#tbh I don't know what this is or where it came from

[hopelesslyromanticshark]

first i wanna say that the royalty au fic was soo enjoyable to read!! and can i request platonic!headcanons with piper mclean x daughter of hades?? where the readers like kinda scary and off putting and they somehow create a bond with piper😭 i’m also sure ur inbox is going to be flooded with requests so take ur time !!

⋆⭒˚.⋆ platonic! piper mclean x daughter of hades! reader hcs

𝜗𝜚 content...platonic! piper mclean x daughter of hades! reader hcs 𝜗𝜚 warnings...lanauage and (technically) sexual innuendos 𝜗𝜚 letter's from the author...ta da!!!! After doing this, i realized i have a negative grasp on piper's character lmao- (pretty sure I didn't like her as a kid but tbh i dont really remember as for the whole of the lost hero i was completely distracted by leo and jason-) so, i don't know how good or bad this is but uh it's here!! so enjoy ig but if you don't no worries we'll just forget this ever happened!!

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-`♡´- "hey, you look cool and lonely. wanna be friends?"

-`♡´- what an opener, am i right???

-`♡´- i don't think piper is one of those people to be like, ashamed lmao

-`♡´- so im sure she had no problem marching right up to you and asking to be friends

-`♡´- though, this is a little jarring at eight in the morning over your bagel, but you let it slide because she seemed to have good intentions

-`♡´- and also, she called you lonely...which was true, but most people don't just say that.

-`♡´- especially not to a kid of the big three (mother fuck the big three, it's just big me-)

-`♡´- you simply shrugged and nodded, which caused piper to nodded back before returning to her table.

-`♡´- you didn't think anything of the interaction, shrugging it off and nearly forgetting about it, until piper came up to you later and started talking to you about your earrings and your clothes and basically everything else under the sun

-`♡´- and, strangely enough, you didn't mind the daughter of aphrodite, not one bit

-`♡´- in fact, you found her company...endearing.

-`♡´- from that point on, it was hard to find the daughter of hades with out her bestie daughter of aphrodite

-`♡´- she brought out a fun side in you and sometimes you were able to keep piper from going completely crazy

-`♡´- hang outs in the arena is a must

-`♡´- partially to train but also to watch all the other cute demigods get sweaty and flustered

-`♡´- i know you guys talk about crushes like you would not believe, code names and all

-`♡´- but the code names are always like 'abe lincoln' and 'angel food cake' which def have a meaning that only you guys know

-`♡´- ALSO big on the whole 'sweet treat' thing

-`♡´- i know daddy tristan mclean be keeping piper's credit card MAXED

-`♡´- and i also know piper would only enjoy spending it on her friends

-`♡´- sometimes, just for shits and giggles, you and piper trade aesthetics

-`♡´- they aren't super dissimilar but it's noticeable enough

-`♡´- ummmm matching pjs for the sleepover??? YES YES YES

-`♡´- obvi pipers are pink and yours are black, duh!

-`♡´- but they are still matchy matchy

-`♡´- and horror movies are BIG at these sleepovers, which also includes themed snacks

-`♡´- "should i be concerned about whether or not the blood in these cupcakes is real?" piper asked, eyeing them and you suspiciously

-`♡´- "it's not animal blood if it makes you feel better," you teased back.

-`♡´- "that does, in fact, not make me feel better."

-`♡´- that being said, you are the biggest defender of piper and her vegetarian

-`♡´- will fight anyone who tries to give piper meat, even on accident

-`♡´- but, you've also DEF bought piper a shirt that says something along the lines of 'the only meat i eat is roast beef ;)' or 'eat pussy, it's organic!"

-`♡´- piper wears them, unironically

-`♡´- AND SHE FUCKING ROCKS THEM STFU-

-`♡´- you guys aren't really known for your raw moments, but late at night, when you're both lying in bed after a sleepover, the strong sense of girlhood just takes you over and you can't help but spill your guts.

-`♡´- "you know, you're my best friend. thank you for, uh, calling me a loser basically."

-`♡´- "of course. i'm glad you were being a total loser that day so that we could be losers together from that point forwards."

[ninyard]

Came here from your in universe tweets posts and have just realised you're also Irish.

What are your thoughts on Kevin Day seeming so American through and through? I personally wish Nora had given him an accent or something seeing as he was raised by his Irish single mam. Like I kinda wish there had been some cultural differences there even if it was done badly.

However I think Nora was very on point with the fact that if somebody was going to make a very violent stickball sport it would be an Irish person.

I don't know anybody IRL who's read aftg and I would love to hear somebody else's thoughts on Kevin's Irish heritage lol

I wrote these silly little hcs about Kevin’s childhood in Ireland but a lot of that is kind of dependent on Kevin having had more of a childhood in Ireland (which I don’t think happened but I haven’t got a clue what the timeline of Kayleigh being in Ireland to Kevin being born is tbh)

Personally I wish Kev was a little more Irish and I also think the Irish mammy thing would’ve had a HUGE influence on him (again depending how old he was when she died). She would’ve been his best friend if he’d grown up with her. Also the internalising of his problems is VERY typical of an Irish man but I’d like to imagine Kayleigh tried to break the cycle of that mentality in sons/first born sons and it was destroyed by the Moriyama’s.

Things I would maybe like Kevin to have/do:

- just a little bit of an accent. On certain words, or if he’s drunk or tired, or if he’s speaking with an Irish person, his accent QUADRUPLES in intensity.

- burns in the sun SO EASILY but also wears shorts when it’s barely even hot at all

- he drinks tea when it’s cold because it’s comforting and it reminds him of his mam. It’s the one indulgence he allows himself because she took her tea sweet so he heaps two teaspoons in when he feels like he needs a hug

- I’ve mentioned it before somewhere but I believe that Kayleigh was from the west, from a gaeltacht area and spoke fluent Irish, and raised Kevin to be bilingual until she passed, and he never continued and honestly probably forgot it. He remembers little words here and there but really not much at all.

- right after he graduates he spends an entire summer in Ireland before he starts with his pro team. It’s a silly decision for his exy career really because he could use all of the professional practice he can get, but he needs it. He goes back to Ireland and visits all of these places he doesn’t remember, the places where Kayleigh grew up and took kev when he was a baby. Maybe his grandparents are still alive, and his grandfather plays hurling with him, and they speak to him in Irish, and he spends the summer learning and just relaxing and reconnecting with his roots. Maybe his grandmother has a box of Kayleigh’s old things and for the first time in his life he holds something belonging to his mam other than his letter. Her jersey with her original IRE National Court number on it from the Olympics just a few years before she died, and some photos he’d never seen before. I’d really love for him to just be able to know his mam better somehow. I feel like he deserves it!!!

(He comes back with the most obnoxious Irish American accent after that summer and he gets ROASTED for it. But he doesn’t care, because he feels so much closer to his mam having spent that much time at home)

I am CERTAIN that Kayleigh was inspired to create Exy by watching hurling. There’s no way she wasn’t. Exy is the bastard sport of lacrosse, hockey AND hurling.

[kennyieeee]

knock knock moshimoshi ! may i make silly req bout how fuuta, mikoto & john (separate) react when timid shy fem!reader confess to them. like…they’re not so close just normal stranger with the occasional encounter but then have feelings towards them lol ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°. situation when they come off from milgram. and how their relationship is where the 3 of them become yandere boyfie (｡•̀ᴗ-)✧. bout john, they know he’s just an alter but they just like john himself (•‿•). lmao sorry this is too complicated & cringe ew

Delectable

Yandere! Fuuta, Mikoto and John x Shy! Fem! Reader

(ft. noone.)

(Kenny: idk if you wanted to separate Mikoto and John but I separated them anyway, sorry!! I also I kind offfff didn't understand the John knowing alt ego part I'm stupid, again, sorreyyy, I did my own thing. Fyi I don't bother to check the deep lore, I just do minimal research and remember stuff at the top of my brain soooo, idk what Mikoto's ideal date is becuz I don't remember. Also it's okay I'm cringe too let's cry together.)

Info/TWs: drabble type, fem reader, tooth aching fluff, japanese formalities, yandere themes, (mentions of) murder, smoking, kidnapping, overbearing behavior, twitter :skull:, fuuta and mikoto is cute and wholesome but john is... um, extreme yandere themes for john(? ,i got carried away tbh), written in 2nd perspective

𝐒𝐲𝐩𝐧𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐬: After they were finally scott-free from the Milgram prison, they can finally move to to love life problems instead of... Homicidal problems, good thing there's this shy girl who had their eye on them but she's so precious that they might as well go back to their homicidal problems. (wc: 2,035)

Yandere! Kajiyama Fuuta

My poor boy was traumatized after the Milgram incident happened.

Then he returned to college as if none of that ever happened.

Thankfully though, the incident made him realize his own wrongdoings, and quickly went to apologize to the people he had harassed online, so on and so forth, he genuinely wanted to repent.

Things went by normal after that though, he was slowly but surely healing.

Until one day YOU came.

With your meek posture and nervous expression, you politely asked him if the two of you could talk in private.

Someone he hadn't really taken note of, a classmate of his, just asked him to talk in private suspiciously.

"What's the big deal? We can talk here." He puffed out gruffly to you and you flinched.

Then your face turns beat red. Whether he could see it or not. Your eyes showed that you're visibly embarrassed about something.

You pleaded with him, and he just sighs and agrees.

"W-Would you uhh..."

"Get to the point."

"Would you umm..."

"Would I what?"

"Would you...like to go on a date with me?" Your voice turned down to lower octaves and he couldn't hear it.

"I couldn't hear ya."

"I love you! Would you like to go on a date with me!?"

Well it came out just great, in your own ways. It didn't take long for Fuuta to realize you were a little... Timid.

Fuuta, though surprised and equally embarrassed himself, decided to give you a chance. You seemed... Capable enough.

Café date it was.

Of course, it went great too, in your own ways... Again.

It was an open space, but you just couldn't refuse when Fuuta requested it.

The receptionist asked for your order. Looking at the menu still, you shuffled and stuttered about what you wanted to order. You anxiously think of ways to talk it out quickly, you figured it would be easy if you just said that you'd have the same order as Fuuta.

And to your surprise, Fuuta was actually quite gentlemanly.

He noticed you looking at some part of the menu you liked and ordered it for you, then got a different one he liked on his own.

He noticed you weren't good at conversing, so he talked to the receptionist on his own just to cover you.

That just made you fall deeper.

You sat at one of the tables across from Fuuta.

There were some curt conversations that ended very quickly. Until he asks a question, that is.

"Why do you like me anyway?"

You now put your yapnology on the line. You may be shy and meek, but when it came to the things you love, you can ramble on for days.

"That's because I like that you're fierce, you put on a brave and courageous act, what is not likeable or admirable about that!?" You tell him in delight.

"Even when you put on a fearless face, you're still kind and loveable, even people like me can tell that you have a big heart. Oh, and despite you being gruff and grumpy, you're really gentle too—" You conversed on and on and on about what you liked about him. If he hadn't told you to stop, you probably wouldn't have.

That left a blushing mess of a tomato, which was Fuuta.

The way you talked about how you loved him was so endearingl that you might've made him fall deeper than yourself to him.

You both came in contact for a while.

Fuuta liked it when you happily talked to him about something, a video game you both liked, or even himself, which still made him flustered to this day.

The person being you, always shy to others, afraid to talk to others from your nature, now looked completely different when you smiled at him with those pretty lips of yours.

Which looked delectable. By the way.

Although he didn't like it when others start to be comfortable to you.

Not fair.

The smile you give off, the adorable ramblings you do are all supposed to be his.

Don't blame him when he gets a little jealous.

Don't blame him when he starts to go back to toxic hell twitter to bash on the people who tried to be "friends" with you.

Anyways, he's your lovable, fierce, but kind boyfriend that totally doesn't have a criminal record.

Just a little reminder that he proclaims that he owns you, for some reason.

Yandere! Kayano Mikoto

Oh sweet dear, Kayano Mikoto...

Kind to you once and now you're here, head over heels.

Him too, though. You just happened to make the first move.

He had quit his job for the company he's working on which was draining him, and now he's aware of it, so for the sake of his sanity, he tries to find for something else more casual.

So he made a dressmaking shop! Right next to your bakery...

The shy, little squeaky baker that you are, kindly welcomes your neighbor, with a pastry gift.

He accepts it and thanks profusely, and boy was the pastry bread the most heavenly bread he had ever eaten in his life.

Someone had a little crush.

He visits your store once to get another bread or any pastry but he sees you struggling to carry boxes and immediately offers to help.

One time his hand brushed against yours and you jump and cover your face.

Other than being acquainted, to the others in the outside, you both were only kind strangers to each other, busy on their own jobs.

But you just took your shot one day and confessed about your little crush.

Mikoto happily accepted your offer and took you in a date.

Cinema?

Cinema.

Horror movies? Not so much, but you were too shy to refuse.

The way you shrieked at the movie was just too low of a shriek that it almost made Mikoto laugh.

But it was cute.

The terrified you just looked adorable. Your expression was like a treasure he found. What else besides your kindness and adorableness could you possibly have?

He can't lie that he's not curious. It makes him want to dig up more about you.

He gives you a warm smile at the cinema that had a sinister feeling underneath.

The date went well and you acquired his number! Yippie!

Days went by. Don't get yourself wrong, your boyfriend is sweet, caring and kind, what more could you ask for?

But sometimes he's just... Too sweet.

In a bad way.

To the point that, you can't even have any time for yourself because it was occupied by you hanging out with him.

And there was no, "no", option.

He's just dying to know what kinds of delectable pastries and expressions you make with that adorable meek face of yours. He can't wait.

Besides, he's kind right? He's sweet, he gives you kisses, tells you that sweet things you need to hear, and takes care of you that you could even call him a malewife.

It's only fair that he gets something of a reward in return.

Yandere! John

Even after in Milgram, John didn't disappear.

Even though he knew he wouldn't have to kill anymore for Mikoto, he still stayed.

Now he woke up, being himself, as an alter ego, at night.

Now he doesn't have much of an idea on what to do.

If he still exists, then that must mean that Mikoto held some stress.

One of ways to ease stress other than murder is break your lungs.

Even though Mikoto already does it. He finds it fair and fine if he does the same.

So he sat in the alleyway near his office, smoking.

Until someone had to approach him.

"K-Kayano-senpai? You're smoking again?"

John puffs out a smoke and turns his head to you. You say meekly, you were dressed seemingly as an office worker.

Now John has no idea on who you are, but even the likes of him can realize that you're an acquaintance with Mikoto, and you possibly work in the same place as him.

"...Yeah." He says, tone indifferent.

This didn't sound like your co-worker Mikoto, you knew it was him but you just can't help but feel that something is wrong.

Just when he sounds so... Different.

"Y-You can tell me all about your problems, I'm here to help out..."

You sat beside him, trying to reach him out, metaphorically.

"It's nothing."

"But... You told us everyone that you're gonna try and stop smoking, I m-may not be in the position to ask stuff like this but as your co-worker I'm just... A b-bit worried..."

"Well, why do you care anyway?"

"B-B-Because I um..."

As it seems like it, you don't know how to hide the fact that you're embarrassed.

"Because I- I- I like you... Kayano. Ever since I started to work in the office as your kohai, you always guide me so kindly, I was too intimidated by all my co-workers but you..."

John heard you talk about things you liked about Mikoto. Even found out some things he didn't know about him.

Hearing you talk about him in such a way, when almost all of his co-workers treated him like trash... Made him feel comfortable.

Not all people deserved a hard smack at the cranium with a bat. Not you, especially.

You were genuine. You liked Mikoto with all your heart.

John should relate to you, but he didn't understand why he somehow felt a twinge of jealousy.

"We can meet up at this place again." John stands up, ready to go home, he smoked enough outside. Which was unhealthy, but it was refreshing hearing you talk.

"A-At this time?"

"...Yeah. And also... Call me John if I'm gonna smoke here some time again." Though you'd rather not have him smoke, this side of him was new... Almost different from the usual him and you wanted to know and help more the best you can.

A nickname his warden had given him once, but it was his actual name. You didn't even ask why you should call him that.

After that, it just became a routine.

The morning Mikoto was kind to you, but he was a bit confused when you called him John.

You visit a different Mikoto at night, however he may be a bit cold and uncaring, but he seemed aware of everything.

You were too shy to ask what happened in the morning. Other than that, you and John bonded comfortably to each other.

John liked you even though he didn't seem like it.

This daily meet up routine at night made you think that you got closer to Mikoto. Not someone else.

One day, you couldn't meet up with him.

"You were absent yesterday." John stated.

Then you tell him that your manager had you overworked that night.

John was barely able to have brushed it off until you started to visit less and instead focused on meeting up with the Mikoto you meet in the morning.

You visit only once the week and you tell him that all the blame is supposed to go on your demanding manager.

He sees the deep eyebags in your eyes and you tell him that you don't have much courage to stand up for yourself.

That's fine, he'll be your protector.

After that night, your manager never saw the light of the day ever again.

Let's say, miraculously, you found out or suspected John to have killed your manager. Of course you're weary.

But despite that, John wouldn't be afraid to use your own shyness to his advantage. 'Why would you tell everyone that your sweet, kind, all helpful senior was the cause of your manager's disappearance? A nobody like you who can't even meet a person in the eye? Psshh, stop kidding.'

No more meet ups? Guess you'd just have to switch the meet up place.

Maybe a basement that Mikoto couldn't hear and know would be good.

Look at you there chained up, crying and wailing to be let out.

But why would he when those tears of yours just looked absolutely delectable. You might as well call him your boyfriend while you're stuck here.

[missmastectomy]

tbh the truth is, i DO see detrans women as traitors on some level. i just don't understand how any woman can hate women so much that you believed the rest of us were slutty stupid bimbo cunts and only you were a real human being with a personality and thoughts, etc. it's the same way i consider rightwing women to be traitors to womankind, and religious women. i don't hate you, and i want the best for you, and i will always be ready to catch you when you fall, but i'll never truly trust you.

See what I mean about the so-called “sympathetic radfems?” The truth is you wouldn’t be there to “catch me when I fall” because you’ve already dehumanized detrans women and decided we were traitors. Sorry I didn’t pass your moral purity test.

Some of you really don’t know a damn thing about trans-identified and detrans people, truly. Y’all do realize that most TIFs don’t think women are “slutty stupid bimbo cunts” right. Again, people are transitioning younger. A lot of TIFs literally started identifying as trans as teenagers. I was 15 and I looked at things with a 15 year old’s eyes. I felt uncomfortable with feminine things, I felt ugly, I hated the feminine parts of my body. On the surface, all the other girls around me seemed so comfortable being women and I didn’t, therefore I must not be a woman. Literally nearly all teen girls go through a phase thinking they’re the only ones who hate their bodies so much and that other girls must not feel the way they do, because teen girls are pressured to conform to femininity and don’t realize the discomfort is a natural stage of adolescence.

Where do you think the self hatred came from? Childhood sexualization combined with an endless stream of gender ideology propaganda and a narrative that dysphoria is incurable and you’re literally doomed to suicide without transition. That being trans is innate.

There’s a lot of reasons a girl would transition and not think all women are worthless sluts or something, you ignorant asshole.

I’m sure you treat ex-religious and ex-conservative women with the same disdain you do with detrans women. As if. The truth is y’all are just bitter and you project the hatred you have for the trans movement and it’s most fringe online components onto detransitioners, because at one point we were attached to it.

Literally why are you even on my blog. Absolutely wild if you follow me, read my personal shit about detransition I share to help people understand us, and come to this conclusion.

[abysskeeper]

Shoving my nonsense in my tag. If by chance someone does read it, please disregard the pretentiousness and like...7 stylistic changes. I'm working on something.

***

"I am not loved as something treasured."

He looked at her, both startled and confused by her statement and how readily, how easily she made it. "What do you mean by that, exactly?"

"I mean exactly as I said." She stared back at him and gave a weak shrug. "I am not loved as something treasured, I am loved as a giver. A protector. A beacon of Light and hope. And I...I am not ungrateful for that. I am not unhappy, it is exactly what I wanted, to be able to stand for something more. To be able to stand and shield those who need it most, who can't do it for themselves..."

She smiled as she stared down at her hands in her lap, watching as she flexed her fingers a few times. She let out a soft chuckle, "It is, perhaps, more literal now than I anticipated, but it is everything I wanted when I wished to become a Jedi." The amusement in her smile fell, slipping into something sadder, more nostalgic and beautifully melancholic. "It is more than I could have ever hoped for while growing up, and I hope it ensures several like me now have more than I ever did while growing up."

She fell silent after that statement though, her smile slipping away entirely. He watched her quietly as she folded in on herself a little, her shoulders slumping while she wrung her hands. A shadow of doubt flickered across her eyes, and she glanced away with a sigh. "It is enough," she whispered.

"And yet you do not seem content," he noted softly. He slowly walked over and eased himself down until he was sitting next to her, silently awaiting her response.

"I am content," she insisted, quickly whipping back to face him. He didn’t respond immediately. Instead, the longer he watched her, the more her earnestness wilted under his gentle scrutiny. She was not lying, but there was much she was not admitting to that rested in the sad stillness of her eyes, until the guilt finally took over and she turned away from him again.

"And yet...I am a greedy creature. A selfish creature, desiring more than I ever deserved." She sighed and leaned back on her arms, tilting her head up to gaze at the clear night sky. "Sometimes I yearn for more...to be loved as something treasured..." she paused and motioned towards the sky, "To be loved as the darkness of night loves the light of stars. It's been a pleasant dream of mine for a long time, but a far-off one. One I knew was unachievable, but I enjoyed indulging regardless. Only now has it begun to leave me aching, and I hate that it has."

There was much he could reply to, much he could say in response to this asinine notion she wasn't lovable, but he found himself drawn to the last part of her statement. "Only now?" he echoed in question, unabashedly curious over what had changed.

He had his suspicions, but what made a dream such as that change from being a comfort to being a pain?

She didn't answer. Instead, he saw the corners of her lips twitch up in the ghost of a smile and the faintest hint of brown dusting over her cheeks. "Only now," she agreed faintly, her eyes drawn to roving over the very stars she spoke of.

When it was apparent she was not going to further elucidate what she meant, he chose to switch tactics, focusing instead on everything else she said. She often accused him of hiding behind pretty words and vague meanings--an accusation he hardly denied--but she also always understood him regardless of how well he tried to veil his intentions. In large part, he had come to accept that was due to her having an understanding of him that few others in the galaxy could claim--she had earned that right with the time she spent insisting on learning about him. But it was also, in part, due to her propensity towards the exact same disposition.

"Alright, then how is it, do you suppose, that the night loves the stars?" he asked.

She shifted her weight on her arms as she contemplated for a moment. Finally, her attention returned to him, her head tilting his way as her gaze languidly traveled over him, cataloging every detail she could see in the dark. "As the stars love the night, of course," she answered, her eyes snapping up to meet his, "Wholly, and without request."

A beat passed, and then another as she held his gaze. The seconds were stretching, spreading into uncharted territory, he was distinctly aware of it with every heartbeat in his chest, but he refused to be the one to break the budding moment. Finally, her green eyes dipped from his and looked at the ground. After another moment, she fell back, sprawling out on the grass and settling to stare up at the vast, dark sky and all its stars.

"As you know, stars are always present, but only shine at night," she continued. He sat back, watching her as she pointedly kept her stare fixated on the heavens above them. "A show just for the darkness, the one and only light the night needs from its one, constant companion--for even the moons go through phases. But the stars...the stars always accompany their beloved night."

Her hand rose, finger pointed towards the sky and tracing invisible lines connecting the pinpoints of light. "As for the night, well..." she trailed off with a chuckle. "We always see the starlight at night. We are the ones who give it meaning, both practical and metaphorical, and yet we can only ever glimpse the front of a star. The night sees all of the star, every aspect of it. It cradles and caresses the light in its inky dark hand and asks for nothing in return."

She sighed, her hand dropping back down over her chest. "The night gives them a space to shine, and asks nothing but for the stars to just be."

She fell silent, and he turned his attention from looking up at the sky over towards her face. A wry smile hung on her lips, and some of the nostalgic sadness still twinkled in her eyes as she gazed ever upwards. He was at a loss for words, uncertain of where her thoughts were or what he could say to ease the bittersweetness that seemed to loom over her. He was uncertain if he should even say anything at all.

"It's a foolish notion, I know," she said after a moment. A quiet, self-depreciating chuckle escaped past her lips. "It's the sentimentality of a girl staring up in wonder at the night sky with her mother. But then..."

Her voice trailed off to nothing, the wry smile pulling into a frown. Her hand rose again, though instead of connecting the stars, it twisted and turned as she examined it against the backdrop of the night. "But then...her mother was gone...and then the stars themselves were gone when the girl went to Nar Shaddaa...and the only way she could think to ease the sadness around her was to retell the story of love between the night sky and the stars, perhaps the oldest love story there is, and the only one repeated over and over."

"I hardly believe that to be a foolish notion," he refuted. She had spoken enough of her history for him to understand what she meant between the spaces of what she said. "If anything, it is one full of hope as much as it is one full of love."

Her hand stilled in the air, fingers outstretched as she stared at them. Or, more likely, as she stared silently between them. He was more than content to wait for her to gather her thoughts. "As I said, the story has been with me for a long time," she said at last, "It is a sentiment full of hope, as much as it is full of love."

Slowly, her fingers relaxed and her hand descended back down until it rested flat against her chest, over her heart. Her eyes fell shut as well and she grimaced in something that was almost like pain. Almost. "I never intended it to be a sentiment full of longing," she admitted on a near silent breath.

She drew a breath through her nose and she turned her head to face him again. Her eyes opened, and her small, wry smile returned. "I suppose that's the tragedy of growing older, I began to understand the complexity of finding such a complimentary love. I began to understand just how special a love like that could be." Her eyes flickered back towards the sky, and she let out a heavy breath. "And I had to accept just how out of reach both the stars and the night truly were."

He blinked, and his attention flickered back to the sky. "Just how out of reach do you believe them to be?"

She let out a soft sigh, as if frustrated. "I'm no fool, I know there's light-years between what we see and where they actually are."

Silence fell between them, and it left him feeling unsettled. He shifted his weight and glanced back over to where she laid, her eyes glittering up at the stars. It was only when she blinked several times and the effect disappeared that he understood he was seeing the reflection of a few, unshed tears. That only left him more unsettled.

"Trick?" The sound of her name coming from his lips was the only thing to cut through the silence churning between them.

"Hm?" she mumbled, obviously distracted.

"May I ask you something?"

She stilled, so much so that even the quiet sounds of her breathing ceased. Her wariness was palpable, and he could not find fault with that. There were a number of things he could ask, there were a number of things he wished to ask that would cross the carefully constructed boundary they danced around. It was a boundary he yearned to break, if only because he knew it was already bending dangerously far with the increasing weight of all the words, all the glances and touches...all the moments they shared with one another.

Now more than ever it would be so simple to let it snap, to tell her those stars were in reach and incredibly close at that, and he knew it because of her. She was the one who made him believe in the closeness of those stars, and he would pluck them all and press them into the palms of her hands if she so desired. He would grant her every last one and then hold her as the night sky cradled its own stars.

"Sure?"

Her voice was breathy and a note too high, though he was surprised her stutter did not make an appearance. Still, he granted her a reprieve and chose the easier option. Other chances would come for him. "Is this why you enjoy stargazing as much as you do?" he asked.

There was a short pause before her surprised laughter rang out around them. Despite the lingering ache he felt in letting that opportunity slip through his fingers, he could not regret the decision. Instead, he smiled at her, fully aware her laughter was its own reward. For tonight, that was more than enough.

"Sure. We'll go with that," she agreed.

Another couple of giggles bubbled up past her lips before she settled and the silence returned between them. It was far more companionable this time, and he was content to let it linger between them when he saw her earlier tears were replaced now by the small smile she wore. If that was the only thing he was capable of changing tonight, then it was worth it, and he settled into the silence with ease, intent to remain for as long as she needed out here.

It was a while before another, small sigh escaped her. "Tavon?"

"Hm?"

He looked over to find her sitting up and then getting to her feet. Once she brushed some dirt off the skirt of her robe, she proffered a hand towards him. He gladly slipped his hand into hers and let her assist him--albeit unnecessarily--up on his own two feet. Yet, once standing, he did not release his grip on her hand.

"Thank you for indulging me tonight." The smile she flashed him was one of the sweetest things he had ever received. "I needed this, I think," she added, "W-with...with you, especially."

A blush swept across her cheeks, darker than before, and her gaze pulled towards the side. "Talking with you always clears my head," she admitted quietly, "And...m-most nights it makes those st-stars feel a little closer."

A warm sensation flared in his chest, and he didn't bother to even attempt to smother the smile it caused. His hand itched to move, to thread his fingers through hers and tug until he pulled her into himself and held her as close as she desired. Instead, he simply gave her hand a gentle squeeze.

"The pleasure is mine, Trick." His voice was soft, but he hoped it conveyed just how fully he meant it. "Anytime."

[azaracyy]

a lesson on good karma digimon survive week 2024 day 4: supporting characters

[avirael]

Stuck on Repeat

He wanted to scream.

To scream and to cry and to be anywhere but here. But the best A’viloh could do was try not to tremble and instead follow Rael‘s example, who - despite the fact of being shackled and pushed around - still maintained a certain stubborn grace. He wished he knew how they did that.

What exactly was going on? A‘viloh wasn’t sure of that yet and it would take a while for him to process all of this. Everything had happened so fast. Suddenly the sultana had gasped for air, her goblet falling to the ground along with herself, soaking the expensive carpet with its dark red content. While A‘viloh had only stared in shock, Rael had immediately jumped up and was by Nanamo‘s side only split seconds after she collapsed. The next moment there had been guards everywhere and also that mean Lalafell accusing them of regicide. They had barely been able to say anything before the guards had grabbed them both, checked them for weapons and tied up their hands.

Now, as the door in front of them opened, the soldier behind A‘viloh gave him a rough push. The miqo‘te winced and stumbled forward into the room filled with people, all eyes on him. He lost his balance and with his hands tied behind his back, he landed rather ungracefully on the hard, cold stone tiles. His head started to spin, his vision began to blur, his heart was racing. It was all just too much and also too late to stop the memories that had buried their ugly dark claws deep in his mind. Miserably he gasped for air.

Rael hadn’t fallen but still knelt down and leaned towards him, wanting to make sure he was alright. „A‘vi! Please stay calm. I’m trying to find a way to get us out of this…“, the viera managed to whisper before someone pulled them away.

A’viloh still struggled to sit up and at the same time tried desperately to see where Rael had gone, when someone grabbed one of his arms and a handful of his hair and yanked him into a kneeling position. He pressed his eyes shut and tried to breathe, tried to not let the fear and the memories overwhelm him, but a small whimper still made it past his lips. He fought against his own mind, racing and about to shut itself off from all of this.

„Stop it!“, Rael hissed angrily. What else than complain could they do with their hands tied behind their back. The brass blade turned his attention to the viera instead of A’viloh. „Shut up!“, the man growled and struck Rael across the face with the back of his hand. They gasped and when they looked up again a moment later, with a mix of shock and indignation on their face, their lower lip was split and bloody.

Ashamed A’viloh stared to the ground and tried to pretend that this wasn’t his fault while the voices and turmoil around him faded to the background. Instead his mind was filled with questions and fears. Would they be executed? Thrown in jail? What had happened to Nanamo? Would their friends at least get out of this with their lifes, if Rael and him were made responsible?

Suddenly something touched his shoulder and pulled him out of his thoughts. A’viloh gave an alarmed shriek.

„Shhh!“, Rael shushed him, leaning their shoulder against his. Worried they glanced at him. „You were gone for a moment weren’t you?“ A’viloh didn’t answer but that wasn’t necessary. Rael sighed deeply. „Give me your hands. Maybe I can loosen the knots…“

Working behind their backs Rael tried their best but it was impossible. The angle was bad, they didn’t see what they were doing and the knots were simply too tight. On their own the two of them would never make it out of their ties. “Seven hells!”, Rael cursed. “I would sooner chew through these things than get that knot open!”

It was a funny imagination and under different circumstances A’viloh would maybe have laughed about it. Instead he turned to look at them and offered a sad smile. “It’s alright. At least you tried…I’m sorry about your lip.”

The viera looked surprised and then shook their head. “Don’t worry. I can fix that.”

Suddenly the turmoil around them got even worse. A’viloh only now noticed the screams and the fighting. “What’s happening?”

“Raubahn killed Adeledji. Tried to kill Lolorito too. Panic broke out and now he is fighting Ilberd. But I honestly don't think he has a chance...”

As if to confirm this, one of the giant stone pillars exploded under a heavy misaimed hit and through the cloud of dust and rubble Raubahn was hurled through the air and landed right beside them. With a swift movement of his blade he cut their ties and only then as he stood up, rubbing his wrists, A’viloh noticed that the Flame General was missing an arm.

But there was no time to question how that had happened and what else he might have missed while dissociating. Confidently as ever Raubahn spoke up saying that he never doubted them or the Scions and that they should flee. A’viloh was still to dazed to argue against that and so let Rael pull him along, to Minfilia and the others and then out of the palace.

As they hurried down the stairs of the Royal Promenade Thancred ran towards them and with a sudden peng of guilt A’viloh realised that he had been so shaken until now that he hadn’t even noticed yet that the Hyur hadn’t been with them. Thancred warned them that Lolorito’s soldiers had already taken control of all important points in the city and that it would be impossible to just walk out through the city gates. Luckily he offered another plan. Rumours about very old secret passages leading out of the city and luckily he knew how to get there.

But just as they wanted to leave the heavy steps and yells of the brass blades got closer.

“Go ahead! I’ll handle this!”, Yda exclaimed and turned towards the soldiers.

Papalymo made an incredulous face. “By yourself?! …I suppose I shall just have to join you.”

Rael offered to help them too. Papalymo and the viera could cause quite the destruction together that was certain but the thought of leaving any of them behind made A’viloh sick. There had to be a different way. One were all of them got out of here together.

“Don’t!”, he croaked and hated how his voice sounded a lot quieter and squeakier than he had intended. Had anybody heard him at all? But before he could say anything else or before Rael could join Yda and Papalymo, the Lalafell shot a fireball at the mechanism that held the palace gate open and with a roaring sound it crashed down and cut of the path between the two of them and the rest of the group. It would give them some time but neither Minfilia nor A’viloh seemed to be willing to leave without their friends. Helplessly and pleading the Miqo’te reached through the bars with one arm and stretched out a hand towards his friends. A’viloh and Yda had quickly befriended each other after meeting for the first time. They had spent a lot of time training together and Yda had soon become one of his dearest friends among the Scions. The thought that something could happen to her was unbearable for him. “Yda! Please!”

But the girl laughed at him and locked her fingers with his for a second. “Don’t worry, A’vi! We’ll see you later!” Confidently she smiled at him before she let go of his hand and turned back around to face the soldiers that had almost caught up to them.

The others called out for them and reluctantly Minfilia and A’viloh followed. There was nothing else they could do now apart from making Yda’ and Papalymo’s efforts worth it and get out of here before more soldiers appeared.

In a haste they ran through the decorated corridors of the palace district and luckily the entrance to the secret passage was exactly were Thancred had suspected it to be. The tunnels were bigger and more complex than A’viloh would have thought and for quite a while they ran through dusty old corridors trying to find the right way that would lead them out of the city.

After a while the echoes of yells and footsteps appeared again and unlike them their pusuers seemed to know the ways down here. They tried to hurry but in no time the voices were coming closer and closer.

“I will stop them.”, Y’shtola exclaimed and abruptly stood still, making everyone else pause for a moment as well. “You go on ahead!”

“No…”, A’viloh protested, he wasn’t willing to leave any more people behind. But Thancred nodded. “Then I will stay too! It would be rude to let you fight alone…”

“No! This is all wrong!”, A’vi repeated a little more loudly. “Let me and Rael fight them, we can defeat them surely.”

Y’shtola shook her head. “Not that many of them…” and Thancred agreed, “The two of you are far too important to get captured...” He didnt say or worse but it was clearly there.

“But…” A’viloh wanted to protest but what was there to say? So he just helplessly stared from one of them to the other. Instead Rael nodded. “Alright!”

“No! Nothing’s alright!”, A’viloh exclaimed pleadingly. „There has to be another way!“

“No, there isn’t.” Thancred said and put his hands on A’viloh’s shoulders. „Listen! There is no time. You have to get out of here, do you hear me? And you have to get Minfilia to safety. Look at me A’vi!“

He slightly shook him and despite the closeness between them A’vi did as he was told.

“Can you promise me that? To get yourself and Minfilia to safety?”, the Hyur asked with a serious voice.

Pleadingly A’vi stared at Thancred’s face wondering if it would be the last time he was going to see it. He hadn’t stopped shaking since Ilberd’s soldiers had put him in chains but now it got worse again. Nonetheless he nodded slightly.

“Good.“ Thancred said and nodded too, but hesitated to let go of him.

A strange expression appeared on his face, one A’viloh never had seen on him before. A mixture of doubt and maybe fear? Thancred sighed and muttered “Just in case…“ more to himself than anybody else but A’vi was close enough to hear it anyway.

A’viloh hadn’t expected at al what happened next. Before he even realised it, Thancred had leaned down, closed the gap between them and kissed him. He was too shocked to react, too confused as well, so he just let it happen. Weirdly this made him feel better but also hopelessly sad at the same time. What was he doing here? This was crazy! Maybe he would later curse himself for allowing this or he would wish he hadn’t wasted this moment like this but before he had figured out how to feel or to react the moment was over. Thancred pulled back a little and looked like he already regretted either what he did or simply having to let him go. Or maybe that was just how A'viloh felt himself. “Consider this my lucky charm…“, the hyur whispered, barely audible, and weakly smiled at him.

Then he pushed A’vi away, as gently as the urgency of the situation allowed, and spoke up louder to all of them.

„Now, get out of here!“

„No!“, the Miqo’te whimpered, his hands tried to hold on to Thancred’s arm but he ignored him and looked at Rael instead. „Get them out of here, please. I’m counting on you.“

The viera looked annoyed, more than usually, but nodded without a word and only when A’vi felt their hands at his arms pulling him away, he realised they were all still here watching him. At any other occasion he would have felt horribly embarrassed now but all he could think of right now was that he couldn’t leave all of his friends behind here to fight, and possibly die, while he fled to safety. He didn’t want to run any longer. But Rael seemed to share Thancred’s opinion.

“Come on, A’vi. We can’t waste time now. Every single soldier in this twelves-forsaken city is after us now, we can’t fight our way out of this. There’s no way to set this right if we don’t get out of here first.”, they explained as calmly as they could in this situation, then grabbed A’vi’s hand and dragged him along as they ran. A’viloh followed on stumbling feet but only because his body had long since stopped listening to anything his brain screamed at him. Stop! Go back! Fight!

Rael’s words made sense but still… weakly he tried to look back and see what was happening behind them but then Rael and Minfilia took a turn into another tunnel and he lost sight of Y’shtola and Thancred. For another while he just numbly let the viera pull him along until they abruptly stopped at an intersection.

“There is light! The exit must be right around that corner!”, Rael announced pointing to one of the tunnels.

Minfilia nodded. “I think so too. But I have somewhere else to go. Hydaelyn speaks to me, I have to stay behind but you two, you cannot stay with me.”

Rael shook their head: “We promised to protect you and I don’t plan to break that promise.”

Minfilia smiled kindly.

“I release you from this promise. Instead promise me to flee and clear our names for us! You are the only ones who can do this. I have a different task to fulfil. Please, you must go on! You are the Warriors of Light! You are hope - for the Scions, and for all the realm! As long as your flame continues to burn, the light of the dawn may ever be relit! You must escape, and save Eorzea from those who would plunge it into darkness! This is the only way...”

Rael grimaced but nodded. “Fine…”

A’viloh on the other hand just weakly shook his head. Words had long failed him and with every minute all of this felt more and more like it was happening to someone else and not him. Like all of this couldn’t be real. Like it was a horrible, weird dream that he would wake up from every second now! How had everything escalated so fast?

Minfilia saw his expression and put her arms around him in a tight hug. “Don’t blame yourself for this, A’vi. None of this is your fault. Everything will be alright, I promise.“

Then she ran in the opposite direction and all A’viloh could do was watch her vanish in the maze of tunnels.

After a few seconds Rael took his hand again and A’vi snapped back to attention watching the Viera’s free hand point towards the light. “Let’s go, the exit is right there.”

But A’viloh refused, even if his voice was nothing but a weak whisper. “No, please go alone. I’ll follow Minfilia. Someone has to protect her.”

Rael growled. “Were you listening at all? Do you want all of this to be in vain? I know this is difficult for you, but so it is for me!“

“But-“, A’viloh tried to protest but Rael looked like they almost wanted to hit him and angrily yelled at him. “I want you to be safe too, you know?! I would gladly stay behind and fight if it meant you and the other’s were safe but the best we can do now is run!”

Before A’vi could say anything else a deafening crash sounded through the tunnels. Alarmed they both stared back the way they came. The walls and the floor seemed to tremble and a roaring sound echoed down the tunnel and came closer and closer.

“Oh no!”, Rael gasped. “The ceiling is coming down! We have to get out of here! Now!”

“The ceiling?!”, A’vi shrieked. “But what of the others? We need to — Let go of me!!”, he protested as Rael tried to drag him out of the tunnel.

“It’s too late now, A’vi. Please!”, the viera pleaded but A’vi struggled and screamed. They almost wouldn’t have made it out in time. Just as the cloud of dust and rubble hit the protective barrier Rael had summoned up to shield them they were catapulted backwards by a burst of magic the last few meters out of the ruins and into the late afternoon sun.

Both of them coughed from the dust and it took a moment until they could see anything again. The entrance to the tunnels had collapsed entirely, lots of small and bigger pieces of stones lay in a huge pile in front of what was barely recognisable as the tunnel entrance anymore.

Shocked A’vi stared at the rubble for a few seconds before he began to scream again. Quickly he jumped up and tried to get the stones out of his way, to find a way back in, but of course it was hopeless. The old broken stones were too many and too heavy for him. They wouldn't give in to his pleading. "No! Please, no..."

As calm and soothing as they could Rael took his hands and spoke to him. “A’vi. Not now. There’s nothing we can do now…”

Slowly he let Rael turn him around. He looked at the viera, his eyes filled with tears, before he wordlessly threw his arms around the Rael‘s neck. „I‘m so sorry…“

Rael shook their head. „Not your fault…“

A’viloh didn’t answer to that. Instead he sullenly looked at Rael for a moment before he dared to ask, „Do you think they are dead.“

Rael sighed and then grimaced. „I’m not gonna lie to you, A’vi. I honestly don’t know, but it really doesn’t look good…“

The Miqo’te just nodded weakly, the corner of his mouth twitching for a second. He appreciated the honesty but he had hoped for something a little more reassuring.

Rael carefully squeezed his shoulder. „But maybe they aren’t. We will figure that out, I promise. But first we have to proof that we did NOT kill Nanamo... We should really go now…“

„Thank you. I would be lost without you…“, A’viloh muttered and followed Rael along the railroads leading towards Blackbrush station, defeated and disheartened. Silently he wondered if there was a safe place now for them at all and how they possibly could manage to clear their names…

[izzy-b-hands]

today should be a t break day

bc I'll need it to be more effective in the coming days if we see family, and then I'll have the survey shifts

but since late last night i keep randomly nearly breaking into tears and thinking abt the stupidest shit that needs to stay in the box in my brain

so idk. maybe it will be. it is thus far. but I'm not leaving my room without a container of some edible or another in my pocket either

[the-cat-at-the-theatre-door]

Rumpleteazer was in gargantuan, absolutely no good trouble, as per usual, but - also as per usual - she had a plan to get out of it. Or half of a plan, anyway.

It was simple, really - all she had to do was catch Skimbleshanks before he had a chance to hear the business from anyone else, and she'd be able to use her incredible powers of obfuscation and persuasion to convince him that it wasn't her fault, and she'd been home the entire time, and that they actually had the wrong cat entirely, funny enough, and…and…

If she hurried, she would definitely maybe manage to at least avoid a complete, catastrophic meltdown. Word travelled so quickly on this side of town that it wasn’t uncommon for her to find her father already tapping his heel and waiting for an explanation before she even had a chance to slip through the cat door. Rumpleteazer found herself begrudgingly amazed at how often he could just tell something had gone awry before she'd even had a chance to process it. Alas, those sorts of powers of deduction were - frankly, if you asked her - wasted on such tightly wound a clock as her father.

Skimbleshanks’ little nook wasn’t too far from where Rumpleteazer was, and the streets were clearing out for the evening, so there wasn’t a lot of foot traffic and the paths were open - no suspicion or interruption of a cute little cat making her big old dangerous way in the dark. Plus, she knew at least three shortcuts thanks to Mungojerrie; all she had to do was run as fast as kittycat possible and she’d make perfect time, and perhaps avoid that snap of the overwound spring she was bound to run into if she was a second too late. 

Mungojerrie himself had already bolted to his mothers before the you-know-what had even hit the fan, looking as though the blood had collectively drained from his body all at once. And, really, she couldn’t blame him for that. Skimbleshanks may have had a few too many cows for a cat his size, but he could occasionally (occasionally) be reasonable if she really pushed for it.  Jennyanydots was fit to have the entire barn when she found out; maybe the coop alongside it if Jerrie didn’t get to her first to cushion the blow. Best to smooth that out as soon as possible; that in mind, she wasn't too sore that she'd been left a few extra moments in the hole of their own making, a hair shy from the flood light's accusing glow. Gave her time to think.

A couple extra seconds could really be worth the world in their line of...work.

Speaking of getting to something first, she had made it just around the last corner to her destination. Rumpleteazer clucked, pleased with the realization. When she'd been a much younger kitten, the distance to her father had always seemed like such an insurmountable thing (even moreso when he was gone, leaving her with whomever was available to look after her). Her first independent walks back and forth had stretched on what seemed like forever, Teazer looping her tail in a plea for the sunset to stretch on just a few minutes longer - to ward off the darkness for just one more corner - just so she could see the street until she found her way home again (she wasn't afraid of the dark, no sir). It never worked, unfortunately for her, but she kept stubbornly on - just as was in her blood. And, no matter how long it was, that stubbornness always ended with the same figure of a tom waiting for her (and how he'd always managed to be there around his schedule was no short of a wonder), outlined in golden light, ushering her inside. "That's my girl," he'd murmur, proud and warm. "Well done."

The traitorous little voice inside of her wondered when the last time he'd said that to her was.

As she'd gotten a bit older, the physical distance shrunk exponentially (because she'd grown bigger, duh), but she'd noticed that the abstract distance between the two of them seemed to be steadily growing in its place. Funny, since she'd once thought her da would likely never stop his constant hovering over her shoulder to ensure her safety, or fretting over where she'd head off to and who'd she be heading off with, or ticking through that never-ending laundry list of questions he carried around with him at all times. If he had his way, Rumpleteazer was half convinced he would be having her fill out timesheets and incident reports; or at least still carrying her around by the scruff of her neck so she wouldn't wander too far from him.

Maybe the distance was a teeny bit her fault - but when she'd snapped at him to leave her alone, that she was too big now for coddling, she hadn't really expected him to actually…leave her alone.

Though, she supposed, Skimbleshanks was nothing if not a cat of his word. Perhaps she should have seen it coming.

But now was not the time for melancholy paw wringing and "woe is me"ing - that was for later, when her tail wasn't on the chopping block.

Quickly, she adjusted her collar and tore the pearls from her neck (those'd prompt too many "My, my, where ever did you find those?"s that she did not have time for), stashing them beneath the decorative station bushes with a mournful promise to return to them later, should they not catch the eye of a sticky feathered bird. She licked her paws and smoothed her fur and whiskers as best she could without a reflection, sighing hard so her voice wouldn't sound like she'd been running several blocks. A couple of false starts later, and her shoulders were properly squared and her rehearsed excuse (and a backup) sat just on the tip of her tongue. All the more picture of a proper queen was she. Presentation was half the battle, Mungojerrie would say, and her da did appreciate propriety. 

With a final deep breath, she slipped through the hidden entrance, mouth already half open with her explanation -

"Dad!" the familiar voice of Tumblebrutus suddenly whined (that one was always whining, it seemed), freezing Rumpleteazer in her tracks. 

For Cat's sake; she'd neglected to consider the other half of her family's presence in her grand master plan. Whole new audience meant the previous strategy and backups was effectively useless. Some mastermind she was. Didn't even account for the possibility it'd be the other one.

It’s not like she spent most of her time around Skimbleshanks’ cubby anymore anyway; she was a big queen with her own places to go most evenings and her very own pet's house - there wasn't much need. And in her defense to the court, it was a relatively new development. The two of them being around these parts all the time, anyway.

Asparagus had been around them since before she could even remember, just on the blurry outskirts of her vision. From everything she could recollect, he'd always been nice to her, and shown her new things, even when she made the little vein at his temple pulse and "wore his nerves to the threads"; and, perhaps more important than that, he'd seemed to make her father happy, which was good enough for her to justify his presence. If she thought hard enough, Rumpleteazer very vaguely recalled sitting up on his back, waving eagerly at the trains coming in, being held very gingerly by the scruff of her neck so she wouldn't fall. That's da! she'd insist at every one, to which he would pointedly remind her about reading her numbers.

She would demand everyone who watched her to take her down to that station in the morning, come to think of it, at least until she decidedly grew out of it. But it seemed most often it would be him and her on that stoop, waiting, Asparagus glaring rather pointedly at the gaggle of humans that were always there as well should they circle too close to her vicinity and plucking her neatly from tumbling down the storm drain. It was consistently enough that she remembered it, anyway.

The gremlin, however, was new and not as welcome. He came along with the package later down the line, like a stubborn security tag on a pair of dangly earrings (and Teazer did so love her dangly earrings). She very easily could have gone the rest of her life without that one.

She scrambled quietly back against the wall.

Asparagus was lounging nearest the back corner to the right, with said little gremlin stretched between his forepaws, begrudgingly submitting to his father's ministrations. If she stayed just under the shadow of the overhang, they likely wouldn't be able to see her from this angle. She thought, anyway.

"I'm too old for a bath," she heard her brother mutter as he continued to squirm, sending his little shadow dancing against the wall.

"Last time I checked, you don't grow out of baths," Asparagus retorted. "Especially when you won't do it yourself. Now hold still."

Plans dashed, but potential confrontation delayed (and looking to completely avoid the issue), Rumpleteazer considered turning right back around and leaving. Couldn't miss what was never there; she could act like she'd been out all night (which she figured would mean less disappointment) and rush off to catch Skimbleshanks somewhere else. She had all but had her two front paws back through the door when her father chanced a look up from what he was doing (or perhaps chanced a look up to avoid being elbowed in the nose, who could say?).

"Rumpleteazer? Is that you?" Asparagus called. He sounded surprised to see her (which was a testament she really didn't feel like unpacking at the moment). Said queen, frozen in place at having been caught, slowly turned to face him, mind already clicking away on a new course of action as she plastered a fake smile from ear to ear.

"Hey, Rags," she chirped nervously, clutching her paws behind her back.

Asparagus' answering smile was somewhat bewildered. "Welcome back. We weren't expecting you to visit for a while y - oh, no you don't!" He held fast to Tumble who attempted to crawl away at the distraction. The tomkit pouted, glaring daggers up at her.

"Yeah, well…well y'know..." Teazer trailed off,  struggling to keep her tail from twitching. Really selling her case - she was losing time. "Where's da?"

Asparagus tilted his head. "You just missed him, I'm afraid. He's gone for the evening."

Shit.

"I beg your pardon?"

Rumpleteazer snapped her jaw shut, wholly unaware she’d spoken out loud. Tumblebrutus snickered, mouthing the word under his whiskers, and Asparagus frowned - all in rapid, disappointing succession. 

None of this was going even remotely to plan.  

"Perhaps you're lucky your da isn't home," Asparagus deadpanned, tugging lightly on Tumblebrutus' ear as a warning, who yelped and grabbed it back from him.  Serves him right. "I'm sure he'd have something to say about your mouths."

"Sorry," they muttered in unison. As it was, the only thing they consistently managed to agree on.

Asparagus observed the queen's face, noting her posture. "Are you alright? Did something happen?" Not what have you done, now?, mind you, did something happen? Rumpleteazer was unsure if he was giving her an out or was genuinely concerned.

As it was, her rapid fire mind had settled to a sudden, shameful lull at the scolding (and the smallest modicum of guilt), leaving her briefly and dangerously exposed. "Yes."

"'Yes' something happened?"

"No!" she chirped immediately, snapping her head back up, refusing to be caught in the familiar verbal roundabout that would get her admitting to things. Asparagus may be clever - too clever sometimes- but he was no match for the sheer force of will she was willing to exude to escape the figurative fisherman's net. She didn't have a lot of time. "Nothing happened. Yes, I'm fine."

Asparagus slowly blinked at her, looking not at all convinced, but seemingly weighing out the consequences of calling her out on her lie. A tense moment passed, before he settled on a new approach.

"You know, Teazer, you can tell me whatever it is. I'm sure we can figure it out." He pointedly left off the generous offer that it would be their secret, like he would when she was very little and he somehow managed to make things disappear under the rug with a wink and a smile, but Teazer still heard its tail ends. Asparagus had always been good that way, so long as whatever it was wasn't...well, fully illegal.

...And she'd helped clean it up, whatever it was. He wasn't a complete pushover.

Still, something about disappointing both of the toms she considered her parents in the same evening didn't exactly sound like a thrilling prospect; one at a time.

"It's nothing - honest, it's nothing," she insisted, bouncing on her heels, suddenly uncomfortable and wishing she just...hadn't come at all. It was too much all at once. "I just wanted to talk to da."

Asparagus gave her a sympathetic look, though it looked to be a second thought covering whatever first came to mind (she could guess well enough what it was). "Miss him, do you?"

Tumblebrutus rubbed absently at his ears, turning to gauge her reaction to that. Now both toms were staring at her with matching, window pale eyes. It would be a little creepy, if you asked her, were she not so familiar with it.

Rumpleteazer pressed her muzzle in a thin, firm smile. That wasn't...exactly the sentiment, but it hit very firmly just beneath her breast anyway. No, that wasn't it at all. She'd needed to catch up to him to plead her case, that was all. She wasn't a kitten running to her parent when trouble hit - she was a grown queen on a mission to avoid the consequences of her actions and that particularly guilt inducing look he'd always give her when she'd really done it that time.

And, funny enough, the only thing that kept passing her mind was how he hadn't even said goodbye - that she hadn't even been around to hear one.

Asparagus sighed, long and loud, bringing Rumpleteazer violently back to the present. He looked withdrawn; if she could say nothing else of him, he knew when to pick his battles. "He should be back tomorrow morning."

"Yeah...yeah, okay," she muttered, backing up a pace. Something unpleasant was bubbling under her skin and every instinct was pushing her to run off

Just like always.

"Why don't you stay?" Asparagus asked hastily, eying how she continued inching away. "Let me just finish up here, and we can eat - I'm sure you're hungry, aren't you?"

And, in reality, Rumpleteazer was hungry. She couldn't remember if she'd eaten that day - she and Jerrie had been working on their plan for the better part of three days, and sometimes trivial things like eating would completely slip her mind. Really, there was no harm at all in staying the evening and eating and waiting for her father with the rest of her family. It might even be a nice change of pace, like it was before, and not like there was much to be done. But Rumpleteazer's brain was itching inside of her skull; she had to leave so she could fix everything. That was best for everyone.

"No, no that's alright, dad." She noted the slight jump in expression, just as she thought the name would invoke. It had been a more common utterance when she was a kitten - and, for the life of her, she can't recall why she'd stopped.

"I'll be back, though, I promise!" Rumpleteazer continued in a rush, as though keeping ahead of her thoughts, drowning them out, would strangle the persistent melancholy that threatened to take hold. She darted her gaze away so she wouldn't catch any disappointment. Even Tumblebrutus looked...well about as concerned as he was wont to be towards her. "Maybe next weekend?"

"Very well," Asparagus said eventually, looking...not hurt, she didn't think, but something in the same vicinity. "I'll let your father know."

"Thanks." She wiggled her way out the door, pausing only a moment to glance back. "I'll...I'll see you later. Goodnight!"

Rumpleteazer was out the door and down the street before she'd realized there'd been no goodnight in return, and she'd left her pearls tangled sadly in the bushes.

---

Asparagus continued to stare at the doorflap, watching the last flick of Rumpleteazer's tail disappear as it swung back and forth. He heaved a sigh, feeling a sudden pressure deep in his chest that he couldn't quite place.

"She's in big trouble," the tom kitten observed from beneath his chin, staring after where his sister had bustled off. There was a certain smugness in the announcement, but Asparagus could hear the beginning shades of begrudging awe and admiration in his tone. Not exactly a thrilling prospect of influence, but at least it suggested...some sort of fondness on his behalf.

"Mm hmm," he agreed, finally letting the tomkitten free from his grasp. He wasn't finished, but the chances of him ever finishing had set sail the moment it'd been interrupted. No matter; he was mostly clean, anyway, and Asparagus felt...trouble settling heavily in his stomach. Tumblebrutus took full advantage, scrambling up and away, leaning over to peer back at his father upside down.

"Is she going to be grounded?" he asked innocently. Asparagus wished it were that simple.

“Depends,” he murmured, feeling - he thought - how it must feel to be heading very quickly towards a wall without being able to stop. There was something on the horizon, he could feel it, he just couldn't put his paw exactly on what. "We'll wait until your father comes home. See what he has to say about it."

Asparagus hoped he had something to say about it - anything at all, at this point.

[i-can-even-burn-salad]

Bread and baguette for your favorites atm! :)

Thank you for the ask! From this ask game.

🍞 [BREAD] Does your OC have any allergies? How severe are they? Do they require equipment to help them?

None of my OCs have allergies, though that might be a fun thing to add at some point. Just not too strong ones, because there is no equipment to help them 😅 I'd probably have to keep it from "eating it makes them sick" for medical probability of survival.

🥖 [BAGUETTE BREAD] Where is your OC's favourite food from? Is it a variety of places?

Fun fact: I decided absolutely randomly that Merridy loves sheep cheese, because eh, why not, and I needed something for a chapter. Weeks later, I realized that d'oh, she grew up on a fucking sheep farm. I swear, that moment she looked at me like "no shit."

And since it's favs, that absolutely includes Damien and Riordan.

Damien likes stuff made from local ingredients of the town he grew up in. It's what he could get his hands on, and what he learned cooking with. He'll experiment, but that's what he always comes back to.

Riordan would just list "everything he cooks--and my mama's pie," lol.

[fratboykate]

Re: Re: Dune. If you're at all curious to understand the core premise and essence of what Dune is about and what context is missing from the movie without going though 180k words of only the first book, I suggest watching Matthew Colville Dune videos on YT. It's 3 videos, 12, 16 and 30 minutes each. But even the first one "Part One: The Planetologist" will make it plain what kind of essential direction was missing from Denis' film. There's so much depth to mine in that story and yet what we got was as superficial as it gets. Again, if you are in any way curious. I know you're not the biggest sci-fi person. But it will make the criticism of Denis' version by the book fans more clear and less like the baseless whining of some other fans of some other adapted books.

"I know you're not the biggest sci-fi person"

*my literal entire writing career that is based fully on sci-fi/genre scripts staring at this sentence like we're in The Office*

[neo-shitty]

spring day never latches on to a permanent face. it takes the form of the people i miss whom i have no way of reconnecting with. ever since i read that message in my inbox, it has taken the form of you, kesya.

[moki-dokie]

been seeing some stuff on blue eye samurai and big yikes to nearly everyone pushing extremely western ideals onto these characters.

this is early edo period. 1600s. the japan you know now did not exist yet.

yall. please. there was NO concept of sexuality in pre-modern japan. that came with both the influx of christianity and western influence very very late in history. like, mid-1800s. (yes, there was christianity pre-1800s but it was not a widespread idea yet and wouldn't be until about the 1800s since, y'know, missionaries were routinely murdered before then)

"so and so is either bi and hasn't figured it out yet or..." no. that isn't how it worked then. nobody gave a shit what was between your legs. anyone could be attracted to anyone else. it was a little more common for male homosexual relationships to be between an adult and younger male - like many other places around the world - but two adult men could bang and love each other just as easily. relationships between women were quite common - especially since so many men were often away at war. there's tons of pornographic prints from the time depicting all manner of fun queer relationships. sex itself had absolutely no moral assignment to it. good sex was good health. it didn't matter who with. (well, social class/caste mattered more than anything else tbh but that didn't stop upper and lower class from fucking.) that isn't to say people didn't have preferences. of course they did. that is human nature. preferences arose more from physical appearance, caste, and circumstances with gender being about the last thing one would look for in a partner - romantic, casual, or otherwise. the only role in sex where gender actually mattered was for procreation.

there would be no queer awakening moment, no sudden switch flipped, no stigma to have internal conflicts about because it simply did not exist as a concept whatsoever. you were either attracted to a person or you weren't, it was that simple. gender played no role when it came to sex and sexual attraction. the japanese were lightyears ahead of western cultures in this particular area - like most cultures were before christianity came in and ruined everything with its backwards morals and strict good/evil dichotomy.

yall have got to realize queer rep will not and should not always adhere by modern western standards. there was no straight, gay, bi, or anything else of the sort. the closest they ever got was referring to roles during sex - as in who is giving and who is receiving.

i know this is mostly a made up story but it is still set within a very specific time period and culture, which should be honored and respected by not making it fit into our box. tons of research went into making this show historically accurate (albeit with some discrepancies but tbh they aren't really that huge) right down to the calligraphy writing. please please please don't whitewash the culture from these characters.

i say this mainly because without this knowledge, so many of you are going to build these characters up on a foundation they aren't meant to be on and then you'll rage about queerbaiting and bad queer rep if it isn't somehow super explicitly stated, if it doesn't match your very modern, very western ideal of what queer looks like. don't try to force this plot and narrative and characters into something they canonically and historically aren't. headcanons are a thing, AUs are a thing, fanfiction is a thing - leave your western thinking for those and let these characters simply exist as they should otherwise. this is one of those times where the queerness really does not need to be examined at all beyond what we get.

i know it can be hard to wrap your head around - sexuality is such a huge part of our identity in the western world and has slowly started to spread amongst other parts of the world in importance. but just keep in mind with these particular characters, that concept would be so very alien to them.

[allisonlol]

chuuya dazai and fyodor when reader tries to remove the hickies they gave reader the next day OHKYIGOAHSS

a/n: hiii everyone i have crawled out of my void to offer you this post !! ty to the anon who came up with this wonderful idea. i've missed posting omg and we somehow are so close to 3k despite my inactivity??? slay. shall open reqs again once we get there mwehehe

warnings: slight nsfw

(Chuuya, Dazai, Fyodor) When You Try to Remove Hickeys

Chuuya

he's gonna be the most chill about this tbh

it's your body and if you don't want ppl seeing that on you then that's ur choice!!

however

hiding them is one thing, but that doesn't mean he wants to see you removing them

so yknow that hack where you take a whisk and like,,,twist it over the mark to get rid of it?

yeah so you tried that...and it was actually working until chuuya barged into the room and demanded to know what you were doing

bro is not happy to see the hickies he'd proudly left on you last night being somehow removed by a WHISK

grabs that mf thing and throws it across the room

chuuya's not angry at you, more so frustrated and insecure?? cuz like why would u wanna get rid of them

he's lowkey gonna start pouting tbh. won't say anything else but will glare & give u silent treatment

won't stop until you admit the only reason u removed them is because it was too visible with your work uniform and u didn't want everyone staring smh

insist that he should give you more in areas that people won't see and there's no guarantee y'all won't be late to work <3

Dazai

oh lord

so dazai really loves to mark you up

and last night was no different. your neck was black and blue with hickies

deadass to the point where you nearly had a heart attack when you saw it in the morning

"how am i gonna go to work like this?!" you practically sob to him while he LAUGHS

his only advice is "then don't go" as if both of y'all don't need to have ur asses at the agency in 20 minutes

you check ur phone for the time and when u see this you panic and sprint to your shared bedroom

you try everything you can think of to cover them

first you hastily layer concealer on your neck, to no avail as the marks were too dark

then digging through ur closet for clothes with a high enough neckline to hide it, to which you found none

whole time dazai is leaning against the doorframe, watching ur meltdown with an amused expression

he approaches and helps u up from the floor where u had collapsed with all the clothes strewn around you ☹️

"allow me to pick out something for you to wear" ….oh god

u guys are beyond late at this point so you sigh and accept defeat, to which dazai picks a shirt that of course displays all the marks on your neck

you got lots of stares that day to say the least

Fyodor

surprisingly fyodor doesn't usually leave too many marks on you to begin with

he's got that old fashioned take where it's like "other people don't need to see that and be in our business" if u know what i mean

however, he is also a very possessive man

^so when he gets worked up and does leave hickeys on you, the last thing he wants to see is you trying to hide or remove them

which is exactly what he walked in on u doing today

you were trying the good old "rub an ice cube on it" hack before u had to work

now this mf thinks you have some hidden agenda as to why you wanted them gone

"are you seeing someone else" 💀💀

PLS u didn't realize he had been watching from the doorway and this scares u so bad u drop the ice cube down ur shirt

u start frantically trying to get it out of ur shirt while yelling at him like "i have to work, wtf are u talking about???"

u immediately stop tho when he storms up to u and grabs your face to make you look at him

his face is so cold and unreadable omg it's scary

his eyes shift to the marks on your neck as he traces over them with his fingers

"leave these alone" he says lowly, then adjusts the collar of your shirt so they are partially covered

neither of u will say anything more about it after that, but fyodor sends sigma to secretly follow u to work to make sure that's where ur really going 😓

taglist: @deadmitochondria @miycutie @chuuyasboots @shy-socially-awkward-intovert @beandaifuku @stygianoir @sonder-paradise @irethepotato @serenareiss @ashthemadwriter @mrsdostoevsky @creamygojo @mianqo

[beaversatemygrandma]

This has to be the funniest agreement I’ve had with my dad about laws. Well, you know how Metallica makes the BIGGEST Deal out of anybody using their music without paying royalties, including some kid on youtube and such? Like so bad to the point where THEIR OWN Twitch stream got muted? I told my dad about that Twitch stream and how much of their panties were in a wad about anybody even Touching their music.

He laughed and told me the first thing he ever downloaded from Limewire was Metallica albums. And honestly. Respect to that. Bc right after that i got a story about the time in the 90s where Metallica was being a little bitch about a handful .50 cent music downloads being pirated from Limewire. There was this whole thing. I think they tried to sue Limewire to no avail. They’ve been doing this for literal decades.

[a-aexotic]

grumpy!rafe and sunshine!reader where he’s obsessed with her and is so clingy. whatever you want to write about that tbh

pairing: rafe cameron x fem!reader

warnings: fluff!, rafe being mean (towards top LMFAO), mention of parties/drinking.

summary. when reader goes on a girls trip, rafe gets grumpy because his girl is gone because he's alone.

➜ missing out on updates? ❪ navigation. masterlist. taglist. ❫

part 2 !!

You and Rafe were complete opposites. You two were so contrasting, everyone had questions but neither of you cared. You two were just in your own bubble, not caring about anyone else's opinion.

Rafe didn't like many people but more importantly, he loved close to no one. For a while he guarded his heart so furiously, everyone had just grown used to the fact he was just an asshole. Not you, you broke down those walls the moment you walked into his life.

He immediately liked you. But, he grew to love you. And so did you with him. You changed him as well for the better as well; everyone knew that Rafe became a better person when he got with you.

You had him whipped and he wasn't afraid to admit to anyone.

Rafe was sitting outside by the pool, annoyance filling his body. You were out of town for the weekend and he honestly had nothing to do except sulk around until you eventually came back. He heard the door slide open and he looked over to see Topper.

He groaned out load and sighed. "What do you want?"

"Dude, chill out."

"I am, Topper, your aura is just pissing me off." Rafe argued and Topper let out a laugh, taking a seat in the chair next to him.

"Aura? Dude, are you joking? You've been hanging around Y/N way too much man. It's been a year now and you guys are still in the honeymoon phase."

Rafe's nostrils flared as he turned back to his 'best friend.' "Well it's always the honeymoon phase if you found the right one, Top. You wouldn't know that because there is no right one for you."

Topper rolled his eyes in annoyance but before he could reply, Rafe continued.

"And I don't hang out with Y/N too much. It's a reasonable amount of time."

"Bro, when was the last we actually hung out?"

"Like last weekend dude, chill out. You're acting like I don't ever see you. You're always at my house, man, it's getting exhausting." Rafe sighed before Topper registered what he was saying and nodded.

"Oh, yeah. You're right. That party was awesome last weekend bro, wow. I forgot about it." Topper chuckled to himself and Rafe made a disgusted face.

"Why are you here anyway, Top?" Rafe got up from the chair and started walking inside; he needed a beer after the conversation with Topper.

He followed close behind. "Uh, Sarah was getting me my stuff back."

Rafe couldn't help but laugh to himself as Topper glared at him. "Sorry, man. I thought you were off that train a while ago, you're still on her? It's been like-"

"Dude, you wouldn't understand!"

Rafe heard the door open and the footsteps leading into the kitchen. He immediately put down his beer once he saw your face, a big smile forming on his lips.

"Y/N!"

You walked over to him with a grin playing on your lips as you embraced him tightly. He put his arms around your waist. As you let go he leaned in for a quick kiss on the lips as Topper furrowed his eyebrows in disgust.

"Get a room."

Rafe glared at him. "You realize it's my house, right, Topper?"

You laughed at your boyfriend's sarcasm. "Sorry, Top, you still haven't found a girlfriend?"

"Yeah, man. It's really hard to find a decent girl on this stupid island." Topper ran his hand through his hair, obviously stressed out. You held in a laugh.

Rafe put a hand on Topper's shoulder, squeezing it reassuringly. "You'll find one soon, dude, don't worry. Now, if you don't mind leaving, me and my girl have to catch up."

"Oh, come on, it's been like two days!"

Rafe gave him a stern look before Topper rolled his eyes and groaned, walking away. Rafe faced you and gave you a kiss on your forehead, taking your hand in his.

He led you outside and he took a seat where he was sitting before. He spread his legs so you stand in between them as he grabbed your waist, pulling you in.

"Top's right, Rafe, it has only been-"

"Shhh, let me enjoy this moment."

You found a tiny bit amusing how clingy Rafe was. You took it as a compliment though, you were glad you were one of the only people who have ever had Rafe so whipped for them; maybe even the only one.

He pulled your waist in more and put his head on your stomach, finding comfort in you and your body. He looked up at you with a smile. "Missed you so much babe. I was bored all weekend, I literally only hung out here. But Topper kept annoying me."

You laughed at that, "Topper's your best friend."

"No, you are. He's just the dude I hang around with."

You shook your head. "Stop being mean, I know you care about him a tiny bit."

He rolled his eyes, "like the smallest bit."

You smiled at your boyfriend, putting your hands in his hair as he relaxed. "I missed you, too. So much, I kept saving your snaps because I missed your cute face."

He grumbled at the wording and you couldn't help but laugh again. "I mean, hot face."

He grinned, "that's better."