#now i wish i used them for opposing bowls though

[hailieshapedbox]

me and my two bowls of lucky charms. happy as can be

[inkdrinkerworld]

You're little corner of the world seems so cozy! I love your background pic 🫶🏻

If you wouldn't mind, could you write a polymarauders story with an autistic female reader? Where she shows autistic traits but doesn't realize what she's doing until Remus asks her about her autism and she's like "what"? Symptoms shown are stimming and going nonverbal whilst watching a movie at home with the boys.

Thanks love!

You’re wringing your hands to all hell as the movie plays on the tv screen. Your boyfriends had wanted to watch an action horror and while you weren’t opposed to horror, this one had your heart racing.

Remus is in the kitchen getting you more kettle corn, James is laying on the loveseat waiting for his return and Sirius’ head is in your lap.

You’re all a picture of cosiness, the rain outside beating down on the roof while you’ve all opted for long sleeved sweaters and fluffy blankets across your laps. Still, the comfort of both the weight of Sirius, James near you and your blankets isn’t enough to help you not twist and pull at your fingers.

“Doing alright, doll?” Sirius asks, turning in your lap so he can look at you. His question isn’t loud enough to pull James from the macabre scenes on the tv; at least not yet.

“Mhm,” Sirius’ eyes narrow as you push the joint of your thumb.

“Need me to find something else for us to watch?” That would honestly be ideal, but you’ve all been wanting to watch this for weeks.

“No, I think it just needs to get past this part and I’ll be okay.”

Remus comes back just as Sirius sits up, changing his position so you’re laying in his lap instead.

“Everything okay?” James asks as Remus keeps hold of the popcorn bowl.

“Fine, think she’s just overstimulated with the scenes right now.” Sirius says softly, not wanting you to feel bad but also not wanting to hide anything from your boyfriends.

You’re not upset by it; though you do wish James wouldn’t look at you in as much horror as he is now.

James is ready to flick off the tv and find something else for you to look at when you shake your head.

“S’okay Jamie, I’ll be better once this is over.” You sound less sure than you’d like to. James pauses the movie anyhow.

Remus sets the kettle corn down and kneels in front of you, holding onto your ankle.

“Dovey,” his voice quiet but not one you can lie to. It’s hard to lie to any of them, but Remus is even harder to lie to. “If you need us to change the movie it’s no biggie. We can watch it another day.”

You’re thankful Remus doesn’t say ‘on a better day,’ today hasn’t been bad, this was just a sudden shift.

You hold his eyes, Sirius stroking your cheek as James stands, not able to bear the fact that he’s the only one with his hands off you.

“Can we look at something else?” James breathes a relieved sigh, looking through your favourite set of movies.

“Thank you,” you say quietly, not wanting to look at any of them in their eyes. There’s a little bubble of shame, that you can’t sit still for a two hour movie because your mind is whirring and overstimulated.

“Stop it, baby.” James says, opening his arms to you and you rush over. James lets you tuck your head under his chin, his big arms holding you close to him as you relax. Sirius and Remus cuddle up next to the two of you, not even minding that you all hardly fit on the loveseat.

“Legally Blonde okay, poppet?” you nod, stretching to kiss all your boyfriends on their head, cuddling right up between them as Elle Woods braves your screen.

[koolades-world]

Hiya! Hoping you’re having a good day :)

Can I ask for the Obey me! Brothers and the side characters for how they’d react to a low iron MC who just faints in front of them?

For example Beel would give MC more snacks which are rich in iron along side all of his snacks, just making sure they’re getting their iron.

Thank you! <3

hello! yes, of course :)

enjoy <3

Mc with low iron who faints in front of the brother + side characters

Lucifer

he looks calm but he's so freaking out inside haha

he does know what he's doing though and he stays by your side until you come to again

he makes a rule for the house that every dinner cooked must have at least one iron rich food in it so you get some daily

Mammon

he's for sure panicked, because you're his human after all

he uses his own lap as a pillow for you while he waits for you to come back

after this, he's ten times more protective and practically never leaves your side. he's holding your hand a lot more with some vague excuse of protecting you haha

Levi

he's full on panicking

he does need someone to quickly snap him out of it so he can help you

past you knew this might happen, so you told him what to do, and once you're awake again, he thanks you and sends you lots of tips he found online for low iron

Satan

he actually catches you but he wasn't actually expecting you to have passed out

he's very put together and makes sure you're breathing before setting you down, head on his jacket so it doesn't have to be on the floor

once you're awake again, he's not pestering you, but he does ask you and make sure you're meeting your iron requirements. if not, he'll help make sure you do :)

Asmo

he's the type to scream and cause a scene

but, it gets you the help you need and when you wake back up, he's crying happy tears and hugging you

he makes sure you add irons pills to your supplement routine and that you won't be getting too much iron now thanks to that

Beel

he's concerned but he's oddly silent the entire time

he totally forgets about his food and watches over you carefully

when you're back, he digs through his snacks and finds one high in iron and actually saves all of those for you in the future <3

Belphie

he seems pretty calm, and he is, but a small part of him is panicking

but, he knows how to help you and he knows freaking out won't do you any good

once you're awake again, he helps to soothe any injuries you may have gotten and puts in more effort to ensure you're getting your needed iron intake

Diavolo

he really wished he was calmer throughout the entire ordeal, but he was very worried

he lets barbatos care for you and when you wake back up, he's by your side

he's already arranged an appointment with his doctor to make sure this doesn't happen again

Barbatos

he's very collected and knows exactly what to do

he elevates your legs and makes sure you're breathing until you wake up

after this, every time you come over for dinner, he makes sure all the food is iron rich and that it's something you'll be sure to ask seconds of <3

Simeon

another one who's very calm and knows how to help you

after you wake he, he makes sure you're not hurt after your fall

he has you rest for the remainder of the day so he can monitor your condition and feed you dinner

Luke

he's so so worried about you

he'll be right next to you the entire time, very close to crying

once you wake back up, he's hugging you so tightly and is finding ways to sneak more iron into your diet through the desserts he gifts you

Solomon

he's quick to use a spell to wake you back up

he arranges for someone to craft a quick bowl of fruits high in iron for you to snack on while he checks your vitals

you notice him keeping a much closer eye on you from then on, but you're not opposed to it

[clanwarrior-tumbly]

Maybe a drabble or hcs about reader having to avoid Ms. Rainfort like the plague bc if they are around her for too long the ruin pokemon will prob do to her what they did to the king of paldea (If you dont want to write all of them could you pick ting-lu?)

(I have a hc that the ruin pokemon can feel peoples evil intentions and ms Rainfort is very insistent in taking the ruin pokemon and just gives you nasty plot as well so that doesn't help her case at all))

"Nasty Plot? Why are you giving me this TM in particular, Professor?" Staring down at the disc in your hands, you looked at your history professor with a puzzled gaze, wondering why she would have something like this on-hand.

It certainly seemed strange, given the circumstances of your most recently-captured Pokémon...who happened to be one of the harbingers of disaster to the Paldean Kingdom.

"Oh! It can be used to boost Ting-Lu's special attacks. Of course, it can always be stronger...it has been sealed away for many years, after all." Despite Raifort's gentle smile, the glint in her eyes was nothing short of sinister. "But I can understand if you're having difficulties in taming this Ruinous Treasure's might. It's still quite the unpredictable brute, so if at anytime you wish to turn it over to me, I can-"

"Tiiiing..."

Blinking in surprise, you glanced at Ting-Lu, who heavily opposed her proposition as it backed away, sticking close to your side (or at least as much as it could without its bowl hitting you). Its red eyes stared at her with such caution, as though boring into her very soul.

You frowned a bit, resting your hand on its side, before gazing back at Raifort.

Something about this...didn't feel right.

"I think Ting-Lu trusts me more, professor. But thank you for the offer anyways."

"It's not problem." Although her smile didn't waver for a moment, she now seemed quite unnerved at the dark/ground type's reaction. "I hope you don't mind gathering some data on its habits and such...for homework, let's say. I'd like to share the knowledge we've gained on the quartet so far with my future students so I'm not just telling them how these Pokémon are shrouded in total mystery."

"That's fair." You nodded respectfully. "And...I'll work on finding the locations of the others and their shrines."

"Wonderful! Now I'll have to prepare for my next class. See you around, [y/n]!"

"Take care, professor."

As soon as Raifort headed back into the school, Ting-Lu relaxed its haunches, and you found yourself relaxing your own shoulders, too. Somehow you were apparently just as tense as it.

You looked at it with a sympathetic smile, rubbing its snout. "I know she's a history professor, but...this obsession with you guys is strange. Clearly you know something about her that I don't. I'll get to the bottom of it."

"Lu." It nodded in agreement, before you returned it to its pokeball as to not attract unwanted attention from any nearby students. You decided to head back to the dorms.

Though not without checking out a few books first..

.........

It was no surprise that you didn't find a lot of recorded information on the Legendary Quartet.

The most you could find were old tales and scriptures of their associated items....as well as the effects they had on humans who used them or sought them out. Obviously they left the greatest impact on the Paldean Kingdom beyond causing it to collapse practically overnight.

However, there was one story in particular which stood out to you.....and you realized that this fictious tale may be true after all, especially given Ting-Lu's wariness around Raifort.

The passage claimed that having just one of the items within the vicinity of an authority figure would drive them to obsession with it, willing to do just about anything to have it for themselves.

They'd barter, beg, bribe, steal...or even kill for it.

And this would only grow further if another item was present as well, and it would continue with the third and the fourth..

Eventually this accumulates into this person having unfathomable greed and hoarding all of their powers for themselves, refusing to share them with anyone else.

That's exactly what the king had done, and in his greed he destroyed lives and inevitably caused the items to become Pokémon themselves--living sentient beings fueled by the rage of dozens of souls.

Because they were able to sense his evil and corruption, they flattened his empire for good....at the cost of their freedom.

But now that you've released Ting-Lu from captivity, you wondered if Raifort's reaction to it was going to lead to something similar.

Or, as they say, if history was going to repeat itself.

She did offer to take it away from you despite not knowing the bond you've formed with it during your time exploring and teaching it new moves. And she seemed very insistent that you collected data on the remaining Ruinous Treasures and not share it with anyone else, acting as though you're her research assistant rather than a student like every other kid in this academy.

But you trusted Ting-Lu's judgement, even though in your heart you didn't want to believe she was secretly some corrupt and evil person. You didn't wanna stir up any rumors or conspiracies that could get her fired or you expelled.

So for now, you decided that the best thing to do was gather data and only send it to her via rotomphone and give her updates that way.

You won't let her see any of the Ruinous Pokémon face-to-face anymore...and unless you're attending her class, you'll try to avoid bumping into her as often as you can, fearing how she'll react if you catch any of the others.

In order to keep her, yourself, and possibly all of Paldea safe...this was the best course of action.

[hannahssimblr]

Chapter Five (Part 2)

I talk with a group of people for a while as I sip from a mug with gin and tonic in it, and when I’ve had enough mug fulls of it I stop noticing the anxious way I feel when everybody turns to me as I speak, the silence that opens up for the words that leave my mouth, and eventually I start enjoying myself again. The people I’m talking to are nice, they listen to me with engaged expressions and laugh when it’s my turn to share a funny story, and soon I can relax, letting the warmth from the gin radiate out from my stomach and engulf my whole being, and I can laugh, and I can ask questions and I can be charming and funny and think of interesting things to say to people without the added agony I’ve become so used to in my sober life. 

After a while one girl pours shots of something on the kitchen counter and we all drink them together and then cheer as though we’ve done something wonderful, and then we have another a few minutes later. And then another, and another. When they go outside to smoke a joint I go with them, and even though it’s December and my coat is in a pile on somebody’s bed, I don’t feel the cold so much anymore. When they pass the joint to me I refuse, because I fundamentally oppose drugs still, but as I watch it pass over me to the guy standing beside me I notice that my eyes won’t focus on anything. Everyone is still talking, but I slowly withdraw from the conversation, finding myself struggling to follow it now, only laughing along at the same time as everyone else without ever actually hearing the parts that are funny. I realise that I’m drunk. Very drunk.

I go back inside the house and weave through all the people, feeling like my head is tilting to the left even though it isn’t, but I have to keep righting myself like my balance is about to give out at any moment. I bump into somebody and have to apologise, and I try to think of the last time I’d had so much to drink, and I can’t. I can’t remember ever feeling this way in front of so many people, and I find myself wishing for the comfort of somebody familiar and comforting and safe. I want Claire, and at this point I’d even take Shane if he was going to take me away from this house and this dizzy feeling. Even if he scolded me for it, I’d take it. 

I go upstairs to the bathroom to find Marnie, but as I open the door, Fiona stops me from coming in. “She’s being sick.” She tells me. 

“Okay. Will you tell her I’m going to go home?” I say, and Marnie’s reply comes amplified by the toilet bowl. “You have to wait for me. You said I could stay with you.”

“How long will you be?”

“A minute.” Fiona says, and then closes the door on me. 

I sigh and hold onto the bannister, fearing that my new left veering quirk will send me careening down the stairs and onto the tile floor beneath. I get an intrusive image of that actually happening to me, the way that my blood would look in a halo around me on against the monochrome tiles, red, black and white like something directed by David Lynch. The idea of that makes my stomach lurch, and I hold onto the wall next to me and begin an unsteady ascent to the second floor where there are two bedrooms. One, on the left with this heavy, bassy music is coming from, and the sound vibrates through the carpet and into my bones like it’s trying to invade my body. It’s Odd Future, I think, but I can’t think of why I know that. I go into the bedroom on the right where there’s an enormous mountain of coats heaped onto the bed, and I start digging through it until I find mine, and then as an afterthought grab Marnie’s too, which is easy to spot as it’s some kind of faux-fur electric blue shag that smells like cigarettes and Thierry Mugler’s Alien. I bundle both coats up in my arms and take them back out to the stairs, where I hunker down on the steps with my eyes on the bathroom, waiting for Marnie to finish vomiting so that we can go home. 

I wonder absently what’s going on in the left bedroom as I wait. I hear voices through the walls over the sounds of the music but I don’t really care enough to get up and check as I know it’s probably a group of people having some cool, exclusive private session. It’s only another moment before the door swings open and the noise suddenly louder, more booming. I turn around to see Dean standing there behind me. I haven’t seen him for hours. 

“I thought you were gone.” I say. 

“No, I was here.” 

I peer into the bedroom behind him and in the moments before he shuts the door I can see a group of people in there but can’t see what they’re doing. He sits next to me on the top of the stairs and when I look up at his face he looks strange, unfocused, his mouth hanging open a little bit like he’s in a daydream. His eyes are weird. 

“Are you alright, Dean?”

“Yeah.”

I can’t think of anything to say. I’m tired, I’m drunk, and he doesn’t say anything to me either, so it feels alright to just sit without speaking, and time becomes kind of elastic and meaningless, and I lose grasp of how long we stay there. 

Eventually, he moves his arm, takes the hand that I have resting on my lap and flips it over so that my palm is facing the ceiling. Then I watch with surprise as he traces the line on my palm that I read once was called my life line, and his touch is light and tickles a little, and even though it doesn’t feel bad, it strikes me as a very odd thing to do. I don’t move my hand right away, and I look over at him slowly, questioningly, and he’s wearing this concentrated expression on his face like he’s fascinated by the sensation. 

I take my hand away from him when I remember that if anybody else knew that I let him touch me in this way they’d disapprove of it. “Sorry.” I say to him, “It tickles a bit.”

“That’s alright.” 

I shift my body further away from him so that no part of me is touching any part of him anymore, and as my shoulder meets the wall, I rest my head there, the vibrations of the music stronger inside the plasterboard that separates the bedroom from the landing, and even though I don’t feel good and everything is strange and uncomfortable, I shut my eyes for a minute until I feel Dean get up and go away and then open them moments later to see him stumbling down the stairs, throwing his whole weight onto the bannisters as he spins around the landing, overshoots it and launches his body onto the wall. He swears under his breath and then completes his shaky descent to the hallway below just as the bathroom door opens and Fiona emerges. 

She looks up at me from the middle landing. “She’s alright. She just needs to go home now.”

“I’ll take her.”

“Are you able to?”

“Why, can she not walk or something?” 

“Can you?”

“Yes.” I stand up slowly and make my way down to her, being careful to watch every step as the positions of my feet shift around wildly in front of my eyes, my vision misaligned, unable to tell which of the stair steps are real and which I’ve made up. 

“Come here.” Fiona says, taking me by the hands and helping me down the rest of the way. “The both of you are fucked. I’ll get you into a taxi.”

“We’re getting the bus.” I insist. 

“You missed the last bus, darling, so either you get a taxi or walk.”

“What time is it?”

“Three.” 

When Marnie emerges from the bathroom she looks bloodshot and miserable, her hair lank and her face covered in a sheen of sweat. It looks like she threw up a bit on her top, but I let Fiona dab it off with toilet paper, and then she brings us both outside and puts us into a taxi. As soon as we get in, Marnie rests her head on my shoulder and goes to sleep. 

Prev // Next

[confessionsofafreak1]

Movie Night // Mike Schmidt x Reader

(ANOTHER MIKE SCHMIDT ONE SHOT FROM MY AO3)

**SMUTT**

SUMMARY: Y/n invites her boyfriend over to a movie in hopes of not doing anything sexual and just enjoying each others company, of course this doesn't work.

WORD COUNT: 1,369

My phone pinged as I had gotten the message that Mike was here, standing awkwardly as always, he stood with a bouquet of flowers for me to switch out with flowers from our last date night. “Aw you're such a cutie pie” I teased, letting him inside my apartment. “Ha ha” he rolled his eyes sarcastically before wrapping me in a smothering hug and lots of kisses. If there was one thing about Mike Schmidt, he knew how to kiss and make it memorable. Before long his kisses slowly trailed off my face and to my collarbone, noticing his wish I shoved him away playfully. “Hey Mister. I wanted to watch a movie not be teased” I sternly said, trying to act all tough with my finger pointed at him.

Mike could care less and instead of pretending to be sad, he helped himself on my couch with the steaming bowl of popcorn. “Don’t be so whiny and come over here,” defeated, I walked over to the green couch and sat beside him. He gazed at me with an amused smirk and said softly “you’re the one who wanted to watch a movie.” He technically was right, not that it matters though. I grabbed the remote as Mike munched on popcorn and picked out a scary movie, not that he would admit it but he was a scaredy cat. The opening credits appeared on the screen and I turned my side lamp off. The only thing that could be seen was the screen and the light outline of Mike’s face.

About halfway through the movie I had bundled myself under the covers and Mike definitely took this advantage and rested his head on my shoulder with his body warmth next to mine. “You smell so good” he whispered so close in my ear that I could feel his breath. “Stop” I muttered, looking down at him suddenly feeling really turned on which was the exact opposite of what I wanted to do on this date. Almost every date we’ve gone on it ended up in us having sex. Not that I was opposed to this, but I would like to think we could enjoy each others company without needing to pleasure each other.

Of course this didn’t last long. “What am I doing princess?” Mike murmured while his hands dug under the blanket we shared and roamed around until he found my bare thighs. My pj shorts were uncomfortably riding up my ass and apparently made Mike giggle. “You know what you’re doing” I glared at him, trying to move his hand away from me. I scooted over a bit, acting like a pouty little girl which only made him want to annoy me even more. “How about you just watch the movie and I do a magic trick?” he smirked so devilish it made me curious what he had in mind. With that, I didn’t respond, giving him the cue to show me what he planned on doing.

His right hand slid under the blanket once more and found its way to my upper thigh where he palmed and squeezed my leg. Teasing me, making me more turned on then I should’ve been by just his touch. I squirmed from how close he was getting and this was noticeable to Mike. His fingers edged closer and closer to the hem of my shorts and now only focusing on the scene before me on the TV, he slowly pulled them down to my knees. Mike’s ring and pointer finger met my clit and slowly circled it, making me gasp and turn my head towards him.

“Wanna guess what the magic trick is?” he asked, taking pleasure in seeing me ache and twitch from him. Without me answering, too focused on what he was doing, he muttered “it’s me making you come. And come hard by just finger fucking you.” I was shocked at the words that left his lips, but before long my stomach tightened and I knew I was close to coming, which was crazy because all he was doing was circling my clit. Somehow I felt so touch starved until now, making my orgasm super intense. Mike snickered beside me, making me assume he was done, but boy was I wrong. Without any seconds to spare his finger slithered inside, past my folds and into the hot and messy hole that was my pussy.

Mike’s fingers worked on me from the inside, stretching my cunt out, making my heart race with every squelch. His eyes never left me, waiting to see what my every movement and reaction was. I had never been so silent during anything sexual in my life, but I had no words recently. My eyes squeezed shut tightly, blocking every other sound or sensation other than the fingers buried inside me. Without any warning, Mike moved in closer and continuously kissed my shoulder while I twitched beside him. “Come for me Y/n. I know you want to” he mumbled, dragging out his words in a mocking tone. The sad truth is that I was a complete whore for Mike Schmidt and so by just those words alone I had released all over his poor fingers.

A smug smirk appeared on his face when I finally gained my composure and opened my eyes. We remained in eye contact until my body rolled on top of his and our lips rushed to each other. The desperate need to be inside each other’s mouth was unexplained. I finally pulled away and grinned “your turn” this was not what Mike was expecting but what’s the fun in that? I fell to the ground, with my knees digging into the ground. I quickly unbuckled his pants and slid them down. Mike was just as eager so he made the process a lot faster, as his pants fell down to his ankle I spat in my palm and slowly stroked his erect cock.

Warming him up for what we both wanted next, I pumped him up and down making his eyes shut and slow grunts and groans fell from his perfect lips. I suddenly backed away, completely edging him since he had done the same to me last week and I never got him back for it. “You are a spawn of Satan Y/n” Mike shook his head in disbelief before getting a condom from his sweatshirt pocket and sliding it on his dick. After that he grabbed me by my waist and positioned my entrance against the tip of his cock. Slowly I slid down until his whole dick was inside of me, meanwhile the sudden contact made me whimper softly.

“Move princess” Mike whispered, digging his fingers into my waist and ass. I steadily moved my body up and down, engulfing his cock inside of me and then just the tip inside of me. This continued for a few minutes while we moaned and groaned, but before long Mike had gotten tired of this position and flipped me on my back against the couch. He rammed his dick in and out of my cunt, the sound of skin slapping together echoed off the dark walls. My eyes had rolled to the back of my head from the mindless fucking I was receiving. “I can’t I can’t” I whined, clawing at Mike’s arms as he gripped onto my hips, making his thrusts harder and faster.

“Just a bit longer okay baby?” he grunted, before loosening his grip and planting kisses on my arms and exposed stomach. Just like that, once again I had come all over his cock and within seconds that had triggered Mike to come inside the condom, filling it to the top. He sighed and slid out of me, kissing my forehead and quickly throwing the condom away in the bathroom garbage. “Did you like my magic trick?” Mike asked after we had put our pants back on and was relaxing on the couch to finish the few minutes left of the movie. “It was good” I giggled as it pleased Mike that I enjoyed it. Shortly after he planted a kiss on my cheek and watched the rest of the movie with me.

xx liv

[invisibleraven]

"You're safe, I promise." for Ray and any of his many children that may or may not be his?

No one ever told Ray how hard it would be being a single dad.

Especially when one of his kids comes with six extra ones who practically seem to live at his house.

Flynn he's used to, as Julie spent just as much time at the Taylor's house growing up, so he's never surprised to see the girl helping herself to his apples or stashing her secret soda supply there when her mom is on an anti sugar run.

Carrie had been a fixture for some time as well, then the girls had some kind of falling out. Now she seems to be back with a vengeance, a little sharper, a little more stand offish, but still herself in all her sparkly pink glory. He knows she's alone save for the occasional staff more often than not, so he doesn't begrudge her wanting a home full of people as opposed to that big empty mansion.

The boys are new.

They're a motley crew, full of noise and laughter and Ray honestly loves how Julie comes back to life around them. How the house is once more full of music, even if his fridge is a lot emptier and his grocery bill is higher thanks to their constant snacking.

Ray doesn't mind though, not really. Especially not after Julie thanks him for being so kind to her friends, whispering that none of them have great home lives. Ray is more than happy to provide them his home as a safe haven though, be a good dad, or at least caring adult in their lives when they seem to be lacking on those counts.

Luke is pretty open about his fights with his mom, and while Ray can see both sides of it, he does try to be supportive of the band, even offering to film their gigs for their social media. Maybe even mentions he has friends at a few clubs if they ever want him to put their name forward. Luke gives him a genuine smile at that, so Ray figures he's won him over.

Reggie is boisterous and cheery, but Ray can see how he freezes up at loud noises, how he retreats into himself when it's time to go. Ray always tries to be a little warmer and understanding around him after that. Inviting him to stay for supper, to show him how his cameras worked after Reggie showed the barest interest. But he also keeps Victoria informed-she's the best social worker in the area, and Ray hopes he's wrong, but he'd rather have her in Reggie's corner if-and hopefully not when-he needs her.

Willie he can't quite get a read on yet, but he's always respectful and sweet, skating in and out of the garage at will, so Ray likes him enough. He's heard a thing or two about his foster dad Caleb though, and always lets Willie know he's welcome any time, even if the band isn't there. The shocked look that fades into a tiny grin makes it all worth it, in Ray's mind. Even if he wishes the kid would replace his helmet with one that doesn't have that huge crack in it.

Then there's Alex.

Ray knows the Mercers by reputation, as Victoria has friends of friends who go to their church. Society and image obsessed with hate in their hearts and a very literal interpretation of the scripture. He doesn't have a very high opinion.

Especially when he sees how Alex acts around him. Around his friends Alex is sarcastic and silly. Happy enough to whale on his drums with a bright grin or dance around with Willie to the catchiest pop tunes. But when Ray comes in with a tray of drinks or a bowl of snacks, Alex freezes. Immediately lets go of Willie, stands straighter but also closing in on himself, avoiding Ray's eyes.

Then the rumours he's heard about Alex's parents make so much more sense, and it fills Ray with a righteous fury. When Julie came out to him as bi, he openly accepted her-she was his daughter, how could he not? Plus he and Rose had both experimented and landed somewhere in the not straight category, so it would be pretty hypocritical of him if he had shunned Julie for the same.

Thus he wants to find some way to let Alex know that he's accepted here, no matter what.

Of course, subtly had never been in Ray's vocabulary, and the large Pride flag flying in their front yard might be a bit much, but who cares as long as the message goes through right?

The next day, when Ray brings out the snacks, he sees that Alex stiffens in Willie's arms on the couch, but doesn't scramble to get up. He also notes how close Luke and Reggie are to Julie but he leaves worrying about that for another time, when she's ready to tell him exactly how that works.

"Thanks papi," Julie says.

"T-thanks for the flag," Alex pipes up.

"Of course," Ray says with a nod. "Here, no matter what, you're safe, I promise." He turns to go, but turns at the door. "I'm making spaghetti for supper, once homework and band practice are done. You're all free to stay if you want."

There's a course of agreement, and later, when Ray sees them all walk in, is happy to see Alex hand in hand with Willie, no trace of fear or shame in sight.

Sure, being a single dad to all these kids isn't easy-especially when most of them aren't his kids, not really anyways, but the feeling he gets from knowing they are all happy, healthy, safe, and most of all loved here makes it all worth it in Ray's eyes.

[lampmanliveblogs]

Episode twelve! Now… I have been warned about this episode. I don’t know yet what it’s about, but I know it’s gonna be big. I’ve even been lucky and managed to avoid seeing the title so as of this writing I have practically no spoilers. A comment left by a certain theorist cat makes me think it might be about Hunter and/or Belos though.

Regardless of what it’s actually going to be, I know it will be big. So let’s not waste any more time and get into it.

We open with a shot of Luz own version of my conspiracy corner. Except hers is cooler because it’s cork board and not just a wall, she is better at drawing than me, she has a glove soaked in an ancient Titan’s life blood powerful enough to pierce dimensions, AND she has red string! I wish I had red string.

She is trying to figure out how to make a new portal door that will actually work and won’t collapse. We see her theorizing about whether there is more Titan’s Blood to be found and asking why Belos needs the portal. We can also see the photo of her, Eda & King from the Grom episode, as well as a helpful reminder from King to hydrate. She also made a note to buy a new glove for Amity, which, while sweet, is probably unnecessary. Amity’s rich, I think she can buy a new glove on her own. Heck, she probably owns more than one pair of gloves to begin with.

Lilith spotted! Gwendolyn spotted! And… is that… what’s his name, the potions guy… Morten? Morten spotted!

That bowl Hooty is holding with the eyes made me think of a joke. I was going to tell you it… but then I realized it only works in swedish. Whoops.

Anyways, this looks like a birthday. Is it Lilith’s birthday?

Judging by how uncomfortable Lilith looks as opposed to everyone else looking happy, I’m guessing it really is her birthday.

So in addition to Gwendolyn, Morten (whom she might’ve befriended now that she need elixirs from him), Eda and King, there is also Tiny Nose (who I guess is friends with Lilith?), and, uh… whoever that is on the left. I think I’ll call you call you… Blueish Purple. A very self-explanatory name, please don’t ask me why I went with that.

Lastly, there is the Emperor’s Coven scout. Not gonna lie, I saw him and started laughing, he looks so out of place. But hey, Lilith was in the Coven for what, thirty years? She’s bound to have (had) at least some friends. Most of them probably don’t wanna associate with her now that she’s a traitor, but I guess this guy stuck around.

I’m gonna go ahead and guess that’s Steve? He was with Lilith in one scene in an episode in season one. And to be honest, I probably wouldn’t have remembered that if it wasn’t for my sister. She’s a big fan of The Owl House (thanks to me, I’m the one who gets her into all the good shows) and she mentioned Steve once.

(oh, and Lilith is wearing glasses. I quickly went back and checked, and she wasn’t wearing them in episode four, but she was during her short appearance last episode and I didn’t notice)

If I had just waited a few more seconds, I would have not only seen Steve’s shirt that helpfully informs us of his name (I actually have a shirt like that; our grandparents gave me and my siblings shirts with our names on them for Christmas last year), but I would’ve also known that is, in fact, not Lilith’s birthday, Instead, she has become the assistant curator of the Supernatural Museum of History.

…wait, where did Tiny Nose go? And why is King’s glass knocked over? The shot-reverse-shot was literally less than ten seconds, what happened? Did we accidentally stumble into another timeline again?

The character I dubbed Blueish Purple turns out to actually be names Floar DeSplora.

A quick google search tells me her actual name is Flora D’splora. She is Lilith’s former mentor and a ”bad girl historian.” I don’t know what that is, but what I do know is that she is extra as can be. She used a whip to grab one of Hooty’s delectable appetizers, only to throw it to the side. She then used her whip to pull a griffin out of the sky to fly off on. Oh, and I guess she also said something about the Emperor wanting Lilith to stay out of trouble.

I say I don’t know what a bad girl historian, but between the historian, the whip and the adventurer part, I’m thinking this character might’ve taken a few cues from Indiana Jones.

(Edit: Future Lampman here. I realize Flora’s namesake later on)

So history is being brought up. There is a lot of interesting history that I would love to learn. The history of King’s family is one thing that comes to mind. Another is the history of Philip Wittebane, his brother, and Belos. We did see Luz working on the second portal door as well as the Echo Mouse Musse. Maybe this episode will be about Lilith going on an adventure (to show that she can be a bad girl historian too) and we end up learning something important.

[madewithonerib]

4.] Love vs. Black Hole

You'll see two images appear here. [18:48]

And one of them on the upper left with that thing out in space--yeah that's the black hole. Then the lower right you see a computer generated image, but all the same: What are those little guys? These are cells

You feel like you're in Biology right now? You don't think so, there's a little cell that just multiplied..

Okay all right, let's start with the upper left.

I really didn't do great in school.

I barely graduated, but I now wish that I would've paid attention in Biology or some something, so if I had a second life to live & if I were halfway decent at math, which I'm not--I'd go into astronomy or physics

But then I have some friends who actually did go into those fields. & they just do math all day. That's all it is

But all the same.

So black holes, you guys what's a black hole?

It reminds us that the Universe we inhabit is true; it's stranger than the Land of Oz.

So here's you & I, just think of your own body alright --your body takes up space in the universe, and any object that takes up space has density. [20:15] 

And the universe has this effect on things around it, it's called a gravitational pull. Now people are not very big--we're actually really really tiny.

So you know, you can't feel that you're drawing the person sitting next to you closer to you unless you are in love or something like that.

It's just such a weak gravitational force that it's not perceptible--but we look at the moon at night, we see that thing.

What keeps that thing right there, as opposed to flying away? Well it's that this planet we're on that's hurling through space and rotating at this really fast speed--even though we don't fly off

We hope sometimes stare at this bright object in the sky called the Sun, we sometimes see it here in Portland & we're of course rotating around it.

What's happening & what on Earth is a black hole?

4.1] Gravitational Pull of Marbles

The only thing I've heard that has made sense to me & doesn't require complex equations that I want to run away from.

So let's say you have a really soft mattress & you get a handful of marbles & you throw a bunch of marbles on the soft mattress.

What do they do?

If you look really close, it'll be a little indentation right where it is—but it just kind of sits there..

Then let's say you go get your grandpa's bowling ball, a big 13 pounder or something like that and you get that then hurl that right into the middle of the bed.

What happens?

Well this sinks down & then of course the marbles just all go—it's a black hole. Alright so the black hole would be this bottomless pit in your mattress—and any marbles you throw in they just go down..

And it's like where does it go beyond my floor?

Yeah that's a black hole.

4.2] This is how the math works

There's something in a black hole that must be 4 billion times the density of our Sun. It's there & is it impossible that we'll ever know exactly [how large it is] because the gravitational pull of this thing is so intense—that not even light particles or waves can escape this force..

…………………………………………………………………      It just sucks everything, it is called the      Event Horizon & it's just pure Oblivion …………………………………………………………………

What's even more interesting about black holes that we really have only been in our imagination for the last 75 years:

This dense thing at the center of it—the pole is so strong, it actually dismantles the molecules of any -thing that gets sucked into the hole & it unmakes everything that it sucks into itself!

It's just pure Oblivion. There's lots of them in our universe.

Where are we? It's saying, this is so bizarre..

Now there are there are many objects that could be the exact opposite of a black hole, here's one of them on the lower right.

So a little single cell, this is pretty simple actually they're incredibly complex little things—but they are relatively simple in terms of the rest of the complexity of the universe. [24:05] 

Of course this is one of the most simple building blocks of biological life here on planet Earth & so algae starts with these & grass/flowers, etc.

What makes these things is they're just endlessly generating constantly reproducing themselves & they've got the DNA orders & information.

Here's what's remarkable:

………………………………………………………………………….. If a black hole is all about this singularity at the center, & it sucks everything into itself—& it actually destroys everything that steers into its orbit. [24:46]  …………………………………………………………………………..

4.3] Genetic Purpose to Create Life

But a cell is the exact opposite.

It's this very simple tiny little thing—but it's marching orders of existence are to give all its energy to make another one.

But what's remarkable about cells is:

     it's not a zero-sum game, it's not like cell #1      is like oh I made another one now I have no      more you O I'm suffering because.. No!

     It's like the cell actually becomes more itself      as it gives all of its energy away to another &      then there's more & that's like well let's just      keep doing this it's awesome

Then cell #1 doesn't lose, it actually becomes itself —as it gives itself away & life is generated out of it

Precisely as it pushes out of itself, exact opposite of a black hole!!! Now I don't know why these 2 images came into my mind as I was reading & reflecting on 1 Corinthians 13, but there you go.

That's how my brain works apparently.

How to Love like JESUS P1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9 | Tim Mackie [1 Corinthians 13:1-13]

[captainmdhridoyhossain-blog]

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[parkerpeter24]

home alone

pairing ➳ peter parker x reader

w.c. ➳ 2.4k

warnings ➳ SMUT. 18+ content guys. unprotected sex (use a condom, kids), fluff, basically pwp, curse words, secret relationship (?)

summary ➳ although your family is conservative and doesn’t really love the idea of you having a boyfriend, with them being out of town there’s no one to catch you. yet somehow your first time with peter is interrupted by your mother.

no, real sex ain’t nothing like this right here 😭 but i hope you enjoy ehehe 🤍 i wrote this keeping in mind tasm!peter but i think it can be read for either of the three. also i am so sorry for being mia? my exams are almost here and i hate it

since your parents were out of town, peter suggested he hung around at your place for a change. your parents weren’t too fond of the idea of you having a boyfriend, you belonged to a rather conservative family, but if you were being honest you knew your parents would fall in love with peter parker as quickly as you did.

peter knocked earlier that evening with a bag of goodies in his hand and you hugged him as soon as you opened the door. now the two of you were cuddled on the couch, a blanket covering the two of you as you laid on top of him with his arms around your waist. your favourite show played on the tv and peter was running his hand up and down your back.

empty bowls of snacks were kept on the coffee table in front of you and even though neither of you had decided on the dinner yet, it was still pretty early in the evening and you were in no hurry.

as the show progressed, you got a little fidgety, with peter’s hands absentmindedly travelling to the small of your back until they were practically resting over your ass. peter noticed when your breathing started to become erratic.

“hey, everything okay?” he asked, not moving his hands at all.

“oh yeah, im uh, fine.”

you and peter hadn’t really got to the part where the two of you slept together. he had spent a night at your place without telling your parents but he’d left super early in the morning, even before you could wake up, so that was that, but you’d never thought about getting to the third base with peter. until now. it had been five months since you started dating and eventually the question of sex was to come into the picture, you just never thought it’d make you so nervous.

peter placed a quick kiss to the top of your head, “hey, look at me.” you looked up at him and you were pretty sure he read every thought going on inside your head, but his question seemed to oppose that, “what’s the matter?”

“i uh, was just thinking.”

“about?”

“about how we’ve never, you know, done anything…” you wished he’d understand what you wanted to say, but oh the boy was ever so oblivious.

“never done anything? what do you mean?” he chuckled.

“like, in bed.” you said. an epiphany ran through peter and his eyes widened, “i don’t mean that we have to, now, i just, i was thinking-”

“do you want to? now?” peter asked, his hands were now on your face, caressing your cheeks softly and pushing a strand of hair out of your face. the sudden sound of thunder cracking caught both your attention as you turned towards the tv, it had started raining in the show and the two of you looked back to each other, chuckling softly at the cliché.

“maybe i do want to, now.” you answered his question.

“oh? o-okay then i guess we can, w-we should,” he stuttered, wrapping his head around everything that was going on, “i don’t have a condom.” he announced, brows furrowed.

“my mom makes me take hormonal pills, so as long as you pull out on time, i guess we’re good.” you assured your boyfriend and he nodded.

“i guess we’re having sex then.” he gulped as he sat up carefully, pulling you closer so that you were straddling his lap.

you brought your faces close together until your forehead was against his, both your breaths mingling, “unless you don’t want to?”

“trust me, i want to.” his voice was laced with eagerness which made you laugh before you pulled him in for a kiss. the kiss was sweet until you wrapped your arm around peter’s shoulder, pushing your chest against his. it was as if you’d set off something in him. his tongue slid past your lips, exploring every corner of your mouth and his hands, already making their way under your shirt.

making you whimper at the demanding behaviour, he ran his fingers over your bare chest, groaning at the loss of a bra. his hands cupped your breasts, kneading them gently, yet in a way that had you biting down on his lip.

“peter, i want,” you panted as soon as your lips left his, “i want you.”

“i got you, angel.” he nodded, hands working to lift your shirt off your torso. you helped him by lifting your arms up. throwing off the t-shirt to the ground, he admired you, eyes roaming from the clavicle of your shoulders and the swell of your breasts to your waist which had a few stretch marks here and there. it was the most beautiful sight he’d even seen in his entire life, “you’re perfect.”

peter’s words were enough to make your cheeks heat up and make you wetter at the same time, if that was even possible. you were desperate as you let out a whine and his hand was already on you again. his lips engulfed yours in a passionate kiss, (and an attempt to dodge any possible complaints from your neighbours). his fingers travelled under the material of your shorts and you squirmed under his touch.

peter was thankful for his super strength during moments like these. he wrapped his arm around your waist to stop you from moving so much as his free hand made it past the waistband of your undergarment. you gasped against his lips as soon as his nimble finger made contact with your clit. and peter knew what he had to do. he rubbed the little bundle of nerves in circles, making you lose your balance of everything as you pulled away, soft moans falling from your lips.

peter’s one hand continued to work you up while the other came to place itself over your mouth, “sh sh shhh, princess, don’t want your parents hearing from your neighbours about us, do you?”

you nodded against peter’s hand, taking it in yours before wrapping your lips around peter’s index finger, sucking on it in an attempt to not make any sound.

peter only got harder in his joggers at your maneuver, watching you take his middle finger in your mouth as well. oh he would love to have those same, soft, pretty pink lips around his throbbing cock, but he wanted tonight to be about you. ever just the gentleman, peter wanted your first time with him to be about your pleasure more than his. thus, he sped up his finger over your clit, drawing you closer as muffled moans fell from your lips.

you were so preoccupied with peter that even the sound of your phone ringing couldn’t pull you out of the trance.

peter leaned in closer to your ear, whispering a dirty, “cum for me, my angel.” and that was enough for the coil in your abdomen to snap as you came undone just over his finger. peter was so proud of himself as he took in your blissed out expression.

he helped you ride out your high before pulling his hand away from your core, licking off the tip of his index finger clean.

“was that okay?” he asked, placing a gentle kiss to your forehead.

“okay?” you chuckled at his question after finally catching your breath, “that was, wow, i’m at a loss of words!”

your phone rang again over the coffee table, this time catching the attention of the two of you. the contact name ‘mom’ displayed over the screen was enough to make your eyes widen.

“do you think she found out?” your voice was panicked when you looked back at peter and the question pulled a laugh out of him, making you look at him unbelievably, “peter, i’m serious!”

your boyfriend tried to control his laughter, “i’m sorry, i’m,” he chuckled, “you’re just so adorable.” he grinned as you rolled your eyes at him.

“i gotta see what’s up.” you extended your arm to grab your phone from the table but just as you were about the pick it up, peter stopped you, a mischievous glint in his eyes, “what? what is it?”

“answer the call when i’m inside you.”

peter’s statement sounded blasphemous to your ears, but it also made you want to do it. you were silent for a moment and peter wondered if he’d said something very wrong but as soon as he opened his mouth to apologise, you beat him to it.

“okay.”

the next seventeen seconds were filled with the two of you scrambling off the couch, struggling to take off the clothes of each other, and laughing at the eagerness while the second call from your mom was also left unanswered.

the brunette got back into his previous position, now unrestricted of all clothes, before pulling you on top of him.

“you’re completely sure about this, right?” peter asked, looking you right in the eyes.

you nodded, “i am.”

your arm wrapped around his shoulder, another one clutching your phone, as peter situated himself and found his way inside you. the two of you moaned at the contact, the wetness from your previous orgasm making it easier for him to slide in. when you were finally settled and peter had buried himself deep within you, the two of you took a minute to adjust to the feeling of each other; resting foreheads against each other, panting heavily at the blissful feeling that was being shared between you.

as your breathing came to slight normalcy, your phone rang for the third time. again, it was your mom calling. you looked to peter, indicating to him that you were going to pick up the phone.

those doe-brown eyes met yours once before he wrapped his arms around your waist and pulled you even closer to himself, bodies now pressed against each other as peter nestled his face in the crook of your neck.

you finally picked up, pulling the phone to your ear, “hello?”

you tried your best to sound normal but it seemed to you as if your voice was jello. your mother’s sigh of relief was heard from the other side, “finally. you worried me, honey, is everything okay?”

“yeah, mom, yeah! everything is okay-” a gasp left your mouth, as you felt peter sucking on the skin of your neck, which you had to cover with a cough.

“is… everything alright?” your mom was starting to sound suspicious and peter was not helping the case with the way he was moving around to suck hickies all over the skin of your collarbones.

“uh, yeah mom, everything is okay! i-i’m just doing my homework?” your statement sounded much more as if it was a question but you didn’t miss the way peter’s lips curled into a smirk against your skin and you could hear him saying a corny line such as, ‘so, homework is my new nickname?’

thankfully, your mom didn’t question any further on that topic, “did you have dinner yet?”

“n-no mom, not yet, i will have dinner after i finish my homework, i should really get it done now,” peter’s hands inched closer to your hips now and you rushed with your words but, inevitably, before you could finish your sentence he was grabbing you by the ass, making you grind on him, his cock brushing up against that spot inside you which had you slapping a hand over your mouth.

“sweetie? you still there?” your mom questioned, pulling you out of your trance for another minute.

“yes, mom, i’m so sorry, i-i gotta finish this, uh, homework, you know how stressed i can get, i-i’ll call you later, okay? bye, bye, bye!” you rushed out, cutting the call and tossing the phone down on the carpeted floor.

“so i’m your homework now? huh?” there was the corny joke. those were his words as soon as you met his eyes again.

“peter parker, you’re such a teas-” before you could finish your sentence, peter’s lips were on yours. he’d pulled you flush against him once more and this time you didn’t pay heed to holding back the lewd sounds.

he pushed you so that your back was against the couch and him, on top of you, “can i fuck you now?”

“yes, please.” you whispered against his lips, needy as ever, all thoughts of anyone else hearing you two were tossed out of the window as peter pulled back, only to thrust back into you. his hands held your wrists on either side of your head as his pace graduated, making you wrap your legs around his waist, needing him closer.

“oh, pete, please don’t stop.” you pleaded, and who was peter to disobey.

he pushed into you a few more times watching your face twist in pleasure, an indication that you were close. peter used one of his hands to travel down between your bodies as his other replaced it in holding your wrists above your head. his fingers came in contact with your sensitive clit, sending a jolt of pleasure through your body and you came undone with a gasp of his name.

peter swore he could probably have watched the scene unfold in front of him all day long, but the way you were clenching around him, now riding out your high, told him that he would not be lasting much longer.

“fuck.” he cursed under his breath, pulling out of you and giving his cock a few strokes as he came with a groan, the load spilling over your self and the couch.

both of you were breathing heavily, just revelling in the post-coital haze, bodies covered in a sheen layer of sweat but sweet words of appreciation spilling out from your mouths and the little pecks shared between you two were everything.

when the two of you calmed down a little, peter got up from you, instantly going to get some tissues to clean you up, after which the two of you worked on getting the blanket in for a wash.

after getting a shower together and finding some fresh and comfortable clothes for the yourselves, you entered the living room again which still looked like a disaster and smelled vividly of sex.

peter’s arms were around your waist once again, from behind this time, as he chuckled, looking at the mess the two of you’d made, “we better start with some deep cleansing now.”

“yeah, or else my parents will never leave me home alone again.”

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

taglist | msterlist

tagging: @spideyspeaches @prancerrparkerr @hollandslittlekoala @usergarfields @theglitterymess @quaksonhehe @lowkey-holland @starlight-starks @piscesparker @didthebadthing @wildxwidow @blankspaceblankday @raajali3 @kelieah @tommyfroggie @saturnpeter @ellabellabus07 @comfort-reads @arvinsvintage

[bigteefsmallbrain]

SOULMATE AU HEADCANONS

So, Soulmate AU where when you talk out loud to yourself, your soulmate can hear you and vice versa, but actively trying to have a conversation with them doesn't work. I'm here, it's 8:43 in the afternoon as opposed to 3:29 AM when I first came up with this.

SOULMATE AU HEADCANONS FOR: Shoto Todoroki, Rin Okumura, and Sakura Haruno

Shoto Todoroki

Aha, good luck finding out you have a soulmate in the first place with this one

He literally does not speak out loud to himself

Not at first that is

He also is clueless about soulmates, like, as soon as he hears your voice he’s google searching “Why is there a voice in my head talking about how their family is disrespecting Ramen?”

When he does realize that it’s his soulmate, he won’t actively pursue speaking to himself or finding you

Actively being the key word here

He wants to believe he doesn’t care and that his soulmate, whoever they are, will just get in his way

But that doesn’t stop him from focusing solely on you when you talk

Or trying to reply to you sometimes

And it certainly doesn’t stop him from subconsciously starting to speak to himself

Which, by the way, scared the piss out of you the first time

You didn’t even know you had a soulmate till that point

so hearing a male voice in your head go “I can’t believe they only serve hot soba here”

Would understandably frighten you

He doesn’t even realize it at first until his father gets pissed at him for mumbling

And he’s just like “oh” and immediately stops, as soon as he realizes from then on

Like you’ll be going about your day, hear him start to speak, then cut himself off

Which is disappointing

His sudden radio silence changes drastically after his fight with Midoriya

Like after getting knocked out by Bakugo and being put into the infirmary, he decides to check over himself while mumbling or if Recovery Girl lists his injuries for him, he’ll repeat them under his breath

Which, scares you obviously, but you’re also glad he’s not dead or something

He starts rating cold soba that he has or has had in the past

Reviewing his day

Talking about Midoriya

Which worries you, does he have a crush? Are they just good friends? Is this ‘Midoriya’ going to steal your soulmate

I stg, Midoriya has become a love rival and the poor boy has no idea

You’re stalking him on the internet trying to find anything you can on him to make sure you can outdo anything he does

He can knit? Oh look, professional lessons and equipment

He does Yoga? Aha, you have never been more flexible in your life

Anything he’s done? You are now doing it better than he ever could

Todoroki doesn’t have this same fear, his parents weren’t soulmates, and he fully trusts you, you’re made for each other, literally

When you finally meet, it’s so unexpected, and he blue screens

Here? Now? Who? What’s yesterday?

He’s not functioning

Todoroki.exe has crashed

Person too pretty

You’re not any better though

Honestly, have you seen this man? He’s model material

Worth millions

You both stare at each other for a good while before Midoriya comes and breaks the silence

And Todoroki makes the mistake of going “Oh, hey Midoriya” and paying attention to him

The fire has been lit, RIP Midoriya Izuku, an innocent man

Rin Okumura

You have a collection of recipes

He talks A LOT when cooking, like, he’s a walking cookbook, going through each step and ingredient

Even for recipes of his own creation

Which he never writes down and frequently forgets

So when you meet, he’s convinced he died and went to heaven

All his beautifully crafted recipes and instructions, he may cry when you show them to him

He also reads out loud to himself, so prepare for that

All the Manga, any book he may read, some new recipe he found on the internet

He reads it out, and sometimes does different voices for other characters

Which is great and all, but since he’s a dropout, it’s literally at all the worst times

Doing a math quiz? He’s crying while reading a romance manga

Trying to study? Good luck with that, he’s dramatically reenacting a action manga panel

He watches Hell's Kitchen and other cooking shows

And RAMBLES

He’s talking about how this technique would be better

Or how he should try recreating that dish later

Critiquing how something turned out

Making a dish along with the show

Now, for him, every time he hears your voice, he freezes

Like, physically freezes

No thoughts, head empty, only soulmate

He will not respond until you’re done talking to yourself

And he commits whatever you say to memory

If you talk about a certain food, he is IMMEDIATELY in the kitchen either A) Learning the recipe for it, or B) Making sure he can still cook it

I can, nearly guarantee, that this man will invite you to his home for breakfast/lunch/dinner when you meet, and cook literally everything you’ve ever mentioned

And continue to cook for you after that

Like, he goes from “I wish to eliminate my birth father” to “The way of the house husband, Okumura style”

When you both meet, he pounces on you

No, I mean literally

He leaps on top of you

No hesitation

As soon as he hears your voice

It’s a immediate cuddle session on the floor

Or if you manage to stay upright, he’s clinging to you like a koala

No, you can’t escape or avoid

And if you DO stay upright, he will continue to lunge at you every time he is within jumping distance

Sakura Haruno

Yes, she may be seen as annoying or useless, but I like her, so I’m going to self indulge, and you can’t stop me

That doesn’t mean I'm gonna sugar coat this though

THIS GIRL GOES THROUGH ALL FIVE STAGES OF GRIEF IN THREE HOURS, AND MOST OF IT IS CRYING

She has spent who knows how long pursuing a toxic, probably Naruto-sexual, duck lookin emo DISASTER only to find out he’s NOT her soulmate?

“I went on this diet, and for what? Nothing”

“I bet it’s wrong, it has to be, right? Sasuke can’t NOT be my soulmate, RIGHT!?”

Yeah, she’s in a sad/denial state for about a week after that

And even after, she’s still salty

It’s not until Sasuke leaves, telling Sakura to go pursue HER soulmate instead of some stupid skin deep crush that she really begins to get OVER him and get INTO you

Except you’ve had enough of her Sasuke BS, so she not only needs to let go of her long time crush, but also make it up to her soulmate

The first time she says something about getting over Sasuke and wanting to be with her soulmate, you laugh, and she hears because you DON’T want to talk to her

“Does she really think one sentence is going to fix years of heartbreak?”

Now, when you put it like that, she cringes, and realizes that there's a lot of damage she caused

Honestly, when you two meet, you don’t recognize each other immediately, due to the fact that you don’t speak to her often or care to remember her voice

You probably found her with her head in her hands, probably eating away her woes at Ichirakus

You slide in, very smoothly, might I add, and ask what’s wrong while ordering yourself a bowl

She tells you the surface, that a friend ran from the village, which is true, but not what she’s sad about

You give her advice, chit chat a bit longer, getting to know each other, before paying for both her and your bowl and heading off

Never gave any names, just friendly conversation

You run into each other more frequently, growing closer with each talk, finally knowing each others names

Never mentioning meeting each other when talking to yourselves though

Eventually, using your advice when Sakura mentioned her soulmate was mad at her, you grew to forgive your soulmate

The two of you got such Deja Vu because of it too, since you were talking to each other and listening to the other ramble to themselves

Till one day, one of you mention the others name

And the other is like, “Oh my gosh [Y/N or Sakura] is my soulmate”

And then you both know

And the next time you see each other it’s a bit awkward, until Sakura says “So uh, I used your advice”

And you burst out laughing, conversation flowing as it would from there

You do hold a vendetta against Sasuke though, and after getting to know Sakura, it just gets 10 times worse

Like you’re ready to knock his teeth in if you ever see him

The pure, unadulterated rage you hold for him grows with every hate crime against Sakura he makes

Like, she tries to help him, now platonically, and he tries to kill her

There is no end to your rage

Everyone knows not to mention his name around you now

White boy better run and run fast if y’all ever meet

Yes, I do simp for pink haired characters, what are you gonna do about it?

If you’d like to see more headcanons, be that for this AU, or something else, feel free to submit an ask or comment! I hope you enjoyed these little headcanons!

[wannabe-fic-writer]

All Over Again - Chapter 8

Summary: What was lost can be found. 

Warning: 18+ Smut, Language, Violence. 

Here’s another holiday chapter. Happy New Years to all! Enjoy!

Ch. 7

* * * * * *

You tap your fingers against the side table, eyes on the tv but not actually paying attention to what’s playing. 

Due to the carpeted hotel floor, you don’t hear her approaching, which gives her the perfect opportunity to take you in. Green eyes roll over your seated form, a simple yet classy outfit on your body, tones of silver and black coloring it. 

Her stare broken when her gaze lands on your face and she finds you already looking back at her. 

Through a smile, you tell her,“ Miss Luthor you are breathtaking.”

You push yourself up off the couch and round it to stand in front of her. A gentle hand raises, your thumb running over the pink tint of her cheeks.“ Ready?” You ask softly. 

With a nod from her you both turn to leave. Only for Lena to shake her head and tug on your hand. She drops your hand, leaving a frowning you at the door of her room, and then returning a minute later. 

“I’ve noticed you aren’t a fan of coats. While that’s fine in NC, it’s currently snowing and I’d hate for you to be sick if you aren’t already.” She teases even though she’s serious. 

Over the past few days, she’s seen the way you leave without even considering grabbing a jacket, as if it isn’t winter in New York.

Smiling sheepishly, you mutter a thanks, and shrug into the coat she’d offered. You don’t dismiss how it fits your overall style perfectly and it’s your size. Then again, you aren’t surprised, Lena pays a great attention to detail.

“Now we’re ready.” As you’re leaving out Lena can’t help but smile at the slightly embarrassed look on your face, nor can she help leaning up to press a kiss to your warm cheek. 

It’s not a long walk from her hotel to the restaurant. You thought it’d be nice to take in everything tonight as opposed to driving by all of it. 

New Years Eve always gives an exciting and contagious air to NYC and it would be a shame to miss that, especially since Lena isn’t here often. 

When she notices the big group of people heading down the sidewalk, she uses that as an excuse to press closer to you. Her arm loops around yours, other hand lacing with your fingers. You smile down at her, a feeling of pride growing inside you at the thought of making her feel safe. And you make sure she sticks close even when they’re long passed, until you’re at your destination that is.

Confirming your reservation with the host, you wait for him to pull it up and then guide you both back to a table. Admittedly you’re noticed by a few people, some who recognize you as an Avenger and others who know Lena. You both ignore the looks, though it isn’t hard when the only people you care about in this moment are each other. 

Luckily your waiter arrives quickly, giving you water and taking your drink orders. 

The sound of loud cheers and noise makers grab your attention. A group of people then walk by the window, just like the ones you’d passed, there are gold and silver hats on their heads, the number of the new year decoratively placed on each. Their laughter and conversation loud as they pass by.

Your eyes moving away at the soft touch on your fingers. E/c lifts to green and you smile.

“Sorry,” you’re quick to say. Shaking your head and giving all your attention back to the woman across from you.

Lena’s smile matches yours as she says,“ it’s okay. I imagine it’s hard not to be at least a little distracted.” She glances out the window as well, taking in everyone outside and all their festive spirits. 

Still looking at her, you remember when Lena told you she’d be staying for the week you couldn’t have been more thrilled. Especially seeing as the news came on the back of Bruce’s and Natasha’s engagement, which you have yet to decide how you feel about. Honestly you hadn’t had a chance to think about it really. Instead, you’d been soaking up every second you could with Lena. 

Over the last seven days, outside of you handling Avengers business and her handling L-Corp business, you’d been on a total of four dates. Taking her to your favorite coffee shop, to the restaurants she wanted to try and the ones you loved, and the ice skating rink the city seasonally sets up at the park not too far from the compound. 

Which all brought you to now, your fifth date, on New Years Eve. Lena would be leaving early in the morning but you’re choosing not to think of that until necessary. 

“Where do you go?” 

Pulled from your thoughts, you look to the CEO with a sheepish smile,“ sorry.”

She pulls her bottom lip between her teeth as she watches you, her smile still in place.“ You don’t have to apologize. I just wonder what’s on your mind sometimes. You space out a lot.”

“I- well, I was thinking about you,” you absentmindedly twiddle with her fingers, her eyes glancing down at the action as you continue to look at her,“ I couldn’t have imagined a better way to spend the last few days.” 

Lena saves the comment that instantly pops in her head. It’s far too soon in your relationship to be making suggestive comments. She chooses, instead, to say,“ me either. I’ve loved getting to know you, like this.”

Your eyebrow quirks, a little smirk tugging on your lips,“ like this? How is this exactly?”

The blush that rushes up Lena’s cheeks is incredibly cute. But it doesn’t stop her from replying,“ romantically. This side of you is-”

“Unbelievably charming?” You wiggle your eyebrows playfully making Lena giggle. You’re sure that sound alone could save your life.

“Not what I was going to say but true. As much as I love all of you, your new found romanticism is one of my favorite parts. While I knew you were sweet before, admittedly, you’ve taken it to another level-”

Lena’s statement continues but you’re stuck on those five little words: I love all of you.

Did she mean that? Or was it just a random choice of words?

Do you love her? 

Honestly, you’re falling. There’s no way you could act as if you weren’t, if you did that’d just be denial. 

Since the beginning it’s been something about Lena that drew you in, each passing second with her led you to the realization that it’s not just one thing. Everything about her left you speechless and completely taken. 

Is it far fetched to think that you both love each other? The romantic aspect of the relationship may be new but you’ve known her for months now. 

When you pull yourself from your thoughts this time Lena is already looking at you, her lip settled between her teeth. 

“Did you mean to say you love me or am I reading into that?” You blurt, no longer wanting to be the type to push things aside or avoid them.

Lena’s mouth opens and snaps shut quickly. Green eyes take you in: your soft e/c eyes full of uncertainty and a love you hadn’t verbalized, fingers of one hand still absentmindedly playing with hers as the other picks at a napkin, all the while the tablecloth moves just a bit as your leg bounces. 

Her shoulders relax as she understands why you asked, then she smiles,“ I meant it. Truthfully I’ve felt it for some time now.”

“I love you too.”

She jokingly asks,“ was it at first sight?”

“Nope.” Her loud laugh, at your quick and honest response, grabs a few people’s attention. You couldn’t care less. Not when Lena looks so incredibly happy.“ I’m just saying. I found you very interesting and very beautiful. But there was far too much going on with me to even consider loving someone at the time.”

“Did it have to do with whatever your relationship was with Miss Romanoff?”

Of course Lena hadn’t missed the awkward stares between you and the ex-assassin during the proposal. 

Chuckling quietly, you nod,“ I had yet to let go of hurt feelings. But we’ve talked and I’ve learned to move on.”

A look flashes through Lena’s eyes. One you recognize almost instantly, as it’s how you looked at her when you first saw the way she and James interacted with each other. She looks away, the bread plate in front of her suddenly more interesting than anything else. 

“This isn’t-” she cuts herself off to think, settling on asking,“ I’m not some rebound am I?”

“God no.” You give the hand you’re still holding a gentle squeeze, leaning down just a bit to catch the CEO’s eyes, then offering the most sweet and reassuring little smile you can,“ I would never do that to you, or anyone for that matter. I know this is still new but it’s real.”

“Yeah?” 

Maintaining eye contact, you raise her hand to your lips and press a gentle kiss to her knuckles,“ I’m very serious. You are not a rebound, in any way.”

Finally, you get her to smile again, and it’s like a breath of fresh air. 

The smile stays in place over dinner as well. Stories are traded between you two about the team, her friends, and your family. Lena learns, from the bit that you mention, that your mother wasn’t really around. Why? You have no idea and you never talked to your father about it. It’s now one of those things you wish you’d done before he was gone. 

After dinner, as opposed to having dessert at the restaurant, you decide to make something for Lena back at her hotel. So you make a quick stop at a little grocery store and get back before it’s too late. 

With the Time Square ball drop on the tv, and both of you in some more comfortable clothing, you set to making the dessert. 

Lena rests against the counter, arms crossed as she watches you and sips from a glass of wine. 

“I must say, I’m surprised you didn’t want to be down there yourself.” She speaks of the ball drop.

You shake your head,“ no. We would’ve needed to be down there incredibly early and even then it would’ve been chaotic. And most importantly, I’d rather be spending this time with you.” A slight smirk forms at her blush.“ Taste?” 

She nods, ignoring the spoon in the bowl, and instead swiping her finger through the mix. E/c follows the way her lips wrap around her chocolate covered finger, hollowing in the slightest as she sucks the sweet mix off. 

At this point you’re openly staring, the emotions her actions stirred inside you clear in your eyes. The thought to mask it crosses your mind but it’s flittered away just as her tongue runs across her bottom lip. 

Clearing your throat, you force your gaze away from her. With you looking at the bowl, you miss the way Lena smirks at you. 

She saw the look in your eyes, quite honestly it did something to her. Something that made her shift just to get a bit of friction between her legs. One look from you and she was ready to risk it all.

Then again one little action from her and you were ready to do the same. 

However you both manage to control yourselves. Your distraction coming in the form of making the dessert and Lena’s coming in a phone call from Kara. 

Lena’s blonde friend is obviously at least a little intoxicated. Her excited voice sounds loud through the tiny speaker and you chuckle. 

“She’s wasted.” You mention to Lena who immediately nods, moving to your side and holding the phone between your ears.“ Heyyy Kara.”

The woman gasps,“ Y/N!!” A small chuckle comes from you at the woman’s excitement.“ I miss you! When are you coming back to NC?”

A grimace covers your face,“ I’m not sure KD, might be a minute, but I am going to come back.”

“You better,” her pause makes you and Lena frown, but it doesn't last long,“ since you and Lena are dating now.” She giggles. 

The look that passes between you and Lena is pure amusement. Plus the slight blush on Lena’s cheeks. 

Using the last few minutes it takes you to finish up the dessert, Lena talks to her best friend, making a promise to something before hanging up.

“All done?” The brunette asks, pocketing her phone and facing you fully.

With a sprinkle of powdered sugar and the decorative placement of strawberries, you tell her yes. Chocolate lava cakes in hand, you go with Lena into the living room. 

“I’ve only made these a handful of times so, if it’s not as good as my cheesecake, I’m blaming it on that.” 

Lena laughs softly at your words,“ I’m sure it’s incredible.” She accepts the spoon from you and settles on the edge of the couch. 

For a number of reasons, you watch her take the first bite, and your heart legitimately skips a beat at the low moan she gives. She had to know what all her little actions have been doing to you tonight, right?

“5 minutes.” She speaks, pulling you from the trance she’d pulled you in. 

“Okay, one second,” you hop up, doing a short jog back to the kitchen to grab the single bottle of champagne you’d bought.“ Can’t possibly bring in the New Year with anything else.” 

“Agreed.” 

In no time at all, you have the bottle of champagne open, pouring the bubbly alcohol in two glasses, and handing one to Lena. 

Suddenly you pause after sitting and the CEO notices. Her eyes take in the look in your eyes. 

“Hey,” her hand rests just above your knee,“ what is it?” 

Your eyelashes flutter as you blink a couple times, gaze finally focusing on Lena. Truthfully you’d been a little up in the clouds. Holiday’s always make you think of your father. It’s not like New Years was some huge deal to him either, but just having spent it with him every year for most of your life is enough. 

“I was just thinking about my dad. Something about the holiday’s makes me miss him more than usual.” 

She nods along,“ did you have any special traditions for New Years?” 

“Not really,” you shrug,“ mainly, we would make one resolution with each other. It was our way of making sure we went through with it.”

Lena’s eyebrows raise expectantly, a little smile appearing,“ let’s do that then. Share your resolution with me and I’ll share mine.”

From the look on her face you know she’s one hundred percent serious about it. And quite frankly you’re more than happy to be doing that again. 

“Okay, um,” it takes you a moment to think of something,“ my resolution is to get the power core working smoothly and help at least one village or tiny town.”

As if she wasn’t already taken with you, your words remind her of how incredibly generous you are, and she falls further. 

“Mine is to travel, for fun. I haven’t been on an actual vacation in years.” She admits and for just a moment you can almost see the stress she’s under. 

In that moment you decide that if you can find the time to take Lena on a vacation, you just might. 

Your conversation leads you right up to the last 30 seconds of the year. Through the tv and the walls, you can hear the loud counting down of other people. The ball inches closer and closer to the bottom with each second. 

With the final second of the year: Happy New Year is shouted loudly, the ball finishes its descent, cheers and noisemakers sound through the streets of New York. All while you lean over and press a lingering kiss to Lena’s soft pink lips. 

The feeling of her lips pressed to yours and her hand cupping the side of your neck makes warmth spread over you entirely. That coupled with the obvious love passed through the kiss, you couldn’t imagine a better way to bring in the New Year, nor anyone you would rather be with.

* * * * * *

Taglist: @username23345 @depressed-bi-bitch @fayhar @trikruismybitch @marvel-wlw @aznblossom​ @chicken-wang09​ @bitchtits15 @coxmicbabygirl​ @blackluthxr @starlingelliot

[underfell-crystal]

More Harp facts bc I haven't talked about my seal baby as much recently.

She has a hidden dagger in her right boot at all times in case of emergencies.

She's not opposed to talking about her family in general, but she veers away from the topic of 'where are they now' and 'what happened to them'.

She tries to make new friends from the ocean but Alkai tends to scare them away.

She considers loyalty to be one of the most important things a person could have which is why she hates Calypso, especially since she went out of her way to physically injure some of the skeleton crew.

Chocolate is one of her favorite things to eat.

Her wanted poster has her pupils much smaller than they normally are which makes it easy to gloss over.

She used to have a wooden flute she'd play when she was bored.

She has an extremely heightened sense of smell, so much so that she can tell when someone is human or simply disguised as a human (i.e. Alkai) and can tell if certain ingredients are in food. It takes a lot of magic to fool her nose.

She's extremely young for a selkie, since they usually live to 300 years and she's only 20.

She loves kids.

Challenging her to an eating contest is pretty much an automatic loss for the challenger.

She hates big spiders. She thinks they're creepy.

Her favorite fruits are mangos.

She has freckles, they're just extremely hard to see since they're so light. They used to be darker when she was young.

She likes pastel colored shells the best.

Prefers dresses over pants but will wear pants if she feels like it.

Can be a drama queen and it's usually to annoy Mal.

Sometimes she wishes she was taller but most of the time she likes being small so the skellies can pick her up more easily.

She loves flustering Aspen and sometimes makes clothes the same color as his blush.

She and Kioko lose their minds over weird human stuff together.

She and Kioko eat raw (sometimes alive) sea creatures just to horrify the skeleton crew.

Likes to be carried.

Becomes a gremlin when pulling pranks with Jasper and Paps (and occasionally Rus).

One time a sailor broke her arm as she and Alkai were trying to escape off a ship.

She gets very sleepy and giggly when she's drunk (though she's only drank alcohol once and it was on accident).

Does 'Get Help' with Alkai when they're on a thief mission and likes to yeet them at the sailors and knock them down like bowling pins.

Sees Griosk as another dad and calls him dad regularly.

Likes to do hairstyles on people who have long enough hair.

Being with the skeleton crew reminds her of her family, but in a good way.

Alkai and Griosk belong to @mochamashi

Kioko, Calypso, and the skeleton boys belong to @kiokodoodles

[robininthelabyrinth]

All this trans!Nie Mingjue really makes me want some trans!Jiang Cheng, and if you want too, maybe him ending out pregnant instead of his core being melted, because if I remember correctly Wen Zhuli was honorable, so if Jiāng Cheng did get raped by one of his subordinates, I feel he’d try too limit Jiang Cheng’s suffering.

“It’s not that I’m especially opposed to an alliance by marriage, but who were you planning on having marry in?” Nie Mingjue asked Jiang Fengmian and Madame Yu politely.

They blinked at him.

“I think,” Madame Yu said dryly, after a few minutes, “that we were planning on A-Cheng marrying in. Women usually do.”

“But your son isn’t a woman,” Nie Mingjue said, which he thought was quite reasonable.

“I don’t have a son,” Jiang Fengmian said. “Only two daughters.”

Nie Mingjue frowned. “You have an older daughter and a younger son. Hasn’t he told you?”

“Ah, you mean – by Qinghe standards,” Jiang Fengmian said. He sounded uncomfortable with the idea, which made Nie Mingjue’s eyes narrow and Jiang Fengmian immediately drop the notion of saying something more along those lines. After all, Nie Mingjue himself was a man ‘by Qinghe standards’, as the other sect leader put it, and starting trouble with Qinghe wasn’t on the agenda for today. “Sect Leader Nie, I appreciate your concern, but my daughter –”

“Son.”

“My daughter is a woman. We don’t practice Qinghe ways here.”

“It doesn’t really matter what you practice in the Lotus Pier,” Nie Mingjue said. He was wearing his best pleasant smile, which most people said looked like he was about to start chopping people into pieces. It was, at the moment, a fair description. “From my perspective, with my Qinghe ways, you have a son, who is a man. However you wish to treat him or raise him is up to you, of course, and I’m still willing to arrange a marriage between him and Huaisang, to be maintained or cancelled at their will when they’re older, including a marriage in which Jiang Cheng marries into the Unclean Realm. But what I will not tolerate is Huaisang getting confused by being told on one hand that he has a wife and the other a husband. He’s very fragile after our father’s death; I’m sure you understand.”

Jiang Fengmian, who’d been about to protest, shut his mouth, his desire for Nie Mingjue not to bring up, yet again, the fact of his father’s murder at the hands of Wen Ruohan – a murder that would need to be answered for, one day – outweighing his desire to argue back.

It was a petty move, but Nie Mingjue was aware that he had very few cards to play against the older and more influential man, and that meant he had to use them all no matter how petty to get what he wanted.

Mostly, in this case, for Jiang Cheng to be treated the way he so obviously identified. The damage that could be done by people who didn’t understand this sort of thing was incalculable – it was worth sticking his nose into another family’s business, no matter how rude, to try to make a difference if he could.

There were long few minutes of silence, in which Nie Mingjue stood his (tenuous) ground and Jiang Fengmian considered possible responses that would result in even more awkwardness.

Just at the point that it was getting intolerable, Madame Yu snorted, a surprisingly inelegant sound for such a refined woman.

“Let him be a son and a husband, then,” she said, her voice a little waspish. “If he changes his mind later, he can resume being a daughter, and there will be no loss.”

It wasn’t exactly how Nie Mingjue had intended on settling Nie Huaisang’s marriage, but it seemed a worthwhile conclusion, even if Jiang Fengmian was clearly not entirely on board.

“Very well,” he said. “Are we agreed?”

The marriage was unofficially dissolved when the boys were twelve, if by ‘dissolved’ one meant that the entire Jiang sect had entirely forgotten that their young master had ever been a young mistress, even Jiang Fengmian. A casual comment to Madame Yu that she ought to consider finding someone to marry in to their sect so that the heir could be officially confirmed, rather than wasting him on a cutsleeve marriage out, was more than enough for the entire concept to be permanently misplaced.  

(Not that he thought they would make a bad pair, but if that was the case they could always figure it out for themselves later on.)

As far as Nie Mingjue was concerned, that was the end of it.

And yet, years later, it was at Nie Mingjue’s tent in Heijan that Jiang Cheng came, a twisted expression on his face.

“I have a problem,” he said, and touched his stomach lightly in a place a little too far down to suggest a stomachache. “I don’t know what to do about it, and – when I was younger, Huaisang said – well. I thought you might have some insight.”

Nie Mingjue let Jiang Cheng into the tent and put up a silencing array behind him, the sort used to protect news delivered by the most important spies.

“I’m not sure what you want me to tell you,” he said honestly. “It’s not a problem I’ve encountered on a personal basis, if you understand my meaning. Do you want to keep it or not?”

Jiang Cheng settled down where Nie Mingjue led him, still grimacing. “I don’t know,” he said. “The idea of bearing a child for any one of them disgusts me beyond telling. But on the other hand, what did the child have to do with it? It seems unfair not to give it a chance to live.”

“It’s not a child yet,” Nie Mingjue pointed out. He could do math, and the fall of the Lotus Pier wasn’t that long ago. “There’s no way that it’s quickened this soon after. Right now, it’s a problem that can be eliminated with a bowl of medicine, if that’s what you want.”

“I know,” Jiang Cheng said. “I’m considering it. It’s only…on one hand, even if it’s not a child yet, it could be a child, if I let it. A Jiang child, with me as its father, and obviously my Jiang sect could use as many new members as possible, no matter what the other half of their biological origin. But on the other hand – wouldn’t it be irresponsible to carry a child now? I’m leading the Jiang sect’s efforts against the Wens, trying to avenge what they did to me, to my parents, to my sect, and a child would be a distraction from that…and Wei Wuxian, who might have helped me out, is still missing.”

Nie Mingjue didn’t comment on Wei Wuxian, even though he itched, as he often did, to remind Jiang Cheng that no matter how atrociously Jiang Fengmian had behaved – and no matter what the condition of his birth had been, legitimate and incorrectly categorized – he was the son and heir of the Jiang clan.

Not the child Jiang Fengmian had brought in and treated as if he’d been the son he’d never had.

(Really, Nie Mingjue didn’t understand places like Yunmeng. What was the point of not recognizing misaligned reincarnations like theirs? It wouldn’t make it any less true.)

“Depending on the way it affects you, you could be out in the fields for months still,” he said reasonably. “Certainly plenty of mothers in Qinghe don’t go into isolation until there’s only a few weeks left. And even if you aren’t, I can take charge on the battlefield while you consult on strategy from the backend, the same way you would if you’d been taken out of the field because of an injury – Lan Xichen is doing much the same thing, when he’s not acting as courier, and he’s doing it because he’s a terrible general rather than any logistical reason.”

“But it’s not an injury.”

Nie Mingjue frowned at him. “You’re making it very difficult to resist making some sort of pun about the Wen sect’s swords, Sect Leader Jiang, and I don’t even like that sort of crude humor.”

Jiang Cheng took a second to get it, then snorted. “I supposed you could say I got ‘stabbed’ a few times, yes.”

“Only a few times? They really are worthless dogs.”

And now Jiang Cheng was laughing, even though he was trying to stop himself. “That’s terrible, stop it…you know, I suppose, if you look at it from a certain perspective, I really am just suffering from – from post-stabbing complications.”

“Seems reasonable enough to me.” Nie Mingjue poured Jiang Cheng a cup of the tea that had already been cooling on his desk – a little rude, but better than wasting time making a new pot. “If you do decide to keep it, you can leave the child with Nie Huaisang once it’s born, if you like. He’s always liked children, and it’s not as if I’m going to let him get anywhere near a battlefield, now or ever.”

“Are you sure he’s not a woman?” Jiang Cheng asked. He sounded almost wistful, which suggested that the arranged marriage they’d set up so many years ago might even have a chance of resurrecting; Nie Mingjue would have to slip Nie Huaisang a hint. “With the fans and the birds and the pretty things –”

“He says he isn’t, and so he isn’t,” Nie Mingjue said with a sigh. “I admit it’d make it easier if he was. No one outside of Qinghe would question his below-average talent or his love of frivolities if he was a woman, however unfair that might be, and it’d make things easier for him.”

“You’d still yell at him to practice his saber.”

“Of course. What does saber have to do with gender?”

Jiang Cheng smiled and shook his head. “Thank you,” he said. “I still haven’t decided one way or another, but…it’s good to know there’s a way to do it, if I want, that doesn’t mean that – I’m not as brave as you. I don’t want people to know.”

“It’s not a matter of bravery,” Nie Mingjue said. “It’s common etiquette. Anyone who spends time thinking about another person’s genitals that isn’t planning on courting them is wasting their time.”

Jiang Cheng snickered. “No, I mean – people know about you, that you’re misaligned. You’ve never been shy about it.”

Nie Mingjue was pretty sure Jiang Cheng was thinking about the incident during a discussion conference some years back when he’d been shouting at Jin Guangshan over something or another – loud enough to be audible across half the city, it seemed, based on the number of people who talked about it afterwards – and ended the rant by telling the other sect leader to suck his non-existent dick.

“I’m not really a shy person,” he said dryly, and Jiang Cheng pressed his lips together in an evident attempt to avoid descending into giggles – he’s definitely thinking about the suck-my-dick comment. “Also, Qinghe is a bit more open about these things; it makes it easier, not having to explain exactly what it means or doesn’t mean. Don’t be too hard yourself.”

Jiang Cheng didn’t seem convinced, but nodded anyway.

“It’s not just that,” he said, though obviously it was, in some large part, that. Jiang Cheng’s complicated relationship with Wei Wuxian was proof of it, if nothing else. “It’s also – people can do math. I don’t want people thinking I’m weak, or a pushover.”

“No one who has seen you wield Zidian is likely to make that mistake,” Nie Mingjue said, but he could tell from the set of Jiang Cheng’s shoulders that that wasn’t enough. “It isn’t weakness, you know. Anyone can be captured, anyone can be tortured – some people will have to live without a leg or an arm, after what they suffered, and that’s the lucky ones that didn’t die. That’s all it ever is in war – just luck, good or bad. If I walked into a Wen ambush next week, I’d be as liable to complications from a Wen ‘stab’ as you, but it wouldn’t be because my strength wasn’t enough.”

“I guess,” Jiang Cheng said. “It’s just – if I kept the child, people would have to know, wouldn’t they?”

“Says who? If you retire from the battlefield due to complications from an injury for a few months, then the assumption will be that you found out that you got some poor girl pregnant and took on the child once you knew. If you do want people to know that you carried it, well, children come and go at their own speed.” Nie Mingjue shrugged. “Let some gossip overhear you talking about how you were already carrying the Lotus Pier’s next heir before any Wen set a foot on Yunmeng soil, and everyone will put together the rest. You know how it goes.”

“I suppose I do, at that.”

“Huaisang could probably put together a convincing story,” Nie Mingjue said. “He’s really very good at identifying every possible point in time and place where someone could be having sex, even if the actual personalities involved make it highly unlikely. And then he illustrates it, usually.”

Jiang Cheng was smiling, and his shoulders were straight again – his burdens lifted, however temporarily.

Good.

“Let me know what you decide,” Nie Mingjue said. “I know just enough about medicine to be able to mix you up what you need using just the medicine I already keep in my general collection, so no one would need to know, if that’s what you choose. And if you choose the other way, well, I have the medicines to help support that, too.”

“You keep that much medicine?”

“I’m not sure if you’ve heard about the tendency of the Qinghe Nie towards qi deviations –” Of course he had. Everyone had. “– but we have a habit of keeping an awful lot of medicine on hand.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Jiang Cheng said, and he was frowning a little, thoughtful, but not as stressed as he’d been earlier. “Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it,” Nie Mingjue said. “Really, don’t. If I let it get out that I give advice, every misaligned sonofabitch that wants to get a promotion will start showing up at my door with problems that are really just an excuse to get a chat in with the sect leader, and then where will my troubles end?”

Jiang Cheng, who was dealing with similar problems, smirked. “That doesn’t seem like my problem. At least people know better than to ask anything of me.”

“That can change,” Nie Mingjue said threateningly. “I’ll get Huaisang on it; see what happens to your reputation then.”

Jiang Cheng held up his hands in surrender as he retreated.

Nie Mingjue wondered for a moment which way he’d pick, but then remembered that it wasn’t his business and also that there was a war on that needed his attention a bit more.

Personal problems could wait.

[catsnuggler]

The only ancestor I honor is my mother. Her time came for her too early. She wasn't right about everything, but she had a heart, and she learned.

Despite being a Good Mormon Girl raised in insular (culturally, not geographically) Idaho, she learned a lot, considering the times she lived through. She evolved a lot on race, bridging gaps with people of different backgrounds and filling the gaps in the history she was taught, growing up; or, rather, wasn't taught, growing up.

It was only a little after she had her last child that she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Fearful, since this was out of her control, and in despair, since chemotherapy didn't seem quick enough for her; and, to be fair, it is Hellish; she turned to the advice of a nutritionist who, in a nutshell, got her believing carrot juice could cure cancer. Her cancer had advanced to an irreversible, terminal state before she turned back to conventional medicine, by which point she simply had to bear out her last days, and take pain medication to somewhat reduce the immense pain she felt with every movement of her joints.

Hurricane Katrina struck before she died. Damn the Bush Administration, and the US, itself, for how they failed New Orleans, leading to the deaths of many residents, most of whom were Black. Double damn then for it, because my mother knew that's exactly why the government didn't step in, and she lost every last shred of her broken hope because of that. She wept to my dad, lamenting the kind of world her kids would be raised in. If the government would leave people to die because they were Black, what other injustices might the government commit against other people?

Her broken heart beat its last in early September, 8 days after her 39th and last birthday. She couldn't eat the cake that day, and she wept. On the morning of the same day she died, she ate a bowl of cereal. Not hot cereal, but cold cereal. She walked up to the kitchen sink when she was done, my dad holding her up, as she scrubbed her bowl. After eating cold cereal for breakfast, which she only half finished, it took her five minutes to scrub the bowl. My dad wanted to do it for her. He didn't want her to suffer any more than she needed to. But she was adamant about doing it, herself. An act of resistance to death, itself; she would be a responsible woman until death had fully taken her. Even though she'd likely had a stroke the night before, she did that.

I doubt my mother would want to live in this world. Another good reason she's dead, is because she was anti-vax. After she died, my dad was damn sure to get us all vaccinated. But, back to the first thing, while I doubt my mother could tolerate the state of the world now, she didn't bear me so I could die as young or younger than her. She bore me so I could live, so I could give to the world the love it's given me, and the love I wished it had given me. She bore me so I could pass on to others the love she gave to me. I hardly remember her, but I will not forget her kind, caring character.

She was denied the fullness of her life, made some mistakes, but was loving on the whole. The rest of my ancestors were mostly conservatives, and all of them were/are completely unabashed colonizers, who got theirs, and fuck everyone else. I don't know how sympathetic my mom would be to decolonization, and it's too late to know that, but she was certainly opposed to anti-Indigenous racism.

Thus, as far as I'm concerned, my mother is the only biological ancestor I'll ever venerate. For all her faults, her heart was mostly in the right place. I hope I'll have descendants, but that will depend on the world. If I do... I hope I will prove to them to be an ancestor worth venerating, not cursing. I hope I can and will help do what it takes to set things right. For the world. For my mother. For the childhood I should have had, but didn't. For the others who, while children, lost their mothers. For myself.