#poor girl 🥺

[the-badger-mole]

I Just Wanted To Say...

Since Sayaka invited Zuko on their first date, Iroh insisted that it was only right that Zuko invite her on the second.

"I don't know if I want to go on a second date," Zuko said quietly. He poured himself some tea. He was exhausted from the night before, and not looking forward to trying to focus on his work. After he and Katara had left the roof, he went to bed hoping to have at least two or three hours of sleep, but he'd ended up staring up at the ceiling until it was time for him to get up and start his day. Katara was nowhere to be found at breakfast, but that didn't surprise him. She wasn't a morning person in the best circumstances.

"Why not?" Iroh asked, jarring Zuko from his thoughts. He didn't sound angry, but he had a concerned frown on his face. "Did something happen last night?" Zuko's hands tightened around his teacup, and he kept his eyes down.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Did you not enjoy your evening with Miss Sayaka?" Iroh pressed.

"Oh," Zuko let out a sigh of relief and unclenched his hands. "No, it was fine. I just...I didn't feel a connection."

Iroh was silent for a moment. Then he took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Zuko was sure he was counting to himself. Finally he met Zuko's eyes with serious intent.

"My dear nephew," he started ponderously. "The last thing I want is for you to feel pressure to marry and start planning a family, but you are the Fire Lord, and part of your duty is to see to it that the throne is secure for the next generation."

"Uncle, I know that," Zuko said. "I just-"

"I want you have as much freedom to make your choice as possible," Iroh continued over Zuko's protests. "However, if you don't start taking this a bit more seriously, your council will take that as a reason to put pressure on you."

"Fine," Zuko huffed and rolled his eyes. "I'll take it seriously, but I don't think it's going to work with Sayaka."

"Why not?" Iroh pressed. "She's a smart, kind and creative woman. And very easy on the eyes. What could she possibly have done in one evening to make you not even give her a chance?" Iroh sat expectantly, leaning forward on his elbows as he tried to read the answer in his nephew's face. Zuko felt the heat rise in his cheeks and he broke Iroh's gaze. How could he explain, he wondered. He had had a good time with Sayaka. He had even been planning to ask her out again. But then he'd spent hours on the roof talking with Katara and pointing out constellations, and it was... It had felt like a date. When she took his hand as they walked along the empty corridors, Zuko's pulse had skyrocketed. He hadn't felt this way with Sayaka once during the evening, not even when she'd screwed up her courage and gave him a peck on his cheek after he'd escorted her home. There were a couple of moments when Zuko wondered if Katara had felt it too. If she had, though, she didn't say.

It was crazy for Zuko to completely give up with Sayaka because she didn't give him butterflies like Katara did. He was old enough to know that love at first sight was too rare for any couple to bank on. After all, it had taken him years to realize he had a crush on Katara. A crush that until the night before seemed unrequited, and even now all evidence that it might not be could just be in his head. She'd had trouble sleeping and had sought him out. It wasn't the first time she'd done that. It wasn't even the first time she'd held his hand. But she'd never taken him for a starlit picnic, and she had just said recently that that was her idea of a perfect first date.

"It wouldn't hurt to see her again," Iroh said, breaking through Zuko's thoughts once again. "First dates are tricky, and I'm sure both of you were nervous. I won't push if you are determined to not see her again, but I do hope you consider it."

-:-:-:-:-:-:-

Katara didn't see Zuko until dinner. She'd woken up late, and hurried to the storage rooms to continue sorting through the Water Tribe artifacts. Zuko had invited her to spar with him before lunch, but Katara declined, saying she was swamped- which wasn't strictly untrue- and she ended up working through lunch. The work was soothing. Focusing on cataloging art and weapons and tools kept her mind off of other, more confusing, thoughts.

She had weaseled her way into a date with Zuko the night before, she admitted to herself. She wasn't sure if he'd noticed, but it wasn't fair of her to do. They hadn't talked about Sayaka at all. Katara hadn't asked about their date, and Zuko didn't offer any information. Instead they spent hours reminiscing and talking about Katara's project and making plans for the next time all of their friends were together. None of those plans involved introducing Sayaka. They'd stargazed until the very first hints of dawn began snuffing out the stars and they'd finally gone to bed. There was a moment when they stopped outside of her suite where Katara thought they were going to kiss, but then Zuko had cleared his throat, wished her pleasant dreams and then headed back to his rooms. As she lay down in her bed, guilt and shame overwhelmed Katara.

Had Zuko realized what she'd done? Did he think she was weird? Is that why he left in such a hurry? Katara didn't think this was a friendship ruining incident, but it may have done damage regardless. And she didn't want to be one of those girls with guy best friends who made it their life's mission to ruin any potential romances for those friends. She would let it blow over and never mention their "date" again. There would be no more midnight visits to his room to talk, and she would be supportive of any relationship he wanted to pursue. She would be a good friend to Zuko if it killed her, and this crush would go away on it's own. Someday.

It was with that conviction that Katara prepared for dinner that evening. Iroh would be there, as he usually was, so there would be a buffer for Katara. And if she took a bit longer getting ready, it was because she was covered in dust and grime from her hours of sorting, and not because she wanted to make sure Iroh was already there when she arrived. Still, when she walked in and saw Zuko sitting across from his uncle, Katara's steps faltered. He smiled uncertainly at her, and Katara felt all of her best intentions slipping away from her. She hesitated for a moment before taking the empty seat beside Iroh instead of her usual spot next to Zuko. A strange look passed over Zuko's face, but he quickly found a smile and greeted her.

"Zuko was just telling me about his date last evening," Iroh told Katara, pouring her a cup of tea.

"O-oh!" Katara feigned interest. "Yes, that-that was last night." Now Iroh shot her a strange look. Katara flushed, but smiled pleasantly. "How did it go?"

"It...went well," Zuko said hesitantly.

"And yet he doesn't want to see her again!" Iroh waved his hand exasperatedly at Zuko, then turned to Katara pleadingly. "He has no good reason. Please, my dear Master Katara, help me talk some sense into him."

"Oh..." Katara gaped at Iroh for a moment before she recovered herself and forced a smile. "I-I don't think I should stick my nose in this. I don't even really know Sayaka."

"Neither does Zuko," Iroh insisted. "He won't even give her a chance, and I just want to know why! Why, Nephew?"

"I'm not interested in her!" Zuko nearly shouted. He cleared his throat and lowered his voice. "Look, Uncle, it's nothing against her personally. I just don't feel a connection." Iroh groaned and ran his hands down the sides of his face in agony.

"Fire Lord Zuko, I say this with all love and respect," he said, keeping his voice measured. "You are a very closed off person. It takes a while for anyone to truly get to know you. If you dismiss every woman you don't connect with on the first date, you are going to be single for a very long time! Please just consider one more date with Miss Sayaka." Zuko's cheeks flushed a bright red. Then he stood up and stalked out of the room.

-:-:-:-:-:-:-

This time, the avoidance of each other seemed to be mutual. Katara and Zuko didn't cross paths again until the next day when Katara needed to go to Zuko's office. She needed to have him sign paperwork expediting a shipment to Sokka and her father, and there was unfortunately no one else who could get it done fast enough. She knocked timidly at the office door.

"Uh...come in!" Zuko's voice sounded oddly strained. Katara stuck her head in and saw with concern that his face had gone beet red.

"What's the matter with you?" she asked slipping inside.

"Hello, Master Katara." Katara froze at the cheery greeting. Sayaka stood up from her seat across from Zuko and smiled at her.

"Oh!" Katara's mouth split into a painfully wide smile. "Sayaka! What a nice surprise! I didn't know you'd be here today. A-am I interrupting? I can come back-"

"Oh, please, don't," Sayaka hurried to assure her. "I was just here today to see my father, and I thought I'd pop in and say hello. Fire L- I mean, Zuko, I'm going to stop by Dad's office, but I can't wait for this weekend!" She smiled warmly at Katara once more. "Nice seeing you, again!"

Sayaka's departure seemed to have sapped all the warmth from the room. A shiver ran down Katara's spine as she turned to face Zuko. His eyes were wide and almost frightened, as if he'd been caught doing something he shouldn't. Katara hoped her face didn't look as stricken as she felt. The too bright smile was still on her face, though, and she did her best to keep her voice airy and cheerful.

"This weekend?" she asked nonchalantly.

"Erm...yeah," Zuko said. "I-I asked Sayaka to dinner. Nothing's set in stone yet, though." Katara shrugged and shook her head.

"I'm just surprised," she said. "Last night you told us you weren't planning to see her again."

"Uncle convinced me," Zuko shrugged. "What do I know about romance? My last relationship was a disaster. I thought...well, I thought maybe he had a point about connections not being immediate."

"So you're just going to date her until you feel something?" The question came out sharper than Katara intended. Zuko scowled at her, his defenses raised high.

"Well it beats sitting around here all day waiting for something to happen."

"What?" Katara blinked in surprise at him. Zuko ran his hand through his hair and paced in front of his desk.

"Nothing," he huffed. "Forget it." He made another pass across the floor and suddenly stopped in front of Katara. "No, I can't forget it. What was that the other night?"

"Th-the other night?" Katara stammered.

"The other night when you came to my room and took me up to the roof for a picnic under the stars?" Zuko said sarcastically. "That night?"

"Oh," Katara ducked her head. She could feel Zuko's penetrating gaze, like the sun in the Si Wong desert. Her tongue had turned to lead in her mouth, and Zuko was waiting for her to say something. Anything.

After a moment, Zuko let out another frustrated growl and turned away from her.

"Forget I said anything," he told her. "Obviously, I read something into the situation that wasn't there." He swept past Katara and headed for the door.

"Don't go," Katara said quietly. Zuko froze in his tracks and looked back at her.

"What?"

"Don't go," Katara repeated a bit louder. "Don't go out with Sayaka."

"Why not?" Zuko asked desperately.

"Zuko, I..." Katara felt helpless in her agitation. What was she thinking? Zuko was about to go on a second date. With a girl he didn't even seem terribly interested in. There was no real urgency. But the idea of spending another night in Zuko's office waiting for him to come home from a date with a beautiful woman who absolutely had marriage on her mind was too much. She felt drunk. She felt stupid.

Zuko caught her shoulders as she tried to flee, and he made her face him. His eyes were oddly intense as they bore into her, trying to read her thoughts on her face.

"Please." His soft, pleading voice was at odds with the tightness around his eyes and mouth. "Please, just say it, Katara. I need to hear you say it. Why don't you want me to go out with Sayaka?" The world seemed to have gone quiet. The air in Zuko's office was thick and heavy around them.

"Zuko..." Katara's breath hitched. She reached up hesitantly, her fingers brushing his wrists. His arms twitched at the contact, and he leaned in closer to her.

"Tell me why," he repeated softly. Katara shut her eyes and took a deep breath.

"It should be me," she said. The words hung between them, heavy and tangible. As if they could be read, if Zuko would just look a bit closer. "I can't take the thought that you might...I just needed to tell you before you got into anything serious. Zuko, I love you. I've loved you a long time, but I didn't know what it was at first. I don't want you to go out with Sayaka, and I know that's selfish, and I won't stop you if you really do want to see her again, but... Please don't?"

The silence stretched on into eternity. Katara stood trembling under Zuko's gaze, but she refused to give into her instinct to run. It wouldn't be fair, she knew, to dump all of that on him and not even give him a chance to speak. But his silence was fueling her panic, and she wasn't sure how long she could ignore her urge to flee his presence.

Then he took a step forward. Zuko closed the distance between them, and grasped at Katara's elbows. He leaned in, and Katara was certain she would wake up in a moment.

"I just needed to hear you say it," he murmured. Katara gasped as his lips closed over hers. Shock froze her in place for just a split second before she curled into Zuko's hold. There would be a lot to discuss later. After all, any relationship the Fire Lord got into had the weight of expectation. It didn't matter, though. No matter what came next, they'd work it out. Katara knew this was where she belonged for the rest of her life, and as Zuko tried his best to pull her even closer to him, it seemed that he agreed.

Part 1

[grimmbunniee]

Clearing up the spider punk/ hobie brown age discourse

So Hobies a fucking adult and the director himself confirmed it.

[kneelingshadowsalome]

OK OK OK, but can we revisit the daughter "sitcom" scenarios?! I loved them sm.

Imagine Engel is out somewhere, like the store or whatever. Their daughter, who is about 12-13 at the time, just got her first period...😦

She just kinda awkwardly walks into the room and is trying to figure out how to tell him...

Konig is totally panicking, probably frantically calling Engels phone to get home ASAP. Poor boy probably didn't even know that you can get your period at that age and thinks some really bad is happening 😭.

But once everything has settled down, he starts to treat her the same way he treats Engel on her period, maybe even letting her stay home from school.

König is 1000 miles away from his comfort zone

I imagine the conversation goes something like this: (D=daughter, K=König, R/E=reader/Engel)

D: “I think my period just started…”

K: “Ja? Just remember to do your homework.”

D: “No, I mean… I think I just got my first period? I’m bleeding–”

K: “Bleeding? Where?? ”

D: “…??? There...?”

*uncomfortable staring and silence”

D: “I just… Do you know where mom keeps her pads?”

K: “...Pads?”

D: “Dad!! You’re just repeating my words!”

She leaves the room to look for the pads herself while König calls her mother: now imagine a colonel, a commanding officer of thousands of soldiers, responsible for important pre-decisions throughout the whole organization, calling his wife and asking what to do in this kind of a situation 🧍‍♂️ König is rubbing the back of his neck while walking anxious circles in the living room, almost bumps into a sofa while Engel calmly explains what's going on and that this is all completely normal.

When she comes back, König has just closed the phone, sighs, then takes a rather stiff stance to indicate he is about to give an important speech.

“Now then, my pretty young fawn. You are not my little girl anymore… Today, you’ve become a woman–”

“Dad, wtf?!? Ughh….”

She storms out of the room again, about to die from cringe: why does his father have to be such an embarrassment and an awkward mess? Why the hell did her mother even want this odd big loser as her man???

She’s sick of his stupid speeches and ridiculous rules and poor attempts at jokes, she's more than sick of listening to her parents’ disgusting cooing all the time. Only the noise canceling headphones can block out his dad’s profuse lovesick confessions before they start to bonk each other, thinking she can’t hear it all upstairs. Meanwhile she's not allowed to have a life of her own because the "world is a dangerous place"...

She can't wait to get out of this household, especially when even more cringeworthy conversations follow once her mother comes home. The only reason she's eavesdropping is because they're finally speaking of her instead of "how beautiful his sweet Engel looks" or "how silly and clumsy her big bear is":

K: “Does this mean she starts to have boyfriends?”

E/R: “She probably has had a few already.”

K: “What?!”

E/R: “Well not really. They’re just kids, fooling around. I wouldn't worry about it yet.”

K: “Should I talk to her about… you know, birds and bees? Just in case?”

E/R: “You? Absolutely not.”

K: “But–”

E/R: “I’ll talk to her at some point. They probably have sex education at school.”

K: “She can’t go to school. She said she was in pain.”

E/R: *sighs*

K: “What...? I already called them and said she's ill.”

E/R: “She's not ill, silly. It's just a period, it comes every month. You of all people should know...”

K: “Ja, I know... The torture days :)”

E/R: “Torture days for who?”

K: “I'm in so much pain every month, you have no idea...”

(Daughter upstairs makes a furious dive for her headphones :|)

[writermask-0807]

“heaven’s blessings.” {king baldwin iv x reader}

A/N: ahaha so yk how i said i'm gonna watch kingdom of heaven?? (it isn't available on bflix or any other website/app i checked 😭 someone pls help) i haven't yet 😅 (ALL HISTORIC AND KOH CRITICS PLS DONT COME FOR ME I DONT MEAN ANY HARM) so there's probably gonna be a lot of stuff wrong with this, and um. yk how i also said i was working on a koh fic?? yh this is not that one. for some reason i couldn't go any further than a couple of paragraphs, so here i am. with this absolutely shitty fic that looks even more horrible as I reread but. hope you enjoy?? 😭😭

warnings: hanahaki, some descriptions of hanahaki (?? it isn't that graphic or anything tho), also feel like i used 'bcos' too much, angst with no happy ending 😭 I promise the other one is happy!! 😭😭

word count: 322

thinking of king baldwin iv w hanahaki.

don’t you think that he would be the type that, as a man of strong faith, to think that this, too, is a blessing from god?

as a man of already frail health, this new illness is bound to take an even more horrible toll on his battered broken body;

taking root under his disfigured skin. fronds twining through his veins, greenery curling round his ribcage, twisting in his airways, stealing his very breath. blooming quietly in the darkness, petals like cremation ashes falling past his bruised lips like a prayer, some holy thing that can’t be attained.

because that’s what you are.

unattainable.

because knowing you - you with your tender smiles and your healing hands and your kind heart - you might probably still accept him, even with all of his ugliness, his ruined skin and broken bones, even with this blessing that’s really only a curse. but he can’t allow that. he can’t possibly be that selfish.

not to you, never.

it’s why he flinches away from your touch (no matter how much he yearns for it), soft and feather-light as it is, why he forces himself to look away from your wide eyes, your expression that’s hurt but you smile through it anyway because you wear your heart on your sleeve and you’re so gentle and kind and loving-

and he can’t.

and maybe that’s what his love for you is meant to be, in this lifetime. a love that seeps through skin and blood and bone. a love that lingers like an illness, because he can’t let you.

a blessing.

(and it’s only when the end is near that he gathers the delicate flowers into his arms, holds them close to his chest. this is the closest he can ever let you be.

and as his eyes flutter shut for the last time, he dares to hope-

perhaps, in another life.)

[send-me-a-puffalope]

OMG WAIT ANOTHER PERSON THAT KNOWS OF AMY HUGHES' EXISTENCE?? I love when people acknowledge the wet cat

the duality of woman 👁️👁️ (i use the same like 4 images whenever i post/talk about amy even tho i have like a whole album of photos)

BRO I WAS LIVE BLOGGING WATCHING DEAD OF SUMMER TO THREE OF MY FRIENDS— is it recent? no. is it well written? not particularly. but is Amy Hughes so so so so so so so good as a twist villain??? ABSOFRUITLY.

like i knew the ending going into the show right. but halfway through i was doubting my own knowledge like no fucking way Amy isn’t actually just a really good person with so much anxiety and so much misfortune. WRONG. MURDERER! COMMITTED ATROCITIES! MADE A DEAL WITH THE DEVIL! (i’m so into her)

[ohmystarrynight]

I was talking with @spiritkidd about this episode and this was the resulting convo

This is probably one of my favorite episodes in the show (besides all my other favorites which is just every episode in the series) but S2 Ep09 was literally hilarious.

[a-realproblem]

im gonna take a page from penelope’s book and “I don’t want to die without ever having my first kiss” into my future husbands pants

[crossbackpoke-check]

the deweys photos are from this video: https://youtu.be/5xTwJho44ao?si=bPw8MZZ327lCogVZ aren’t they just everything

kissing you and the minnesota wild official media team (with consent) full on the mouth, THANK YOU THIS VIDEO IS EVERYTHING 🥰🥰 i have seen pieces of it before i think (connor petting a shark 🥹) but the entire video start to finish is such a delight, 10/10 would recommend

[his-littlefox]

i can’t even read the word jacket without my heart skipping at jack omg 😭💓

[paperlovesadness]

ALSO JUSTICE FOR JET SKIS

Last chance Alex. Last chance

[gamie99]

Hey, Skibidi Tumblr! Let's do a writing exercise!

The last one I did was... a bit too complicated, I think. I got too excited; sorry about that. 😅 This next one is a lot more simple - and it's pretty dang cute too, in my opinion! <3

In case you missed it, here's the gist!:

Under the cut, I've written a little scene with dialogue involving some of my OCs (in this case, Kindle!). Anyone that wants to participate can reblog this post with their own characters, reacting and responding to the provided scenario!

If you aren't all that good at writing but still want to participate, then that's alright. Bullet points describing your character's thoughts or actions, or even drawing your OC's response are perfectly fine as well!

Have fun, everyone! Can't wait to see your responses! <333

Too engrossed in the art on the page, the short little TV unit in a black peacoat dress wasn't paying any attention to what was in front of it. As it walked down the corridor and rounded a corner, it bumped directly into someone and was thrown off-balance, stumbling this way and that. With a short staticy squeak!, it toppled to the floor, dropping its books and papers and scattering them everywhere.

As the TV sat up and regained its bearings, it realized what had happened. With another frightened, much louder SQUEAK!, it scrambled to gather all of its things off of the floor. As it did so, the stranger the TV bumped into couldn't help but notice the contents of the papers it had dropped: various pencil-and-pen drawings of all three of the Alliance Titans, all in incredible detail. Huh... a lot of these had hearts on them-

"EEEEK-!" The TV suddenly squeaked out, an embarrassed and flustered emotion plastered on its screen. "Oh my Titans, t-this is so embarrassing! N-nobody was supposed to see these! DON'T LOOK-!!! (⁄⁠⁄⁠>⁄⁠⁠⁄⁠⁄<⁄⁠⁄)"

[mordsfesch]

Jan... nur weil du ein wet pathetic meow meow bist, darfst du noch lange nicht Rosa so angehen.

[mila-bee]

[butmakeitgayblog]

Can you imagine how excited and happy Demon!Lexa was (and is) when she started hanging out with Clarke? A friend and a lover after so many years alone? To fall in love for the first time. To be with someone and being loved by them.

Sometimes I read your ff and I wonder if you know how deeply they wreck us in the most beautiful way. ❤️

Me every time I think about that little baby demon dipshit running around the earth for a millennia thinking "I don't need anyone. I don't even like anyone! So there! I'm perfectly happy on my own, everyone else can go to hell 😤."

And then the first second Clarke showed up in her life it was like "👀👀👀👀👀 If not friend... why friend shaped?... Sexy, sexy friend shaped..."

[sugarcandydoll]

my tiktok crush infected me with flu all the way from florida! 💘

[myreia]

Night never needs a shade but it requires to fade into the grin of twinkling stars where light is just a glint of scars

My Warrior of Light, Aureia Malathar, by @sunshinemage.