#sometimes a ship is about something that's maybe not even a real crush and definitely not reciprocated

[allpiesforourown]

I know people hate “bully/victim” ships so IM SORRY theres just a silly modern au bully bingge idea i’ve been thinking about a lot lately .

cw for the above mentioned dynamic!!

Luo Binghe getting into some exclusive academy after finding out about his family’s inheritance. He immediately hates all these out of touch rich people… all of them except for Shen Yuan. 

They have a basic meet cute. Shen Yuan spills Binghe’s coffee and offers to buy him a new one, giving him a tour of their campus while they’re out. He introduces him to the librarians and the office staff. Binghe is certain this is way too good to be true, and Shen Yuan has got to have some ulterior motive. 

One some base level he knows Shen Yuan is a good person that is being kind for him for no particular reason. He’s seen him do the same for other people. But the idea of him being just one of the many people Shen Yuan is friendly with makes him feel bitter and self-conscious. So he’s like fuck it, I hate Shen Yuan actually he’s gotta be a green tea bitch or something (because if he’s not it will literally shatter his world-view if he finds out not all people are greedy and bad) 

Hear me out . listen. Pushing someone around is something that can be so homoerotic

Bingge picking on Shen Yuan and being super, super aroused the whole time. He’ll dump water on shen yuan as a joke, then ignore everyone else laughing bc shen yuan’s shirt is sticking to his skin and his nipples got hard because the water was cold-

Or he’ll take shen yuan’s glasses and hold it above his head so shen yuan has to stand on his tip toes and come really close to try to grab it back (one time he even tripped and fell against binghe’s chest!!) Because he’s nearsighted, sometimes Shen Yuan will even forget to put distance between their faces and be within kissing range while he argues with Binghe. 

Once he snuck into the changing room and stole shen yuan’s clothes so he would have to walk back to his dorm in his swim trunks. He definitely didn’t take pictures of Shen Yuan’s blushing face walking back to his room half naked and he definitely didn’t keep the clothes and sniff them like a weirdo haha…

It’s an average day for them (Binghe takes shen yuan by the wrists and holds him against the wall and calls him a fragile little princess and taunts him by saying he’s not strong enough to break out of his hold. Prime bullying tactic for someone you’re in love with 1. Binghe gets to see live reaction of sy’s face when he’s pinned down and struggling and can save that image for later use 2. Physical closeness, they’re practically pressed together 3. Shen yuan bruises easily and seeing binghe’s handprints on his wrists for like a week is super satisfying 4. Binghe can call him romantic pet names like princess or wife and shen yuan will just think binghe is calling him effeminate as an insult) 

Luo Binghe even lifts Shen Yuan’s hands above him to catch both wrists with one hand and says, “You can’t even get out if I only use one hand?” It makes Shen YUan flush red from humiliation in suuuch an adorable way. 

So anyway, Binghe is picking on shen yuan in the back room of some office somewhere, doing his whole routine because he’s been hurt too many times in life to be vulnerable with someone again and this is his only way to achieve intimacy with the person he loves. He’s been saving the “are you sure you’re a man? Maybe I should check” card for a long time and he’s so excited to use it. He’ll even say something about Shen Yuan’s dick being so short, he should just wear a skirt and become a real man’s wife, and that’s BULLYING, it’s NOT a kink, binghe does NOT jerk off to the thought of Shen Yuan wearing short dresses and greeting him home, he DOESN’T. (he does) 

Before he can fulfill this amazing plan, Liu Qingge, another man in their year, barges in?? Obviously, they fight and Binghe’s chance to feminize his crush slips through his fingers

The worst thing is ??? Liu Qingge rescued Shen Yuan like some righteous prince saving the damsel in a fairy tale. Shen Yuan is not allowed to have a storybook romance with someone else! He hates Liu Qingge so much it’s unreal

It becomes impossible to corner Shen Yuan and get some time alone. He and that Qingge guy are together more and more often. Liu Qingge is in the library carrying Shen Yuan’s books now? Now they’re always hanging out on the grass having lunch?? They’re discussing what electives they can take together?!?! 

It’s been like a month since he’s gotten to properly tease shen Yuan and he needs it bad. If he doesn’t pull down shen yuan’s pants in public to embarrass him (and see his ass) soon, he might actually die. 

Then he spots him: Shen Yuan walking to class. Unaccompanied.

Luo Binghe is so overcome with exhilarated relief, he doesn’t even think about what he’s gonna do. He just runs over, ignores Shen Yuan’s screaming, throws him over his shoulder like a bag of rice, and carries him away. 

Shen Yuan freaks the hell out because, okay, petty insults and light fighting are one thing, but he’s straight up getting kidnapped?? That’s not bullying anymore, that’s a crime!! 

Binghe knows he only has so much time before Qingge manages to find them. He needs somewhere he can hide – he races back to his room before he can plan any further. He throws Shen Yuan on the bed, locks the door, and sighs in relief. 

Shen Yuan is sure he’s gonna die. He has no idea what he ever did to piss Binghe off so bad. Yes, he spilled his coffee, but he got him another one! 

Binghe takes a seat on the bed as well. He averts his eyes away from him bashfully, but glances back periodically like a maiden trying to play coy. Shen yuan has no idea how to navigate whats happening. He backs up on the bed until he hits the wall and holds up a pillow like a shield, except- there’s something underneath. 

It’s the cucumber patterned gag boxers he got as a joke from airplane. No one in the world would buy them. “Is- is this my underwear?” 

Binghe lunges at him to knocks the evidence out of Shen Yuan’s hand, but instead pushes him onto his back and ends up with his hands on either side of Shen Yuan’s head. 

Shen Yuan is shocked in place. Binghe, on the other hand, is in bullying-cute-boy withdrawl. He sees Shen Yuan's beautiful face flustered by their position, on Binghe's bed, and POUNCES.

Now that Shen Yuan finally understands his feelings, Binghe has permission to torment him! And he does. For hours, with various tools and against every surface. 

[your-unfriendlyghost]

4, 5, 7, 14

(Okay I really liked these ones fyi)

4. Rank the main 7.

  Ooh tough one. I guess right now, in order of favorite to least favorite, I’d have to go Sodapop, Two-Bit, Steve, Johnny, Ponyboy, Dally, and then finally Darry. But it’s pretty close, and the order changes day by day honestly- I like all of them a lot, y’know? I guess the only one I don’t think about too often is Darry. I still like him and think he’s a really well-written character- I just don’t have a lotta original thoughts about him, is all, whereas I do about all the others. 

5. What are your fave ships?

  In a truly shocking turn of events, I, a frequent draw-er and writer of Stevepop, am going to say Stevepop. I dunno, something about them just makes me happy. Reminds me of like…daydreams I had when I was twelve and crushing on my best friend, and trying to get her attention by doing stupid things and whatever…god I don’t really know how to explain why I like it. Before this fandom I didn’t usually ship things, to be honest. But I guess when I did it’d be stuff like Jesslake in Infinity Train, where it’s the sorta thing that can be seen as platonic or romantic. I reckon Stevepop scratches a similar itch in my brain lol

  But I also really like Marcia x Two-Bit, which I haven’t really talked about here much- They had good chemistry, y’know? I oughta draw something about them sometime

  And then finally there’s my DIY crack-ish ship Soda x Steve x Evie. I like them! It’s all the things I like about Stevepop, plus there’s a cool girl in the mix! I love cool girls! More folks should think about them i think

  I do like other ships okay too- like the Tarry crowd has dragged me in, and sometimes the Jally crowd does too, along with Purly and occasionally Johnnyboy. I’m not an active participant, but when I come across it, I sorta mentally nod and say “nice”, you dig? They’re like…my ship-in-laws. Or like…milk duds and hershey bars- candy I still enjoy, but reach for only after I’m out of milky ways and twizzlers.

7. What are your fave non-romantic relationships? (This can be close friends, familial, enemies or even just acquaintances)

  Two-Bit and Pony! I like them a lot. Their interactions in the book were some of my favorite parts. That line when Two-Bit was worried about Ponyboy using that broken bottle on the Socs…ugh that part was great. I remember reading it for the first time and just sitting there thinking about how much I liked that detail.

  Then on the opposite side of the coin, Steve and Pony lol. I LOVE how Pony doesn’t initially like Dally or Steve, and yet Dally’s chill with Pony…but with Steve the disdain is mutual. Jk I don’t think Steve really hates Pony- but he definitely thinks Pony’s kinda annoying. I like the idea of him watching out for Pony anyways though, like at school especially now that Soda’s not going.

14. Tell us five of your headcanons you basically see as canon

Sodapop has ADHD and maybe (?) dyslexia, but it’s the 60s so he won’t find out till he’s well into adulthood

Marcia gave Two-Bit her real number, and was disappointed when he didn’t call it. I like to imagine they end up remeeting at some point and going out together- even if that’s kinda unrealistic lol

Steve hated Dally when he first rolled into town, because Dally was everything he really wanted to be- tough, cool, and street-smart. And he was also scared of losing Soda, who thought Dally rocked- because Dally’s from New York and rides in rodeos! Eventually they became buddies though when Dally gave Steve a compliment or something. Not even a particularly good one- something like “Hey you ain’t bad at fighting”- just barely enough for Steve to feel like Dally’s earned a little bit of his loyalty. Might write fic/make a comic for this- it’s kinda niche but I think the idea is funny

Steve and Soda secretly listen to the Beach Boys at the DX. They can’t tell anyone because it’s not tuff to like a dumb California band. And Ponyboy would like the Beatles if he listened to them, but he doesn’t, so he won’t realize that until years after Beatlemania has died down

Steve is not just a Ponyboy hater but also a horses-in-general hater. He thinks horses are scary and unpredictable and that cars were invented for a reason. He was secretly relieved when Mr. Curtis stopped Soda from riding rodeos, because seeing Soda on a crazy horse gave him mad anxiety. Pretended he was sad though for Soda’s sake

Thanks so much for asking!! I loved answering these so much lol, definitely let me know your thoughts too on ‘em!

[xflippinfrogx]

~MARAUDERS TICKLE HEADCANONS~

A/N~ Second post, I’m on a writing spree rn haha. I may even start another fic if I have time.. We’ll see. Anyways enjoy!!

James Potter

Lee

•Like a good 7 on the ticklish scale. •Has an obnoxiously loud laugh when you get him in a good spot. •BIG SQUIRMER LIKE THIS MAN CANNOT STAY STILL ITS HILARIOUS. •His worst spots are his knees, back and feet. •His main lers are Sirius, Lily, Remus and Marlene. •He gets tickled a lot for being annoying or too excitable. •Him and Sirius get into tickle fights at least 3 times a week over the most ridiculous things like who gets to shower first and so on.. •Genuinely loves being tickled because it reminds him of when he was little and his parents would do the same. •He thinks he’s really subtle about it but all his friends know.

Ler

•Definitely the biggest tickle monster of the group because he LOVES making his friends smile. •His main lees are Sirius, Peter, Remus and (this next one depends on what your preferred ship is) Lily/Regulus •Would never tickle anyone that’s uncomfortable with it. •He was the first person to ever tickle Sirius and they had a cute lil brother bonding experience together. •Such a sweet ler, he’s like a real life teddy bear, but he can be ruthless when he wants to be. •He’s such a Dad when it comes to teasing. •He’d use teases like “I can’t stop my hands are stuck” “Aww are you ticklish??” “You’re laughing so you must be having fun!” •I love him so much ahh

Sirius Black

Lee

•9.5 THE MOST TICKLISH OF THE MARAUDERS NO FURTHER QUESTIONS. •Loves being tickled so much he’ll literally full on spread himself out on top of you until you do something about it. •Has a really shrieky high pitched laugh it’s so funny •His worst spots are his ribs and under his arms. His thighs are pretty bad too. •Was never tickled before Hogwarts but now he’s practically tickled on a daily basis. •His main lers are James and Remus but sometimes Lily too.

Ler

•More Lee than ler but still enjoys tickling people cough Remus cough •The first time he realised he had a crush on Remus was during a tickle fight when Remus showed his full laugh for the first time. (Fic idea??🤔) •Loves sneak attacks especially on James because no matter how many time he does it James still never expects it. •That’s it for Sirius :)

Remus Lupin

Lee

•I feel like he’d be really ticklish but very good at hiding it you know? •I’ll give him an 8 because come on we all know this man is super sensitive!! •Super contagious laugh he snorts •Sirius, James and Peter giving him cheer up tickles iS MY LIFE!!! •Imagine after a bad full moon his all sad but then the boys make sure to turn his frown upside down like UGH😭❤️ •I think his worst spots would have to be his neck, sides and hips. •Sirius would totally abuse his neck with tickly kisses all the time. •His main lers are Sirius, James, Peter and Lily. •(I love Remus if you can’t tell lol)

Ler.

•Can be so mean when he wants to be, like genuinely such a teasy mf. •Sirius is such an attention seeking brat and Remus can’t resist •Has tickled the snot out of James on multiple occasions for being so annoying. •I feel like him and Pete would be a really good tagteam against the other two. • Loves to see his friends laugh but definitely loves being on the receiving end too

Peter Pettigrew

Lee

(We stan young Peter in this house NOT older Peter. He has been exiled from my brain)

•The least ticklish of the four but still a solid 5 maybe a 6 it depends on the day?? •Has a squeaky laugh ifyaknowwhatimean. •Worst spot is under his arms •Tends to be more ler than lee but gets tickled alot by James and sometimes Remus. •Sirius is too scared to lay a finger on him because he knows he’ll get absolutely wrecked😃. •Doesn’t love being tickled but he genuinely doesn’t mind he just likes having fun with his friends. Definitely more comfortable as a ler though.

Ler.

•You provoke him you die no further questions. •Despite what other people say I genuinely think he’d be an amazing ler like the boy grew up with THE JAMES POTTER AND SIRIUS BLACK •Come on you know he had to have some form of defense against those two. •Freakishly skilled at “worming” his hands into their sensitive spots (I didn’t make a pun nonono) •Rarely tickles Remus for fear of retaliation but has on a few occasions and it turned into the most intense showdown of all time Remus lost •Has never let him live it down EVER •Annnnd that’s it for him

A/N~ Thank you for reading my silly little headcanons for some dead gay wizards!! Hope you enjoyed and I’ll hopefully see y’all soon :)

[starshine-valley]

AS THE BIGGEST KOHAMUNO FAN ON THE PLANET (REAL)

DEAR MOOT, I WANT TO HEAR YOUR KOHAMINO HEADCANONS

If you’re the biggest kohamino fan on the planet, can i be the second biggest 🥺👉🏻👈🏻 (/j)

Anyways, moot you came to the right person, I love everything about KohaMino (they’re both my favorite kohane and minori ships :D) so let’s go!!

-> Kohane loves collecting more more jump merch! Especially Minori merchandise!! She’s her super biggest fan ever !!

-> They go on karaoke dates with MizuAn! Minori loves to sing to Kohane the most sappiest songs imaginable as Kohane just blushes and becomes flustered.

“I dedicate this song to Kohane-Chan!” “M-Minori-chan?!”

-> Kohane loves taking photos of Minori! She often takes pictures of her (with her permission, of course!) on dates! More More Jump likes to joke that Kohane is Minori’s personal photographer.

-> 100% those pining idiots who were oblivious of the other one’s feelings. They thought the other was out of their league and well, that caused a lot of insecurity and doubt from the both of them.

-> Minori might be more clingy in public but Kohane is more clingy in private.

-> They probably get a pet together, maybe in the future after High-school but i see them with a pet (perhaps a dog maybe).

-> They’d have matching halloween costumes. Something of the top of my head are Minori as the totally scary DEFINITELY NOT CUTE wolf and Kohane as the little red riding hood. OR Kohane as a “scary” demon and Minori as an angel. Little stuff like that.

-> THEY LOVE TO CUDDLE. Aside from this, they like to have sleepovers even before they were together, usually, they happen in Minori’s house! Pillow fights and pillow forts galore (usually Kohane beats Minori in pillow fights and does most of the work in making pillow forts).

-> They are so sappy, It’s disgusting (/j). They are constantly at each other’s shows and clinging onto each other as they go on dates or hang out. They keep on complementing each other’s progress. More More Jump finds it cute and so does Vivid Bad but Akito gets irritated sometimes (not out of malice, bros just bitter lol)

I might write a drabble about it with Vivid Bad Squad being confused yet supportive of Kohane’s relationship with Minori (Kohane says they’re friends but they constantly act like a couple). Might include some ships like Ruitoya, Mizuan and Akitaro in the mix (we’ll see).

-> Kohane and Minori were 100% the last people to find out they liked each other and were dating. Everyone could see it but them.

-> tickle fights. I feel like those happen a lot. I headcanon they’re both super duper ticklish so…

-> they like to spoil each other with gifts! Most especially they like to give each other plushies or other cute things like hair accessories. The simple things that don’t necessarily cost too much…

-> they were super shy in terms of kissing. I feel like their first kiss happened at the spur of the moment. Like Kohane saw Minori at one of her performances when they were dating and then probably kissed her due to adrenaline and impulse then she became super shy and embarrassed afterwards

-> Minori likes to flirt with Kohane (when she realized that she had a crush on Kohane) but it’s either the most bizarre or corny pickup lines ever. Either way, Kohane gets super flustered somehow. Nobody knows how but many of their friends just assume it’s because of how much Kohane’s pining over Minori.

-> Kohane’s contact in Minori’s phone:

Kohane-Chan <33

-> Minori’s contact in Kohane’s phone:

MINO-RIN( ・∇・) !!

(Minori was in charge of her name in Kohane’s phone, Kohane allowed her to)

-> They share everything! Most especially clothes! Minori steals Kohane’s jackets, Kohane steals Minori’s shirts!

-> MATCHING BRACELETS!! They made bracelets that were supposed to only be friendship bracelets but meant so much to them that they wore them even after they made it official! Kohane’s is green and has a green leaf clover charm on it while Minori’s is pink and has a hamster charm on it!

-> Post third anniversary, When Kohane and Minori miss each other, they have regular outings after school (when they don’t have practice) so they go to a cafe to chat and maybe study. Vbs, mmj and literally everyone else thinks these are dates.

-> MINORI TEACHES KOHANE HOW TO DANCE !! Most especially if they’re in a fancy outing that requires a formal dance/waltz (i headcanon minori to be good at any type of dancing). Kohane’s a bit rusty at first but they both end up having a fun time.

-> Aquarium and Zoo dates. I dunno. They seem like the type to do something like that.

-> Minori likes doodling in her notebook about her and Kohane. Usually them holding hands or hugging with hearts surrounding them.

These are all the ones i have right now! I have more in regards to my AUs but i won’t go into those unless prompted :)

ANYWAYS I HOPE YOU ENJOY THESE MOOT !!

[villainessprefect]

title: (Un)According to Plan

summary: Ace nudges Deuce to ask out Epel, but things don't go exactly as planned.

ship: EpelDeuce

word count: 2,214

note: written for an exchange I joined!

Read on AO3

Ace rolls his eyes the moment Epel leaves. The lilac-haired boy pouts as he's forcibly dragged away by that freaky hunter. Yet his gaze isn't focused on those of Pomefiore, but rather on one of his own.

Deuce is waving at Epel with a promise to catch him later. There isn't much they can do when it comes to Vil and his demand to have Epel at his side. So, the most he can do is just meet up with him when he's free. Or fight against Vil, although that hardly ends up well for the first years.

The redhead grimaces as he notes the way Deuce's eyes sparkle. They always shine brighter whenever Epel is mentioned. He practically jumps like an excited dog too. And whenever he's around, his attention is always on the smaller boy. There's a longing look, stuttering words escaping his calm demeanor, and a damned smile that comes together. It's...gross. Okay, not that gross, but did he have to be so damn obvious about it?!

Ace likes to think he doesn't mind the lovestruck gaze his friend has. It only bothers him because this idiot hadn't acted on his feelings! Sometimes he thinks that Deuce isn't even aware of the crush he has on Epel. While it's fun poking at him with that ammo, watching him grow flustered and weak against his teasing, it also backfired on him. Rather than encouraging him to confess, it seemed to do the opposite.

Perhaps it was time to finally end this never-ending song and dance.

"You should invite Epel to our next unbirthday party," he starts, a mischievous grin forming. "You know, as a date."

"You think he'd like to come-" A pause as that last, pronounced word sinks into his mind. Deuce blurts out a loud, "EH?!" His cheeks flare up instantly and Ace enjoys the sight of him struggling to be embarrassed or go on the defensive. It's definitely still worth teasing him over this.

"N-No. Wait, why?" Deuce isn't even sure what he's asking. Words fly out of his mouth without thinking. While he may not be the brightest, even he's not that dumb. He likes Epel. More than friends should and he knows it. But why bother to ask him out now? Is there something special about the next unbirthday party? No, there isn't.

"Look. I'm tired of you giving him googoo eyes all the time. You're into him and he's into you. Just ask him out. It's not that hard."

"...He's into me...?" Deuce mumbles as his eyes light up as if he was just told any wish of his would be granted for free. And now, Ace is regretting helping him out.

"How do you ask someone out? You've done it before, right?"

"Yup! It's easy." Ace states proudly. "You just gotta go up to him and ask. Like, hey Epel! Go on a date with me! That's all there is to it. Go on, try it."

"H-Hey, Epel!" Deuce stutters already. He clears his throat and adjusts his tie. He fidgets more than any normal person should and his goddamn crush isn't even around him anymore! His mouth opens and words struggle to leave his lips. "This shit is harder than I thought..."

"Man, I can't believe how innocent you can sometimes be," Ace sighs. At this rate, he'd never be able to pop the question. The thought of seeing them sticking as 'just friends' any longer is going to drive him mad! Maybe...maybe he can force it out of him.

"If you don't ask him out, then I will."

"What?!"

"You heard me." Ace puts on a bold bravado with his declaration. He doesn't mean it, obviously. He doesn't have any romantic interest in their classmate, but he has to play his cards right so Deuce can finally make a move. "We got how many more days until the party? He's probably available. So, I'll just ask him out later. You snooze, you lose."

"Don't you dare," Deuce hisses. Oh, there's the real Deuce in the flesh. A fire burns in his eyes as he throws all of that honor student crap to the wind. It doesn't last long though, unfortunately. The fire simmers out almost as quickly as it had appeared. "I mean. I'll ask him before you do! It's just...not that easy for me to do that."

"C'mon, just do as I said. Go up and ask him out. If anything just drag his ass to the party even if he says no."

"That's not the most honor student thing to do..."

Ace rolls his eyes and lets out a tired sigh. Is this how Riddle feels when he has to deal with them? He isn't sure how he feels about this now (although it's definitely not going to stop him from getting on their housewarden's nerves).

For once, he's almost glad the bell rang to signal that class was back in session. A headache was starting to throb the longer this conversation went on.

"A real honor student wouldn't be afraid to speak their feelings to someone, I'm just sayin."

Those are his final words on this topic. Deuce looks at him, a little confused as to what he means by that considering he is far from being an honor student.

For the rest of the day, that was all Deuce could think about. Lessons had gone by a little too fast and he felt like he skipped class despite physically being there. He couldn't tell if Ace was serious about his 'threat' and that worried him. It didn't help that it caused him to think about Epel and get distracted. The boy sighed as he put a hand to his head.

"Just ask him out," Deuce mumbles to himself. He clears his throat and straightens his posture. With no one else around in the hall he takes a chance to rehearse.

"Epel! W-Would you like to unbirthday my party with me? W-Wait, no that's wrong...The unbirthday party you're going to is cool! Huh? How do I know he's going...Ugh!"

He doesn't understand how Ace can casually say those things while he has trouble getting the lines right. Planning ahead isn't his style, but he feels like he should with this. Romance movies always follow a set path, they set up a cute scene and an almost kiss. The last part is definitely not something he thinks he can do just yet, but...that's better than nothing, right? No, no, he can't just force a kiss on him! He isn't even sure how? Would he ask first or just do it? Would he know when? Would Epel? Does he even want to kiss him?

Questions build up and he regrets letting his thoughts wander too far. His strength lies not with his mind, but with his heart. If he's going to do something, then he should just do it. Don't think. Act.

With confidence building up inside him, he is determined to follow through on his newfound instinct. And he's given a chance to do so when he spots Epel in the courtyard.

A little, unknowing, smile creeps up on his face as he makes his approach. He's about to call out to Epel until he notices a couple of other students, taller, muscular, ones hovering around him. Deuce doesn't know what's going on but by the looks on their faces, it can't be good.

"Hey, what's going on here?" He asks as he steps to Epel's side. A mixture of curiosity and a rising temper on his side. Now he can see those two sneering at Epel while he shoots them a subtle glare.

"Nothin," Epel answers with a huff. "These barbarians were just leavin'."

"Eh? The hell did you just call us?" One questions, cocking his head to the side.

"The princess thinks he can push us around just cuz he's the housewarden's favorite," the other teases.

"Hey!" Epel shouts. That nickname didn't sit well with him. Sure, he's small and cute, but princess? Princess?! Seriously?!

"Epel..." Deuce breathes out his name. He can feel the rage growing inside of him. But he can't let a fight start, not here, not now.

"Oh ho, so now the princess has his prince stepping in. How dashing." They laugh at their own jokes to rub it in.

"I ain't need no prince!" Epel shouts, stepping in front of Deuce. A snarl overtook the dainty look he normally wears. "I'll show ya!"

"Epel!" Deuce calls out, but it's too late.

Epel pulls out his pen and so do the other boys. Instinctively, Deuce does the same. He doesn't think that Epel is trying to prove himself and fight on his own, the only thing that comes to his mind is that he's not going to let him fight alone. His protective nature comes forth and like hell is he going to let anyone hurt his friend. If Epel hates having him help, he can scold him later. Right now he just doesn't want him to lose.

Spells are cast with disregard for the rules, the school, and each other. Magic flies around the courtyard in a frenzy. Some hit, some don't. Grass is burnt, water turns to ice, a cauldron misses its mark. Once. The second time it hits.

And that is what gives the first years their victory.

"Sorry for jumping in," Deuce apologizes as his attention turns away from the other students and back to Epel. "I couldn't just let you fight on your own."

Epel crosses his arms. He wants to be angry with him, he really does. He could have handled those punks on his own! Yet...

"Mmm it's okay." Epel shakes his head as he smooths down his uniform. One part sticks out, the hem of his coat singed due to a fire spell. It would have done more damage to him if Deuce hadn't gotten in the way. "I always appreciate your help. Thanks."

The smaller boy shoots him a smile. It makes Deuce's heart race. The sudden pounding in his chest reminds him of his earlier plan.

"You're welcome! Er, Epel, I wanted to ask you something." He clears his throat. "I, uh..."

Unbirthday party. Yes. Date. Yes? Easy!

Oh, wait. He's not supposed to be planning out what he wants to say, he's supposed to just say it. But everything he wants to say is jumbled and stuck in his throat. It doesn't help that he's looking directly at Epel, who has his face tilted down with bright blue eyes gazing up at him.

Damn, he's so cute.

"You're cute. W-Wait!" Deuce shouts. "You're not! I mean- shit!"

He's not supposed to call him cute. Anything but that. But can you blame him? Epel is cute. So cute that it distracts him from asking him out.

Deuce panics a bit. Is this the part where he should just kiss him? No. Yes. Talking isn't working so that feels like the only other option he has. When did asking people out get so difficult?

Epel clears his throat, although it goes unheard by the Heartslabyul student.

"Deuce." Hearing his name catches his attention. The sound of it being uttered so fondly breaks him free from his disastrous thoughts. "You want me to go to the unbirthday party with ya, right?"

"How did you...?"

"Ace told me." He sighs. "Sort of. Rook gave me the heads-up before Ace could drop the hint. I wasn't expecting ya to go through with it though. But Ace said I should let you try. Said it'd be worth the wait."

"Was it?"

"I think so," he smiles. "Seeing you try to not mess up asking me was worth it." He chuckles. Deuce lets out a breath he'd been holding. "Still...not worth you calling me cute."

"Sorry! I didn't mean to let that slip! I know you don't like it..."

"You get a pass, but don't do it again. Anyway, never been to one of your parties before. They're not...fancy, are they?" Epel dreads the thought of them being anything like Pomefiore's. Prim and proper and full of nutritious and small servings. He hates it.

"Nope! They're actually pretty fun! Dunno if you'd count tea as fancy, but Trey makes really good food. His sweets are the best! Then there's croquet to play after we eat. Uhh, there are rules we have to follow, but I'm sure the housewarden won't be too harsh on you since you're not from Hearslabyul."

"Oh, right..." A hum. "You know the rules better than I do. Can you teach me those too?" Epel flutters his eyelashes. He doesn't need to but it's definitely worth seeing Deuce's cheeks turn bright pink. Ace was right about this!

"Yeah!" He doesn't know all the rules, hell he can barely even keep the first ten down, but for Epel? He's willing to memorize all of them.

"Then...it's a date?"

"YES!" Deuce shouts, voice being heard from the hallways. His whole figure lights up at the prospect of two dates. At least, he thinks it counts as two, right? Forget thinking about it, he's just going to count them as two. Who knew asking for one date could land you two anyway?

[ineedjesusverymuch]

Diabolik lovers headcanons bc im bored

Hi, I'm new here and I'm gonna make some headcanons. I'm gonna start with kanato because I have the most hc of him (I don't even know why). And just a short warning: I ship him with azusa for some of those.

Don't like it don't read it I guess

So there will be a few hc with azusa and him

A trigger warning here. I'm gonna talk about some topics that may upset some people. (Anxiety, trauma, maybe some other stuff, probably depression too)

If you are sensitive to any of these topics, PLEASE dont read this post.

A short NSFW will come too at the end. I'm gonna mark it like this.

Kanato uses a lot of skincare products. He just does. Sometimes he is a lil bit overexcessive simply bc he wants to hold up his image of a perfect doll-like body

dis boy has so much trauma, and he needs somebody to talk. Definitely traumadumps sometimes, does not have really control over this

Maniputative but all the fake crying leaves a strain on his mental health, and so does the screaming. So scared that somebody is gonna leave him, even though he currently has nobody. Its a lingering feeling and it drives him crazy

Had defenitely a big crush on Azusa

But was never able to tell him BC of crippling anxiety and his inability to confess his real feelings (especially to somebody who was just so much like...him)

Still sad about it (and still hopes that Azusa maybe feels the same)

Scared to really love somebody (when they leave what will he do then? He doesn't know and doesn't want to find out either)

Pansexual and leans into demi sexual a little bit. (Those are my own hc)

A demi boy. Likes to dress androgynous with a lot of feminine hints. But definitely pulls of more masculine clothing too

Reaaaaalllly loves to cuddle. He is probably just as much of a cuddlebug as Azusa but he doesnt like to show that side of him. Kanato thinks it makes him weak

Scared of crowds, has social anxiety

Has attachmend issues that startet when his brothers and he startet to fight about the affection from their mother

Loves butterflys and pretty horses (and can ride too, he loves especially Frisians)

Speaks a lot of languages.

Like Italian (he spoke it in one of the games for a spell he made)

He loves romantic languages like italian, french and spain

Is able to speak English, has a really strong British accent

Can speak a bit of Russian (The triplets wanted to learn it when they were younger)

A pro when it comes to makeup

Like he can make you look beautiful in 10 minutes

Looooves lolita style (especially dark clothes paired with cute accessories)

A sucker for themed candy (bad punch I know)

stuffed animals.

Has a big obsession with his nails. They have to be clean and long, and they all need to be the same length !

hates candy corn. Deeply resents it

But loves all other candy

Tried to grow by drinking a lot milk. Didn't work. He was upset for a week

Cuddles with Shu. Its the only time he makes something with his oldest brother

Shu enjoys the quiet, calm moments with Kanato

When he realizes that his anxiety is getting worse he will usually go to Reiji or to Subaru (when he goes to anybody really) (Usually he just stays in his room and hopes that it will stop fast)

They will do their best to calm him down and distract him from the dark thoughts (of his past Or just other dark stuff. We all know how f*cked up his mind is)

Has a lot of nightmares and gets panic attacks a lot

They usually occur when Kanato is stressed or he gets triggered by a certain scent or sound

Its really hard to calm Kanato down once he has startet to get panicked and/or nervous

Has a comfort blanket

Is really sensitive with fabrics and how they feel

Loves Satin and Velvet

Hates scratchy fabrics

Loves clothes with embroidery

Kanato likes head massages almost as much as back massages

He is so tense, once Yuma gave him a massage and now he practically begs Yuma for another one anytime the Mukamis are at the Sakamaki Mansion

Likes to get dressed up

Really enjoys scrapbooking (even though his pages are very chaotic)

Sewed a teddy for Azusa once

Loves 3/4 pants. Just loves them

Short NSFW

a switch. Sorry not sorry

Pls his top has to be nice to him or he will cry

But likes to top too

Likes tounge kisses

Really good at flirting like he will make you fall for him in 10 minutes

Out of the triplets, he has the highest body count (nobody knows how and Laito and Ayato are very irritated by that)

Is down for almost everything

Really loves PDA

BDSM? Probably, depends on his mood

Pro at eating out. Nobody can change my mind. He just is

Aftercare pro. A lot of cuddles and he WILL make sure you feel good.

NSFW over now

sry just wanted to write that. It was in my head for a really long time.

Those are only my personal opinions of Kanato. If you disagree, thats alright.

This is NOT my character, but my headcanons.

If y'all wanna read more just write in the comments. I will continue this probably, depends on if anybody reads it or not.

(Even if not Im gonna continue this, when I'm being honest. It helps me to write this all out.)

Next hc will be Azusa i guess

If sb wants to read Kanato x Azusa hc, I'm gonna write that too.

See y'all and thank you for reading my confusing thoughts.

[kudzu-san]

If you ask me who in the whole animanga is the most selfish character, without thinking twice, I'd immidiately say Luffy. In the end of every situation and decision, unless at times where it really can't be helped like the Going Merry and Usopp situation in Water 7 and without Zoro's intervention (he may be the only one that can keep Luffy on leash to a certain extent), it all really just lead back to his guts. He's impulsive as fuck and he doesn't like thinking that much. Every punch roots from his wants and emotions. I'm gonna punch you 'cause I wanna beat your ass to dust 'cause you did something I don't fucking like but I'll do it in a way you won't die that you have to live your whole life from this point on with your dreams crushed before your eyes forever. Why again? Oh, because you did something I don't like :/ ! Post-timeskip Luffy has kind of developed and improved somehow that side of his, he thinks a bit now, not thinking makes his loved people disappear, he thinks a little now. But pre-timeskip Luffy especially—boy's unhinged. I think the Netflix live action tried to show his selfishness amidst being this obvious sentimental dude through Nami's dialogues like "This is the real me, Luffy. This is just what you don't think and want me to be in your dang head." but I don't think that's not even Luffy's way of selfishness, you know? He doesn't really assume. Sometimes, he doesn't care what you think or what's going on, your lore and stuff. All he knows is that he wants you. "Evil" or not you are. Or whatever the hell. You're just Nami he met the very first episode and the ship's navigator. That kind of stuff, he definitely assumes. Your part in his life, but he'll never dictate your life or your own person. But say no and he'll give up. Nami practically said kys when they tried to pursue her, and maybe that wasn't the no Luffy needed to hear. He's got a good nose, is intuitive, stubborn, and impulsive. People would add "emotionally intellegent" in there but not me. That boy gets angry and one second you'll find yourself being gum gum no gatlinged. That boy gets happy and it's... just a mess. I think what people meant though is, he's extremely empathetic. So bad. Half of the time he was angry, it's on behalf of you. Half his punches, are your own fists. He's dumb, okay? But he feels SO MUCH he can see through everything. Like solving a mathematical equation, skipping the solutions, and just arriving to the final answer. You're sad—I don't know why and maybe I don't even wanna know why, I don't think it matters cos in the end—that doesn't sit right with me. The fact that you're sad. The bottom point. So I'm gonna do stuff about it. I forgot why I wrote this, I just wanted to talk about Luffy help. But yeah. This is what I think about, my feelings about him which I can put into words.

[remedy-ships-it]

pre-relationship: 2, 4. general: 4, 7. love: 2, 3, 8. domestic life: 4, 10 ! :>

hii jerome!! thank you for sending an ask, i love seeing your ships :]

PRE-RELATIONSHIP:

2 has been answered here.

4. Who felt romantic feelings first?

When we met it was a crush-turned-friendship kind of thing. Like we're shy around one another and find each other cute but then we become friends and the initial attraction kind of ebbs. But then months pass of us getting to know each other and I'm like dang he's kind of perfect actually I wanna kiss him oh no.

So yeah, me, most likely. It would take Spencer a bit longer to recognize those emotions and accept them, but I see us falling for one another at the same pace. It just takes us a while to do anything about it.

GENERAL:

4. Were they each other’s first anything (kiss, relationship, etc.)?

Spencer actually has a lot more experience than me in the romance department, believe it or not. In canon, he literally made out with an actress in a pool in season 1 lol so I definitely wasn't his first kiss. There's not much said about his romantic history pre-show, but I imagine he definitely dated around a little here and there but hadn't had a real long-term relationship before me. And, well, he wasn't my first relationship but he was my first kiss among other things to put it simply.

7. Who takes the lead in social situations?

We're both socially awkward, introverted nerds (he's an INTP, whereas I'm an INFP) so it honestly varies. Our job calls for us to start conversations whether they're uncomfortable or not, but if we're paired up in the field he'll usually take initiative at first but he lets me get a word in as well. But really, we function pretty fine in social situations, we can just be a little weird sometimes in ways others might not understand. We both won't hesitate to step in and stand up for each other if it comes to it, though.

However, I'm definitely the one to (maybe not confidently) go up to a server with him if they got his order wrong. If they got my order wrong, I wouldn't want to be a bother, and he's the same way. So we can overcome our social anxiety if it means doing something for the other, if I'm making any sense.

LOVE:

2. What are their primary love languages?

My personal love languages are gift giving (primarily) and physical touch, I think. I absolutely love buying or (especially) making things for my loved ones if I can't afford to spend money. Honestly if I was rich I'd be buying people stuff all the time, and it makes me so happy when people enjoy the thing I made them. I also love giving and receiving hugs, having my hand held, cuddles and the likes, but I can be touch averse at times depending on the person. Spencer is the same way.

I think Spencer's would be quality time (primarily) and physical touch as well. I've noticed through my binge of CM that he's often inviting his friends out to events and stuff. I believe conversations count as quality time, so he'd really appreciate someone who's willing to listen to him go on for as long as he wants and do the same in turn. And despite being a total germophobe, he loves receiving hugs and loving gestures from people he's close to. He's secretly very touch-starved.

3. Who uses cheesy pick-up lines?

I do on occasion just because I love watching him try not to smile and roll his eyes at me. We'd probably make stupid Doctor Who references at each other ("Are you a weeping angel? 'Cause I could stare at you all day.")

But Spencer goes all out with his, and I could see him being especially corny on anniversaries or romantic holidays. He even flirts in other languages and leaves me to scramble to try and figure out what the heck he just said to me.

8. Who’s better at comforting the other?

I feel like we can both get kind of panicky and awkward when it comes to comforting people who are upset, but when it comes to it all we really need is someone to be there for us and listen if we need to vent or just hold us if we need to cry. So I don't think either of us would be "better" at it, you know? We just know what to do for each other.

DOMESTIC LIFE:

4 & 10 have been answered ^^

[ozrockbitway]

Dost thou have any pride month headcanons for 2 fav ships as well?! 0o0 Please, I crave to know more about your favs, whoever they may be ((Happy Pride Month btw!!!))

me, unprepared for the ask to be thrown back at me once again lsjfdslkf

lmao ship wise I tend to default to everyone is pan in some way bcuz haha multiship go brrr BUT sometimes I step outside of that and smack other headcanons onto characters. anyway poses and throws cardfight boys at you.

RaiMi

I really want to say Raika is gay but that's only bcuz I read a BL and a character reminded me of him lol (student council member, white/silver hair, glasses, and just the vibes in general). This may change later but I'll go with it for now.

He would 100% hide the fact that he's into guys. I feel like he puts pressure on himself to be some cool, strong, reliable guy. He would welcome those who aren't heterosexual but he just has trouble putting it out there himself.

He can mask his crush on Michiru as just a fanboy thing but if you play cards with him then you know it's real. He'd probably come out to card fighters first. Yuyu is probably the first to know. Or Taizo.

It's hard to tell when he came to this realization. I want to say it started with Michiru but maybe not?? I feel like someone would have asked if he liked a girl or something and he just says no and they brush it off as him being a late bloomer or something. By high school he does know what he's into.

I can definitely see Michiru as being pan. He does not care for appearances or gender tbh. He can see your soul and that's all he needs

It just comes to him one day like. Oh I guess I dont mind genders of people :) and then just goes about his day. He really just did a thumbs up at that thought and just kinda went with it. If he's interviewed and asked about it he would probably let it slip lmao. He would tell Danji though. Brings it up out of nowhere too. His homie has to know!

I can also see him being asexual?? I don't think he minds a lil touch but thinking about that intimate moment isn't really his thing. He's not opposed to it but doesn't have the drive ya know??

KaiMiwa

Remember when Ren said Biwa instead of Miwa? Well he was right on the money there!! Miwa is bi and I love to thank Ren for that hc lol. But I can totally see him into both genders tbh. People pretty and he is weak!!

He probably leans more towards women but I can see him being interest in a guy every now and then.

I feel like he'll be casually open about it?? Like he wouldn't outright say it but he'd make a comment on a guy (coughs Kai coughs) and is just like oh yeah Im into both. I think he would be a little careful around who he says it tho?? Like he would know who he can tell and who not to tell.

tbh I can see him having a lil kid crush on Kai when he was younger but not really knowing about it?? I think just seeing him again after all those years and just molding back together with him sets his heart off though. Homie really said he'd do anything for Kai and he will <3

Kai on the hand is harder to read, but I can see him being demiromantic or maybe even gray sexual. His priority doesn't involve romance just getting through life and playing some silly little card games.

I don't think he ever comes to the realization about it though?? Like mans never sat down and thought about what he's into. He just doesn't care?? If he likes you then he likes you what you guna do about it huh

Miwa probably points it out to them in their relationship lol

ANYWAY he's slow to realize he likes Miwa. I think a part of him knows because he's just so comfortable around him. Like he can always go to Miwa, and Miwa knows what's up without even having to say anything. They got a connection and aside from Ibuki, Miwa knows the most about him.

[xoteajays]

So I've noticed that Red Rain and DTC are the movies being removed on September 20, so I will definitely watch those movies before then. The three original movies aren't being removed yet, and I also haven't seen the Worst crossover movies being removed either. I don't think.

~

I sent you a lot of links. Didn't intentionally mean to spam you.. But so many of those videos were deleted scenes from the show, interviews, and even commercials too. I might have sent some of those videos to you before. But many of the videos are new for you to search through whenever you have the time to. So.. yeah... Plenty of videos to watch.

~

Exactly! If I'm being completely honest.. I'm not a fast reader, and I've never been a fast reader at all. I can comprehend the visuals of shows and movies but not always subtitles because sometimes the subtitles appear to quickly. So sometimes I might have to rewind some scenes if I could barely pay attention to the visuals and subtitles, which really cause the site to freeze up on me while I'm trying to watch the show.

Between the buffering, the reloading, the freezing.. The ads. I hate it.

~

Murayama definitely needed to become humble in his developments, so it took him long enough for him to understand himself better.

Oh! One of those deleted scenes was of young Murayama getting in a fight with another child. So he was fighting since childhood. Literally.

Which makes me curious about his family life if he's always like this.

Hyuga is canonically the most aggressive SWORD leader. He's known to bite, scratch, pull hair - like some teenage girl - so those kinks have always been incorporated into his sexual activities too. Not surprising to me. Rocky and Hyuga have the most obvious kinks for them, and it might be easy to figure out Murayama's kinks too. If I think it through.

That's what I thought! If there was a chance he kept his glasses on, I'll imagine even more damage if glass cut open his eye. Or something in that way. Maybe he could've went blind in that eye? I don't know.

~

But that's what always made me curious.. Rocky was a young child in this situation. He appeared younger than ten, maybe seven years old. His mother and sister always protected him from his abusive father - a man who was a gambler and alcoholic. Then he finds them at home after school, to find they committed suicide. And he's all alone. He did run away from home even though they have never showed it, but that was definitely implied though. How do you think took him in until he's old enough to meet Kizzy and Kaito, to start Rascals, to start his own businesses. That could be another whole new backstory for Rocky.

If there relationship isn't harmful in any way, you can ship whoever or whatever you want. I don't care. Real or fictional relationships, I'll just say that the only ships I'm against are pedophilia and bestiality - if I'm saying in general speaking. Any other ship is fair game for everyone.

~

Despite just about every guy being a himbo. Out of the SWORD men, I still think Rocky's the smartest leader for the most time. Or Smoky.

Cobra, Hyuga and Murayama are definitely the himbo leaders since it is always difficult for them to think for themselves most of the time.

~

I wish! I'm not someone who is attracted to romantic men - which I've said before, but Rocky is literally the ideal man. An ideal husband to a woman who would have him. He's someone I want to keep for myself.

I'm not joking. I'm serious. Rocky's definitely one of those men for me in every way.. This is why I definitely want a character with Rocky.

And nothing wrong with a quiet guy. Personally as an introvert myself though, I would not complain if the guy wanted a quieter date after all the rowdy times he had with his friends. I can't complain about that.

Oshiage's crush on Murayama was cute. And she was the only one, if you don't include the other SWORD gangs, who actually defended his honor in her own way. She knew he wasn't a bad guy. Just this himbo. But it got ruined because she showed up at a very inconvenient time in Murayama's life. Because he was going through a midlife crisis.

Exactly! You're complaining about Smoky being a poor man living in Nameless City, while complaining about him needing a hospital since his illness his killing him. He's dying. So how is he supposed to get all this money to attend a hospital anyway. His sister and friends worked for Kuryu in secret (Lara was manipulated unknowingly), but Smoky's rejected the money after he found out that was belonged to a yakuza group. I don't blame his choices. But people complaining about how a lot of his life choices are like those are his fault. Have compassion.

Hyuga family was one of the original families in the yakuza. They have done horrific crimes way worse than any other criminals which is why everyone knows Hyuga's violent. He fights, he's killed and who knows what other crimes he committed in his young life. Oh! I know. He also owns his own gambling business. And he smokes. And was in prison. But you're gonna complain that he sits on the hood of his car, yet you see Murayama sitting on the hood of a garbage truck. Literally.

This is why Ichigo Girls are single. I'm happy Naomi isn't officially one of them because she'll catch their stupid. Their stupid is contagious.

~

I know you don't want to read Chimknj's High&Low for your personal reasons. But, if you're willing, only read the second chapter where the main character meets the White Rascals. Because now I have no idea what to do about that.. Because I feel like I would be stealing her idea, even though I've also felt like I had a lot of the same similar ideas too.

What the fuck. I don't know what to do now.

I might have a vague idea for introductions. Like I said before.. Blue and orange character are childhood friends, orange character is also most likely childhood friends with Sannoh - which is how any original characters I have meet them. They'll be introduced at Itokan dinner.

Obviously Rocky has Club Heaven. So maybe the original characters get introduced there most likely. Like the other original characters do end up dragging the main original character along with them, they do somehow meet there. I don't know. I'm still figuring that one out now.

Oya, Rude and Daruma.. I don't know yet.

I think this is also why I wanted multiple original characters. Just so I can have in between characters to help introductions along with a lot of other characters. And also because not many female characters.

I don't know. I'm still trying to figure any details out that I can think of at the moment.. But my brain is fried trying to think about this now.

~

Yes! Those personalities. Astrology, MBTI, enneagrams, so on and so forth... Blah, blah, blah. Basically those personalities. Have you tried a cheat sheet for the personalities? If that helps figure out those traits. Not that you have to do that if you don't want to. But I always add the personality traits to my character profiles to help me figure them out.

~

I've been rewatching shows. I have been rewatching Bloodhounds for the umpteenth time again (because of my two husbands). So that's a whole other series I want to write for, and my reasons are completely self indulgent. Not that my writing isn't always self indulgent for me.

oh good, i can stand to not watch those two at least. (though. oh no. not my boy takeru. i do love those brothers.)

~

no problem at all about the message spam! i'm looking forward to getting around to watching those, just had a bit of a busy day today so i'm leaving them until i got a good chunk of down time.

~

i'm sometimes a fast reader, but i'm also like trying to watch the show while also reading and i end up missing something. please! i'm just trying to look at pretty people while also reading the subtitles! slow down!!

~

i think he's just like that. fighty boy. nothing even tragic happened, he was just born like that. born to kick some ass and be chaotic. it should really be no surprise that murayama and cobra get along (and also kinda clash), since cobra was also a fighty ass kid.

todoroki woulda ended like kohaku if he'd kept his glasses on. though i will admit he looked kinda cool with the eyepatch. maybe murayama was still a little punked up after the big sword fight that he was a little more brutal than usual while fighting todoroki. i think it's sweet tho that a bunch of the full-time oya boys were like 'we'll wait until you're healed to fight you <3', as if he didn't still have a good chance of winning even with his injury.

~

i think that'd be interesting. seeing what he did between running away as a kid and meeting kizzy and kaito. i bet he was a fighty teenager too, but he at least had a reason after having such a traumatizing childhood. depending on how long doubt's been around, i bet he's been fighting them a while. i'd also like to see how he met koo.

i just think cosette and marco are cute. and h&l didn't develop them any, so i can do what i want with them. i've also seen people shipping lassie and ungyo (from the daruma babies) and i could get behind that. h&l, you gave me these babies and then gave them zero development, so i'm making them kiss.

~

rocky and smokey (and eventually takeshi) are the only non-himbo members. cobra, murayama and hyuga are himbo-ing it up. on the himbo venn diagram, rocky is a 'gentle giant' and smokey is just firmly situated in being a kind dude. admittedly tak is kind of a jock, he's street-smart, tough, and nice to women but he's also bitchy, i just know it.

~

oshiage the kind of girl to be defending her crush before even telling her friends who he is. she like 'guys please, just wait, let me explain!' and they're already going 'the 20 year old who's still in high school? that's your man, oshiage? look at him!!'. he's a good dude! he was just also having a quarterlife crisis at the time and he's just a lil bit dumb as hell!

all the nameless city kids are doing everything they possibly can to help smokey! shion knows it's bad to be dealing drugs, but he cares about smokey so much that's he's willing to put his morals aside if it means smokey can get some help. iirc takeshi and p are down in the mines digging up those crystal to sell so they can make money. lala's taking jobs even if she doesn't fully understand what she's doing (but i also assume she knew she'd be safe in club heaven since rocky's whole infamy surrounds him protecting women).

hyuga acts like a little bitch every day of his life and does crimes without a care and smokes. but yes. his worst crime. riding on the hood of his car like it isn't actually kinda hot to see him all splayed out like that. ladies please, he broke a dude's arm like it was fun.

ichigo girls get better taste. naomi, please go hook up with yamato and stay away from them, they're gonna try to convince you he's some big dumb idiot like it isn't part of his charm.

~

i gave it a quick skim. i don't think it'd be too bad to go with your idea so long as you're writing it differently; especially if you're only shipping your oc with rocky and not all the leaders. i don't think it'd be much of a problem so long as it's not exactly the same, like so long as she's not also a courier, acts in a different manner. maybe switching kizzy+kaito out with koo or something. i think you could figure out a way to make it not completely similar.

with ryuko, i imagine her getting bounced around the gang like a game of pass-the-parcelperson while kuryu is in the sword district looking for her and that's how she gets to actually know a lot of the characters on a deeper level; but the actual first introduction to the leaders is what i'm struggling to decide on. i've got a few ideas.

with hinami (the takeshi oc), she probably just joins the rude boys a meetings. probably draws some attention as the only female rude boys member, since lala is usually kept out of it. also adds a bit of a plot point of tak being pouty and jealous bc dudes are hitting on nami while the leaders talk. i imagine she's closer with the group members as opposed to the leaders (especially the daruma babies and smg bc kizzy+kaito are def closer to ryuko).

~

i'm just bad at figuring it out because sometimes they overlap too much and i can't decide. i just more make 'text' sections in their pinterest boards to be like 'this is their personality vibe'. i have a clear understanding of what they're like in my head, but i can't look at all those personality types without getting overwhelmed.

~

i've been meaning to watch bloodhounds!! i meant to start it after finishing the tokyo revengers anime and the little women kdrama (kim go eun and wi ha joon my dearests), but then i got caught up in this whole h&l thing and haven't gotten back around to it! it looks very good and the main two boys are very pretty.

[ittosandwich]

! How they react when you admit that you have a crush on them !

Starring: Zhongli, Kazuha, Childe, Xiao, Itto, Kaeya

No set pronouns or gender it's literally genderless

It's kinda fluff lol

It COULD possibly be a little ooc sometimes tho pls dont kill me lol

Unedited

Zhongli

He is a little flustered but it's not a big deal to him

The Geo Archon has lived for so many centuries, it's not the first time someone has a crush on him and has the courage to admit to it

He actually likes you too but kind of not the same way you like him

He likes your passion for things but he doesn't necessarily see himself in a relationship with you

but after you told him that you like him he has developed a little habit of patting your head and sitting closer to you whenever you guys are together

Sometimes he will hold your hand when no one is around but only sometimes. It's not even real hand holding more like hands touching? Something in-between that

You are a little confused and your crush grows even more desperate but you are so happy about the little gestures. Very happy.

Xiao

The man is very confused. VERY confused

His reaction is mean and he definitely turned you down

You kept overthinking about the way he yelled and deprecated your feelings but you tried to get over it. Takes a lot to get over it tho.

The adepti is very good at ignoring you now.

After a while when you show up at Wangshu-Inn for the good food at a time where its not very common for him to be there you found him taking a seat on the stool opposite of you (he definitely waited for you)

He isn't looking at you and you are just blushing and can barely eat your food

After a while he will just do his typical "hmph" and just hiss out a "the food is good ha?"

You're choking on your food and he dares to look at you. Obviously worried if you're actually choking because what if you just randomly die because he said that??

He actually kept overthinking a lot since you told him about your feelings

You are really uncomfortable but you're even happier he even dared to accompany you. It must be good sign right?

Anyways he is willing to "discover" some feelings because he seriously likes you. He's very loyal and he would never turn you down if you ever need help. The cold person he is and the endless decades he had to go through lonely and full of hatred and anger really tire him. You admitting your feelings was really a change for his mental state. He actually thinks about different things. Like you.

After a while while of letting himself allow to feel thungs like you feel for him, He will even do things like holding your hand at some point or look at the stars from the big balcony of wangshu inn

Ends up being your cute and sentimental boyfriend sorry for spoiler (i am willing to do a whole post about xiao as boyfried btw in case anyone would want that js lol)

Kazuha

He blushes

He didn't expect you to admit something like that when you asked him to accompany you for a quick walk after you guys spent days on Beidous ship together traveling from one side of Teyvat to the other. You guys did this a few times afterall

He smiles and you're worried he will turn you down since he doesn't even say anything

He will just keep walking and leave you a few steps behind because you're not moving since you feel like you really really messed up the friendship of you two. Just this big drop of "oh shit" feeling in your stomach.

The white haired guy turns around to ask you why you're not moving since you guys left for a walk. Not a stand (sorry this was so bad😭😭)

After you moved towards him to continue the walk you catch him still smiling

Quickly after you feel his hand holding yours and he feels how confused but happy you are about that

Y'all find a bench just when you thought this "quick" walk became a little too long. You guys were just walking and holding hands. Not saying a word. Just smiling and maybe looking at each other quickly.Just you two in the nature of Liyue. Nobody is around. Actually very romantic.

He doesn't seem as nervous as you but oh boy he is.

That bench you guys just discovered in the middle of nowhere. He asks you to sit down with him and requests to actually keep this quick walk as a long one.

Now you two are just there. Your head resting on his shoulder and his head on yours, holding you hand tighter

At some point he asks you if you want to make it a thing. Like something committed or if you just wanted to admit your feelings.

He WILL be the best boyfriend you just know

Childe

Oh boy, is he making fun of you?

He laughs. But why???

He knows you are very straightforward but he never expected tp see you as flustered and flushed red as you are right now

He pats your head and leans down to look at your lowered head that you tried to hide from him because you're so embarrassed, his hand resting on your shoulder

He would ask why you're so embarrassed and leave out a quick chuckle, only making you even more flustered

He tried to reassure you by saying its alright and that he thinks you're actually cute too

You're not sure what that means..is he friendzoning you??? Is he turning you down??? Does he feel the same??? What does that even mean????

He REALLY enjoys seeing you like this.

"Why don't we spend some time together tonight? After I'm done with work for today you know" he requests, only leaving you in even more confusion

What does this mean??? Is he trying to sleep with you??

Literally no idea. He has no idea himself. He is surprised too. He knows he wouldn't use you for your body but he wants to collect his thoughts until the evening when you guys should meet and continue from there

He asks you to wait for him at Wanmin restaurant and of course you will

(What happens next? Even author doesn't know. I am open for for requests tho i wanna continue this LMAO)

Kaeya

This man is such a tease!!!!

He chuckles, only making you more insecure

You're not sure if Kaeya is a person of big feelings anyway but you still admitted to the feelings you have for him

Lowkey highkey he knew all along

The way you blush when he talks to you even if its a simple greeting or something has made it very obvious for him

He likes to walk you to your place when you and a few other people had a little after-work fun at the tavern. He would make sure not to get too drunk when he knew you'd join and usually you would anyway if you're free because your crush is there obviously

As tipsy as you are you would always look at him and listen to him talk and get absolutely mesmerized by the way his lips move and his hands gesticulate when he's talking. He will glimpse over to you a few times too making you feel all dizzy from not only the alcohol but also the butterflies

This night you're drunk from drinking too much and of course the gentleman he is he will walk you to your place

Just when you two reached your place your drunk self admitted it to him.

As mentioned he chuckles and and just leaves out a little "oh?" and has the most charming expression ever

He just asks you if you're sure?? It was really tiring for your drunk self so answer because it just slipped out of your mouth. With dedication but it did slip.

After confirming you're sure which he knew already he requests to continue you this conversation when you're sober

You're literally on the verge of tears now because you really don't just want him to leave and you're slowly realizing what you did

A little "please don't leave me like this now" leaves your lips as you lightly hold on to his sleeve

And a teasing "how do you want me to leave then?" follows from him with a smile

All you want is a little passionate kiss if you're honest but as drunk as you are you're still aware enough that you shouldn't say that aloud

He got it though

He leans down painfully slow and gives you a kiss on your cheek. Purposely so close to your mouth so your lips touch a little

"Is this alright? Can i leave you like this now? He asks TEASINGLY!! why is he such a tease T T

You're paralyzed because this was even better than the passionate kiss you were craving a minute ago

You slowly nod, not daring to look at him, your hand letting go of the fabric you were holding as he leaves with a smile and a chuckle

Itto

He sure is very surprised

The big oni is very very surprised

He scratches the back of his head and holds your hand again

Because when you admitted to him when no one was around you decided to hold both his hands

You guys were very touchy with each other in general so it wasn't very weird that you two held hands like this. You two are very close friends afterall

a nervous "heh" leaves his mouth as he isn't sure how to respond

You follow with a worried "what?"

He's even more nervous than you. He's always so confident and now he's so nervous. it's cute.

"I, eh, like you too actually, haha.." he then says

A confused "you do??" Follows from you

He confirms and laughs and continues by saying how nice this is

A few seconds pass without saying anything and he finally asks if you would want to be his girlfriend T T

You nod and stand up to kiss him

He was surprised at first but quickly closed his eyes returned the kiss

The gang members saw you two from afar and when you had a meal altogether that evening they obviously teased you guys with it

It was annoying at first but you two are obviously happy like this

A/N

Hey guys!! Just leaving this here!! I hope you'll like it. It took me hours to write this and I'm not super happy with it but i really wanted to post something nice T T

[bb-8]

Tech Savvy

Pairing: Tech x female reader Summary:  You’re an ex-imperial who has a crush on Tech. He’s awkward about it. Until he’s not. Rating: Explicit (18+, minors DNI) Warnings/tags: crack treated seriously, smut, unprotected PIV, awkward flirting, oral sex, first kisses, accidental exhibitionism, lots of bad jokes, slight angst Word count: 5.4K Notes: It’s smutty crack treated seriously, guys. Read on AO3.

The planet you land on isn’t anything special. It’s a humid swamp world in the Outer Rim that offers enough seclusion for even the Empire’s Most Wanted to pass by unnoticed.

You, being the kind and selfless individual you are, decide to help with repairs while Clone Force 99 are on a supply run. It’s the first time the ship has made planet fall in weeks and everyone is a bit stir-crazy, jumping at the chance to stretch their legs. Prolonged time spent in hyperspace has that effect.

Before he left, you told Hunter that your status as an ex-Imperial put an unnecessary target on their back. You’re still wearing your Imperial uniform, after all, and you know for a fact that the Empire is not exactly merciful to deserters. Especially deserters that committed high treason. Like aiding Clone Force 99’s escape from an Imperial prison.

You definitely didn’t just jump at the chance to stay behind because Tech opted to. That would be ridiculous.

You feel your face heat at the thought.

(What? His goggles are cute.)

The truth is, there’s been something – a tension, as it were – between the two of you since you arrived on board. You know it, he knows it. You’ve been orbiting around each other for some weeks now, and this is the first time you’ve been alone –

“Can you spare a minute?” Tech calls out, pulling you away from your thoughts. You swivel in your chair and shift your attention to him, a bit surprised.

“I was beginning to think you didn’t realise I was on board,” you reply as you make your way to the cockpit where Tech is currently fiddling with some wires.

“You’re...very hard to miss,” Tech replies and your heart skips a beat. “The ship is far too small to miss another sentient being’s presence.”

“Right,” you mutter while taking a seat, trying not to sound too deflated. So maybe he didn’t feel that tension. “What do you need help with?”

“I am taking this opportunity to rewrite the ship’s central comm unit to be more covert when passing through areas with increased Imperial traffic. If I can update the ship’s communication infrastructure to resemble that of a first generation Imperial craft, then we will considerably reduce our chances of being identified. Which is why I am particularly glad you stayed behind today. Considering your, er, history.” He fiddles with a mess of wires in front of him, not once looking up.

“And here I was thinking you wanted me around because you enjoyed my company,” you playfully jab.

“There’s that, too,” Tech replies. “Though it would be advantageous if you could list all of the Imperial access codes you can remember. The computer and I can do some pattern recognition to better–,” he cut himself off and anxiously rubbed the back of his neck. “Apologies, you don’t need a long-winded explanation. If you’re happy to share, you can do so whenever you’re ready.”

You consider protesting and telling him that you find his rambling cute, but you decide not to dwell on it for his sake. You list the codes you remember from the Academy. You keep talking, relaying any tangential intel relating to access codes. If it’s irrelevant, Tech doesn’t stop you.

He is silent for a few moments analysing the data you’ve given him. You watch him closely, admiring the way his brow furrows and his lips purse while he’s concentrating.

“You trust me then?” you venture to say. You play with your hands in your lap. “Even though I was with the Empire?”

“You’re helping us now,” Tech replies, as if it’s obvious. He is still inputting data into the datapad he is holding when he continues, “You trust us, it would seem. And we were soldiers programmed upon our creation to destroy the Republic.”

You fumble over your next words.

“That’s – it’s entirely different.”

“And from my perspective, all that matters is where you are now,” he states with finality.

“Well,” you say shyly, “I like where I am.”

Tech smirks despite himself, briefly glancing up at you from his datapad.

You hold his gaze for a moment, before settling into a comfortable silence. You sit in next to him for several minutes, revelling in his closeness like a brezak basking under the Zygerrian sun. It’s only when you notice yourself blushing like a teenager that you decide to make yourself useful and actually help with repairs like you promised.

++++++++++++++++++++

“Would you mind holding this wire out of the way for me while I solder the capacitors for the localised memory bank?” Tech calls, breaking your concentration. The illumination device you were repairing could wait.

You have no idea what Tech means, if his string of words means anything, and you survey his makeshift workbench for a hint. Several panels are detached, limply dangling from a few brightly coloured wires. Tech is focusing his attention on a large panel that is plugged into a cylindrical storage device.

“Maker, that’s a big data stick,” you can’t help but mutter.

Tech makes an incoherent choking sound.

You do as requested and lean over his shoulder to take hold of the wire he specified between your thumb and forefinger. The fabric of your sleeves brushes against his shoulder armour and it feels as though there is a static shift in the air, like the air around you is alive and humming.

And Tech gulps with the contact. He types a few sets of numbers into his datapad with excess force, seriously testing the build quality of the device. His posture is especially rigid as focuses on testing the wires currently in his lap.

Your pulse is racing. It’s as if each second that passes without a confession threatens to rip apart the very fabric of reality.

“Tech?” He has to feel this too, right? “Why...why did you stay behind today?” you ask, careful to keep your voice even. You need him to say it, admit that he feels it, too. You’re desperate for it.

“You can let go now,” he replied, pointedly ignoring your question.

You let go of the wire, but make no move to step away from him. You’re acutely aware of yourself right now and suddenly self-conscious: about the deep shade of crimson enveloping your face, the way you’re breathing, the clamminess you can feel on your palms. You hope you smell alright and silently pray that any traces of caf on your breath are long gone.

Several seconds pass before Tech looks up, over his shoulder at you. His face briefly flickers with concern.

“Your flushed features and increased heart rate indicates that you are nervous,” he remarks.

Maker, is it that obvious, you cringe.

Your mouth is dry and you contemplate making an excuse, but your brain does not want to cooperate.

“Sometimes I –,” you begin. Void, here I go. “Sometimes I get nervous around you,” you admit, attempting to make your confession sound as casual as possible. You bite your bottom lip in a way that you hope will be interpreted as sensual, or, at the very least, cute.

And Tech? Tech is flustered. Like visibly shaken, blushing furiously, two-steps-away-from-hyperventilating, kind of flustered.

“Please do not be nervous,” he responds tightly. Each word is taking considerable effort to be spoken. “I already told you: we trust you. I am not a threat to you.”

The poor guy. There’s no way he can really be misinterpreting that –.

“No, no, it’s a good kind of nervous,” you attempt to clarify.

“Nervousness is not conducive to high quality work,” Tech chokes out.

“No, I mean like giddy. I feel giddy around you.”

Come on, Tech.

“Would you like a chair–.”

“Stars, Tech, I like you!”

Tech...errors. He attempts to start several sentences with no success before mumbling an excuse that he has to go, “fix the reverse polarity capacitive inductor,” which, to your knowledge, is definitely not a real thing.

So maybe that could have gone better. All things considered, he did seem affected by your admission. On the other hand, he also left the room entirely.

Your face burns with embarrassment and, hey, maybe this backwater planet could make a decent home. Maybe the swamp water would be safe for consumption and you could spend the rest of your days foraging for swamp... berries. Sure, it might be a little uncomfortable, but no less uncomfortable than staying here for one more second.

And this is why you don’t admit your feelings to anyone. Ever.

Ugh. You were so confident, too. You squeeze your eyes shut, willing yourself to transport to another star system.

The door to the ‘fresher shuts, followed by a slight scuffle of feet, and a thunk that sounds decidedly like a head hitting the door.

You briefly consider leaving the ship to attempt to meet up with the rest of the Bad Batch. It’s been far too long since you’ve breathed fresh, clean, air and you feel a second wave of self-pity wash over you as you contemplate the thought of breathing in the smell of Wrecker’s feet for several more weeks in the Marauder’s circulated air. They hadn’t been gone longer than a standard hour and there was a clear path to get into town. You could still salvage the day, you could still stretch your legs–

‘Oh you want to know why I suddenly decided to join you, Hunter, after promising I’d help fix the ship? Funny story, I was trying to seduce your brother and he rejected me!’

You physically cringe at that. On second thought, maybe just pretending this didn’t happen would be the easier option. Lesser of two evils and all that.

Well, you’ve endured worse situations than this. Swamp berries, if they exist, probably won’t offer enough sustenance anyway, you conclude. You turn your attention to fixing several access panels that require little to no attention.

++++++++++++++++++++

It takes a long while for Tech to exit the ‘fresher. The door opens with a hiss and you stiffen, not looking up until he briskly walks past you and resumes his makeshift work station in the cockpit. Once he is seated and his back is facing you and you can hear the rhythmic tapping of his fingers on his datapad, you allow your entire body to relax.

You look back down to your newest project: fixing the swivel action on a chair. You’re not entirely sure if the chair needed to swivel, or whether it was supposed to, but it does now. At least Omega would have fun with that.

“Can you spare another minute?” Tech says after a considerable stretch of silence.

His comment catches you off-guard. It’s fine, it’s fine, you are just going to pretend like nothing happened. You can just carry on helping with actual repairs like you promised.

“I’m coming,” you say, while putting your entire weight into tightening a screw.

Tech coughs slightly.

“The, uh, I need your help with the cum system. The comm system!” he stutters.

Your eyes widen and decide it’s best not to comment, furiously thinking about the fact that Tech rarely makes mistakes. You wipe your hands on your trousers and stride over to the cockpit where Tech is fiddling with some wires on his lap.

“Take these,” he says while coiling a piece of wire to make a conductor. He pushes right through the awkwardness and places a handful of resistors in your outstretched hand.

You stand there in silence for several moments before you drum your fingers on the back of his chair. He makes no move to immediately utilise the resistors, so you resign yourself to stand there and watch him work. (You suppress a sigh – you wish you weren’t attracted to him at this moment, but here you are, drawn in by his confidence and fixated on watching his nimble fingers work their magic.)

Normally, you’d have already lost your patience. But not now, not when you are trying to decipher just what exactly Tech was trying to accomplish by calling you over and ignoring you. And that’s when you realise that Tech either forgot you were there or forgot to give you whichever menial task he originally intended.

But there’s absolutely no chance that Tech makes two mistakes within the same standard year, never mind two mistakes within the same afternoon.

You start to wonder if he even has any use for the resistors. Your knowledge of technology is limited, but you really don’t see how they’d be useful with his current task. Maybe this is Tech’s uncharacteristically inefficient way to try to initiate conversation. You really hope you’re not completely misreading the situation, but it’s not like you have any pride left to lose.

“Why did you stay behind today, Tech?” you ask quietly, voice tinged with apprehension and perhaps an unmistakable eagerness. You phrase it more like a statement than a question this time.

He continues to fidget, his leg bouncing anxiously as he works.

“I did some research,” he blurts. “Regarding intimacy between human males and human females.”

Huh.

“I read the specifics on how to kiss,” he continues, “but I fear that I am a bit out of my depth as to how I am supposed to initiate it.” He is still fussing with the wires in his lap, not quite able to look up at you.

“You...want to kiss?” you surmise, your heart thumping wildly in your chest. “Me?”

“Very much so.”

A grin breaks across your face and the sharp sting of Tech’s previous rejection immediately melts away. You deposit the handful of resistors in a tray containing various tools Tech had been using throughout the day before taking a tentative step forward from behind the chair. He cranes his neck to look at you, an unfamiliar expression that you’re not quite able to decipher written across his face.

You reach your hand out to caress his cheek, and sliding your hand down to his chin to guide it upwards as you bend down to bring your lips to his. The kiss is chaste, at first, but Tech proves himself a quick study as slightly parts his lips to deepen the kiss. His goggles nudge against your face and you’re pretty sure you’re leaving a greasy cheek print on one of them.

You pull away to gauge his reaction.

“Was that... satisfactory?” he asks, seemingly dazed. His eyes are hooded and still focused on your lips.

“It was perfect.” You offer a small smile.

He removes the goggles to clean one side of them with a nearby cloth. So you were leaving a cheek print. Once his goggles are back in place, he’s looking at you like he can’t quite believe you’re real, his golden brown eyes blinking owlishly at you.

“I apologise for leaving you earlier. I did not anticipate you returning my affections – it did not seem probable. And I was, regrettably, not prepared,” he mumbles.

“Probable?” It’s your turn to malfunction. You want to usher a thousand reassurances at once.

“Well, no.” Tech shifts his weight uncomfortably, not quite able to meet your eyes. “Hunter or Crosshair usually are the ones who capture the affections of –,”

“I like your goggles,” you interrupt in a rush before you surge forward to press your lips against his, hoping to convey just how much you return his affections. It’s a messy, urgent kiss that Tech returns with equal fervour. His fingers find their way into your hair, pulling you closer.

When you finally break the kiss, you straighten your back and take both of his hands in yours and take small, hesitant steps backwards, encouraging Tech to stand. As he does, the project he is working on slides off of his lap and clatters to the floor. He pays it no attention as he closes the distance between you, his eyes darkened with lust. He kisses you with renewed purpose as his hands wrap around your waist, roaming across your body, before they settle firmly on your ass.

Your hips grind into his codpiece and Tech lets out a low groan that goes straight to your core. He moves to kiss the curve of your neck, sucking at the delicate skin and making you squirm. The dampness between your legs becomes apparent and you press yourself closer to him, desperate for friction where you need it the most. As if he can read your mind, he trails a hand from your ass and places it between your legs, grazing over your clit before cupping your cunt. You involuntarily rock into his hand and moan into his mouth, hardly recognising the sounds you’re making.

Tech’s hand abruptly stills as he draws back to meet your eyes. His expression mirrors yours: searching wide eyes filled with longing, a silent acknowledgement passes between you as you reach the point of no return.

And in that moment you are struck with the urge to want nothing more than his cock in your mouth.

“Can I?” you blurt, glancing downward, hoping he is able to intuit exactly what you are suggesting in that moment.

“You may.” You allow the grammatical correction to slip by. “But I’ve never–,” he begins.

You don’t break eye contact and you begin to drop to your knees. He’s looking at you with his eyes wide, mouth slack. Tech’s bulged codpiece is mere inches from your face, and it’s in that moment that you realise that you have no idea how to undress this man.

And this, this is when you start to worry.

Does it have a latch? Does it even come off?

Your eyes dart from left to right looking for some sort of hint as to how it could be removed. You’re half tempted to just plant a smooch on the armour or the kiss inside of his thigh and pretend that all of this was intentional.

“I can get that,” Tech helpfully chimes in, blessedly oblivious to your internal struggle. He removes the pelvic plate with ease and, to your relief, you can see the shape of his erection straining under a layer of thick black fabric. Black fabric that conforms to his body shape exceedingly well. You reach out to feel his length, gently cupping his balls through the fabric before applying more pressure as you palm his shaft. He soft groan escapes his lips.

It catches you a little off guard, actually, to see him so hard. Knowing he’s been hard underneath his armour this entire time. Wondering when else he’s been hard and you had been none the wiser.

His cock has an attractive silhouette – it’s thicker than you expected and you can feel the patch of pre-cum that dampens the black fabric near his tip. You reach for his waistband and pull it down before slowly wrapping a hand around his shaft. He hisses with the contact and brings a white-knuckled fist to his lips.

You peer up at him through your lashes and you lick your lips, preparing to tease him a bit before taking him as deep as you can manage.

And that’s when something inside Tech snaps.

He looks down at you with wild eyes and places his hand on the back of your head to guide your mouth to his cock, apparently unable to continue the role of a passive observer for any longer. Clearly intent at putting his newfound research to good use. You lick a wet stripe from the base to the tip, before taking him in your mouth, the pre-cum tangy on your tongue. His grip tightens on your hair the same time he tilts his hips forward to push his cock further and you hollow your cheeks, sucking hard enough to make Tech groan and his knees buckle. He braces himself against the back of the pilot’s chair, captivated at the sight your mouth stretched around his length.

You begin to bob your head in a steady rhythm, taking him as deep as you’re able. You drag your tongue and press it flush on the underside of his cock, looking up at Tech with wide doe eyes, batting your eyelashes prettily as he struggles to maintain composure. You continue your pace until sweat starts to bead at his temple and his breathing becomes less controlled.

Patience isn’t your strong point and you’re too pent up not to touch yourself. You bring your free hand down your trousers, between your thighs, running your fingers through your wet folds and hum at the sensation. Tech’s hips stutter with the vibrations and his face contorts in what looks like a pained grimace. He takes a miniature step back and your lips leave his cock with a pop. He’s breathing heavily now and his weeping cock is painfully hard, his balls tight.

“I don’t want to finish in your mouth, mesh’la,” he pants, voice low.

You nod dumbly, currently unable to form a coherent thought or tear your eyes away from his erect length, only inches away from your face.

Tech takes hold of both of your forearms, helping you get to your feet, before wrapping his hands around your thighs, picking you up with surprising ease. You lock your thighs around his torso as he strides over to press you against one of the auxiliary control panels adjacent to the co-pilot’s chair in the cockpit. The incline on the panel is steep and the pressure of his hips against yours is the only thing keeping you from sliding down.

“Let me taste you,” Tech groans against your ear.

You let out a frustrated whine and desperately move to unclasp your trousers as Tech works to open your shirt. You shudder once the cool air hits your sweat-dampened skin and Tech messily palms your exposed breast while nipping at your neck. He helps you shimmy out of your clothing while holding you in firmly place before discarding them on the floor of he Marauder.

And this is how you find yourself spread eagle on the Marauder's control panel in possibly the most undignified position you’ve ever been in.

He goes to remove his goggles and you stop him.

“If they’re not uncomfortable for you, I’d like for you to leave them on.” He quirks a brow at you, quizzical. “What? I told you that they’re cute.”

His face evolves from sceptical to bashful in a few moments.

“Very well, then. I can leave them on.”

Tech moves his hands under your thighs as he lowers himself, draping your legs across each of his shoulders with surprising gentleness for a man who looks like he is ready to devour you. Once he’s on his knees and comfortably supporting your weight, keeping you pressed against the console, he places an open-mouthed kiss on the inside of your thigh.

“A-are you okay with this?” you manage to stutter out. It’s not like you haven’t pictured his head between your thighs before, but something about his head actually being between your thighs fills you with a nervousness you hadn’t anticipated.

He mumbles his assurances against your clit. He begins with slow, languid licks and you suck in a sharp breath as you feel yourself craving more and have to stop yourself from violently bucking your hips up.

Okay, so he’s actually really good at this. You know you really shouldn’t be that surprised, Tech is nothing if not thorough with his research and it’s, er, practical applications. Any thoughts of humour at Tech’s expense are, however, ripped from your mind when he sinks a single finger inside your cunt. His finger curls with a precision that only Tech could manage and you moan in encouragement as he pumps it in and out.

You squirm when he hits the spot that makes you want to beg for more and you feel your bare ass hit a button on the console. The next thing you hear is a soft swish swish sound of the Marauder's screen wipers that you inadvertently turned on. Mercifully, it doesn’t break Tech’s concentration and his hands continue to grip your hips, holding your cunt to his face.

“Don’t stop, don’t stop, please don’t stop,” you chant. You writhe again and another button sounds its activation. Nothing immediately makes itself known. You hope it’s not something like a proton torpedo firing into the swampy area the Marauder landed in. Not because there’s anything nearby, but because you’ll die if Tech stops here.

He moans into your core as he brings a hand down to grip his leaking cock, desperate for some friction.

“Kriff,” you grunt at the sight of him fucking his fist, only to hear Tech utter the same exclamation at the same time.

“Is there an echo in here or something?” You smile at him, offering a half-laugh before your face contorts with pleasure once again and you hiss through your teeth.

“Yes?” a new, tinny voice chimes in on the overhead speaker system. “This is Echo... You’ve, uh, turned on the short range comm system.”

You knew Tech was a good soldier, but the reflexes in which he slammed the short range comm transmitter with his free hand surprised you. He didn’t move himself from between your thighs and skilfully cut off the transmission while continuing to work your clit with his tongue and your cunt with his finger.

Before you could die from embarrassment and wonder just how much Echo and the rest of the Batch heard, Tech adds another finger and your entire body jerks and tenses.

“I’ve – ah, right there – Maker, that feels good. I’ve never been with anyone who is patient enough to let me come,” you manage to say through gritted teeth.

“My research indicated that it can take around 20 standard minutes for women to orgasm if properly relaxed, why would others stop prematurely?” Tech replies, only briefly removing his mouth from your cunt to reply.

“Selfishness?” you guess.

Tech seemed to take your admission (and ability to form sentences) personally, clearly intent on rendering you incapacitated. He returns to his attention to your clit and maintains his rhythm, teasing a third finger near your entrance. You whine at the sensation and move to hold Tech’s head in place, because if he stops now, there’s no way you’ll ever forgive him. The pressure that’s been mounting in your core finally, finally peaks and your entire body tenses as you surrender to your climax.

“Tech,” you whine, unable to formulate thoughts, let alone words.

He assures you with a soft groan and tightens his grip on your hip. He can feel your walls clenching around his fingers as he guides you through your climax.

As you come down from your orgasm, you feel like you’ve spent a year in bacta. You can’t move. Honestly, your bones are like Andorian jelly. The feeling is only temporary, however, as you’re overcome with the desire – no, need – to be filled.

“In me,” you urge. “Now.”

He adjusts his goggles and looks at you, spread out, completely ready for him.

“Lie back then.”

Tech settles between your thighs and nudges his cock head against your entrance. He takes a breath to steady himself, rubbing his length through your folds, covering it in your arousal.

“So wet and ready for me, mesh’la.”

Your hands wildly grasp at his chest plate, fingernails scratching along the plastoid, desperate to hold onto anything to anchor you. You meet his mouth with a graceless kiss, before he finally sinks into you.

“You’re tight,” he grits out.

He waits a few moments letting you adjust to his size before he begins to move. He restrains himself, slowly rolling his hips as your cunt stretches around his length.

“More,” you plead, breathlessly. “Please.”

Your encouragement is all he needs before he snaps his hips against yours, setting an unrelenting rhythm. He rocks into you harder with each thrust of his hips, his plastoid leg places slapping your skin.

“You feel so good, cyar'ika,” he pants. You surge upwards to greet his lips with a messy kiss, which only spurs him on to fuck you faster. “You’re, ah, taking me so well.”

“Fuck –,” you whine.

His grip tightens and his whole body starts to tense – he’s dangerously close to coming undone. And that’s when you notice his pace start to slow, his movements clearly distracted.

“Tech?” you mumble. You focus your eyes on his face and he looks dazed, you can practically hear him thinking. You’re about to ask him what’s wrong, but he doesn’t give you any time to panic.

“Elevate your hips by seven to ten degrees,” he states through heavy breaths.

“What?” Definitely not what you were expecting him to say.

Tech seems unfazed by your apparent annoyance. He wordlessly repositions himself, grabbing both of your hips and raising them slightly, holding your body up so it’s just the sharp incline of the console and Tech’s hands keeping you in place.

He began thrusting in earnest again, his eyes screwing shut in pleasure. And, Maker, he was right. The new angle hits a spot that makes your toes curl and you lose the ability to speak almost instantly and mewl helplessly as Tech fucks into you.

You made an undignified noise as you gripped his bicep, desperate to hold onto something, feeling the pressure mount in your core. With Tech’s hands busy holding you in place as he maintains a brutal pace, you bring a hand down to your clit, still wet with spit and your own essence. You barely have to touch yourself before you feel your body screaming for release.

“’M coming,” is all the warning you are able to give him before your cunt spasms around his twitching cock as your vision whites out. Tech grunts at the sensation, unable to hold his own climax off any longer.

“Where do you want me to –,” he grates out.

“Anywhere,” you cut him off, still feeling the aftershocks of your orgasm. “Just want to feel you.”

“Fuck, mesh’la, I’m going to come,” Tech groans, desperately chasing his release with harsh thrusts. His hips forcefully buck into you before his cock stiffens and he spills himself inside of you. He buries his face in your neck, slowly pumping you full of his cum, before he slumps against you. “Bid jate par me,” he mumbles into your neck, barely audible. “Gotal par me.”

You don’t know Mando’a, but whatever he is saying, the way he is saying it, sends a pleasant chill over your body.

You’re both still breathing heavily when Tech gingerly places you back down with a surprising gentleness for someone who had just been fucking you within an inch of your life. He’s in no rush to remove himself from you, but when his softened cock does slip out and his cum leaks out of you and onto the console, he helps you slide down. When your feet touch the floor, your legs wobble slightly and Tech has to grasp your forearms to steady you, softly chuckling at the state you’re in.

And when you look at him, he looks positively debauched. Sated, but debauched. You probably look worse.

In one swift motion he bends down, brings an arm down under your knees, and lifts you up. You wrap your arms around your neck while he carries you to his bunk. His cool armour against your overheated skin is a welcome sensation and you press yourself closer.

“Your research paid off,” you mumble into his chest as he sets you down on his bed.

“Please do not act so surprised by that.”

++++++++++++++++++++

You and Tech aren’t quite finished with the repairs by the time the Batch return hours later, long after the moons have risen and the bioluminescent plants surrounding the ship have begun to glow. If the squad notice you’re sitting a bit too close to Tech, your thigh pressing comfortably against his, they don’t say anything.

Neither of you were expecting to defile the Marauder all day and Tech was frantically fixing the lever on a storage hatch access panel, attempting to make up for lost time.

“Wrecker!” Echo shouts. “Clean up after yourself, for kriff’s sake.”

“Why?” Wrecker drawls, stomping towards the cockpit. “What did I do this time?”

“You’ve spilled your juice on the console again, all the keys are stuck in place.”

The access lever snaps clean off in Tech’s hands.

[eternalstargazer]

Who's ready for me to painstakingly overanalyze an adorable scene that none of us SatoGou shippers thought we'd ever be fortunate enough to get (regardless of situation/context)? Of course you all are! 😄

Usually it's Goh that's curious about the behavior of Pokémon and wondering what's influencing that behavior, not Ash. He's not even really listening to Ash here. Then Ash changes the subject and assures Goh they're going to be fine once they get back to the lab, but Goh still doesn't seem interested in holding a conversation. Is holding Ash's hand so distracting that it's the only thing on Goh's mind at the moment? One might expect Goh to jump at the opportunity to talk about something, anything... to ease/deflect the awkwardness of having to hold hands with Ash in public, but he doesn't.

Instead, he draws attention to it (maybe he wanted to try and explain why his palm was getting sweaty 😉) when Ash asks him why he seemed bummed out. First, I like that regardless of what might be going through Goh's head at this moment, he wanted to avoid hurting Ash's feelings. He didn't want Ash to get the wrong idea and think he was sad/annoyed/disappointed (the definition of being "bummed out" according to online dictionaries) that the two were holding hands. He mentions he's a little embarrassed since they're holding hands, and this can be taken a couple of different ways. If you're someone that doesn't see anything beyond friendship between these two, then you would just chalk it up as Goh feeling self-conscious and uncomfortable, because that's generally how a straight guy would feel if he had to hold hands with another guy (even a good bud) or how kids at that age would typically react (especially a boy having to hold a girl's hand).

If you're someone that does see something much more between these two, then Goh being embarrassed holding Ash's hand is expected and natural. One of Goh's character traits (which, admittedly, the writers have sometimes been inconsistent with) is he doesn't have many friends and gets uncomfortable around strangers/social situations, and based on some of the flashbacks when he is around six or seven, it might be fair to say he's an introvert (staying in his room looking at computer screens/avoiding kids at school/not going to school). If he does have a secret crush on Ash, he's going to feel embarrassed when his fingers are intertwined with the boy that sets his heart aflutter. If real people in real relationships can feel embarrassment (for a a variety of reasons, as a quick Google search reveals) when holding hands in public, then it's reasonable to believe that Goh was embarrassed here because he's a shy boy that doesn't have a lot of experience making and maintaining friendships, let alone feelings that go beyond friendship.

The point is, Goh's embarrassment over Ash holding hands with him can be used both as an argument for and against journeyshipping. I don't think I have to say which side I fall on here. 😂

I've mainly talked about Goh up to this point, but what about Ash? Ash is... well, Ash. He is typically a lot harder to read because it's a running gag in the anime that he has no concept of love and everything that he does/how he reacts can simply be attributed to him being such a nice guy/great friend. Like here, one could argue that Ash is fine with holding Goh's hand because he wants to help his friend get back to the lab safely. His facial expression changes to worry when Goh sounds bummed out, but again, that could just be Ash being concerned that his friend sounds sad. To Ash, this is all perfectly normal and he would do the same for any of his male/female friends and rivals. Except for Paul. 😆 And possibly Trip...

Just as one could say it's just Ash being Ash when he gets distracted by an Alakazam putting on a show in a park and leads Goh in that direction rather than back to the lab. Some will say if Ash was really concerned with getting Goh back to the lab, he would focus on that, but at the same time you could also argue holding Goh's hand feels so natural to him and that he enjoys being out with and sharing things with Goh so much that he totally forgot about their present situation (he even says here "an Alakazam! Let's go see!" Uh... Ash? Goh can't see! 🤦‍♂️ Isn't that why the two of you are holding hands...? Or...?😏) . The two do practically everything together and spend almost the entirety of their days side by side, so would that really be such a stretch that Ash forgot about their predicament? That's the beauty of shipping; it all depends on how you look at things!

Lastly, credit once again to Zeno Robinson's portrayal of Goh! His line delivery here, especially that pause before the "holding hands" part is so perfect. Honestly, the dub's choice of BGM works pretty well as there was no BGM in the Japanese version, and between that and Robinson's tone and delivery, the potential undertones of this scene come across stronger in the dub.

As you might imagine, I'm very happy about that. 💗

[thekisforkeats]

Love Languages

Info: The Magnus Archives, JonMartin, rated T probably for swears. Canon-Compliant. Set post-MAG 22, with a coda post-MAG 159. Everyone is ND and everyone is trans because that’s just how my personal S1 Archives gang rolls.

CWs: Mentions of ableism and Martin’s mother. I’d say canon-typical worms but the worms don’t really come up except in passing.

I do not know anything about BSL, so I did not try to describe the signs.

Summary: A love language is not just about how you best show love and affection; it is also about the ways you best receive love and affection. And so, for someone like Martin, who shows love by going out of his way to help others, someone going out of their way to help him, well. What better way for him to realize just how loved he is?

--------------------------------------------

The first time Martin went completely non-verbal after starting work in the Archives, it was the morning after giving Jon the statement about Jane Prentiss.

It wasn’t a surprising development, really. Martin didn’t go fully non-verbal that often, but when he did it was almost always a thing that started in the morning and lasted most of the day. Sometimes it wore off by the time he went to bed, sometimes it lasted until the next morning.

After his mother’s diagnosis, he’d been unable to speak for an entire week. That hadn’t gone over well--as much as his mother wanted him to be quiet, she didn’t like the “silent treatment,” as she called it.

Martin hated that she’d called it that, as though his non-verbal episodes were anything he did on purpose. Some days talking just felt like a chore; those days he could get by only forcing words out when he had to. But some days, the worst days, he just couldn’t talk. He could understand other people just fine, he could make noises, sometimes he could even hum. And he could definitely read and write. But speaking words, aloud? No. He could not speak, on these days, however much he may have wanted to.

As Martin grew older and learned more about himself, he learned words and reasons and coping mechanisms. He realized that some of the problem came from dysphoria and the longer he was on hormones the less often it happened. He realized that he was autistic (even if he never got diagnosed), and learned how to handle the episodes that still occurred. He took sign languages classes because it was a good and useful thing to know regardless, to be able to communicate with more people.

As many Deaf people had learned before Martin, he’d found himself in plenty of situations when nobody around him knew BSL, so he’d found a phone app that let him type out things he wanted to say and repeated them in a tinny, mechanical voice. Feminine, but he found it didn’t cause dysphoria; it wasn’t his voice. It was the app speaking for him, a robot lady translating his words.

Martin was fairly certain he was going to need the robot lady to speak for him today, and he was dreading the whole idea. The app got him a range of reactions from scorn to derision to faux sympathy. The last time he’d done so at work, the Institute library staff had regarded him with such pity that he’d called in sick the two other times it had happened since.

He’d woken early, because he was always awake fairly early, to ensure he looked presentable and got to work on time. He did not want Jonathan “Crisply Professional At All Times” Sims giving him that look again. The particular look that was “I highly disapprove of your sartorial choices but I’m not going to get into it right now because I have so very much else to do. Nonetheless, if I could fire you for what you’re wearing I would.”

Jon had a lot of looks. Martin fervently wished he could stop categorizing them; he very much disliked his boss, and very much wanted to stop thinking about Jon quite as much as he did.

Jon was attractive, that much Martin had noticed the first day he’d come in, with a jawline Martin would’ve loved to trace with his fingers, eyes sharp and deep and intelligent, salt-and-pepper hair that Martin would have tangled his fingers in gladly.

Except, of course, that Jon was also a prick who didn’t like Martin one bit and made that very clear. He’d put down on record that he thought Martin would “contribute nothing but delays.” Martin was not such a sucker for punishment that he would put up with someone who hated him just for a pretty face. The tiny potential blossom of a crush had been, well, crushed five seconds after it had poked its head above ground, by Jon’s declaration that he could dismiss Martin if he didn’t resolve the “dog situation” immediately.

Martin counted his lucky stars every day that Jon had not, in fact, dismissed him, despite having had to deal with a doggy mess. The luck was really in having Tim around, Martin figured; Jon actually seemed fond of Tim, and the other man had managed to smooth the entire situation over.

Martin had fallen asleep last night thinking about the new look Jon had given him yesterday: concerned. Truly, genuinely concerned, which had rather taken Martin aback. He’d been certain Jon wouldn’t believe him, would scoff and roll his eyes at the entire statement, and instead he’d just looked… concerned. 

And then Jon had offered Martin the cot that he’d woken up in this morning.

It wasn’t the look of concern that had Martin non-verbal, though; of that he was certain. It was the stress of the last two weeks, and dumping out the statement yesterday, and all the whirl of figuring out how to live in the Archives. Jon’s insistence on going with him to pick up basics with a toothbrush at the convenience store, and then coming back to be sure he was okay. Jon finding clean sheets and discussing how he’d do his laundry. Jon had expensed clothing bought online to the Institute, including next-day shipping, because he’d “lost access to his flat and thus his wardrobe in the line of duty.” It had all been bewildering and overwhelming and it was no real surprise that Martin was in the state he found himself when he woke.

Martin had known as soon as he’d opened his eyes. It was just there, the feeling of nope can’t talk today. He’d pulled on his binder and the same clothing he’d worn the day before and then fumbled around for his phone. Which… he didn’t have. The damn worm-hive-lady had stolen it from him. Well, shit.

He managed to avoid having to figure out how to talk while he went out to get breakfast, just pointing at a scone in the display and smiling at the guy behind the counter as if he wasn’t secretly irritated by the price of everything in Chelsea. By the time Martin got back, Jon was already in his office, so thank God he’d avoided that awkward interaction. He went to make himself tea, and had his breakfast in the breakroom, and brushed his teeth, and then went to get started on…

Wait. He didn’t even know what they were working on right now.

Well, he wasn’t going to bother Jon about it; however nice he’d been last night it surely must have worn off by now, and Martin had no interest in summoning one of his boss’ looks this early in the morning. Normally he’d still be on his commute at this hour.

After a moment’s thought, he went to go see what they’d recorded in his absence, and soon had a stack of statements on his desk. They’d gotten through five statements in the two weeks he’d been gone. Maybe Jon was right. Maybe Martin did contribute “nothing but delays.”

Pushing the thought aside, Martin focused on listening to the tapes, and was just finishing up listening to the second half of Father Edwin Burroughs’ statement when Tim came into the shared office the assistants used.

“Hey, you’re in early. You get the email?”

Martin raised his eyebrows and shook his head.

Tim snorted. “Jon claims he’s got something to warn us about, something that ‘won’t parse properly through digital means.’” He rolled his eyes. “Which is Jon-speak for ‘it’s a weird thing and I don’t want to admit it’s a weird thing because I have to keep my skeptic hat on to preserve my self-image.”

Martin chuckled in solidarity, then gestured toward the door to Jon’s office, to indicate that’s where their boss was.

“Not coming?” Tim asked, his own eyebrow raised. When Martin shrugged, he said, “Well, I guess if you didn’t get the email…” Tim also shrugged, then said, “Guess I’d better get it over with. Wish me luck!”

Martin gave him a thumbs up.

When Sasha came in, Martin silently directed her to Jon’s office as well, then heaved a sigh of relief. He hadn’t had to explain being non-verbal at all yet, and it was already nine o’clock. Maybe if he was lucky, Jon would warn them off talking to him and he’d manage to make it the entire day without having to explain the whole “non-verbal” business to anyone he saw on a regular basis.

Alas, it was barely thirty minutes later that Tim and Sasha returned to talk to him, both wearing expressions of mingled concern and guilt. When they spoke it was a flood of the usual, expected platitudes:

“We’re so sorry!”

“We didn’t know!”

“Are you okay??”

And such like.

Martin shrugged and nodded and shook his head in all the right places, and evidently Jon had played them the tape of his statement so he didn’t have to explain it all again (thank God), and he thought maybe, maybe he could even figure out what statement they were working on right now if he just listened to their chatter after they were done with the niceties, but then…

Well. Then Timothy Stoker happened.

Which is to say, Tim actually looked at Martin, and said, “You’re being awfully quiet. You sure you’re okay?”

And then he and Sasha just… sat there, looking at him expectantly.

Martin sighed and reached for a piece of scrap paper and wrote, I’m autistic and sometimes I go non-verbal. Today’s one of those days, but I don’t have my phone anymore, so no communication app.

As he held up the paper so the others could read the words, Martin braced himself for the ensuing reactions. Pity, probably, like those in the Institute library, and he couldn’t even call in sick to avoid it; he’d rather have scorn and derision. At least those reactions were honest.

What he got from them was not pity, however, nor even scorn.

Sasha hummed. “Autism explains a lot, actually. Don’t worry, it’s not a problem.”

Tim grinned and clapped Martin on the shoulder. “Yeah, why didn’t you just say so? It’s fine, you’ve been through an ordeal. And so you know--you’re hardly the only neurodivergent in the Archives.”

Martin blinked at Tim, then wrote: Wait, what? Who…?

“Would you believe me if I said all of us?” Tim said with a grin. “I have ADD, Jon’s… well… he’s Jon, and as for Sasha…”

Sasha sighed in fond exasperation and cut in, “Tim…”

“I contend that you cannot be neurotypical, Ms. James. You fit in too well around here.”

“I am not admitting to anything on Institute property,” Sasha said with aplomb. “And you shouldn't have either, but here we are.” She looked at Martin. “If HR finds out and they give you any trouble, let us know and we’ll figure out what to do.”

Tim, in the meanwhile, pulled out his phone. “Here, go ahead and use mine for now, until your replacement gets here or whatever. What’s the app so I can install it for you?”

Martin’s jaw had dropped open. Tim having ADD made sense; what did he mean about Jon, though? And Sasha? And what did Sasha mean about HR? And… and why were they being so… nice? So… understanding? It wasn’t an act, or at least he didn’t think it was. They seemed… genuinely fine with it. Accepting, even.

It was the strangest thing Martin had experienced in a while, and that was including the worm-riddled woman who’d stood outside his door for two straight weeks.

From there the day just… went on as normal. Tim installed the app on the phone, Martin’s robot phone lady spoke for him, the three of them did their work, and everything was fine.

Until, of course, the nature of their work reared its ugly head. They were discussing the statement of Leanne Denikin, case #0051701, which they had yet to attach a pithy name to; hence the discussion. It had long since become standard practice to attach a name to the “weirder” statements, to make them easier to discuss. (Jon insisted on using the case numbers on tape still, which was annoying, given that was the only place he did that.)

Martin was reading through the statement, and he typed into Tim’s phone: What do you think of this bit? “Be still, for there is strange music.”

What came out of the phone’s speakers, however, was garbled static followed by high-pitched screeching that startled Martin so much he actually dropped the phone.

Jon was walking in just as this happened; he stopped in the doorway, blinking. “What on Earth was that?”

“Martin’s robot lady gave Tim’s phone an aneurysm, I think,” Sasha said, eyeing Martin as well.

Martin scrabbled on the floor for the phone, pulled up the app (which had crashed), and typed, I don’t know what happened!! I was just typing in something from one of the statements!

Jon frowned at him sharply. “What are you doing with Tim’s phone? Are you quite well?”

“No, Martin is not ‘quite well,’” Tim said. “Non-verbal for the day.”

Then Jon did something that stunned Martin: Jon signed at him, specifically, “Do you know sign language?” He spoke aloud as he said this, too, but also raised his eyebrows and gave a quizzical tilt to his head to convey that he was asking a question.

Martin blinked rapidly, then signed back: “Yes, actually. But Tim and Sasha don’t.”

Jon nodded, then said aloud, along with signing, “Why are you non-verbal, exactly?”

“I have autism,” Martin signed. “Sometimes talking is overwhelming and sometimes, especially in stressful situations, I can’t talk at all. Woke up that way today. It should be gone by tomorrow morning.” Why was he explaining so much more to Jon than he had to the others? Maybe just because Jon knew sign, and thus could communicate in a language Martin found much easier than even the typing.

Jon frowned thoughtfully, then nodded again. Then, still speaking and signing both, “What were you typing into your phone?”

“Be still, for there is strange music. From the statement.” Martin gestured to the statement on his desk.

Jon’s frown deepened and he repeated the words. “‘Be still, for there is strange music….’” His expression went slack for a moment, and then he shook himself. “Right. Well. Just… just… I’ll be right back.” Then he abruptly turned and left the room.

Tim and Sasha exchanged bewildered looks. Then Sasha asked, “Do you know what that was all about?”

“I forgot Jon knows BSL,” Tim replied thoughtfully. “Hard of hearing on one side. Not that he’d have agreed to interpret all day or anything.”

Martin shrugged. It’s alright, he typed. This works just fine.

“Well, no, obviously not for some things.” Jon had reappeared as suddenly as he’d disappeared, holding a small brown notebook the size of Martin’s hand. “Here,” he said, thrusting the notebook at Martin. “This will work better, for communicating about the statements. You needn’t use it with me, of course, unless signing is also taxing.”

Martin stared up at Jon. There was an entirely new look on his boss’ face. Not any level of scorn or sneer, nor even concern. He was… nervous. Fidgety. Like he was offering a gift that he was afraid might be rejected.

Something went flip in Martin’s stomach and it was like the entire world turned upside down. Suddenly, in light of Jon’s actions in the last 24 hours, he saw the way his boss had acted toward him the last six months for what it was: a defense mechanism. Armor pulled up around someone fragile and soft and sweet, someone so terrified of rejection that he went about making sure it happened preemptively so he wouldn’t be hurt.

Martin had a sudden, fierce desire to hug Jon and tell him everything would be okay. It was so bewildering a sensation--he didn’t even like the man! At all!--that he just took the notebook with a nod and a signed “Thank you,” eyes still very wide.

Jon nodded in return. “You’re welcome.” He let out a breath, and seemed to relax a little. “Well. Then. I think we’ve found the name for this one, given the way Tim’s phone reacted to those words. ‘Strange Music’ it is.” He straightened himself. “Tim, you said something about the organ reminding you of articles you’ve read…?”

Tim nodded, expression suddenly serious. “Yeah. I’ll see if I can find them for you.”

“Right. Well, then, Sasha, if I could ask you to look through the Archive like we talked about? I’m certain we’ve had a statement from Jane Prentiss.” Jon then turned to Martin. “And if you wouldn’t mind helping me with ‘Schwarzwald?’ You used to work in the library, right?”

Martin was still staring at Jon in confusion, but nodded.

Jon actually smiled at him. Faintly. “Well, then, I’m certain you must know where to find the German history reference books, if you could go grab whatever they’ll let you bring down?”

The strangest thing about it was, Jon seemed sincere. Like he actually believed Martin did, indeed, know the library well enough to just… go up there and find the German history reference books. The faint, confident-in-his-assistant smile was a new look, at least directed at Martin; he’d seen Jon look at Tim and Sasha that way many times before.

Martin’s stomach was doing cartwheels. There were butterflies taking up residence in his intestines. His heart was pounding. How had he never noticed how nice Jon’s smile was? Soft and small, like he was afraid to let it actually take up residence on his face for too long.

Oh, God, oh, no. Martin could not fancy his boss. Jon hated him. Or, well, no, evidence suggested that perhaps Jon did not hate him, but Jon most certainly did not fancy him. This crush had to disappear, just as fast as it had come. This would not do.

He was going to be writing poetry again tonight, wasn’t he? Crap.

“Martin?” Jon’s tone was concerned rather than sharp, and the way Jon said his name made Martin want to sink into the floor.

Instead, he scribbled furiously in the notebook and held it up so all three of the others could see: Yeah, sorry, was just thinking about where that’d be. I’ll bring them down as soon as I find them.

Jon practically beamed at Martin’s use of the notebook and he nodded briskly. “Right! I’ll be in my office when you have the books, then.” He started to turn away.

Martin’s heart went pound pound pound because oh wow Jon was really cute when he let that smile take up more of his face. Throwing caution to the wind, he made a noise to get the other man’s attention.

Jon turned around, quirking a brow. “Yes, Martin?”

Martin signed, “Tea?” He, too, raised his eyebrows and tilted his head to indicate the question.

Jon nodded. “Tea would be lovely, yes.” He smiled at Martin for a brief moment, and then suddenly looked flustered. He glared at them all. “Anyway,” he snapped in his ‘boss’ voice, the impact of which was ruined by the flush rising in his cheeks, “there’s still work to be done. So let’s… do it.” And with that, he turned on his heel and left the office.

Had Jon blushed because Martin had offered him tea? Did Jon like his tea that much? Was Martin imagining things? He had to be imagining things. He put his head down on the desk and wrapped his arms over it so he could grab at handfuls of hair. What was happening to him?

Sasha tried to make her voice serious, but couldn't quite manage it past quite clearly holding back giggles. “Mourn for poor Martin, working alone with Jon.” She looked at Tim. “We should call HR preemptively, it’ll be a bloodbath.”

“Nah, I think Jon’s softening on our boy,” Tim said with a laugh. He reached over to ruffle Martin’s hair with one hand while he took his phone back with the other. “Don’t worry, Marto. I told you he’d come around one day.”

Martin looked up at Tim with a stricken, betrayed expression. In the notebook: Is this how you comfort me in my hour of need??

Sasha shook her head. “For once, Tim’s being serious. You weren’t in the room when Jon explained things to us. He’s worried about you, he doesn’t want you to have to leave the Institute alone, he doesn’t want you to have to look for the Prentiss statement in case it’s ‘too traumatic’ for you to run across on your own. He actually asked us if we thought we should avoid any mention of Prentiss altogether in your presence.”

“I told him no,” Tim said. “I hope that was okay. You seem like you’d rather deal with trauma by facing it and figuring it out, rather than avoiding it entirely.”

Matin gaped at them. Really? he wrote. Jon’s… worried about me? Really? As if he hadn’t seen the evidence just now that Jon was, indeed… softening.

Tim gave Martin a very serious look. “I’ve told you before… I’ve known Jon, well, not as long as I’ve known Sasha, but for a long while now. He’s prickly and thorny, even to people he cares about, but that’s a front and I’ve said so. You just didn’t believe me.”

“In Martin’s defense,” Sasha put in, “Jon’s been awfully ‘prickly and thorny’ to him specifically.”

Tim put up a hand. “Oh, I agree. I have had words with our dear boss about the way he treats Martin, largely because I’m one of the few people he might actually listen to.” He looked at Martin. “I don’t want to take the credit, because it’s really been a remarkably fast turnaround, but I’d like to think I helped, a little.”

Martin frowned thoughtfully. Thank you, he wrote. If Jon’s at ‘I can stand Martin’ instead of ‘Martin is the source of all bad that happens in the Archives’ work might be… better than tolerable, for once.

“That’s the spirit!” Tim said with a grin. “Now, then, Jon did say to get back to work…”

Jon gave Martin another of those soft smiles when Martin brought in the tea, a smile which widened on seeing the stack of books he carried in right after. That afternoon, spent sitting and going through books and discussing the Schwarzwald statement, was the first of many they’d spend together, reading and talking and comparing notes.

Martin was feeling verbal again the next morning, but he kept the notebook. If nothing else, it was a good place to jot down poetry. And it came in handy when he found himself unable to speak the morning after Jane Prentiss’ attack on the Archives.

And the morning after Jon confronted him about his CV.

And the morning after Jon disappeared, leaving Jurgen Leitner’s body at his desk. (Martin blamed that on the corridors more than the body, really.)

Funnily enough, he didn’t need it the morning after the Unknowing. But he kept it with him that day all the same, the first gift Jon had ever given him, and one of the few things he had left of him with Jon in a coma.

--------------------------------------------

When they reached Daisy’s safehouse in Scotland, Martin had hoped he’d somehow manage to dodge the threat of going non-verbal. He’d been the one to drive the car, over Jon’s protests; it was something to focus on, to keep him remembering he was alive and real. He’d clutched the wheel and driven north north north with Jon giving directions in the passenger seat.

Martin had finally figured out that it was the chance to stop and think about trauma that led to his being non-verbal, which was why it was almost always a thing that hit in the morning. Adrenaline would keep him running after a stressful event, and then he’d carry himself through the rest of the day trying to clean up whatever mess had been caused. But sleep was enough for his body and brain to both tell him to stop, to process, to deal with whatever he’d run into.

It was possible, in hindsight, that he’d gone non-verbal more than once since the Unknowing and just hadn’t noticed because he’d been barely interacting with anyone. He’d certainly had a bad bout the morning after his mother’s funeral, dealing with so much misgendering and fake smiles. And there had been more than enough trauma to try to process in the past year, so it must have happened before.

He’d just really, really hoped it wouldn’t now, because he didn’t want to put Jon through that. (Why he thought he was putting Jon through anything he didn’t really want to examine. It made him feel Lonely, and that was bad.)

At any rate, the realization of why he went non-verbal had led to him keeping busy in order to hold it off, in order to hold himself together. So he drove, and he puttered about the cabin poking into cupboards, and he talked to Jon, and he talked to the shop lady in the village, and he brought back food and made dinner with Jon, and everything was good and fine.

And then he woke up the next morning, in an unfamiliar bed in an unfamiliar room, and he could not speak.

There was the smell of bacon and eggs and pancakes cooking, and Martin made his bleary way out into the main room of the cabin and peered at Jon, already up and dressed and cooking.

His boyfriend turned to look at him and smiled, one of those soft smiles Martin had come to love so much. “Sleep well?”

"Not really,” Martin signed. “I mean…” He gestured at his throat.

Jon nodded. “I figured you might feel that way this morning. I, uhh… hold on a moment, I need to….” He grabbed the pan of bacon and moved it off the heat, pulled a pancake off the griddle and deposited it on a plate, then turned off the stove and went to poke around in one of the bags.

Martin chuckled fondly. “What’re you looking for?”

Jon was still digging through his bag. “When I was grabbing essentials at the store, back in London, I was thinking, you’ve been through a lot, and the notebook I gave you before must be full if you even have it anymore. I know you were writing poetry in it, and… oh, here we go.”

Jon came up with another small notebook. This one was not plain and brown, the way the first one he’d gifted Martin all those years ago had been. This one was black, and had silvery stars on its cover that, as Jon held out the book and thus tilted it through the light, shimmered into rainbows.

“Just in case, you know, the shop lady doesn’t know BSL.”

Martin blinked at the notebook.

“It, uhh… I know it’s not your usual style,” Jon said, his voice suddenly nervous. He was looking down at the notebook as he spoke, instead of at Martin. “Not… retro. But… I saw it and I thought of you.” He paused. “That tape, where you were talking to Simon Fairchild. He talked about the ‘cosmic scale,’ and how we’ve never even been alive on that time frame, and you said… what was it? You said, ‘I think our experience of the universe has value. Even if it disappears forever.’ And I just… that was… maybe the most… it was very… you. And there were other options, flowers or cursive writing, o-or… I don’t know, they all seemed so obvious, but this…”

Jon swallowed, and finally looked up at Martin. “I thought, after the Lonely, you might like a reminder that, you have value. That… that to me, you shine as bright as any star.” And then he flushed, and Martin knew it was for him, just as he now knew the flushes about tea all those years ago had also been for him.

Martin was gaping. Oh. Oh. Jon… loved him. Which he’d known, intellectually, but the emotional knowledge of it hit him suddenly, took his breath away. He knew it, all at once, in that “oh we could spend the rest of our lives together” way he’d never really thought he’d ever feel.

Jon had clearly misinterpreted the expression; he started stammering, “I-if… it it’s bad, I can… well, no, I can’t take it back, stupid, I should’ve just grabbed the one that had--”

Martin cut him off by reaching out to take the notebook from Jon and reached out with his other hand to cup the shorter man’s cheek. He smiled, and because he’d realized long ago how well Jon responded to physical touch, he leaned in to plant a soft kiss on his boyfriend’s forehead.

Then he pulled back to put the notebook aside on the counter and signed, “It’s perfect. Thank you.” A pause, and then, “I love you.”

Jon smiled, both speaking and signing, “I love you, too.”

And for once in his life, Martin knew that to be true, and trusted that knowledge. He was loved. He had been loved, and he would be loved for the rest of his life, whatever state his voice was in.

[redheadbigshoes]

hi!! this is a mix of a vent and a ask for a little bit of advice when dealing with internal homophobia and comphet at times. You can skip this if you want.Earlier this year I realized I’m a lesbian with the help of my friend and understanding my past and somewhat relationships with men as a whole. I am 18 btw. For majority of the time I labeled myself as aroace and accept that I didn’t like men bc of that label. I saw men and marriage with them as an inevitable and something ill get to late in life be picking someone from the bunch that I can somewhat tolerate and just force myself through it just so I fit in the heteronormativity around me. But aroace was a safe place to be like I rather be alone than ever be with a man for the rest of my life. I always saw it as trap and just something I couldn’t convince myself to do. Your body always knows before you like I was feel a strong uncomfortableness and would get physical angry at romantic passes , ppl shipping me with boys , and even my partners talking about me dating but I pass it off to that I just already have anxiety so that’s where it came from 😭😂. I know I couldn’t be with a man emotionally, romantically, intimately bc it was too much for my body to handle. But I also felt sad bc that meant I could never have relationships or fall in love which made me sad but better than trying to force that on myself with a man. So finally when I unpacked my comphet and internalized homophobia. Like I saw romance as something that only happens with heterosexual couples and it was something I could never have and forcing my crushes and trying to feel the same way my straight girlfriends felt when there around guys for their bfs. I thought and sometimes do feel that I am broken for something I can’t feel no matter how I can try to teach myself/ force myself to be something I am not. But for a couple a months I do know that it will take a while to fill come to accept myself one of my flaws is rushing things and not truly taking the time to figure myself out and understand myself which was the one of the things preventing me from understanding my sexuality. When it comes to topic of dating women which I am definitely going to do and I’m excited to do I wanna come to a place of self acceptance before I do. I knew at a younger time(10-13) I know I wasn’t attracted to men even trying to force myself be lying about celeb crushes, changing my types anytime someone asks , and trying to learn how to be romantically attracted or sexually attracted to men in real life bc I couldn’t even force the fantasy or tolerate the idea of something like that with a men without fictional characters or the help of fan fiction which lead to believe I was “attracted” to men.But one thing that hurts me the most and makes me feel real isolated as a lesbian was I have a sister that is straight and she is able to have conversations with my dad about boy problems and have close conversation with that. Even though I am not to my family it breaks my heart knowing that something I will never share with him and it makes me break down and want to invalidate my sexuality bc of how broken I feel over this. Like maybe I didn’t try hard enough to try and like men, maybe if I force myself , maybe I can pretend just a little longer to have that normalcy that heterosexual people have even though i know I’ll never be able to be in a relationship with one and i will have to deny my attraction to women at least I won’t feel isolated and I will make my parents happy. I guess what I trying to say is I love the lesbian label it is the one thing I looked at myself and was like this is me this made since it helped me understand a part to why I am the way I am and it makes me feel more whole bc of that. But on the other that isolation, the comphet & internalized homophobia, and just not being in a self place to truly be myself gets to me a lot. Also bc I didn’t always know bc I thought it was something that you would know already which obviously isn’t the case😭. I hope you’re having a good day.

First I wanted to say that identifying as aro or ace, or in your case aroace, before figuring out you’re a lesbian is something probably a lot more common than you think. I think there’s a video here from patronsaintoflesbians that it’s about someone who used to identify as ace before knowing they were a lesbian, you can try taking a look at the #tik toks tag here on my blog.

Also I also did think for sometime I could be ace, I didn’t know about the meaning of being ace or the label itself but when I started noticing what I felt towards men was different than what other girls felt, I immediately thought I just didn’t like anyone at all.

And yes what you said about your body knowing before you is so real. Whenever I tried dating guys I’d feel extremely nervous and uncomfortable. I just thought that was butterflies and maybe I had commitment issues.

Being queer and being a lesbian will always have positive and negative things. Trust me, no matter how hard you try forcing yourself to like men that won’t happen, you’re just going to hurt yourself and never be truly happy if you do that.

I don’t know about your family and if they’re homophobic. But sometimes our fear of coming out to our family is way more because we do see a lot of very negative experiences about other queer people coming out and not being accepted than because of how our parents might react (of course, talking about when we know they’re not homophobic). It’s completely normal to fear coming out to people, because we know how judgmental and homophobic society can be.

It’s actually interesting to know your sister talk about boy problema with your dad, that usually happens with moms. But if your family is actually accepting, teu thinking about this positively: you might have something in common with your dad.

[gralunaisland]

Have you ever watched any of the big 3 (One Piece, Bleach, Naruto) if so what do you think of the ships in those fandoms whether it be canon or not ?

Also what’s your fav manga & anime ?

Such great questions! Thanks for asking!

No, actually I have not seen any of those, and I don't really plan on it, anytime soon at least. I know they're household favorites, I just haven't really ever been motivated to see them myself. I'm actually not too sure what they've done to earn their spot in the Big 3. Though, if anyone goes out of their way to suggest I watch it, then maybe I'll give it a try!

Anyway onto my thoughts:

One Piece seemed really similar to Fairy Tail from what I've seen of it, so I wasn't very intrigued. Plus the art isn't really my thing, and since it's one of the longest running animes ever, I never really felt up to the commitment of finishing it, so I just never started. I don't have much to say about its ships unfortunately mainly because idk any of the characters even by name besides Luffy, and even then idk what he's like.

As for Bleach, to be honest, I have next to no idea what it's about. I've seen an orange-haired guy with a sword maybe and a girl with short, dark hair, but I just don't know and have never really been curious about it. I'm guessing the MC and the girl are shipped together?? I couldn't tell you.

And lastly for Naruto, idk exactly why I've never watched it. I know you're not supposed to make judgements and assumptions based on just what other people have told you, but, despite it being one of the most well-known animes, I haven't really heard good things about it from people I know. I've heard its ships don't make sense and are cringey, and that the plot armor is ridiculous, power escalation too fast, tons of filler etc. Ofc I've also heard it's beloved by many as their favorite anime of all time. The conflicting reviews just didn't inspire me to watch it I suppose. I do know a couple (and I do mean a literal couple) of canon ships, namely Naruto x Hinata and Sasuke x Sakura, but even while not knowing much about the show or them, I have a feeling I wouldn't like either of those ships. (But I’ve also heard that Sasuke and Naruto make a good pairing? So maybe their ship redeems Naruto’s canon ones a bit haha). I've heard Sakura is basically as bad as juvia from fellow Anti-gr///vians, being obsessed with Sasuke and chasing after him or something and is just plain useless, and I generally really don't like those types of characters, i.e., characters who crush on a person from the very beginning. I find them annoying, and I find their relationship doesn't add anything to the show considering there's no room for growth on their part. Idk much about Naruto's and Hinata's relationship, but I will say this on the topic of shipping:

I generally like to ship the MC with available, compatible people, and that usually means those in their inner circle of friends and colleagues. In a group like Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke, without knowing anything about them, I'd expect/want Naruto and Sakura to get together, and for Sasuke to find someone else outside the main group, either that or Naruto and Sasuke together and Sakura gets booted to the curb. I know my shipping Gray with Lucy stoutly contradicts that sentiment of mine, a sentiment not really founded on anything either, but it's just unsatisfying for me to think about how Sasuke and Sakura date, and Naruto, the real MC, is left being the one who has to find his love interest outside the main people. There's no real reason, I don't think, to think this way; I just happen to. Maybe I'll try analyzing why I do sometime.

As for my favorite anime and manga, that's definitely something that has changed recently. As mainstream as it might sound, I do think Kimetsu no Yaiba (Demon Slayer) is my actual favorite currently. I watched it for the first time just this last winter, and boy, was I blown away by it all, from the stunning art to the dazzling action to the wicked character design to the world building to the delightfully unique, lovable characters to the hilarious humor to the angst and the darkness to the inhumanity of the demons... it's an absolute masterpiece, and I'm beyond excited when each new episode is released. The way it balances drama and badass action and tragedy and horror and love... it's just perfection. I could gush on this for a while so I'll stop myself here (My multi-shipping heart is having a hay day with Tanjiro so that's also fun :D).

And lastly, for my favorite manga, it's really tied between One Punch Man and Eyeshield 21! They're both drawn by the same mangaka, Yusuke Murata, and he's just the best mangaka I have ever had the pleasure of witnessing. His art is just immaculate, so detailed, so beautiful! He's not the only reason I love those two mangas though! OPM is just so delightfully hilarious and comedic, with suspense and loads of action and really unique characters and motivations, and yet has you feeling things at all the right moments! Saitama is my absolute favorite from that manga, and I am on his side till the end! #justiceforcapedbaldy! I've been checking my manga websites daily for the updates, and they come sooo slowly but the quality is worth it!! Tbh though, I'm not the biggest fan of the current arc, mainly because there's not nearly enough of the one punch man if you get me? I know it's hard to put him into everything since he can literally kill anything with ease, but still, I feel very Saitama-starved, and I'm not too happy with it rn. For Eyeshield 21, it might be lesser known since it's an American football anime set in Japan, but it is one of my all-time favorites. For one, I already love to watch NFL, so it's kind of in my ballpark, but I really love the character growth and the story pacing and the grit and gall by this little, scrappy underdog team clawing its way to get to the championships! Ugh I just love the characters, and Sena Kobayakawa, the MC, is just the best, so endearing and hard-working and well-meaning, I ship him with basically everyone. I'm on my second read-through, and I am loving every second of it! (I gave myself a couple years before I read it again so it could be all fresh in my mind as it had the glorious first time I laid eyes on it!) I highly recommend reading it if sports manga is your thing!