#just like write lil oneshots of him or something. write a vague plot for him (which i have sorta planned out i just dont wanna write it lol

[cinnamon-bunni]

it's time for a kim ref sheet!!

this was made by my mutual @gompereatsall, and all credit goes to her <33 i am so happy and ecstatic that she took the time to draw this, thank you so much!! he came out wonderfully 💕💕

Edit: completely forgot to add info about him ;;; soooo here it is! <3

Name: Ji-ho Kim Age: 35 Height: 6'0 Weight: 145 lbs From: Illinois, USA Hobbies: Alcoholism Occupation: WVBA's operations manager

Summary: A jaded and sarcastic man, Kim is a short-tempered manager who doesn't take shit from people. All work and no play, he is the type of man who focuses only on his job and nothing else. The boxers of the WVBA annoy him to no end, as they often hinder him from doing his damn job. He often drinks and smokes away all his negative emotions--which he has a lot of, so he'll almost always be found with a drink or cigarette in hand. He can get very explosive at times, and his wrath is something to be feared. So, unless you have a death wish, it's often best to just avoid him or do what he says.

[thenamesblurrito]

assorted Transformers fics to rec (part 1...?)

i really do think fic recs are valuable to fandom so here’s a random collection of Transformers fics i like, with no particular theme. these were compiled by frantically googling half-remembered bits to try and find the only ones i remember reading years ago, and i know i’m missing some i’d like to include

EDIT: part 2 here!

A Prime Performance

TFP AU, incomplete, AO3. Megatron is an actor in a children’s show. this is just as hilarious as you think it is. some slowburn MegOp. i love all the easter eggs and references and the way this in-universe show is created and run?? it’s fascinating

All Roads Lead to Rome

no set continuity/vaguely Bayverse, oneshot, AO3. a huge robot warrior like Sunstreaker is odd enough in modern times, just imagine him in ancient Rome. extremely interesting premise to me i love this bit and would love more. warning for typical crass patriarchal expectations for women in marriage but nothing actually explicit

Another Gate

Bayverse, complete multichap, FFN. whatever Sam is now, it isn’t human. some REAL good body horror, friendship, and alien strangeness ooooo

Bodies (break)

IDW, oneshot, AO3. Ultra Magnus goes to therapy and Rung is something wrong. oooooooghhghghhf i LOVE when people lean into the oddness and creepiness of the local god

Brave New World

fan canon, ongoing webcomic, TFW05. a spin on BW among other things, following Rodimus Prime’s crew of beastformers as they face down an assortment of bad guys and mysteries. LOVE this canon guys i LOVE it, very very good beast mode choices, very heartfelt and very funny, i also love seeing the art progression over the years. lovely webcomic here

Burn a hole in the old grip of the familiar

TFP, complete multichap, AO3, NSFW near the end. it’s focused on Ultra Magnus/reader but the first half of this fic is probably my favorite. the overwhelm and incredulity the reader character grapples with for awhile, i feel like it’s pretty realistic for someone who’s been shoved into a weird new world. DEFINITELY did Breakdown dirty though. has sequels that i haven’t read

dares for the first time

G1, oneshot, AO3. lovely little take on a G1 Guiding Hand that makes me feel things

Dog of Law

IDW, complete multichap, AO3. the Lost Light crew don’t find Minimus in Tyrest’s cells, they find a small green turbofox. lovely character driven piece here and honestly i just really like when his canonical turbofox alt is used i think it’s a shame we never got it in the story proper

First Contact

IDW, incomplete, AO3. listen it’s only a little bit written but i am OBLIGATED to post isekai/modern girl in Middle Earth/falling into fiction type of stories and i really liked the setup for this one okay! i love isekai and this was the only one i could remember to track down

Grey Is The Night

Batman/vaguely IDW crossover, complete multichap, AO3. there’s a new police car in Gotham, and it’s up to no good. listen i don’t even do DC stuff but Batman meeting Prowl here is done MARVELOUSLY ohhh i love this very much, the plot is GOOD, and i bet folks who actually like DC will love it even more

Hazard Light

IDW, oneshot, AO3. a hanahaki take on Brainstorm/Perceptor that i actually like, despite not usually enjoying hanahaki at all, with some nice Cybertronian biology too

How to Save the World in 8 Minutes and 3 Seconds

vaguely G1/continuity soup, oneshot, AO3. how does Prowl save a species, with blocked communications, no visuals, and a short time limit? why, he just keeps an eye on social media of course! a lil dark and fun and clever

In Media Bellum

TFP, incomplete, AO3. human reader is caught up with Team Prime in a delightful exploration of culture and introspection and found family. no shipping but masterful platonic relationship work! it feels... idk relaxed? caring? i love the tone of this writing

Juxtaposition

vaguely G1, complete multichap, FFN (also on AO3 but never finished crossposting). a human OC gets in a car accident and starts hearing voices in her head, unknowingly saving a Cybertronian’s life, even if it’s in a very atypical manner. love this OC, love the whole premise here and the exploration of an alien reality from a human POV. no shipping, if that’s not ur thing

Lost Light/Rodimus

IDW, oneshot, Tumblr. the ship comes to life and has something important to ask Rodimus. i love this concept it’s very good, very intriguing

Magnus Carey

IDW, oneshot, AO3. Verity teaches Minimus about Christmas. short and sweet, i love their friendship

My Totally Real Mary Sue Husband Who Lives Back On Cybertron

TFA, oneshot, AO3, Dratchet. “Ratchet offhandedly mentions he's conjunxed. Bumblebee refuses to believe him. Hijinks ensue.” funny and in character and sweet

Mythbusters Season Nine Interlude: The Autobot Special

G1/Mythbusters crossover, oneshot, AO3. busting some myths AND some Decepticons! it just keeps getting better and better the further you read. i laughed out loud so many times, and cheered at recognizing so many classic Mythbusters bits, and i will get on my hands and knees to beg for a Dirty Jobs sequel these shows were my CHILDHOOD

Patronus

TFP, twoshot, AO3. Megatron has teatime with Rung, who... is not a normal bot. more good good Rung being something wrong

Property Of

Bayverse, incomplete, FFN. when Sam and Mikaela meet Bumblebee, it isn’t as an Autobot scout, but rather as a new owner of these recently discovered organic animals called “humans”. a very well done human pet fic that doesn’t veer into psychological torture or boundary crossing or anything (sorry if that’s your jam) and while it’s incomplete i still love what’s there, especially as the kids learn how to communicate their personhood to an ignorant Bee

Rules to Follow When Making First Contact

continuity soup/fan canon, ongoing series, AO3. listen i know many folks aren’t here for the human characters but i LOVE all the humans here they are each characterized so well and i love seeing how its been blended together across canons. this is a very clever, very engaging setup with a very grounded presence for alien robots that hits in ALL the right places for me. AUTOBOTS LEARNING ENGLISH YALL!!! YES!!! very good very good

Scrimscrim

TFP....... sort of, incomplete, AO3. what do you do when you end up with a Starscream toy brought to life? this is a hilarious premise with good characterization, a lovely human OC, a ridiculous situation handled very realistically, and generally good fun to read. reverse isekai is perhaps more of a favorite of mine than isekai!

SG Prime

TFP SG au, ongoing webcomic, own website and DA. REALLY REALLY COOL YALL. fantastic designs and inclusions and expanding on TFP lore and making very interesting SG dynamics and just. excellent.

TFP Wheeljack in TFA

TFP/TFA crossover, ongoing series of posts, Tumblr. i LOVE crossovers, i will kill and die for crossovers, and this is one of the few i’ve been able to find! there’s enough posts under that tag that i haven’t been able to read them all but what i did see is GOOD

The Echo Garden

IDW/TFP crossover, incomplete, AO3. Soundwave gets picked up by the Lost Light. okay i am a SUCKER for crossovers as previously stated and this one is Good. leans fully into being a crossover and expounding on the differences between universes. Soundwave needs to figure out what to do with himself! also features some delightful slowburn SoundRod and a lovely ensemble cast. Toaster is the best

The One Where The Decepticons Are The Good Guys

TFP SG au, incomplete, AO3. i’m not typically a fan of Shattered Glass stuff but this doesn’t feel terribly OOC or completely upended or alien to the original plot, i think this is done very well and i can’t wait for more

Transformers Recovery: Primal Launch

fan canon, complete multichap, AO3. it’s like the Lost Light but weirder, i don’t even know how to convey its awesomeness. VERY funny, VERY cool, Sky Lynx is there, Swerve is important, Riptide is such a good bot, Megatron exists, just all good things here. treat yourself and read this it’s such a delight

Twenty-Five to Life

vaguely IDW, oneshot, AO3. Starscream/Minimus soulmate au that makes me wheeze when i read it because it it so painfully in character and hilarious oh my god i am CRYING laughing by the time i finish it. petty criminal Starscream, noble Minimus, oil and water. gets raunchy but nothing explicit with an NSFW sequel

Under Control Till You’re In Front Of Me

G1, oneshot, AO3. i need more people to join the Shockwave/Moonracer ship please please it’s good

Xenoethnography

canon soup/based in TFP, ongoing series, AO3. a more hard scifi take on Transformers from the POV of an anthropologist hired to study them. y’all, THIS IS GOOD. seriously if there’s one fic out of all of these i could keep, it’d be this one, it’s just so so good ugh. ugh i love it i need to catch up with it again

[oatmeal-stans-the-trash-rat]

Violets & Shy Gladioli

I was going to write this a long while ago, but I forgot. Whoops. So yeah, here's the nerdy!Roman & skater!Virgil oneshot thingy. It's more of a crackfic/drabble. Not something very serious but still fun to write!

EDIT: whoops, not a drabble. It got plot now. This turned into something else, my bad. Hurt/comfort alert. If y'all want a part two or something, just put in an ask.

{@goldnskyart hey, hey you. Yes, you. I did a thing. I hope you like the thing.}

Prompt: here (from @goldnskyart)

Pairings: romantic Prinxiety, platonic Dukeceit, Creativitwins

Trigger/Content Warning: borderline stalking? (kind of??), sexual commentary, very brief mention of vague past trauma, bullying, panic attack, slur (twice very briefly; censored at my own discretion), brief dissociation, murder threats (towards the bullies)

Description: Virgil is a skater at the local skatepark. He notices he has a lil nerd watching him.

Extra: Human AU, Highschool AU; set in goldnskyart's Skateboards & Jam AU; idk romance works, so it'll be kind of bad. I've never written a kiss scene before, so prepare for sappy cringe.

[Masterlist] | ao3 link | Next

[Read under the cut]

Roman is so unbelievably gay, like holy sh*t. Holy sh*t. He is so helpless.

Why must boys be so attractive?

At least, that's the reason he settles on as he watches a specific boy from behind a tree. It's at the local skatepark, where all the shakers and troublemakers tend to hang out. There are benches and a small playground nearby. The whole place is surrounded by oak trees and flowers. It almost feels like you're in another world there, but the sound of cars from the nearby road kind of ruins that.

It's very beautiful, oh indeed it is, and Roman is certain that the boy on his mind just makes it even prettier. Cause this skater boy is very pretty, and funny and kind- and oh, does Roman have it bad.

So yeah, there he is, watching the boy of his dreams from behind a tree near the skatepark.

No, it's not stalking- okay, it's close, but he promises that's not what it is. He's just nervous, okay? He's even tried talking to him at school, but it always ends with unintentional bickering and insulting jabs at each other. He hates how his nerves mess with his ability to function around boys. That, and the gay panic every time he sees him.

Virgil Cleome, a perfect array of purple jackets and snide smirks.

A skilled skater, by highschool standards. A baseball hat put on backwards in a cool fashion, a purple-patched jacket always on his shoulders, the one person who can wear eyeshadow under his eyes and make Roman fluster just from that. His eyes- oh, his eyes- are a heterochromic beauty. One dark green, the other something close to hazel or purple. Roman doesn't know if you could have a purple iris, but Virgil's is damn well close enough.

God, when he concentrates on something? When he's focused? Yeah, Roman could just die at that cute face he makes. The classic tongue-slightly-stuck-out. He also does this thing where he scrunches his nose up. Like, when he doesn't like something or when he's confused in a mocking kind of way. It's just- ugh. How dare he be so f*cking attractive and funny. And have you heard his laugh? Roman heard it once in passing, and he couldn't function for almost five gay minutes because of it. Like, holy hell. Jesus.

Like I said, Roman is helpless.

He feels like Eliza when he's around Virgil, and he wants him to be his Alexander.

So yeah. He's got it bad. He is entirely hopeless.

And that's why he hides behind a tree, watching his seemingly unrequited love have fun at the skatepark.

It's not like he ever notices, right?

...right?

~~~

Virgil definitely notices every time he's being watched by the cute nerd, too shy to actually approach him.

The fact that it's Roman kind of confuses him, since almost all their interactions are borderline hostile on a good day. At least, that's how it feels. Perhaps it's a rivalry, of sorts. Just bickering, insults, and weird nicknames that could pass off as pet names if you were an innocent bystander. But they aren't pet names, okay? Of course they f*cking aren't. Why would they be?

So then, why does Roman watch him shyly from a tree? He just... stares. It's borderline creepy, but that's not the issue. The issue is the fact that Virgil doesn't mind it. That he might like being watched by Roman- not in that way, don't make it weird- and likes his attention on him.

Also, how can Roman ever be so... nervous? Is that the right word?

Normally, when in school, he's always this pompous princely nerd with confidence pouring out of him. He knows what he's talking about. He's not very studious, not exactly, but he knows practically everything about theatre and its history. He knows a lot about history in general. And he's pretty great at the Creative Writing class they're both in.

His glasses are pretty cute, too. His smart little face, the red streak in his hair. The faintest of freckles on his cheeks and nose. The small moles on his neck. He's just so adorable-

Ack. Just f*cking- ugh. Why must Roman be so adorable yet so frustrating all at once?

Virgil is too gay for this sh*t. F*ck this. F*cking hell. Just- okay. He needs to chill out.

Just focus on skating. Ignore the cute little prince who keeps watching you. Just- jesus. Yeah, cause that's f*cking easy.

Virgil tries, he really does, but his mind keeps drifting to red bowties and clever comebacks. His skating buddies already know about his crush- not a crush, he tells them, he just thinks he's neat- and are frankly very tired of the obvious pining.

Hey, it's not pining- okay. Just- ya know what? F*ck you. Shut up.

Roman f*cking Solana.

Jesus.

It doesn't help that one of his friends, a fellow skater, is Roman's twin brother. So, he already sees Roman enough at school, but he also sees him whenever he hangs out with Remus at their house. They don't stay at the house for long, usually, and just go to the skatepark and meet up with Janus.

Yeah, being friends with Remus is always a new adventure. That also means the ungodly amount of innuendos and teasing just gets worse. Of course it f*cking does, it's Remus. As soon as he first heard about Virgil liking Roman in any romantic capacity, he would not leave the poor spiderling alone. That is, unless it got too close to a boundary line. Remus may have poor impulse control, but he'd never cross a boundary with his friends or family. He's not a monster.

He's a self-proclaimed freak, but not a monster.

Which brings them all to right now, a teasing Remus at the ready as Virgil messes up the same trick for the fifth time in a row.

"Dude, what's with you lately? You usually don't mess up that badly," an unnamed skater comments as Virgil gives up and sits down at a nearby bench.

Virgil rolls his eyes at the unnamed skater. Not worth his time. It's not like they're a part of his inner circle, anyway.

"He can't help it, little Virgey's distracted," Remus teases, wiggling his eyebrow.

"Shut up, Remus," Virgil grumbles.

Remus snickers at him.

"Aww, but it's so fun f*cking with you."

Virgil rolls his eyes again, this time at Remus.

"Then again, I know who you'd really like to f*ck with. Well, more like who you'd like to f*ck."

Virgil chokes on air for a moment, his face now burning red. The unnamed skater turns bright pink in second-hand embarrassment and shuffles away, deciding now is a good time to go back to skating. Virgil glares at Remus in his own embarrassment as the green-coded dumbass cackles at him.

"Remus," he scorns, voice cracking at the implication.

"Listen, you're so easy. I just- ha! You're so red!"

Virgil hides his face in his hands, groaning loudly in annoyance.

Where is Janus when you need him? God, the one time he gets too sick to come and skate with us. God f*cking damnit. F*cking bastard.

Janus is usually the one who Remus would listen to. Those two had been through thick and thin, in a lot more ways than Virgil had been with them. There are just some things, some very bad things, that unite people together in such a close bond. Going through trauma together is... it's something they hope Virgil will never experience. It's something that brought those two so close together, but both of them still wish it hadn't happened. The world tends to be a truly cruel place to those who just want to be.

Anyway, after a while of Remus tormenting Virgil, they go back to skating. Remus tends to do more dangerous stunts as if they were at a beginner level. Virgil sticks with what he knows, what he can't mess up, being what his friends call 'stupidly safe' and 'boring'.

Virgil still thinks back to Roman, who is currently hiding behind his signature tree. What he'd never admit is how Roman's attention on him makes his heart beat out of his chest. How his voice makes his heart flutter like a bunch of dumb little moths. How he makes him laugh and let himself exist. How this damned nerd makes him... just smile. He doesn't just smile for anyone. The stupid f*cking cherry-red bowtie. The spotlights in his eyes.

He and Remus may be twins, but they don't exactly look like twins. And that makes it so much easier to feel so cheesy about him. He could never feel cheesy, in any romantic capacity, about Remus or Janus. They're more like family than anything. Oh, but Roman...

God. He wanted to be the Jack to Roman's Sally.

Like I said, he feels so f*cking cheesy about Roman.

After a while of f*cking with each other like they always do, Remus decides to abruptly leave. Virgil asks where the f*ck does he think he's running off to, only to get a one-word answer. That reasonably excuses him.

"Janny!" Remus shouted as he skated away on the sidewalk in the park, heading towards the neighborhood.

Virgil shakes his head fondly. Janus doesn't even need to text or call Remus for the octopus-loving weirdo to know he needs him. A friend instinct, Virgil supposes. Part of their uniquely close platonic bond. Some weird ass sh*t.

Not wanting to skate without one of his friends, cause that just feels weird, Virgil decides to retire early for the day. He goes back to the bench he sat on earlier, setting his board wheels-up by his feet. Finally resting there for a moment, sighing as his back relaxes. He glances over at where Roman probably still is, but-

But he's... not there?

Maybe he had to leave for some reason? Like, his mom called him or something. That happens. Right? Yeah. It's probably fine.

I wish he was still here, though.

Virgil stops himself before he can pout.

Stop, stop it. You're not even friends. This shouldn't f*cking bother you. He's fine.

Why does it bother him?

It just feels wrong. Odd. He's just normally still there, and...

And he's grown attached.

Ah, f*ck me.

~~~

Roman is in theatre. He's almost always the star of the show, the central sun in a musical. When he's on stage, he truly becomes a prince. Whatever his role is, he is. It's a nice sight to see.

So yeah, he's in the Drama club, of course. What thespian wouldn't be? And they always meet on Tuesdays after school. So, as far as Virgil knows, Roman is still at school afterhours on Tuesdays. So is Remus, but that's only because their mom makes them walk home together.

Today is no different. 

Virgil somehow managed to get an after school detention. He'd been too 'disruptive' during class (he was having a panic attack, how the f*ck-), and now has to stay in the library until all the clubs got out. Great. Just f*cking great. Another reason why he hates his dumb math teacher. Because of course, of course being emotionally distressed is less important than f*cking algebra.

Anyway.

So, there's very few people he knows who have after school activities. I mean, he's not the only one ever who gets detention, but apparently today is an exception because he's the only student there that isn't a library tech. He simply listens to music with his headphones on, doing homework so he doesn't have to deal with it later. He has one headphone out, but only so the librarians can't yell at him for it. They usually don't care, but detention students are some sort of disease or something because they eye him like a pack of f*cking vultures. To be fair, Virgil isn't ever really in there unless he has detention. And, you know, your classic stereotypes and narrow-minded assumptions you see from people who need a large heap of therapy. So yeah, not a great time.

Being watched by the librarians isn't helping Virgil focus, and he's two seconds from f*cking decking one of them. The library tech doesn't seem to care. They're just shelving books and minding their own damn business. Virgil likes the tech better.

Aside from the dumbass Karen librarians, there's some sort of commotion coming from the hallway. It could be the theatre kids; the library is close by the Theater. It's all shouty and sh*t, loud and all that. The future scholars in dramatics, otherwise known as actors, tend to always be loud and mildly disruptive. It's not anything new.

Virgil tries to scribble the last of a science formula down, wanting nothing more than the school day to be over. It's not over until he gets to leave. And he can't f*cking leave yet. Stupid b*tch of a teacher. Just- ugh. Math sucks.

Virgil startles when he hears something that sounds like a slap. He sharply turns his head to the doors, which are left open until the clubs are over.

What the f*ck.

He knows his school has bullies. In fact, he's had his fair share of dunderheads picking on him for sh*t he can't control. But most of the students are gone, and only ones who aren't are the theatre or art club kids. And the art room is all the way at the other end of the school. So, the only kids who'd be here... would be the theatre kids... but he's never known any of them to- well, he's seen more gay-ass motherf*ckers in there than he can count, and they sure as hell aren't ones to be assholes unless someone actually deserves it. Or to be funny, in a sassy and dramatic way. Which is the reason why Virgil doesn't mind them. They don't really bother anyone.

Another suspiciously violent sound and a cry of pain, and Virgil flinches. He stops his work. He can't focus with all that noise, and the fact that someone could be getting hurt right now.

"Stop being so dramatic. God, you'd think he'd learn by now?" one voice complains.

"I know, right? He's so annoying! You wouldn't be in this situation if you kept your mouth shut," a second one adds.

A poorly-concealed whimper.

"Okay, that's it. We're being nice, you know we are. But I am two seconds from making your day a whole lot worse," a third one threatens.

Virgil feels stuck in his seat. God, he wants to get up and march over there, and just- what poor kid are they tormenting? It sounds like there's three of them- bullies always travel in groups- and their victim sounds so hurt.

He hears frantic mumbling, and he wishes he isn't so anxious because he'd like to help now, thank you. The worrying thing is he recognizes the first voice. It's familiar, but also not, and that's not a good sign. It's familiar in a bad way, in a 'oh god please not be them' kind of way.

"You were just saying how we shouldn't do what exactly? Hmm? Aww, why so quiet now?" the second one continues.

"I think he's scared, Jackson," says the third one.

"Oh Kayla, I think so, too."

The second one, Jackson, snickers at whoever the victim is. More mumbling. Something happens, and the first one seems to speak again, but it's muffled. The third one, Kayla, laughs at whatever the victim's reaction is.

Jesus, what's f*cking wrong with them? I need to get up and get someone. What do I do, what do I do? I don't know what to do.

Virgil still feels frozen to his seat. He hates how he doesn't know. How he can't f*cking move. Why must his own anxiety paralyze him like this? He's not even the one getting bullied. It just reminds him... of someone. It's getting kinda triggering at this point, even though he can't pinpoint who it reminds him of. He just feels so f*cking stuck.

Someone shushes Jackson and Kayla. Probably the first voice, who's probably the leader of their cruel trio.

"Hush now, stop being a baby. You asked for this when you got in my way, you stupid attention wh*re," the first one lows their voices in such a cold, cynical way.

Virgil loses it when he hears that.

Omg, omg, omg. What the f*ck. They called them a f*cking slur.

He feels so mortified for whoever their victim is.

Okay, that's it. F*ck this, f*ck my stupid anxiety. That's not okay. Those f*cking b*tches.

Virgil blindly bolts to his feet, leaving his headphones and everything behind on the table. He ignores the librarians' steely eyes and quiet shouts for him to sit down. He runs out the f*cking library, nothing but pure adrenaline fueling him. It's all of a blur of him running over there, but luckily- or unluckily, cause how are no adults handling this- the commotion isn't that far. In fact, it's near the Theater. In the hallway in-between that separates it from the library. Where anyone could see.

Out in the open and no one's helping, dear f*cking god.

And Virgil isn't exactly quiet as he runs over. So, the bullies hear the footsteps rapidly approaching them. One of them mutters something like hey, maybe we should not get our asses caught, and what sounds like three pairs of footsteps scatter around. When Virgil gets there, all he sees is a heap of white and red crouched on the ground. They look shaky and small, so damn small, and their bowtie looks a little f*cked up.

Wait, bowtie? Red bowtie. Wait- omg. Oh sh*t.

That's Princey, the cute little nerd, looking small and terrified on the hallway floor. His glasses are the only thing that don't look damaged. His clothes look scuffed up. Tears are pouring down his face, from eyes that look too dazed. A hand mark on his cheek-

Those little assholes. I'm going to f*cking kill them. I'm going to sink Remus on them, and he's going to kill them. I-

Wait... if Roman is here, then...

Where is Remus?

Virgil shoves his thoughts away as he carefully approaches the poor little thing, crouching down to his eye level. He looks distant, almost like he's somewhere else. Maybe he is. Maybe he's mentally somewhere away from all that just happened. Somewhere that feels safer.

When Virgil puts a soft touch to Roman's shoulder, however, he flinches hard. He startles, turning sharply to face Virgil. His eyes are now very aware of where he is, frantic and panicked.

Oh, Princey...

Virgil takes his hand away, going slowly so Roman can see his movements. The poor nerd is panting like a cornered animal. Scared, he looks so scared.

"Hey, it's okay. You're safe now, Princey. It's just me, Virgil. You know me, yeah?"

He keeps his voice low and soft, easing just a little bit of the panic out of the poor thing's eyes.

That's better.

He still looks a little scared, though. It takes him a moment, but then recognition lights up in his eyes. He whimpers.

"Oh sweetheart, it's okay. I'm right here. You're safe now."

Virgil carefully cups the nerd's non-hurt cheek, thumbing away unnoticed tears. Princey flinches as soon as he feels touch- it's less, but still- but calms down as he realizes it's just Virgil.

Virgil would never hurt him. Virgil is safe. Virgil is good.

They may tease each other, but it's never to go as far as intentionally hurting someone.

Roman remains tense, but slowly melts as Virgil moves his other hand to card through his hair. He lets out an undignified whine, leaning into the touch.

"There, I've got you."

Roman leans against Virgil, resting his unhurt half on his shoulder. His face squished against him, letting himself relax a little more. Virgil moves his hand from his face, wrapping his arm around the poor prince. He holds him now, keeping close and cuddled in his lap. Roman's head falls until it rests against Virgil's chest. He can hear his heart beating. It sounds a lot calmer than his own. A hand still cared through his hair.

"You need to breathe, sweetheart. C'mon, breathe with me, okay?"

Roman slightly nods. He listens to Virgil's heart, trying to match his breathing to it. His lungs stutter a few times, but the constant stream of comfort and reassurance helps. After a while of finally breathing, he just collapses into a limp lump of exhaustion into Virgil's arms. He doesn't tremble or shake anymore- hardly at all- and instead focuses on the feel of warmth that his rival-friend-person gives. He doesn't know how to categorize them quite yet, but it seems pretty friendly right now.

Which makes him wonder why they aren't usually friendly like this. Maybe Virgil's just being kind. Maybe it's pity. At this moment though, he doesn't find the energy to care. He basks in the safe, safe, safe person holding him.

"There you go. Good job, sweetheart. You're okay. I've got you, I promise."

They just breathe together for a moment. Just co-exist and the world feels frozen, halted. Like nothing could get them, no harm could come their way, no evil could touch them. Roman's eyes droop, very much ready to fall asleep like this. He's all relaxed and calm now. He's okay. He's safe in Virgil's arms. His glasses screw up a bit as he somehow melts further into the purple-themed skater. He hears a soft chuckle from somewhere.

"You relaxed, Princey? All nice and cozy?"

"Mhm."

"Good, that's good. As long as you feel safe, sweetheart."

Had Roman been more awake than he is, he would've blushed at the pet name. But he isn't, so it flies completely over his head. He feels warm and floaty, and just all light. He likes this feeling. He doesn't want it to go away. Secure in safe arms. Safe, safe, safe.

A text beeps off somewhere. Roman idly wonders if his phone. He gets answered, unfortunately, as he feels Virgil move slightly against him. Probably pulling something out of his pocket. By the sound of it, it's his phone. Another text beeps. Sounds of typing. Virgil sighs, something like relief, and types more. Sends whatever he types to whoever texted him. Another text comes in. Virgil makes an idle hm noise. He puts his phone away.

He holds onto Roman tighter, a protective huff slips out. He pauses for a moment, glancing down at Princey.

"You comfortable like this, Princey? Not hurt anywhere, are you? Besides the, uh, the face."

Roman hums.

"Jus' the face," he provides.

The mark on his face still slightly burns, but it's manageable. Tolerable. Not hurt that much anymore.

"'Kay, good."

He readjusts to hold him tight again. Roman finally closes his eyes, nearly passing out from the sh*t that just happened. It doesn't process in his gay mind that he's practically sleeping against his crush. Yeah, a little too exhausted for the thought to even cross his mind.

"Hey, sweetheart. Remus is on his way, okay?"

"Mm, Re?"

"Yeah, Re. Your bro's on his way to help."

"'m fine, though."

"Princey."

"Mm, really. Safe now."

Virgil smiles at that, warmth spreading in his chest. And not from the fact that he has a body against him.

"Good that you're safe. But you went through something scary. We gotta talk about it."

Roman groans sleepily.

"If it makes you too uncomfortable, we won't. But we need to know who did the sh*t, so they can get their asses whooped."

Roman huffs out a laugh at the mention of 'asses whooped'. Not something he thought he'd hear from Virgil, but funny nonetheless.

"Little sleepy head."

"Not little."

"Could've fooled me, all sleepy and small like this. You're just a little puddle."

Roman makes a half-hearted noise of protest, but just drifts off after that. His breathing evens out, and now he's asleep. Virgil's heart melts because he feels safe enough to sleep in my arms, omg.

After a few minutes, he hears a worried shout.

"Roman? Roro?"

Ah yeah, that's Remus. Worried Brother™ mode is activated, isn't it?

"Ro? Vi, where are- oh. Okay, good. Right there. Okay."

Remus spots them on the ground as soon as he turns the corner. He barrels down the hallway to them, muttering about how they're right there, they've got each other, Virgil ain't gonna let anyone hurt him. He nearly crashes into them as he runs and dives to sit by Virgil and his sleeping brother.

"Whoa, hey. Hey, he's okay. I've got him. He's also asleep, so be careful, Rem."

The light chide dies on Virgil's tongue as Remus growls protectively at sight of his hurt twin. Virgil sighs, knowing Remus isn't going to listen to him while Roman is like this. He doesn't blame him. Roman comes first, always.

Remus catches the mark on Roman's face, and his growl intensifies. Virgil stopped carding a hand through the poor nerd's hair a little bit ago, instead just holding him like something precious. That being said, he sees the pure and horribly overwhelming worry in Remus' eyes. And decides to hand over the sleeping prince.

"Rem, here. He's okay now. He's safe and okay. Right here."

Remus takes his brother carefully. The sleepy Roman whines in protest as he feels Virgil let go of him. The emo skater makes a comforting noise and mutters about what he's doing so the other will be calm. Once fully in his arms, Remus hugs the life out of his brother and holds him in his lap. Roman lets out a pleased hum as he drifts back into a comfortable slumber. He nuzzles into his brother, clinging onto his shirt like a little kid. Remus rests his chin on top of his brother's head.

"...who the f*ck messed with him?"

Remus' glare is deadly and cold, but he doesn't look at Virgil. It's not directed towards him, anyway.

Yep, there's the Protective Twin™ mode.

"I don't know. He hasn't said anything yet, looked a little scared to."

Virgil's voice nearly matches Remus' in cold venom. It's low and cruel, and he's going to do horrible things to the people who did this.

Virgil glances at Remus as he kisses his brother's hair softly.

"I told him we need the name of those f*ckers. I technically didn't ask him, but he still seemed... he's just so tired, Rem."

Virgil's voice almost cracks with emotion near the end. Remus grunts in response. His grip on his brother doesn't waver, not even for a millisecond.

"I heard names of two outta three, though."

Remus sharply turns to him, demanding the names with nothing but a look.

"I- I heard it from the library. One of them is, uh, Jackson. The other one is Kayla, I think."

Remus' eyes wide slightly for a second at the mention of Kayla, and it doesn't take basic observation skills to realize that he may know her. Probably not for a good reason. Virgil doesn't ask.

"There were three?"

"I didn't catch the third's name."

"And where were you, then? How could you hear names but not stop this sh*t from happening?"

Remus' voice cracks mid-sentence. Tears prick at his eyes, and he glares at Virgil like it could be his fault. Maybe it is. Maybe if he wasn't a little coward, he could've stopped it. If only he didn't fail at such an important time.

"I- I was in detention, and- uh, and I heard noise and voices, but I froze and I couldn't move-"

Remus' face softens, regret flooding in as his friend stumbles over panicked words.

"Hey, hey. Sorry. I know you wouldn't hurt him."

Virgil simply nods curtly, easing himself out of his own panic.

"I found him, dazed and on the floor. Rem- Remus, he looked so terrified."

I should've got to him. Goddamit, why am I so f*cking stupid? Just- what the f*ck is wrong with me?

Remus bumps Virgil's shoulder lightly, bringing him out of his thoughts. His own tears threaten to spill. He simply sniffles and wills them away. At least, he holds those stupid tears in for as long as he can.

"...I'm gonna beat and kill their asses."

"I'll bring the bat."

The duo lightly chuckles at each other for a moment. They focus back on Roman, who looks so peaceful in his sleep. Peaceful and safe. It's almost surreal, in a way. He was just hurt by some dumbf*cks, and now he looks like nothing's wrong in the world. They almost don't want to wake him up.

He beats them to it though, groaning and slowly opening his eyes. He first notices purple patches across from him. Then the fact he's being hugged into the Aether, hugged by someone strong and... is that green on their weird vest thing? Wait, green...

He sees Remus' signature skull necklace, and everything catches up to him.

Remus is here. Re is here and I am safe. Safe. Virgil's here, too.

He feels soreness creeping in as he wakes up more.

Ugh... goddammit.

He groans in slight pain.

Wait f*ck- Virgil is here. Holy sh*t. Omg, omg-

And then a little bit of gay panic sets in.

Roman feels his face heat up slightly, and he hides it in Remus' chest. Remus, being the ever-loving twin that he is, just snorts at him once he notices him blushing. Virgil raises an eyebrow at him, but Remus just ignores it and snickers.

"Mm, f*ck you, Re," Roman mutters.

"Yeah, he's okay," Remus says.

"Pft- you good, Princey? What's got you hiding?"

Virgil's own tears are long forgotten as he watches Roman groan pathetically, oblivious to the fact he's a little flustered because of him.

"Seriously though, are you okay?" Virgil's voice softens again.

Roman peeks out from his hiding place, nodding.

"Hm. Then why don't we talk about it, if you're okay and all? We still have asses to maim."

The princely nerd huffs, sitting up in his brother's lap. He avoids their gazes as he speaks.

"'s nothing to worry about."

Remus gives him a the f*ck it isn't look.

"Nothing to- Roro, they left a mark on you. They hit you. That's something to worry about."

"Re-"

"He's right, Princey. They shouldn't be messing with you like. No one gets to f*ck with you like that."

A few seconds of tense silence.

"it's not like it's anything new..." he mumbles.

"Wait, what?"

"I'm killing them-"

Roman tugs on Remus as soon as he feels him try to get up, telling him to stay. Remus rolls his eyes affectionately, staying put and keeping a hold on his hurt brother.

"Fine. Later, then."

"Princey, I- what? Have they been hurting you for a while?"

"...I should be able to take it."

"Oh, no- no, sweetheart, that's not what I meant."

Roman blushes lightly at the pet name, but Virgil ignores it.

"Yeah."

"Oh, Princey..."

"Ro, why didn't ya just tell me? Or us? I could've used Ma's hunting knife on them! Perfect practice!"

"She would kill you if you took her knife, dumbass."

"Not if she knew it was to protect you."

Roman rolls his eyes. Virgil is about ready to steal their mom's knife himself because who the f*ck do they think they are?

Then, he remembers something he heard back when he was in the Library.

Wait, didn't they call him a- oh, oh sh*t. I'm gutting them, omg.

"Sweetheart, how long have they... called you things?"

Roman shrinks, knowing exactly what he's asking. He sheepishly shrugs. Remus makes a concerned, confused face.

"What are they calling you? Bro-bro?"

"...'s fine. It's not that bad."

"Not that- Roman," Virgil's voice bleeds with horror and worry.

Roman huffs stubbornly.

"Ro? What are they calling you?"

He stays quiet, still avoiding their gazes. He feels embarrassed about this entire situation. He should be able to handle it fine, shouldn't he? He's smart and charismatic. He's a prince, if theatre is anything to go by. Aren't princes supposed to be strong?

Isn't he supposed to be strong?

"Roman- Princey, can I tell him? If you won't, then can I?"

That nickname is sounding a little too endearing, and Roman is on the verge of giving in just from that. He meets Virgil's eyes, not expecting the utter weight of naked concern on his face. He bites his lip before nodding and hiding his face in Remus' chest again.

"They called him a slur."

Virgil feels ready to cry again as he speaks, and he's not even the one who got hurt.

"They did what?" anger bleeds through Remus' voice.

He holds Roman tighter, if that's even possible at this point. Roman whimpers as the smallest echo of the slur replays in his head.

"I'm killing them, I'm f*cking killing them. I'm burying them ten feet underground, and I'm killing them."

Roman grips Remus' vest as he tries to push the faint memory of the bullies did out of his mind.

"They don't have any f*cking right to-"

"Not new."

Remus stills. He almost pales as he processes his twin's words. Virgil, in fact, does go pale.

"Roro?"

"Oh, God-"

"Ro, bro-bro, they- they f*cking what?"

"I got a role they wanted. I always get a role they want. They don't like it when I get what they want. It's... 's fine. Nothin' new."

"Oh sweetheart, that's not fine. They- they shouldn't be calling you a slur over a cast role."

"Those b*tches-"

"I should be able to handle it. I'm- I'm supposed to be a prince, aren't I? Princes handle things on their own."

Princes are supposed to be strong, he thinks but doesn't say.

"That's... sweetheart, no. No, princes can ask for help if they need it."

"...but I'm supposed to be strong. Mom calls me her prince, and I want to be strong."

"Asking for help is strong, sweetheart. Strong is being scared and hurt, but surviving anyway."

"Ma calls you her prince because you are strong."

"She also calls you a gremlin Dorito because you have a weird obsession with demonic triangles."

"Cipher is f*cking funny-"

"He literally rips teeth from a deer, what the f*ck-"

Virgil spares a snort as the brothers briefly bicker.

"Not the point, Ro. She also calls me her duke because she said I was meant to be different from you. That you and I are both her precious royals."

Roman hums in response.

Virgil shuffles closer, sitting against Remus' arm. There's more silence. Remus is plotting death for those b*tches who hurt his brother. Virgil is probably doing the same, though he keeps glancing at Roman to make sure he's alright. Today was just total sh*t, huh?

"...they called me an attention wh*re."

Roman's voice cracks as he whispers, curling up in Remus' arms and wanting nothing more than today to have never happened. Remus growls protectively, resting his chin on Roman's head again. Virgil takes one of the nerd's hands, squeezing it softly. He squeezes back.

"Logan's dad knows the principle," Virgil says, rubbing circles on the nerd's knuckles. "Patton told me. We could f*cking get them."

Remus nods sharply as Roman seems to drift off somewhere.

They three stay there, in the empty hallway, as clubs end and other students decide to avoid the murderous looks on Remus' and Virgil's faces.

~~~

It's not even two days later when Jackson, Kayla, and Jackass Number 3 get expelled from school.

Not only does Logan's dad know the principle, but he also seems to be old friends to the district's Superintendent as well. Apparently, his dad knows some friends in high places. Good thing Virgil is intent on remaining on Logan's good side.

Roman and Virgil walk to school together, mainly because Janus is feeling better and Remus wanted to go f*ck some fences up with him. Plus, Roman's mom is even more insistent on him having a walking buddy now that she knows he'd been bullied. As overprotective as she can be, his mom cares a whole lot more about her sons than anything else.

She sneaked a wink at Roman when Virgil came over to walk with him, since his brother couldn't take him anyways. Remus must've tattled on his gay ass because now his mom kept giving this look whenever Virgil visited.

So yes, now he walks with his crush to school. As Remus is being a little criminal and doing God knows what, Roman is fighting a gay panic. Virgil's hand has brushed his twice already, and he thinks he might die if it happens again.

He drifts off into thought for a moment, wondering about a couple of days ago.

"Hey, Virgil?" his voice stays surprisingly steady as his heart thrums in his chest.

"Yeah, Princey?" Virgil glances over at him, and oh god, gay panic, now's not the time.

"Uh, when you... I mean, back when you found me in that hallway and helped me out, uh- well..."

Virgil's gaze softens. He offers a hand, and Roman takes it hesitantly. He squeezes lightly, causing the nerd exhale his nervousness.

"Um, when that happened, you kept calling me 'sweetheart'," Roman couldn't stop the smile on his face. "What was that about?"

His chest burst into butterflies as they both stop walking, and Virgil gives a fond smirk. He avoids Roman's gaze now, a light blush on his face.

"I- uh, sh*t. F*ck, sh*t," he mutters.

Roman waits, though his eager heart beats loudly against his chest.

"I, um... I care about you. You're important to me."

Hi, yes, hello. Uh, Roman's not here right now. He's currently bursting into a million fireworks.

"You- uh, what way do you mean?" Roman can feel how red his face is.

This is when Virgil looks at him, anxious and biting his lip. Flustered, he's flustered the skater boy. His face is red too, though debatably not as red as the nerd. No, Roman's face almost matches his bowtie.

Virgil takes Roman's other hand, shaking slightly from nerves. He stops biting his lip. He risks a brief glance at Roman's lips, and- omg. Omg, I'm going to die.

Both of their faces are burning bright red.

"You... want me to be your sweetheart?" Roman is breathless, and honestly a little overwhelmed by the fact his crush stared at his lips, oh Jesus f*cking Christ.

"Yeah, if you'd have me..." Virgil is just as breathless as they glance into each other's eyes, baring their souls and hearts to one another.

"I'd, uh- yeah, I'd like that."

Virgil moves one of his hands to hold the back of Roman's neck, and Roman's now-free hand rests on Virgil's shoulder. They both glance at each other's lips, hearts pounding and butterflies swarming their insides.

"Can I kiss you, sweetheart?" Virgil looks at him gay in the eyes, and Roman nearly melts.

"Yes," is all the nerd can muster.

They lean in awkwardly, considering they're inexperienced highschoolers, brushing their lips together. They each pull back from some initial shock, slowly leaning back as they gain what little confidence they have. They quickly peck each other, nerves turning into bursts of explosive colour and excitement in their guts. Roman looks at Virgil, his heart fluttering as he recovers from that. Virgil smiles fondly at him. His sweetheart- omg, he's his sweetheart now- smiling back. They're both in a daze. Faces bright pink, heads feeling light like clouds, and hands stay surprisingly steady as they gaze at each other.

It takes them a few moments before they realize that they're going to be late for school.

"Oh sh*t- uh, school's about to start," Virgil cusses as he takes his hand from the back of Roman's neck and looks at the time on his phone.

"Uh, yep. Yep, we should probably go an'- and stuff," his nerd awkwardly stumbles over his words, moving his hand off of Virgil's shoulder.

Virgil pockets his phone as they continue walking to school, picking up the pace a little. They still hold hands as they go. Gay panic roaring in their minds, a swirling mix of emotions leftover from kissing and confessing.

They don't part until needing to go down separate hallways for class.

[that-was-anticlimactic]

Once many moons ago you asked for some avatar writing prompts and I’ve been thinking of it ever since. Anyway I’ve also been thinking a lot about your Tourette’s!Sokka hc and fics and I was wondering if you could write a lil bit about how Toph finds out? I know you mentioned that she’d find out after pulling him out of the hole... but I’d love to read more about it

Anyway no pressure and if i’m totally out of line please let me know

Hi!!! No no, thank you so much! You’re not out of line at all!! I could talk about this forever and this is exactly something I need to procrastinate!

for those who don’t know, they’re referring to this post and this oneshot! It’s a lots of headcanons about Sokka (atla) having Tourette’s Syndrome!

This takes place during Bitter Work (I mean... Sokka is a hole haha) and for purposes of speculation and plot convenience, we’re assuming he’s been in the whole for at least half of the day (I mean, maybe that’s canon??? He had trouble walking when they got him out and it was long enough to make Katara worry...).

I tried writing this in a different way, so if anyone has strong thoughts / feelings / opinions on how I portrayed his tics, let me know! The last thing that I want to note beforehand is that tics are... weird and you can’t plan them. Writing for them is harder than I thought because they are random. I, personally, found it easier to write his verbal tics as the same few words because you don’t think of tics, they just happen? So writing them was weird, haha!

Stuck

Word Count: 2,590

Tw: anxiety attack, tic attack (for those with TS or tics, I do write his tics in. They triggered some of mine, so proceed with caution)

----

“Rah-Rah-Rah-Rumble!”

Sokka sighed. “Maybe going to underground Earth bending tournaments was a bad idea,” the young warrior (nose wrinkle) said to himself. “I’m going to be rumbling-- rah-rah-rumble-- for ages now.”

He laughed. Then laughed again (blink, whistle). Then he shrieked in frustration.

Being stuck in this hole was miserable, and not just (whistle, nose wrinkle) miserable, it was terrifying. He couldn’t move his arms, he couldn’t move his legs, moving his fingers was possible, but he had clenched them so much that it was painful to continue, and he needed to move his arms, he needed to (whistle, whistle, whistle) tic.

The others were off training, and that could take hours. He was alone (blink, “yip yip, rumble rumble”) and they had no idea where he was, all they knew was that he was hunting.

The pain… it was hard for his brain to fathom the pain he was in. His legs (blink, whistle, blink) were numb but his arms (“Rah-Rumble”) were sore, they were aching and longing for the ability to move, to tic. It made his head (whistle, blink, blink, “yip, rumble, yip”) hurt. It was hard to breath.

“That’s-- rumble-- it,” he wheezed. “This is how I’m gonna-- rah-rah-- die. Oh, spirits, I’m gonna die!” Panic, pain, and loneliness were savages, wrecking the sanctuary and peace of his mind and body.

“AANG!”

Sokka’s voice clipped, his body feeling (“yip yip, you need to yip yip”, blink, nose wrinkle) awake once more at the sight of his friend.

The monk turned at his name, his face lighting up upon seeing the water tribesman. “Sokka!” he (nose wrinkle, whistle) cried, running to him. “Are you okay?”

He opened his mouth, prepared to make some witty or sarcastic comment, but (whistle, blink) all that came out was a stifled, relieved sob. “I-I’m-- fah-fah-fine, fine-- I just need to get out of this stupid hole,” he assured, tears of happiness welling up in his eyes.

Aang studied him for a moment (“yip yip”), then grabbed onto what he could of Sokka’s hands, trying to pull him (blink, blink, nose wrinkle, whistle) free.

Pain shot through his arms and up to his fingers. “Ow! Stop, stop! You’re-- rumble, rah-rah-- gonna pull my fingers off! And (whistle) I don’t think the r-- re-rah-rumble, rah-rah-rumble-- rest is coming!”

Aang sat down in front of him, panting. “I would try to airbend you out, but I don’t think that’ll do anything.”

(Blink, whistle) “Oh, you can Earthbend me out!” Sokka cried excitedly (blink, blink, “rumble”). “That’s what you’ve been working on, right?”

“I can’t.”

“Well, what about-- yip-- Toph? Can you get her so she can Earthbend me out?”

“I can’t do that either.”

“W-- Wah-Wah-- Why not? I’m stuck and-and I can’t move and--” Sokka broke off into an unstoppable stream of “yip-yip”’s.

Aang started, reaching his hands out, but drew them back. “Suppose you probably don’t want to be touched right now?” he said sheepishly. “I’m sorry. Toph will just get mad at me if I go back. I’m a terrible Earthbender.”

“I just-- yip yip (whistle, blink, blink, nose wrinkle)-- I just want Katara.” The words stumbled out, and for a second, he felt like that young six year old again, asking for his mom when (blink, blink, blink) he had tic spasms during stressful training sessions.

Aang’s grey eyes were filled with sorrow. “I know you need help. I need to get over myself and just face Toph but… I just don’t want to let anyone down…” he trailed off, and (nose wrinkle, whistle) suddenly Sokka wanted to be out of that hole more than anything so he could give Aang all of the love that he deserves.

“Oh! Is that a baby Sabertooth Moose Lion?” asked the monk, a smile popping up on his face as the creature jumped out from the bushes.

“Aang, Foo Foo Cuddly Poops. Foo Foo-- rumble, rah-rah-- Cuddly Poops, Aang,” Sokka introduced nonchalantly, still mentally going through various ways to encourage Aang to get help.

“Huh, that’s weird,” Aang (“yip yip!”) stated, picking Foo Foo Cuddly Poops up. “Their moms are usually really protective.”

The Spirits must have something against Sokka, and maybe once he’s out of the hole he’ll ask Aang to visit the Spirit World and figure out what it is. Almost as if it were on cue, a loud roar shook the trees surrounding them, and Sokka soon felt overcome with blinking and screaming “yip yip”.

The roar came from behind him, but he couldn't move he couldn’t move he couldn’t move he couldn’t-- Spirits, he was crying. He was blinking so hard and so consistently that he was crying. His throat felt tighter and tighter with each “yip”, but he still held onto that small sliver of hope that Toph or Katara would hear him and come help him.

“Aang, I can’t-- ca-a-an’t yip-- I can’t see! I-- you need to yip yip-- can’t see! Is that- is that-thu-thu-- the mother? What’s happ-- yip yip-- ening? I can’t-- you-you, yip yip yip-- I can’t stop-- yip yip yip yip, RUMBLE-- AANG!” His words flew out of his mouth, they were uncontrollable, a storm that had been building up for the past however long he had been in here, festering and brewing. Sokka didn’t know what he was saying, his tongue was improvising, his words were a script never written. Honestly, he would be surprised if Aang could even understand what he said through his nearly constant stream of tics.

He couldn’t see, and not just behind him. His blinking was too excessive. His eyes hurt, his vision completely blurred. He was crying, from fear, pain, blinking too much, and because he just wanted Katara. The ringing in his ears returned, and he wanted to curl up into a ball, letting his tics run their course, holding his head in his hands.

A gust of wind ruffled his already messy hair, some of the longer strands falling into his mouth, but he barely registered it. Through the ringing, he vaguely heard Aang speak to him. And suddenly Sokka sobbed even harder because Aang was twelve and he shouldn’t have to worry about Sokka having a tic attack. The first time he had one around Aang, he had terrified the kid. Poor Katara had to run back and forth between making sure Sokka was alright and not in any pain and that Aang understood what was going on.

Spirits, Aang was probably scared out of his mind right now because they were being attacked and Sokka could do nothing to help him. They were in danger and it felt like he was cowering while the Avatar worked to save them both.

Moment after moment, he continued to tic, and, as Aang later said, continued to have an anxiety attack. It felt like an eternity when he finally saw the blurred face of Aang in front of him, moving in and out of focus. The monk’s mouth was moving, but no words were coming out.

He couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t even think. The world around him had faded, falling into a grey abyss of nothingness where even feelings were numb and cold. He forced his eyes shut.

Suddenly, the ground beneath him began to move, it rumbled (much like he was), and out of nowhere, a hand gripped his hair tightly and pulled.

Freedom. He was free, but he couldn’t register it. He swatted at the hand until it let go of him, letting him crumble to the ground in a hysterical heap. The touch only worsened the feeling of restriction, even though he was no longer confined to the hole. The ringing grew louder and louder still, and through it all he could hear was someone screaming his sister’s name. Maybe it was him. Maybe it was Aang.

The curled into a ball position that he so longed for was finally attainable, and Sokka immediately fell into it. His legs were twitching, his hands continually flying to the sky and flashing the number three (a new tic he had picked up that replaced the fist pumping. Where his body picked it up, he hadn’t a clue, but he supposed it was better than fist pumping at everything).

“I can’t-- yip yip, yip rumble yip-- breathe-- bruh-bruh-bruh--!” he screamed it. How his vocal cords found the strength to scream, he didn’t know. All he knew for certain was that he felt like he was dying.

A tender, cool, calloused hand landed on his shoulder and he shuddered at the touch, desperately trying to shake it off. The hand would not relent.

Oftentimes, the light at the end of the tunnel was his name. The ringing halted to a stop, when through the blaring he heard: “Sokka”. The voice was loud but it was not forceful. It was commanding yet compassionate. “Sokka, can you hear me?”

Eyes still forced shut to calm the blinking, he nodded.

“It’s Katara. I know I’m already touching you, but can I hug you? Is that okay?”

Katara… his sister. His mind halted at once, the thoughts of death and breathing slipping away. Cautiously opening an eye, Sokka found his sister in front of him, one hand on his shoulder, the other hovering near his back.

A relieved sigh fell from her lips as he opened his second eye, blinked a few times, and then met hers. Her beautiful blue eyes felt like home. “Thank the Spirits,” she mumbled. “Can I hug you, is that okay? Aang chased away the mother Sabertooth Moose Lion and Toph got you out of the hole. You can move now.”

Realization hit him in full force. Toph didn’t even know he had Tourette’s yet. The chance to tell her never really came up. She probably hated him now.

He nodded once more, leaning into his younger sister’s touch, wrapping his own shaking arms around her, and letting her hold him as he whimpered.

Her touch was warm, heating the coolness of his fear into oblivion. He always liked when Katara hugged him. She always hugged him loosely, allowing him the room to maneuver or wiggle his way out if he felt uncomfortable.

Peace flooded over him, his tears vanishing with each passing moment and his breathing more stable with each breath.

“I’m-- rumble- rah-- so sorry,” he gasped once he extracted himself from the hug, finally calm and back into reality, as the world came back into sight.

“You don’t need to be sorry,” Katara stated firmly, sitting beside him. “We should have looked for you sooner when you didn’t return. I was just so caught up in Aang learning Earthbending and Toph is kind of a mean teacher--”

“Katara, it’s-- yip yip-- fine, really.”

“You were stuck here for hours, Sokka, hours! I was so worried…”

Hand holding wasn’t his thing, not in the slightest. It made his fingers hurt and he could never get his hands to hold still long enough for it to be comfortable for anyone. Katara, though, was the one exception. He reached for her hand, holding it tightly and rubbing his fingers against the back of it.

“Thu-Thu-- Thank you,” he whispered. “I love you.”

Katara leaned her head against his shoulder, finally allowing herself to breathe, all of her worries and fears slipping away with every exhale.

From the corner of his eye, Sokka noticed Aang slowly inching towards him, Toph lingering at his side. He gulped. “Aang, sorry I f-- fr-fre-fuh-fr--freaked out on you. Did I-- rumble rumble-- scare you again?” he asked.

Aang nodded sheepishly. “A little bit. Sorry I couldn’t Earthbend you out. I should’ve gotten Toph right away.”

Sokka shrugged, careful not to jostle his sister’s head. “Eh. It’s okay. You just started l-- luh-luh-rumbLE, LE, LE-- learning.”

The large grey eyes grew wider by the second. Aang bit his lip and glanced anxiously at Sokka. It was a look that Sokka had learned early on. “Come here,” he sighed, gesturing to his other side. “Not too close, though, okay?”

Aang immediately zoomed over and into his side, scooting away slightly before settling.

Sometimes, Aang just needs to be loved and reminded that he’s just a kid and that it’s okay to feel worried and that it’s okay for him to not believe everything was his fault. That look, that look was one asking for forgiveness, one of asking for affection.

And then there was Toph.

It was funny, really, how quickly Sokka could go between completely freaking out and needing someone to help him to him being the comforter, the calm and collected one. He supposed it was because his tic attacks weren’t very frequent, and this one was more extreme than most (probably due to being stuck for hours and having an anxiety attack), so he was used to jumping back into normalcy.

Toph, on the other hand…

“Hey, you,” he called. “Blind Bandit-- yip yip, you need to yip yip-- come join us!”

The hesitant and frightened look (Spirits, she was only twelve too) on her face was a huge contrast in comparison to her pale and usually uncaring complexion. And for a moment, she faltered. Being new and all, Sokka really couldn’t blame her. She barely knew them.

“I’m f-- fuh-fuh--fine,” he assured her. “I have Tourette’s so sometimes-- rumble-rah-rah-- when I can’t move my body freaks-- yip yip (whistle)-- out and sometimes I panic. Then we got attacked by a Sabertooth Moose Lion, I think? I kinda blanked out for that part-- rah-rah-rah--, but anyways, point is, I’m okay. And, I’m sorry for sc-- yip yip-- scaring you.”

The young Earthbender cautiously took a step forward.

“Don’t worry-- wah-wah-worry--, it’s not usually this bad. I guess me getting trapped in a hole-- rumble, rumble, rah-- wasn’t enough torment for the Spirits so they threw a large animal at me. It’s usually just small, normalish things like making hand gestures or my neck twitching,” he continued to explain, his tone gentle and trying his best to suppress his vocal tics for the moment to coax Toph closer. “Are you okay?”

Toph snorted. “I’m not scared, Snoozles. I just… I just couldn’t see what was going on completely and I was confused!”

“And worried!” Aang piped up from his side. “Don’t forget that you were also worried!”

Sokka smiled while Toph growled. She stomped her foot on the ground and a beam of Earth collided with Aang, sending him flying through the air and roughly hitting a tree.

“Ow,” he mumbled, rubbing his head.

Toph just shrugged, quickly making her way to steal Aang’s spot next to Sokka. The young warrior saw the Earthbender raise her fist towards him, then falter.

“Yes, you can touch-- yip yip-- me now,” he laughed. “Uhh, also, sorry for hitting you earlier.”

A hard blow landed on his arm, but he couldn’t have felt happier about it. The trio learned very early on that punching arms was Toph’s way of showing affection. “No biggie. I can take it.”

Aang came stumbling towards them, pouting. “No fair, Toph! I wanted to sit next to Sokka!”

“Well then, make Sugar Queen move and take her place.”

“But Katara has first dibs, she’s his sister!”

“Snooze you lose, Twinkle Toes.”

“But--”

Katara opened her eyes and then proceeded to roll them. “Just come sit next to me, Aang,” she interrupted, extending an arm for the airbender to lean into.

Aang’s face lit up and he raced to her side.

Sokka sighed. Ah, normalcy.

----

Ahhh okay! I hope you liked it!

In case anyone was wondering, the reason why I stopped writing the tics in during the tic attack is because tic attacks (in my own personal experience) are kind of a constant stream of tics where something is always happening, and it would be really hard to write. So, when he had his anxiety / tic attack, I let it flow from there because there’s no way I could write that well or portray it right!

Thank you for reading! I’m always open to Sokka with Tourette’s questions, comments, concerns, etc...! I enjoy talking about it haha! I would also love to hear anyone’s personal Sokka with TS headcannons or ideas or any TS character stuff!

I am also always up to procrastinate, so if anyone ever has any writing prompts or fic recs, please lemme know!

and as always, Katara is FANTASTIC:)

[charmspoint]

2 and 3 for the ask game? owo and happy birthday!

Thank you <3<3<3

2. What are your future writing projects?

Oh boy there's a lot there. Let's group them!

Events

Currently this is what I'm most focused on since u kno deadlines. College doesn't leave me much time to work on anything else so I make do where I can. Since they are events I'll keep them vague with just the key elements:

JJK secret santa - Itafushi and hospitals

Satosugu winter exchange - Reincarnation and art

BNHA ace exchange - just got the prompt today so not sure yet

Zine i can't name yet - piece I can't talk about yet

Super secret Peters bday project -super secret Peters bday project :3c

Oneshots

One day it will be their turn...most of these are place holder names until i think of something better or just give up and leave them as is

Starfanged - Satosugu vampire!Satoru vampire hunter! Suguru AU, just a super simple lil obvious plot, Megumi n Tsumiki are also there, Satoru has to haul ass from a hunter with two babies cuz life sometimes sucks like that

7 Days Before You Left - covering the week before Suguru left the school, I kinda got halfway through this n then decided i could do better so hhjvhvh we'll see if i get to rewriting it, my brain is marinating

Pick up - Dazai sure doesn't pick up his phone a lot for someone that is constantly threatening suicide and it's Stressing Chuuya Out. Basically just what it says on the box

Multichapters

Lord help them I'll probably only get to them like next year cuz of college murdering me in cold blood

Dance with the Devil - Satoru's prequel for Rabid Dreams. Originally this was going to be a oneshot but....currently it sits at 30k and that's just not an amount I'm comfortable with presenting as one lone piece. I know some people have longer one shots but I like my pieces to still be relatively digestible in one sitting so yeeeeah this baby getting chaptered. It's like 80% done but i paused working on it to finish curse au and then i decided to turn it into a chaptered fic and that might need some work because i feel like some sections that worked fine in a fast paced one shot simply wont work in a multchap. Currently too busy to work on it but this is my baby, it's edgy and dark and stupid and i love it so much, i take a hammer to Satoru's head and I don't let up so <3 look forward to that

(Gang au has at least two maybe three other fics in plan but i havent started writing them yet so i wont talk about them, yeah this one kinda cracked my head open)

How to be a teen dad while navigating your emotional trauma, a guide by Satoru Gojo - Found family time with Satoru and fushiguro kids (and sometimes shoko), this has been sitting in my wips for A While cuz i ended up prioritizing other projects but I'm not giving up on it!! Family fluff, angst, Satoru being a wreck, Megumi transing his gender, Tsumiki having things to do and Shoko is there to film it all and laugh at it later, simple things

North Star - Satosugu circus AU. They are married in this :) they are miserable in so many of my fics here they just get to be That annoyingly cute couple, they earned it. Basic plot: A year ago Suguru fell off of trapeze and hadn't gotten back to it yet. Satoru tries to help him get over his trauma by being a stupid idiot. They are in love. This is just sappy romantic shit for my soul, 90% of its soundtrack is tns dance songs and of course 10 years, don't look at me i deserve this

Last time i made a list like this of my upcoming projects I think i ended up abandoning like 80% of them, but to be fair that was right before my shift from BNHA to JJK, so these might stand more of a chance uhhhh I hope there's something ppl will be excited about!

There's also Assigned Lesbian which I Am planning to continue and I Have written like half of the next chapter but.......eheheheh sorry nana fans following me you'll get your day someday

3. Are you trying anything new with your writing (style, genre, etc.)?

Uhhhh nothing particular style or genre vise but I have one major and one minor goal.

1. Get better at writing fight scenes - i fucking hate fight scenes, i really do. It's really hard for me to visualize movement and choreography like that so when I'm writing fight scenes it always just feels like everyone's flailing about. But I'm not giving up! A year ago I wasn't good with dialog either and now it's one of the things I found the most fun to write. It might be hard and not my thing but I still want to practice so I can do a decent job when I do need to insert a fight scene

2. Get better at writing sex scenes in plot fics - this is a minor goal because I don't really like to include sex in my plot cuz idk its just not my thing, i find it distracting and not the part i want to tell. But sometimes it is important for the story!! The sequel to Rabid Dreams has at least one (maybe two) sex scene that has major stakes in characters emotions, trauma and understanding and trust in each other. Just like with fight scenes, I'm not very good at them, I don't really like writing them, but when I need to use them I want them to be good!!

Hopefully I can accomplish those uwu

[babyybitchhh]

Today I got not one but TWO venti pumpkin spice lattes (🚨basic bitch alert🚨) with the hope that it would get me buzzed enough to be productive well into the wee hours of the morning. I’m also thinking about taking off from work early, but I haven’t committed to that just yet. Lol

BUT. I wanted to take a moment to give you guys a small preview of what I’m working on atm so let’s get into it! The top 6 fics in my docs are as follows:

For the Weekend: Shikamaru x reader, inspired by Tis the Damn Season from Taylor Swift. Modern AU. Christmas centric. Angsty porn with plot.

Darkest Gray: Geto Suguru x Reader. This is the first fic I started to write for him and it is ... long. 😅 Will likely need to break it up into chapters. Porn with plot.

Sweetie: Ogun x reader. Placeholder title. Inspired by Captain Hook from Megan thee Stallion. “He’s a sweetie, mm kiss it when he eat it.” Ahh 👅 The first Ogun fic I started but it can actually tie in with the second tbh. Porn without plot.

Family Affair: Shikamaru x reader x Shikaku. An overly ambitious project but one I’d really like to finish. Arranged marriage AU. Porn with plot.

Ogun multi: no title yet. Ogun x reader, obviously. Lol Multi chapter by virtue of its length. Works as a prequel or buildup of sorts to the sweetie fic and also as a standalone piece. It’s a VERY rough draft right now. Porn with plot.

One Last Wish: Uchiha Itachi x reader. Vaguely inspired by Sex with my Ex from Lil’ Peep. I actually intended this to be a birthday fic all the way back in June lol but such is life. Angsty, as one would expect any Itachi fic to be. Porn with plot.

Tbh I’d like to finish For the Weekend before anything else, since it’s by all accounts a Christmas fic, but idk if that’s gonna work out. The two that are closest to being complete are One Last Wish and Sweetie, the latter of which is about 80% done with editing and all. I also have a few ... wild cards up my sleeve that I’m gonna’ keep to myself for the time being. This is by no means a complete list of my WIPs btw. 😂😅😭 I have quite a backlog to work through but I hope everyone is as excited for these as I am, especially the multi chapter fics since I want to try branching out from oneshots a little bit. They’re nice for something quick and dirty, but I’d like to be able to plot out a functioning storyline every once in a while.

[amorentia-quibble]

Smoke, Screens and Other Illusions - A (Messy) Rundown

This is gonna be long, convoluted and will run off on so many different tangents you won’t even remember what this post was about in the first place. YALL READY?

Good cus I’m not XD

Before I get into this all, I will let you guys know that I got up to 30,000 words! It’s not the 50,000 I had hoped, but factoring in work, school and directing a small play with less than compliant children, it wasn’t a shabby effort. I was going to have a break before returning to the editing process, but my lovely old friend, and former editor for the local paper, has hooked me up with a newly published author who’s interested in looking at my work and giving me pointers. Which is super exciting!! But I have to get in quick as she’s living between here and the UK, and she wants to meet in person to talk. So, I need to finish writing and polish my mess of a manuscript before then. I don’t have a date yet, but I want to just get it done asap. Hence why I’m talking here! Getting ideas down and out into the world, whether for critique or just for others to see i have been doing things this month!

Alrighty, back into it. The first thing you guys might notice is the big title change, if you’ve been following my NaNo process. What once was Praese is now Smoke, Screens and Other Illusions, or SSOI, as I’ve been abbreviating it to. Praese just didn’t have enough of a link to the story for me to use it, and it’s got really awkward pronunciation. Is it Praise? Praeese? Pras? I don’t know, and if I dunno then no one will XD SSOI was actually the title of the little oneshot book I planned for this book AGES ago, way before NaNo and this story was considered novel-worthy, and I just sort of latched onto it while on the hunt for better title names. If anyone’s interested, I have a good list of the potential titles I had planned, but none stuck like this one for me.

Now, onto the actual story!!

A lot changed over the course of last month, particularly the outlined plot. Because of lack of time, thanks to school, and because I was still very, very new to the concept of writing a novel in a month, my plot outline was... Well, flimsy wouldn’t begin to explain it. I had a vague idea of where things should sort of be after a while, then which character should maybe turn up after that... And then the ending and the beginning were pretty set.

At first.

As I went, things weren’t adding up for me, I was finding the characters I’d made weren’t fitting into the world I was creating and the plot was running away into something I loved, but not something I’d planned for. Characters like Veda were reworked to change how she fits into the plot, villains altered and recreated, conflicts changed, and with that, some characters are sitting on the chopping room floor. That’s not to say I wont find ways to fit them in, since I still haven’t finished the novel. Being only 30,000 words in, and with a fair amount of those also easily able to be culled as I had this really annoying epiphany in the middle of writing, I’ve got plenty of work to do. 

Two characters I really, really want to somehow work back in are Zahara and Phoebe. Zahara was supposed to be my homage to my little brother, and to children with Autism and display that, make it more normal. It was something that worked in the old story, but I’m struggling to find where it would fit now. I considered making her an adult, but it doesn’t feel right. Especially considering her living on another continent, something that was fine in the first plot, is now a major barrier that I can’t really change for this new plot. I’ve considered scrapping her all together for this story and making an entirely new one for her, but she feels like she has a home here in this one, just... Buried away. Phoebe’s another one who had a major part in the plot before it changed, and not only did I find her Quirk cool as fuck, her interactions with the characters were very unique and, I thought at least, important to their development. It was just very hard to find a way to fit her in with how the story evolved. But, with the pacing issues I know I’m having right now, I may find a way. It’s all a matter of tweaking, and a lot of rewriting.

A character who really appeared out of nowhere, and is the whole reason I found this new plot, was Manuel Lavien (Damn you Lavien!). I really, really can’t say much about him because of his importance to the plot, but he is the Governor for Environmental Affairs for Osmayee on The World Institute of Governing. Long title, right? Yeah, he uses that to his full potential, if you can’t remember it now, you’ll remember it by the time you finish reading the novel (in its current form, at least).  What I can say that’s not really a huge spoiler is that he is the key to everything our main gals, Mora and London, need, but he’s kidnapped and framed to have tried to create artificial natural disasters. A lot spirals off from there, and boy do I love him as a character, but damn it man, you couldn’t have given me all these plot ideas before I got 9,000 words of worthless stuff down??

What is fun about this story, that I wanted in it, but didn’t know how it would work until this new plot came to me, was the higher stakes. At first the plot was sort of just a travel across continents, chasing this mystery man and get him to help, but I quickly realised my fatal flaw when I planned on him being a government official. How would they not know where he is at all times, not know what he looks like until their first meeting? He’s high-profile! And Mora’s this detective person, it’s too easy for her to look these things up! So he was just kidnapped instead, and it starts this whole chase and more action, and presents situations for my characters I wasn’t expecting. It’s fun and I’m glad that’s what came about because of the change. What was once a weird mishmash of genres between action, romance, mystery, horror, fluff, i dunno every genre ever really, is now far more narrowed into an action-packed mystery. It has its subplots, but it’s also more focused, and that’s absolutely what I needed.

At the moment, with how much of a mess this manuscript is (seriously it’s horrible, I’m terrified of having to read through this thing.) I don’t know where i’m gonna be at with it in the near future, just that it’s... a lot. I know I said I’d update a lot last month, and really, really didn’t, but I will try updating more on where I’m at. 

Until then, I hope you guys weren’t bored to death by my rambling (with very little point, might i add, but it helped me out a bit, at least) and I hope you enjoy the few lil artpieces imma just throw up after this post lol

Thank you!!