#so uh did accept it but also found that in his info

[thetimelordbatgirl]

Tfw you learn your brother studied at the same college as you:

[ew-selfish-art]

Dp x Dc AU: Tim doesn’t rest, not even in Death.

It’s a heart attack that gets him, well, that and the insane amount of fear toxin flooding his system. He was dead for a full three minutes before he watches (how was he watching?) his eldest brother get his heart going again and get his unconscious body to the cave. Alfred gets him onto bat-life support and Leslie looks gravely at his family after she’s done her best to heal him. They decide to keep trying, they don’t want to believe he’s gone.

Tim watches in fury. He’s more useful than this, he’s not just going to die and let the family mourn him! Tim sets to work trying to understand what’s happened to him and he realizes he must be a ghost. Therefore, if he wants to understand ghosts he needs to go where ghosts are, and thankfully he just read a JLD doc saying to avoid Amity Park at all costs.

It’s takes him a second to get used to flying at full speed, but he finds himself surrounded by strange people in a strange town and… he notices himself becoming more visible. He’s able to interact with more and more objects, he even picked up a pencil! Poltergeist is a step forward in his plan, Tim accepts this change of pace.

Then Tim meets Danny, a normal human kid who looks like he could be brought into the manor and given a cape, who looks straight at him.

“Wait, who are you? You didn’t die in Amity did you?”

“No, I died in Gotham. I came here to understand how I’m a ghost and how I can get back to my dying body. I just need a few answers.” Tim explains, and notices that his voice isn’t his own, like it’s a different language entirely that comes out.

“Well, uh, I dunno about going back to your body but it’s not safe for you to be here. The GIW are looking for lost souls like you that people won’t notice go missing. So get back to your family and find peace. Im sorry but that’s really the best advice I have.” Danny answers.

Tim begs him for answers on the GIW. Begs him for any answers at all. Danny shrugs him off each time, tell him that he’s just a ghost and he needs to move on before he gets hurt or becomes a problem.

Tim decides if he’s a problem, he’ll probably get more answers.

Soon enough, he’s stepping into the end of a battle where Phantom is getting Skulker into a thermos, and demands answers, and if not answers help.

They brawl, and Tim’s training as Red Robin gets him farther than a lot of ghosts. And then, when he knows he’s beat and he’s about to share thermos space with the robot jackass (who he can interrogate and then build his own robot) Tim realizes something.

“You’re still alive, aren’t you? You’re Danny, black hair and blue eyes.” Tim says and suddenly Phantom is as still as the dead despite the accusation.

“How the fuck- dude. Okay, you know what? Fine. Lets go talk, you’re clearly not giving up and I need you to never say that shit out loud ever again.”

Because blackmail works in life for Tim, blackmail also apparently works in death.

He’s given all of the info they have on the GIW, he’s introduced to ghost technology and how it works with ectoplasm. He’s told about the portal (although they refuse to sneak him into the house to see it- he can handle a few lasers, ugh) and he’s told about the general sequence of events in Danny’s life/death.

And then Tim is suddenly back in his body in Gotham.

The family found a way to bring him back and he’s 100% alive, no longer ghostly, but he retained all his memories.

“We have a war against the government to start” are not the first words his family expected to hear from Tim post death.

[staytinyville]

Mingi

PLEASE REFER TO MASTERLIST TO GET FULL TAROT READING EXPERIENCE

↣ Summary: After your grandmother was hospitalized and you felt like your world was crumbling, something in you changed the moment you looked up at the stars one night. Coming out of your year-long depression funk, the first thing you did was bake some brownies for your neighbors. Song Mingi was just someone who could feel things about others that a normal person wouldn’t. And he smiled at the thought of you returning to your old self. 

↣ Characters/Pairing: Song Mingi x gn!reader

↣ Genre: fluff

↣ AU/Trope info: witch!mingi, non-idol!au, neighbors!au, 

↣ Word Count: 923

↣ Warnings: None

↣ A/N: This honestly could have been longer than I was thinking, but this is what I got. I still enjoyed the story, though. I love witchy characters. 

THE STAR

Hope, Faith, Purpose, Renewal, Spirituality

With this card coming right after the tower, it is meant to tell you that you have finished the life altering thing and are ready for a new beginning. You have connected to yourself much deeper now that things have hit you full force and thus you are experiencing something greater.

Now that things have ended, you are entering the point where your inner peace is full capacity and you are rejuvenating over it. You're so full of a life and ready to admit to change and accept your new life.

Because you are transforming not only things around you but also yourself, it is best to reevaluate your goals and new chances. Now is the time to start a new!

XVII THE STAR

You felt a melancholic feeling fill you to the brim the more you stayed outside on your balcony. However, as the wind seemed to blow in your face, everything from deep in your heart seemed to brush away from you. You suddenly got the urge for something sweet, a smile overtaking your face at the thought. 

And so you found yourself knocking on the door of your neighbor with a plate of cooled down brownies. The smell had brought a smile to your face, causing something to burst in your chest as you got a new-found energy. It was exhilarating, as though you had passed through the storm and made it to the other end of the cloud. 

“Hi, Mingi!” You beamed when the tall man opened up his door. 

“Hello.” He gave you a shy smile. 

You had always admired the way he would give shy smiles. His expressions when something excited him. And the way he would laugh with his whole heart. Mingi was a handsome man, and he made your heart flutter every time you would hang out. 

However, ever since the passing of your grandmother, you had been neglecting coming to see him. Him–along with some other neighbors–had come to give their condolences. Because you had spent such a long time in doors, they had gotten worried some over your well-being. Mingi especially.

“I—uh—I wanted to know if you would like some brownies.” You gave him a small smile, holding out your plate. “I made a good amount and I know if I don't give some away I'll end up eating it all over the week and cry about how much sweets I've eaten.” 

Mingi’s smile made your heart flutter. “Thank you. I'd love some.” As he took the plate, he paused for a moment as your fingers seemed to brush against his. 

Mingi quickly looked up at you, his eyes widening behind his glasses. There was a sudden light that seemed to seep into his very being that made him feel giddy. He smiled at you, suddenly standing straight up. 

“You're glowing.” He told you.

“Oh?” You blushed. “Ah—Thank you?” You tilted your head to the side, a smile on your lips. 

“I mean, like, your energy is really different.” Mingi tried to tell you. “It's good for you.”

“Thank you for noticing.” You told him. 

The feelings you had for Mingi seemed to return full force and you were brought back to how it was before. You missed his friendship and his advice for certain things. You could remember how you seemed to be having bad luck and he would offer you some advice to fix them. 

If   he would give you some herbs and remedies to help with your health. They always seemed to work and for that you were always excited to see him. 

“Would you like to come over? I don't know if I should watch a movie or drama?” You blushed. 

“I'd love to.” Mingi walked out of his apartment after grabbing his keys and closing the door. 

You grinned as you led him towards your own home. When you entered, you took in a breath at the smell of the brownies that had been cooking. You had finished up with the batches, the smell still lingered. You had also cleaned up before baking, which you had been thankful for as you watched Mingi look around. 

“I'm glad to see you doing fine.” He told you softly. 

You turned around to face him, a sad smile on your face. You felt good to know he had noticed your upward ascend into a better time. Not only that, but you needed something like this after the rough year you had. And it felt better to know that someone was watching over you. 

“Yeah.” You sighed softly. “It's been a tough year.”

“I see you started baking again!” Mingi grinned, pointing at the cooling brownies you had taken out before going to see him. “I missed your cakes.” He spoke softly. 

“Did you really?” You walked up next to him, grabbing a napkin to give Mingi a brownie.

“I don't know if it was the cakes or you're just coming by often to drop them off.” He scratched at the back of his head, giggling in nervousness. “Your food is always made with extra care.”

“Thank you, Mings.” You spoke softly. “If you ever want some more, don't be afraid to ask me. I wouldn't mind seeing you, either.” 

As you watched him enjoy the brownie you gave him, there was something about standing in your kitchen with a friend that made you want to change everything. There was a budding feel that you missed terribly and were ready to get back. 

“Do you believe in the universe?” You asked him. 

“You have no idea.” Mingi nodded his head, raising his eyebrows as he understood what you were saying. 

“I feel born again.” You told him. “Like everything from my past is drifting away and a new day has come.” You admitted. 

Mingi took in a breath, smiling at the fact that you were opening up to a new beginning. You were ready to find the next chapter of your life. He had been there, feeling everything that you had going on. The sad time in your life that you seemed to struggle to get out of. You deserved the life you had coming for you. And Mingi was front row to it.  “For someone like you, it has come in a lot of ways.”

Tags : @cultofdionysusnet , @wonderlandnet , @pirateeznet , @k-vanity

[trickstarbrave]

hi im on my bullshit making up random aus again

this is steren! not his main story either. i might write up his main story in bits and pieces at some point. but this is an au bc i wanna see him happy with his parents.

so he's getting dropped in @mulberrycafe's vivi's world. sorry kid, azura will grant your wish but not how you're thinking

obligatory picture of steren and some background info from this post. and bonus baby picture.

this is just part 1. part 2 will be the gang dealing with an unconscious dunmer who fsr has a moon and star ring of his own and nerevar's sword. which will be uh. concerning.

(also i didnt proofread this :'D)

--

Falling to his knees, Steren coughed up a bit of blood, willing the last of his magicka into a healing spell to keep his organs stable. 

It hadn’t been an easy battle, both physically or emotionally. 

Dagoth Ur, after all, had at one point been his father. 

Fate was cruel like that. His first lifetime he spent his whole, although very short, life chasing after his father and his legacy. He felt alienated in House Indoril, and when rumors stirred he might be of an unsavory bloodline no one dared name, things became more complicated for him. When he was a young adult--when he should be just spreading his wings and leaving to the world--he had found documents that were to be burned from the sinful Sixth House. 

Documents that clearly defined that he was born from Voryn Dagoth. Born from a supposed fling he refused to name and died shortly after childbirth that the Lord of House Dagoth refused to let rot and instead welcomed as a legitimate son with open arms. It seemed to go along with his memories too--hazy, faint things from when he was such a young child. Memories of a golden skinned mer with long black hair that would hold him close, laughing with mirth and pride, calling him ‘little star’. 

Steren then went to Vivec for answers. They were all on the first council when the war broke out. It was impossible the living god didn’t know his father was Voryn Dagoth. He demanded answers--why was his father killed? Who was his mother? Was she really dead? Did she miss him? Did he have any other relatives--aunts and uncles in other houses who knew who he was? Why had his whole house been destroyed and they shoved him into Indoril in secret? 

But Vivec had refused to answer. 

When Steren was young, the warrior-poet was oddly close to him. He still lived in Mournhold, having not yet built his temple in the Ascadian Isles, and welcomed Steren almost like a mentor. Encouraged his magic and swordsmanship, and assured him there was a place for him in the world. But when Steren knew the truth, the god’s eyes had gotten cold and hard.

“What good would come if I told you everything?” Was Vivec’s answer. “House Dagoth fell because they were traitors. Voryn Dagoth had betrayed our people and fought against us in the war that destroyed parts of Vvardenfell. Even Red Mountain spewed fire in anger.” His words only fanned the flames of resentment more and more for the young dunmer in front of him. “If there were relatives who could take you, I would have gladly let them. And no matter how much I tell you of your birth, of that accursed house, it will not undo that tragedy. It will not bring your parents back.” 

It was the truth, in a way. A painful truth Steren had refused to accept. He grew up isolated and lonely, wanting nothing more than to belong. Wanting nothing more than to know his history. Something to call his own. A relic from his parents. A memory to cling to. Proof that, at some point, in some way, he was loved like he always craved. 

And Steren chased answers until he died tragically, killed in a landslide as he tried and failed to get into an old House Dagoth outpost to look for hints of the stronghold’s location. He had barely gotten married and had a son himself, who no doubt had to grow up without him. 

And in Steren’s second life that tragedy never really ended. 

He was orphaned in Cyrodiil, not even knowing who his parents were, kicked out once he was the age of majority for a mer. And with little life skills, he had resorted to taking whatever work he could. He hadn’t intended to get mixed up in anything illegal--that would be stupid. But the imperial guards didn’t much care about his ignorance when they rounded up everyone involved in the smuggling operation. Steren pled his innocence: he thought it was just unloading cargo off a ship. How was he supposed to know it was smuggled goods? But the law didn’t care much about it at the time. He was to serve his sentence of five years since he had no money to pay a fine. 

Only to, after one year, be shipped off to Morrowind, unknowing what events would unfold. 

Another cough, and a bit more blood spilled onto the volcanic rock. He felt so warm here. The lava below was making him sweat like when he had corpus fever, but he didn’t have the strength to stand up and leave. 

“Steren,” Nerevar’s voice spoke to him, kneeling beside him and trying in vain to wipe his brow. It wasn’t entirely unappreciated; while Nerevar couldn’t really touch him, the spectral presence gave a faint, cool sensation on his sweaty skin. “It’ll be alright--” Nerevar was always quick to reassure and help him. “Do you have a potion or two?”

At the very least, in this lifetime he found the answers he sought--his other parent had been none other that Nerevar. Steren had been born of a fling--a quiet, drunken affair neither of the two had expected anything else from. Nerevar had told him as such, but that they both loved Steren very dearly regardless. That Nerevar had loved Voryn, even if he couldn’t say so openly. The hortator had run off after discovering the pregnancy, ignorant to what the dwemer were getting up to, to have Steren in secret under the excuse of going on a pilgrimage to Azura, and handed Steren off to Voryn to raise. 

And after his death Nerevar couldn’t bear leaving his child alone. Reincarnation and prophecy be damned; his son was alone in the world. Nerevar had wanted Voryn to raise him so he was always looked after and loved by at least one of his fathers, and now with Voryn dead Nerevar would take up that role. Yet, he was powerless to speak to Steren--to answer his questions and protect him like he always wanted. And with that regret he continued to watch over Steren’s child. Then Steren’s child’s child. All the way until Steren was reborn to a dying mother fleeing persecution in the Illiac Bay. 

Steren had a feeling his dad was going to have to see him die all over again, once again helpless to stop it. The Moon-and-Star ring let him speak with and see Nerevar, but there was only so much a ghost could do.

“I used the last of them…” Steren admitted. He had just enough to barely survive the fight, gulping them down while he dodged attack after attack. 

“Recall amulet?” Nerevar replied, and Steren tried to get the energy to dig through his pack. If he could pull out an amulet or scroll he could use that to get into town--limp his way to a healer or general goods seller for a few potions to stabilize himself.

But then there was a spectral blue light that didn’t match the golden glow of Nerevar, and a woman’s voice spoke to him. 

“Well done.”  She was smiling affectionately, but Steren kind of wanted to curse her out. “With this, Morrowind has been saved. And Nerevar’s soul might rest.”

“Azura--” Nerevar scowled in response. 

“It has been over three millennia, hortator.” Azura’s smooth reply came. “Are you not tired of this tragedy?”

“My son still needs me--”

“Your power wanes even now, and you know this.”  Azura’s reply came. “A soul should not be as active as yours is, haunting the living. You do not rest in the home of your ancestors. You do not rest even in Moonshadow.” Steren’s eyes widened. “Through force of will you have continued on, but I know internally you weep for the sharmat’s death.” Nerevar looked away now, still scowling. “Your soul cannot survive much longer without a rest. You will cease to be.” 

Steren didn’t want to say goodbye either. Tears were running down his face at the news, but he nodded his head. 

“Go.” Steren forced a smile. 

“Steren--”

“I don’t want to be responsible for the death of both of my fathers.” He had admitted. “If you leave now, it won’t be goodbye forever, right?” 

The look Nerevar gave him was indescribably painful. 

“I’ll see you again one day, right?” Nerevar wrapped his arms around him, trying in vain to hold him tight. “And I’ll give you a real hug then, Dad.” He wanted to hold Nerevar back in return, but he had long since learned he couldn’t. Only in his dreams could he. But the cool embrace was oddly soothing. 

“Of course.” Nerevar shook with sobs himself. “I’ll be waiting for you, little star. With open arms.” 

With that, the golden light faded, as Nerevar pressed his hand to his cheek, smiling at him the best he could through his own ghostly tears. 

And then it was just Steren and Azura in the chamber now. 

“You have done well, righting the wrongs of the past.” Azura smiled again. “You are truly a precious child to undertake this monumental task. And to you I am eternally grateful.” She should be, honestly. Nerevar couldn’t be reborn to do it, so here he was answering for the sins of his fathers, correcting their wrongs and setting everything back on course. He got the divine disease, went through hell and back, and had to kill one of his fathers with his own hands and blasphemous tools. 

“I can grant you whatever wish you desire.” Azura’s presence was even warmer as she came close, though given the heat of the heart chamber he wished it wasn’t; he missed the cool, spectral touch of his father already. Yet, despite the pain clouding his senses, he tried to think. A daedric prince offering a favor was a big deal. Many would wish for pleasures beyond their wildest dreams, or fame and future. His whole family line had been cursed with rotten luck, and he could finally make something of himself…

Yet, none of that had any appeal. To be honest, before being shipped off to Morrowind he had no idea what to do with his life. Given he hadn’t even reached his 100th year and was still barely an adult by dunmer standards, he thought he would have some time to figure it out. And now that he saw his past life and finally learned all he wanted to and more…

Well. He didn’t know what he wanted from life. How was he supposed to go on alone, even with wealth and fame? All he would be thinking about is, in the afterlife his fathers might be waiting for him. 

“...I just want my parents back.” Steren admitted after a few moments of silence.

“You know I cannot bring back the dead.” Azura frowned. 

“I know.” Steren replied. “Instead I’d rather… Just be with them.” It was unspoken what he was asking for, but he thought he implied it well enough:

He was asking for Azura to finally let him rest too. To put him out of his misery. He had done his part, and the kindest thing she could do for him is to finally let him rest peacefully in the presence of his parents. He already made peace with his death on the long trek up Red Mountain, though he never told Nerevar that fact. 

After a moment of silence, Azura closed her eyes. “I see.” She approached even closer. “I can reunite you with them then, if that is what you wish.”

“It is.” Steren was certain. Even if she didn’t take his life here, he didn’t expect to live much longer with the injuries he sustained anyways. 

“Are you truly prepared to leave this all behind?” She asked again. “There will be no going back.”

“Positive…” Nerevar would lecture him, cursing him to the deadlands and back, but Steren was so very, very tired. He would take the lecture, comfortably in his father’s arms once again, before finally having a nice, long rest. 

“Then that shall be my gift to you.” 

White was the next thing he could see. All encompassing, painful white, as he quickly went from feeling far too hot to feeling frigid. 

And then he was falling. And falling fast. Seren scrambled, activating his slowfall ring, his heart accelerating and lungs still burning. Still, the enchantment could only cushion his fall and try as he might to flail around in the air, to get to dry land he could see, he ended up falling into the water. 

“Fuck!” Steren swore. The cold felt like knives digging into his skin, and before he knew it he felt like he was gasping for air, suffocating despite his head being above water, as he continued to flail towards the beach. He climbed himself out of the frigid waves eventually, shivering, now soaking wet. 

Azura had promised him he’d get to see his parents, but he never expected Moonshadow or the ancestral realm to be… Cold and snowy. There wasn’t a whole lot of snow in Mournhold after all. Yet here he was, now soaking wet and freezing, snow on the hills he could see. 

If he was dead, did it matter if he was cold? That was a question he had. It sure felt like a pressing issue though, so he continued to swear and curse, trying to think. How should he keep warm? He wasn’t used to the cold growing up somewhere subtropical and then being shipped to Vvardenfell where the volcano kept the climate oddly warm compared to the neighboring country of Skyrim. 

So he pressed on. Maybe Nerevar wanted to retreat to a colder area of Moonshadow. All Steren needed to do was find a place to warm up and find him. 

That was easier said than done though. 

He had underestimated the problems with wet clothing. His robe froze, forcing him to discard it, along with a chunk of his armor still stuck to it. He pulled out a cloak, trying to keep warm, but the wind seemed to seep through the fabric to the wet silk under it and still left him shivering. He wandered and wandered, his hands going numb and his head aching like he had a terrible migraine. 

And then he started feeling oddly feverish, like he did back in the heart chamber. His clothes felt like they were wet from sweat, trapping the heat against him until it was burning. He would have stripped down more, except he was afraid if he did he would stop moving. He had to keep moving forward. One step after the other. His dad was here, and he didn’t want to stop.

Faintly, he heard people talking. His ears perked up as he blinked. His vision seemed blurry and blown out, stinging from the harsh glare of sunlight on pure white. Yet, over a small hill, he could make out two familiar faces:

A golden skinned chimer in House Indoril armor, white hair, and blue eyes. A dunmer with long, black hair and red eyes, a third eye on his forehead. He knew their voices too--he couldn’t possibly be mistaken. There were other people there but Steren didn’t pay them much mind; his fathers being here, together, was much more important.

“Dad!” Steren called out, his voice hoarse, before coughing again. Sucking in the air to yell felt like needles were pricking his already injured lungs inside and out, but he was so close--! Just a bit further. He willed his numb legs to push him forward through the heavy snow. 

Nerevar gave him a confused look, before Steren wrapped his arms around him. 

“Woah--” Nerevar stumbled slightly as Steren threw all of his weight onto Nerevar. “Oh gods, he’s freezing!” 

“His hair is frozen--” Voryn said, confused and equally concerned for the strange dunmer who seemed delirious from the cold. Yet, Steren could barely even understand the words coming out of their mouths. All he could do was cling to Nerevar, relishing in the fact his dad felt solid and warm under his touch rather than ephemeral and cold. 

“Here,” Nerevar unclasped his cloak, wrapping it around his shoulders. “C’mere, let’s get you someplace to warm up, alright?”

[rukafais]

Ruka, I just wanna express my condolences for the Drizzt fandom being such a pain on here. Made me realize that I got lucky just finding the books randomly in a store and picking em up because they looked cool. Absolutely 0 background info or interaction with the fandom, just purely immersing myself in the series for weeks and sharing some highlights with friends. Hope the haters leave you alone and you can just keep enjoying the series for what it is.

Honestly that was close to my experience once I finally got to reading them and not just absorbing What People Knew About Them, I tore through all the books without looking them up at all or stepping into the fandom even a little bit haha, which means I got to get through them all without watching people dump on them near-constantly like Drizzt is the worst series ever made.

It's part of why I love them so much, because when I finally got to sit down and read the damn things my opinion completely reversed, that's how hard they won me over. The books are full of love for their characters, their setting, and are respectful of the reader's time, and I do love them for that.

Which, uh, was a double nasty surprise when I went to look for cute fanart and found a tag filled with weird circlejerking about how much everybody hates Drizzt and the author (what is with the weird fucking ad hominem btw, like you can't just say you don't like the writing style, the author is also responsible for everything wrong with drow and dnd).

Like I hadn't already absorbed a shit ton of jokes by osmosis about how Drizzt is a mopey bitch who's so sad and tragic and brooding and also found out that was...a total fucking lie actually, so it wasn't a great atmosphere to run into and did not endear me to a lot of the community here :/ It's improved massively of course, but the fact that intensely negative people have been running the show for as long as this site has existed is fucking dumb actually.

ALSO PEOPLE KEPT LEAVING SHITTY COMMENTS ON MY CUTE FANART POSTS IN THE TAGS WHICH WAS REALLY ANNOYING ACTUALLY I DIDNT LIKE THAT VERY MUCH. I ENJOY THAT PEOPLE ENJOYED MY EARLY FANART BUT I DID NOT ENJOY PEOPLE LEAVING DISPARAGING COMMENTS ABOUT HOW BOOKS I HADNT READ SUCKED.

But honestly it's fine. I can handle a few weird comments even if they annoy the hell out of me (and are often demonstratably completely wrong, like cmon if you're going to be an asshole at least be correct about the stuff you like), I don't like it when people leave weird comments on the stuff of people who are just starting or clearly enjoying the books because it's so out of pocket but all I can do is write or draw to counteract that effect and clean up the tag a little.

I feel worse for the people who have loved this series from childhood honestly. There's so much negativity surrounding Drizzt and I can't imagine how exhausting that must be to never have a place to talk about a series that means a lot to you because the general accepted opinion is that you hate it, the series sucks, and everyone is in some sort of bizarre love-hate orbit because The Author Loves Me Not and His Characters Are Wasted On Him, He's A Hack.

So yeah, hope you continue to enjoy yourself with it too anon :)b

[ambalambs]

Okay another question! Tell me a little bit about each member of Miko's adopted family and his relationships with each of them please! <3

Okie dokie! Gonna toss this one under a cut too in case I get carried away again lol also kinda nervous to share info on basically npcs ive made for my oc but we're gonna choose to ignore the cringe in this house!

Okay so first since ive already talked a bit about her before is miko's adopted mom. Her name is Fiona u3u she's the rock of the household obviously. She keeps the kids and even her husband in line but she is so so compassionate. Her grandfather was an instrument maker and he'd play them too so she was raised around music which miko was very fortunate to stumble on a family that had that kind of background (perhaps there were some higher power at play there that guided him to this specific family. We may never know lol) she and miko get along sooo well he adores his mom. She's had to drag him around by the ear a few times tho while he was growing up lol but she has always been very good at reading him which when it comes to miko who is master at hiding his pain, she was always the first one to be like nuh uh come talk to me lol

Next is his dad, Brynstan. Miko's mom always lovingly calls him Bryn for short. Miko's dad is a good and simple guy. He's just a farmer lol he'd much rather not think about what's going on in the rest of the crazy world and only focus on his crops and chocobo and family. It took him a bit to really figure out how to be with miko when he was a kid. Like he came to love him a lot and seeing him as his own son but there were a lot of "what am I even doing" moments for him. But miko was always the biggest help to him around the farm and never complained and always found silly ways to make him smile. Their relationship is good of course but there's like this shadow over them I think that they both have always felt that for miko its like "You're my dad and I love you but you aren't the dad that I was supposed to need" if that makes sense? Considering the situation of Miko's real dad was always left as a mystery. But still his adopted dad is a really good guy who only ever did his very best by him ;u;

Now for his siblings lol his little brother's name is Dustan and oh boy are he and miko a pair. They would constantly tease and pester each other. Dustan would always get a kick out of pulling miko's tail or blowing on his ears to make them flick and just drive miko insane lol they never got into any serious fights tho it was just lots of brother teasing. Dustan was just a toddler when miko joined the family and was the one who actually coined the name miko for him. His little kid talk would try to say miqote but itd just come out as miko and so he'd just pitter patter around the house after miko repeating mikomikomiko over and over until it just became a thing lol miko just kinda accepted it since it seemed well enough to have a new name for a new life. But now that his brother is older they still tease each other but just not as much. Deep down dunstan kinda has a bit of nervousness around him since his big brother is now some big crazy super hero wol out there killing gods. Probably wouldn't be wise to pull the tail of a guy with that kind of power anymore, which miko notices that a bit in him but he tries to not let it bother him and tries to act like things are the same as they always were between them.

And lastly he has a little sister named Bayla. She was born not long after miko was taken in so miko has been there a part of her life since day one. And oh gosh she is just precious. Definitely has her mom's temperament but she is super gentle and has a bit of an adventurer's heart in finding wonder in everything she encounters in the world. She definitely looks up to miko a lot and she'd follow him around like a little duckling when they were kids. And miko was so good with her, he would braid her hair and put flowers in it, he'd let her follow him out on his little ventures in the woods and teach her all the things he learned from his miqo'te tribe and teach her songs and just all sorts of things. They were bestest buddies and she definitely took it the hardest in the family when he decided to leave and explore the world. Every time they get a letter from miko tho she's the first to rush into the house and excitedly beg their mom to read it outloud to the family lol him being the wol is the coolest thing to her, except the moments when she hears the stories of the really awful things he's had to fight from people in town spouting his legends. Its hard for her to know if its true or not when miko doesn't include some of those tales in his letters. She won't admit it tho but she is a teensy bit jealous of the twins cuz they get to adventure with her brother and why can't she gosh darnnit! She has half a mind to join the adventurers guild herself so she can go with him but her mom keeps trying to stop her lol she's still too young for that. But anyway I've rambled off about her a lot more than the others oops but yeah she and miko are super close and he misses and thinks about her a lot ;u;

Also just as an aside miko and his siblings would sometimes hang out in his room way past their bedtime and play triple triad. Theyd get scolded every time they got caught xD

But yeah thats the family! I hope that was kinda the info you were looking for. Its probably not terribly exciting since they're honestly just a very simple family living in a quiet spot out in gridania territory. For miko when he comes home after some of his adventures its always kinda jarring for him cuz its almost like time stands still there for him, not much changes except his siblings getting older. Miko does worry a lot tho that any enemies he's made out there will find out about them and come back and hurt them to get to him so he does try to keep as little information about them as possible from reaching the public eye.

[linagram]

[meet the prisoners! (t2 edition) ] prisoner 006: yoshioka eiko

wow another prisoner that was so hard to draw it's eiko's turn!! btw i just realized that there's four profiles left soooo yeah i'm excited to start posting their vds after that! :D though i will most likely manage to post only one or two this month. girl help summer is going to end so soon..

General info.

T1 Verdict. Eiko was voted innocent and she found it a bit surprising at first, but accepted it very quickly. Of course, she teased Eiji a lot and said things like "Oh, you did it to make me like you more, didn't you?" and "Hehe, I knew you like me". Thanks to her verdict, she got a new outfit and she also has a different hairstyle now. She isn't as happy about being forgiven as Shun, but she also isn't asking for a guilty verdict, she's just okay with it. She just finds it interesting how she was forgiven, but a 16 year old boy and a girl who was.. uh.. "apparently stalked" weren't. Heh, the guards sure have their favorites. Though to be honest, she kinda had a feeling that she will end up being voted innocent even though her crime sounds so unreasonably cruel. Maybe the guards think there must be more to it?.. Hm, well, if that's the case, she will give them all the truth that they want.

T2 Personality: It's hard to describe Eiko's T2 version, because it's like.. at first it seems like she hasn't really changed, but her personality still feels very different. She's still her usual self, she's still chilling, she doesn't care about what happens to her, but it's like she's more.. curious about this place now? She doesn't ask the guards anything though, simply because she knows they don't have any answers either. They've got way too much power in their hands and don't know what to do with it. She doesn't really try to investigate anything either, she just keeps all of her questions inside her head. Trying to uncover the secrets of this place is Reina's job anyway. But hey, she's grateful to Eiji and Miki for "saving" her! She even came up with a very.. "fun" way to thank Eiji specifically. But more about that in her VD. Interestingly, I can't say that she's more "manipulative" now or anything like that, because Eiko claims that Shun is acting like that not because of her, but only because he's that happy that he was forgiven. When it comes to her relationship with Kei though.. Haha, that's not her becoming more "evil" or anything, that's just her being her.

T2 Relationship dynamics.

No, she doesn't actually care about Shun that much. Even his looks are not helping anymore, which is funny to think about, since she was the one who cut his hair for him. But it's fun to have a tall and surprisingly strong guy follow you around everywhere, being ready to do anything for you while also claiming that he's the more dominant one in this relationship. Eh, she'll just let him dream for now. Also having him around is very useful, since he's basically her bodyguard in a way and even though most prisoners like or at least tolerate Eiko, she still wants to be careful. Yurika's actions in particular worry her a little. What? No, no, it's not like she's afraid of being killed by her, the guards won't let that happen. If Yurika does anything to her hair, nails or clothes though, Eiji will have to try his best to stop Eiko from trying to kill her right there.

Fine, yes, the way she treats Kei is.. not good, so what? Didn't the guards vote him guilty? Doesn't he deserve it? Call her the third guard, she's helping them do their job. It may sound weird or out of character for her, but considering that this is the girl who killed a guy for "lying to her".. Yeah, maybe her morals are stronger than they seem. And again, she doesn't have any serious feelings for him at all, she doesn't love him, but she also doesn't hate him. And Kei knows why she's doing all of this to him and it's not like he tried to say no to her, so.. Yay! She also helps him leave his cell and walk around, so he should be grateful to her, right?

Her relationship with Eiji has changed a little bit, but mostly on her side. If in season 1 she just teased him, complimented him and all of that stuff, now she's actually kind of.. protective over him? It's very subtle, sure, but it's still there. She makes sure he doesn't overwork himself and there even was a time when she asked for a new pillow since hers "wasn't soft enough" and then she gave it to Eiji because "he looked so tired, she thought he's not getting enough sleep". Eiji getting annoyed and tired more easily actually does worry her a little, especially because this guy loves Milgram so much and it's like.. a "safe space" to him, if it's even possible to call it that. If even this prison's biggest fan is not doing good, there's no chance for anyone to find happiness in this place.

Music info.

Milgram cover: Okay, so here's a fun little story: so Eiko was supposed to be voted guilty canonically and I really did think that she will get voted guilty even though I had some ideas for her "Innocent" version and I already had her "Guilty" version profile prepared AND THEN I GOT HIT WITH HER GETTING 81.8% INNOCENT. I'M STILL NOT OVER IT. So. Uh. Y-yeah, I had to go and change some stuff quickly. Anyway, she gets Umbilical as her Innocent cover, because there's.. not really that many songs that fit her Innocent version and yay, if we're counting her T1 cover, she's officially a Yuno kinnie now! (Though they feel very different to me) But seriously, the lyrics actually do fit her (and her relationship with her victim) a lot, especially now that I'm looking at her T2 VD. Ah, and the reason why I've mentioned her Guilty version is because she was supposed to get MeMe in that case. S-so, uh, have fun with that information &lt;;3 We all know who gets MeMe this time though, don't we.

DECO*27 cover: She gets Status Effect: Girlfriend! I think even the title fits her, haha.

Different Vocaloid producer cover: She gets Runway no Fantasista by Tokotoko! I think the vibe is very Eikocore and some lyrics actually hint to what kind of person she was like before meeting her victim ("Of course, love and romance isn't my everything, but getting intoxicated once in a while isn't that bad", "Don't worry about being lonely, the successful ones are always alone")

Her T2 Trailer Voicelines:

"Hiiii~ Oh, I've missed you two so much! Especially you, Eiji-kun~ Yes, yes, I know, it's only been a day, but you two are just so nice to me! So, this is gonna be the second trial, right? I see, I see.. Well, don't push yourself too hard, okay? And just a reminder that I will answer any questions you have- Hm? Eiji-kun, is it just me, or you look like you're about to pass out?"

"Wow, you look better than I expected! Haha, come on, darling, don't be shy~ Hm? What do I mean by that? Oh.. It's just that I had expected to find you in a hospital, covered in bandages and looking like you're going to die at any second."

Her T2 Song Trailer Voiceline:

"I feel like I just knew that you will forgive me."

Trivia.

She wasn't going to change her hairstyle at first, but then she got inspired after giving Shun a haircut, though she didn't want to cut her own hair and changed it only a little bit. She prefers her hair to be long actually.

She also never asked for a new outfit and Miki got it for her because.. uh.. she thought Eiko probably feels too cold in her prison uniform, considering how much skin it's showing. Eiko actually found it cute and thanked her. (Though it didn't help much and her outfit is still pretty revealing.. Eiko is totally okay with that though.)

She's still okay with any decision the guards are going to make, since she still believes she's innocent and they can't do anything to change her opinion, so there's no point in her arguing with them. 

[kenobihater]

so, uh... netflix avatar certainly is a show, huh? i just finished episode 1 and i'm gonna ramble on about it below. blacklist "#len watches natla" or "natla spoilers" if you either don't wanna see this shit or you don't want spoilers.

fair warning that i was relatively neutral going into the show, but episode 1 was... hmm. i'm still struggling to formulate words on it. i didn't love it, but it wasn't shyamalan levels of bad by any means. i'm gonna hop right into episode 2 after this post bc i've heard the pilot and the finale are the weakest episodes and i genuinely wanna give it a fair chance before i cast judgment.

so, they open with the air nomad genocide. i knew this going in, but it certainly sets a Tone, a Tone that does NOT feel like avatar. like, i understand they wanted to elevate the level of maturity a bit and make things more serious, but was it rlly necessary to see a shit ton of air nomads get fireballed to death, culminating in gyatso getting burned alive trying to protect a room of children, who also presumably get incinerated?? they didn't show that part, instead doing a hard cut to katara waterbending a century later (resulting in EXTREME whiplash for me), but them violently dying is the only way that ends.

also, minor quibble: the firebending looked normal to me, but the general who killed gyatso said smthn like "you might have beaten me any other day, but today we have the power of the comet!" but their bending doesn't look very different from zuko's bending later? it's a little more flamey ig, but in s3 when ozai gets juiced up the motherfucker is out here destroying whole forests from his airship.

onto the acting. gordon cormier's portrayal felt a little too rehearsed and theatrical rather than natural, but he's a kid and acting is hard so i'm def gonna cut him some slack, and he does seem pretty happy and earnest, even if his delivery is a bit forced. kiawentiio tarbell is pretty good, but her dialogue left a bit to be desired, which isn't on her and i'll complain about later. ian ousley gave the best performance imo, tho ymmv bc ik there's some controversy around his heritage that i don't feel i have the right to get into due to tribal registration being a complex topic, blood quantum being awful, and me being white. gran gran was barely there and just exposited everywhere in a weird callback to the og intro, so i don't really feel like she's that important even tho i liked her casting. uncle iroh... i'm not sure. he wasn't too prevalent, which is understandable this early on. i liked paul sun-hyung lee's warmth, but don't have much to say otherwise yet. and then there's dallas james liu. i think his acting was pretty solid, at least on the level of dev patel's performance (which i swear is a compliment bc he was the only good part of shyamalan's dumpster fire of a film imo). i think the issue i have with the performance is down to the writing, which i guess i'll get into now bc it's my biggest issue with episode 1.

the dialogue flow was mid, and there was a bit of info dumping from gyatso in his scene with aang which i found distracting. speaking of info dumping, gran gran was just kinda there to explain the last hundred yrs to aang and then have zero interactions with her grandchildren before they flew off, which was dumb.

still on the topic of writing: i mentioned the tone set by the opener, and i think that's bad, but it also fucked up the pacing by not starting at the same point the og did. by the end of the episode they shoehorned in the trip to the southern air temple with like 11 mins left (i checked) and so that made aang's grief triggering the avatar state feel rushed. i also thought the flashback to gyatso's earlier dialogue when aang saw his corpse was unnecessary. like bitch, i watched that 30 mins ago, i remember it fine! by the end, aang seemed waaaay more driven than he did in s1 of the original, almost as self-confident as he was in s3. like, he accepted being the avatar real quick. i'm pretty sure he'll display a bit more uncertainty later in the season (at least, i hope he does), but that still felt off to me.

my biggest complaint about the writing is zuko. i KNOW he's a brat, i am well aware of that as a lifelong zuko girlie, but was him trying to kill sokka necessary??? he was literally about to throw a fireball at him when he was lying defeated in the snow before aang stepped in. he also commanded his soldiers to burn the village to the ground at one point. i understand he's a villain and that they're attempting to corner the Prestige TV market here, so they've decided to make him grittier. i don't like it, though. in the cartoon, zuko is driven in his awful quest, but he's also honorable - in the village he nods his head in agreement when aang asks if he'll leave the village alone if aang goes with him. that little moment showed his honor, his true honor, peeking through. also in the cartoon, he's really bad at finding the avatar despite being very skilled in combat. i don't know how they're gonna have him show up very much in this season if he's gonna be more of a ruthless asshole tbh.

overall, i'm left just kinda confused with the tone and character writing of the show. i'm going to watch the whole season because it's only 8 episodes and i genuinely hope it improves somewhat, but i'd give it either a 6 or a 6.5/10, i can't quite decide.

[finniestoncrane]

I'd love to hear more about your OC, and well as her relationship with Arkham!Riddler. I just really love OCs in general, so if you have any kind of info on Conundrum as well as any other Batman OCs you have that you'd like to share, I'm all ears 👂👂👂👂👂👂

oh snow!! i would be more than happy to go off about her ;-; i don't have any other ocs yet, this is the first time i've ever delved into something like this and i LOVE IT it's so much fun

these are mostly headcanons and little bits of info that i haven't really put into anything proper yet 💚

so uh yeah here's more info on my self-insert, very self-indulgent oc u-u (and everyone has to be nice because the only reason i haven't made an oc up until this point is because people were mean to me in the past lmao)

so uh her name is conundrum (i'm toying with a real name, is it dumb to have her real name be connie drum? probably but hey it's dc)

she grew up in gotham with an aunt who she would rather never speak of. after a brief stint of sleeping rough and couch surfing in her teens she found a job at a diner doing whatever anyone else didn't want to. they held a weekly trivia quiz and she usually managed to scrape extra money by winning that because she's good at remembering facts and trivia.

alfred frequented the diner, as an escape and a guilty pleasure, and he became fond of her. they have a sweet relationship, a sort of honorary father figure, offering to have her move into wayne manor with them. she rejected the offer because she's very much "eat the rich" but she did accept his offer to pay for her to go to university under a wayne scholarship. she has no ties to bruce and has only interacted with him twice.

at university she studied psychology and criminology and met harley. they've remained best friends since. they're both chaotic, a little bit silly, adorable and perpetually cheery while being a little bit scary tough. in fact, it was harley who encouraged her to put her skills and knowledge into working in gotham's criminal world (even though connie wasn't sure that joker was... right for harley) and so naturally, connie decided that someone smart would be the best to tie herself to.

eddie is with her in every sense of the word. and he likes to maintain that it's begrudgingly so, despite the fact that he knws fine well that he loves her and she's everything to him (hello my wishes and dreams lmao).

she's eddie's goofy little cheerleader, entirely dorky and unapologetically in love with him and supportive of every horrible thing he does. she's fun and sweet and he's mean and grumpy, the perfect match.

unlike me, connie is not afraid of getting hurt and does not have motion sickness, so she roller skates everywhere and is in a roller derby team with harley. she also skates everywhere in the sewers and in eddie's workshop which really irritates him, but she's faster at passing him his tools (or at least going to get him the right tool on the second or third try). her favourite skates are glittery with neon, glow in the dark wheels that have flashy lights in them.

eddie gives her a weekly stipend which she calls her pocket money, and he hates that.

she's a big strong fat girl, and eddie likes having her around because she's soft and squishy. she has a gap tooth, on the top row of her teeth, the same colour eyes as him, her natural hair colour is red, she has anxiety, ocd and autism, she's a chaotic bisexual slut, and she has a huge crush on poison ivy so she avoids her at all costs because anytime she's ever been near her she's been unable to focus or speak.

uh this is the little drawing i did of her 💚

[tehloserprince]

I was tagged by @santacoppelia - thank you! 🥺🧡

1. were you named after anyone? Michael Jordan, ha ha. No, really, my mom's a huge fan. She's followed his career ever since his UNC days. I love telling people that's how I got my name. For the record, although I have an obligatory fondness for my hometown team and a nostalgic love for the Bulls in their Jordan Era, I'm currently a Bucks fan.

2. when was the last time you cried? It's really difficult for me to cry. It's such a relief at times, tho. I cried a few weeks ago, when I realized my special needs dog was having some epilepsy-related issues. I've mostly accepted that I'll probably never see him with a grey muzzle, but I really hope we can share more time together. There are still so many things I want to show him.

3. do you have kids? Nope. Sorta did, once, but I don't really talk about that much. It was a good experience, and I still love/think about her. But my kids are all the critter variety these days ;) I enjoy hanging out with my friends' kids, but they're all growing up too quickly :/ What even is time

4. what sports do you play/have you played? I never really played anything professionally, but I liked soccer, basketball, and running when I was younger. I got into boxing and Muay Thai when I was a little older, and also did a lot of hiking. Unfortunately I'm crippled, so I'm limited in what I can/should do. I try to go on lots of walks with my pup and swim whenever I can. Sometimes I still wrap my hands and hit the bag, which is fun.

5. do you use sarcasm? No, never. (/s obvs)

6. what's the first thing you notice about people? The way they treat other people - especially the most vulnerable - and animals. Physically, eyes and smile. I'm more impressed by people who can be genuinely kind without ulterior motivation.

7. what's your eye color? Hazel.

8. scary movies or happy endings? Depends on my mood! In terms of scary films, gore feels lazy and boring to me. I need a film to get inside my head in order to be scary. But I'm a sucker for happy endings too, which is a lot of projection on my part, ha ha.

9. any talents? Err. Uh. Writing, I guess? Remembering a lot of random info? Friends are consistently surprised that I'll remember so many little details, especially if it's like ... me surprising them with something they mentioned liking at some point. Funny enough, I'll frequently forget why I walked into a room these days, but I'm glad some parts of my memory still excel! I'm also told that I'm extremely patient, if that counts as a talent.

10. where were you born? Charlotte, NC.

11. what are your hobbies? Writing, reading, watching movies and television shows (mostly with the BFF), random crafts, DIY home improvement stuff (I painted my entire house despite my health worsening over the years and I'm very proud of that), canine behavior/training, and playing video games. I don't have as much time for games, but I still enjoy it. Started a new game of Red Dead Redemption 2 this winter, and I've been spending hours just roaming the land with my horse.

12. do you have any pets? Ha, yes! I do a lot of animal rescue and have some life goals related to that, so hopefully I'll always be surrounded by critters. My beloved dog (Skippyjon) passed away in 2022 (old age and CHF). I had a cockatiel for 21 years - a birthday present when I turned 8. We basically grew up together, and the house is still way too quiet without him. I had other dogs (Smokey and Locke), and a lot of fish. In college, I had an "illegal" hamster, Kai (Kaizoku). He was fat and wonderful. I chose him because he squeezed past his siblings, sat in their food dish, and started shoving food in his mouth. King behavior tbh. I had a rat named Stevie in my late 20s. Currently, I have a deaf special needs dog (Oscar aka Ozzy), a cat that I hand-raised because she was found abandoned shortly after birth (Swayze), and a rabbit (Shasta aka Bad Bunny). At some point, I decided that all my rabbits would be named after soda brands, ha.

13. how tall are you? About 5'10".

14. favorite subject in school? Literature, Spanish, Philosophy, sometimes History, Classical Studies, Art. Anything that wasn't math, because I always struggled with that.

15. dream job? If I could make a living off of writing and spend a lot of my time doing animal rescue, I'd be content. Even if I was wealthy, I'd ultimately pursue a simple, cozy life without a lot of fanfare. I'd love to have more money to invest in animal rescue and local community welfare (kids should always have basic necessities imo). Maybe someday ...

Tagging anyone who feels like doing this! Feel free to reblog or tag me if you wanna let me know that you did it. Thanks, this was fun :3

[supernaturallyliterate]

Percy Jackson & The Olympians Ep 5 thoughts

(From a book reader. Spoilers for episode 5 and the book ahead)

SPOILERS AHEAD

THE THRILL RIDE O LOVE. Was as cringy as I thought it would be, as it should be. Not sure why it depicted Hephaestus’ story except for it being a way to contextualize him. But as a cringey love themed ride? Nope, doesn’t make sense

Hephaestus showing up in person to Annabeth? I have mixed feelings about. I think it was a good moment theme wise to show that not all the gods are cut throat and backstabbing. But I wanted Annabeth to figure it out. Yes I liked her speech about not wanting to be like her mom. Yes it’s good character development. But it happens too quickly and too directly for my liking

I love that Percy’s water abilities are so chaotic right now and he directly says “yeah I’m figuring it out as I go”. Yes, seaweed brain, you have no idea what the fuck you’re doing and it’s amazing. You’re doing great sweetie

SEAWEED BRAIN. THE FIRST APPEARANCE. interesting that it’s in the context of her being vulnerable with him. The first instance in the book (if I remember correctly) was her legitimately picking on him, and then it later turned into bashful and loving name calling

The slow burn was burning this episode. So much growth. THE HUG AT THE ST LOUIS ARCH

omg Smelly Gabe’s tv appearance, his concern over the camero, framing Percy as a troubled kid who hurt his mom = fabulous, 10000/10. I want the scene of Percy taking to the news like “I know by dad wants to give away free appliances… cuz he just cares so much.” *fake cries*

Grover’s convo with Ares. Iconic. I like this. This Grover is much more confident than book Grover is at this stage. Boom one Grover was shaking in his custom insert sole flying shoes. Tv Grover is calculating and prying for info from the God of fucking war and twitter battles (loved that aside)

I do not necessarily like the changes to the Waterland / thrill ride o love. I may change my mind once I see non-book readers POVs and everyone’s analysis. But right now I don’t see it

I don’t like that Grover “found out” who the lightning thief is this early. Granted we don’t know if his guess is correct. But. Also. How did he jump to the conclusion that Ares had already caught the thief? What am I missing?

Okay also WHAT I LOVED ABOUT THAT CONVO is how Grover played into Ares’ hubris. And how it foreshadows Percy v Ares. The no death quick surrender wars he mentioned. Foreshadow to Ares backing down in his fight vs Percy on the beach

Okay but I do love Annabeth saying “I’m not leaving the underworld without your mom.” And how concerned she is

GIRL IS FALLING HEAD OVER HEELS IT IS ALL OVER HER FACE. The hug at the archway. The refusal to let him sacrifice himself AGAIN without protest. Makes me wonder how their relationship with develop in the show

The zoo truck yesss I am glad it’s still there

Zoo truck going to Lotus casino is an acceptable streamlined change

Hermes being at the casino? Uh, why?

They’ve met so many gods now. Dionysus. Ares. Hephaestus. Plus they’re going to meet Hermes and Hades and Poseidon. That’s half the main pantheon. So quickly?? And so much direct engagement with their quest?? In the books, I know they meet Aphrodite. But they don’t meet Hephaestus until much later.

So many thoughts so little time. Part 2, maybe?

[spacepatrolhana]

Tohru Adachi's Babysitting Service

unfinished fanfic i mentioned before and never finished. has a bunch of plot holes imo and i honestly dont think i characterized futaba all that well.

Authors Note: ok realistically adachi would not do babysitting. but i wanted to smush him in scenarios that i think can be funny im basically an encanto fan when they were running out of things to say about the movie

also im not familiar with persona lore so if i get something wrong mb ig

And Adachi was let go.

After 10 grueling years of living in a crappy police jail, Adachi displayed perfect behavior enough to finally be let off. He said he'd promise to follow the rules of this world, and decided to move over to Tokyo for a fresh start.

Adachi couldn't get his previous job (obviously), so he'd had to begrudgingly work a minimum wage job that could possibly accept him for his criminal record. He mindlessly scrolled through the library computer, looking for any open position in a gas station or supermarket, one that would excuse his past behavior. But it looks like he wasn't too lucky. 

He thought back to Narukami, feeling a bit grateful that he helped with the down payments of his first apartment, he felt really hopeful that Adachi would change his life for the better. He had suggested doing babysitting, as parents check through app reviews more than a background check. Although, one search of his name could easily reveal him as a murderer, but there was some probably some poor grandma out there who doesn't even know how to even use a basic search engine.

Adachi reluctantly thought of gravitating to that idea, he really didn't want to deal with kids. Even before the investigation team, the only kid he could tolerate was Nanako. Adachi sighed at the thought of Nanako, she probably knew by now what he did, and couldn't look at him the same anymore. But looks like it's water under the bridge for him now, him being in Tokyo gives him a chance to not be able to face her ever.

He pulled out his phone and started scrolling for Yu's contact.

_____

"Adachi-san, I would recommend you get a new phone, it's easier to keep track of your clients this way," Yu said as he continued to type in Adachi's info onto the screen.

"All you need in a phone is to call and message someone. I'm fine," Adachi replied.

Yu sighed at his response, knowing that he wasn't going to change his mind on the matter, "Well, I've set your profile up, everything should be perfect! You'll definitely get clients now."

"Yeah, thanks," Adachi muttered.

"You know… You might not think it, but I think you're really good with kids without realizing it," Yu smiles, "During the Grand Prix… It felt like you were an actual father figure to Sho… Haha."

"That kid just needed some sense knocked into him, I just used what you kids told me," Adachi replies, "I'm only doing this cause it's the only way I can get money."

Adachi sits up from his chair, "Alright, get out, I don't want you in my apartment anymore," He pushed Yu towards the door.

Yu couldn't help but paint a worried look on his face, thinking to himself that he should probably check on Adachi on his first client.

_________

Adachi had not gotten a client ever since that day. 

He figured that most of the people that viewed his profile ended up searching his name and found out what he did, damn people for actually doing their research!

It's not like he'd just go ahead and throw some random kid in the TV, it wouldn't be fun in such an eventful city such as Tokyo anyways. It's not like they'd know that, though.

Adachi jumped at the sudden ring on his phone, and quickly swiped it off his bed to see an unknown number. 

"Hello?"

"Uhh.. Adachi? Was it?"

He put on his fake cheery tone, "Yup! That's me!"

"Uh yeah, saw your profile, do you mind coming down right now and watching my kid? Oh, I'll pay extra for the short notice."

Well now he couldn't refuse, "Yeah sure thing, mind telling me your address?"

________

"Oh, welcome."

Adachi opened the door to see a short orange hair teen scramble off to the back of the counter immediately. He looked over to the counter to see a disheveled old man with an apron look disappointed at the sudden action. 

"Uhh.. hey," Adachi said confusedly.

"Futaba, you're going to have to talk to him eventually."

"I'm fifteen already! I don't need a babysitter!" Futaba whispered loudly at him.

"Well, since Akira is gone, you really need better social skills to make more friends aside from the others..."

Oh great, a kid who's bad at communicating, this is definitely going to be hard. 

"Don't worry, I'm not a scary guy," Adachi tried to reassure.

"I'm sure you aren't… Here, listen Adachi-san, I know you aren't a therapist or something, but I figured someone who's less professional than one could really help her with her social ability," The man explained to Adachi.

"Oh, uh.. sure. Yeah, no problem."

It is a problem.

"Alright, I'll be heading down to the store to grab some stuff, my names Sojiro if you need to save my contact," Sojiro said as he took the apron off. 

Adachi watched as he left the counter and flipped the open sign to closed. He looked over the counter to see the girl hiding under it. 

"Uhhh… Wanna see a magic trick?"

She didn't respond.

Well, he figured he could do it anyways, it always surprises kids. He prepared his hands to set up his illusion before he got interrupted by her.

"The coin's in your sleeve. I've seen it before."

What a pain in the ass. 

"Hey, got you to talk!" He fake laughed.

Futaba scrunched up and turned away from him. Yeah, Sojiro wasn't kidding about bad social skills. He figured it was the age that teens get more rebellious and figure being unresponsive to people above them was cool, or something.

Adachi put his head down, annoyed by her actions. But he was getting paid extra, so might as well keep trying.

"You go to Shujin?" He asked.

"You killed people?"

Adachi's knees nearly gave out.

He stretched his body to look over the counter to see her have a tab open on her phone with his name.

"Listen, I'm clean. Served my time. I'm trying to make it better, I don't do that stuff anymore," He panicked.

"Well I hope so… These articles are from ten years ago."

Adachi definitely was not getting this client again.

"It's fine. I've met someone who's changed like you," she mumbled.

Okay. Do kids these days just have occasional encounters with murderers?

"Ahhh…" Adachi looked around, he really didn't want a bad relationship with his first client. He'd probably get a bad review.

The way this girl talked and moved reminded him of several kids he knew, something about being on the spectrum. He wasn't really too knowledgeable on that, just knowing they always had a specific fixation to the weirdest things. He racked his brain on something kids today would probably like. 

"Do you like featherman?" 

Futaba widened her eyes in surprise, looking over to Adachi. 

Oh wow. That was a lucky guess. 

Futaba couldn't help but spill out everything about her favorite parts of the show, her figure collection, just everything about featherman to Adachi. He didn't particularly find it annoying, he enjoyed the show when he was younger too, so at least he could insert himself into the conversation. Futaba had taken full control of the entire conversation, a complete 180 turn from how it was just a few minutes ago. 

Adachi mentally let out a sigh of relief, recurring customer maybe?

"You know, I met the pink argus actress," Adachi bragged. 

Futaba gaped, "Really?!"

"Yup, talked to her, didn't get her autograph though," he continued.

He really didn't want to admit he got his ass beat one time by her. But it looks like his little bragging session wasn't for nothing, as Futaba was completely interested in the conversation. He couldn't help but bring a small smile to his face as he managed to get this small girl to excitedly talk to a murderer this enthusiastically.

The two talked for a long while, before Sojiro came in and paid Adachi in cash. Futaba couldn't help but give off a wave as his back was turned, not going unnoticed by Sojiro. Adachi grinned as he counted the money in his hand, maybe this babysitting thing wasn't too awful. He decided to order takeout as a reward to himself, thinking he finally graduated from the shitty jail food he'd been eating for the last ten years.

_____

With a first five star review on his profile, Adachi had gotten more clients. His neighbor's (somehow) calm kid, a thirteen year old that just plugged his switch into his TV and never talked to him, and once even a baby. After that encounter, he decided to raise his age limit on what kids he'd take in. Never again.

He wondered if he'd get a call from Sojiro again, there was no way he'd decided that one social interaction like that was enough for that kid. Not like he wanted to see Futaba again. No way. 

Adachi sat back in his chair, trying to work his new smartphone that he finally decided to buy. He figured he'd take Yu's advice on keeping better track of his clients and upgrade from a flip phone. He got startled when a familiar number suddenly appeared on his phone.

"Oh, Dojima-san!" He cringed at the small excitedness he heard in his tone.

"Adachi. Sorry I couldn't call earlier," Dojima replied.

Adachi stayed silent for a moment, not knowing how to respond to the sudden call. Sure, Dojima had visited many times before to check in on him, but Adachi immediately left when he got out, so Dojima never got to see him out.

"...How are you doing? Yu tells me you've gotten a job," Dojima said.

"Oh… haha… just a cashier, nothing too special," he nervously chuckles. He was not going to admit he's a babysitter now. 

"That's good, that's good. It's great to see you're doing better, Nanako misses you, you know."

That makes Adachi's breath hitch, Nanako… missed him? After all he did, she still wanted to see him? 

"Uh… that's nice. I think I'm getting an important call right now, I'll talk to you later Dojima-san," he hurriedly says before hanging up immediately. He sighs, still in surprise about Nanako.

____

Adachi had been called by Futaba this time. 

"Don't worry, I asked Sojiro to pay you for this," Futaba stated.

"Uh, thanks," Adachi replied.

The two were at the mall, the electronics section. He couldn't help but walk up to the TVs and inspect them closely. He brought his hand up to the screen, wondering if his TV world powers still worked here. But all he was met with was the cold flat screen against his palm.

"I would expect an old dude like you to love TVs," Futaba teased.

Adachi gave her an annoyed look, "I'm only in my late 30s."

"Old!" She repeated.

Adachi scoffed, about to retort that statement before she interrupted him, "Anyways, I wanted to call you out here cuz there's this awesome deal at the mall! You get a free featherman keychain with any purchase of a phone case!"

"You really love that show, huh?" he laughed.

"Well… yeah… we did talk about how much I liked it…" She looked immediately dejected when he poked fun at her. Oops.

"I didn't say it was a bad thing," Adachi recovered.

The two walked over to the phone cases section, Adachi didn't have one yet, so he figured he'd buy one now since it was convenient. He gravitated towards the red one,  while Futaba immediately reached for a green one. He stretched his hand to reach it, and he noticed a couple of boys pointing and whispering at Futaba. They seemed to be constantly snickering, and Adachi assumed the worst. Oh god, he did not want to be reported for being close to a high schooler. He scooted over to the left, making it seem like he was here out of his own will, pretending to be satisfied with what he picked out and started walking away. Futaba looked confused at his sudden leave, having a slight twinge of disappointment on her face.

Adachi noticed, and immediately went to pull out his phone to text her.

ADACHI: Sorry. Those boys were making fun of you. I didn't want them to think you were fooling around with an older guy.

FUTABA: oh

FUTABA: THX

The two waited till the group of boys left, and Adachi returned to Futaba. 

"Okay, let's check out, I don't think you wanna be here anymore," Adachi rushed her over to the cashier.

He made Futaba do her best to pay for own phone case, he was still helping her with social interaction after all. Although, he still had to help her out with most of the transaction. The cashier cooed about him being a nice dad and he cringed at the statement. Him? Dad? No.

The two of them walked out in silence, Futaba looking grim.

"It wasn't that bad. You're gonna be doing this more often," Adachi says as he pats her head.

"Uh, it's not that," Futaba looked down, "Those boys went to my school…"

It didn't take the detective in Adachi to immediately understand: Futaba was getting bullied. He figured if he pushed on it more, she'd probably not talk. He's dealt with this before when Nanako had a small bully. (In which he pretended to carelessly stick his foot out and trip her bully when he was on his daily patrol.) 

"I get it," He didn't need to say any further, "I'll walk you home." It's the least I can do, he thinks.

___

As Adachi drops Futaba off, he waves goodbye with a small smile. He turns his back and hears the distant chatter of Futaba and Sojiro. He takes a step, and he hears Futaba's loud footsteps and the jingle of the door opening again. 

"Adachi-san, do you want to eat with us?"

Adachi turns around, surprised at the sudden offer. Well, it's not like he's going to turn down a free home cooked meal. He excitedly agreed, and let himself into the cafe, not noticing the large grin on Futaba's face.

___

Adachi could not stop thinking about the curry he ate last night.

He's eaten a ton of home cooked meals before since Yu offered, but there was something about that curry that made him crave more and more. (Sorry Yu…)He felt the taste on his tongue, and it pissed him off that he probably had to wait till the next time Futaba called him to have that again. He rolled around his bed angrily, a bit mad that he felt this way over some old guy's curry. There was just something different when he reluctantly ate Yu's cooking when Yu would come to his apartment, and when he eagerly ate Sojiro's cooking with Futaba. It felt similar to when he would eat around Nanako and Dojima.

He sat up from the bed, irritated at the oncoming feelings he's gotten. He figures he can just walk it off to get rid of it.

[bastillewolf]

Hello idk if the requests are still going but if not then its okay ignore this and if they are please don't over work yourself and you don't need to do my request if you don't want to just stay healthy and eat well and drink lots of water we all live your work (and are simps for corpse-)

The ask : could I ask for a corpse husband x reader where they used to get shipped together before they even meet each other and when they meet each other corpse goes soft for reader and they play two rounds In among us together where they are imposters together and corpse is an imposter alone in the other round

Reader info : reader has a very soft voice and is a softie and the pronounce is she/her or they/them ( as you wish)

Again you don't gotta do it if you don't want to

Thanks so much for the ask, An. I was feeling like shit and this was a lot of fun to write. I’m sorry though, I completely read over the part where the reader was supposed to have a soft voice. I’ll see if I can make another one with this specification sometime. Also, I wrote this rather quickly because I’m watching Twilight for the first time and now my feelings are hurt.

#CorpseBride - Oneshot

Pairings: Corpse / Reader

Twitter wasn’t really your forte, but you knew how to get around. It’s just that you never really had the time to check it, let alone to see what’s on the trending page every single day. At the very least, you were capable of replying to your friends’ stuff and letting your viewers know when you were streaming or when a new video would be up. Again, you weren’t a pro, but you got by.

Until you didn’t.

“Hey, everyone,” you greeted, and immediately went to change your Among Us figure to its usual colour and outfit before someone else took it.

Everyone welcomed you, while it seemed Toast was still busy trying to get a last person to join.

“Whaddup, baby,” Corpse’s shot out from the rest of them. It was pure teasing, something he’d grown quite comfortable with ever since people had blatantly started simping for his voice. “Nothing much, honey. How’ve you been?” You cheekily replied. “Pretty good. Streaming still makes me nervous, though.” “You greeted me with ‘Whaddup, baby’ and then proceed to tell me you’re nervous? Don’t get upset when I say that I don’t believe you.” He chuckled at that.

5… 4… 3… 2… 1…

Impostor

“Ha!” you called out, “I doubt this will soothe your nerves, Corpse. You’re teamed up with me now.” You sneaked in a glance at chat. “We are not an old married couple! If anything, he can be my bitch for this round. I’m just not gonna murder anyone.”

And that’s basically how it went. He managed to kill three people and still wasn’t being sussed. “Alright, I think I’ve tortured him enough,” you laughed, “I’ll even spare Sykkuno for the man.”

You managed to corner Toast and killed him in a corner where the water wheels were, before heading out into admin. You vented until you found Corpse in Labs and jumped out. It was right when Sykkuno walked in.

“Oh, god no. Please, Sykkuno.”

Your kill count still wasn’t down yet and he was obviously planning to run straight out the door to hit the emergency button, but he was stopped. Corpse had murdered him in an instant.

Your mouth was hanging open. “Did… Did he just kill Sykkuno for me?” Chat was going absolutely wild. “What the fuck just happened?” You decided to report the body anyway.

“I can’t fucking believe it,” Corpse growled, “Not my best friend, Sykkuno.”

You had to mute yourself to keep the laughter at bay. Corpse evidently vouched for you, saying you’d walked in on the body together. Felix was sussed and voted out.

“Corpse, you killed me!” Sykkuno cried out.

“I’m so sorry, Sykkuno! I wanted to spare you but you walked in at the wrong time!” You pleaded.

“Sacrifices had to be made,” Corpse merely responded.

“Wait, what happened?” Sean asked.

“I walked in on one of them venting and then Corpse killed me!”

“Collateral damage. You watched me get killed one time, too.”

“Blame me, Sykkuno. It was my fault,” but you were laughing as you said it.

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard such regret coming from an imposter,” Sean laughed along, “Also, why the fuck were you two being so slow? Three meetings in and you’d only killed three people.”

“Corpse was simping for me,” you replied.

“I was not.”

“Yes, you were. Otherwise you would’ve asked me what the hell I’d been doing that entire time.”

“Fuck off,” he laughed.

“Corpse is an UWU-boy!”

“Oh my god, you guys are already trending.”

“Wait, what?”

Your phone was being blasted off to space, getting tons of messages with the hashtag #CorpseBride. It was number 1 trending on Twitter.

“So… whaddup, baby?”

“Oh no, you better buy me a drink first.”

“Sure.”

 You hadn’t thought he’d been serious in that moment, until he’d asked you to meet up after the game had ended. You hesitantly agreed, but reminded him that he absolutely did not have to participate in this just for the meme. “I’m not doing this for the meme,” he’d said, “I’ve been wanting to ask you out for a while, I just never knew how. It seemed like the perfect timing.”

You met him at his apartment, knowing how he was about going out in public, and feeling extremely nervous. You’d brought takeout, and because you hadn’t been sure what he wanted you’d ordered way too much. Upon opening the door, he looked at you, down at the bag, and said, “Shit, you got food?” Not really knowing what else to say, you simply replied, “Uh, yeah.”

“Well, I guess we’ll have lots of leftovers, then.”

He smiled, gave you a hug that ended way too fast and left you paralyzed for a minute, and then invited you in. It turned out he’d already ordered food, too. “Plenty to choose from,” he laughed awkwardly. “Uh… You got any neighbours who might want some?” you asked.

“I-I don’t really talk to anyone outside of my friend group.”

“Oh, of course. I could go around, if you’d like.”

“You’d do that for me?”

You furrowed your brows. “Of course I would. Why not?”

“Alright, but let me at least come with you. You just do the talking.”

Three knocks at three different doors later, and someone accepted the offer and took over some of the food. “Hang on a minute,” the elderly man said, clad in only his pyjamas and a bathrobe, managing to make the situation even more uncomfortable, “Aren’t you my neighbour? You always scurry off before I get the chance to talk to you!”

You looked at Corpse, and he back at you, and you turned back to the elderly man. “He, uh… He’s very people shy. He has anxiety. I’m trying to help him cope. Also, his vocal chords are damaged.” Nothing you’d said so far had been a lie, technically, but the man still remained sceptical. “Then why didn’t you just leave a note or something?”

“Uh…” you jumped at the small voice appearing from behind you. It’s just that his ‘small voice’ is still nothing close to small. “I know, I’m terribly sorry, sir. I also just wanted to let you know that if you ever need anything, I’m just a few doors away.”

This seemed to please the man enough.

“I can’t believe you made me do that.”

“I made you?!” You gasped, “I didn’t make you do anything, you filthy liar! You’re just as bad in real life as in Among Us, when you’re the impostor and I’m the innocent crewmate.”

“No comment.”

“I didn’t even ask you a question.”

“No comment.”

“Deadass?”

“Deadass.”

You both laughed. Corpse hesitated for just a moment, but decided to ask anyway, “Were you nervous when I opened the door?”

You chuckled awkwardly, admitting, “Yeah, I was. I always get anxious meeting people. Well, we’d met before, of course. But just, you know, in real life.”

“I get it.”

You stood there in silence for a moment, until you noticed the rest of the takeout in your hands was getting cold. “Come on, wife,” he joked, linking his pinkie finger with yours, “Let me get you that drink.”

If he hadn’t dragged you along then and there, you could’ve sworn your knees would’ve given out.

TAG LIST CLOSED

@annshit @simonsbluee @majolittlemixgurl18 @redosmo @mythicalreader @gracehaileym @leikarinn @its-bootz @ollwinchester @thehatredofshiprrick @curlyhairedbrock @thatbandchick39 @reddeserths @mitseuul @potenzel @tanchosanke @tooturntashbash @stephn-prkr @missingpuzzlepiece @dreaalol @goldiefox1 @imrisaluk @chimchimsugakookies @helena-way07 @danny-devitowo @iknowyouthinkimbulletproof @richkookie @cherry-piee @artist-bby @bluewneptune @bratttyaphrodite @eccedxntesiaast @faithneko @thebootythrasher @bethpiercwhy @theeerealpunkin @heartbroken-writer @chisaikuki @realnicoleworld @candystoregirl @derpygiraffe43110 @rintomoj @phantomamethyst @helloitsmeamie203 @falcon-arrows @nvthvlyy @ellomellows @loraleiix @ladolcedea @lunaruss @princess00wifi @pennnyroyalty @cultofandom @easygoingtheatre @crpseclt @thatonefangirlbornonfriday @myherotrashbin @hufflepuff-always-and-forever @martinimom @gummybear123 @sparklingblacktea @lovelynervouskingdom @kingsuals @weeblyheaux @flightsandfantasy @chanelle-jackson @actual-spawn-of-satan @dixielumsden  @consumegods @mirandabarry @ikearandl @narwhalsaremagicalbroski @armycandy10 @chillininahottub-withaghost @mitchiesdungeon @yeolliedokai @alyofmusic @qatiee @dzzizzi @johnjacobjingleheimerschmidt @leilanixx @thefuckthesaurus @hughugh20 @thanossexual @moneybagmara @squintyangel @motheroffae @arossebyanyothername @vacaprincess @jinxedanxrchist @peterparkerspjsuit @chrysanthykios @wildflowerwhore @punkrainbows  @justalilsimpsometimes @bunniwritesx @sunnsettee @justxanotherxshipper @alilshit @dekahg @laugh-like-the-moon @sadness-babee @corpsie-bby @corpsesgirl @dead-boys-stuff @roses-and-grasses @sakusawife @byunniebaekhyunnie @lazy-little-me @phantomamethyst @letsloveimagines @polahorvat @sokkas-paintings @possiblyanxioushuman @a-dot-dev @aniyahsucks @choicesstan1 @error-loading-sorry @bi-andready-tocry @agustdpeach @punkrainbows @xibrokensunriseix @genjicats @forest-rav3n @devilishducky97 @namjoons-crabssss

People I wasn’t able to tag (please check your settings lovelies):

@holosexualunicorn7000 @theroyalsaikou @timotheessoleil @devilish-ducky @000-22-000 @matcha-chaii @corbins-kinda-smart @milybones @theinbookss @mintchip17 @arghm8ty @alyss01 @ry-winter @sbfandom @anacrcarvalho @petitebitvh @corbins-kinda-smart @marmeladebreadwithhoney @solielfhuz6942 @xsarcasm101x @siriuslystupid @bakugonua @n0t-a-simp @emmapotato88 @notmewrongb1tch @c00ln3rdz  @rolls-and-rolex

[biggest-stupidhead]

Never Ready (part 2) 

Summary: “It’s not like I’m ready to take her in.”

“And I was ready for you? Kid, nobody is ever ready for things like this. That doesn’t mean they don’t happen.” Levi is faced with the difficult decision of taking in his newly orphaned cousin. But he can't do it alone.You're a newly graduated college student looking to make some extra cash, but get more than you originally bargained for...

Word Count: 4.6K

AN: Sorry for the long wait, I've been very busy this summer but I'm trying to keep writing! Thanks for sticking around you guys :)

find part 1 here

--

Levi woke up early, as usual, however, he skipped his usual workout in favor of deep cleaning the house for the third time this week. Just as he was putting his broom back into the closet when the doorbell rang. He anxiously smoothed out his cotton dress shirt, tugging at the seam as he tried to tuck it into his pants.

“Hello-” His shoulders slumped when he found a young suburban housewife on the other side of the door instead of the gloomy social worker.

“Oh hi there! So sorry that it’s taken me so long but…” She held out a bottle of red wine with a neat ribbon tied around the neck.

“You didn’t have to,” Levi answered tensely as she beamed politely at him.

“I know but...it just felt like the right thing to do.” She shrugged, her strawberry blonde hair swaying, the strands just barely touched her shoulders.

“Well...thank you.” He thanked her, hoping that she would take the hint that this was a bad thing.

“No worries! By the way, my name is Petra, my husband and I live across the street.” She gabbed her thumb towards the house across from his.

“I’m Levi, nice to meet you.” He said, fighting to keep from grinding his teeth. It wasn’t that this woman was in the wrong, no it was simply the timing of her gesture. He was already on edge and he was never a fan of new people.

“Nice to meet you too! If you’re ever interested, we have a book club and-”

“Look, I appreciate the gesture but this isn’t the best time.” Levi cut her off and he felt a small pang of guilt at the way her expression dropped.

“Oh no of course! Anyway, you know where to find me.” She chuckled anxiously as she began her hasty retreat. It couldn’t have been soon enough, because a silver honda accord pulled into his driveway. Levi swallowed thickly as he watched Michelle climb out of her car and brave the icy sidewalk.

“Hope I’m not interrupting anything.” She said curtly as she pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose and waited for Levi to step aside. When she crossed the threshold, he shut and locked the door behind her. She immediately began checking out the front room and the living room. The house had a nice open floorplan, so the first thing that anyone saw when entering was the living room and kitchen.

“Not at all,” Levi responded as she slowly wandered into the kitchen. He followed helplessly behind her as she began jotting notes down on a clipboard.

“Well, I must say that I am impressed with the hast you made these arrangements.” She complimented as she paced down the hallway, poking her head into the room that Levi had prepared for Mikasa.

“I don’t like to leave projects unfinished.” He responded as he waited in the doorway.

“Admirable.” She scribbled a quick note before finding her way back into the kitchen. Levi chewed the inside of his cheek as he waited with bated breath for her next words.

“Everything seems in great condition here. I don’t see any reason that she can’t move in by Monday.” She placed her clipboard on the counter and faced him with a tense smile.

“Monday?” Levi couldn’t hide the nerves in his tone and she smiled genuinely.

“Of course, we try to keep kids out of the homes as much as possible. Have you figured out what you wish to do for child care?” She moved seamlessly onto the next topic and Levi nodded, motioning for her to take a seat at the island.

“Uh, there’s a daycare that I was looking at. I’m also looking for a nanny.” Levi said as she settled into her seat and he sat a chair away from her.

“Excellent, my only concern with the daycare is that she has been attending the same one for some time now. It’s not far from here, I would highly encourage that you keep that the same.” She went back to her clipboard, jotting down some more notes as Levi contemplated what she had said.

“Makes sense.” He mumbled as she placed her pen down with a soft sigh.

“I got to say, I’m very grateful for your enthusiasm with this, makes my job a lot easier.” She smiled at him and Levi nodded curtly.

“Anyway, I’ll drop her off Monday morning, I believe that her current foster family uses the same daycare that she’s attending, Carla is the mom’s name. She’s made it clear that she is more than willing to lend a hand if ever needed.” Michelle jotted down a number on a scrap piece of paper and slid it across the counter to Levi who blinked stupidly down at her chicken scratch.

“That’s all I need from you.” Michelle stood and gathered her things, Levi trailed behind her to the front door and watched her leave. It was already Thursday, meaning he had less than five full days to finish preparing for Mikasa’s arrival. He felt like a tortured spirit in his own home, wandering the halls hallowly, he had never lived in such a large space. Not that his past homes had been small, but rather, he had always lived with someone.

Kenny and he had shared a small trailer all through his elementary years and well into his high school years. Then in college, he had roomed with Erwin and Mike, first in the dorms and then in shitty apartments. But now, he was alone. At least it was only for a few more days, but could you really count a four-year-old as company?

He found himself once again outside of the empty room, standing right on the threshold. The mere sight of the room made his stomach sink, from the subtle baby pink comforter to the dresser that was filled with tiny clothes. He turned and shut the door softly before marching back into the living room. The mid-afternoon sun was drifting in through the front windows and he pinched the bridge of his nose.

His phone rang obnoxiously and he scrambled to dig it out of his pocket. Hange’s contact lit up his screen and he inhaled sharply, preparing himself for whatever it was that Hange found important enough to share with him at one pm on a Thursday.

“Levi, is this a good time?” That was his first red flag, Hange was never considerate of his time when she called.

“It’s fine why?” He sighed as he began pacing the length of his living room.

“Well, I’ve got excellent news.” Hange couldn’t contain the excitement in her voice.

“What is it?” He encouraged her and she let out a muted squeal.

“I’ve found the perfect nanny for you! She just graduated last semester, I’ll send you her contact info.” Levi felt a small weight lift off of his chest, even though it wasn’t set in stone, at least he was making headway.

“She’s done this before, ever since she was a senior in high school actually. She told me over lunch that her usual employer doesn’t need her anymore so she’s on the hunt for a job!” Hange babbled on and Levi nodded along as he dropped onto the leather sofa.

“Got it thank you.” He confirmed as the ping of her sending the contact info came through his phone.

“Have her over for dinner, or maybe go out for tea. Ask her some questions and I’m sure you’ll find her more than qualified. She has no commitments so I bet if you can make her like you, then she’ll stick around for a while.” Hange chuckled deviously and Levi clicked his tongue.

“I have no idea what criteria I even have to look at to see if she’s qualified.” Levi scoffed and Hange snorted.

“Mikasa’s four years old, she has school and such, I mean as far as I’m concerned your nanny just needs to be able to drive and cook.” Hange shrugged as she flipped through her lesson planner.

“There’s got to be more than just that.” Levi bit the skin on his knuckle as he began wracking his brain for what makes a good nanny.

“Sure there is, I’m just brainstorming.” Hange chuckled and Levi rolled his eyes.

“I’ll make a list.” He concluded and Hange hummed her agreement.

“That’s a great idea, I mean in the end she’s going to be working for you so just put down qualities that you think make a good worker. Or something.” Hange seemed rather indifferent and Levi felt his jaw tick in annoyance.

“Right, well thanks.”

“No problem, catch ya later!” And with that, she hung up.

--

Levi stood outside of the coffee shop. He snuck one last glance at the shortlist that he had made. His brow creased when he read through it, the first point he had put down was: in-state driver’s license. Closely followed by good hygiene. Frustration bubbled into his chest as he wadded the paper up and shoved it deep into his pocket. He finally pushed through the door and approached the familiar counter. He ordered his usual and went to sit in one of the secluded booths in the back.

He had arrived a good ten minutes early, hoping to gather himself before meeting the nanny. As he watched the steam rise off of his cup of tea he savored the few moments of silence. That was until the bell on the door chimed. He knew it was you, Hange had described you in-depth when he had told her he reached out to you that evening she sent your contact.

Your hair was pulled back off of your face in a half up half down style. You wore a pair of fitted jeans and a knitted sweater. Levi watched you as you ordered your drink, you seemed so sure of yourself, the way your shoulders were pulled back and your jaw set in determination. Already off to a good start and he hadn’t even heard you speak. Levi watched you grab your drink before doing a half-turn, eyes scanning the small cafe. They landed on him and Levi knew he’d been caught staring. He did a small tilt of his head, inviting you to join him, you smiled warmly and took quick steps in his direction.

Levi stood and extended his hand to you, which you accepted with a firm handshake.

“You must be Mr. Ackerman.” Your voice was smooth and honeyed, immediately putting him at ease.

“Levi is fine.” He said as he sat back down in the booth. You slid down into the seat opposite of him, clutching your purse in your lap.

“I understand that you have some...experience.” Levi started a bit awkwardly. You nodded eagerly and pulled out a folded piece of paper.

“Of course, in the past, it’s mostly been under the table, but we can work around that of course.” Levi examined the typed-out document. A resume of your past jobs and a few recommendations from past employers.

“Under the table is fine…” He mumbled as he thumbed through the pages.

“So, Hange told me a bit about your...unique situation.” You pressed and Levi stilled in his motions.

“What’d she tell you?” He asked, grey eyes boring into you from over the tops of the papers.

“Just that you were a new parent and you needed a hand. Takes a village you know.” You chuckled a bit tensely and Levi felt some tension leave his shoulders. At least Hange had given him the liberty of explaining himself.

“She’s not wrong, I’ve taken custody of my distant cousin, I know nothing about child-rearing,” Levi admitted point blank and you weren’t sure if he was kidding or not. When his expression remained as cold as stone, you realized that he was in fact not.

“I see...I’ll admit that I don’t have much experience with...well stuff like this either.” You smiled at him in an attempt to diffuse the tension between the two of you. Levi’s eyes narrowed and he reclined back into the booth, eyes never leaving yours.

“We’ll just come up with it as we go.”

“So you’re set on me as your nanny?” You beamed and he scowled, although you were right. Levi knew from the moment he shook your hand that he would choose you.

“Yes, Mikasa arrives on Monday and I expect you to be there when she does.” Levi scoffed, lifting his teacup by the rim and taking a long sip.

“Be where exactly?” You were getting smart, something that simultaneously annoyed and intrigued him.

“My house, I’ll send you the address the day before,” Levi answered with a roll of his eyes.

“Sounds perfect.” You hummed, lifting your coffee cup to your own lips.

“What are my hours going to be?” You asked as you placed your cup back onto the tabletop.

“Mikasa goes to half days at preschool, so I’ll need you to drop her off and pick her up from that. She needs to be dropped off at eight am and picked up at noon.” Levi tapped his finger on the rim of his cup and you nodded.

“I can do that, so I’ll fix all three meals then?” You asked and Levi felt a tinge of guilt. He knew that he wasn’t completely prepared to be a parent, but he still felt ashamed for seeking help. Kenny had raised him to be independent. It had taken so much to reach out to Hange, and now he was relying on a strange young woman.

“Yes, that’s preferred. I don’t have any rules besides keeping the house spotless.” His finger was planted on the tabletop now to emphasize the importance of his only rule. You nodded in understanding.

“You can set the boundaries for Mikasa, I trust that you have enough experience in this area.” Levi continued and you tensed. Never had you ever had so much responsibility riding on a nanny position. Your employers set the rules and you enforced them, but now you were expected to be both parties. But when Levi slid a paper across the table your eyes widened. On the notepad was a range of wages that he was willing to pay. You struggled to contain your shock as you clutched the paper.

“T-This is way too much.” You squeaked as you pushed the paper back to Levi.

“Seems reasonable to me.” He shrugged and you felt your face flush.

“Well...it’s your money after all.” You reasoned as you grappled internally to regain your composure.

“But if at any time and for any reason you need to lower it that’s fine too.” You waved your hands in front of you and Levi’s brows pinched together.

“Don’t worry about it.” He assured you and set his empty cup aside.

“Was there anything else you wanted to cover?” You asked, sneaking a glance at your watch.

“That’s all from me, I’ll text you my address and get you set up to pick up and drop off with the school,” Levi said as he pulled his coat on over his shoulders. Your cup was still full so you remained seated as you watched him straighten the fabric of his jacket.

“Alright, see you Monday morning then.” You said as he marched towards the door, his posture rigid. As soon as he disappeared through the door, the doubt swirled in your chest. You had never worked this many hours and the added pressure of Mikasa coming from a traumatic past made you uneasier. But you weren’t one to shy away from a challenge, you pulled your phone out and began to dive headfirst into the internet. After about twenty minutes of scrolling through countless tabs and foster parent forums, you felt at least somewhat prepared.

You ended up ordering three more cups of coffee, by the time you were halfway through your third cup, your hands shook as you held your phone. The screen was beginning to put a strain on your eyes as you squinted at the black font. With a heavy sigh, you placed your phone screen down on the table and tossed your head back against the booth’s cushion. After a few deep breaths, you collected your things and made your way out into the chilly air, determined to continue gathering information and preparing yourself for the task at hand.

--

Levi did some research of his own that afternoon. Sitting in his desk chair, he clicked through tabs, a simple google search had shown him your Instagram. He had been relieved to find it public, your page seemed average, nothing too out of the ordinary. But he was disappointed to find it rather small, with not a lot of posts or followers. It seemed that you, like himself, were not too fond of posting every small movement that you made for the world to see. In fact, your most recent post was from almost a full year ago, right around spring break. The post was a compilation of photos you had taken on a biology trip that Hange had organized. He closed the tab and pulled up a new one, the official website for the daycare that Mikasa had been attending. He found the phone number and dialed it into his keypad on his phone. He needed to register you as one of Mikasa’s emergency contacts and as her primary source of transportation.

The process was easy and he was relieved to be able to check it off of his list so he could at least attempt and get some of his work done. He needed to savor these last few child-free days before Mikasa became a permanent and very prominent factor in his life.

__

As promised, Levi sent you a text with nothing but his address and the time he expected you there the next morning. Your sleep that night was fitful, tossing and turning well into the early hours. You only ended up sleeping a grand total of six hours before having to get up and get ready for your first day of work. You sifted through your closet in search of an appropriate outfit, as badly as you wanted to wear a sweatshirt and a pair of jeans, you knew Levi would likely frown upon it.

So you ended up choosing a plush sweater and a pair of jeans. Pleased with your appearance, you then left your small apartment and made the twenty-minute drive out to the suburbs where Levi was located. The roads were icy the sky was dark with promises of more snow, by the time you had arrived a few fat flakes were already dwindling from the sky. You parked on the side of the road, careful to not block his mailbox, and trudged up the slick driveway and up to the front door. It only took one soft knock for him to pull the door open. He was as handsome as you remembered, his hair was damp from a shower and his hands were busy as he finished tying his tie. He stepped aside and walked back into his house as you kicked the snow off of your shoes.

The space was remarkably clean considering a single man occupied the space. Levi gestured vaguely with his head for you to follow him into the kitchen and you obliged. He pulled out a neon green piece of paper and handed it to you, Mikasa’s name was written in stark penmanship.

“That’s your tag to pick her up, don’t forget it.” He said as he shoved a set of keys into his back pocket.

“Is she here?” Your voice was hushed and your eyes strayed to the hallway which was dark.

“Not yet, the service worker should be here any minute now,” Levi said as he folded his collar down over his tie and finally turned to face you.

“Oh, alright. So what time are you usually off of work?” You asked, setting your purse on the island in the kitchen. Levi sighed and licked his lips thoughtfully.

“Depends...I normally stay late but technically my workday ends at 5:30 but I probably will be at least an hour later than that.” Levi said and you nodded along in understanding.

“That’s not a problem, do you have any idea of what time Mikasa goes to sleep at?” You asked, and judging by the way his shoulders tensed up, he did not.

“Not a clue, but I’ll ask the social worker.” He assured you and you nodded, allowing your eyes to scan over the kitchen. The marble countertops were so white and obviously well kept, you knew that they would give you grief, the oven and microwave looked fancy, as did the fridge. As Levi reached up for a cup from one of the deep navy cupboards, you noted that they were the kind that shut quietly. Your staring was interrupted by the shrill ring of the doorbell. Levi sat his cup aside and walked briskly back towards the front door.

“Good morning Mr. Ackerman, may we come in?” An unfamiliar voice could be heard, followed closely by the sound of two new sets of footsteps on the hardwood floors.

“Of course.” Levi’s voice was even lower and harder to make out as the newcomers shuffled in. They rounded the corner and your heart felt like it was beating out of your chest when your eyes landed on the small girl. She wore a white dress paired with a pink cardigan and a scarlet scarf. The older woman helped Mikasa out of her plush pink coat and draped it over her forearm.

“Who is this?” The woman asked, eyes slightly widened as they landed on you.

“This is (Y/n), my nanny,” Levi said vaguely and the woman nodded slowly before gently pushing Mikasa out from behind her legs.

“Honey, why don’t we go take a look at your new room?” The woman asked and the girl’s brows knitted together, but she let the social worker guide her down the hall and out of sight. Levi tailed behind them, you almost followed as well, but you feared overwhelming her. Levi hauled the small suitcase down the hall and you heard the soft chatter of the two adults. A few moments passed before they returned, the social worker shook Levi’s hand and knelt down to give Mikasa a tender hug.

“We’ll be in touch.” She promised as she showed herself out. Levi’s shoulders drooped once the woman left and he looked down at the small girl who stood near his side.

“Mikasa,” He cleared his throat and the small girl looked up at him, eyes swimming with tears and lip quivering. A rush of panic flooded his chest but you were quicker than he was.

“Mikasa, my name is (Y/n), we’re going to be spending a lot of time together.” You had crossed the room to kneel before her with your hand outstretched invitingly. The girl gripped the edge of her dress and swayed it anxiously as she avoided your eyes.

“I know this is really scary and confusing, but we’re going to work through this together.” You assured her when she remained closed off. Levi watched with wide eyes as tears slid down her face and rolled off her chin. You leaned forward and swiped them away with your thumb and Mikasa whimpered unsurely.

“Tell you what, I was just about to make some breakfast. Have you eaten yet?” You asked, after a moment of contemplation, Mikasa shook her head no shyly.

“What would you like? I’ve been told that I make a mean waffle.” You smiled wryly and Mikasa’s lip quivered as it quirked up in an unsure smile.

“I wanna make cinnamon rolls.” She spoke softly and you nodded with wide eager eyes.

“Totally.” You agreed, still holding your hand out as you slowly stood. Mikasa accepted your outstretched, her small hand was easily enveloped in your own as you led her around the island.

“Hey Levi, how much time before you’ve got to leave?” You asked as you stopped to hoist Mikasa up onto the counter.

“About 30 minutes.” He said, trying to contain himself from scolding you for putting the child onto the counter.

“Want to help us?” You invited and Levi sighed, knowing it would be wrong to decline.

“I don’t have cinnamon rolls.” He said instead of answering the original question.

“Oh that’s not a problem. Do you have flour? Yeast, eggs?” You asked as you turned and began rummaging through the cabinets.

“Of course, I’m not an animal.” He scoffed and you chuckled as you pulled out a bag of flour.

“That’s all we need.” You sat the bag next to Mikasa who reached out and touched it experimentally. Next you pulled out the carton of eggs from the fridge, Mikasa opened the carton and gently held an egg. Levi could easily imagine her losing her grip and dropping the egg onto his freshly cleaned wood floors.

“Where’s your cinnamon?” You asked, back turned and arms outstretched as you held the cabinet open.

“Here.” Levi slid past you, opening the neighboring cabinet and held the spice out to you. With a smile you accepted it and added the container to the growing pile of ingredients.

“How long does this take?” Levi asked, glancing at his watch.

“Not 30 minutes.” You answered wryly as you handed Mikasa a wooden spoon, she accepted it happily. Her small hands wrapped around the handle and she placed the spoon against her cheek, basically hugging the utensil.

“What else do you need?” He asked as you perused his kitchen.

“Just yeast and sugar.” You answered as you crouched to look for a bowl.

“It’s over here.” He opened a cabinet near the one you were inspecting and pulled out a bag of sugar and a handful of yeast packets.

“Do you cook a lot?” You asked and he shrugged.

“Enough, I hate eating out.” He answered and you hummed in understanding.

Levi watched as you began making the dough and Mikasa leaned on your shoulder as you kneaded the dough. Her grey eyes widened when you motioned for her to join in. She poked the dough and you smiled as she splayed her small hands over the surface of the squishy dough.

Once again, all Levi could think about how dirty her hands were as she began kneading the dough as you had previously.

“That’s great! Now we can let it sit for a while before we roll them up!” You explained as you gathered the dough back up into the bowl and laid a kitchen towel over it.

“Want an apple while we wait?” You asked and Mikasa nodded enthusiastically as you turned to grab the fruit. Levi looked at his watch once more, he still had about 10 minutes before he had to leave. But he felt the pressure and reality of his newfound responsibility weighing heavy on his chest. So he went to get his shoes and retreat like the coward he was.

“Leaving?” You asked as he pulled his shoes on, you had already cut the apple and Mikasa was watching with curious eyes as she crunched on a slice.

“Yeah, I’ll be back before 8.” He promised and you nodded.

“See you then.” You called after him as he slipped out of the garage door, throwing up a careless wave of acknowledgment as he went. You then turned back to Mikasa and sighed exasperatedly and she giggled as you returned to making her breakfast. This was going to be a long day.

[an-annyeoing-writer]

vulnerability. – chap. 3.

Story info:

Pair: Byun Baekhyun x Reader

Rating: +18 for mentions of s*x and violence (future chapters)

Genre: angst, smut

Chapter info:

Release date: 29th July 2021

Word count: 4 219

Warnings: none

Vulnerability Masterlist || Fanfiction Masterlist || Ko-Fi

Taglist:

@shesdreaminginoverdose @mybiasdashboard @marimsun @byuns-asscheeks @multi–kpop–fanfics @vunv @making-me-blush @skittlez-area512 @bloopbloopkai @byuns-asscheeks @baekyeonoreo @devotedexolnhottest @mingxia-nikki04 @velvetjongin @ssssssul (won't let me tag you T_T) @nemi-mei @buttercupbbh

Please, always comment on the newest chapter if you wish to be added to/removed from the taglist. I will be also checking the tags, so if you’re shy – feel free to leave a note this way.

Previous (Chap. 2.)

Chap. 3.

The tension that appeared the moment you received the phone call from Baekhyun did not dissolve with time. In fact, the opposite happened – it grew as the time passed, and as Saturday came closer and closer. Finally, once your Friday to Saturday night shift came to an end and you stumbled into your flat around 4 in the morning, you knew that you wouldn’t be able to fall asleep easily. Yet, you forced a whole cup of green tea into yourself in an attempt to soothe your nerves before sleep. Your alarm was set for noon, and you were supposed to meet at 3 PM.

You woke up feeling energized, but you knew this pattern all too well already – the tiredness would come and hit you with its whole power the day after, and you’d spend Sunday sluggish and drained. But that was okay, because Sunday didn’t matter half as much as Saturday did.

You felt a small urge to dress up; even more, actually, you felt a need to pay attention to details rather than looking fine at the first glance. Some common sense hyped up by years of watching other people and reading stories – a thorough shower, shaving, paying attention to not only what you wore outside, but also your undergarments. You lacked things that could be considered “sexy”, but – let’s face it – you didn’t think it mattered much; not after what you’d found out so far. Yet, it would be a shame if your panties had a hole in them. Wearing something neutral, but fresh was your best bet. Every few minutes, you kept reminding yourself – you don’t even know what will happen, you don’t even know if anything will happen at all. There was no reason to think that he’ll want you to undress in the first place, you said it yourself that you’re not ready for sex.

But then, it still helped you gather confidence that you definitely needed at a moment like that. Details allowed one less thing to worry about, and a better ability to focus on others, and so, you made sure the details were worked out well, and that you didn’t overdress, either; a beige shirt and jeans, all wrapped up with sneakers and another knitted cardigan of yours – neutral and polite, maybe a bit school-ish, but these were the things you mostly wore on daily basis, and you felt that going in the other direction – of tight pants, mini-skirts and see-through shirts – would not be appreciated. Your hair was pulled up into a loose bun, nothing like the ones you admired in YT tutorials, but the best you could do on your own. Maybe it was the age difference that made you feel obliged to show respect rather than expose yourself. You trusted your instinct on that, and so far, nothing happened yet to prove it wrong. The weather was starting to get warmer; these days were particularly sunny and dry, so you felt at ease without an extra jacket. It couldn’t get that bad in the evening, and you put faith in your cardigan.

Baekhyun must have thought similarly.

You stood in the bar’s entry, looking up at him for a moment; he leaned back into his usual couch, not aware of your presence just yet. He was wearing a black button-up and jeans as well, something he still looked pretty well put-together in, but not too formal – similar to your own thought process, noticeably.

You inhaled deeply, and took your time to exhale the air – until you felt ready to walk up to him.

“Hi there” he spoke as you approached his couch; as expected, he was there alone today.

“Hi there” you replied with a slight nod and a smile; your voice was quiet, as quiet as it could be without trembling in anticipation.

“You want to drink something before we go?”

You considered it for a second, and then nodded again. Baekhyun moved a bit to the side, encouraging you to join him on the couch, and you took the offer with gratitude.

“Beer? I don’t want to get you drunk, but we may sit here for a bit just to relax.”

“You can tell I need it?”

“Yes. I can tell. Your shoulders are very tense. May I?”

His hand reached to your shoulder and you nodded slightly, a bit unsure what you agreed to just yet.

He suddenly squeezed your muscle, and you whimpered. He kneaded it, and you found the tension dissolving gradually as he went on. Even with only one hand and unfavorable position, he managed to find some of the spots that required touch; that touch was welcome, slight pain coming along with it was desired for the best outcome. You didn’t notice when Baekhyun must have given the bartender some sort of a sign, but the man soon came with a beer and water that he put on the nearby table. That was when Baekhyun’s movement slowly ceased, cautiously letting go of your shoulders. You felt as if you were in a different body, the tension in your body almost gone, just as the one in your mind – the moments of physical interaction were enough to chase some of your worries away.

“You don’t drink?” You reached towards the table – it was closer to you than to him – and took the two glasses, handing him the water and keeping the beer for yourself.

“Not before,” he explained curtly, which you accepted without further questioning.

“So… what are we gonna do?” you asked carefully, sipping the beer through a metal straw, trying to give off a casual vibe despite focusing deeply on what you were about to hear.

“Depends. On how much will you allow me to do.” Baekhyun focused his gaze on something in the crowd; you felt as though it was his habit to avoid a direct gaze in an attempt to sound collected. “I had the idea of showing you some things. Just so you feel it out a little. It’s not final, but it may help the both of us figure out how we feel about it. Like a free trial, you see my point?” You nodded, but didn’t say anything, so after a moment he continued. “I won’t introduce you to everything, and it won’t last as long as usual sessions, either. I’ll talk to you a bit beforehand so we figure out some basic things. It shouldn’t make you uncomfortable. I won’t be trying anything beyond your comfort zone.”

“So, no deals a’la Fifty shades?” you felt silly the moment these words left your mouth. Baekhyun laughed awkwardly.

“No, it won’t be necessary. If you want to draw a comparison to that, I definitely won’t be dumping the whole scheme on you when you don’t even know what it’s like.”

And you won’t fuck me first thing in the plot, you added in your thoughts.

“There are a few things that I may ask you here, so that we have those out of the way,” he spoke; his tone lowered a little. “I need you to tell me if you have any illnesses or old injures that could influence your physical capacity.”

You thought for a bit; the answer was important, but you couldn’t recall much.

“I don’t think there’s anything important.”

“Is there anything unimportant?” His gaze pierced through you as he caught on your wording.

“Uh… I’m taking pills for my thyroid, but it’s nothing very dramatic” you explained. “Nothing else that I know of.”

Baekhyun nodded slowly.

“Fair. Next question, is there anything you’re particularly scared of? Phobias, or things you’re scared of in general, anything overly triggering that you want to avoid at all costs?” You already revealed some of these during your first conversation. But now you felt more at ease, and you thought you could be more detailed without sounding overwhelming.

“I’m… scared of fire. And hate my hair being pulled. I don’t know, why. I can’t explain it. It’s just…”

“It’s alright. You don’t need to explain yourself to me” Baekhyun looked at you with his eyebrows slightly furrowed. “You sound like it would stress you out to share. You don’t need to be afraid of that. You don’t owe me anything, keep that in mind. It’s not supposed to feel like an obligation.”

“I-I know.”

“I’m scared of heights, by the way.” You stared at him in confusion. “Hm? Just thought it’s fair to share if you did.”

“Oh.”

“Chill out.” He nudged your glass with his hand to urge you to drink some more of the beer you managed to forget about by then. It was halfway through – you didn’t want to leave the glass with some of it still inside, although it managed to make you feel just a bit sick already.

His own drink was at around the same level too, and as you finished yours, he drank the remaining water in one go as well.

You weren’t the best at handling alcohol, and even the small amounts made you a bit weak in the knees. But you felt sober enough as the two of you finally got up; Baekhyun paid for your drinks and you left the bar.

The weather was nice, as expected. Going out into the sunlight again startled you, somehow; you felt as though a lot of time had already passed. But no, it was still the same afternoon.

It was true that Baekhyun lived nearby. His apartment was in a different direction than your place, though, and you estimated it would take around twenty minutes to get from one place to the other. You knew this area, although not too well – there were only some tenement houses, but no stores or academic buildings that could gain your attention or regular presence. It was on the more expensive side, although not a place a well off office worker wouldn’t afford; just maybe not suitable for a student. The tenement houses were old, but well-kept, and you knew that the apartments were way bigger than in a place like yours.

Opening the door for you, Baekhyun invited you into the dark hallway of his apartment. There were no lights, as every wall had doors to other rooms: two to the left, one at the end of the corridor, and two more to the right, perfectly symmetric.

“Kitchen, my office, bathroom, my bedroom, and the living room,” the man told you, starting from the left. One glance into the living room on the right made you realize just how big the rooms were; enormous, in your honest opinion, with the area of something around a classroom at school, but with ceilings that reached far up, almost twice higher than in your own place. Heavy curtains hung from the top of the tall windows like limp branches of a willow tree, giving the most dramatic effect, and – likely – gathering tons of dust throughout their lifetime. Wooden, carved furniture added to the effect, and you, in all your sincerity, would not dare to ask how much such a set cost, although it would be a lie to say that you weren’t curious. Wooden panels on the floor were already worn and grey, giving you a thought that the interiors were kept in this particular shape for long years before Baekhyun began to reside in there.

“That’s huge,” you only uttered. Your eyes rested on a painting in the middle of a wall on the left side of the room, above an eclectic-green, velvet couch, in front of which was a wooden coffee table, and which gave a perfect sight into an old TV on the side of the room, as it was one of the old-styled, small models that would be hard to look at from the distance between one wall and the other. The painting looked old, but you wondered from the distance, whether it was not just printed in good quality, with all the details of lights, people and nature making it look like a piece of national heritage rather than a small private property. It portrayed a battle scene coming to an end, warriors in shining armor stained with blood resting upon trees and a small pond of pinkish water, at either sunset or sunrise – you weren’t sure.

“You like it?” He caught your stare and followed it, giving himself a few seconds to adore the painting as well, as though he hadn’t looked at it enough despite living here.

“It’s too violent,” you decided after a moment. “But it’s nice to look at.”

“It’s not that violent in itself, I think. But it does conjure the thought of it.”

He left the living room with you still in the doorframe, staying to look at the painting just for a few more seconds. When you turned around, he was entering the kitchen – this room also looked old, but less well kept; it was cleaned up perfectly, however the furniture was shabby, with the surfaces often partly rubbed off and grey; this room simply screamed for renovation. But you felt way more at ease with the fact that it looked similar to yours – the one that was over twenty years old when you moved with and you had no way of changing it without getting in trouble with the landlord. And not like you’d want to do it at all, since you’d move out right after your studies anyway. The only difference was that you tried to make your apartment look a bit warmer with colorful lights and other cheap ornaments here and there, while Baekhyun’s kitchen was just left as it was, as though he gave up on it the moment he moved in.

“Hungry?”

“Not much.” You were still full of the freshly consumed beer.

Out of the fridge, Baekhyun took a bag of half-eaten potato chips. You stared at him with your eyebrow raised as he ate a few of these, and then extended the bag towards you, to which you only shook your head and he put the bag back in the fridge. He caught your look.

“Food moths,” he explained. You slowly nodded in understanding. That’d be a useful tip if you ever got those. The summer was slowly coming; soon, your small apartment would also be filled with bugs, and fruit flies, mosquitos, and sciarids because you kept a few plants in (discovering that sciarids and fruit flies were not the same thing was an important step in achieving perfect harmony in your adulthood).

You sat awkwardly by the table, observing him as he reached for the bag he must have left on the counter before he went to pick you up, and took out leftovers – probably from work – putting them back in the fridge.

“You worked today?” you asked.

“Yeah, just an average thing, a strategic meeting with co-workers. My working hours are not regular, so I didn’t really know I was gonna be out today.”

Once he was done, he sat by the table as well, and you leaned a bit forward, resting your chin on top of your hand.

“You could have postponed it with me, you must be tired,” you said.

“Don’t worry, I’d rather have a chance to relax with you.”

That didn’t sound as innocent as he probably tried to make it, and he looked over his shoulder to make sure he didn’t scare you with the choice of words. You only laughed awkwardly.

“Anyway. Since, as I said, I don’t want to intimidate you, I think we’ll stay in the living room since you seemed content with that,” he spoke casually.

“So, no playroom?” you uttered. Baekhyun choked on the chip in his mouth.

“I don’t own such a place. I just usually use the bedroom. Or the bathroom,” he explained.

“Or the office?” you felt bold enough to suggest, giving him a small smirk.

“No, I assure you the office is for what offices usually are.”

You smiled innocently as Baekhyun stared at you, probably trying to mask sudden shyness.

“Either way,” he cleared his throat. “I told you some about what I want to do, but you haven’t told me if there’s anything you’re interested in trying out. I assume you did see some things, so… Is there anything that you’ve been particularly interested in?”

The harmless way in which he phrased the question absolutely didn’t change the fact that he was, basically, asking what kind of porn you watch.

“I uh… I like watching different things, just out of curiosity, but I’m not really sure if there’s anything I like particularly more than other things… I suppose bondage is the biggest basic.” You tried, you really tried to sound neutral, but your voice trembled a little. “But I’m not really sure, to be honest. I’m quite open-minded, I suppose…” You felt silly; how could you not be able to answer the most basic question – what do you like? But Baekhyun seemed to understand that very well, as he only nodded slowly.

“What about, let’s say, pet play?” You blushed slightly. “You know what I’m talking about? I feel like a lot of young women start from there.” It took you a moment to realize that you, too, were a young woman. “Behavioral training. Humiliation. Regression. A bit of pain, if suitable. Trying out a few things to see how you respond. What do you think?”

“I think it may be fun” you said slowly. “Does it have something to do with the…?” you motioned your neck, hoping he’ll get the cue. You remembered the collars the other people wore – they were the main reason you got interested in the first place, after all. Baekhyun smiled, catching on your observation.

“Sometimes, but not necessarily. It’s just a thing I like. Do you?”

“…I may,” you answered carefully.

“Gotcha. We may try it out. You know, everyone is different. The collars are different too. I usually order them after I’m sure the person’s gonna stay, and when I know what type will be the most suitable for them. I can’t do that for you yet, but I have some spare items.”

“Do you have the ones of people who you’re not with anymore?” you asked, out of pure curiosity.

Baekhyun was silent for a moment.

“I do. But I’d rather not use them. They’re there for memory, not for use.”

“Gotcha. I was just curious,” you quickly explained.

“Do you have a safe-word?” Baekhyun’s gaze rested on you.

“…Not really. Never needed one,” you uttered sheepishly.

“You have anything on your mind?”

“Um, the… thing with lights? The red light, yellow and green?” you proposed carefully.

“That’s a good one. Tell me how you understand them.”

“So, the green one means everything’s alright, the yellow is when we need to slow down, and the red stops the scene,” you recited, as if you were reading from a book.

“That’s right. It’s easy to remember, so we can go with that.” You bit on your lips to prevent yourself from getting too excited with the apparent praise; it wasn’t anything big, of course – but you felt as though it was a praise in itself, being acknowledged for saying something right. “Another thing is that I need you to know a few rules, before we start.” You were all ears. “First, I don’t want you to be reluctant for the fun of it. Whether you want to be a brat later or not, today we’re just trying things out and I don’t want to mistake your attitude with actual discomfort, do you understand?” You nodded slowly, memorizing the words and waiting for him to continue. “Second. No pain that I will impose on you will be a matter of punishment, unless I specify so. If you don’t enjoy it, you need to tell me so. It doesn’t mean I’ll stop right away, unless – of course – you use the safe-word. However, I still expect honesty. During, as well as after the scene, when we review it. Do you understand?” The breaks in between the points gave you enough time to acknowledge the information and encode it in your memory. You nodded once again. “And for the last. Do you trust me?”

The tone made you look up at him, finally focusing on his person rather than the words alone.

“I do,” you finally decided; knowing very well what this answer would lead to.

Baekhyun’s eyes sparkled as he smiled at you warmly.

“Well then, shall we start?”

* * *

You stand in the middle of the room, the cardigan and shoes are off, your feet feel cold against the floor despite socks wrapped around them comfortingly.

Don’t move a finger, you’ve been told, and so, you stare at the painting before you, the warrior in the front staring at you back with contempt you haven’t noticed before.

Your breath trembles in anticipation as you try to hear sounds from other rooms – you do hear some shuffling, but nothing that you can figure out for sure. He must be in his bedroom, you think. What is he preparing? Which tools out of many that you’ve seen on the screen of your phone all these nights that, despite spending perfect eight hours in bed, did not end in getting perfect eight hours of sleep?

Your arm itches, but you fight the urge to scratch it; be obedient, he said.

Steps echo in the corridor and you hold your breath. Your head snaps to the side the moment you hear him enter the room again.

“Eyes down,” he commands without sparing you a glance; you haven’t had enough time to see what he brought, but you instantly obey his words. “Don’t look at me unless I allow you to.” His voice is stern, and it makes your stomach clench nervously. But it’s not a bad sensation, not at all – you grow excited. “Down. On your knees.”

You try to comply, but he still scoffs at your apparent sluggishness. You almost fall over as you let your knees bend and you finally kneel down as well as you can, eyes facing down as well, although you feel awkward as you do so.

“On your toes,” Baekhyun commands; something small but hard hits your heels, startling you, and your head whips around to see a wooden pointing stick. You swallow the gasp of surprise at the sight.

You fix your posture, your toes instantly begin to cramp; that’s uncomfortable, and your toes aren’t too flexible, it seems.

“Straighten your back. You’re slouching.”

The task turns out almost impossible to do, the whole weight lands on your toes and you frown in discomfort.

“Is it necessary…?”

“Look at me.” It feels unnatural to do so now, but you oblige, turning your head to the side where he stands. “What’s wrong?”

“My toes hurt,” you admit quietly. Baekhyun watches you for a moment.

“Straighten them. Kneel as you did before.” You bite your lips and nod, uttering a small thank you that you find suitable enough as the position gets a bit more comfortable. “Back. Straighten.”

You automatically snap back into the position. But it does feel a bit silly – like something your teachers would say, don’t slouch! A laughter comes out at the comparison, but you attempt to stifle it.

Apparently, not well enough.

The pointer hits the nape of your neck; not too hard, but the message gets through.

Baekhyun stands in front of you and, most likely, stares you down – you can’t tell; your gaze is fixated on his lacquered shoes. The shoes then move, kicking the middle of your thighs.

“Spread.”

You feel a bit awkward as you oblige this command; you only glance down to make sure your pants aren’t ripped – you never know. To your relief, they’re not. Then you try to glance forward – but, what’s in front of you, makes you more shy than anything, so you just fix your gaze on his knees instead.

“You’re slouching again.”

“Pets often do,” you note before you manage to bite your tongue; you do remember your conversation from before – wasn’t it what he was aiming for? You thought so at first. But the words were not thought through at all; you just felt a need to say something, anything, just like you’d talk back to a teacher when they became too annoying in their remarks.

You hold your breath as Baekhyun crouches down to your level.

You feel his eyes on you, and you unwittingly tremble under his gaze, forcing yourself to look even lower, not daring to break the rule. The seconds seem to last hours as he doesn’t speak a word – and he doesn’t have to. You feel intimidated.

“You want to be a pet?”

He stands up; he’s right in front of you, if you so much as leaned forward a little bit, your forehead would touch his thigh. You slightly crave the touch; but not enough to move, not when you grow petrified. The question is rhetorical. You wait for him to finish the thought.

“Then I’ll treat you like one.”

Without waiting for your reaction, he steps behind you. You hear shuffling in what had to be a box placed behind your back; you see nothing.

But you hear the harsh, recognizable clink of metal and your stomach drops.

* * *

Please, reblog if you enjoyed, it'll help me a bunch!

Author's note: Hello, have you missed me??? I'm sorry it took so long to upload, it's hard to find time among exams I had in June, and now my (first) new job! The next chapter is already being written, so hopefully, won't take that long. Remember to reblog if you liked, and I'll be really happy to hear what you have to say about this so far. Stay safe!

Next (Chapter 4.)

[amazingphilza]

snapchat :: c!tommy x reader

fluff / angst , platonic , gender neutral ! first request whoop whoop :D [check pinned for more info on requests]

synopsis: ‘what’s so bad about adding every person on snapchat?’ tommy thought. unknowingly, with all the other people he begins talking to during exile, one ends up being you; tubbo’s younger sibling. that is until you both visit tommy in logstedshire.

cw: i purposely misspell a few words for the texting part, i hope it’s still readable for y’all! and i haven’t actually used snapchat in years so let’s pretend i know what i’m doing :)

tommy smiled at his brand new phone

first thing he does? install snapchat and reddit

if he couldn’t talk to his best friends face to face anymore, at least he had people online to talk to, right?

tommy hoped from all his possessions dream would destroy, he could at least keep a phone

without much thought, tommy opened snapchat and began adding every account and messaging them the same obnoxious message

BE MY FRIEND . MESSAGE BACK NOW.

most people chose ignore tommy, not having a clue why he was messaging them

but as for you, when you had the notification that someone added you on snapchat and started aggressively messaging you, it made you curious

you read their user

“wife haver”?? huh???

instead of immediately blocking the person, you replied back

what?

not even less than a second later you get a reply back

OH MY GOD FINALLY SOMEONE

IM DYING

without context, you were more than confused

genuinely dying is very alarming but you shouldn’t text a random stranger your last words

huh?

THE GREEN BASTARD TOOK EVERYTHING AWAY FROM ME

YOURE ALL I HAVE LEFT

plwase helo

Help

where did tou go

Ohm hgod

hHello?

NOOOO NOT YOU TOO

PLEASR

you laughed at the person’s desperation and ignored the messages

if the stranger wasn’t going introduce themselves, you wouldn’t either

however, after a while you realized you had over 100 snapchat notifications within an hour of trying to ignore the person

however it was just jumbled up words and useless spam, nothing important

as if the stranger would said anything important to your concern anyway

do you ever shut up??

fuck you

a normal person wouldve taken offense by these messages but you found them quite amusing

it wasn’t like you had anything else better to do

and this acceptance was the start of your odd friendship with the stranger

you were still on edge because you had no idea who they were and their intentions but the anonymity was mutual nonetheless

if the desperate spamming “wife haver” isn’t going to formally tell you who they actually were, you weren’t going to risk exposing yourself first

but in the past few weeks, you and the person had normal conversations apart from the first day they messaged you

well as normal as you could’ve expected from someone named “wife haver”

they were the first to send an actual snap as well

that was when you found out the “wife haver” was an obnoxious boy that looked around your age, maybe a slightly older

he had sent you a photo of him holding a thumbs up and trying to smile when he was clearly upset

just got all my stuff exploded again, feeling good

you noticed his messy blonde hair and tattered clothes

what the hell happened to this guy?

part of you was confused, and the other was concerned

u good bro??

well

i don’t have anymore tools and materials if that’s anything

so no

this is shit

lmao it was probably deserved

FUCK YOU!!!!!

im kidding that’s sad

but like do u actually need stuff?

you contemplated sending your next message and thought of the consequences

but in the end, you were probably better off than him so if he did try to do something suspicious, you could easily just leave with your trident or defend yourself

i can bring some things over if you’d like

please oh my god it’s so boring here

where the hell do you even live???

it finally hit that you would be visiting this mysterious person

you never really had much to do during the day and he had nothing against your enchanted netherite armor when compared to his worn-out clothes

you were surprised that he was quick to be comfortable with you visiting him so continued to message the boy

if you live nearby i can just stop over and bring some spare diamond tools and armor if you’d like or smth

DIAMOND !,?’/:@!?:/-',(

ya sure lol

WTF

GOOD SHIT LAD! THANKS

WHEN DO U WANT TO VISIT???

his shock and excitement made you smile

maybe this wasn’t a bad idea

before replying, you quickly ran to your storage room you gather your spare items

instead of normally texting, you decided to take a picture of all the enchanted tools and armor and send back a snap

i’m down for tomorrow, turn on your snapmaps so i can come by ;D

he quickly replied back with handfuls of ‘holy shits’ and ‘YEAHS’

you couldn’t help but smile from ear to ear which caught the attention of your older brother who had just walked in to get blocks from the wall of chests

“ew why are you smiling at your phone like that?”

“oh shut up, tubbo”

“it’s weird”

you roll your eyes at him in a playful matter

“whatever! i’m gonna be out tomorrow to visit a friend, okay?”

“you have friends? wow, sounds like a first”

“you’re such a dick!!” you yell at him whilst trying to hold in your laughter

“oh yeah? go on, tell me about this friend of yours then. meeting strangers online, hm?”

“if you’re so concerned, you can come with if you’re not busy with whatever a president does. i promise they’re not some weirdo like you”

tubbo’s tone was sarcastic but he agreed then left you to your own thoughts

you were excited for tomorrow that you were restless in your bed when nighttime had came

somehow you managed to fall asleep from tiredness in the middle of the night

soon enough it was morning

before doing anything, you checked your phone and went through all your notifications

you then checked snapchat, browsing snapmaps and realized how far you had to travel

despite the long travel, you brought yourself up from your bed and gathered all the items you were going to bring

you stuffed a full set of enchanted diamond armor, tools, and over a stack of golden carrots all in your inventory

after finishing all your preparations, you searched for your older brother

with just a loud yell of his name he appeared almost instantly

“you ready to go, tubbo?”

“yep! you know where you’re going right?”

you scoffed at the question

“of course!”

and with that, the two of you traveled on foot until you reached the ocean

you had brought 2 boats with you knowing that you couldn’t imagine being in the same boat as your brother; it would’ve ended up in endless bickering

after a while of being at sea, tubbo started to become impatient

“what the hell! how far does this person live, y/n??”

“i dunno!”

you knew the general direction you were supposed to be going to after studying your snapmaps all morning but you couldn’t check how much farther it would take to get there; there was obviously no signal in the middle of the ocean

it felt like forever before you saw land in the horizon

suddenly you regained all the energy you have lost from rowing

“there!! that place with the white tent, i can barely see it”

“finally”

with the burst of energy, you got to land in no time

the moment you got off your boat, the blonde spotted the two of you and ran in your direction

once appearing nearly feet apart, he stared at your brother who also had the shocked expression

“TOMMY?”

“TUBBO?”

your brother had more of a confused expression whilst the other boy seemed a bit mad

maybe he was always mad considering the endless conversations you had with him ranting about some ‘green bastard’

but tubbo quickly got defensive, stepping in front of you

you didn’t understand how they knew each other beforehand, but at the same time you never caught up with tubbo’s friends either

you needed answers

“what’s going on?”

“y/n! you were messaging tommy this whole time? why didn’t you tell me?”

tubbo was clearly frustrated and a feeling of guilt washed over you

it didn’t click that you never exchanged names and admitting it did not seem believable

tubbo was in complete shock, trying to process everything that was happening

“WHAT?! AND HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN TALKING?”

you mumbled out your words

“a few weeks, i can’t remember”

“uh, yeah sorry” tommy had confirmed your statements. “i didn’t even know you had a sibling, tubbo! i actually didn’t know their name until now as well..”

“HUH??”

“but if i knew i was messaging a tub-ling, i wouldn’t have in the first place!”

“what the fuck tommy!!!”

“no, but how do you even know each other?” you had interrupt the two

tubbo had chosen his words carefully

“we’re... friends”

tommy had seemed upset at this

“tubbo....”

“no, don’t talk to me, tommy. you were exiled for a reason. y/n? give him the stuff you wanted to him and let’s go, this was a waste of time”

you were saddened but obliged, you didn’t want to anger your brother even more

“fuck you, tubbo! can’t believe this was how you visit me for the first time, i don’t even want your pity shit”

before you could react, tubbo led you to the back of his boat

he got in the front and quickly rowed away from the land you barely stayed on, leaving your boat behind on the shores

you looked back at tommy who already had left back to his tent

the boat ride was silent and full of sorrow until you arrived back at l’manburg

once you got home you immediately opened snapchat to message tommy

hey tommy i’m really sorry about today. i had no idea,,,

you thought he would’ve ignored your message but instead replied right after

but your heart sank at reading the message

it’s fine

i think it’s best we stop talking y/n

you didn’t want to lose a friend so quickly but after all the tension from today, you didn’t know how to come back from it

so instead of arguing you agreed, even if it wasn’t honest

yeah, me too

and that was the last message you sent to tommy

even though the whole situation was confusing from the start, it didn’t mean you didn’t enjoy the random conversations you had

the bizarre encounter was unforgettable

it made you even sadder when you realized the first time you two used each other’s names through text would also be the last

a/n: ngl, i didn’t think i would finish this on a kinda angsty ending but here we are! and grrr it’s 4am and i just wanted to finish this,, let’s hope there aren’t that many grammar mistakes LMAO anyway i hope y’all enjoyed <3