#kinda never really understood or found out what was going on with this thing? dunno what they do or why

[front-facing-pokemon]

[gregorybacon]

I never understood why people dont bring Gregory being interested on military stuff more. I remember loving Gregory because of the military aspects of his character.

I had studied War history and Military history for years, it's actually a big part of the things I'm interested in. I mostly specialize on the history of UK and France's side of it in past history. I also study on UK's Airforce during a specific era, the Supermarine Spitfires and Hawker Hurricanes are something I really really love.. And basically put that onto Gregory's interest too.

But anyways I really feel like people should point it out more! Gregory literally leads the revolution so prepared and is canon that he has done stuff like this before.

AND AND LOOK AT THESE LITTLE ARMY FIGURES I know that it's not implied of who own these, but I like to think they're Gregorys since he's the one handling them to tell the plans of where they should go and how the base is set up.

Another thing I found in detail is the song that comes up in the background when Gregory finds the La Resistance's hideout.

(Starts at 0:37)

I know, It might be a stretch, but to me it sounds so familiar (or at least inspired) by army marching music, it defiantly has the tone to it, which is a detail I adore and I never see anyone point it out before I also feel like it makes sense since the setting of the movie is... mostly about military and war themes, Gregory volunteers to be apart of this, defiantly has experience, knows what hes talking about, and has knowledge about it. (Note: He's also literally political about the American government and all the shit going on) And of course he knows Christophe who also very similarly is experienced in those topics too (I mean.. look at him) And the final part, is Gregory of course being inspired by Enjolras (Les Misérables) which is basically about the French Revolution War... (I know its not Military specifically but I really hope you get what Im putting down) I just love the details! I feel like Gregory is defiantly a military interest guy and loves taking charge of something he knows a lot about. I like the headcanon of it and how theres canon parts that can back it up. People kinda ignore it a lot... which is upsetting, since it's such a big part of his character. But of course, I won't put this as something people need to force into their headcanons and face it as 100% fact. I only find it disappointing that it's just a detail that is left neglected and barley even brought up.

(Old art coming in ew)

I remember featuring it on past Gregory artwork ... and I am considering just bringing it up again not only here but in future stuff as well. I dunno, I just wanted to ramble and I hope I had pointed out stuff that you didnt know about before!!

Military Gregory ily, they'll never make me hate you

[starpirateee]

I want to see the show

@lautski-week day 4 - Fireworks

Warnings: none / read on AO3 here

--

"They're running a fireworks display down at the docks!" Pete came running up to his friends, a flyer in his hand. They never did anything interesting enough in Hatchetfield, not enough to worth noting, anyway. So this was exciting.

Richie's eyes lit up. "When?"

"At the weekend! I might go, y'know? You guys coming with?"

"I'm down!"

"Me too!" Ruth grinned, grabbing the flyer when Pete offered it out. She and Richie looked it over together, committing the date, time and location to memory as best as they could. 

While they were occupying themselves with that, Pete glanced over to Steph to see if she would be joining him. He swore she looked nervous, but he didn't want to find himself mistaken. She met his eye, and then immediately went to find the flyer with a rapid glance. He tried to get anything else off her, but it was as if any nervousness she did hold, she was hiding. 

That wasn't brought up again until they were all walking home. Pete deliberately hung back and eventually managed to get Steph to do the same. "So... Are you gonna be there?"

"I dunno, Pete..." 

"This about your dad?"

"No, it's just-" She glanced ahead, to see whether Ruth and Richie were paying attention. When she found out they weren't, she sighed. "I don't do too well with... y'know, loud noises and stuff..."

For a moment, Pete tried to recall what music he remembered Steph listening to. She tended to prefer the kind with guitar heavy backgrounds, didn't she? And there'd been more than one occasion where he thought he could hear what she was listening to through her headphones. "Really?"

As if she'd read his mind, she added, "yeah, most people don't really think about it, cos I like rock, but y'know, I can manage that. It's different with music."

He nodded as if he understood. In a way, he sort of did. Having control over something always felt better than not being able to manage it and feeling overwhelmed when it happened. On one hand, he really wanted Steph to be there, and he wanted it to be all of them, but on the other hand, the last thing he wanted was to make her uncomfortable in any capacity. And that had to include taking into account the fact that she couldn't deal with loud environments. 

"I know it's weird, it's a weird mix."

"No, no I know what you mean. You don't actually have the music loud if you don't feel like it, but fireworks come in one volume and... That's kinda it."

She hummed, almost apologetic. Pete wanted to reassure her that she had nothing to apologise for. "I guess it'd be fine if we were further away, but the docks isn't exactly a large place, and I don't think I'd be able to get back far enough..."

"It's okay-"

"I wanna go, Pete, I do! I like hanging out with you guys."

Suddenly, Pete had an idea. He smiled slightly, and reached for her hand. "If we can make it work, would you come?"

"If you can make it work?"

"Just trust me!"

Steph was the first to leave the group on the way back home. Pete caught up with Ruth and Richie, going over his idea in his head to make sure it didn't sound like complete bullshit when he said it out loud. She liked hanging out with them... So, he had to make an effort to make it worth it. If she wanted to hang out with them, they could totally make this work!

"Hey, guys, can I ask you something?"

Ruth slowed her pace, and glanced up at Pete. She could see that his mind was starting to race, and before he started going too fast, she nodded, wanting to let him get his ideas out. "Okay.. Sure, what d'you wanna ask?"

"I dunno whether I should be telling you guys this, it's not really my business, but it's about Steph. She wants to come at the weekend, but she's not really good at dealing with loud spaces, if you know what I mean... So, I was wondering, could we get somewhere we could still see the docks from, so she could still come and we could still see the fireworks?"

He fully rejoined their little gathering. Richie looked a little surprised at the news, but he was thinking about it too, if not to try and figure out a place where both of those things could happen at the same time. It was very obvious that Pete liked Steph, and maybe it was the other way around too. He knew that he was certainly warming up to her, she was really nice when she wasn't hanging around the other cool kids...

"So, somewhere high up, where we could still see the docks, but maybe far enough that we can't hear them so well?"

"Exactly!"

"You're really thoughtful, you know that? That's real sweet..." He smiled over at Pete, who rubbed the back of his hand and smiled back. "We can probably make that work, though, in any case."

They bounced ideas off each other for a while, crossing off places because they were too far away or the view wasn't good enough. Eventually, Pete realised something that he should've realised a long time ago. "I don't know what I've been thinking, I literally live in an apartment block about a quarter mile from the docks."

"Your brother would let us use his apartment?"

"I mean, maybe not? But we could go sit on the roof. I've got a speaker, we could make a little show of it!"

"I like it! I can bring blankets, if you want!" Ruth offered eagerly. Her backpack was too large at the best of times, there was definitely a chance that she could squeeze a blanket in there if she wanted. 

"Blankets, huh?" Pete raised an eyebrow, but he was still smiling. "And Richie, you live close enough to the store... Could you do us a snack run on your way?"

"Sure!"

So, it was decided. As soon as Pete got home, he called Steph and updated her on everything the three of them had laid out in the course of their journey home. She had to pretend to be totally chill about it, but on the inside, her heart was doing somersalts. She couldn't believe that Pete would consider doing something like that just so she could hang out with them too.

"You really don't have to, y'know," she'd insisted, but Pete was having none of it.

"I know, but we all want you here, and besides, it might be fun!" he'd answered, and she'd felt a little warmer at that. 

The weekend rolled around. Ruth arrived at Pete's first, and he had completely lost track of the days, fully unaware that the fireworks display was tonight.

"Pete... door." Ted's knock on his bedroom door came hard as usual, and yet Pete was still startled by it every time he did it. This time was no exception. 

"Huh?"

"One of your friends, the one with the braces. She said somethin' about fireworks?"

"Oh shit. That's today?"

"Y'mean the one own the docks? Didn't know you were going..."

"I'm... Not. Not really. Long story." Pete rushed out of his room and towards the front door, where Ruth was indeed waiting, just inside. So, Ted did have the liberty to let her in, then... To him, it didn't look like she'd brought the blankets as she'd said, and he considered the version of this where the two of them dragged his off his bed and up the stairs to the roof. "Uh, where's the-"

Ruth took off her backpack and unzipped the main compartment. Inside, rolled to an incredibly neat size and packed close together were not one but two blankets. Pete's eyes widened involuntarily. 

"Jesus Christ, how did you do that?"

"Took everything else outta my bag and let my mom help me roll them. She's real good at stuff like that."

"They're perfect. Thanks so much! We can wait around in my room till everyone else shows up."

Ruth was first through the door. On his way in, Pete leaned out towards the kitchen and shouted, "Are you going to the fireworks?"

"Some guy at work invited us, yeah... We might be out a while, I think he's looking to get his drink on." Ted answered. "Why's yours a long story?"

"We're gonna watch them from here? On the roof."

He could almost literally hear Ted thinking that one over. It almost took him way too long to figure out that they could actually do that and make it work, too.

Just then, there was another knock at the door. Pete scrambled to get it this time, because if Ted opened the door to Steph, he'd probably refuse to believe she was even standing there waiting for Pete. As it happened, it was her. Ted was clearly in the background, trying not to make himself look like he was startled at who he saw when Pete opened the door. If he wasn't startled then, he certainly was when Pete pulled the girl into a hug that she returned. 

"I still can't believe you've put this together for me," Steph couldn't help the grin spread on her face. As she and Pete parted, she glanced over his shoulder and saw his brother staring. She subtly motioned this to Pete, who turned around quickly and flushed bright red. 

"Jesus CHRIST, TED!"

Ted just laughed. Mainly, that was an attempt at staving off the fact that his nerdy little brother just hugged a girl who looked that cool. God damn, were they- had Pete really scored himself a girlfriend without telling?

Pete showed Steph to his room. "Richie text a few minutes ago. He's gonna be a bit late, but we're still gonna be able to catch the fireworks. I told him half an hour earlier than I should've... He's always running late."

Steph chuckled, considering taking a seat on Pete's bedroom floor. He'd taken the office chair, and Ruth had one corner of his bed. He motioned towards the bed, clearly seeing what she was about to do, and she took a seat on the end. While the three of them were chatting, idly winding away the time, he stood up on the chair and pulled what looked like an old radio from a cardboard box on top of his shelves. 

"That's your speaker?" Ruth asked in awe. "That's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen!"

"It was an arcade prize years ago... Couple thousand tickets at Pizza Pete's, y'know how it is." He set the thing on the desk and turned it on to see if it still worked. It crackled, seemingly uncertainly, and then a light appeared on the top beside the buttons. He smiled. "God, it really won't give in, will it?"

Richie arrived within ten minutes, his bag overflowing with various snacks. That's why they'd assigned him to the snack run, he always knew how to pack the best ones... The three of them met him in the hallway, carting their various items. Ruth and Steph each had a blanket bundled under their arms, and Pete had his speaker, having made sure it was at least a little bit charged before they went. He absently yelled a goodbye towards Ted, and then led the way up the staircase towards the roof. 

"He's a strange one, your brother, isn't he?" Steph commented, shooting a look towards the door as they walked away.

"I never told him I was seeing you, I think we gave him the shock of a lifetime." Pete laughed.

"You didn't tell him?"

"I haven't had the chance yet, he's been busy! Well, he definitely knows now, and if he's not too hungover tomorrow, I'm definitely gonna get asked about it."

"I still can't believe you two are official!" Ruth sighed wistfully. "Like, that's so cool!"

Neither could he. This was the best thing to ever happen to him, and he felt luckier every day to be by her side. cos she was a friend too, it was always more than a date to him. She was someone to laugh to, someone to share obscenely large buckets of popcorn with during shitty movies, someone to text at stupid hours because he was drunk and lovesick.

Well, not drunk. It was one night... And he'd only drank in the first place because he'd met people on a day out looking at colleges and they'd suggested getting to know each other over drinks. But he did end up texting her, regardless of how it was he'd ended up like that.

"You wouldn't think it was cool if I was drunk texting you at 2:30 in the morning." He muttered.

"You didn't..."

"He did. Bunch of nerds from Michigan let him come drinking with them, then he got to the hotel room and I got... it all." Steph managed a laugh. She still had the texts, though she didn't think Pete knew that. They were sweet to her, and he'd been so sincere in every word he'd written.

"You didn't get the hangover the next morning..." He defended as he pushed open the door to the roof and led the group outside. 

The roof wasn't really a huge space, not compared to the inside. There was a little square of concrete that Steph presumed only covered the central staircase. In fact, the rest of the roof was just below them, but it was a fair jump down, and she didn't suspect there'd be a way back up that wasn't through someone's window. But, they really could make do with this.

She and Ruth set out the blankets, and the four of them took a seat in a direction that roughly faced the docks. She could see the lake from here, so they were definitely looking in the right direction. Really, this was a nice spot, and really was everything Pete had detailed to her on the phone. She wished she wasn't already grinning like an idiot so she could really show her appreciation for him. 

He worked on connecting the speaker, and the first firework shot into the sky, exploding in a flash of red light. It wasn't long before music filled the space between the four of them, and she realised that she could barely hear the fireworks at all. "This is... It's perfect." She leaned back, letting her hands plunge into the soft fibres of the blanket underneath her. Pete grinned, reaching out for her hand.

"Glad we could help," Richie hummed, digging into his backpack for a little bag of popcorn. "He did mean it, y'know, we want you to hang out as much as possible. Not just cos it makes us look cooler-"

She laughed. "But you think it does?"

"Oh, without a doubt. You're the coolest part of any of this."

[eclipse-song]

so reading through the new zine and wow. it's weirdly beautiful in a way that speaks to me a lot. growing up between one half of my family being catholic and the other being baptist (don't ask, they do hate each other) I was always expected to go to the big wig church events when visiting extended family. Mind you, my parents have disconnected themselves from religion, and so did I after a while. I wouldn't say I've been religiously traumatized in a way, but growing up always knowing I was different in some way compared to all the people in the churches around me did something to my mind. And as I found out I was pan, it dawned on me what it meant. I don't go to many church events with extended family for that reason afterwards, but it wrecks my mind in a way.

How can religions- specifically Christianity and all sorts of branching roots and such- claim to be about love and peace, yet so many people be hateful? How can a story about a man who was so unabashedly good- so much so to the point where he's arguably influenced major history events- be the reason for many peoples' prejudice? It's a question I ask myself on the daily. Maybe it's better for me to think less about it.

I dunno, these are all my weird ramblings going on about stuff while reading your Zine. I did genuinely enjoy it though. I suppose making me conjure up all these thoughts does actually do a great service, so compliments, I guess? I dunno.

I'm really glad my zine connected with you!!! I put religious trauma as a warning for people but honestly,,,,I don't know if I can classify myself as traumatized by religion. More like my trauma influenced my perception of religion.

I have a very strange relationship with things where I was raised catholic but my family was never strictly religious. We went to church most sundays but my mom complained about finding a new priest if it was too long or too preachy, and my dad never went to communion and never really explained why outside of not feeling the need to and we were all chill with that. We openly criticized the institution of the catholic church and were really left leaning politically. When Pope Benedict was chosen as the new Pope I was a little kid and watching the news with my uncle. He was a pothead retired DJ who spent half the year living with my grandma and I remember asking him "who's the new Pope?" and he told me "Benny the Rat." and I nodded like I understood what that meant and just thought it was super funny. I luckily never had any super right wing religious people I knew or encountered growing up. In highschool we had the rare conservative teacher but everyone rolled their eyes at them. After a while I just kinda came to terms with "idk what it is strictly out there, I just think it's nice thinking there are things we can't explain and the universe is full of lots of different beasties who can do things and it's much more fun and makes things a lot more interesting that way"

[timaeusterrored]

Kerry sat on the couch, watching over the three with a soft smile he didn’t even know was there. Ted and Kim were fawning over their newest little sister, well Kim was, Ted was already planning the murder of her future partners if they ever hurt her. And Kerry was right there with him.

V was taking a nap, exhaustion hitting him hard and Kerry understood it. Louise did too and had flown in to help them, and more specifically V. Kerry had been there for the baby stages of both Kim and Ted and had a general idea of what was happening when it was happening, V’s body went into kill mode the second she yawned weird and it took both Kerry and Louise to convince to go get a full eight hours of sleep. He fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

It had been Kerry’s idea to name her Jackie. And V had teared up a bit, Mama Wells had too when meeting her for the first time. He would have been her Uncle and V considered Misty her aunt so Kerry decided why the hell not?

He checked the time and rubbed his face, groaning into his hands before getting up. Nap time, finally. She was getting fussy anyway. Ted gave her over with little hesitation, she was all cute until she began to cry and Kerry doubted an 18 year old enjoyed holding a crying infant. He knew if V caught wind of her crying, he’d wake up. And they couldn’t have that.

The baby calmed when feeling her father hold her, something about Kerry, Louise and V had no idea how he did it for a man that was not father material. All the kids had it, when Kerry picked them up, they calmed down. He carried her into her nursery in their new home, the Villa really wasn’t made for children and the idea of a child living there stressed everyone out. He found himself humming Never Fade Away, dimming the windows and getting Jackie ready for nap time. He made sure to get the baby monitor out of the bedroom before V fell asleep.

Once he got Jackie down, he came back out. Ted and Kim were quietly watching TV, Ted looking like he could take a nap himself, and Louise sitting outside to look over the city. Kerry decided to join her since his husband and kids were settled now. He stepped out and light a well needed cigarette, both Kerry and V were against smoking around Jackie and normally just took it outside. He sat next to his ex wife and eyed the city, as if daring it to come and take his family away from him.

“You always were good with babies. I dunno why, but they all seemed to love you.” She said softly. Kim had always been a daddy’s girl but even Ted wanted Kerry to hold him a lot as baby and toddler. “They smell the fear. They are like a cat who finds someone who doesn’t like cats, they are all over me.” Kerry said, blowing the smoke out away from her. Louise snorted, shaking her head.

“V still sleeping?” She asked, and Kerry went into the house security feed to check. He nodded, and was glad. “He’s fucking exhausted. Gonna run himself into the damn ground if he’s not careful.” Kerry said, no real bite behind his voice because he knew V was trying to do everything for their family. But Kerry did wish he’d acknowledge that he was a first time dad and needed to give himself time to adjust to having a tiny thing to take care of now. “He’s lucky he’s cute.” Kerry said, getting another laugh out of Louise.

“Oh he’s doing fine. Better than we did with Ted. We stared at him for a week straight unsure of what to do, and it just kinda came to us,” “You.” “Us.” Louise gave her ex husband a hard look, that turned playful about a second later. “Let’s just hope we can keep him asleep until after her nap, hell maybe even before dinner. That’d be fuckin’ preem.” Kerry muttered, settling into the pool chair he was sitting in. Louise nodded and leaned over to steal his lighter and one of his cigarettes.

[cjsinkythoughts]

FATWS One Shot #2 - The Beginning of a Family

Word Count: 1804

Warnings: Cursing, Mentions of Human Trafficking (once, it was a mission Reader did), Minor Character Injury

Setting/Characters: The first half-ish of The Avengers in 2012; Reader, Steve Rogers, Nick Fury, Natasha Romanoff, Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, Thor, Mentions of Loki, Phil Coulson, and Clint Barton, OC!Agent Anderson

A/N: Here’s One Shot Number 2! I was thinking of making it longer and adding the actual Battle of Manhattan, but I dunno if I’m gonna do that. I just wanted these to be One Shots of first meetings and other smaller events. I didn’t want to do scene-for-scene two parters. If you want me to, I can, I don’t mind doing it, I just wasn’t planning on it. I’ve kinda been slacking today, which is why I haven’t cranked out more than this one, but I’ll see if I can finish one more for tonight. Tomorrow’s another late night for me at work, BUT! Tomorrow night FATWS comes out! So I will be doing the next Episode! I also don’t have Friday off this week, so the Parts might bleed into Saturday, but they will come this weekend!

Reminder that this has nothing to do with FATWS the show, but I don’t have a title for my FATWS Series, which is what these are based off of, so this is what they’re called for now! If you have any ideas for names, feel free to send them in! I’m just too lazy to come up with something clever for the whole Series.

Thank you so much for reading! As always, not beta’d so please excuse any mistakes! Be kind to yourselves and others! Stay tuned and enjoy!

FATWS Masterlist

cjsinkythoughts Masterlist

You were exhausted, coming back from an assignment that lasted a little over two months. It’d been your first one since you were assigned to help Steve adjust, and you were guessing they’d keep you on desk duty for a few months before sending you back out again. Which frustrated you to no end.

But then you got back your personal cell phone from a fellow agent and, seeing you had a few  voicemails - which you never had - you flipped it on.

“Hi, Y/N.” Your lips turned up at the man you started growing close to over the past year. “I-I know you’re on a mission right now. I mean, you just left last week. Anyways, I just…I hope you’re doin’ okay. You probably won’t get this until later, but…still. I hope you’re safe. I, uh, I got that book. The one you were joking about me getting. The U.S. History for Dummies one. It goes farther back than I need to know, but I still read all of it. It helped. I wish you were here though. But I know you’re working. And that’s important. Um… I guess I’ll see you in a few months.”

The phone beeped before the next message played. “I took your advice. I got a sketchbook and some other stuff. There’s a ton of new supplies. I’m kinda excited to try them out. Maybe they’re not new but they’re more accessible now than they used to be. And I found a gym. In Brooklyn. It’s kinda run down - a hole in the wall type place - but they don’t do memberships and they don’t care how long you stay as long as you pay for your time. So that’s nice. I guess. Anyways…hi. I don’t think I said that earlier. It’s Steve, by the way. But you probably guessed that. Um…that’s all. I just wanted to let you know. Stay safe, honey. Abbyssinia.”

You listened to the next couple ones, all along the same lines. Steve telling you about his day; about the dog he was allowed to pet on his run or the different coffee he tried this morning at your previous suggestion. You snickered a little, shaking your head. You would never guessed that Hitler hitting, Nazi punching Captain America was so…soft. Cute.

His last voicemail was from earlier that morning, and it made her brow furrow. “Hey, honey. I, uh…God, I really wish you were here. I was told you’d be getting back last week, but then they said it might be another couple weeks because something happened? I hope nothing happened. Please be okay. I’ve really missed you. I know it’s only been a year, but…you’re the only familiar thing I have right now. I guess Fury was right to choose you since you were the first person I saw. There’s a, uh, problem. Fury’s got a mission for me. Some guy named Loki stole the Tesseract. Which was HYDRA’s secret weapon. That blue cube thing. I was just getting used to laptops and fast food and this…it’s just a lot. Overwhelming. You were always good at making things less intimidating. I’ve gotta go. Some SHIELD personnel are picking me up now. We’re going to…somewhere. I’m sure you would know, but they haven’t exactly told me. Hoping to see you soon, Y/N. Please be safe.”

You frowned at the information, looking up at one of your fellow agents, Anderson. “Hey.” He turned his head towards you from his conversation with the copilot. “Is something going on at HQ?”

“The Helicarrier.” Anderson corrected. “Fury just called it in. Something with the Tesseract. And some guy’s mind controlling people. He’s got Barton, apparently. The director is bringing a few people on board; Banner, Stark, Romanoff. Rogers, too, I heard. He wants you to be there ASAP, so we’re going there now.”

Letting out a sigh, you rubbed your eyes and nodded. “Alright. Let’s go see what’s going on.”

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

Fury met you as you walked off the jet, lugging your duffle bag over your shoulder. You were still in your clothes from the mission; a human trafficking ring in Guam. Dirty, torn up jeans along with a white tank top hugging your torso and a flannel, unbuttoned, over your shoulders. One of your sneakers had a hole in it, too, and you were walking with a slight limp from the dislocated kneecap you got a few days prior.

“Agent.” He nodded in greeting, passing you a file. “The others are waiting. We just brought in Loki.”

You chewed your cheek, narrowing your eyes as you scanned the information in the file. It had personal files of the others, but you didn’t need to look through those. You knew Natasha very well, considering she taught you half the things you know, along with Barton. You knew Stark - of course you did - especially after you helped set Natasha up to be his secretary a while back. Banner you were also knowledgeable about, seeing as you went undercover to find him when he first took off and had been part of the tracking team on him ever since. Thor you had learned about after his fiasco in New Mexico from Coulson. And, last but certainly not least, Steve Rogers, who you knew better than any file could explain.

“Walk me through this; Thor and Loki are the real Thor and Loki? Like, from Norse myths?”

“Apparently so. You know about the New Mexico incident with the two last year, don’t you?”

You nodded, pinching your lips together tightly. “Well, yeah, but I thought…I dunno. I guess it just didn’t click. So,” you tucked the file under your arm securely, raising an eyebrow at Fury. “We’re fighting a god? An actual god?”

“With an army of aliens.” He confirmed.

“Wonderful.” You huffed as the two of you turned a corner, making your way onto the bridge, just in time to hear Stark talking to Banner about him turning into the Hulk.

“Dr. Banner is only here to track the cube.” Fury butted in. You crossed your arms behind Fury, leaning on your good leg. “I was hoping you might join him. Before you do, this is-” 

“Y/N! You’re back!”

You shot a grin to the blonde, who perked up upon seeing you. “Hi, Steve. Just in time, too, huh.” You nudged Natasha slightly. “Hey, Nat. Sorry about Clint.”

She shrugged. “I’m just glad you’re here to help.”

“I’m sorry.” You looked over to find Banner frowning contemplatively at you. “Do I know you?”

You opened your mouth to answer, but Fury beat you to it. “Formalities later. Y/L/N, we’ll bring you up to speed-”

“I’ll get there, sir. How are you boys planning on tracking down the Tesseract?” You questioned, nodding in the two geniuses’ direction.

“I’d start with that stick of his.” Steve suggested, turning to look at the duo as well. “It may be magical but it works an awful lot like a HYDRA weapon.”

“I don’t know about that, but it is powered by the Cube.” Fury stated. “And I’d like to know how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys.”

A tall, broad as hell blonde looked at Fury, confused. “Monkeys? I do not understand-”

“I do!” Steve jumped in, pointing at Thor, before leaning back in his seat at the silence that came after his exclamation. “I-I understood that reference.”

You chuckled and shook your head, winking at Steve when he smiled bashfully at you. As the two scientists - was Stark a scientist? - started heading out, Steve hopped up, padding over to you.

“You’re back early.”

“Late, technically.” You shrugged, letting him pull you in for a hug, your hand rubbing his back. “I got your calls.”

He pulled away, his ears turning red. “Oh, yeah. I, uhm-”

You sniggered. “It’s fine, Steve. You can call me whenever you need to. I’m just sorry I couldn’t answer you sooner.”

“You were working.” He shrugged half heartedly. “Did it go okay? Are you okay?”

“Yes, Steven. I’m fine.” You rolled your eyes just as a yawn threatened to escape your lips. “If not a little tired.” You tapped on the star against his chest. “Nice suit, by the way.”

“Ha ha.” He grinned, eyeing your own clothing. “You’re matching me.” He tugged on the red, white, and blue flannel hanging from your arms. “You also look like shit.”

You snorted. “Wow. What a gentleman. Let’s get this whole Loki situation over with so I can go to bed, yeah?”

He chuckled a little with a nod. “Sounds like a plan, honey.” The two of you started out of the bridge. “You should shower first, though.”

“You’re a bully, you know that?”

“I’m just sayin’!”

“I’m just sayin’!” You mocked with a huff. “Leave me be, Rogers.”

His laughter was cut short, making you look over at him curiously, only to find his slitted eyes studying your movements. “Why are you limping?”

“Relax, Captain. I just dislocated my knee. It’s fine. Shit happens on missions, you know that.”

“Is that why you came back late?”

Shaking your head, you lead him to one of the private rooms the Helicarrier had so you could shower and change. “No. I just needed a little more time. That’s all. Now let’s focus on the problem at hand. We can talk more later.”

He hesitated, leaning against the doorway and watching you set your bag on the small cot.  “Okay. As long as you’re alright.”

Your heart jumped a bit at the concern laced in his tone, the apprehension in those blue eyes - which you found out had some green in them - making your breath hitch slightly. “I am.” You spoke softly with a firm nod of your head, trying to assure him and his worries. “I promise.”

“I’m gonna go check on Banner and Stark, then. Come find me when you’re done.”

You cleared your throat to recover yourself, throwing him a cheeky grin. “Aye, aye, Captain.”

He rolled his eyes with a smile, before turning and walking out, leaving you alone and confused.

What was that? You’d never had that reaction to anything. Your heart doesn’t race whenever someone walks in the room. Not like it did with him. What the hell did that even mean?

You shook your head, clearing your throats. You didn’t have time to dwell on that now. You doubted it was anything more than a fluke. You were just tired and seeing someone familiar, who was genuinely excited to see you was like a breath of fresh air after your operation. That’s all. Yeah.

With that decided, you headed to the shower, head spinning with new thoughts of this problem with the God of Mischief and that stupid blue cube.

All Works Taglist (Open):

@happygoreading​ @bibliophilewednesday​

[retrogradedreaming]

UHHHH maybe,, you could write a little thing for reki making the sk8 fam tea? and kaoru thinking hes gonna have to pretend he likes it but then "oh wait reki can actually make tea what-"

just bc this has been living in my head for awhile sdkljfs

(capt-snoozles)

It turns out I am completely incapable of writing ANYTHING short, so have a full one shot type thing, I guess. I hope it's okay that I kinda borrowed headcanons from you and @that-was-anticlimactic for Reki with TS at a couple of small moments in the fic?

----

It used to be Kaoru alone who visited Kojiro’s restaurant when it was closed on Mondays. But since the start of winter break, Sia la Luce had become much livelier now that Reki, Langa, and Miya weren’t in school all day, and Shadow came when his days off lined up right. If Kaoru were being honest, it took some time to get used to the space no longer being only his and Kojiro’s, but he’d grown to like how their group came together like this.

The afternoons were the quietest part of these days. Kojiro took these opportunities to try out new recipes on them, leaving everyone contentedly full and pleasantly sleepy. Today, Langa had actually fallen asleep in the booth, and Reki sat beside Kaoru at the counter, playing with a tiny skateboard and making soft sounds like a small motor. Shadow and Miya sat at a table across the room, arguing over whether clown or cat makeup looked cooler while Kojiro finished cleaning. Kaoru let himself sink into the lull, Reki’s noises and that of the skateboard wheels on the counter an almost comforting presence beside him. And yet, one thing was missing, keeping him from truly relaxing.

“Seems like a good afternoon for tea,” Kojiro said, as if reading his mind as he appeared out of the kitchen, wiping his hands on a towel. “You want me to make some?”

“Absolutely not,” Kaoru scoffed. “People who microwave their tea should be arrested.”

“There’s no way you can tell the difference,” Kojiro said, defensive. “Hot water is hot water.”

“Only an uncultured pig would believe that,” Kaoru snapped. He was about to stand, to tell Kojiro he’d make the tea himself like he always inevitably had to, when Reki all but leaped from his seat, skateboard abandoned for the moment.

“I’ll make it!” he offered, and the way his face lit up meant that Kaoru took too long to say not to bother. By the time he’d found his words, Reki had already bounded around the counter and into the kitchen, and Kojiro didn’t even try to stop him. Before Kaoru could tell Kojiro to stop him, Reki called out to Kojiro, asking about the industrial stove, and soon, Kojiro was not only allowing Reki to make the tea, but encouraging him.

Kaoru supposed this was a step up from Kojiro’s microwave technique, but if Kaoru were likely to trust anyone other than himself to make a decent cup of tea, it wouldn’t be Reki. The idea that he’d wanted his tea made well and was unlikely to receive it as such set him on edge. As he listened to the water boil and the conversation continued around him, he found himself wrapping a strand of his hair around his finger and tugging, letting it go, and repeating the process until his scalp hurt. He didn’t even notice that Langa had woken up until he appeared beside Kaoru and spoke.

“What’s Reki doing?” he asked.

“Making tea,” Kaoru said, doing his best not to appear so anxious about something so small.

Langa peered over the edge of the counter to where Kojiro and Reki were talking in the kitchen, and then turned back to Kaoru. “I like how he makes it. I never liked it before I met him.”

Kaoru hummed a halfhearted response. He doubted that Langa’s standards were very high, given that he’d grown up in Canada. He’d likely had tea often enough, given that his mother was Japanese, but Kaoru knew from experience that plenty of people even here in Okinawa had no idea how to brew a proper cup. It was about timing, knowing how hot to make the water, how long to steep the leaves, and so many people rushed the process—or worse, forgot about it and steeped too long—that Kaoru preferred to make his own.

He couldn’t help but envision Reki handing him a bitter cup, or one that tasted like little more than hot leaf juice. He grimaced at the idea of having to drink it and pretend he liked it, suffering all the while. He would have to wait until he was home later to make something better for himself.

He was still trying to think of a polite way to decline the tea he’d obviously wanted when Reki came out bearing a tray of steaming cups and began making the rounds through the restaurant. Reki handed the first one to Langa, who accepted it, smiling softly up at Reki. Langa sipped the tea immediately, only to flinch and draw it away after the first sip.

Not promising, Kaoru thought. If he’d boiled the water, it was ruined, even if it was something as simple as green tea. And yet, Langa only took another sip while Reki looked on approvingly.

“It’s good,” Langa finally proclaimed, and Reki glowed as if he’d received praise from the emperor himself. Reki moved on, handing Kaoru his cup.

“Thank you,” Kaoru said, accepting it with both hands. Fortunately, Reki moved on to Shadow and Miya without waiting for Kaoru to try it, which meant that he didn’t know Kaoru only held onto it without making a move to taste it. If nothing else, he could enjoy the warmth that crawled from his fingertips all the way to his elbows.

Neither Miya nor Shadow hesitated in drinking theirs, though Kaoru couldn’t imagine they cared much how it tasted, as long as it was hot. And yet, as he watched, the two of them looked just as pleased as Langa when they tried it.

“Oh wow, the slime makes good tea,” Miya pronounced, hugging the cup close to him like a space heater.

“Damn, this is pretty good,” Shadow said, drinking deeply and draining half the cup. “How’d you even learn to make it like this?”

Reki shrugged, taking up his own cup, the last on the tray. He set the tray down on the counter and took the empty seat beside Langa. “I dunno, I guess I just picked it up over the years. It’s kinda like making skateboards, y’know? You have to figure out how all the parts fit together, and if you do it wrong, the tea doesn’t taste right.”

Kaoru looked up at him from the murky depths of his tea, brows raised. When it came to making tea, the analogy was rather profound, and Kaoru couldn’t argue it. Reki was right—tea was about the sum of its parts, the pieces fitting together perfectly. And as with building skateboards, the person making it had to know exactly how to combine each piece to create the whole.

“That doesn’t make any sense, but whatever,” Shadow said, taking another sip. “All I care about is that it doesn’t suck.”

“How come you’ve never made us tea before?” Miya asked, eyes trained on the Switch he’d pulled from his pocket now that he’d abandoned his conversation with Shadow.

“I don’t really have the patience for it,” Reki said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. “It’s kinda like, if I don’t wanna put in the time to do it right, why bother?”

While everyone was wrapped up in conversation, Kaoru finally chanced a discreet sip. If it was as bad as he’d expected, he could school his expression appropriately while they were all distracted. Perhaps he could even get away without having to lie about how good it was. And yet, when the tea touched his tongue, he paused.

It wasn’t too hot.

It wasn’t too weak or too strong.

It wasn’t too bitter and the leaves didn’t taste as though they’d been burnt.

It was, as far as Kaoru was concerned, some of the best tea he’d had outside his own home. For a moment, he couldn’t find the words to say so. He sipped it again, just to make sure he hadn’t deluded himself based on everyone else’s praise. Sure enough, it was almost more delicious the second time.

“You surprised?” Kojiro murmured at his ear, his own cup dangling from his fingertips. Kaoru jumped, nearly spilling his tea. When he turned to face him, Kojiro’s lips quirked in a smug grin, and he raised one brow meaningfully. Kaoru shot him a hard glower in return, a silent command to keep his mouth shut before Kaoru turned back to Reki.

“It’s delicious,” Kaoru said, and it wasn’t forced in the least. “I’m impressed.”

Reki, who had already immersed himself in talking to Langa, gaped at Kaoru, one of his hoodie strings falling from between his teeth. Then, he flashed a wide grin. “Glad you like it!”

“Have you ever practiced tea ceremony?” Kaoru asked, reluctantly setting his tea down on the counter.

“Nah, my parents let me try it once when I was younger, but I kept messing up the steps,” Reki said. “It’s not really fun when people get mad at you for doing it wrong.”

“I studied it for some time,” Kaoru said, remembering how the order felt comforting, how the amount of concentration it required gave his anxious mind something to focus on, how the simple yet refined aesthetic felt like clearing his head. In recent years, he didn’t have time for it with his calligraphy business, but a part of him missed it. “It’s quite a bit different from drinking tea like this, but if you wanted to, perhaps we could do a...modified version of it. Something less formal with everyone here.”

Reki’s eyes brightened, and he looked to Langa, who only seemed to share his enthusiasm. “It sounds fun, yeah! A lot better than getting yelled at by a bunch of old people because ‘tradition.’”

“I’d say so,” Kaoru said, and they devolved into talking about their favorite teas and the best ways to brew them. Kaoru couldn’t remember the last time he’d talked to someone who actually understood that tea was an art even more than it was a drink. But Reki did, and when the rest of the group finally left, leaving Kaoru and Kojiro alone in the restaurant to clean up, Kojiro nudged him with an elbow.

“You didn’t think Reki could make tea like that, did you?” he said, the words teasing but too close to Kaoru’s own thoughts for comfort.

“Shut up or I’ll leave you here to wash dishes alone,” Kaoru quipped, even as he accepted the next cup to dry. “I will admit, I was pleasantly surprised.”

“I knew you would be,” Kojiro said as he dried his hands and stretched.

“Anything is better than microwaved tea,” Kaoru said. And although it was true, he couldn’t help but look forward to the next Monday, and the last before the kids started school again.

[shyficwriter]

I've Got You

Guardians of the Galaxy Fanfic | Reader x Guardians (Yondu is alive)

Summary: After you never let anyone else listen to your music Rocket and the guys decide they want to see what potentially embarrassing songs you have on your music player, but find something else entirely.

Author's Note: ANGST! This story does NOT have a happy ending, or an ending at all really. It may be funny at the start but it's all angst at the end and it'll make you cry. Proceed with caution. This isn't even a joke- it gets heavy. I was going through some stuff... If you think this might trigger anything for you at all, skip this one.

Content Warning: Mentions of suicide/depression.

Word Count: 2,508

You didn't mind sharing with the rest of the gang. You really didn't. You'd share your clothes with Mantis, your food with Groot, and your books with Drax. There was very little you didn't share, except for one thing, and that was your music player.

Anytime someone would occasionally ask to borrow it you would always make up an excuse, usually: "Nah, you wouldn't like my music." and that was usually that for a little while. But, of course, eventually someone would ask again and you'd have to make the same excuses over again. Once you even told Peter it was all accordion music so he'd stop asking to compare playlists. That worked for a bit, until a week later you forgot you had told him that and said how much you hated accordion music when the topic of Polka was brought up. Oops. Well, there went that excuse.

One day was different, however.

You were walking in Peter's ship, minding your own business with your headphones in when Rocket motioned to you. He was sitting at a table with Groot. You paused your player and removed one of your earbuds. "What's up?"

"Groot was trying to ask if he could listen with you. but of course you had your volume up like always."

"You're going to damage your hearing if you keep that up," said Gamora, sitting on the other side of the room with Drax.

You ignored her, turning your attention back to Rocket. "Oh. I don't think that's a good idea.." you said with a wince, feeling bad for having to tell the little guy 'no.' Other than Mantis, he was the one you always felt the most guilty saying 'no' to. Those puppy-dog eyes were killer.

Rocket eyed you suspiciously. "Why? Quill lets him do it all the time?"

He was right. Peter did let little Groot listen to music with him quite often. But you weren't Peter.

Peter startled you when he came up from behind you with Yondu, saying, "Yeah, you're weirdly possessive of that thing. It won't hurt to let him have a listen."

'It might.' you thought. "He might be better off listening to your music, we already know he likes that."

"What's wrong with yers?" Yondu asked, who agreed with Peter about the weirdly possessive thing. You barely ever let that thing out of your sight.

You tried to think of something, "It's uh, not really appropriate..."

Yondu chuckled, "Are ya trying to say ya have dirty songs on that player of yers?"

You blushed. That's not exactly where you were going with that, but if it works... "I'd just say my music isn't exactly, uh.. kid friendly."

Your blush only made it more convincing that this whole time you had been hiding embarrassing music on your device. Rocket raised an eyebrow in amusement and Peter laughed too. "There's no way I'm gonna believe you have dirty songs on there. Let me see." he said, moving to reach for your music player.

You quickly put it in your pocket. "Nope! Bye." you said, turning on your heels and making your way to leave the ship, glad you were docked on a planet as it gave you an escape. "Gonna go head out for a walk, be back soon!"

Peter looked slightly disappointed, but let you go.

Once you were gone Rocket spoke up. "You know, I think I know a way how we can sneak a listen to what she's got that's so secret on there," he said, smirking. "Ya know, if you want..."

Yondu and Peter shared a glance before looking over at Gamora, sure she'd reject the idea in favor of your privacy. Surprisingly, she nodded in agreement.

"I have to admit, now I'm curious too." Gamora said with an almost embarrassed shrug.

And with that it was settled. Rocket told them his plan.

***

The next day when you went to retrieve your music player from your nightstand drawer, it was there as expected. However, when you went to power it on nothing happened.

You groaned, walking out into the common area to look for Peter. Once you found him you asked if he had any spare batteries, only to be disappointed when he didn't.

"Although," Peter said, "If you're gonna walk down to the store to get some I'll transfer you some units to bring back a case of soda."

You agreed to bring him back some soda, but told him not to worry about the units as you headed out the door, having been convinced to take little Groot with you last minute. You never could resist those little eyes of his.

The team waited a few moments to make sure you weren't coming back for anything before telling Rocket to make his hasty trip to go get your music player from your room.

Your batteries hadn't died, Rocket had just quietly replaced them with dead ones while you were sleeping. He switched them back once he got back to where the rest of the team had gathered around the table.

Rocket grinned, thinking he was about to hit the jackpot on embarrassing secrets from you. "What do ya think it is?" he asked, handing the player to Peter. "I bet it's boy-bands."

Peter powered on the player and snickered. "What if it's that Justin Bieber guy that was always on the radio when we went to Terra?"

"Oh, he was awful. I would also be embarrassed to be caught willfully listening to his music." Drax said.

"I dunno, I still kinda think she's got dirty songs on there," Yondu laughed. "Ya saw how she blushed."

Peter rolled his eyes and began scrolling through your playlists. He raised an eyebrow. "I hardly recognize any of these songs." he said. "The only ones I recognize are ones I've already got on mine."

"Let me see," offered Kraglin. "I know more Xandarian songs, maybe they're some of those?" He scrolled for a bit before as Peter got up to grab something from a trunk behind him.

Peter sat back down and Kraglin handed the player back, shaking his head. "I don't recognize them either. Maybe they're Terran?"

"We'll see." Peter said, plopping the device he got from the trunk on the table and plugging it into the player. It was a speaker. "Here, now we can all hear it. Which one should I try first?"

"What's in her 'Recent's' list?" Gamora asked.

"First one says "Stay Alive," Peter says, "Oh! I actually think I know that one. My grandad used to listen to it, it's so old!" he laughed. "I didn't expect her to be into disco music though..." Peter hit play and as the lyrics came out he realized he was mistaken. "Oh... that's... That's not the song I thought it was at all..." he said in surprised concern.

♫♩"... Stay alive, stay alive For better days to come around.

When nothing is right in your head And all of your tears are shed I know how it seems, you're in this too deep But take it from me, it's not the end..." ♫♩

"Um..." Peter swiped to play a new, hopefully less depressing, song.

♫♩"Do you ever feel like breaking down? Do you ever feel out of place?" ♫♩

Nope. Peter swiped again.

♫♩"All day starin' at the ceilin' makin' Friends with shadows on my wall All night hearing voices tellin' me That I should get some sleep Because tomorrow might be good for somethin' Hold on, feelin' like I'm headed for a breakdown And I don't know why" ♫♩

Peter furrowed his brow. The others shared concerned glances, but didn't say anything. He swiped again.

♫♩"It's caving in around me What I thought was solid ground I tried to look the other way But I couldn't turn around" ♫♩

*Swipe*

♫♩"Hello darkness my old friend..." ♫♩

Peter could already tell it was another depressing song, he backed out of the screen into the list of recently played songs seeing titles like: "Nightmare," and "I'm not okay (I promise)," and unfortunately more bluntly: "Don't try Suicide." They listened to a few more songs, and they were all depressing. You did have happier songs on your music player, but your "Recents" list was full of much more depressing songs, as if that's all you had listened to for a long time.

Nobody was smiling anymore, Rocket looked like he was sorry he came up with this idea. Even Drax clearly understood that they hadn't discovered anything good.

Yondu's expression was hard, "Well, I don't like this at all."

"I think we made a mistake." Mantis said, concern painting her features.

"But... she always seems so... ok?" Rocket said, his ears lowered. You were his friend. His prank buddy. He had no idea. "Do you really think...she, you know...?"

"I don't know? I mean, do you think she'd really not say anything if she was hurting this much? Wouldn't Mantis at least have picked up on it?" Peter asked. He looked over at Mantis expectantly.

"I can only feel other's emotions if I touch them," she started, "and... she's never actually let me touch her."

"What should we do?" asked Gamora.

***

You walked in a few minutes later to just catch the last bit of Peter saying something about having a talk with you.

"Have a talk with me about what?" you asked.

It was clear you had startled them, Gamora having spun to face you upon hearing you speak up, and she almost never got startled.

You chuckled, walking nearer the table to place your grocery sack on it. Groot hopped off your shoulder to run across the table to Rocket. "Oh gosh, I didn't mean to scare you guys! I got the soda you asked for- ...what's that?" Your demeanor changed from almost cheery to nervous, the blood draining from your face when you saw what was very clearly your music player plugged into a speaker. Your eyes shot to Peter, the one closest to your device. "Peter? What the fuck?"

"It was Rocket's idea!" Peter exclaimed, his guilt having managed to trip his self-preservation switch.

Rocket didn't even try to deny it. He looked at the ground, "I thought it'd be funny..." he muttered. Groot looked at him in confusion. His friend usually never looked sorry for anything.

You snatch your player from the table. It was currently off, leading you to believe there might have been a chance they didn't listen yet. "Boundaries!" you scold, putting the player in your pocket. "Seriously uncool!"

You went to turn around but you bumped into Yondu who had walked around the table while you were scolding Peter.

"Sit." he said, his face stony.

You look up at him in surprise before Gamora spoke up. "We... listened to the songs you had on your player... We just want to talk."

You just stare at her for a moment. "Seriously guys, what the fuck?!" you say, your tone exasperated and your eyebrows knitted together. "You know what? No. I don't want to talk. I'm going back out."

Yondu grabbed your arm as you tried to push past him. "No. Yer gonna sit." with that he walked you to the nearest open chair and made you sit. His tone wasn't angry, but it was firm.

You felt knots tying in your stomach. Gamora spoke again.

"Look, we're sorry we took your music player without asking, but now that we have, we're concerned."

You pinch the bridge of your nose. No. No no no. "I literally told you guys so many times-"

"I know," Peter said, "but please... Just- we need to know if you're ok."

"Of course I'm ok!" you lied. "Why would I not be ok?!"

"Cut the crap." Kraglin said. His tone didn't seem angry either, it almost seemed sad. "I seriously doubt you'd be listening to all that depressing stuff if you were actually ok."

You attempt to stand again, saying, "Look just screw off-" before you were silenced by Yondu firmly pushing down on your shoulder to stop you.

"Look, we care about ya, ya lil' shit, and we ain't about to just let ya keep suffering if yer hurtin."

That tore something in you.

"Please- guys." You clenched your jaw and looked at the floor. No. Fuck. Not right now. "Just-" You inhaled sharply. Dammit. You were not about to start crying right now. You screwed your eyes shut, before covering your face when you realized that wasn't going to stop the tears and not wanting them to see. "Fuck!"

It all flooded you. All the hurt. All the pain. The hopelessness. The humiliation of the current situation. The guilt of your friends worrying about you. The numbness shattering as white hot pain tore through your soul. You felt what you thought was Gamora putting a comforting hand on your shoulder and you tried to hold back a sob as every bad thought you had about yourself came flooding in. You started to shake, feeling shame as memories of thoughts about ending it all leaked out your eyes. How many nights you had stood in front of the airlock weighing whether that night would finally be the night you pushed that button.

From behind you you heard a strangled cry. A cry of pure anguish. It was only then you realized the hand on your shoulder couldn't have been Gamora's. It had come from behind you. She had been standing in front of you. You quickly jerk forward and turn around in your seat, wrenching yourself from Mantis's hand- but it was too late.

Mantis nearly doubled over, hands clawed into her chest as a sob lodged itself in her lungs. She had only wanted to make you feel better. She wasn't expecting the torrent to flood into her so forcefully, hadn't realized this wasn't something she could just make go away with her abilities. She had felt everything.

The others looked at her with wide, startled eyes. Drax pulled her in and held her, not really knowing what to do but trying to make the hurt go away. Poor little Groot didn't understand what was happening, and Rocket held him so he couldn't see. Peter and Gamora shared an alarmed glance.

You were speechless. You could only stare in horror witnessing what you- or rather your pain- had done to her. "Mantis-" was all you could manage, not knowing what else to say. You barely noticed your tears now started flowing freely down your cheeks. You stood up to run away, but just like every other time you had tried, Yondu stopped you. Only this time he pulled you tightly to his chest, his hand cradling the back of your head as if you were a newborn.

"Girl, why didn't you tell us?" you heard him say softly.

You allowed yourself to be held, not realizing until that very moment just how badly you had needed to be. Fresh sobs broke from you and you buried your face into his chest when he said, "Shh now, little girl, I've got you."

[mrskurono]

title: Something Soft || Uraume x curseFem!reader a/n: bruh I dunno I just wanna steal Sukuna’s things and spit in his face and Uraume is the top of things I wanna steal word count: 1.9k tags: past au(?), Sukuna mentioned, corruption kink, handjob, vaginal penetration, premature orgasm, creampie, praise kink, dirty talk, some body dysmorphia mentioned on Uraume’s part,  reader is kinda snarky, Uraume with they/them pronouns but they have a penis, size kink ish, ironically kinda soft character(s): Uraume (jjk)

nsfw undercut ⇾ ⇾ ⇾

Uraume always smelled of spices and wore the softest robes.

You might say reeked if you found the smell distasteful. Instead you found it endearingly human of them. Each night the grand little curse user would slip away to meet you. Bringing with them the scent of labor for another curse. Introducing your senses to a new creation left clinging to their robes from the day. 

Food was such a human construct. It amused you to no end really. The act of preparing it didn’t interest you in the slightest. But watching the white haired curse user recite to you what they made that day. It brought a softness to your day that could only be so human in nature.

“King of curses can’t stomach under done flesh?” Words like satin from your lips, your hands draw along Uraume’s shoulders as the curse user stayed still amidst your casual circling, “Seems awfully weak of him.”

Teasing for the day reaching it’s peak with Uraume finally broke their silence, “Lord Sukuna is not weak he-”

“Calm down,” You interrupt them quickly, lip pressed to their cheek as you drape your arms over their narrow shoulders and grin against their pale skin, “Leave work at work, come play with me tonight already.”

Uraume remained ridged. As stiff as they were every night for the past few weeks. Their time their own when Sukuna didn’t need them. Why then they found themselves tied up with another curse left the human fuming with themselves. Uraume internalized their own demand to know why they did this to themselves. But it was when your hand slipped down past their robes. Finding the soft warmth of their semi hard cock hidden away in the fabric. Suddenly the each night they snuck out to meet you was worth it.

“...look at you, already so hard,” Lips dancing along their neck with faint kisses here and there. You barely needed your entire hand to engulf the curse user’s cock. Stroking them slowly when Uraume’s bottom lip turned white from a taut bite and they leaned back into you. No noise between the two of you so you fixed that with a little playful praise, “You taste as good as you smell you know....and yet its such a waste.”

Feeling their cock twitch in your grip. Smirk curling on your lips. Uraume’s cock hard within no time from your touch and words.

“Such a good little curse user....wasted away to a meager cook,” By now you’d pulled Uraume’s robes away. Revealing the neglected cock between their legs. Glistening with precum you had to stop stroking them so they wouldn’t cum yet. Switching to just your fingertips dancing around their tip as you hummed in their ear, “Dress you up like a maid....demand you cook meals....when really you should be with a real curse.”

There it was, the first moan. 

Uraume’s breathing quickened. Just the slight edging of your fingertips massaging their cock head was too much for the inexperienced human. Inhaling their scent you let your hand disappear from their cock entirely. Something of a protested whine leaving their throat. Mostly though Uraume tried to steal their composure before another curse. 

You weren’t Sukuna but they understood they didn’t have a chance in defying you. Perhaps that’s what was found so alluring. Or it was the simple fact your touches left their body caving in on itself with need. Uraume already looking down to find their legs trembling and you hadn’t even disrobed yet.

“You’re needy tonight,” You off handedly comment as you push your own robes off your shoulders. Grinning to see the curse user glued to you like a starving dog. Once more you let the clothing dip down past your breasts. Never undressing all the way. But Uraume never seemed to notice with the soft look in their eyes. You come up to them and trace your fingers down their jawline, “Look how pretty you are, pretty just for me. When will you just stay with me instead hmm?”

There was no answer. There never was. You liked that in fact. Part of you wanted the trophy but another part of you liked the hunt. Uraume didn’t answer like they did every night. Leaving you to pull their face to your breast as your hand moved back down to their cock.

“M-Mphm-” The second moan be it muffled. Louder than the last but that’s because Uraume knew your skin would dampen it. Little thought to it the curse user wrapped their arms around your torso. Lips finding your nipple to suckle at as your hand moved up and down you visitor’s length, “P-Please-”

An eyebrow arched up on your end as you lazily stroked them, “Please what?”

Uraume pried themselves on few words. Just like Sukuna liked. But around you it was like a totally different set of rules. Rules they didn’t even have to think about because they didn’t feel like rules in the first place, “....please....let me make you feel good ma’am, please.”

Rolling your eyes with an bemused smirk there wasn’t anything you loved more than this toy. Never tiring of them in the slightest even after all this time.

“Of course.” You indulged them. At your leisure as you pulled away from Uraume. Feeling their eyes on you without reservation tonight. Particularly needy in fact. You were smug about it when your back was turned for a second.

Only for only a second though. In the dim lit home you lay back on your very self indulgent mattress. Like most things in the little cabin you didn’t need them. Curses needed very little. But you liked having things. Having nice things on top of that. So when Sukuna’s personal aide kept coming back to you. Well, Uraume was going to be added to your nice things as well.

A finger to beckon them over. Only having to clear your throat once to get Uraume’s attention away from just staring at your exposed core as you lounged with your legs spread, “Come here then.”

Obedient, that you might have to thank Sukuna for, Uraume got on the bed and between your legs in a flustered hurriedness. Like you would revoke your invitation at a moments notice. Sure it was fun but watching the curse user exhaust themselves was also enjoyable.

Pulling them close, you lock your legs behind Uraume and smile. Not letting them do anything as you rub their cock up and down your soaked slit. A happy thrum in your chest as the pleasant sensation of their cock swiped over your clit. Something about having stolen this human’s first time nightly fueled you. 

Untouched like pure soft satin. You had left something akin to a big ink mark in the middle of it all pureness. For no one to know about the corruption save for you. Uraume was yours even if they were to leave. Nothing could take that stain away for as long as they lived.

“Mmm perfect, right there,” You pull your hand away as the tip of their cock pushes into your soaked core. Legs still doing the most to guide Uraume in with more confidence than they had. It took a little more but when your hands come up and touch down their neck and shoulders, its like they understand to start moving.

Much smaller than you in stature, Uraume did their best every visit. Cock buried in you until your juices soaked their navel and dripped down both your thighs. You’d certainly had bigger and probably better. But the way Uraume fucked themselves senseless on you made you tingle with excitement you hadn’t felt in centuries.

“That’s it~ Oh you’re doing exceptionally good tonight~ Humans learn so quickly and you learn better than any of them do Uraume~” Words soft as your skin under touch. 

Uraume admitted they were exerting a little more roughness than previously. Waiting for you to tell them no. So when the words of praise came instead the white haired curse user’s mind and body had no idea what to do.

Each snap of their hips into yours. Cock being enveloped in the warmest softness Uraume could conceivably think of. It was too much when your playful words turned to sweet praise. Fisting the cotton blanket under the two of you Uraume bowed their head. Dreading the overwhelming feeling already cascading down their spine. Inevitably stopping wasn’t going to help anything. 

“M-Ma’am-!” Uraume’s choking cry more like a moan staved off half way through. They couldn’t control the shudder to their body. Or anything else. Grinding their hips into yours Uraume hide their face as all the human could do was rut into you as deep as they could. A gush of cum with each twitch of their cock. Not even five minutes in and already Uraume had lost.

Ready to pull out ashamed. You surprise them by linking your legs back around. Refusing to let Uraume pull out. Catching the curse user by surprise as they look up at you with an equally shocked and horrified look. Certain punishment for the lack of control was next.

“Look at you,” What should have been a sting to the cheek. Instead was your soft palm pressed against their cheek. Uraume’s breathing hitched and they could feel a buckle to their elbows like they wouldn’t hold them up any longer. Your thumb swiped over their cheek and you smile, “You needed that huh?”

Ashamed Uraume refused eye contact with you. Which was fine with you. You weren’t letting them go just yet. Pulling them off their propped up arms. Bringing Uraume into your bare chest with a head to rest against your breast. The hum of your laugh could be felt against their cheek as Uraume froze. Not once had they laid against your skin like this. So much....so much of it was soft.

With their cock still buried in you, you press your lips to the top of their white hair and mumble something softly, “...how about you grind in me for a little bit huh? Seems like a good night for that.”

Utterly stunned to not be in trouble. There is no question that grinding into you was something they’d thought about since the very first night spent here. Eager to comply Uraume’s hips do the best job they can to shift their still hard cock inside you. Needing to grip your waist twice as hard and press their face into your chest. The sensation of pleasure on another level now that they already climaxed. Uraume couldn’t think of anything to do but let their hips move mindlessly into you as they panted against your chest.

Coy grin stuck on your lips. You relax into the bedding beneath you. Enjoying the curse user’s little attempt to please you. Even as you felt their cum drip out of you and their grinding turn into slow frantic thrusts once again. You weren’t going to stop them. Uraume welcomed to stay in this softness forever tonight. 

The idea of Sukuna’s things leaving him were enough to bring you euphoria more than a climax. Uraume was simply something else you were going to add to your collection after tonight. And all you had to do was show them something soft.

[sketch--booked]

I wanna complain about how the ninja treated Zane in the first few episodes real quick. Specifically in Home. Since I have some beef with the ninja.

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So remember that one time Zane froze the entire monastery without effort? Yeah, that was kinda cool,

Now I begin to get angry, You’ve been warned--

And the ninja, understandably, were upset and I can get that.

But then you see how they all kinda just--- treated him really badly all the time. I get it,, he’s got weird traits and does very “Zane” things (being unfazed to be in the bathroom with somebody, legitimately not understanding comedy and laughing at odd things, at least Nya and Jay weren’t watching a horror or slasher movie, and his famous sitting-in-the-fridge scene) but like--

They really gonna do this??

Laugh at the guy for what he wears and throw around the food he made for them? Even Wu, may I add.

Can I also call attention to Jay, who throws something at Zane.

AND LOOK AT HIM--

That is not a face of comfort? By any means?? Zane shows a very little range of emotion, in the early seasons especially. But when Jay throws his own food at him, he frowns. THAT’S EMOTION,, HE’S NOT HAPPY,,, THIS ISN’T A JOKE NOR IS IT FUNNY TO HIM.

And they just--Don’t even do a double-take.

I’m bewildered at just how horribly they treat him, in this scene specifically. Not one of them, NOT EVEN WU, takes a second to think about how Zane might feel in this moment??? IN FACT, If you listen carefully, you can hear Nya and Jay belittling him.

“He looks so cute in his apron!” and “Look at his face!”

THEY ACKNOWLEDGE THEY’RE BEING CRUEL LIKE WTF THIS MAKES ME SO MAD--I HOPE THEY WENT TO BED STARVING.

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So after this god awful display of friendship that makes me want to slap all the other ninja, we get the infamous Falcon scene.

Zane has his general neutral kinda-angy-lookin’ expression. So we can’t really tell what he’s feeling in this moment, but it’s his actions that follow that say everything.

He sees the falcon and is intrigued by it and actually smiles. Which is good! That’s emotion! Well done, Zane, you’re learning!

NOW IT’S THIS BIT---IS WHERE I GET REAL JUST---HHHHHMMM It’s in this moment, I wonder if Zane knows what a toxic friendship isghghgh I jest--

Zane is smiling when he sees the falcon fly off. He likes the bird but he lets it leave.

But then---

Zane takes one brief look back to the sound of his friends and without a second doubt he BOOKS IT--

So from initially seeing this, you get the instant feeling that he would prefer to follow a mysterious bird into possible danger, than go back to his friends who are still laughing in the distance. He obviously was going to return back to them, they tease his lack of returning later in the episode WHICH I HOPE TO GET TO. But that does say enough about his actual feelings towards the rest. 

Strange, possibly evil bird---or my friends who’re probably going to continue to laugh at me.

It’s a nobrainer that he’d follow the bird??

He’s not truly upset at them, I don’t even think that Zane has the capability to really be angry ngl,, but he still chose the bird over his “family” and that’s what makes me so angry at the ninja. 

And to those who say “He’s not upset at the ninja, he’s just curious and the fact that he essentially ran away from them, doesn’t mean he dislikes them” I say,,, That is fair. And I will, for the sake of not looking like a dick, argue for that.

It’s clear that Zane likes to know stuff. In the beginning, he’s been the smart one. Even in this episode Kai says “We like the guy, he’s really smart..” then complains about him being weird. And later down the line he’s shown an interest in learning, being the only one in season 11 to actually read about the desert of doom and the Mechanic himself saying he’s an inquisitive nindroid in season 12.

So it’s understandable if Zane was simply sating his curiosity. But how can you tell me that the previous event was not a deciding factor in choosing the bird instead..

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I would now like to jump forward to when the ninja are at Lloyd’s tree-house (Can I point out that the first place the falcon took zane, was a tree-house. And the last was a tree house?? Anybody? okay just me--). 

And when they ask him how he found it; he tells them it’s because it danced. Jay then jokingly asks if it was a coo-coo bird, promoting everyone to--

IF YOU GUESSED “laugh at him” YOU’D BE CORRECT, HOW DID YOU GUESS???

When he does his info dump thing they don’t even bother, they just shrug in unison--which ngl I do find funny ghghgh

.

Now that’s where you’d think the Zane bullying stops right?

NOPE,, TIME TO BURN DOWN THE MONASTERY (this is a cool shot btw)

This is a good shot too, because it sets up that Zane will be a focus, and you can already assume it’s because, in some essence, this is Zane’s fault.

But then they go all out on him. They straight up tell him this was his fault, that he shouldn’t have followed the bird, he shouldn’t have been curious or try to help, that everything they had here is gone, and yell at him to his face “A teaching moment? What’s wrong with you? Don’t you get it? Everything is gone!” and it’s because of him.

In this moment they are taking out every frustration they had with him. They’re taking out every moment he’s gone into his own world and making their lives harder and that their home is gone because of him.

This is one of the very first, and very few times all the ninja have pitted against just one of their team. And it hurts. Because Zane’s reaction to this, his response to being treated horribly, having his food thrown at him like he didn’t spend likely hours making and planing it, like he doesn’t do the chores they probably wont do (taking out the rubbish earlier in the episode), is to go back to them like he wasn’t hurt by this at all. 

And y’know what could’ve solved this entire thing? What could’ve prevented the exclusion and the explosion that is their friendship. Communication. On both sides, neither of them communicated with each other. The ninja didn’t openly express their feelings towards Zane TO Zane, only Wu and probably Nya. And Zane never expressed anything, ever, like--literally nothing. His moment of most emotion is in episode 7 dammit.

And I just--This is an issue that’s followed through even to the new seasons. Honest to god some of the only times I can recall him actually expressing how he feels about something, is with Pixal, and when Kai persuades him to break his morals and cheat in the slug race. God please help me find more examples because I cannot remember anything else (I’m ignoring Decoded for the time being since the last episode of that was almost entirely “Zane therapy time”)

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Imma end it here because my rant juices have stopped flowing and I haven’t slept in many many long hours and I really would like to collapse right about now.

So i’m not saying Zane has it worst, he probably doesn’t,, but what I’m saying is that Zane had a tough time in the beginning especially. After Kai became properly a part of the group, it was Zane that they outcasted. And because they wouldn’t actually talk to him about what they all thought. They didn’t take the time to understand him and only realized they missed him and how badly they’d been treating him when he was gone.

In the start, they were bad friends, they were horrible in fact. Zane tried, or didn’t. Where he didn’t understand people or social cues, he understood being kind and doing the right thing. 

The ninja did however work from this. As of this episode, they tone down the mistreatment and make a bigger effort to get the guy. And it’s all explained and finished in episode 7.

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Overall, I really like this episode! I think the characters were great! I think the humor was great! I think the progression was great! I dunno why some o’ yall think I don’t like something because I hate it. I can hate-love something, and you’ll find there are a lot of things I hate-love in ninjago.

[votederpycausemufins]

another chapter of the ‘we summoned Tommy and now we found out Grian’s family” fic. this chapter is very long.

also warning, there are some references to sui//cide, but it’s never directly mentioned by name.

Phil tried to ignore the way his chest hurt at the name that had been said. Sure, biologically Grian was his son, but it had been years since they had seen each other, and he had grown up with different people who became a new family for him. And he understood that, but it still hurt that the avian thought of someone else as his dad.

“Er, not quite.”

“Oh, okay,” Grian spoke, matter of factly. The two of them stayed quiet for a few moments before he spoke again. “You found me ‘gain.”

“That I did.”

“You didn’t stop lookin’”

“Nope.” Phil replied, though he knew it was a lie. Of course he always wanted to find his son again, but he had given up actually looking a number of years ago. It wasn’t worth focusing on one child and ignoring the others. But he supposed that’s sort of what happened anyway with him and Tommy. 

“That’s what I thought. It kept me goin’ on th’ really bad days.”

“Am I allowed to know what those bad days were?”

Grian was silent before shaking his head. “Hurts too much…”

“That’s alright mate. How about you talk about some other stuff.”

And so Grian did. Talking with Phil about some of the things he had done over the years. Eventually, Stress arrived and helped out, getting the bots up there with Grian and Phil. At that point the stories stopped and Grian focused on his kids, who were glad for all the attention. Mumbo returned with Tommy shortly, also bringing Tubbo along, and soon Grian’s nest was filled, making him quite happy.

“He’s looking better.”

“Yeah, I think it was your admin who gave me the gist of things. He was tired and using his Watcher stuff which made him loopy.”

“Yeah, that would do it.” Mumbo shook his head.

“Hey, you know what that means?” Tommy asked, smirking and focusing his gaze on the bots. Jrumbot smiled and pulled out some pumpkin seeds, which Grian quickly pounced on and started eating. “That part of the bird stuff is great.”

“And what part isn’t so great?” Philza asked, though for a moment he regretted it, thinking the teen wouldn’t respond and just stay quiet or get angry.

But instead he just crossed his arms and gave an over-exaggerated pouting face. “When he gets all mother hen or whatever and is super overbearing. The other shit is fine.”

“Tommy!” Mumbo huffed but the teen just waved him off.

“Oh come on, they’ve heard me say it loads of times. Jrum won’t risk saying anything cause you’ll just take some of his diamonds away.”

“Yeah! I won’t say stuff like that!” Jrum agreed, before suddenly Phil jumped and looked to see a few of his remaining feathers now in the small robot’s hands. “How much would I get for these Tommy?”

“I’m sure if you meet the right people you can get plenty for those. He’s like, trillions of years old, and not many people have them.”

“I’m not that old!” Phil complained, trying to grab the feathers back. He managed to pull one out of Jrumbot’s hand, but the rest ended up disappearing into whatever the kid had for an inventory.

“You’re right. You’re older.” Tommy taunted. “Old as shit. Dinosaurs are younger than you and they’re all dead.”

Philza glared at Tommy before his gaze fell on Grian. The other avian was still out of it, but getting better. Then he looked at Mumbo before rolling his eyes. “Alright Tommy, maybe so. But it means I’ve got more experience.”

Tommy paused, not used to the hardcore player agreeing with him about something like this. He looked over at the bots, who shrugged. It wasn’t like they had grown up with him. “Says the guy who let two mobs get the best of him.”

“Hey that was one time! And that was also years ago!”

“I’m gonna ‘gree, that’s pretty lame.” Grian spoke up, giggling a bit still. “I’m still alive af’er uhhh…” He started counting on his fingers. “I dunno! Lotta years with Sam!”

Mumbo, Tommy and the bots immediately froze up, looking between each other nervously. Tommy moved a little closer to Grian to make sure he had the avian’s attention. “Hey G? You sure that’s okay to talk about? I know normally you-”

“Pfft, it’s fine! Not like I died! ‘Stead I just hurt a lot, killed some pipul, selled some drugs, stuff like that!” Grian looked over to Philza, who was starting to regret staying around when everyone else arrived. “Ya know, almost didn’ make it. But I didn’ wanna disappoint you by giving up. Mmm… plus Gareth freaked me out too much ‘n I didn’ wanna be like him.”

“Okay Grian! I think you should really get to sleep now! We can talk about this more later! But don’t you want to uh…” Mumbo trailed off. 

“I can get the jukebox once you’ve slept!” Tommy continued for Grian who seemed to really like that idea. He finally laid down and before long he fell asleep.

It was still quiet for a bit, no one sure how to react to all of that at first. Phil and Tubbo were the quietest since they had little to no context. Because of that, they easily jumped when Tommy finally shouted and broke the silence. “Okay Mumboli, when the fuck were you going to tell me about that part of all that shit?!”

“First off, that would be something Grian would need to tell you, not me! Second off, I didn’t even know about that!” The anger on Mumbo’s face quickly turned to some sort of melancholy. “He didn’t even tell me. I mean, he had made some jokes, but I assumed that it was just from the situation. It does make sense he would think of… but…” The redstoner became quiet, his normally pale face much paler than before.

“Daddy?” Grumbot spoke up, making Mumbo look at the bots. Jrum was shaking a bit and Grum didn’t look quite so well himself. “I think Jrum and I should leave.”

“R-Right. Let me help you down.” The redstoner picked Jrum up to help him down the ladder, Grum still well enough to go down it himself. Before he left the platform though, he got Tommy’s attention and nodded towards Tubbo and Philza. “Try to fill them in. If Grian wakes up before I’m back, tell him what he did. He deserves to know.”

Tommy nodded, waiting for Mumbo to leave before saying anything. “So… Grian kinda got stuck in a fucked up place for a number of years. He’s told Mumbo a lot of stories and me some as well, but not everything of course. Basically, he had two friends. If he was me, one of them was like you Tubbo. But uh… the other guy was like Dream. Like, Dream’s an admin and all that, but this other guy was for the most part just a fucking normal guy around my age but he went off the deep end. G and the other friend escaped, but not for a long time. That place was a hardcore world, but they didn’t have potions or healing or whatever the fuck. I mean, there weren’t any mobs either, so death wasn’t at every corner. I mean I guess it was for G because the one guy was a psycho and murderer, but whatever.”

“Wait, are you telling me that this guy just lived with someone potentially worse than Dream for years?!” Tubbo asked while Philza was trying to comprehend it all.

“Uh, well they didn’t live with each other all the time, but yeah. But ‘cause it’s probably good for you guys to know, his main triggers are wearing blue as well as rabbits. If someone else is wearing blue, it’s fine, but if he’s wearing blue it freaks him out. With the rabbits thing, some of them being around are fine, but white rabbits especially freak him out ‘cause the guy was a hybrid.”

“Alright, noted.”

“One of the people most frustrated about it is Grumbot because, well you know how he just suddenly knew who you were, right Phil? They kinda first built him to help with the election here- long story, talk about it another time- and he’s able to look into a lot of stuff, but only based on political stuff. There wasn’t really anything like that with G’s first world. I mean, he gets fragments since Grian’s been a campaign manager before, but all that really comes up is empire stuff.”

“Uh, he had an empire? Was it anything like-” Tubbo timidly asked, glancing to the unconscious avian.

“Nah, basically he just built a big thing in the middle of the ocean and decided he would become the Grian Empire. The only other member was his friend- the good one- but he went off and made his own place pretty quickly. The worst he did is the TNT there was really volatile. If you so much as touched it after placing it, it would explode. He’s told the TNT shop story a number of times where he built the shop out of it and made the stock the walls of the shop.”

“Was that the first time he did something like that, or did it never go anywhere?”

“No that’s the thing!” Tommy started laughing. “He did it so many fucking times and someone still fell for it! That’s why it’s such a great story.” 

From there, Tommy continued to mostly tell lighthearted stories Grian had shared with him. He talked about the prank war and following civil war from the Hermits’ previous world. The hippies against area 77, the time machine, the build height battle. After that he brought up the head games, which freaked Phil and Tubbo out when he suddenly pulled out what at first appeared to be a severed head but was actually a very accurate mask. From there the election was talked about like Tommy had promised, and then the following turf war and its minigame battle.

“I showed up right after the turf war which I’m really glad about because it freaked me out enough just hearing about it. I can’t imagine having to learn what wars here were actually like while in the middle of it all. Instead when Grian visited me when I was holed up in his old place, he just kept talking about the mole people. Around then’s when I really started opening up, especially when Zed showed up.”

“Who’s that?”

“Sheep hybrid that makes contraptions instead of redstone. He made me a bed that just kills me instead of what it should.” Grian spoke up, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He was still slightly groggy from just waking up, but the three SMP members could tell he looked rested and more lucid than earlier. “Where’s Mumbo and the kids?”

“He had to take them away.” Tommy answered, covering Tubbo and Phil’s mouths before they could say anything, even though they weren’t going to. “Grian, you were like, super out of it earlier.”

“Oh oof, how bad was it?”

“Well,” Philza pulled Tommy’s hand away from his mouth. “You mistook me for some person named Martin and asked me to swear loyalty to your empire. Then you called me some name resembling your admin’s name.”

“X eye sooma void?”

“Exactly.”

Grian laughed a little. “Yeah, a number of the hermits call him some variation of his name so I took it to the next level when I first showed up.”

Tommy put a hand on Grian’s knee and the avian looked over, smile falling from his face when he noticed the serious look on the teen. He immediately sat up straighter, worried for his brother. “Tommy what’s wrong?”

Tommy noticed the way Grian’s hand moved like it wanted to grab a weapon, something he had seen constantly when the two of them were alone at night and the avian was being overprotective of him when he could take care of himself. Well okay there was the factor that all the mobs here seemed to be stronger, but that wasn’t too bad. Grian asking Tommy’s name again pulled him from his thoughts and he immediately stopped Grian who was now actually reaching for a weapon. “No! No it’s nothing that bad! You’re going to freak out Big T if you do that!”

“Then what’s going on?!” Grian huffed, crossing his arms, mainly so he wouldn’t try that again.

“When you were really out of it, you said some things. Specifically from your high school stories.”

Grian looked a bit uncomfortable from that, but didn’t look too worried. “Okay. I- was I screaming? Did I scare the boys from that?”

Tommy shook his head. “No. You said something new. It- god G, not even Mumbo knew about it at first.”

Now Grian looked worried, eyes flicking between Tommy and the other two and he pulled his knees up to his chest. “Wh-which thing did I say?”

Tommy stood up, being the only one standing adding to his already tall height. “You mean there’s more shit you haven’t fuckin’ told anyone about?! Grian what the fuck?!”

Tubbo tried to pull Tommy back down, but the blonde teen resisted for a bit before falling back to the ground. “Tommy please. If it’s been this long and he doesn’t want to talk, it's obviously really bad.”

“No, you don’t know some of the shit Grian’s talked about. There’s nothing that could be that bad!”

“Tommy that’s enough.” Philza spoke coldly, making him and Tubbo freeze. “Grian’s not you. He decides what he’s going to talk about. Maybe to most people the stuff he talks about is worse than the stuff he hides, but obviously it’s different for him. So you’re not going to fucking yell at him and make him even worse.”

Tommy frowned angrily, but stayed quiet and slumped back. Tubbo tried to help calm Tommy down while Phil did his best to do the same with Grian. “So… can you tell me what I said? Grian tentatively spoke up, looking to Tommy, but Phil answered instead.

“You mentioned someone named Gareth and not wanting to be like him. Obviously Tommy and Mumbo knew what you were talking about, but me and probably also Tubbo don’t know anything and are still pretty clueless. We just know that it’s something bad.”

Grian let out a quiet ‘oh’ as he pulled his knees even closer to himself. “Um, after I disappeared, I ended up in a different world and made friends with some people named Sam and Taurtis.” Philza tried not to react as he recognized the second name. “At some point in high school I moved in with them, but before that it was just the two of them. They had a teacher named Gareth. He um… his wife was found killed and a lot of people thought he did it. He… got fed up with it and uh..” Grian shook his head. “The classroom was closed up when people found his, uh, body. They took that away but left… left behind what he used. There was one time I snuck in and thought about… you know. But his ghost showed up and freaked me out so I ran.”

After that, it was quiet, no one really knowing how to respond to that. Grian just ended up letting his feathers puff up and he hid in his wings, Tommy being able to wriggle his way in there. The wings ended up muffling a conversation the two had in whispers, though Tubbo and Phil could both hear a few curses from Tommy. Mumbo finally came up the ladder while they were doing this and was greeted by the two SMP members with a finger to their lips. The redstoner wasn’t planning to be loud since he didn’t know if Grian was awake again or not, but he still of course complied. He moved closer to the avian before putting a hand on one wing, Grian moving said wing out of the way to see who was there.

“Mumbo. A- How are the bots?”

“They’ve gone to bed. They seem like they’ll be fine.” Mumbo replied in a soft voice. “You can go back to what you were doing, I just wanted to let you know so you weren’t worried.”

“N-no, it’s fine. I… Hey Tommy, why don’t you show off your base.” When Tommy looked like he might refuse, Grian spoke again. “Please?”

“Alright, but not my fault if a war starts up!”

That earned a smile from the avian. “Wouldn’t have it any other way. Remember to bring scaffolding with you. I’m sure you can find some in the chests in the basement.”

“You mean the storage system, or the fucking chest monster.” Grian smirked an evil little grin. “Fuck you. Alright come on you two. You gotta see Cobble Tower.”

The two other SMP members each gave Grian a look of sympathy before going down the ladder behind Tommy. He led them down to the fireplace that was centering the main hall, but specifically to one side of it. “Alright, this is the quick way up and down.” The teen opened some trap doors revealing some sort of donut-shaped object. “There’s one on the other side, but this is the elevator or whatever the heck Zed called it. You sort of lie down in it like this.” Tommy climbed in, lying down in the small structure. “Then you just hit that button and-“

Redstone activated and suddenly Tommy was lowering out of view. He quickly pointed towards the other side of the fireplace before pulling his arm in so it didn’t get crushed. It took a few moments, but an identical mechanism appeared there, ready for Tubbo or Phil to get into. Tubbo was the first to get in and was soon following behind Tommy. Philza, on the other hand, took more time getting situated, trying to be careful of his wings so they wouldn’t get caught or pinched on anything. He was mostly sure it would be fine since this was Grian’s place and he was an avian, but at the same time, the hardcore player could never be too sure.

When he reached the bottom, Tubbo was busy freaking out over all the items filling the chests. And there were plenty of them. There seemed to be a storage system lining the room, but also plenty of extra chests strewn about. “Hey, Philza Minecraft! Help us look for scaffolding, or at the very least some bamboo and string!”

The avian rolled his eyes before helping the pair, the three of them gathering enough for each of them to have at least two stacks. From there he led them out of the mansion’s basement and around the back of it in the direction of his own base. “Okay, so I haven’t been here as long as the other guys, so my tower is still in progress, but it’s got a couple floors. I mainly stay at the hobbit hole that’s back the other way.”

Both of the SMP members expected to just see a pillar made of cobble, but instead, standing tall in the distance, was a mostly completed tower that looked like it belonged to part of a larger castle that was nowhere in sight.

“Mate what the fuck is that?” Phil stared at the tower. There was no way that was Tommy’s. Or at the very least, he hadn’t built it. He had been close to Grian and they had all just been at Grian’s mansion which was a feat on it’s own. Obviously the avian had been building this for Tommy.

“I said we were going to my tower. And that’s it.” Tommy gestured to the tower before he continued talking. “I gathered all the cobble myself but bought a lot of the wood. Yeah some of it I got myself and I got gifts here and there, but I got a pretty good business venture so paying for it is easy.”

“Business venture?” Tubbo asked.

“Yeah. Speaking of which, I think Bdubs said the shop was empty so I’ll need to refill. Once I show you guys around, I’ll probably fly over to do that.”

“Could I come with you?”

Tommy paused to look at his friend. “I don’t think that’s a good idea Big T. Everyone’s at the shopping district like all the time, and they fly everywhere too. They aren’t all avians like Phil and Big G, and they don’t use tridents all that often, so instead it’s elytra, and those use fireworks to work. I don’t know how you’ve been since I left, but I’m guessing you and fireworks still aren’t on the best of terms.”

Tubbo crossed their arms. “I can use fireworks when I need to. You know that.”

“Yeah, you can use them fine, but you get jumpy when other people use them.”

Before Tubbo could respond, a voice from further ahead piped up. “Hey Tommy my man! Who’re your friends?”

“Hey Ren!” Tommy ran over to his neighbor. “This is my dad and my friend Tubbo. They’re sort of visiting.”

“Nice to hear.” Ren lowered his sunglasses slightly to look at the visitors. “I’m sure X knows about them?”

“Yeah, I sorta got half kidnapped while hanging with Grian and they followed us back.”

Ren inhaled sharply with a wince, his ears folding back as well. “Oof, how bad did Grian scare them?”

“Phil got freaked out cause he did some shit to piss off Watchers in the past.” Tommy smirked while Philza rolled his eyes. “He kinda tried taking me back again as well as the bots. I seriously thought Grian might kill him until Grum kinda shouted at us.”

“Yikes, how bad did it get for him to do that?”

“We kinda kept interrupting him while he was trying to tell us something important.” Ren winced again from that comment. “Fortunately it helped calm things down a little in the violence department.”

“And in the other departments?”

Tommy pulled Phil over closer to Ren. “So Phil isn’t just my dad.”

Ren nodded. “Yeah, you said you had some brothers.”

“Yeah, he’s also Grian’s dad.”

Again, Ren nodded. “Okay, yeah that-” the wolf hybrid completely froze. “Grian’s dad?! But he’s your dad!”

“Yup.”

“But also Grian’s?!”

“Yeah.”

“So the two of you are-”

“Brothers, yup.”

“You know this explains so much my dude.” Ren ran his fingers through his hair as he stared at the avian with his new knowledge. “Who else knows?”

“Right now, Xisuma and Mumbo. Haven’t really gotten the chance to tell many others.”

Ren nodded in understanding. “Does this mean you two aren’t coming to triple H?”

At this point Tubbo finally spoke up. “What’s that? And also it’s nice to meet you. Tommy said your name was Ren?”

“Yup, Ren Diggity Dawg at your service. And it’s Hermits Helping Hermits. We try to meet up once a week to help out one hermit.”

“You say that, but we haven’t even done it once yet Ren.” Tommy piped up, making Ren frown.

“Well that’s how it’s going to work. Hey, if you want, these two could come along.”

“I dunno. There would probably be lots of flying.” Tommy shrugged before slightly gesturing towards Tubbo. 

“Tommy! I don’t need you acting so concerned for me! A few fireworks aren’t going to freak me out! Plus aren’t there unlimited lives here? Even if I do die I’ll just come back!”

Before Tommy could say anything in response, Tubbo took the elytra that were on Tommy’s back and put them on their own back. Ren seemed to be on Tubbo’s side, because he handed them some blank fireworks. He immediately lit one, which made them flinch just a little, but the next one didn’t cause them to have the same reaction. The only problem was while he was using the fireworks, he wasn’t getting into the air at all. “Uh, how exactly do these work?”

Tommy looked like he wanted to shout, but Ren spoke up before the teen could. “Elytra wings open up on descent, so you have to jump first. I’d say we get you some platform to test with before you try launching from the ground itself. Not even every hermit can do that right since you need to hit the sweet spot. Tommy’s pretty good at it though, but he’s got a good teacher.”

Tommy just rolled his eyes when Tubbo and Ren looked over at him. “Grian doesn’t use elytra, he uses his fucking wings.”

��He had to relearn how to fly in season six when he was still hiding his wings.” Ren pointed out and Tommy rolled his eyes again, though the sentence had caught Phil’s attention.

“Why was he hiding his wings?”

“Someone’s in parent mode.” Ren chuckled, which caught Phil slightly off guard. “I’ve heard that same tone plenty of times from X. Usually around the full moon.”

“Wait, so are you-”

“Werewolf, yeah. I know, most people just assume hybrid, and I kinda am. Anyway, to answer your question, he had apparently already gotten used to it in his older worlds. Even hanging around other hybrids didn’t help. He just had them hidden for so long that his standard was no wings. Iskall was the one to really get him with his wings out.”

“Iskall is Mumbo’s sibling, right?”

“Nah, unless we have another case of a surprise family connection. They had a business venture with Grian and Mumbo last season and the three have been really close ever since. They’re not officially related, but at this point they’re essentially all family.”

“I see, well what did he do?”

“They made a shop for hiring them as a hitman since they did that in the past. Someone ordered one on Grian and he got a plan ready and everything, but it involved outflying Iskall.”

“Good to know. I’ll have to meet with them at some point.” Phil nodded and Ren gave a barely noticeable wink at the avian correcting himself.

“Well, I’m sure I've held you guys up enough. If Tommy gives you any more trouble with flying, just shoot me a message.” Ren looked at Tubbo with his second comment, then he waved goodbye and headed off the other way.

Over the course of the next hour and a half, Tommy briefly showed off his tower, but for the most part it was Tubbo learning how to fly with elytra. Tommy was giving out pointers, but mostly was just freaking out whenever Tubbo did something that seemed even slightly concerning. Phil was doing his best to give tips, but wasn’t completely sure how elytra worked seeing as how he was used to just his own wings and hadn’t had access to elytra since they had been damaged.

By the end of the hour, Tubbo was flying pretty well, and Tommy was following nearby. When he had first gotten into the air, it had made Tubbo jolt, but before long, he had gotten acclimated to the firework’s initial sound with no following explosion. Tommy also ended up getting out a third pair of elytra for Philza to try. It wasn’t enchanted like the ones Tubbo wore or the backups on Tommy’s back, but it would do fine for a quick trip to the shopping district.

“Alright, you can explore the place as much as you want as long as you don’t go stealing anything. Otherwise I’ll have to pay for it.”

“You? Telling us not to steal?”

Tommy crossed his arms. “Yeah, no one does that here. I did a bit at the start, but you don’t really fucking need to. Even if you could just pay for shit at the shops, if you really need something, someone’s gonna show up to help you out.”

“Got it.” And with that the three of them flew over the ocean and to the island in the middle of it all. The place was littered with builds that surprised Phil and Tubbo. “These are all just shops?!”

“Yeah. You saw how big Big G’s mansion is. Just about everyone works at that scale. Even if they don’t fucking need to. You get used to it after a bit, it’s why my place is so big. You’d lose your minds if you saw Cub’s place.”

“I don’t even want to know mate.” Phil replied as they landed, sounding slightly exasperated at the thought.

“Right, well that’s my place over there.” Tommy pointed to a shop that looked more like a skyscraper and was near a number of similar buildings. “Most of the land in the actual shopping district is claimed, but Aquwu town still has lots of property.”

“What the fuck did you just say?”

“Aquowo.”

“Stop.”

“Aquwayway.”

“What’s the place actually called?” Tubbo piped up, making Tommy stop the joke.

“Just Aqua Town, but no one pronounces it like that. Even Scar, and he built the place. He normally calls it Aque Town.”

“I’ll be using that.”

“Suit yourself.” Tommy then walked towards his building. “You guys take the diamonds out and I’ll restock the place, okay? You can even keep a few of the diamonds.”

There were some nods of agreement and the trio went inside. Tommy put down his shulker boxes filled with stock as Tubbo opened the first chest, eyes going wide at the amount of diamonds in them. “There’s twenty-seven diamonds in this chest!”

Phil looked up surprised before looking in another chest. “This one too.”

“Well they said the place was all sold out.” Tommy responded as he opened up one of the shulkers and started pulling stacks of cobble out of it.

The avian noticed just what Tommy was grabbing and stared at it. “Mate, are you actually selling cobble for diamonds?”

Tubbo’s head whipped around to look away from the chest where he too saw Tommy pulling out cobble. “Not just cobble. There’s that, normal stone, andesite and granite.”

“And they buy that?”

“Yeah, at first I thought it was out of pity, until one day I got there to stock up and Bdubs was in there and was happy I was there. They all like building, but when they mine, none of the hermits bother to pick up all the stone since they normally fill their inventories with anything else and let the rest disappear. I make sure to go down with plenty of chests and put everything away, so when they need stone and shit, I’m the one they buy from.”

From there, Tommy and the other two stocked the shop. No hermits showed while they stocked, but one did show up just as they were leaving, Tubbo jumping back a little as the two of them nearly ran into each other, the wide eyed look of the hermit adding to the surprise. “Hey Keralis. Just stocked up so you’re good to go.”

“Why spank you Tommy. Who are your friends?”

“Tubbo and my dad Phil.”

“Will they be staying long?”

“Yeah, but Big G’s got them covered with housing.”

“Ah, Brian does have a good place indeed. But if they need a place to stay, I have plenty of room.”

“Almost too much. They’d be like me the first time I saw your place.”

“All the more reason for them to visit!”

“Right, see ya later.” Tommy followed behind Tubbo and Phil who had already slowly gotten ahead. He pulled out his comm and sent a message to Grian and Mumbo about where they were and where they were heading. Mumbo sent a reply that they would be coming over there soon with the bots, and Tommy put his comm away again. “Alright, I have a bit of land on a different part of the island, but it’s not really a shop. It’s more something I sort of brought over from the SMP.”

Tommy led them through the roads before they reached another area near the shore. Sand had terraformed the nearby land and various tables and chairs and other items were all over the place. But right next to the shoreline was a familiar piece of furniture that had Tubbo tearing up just a little. “You built the bench.”

“Yeah. Made it feel more like home sometimes. The rest of it is based on the beach party I held back in exile.”

Tubbo flinched slightly and looked down at the ground. Tommy was slightly confused and looked at Philza, who just gave a slight nod and wandered off. Once he was gone, Tommy led his friend over to the bench. “What’s up Big T?”

“Your… Your beach party. I- I’m sure you had fun.”

“Not really. Didn’t go the way I planned. Especially since you weren’t there.”

“I didn’t think you wanted me there. I never-”

“I sent an invitation, Tubbo. Ghostbur was supposed to give everyone in L’Manberg an invitation. But no one came. I thought it was cause you all fucking hated me. I mean, I did kinda ruin everything. I remember how mad you were.”

“Tommy…”

“I still thought that when I got here. Starting making friends out of spite instead of because I needed them. But then they made me realize some things. I don’t… Ghostbur wasn’t the most reliable, so I thought maybe he just didn’t manage to get the invitations out. But Grian said since Dream was messing with me the whole time I was there, he probably did something. Made sure you didn’t come.”

“Really? He’s been helping out. With you gone he’s become an ally to L’manberg.”

Tommy essentially growled in response to those words. “He’s not a fucking ally to anyone. He plays mind games and fucks everything up. He lies and tries to make you trust him so he can stab you in the back later. He was trying to make it so I’d only trust him. Unless you’re saying he told the truth when you immediately burned your compass for me.”

Tubbo’s hand immediately moved to hold where he had kept his compass, but it stopped midway there. “I… No. I kept it with me all the time.”

“Kept?”

Tubbo started tearing up a little before forcing the tear back. “I sort of got killed by a creeper and the explosion or something destroyed it. Tommy… I’m so sorry. I didn’t want to lose it. I didn’t want to lose you. But-”

Tubbo was cut off from Tommy hugging him. “It’s fine Big T. We lived in a fucked up place, and now we don’t have to. It’ll be you and me again. I’ll build you a tower for yourself. I’ll-”

A loud sound suddenly rang out along with an explosion. A second and third pair of the noises quickly followed. Tommy and Tubbo jumped up from the bench and looked towards the source of the noises to find three withers in the middle of the shopping district.

“What the fuck?! Why are those there?!” Tommy was immediately pulling out his comm and sending a message in the main chat. 

Tubbo, on the other hand, squinted as something that seemed to be standing behind the boss monsters. They quickly shot open as he realized what he was seeing. “Technoblade?”

[tundrainafrica]

Hi, i saw some time ago you compared Royai to Levihan, would you mind elaborating more on their similarities? I ship both and looking at they compared blow my mind

YES. Beautiful ask anon! As always, sorry for only getting into this now, my inbox is still a mess I am currently trying to make sense of. But legit, I could talk about this for hours. Cause I’m that fucking simp who just randomly goes on Youtube and watches the Riza breakdown vs. Lust  scene just to see some GREATTT acting and some great crumbs. 

So anyway, will be moving on now to this really long and--mind you--uncurated rant. 

Disclaimer though: Although I have watched all the fullmetal stuff, from the first anime, to brotherhood to the manga and have lurked in the fanfiction sites long before (like fam, this anime is literally my childhood it’s such a big part of my life that when I hear ‘mustang’ I think of roy mustang not the car), but at this point, the main story line for me is a blur and I probably just remember only the Roy scenes and the Royai scenes well. 

I was not a big fan of Edwin for multiple reasons. 

Warning: Spoilers abound for FMA so read at your own risk. And for people who watch FMA but not AOT, spoilers abound for AOT is well.

So there are a lot of similarities between Levihan and Royai and I think this is the reason why Levihan definitely appealed to me a lot as a couple. Royai after all was my OG ‘I think I wanna be in this type of relationship’ type of couple. 

Military Setting

I’ve always found these types of relationships interesting cause I like to think, you’re in such a high stakes and very stringent atmosphere where you could die at any moment and you’re constantly doing such morally grey things. And with that, people have the tendency to either close in on themselves and just keep to themselves or just go crazy over time. Yet you have people who find the time to form CLOSE and almost ROMANTIC bonds with your fellow soldiers

And I just like the process of exploring how this happens. And you know what makes it juicier? 

    2. The commander to the subordinate dynamic (with a twist)

The boss to the follower dynamic because Royai and Levihan are both incredibly healthy and stable relationships but they both come from something taboo right? A commander to subordinate relationship? So we ask ourselves? How did they both make it work? 

Well, what I notice is despite the implied respect Riza and Levi both hold for Roy and Hange respectively, due to their positions in the military, do you notice Hange and Roy still have respect over Levi and Riza’s opinions. I cannot remember all the scenes in both shows but remember that scene where Riza would just stop Roy half way into fighting when it’s raining because sometimes he does forget that he can’t do his fire thing when it’s raining? It shows obviously that Riza could undermine his decisions if she finds them completely idiotic or out of the blue. Or that scene where Roy was curbstomping Envy when he found out Envy killed Hughes? 

So, the thing is Levi and Hange worked like this too. Even before Hange became commander, I think there was an already implied hierarchical difference between being ‘squad leader’ and being ‘team captain.’ Squad leader’s are generally in a higher position and command a much larger group and do you see how Levi approaches Hange? Like when telling her off about risking her life when trying to capture the titan? 

And even when she was commander, that telepathy scene?? Can we appreciate, that when Hange became commander (compared to when Erwin was commander), Levi took the reins of a lot of the leading in the survey corps, as if he understood his job wasn’t just to follow Hange but to take care of her? 

Like I’m sure Riza saw her job more as a caretaker to Roy more than his subordinate and seeing this in Levihan was just fantastic.

And another thing I love about both of them...

  3. They were just the two competent level headed people

This is such a trope for me. I cannot handle couples where someone is just not competent or is so obviously underpowered compared to the other. Like I want them to be able to handle themselves without the other. And even when they’re alone they’re doing shit and you just find out later, by the way I have this bf/gf/partner who is equally competent. But when we’re together we just share one brain cell because we can practically melt when we’re safe with the other. 

And the thing is since they’re in a military setting we don’t see them ‘practically melt,’ we can usually just pick out the crumbs (ehem 126), and the fact that these crumbs are such rare gems, makes it all the jucier. 

And here’s the thing, in animes and in stories, this ‘competent people’ couple is usually supporting cast cause I dunno? Nobody wants to hear about the competent couple who just figured out they like each other and they just like hanging out with each other for some reason? 

And most adventure stories are underdog stories where we watch people start of as dead weight and get stronger which is not boring per se but I dunno, these couples usually dont’ appeal to me fsr because I’m all for the power couple dynamic and the protagonists always have something going on making them doubt their strength so yeah.  And there’s usually this token love interest who’s not as strong and tries not to be useless but is kinda dead weight.

4. Their special abilities? 

Levi and Hange are a power couple the way Roy and Riza are. When these two couples were introduced into their respective stories, they were all well established as bad asses. We have humanity’s strongest, humanity’s smartest then in FMA we have the flame alchemist one of the strongest alchemists and we have Riza who’s crazy good with a gun. 

5. They were never that in your face couple

As said above, I really love competent people ships but nobody really likes reading about people being competent and having their level headed shit together so these characters end up with more of supporting character energy who have their ‘big damn heroes’ moments where they swoop in and save the protagonist. 

And the thing is, since they’re supporting characters, there’s so much more room to move when contemplating such couples because the crumbs are there? But at the same time they’re not there? And since I like exploring my own headcanons about those ‘boring’ yet incredibly stable and mature relationships, these tend to be my favorite characters to shoehorn into my spotify playlists.

Edwin and Eremika respectively have more ‘in your face’ crumbs and I dunno, their crumbs for me always seemed to be too obviously there where I was like ‘okay cute relationship’ but  ‘I wouldn’t wanna be in a relationship like that’  kinda way. 

And since main protagonist romantic subplots crumbs are already ‘in my face’ I end up thinking to myself, what’s there to headcanon?

And like they go through so much more problems romance wise since obviously they are the protagonist. But I guess for me, I never liked those couples who were so obviously together and go through problems that bystanders are aware of. Because I dunno, people might not agree with me but it doesn’t sit well with me when EVERYBODY knows about the problems between two certain people in a relationship. 

I always liked those couples who just start off as two people hanging out together and then like five years you find out, they live together and have five cats and it turns out they’ve been married for two of those three years. 

And power couples just make it work? Because the stories tend to focus on them being competent people more than being in love so when the coupling actually happens it’s like: 

“Wow you live together and have five cats, you worked so hard for it, I’m so happy for you.” 

Instead of you know, watching people go through like 3456 instances of miscommunication drama just to end up in a still seemingly doubtful relationship.

6. Iconic scenes for Levihan and Royai? 

And here’s the beautiful thing about the crumbs of both of these ships, they are incredibly apparent when the stakes are high and this is *chef’s kiss.* This is literally the climax, the peak to such subtle crumbs. Like okay, fine it’s satisfying to see the main protagonist and their main love interest doing shit and loving each other when the stakes are high like in Season 2 of AOT with Mikasa thinking she’s gonna die so she confesses to Eren or maybe that Naruto and HInata scene in the Pain Arc where Hinata just pops in and saves Naruto and kinda dies in the process

But can we all agree that there is something very very very satisfying about seeing two people who are probably not or are probably dating just going crazy for each other when the stakes are high? Like yo, come on. 

My favorite scenes for Royai: The Lust fight scene, the Envy fight scene and lastly, the scene where Roy opens the gates to save Riza and goes blind. Can we just appreciate the fact that Roy risked his Colonel dreams to save Riza by going blind??

And for Levihan? I’m sure Levihans are tired of hearing the chapter numbers but 115? That’s fucking iconic, Hange ltierally jumped into the river with Levi and please tell me that is not a parallel to Roy opening the gates for an already half dead Riza. Mind you, Hange did not even know if Levi would make it or not and she probably didn’t know if she would make it or not either. Any of the soldiers could have literally just shot into the river and nicked them with bullets.  She just literally abandoned everything and wooshed to the river. 

And I had this convo with a few other people and we were thinking about what if it was anyone else who found Levi. And we came to the conclusion that IT HAD TO BE HANGE. Because somehow, I feel like Hange would have been one of the only few, if not the only one who would have gathered up the courage to jump into the river and risk their own life to save Levi. 

And for the next part... Disclaimer: This is just my opinion, please let’s not start a ship war.

Like with the war on twitter “Levihan vs. Eruri,” I started to reflect as well on whether or not Erwin would have saved Levi if he was there instead of Hange but I think it is less likely that Erwin would have saved Levi. Erwin probably wouldn’t have agreed with the rumbling definitely but I cannot help but think, Erwin approached his commander position like a chess master and with this, approached Levi as a superior while Hange approached Levi as an equal and a best friend. 

So if, saving Erwin was just going to mess with plans let’s say to manipulate the Yaegerists for some greater purpose, would Erwin have just let Levi die? 

7. The magic is no one fits Roy or Riza perfectly.

I had these same thoughts with Shikatema vs. Levihan and now Royai vs. Levihan. So comparing their dynamics, I just have to say, that none of them fit each other perfectly. Hange has Riza and Roy crumbs and Levi has Riza and Roy crumbs too. 

Like Roy is some ridiculously strong (Levi) superior (Commander Hange) with a seemingly goofy personality (Hange). Riza is the subordinate (Levi) who’s equally reliable but not as overpowered (Hange) with a very strict but very obviously emotionally constipated personality (Levi) 

Like if you put Levihan in some of the token Royai moments. Like the Lust fight? I think Levi would have done something similar to Riza. Okay, he wouldn’t have broken down right then but he would have done something similar to what Roy did when he found out Envy killed Hughes. 

I’m convinced Hange would have had a breakdown which is more of an in between between what Roy (Envy fight) and Riza (Lust fight) had in their respective fights. I mean 115 is proof enough that Hange ain’t playing when her bebeluvs is in danger. 

8. And towards the end of the series?

Okay this is where the comparisons just kinda diverge because this part makes me sad. In the end game, Royai worked together. Riza became the eyes of Roy when he was making shit explode in the final battle coz he was blind. 

And Hange and Levi were completing each other towards the of the AOT end right? Not just with the jian bird references with having parallel injuries. In the final battle though when Levi was out of commission due to the explosion, Hange was the one fighting with the crew until 132. And the moment she died, Levi stepped up and fought right? 

Like they had something similar going on, where these two were covering for each other and taking care of the kids. It’s just that compared to Royai who were explicitly working together, we have Hange covering for Levi right after he got injured and Levi stepping up to cover for Hange after she died. 

AND I can’t help but think, literally post time skip just could not handle Levihan working together huh? Is that how competent Levi and Hange are as soldiers that Yams couldn’t let them work together just one last time? Like he knew it would mess with the story if he lets Levi and Hange lead at full power?

Which brings me to last point, and the point that makes me saddest.

9. About them being endgame? 

Okay, so it wasn’t confirmed that Roy and Riza ended up together because Roy still had his fuhrer goals but AT LEAST THEY HAD A CHANCE? Like their last scene in the show was still them together? And Riza still at least got to follow him? 

Levihan… They just… shit just happened and we all know what happened and now I’m reading fanfiction and crying over fcitoonal characters to pass the quarantine.

Anyway, if you reached this point, thank you for reading. And thank you for the question anon!

[agoldengalaxy]

Clone Force 99

read on Ao3

CT-9904, affectionately nicknamed Crosshair by the old coot 99, sat by himself at the end of the table. The taunting from fellow cadets had been something he dealt with for as long as he could remember, because he wasn’t like them. He looked to be about thirteen in standard years, lanky with long limbs, hair shaved into a buzz cut like the rest of them, but where most of them had dark hair like Jango Fett, he had silver. He’d learned long ago that, because the Kaminoans considered him enhanced and ‘special’, the other cadets wouldn’t like him much. That was fine by him.

or, how the Bad Batch met.

--

Chapter 1: The Leader

“He’s so weird! Why doesn’t he talk? Hey! Didn’t they teach ya how to speak?”

CT-9904, affectionately nicknamed Crosshair by the old coot 99, sat by himself at the end of the table. The taunting from fellow cadets had been something he dealt with for as long as he could remember, because he wasn’t like them. He looked to be about thirteen in standard years, lanky with long limbs, hair shaved into a buzz cut like the rest of them, but where most of them had dark hair like Jango Fett, he had silver. He’d learned long ago that, because the Kaminoans considered him enhanced and ‘special’, the other cadets wouldn’t like him much. That was fine by him.

He didn’t bother looking up from his tray. Normally the longer he ignored it, the faster they’d give up. But one of the cadets slid in, reaching over him to grab a bar from his tray. “It’s kinda sad your only friend is that disfigured old man. But he’s weird, like you,” he continued, taking a bite.

Crosshair lifted his narrowed gaze to the cadet. “99 is a better man than you’ll ever be,” he replied coolly. “Now if you'll excuse me, I’d prefer if you left me alone to eat.”

“Ooh, scary. How do you expect to make any friends when you talk like that?” For some reason, the cadet was feeling bold today. Crosshair clenched his jaw, but then turned it into a slight smirk.

“Are you trying to be friends with someone weird like me?” he asked calmly. Clearly the other boy was just attempting to get a rise out of him, but Crosshair wasn’t prone to emotional outbursts like most of the clones his age. He had a handle on it very early on. It was another reason, he suspected, that he was well-liked by the Kaminoans. “I’m sure 99 could give you a nice name since you don’t have one yet.”

Immediately the cadet faltered, a scowl appearing on his face, and he shoved Crosshair’s shoulder. “Just because you’ve got a name and special treatment doesn’t mean you’re better than us. You’re just a freak.”

And if he were being honest with himself, Crosshair knew that. He knew he was seen as a freak. His sharpshooting skills and enhanced reflexes made him different, and though many probably wouldn’t admit it, when he was in the zone, he was scary. Fast and accurate every time, and he’d only improve with age.

Normally he kept to himself, but today, he didn’t feel much like dealing with this, especially as the other boys watched, snickering. Still just as calmly as he had before, using those fast reflexes, he grabbed his bowl of lukewarm soup and tossed it into the cadet’s face. While he sputtered in shock, green liquid dripping down his chin, the sharpshooter stood, brushing himself off. “What was that about not being better?” he drawled, before stepping out of the bench and heading down the hall, leaving hushed silence behind him.

While he walked, a smirk pulled at the corner of his mouth. He’d wanted to do that for a long time, and he knew 99 and the others would disapprove, but they wouldn’t do anything. He was too important for them to bench him. They’d tell him to play nice, and they’d move on.

But playing nice, he thought, most likely wasn’t in his future. Not when no one else did.

The door to the cadets’ quarters slid open. Considering it was mealtime, he expected it to be completely empty. Cadets in the same age group ate, trained, and slept together; with any luck, his little stunt in the mess hall would keep the others from teasing him for a while.

He headed toward his bunk, rolling his shoulders back, but stopped in his tracks as he noticed someone was standing beside it. The other boy turned around, dark eyes wide. His hair was completely unruly, tied back with a headband. He seemed…different. Crosshair was skeptical. “Who are you?”

“Hello to you, too,” the stranger said, smirking. He stepped forward, extending his hand to him. He didn’t seem to be wary of Crosshair, for whatever reason. “My name’s Hunter. I’m takin’ the bunk above yours. You go by Crosshair, don’t you?”

Crosshair paused, eyeing the boy up and down, before completely ignoring the outstretched hand, walking past to sit down on the edge of his bunk. “What’s it to you?”

Hunter didn’t seem put off. He just chuckled, crossing his arms to lean against the wall. “You’re just as cold as everyone says.” His voice wasn’t teasing; in fact, Crosshair wondered if he could detect some interest as he lay back, folding his hands behind his head. “I’m like you, you know.”

That caught his attention. As expected, this ‘Hunter’ was different. Lowering his gaze from the bunk above his, he met Hunter’s eyes. “Are you, now?”

“I’m defective. Or enhanced. I dunno, they used both words to describe me.” He didn’t seem very bothered by that fact. “My name’s Hunter because I have really good senses. I can feel electromagnetic frequencies.”

“Do you want a medal?” Crosshair asked sarcastically, looking back up at the bunk above. He wasn’t sure how he felt about this. He liked being alone, and he had a feeling now that Hunter wasn’t planning on leaving him to his own devices. By looking at him, he could guess he was probably about a year younger, give or take.

At this point, he would expect Hunter to get angry or defensive here. But he simply smiled a little. “Sure, maybe one day. But I actually just wanted to meet you. Nala Se wants to pair us up in training tomorrow.”

Of course she did. He supposed that made sense, though. The Kaminoans were all about efficiency, and if Hunter really was enhanced like him, they could potentially make a good team. But Crosshair wasn’t exactly used to being a team player. He worked alone, not only because he and the other cadets didn’t see eye to eye, but also because he was a sharpshooter. He climbed to high places and took droids out remotely, on his own.

Slowly, he moved to sit up again, eyeing Hunter closer. Other boys would normally falter under his gaze, but Hunter simply stared back, a slight smirk on his face. Even without enhancement, he could tell Hunter was different. He had a different air about him. Confidence, but not cockiness like some of the others. At first, Crosshair had thought it would be a problem, but he figured there was a big chance he could end up liking that about him. That was somewhat scary. He hadn’t ever ‘liked’ anyone else around his age.

Raising a brow, the taller boy leaned forward. “You know if you are caught talking to me, the other cadets will not take a liking to you.”

That earned him a snort. “I’m already used to that, Crosshair. The group I was with before hated me. I know what it’s like. Not very good in the friends department, like you. I was thinking we could be each other’s first.”

Slowly, Crosshair got to his feet. He towered over the other boy by a good few inches, but Hunter’s chest remained puffed and his expression calm. They stared at each other for a few moments. He wasn’t sure what to make of Hunter at all, and he was displeased to find that his first thought was that he seemed to be a natural born leader. Taking initiative, knowing exactly how to talk to him. Maybe, just maybe, the makings of a friend. “We will see, won’t we?” he said finally, leaning back a little to cross his arms over his chest. “Yes, we will,” the other agreed, a slightly smug smile on his face.

Things were quiet for a moment, and though he never wanted to know anything about the other cadets, something bugged him. “Why is your hair...like that?” he asked, somewhat stiffly. “I thought every clone cadet had to keep their hair short.”

Hunter reached up to touch the dark hair, falling in waves just past his chin. “They’ve tried,” he chuckled, “but for some reason, it grows really fast. Within a few days it’s back to this. The lads in my old training group used to tease me for it. Called me a girl. But if I can be anything like Shaak Ti or any of the other Jedi someday, I’ll take it as a compliment.” Hunter crossed his arms, thoughtful. “You know, I think they’re mean ‘cause they’re jealous. They’re just... regs.”

Before he could stop it, a small grin appeared on Crosshair’s face. “Regs?” he repeated, tilting his head. “Don’t let them hear you say it, they’ll start a fight…”

“Well, then we can team up even earlier.” Hunter seemed pleased with himself, also grinning a little. “But hey, wanna do me a favor?” Bending over, he pulled a knife from his boot, holding out the handle to Crosshair. “Cut my hair?  You can see how fast it grows.”

Crosshair frowned, but he reached to take the knife anyway. “You...trust me to do that?” It was more disbelief than anything.

“‘Course. I can’t really do it myself unless I wanna make a mess, so I’ve been having Nala Se help me out. She’s busy, though, so it’d be nice not to bother her. You don’t have to, just thought I’d ask.”

He glanced down at the knife in his hands, then back up. He wasn’t sure why, exactly, but he nodded, and Hunter turned around. Maybe it was the fact that no one had ever really trusted him before. Or maybe it was because for the first time, he figured that in a world where everyone his age was the same except him, he’d found someone who wasn’t so different from him. Someone who understood.

Gripping hair in hand, he got to work, slicing it. Strands fell in piles beside his feet, but he paid them no mind as he worked. He didn’t cut it much shorter, but he was mostly able to keep it even. Precision was important in his line of work, after all. When he was finished, he stepped back, almost shyly handing the knife back to Hunter.

The boy turned around to take the knife back, smiling, genuinely. Placing the knife back into his boot, he walked by, nudging his shoulder gently. “Thanks, friend .” And with that, he headed up the ladder to his bunk. Crosshair smiled a little, but he ducked his head to avoid it being seen, and walked to his bunk just below.

Maybe he really could have a friend.

[calpalirwin]

Painted Pink Room

Summary: Cake adopts a kid.

Word Count: 3.1k

And away, and away we go!

__

It started with Ashton and Michael introducing them to Wyatt. Wyatt was a spunky little guy of two and a half years old with a mop of wild curls and an infectious little laugh that had Luke looking over at Calum with big pleading eyes and a small pout. And all Calum could do was give a small nod. “So, uh,” Calum started, clearing his throat. “Ash, how did you and Mike… you know?”

“Decide to adopt? Why are you and Luke thinking of doing the same?”

“I mean…” Calum shrugged nervously. “There’s a lot to figure out and whatnot. But uh… kinda hard to deny that this,” he gestured out to the yard where Michael was dying a dramatic death for the benefit of his son who, at Luke’s coaxing of “get him Wyatt!” pounced on Michael, “doesn’t look half bad,” Calum concluded.

A shriek filled the air as Michael roared and started tickling the boy, yelling “Ahahahaha! You fell right into my trap! Now the tickle monster got you! Oh no! Say ‘Uncle Luke help!’”

“Help, help!” Wyatt pleaded with more giggles, pulling at Luke’s hand.

Luke immediately jumped into action, whispering something in the boy’s ear that made him light up before hollering “Attack!” and both Luke and Wyatt started tickling Michael back, all three of them gasping for air amid the storm of giggles.

Ashton and Calum shared a laugh, and then Ashton sighed longingly. “Yeah, it’s gonna be a process. And lots of talking before anything gets done. But the end result is pretty fuckin’ great.”

“Yeah. So how did you and Mike decide that this is what you guys wanted?”

“I mean for me it was easy. I always wanted to be a dad. To prove I could do it without making the same mistakes. But I was afraid of those mistakes, too. Still am. Absolutely scared shitless.”

Calum nodded understandingly. Ashton’s parental history was significantly more fucked than his own had been, but he understood more so than Luke and Michael could about not wanting to repeat mistakes their parents had made. “And Mike?”

Ashton giggled, “Mike is like a big kid himself. He’s great with Wyatt. But he wasn’t sure he was ready for the responsibility that comes with all this. Cuz it’s a lot. I won’t sugarcoat that for ya. But, I dunno. It’s hard to explain how despite all the what ifs and worries, you have a kid anyway. It’s like a blind leap of faith. You just do it and hope for the best.”

“Mhm, and uh… sorry for all the questions, but how did you guys know you wanted Wyatt and not like… adopt a newborn, or try a surrogacy so the kid shared DNA with at least one of you?”

“Well, for one, DNA doesn’t make a family. You know that as well as I do. I mean, look at us, we all found family in each other. But we thought it’d be an easier adjustment with a slightly older kid. Like we wanted them relatively little to have all those experiences. But a newborn felt like it would be too much. And then we met Wyatt and everything just clicked.”

“He’s a cute little thing, that’s for damn sure. Has the coolest dads I know, too.”

Ashton grinned and wrapped an arm around Calum’s shoulder for a sideways hug, “Thanks man. And any kid would be lucky to have you and Luke for dads, you know that right? And you’d have mine and Mike’s support the whole way. Plus it’d kinda be cool if you wanted to give Wyatt a cousin.”

Calum laughed. “Alright, alright. It’ll be a serious discussion now. Gotta make sure it’s not just a bad case of baby fever.”

“Oh, for sure. That’s a conversation all on it’s own.” As he unwrapped his arm from Calum, he glanced at his watch. “Shit.”

“What?”

“Nap time. Ready to see if it’s just a case of baby fever? Mike!”

Michael’s head popped up, and Wyatt took the small distraction to tackle Michael again, the man falling on his ass with a small oomph! “Huh?!” he asked as he wrapped up Wyatt to keep the boy from climbing all over him.

“Time to wrap it up.”

Michael nodded once, standing up and taking Wyatt with him. “C’mon you. Nap time.”

At the word “nap” Wyatt let out a piercing wail and started squirming against Michael’s hold on him. The wail had all four men wincing, and Luke shot Calum a quick glance as if to say “Ooof, could you imagine?” “Ow, Wyatt, we don’t hit. It’s not nice,” Michael scolded lightly, simply adjusting his grip to limit the boy’s protests.

“No!” he wailed, big crocodile tears running down his face.

“Hey,” Ashton said softly, stepping in to help, a thumb brushing away the tears on his son’s face. “Take a breath for me,” and when Wyatt let out a blubbering huff of air with only a sniffle, Ashton smiled at him. “That’s my boy. Now, do you want Daddy to read you a story, or Papa?”

Wyatt sniffed again before making grabby hands for Ashton. Michael kissed his hair before passing Ashton Wyatt. “We’ll play more later. You gotta rest first. And so does Daddy. Love you, bug.”

Ashton chuckled softly as he took Wyatt on his hip, the boy’s head snuggling into his neck. Ashton gave Michael a quick kiss before saying he’d be down in a bit and disappeared inside the house.

“How’d you decide who was Daddy and who was Papa?” Luke asked as the other three men filed inside and settled on the couch in the living room.

Michael shrugged. “Not sure really. It kinda just happened. I mean, it doesn’t really mean too much right now.”

“How do you mean?”

“Well we’ve only had Wyatt a month. Ashton and I try to refer to each other as Daddy and Papa for his sake. To make it more commonplace. I mean, that’s what they said to do. Them being the agency, and the support groups, and all that. But, it’s all new to him. Like he knows I’m Daddy and Ashton’s Papa. But he doesn’t say it yet.”

“Oh… Well, he’ll get there, yeah?”

“Oh yeah. I’m not worried about it. I mean we got to spend plenty of time with him while everything was getting finalized, so he feels safe with us which is what really matters. Everything else is just details. So, Cal, what were you and Ash talking about?”

“Yeah, love, what were you guys talking about?” Luke asked with a suggestive eyebrow raise.

“Oh, I was just asking Ash some questions about how you guys came to decide on having Wyatt. Just curious was all.”

“Curious?” both blondes pressed.

Calum shrugged a little shyly, taking Luke’s hand and pressing a kiss to the back of it. “We’ll talk about it later, yeah Lu?”

Luke broke out in a grin while Michael laughed loudly. “Not so loud,” Ashton hissed as he came down the stairs.

“Shit, my bad,” Michael apologized. “He go down alright?”

“Out like a light. You and Luke really wore him out. So, what I’d miss?” he asked as he plopped down next to Michael

“Oh, nothing much. Just apparently Cal and Luke are thinking of following our footsteps.”

Ashton nodded. “Yeah, and Luke I’ll tell you what I told Cal outside. It’s a lot. But whatever help or support you guys need, if this is what you guys decide you want, Mike and I are behind you a hundred percent.”

“It’s definitely a conversation I want to have if Cal does,” Luke said, his hand resting on Calum’s thigh.

Calum rested his own hand on top of Luke’s squeezing it reassuringly. “Course, Lu. And thanks guys. The support means a lot.”

“Course, mate,” Michael told him. “Plus, Ash wouldn’t it be cool for Wyatt to get a cousin? It’s like a sibling with less stress.”

~~~

Later that night, Luke rolled over to his side in bed, propping himself up on his elbow, his chin resting in the palm of his hand. “Were you serious early?”

“Serious about what?”

“Us having a baby.”

“Course I was serious. We both wanna be dads, don’t we?”

In a burst of excitement, Luke pushed himself to sit with his legs crossed facing Calum, who mirrored the position, their knees pressed against the other’s. “You’re dead serious? Cuz I swear if you’re fucking with me I’ll never forgive you.”

Calum chuckled softly. “You think I’d joke about something like this? What do you think I was pestering Ash for?”

Luke shrugged and looked away shyly. “Figured you were asking all the stressful stuff so you could talk me down…”

Calum let out another soft chuckle, reaching out to guide Luke’s face back up to look at him. “I mean, Ash did mention that it’s a process, and a lot of discussions, and decisions to make. Like this doesn’t happen overnight. And that’s the easy part. I mean, we’re talking about the end result being us being responsible for a whole ass human.”

“Whoa… yeah that’s kinda scary putting it that way, huh? But…?”

“But if there’s anyone I’d wanna do this with, it’s you, Lu.”

“Yes!” Luke cheered before kissing Calum deeply. “Okay, so how did Ash and Mike get started? Do we wanna do what they did and adopt like a toddler? Or do we wanna go older or younger? Oh newborns are so cute! But it’s kinda cool when they can talk, and actually play too like Wyatt can. Oh, and imagine if we get a little girl? We can learn to do her hair and we can have salon parties all the time! Wait! Do you think we should look into surrogacy? A little mix of you and me? Is that possible you think?” Luke spewed out all the questions he had in a rapid fire barely taking time to breath between words. He paused to suck down a giant gulp of air, his face flushing. “Fuck, sorry, that was a lot.”

“There good questions, Lu. Definitely things we need to talk about. But maybe we start slower. Talk to Ash and Mike about getting in contact with the adoption agency they went through. See what all our options are and go from there?”

“Yeah that’s probably the smartest way to go about this. Just do what feels right each step of the way. Fuck… but we’re really gonna do this? We’re gonna try to have a baby? You and me?”

“Me and you,” Calum smiled. 

It was quiet for a moment as they settled in for bed, their decision slowly sinking in. Then, just as Calum closed his eyes, Luke whispered out in the dark. “Hey, love?”

“Hmm?”

“Can I be daddy, and you be papa?”

“Sounds perfect, babe.”

~~~

The process, as Ashton had warned them, was a lot. There were interviews, home inspections, background checks, and seemingly endless piles of paperwork. And that was just for Calum and Luke to get cleared. 

Several times they wondered if they should have gone the surrogacy route, but after a few meetings when they were shown some case files, it had been a no-brainer.

They sat side by side as they shifted through file after file, fingers knocking against each other as they pointed out whatever caught their eye. It was the file of a little girl, a baby really at thirteen months old, that had them both gasping at the same time. Brown eyes met blue and there was the briefest of nods. “Um, excuse me, what’s the story on this one? There’s not a lot here,” Luke asked the adoption agency clerk helping them.

“That’s McKenna. She came to us when she was a day old. Safe haven surrender. Sweet little girl. We can arrange a meeting if you’re interested.”

“That would be great, yeah.”

~~~

“So you guys are meeting her today, yeah?” Ashton asked.

“Yeah,” and even though both Calum and Luke were beaming, their voices shook. “Been waiting like what? A month for this?” Calum went on.

“I thought you guys were already four months into this?” Michael questioned.

“Yeah, we are. Shit has it been that long? But since we saw McKenna’s file and now it’s been a month. Longest month of my life…” Luke let out his breath in a small huff, raking his hands through his hair.

“Well, good news is that once you guys get approved to adopt, which you will, the actual adoption process won’t take as long,” Ashton pointed out. “That’s how it was with Wyatt. We got to know him for… what was it Mike? Like a little less than a year while all the processing shit happened. Because they’ll keep scheduling visits so everyone gets comfortable. Makes the transition easier. And then because we had that background established, the adoption process was like… 2 months I wanna say? And that was just waiting for the court date.”

“Something like that yeah. But hey, don’t sweat it if you and the kid don’t click. Like it’s okay. Take your time with it,” Michael jumped in.

“Yeah, definitely. No rush.”

“How did you guys know with Wyatt?” Calum asked.

“You’re just gonna know, mate. I promise. Instinct will take over and you’ll just know.”

Calum understood exactly what his friends meant when two hours later McKenna was set in his arms. Big brown eyes peered up at him full of confused wonder, deciding how she felt about the man holding her and the tall blonde smiling down at her. “Well, hey there, McKenna. I’m Cal, and this is Luke.”

McKenna watched Calum carefully as he spoke, before shifting her attention to Luke who was waving at her. She reached a small hand out towards Luke. Luke held out his index finger for her and her small fist wrapped around it. “Hey, sweetheart,” he cooed softly. “Oh, Cal, she’s beautiful isn’t she?”

“Yeah she’s a beaut, aren’t you, darling? Do you want Luke to hold you?”

Luke held out his arms warmly and McKenna wiggled a bit in Calum’s arms so he started to pass her over, but her free hand bunched itself in Calum’s shirt, not letting go, causing both men to laugh. “Alright, that’s okay. We’ll just hold hands,” Luke told her scrunching up his nose at her and tickling at her ribs, giggling when she giggled.

“This is the quickest I’ve ever seen her warm up to a family before,” one of the workers running the meeting mentioned. “Normally she’s way more shy than this.”

“Does that mean you like us, darling?” Calum asked. “Cuz I really hope it does.”

~~~

Eleven months. Eleven months of having to be content with limited visiting time with the little girl who stole more of their hearts every time they were with her. Eleven of the longest months they’d ever experienced before they got the phone call that everything had been approved and they could finally get in front of a judge to formalize the adoption.

“So, when can we schedule a court date?” Calum choked out over the phone.

“We can get the three of you in front of a judge in three weeks.”

“And that’s when we’ll be able to take her home?”

“Barring any complications, yes.”

“Complications? Um… Sorry, could you explain that?” Calum asked, holding up a finger at Luke who’s eyes went wide with worry.

“Usually it has to do with paperwork that wasn’t processed properly, or waiting the right amount of days, and in some rare cases biological parents popping out of the woodwork.”

“And, do you…” Calum faltered with his question.

“Foresee any complications with your case? No. Everything’s been processed, waiting periods have been waited, and safe haven surrender terminated the biological parents rights.”

Calum let out a small laugh of relief. “Okay. Awesome. That’s great. So three weeks?”

“I’ll forward you the information.”

“Great. Thank you so much.”

“Well?!” Luke demanded as Calum ended the call, chewing on his thumbnail.

“Three more weeks, Lu. Three more weeks and she’s all ours.”

“YES!” Luke whooped, wrapping Calum in a tight hug. “Our daughter’s coming home in three weeks! Three weeks, love! That’s nothing! We can do three weeks, no problem. Plenty of time to get her room set up.”

“Better get to work then.”

~~~

If asked, Calum and Luke couldn’t answer what happened in the courtroom, what with their shaking hands, and pounding heartbeats drowning out any other sound. The words that filtered in were muddled and slow. “Accepted” and “congratulations” before the gavel was pounding and they snapped out of their haze, tears free falling down their faces.

What they did remember in sharp focus was the drive home, with McKenna in the backseat. Luke kept turning in his seat and Calum kept peering through the rearview mirror, each one grinning every time she was still there when they looked, as if they expected each time to find the backseat empty like this had all been a figment of their imagination.

They remembered the way she started yawning and rubbing her eyes as Luke’s voice crooned a soft lullaby at bedtime. The hushed goodnights and I love yous, and the soft glow of the night light. And not sure of what else to do, they turned in for the night themselves.

The alarm clock on Calum’s nightstand said that it was a little after midnight when someone tugged at his hand.

Calum jerked awake, finding McKenna peeking up at him. “What’s the matter, darling?” he rasped.

“I scared.”

“You’re scared? Aw, c’mere, darling.” He peeled back the covers and helped her up into bed beside him. “Everything’s new, huh?”

She nodded, curling her body into him.

“That’s okay. Daddy and I will keep you safe, I promise.”

“Hmm?” Luke mumbled in his sleep. “Love, who are you ta- oh hey sweetheart,” Luke’s eyes blinked open to find Calum cradling McKenna. “Everything okay?”

“Just a little scared is all,” Calum explained.

“Mmm, well don’t worry, sweetheart. You wanna sleep in here with me and Papa?”

McKenna nodded before crawling over Calum to sandwich herself between her dads. “That’s our girl,” Luke smiled, kissing her forehead and drawing the blanket up snug. “All nice and cozy?”

“Mhm,” she nodded with a small yawn.

“G’night, darling. We’ll be right here if you need us,” Calum told her, leaning down to kiss her forehead. “We love you.”

“So stinking much,” Luke added.

As they settled back down themselves, Calum and Luke heard the softest, “Night, wuv you too,” from McKenna, causing both men to fall asleep with grins on their faces, their little girl protectively snuggled between them. Perfect.

__

Tag List

@aquarius-hood1996 @creator-appreciator @philthepegacorn @myfavfanficsever @cxddlyash @youngblood199456 @stormrider505 @iknowyouthinkimbulletproof @hoodhoran @metalandboybands @maybeememez @major5sosstan @1weekago @kaitieskidmore1

[amazingphilza]

DSMP!OC HEADCANNONS

i dunno if ppl on here make dsmp!ocs for themselves outside art but here’s my long list of headcannons?? idk what to call this, but assume all names have c! before it ofc :]

,, this is kinda messy & probably has a lot of plot holes but i just needed a space to write out all my thoughts LOL

also cw / ment of manipulation & ib: dsmp wiki <3

character origin :

previous life was the l’mantree :D

allegedly planted by schlatt, we will never know who’s my canonical parent(s)

reborn as a dryad after niki burns the l’mantree

i think being a dryad would fit especially since they’re typically nymphs of oak trees :]

appearance :

my character’s mc skin has long light brown hair & is seen wearing a flower crown with petals that are around the color of a pale violet and navy blue

clothing would consist of black shoes & a long light grey sweater that falls down to the legs and covers most of the hands which adorned with 2 black stripes on the upper arms

lore / history :

since my past life was the l’mantree, i would’ve known the ins and outs of the history when l’manburg was still standing, up until niki burned the tree

after witnessing everything, i’d hold a grudge on niki (+ allies?) and loyal to wilbur since he’s the whole person that made a meaning of the land of l’manburg

however i’d still be on edge w any side because i could sympathize with everyone to some extent after seeing some sort of distress from everyone at some point

i think seeing both sides of the spectrum when l’manburg/manburg still stood could change my perspective of some other characters

but at the same time, not everything was completely centered in l’manburg so i wouldn’t know the whole story of everyone’s character

i’m currently writing this just after tommy has left the prison & mostly everyone is treating him differently, so i’d try to befriend him by not showing that i dont care about his past & trauma but also not being fully faithful about our friendship ahaha,,,

he seems like the type that needs someone to see through his past history but tommy would definitely disapprove of my character visiting dream at the prison (i would do it anyway :))

vowing my current life to wilbur, i would help dream escape to revive wilbur & follow along with their plans of chaos

i don’t fully support dream but he is the only way to wilbur, making me comply with dream’s decisions

“growing up” in my past life and witnessing endless conflict, it is the only thing i know and understand; chaos

but i think during the process of helping dream & wilbur i’d keep my connection with them secret, being the person to obtain all the inside information they need

i could see myself as a type of equilibrium like ranboo but in a bad way, i don’t know how to explain it

but i would try befriending ranboo since he seems like he is involved in many things and would know a lot, despite his short term memory

unfortunately i’m not sure how much his character actually knows since i haven’t been able to watch his pov that much but i’m sure there’s a lot in his memory book...

to blend in as a normal person within the rest of the characters, i’d surround myself with connor a lot

not only because he needs more lore, connor is one of the “normal” citizens of the smp so i believe being with him doesn’t bring as much attention to myself, unlike people that’s related to the egg and their noticeable features after associating themselves with the egg

he is currently only on bad terms with techno which is rly good when comparing that to other characters and their relationships with other people

connor could probably sense my real intentions eventually & tell everyone else that i’m not who i say i am but if that’s my flaw & my downfall is caused by connor, so be it! sorry dream & wilbur

i feel like for being a young dryad, i’d still fool around with dream/wilbur & help give tommy an small “advantage” to defeating the two ?

like yes i’m supposed to be on your side but where’s the fun if tommy can’t do anything to begin with?

i honestly don’t know if wilbur was revived he’d actually be his vassal but let’s assume that happens, but either way i’m with wilbur on his decisions

but ya dream seems like the type to punish me for helping tommy and send me to the afterlife to learn & become smarter like wilbur had done or smth

in the end, i just want to give tommy bits and pieces that tease him from ending all the wars and problems he has been faced with

like here’s some info about dream and wilbur but it won’t be no where close to enough

but who knows, ghostbur said ‘villains are just heroes that aren’t convinced yet’ & maybe tommy could eventually grow on me & change my ways,,

maybe me fooling around & teasing tommy with answers he’s been searching for is a way to mask that i want to be a good person

ok but imagine after knowing so much about dream/wilbur, the revive book, & the afterlife & then i switch sides,,,

surely if tommy can’t put and end to them, dream would make sure i’m gone for good instead

but also if me & connor are in good terms & he’s canonically a necromancer & can bring ppl back to life,,,,

personality :

to all besides dream & wilbur, i’d try to act passive and friendly on the outside to get on everyone’s good side

however under the mask i am more mischievous & strive to cause more problems for everyone on the server from the inside out

in a way, i’ve taken up some of dream’s manipulative personality but still very understanding

i’d like to think of my character as a good listener,, trying to do less talking than others so i do not open up about my true self and intentions

i’ve seen rumors about schlatt & mexican dream also being revived along with wilbur & i feel like i’d have some soft spot for schlatt & pick up a few things from his own character, not sure what though

schlatt planted l’mantree theory, dad!schlatt au part 2 !! /j

because of my character’s closed off and quiet personality, i feel like i’d be pretty analytical

i would know how to slip between the cracks with some characters & notice the smallest things to make them question themselves

maybe my character is good at holding their composure, and not that susceptible to being “emotional” in a way so it’s easier to face people

like i understand when a situation is sad, etc but i can’t show emotion towards how i feel about it (i don’t know if that makes sense but ya!)

i wanna try to elaborate more,, like imagine my character before tommy visits the prison, i would be unfazed from when i found out he died to the point he’s released and we find out he’s been revived

everything is a constant blur hehe

i just can’t fully process everything i guess? i dunno if that’s helpful but yeah!

in the end though, my moral compass has been very tainted; despite wanting to show my loyalty, it can be slightly easy to sway me, making me internally feel guilty to other people

but me trying to get on everyone’s good side to impress wilbur/dream to seem useful to them would ruin me before i would even realize that i’m another “pawn”

we know damn well dream is faking it till he “makes it” but yk,,

but i’d be stuck in this kind of dilemma of not knowing what thoughts are my own or just something trickled down from wilbur or dream

there’s like maybe something that clicks in my head like “maybe i wanna think for myself for once” or smth

like who am i really?

powers , bonuses , etc :

since dryads can technically manipulate plants in some ways, theoretically i could control the blood vines to some extent ???

i’m pretty sure dryads can communicate with plants so i could understand what the blood vines are saying as well

maybe i could get a good sense of what the egg is all about and stuff

assuming that i understood anything that was happening with the egg in the first place but anyway—

i guess similar to ranboo like how he can’t really be around water without some type of amour or something, it would make sense for me to primarily reside in a type a forest or be near one ?? who knows

seems a bit morbid in a way because of the whole history but if i can somehow easily get rid of the blood vines without it affecting me (if there is still some there) i think it would be kinda pretty to build a tree base in the middle of the l’manburg crator (iskall tease)

like it can show a sign of some rebirth, not the same government repeated once again but a new era in general

you know how you see like destruction years after it the disaster or smth happened and it gets all overgrown with plants and stuff? ya that’s what i’m going for in my head (mumbo jumbo s7 tease)

i know it’s covered in glass already but i dunno, some broken glass and a giant tree emerging from the whole thing and all the rubble seems cool

i’m not a good builder but i have the vision LMAO

omg puffy is like a sheep human hybrid im pretty sure & like there’s a specific type of dryad that are a protector of sheep & other animals?? i’m not exactly sure but that seems like an interesting element to incorporate somehow

also glatt randomly planting a oak sapling in quackity’s lore stream yes pls feed my nonexistent dsmp character lore /j

i honestly dunno how to incorporate the fact dryads can turn shapeshift into trees when trying to escape something but i read something that if a dryad stays in a tree form for too long they’ll forget who they are and stay stuck as a tree?? which like woah that’s cool & some material but at the same time what—

since everyone’s backstory is kinda a mess, mr beast parent tease bc he planted a bunch of trees /hj

i have realized wilbur saying like “the whole reason i built this nation is gone” & blowing up everything or whatever is kinda a plot hole in like ‘why would i follow wilbur if/when he’s revived when he said this?’ but i’d like to think he was the one that made some meaning of the area lmanburg was on, which includes the lmantree

like he was the one that started everything and created that sentiment of that land, and however he views it now is how i would see it now

he gave meaning to my past life and now in my current life, i feel this obligation to repay him for it

not really lore bc i think it was cc!tommy talking to cc!ranboo about his height & age when he first joined but yk it would funny to make my dsmp character than his just to slightly spite him anyway

canonically 6’4 dryad yes . /hj

also i have no idea anything about hannah and her lore but we do be flower buddies :D

also omg like this isn’t at all important but the way ranboo can pick up grass blocks will just have me at awe, i dunno seems in theme with the forest/plant stuff

and i remember reading like there was something about dryads and apples but i can’t remember but i’d give tommy a bunch of apples /hj

apples am i right chat,,,,,

i’ll just have infinite apples in my inventory, like kill me in game, not like losing lives kinda deal but just in general and boom stacks of apples

“bee i get you’re half tree but do you just poop apples out like they’re nothing??” “girls don’t poop” /j

ok but like no matter how many streams i watch i cant grasp where everything is but omg but no if i was new to the server & stuff, canonically & not, i would feel my character to be the curious kind to explore everywhere

like besides a mini tour from some other person in the server, since my character only knows things in the bounds of lmanburg, i’d go off exploring different places like pogtopia, the sewers, showchester, etc

i feel like my character would be really into history, like they would have questions about what happened to lmanburg after the last war? what was life like before wilbur? what was the whole history about the antarctic empire? i dunno but reading a bunch of books from a library seems really interesting

oh but in theory, me and tubbo are loosely related if you wanna count schlatt as my “dad” because he supposedly planted the lmantree ???

i mean could make sense but it seems like a stretch

also if my character ever got close to schlatt, i’m not sure if this is canon, but i swear one time he mentioned how the whole dsmp sever is just a game/server in a game & he’s the only one that knows that ??? but like imagine if i found that out canonically,,,,,

big existential crisis pls

and i’m not 100% sure how dryad shifting works with like going from female to tree form and stuff but if i’m able to morph into different girls on the server & act as them,,,, the about of problems that can cause in the lore omg

lemme frame niki real quick and get inside information /j

oh ya and like hey bee do you support the government then? yes but no. whatever my “fav” person is canonically (assuming this is based in the beginning of this whole hc) whatever wilbur thinks, i think. head empty. but subject to change as the dsmp storyline progresses and stuff :]

ngl i wanna throw in some like random lore that doesn’t make sense to throw people off but i can’t think of anything

not actually really lore related but my choice of stream music like how ranboo has his undertale stuff that makes everyone cry, i will have in love with a ghost

yup i like in love with a ghost sm & i’m pretty sure their music is like not dmca too which yay but yk theoretically never gonna stream on the dsmp but still a fun aspect to think of bc i love listening to music & it’s very impactful to a story & associating something to it makes it more meaningful :D

like i could imagine the chill pop lofi piano stuff fits witha few lore streams of like exploring the whole smp before my character would really go out with being this lost villain in a way?

tubbo’s gangnam style who?

like i feel like i made my character bad/evil so they could have potential to get better in the future

on one hand, i’ll end up w dream and/or wilbur for the rest of my life, which is okay but i could also switch to be with tommy or even disregard all of them and be with techno/phil or quackity & potentially schlatt even who knows

also i cant wait for more connor lore tho, like as much as i tried to make my character give him more content i wanna see how everything goes with him having connections to schlatt & stuff

anyway i would’ve made concept art for my character but i honestly don’t rly like my art currently but who knows LMAO

and lastly if u read all of this ily /p

i might update this later when there’s more lore but ya

[t455a-rambles]

A Little Insight of StarCatcher Boyfriend and Girlfriend.

Since I've got nothing better to do, I might as well write what and how's the relationship between Boyfriend and Girlfriend.

Oh yeah! Don't forget to support the creators of the mod, Kip and Startdust Tunes.

Now, from my first post for Boyfriend's backstory, I briefly mentioned how he and Girlfriend are mostly fascinated in one another and they took the opportunity to hang out more as they are collecting the Star Gems. [I know I keep on switching from "stars" to "specific gem" to "Star Gems". But this time, this time it's called Star Gems, okay?]

But I want more in depth with it. And this is where it begins

...

Okay, now let's backtrack to when Boyfriend and Girlfriend first met. Now I mentioned Boyfriend was terrified yet curious with Girlfriend and vice versa. Boyfriend was the first who started the conversation. Of course he said "Hello" to Girlfriend.

And as you would guess it, Girlfriend did not pick up the language immediately and just responded with, "Bloop doo beep?" Boyfriend tried to slow down his speak and uses hand gesture. "Hello. My name is Boyfriend. What is your name?" To Boyfriend's surprise, Girlfriend understood what he was saying and responded with fluent English. "Oh. Nice to meet you! My name is [ [REDACTED] Because I dunno what an alien name suited for her lol]."

Boyfriend tried to pronounce Girlfriend's real name, but it ended up sounding so bad, to which he apologized for it. Girlfriend reassured Boyfriend and it was okay for him to not get it right. Girlfriend tried to come up with a name that is easy for Boyfriend to remember. Then an idea popped out. "How about you call me, Girlfriend."

Boyfriend looked up to Girlfriend with a red blush on his face. "Y- You can't call yourself "Girlfriend". We're not even dating!" Girlfriend rolled her eyes and let out a sarcastic tone, but it's a playful one. "You're name is literally "Boyfriend" for crying out loud."

Girlfriend did have a point and never did Boyfriend felt speechless by that fact. He then agreed to call the alien "Girlfriend", but he still wanted to pronounce her name correctly. This made Girlfriend flattered by his determination.

Girlfriend then asked where did Boyfriend come from and his response was gotten suck by a powerful energy while he was out to take a planet's sample. He figured it was a wormhole which brought him here.

"You're lucky that the wormhole brought you here. Who knows where you might land. Maybe near the blackhole." Boyfriend was terrified by the possibility and Girlfriend said it in a calm manner did not help the situation at all.

Girlfriend asked about the planet Boyfriend previously visited, brushing what she said earlier. Boyfriend shook off the dread feeling and explained it excitedly.

Then a question came in Boyfriend's mind. "Uh... Girlfriend. Does this planet have a supply of oxygen? I'm worried my tank is running out of air." Girlfriend wasn't familiar with the word, "oxygen" and what's the use for it.

Boyfriend explained that it's a gas molecule which helps humans stay alive. He tried to find something to draw as a example on what it looked like. Sadly, there wasn't anything to draw.

Meanwhile, Girlfriend slowly understood why the oxygen was important. "Uh... Hate to break it to you, but I don't think there's a particular gas around here." Oh how Boyfriend was panicking because he would die quiet early. And if he died, he wouldn't be able to explore and study this different universe.

Seeing Boyfriend in distressed, made Girlfriend feel bad for him. She tried to come up with something that could help Boyfriend stay alive. Then, an idea struck. She took off her ring bracelet and transformed it into a star shape. And later slapped it onto Boyfriend's glass helmet. "There you go!"

Boyfriend was stunned on what happened and touched the area where Girlfriend "gently" pressed the item. "Uh... Girlfriend. What did you put on my helmet?"

"That's a Star Shield, it used to be my bracelet. What it does is for you to survive the harsh space out there. In this case, you are able to breath without even worrying about your low oxygen." Girlfriend explained it proudly.

Boyfriend slowly taken in the new information, which to him was another puzzle he needed to solve. "Okay. But why put it on my helmet?" He asked as he pointed the said object. "Oh! I just thought it looks cute there!" Girlfriend smiled happily.

Boyfriend smiled as well. "Thanks, Girlfriend. But, are you sure you're okay without your bracelet as your shield?" Girlfriend waved her hands dismissively. "It's okay. Besides, why do you think I have two more on my upper arms?" She showed her own Ring Shields.

"Huh. I thought they were just accessories." Girlfriend just scoffed playfully. "You'd be surprised what other things I can do with these bracelets." Boyfriend was all excited again. "Really?! Can you show me?"

"Hmm... Nah. That's top secret." She giggled as Boyfriend begged for her to tell.

.

Both Boyfriend and Girlfriend just wandered together through the crowded area. Even if it's a terrible idea to Boyfriend, but Girlfriend reassured him that her people have seen different species from different planets visited and left their planet occasionally. So Boyfriend wasn't that strange to them.

But even with Girlfriend's calm words, it didn't shake the crowd staring at Boyfriend curiously before moving on. Such an awkward and intense feeling there. But that didn't stop Boyfriend from examining some weird objects. Did I said some? I meant a lot of weird object and Girlfriend had to explain them all, which was tiring.

"Boyfriend, can we rest up? My feet are starting to sore." Boyfriend was so distracted that he didn't noticed how long they were walking. Sheepishly, he agreed and now Girlfriend was the one dragging Boyfriend to a quiet spot.

As the two sat beside each other, Boyfriend huffed out his breath, which caused a fog appeared on his helmet. He chuckled and watched the fog slowly evaporated. "Thank you, Girlfriend, for teaching me the wonders of your planet."

Girlfriend smiled and said "Your welcome" to Boyfriend. There was another request from Boyfriend himself. "Hey, Girlfriend. If you don't mind, can you teach me your language you've said the first time we met?"

"You mean the [REDACTED] or to put it simply, the Beep Language? Are you sure? It's kinda complicated for someone new to it." Boyfriend looked at Girlfriend with determination. "Yeah, I do! How else am I suppose to communicate with your native language? I uh... kinda feel bad for you to speak English all day." Boyfriend bashfully scratched his lower helmet.

Girlfriend found herself admiring Boyfriend's determination even more. "Alright. I'll tell you the basics and work up from there." Boyfriend nodded excitedly and their lesson began.

.

From this point, I mentioned one of the Royal Guard found Girlfriend and reported to Daddy Dearest, or should we say [REDACTED]. [Lol I'll never get tired of using that word. I promised I'll come up with the alternative names for the Dearest family. Or maybe not. Who knows lol].

Anyway, you know what happens after that. So let's just skip to the aftermath of the first battle.

.

So, the Star Gems are scattered, right? So, how would Boyfriend travelled without a vehicle? Simple, he rides on Girlfriend's speakers. At least, that's what I think. Besides, what's a flying object use for if it's not for transportation, right?

But you know what the coolest part when taking a cruise on a flying speaker with Girlfriend? They can watch a lot of beautiful stars and dust clouds up-close. Man, I wished I can do that too.

From there, Boyfriend's continued to asked more questions to Girlfriend. And even though it's annoying sometimes, Girlfriend didn't mind. So long as she could travel longer with someone other than her parents and relearning everything about the universe.

After all, Boyfriend gave some insights on what he knew during his astronaut training and from his reading. And with a little friendly conversation about themselves even more. Oh, and Boyfriend is getting fluent with the Beep Language.

I do think they slowly develop an attraction from one another before they meet the last two battles. Boyfriend and Girlfriend told each other how their respected species act and do when they are in love.

I will explain Girlfriend's side on my upcoming fanon world-building for Girlfriend's universe. So keep an eye for that ;]

...

And that's it for today's fanon story! Wooh! I had a lot of fun creating these interaction with two people and semi their personalities as I am impromptu writing this lol.

Anyway, thank you for those who had read this far!

Have a nice day!