#ngl this would be fun to write

[angelpuns]

For a made-up fic title: Blue Bottle at the Bottom of the Ocean

I've been thinking about thus one in the back of my mind for a couple of days and all i've come up with is some sort of sea0water-themed adventure? Okay so maybe the boys (I'm talkin end s1-mid s2 maybe) go to the beach for the first time, Leo portals them there whatever-

OH or better yet it's a continuation of the portal-jacked episode in which Leo accidentally portals them to a beach somewhere (and also himself) and they get stranded. So now they have to survive on a beach until Leo can figure out how to portal them back - so maybe early s1 instead. yeah yeah that could work. EVEN BETTER - LEO GETTING STUCK BY HIMSELF

and yknow what his sword gets portal-jacked again >:)

I'm talking an angst-comedy fic in which it is extremely silly funny and then it becomes sad :)

Anyway blurb time:

" Alright, Leo. portal us back to the lair for real this time" Raph huffed, still clearly mad they didn't get sent back to Tahiti as they'd originally planned.

Leo swallowed, nervous now that he'd messed up twice in one day. Twice! Once, he could see, but twice was a record.

Nah, he could do it. Sure, he was kid of the worst at using his weapon, but he'd managed to portal them worse places! Home would be a piece of cake.

" Alright, stand back! One portal home comin' up!" He raised the odachi and swung down, a portal rippling to life in front of him. He had a good feeling about this one - he could almost smell the sewer on the other side.

" You go first, if you're so sure" Donnie prompted, watching with a smug grin, " if it's the lair, come back and we'll follow you"

Leo huffed at that. Fine, Donnie wanted to play it that way, then Leo would just let the portal close behind him and they could WALK home.

" Alright, fine" He gave a mock salute and stepped through, letting the portal close behind him with as grin. That would show them, HA!

But this didn't smell like the sewers. Leo opened his eyes, paling at the sight of a wide-open beach rather than their dark home. So. This wasn't the sewers.

[shalomniscient]

i just woke up, it’s 7am and i’m having thoughts about jingliu…

if there was one person on the luofu who knew jingliu the longest, it was you. not the high cloud quintet or the cloud knights, you. the daughter of jingliu’s master, and the stubborn sword champion’s personal healer. she entered your life as a gangly, hungry girl who could barely hold a sword in both hands—and now, she’s the greatest warrior the luofu has ever seen.

but more importantly, now, she’s your wife.

it seemed almost like an inevitability, that you’d fall for her. for all that she was your mother’s disciple, you didn’t see her much as children. jingliu would always be training, and you would always be studying. it was only after she became a member of the cloud knights, and you a member of the alchemy commission, that things would really start to blossom—like a lotus flower, bright and pure.

you were the only healer jingliu really trusted and even allowed to heal her. the warrior had a stubborn streak several miles wide, but perhaps it was the echo of your mother in you that had her obediently heeling to your treatments—a fact that always awed her fellow cloud knights, who teased her relentlessly about it. “whipped,” they’d say. jingliu would only grumble and grudgingly thank you, before leaving the clinic and decidedly and publicly putting every one of her squadmates on their asses during a sparring match.

but nonetheless, it is no one but jingliu who comforts you when teng xiao arrives at your door, a set of armor folded neatly in his arms, and a grim, apologetic look on his face. that night it is jingliu who sits by your side, letting you weep into her shoulder as she awkwardly and clumsily attempts to console you. grief burns through you like a wildfire, but jingliu is there, her presence soothing and cool like moonlight. you both fall asleep tangled in each other’s arms, finding that, if nothing else, there is comfort in shared loss.

the next morning, you ask her about it as you both still hold each other close. jingliu’s mouth opens and closes, struggling to choose the right words. “i swore to her that i’d protect you,” she answers. it makes you smile, just a little, even if grief still twists sharply in your heart.

“you’re protecting me by cuddling me?” you tease her, and her pale cheeks flush.

“that’s— i believed you might have needed—“ she stammers, and you cut her off by pressing closer against her cool body.

“i’m just teasing,” you whisper against her skin, arms tightening around her muscular form. as if to ground yourself, as if to assure yourself that she’s really here. “i appreciate it, jingliu. thank you.”

at your words, the warrior relaxes. her voice is barely higher than yours when she replies, tinged with a hint of tenderness. “of course.”

jingliu is different, after that. you guess that it’s because you are all she has left—much the same in how she is all you have left. there is a gentle awkwardness to her now, like someone who has never known how to be soft trying to learn for the first time. she sits patiently as she lets you fuss over her wounds, knowing that you need this, that you need to know she’s alright. she only looks away when you get a little too close, when she can feel the warmth of your breath on her skin, and she hopes you don’t notice (you do).

she comes to the house whenever she can, which feels just a little emptier without your mother’s commanding presence. she stands shoulder to shoulder next to you at the counter making dumplings, her rough, battle-scarred hands dwarfing your own more delicate ones—but she wraps the dumplings with finesse all the same. you eat them together, quietly, but the silence is comfortable. you know each other enough that words are unnecessary. these nights you can only ever fall asleep in her arms—and she can only ever fall asleep in yours. neither of you question it, but what is there to question anyway?

jingliu ends up being many of your firsts—including your first kiss. it happens on one of those nights, tangled in each other’s arms, with nothing but a sliver of moonlight to illuminate jingliu’s pale face. you feel her pulse jump under your touch, as your thumb traces the ridge of her cheekbones and your lips press gently against hers. kissing her is nothing grand, no fireworks or butterflies—just the quiet sense of finally coming home.

jingliu is your first time, too. her hands trail down your body with reverence, lips pressing kisses like prayers against your skin. she brings you to the edge of heaven with her fingers and her mouth until you lie boneless on the sheets. she kisses you while your essence is still smeared across her lips, and you eagerly return the favor.

jingliu is your first and only love. it’s the soft, quiet kind, more of a respite than a whirlwind in and of itself. a shelter where both of you can return to, when the world becomes too much. you’re there for each other at the lowest lows and the highest highs—jingliu attends the ceremony as you’re sworn in as the cauldron master of the alchemy commission, eyes trained only on you as you accept the honor. and you attend jingliu’s ascenscion ceremony for the title of sword champion, standing at the forefront of the crowd, a proud smile on your face. to jingliu, that is her true victory.

and yet, even as the sword champion, there are still things she fears—like telling you she loves you. it takes a grand amount of coaxing from her new friends—a blacksmith, a high elder, and a pilot, respectively—before she works up the courage. she whispers it against your neck one moonlit night, intertwined with you in the sheets. her voice trembles ever so slightly, her breath fanning unevenly against your skin, and she tenses when you laugh softly. but the tension bleeds out of her immediately when you say it back, and she slumps against you, as if the weight of the world had been lifted off her shoulders.

(baiheng and yingxing later force her to buy them drinks, and she does so, grudgingly. after all, they were right when they said there was no way you’d say anything other than ‘i love you too’. dan feng only attends for the free alcohol, but he is happy for her nonetheless.)

your marriage is a quiet affair—or as quiet as it can get, with baiheng and yingxing together on the guestlist. but it is perfect, to you and jingliu. the rings were crafted by yingxing, inlaid with stones baiheng discovered along the trailblaze. neither of you actually wear them on your fingers due to your jobs, but none other than dan feng gifts the both of you corded red rope to loop the rings through and wear as a necklace. it becomes your greatest treasure, even centuries down the line.

the next few months of your life are calm and routine—until jingliu returns home one day with a teenager, of all things. the boy has long, shaggy, white hair, and curious golden eyes. He reminds you of a cat.

“this is jing yuan,” jingliu introduces to you. “my disciple.”

the boy greets you politely, before jingliu sends him off to an empty room in your home for him to claim as his own. once the boy is out of sight, you turn to jingliu, quirking a brow.

“disciple?”

she nods. “yes. i believe he has potential.”

you only hum at her answer, stepping forward to fix her collar. she lets you fuss, as you always have, and then presses her lips against yours gently, her hands on your waist. “trust me,” she whispers, and you do.

jing yuan fits into your life more easily than you expected. a sharp-witted young man, quick with a blade but even quicker with his words. it isn’t long before you grow fond of him as well—in an almost parental sort of way. before you realise, you start fussing over him the way you fuss over jingliu. it seems you’re not the only one susceptible to jing yuan’s charm, since the newly formed high cloud quintet adore him just as much—baiheng, especially, is delighted to have another little brother figure besides yingxing. jingliu is no exception; the pride in her gaze as she watches jing yuan train is visible to anyone.

nowadays, your home feels fuller. it is no longer just you and hingliu making dumplings—another pair of hands, sometimes even another three appear to help. the dinner table is full more often than not, and there always seems to be more plates in the sink. sometimes you find purple fur on the floor, or the occasional jade-like scale in between your couch cushions. but joy, you learn, is fleeting. nnd no one ever notices it is here until it is gone, ripped from your hands before you can even blink.

jingliu is your first and only love. she is also your first and only heartbreak.

everything you’ve built with jingliu over the course of centuries crumbles in a matter of days. the battle against shuhu is vicious. you can barely even keep up against the constant stream of injured that flood the alchemy commission. you and your colleagues down energising pill after energising pill to stay on your feet and support the xianzhou forces. tet the news from the frontline would nonetheless bring you to your knees.

baiheng, dead. yingxing, cursed. dan feng, imprisoned. and worst of all—

jingliu, mara-struck.

the ten lords commission keep her under strict watch in a holding cell. you barely have the time to visit, what with the number of patients that demand your attention. jing yuan is the one who visits her, by his authority as the new arbiter general. he speaks to you when he can, updates you on her condition—but you’ve treated enough cases to know when something is bad, even if jing yuan tries to assuage you with purposefully vague wording.

she barely recognises you when you approach her. her beautiful ruby eyes are covered by a ragged, black cloth. thick, metal bindings encircle her wrists and restrain her arms behind her back. you call her name, quietly, gently, trying your hardest to stifle the tremble in your voice. sometimes, there is a flicker of recognition. most of the time, there is nothing.

you return to an empty house. it’s so, so cold, and your bed is far too big. you hold tightly to your ring, praying that jingliu be spared this fate. but the aeon does not listen.

because no more than a few months later, jingliu breaks free from her confinement, and rampages across the luofu. smoke chokes the air as ice and frigid wind sweeps across the epicenter that is jingliu. but instead of running away, you run towards her. the ice seems to part and melt before you as you run. you need to see her.

instead, all you witness is the majesty of the lightning lord, as he strikes down your beloved.

nothing remains of jingliu. they find no body, not even any remnants of armor or personal effects. after that, they strike her name from every record for her dishonor. all her achievements, her victories—erased. as if she never existed. you are forced to resign as cauldron master in shame, with your apprentice dan shu taking your place.

you feel… nothing. only a pervasive, parasitic emptiness spreading through your entire being. you spend your days in a bed in a guest room—you can’t bring yourself to set foot in the room you once shared with her. the kitchen lies deserted. you barely feel hunger or thirst, or any sort of sensation. and yet, you keep living. your cells respire and your lungs draw breath, and your heart still thumps in your chest—even as your soul rots and decays.

the only thing—or person, rather—that stirs you now somewhat is jing yuan. he has lost everyone too, this general who will always be that curious-eyed boy to you. you do your best to pick yourself up; if not for yourself, then for him.

(but jing yuan knows. he sees it in your eyes, the truth of the matter. the guilt that gnaws at you, that compels you to keep fussing over him.

you think that caring for him will help you atone for the way you failed jingliu. he wants to tell you that his master would’ve never thought such a thing. but he doesn’t, and lets you mother him all the same.

he needs this too.)

jing yuan appoints you as his personal healer, even as his advisors protest. they question your ability—after all, how could a good healer not even mend the one she loved most?

that moment is the first and last time you ever see jing yuan angry. it fades as quickly as it comes, however, and you are appointed as his personal healer nonetheless. you remain by his side for the next few centuries, watching as he grows more and more into the role of the general. the pain of your loss doesn’t heal—not fully, at least, but it scabs over.

still, you can’t help the ache in your chest when jing yuan approaches you one day, a young boy at his heels.

“this is my disciple, yanqing,” he introduces. the boy has flaxen hair, and expressive amber eyes. there’s a fire in them, a determination that you remember seeing in a pair of ruby ones. he greets you, politely and a little shyly.

it’s a painfully familiar scene, and the best you can manage is a wordless smile.

yanqing becomes another target of your fussing soon enough. he squirms when you check him over for injuries, insisting that he’s fine. the boy is incorrigibly stubborn. but in the end, he is still a boy. his enthusiasm, unmarred by grief and loss, brings a liveliness to your monotone life. you can’t help but sneak a few more extra strales into his pockets for swords when jing yuan isn’t looking.

(but he knows. jing yuan always knows.)

you are not happy, not truly, not without her, never without her, but for now you are content. the boys in your life give you reason enough to keep going.

yet your life turns upside down once more when the stellaron bursts on the luofu. jing yuan keeps you away from the whirlwind of conflict, assigning an elite squad of his knights to guard your house. it makes you curious, but the answer reveals itself to you only a few days after the crisis is resolved.

there, standing amidst the unconscious bodies of the cloud knights supposed to guard you, is none other than the ghost of your beloved.

she’s as beautiful as the day you lost her.

[driftingvoid-155]

Crack au where Mike and Jeremy met online bc they both are the only immortal and the restless fanfic writers. Jeremy goes on hiatus and Mike gets a little concerned but he’s just ‘hope that other fic writer’s doing okay. Oh my dad’s restaurant is getting sued. Anyways, here’s the next chapter’ and then cut to like a month later Jeremy being back and ‘sorry for the delay. I got bit by an animatronic at this shitty children’s restaurant. Anyways heres the next chapter!’ Cue Michael’s ‘that was you?!!!’ leading to a back and forth in the comments of them realizing who the other is and least to say all their readers are now hooked on this new drama

[wisteriagoesvroom]

how each driver would respond to “would you love me if i was a worm” 🪱

(and you actually get turned into a worm)

charles leclerc: gets the whole ferrari team to take turns looking after the worm. there’s a care roster and a motivational talk and everything. you become not charles’s worm but the ferrari worm. he posts a really cool social media story about “my journey looking after the worm.” you are loved, if a bit haphazardly.

max verstappen: “do i have time to keep a worm? probably not. but i will get someone to get you a decent box i guess. sorry if my cats eat you.”

oscar piastri: “no. you’re a worm.”

lando norris: professes his love and says “of course i would, babe”. only to be away so much on holiday or busy on track that you eventually perish in your enclosure

lewis hamilton: yes and will get you the most beautiful box with all sorts of fronds and ferns. he will build you the cutest little jungle gym of mind-enriching worm activities. you will see him about once a year but he will make sure you’re always fed and happy. he will help raise awareness of worms in their ecosystems all over the planet

carlos sainz: actually is very good at keeping the worm/you alive but is thrown for a loop because charles and lewis are all doing exceptionally with their worms. he flushes you down the toilet in a moment of emotional distress

alex albon: doesn’t tell anybody about the worm but will eventually have the longest living worm although everyone will forget this fact.

george russell: holds a drivers meeting about whether it is ethical to keep worms and should they in fact be considered emotional support animals. the vote is split and the outcome is undecided

fernando alonso: makes a tiktok with you “day in a life with my worm”. then leaves you on the side of the road and you roast to death under the sun

lance stroll: begrudgingly looks after you for about a week after which he pawns you off to his sister who is now stuck with his random worm

kevin magnussen: gives the worm to his daughter who uses it for a school project. it’s very cute

nico hulkenburg: people forgot about him so he didn’t even get a worm. he’s not that sad about it.

zhou guanyu: would seem totally neutral about it but end up incorporating a worm design into his track fits and his helmets. his worm helmet goes super viral on weibo.

valtteri bottas: will use you for fishing bait and might be a bit sorry about it.

pierre gasly and esteban ocon: constantly fighting over the same worm. nobody knows that the other has the exact same one. it ends with the alpine TP stepping in and confiscating the worm. the worm somehow gets acquired by mclaren.

yuki tsunoda: he keeps you in a box that is structurally very questionable but yuki somehow finds time on the road to get you the highest quality worm feed and vegetables. you thrive under his gourmand care although he shakes the box way too hard sometimes

daniel ricciardo: changes you immediately for a caterpillar and hopes nobody notices. the caterpillar takes ages to turn into a butterfly and then people are asking bro i thought you got a worm. he gets a caterpillar tattoo.

sergio perez: couldn’t care less. thought you were roadkill stuck on his windshield and squishes you with the windscreen wiper by accident

logan sargeant: WHAT DA FUK IS A WORMMMMM? your worm life ends prematurely when logan accidentally drops your box on the floor. james vowles gets him a new worm and it remains to be seen whether the second worm is better (hopefully it is).

[l-in-the-light]

The most embarrassing series of posts about Lawlu you will ever read: edition Dressrosa (part 8)

Oh boy, here we go! Lots of love suffering for Law up ahead! And deep self-blaming for Luffy, ouch. By the end of this post there will be some Important Decisions to be made, which will leave unerasable trace on the story from now on.

Perfect beginning, Luffy is already not listening. Law is pissed, but he's pissed because he's worried heh.

Luffy broke a promise apparently, lol. I'm surprised he even promised to behave, because Luffy knows he can't behave very well. Geez, I guess he feels here really disappointed about himself. I love his panic, he looks just like Shanks from chapter 1. Law is yapping though, it's how he deals with his own worry and stress I guess, it seems he didn't truly expect Luffy to listen and be calm anyway. He's got Law to constantly blabble about it to him, like a walking reminder device.

It's interesting to me that Law presents it to Luffy in this way, because this is not the reason why Law himself fell for the provocation trap. It's because of his own worry that he lost his calm. Mingo didn't even do much back on that bridge. All it took was one call to strenghten security of the smiles factory. Not that he would ever admit that ofc.

Law is right though, Mingo will try different ways of provoking them, but he will focus mostly on Law. Luffy will also get one moment tho.

Scolding Luffy again. Get used to it, it will happen a lot lol.

I like this co-op of theirs here. Since Law's now got an opponent for himself, Luffy is choosing his enemy to fight with as well (and ofc he's going straight for Mingo). Or maybe is that his competitiveness from before? Honestly could be both!

Law, despite being in the middle of his own fight, still keeps his attenton on Luffy. What dedication! Luffy of course listens immediately. He might be misbehaving and breaking promises despite his efforts, but you can't blame Luffy for not *listening* to whatever Law is saying.

Bellamy's situation. Law's like "I don't know who he is to you, but knock him unconscious", but upon hearing Luffy declaring Bellamy as his friend, Law shuts up. He's not gonna tell Luffy to fight his friend, especially not after Doflamingo declares "one good punch might finish him", even if he's aware it might be a bluff. Law actually doesn't complain about it even for a second afterwards, not even after Luffy's struggling leads to Law's arm being severed. No, what Law does instead in the end, is to make sure to bring that unconscious guy to their hideout so they can fix him up, because he heard Luffy call him a friend.

Law didn't need to be told to do that, hearing Luffy's declaration was enough for him to know what should be done. How can anyone still doubt that Law is actually a good person after that? If Luffy's trust in Law isn't enough for people, logical argument like that should do. Law had no personal business rescuing Bellamy, he actually would be completely justified if he ended up having a grudge against that guy, he almost lost his own life because of him. But no, Law is a better person than that.

That's exactly one of the reasons why I think Luffy and Law complement each other, they don't have to communicate stuff like that, they just work it out because they feel the same way about important stuff!

Luffy falls for Mingo's provocation and undermines Law's ultimate strategy for the fight at the same time. This is The Second Moment in which he completely ignores Law. First one was when punching Caesar. This time it's for Bellamy. This won't fix the situation, but both times all Luffy cares about is punching bad guys for the people he loves. Of course Law's not happy about that.

Law is petty here and he did keep his word later on, lol.

Despite the sudden turn of action, Law is composed enough to control the situation on the spot in the midst of the chaos. Truly a surgeon, even in a fight, always keeps himself on steady legs and with composed mind, ready for quick and unexpected decisions. Funny and curious, because privately he is anything but that, stalling whenever he doesn't feel mentally ready for things.

Luffy kinda deserved to hear that. And took it as a compliment, that cheeky bastard :D he even remembers to give it back!

This is probably one of the snarkiest remarks Luffy has ever said in the series. And it's no surprise he serves it to Law, seeing as Law is The Person he wants to impress so badly. But don't think Luffy came up with it all on his own! Because...

...Luffy kinda stole it from Cavendish lol.

Also Luffy heard about worst gen twice before, but ofc he didn't remember. The first time he actually showed any interest was when he learned it's something he has in common with who? Oh right, his new favourite person, Law, back on Punk Hazard.

He retained that info in his brain just so he can impress Law later on that he knows the term. Yep. It's adorable.

But don't worry, Law is trying to impress him back as well. Just look at this showy pose he's presenting lol.

Funny thing here: I think Law actually said it on purpose to mislead Doflamingo. Law is already plotting in his head how to use that trick again and a bluff like that is already setting the ground for it. Law's a strategist through and through. I like how natural he is at it, it just looks like any other time he's scolding Luffy, heh.

Meanwhile Luffy is kinda satisfied, probably overplays it because he must be aware he made Law mad.

Downed at nearly the same time heh. Luffy's worrying over Law on the battlefield. Not the first or last time it will happen haha. You don't see Luffy screaming like that for Zoro, for example. And it's not because Luffy doesn't believe Law is strong. He literally just can't help himself, the worry is killing him inside. Dressrosa is indeed a country of love and (unstoppable) passion.

This is interesting, because in each of those panels Luffy and Law react exactly the same way. Law already knew that Doflamingo was a celestial dragon, but it still hits him hard. Then both of them react to the "witnessed both heaven and hell by the age of ten" line. For Law, it's self-explanatory, Flevance fell when he was 10 years old, before that it was probably close to heaven in comparison to what happened next. For Luffy though, I guess it's about losing Sabo.

And then there's the most puzzling line. "You can't escape the nature you were born with", Luffy and Law clearly snap at that, they disagree. For Luffy it's easy to understand, his grandpa wanted him to be a marine, perhaps because their family were all marines, but Luffy became a pirate instead. For Law, it's not as clear. Perhaps he was meant to be a doctor and became a pirate by circumenstances. After all, by now, Law is more than just a doctor.

Luffy's getting beat up and thrown one level below, but Law is for once too distracted to even react to this in time. Why? Because Doflamingo is talking about something very disturbing. What would humans do to a fallen celestial dragon, indeed? Law isn't feeling pity for Doflamingo, for sure not at this point, but Mingo had a brother once and that brother must have been also a celestial dragon. Law is thinking of all the hell Cora-san must have endured, because he never heard about it before. That and accepting the fact Cora-san was a celestial dragon in the first place, must be a lot for Law to process.

Freaking doting on each other in the middle of the life or death battle, ffs. Go get a room you two, you're completely embarrassing to me!

Even Doffy thinks it's disgusting at this point. Also he saw right through Law's words: he was totally bragging about Luffy and adding on top of that "I'm just like him!" proudly. I swear Law gets like that only if no one important is actually listening. Yes, Mingo, you're no one important in this scenario.

Luffy also worries a lot about Torao through the whole battle. It comes up so often I lost count.

"Don't make me die in vain here, Mugiwara-ya!" he might be thinking, but Luffy did save him in this moment actually.

This carries a lot of weight, because earlier Luffy was humiliated by receiving help from Mingo. Now he asks him to stop Bellamy. This really matters a lot to Luffy. Mingo does the favour because he knows it won't matter anyway.

"He won't be able to save you", that's how the master manipulator Mingo chose to make fun of Law. It's almost too true. Meanwhile Law just flips him a finger, he's not having any of it. Is it the faith in Luffy or just his affection speaking here? We might never know. Either way, it's one of the two most dedicated to Luffy moments Law shows.

Not even Mingo truly understands Law's symbol on the back, *just saying*, it's getting a bit hilarious :D

The heartbreak is real. "What happened to your arm?!" you would think that's nothing, but remember Shanks also lost an arm for Luffy, Luffy really didn't like that. He doesn't want another important person to him losing their limbs for Luffy. He probably also blames himself here "if I just didn't take so much time with Bellamy!".

That's the first time Luffy heard that Law considers him "a miracle worker", probably thinking himself he doesn't deserve to be called that. That's a phrase that proves that Law is ultimately impressed with Luffy and his feats, but Luffy isn't happy to hear that at this cost! Not to mention Luffy doesn't consider himself impressive if he just lost another dear person to him (or is about to lose one).

Luffy refuses to believe Torao is dead. He hates Mingo using "Mugiwara-ya" (are they both super possessive about each other's nicknames? oh ffs!).

And this is Law's payback. He could have shambled himself so both him and Luffy do a combined attack, imagine! But nah, since Luffy freaking wasted their plan at the very beginning of the fight, Law's not collaborating. Petty bastard! Luffy doesn't mind, he just tells him to "Go!" and that's kinda wholesome actually. Also doesn't happen often with Luffy, does it?

Communicating through whispers or are those whispers? Hm :) I love how Torao already expects Luffy to turn around and tells him not to before it happens haha. He knows him well.

Protecting and supporting Torao. Believe it or not, this is The First Time it happens in the whole fight. Before that they just fought side by side, now though? Luffy is alright being Law's backup. And people still push the agenda of "Law would never become Luffy's subordinate!", well, Luffy had no problem acting like a subordinate for Law here. Take that, powerscalers! And it's not the only time Luffy will do it in this fight. Law can take the spotlight and Luffy just won't mind. But he would do it only for Law. It never happened before or for anyone else.

Luffy's all ready to beat up Mingo into a pulp for Torao, but Torao isn't done yet. Luffy is taken so much aback. If Luffy wonders how he can still move, while he's the zombie himself usually after being defeated multiple times and always standing back, then that speaks volumes about Law's outstanding resilience and unbreakable will and stamina. Also Luffy is just impressed and super worried at the same time.

Anime in Wano played with this beautifully, in the "playing chicken" challenge. Luffy calls Law "weak-willed" to provoke him to accept the challenge. He knew Law is anything but that. He also knew Law wouldnt let it slide. It's all thanks to this moment in Dressrosa.

Stay out of this! - Luffy scream and just watches over Torao. He's not gonna interfere anymore, he's just a backup, he gives away the spotlight, and that despite the fact he wanted so badly to beat Mingo himself! Remember how many times he screamed that when they were racing to the palace's plateau? He even quarreled with Torao who will be the one to defeat Mingo. What about Luffy's crewmates? Rebecca? Right now nothing else matters, only that Law can get things even with Mingo.

Everything changed after this fight for Luffy and things will never go back to how they were before. There will be no more Luffy wanting to take the credit all for himself anymore or be the only one to beat up the bad guy. In Wano Luffy promised he will defeat Kaido, but even before the fight started he asked Momo and Kin'emon to announce to people that the whole alliance achieved that, not just Luffy in particular. Dressrosa changed everything.

Next part will be probably the last one of the Dressrosa arc!

[jaxieus]

Johan things from twitter

Punk/emo Johan and eating a burger

Johan playing the ps2

[joelsflower]

you’re so vain | eddie alden x f!reader

you and eddie are roommates and work at the same newscast… but the news aren’t the only things you’re reporting together.

or

some moments sfw and nsfw between you and your ‘friend’ eddie

warnings: sexual and romantic tension, eddie is a munch, they love each other but won’t admit, funny silly goofy moods, pussy eating in public/work place (the door was locked no one saw it), protected piv… while it’s raining outside… and you make love while still not admiting your feelings… the fwb drill we all know and love

a/n: hmmm did someone ask for… fwb!eddie? ☝🏼cause i did!!!

wc: probably around 2.3k i wrote it here sorrys !

the pictures are from this post and this post by @divinesols (both highly recommended as moodboards for this btw!) and i couldn’t find the creator of the gif :/ if anyone knows pls let me know so i can tag!

🗞️🗞️🗞️

“And… cut!”

“We had a bigger audience tonight. Looks like you’ve finally managed to draw the public’s attention.” You handed Eddie a smirk and a cup of coffee while he took off his earphones.

“I always draw attention, baby” he took it and winked at you, taking a sip but immediately making a face of disgust indicating the sugar that was not there.

You knew exactly how he wanted it, but you loved pissing him off.

“And you always brings me the coffee the way you know I don’t want it,” he said as he paced to the studio’s kitchen, followed by your fast steps behind him.

“Ops! And I don’t always bring you coffee, I jus-“

“You just happened to be passing by the coffee shop. Mhmm. I know,” he mocked your tone and expressions, “and you also just happen to be thinking of me all of the time, hm?” He pinched your nose.

You gave him an annoyed look, “well, the world doesn’t revolve around you, Mr. Alden!” You said jokingly, pronouncing the “Mr. Alden” with very much cursive letters.

“Don’t call me that… At least not here.” You were always impressed by the way Eddie could manipulate the look in his eyes to translate exactly what he was thinking about. And, 99,9% he was only thinking about one thing.

Sex.

“Oh I’m not calling you that anywhere, believe me”

“Hmm, cause you rather scream my name, huh?” He raised his brows at you in a funny way, using his arms to cage your body between his and the kitchen counter while swaying a little, making you laugh in that way he loved; when your eyes squeezed together and your head hanged back with a big grin on your lips.

He just loved seeing you happy, specially if he was the reason. When was he going to admit it to you? Probably never.

“Eddie, Jesus! Not here!” Now both of you were laughing unglued his hands from your sides and pushed him away, giving him light taps on the chest.

“Alden, newsroom wants to see you.” Someone from the staff peaked from the door, causing your bodies to distance from each other at the speed of a Formula 1 car, him pretending to still put sugar on the coffee and you weirdly looking for something in the sink.

“I’ll be there in a minute, thank you,” he nodded his head, “wait for me tonight,” he smirked and taped your bum lightly, making you jump.

“Oh yeah bet on it,” you gave him a teasing tone.

“I’ll be watching you,” Eddie motioned his point and middle fingers from his eyes to yours, already by the door.

“That’s cause I always draw attention!”

🗞️🗞️🗞️

“Oh… fuck-“, you tried your best to whisper half of the depravations that were slipping from your lips and to swallow the other half that were stuck in your throat.

But it was very hard when Eddie had you sitting by the end of his desk, skirt up and legs spread wide upon his shoulders so his head could sit perfectly between them.

“So sweet, princess,” his praises were muffled against your throbbing clit, both of his hands hardly squeezing the sides of your thighs. He spent the whole morning dreaming about the taste of your pussy, and by lunch he couldn’t wait anymore.

“W-we have five minutes, Ed,” your worried little mind kept you looking every 5 seconds towards the foggy glasses on his door, but this time got interrupted by your eyes screwing shut and your mouth hanging open in a silenced cry when Eddie quit the sucking in your bud to fuck your hole with his tongue.

“I- we-,” every time you tried to say something and your words died in muffled little moans and cries he sucked and fucked harder. Eating you out was for sure one of Eddie’s favorite things and making you come when you couldn’t scream or cry freely was like a reward for his tiring day.

Having the opportunity to give you pleasure and piss you off at the same time? He was in.

“C’mon baby, cum on my tongue, hm? Wanna taste my girl,” he used two of his fingers to spread your wetness all over your center before nuzzling his head back again, nose stimulating your clit while his tongue entered you hungrily, in and out, in and out, the vibrations of his moans exploding fireworks in your veins.

The man was devouring you.

You came in a quiet moan, fingers gripping Eddie’s roots while his nails dig in your upper thighs and his face drowned in your cunt. He sucked and lapped you clean, until you were too sensitive to bear anything else, “fuck, thank you, baby. Here,” he gave you a paper tower from the adjoining bathroom he had in his office and helped you put your panties and skirt back. If you didn’t already knew all too well the smirk he had on his face you’d think by that he was something that he actually wasn’t.

A gentleman.

But deep, down, he was. For you, at least.

“Can you stand?”

“You have done better performances”

“Oh of course. ‘oh, fuck! Eddie! so good! we have 5 minutes!’” he joked while pulling you in for a see you later hug and a kiss on the cheek before you could run away from him, “thanks, bub. Best lunch ever”

“You’re disgusting,” you laughed, pushing his chest and stepping towards the door.

“If I was I wouldn’t have your pussy all over my face now, would I?”

“Disgusting,” you mouthed and closed the door, not giving him time to fry your braincells that had just started working again.

🗞️🗞️🗞️

“Shhh. Almost there, baby. You can take it, just a little more”

“So good,” you whispered, the words slipping from your lips while the raindrops slipped down your window.

Your plan definitely wasn’t to end up under Eddie tonight, but the thunderstorms got louder than you thought they would. And as it always happens between the two of you, one thing led to the other, and…

“Fuck- found your spot, pretty girl? So good t’me,” Eddie was fucking you tonight. You didn’t know if it was because of the rain painting your frames with the moonlight, the fact that it’s been a little while since you’ve slept together or if he found it cute every time you shivered and gripped his biceps cause a thunder was a bit too loud.

His cock was nestled deep inside your walls, messaging your favorite spots with each thrust. He was going slow, fierce, calculated, and he had all the patience in the world.

You could feel him everywhere.

From his fingers in your scalp to his hot tongue slow dancing with yours to every vein rubbing your walls deliciously. Sometimes his dick split out because of how wet you were together and he didn’t even bother, he kept fucking your clit with his tip, up and down, up and down, making you see stars until he felt you couldn’t take it anymore and tucked himself back in. His words? Praises and praises and praises hanging from his lips like sugar. You’ve never felt so full and so… Adored.

“Yeah, c’mon princess, can feel your little pussy squeezin’ me. Think you can come now, baby?” Eddie slowed even more his pace to watch your face contort in pleasure while tears fell down your eyes, every pulse of your warm cunt around his cock sending him closer and closer to the edge. You came within seconds, nodding your head “yes” while your little pants and moans being muffled by his own, your mouths tangled while he came with you, filling the condom you help him put earlier on.

Both of you had - intentionally - little to no sex like that; but it happened. And when it happened, it was usually because you either lost yourselves or one needed so much. You tried not to be too much in your head about it, but it was difficult when Eddie kissed your forehead and played with your head, still inside you.

He didn’t want to go, either.

“You don’t look so afraid of the noises now,” he tried to break the silence between you, knowing very well it wasn’t the awkward or comfortable types, but the emotional kind.

“The rain stopped,” you let out, with tears still leaking from your eyes.

“And are you sad about it?” he dried them from your cheek.

You smiled, “fuck you.”

“You just did,” he stared at you for a bit, caressing your cheeks as your eyes stopped watering and the last raindrops flowed down the window.

“Stay? It might rain again…”

You lifted your pinky between your bodies, “just this time,” and he embraced your smaller finger with his, “just this time.”

But both of you knew it wasn’t just this time.

It would rain again.

🗞️🗞️🗞️

When your keys turned on the locket the last thing you expected was to meet Eddie eating ice cream directly from the pot at home 20:17pm on a friday.

Sitting on the counter.

Shirtless.

“…What are you doing here?”

“Uh.. I live here? I should be the one asking you that,” he motioned the spoon in your direction.

“Eddie, it’s 20pm on a friday,”

“Actually, it’s 20:17pm on a friday”

Yeah you weren’t doing this tonight.

“Fine, whatever.”

“Hey, what’s that?” His tone was softer, he always knew when you had a bad day.

And good ones too. And any kind of day you have had and exactly how he should react to it.

“Just… Pierce screamed at me again,” his eyes followed you as you took the wine glass out of the fridge.

“So… She did her job cause you weren’t doing yours…”

“Try again,” you poured a glass.

“She’s just a bitch who can’t let you do your work without complaining about whatever shit she caused”

“Bingo!” You swallowed the whole wine in one go, watching through the glass as Eddie’s hand reached for it and took it from you, “no no no, this will not help you.”

“And what will? Being dumped by a freshman college girl and Ice cream?”

He gave you a disappointed look but reached for your hands anyway, “come here,” he pulled you to his body, arms embracing you while you positioned yourself in between his legs, head resting on his chest and arms around his waist.

“You know what you really need?” His words were muffled on the top of your head.

“Hm?”

“To shut the fuck up”

“You shut the fuck up” now your words were muffled on his chest.

“I know you don’t mean it. You love me.”

“Sure”

And actually you sure as hell did. And he loved you too. When were you going to admit it to each other?

Probably never.

🗞️🗞️🗞️

[necrotic-nephilim]

for the ask game (1)

au where bruce is attracted to his robins and batgirls. he tries not to think about it or act on it, but it's getting more difficult with every new member of his team he acquires. does anyone know? do the robins and batgirls notice his weird behavior? what do they do about it? do they ever find out the truth? who would think it's terrible and who would find it strangely hot/comforting/nice? does bruce ever act on his feelings?

for the ask game!

oh my GOD do i have thoughts for AUs like this, i love this shit so dearly, dirtybadwrong Bruce who's trying to keep a lid on it my beloved.

i think the fun of this AU is if characters would notice Bruce lusting for themselves vs would they notice Bruce lusting for a different Robin/Batgirl. like does Dick pick up on it when it's just him and Bruce? no, because it's just. him and Bruce. he and Bruce are weird and complicated and hold endless bounds of nuance. that's just How Bruce Is, and Dick is the "test run", in a sense. he knows Bruce is new to this whole sidekick/family thing and is giving Bruce grace for being rough around the edges. but when Bruce starts looking at Jason or Tim or Cass that way, that's when Dick starts to notice. it's never enough of a suspicion he feels justified to bring it up, but the thought lingers. he's hyperaware and grows less and less comfortable with leaving them alone with Bruce. it's a weird game of chicken, Dick and Bruce staring each other down when Bruce's touch lingers too long. each waiting for the other to say something first. if Bruce ever broke and actually acted on his feelings, Dick would be eaten alive by the guilt of knowing something was up, but never saying something until it was too late.

obviously, Cass would know. there's no world where Cass *doesn't* know, the nature of who and what she is would immediately clock it. but the issue is, Cass doesn't have a good framework of what family looks like. she doesn't really understand familial vs romantic love bc she has no firsthand experience of what a parent's love should even look like. so she never calls it out. she just watches. i'm a fan of Cass believing this is normal and believing she too can express and act on attraction that's vaguely incestuous. maybe it's with Babs, maybe it's with Dick or Tim or Bruce himself. but she recognizes this as Normal and Accepted within the Batfamily, so it severely fucks up her understanding of familial love and i just. man it's my favorite thing about Cass in Batcest honestly, is how you can play with her lack of experience with love, boundaries, and sexuality.

Tim is the fun one for me. because my favorite flavor of BruTim is when Tim knows, as he agrees to be Robin, that there's a non-zero chance that Bruce is going to be Weird and agrees anyway because he's decided it's an acceptable risk. so Tim knows from the get-go because he's expecting it. if Bruce acts on his attraction, i think it's either with Tim or Cass first, because they're the most likely to confront him about it in a way that isn't entirely negative. Tim has accepted it's a possibility and Cass just seeks being loved and touched so. it leads to the first time someone's ever confronted Bruce about it. and the thing is, Bruce really doesn't like confrontation about his flaws. the first time Tim tries to imply he's okay with it, Bruce would lash out at the idea, tell Tim how inappropriate that is and benches Tim for a week. it'd probably take a united front from Cass and Tim to get Bruce to even *admit* to the attraction. still Bruce wouldn't allow it to happen and he brushes them off until finally, the dam breaks. it's fun if there's a cause like sex pollen, but i think it's *more* fun if it's just. a random fucking Tuesday and finally Bruce is at his limit. he has no real reason, there's nothing particularly different about that day's routine. he just sees Tim or Cass striping armor and sighs and gives in.

i don't think Steph, Jason, or Babs would notice until anything substantial happened. not because they're not wicked smart, but just because none of them were looking for it. Jason put Bruce on a pedestal when he was alive, and when he came back from the dead he wasn't close enough to be noticing Bruce's interpersonal dynamics outside of his narrow scope. Steph has no real framework for what healthy fatherhood looks like, so if Bruce's touches linger, if he stares too long, she just shrugs and assumes it's how it is. and Babs was just never quite close enough to Bruce to notice. if and when she notices, is when actual sexual things start to happen between Cass and Bruce. because Cass would see no reason to hide it. Babs would be pissed, but it'd be tricky to navigate. Cass would be an adult, even if she's only 18/19, so technically, she's old enough to be consenting. if nothing else, Bruce is a careful man. even when he breaks and gives in to his desires, he covers his tracks well. he makes sure he has enthusiastic consent and there's no legal recourse that could be taken. age of consent and all that. there's not much Babs can *do* other than try to tell Cass (and/or Tim) that this isn't normal or okay. not that it gets her anywhere, but god would she try.

by the time Duke comes along (if we venture out of the pre-Flashpoint era) i think it's a sort of. open secret, in the Batfamily. talked about in nothing but hushed whispers and knowing glances. at some point, they've all had sex with Bruce, caving all for different reasons. some more than others. Tim sees it as a duty, Cass sees it as a way of seeking comfort, Steph sees it as getting Bruce's approval for once, etc. it's never forced on them, but eventually, they all come to Bruce sooner or later. and that's the fun irony of it, i think. they try to convince the others not to, but would go to Bruce on their own well. because complicated reasons they can't put into words. sometimes, Bruce is just a messy man who doesn't realize how prized his Attention to for the rest of the Batfamily. that weird duality of not liking him, but also wanting desperately for him to like you. all of them have dealt with it, at some point. so for Duke, it takes a while for him to understand this... whole dynamic. it's Cass who tries to explain it to him, and he's a little horrified, a lot confused. especially when Bruce starts staring at him a little too long as well. i think he'd only want to watch first but well. they all cave eventually.

also fun bonus if we venture into the Dark Knight Returns universe for my bestest girl Carrie Kelley: there's such a like, "i'm fucking around and i'm finding out" vibe to Carrie. like Tim, she's very proactive in just. deciding she's going to be Robin and she's ready for whatever that entails. (IMO canon Carrie is closer to fanon Tim than canon Tim is but *that* deserves its own post-) like she takes one look at the old man that is Batman and goes yup. he's never fucking getting rid of me now. if Bruce started having weird feelings about her, i think she'd have *fun* with it. she's decided she's in it for the long haul and for whatever being Robin means so. she's almost teasing about it, seeing how hard she can push before Bruce snaps. since it's an older, gruffer Bruce, i think he'd express open annoyance at it first, almost a sort of banter about how Carrie behave. but of course he caves and Carrie leans into it, because there's a fun in having all of Bruce's attention to herself. in the main timeline, Bruce is pretty split with so many Robins and Batgirls, but during their era, it's *just* her and him and she's very proud she's got him all to herself.

[good-wine-and-cheese]

Mermay!!! I get to make fish people AUs :)

Tenma is a merperson/siren/variant whose son was caught by a fishing vessel (and was either thrown back only to die of his injuries, or has not been seen since, his status unknown) which leaves Tenma resentful of the humans he was already suspicious towards. He has taken to attacking ships and has become something of a folkloric monster spoken of in hushed whispers by seafarers. He collects mechanical parts from wrecks (his own or others) to a secret cavern where he has been building an automaton in the image of his son that he hopes to use to exact final revenge on the humans that took his child from him.

Somewhere along the line he finds himself critically injured - many ships know of him now and have been arming themselves to fight back - and he's forced to flee, fully expecting to die from his wounds. Instead, he finds himself cared for by a bizarre human (Ochanomizu as like a marine biologist or something, there are many benefits etc) who seems not to care about the warnings told of his monstrous nature. Tenma fully intends to kill him when he recovers - and says as much, often - but Ochan keeps taking care of him regardless. And unfortunately, he's quite charming. Over the course of taking care of Tenma, Ochan shows him human kindness exists and convinces him not to take revenge on all of humanity (and, well, his plan probably wouldn't have worked anyway and do you really want to see the image of your son destroyed again)

In the alternate version where Tobio might not be dead, Ochan helps him find his son :(

[mawguai]

here are some engage sketchies featuring my favorites and some bonus smiley faces to fill in space

[ellivenollivander]

Request that Amit gets a cute first kiss with MC he's been pining for all year and is so flustered. He tells his friends about it after and blushes all over again talking about it. PLZZ 🥺❤️

Also, ily 💖

Thank you for this request for our favorite starboy ✨ I love writing for him, he deserves all of the smooches. I hope you have as much fun reading it, that I had writing it! Summary: Amit once again finds himself being dragged along by MC on one of her many adventures, but He seems to be into the company as much as the quest. Word Count: 6,695 Rating: PG (Just smoochin' and mentions of smoochin') TW: Anxiety Mention A/N: I have had this idea of MC using the ruse of Merlin Trials to spend more time with Amit, and I am so happy I finally found inspiration to bring it to life. Obviously had to tweak a few moments from in-game to make it more interesting for storytelling.

For The Love Of Merlin

Amit had never spent very much time out in nature, before he arrived at Hogwarts at 11 years old. The closest he’d ever come to a walk through the countryside were the weekend afternoons spent in the botanical gardens of muggle London with his parents and two sisters. Surrounded by fig and European beech trees, he would trail behind his family, little arms balancing a journal and field guides as he took notes and sketches of the birds and blooms that had made the gardens their home. His family’s chatter would be muffled by his own thoughts and the overwhelming sensations of the gardens. 

His daylight hours at Hogwarts, not spent studying his coursework, were now being spent trailing after MC across the Highlands, assisting her in her search to find, solve and complete what she called Merlin Trials. The time the two sixth years were spending together had Amit quickly becoming much fonder of the natural world, and he held no doubt in his mind that his desperate pining for his traveling companion was the cause for his newfound passion. 

Their little adventures outside of the castle had begun the first Saturday afternoon after the start of term of their sixth year. MC had found him in the library, studying ancient runes, after apparently interrogating his friends on his whereabouts. She had no qualms about her interruption of his work, sliding herself into the wooden chair at his side and sporting a mischievous grin. 

They had been casual friends up to this point, just a bit more than acquaintances, peers. Her casual ease around him, as if they had always been the closest of friends, always caught Amit off guard whenever they would interact, forcing his own greeting to come out in an embarrassing stammer.

“I think I have figured out a way you can pay me back for dragging me around to find that old astronomy table last year.” Her voice was light, and teasing as she sat beside him, her fingers absent-mindedly running across the stack of books Amit had in front of him, her eyes grazing over the titles. He did not resist the urge to pull his books from her reach, and offered her a small scowl, unwelcome memories of fire and fear and angry goblins out for his blood commandeering his train of thought. 

“I thought I had paid you back. I gave you my telescope, and was dragged through a goblin mine.” He paused, taking a beat. “I still have nightmares about that by the way. The goblin mine, not the telescope. It really was enough… er… adventure for a lifetime.” They rarely talked about their shared excursion into the mine that Ranrok’s loyalists had tunneled into the mountainside, seeming to have come to a silent understanding that the memory be best left between the pages of Amit’s journal, and his own nightmares. 

When he looked at her face again, it had softened from gleeful mischief to one of remorse and guilt, and Amit was suddenly filled with the same. MC had not left Amit unthanked for what he deemed a miniscule contribution to her journey on becoming the Hero of Hogwarts. The morning after he had a restless night of sleep from the horrors he had encountered, he had been greeted with a pile of sweets from Honeydukes that could only be described as a haul and a book on all of the good and worthy contributions goblinkind offered to the wizarding world, and tucked inside its cover, a letter of gratitude signed from A Friend, and MC’s name. 

MC nudged him with her knee, voice still soft to accommodate the silent library, her gaze fixed on the glass window above them, staring out into the gray September sky. 

“I’m sorry. I am grateful for that, you know… I.” Her mouth closed, suddenly. As if she had stopped herself from saying something more. “...I, I was teasing and I promise this new favor shouldn’t be nearly as dangerous. I think you’ll quite enjoy it actually.” 

Amit's curiosity won over all of the qualms and trepidation he felt over fulfilling a favor for MC, fearless adventurer and hero. 

“Alright, what is it?” 

MC had wasted no time in recollecting every moment that had brought her here beside Amit in the sun-soaked library. How it had started the year before, when she had encountered an older woman south of Hogwarts searching for remnants of Merlin himself across the lands surrounding their school, and how MC had joined in the search on her own adventures across the Scottish highlands; when the two witches had succeeded in completing one of the so-called trials. 

“Anyway…” MC continued, a bit breathless from her storytelling. “I didn’t have much time last year with my playing catch-up with my coursework and, well… you know.” She trailed off, taking a breath and plastering on a smile that faded ever so slightly at the runaround mention of her heroics. “I’ve been staying with this lovely woman in Upper Hogsfield, Dorothy Sprottle, over the school holidays and I think I’ve stumbled across a few, but am having trouble figuring them out… on my own. So I figured I’d ask for help from a friend.” 

Amit was reeling from the sudden onslaught of information, but his excitement grew at the prospect of encountering magic left by Merlin, a legendary wizard by all accounts, and it overcame his thoughts of self doubt that someone as capable as MC would require his help with anything. He did his best to ignore his face growing hot and flushed at MC seeking him out specifically for the task.  

“Okay. Show me.”

Weeks later, with many a solved Merlin trial under their belts, Amit now simply looked forward to the time he was spending with MC outside of the Castle. The intellectual challenges they faced with the solving of the trials were an added benefit rather than an end goal, and Amit was proud to now call MC one of his closest friends. 

It wasn’t until a group of the adventurous duo and their friends had come together for a butterbeer that Amit had realized his platonic love for MC was not at all platonic. 

The epiphany of sorts had fallen upon him just after their winter break when Amit had been sitting across from her at the Three Broomsticks, studying her smiling face, trying to reconcile the cheerful girl across from him with the stories she had shared about what had occurred beneath the castle less than a year prior.

The sip she had been taking from her butterbeer had been interrupted with a loud laugh, caused by Andrew Larson having relayed a story of accidentally transfiguring his grandmother's cat into a teacup over the break, and how the poor creature had transfigured back just as the old woman was about to pour a cup of tea. MC’s own beverage had spewed everywhere, making the laughter at the table increase tenfold, but Amit had been the first to stifle his laughter, when his gaze fell on the foam above her smile and he felt the urge to kiss it from her lips. 

He had abruptly excused himself, scraping his chair back and knocking over his own butterbeer in his frenzied state, taken aback by his own thoughts, and suddenly feeling as though the room was quite stuffy, the walls closing in on him. He had cleaned up the mess, waving off the concerned queries from his friends, and bolted out of the building. 

The cold winter breeze was soothing on Amit’s heated skin, and the gulping of the icy air steadied his breathing just enough to allow his lungs to properly inhale and exhale. A deep breath in, holding it for the count of three, and exhaling, his breath hanging in front of him. He repeated the motion, over and over and over until he felt okay again. A ritual his parents had sat through with him countless times throughout his life, whenever everything felt like too much, like being alive in itself was unbearable. 

He continued walking, every nerve in his body trembling with the way his own thoughts had shaken him, the village was lively and bustling with activity, but Amit was so lost in his own spiral he wouldn’t have noticed if a stampede of graphorns abruptly barreled through the streets.

Though one sound managed to make its way through the heavy fog of his mind. MC, calling his name and running towards him from the pub, still tugging on her coat and a befuddled Andrew Larson peeking out from the open doors, letting it close when he saw MC beelining for their friend. 

“Amit! Are you alright?” The Ravenclaw boy tucked his chin into his scarf as he slowed his pace, despite his mind telling him to keep walking, faster, trying to convince him that if she gets too close, she’ll see it, she’ll know. Everything else inside of him pulled him to a stop, letting her catch up to him in the street. He shoved his sweaty hands deeper into his pockets, protecting himself from the cold and her from noticing the tremor of his nervous hands. 

As her footsteps grew closer, he let himself take another deep breath, holding it for one, two, three..

“Yes… Yes, I just remembered that I’m on prefect rounds tonight, and want to get a start on my Potions essay beforehand.” 

Amit could not miss the look of skepticism on MC’s face, and as if she was turning his words over in her head, she, blissfully, must have deemed them acceptable, her face relaxing back into her usual smile as she began to skip alongside him. 

“Alright, well. I think I found another trial. I was out collecting horklumps near Marunweem for Mrs. Spottle over break and found another stone swirl, and I think I found all of the pillars for it.” 

He was already going over his schedule on when they could go, the excitement of chasing down yet another Merlin Trial at MC’s side was rapidly replacing his nerves over his revelation. He often found himself having second and third thoughts with his choice on becoming a prefect, feeling something akin to regret about the time it was taking away from moments he could be spending with MC. He shook off the thought and the familiar flutter in his stomach at the prospect of being alone with MC, refocusing on the task at hand, which was how far Marunweem was from their school. Too far to take care of after classes on a weekday, lamenting at the realization that they’d have to get to it on the weekend.  

He grabbed MC’s robe sleeve with an exasperated huff, putting a stop to her skipping on the cobblestone slick with ice as they descended a slight slope in their path, MC complied with Amit’s silent demand, easing his anxiety over her putting herself in the hospital wing with a fall. 

“MC… If you found the trial you know you can just finish it without me. You don’t really need my help anymore.” 

He took a beat, pausing to allow a gaggle of witches to cross on the street in front of them, giving them a friendly smile, despite the anxious thoughts running rampant through his mind about MC not needing him.

She knows how to solve them now, what does she need me for? She’s the one that always finds them, anyway. Will she stop seeking me out? Will our friendship wither away? Are we even friends? What if she really just wanted my help with the trials and our friendship was all in my head? What happens if we find all of them? 

Amit hadn’t continued walking long after the witches had passed as he forced himself to meet MC’s gaze, despite the thumping of his heart. Her gaze didn’t falter, and he couldn’t help but notice the dusting of a blush on her cheeks. Perhaps she didn’t wish for him to come along any longer, and was too kind to say as much. 

He gave her what he hoped was a calm and convincing smile, placing an unsteady hand on her shoulder and steeling himself for the opportunity he was giving her to cut him out. Breathe in, breathe out for one two three…

“You know that you really do not have to come fetch me each time you find one, MC. I understand that I did my part in helping you figure out how to solve them, I understand if you no longer need me. You don’t have to be afraid to tell me. I will understand, really. I appreciate you even including me in the first place.”

MC made a sound, something between a laugh and a scoff as she pulled them back into a stride. The fingers she wrapped around his arm as she all but dragged him through the blustery Hogsmeade streets, had Amit fighting to prevent himself from pulling it from her grasp, the feeling of her hand on his body, even in the most innocent of ways, nearly too much for him to bear.

He could feel his mind descending into a state of dolefulness, as if grieving the relative ease of their friendship before his realization, when now, his mind was latching on to every innocent moment between them and sullying it with his own hidden desires for more. 

“Amit, Of course I am going to continue kidnapping you to come along to these trials. I…” MC clears her throat, her face flushing a deeper pink. “I suppose I no longer consider them just mine any longer… They’re ours now.”

She hasn’t dropped his arm, still gently pulling him along through the archway leading out of the village, Amit feeling grateful for the added stability her touch was now lending him, as her words had made him a bit dizzy with affection and glee. His throat was once again very dry, mouth opening and closing with his brain refilling with fog at her belief that the trials were theirs now. 

It was MC’s turn to pull them to a stop, halfway across the bridge and out of the middle of the path. Amit was still at a loss for words, having no idea how to show his love and appreciation for the time he was spending with her without showing more.

One… Two…

Just as he was about to try and speak, she started again, her voice a smidge higher than Amit was used to hearing. “But if you don’t want to come along any longer, if you’re too busy or have too much work or not enough time with your prefect duties or if you simply no longer enjoy it or find it boring, I understand. You’re right I can figure them out on my own now. I can do it without you, I was just saying it’s much more enjoyable with y- with a friend.” 

The panic clear in her voice, undoubtedly caused by Amit’s delayed, or lack thereof, of a response had him biting back an amused grin. His anxiety giving into the glee he still felt over her admission, encouraged by the humor he found in the confident and steadfast MC becoming flustered. 

Leaning against the stone side of the bridge, he nudged MC with his shoulder, a teasing grin splitting his face.

“Careful there, MC. Starting to think you’re spending too much time with me, rambling on like that.” 

She returned his nudge with a roll of her eyes and a dramatic scoff, pushing herself off the side of the bridge and back into a confident stride, her hands tucking themselves into the pockets of her coat. 

Amit followed her, matching her gait and still chuckling to himself. 

“Of course I enjoy it, I love it! I just didn’t want you to feel obligated to include me if you didn’t want to.” 

MC assured him, once more, that she did want him along. That she truly felt that the trials were a collaborative effort now, after all they had accomplished together, and by the time they reached the long road back to Hogwarts, they had agreed to seek out the one near Marunweem next weekend. 

With the topic now settled, They fell into easy chatter on their trek back to school. With every step, and every joke shared, Amit found himself feeling better and better about the situation he found himself in, as if being alone with MC was his own personal calming draught. As they finally passed through the looming iron gates of Hogwarts, Amit had convinced himself he would take these moments with MC over losing her entirely with an awkward confession of his desires. 

~*~ With only a week left of the school year, Amit found pride in the way he had managed to cope with and hide away the feelings he held for MC. He kept himself busy with his prefect duties and his coursework, not allowing his mind any time to be idle, and he was still finding solace and joy in the time he spent with MC, which, ever since that day in Hogsmeade, had grown into something more than just Merlin Trials. Now it was rare to see one without the other, MC even making herself at home in Amit’s group of friends. 

Their time together now, felt bittersweet as they ascended the path up to their destination, the final Merlin trial of their sixth year. The jagged and ancient rock surrounding them, making his heart thump with anxious recollections of the last time he had followed MC into the mountains. 

Breathe in and Breathe out for one… two...three.

He fixed his gaze on MC ahead of him, her long hair bouncing across her back in two braids, as she led the way ahead, with the usual skip in her step. Her laugh of victory ringing through the quiet, spring afternoon as she recognized and pointed to a familiar round stone resting in the dirt of a large clearing the two had just stepped onto. His heart soared, thumping in his chest for a different reason as he watched her weathered boots, and spinning skirt, hopping onto the stone swirl, and twirling in delight, the first step to their task at hand. A ritual she had started during their very first trial together, and now a superstition she held to ensure their success. 

When she completed her little dance, she hopped right back into the dirt and stuck her tongue out at Amit, who was giving her his best teasing, chastising look. 

“It’s tradition, Amit.”  She tossed her satchel to the ground, her gaze following Amit who had already begun to circle and survey the surrounding area for further signs of the trial, searching for pillars or spheres or cubes with etches of spellcasting clues. 

“It feels sacrilegious, MC.” He sidled up beside her, once he caught glimpses of a group of small spheres lying amongst the thicket around them, held in place by a covering of green vines. 

She ignored him, digging back into her satchel for the glass jar filled with the dried leaves of mallowsweet, shaking the contents into Amit’s readied, outstretched hand before doing the same with her own. They stood together, wearing matching smiles as they closed their fists around the small piles of the necessary herb. 

“Ready?” 

Amit gave her a nod of his head, still smiling, the air now fizzling with excitement with the old magic they were experiencing with each and every trial. He moved to the opposite side of the circle, and on the count of three, the two students spread the green leaves over the stone swirl. 

Ever mesmerized by these moments, neither of them pulled their gaze away from the vines that had been covering the stone disappearing at the touch of the mallowsweet, pulling away from their resting place like devils snare running from the light. 

With his mind focused on the task at hand, Amit was able to chance a glance at MC’s smiling face and let himself fall a little more in love with the brave and awe-struck girl, before pulling himself away from the circle and leading the way up a small hill. 

“It’s one of the easy ones, the spheres? Marbles? I never remember what we decided to call them. Not sure where the rest are though.”

MC followed, wand at the ready and her braids whipping around, narrowly missing Amit’s face, as she searched for the objects’ final resting place, which should have been more stone circles in the ground, carved with cavities for the little spheres to fall into. 

They managed to find the stone plates that were their goal, buried beneath weeds and natural growth over the years of being lost to time, waiting for someone to wake them from their slumber and unlock the magic of Merlin. The first set had been easy enough, using their knowledge of spellwork and experience to gingerly place the spheres onto and inside their respective stone plate. 

Casual conversation regarding the end of term and their mutual friends filled the silence as they searched for another set of spheres, Amit finding himself just as content in the prospect of not finding them, if it meant he could spend the rest of his day with MC, until the setting sun pushed them back to the castle. His thoughts, dangerously on the edge of romantic, were interrupted by a flood of fear when he turned around to see MC scaling the side of the mountain. 

“What are you doing?!”

On their adventures in the last year, Amit should have been accustomed to MC not giving a second thought to throwing herself into potentially dangerous situations, he had witnessed her performing many perilous acts on their journeys. From jumping from pillars taller than buildings to attempting to cross raging rivers that could surely claim her life. He didn’t think he ever would be, though. His anxious mind simply would not allow it, but he was unsurprised at her casual retort of searching for a better vantage point.

He knew better than to talk her out of it, or chastise her for her recklessness, he loved her for who she was, and he did his best to trust her when she so fiercely trusted herself. Who was he to question the Hero of Hogwarts? 

“Well, be careful.” He gave her a needless reminder, taking a step back to keep an eye on her as she climbed higher along the rock, his fingers wrapping around his own wand, ready to save her from a fall if her grip slipped. 

MC made a sound of victory, her head tilting towards the ground from her spot on the rock, her toes balancing on a jagged stone that looked much too narrow for Amit’s comfort. He took a deep breath, exhaling for one, two, three to steady his breathing on the brink of panic. 

“What is it? Do you see them?”  “Don’t fret, Amit. Your torture will soon be through.” MC laughed, kindly, at the shaking of Amit’s voice and her own teasing, before moving parallel to the ground across the mountainside, until she was above what he assumed to be her goal and dropped to the ground, disappearing from Amit’s line of sight behind a wall of large boulders. 

It was silent in the clearing, long enough for Amit’s mind to visualize MC breaking every bone in her body, but 

before he could yell back to her, taking a step closer to the boulders to confirm life, she was yelling at him to stand back, taking a beat before adding that a shield charm probably wouldn’t hurt. 

He didn’t question it, or her. She was the duo’s unspoken leader, and Amit, her loyal subject. He would follow her into the pits of hell if she asked him too. He took a step back, as far as he could whilst still feeling stable on his feet near the edge of the precipice, and covered himself with a shielding charm.

As if waiting for him to recite the incantation, the moment the magical shield enveloped him the smallest of the boulders exploded, causing Amit to instinctively flinch and cower away from the flying debris. When the dust from the devastated boulder settled, he scowled in MC’s direction, dropping his shield. 

“You could have warned me, you know!” She stood against the mountain wall, a smile of victory on her face and her wand still in her hand. She strode further into the little clearing that had been tucked behind the wall of boulders and gave him a shrug of her shoulders.

“I told you to stand back.” 

Amit rolled his eyes, but crossed back over to stand beside her in the clearing, where, sure enough, lay the small spheres they had been searching for. After giving MC a careful and reluctant good job, the two of them set to work in getting them into their place in the stone plate. 

Two down, one to go.

They set off again, searching for the last set of spheres to complete the trial. Regardless of how many trials they completed, Amit always felt a rush of excitement as they contemplated and discussed and played with the old magic surrounding the puzzles left by a renowned wizard, the aspiring historian in himself never took for granted the opportunity MC had given him by requesting his help.

The two explorers had to come to terms with the fact that the final set of spheres were not in or near the large clearing that held the stone plates or the stone swirl, and agreed to set out further up the northern path to widen their search.

Amit walked close to MC, the high mountain rock still filling with him a sense of dread and unease, making his stomach twist into an anxious knot with the memories of the most traumatic day of his life, but the backs of their hands grazing one another as they swung in time with their gait, brought him a sense of peace that he couldn’t bring himself to pull away from. He took a deep breath, exhaling it in one… two… three… trying to calm the nerves that wracked his body in more ways than one. He swore he could hear his own heartbeat pounding against his chest as they walked in what he believed MC found to be a comfortable silence. 

Finally finding the last set of spheres, nearly completely camouflaged amongst a smattering of rocks and the long grass at the side of the path, set against the base mountainside. It was a bit more work getting them back down to the clearing to set them away, seeming to have a mind of their own despite both Amit and MC working in tandem with their spellwork.

Though as it always was with MC, fun and joyous regardless of the obstacles they faced, Amit found himself laughing along with her as they attempted to corral the stubborn objects into place. He had doubled over with laughter of his own when she had taken off at a sprint to catch a wayward sphere from rolling off the cliffside, and fallen into the dirt, sliding in the gravel and landing on her bottom. 

He had to take a new sort of deep breath to calm himself when she returned, hugging the quivering sphere to her chest, the object desperate to return to its brethren and its captor giving Amit a proper scowl, after he had been the one quick-witted enough to pull the sphere to a stop with Arresto Momentum, just as MC had taken her tumble. 

“Couldn’t have thought of that sooner?” 

Amit pulled the sphere from her hand, dropping it to the ground to let it roll back to its comrades, still not in their place, and gave her a teasing grin. 

“I wasn’t expecting you to chase it! I was simply caught off guard, and then was very distracted by watching you run after it, it was quite the sight. It was a real treat to see you fall though. Thank you, I needed the laugh after the stress of exams.” 

MC rolled her eyes, flipping her braids dramatically as she sauntered away from him, back to her attempts at getting the spheres into their proper place at the stone plate, when they neared the lip of the stone she paused to take a deep breath of her own. 

Amit moved to take his place by her side, this was always their shared favorite part, watching the final piece of the puzzle click into place and reveal to them their success. With a gentle nudge to her arm with his own, MC took another deep, shaky breath, her face flushed a deep pink that Amit couldn’t help but question. 

Had she been hurt with her fall? A concussion, maybe? 

Just as Amit was about to ask after her wellbeing, he was silenced by MC rolling the spheres onto the stone plate and letting them rest into their spaces. With every trial they completed, he was left breathless and awe-struck at the way time seemed to slow down in this moment, he wasn’t sure if it was the magic of the trial itself, or Amit’s own sense of wonder, as the earth beneath their feet trembled and the stone swirl twisted away, much like the vines that had once covered it. 

Each twist of the swirl unwinding itself from the stone, revealed more and more of the apparition of Merlin, standing in the center of a stone archway crawling with vines, Amit stood in reverence at the magic before him, feeling his anxiety and unease regarding the mountains surrounding him momentarily forgotten for the astonishment he felt each time he was lucky enough to catch a glimpse into the past, into magic itself. 

He now knew that Merlin's apparition only lasted for a few seconds, and he would not tear his eyes away from the beauty of it all. Just as the apparition disappeared with a soft pop, and dissipating all of the magic in the air with it, Amit was struck dumb when MC’s arms were suddenly wrapped around his neck and her lips were pressing against his. 

He was reeling, his world spinning around him as he felt MC kissing him the way he had spent nearly a year of his life imagining she would. He was still half considering that MC truly had suffered a concussion from her fall and wasn’t in her right mind, his anxiety and inability to understand and accept what was happening prevented him from moving a muscle, standing stock still.

She pulled away when Amit did not reciprocate her affection, her mouth agape and face beet red in horror as she began to stutter and stammer, full of apologies and defenses for her behavior, but Amit could not hear a word with the deafening whirlwind of thoughts inside of his head. 

Did she like him? Did she love him? How long had she felt this way? As long as he had? Longer? Why would she just kiss him like that? Why didn’t he kiss her back? 

Amit swallowed the building anxiety in his throat, and decided he did not want to let his usual antics make him lose something he had so desperately wanted, he decided to try and be brave in spite of it all. 

He took a deep breath, exhaling in one… two… three and pulled MC back into his arms, holding her tight around the waist as he kissed her again, silencing her stammering with his own surprise kiss and a trembling hand on her cheek. 

MC did not hesitate to return it, melting into his arms and right into the kiss. Amit could not tell how long they stayed like that, standing in the mountains and wrapped up in one another. When they finally pulled away, Amit was still breathless and shaking with nerves, MC falling into a peal of giggles, elated at how well this had gone. 

Amit felt as though he had used up every ounce of his bravery kissing MC and was back to standing like a statue in the grass of the clearing, his arms now hanging at his sides and the slightest of smiles tugging at his lips, still refusing to believe this wasn’t all just a dream, his mind playing the cruelest of tricks on him. As their friendship always was, he was relying on MC to lead the way. 

MC reached forward, playing with the sleeve of his robe and giving him an encouraging smile.  “I… I suppose I wanted to give you a good memory of me dragging you into the mountains. A memory that doesn’t make you want to run in the opposite direction… It was quite silly… I suppose, but I have wanted to do that for a very, very long time.” 

He was still coming to terms with everything that had happened, and his entire body felt like it was full of lead, his head full of the familiar fog of anxiety and rapid overwhelming thoughts. He wanted to say that he was fine, but his throat was dry and couldn’t come up with the words. 

“I can see it, whenever we even come near the mountain while we’re out here… You get all pale and… quiet.” 

He shook his head, trying to shake himself off and have a conversation, a conversation he never thought he would have been having, but every word she shared was just compounding his confusion, forcing him further into a flustered state. When he managed to meet her gaze, she still held her smile, her hand still playing with the hem of his robe sleeve, he twisted his arm around to take the hand in his own. 

Finally, he managed to muster up something to say, breaking the silence. 

“I love you.”

Her smile grew impossibly wider, tugging Amit closer with the hand he held in his, returning the sentiment with a kind laugh, and enveloping him into a hug. The longer he stayed in her embrace, the more calm he became, his thoughts easing up and letting him breathe, he felt steady enough to extricate himself from her arms and give her a smile. 

Sooner than he ever believed possible, even with Amit’s shaking voice, they fell into easy conversation. Taking their time to soak in the archway of their solved Merlin Trial, and packing up their things before they began their descent back down the mountain in the setting sun, its dark peaks against the golden hour sky no longer holding such a threat to Amit’s psyche. MC slipped her fingers into his when she noticed the trajectory of his gaze, and he gave her hand a comforting squeeze, and a soft thank you. 

The night continued to surprise him, apparently MC’s confessions did not end with a reciprocated love for Amit. She revealed more about herself, and the Merlin Trials themselves, when they reached the bottom of the Mountain. How she didn’t truly need any help with solving any of the trials, and had simply used them as a ruse to spend more time with him. 

If Amit hadn’t been so happy and content with their hands entwined together and swinging between them, and the taste of her lips still on his own, he may have felt more put out by her sneaky antics. Yet, he wasn’t. He was grateful that one of them could be brave, and he wasn’t dreading the long walk back to the Castle as he would ordinarily, despite the still trembling of his legs. He would have happily spent days trekking through the wilderness if it meant he could keep holding her hand. 

~*~ 

Breaching the large doors of Hogwarts felt like being doused with ice water, like a hook in his gut and tugging him back to reality, and away from the daydream he felt he was living. The empty halls and classrooms as they wandered through the corridors, were a visceral reminder that they had less than a week to enjoy this new them. 

He turned to MC, to try and bring voice to his anxious thoughts but she seemed to be reading his mind, taking both of his hands in his and giving him her signature encouraging smile. She filled him with promises of writing, and visiting and to meet him outside his common room first thing in the morning to soak up every minute they still had of the year.

He returned her promises with a kiss, and the biggest smile he could offer her with the sadness still weighing in his chest, and the pit of regret in his stomach that he couldn’t be braver, sooner. 

Once they had parted ways with more stolen kisses and longing hands, Amit managed to make it back to his common room on legs that felt like jelly, his heart still thrumming in his chest and a smile on his face. He was so lost in his love-struck reverie, a new fog of glee and thoughts of everything that was to come with MC, he worried he wouldn’t find enough coherency to answer the eagle’s riddle. 

Thankfully, he was saved by Zenobia Noke who happily helped him into their shared common room, disappearing quickly up into the girls dormitories. Amit felt like he was walking amongst the clouds, and barely noticed his best friend sat on the floor of the common room polishing his wizard's chess set. 

Andrew Larson called his name, summoning him forward with a request for Amit to play against him in one last Wizards Chess match of the school year.

“Fancy a match?” He was smiling at Amit, already setting the pieces up onto the board, knowing Amit had rarely turned him down for a game. 

Amit seemed to snap into place, delight filling him at the sight of his best friend and confidante, eager to share the events of his day.

“Yes. No. Well, Yes. But I have to talk to you.” Amit hurried over to where Andrew was sitting, his friend's hand extended to offer him the seat across from him, and a smile that told him he was all ears. Amit knew he probably looked downright silly, in his flustered state as he sat down to play, unable to keep the smile off of his face. 

The moment all of the pieces were setup on the board, Amit launched into his tale. Andrew listened intently the entire way through, a smile growing on his face the further his friend got into his story, and despite him already losing the match. He was envious of Amit, to be able to focus so entirely on the game despite the flustered blush and animated retelling of his day. 

When Amit took a deep breath, the telling sign to the end of his rambling, he buried his face in his hands to hide the blush that had grown a deeper and deeper red as he brought words to all of the thoughts, and all of the experiences he had, had today.

Andrew smiled, joy filling him on behalf of his friend getting something he had listened to him yearn for the better part of a year. 

“Sooo… You and MC are together then? She likes you back? I don’t have to listen to you whine about your crush on her any longer?”  

Amit was grateful for the small mercy Andrew gave him, despite his teasing, by staring at the chessboard and not meeting his gaze. He felt as though his heart was still at risk of stopping entirely, his cheeks aching with his incessant grin. He tried to breathe through the shaking of his voice. 

“Yeah, Yes. She likes me back.” 

Andrew finally met his gaze before falling dramatically back onto the floor, with a happy sigh. 

“Oh. Thank Merlin.” 

Amit managed a laugh at his friend's theatrics, shaking his head as he refocused on the chessboard and nudged a piece forward.

“Yeah. Thank Merlin.” 

[velaraffricate]

so I've been working on my latest conlang, irkan osla (or just osla for short), for a bit now and would like to showcase its writing system in this post! osla has a syllabic alphabet, not too dissimilar to korean hangul, where letters are stacked according to certain rules to make syllable blocks.

osla's syllable structure is (C)(C)V(V)(C), here's how the stacks work for each type of syllable:

all letters have small, wide, and tall forms depending on their position in the syllable. here are all the letters with their IPA value and romanization:

and here's an example text! i translated parts of the minecraft end poem into osla. maybe i'll make another post just focusing on the grammar when it's more developed. the poem says in english:

What did this player dream? This player dreamed of sunlight and trees. Of fire and water. It dreamed it created. And it dreamed it destroyed. It dreamed it hunted, and was hunted. It dreamed of shelter.

Does it know that we love it? That the universe is kind? Sometimes, through the noise of its thoughts, it hears the universe, yes.

this post is getting long, so under the cut you'll find a "sans-serif" version as well as the poem in osla and its gloss if you're also a linguistics nerd and wanna know what's going on under the hood (the roman numerals stand for the 3 noun classes)! thanks for reading!

The way regular people would write something quickly on a piece of paper with a regular pen is an aspect of creating neographies that I feel is often overlooked, so I developed this sans-serif version that people would probably be more likely to use when writing their shopping lists or diary entries:

And, finally, here's the poem translation:

pak oṇḍul phan wimbakis?

DET.I.SG.PROX play-AGN what dream-PST.3SG.I?

pak oṇḍul lümaṇiuṣerothi han buloni an wimbakis. kaṣkhaothi han nilothi an. wimbakis, run sëmamkis. wimbakis, run xokthakis, han bumxokthakis. zöga an wimbakis.

DET.I.SG.PROX play-AGN sunlight-II.SG.DAT and tree-II.PL.DAT of dream-PST.3SG.I. Fire-II.SG.DAT and water-II.SG.DAT of. dream-PST.3SG.I, that create-PST.3SG.I. dream-PST.3SG.I, that hunt-PST.3SG.I, and PASS-hunt-PST.3SG.I. shelter of dream-PST.3SG.I.

ṭauraka, run kaak samare? run glutsüna flia?

know-NP.3SG.I, that 3SG.I.ABS love-NP.1PL? that universe kind?

imba ethamo, khaṣiŋli an ka’am hu’aŋni pitë, glutsüna ṣaraka, ti.

some time-NOM.III.PL, noise-ACC.II.SG of 3SG.I.GEN thought-NOM.III.PL through, universe hear-NP.3SG.I, yes.

[bloos-bloo]

This is kinda based off BBH’s stream today btw- more specifically, the scene where he has a memory lapse with the pillagers:

The night sky gently brushed through the windows. It’s soft light nudging it’s way throughout the room. The demon laid on a sleeping bag in the middle of this spiral tower. It’s been a day- spending time with his roommates, learning that he’s stuck on an island, learning that there’s bears and rabbits that act like a government. It was great.

Yet the uneasy feeling he had when he locked eyes with a lone pillager. It’s crossbow pointed directly at the demon. Bad tossed and turned on the sleeping cot- his hands slowly gripping onto his pillow.

A memory of endless white snow piling up underneath a vast black sky. His breathe clouding up his vision as he watched his blood spill over the floor, nearly matching the red carpet below. In front of him- a top hat backed into a corner. His little hands holding up a sword that was 2x as big as her.

“NO!” Bad shouted as his body collapsed. Waking up in a red bed surrounded by white pillows. He ran towards the mansion.

“Dapper! Crawl to the entrance!” The demon shouted, a pillager swiftly plunging arrows into his back.

“FUDGE!” He cried- his body limp on the floor. “Dapper- Crawl! You have to CRAWL!”

The demon continued shouting.

Watching in agony as his son held up her sword. The pillager knocking him down- the clang of the metal ringing throughout the room.

“NO!! DAPPER PLEASE!” Bad screamed, once again waking up with a jolt on the red bed. White pillows, cloudy breath.

“CRAWL TO THE ENTRANCE!”

The demon ran.

The image of the pillager’s smile as it drove a sword through his back.

The image of the little egg forced into a corner.

The image of her eyes welling up with tears.

The Vindicator stepping towards her.

Blood stains.

Dapper was slain by a Vindicator

“NO!” He wept, his knees weak from the message. “NO NO NO- DAPPER!!”

The demon cried, wiping his eyes as his fists slammed into the snow below. He felt a little tug as he beat at the ground. Each tug growing more frantic than the last.

“NO! NO NO!” He screamed, thinking the pillagers and vindicator found him outside. His fists going wild on the ground. He felt his hands be pinned- his eyes streaming at this point.

“DAPPER!”

He felt his palm being forced open, rapid tapping followed soon after.

“I’m here!”

Bad gasped as his eyes shot wide open. The sleeping bag underneath him nearly ripped to shreds- the remains of it left over his claws.

It took a minute before his vision caught up with his brain. His tears still streaming down his face as he looked up. In front of him, holding his palm in her tiny hands- messy hair and tear filled eyes, was Dapper. Next to her, a concerned filled expression- red and blue blushed cheeks and neatly braided locks, was Pomme.

“I’m here. I’m here. It’s- It’s ok.. It was all a bad dream.” Dapper continued to tap on Bad’s palm. Bad taking the time to recollect his breath and wipe the tears away.

“I- I’m sorry. Was I too loud-? I didn’t- mean to wake you two…” He trailed.

Pomme shook her head, Dapper continued tapping. “No, it’s ok. We heard you calling me- and- we knew you were in distress.”

Bad clutched the tattered sleeping mat, “I- Thank you.. I never- had someone.. care so much about me.”

Pomme smiled. Holding up a little sign for her father to read. “Would you like for us to stay with you?”

The demon winced- he didn’t want to be a bother. Especially with how well these two have been treating him.

“I- I wouldn’t want to bother you guys- I’ll be fi-“

“Nope. We’re staying.” Dapper interrupted. Next thing he knew, both kids were lying on each side of the creature. Their faces carefully nudged on each side.

Bad felt a small ping in his chest- for some reason, this felt familiar. Everything about this felt right- but he couldn’t place why. He carefully laid back, his eyes gazing over the star decorations. The sun’s early morning light carefully kissing it hello.

The demon couldn’t help but wrap an arm around each child.

He smiled, his eyes fluttering shut. “Thank you- kids.”

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

dawg my body is so ready for seeing your human versions of the gang. like the need to draw these sillies is JUST TOO DAMN GREAT--(please don't take this as "OMG HURRY UP", i'm just very excited to see your interpretations!)

well shit now i gotta buckle down on brushing up + improving upon my human scribbling skills, which - meager to begin with - have deteriorated due to Puppet Disease (and i say this with playful exasperation. i've been needing an excuse to Practice and this is a damn good one)

though i will say! i'll be adhering to the ~canon~ human versions we've been gifted via Clown's pokemon au. ofc since we don't know what Howdy, Poppy, Sally, and Eddie look like, i'll have to think of something myself

[willowser]

Dearest will, I would love to read your take on bkg’s confession to us 🥹 delicious pining, the time and nerves it takes for him to work up the courage to actually say that he has feelings for us !!! Or maybe he can’t even find the words and he just demands a date or something 😭 I live for that man’s emotional turmoil I want to eat him

his emotional turmoil is so important to me 😌✨️💕 LMAOOO lemme think !! gosh, i — can imagine this going so many different ways and. none of them are anything less than dramatic because he is SO akfjdjejal it's like pulling teeth, i swear smh

i feel like. he's only willing to say something if he kinda thinks you might be into him, too. if there's been no indication that you see him as anything other than a friend, he's taking that shit to the grave. god, i imagine that rejection must be so difficult for this man; after always being second-best to deku and everything with all might and now edgeshot, he is probably just teeming with feelings of never being good enough and he's probably horrified that this will happen again, with you, and he is just. a wreck 😭

(you have no idea what you just unleashed, this got SO long, i am SO sorry 😩🥲)

the first thing that comes to mind is that he's angry about it LOL and i hate to make it seem like i'm dulling him down to that, but i think he's most comfortable being aggressive, because that's the way he was for so long, and it's just how he's used to processing his emotions outwardly, if that makes sense. so he probably has some idea that there is a lil' something going on between you two and he's probably like. do i really have to say this why haven't you figured it out already you think i look at just anyone like this. i think he will say everything he possibly can—except the actual words LOL the emotional charades with this guy is like. unreal.

(he only ever goes out for drinks with everyone because of you. because you always make a point to sit by him and you laugh and put a hand on his arm and sometimes you'll look at him while everyone is talking and he'll look at you and he thinks i've gotta figure this shit out because he can't stand it anymore.

and then when it's time to leave, he's leading to his car so that he can drive you home, like he always does, but for some reason, this time, you're being a brat about it.

"no, bakugou, seriously," you laugh at the frown on his face—but you're not stepping any closer to his car so it deepens. "i'm going to start owing you gas money at this point, you take me home every time."

it probably shouldn't offend him as much as it does, but like hell he's gonna take money from you, especially when having you in his passenger seat means twenty extra minutes of time. will give him the chance to remember the order of words in the script he's practiced over and over.

but now you're saying no.

bakugou huffs, averting his eyes to a crack in the sidewalk so this image doesn't sear into the front of his brain. "'f you don't wanna, that's all you gotta fuckin' say."

"no," the pitch in your voice has his attention back to you, the playful pout on your lips. "that's not it, of course i want to." and his eyes must go a little wide because you grin, up to no good. "i love riding with you."

and—okay. he's been thinking about this a lot, every time he knows he'll be spending any amount of time with you; how is he going to direct the conversation, so that he can spit it out already? and, what do you know, he doesn't even have to, because you've brought yourself right here, directly at the precipice, exactly where he needs to be to tell you—

"well," he shrugs, grumbling, "why do y'think i offer?"

there's this little glimmer in your eyes at that, and your soft expression curves into something you have trouble keeping a hold on, but you clasp your hands together behind your back and take slow steps closer, too close, until you're close enough to probably feel the heat coming off in waves from his fucking face.

"i don't know," you shrug, too, batting your eyelashes like you haven't got a clue in the world what he's getting at. what he's been getting at for months. "why do you offer?"

"it ain't 'cause i want your damn money!"

"no," you put a finger on your chin, exaggerating. "i'm almost sure that was it."

and he seethes at that, you little shit, and juts his chin out and balls his hands into fists because he can't believe you're gonna make him spell this out. "i ain't gonna say this twice."

a shock of laughter spills from you, lighting up your face in a way that has his stomach twisting. "you haven't even said it once!" you close whatever distance there might have been, tugging at the lapels of his coat, dropping your voice low and meant just for him. "c'mon bakugou, you can tell me. secrets don't make friends."

"were not friends," he finally—finally—grits, ears hot, probably steaming in the cold weather. there's a stretch of silence as you smile up at him, all victorious, and it runs so long that he starts to worry he's being too much of an ass, or has put his foot in his mouth. "'least, i didn't—to me—"

"no, bakugou," you agree, soothing his worries as you lean up to press the ice-cold tip of your nose to his. "we're not just friends.")

but also !! 🥺 the thought of him actually deciding to tell you is like !!! okay. i, like many of us, absolutely love the idea of him being a secret, big fat shoujo fan. i think that he reads these romance stories and gets all butterflies in his stomach and really enjoys them, honestly, because he is interested in how open some people can be with one another. it intrigues him, has him wanting that, too.

so i picture him as a huge romantic that is just so terrible about execution LOL he'll have a whole plan for what he's gonna say and what he's gonna wear and where it's gonna be and the flowers he's gonna have and xyz BUT he's such a perfectionist that if even one thing is off, he's out. bailing. saving it for another day because this one is ruined PFFTT. and he probably makes excuses for himself, too, like maybe the mood is right and he has his chance but he just gets too choked up, just thinking about what he wants to say. his nerves eat away at him too much and so he calls the day a bust and moves on.

but then the time comes when he just cannot take it anymore. he's someone that has a lot of self-control, and when it comes to romance and like being nervous, i think he's probably able to hold out for a very long time LOL until he's just at his freaking wit's end with himself for dragging his feet when you are what he wants so bad. and so he just has to get over himself.

(it's just the two of you after hours in the support lab, making small adjustments to his gauntlets. and it starts out just fine, because he's enjoying his alone time with you and how stupid-cute you look when focusing so hard and there's not much conversation being shared, because you're working, and bakugou is okay with that because he's not good with his words, anyway.

and then you do something so simple; wiping a hand against your nose, unknowingly staining it with grease, before holding your open palm out to him.

"can you pass me that socket wrench, please?"

there's really no telling what exactly it is in that moment. maybe that you look so invested in what you're doing, enjoying your passions. maybe it's how comfortable the whole setting feels, the kind of thing he can imagine doing with you for the rest of—forever. or maybe it's just the sleepy way you blink at him, a little worn out from the day, before sending him a smile that has his chest hurting.

so instead of handing you anything, he just says: "you drive me fuckin' crazy."

a spark of life flashes in your eyes, fatigue fading away with your surprise. "uh, what?" and—he could have said that better because now you're nervous and you give him an awkward little laugh. "what did i do? were you using it?"

"no, dumbass, you just—" bakugou sighs, dropping the tools from his own hands to run one over his face. none of this was part of his carefully concocted plan, but he's just suddenly overwhelmed, by you, and if he doesn't get it off his chest, right now, he's going to implode. "i'm gonna walk out of here and go home and—" he pauses to gnaw on his lip, trying in vain to think of any of the words he'd ever planned out for this. "you're gonna be the only damn thing on my mind."

"oh," you breathe, quiet, though he's sure you're able to hear how hard his heart is pounding. hard enough to cause him a little unease. "me? what about me?"

"fuckin'—everything." he frowns, and he's typically not one to back down from a little eye-contact, but you lean forward at other end of the workbench, attention all his, and—he's suddenly very interested in the control panel on the table in front of him. "your—everything."

"well i have to be honest," you look down at your hands and your little jumpsuit, brushing stray hairs from out of your face. "this is hardly the version of myself i want you thinkin' about."

and there's something about hearing you say it that makes him fucking embarrassed all over, so he just curls a little further into himself, eyes glued to his work. "don't matter," he grunts, flushed down to his neck. "look just fine t'me."

you laugh at that, and when he looks up at you, you're gnawing on your own lip and your eyes are jumping all over the lab, like you can't stand the eye-contact either, like you're feeling just as fevered as him.

like maybe he doesn't leave your mind, either.)

and there is a small part of me that thinks he has to make his feelings known in a physical way—as in, still with his mouth but not with his words LOL because even though i think he can be a little wary of intimacy, especially with someone he's not actively dating, he's such a physical person that he just has to do something with his hands at some point.

(he finds you in the back corner, at the copy machine. only reason he came back here was to shove some old reports into the shredder, be done with them so he could finally go home for the day, but—now you're standing up from how you'd been leaning over the machine and looking at him with big eyes and a smile and, well, he's not in all that much of a rush, anyway.

bakugou is shit at making small talk, but you're much better at it, thankfully. can talk forever just like goddamn deku, though he's much more inclined to listen to whatever you'll prattle on about, even if it's just the weather or whatever else you need to do for mina today or—

"—and so now i have to make all these flyers." you shrug and stick your tongue out, like it's a bother even though he knows it isn't. "not anything fun i'm copying, unfortunately. not like—" a little beep sounds as your pages finish printing and you grab them and set them straight, laughing a little as you glance up at him. "not like—do you remember when all might fought that villain xerox? and there were all these photocopies of his face squished against the glass?" for emphasis, you press your hands to your cheeks, pushing them together until your lips pucker—and then you laugh some more, like you're just so goddamn funny. "i don't know if you ever read that one, i think that issue came out when he was in the states or—"

and—he really doesn't consider himself this kinda guy, some casanova or what-have-you, but in one step, he's grabbing one of your wrists to hold you still and slipping the other around your neck and just crashing his mouth onto yours.

and he really does not consider himself this kinda guy, because it's clumsy and probably a little too firm and it's quite literally just lips on lips, because he's not that smooth. there's a very brief, clouded moment of euphoria at the fact that he's finally done it, with his heart fluttering in his chest, and then he's suddenly all to aware that he's probably going to catch a sexual harassment charge from this.

but when he yanks back from you, you're looking at him with the same surprise on your face, though you're still comfortable with his hands on you.

in fact, you even very slowly tug your wrist from his, tracing your fingers over his skin before you run them up his arm, up to dig into the hair at the back of his neck.

you don't kiss him again—not yet—but you laugh some more and nod. "so i take it you have read that one, then?"

"uh, yeah," he clears his throat, wondering if you can feel how hot he's become. "i have."

"it's a pretty good issue, i think."

"yeah," he murmurs, giving in to the tug of your hand, until he's leaning back down into your space. "'s'not too bad.")

[byanyan]

need y'all to know that some time ago xeno brought it to my attention that jesus of suburbia is an incredibly byan-coded song and i haven't stopped thinking about it since