#the kid in the story wasn't specific cause i didn't think of them like that

[starzzmissthesun]

i think you should totally drop whatever hc/ideas you have lying around honestly...i would love to see more into ur brain...pls <33

:DD

Hi!!!! Sorry this is a little late, I got so distracted with an animatic im working on(😈) and then a stupid essay😭😭 being honest rn... Almost all of what I've been thinking about is my fic.. 😔

But!! I can still go a little into that without spoilers. I've finally figured out The Perfect ending for this story that I feel fits with the overarching themes I wanted to tell. I've been making sure that every little detail fits with the themes I wanted to show, I wanted it to overlap Regulus and barty's characters and their overarching themes with PD. I also didn't want to just replicate PD cause I feel like that doesnt have the depth or commentary I want to out into it. Idk ive always thought it's super fun to put everything as some sort of symbol or metaphor or foreshadowing. I'm like literally so close to being done drafting and then I can actually talk about it a little more😭

Anyways! I've also been thinking about barty post regs death 😔(when am I not) But more specifically how every memory he had would almost be tainted, everything now would have an air of questioning and unsureness. Even memories where Regulus isn't there, just wondering where was he? What was he thinking? Am I remembering this right? What could've I changed? What was the domino that caused all of this to happen? Eventually finding it hard to accept the way it really was, having the "I guess it was" and feeling it, but overintellectualizing it. His logic and reasoning is his downfall in this situation, that's what makes him go crazy. (Side note I NEED to make a little post about his intersection between intelligence and madness) Hes doing a complicated version of when there's a task that seems so simple that you think it's a trick, but it's not, it's just that. What happened with Regulus was just that.

Also, I've recently self reflected and realized that a lot of my barty characterization is similar to how I think of Leonard Cohen's art(who I LOVE LOVE LOVE) Idk if you've listened to him or read any of his work, but I HIGHLY suggest it, it's perfect for fall. Anyways, a lot of his songs and poems carry themes of having a twisted self image, not completely self deprication though it may seem, but something else. It's closer to understanding and knowing that you are. Different. And unconventional. It's an uncomfortablility he has with himself. Being soemthig twisted from what you should've been. A lot of his stuff is also to do with tragically losing someone, out of their own choice, and still feeling very loyal yet bitter. Also of loving something so much that it turns dark, or it goes too quick, it spirals. Also his love songs are very barty's perspective on bartylus to me. And like, obvious war mentions. I could give some specific recs similar to barty or them if you'd like.

Another thing is of Regulus and his relationship with his dad. Though I see it completely reasonable if his dad was just kind of, not there and neglectful, it could give very interesting implications to his character, I like it the other way around. Orion seeing what a more carefree attempt at raising a child does and keeping Regulus even closer than he did before. I think Orion always liked Regulus more, despite him being the second, because he was a model son. I don't think he wanted this life or even to have kids, so Regulus being so complacent and in line with what he was supposed to be as a pure blood made him the decided favourite(as much as he could have one). He was always keeping a close eye on Regulus and he could feel it, but he didn't do anything out of place anyways. Orion could tell when he was even thinking something he wasn't supposed to. I believe that, no matter how much she tried, walpurga was too caught in her own head about her duty as a mother to see S+R as anything other than Her Kids, as property that she was supposed to care for and tend to, she obviously loved them, but couldn't see through them. But Orion was there around every corner looking through regulus' eyes into his soul to search for any thing out of his perfect kid.

Anyways.... That's all I can think of rn😭 but if you have questions about ANY of them lmk!!! I love yapping about my little thoughts 😁😁

[a-tale-of-legends]

Green, on a fun day out with Red and Blue, is approached by a child. Said child has a piece of paper and pen. Looking behind them Green can see what she assumes is the kids mom, giving an encouraging smile. The kid wants an autograph, clearly. Green has been in these situations before though. They don't want an autograph from her. They want one from Red or Blue. Green has long since accepted that fact, so she gives the kid a smile before they can open their mouth.

" Hey there kiddo! Blue and Red are a bit busy at the moment, but they'll be back soon. Wanna wait with me?" A practiced line that she hopes doesn't leak any of the small bitterness she feels. That wouldn't be fair to the kid. Hell, that wouldn't be fair to Red and Blue. The child looks up at her in confusion, shifting awkwardly and fiddling with their pen and paper.

" U-um. I...I actually wanted your autograph, Miss Green!"

Eh?

The child continues, getting braver with each word, " I-I just think you're really cool! I like watching your battles a lot, a-and I wanna be as cool as you are someday!" Bowing slightly, thrusting the pen and paper forward, " C-can I please have your autograph?!"

Well. Damn. Fuck. She wasn't expecting this. Since when did she get fans?! Was her head too stuck in her ass to notice? Well now she feels like shit. Now she....now she feels like she's gonna cry. Fuck.

" You're really sweet, kid..." Green tries to keep her voice steady, a new reality settling in. She has a fan. Said fan wants her autograph. Holy shit, " Of course, I'll give you an autograph! Lemme see..."

She gingerly takes the pen and paper from the kid, and signs it. She winces at her work. She really needs to work on her signature. Kinda sloppy, and the kid doesn't deserve that. Still, not wanting to hold up the kid and their mom up any longer, she gives the pen and paper back, giving them a wide smile and a wink.

" Here ya go! One autograph for a very special fan, right here!" The kid eyes practically sparkle, excitedly taking both items and staring at it as if it's the entire world. Arceus, Green can feel the tears starting to swell, fuck.

" Thank you, Miss Green! I'll cherish it forever! " The kid quickly bows and runs off to their mom,cheering as they do. The mom happily looks at the autograph her kid is showing off, looking up when her kid isn't looking. She smiles at Green, mouthing a quick 'thank you' before taking her kids hand and walking off, the kid rambling excitedly as they go. Green waves them off, a swell of emotion in her chest.

Cherish it forever.

Green chuckles- it's wet and coarse,no longer able to keep it in. Was someone really going to remember her? Cherish her name,forever? The bitterness in her laughs at the thought. The sweetness from that encounter shoves it to the side, and she relishes in it. She is crying fully now, smiling to herself as the kid and their mom are long gone.

" Hey, sorry for the wait. That line was terrible - what the fuck happened to you?" Blue's voice catches her attention. She turns, eyes full of tears, to Red and Blue, who's looking at her with concern.

" I have a fan!" she croaked, raising her hands to gesture writing, " They wanted an autograph!"

Blue blinks, then shakes his head and sighs, " Green..." He says, though the affection was not lost of her.

Red's worry melts away with a smile, signing to his best friend, ' I told you so'

"Yeah, yeah," she waves him off, sniffing and wiping away her tears, " Pass me some food before I start bawling,you dorks".

" Dorks-"

The day goes on as usual after that. Blue and Green's banter, Red following along half-paying attention, half in his own world. Pikachu and Eevee playing with each other through it all. Green repeats the words the kid said to her throughout the day, a big goofy smile on her face that not even Blue's assholery can wipe off.

Cherish it forever.

[artemisdesari-blog]

Sometimes being the mum who exists in fandom spaces leads to awkward, even concerning, conversations. Such as the one which happened this morning. The mum of my daughter's best mate asked me if one of their mutual friends had sent her a specific message. This message was a link to a fic on ao3, if this had been a G rated fic this conversation would not have happened. It was not G rated. It was an E rated fic. Our kids aren't even 12 yet. As it happens, both of our kids have their internet access heavily locked down and monitored. They have phones because of how their school manages homework. The mutual friend, however, is not so monitored. Or she wasn't, given what her mum found she's about to be. This kid had found a fandom, joined it, and found it chock full of antis. The fic had been sent to her by one of them as an example of the sort of terrible people out there who need to be harassed and attacked because they wrote a smutty story.

Someone thought it was appropriate to send written porn to an 11 year old to encourage her to attack the author.

This resulted in a very awkward conversation where I had to explain to multiple horrified parents the anti culture that is becoming so prevalent. The fact that there are adults who use that purity message to groom kids. The way they escalate and how it bleeds into real life. One parent told me she'd wondered why her 14 year old was suddenly concerned about the two year age gap between her parents. The more I explained, the more absolutely ludicrous it sounded and the more baffled these poor mums looked. More than once I was told "but the characters aren't real, it's really weird but it isn't hurting anyone". Which is the point. The fictional situation isn't hurting anyone. The person who sent porn to an 11 year old is.

Was the person who sent it the author? Doubtful, that thing was tagged in the extreme. Was the person who sent it an adult? Almost certainly. The parent who's child received the original message has found more concerning stuff and gone to the police, but from the language the person doing the sending was in the US. We aren't. Did my daughter receive it? No, she isn't interested in that fandom and therefore wouldn't have bothered with it. Is this the fault of the author? No, they didn't send the link, they didn't ask to be harassed, they wrote a story and put it on ao3, the website created in response to rampant censorship and designed to allow for all kinds of fiction. Is this the fault of the parents? Partially, they should have been looking at their daughter's internet use and clocked what was happening sooner. Is this the fault of the child? No, she's 11, she didn't know better.

This has been a difficult day. Multiple parents have had their eyes opened to parts of fandom culture they had no idea existed. And the thing of it is, they aren't concerned about the why of anti rhetoric. They don't care about the adults writing about teens or rape or incest or torture or any of the rest, because they looked at the clearly tagged and rated fics and figured that it worked the same as a warning on any streaming service. They only cared because some utterly vile individual decided to expose their child to something this girl might not have looked at for years.

Proshippers did not cause what I have spent afternoon helping several sets of parents navigate. Antis did. Normally I'm fairly quiet about the whole debate because I just want to get on with my life and share my experiences. Today I got dragged into that mess in my every day life and the adults in the equation didn't react the way Antis like to think they would. They didn't condemn the author. They condemned the anti who shared the work with a preteen.

[bubbles-for-all-of-us]

Pretty like the sun

Previous chapter / Next chapter

a/n the follow up chapter AND This is pretty like the wind series spin offs. This can be read as standalone all you need to know is that Azriel has two adoptive kids with OC - Zofie and Axel. Future stories related to them might include stories specifically decided to Azriel hence why I am taging it as Azriel story too. Don't come at me please. ✨

warning: none? A bit of fighting, blood.

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Zofie's pov:

She had been beaming all morning. Not only had it been the best sleep of her life, but there was something so surreal about waking up in the arms of a man you had the biggest crush on. There was a moment when Zofie was sure that it was her sleepy brain playing a trick on her. That Nyx wasn't there with her. They weren't actually in the same situation. Limbs tangled. But Nyx's arms, which had quite a firm hold on her hips, felt all too real. His breathing did, too. So did his messy hair and slightly pouty lips.

How did one look so adorable in their sleep? Mother, he would be a frowning mess if she called him cute. But he was, and Zofie had to try really hard to suppress the giddy excitement that bubbled in her chest. Nuzzling back into the crook of Nyx's neck, she breathed in his scent. Feeling her body melt into it. Oh, how she missed him when he was away. How oddly lonely she felt. Truth be told, Zofie didn't have many friends. A couple of younger priestesses that Gwyn was teaching, yes, but they practically never talked. So... not friends. But Nyx had always been so keen on getting her attention. She was weary of him at first. He was the most talkative kid she had ever seen. But then Zofie only had a handful of traumatized sanctuary toddlers to compare him to. His bubbly side chipped away with the years, though. More often than not, the smile that was plastered on Nyx's face was nowhere near the smile he used to give her when they were younger.

"You're the cuddliest person I've come across in my entire life," Nyx grumbled, opening one eye to look at her. "So, if I pulled away now..." Zofie muttered, but Nyx's grip on her tightened immediately, "Don't you even think about it?" His morning voice was raspy and, oh, so delicious. "Got you," Zofie breathed out, shaking her head. He never denied her touch. She could watch him roll his eyes at Feyre kissing his cheek, but the next minute he would be right next to Zofie, his fingers subtly reaching for her as their palms brushed against one another.

"Do you think if I don't open my eyes, we can pretend that we don't have to go back?" Nyx muttered, and Zofie could sense the dread in his tone. "Your mom probably misses you a lot," she said softly. "Cause Ma always cries when Axel comes home, so I'm sure the high lady would..." "Don't." Nyx's whole body stiffened. Zofie frowned as specks of red fell onto the sheets. He was mad. Or frustrated, at least. "Did something happen?" Her voice grew weary, and Nyx's face grew ashamed. Hands pulling the girl back to his chest, "Promise it's nothing; I'm sorry, just tired," he breathed out. She didn't say anything after that. Letting the silence stretch over them both.

"My... The high lords are hosting a ball", and Nyx sounded as if this was the most dreadful thing he had to make himself think about once again. Zofie quickly cut in, "You don't want to go?". Nyx huffed, "Something like that." She never really understood if the high lords of the night court enjoyed the festivities themselves. Rhys, Nyx's dad, was a charmer, always quick to tell a joke. His grin never failed at balls and parties. But Zofie had caught him once. Head in hands. Messy hair. Wrinkled shirt. It was such a difference compared to that beaming smile she had seen on her high lord's face only moments ago. "Well, Axel and I will probably be there if our parents are going," Zofie breathed out, hoping to ease some of the tension, but Nyx simply shook his head. "I have a feeling it's the lordship shit," the heir growled before explaining even further, "Preppy parents in desperate need to marry off their children to form bonds between courts."

And here it was. This was the thing Nyx hated with a burning passion. All he wanted was to be normal. A young man still so full of life not some crystal gem for everyone to drool over. He cringed and frowned at all the titles people threw his way. And Zofie... Zofie hated every single female who felt entitled to come and touch him, pull at his hands, and rub at him like cats in heat. "Oh, Nyx," she breathed, her fingers carefully brushing through his hair. His fingers grazed her wrist tenderly. "Everyone is making such a big fuss over it too," he admitted as Zofie nodded in agreement. No wonder he was stressed. Especially if he was also to be left alone. Only with nobility to keep him company all night long.

"Bitch your way through it," Zofie muttered, and Nyx let out the most genuine chuckles she had heard in a while. But it had also died down as quickly as it started, "Will you tell me why you were by the river last night?" Zofie knew this was coming. Nyx had a hard time letting go of the topics he wanted to discuss. And he had been more than clear that he was going to get the answer out of her about this. So fighting this...

"I have a sister," Zofie breathed, her eyes falling to the crisp white sheets on the bed. Nyx shifted slightly, his hand dipping beneath the blanket to run soothingly up her thigh, "I hear a sad note in that," he muttered. And Zofie hated that. She hated that she was still upset over something she genuinely wanted. She didn't care much about having to share her parents' attention for a while. It was everything else that ticked her off. "She's perfect", Zofie let out a deep sigh, "Has wings, no flaws. She's perfectly Azriel's". Her voice died down, overpowered by the growl Nyx had let out. "Has that asshole?", "No, no, I just... it's me," Zofie shook her head, "I felt... irrelevant.".

The room fell silent. She watched as Nyx blinked a couple of times, letting her words sink in, "Don't you talk shit like that about yourself?" His voice had an edge to it. A powerful force. "But it's true; I'm Illyrian but have no wings," Zofie muttered, turning to play with her fingers instead. Admitting her fears and insecurities felt humiliating almost. "I'll always be your wings," Nyx's much bigger palm cupped hers, giving it a little squeeze. "What have I done to deserve you, huh?" Zofie chuckled slightly, hoping to mask the sting in her eyes. Nyx crooked his head to the side. Watching her for a moment, "You didn't have to do anything. I'm the one who's lucky that you were born.".

Nyx's pov:

They had laughed through the whole flight back to the city. And the closer they got, the more Nyx dreaded it. He didn't care much about the shit he was going to get from Rhys. But it's the letting go part that pressed against his chest. He knew, for a fact, that if not tonight, then by the next morning they would be ushered back into the camps up the mountain. Yes, he was happy to learn and to earn a rank, but leaving her here felt like a dreadful task. Not to mention that they weren't allowed to write letters while they were up there. Not to mention that Nyx had a whole box of letters he had written for Zofie. Ones he had written while up there. Ones that no one would ever see.

Zofie had asked him to drop her off at the edge of the forest near the house. "Better if you don't just walk in. You know my dad," she said. However, Nyx felt it the minute Zofie's legs hit the snow beneath her. He had barely let go of her when the claws of darkness pulled him back, nearly sending him to his feet. But he expected this. Escaping the spymaster under the protection of his father's wards was one thing. The moment they were on the perimeter of Velaris, well, let's say that was Azriel's hunting territory. And that male always hunted as if he were starving.

Nyx had seen Azriel pissed more than once, but the frown on his face this time was unmatched. And accompanied by the dark circles beneath his eyes. Yeah, he looked as if he was out for blood. "You forgot yours, young man," the spymaster said through gritted teeth as his shadows roped around the princeling's ankles and wrists.

"Dad, that's enough." Zofie stomped through the thick snow, trying to get in between the two of them. Nyx wished she wasn't there. He hated it when she was there to witness their snarls. "You lost all sense of fun, uncle," Nyx said mockingly. His own hands grew dark, seizing the spymaster's dark, as cold gloominess chased all of Azriel's shadows away. "You had no right to take her like that," Azliel bit back; his wings were arched in a warning, but Nyx didn't skip a beat, doing just the same.

"No one took me," Zofie growled with a huff. And it was the way Azriel had turned back to look down at her that broke the last sense of logic within Nyx. It was the way his big frame looked toward her when Azriel snared, "I wasn't speaking to you, young lady," that undid Nyx. "Why?", he asked bitterly, "Because you forgot that she existed? The new child has already taken too much of your time?". It felt as if the whole world had stopped. Even the snowflakes seemed to have seized in their fall. "Nyx..." he said, meeting Zofie's pleading eyes. Saw her shaking her head in disapproval. But he was truly seeing red. No one had a right to make her. Make his sunshine feel small.

"What did you just say?" Azriel frowned, slightly taken back, but his demeanor was still predatory. The princeling only growled back at the shadowsinger. "Nyx for fuck sake," Zofie pleaded, panic raising to her features as she moved closer to her dad in hopes of putting distance between them. But it was for nothing when Nyx muttered, "You heard me loud and clear, spymaster." Nyx managed to spare Zofie one look. One look before his vision was interrupted by black dots as his head was wiped to the side from the impact. Zofie's shriek pierced the silence, rippling over every surface.

Nyx knew that, in a way, he deserved it, so it didn't surprise him. He had been messing with the habitat of fae males. One who had just become a father. One who's instinct to protect was on such high alert. But he had to. Had to stand up for her. "Papa, please," Zofie pleaded. Nyx wiped the warm liquid trickling down the side of his lip. Oh, he was not going to go down without a fight. "Please, let's just go home. Please, I'm sorry". Her tiny hands were grasping at Azriel's hands, trying to pull him back. "Don't you apologize for him," Nyx snarled, but Zofie's firey eyes met his as she muttered, "Shut up." Only now did Nyx notice the tears streaming down her rosy cheeks. Only now did he see the quiver in her chin.

"Zof," Nyx breathed out, but the girl had simply turned her back on him. "Come on, papa, please," she pleaded once more, and this time it was enough to get Azriel's attention. His chest was still heavy as he breathed through his anger. "If I ever catch you doing anything like this," Azriel snarled, stepping forward to look at Nyx, but Zofie pushed back, putting all of her weight against her dad. "Consider yourself fucking lucky." Azriel flapped his wings a couple of times before reaching for Zofie's hand, tugging her alongside him as the shadows swallowed them both.

Your pov:

Quite frankly, you knew something was wrong from the moment you looked up to see Zofie's pale face when Novie was born. And deep down, you knew that this insecurity that was quite clearly blooming right in front of you was inevitable. You just didn't know it would take a turn like that. Zofie had always been good about voicing her discomfort, and you had always encouraged her to speak her mind, but it seemed as if your love had been lost in the shuffle of it all.

You knocked on her bedroom door gently. It's been a couple of hours since she and Azriel got back home. Your mate, mostly thanks to his lack of sleep, assumed that you both hadn't noticed your girl not being home and, and then hadn't felt them coming home. It was the stench of anger that was dripping from Azriel that was enough to let you know that a fight must have happened. And this sort of frustration as of lately was only brought on by one person.

Without getting an answer, you just let yourself in after a while. Zofie was curled up in a ball, and the blanket Azriel had knitted for her was tightly wrapped around her. That fact must have slipped her mind, considering the fight the two have been in. Sitting down on the very edge, you let your fingers gently brush through Zofie's dark waves.

"Sweetness, why don't you eat up? It's lunchtime", you said gently, nodding towards the plate of warm food you had brought up for her. She simply shook her head, turning away from your touch. A sharp ache pierced your heart. If your children were hurting, so were you. You climbed into the bed, nudging her slightly as you moved to wrap your arms around the girl. Let her be the little spoon.

Zofie laid as still as a statue for a moment before her arms snaked around yours. "Now he will never love me again," Zofie's voice was barely a whisper, but you still managed to hear her perfectly well. "Who, baby?" you asked, running your fingers up and down her arm. She stilled for a moment before looking up to catch your gaze and saying, "Papa." A breath hitched in your throat. "Lovie," you muttered.

Zofie quickly shuffled, sitting up. "First, I don't have wings; now he thinks I'm sneaking behind his back with Nyx," she blurted out in a rush, "And I'm not, I promise." She caught your arm, shaking it slightly. You cupped her face softly and said, "There is nothing wrong with you falling in love." Her face scrunched up so hard that you almost had to laugh. "I'm not in love. I'm not", she stated. "Okay, okay," you muttered, tapping her cheek playfully.

"And Azriel loves you, Zo." Your tone was much firmer now. You understood the fears. Mother, even you still had them. Wondering why? Why had Azriel chosen you, and what did he see in you? So for a teenager to have emotions like that, "He had loved you from the moment he saw you," you added.

Zofie bit her lip as if contemplating her next words for a moment, "But his yellow is fading", she admitted. Her colors. She found comfort in them, but good things usually come with baggage. Understanding the amount of emotion there was still a hard task. "That doesn't mean he stopped loving you. Maybe the color is evolving. Shifting into something different", you said softly. You made a mental note to ask her tutor to find her a book about the colors of emotions to read. Well, one that she hadn't already devoured.

"Hate," those silent words, made your mind halt. You shook your head. "Love has different forms; you'll learn that along the way," You reached up to carefully take her necklace between your fingers. "Papa is on edge right now because a lot of things are changing. He's sensitive because he's lost so much already. Losing all of us would break him without repair." It felt like a lot to unload on her, but she had to see that Azriel's love hadn't just faltered or disappeared because of Novie. Thinking like wings, no wings, scars on no, even the blood bond didn't matter to Azriel. Zofie pinched her eyebrows. "Is he home?", she breathed, "I need to...", "He's out on his broody walk, but I'm sure he'll be back soon," you said softly, reaching for the plate and handing it to her. She was desperate to make sure that she had at least some food in her stomach.

Nyx pov:

He had lost track of how long he had been flying. Nor did he know where he was going, but regardless of his endless attempts to escape it, Nyx knew that he would have to go home eventually. A part of him hoped that Rhys wouldn't have been able to sniff this one out, but then Nyx had lost track of his uncle fairly early on. So Azriel could have already been stomping his foot in his father's office.

"Purple truly suits you." As if on cue, Rhys's voice rang out. He was seated in front of a fireplace. A drink in hand. His usual black button-up shirt hugged his skin. Nyx didn't hate his father. He hated the high-lord aspect of him. Yes, he was different from most. Mother, spare anyone from a father like Beron, but... he still valued his position a bit too much at times. Nyx simply shook his head, shifting to move toward the back patio, but his father's voice stopped him, "I don't remember letting you walk away.".

Nyx let out a bitter chuckle, "Oh, so now I am to obey you too, like a servant?" It was bitter; he knew it. But Nyx just wasn't in the mood—wasn't in the mood to deal with any of this right now. "You're my son," Rhys stated firmly, his purple eyes gleaming. "Doesn't that just suit your story?" Nyx barked back, matching his father's glare. "Nyx," Rhys said in a warning tone, but the princeling was already walking. "I'll be with Mom," he breathed over his shoulder.

The wind that hit his face as he stepped outside soothed his heated cheeks. He always loved the walk towards his mother's gallery. It had always been his favorite time of the day when the two of them would go there. Gods, did he need to clear his head. Anything. Everything. All he could think of was her. Yet... two hands clasped his shoulders, making Nyx quickly spin back, putting whoever was behind him in a chokehold.

"Well, dang, you're on edge, my man," a familiar voice rasped out, and Nyx instantly let go, pushing the figure forward. "What the hell are you doing here?", he whispered. Axel simply smirked before shrugging, even if his eyes lingered on the library door for a bit too long. "I came to see how my dad painted your face," Axel chuckled, "Pretty." Nyx simply flipped his friends off and said, "Fuck off." Yet the corners of his lips did twitch slightly. Axel always had that effect on him. It was hard to not smile around him.

"She's okay," Axel muttered, making Nyx's eyes snap up at him. Yet he refused to give in to it. "I don't care," he said simply. Axel raised one eyebrow at his friend, tilting his head to the side, and, "Right, so you wouldn't care if I told you that mom got her to eat, and she's much calmer now." Nyx's shoulders eased a bit. Eased almost immediately. A calmness like no other washed over him as he nodded in agreement.

"She asked about you." Now these words struck a chord with Nyx, and his big eyes were instantly searching for Axel. "Did she?", Nyx breathed out desperately. Axel simply chuckled, slowly shaking his head, "No, but I love proving a point." Nyx let out a growl, "I'm so kicking your ass on the sparring mat." But he couldn't help but smile now. Because Axel knew him. And in a way, this was his silent way of approving. Or at least not stepping between him and Zofie.

But Axel's eyes lingered behind his friend, and Nyx's eyes instantly followed suit. Only he caught sight of white robes slipping back inside the library. Nyx instantly turned back to face Axel. "What was that?", he questioned. Axel blinked a couple of times, "What was what?". Oh, but Nyx wasn't stupid. "That look," he muttered, motioning his hand towards Axel's face, "Are you fucking a prestress?" Axel frowned at the question instantly, his eyes finally moving to gaze at his friend, "What the hell, man, wash your mouth." Nyx chuckled slightly, but he knew deep down that the moment they were going to be better on the camp walls, he was going to get his answers one by one. Now all he needed was his sun. His Sunny and for some reason risking a black eye didn't seem that big of a sacrifice.

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Taglist: @sirenpearldust @historygeekqueen @hnyclover @i-am-a-lost-girl16 @naturakaashi @stressed-reader @woodland-mist @goldenmagnolias @nocasdatsgay

[drvirgus]

Mute!

Non-Idol! Hanni X Mute! Reader

Description: Life as a mute girl in university: How does Y/n navigate her life, especially when she has to work on a project with her crush, one of the popular kids on campus? Can Y/n find a way to express her feelings?

Warnings: Trauma; strong language; kys/kms jokes; insults; bad family 😔 (kind of abuse?)

Chapter: Cold Hands (Fully-Written)

Masterlist

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With a scarf wrapped around my entire neck, I stood outside on campus, waiting for my crush. One of my hands was buried deep in my jacket pocket while the other clutched my tablet tightly. I shifted from one foot to the other, trying to keep warm. The wind was brutally cold as always.

"Hey," I heard from behind me and turned around. Almost immediately, the lower half of my face was exposed to the cold wind as I lifted my head slightly so Hanni could see my smile. However, she seemed a bit irritated, which made me pause.

I waved cautiously, but she only nodded in response. Lowering my head, I opened my tablet and grabbed the stylus to write, "Everything okay?"

Hanni sighed, which only made me more nervous. I unconsciously bit my lip as she replied, "I'm fine," looking at me without a smile. I decided not to press the issue and instead showed her the story for our project.

There was an awkward silence between us as she held my tablet, reading the script. My eyes were glued to her, catching every detail of her face.

Her big black eyes, the slight furrow in her brow as she concentrated on reading, her lips moving as she mouthed the words, her soft-looking cheeks. Her lips, her jaw, and her chin.

God, everything about her was perfect...

"I think it's okay, but I would rewrite this part," she began, turning the tablet towards me and pointing to a specific scene. "This one. It just doesn't sit right with me, though I can't really explain why," she said, laughing awkwardly. Her eyes locked on mine, and she stopped laughing.

I smiled and nodded, taking the tablet to mark the part she mentioned. Hanni gasped softly, "Your hands are so red..." She stepped closer, her brow furrowed. "I'm sorry... I suggested we meet outside," she sighed apologetically.

My eyes widened, and I shook my head immediately. I began writing on my tablet, "I agreed to meet—" but before I could finish, Hanni took my hand and entwined our fingers, placing them in her jacket pocket.

My mouth opened in surprise as I looked at her, noticing a slight blush on her cheeks as she avoided my gaze. A blush formed on my own cheeks, and I turned my head away.

We stood in the cold silence, yet surprisingly, I didn't feel cold at all. On the contrary, I felt quite warm...

I sneezed, prompting Hanni to look at me immediately. "We should go inside," she said softly, squeezing my hand gently. I nodded and smiled. "Don't look at me like that," she muttered under her breath as she led us into the university building, never letting my hand slip from her pocket.

My eyes were fixed on the back of her head until she stopped and turned to face me. Her jaw was tense. "Are we friends? Just say yes or no," she asked suddenly, causing me to look at her in confusion. I squeezed her hand and nodded.

Hanni swallowed as she looked over my entire face. "So... we're friends?" she asked again. This time, I withdrew my hand from hers and took it out of her pocket. My hand was quite warm.

"If you want to be," she read aloud softly, looking at my tablet and then back at me. Her eyes narrowed. "What do you want?" she asked, making me pause. It wasn't often that someone asked me what I wanted. I thought for a moment before writing my answer on the tablet.

"I want you by my side."

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Taglist: @sixflame438 @saysirhc @itzzyyyyyyydaaaa @somedaydream @wonyoungssi @gtfoiydlyj

[zippidi-dooda]

I am loving this event way more than I thought I would (haven't fully gone through it yet)

But I was not expecting Vil to go ham on insults

And this was just from what I played through today

Glad I'm not actually there cause I'd be in the background like "OOOOHHH! DAMN VIL, YOU TELL 'IM!!!" And Leona would hate me

Also love how we get the representation of someone who hates kids, I feel like there are few to no shows that demonstrate it

Cheka is cute and I love him, but I can understand Leona

To be honest, Leona has never really been on my roster, I am more of a Malleus/Deuce/Rollo type of gal

Leona just seems like someone more fun to bugger with

But this ...

This reveal???

Jaw dropping, king of the jungle for real, hubba hubba, hot dayum--Malleus forgive me

Another moment that I am glad I wasn't there for cause I was all over the other three's "take off the overcoat" reveal and would've been fan-girling over them, whooping and gassin' 'em up,

But the difference in how my reaction to seeing them compared to Leona would've been obvious

His aura was just so different and he doesn't show off his strength, he prefers brain over brawn, but now he was so smug about it

Like, yes, that's what I live for

Not to mention that I personally love the idea of "flirt fighting" which entails actually sparring. Wanting to better defend and strengthen yourself is the main motivator, but tension is a great plus.

And that's essentially everything he's doing here???

Get me in the ring with him, I will lose but I will enjoy every second of it

And then, when all's said and done,

He takes the time to actually voice his evaluation and assessment of everyone in a straightforward and nice way

I feel like I got to see a side of Leona I hadn't before and I'm really liking it

I remember reading a post about how Leona doesn't really resemble Scar who he's twisted from during the Book of Savanaclaw, where there was some good points made (namely, he kinda sat back while Ruggie did most of the dirty-work, it was on Leona's behalf but we didn't see much of him stringing Ruggie around).

But in this event we really get to see the "Scar Side" of Leona. His wit, his cunning and the issues that motivate Leona; he wants change for the better of his pride and knows how to get there quick, but others won't listen cause they have other values they'd like to keep in tact and it irritates him that they're putting the things that are (in his mind) more insignificant, first.

And I think introducing that part of Leona in this event instead of in Book of Savanaclaw works amazingly well because Leona is a prince, he is at NRC to learn yes but stays there (probably also gets held back on purpose so he'll have an excuse to stay away from home) to forget about his frustrations with his homeland. So, I think he wouldn't have much incentive to want to fix as much in his dorm or the school since his problems mainly lie back in his Kingdom.

Anyway, this is plenty fuel for happiness and story ideas and that's about all I have to share right now

(Also, the bow Grim is wearing is most similar to Leona's garb and since we are "a package deal" I'm assuming we're both wearing similar prints. So, we may be matching spectacularly with Leona. Dunno about you, but I'd gladly follow along as if I'm his trophy wife-- again, I'm sorry, Malleus don't come for me-- and also this is just more story fuel ...)

"Leona x reader x Malleus"

The story goes through the whole Cloud Calling event, with Y/N learning there's so much more to the lazy beastman than thought originally. But, when Lilia shows off the group's trip photos, Malleus is enraged to see you leaning happily against Leona in what are practically couples' clothes, the smug smirk the lion is sporting seems to be targeted specifically at the fae. What will happen when you return to NRC from your trip? Find out in the next episode

[viquipo]

No bc I'm so mad rn I usually post my rants on ig stories but I need the tumblrites to tell me if I'm crazy or what. Jwcc/ct spoilers WHATEVER

First of all I want to preface this by saying that this is just my opinion on the matter, I'm not saying your headcanons are "wrong" or whatever tf, it's a kids cartoon where they unironically use terms like "fam". You can play with the characters however you'd like.

That being said, this is why TO ME it does not makes sense for Ben to be anything other than gay. Again, if you think he's bi or straight or anything else that's cool. I'm also leaning towards the opinion that he does actually have a girlfriend. I don't think the shows gonna pull a 180 on it because, realistically, 2 queer characters is already a lot for a DreamWorks kids show. As much as I'd like it not to be.

But, since the beginning, Ben has been very clearly coded as exclusively into men to me. Before finally going into it, I remind everyone on here that I'm a lesbian. I have felt an affinity with his character specifically for the experience of only liking the same gender. I might be totally projecting.

Ok, so.

1. The arc Ben goes through during the show is yes, one of self discovery, but also one of self acceptance. He changes a lot from the start of s1, but he also comes to terms with stuff himself or other people didn't like about him. He doesn't throw the dork pouch away or tells Kenji to keep it, the first thing he does when he takes it back from Kenji is put on hand sanitizer. He is covered in dirt, he's not afraid of filth anymore, but he still does that action because it's part of who he is as a person. He also becomes very unashamed at the things he does. He went from being embarrassed of his carob bars to eating grubs in front of people who he knows think it's gross. He knows himself as he is and he accepts it. To me (and to lots of other people) this works very well as a gay metaphor, and pairs up pretty nicely with the whole "jungle boy? Jungle MAN" arc being a trans metaphor. But how does this make Ben uniquely into men?

Well, it doesn't. But I think this next one does.

2. Enter Yasmina. She's pretty, she's smart, athletic, funny, all that good stuff. I'm not saying that means every wlm character should automatically be into her, but it certainly helps. Now forgive me if I don't remember specific episodes/seasons, but we all remember that episode where Ben convinces himself that Yaz is in love with him for some reason. When he "rejects" her, he says : "I'm just now starting to find myself". That's cool, cause I'm pretty sure Ben's " finding himself " personality wise was over and done a couple of seasons ago. To me, that is a really good hint at him dealing with his gayness.

3. He's also the first person Yasmina talks to about her feelings for Sammy. Now, in this particular context, the options for Yaz to talk to were Darius, Brooklynn, or Ben. It would initially seem to make more sense for her to confide in Brooklynn, since the two of them are far closer than her and Ben, and it also wouldn't be the first time she brings up Sammy as a romantic interest for Yaz (see: everyone tweaking abt that one line back in like s2). So why does Yasmina, a very private and reserved person, choose Ben to talk to about her same sex crush? She has probably gathered from the previous conversation that Ben relates to her struggle in a unique way in which Brooklynn just can't. Ben seems very receptive of what Yaz is saying ("feelings, am I right?") and it seems like he REALLY gets where she's coming from.

4. This is one I don't see talked about a lot, and maybe it's just cause I'm too out of the loop with the fandom, but I want to examine it as well. It's when Ben decides to not actually stay on the island. Everyone (except Sammy) already knew he wasn't going to stay in the end, but still didn't force him out. I think this is especially clear in a line Darius says when they reunite on the boat that goes something like "you needed to figure it out on your own" *smile hand on shoulder combo*. No explanation needed I think

I am diagnosed with autism did you guys know what

[mysteryshoptls]

SSR Trey Clover - Platinum Jacket Vignette

"Happy 100th Anniversary"

[Land of Dawning – National Museum of Art]

Trey: It's pretty fascinating how all these anecdotes that I grew up with are displayed on all these paintings.

Trey: Just as I'd expect from an art museum that's reaching it's 100th year.

Trey: Oh hey, this painting… It has some card soldiers on it. Heh, I feel like I can understand these guys a little bit.

???: Oh, right, all you Heartslabyul guys do the same kind of thing, don't you?

Leona: What's even the point of painting the roses a different color? As someone who cares not an ounce about flowers, I don't get it at all.

Trey: Hey now, Leona, don't say that. It's not done for any specific reason, it's just one of the laws of our dorm.

Trey: Also, I don't really think the card soldiers changed the colors of the roses just for a change of scenery, though.

Trey: They say that the Queen they served loved red roses. They were probably just trying to please her, right?

Trey: But still… painting the roses, huh. I remember there was a bit of trouble with that when I first enrolled here.

Leona: Oho? What kind of trouble could the super pacifist Trey Clover possibly cause?

Trey: It wasn't any big deal. When we were first years, Cater and I were responsible for painting the roses, you see…

Trey: And we mistakenly painted some roses white when they were supposed to be red. That's really it.

Trey: Well, to be fair, the mistake wasn't really our fault, but the fault of our upperclassmen who told us the wrong thing.

Trey: But when the mistake was discovered and the Housewarden at the time asked who caused it… Those upperclassmen placed the blame squarely on our shoulders.

Trey: As punishment, Cater and I were made to leave the dorm for a whole day. That really grinded my gears.

Leona: You say that, but you got some stupid grin on your face. You don't look too angry about it.

Trey: Well, yeah… That'd be because Cater and I put together a plan to get them back.

Leona: So you two schemed something up, huh. You might look gentle and mild-mannered, but I guess there's a reason the Dark Mirror called you.

Trey: We didn't do anything that crazy. I just changed the flavor of those upperclassmen's cake to something a little more invigorating at the next dorm party.

Trey: See, it wasn't anything more than just a silly kid's prank, right? …Well, I had a bit of a hard time after that, though.

Trey: A HARD TIME CONCEALING MY LAUGHTER AS THOSE UPPERCLASSMEN CRIED ABOUT HOW SPICY IT WAS, THAT IS.

Leona: Hahah, how terrifying.

Leona: Well, Cater is one thing… But I see that even someone like you, who's stuck always pacifying that hot-headed Riddle, had an incident like that.

Trey: I mean, isn't that how all the new first years here are like? They're all mischief-makers and rambunctious.

Trey: Even our current first years are way too excitable and are always causing problems, so I sure wasn't an exception.

Trey: Eventually, they'll get used to this school and their dorm, get underclassmen of their own, and even find rivals in other dormitories…

Trey: And step by step, they'll mature into good card soldiers. At least, our Heartslabyul students will.

Trey: Just like we all did.

[Land of Dawning – National Museum of Art]

Trey: This painting is, let's see… a depiction of "the fairies gifting magic in celebration of the birth of a princess in a certain country."

Trey: The princess herself isn't drawn, but I'm sure she's in the bed that these ladies are peering into.

Trey: But is this actually the scene where they are gifting their presents…? It just looks to me like they're chattering away aimlessly…

Leona: Maybe it's just as you say? They look to me like a bunch of carefree types.

Trey: I'd refute that, but… Well, it's hard to know what actually is true in the stories passed down, I guess.

Trey: Speaking of birthday celebrations and fairies…

Trey: Have you ever heard of the saying that "fairies are born from the laughter of children," Leona?

Leona: Sounds like a tall tale for kids. Never heard of that in my country.

Trey: It's actually a pretty popular myth in the Queendom of Roses.

Trey: Back home, whenever a child is born, that family would bake cakes and gift them to everyone they knew.

Trey: The cupcakes made then are called "fairy cakes," as a nod to that tale.

Leona: Fairy cakes, huh. I can taste the sickly-sweet flavor on my tongue just from the name alone.

Trey: Hahaha… Shoulda known you of all people wouldn't say there was a bit of romanticism in that.

Trey: But that takes me back. I remember when my sister was born, I helped my parents bake a cake, too.

Trey: I was only 4 years old, and didn't really know how to make anything yet, but I did what I could to help.

Trey: We set out the finished cake on a table in our yard, and ate it with family and our neighbors…

Trey: That cake we ate then under the blue sky tasted even better than any other cake I'd ever had.

Trey: And on top of that, all the adults were praising me, saying how "amazing" and "well done" my cake was…

Leona: Can't think there'd be any adult who'd tell a 4-year-old that the cake they made was terrible, though.

Trey: Yeah, absolutely. In fact, when I went back and looked at the pictures of the cake I made back then, it was actually pretty terrible.

Trey: But I took those compliments to heart.

Trey: Because yeah, after that day, I would join them in the kitchen to help bake cakes.

Trey: But truthfully, I would make a mess of the flour just trying to make one layer of the sponge for the cakes, or snag a taste of a few of the cut fruits here and there...

Trey: I'm sure I was a huge bother for my parents, who were trying to work.

Leona: How adorable. You got all excited just from a little flattery. Sounds completely different than the way you are now.

Trey: Please, kids are all like that. Especially me, I was the type that would even climb trees just from the slightest dare.

Trey: I'm really not any different now, either. I'm completely different from you, Leona. I'm just a plain and simple guy.

[Land of Dawning – National Museum of Art]

Leona: Seems like this is a painting of when the Sorcerer of the Sands got a hold of the magic lamp.

Trey: So, this is the legendary magic lamp, hm. It's a lot smaller than I was expecting… It looks like a teapot made for only one person.

Leona: You know… That kind of response really only shows how shallow your thoughts are. Is that all that comes to mind when you look at a painting showing a scene from that very famous tale?

Leona: This was the lamp that he went through so much and finally got his hands on. Even someone like him, who embodied the spirit of deliberation, might be drowning in absolute elation in this very moment―

Leona: …Or whatever. Anyway, you should read more from this painting than just the size of the lamp, is all.

Trey: Ahaha… I'm just no good at interpreting the actual story behind the art, just from looking at the painting.

Trey: But, based on what you just said, it makes it sound like even someone as great as him, who's left his mark on history, has a human side, huh.

Leona: Even the greats were just people… Although from I remember, he wasn't a human in the end, but a genie.

Trey: That's right, he became a genie in order to overcome the limitation and weakness of a human body. He certainly dreamed big.

Trey: Overcoming weaknesses, huh… If only I could have done that, just as the Sorcerer of the Sands did.

Leona: Huh? Why're you just gazing off into the distance all a sudden?

Trey: Oh, I was just thinking back to how I've recently been running myself ragged trying to overcome this one food I dislike.

Leona: If you don't like it, then just don't eat it. Is it really anything to really overcome?

Trey: Of course it is. Like see, you know how all of the sandwiches and meat dishes in the cafeteria come already covered in that one condiment?

Trey: …I'm talking about mustard. It's tedious for both me and the chef when I have to ask each time for them to remove it, you know?

Trey: Sure, there's a lot of different ways to hide the taste, but I feel it's rude to the chef to change the flavor of something they so painstakingly made.

Trey: That's why I tried so many different ways to overcome my dislike of it, hoping that it would solve everything.

Trey: Every time I made my own dinner in my dorm, I'd add mustard to every dish…

Trey: For about one week or so, I made sure to eat at least one dish each day with mustard in it.

Trey: IN THE END, I EVEN TRIED PUTTING IT IN THE CAKE.

Leona: Well, you sure created a strange, new cake there. So, was it even edible?

Trey: I didn't eat it, so I don't know. My dormmates stopped me, so I wasn't able to actually add it to the cake.

Trey: And so, when they stopped me there, I finally came to a realization.

Trey: If I still can't eat it after all this effort, I should just give up. It isn't something that's going to have a huge impact on my life, after all.

Leona: Hah, took you a while.

Trey: Hahaha… I thought so too.

Trey: Seems like I'm the type where once I start something, I get a little wrapped up in it… This incident really got me reflecting on that habit.

Trey: But hey, thanks to all of that, I can at least eat mustard if it's just there for a bit of flavoring.

Leona: Well, good for you, then. All that continuous mustard eating turned out to be not completely pointless.

Leona: Anyway… All that talk made me thirsty. I'm takin' a break from all this. Bye.

Trey: Okay, see you. …Never thought I'd see the day that Leona would even hold a conversation with me like this. I wonder if it'll rain candy tomorrow or something.

Trey: Alright, next I think I'll go check out one of the paintings of the Great Seven I haven't seen yet… Ooh wait, this one―

Trey: Whenever I see this painting, I always think of "that guy." He's got the same kind of hard-to-read expression on his face.

Trey: I remember back in the day where I'd play along with his pranks and we'd cause a little bit of mischief for people who asked us for directions on the street.

Trey: "Which way ought you go from here? Well, that depends a good deal on where you want to get to!" ―And the like.  

Requested by Anonymous.

[siampie]

Risk and Reward||Chapter 3: Scared Of Love

Pairing: Matt Murdock x Fem!Reader

Word Count: 2.4k

Summary: You finally decide to drop the "let's be friends," after your coffee date with Matthew. And you both admit your mutual attraction.

Warnings/tags: angst, fluff, mutual pining, idiots in love, childhood trauma, slight mention of emotional abuse

A/N: Originally, this chapter was supposed to feature teasing Matt but Reader kindly reminded me that things between her and Matt aren't there yet. Those things take time. So, the chapter title changed and I think it’s a little angsty but it fits the story. Also, this song is the one that inspired this fic. Not entirely satisfied with this chapter but I still like it. I hope you enjoy it.

PS: And don’t worry, teasing Matt will make an appearance but a little further down the line.

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Tag list: @marytheweefrenchie, @sunflowersandsapphires, @abbyhaslongshorts, @schneeflocky, @danzer8705

Dividers by @cafekitsune

Song the title is referring to:

Don’t come any closer

Till I tell you that it’s over

‘Cause I rather be alone than be a wreck

We’re both playing with fire

And you’re the one holding the lighter

But if we never start, we’ll never end

Matt had a soft smile on his face, sitting across from you. Your hands were around your warm cup. You couldn’t see his sightless eyes but you knew they were on you. You took a sip before you could answer his question.

“I wanted to be a housewife when I was a kid.” You chuckled when he gave you an incredulous look. “I wanted to be like my mother.” You clarified. “I thought she was doing the greatest job in the world. Taking care of her children and loving them. I wanted to be just like her.”

“What change?” Matt reached out for his cup.

“Well,” You sighed. “When I was eleven, she walked out on us. With no explanations and no goodbyes. So, I sorta decided on another career path.”

“You didn’t want to be like her anymore.” Matt stated quietly.

“Not really. My dad had grown a bad habit of constantly comparing me to her, you know.” You spoke. “It was always negative. And it was always me, specifically. My siblings never got compared to her. Never really understood why.”

When you were younger, right after your mother had walked away, you and your father had gotten into lots of fights. You were both lashing out at each other. Both grieving a loss, both angry and not knowing how to deal with those emotions; you both lashed out. But every time you fought back; he would compare you to your mother. He called you unloving, ungrateful, disloyal. His words had cut deep within you, leaving open wounds that had yet to heal. And all these years of taking care of him, of the home, and of your siblings, stemmed from a need to prove him wrong. You were loving, grateful and loyal. You made sure he knew. You made sure he knew that he was wrong. He had to know.

That need within your heart to prove your father wrong, had mostly come from fear. A fear that he would abandon you just like your mother did. So, you did everything you could to give him a reason to stay. A reason to love you as much as you loved him.

You felt his calloused hand on yours. His hand felt rough but gentle. Your heart skipped a beat. “Your father was wrong to do this. you were only a child. You were hurting as much as he was."

“I know that now." You spoke softly. "But I didn't then. I suppose when you are a kid, you trust the grown-ups around you to protect you, and comfort you. You don't expect them to use their words to hurt you."

“I know what you mean," Matt said.

“You do ?”

“When I lost my father, I was sent to the orphanage." He answered. "The Nuns did not really know how to deal with me—and the person they chose to do so—wasn't really the best."

“Was he blind like you?”

“Yeah,” He nodded. “He taught me everything I know.”

He looked uncomfortable as though he had said too much already. As though, he had let it slip. You had caught him off guard. You didn't push though. Instead, you hummed quietly.

“How did you lose your father? If you don’t mind me asking.”

“He was shot when I was nine.” Matt adjusted his glasses. “He was a boxer, you know. My dad. He lost more than he won, before he, uh—but he could take a punch.” He said fondly. “He always told me ‘It ain’t how you hit the mat, it’s how you get up.’”

You loved the way he spoke of his father. Every word was dripping with love and admiration. But most of all with pride. And aside all of that, there was a pain behind his words, the pain it still felt at the loss.

“That’s a good motto to go by in life.” You observed, your lips turning up at the corner. “I like that. No matter how many times you get knocked down, just keep on getting back up.” You wove your fingers with his, and gave a gentle squeeze. “I’m sure he would have been proud of you. As much as you are of him.”

“Barely, but thanks.” He smiled at you. He refused to take the compliment. You were not the only one who had demons, it seemed.

“He truly would have been proud of you, Matthew. You’re a good man.” You assured him. His sightless gaze dropped to the table, a faint smile on his face. “Are you going shy on me, Murdock?” You teased him.

He chuckled before adjusting his glasses. “You have a—um—a way of doing this.”

“Making you go shy?”

“Among other things.” His lips twitched up at the corner.

You ran your tongue over your lips. His words had a way to make you blush. Just three words but with so much more meaning behind them.

 “Is it a bad thing that I do?”

“No, I—I find it refreshing. Keep me on my toes." He joked.

“Oh.” You let out breathless, your eyes landed on your interlaced fingers. His thumb brushed over yours, in a back-and-forth motion. “This starts feeling like date and not so much like two friends catching up over coffee.”

“Would it be so bad if it was?” Matt questioned softly.

“No, I don’t think it would—it’s just—” You paused.

“Yeah?”

You like Matt Murdock. So, would it be so bad if this was a date? Short answer. No. It wouldn’t be. The conversation was easy between the two of you. You two were now leaning over the table. Your fingers were woven together. And it all felt natural. You had opened up to him more freely than you had with others. He already knew more about you than Amelia did. Was there any point in keeping this “let’s be friends,” thing going?

“Just not today.” You told him. “Maybe next time?”

“Are you asking me on a real date?” He smirked.

“Yeah.” Your eyes dropped to the table. Your neckline started to feel warm, your heart was hammering, trying to escape from your ribcage. “Only—if you want to.” You tucked your hair behind your ear with your free hand.

“I was going to ask you the same thing.” He huffed out a laugh.

You scoffed. “You still can.” And you smirked.

Matt walked you home as he had done before. You stood facing him, at the bottom of the stairs that led into your building. His hand slid down your arm, to grip your hand. He stepped closer to you. Your eyes roamed his face before settling on his red tinted glasses.

“I like you.” Matt said.

“I like you too.” You smiled at him.

“I would like to take you out on a date.”

“I thought you’d never ask.” You teased him.

He chuckled. “How does dinner sound? Next weekend?”

“Sounds great.” You nodded, smiling.

“Yeah?” He grinned before his forehead touched yours. Your eyes fell shut at the contact.

“Yeah.” You breathed out.

He had let go of your hand. His fingers gently grazed against your neck, before making their way to your jaw. He ran his thumb on your cheek. His nose brushed against yours. His breath was fanning over your lips. Your hands moved to his solid chest. You opened your eyes, they landed immediately on his lips. You could lean in and kiss him. You could just give into the desire to feel his lips against yours. You could. You wanted to. But you just couldn’t bring yourself to close the gap between you. So, instead, you pulled away from him. You cleared your throat.

“Will you let me know when you get home?” You asked him quietly.

“I will.” He cleared his throat, and pushed his glasses back onto his face. “I’ll call you, all right?”

“Okay.” You nodded as he stepped away from you, your hands falling back to your sides. “Have a good day, Matthew.”

“You too.” He smiled at you before turning to leave.

Matthew Murdock liked you. And you liked him too. It was a first for you, really. The butterflies in your stomach had not fizzled out. If anything, they had only grown stronger. Just the thought of him stirred them awake. And yet, you were mad at yourself for not giving in to the desire to kiss him. You had wanted to do it. You just had to lean in. Why didn’t you?

Your brain was constantly working against you. You were able to counter it most days. When it was work related, it was quite easy. But when it came to intimacy, not so much. You spiraled down a pit of self-doubt. Always. Were you supposed to kiss him now? This wasn’t a date. This was two friends catching up over coffee. And yes, his face was really close to yours but did it mean he wanted to kiss you? What if you had read the signs wrong? And did you know how to kiss? No one had ever complained before but would it be good enough for him?

You slammed your hands down on your kitchen counter. “Give it a rest.” You grabbed your spoon, and shovel down a mouthful of ice-cream. “He’s going to call you. He’ll set up a date and a time. And you’ll kiss him then.” You spoke to yourself. “Yeah, if I’d grown a pair since then.”

Your phone rang next to you. Your heart picked up in anticipation. This was it; he was calling you like he had said. You took a deep breath and grabbed your phone. You checked the caller ID to make sure it was him. It was Amelia. Your shoulders slumped, in disappointment. You also suddenly felt stupid. It had only been two days. He’d call when he’d call, right? And he was a lawyer. He was probably busy.

“State mental institution, which patient do you wish to speak with?” You answered the phone.

“Hilarious.” She said dryly. “Pretty Boy hasn’t called you yet?”

“Nope.” You took another spoon of ice-cream.

“How loud are they?”

“Pretty loud.” You sighed miserably. “I shouldn’t have agreed to it.” You felt the tears pricked at the corner of your eyes.

“What?!” Amelia exclaimed. “No, don’t do that. Don’t do that.”

“I’m not doing anything.”

“You are.” Amelia said. “Something good happened to you. Something good is happening to you. Matt likes you and you like him. He said he will call you. And he will. So, don’t do the self-pity thing, please.”

“It’s not self-pity. It’s reality.” You argued moving to your couch. “Something good happened, I let myself enjoy it for two seconds. And now—”

“Nothing.” Amelia cut you off. “Nothing bad is going to happen. Something good is happening to you.”

You did not believe her. In your experience, each time you had felt some sort of happiness, it was either ripped away from you or something terrible happened to your family. You felt as though you were being punished by God for feeling some sort of joy. As though you were not allowed to.

Or maybe you were exaggerating, Making a mountain out of molehill. What was the most rational thing? Amelia was most likely right. Matt Murdock would call you. He said he would. He was a lawyer, and he might have gotten busy with work. And it was only Tuesday, after all. Matt would not lie to you.

“Do you want to come over?” You asked her.

“Tequila or Vodka?”

“None of the above.”

“You’re right. I’ll bring both.”

Red pen at the ready. Music blaring in your ears. Drowning out the chatter of your colleagues, the buzzing of the light. You were focused on your recent manuscript; a young adult fantasy. Young adults’ books were one of your favorite genres, when written well. When the plot made sense. But when it didn’t, it drove you up the wall. This one did not exactly do it for you. It wasn't bad, but overall, it was quite a good read. But not exactly your cup of tea. That wasn’t why you were paid. You were paid to proofread the book. You were paid to review errors, not to review the plot.

Your music stopped playing when your phone rang. You took off your headphones and answered the call.

“Welcome to the complaint hotline. Press 1 for minor annoyances. 2 for full-on ranting.” You announced in your best imitation of a customer service voice.

“Complaint hotline?” It was Matt. He sounded confused.

You gasped and straitened in your seat as though he could see you. “Hello Matthew!”

He broke into a chuckle. “Hello to you too. Sounds like you’re having fun?”

“It’s just a silly joke. I thought it was Amelia.” You explained quickly. “I forgot to check the caller ID.” You mumbled under your breath.

“Filtering calls, I see.

"I'm not - I just -," You fumbled to form an answer. You heard him laugh through the phone. “What can I do for you, Matthew?” You dropped your forehead in the palm of your hand.

“I wanted to make sure we were still on for this weekend.” He replied. “Dinner on Saturday night?”

You were thrilled that the date was happening still. You were even more thrilled that he had called as he had said he would. Your face broke into a smile. “Sounds great.” You softly answered.

“At seven?” He offered.

“Perfect.” Your smile only deepened.

“I’ll meet you at your place and we can walk there.”

“And where are you taking me?”

“There’s a Thai restaurant by my place. I thought we could go there.” Matt told you.

“I’m looking forward to it.”

“Good, so do I.” He admitted. “I’ll see you on Saturday, then?”

“Gladly. I’ll see you on Saturday.” You bit your bottom lip. “Have a good day, Matthew.”

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[arceespinkgun]

Okay, I think it's been enough time since the first part of Earthspark's second season came out that I feel like I can talk about this without it being massive spoilers: I'm really glad the Emberstone crumbled to dust and the Malto kids decided they didn't need its power anymore.

Remember when Mo and Hashtag were talking to the Titan Terratronus, who described how her creator Quintus Prime went around the universe seeding life on other planets specifically to make new allies for Cybertron, which one of his created races he left behind, the Quintessons, saw as abandoning them? And then Mo was like... so then Quintus really wasn't that great and he did actually abandon them and then us, too? Terratronus just kept brushing off all of these questions because of course she would. She's basically a daughter of Quintus who was made for a single purpose and then was stuck in stasis for ages. Imagine how much it would hurt her to admit that Quintus essentially retired and left her to just be this guardian and never set her up to even live a full life.

I don't think Quintus set out with the intention to hurt people—that would be too simple—rather, I think he didn't recognize the harm he was causing by essentially being a colonizer (a very Cybertronian thing by the way, they do this all the time). Some part of him recognized what a mess he'd made, and that's why he passed on his abilities to the Maltos. But now that the children know the full story, they're right to reject the original basis of these powers and want to make this situation their own. I hope I don't have to point out how blatantly the show is commenting on the damaging legacy of things like colonialism on people of color today. It has this moral that's stating we might be left with all the ripple effects of racism, colonialism, etc., but that we empower the kinds of people most hurt by those impacts and should reject those things for the future.

[orangevtae]

Protector [Din Djarin x Skywalker!Reader]

Summary: Din's been on your track for a while now, but he actually didn't know that you were being hunted for to be delivered to an Empire Lord that has been after you simply because you were part of the Resistance so you both make a deal: you pay him so he protects you till you got to Nevarro so you can pay the price for your own head and you go to your separate ways. But is Din capable of doing it?

Warnings: Even if the story it's written between the events of seasons 1 & 2, maybe there can be some spoilers. Strangers to lovers (kinda?). Murder and death. afab!reader and use of she/her pronouns. Mentions of the Skywalker twins, reader and them are not blood relationed tho. Found family kinda thing. Typical Star Wars and The Mandalorian like violence. Touch starved Din (No one's gonna change my mind on that).

A/N: another day, another Pedro Pascal character. I decided to delete Supernova cause i didn't like the way it was going and i thought about this one and liked the idea better, maybe it will be multi-chapter, still thinking about it. Enjoy! <3

next

Chapter 1: The Meeting

Din was yet in another icey planet. The snow beneath his feet was fluff, what made his boots smooth down while he heard the crunchy sound of it. The kid was safely neated and warmed on it's satchel by Din's hip as The Mandalorian was with his attention on his track orb that was beeping the louder he walked.

He didn't mind snowy icey planets, his beskar made sure to keep the cold out, he only thought about how this kinda of place seemed to be the prefered ones for the bounties he went after to. The thing is: this bounty in specifically never stopped on a place for more than a week, he got lucky if sometimes they decided to stay for two weeks, but it never lasted.

He has been after you for quite some months now, Din thought that maybe that was the longer he took to find a bounty. It was hard to keep tracks on you, he got near close to capture you once on Coruscant but you got him lost on the multitude on people on there, he only got closer enough to see you flying off on a ship, attentively looking back at him. So now, with you close to reach and him lucky enough to find out about where you were hiding before you took off by the end of the week was everything he asked for.

You knew he was after you, which bounty hunter wasn't? But the fact is: he in specifically was the one that could actually keep his track on you. You made all the others get lost, being tricked whenever they got too close so you could use the force to persuade them to believe that you weren't the person they were looking for.

But this one, this Mandalorian guy, really made up for the legends he had on his shoulders. At first, you were deeply afraid of him, he for himself looked butch enough and with the beskar clad armor he wore, he looked even more intimidating. If he ever so captured you, you were done for.

You don't know how long you were in the run now, you just knew that it had been so long that you blocked your siblings from the force connection you had so just you wouldn't endangering them on this too. You knew Luke and Leia could take care of themselves, they had much more force training than you, but they had their own lifes and you didn't want them in trouble cause of your problems.

It was easy to persuade the others bounty hunters, even if they were in that line of work, not all of them were good on their stealthy, you lost count how many times you got them lost cause they made fools of themselves but with the Mandalorian? You only got lucky the first and only time you were able to drible him and run away before he captured you. Right now, you wouldn't have time to hide or run cause you didn't thought yet about the next planet you would go to because the Mandalorian found you first, so you had two options and neither of them were good enough to do before he shot you with a blaster and it's bye-bye you.

You took a deep breath, you were patiently waiting for him to get to the room you were staying at and you weren't less surprised when you heard the door open and close, the sound of heavy boots making themselves known as he got inside "Don't move" he commanded, his voice a little raspy from the modulator from his helmet.

"So...you finally found me" you commented, voice low.

"Yeah, you were kinda hard to keep track on but not enough" he said "Stand up"

You took a deep breath, it was now or never "Okay, listen, i have a proposal for you" you said as you stood up, hands above your head "I'm pretty sure you don't know who is after me."

"No clue, my job it's just to catch you and bring you" he said, taking slow steps towards you as he stood tall before you, blaster directly aimed to your stomach "and i can bring you in warm or i can bring in cold, you decide it. I'm going to get my payment either way."

"Please, just listen to me" you begged, looking up at him. Your orbs found the T line on his helmet, that was a little tilted down at you since you were a little smaller than him and you almost felt like crying if that would made him listen to you, you didn't care if you were going to be shot, you have to at least try "The man that is looking for me, he's an former Empire Lord. Even if the Empire it's over, there's plenty of man like the one's after me around the galaxy."

"So what?" he said in return.

"So what is that he's after me cause i was part of the Rebellion, got sent on a mission where my purpose was to find and take down the ship he was and the crew members with him by the end of the war. He still was alive after i took everything down and that set a rage on him and he's been looking for me ever since." you let out a deep breath "I never did anything moraly wrong that could cause my name to be around a bounty hunter track orb or to have a farrik Mandalorian after me. He's just after me cause he wants revenge and the Republic doesn't know how to find him cause he is always hidden the dark where their eyes are unable to see and if i wasn't being honest about it i wouldn't come up with such history, it has too much backstory for it to be a teltalle so i can ditch you, so i am asking you to please believe my word."

For a moment, you thought that he wasn't conviced and that he would end up shooting you without needing to think twice He was silent for a few good moments, just shallow breaths being heard from his modulator.

"I don't trust you" he said finally "You could very well just made that up so you could try, so i need something to know that what you are saying it's true."

You almost sighed with relief at it and nodded "Downstairs, the lady on the reception, she was an former Rebellion ally, we fought together many times, she can confirm you my story. I'll be right here when you get back, you have my word."

You heard a deep sigh coming from him "Okay" he said, holsting his blaster back on his hip "If you story is a blanty lie and i discover that that woman downstairs has nothing to do with what you saying, you can expect that when i come back, you are done for."

You nodded your head, feeling your thighs tremble a little "Okay."

"Stay right here, if you move" he held up his tracker "I'll know"

And he went out the door.

You let out a deep breath, your hands were sweating and trembling as you took a seat on the bed beneath you. To say you were scared of him was mere fact, that guy was even broader up close than what you've seen last time from afar. He stood tall before you all the time while having a calm demeanor with a blaster pointed at you ready to shoot if you ever tried anything.

But you wouldn't, cause you actually needed him. Not that you weren't capable of taking care of yourself, cause in reality you could take anyone down in a matter of seconds if you needed, but you needed a safe scape out and you assumed he had a ship and you needed to get to Nevarro without other bounty hunter stumbling into you.

It seemed like hours, it looked like it has been an eternity before the Mandalorian apeared on the door of your room again, closing it after he got inside.

"So?" you asked

"She confirmed your version, but why an Empire scum is after you? Really, i mean" he asked you, putting some weight on his left leg and one of his hands on his hip

"I killed his son" you stated "I didn't knew he was on board of the ship" It got silent suddenly.

It looked like the weight made your shoulders sunk.

It was the first time you ever revealed that, it was an acident, the kid wasn't supposed to be on board when you bombarded the Imperial ship, that kind of information wasn't given cause no one knew he was on board when you and your team were supposed to explode it.

"We didn't know, that kind of info never came to us and when it came...well, it was already done and his father has been after me ever since" you sighed

Mando didn't said anything for a while, only sighed and looked at the satchel at his hip where the Kid was still sleeping peacefully "So, what was your proposal?"

"Take me to Nevarro, i can pay you in double the reward for me and i am guessing you have a ship" you stated to him, squaring your shoulders "I need someone as you to take me there cause i'm always on a track. I just need to get to Nevarro to pay the reward that it's on my head, i guess that that may erase me from the Guild's records"

Din thought for a while. Even on his line of work, it wasn't acceptable to kill kids and he thought that you were paying for something that wasn't your fault and you clearly just wanted a stop to the constant feeling of running away. That didn't mean he trusted you tho.

Plus, he needed the money, he had an extra mouth now so he needed to buy food since the green child under his care never stopped eating amd he wanted him to at least live well under his care.

"I'll take you there, one of the head leaders of the Guild is a friend of mine, i guess he can do that for you if i ask him, it's a more than fair trade i guess" he shrugged, putting his blaster back on the holter "But i don't trust you."

"You don't have to" you looked him at his helmet, where you guessed his eyes would be "Just take me to Nevarro, i'll pay you and we both go on our separate ways"

"Deal" he tilted his head towards the door signaling for you guys to head out the door.

You grabbed the backpack you always carried with you that had just the few belongings and headed out the room, the lights went off and the door closed behind you and your new companions for a while.

For your lucky, you always remembered to pay your stady on the places you would be in the moment you arrived at them, so you didn't had problems when leaving the in you where. When you put feet outside of it, the cold air hitted you with force and you squeezed the scarf closer to your neck and nose and followed the Mandalorian that was a few steps ahead of you.

When you took steps enough to at least walk by his side in silence, you noticed a pair of green ears peaking out of the satchel he had around his hip, you frowned when it turned it's head and stared at you with it's big orbs. You let out a little smile make itself on your lips when you noticed that it was a baby, he cooed to you and you waved a little before looking front of you to make sure you wouldn't step on some ice that would make you slide face down on the ground. You haven't noticed the baby till now.

You knew that Mandalorians had a costume to take orphans in their care till they delivered them to their family's or they stayed with them of they couldn't find, you were surprised to know that this Mandalorian beside you had that kind of mission on him. It didn't take long to get to the hangar where the Mandalorian had put his ship into.

You let out a quiet whistle at seeing his ship "Wow, Razor Crest. It's been a while since i saw one"

"Ever piloted one?" he asked, this seemed to peak his interest

"No, we had one at the Rebel base, it was only used once" you whispered

"C'mon" he clicked a few buttons on the pad of his arm, making the ramp of the Crest to get down.

When it was down enough, he went ahead of you and climbed it, you followed close behind, when you were inside, the same ramp got up and the Crest was started, lifting off the ground so you decided to go to the cockpit, where the Mandalorian and his little green friend where at and then went off planet.

[mysecretlittlelibrary]

A New Home

Pairing: Platonic! Peter Parker & Reader; Reader x Bucky (but that's not really plot relevant)

Word Count: 2.2k

Warnings: uh none really just mentioning of all the tragedies MCU Peter has endured lmao

Genre: it's pretty fluffy- there's minor angst

Summary: You happen to be the only person who still remembers Peter Parker exists and you are not about to hang him out to dry. So what happens when you take Peter in and basically become his guardian? Well- nothing is simple where super-teens are involved, but you and Peter can certainly handle whatever comes your way. Right?

***

You're worried. You know you've been gone for months and things can change a lot in a few months but it shouldn't be this hard to find Peter. Flying down the streets of New York you finally spot the kid through an open window in a rundown apartment building.

"Parker! There you are! Dude, I've been looking all over the city for you what the hell?" You lean against the window sill, startling Peter when you speak.

"Miss y/n! You know who I am!" Peter blinks at you.

"Well duh, why wouldn't I? And what are you doing in this godawful apartment?"

"Well-" Peter trails off, avoiding your gaze.

"Peter, what did you do?" Your eyes widen.

"I- made the entire world forget who I am?" He says hesitantly. You blink at him for a moment.

"Wh- ho- why would you- what made you think that was a good idea?"

"It wasn't a good idea it was the only idea." He says.

"I- how'd ya figure?" You tilt your head.

"It's a... long story." He mutters.

"So start telling it. Been lookin' for you all over the city so I've got time."

"Okay- it all started when I went on a summer trip to Europe and I met this guy- Mister Mysterio, and it was right after Mr. Stark died and you know, he was pretty important to me and you were away and Mr. Stark left me so much tech that I didn't know what to do with so when Mister Mysterio basically offered to take me under his wing I dunno I thought it'd help me deal with the Mr. Stark thing but he ended up being a super bad dude and I had to fight him and just before I defeated him he like released a video telling the whole world I was Spiderman and also painting me like a bad guy and it totally ruined my life. Like when I started senior year in the fall there were people literally protesting outside of my school! Some wanted me to pay for what I did to Mister Mysterio but others thought I had a reason for what happened since I'm like a neighborhood hero-"

"Well did you?" You ask cutting off Peter's frantic 2x speed recap.

"What?" He blinks at you.

"Have a reason. For whatever happened with Mysterio."

"Of course I did! He wanted to use Stark's tech to take over the world!"

"I'm just pulling your leg kid- I know you'd never harm a dude for no reason." You chuckle. "I'm just dispelling tension because you're speedrunning. So this guy ruined your life by telling the world you're Spiderman. What happened next?"

"Well with all the chaos it caused me in my daily life I went to Mr. Strange to try and fix it."

"You went to Strange." You repeat.

"Yeah cuz he's got that magic stone and with you gone, he's like the only person I know who might've been able to do the thing I was thinking of." Peter shrugs.

"And what was the thing you were thinking of?"

"I was going to see if there was a spell that could make the world forget that I was Spiderman but while we were doing the spell I remembered that there were people I had already told independent of the whole Mysterio thing and I didn't want them to forget because it's so much easier to not have to lie to Ned or MJ or Aunt May so I kept fixing the spell to be more specific than 'everyone forgets Peter Parker is Spiderman' and did you know there are other Spidermen in other versions of reality?!"

"That makes sense." You nod.

"What?"

"I travel through time and space a lot, I've seen hundreds of versions of hundreds of people- there being other Spidermen makes sense. What was your spell?"

"Well I altered it a few times while Mr. Strange was creating it but the last thing I said was something like 'everyone who already knew before should still know' and somehow it brought people who knew other Spidermen here. Specifically two other Spidermen and of course, they were all villains because I guess those guys do not have friends back home-"

"Peter!" You gasp barely holding back your laughter.

"Sorry- that was rude but I was really overwhelmed okay there was a dude who could like control electricity, and a guy made out of sand, and a huge freaking lizard monster, and a guy who dressed like a goblin and he killed Aunt May and there was a dude with gigantic mechanical tentacle arm thingies that came out of his back it was- terrifying."

"Oh honey." You sigh.

"We almost died in the process but me and the other Spidermen managed to kick them back to where they belonged, but Mr. Strange's botched spell was causing a collision of the multiverse so to reverse it we- had to make the whole world forget Peter Parker altogether." Peter says. There are a few moments of silence as you contemplate what to say next. Scolding him seems harsh, he's been through too much since you've last seen him.

"When did that happen? The forget-me-not spell part."

"Like- four months ago." He shrugs.

"And you've just been on your own here since then?" You frown.

"Aunt May's dead- no one else knows who I am- I- I didn't have anywhere to go." He shrugs.

"Do you want to stay here?" You ask.

"What?"

"I- hate this apartment, I don't really like you living here it's- tiny and probably not up to safety codes but if you'd rather stay I can't force you to move I just- I'd feel better if you moved in with me. So I'm asking."

"I don't wanna be a burden."

"Oh don't be ridiculous I could never see you as a burden and you've had a hard enough time in the last year there is no reason for you to have it any harder than it needs to be. If you want to move in with me there's plenty of room." You tell him.

"You mean it?"

"Absolutely." You nod.

"Okay- I'll- pack my things I guess."

"Good." You clap your hands together and climb fully into the apartment to help him.

It takes a few hours but eventually, you get Peter out of that shoebox of his and set him up in what used to be your guest room. He spends a little while in there unpacking until he's apparently too overwhelmed to do any more of it and takes refuge in the living room to watch TV. You're in the kitchen when he comes out and declares unpacking will have to wait and while you don't want to bring his mood down you feel like you have to check in before you can finish the baking you were doing. You take a seat in the armchair next to where Peter is perched on your couch.

"I- didn't get a chance to ask earlier but, how are you dealing with the whole Aunt May thing? You barely got to grieve Tony before it all went to shit it seems."

"I- haven't really had a whole lot of time to dwell on it actually, but I've been to visit her a couple of times."

"If you need anything Peter please ask and I'm serious. We've been family for quite a while as far as I'm concerned but especially now. Can't have you thinking you've got no one left in this world."

"Thanks y/n. Although I seriously don't get how Mr. Strange's spell didn't affect you too." Peter frowns.

"Dunno- maybe I was traveling through time when he did it. Or somewhere in space, outta range." You shrug.

"Lucky for me I guess." He says.

"Very." You stand and ruffle his hair before returning to the kitchen. You're glad he seems to be getting comfortable in your home already. You want him to be comfortable here, he deserves a little comfort after all that's happened. Some time later you hear the lock to your front door click open as you pull cookies out of your oven.

"Y/n?" Bucky's voice calls from the door.

"Kitchen!" You call back setting the tray on the counter. You can hear Bucky making his way down the hall before he enters the kitchen. His smile turns to a look of confusion and he retreats from sight for a moment and then pivots back into the kitchen.

"There's a boy in your living room babe." He points out.

"Yeah, I know that's Peter." You say with a laugh.

"Do we know Peter?"

"I know Peter."

"How?"

"He's-" you pause for a moment. Bucky won't remember him. He barely knew the kid in the first place. "He's my godson." You say. That's probably believable.

"You have a godson?!"

"I have a few godchildren actually- he's just the oldest." You say. Truth.

"He's got siblings?"

"No, he's an only child but I am a godparent to multiple children that are not related to each other."

"Including that one?" Bucky points down the hall in the general direction of your living room.

"Yes including that one. He's moved in with me." You say.

"What?!" Bucky's eyes widen.

"It's a... long story- he's not my nephew or anything I actually didn't know his parents. I was friends with his aunt who ended up responsible for him after his parents died and she made me her- for lack of a better word, successor if anything happened to her once she became his only living family."

"Well, where's his aunt?"

"She died while I was gone." You say. You'll have to make a point to visit Aunt May's grave soon.

"So where's he been?" Bucky asks.

"In a dingey little shoebox of an apartment." You grimace.

"He's old enough that he got his own apartment?"

"Well, he's eighteen but I don't believe in throwing kids to the wolves once they turn eighteen so I told him he could come stay with me because there's no reason for him to be in a shitty apartment struggling to support himself when I have space. Plus he's got basically no other family now, I don't want him to be alone."

"Alright, but you can't make me talk to him." Bucky says.

"My love he's a teenager I don't expect you to have a playdate. I'm looking after him, I'm not making that your responsibility." You chuckle.

"Cool." Bucky snatches a cookie off the counter. "I'm headed to your room for a while." He kisses your cheek and disappears up the stairs. A couple minutes after Bucky disappears Peter comes shuffling into the kitchen.

"Godson?" He asks sitting on one of the stools by the island.

"Hm?" You frown.

"You told Mr. Bucky that I'm your godson."

"Oh- well, it was the first pretty believable thing I could think of. And I think if May thought something would take her from us so soon she'd probably have planned for you to stay with me or Tony." You shrug.

"I think so too." He says after a moment.

"Don't worry too much about Bucky, you know how he is around new people."

"We didn't really get to know each other the first time around but- do you think he'll warm up to me?" Peter asks.

"Aw of course he will. He'd never admit it but Buck's got a secret soft spot for chosen families. It won't be immediate but I'm sure you'll be ganging up on me in no time." You shrug.

"He doesn't seem all that open."

"Well- you know how when kids bring home a puppy they 'found' and their parents grumble about a new responsibility but end up falling in love with the animal anyway?"

"Yeah?"

"Not that you're a stray dog or anything but Bucky's kind of seeing it in the same way. He probably thinks I'll need his help looking after you. Which- on a pretty much unrelated note sweetie, are you still Spiderman?"

"Yeah- just now no one knows. Is that... a problem?" Peter asks hesitantly. 

"Now why would that be a problem? I'd be quite the hypocrite to suddenly decide you can't be Spiderman. That's how we met after all." You chuckle, reaching forward and pinching his chin affectionately. "And helping people is what you do. It's what we do. I'd never ask you to stop. But we'll need some regulations."

"Regulations?" His tone makes you giggle a bit.

"Within reason. I just mean I need you to keep me posted. Holler before you go on patrols, and call me if you have any emergencies. Oh, and any time you tell someone your secret I'd like to know."

"Oh, I don't plan to tell anyone. Well- maybe we can tell Mr. Bucky eventually. I agree with those regulations but I don't have anyone else to tell." He shakes his head.

"For now but if you go to college and make friends-"

"Do you think I could?" Peter's eyes widen hopefully.

"Make friends?" You frown.

"Go to college."

"I think you've wiped yourself from the memories of everyone you know- it gives you a unique opportunity to start over however you see fit. I know college was something you were really looking forward to so- if you get your GED you can enroll next fall or this spring if you're ready to start earlier. I'll help you in any way I can if that's what you want." You say. There's a stretch of silence as Peter considers your words.

"I'll think about it." He says.

"You do that. In the meantime just- let's get used to living together. Deal?"

"Deal." He smiles.

"Good. Cookie?" You slide the tray towards him and he takes one happily. You really think this is going to be good for him and it might even be better for you than you expect.

***

A/N: if I wrote more of this would y'all want to read it? It would be anthology style but I think the concept is real cute!

[wings-of-ink]

Hi again! Now I'm done with replaying old content and with reading the new chapter!

And damn, I loved it so much!

I have to say, Duri is probably my biggest surprise here. With the character intros, I expected them to be my least favorite RO, but somehow, they "feel" quite different from what I imagined, and I ended up really adoring them! If I wasn't so in love with Oswin, I would certainly have picked them!

Also, "You just bonked a demigod on the nose and lived to tell the tale." has to be one of my favorite lines in an IF ever!

But you know what has me frustrated (not saying that in a bad way)? The fact because of everything that happened, Oswin STILL didn't tell MC what he wanted to tell them nor did he give them that famous gift! I neeeed to know so badly!

On that matter, I've been thinking a lot about what could have caused Oswin to distance himself from the MC the way he did, and so far, I have two main theories - though both may be wrong. I will share but obviously I'm not expecting you to comment on them as that would be spoilery! - First one would be that after the MC started being sick, he felt more and more helpless about that, and his frustration about not being able to help MC ended up translating as him being frustrated WITH MC. As a kid it's possible he didn't think as much on this, but the more he grew up, the more not being able to do anything could have bothered him. And then acting badly with MC could have led him to feel guilty and keep his distances even more. The thing that makes me hesitant about this one though is the fact Lakota already feels that sort of frustration too, and as a healer it makes more sense for him, so I don't know if it would be the same for Oswin. - Second one would be that as he grew up, Oswin started having romantic feelings for the MC, but since he was older than MC - even if both were teens - he felt bad about it, or simply didn't consider the MC could ever reciprocate because of the age gap, which while very small once a person is an adult is way "bigger" for teenagers. In that case, him being frustrated and angry and lashing out may have been a result of him setting himself up for rejection or considering a relationship - even in the future - would be impossible, and thus sort of putting a wall to prevent further damage, even if said wall CAUSED the damage. Though that would highly depend on Oswin canonically having feelings for MC regardless of player's choices when it comes to MC's feelings, and for the time being I really can't tell if that's the case.

Anyway, I'll stop here with the theories cause it's starting to be quite long! But I just need to ask... will we be able to cuddle with Duri again - no matter the form - even if not romancing them? My MC seems compelled to just hug people and animals!

Yay! I'm so happy you enjoyed it!

I was hoping Duri would gain a few more fans with their reveal and it seems that is happening. All the characters are layered, but Duri has some special flavors to discover. They're better experienced in story I think too; they shine a little more true.

And I am so glad you caught that bit with Oswin, my dear! You're the first so far to mention it. Your MC will get the chance to bring that up, don't you worry. He's such a tease sometimes without meaning to be, lol.

I like your take on Oswin, and all I will say (but I won't point to specifics) is that you are on one or more correct paths. Chapter 5 should yield a conversation that will help paint the picture as well. Also thinking I should do some POVs sometime soon, and Oswin has several moments that are well-suited to this.

Duri will be available for cuddles, even the platonic ones in the coming chapters. They're pretty affectionate, especially towards friends.

Thank you for the message my dear, I really enjoyed and appreciated it! ^_^

[laismoura-art]

I need your umgadi girls college au headcanons with lisa! I'll Try to gone up with the order of light headcanons hatsune!

Hey Dragon!!💕

It took me longer than expected to gather my ideas, but here we go!!

Harumi and Tanya studied together in high school!

They were both cheerleaders and Tanya was team captain!

Harumi is extremely sociable and friendly, so she befriended Tanya on their first day of training. They've been best friends ever since!

Tanya was very popular in high school, she was an unusual "good mean girl" meaning she targeted bullies instead of the bullied.

She used to pick up some serious fights till the school boarding warned her it could affect her chances of getting a scholarship. Even though she was an extremely dedicated student.

Tanya doesn't come from a wealthy home, so she couldn't afford missing any chance to get her scholarship!

Harumi didn't think it was fair that Tanya was getting in trouble for defending other kids, so she started to cover up for her.

Being liked by everyone had it's perks, Harumi could get anyone to help back us her stories.

Tanya stopped picking up actual fights and started to do some little pranks instead.

The bullies always knew it was her, but with Harumi getting more than half of the school promptly siding with her and Tanya, it was hard for them to get her in any trouble!

To get extra points, Tanya also joined the gardening club at their school, which Harumi was part of!

Tanya wasn't that great at gardening, but of course Harumi helped her out (which made her very happy cause usually it was Tanya who helped her with her studies, so it was nice to be the one helping for a change)!

Tanya graduated with flying colours as one of the best students. Which granted her a 100% scholarship!

She got to attend the best gymnastics program in the country!

She was hoping after graduation she would open her own program for low income children like herself!

Harumi also got herself a scholarship to the same college as Tanya, though she was majoring in nursing instead.

They both opened her acceptance letters together and spend an entire weekend celebrating!

It was at college that they met the rest of the girls!

Jade has lived in South America most of her life as her family had business in the region.

It was in Peru that she met her best friend, Kotal. It seems his family had direct descendant to Incan royalty!

Through her parents many trips and long friendship with Kotal, Jade learned to love history, ancient history specifically!

She decided to major in history then (to her parents distaste, as they'd rather have her study business to continue working at her family's company)

Despite her choices going against her family's preferences, they didn't object much. They come from a very wealthy family so she could indulge.

Her parents were very busy businesspeople, and their hyperfocus on their jobs make them rather neglectful towards Jade. Though they bought the tickets to her trip, as they promised they would, they ended messing up the dates and scheduling her flight a WEEK after the classes had already started!

Not wanting to miss another day, Jade went to class as soon as she arrived, which caused her to be jetlagged and extremely exhausted!

It didn't help that she didn't know the college and, in a hurry, she ended up barging into the wrong class! The nursing class, where she met Harumi.

Harumi, always the friendly type, offered to help get Jade settled! She showed her around and they talked a lot in the process, Harumi could tell she and Jade were going to be good friends!

At lunch time, Harumi invited Jade to join her, and there she met Tanya!

Suchin only joined the group a couple weeks later.

She is the perfect example of an antisocial and always had very few friends, and unfortunately, none of them made it to the same college as her.

She was terrified with the idea of having to make friends all over again, but the luck was on her side this time!

Thanks to her majoring in archeology, she has history class with Jade, and was quite fascinated by Jade's knowledge on Mesoamerican culture. She didn't say anything, but Jade could tell she was paying attention and, to Suchin's relief, was the one who started a conversation!

Jade also invited Suchin to join her and her friends at lunch! Before Suchin knew, she already had three new friends!

A month later Lisa Liang would be joining their group!

She and Kuai Liang, came all the way from China for their majors! (They choose this college because their older brother, Bi-Han was already studying there).

Lisa used to have serious anger problems, and they only improved once she started doing martial arts.

She wanted to help other people the same way she was helped, so she decided to major in business, she would be able to open her own martial arts school! She will call it the Lin Kuei Dojo!

Meanwhile, Kuai, always wanted to be a therapist, as therapy had always helped him handle his insecurities, and much like Lisa, he wanted other people to receive the same help and support he had!

Lisa wasn’t great at making friends, but she knew she would've to get past that if she wanted to be able to work with people in the future!

She was jogging around campus one morning and coincidentally, so was Tanya. They were going the same direction and Lisa took it as her opportunity to be social.

Tanya was very nice to her and Lisa didn't want to ruin things with her, so she admitted she was not used to talk to people and requested Tanya not to think she was weird (while also mentally smacking herself for being so blunt with a girl she had just met)

Tanya inly laughed and said Lisa wasn’t the first socially awkward friend she had, and invited Lisa to join her at lunch. She was sure meeting Harumi was all Lisa needed to relax and feel more welcomed!

Little did she know she would be bringing together what would soon become the most amazing power couple!

Now, speaking of amazing powers couples, here's some shipping focused headcanons:

Tanya met Mileena in the gymnastics program. Li Mei, their teacher, paired them up together for an exercise and they got along very nicely!

Mileena realised her feelings for Tanya after messing up a sequence, a couple girls were mean to her for that and Tanya stood up for her!

Suchin met Kenshi in history class. Their first conversation happened because she corrected him on a fact.

She expected him to be mad, but he found it amusing instead, and also requested her help on some fact checking! She accepted-- or rather, Jade accepted for her!

Jade and Tomas met by chance. Jade ended up accidentally 3rd wheeling for Harumi and Lisa (Tanya and Suchin had both decided to call it a night and Jade missed the cue to do the same, so she just remained awkwardly with the couple)

Lisa took them both home and there they met Tomas (he wouldn't start college till the next semester, hence why they never met in class)

Tomas was relieved to see Jade cause then he wouldn't be stuck 3rd wheeling in his own house!

Bonus couple:

Hanzo came all the way from Japan to study Pedagogy, but unlike the Sub-Zero siblings, his english wasn't the best, so he took a mentoring class to improve. Kuai was his tutor!

They bonded over their want to help people, as Hanzo wants to do Pedagogy to give a better education to orphanage children!

Aaaaand that's what I have for now! Hope you enjoy it!!💕

@madamealtruist @mikka-minns @orbitinytheworld

[sapphic-agent]

Can you please get into how much the fandom demonizes Rei? Like, I’m not disagreeing that she wasn’t the best mother. But people really turn this woman (who is financially, socially, AND emotionally dependent on her husband and Clan!) into some abusive mother who WANTED to burn Shoto’s face! When it’s obvious that she was begging her mother to take her away from the house because she was too stressed out from Endeavor’s influence and Touya’s death!

I don’t know, I just think she’s not a perfect mother, but nobody can be a perfect mother. She clearly did her best with what she had, and who would’ve believed her if she said Endeavor was an abusive husband and father? The police? Other heroes? No! I bet Endeavor would’ve claimed that SHE was the terrible parent and that she was suffering from PPSD (which, she probably was, four kids, two of which were born when Endeavor started getting obsessed with overcoming All Might? She definitely had that) and she would’ve ended up in the hospital no matter what.

Let's talk about it😈

So I was actually skimming through the manga where Shoto mentions this. He says that his mother was pushed and pushed by Endeavor until she just broke. And I love this because Shoto understands that his mom was in a shitty situation and never intended to hurt him. Unlike this shitty fandom, he's aware enough to see who was the abuser and who was the one who made a mistake.

Let's go over Rei's past for a minute. She:

Grew up in an environment that was at the best neglectful and at the worst abusive

Was sold like an object (and yes this is canon, the Himura Clan canonically sells their children it was a forced marriage, not an arranged marriage)

Married Endeavor and had Touya at 18

Already, she was dealt a shitty hand. Endeavor is also four years older than her, so he was 22 while she was only barely an adult. Even outside her being bought by him, there's a huge power imbalance here. Even if he was polite and nice in the beginning, she was at a major disadvantage in their "relationship."

One of my gripes with Horikoshi and the later parts of the manga is the retcon of the Todoroki past. How Shoto tells the story and how it's portrayed later are very different.

In Shoto's version, Endeavor hit Rei for defending him from Endeavor. In the Touya flashback, she tripped. In Shoto's version, Endeavor only saw his children as means to an end. In the Touya flashback, he's portrayed as caring about them. In Shoto's version, there's a menacing and villainous aura surrounding Endeavor. In the Touya flashback he's portrayed normally.

And this is done to make Endeavor look more sympathetic. Which is bad not only because he was an abuser who doesn't deserve sympathy, it also antagonizes Touya and Rei in the process.

(People could argue that Shoto's love for his mother and young age make him an unreliable narrator. But to me this is dismissing the victim. Shoto might have been young, but he recalls enough to tell it in excruciating detail. It was a huge part of his life and writing it off like that does him a disservice)

So there are two instances specifically that people demonize Rei for.

1. Shoto's Burn

Now this is the one that is her responsibility. My thing is though... No one ever said it wasn't? Least of all Rei herself. Once she saw Shoto again, she immediately apologized. During the event itself, she realized what she did and broke down and tried to fix it. She also spent 10 years in asylum paying for what she did (which is more consequence than Endeavor faced btw).

The thing no one seems to acknowledge about this is that this didn't come from nowhere. She didn't do what she did out of cruelty or hatred towards her son. She did it because Endeavor had abused her to the point of insanity. To the point where even seeing them in her kids' faces caused her to have a complete mental breakdown. Which is understandable due to the physical, verbal, financial, and sexual abuse he was putting her through.

You know, there's an irl story like this. A woman was suffering from severe PPD and other mental issues after having four kids I think it was. Doctors and everyone repeatedly told her husband that she souldn't have more kids. He didn't listen (I'm not sure if SA was involved here but I'm inclined to believe it was) and they continued to have more. Eventually one day she snapped and killed her children.

PPD is seriously dangerous when it's left untreated, even worse when that isn't the only thing going on. Rei was no doubt suffering from the ramifications of that, but on top of everything else Endeavor out her through I can't believe she didn't break earlier.

2. Touya's Situation

It baffles that people find it in themselves to blame Rei but feel sympathy towards Endeavor over Touya.

Because on top of every instance of abuse I mentioned above, Rei was also taking care of four kids completely by herself. That would be hard even without her own and Touya's mental issues.

From the manga panel I provided, she was the only one between her and Endeavor taking Touya's mental well-being seriously. She knew how having more kids would affect him and she was right. She was the one who had to deal with Touya lashing out when Endeavor ignored him (which also contributed to her breaking down and burning Shoto due to Touya emulating Endeavor).

Rei is a character who's been judged so unfairly. Partly because Endeavor fanboys, partly because Dabi/Shoto fangirls, and completely because of the misogyny that runs rampant in this fandom. She deserved so much better.

I have a fic giving Rei the justice she deserves if anyone's interested. It features my OC who happens to be Rei's quirkless younger sister. Give it a read if you want

[mikodrawnnarratives]

Okay I finished the BOOK

YAYYAYAYAYAYYAYAYAYAYYA

God I need fanfics of Molly living with Giovanni now like T-T

AHGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH JUS

JU- AHHAHHSHHSHAHDJXBJBSKSJKZBSJS

Everything I ever WANTED

AND NOW THAT IVE FINISHED

My verdict on Lorelai:

I'm glad that whatever growth she may go through, Molly won't be suffering when she inevitably backtracks along the way. It'd be nice to see the two mend their relationship but it is definitely for the better that they've been separated.

I wanna see Lorelai struggle and grow but she shouldn't get anymore opportunities to hurt Molly, much less for the sake of her learning a lesson. So it's better this way imo

And now that Molly isn't there, Lorelai's gonna have to run the shop and learn her lesson through CUSTOMER SERVICE joining zuko and others in the redemption arc trend of becoming redeemed by dealing with bitchy people

I very much don't mind rotating Lorelai in my brain a lil more cuz I don't hate her. I want to bunt her across the room when she hurts Molly ofc, I will not retract my statements, but I hate HER FATHER more than her

Cuz her father has no excuse to be the way he is. I'll get back to Lorelai in a moment cause she is definitely NOT faultless, but HIM?? He enabled all of this. He never checked in with his daughters and was always so inconsiderate of them. AND HES A GROWN MAN! It's telling that Giovanni goes off on him more than he does Lorelai cause in the end, he did nothing.

Back to Lorelai, she feels like a very intentionally immature character. Immature and selfish in a way that contrasts with Molly when Molly is the actual kid. I mean, Lorelai is 17 and all but by that age you can fairly expect someone to grasp not leaving your 12 yr old sibling to suffer under responsibilities your supposed to share.

And Lorelai being immature I think is added to by her fear that she's the reason her mother died. And the grief in all that. I think it's a good enough reason to feel sympathetic for how she's spiraled into this unhealthy coping mechanism and separates her from her father when it comes to being a rotten person.

By the end of the book it still felt like she hadn't grasped WHY what she did was bad to me and I'm kinda hoping that was an intentional writing decision. The book shows how she doesn't grasp some things like what makes someone a genuinely horrible person and so for her to still not quite see how what she did was bad, feels fitting.

By the end of seemed to me like, she KNEW what she did wasnt okay because Giovanni told her off and she was confronted with the truth that, she wasn't the good guy. Yet knowing that didn't make her understand what her actions specifically caused. Despite. Molly telling her.

I want to look up shenanigans between Molly and Giovanni in fics but I also kinda want to see Naven and Lorelai's relationship with the steps she'll make to become a better person

So def a ways away from growing significantly but I like that Naven has stuck around offering his help should she accept it. I mean Giovanni did that too but Naven's role in her story hits HARD

[EDIT: God I'm embarrassed Naven only pointed out Giovanni's card he left behind, ONLY GIOVANNI reached out if she wanted to work on herself to be better BUT I STILL LIKE TO THINK SHE AND NAVEN KEPT IN CONTACT SHUSH he could like give her some tough love]

Speaking of relationships, idk about Giovanni x Lorelai

I mean I still think it could be cute, Lorelai's crushing scenes are hilarious as much as they are sad and envoke feelings of "I just want good things for Lorelai". I def don't think she deserves him rn but I do think that, since Giovanni hasn't shut down her becoming his minion in THE FUTUREE, when she learns to be good at being bad, she has a shot.

Though, it's still a little lost on me if Giovanni has figured out she has been crushing on him HARD. Like, he picked up on her cheating and bullying but did he pick up on any of the signs for her affection?? Makes me think she's gonna have a hard time in the friendzone if she became a minion. Not sure what Giovanni with a crush would look like either tho so.

I have a bit of a hard time seeing Giovanni crushing on her but I still think their dynamic is cute enough! Just dragged down by how awful she's been to everyone and HIS NUMBER 1 MINIONNN

but the more I think about it, I think it'd be great to see them as just friends. Like, getting on the level of best buds and Lorelai loses her crush on him. Both still maintaining the dynamic they had in that last fight with all the bantering cuz they are pretty similar

If they ever became romantic though. Like. Molly and Lorelai's relationship NEEDS to be healed and I think healed for a WHILE. I just can't see it working out otherwise. This would probably need to ring true if they were to become best friends too but EVEN MORE SO if they got mushy (as in the failed baking trials that would compromise 40% of the time they would hang out. Love language quality time)

Anyway

Ngl I already got my own angsty ideas for Lorelai because self hatred + not wanting to be the bad guy is such a delicious combination of traits that contradict each other yet still exist never the less

I wonder how Lorelai reacted the morning she realized Molly was gone and gone for good. I'm betting she at first believed she'd be hanging out with her friends and would be back. Then a day passes. Then another. And another. She asks her father if he's seen Molly and is reminded he doesn't care. I wonder if she confronted Naven about where Molly was, if she'd at first lash out when he doesn't tell her, and that reminds her why this happened.

She probably couldn't wallow in self pity for very long since she'd be working now, but still vry interesting how it'll play out