the right pages caused clicking noises. Opening all of them to the right pages caused the secret room at the top of the library to open. You walk through a pitch black hallway and then are greeted with ‘the hell room’. The entire room, furniture included, were grayscale. There were a few couches sitting around a large coffee table in the center of the room. On the coffee table, there was a ransom note reading, 'Hell.' A flat screen TV hung from one of the walls, and some potted plants decorated the rest of the room. In one of the potted plants there is a pistol loaded with one bullet. A camera hung over the TV. There is a door and an access point in there. The TV screen once turned on had a slightly staticy black background with red comic sans text over it saying 'see you in hell'. The camera above the TV had a red blinking light on it, maybe meaning it was on. It was completely attached to the wall. Maybe that was where the  videos Xeno took were recorded, who knows. The access point was like the others except that we didn't have permission to use it.”

“In the waiters room if you turned on the button a simulation would start were two people there to eat a meal with each other both had nut allergies. Then they they both try to order each other food with nuts in them. Bringing them the food kills them. The poet’s room was set to the loneliness setting, upon entering. That cancels out all senses other than touch. In the theatre you could check the movie listings and find untitled 1 through 4. Xeno addresses the world talking about Reina's death. They say everyone should know that it's another killing game. They say they are the one behind the last two, and this one. They say 'I am the one that will destroy this world, and all living upon it. I am the one pulling all the strings, manipulating this world into its current state. The Despair Movement, the Resistance. Everything belongs to me. I am Xeno.' Then they same they won't just do killing games using HPA students, but with 'the rest of the world' until their demands are met. Then they cop out and don't say the demands. They say they want to know what people think their demands are and to offer them what they can. Then they start the next one with 'what's up bastards?  It's your favourite motherfucker Xeno' as if they were not trashy enough. They were like a different person in this one though, the first they were all ridiculously over the top but serious anime villain and this time they sound like some let's player or something. All high energy and 'hip' slang. 'The way the most of you ignored me earlier isn’t cool, you know?' Ugh. Then they yell violently Next Motive, and say the randomization motive. Then they get all lethargic and say it's a boring motive but say that they're a real deal and not 'a poser' and then they say 'Maybe next time, you’ll take me more fuckin’ seriously.' As if anyone could when they are speaking like that? Then they want people to heed their initial words and they say goodbye. Then next time they are also high energy but it's more childish and bubbly. Then they ask if everyone liked the motive and say ' saw how starry-eyed many of you were when the motive was revealed. It was so cute!' Ugh they even call the audience 'my lovelies' Then they say they have a present for everyone and they say it's a schedule. 'I’m thinking that just hosting a bunch of killing games would get boring, so we have to spice things up with a bit of variety, right? So you know that movie? Paw? The one about a dog in a clown mask named Jigpaw that kidnaps people and puts them into death traps that they have to escape from or else they die andhedoesitbecausehewantstorehabilitatepeople? I want to copy that idea.' Then they giggle. Then they say they're going to make their 'little despair lambs' join in on the fun. They'll be the first in the new game. Then a 'traditional one' then 'a sports one maybe' and they want Resistance members to be in that one. They they say they 'hope to see you all try to appease me' and give say 'Byyyeeee~'" He looks more and more angry and disgusted the longer he recounts the videos. “Then it opens up with them in the dented mask. They're acting all meek and shy or depressed, I don't know. 'I don’t know how to say this, but, thank you for the entertainment.' They say it makes them happy, but what everyone thinks of them is saddening 'but at least your moving right?'. Disgusting. Then they sigh real hard. Then they talk about how people are interested in joining them, and how they are flattered. That the volunteers made them think they should start recruiting people. 'f you want to join me, then please do what my first allies did, and, in front of any camera, hold a red piece of paper out that says you want to work with me. I have enough power to see those efforts, but I am only human, so I might miss a few of you.' They say not to let people see them do it, because they don't want them getting hurt. Then as an after thought they explain their motivation for this. 'Well, I’m just looking for entertainment. What’s more entertaining than seeing others fight for their lives? It’s… It’s so… inspiring, and it really gets you excited. I’m hosting all of these games in pursuit of that entertainment.' And that is it, that is everything I was privy to.”

"If you want my honest opinion before I am no longer a part of this for good, I had thought everything I found had pointed to Ren except the videos which seemed like Yuki, and I didn't like it. But I rid my hands of this trial. I refuse to be a part of this for any longer." He turned to glare at Max, raising one hand and waving sharply. “Good luck I do not want to say anything further.”