#maybe the 'found family' isn't the main couple

[sauntervaguelydown]

Love & Pratchett

The thing about Terry Pratchett is that he wrote about people falling in love plenty, but he never wrote about what I'd call typical romance. When love is sincere and profound it is also very... understated. Practical. Sybil & Vimes--his most famous couple--are like this. The demonstration of devotion is in small things, like wearing the horrible uncomfortable socks your wife made for you because she made them for you. There's a sense of the inevitable about them coming together.

In many cases you wouldn't know it was romance except that the recognizable formula of "boy and girl" picks it out. Look at Newt & Anathema in Good Omens--that's classic Pratchett. They barely exchange a romantic word and in fact it's almost out of Anathema's hands whether she's going to hook up with this absolute soyboy (affectionate). She's not really that nice to him. I always get the impression that the core of their connection is that they're bonded by this experience that no one else can understand. Bonding through shared experience (and even trauma) is a common theme in these subplots.

There's definitely a few showier romance plots, but they're always very tongue in cheek--for example, the literal Romeo & Juliet in Unseen Academicals where Juliet is a very good hearted but basically stupid girl and the POV character is her exasperated mom-friend. There's a lot of gags in the early Discworld novels about male and female characters who Have to fall in love because that's the way narrative works. It's not that they're doomed to be unhappy or even fake or anything, they're just not that deep. Mostly, monogamy is a mundane affair and not really the business of onlookers anyway. Admittedly, the female pov characters have a tendency to wish that things could be a bit more... dramatic. Look at Angua, she's always vaguely frustrated that her boyfriend doesn't react to their relationship with a bit more angst, but ultimately she's practical too. She just wants her partner to be a bit less practical for a moment.

I just reread Nation. Nation isn't a Discworld novel, but I think in a lot of ways it's the most condensed Terry Pratchett you'll ever find in one place. Two characters who are both clever to start with, and wise by the ending, have fallen in love with each other. It's never directly stated. No one confesses to anyone. They get teased about it a little by adults around them. They rescue each other, perform feats of unasked-for heroism on each other's behalf. And at the end, although they want to stay together, they choose their responsibility to their families--and to the future of the world--over staying together. There's one kiss on the cheek as a farewell. But you know that they're still thinking of each other, because at the end of the timeline despite living worlds apart their entire lives, they ask to be buried together.

This is, in my estimation, is the most romantic thing in the Terry Pratchett catalogue. If I can be forgiven for pretending to know the mind of a stranger, I think this is what he found the most romantic. It really is just a profound friendship, between two people who maybe don't always understand each other but always respect each other. Sex really is just a bonus thing, it's nice and certain characters (Angua, Carrot come to mind) pretty clearly have a good time with it, but it's sort of taken for granted. Even kissing isn't all that important. You can't really tell who's in love with who in a Pratchett novel just by looking for physical demonstrations of affection.

Anyway, over the years of Good Omens discourse, this has been the main thing that informs my reading of Aziraphale & Crowley. I'm not widely read in Gaiman material, so I can't speak to that, but from a Pratchett-canon lens, Aziraphale and Crowley fit the vibes of a romantic relationship pretty well. The shared experience, the sense that only they really can understand each other because no one else has seen what they've seen. The heroic gesture of Crowley in the burning shop--the respect that they have for each other, despite the occasional bitching--the "ah. so it's like that." observation of people around them. And most of all, the way they come back together at the end of the novel in a poetic but understated moment, because coming back together of your own free will and going forward together is possibly the most romantic thing that a couple can do in a Pratchett novel.

[mrprettywhenhecries]

worth the squeeze [s.h]

One. Worth Sticking Around For

↪︎ a Stranger Things/The Girl Next Door AU

Steve Harrington ✗ f!Reader

➺ w.c. 4.4k words ➺ tags/warning(s). no use of y/n, reader character uses she/her pronouns, sexual themes, nudity, skinny dipping, Steve's a lil bit of a perv ➺ a/n. I had this thought a couple weeks ago about writing a Girl Next Door AU with Steve and it was just too perfect to pass up despite my other ongoing wips. The plot isn't going to follow the movie exactly, but the main theme will be the same. Comments and reblogs are greatly appreciated! 💚

When the most beautiful girl Steve's ever seen starts staying at his neighbor's house, he'd do anything to get to know her, even make a fool of himself for her.

[ masterlist]

“I’m tellin’ you, Robin, I’m getting really tired of it,” Steve exclaimed as he drove her home after their shift at Family Video.

“Oh yeah, must be tough going on so many dates with sooo many beautiful women,” Robin scoffed, throwing him a wry look.

“Yeah, I mean, my sex life has never been better, but it’s like, maybe I want more than just sex, you know?” Steve continued as if he hadn’t heard her, gesturing animatedly with one hand while the other gripped the steering wheel.

Robin lifted an eyebrow at him.  “You’re making it real hard to feel sorry for you,” she retorted dryly and Steve returned her flat stare with his own.

“I just wanna meet a girl that I genuinely like being around, I mean, in addition to having great sex with,” he added and Robin laughed.

“Maybe stop having sex on the first date then, Dingus,” she pointed out.

“Yeah yeah,” Steve muttered, knowing she had a point.  After his dry spell the year before, he’d been trying to make up for all the action he’d missed out on, but now… now he was starting to feel empty.  He wanted something meaningful.

Dropping Robin off, Steve headed home, turning onto the quiet street he’d lived all his life and pulled into the empty drive–his parents off on some business trip, leaving him the house all to himself.

Pushing open his car door, he noticed an unfamiliar car parked next door and frowned.  The older woman who lived there didn’t often have visitors.  Heading inside, he forgot about the car when his stomach began to rumble.  Not bothering to change out of his work uniform, he threw some food in the oven and went about taking the trash out.

As he dragged the heavy black plastic bag down the drive, a sound caught his attention and he turned to find one of the most beautiful girls he’d ever seen pulling a suitcase and garment bag out of the car in his neighbor’s driveway.  Steve’s breath caught and he gaped at her, letting his gaze linger a little too long on her backside and he let out a surprised yelp as he ran right into the trash can at the end of the driveway.

Nearly tripping and sprawling atop the overturned can, he quickly straightened before fumbling to right the can and get the bag inside it with a loud clatter.  Glancing up hastily to see if she’d noticed, he winced when he found her watching him, an amused grin on her lips before she turned away and headed back inside, leaving Steve feeling like a giant fool.

Glancing down at himself, he finally realized he was still in his work vest and let out a sigh.  No doubt he’d just blown his chance at a suave first impression and he muttered to himself as he reluctantly headed back inside, dragging his feet sullenly.

Shrugging off his work vest, he wadded it into a ball and tossed it at the stairs, leaving it lay where it landed before climbing to his room and flopping down onto his bed, reaching for the cordless phone on his bed stand while he waited for his food to cook.

“Y’ello?” Tommy Hagan answered on the third ring and Steve turned his head so his voice wouldn’t be muffled by his pillow.

“Hey Tommy, it’s Steve.”

“Harrington, my man, how’s it hangin’?” Tommy exclaimed and Steve let out a weary sigh.

“So, check it out, there’s this girl staying at my neighbor’s, one of the hottest chicks I’ve ever seen, right?  I mean, she was unbelievable–like an angel, and her smile–” he trailed off with a sigh before shaking his head angrily.  “I haven’t even talked to her yet and I already blew it!” he groaned, running his hand down his face.

“How’d you manage that?” Tommy asked, his voice laced with amusement.

“I was taking the trash out and there she was, bending over to get something out of her car and what do I do?  I trip over the goddamn trash can!  I mean, I’m only human, what am I supposed to do, not look?”

Tommy’s raucous laughter filled his ear and he cringed.

“What’d she do?” he asked once he caught his breath.

“She turned and looked at me and then went back inside,” Steve groaned.  “Oh, oh!  And the worst part!  That’s when I realized I was still wearing my damn work vest.”

“She probably thinks you’re a loser, man,” Tommy pointed out and Steve let out a heavy sigh, lifting his hand from his face.

“Don’t remind me,” he grumbled.

It was probably karma for him complaining earlier about wanting more than sex.  Watch, now he’d probably go back to not being able to score at all.

Letting his eyes regain focus, he looked out his window and stiffened.  Next door, a light flicked on in the second floor window across from his, and the girl he’d just been telling Tommy about came into view.  Completely oblivious that he could see her, she began to undress, pulling her shirt over her head, revealing a red lacy bra that hugged her breasts perfectly, pushing them up and together.

“Oh shit–” he breathed, forgetting for the moment that he still had the phone to his ear until Tommy replied in confusion.

“What?  S’goin’ on?”

Steve pushed himself up from the bed and moved closer to the window as she reached behind her back to unclasp the bra, letting it slide slowly down before tossing it aside, her back still to him as she slipped her jeans down, her red panties matching her bra.

“I can see her through the window, she’s undressing,” Steve whispered, his mouth going dry, hoping she’d turn so he could get a better view.

He may have matured in the year since he’d graduated, but he was still a guy after all.

“Holy shit, lucky bastard.  How’s her rack?”

Steve barely heard Tommy over the rush of blood in his ears and he held his breath as she finally turned toward the window.  For one blessed moment he had a perfect view of her chest and he let out a low whistle, admiring her tits and wondering how nice they’d feel in his hands.

It was when his gaze flicked back up to her face, his eyes finding hers staring right back, that panic flooded him and he dropped the phone in his haste to duck below the window and out of sight.  Steve could faintly hear Tommy demanding to know what was happening, but he ignored the phone, slowly pulling himself up just enough to peer through the bottom of the window to see if she’d truly noticed him or not, only to grimace as she quickly pulled a sweatshirt on over her head and shut off the light as she strode out of the room.

“Shit,” Steve hissed, finally picking the phone back up and bringing it reluctantly to his ear.  “I think she saw me.”

Tommy let out a loud snort.  “Good job, man.  Now you’re definitely screwed.”

“Yeah, don’t remind me,” Steve grumbled, hearing the timer on the oven go off downstairs.  “My food’s ready, I’ll talk to you later,” he muttered, cursing his luck.  It was definitely karma coming back to bite him.

“Okay, later.  Keep me posted,” Tommy said and Steve hung up the phone to bound down the stairs and retrieve his pizza before it burned.  Almost as soon as he opened the oven door and pulled the pan out, the doorbell rang.

“Who the hell could that be?” Steve muttered under his breath, dropping the pizza atop the stove and turning off the oven to get the door.

Taking a moment to peer through the peephole before pulling the door open, Steve’s mouth fell open in shock at the sight of the mysterious girl from next door standing on his doorstep–the last person he’d expected to see.

Working moisture back into his suddenly dry mouth, he squashed down the surge of worry that she was only there to tell him off for being a perv, and opened the door.  Leaning nonchalantly against the door frame, he flashed her his most charming smile and ran a hand through his hair to wrangle it, bringing her attention to his best asset, hoping for a second chance at a better first impression.

“Hey there, we haven’t been properly introduced, I’m Steve Harrington,” he drawled, offering his hand.

The drive from Indianapolis to Hawkins was longer than you’d expected and when you pulled into your aunt’s empty drive, all you wanted to do was stretch your legs and collapse into bed, but you knew if you did that then you wouldn’t be able to make yourself get back up and you still had to finish unpacking your car before you could allow yourself the sweet embrace of sleep.

The spare key was exactly where your aunt had said it would be and you let yourself in, deciding to make another trip to grab the rest of your luggage.  It had been such a long time since you’d last visited, it took you a moment to remember the layout of the spacious house.  You didn’t understand why your aunt hadn’t downsized yet, especially since it was just her all alone in the big house, but you weren’t complaining about the extra space, especially since she’d offered you one of her spare rooms til you could afford your own place.

Dropping your backpack on the bed, you returned to your car for the rest of your stuff, aware of the noise coming from the neighbor’s driveway.  You barely paid attention to the young man dragging his trash out to the road as you bent over to grab your suitcase and garment bag from the backseat.

As you straightened, the loud clatter of trash cans falling over made you turn and you had to bite back the laugh that nearly sprang to your lips as the neighbor nearly fell head over heels in his distraction, his eyes quickly tearing away from you as he fought to right himself.

For a long moment, you watched him, smiling to yourself before turning back toward the house. Despite making a fool of himself, he was rather handsome and looked to be about your age.  For a second, you deliberated going back to introduce yourself, but the way your stomach grumbled reminded you that you’d barely eaten anything other than junk food all day and the call of finding sustenance was too great to ignore.  Besides, the poor guy’d just suffered enough humiliation, you didn’t wanna add to that at the moment.

Dragging the rest of your stuff up to your room, you flicked the light on as the sun began to dip below the horizon, and pulled out something a little more comfortable to put on, stripping your t-shirt over your head and unhooking your bra.  Tossing the garment away, you stretched your arms above your head, working the kink out of your back before turning to grab the sweatshirt you’d just laid out.

Glancing up to the window, you realized you could see into the room directly across from yours in the house next door, and your heart leapt into your throat as you locked eyes with the young man you’d just encountered in the driveway, watching as he hastily ducked out of sight, knowing you’d caught him staring.

Clenching your jaw, you yanked your sweatshirt on and stormed out of the room and down the stairs, ready to give the pervert a piece of your mind.  When he answered his front door, however, you faltered for a moment at his confident greeting, as if he hadn’t just been caught watching you undress.

“Hey there, we haven’t been properly introduced, I’m Steve Harrington,” he drawled.

Your brows rose slightly as you stared at his outstretched hand.  So he wanted to pretend like nothing had happened, huh?  Well, two could play at that, you thought, contenting yourself with waiting for the opportune moment to bring it up and catch him off guard.

Taking his hand, you introduced yourself, taking a moment to get a proper look at him.

He was definitely cute, despite spying on you.  Maybe your stay in Hawkins wouldn’t be so dull after all, provided Steve Harrington didn’t turn out to be a total creep.

“I’m pretty sure I definitely would’ve remembered if we’d met before,” Steve said, releasing your hand, though his warmth lingered on your palm.  “So uh, what’re you doing next door?” he asked, looking you up and down discreetly.

“It’s my aunt’s place.  She’s out of town right now, but she said I could stay for a bit til I get back on my feet.  I just quit my job,” you explained, hoping he wouldn’t ask too many questions about your former profession.

“Oh, bummer.  About your job, I mean!  Not that you’re here,” Steve added quickly, making you laugh.

“It’s okay, I was ready for a change,” you said, shrugging, shifting your weight.  “Guess that officially makes us neighbors then.”

Steve nodded, grinning.  “Guess it does,” he mused, his voice trailing off as if he were lost in thought.  

“You gunna invite me in, or make me stand here all night?” you prompted, raising an amused brow at him and Steve shook himself.

“You hungry?  I just pulled a frozen pizza out of the oven,” he offered, gesturing over his shoulder and your stomach chose that moment to remind you how hungry you still were.

“Sounds perfect,” you replied, hoping Steve hadn’t heard your stomach’s impatient rumble.  “You live here alone?” you asked, letting your eyes wander as you followed him in, Steve leading you to the kitchen.

“Nah, with my parents,” he answered with a grimace.  “But dad’s on a business trip and mom went with,” he explained, rifling through one of the drawers for a pizza cutter.

“That’s nice,” you mused, opening the fridge to peer inside curiously.

“Not really,” Steve muttered, turning to pull a couple plates from the cupboard and hand you one.  “Mom’s only there cause she doesn't trust him.”

“Ohh, I see,” you murmured and Steve let out a heavy sigh, divvying up the pizza slices onto your plates.  

“I don’t wanna be anything like him,” he said quietly and you wondered if he’d meant for you to hear or not, hastily clearing his throat and moving on from the subject.  “You want a beer?”

“Yeah, alright,” you replied, accepting the cold can he passed you from the fridge.

“C’mon, let’s eat by the pool,” Steve suggested, leading you through the large open living room and out the sliding glass door to the stone paved patio.  

His parents were clearly loaded, but earlier you’d noticed him wearing a Family Video vest, so either daddy’d cut him off, or he didn’t want his family’s money, and you briefly wondered which was the case.

Steve pulled a couple lounge chairs next to each other and gestured for you to sit, sprawling out next to you.  “So, how long do you plan on staying in Hawkins?” he asked, taking a bite of his pizza and cracking his beer open one handed.

Leaning back in your seat, you chewed your pizza thoughtfully.  “I’m not sure, honestly,” you mused, washing down your pizza with a swig of beer.  “Guess it depends if there’s anything here worth sticking around for.”

When your eyes flicked back to Steve, you watched him swallow, his own gaze quickly darting away.  “I could show you around, y’know, if you want,” he offered, his shoulder lifting in a half shrug, aiming for nonchalance and your lips twitched.

“I’d like that,” you said, picking one of the pepperonis from your pizza slice and popping it in your mouth, sucking the sheen of grease from your fingers.

When you once again caught Steve staring, his beer can half raised to his lips, hovering midair as if he’d forgotten how to drink, you decided it was time to go for the kill.

“I’m starting to think you have a staring problem, Steve Harrington.”

At your words, Steve gave a jerk, spluttering into his can in alarm and you had to bite back a grin at his reaction.

“What do you mean?” he exclaimed, thumping his chest with a fist as he coughed.

“Well, there was that time in the driveway, just now, and… when you watched me undress through your window,” you said, cocking an eyebrow at him.  “Did you get a nice show?” you asked and Steve’s brown eyes widened, his mouth falling open before stumbling over a hasty apology.

“I-I only saw for like an instant!” he argued, holding his hands up.  “It was no big deal, really.”

“No big deal?” you repeated, scoffing quietly and Steve hastily backpedaled, wincing at the offended look on your face.

“I mean, not like that.  You looked great, but I–I didn’t–!  Look, I’m sorry,” he insisted, chancing an apologetic glance at you and your expression softened for an instant before turning impish.

“So, what are we gunna do about this?” you mused, giving him a pointed look, your eyes sparkling with mischief.

“What do you mean?  Can’t you just accept my apology?” Steve asked warily, a frown tugging at his lips.

“You saw me.  I think it’s only fair that we even the score,” you insisted, leaning back in your chair, watching him expectantly.

“You really expect me to strip right here?” he scoffed, an incredulous note to his voice.

“You got a little show, now it’s my turn, pretty boy.  It’s only fair,” you pointed out, your lips turning down in a pout.  “Are you shy?” you mocked and Steve rolled his eyes.

“Alright, fine,” he replied, pushing up from his seat and pulling his sweater over his head, tossing it at you before toeing off his shoes and undoing his jeans, dropping them to stand before you in his underwear and socks, heat licking up his neck at the way you stared, your gaze traveling over him appraisingly.

“Not bad, but I think you’re forgetting something,” you said, your lips twitching in amusement.  “I want the whole package,” you insisted, pointing to his crotch and Steve’s face flared hotter. “C’mon, I think that’s enough,” he argued halfheartedly, but your sharp look held him in place.

“Fine, guess I’ll just go home then,” you said with a shrug, making to push out of your chair.  “It was nice meeting you, Steve–” 

“Wait–!” he exclaimed, and you paused, turning back to look at him.  “Alright fine,” he huffed, hooking his thumbs under the waistband of his underwear and pulling them down, letting them pool at his ankles.

“You happy now?” he asked, throwing his hands up and you bit your lip as your eyes went to his package.  He was definitely well endowed.

“Yep,” you replied, playfully popping the p, your eyes returning to his.  “You know, you’re lucky your back yard is pretty secluded,” you pointed out and he snorted, standing there awkwardly, while trying not to look awkward.

“How long do I have to stand here like this?” Steve asked and you tapped your lip, pretending to think.

“I guess that’s long enough.  But before you get dressed…” you trailed off, standing up and walking closer to him, noticing the way his eyes widened and his breath hitched, wondering what you were about to do.  “Let’s go for a dip,” you finished, giving him a shove into the pool, laughing as he hit the water and came up spluttering, shaking his hair out of his face.

“What was that for–?”

Steve’s exclamation died on his tongue when he noticed you were stripping as well and he didn’t know whether to turn away or if you wanted him to look this time, though you didn’t give him much of a chance, diving into the water as soon as you dropped your clothes to the ground.

When you surfaced, you wiped the water from your face and grinned as you swam toward Steve.

“So are we even now?” he asked, a smile of his own curving his lips and you laughed.

“Yeah, I’d say so.  For now.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Steve retorted, his eyebrows climbing.

“I mean, I’m just assuming you’ll do something stupid again,” you laughed, pushing a wave of water at him playfully.

Steve splashed you back with a smirk.  “Yeah, you’re probably right about that,” he agreed.  “So what else do you do for fun, y’know, besides torturing people?” he teased.

You couldn’t help but study him for a moment–the square curve of his jaw, his chestnut hair stuck wetly to his forehead and the dark moles that littered his neck and shoulders.  There were two on his cheek in the perfect spot for kissing.

“I uhm, I like photography and dancing, going to the movies or skating, and swimming,” you answered, huffing a soft laugh.  “Though I should probably start job searching soon,” you sighed.

“What was your old job?” Steve asked and you dropped your gaze, wondering if you should just rip off the band aid and tell him.  But you liked him, and you liked the way he looked at you… If you told him the truth it would make things weird, it always did.

Would it be so bad if he didn’t know?

You could make a fresh start in Hawkins.  No one knew your face.  There’d be no more awkward stares or lewd come-ons, just a sweet guy that seemed to like you for you and who hadn’t taken advantage of the fact that you were both naked in his pool.  Maybe for once you could just feel normal.

“It was dumb, I’m just glad I quit,” you murmured, avoiding giving him a real answer.  “I wanna make a fresh start, maybe go to college, I dunno yet.”

Steve nodded, sobering as he watched you tread water, bobbing in place, carefully keeping his eyes on your face.  “So… do you have a boyfriend?” he asked, floating closer, and you dipped below the water slightly to hide the giddy smile that tugged at your lips.

“No.  Do you have a girlfriend?” you asked, biting your lip when a dazed grin spread across Steve’s face.

“Nope,” he chuckled.  “I’d like one, though.”

“Mmm,” you mused, scrunching up your brow in thought.  “Yeah, I think you do need one,” you teased, kicking your feet lazily as you tilted your head.  “But what kind?”

“Well, for starters, someone cute, and sweet, and clever–” Steve began to list, his gaze never leaving your face as he continued to describe you.  “Definitely someone spontaneous and fun, but down to earth too, who’s not afraid to call me on my bullshit.”

You hadn’t noticed when you’d moved closer to him, your chest only inches from his, and your breath hitched at the realization, warmth spreading through you.

“She sounds pretty fantastic,” you breathed, trying to keep your voice light, Steve’s smile making you dizzy.

“Yeah, she definitely is,” he replied, his hands skimming your sides.  “Any idea where I might be able to find her?”

Unable to make your voice work, you felt yourself lean in, your gaze flicking from Steve’s lips to his eyes, breathlessly waiting for his lips to claim yours as he grasped your hips, holding you close, his eyelids fluttering as his nose brushed against yours.

A loud rustling in the bushes nearby made you freeze, however, ice racing through your veins, and Steve jerked back at the same time you did, suddenly afraid the two of you weren’t alone, only to jump as a rabbit burst from the underbrush at the edge of the property to race across the yard and you threw your head back and laughed at the yelp that left Steve’s throat.

“Oh my God, you were so scared!” you exclaimed, your laughter continuing despite the splash Steve directed at you.

“So were you!” he countered, an incredulous grin twisting his relieved expression.

“Yeah, but I didn’t scream like a girl,” you pointed out, letting out a scream of your own as he swam after you, catching you easily round the waist and a wave of arousal washed over you when you felt his length brush against the curve of your ass and give a twitch.

Steve cleared his throat, hastily releasing you before either of you could become tempted to do more.  And while part of you wished he hadn’t, you were glad he didn’t want to move too fast.

“I’ll uh, I’ll get you a towel, okay?” Steve said, and you caught the pink flush that suffused his cheeks before he swam to the edge of the pool and climbed out.

Averting your eyes for a moment, you couldn’t help but watch as he walked away, admiring his cute ass before he disappeared back inside the house.  When he returned, a fluffy towel wrapped around his waist and another in his hands, you gave him a pointed look and he huffed a soft laugh, squeezing his eyes shut as he held the towel open for you, not peeking til you were covered.

“I don’t see what the big fuss is about, you’ve already seen all of me,” he teased, his warm voice drenched in playful sarcasm.

“And it was a very nice sight,” you purred, smirking at him and patting his cheek as you passed, bending to pick up your clothes.  “Walk me home?” you asked, glancing back at him over your shoulder.

“Yes, ma’am,” he chuckled, shaking his head fondly, and the two of you walked around to the front of your aunt’s house.

“Thanks for the pizza and the swim,” you murmured, stopping in front of the door.

“It was my pleasure,” Steve replied, stepping closer, his damp hair falling into his eyes before he pushed it away.

“You know you owe me a real date now, right?” you asked, wetting your lips, and Steve’s grin grew.

“How about tomorrow night?”

“I think I can fit that into my schedule,” you teased, leaning in to press a kiss to his warm cheek, wanting to leave him wanting more.  “Good night, Steve.”

“Good night,” he echoed softly, watching you disappear inside before finally heading back home, his stomach fluttering excitedly, the same as yours.

➺ taglist. @super-unpredictable98 @heartbreak-sandwich @santacarlahorrorshow @sailorskunk @babydollbaron @thecreelhouse @melodymunson @corrodeddeadlydoll @stevesxyellowxsweater @destroya2005

[arlerts-angel]

REMEMBERING SUNDAY — k. hanemiya

determined to show kazutora what love really is, the two of you become surprisingly close... but one day, kazutora disappears without a word.

💛 note: heed the warnings. it is not my intention to romanticize dv in any way, shape, or form. if this is triggering for you - skip this one and i'll see you next time <3 this fic is my first contribution to the fics for gaza initiative! thank you @reiners-milkbiddies for the donation and i hope you love it. 🫶 @ficsforgaza

⚠️ warnings: dark content. allusions to dv (kazutora's dad) | brief mention of murder x2 | hurt no comfort | canon-adjacent | gender neutral + physically ambiguous reader

if you asked kazutora what love was a couple of years ago, his answer would've been his fist in your face.

that's what he learned from his father.

you were determined to show his broken soul what real, true love was.

every day.

you pissed him off every day in the first year. so much so, that you learned how to take a punch.

slowly, but surely, kazutora started feeling remorse for his actions. he realized he didn't like hurting you when all you did was show him compassion.

it was a hard realization for him; that you were a lot like his mother, who only ever loved him, and his father, even when it hurt her.

you quickly became his solace. kazutora would start using different coping mechanisms until he learned not to be violent in the name of love.

some days were harder for kazutora, and he'd need some time alone. "healing isn't linear," you told him, "i'm here when you're ready."

he started going to your house instead of his every day - it became his home away from hell.

he'd tell you all about this new gang he founded with a few of his buddies. he knew you didn't like it, but always assured you that it was good, and it was good for him.

a couple years passed and the two of you grew together, as did your feelings. you never addressed it. the way your relationship was, there was no need to. you were happy. he was happy. "if it's not broke, don't fix it" type of thing.

he held your hand every day to and from school. he'd walk you home even if he had a meeting with the gang.

he'd go over to your house and stay as long as he could on sunday's until your parents said it was time for him to go home. he'd kiss your forehead in secret and say "i'll see you in the morning".

but one monday morning, kazutora didn't show up to your house.

he didn't walk you to school and he didn't walk you home.

you heard through the grapevine all day that he went to juvie for third degree murder.

your parents explained to you what they saw on the news. kazutora had, in fact, been sent to juvenile detention for killing his friend's brother.

kazutora...? no... not my 'tora.

the only people allowed to call or visit were his immediate family.

you didn't see him for two years.

you didn't hear from him for two years.

two agonizing years.

at your locker, you heard a jingle. soft, yet loud enough to grab your attention. it came from someone's earring. he had a thousand-yard stare, as if he'd been through the trenches. his face seemed familiar.

kazutora?

he looked at you only for a second, and in that second you swore the life returned to his eyes.

maybe he didn't forget...

he blinked, and his eyes were lifeless again. he muttered to himself and carried on - he never looked back.

kazutora wanted nothing more than to hold you and cry. it pained him to walk away from you, deep down.

i don't have time... must kill mikey...

banner + dividers by cafekitsune

taglist: @milky-aeons @lees-chaotic-brain @katkusuo @tetta-kissaki @priv-rose

@toji-girl-main @blueberrisdove @darkstarlight82 @kodzukein @trevengersprincess

@little-miss-chaoss @i-literally-cant-with-this @ravereina

[mahuhumaling]

JATP Season 2 Wishlist

that i wrote in my notes app back in:

and realized i never posted it here? tbf i'm rarely on tumblr. but because i really miss them rn i want to share my ✨ brainrot ✨ that i had back when i thought they were getting a renewal.

Carrie Wilson

she was my biggest flaw in Season 1. I wish her "redemption arc" is fleshed out more in Season 2; give her either more context & backstory to validate her reason for unnecessarily antagonizing Julie, or screentime to properly address how she's just projecting an emotion completely different into bitterness and anger into Julie's recovery

show particularly her earlier dynamic w/ Flynn and Julie? Maybe as Flynn calls her out, we'd get flashback glimpses prior to Rose's death (maybe even Double Trouble temporarily being Triple Threat 👉🏽👈🏽)

for some reason i'm picturing a scene where she's in her dance studio (she has one in their mansion, of course) practicing some of her Dirty Candy routine when she keeps messing up and not in the right mindset to keep dancing. i feel like the best (maybe easiest but whatever) way to guide the audience into her artist mind is to make her be a perfectionist. in frustration, she blows up for a minute before slumping onto the ground and reminisces her fun times with Julie & Flynn

also when you have her develop, please don't make her lose her femininity and the bubblegum pop music, it's great

Old Songs Resurfacing

it'll prove how detailed & thorough you are as a screenwriter if you pay off the songs mentioned in Season 1 in passing to be actual songs in Season 2

Unreleased: Get Lost, Long Weekend, Crooked Teeth, My Name is Luke, and if that riff from the scene in EP. 5 that spurred on the Bobby reveal isn't from one of these songs, add that too

Demo Album: Late Last Night, Lakeside Reflection, In Your Starlight

Willex

imagine your queer couple gets to have their first kiss first than your het main couple, not only will that settle Madi & Charlie's statements about being uncomfortable in doing a kissing scene and maintaining the priority of Juke's emotional over physical relationship, it would also make an powerful statement

Reggie's Character Arc

i know that he initially had an arc that involved a romance with Flynn but because of the ages of who they casted, they scrapped it and didn't have time to rewrite the scripts for him as filming neared, so they have time to adapt to how jeremy portrayed him for season 2: a lovable dork who craves familial love

since there's a possibility that lifers can now see the boys, maybe some found family trope for Reggie and Ray Molina?

he has pretty much formed a parasocial relationship with him at this point

so why not instead of a love interest, Reggie can have his character arc develop & we see his family before thru flashbacks and paralleling those in the current times because he sees Ray as a father figure

picture this: it's raining, Bobby opens the garage door to the sound of knocking, the boys find Reggie soaking wet and out of breath when he tries to say he doesn't know where else to go then the boys immediately figure out another fight in the Peters household happened. Reggie tries to talk again when Alex (because even though they're the airhead-sarcastic duo, they know they love each other) runs up to hug him and tells the other he doesn't have to say anything

cut to a freshly showered Reggie, quietly watching tv with Bobby, Luke, and Alex in the garage, eating whatever

also a solo acoustic country song, pls. just to make him happy

The Aftermath of the Deaths

for both the boys and Rose

we get parallels about how Bobby dealt with trauma and grief to Julie

like, the reason why the clothes are still in there (are to have costume changes for the boys) is because Bobby immediately moved out of the house (therefore also the garage) and left the clothes there because he couldn't bear to burn it, or visit the boys' houses to break the news to their families and return the clothes, or donate it somewhere so he just...left it. it would make for a more solid reason (for costume changes) and an emotional context as to how Bobby really tried to forget them because it was "easier."

it would also make sense why Carrie and Julie ended up friends. Rose probably was there for Bobby when they discovered what happened at the alleyway, so they stayed friends over the years and had their respective families but still kept in touch, (bonus points if absolutely nothing romantic happened between them! yay to normalizing platonic male-female relationships) and why Rose would immediately think of Bobby's three late bandmates to send for Julie when she was on her deathbed

Bobby never really "moved on" (because grief is a really complex thing). it's showed that he has a therapist and everything, and this could definitely have some aftereffects on his daughter. Carrie growing up seeing her father be this amazing rockstar but a negligent father and only showing love in ways she doesn't need (like riches and fame and connections to the music industry) because he's actually a really lonely man on the inside and no one can see that except for Bobby's spouse and Carrie. it'd explain why Carrie is spoiled, and other negative character traits that Carrie has on the surface

it's even why Bobby changed his name to Trevor: 1) Bobby is so closely associated to Sunset Curve and it's an absolute pain to be reminded of that every day, 2) it's a stage name and artists really do get that

More Worldbuilding

they already had some pretty creative concepts/ideas in the first season, so why not expand/expound on them a bit more

the instruments are attached to their souls that's why the boys at first can only touch them, like how Willie's skateboard and helmet are attached to him

which is why when they attach themselves to the world of the present, they gather up energy and focus on touching tangible things like the picture frame

this may follow the logic toward the end where they are finally able to touch Julie because she has become attached to their souls. emotionally.

More Creative Collaboration

i believe in the principle that when a story is finally released/published/told to the world, the world shares it. this is also visible in film/tv where when the scripts are finished and actors receive them, the story becomes part of theirs to work on. which means that they have some sort of autonomy over their characters' motivations, a chance to be heard of their ideas and pitches, and why some certain scenes wouldn't work, etc etc. it doesn't just become the director's story nor the screenwriters'.

the actors' ideas such as Perfect Harmony and their solos from Nothing to Lose are great because they let them in. they took risks, and it paid off incredibly well. more of that please. have them be a part of the writing process, (also the story), but never forget what made the music production great in the first place. be coherent and don't be like others that let too many hands work on one piece—it will lose its sound, its identity.

Julie Knowing

that Nick is possessed by Caleb. ohmygOD. hear me out.

the same S1 ending will play somewhere in 2x01, but it will be revealed that Julie was watching through the window the entire time and when she opens the door to receive the flowers, that last look she gives him is actually her scheming.

determined to get Nick back, imagine The Promised Neverland's level of mindgames Julie could play with Caleb because we already know our girl's smart

Free Willie Willie's Freedom

since the boys feel indebted to Willie's help, they insist on helping him too with getting rid of Caleb's stamp

maybe through his connection with Alex? or maybe Willie's family or friends who are still lifers (which is unlikely but either way). he needs to be saved !!

Song Sequences Ideas

juke counter melody duet like Rini's "Even When/The Best Part," Shane & Mitchie's "Wouldn't Change a Thing," or dodie & Jon Cozart's "a love song/a non love song"

emotional carrie ballad paired with lyrical hiphop choreo

willex song - i absolutely have no idea where this could go directionally but maybe alex on an acoustic guitar with a really soft sweet tune

reprises of S1 songs but in the complete opposite of their original style (the fandom's lonelier All Eyes on Me version, i see u)

nick guitar solo - just because Sacha actually plays, idk how it'd fit in to the plot yet but hey

Nothing to Lose (Reprise) - back in the '90s, a producer manipulates Bobby to sign a record deal to become a star but on one condition: disassociate himself with Sunset Curve, to which he first declines until he slowly gets persuaded. (sort of like Todrick Hall's So Lucky to Be You meets Lyn Lapid's Producer Man)

"So how about it, Bobby Shaw? Do we have a deal?"

"Trevor."

"I'm sorry?"

"Call me Trevor Wilson."

i'm pretty sure someone made an animatic with this idea too but i cannot for the life of me find it !!

7. Season 2 starts the same way as Season 1 does before the opening song plays

Black screen that reads a text "Hollywood 1995"

a pan down to the Orpheum's overhead sign that reads "SUNSET CURVE SOLD OUT"

cut to the interior with Rose finishing up her cleaning when a stage manager calls out: "Sunset Curve!" to which Bobby abruptly stops his pacing back and forth to look up. he and Rose look at each other. music swells until...

cut to him running onto the alleyway, "are they still not finished eating? those gluttons are dead to me i swear—" he cuts off his own words when he sees the boys getting dragged onto stretchers. but we, the audience, don't see it. just a close up of bobby as the ambulance lights reflects his face. rose comes up behind him, still clutching their t-shirt.

[i honestly have no idea if Bobby should get on stage because it just proves Luke's theory of The Orpheum's opening bands eventually becoming big & successful so it'll explain the Trevor Wilson fame even though at first he only did it for the boys, or if he shouldn't because according to the article Julie googled he ran away immediately after they were pronounced in the scene] but either way, this is how the opening starts.

then it progresses to Rose and Bobby respectively having children so they could parallel each other blah blah

8. Julie plays a simple song on the piano while the guys watch her in awe

Storytelling through Props

let's dive deep into Rose's luggage/suitcase and use the props to head for Julie's emotional attachment with them

they already did it with the wardrobe: Rose wears the black leather vest in the pilot while Julie wears the same thing in EP 6

add depth to the characters' relationships like us finding out Julie's multilayered necklace is actually a gift from Carrie or something

SOYON ANN YOU'RE A GIFT FROM GOD. Bobby's necklace is present in both young and old!him

**Rose in flashback scenes should be wearing clothes we've already seen Julie in Season 1 just for greater effect.

The Bobby Conflict

definitely needs to be brought up again by Season 2; they only discarded somewhere in the middle because more pressing matters like the boys' existence blipping away was pushed to the forefront of the story

however, The Bobby Conflict changes. it'll be cleared up that he was offered a record deal as a solo artist by a manipulative producer. and given that the poor boy is only 17 (too, maybe), he agrees. what he doesn't know is the contract's fine print: giving up Sunset Curve's royalties

that information clears it up to the audience and the band, so the conflict becomes this: Bobby's Survivor's Guilt. god wouldn't that be so good tackling that in a kids'/family show.

[twignotstick]

Broken Brothers (and How to Fix Them)

Part 4 ❤️ | Part 1 <- 🧡 | Part 2 <- 💙| Part 3 <- 💜

Note: This story is based on @cupcakeslushie 's Empyrean Weeping au. These characters are not my own, and this story is in no way canon to the main story. I wrote this as my love letter to the story and the characters. Especially April :)

Tags: Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, ROTTMNT, Raph & April, April & the Turtles, Splinter's there too, NOT MY CHARACTERS, Empyrean Weeping AU, guilt, talking it out because we're adults, basketball(???), turtle pile(!!!)

Warnings (if there's anything I should add here, tell me please!): yelling, small physical injury

Words: 3,015 (i may be insane🤪)

Summary: April was able to figure out her first brother easily. Now, she gets three more, with a couple more issues to worry about.

----------------------

When Splinter told her where Raph was, April couldn't help but want to go home. To leave. To act like she didn't know.

But that isn't what big sisters do.

So, instead, like the brave pre-teen she was, she went to the dojo. She went to the shrine, where Raph was already kneeling. She paid her respects (for as long as a hyperactive kid could) to those kids she had never met.

“Do you think I would have been a good big brother?” Raph asked, staring at the family photo in front of him. One of the only remnants he and his father had of his little brothers. 

“You are a good big brother,” April responded without hesitation. “You're still looking for them, aren't you?”

“...well, yeah…”

“Then you're being the best big brother that you can be!”

Raph rubbed his knuckles. “But, what if, when we find them, I don't know how to be a big brother? Maybe I won't want to be a big brother then…”

“You can just follow my lead!” April said, puffing out her chest. “I'm already the best big sister, aren't I?”

“Course you are!” Raph said. “But I can't do everything you can do, y’know?”

“Like what?” April asked suspiciously.

“Like…” Raph pondered. “Like putting your hair up! Raph ain't got no hair.”

“Hmm…” April rubbed her chin in thought. “True. But you don't need to do your big brother-ing exactly like I do my big sister-ing. You do Raph! Besides, who cares about hair when you do have the cutest, coolest, most spikiest shell ever in the whole world!”

The girl hopped on Raph's back, climbing on his spikes and tickling under his armpits in just the right spots, leaving both of them laughing blobs on the floor.

Raph was going to be the best big brother ever. April just knew it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“DONNIE! GET DOWN FROM THERE!”

“NOW I WILL BE THE BALL!”

“NO!”

“I MEANT B-BALL DON, NOT- JUST LISTEN TO RAPH!”

Mikey’s hand wandered over to April’s fries, trying to snag one without looking away from the action in front of him. April decided to help him and angled the box so he could grab one.

Donnie had somehow managed to get himself on top of the basketball hoop, with one foot hooked over the backboard, one entangled in the net, and both of his hands wrapped around the hoop itself. Both Raph and Leo were beneath him with their hands up, ready to catch him when he inevitably fell. It was amazing he hadn’t already, honestly.

“April, tell him to get down!” Raph begged, shooting the bystanders in the stands a sideways glance.

“He doesn’t listen to me,” she responded helpfully. “He’s your little brother.”

“At this point, I don’t think he knows how to get down,” Mikey added from his spot on the bleachers. “You might have to cut his foot loose.”

“What do you mean?” Donnie asked, scoffing. “I can get myself down from this contraption just fine!”

Mikey smirked, squinting his eyes. “Prove it.”

Donnie unhooked his leg from the backboard behind him and tried to jump forward, only to discover that he had, in fact, tangled his foot a little worse than expected. He yelped when all of his body weight was suddenly put onto the small space of his ankle as his body inverted. Raph and Leo rushed up to help him down, but found that they could only push him up to lessen the pressure from him dangling. 

Raph’s eyes were blown wide. “What do we- MIKEY! DO SOMETHING!”

April and Mikey both came up quickly, and Mikey clambered up Raph’s shell. He pulled a small pocket knife from his hoodie and started sawing at the net while Donnie winced and flailed. Eventually, they got him down, and April could feel the collective relief across the brothers.

Today was supposed to be an easy day. Go out to the surface, pick up some fast food, and show the boys how to properly play basketball. For the most part, it was an easy day. But of course, it couldn’t stay easy. Stupid turtle luck and all. So when Leo just happened to say the wrong thing for Donnie to misconstrue, it all fell apart.

“What were you thinking?!” Raph shouted, looking at Donnie on the ground who was massaging his irritated ankle. “You could have gotten seriously hurt! You did get seriously hurt! I warned you!”

“Chill out, Raph.” Leo tried to place himself between the two. “It's not that serious. No need to get your mask in a twist-”

“Not that serious?” Raph got up in Leo’s face. “You’re telling me it’s not that serious?! You were just as worried as I was!”

Leo pushed Raph’s plastron lightly. “Yeah, when he was dangling from a basketball net. Now he’s on the floor, and it’s fine.”

“We’re all good, bro!” Mikey sat down next to Donnie, looking at the injury himself. “Yeesh, that is not pretty, though…”

April was starting to feel like she wasn’t supposed to be here for this conversation.

“All good?!” Raph stomped on the ground, leaving a small crack on the court. “If we hadn't caught him, he could have broken his leg, or smashed his skull open! If we weren’t here, he could have just sat here, waiting for some human to find him! What happens then?!”

April tried to step forward. “Raph, you need to calm down.”

Donnie looked up with pitiful eyes. “I'm sorry, Raph, I didn't-”

“WHY DON'T YOU GUYS EVER LISTEN TO ME?!”

Raph threw his hands up, only to freeze when he looked down.

Mikey had his hand firmly in his hoodie pocket, ready to take out his pocket knife again. Leo had readied himself into a defensive position, one he had practiced many times in the dojo. Donnie held his arms braced in front of his face, neck turned away, ready for impact.

Donnie's eyes were clenched shut, but Mikey and Leo kept theirs trained on the threat.

The threat.

The threat.

Raph's breath got shaky, and he stepped back slowly. His eyes kept darting across the brothers beneath him. He picked up his pace and hurried out of the basketball court, walking with purpose down the sidewalk under the New York moonlight.

April walked up next to the boys on the ground. Leo looked at her, with despair and guilt in his eyes. “April, we didn't…”

“I'll find him,” she promised. “You boys just stay here, alright? If anybody walks by, put your hoods up. Sound good?”

The brothers nodded solemnly, and April hurried to catch up with the eldest. 

The New York streets were, thankfully, empty due to how late it was. The only lights showing now were the light of the moon, the stars, and the streetlights. The air felt thick, but April couldn’t tell if that was because it was humid or because of the nervousness she felt. April was able to see the large form of the snapper quickly moving down the sidewalk. She jogged to catch up, only for Raph to turn and start scaling a nearby apartment building.

The turtle got up to the roof quickly because of course he did, he's been training as a ninja his whole life. April sighed and strained her neck up to where he had vanished. “You know I'm not good at this stuff, right?!” She called up, not expecting a response. Sighing in defeat, she moved toward the fire escape.

She scaled up, having to toss herself up when she reached the top level, and hefted up onto the roof. After recollecting her breath, she looked up to see Raph curled in a ball in the far corner of the rooftop. His arms were wrapped around his legs, knees held close to his chest. He had his beak stuffed down, hiding his face, with the hood of his hoodie haphazardly covering his neck and the back of his head.

April settled down silently next to him.

His breaths were deep, but they had a relatively normal pace. April wasn't worried about that. She was beginning to worry about how deeply he was shoving his face down. She rested a hand on his arm softly, ready to pull away if she needed.

“...did you see their faces?”

April almost missed the whisper. “Raph?”

“Their faces, April,” Raph sighed, lifting his face to reveal his reddened eyes. “There was so much fear in their faces. They… they were scared, April. They were scared of me.”

He choked back a sob. “They were scared of me, April! They thought I was gonna hurt them! Little brothers don't get scared of big brothers! Big brothers are supposed to keep their little brothers safe!”

He placed his chin on his knees, looking blankly into the air. “Raph ain't no big brother. I just… ain't built for it. They deserve more than what they got.”

April put a hand on the side of Raph's face, making sure he was looking at her. “Do you want a hug, big man?”

Without hesitation, Raph wrapped his bulky arms around April's much smaller body. April knew he was holding back, but the squeeze around her core was still strong. She didn't mind.

Over her shoulder, she heard the whimpering voice of her little brother say, “...why can't I do this?”

April rubbed the turtle's spiky shell through the hoodie he was wearing. The spikes were threatening to poke through the fabric. “You're still learning how to be a big brother. Just like they're learning how to be little brothers.”

“If I had done something, maybe they… m-maybe they wouldn't have gotten hurt. I-if I'd stepped up as a big brother, maybe none of this…”

Raph's breath hitched as his tears started to fall.

“...you're not talking about the hoop anymore… are you?”

Raph squeezed her tighter, rubbing his face on her shoulder.

“None of that was your fault, Raphael. You were a kid.”

“I was supposed to protect them, April!”

“Maybe you were. Maybe that's what you should have done, and you didn't. But you can't change that now.”

Raph leaned back, and April wiped a tear from his face. Only one; she didn't dare wipe them all. He needed this.

“You can't beat yourself up because of things you didn't do. That's not what big brothers do.” April lifted his chin, just a bit. “What big brothers do is help get through the aftermath. You have to be there for your little brothers when they need you. And sometimes, they have to learn things the hard way. It's your job to make sure they truly learn, and heal.”

Raph leaned into April's palm. “I don't know if I'm all cut out for being a big brother anymore, Apes.”

April huffed through her nose. “Well, that's too bad.”

“What?”

“You don't get a choice no more, Raphie. You wanted to be their big brother. Now they need their big brother. So either you leave your baby brothers without a big brother to take care of them, or you tough it out and make them feel loved.” April lightly punched Raph's shoulder. “I didn't put all this effort in for nothing, either. I'm trying to be a big sister too. And with brothers like yours, it ain't easy.”

“Mikey's easy,” Raph laughed.

“Sometimes, maybe, but other times, he's a perfectionist and a doormat! And Leo's always got a stick up his butt, and don't even get me started on Donnie!”

“Hey!” Raph shoved April's shoulder back. “Don't be talking about my little brothers that way.”

“And there's that big brother.” April smiled, patting his arm. “It's like you don't even have to try.”

“Well,” Raph said, grabbing April's hand to hold, “I learned from the best.”

April's chest puffed proudly, and she pulled Raph in for one more hug.

The sweet moment was interrupted by April's ringtone coming from her back pocket. She pulled her phone out and answered Mikey's call.

“Hello?”

“Hey April! Did you find Raph?”

April looked at Raph in front of her, then back at her phone. “Yeah, I found him.”

“Sweet! Well, uh, we were going to just head back to the lair, and you guys can meet us there? I think there's a Lou Jitsu movie, a bowl of ice cream, and a turtle pile with Raph's name on it. If he wants it, of course! And I think I can convince Pops to get in on it too…”

Raph met April's eyes, then inched closer to speak into the phone himself.

“I'll hold you to that, big man.”

Mikey immediately cheered up on the other end of the phone at the sound of his big brother's voice, and April handed Raph the phone so they could talk. She sat back and watched Raph apologize to Mikey, all while smiling and promising the biggest hugs he could possibly give.

He had grown so much. Physically, that was obvious. But ever since his little brothers came back into his life, April had seen Raph grow as a person. He was better for it. He was stronger for it. Because now, he had something to protect.

Raph was going to be the best big brother ever. April just knew it.

----------------------

Apologies were given, ice cream was eaten, and Lou Jitsu movies were watched. The four brothers were left sleeping in a pile of limbs and bean bags, and it was the happiest sight April had seen in months. Raph at the base, with his arms wrapped around Donnie and Leo at his sides, and Mikey tucked into a ball on Raph's plastron. Each of them, just a picture of bliss.

Splinter had gotten up to make tea, which he had done quite easily with his ninja dexterity. April, on the other hand, had struggled for a full 3 minutes to get out from her wedge between Leo and Raph without waking them. It was worth it, anyhow. Even if just to see the brothers like this. (And to talk with Splinter, but the boys being cute took priority.)

The rat filled his absurdly skull shaped kettle with water and began boiling it. He turned around to see April and smiled. “Would you like a cup?” he asked softly.

“Sure!” April affirmed. “I'd love that.”

The tea brewed, and the two enjoyed each other's company in silence. April had never felt quite as close to an adult other than her parents as she did with Splinter. And sure, he was a giant rat man who often did strange things like singing to get his back popped into place and bragging about how hot he was in his past, but he was one of the kindest people April knew. Human or not. And coolest, of course. He was a ninja warrior, what did you expect?

Once their cups were filled, they returned to the living room. April sat on Splinter's couch, while Splinter himself stood to the side. Both looked at the slumbering turtles as they sipped their tea.

“Thank you.”

April looked down at Splinter, whose eyes were filled with pride. “Me? Why?”

“They would have never been like this without your help. Usagi's and Cassandra's as well, but especially yours. It is because of you that they can be so peaceful like this.”

“A rare sight,” April snickered.

“Yes,” Splinter agreed wistfully. “When you have four teenage boys, you learn to appreciate moments like this.”

April looked fondly at the rat, then at the boys, with a strange fullness in her chest. A familial feeling. One growing stronger by the day.

“You have done more than help them,” Splinter continued. “You have encouraged me to come into my role as their father. You have reminded me, time and time again, that I am their father, and I must act as such.”

“‘Reminded’?” April teased. “You don't need reminding. You're, like, the best dad ever. No offense to my actual dad.”

Splinter laughed, a smaller version of that hearty, old man laugh he had. Quiet enough not to disturb his sons.

“I'm serious! You should get some sorta reward for this. Maybe a plaque- ‘World's Best Father Who Got Turned into a Giant Rat and Accidentally Got Four Impromptu Turtle Sons’.”

“Oh, April.” Splinter placed his small hand on April's arm, looking over at his sons with shining eyes. “I have my reward.”

April fought laughter at the cheesy remark, but she kept silent. The rat put his empty cup down and climbed back into the turtle pile, carefully nestling back into the perfectly sized space between Raph's plastron and Mikey's. Even in his sleep, Mikey's arm instinctively curled around his father.

April suddenly felt a wave of fulfillment in her core. A feeling that told her she had done something right. That she had truly made a positive impact on something.

And maybe that something was a family of mutants. Four boys forced to grow up too soon and a father with haunting memories in his mind.

They weren't perfect. They never would be. Not with the hand they got. But, even so, they were trying. They were improving. That was all April could ask of them.

Some things would never be fixed. In certain ways, her brothers would always be broken.

They just needed someone to help carry them when they shattered. 

April finished her tea, placed her cup next to Splinter’s, then stepped as quietly as she could to return to her place in the pile. Donnie scrunched up and rubbed his face at the disturbance, but fortunately didn't wake. When he calmed back down, he placed his cheek on the crest of Mikey's shell contentedly, drooling just a bit.

As April settled back in, Leo rubbed his face in her hair. Raph churred softly at the feeling of pressure returning to his chest. All of the mutants let out a calm breath as their bundle became complete once more.

She was always happy to pick up the broken pieces, especially if they brought her warmth like this.

○●○●○●○

Behold, the finale. 8,776 words total. I had to rewrite some parts of this a couple times to get it right. Originally, I was just going to end it with Raph agreeing to go home, but that didn't feel like a proper way to wrap up this whole story. And with the lack of Splinter throughout, I figured that last scene would be the perfect way to wrap it up. 🐀

Shout out to @cupcakeslushie again. The EW comic was actually the thing that finally made me get a tumblr account instead of watching from the sidelines. Now I get to enjoy one of the coolest communities ever, thanks to that. Thank you, slushie <3

(also, i may or may not have something for venus in the works,,👀🩵)

I plan on writing more @tmntaucompetition propaganda stuff while the comp is going on. There are so many skrungly aus i want to get my little paws in,,,, But after that, ive got some aus of my own that i cant wait to share!

Check out the tmnt au comp, follow EW (THE NEXT PART OF THE LEO ARC COMES OUT TOMMOROW, AH), and thank you for reading! :)

[necrotic-nephilim]

I started in DC by reading fanfics, but as I began to read actual comics, I started to be unable to read the actual fanfic that got me into it in the first place because it's so out of character.

But there are still some stories that I love to read because I love the found family trope so much, even if it isn't really accurate to the source material.

As a comics purist (sometimes), are there tropes that you like enough that you'll still enjoy a fic even if it's not accurate to canon?

oh my god this is SUCH a fun question. bc while i started with the comics, there were certain characters and/or character dynamics where i was exposed to the fanon before the canon (just bc it's hard to read everything when you start out just to read some fanfic) and so i've definitely experienced the fanon to canon transition. (*especially* with Jason Todd. i had only read 80s/90s stuff where he was already dead or the New-52 bc that was on-going when i got into comics and man. the fanon misunderstandings i had about him before i got frustrated and sat down to read all his pre-Flashpoint stuff were absolutely bonkers.) and aside from that, whilst i tend to prefer canon over fanon, i'm not past giving fanon its flowers for occasionally having really interesting insights. occasionally. so some of my fanon "guilty pleasure" tropes would probably be

Morally Grey Tim Drake - this is one where if you try to back it up with canon, i *will* get salty about it. of everyone in the Batfam aside from maybe Bruce and Cass, Tim has the *most* black and white morals. often his internal conflicts are routed in such an inability to compromise his moral views and it can cause him to clash with other characters. he's *very* stiff and rigid in his beliefs and is *rare* to compromise in even the smallest ways. i mean, DC has repeatedly used Tim Drake of Tomorrow/Savior/Gun Batman!Tim for a reason. it's to demonstrate that of everyone, Tim *cannot* have his morals compromised. there's no grey area for him. he's zero or a hundred, so if he tips over the edge of "too far" he tips *all the way*, and doing so is one of his worst fears, how he could go "too far" if he let himself. a couple panels out of context from Red Robin (2009) (which was a grief spiral for Tim to begin with) don't change that. now that said. if it's done *right*, i sort of love Tim being morally grey in fanfic. it takes a specific flavor for me, and it's incredibly important to include that mental spiral along with it, of him struggling to justify it. i don't have any interest in "Tim Drake is loosy goosy with Bruce's morals and has the highest kill count and no one knows teehee" bc it doesn't play with the interesting parts of making Tim morally grey, which are fracturing his psyche. but all in all, i think it's fun to put Tim in a morally grey area and i will read it in fanfic and i enjoy writing it a lot

Joker Junior!Tim Drake - i've not written it on this account (yet) but on my main ao3 account one of my biggest fics surrounds this concept. this is one of those "well *technically* it's canon but only in a specific very divorced from the comics universe and would not work at all in the main timeline" so, i categorize it as fanon in that 95% of fics exploring the concept are not doing so within the Batman Beyond universe, but the main timeline. i just love it. I'll take any excuse to whump Tim, but this concept is so fun. psychologically breaking Tim will always be my favorite pastime. there are so many ways to explore the long-term effects this could have on him, how it could affect the Batfam. i'm not a fan of it being used as a "gotcha" to Jason or Babs' trauma with the Joker to paint Tim as the Ultimate Victim, but it is fun to see how their relationships would be affected by being mutual victims of him. (i have a vague JayTim idea where TIm fully retires from being Robin after being Joker Junior and killing the Joker, making Steph Robin for most of his typical Robin era and Jason still tracks him down out of curiosity bc he wants to know what happened and all. very underbaked but i've got thoughts.)

Renegade/Apprentice of Slade!Dick Grayson - this is another one where yes, this happened *sort of* in canon, but i highly doubt most people writing Renegate!Dick have read or are actually pulling from Nightwing: Renegade. it's just an exploration fo the concept fo Dick being Slade's apprentice and i will always eat it up in any capacity. whether Dick grows up with Slade from a young age, or chooses Slade for whatever reason later in life. it's not anything that works in canon bc it compromises Dick morally (similar to the above with Tim) and therefore will always come across incredibly fanon in most fics. but i can't say i don't enjoy it. it's fun to make Dick a little morally fucked up and see what you can make him under Slade's tutelage.

Jason & Damian Meeting in the League -there's no world where i believe this could work in the canon comics. (maybe in the Young Justice cartoon i suppose, but even then i think it's iffy) i would go as far to say it's wildly unrealistic. i don't see a world where Ra's would let Jason anywhere *near* Damian, bc Jason was Talia's pet project that he didn't approve of. that all said, there's something very interesting about how they *could've* met and them potentially bonding during that timeframe. them being somewhat brotherly during this time because Jason sees Bruce in Damian and sort of latches onto the kid and Damian is full of wonder hearing real stories about Batman and Robin, then that getting violently ripped away by Jason leaving the League is fun to me. it's fun how that could affect them within the Batfam and all. it's super fanon to me, but i do not care. i will eat it up

Bad Dad Clark Kent/Good Dad Lex Luthor - i will admit as a late, i've been less and less kind to this particular fanon bc of everything i've argued with people about, *this* one seems the most pervasive as misunderstood fanon. i don't mind when fanon exists, my gripe is when ppl try to claim it's canon. and the *arguments* i've had over this with people who can never seem to cite an actual comic are... frustrating. but that said, i think there is something fun to this strictly in fanon. the duality of who you expect to accept Kon and who you expect to hurt him being flipped is just sort of fun for the occasional guilty pleasure fic. it can make Kon's internal conflict a bit more interesting. the same goes for the Jon favoritism from Clark, it's not a canon thing (and i rlly wish ppl understood how complicated the timeline of Kon and Jon is and any distance from Clark toward Kon isn't malice, it's that Kon is from a timeline that Clark does not remember in the current canon so Clark just straight up doesn't know the poor kid.) but it's sort of fun to give Kon that complex of being overlooked and forgotten sometimes. making Kon just a *bit* more Luthor than Kent will *always* appeal to me in fanfic, especially if he *knows* it's wrong but craves approval from anyone who will give it.

Good Dad Bruce Wayne - i'll die on the hill Bruce is canonically a shitty father. maybe not to the extreme some people write him as, but he's not great at it. that said, i enjoy it in fanfiction. sometimes, i just want silly fluff or hurt/comfort where Bruce finally gets it right and manages to comfort whatever Batkid is in the fic. one of my favorite fics of all time is hinged on Bruce being a good dad, so i think it's just fun to explore how good the relationships *could* be, if Bruce was slightly less of an asshole. i usually prefer him as an asshole, but there are times i want low stakes nonsense.

Gotham Rogues Having Soft Spots for Robin(s) - just about every Rogue in Gotham has done something absolutely irredeemable, and most of them don't like or care about anyone in the Batfamily. but if there's a fic where one of the Robins inexplicably is sort of close with a Rogue and they have a cute silly relationship out of it? I'll eat it up i fear. Steph and the Riddler are besties? I'll believe it. Tim and Scarecrow get along pretty well? give me ten of these. Rogues protecting Robins just hits a spot. the unexpected nature of the relationship, as well as the fact they see each other regularly, can make a lot of good fodder.

[alornights]

hii! i really loved your you and i romance troupe and was wondering if you could do one for craig’s group or maybe even the main girls?

⟢ you and i pt. 2

➜ in which ! you get romance troped again!

💌 ﹫team craig & team wendy.

✩ 🎸 warnings﹗angst/hurt for some.

🍓 ⟡ notes — guess whos back. back again.

*ੈ✩‧₊˚ CRAIG TUCKER opposites attract

he didnt hate you or anything he just found you so annoying.

you were loud and annoying and everything craig wanted to stray away from to make sure he isn't set off.

yet somehow he always draw to you and was always involved with you and he found that he quite enjoyed his time with you.

it was a gradual progression before his feelings were too much for him to handle by himself.

so he just asks you to date him in the most plain way possible.

*ੈ✩‧₊˚ TOLKIEN BLACK fake relationship

he hated that cartman was always trying to set him up with nichole or any other person who wasn't white that came to town.

so when the two of you were talking one day and you jokingly told him how sad it was to be single he had an idea.

tolkien asked you to fake date him. for funsies of course.

you obviously agreed wanting to help your friend and get the girls off your back about not having a boyfriend.

but things started to get a little too real and now its almost like you are a #real couple. and tolkien wouldn't have it any other way.

*ੈ✩‧₊˚ JIMMY VALMER oblivious to love

you had the biggest crush on him & everyone in the school knew

except him of course because well bros kind of oblivious.

literally people tell him straight up and he would think its a joke and laugh it off unless you personally go up and tell him.

its not even like hahahaha no way she could like me. he just thinks its a joke point blank and that people are fucking with him.

so when you do eventually tell him, he's shocked. but happy :)

*ੈ✩‧₊˚ CLYDE DONOVAN matchmaker gone wrong

initially he was trying to pair you with kenny.

so he became friends with you to find out what you liked, what you did on your off times, any secrets that could help kenny, etc.

but the more time that he tried helping kenny, the more time he spent with you.

and more feelings in him started arising. and he couldn't help but fall for you even though he's supposed to be helping kenny.

but you fell for kenny, and he just hoped he could fix this all.

*ੈ✩‧₊˚ TWEEK TWEAK trapped in an elevator

tweek was just heading upstairs for one of his deliveries when he got stuck, with you, a person he has never seen before.

you somehow manage to calm him down. god knows how.

then the two of you start talking for like an hour about random things trying to fill the emptiness of the elevator.

you two were so distracted with one another that you didn't even notice the door behind you open and the sight of freedom.

you deffo got his number after that.

*ੈ✩‧₊˚ WENDY TESTABURGER pen pals

honestly, wendy didn't know why she decided to have a pen pal. she just remembers mr. mackey telling her it could be a good idea.

so she finds a club and starts lettering to you regularly, finding that it was much more fun than she thought it would be.

she loved hearing about your day, your gossip, your hobbies. all of it, she loved everything about you.

so when you mentioned your family was going to south park to visit an old family friend, the girl was delighted.

when she saw you in person for the first time, she fell 10x harder.

*ੈ✩‧₊˚ BEBE STEVENS lovers in denial

the two of you were best friends, inseparable, the iconic duo.

so when bebe starts getting nervous around you she doesn't even give it a second thought, brushing it off.

but it gets to the point where she can't even think when she's around you, yet she continues to deny her feelings.

even after you confess your love for her, she denies and denies.

she shakes it off and continues with her life, while still talking to you, there's the tension that will always remain.

*ੈ✩‧₊˚ HEIDI TURNER right person, wrong time

it was right after she had finally broken it off with cartman officially, and you found her at the park alone.

you were a light in her life after that, you had never discouraged her for dating cartman especially knowing both of their situations.

you helped her through so much and were one of the main reasons she had to courage to keep being a better person.

yet she could never bring herself to be with you, to never cross the barrier of just being friends, all because of cartman.

because no matter how hard you loved her, she couldn't bring herself to trust anyone, not even herself. and certainly not you.

*ੈ✩‧₊˚ NICHOLE DANIELS fish out of water

you had recently moved to south park and you came from a normal city so experiencing life here, was strange.

and nichole understood you fully well. she had also moved a while back and had trouble getting used to the town by herself.

so nichole decides to befriend you and help you have the best possible experience you can when living in south park.

she introduced you to her all her friends, told you where you should and shouldn't go, who were the trouble makers. you guys spent so much time together trying to create this new life for you that you didn't realize how inseparable the two of you became.

though she couldn't help the stammer in her heart when you smiled and laughed. she loved it all, and she made sure you knew.

*ੈ✩‧₊˚ RED McARTHUR sworn off romance

there was never a point where she distinctly knew that red knew she had feelings for you, it was a rather long build.

but when she realizes her feelings it's already too late for herself and you. the damage had been done and you both were smitten.

she tried her hardest to get rid of these feelings, she really did. but the way you smiled and laughed made her heart clench.

yet, she became persistent, no matter who it was, she just couldn't bring herself to create a romance with someone.

even after you confess your feelings to her she continues to swear off love, even if her heart breaks when you walk away.

[suzukiblu]

For your ask game, what’s your favorite thing you’ve ever written?

. . . god I don't even know, man, that's a LOT of things, hahaha. And like, that answer definitely changes depending on the day/year/phase of the moon. So you're getting a couple answers here! Also I'm gonna keep this mostly to DC and only include finished fics, because me picking between WIPs would take a thousand years and also probably kill us all, lol (ignore the fact that a couple of these fics have sequels in-progress right now, STILL COUNTS OKAY??).

everything happens for a reason. sometimes that reason is that you are stupid and make bad decisions. is one of the funniest fucking things I've ever written, full stop. Lex is SO fun to write, seriously, I could write him all fucking DAY.

I'm really proud of blondes really do have more fun, both because of how much it seems to have affected/touched people who read it and because I think it was my first experience with writing gender euphoria as a major thing and writing, like, an actual explicit trans narrative? Like, I definitely wrote genderfuckery and implications and metaphors before that and probably even some trans characters, arguably, but that's the first story I really remember deliberately just making about being TRANS. And also holy shit, man, did I ever love writing gender euphoria for the first time, especially because I'd mostly only seen gender DYSphoria as a focal point in other stories and it just didn't/doesn't resonate with me the same way. I'm not trans because everything else makes me miserable, I'm trans because that's what makes me HAPPY. I don't remember if I was intentionally thinking that at the time, but that's the story I wanted to write for that one.

one day this will all be yours and you found me when no one else was looking are both concepts I love and found really cathartic to write and was very pleased to finish. I love that they're sort of "families of choice" fics about, like, actual BIOLOGICAL families (like, in the context of the fics, anyway), which probably sounds weird but is a concept I'm sort of painfully fascinated by--like, about the fact that you CAN choose your family, obviously, but sometimes you're lucky enough to find out that you had someone worth choosing already and just didn't necessarily know it, or to both grow into people who CAN choose each other even if you had problems or lashed out due to outside traumas or didn't always understand each other. That's, like, very personally relevant and meaningful to me, the idea that maybe the thing that got all fucked-up and the choices you made when you didn't fully understand the consequences of them can still be worked through and repaired and made into something new and better.

Also, special mention because this one is back a few fandoms but zero humble on it: best friends means you get what you deserve is just really, really good, and I did GOOD on it, hah. I took a three-word prompt/concept and turned it into 17k of "hey, doesn't this make more sense for why this character is the way he is, and isn't this what the main character actually wanted??" in genre-savvy explanation of why the sidekick character might stick around for the antisocial asshole hero and seem perfectly happy to base their life largely around them no matter how said hero treats them, and then I made the Consequences(tm) happen to Jaskier and Geralt, both bad AND good. I am just SO dang proud of that one, UGH I love it. ❤️❤️❤️❤️ FRIENDSHIP, AND THE CONSEQUENCES THEREOF.

[redwoodcolony]

ive never heard of a clerc before, first thing that comes to mind is a store clerk lmao

Also you're lucky people for some reason arent getting mad at the leader and deputy age gap whenever I play clangen and get an age gap like that I'm yelled at by others to forcibly break them up or change their age in the code ☹️ wish I had your freedom lmaoooo

English isn't my first language so I thought clerc and cleric were basically the same thing because of DnD 😔

Also warning, big block of text incoming, I hope my English is good enough so you can understand everything !!

TW for talking about age gaps

I am very sorry you had such experiences. :( I am actually very anxious whenever I post as I fear I might get yelled at. Actually, posting this very post makes me anxious because I know talking about this subject can be very difficult. I actually rewrote his post like three times already😭

For now thankfully, everyone commenting on this blog has been very nice and kind :)

If it helps here is how I treat age gaps, maybe it can help you solve some of your issues with your public ?

I try my best to have the age gaps as small as possible, I only allow larger age gaps if the cats both meet as full grown adults (which is the case for Silversight and Spectralstar ! I actually have a little backstory post for the founders in preparation !)

I usually let the game do its own thing when it comes to couples, I mainly use my mediators to strenghten family bonds (mainly with adopted kits, because the game doesn't automatically strenghten these relationships)

If the cats are both colony-born, I will break the couple up if the age gap is equal or superior to 6 moons and the younger party is less than 30 moons old. Otherwise it makes me feel uncomfortable

I can make an exception for colony-born cats, as an example if the two cats only start being attracted to each other when the oldest is 90 moons old, and the youngest is 80 moons old ? It feels less weird to me, like they had time to experiment around with their feelings and everything before settling together you know ?

For a colony-born cat and an outsider, I can allow larger age gaps as long as the outsider joined when the colony-cat was already a full grown adult. I usually allow the game to make them an official couple when the younger party is at least 30 moons old. This means that Valleyfall x Oddspots is forbidden !!! It's just a one-sided crush on Oddspots side !

Generally I will ignore a lot of the romantic feelings the cats have for each others in-game if it makes me uncomfortable lol. You don't have to make everything that happens in-game canon in your comic if it makes you feel queasy !

These are just personal rules I give myself, otherwise I feel uncomfortable when playing and drawing my cats !

(The following part is just me rambling about canon Warrior Cats issues and how it influences Clangen and therefore most playthroughs of the game)

I think the age gap issue is due to the general canon Warrior Cats Clan setting, because if you do follow the classic Warrior Code™, you aren't allowed to take in domestic cats and loners; which means you can't add new blood, but it also means that all your cats know each other since birth. :((

In the canon books, it leads to weird ahh relationships like Thornclaw and Blossomfall, Onestar and Whitetail, Ashfur x Squirrelflight or even Brambleclaw x Squirrelflight (we often forget that both Ash and Bramble were warriors when Squirrel was born lol)

The one way the canon books found to remedy to this issue was to add a lot of useless background characters, so that they could reproduce more and regularly, giving a steady flow of new kittens of similar ages to ship with the main characters. This isn't really a good solution in the long run, seeing how incredibly big ThunderClan has become, but it's also not solving the big "everyone is related to each other" issue. :(((

That's why I decided to create the Colony instead of a Clan, so that I can change the rules, so I can integrate outsiders and domestic cats with no issue, introducing both new blood and characters who don't know everyone since they were born :)

I hope this helps you a bit ! :)

[windmaedchen-oceanhorn]

More Valen & Fay Headcanons

I've done some digging today, and I found more pre-release backstories. I really needed to get my thoughts sorted and put out, so there is no drawing this time... 🙇‍♀️

Let's just say, overall, I like all these previous ideas and will use them as the basis of my headcanons, as long as it is possible to incorporate them into the current canon of AFK Journey.

So you understand what's from the beta backstories, I marked them appropriately. Since this folder is pinned publicly in the AFK Journey Discord, I assume there is no harm in sharing it here also. 💎 = Fay's backstory ⚔️ = Valen's backstory 🪙 = Atalanta's backstory 👣 = AFK Journey game

Here we go...

Stoutstone Isle is known for its gemstones and other natural riches (💎).

Fay bemoans her being inferior to her parents, both "smart" Evergreen Conservatory scholars. (👣, Fay's Mystery Theater II)

Fay has been absolutely spoiled by her grandfather, so she can be certain of his love and adoration (💎), but I can imagine that she feels insecure about her parent's love AND Valen's love for her. Valen more so than her parents, but they all kinda left her behind after all and she is beyond the moon to now be roaming the world with the Evergreen Conservatory (👣), having the chance to do stuff that'll impress them all.

I still think Valen's father is the one born into the ruling family of Stoutstone Isle. He became a scholar of the Evergreen Conservatory and got to know Valen's mother there. Both spend most time on the main continent but visit occasionally.

Valen has not forgotten his sister and he sometimes writes her a letter (💎). She hates him for leaving, but loves him for at least sending her elaborate letters from the mysterious outside world. I bet, upon meeting her bro again after so many years, the first thing she does is telling him off for his horrible handwriting. xD

I think I will stick to the explanation given here as to why Fay and Valen don't ACT like they know each other during the Remnant Peaks main story arc. I am inclined to believe, however, that for the two little sidequests "Fay's Mystery Theater I & II", they know who they are even if they are not mentioning their relationship specifically. This revelation happened off-screen and since their backstories aren't further elaborated on in-game, it isn't revealed here either. Merlin knows at that point.

They act close enough that I think it's too odd and unbelievable that they still don't recognise each other.

But I admit that they COULD be acting a lot more akin to the first AFK Journey trailer IF THEY DID know each other then.

The Japanese release is close at hand. If someone was willing to keep an eye open, it might be worth checking out their conversations in Remnant Peaks and that side quest. The Japanese like to address siblings with certain pronouns and I would not be surprised if Fay, at least, would have this implemented in her speech whenever she talks to Valen. (But how adorable would it be if Valen did the same to his little sister? xD)

Fay's backstory explains why Valen and her join Merlin in the first AFK Journey trailer. Miasma (I take it, that's maybe an early version of the corruption appearing all over the place, announcing the return of the Hypogeans) has appeared on Stoutstone Isle and Fay ventures out to find her brother and with him, a solution to the Miasma problem = trying to safe their home island. (💎) Since this doesn't quite work with current canon, I have to ditch this particular part. At least to the extend that the Miasma is known to Fay. I don't rule out that Stoutstone Isle may have to be rescued by Merlin, much like the Dark Forest, at a later point of the game.

Valen's beta-backstory made him a member of the Gray Foxes for possibly the entire 8 years after he has left home and before meeting Merlin (⚔️). However, in the current canon he reveals that he's lived in Holistone for "a long time" and the theft of the Faith Stone seems to have been a couple of years ago, too. My personal estimate is that he was about 5-6 years in Holistone… and thus about 2-3 years with the Gray Foxes.

Just as Valen was a member of the Gray Foxes for some time, so was Atalanta! In Atalanta's beta backstory it is revealed that she was a lone wolf, fighting on her own, with huge trust issues. None of her colleagues would work with her, except for Valen. When he insists to help the villagers fight after a job done, Atalanta is basically just walking away, leaving him to fight alone. Of course, while she had every intention to not turn back, she sees hidden archers about to burry their arrows in Valen's back, and she just can't NOT help after all. Without showing herself, she leaves Valen to fight alone in the front lines, but she does take out the enemies in his back. She doesn't admit it, but Valen later knows that she stayed and helped, since he found her arrows all over the battlefield. (🪙)

Even though their relationship was a professional one, and probably not a close one, I could imagine that Valen considered himself in debt to her. So when Atalanta "slipped" away from the HO in Remnant Peaks… it was, as surmised by other fans, done on purpose by Valen. In such a way that he specifically won't lose his face, though. Thus Valen might have paid back what he owed to her. I still have to think more clearly about the violence and crimes in this game, but hey, the Faith Stone WAS a pretty valuable item and proven to have been stolen by Atalanta. If she had been convicted, in all seriousness, I don't think a death penalty would be all that unlikely. Bandits are killed on the spot for way less. (See Hendrik's backstory, AFK Arena).

When Atalanta appears during Remnant Peaks, even though there is no "hi, how have you been" between her and Valen, it is HE who advocates for her being their guide. A reference to their shared past and another "opportunity" given to her to be trusted? ;-)

Reading Atalanta's backstory made me understand her a bit better. But I must still admit, that she doesn't click with me at all. I'd even say, I kinda hate her. But THAT makes me actually appreciate her existence since I can like other characters even more thanks to her. xD

And that is it for now! Thanks for considering my ideas and please do let me know what you think! You can always message me or send an ask. 🥰

[italianpersonwithashippersheart]

FourEver You Project

prev post (thoughts on pilot) here see current pinned post for all my posts on this

New updates, I found an article in thai that I passed through google translator, and got some more info.

The Pilot we got was apparently Part 1, the article also calls this series a year end project (probably means I was right about the air date being sometimes at the end of the year).

The article also says that the love story between Earth and Pond characters has a different ending then the original book.

I am not if this means they split just the trailer or there will a be a part one and a part two even series. The other two stories seem to have darker vibes (one of of the other two main characters can see ghosts accordings to what i found and the other has a very messy family dynamic) so it make senese to split them.

So depending on if they are shooting both parts or just part one right now they might legit be almost done.

This tweet also calls this Pilot Part 1

I also found this reaction video from a thai person (using gender neutral lenguage because I don't want to assume pronouns) on YouTube with automatic subtitles in english. Right after watching the person in the video also is not sure if the pilot might be cut from the official trailer or if they started filming yet (and we know they started filming already9 And they were also speculating that the real trailer might be coming next month. So maybe it's a pilot trailer because it's not the real trailer but it's like an extended teaser?

The video goes into some novel spoilers I think. Talks about the other characters a bit and stuff. They also say that it might be angstier and a bit more drama then what New has done in GMMTV (so it's probably not going to be too much like We Are the series - easy watch little to no plot).

This isn't in the video but from what I have seen of the boos this is not a story in the bubble. Homophobia exists in this story and plays a part in the conflict between at least one couple.

tagging: @lurkingshan @twig-tea @slayerkitty @mysterygrl20

@respectthepetty @bengiyo

@automaticpenguincreation (sorry I forgot to tag you in my prev post)

also anyone let me know if they want to stop being tagged in updates I make (or want to be tagged in other updates)

[thetimelordbatgirl]

So I just watched rise of red and really, I don't see anything happened, and what prank are they talking about???? 3/4 of the cast are just useless as Aladdin and Jasmine doesn't serve no purpose in the movie and I didn't see qoh hearts apologized to her daughter for abusing her for all those years....why just why????

Its funny we had an issue with D3 and not using a large chunk of their cast that well...when in comparison to Rise of Red, it at least did SOMETHING with the characters, while Rise of Red was out here having literal character introduction the song with characters who overall, don't do anything in the film. Fairy Godmother? She MAYBE has a hint at not being good at magic yet arc, but she don't do anything in film. Jasmine and Aladdin? They that couple from school everyone found cringe and that's all they are, not even being named in present day or the boy they have with them, you just have to assume its them and...I guess make up a name for the boy who you have to assume is their son. Rapunzel isn't named either actually in the past, you just know its her as she stands out with her rainbow hair and she's just there. Charming is pretty fucking useless both past and present, he's just there- though he at least had the most emotional scene when being told Cinderella is dead in present.

Uliana is the only villain who does ANYTHING really, the other villains feel like they just there to be there really. Hades' I will admit I found funny for not giving much of a shit at times, but he's pretty useless, same for Maleficent. Seriously, she's out here shaming Mal in D1 for not doing more at sixteen in comparison to Maleficent, but girl wasn't doing much as a teen, if at all. Generally think she and Hades were just there to nod at Mal lmao. Hook is also just, useless, closest stuff he does is I guess act a ltitle flirty and get his boots stolen at the end. And don't get me started on the king of being useless, aka Morgie- my guy couldn't even suggest ANYTHING in Perfect Revenge, at least the other three could suggest making Bridget walk a plank or pricking her with thorns or burning her to a crisp, all Morgie did was agree with Hades'. He also proved to be the most useless look out in the finale scene.

Even in the main cast you got a character who the writers don't do much with, aka Cinderella/Ella- she literally dies in present briefly after refusing to kneel to QOH (again shout out to Red for joining in on that setencing, film doesn't seem to remember that one to at least show Red feeling guilty....because fuck character development) and in the past, she's just there to a, support Bridget and b, shame Chloe, the films favorite hobby. Her abuse via her stepmother is literally introduced and...that's it. Nothing done at all. You literally could have replaced the Charming family in this film with any other heroes and their family.

And like, I literally don't know what the fuck they were doing with the prank, because how the fuck did they pull it off in the first timeline if the book does THAT to people with evil intentions??? Was it a different prank in first timeline or- this prank plot just left way too many questions, really. And people can call me a bitch but like, making QOH evil over a prank is just the most pathetic motive for a villain yet. They say people laughed at her for it but let's be real, school would be laughing at someone else the next week. There had to be more to what turned her evil then just, "she ate a cupcake that turned her ugly."

And the ending with not even addressing Queen of Hearts having been a shitty mother....just...way to join D3 in being so shit at addressing abuse. Like, they have Red literally confirm how shit her mom is. We saw it on screen even at the start of the film. Yet, just like Ella and her step family's abuse, it's dropped eventually and not addressed. Film just acts like since she's good now with the prank removed from timeline, everything is good now. QOH is not made to face what she did to Red. It's just forgotten and that's it. Hell, the way the film just waved off all the abuse with, "She wasn't always like that."/"An incident pissed her off.", is just such shitty excuses for abuse, I swear.

Why is just an accurate reaction to even watching this film. I mean, we all know the why is because they wanted to milk this dead franchise. But the film is still just such a why even with that answer in mind.

[mufos-photo-album]

Does Mufotsuki have any family members? Piripu has/had his guardians, does mufo have any?

Glad you asked, because she does!

Mufotsuki has many connections with the spirits of the Vault, however her main/strongest connections are between her Mom, Dad, and Big Sister (all adoptive).

Below are depictions of Mom and Dad from around June - August 20th. Dad is a soldier-type, so he's often out of the Vault patrolling the Wasteland (in fact, that's how they found Mufo). He's pretty stoic but a good sport regarding younger Mufo's shenanigans.

Mom is one of many mages tasked with maintaining the Vault. She's a higher ranking mage, landing herself somewhere on the middle of the totem pole. Like her husband, her work keeps her busy, though being in the Vault granted her more time to look after Mufo while on the job.

Mom and Dad met and were a close couple before they died and became spirits. Both are in their 40s - 50s.

(If you're wondering why you've never seen these pieces until now, they're from a video project I haven't shared yet. The project is regrettably still unfinished).

Big Sister, who I haven't drawn yet, is akin to a third parent. She and Mufo aren't actually related. Instead, she's just a good friend of Mom who took a special liking to Mufo and became her honorary sister. The reason why Big Sis isn't "Aunt" is because she too is a mage, though she works under Mom. Mom bosses around Big Sis and Mufo as if they are both her children. Big Sis was young Mufo's biggest enabler. She is in her mid to late 20s.

As mentioned before, Mufo also has some other family connections. The one I feel like talking about the most is her connection to the children of the Vault. When Mufo was younger (like, freshly born from the sky) she had a sibling relationship with kids in the Vault that were her age. Mufo grew out of these relationships though, as Mufo physically + mentally aged while the spirit kids didn't. She used to be called "little sister" but these days she is "big little sister", in reference to how she is taller than the spirit kids she grew up with but is technically younger than all of them (like in the physical sense, not developmentally).

I also wanna clarify something for Mufotsuki and Piripu since "has/had" was used. All of their family/guardians are dead (as in they are spirits). Dad was a spirit when he found Mufo, and Kucevoz and Odiwa were spirits when they found Piripu. That being said, I imagine Piripu's relationship with his guardians is more estranged, so maybe the use of "has/had" is more appropriate for him.

[somberjoon]

METANOIA [9]

✩ pairing: wolf hybrid nj x cheetah hybrid reader (f) - eventual ot7 x reader

✩ genre: soul-searching , romance🔞 , found-family , healing , angst , happy ending

✩ word count: 5.2k

✩ chapter warnings: uncertainty in behavior and emotions , anxiety , crying and loss of a grasp on what to do , some Y/N lore in this one with abandonment themes.

✩ summary: She doesn't know. There is so much about her and her cheetah that she hasn't had the privilege to understand. Unknown backgrounds and unknown emotions clash with feelings of want- hopes of being herself unapologetically. Namjoon seems to be someone that can help her- but can the rest of his pack truly be what she has wanted and needed?

✩ cover: me

ch.1 , ch.2 , ch.3 , ch.4 , ch.5 , ch.6 , ch.7 , ch.8 , ch.9 , ch.10

Y/N

She knew it wasn't going to be easy, but sitting in this office with Mila and Namjoon having a 'stare-off' is far more awkward than anything she's experienced or hoped for. They both were thinking- more-so Mila than Namjoon- but now she doesn't know who's going to break the silence first. Four minutes is too long when you're counting the seconds. 

"Maybe I can give my verbal consent?" Y/N tries to lighten the situation. 

"It isn't about verbal consent or whether or not I think it's best for you. Namjoon, you jumped into this process without even considering what I had set up for her." Mila counters.

"I know my priorities. Safety for someone I care about." Namjoon then counters her.

"This is not a conversation you should even be here for, you are not her legal guardian or pack, nor are you going to say 'yet' and act like it means anything." 

They bounce off of each other, Namjoon trying his best to act like he has the upper hand. In all fairness, he was just anxious about Mila saying no, and wanted to get a jump on things to show he was serious about this. 

“If I could?” Y/N tries again with hesitance. Maria gives her a sighing nod. “I wanted him to come with me. I didn’t want to be alone, not after everything. I’m sorry I didn’t let you know first, but I want this home to be my first choice if we could prioritize it. If it means that I no longer have the organization behind me…”

“You’ll still be under the organization Y/N, it’s not a simple chosen rehoming that changes your qualifications to be under the organization. Yes, our main priority is rehoming and making sure hybrids are in safe environments- but we provide so much that you would still need the connections for. You don’t have to worry about that. However, because their home is not one that is directly under our own lists and the pack members aren’t all background checked, it makes it harder for you if this is something that won’t work out. You won’t technically qualify for the rehoming part any longer if you go through with this- as the organization has proof that you can find a stable home or roof over your head on your own accord. It’s a messy thing that I personally hate, but it’s in the contract.” Mila informs. 

“When will she need to decide by?” Namjoon asks, leaving no time for Y/N to process what she said. 

“I can give you candidates that are willing and information on our shelter, just to see what your options are. I’m sorry to say that it is a short list. But, I’d rather you go over all your options, just so you know you have them and don’t feel pressured. Final decisions should be made within the next couple of days. Legal matters are far easier when you have an address and contact information, so as soon as possible is best.” 

-

Processing everything in silence feels wrong. Usually she prefers that, most of the time she prefers it. But, as Namjoon drives back to the pack home with Y/N in the passenger seat- the silence feels infuriating. 

"Can we talk about this?" The question comes out a bit more hostile than necessary, grabbing Namjoon's attention immediately. She's irritated more than normal- an emotion she doesn’t often feel, especially with her wanting to make the new chance at life worth something.

"Yes, of course. I just didn't want to make you feel like you had to take my thoughts into consideration. What's best is that you create your own conclusion with your wants and needs considered above all." 

Why is it so irritating? Everything feels like a choice that could lead to her demise. Everything feels raw and bleeding and her own decisions have been the ones to fuck her over even more. Yes, she didn’t put herself into this situation by choice- but, it's still all her. She hates being in control when she's exhausted and irritated and fucking sad. 

"I'm too tired to think on my own right now." She admits, her voice softening only a little. 

"You can rest as long as you'd like when we get to the house, only Seokjin is there so no one will bother you." 

"I don't want to sleep, Namjoon. I'm tired of everything. I'm tired of feeling like a burden in every space I'm given. I'm tired of feeling unwanted. I'm tired of not being fought for. Everyone tip-toes around me like I'm a fucking child. I don't know what to do. I don't know how to live life and make mistakes and bounce back to lift myself up. I'm tired of having to figure it out all at once, instead of it being one step at a time. I just want-" She cuts herself off, not wanting to admit how fucking badly she just wants to live with him and be safe and cared for. 

Maria was so kind, so caring and loving towards her- she was waiting for someone that she could be there for. But, then she got Y/N. A fuck up that doesn't know anything. She knew she'd make mistakes, but this is far too much for anyone to handle. No wonder no one wants to take her in. Namjoon probably submitted those reports of his volunteer time and that could just add to the resentment people have for her. Namjoon invited her to stay, and even his pack voted for it, but it still feels like something she has to decide. It doesn't feel like he's fighting for her, more so suggesting that she put his consideration at the top of her list. Like the perfect hybrid he is- he's thinking of her feelings first.

"Go ahead, say what you want." Namjoon pushes with gentleness. Even that seems to push her farther over. 

"I was only 8 when I started living on my own. Even then, I don't remember any parents or a lab or fucking anything. Everyone I've told or asked has assumed it was an orphanage that I left. Only I didn't leave it. I wouldn't leave a safe place like that so young. I went to sleep one night and woke up in the middle of fucking nowhere- I raised myself Namjoon. For 17 years, I was in and out of shelters and in and out of towns for my own safety. I don't remember anyone telling me what I needed to do. Ever. I never had a mom or a dad or a guardian to teach me. I figured everything out on my own. Nobody cares to even acknowledge you when you're dirty and smelly and skittish. I just want an answer. I want a fucking step by step instruction like a child gets when they're learning to ride a bike or make a sandwich. I don't want to decide anymore. I'm tired of trying to figure out what's best for me. Why can't someone else figure out what's best for me?" 

Her tears fall with no indication, no break in her voice or lull of her breath. 

"I want- I want a mom right now." 

Namjoon pulls over onto the side of the street and turns on his hazards. He takes out his own phone without a word and finds whatever he's looking for just to shove the phone into her line of sight. 

'Maria Caddel'

"I can't talk to her." Y/N mumbles.

"She cares about you. She knows you and she wants the best for you- just like a mother would. You are both in similar positions, I know she's been beating herself up about not being able to help you. You could help each other. She gets to know you're safe, and you get to ask for advice- from a mom." 

She feels awful. Maria was really so much of what she was looking for and now- she has nothing, again. 

Please ask her. I can help you, but please try.

It's a voice in her head that seems far more level-headed than she has been these last two days. They're right, though. She needs to try

She grabs the phone from Namjoon's hand, pressing the green call button before she can even think twice, and puts the warm device up to her ear. Her tears already streak the screen. 

"Hi sweetie, how is she?" Maria picks up almost immediately. Y/N doesn’t even breathe, she's scared and shocked to find Maria asks about her first. 

"Hello? Namjoon?"

Hearing her voice, how tired she sounds, breaks her heart. She has no idea what all she's been through during the process of packing the small amount of Y/N's things. A sob pulls from her before she can stop it, her lungs craving the pull of oxygen. 

"Oh, darling is that you? Oh I'm so sorry. What's wrong? Do you need help?" Maria's voice immediately turns soft and worrisome when she hears Y/N. 

"Mm-hm." A whining hum of a 'yes' is all Y/N can get out. 

"You need help? What do you need, angel?" 

Only after a few shaky breaths is Y/N able to get a response out, and even then it's barely an audible response. 

"What do I do?" She already knows she looks like a mess, still bruised and cut and bawling her eyes out in Namjoon's passenger seat- but somehow she still feels shame, picking at the band on the bottom of Namjoon's borrowed hoodie. She calms herself by feeling the texture, pushing on with a more understood tone.

"I don't know what to do. I said yes to Namjoon, but what if that doesn't work out? The organization-"

"I know darling," she starts with a tone that shows composure. She's showing that she's here for Y/N- strong and teaching. "They told me what would happen. Do you trust Namjoon?"

Y/N wasn't expecting her to ask that. If anything, she thought she'd ask how she felt about it all- a draining question she would've just sobbed more at the sound of.

"I do." She doesn't even have to think about it anymore. 

"I do too. I think he'd keep you safe, even if somehow it didn't work out. I think you should go with him. I will always give you a second option. I will help you pay for whatever you need in a place that you could start out in if necessary. But you have a great chance to live life with others first. You should give it a try. Mess up, manage relationships, and just try. Okay?"

It feels like a heavy cement block that sat on her chest is slowly lifting. Even her limbs feel lighter. But best of all, her heart aches just a little less. 

"Okay."

"Don't let anything that has weighed you down be the deciding factor in how you live. You have a chance, an amazing chance with a safe pack. Live, Y/N."

"I will try."

"Always try."

-

Y/N was really bummed to hear Namjoon suggest that she ‘think her decision over’ for the night instead of driving her back to the organization the same day. She had a lot of pent up adrenaline from being so terrified, and that just made her want to go in as soon as possible to finalize her choice. 

“I really just want you to have a night in the house. A sleeping night where you can see our routine so that you can be sure you feel safe there.”

By the time they are to his pack home, she realizes how thankful she is that he suggested she wait. As she is now extremely exhausted and it’s truly helping to dull the anxiety she feels being her to see the whole pack. She still needs to tell Namjoon. This would be the perfect time- before they finalize anything. Without her immediate response, Namjoon assumes otherwise.

“I can still take you back for the last night with th-”

“No. I don’t want to go back there.” She says firmly, coming out with little authority. "They know that I'm coming tonight?" 

"Jin-hyung already made sure one of the guest rooms were made up and cooked you a dinner to have separately if you'd like. He's very excited to hear your opinion on them." He gives her a cheeky smile that she can barely return, but it's with honesty. She has just realized how much she missed the fox. "The only thing that might be surprising is Taehyung has preferred being in his cheetah form since we didn't allow him to bombard you, so if he's still deciding upon seeing you again in his cheetah form- just let us know if you're uncomfortable." 

"A-and the others? Are they truly okay with me being here?"

"They want you to be safe, just as I do. They don't mind at all, Y/N." 

"This is a lot scarier than I thought it'd be." She huffs a small laugh, looking at the house that houses a group of guys that have yet to see her in her state now. "Would it- be weird? If I just let you know a small detail, before we go in? About what happened."

"Not at all, I'll take it however you'd like me to."

Y/N thinks about what specific pieces she wants to give up just before going inside of a place full of men- a safe place, but with men nonetheless.

"I only trust you to touch me in any way at the moment. I want to warm up to Taehyung, and I don't want hugs right now. Nothing constrained."

"Of course. I can text them right now, if you'd like. Or we can play by ear. They know not to touch you without your permission- they would never. But, all the mushy cats love it in ranging ways so- up to you." He informs her.

"Text, please. I just don't want to make it about me once I'm in there. Eating separately for now is fine as well." 

Namjoon looks at her, not her scars or bruises, but into her eyes for a little too long. She wishes she knew what he thought, why his gaze is so soft when it lands on her.

"Okay." He finally says. 

The house is so warm. Even the energy inside of it is a welcoming blanket of hope. There's a light thumping of bass and music that can be heard from one of the rooms Namjoon pointed out being a gym. An amazing scent of food and some type of candle or sprayed scent lingers underneath. The warmth seems to be the only hold she wants to have around her forever. 

"Do you want to say hi to Seokjin-hyung?" Namjoon quietly asks, again taking the time to set her last used slippers in front of her feet. 

"Yes, I don't want to be mean." She gives him a smile that he catches onto immediately, giving her a knowing one back. She really did miss the fox, and she was sad to not see him when he visited the hospital with Namjoon. 

"The sweet cub is back." Seokjin points out with a pretty smile. Y/N can't help but give him one right back. Seokjin is typing away at a computer, doing something Y/N can’t see from the doorway. Again, Namjoon is right behind her giving her the confidence she needs. A gentle, warm hand is placed on her shoulder to encourage her to keep up the conversation. 

“Uh, how are you?” She asks, not knowing how to get to the point. 

“I’m good, Y/N, how are you?” 

“I’m okay…I just wanted to thank you for- everything? I don’t know how to show my gratitude yet but, I want to make it up to you somehow. I’m sure Namjoon told you about our deal so-” 

“I would love to have you around to test my recipes at any time of the day. And I’m sure the others will try to drag you along in their array of requests. Your place here is to rest and be safe first, we’ll decide those later on when you feel up for it. Sounds good?” She can feel the authority he has over the pack despite Namjoon being the leader. 

“Okay. Please let me know what I can help with, though.” 

Seokjin gives her a warning of a look that has her leaving with Namjoon quickly so as to not push her luck. 

“Dinner is in the microwave!” He yells before Namjoon can shut the door all the way.

“He’s pretty set on how he feels with you being here. He wants to take care of you in any way that you want or that he can. If for some reason I’m not around, hyung is the one you’ll have to put up with.”

Namjoon must be able to tell how she feels about that, because he’s explaining more for her to grasp onto so as to not feel like a burden. 

“He always does it for us. He’s assertive but soft and caring. He just wants to keep us healthy and happy all the time. He worries a lot, so don’t be afraid to tell him off- he’ll always respect your space.” Y/N’s sigh is audible and embarrassing. 

“Okay-”

“Joonie-hyung!” An excited Jimin pulls Namjoon into a sweaty hug that has Y/N hiding behind his figure to give herself some distance from him. Namjoon gives him a gross sound at the damp guy before Jimin peaks around to see Y/N. “I’m glad I caught you before you went up to the room. Jin-hyung wanted me to prepare some clothes for you. Hobi-hyung and I are the smallest, so we put two sets out for you, just so you had a choice in wearing something comfortable.They’re freshly cleaned and have no scent.”

Y/N can’t help but melt at the gesture. She’s still nervous around them all, just waiting for something to backfire and push her down several notches in his progress. But, one thing she knows for sure, is that the whole pack is thoughtful in their own ways. Even if it’s suggested by another member, they oblige and do everything to the best of their abilities. She appreciates that more than they probably think she does. 

“Thank you so much. I can wash them tomorrow as well.” 

“Don’t worry about that, just eat well and rest well, okay?” His smile is far too contagious, a thing that seems to beam and strike you in the chest- forcing you to give one back. 

“Okay, thank you again, Jimin.” 

-

Namjoon

He knew it'd be hard to pull himself away from her. Y/N in his home, eating food Seokjin made once again, accompanied by the wearing of his hoodie and tucked so pretty into one of his home's beds. He can't keep his fucking eyes off of her. 

"Is this awkward?" She randomly asks between bites of the stew he reheated for her. 

"No? Are you uncomfortable?" He asks, making sure to look around and see if anything would make her feel unsafe. 

"No. It's just- don't you want to go spend time with your pack? It's Monday evening, Namjoon. And you’ve been with me all day today." 

"They'll be okay without me for a night." He shrugs. Despite the nonchalance he gives, he never gave Y/N an actual explanation. She definitely catches that, giving him an evaluating look. “I’m taking care of you. They know that, they are okay with that. If you need my focus for a bit then they understand.” 

She still doesn’t give him a response, eyeing him with an obvious display of thoughts clouding her mind. He has to think of a better way to say it- to be less burdensome for her. Even if everything he’s done has been out of want, pure want and need to make sure she’s safe and comfortable. 

“Are you comfortable with me being here with you and not leaving you alone?”

A nod in response. 

“I want to be here. I want to make you comfortable. I want to make sure you’re safe, Y/N. I’ve lived with these guys for a while, a long time for some of them. They understand why we both need this- to be as content as possible in the circumstances.” He explains with the most sincerity he can muster without spilling more than they’re both ready for. He’s sat at the edge of the bed, his body turned towards her with his knee on the bed. She’s set criss-cross, leaning against the headboard with the tray of just-about-finished food on her lap. There’s still something in him that needs something, but he can’t risk more right now. He would never do anything before she’s ready. Even a simple touch could be unwanted and could draw her back farther and farther. That’s not fair for her at all. So, he suppresses the urge to reach out for her as she thinks and tries to believe it with all her might. 

“Okay.” Is all she says at first. “Could I- uh- well you know I didn’t have a nightmare when you first visited me-”

“Mm-hm.”

“Could I have something that…smells like you? So I can sleep.” 

He can’t help but think about the effects that would have on both of them. She’s safe with his scent, he’s content with his scent on her. It would quell that little voice in him that needs more. 

“I’ll grab you something once you’re set for bed. Are you still hungry? Or do you want to shower and get changed while I go make sure the pack’s all set?”

“I’m done, thank you. Is that the bathroom?” She points to a closed door across the room. 

“Yep, you don’t have to leave your room if you need it. Towels are already folded and in the large cabinet. I’ll be right back. You can lock the door, I’ll knock when I’m back, is that okay?”

“Yeah.” 

He silently takes the tray of food from her. Lingering on the look of content she gives him. He recognizes her expressions with her being so open- he loves that he’s seen so many now. Despite him saying she could lock the door, he clicks the knob into the locked position and gives the knob a little wiggle when he’s finally shut the door, making sure it’s locked. When he turns towards the stairs to make his way down, he gets stopped by a very irritated cheetah. 

“I’m sorry, Tae, she’s getting ready for bed right now. Give her a little time and I’ll see if she’s up for seeing others before bed.” 

The cheetah gives him a huff before slinking up to her door to lie right in front of it. He gets comfortable quickly, not giving Namjoon a second look. Namjoon goes on his way, now finding Seokjin in the kitchen doing the dishes with Jungkook. 

“All finished.” He presents the tray to them, letting the fox take it with a content smile. 

“Is she doing okay?” 

“I think so.”

-

Y/N

God this is the best shower she’s ever been in. She thought the Caddel home had the best shower she’d ever experienced. But this one is perfect. Just like everything seems to be when it’s connected to Namjoon and his pack. The water pressure seems to his her bruises with enough pressure to feel massaging more than anything. The soap in the shower seems up for grabs, making her skin and fur feel softer than they’d ever felt. She got the temperature perfect to tire herself down and be happily clean. 

Even their clothing is soft and perfect against her skin. She doesn’t know who’s is who’s but she preferred the black, baggy shirt that was slightly more soft. She chose whatever pair of shorts and was ready to try out the big bed properly with her hair still up in a towel- but a familiar scent outside her door catches her attention. Oh, how she missed that scent without even realizing it. She clicks open the lock without a second thought, finding the literal cheetah at her bare feet. 

“Taehyung?” He opens his eyes to look up at her. Taking his time getting up and stretching his pretty, long body. Y/N is truly stunned at the sight in front of her. She’s sure she’s seen animals before that were just shifted hybrids, but this is- she’s obviously never seen a cheetah, and she definitely wasn’t prepared to meet a pack member like this yet. She thought she was- but seeing Taehyung in this form makes her heart ache for no exact reason. It could be her wish to shift herself, it could be the feeling of trust she realizes resides between them to make him feel safe like this around her, or it could simply be the feeling of familiarity her cheetah finds in him. 

Despite him seeming to have been waiting for her to be done, he waits outside the door, eyeing her in a gesture she can only recognize out of instinct. 

“You can come in.” She tries, moving to the side for him. He obliges immediately, jumping up onto the bed with no other invitation needed. 

“Does Namjoon know that you’re here?” She asks, amused and fascinated with him still. All she gets is a huff that looks like annoyance at the mention of the wolf. She can’t stop a giggle from escaping her lips. She jumps up onto the tall bed and stretches her legs out as she leans against the headboard again, leaving one side of the bed for Taehyung to lie next to her. He’s not close enough to her to touch or even indicate that he wants to sleep there. But, she still feels a little awkward with the prospect. 

“Are you okay?” She decides to ask, the cheetah having stared at her and her bare legs for longer than she thinks is necessary. A whimper of a sound greets her, laying his head down just an inch from her left knee that homes a large purple bruise. His eyes bounce between the bruise and her face before she realizes. He doesn’t like that she’s hurt. 

“I’m okay. Just sore.” She lightens, hoping he doesn’t make a huge deal out of it in his human form. He surprises her even more than she thought was possible, when he lifts his head to give a tentative lick to the bruise. His scratchy tongue isn’t comforting, but the gesture- it’s a caring thing that only her own cheetah seems to know. He stops after the first lick, finding Y/N not denying the instinct he feels, so he goes back and does it a couple more times, before checking again and moving to another healing scratch on her shin. 

A knock on the door snatches her attention away from Taehyung who doesn’t care at all that someone is here. 

“It’s me.” Namjoon’s voice calls out.

“Come in!” Y/N calls out, hoping he doesn’t get mad at them. 

“I knew he’d find a way to go against my suggestion.” Namjoon ‘tsk’s while Taehyung has no care in the world except for her bruised and scratched legs. 

“He’s fine, I missed him anyways.” Y/N provides, looking up at Namjoon as he rounds the bed to her side with a fluffy pillow. 

“Here you go, are you tired?” She immediately takes the pillow and gives it an unshameful sniff as she squishes the pillow to her face. It’s perfect. This has to be a pillow he’s been using regularly. She feels a little bad for taking it- but not bad enough to give it back just yet. 

“I’m getting there. My limbs are more tired than anything.” 

“Let’s get your hair dry and brushed so you can sleep.” Namjoon dotes while Taehyung is still trying to heal her wounds with his tongue. The wolf leaves to the bathroom and grabs a brush she couldn’t originally find before gesturing to her hair. 

“Wait, I can do it-” Taehyung sets a firm paw onto her legs, finally stopping his licks to look up at her and directs a huff at her. 

“Fine.” She gives into both of them, already figuring out how the start of her living with them is going to look. They’ve always been attentive and wanting to help her, but this seems excessive. It’s more than she could’ve asked for and far more than she deserves. But, she can’t say she doesn’t want it. It means being around Namjoon for a little longer- feeling safe under their watchful eyes and being taken care of in ways she’s never experienced. 

Namjoon is gentle as he unwraps her unbrushed, wet curls, gathering them all to start brushing at the bottom of her hair. 

“Caring in active ways is important to us. We help each other without words, help when we’re needed, and give and take in times when we feel we need to. A pack is more than just a group of individuals, we are together as one and care for each other as we do ourselves. Though everyone needs different things, we learn them and adjust, because we care for them.” 

Namjoon is soft in his explanation, distracting her from the knots he brushes through and gives her much more to think about. This is him telling her he sees something in her as he does his pack, and he wants to care for her in ways that she may not be used to. It also tells her that she can try to be this way for them too. She’ll try. Just like Maria said. 

-

She seems to have forgotten at all about telling Namjoon anything. After her hair is up and out of her way to sleep comfortably, she’s lying down with a curled up cheetah at the foot of her bed. 

“Don’t be afraid to let Taehyung or I know if you need anything, okay?” Namjoon tells her, giving her a smile before turning away from her. She catches his hand in hers, needing to know if he would rather she tell him everything before she slept in his house. He already seems to understand. 

“Tomorrow. Tonight you rest and see how you feel here.” 

She waits, seeing if he changes his mind. He gives her hand a confirming squeeze and whispers a ‘goodnight’ to her. He then leans down, giving her a kiss into her hair that has her wanting to cry almost immediately at how gentle it was. He gives her hand another soft pressure before releasing her and petting Taehyung’s pretty head to give him a kiss on his head as well. 

“Goodnight.” Y/N calls as she watches him linger for only a short moment then flicks off the light and closes the door behind him.

“Goodnight, Taehyung.” She whispers into the dark. All she hears is a content chuff. 

She’s safe and clean. It’s a feeling she’ll never take for granted again.

[starguardianniom]

The Paris Special

Ok so here's what I thought of it:

Loved it.

Shadybug and Claw Noir owns my heart entirely now.

Seems Shadybug's backstory is a bit more than just Chloé bullying her, given that in her universe, the world is controlled by the Supreme who rules with fear. Her outright saying that she will be spared if she gets the Butterfly back also seems to imply that she will probably get killed if she doesn't, so she's threatened with violence too I guess, and same goes for Claw Noir, yikes. Oh and them using their powers for evil while so young apparently is destroying them from the inside? Double yikes. 14 years old being threatened to not be spared if they didn't complete their missions, kind of see why they're so intense they don't really have the luxury of failing or they'll probably be killed, ouch. Angry, sad kids being offered power in exchange for living, because even if they hate their lives now they also want to live, I'll probably get more in details with that in another post.

Ok so alternate Gabriel was not a good man at first either, then after losing his wife he decided to redeem himself by trying to do the right thing, unfortunatly seems he neglects his son in the process. So here he's the not main big bad, the Supreme seems to hold that position and being nastier than he is/was so there is a huge difference between that universe and the one we've been in for the show, and maybe losing his wife made him realise the errors of his ways. He's not perfect either since his son seems to resent how he moved on so fast probably, and well, I have feelings about that too, but well, he was able to move on, because he has bigger problems than grieving his wife and wanting her back.

Claw Noir is freaking insane, he Cataclysmed himself and kept walking and going without any trouble, wow, meanwhile Chat Noir and Gabriel kept groaning and flinching and being in pain the entire time they were cataclysmed. Also he got a crush on Marinette from watching her in the bakery the first time around, she didn't know about it but reverse love there, too bad Shadybug didn't have feelings for him, but well, I dunno, found their bickering also entertaining for some reason. He doesn't take Shadybug's crap, he fights right back and isn't passive at all.

Shadybug and Claw Noir struggling to work together was believable, they try to take each other's miraculous, and insults and hurt each other too, and neither takes any crap from the other and gives back as good as they get. But they also still manage to work well together despite it all, and manage to calm themselves and let go of their anger to focus on their objective. In the end they get better and they also know each other's identity so they might become a couple too, given Adrien already loves her it seems, so they won't be alone anymore, would be funny if they revealed themselves to Betterfly and Betterfly to them and Adrien realise it's his dad and then says Marinette is gonna be his girlfriend and Gabriel ships them so hard and welcomes her into the family and Marinette just takes it all in shy stride and stuff and I need to see them again one more time to see how it goes in their universe RIGHT NOW!!!!

So Tikki knows about the multiple universe stuff and thought Marinette's life was too short to get into that so she stuck to the basics, given the trainwreck that Marinette is sometimes I find it understandable that Tikki wouldn't want to burden her with other universes either so.

Slow motion akumatized Chat Noir, that was weird, but ok.

Alternate Alya, love her hair and looks. Ubiquity looks amazing.

Shadybug realising Ladybug is also her in that universe and reading Marinette's diary and keeps commenting and then tearing up over it, my heart. Then she finds the stuff about the wish, tries to do it, but apparently the Supreme fucking put a lock on that somehow? Wow! Ok. Meanwhile Adrien being restrained on the floor blushing at Shadybug's civilian self looks a bit kinky to me, and I'll leave it at that.

Ladyfly looks ok I guess, still weird to see her with the miraculous that she's been fighting against for the entire show but ok.

Shadybug and Claw Noir being talked out and become better, Shadybug using her Miraculous Cure which cures Claw Noir, and them getting new costumes, not gonna lie here, I prefered their villain looks, but well they still have more style as heroes too. Shadyclaw for the win, love how Claw Noir likes her new looks too.

It was hilarious to see Monarch working with Shadybug and Claw Noir, teaming up with villains versions of the heroes he's been fighting against the entire time is pretty ironic but it was ok too, but most likely they would probably have all turned on each other the moment they succeeded too if they would have won.

The parallel universes fights between akumatized Ladybug (omg it finally happened but with a good kamiko instead of an evil akuma what a time to be alive and she reminded me of a purple Sailor Moon) was nice, Scarabella and Kitty Noire (glad there's a universe where they are the heroes), Mister Bug and Lady Noire universe also is nice because it means Adrien can lead probably, and of course animated 2D cartoon universe, let's go.

So yeah I loved the special more than the others, now it dethrones the Shangai special in my heart.

Shadybug and Claw Noir are my kids now.

[darkmasterofcupcakes]

Now than I think of it, when did Cain and Abel learned/realized Vaggie was their half sister? And how long did it take them to accept it?

Cain knew pretty much right away, since he was able to kind of put two and two together between being told Lute was having a baby and the fact that she was living with his dad for a couple months. Though he didn't know for sure until he pestered his dad enough, basically demanding to know why he was letting Lute live with him and why she wasn't living with her baby's dad instead, that Adam, in order to just make his son be quiet, admitted that he was the father of Lute's baby. He obviously didn't go into detail, but Cain knew the very, very basics of where babies came from, since he'd asked when his mom was pregnant with Seth.

Abel honestly didn't realize it until Cain accidentally revealed it to everyone. He isn't dumb or anything, despite what his older brother loves to claim, but he does like to try and think the best of everyone, especially of his family and friends of his family. So even when he did wonder if maybe there was some connection between his father and Vaggie, he basically just told himself that if there was, his father would admit it, because he wouldn't keep a secret like that. Especially not when they all saw how mean some people could be towards both Lute and Vaggie about the fact that apparently know one knew anything about Vaggie's father besides him apparently being a married man that Lute seduced into an affair that resulted in Vaggie's birth.

As for how long it took them to accept it...I feel like they both accepted it pretty quickly after they found out? The main difference is that Abel definitely accepted Vaggie more as a sister in the sense of thinking of her as family and wanting to spend time with her, whereas Cain accepted that they were family in the biological sense, but definitely stressed the fact that they were half-siblings, so in his mind, he wasn't like, obligated to be close to or even really care about her. That being said, even before he accidentally slipped and revealed their true relationship, he did sometimes show some kindness to Vaggie, since while he wasn't happy about how she was born, he isn't totally heartless.