#it wasn't super long either but like longer than the sides

[moeblob]

What's your favorite color? I wanna dye my hair

I'm terrified to answer this because it feels like you're giving me a lot of power even if you don't go with what I say.

But currently! My favorite color is blue I think! I tried to dye my hair blue once and it did not stick sadly so I had to change and do a kinda reddish color which did stick. If I could dye my hair blue, I would. But it didn't work in the past and just wasted a lot of time and money.

[elixrr]

Valentines Day：Stages of Love!

STAGES：how they fell in love (1), them as they pin for you (2), how they plan the confession (3), their confession (4)

ft：GAMING (1.8k words), WANDERER (2k words)

FIC：fluffy headcanons + their confession to you in dialogue!｜day 1 of my late valentines event...

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ “You received some mail...”

➥ “...Read it?”

— ➢ GAMING：

STAGE 1 - how he fell in love with you.

➥ It was spontaneous, really. It didn’t really occur to him at the time, but you had your kamera out, and you were taking photos of the scenery around you two. The day started out as a simple hangout between two friends– two best friends. It wasn't anything out of the ordinary, either. You went around Qiaoying village, checking out the stalls and simply having a good time in each other's company, until you went on a small little raft with him. Sailing the lakes of Liyue, you took pictures of Teyvat's golden hour, and Gaming couldn't help but stare; he watched your light and serene smile while taking and printing photos to keep for yourself and give to him. As previously mentioned, it didn't occur to him at first, but there was a swelling in the beat of his heart, Gaming nearly thought he was sick, but he wasn't. He tore his eyes away once, and they automatically dragged back to you, like his eyes were your loyal puppy, always wanting to see you and be by your side.

Eventually, it wasn’t just his eyes that longed for you.

You were admirable in his eyes, it seemed. After the hangout, the feelings continued to linger in his heart. Butterflies fluttered in his stomach, a smile broke into his expression– a little brighter than usual– and he couldn't bring himself to sleep that night. Tossing and turning in his sheets, but not from a nightmare. Gaming was horribly confused; why was he feeling like this? A slight burning feeling simmered within; if only he could hold you right at this moment.

That's when it hit. And it hit hard.

STAGE 2 - how he's pining for you.

➥ Gaming's crush on you became more persistent. He's heard a story or two from his friends and how crushes typically lasted between a few weeks to three months, and any longer than that would just mean they're head over heels. So, not wanting to push anything that could hurt later, he waited patiently— or, at least, he tried to wait as patiently as he could. Patience was something that he eventually lost. Eventually, as in, he was stripped of nearly all of his patience after the first week. Gaming was never the type to get super jealous, he loved people— he still does— and it shines in how extroverted and eccentric he is, but sometimes when you spoke to people and seemed to have more fun with them than you did with him, he would get... Rather insecure. He once asked you if you were getting bored of him, and he was immediately proven wrong.

After the span of three months was over, he still found himself head over heels for you. It chilled out a little more, he can control how he acts again, but everyone notices that extra jump in his step, the extra sparkles in his eyes when you draw near, and especially the slightly larger smile he carries around with him before hanging out with you, while hanging out with you, and just a little after he hung out with you. Gaming was adorable with how smiley he became with you around, and when you brought it up, he became really flustered. If you catch onto things easily, then you probably figured out that he likes you. If not, then don't worry because he's going to plan to confess.

Though, it takes almost a full year of having a crush on you for him to realize that he needs to confess.

There was indeed a time when Gaming thought he was going to lose his chances. You and Chongyun grew closer. Gaming didn't know Chongyun that well, but you introduced him to the small little hangouts. Gaming was fine at first, but once he was called over by one of his relatives during a stroll around Qiaoying Village. By the time he could get back to you two, you were having the time of your life, and Chongyun seemed ecstatic. Gaming knew that he had issues with his yang energy, hence why he was so composed half of the time, but to see him breaking out of that composure with you? Gaming stopped in his tracks that day. He followed behind the two of you but didn't bother to let either of you know. Of course, with a swell in his heart when you noticed him first, you brought him back into the conversation. Though, he was quieter. He was a little duller than he usual. Where did his smile go? Where did his bright, sparkly eyes go? What about that spring in his step every time you spoke to him? It's not that he lost interest in you. No, it's that he thought you were losing interest in him. Eventually, he realized that he should probably ask Chongyun if he liked you. That question took weeks to muster the courage up for.

When he got around to asking and he learned that you and Chongyun were just really chill friends, all of the spring, spark, and smile that he lost all came back to him. But now the question stood tall.

Did you even like him back?

He was advised by Chongyun and Xinqiu to confess, and that's when all of the planning began.

STAGE 3 - him planning the confession.

➥ Chongyun and Xinqiu were kind enough to help Gaming with his confession. The original plan was for him to just serenade you during a romantic ride on those bamboo rafts, but Chongyun worried for the third wheeling boatman, so they all devised a plan for the giddy Gaming. Gaming will ask you to ride a raft with him, and Xinqiu will dress up so that you wouldn't recognize him. He'll also be there for the friendly wingman support. Chongyun will have the area feel colder but won't freeze the lake itself. Even while Gaming cringed at the whole idea, Xinqiu and Chongyun agreed to it. It's too romantic to pass up, Gaming giving you his hoodie when you're cold in supposedly warm weather is too good to become a lost opportunity. The plan, after a few hours of playing cards, eating dim sum, and snacking on winter melon cakes, was set. When the weather's good, Gaming will take you out on a boat ride as per usual, but there's suddenly an expensive price for a boat ride. Before you can even think to take your wallet out, he'll whip out some mora and give it to the disguised Xinqiu, plus an extra tip. Then, Xinqiu will use a mini music box that he received from his Fontanian friend, and some cute, romantic music will play in the background. After some talking, you should be able to notice a sudden cold wind with the help of Chongyun and a wandering friend named Kazuha, then Gaming will lend you his hoodie with the excuse that he's fine and he can take the cold. This will all happen around the golden hours of Liyue, just like how it was when he first caught feelings for you, and just before sunset, Gaming will pull out a fresh Qixing by Xinqiu's area, and he'll confess. Whether or not you accept is up to you, and that alone is enough to wreck his brain.

The planning is done; the date is picked between the three, plus Kazuha's approval. All that's left is for the confession to be carried out.

STAGE 4 - the confession.

➥ Now, it was time to confess. Oh, how terrifying the thought and much more nerve-racking the feeling. Gaming met you by the river, and you looked as stunning as ever. Funnily enough, this was your usual fit, your typical and casual clothes, but something felt more different. Gaming's heart beat with love and a little nervousness. Strangely, you already had your wallet out, so on the way to the raft, Gaming was sure to keep his hand in his pocket, making sure that he had all of the mora ready for the raft payment. He kept a flowing conversation, and you, as usual, kept it cool as well. It momentarily paused when you both saw the disguised Xinqiu, but something felt off in Gaming's gut when you took his hand and lead him to the raft, which, funnily enough, was the last available raft nearby.

“Hello, my dearest friends. Would you like to ride on this fine raft?”

A smile grows on your face before Gaming can say anything.

“Yes, we'd love to.”

Your hand squeezes Gaming's tightly when you shift your gaze and smile over to him. He's distracted momentarily, blushing at the feeling of your fingers interlocking with his.

“How wonderful! That will be 10,000 mora, please.” Xinqiu politely bows with his hand out, extending towards you, and you're suddenly closer to Xinqiu to pay for the raft.

This is bad, super bad! You hand over the necessary mora to Xinqiu and wink at him, lending a hand over to help Gaming up onto the raft. You're strangely prepared for this, hell, you're even wearing... Something warm. That's. Not good. The plan isn't going the way he needs it to! Gaming watches you take the seat next to him and admire the scenery around. He's nervous, evident by how he constantly plays with his fingernails, or how his sight spills all over the place— how he flickers his eyes over to you, then to the waters beneath the gaps of the bamboo. He aligns his sight with the direction of the raft, and he watches the ripples of the water flow with the serene waters of the lake. It's calming slightly, but there's still the nervous pound in his heart.

Gaming looks back at you. You have your kamera out, and you're taking photos of the scenery with a small smile on your face. There's a bloom in Gaming's heart. He finds his gaze lingering too much onto you to notice that you've taken your own cardigan off, resting it on your lap. The Adam's apple in his throat bobs a little. He needs to confess, and it's going to happen soon— if not right now.

Your gaze falls onto him, and he nearly jumps in his seat. It's strangely quiet and rather cold. In a desperate attempt to fill the void of silence, he stutters and exaggerates a cold expression,

“It's... It's really cold now, huh? That's weird. It's awfully cold for spring!”

“In that case, here. Take my cardigan, it'll keep you warm.” You smile at him knowingly, wrapping the cardigan around the blushing, confused Gaming.

Wait, what? He was supposed to do that!

You smile at him and turn back over to the scenery around. You have your hand resting near him, and he can't help but stare at the reflection of the light lingering on your hand. It's attractive, everything about you he finds so attractive, every insecurity and every part you're proud of he takes and smiles proudly with. Gaming is deep in love with you, and it's clear as glass right now as he takes your hand in his and gently taps his thumb against your knuckle.

“Hey. So, can I... I have something to say.”

You send your undivided attention to him as he speaks. His heart pounds against his chest, and he subconsciously squeezes your hand.

“I've been thinking. We've been really close 'n cool friends for a while, don't you think?”

Darn it, Gaming, get to the point! He yells at himself, and the burn of an embarrassed blush glitters across his face.

“Listen, Gaming.” You interlock your fingers with his again, and you give him a soft, sweet smile.

“I like you, too, okay?”

And with the peck of a kiss on his cheek, a small, sudden, yet very giddy smile grew on his face. He asked for re-confirmation, and when you gave it to him, he nearly fainted on the spot with joy.

You and Gaming held hands, and a shared smile bloomed between the two of you. You leaned in for a kiss, and Gaming allowed you— but before a kiss could happen, Xingqiu interrupted with the snap of his Kamera.

You and Gaming turn around. Xinqiu smiles, taking the photo out of the kamera and hiding it behind his back, whistling as if nothing had happened.

You and Gaming realized then and there that you would thus receive the teasing of a lifetime.

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ “1 new message...”

➥ “...Read it?”

— ➢ WANDERER：

STAGE 1 - how he fell in love with you.

➥ Wanderer was and is a special— very special case. He's a puppet beneath the porcelain skin; there's almost nothing under it. He's hollow, meaning he has no heart. So what would explain this strange feeling within? Nahida suggested a fondness for you through the form of love, but Wanderer thought it was impossible. He's a puppet, and not only does he lack the heart to love, but he has never loved before and certainly wouldn't now.

Of course, that simply wasn't the case.

Wanderer always felt some sort of ache when it came to you. Nahida's suggestion of fondness found itself dug into his mind rent-free, even if he fully disagreed with it. He felt like you were simply more annoying than anyone else he's ever met. Yet, there was this one time that he considered the possibility that maybe... Maybe it is love, after all.

It was his birthday, and you hung around with Nahida to surprise him. The surprise wasn't anything big, but it was nice enough to have left a stain ingrained in his memory of it. You and Nahida had baked a cake made especially for him, and the party was held at a vantage point. Funnily enough, that same day was the day where he wanted to show you this exact vantage point, but you had already discovered it first. You joked that it was simply meant to be, and a faint blush dusted Wanderer's cheeks— though, he'd never admit it to be of embarrassment or love. The birthday party, as mentioned before, wasn't that big. It was you and Nahida, but there was a particular point that had Wanderer questioning if he needed a heart at all for his "possible-and-horrible-wave-of-fondness." In his eyes, it was one thing to see his semi-savior, Nahida, all giddy and happy to be able to finally celebrate the birthday of another, but it was a whole other treat to see your smile. He found himself lingering on you for too long; he felt an ache within that longed for something— even when he tried to dismiss it, that was the beginning of his spiral of love. That longing never went away. Later that day, after you had left, Nahida would tell him how easy it was to spot, but he ignored her and went off for the night. He took himself to the highest spot of Sumeru, and he sat quietly on the branch.

You were back on his mind. Your smile, your eccentric self, while eating the cake. Everything was wonderful. You were wonderful.

You are wonderful.

A smile creept in from his teeth, accompanied by a sigh.

Wait.

You're... wonderful.

Images of your smile flashed within his mind, and that same ache and longing pinged and rang within his chest, where a human's heart could have been.

A memory of Nahida's words play in his head.

“Perhaps it is indeed a sign of your fondness for them! Humans feel it for one another, and oftentimes, they refer to the feeling as love.”

Does he love you?

The ache pounds against his chest.

Oh, for archon's sake.

Wanderer's face turned red at a thought:

He really might be in love with you.

STAGE 2 - how he's pining for you.

➥ The days and weeks after his birthday, he sought you out more than he could've ever thought he would. Sometimes, he'd run into you buying groceries at the stalls of Sumeru. Other times, you'd be sitting in a small field of flowers, and he'd be flying by. You didn't seem to mind his presence, though. Actually, evident by your smiley faces and happier expressions, you seemed to enjoy it! The thought, without realizing it, made him happier than usuaI. While it wasn't evident with a spring in his step, if you looked closer, there would be a dozen sparkles in his eyes every time he glanced your way. Except, you'd know better than to get too close. Otherwise, Wanderer would've smacked you silly.

He’s become a little softer towards you than he is with anyone else. Even with his specialty of degrading everyone around him, he can’t bring himself to be rude to you in an honest way. Any harsh comment is followed by an ache in his heart whenever he sees you either pissed or bothered, and he finds himself incapable of thinking badly of you. Strangely enough, he thinks of you more than he talks to you nowadays. It bleeds into his day-to-day schedule when he’s in the Akademiya, studying for his classes, or doing his work. Wanderer doesn't really have much to do with his days. He thinks of you during classes now, too. He's unsure if you attend classes or if you've finished school, as he's never bothered to ask, and you've never brought it up. Either way, when the lectures start becoming white noise to him, he wonders if you're also in a classroom right now, bored and thinking of whatever you think of.

If only you might be thinking of him, too.

A tiny smile breaks his bored, motionless lips. The professor goes off about the lesson, and his mind goes on about you. Wanderer couldn't care less if he missed information; he understands the material anyway. He simply wants to think of you right now.

Suddenly, the students around him shoot up from their seats, grabbing their things and head for the door, and he follows in suit with the smile wiped off of his face. As he passes through the room, a few people gawk at him, but he dismisses them. Wanderer would only allow you to gawk at him.

He left the Akademiya immediately, running off to some secluded spot where the other students wouldn’t bother him and have him snap out of his thoughts. As of late, he found himself enjoying his days a little more whenever he had some time to himself, especially when he thought of you during that snippet of time. Yet, this time, he doesn’t have to simply think of you. Walking down the path to the ground-leveled city, Wanderer saw you around the corner. You were talking to someone, but a flurry of heartbeats synced with the swirling thoughts racing through all at once. The feeling gets annoying because he basically runs into you every other day, but he acts as though he hasn’t seen you in years. There’s a sudden skip in his heart that forces him down the pathway a little faster to startle you with his approach. Wanderer always found it amusing whenever you’d jump out of your skin at his sudden appearance–

But this time was different. Wanderer stopped and stood idle.

Just why was the General Mahamatra holding your arm like that? From the angle he stood at, he couldn’t see the wound on your arm, but something shot down every ounce of excitement and confidence he had in himself. He felt cheated on, but you weren’t even dating him! Cyno notices him from the distance and lets go of your arm, almost glaring at the boy. You, following in suit, turn around to see Wanderer. Even with that fabulous feeling wasted away, Wanderer still looked at you like you were the only important person to exist. You’re graceful in the way you turn his way, but your wound catches his eye quickly. Is that why Cyno held you like that? Because he was scolding you or something? Either way, that’s what Wanderer is about to do with you. He storms over to you, enraged, worried, and ready to ravage the whole universe to find who hurt you…

And it turns out it was just some Mitachurl that you abolished soon after you had gotten hurt.

“Kuni, if you’re just so worried about me, why not stick by me more often? Besides, we run into each other basically every day now.”

“You can be my travel buddy, I guess!”

“That’s stupid.” But he’d still want to be yours.

Cyno dismisses Wanderer and gets him off of your arm, and you’re escorted elsewhere (as Wanderer glares from the distance at Cyno). He thinks for a few moments but ultimately decides to return to the Sanctuary of Surasthana to pay Nahida a little visit…

STAGE 3 - him planning the confession.

➥ Nahida, when asked, simply told Wanderer to bring you over to some nice, secluded spot and tell you how he feels. He’s been told that the confession doesn’t have to be anything big, but maybe just some nice scenery would do you both some good. Wanderer slightly hoped that Nahida would tell him not to confess, but he knows her better than that. The plan, when made, was simple: he'll ask when you're free, then he'll take you to some nice spot nearby, sit you down as he takes his seat, and he tells you how he feels. 

Now, does that sound appealing to Wanderer?

No, of course not.

Wanderer would prefer it if he just didn’t tell you at all. Feelings are awkward for him because he’s not used to romance. He’s not used to anything positive or good coming his way. Wanderer has walls of brick to seal his heart away to prevent further emotional pain. There’s no way he would tear all of that down just to be with you.

“But it’s already broken!” Nahida says with a cheeky smile, startling Wanderer.

“What?”

“Sorry,” the archon giggles, “I read your mind just now. What I mean to say is that you already trust them enough as is! The walls you’ve built have already been broken?”

“It’s still stupid, anyways. What if they don’t even reciprocate? Then what would I do?”

Nahida scratches her head a little, thinking of all of the experiences that she’s witnessed over the past two years of her freedom.

“Isn’t that what confession also determines? You let them know that they like you, and then you learn if they reciprocate or if they don’t.”

Thus, after a small debate with himself and Nahida, Wanderer decided to… Simply tell you how he feels. Shouldn’t be that hard, right? Though, when he finds himself unable to bring up a potential day to choose, Nahida asks you when you’re free, and thus the plan is initiated.

All that’s left to do is wait, prepare, and execute.

STAGE 4 - the confession.

➥ The morning of the plan arose. The break of dawn and the sunrise’s sunlight spilled across Teyvat all at once. The cold corpse of the moon faded with the blue sky, and Wanderer was all but asleep. In fact, he was frantic– panicking, not even a drop of sleep soaked into him. He’s, despite refusing to admit it, terrified of meeting you at that vantage point and possibly getting humiliated after letting his feelings pour. 

Wanderer walks out of the dorm provided by the Akademiya and takes a stroll. It’s still early, and not too many people are outside yet. The air isn’t cold, it’s less humid than usual, but it’s still cooler than usual– the slightly-frosted breeze brushing against his porcelain arms. He can’t feel the cold, but he still shivers with the pressure of what might happen.

“Kuni?” Your semi-groggy voice calls out to him. He turns around, and he feels his chest nearly explode.

“You? Why are you up so early?”

“I dunno, Nahida told me to meet up with you later today, so I wanted to go out to get you something.”

Get him something? His could’ve-been-heart pounds in his chest.

“Why did you want to meet with me anyway?” You walk over to him, meeting his pace.

“I’ll tell you later. No snooping around yet.”

“Why?” A sly, teasing smile grows on your face. “Are you going to romantically confess your undying love to me under the blissful moonlight at your favorite romance novel scenery with a slow breeze hitting us? Oh, will there be flowers for me, too?” You smirk, and Wanderer looks at you with a fake look of disgust on his face. However, at that last question, he breaks his face… Slightly.

“That’s a good idea.” He quietly blurts, thinking of possible flowers to give you.

“...What?”

“Huh? What?”

“You’re planning to–” You stammer, a red blush dusting your features.

“Wha–?"

And then Wanderer realizes what he just did.

[little-miss-dilf-lover]

Please please a follow up/ longer version of the “walking out during an argument” hc with Tan? Like SUPER ANGSTY but also it’s all resolved in the end (maybe walking out whilst visiting him on a job?! And without your phone, in a foreign place so he’s super scared 😭)

MWHAHA love angst (but always worry the dialogue feels cringe??? but I don’t think it is?? idk you guys tell me) thanks for requesting, hope you like it💌

A SURPRISE.

tangerine x fem!reader — angst

word count. 1256

Sometimes, when Tangerine was in the country for work, you liked to surprise him - either by waiting in his hotel room or tracking him down —with the help of the find my friends app— and meeting him at his location. 

He had been gone for the better part of two weeks, and you were starting to miss him, sure he texted and video-called you, but often it wasn't enough. And since he was away for so long, you wanted to treat him with a quick visit - stopping by his hotel suite and asking him to dinner. 

In your mind, this was a cute, simple way of spending time together without it being a hindrance. 

So when you arrived at the hotel, you gave Tangerine's name and details, asking reception for a replacement room key - elaborately lying by saying you locked yourself out. And with the plastic keycard in hand, you made your way up to his room.

You swiped the card, and when you opened it, you were met with a gun pointed at you from the other side, your boyfriend standing behind it - aiming at whoever was trying to get into the room. 

"It's me," you hold your hands up, the sight catching you off guard. "It's me. I wanted to surprise you."

Tangerine holsters his gun behind his back and opens the door wider to let you in, the look on his face far from happy to see you. "What're you doin'ere?"

You're a little taken back, the tone of his voice much more pointed than you would've expected. "I uh— I wanted to see you," you say softly, trying not to feel hurt by his comment. "It's been a while, and thought about going to lunch," you say closing the door behind you. 

He looks stressed. Fed up, even.

"Thought it would be nice to spend some time together," you shrug, looking around the room awkwardly.

"I can't be doin' that."

"That's okay," you reassure, trying to soothe over the initial uneasy tension. "We can stay in," you add, making your way around his room - sorting out his stuff and folding the messily disregarded clothes.

"No," he says quietly, pinching the bridge of his nose - standing in the small corridor by the door.

"Get room service, watch some tv," you continue, unaware of what he said. 

"No," he repeats, slightly louder than the time before - still going unheard by you.

"Maybe go for a walk after. The weather is nice too. Oh, I saw this cute little bakery by the park—"

"This ain't a fuckin' holiday," he interrupts, voice and tone abrupt. 

You immediately halt, holding his t-shirt in your hand - pausing mid-fold. "I know, I just thought—" 

But he cuts you off. "Just thought what?" he snarks, eyes glaring at you from across the room. "This is work, not some couples getaway. I don't want you being around here." 

His words cut right through you, and you still - ears pulling back, brows narrowing in the middle. He's never spoken to you this way before. You were half-convinced he was having you on, playing a prank or such, but the stiffness in his demeanour told you it was anything but.

"Don't talk to me like that," you say, words soft and hurt. 

"It's stupid, y'know that? Did you even think about it?"

"Course I did," you whisper, avoiding his gaze.

"Well, it doesn't fuckin' feel like that," he shouts, walking closer. "What if someone was watching us? Do you realise what could've happened? Do’ya?

You nod, lip almost wobbling from the scolding you're receiving.

"You could be fuckin' dead right now, y'know that?"

"Okay," you whisper, wanting him to stop. 

"Dead," he repeats, the word loud and emphasised. 

"Okay!" you snap, throwing his top back onto the bed. "I get it! Made a big stupid mistake, I get it." 

He opens his mouth to retaliate, but then that cloud of anger suddenly dissipates, and he finally sees the look on your face - expression wounded.

You pick up your bag and place it over your shoulder, turning around to head for the door. But he tries to stop you, a hand on your forearm to halt your movement. You shake from his grasp and twist to face him. "I don't care who you are to me. Never speak to me like that," you utter, firming your features to accentuate your point. "Never."

He releases your arm, the immediate guilt slapped on his face. "Come on," he attempts. "Don't leave."

But you're already out of the door and in the lifts, making your way back down to the ground floor. He chases after you, getting caught behind a group of people - missing his turn. And by the time he gets down to the lobby, you're already gone. Nowhere to be seen.

You wanted to head home, but there were no trains until later on in the day, so for the time being, you were practically stranded. All by yourself in a city you weren't familiar with, trying to find something to do to kill the time. 

During those few short hours of your absence, Tangerine had been making his way around the city trying to find you - going into shops and stores he knew you liked in attempts to seek you out. The bouquet of apology flowers in his hand getting beaten and crumpled from his rushing around. 

He came up empty until he made his way back onto the street of his hotel - remembering what you said earlier, bakery by the park. He spots the small pink shop and heads right for it, rushing past the patrons on the street only to find the interior empty - the staff closing up for the afternoon.

Knocking on the glass door, he ushers a worker over - blurting out your appearance and asking if they had seen you. Luckily, your two-hour presence was enough to catch attention, and Tan was able to find out details of your whereabouts. 

And then he turns around, spotting the park, someone familiar —you— on the bench just in his sight. He makes his way closer, soothing over the crumbled flowers.

"Hello," he starts, standing beside the bench - leaving a comfortable gap. "Been looking everywhere for you," he starts, voice gentle. 

You keep your eyes on the lake ahead and scooch over, making more space for him.

He sits beside you, his gaze ahead like yours. "I got you these," he starts, weakly chuckling as he extends the bouquet towards you - placing them in your lap.

You look down and laugh softly when you see the state of them. "Thank you," you nod, turning to look at him. "They would've been really pretty."

He chuckles —for real this time—and twists to meet you. "Yeah. They were."

But you turn back away, looking ahead at the duck-filled water. "I should've texted you first."

He keeps his eyes on the side of you and nods, acknowledging what you said. "I was a dick."

You too nod, also acknowledging what he said. 

"I spoke to Lem," he starts.

You hum, silently asking him to continue. 

"We sorted some things out," he pauses, craning his neck - forcing you to look at him. "And I want you to stay tonight."

"Yeah?" 

"Yeah," he nods, sincerity in his voice - soft grin matching yours. "And I can make it up to you— show you about or something. It’ll be nice."

holly and michael from the office inspired me when tan is going around trying to find reader

[cryptidghostgirl]

Lets say that Alastor and cat-demon! Reader are friends, both of them are staying at the hotel. Alastor gives them catnip just to mess with them.

A/N I love this mischief. Also, I am 100% basing the character off of Catra from Nate Stevenson's She-Ra remake.

Prepare for Battle (Platonic!Alastor x Platonic!Cat Demon!Reader)

Pairing: Platonic Alastor x Platonic Reader

Warnings: None but please correct me if I am wrong.

Word Count: 1,276 (Sorry it is on the shorter side, most of my fics recently have been super super long and I needed to do something different.)

Master Lists:

Master Lists 

Hazbin Hotel Master List

Y/n had showed up around the same time as Alastor did to the hotel. She was a cat demon, like Husk, only much more humanoid. The only real traits she had to show for it were the claws, tail, ears, and, of course, the wild mess of her hair.

Much to everyone's surprise, Alastor had greeted her upon her arrival with a genuine smile, even a hug. A warm welcome by anyone's standards, not just the frigid Radio Demon's. According to Husk, the two had been friends for longer than he'd known either party, possibly even when they were alive although neither spoke much of their pasts. She was never involved in his work as an overlord, but she was always there, according to him. Y/n lurked, waiting, watching for the opportune moment. A mischief maker were the exact words Husk had used.

Y/n and Alastor balanced one another out. Where she was practically feral, he was calm and composed. When he lost his cool, she kept an even temper. When the pranks had started, they had taken everyone by surprise, even with Husk's vague warning. She had just seemed so together in an odd way, so imposing. Not in the way Alastor was but she still held her own. No one expected this sort of juvenile behavior from either of them but once it started, there was no stopping it.

The first one had occurred just a few days after the cat demon's arrival. It had been small, nothing too crazy. Alastor's microphone had simply been replaced with a bright red and white striped candy cane when he had left it leaning against the fireplace to go handle something for Charlie. It wasn't often he left the device unguarded but, he was only a few steps away from it and had figured there was no reason to worry when all the hotel's inhabitants were people trying to be redeemed.

Y/n had watched giddily from the couch, her legs crossed and sporting a failed attempt at a poker face, as Alastor had picked it up again. It had taken him a second to realize the switch had occurred and when he did, his eyes went wide. Y/n had burst out into laughter.

"Here we go again." Husk had sighed, shaking his head slightly.

Thats when the inhabitants of the Hazbin Hotel learned two things. One was that Y/n was not in fact a guest in the sense that she was trying to check out of Hell and into Heaven but rather a guest in that she was there to visit Alastor. The second was that the two had been engaged in a war of practical jokes for the past several decades at least.

From that point forward, the game was on. Each prank became more and more destructive, more and more insane. They took turns with it too, a highly civilized format for an extraordinarily childish pursuit.

Y/n brought out a different side of Alastor, one they had never seen before. It was a youthful side, a side of non-threatening laughter and genuine smiles. While unnerving in some ways, it made them all a bit more at ease with the notorious Radio Demon, to know he had friends and a bit of a soft side beneath his persona.

After the microphone switch, Alastor had tricked Y/n into sitting on a stool beneath a bucket of water. When he had dumped it on her, he had not only made a mess for Nifty to clean up but caused the cat demon to shoot up into the air, hissing loudly. Y/n had gotten him back by changing the locks on the door to his recording studio and used some of her own special brand of magic to block him from teleporting within. The result of this was a very irritated Alastor who broke a fresh hole through the wall. Y/n had been forced by Charlie and Vaggie to be the one to fix it, it was her fault after all, but she insisted it was worth it.

Next had been the vacuum cleaner. The fucking vacuum cleaner. Charlie had had to repaper a whole wall to get the claw-marks to go away after Alastor had used the machine to chase Y/n up it. For her revenge, Y/n had been crafty. She had rounded up a group of several demons she knew had it out for her dear friend and set them on the hotel.

Vaggie had tried her best to kick the cat demoness out after that one but, Alastor had, surprisingly, stepped in. He had fixed the wall with a snap of his fingers and they had both promised to tone down their competition, but never to stop it entirely.

It was Alastor's turn now and as he approached Y/n with a cup of tea, everyone knew something was bound to happen. It was out of character for the man after all, the random act of kindness. She was cuddled up in a sunspot on the couch, reading. So engrossed in her book, she barley looked up at him as she took the cup from his hand with a muttered word of thanks.

Alastor had retreated to the bar beside Angel and Husk with a satisfied expression on his face.

"What did you do now?" Angel asked as he watched Y/n take a sip from the cup.

"Just you wait." Alastor hummed in response.

Five minutes was all it took for the cup to be empty and suddenly, Y/n was on the floor. She reveled in the sunlight, her book now forgotten on the couch as she rolled around.

"What the fuck?" Angel laughed, turning to Alastor, "What the fuck did you give her?"

"Cat nip?" Husk asked, his eyebrows raised, "Really? I mean, that's low. Even for you."

Alastor shrugged.

"Charlie and Vaggie made us promise to tone it down."

Angel shifted his gaze back to Y/n who was wide eyed, staring up at the ceiling intently. The sun reflecting off Angel's glass as he raised it to his lips shot across the ceiling over her head and she immediately rolled over onto all fours, her tail flicking back and forth.

"She's certainly 'toned down.'" Angel noted, laughing once again at Y/n's antics as she tried to grasp the spot of light.

"She's gonna kill you." Husk scoffed, shaking his head slightly.

Angel moved his glass again and Y/n shot forward, clasping her hands around the spot of light once more. It was ten more minutes of the guys laughing and Angel fucking with Y/n using the glass to reflect light before she finally came back her senses.

She sat up from where she had lain on the floor moment's ago, a hand to her head.

"Jesus." she grumbled, "Why... how'd I get down here?"

"Three." Husk said, crossing his arms.

Y/n took her hand from her forehead, looking around the floor of the lobby curiously. Her gaze shifted to the sofa. Her book, the empty cup.

"Two."

Y/n turned to face Alastor, her eyes narrowed.

"One."

"You fucking drugged me you dickwad!" Y/n exclaimed as she pulled herself to her feet, "Catnip? Really? That's low even for you."

"Your turn." Alastor hummed placidly in return, seemingly undisturbed by her anger at the situation.

"I..." Y/n trailed off.

With another look thrown over her shoulder at the empty mug, she marched up to him. Determination glinted in her eyes, Y/n smiled, her teeth bared.

"You are so fucking in for it now."

[misshoneyimhome]

can we get some brothers best friend action with will?

where reader is mitch marner’s twin sister, and for as long as every one can remember, william and reader have always silently swooned and liked one another, and constantly blatantly flirted with each other. but reader had a long-term boyfriend, who might i add is/was super toxic and she physically couldn’t break up with him in fear he’d hurt her… so when they eventually did break up after he had done something bad to her, she ran to will’s apartment, not knowing who else to go to.

“No, I’m not leaving you like this.” Will

“Just tell me what you want.” Will

“I want you.” Reader

Absolutely, we can! Well, at least I hope we can 💓

I tried to portray your idea, but I wasn't sure if I made it too heavy 😅 I'm typically not into darker themes, but I found my thoughts naturally drifting in that direction 💓😉

If there was meant to be more of a smutty undertone, please let me know - I believe there could be a continuation, but I didn't feel it would mesh well with the dramatic scene 😉

Tropes & warnings; friends to lovers; mild abusive!boyfriend, toxic relationship; language, hurt emotions; happy ending, I promise!

Word count; 3.1K

Taglist; @couldawouldashoulda50, @findapenny

・✶ ｡ﾟ

Storm & Thunder - “No, I’m not leaving you like this!” I William Nylander 🖋️🔥

For as far back as anyone could recall, there's been an undeniable connection between you and William Nylander. Growing up as Mitch Marner's twin sister, your life was closely linked to his from the early days of being drafted. And ever since the chemistry between you and William was unmistakable, simmering quietly beneath the surface like a promise yet to be fulfilled.

It all started innocently enough, with playful teasing and banter exchanged during family dinners and time spent in the hockey community. Initially, you were just friends; William saw you as nothing more than his good friend’s sister, and you were happy with that. However, as time passed, something changed between you, developing into a deeper, more significant bond.

It was in the stolen glances across crowded rooms, the gentle touches when passing each other in the hallway of the training arena or after games, and the way your heart would skip a beat whenever he flashed his trademark smirk at you.

And you knew you weren't alone in sensing the magnetic attraction between you. William's gaze lingered a fraction longer than necessary, his smile slightly softer when directed at you. Though neither of you dared to articulate your feelings, the truth was apparent in the way your bodies drew closer together, pulled by an invisible force that seemed to strengthen with each passing day.

Even your friends and family couldn't deny the vibe. They shared knowing glances whenever you and William were in the same room, nudging each other with sly smiles as if to say, "I knew it."

But despite the undeniable chemistry and the encouragement from those around you, something held you back—a silent agreement that neither of you dared to break. Maybe it was the fear of messing up a good thing, or perhaps it was the uncertainty of what lay beyond the boundaries of your friendship. Mitch had never outright forbidden you from dating his teammates, but there was a lingering sense of loyalty, a feeling that taking things further with William might upset the delicate balance of your relationships.

So, you and William circled around each other, caught in a never-ending game of cat and mouse where the stakes were higher than either of you cared to admit.

Timing, in particular, had never been on your side.

Despite the undeniable connection between you and William, there was one unsurmountable obstacle standing in the way - your boyfriend, Marc, who cast a dark shadow over your life.

At first, Marc seemed like a dream come true. As the true gentleman he was, he showered you with attention, affection, and gifts, making you feel incredibly fortunate. The sex between you was nothing but amazing and intense, dare you say, almost addictive. And his presence in your life gradually expanded, until it felt like he was a permanent fixture in your small studio apartment.

However, as time passed, his once-charming facade began to crack. He became possessive, demanding, and controlling, suffocating you with his actions and leaving scars deeper than any physical wound could. You weren’t allowed to socialise freely with your friends, your work hours were restricted to 9-5, and attending hockey games was only permitted on weekends, if at all.

You attempted to break free from his grip numerous times, but each effort only seemed to tighten the chains that bound you to him. Marc wielded power over you with precision, manipulating your emotions and exploiting your vulnerabilities until you felt unworthy of anything better.

He was a skilled manipulator, a true narcissist who thrived on exerting dominance over you, leaving you feeling powerless and isolated in your suffering.

You weren’t entirely naïve, though. Deep down, you did recognise your own worth. You knew you deserved love, respect, and care. Yet, the fear of Marc's anger, his violent outbursts, and the harsh words he directed at you, kept you ensnared in a cycle of psychological abuse and manipulation.

The thought of what he might do if you tried to break free, of the repercussions that would surely follow if you dared to defy him, was unbearable. So, you remained, trapped in a prison of your own creation, suffocating under the weight of a love that had turned toxic long ago. And as days melted into weeks, and weeks into months, you began to lose hope that you would ever find a way to escape his grasp and reclaim your life.

Yet, even in the darkest moments, amid the suffocating despair, there was a glimmer of hope—a lifeline that you clung to with all your strength. And that lifeline came in the form of William Nylander, the Swedish figure who had always seen beyond the façade you'd constructed around yourself and into the depths of your true self.

He understood the truth, perhaps better than anyone else. Not even Mitch, your own twin, could grasp the extent of your suffering, but William did. He noticed the faint bruises beneath your sleeves, the forced smiles that failed to reach your eyes, and the way you flinched at the slightest unexpected noise. Although Marc had never physically harmed you, his tendency to grab onto you had left marks on your arms.

"Try and leave him, y/n/n – we’re all here for you," William would gently urge you, his voice a comforting salve to your wounded spirit, fully aware that leaving wasn't an easy choice for you to make.

"I-I can't, Willy," you'd sob, tears choking your voice as you sought refuge in his embrace, your heart burdened with the dread of what awaited you at home.

William grasped the complexities of your predicament and proceeded with caution, never pushing you beyond your boundaries but always offering steadfast support.

Through every tear and every outburst, he remained by your side, a guiding light in the darkness threatening to engulf you. His mere presence dispelled the shadows, reminding you that you weren't alone in your struggles. 

Though you struggled to articulate your gratitude, he didn't need to hear the words. His deeds spoke volumes, a silent vow that he would never desert you, no matter how fierce the storm raged around you.

And as days turned into weeks, you found solace in William's companionship, seeking refuge in the warmth of his embrace and the security of his apartment nearly every day. With Marc increasingly absent, claiming to be preoccupied with his newfound interest in golf with his co-workers – or so he called her – your time with William became more frequent and precious. You even managed to spend more time at the Ford Performance Center and the Scotiabank Arena along with the rest of the players and friends.

In those moments, surrounded by his laughter and the camaraderie of the team, you experienced a peace that had long eluded you. For the first time in what felt like an eternity, you could smile without the weight of the world pressing down on you, laugh without fearing retaliation, and simply be yourself without the suffocating presence of your toxic boyfriend looming over you.

It felt liberating. It felt like the right path. And as you snuggled closer to William on his spacious sofa one evening, his reassuring presence soothing your tired soul, you dared to believe that perhaps, just perhaps, there was hope for a brighter tomorrow.

-

However, the next night, everything collapsed like a house of cards.

It began like any other disagreement, a petty argument over insignificant matters that somehow escalated into a full-blown confrontation. How it had started was a blur, lost in the fog of anger and frustration that clouded your mind. But as the voices grew louder, so did the intensity of your emotions.

Marc's accusations struck deep, his words piercing your heart like daggers. He blamed you for spending too much time with the Maple Leafs and their partners, alleging that your passion for hockey was abnormal and unhealthy. But you knew the truth. He was simply envious of your brother's success, resentful of the bond you shared with Mitch, and the happiness you derived from supporting him at the arena where you had spent countless years together.

And in that moment, something within you snapped. Years of suppressed frustration and bitterness erupted to the surface, igniting a tempest of emotions that threatened to engulf you both. You couldn't stand by and allow him to diminish the one thing that brought you happiness, the one thing that had been a constant source of comfort and support throughout your life.

With tears streaming down your cheeks and your heart pounding in your chest, you found yourself standing up to him in a way you never thought possible. It was as if you had grown wings, emboldened by his words and fuelled by a newfound sense of defiance. You refused to let him dictate the terms of your life any longer, to control what brought you joy and fulfilment.

In a voice filled with determination, you shouted back at him, each word echoing like a battle cry against the tyranny of his dominance. Though your hands trembled, and your knees threatened to give way, you stood your ground, unwilling to yield in the face of his aggression.

For the first time in what felt like an eternity, you felt a glimmer of hope kindle within you, a beacon of light in the darkness that had threatened to consume you.

“Why the fuck do you even care, Marc? You're always at work, with your colleagues, or with some other whore you've picked up! You don't even love me; you don't even want to fuck me! Why can't you just leave me alone? I don't want you in my life! You're not some gift from God to the wor-"

And then it happened. Like a bolt of lightning, as the words poured from your lips, fuelled by years of pent-up frustration and resentment, Marc silenced you with a swift, forceful slap across your cheek.

The sting was sharp, cutting through your skin like a hot iron. Your hand instinctively rose to cradle the tender flesh, the red mark a painful testament to the violence just inflicted upon you. Tears streamed down your cheeks unchecked, your eyes swollen and puffy as the reality of the situation began to sink in.

The room descended into silence, as the only sound was the distant hum of the city beyond. You stood frozen, unable to move as shock and fear gripped you in their icy hold. Your mind screamed at you to flee, to escape the danger lurking in his gaze, but your body remained rooted to the spot.

Then, you noticed it—the spark of something sinister igniting in his eyes, a predatory glint that sent a chill down your spine. And suddenly instinct took over, adrenaline flooding your veins as your heart raced in your chest. Without hesitation, you turned and ran.

The fight-or-flight response kicked in, and in that moment, flight was your only recourse. Your feet pounded against the pavement, carrying you forward with a speed you didn't know you possessed. You had to get away, to break free from the toxic and perilous situation that had ensnared you for too long.

And as you vanished into the night, seeking refuge from the tempest raging both inside and out, you knew there was only one place you could go: to William's.

You knew you must have looked a sight: eyes swollen and puffy, tears still tracing down one cheek, the other flushed red from Marc's blow. Rain had soaked your hair, leaving it a tangled mess against your face, while your sweater clung damply to your body. Even your homey sandals couldn't escape the rain, their socks sodden from your frantic escape.

The train journey dragged on, each stop feeling like an eternity. Anxiety gripped you tighter with every passing moment, your mind overrun with a whirlwind of thoughts and fears. You couldn't help but keep checking over your shoulder, heart pounding with the dread of Marc following you.

And upon arriving at your destination, you wasted no time, hastening towards the familiar safety of William's apartment building. Fortunately, the guard recognised you despite your dishevelled state, offering a sympathetic smile as he opened the door, though you were too consumed by your turmoil to acknowledge his kindness.

Breathless and trembling, you rode the lift to the upper floor, each second feeling like an eternity as your heart continued to race in your chest. The journey blurred by, your mind struggling to process the night's events and the enormity of what had just occurred.

And finally, you stood before William's door, your hand hesitating for a moment before instinct propelled you to knock softly against the wood. As you waited for him to answer, a single plea echoed in your mind: please, let him be home.

"Y/n? Shit, what's happened?" William's voice was filled with concern as he swung the door open, taking in your dishevelled appearance. "Fuck, come in."

But you were frozen, your body unable to respond as the realisation dawned that you might finally be safe, yet still unable to shake off the shock.

And William sensed the gravity of the situation, approaching you with cautious steps, mindful not to startle you further. He stood calmly, giving you the space, you needed to ease out of the grip of the adrenaline rush.

Words caught in your throat, the weight of the ordeal bearing down on you heavily. You wanted to explain, to recount the nightmare that had unfolded, but fear and uncertainty barricaded your words. Yet, as you stood there, trembling and teetering on the edge of collapse, William's reassuring presence began to seep into your core, offering the comfort you so desperately needed.

"It's... Marc," you managed to choke out, tears once again streaming down your cheeks. "He— he hurt me..."

The words hung in the air, the truth settling heavily between you like a dark cloud. In that moment, William's expression transformed, a mix of anger and concern contorting his features.

"What?" he exclaimed sharply, his eyes flashing with fury. "He hit you?"

"Yes... I'm... I'm sorry... I didn't know... where else to go..." you whispered.

William felt a fire ignite within him at the revelation, a fierce protectiveness washing over him as he fought the urge to seek retribution against the man who had dared to lay a hand on you. But he knew that now wasn't the time for vengeance. Now was the time to comfort you, to ensure your safety and well-being above all else.

So, with gentle motions, he wrapped an arm around you and slowly guided you into his condo, his presence a comforting shield against the turmoil. Seating you on the sofa, he enveloped you in his embrace, his touch offering solace amidst the chaos.

Though familiar with such scenarios, tonight felt weightier than usual. Your boyfriend's actions had crossed a line, and it was time for decisive action. William simply couldn't bear seeing you in such distress any longer. You, whom he loved so deeply, deserved nothing but happiness. And he was determined to see that you received it.

And with every passing second, his soft whispered reassurances began to ease the tension, as he draped a blanket over your shoulders, and you felt a warmth spreading through you.

However, as you sat there, enveloped in the comforting silence, guilt gnawed at your insides like a relentless beast.

"I'm so sorry, Willy... I-I didn't mean to ruin your evening," you spoke softly, regret tingeing your voice.

"Hey, you're not ruining anything," William replied, his tone tender and reassuring, yet you couldn't bring yourself to meet his gaze.

"Yes, I am... I'm always just intruding on your life with all my problems," you sighed heavily, the weight of your burdens pressing down on you. "You should just leave me alone, Willy... I'm just 50 shades of fucked up..."

"No, I'm not leaving you like this," William interjected firmly, his voice brooking no argument.

"Please, I don't want to be a burden to you anymore..." you pleaded, your voice tinged with desperation, a bit louder this time.

"Then what do you want?" William asked, his gaze unwavering as he searched your face for answers.

"I-I don't know..." you admitted, feeling lost and uncertain amidst your turmoil.

"Come on, y/n, just tell me what you want," William urged, his voice a steady anchor in the storm of your emotions.

And then, in a moment of raw vulnerability, the words spilled from your lips without hesitation.

"I want you," you confessed, your voice stronger than a whisper, finally meeting his gaze.

"You have me... You've always had," William replied softly, meeting your eyes with unwavering sincerity.

"No, I want to be with you, Willy..."

In that moment, as your eyes locked, a wave of comfort washed over you, a sense of peace settling over your troubled soul like a gentle caress.

You had finally vocalised what you'd been longing to say for so long, the ties with your boyfriend holding you back now severed. But now, you were free. And your first act of freedom was to express to William how deeply you desired him.

"I'm sorry... I just... I know I've been nothing but a burden to you all these years," you confessed, attempting a half-smile. "But... I've always... I've always been in love with you... I guess I've just never... been able to say it... out loud."

It was a tremendous relief, and you felt the weight lift from your shoulders. And as much as joy stirred within you, William too released a sigh he'd been holding onto for years.

"I'm in love with you too, y/n... I always have been," he revealed, flashing you a tender smile, before he gently leaned his forehead against yours, his hand tenderly caressing your cheek. "I love you so much, and all I want is for you to be happy."

Drawing back slightly, you locked eyes with his deep ocean blue gaze. "You make me happy, Willy... You always have," you exhaled softly. And with the floodgates open, you couldn't contain the emotions any longer. "You've always been there for me... and I can't put into words how much it's meant... you're my soulmate..."

William offered you a wider smile, his lips drawing closer to yours. "And you're mine..."

It was the moment you'd yearned for, and now, after an evening filled with thunder and heartache, the universe had healed the wounds and guided you to where you truly belonged: with William Nylander. And as your lips met in a tender kiss, sharing the warmth of your breath, you knew without a doubt that you had finally come home.

[jennifercheckapologist]

Bandit Like Me - 00

Synopsis: You meet Ellie at her album release and she offers you her jacket.

Pairing: Rockstar!Ellie x Musician!Reader (Side Abby x Reader)

Warnings: None, really; Ellie's a slut (and southern); Reader's a slut (and southern); Reader isn't explicitly femme or masc, but I'm femme and everything I do is for myself; Eventual Smut; Joel is Super Alive

A/N: I haven't written something with a real plot that wasn't about Jennifer's Body in 5ever ! Also a transphobic radfem reblogged my last fic... terrifying. I would rather not interact with TERFs ever <3

Word Count: 1,252

On TLOU2 and Palestine

Resources

You need air- or at least, that’s what you told Abby before you rushed out onto the back patio, away from all the warm bodies, glitter, and the sounds of the world ending. It’s overwhelming being surrounded by celebrities now after all the years of shitty apartments and college parties. Now, they’re supposed to be your peers… or something like that.

You probably weren’t supposed to be here, on the guest list for one of the biggest parties of the year at Ellie’s absurd mansion- all dressed up to celebrate her. You definitely weren’t supposed to be outside, on her back patio in the cold New York air, watching her strum her guitar to herself.

You know you’re intruding, but you just can’t turn around. Not when Ellie looks so… like that with her signature guitar in her lap and her hair messily piled up on her head. She’s under-dressed in her blue jeans and wife beater. The only sign that she isn’t in the same tax bracket as you is the bright red racer jacket covering her arms. You’d seen that jacket a million times in photos. On-stage, in paparazzi photos, in music videos.

You hadn’t expected her here, outside all alone. Not when all the people worth name-dropping were inside, celebrating the release of her newest album. It seemed she was already working on the next thing. You hadn’t expected to get to speak to her either. She’d been famous since you’d been in high school- you still had her old country songs from long before she was a rockstar saved to your phone.

She must know you’re here- you didn’t make much effort to hide your arrival- but she stays focused. Her eyes are trained on her hand at the neck of the guitar, and she’s got that wrinkle between her brows like she’s doing surgery. The longer you wait, the more awkward you feel.

“Now, what would your daddy say if he saw you right now?” You manage a bit of confidence as you take a few steps toward where she’s seated, legs crossed on the concrete. It feels like a safe enough topic; something you could talk about for a while.

She chuckles, already back to being the impossibly charming star she was back inside. She flirts the same way that she breathes- instinctually, “What if I told you that he taught me everything I know?”

The answer? You wouldn’t be surprised. You’d grown up listening to Joel’s music with your parents, and you could hear bits and pieces of him all over her music. There were touches of him in your own work too. You still idolized him- had nearly choked on your drink when you saw him inside.

“About guitar,” you murmur, already melting into her, “or women?”

“Both, but there was only so much he could tell me about guitar,” she jokes. She finally looks up from her guitar, green eyes intense as she watches you squirm in front of her, “Did he see me leave?”

You shrug in response, your arms wrapped around you as you realize how cold it is. You can feel the goosebumps along your arms, and you’re starting to really regret your outfit choice, “I couldn’t say. He looked pretty relaxed the last time I saw him.”

She starts strumming again, something familiar- you recognize it from one of her first albums. It felt like those albums were a lifetime ago, but you remember listening to her debut when you were still in high school. She was only a couple of years older than you, but it seemed she was speaking right to you. You’d recognize those first tracks any day. Her strumming stopped again when you shivered and breathed into the cold air.

“Take my jacket,” she placed her guitar aside gently and began to remove the expensive leather for you, “Joel’d be pissed if I let you freeze out here, sugar.”

“Oh no, I couldn’t,” you protest, finally sitting next to her but certainly keeping your distance. You weren’t here to get starstruck and fall hopelessly in love with your seventeen-year-old self’s crush. You were supposed to be getting fresh air. You’d already promised Abby that you wouldn’t get into trouble tonight.

“You could,” she shoved the jacket toward you, “And you should.”

You push her hand back toward her, “Ellie, I know better.”

The smirk on her face doesn’t let up as she drawls, “You’re really hurting my ego here.”

“One second I’m in your jacket, the next I’m in your bed. I know how you are.”

“I’ve heard similar stories about you,” Ellie placed her jacket in front of you and crossed her arms, celebrating her minor victory as you picked it up and used it to cover your legs, “You don’t have to hop in my bed for it, I promise. I’m still a gentleman. Just don’t tell your girlfriend.”

“I’m sure she won’t mind. She’s a big fan,” You wink. ‘Fan’ might be a strong word here, but so was ‘girlfriend.’ What you and Abby had was something in between that. You looked good together, and you had fun. You tried not to think too much about Ellie knowing anything about your love life.

She reached for her guitar again with a laugh, “Yeah, I’m sure.”

You watched as she stood to leave, seemingly pleased with that being the end of your interaction. You stood awkwardly and called her name, folding her jacket over your arm. She only turned back around to you when she reached the door back into her house, “Your jacket?”

And god, you want to push her for how cocky she looks as she turns on her heel to grin at you, “Don’t worry, I’ll take it back once I’ve seen you in it.”

The moment she’s inside, the whole interaction feels fake. The only evidence you have of the moment is the red leather covering your arm, and you feel like a ridiculous teenager as you bring it to your nose to take in her scent. It smells earthy and expensive and now you’re certain you were smart not to put it on. If you had kept bantering with her, surrounded by her scent like this, you would be in trouble.

You stay outside, thinking about the feeling of being with Ellie for a little longer before heading back in to find Abby. She lights up when she sees you, her large arms wrapping around your waist and pulling you in like you really do belong to her. She’s warm against you, and when she gives you your personal space back, she has confusion contorting her face as she stares at the leather folded over your arm, “That’s new.”

“Yeah,” you attempt to shrug off the edge in her voice, “I ran into Ellie Williams outside and it was cold so she-”

“She left her own party to sit outside and wait for a pretty girl to need a jacket?” She murmurs into your ear, pulling you back into her. You can already tell she’s preparing to make this a thing.

You frown up at her, “She was working on a song or something. I interrupted her and she was really nice about it.”

“I’m sure she was.”

“Oh, stop it,” you hook your free arm around her neck, “She knew I came with you.”

That makes the corners of her mouth perk up. She presses a quick kiss to the corner of your mouth before responding, “Good.”

Housekeeping: Dividers again by @saradika ; pinterest board that got me here ; As always, I'm a black femme lesbian and that's my truth

[etheries1015]

Hello can I request a fluffy fic about how Jack would interact tereact their s/o while he’s using his unique magic? I hope it’s not too weird of a request

Its not weird at all! I actually think this concept is super cute 😭 thank you for the request <3 I hope you like it <3

Jack seldom used his unique magic, save for the times he desperately needed to. It took a lot of energy to maintain his wolf form, and it wasn't a very common type of magic, either. That didnt stop you from asking him to, and I quote, "Turn into the fluffy wolf again!!!" Wanting to preserve his magic (and avoid becoming your play thing...) He would find an excuse each time to gently refuse your insistent prodding.

There was one particular day though, one in which you found yourself deep in a hole of...well, stress. It was a rather difficult day, to say the least. Being the only non magic wielding student at an all-magic school, there were bound to be times you felt to be at an extreme disadvantage. You must had forgotten you chose this day to study with Jack, for when he attempted to find you in the library where you had chosen to meet, you were nowhere to be found.

Finding you crying in the garden of ramshackle was the last thing he thought you would be doing. You were huddled up in an abandoned corner of wilted flowers, hugging your knees to press against your chest as your body trembled with sadness. You heard someone approaching you, yet avoided their gaze in fear of embarrassing yourself further with tears to simply add to your "pathetic feats" of the day. You heard a gentle and familiar sigh, Jack dropping his bag and bending over to meet your eyeline.

"Rough day, I heard," Jack rubbed the back of his neck, "Do you... want to talk about it?" Shaking your head, Jack pursed his lips. He never particularly felt as if he were good at comforting people, for his actions always seemed to speak louder than his words. He wasn't used to seeing your smile fade like the wilted flowers, or hearing muffled cries escape your typically optimistic mouth. Thats when it clicked in him, the one thing he felt would be able to cheer you up...he hoped.

You heard rustling sounds before the familiar sound of magic casting, head flicking up in time to hear his chant and watch Jacks form morph into that of a great wolf with long untouched white fur. You let out a gasp of surprise as a smile quickly took over your face, Jack utilizing his now wolf form to nuzzle your cheek against his own. You opened your arms to hug him, petting the silky fur that you only dreamed of being able to pet.

"Get on," Jack encouraged, "I wanna show you something." You double checked if he was certain he would be alright with you upon his back, his response was eagerly inviting you on and insisting he was more than capable to do as much. He lowered his body for you to comfortably climb onto his back, hugging him firmly while shoving your face into his deep soft locks of fur. Determining you were secure enough, Jack ran.

He ran through the woods a rather short trip because of his sheer speed, it seemed as if only a few minutes had past before you made it to the destination, Jack allowing you to get off his back. Before you stood what looked to be an abandoned projecy, entering the decently sized house that lay on the floor between two older looking trees. The floors were crooked and the ceiling was rotting from moist wood, the inside bare of furniture and appliances. It truly seemed to be a work in progress that someone had decided was no longer worth the time.

"I found this place not too long ago," Jack admitted, "During a run. I meant to bring you here sooner after I fixed up a couple things, I think it'll make a fun hideout one day! Or a study spot for us!" You side eyed wolf Jack, raising a suspicious eyebrow.

"Are you sure you weren't trying to trick me into jogging here sometime with you to get my daily dose of exercise in?" He let out an (almost offended) chuckle.

"You're failing gym, it takes a lot to do that." He joked. You embraced him once more, shuffling your head between his shoulder blade and falling to the ground bringing him with you.

"I can't maintain this form forever," He said almost reluctantly, his heart warmed from the affection you gave him. You nodded into his shoulder and breathed in shakily, Jack laying down on his side and allowing you to cuddle against him.

"Just...a little longer," you muttered, "is it weird? I'm sorry." Jack shook his head, giving your cheek a small and affectionate lick and rubbing his soft head into the crook of your neck as if to hug you back.

"Not at all," He replied. You two remained like that for a short period of time, before Jack had to revert back to his original all too soon in your opinion, to his tall and strong human form. His arms were now wrapped around you in a normal hug, to which you responded with a kiss against the soft skin of his cheek.

"Thank you again," you smiled gently at him. Jacks cheeks took on a rosey hue, looking away shyly with a smile tugging at the corners of his lips and a hum of thought escaping them.

"Maybe I should do it more often..." You sat up in excitement, stars in your eyes as he almost immediately regret the words slipping out his mouth. There began the whole theatrics, You insisted that next time he take you on another journey on his back, or saying something silly about him being your "knight in shining fur" protecting you in a "cool" way against danger. You gushed about the stories you could write about some sort of wolf forbidden romance, and all the other things he heard you laugh about before. This time, he listened to you with love and attentiveness more than he ever had before, not realizing how much he missed your rants.

He was truly glad you were back to being yourself...silly, smiling, utterly perfect you.

~~~~~~~~~

I'm so used to writing for the third years KDHFKWJD I hope he wasn't TOO out of character! If you have any suggestions on how I could improve on this, let me know and I shall update it accordingly~ I hope you liked it and properly answers your ask! If not, feel free to send another one <3

[kneelingshadowsalome]

i love your works and your toxic könig so much 😭 for some reason in my head könig was always like a puppy in love even outside of aus but i like to imagine him like this sometimes.

basically if he feels abandoned bc you were busy with something else (literally taking a shower for like 10 minutes or not looking at him while he was talking) he will start crying and needs you to kiss him a bunch of times and tell him he's your favourite boy baby husband man boyfriend sweetheart for like an hour lol. he literally can't stand it if he can't touch you or talk to you for long periods of time (let's say the reader is a civilian and könig often has missions he has to leave for). he literally goes insane and keeps rereading those screenshots of loving messages from you he has an entire folder on his phone for, literally he convinced himself that you've already left him for someone else and is now going to be crying himself to sleep.

when he does return he's literally scared, so it feels like you attached him to yourself physically and that's why he never leaves your side. always holding hands, könig always being there even if your have to move around the house a lot or do the most mundane tasks even if he himself has chores or things he needs to do. kind of creepy bc he's just silent but feels like he'll die if you disappear from his line of sight for more than two seconds.

even aside from that listening to you talk fondly of someone, anyone really: a friend (if he lets you have them), a random cashier (if he wasn't there with you to talk to them instead of you), a relative (if he even allows you to talk to your family) he's so!!! like hurt and upset and goes quiet for long periods of time.

like eyes red from crying, nose stuffed and he's like "i'm fine nothing is wrong" then goes back to crying somewhere more private.

and this kind of behaviour makes sex kind of uncomfortable Sometimes. he often needs you to repeat that you're his, only his, you can't look away from him, you HAVE to be holding his hand when he fucks you but somehow it's a 50/50 when it comes to power dynamics.

either he manhandles you and shows you that he's the only man, the only person you could ever need or love and that he won't ever let you leave him; or he's completely subby, like "please hold my face and kiss me while you're riding me for as long as you want, i'm only yours and i wanna show that" kind of way.

i am insane basically thank you for coming to my ted talk.

This was one of the best Ted talks I've ever been to! I loved every word, every second of it!! 🥳🥹 My god, I want more... I need me some encore now.

I love subby König, holy Christ. And tbh... what's beneath the toxic, crazy killing machine König is someone who is horribly, and I mean HORRIBLY love-deprived and touch-starved and super duper insecure. Which means there's bound to be some subby behavior leaking through toxic König too!

König would so need to have you on his sights at all times. And when he's working, it's annoying because... he loves his work but now he's just thinking about you. What are you doing at this very moment..? Have you talked to someone today? A friend, a colleague, a family member? A stranger??

Do you sleep ok without him (because he doesn't, he just tosses and turns in his bunk/cot/the ground all night when you're not there), and why haven't you sent a text today? He's gonna call you as soon as he gets somewhere more private.

The longer the mission lasts, the more sullen and broody he gets. After a few days, he kills his enemies with a thousand yard stare only because they're basically what's between him and his squeeze.

And yes he has to touch you like a thousand times a day or just watch your every move when he finally gets home. If you're in the bathroom too long he comes to knock on the door and ask if everything's alright (you ran there to have a moment's peace from this big cuddly behemoth who looks at you with that creepy batless obsessive stare... frankly it's disturbing)

And oh my god stop – holding hands during sex? Oh my god. Imagine him bordering on being rough (because he's *missed* you goddammit 👿) while wanting to entwine your fingers together✨️. Toxic König is a huge romantic, even if the "romantic" things he does are a bit... questionable. And he wouldn't shut up during the first round after he got home!

"Say that you missed me,"

"Tell me you're mine... Say it. Now,"

"You're always teasing me,"

would be some of the things he'd say during pounding you to his heart's content. (And you wouldn't even know how you've "teased" him this time... Like... He's the one who left for a week long mission...? 🤨)

After sex he would be so much gentler, but no less demanding and whiny. He needs so much validation and gets odd and grumpy if you don't give him some. If you'd try to domme him though, he would become even more unbearable (being a sub is this man's secret fantasy but he doesn't even know it himself).

[ad0rechuu]

JUNG WOOYOUNG’S SUPERPOWER. ━━ JWY

prompts / plot. ━━━━━ excitedly grabbing each other's hands during a concert and jumping up and down together & good night kisses

requested by @jaehunnyy. ━━━━━ gn! reader x non idol! jung wooyoung , fluff , staring: only wooyoung & yn , tw: one (1) mention of anxiety , wc: 671 , notes: thank you for being my first request chippie and sorry that it took so long but i loved writing wooyoung and ur request !

[ listening to . . . ] coloring book by the regrettes

masterlist | credits to @ari-shipping-stuff for being my beta reader / writer <33

YOUR BEST FRIEND, JUNG WOOYOUNG, HAD A SUPERPOWER.

He had shown up at your home last minute with two concert tickets for his and your favorite band in his hand and basically dragged you to the venue no matter how much you scolded and nagged at him for his impulsivity. Still, as the venue filled up with more excited fans, you felt your heart racing.

And before any negative thoughts could ruin your night, he had cupped your hands in own, jumping up and down giddily as soon as the music started.

The smile on his beautiful face was almost blinding. You could barely hear his voice as he sung with the band wholeheartedly. You knew it would sound good to you anyway. Even if it wasn't the best, you knew it wouldn’t matter to you because he was Wooyoung.

It made you realize the sheer strength of his power.

Wooyoung’s superpower wasn’t anything like you saw in the media like teleportation, super speed, or telekinesis.

His superpower was greater than that. It made you feel comfortable no matter how deep you could talk yourself into anxiety. His superpower effortlessly lifted you up when life dragged you down.

AS THE TWO OF YOU off the bus and walked the familiar way home, ecstatic from the concert, you couldn’t help but replay the memories of the two of you dancing together.

The entire evening was a challenge to keep your eyes off the boy by your side, and it still proved difficult as you two set foot on the street heading towards home.

A strange feeling bubbled up in your belly as you spotted your home in the near distance; you realized your night with Wooyoung would have to end soon.

A part of you wanted to make an excuse just to keep him next to you. Just a little while longer. But after turning to him and seeing the yawn stretching across his face, you decided against it.

Both of you stopped in front of the familiar building and met each other's eyes.

You looked down at the floor, breaking the silence. “Thank you for taking me out tonight, Woo. I had a great time with you at the concert.”

“Yeah?” He chuckled warmly. “I’m glad you did. We should do it again soon. I really enjoy spending time with you.”

You echoed his words with a nod. “I really enjoy spending time with you too!”

He smiled at the fondness in your voice. It matched the emotions in his dark eyes. He pointed in the direction of the door with his head.

“It’s late. You should probably go in before it gets cold.” He didn’t want the moment to end, but he didn’t want you getting sick on his conscience either.

“You’re right, I guess.” You looked around as if you could see the air cooling, the strange feeling only getting stronger as you spoke. “Well, goodnight!”

He laughed again as you turned around, feeling the exact same need in the pit of his stomach. “Goodnight.”

You opened the gate but hadn’t even taken two steps in when you heard the call of your name again.

“Yn, wait!” Wooyoung called nervously after you, seeming to wait for you to come closer again.

His cheeks reddened when you met his eyes. “I, uh—”

He didn’t get to finish whatever he was trying to say as he felt two lips fall clumsily on his own interrupting him. You cupped his cheeks, kissing him softly.

His superpowers didn’t warn him of this moment— the moment Wooyoung had been dreaming for months about.

You two parted after a few seconds. But it felt like something entirely new bloomed between you when your lips connected under the streetlights, the moon and stars as your only witness.

One last shy smirk graces your pretty features before you turned around once more. Your giddy yet knowing voice reached his ears for the last time that night; to him, it sounded like a melody.

“Sweet dreams, Woo!”

networks. @cromernet

notes. i loved writing wooyoung so much i wanna do it more!! but its my first official stand alone ateez fic and i am so nervous so please leave feedback! also please let me know if i got the tag list right! also credits to lilo for the listening to part of the lay out check out her works!

taglist. @yuyusuyu @bluehwale-main @seonghwaddict @tocupid @leo-seonghwa @aestheticsluut @starryunho @mrowwww @i-luvsang | send me an ask to be added to the general obey me or kpop taglist (or both ofc)

[phoenixcatch7]

Open up

Based on this wonderful art of @puppetmaster13u for the dollhouse au!

It had been a long day, and was destined to be even longer.

The original plan had been bad enough; the league had a media conference planned for three o'clock, one that involved foreign presence and thus required pristine presentation.

Then, as all perfectly good plans that could have been left alone by the universe did, it was derailed by a villain attack or several. He said several because it seemed almost a dozen separate villains had individually had the bright idea of sabotaging the well publicised event. Though they'd failed, the accidental collaboration had done what each alone could not, and now the league was dragging themselves to base to hurriedly patch up the thankfully minor wounds and try and rush to meet the deadline.

Each league member on the list had a formal version of their usual super suit - flash's main change had been a bowtie before it met almost unanimous disapproval, and on the other end of the effort spectrum was Bruce. Not of his own will - he quite envied Flash's staunch faith in the single black bowtie - but he not only had been raised for the fast and critical world of the upper class, but was currently in a metal plated marionette held together by glue and screws and wires, which meant changing attire was more of a debacle than it would ordinarily be.

He flipped open the toolkit with the best approximation of a sigh the doll body could manage. The chest inflated and deflated, which was in fact a rather worrying sign because it wasn't supposed to be able to do that. He grabbed a screwdriver and a pit of tar glue and approached the mirror. He'd just have to go into the globally broadcast meeting stinking of sulphur... Perhaps he could borrow perfume from one of the girls, cologne combined dreadfully.

The chest cavity opened with little tugging, and he held one side in place as he attacked the bent hinges. An odd feeling, for sure. He took a hammer to the dent, imagining it was the penguin's face and praying Clark didn't decide now was the time to approach him on his self soothing metalworking hobby. He'd been entrusted with the override code for the door and Bruce was now quietly regretting that.

The chest cavity doors creaked back into place, which enabled him to finally pull out the costume change for the evening and dump it on the side.

Now for the leg, having been crushed under a tank penguin had smuggled into Gotham. It now bent the wrong way, and hiding it under his cloak had been a pain, but at least it hadn't come off -

There it went. Batman watched, almost despondent, as it toppled free of his body and crashed to the ground. The unhappy static that raced up his spine at the sight was expected - he'd be paying for the lack of care for the Patriarch Doll in nightmares tonight.

Joy.

He tipped into the nearby stool and kicked the lost limb closer with his remaining foot, squinting. Just a cracked screw and torn spring at the knee, thank goodness. He'd have it fully attached again within the hour.

But he was pretty sure he couldn't bend that far over without his jaw falling off, so face it was.

Hood off, wires unlaced under the chin, hidden screws loosened. The gas mask came off. The velcro on top of his head took good old fashioned yanking, but eventually peeled off with reluctant crackling, revealing the unpainted grey metal beneath.

As expected, his jaw was almost entirely loose, unable to close now without the structure of the mask. The nutcracker mouth in the lower jaw fell to tap against his throat, leaving either side of the actual lower jaw to hang in the air. Experimentally, he opened and closed his mouth, and watched all three parts swing and clink like a robot body horror wind-chime.

This was going to need a finer touch, and so he stripped off his gloves to access the sharp points of his talons - capped while with the league to keep the prick of steel rending claws to a mere suggestion.

He felt bared, now, all his top layer removed and abandoned, the door to his room at his back. He feels the paranoia to double check the lock, reassures himself that even if he'd somehow forgotten in his haste to hide away none of the members were mad enough to try and get in. Outside Superman, of course, but he always knocked.

Still, he hurried through repairs, running diagnostics in the back of his mind as he daubed glue into the cracks and set about restructuring his own jaw. Ears swivelled. Neck rolled. Glider snaps curled.

The jaw pieces were setting nicely when there was a noise at the door, and batman whipped around, cloak flaring behind him. The pliers dropped from suddenly weak fingers.

Captain marvel stood in the doorway, eyes wide as he took in the room, face pale as he saw Batman propped up in middle, bare of his many obfuscating layers. Black tar speckled his lap, wires hung free like veins, blank eyes glowed, his jaw gaping, skinless. Glinting claws and spikes in full view, a limb discarded on the floor like garbage. His chest a dark hole, void of organs, of machinery, of anything that could make him run. A decades old terror gripped his heart.

HE SAW!

Both froze. Time stretched interminably.

The captains chest heaved for a scream, and batman was moving before he knew it, grabbing his fallen leg and lunging.

Captain marvel fell with a crack. Batman caught himself on the door. Five seconds before short term memory entered long term, had he reacted in time?

Hm.

He considered the body of the champion of magic laid in front of him, idly rebalancing the eternal tally graph of potential energies the dolls might run on in the back of his head and as always coming up none the wiser. This was a very inconvenient place for a body. Perhaps he could nudge marvel into the hallway to wake up. He glanced up and down the empty corridor, staying out of view of the camera.

Maybe he had overreacted slightly.

Bonus:

Billy and Green Lantern sat in the monitor room, ostensibly on duty but really checking out the watchtower camera feeds of the day before. Lantern was pointing at the screen.

"Here," he said, with a glee Billy didn't honestly appreciate. "Look at that. You go down like a sack of bricks and then -" he clicked forward two frames, "- this silver hand thing appears on the door frame. Look at that, that's a proper horror movie hand curl. The claws! Just missing the glint of a blood covered axe appearing from the shadows."

Billy shuddered, but couldn't help moving closer.

"What do you think it was? Can't have been batman, right?"

"You were there, you tell me." Lantern patted him on the shoulder before he could retort. "I mean, doesn't look much like him. Doesn't really have claws and his are black anyway. Pretty sure his gloves are sewn into his skin at this point."

"I didn't need that mental image," Billy said, because he really didn't.

"Could be another Robin variant? Like that black bat thing?"

"Dunno. I mean, unlikely. Maybe it was batman. Maybe he can shapeshift a little."

"We've had that on the list of possible powers for ages, still nothing firm one way or the other."

"It probably is batman -"

"But the claws -"

They trailed off.

"We'll just add it to the list. I'll save the file, hang on. We can talk about it at the do next week - you're coming right?"

"Yeah, but I've got, uh... A diplomacy thing with the yetis at nine, so I'll have to bail then."

"You always have the weirdest personal missions. Hey, maybe you can ask them about batman, pffft. Maybe he's one of them."

[stayteezdreams]

Midnight Cravings: Part Two

Plot: After you and Felix realize you have no way of contacting each other, you both wander around familiar places, hoping desperately that you might find each other again.

-Part One-

Pairing: Lee Felix x Gn!Reader

-Meet-Cute Series-

Words: ~3k; it came out a lot longer than I intended, but I'm glad! I liked writing it :)

Your best-fried wasn't sure if they should think you were sweet or crazy. Following you down various roads near the super-market where you met Felix in hopes you might recognize his apartment building was not what they had planned.

"Is this it?" They asked you as you walked down another road.

You groaned and shook your head, "Maybe? No- I don't know."

You hated that you hadn't paid more attention of your surroundings when you and Felix had walked back to his apartment that night. But you had been so engrossed in conversation with him, you didn't even take time to note how long you had been walking.

It had been nearly a week since you met Felix, and nearly a week that you spent pining after him.

You were so angry with yourself that you hadn't gotten his number, and you hated that you felt so intent on finding him. Especially when you had no idea if he would feel the same. He didn't ask for your number either, so maybe he was fine with it being a one-off meeting.

Stopping, you really started to think more about it. What if you did find his apartment? What if you knocked on the door and he answered. Would you tell him that you had been walking through the nearby neighborhoods looking for his apartment? Would he think you were weird? Would he be freaked out? You felt your gut clench. Of course he would be. This was not a normal thing to do.

You sighed and shook your head. "This is ridiculous, I don't know why I thought this was a good idea. Let's go."

Your friend pouted a bit but nodded. She really did think it was cute you felt so drawn to this guy, even after you pulled the not-so-clever move of going to a stranger's apartment to bake brownies in the middle of the night. Which she had told you off about.

But seeing your defeated face, she really did wish you had found his apartment. She had never seen you act like this about anyone. This Felix guy must be something special.

"This is the fifth time this week we've come to this store, Felix. We don't even need any groceries." Seungmin grumbled as he followed Felix down the aisles as he looked for your familiar face.

"I know, I just-"

"Want to see your brownie soulmate again, I got it." He finished Felix's thought.

Looking down the aisle he had met you in, he sighed, feeling defeat wash over him. You weren't here, just like you hadn't been the last five times he had come. He eyed a box of the brownies, the same kind the two of you had made.

'At least they restocked them.' He thought as he grabbed one and turned away.

"Let's go." He mumbled in defeat as he and Seungmin walked to check out.

Seungmin watched Felix closely as the two exited the store. "Are you going to try again tomorrow?" He asked, feeling genuine pity for Felix as he saw the slump of his shoulders.

Felix wanted to say yes, but he began to wonder if there was really a point to it. Maybe he'd never run into you again. Maybe you didn't want to run into him again. Maybe, the strong feeling he felt towards you was just a one-sided feeling. Maybe it would fade.

Felix sighed, "No, I don't think I will." But even as he said it, he knew it was a lie.

As you drove past the store you had first met Felix, you pulled in, a hope sitting in your chest that maybe, just maybe you might see Felix here.

As you walked around the store, grabbing a few things, you looked at every face you passed and felt the pit in your stomach grow deeper.

Walking down the baking aisle, you stopped at the brownies. You noted that there were only three boxes left.

"Should I get two?" You mumbled. Thinking for a moment, you settled on one as you grabbed a box of brownies. The exact same kind you had made with Felix.

Would Felix think of me when he makes brownies? Will he think of me at all?

You sighed as you felt pathetic for your own thoughts.

No, probably not.

You however did think of Felix as you made the brownies. You thought of the jokes the two of you made in hushed voices in his darkened kitchen at one in the morning. You thought of the bright smile on his face that felt like the sun itself. You thought of how sweet and kind he was towards you. And then you thought about the sinking realization that you had no way to reach him again. And that you might never see him again.

Why do I feel like this? I knew him for three hours, why do I feel like I got my heart broken?

You put your head in your hands.

I've never fallen for someone so easily before. Why now? It would be so much easier if I could just forget.

You thought back on something your friend had said earlier. 'Maybe it was love at first sight. Maybe you're soulmates. Maybe that's why you feel like you need to find him.'

You had scoffed at her words, thinking maybe she was just teasing you. But as your emotions seemed to only get harsher, you started to wonder if there might be some truth to her words. No matter how unrealistic it sounded.

Forgetting to set your timer, you threw yourself on the couch and turned on the TV, your eyes heavy as you felt exhaustion wash over you. You continued to replay the few hours you had with Felix, and before you knew it your eyes started to close.

As the smell of smoke filled your nose, you woke from your accidental nap in a dazed panic. The memory of the brownies caused you to rush into the kitchen and throw all the windows open before scrambling to get the brownies out of the oven.

After the panic of the next ten minutes, you sat back on your couch and let out a sigh. You made a note to yourself to call the landlord and tell him your fire alarm might not be working, because there was no way it shouldn't have gone off.

When the adrenaline finally faded you dealt with the burned brownies as you let out a scoff. "Nice one Y/n." You groaned, feeling sad as you looked at the charred brownies now in the trash. "I really wanted those too."

Looking at the clock, you noted it was getting late, but it wasn't midnight, so maybe it wouldn't be as unhinged this time if you went and got another box. Thinking back to when you met Felix, you let hope rise a bit as you decided to take a walk to the store.

Felix grumbled to himself as he finished sweeping up the remains of his brownie mix from the kitchen floor. He hadn't been paying attention when set the bowl down, he hadn't realized he set it on the corner, only for it to topple off the second he let go.

It was entirely his fault and he knew it. His mind was too plagued with thoughts of you that he wasn't paying attention. All he could think about as he prepared the brownies was that he wished you were there to help him.

Baking was his comfort but baking with you brought him not only comfort, but a joy he didn't realize he had been missing. It was a feeling he wanted to hold onto forever, but he already felt it fading.

Sighing as he dumped the baking mix into the trash, he checked the clock. It was just after six, not too late to go back to the store. His mind flashed back to the moment he first saw you. When your hands touched and your eyes met. That was the first time he had ever properly felt butterflies.

Grabbing the house keys, he made his way out of the apartment and down the road. He doubted he would find you at the grocery store, but he still held onto the fact there was a chance. Felix told himself this was the last time he would purposefully look for you, though even as he did so, he knew it was just another lie.

'I don't think I'll ever stop looking.'

As you stopped in front of the brownies, you eyed the last two boxes. "I should have bought two." Grabbing the boxes you began to leave before you hesitated.

Looking back at the empty shelf, you sighed before you put one back and headed back to the register. Your eyes naturally scanned the store as you went, before you rolled your eyes at your own actions. 'He's not here, get over it.' Though the disheartened feeling in your chest only grew.

You decided to walk home slowly, taking in the cool evening air before you returned to your smoke-scented apartment. You hadn't gone slow enough however, if you had, you might have been spotted by the blonde boy heading down the path towards the store.

Felix made his way towards the baking aisle, his eyes darting around the store as he became more and more disheartened at no sign of you.

'Of course they wouldn't be here, don't be stupid. Your luck's not that good.' He chastised himself.

Spotting one last box of brownie mix, he smiled to himself as he grabbed it. Had you come back to buy one at all? Did you think of him when you did? Did you maybe look for him like he looked for you?

Not realizing just how right he was, he made his way to the register.

As he placed the box down the cashier smiled, "These sure are popular today."

Felix rose his brow, "What do you mean?"

"Someone was just in here a few minutes ago and bought a single box of these exact brownies, just like you are."

Felix felt his heart thump loudly in his chest. Was it? Could it have been?

Felix rapidly described you to the cashier, desperation in his voice. The cashier just nodded, a bit stunned, "Yeah. You know them?"

Felix felt a rush of panic and excitement bolt through him as his adrenaline rose. "Where did they go? Did they drive? Did they walk, which way did they go?!"

The cashier mumble out the vague direction you headed and Felix bolted for the door, ignoring the call of the cashier that he had forgotten the box of brownies. But Felix didn't care, he was acting on impulse. He would not miss finding you again. Not when he had a chance to see you again.

He ran up the sidewalk where the cashier had pointed, hoping he hadn't remembered wrong. Would he see you in time? Were you already home? Just how long ago was "a few minutes"? Felix started to wonder if he was being crazy, if maybe he was too late. But he let his legs carry him, and as he rounded the corner, his eyes widened as he spotted a head of familiar hair disappearing around the next road.

"Y/n!" He yelled out, hoping you might hear him as he tried to run faster.

You halted as you looked around, swearing you heard your name being called. Did it come from behind you? Turning in curiosity, you looked back around the corner just in time to let out a gasp and drop your box of brownies as someone almost tumbled into you.

Staggering back, the person stumbled to a stop as they reached out their hands as if to steady themselves. Your fear turned to shock and then to elation as you saw Felix's familiar face grinning at you. He was breathing heavily, but his smile was wide.

"Felix!" You called out almost breathless, taken off guard by his appearance. "What- Where did you come from?" You asked with stunned amusement.

Reaching down, Felix picked up the box of brownies and grinned at you. After he let out a few more tired breaths, he explained to you what had happened.

You watched him with bewilderment as he grinned through the story. He had really chased you down just to see you again? Suddenly you didn't feel so crazy for trying to find his apartment complex from memory.

"So you sprinted to catch up with me?" You laughed out, ignoring how your heart was pounding at this knowledge.

Felix smiled shyly as his cheeks turned pink. "Yeah, well, I uh- I really wanted to see you again, and that night I didn't ask for your number." He frowned. "I should have."

You let out a soft groan, "I regretted that too, I actually-" You stopped, still worried that he might think you were weird for searching for his apartment. He just raised his brow and you finished, "I only realized that we hadn't exchange numbers after I had gotten home." You admitted instead.

Felix nodded his head, some relief filling him that you regretted it as well. He eyed the brownie mix before he gave you a soft smile, "I bought some earlier too but I dropped it on the floor."

You rose your brow, "I did too! I mean, I bought some earlier but...I forgot to set a timer and almost burned my apartment down because I fell asleep."

Felix's eyes widened before you both laughed. "So you came back for more...just like me."

You nodded and smiled before looking at his empty hands. "Didn't you say you bought some just now?"

"Oh! I uh, ran out of the store without actually buying them." He smiled sheepishly and you giggled.

Eyeing the brownie mix you met his eyes, "We could share?"

Felix felt a sense of déjà vu before a bright smile crossed his face. "Your place or mine?"

You laughed as you looked back the way he had come from. "I've got a feeling we're a bit closer to my place now."

He chuckled and nodded, "Lead the way."

You had your face in your hands as Felix laughed. Leaning closer he tried to get a look at your face, "You really tried to find my complex from memory?"

You groaned, "I know, it's so weird! I'm so embarrassed."

Felix laughed again, but really his heart was bursting with joy. You really had wanted to see him again, just as much as he wanted to see you. You just tried looking for each other in different places.

He watched as you uncovered your face as you poked at your freshly baked brownie, still avoiding his gaze.

"Don't be embarrassed" Felix said softly as he leaned against the counter, "It's cute."

You slowly peered up at him, and instead of a teasing smile, you were me with a bright, genuine, and adoring smile.

Your heart thumped violently in your chest as you repressed a grin. "Cute?"

He nodded and you let out a sot scoff. "That's definitely better than you thinking I'm crazy."

He chuckled, "If that's crazy, then I'm crazy too. I went to that store about half a dozen times, hoping I'd see you again."

You looked up at him fully, and though his smile was still bright, I appeared more shy.

"You did?"

He nodded softly, "Yeah."

Felix felt butterflies in his stomach as you smiled at this. He could tell you were feeling shy as you remained quiet before taking a bite of your brownie. Following your lead, he ate his as well. Both of you shared pleasant smiles as you enjoyed them.

The joy Felix felt the first time you baked together had returned in full. He knew this time there was no way he'd leave without planning to see you again. Your number was already saved in his phone, under the name that Seungmin had dubbed you 'Brownie Soulmate', maybe a bit bold, but it felt suiting.

Felix's eyes graze over you, before fixing on a small piece of chocolate on the edge of our lip. Another wave of déjà vu hit him.

Standing up straight, he turned towards you, gaining your attention. Slowly he reached out and grazed his thumb over your lips.

You stared at him silently, your heart pounding. He did this the first time too. And just after, you had gotten lost in each others eyes. You kept wondering what might have happened if Seungmin hadn't come in. You thought it was too bold to think he may have kissed you. But now as Felix's eyes moved from your lips to your eyes, with a more intense gaze than before, you started to wonder again.

As Felix started to lean closer, his eyes drifting back to your lips, your wonder turned to elated surprise. And when his lips met yours in a soft kiss, your mind went silent.

Your thoughts were halted as you felt what you could only describe as sparks, no, fireworks.

Was this only the second time you met Felix? Yes. Was it probably crazy that this was happening? Maybe. Did you care? No.

When Felix pulled way, his eyes met yours. He held the silence for a moment before he whispered, "Was that too forward?"

You shook your head, "No."

His lips curled up as his eyes flitted around your face, he gently stroked your cheek before he spoke again. "Then can I do it again?"

You smiled brightly at him before you nodded, "Yes."

This was of course, only the second out of countless kisses you would share in your kitchen, and the few of many brownies you would bake together.

What started as a midnight craving, ended in happily ever after.

xx End xx

A/n: This was the final part to my Stray Kids meet-cute series, I really hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!

As always, Reblogs and feedback are very much appreciated <3 Thank you for reading!

Skz General Taglist: @laylasbunbunny

Series Taglist: @bubblesreplies, @halesandy, @why-am-i-sad, @sourmooonlight, @jaeheekangslover, @seungminsdreamwife, @thesunsfullmoon, @ink-spilled-stars, @jisunglyricist, @marcillfll, @ultimatestayandminoronce, @cheeeseceli, @3rachasninja, @raehawthorne

Part Two Taglist: @jordan1024, @queen-klarissa (<you showed interest in your reblog, hope you don't mind the tag <3)

[phantoms-lair]

Heist Gone Wrong

Another snip for @era-the-witchy-birdkid's Super!Conan AU

"You caught up fast, Tantei-kun," Kid complimented his current rival. "The longer legs from that growth spurt of your are serving you well." "I can be much faster." Tantei-kun smirked. "I just wanted to give you a fair chance." "Ah, but I still managed to get this." With a flick of his wrist the brilliant-cut jade, rumored to be cursed, appeared in his hands. Tantei-kun paled and dropped to his knees, which Kaito thought was a little dramatic (though he perhaps shouldn't be one to talk.) Then he started sweating and gasping for breath and Kaito wondered if he was really being dramatic or if it was something else.

When one of his favorite detectives collapsed on the floor looking like he was either having some kind of seizure or body-wide muscles spasms any thoughts of dramatics were gone.

Steam seemed to be rising from Tantei-kun's skin and he locked feverish eyes with kid, struggling to say something.

"Gem," he finally managed to gasp out. "Poison."

The gem was poison? That didn't sound right. Kaito glanced over to where it had fallen on to the museum floor. In the shadows it no longer seemed like it was glowing. It absolutely was. Was this a side effect of the supposed curse on it?

Kaito ran the stories about the curse through his mind. It was nothing like what was happening to Tantei-kun. Infertility, balding, stomach sickness to the point of vomiting up blood. And several things clicked together at once.

The glowing gem wasn't magic, wasn't cursed. It was radioactive.

Kaito's eyes scanned the display and there! Pewter drinking goblet from ye olden Europe, that contained lead. He grabbed the cup by the stem and slammed it over the gem.

The result was immediate. Tentei-kun's spasming stopped. He sat up, weakness apparent in his movements (and had his clothes gotten bigger on him? They had. Were those weird spasms Tantei-Kun shrinking?)

Then Tantei-kun's eyes glowed red and a twin beams of light shot form them, sealing the cup shut with the gem inside.

"I'm not taking the blame for that." It was maybe the least important thing about this while mess, but he felt the need to say it.

Tantei-kun looked at him with eyes that had just melted metal and those eyes contained nothing but fear. Right, he was probably never supposed to find out about this. "You're not a normal human, are you?"

The answer was obvious and Tantei-kun hid his head in his too-long sleeves.

"Well, you're far nicer about it than other's I've met."

That got his attention and the little detective's head shot up. "Others?"

"Well, one other. She was perhaps a tad bit homicidal towards me at first. Then she got a bit stalkery. I have to say I much prefer you. I assume that's was the cause of your reaction to the stone?"

"I guess." Tantei-kun shrugged. "It wasn't in any of the records I found, but it's possible they never came in contact with it."

"Would your parents know?"

Tantei-kun shook his head. "I'm adopted. They know what I am but no more than that. And my people were wiped out. I'm the last. So there's no one to ask."

The last of his kind. That was... okay, that was a lot that he wasn't prepared to deal with on what was supposed to be a light low-stakes heist. "Do you want me to call Mouri-san?" "No. Agasa-Hakase, please." Tantei-kun sounded exhausted and out of it.

Kaito gently took Tantei-kun's phone and called the old man with his voice. His task force was likely closer, in the wrong wing, mind. But given what he'd just learned about Tantei-kun any medical aid they could give was likely not what he'd need.

~

Several days later a thick lead box was sent to the police station with several stickers on the openings that said 'Do not open' and an envelope with Kid's logo and the words 'This Box is not a place of honor'

Inside the note read:

My Dear Task Force,

I have once again returned what I have taken, but this time extra precautions were needed. You see, there is truth about this jewel glowing and causing misfortune to those that held it. But it is no mystical work at place. The stone is, to put it bluntly, mildly radioactive. Testing has revealed it shouldn't cause problems with short term exposure, but is absolutely not safe to put on display. Or be handled as casually as it has been. I had to get tested for radiation poisoning and I suggest anyone who handled it in it's current and former locations be tested the same.

Don't worry, I'll check the next target I select with a Geiger counter so this doesn't happen again.

Best Wishes, Kid.

[vickyvicarious]

Today's entry does not match Lucy ill in London as of her last two diary entries, leaving two distinct options.

Stoker messed up the timeline (Doylist)

Lucy is lying to Mina (Watsonian)

There's no way to have both work at once, not really. I suppose you could try, but it would take a lot more effort to have both be true at once and I'm not really sure how it would work (either you take a halfway approach to shuffling some dates but not all, or you say Lucy isn't outright lying but is exaggerating, I guess?). Nor is this post super interested in that. Instead, I want to take a moment to look at what each interpretation would mean for Lucy.

Doylist

This interpretation is supported by such details as: lots of other timeline weirdness happening in the latter half of September, and the letter being postmarked from Whitby. It would presumably be harder to lie about where you're sending a letter from, after all.

What it would mean for Lucy is that she recovered for a while. She was able to experience true happiness for at least a little bit. And it shows up that she is someone who doesn't linger on her stresses once they are no longer actively bothering her; instead she throws herself fully into her joy with Arthur here. I like this in the context of chronically-ill!Lucy. She might be used to being uncertain about how long feeling well will last, or indeed when it will happen at all, and when she does feel good she tries to seize the day and make the most of it. Also, it seems like her recovery, if this letter is totally honest, is fairly complete/happens fairly quickly. This would mean, too, that her diary entries in London show a much more rapid fall, as opposed to her slowly getting a bit better than feeling worse again. It would have been such an abrupt, scary shock when it happened.

Lucy and Arthur get to spend a lot of time together. They get to be really happy and fall more and more in love, they get to look forward to their future together as they enjoy their present. I love them getting to experience such happiness, I love that the promised fun summer at Whitby gets to come true even if just for a short time. Lucy is full of life and love before she returns to London. And then suddenly, all the illness and fear and loneliness is back with a vengeance that she wasn't prepared for.

Watsonian

If we assume the dates are correct, but that Lucy is lying about the contents of the letter, there's a lot less rearranging to do (there would be a bit of a cascading effect of having to adjust when the Harkers got married/how long the mail took to arrive, etc.). The letter being sent from Whitby is harder to explain, though.

What this means for Lucy is that she has finally taken the next step from pretending she's fine to actively lying about lots of details. It gives a very bleak impression of her in London, scared and alone but choosing not to confide in even Mina after her mother rejected her attempt at seeking comfort. I imagine the reasoning to be an extension of what was going on in Whitby: Mina currently has to care for a very ill Jonathan, and Lucy doesn't want her to feel worried about her as well, or guilty for having her health take a dive after Mina left her side. Continuing the theme of self-isolation driven by love... She also is trying to answer the wishes Mina so sincerely expressed for her in her letter. Mina was looking forward to Lucy's happiness so much that Lucy doesn't want to tell her none of it is coming true at all.

Lucy never gets to be really happy during this time. She has a very brief respite in Whitby when Dracula left before feeling awful again almost as soon as she arrives in London. Maybe Arthur was never able to join her there, and she's only seen him in London. All the activities and joking around listed here, instead of being what really happened, become in this interpretation Lucy's daydreams. Her wishes. This is the kind of life she wants to have, and she's imagining it and pretending she really has it to Mina here. But it's all the more tragic because even as she writes this, she's incredibly weak and in pain.

.

In the past I've leaned more towards the latter, but honestly, both are very compelling in different ways. Especially after writing it out like this, I now feel torn on which I prefer.

[rawliverandgoronspice]

TLOZ translations always seem to be a bit shitty. I still see people talk about the weird translation of the Demise monologue at the end of SkSw. I think someone said that Demise was more general with his statement, as in there will always be forces from the demon tribe fighting against the light or smth? Not specifically "us three will always fight". (I've read it a few times, but hard to remember, sorry.) (On the topic of SkSw, I kinda dislike how much it impacted theories within TLOZ, some theories are really cool, don't get me wrong. But now, even games that existed for years before suddenly are being pushed to fit with the lore presented in that game. Ganondorf being the best example: He no longer is his own character who did bad things because of his own will and actions, it's now "He did it all because an evil curse made him do it. He had no choice, he was born as a vessel for the demonic lord." The implications that "the curse of Demise" also would mainly go for the already vilified race of the Gerudo, and make their one male an evil warlord is already kinda... yeah... no. (Not to mention that there are other demon lords throughout the franchise that have nothing to do with Ganon.)

Ohh speaking of this I recently saw this post that did a good translation of that very moment, and pretty much confirms what you are mentioning anon; that it's basically a promise of that cycle coming back moreso than Demise himself coming back (especially since his actual and definitive death is a big deal in that game).

But yeah, I agree it has taken a huge space in the way the series is thought about. I pretty much completely missed that hard turn, as I couldn't play Skyward Sword when it released and wasn't super into Zelda afterward anymore (I had gotten too edgy.... 2011 was the year where I got obsessed with every horror videogame in existence basically except for Resident Evil for some reason I could never get into that series ANYWAY WAY off topic........), so coming back a few years later had me very ???? puzzled about how the theories had reconstructed themselves around Hylia and Demise and endless cycles (it's not that it wasn't a thing before, but I wouldn't say it was as much a Series Trademark as it is now).

But yeah. Ganondorf having his own motivations makes him immediately stronger as an antagonist, especially since his deal is quite complicated all things considered.

I am having a thought about how a lot of Zelda villains' motivation is a sort of rebellion against nature. I have scratched enough digital paper about Ganondorf's situation, but like... Minish Cap Vaati is also very much motivated by his refusal to remain small and whimsical and seize power instead of staying in his lane (and then he gets horny in Four Sword so, maybe let's not go there), Zant is.... Zant, Hilda in A Link Between World has been cosmically punished for trying to reject the Goddesses and create a world on its own terms --like SERIOUSLY this is HORRIFYING I feel like we don't talk enough about how utterly nightmarish of a reality that paints for Hyrule as a whole-- Girahim is devoted but fights for the side more or less destined to lose... It's interesting how Hyrule is hostile to change and anything that threatens the statut quo.

(then you have the occasional Majora and Yuga, whomst I dooon't think really fit the above category --to their full credit! and then you have Bellum, who is..... a blob...... And I don't remember enough from either the Oracles game or about Malladus to put them in either category, I need to replay those games)

Hyrule really has this frightening quality to it when you stare at it for too long: that your two only options are to either graciously submit to your assigned cosmic role, or fight it and become darkness incarnate in some way. A Link Between World showed, quite starkly, that trying to escape that binary choice is *not an option*.

[13eyond13]

Naomi Misora is when Ohba being so so close to write a decent female character until he killed her. She's even more successful and smarter than her fiancé.

Agreed, I feel she should've been in the story a bit longer than she was, it would've been fun to have at least one decent character who was a female on the investigative side of things (but I also don't know if the way Light kills her was THAT unbelievable either? She wasn't super stupid about it or anything, and I think it does a good job showing just how manipulative and unsympathetic to the people he's opposing Light can be at times). Though I def feel like it was jarring how she was just starting to settle into being one of the characters you care about and get invested in following and then bam, goodbye! But that's kinda how this story works most times as well. Nobody's really safe usually, and it's not a long story by manga standards either.

[tiny-minecraft-rabbit]

more to the end than the void

He wasn’t too worried about what happened with the dragon fight, he had a brushed up enough that he was confident with his skills. Whether he survived or not he wasn’t pressed, he’d be deleting this world after either way. He probably would have kept it around a little longer, but he noticed something weird in the code, like the world was older than when he loaded it in. However, there were no loaded chunks in either the overworld or the nether, no player history besides his own. ------ There's something in the End that's not supposed to be there... (Don't worry, he's super friendly!)

Words: 1445 AO3 Link

fWhip had had this hardcore world for about three days now and was already placing the ender eyes into the portal frames. This world wasn’t really anything, just a little reminder on how to play early game hardcore before his new server was up for his friends to play. He couldn’t be one of the first to die when he had a real, thriving hardcore world after all.

He wasn’t too worried about what happened with the dragon fight, he had a brushed up enough that he was confident with his skills. Whether he survived or not he wasn’t pressed, he’d be deleting this world after either way. He probably would have kept it around a little longer, but he noticed something weird in the code, like the world was older than when he loaded it in. However, there were no loaded chunks in either the overworld or the nether, no player history besides his own. 

The portal flashed open, the portal frames groaning and the endless stars sparkling within. He did one last glance through his inventory before dropping in. 

The first thing he noticed was that the end stone was not stone, but bricks. The second thing was the dragon’s health bar, bright purple at the top of his comm, did not read Ender Dragon, as it always did; no, the name atop the health bar was much different: Mogswamp.

His brow furrowed and he started poking through the code of the world a bit more. This had to be some other player's abandoned world, or the portal brought him to another player’s End. 

There was player involvement in the End. He could see it in the code, but it was weird, like the player was also a mob. It was like the code for an Enderman placing a block was there instead of a player’s, but endermen didn't move crafted blocks. It looked a lot like a new player code, where they hadn't brushed off the last of their Creation, but some of these placements were years old at this point. 

“Why, hello there!” A voice piped up. fWhip looked up for the first time, catching sight of the player. He was dressed in all purples, skin pale and grey hair, a crown atop his head and the most honest smile he had ever seen on a player. His black wings, scaly and each one bigger than fWhip himself, were spread out behind the player and one of his blue eyes was half lidded and unfocused, the pupil settled to the side. “You're new! I’ve never seen something like you before.”

“Oh. Um, hi-” 

“You can talk!?” The player shouted, dropping down from the wall he was perched on and landing right in front of fWhip. 

“And you’re so colorful! Blue and orange!” the player’s hands were immediately on him, grabbing, pinching and pulling. Clawed hands brushed through his hair, “I’ve only seen this color on saddles! Are you what the saddles are for?” 

fWhip laughed awkwardly, taking a big step back, “No. No no. I am not what saddles are for. That's horses; and other rideable mobs, I suppose.” 

“Horses?” The player repeated, sounding the word out awkwardly.

“Yes. Horses. Have you.. have you ever seen a horse? How long have you been here?” fWhip asked, scrolling through his comm to find the player statistics. It took some digging. Mogswamp wasn't exactly on the player list. 

The player’s eyes went wide and he made a grab for the comm. fWhip quickly lifted his arm out of immediate reach. He didn't make another grab, just watched fWhip's hand with excitement, “You have one of those too? Does that mean you're like me?” 

“Yes. Sorta of. We're both players. At least, I'm pretty sure you're supposed to be a player,” fWhip answered, finally finding the statistics and scrolling through them. It didn't take long to find the Time Played. 11.8 y. 

11.8 years. 

“Hey, bud, you’re Mogswamp, right?” He asked, hoping to be wrong. Eleven years. Alone, in the End, for eleven years. 

The player nodded, “You can read my name on there? Can I-” he answered his own question by pulling out his comm, clicking through it. “Fwhip? Fah-whip? Fwah-hip?” 

“You had it right the first time,” fWhip responded, taking a few moment to think. 

It wasn’t unheard of, players wanting to spend their first few years alone before venturing off to the Hubs and finding servers and friends. However, the player being seemingly stuck in the End? Eleven years without knowing what a horse was– Likely he didn’t know about the surface at all. His blocks were more limited than those playing on a 1.0 world. At least he was getting updates, since he knew items from the loot tables.

“Okay, Mogswamp– Do you go by Mogswamp?” 

“Just Mog is fine!” 

“Okay, Mog, have you ever left the End?” 

“No! I didn’t know I could!” Mog answered brightly, poking through his own comm and glancing at fWhip's, trying to figure out what fWhip was looking at on his own. “There’s other places besides here? That's where you're from then?” 

“There's whole other worlds. There are more Ends if you’d like,” fWhip replied. He poked through Mog’s code, readying a few commands in his mind. “Here we go, I can fix up your code for you. It'll take a few commands but you should be able to leave no problem then.”

“That’d be great! Does that mean I can meet new people? More things like you?” Mog asked, bouncing in place. 

“Lots more people,” fWhip agreed. He typed out the commands, sending each one into the world chat. The boss bar flicked away, it no longer reading Mog's name. 

“I have hearts now!” 

“Yes, that's your actual health bar. Now you already had an inventory and player stats. I think we should be good. Can you see the Leave Game button on your comm now?” 

“Oh! Yes! Should I press that?” Mog asked, before his eyes widened and he grabbed a hold of fWhip's arm, “Wait! I haven't shown you around yet! You have to see everything I’ve done. What if I never get to show anyone again?” 

“As long as we don't delete the world it’ll stay around,” fWhip reassured, “Though, eleven years is quite impressive. I’d love to see what you’ve done.” 

So, Mogswamp showed fWhip around. 

fWhip would like to say he was impressed, but that would be too far of an understatement. The main island had been completely leveled, reworked, and built upon to be ten times it's original size, but that wasn't what left fWhip speechless. The buildings. The buildings were works of art, each one carefully designed and unique despite the limited pallet. 

The center piece, a large doomed building, was probably the size of a naturally generated mountain. Inside pf it were the obsidian pillars, each decorated finely with end stone, the floor dug around the closed bedrock portal and stairs leading up to it, lofted like an alter. The roof was an extravagant pattern, end stone and purpur mixed to create a geometrical marvel. It was stunning feat of architecture. The entire End, from what he could tell, was a dazzling city. fWhip had to see what this guy could do with an actual color pallet. 

As they reached the end of the tour, and it was probably a few hours to see everything, fWhip had made his decision; “Hey, Mog?” 

“Yes, new friend?” He replied, looking to fWhip. They sat on a bench, overlooking the void. A nice view for a while, but it had to get tiring. 

“I’m starting a new server. It’s- Well the premise is a bit confusing. It’s hardcore with a twist, I can explain it in full later. What’s important is that it’ll be a new place for you to build and meet people. A bunch of my friends will be joining, and I’d love for you to be a part of it.” 

“Really?” Mog asked, his eyes widening as he sat up on the bench, “I can join you? I get to come with you?” 

fWhip laughed a little, “Yes, you can come with me. I think you’ll enjoy it.” 

“Count me in!” 

The two of them laughed together, and fWhip began the process of explaining the actual server rules. It would be a lot for what was basically a brand new player, but fWhip had no doubt he would fit right in to their little group. He could already see his high energy personality bouncing off of Oli and Sausage and Jimmy. 

Yeah. Mogswamp was going to be a great addition to SOS.