#it's so dang sweet and SOOOO not what he's used to so it's just

[jackdup]

Stargazing with Timothy for the first time has been one of the most peaceful experiences that Micah rarely receives nowadays. It’s lovely being able to find a time to find only ease, now being when they were having exchanges about themselves and Micah would ramble about the outer space while Timothy would listen attentively. Then there’s a certain point when he complimented xyr freckles. ( His kind words still linger at the back of Micah’s mind, xyr cheeks burning occasionally the longer xe dwells over the compliments. )

The moon reaches at the highest in another hour later. Usually, Micah wouldn’t feel as drained even at this time from insomnia, although after a long day and the deep comfort xe feels from being with Timothy, the lulling sense of serenity brings xem to a sleepy state, not realizing that xyr arm is slowly meeting against Timothy’s side. Micah blinks tiredly at the warm contact and finds xe’s touching him. Part of xem should be alarmed, knowing how restless Timothy can be with physical contacts, but the exhaustion is falling deeper in xem to be as responsive.

“S-sorry, Timostar,” Micah mumbles, yawning. Xe plans to move away from Timothy to respect his space, but xe realizes how deeply touch starved xe is when xyr heart sinks at the thought of moving. Micah glances up at Timothy, xyr gaze all gentle. “Um, actually, is it okay if I can lean on you for a bit before we call it for the night?” xe asks quietly, fiddling with xyr hands, “From tonight, you just make me feel very safe and comfy...” It is a soft given honesty that makes Micah see just how much Timothy matters to xem. ( He is the stars that the moon cares and cherishes forever. )

@solarisgod || and thus i die (´•̥̥̥ ‸ •̥̥̥`✿)

Listen, folks . . . Micah's not the only one still reeling after an unexpected compliment.

Big shocker, right? You tell a guy he looks nice, great. You tell him his smile is . . . what was it, lovely—? Awesome. You tell that same guy already down for the count from the positive attention not to lose his light, because apparently it fits him . . . for some freakin' reason? Yeah, okay: Timothy didn't take Micah for a violent type, but he was really beginning to think they were doing their best to destroy him. In, like . . . a weirdly . . . good way? Does that make sen— No, it probably doesn't. Whatevs. The real point here is that at least both of them are dealing with some semblance of a recovery period after that, not that Timothy really understands why Micah needs it.

Didn't most people tell them things like that? He had a hard time believing he was anywhere near the first, and if he was, he wanted to very badly grab everyone who ever interacted with Micah by the shoulders and just shake them like Are you blind?! (Unless they . . . literally were blind, and then, hey, okay, free pass, but—)

They were silent after some time, still keeping their eyes on the sky, on the stars winking almost cheekily down at them. Timmy hadn't been oblivious to the gradual weight falling against him, starting with that tiny brush of an arm that solidified and became heavier as Micah sunk further down. He's not bothered. Not even slightly. If he was asked to describe the feeling, he'd not really know the right word, but honestly . . . It's nice. It's nice that they trust him enough to let their guard down, to let themselves relax without any reservations, and Timothy decides somewhere in there to remain as still as possible: to not disturb them.

Until, ya know, they catch themselves like some idiot falling asleep on the job—or in a less safe environment—and quickly apologize—

“Ah-tut-tut—!” he interrupts their drowsy words in the space of that breath, no hesitation. “Hey, no, you don't . . . have anything to be sorry about. What are you—? No, it's cool. I mean, it's—” Tim picks up on the slurred speech, on the confession of what his presence does for them. Which, okay, yeah, he probably could have connected those dots himself, but actually hearing them say it is . . . yeah, we're just gonna keep going with that “nice.”

He shuffles, finally. Now that they're awake enough he won't fully bother them. Timothy adjusts his position equally for his own comfort and theirs, moving just slightly enough that his arm is now behind Micah, and their weight can fall against his side. “Sure, I . . . Yeah.” He pauses, thoughtful, then: “Guess you could say we have that in common. I'm glad.”

[chrrywvea]

poolverine + sensory overload while grocery shopping anyone? taken from personal experience and the mountain of poolverine fics i've consumed already

disclaimer: if any of the aspects i've written for logan being autistic (it isn't mentioned but this was my intention here) are offensive or falsely written tell me immediately! i am undiagnosed but after quite a lot of my friends (both on the spectrum and not) telling me multiple times to get checked and TONS of research i'm pretty sure i'm on the spectrum as well. soooo this is basically what i've gathered from research, other fics and my own experiences with stuff like this. thanks! also minimal use of slightly stronger language (the f word, hurray :-D)

this is so bad i'm sorry

They were in the sweets aisle, trying to pick out various snacks for their movie night later on. It was bustling all around them, the small supermarket full with families and screaming kids and chatty old ladies and noise, so much fucking noise-

Logan flinched when something touched his cheek, belatedly realizing that Wade stood in front of him, their half-filled cart discarded by their side and one of his hands raised to his face.

"Sorry sweetums," Wade smiled sheepishly, "Didn't wanna scare you. You looked a little out of it. Breathing a little heavy and all"

Logan harrumphed, looking at the floor between them. Wade was wearing his bright neon pink converse again, the laces red on one side and yellow on the other, which was admittedly... cute. He remembered how proud Wade had been as he stumbled out of the bedroom with poorly conceiled excitement, shoving his shoes in his face because look peanut, our suits-

Once again he was forced out of his head and back into the disgustingly loud supermarket as Wade took his hand, gently stroking over his knuckles.

Logan managed to rip his gaze back to Wade's face, finding such genuine understanding in those lovely eyes that he felt even more queasy than he already did. Damn you, Wilson.

His head spun from the onslaught of everything, noise and lights and embarrassment forcing a very unwelcome wetness to gather in his eyes. The hand Wade was holding shook lightly. His whole body trembled. Fuck, he wanted to say something, wanted to assure his boyfriend that he was okay, but his throat worked, his mouth opened, yet nothing came out.

"Hey" Wade's voice was so soft. He didn't flinch this time as his hand came to rest on his cheek, the touch featherlight and warm.

An embarrassingly high whimper left him as some shrieking children passed by and his eyes screwed shut, trusting Wade to handle the rest.

And suddenly...

Wait.

Madonna quietly played in his ears?

Confused, he cracked his eyes open and saw Wade watching him, holding his phone up for him to see.

"Don't worry your pretty head Wolvie, you've got noise cancelling headphones on. Courtesy of moi, if you please, buuut you gotta suffer through my shower playlist for the time being. It's the only one I have downloaded."

An opened note read. Wade mouthed a "sorry" at him, but the sheepish grin told him he wasn't. At all. Though Logan knew him well enough, so very well, that if he even mentioned that it was too much Wade would immediately switch it all off.

Logan had to admit, the music dialed the incessant chattering and shouting around him pretty much down to zero.

The wonders of technology, he supposed.

Wade held his hand and waited patiently as Logan just breathed for a bit, trying to calm his racing heartbeat. One jerky motion to the phone and the mercenary handed it over, watching as Logan typed with unsteady hands.

"Can we leave please? S too much"

The note was so timid, so careful in fear of rejection that Wade felt his poor heart squeeze in his chest - gosh dang it if only people knew how gentle and loving the man in front of him was.

"Sure hun we were pretty much finished anyway. You good if we go check out real quick? Al's gonna cook us instead if we don't bring something back home, and while you taste pretty good I can't promise that for myself ;-D... we can use the self check out, it's quicker"

Logan surprised both of them with the huff of amusement that left him as he nodded.

The focus he needed to use to read Wade's rambling in note form kept him safe from getting lost in his head again. His boyfriend’s ability to talk forever beyond might be pretty annoying at times, but Logan had long since found it to be comforting.

Wade carefully guided both of them through the maze of food aisles and too many people, keeping their hands intertwined while he pushed their cart until they found a free self checkout.

Logan zoned out a bit to the mindless music that played over the headphones as Wade went through their groceries, bagging them quickly. He payed before turning around to face him, motioning to the exit with his head.

They stopped just outside the store in a small secluded corner and Wade put the bags down at their feet, stepping closer and smiling again.

Logan smiled back, hoping it could convey the relief and love he felt without having to use words. He leaned closer, a little shyly, and with a quick look around he pressed a kiss to Wade's lips, reveling in the vibrations of a slight whine he could feel from his boyfriend. They parted and Logan took a deep breath in, pushing the air out of his lungs a lot more calmly than he had done mere minutes ago.

The headphones came off next and Logan sighed, shaking off the last bit of the sensory overload he'd just experienced as he scrubbed over his eyes. It was far more quiet outside, and his head felt a little fuzzy at most instead of the stinging buzz from before.

Cars honked in the distance, a light breeze drifted past him and the man he loved stood right in front of him, Logan's supernatural hearing picking up the steady thud of his heartbeat almost immediately.

"Love you bub."

Thank you.

"I love you too peanut! So much. More than Puppins too, but don't tell her that. She's already peed in my shoes once and I can tell you, that golden shower was not pleasant."

Logan snorted and both of them giggled, sharing another soft kiss before they hoisted the grocery bags back up.

The way home was filled with banter, clumsy kisses and bumping shoulders. Maybe one or two spilled milk cartoons as well, but that was a secret between them.

(Oh hello! Wade here! Deadpool, merc with a mouth, your personal wet dream, whatever pleases you perverted little readers - if you even attempt to tell Al about that last bit I'll torture this one with a little more writer's block! /Oh thanks Wade, so nice of you/ Shush you, this is my side note! So many ideas yet so little words... you decide pookies. Bye for now! I've got 400 pounds of sleepy kitty in my bed who likes me as his personal pillow. See ya!)

[maybeimamuppet]

Veronica and Cady for the character thingy plss

DID I NEVER POST THIS HOLY SHIT OOPS

eeep i just found this and don’t remember when i got it i’m sorry friend!! i’m assuming this is for the list and not the bingo but if i’m wrong i’ll do it again lol

ok i have to do cady first bc it won’t let me type beneath veronica’s picture so woo i love it here soooo much /s

CADY

favorite thing about them

she has so much depth! i love how adorable she is and how bubbly and high energy and yet soft spoken and sweet she is but she also has a dark and vindictive streak in her that’s really fun to play with. also she’s like really fun to torture sometimes lol whoops

least favorite thing about them

again i hate how many people she uses for her own gain and how power hungry she gets

favorite line

“shuck! i started to say shoot and i almost said fu-” for funnies and uhhh

“fearless is the one thing i can be now, no friends, nothing to lose” and whatnot for like more emotional. also all of i see stars i still get misty every time i listen to it

brOTP

damiaaaaan. they wear matching outfits whenever they can, damian comes over to cadnis’ house for movie nights twice a week at least, they watch bootlegs together without janis bc she doesn’t like them. just. mwah. i could go off but i’ll hold back lol

OTP

TAKE A WILD GUESS DUDE

nOTP

aaron. they only worked bc of erikyle. if i could drop kick every other aaron into the road i would.

random headcanon

she can talk backwards!

unpopular opinion

there’s a point where she is fully aware of what she’s doing and how wrong it is and she actively chooses to continue for a hot second until the burn book being released and whatnot snaps her out of it that people do not talk about enough. i know i’m guilty of it too but she is not all innocent and naive and coerced into this shit like she’s a full teenager she knows damn well what she’s doing

song i associate with them

a change in me from beauty and the beast which hath inspired many a fic in my early days. at the plaza from the violet hour loosely inspired i’ll be there for christmas. like very loosely. uhhh and i think the like vibes of true love from frozen (or basically anything anna sings lol) even if it’s not necessarily the same meaning

favorite picture of them

i picked two for both her and veronica bc iiiim greedy lol

alright well one of cady’s is with ronnie for some fuckass reason thanks tumblr!!! i tried i swear

VERONICA

favorite thing about them

honestly this isn’t as much to do with her as a character as it is to do with the people who’ve played her but she has done so much for my self esteem in a really roundabout way. as someone with dark brown eyes and frizzy kinda untamable brown hair reading fic about her helped me appreciate more things about myself.

if you struggle with self image i really cannot recommend highly enough finding a character who looks and acts like you and reading stories where someone is absolutely, irrevocably in love with them. whether that’s platonically or romantically. i know it’s weird but being able to look in the mirror or at some aspect of my personality that i don’t like and say “that’s still lovable” is WONDERFUL.

least favorite thing about them

i despise the way she treats martha and also baby girl is kind of a doormat!! she’s one of those shitty wicker doormats that scratches the hell outta your feet but like dang!!

favorite line

not a line but her face in the musical when jd and kurt and ram start fighting

but also the way barrett delivers the “oH MY GOD!” over chandler’s corpse is immaculate

and i had one of her like super iconic ones everyone knows in my head but now i can’t remember it siiiigh

brOTP

marthaaaaa buddies since babies. also like. still alive and post MUCH therapy jd has a lot of fun potential

OTP

poly heathers!! but to put them individually in order, mac, chandler (those two are almost tied), duke

nOTP

JD. i know he goes by his initials and that’s just his name but i was trying to yell that. i do not like him i think he stinky get him outta there

random headcanon

she’s not allowed to wear pants with drawstrings anymore because she’s gotten stuck in them too many times. also she’s not allowed to use superglue bc she’s glued her fingers together too many times.

yes both of these are true of me shut up

unpopular opinion

she’s a lot weaker than most people think and a lot stronger than most people think st the same time

and i’m not always a huge fan of her being autistic i think she’s just that painfully awkward and dense

song i associate with them

it is so much harder than you would think to pick songs that are not from their shows?? like the only one in my head is i’m blue dabadeedabadie like i don’t KNOW OKAY

favorite picture of them

[randomgentlefolk]

CPC CHAPTER 157

I'm— I just. SOB BLAINE AND FREDERICK??

Ooh!! I should've expected this room to show up in her dream. I'm guessing that it has something to do with the reflections in the sugars?? In the chapter where Frederick and Gwen was in this room, their sweet moment was interrupted by Gwen seeing her reflection in one of the sugar. Maybe the reflections will tell her something regarding her view of herself? Or maybe they will instead warn her about what's happening at the Palace's hall? (By that I mean the war)

Or perhaps...We will see Frederick?

Okay, moving on to the war—

Bruh they gotta STOP finishing each other's sentence it's driving me crazy and slowly taking my hope away from Blaine T_T

I still have my hopes on Blaine, but it's fading away veryyyy slowly. I'm trying hard to believe in him tho. Good thing I have fanfics and my imagination to help me cope through this :')

Also HECK YEAH IT'S SHOWDOWN TIME!!!

May I just say, I love Jamie speaking in Wingdings XD. I tried to translate it but weirdly it didn't translate into an understandable sentence/word. It's just gibberish.

Curtis with a broom...HE'S SO COOL?? Never underestimate butlers real (Curtis, Alfred)

Lorzanna moment!! They are adorable :D Also they are soooo gonna kick Leland's butt.

Also everyone should just use Laverne as a defense strategy here, just saying. It seems to be really effective.

Leland's threat kinda takes my interest here. What do you mean "or else I will"? Do you mean you can just literally stop what's going on right here right now? Then why not just do it now? Or by that does he mean he's going to punish the Plaid Princes in the dungeon again...or worse? Uh well at the very least all I know is LELAND SUCKS.

GO, LANCE, GO!! Betray your bs of a father and stop your big brother from succumbing to the dark side!! I have faith in you :') Honestly even though Lorena don't really understand Lance's fear of Leland and calling him a coward kinda stung, but at the same time it's kinda a wake up call for him? I guess??

Oh yeah, sorry for ruining the moment here but I've been thinking about how sick his new scars would be like it would be shapes like an X and that's so cool?!

Yeah I gotta agree with Lorena here, that was kinda creepy Leland... But Lorena's throw was amazing. Like dang..that spear must be heavy as frick and she throws it with a huge strength?? Lorena = Undyne confirmed?

Beckett to the rescue!! :D love that guy. Hopefully the misunderstanding between Maria and Gwen will clear up though :')

And lastly...the one I'm ejwnsuehw about the most...

Blaine c'mon man Blaine wait listen to me dude wait wait wait. Stop okay stop don't do this 😭😭 Literally go meditating with Whitney bro THIS IS NOT YOU. I don't think i can change you at this point but literally you don't even want to change. And this is the most difficult part because no matter how much you want to help someone, it's pointless if they don't even wanna help themselves. I'm really hoping he would get redemption arc especially because of what Isolde told him in chapter 144.

Oh! I almost forgot. Let's look into the fast pass section!

So first of all we have Blaine vs. Frederick :') but what takes my interest the most is.. The Prince vs. The Prez... Obviously the prince is Blaine, since it uses singular noun and in the thumbnail we see Blaine and Prez. But what caught my attention is "the Prez..." the prez what? The prez club? This could be something regarding cpc, or maybe Prez creates a new group? I can't wait for it to upload :D

Well that it's for today, now let me just sob on the floor while holding my plaid clothes in front of my cats again.

Mono out! (But still in to hear your thoughts)

[rexismycopilot]

just thinking about the boys at their wedding, intentionally trying not to see each other before the ceremony but still wanting to steal a moment together so they meet up at a secluded and hidden corner of the yard, anakin on one side and obi-wan on the other. they're deliberately facing opposite directions but are holding each other's hands in a shaking death grip of nerves and anxiety and so much love. maybe at this time it was obi-wan who was the bigger nervous wreck and so he sought out anakin for some reassurance. anakin wants so badly to kiss him right then but they r both trying to stick to the tradition of not seeing one another yet so he has to use his words instead. then a short while later they have a moment where they meet up together for some pre ceremony photos but the idea is that one of them is blindfolded while the other has their 'first look' at their future spouse except it turns out they r both blindfolded and so it's kind of a sweeter version of the moment they previously had over by the corner except now they can hold each other and kiss each other's faces and it's all really sweet and amazing and heart wrenchingly beautiful and romantic and perfect in every way. the entire wedding party is in their feels at how incredibly in love these two dorks are. the vows are so heartfelt and everyone cries when they finally have their first kiss as a married couple. the rest of the night is maybe a blur cuz all they can focus on is how they're husbands now. maybe once it's their wedding night they're so anxious and excited to get each other alone and once they finally do they both just pass out snuggling cuz they're so exhausted from the eventful day but the next morning they make really sweet and slow romantic love to each other and it's so beautiful and maybe they both cry a little cuz this is the closest they've ever felt to each other. sorry for the long ask, i got a little carried away, and i'm sure u already have ur exact idea of what the wedding and wedding night looks like, but i just wanted to share a couple ideas with u.

Legit, Anon, these ideas are soooo cute!!

I definitely do have some ideas already for how I want everything to play out and some that are already written out and different than what you suggested, but that doesn't mean I don't love hearing about your headcanons for these two!

Obi-Wan being a ball of nerves and them being so excited to finally see each other on the day of their wedding. I love that they just want to be alone together, but as I can attest, no one lets you alone on your wedding day lol

No matter what happens though in your version or mine, they end up married and they're husbands and dang it, they're in love! 💗

[princessbatears]

Hello my lovely buddy! ✨💗 How are you doing lately?

Have you watched latest TLOU yet? It’s brutal, but as the game players, we knew it all along.🫣 Troy playing as James is perfect, though we all know what happened to him at the end.🥹 Only one episode left. Tell me what you think about it. Also can’t wait to watch Mando on Wednesday.😌

P.S. I wanna share great news in my life with you! I’ve changed my job position and its grading is a level higher than my current one. So I’m kinda like promoted! 😭🙌🏻

Hello! I'm sorry I haven't gotten back to your last message, life got busy, so I'm just transferring things here for the sake of ease.

MANDALORIAN S3E1 SPOILERS

I loved the premier! It was shorter than I was expecting, but it felt like kind of a set-up/clean-up episode so that we can barrel into the action next time. We got so much cuteness and hilarity that I desperately wanted in only half an hour, so I can't complain! I love that Grogu can cuddle with Dad in the ship, it makes me feel much better about his situation. 🥰😂 And I laughed very hard when he squeezed the little mechanics and Din is just like 🙈 I want to know how Din got into that little shop, as well. I'm so curious where the season is going with the Darksaber and Mandalore!! Tomorrow is a new episode and I can't wait!

THE LAST OF US EPISODE 7&8 SPOILERS

Episode 7 was so sweet and so sad. I loved Ellie and Riley together and the way the ended hurt. I can't imagine the guilt Ellie must have felt when Riley turned and died and she didn't. Poor thing. 😭

Oh my goodness, episode 8 was so dang intense! The way they made David even more evil and creepy put my hairs on end. But Ellie bested him in the best way possible. And Joel came at just the right moment to comfort her. It definitely did things to me the way he was finally able to call her "baby girl" after 20 years of not being able to say that. 😭❤️ I'm not prepared for the finale. I'm really going to miss the show and am thankful we've got Mando to help ease the pain.

AHHH congrats on your promotion, that's so exciting!!! You deserve it! I hope it comes with some great new challenges! Thank you for sharing that with me, I smiled so big when I read that!

Sending you soooo much love! I can't wait to hear what you think of our episodes this week 😍

[astaroth1357]

Demigod MC Series: Athena

So. I have to deal with the virgin goddesses… By mythos, there really shouldn't ever be children of Artemis, Hestia, or Athena (yes, Athena was a virgin goddess). PJ got past that by making it canon that Annabeth and her siblings were born from cracking open Athena's skull (yes, that's also more or less the canon explanation). They gloss over it real quick but I remember, Rick. I've always remembered and that mental image has haunted me for years...

I can't, in good conscience, ignore the history around Athena's worship (call it an academic restraint) but I REFUSE to do the skull thing. So, since I make the rules here, I'm going with magic adoption. They still get magic powers, they're just more human than demigod. Cool? Cool.

Demigod MC Series: Intro, Aphrodite, Hermes, Hades, Dionysus, Demeter, Athena

Lucifer

The human that popped out of the portal seemed to have enough sense not to attack everyone in the room for a change, but even Lucifer could tell that was more of a strategic choice than for lack of ability...

Their very existence was highly unusual… and quite worrisome. He wasn't even aware Athena could have "children" of her own, but apparently she had been taking in some particularly bright humans to raise and train like her own...

Unbeknownst to him, a surprising amount of human scholars, diplomats, and generals have her to thank for their trade… and that alone should speak to the level of intrigue at play here. 

Was this an accident or Athena's attempt to plant an Olympian spy in the Devildom too…? Either way, he didn't trust them from the get go…

Look, Lucifer isn’t stupid. Athena is a goddess of Wisdom and War and war happens on more than just the battlefield… 

Since they've shown up records have been going missing, official documents keep getting misplaced, and he swears that there's some kind of bug in the student council room...!

It's infuriating watching the MC suck up to Diavolo when he's almost certain that they're running their own agenda behind the scenes! And he can't prove any of it!! They cover their tracks too well!

Lucifer has one of those corkboards covered in newspapers and string in a secret wing of the Castle - 100% dedicated to just tracking the MC's activities…. The longer they're there, the more obsessed he becomes...

He swears between Simeon, Solomon, and MC he feels like a shepherd wondering why the sheep are growling… The Devildom has never been in more danger than it is right now... Send help.

Mammon

To be honest, he kind of thought that they were just going to be Satan 2.0 but that's not really true.

They're more than just a book sponge! Though they do read, like a lot. Let’s just say from one schemer to another… Game recognizes Game.

They come up with plans and ideas soooo fast, it’s insane! Honestly, there are times where he has a new money-making plot and he just brings it to the MC first to run it over. 

Nine times out of ten, not only do they sniff out any problems but they have a solution for him in a matter of minutes! His scheme game has been on point since they’ve shown up!!

They’re also even better tutoring than Satan is, so he’s even managed to get a couple A’s for the first time in his life! Lucifer actually told him he was proud (which he secretly recorded and now uses as a ringtone much to his brother’s regret...)

So yeah, he likes them... buuut that doesn’t keep him from thinking they act a little weird sometimes... 

Mammon: *points to a unused tower close to the RAD building* Over there is the Tower of Sorrow. We use it for storage.

MC: Ah. Interesting… *starts writing in a notebook, muttering* It may need a few minor tweaks but the location is defensible...

Mammon: *stops* Ya say somethin’?

MC: *looks back up* Nope! Say, you’ve been to the Castle a lot haven’t you? Do you know any good ways in?

Mammon: Uhm… Why do ya want to know that…? *starts looking around for Lucifer*

MC: In case of emergencies. I like being prepared. 🙂

Mammon: Look, I don’t know what Lucifer might’a told ya…

MC: I’ll pay you a thousand Grimm for it.

Mammon: Well shit, ya want those maps with or without color?

... Yeeeah, that’s pretty weird… But it’s probably fine. I mean, as long as they keep giving him money, who’s he to complain? 🤷‍♀️

Leviathan

Also thought that they’d be a lot more like Satan but was pleasantly surprised that they were into more than books.

What else did they like exactly? Military strategy!!

It’s been a looong time since he’s been able to talk to someone who’s actually interested in all the battles he’s fought, both in the Celestial Realm and the Devildom, and their curiosity is kind of flattering...! Not a lot of people take his strategic prowess all that seriously anymore...

Plus, they are the BEST partner to have any turn-based strategy game. Hands down. He once got stuck on a level of D-COM for weeks until the MC walked in and mopped the floor with the AI!! They have a serious head for probability and tactics.

The House once made the mistake of letting these two be on the same team during a Hell Game and they absolutely demolished the competition. Mammon didn’t even get a single shot off before half his team was lost to a rigged paint grenade… It took a whole day to clean up… 

However, Levi’s also noticed some odd things about the human… He likes that they’re interested in his past but maybe they’re a little… too interested?

Levi: -and that’s how we defeated the Four Horsemen before they escaped from Purgatory. 

MC: Wow, Levi that’s seriously impressive!! *furiously scribbling on a notebook*

Levi: Well t-thanks… 😅 But, uhm... are you writing that down…?

MC: Hm? Oh no, just doodling. *they lift up the notebook to show a bunch of cute little sketches on the page… and not the magic-based invisible ink all over them…*

Levi: Oh you draw too? Can you do fanart???

MC: Eh, sometimes. But say Levi, can you tell me about your naval ranks again? I’m still really curious… *gets the pen ready again with a smile*

Satan

Oh, it's been a long game of cat-and-mouse between these two… and unfortunately, it’s been pretty addicting too.

He honestly had every intention of tricking the human into making a huge mess do he could bother Lucifer, but at every turn they proved just a hair too clever for him...

He once gave them a cursed book to “lend” to Lucifer, but they saw through it the moment they touched it and lifted the spell before handing it over.

He rigged a podium to spray glitter during one of Lucifer's speeches but the MC disconnected the trigger mic before he even got on stage. It was pretty dang frustrating...

At one point he got so desperate that, just as a test, he tried to trap them in the House's Music Room. Fortunately for them, it only took a few minutes to work out an escape. They even passed by him in the hallway with a wink!

It's confounding! It's infuriating!! 

...and it's so damn sexy... He should be furious but he’s just in awe!!

Add on that they know their art, literature, and multiple different crafts thanks to the tutelage of their adopted mother and that’s it. He’s finished. This boy is in love.

Truthfully though, a part of him is 90% sure that they’re also gathering state secrets… Like, they’re watching Barbs and Diavolo far too close for comfort - but he just can't bring himself to care. 🤷‍♀️

The MC could walk into his room one day and say, "Hey, do you want to help overthrow the monarchy with me?" and he dreads it because deep down he knows that he wouldn’t say no…

Take some notes, kids. Some bad influences get you to drink or do drugs. Others pull you into a centuries long conspiracy to destabilize and topple rival realms from within… But he has fallen for their brain hard. Devil help them all…

Asmodeus 

They’re pretty clever, he’ll give them that, but uh… Are they a little off to anybody else?

Asmo is a charmer by birthright so he has a bit of nose for when someone’s just a liiittttle too nice… Not much of a nose mind you, because he can be thrown off by compliments himself, but enough to think that the MC might be a little too… “kind” for their own good...

First off, who wants to spend that much time with Levi?? They don’t even seem that interested in anime! They just keeping asking him for old war stories…

Then all the sucking up they do to Diavolo and Barbatos? Look, he gets it. Diavolo is a delicious piece of man-hunk and his butler could give him a lesson or two in sweet-talk (and he has), but they seem to be just a little too… nosy.

Of course, Asmo’s suspicions disappear pretty quickly after they start to spoil him with spa nights and beauty secrets they picked up from “casual research” into the subject.

And you know, get a little Demonus in Asmo and start massaging his back? Oh, sweetie he’ll sing like a bird!! … with gossip. Singing with gossip.

Asmo: So I’ve heard that Lucifer has been spending more time at RAD than usual… His whole club is talking about it, they think he’s meeting with some witch!

MC: Hm, is that so? *works on a knot near his shoulder blades* What do you think?

Asmo: Ooh~! Right there, MC! *purrs and lays his head on his arms* Well come on, this is Lucifer we’re talking about! I’m sure he’s just working.

Asmo: Hmm... though come to think of it, I think I heard him asking Barbatos for the spare keys to the Tower of Sorrow…

MC: Oh really? Huh. *works out the knot and gets up* I just remembered that I left some papers with Satan... I’ll be right back.

Asmo: You’re going already??

MC: *waves him off quickly* I’ll be right back, Asmo. *hurries out the door to do totally on-the-up-and-up things… surely*

Beelzebub 

Honestly he doesn't like this one… But not for the reasons you'd expect.

He agrees with everyone else that they seem a little shady, but Solomon and Simeon are too so it's not like that's anything new... 🤷‍♀️

No, no. He dislikes them because they're the person who FINALLY figured out how to keep him from eating all the food in the kitchen!!

Turns out that the trick was to put a teleportation charm on the fridge door that would send all the food away if it’s opened after a certain time of night… 

And where does it go? The Purgatory Hall fridge. And where does the Purgatory Hall food go…? The HoL fridge…

It doesn’t sound so bad until you remember that it means half of their fridge is now Solomon’s leftovers…. 🤢

After they put the same kind of spell on the pantry, it was all over… He couldn't get midnight snacks from the House anymore… Everything was contaminated by Solomon…

The MC is a nice enough person, he doesn’t have a lot of complaints about them, but he wants them to leave. Now. This is inexcusable… He’s so hungry… and he doesn’t want to die by “goulash” or whatever Solomon calls his latest culinary catastrophe… He’s still too young for death… 😓

Belphegor 

In a way, he absolutely could not have asked for a better person to help him get out of that attic.

… In another way, he got one of the worst possible people to try and kill... Like. They saw through his scheme sooo fast…

How was he supposed to know that the human had training in body language and sniffing out lies???

Getting the door open was a piece of cake for them. They knew enough magic to undo the seals and just rummaged around Lucifer's stuff long enough to find the key to the door. He could not have found a more competent individual for a break out, really.

It’s just… well he didn’t expect to go from locked in a room like a prisoner to tied up in enchanted rope, still like a prisoner but now mobile. 😑 

They even used his own hug ruse against him! They caught his wrists when they got close and tied him up before he could shake them off...

Admittedly, it wasn't exactly the best look for them either - what with walking Belphegor downstairs to the others like a one-man-prison-caravan but they're as silver-tongued as they are sly so they talked their way out of it beautifully… 

And like hell was he going to trust them after that!! And not even Beel liked them so something had to be up...

Well, you want a detective? Look no farther than Belphie (no seriously, it’s in the canon). He can put things together pretty fast when he puts his mind to it and watching the MC for a while gave him enough proof to work off of...

He always knew that, humans were bad news and the MC just proved it to him all over again. They are bad news, bad bad news and they’re going to-!

Overthrow… Diavolo…? Is that what he is getting from them…? Huh…

Wait a second, MC. You might just have him interested… 😏

[secretly-tword-obsessed]

Hahaha, you want prompts?. You got it. 1. Devon and Missy tickles where Devon teases her about it (imma send a couple in different ones so mahaha)

Aim

Warning: Mentions of sexy stuff

Missy would just use any excuse she could to be with Devon. She wasn't a massive sports fan, but when Devon asked her over with a few others to play basketball, she just couldn't refuse. And of course, she ended up staying later than all of the others, craving some intimate time with Devon.

"Sooo", Missy said, once it was just her and him, "I'm not so good at basketball. Could I get some personal coaching?"

"Smart", Mona said, "That's just an excuse for him to be all over you, noticing your form and picking up on every move. Who knows, he might even touch you".

"Yes Mona", Missy whined, "That's exactly what I was going for".

"Sure", Devon said, not a witness to the conversation between Missy and her monstress, "I'll give you some tips on shooting hoops!"

He led her to the end of his basketball court, and crouched down with the ball in his hand.

"So, the most important thing about a good shot is not strength or height, it's aim. I could throw the ball really high, but not have it land in the hoop. That's why it's key to crouch down and get a view of the whole hoop and the distance from a lower angle".

"We want to crouch down and see Devon from a lower angle", Mona commented, Missy trying to ignore her.

"Now", Devon continued, "Once you think your aiming for the right spot, imagine there is a line from your ball to that spot. Than, roll the ball along that line by hoisting the ball into the air. Like this-"

Devon demonstrated, however, for the first time that afternoon, the ball had ended up bouncing off the rim instead of into the hoop. Missy burst into laughter and smacked her knee, not noticing Devon's blush of embarassment.

"Yeah, yeah, that happens sometimes", Devon said, "The important thing is that you try again. Now, how bout you give it a shot Missy?"

Missy laughed again, but briefly this time, "Was that pun intended?"

Devon just shrugged, "For the sake of it, lets just say it was".

Missy smiled and crouched, eyeing her target. She than imagined the invisible line, and shot the ball upwards. It ended up going nowhere near the hoop, soaring through the air and landing straight in the bush. This time, Devon was the one laughing: "Damn Missy, bet you feel bad for laughing earlier". Missy rolled her eyes; "Shut up".

"Oh dang Missy this boy is so cute", Rochelle said, fluttering by her left side, "And he's so playful too".

"Yeah, he is isn't he", Missy agreed.

"Yeah; he's funny, playful and hot. And he's really sweet too".

Devon went over to the bush to get the ball.

"Now, try again, and this time, don't throw it into the bushes".

Missy shook her head and crouched down, making her line as clear and thin as possible.

"Oh, and by the way, you ticklish?", Devon asked, Missy still concentrated on the line.

"Yeah", she said without much thought, before lifting her arms up to throw the ball. As she did so, Devon reached under her arms, causing her to squeal and the ball to fly back into the bush.

"Ayyy", Devon said, "You hurt my bush again!"

"Hey!", Missy hmphed, "Not fair! You tickled me!"

"Tickled you?", Devon said, "I didn't even touch you! Are you just soooo ticklish that I don't have to touch you for you to react?"

Missy blushed heavily, "Devooon, stop iiit", she whined.

"He made us miss our line, but I can't stay mad at him", Rochelle said.

"Yeah", Mona added, "And he almost touched you".

Devon raised an eyebrow, "What are you saying Missy? Are you denying it?"

Missy's cheeks went redder, "N-no".

"Ok", Devon said, "Than say it".

Missy tilted her head, "Say what?"

"Say your ticklish!", Devon requested, a huge shiny grin on his face.

Uh-oh. Missy couldn't say that! It was too embarrassing. Yet Devon seemed very insistent, and she did want to play along.

Missy opened her mouth, than closed it. She just couldn't. Her heart was beating so fast she thought it would jump out of her chest.

"Aww", Devon teased, "Can you not say it? Haha! Come'ere Missy!".

Devon pounced at Missy and clenched his hands into claws. Missy shrieked and ran. Devon, being the fast boy he was, managed to scoop her up. (Though he couldn't hold her up for too long, he was secretly an old man after all). He tackled her to the ground.

"Ouch! Hahahaha! Devohohon! Stohohop ihihihit!"

Devon has started pinching and squeezing at Missy's sensitive sides.

Rochelle smiled down at the two of them, "Aww, this is so good baby boo! Tickling is one of the biggest loving gestures a boy can do!"

Missy tried to roll over, but Devon just stopped her with a well aimed poke which made her jump or squeal. Of course, Devon was smiling smugly the whole time.

"Aww Missy, your so hilarious!", he teased, switching to clawing at her tummy, making her laughter a little higher in pitch (if that was even possible).

"Your even more ticklish than I was as a baby! Didn't you ever grow out of it Missy?"

"Nohohoho!", Missy laughed, "Ahahahaha!".

Devon used his right hand to tickle her knees and upper leg, making her kick around a little.

"And I asked you if you were ticklish and you just said yes! Dang that is a silly thing to do!"

Missy continued to laugh, her heart racing and her whole face going crimson.

"Unless you wanted me to tickle you", Devon said.

The teasing was too much for Missy to handle, "I dihihihihid not!

"He's touching us", Mona said, "He's actually touching us. God bless how ticklish you are!"

Missy couldn't really think straight, all she could do was laugh and let go of all of her rising tensions. Finally, it seemed as if Devon had fully opened up to her.

Than, he lifted his hands, watching as Missy continued to giggle and squirmed lightly. Devon suddenly felt his own heart sink.

"Oh, isn't her laugh just the most amazing sound you've ever heard", Walter said.

"Yeah", Devon responded, "It is isn't it".

He watched as Missy's cheeks stayed red, her giggled began to subside and she had the hugest smile on her face. Jeez, he really wanted to kiss her.

He waited for her to regain her senses, so that she could consent to a kiss. He requested with his eyes, and she consented with her eyes, and with Devon still on top of her, they kissed.

"Yes!", Mona cried, "Yes Yes Yes Yes!!!!".

"Woohoo!", Rochelle chanted, "On ya baby!"

Once the kiss was over, Devon sat up straighter. They looked lovingly at each other for a few seconds.

"Hey Missy", he said, "That was lovely".

"Yeah, agreed", Missy responded.

The cheeky smile returned to Devon's face, "So, where else are you ticklish Missy?"

"Wait-nohohoho!"

And once again, Missy was being tickled by Devon, only this time around her neck and ears, making giggles form.

Neither Missy nor Devon had gotten a successful hoop since the start of that short practice, but both of them scored a gorgeous and giggly time.

[i-am-ironic]

The time that Dick dragged Marinette and Damian to the police because damian was nice to someone.

The title is a bit of an over simplification but it got the most votes and i think its funny. This probably isn't what you were expecting but damian wasn't expecting it ether so here we go!

Part 2

*********************

Damian was not having a good day. It had started out fine. He had gone to Wayne Enterprises to look over some paperwork and was planning on introducing his long time girlfriend to his family later that day. As he was headed back home he saw a flower shop, it had been a while since he had gotten marinette anything after work so he decided to stop and get her a bouquet.

He picked out a beautiful set of flowers, with lilys and some yellow flower he didn't know the name of.

But, as he was walking down the sidewalk toward his car a woman stopped him and said, "would you mind holding this for me? Just for a second?"

Now usually he would say no but marinette had been telling him he needed to be nicer to people so he said, "yes, just hurry."

He soon learned he should not have said that.

The woman handed him a bundle. Right before sprinting back to the flower shop and around the corner.

Damian's first though was 'well crap. This is a bundle of dr*gs isn't it?'

He carefully stated to unrap the bundle so he wouldn't disrupt what ever was in there. He didn't want any of it on him and he didn't want to touch any of it.

Well it wasn't dr*gs.

When he removed the blanket from the top of the bundle he found a face. The eyes were closed and the little pink mouth was open. Soft black hair was poking out from the edge of the blanket.

This was a baby.

He was just handed a baby on the sidewalk.

The baby was asleep.

He didn't know what to do. He couldn't process what just happened. So he did what any logical man would do. He walked to his car, and got in it. Then he realized he couldn't drive anywhere with the baby so he got out of the car and started walking back to his apartment.

He must have looked pretty strange walking down the street with flowers in one hand and a baby in the other. He was still wearing the suit from the office and he was a Wayne. As the youngest of the Wayne's and only blood son he was pretty recognizable by the public.

When he finally reached the apartment the first thing he said after walking in the door was, "Marinette I'm never going to be nice to anyone again."

"Why babe?" Marinette called from the kitchen where she was cooking something for dinner. "What's wrong? Oh you brought me flowers how kind!" She grabbed the flowers turning on her heal to go put them in some water.

"Mari, im sure what ever you are cooking will be great," he said, she knew that today was his day to cook but they would have to talk about her overworking herself later, "I need some help over here."

"Why? What happened........." she saw the baby but then put her head in her hand before saying, " Damian Wayne is that a baby?"

"It is and I don't know what to do, and we don't have milk or diapers, or clothes, or....... Marinette? Are you okay?"

"Just give me a minute, I wasn't expecting my boyfriend to come home with a baby today." She stood there for a second before shaking her head and looking back up at damian. "OK so we have a baby. I guess we should see if he or she needs to be changed before we go to the store."

"We don't have any diapers." Damien added helpfully.

Marinette took the baby and walked to the living room as she said, "okay so go to the kitchen and get a towel and while you are in there turn off the stove."

As damian looked for a towel he heard marinette yell from the other room, "its a girl!"

After the 'diaper' situation was taken care of the two of them just stared at each other and the baby between them. She had woken up. She had the biggest blue eyes ether of them had ever seen. She couldn't be more then a month or two old. But she wasn't crying. She just looked around.

"Okay, so," mari started, "how about you tell me how you acquired a baby girl, in the car to the store."

"Yeah, about that, um, you see I didn't have a car seat so I just kind of walked here from the flower shop."

"Of course you did. It's fine we can walk, ill hold the baby if you promise to carry all the stuff we buy."

"Deal." He could carry all the things they would need, plus it would give him a great excuse to show off.

"So.... are you going to tell me where you got this baby?"

"Well, pretty much i went to get you flowers and as I was leaving a lady asked me to hold something for her and I remembered how you told me to be nicer to people so I agreed and then she took off running and I saw the baby and brought her home."

"So a lady just handed you a baby and ran, dang. You are aware no one is going to believe you right?" Mari said still trying to process everything.

"Yes I'm aware. Anyway we can't keep calling her 'the baby' we have to give her a name."

"Any ideas?"

"Marry."

"Kate."

"Emma."

"We are not naming her emma. What about Adélie?"

"How about Martha?"

"After your grandmother? That would be a good middle name." She paused for a moment, "I know Gabrielle, Gabby for short."

"Gabrielle Martha Dupan-chang al Ghul Wayne, poor kid has such a long name." Damien laughed.

"We might not be able to keep her dames, then what?"

"First we are going to get clothes, diapers, clean blankets and some formula. Then we can go to the police and file a report for fear for the safety of a child. The fact that she was just handed to me on the street should be enough evidence, they should give us custody until everything goes through. In the mean time we can try to get approved to foster her and maybe even adopt."

"One step at a time."

By this point the two of them had reached the store. (Im imagining like a Walmart or Target type of store) They made a bee line for the baby section. Neither of them had any idea what to look for and they didn't want to call any more attention to themselves then they already had. After all this was Damian Wayne walking into a store with a girl no one knew, and a baby, who had a dish towel wrapped around her waist. Needless to say people were staring.

Marinette picked out three outfits, a pastel purple dress, a green onesie and a blue onesie. Then they got some bottles and pacifiers before heading over to the diaper section. Neither of them expected to see Dick Grayson-Wayne walk around the corner as they were trying to figure out how many diapers a baby really needed for a few days.

The shock on Dick's face was worth all the questions he was inevitably going to ask. First he looked at his brother, then marinette, then the baby products damian was holding, and finally the baby in marinette's arms. He closed his mouth that had been hanging open and nodded, walking over to the three of them.

"Im not going to ask about the dress," he said Indicating the baby clothes marinette had handed damian " or the girl, and frankly I'm too scared to ask about the baby, but are you still coming to dinner tonight?"

"We don't know yet." Obviously annoyed Damian looked between his brother and marinette, "we didn't expect to have a baby this morning, so the plan has changed."

"What do you mean you didn't expect to have a baby? If you're girlfriend is pregnant then you are going to have a baby! That's usually how that works. Honestly Damian!" Then he seemed to remember all the days of school Damian had missed because of Robin dutys, "oh no. Damian when you were in high school did you miss the class called-"

"Im going to stop you right there," Marinette finally cut in "um, you see this isn't, exactly,our baby."

"And to the police we go!" Dick said dragging them out of the store barely letting them pay for their stuff. When ever ether of them tried to speak he would shush them and say they should tell it to the judge.

Did he honestly think they had stolen a baby? Well, to be fair, that's pretty much what Bruce did to Jason soooo....... and he had just met marinette and didn't know what kind of person she was. But they were planning on going to the police after the store anyway so this actually worked out.

Once they arrived marinette went to the bathroom with Gabby to change her diaper and put on some of the clothes. Damian and Dick went to Commissioner Gordon so Damian could explain the situation.

Marinette walked in right as damian was finishing the story, " And Dick saw us in the picking out a bottle and he asked about the baby and when I told him she wasn't our he dragged us here."

"So what your telling me is that you want to keep the baby until and unless the parent or gardien comes forward?" Commissioner Gordon looked quite surprised, "Damien you are so young, you don't need a baby that isn't your responsibility, and what does your girlfriend think about all of this?"

"I agree with damian," the three men looked up at Marinette holding baby Gabrielle, they had been so caught up in their talk they hadn't noticed her walk in, "i know what foster care is like, one of my roommate was in the system and she barely mad it out alive, it's been years but she still has nightmares and calls me in the middle of the night. Ha," her laugh was humorless and cold, "we bonded over our trama. I wont let this sweet little girl go through that when I can stop it."

Dick had slight tears in his eyes he remembered life before Bruce adopted him. There weren't many good memories. "I think they should keep her. If anything goes wrong they have the whole family to help, and no one should have to wonder where they are going to sleep that night."

"If you all are that determined then i'll start the paperwork. But," he said stopping the smile that had started to form on the new parents faces, "you will both have to agree to give her up if we end up finding her legal gardien, before you officially adopt her. After you adopt her she is yours and no one can take her back."

Marinette and Damian hugged making sure not to squish Gabrielle. They went back to the store, while Dick told the rest of the family Damian and his girlfriend would be a little bit late, and they had a surprise for everyone.

Damian walked in front of marinette as they entered the house.

Alfred the butler was there to great them, "good evening Master Damian and you must be miss mar-" the shock on Alfred's face was evident as he stared at Damian's tiny girlfriend holding a baby's car seat. "Is-is that?"

"Alfred could you please tell my family to gather in the living room we will be up in my room until then so they won't see the 'surprise'." He put emphasis on the word 'surprise' gesturing at the car seat.

Alfred nodded and smiled mischievously. Damian lead marinette to his room were they left all the baby stuff. When you have a baby you have to travel with a ridiculous amount of stuff.

When Alfred came back to get them he started at the baby girl, "what is her name?" He asked softly so he wouldn't wake her.

"Gabrielle Martha dupan-chang al Ghul Wayne." Damian answered just as softly.

"How old is she?"

"We aren't sure, we when to the doctor earlier today after we finished at the store and he said she was about two months old."

Alfred looked quite confused but knew they would explain once they got to the living room with the rest of the family.

Damian walked in first to block marinette and the baby from his family's view. The room was packed, there was Bruce, Dick, Jason, Tim, Cass, Stephanie, and Barbara, not to mention Selina Kyle Alfred and Duke. When they had said the WHOLE family wanted to meet Damien's girlfriend they ment the whole family. When Damien sat down and they saw Marinette and Gabrielle, and i am not exaggerating when I say, all hell broke lose.

In the chaos it was hard to hear what specific people were saying but someone said, "i knew it wasn't like you to want us to meet your girlfriend now it all makes sense!" And "Well Bruce, at least he knows about his kid." There was also lots of swearing probably by Jason. Tim chugged an entire pot of coffee. Only Bruce was silent. He started at the them and waited for the room to quiet down.

"Damien, would you like to explain yourself?"

"Well this is all marinette's fault if you think about it."

Marinette looked offended as she responded "it is not my fault! You were the one who took a random baby home!"

"YOU KIDDNAPED A BABY!!!" Jason cut in.

"I mean its kinda the opposite of kidnapping if you think about it."

"I did not kidnap Gabrielle, she was handed to me on the street and I didn't know what to do so I took her home."

"Oh my God!" At this point everyone was confused. "What do you mean she was handed to you on the street?"

"Well i was walking out of the flower shop and a lady came up to me and asked if I would hold something for her and I said yes, so she gave me something and took off running. I looked down and there was a baby. I took her home and then marinette and I went to the store to get her some stuff. That was when we saw Dick. When he found out Gabrielle wasn't our baby he took us to the police i explained everything to them and we are going to keep her until her guardians can be found. If they don't find anyone we are going to keep her."

"What a story." Tim said. "Well that clears that up let's eat."

They continued talking late into the night about all the things that would have to change. But all things considered it went pretty well.

When the little family got home marinette went through the blankets Gabrielle had been wrapped in and found a letter.

"Dear Mr. Wayne,

This is my daughter, I don't have the money to take care of her, please give her a good life I don't know what will happen if she is put in the foster care system and I don't want to think about it. If you decide to keep her I will sign over all parental rights to you, I just ask that you give her the life that I couldn't, and that you let me see her on holidays. My name is Amanda Jones you can find me if you want to or just let me be. tell her I love her but I couldn't keep her. I love her so much."

She would have to give this to the police in the morning. But for now she had to get some sleep before Gabrielle woke up.

***************

This took forever to write but here it is i hope everyone likes it and thank you to everyone who voted on the name for this. I'm not entirely happy with how it turned out but its not bad, and I don't think it's going to get any better.

(Part 2)

@wannajointhecrabcult

@corabeth11

@i-wanna-be-a-ninja

@animegirlweeb

@spyofthenightcourt

[gambitimagines]

J’Tadore Vous Part 4

0_o Inspiration was hard to find, so sorry this took soooo fraking dang long!! Writer’s block and life just got in the way.

Augh. Edit: I am truly an old soul. I wanted Y/N to actually write things down on paper at first and then I was like, no, that’s not what a millennial or someone actually living in this time period would do (Unless they’re me or a Boomer I guess?? IDK). I am not obsessed with my phone like other people (it can’t call out, for one thing, and can’t play Pokemon Go either. Long story), so I still use pen and paper for a lot of things. 

Warnings: Mentions of the Holocaust, nothing graphic. You drink wine.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The next day, you were preoccupied wondering how the date would pan out. You were excited, but also achingly curious to know all about Remy’s life. He’d given you enough information to clear up the mystery, but you wanted to know what he’d done with life over the centuries. You hadn’t gotten a degree in history because you hated it, that was certain! You’d always had a passion for it, and to have a living, breathing first hand account in front of you was absolutely mind-blowing. You were counting the seconds until the date.

That wasn’t to say you weren’t attracted to Remy as a person. You very much were. Surely, this was going to be a long term romantic relationship. You didn’t have any idea of how long or what it would all lead to. (Certainly no one thought about marriage on the first date!) Remy, for his part, had to see something more in you than being cute and sweet. He probably enjoyed your intelligence, you figured, and that you could hold a conversation. Some girls only thought about shopping and not much else. You’d never been the shallow type.

You busied yourself with house cleaning, writing down your questions for Remy in your phone that you thought of as you went along. What did he do during the Holocaust? What were his thoughts on the sinking of the Titanic when it happened? Did he ever meet Helen Keller? 

Your mind buzzed so hard, you were vacuuming for a solid five minutes before you realized it had shut off on it’s own.  You turned the machine over after unplugging it, fussing with the wheelie-brush on the underside, feeling around for a stuck piece of crumpled paper or something, but feeling nothing. You let out a groan, realizing you’d have to take it in to be repaired.  You put the vacuum next to the door so as not to forget about it when your phone rang. 

It was your friend Judy. “Girl, where have you been?! I haven’t heard from you in two weeks!” She was practically shrieking on the other end. Judy was excitable, small Korean-American young woman around your age. She’d graduated with a master’s degree in art and culinary art and ran a studio out of her apartment selling crafts and paintings, doing part time work in a bakery. She’d been your best friend since you moved to New York, meeting at the local farmer’s market that came to Brooklyn on the weekends.

“Sorry Judy. I’ve been pre-occupied,” you answered, “Work and stuff.”

“And stuff, huh? What kind of stuff? Man stuff? Meet anyone interesting?” She was always curious about your dating life. 

“Yes, um, very interesting,” you answered, “He’s...an art procurer.  We met at the museum. His name is Remy.”

“Oooh! What’s he look like?!” Judy squealed.

“Tall, well-kempt brown hair, great jawline and cheekbones you could cut a diamond on,” You didn’t want to downplay it, “He’s a mutant, so he’s got these kind of...you know...eyes.” You weren’t sure how to describe them.

“Yes, I hear most people have those,” Judy’s smarminess rang through loud and clear.

“Red irises, like rubies. Black where other people have white,” You explained, “Beautiful eyes.”

“You sound smitten,” Judy said, “How many dates have you been on already?”

“Well, none yet,” You said, launching into how you went to his house, leaving out the whole world’s-oldest-mutant stuff.

“Super cool. Listen, I gotta go. My painting finally is dry. I’ll call you in a few days or something. Bye.” Judy said.

“Bye,” You hung up the phone and got back to chores. Shortly, you picked up your phone again to write down another question. Would Remy mind meeting your best friend?

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Time wore on and you waited anxiously for Remy to come by for you with a car and driver. This wasn’t going to be like the other kinds of dates you’d had before.

The driver promptly picked you up at 6 pm on the dot. You knew to make Remy wait ten minutes, finishing getting ready and making him want you a little more. You wore a glittering spaghetti strap black dress that stopped just above the knee and a silver shawl (also glittery). The dress was a little early 2000s, but it was one of the few nice things you owned that was designer label. Faux pearl earrings and a simple silver chain completed the look.

 The driver opened the door of a beautiful Rolls Royce, letting you inside.

“Good evening, Miss Y/N.” Remy drawled as you slid your way into the car, “You look better than all the Queens and Duchesses in history. Elegant and refined.”

You laughed so hard you almost snorted. “Don’t! I’m sure I look nice, but I’m not that amazing.”

“Humble and intelligent,” Remy mused, “You manage to make me more taken with you every moment.”

It was long drive to the restaurant. You stuck to “safe” topics, even though you were dying to ask him important questions. 

“Cherie, you’re beating around the bush. Ask me whatever it is you want to,” Remy smiled, seeing through your politeness.

“Uh, okay? What were you doing during the Titanic sinking? How did you handle the Holocaust?”

“I was doing what everyone else was doing, living life. I wasn’t even in England at the time, and wouldn’t have been interested in a ticket. As for the Holocaust, no one person was going to stop that, mutant or not. I did what I could to get people out and ruin a few concentration camps, but it’s not a memory I like to re-live.” Remy explained.

“Sorry,” You apologized.

“It’s long past, don’t worry. As long as I don’t dwell on it it’s not triggering. So, Cherie, what does a girl like you like to eat?” Remy smiled, his brilliant million dollar dazzler.

You told him your favorite foods and restaurants. 

“I see. I’ll have to cook for you some time. I make a great Jambalaya and dirty rice.”

You soon reached the restaurant after about fifteen more minutes. It was worth the wait.  It was a glass building on the West side of New York, surrounded by skyscrapers, with three levels. sign out front read La Sirene. There was enough space for a tiny parking lot, but that was all.  

 https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=AQgt0jkL&id=7791E3555B3A74E1ADA373E5568296CB6A49FC11&thid=OIP.AQgt0jkLgp4A_d-uMSlTbwHaFi&mediaurl=https%3a%2f%2fd37219swed47g7.cloudfront.net%2fmedia%2freviews%2fla-sirene%2fbanners%2fLa-Sirene-NYC-Restaurant_0.jpg&cdnurl=https%3a%2f%2fth.bing.com%2fth%2fid%2fR.01082dd2390b829e00fddfae3129536f%3frik%3dEfxJasuWglblcw%26pid%3dImgRaw%26r%3d0&exph=2291&expw=3060&q=la+sirene+restaurant&simid=608039744327669396&FORM=IRPRST&ck=D50E2BF60FECF3D821C98B4479543E0E&selectedIndex=1&ajaxhist=0&ajaxserp=0

Inside was beautiful, but compact for the first floor. The floor was wooden and the place was dotted with white table cloths and black wooden chairs. At the back was a small wine rack and the door to the kitchen, along with a black host stand. The entrance was just more tables and chairs and a gorgeous staircase on the right side leading up to whatever was upstairs.

“That leads up to the bakery, if you’re so inclined,” Remy whispered in your ear, causing your spine to shiver. You hadn’t mentioned how much you loved baked goods and the like to him, so he was pretty intuitive. He lead you back to the host stand.

“Ah, Monsieur LeBeau! So nice having you again!” An average height man with a receding black hairline greeted him with a big smile, “Where would you and your guest like to be seated? Upstairs or downstairs?”

“Which do you want, Cherie?”

“Upstairs would be fine,” You smile, getting excited.

“Very good, Ma’amselle,” The host nodded, leading you there himself. You got a table in the middle of the floor. The upper floor was laid out similarly to the downstairs, except the door to the back was metal and you had a skyline view looking out the window.

“What can I get you started with to drink?”

“Chateau Latour, the red. Miss Y/N? Wine or water or...?” Remy said.

You looked at the wine menu and the drinks menu. The wine menu started at three-hundred and ended at five-thousand dollars. You certainly didn’t want to turn down generosity, so you picked a “modest” six-hundred dollar wine that looked good, described as fruity with a hint of smokiness.

“Maison Champy Corton-Charlemagne, please.”

“Excellent choice,” The host nodded, “Your waiter will be with you shortly.” He left you.

“You’ve got good taste,” Remy admitted, “Most would’ve gone with something more unique. You get what you like.”

“Thank you,” You played with your hair nervously.

“Have you had French food before?” Remy questioned gently.

“No,” You resisted making an obvious frogs legs joke.

“I’ll help you pick out something to your taste,” He scooted his chair closer and you went through the menu together, sitting intimately close. You talked about where your tastes ran, if you liked bitter, sweet or savory foods. Based off that, Remy listened and gave you a few suggestions. You decided on something you thought you’d enjoy and Remy completely reassured you that you could send anything back you didn’t like until finding something you did. The restaurant lived to serve and didn’t want to see any patron unhappy or unsatisfied.

“I usually get the Kassulet Toulousain de la Maison or the Linguini aux fruits de mer, depending on my mood and the season. The steak is also excellent,” Remy said, “Let’s keep the conversation going, shall we?”

You took a quick look at your notes with your phone under the table.  “Um,  Where did you live before America was founded? Did you get to meet Columbus? And have you met any of history’s great movie stars or figures? I know you saved the Queen of England once.”

Remy took a moment to think back. “Hmm, let’s see. After Egypt fell, I spent my time in Israel, Greece and the surrounding areas. Once England was established, I stayed there for a few decades. I spent most of my time in Europe and got curious about America around the late eighteen hundreds. After stopping the ripper inspired killings, I  bounced around the continents and by the seventies, I stayed in America for good. I lived in every state at least once until the eighties, then I picked New York to call home. I only got to meet Columbus briefly. If I’d known how important he was going to be to History, I would’ve spend more time with him. You might not believe me, but I had a very secret fling with Marilyn Munroe and I was Cher’s rebound boy for a while after Sunny. Dolly Parton loved me like a brother, we hung out, but I haven’t seen her since before she was famous. Clark Gable and Carey Grant didn’t like me much, but I was what we now call Jimmy Stewart’s wingman. I introduced him to his wife.”

“S-so you spent a lot of time in Hollywood?” You couldn’t hide your surprise.

“In the early days. I blended in, hiding in plain sight, but it got boring fast. It just seemed like the place to be, but it wasn’t for me at all. I haven't been back there since...about the early nineties.”

“Gotcha. The fall of the Berlin wall? The Moon landing?”

“Amazing to see in person. Mon ange, you know I wasn’t the only person alive back then,” Remy laughed.

“I knowww! But you’re one of the few people with a first hand account that won’t fall asleep on me or start ranting about how the internet ruined everything,” you huffed, “Remy, come on, humor me. I’m a history buff and you’re living history. You were there for the majority of it.” You didn’t mind him calling you his angel. (You knew bits of French from high school and had done some brushing up lately.)

“Je concède, Je concède,” he held up his masculine, beautiful hands, “I really have my hands full with you, Y/N. I don’t mind answering questions as long as I get to stare into those gorgeous orbs you call eyes for the rest of our evening.” He held your chin a moment, studying your face.

You weren’t sure what to think, but you didn’t reject the advance at all. Remy was a warm, romantic soul who was gentle with you.

Your food soon came and the two of you enjoyed a hot meal and good company. “Oh, I was wondering if you’d want to meet my friend Judy? She’s an artist and my best friend.” You said halfway through.

“That wouldn’t be Judy Nai, would it? I’ve seen her work. Her gallery is amazing. Her five times great grandfather was also a spectacular artist and sculptor,” Remy said.

“Yes. Wow, you get around, don’t you?”

“If there’s a gallery in New York, I’ve been to it, even the lesser known ones and the ones just starting out. Tell her I liked her Moon Phase and Francis in Autumn pieces the best,” Remy’s eyes lit up, “I would’ve bought them both, but the curator insisted they weren’t for sale. I’ll have to commission something from her, if she’s up for it.”

“She’d be thrilled,” You smile.

You finished up dinner, had a short bathroom break and came back.

“Are you interested in dessert or what?” Remy looked up from the dessert menu.

“I’d love dessert,” You touched Remy’s hand, ready to return his romantic interest and start sweeping him off his feet. Not that you considered yourself a big flirt, but you knew how to turn it on and off, “How does an immortal say ‘you’re fascinating and wholly attractive’ in French?”

Remy paused, smiling, dimples showing as his eyes darted to the floor. He scoffed a moment, enjoying being pursued, “...Vous êtes fascinant et tout à fait attrayant.”

You stared at each other until you looked away, smiling hard.

Dessert came and went. You’d suddenly become too interested in each other to really care about what was on your plate. The sparks had more than started to fly, they were now brilliant fireworks.

Remy took you downstairs and back to the car. The driver opened the door and you slipped in together.

Remy slid a hand over your forearm, holding it. He held your face, going in for what seemed more than a kiss. It was nearly life-changing, making your knees buckle and the butterflies storm up your insides. More than the best movie kiss or romantic book could offer. You felt Remy’s hand play up your side from your arm until he was holding your face with both hands. You couldn’t even feel the car in motion, but your head was spinning all the same. You swallowed, trying to catch air. All too soon, the kiss was broken.

“Sorry. I don’t usually kiss on the first date...and not like that,” Remy admitted, “I haven’t felt like this in a long time. A long, long time, ange.”

“Uhh, same. I...you’re an amazing kisser...but you would be after millennia of getting to practice,” You giggled.

“Of course. Y/N, you’re a beautiful amazing woman, but I won’t take this farther than you want to go. We can go as slow or fast as you like, but I won’t force you into anything. No matter how  captivating and perfect your legs are...and the rest of you,” Remy’s red eyes looked at you with a hunger usually reserved for dogs and the starving. He looked like he wanted to drool over and compliment your curves for hours. You’d never had such attention from any former boyfriend, but you appreciated he wanted to keep things a little chaste and normal. Save some of that enthusiasm for the possible honeymoon. (If you had your way and he was this intent on being with you, that was definitely in your future, you decided.)

“Thanks....thank you,” You adjusted your clothes, “We’ll see how it goes. I’m not in a rush, but I feel things for you too, believe me. When was your last, er, girlfriend anyway?”

“Somewhere around Ninety-five when I stopped being in the public so much,” Remy shrugged, “She broke it off. Said I was being too distant. She didn’t know the half of it. Beautiful Lawyer...Anna-Susan Murphy, I believe.”

“We’ve got the rest of my life to be together,” You squeezed his hand, “And I’m going to enjoy every second of it.”

“D’accord, Cherie.” Remy smiled.

----------

TO BE CONTINUED

(Yes, there’s gonna be MORE! I’ve got plans.)

I find the lack of friends in imagines disturbing, lol, so I gave you one.  Yes, La Sirene is a real restaurant in Soho, west side, with it looks like other locations. like I said, I don’t live in NYC and I’ve never been to that restaurant (it’d probably suck for me for lack of vegetarian options) but it sounded sophisticated enough for the plot and the inner décor is gorgeous. Took some liberties and made the outside my own, adding another floor that likely doesn’t exist in real life with a bakery, and bumped up the price for the wine, but that’s all. Also, just guessing that’s the host stand in the back of the picture? Most of us haven’t been to a restaurant in a year and half so like...IDK? Whatever! More on the menu here if you’re in the area and can afford it, but looks like they only do delivery right now. https://www.theinfatuation.com/new-york/reviews/la-sirene

https://lasirenenyc.com/

I am amused to insert Remy into history and would love to see him dating Cher for the lulz. And heck yeah he could’ve gotten Marilyn, no doubt. XD

Hope it wasn’t too dry or boring?? Also, got a bit steamy there (intentionally, because I know what everyone wants, but I keep it PG-13 at most), but I DID promise Remy getting more like his regular self, did I not? 

[seduceme-lovestruck-thearcana]

My playthrough today if Danganronpa 2:

OHHH WAITT. IS IT LIKE A VIRTUAL WORLD OR SOMETHING??? A computer started and then we see Nagito and now a DOOR AND NOW WE SEE THE WHOLE GROUP-

.

OH MY GOSH I SEE THIS GUY!! IN THE WHITE SUIT AND HES BIG!!! That voice sounds familiar and I swear if you’re not Byakuya then I’m disappointed-

HIS ‘What?’ SOUNDS THE SAME BRUH. EVEN HIS LITTLE “hmph,” ARE THE SAME DJWJSB. Dang everything he says is the same lord. This really is Byakuya. Bruh what happened to you and why are you huge. Nothing wrong with being huge but like w o a h this is sudden-

.

DNABJWW. THIS GUY SAID HE TRIED TO LEAVE TO TAKE A SHIT DNANS. That’s how he knew he couldn’t leave y’all I-

.

BRUH THEY GOT A FEMALE MONOKUMA DJWKSB.

OH wait nvm she’s a rabbit-

.

Okay so we’ve arrived at the island and Usami is talking about hope so I’m assuming she’s like…the reverse of Monokuma? Like Ik he’s gonna show up at some point, but I’m assuming she’s gonna stay around too! I’m kinda excited-

.

BRUH NAGITO ALREADY BRINGING UP HOW USAMI BROUGHT US HERE SO WE COULD KILL EACH OTHER SNANS. Look at him being all smart💙.

.

Nagito did his introduction and they just slide that little “Ultimate Lucky Student,” in like I forgot Makoto-

But Makoto got “The Ultimate Hope,” so I mean that’s so sweeter🥺. But I kinda bet Hajime might get the same thing so idk-

.

The E~Handbook’s are back and YESSSS. I’m not one for murder but if I get to test my logic then by all means please. I actually set the logic up to mean soooo….we’ll see how I do😳. Also Nagito seems really sweet. Please don’t become bad😭.

.

Opened the E~Handbook and yessss I see those question marks and Ik it means truth bullets >:)))). BUT ALSO I GET AN E-PET??? HUH? This is interesting-

.

bro the way he runs😂. This layout is very cool!! I was wondering where I remembered this from but I actually have seen this like YEARS ago! I watched my friend play this game once. I’d watch her a few times but I didn’t really pay attention but YEAH!! I’ve seen this before!!! Not the deaths or the characters but the way he runs and the layout of the area anyways.

But I’m ready to meet the characters, learn about them, and find out who’s dead first-

.

AAAAH WE GOT THE INTRODUCTION AND IT REALLY IS BYAKUYAAAAA-

.

I wonder if he still talks to everyone. Like Kyoko, Hina, Hiro, and Makoto. I’m curious👀. But also?? How old??? Is he now??? They can’t still be freshman. Like how long is this coming from the first one??? My brain is confused and kinda excited. And I believe they’re freshman? Because I’m certain one of the girls mentioned it in the beginning? I’m not sure-

.

MIKANNN!!! Babe are you okay??? She’s just like “is it alright if I remember your name?” LIKE BABE OF COURSE!!! What happened to her🥺. I just wanna hug her…please don’t become bad-

And then she’s like “it’s been so long since I’ve made friends. not that I’m saying you make friends with me!” And then she starts crying like baby I’m so sorry :(. And then Nagito just saying (twice), “Bullying a girl, not cool Hajime,” or something and like dude you’re right next to me. I didn’t say anything-

.

BRUH IM WITH THE GUY WHO HAS THOSE HAMSTERS DJWBSBW. He’s the ultimate breeder and he’s asking who I made a pact with and Nagito’s just like, “…I think he’s asking if you had a pet,” LIKE WHAT-

.

Anyways that’s all for tonight. I’m tired and need to be ready for my classes tomorrow and everything SOOO GOODNIGHT💙💙💙. Probably will still scroll tumblr tho-

[teacup-of-candlelight]

Fjord and that soul-crushing kind of jealousy

This was written late at night and could be considered reachy based off body language and facial expression analysis so if your not down for that, swim along!

We were all expecting jealousies of one kind or another to surface at Traveler Con, we’d been theorizing for a good long while about it! And while we did get some of the normal stuff we had been looking for, (Caleb and Artagan one-upping each other with magic, Fjord being super eager for Beau to go back to talking about Yasha instead of Jester, etc) the jealousy we got to see from Fjord in relation to the Traveler was an entirely different type jealousy that I think shows just how deep Fjord’s feelings for Jester may really be.

We’ve seen Fjord be Petty-Jealous in the past towards Artagan (“He’s not That handsome. You must just be attracted to mystery or something.”) and it was generally pretty funny and not very serious. But during the Bjreaus convo we got to see a Fjord who’s jealousy was more... disturbed by others having feelings for Jester. This sweet dense 7 wisdom boi had no idea that he wasn’t the only one with feelings for Jester much less his best friend and traveling companions. So when he first hears this from Beau, he has a very emphatic “WHAt” moment (which ngl was hilarious) and then seems to be disturbed by this new information until Beau explains it, and to an extent her own past crush on Jester, away to calm him down. That seems to be a little more than your average jealousy to me.

But they continued their conversation and came to this very important part y’all gotta remember for when I hit the actual point of this meta in a sec: He admits that he doesn’t know if Jester still likes him or not, that he’s afraid to tell her how he feels in case her feelings have changed, and that most of all he doesn’t want to be rejected by her because he likes feeling the way he does now. Fjord enjoys being the only person (as far as he’s aware) who just gets butterflies over every little thing she does, and making jokes and fjlirting(?) with his crush who Might like him back. That’s probably a feeling a lot of us can relate to. That exiting and comfortable place where our crush really might like us, that bubble of ignorant bliss that Fjord is hesitant to pop. Because it’s possible that the truth could be worse than living in a hopeful world of unknowns.

But then Jester is getting pulled up into the air as she clings to the Traveler, and Fjord teleports to her, begging her to let go, because among other things, he doesn't want to lose her. The celestial keeps asking Jester questions about Artagan and why she’s doing all that she is for him and then she finally says it- “Because I love him..!”  And Fjord’s face just... falls.

It almost looks like Travis stops breathing for a second, then he very slowly just, looks down, and he does that for a while. Where he had been worried for Jester but excited to be playing (because c’mon Travis loves it when crazy stuff happens) there is a sudden shift to far away down cast looks, and a strange seriousness I can only describe as forlorn. It’s not the face of “Oh crap my best friend likes my crush!” but the face of someone who just felt the small cruel knife of “the girl I love just said she loves someone else” enter his heart. Now, WE know that Jester didn’t mean it that way, and idk if Fjord takes a second to think about it he’ll see that she meant that she loves Arty in a deep friendship or familial way, but love makes people do and think crazy stuff! And sometimes no matter how hard we think ourselves out of our feels hearing it still hurts. And he keeps having a similar reaction after every time her love for Artagan is mentioned. Even when Matt describes Artagan’s tear- Travis gives a silent sigh and looks upward with that kinda expression that says “oof well dang”. Travis isn’t usually the kind to look detached and introspective and- miffed?- while other things are going on, that’s something we would more expect from Caleb, but that’s what Travis was giving us for Fjord.

I could go on and on listing a ton of examples but I won’t bore y’all with that, lol. The point is, when Fjord heard Jester say she loved Artagan in what ever that love looks like, he felt the deep, and I guess about as unselfish as as it ever can be, type of jealousy. The kind that doesn’t get mad, or fights back by showing off or anything, but the soul crushing kind that just heard Jester say that she loved someone and it wasn’t Fjord. Fjord who already believes he is worthy of Jester’s love. One of the core attributes of Fjord’s love for Jester is how unselfish it is, that he just wants the best for her, and he will support her in whatever she wants. But it can hurt so so bad feeling like you’re not the one someone wants, even if for a moment.

And I think that just says soooo much about how serious his feelings are for her.

[myheartisbro-ken]

you mentioned in a comment on a supercorp fic (i feel like a stalker, yikes) that you got in contact with darren doyle and he gave you some tips on using kryptahniuo, the sentence structure, the krius thing, etc.. would you mind sharing them? because i feel like i've sucked all available resources dry, and as a huge kryptonian nerd, i'd really appreciate it! (ofc, feel free to ignore me and pretend like this never existed if i'm intruding or unknowingly acting like a jerk.)

Okay, soooo, this is all from 3 years ago and I don’t have the best way to make myself clear when talking to people, but I’m gonna put here the things that are relevant and cut out my cringey communication. This is also for anyone who writes and would like to know a lil bit more about the language, or just people who enjoy conlangs. The vocab is over at kryptonian.info, but this is a clearer explanation of some things I had a bit of trouble with.

It’s pretty long though, so strap in.

Here we go:

Me: I was kind of having a hard time trying to figure out what the present form of zhao would be since it already ends with an 'o' and the present suffix is 'odh', I wanted to say 'I love you' with zhao , and on your page I could only find the ukiem sentence. Would it be zhaodh? And how would the full sentence be? What about shovuh, would it be shovuhodh?

Doyle: Sweet! I'm glad to help (I only wish the writers of the show would help instead of butchering the grammar ... and pronunciation)

Ok ... give me a moment to work on this...

Ok ... /zhao/ ... this doesn't end in /o/ (as in go) it ends in /ao/ (as in cow) which is a different vowel. Even if it did, though, you would still go ahead and use the /odh/ suffix. Two vowels in a row in Kryptonian is going to be super rare (pun intended), but in those cases Kryptonian phonetics will use a slight "w" sound to separate the vowels.

So ... it would be /zhaoodh/which would be 3 characters in Kryptonian writing: zh + ao + odhSo, your sentences would be: /zhaoodh (khuhp) w rraop/ and /shovuhodh (khuhp) w rraop/The subject is optional

Also, this is a sentence that would likely be gendered (familiar and/or intimate speech)

So, "I (female) love you (male)." would be: /zhaoodh (khap) w rrup/

BUT

Let's talk about informal speech, because the I love you stuff gets weird ...

zhao and shovuh are primarily nouns, but at some point they got codified as type 1 verbs (taking suffixes)... and grammatically (especially formal writing) type 1 is kind of the "proper" way to use them. But in day-to-day speech, these usually get treated as type 2 verbs (no suffix)

I should back pedal briefly and say that all this applies to /ukiem/ (familial love) ... and actually to /:jev/ (n. happiness, joy) with /:jevodh/ meaning essentially "like" or "enjoy"

So anyway, the informal variant ends up as something like /zhao w rrup/ (you would almost never use the subject with the type 2 forms of these words) Total side topic ... (hope I'm not overwhelming you here) ...

Since type 2 verbs mark tense with a vowel change, there is an interesting result with /zhao/ ... since the past and future versions end up being /zha/ and /zhi/ respectively which also just happen to be the words for "yes" and "no" which also act as augmentative and diminutive markers...

It's a bit of a chicken and egg situation as it's unclear if the "will love/did love" meanings gave rise to the "yes/no" meanings or if the existing "yes/no" words guided the vowel shift as /zhao/ went from noun > v1 > v2

Me: Okay, first, in the verb section of your page you say that not using a suffix creates the potential form of the verb, yet there is a prefix, kai, for potential, so if someone were to ask 'can you do...' say, 'can you speak/say this' would it need the prefix and then the present suffix, or just not use either. Like, would it be 'ta-kai-ehworodh rraop w [thing]' or 'ta-kai-ehwor' or just 'ta-ehwor' or is all of that completely dumb and I totally misunderstood everything? (I'm also not sure when I should and shouldn't use the hyphen) And the second is simpler, I guess: going by 'us-kah' as like a petname for your child, would the same apply to a parent, such as saying 'jeju-te' in sort of the same way kids say 'mommy' and not just expressing relationship. And could that apply to a person's name as well? Like, idk if that works in english, but say you have a nickname for someone and then you say 'that's MY [nickname]', (I do that for my aunt in portuguese, which is why I'm asking)

Doyle: Dang ... the "suffixless form of the verb forms the potential" is actually a holdover from an idea when I first started making the language that eventually got abandoned. Thought I removed references to it, but I missed that I guess.

Hyphens are just there to help show the morpheme breaks when explaining the language. If you are just writing Kryptonian, then you wouldn't use them at all.

so /?takaieworodh rraop ki kryptahniuo/ would be correct

Ok ... the "familial-possessive-honorifics" ...

They kind of act like an honirific (Mr., Mrs., Sir, Ma'am, Señor, Señorita, San, Sama etc.)

They attach using the proper noun punctuation...

So ... Kal-El => /kal,ehl/

Mr. Kal-El => /kal,ehl,jran/

(I'm not related it Kal-El)

Let me start over on that last one

I am talking to you about Mr. Kal-El, I would say ...

* (neither of us is related to him): /kal,ehl,jran/

* (I am related to him, but you aren't): /kal,ehl,te/

* (we are both related to him): /kal,ehl,kah/

* (I am not related to him, but you are): /kal,ehl,ni/

* (Neither of us is related to him, but we are talking about someone who is related to him and that relationship is pertinent to the conversation): /kal,ehl,cheh/

So in that sense, these are honorifics ... they are more formal, not less

so ... us,kah for a child probably wouldn't end up being a pet name

and it means "our" child ... so even less likely in that sense (us,te would be "my child")

and it uses the less intimate gender-neutral form

wait ... scratch that ... /us/ is masculine (derp derp)

so, a more likely candidate for a pet name for your child would probably be /us kir/ (little boy) or /is kir/ little girl

you could also do something clever like /krius/ or /kriis/ (that second word would be pronounced "kree-yees") ... borrowing the "bright" prefix and applying it to the child noun

For Kryptonians that wouldn't have as much of the meaning that an English speaker would assign to "bright" (smart, clever, etc), but more of a sense of "joyful", "pleasant", "you-light-up-the-room" kind of sense.

An English equivalent to /krius/ would be something like when you refer to someone as "my little ray of sunshine"

getting back to your actual question ...  

/jeju,te/ and /ukr,te/ would also be more formal. Kids (especially older kids) would be expected to use this form in public when addressing parents

but at home it would probably be just /jeju/ and /ukr/

for the very youngest kids, /jeje/ would be "mommy", and /uku/ (or even /kuku/) would be "daddy" ... but, unlike some dialects of English (especially in the Southern states), those variants wouldn't last very long as kids would be encouraged to use /jeju/ and /ukr/ as their speech developed

So ... ummm ... I'm not sure if I've answered your actual question ... if I have, I may have indicated the opposite... Kryptonians would remove the "my" on a petname ... does that sound right ... hmmm ... thinking about it

Shoot ... I guess I don't really know how to give you a solid answer on that one. Pet names can be funny things, I think ... because even in English I can see formal titles being absorbed as "cute" ... like having a little fluffy dog that you pick up and in a cutesy voice call "Sir Snuggles"

so ... armed with the info for "normal" speech/grammar ... pick whatever feels right to you!

Me: The first I wanted to ask is if 'Awuhkhu zhadif khap w rrip' is correct for 'I'll never leave you'

And the second I tried to make it out, but the result looked weird so I was just very unsure about (while the other I'm a bit more confident about) so how would 'please don't leave me' be, cuz 'please don't' is a full prefix, right? so it'd be 'please don't' prefix + leave + present suffix and then the pronoun separately. By that logic it'd be 'sozhaoawuhkhodh khap' is that correct?

Now there's actually a third one that I don't even know where to begin (mostly because I didn't try too hard) but I wanted to know would you say the sentence 'she left me alone' or 'my mother left me alone'?

Doyle:

/.awuhkhu zhadif khap w rrip/ ... yep, that's correct!  

/sozhaoawuhkhodh khap/ ... yep, that's right too

or you might go with the future tense, especially if those two sentences are going together

/sozhaoawuhkhu khap/

actually ... whoops... /khap/ is the object of the sentence...

/sozhaoawuhkhu w khap/

Let's see for "she left me alone", I would use the malefactive and the past tense of "to go" (which I just realized wasn't in the dictionary - doh!).

So ... let's see... go+past-perf she w me mal.

hmmm... alone, though ...

cause/PST she be/PRS me w alone ki go/PST/PRG ... ?

/podh zhehd nahn khap w chahvymah ki rrosh/ (that last verb wouldn't take a suffix, derp) ... "She made me alone by going" ... hmmm...

You could always just use /podh zhehd nahn khap w chahvymah/ ... she cause me to be alone ... that's probably the closest to the English 

So that’s it, so much information that I thought it was actually a longer convo

[novantinuum]

Crack the Paragon, Chapter 10

Fandom: Steven Universe

Rating: General Audiences

Words: 5.8K~

Summary: In another world, he doesn’t have his mother’s sword or shield to hide behind when Bismuth lands her strike. The bubble pops.

Steven falls apart.

Chapter summary: In which Steven's done with moping around and waiting for something to change.

You can find the AO3 link in the reblogs! (I have to omit them from the original post these days to ensure this will show up in the tags.) If you enjoyed this, I’d greatly appreciate your support through reblogs here, or kudos on AO3 as well.

A big thank you to my friend Ganaroth for helping me with edits for this chapter!

_

Chapter 10: Beta, Part 1

Morning light filters through the loft’s window and glints off his phone screen, obscuring the selfie Connie just sent from his view. Though at some deep cognitive level Steven’s a bit annoyed at this interference, outwardly he moves on automatic with barely a feather ruffled, rolling onto his back atop the rumpled bedspread. He holds his phone above his face— right over his nose— humming as he admires the photo. She’s grinning, her long hair pinned back with clips. Her eyes shimmer with every bit of joy a smile that wide suggests. True happiness. Before he knows it he feels his cheeks lift, a smile of his own stretching across his face to mirror hers.

The rest of the photo is just as beautiful.

Beyond the railing his friend leans on is a breathtaking view of wild grasses, ferns, and delicate purple flowers, the patches of greenery half submerged in a lake of water as far as one can imagine. A large flock of birds float on the water’s surface some distance away. Behind her, the setting sun bathes the sky in streaks of orange and pink, the warmth of the ambient light kissing her brown skin. It looks like something straight out of a storybook.

Either that, or a dream. A good dream, the kind that lingers in your mind afterward like the sweet scent of wild strawberries.

oh, that’s so pretty!! he types in response, fingers flying over the keys. where is this?

Just as he hits send, though, another message from her pushes through and answers his question:

Morning!!! :DD Soooo rn we’re exploring this really cool wetlands area! Service is pretty terrible out here btw, so I probably can’t talk for a bit. Fingers crossed my texts send!

His heart grows warm as he reads her words. Even if it’s not as good as seeing her face to face, he’s still so happy they can communicate while she’s on her trip. She looks like she’s having so much fun. He wastes no time in sending a whole cluster of hearts, stars, and smiley faces back at her.

But as he watches his message deliver, the text’s bubble shifting from grey to blue, he finds that airy, bubbly feeling he got looking at Connie’s photo pulling away from him like sand and driftwood on the receding tides. Somehow, all these emoticon smiles just ring hollow right now.

Four days have passed since the disaster everyone’s come to refer to in whispers as ��the forge incident.’ Not many, not enough for the terrifying memory of what happened down there amidst the blackened stone and fire to stop seeping into his dreams, but thankfully enough that the Gems have stopped coddling and babying him about it. (A sweet relief, that, and one of the many reasons he’s not planning on telling any of them about his recent nightmares. Goodness knows they already have enough to worry about.) Four days. That’s it. The thought of just how little time that is leaves him dizzy. Four days since he was almost shattered by someone he thought was a friend. Four days since two halves fused back into a whole, since his gem rotated to expose the facets that before, his mo... that Rose had hid from her friends… from the whole world. Four days since discovering that his pupils apparently morph into pink rimmed diamonds now whenever he taps into his powers. (And wasn’t that just another wallop to the gut for everyone, Pearl especially). Four days without Garnet, without stability, without blissful protection from the truth: that Rose wasn’t truly the quartz she claimed she was.

Steven still doesn’t understand the how or the why of that.

Truth be told, it’s not a topic he’s ready to dwell on yet.

He shifts to sit up on his bed. Somewhere on the distant shore beyond the window’s glass Amethyst is shouting, her rhythmic, guttural battle cries loud enough that they’re audible from inside the house. There’s no end to this on the radar. For the past few days she’s done nothing but seclude herself away and drill, pushing her hard light body to the brink through endless strength and agility exercises. In the light of recent difficulties no one’s addressed it with her yet, but it’s no secret this is partly related to her insecurities about Jasper.  

Meanwhile, Ruby (who finally returned home on her own yesterday morning) sits on the floor right below him, handling the controller of his Grintendo console with an iron grip that would serve as a genuine contender in Beach City’s underground arm wrestling league. He set her up on his brand new copy of Fight Fighters just an hour or so ago. As far as he knows, she’s enjoying it. It’s sorta hard to tell. She certainly hasn’t given up yet, (she’s way too stubborn for that), but it seems like the levels are difficult enough that they’re giving her a run for her money. Glancing away from his phone, he watches her fuss with the first boss fight for a moment. The Gem’s face is— if it’s possible— even redder than usual as she mashes the proper buttons for her character’s combo attack, muttering in syllables spoken too low for him to intelligibly understand.

A few minutes pass. Ruby sneaks in one solid strike, but eventually the boss overtakes her by merit of their sheer size alone, and her character is defeated. Game Over flashes on the screen in bold orange striped letters.

“Aw, phooey! You were really close that time,” he says.

Truth be told, her playing style is kinda… a huge mess, but there’s no encouraging way to say that. Plus, it’s not like it’s a lie to say she got closer to beating this fight than the last time she attempted it. Maybe she’ll figure it out with a few more rounds.

Ruby drops the controller in her lap, and glances back at him. “Heh. Thanks, Steven,” she responds with a weak smile. “At least I finally got in a hit, right?”

“Yeah, you’re getting better every round! You still up for more? We can play tag team together, if you want.”

“Eh, I’m done for today. I’m no good at these kinda games. At least, not without...“

A wave of melancholy envelops her in a flash, suffocating the last glints of light within her burgundy red irises. Inhaling deeply, she lifts her gemless hand, holding it to her chest tight as she mourns what used to be. Steven doesn’t move to say anything, letting her have her silent moment. Reassurance can be nice, but as he’s learned recently, the sad truth is that sometimes not every problem can be solved with a few well-thought words.

Amethyst’s distant shouts interrupt the somber atmosphere like a jackhammer to concrete, yanking them both solidly back into reality. Ruby’s brow creases.

“Is she still at it out there?” she says, frowning as she glances at the door. “She looked exhausted when she came outta her room this morning.”

Steven frowns, stuffing his phone in his pocket. “Yeah. I tried to ask if she wanted to play Topple Tower with me last night, but I’m pretty sure she was ignoring me. I hope she’s okay…”

Sighing, she slumps back against the large swath of comforter that dangles halfway off his mattress, letting her compact, coily hair smush against its surface. “Oh, she’s not. No one in this dang house is. I just wish Sapphire would come back already,” she says, voice cracking as she speaks her name. “She’s been in there for so long now.”

Prompted by her heartbroken words, he glances at the temple door across the house, seeing both Pearl and Sapphire’s gems alight on the central star. Pearl is simply taking a rest in solitude this morning, but as for the blue Gem… she hasn’t shown her face since she disappeared into her room four days ago. It’s beginning to become mighty worrying. And besides, he really misses her. They barely get a chance to hang out beyond the rare emergency. His lip juts out in a small pout.

It’s so hard to move on with life when you’re constantly being reminded of what once was.

Eventually, Ruby decides she’s had enough challenge for the morning and passes command of the controller to him. Figuring he’s got nothing better to do today, he shrugs and starts a new save file. Half an hour or so passes as he grinds through levels like a pro. Now sitting next to him, bundled like a burrito in one of his blankets, the red Gem watches his gameplay with starry eyes, enraptured. He double jabs at the D-pad to call upon a secret ability, fingers blazing across the buttons with practiced fluency. Just as he’s about to hit the finishing blow on Professor Doom, the beach house door slams open. On sheer impulse he flings the controller to free his hands, his whole body seizing upon the sound. Hard plastic clatters against the floor. The world tints pink.

Ruby jolts to attention from inside his bubble, struggling to unwind herself from the blanket's grasp. “Whoa, what’s—“

“Hey, nerds,” Amethyst mumbles, dragging herself and her uncoiled whip through the doorway. The length of the weapon drags along the floorboards like a dejected dog’s tail. Her tired, hardened pupils meet his no doubt diamond-shaped ones, shades of confusion flickering across her expression as she visibly takes note of the shimmering sphere he’s subconsciously enveloped himself in. “Geez, it’s just me.”

“I- I know,” he croaks, flushing red, “s-sorry, I know. You spooked me, ‘s all.”

She squints, and dissipates her whip. “Dude, I didn’t even do anything.”

“I know... It’s just me being dumb, sorry.”

“You’re not dumb,” Ruby reminds him with a saddened frown, placing her gem adorned hand on his shoulder.

He doesn’t respond, instead taking a deep breath and willing the bubble to recede. Once it’s all but disappeared in a shimmering afterimage of hard light, he crawls across the floorboards to retrieve his poor abused controller. Joystick securely within his grip once more, his eyes drift back to his game. Seems he’s in dire health. Not only did his character lose his perfect attack window, but Dr. Doom has healed himself and continued to rail upon him while he remained idle. His heart drops.

“Awww,” he whines, deflating. “I almost had ‘im!”

The temple door slides open, causing both Steven and Ruby to snap to awareness. (For wildly differing reasons of course, but the result is the same.) Amethyst stands beyond the warp pad, about to cross the threshold into solitude once more.

Nooo, don’t leave! his heart cries in silence. You just came back!

This conversation is already the most interaction he’s gotten out of her since their waffle breakfast four days ago. Ever since, she’s hidden herself away to brood and train. He scowls, fingers shifting rhythmically on the casing of his game controller. Gosh, he’s so sick and tired of this. He’s tired of moping, of acting like they can never have a happy moment ever again just because their circumstances are different now. It’s not true. Things can get better! Heck, he’ll make it better! Somehow. Maybe. He just needs to figure out a plan, and soon… before everyone scatters to be on their own again.

Hmm, think, Steven, think think think! What makes Amethyst happy? Destroying trash? She’s been at it all morning already, probably not. Food? Wouldn’t necessarily get her out of the temple.

He eyes a green sock puppet strewn on the floor by his closet. Months-old memories rush through his mind, of wearing a cardboard box on his head, insisting amidst protests that this puppet represented the emerging Cluster.

...Peridot?

They did get along really well at Funland a few weeks back. Hmm. Y’know, that might actually work.

“Hey, Amethyst,” he calls, and sets the controller on his bedspread. She stops halfway through the doorway of her room, motionless, seemingly waiting for him to continue. It almost looks as if she wants him to give her a reason to stay outside. “You, uh- are you done training for today?”

“For now,” she answers in a low voice, rhythmically clenching and unclenching her fists.

“D’ya maybe wanna go visit Lapis and Peridot with me? Get outta the house?”

She turns, lips pursed as she deliberates in depth. After what feels like— to his antsy, impatient soul— an eternity later, she responds with a half-hearted shrug.

“Yeah, sure. Whatever.”

Steven grins. He scrambles to his feet and floats off the loft to the ground floor before she can decide otherwise. “Sweet, let’s go right now!” he says, bursting with enthusiasm. After crossing the room in a flash, he takes ahold of Amethyst’s arm and gently leads her up the steps to the warp pad, the other Gem making no obvious signs of dissent. Good. That’s a good sign. The immediate problem sorted, he glances back from whence he came. “Ruby, you want in?”

She’s still tangled within his bedding, but shifts upon mention.

“Nah, I’m good,” she says, rolling on her back under the covers so that she’s peering at them upside down. “If Sapphire finally comes out, I wanna be here for that.”

Steven nods. “Okay! Well, see ya’! We’ll be back sometime later this afternoon.”

“Probably,” Amethyst mutters, crossing her arms.

“Yeah, maybe longer, maybe not. We’ll see! Feel free to play any of my games if you wanna, okay?”

“And don’t do anything I wouldn’t do, ya’ party animal,” the quartz drones, the bite of dull sarcasm seeping into her words.

With a resounding ring the warp activates and whisks them away.

_________

The young half-Gem takes a deep lungful of air as he skips through the grassy countryside, his chest expanding to full capacity. Ah, it feels so good to be outside, and with a change of scenery, at that! He should’ve done this ages ago.

Outside of all the heartache of their recent family crisis, it’s a perfect September day; not too warm and not too blustery. The sky’s almost entirely clear, barring the faint streaks of white softening the horizon's edges. Birds chirp brazenly as they swoop with daring purpose from tree to tree. A few leaves are just beginning to flutter down from their overstuffed boughs. ‘Tis the season! Pretty soon this area will be awash with sprinkles of vibrant oranges, reds, and yellows. Gee, he hopes he can convince Amethyst to goof off in the woods with him again this year. They could go leaf sledding! That was the most fun he’d had in ages when they did it last time.

How is Amethyst doing, anyways?

Masking his worried frown, he glances behind. Her lips press in a sour scowl, her non-dominant hand clenched by her side. Barely a heartbeat passes as she reaches to her gem with the other, pulling her whip into existence in a glittering flash of light. Instantaneously, the crystal tips of the three-pronged flail expand into barbed spheres. She mutters to herself as she grips the handle, unsatisfied. He doesn’t understand why, though? She summoned it so fast! Like, under a second for sure. As far as he’s concerned, that’s awesome!

He watches her summon, dissipate, and re-summon her whip three times in a row before he decides it's time to intervene with her spiraling frustration.

“Hey, don’t ya’ wanna take a break from all that for a bit?” he begins with a measure of caution. “You’ve been working super hard lately!”

“I already am taking a break," she says, slashing at a few rocks strewn on the ground as they climb the last rolling hill. “That’s why I’m here with you, right?”

“Well sure, but breaks aren't supposed to be about training, they’re supposed to be about having fun. And visiting Peridot and Lapis should be tons of fun, I promise!”

Amethyst’s eyes narrow at the very thought. “Yeah, ‘cause when I think fun, I think Lapis.”

“Hmm, I wonder what they’re up to lately,” he muses out loud, hand pressed to his chin.

She lets out a dry scoff, allowing her whip to dissipate once more. “Don’t know, don’t care. Let’s just get this over with.”

He frowns. His shoulders drooping a bit at the sight of her almost hostile melancholy, he glances away.

Thankfully, in a well-timed diversion from the worries of her mental state, Lapis and Peridot’s place of settlement comes into full view as they reach the hill’s summit. Steven’s jaw falls ajar, stopping in his tracks at the sight. (Amethyst, who isn’t paying attention to where she’s walking amidst her brooding, almost rams into the back of him.)

“Whoa,” he says, drinking in the new additions. “Look what they did to the barn!”

He’s not sure ‘barn’ is an apt description for it anymore. No, no. Rather, in the weeks since he last saw Lapis and Peridot, this place has transformed into a full-out homestead.

The grain silo that stood nearby has been tilt at an angle and used to enclose the side of the barn Peridot blew a hole in with her epic giant robot. Their smaller than average lake? It’s now fitted with a ladder, along with metal piping to keep the water level high. Stretched taut between the roof of that silo and a funky hodgepodge spire they formed out of old airplane parts is a clothes line, with a number of shirts and towels hanging off it. Admiring the finer details of their set up, if a person could point at an object and conceivably call it junk, they’ve probably found a creative way to make it decorative. Rusty bicycles, old tires, couch cushions, broken deer antlers, you name it. And then that old truck he slept in every night while working on the drill? It now serves as the proud centerpiece of their little home, the cargo bed solidly affixed above the barn’s entrance. He spots the two former Homeworld Gems sitting up there with the TV, shaded from the midmorning glow with a sun bleached umbrella. Whatever they’re watching, they’re transfixed.

Grinning, he peels away from Amethyst and dashes the rest of the way, feeling the faint breeze dance between his curls. Wow wow wow, he’s seriously got like a hundred questions for them, and a hundred missed hugs to make up for!

“Hey, guys!” he calls, once he’s directly below the truck.

Lapis’s browline raises, attention nabbed. It’s enough to peel her eyes away from the television (is that Camp Pining Hearts he hears??) to meet his. A subtle but undoubtedly caring smile rushes across her face as she sprouts wings and drops from the truck’s bed to greet him.

“Steven! It's so good to see y- oof!”

He nearly barrels her over with his hug, clutching to her like a lone life raft in the midst of the open sea. Surprised and still quite rigid in her affections, her arms awkwardly move to pat his back in return. It’s a silent embrace on his part, yet simultaneously manages to say more than words alone ever could. At this point he’s not even sure words could do justice to the complex emotions that are all jumbled in his head. Only a few short weeks have passed since they hung out together. So why then does he feel like he hasn’t seen either of them in years?

“Steven, Amethyst!” Peridot chimes eagerly, dropping down from the truck and striding out into the sun. She screeches to a halt in front of them, expression pressing inwards in that uniquely inquisitive Peridot-like manner as she takes inventory of the scene before her. “Uhm… Is… everything okay?”

He pulls back from the stunned Lapis, and gently wipes at the corners of his eyes. “Yeah, I’m just really, really happy to see you guys, that’s all!”

“Oh, yes! Of course. It’s only natural to miss the fulfillment of our company,” she says without missing a beat. Turning her gaze to her other visitor, the green Gem balls her hand against her chin. “Amethyst! Something looks different about you…”

She crosses her arms over the white tank top of her new form, her nose scrunching up. “Like what?”

“Have you grown taller since the last time I saw you?”

Amethyst’s eye twitches. An infinitude of silence passes, in which she shoots her a glare sharper than the edges of the crystal studs on her whip. Honestly, being on the receiving end of her weapon might’ve hurt less. Sweat beads at his brow as he watches the situation unfold, yearning with every fiber of his being for a world where he actually feels confident enough to delicately intervene instead of silently standing by as Peridot’s sense of tact veers straight off a cliff.

Behind them, Lapis saves them both and clears her throat.

“O-or… maybe I was mistaken,” the former kindergartener says lowly, flushing with shame. “My apologies.”

There’s a whisper of chill to the air enough to make him shiver as the quartz once more chooses not to respond, and shifts her gaze to her feet. She digs divots into the dirt with her toes, already disengaging from social interaction again, slipping further away with every passing birdsong from the entire purpose of this friendly visit. He presses his lips tight, masking a frown. So far, nothing is going as planned, huh? As big of a dreamer he may be, he can’t say he’s surprised. Nothing in his life has gone to plan since he accidentally slipped on that tree branch inside Lion’s mane. Still, there’s gotta be some way to save this, right?

Come on, Steven, think positive!

Before anyone can quite begin to catch on to his troubled nature, he plasters a manufactured smile on his face. “Wow, you guys are looking good!” he says cheerily. “And I love what you did to the barn!”

“Aww! I know,” she replies, regaining her grin as she glances between him and Lapis. “But wait, wait! You guys have to see the inside!”

And with this declaration, a few magical minutes pass wherein the two of them receive the highest honor of enjoying the Official Barn Grand Tour, presented by the very artists themselves. In a word, it’s a transformative experience. The outside looks amazing, yes, but in his wholehearted opinion the personal touches on the interior decor raises the place’s coziness to the next level. Over the past few weeks, Peridot and Lapis have spent their efforts transforming all the mementos and broken scraps of their lives into art, (or ‘meep-morp,’ as Lapis calls it), displaying the pieces all throughout their shared home. Peridot’s broken audio recorder now rests peacefully on a stand, a sky blue ribbon tied around the fractures at its middle. Touchingly, he learns that Lapis kept the leaf he gave her, delicately propping it upright in a clump of soil. A TV affixed to the ceiling beams with metal cables plays a clip of CPH on repeat. He has a niggling suspicion that the clip she selected represents her lingering trauma about, like... being trapped in a mirror for thousands of years, but according to her it’s merely a fan’s shrine of the show. Still, while discussing books together Connie once told him that all art is subjective and authorial intent is dead, so respectfully he’s sticking to his interpretation. But regardless of its meaning, he’s so, so happy to see her freely making things for herself.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the creative spectrum, Peridot’s green alien plush is floating alongside various hunks of garbage in the hodgepodge aquarium at the side wall. Its slow voyage through the tank is admittedly entrancing, but oh, do those big deep eyes grow more and more unnerving the longer he stares at them. The last straw comes when he watches stuffing slowly drift out of a gaping hole in the fabric at its neck. Subtly cringing, he takes a step back from the glass to go admire something else. Sometimes art isn’t made for everyone, and that’s okay.

It takes a few moments before he makes the proper connections and realizes that the red bow tie Peridot is wearing around her neck used to be that plush’s. Oh… oh geez.

Amethyst, however, doesn’t seem to be buying any of it. In fact, she’s barely cracked a smile since they entered the barn, not even at Peridot and Lapis’ collaborative toilet morp. And who doesn’t laugh at toilets? On any normal day she’d eat that kind of stuff right up.

“This is so stupid,” she mutters, her eyes thin slits as she stares with a frustratingly unreadable expression at the four liquid pillars shooting up out of the bowls.

Disappointment flickers across Lapis’ face like stars on the morning horizon. She quickly releases her iron hold on the water, channeling it into the heart of the tanks. A similar emotion colors Peridot’s features for a moment, and he briefly worries their visit may be cut off short, but after meeting his encouraging glance she shakes it off and promptly begins to move on to the next item of their home tour.

“Alright,” she says, folding her hands behind her back all prim and proper, “I see you're not impressed. But—“

“Hey, you guys!” a familiar voice shouts from the distance, growing closer and closer with each passing moment. “I’m here! I came! Is it too late to join in?”

All four of them whirl around at the interruption.

Peridot squints. “Is that…”

“Ruby?” Lapis finishes, confusion etched across her features with pinpoint precision.

“Ruby!” Steven calls, sliding across the floorboards to meet her at the barn door. “No, you're not late, you’re just in time! Look, look, look—“ He takes her by the hand and whisks her inside, almost sweeping her clear off her feet in the process.

Her mouth falls agape as she drinks in the rustic atmosphere, the air now a good deal lighter thanks to her interruption.

“Whoa… this place looks completely different!”

“I know, right??” he says with an untamable grin. He gestures wildly at all of their unique creations. “It’s art! Isn’t it great? Peridot and Lapis have been showing us all this super cool stuff they’ve made!”

“Yes, I suppose we are pretty great,” the green Gem says, puffing out her chest.

Lapis rolls her eyes in response. No amount of sass can hide the action’s underlying fondness, though. Steven’s no imperceptive fool. She may act pretty aloof at times, but once you get to know her she’s not that hard to read at all. One merely has to pay attention to the subtle shifts in her demeanor. It’s the little things: the incline of her brow, a slight tilt of the head, the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it twitch of her lips as she pretends she doesn’t care as much as she does. And then, the more she trusts you, the less tense her posture is and the more she opens up. It makes his heart sing to know that Peridot has seemingly been added to that roster.

“Eh,” she murmurs with the hint of a smile, leaning back against the wall behind her roommate. “I guess we’re okay.”

Amethyst crosses her arms, her eyes narrowing as she peers down at Ruby. “So, what’s up with you? I thought you said you wanted to mope at the temple.”

She shuffles her feet. “Well…”

“And I thought you and that Sapphire never unfused,” Lapis says, ever so blunt. “Except... for baseball,” she hastily amends. Consumed by a spike of panic, her gaze darts towards the doorway with guarded suspicion. “We don’t have to play baseball again... right?”

“Hmmm… I mean, we could play baseball,” Steven muses, pressing his hand to his jaw.

That’s certainly one way he could encourage Amethyst to enjoy some bonding time with everyone. He has a bunch of fond memories of the last game they played together. Well, okay, so maybe he could’ve done without the ceaseless feeling of dread brought by batting against Homeworld loyalists with unknown intentions, but beggars can’t be choosers. As his first time playing a full game it was still 70% a good time.

Meanwhile, Peridot’s petite frame quivers at the reminder of that day. She grips at her hair, large tufts of yellow poking out from between her fingers.

“Oh my stars, they’re coming back??”

Ruby throws her a bemused side glance. “Uh—“

“Get behind me, Lapis,” she continues, daringly throwing her body in front of her roommate. “I’ll protect us from those Homeworld brutes this time!”

“We’re not playing baseball!” Amethyst cuts in.

His lips curl into a pout. “Aw, but it’d be so much fun!”

She crosses her arms, visibly walling herself off. “Uh, no, it wouldn’t! ‘Sides, there’s no immediate danger, there’s no Homeworld Rubies on our doorstep, so there’s NO reason on this planet I’d play that stupid game again!”

Eyes narrowing with mild exasperation, Lapis nudges her way out from the green Gem’s overprotection. “‘Kay. So, is anyone here actually gonna explain what’s going on, or?”

Nervously rocking on her heels next to him, Ruby rests her hand against her chin.

“Well…”

“Ruby and Sapphire are kinda… taking some time apart?” he delicately explains in her steed, noticing her hesitation. It’s probably something that’s really hard for her to talk about right now, and boy can he relate to that.

“Yeah,” she says in confirmation, kicking her toes against the floor boards. “I didn’t exactly want to, but Sapphy needs her space.”

For all her initial dislike of the fusion Gem, Peridot looks genuinely heartbroken at this revelation. “But… why?” she asks, peering between the three Crystal Gems in wait of further clarification. “Aren’t you two basically inseparable?”

Faint hints of lemon peel and nutmeg linger in the air like silent sentries to their distress. Steven stands in the kitchen with Pearl, Garnet, and his dad, Amethyst lounging on the other side of the counter, and their dirty breakfast dishes still lying stagnant in the sink. Garnet’s kneeling before him. She’s speaking, but he’s so distraught he can’t quite recall what it is she said. His dad’s hand rests on his shoulder, the pressure ever so slightly working to ground him to this moment again. He’s biting back tears, isn’t he? Trying not to cry for the umpteenth time that day. What happened? What changed? Everything’s fixed, yeah? He’s whole again! They were all supposed to be so happy now, and yet… the sight of the morning sun reflecting off the face of Garnet’s visor as she delivers that ill-fated news is the bitter, tangible proof that they’re not.  

“Ruby and Sapphire have decided they want to take some time apart. Indefinitely.”

Amethyst’s expression is colored with hurt. “But… why?”

In the present he stiffens, suddenly polarized by the realization that the path of this conversation has but one destined endpoint. Sooner or later, his friends will hear about what happened to him four days back, what happened to his family, what he learned about his... about Rose. There’s no avoiding this forever. After all, if they don’t learn it from him, they’ll eventually learn it from someone else. And don’t they deserve to know? This affects them too!

But if the recent past has taught him anything, it’s that the truth about Rose Quartz only succeeds in breaking people apart. It stole Garnet away. It shook his relationship with Amethyst and Pearl to the core. It caused them all to argue and fight, back at the fountain and at home. Give it time, and he’s sure the truth will find a way to press fissures in his relationships with Connie and Dad, too. So what happens, then, when Peridot and Lapis find out? In what way will the truth break them?

Just a little while longer, he promises himself. Just one more good day, please, that’s all I want…

“They, um- it’s just a couples thing,” he stammers, chest growing tight. “It’s just for a little bit. Sometimes people need time away from each other, y’know?”

Ruby‘s expression grows tense, sniffing out his white lie from a mile away. “Steven...“

“It’s totally healthy and normal, and not at all a reason for concern!”

“Kinda sounds like we should be concerned,” Lapis mutters. “All of you have been acting weird this whole time, so spill! What’s going on?”

Their words start to become faint and distant in the shadow of his wildly pounding heart, so wondrously human and organic and alive, and yet so endlessly frustrating in its autonomy. Why can’t he hear clearly? What’s up with that awful ringing he can’t get rid of? It’s almost as if he’s listening to everyone ten feet under choppy waters, but they’re all standing right next to him. They’re right there.

The red Gem scratches at her neck, meeting Amethyst's harsh, crystal-studded glance first. Her mouth opens. Still disorientated, Steven misses a good half of it.

“...wants to tell ‘em?” she finishes, waiting dutifully for their responses.

As expected the quartz remains silent on the matter, feigning indifference as she crosses her arms and returns to staring sullenly into the middle distance. Ruby turns to him next. His skin feels downright clammy now, almost as bad as it did when he was almost dyi— NO! Stop! He shakes his head fervently, sweeping his hands horizontal in a signal for her to cut the conversation. He can’t do this. Not now, not today, not ever, he can’t—

Lapis bristles. “Tell us what?”

“Um, nothing, nothing!” he bursts out, clumsy words pouring from his mouth almost quicker than his brain can move to stack them up. “It’s a long story, and we’re all here to have some fun and shoot the breeze, right? Right. ‘Course we are! So we don’t have to talk about that right now, we can talk about it later, and for now we should try to have a good time and enjoy each other’s compa—“

Amethyst slams her foot to the floor so hard the wooden board underneath cracks. Both Steven and Lapis flinch.

“Ughh, you guys! Stop dancing around the headline!” she shouts. “You really wanna know what happened? Steven almost died ‘cause he got his gem busted, and then we found out Rose Quartz was totally a sham and she’s like, Pink Diamond n’ junk, okay?!”

A stunning silence follows this inopportune announcement, in which he swears he can hear his stomach gurgle. On any typical day he'd be thinking about lunch around this time, except at the moment he genuinely almost feels sick to his stomach. Right now he wants nothing more than to turn tail and run, run away from all of this, and yet chained to his fate just as Lonely Blade was destined to his, his legs remain firmly shackled in place. Standing at his side, Peridot blinks in dumbfounded shock.

“What.”

“S-she’s- You’re a DIAMOND??” Lapis shrieks, water wings shooting from her back on impulse.

“Whaaaat?”

_______

Notes: 

The next few chapters will be a bit familiar to y'all, but I'm not doing a beat for beat rehash, I assure you. Events start similarly here because the world external to Steven’s sphere of influence is still operating the same as it does in canon. The ripples haven’t fully spread yet. After this arc, they absolutely will have.

I do have a bonus scene to share soon- set between chapters 9 and 10. I'll likely post that before chapter 11.

Oh, and by the way- the location Connie's visiting is inspired by a real place- the Harike Wetlands in Punjab, India. Apparently India is actually a series of islands in the SU universe...? But I like to believe there’s still a cool wetlands region on one of those islands.

[hangryandlazy]

africa jul 19

wow lol it’s taken me 2 years to actually put this post together. a LOT has changed since then and it makes me immensely happy to recognize how lucky we were that we’d had 2 insane years of travelling right before the pandemic hit. but this post is not to dwell on that, so let’s get on with it!!

this was our amazing 2019 africa trip~

jun 30, 19 ••• we make our way from hong kong to the netherlands on klm airlines. i distinctly remember how impressed i was with the quality of service and the comfort of the 12ish hour flight. after around 16 hours of commute, we just want to stay in and chill, so we order room service and call it a night early. i recall wearing a fun t-shirt that read, “not to be rude, but shut the fuck up” which i personally find hilarious and endearing, but which made the guy at the front desk quite uncomfortable. lollll oops!

jul 1, 19 ••• yay! we had a full day alone in amsterdam. we (i) decided to walk from the hotel to the town center, because it’s fun experience new cities by exploring them on foot!! why not? you come across many things that you just couldn’t have planned to find.

look how beautiful the canals in amsterdam are! anywhere you turn, it’s picturesque.

we had lunch at wagamama because i saw that the avant garde vegan, gaz oakley, had done a collaboration with them at some point, so there are some guaranteed vegan options. we then walk around the bloemenmarkt and find our way to the cannabis college, which had 2 verdampers for rent! yesssss! i was so happy. 

we explored and walked around more, then stopped by a coffee shop to smoke a bit more. there was a lovely vegan cafe right next door, which i’d been eyeing when we went in to smoke, so we had a top up on coffee and matcha there. we saw a cute frenchie across the road and missed the dogs so...

we had dinner at this place called cafe frijdag (which means Friday!) which was delicious! so happy that amsterdam had vegan options for me

jul 2, 19 ••• we got up bright and early to meet my parents for breakfast and we go to the airport to catch our flight to kigali. about 10 hours later, we were buying sim cards at the kigali airport. we then checked in to the radisson for the night, and it was feeling very surreal to be in africa. i remember feeling anxious.

jul 3, 19 ••• today started on a somber note. we went to the kigali genocide memorial. i cried a lot, especially at the exhibit with the photographs of only a fraction of the victims during that time.

then we drove at turtle speed to our next hotel, which was a loooong long way away. we arrived at the lake kivu serena hotel in time for a very late lunch. the cuisine here consists of rice, tortilla-like wraps and papadum-esque crispy rolls.

this fruit tastes disgusting... it looks like a tomato but isn’t sweet at all. i only remember spitting it out, trying another piece from another plate, and still hating it.

thankfully everyone wanted to relax and take it easy, so we ordered in for dinner and spent the rest of the night chilling.

jul 4, 19 ••• we drove out to see the border between rwanda and the democratic republic of congo. we were told to be very careful about taking photos of the police officers there, so we were. it felt strange to take photos of the border, i’m clearly very ignorant of the relations and history. it was a very busy juncture, with a sea of people crossing this way and that, lots of cars bumbling about and a lot of fruit, as i recall. hahah.

we then drove out to see a makeshift hot spring. we were asked if we wanted to take a dip, but none of us wanted to..... felt bad saying no, but really not worth it, sorry.

https://vimeo.com/568059672  (okay, i’m unable to embed more videos so links will have to do until i figure out something better...)

we took a boat ride along the lake, but there wasn’t that much to see around there, it was pretty dirty and murky... reminded me of the hong kong harbor, with trash floating around. it was also freezing, so i wasn’t having any fun at all.

we went to the gym and worked out a little bit because there was a lot of time to kill in between returning to hotel and our private pre-planned bbq dinner on the beach. we were lucky enough to enjoy traditional rwandan dancing which was absolutely gorgeous.

jul 5, 19 ••• we spent most of our morning in the car, having crossed the border to the republic of uganda. we stopped by a cute cafe along the way for lunch, but it was a grueling 4-5 hour car ride to mahogany springs, which was our hotel for the gorilla trekking. we managed to arrive around 715pm, by which time it was pretty dark and scary outside. the other car had broken down twice, once in the dark as well, so spirits were low and there was a lot of muttering and grumbling done under people’s breath. everyone was ravenous by the time dinner was served, but despite how late it was, it was absolutely delicious and i was happy! (also grateful for our car not having broken down)

jul 6, 19 ••• we woke up VERY early in anticipation of gorilla trekking. we waited around the hotel lobby after some coffee and biscuits for breakfast. it was an awful lot of waiting, but i didn’t sense anything wrong until i saw how pissed off our tour guide looked. it turns out our permits had gotten stolen! probably bribes.

here we were mucking around, still anticipating gorilla trekking.

we didn’t let it slow us down though. i actually am grateful for how things turned out because we wouldn’t have gotten to experience uganda like that without this turn of events. we joined a community tour that showed us how tea is harvested, how coffee is grown, harvested and round, as well as how bananas may be used to make juice, beer and gin! very cool

african tea leaves

jackfruit??

these are flowers from the coffee tree

the different stages of the coffee plant

this is henry, he owns this coffee plantation. here, henry shows us how to the use this contraption, the purpose of which is to grind coffee beans into powder

here henry is, sifting the coffee powder

here are my parents, having the time of their life (lol at my dad)

fresh bananas

these are the different stages of a banana’s life: from raw to ripe to fermenting. it can be made into juice and liquor.

we then visited a local school, where we were entertained by kids from kindergarten to 6th grade. we learned about their mission and goals to educate the younger generations by providing classrooms and a dining hall and even dorms for boarding. the singing and dancing was BRILLIANT. loved every single second of it. wish i’d joined in and not cared about what anyone thought.

we stopped by a women’s community center and saw a lot of cool crafts and art. that was on the way to the batwa pgymy tribe. we learned how they integrated with the batwa community. they showed us some dances they have dedicated to the gorillas, for which they are very grateful because it brings tourists in and therefore gives them an income. they showed us how to use a bow and arrow to hunt, and how they weave baskets and make handicrafts.

alan with the leader of the pgymy tribe

one of our guides spotted 2 chameleons, which was super impressive. he even brought the chameleon down close to us so that we could see it. i won’t ever understand how he was able to spot it in the wild, and from so far away as well.

we returned to the lodge and had lunch. the veggie stir fry was pretty dang good. it was served with posho, which is a maize bread, beans, and also matate (???) which reminded me a lot of plantain. back at the hotel, we chilled (without tv or wifi) until dinner. alan fell asleep, and i kept myself busy sorting out photos. dinner was early, and our night was early because we were promised gorilla trekking in the morning!

delicious!

jul 7, 19 ••• we were up and ready to leave by 7am. we were in the clear! we drove a little bit to the bwindi impenetrable national park for some entertainment (dancing and singing) from local students and a hilarious briefing on what to expect and do’s and don’ts of the trek. 

we then had separate meetings within our trekking groups. ours was quite big, with 10 tourists, because michael and our guides had spent HOURS the day before handling our stolen permits. an exception was made to accommodate us all, so our group consisted of the starke’s, alan, kerstin, a couple from oregon, and an english family. we had to get in another car and drive a bit to the mountain, where we met our porters and then began our trek!

the hike up was difficult, and at times i legit feared for my life because the mud/rocks were loose and one wrong step would have had us tumbling down the edge of the mountain... and that was me at age 28!! cannot imagine how my parents were feeling...

alan with meddie

as we made our way to the gorilla family, we encountered a solo young male who was soooo friendly, he cut across our group, like right down the middle, and he even reached out and touched my mom on her jacket! it was wild that a gorilla was that close to us, and then he left as quickly as he had joined.

this is the photo my mom managed to take when the young gorilla male was right next to her

we kept on hiking and found a large. our guide, meddie, told us that we were lucky to have found such a large family doing a whole bunch of different activities: we saw mothers nursing their babies, babies swinging from the trees and playing with one another, sub adult males beating their chests and other members of the family eating and feeding. we even got to watch as a silverback gorilla pulled a very healthy poop out of its butt, and we ran into him snacking again later on.

on the way down, it started raining a little bit. we all slipped at one point or another, but it was especially dangerous for my dad so we all had to slow down our pace a little bit to match his speed. thank god he had a porter there to help him out and save him. 

we returned to the same place as where we had started our morning for a debriefing, and we each received a certificate to show that we had been on this trek. we waited around a little bit for the other group to arrive, and were once again very grateful that our experience was much more pleasant. one lady in the other group had to leave the trek on a stretcher, and the others were caught in the rain on their way to the gorillas, so it must have been a cold and awful experience on their end. 

us after the successful completion of our gorilla trek!!

we headed to a local inn nearby where we had a late lunch and could change into dry clothes. we then drove a bumpy 4 hours to mweya safari lodge, located inside queen elizabeth national park. we made a couple of stops along the way (one of which was in the middle of nowhere so that people could go pee out in the open where animals are potentially roaming around?!?!?) and when we finally arrived, it was already 830/9ish pm.... we insisted to order room service because we were pooped, and we got showered and hit the hay.

this cute sign was outside the lodge!

this super old school cash register was at the lodge too

jul 8, 19 ••• today started off with a game drive, early in the morning! 

we drove around the gorgeous park and saw elephants, warthogs, antelope, eagles, all sorts of bird and butterflies, buffalo and weird-looking lemur or ferret creatures. we thought it was great, but some other members of the group were underwhelmed. 

this is the view from the car we sat in for the safari

this gorgeous tree houses sooo many bird’s nests! do you see them?

cute antelope we saw on the tour

after lunch at the hotel, we went on a boat tour around the kazinga channel. i think it was called lake edward? we saw many animals again, including crocodile, elephants, buffalo, all sorts of birds, and hippos.

favorite photo of my parents ¨̮

we followed a few elephant cuties along the bank. it drizzled for a little bit in between.

dinner was delicious. it was a great buffet, although i was severely grossed out by the ants that joined us on the dining table.

there were so many animals on the grounds of the lodge. don’t be fooled by how cute these guys look, we saw them fight over raw meat at some point! we also saw a warthog stroll around.

jul 9, 19 ••• we were up bright and early today for a quick breakfast before heading right on out. on the way to entebbe, we stopped by a local motel for lunch. the service was SUPER slow (maybe because we had such a huge group together!) but it was delicious and worth the wait! i ordered a coleslaw and avocado vinaigrette (this was THE HUGEST AVOCADO i’ve ever seen in my life?!?!?), a veggie biryani and some of paul’s aloo matar. we then filed back into our cars for several more hours of “african massage” to the next destination. had an early night, i think we ordered room service to the hotel room and tried to get our butts to bed as early as possible because it was another EARLY day the morning after.

we stopped at the equator in uganda to take some photos, of course!

i was sooo happy to be able to order room service! we felt like we were finally back to civilization... 🥺 we had wifi and tv and hot water... ugh it was amazing

jul 10, 19 ••• my alarm was set for 4am this morning.... 🥲😅 we left the hotel at 5am for the airport and obviously i was tired and grumpy and just in a crappy mood overall hahahah. our first flight was barely 45 minutes.... to mbarara i’m guessing?? i was assigned a middle seat on my own originally but no one was in the aisle seat so i moved over woohoo! our first layover was 2-3 hours, not too bad. we hung around at the lounge area. 

our second flight was to harare. alan and i managed to snag 2 joined seats towards the back end of the plane so that we could watch conan’s traevel shows on his ipad. there was a pretty scary drop when we were descending imto harare. i think we just stayed on the plane for about half an hour so some people could get on the plane and join.

we flew about 3 hours more to cape town, and we were EXCITED to arrive. it was a hell of a time checking in, and it was a nicer hotel in a nice area so we decided to just stay in and order room service again. we had a slow night and it was SOOOO needed. cape town felt a lot closer to the first world and we were enjoying and appreciating it to the max. we even started playing pokemon go and its harry potter-themed equivalent (oops forgot the name), but to be fair, we didn’t get cell phone service everywhere we went, so it would cut on and off.

jul 11, 19 ••• eek, cape town was COOOOLD! luckily i brought a jacket along, we really really needed to cover up and stay warm! got to sleep in a bit, we left by 830am to drive to the pebble beach by the water to take some gorgeous photos. we stopped by chapman’s peak for another photo op, then drove to boulders beach in simon’s town to see the penguins!! it was such a dream, loved every second of it.

i believe this was chapman’s peak??

what a model

this was at the pebble beach at the cape of good hope. 

saw a cute ostrich on the way somewhere

next we went to cape point. we took the funicular to the top, then hiked up to the lighthouse. we took pots of great pics but omg it was EVEN MORE freezing there. we had lunch at the two oceans restaurant. fancy and delicious! the calamari was bomb, the arancini was alright, but the main of chickpea and mushrooms was delish. after lunch we headed right on back to the hotel.

when i said it was cold, i wasn’t joking... it was FREEZING at the top. i had a horrible time because i don’t do that well in the cold

alan and i walked over to woolworths to get water and makeup remover and snacks. on the way back we stopped by PLANT for dinner. i was sooo excited to try out their vegan fast food, so i ordered a lot of the menu. we got the quinoa salad, mac and cheez, seitan lasagna, schawarma, pot stickers, siu mai, spag bolognese, tiramisu, milk tart and a bunch of other random vegan snacks. i was in HEAVEN. even though some of the stuff was cold by the time we got back to the hotel and ate, it still tasted DELICIOUS. i was soooo impressed.

this was the lasagna. omfg i need an encore of this restaurant one day!!! wish i knew how to cook like this

jul 12, 19 ••• today we went to a wine blending workshop at grande provence winery. the first step was to blend 3 different mixtures. after tasting them all, we decided the last blend was the winner, with 40% zinfandel, 10% shiraz and 50% cabernet. so then we blended up a big bottle of it, corked it, thew on a hand-signed label, and then walked around the beautiful indoor and outdoor art galleries.

this was our group!

wine blending is literally mixing different wines together in different proportions and figuring out which you like the taste of the best

there was a lot of cute art at the winery! i loved all the dogs and greyhounds around the property. these 3 dancing pigs came a close second

we drove a little way for lunch at another beautiful vineyard. i had a charcoal ciabatta, tomato quinoa salad, root veggie risotto and steamed veggies on the side. we skipped the wine tasting because our lunch overran a bit and our bus driver buford said that the traffic would be pretty heavy on a friday afternoon and it wouldn’t be worth it to be stuck on the bus. so we just walked around the cute little town we were at, franschhoek (??)

there was a lot of cute art and small local shops around this town! we strolled around and got some souvenirs ¨̮

love this

we had a dinner booked way ahead at fyn restaurant. it was stunningly delicious. i loved every single course and was thoroughly impressed.

UGHHHHH just soooo good.

jul 13, 19 ••• FINALLY we had a day to sleep in!!!! we let our group know the night before that we didn’t want to join the walking tour around the city. we woke up and made our way to the company’s garden, which was directly next to our hotel. we played harry potter wizards unite and ran into the tour group. my mom told me later on it was a good decision of ours not to join haha.

we walked to addis in cape for an authentic ethiopian meal experience. we washed our hands at the table, ate the whole meal with our hands, and finally i was able to taste injera. it was 100% teff injera and it did not disappoint. i ordered a vegan platter while alan got a combo. the amount of food was PERFECT for us, we finished every single thing. 

we ordered dessert but the hot berries never showed up and the ice cream was interestingly very gummy and very very sweet. the coffee was strong and served with a beautiful platter.

after that, we needed to walk our full tummies off. we headed to the waterfront, where there were many shops and stalls in indoor and outdoor malls. it was just a really good time walking around there and we saw soooo many things. there was bubble tea in south africa, a yogurt bar that made me sooo happy, dogs were up for adoption, and a bootleg jabbawockeez performance at the city square. we walked back to the hotel after that and got ready for bed.

jul 14, 19 ••• we woke up at 430am to head to the airport by 530am. we caught our first flight from cape town to johannesburg, then transferred to a direct flight back to hong kong. it was a TIRING trip but wow, the memories!! really want to go to back soon

[lizardswithoutlegs]

asks about dragon hoards

oh what !!! this is so sweet im absolutely ok with you doing this, i dont have a PO box but PLEASE mail me a quilt…...even if this doesnt work out im so so flattered you considered it at all !!!

Aaaa unfortunately im not doing the hoards anymore, at least at the moment !! theres already around 70 of the dang things and eventually they just got so limiting and kinda tedious……….. i aint doin no MEGA HOARD chase can come and duel me

Aaaa unfortunately im not doing the hoards anymore, at least at the moment !! theres already around 70 of the dang things and eventually they just got so limiting and kinda tedious……….. i aint doin no MEGA HOARD chase can come and duel me

This is another handful of permission type asks….the answer to all of these is yes !! and id love to see the embroidery if you ever finish it :o

WELLLLL it honestly depends! In general im perfectly ok with it, but some of the dragons arent my own designs and are the commissioners ocs - if you could tell me the specific one youre interested in i could let you know if its cool to use it !

too late this is you now

ASK THAT MAKES ME EXTREMELY SAD

Hey im just paranoid enough that this is kind of absolutely destroying me…….do i know you. Have we met.

ASKS ABOUT ME!!

Ok you know what…….yeah yeah yeah ok heres a little secret for anyone reading this i DID…..make …..a twitter account…

Aw what thank you !! ive thought about it but currently i kinda lack the drive to make a big scale production….maybe after ive spent some more time working on comics?? Getting into the habit of making longer things……………………….. The future is a mystery

IM LAUGHIN YEAH i get messages about my sidebar having my deadname in it !!! i just havent gotten around to the dang thing yet but i appreciate the message >:)

this is me n you

ITS laurence! and my pronouns are

i look like this

I like dude or bro >:) being non binary is like……”which way do you prefer to be misgendered the LEAST” ahahah but masculine terms are generally fine with me !! thanks for askin this is very sweet of you

oh fuck me who is this

I DO NOT although its something ive been thinkin about...would anyone be interested in this……….whadda fuck….

At the house im staying at weve been watching soooo so so so many old painting restoration videos by this man who REALLY knows what hes doing and im fascinated by them 

Aaaaa thank you !! honestly i took a break from social media for a REALLY LONG TIME BECAUSE I WAS MASSIVELY DEPRESSED - 2018 was a really really really bad year for me for a lot of reasons, and MOST OF THEM were self inflicted honestly - i lost a lot of close friends due to some undiagnosed mental things i had going on and was honestly drowning in, and when everything came to a head i kind of stopped caring about anything for like a solid year Im only now starting to get back on top of the things i let slip into the uhhh uhhhhh huhh the abyss !!! dont feel too bad for me though i was a little nightmare to be around i think!!