#of course there's also a chance that people will go ''wow that's really cool and/or strangely endearing'' but WHAT IF THEY DON'T--

[t0ta11y-n0t-cup1d]

!!!!! hi !!! :) can u maybe write rise leo & donnie hcs (separate pls) with a reader who's super affectionate and just loves tf out of them.!!! like!!! reader is head over heels!!!

also i hate that u were self conscious while writing totally platonic ;( it was so great, i rly like the way u wrote it!!!🥹 made me feel all warm n' fuzzy n' shit

Touchy-Feely

꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡ (seperate) don + leo hcs w a supez affectionate reader!!! (physical touch, gift-giving, words of affirmation)

req ;; yes/no

g/n reader!! they/them prns

warnings ;; swearing, kinda ooc??

leo ;;

- so leo is naturally ALL over people he loves (think climbing all over raph, draping himself over mikey + donnie, etc)

- it'd be really accurate to say he's the same way with you!

- whenever you're in the lair, or just around the turtles/leo, you are going to be snatched up and there is nothing you can do about it!

- standing up? okay, leo's just gonna wrap his arms round your waist and lean his head on your shoulder.

- sitting down? either you're sitting in his lap or he's sitting in yours— or, he sits on the floor beside you so that he can lean his head on your thighs (i love doing that)

- laying in bed? CUDDLE TIME!

- that's all just to say that leo himself is very physically affectionate ;; if he got the chance he'd hold onto you and never let go

- with leo's self-esteem problems, i think it really helps to have a partner who's super affectionate!

- leo's the kinda guy to have doubts/ be like 'why are you even with me? i'm so lame and my brothers/literally anyone is so much better than me'

- so to have someone who time and time again shows how much they love him and proves that they only have eyes for him?

- it actually really helps! of course, those thoughts do come back sometimes, but it's nothing that a few kisses and a cuddle session can't fix!

- not to mention how you're always, always willing to tell him own much you love him!! because you do, you love him very much and will do anything to get those bad thoughts out of his head

- if he ever feels bad about himself or something he did, he always comes to you to get some comfort bc you comfort him in the best way

- like i wrote in Totally Platonic, leo's prone to subconsciously wagging his tail, making chittering/churring sounds at you, even fluttering his fingers around your cheeks bc red-eared slider DNA go brrr

- something that i think leo would be self-conscious of is money and ish, bc its not like he can really get much?? with the whole turtle situation

- but you, of course, being the angel you are, constantly reassures him that you don't need materialistic things for him to prove his love! you just want him, not anything else

- he sobs on the spot

- leo's the type of guy to fall HARD, so to know you're the same way? to know that you're as crazy about him as he is about you?

- he swoons, and wonders what he might've done to deserve such a wonderful partner.

- (literally save the world twice but who's counting?)

donnie ;;

- everybody, EVERYBODY KNOWS that donnie ain't a very touch-oriented guy, so at the start of the relationship, he'd deffo be overwhelmed by all the love and might ask you to tone it down (not in a mean way)

- once he gets comfortable tho he's all up for affection and cuddles :))

- you do ruin his bad-boy image tho. how is this man supposed to be dark and mysterious when your sweet self is out here making him absolutely melt???

- donnie typically shows his love through gifts and words!!!

- alike leo, he could spend HOURS singing your praise and just saying everything he loves about you (he's actually made a list organized by his most favourite qualities alphabetically.)

- i personally think that for donnie, being a middle child, he didn't get too much attention and we know for a FACT that he yearns for praise and love

- so you KNOW he's going feral if you so much as say 'wow, that's cool!' to one of his inventions

- donnie, while a little overwhelmed by all the love you show him, is really happy to have it

- don can get really stressed when doing his experiments/making his inventions, so it helps to have you around!!

- comes to you for cuddles and to rant when stuff doesn't go his way or an experiment fails

- DEFFO appreciates how affectionate and lovey-dovey you are.

- (also like leo) he can get down in the dumps and insecure bc he believes that his tech is the only 'useful' thing about himself

- so to hear you constantly being like "ahhh my bf!!! my wonderful talented smart funny bf!!!! my love my light of my life!!! i love you i love you i love you :DD" to him really brought up his spirits

- how could they not?? you're just too cute and so sweet!!

- it also helps if he feels kinda insecure in public!! people trying to flirt w you? you don't even notice because you're too busy looking at donnie.

- donnie totes makes you gifts and stuff (little robot to help you out w chores, maybe one to remind you every day how much he loves you :])

- unlike leonardo however, don prefers to keep pda to a minimum;; he likes having certain things to himself and in private

- that doesn't mean that he don't love it tho!!! he just prefers that some stuff stays behind walls

A/N ;; SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG!! but thank you so much for the request :DD im so eepy jssbbfjs,,,, anyway MEOWSSSS can't wait to work on more fics :]] they might come (even) slower tho bc im starting classes again (AGHHHHHHH)

LUV FROM ;; CUPEZ

[cairavende]

Worm Arc 9 thoughts:

Not enough of my daughter. Where is my baby girl? Though I do enjoy getting different PoVs. It'll work for a little bit.

Weld is neat. Didn't feel great about him at first but he grew on me. His scene with Vista made me love him. He's a good kid. (He should probably have learned Aegis, Gallant, and Browbeat's names before talking to the team the first time though)

On the note of that scene - THEY HAD A THERAPIST THIS ENTIRE TIME? The Wards had a therapist available to them and no one was having them see said therapist after 3 of their teammates died? Piggot is so bad at this.

Me reading Flechette's chapter with the aim of making her gay as I have done with everyone else: "Oh wow this is a really easy one!"

I wanted to see more of Parian sooo badly after I first saw her and I'm so fucking glad this is how I see her! Flechette and Parian are wonderful and I hope they get gay married and retire together.

Me saying that probably highly increases the chance that one of them dies in the future.

I'm very glad Flechette gave up on Shadow Stalker. I like Flechette and she shouldn't have to deal with that asshole.

I feel so bad for Clockblocker. He's just a kid and his dad is dying and that sucks. I wanna bake him some cookies or something.

The professor of that class was so clearly identifiable as "one of those professors". All "up until now you haven't had to think, but in Parahumans 103 you'll need to think and I'm not gonna baby you yada yada". It's still just a 100 level course dude, geeze. Get off your high horse.

Clockblocker and Vista are siblings and I love their dynamic.

Despite me feeling for these kids some, the second the Travelers started clowning on them I was enjoying the shit out of myself.

Fucking Trickster is just so much damn fun. His powers are cool and he really lives up to his name. I love him.

Glory Girl getting rocketed off into the sky by Ballistic had me in tears from laughter.

Kid Win has ADHD. I was sure Kid Win had ADHD before I even started on the Kid Win chapter where he says he has ADHD. Someone get this kid some Adderall. And some therapy for all that self doubt and imposter syndrome.

Kid Win also didn't even hesitate to illegally spy on Chariots personal computer by hacking into the wi-fi, so that doesn't give me great confidence in the Wards following rules. Or any heroes. I'm sure that won't ever come up again though.

These Slaughter House Nine guys I'm sure won't be a big deal. They won't do horrible things to hundreds of people. Gonna be taken care of by heroes off screen during the next arc. No worries at all!

Vista joined the team when she was 10? The superhero team that has to deal with death on a semi-regular basis and terrifying violence all the time. That team. She joined it when she was TEN?! Shitty system you guys have here!

Saved the best for last - SHADOW STALKER GETTING FUCKING MEMED ON BY MY WONDERFUL DAUGHTER! (And my daughters friends)

God I wasn't sure about her chapter at first. She is so mean and I didn't necessarily want to spend a long time in her head watching her be mean. But then my daughter showed up in a swarm of bugs and fucked up a bunch of Nazis and I knew everything was going to be ok.

The instant Shadow Stalker started to follow Skitter I knew she was gonna get fucking wrecked. I don't know why I knew, maybe I just know my daughter well enough. But no matter the reason I was so happy to watch it happen. Wasn't worried for Skitter at any moment cause I knew she was gonna bitch slap this asshole.

Just. Damn I fucking LOVE watching my daughter just be a goddess of bugs and go to town.

I could keep going about Shadow Stalker getting absolutely destroyed for who knows how long, so I'll just have to stop myself.

And we see a new person with the Undersiders, did Aisha get her powers? I'm so happy for her! I can't wait to see what they are.

Imp is a great name and it's kinda fucking bonkers it wasn't taken by somebody else already.

Did I mention Shadow Stalker getting clowned?

Cause she did.

Just completely baited and then my wonderful baby girl even got to tase her. I'm so happy for her. Sometimes a little violence is the answer.

[egg-emperor]

Some funny and actually kinda cute Bowsegg/Eggbowser for the soul

Bowser really wants the chance to tell Eggman about some of his own schemes and adventures because when they're together it's usually always Eggman rambling all about himself in his usual fashion and not letting him get a word in. He's surprised when the time comes where Eggman finally lets him and he tries to talk about it in what he thinks makes it sound coolest and most interesting.

Eggman just listens, not particularly looking the most enthusiastic and engaged. Every now and then mumbles things like "Hmm, really now?" "Wow, how did you plan on that working out?" "Would that really have worked anyway?" "I think you should've really seen that coming." of course being rude and judgemental is his thing and he will question his methods and have critiques as a fellow villain.

Finally Bowser is like "All you've been doing is judging me ugh, you're so much harder to impress than a girl! With them you just have to talk about how manly and strong and cool you are and they swoon!" and Eggman is a fucking cheeky bastard so he's just like "Oh really now, what girls have you ever successfully impressed?" And Bowser is like "HEY!" Way to add insult to injury Eggman, such a great friend you make lol

"Well, it's just the truth. Anyway, you should be happy that you've managed to at least entertain me and get the attention of a brilliant man like me at all in the first place~" Eggman takes the opportunity once again to brag about himself and Bowser just rolls his eyes and groans. Eggman says "Anyway, surely you've got more interesting stories about better plans than that, so go on." And so Bowser continues.

While Eggman doesn't seem as wooed as Bowser would like him to be- the truth is that while he listens, a quick little smirk cracks on his face now and then, that's partially obscured behind his hands that his chin is resting on. And he's kicking his feet a little while laying on his stomach on the bed. He is absolutely into him, he finds him funny and likes his ambition for his schemes just like he has for his 💜

It's just that Bowser doesn't catch the former because it's so quick and he doesn't pick up on what the latter means to see it. He's hardly experienced with people expressing outward attraction towards him, so he's also not as knowledgeable on the more subtle hints people can show as he'd like to believe and pretend he is. It especially doesn't help that Eggman plays hard to get and likes to tease.

But the thing is, Eggman doesn't show it in his words or even so much his expressions when it comes to experiencing any amount of attraction, it's in his subtle body language like that. But he also just likes the fire in him too, so he likes to keep poking the bear with a stick and being cheeky because he thinks it's cute and entertaining to get him worked up and would just find it hot if he snapped lol

[hughjidiot]

Total Drama Island Reboot Season Two: Episodes 2, 3 and 4

Okay wow, was not expecting three new episodes at once. Again I am baffled by both the local and international release schedules. But I'm continuing to watch and enjoy this reboot, here are my rough impressions of all the characters in all three episodes. Spoilers below the cut, obviously.

Chase is out second. Pretty obvious boot with how he behaved in the challenge, but that's just how TDI is sometimes. Glad he went early if I'm being honest since his whole subplot with Emma had run its course and there wasn't much more to get out of Chase. Speaking of which though...

Emma was out fourth, which kind of surprised me. I thought she might get an arc of finally forgetting about Chase and moving on, but then she goes and gets eliminated. Maybe they're saving an Emma arc for if gen 4 gets a third season? Who knows. A little disappointing but not a huge loss.

And between them, Millie is out third. Not surprising if I'm being honest; Millie had a chance to train up to be a stronger player with Priya's help, but neglected to actually study for it. And then in episode 2 when she tries to think creatively to help her team win, her lack of social skills is what did her in when she failed to consider how pissed her team would be for tricking Damien down the most dangerous slide. Her elimination feels like a natural consequence of her own actions and shortcomings instead of the contrived coincidences that Total Drama was guilty of many times in past seasons.

Then there's Damien himself. So far he still hasn't done a whole lot, but he's definitely shown to have become more self-confident with the way he called out Millie and how he was willing to brave that rickety bridge in episode 3. Time will tell if he makes it far.

Zee continues to be hilarious. Not really having much of an impact in terms of plotlines with other characters, but he always gets a laugh out of me. "Not thinking is my specialty!"

Gotta say, I thought Priya would have at least shown a little more of a reaction to her bestie being voted off. Still her plotline with Caleb is interesting. I can picture this leading to drama down the road where she realizes Caleb has just been trying to build an alliance rather than flirt with her. Or who knows, maybe Caleb will develop genuine feelings for her and it becomes a ship. Could go either way.

Speaking of Caleb, he represents the biggest difference between the writing of the reboot and previous seasons. Not once does the show portray him as antagonistic in trying to manipulate Priya into an alliance; he's just trying to form a strong partnership to make it farther in the game. Helps immensely that Caleb isn't actively cruel like Heather and Alejandro; he's genuinely chill despite his determination. Him literally carrying most of his team in episode 3 was awesome, not gonna lie.

Nichelle continues to dominate and be awesome in challenges. However I can't help but notice she's not really trying to get close to anyone, like Caleb is with Priya for example. I have a feeling that could come back to bite her if people vote her off for being a potential threat ala Caleb in season one.

I'm loving Axel so far. She's much better about being a team player but also hasn't lost her edge. I also like how we're getting depth to her, like her love of poetry. And then there's her romance with Ripper which I did not see coming. More on that later.

Holy shit, I was hoping for more of the MK/Julia alliance, but I wasn't expecting this much! I'm loving MK's unorthodox strategy of disguising as an intern to get inside information, it's very unique.

Oh and MKulia might become a thing. "Oh stop it, you'll make me blush!" "If MK's brain drove a cool car, I would totally date it." Watching these episodes I was like Wait are they gonna go there? Oh my god they might actually go there! And if they do, I am here for it!

Wayne and Raj continue to be very wholesome and hilarious! I love the dynamic they bring to Team Skunk Butt, wanting to play fair while Julia and MK cheat. And stuck in the middle...

is Bowie. I'm loving the drama of his character arc: he's still willing to pull the same underhanded tactics he used in season one and is all in on MK's strategy, but now has Wayne and especially Raj are acting as his morality pets. Some are predicting this could lead to a Rajbow break up, but I honestly don't think they'd do that. What I think will happen is Team Skunk Butt loses a challenge despite MKulia cheating again with Bowie's knowledge, Bowie feels terrible, and to make it up he offers to eliminate himself if one of the Hocky Bros is about to be voted off.

Last but not least, Ripper. Gonna be honest, he was my least favorite of gen 4 in season one; I didn't care for his focus on gross-out humor and he survived eliminations over characters I liked more. I didn't expect much from him going into season two so I was blindsided here. Not only is his gross out humor significantly toned down (but still present) but he proved to be quite endearing with his insecurity over his crush on Axel. I was especially stunned in episode four when he actually tried to connect with Axel's interest in poetry and actually wrote a poem for her, something I could never see season 1 Ripper doing. And Axel reciprocating with a kiss despite not seeming interested in him earlier? My haw hit the floor. Before I was hoping he'd be an early boot, but now I find myself actually wanting to see Ripper stick around and see where things go with him as a character and his potential relationship with Axel. I... actually like Ripper now, which is a sentence I never thought I'd say.

A few minor issues aside, I am loving this new season so far. I haven't genuinely enjoyed Total Drama since the original TDI 15 years ago.

[butterflydm]

wot rewatch 1x8: the eye of the world

I made it before the new season started! <3

spoilers for the first season of WoT and for most of the s2 teasers that we've gotten. For the books... um... honestly mostly stuff from Eye of the World that didn't end up in the show, lol. Oh, and for New Spring, I guess.

@apocalypticavolition mentioned that Perrin's original plot was probably helping Lan track Moiraine - that makes a lot of sense! It would have given Perrin a chance to flex his heightened senses and it might have even given Lan a chance to name-drop Elyas.

Okay, wow, yay! Our Completely Old Tongue scene from Age of Legends. When this first opened and they were just... talking in the Old Tongue... I was so blown away. I was not expecting it. I think they've hinted that we might get more Old Tongue scenes in s2 as well, which would be fantastic.

I'm glad that I read The Strike on Shayol Ghul short story -- they really did pull a lot of the info from that story for this scene, so that was very cool to see.

There is definitely a lot more focus on "Dragon as father" here than in the books (and I wonder if the tragedy of him murdering his family is going to focus more on killing his kids and not solely about killing his wife, once we get into that)

And the reveal at the end that '3000 years ago' was actually futuristic and we're living in a post-apocalyptic landscape, which is a great reframing for anyone who didn't already know.

Love all our Moiraine & Rand ~bonding time~ here (for various values of bonding time, lol). Definitely curious about where that relationship is going to go over the course of s2.

Egwene and Perrin checking in with each other is a sweet moment. Yeah, things Got Weird last episode due to stress and Nynaeve accidentally telling a secret that wasn't hers, but it hasn't wrecked their friendship.

And if Perrin is the one helping Lan here (supernaturally), then Lan and Nynaeve's scene would have just been the romantic goodbye.

Ishamael notes here that he didn't think that Rand was the Dragon Reborn. It sounds like he was expecting Rand to look more like LTT did. I really do love him calling Rand "Lews Therin", poor Rand. The identity issues are only going to get worse, bb. Love that Rand starts their conversation with an arrow to the face.

"Ever since the day I channeled, I hear nothing [from the wind]" is our first allusion to Nynaeve's block, I believe.

Moiraine tapdancing around the truth as hard as possible so that she doesn't have to admit that she physically can't teach Rand channeling. She's even willing to share one of her traumas with Rand in order to avoid admitting it! Also, I do think that Elaida's willingness to turn to violence is going to stand out a lot more in a world where teaching isn't always accompanied by brutality, as it is in the books.

haha, I totally forgot about this scene with Min and the others. Maybe because it doesn't really tell us anything we aren't going to learn immediately even without her (a nod to how pointless Min's viewings mostly are in the books? lol) but it does prompt Min to get out of the city on the wagons, I'm guessing.

Apologies to all the people who worked hard on the battle scenes but I don't ever have much to say about things like that.

Rand already getting memories (and Moiraine seeing him remember) plus Rand trying to protect people from getting hurt because they're standing next to him. (and Rand trying to give an order that Moiraine immediately ignores lol)

yeah if Lan had a companion (like Perrin) then his scenes here would have actually had some dialogue - they may have even given Rand the line about Malkier because they wanted to get the info out but it was originally supposed to come out in dialogue between Lan and Perrin.

Aww, family moment between the Agelmars. It's sweet. I honestly barely remember the Agelmars from the books, so this was an improvement. "Buy enough time to stand a chance" is going to be a big theme, too.

We also kinda get confirmation here that Darkfriends have been more effective in the show-verse than they were in the books-verse (it seems like more knowledge has been destroyed).

18. So, given what we've seen in the teasers of Ishy getting Lanfear from a seal, it seems like this specific spot is where LTT sealed Ishamael in particular (half-sealed?) and he released Ishamael fully when he cracked the seal. Before this, we only see Ishy working in people's dreams and then, in s2, he gets to actually exist in the waking world.

19. While I do see the effects of the covid shutdown and new rules in the battle scenes (and am looking forward to seeing them pop off without those setbacks in s2!); the scenes with Rand in the dream and Rand against Ishamael are perfect and I will hear no arguments against them. Rand is, ultimately, a philosophical hero and not a battle hero. He gets that wrong a lot in the books! But things tend to backfire on him when he tries to force himself into the battle hero position.

20. And we have ~the temptation~ here, with Egwene and little Joiya (and the mention of Mat, which was fascinating at the time and remains utterly fascinating; that fake!Egwene makes a point of mentioning Mat in Rand's temptation dreamworld).

21. The imagery for what Ishamael does to Moiraine is pretty much exactly like the shielding on Logain and not anything like when Logain was severed later in the episode, so I will (one last time before the new season lol) put my bet in that she was shielded. Ishamael is just able to do a lot faster than the Aes Sedai. Also when Moiraine is right behind Rand like this, you can really see how similar their shirts really are in color.

22. Min is jetting out of Fal Dara as fast as she can -- show!Min actually seems aware that she's not a fighter. #goodforher

23. But they did use needing to have Perrin in Fal Dara to give him a nice little scene with Loial that fed into the violence vs peace conflict.

24. Ishy really put in the work here (I'm assuming that it must have all been drawn from Rand's memories which, again, makes Egwene mentioning that Mat is saying he's going to make Joiya a lantern just incredibly fascinating). Ishamael waits until Rand falls for the trap to reveal to Rand what's going on (sorta). And both Ishy and Rand are working the angles here -- Ishy pretends that he wants Rand to pick the dream world and... you know, that would be useful but... he still wins if Rand fights him because that surge of Power will break his seal. And Rand pretends that he's falling for the temptation but actually is looking for Ishy to give him some clues on how to access the Power on purpose.

25. Ah, s2 setup is happening: Perrin learns that the Dragon needs the Horn at the Last Battle; and Fain was given the password to get into the fortress, which means there's a Darkfriend who knows the passwords.

26. I 100% approve of the show making joining a circle dangerous. In the books, circles are so completely underused and it feels silly because they are very low risk. People should be in circles all the time; especially when things get dangerous.

27. Lots of emphasis on fatherhood this season -- Rand's struggle about Tam being his father; Rand's desire to be a father (expressed both in ep1 and here with Joiya). We also had Siuan's relationship with her father being a key element of her character.

28. Rand loves Egwene enough to know that their paths have diverged and it would be wrong to try to force her onto the same path as him just because he loves her.

29. Very cute that Rand thinks he just defeated the Dark One. I want to give him a pet on his fluffy (currently sweaty lol) head).

30. Perrin gets the infodump from Fain instead of it being Mat. It's a good infodump, from someone who definitely, obviously has an agenda.

31. Rand thinks he's succeeded, so he leaves on his own so that he won't hurt the ones he loved. Baby. Off he goes, into the big world of Making Bad Life Choices, bless him.

32. And the poor little girl who, at least, probably died quickly? The show did such a good job with the Seanchan. Both here and in what we've seen so far in the teasers for s2. They are gonna be extremely creepy and heartbreaking and scary. You can definitely see tear-tracks on the face of one of the damane here.

[honeyjars-sims]

2.14 A Dream Come True

Cece: Wow, your band is playing Plumbite Fest? That’s amazing!

Ben: Well, it’s one of the smaller stages and it’s at the asscrack of dawn, but it’s the biggest show we’ve ever played by far.

Cece: I’m so happy for you! What day are you playing? I want to be front row, center for this!

Ben: Well, a couple of things. Our acoustic guitarist broke his hand a few days ago and is out of commission during the festival. We could do some rearrangements, but I did tell the guys that I know a talented guitarist who can also do some killer backup vocals. So what do you say?

Cece: What??? You’re asking me to perform with your band? Onstage in front of hundreds of people?

Ben: Do you not want to? It’s ok if you don’t, but I really thought you’d jump at such a big opportunity.

Cece: It’s not that I don’t want to, I just don’t know if I can do it.

Ben: I know, it’s a lot. Look, let’s make a deal. We’ll prepare to do our set without the acoustics. You can plan to hang out and then if you feel like you can, you can join us onstage. That way you can feel out the situation without feeling obligated to do something you’re not comfortable with.

Cece: Well, I would hate to turn down the opportunity altogether. But you still haven’t told me when the show is.

Ben: Uh, that’s the other thing. It’s scheduled the week of Spring Break when we’re supposed to be in Granite Falls. 

Cece: Ugh, what luck.

Ben: If you still want us to go on the trip, we can. It was my idea after all, and I'm a man of my word.

Cece: No way, I’d never ask you to turn down such a great opportunity for yourself!

Ben: If you want to go without me, that’s fine, too. I’d love to have you with me, but I know you and Lexie have been working hard at planning a great trip for us.

Cece: Yeah, we have. But I’ve worked so hard this year on building up my confidence onstage. I can’t think of a better way to prove to myself that I’ve got what it takes to be a performer than to get up there with you and play my heart out. I’ll do it! 

Ben: Cecelia, I know you can do this! Let’s show Plumbite Fest what they’ve been missing out on!

Johnny: What are you two so excited about?

Cece: Well, we’re going to be playing one of the smaller stages at Plumbite Fest with Ben’s band!

Lexie: Wow, awesome!

Johnny: That’s so cool! My sister’s going to be famous!

Ben: Bad news, though, the show’s taking place during the Spring Break, so we won’t be able to go to Granite Falls. We’ll make it up to you guys, though.

Lexie: What? Are you kidding? We’ve been planning this for weeks, Cece!

Cece: I know, and I’m really sorry! I just can’t pass up this opportunity. Besides, I figured you and Johnny wouldn’t mind the alone time.

Johnny: Of course we won’t. Don’t worry about it, sis. I’m really excited for you! Make sure you get it on video so we can watch later.

[Lexie storms out of the room. Johnny follows her]

Lexie: [under breath] Stupid Ben. I knew it!

Johnny: Uh, are you ok? 

Lexie: I don’t know, I’m just really upset.

Johnny: Cece and Ben can go to Granite Falls anytime, but this might be their only chance to play Plumbite Fest. Besides, Cece’s right. Now we can have some time to ourselves.

Lexie: I know, I was just really excited about all the stuff we planned together and this is so last minute…

Cece: Lexie, I’m sorry I upset you. I don’t want to back out of the trip, but playing the festival would be a dream come true for me.

Lexie: No, I’m sorry for overreacting. Of course you should go to the festival. I’m really happy for you! Really, I am.

Cece: Thanks, Lexie! Let’s plan to go to the falls this summer. 

Lexie: Sure thing! It's going to be fine. Johnny and I will have a great time by ourselves.

Johnny: Even better, I’d say. Now we don’t have to have a sing-along by the campfire.

Previous | Beginning of story | Beginning of chapter | Next

[lovelybrooke]

Bro, you don't understand the amount of brainrot you gave me from your HSR × GI crossover fic.

Cause like any generic person scrolling through the Yandere HSR tag, I came across your concept and was like, "Wow, that's cool!" It's not really common to see crossover fics between two of my favorite games, so I jumped at the chance and devoured your concept like my life depended on it. (I've already re-read it a few times since then 💀)

And your fic has taught me one thing about myself that I hadn't known prior to reading your concept...

I think I might have an addiction to angst 🤧

If ya wanna read my angsty thoughts, here they are:

When I first read your fic (or concept), I defaulted to a human reader, but then I was like, what about an immortal reader? (I.E. Adepti)

Cause here me out, the archon war was a devastating event, and during that time, it was kill or be killed. And if the reader (or darling) was present during that time, then they have most definitely experienced great loss watching as the friends they've known for so long dissappear from view and even after the war they still experience losses from the mortals they've grown close with when traversing across the nations.

And, of course, they end up in the HSR-verse, which is exceptionally cruel cause not only have they lost all their current friends but also getting forcefully ripped apart from their home.

Then, of course, they were found by Himeko and Welt, then brought the reader aboard the Astral express, and the rest is history within your concept.

Isn't it just cruel that the people you thought were your friends suddenly turned their back to your desires of going back to your homeland? 🥺

Anyway, Poll time:

I don't believe this is really important to add on, but it's an FYI... kinda... but I ended up choosing cryo (really hard choice between cryo and anemo, but Ganyu and Shenhe pulled me through on this one), and for the weapon, I didn't really know what to pick so I ended up picking polearm cause... Shenhe and Dan Heng...

What do you take away/gain from this?:

Absolutely nothing 💯💯💯💯💯 (I think)

What did I learn?:

Apparently, my first language wasn't Spanish, but actually, pain and suffering. 💀

What did I gain from this?:

My thoughts have been let free, and finally, my brain can (hopefully) turn off for a moment. (This can't happen. I get brainrots at 2am.)

Also, another fanfic writer who actually writes for my special interest (I.E. Spiderverse, Demon Slayer, TLOU)

That's all, I'm out!

- uhhhhhh, idk what I should sign with...

Number one, I’m super happy that you enjoyed the concept. Honestly when I released it I didn’t think people would enjoy it because how different both the games are, so I’m happy to see that people like it.

Number two, I do agree that reader being immortal would be really interesting. For the series, reader is going to stay human, but I do like the idea of reader being an Adeptis. Imagine the reader filled with guilt over the loss of their friends, attempting to protect their new ones even if it means their life. They’d feel as though it’s the only thing they can do to pay them back for helping them adapt to this strange world. Is definitely an interesting ideas.

(Also, if I’m being honest, I voted myself for Dendro and Claymore because they’re my favorites. But don’t let that sway your votes. I’m really interested in what the results will be).

[xserenemeadowsx]

Unconditional Love (Chapter 2)

By xSereneMeadowsx

Link for Chapter 1: https://www.tumblr.com/xserenemeadowsx/718627139001483264/unconditional-love-chapter-1-by-xserenemeadowsx?source=share

A/N: Thank you everyone for the likes of my previous chapter. I really appreciate it! :) The next chapter will have a certain encounter in it *wink wink.* Don’t want to be giving it away now. Enjoy! :)

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Chapter 2

“Luigi and I had just started our plumbing company a couple of months ago,” Mario began his and Luigi’s story. Y/N gave Mario her full attention.

Mario continued, “It was a tough start because we previously worked at another company owned by Spike.”

“He’s uh…not the nicest person,” Luigi filled in.

Y/N nodded, “That’s too bad.”

“Yeah. He didn’t treat us well when we left him,” Mario explained, “he said that we were a joke and that we couldn’t make it basically. It’s frustrating when people doubt your ability to do anything.”

“That is disappointing when people don’t give you enough hope,” Y/N said expressing sadness.

“Our mom on the other hand was proud of us,” Luigi said with a grin.

Y/N smiled, “That’s good! At least she was happy for you two.”

“Yep!” Mario exclaimed, “Anyway, to continue, we got to see our commercial broadcast and not too long after seeing it, we got a call from a client. Turns out it was the same client whose house we went to earlier this evening.”

“Oh wow! You were able to go to a fancy house for your first job. That’s awesome!” Y/N said with glee.

“Yeah, we definitely hit the big times!” Luigi chimed in.

“So,” Mario started again, “we get inside the house and fix up a busted sink. However, we had some trouble thanks to their dog Francis.”

“Francis was very sensitive,” Luigi said. “I stepped on his bone by accident and then he caused us to have a whole ruckus in the bathroom where we were fixing up the sink.”

Y/N expressed worry, “Oh my…how awful.”

“Yeah, not fun, but we managed to pull through,” Mario said. “After that fiasco, we went to have dinner with the family and then our dad had to go and say something to bring me down.”

“He said Mario was bringing me down with him,” Luigi said sadly. “Of course, I tried cheering him up letting him know that he wasn’t bringing me down at all. I was happy to help him out with plumbing.”

“Aw! You two have such a wonderful brotherly bond,” Y/N commented. “That is awful what your dad said though.”

“We’ve always been there for each other,” Mario smiled to Luigi and turned back to Y/N. “Don’t worry, Dad eventually came around. Next thing that happened after that was there was a huge leak happening in downtown Brooklyn. I happened to be watching the news when seeing that story. I told Luigi this would be our chance to prove ourselves.

“We headed out towards downtown and there was water everywhere! The biggest flood we have ever seen. We saw the other workers trying to stop more water from coming out of the sewage system, but they weren’t getting to the source of it,” Mario said.

“We had to go into the sewage system,” Luigi shivered in disgust. “That was horrifying.”

“It was the only option we had,” Mario continued. “We went down, and we found the source of the problem.”

Mario and Luigi continued with their story talking about a green pipe leading them to another world. From there, they went into detail about meeting a princess, a turtle named Bowser, and mushroom people. They also talked about meeting a gorilla named Donkey Kong and making go-karts. Y/N took everything in and almost couldn’t believe what she was hearing. It almost sounded like a fictional story. Soon, Mario and Luigi concluded their story saying they were able to defeat Bowser with a power up called the SuperStar.

“Wow…that really happened?” Y/N asked a bit bewildered.

“Yeah, we became heroes,” Mario said happily.

“We even have the newspaper clipping talking about our heroic deeds,” Luigi said excitedly. “We could show it to you!”

“Sure, that would be cool to see,” Y/N said.

Luigi pulled out his phone and searched for a screenshot of the story mentioning him and Mario. When the picture was found, Luigi held his phone up to Y/N for her to see. The picture was black and white showing Mario, Luigi, a girl, a gorilla, and a mushroom man all which Y/N assumed to be the ones the brothers mentioned. Upon looking closely at the picture, she could see a jar with a creature in it.

“The jar in this picture, does that have…Bowser did you say was his name?” Y/N asked inspecting the jar.

“Oh yeah,” Mario said. “Peach had fed him a blue mushroom which shrunk him down in size. He’s a very tall turtle. Apparently, the turtles where Peach is from are called Koopas.”

“Huh…interesting,” Y/N commented. “So, he, Bowser, is just stuck being that size?”

“Yep,” Luigi answered. “Although, there is a catch to that.”

“What do you mean?” Y/N questioned.

“When someone uses a power up and they get hit by something or someone, they lose the power up,” Mario explained. “I learned that the hard way when training with Peach.”

“Oof, sounds brutal,” Y/N said cringing. “I can’t imagine being hit only to lose your power up especially if it’s a great power up.”

“Yeah, it’s not fun at all,” Mario said.

“You know, it is crazy to think that there are other worlds out there,” Y/N said. “Like, I’m someone who enjoys reading fiction and everything you described sounds too good to be true. The picture from the newspaper is proof that there are indeed other places.”

“It does sound very far-fetched,” Luigi agreed, understanding where Y/N was coming from. “It’s all true though.”

“It sounds like it would be a fun adventure book for children to read,” Y/N said. “Maybe you should write a story about your adventures.”

“Eh well, I don’t know about that,” Mario said. “We’re not really the writing type. Maybe you could write it for us. Of course, you would have to join us on the adventure to get in another perspective besides ours.”

“Hmm…I don’t know…” Y/N became a bit flustered. “I like writing, but I haven’t really attempted to write anything other than songs.”

“Oh! You like writing songs?” Luigi showed interest.

“Yeah, I do,” Y/N smiled. “I’m not a professional, but I’ve dabbled a bit in it here and there whenever I have a moment to spare.”

“You should show us sometime when you have a song written out,” Mario said.

“If I can get one out,” Y/N said a bit doubtful. “I really enjoy singing and have been doing it for as long as I can remember but writing my own songs…it can be a bit tricky. I don’t really have knowledge of playing instruments. I only learned piano and guitar for a short time and got overwhelmed because I was trying to practice those along with singing.

“Pretty sad I know,” Y/N said with her eyes downcast.

Luigi put his hand on Y/N’s shoulder, “Don’t feel bad about that. Being able to sing is great I bet!”

“Yeah,” Mario said, “Don’t let that get you down just because you can’t play instruments. You could still write a song. If you know anyone that would work with you and can play an instrument or two, you could end up bringing your song to life.”

Y/N smiled, comforted by the brothers and their encouragement, “Thank you. Aside from the people I know here who play instruments, I don’t know anyone. Honestly, I’m still getting to know the musicians here. They’re all nice, but I know they’re all very busy with their lives and I don’t think they would have much time for me.”

“Don’t know until you ask,” Mario said.

“That is true,” Y/N said getting the message from Mario. “Well…I can work on writing a song and bring it to one of the musicians here. Hopefully they wouldn’t mind working on it with me.”

“I don’t think they would mind,” Luigi said. “You seem like a nice person and I’m sure the people here would agree on that.”

“I know I would!” a cheery voice joined in.

Luigi and Mario turned to the source of the voice to see a girl with dark hair walk up to them. It was Maria.

“Y/N has been very sweet,” Maria said.

Y/N smiled, a bit flustered, “Thank you Maria. I appreciate that.”

“I’m only speaking truth,” Maria smiled. “I hate to say this, but we need to ask you two to leave now. Our restaurants technically closed now.”

“Already?” Y/N asked. “That last hour went by so fast.”

“Time does fly when you’re having fun,” Maria said.

“Very true,” Y/N agreed. She got up from her seat and the brothers followed suit. She turned to look at the brothers. “It was so nice meeting you two.”

“Likewise,” Mario and Luigi said at the same time.

“I hope we can meet again soon,” Y/N said with hope in her eyes.

“Me too,” Mario said, and Luigi nodded in agreement.

“I’ll walk you two out.” Y/N headed toward the door and opened it for Mario and Luigi. “Take care out there and be careful.”

Mario and Luigi exchanged smiles with Y/N and told her the same thing.

Y/N smiled and closed the door locking it. She then walked over to Maria to see what else needed to be tidied up before leaving for the night. The cleaning took a great deal of time, but with Maria helping and the kitchen staff helping, it felt like it was easy to get it done. After cleaning up, Y/N went to the locker room to pick up her bags and head out.

Maria, the kitchen staff, and Y/N all exited the restaurant through the employee entrance/exit area. They all waved their goodbyes to each other and went their separate ways. Y/N was extremely tired. Remembering what Maria said earlier about getting into her pjs and snuggling under the covers, she too was looking forward to that now more than ever.

Getting into her car, Y/N sat down in the driver’s seat and set her bags down in the passenger seat. She sighed tiredly. However, as she started her car for the drive home, she couldn’t stop thinking about everything that Mario and Luigi had talked with her about. How could such things exist? How could such events happen? She still had a hard time wrapping her mind around the idea, but it was so fascinating. It made her wish she could go into the world they mentioned.

However, they didn’t exactly tell her where this green pipe was that they found. She only knew it to be somewhere in the sewers and she had never seen a green pipe elsewhere in the city. She decided maybe it would be best not to think about that so much for now and just focus on getting home and getting some sleep. Maybe a small bite to eat too. She didn’t exactly get to eat her free meal she got for every shift she worked.

With her apartment building in sight, she happened to notice a yellow van. Upon closer inspection, she read the words, “Mario” and “Plumbing.” Wait a second…

“Mario and Luigi live in my apartment building? What a coincidence.” Y/N was surprised to learn that. It made her happy though that at least there were two people she knew in the building now. She just didn’t know what floor of course, but that was alright. She was sure she could learn that later.

Parking her car and getting out of it, Y/N grabbed her bags. She made her way to the building’s entrance, toward the elevator and began the ascent to her floor. After hitting the Floor 5 button, Y/N leaned against the walls of the elevator as it took her up. The weariness was getting to her fast. As soon as the elevator reached her floor and the doors opened, she stepped out and went to her apartment.

Fumbling for her keys, she unlocked the door, stepped inside, and dropped her bags right there. She sighed and began her nightly routine. After getting changed and grabbing a small bite to eat, she was finally ready for bed. She went to her bed, moved the sheets, and snuggled into it. As her head hit the pillow and her eyes closed, sleep took over quickly for her.

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“We’ve made it home at last Sire!” Kamek said cheerfully.

“Finally! About time!” Bowser said.

What greeted the two was a castle made of stone with lava flowing on either side of it. The entrance had a head shaped like Bowser’s and it would open and close only on the king’s command. Kamek, still holding onto Bowser, slowed down his broom and landed on a balcony that was off to the far right of the castle with ease. He got off the broom and carried Bowser with him to get inside his room.

Kamek made his way out of the room and to his workshop. It was just down the hall from his room. The door of the workshop opened and Kamek set Bowser down on the floor. Kamek grabbed one of his spell books and flipped through a few pages.

“Ah, here’s that spell,” Kamek said as read over the contents. “Prizes and rises, bring this creature back to normal size.” He waved his wand and the red gem on top of it glowed. It shot out a red light around Bowser.

Bowser slowly got lifted into the air. His arms began to change shape along with his claws. His legs and feet did the same. Soon the rest of his body changed shape. When Bowser was set back down to the floor, he immediately could tell he was back to his normal size again since he towered over his wizard.

“I’m finally back,” Bowser smirked. “I’ll be better than ever this time around!”

“It’s good to have you back Sire,” Kamek said happily.

“It’s good to be back.” Bowser walked out of the workshop. “I’ll inform you of my plans first thing in the morning.”

“Yes, Sire,” Kamek replied. “Sleep well.”

Bowser began the walk to his room. He smiled, relieved to be home and normal size. He wanted to do something a little different to try and woo the princess’s heart. He had sung his heart out on the piano about her, but he thought if he worked on the song some more, it could win her over. Afterall, he could play and sing which were nice talents to have. He wanted to serenade her with the most heartfelt song. It may take some time to work on, but he figured he could do it.

He finally reached his room and a king-sized bed along with his fireplace and balcony greeted him. Bowser crashed onto his bed with a long and relieved sigh. It felt good to be back in his home and in his bed. No more sleeping on the uncomfortable cage floor. Finally, something soft for his tired body and fluffy pillow for his head. He closed his eyes and hoped that he would dream of his precious Peaches.

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The dawn greeted the citizens of the Mushroom Kingdom by spreading its light through every window of every home. Princess Peach woke up to the sunlight hitting her face. Thankfully, she was able to get some sleep after that horrendous dream. She got up out of her plush pink bed and stretched her limbs. Changing out of her nightgown, she changed into her usual pink dress and walked out of her room.

“Good morning, Princess,” a couple of mushroom guards greeted her.

“Good morning,” she smiled back at them.

Peach made her way down the corridor and into the dining room. The fresh scent of oatmeal hit her nose. She was delighted to be greeted with such an aroma. Fresh fruit also awaited her. She took her seat. ‘Where is Toad?’ were her thoughts. She had invited him to join her for breakfast this morning.

“Morning Princess!” An excited voice called out.

Peach turned to the source of the voice. “Toad! Good morning! You made it just on time!”

Toad had become a very good friend of Peach. He was always willing to help and be there for her as much as possible. Toad in return enjoyed his friendship the with princess. He admired her for how brave she was and how kind she was to everyone in the kingdom.

“Mmm…the food smells so good!” Toad said excitedly.

Peach laughed. “Go on and dig in.”

“Ladies first,” Toad replied.

She chuckled, “Alright.” She took a bite of the oatmeal with a smile on her face. “The chefs always do such a great job.”

“Yes, they do,” he agreed.

“I wanted to tell you,” Peach started. “I would like to invite Mario and Luigi here for a visit. We haven’t seen them in a while, and I think it would be nice to have some quality time together.”

“That sounds great!” Toad grinned. “By the way, this oatmeal is…” He put his hand to his mouth imitating a chef’s kiss.

“I know we have been to their place once and they showed us where they lived, but would you like to accompany me?” Peach asked.

“Of course, I would!” Toad exclaimed.

“Great, we’ll finish up our breakfast and head into their place,” Peach smiled.

“Sounds good!” Toad said as he took another bite of his oatmeal.

The princess and Toad finished their breakfast and soon began the long trek from the castle to the green warp pipe that would bring them to Mario and Luigi’s world. The walk was nice and the two chatted about various topics. Reaching the green warp pipe, the two stacked up some mushrooms to bounce from and into the pipe.

They were then welcomed by all kinds of colors and other green pipes that lead to various places. It was always neat to Peach to see all the colors swirling around as she traveled. Toad too was impressed by the various colors. Nearing the end of the pipe, they both landed in the sewers that Mario and Luigi had shown them before. Peach dusted off her dress and helped Toad stand up. He had gotten knocked over.

“Thanks,” Toad said.

Peach nodded and looked for the ladders they had used last time. “There they are!” She pointed them out.

The two began to climb up the ladders. It took some time, but they finally reached the sewar cover. They both worked together to push the cover off. They climbed out and both breathed in the fresh air.

“Those sewers sure are nasty smelling,” Toad commented.

“Yeah, not pleasant,” Peach agreed. “Now…I believe it’s this way that we go to reach their home.” Peach pointed in a northward direction.

“I think so,” Toad said. “Let’s try it.”

The princess and Toad continued onward while getting a few glances here and there from people. Some of them waved and some of them looked bewildered but didn’t say anything. After a while, they finally reached the building and spotted the yellow van they had been shown before too.

“This place sure is big,” Toad said. “I think it might be fun to really explore this area sometime.”

“We should. Get to know their place and all,” Peach agreed.

The two entered the apartment building and went toward the elevator. The doors were already open, and they stepped inside. Peach looked at the buttons in front of her. “Hmm…I think it was number 5?”

“I think so too. I don’t remember going too far up into the building,” Toad said.

“Let’s go with it then,” Peach said as she pushed the number 5 button.

The elevator whirred and took them up to the fifth floor. When the doors opened, they stepped out and looked in the hallway of the various doors lined up on either side of them.

“Now there’s one problem…which one belongs to them?” Peach asked.

Toad sighed. “Oh boy, this could take some time. There’s a lot of doors.”

“Want to split up the doors?” Peach asked.

“Sure. That would be a good idea,” Toad agreed.

“I’ll take right and you take left,” Peach planned out.

“Got it,” Toad understood.

The two began to knock on the doors one by one. They were greeted by confused, scared, or angry people for being disturbed. It was terrifying for them to be yelled at so loudly. Finally, there were two doors left.

“One of these has got to be it,” Peach said as she knocked on her door and Toad followed suit knocking on his door.

Y/N had been sleeping when suddenly knocking came to her door. She got up and stretched her limbs. She had been having a pleasant dream about eating giant chocolates and wished to go back to it. Another time perhaps.

“Coming!” She croaked out. She went to her closet and reached for her silk robe. Wrapping it around her waist, she walked toward her door. When she opened it, she was not expecting to be greeted by a girl dressed in a pink dress.

“Uh…can I help you?” Y/N asked surprised.

“Oh, I’m sorry, this isn’t the right apartment,” the girl responded.

“It’s okay-“Before Y/N could finish, the door across from her place opened and two very familiar faces greeted her.

“Found them!” a mushroom man said excitedly.

Y/N looked at all of them. “Uh…good morning, Mario and Luigi.” She then looked at all of them again. Wasn’t this girl and the mushroom man the same ones the brothers talked about last night?

“Morning Y/N,” Mario replied. “Didn’t expect to see you again so soon.”

“Me neither,” Y/N replied. She looked at the girl and mushroom. “Aren’t you two…”

Luigi chimed in, “This is Toad and that is Princess Peach.”

“Ah! It is you two!” Y/N exclaimed.

“How about we all get out of the hallway, and we can talk more inside,” Mario suggested.

“That would be a good idea,” Y/N agreed. “Uh…is it alright for me to come into your place or do you all want to come into mine?”

“We can all fit in our place,” Mario replied.

Y/N, Toad, and Peach all went inside Mario and Luigi’s place. Y/N felt a bit awkward considering she was still in her pjs. Then again, Mario and Luigi weren’t exactly dressed up for visitors either. Both were wearing red and green pjs.

“This was an unexpected surprise,” Mario said.

“Yeah, what a wakeup call,” Luigi said.

“Well, we thought it would be fun to surprise you two,” Peach said.

“Oh, by the way, this is Y/N. Y/N, this is Peach and Toad,” Mario said introducing the three of them.

“Y/N, it is nice to meet you,” Peach said politely.

“It’s nice to meet you as well,” Y/N returned.

“Y/N huh? Pleased to meet ’cha!” Toad exclaimed.

Y/N giggled, “Nice to meet you too.”

“Now that we know who you are,” Peach began, “how is it you know Mario and Luigi?”

Y/N looked at Peach, “Well, we just met last night at the bar I work at. They were telling me all about their adventures and about you two. It was all very fascinating.”

“I see,” Peach said. “What exactly is a bar? Can you tell me that?

“Oh! Sure, I guess those aren’t in your world, are they?” Y/N asked.

“Not really…” Peach answered awkwardly.

“Well, a bar is where they serve alcoholic drinks. They do limit the number of drinks one can have, especially if someone is getting very high. That’s where the bouncer comes in and gets that person out of the bar. Thus far, I haven’t encountered that,” Y/N explained.

“Hmm…how many drinks are there?” Toad asked.

“I’m not sure…I’m still memorizing some of the menu to be honest. I’ve only been there for a week,” Y/N replied.

Y/N continued explaining more about what she did at the Heart and Soul Karaoke Bar. Peach and Toad were quite intrigued to say the least. They asked more questions while Mario and Luigi got a few good laughs out of Peach and Toad’s reactions to some of Y/N’s answers.

“Well, I have to say that your world is very interesting,” Peach said. “We definitely need to explore more parts of it.”

“Yep!” Toad agreed. “It’s cool that you can sing too Y/N.”

Y/N blushed, “Thank you.”

“I did want to ask if you two would like to come back to our place,” Peach started. “However, since there’s another person here who knows about us and everything, how about we invite her along?”

Y/N was surprised, “W-Wait a minute. We barely know each other at all, and you want me to come with all of you to your world?”

“Well why not? After all, you said you found their world interesting,” Mario said.

“Yeah, that’s true,” Y/N said.

“I don’t mind showing you around the place. I think you would like it,” Peach replied.

Y/N knew this would give her a chance at an adventure. Mario and Luigi already gave her so much detail and getting to know them along with Peach and Toad wouldn’t be so bad. Making new friends would be very nice. “Okay, I’ll come along if you really don’t mind.”

“Not at all,” Peach smiled.

“Thank you,” Y/N expressed gratefully. “Um…before we go…I really would like to change clothes. I don’t exactly want to go there in my pjs as comfortable as they are.” She chuckled.

Everyone laughed with Y/N and then Peach said, “Understandable. Toad and I will wait out in the hallway for all of you.”

“Thanks,” Y/N, Mario, and Luigi replied.

Y/N walked out of the brother’s apartment and back into hers. She quickly put together an outfit not wanting to keep everyone waiting on her for too long. She grabbed a pair of jeans and a short sleeved (favorite color) t-shirt with flower patterns all over it. She also decided to wear some (favorite color) converse shoes. She made quick work in brushing her teeth and putting her hair up into a ponytail. Satisfied with her appearance, she walked out of the apartment where everyone was waiting for her.

“Let’s go!” Y/N said with excitement. ‘I can’t believe I get to do this with them! Good thing I don’t have work today either.’ She smiled to herself, looking forward to what awaited her.

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Bowser had just finished his breakfast when he asked Kamek to meet with him in the meeting room. He was sitting in a chair and began tapping the table in front of him with one clawed hand. The other hand rested under his chin with his arm propped up. He sighed. He wasn’t very patient when it came to matters of the heart. What was taking Kamek so long? He wanted to get going on this soon!

Kamek opened the doors to the meeting room, “Sorry for keeping you waiting Sire.”

Bowser grumbled, “Now that you’re finally here, I want to discuss my next plan of action for wooing Peaches.”

“I’m all ears,” Kamek replied giving his King his full attention.

“Here’s what I want to do,” Bowser began. “I want to serenade Peaches with my song.”

“Brilliant!” Kamek exclaimed.

“My song still needs more lyrics to it,” Bowser continued. “I would like for you to find a musician or singer and bring them to me. If I have someone else with me, I think the lyrics will come along smoothly and quickly.”

“That is a wonderful idea Sire! The princess is sure to love it!” Kamek was very optimistic about this plan.

“If the princess is not satisfied with my song, I’ll just lock her up in my prison until she learns to like my song and love me,” Bowser said.

“I’m sure I can find someone for you my King,” Kamek said. “I’ll scour throughout all of the kingdoms for you.”

“Good,” Bowser smirked. “This will be just perfect for my Peaches and then she has to fall in love with me when she hears everything my heart desires of her.” He laughed, very happy with his plan.

Link for Chapter 3: https://www.tumblr.com/xserenemeadowsx/718885242606370816/unconditional-love-chapter-3?source=share

[narcolini]

kiss and tell

angel reyes x gn!olvidado reader, 2369 words

for day 25 of whumpril: ‘we’re being watched’

a/n: this is in a world where adelita and angel never had a thing, because why not, AND who doesn’t love a fake date trope! muah (also love u élise, mi jefa)

tagging: @cositapreciosa @drabbles-mc @hausofmamadas​

You shouldn’t be here. You really shouldn’t be here. Of all your dubious moral mistakes, this might just be the worst one, right? Going behind Adelita’s back, to talk to a Mayan, of all people, who’s working with Galindo? Yeah, you’ve fucked it. You’ve really missed the mark with this one.

He isn’t even a close friend, really. A friend of a friend of a friend. Someone you bickered with in high school, an Angel totally undeserving of the name. Payaso copied your answers in more exams than you can count, and now he’s after them again, begging you for info you know you shouldn’t give. Well, you assume so. The text he’d sent hadn’t been specific, but what else could he want? 

You haven’t spoken to him in years, but, fuck, you’re here, aren’t you? You agreed to his suggestion and let him pick the meeting place. You’re walking toward him now, like you couldn’t be any fucking happier to ruin your shit, any more willing to disrupt what Los Olvidados have been organising for months. God, if anyone knew about this. If Adelita knew about this.

It isn’t worth imagining. Besides, you might not tell him anything at all, right? He might ask you for something you know nothing about. There’s still a chance of that, still time for fate to stand by your side.

Angel’s leaning against the tree closest to the park’s entrance, one tall beanpole in the sea of kids and moms pushing empty prams. He doesn’t blend in by any means. He didn’t even bother to take his kutte off.

‘Hey.’ He nods as you approach, only clocking you once you’re within talking distance anyway.

‘You wanna be any more obvious, man?’ you snap over him, looking past him, then over your shoulder. ‘May as well have brought the rest of your stupid club with you.’

‘Wow, relax.’ He looks like he wants to laugh. ‘Is it that serious? S’not like you got rules against socialising and shit.’

He’s wrong, of course, because that’s exactly what you do have. Especially when it comes to socialising with Galindo affiliated groups. ‘Can we move, please?’ you ask, ignoring the remark. ‘Away from the fucking Mom’s club.’

Then he does laugh, face crumpling like you’re certifiably insane, but he does stand straight from the tree he’s on. ‘You wanna walk?’

‘Sure.’ That’s better than this, at least. You watch him shove his hands into his pocket, before gesturing with his elbow for you to lead the way. Which you do, begrudgingly, traipsing further into the park with him beside you.

‘I can’t talk for long,’ you tell him, flicking him a look. Then it’s back behind you, over your shoulder, and to the right over the grass.

‘Damn,’ he’s watching you scan the surroundings, ‘you’re way less fun than you used to be.’

‘I didn't realise we ever had fun, Angel.’

He scoffs. ‘Really? Thought we were cool.’ He throws you a smile. ‘Homies.’

‘You stuck gum to my backpack and cheated off me relentlessly,’ you answer, not bitter, but bored instead. ‘Might’ve been fun for you, but.’

‘Okay,’ he laughs, ‘so I was a shitty kid. You really gonna hold that against me?’

‘I’m here, aren’t I?’ You pass a woman jogging, flashing her a smile just to see if she’ll return it—she does. ‘Would’ve blocked your number if I was holding it against you.’

He sucks a breath in, like he’s scratched his knee or some shit, wincing with it. ‘The fuck are they feeding you at those camps? Los Olvidados got a rule about being friendly now?’

‘Yeah,’ you nod, and you hate that you’re almost laughing with it, ‘that’s actually the whole thing, dumbass. We’re not trying to make friends.’

So why are you here then? Walking through a park, birds chirping like a fucking Disney movie, with Angel of all people. You were supposed to be making this quick. You shove your hands in your pockets like he has, pulling your hoody closed over your torso. No more chitchat.

‘So,’ you say, ‘can we get to the part where you beg me for information?’

You aren’t looking at him still, but flitting around again. There’s a dude on the bench you’re walking by, reading the newspaper. He doesn’t pay any attention to either of you. Doesn’t look up as Angel’s boot throws a stone in his direction.

‘Information? Nah.’ Angel shakes his head, the movement catching in your periphery. ‘You think that’s what I’m here for?’

You shrug. ‘Well, yeah. What else would you want?’

You’re on opposite sides, really. Hired hands or not, the Mayans are working for the man you and the rest of the group have fucked over, multiple times now. All you can offer him is information he shouldn’t have. Not that you will, of course, not that you will. But you at least want to hear what he’s dumb enough to ask for.

He’s slowed to a stop, for some reason. His brows are pinched together as he looks at you. ‘Y’know, I almost feel like saying fuck it and leaving you here.’

You turn, in front of him now, and shrug again. ‘What d’you mean?’

‘I’m here to help your ass not, fucking, beg you for information.’ He looks offended, actually. Genuinely offended. ‘I mean, come on, you really think I’m that stupid?’

Maybe, but you aren’t about to admit that to him. ‘Sorry,’ you stumble, ‘I don’t know. Guess I figured you had some allegiance to the dude paying you.’

He snorts. ‘Yeah, that’s not how this shit works.’

‘Okay,’ you prompt, ‘then what is it? Why am I here?’

For the first time, he chances a look behind like he does actually care, like he’s as nervous about this as you are. Well, almost. ‘Thought you guys might want to know Galindo’s planning to go ahead with another shipment,’ he says.

‘Oh.’ Your brows go up. ‘Damn. Fuck, that’s useful.’

‘Yeah,’ his voice goes thick with sarcasm, ‘I figured.’

Your gaze slips past him, looking for the man with the newspaper again. Only, he’s not there now, and has been replaced by another man, sitting with his arm over the back of the bench. He’s slouching, knees wide. Dressed in nothing but jeans and a garish shirt—which is weird, because it’s a cloudy day. Cold enough that you and Angel are both wearing two layers at least.

‘But why?’ You flick back to Angel. ‘Like, why help us?’

There’s something familiar about the man, about his very fucking familiar face. You can’t shake it. You can’t even focus on what Angel’s given you, the opportunity of another shipment to disrupt.

Angel sighs, oblivious to the mental file-o-fax you’re pawing through. ‘I know you think I’m a dick,’ he says, ‘but I do actually, y’know, care. About this shit.’ He gestures between the two of you. ‘The rebel shit, I’m with it.’ He pauses, you still aren’t paying attention. ‘And I fucking hate Galindo,’ he adds, souring. ‘Uptight fuck.’

You look back to the bench. He’s scanning the park now, in a very non-casual, casual way. Like you were—like you are. He skims past you quickly, pretending he hasn’t just made fleeting eye contact with you, and then it clicks. Finally. Fuck. It’s not just some dude, it’s Tiago, one of the many meatheads in Galindo’s cartel. You’ve seen his face a million times, in black and white, pinned to the boards at camp. You recognise it now, because it’s obvious. Scar through his eyebrow, thick moustache, ugly fucking shirts.

He isn’t relaxing in the park, enjoying the breeze, he’s waiting for you, watching. He’s holding out on you spilling secrets you shouldn’t—or maybe it’s not that at all. Maybe he’s watching Angel instead, keeping track of Galindo’s assets. They’re trying to avoid another incident like the last, looking for the leak in the in the seal, the rat amongst the dogs. And Angel’s clueless to it, standing and waiting for your reply. His face clear as day for Tiago to watch.

‘Kiss me,’ you say, blurting it as quickly as you can.

‘Wha—why?’ Angel frowns, lips pulling down at the corners. ‘Kiss you?’

‘We’re being watched.’ You step forward. ‘Kiss me.’

He’s taking too long to process it. You can feel Tiago staring now, attempting to read your lips. The longer Angel stands there looking lost, the longer Tiago has to profile you, to paint you as a notable figure. To pin blame to the badges on Angel’s kutte.

You pull him in by the back of his neck, before any more damage can be done. Hide his face with your own, make this look like a date, a walk in the park between one Mayan and his crush. He doesn’t kiss you back, of course, it’s stationary lips against stationary lips. Is it convincing? You’ve no idea. You can’t pull back to check yet, not without making it look suspicious and desperately false.

He says your name, or tries to, against your mouth. When you don’t break away to let him say it properly, there’s a moment of pause, just a breath, and then he’s kissing you like he means it. His hands come up to your waist, his lips part. You turn, pulling him with you, until you’re angled away from Tiago, Angel’s back a firm wall in his vision. He’s either cottoned on, at last, and is trying to make this look like a real thing to avoid suspicion, or his testosterone has kicked in and accepted a kiss for a kiss. His body reacting the way it normally would.

For a second you enjoy it. But that’s beside the point.

‘Okay,’ you pull back, hands to his chest, and look over his shoulder, ‘I think that…’

Tiago’s turned away again, scrubbing a hand over his moustache and looking as awkward as anyone would after watching two people kiss.

‘The fuck was that about?’ Angel asks, out of breath but unable to shift the smugness from his face. ‘Who’s watching us?’

‘Fucking Galindo,’ you mutter, ignoring the slight thrum in your chest.

‘He’s here?’ He attempts to look behind, but you catch him before he can, hand to his cheek.

‘Don’t fucking do that.’ You drop it again, fidgeting back behind the shape of him. ‘You can’t look, but it’s Tiago.’

His brows flex together; he’s wondering how you know who he is, how you’re using the guy’s first name like you’re familiar, but now isn’t the time to go into it. Really, you know more about Galindo’s crew than he ever will. There’s no cap on information for you, it’s find out all you can, everything you can. For him, it’s only what Galindo allows them to know. The bare minimum to get them to do what he needs.

‘He probably thinks you’re the rat,’ you say, continuing when he laughs, an I am the rat, expression on his face. ‘It’s better he thinks this is a date. For you, I mean.’

The smirk isn’t shifting. He’s staring down at you like you’ve actually asked him out. ‘So you’re helping me now?’ he says. ‘Saving my ass from Galindo?’

‘Yes,’ you snap, ‘and the desire to keep doing it is running thin.’

‘Alright, God.’ Still smiling. He’s still smiling. ‘Tell me what to do then, Olvidado.’

You have half the mind to leave, abandon him like that kiss was the farewell, and let Tiago track him alone. Follow his stupid bike around town until he finds some other way to incriminate him. But you need him, actually. You genuinely fucking need him and what he has to say. Another shipment would give you another chance to dent Galindo’s organisation, to strip more money, and more power, from him, in the most frustrating way possible. It’s an opportunity too good to miss.

‘You see that café ?’ you ask, knowing it’s in his eye-line, over your head. ‘We’re gonna go there, like we’re on a nice fucking date, and you’re gonna tell me what you came to tell me.’

‘Alright.’

‘So,’ you gesture toward him, ‘make it look like you actually like me, or something.’

He rolls his eyes, head tilting with it, and you almost reach to snap it back down again, but then he gets it together. He takes your hand, the right one, bringing it up as he steps around to lay the same arm over your shoulder. It’s more than he needed to do, putting you by his side, with your joined hands sitting against your collarbone, but you can hardly complain about it now. Tiago could be watching still—you look, eyes over Angel’s forearm—he is still watching. Leaning forward on his knees now, like he’s deciding whether to follow or not.

‘You’re gonna have to be careful,’ you say, facing front again. ‘They clearly suspect you.’

He shakes his head. ‘Flaco’s paranoid, probably thinks all of us are out here spilling his secrets.’

‘Fine, be like that. But it’ll get you fucking killed, Angel.’

‘Says the rebel trying to take him down.’

He has you there, but the difference is Galindo, Tiago, doesn’t know you yet. Doesn’t even realise that you’re anyone worth knowing. Thankfully, hopefully, your quick thinking has planted ‘love interest’ across your face, and ‘dead end’ over Angel’s. There’s nothing innately suspicious about two people going for coffee, no matter how Tiago swings it.

‘Let’s just get this over with,’ you tell him, increasing your speed and pulling Angel along with you. ‘Before one of us ends up in the gutter.’

Angel laughs, nodding.

‘What?’

‘Nothing,’ he shrugs over you, ‘just that this is the weirdest fucking date of my life.’

‘It’s not a date.’

‘Fake date,’ he corrects. ‘Weirdest fake date of my life.’

‘And last one, too,’ you add, because if he ever texts you to meet up again, you’ll be leaving him on read. Information or not, it isn’t worth the hassle, he isn’t worth the hassle. You’d rather struggle to gather information for yourself, than go down with the Angel Reyes, traitor to Galindo, disaster of a ship.

[prodigal-explorer]

to celebrate together - a sanders sides fanfiction

this is a cute fluffy fic (for the most part) about human versions of the sides discussing easter, ramadan, and passover, three very prominent holidays from three different religions during the springtime!

(cws -> brief mention of anti-semetism, brief mention of anti-semetic hate crimes, honestly there are brief moments of insensitivity towards all three religions mentioned (christianity/catholicism, islam, and jewish) but they are genuine moments of confusion and not in bad faith! this fic is about learning and growing and respecting other religions, so there is a bit of a learning curve.)

word count: 2.9k

(also, i know i usually write a lot of unsympathetic patton which may deter some people. it will comfort these people to know that patton is not unsympathetic in this fic! he's actually a cool guy! so don't worry about that.)

Everyone in the house knew that Easter was one of Patton’s favorite holidays by now. They had only been living together for a few months, but it was obvious from the new way Patton carried himself in the springtime. He bought a lot of Easter-themed furniture, so by the time March 1st rolled around, the house was covered head to toe in eggs, bunnies, baskets, chicks, and crosses. Lots of crosses. 

“Why are there a bunch of plus signs everywhere?” Roman had dared to ask one day, “Logan, is this one of your math projects?” 

“You seriously don’t know what a cross is?” Patton asked, his eyes wide with shock, “Oh, that’s right. You’re balsamic.” 

“Uh…Islamic,” Roman corrected awkwardly, “Me and Remus just say we’re Muslim. And I know what a cross is, I just didn’t know that it was one of those. They really do look like plus signs with a big tail. What are they all for?” 

“Well, they’re Easter decorations!” Patton explained readily, “Since Easter is the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus, we have crosses here to commemorate all he sacrificed for his people.” 

“Wow,” Roman said, a smile forming on his face, “I guess Jesus must have been pretty brave.” 

“He’s not just brave, Roman,” Patton said, “He died for us. The least we can do is celebrate him.” 

“Yeah, that seems fair,” Roman said, still gazing around the colorful, decked out area with a gentle, somewhat cautious curiosity that was generally unlike him. He seemed to sense that this was sensitive territory. “So…why do you guys celebrate Easter the way you do? With the bunnies and the eggs? Did Jesus really like sunny side up or something? Did he have a pet bunny?” 

“Come on,” Patton said, “I want to tell everyone about this!” 

Roman grinned and followed Patton into the living room, where the others were sitting and chatting. Logan was on the recliner, working on a grocery list, while Janus and Remus were on the ground, playing Go-Fish. Virgil was spread across the couch, scrolling through his phone. 

“Guys, Patton’s gonna teach us about Easter!” Roman said, “Like, why they use the eggs and stuff.” 

“It’s because of Jesus,” Logan droned tiredly, staring up at Patton, “Is this really necessary?” 

“Of course it’s necessary, Logan!” Patton chastised, “It’s the most important event of springtime!” 

Virgil tilted his head. “But what about Passover?” 

“Pass-what?” Patton said, clearly confused, “No, we’re talking about Easter. What’s passover?” 

“I like Layat Al-Qadr best,” Remus shrugged, “It’s the only night of the year where I can get Roman to shut up.” 

“Hey!” Roman protested, “Oh, I have an idea! We’ll have a contest. Each of us will talk about what we think is the most important event of springtime, and then we’ll hold a vote!” 

“I suppose we can do that,” Janus said, “Logan and I don’t celebrate any of these things, so we will be neutral voters. We don’t have any emotional attachment to any of the options.” 

“Perfect!” Patton said, “And we’ll start with Easter, because Easter is-”

“Fat chance,” Virgil said, “Everyone already knows everything about Easter. It’s the only holiday that Americans give a shit about. It’s all over the supermarkets, it gets all the attention and respect. You don’t even know what Passover is, and do you even know that Ramadan exists?” 

“Of course I know what ramen is, I had some for dinner last night,” Patton said. 

The room was silent for a second. 

“Virgil has a point,” Logan said, but when Patton pouted, Logan continued, “But we can still hear Patton out. He may say something we don’t know about yet. Besides, if we’re going to keep this vote objective, we need to hear out every option with equal respect and attention. Can we do that?” 

“Yeah, sorry, Pat,” Virgil said softly.

“Sure,” Remus said, “Tell us about how Jesus got nailed on a cross.” 

“Why would I tell you about that if you already know that part?” Patton asked with a disgusted expression. 

“Cuz it’s the coolest part,” Remus replied with a toothy grin. 

“Well…you’re not entirely wrong,” Patton said, growing excited as he started again to speak, “Easter is the holiday that celebrates the resurrection of Jesus! It’s celebrated every springtime, after the first full moon of spring. Jesus was arrested by Jewish leaders, and he was sentenced to death on the cross for trying to lead his people.” 

“Interesting,” Janus mumbled, narrowing his eyes a bit, “Jewish leaders. That was an interesting detail to mention. Why does that matter to you, Pat?” 

“Anyway,” Patton said icily before continuing the story, “A man named Joseph asked these leaders to take Jesus down from the cross after he died, in order to bury him properly. They allowed it, and Joseph buried Jesus in a stone tomb. But three days later, when people came to put spices on Jesus’ body, they found that he was gone!” 

“So Jesus wasn’t actually dead??” Roman asked, clearly shocked by that twist in the story. 

“Well, of course he’s not dead,” Patton said, “That’s the entire point of Easter, buddy! Jesus was resurrected. Easter is a holiday that represents rebirth. There’s always hope, and Jesus will always be there for us. Even during the darkest times, and even in the face of death.” 

“Jesus is badass,” Remus remarked, “But that still doesn’t explain why there are eggs, though.” 

“Oh! Another part of Easter is something called Lent,” Patton said, “In the 40 days leading up to Easter Sunday, Christians and Catholics celebrate Lent, which is a time of prayer and resisting temptation from sin. People sometimes give up things that they consider to be sinful during Lent. It’s a mindful thing. Right now, I’m giving up alcohol. And back in the medieval times, eggs weren’t allowed during Lent, so on Easter Sunday, eggs were used to signify that Lent has passed on by. Also, eggs…they represent rebirth in a way.” 

“Don’t they just represent birth?” Logan asked. 

“Well, I guess, but…come on, Logan! You like the egg salad I make every easter!”

“Your egg salad is quite good.” 

“That’s what I thought.” 

“Easter is pretty cool,” Virgil said, “That’s really cool, actually.” 

“So you think it’s better than your day?” Patton asked hopefully. 

Virgil laughed. “Good one. Easter sounds awesome and all, but nothing beats Passover.” 

“What’s that one?” Roman asked eagerly, “Why’s it called Passover? Do you play basketball or something?” 

“Okay, where the heck did basketball come from?” Janus asked. 

“I mean…you pass over the ball. In basketball,” Roman replied. 

“No basketball,” Virgil chuckled, “It’s actually called Passover for a bit of a complicated reason. I’ll start from the beginning. This story starts in Egypt. The pharaoh, who is basically the leader of Egypt, didn’t like Jewish people, and he didn’t want too many Jewish people living in Egypt. So he enslaved all the Jews who currently lived there, and ordered that all Jewish babies who are birthed in Egypt get killed.” 

Roman’s eyes widened, and he started to feel a bit sick. 

“But why?” he demanded, “The Jewish babies didn’t even do anything!” 

“You’d be surprised what people do to people who are different,” Virgil replied in a mutter, “Anyway, one Jewish woman decided that she wouldn’t let her baby die. She hid her baby in a basket and put him into the river, to float away to somewhere safer. The pharaoh's daughter found the baby, and decided to take him in. His name was Moses.” 

“Oh! Moses!” Roman cried out in recognition, “Like the movie, like the movie The Prince Of Egypt!” 

Virgil smiled slightly and nodded. 

“Yeah,” he said, “Yeah, like that movie. That’s a good movie if you guys want to learn more about Moses.” 

“And listen to some amazing songs by Stephen Schwartz!” Roman added. 

“Roman, let’s let Virgil finish, okay?” Logan said, and Roman reluctantly nodded, turning his attention back to Virgil. 

“Anyway, Moses grew up, and found out that he was Jewish, and he came from a Jewish family. He saw how horribly his people were being treated, and when he killed a slave master, he ran away to the desert,” Virgil continued, “There, he found a burning bush, and the bush talked to him. The bush basically said that he was God, and he was going to help Moses set the Jewish people free. But when Moses came back and told the pharaoh this, the pharaoh refused, over and over. And every time the pharaoh refused, God sent down a different plague, or curse, to Egypt.” 

“But that’s not fair,” Patton protested, “The rest of the people didn’t even do anything.” 

“Well, I don’t disagree,” Virgil said, “But God wasn’t feeling very forgiving after having his people enslaved for years. He knew that there was no other way to convince the pharaoh.” 

“Yeah, if you’re gonna get mad at anyone, get mad at the pharaoh,” Janus said, “He was the stubborn son of a bitch who wouldn’t set free the slaves. He put his people in danger by doing that just because he wanted more free labor.” 

“There were a lot of plagues because the pharaoh kept saying no,” Virgil explained, “And the tenth plague was a curse called the angel of death, a curse that would kill the first-born child of every home. In order to protect the innocent families, God told Moses to tell anyone who would listen to paint over their door with lamb’s blood. If the door was painted over, then the curse would pass over them, and nobody would die. Passover, see?” 

Roman nodded, his eyes widening as he was enraptured in the story. “Passover,” he repeated. 

“The Israelites listened to Moses, but a lot of others in Egypt didn’t, including the Pharaoh,” Virgil said, a bit sadly, “It sucked. They all had to learn the hard way. If they had just listened to Moses, nobody would have died. If the pharaoh had just let the Israelites go the first time, then none of the plagues would have had to happen. But stricken with grief after his firstborn son died, the pharaoh finally let the Israelites go, and they were freed from slavery.” 

“So that’s the story of Passover,” Logan said, “How is it celebrated?” 

“Well, it’s celebrated for eight days,” Virgil explained, “Seven if you’re in Israel. But here in America, it’s eight. On the first night of Passover, Jewish families have a Passover seder, which is a big dinner where we pray and sing, and we tell stories from a book called the Haggadah. All families celebrate a little differently, but for the most part, we do that stuff. I remember when I was little, my mom would always give me a sip of her wine.”

“Damn, just a sip?” Remus asked with a little laugh, “Shoulda given you a whole cup. Imagine a drunk little Virgil stumbling around.” 

“That would have been cool,” Virgil admitted, “Me and my cousins would drink grape juice and pretend to be drunk. After all the serious stuff was over, of course. A big part of Passover is discussing current events. Unfortunately, most places in the world aren’t very Jew-friendly. Even here in America, there are a lot of hate crimes. Actually…” 

Roman noticed with horror that Virgil was getting teary-eyed. 

“Virgil?” Logan asked quietly, “What’s wrong?” 

“I’m sorry,” Virgil said, trying to wipe away his tears before they fell, “This is hard to talk about. The synagogue that my family went to when I was a kid before I moved here, it- a few years ago- it- it got burnt down.” 

“Burnt down,” Janus realized, “As in…someone did it. On purpose.” 

Virgil nodded, his eyes completely downcast. He was crying, but his face was hardened, almost angry. But not quite. He seemed too sad to be angry. 

“All the drawings the kids made. All the food that people donated. All the copies of the Torah,” he whispered, “It was all gone in one night. My parents still can’t talk about it without crying. I guess I can’t either.” 

“I’ve never heard of anyone burning down a religious building like that,” Patton said softly, “That’s horrible.” 

“Yeah? That’s cuz they don’t burn down your stuff,” Janus said quietly, putting a hand on Virgil’s shoulder, “I’m sorry, Virgil. You…don’t deserve that. Nobody deserves that. No matter what.” 

“Don’t let me stop you from continuing the competition,” Virgil said, “Remus, I wanna hear about yours. What is this one day that can get Roman to shut up?” 

“Do we really have to bring that joke back?” Roman asked, too amused to be sore. 

“Well, the night I was talking about, Layat Al-Qadr, is just one night of Ramadan,” Remus started to explain, “Ramadan’s actually about a month long.” 

“A whole month?” Logan asked, “Wow. That’s a lot longer than Easter and Passover.” 

“Not if you count Lent,” Patton pointed out. 

“Layat Al-Qadr is the 27th day of Ramadan,” Roman continued, “And you pray the whole entire night, pretty much. We ask Allah to forgive us for the mistakes we made, and we hope that he says yes.” 

“How do you know if he says yes?” Logan asked, tilting his head slightly. 

Roman shrugged. “You don’t. That’s why you have to believe.” 

“That sounds kinda boring, praying for the whole night,” Janus admitted, “Is that seriously the only thing you do?” 

“I was worried it would be boring too,” Roman admitted, “But it’s actually really cool. You’d be surprised how therapeutic it is. It feels nice, talking to someone who you know will always listen. Reflecting on all the stuff you did, and figuring out how to do better without worrying about anyone getting mad at you or hating you.” 

“And we also have iftar,” Remus said, “It’s like a giant meal, and we get to spend time with family while breaking our fast.” 

“Wait, wait- you fast?” Virgil asked, “For an entire month?” 

“It’s not so bad,” Remus shrugged, “Especially because we have iftar, and we usually eat a little bit in the morning. Breaking the fast together as a family during iftar is cool, because, like, everybody’s breaking it at the same time. So it’s like- we all are hungry together, and then we all become satisfied together. It’s pretty cool.” 

“We also have five prayers that we say every day,” Roman added, “Along with an extra one at night. The prayers are the really important part because it’s so traditional. It’s been done for so many years before us, it’s like…passing down a torch. We don’t want to forget about it. So we do it to honor the people before us, so that hopefully, the people after us have something in common with us when they celebrate Ramadan.” 

“Well, when you explain it like that, it sounds really cool,” Virgil admitted. 

“I used to think prayer was weird, and kinda culty,” Janus mumbled, clearly a bit ashamed, “But…it actually sounds awesome. Mindful, you know?” 

“Wait, where does Ramadan come from anyway?” Patton asked, “Like the fasting and the praying. Who started it?” 

“It was started by the Prophet Muhammad,” Roman said eagerly, “He’s this really cool guy who told us what Allah wanted for the Muslim people. And Ramadan is the month on the Muslim calendar where Muhammad found the Quran, which is our holy book. It’s sort of like Patton’s bible and Virgil’s Torah.” 

“Oh, gotcha,” Patton said. 

“To be more specific, it’s the ninth month of our calendar,” Remus said, “But also, it depends on the moon. It’s like a thing. To try and spot the Ramadan moon. Roman and I did it a few times when we were younger.” 

“It’s hard to do it now,” Roman said, “There’s so much artificial light in this city. But once it’s high enough in the sky, we can see it great. It’s so cool, feeling like you discovered something.” 

“And we fast because Muhammad told us to, basically,” Remus said, “It’s one of the five pillars of Islam, fasting during Ramadan. And like Roman said, the Muslim people have done it for thousands and thousands of years. So it feels really awesome to continue it today. Even if it leaves us a little hungry and cranky sometimes.” 

“You guys should come to iftar sometime,” Roman said, “A bunch of our Muslim friends and us all come together and eat and talk and laugh, and just enjoy each other’s company.” 

“It sounds amazing,” Virgil said, “Kinda like Passover seder.” 

Remus nudged Virgil gently, smiling over at him. 

“Hey, yeah!” he said. 

“And Easter Sunday!” Patton piped up. 

“Maybe all our events have more in common than we think,” Roman said, “I mean, all of them have cool stories, and big dinners, and just…that festive attitude. That feeling of carrying on a tradition that’s so much bigger than yourself.” 

“Do we even need a vote, then?” Logan asked, “I don’t know what to vote for. All of those events sound lovely.” 

“I agree,” Janus said, “Maybe we can vote on something else. Like what movie to watch tonight?” 

“I vote The Prince Of Egypt!” Roman cried out, “Virgil made me think about it, and now all the songs are in my head!” 

“Oh! I’ll make some egg salad for dinner!” Patton said, “It’s the 21st century, we’re allowed to eat eggs during Lent now!” 

“Maybe I’ll bring in the leftover date cookies from yesterday’s iftar,” Remus said. 

“Yes, those are so good!” Roman agreed, “And I wrapped them in foil, so they should still taste fresh!” 

Virgil smiled and closed his eyes, wiping away his residual tears gently as he listened to his friends ramble and scramble to celebrate together. Maybe tonight, this strange amalgamation of Easter, Ramadan, and Passover, the mutual respect and admiration for these three holidays, was their most important event of the springtime.

--

(i hope you all enjoyed this fic!! during times like these especially, it is so important to remember that every religion is beautiful and valid, and every religious holiday ought to be respected! now, i am not catholic, christian, muslim, or jewish. i wrote about these holidays after doing extensive research from multiple sources for each, but if i got anything wrong, please please let me know and i will correct it to the best of my ability. i promise i want to learn and grow, just like these guys, so if something is inaccurate, please tell me if you feel so inclined, and i will take what you say into account!!)

(have an amazing spring, no matter what you celebrate!!)

[jasper-pagan-witch]

As far as pcp goes, how would you go about creating and worshipping your own deity, if thats possible?

Hello hello!

As requested, I am tagging @alter-altars and @janhasnoplan in this answer. For convenience, I'm breaking this down into three headers - Don't Get Caught In A Cult, DIY Gods, and Religions From A Writing Perspective.

Don't Get Caught In A Cult

Cults are fucking terrible. And the worst part is, the more immune you THINK you are to them, the more likely you'll be to fall for their tricks.

The New Age to Alt-Right pipeline is a big example of this in metaphysical spaces, but many people have also drawn parallels between Jehovah's Witnesses, the Amish, or Mormons and cults - not because the model is wrong, but because groups that are cults often get away with it in many parts of the United States.

You may not be trying to start a cult for your DIY divinity, but it's important to be aware of the warning signs. People much smarter than I (or at least have the PhDs for it) have written many things about how to identify and escape cults, which brings us to:

Important Links

Steven Hassan’s BITE Model of Authoritarian Control on the Freedom Of Mind Resource Center

Mind Control - The BITE Model on the ex-cult Resource Center

The BITE Model of Cult Mind Control Explained by Joseph Sherwood on A Little Bit Human

How to Recognise a Cult; How to Avoid Cults That May Try to Convert You; and How to Leave a Cult on WikiHow

What To Do When You Realize You Accidentally Joined A Cult ​by Carrie Saum on Ravishly

How To Help A Loved One Who Joined A Cult by Stephanie Gomulka on Oxygen: True Crime

@pondering-the-kaiju's entire pinned post

DIY Gods

People have been making up gods for their needs for as long as we've had gods. Aradia (the creation of Charles Leland, fuck that dude) has one book as her source. Cernunnos appears on maybe one cauldron. People make up Greek gods all the time because there were just so many of those guys, what's one more? (Good examples of this are Mesperyian and, arguably, Makaria.) And, of course, we can't get through this without mentioning Robert Graves (fuck Robert Graves) creating the White Goddess as his wife's self-insert.

So yes, creating your own god is possible and has precedent. You could even argue that every god was created by someone at some point, because that's just how humans work. We see an idea (often because we're introduced to it by someone else), we go "Oh, that's neat!", and then we take the bits that work for us and we add new stuff that helps flesh out the divine in question. It's how Aphrodite evolved from Astarte, it's how Dionysus got developed and changed over time, and it's how we have the two Wiccan divines.

I recommend studying other religions and how they came to be, because that will also help you learn about how the gods in question came to be. Who moved where? What gods got brought along and turned into other gods? I particularly recommend looking at the Romans and how they went "Wow, everyone worships our gods but with different names! Neat!"

Important Links

Literally anything by Overly Sarcastic Productions that goes into detail about the origin of various deities (which is mostly on Red's end) - namely these ones about Aphrodite, Dionysus, Hades and Persephone and Demeter, Hermes, and Loki

Anything broadly about deity work and religion, frankly, because in the course of developing your divine figure, you'll have to come up with their offerings and portfolio and what they may help you with

Wolf Of Antimony Occultism - aka @wolfofantimonyoccultism here on Tumblr, they're creating their own religion that's really cool to see

Religions From A Writing Perspective

At heart, I am a worldbuilder. I build worlds. That's what I DO. My Kephea project is a great example of this, though I have others as well. In particular, I love building magic systems and religions.

I will accept any chance to talk about my Kephea project, but this is about building a religion. Generally speaking, religions like to talk about the following three things:

How did the world come to be?

How should we act towards one another?

What happens when we die?

Not every religion (real-world or in media) talks about all of these. Hell, some don't touch on any of them. Here's a fictional example of a religion that has some things to say: the Church of Avacyn (the plane of Innistrad in Magic: The Gathering):

Doesn't discuss how the world came to be.

Says that humans should help and protect each other from the monsters of Innistrad, which include vampires, werewolves, zombies, geists, and even other humans. Later says that humans are inherently sinful during the height of Avacyn's madness and they should be slain to save them from themselves. One archangel and her flight took that second part personally and caused a schism in the church.

Promises a Blessed Sleep that won't be bothered by undeath in either zombie or geist form. This isn't going well now that the archangel and her flight who oversees it are destroyed.

It's important to sit and think about how your religion addresses or doesn't address these questions. Is it more of a henotheistic approach, where any number of gods exist but you only worship some? Is it a monotheistic approach, where there's only a single deity? Is it a polytheistic approach, where there are many deities with a strong connecting thread? Is it an entirely different approach, like archetypes (the Mother, the Child, the Himbo), natural forces (the sun and moon, the forest, the potty pond), or something else? That's up to you.

A lot of my links here will be about polytheistic religions, because those are the ones I build the most. Yes, I have a lot of these links, because this is one of my special interests.

Important Links

On Worldbuilding: Religions [ polytheistic l Avatar TLA l Game of Thrones l Cthulhu ] by Hello Future Me/Timothy Hickson on YouTube (a written version of this video is also Part 12 in his book, On Writing And Worldbuilding volume 1)

So You Want To / Create a Mythopoeia; Fantasy Pantheon; and Stock Gods on TV Tropes

Creating a Religion Guide part 1, part 2, and part 3 on Roll For Fantasy

Common Misconceptions About Old Mythologies & Religions; Basic Tips To Create More Believable Sci-Fi & Fantasy Religions & Belief Systems; How To Create Fictional Structured Religions; and Things That Show Up In Christianity-Inspired Fiction That Aren't In The Bible on Springhole

List of religious ideas in fantasy fiction on Wikipedia

8 Tips for Creating a Pantheon for Your Novel by Jill Williamson on Go Teen Writers

How to Create God Characters for Your Fantasy World by Kathy Edens on ProWritingAid

In Summary

I didn't actually give advice, did I? I just kind of dumped a lot of my resources here. Oh well, hopefully you all get something useful out of this!

~Jasper

[charmwasjess]

10, 14 and 20 for ask game!

For 10: Is there a fic that got a different response than you were expecting?

All of them?!?! I write mainly in Dooku's Jedi era (pre-prequels? are we still calling it that?) and that was a super tiny part of the fandom back when the movies were actively coming out. It didn't seem possible anyone would care about it now, so having any readers is like... fucking AMAZING! I love each and every one of you DEARLY.

I'll also say, responses to my fics where I'm writing Dooku and Sifo-Dyas together has been interesting. I definitely lost a reader or two, which makes me sad, but I was really surprised and incredibly touched by the much larger positive response to it. Having been a queer person in the closet for a lot of my younger life, writing queer experiences openly is really cool to me.

For 14: If you could see one of your fics adapted into a visual medium, such as comic or film, which fan fic would you pick?

Answered a little bit of this here and here. :D

For 20: What’s a favorite title for a fic you’ve written?

I admit, I really like Milk Run. For those of you who haven't read it, in the fic, a "Milk Run" is a Jedi slang term for an easy lowstakes mission where nothing exciting happens. Dooku is recovering from an injury and so desperate to get out of the Temple that he'll take any mission - so he and Qui-Gon are assigned a classic good ol' Milk Run. Of course, this is wonderful because Dooku knows how to handle the most dangerous missions the galaxy can throw at him, but not how to sit still, and it's fun to write him doing things he's bad at.

It also gave me a thematic chance to explore a topic I love: Jedi working nontraditional Jedi jobs. Jocasta and Sifo-Dyas lives as Jedi who both serve the Order in less traditional "run in with your lightsaber out" roles. Jocasta obviously in the Archives, and Sifo-Dyas currently supervising a group of graduate students at a Jedi archeological dig site.

There's actually a snippet I love where Sifo-Dyas is trying to explain to Dooku that there are other ways to deal with a space pirate queen that kind of hits at the heart of the fic's Milk Run theme:

“She threatens you?” Dooku tried unsuccessfully to keep the outrage out of his voice. He couldn’t possibly follow Sifo-Dyas around for their whole lives finishing his fights for him. Even if he might still want to try.

“Not in a real way. It seemed like almost pageantry to her, or posturing. You know, her crew gets to see her face off with a Jedi, and I get to pull out my lightsaber and wave it around in front of the graduate students, all just good fun…I never thought she’d actually try something.” He scowled. “Especially not with the connivance of the asshole Arnet!

“Sifo…” The words "wave it around" were echoing surreally through Dooku’s head.

“I know, I know. I’m releasing my anger into the Force.”

“No, it wasn’t that…" In his own career as a Jedi, Dooku was occasionally called out to deal with especially troublesome pirates on missions that were more his typical, life-threatening dangerous style, decidedly not milk runs, or research on cultural sites. There was nothing of good fun or lightsaber-waving in the desperate violence of those encounters. “I was just going to say… your life… it is sometimes strange to me.”

“What, just because of the Queen Theo thing?”

“This situation where you and a space pirate recreationally antagonize each other for the entertainment of your subordinates is a fine example of what I mean.” Dooku scoffed. “Come to think of it, perhaps you ought to have slept with her after all. She might have been less inclined to eventually steal from you.”

“Oh, wow, so you know all about pleasing women now.”

Dooku shot him a venomous look. “I get by.”

Sifo-Dyas began to laugh. “I honestly don’t understand why people think you have no sense of humor. You’re completely hilarious.”

[vanikolya]

Hi, you do x readers, right? Can i ask for some relationship Hc for spaceboy?

cw: none

reader info: they/them, no gendered terms used

notes: i love him so much ty for this request!! i call him halkenna / kenna in this sinceee it's his original name, you can google for more info if you want it since i'd like to keep this note short but it's not too hard to find if you just search "halkenna fairway" &lt;33 also to the person who requested something similar, i'll still probably be writing a oneshot for you! you'll have to bear with me though as i haven't written anything other than headcanons for a while

SPACE BOYFRIEND / HALKENNA FAIRWAY RELATIONSHIP HCS

his main love language is physical touch so he's very touchy if you're comfortable with it, lots of hugs and kisses and hand holding

the type of person to be like cuddling with you in a morning and get all whiney when you try to get up and he's still half asleep, until you get back into bed or have him begrudgingly accept that you have plans and things to do and you have to be up etc etc

expanding on the previous point a little, i feel like he's not really the type to have many lie ins? idk i feel like being a space pirate captain is kind of a busy, "get up early" kind of ordeal especially if he and his crew have something planned

but especially if you're not always one for adventures and you decide to stay home sometimes, kenna will probably end up being extremely clingy with you when he gets back and spends the time he can to relax with you and have lie ins where he can just cuddle with you since there's nothing exactly impending he has to sort out

probably second is quality time fr kenna will jump at the chance to spend time doing things with you, most often he will also invite you on his funny little space adventures unless he knows it's going to be something dangerous (although fair play if he knows you could handle yourself there)

although aside from adventures i seem to have convinced myself that kenna likes playing videogames despite the fact i'm not even sure if he'd 100% canonically have any lmao i forgot if they're ever mentioned to be a thing in the dream world but oh well

"YES I WON AGAIN OMG" and then kenna's there being all proud of you for winning as if he wasn't consistently being distracted by how excited you were whilst playing the game with him so technically it was an easy win but he's not going to tell you that so-

he will like bring you cool things from other planets he goes to, like especially if you're a "collects little trinkets" type of person (im guilty of this ;u;), like cool little crystal things and stuff, or just things that he can reasonably bring back that reminded him of you

i feel like he can't cook because he's like never really had to? like he has his dad who woulda looked after him as a kid and then he inherited his position from his dad so he'd probably have people in his crew who cook for him now, or he just exclusively eats out or eats pre-packaged foods (wow i went on a little tangent here) but like yeah if you cooked for him even like just once he'd adore it so much, even if it was just like the simplest meal you've made in your life

he doesn't leave you alone when you're sick, of course unless you want alone time, but otherwise he is just completely unfazed by "but you might get sick too if you're staying with me for so long" and more concerned with keeping you company and making sure you're okay and looking after you

this one's kind of a given but he writes you music!! he's probably a little shy at first about showing you because what if you don't like it or what if you think he's being too much and it weirds you out? that doubt is completely gone after the first time he shows you something he's written for you though

he has. he has a little notebook he just carries around with him and it's like one of his most treasured possessions fr because he writes little snippets of things that could become song lyrics or he writes little ideas for "oh this song could sound like this" except it's just like the most wholesome thing because ever since you two started dating it's mostly just been like cute romantic stuff and like "i like (name) i like them a lot and this song is about them brrrrr <333" sjdhsjdsjd

gives you his cape to like use as a blanket (wrap around yourself, drape on your shoulders etc) if you're like waiting somewhere for something and its cold, even though it's not exactly the best solution but at least it's some kind of solution i suppose and he's trying sjdjdjd

also btw just know he'd probably go to the ends of the universe for you or something if you ever needed anything so don't hesistate to communicate about anything you need (i say, having communication issues myself help sjdjfjdd) i don't think he actually has the capability to ever see you as a burden

also goes pretty much the same with how he'd defend you with his life if he ever needed to go that far

you probably had your first kiss after some particularly precarious space adventure, either when kenna came home or when you had a peaceful moment if you were there with him, idk the whole "i know we've been taking things slowly but we could have lost each other today" type thing

but now at this point he will literally just pepper you with kisses whenever he gets the chance like fr he's literally just- most affectionate man to ever have lived. has also probably like kissed the back of your hand all fancy like or swept you up into his arms and kissed you all dramatically at least twice

you've seen how he reacted to a breakup now imagine how wholesomely dramatic he can get when he's actually in a relationship

he's also a really good listener!! he loves hearing you talk about your interests as well as listening if you have a problem- your happiness is his happiness so as mentioned earlier with the "ends of the universe" thing he won't hesitate to try to help with anything

do the same for him tho okay :(( he needs holding gently both physically and emotionally after his whole ordeal with sweetheart

i have no idea why i left this until so far down but space related (ig) pet names for each other are a must, like starlight and moonbeam and i don't actually have any others to hand rn those two just live in my brain rent free. also expect a lot of likely cheesy compliments of the same nature like "i've been travelling this universe my entire life and you're still the brightest star i've ever seen"

[hearts401]

TELL ME SHIT ABOUT VANESSA IN TRIO AU I NEED TO HEAR ABOUT HER!!!!

VANESSA!!!!!!

Vanessa's life goes pretty much the same as canon as far as childhood goes except! Gregory is her biological brother. Originally they were seperated in the divorce but when her mom died he had to come live with them and vanessa HATED THAT. she really didnt want greg here with her dad it made her SOOO UPSET and then her dad was an asshole so she. uhm.

Stabbed him. to death.

Will, who was around to see it (totally not having just killed someone himself, the irony) is like "wow. i should call teh cops on u for killing that guy." and vanessa BEGS HIM NOT TO and ehs like "mmmmmmmmmmokay but u can actually help me since you're already a criminal haha" and basically makes her clean up HIS murder while he helps sweep hers under the rug.

And tghen he keeps it going because she doesnt wanna go to jail or die or anything rn and hes holding that blackmail over her (plus if she gets him in trouble that only reflects badly on her bc she helped clean it up)

but when she decides that she deserves prison anyways, wills like "cool but my sons called the cops on me before and i came out innocent so theres a good chance I wont get caught" and he threatens to use gregory next/hurt gregory or smth like that so vanessa is forced to stay

she hates being called vanny because thats the nickname will coined for her

Luis is here too hai!!! he is constantly trying to cheer her up with like. the most surface level bullshit and at first william finds it amusing so he pairs them up a TON even when luis starts flirting with her because william thinks its the funniest shit but of course luis starts digging too deep and him and vanessa become chill (ish) with each other because she basically tells him to fuck off. with that same energy he PISSES HER OFFFF but he eventually does but hes still suuuper ignorant and pretty selfish and he keeps digging and snooping around but doesnt wanna tell ppl bc hes scared it'll hurt their relationship. vanessa wants to shake him by his shoulders and tell him to get her someone who will help her but william has caught on to luis by now and keeps an eye on them when theyre together (or gets henry to do it, either one) and eventually luis catches them killing someone and william kills him. oops!

vanessa is a bit uneasy about that because a) luis was ehr only hope of getting away from william atm and b) lots of people knew luis and theyd notice he was gone

but williams a smart guy and manages to shove that under the rug lol

Vanessa HAAATES henry btw. she thinks hes crazy and annoyign and he's constantly getting into fights with william. she also hates him bc he built the mimic which escaped and is now causing chaos and ruining their plans.

also she LOVES williams kids and she brings gregory over a lto to hand out with evan and theyre buddies but she is so worried about them because the way william treats them sometimes reminds her of her own dad and she doesnt want them to end up like herrr

THATS ALL I CAN THINK OF OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD

[soobberries]

mingi x reader, where reader is a super famous actress who is known to be an atiny. but mingi is a fanbiy as well.

> how would mingi ask her out?

> how will people react?

Ah I love this!

fanboy!Mingi is the most endearing idea to me lol.

when I got this ask I was having a creative slump but since the comeback I have been INSPIRED!

[This has been written in the third person for convenience and the reader goes by she/her. Let me know if you'd prefer it in second!]

Also, it was inspire by this tiktok of kwak dongyeon and kim sohyun.

so instead of answering it straight up, I'm going to set the scene:

Y/n has never shied away from admitting to being an atiny, mainly through vouching for or promoting ateez when she's doing lives or just posting on socials. She has always made an effort to acknowledge their comebacks and other performances. It almost became an ongoing joke between her and her own fans and some fellow atinys about how she was so dedicated and wished for them to 'notice' her. It got out of hand to the point that interviewers and journalists would bring up the topic and jest about it all, some going as far as asking her who her favorite was and how she got into them.

Unbeknownst to her as well as her fans, she's been noticed by ateez for a long, long time, specifically by Mingi. Nobody really knew about his tiny obsession with her, until he slipped up one day on b.stage, telling the fans to go watch the series she was acting in. There was only mild praise about her performance, masking the post as a promotion for the series more than her.

Fans already began to stir, and y/n of course, couldn't help but find out about this small recommendation, but she played it cool, merely stating that she was 'honored' to have such an opportunity to be mentioned by the people she respected and thought so highly of.

Fans adored the small interaction, her fans, in particular, cheering her on and congratulating her.

Seeing the reaction, Mingi was already losing his shit, not realizing that she would get wind of the news so quickly. Oddly enough, it only spurred him on against his better judgment to then make yet another post about another series she happened to act in, now being more brazen about his affinity towards her, adding screenshots or photos of her, leaving comments like "so pretty," "wow" "she acts so well ㅜㅜ".

Fans immediately began to investigate (read: interrogate) Mingi, asking him if he liked her or if she was his celebrity crush and such. To fans' concern, y/n went more radio silent about the whole thing, opting to only speak about promotional or professional things, avoiding ateez as a topic of conversation as best as she can.

While it was her manager who warned against making too many comments, she was also going through some sort of euphoric high that she didn't want to let out in case it scared ateez away. Was that a rational concept? no. Will she still avoid speaking of ateez in fear of being 'unprofessional' and over-rambling or fangirling a bit 'too much' over Mingi? yes.

This is the first time it was truly her moment to shine. She may have had a lead role before, but this was different. This was cute, hot, talented Mingi from Ateez acknowledging and complimenting her out in the open even though that could totally be a risk to his career. The stakes were high! (not really, but hey, she was an actress for a reason - the natural drama).

It was just a matter of contacting him...but how? It was difficult not to overthink how to go about this matter. She could just contact him through social media but, ateez share their sns. She could try and approach him at award shows but the chances of even being at the same one are low.

Good thing she didn't have to do much before the perfect opportunity presented itself right at her doorstep in the form of a phone call from a variety show mc with whom she once worked.

They apparently phoned with the intention of letting Mingi say hi to her (later revealed on the aired episode, his presumed crush). He and who she assumed to be some other hosts were snickering as Mingi timidly said a hello, asking how she was and wishing her well.

It was painfully strange to hear what was occurring on the other side of the call, an overall ruckus, alongside squeals and mumbles, some that definitely sounded like Mingi when the MC was asking her permission to give Mingi her number, to which of course she wouldn't dare deny.

There were a few days that went by, making her nervous about the whole ordeal; wondering if they ever did give Mingi her number or if he even planned to text her.

But one magnificent notification later, she was delightfully greeted by an awkward text.

Mingi had been a nervous wreck since the show. Not only was he nervous for it to air in the first place, but having the hosts put him on the spot like that was a seriously anxiety-provoking experience, and one he thoroughly hopes he never has to go through again.

However, he did have Y/n's contact name staring right back at him so perhaps it was worth the pain he went through. He also had his members to ease his mind and cheer him on after going on the show and at the time, Yunho's presence beside him made the promotion a bit more worthwhile.

Wooyoung and San were chiding him for not immediately texting Y/n when the opportunity presented itself, but he waved them off, saying he'd do it, only to stare at the blaring light of his phone screen in defeat throughout his days. Typing and backspacing his life away.

He sent the text,

"Hello, this is Ateez Song Mingi"

and proceeded to throw the phone on his bed aggressively, mentally punching himself, instantly regretting his whole entire life.

Luckily, it only made Y/n giggle, feeling too giddy to even conceptualize the extent of the awkwardness in the text.

She replied simply, attempting to make small conversation, as she kicked her feet, shoving her head into a pillow, trying to regulate this rush of energy she was feeling.

Meanwhile, he was grabbing his phone like a lifeline, holding it far too close to his face and trembling mildly while typing back.

The slight tension that came with learning and speaking to a new person floated away steadily over the next few days as they continued to text non-stop, peeling down barriers and steadily changing the relationship. It no longer was able to be classified as a simple acquaintanceship and parasocial crush.

After some discussion with members and friends, Mingi realized he needed to meet Y/n in person, no longer satisfied with the little talking they were able to do.

He wanted to be simple in his approach, as to keep everything pressureless and comfortable. So, taking a huge inhale of courage after a few weeks of texting, he dialed your number. He took every preventative measure he could, ensuring that Y/n was not on a schedule and realistically free during this time.

Hearing his voice over the phone was very different from the first time she heard his voice. The first time was rushed, and noise pollution made it a bit hard to think straight, but this time was different. This time she could appreciate the deepness of his voice. How smooth it is when he sounds confident and sure, even with that slight stutter which gave his nervous disposition away, it was something she wouldn't mind becoming more familiar with.

"I was wondering if we could have a meal sometime? uh, soon, while we have free schedules-" "Yeah, it would be great to officially meet you!" "Does tomorrow sound alright?" "Sure! We can decide where we eat tomorrow," "Great, it's a date."

the end lol.

He would have his moments where he has some rizz so I had to add that little line at the end ya know?

Let's not lie, people would be ecstatic about the interactions initially, especially some solid fans, but there would be extreme backlash after maybe the second encounter. The first time you go on a date with Mingi could be overlooked, but if it becomes consistent, it could cause quite the stir for better or for worse.

Personally, most atiny I have encountered are chill, so perhaps the backlash wouldn't be as strong, but there definitely will be some sort of it, because that's the unfortunate reality that follows being in the public eye as well as having a job that requires you to sell dreams and be the 'unattainable attainable'

So that's just my take!

[keystone8379]

Frame Imperfect

Regarding Kirby Fighters 2, when the game was relatively new, many YouTubers were trying to cash in on the new "kirby smash bros" hype. During this period I remember Mew2King coming into the KF2 server with interest in running a tournament for the game.

Wow! I couldn't believe this! Mew2King from funny YouTube compilations and competitive Super Smash Bros Melee (I had watched very little melee at that point, except for EmpLemon's There Will Never Be Another Melee Player Like HungryBox) was interested in our super cool Kirby game? Awesome!

At this point the game had garnered a rep as a pretty unserious competitive game, with many fake infinites being discovered and one real one as well. There was also Alpharad's video on the game that made it look...unflattering. It was unflattering for reasons other than just being a 'smash clone' but we didn't know why exactly yet. This was before 20XX, the first real KF2 tournament, for reference.

But Mew2King wanted to take a chance on us! He believed in our game and wanted to take a chance on a new, unique, exciting platform fighter! We were starstruck, plain and simple.

Which is why when M2K suggested MOBA style character bans everyone just kinda went with it????

Keep in mind this was before the first tourney, we didn't know shit about fuck, as fish would say.

They didn't go through with this.

So fast forward a couple months, and KF2's first appearance at Frame Perfect Series is upon us. As you'd expect, the community is really excited! This was one of the biggest brackets the community had ever seen, with a bunch of new faces! Mostly people we'd never see again but it was exciting at the time.

As for the commentator's bench, we were looking at M2K, who knew nothing about the game but was on comms for every game so whatever...and in the KF2 corner...Super Citrus. Who hadn't commentated an even since 20XX. Oh god. M2K was sprouting nonstop nonsense and Citrus just didn't have the game knowledge or confidence to debunk any of it. The VODs were a little painful to watch. Poor guy.

So FPS doesn't make the game look...great. It wasn't help that M2K was ridiculing the players he determined were 'lame' and I mean I don't like Ninja11 or Poyo but come the fuck on man. Commentary basics here. I could do a better job.

But what if I could actually? When FPS 4 was announced, we learned that KF2 would be making a return for it. I was more involved in the community at this point with one tournament under my belt (...which was New Generation) and did 2 major things for this FPS. Firstly, early on, KF2 wasn't looking great in the entrant count side of things. So, I got in touch with some of the folks in tourney committee and we talked about running a tourney where top 8 would get free entry to FPS4.

And this is where we talk about the unsung hero of this story, Thank You motherfucking Domo. When sponsoring Road to FPS, Domo offered to handle the free entry of anyone who we couldn't get people to pay for a gift sub for. In later Road to FPS events, he flat out offered to give any KF2 players free entry because he liked the game...and it makes for better content obviously but still. What a god damn legend. Rest in Power. (he lost his account in a phishing scam)

I realize that came off as kinda sarcastic but I was genuinely upset when his account got hacked. Shit sucks, I don't want to hear about phishing scams from Bool ever again.

OH, speaking of Domo, second major thing I did was apply for commentary! I had more tourneys and more experience under my belt at that point and I felt pretty confident all things considered! So I sent domo a few videos of my comms work, including a video where I have to make Bell look like a well designed interactive character for 30 minutes.

I didn't end up getting picked, but I thought to myself "well as long as it's not Citrus again we should be fine." lol. lmao. This time we did actually have a bit of time to give Cirtus a crash course in the current KF2 environment but it still wasn't great. In fact, it was maybe the worst video game commentary I'd ever seen.

For a long time, P47 had been seemingly untouchable. He was a KF2 expert, his Magolor inspired me to pick up the character fully, he was a lorehead, and a great guy to be around. The clip of him using Ultra Sword to push Nuggetz off a platform into an apple explosion is absolutely as iconic as it deserves to be. This was P47's last big tournament.

Now, remember how I said Mew2King was an asshole to anyone who he deemed lame. M2K was a Marth player in Melee by the way, I don't know if that's considered a lame character but I hope he is. P47 received the full force of this with constant hate from M2K's live chat, not to mention that Citrus also wasn't a Magolor fan. I'm not quite sure how bad it was exactly, but it was bad enough to lead to him quitting the game. Looking back on it, the whole situation is infuriating to me.

That was Citrus' last time commentating FPS, when FPS5 rolled around we had gotten Winters on comms, who was easily the most consistent commentator we had and also the person...you know...keeping the game alive. She was able to debunk a lot of M2K's bullshit and also was able to tell him that P47 quit because of M2K being an asshole last FPS. I don't think I ever told her how much I appreciated that.

Good time to mention that Mew2King also used he/him for EVERYONE. It led to me making this stupid fucking image.

But it gets worse. Of course it always gets worse. In top 8, Ninja11, one of my least favourite top players, was up against SoothingRuby, one of my favourite top players. Ninja11 kinda hates everyone in the community and Ruby hates people who are Like That so as you can expect these 2 get along great. This was reflected in the set between them.

It was a lot of this. Ruby would throw Kunai and Ninja would just crouch them. This matchup isn't even that bad for Magolor, I thinkj Mag wins it, Ninja's just an asshole. He ended up winning the set, of course he did. Great time was had by all, especially the twitch chat and M2K, who both already hated the game. Yikes.

So this brings us to FPS6, the final Frame Perfect event. Messages from M2K implied that Metafy, the main reason the tournament was being run, was on it's way out, but not before M2K was doing sketchy things in his own time.

Turns out Metafy still exists. Not sure what he was talking about with the whole final sale thing. Maybe it's an MLM thing. (Multi Level Marketing) Was I not supposed to think the platform was closing?

So the tourney rolls around on, of all days, the 4th of July. As a Canadian I don't give a shit, but as you can imagine, most people were not available. Zet ended up winning the whole thing. However there is one potentially sketchy set in there.

Somehow, before bracket, Qwertz had performed a coup d'etat and became TO of the bracket despite being on the other side of the globe. The actual TO didn't wake up in time, and all Qwertz used his power to do was changing the timeslot without communicating.

Then, when Zet "applied a taco to his router" (thank you Justin for giving my posts the rawest fucking quotes) Qwertz just said to play it out, though everyone knew this was mostly just because Qwertz didn't like Justin. Why do we let this man near any administrative privileges.

The stream also ended with Winters having to tell chat to have a happy 4th of july. She is a trans lesbian.

And that was the last FPS event. By the time the 3rd KF2 tournament had rolled around, we already knew M2K was doing more harm than good, but no one had the guts to tell him off. I think we were worried that he'd just run the game like a dumbass if we didn't stick around. To be fair, it happened with Kloudchasers.

So what's the moral of the story? Never meet your heroes? No, that's what we learned from Chuggaaconroy. Is Mew2King even my hero? Never meet a competitive Smash player is what we learned here. Though hopefully you all already knew that.