#she always seemed smarter and more creative than this

[doverstar]

so far taylor swift’s new album is…not…good?

[alittledizzy]

hewwoo requesting a ficlet pls :3 and i'll give you options

1) you can surprise me and write whatever your heart desires because you know all the me baits and i will love it regardless

2) hard launch

hard launch dan/phil rated g, 599 words

fics for Dan's birthday drive!

They’re in Brighton when the video drops.

Not at PJ’s; that’ll come later. Right now they’re on a rocky beach, and Phil is picking through stones trying to find a shell that looks just right. He’s distracted by the search and Dan envies that.

Nothing works to distract Dan. Not the ice cream still sweet on his tongue, or the ache in his legs from how much they’ve walked around, or the sounds of drunken teenagers shrieking from how cold the water is on their toes.

“Stop,” Phil orders him.

“Stop what?”

“Stop thinking.”

“I can’t,” Dan says.

“You can. You’re just not trying hard enough.”

“I’m - what?” He gives Phil a dumbfounded look. “We aren’t all blessed with your absence of brain, Lester.”

Phil grins wickedly and then shoves Dan. “Take it back.”

“What.”

“Take it back, Daniel. Take it back.” He shoves again.

Dan catches Phil’s arms and laughs, stopping the brutal attack. The abuse. Babuse. A million little moments of their life they stop owning the moment they share. A million pieces of them broken into pixels and sent out into bouncing signals. They could never get them back if they tried.

Dan’s hands fall away from Phil’s arms like they burn. They can’t get the video they just put out back, either. The cold gathers in the pit of Dan’s stomach. It’s a storm brewing, and then it’s a pebble hitting his forehead, and Phil’s eyes glaring in an exaggerated way.

“I’m cold,” Phil informs him.

“Do you want to leave?”

“I’m hungry, too.”

“We just had ice cream.”

“Ice cream isn’t food,” Phil says. “There’s a different stomach compartment for ice cream.”

“You failed biology, didn’t you?” Dan says.

“My mum taught me that,” Phil says. “She’s smarter than teachers.”

“She’s more creative at least,” Dan says.

“Are you insulting her? I’ll tell her.”

“I would never,” Dan says. “I’ll say you’re lying and she’ll believe me, because you were a demon monster child and I am her perfect angel son-in-law.”

Phil’s smile is suddenly bright and blinding. It’s not a picture perfect smile, but in a moment of sentiment that feels out of place in the swirl of anxiety building inside of him.

Dan wants to kiss him. He could kiss him. He could do it, right now.

He doesn’t. But he could. And the danger therein would be… minimal. Just the danger of exposure of Dan’s own soft underbelly. But somehow that seems scarier than a fifteen-year secret offered up on a platter for the feasting of viewers.

“What are you thinking?” Phil asks.

Dan answers with no thought to it. “I’m going to kiss you later.”

Phil grins. “I’ll hold you to that. I’m ready to go now, by the way.”

“Because you’re hungry. And cold,” Dan recites. “Any other complaints?”

“You’re not kissing me yet,” Phil says. It’s a stupid level of flirtatious, and it makes Dan bark with laughter.

“Idiot,” Dan says. “You’re so dumb. I hate you.”

“You love me,” Phil says, smile softening. “Come on. Let’s see if PJ and Sophie want us to bring food back to them.”

Dan isn’t stupid, and neither is Phil. This is just Dan’s turn. Phil will have his moments of worry, quiet contemplation he tries his best to fight against, until he snaps and Dan coaxes him through it.

This will be a burden off their backs. It will feel like freedom, the same way coming out did. But before it can become that it has to be a transition they help each other through, the way they always do.

[satansapostle6]

Lovers and Liars | Draco Malfoy

Draco Malfoy and Theodore Nott, both determined and resourceful from reputable houses, find themselves at odds in the name of love.

Warning: Mature themes/language. Violence. Sexual content.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Bitter Taste

Lorelei was proud of the progress that Draco had made in the past few days. Sure, he’d been ornery and irritable, but she felt that was more than understandable given that he had to give up Quidditch this year. Lorelei had been watching with sadness in the time she spent with Draco repairing the Vanishing Caninet as he slowly accepted the fact that his childhood had ended prematurely. It was simply another spoil of war.

That night, after Draco and Lorelei had finished their work on the Vanishing Cabinet, they had decided to spend the rest of their night in the Room of Requirement itself, taking advantage of its magical properties. It was long past mthem were sitting around enjoying a bottle of perfect elf-made champagne. Draco stood by the cabinet they’d been mending as Lorelei sat up on the shelf beside it, looking up at him with admiration.

“I’m proud of you, you know,” she said softly.

Draco just looked down at his feet, smiling softly as he sipped on his champagne.

His hand rested on Lorelei’s knee, brushing against the soft emerald green fabric of her dress as he finally spoke.

“I haven’t killed the old man yet,” he reminded her gently.

“We’ll get there,” she assured him. “But for now, I’m still incredibly proud of you.”

Draco raised an eyebrow, clearly not feeling deserving of the praise. “Why?” he questioned her. “What have I done that’s so special?”

He tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

“You’ve really committed yourself to getting us all back in the Dark Lord’s good graces,” she reasoned. “You’re giving up everything to provide for your family. Your father would be so proud of you, you know,” she murmured.

Draco nodded, gulping as he accepted her kindness.

“I didn’t sacrifice half of what he did,” he confessed guiltily.

“Well, you’ve done more than enough. You’re going to kill the greatest wizard to ever live,” Lorelei whispered, trying to encourage him with a smile.

“Do you really think that?” Draco wondered, seeming skeptical.

“Think what?” she furrowed her brow.

“That Dumbledore’s the greatest wizard to ever live?” he asked her. “That he could defeat the Dark Lord?” he whispered the blasphemous notion.

Lorelei frowned as she tried to answer. “I… I think that we’re about to find out,” she concluded, a feeling of unease in her stomach.

“Do you really think I’ll be able to do it?” Draco questioned fearfully, blue eyes wide as they stared into hers. “Do you think I’ll be able to kill one of the greatest wizards to ever live?”

“Yes,” Lorelei promised him.

But Draco was not easily convinced.

“You can. You just have to be smart,” she reminded him, “And quick.”

“Smarter than Dumbledore?” he demanded.

“You’ve seen him, Draco,” Lorelei insisted, “He’s older. Slower. You just have to get the upper hand.”

“I suppose,” he sighed, distracted by the thought.

“Hey,” Lorelei stopped him, lifting his chin up so that he looked her in the eye, “You can do this, Draco. You’re powerful. You’re smart. And you have me. We’ll catch him off guard, no problem. We just have to get creative, yeah?”

Draco nodded, feeling consoled by Lorelei. She truly was the only person who could calm him. He had no idea how, but her gentle sweetness always seemed to work wonders on him.

“I love you,” he professed.

Lorelei smiled, relieved that he seemed to be in a better mood. She was reassured of his change of heart as he leaned over her, hand on her cheek as he leaned in for a kiss. Their lips met for a brief moment before he deepened the kiss, one hand moving to her waist. Lorelei savored the taste of champagne on his lips. Draco’s thumb brushed against her bottom lip as she giggled softly, smitten with him as she rested her forehead on his, the both of them resting for a moment, eyes closed.

“I love you,” she breathed jokingly.

Draco beamed appreciatively. “There we go. I was beginning to worry.”

Lorelei chuckled. She’d been missing her charming, funny boyfriend for the past few months. Ever since Lucius was arrested, Draco had become sullen and serious, hardly ever stopping to smell the proverbial roses. Even Lorelei was beginning to fear he’d never be the same again. She was relieved to find that Draco remained resilient. Evidently, his love for her still trumped everything else.

“More champagne?” Draco asked in a suave purr, picking up her empty champagne flute.

“Yes, please,” she giggled as he looked down at the cluttered liquor cart beside them. “Maybe it’ll get me more in the mood.”

Draco grinned as he set down the empty bottle they’d finished, searching for another. “Well in that case, I’ll give you the whole bottle.”

He frowned as he looked around the messy room for another bottle of champagne, unable to find any more.

“Hmm. Looks like we’ve finished all the champagne,” he frowned, returning to the cart and selecting a different bottle. “I’m guessing you wouldn’t mind switching to bourbon?”

“Go for it,” she approved, as he reached for two clean glasses.

He made two decent pours before handing a glass to his girlfriend.

“Here you are, my darling.”

“Thank you, my love,” she said, eagerly sipping.

Lorelei smiled with surprise as she tried the bourbon. “Hmm. What is that, almond?” she thought aloud.

“Almond?” Draco frowned. “In bourbon?”

He watched her curiously, eyes widening as she suddenly dropped her glass on the ground, shattering it to pieces. Draco was so startled by the sudden movement that he dropped his own glass, hands cupping Lorelei’s face as he inspected her frantically. He hardly even noticed the bourbon spilled on his black suit.

“Lorelei, are you alright?!” he exclaimed, seeing a look of fear in her eyes.

Lorelei said nothing, just staring up at him blankly as he tried to help her.

“Lorelei?!” he yelled, feeling himself beginning to panic.

He simply could not allow the person he loved more than anything slip away. He felt his heart beating faster and faster as he panicked. His hands immediately felt numb and clammy.

“Lorelei! What’s wrong?!” he cried, tears welling in his eyes as she remained unresponsive.

“Nothing’s wrong!”

Draco whipped around furiously, seeing who he automatically knew to be the one responsible for this attack.

“On the contrary…!” Theodore Nott sighed, sounding almost bored as he walked into the room.

“You!” Draco glared.

“Everything is as it should be,” Theo announced cheerfully, his gaze drifting towards Lorelei, “Isn’t that right, my darling?”

Draco turned to Lorelei, stepping back in a panic as she just stared at him. In that moment, Draco didn’t even recognize Lorelei. The Lorelei sitting across from him wasn’t the same Lorelei that had just kissed him and told him she loved him. This Lorelei was petrified, eyes full of absolutely nothing. Draco hated the look he saw in her eyes. She was looking in his direction, but didn’t acknowledge him at all. It was as if she was looking right through him. But then, she turned to look at Theo, and everything changed.

Draco nearly fainted as he saw the way her eyes lit up once she saw Theo; it was the exact same way she’d looked at him moments ago.

“That’s right, my love,” Lorelei echoed, seeming entranced.

Draco Malfoy was flabbergasted.

“What have you done to her?!” he roared.

“I told you,” Theodore reminded him smugly, “I’ve returned things to the way they should be,” he repeated.

Draco’s face fell as Theo turned back to Lorelei.

“Lorelei, darling,” he said affectionately, laying it on thick. “Why don’t you come join me?” he invited her.

Draco looked back at Lorelei, stunned. Her charming, obedient smile disgusted him. Without another thought, Lorelei hopped off of the counter, running off to join Theodore without another thought.

“Of course, love,” she beamed, taking her place beside him.

Draco felt himself screaming on the inside. His vision nearly went black as he watched Theodore triumphantly offer his arm to Lorelei, who took it with pleasure. She looked up at him, smiling in a way that Draco could only describe as lovingly.

“What have you done to her?!” Draco shouted, charging toward him.

Theo sighed. “Isn’t it obvious, Malfoy? Merlin’s beard, you’d think I wouldn’t have to spell everything out for you by now,” he muttered, “I took a page out of our new Professor Slughorn’s book: Amortentia,” he told him.

Draco’s face fell as Theodore Nott only bolder.

“…The strongest love potion known to man,” Theodore concluded, looking down at his new queen with adoration. “Look at her. So beautiful; so loving.”

“I’ll kill you!” Draco drew his wand.

But with just a wave of his hand, Theo waved it away. Draco watched as it clattered far away from him, horrified as he looked back at Theo.

“Oh, yeah. I’ve been practicing, Malfoy,” he informed him with a smirk. “You’re not the only one trying to earn the Dark Lord’s favor.”

Draco looked at him nervously, suspicious as he realizing what Theo was implying.

“Yeah, that’s right, I know about your little mission, Malfoy. I’ve got connections, too,” he murmured, taking a few steps toward him as Lorelei just followed patiently. “I’ll take everything from you. Before the summer, I’ll have secured myself a reward from the Dark Lord… And you?”

Theo chuckled coldly, eyes burning with a maniacal hatred. “You’ll be nothing.”

“You really think you can find a way to get away with killing one of the most powerful wizards to ever live?” Draco glared at him.

“Oh, come on, Malfoy,” Theo teased, looking down at Lorelei with false affection. ���I won’t be the one to kill him. Isn’t that right, Lorelei.

Draco’s heart dropped as he learned the final and most vindictive part of his enemy’s plan.

“That’s right,” Lorelei echoed enthusiastically.

Draco knew Theodore was evil, but this was something else entirely.

“Don’t you see?” Theo asked. “This way… I don’t even have to find a way to get away with it. You took Lorelei from me first. And now, I’ll take her away from you forever. Isn’t it brilliant?”

“You’d really hurt her just to get to me?” Draco demanded. “The girl you love?”

“I didn’t say it was an easy decision,” Theo said coolly, eyeing the beautiful girl. “But… if you can’t have her, then that’s good enough for me,” he concluded.

“Lorelei will never love you!” Draco vowed, fuming. “I’ll kill you myself!”

“Yes, I’m sure you will,” Theo sighed with boredom, as he turned around and ushered Lorelei out of the room.

Draco was forced to watch them leave as he scrambled to find his wand. But he was too late. He watched them spitefully, his blue eyes bloodshot with pain as Theo leaned down in the middle of the corridor, tilting Lorelei’s head up towards him. He grinned as he leaned down, kissing her on the lips. Theo pulled her close, as Draco found his wand and aimed it.

“Stupefy!”

Draco watched, panting as the doors to the Room of Requirement magically closed, leaving him completely alone.

-

Chapter Thirty

[silverbladexyz]

hello!!! I'd like to request some hcs for my believed Ayatsuji Yukito with a gn!reader who's not very good in things related to calculations, chem and all that but very well versed in creatives fields? like plays instruments, draws a lot and knows a lot of literary references :D thank u sm and have a nice day keke

Helloooooo!!! Reader is kind of like me; while calculations and chemistry and anything to do with maths is doable, I'm actually more of a creative person lmao.

The image used is not mine. It belongs to it's original owner.

TW: None

Ayatsuji with a GN!S/O who is well versed in creative fields

-Okay, well Ayatsuji teased you a lot at first about maths, science, just anything in that field which requires the left side of the brain

-Like he knows that he's smarter than most people, but he's never met a person who couldn't find the integral of 1/2x^2. Sometimes he wonders if he should get a tutor for you

-But one day you actually helped him solve a case, despite his impressions of you. Ayatsuji was ready to tear his hair out because he just couldn't get an impression of the perpetrator, but you actually managed to draw a very vivid and accurate picture of the perpetrator according to the witness's descriptions and clues

-This caused Ayatsuji to think twice of you. You'll find that after a little while, he would start asking you for your help on his cases. Your drawings were always accurate and never failed to help him catch the murderer. It wasn't long before he fell for your creative side

-When you two got into a relationship, he was curious about your creativeness, and often asked you about your hobbies. I feel like Ayatsuji is one to appreciate art and artistic talents, but he's never had that much time to admire art in general because of his occupation

-Play some pieces for him on your instruments! Doesn't matter if it's a Bach fugue or a nocturne by Chopin, Ayatsuji will love it, because he seems like the type to like classical music as it's more complex and fun to analyse. He likes listening to you play in silence, while sipping a coffee or gazing at the sunset. You even offered to teach him how to play your instruments, and he took you up on your offer, but he still prefers listening to you play

-I feel like Ayatsuji finds the trait of using literary references in appropriate places attractive. Like it makes the person seem more fancy and sophisticated, and he definitely likes people like that. So he might even have a battle of literary references with you sometimes just to see how much you knew actually he does that because he thinks your smexy when you’re saying them

-Also likes to look at your drawings when you’re done with them. Now he will actually critique them a bit, but he mostly praises you and tells you what a good job you’ve done. You drew him once and now Ayatsuji treasures that drawing forever

-Since you’re creative, Ayatsuji is so going to make dolls with you. Now you actually add some extra decorations and style to the dolls that you create, and it’s a fresh contrast to the usual dolls that are stored in his basement. He loves your creativeness when it comes to dolls, and he shows it to nobody else apart from himself

-Now he will actually try to teach you math, science, physics, just anything that needs logic to figure the answer out. While he will still tease you every now and then, he’ll be chill and find out how you learn the best. Also gives you breaks when he sees your brain about to explode from all the calculations

-Your strengths fit with his perfectly; him being logical and you being creative. With this mix, no criminal dares to go up against you two now. Talk about a soft power couple, am I right?

-You two are Tsujimura’s OTP and she is already making all the wedding cards and organisation for your marriage with Ayatsuji already invite me please

@pixyys @pianotross @nekokinax @i-just-like-goats @xxelfmamaxx @yuugen-benni @yukitomybeloved @sariel626 @lakeside-paradise @arisu-chan4646  @catzlivedforbsd

[redrobin-detective]

Cloudmates

Zuko had felt alone most of his life.

He didn’t have many friends growing up in the palace, mostly leeching off the ones Azula brought home from school. Azula was a nightmare to talk to, you never knew what she was thinking and every word was a potential weapon in her arsenal. Father certainly didn’t make him feel like he belonged. Even Uncle, for all his patience and kindness, sometimes seemed to look past Zuko, to the man he could be rather than the scared kid he was. Mother had been the only one who seemed to truly see Zuko. The best parts of his childhood were spent describing whatever interest of the moment he had while his mother combed his hair and encouraged him to continue. He’d never felt more comfortable, happy and free as he had in those small, simple moments. Once she left, there really wasn't anyone Zuko felt comfortable being himself with. 

Even when his father made him the most recognizable person in the world, Zuko had never felt more invisible. He dug into the hurt of his wounds, both physical and emotional, and put up the front everyone was expecting of the banished prince on an impossible mission. He felt like an actor in a play, playing a part he hadn’t rehearsed and wasn’t prepared for. The more he tried to mold himself into the kind of prince his father wanted of him, the more he wanted to claw out of his own skin. 

Leaving the Fire Nation and joining the Avatar wasn’t supposed to change anything. He felt more settled, more sure that he was finally on the right path but he still felt like a puppet in someone else’s story. Zuko was prepared to do his duty to the world by training the Avatar before retreating back to solitude. He wasn’t prepared for Sokka.

It started with swords. Sokka had been incredibly unsubtle in his admiration of them from the moment Zuko had joined the group. He’d probably thought the blades had just been for show and thought it would be funny to see an ashmaker clumsily try to use them. Zuko will admit to a bit of cruel satisfaction when he thoroughly trounced Sokka in their spar. The feeling didn’t last, it made him feel too much like Azula. Luckily, Sokka didn’t take the loss badly. In fact, he looked downright ecstatic. 

From that point on, it wasn’t unusual to see Sokka eagerly bouncing on the sidelines as he waited for Aang’s firebending lessons to conclude. Zuko thought he would be annoyed at the intrusion on his time but instead he found himself almost looking forward to it. And if he ended Aang’s training early a few times, well, he doubted the young monk was bothered by it.

Working together and almost dying at the Boiling Rock was what really cemented their relationship. Now it wasn’t just swords, Sokka seemed to come to him for everything. They talked constantly, about anything and everything. Zuko thinks he spoke more over a few days in that temple than he ever did in his weeks back at the palace. Just when he’d thought he’d run out of words or opinions, Sokka would ask another question and more would pour out. 

The water tribe boy was creative and filled with ideas from the bombastic to the mundane. Zuko was a living furnace, stubborn and was pretty decent at physics and calculations. It didn’t take long for them to start supplementing their discussions with tools and inventions. He’d always done things for grand purposes, the idea of just fiddling with pieces of junk while talking seemed an insane waste of time. Zuko loved it.

When he was with Sokka, Zuko felt both smarter and more stupid than he’d ever been. The best part was he didn’t even care which was which.

“We’re - I’m so, so sorry,” Zuko apologized, shaking and fully prepared to beg for mercy on his hands and knees. Sokka was still partially stuck to the wall as Aang and Toph tried to free him, leaving Zuko the unenviable task of preventing Katara from killing them. Katara had gotten more lenient of him since he’d first joined but he didn’t want to test his luck. She was frowning, her lips pressed tightly together as she tried using her bending to pull at the sticky tangle of goop he and Sokka had made out of her hair. To be honest, in the later half of the experiment, he’d plain forgotten what it had been for in the first place.

“You-” she snapped before taking a deep breath and calming herself. “It’s fine,” she said through gritted teeth that said nothing about the situation was fine. “I know this is mostly Sokka’s handiwork. I’ve had to deal with his nonsense my whole life, you’re just helping make the explosions bigger.”

Zuko winced as Katara turned herself away from him. “You know, Sokka has been the oldest boy in our tribe for years since our men went to war. Plus Sokka has always been a bit, well, you know how he is. Until we left the South Pole, he’d never really had any other guys his age to do his weird things with.”

“What about Aang?” Zuko blinked, confused by the non sequitur. Was he going to be made into an ice kabob or not? He needed to ask Sokka what they’d been making before he could die.

“Oh Sokka loves Aang but Aang isn’t going to help him use my best cooking pot to make some sort of spirit blasted nightmare goo,” Katara sighed roughly. “You're off the hook today, just keep my idiot brother safe and please try to tone down, whatever it is you two are always getting up to.”

Zuko didn’t understand the interaction. He asked Sokka about it who also didn’t seem to understand it. They talked at length, again, about crazy prodigy younger sisters. Then Sokka started questioning where they went wrong with their concoction. They sat and worked through the problem until Angi’s blessing could be seen cresting over the horizon.

All too soon, the comet was upon them and the war was over. Zuko knows it was incredibly, horribly selfish of him to say that he wished it could have gone on just a little bit longer. For the first time he had friends; he felt safe and seen in their company. There had never been someone like Sokka in his life - not since his mother - but he wouldn’t dream of talking to mom about some of the things he’d told Sokka. 

Zuko had whispered to the other boy his deepest fears, his regrets, the sources of his shame and pain. He’d told stories he’d never spoken aloud and it was like purging his body of poison, painful but necessary. Zuko had presented all of his weaknesses on a platter for Sokka to abuse and instead got understanding, some very angry tears on his behalf and trust to hold Sokka’s own secrets. It felt so freeing to place so much of himself in another person’s hands and to have it be protected instead of broken. 

The first week after the comet was filled with joy and anxiety as they celebrated a world without war while also struggling to actually end the war. He worked tirelessly during the day, sending out letters and pulling back troops and letting Katara heal him at night. Throughout everything, his friends were always close at hand. It was the most peace Zuko had ever felt in his entire life. He could have lived in those small moments forever. If he’d known it could be like this, he’d have defected the first moment he’d landed at the South Pole. 

Of course, nothing good ever stayed for long with Zuko. Aang had Avatar duties, Toph was obligated to see her parents and the Water Tribe siblings needed to get back to their slowly rebuilding tribe. Zuko’s heart ached at the thought of seeing them leave, of being alone again. He loved them all in their own way but Zuko could admit that he would miss Sokka most of all. Besides Uncle, he was probably Zuko’s most treasured person. 

On the morning they were planning to leave, Zuko was walking down the long hallways of his empty palace. He was bracing himself for the pain and loneliness that was to come. He should have known better than to get attached but he had always been a slow learner. His main goal was to avoid crying until after they were airborne. 

“Hey Fire Lord Jerkbender,” Sokka grinned, flinging an arm around Zuko’s shoulder. He still wasn’t all that used to friendly touch but Sokka always seemed to be the exception. He leaned into it, savoring it before the long goodbye he didn’t know when he’d see the end to. “I hope you’re ready for some tears because Aang is absolutely gonna start crying which will set Katara off and they’ll just become a big puddle. Toph will get punchy and Suki will make the whole thing way more intense than it needs to be. It’s gonna take forever, might even be pushed back to lunch and we’ll have to do it all over again.”

“And what about you?” Zuko asked casually, like he didn’t care. Not at all.

“I want to say I’ll be big and tough and act like it doesn’t affect me,” Sokka shrugged with the arm wrapped around Zuko’s shoulder. “But Katara and I have never been separated for more than a few days since we were born and Aang and Toph have basically become my younger siblings who I would literally die to protect and I know Suki is coming back but-”

“Sokka, what are you talking about?” Zuko asked, shooting him a look. “You’re going with.”

“Oh uh no, I was actually planning on staying with you, here in the Fire Nation.” Zuko gaped at him and Sokka scratched at his hair sheepishly. “The others know which is why this is gonna drag out and I’m only now realizing I forgot to talk to you about it so uh, hey, can I crash at your stupidly big palace for a while? If, uh, that’s okay with you?”

Zuko ought to scream for joy, sequester Sokka deep in the palace before he could change his mind. If he wasn’t already in the process of returning all the lands his family had conquered, he’d offer them to Sokka right now just to keep him here. 

“Don’t you want to go home? See your family?” He asked instead because more than anything, he just wanted his friend to be happy.

“I mean yeah and I will but Zuko, I can’t leave you here to run a country all by yourself. You’re a fancy dancy firebender but you missed out on the fine art of politics-bending,” Sokka said with a little smirk. “I miss things about home but it seems, I don’t know, kinda small now after all I’ve seen. I can’t just go back to making ice forts and penguin sledding like none of this ever happened. Besides, it would feel wrong being there without my sword bending partner, inventing buddy, human heat pack and best friend?”

“I’m your best friend?” Zuko asked quietly.

“Well yeah,” Sokka blushed. “Like the world leader stuff is cool and important but I’m really just staying for you. Don’t tell Toph this but you’re kind of my favorite member of Team Avatar.”

Zuko’s goal is thoroughly on fire. He didn’t even get to the goodbyes before he started crying.

They celebrate the one year anniversary of Ozai’s defeat in Ba Sing Se. It had been hard to make arrangements for everyone to be here but it had been worth it. In the back of the Jasmine Dragon was a small, well maintained garden for outdoor seating on nice days. They’ve moved all the tables aside and were sprawled on the grass, sitting around a fire pit. Just like the good old days, only better.

Sokka had been telling an overly exaggerated story about Fire Sage Reijiro’s reaction to catching Sokka trying to steal scrolls from the Dragon Bone Catacombs. He was lounging in Zuko’s lap; he expertly dodged Sokka’s flailing hands as he told his story, coaxing bigger laughs out of his audience.

“I still have no idea how you smooth talked your way out of that,” Zuko sighed at the end. “I thought I was gonna have to send you back to the South Pole extra crispy.” Everyone laughed at that. Sokka had taught him how to tell jokes now, one of the many things he’d learned over the past year. 

“You know, Zuko,” Aang said with a thoughtful smile, “I think you and Sokka are cloudmates.”

“Huh?” Zuko and Sokka asked at the same time. He gently brushed aside some loose strands of hair from Sokka’s face so it didn’t get in his eye.

“Is this a romance thing because I know I’m rather impressive but I don’t know if I have what it takes to make an honest man of the Fire Lord,” Sokka said with an eye roll. Zuko flicked his ear.

“I mean it can be,” Aang said, leaning back to look at the pink clouds floating above them. “It’s… How do I explain? Sometimes when you look up at the clouds, you can’t tell one from the other. They become so blended that it eventually becomes just one big cloud. Cloudmates are people who are made of the same stuff, who get along so easily, so naturally it’s like one person in two bodies.” The rest of them blinked and also started looking at the heap of clouds.

“I’m intrigued,” Sokka nodded, stroking at his chin. “State your evidence for the court, Avatar.”

“I don’t know if you can have evidence for this sort of thing, you just feel it,” Aang shrugged. “I guess I first thought you guys might be as far back as the Western Air Temple. I mean, you did kinda try and steal away my firebending teacher, Sokka. After all this time, seeing you two more, I think I’m certain now. You’re your own person, with unique ideas and experiences but you’re also something else, something better, together. You’re not just Sokka or Zuko but you’re also Zuko&Sokka.” Aang continued.

“I mean we all are made up of the same bits, bone and blood and squishy organs,” Sokka frowned thoughtfully, his eyes flicking up to Zuko’s. “What do you think, Your Royal Fieriness? Is my cloud all mixed up with your cloud?”

Zuko wasn’t sure he was a cloud. He’d been a victim, a prince, a traitor, a teacher and the biggest idiot the world had ever seen. He’d felt like he’d been so many things in so little time, too much of him and his shame piling up to fit into one person. But to think he was something like Sokka, by far one of the cleverest, bravest, kindest people he’d known, maybe there was hope for him yet. 

“I suppose,” Zuko said flippantly, “that your cloud and my cloud may intermingle but only if you promise when you get back to the South Pole that you will prepare a room for me. As Fire Lord, I need to see for myself that diplomatic matters with my fellow nations are being handled correctly.” He grinned down at his friend. “I will need to speak to someone important about reparations and moving forward. Know someone who can work with me?”

“Oh, I think I know a guy,” Sokka laughed back. Overhead, the pink dusted clouds gently moved past in a big pile, separate but intrinsically linked.

[ecargmura]

Wonderful Precure Episode 11 Review - Bears And Cats

All the talk about dinosaurs in the beginning of the episode makes me wonder if there will be a dinosaur GaruGaru in the future. Other than that, this episode is actually quite the interesting one as the GaruGaru of the episode already hatched and there’s hints of a new Precure that even Mey Mey doesn’t even know about. I really liked this episode! It was cute!

There are two parts of the episode: the ones with Iroha, Komugi and Satoru having a picnic in the mountains to find the GaruGaru and the scenes with Mayu and Yuki. The scenes with the main group was hilarious as Satoru was expecting it to be a date, but alas, the girl he likes has an intruding dog. Despite this, I do hope something does go on between Satoru and Iroha because he seems like husband material with the way he bakes cookies and makes homemade dog treats for Iroha and Komugi. Although he’s not as athletic as Iroha, the part where he shields her from a possible approaching GaruGaru was sweet. I also like the scene where Iroha was guessing the possible animal and keep thinking of sea animals like whales and when she guesses land animals, she only guesses small ones. I do wonder if this was intentional because Iroha did seem a bit smarter in previous episodes when it came to animal knowledge, but she seems a little stupid here.

The scenes with Mayu were nice because it’s the debut of Yuki’s human form. Wait, Yuki’s human form? How did that happen? Yes, somehow, how she managed to get this rather beautiful human form is unexplained. Did she always have it? Was it a recent thing? I just hope it’ll be explained next episode. Also, Cure Nyammy makes her debut towards the end. I really like the shot of her turning her head in front of the full moon. She gives me Sailor Venus vibes and I am a huge Sailor Venus fan. I’m also curious about the rogue Precure story. Yuki, as a human, is stoic and stern, but I think this might be a good compliment to Mayu who’s a nervous wreck and very jittery. I can’t wait to see more of Yuki! Also, cats cannot have milk as adults, so I do worry about the writers’ own animal knowledge.

Is it just me or is the action scenes with the bear GaruGaru well-animated compared to previous episodes? There was a scene where the camera focused on Wonderful as she jumped onto the tree. The way Friendy was trying to catch Wonderful, but it became a scene where she carried her on her shoulders was hilarious, but it did work as the bear did get scared. The bear turns out to be a Kirarin animal that likes working out. Cute.

Anyways, I did like how this episode diverted from the usual formula and did something new with it. I do hope future episodes will get a bit creative with how GaruGarus are released and the setting that takes place. I also can’t wait for Cure Nyammy and what her deal is. What are your thoughts on this episode?

[arya-skywalker]

Atoms singing to the void (Arcane fanfic)

Summary: Something calls to Viktor through the Hexcore. Something dark and powerful. Something within him answers back. Viktor reaches out for help before it’s too late, seeking an alternate path.

Notes: Written for the Seasons Skirmish event, for saminating’s prompt “virus/corruption”. This was a fun excuse to explore a bit of Void!Viktor before the second season comes out! Hints of league lore, but I also took a few creative liberties. Hope you enjoy!

Tws: chronic illness, canonical character death (technically), partial possession, manipulation, nightmares, derealization, guilt, grief, questionable science/medicine, human experimentation (partially self-inflicted), amputation, body horror

AO3 Link

~*~

Viktor blinked, disoriented. There was no ground, yet he was standing. A glowing purple fog surrounded him. Dark tendrils like a tarred web were the only discernible landmarks in the endless mist. A strange gurgling-warbling-clicking echoed throughout.

“There you are. I was wondering when you’d show up,” a disembodied female voice said.

That sounded like—

“Sky?” Viktor spun around, searching for the voice.

“Right here, silly.” Sky smiled, appearing from the fog and walking towards him. “What did I tell you about fixing your sleep schedule?”

Viktor stared at her. “How is this possible? You shouldn’t— I saw you— your—“

“Does it matter? We’re here now. You’re overthinking.” Sky looked exactly as she had before she turned to ash.

“I’m sorry,” Viktor blurted. Whatever this was, however this happening, he had to say it. Once the words started, they kept tumbling out. “I… the Hexcore… I did not think it would take a life. I thought you had gone home for the night. I thought I was alone, that I was the only one at risk. I never wanted anyone to be hurt. I am sorry I did not notice you. That night and… before. You did not deserve to pay the price for my mistakes. It should have been me.”

Sky shook her head. “There is nothing to apologize for. I live on, here.” She smiled again, an eager light in her eyes. “Don’t you feel it? The power of this place? The energy? The magic? Everything you wanted can be yours. I can help you get it.”

Viktor took a breath, and realized his lungs were clear. There was no tightness, no urge to cough. The energy she spoke of surged through him. The possibilities at his fingertips were endless. “How?”

“The Hexcore. You were right, Viktor! You were always right. I knew from the moment I met you that you would do wonderful things!”

Viktor frowned. “But it hurt you. I cannot risk that it will hurt others.”

Sky took a step closer. “Piltover never accepted you, never respected you. With the Hexcore, you could bring the city down. Make those arrogant pilties worship the ground you walk on and beg for your mercy. The Undercity could rise above.”

His stomach dropped. He took a step back on the non-existent ground. “You are not Sky. Neither of us would want that. What are you?”

Her expression went cold. “You never asked. You barely took the time to know me. We were both ignored, pushed aside, looked down on. Don’t you think they should pay for that?”

Perhaps he didn’t know her as well as he wished, but this… this seemed a step too far. Sky had always been kind, gentle, patient. Something was wrong. Very wrong. Viktor tripped over the tendrils, barely catching himself before he could fall. “You are not Sky,” he repeated. “Who are you? What do you want?”

Not-Sky tsked. “You are smarter than we thought,” she said, her voice echoing. “I am her memories, the memories that exist within what you call the Hexcore. She did truly care for you, you know, and you ignored her at every turn.” She tilted her head to the side. “We want knowledge, power, the same things you want. We can help each other. All it takes is sacrifice, more blood and more…” She paused, as if searching for the word, “Shimmer.”

“And if I refuse?”

“One way or another, you will join us. It would be best if you did so willingly. Think about it.”

Everything vanished in a bright purple flash, followed by a deep darkness.

Viktor jerked awake with a violent cough, hitting his leg on the desk. His heartbeat, the thrumming of the Hexcore, and the pulsing of his altered limbs were in perfect sync. Perhaps it was only a nightmare, but something about it felt far too real.

~*~

“You want the secrets of magic? I can show you,” Not-Sky offered. “I have access to memories of many mages over the years. Join me, and those memories will be yours as well.”

Brief flashes of runes and mages passed too quickly to follow. The tantalizing glimpse left him wanting more. Yearning to understand, to harness the power for good. No books could replace the first-hand experience of a master. This was the opportunity of a lifetime, one that very few could possibly see.

But the price was too much. This thing that he created was far too volatile to be trusted. He couldn’t.

~*~

Viktor worked in the lab during his waking hours. Testing equations and rune combinations, sketching designs, tinkering with whatever was on hand. He carved more rune-plates, although he wasn’t exactly sure what for. They could always be useful for something, or so he told himself.

After coughing blood into a handkerchief, his altered hand tossed it at the Hexcore. An offering, however small. He wasn’t sure if he meant to.

The Hexcore absorbed it and spun faster, its light glowing brighter. It almost sounded like a laugh, echoing and garbled.

~*~

The infinite purple fog was replaced with a vast landscape. A dark sea stretched out in the distance. Everything was twisted, metallic with an inner purple glow. There were creatures too, mutated beings made of the same substances; with too many limbs or not enough. Some had human parts mixed with animal or insect, but none seemed natural by any means. The ruins of a city, growing spines and bioluminescent fungus, somehow alive but not. Everything about it was wrong, corrupt, otherworldly— but there was a strange beauty to it beyond the horror.

“See? This could be Piltover,” Not-Sky said, gesturing to the spires. “Help me take it. Let me recreate it. The people will never harm you again. Those that are left will see you as a god, honor you with the respect you deserve.”

Viktor shook his head, dread pooling in his stomach. “This is not what I want. Stop. Please.”

Not-Sky only smiled. “I know you, Viktor. I see into your mind. Deep down, I know you want to see them suffer as your people have suffered. I can make that happen.”

“No!” Viktor wrenched himself free of the vision. His altered limbs burned. He screamed.

~*~

Viktor couldn’t sleep. Every time he left the lab, he found himself right back again, trapped under the unnatural light of the Hexcore. It whispered to him, promises of power and knowledge and life unending. Sometimes he came up with excuses to be in the lab, something he had to work on, something he needed to finish before he ran out of time. Other times it was as if his altered limbs were drawn to it like a magnet, dragging him back against his will. His mind was foggy, dreams and reality blended together. He swore the tendrils were spreading across his body, slowly but surely. He was running out of reasons to defy it.

~*~

There were far too many Council meetings in Jayce’s opinion. War or peace, weapons or treaties, profit or lives, round and round in circles they went and nothing was ever decided— even if the solution seemed obvious to him. How could a government function like this? Mel should have known he didn’t have the mind for it, but now the city’s fate was his responsibility.

Jayce took a breath and opened the door to the lab, Hextech hammer in hand. He had made a promise. He intended to keep it. “Viktor?” he called, squinting in the odd purple light. Gods, how could he work in this darkness?

“I do not want to play these games,” Viktor said dully, hunched over his desk like a gargoyle. His complexion was ghostly pale in the unnatural light, his frame skeletal.

A chill went down Jayce’s spine. Something was very wrong. “What are you talking about? What’s wrong?”

Viktor scoffed. “One day you are Sky, another you are Jayce. I know neither are returning.” The words cut like a knife. He had waited too long.

Jayce rushed to his partner’s side. “Viktor, it’s me! I’m right here. I’m sorry. I know I should have come sooner, but… I’m here now.” He reached out to put a hand on Viktor’s shoulder.

Viktor froze, then blinked up at him. “You’re… here.” His expression flickered from confusion to relief to panic. “You should go. It isn’t… isn’t safe.” He tried to shove Jayce’s arm off, but his strength was frighteningly little.

“I told you I’d destroy it. Is that still something you want?” Jayce asked, lowering his voice but making sure to meet Viktor’s gaze.

Viktor nodded, cautiously. As if afraid of his response.

Jayce flashed a reassuring smile. “Then that’s what I’ll do. Stay back.” He backed away and lined up his shot. If anything could destroy it, surely a blast from the hammer would do the trick. If not, they would find another way. He took a breath and pressed the trigger.

Viktor screamed, an anguished bloodcurdling sound, and suddenly lunged at him. The hammer was thrown off course as he fell. The blast hit the ceiling with a resounding crash.

Jayce landed on his back, the wind knocked out of him. Viktor clawed at him with mindless fury. There was nothing in Viktor’s eyes but an eerie reflection of the Hexcore’s glow. Rubble from the ceiling rained down on them both.

“Viktor! It’s me!” Jayce tried to pry him off, heartbeat hammering in his ears. “I don’t want to hurt you, Viktor. Can you hear me?”

A beat passed. Another. No recognition. Viktor’s cold hand reached for his throat. They’d both die here if he didn’t do anything. Jayce shoved harder, throwing him off and flinching at the thud when Viktor hit the floor.

Viktor scrambled away, panting, eyes wide but finally human. “That… was a terrible idea. Never do that again.” His shot a glare at the Hexcore, then turned back to Jayce. “We need to go. Now. Carry me.”

“What the hell was that?!” Jayce snapped, rubbing his throat.

“I will explain later.” Viktor grabbed his hands, positioning them in a way that would not harm him. “The crutch too. Do not let go. Whatever I do, whatever I say, do not put me down until we are safely away from here. Understand?”

A million questions flashed through his mind, but Viktor’s desperate terrified gaze silenced him. Jayce nodded and carefully picked him up, holding him close. Despite being noticeably thinner, he was strangely heavier as well. Jayce stopped just long enough to let Viktor grab the crutch, then started to run.

Viktor squirmed and thrashed in his grip, kicking and hitting at every opportunity. Jayce only held on tighter, praying that he wasn’t hurting him. Eventually, Viktor stopped fighting, going limp in his arms. Jayce sighed in relief.

Not sure where else to go, he brought Viktor home, setting him down on a guest bed. Jayce sat by his side, waiting for him to wake.

~*~

Viktor slowly drifted to consciousness. He was in a bed. A soft bed. With soft sheets. That couldn’t be right. Was this another dream? The Hexcore trying to seduce him with luxury? He laughed at the thought, then coughed, jerking to full wakefulness. Not a dream. The dreams were the one place he didn’t feel pain.

“Viktor! Thank gods you’re awake. I’m here.” Jayce put a hand on his back, offering a glass of water with his free hand.

Jayce. Jayce was here. The real Jayce, not an illusion-dream-puppet of the Hexcore. Viktor ignored the water, clinging to Jayce and burying his face in his chest. Jayce was real. This was real.

Jayce held him close. “It’s okay. We’re safe,” he murmured. Viktor focused on his voice, the rise and fall of his chest, the warm arms around him. Nothing like the Hexcore. The Hexcore could not even pretend to care.

“I’m sorry,” Viktor mumbled finally. “I’m sorry.”

Jayce pulled away enough to look at him, concern in his eyes. “Something happened back there, but we can figure that out later. When was the last time you ate?”

Viktor blinked. Time had lost meaning to him, other than the fact that he was running out. What day was it? “I… I don’t…” he trailed off, aware of the hunger gnawing at his stomach.

“We’ll get some breakfast, then we can talk, alright?”

Viktor couldn’t find a reason to argue with that.

The food helped. He couldn’t remember the last time he had a warm home-cooked meal. It was heavenly. Beyond what he deserved.

“You deserve the truth,” Viktor said, once there was no other excuse to wait. “Please do not interrupt. I know it will be difficult to hear.”

He took a breath and told Jayce everything. The way the Hexcore took his blood, Shimmer, being able to run for the first time in his life, Sky attempting to save him only to lose her life, the nightmares. How he felt stuck in the lab, unable to be away from the Hexcore for long. How the Hexcore had sent agonizing pain and taken over his altered limbs when Jayce tried to destroy it. He apologized, hoping Jayce would understand but knowing he was beyond forgiveness.

Jayce was silent for a moment longer, absorbing the information. “Gods, Viktor. That’s… I’m sorry I couldn’t be there for you. It wasn’t your fault.” He was too kind. Too forgiving.

“Don’t.” Viktor held up his hand. “Don’t start. Do not try to excuse my actions. What I’ve done cannot be undone and I must live with it. My actions led to Sky’s death, and I nearly killed you. I cannot let that happen again. Heimerdinger was right; it could destroy entire civilizations and we must stop it before that happens.”

Jayce ran a hand through his hair. “How? What do we do next?”

Viktor hesitated for a moment, glancing out the window. “I need your help to get across the bridge.”

Jayce nodded, eager as always to be helpful. “Of course. Where are we going?”

“You are only going to the end of the bridge. I am returning to my… acquaintance from the Undercity. This madness is partially his fault, and if anyone can fix it, he can.” Or make it much worse. But Jayce didn’t need to know that part. He had enough to worry about. If Jayce knew the dangers that awaited, he’d never let him go. It was better this way.

“Alright. If you’re sure…” Jayce said. Viktor nodded.

As they walked, Viktor felt the unmistakeable tug of the Hexcore pulling him back. He only clung tighter to Jayce, gritting his teeth. Just a little further. There was nothing he needed in the lab, and every reason to avoid it. He didn’t want to go back, he needed to get to the Undercity.

The enforcers gave him a wary look, but Jayce’s presence was enough to let them through, as he had hoped. They walked in silence until they reached the end of the bridge.

“Well. I suppose this is it,” Viktor said, bracing himself on his crutch.

“I could still come with you—“

“No, Jayce. You stick out far too much. You think you are being stealthy, but everyone in the Undercity will only see an easy mark— or worse, a governmental figure they could use as leverage. It is better for me to continue on my own from here.”

Jayce rubbed the back of his neck. “That bad, huh?”

“You have many posters, Jayce. You are a symbol.” Viktor paused, then cracked a smile. “At least they are flattering. Even as a drawing you are undeniably attractive.”

“It was Mel’s idea,” Jayce protested, blushing slightly at the praise. “… but I get it. I won’t go any further, promise.”

“Good.” Viktor nodded. “I will send a message-tube when I am able. I am unsure when that will be, but do not set foot in the lab until I tell you to. The Hexcore will likely still be dangerous even if we manage to sever the connection. I will not return Topside until it is destroyed.”

“But you will return, right? We will see each other again.” Jayce was looking at him with those impossibly-large puppy eyes.

Viktor forced a smile. “Of course. Someone has to keep an eye on you.”

“I mean it. I’m not losing you, Viktor. This can’t be goodbye forever.”

Viktor sighed. “I will do my best to not die in the meantime.” He hesitated, then added, “But if this is the last time… Thank you, for everything. Despite the illness, my time with you has been by far the best years of my life. I would not trade it for the world.”

Jayce nearly crushed him in a hug. “You saved my life. I wish I could do the same.”

Viktor held on, savoring his touch one last time. “You already have.”

For a few minutes, they simply stood there, neither wanting to let go. Viktor ultimately was the first to pull away. “It’s time. Hold off the war for as long as you can, that would complicate things.”

Jayce nodded. “I’ll try. Just come back to me.”

“As soon as it is safe to do so. Farewell, Jayce.” Viktor turned and limped off to the Undercity. He didn’t look back— if he did he might never leave.

The trek down to the cave was more difficult than he remembered. His altered leg threatened to drag him down at every step. The air that he used to breathe every day of his life now burned with every breath. The rocks were slick, a fall at the wrong step could be deadly.

Still, he continued. One step at a time, one breath at a time. Despite the pain.

Finally, finally he reached the mouth of the cave, coughing and leaning heavily on his crutch.

“I take it the experiments did not go as you wished?” Singed asked. At least he had the decency to wait for the coughing fit to subside.

“No. Your Shimmer made it worse. You are going to fix it.” Viktor glared at him with as much energy as he could muster.

“Is that so?” Singed tilted his head to the side. “Do you often find yourself in fits of rage after the experiment?”

Viktor opened his mouth to respond, then closed it again, the doctor’s question taking him off guard. “Why do you ask?”

“The variant I gave you was meant to be without the…. more savage side effects. If that was not the case, I must find the miscalculation. Most unfortunate.” He turned to his notes. “I can mix another, perhaps less potent.”

More experiments. More test subjects. Was that all he was to the doctor now? It didn’t matter. Viktor shook his head. “No. I did not come for more Shimmer. I am done with the Hexcore. You are going to help me mitigate the results.”

“I warned you that you may not like the path ahead.”

“You said they would despise me. I do not care about that. Topsiders hated me since the moment I set foot in their gilded city. This is different.”

Singed made a noncommittal hum. “Perhaps. What exactly do you believe I can do to ‘fix it’?”

Viktor limped over to the blood-stained table, heaving himself onto it. “Remove the altered flesh. All of it. I know you can.”

“Show me. Tell me what happened.”

Viktor removed the glove and his pants, showing his altered limbs. He explained what happened, but kept only to the strict facts. He left out the nightmares, the crushing guilt. The doctor wouldn’t care about the emotional toll. It wasn’t worth wasting air on bringing it up.

“Fascinating.“ Singed took his altered hand, turning it over and inspecting it. “Are you certain you want it removed? This is truly extraordinary. It could be the breakthrough we need.”

“I am certain,” Viktor insisted. After a moment, he added, “You may keep the… parts… after if you wish. I don’t care.” He didn’t want to know what Singed would do with them, but destroying them completely would be difficult if not impossible.

“Very well. Is there anything else I should know?”

Viktor reached into his jacket pocket and handed over his journal. “I have designs for prosthetics, if that has any bearing on how you perform the surgery. Feel free to peruse the other notes if you wish.”

The doctor paged through the notes. “Impressive. Have you tested any of these designs?”

“Prototypes, nothing more. I did not have time to take them with me.”

“If all goes well, there will be time to test the designs later. Do you have any other requests?”

“I wish to keep my mind in tact and be able to continue my work, to help people. I do not care for appearance as long as I am functional.” His gaze drifted to Rio in her tank, his throat tightening. This process would not be pleasant. “If I must go into suspension… do not drag it out too long.”

“I will do my best. You will live.” Singed placed a hand on his shoulder, light and cold but the closest the doctor could get to comforting. “Are you ready?”

Viktor took a shaky breath and nodded. This was the only way. “Do what you must.”

The pinch of a needle in his arm was the last thing he felt before the world went dark. The dreams couldn’t reach him.

When he woke, it would be a second chance to make things right. It had to work.

[armpirate]

The Only One || JJK || Ch. 20

Pairings: mafia!jk x fem!reader

Genre: smut, angst, mafia, contract relationship

Warnings: Prostitution, torture, blood, use of drugs and weapons

Summary: You've always wished for a better life. Every single day at work, you were hoping something would change. Although you didn't think that change would come in the form of one mysterious man and a contract.

His controlling and selfish behaviour only wanted to keep you away from any other man that wasn't him, and you only had to wait for him.

Too bad you really thought you'd be smarter than Jeon Jungkook.

Warnings: Dirty talk, handcuffing, edging, deep throat, mouth fucking, asphyxia, oral sex (male receiving), unprotected sex, multiple creampie)

Previous || Next

MASTERLIST

She turned slowly to his voice. Many questions were going through her head when her eyes landed instantly on his eyes, dark and scary, ready to make her pay for what she was about to do to him back in his room. Lowering her eyes, she found the chain of the handcuffs hanging on two of his thick fingers.

There was no physical way to explain how he could've get rid of them, there was no logic explanation as to why both were wide open when there was nothing around him that could be of use to force the locks -and even if it were, he was handcuffed to the fucking bed.

—How...? —she pointed to the metallic handcuffs— How did you...?

—Oh, this? —he lifted them at the height of his head.

Jungkook was smiling, but she knew he didn't find it funny at all. It was a machiavellian smile that was only warning her of what was to come.

Instead of telling her, he closed one of the handcuffs around nothing, clicking on the small button on the upper side of it -next to where the chain started-, and soon after the handcuff was open again.

He was right, she didn't think it through. Because if she had been careful, she'd have been aware of those buttons. And she'd have thought about those being fake handcuffs, and how some of them had those protection buttons in case the key is lost or broken.

—What? Not so funny anymore? —he lifted his pierced eyebrow.

Despite his deadly look and his clenched jaw, she wasn't scared of him. She was just nervous of his reaction, uneasy about the consequences of her own actions.

—You keep resisting me, and I promise, Y/n, you're testing my patience every time —he took a step towards her—. And I'm going to show you what it's like belonging to me. I'll make you clear how things should work between us, since it seems like you're too thick up there to understand words.

Jungkook pulled her body, holding a tight grip around her wrist to force her walk with him back in his room. For the first time since she landed in Korea, she was too curious to fight against him or against her instincts.

It was time for her to get a taste of what he had to offer. Because she knew there was more in him than what he showed her the two times they fucked in Spain, he was holding back a lot of things because he wasn't familiar enough with her. She just wasn't his.

But now she was.

Curiosity built up stronger when they walked past his messy bed, heading to one of the gray doors inside his room. Pink and purple neon lights brightened the small room, and she was surprised by the minimalistic -yet sexy- decoration. There was a two-seater couch -that she swore it was a gray tone, although she couldn't tell properly because of the lights-, and right in front of it there was a pole.

Jungkook walked past her, rubbing her arm against her before his body collapsed lazily over the furniture. Two of his fingers were lifted in the air, and motioned a back and forward movement to guide her over where he was.

—Since you need to express your creativity to bust my balls so badly —he pointed towards the pole—, do it by putting on a show.

She could've said no. She knew that the second that word came out of her lips, Jungkook would've stopped everything. But she didn't oppose his order. Instead, she headed towards the tiny rounded platform.

"Dancer in the Dark" started playing through a speaker that was hidden in one of the corners, and she was instantly brought back to the night they both met. And just like back then, she kept his eyes on his with every sway of her hips, with every move she made before she took off every piece of fabric for him.

His cock grew bigger again under his pants, and not exactly because of the image ahead of him -although it was a big reason for it. He was proud to realize that the tension they had back that night was still there, with slight differences that made him feel even more possessive of her. Unlike that night, every look she gave was only aimed at him, every move of her hips as she undressed herself was only directed to him, her body belonged to him now. He was the only one who owned her body, and the only one that could enjoy her the way he did.

That thought almost made him forget about what she had done and how she tried to play him. Almost.

He got up from his place, walking over to the platform while her back was facing him, moving her half naked body against the bar. The way her right hand was placed over her head, finding some support on the pole, gave him a twisted idea.

The metal closed about her wrist, sudden and tight, stopping every move and making her lose her focus on the rhythm of the song. She looked so confused when she turned to him again, that Jungkook had to hold back his chuckle.

He joined her on the platform, body pressed against her, while the pole was stuck against her back, before he held her other hand and lifted it at the same height. The metal closed around her other wrist, just as tight.

—Does it hurt? —Jungkook whispered.

Trying to move her hands, she found the pressure on her skin a bit hurtful. If handcuffs were meant to restrain any type of move, the fact that they were so tight completely threw out of the window the minimal move she could make.

—A bit —she whispered.

—Good.

At the end of the day, he didn't want to be gentle and nice with her. She was going to leave him all tied up in a bed, so why would he feel bad about her wrists being a bit sore from being handcuffed.

—Kneel —he ordered.

She had two choices: either she made it all stop or she did as she was told. But she for sure didn't want it to be over.

Struggling to kneel in front of him, she moved slowly, finding it hard to keep her balance while her arms were tied together too over her head. She earned a chuckle from him, that vibrated all over her body, despite not being close enough so she could feel the sound, all while his hands worked on his pants to unzip his slacks, lowering them just enough to let his cock spring free almost against her face.

One hand was holding the base of his cock, while the other cupped one of her cheeks, making her look up. The angle in which she was looking at him, his serious gaze... She for sure was ready to give in to him.

—Open up for me, doll —his thumb traced her lower lip with care, sliding his fingers over cheek until they were hidden among the locks of her hair.

She did as she was told. Mouth wide open to take him, before she felt the salty taste of his tip on her tongue. Her lips instantly closed around him, ready to suck him off the best way she could in that position, but she got surprised by Jungkook moving his cock away. He thrusted back into her mouth, just to move his hips back again. That last time finally getting a whine from her. There was something in the look of her face, or how her parted lips tried to stay around him, that felt like heaven for him.

He moved back to her mouth, but that time he thrusted deeper, groaning when his tip rubbed against the back of your throat and made her gag before he pulled back again, now a link of spit connecting them both.

He held onto her tied hands with his left hand, while his right one kept directing his cock into her open mouth, thrusting in as much as her throat was allowing him to. He groaned when her throat squeezed him tight again, while her eyes stayed on his through the whole thing.

—You have no idea how beautiful you're looking right now —his thumb caressed her puffy cheek.

His hips kept repeating the same movement a few times, always stopping when her nose met his lower belly. One of those times, moving his fingers away from her face, to pinch her nose. She tried to resist it, trying to keep up with the air she had left in her lungs, before she ran out of it. Feeling her throat and chest burning, her hands shook in his, moaning because of the pain the metal was causing around her wrist, until he finally moved his fingers away from her nose and his cock back.

She let out a loud gasp, desperate to get some air back, coughing as she choked on her own spit -that ended up drooling down her chin.

Jungkook didn't wait too long to let her recover from that, as he was pulling your body up again, wrapping your thighs around his waist and pounded into her hard, without a previous warning. The burning feeling of being stretched that way, despite being wet and ready, after so long made her whine and throw her head back, getting used to the feeling of being full again.

—Keep those hands up high —he warned, one hand cupping her ass, while the other was behind one of her knees to keep her legs spread.

He buckled his hips, fucking her like he'd been dying to do for weeks now. Fucking her until the thought of all the wrongings she had done, vanished to the back of his head, until he was only able to hear her broken moans and the sound of their bodies clapping with each one of his thrusts.

Y/n struggled to keep her hands in place, too far gone into the feeling to focus on keeping her arms stretched.

Pain mixed with pleasure, every time Jungkook's cock rubbed against the perfect spot, enough to have her trying to hold the pole in her hands to keep herself steady. The metal was digging on her skin, but she was too busy trying to keep up with the drilling moves of his hips to care. Her legs squeezed around him when she felt his warm seed filling her, along with a deep groan, before he hid his face on the crook of her neck.

A few more thrusts, and he stayed completely still, making her believe for one second that she wouldn't cum that night as a consequence of her actions.

—I'm not done with you —he warned her.

Y/n was holding onto that pole so hard that she didn't know when Jungkook set her free, she wasn't even aware of the sound they made when they fell to the ground. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, taking a quick look at her wrists to find pale red marks around them. Despite the metal not being there anymore, she could still feel the pressure on her skin.

Back in his room, he threw her over the bed, getting rid of his clothes properly, while her eyes flew directly to his still hard cock coated in his own cum.

He flipped her body, touched her, grabbed her, did everything he wanted to do to her, and she allowed it all, because she loved the possessive attraction he kept building between them, she loved seeing the lengths Jungkook would go only to prove he owned her. And it was crazy how much she ended up craving it that night, how he got her throat sore from trying to hold back her own moans, or how he made her back arch so much that she thought it'd break at any time.

He said he'd show her what it was like to be his, and he meant it.

Every time she was close to reaching her orgasm, Jungkook would take it away from her right after, smirking at her desperate whines and her needy hips grinding against him for some friction. She was his most expensive treasure, but in bed she was all him to wreck however he wanted.

He held her face up, forcing her to look at her reflection in the mirror while he pounded into her from behind. She was totally fucked out, trying to get her climax while the results of his two orgasms kept dripping out of her pussy.

—Do you see how pretty you look with my name in your tits and my cock and load in your cunt? —he moaned, running his fingers over the tattoo before they were back on her hips— Huh? Don't it feel good?

She wanted to speak, admit that what she was seeing reflected in the mirror was too good to keep her eyes away from it, but words kept being stuck in her throat, mixed with the several whimpers and moans.

—You're mine. You get that? —he looked at her through the mirror— Be a good girl, say it. And maybe I'll let you cum tonight.

—I am —she cried.

Not only did she want to cum, she doubted she'd be able to keep doing it for too long -at least not if she wanted to walk properly the next day.

—No more escaping, no more dirty games —he pulled her neck back, making her nape rest on his shoulder as he forced her to look up at him—. Behave, just take what I'm giving you.

She didn't know if she was hallucinating from constantly being edged, or maybe she was misinterpreting his tone, but he sounded as desperate to get her to behave for once as she was to cum right in that moment.

—I won't. I promise.

Her voice broke again when two of his fingers circled her clit in circles, in sync with the fast moves of his hips, until she squeezed him tight through her orgasm, making him cum for the third time that night.

—Let me take care of you.

But he didn't mean it only that night, in that moment when they both were looking the messiest ever. Jungkook was sure that one day one of her rebel awakenings would end up putting them both in big trouble, more her than him. And he wasn't sure to what extent he'd be able to calm the members down in case anything got out of hand, before they jumped to more drastic decisions.

While he was cleaning her up, Y/n kept an attentive eye on him. He couldn't get rid of his rough nature, but he still was trying to be so delicate to her.

—Do they hurt? —he randomly asked, giving her wrists a quick look.

—No —she rubbed her fingers over the mark on her right wrist.

Jungkook nodded, still feeling her eyes on him while he cleaned her up. Their gazes finally connected when he lifted his head.

—Why did you claim me?

It was quite obvious he wasn't planning to. If he had wanted to, he'd have forced her to go to the party and claim her in front of everyone. Instead, he did it out of an impulse. To protect her from Sanhyuk and all the problems that would've come with it.

—Because if I hadn't done it... I really don't want to think what would've happened.

Another few seconds of silence. If Sanhyuk had claimed her, god knows what he'd have done to her. He had no remorse breaking one of his ex-girlfriend's jaw just because she spilled his drink accidentally, Jungkook couldn't imagine what would've happened to Y/n if he hadn't gotten there on time.

—I don't want to know what Sanhyuk was doing with you back there —he whispered—. I really don't. But keep yourself away from him —Jungkook sighed—. I want you to have a better life than the one you had back in Spain.

He didn't know half of her story, but he had researched enough to know that she was living with someone who was nothing to her, there was no sign of her parents, she was working at that club, also added to the results she got from the medical check he made her get. She didn't have it easy, and he admired the fighter she was. Even against him. But it was time to leave all that behind for once.

He got up from the bed, reaching for a new pair of boxers and some pajamas pants.

—You can sleep here if you want, or go back to your room. It's up to you.

Pressing her lips together, she stood up and, glaring one last look at him to receive a tiny smile from him, she stepped outside.

Either the orgasm had done something to her brain, or maybe it was the way Jungkook treated her after with such care, but she couldn't understand how the way she viewed him momentarily changed after a few hours.

Maybe behaving for a while wouldn't be a bad idea.

Taglist: @kaiparkerwifes @sheylamc @amy2006jones

[kitsunerokko]

"When destruction came for our lonesome island, the Turaga knew it would be time for a new group of heroes to arrive. They would be our protectors, our champions... our Toa. But surely something must be afoot. Those chosen by the stones surely cannot be Dosa Nui's heroes! They had, and continue to have, many... problems, that don't inspire confidence in the Turaga, or myself. Their forms even seem as if the Great Spirit saw our image of the ideal Toa and twisted them. They are not the heroes we wanted, but they are the heroes we've got. And so I must, I must believe in them. Or we are all lost." -Chrouhi the Chronicler

So in the past two days I decided to give my OC Toa team a bit of a facelift, reflecting more of what I've learned of using stud.io since my older renders of the team!

Background Image in the Group Photo is edited from a Creative Commons photo by Horia Varlan.

And for individual character blurbs (written from the perspective of the Chronicler character, and so adescribe them before their character development), can be found after the jump!

"Takara is the team's Toa of Fire. His Toa Tools are the Grand Firestaff and the Flare Buster. As I've chronicled many, many, MANY times, he's long been something of a troublemaker, with pranks, ill-thought-out plans, and plenty of disruption. Including intruding on the duties of yours truly. He initially was considered the leader, until his boneheadedness led to disasterous results and lost him the team's respect. Being a Toa has not changed him one bit, much to my dismay."

"Kaumi is the team's Toa of Water. Her Toa Tools are the Mariner's Boneblade and the Zamor Soaker. She is very headstrong and stubborn, never giving up until she gets her way, no matter whom she may anger. Despite her butting heads with, well, anyone, she has at least proven she has a good heart. I've lost count of how many times she was the head of positive social change in our island's history. No doubt this is why she is leader of the Toa Dosa now."

"Okolu is the team's Toa of Ice. His Toa Tools are the Ice Axe, Zamor Snowshot, and, bizarrely, the Hot-Plasma Launcher. He's... eccentric, is the nicest way to put it. He's got lots of positive energy for sure, but seems to have absolutely no filter and other people always seem to be bothered by him. It's actually kind of sad... especially since he's the source of the current singular friendship among the Toa. Granted, this friendship is with Takara so who knows where that influence will end up. Hopefully Okolu's version of 'annoying' wins, personally."

"Kraani is the Team's Toa of Air. His Toa Tools are the Exoskel Shield and the Airblaster. I've heard complaint after complaint about this guy and his snooty, better-than-everyone-else attitude as a Matoran. And much like the others, no change seen so far as a Toa. While he claims to be more effective and smarter than the rest of the team, he has displayed no such standout prowess, though he blames this on his teammates. A Toa really needs to understand the value of teamwork or the team.. will not work."

"Opuro is the Team's Toa of Stone. His Toa Tools are the Twin Dirk and the Chain Ripper. Opuro is extremely competitive and I've written many incident reports where he took things very far when playing sports, doing tasks... if there's a measurable way to outperform someone at something, he'll do it. Sort of like, if Kraani could actually back up his ego. That's Opuro, though at least Opuro is nicer, somewhat. He seems to at least want others to 'get as good' as him, relishing worthy challenges. As such, after becoming Toa he has been very excited, perhaps even too excited, to fight. We'll see if he can last like that..."

"Leonu is the Team's Toa of Earth...? I think. I've never actually seen him use his elemental powers, and apparently no one else has either. Kaumi thinks he might be of another element entirely, and I may be inclined to believe that. I actually don't have much on him compared to the others, he's almost never come up in any news or events I've covered. And interviewing various Matoran around Dosa Nui doesn't yield much either. He's just, very quiet, very keeps to himself, to the degree people just don't know much about him. Anyway, his Toa Tools... the Inika Staff and the Laser Drill."

[spiritofcamelot]

Excellent Paloma works

I love seeing what everyone is doing when they write Paloma. She was given such life in the movie in such a short time and it’s really a testament to the creativity in this fandom that people are able to create with her and make it seem like she’s a good friend we already know.

Cars by 00furby

Words: 1,255 Fandom: James Bond (Craig Movies) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Characters: Paloma (James Bond) Additional Tags: Aroace Paloma, MI6 Cafe 007 Fest 2023, Queering the Characters Day, Oneshot Summary: Inspired by the MI6 Cafe Prompt #188 — “Girls don’t like boys, girls like cars and money”—Paloma has always had other interests than most girls around her.

This was a wonderful story with little bits of Paloma growing up. It felt so true to her character!

This art by kittenkin

It’s adorable and totally captures her personality!

Do You Know When The Sun Will Come Up? by VerdigrisSoup

Words: 2,698 Fandom: James Bond (Craig Movies) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Nomi & Paloma (James Bond) Characters: Nomi (James Bond), Paloma (James Bond) Additional Tags: Paloma Has A Crush, Crush at First Sight, Christmas Party, Spies & Secret Agents, Community: MI6 Cafe | mi6_cafe, Prompt Fill, Paloma's Smarter Than She Lets On, The holiday theming is very minimal, remix eligible Summary: Fuck. Paloma choked on the carrot she’d just stolen from the salad bar, immediately regretting her decision from just thirty seconds prior. She looks so beautiful in the candlelight.

Both of the agents are written so well, and the imagery is excellent in this story!

Trouble by storm_of_sharp_things

Words: 6,081 Fandom: James Bond (Craig Movies) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Nomi/Paloma (James Bond) Characters: Nomi (James Bond), Paloma (James Bond), Q (James Bond), Eve Moneypenny, M | Gareth Mallory Additional Tags: Mission Fic, Beginnings, Flirting Summary: MI6 has a rogue agent on their hands, but Nomi can handle him. She might not be able to handle interference from a CIA agent also dispatched to retrieve the rogue. But perhaps they can work together...

If you thought James and Felix were trouble, these two are even worse. More flirting, better results, and even more fun to read!

[thesmallworldofsamizayn]

Please do!!

Well If You Insist!

(copied right out of the drafts <3) (long)

okay beatle roys. they don’t map perfectly at all, but if you absolutely HAD to, im sorry roman but you are george. yeah sure romey we know you’re a good songwriter you can have 2 on this album how’s about that? as smart as or maybe smarter than his siblings/bandmates but doesnt have a genius complex unlike them so is forced to play their games. including their mind games with each other. didn’t want to go on the roof; ended up on the roof. kendall is paul, ‘big brothering’ the little angry guy on the bus who he’ll always see as a little kid even though there’s like 2 years between them for christ’s sake. in terms of age seniority john might be the kendall equivalent but unfortunately paul was ACTUALLY an older brother and he brought that energy to the band, and the john/george alliance against paul reeks much more strongly of roman and shiv teaming up to peck their golden boy older sibling than anything george and paul had together against john. and to those who would say roman’s too much of a dick to be sweet peaceable george, he’s actually nicer okay cause he refused to sign the letter decrying kendall as a bipolar drug addict but george played slide guitar on how do you sleep quite happily.

on the subject of kendall, his depressive lows may seem more john but his manic highs? his big creative visions? his costumes (he got one for roman too)? his general addiction to the spotlight? his droopy eyes? his inability to have swag despite his charm and talents? the way his siblings close ranks against him when he tries to make a stand? the way he's a cog built to fit one machine and paul mccartney's state after the beatles broke up Actually im getting sad let's change the subject? looking for pussy like a fuckin techno gatsby? non zero chance of having done a collab with kanye west/wanted to do one? paul. he’s paul. 

but it’s tough because shiv is the least easy to pin down as her age and gender relations with the rest of the family put her the furthest from john, and she ends up being at best a combo of all three - the underestimated and undermined baby (george) the repressed thwarted leader failgirl (paul) and the hotheaded bastard who's smart but not as smart as she thinks she is (john). but that john role gets much more delectable when you have kendall as paul, or at least if you think of them as the core duo in some way - im thinking of that crushing final scene between them, like take 'I want a divorce' and multiply it by a hundred holy fuck. she respects him, but she needs to prove herself better than him constantly. she needs validation just the same as he does but she's determined to believe/put out that everything she does is entirely under her own steam and that other people are pawns to her. her relationships with logan and mattson remind me of john with authority figures he would latch onto in the hope that they'd fill the void left by his parents, before realising they were phonies trying to get something from him and angrily discarding them.

honestly actually while shiv is the hardest to map clearly john is also the hardest from the beatles end cause there's a lot going on there from childhood trauma that any one of the roys can relate to, and his brand of cruel wit fits them all to an extent as well - but this is the configuration i like the most. also her spouse broke up the band

of course connor maps onto ringo perfectly do i even need to explain it - actually i do cause people might just take that to mean i’m saying ringo was useless or ignored. no he was the older brother everyone loved and who loved everybody, who was an only child for most of his childhood and was so happy to get three brothers/siblings even though they happened to be the worst people alive.

there you have it. and logan. is allen klein (kendall dreams he is being hunted down by him as a dentist)

oh one more thing - kendall as paul is right because he's the only one who's a documented beatles FAN lol

[rey-jake-therapist]

Regarding the adlock one you posted. Obviously irene didn't love him. She was obsessed with him for the game. That's obsession and Sherlock's intrigue for a challenge. To me when Sherlock becomes more human he understands she is better to stay away from. She is a manipulator, hurts people to have fun. Sherlock and his best friend helps people and she's completely opposite. I think Sherlock haven't really found anyone to love. I prefer some OCs, normal people turning his world brighter. Sherlock is a wise man he knows irene is dangerous and he's not ready to lose his most loved work for the sake of a stupid so called relationship with her. She'd beat him and drug him because it's fun.

Hi anon!

I had started writing a long answer but Tumblr decided to make it disappear, so I'm sorry but I can only give you the short version :)

For the record, I don't ship Adlock. I don't ship Sherlock with any canon character so I won't fight you or anyone about wether Irene is or is not a good match for Sherlock. I indeed don't think she is or that he would drop his work for her, but it will never stop me from reblogging Adlock art or fics, just like I reblog johnLock and Sherlolly art/fics; I'm label free but I still want to encourage creativity :)

Now I disagree Irene is a sadistic woman who hurts people for fun, except because they want her to of course. She beat Sherlock with her riding crop but she didn't seem to take any particular pleasure in it, she just wanted him to let go of her phone, which for reminder was the key to her safety... To be clear I'm not justifying violence in any way, but if your life depended on an object and some guy wanted to take it away from you, wouldn't you hurt him to get it back if he didn't leave you any other choice? All I'm saying is that she wouldn't have drugged and hit him if it wasn't for her damn phone. She stopped the moment he dropped it.

I see Irene Adler as a woman who likes money and power, and she always did what she felt she had to do to get what she wanted. If it involved lying and manipulating people, so be it. I'd be very interested in her backstory, to know what led her to make the choices she made... Something tells me she had it tough when she was younger. I believe she can be loyal to the few people she genuinely cares about, though. It's just an assumption, just the vibes I get from her, but I don't think she would ever betray Sherlock again.

On the other hand, I think Sherlock needs someone he feels he can trust. I think he's drawn to Irene, because she's smarter than most people he knows, he probably sees her as his equal and likes the fact that she's not 'boring'. But as far as love is concerned I don't think he would fall deeply in love with a person he barely knows and doesn't trust. Irene showed him once she wasn't to be trusted, would Sherlock give her a second chance? He gave one to Mary, so maybe he would for Irene too. We also don't know what happened after he saved her to Karachi; maybe they had a very meaningful connection that would lead him to feel a real love for her, I don't know.

[wulvert]

so ive heard that you have more triptrack lore???????? *stares at you intensely, full of platonic love for you and your work* would you like to tell us about it? :D

hello! thank you so much.... some more important lore is probably upcoming pretty soon so i wont spoil that ( if anyone even notices the lore anyway idk )

some stuff i probably wont go into much more than whats already in the comic is reds backstory, i think you can kinda pick up the vibe of whats going on with him, but i can go into it here + some stuff abt the world :) some people picked up on it fine, and some people still seem confused about it, but the uv levels output by the sun in triptrack are too high for human survival without protective measures. i dropped out of highschool and i never went to classes before that anyway, i have no idea how science works. the ozones fucked in some way. i usually call it murder sun. you can wear sunscreen but its a bit risky, and extremely expensive. only really rich people can afford it & you still need to protect your eyes & mouth. masks and gloves r more common. half masks are more of a fashion item but remove some risks associated with sunscreen.

red always wore a mask but someone he was working with (nefarious work) ripped it off to try kill him a while back, you can see a hand print on his face 125 i think, some people assumed its his own handprint but it came from that person holding him down. they were friends, so hes a bit distrustful of people now, understandably i think. It damaged his eyes a lot but he could afford to get them fixed a little bit, he only had the money to do that and nothing else, his skins still kind of actively injured, not healed bc hes never been able to afford healthcare. Red doesnt feel negative about how he looks at all, its the least of his concern- hes in excrutiating pain 24/7, he just wants his facial nerves dealt with & doesnt care about anything else- hes considered getting the handprint tattood to match the rest of his face, but he decided its better to save his money for other stuff. stealing tex will get him enough money for fairly permanent pain relief, after that i imagine he'll just get a new mask & put some less ugly clothes on and leave the whole stealing thing behind, he's very tired. triptrack wouldnt have happened if red had free healthcare.

just to like state outright, tex is a robot, some poeple believed him when he said "im not a robot", sorry i didnt even think abt people thinking he was telling the truth, my bad. shae ( if anyone remembers her its been 60 years ) isnt a robot, though. Terry is the younger brother, he shares a lot of code with tex but ms tarantula built his body, whereas she didn't tex's. tex is a lot stupider than terry because of creative differences at the time of tex's creation i guess. he can get smarter but he's been very sheltered his entire life. Terry doesnt really care about being a robot (he doesnt care about much) but tex appreciated red not knowing at least for a little bit. Shae will probably sue mt. co. if anyone. remembers. that. either. I think for my next comic im going to make whole chapters and upload them in chunks like that so people dont have to read it so slowly.

also not very important but glass city used to be an ocean!

you can see a little bit of water at the corners of this panel, and theres whale skeletons scattered around. also they tried to built a dome around it to keep the uv out but it was a disaster, shards of it also just hang out around the city from that.

also theres not very many people want windows, so all the more space for advertisement hell.

I definitely dont think i've gotten triptracks stuff across very well, but also i kind of like how vague it is. triptrack has a l o t of issues, and i want to go back to it when its done and make a like,.. triptrack dx or something lol. but its my first comic so like.... to be expected i guess.. ive learned a lot from it. paperteeth also has so many issues & i didnt really put much i learned from triptrack into it but thats because it was supposed to be a fun little side project! that i didnt have to think about too hard! then it exploded and ate triptrack for breakfast. rip. ( i am grateful though i just. didnt think that would happen, if i did, i would have tried harder lmao) so. yeah!

[wheredostarsgowhenyoudie]

Fan Post

So I just finished Wonderland of Love. I can't pick what to watch next and ended up starting The Legend of Zhuohua.

I already know I love Xu Kai, and now Jing Tian too because they are both epic and Wonderland of Love was so awesome. I have long been crushing on Xu Kai since I watched him in Falling Into Your Smile.

As a girl and then a woman and a creative spirit and as a cool person in general, I always prefer stories where girls and women save themselves and then others (even the heroes) because for the love of everything, the damsels in distress thing is NOT all we can do. Heck, we're way stronger, smarter and more capable than that if we actually put effort into it. On that note, that is also why I love books like 'The Princess Saves Herself On This One by Amanda Lovelace' and things like that.

But going back to Jing Tian, so it's only my second time watching her in 'The Legend of Zhuohua' and once again, she's that strong, independent, brilliant, wiseass and cunning female lead. Can I just say I love her roles?⭐ Like, she's so great at picking them!

Now, in my fav cdrama cast/heroines, she's right there with Zhao Lusi as Bai Fengxi/Princess Xi Yun in Who Rules the World. I'll also add Enola Holmes to the list haha.

So yup, I think Jing Tian is awesome. And google says she's 35. She's still so beautiful and super talented and I think she's a role model for it.

The thing is, I have also seen posts about people targeting actors/actresses for their age and having younger partners/leads. The one I saw was targeted on Bailu in SOKP. I can't speak about the casting truth be told. It isn't my place. But personally for me, 5-10yrs is alright.

The only one I wanted to watch but ended up feeling cringe about is 'Dating in the Kitchen'. Sorry if you're a fan. Tbh, I love the story plot too and I love Zhao Lusi. It seems like a good show, but I tried it and the age gap is just too vast for me. I couldn't fully enjoy it like the other shows, so I just watched clips.

If you have suggestions for dramas/books with strong female leads and handsome heroes, do share please :)

Bottom line, yup, Jing Tian is awesome haha.

[mochidreambubble]

From Golden Grove, Love Sunset Bird

[ongoing fic] {I started a planned multi-chapped fic as well as others related in the same concept - but not necessarily in the same timeline/continuation. This was what started the chain of OL fics. See all related fics on Ao3 here, and for just this ongoing one right here.

The chapters are not exactly going to be linear - the chapters will all take place at each individual MC’s step, so due to the year and age differences, the chapters will not be happening at the same time depending on which MC’s chapter it is.

Both MCs will be using they/them and left, strictly because everything about the MC is so customisable, from their Name, Looks, and Gender - all of which can be changed at any stage so, really I left most of those details up to however you want to interpret/imagine them as. Frankly, it’s not the main focus of this fic. View the MCs however you wish.}

[Summary:

Letters, Postcards (and potentially Emails) that span across years.

Long distance friends spilling their hearts over paper.

From, Sunset Bird ~ Love, Golden Grove]

(you are here) First - Next One: Beginnings & Always Step 1 ~ Hilltop Beginnings

Lizzie thinks it’s so funny that your pen pal is six. Well, pen pal is a stretch, considering your city friend ( baby , Lizzie insists on calling them, they’re so young they’re basically a baby) mostly sends you postcards plastered with stickers and a few words written by their Mama . It hasn’t changed since you started sending them letters - your doodles and writing in as many different coloured crayons as you could manage - at the start of the year. 

You met them through a creative type of program you saw a colourful poster for Friends As Far as the Eye Can See - Friends even across the Sea and you thought it sounded fun! Kids came and went at Sunset Bird, so you felt, it is pretty neat to have some kind-of friend that would still be your friend no matter what - summer going by wouldn’t be an issue cause so long as you kept sending letters, and they sent postcards, you were basically always connected!

Mom and Ma sat you down before you started sending them letters, a very long and very booooring lecture about stranger danger and what you could and couldn’t say. Both of them really hovered over your shoulder when you wrote your first letter. They seemed to relax when the first postcard from your pen pal arrived, it had a letter from their own Mama as well which was addressed to both of them instead (well, not to Mom and Ma exactly. It was for the ‘Parents’ so basically them).

Your moms said that your pen pal lived in the city.  You’re not sure why a six-year-old was doing this, and you kind of agree with Lizzie that they were pretty smallish in age (not that you’d ever tell her of course). Unlike you, it turns out, this wasn’t their idea.

“Their mother signed them up for this. I guess she was hoping to give them a special friend,” Your Ma says as she brushes your hair and you when you ask if they knew - Mom and Ma always have all the answers after all! You let her fuss over your hair as long as she likes, you love it. 

You wonder if they knew what was going on, Mom says they do as kids are always more mature and smarter than people give them credit for and she winks and both you and Lizzie. Mom and Ma’s friends liked to say Lizzie had a sharp wit (you don’t think Lizzie likes sharp things at all actually) and that you were uh… 

“ A precocious child ,” Your Ma repeats those words when you asked. She makes a face like she doesn’t quite like that people called you that. You ask, because you don’t even know what that word means. 

She smiles, but you can tell she’s smiling because you were slightly frowning. “It means you’re very mature, very grown-up, in a lot of ways. But you’ll always be my little baby.”

You guess you sort of understand what the word means now. Maybe? You don’t feel like an adult though. You still like to collect shells and make silly drawings and play all day, nothing like what your Mom and Ma do. But you do feel sort of kind of responsibility towards your far-away pen pal. Lizzie may be your older sister, but you were the older one between you and your pen pal. You felt like you needed to be cool? Or at least someone they could look up to, hopefully…

It’s summer right now and you finally have more time to play at the beach, so maybe you should tell them ‘bout some of the cool shells you’ve already found washed up recently? Or maybe about some of the tourists from places you’ve certainly never been to before? You just hope these were more interesting letters than the ones you wrote during your school days, where the most exciting stories seem to be about funky school lunches at the occasional field trip. Normally, you’d just write about your family…

“Come onnnn,” Lizzie huffs, dramatically slumping against your bedroom door. You forgot she’d been waiting for you. “We’re supposed to meet Shiloh at the playground since forever ago!”

You don’t want to tell her you don’t really feel like going. Shiloh is her friend; no matter how much you’ve tried to bond with Shiloh all the times you’ve seen him so far. You like to think you’re pretty likable (maybe?). You like talking to people and making new friends. You don’t really know why Shiloh not liking you bugs you so much. 

“You go on ahead, I’m thinking about-”

“About what to write to your baby friend far far away ,” your sister sticks her tongue out, ending with another dramatic impatient huff. “Nevermind, I’m going without you.”

You feel a little guilty, especially since you promised to go with her. But you also want to finish writing your letter…

…

Which unfortunately goes nowhere. Your paper is getting crumpled with all the times you’ve erased your pencil scribbles. Slumping back down your chair with a sigh, you wonder if you should go meet your sister after all. But you’ve been staring at the now very crumpled paper that was supposed to magically be your letter for a long while now. The sun was setting…

But you were getting nowhere, so outside you go! You made sure to call out to you Mom and Ma you were simply going for a short walk. Mom tells you not to wander too far, and even though you know that super well, you made sure to yell back that you wouldn’t.

You take in a deep breath, the air salty. Without the sun high in the sky, it wasn’t super hot at the very least. You were ready to just hang around the curb outside your home and stretch just for a bit. But you spot someone, a stranger. He was sitting on said curb, slumped over with his head in his hand. With the stranger hunched over, you could only see the sandy colour of his ponytailed hair. 

You stare long enough that he notices you.

You thought it was funny, at first. But the more you thought about it later, the sadder you felt. Cause the stranger, a dad it seemed, offered you a twenty-dollar bill to be his son’s friend. You knew very well that wasn’t how kids your age made friends. And even though it would have made you super rich, it didn’t feel right to take it. You didn’t mind meeting ‘Cove’, without that money bribe thank you very much. You think friends should be made without being paid to do so. Meeting new people made you super excited anyway. It would also be super fun to have another kid your age, next door even! Most kids your age lived super far away, and if not for school, you think it would be super hard to meet kids your age at all.

You agree to help the stranger-dad look for Cove. You found him on your hill. 

Made you wish you were magic. You’ve never met anyone so sad.

Of course, you made a promise to make this boy with the prettiest hair and the sad frown smile. You felt like you had to. 

……

Hello Fairy Friend

Is that ok? You gave me so many many mermaid stickers last time and called me your mermaid friend. So I wanted to call you something special too. You like fairies right?

I think I met someone magical today. His name is Cove, and I think he’s super special. His hair is green like the ocean in the morning. He’s my new neighbour, and I get bubbles inside me when I think about that.

<a doodle of Cove>

Cove was really sad though. Nothing I say makes him smile. I wonder if I can get him to smile. 

I feel sad for him. His dad wanted to give me twenty-dollars to be his friend. Moms and dads don’t do that right? Like, you mom didn’t give you money to send postcards to me?

Anyway! That’s it then! It’s my mission this summer to make my new neighbour smile!!!

<doodles of three smiley faces, with arrows naming you, Cove and your Fairy Friend’s name >

Making new friends makes people happy, right? It made me super happy to be friends with you, even though you live so far away.

<doodle of a fairy and a mermaid>

I wanted to do so many things and nothing at the same time this summer. But now!!! I have a plan!!! It is super great!!!

I’ll let you know if Cove and I become friends. Cause you’re my friend too, and I want you to know!

Okay, bye!!! Send me a postcard soon!!!!

From

Your Mermaid Friend!!!! 

[pokemoncenterofficial]

Hello, thanks for lurking around my blog!

What are the pokemon on your team like?

(Also feel free to send me questions)

- Twilight

(@twilight-rose-pokemon)

hi, there! thanks for asking, i love talking about my little guys!!!

widget is infinitely curious, like a toddler who wants to watch everything you do (though i'm uh. im pretty sure they're smarter than me, lol)

celeste is always excited!!! this one-foot-tall cleffa has more energy than i ever have and ever will. he's always making new friends, which has led him into a few troublesome situations.

yogurt is almost eerily calm! they're as curious as widget, meaning they get into hijinks together fairly often, but they're getting better and better at making themselves scarce before i find out

jellybean is really creative! i've seen them using sharp leaves to draw in the dirt outside, so i've been giving her (and everyone else) some markers and paper. she really likes it!!!

i don't know if The Egg counts, but it seems like whevener i put it down in the grass or near a tree, it gets warmer, and maybe... glows, a little bit?