#this is also longer than I anticipated whoops

[onlyhereforthestories]

Comeback Queen - Part 1 (Alexia Putellas x Reader)

Here you go! I really enjoyed writing this one and I hope you guys like it. Part 2 will be out tomorrow night! Also if you want to share your theories on where reader is going please send them my way. I’m interested to see what you guys think! 🫶

Months. That’s how long it had been since you had been in this position. Month and months and months. Months longer than it should have been too. Alexia had unfortunately had complications with her knee after coming back to playing the first time and this meant that she was side lined for a further few months.

During her time out on the side lines, you had picked up a knock yourself and was now part of the recovery squad. You hated the first month of your recovery purely because if you couldn’t be playing you want to be watching your love do what she does best, but that wasn’t possible either.

So, when Alexia went away with the Spanish squad and phoned you to say even though she wouldn’t be playing she is fit enough to sit on the bench, you knew it wouldn’t be long until that did happen.

You were proven right a couple weeks later. It was

You were sat in the stands with Mapi and a few of the other girls who had some sort of knock or injury, just behind the bench. Alexia had excitedly told you last night that Jona was planning on putting her on in the second half of todays match. This had excited you too as it meant you got to do your second favourite thing to do with football, watching her play. Of course, this was slightly behind playing yourself but that isn’t possible right now.

The first half flew by and with Salma’s hattrick Barca was already cruising towards the win, something that meant slightly less pressure on your loves shoulders when she did come on which you knew would help even if she didn’t really think about it. Alexia had gone through a pretty extensive warm up during the half time break so you had a feeling it wouldn’t be too long until you saw her enter the field. You didn’t leave your seat like the others wanting to make sure you caught every ball touch the woman had. She had just run back down the tunnel to catch the last bit of the half time team talk and probably give her own little captains speech with Irene.

The next time you caught her moving was in the 60th minute. She was up on the side lines in her kit, bib over the top to warm up quickly but you knew it wouldn’t be long until she was out on the pitch and the rest of the stadium could tell too. Not even a minute later and she was lined up with .. and .. ready for her much awaited and eagerly anticipated return.

She got given the captains armband and received a loud round of applause as she ran on, you made sure to whoop and cheer as loud as you could. Determined to show your support for your lover.

Alexia had been on the pitch for barely 10 minutes when the ball was crossed into Lucy at the back post, you held your breath as the ball bounced off her and into the middle of the box where your favourite number 11 was waiting. She didn’t catch the shot as cleanly as you knew she would have wished to, but it didn’t matter as it nestled into the bottom right corner.

You were up in a flash jumping with the other injured players as much as physically possible for you all. Of course she was in the right place at the right time, she had been studying tapes her whole life pretty much. She just knew the game and now even more than ever possibly, she knew her team.

The rest of the game went on and even though the opposition scored it didn’t dull the buzz around the stadium, the return of Frido last game and now Ale today just had set the right feeling within the club. Now all that was left was you and Mapi.

Speaking of, Mapi was dragging you by the hand down to the pitch where you greeted Ingrid when she approached, you chatted with them as well as Keira and Aitana for a while, but your eyes never drifted far from Alexia as she made her way round the fans. You were always in awe of how she interacted with them no matter the occasion, she always had time to sign things and take photos.

She had made her way around all the fans she could today and was about to head down the tunnel when she spotted you. Her eyes met yours and you could see the joy in them as soon as they did, the smile widening on her lips to match. She changed direction and headed towards where you were stood with the other women.

As she got closer you excused yourself from the conversation around dinner and made a beeline for her. You instantly wrapped your arms around her and held on with all you had, her arms wrapping around your waist and holding you firmly but not tight. “I’m so proud of you, mi vida. A goal too right away, only you could do that.” She gave you a little extra squeeze before pulling back.

“Had someone to score for didn’t I.” You grinned in her direction and went to reply when Pina jumped into the conversation from behind you both.

“You always score for y/n can’t you dedicate it to someone else for once.” You exchanged a look with your wife at this, you could see the smirk rising on her face, but you gave her a warning look. As much as you loved Claudia you knew she had a big mouth and what you had to share should only come from the two of you, being as it affected those you play with or did play with.

“What can I say, when you love someone this much it’s easy to dedicate a goal to them.” This caused a smile to rise to your face.

Pina walked away with a slightly disturbed look on her face, one that you knew was due to her distaste for the lovey stuff she had just heard from her captain. “You are capi mush when y/n is around.” Was a comment thrown over her shoulder as she walked away, a comment that had your girlfriend giving you a quick peck to the lips before she was off running after her. Causing the young Spaniard to squeal and bolt off in her counterpart Patri’s direction, you wife hot on her heels.

You giggled at their antics and met back up with Mapi to go out to the car, you had picked the couple up today and would be dropping them home on your way back to yours and Alexia’s place.

Mapi and Ingrid had just departed the car with the promise to be ready for when you are due to pick them up later to car share to dinner. Alexia was staring out the passenger side window obviously deep in thought because her eyebrows had the cute crinkle in them, they always had when the gears in her head were working overtime.

“What’s going on in the beautiful mind of your babe?” When she didn’t reply you got a little concerned, Alexia was not normally that far in her head that she couldn’t even hear you. To gain her attention you gently rested your hand on her thigh which caused her to jump slightly. “Lo siento I didn’t mean to make you jump, are you okay?”

Alexia grabbed the hand on her thigh and laced your fingers together and gave your hand a squeeze, “Si no sorry I’m okay just thinking.” This caused you to chuckle slightly which meant you got a confused look from the woman riding shotgun.

“I know you are thinking gupa, that’s why I put my hand on you to get your attention. I asked you what was going on in that beautiful head of yours and you were too far gone.” You squeezed the hand in yours a couple time to give her some comfort.

“I think we should tell them.” She was looking directly at you now and you knew this had been playing on her mind longer than just this car journey. You gave her hand another squeeze before you replied.

“I think we should soon too, but not today. Today is about you amor, I don’t want anything to take away from us celebrating that, you. But yes, I do think soon we need to too.” Alexia was nodding away in the passenger seat as you spoke and gave you a smile as she gripped your hand in 3 successive squeezes, a gesture you knew meant she loved you.

The rest of the journey home was spent talking about how you were going to share your news, you were still not sure how some of the girls would take your departure from the squad.

[willows-escape]

Love, Love, Love | AHS Tate Langdon x Reader

Pairing: AHS Tate Langdon x Reader

Summary: You died. A pity. You were stuck in a house filled from the basement to the attic of people past who'd met their untimely fates. A pity. Your boyfriend, the love of your short life, stopped talking to you; spending his time hanging out with the bane of your existence. Violet. A pity.

Warnings: you die, terrible communication skills, angst to fluff, smut smut smut, reader tries to be in charge- tate nips that in the bud quickly though, restraint, oral (fem receiving), banging on the basement floor lel, they get caught, creampies, slight make up sex, tate makes you taste yourself haha whoops, jealousy, tate and violet bein friends- she forgave him and whatnot, he makes a jokey reference to what he said about f-ing violet in the show but that’s just because it’s tate

You were cold. So, so cold. Desolate and drained of life, splayed out and unnervingly still on the floor beneath you. Your own dead body was casually propped in front of you, as if it was the most normal thing in the world. Another milestone in the traumatic circle of life in which you lived.

You heard pitiful sobs ringing out alongside hushed whimpers, 'i'm sorry, i really tried. I promise.'

'It's okay,' you murmured, words hushed and tension building in your throat.

'I still love you.'

But did he love you?

You found yourself pondering this question lately, eyes narrowed and lips bitten to shreds as you silently sat on the floor of the attic. It was safe to say you were relatively adjusted to the whole being dead thing now, having made yourself acquainted with all the other lone spirits wandering the house.

'Come on, Beau, gimme a turn with the ball,' you smiled, watching the small boy prod, push and throw the small toy around in glee. It was heartwarming watching him be so happy and in his element, but also it twisted your guts knowing why he was doomed to the fate he shares with you.

Eager to play with you, the ball was quickly pushed along the dusty, splintered floorboards. You reached out to it, but the enthusiasm behind Beau's push caused it to roll further and faster than you'd anticipated. Giggling, you pushed yourself out of your cross legged position and followed the ball to the entrance.

The attic door was open, meaning the ball had fallen from the attic floor to the hallway beneath you. You knew that since you were a ghost you could technically just materialise yourself in any room you wished to be in, but you had a habit of trying to stick to doing things the traditional way when you could help it.

'Tate, don't be an asshole,' you heard a familiar voice snicker beneath you, accompanied by a boyish laughter that somehow always managed to set fire to your skin. Except this time, your skin prickled, your faux blood tingling as if your veins were flowing with lightning.

'You know you love me, Vi.'

Even with another girl, Tate still managed to be the only thing to make you still feel alive.

Your mood had effectively been soured, the ball no longer of your concern. You disappeared, ignoring the confused whining of the little boy behind you. You felt too betrayed to care.

If there's one thing that ignited your nerves, it was the shrill screams of children. The sound had you bristling on edge, agitated and digging your nails into the palms of your hands. The affection and care you held for kids didn't apply when they were crying their little hearts out.

'Are you okay, Nora?' you asked sympathetically, watching her grimace at the infant laying in the cot beside her, as if she were looking at the devil himself. The baby was crying out, for what you didn't know, but it didn't seem like it was going to chill out anytime soon.

'I don't wish to look at it,' she stood up, hands wiping themselves against each other as if to rid herself of the suddenly dirty germs of her child. 'Where's Vivienne?'

'Having a family night with Ben and Violet,' a new figure peaked up, the hauntingly familiar voice turning your taste buds sour and causing your saliva to run dry.

Shaking her head in irritation, she tossed a blanket in your direction before turning to exit the main area of the basement, 'I'll be back once it's calmed.'

You groaned. Not only had you been left with a small, screaming child, you were also sitting in front of the man who hadn't properly spoken with you since your death- and had clearly moved on just fine and dandy. As if you'd meant nothing.

Rage simmered in your chest, begging to slip off your tongue and rear it's ugly head at the object of your anger. But you kept yourself collected, it was no use sobbing until your lungs collapsed or beating him with your fists as you unleashed the pent up sadness and confusion you held.

And not only that, this was only time you'd been near his vicinity since your death, and yet he was still only talking about her.

There was an awkward silence drifting between you both, feeling his coconut coloured eyes raking over you as you stood up to attend to the responsibility you'd been left with. You lifted the baby into your blanketed arms, humming a familiar lullaby as you rocked back and fourth gently. The crying didn't cease.

'Do dead babies need diaper changes?'

Your lips pursed. The first words he felt worthy of saying to you after your death... was asking if ghost babies could piss and shit? You almost laughed at the ridiculousness of it all, what else could you expect from him? That was the boy you knew, as dense as ever.

'Nope,' you responded blankly, 'You've been dead longer than me, would've supposed you'd have figured out dead people don't have functioning organs by now.'

'I dunno, but babies are babies. What else can they do except shit, eat and sleep?' he mused, his relentless gaze still lingering on your figure.

'Well, now he's only left with eating and sleeping.'

The silence settled in once more, and you tried to ignore how much you loved having his attention. You bitterly reminded yourself that if it weren't for the Harmon's spending time together, he'd leave you to be with Violet in a flash.

'I'm sorry.'

'Whatever for?' you inquired, voice light and airy as if you didn't understand why he felt the need to say such a thing. What could he have possibly done to feel the need to apologise?

You heard a disgruntled sigh from behind you, his frustration clearly becoming too overwhelming to contain. Good, you thought, be annoyed. You couldn't give less of a shit.

'Can we just go back to normal? Please?'

Normal?

Normal.

He, all of a sudden, felt as though it was time to go back to normal? After abandoning you, choosing another over you, betraying you, he felt it was time to pull on his big boy pants and act like all of this just never occurred? You'd known he had a slight fear of rejection, but you never expected him to have the audacity to not even face what he'd done wrong. To ignore it and attempt to sweep it under the rug, as if it were just a dry spell in your relationship that meant no harm.

You scoffed, placing the no longer crying angel back into his crib. You brushed back the few strands of hair he possessed, before looking to face the antsy man behind you. The nerve.

'Can't do, sorry.'

You walked off, disappearing as Nora came back to attend to her baby. Loving him conditionally once more, returning to care for and treat him as her own- on her own terms.

Much like somebody else you knew.

'I don't know what to do,' Tate groaned, 'I don't know how to get her to talk to me again, y'know? She's just like, gone cold. Like I don't exist.'

Ben Harmon sat across from him, arms crossed as he listened to the boys ramblings. It was almost entertaining how Tate had seemed to have gone full circle, and yet didn't have the self awareness to realise he was back where he started. No longer obsessing over his daughter, thank god, but another girl who'd enraptured him. Another girl who was, funny enough, also trying to cut contact with him.

'We can't force people to do thing's they don't want to do, Tate. If they don't want to talk to you, then that's their choice. They don't owe you a conversation.'

'Don't you think I know that?'

It was also funny how even though Ben had vehemently refused to ever see Tate as another client in his life, or in his death, here he was. Sitting across from the pouting man child who had begged him for help one last time, promising that this would be the final occasion where he'd ask for his assistance. For some peculiar reason, Ben didn't believe this would be the last.

'Is this week the first time you tried to talk to her?' Ben questioned, the unfortunate realisation sinking in that the situation was more hopeless than he thought as Tate nodded his head. 'Why?'

'I dont knowww,' he whined, head thrown back and eyes closing as he reveled in his self pity. 'I just, I don't know, I was scared.'

'Scared?'

'I feel like she died because of me, like I failed her. Like she'd have been better off without me meddling in her life, so I thought why meddle in her afterlife too? She didn't need me making her even more miserable.'

'Did she give any indication that she actually thinks this way of you, Tate?' His brows furrowed as he took in what the blonde boy was saying, trying to make sense of how he'd come to this conclusion in his sick head. Sick being the keyword, of course his thought process made no sense. Tate's mental state wasn't normal by any means, so it took jumping through plenty of loops to try to understand him.

Many, many loops.

'I mean, no,' Tate fiddled with his fingers, looking down at his hands as he tried to hold back his tears, 'I fucked up.'

'Yup.'

'Do you think I can fix it? Like I did with Violet?'

Ben paused his thought process, staring the boy in his eyes as he spoke through gritted teeth, 'Violet? What have you been doing with my daughter?'

'Nothin', nothin'' Tate quickly reassured, raising his hands in surrender, brushing off the older man's piercing stare. 'I have my eyes set on y/n now, me and Violet are longgg gone. Still cool to hang out with though, yesterday we-'

'I don't want to know what you've been doing with my daughter.'

'Gee, relax. I fucked her once, years ago,' Tate scoffed, rolling his eyes as he chuckled, 'She was a great time for a virgin though, she was sooo wet-'

'Enough,' Ben seethed, standing up out of his leather armchair as he walked towards the door. He opened it, pointing in the direction of the hallway.

'Hey, I was just messing with ya,' Tate softly spoke, trying to diffuse the situation. He didn't really mean what he said about Violet, his numerous encounters with you had made everyone before you seem as if they never happened. He just wanted to get on Ben's nerves a little, like the good times. Plus, Tate couldn't leave yet, Ben hadn't solved his problem. And he'd rather get gunned down dead again before leaving the office without a plan of action to get you to reconcile with him.

'Tate, you know what your problem is?' Ben approached him, hands making aimless gestures as he continued his rant. 'You don't have boundaries, you don't think of the affects of your words and your actions before it's too late. Consider people's feelings more and you wouldn't be in this situation for the second time.'

'Well, ow,' Tate cringed, face scrunching up as he took in the mean spew of word's Ben had thrown at him. He knew he didn't deserve niceties, but that didn't make his harsh words sting less.

'I won't repeat myself, Tate. I want you out.'

Reluctantly and with an angered scowl on his face, he disappeared.

'Fucking talk to me!' He cried, arms tightly clutched around your frame, holding onto you as if you'd vanish if he let go. You gritted your teeth at his sobs.

You tried forcefully removing his desperate arms from around your body, but your efforts were useless as they only spurred him to cling tighter. His salty tears were soaking the white fabric of the dress you had died in, your nose scrunching as you felt the wet patch press against you unpleasantly.

'Where we you when I wanted to talk?' you angrily mumbled, struggling to even lighten the grip he had purchased around you. You were stuck, and you knew there was no point wasting your strength. He was a stubborn boy.

'I'm sorry, okay,' he hiccuped, his breath hitching in his throat as he babbled on aimlessly. You understood a small fraction of his words, not even enough to string together a sentence, but enough to gather what he was trying to convey. You really didn't want to have your resolve shattered, but if you had to listen to his pitiful pleas any longer you were going to snap.

Snap, as in, take his soft cheeks in your hands and give him a fat smooch, and forgive all the heartbreak and pain he'd put you through recently.

But, you wanted to hear him beg a little more. You were quite cruel. However, there was a small, nagging fear in the back of your mind you'd needed relieved.

'Tate, what about... what about Violet?' you softly asked, your voice barely audible under your breath. You were scared, so fucking scared. What if he immediately let you go upon realising what you said, coming to his senses as it dawned on him that Violet really was the better option? That you weren't enough for him after all?

You knew enough of Tate and Violet's history to be aware that they'd been something once before, something intimate and that there had been a shared attraction between the two. You didn't know the extent, nor did you wish to know all the details, but there was something. And that was enough to have you on edge.

'Violet?' Tate looked up at you, tear stained cheeks gleaming and red as he sniffled. 'What- did Violet say something to you? Whatever it was, it was a lie! Is that why you didn’t wanna talk? Violet?'

'It was nothing that Violet did,' you stated, running your hand through his poofy, blonde locks for comforts sake. For your or his comfort, you didn't know.

'Then why?' his voice cracked as a sob escaped his throat, his head nuzzling deeper into your hip. He was on his knees beside you, puffy eyes, lips and cheeks pressing against you.

'You're just always with her,' the mental wall holding the sea of emotions you were harbouring collapsed, your cries matching his as you slid to a sitting position. Tate didn't let you go, keeping a firm grip on you as you joined him on the floor. 'You seem so happy together, and you haven't spoken to me since, well- you know when. And you and Violet used to be a thing, and I heard you say that you knew she loved you when i was upstairs in the attic one day and I just-'

'You're stupid,' Tate chuckled through his tears, arms adjusting to bring you against his body in a loving embrace. You felt the safest you had in a while, coddled in his arms against the wall of the basement. It was peaceful.

'I just need to know, Tate,' you brushed his fringe back as you gazed into his eyes, the love you'd left bubbling under the surface of your being, threatening to explode out of you. He was so beautiful, and you were yearning to let him know. 'Violet or me? I'll forgive you for not talking to me, won't even ask why you did all that. I just need-'

'You.'

You smiled, pulling his stupid, pretty face towards you to indulge yourself in what you'd been missing. His love.

Although, you still wanted to make him beg.

'Why'd you stop?' he huffed, nudging his face towards yours to capture your lips in another heated kiss. He'd gone so long without you, and right now, he was feeling selfish. He was intent on taking all of you.

'Proving I can make you feel better than Violet,' you laughed at the forlorn expression etched across his face, his hands tightening their grip as he attempted to pull you into him. He wanted you to become one with him. He wanted you so bad. Needed you.

'Babyyy,' he whinged, tugging on the material of your dress. You didn't move an inch. Now you'd made up with the love of your life, you were going to make sure the next hour of the rest of your relationship was going to start with a bang.

'Take your pants off.'

A goofy smile spreads across his lips, his grip untangling from around you as he reaches down to undo the zipper of his jeans. His hands were ready and brisk, making quick work of his clothing as he slid it down his legs. He'd been waiting for this since the last time you'd made love.

That was a part of the difference in how he viewed you and Violet. Violet was a quick fuck, an easy release, a one and done kind of deal- if he had known your pretty little ass would've waltzed into his life, he wouldn't have touched her like that with a ten foot pole. They were similar, true buddy material, but you were the breath of fresh air he needed. The change of pace he craved. You kept him sane, while Violet ignited his instability and made him lose himself. He hated losing himself.

You reached out with your right hand, your left keeping you stable and upright while you kneeled in between his spread legs. Fire was accumulating in your tummy, your arousal twisting and enkindling your insides. You saw the appendage beneath the flimsy material of his boxers twitch, a small wet stain signalling his desperation. His cock throbbed as he waited in anticipation for you to finally make contact with his aching hard on.

You traced just around the outline of it, watching his eyes as they followed your hand going round and round his dick. He needed your hand, mouth, cunt- anything, he just needed to feel you touch him. He'd missed your touch more than anything.

'Please?' he cheekily peered up at you, biting his lip as he smirked. You rolled your eyes at him, reminding him you weren't going to give him what he wanted unless he begged. Properly.

He entertained your false sense of dominance for slightly longer, until he saw your hand nearing the dripping mess between your legs and he'd immediately decided he'd had enough of the teasing. He wasn't going to get left out of the fun.

Before you could even process the change in position, you were knocked onto your back and your hands were pinned above your head. That was fucking hot, even if you were slightly winded. If Tate wasn't situated snug and firm between your legs, you'd be rubbing your thighs together, desperately searching for friction against your clit.

'Woah,' you giggled, smiling up at Tate as he frantically kissed down your cheek to the bare skin of your neck. His hands trailed down to your parted thighs, sneakily making their way beneath the flimsy skirt that was doing little to nothing to hide your clothed mound.

He toyed with the lace of your underwear, getting back at you for the torment you put him through not moments before. He watched as you bit your lip and rolled around impatiently, wanting his fingers in your dripping folds, rubbing and soothing the ache in your pussy. He just laughed at your insatiable need, leaning closer to cover your lips with his as he finally pushed past the barrier keeping you two agonisingly apart.

‘Oh, shit-' you moaned, trying to relieve your hands from the relentless grip your sweet boyfriend currently had around your sore, red wrists. You never knew pain could feel so fucking good. The fingers of his free hand were exploring every inch of you, tentatively circling your hole before rising up to your sweet bundle of nerves. He loved watching you fall apart beneath him. It was addictive.

Smothering his fingers in the flowing essence dripping from your hole, he bought them up between the two of you as he once more parted from your plump, swollen lips. Your cheeks warmed at the pruned state of his hands, eyes entranced as you noticed the way your arousal dripped down him. He alined his fingers up to entrance of your mouth, words that didn’t need to be spoken aloud hanging off of the edge of his tongue. Your eyes widened.

‘You- you want me to—‘

‘Open.’

One word was all that needed to be said for you to scurry to fulfil his orders. You parted your lips as he requested, watching as he lowered his fingers past your opening before laying them flat against your wet muscle. ‘Suck.’

Eyes fluttering shut, you wrapped the ring of your lips around him as you tasted the manifestion of your excitement. It didn’t as taste as bad as you expected, sweet even. You laughed mentally as you recalled all the fruit you’d love to indulge yourself in when you were still alive. Must be that.

You lapped your tongue over his digits, moving your head back and forth as you took every inch of them that you could. His breathing was becoming laboured, watching you as you sucked him in as if he were a lollipop for you to feast on. He quickly removed himself from your mouth, shuffling further down the floor until his hot breath was right above where you wanted him the most. He tugged your underwear down your legs, wrapping his arms tightly around your thighs as he hurriedly dipped his head between your soft thighs.

His tongue was cold as it came in contact with you, sending you jolting as he devoured everything he could get his lips on. Your wetness smeared across the lower half of his face as he pushed his lips closer against you, taking every little drop you were giving him. Your moans and whimpers spurred him on, his greed taking over as he meticulously circled his tongue around your sweet spot. His hips had a mind of their own, pathetically rutting his cock against the basement floor as you pulled him closer by his mess of hair.

You can feel him moaning against you, the vibrations sending sparks through your sensitive area as you squealed in surprise. You tried to pull away from his ministrations, but the grip on your thighs kept you anchored to his persistent hot mouth.

Kissing down from your clit to your needy hole, he trailed his tongue around the ring of your cunt before pushing past the barrier into your dripping warmth. You cried out, unintentionally clenching around him, legs quivering as he tongue fucked your hole as if it were his dick.

Speaking of his dick, it was feeling very lonely and like it wanted in on some of the fun. Finally pulling away from between your legs, he moved forward until he was face to face with you.

‘Hi,’ you laughed, taking in his blissed out appearance. His lips and the tip of his nose glistened, his cheeks pink and pupils dilated. His hair was a poofy, untamed ball on the top of his head, showing signs of your tugging and pulling from how it had knotted together.

‘Hey, greetings and salutations,’ he smiled back, placing a firm kiss on your lips. You deepened the kiss as you wrapped your arms around the curve of his neck, your heart soaring as he enveloped your body in his arms.

The sounds of your wet lips smacking together filled the air, your mind oblivious as you lost yourself in the way his soft lips felt against yours.

‘A-ah, what-‘

You felt something prodding at your entrance, his squishy tip forcing your walls to spread around him. You gasped, feeling your insides stretch to accommodate his average size. You certainly weren’t expecting that.

Taking the opportunity as it presented itself, his tongue slithered it’s way into your mouth without a second thought, twirling around yours as you shared spit. He slid inside of you inch by inch, groaning into your mouth as he finally bottomed out. He could feel your cervix kissing his tip, and his eyes rolled to the back of his head in ecstasy. He missed this- missed you.

Supporting his weight on his palms, his arms rested against your head as he dragged his hips slowly back and forth. Usually your love making was a lot more intense, rough. It was pounding that left you sore for days with a limp in your step. But right now, you were both making up for the days you’d been without each other. Right now, you needed each other more than you needed to finish.

You could feel his balls making contact with your ass as he thrusted in and out of you, your vaginal walls stretching and tightening as he entered and left you. You feel so fucking full with him inside of you, realising how much you missed being stuffed with everything he had to give. Your juices were dripping down his cock, watching droplets of sweat gather on his forehead as he worked you both closer to your orgasm.

‘Can I hold you, please?’ you looked up at him, not missing the way his eyes clenched shut before dropping onto you like a bag of potatoes. You wrapped your arms around him, legs coming up to encompass his waist as he continued to make you both feel good.

‘I love you,’ Tate moaned, arms coming down to pull your thighs up into him, making sure you take every inch of him. ‘I love you, I love you, I love you, I love-‘

‘I love you too,’ you cry out, brain going blank as the blonde boy randomly sped up his rhythm. Every thrust of his hips had him pulling you up onto his cock, genitals rubbing together as he took everything from you that he could. Every drag of his dick inside of you, every kiss of your lips. He didn’t know what he would do if he were to lose it all again, if he lost you.

Reaching between your sweaty bodies, he circled your clit as he pounded into you harder than before. Your cunt tightened, the pressure building in your muscles becoming so much you felt ready to explode. You were going to snap, the floodgates were going to open and you were going to cum all over Tate Langdon’s cock. You looked fucked out and exhausted, your body ready to give out as you took his last few thrusts.

‘Shit, cumming-‘

Your cunt spasmed as you came undone around him, ears ringing as you writhed and squirmed in his hold. You could feel his ejaculate shooting into you, painting your walls white with his cum. He slowly fucked it into you, noting with a dozy smile how great it was he was dead and couldn’t impregnate you. Well, not likely, he soon grimaced.

After a few more slow, gentle thrusts, Tate removed his flaccid cock from your sopping hole as he turned to lay beside you. You both turned to each other at the same time, loopy smiles on both faces that neither had the energy or care to try and hide.

You finally felt whole again.

‘Are you done? It’s not just you in this basement, you know.’

Hayden’s shrill voice calls out, her tone less than pleased at the sight of you two, fucked out on the ground.

‘Jealous?’ Tate remarked, wrapping his arm around you as he pulled you into his chest. You burned red in shame at forgetting your location, which just so happened to be the hub of every single dead person in the house.

‘Fuck you.’

first attempt at smut lol, hope was okay. feedback would be appreciated! <3

[thoughtfullyrainynightmare]

Yay your asks are open

Can I please get headcanons with Fuegoleon, William, and nozel with an s/o who sings beautifully and sings them a soft lullaby as he lays his head on their lap when he has a headache from overworking?

Yes they are!! ^^

Oh this was so cute that I just had to jump on it, and... I got a bit carried away ^^' Whoops. But I do hope that you like these ^^

Pairings: Fuegoleon x gn!reader, William x gn!reader, Nozel x gn!reader

Genre: Fluff

Fanfic type: Oneshots

Warnings: None

Total length: ~2.6k

Fuegoleon

Dusk was beginning to peek from behind the horizon and with it, just behind the treeline, you could see a veil of orange, red and gold, almost as if the warmth of your home was reflected in the world that opened before you from the window. Though, at times, you mused to yourself that it was only fitting to see such sunsets from the Crimson Lion Kings’ living quarters. It was a mere thought that tugged the corner of your lips up for a short while, in passing, whenever it occurred. But just as a summer breeze, in was soon swept away.

The door behind you opened, which made you turn around, only to see your husband return much earlier than anticipated. Not that you complained, oh no. In fact, it was much better this way, that he came home early every once in a while to get some rest.

But, just as soon as he stepped through the door, your expression turned into a frown, as the gentle loving smile you had grown to know, wasn’t there. Instead, he was pinching the bridge of his nose, and his head hung low; as low as it might hang when speaking about the king among lions.

His hair draped over his shoulders, and his cape was hanging from his left arm as he held it against his body, as if having shed some weight off of his shoulders.

Which in itself, perhaps, shouldn’t have been surprising. If anything, it was a wonder how he could carry the weight of his responsibilities with such elegance and poise to begin with. But, then again, he was special. He was strong and brilliant.

However, now, something was the matter, which is why you needed to ask about it.

“Is everything alright, my love?” You inquired, voice soft and gentle like silk to his ear, as in it there was also a welcome to home.

“Yes,” he replied as a faint smile appeared on his lips while hanging the cape away. “It’s just that… I think the last week has taken a toll on me, as I have a headache.” He admitted. And in the admission there was a hint of a … not quite shame, but perhaps apprehension. Because he knew that he ought to take good care of himself. After all, he was always telling you to get plenty of sleep, and remember to rest, while working ungodly hours himself.

“Then you should rest,” you said, speaking out a fact with a kind, understanding smile. Because you did understand him. You understood his drive, his motivations and wish to be the best version of himself while wanting nothing but the best for his knights and the kingdom. But he shouldn’t do it at the expense of his health.

Which he knew.

“Come one,” you urged with a near whisper while taking his hand and leading him towards the bed, with which he complied.

Of course he complied. Because though he might have had to retire early for the day, because of a headache, and simply not being able to process information, having you there made it all the more sweet; being home. Though, he had to wonder, if it would have felt like being at home in the first place without you being there. Because home was no longer a place for him, it was a person; you.

And as you laid together in bed, him placing his head onto your lap as you sat against the headboard, he could already feel some of the tension and dreariness off his body seeping away from him.

You sank your fingers into his hair and let the silken locks run through your fingers, gentle like a summer stream on a warm evening just washing over his body.

“Would it be easier if I removed my hair tie?” He inquired while looking at you with those eyes that were not quite royal purple and not quite lavender, but something else instead. A combination of silk and velvet that pulled you in time and time again.

“Maybe, if you like this that is,” you smirked, earning a chuckle from him as he lifted himself just enough to take off the hair tie and settle back down, head securely in your lap.

And just like that he closed his eyes, sinking into the sensation of your fingers brushing against his scalp, through the vermillion locks that bore the slightest scent of lavender. His chest rose as he took a deep inhale, and lowered back down with a steady, low, exhale that held the slightest hint of a hum.

With it, you begun humming a tune that had grown to be fond to you. A comforting melody of a lullaby that he had grown to know well too, and yet not quite well enough for his taste. A melody that he had only heard you hum, since you thought it to be, perhaps, strange to be singing a lullaby to him.

“Which song is that?” He thought to ask, this time, as he laid there, concentrating on the feeling of your touch.

“It’s a lullaby,” you answered with the faintest of senses of amusement in your tone.

“Oh,” he uttered, meaning nothing more with it. “Will you sing?”

There was a hint of absurdity in the request, but only a hint, a speck of dust on an open ocean. Because, he loved to listen to you sing.

“You wish to hear?”

He chuckled, only a little, and almost too quietly for you to hear. Almost, but not quite. “I love to hear you sing.”

And with it you, in turn, chuckled under your breath, before breathing in, and beginning to sing: “Golden slumbers kiss your eyes…”

His smile grew wider, more content, softer and more relaxed, as if all the burdens of the world couldn’t reach him anymore.

“Smiles await you when you rise…”

His breathing grew more calm and deep, speaking of how he was supposed to dose off out of exhaustion, the weariness in his bones. But he had more than earned a good rest. So, you sang, and let him drift away as you held him, with a wide, proud, loving smile on your lips.

William

Light cascaded in through the window, painting the entire room in various hues of golden light with the setting sun, as if creating a veil between the world that existed outside and the room itself. A welcomed state of being that allowed one to settle in for the night, for the evening, and to shed the burdens of life behind the bedroom door. Though, sometimes, it was easier than at other times, which was only natural.

And from the way William walked in through the door that evening, told you enough.

It’d be one of the days, when shedding that burden would be harder.

His eyes were down, and his chin was hanging low, but still he tried to give you a faint smile as a greeting.

And yet there was something in his demeanour that spoke of something else, an added sense of trouble.

“How was your day?” You asked with an innocent question as he put his cloak and mask away for the day.

His steps were heavy, nearly dragging. And the exhale, nearly a sigh, was almost defeated.

“Long,” he replied after a brief pause. “And I seem to have gotten a headache too,” he continued, almost as if an afterthought.

“Well… you do have a lot on your mind,” you told, with faint, careful amusement, to which he replied with a quiet chuckle.

“That I do,” he agreed as he sat onto the bed and took off his boots.

“You should rest, for the evening,” your voice was gentle, warm and loving, but beneath the layers there was a hidden sense of insisting. Because that was what he should do. He should rest, and take his mind off of work, for at least a short amount of time.

“I’ll try,” he sounded absent minded. He sounded like he knew that he should, while being simultaneously reluctant to do so, because of the age old dilemma of needing to think about it in order to think of a solution, and that allowing him to do something about it. Only that he had more of a habit of staying in thinking of even a better solution, as he had difficulties, at times, in settling for one.

But that was an observation that you had made, as his spouse, and it would stay as your observation.

“I know something that will make you feel better,” there was a hint of a tease in your tone, as if laced with a delicious smirk that he could hear.

And so, he turned his head, to look over his shoulder with a curious hum.

“Mhm,” you grinned while climbing onto the bed from the other side. “Come here,” you tapped the covers next to you, close to the head of the bed. “I’ll sing for you.”

His eyes fell again, but this time his lips were tugged up into a smile, as if burden was leaving him layer by layer, and relief took its place. “Like my beloved songbird,” he spoke out loud, but it sounded more like something he was thinking. Because you were his precious, beloved songbird; his nickname for you.

“Like your beloved songbird,” you teased as you settled against the head of the bed, and sat with your legs straight in front of you. “Come rest your weary head, and I’ll sing,” you repeated with a smile and a smirk. Something that was a bit of both, but was quite neither.

There was another, inaudible chuckle from him, as he crawled over the sheets to you and placed his head onto your lap.

“Is this alright?” He asked while settling down, because he didn’t want the weight of his head to cause discomfort to you.

“Yes, it’s alright,” you replied while running your fingers through his hair and over his scar. You could still remember the day when he had first shown it to you, and it had been clear from his eyes, his demeanour and the words he had said, that he was terrified to his bones of you leaving him.

But how could you have? He had trusted his insecurities onto you, and he was still as handsome as ever, perhaps even more handsome, because of it.

And now, as those deep purple eyes of his, like amethysts, closed and settled into the sensation of your fingers running over his skin, your smile was as wide as ever. The golden light of the setting sun cascaded onto his complexion as he took a deep breath, and sank further in into the moment.

“Now it’s time to say good night…”

The corner of his mouth tugged further up as the first notes left your lips.

“Good night, sleep tight…”

As if whatever headache would have been there had subsided into thin air with the sound of your voice.

“Now the sun turns out his light…”

And who knows, perhaps, it had.

“Good night, sleep tight…”

But what you did know, was that the man, the person you loved with all your hear, was drifting into sleep right there, in your arms, to the sound of your voice.

Nozel

Most would perhaps have said that the halls of the Silver Eagle base, or their part of the castle, was cold and hollow, as if painted with silver, snow and ice. But, for those who knew better, only one was true. For those walls might have bore the colour of silver here and there, and though you could understand why the cold of winter frost had howled through the halls, once upon a time, to you, here and now, the specks of silver glimmered in the light of the setting sun, and made it seem as if the star sky was right there on earth itself.

And it was there, under that glimmer of silver and light that the door to your bedroom opened, and revealed the frowning face of your beloved.

His eyes were down, and his chin was lowered, which wasn’t an unusual sight per se. Because there was a lot on his plate, and he wore his heart on his sleeve while at home. He didn’t hide his emotions from you.

“Rough day?” You asked with a compassionate smile and a gentle tone that flowed through the air like feathers caught in a breeze.

“It was,” he sighed while putting his cloak away. “All of it gave me a headache.”

“Hmm,” you hummed with a hint of a tease. “Or it was rough because you had a headache?” You suggested, making him glance to you.

“Does it matter?” He quirked on eyebrow.

“It matters if you haven’t remembered to drink enough water and eaten well,” you told him while reaching him.

And he still looked at you, but didn’t say a word. Which told you enough.

Your look told him enough. Because you had had this conversation before, and he assured you that he’d eat and drink and take care of himself. But it was sometimes difficult being in the position that he was.

So, you did also understand him.

“Have you eaten now?” You asked while brushing his hair back with your fingers.

“Yes, I ate right before coming here,” he replied, and there was no lie in his eyes or his tone, so you nodded.

“Then come on, let’s get some rest for that gorgeous head of yours,” you smirked while tugging his hand closer to the bed.

“Just my head?” He asked with tired eyes and a tender smile, and you laughed.

It was a short, and yet loud laugh that left your lungs. Because he didn’t joke often. Only once in a blue moon.

Most would have argued that he didn’t have a ‘fun bone’ in his body, but you knew better. He had a sense of humour too. He just didn’t show it. Because he wasn’t supposed to be funny. He wasn’t supposed to make people laugh.

But it didn’t mean that he wouldn’t have been able to make a joke, when he was comfortable in doing so.

“All of you,” you corrected with a slight laugh while climbing onto the bed and pulling him with you.

The sheets were soft, silken, perhaps far too comfortable, as if a silver cloud floating through the air as you crawled to the headboard and propped yourself against it.

“You can rest your head on my lap,” you told him while patting your thigh and smiling to him.

And again, he said nothing, but instead followed the suggestion and settled his head onto your lap.

His arms wrapped around your body, and his legs tangled together with yours as he closed his eyes, and breathed in your scent as it seemed he was ready to drift off into sleep.

“Somewhere over the rainbow…”

Your ran your fingers through his hair, which was thick and lush; silken much like the bedsheets under you.

“Way up high…”

The rising and falling of his chest grew more and more heavy, tranquil.

“There’s a land that I heard of…”

As if the melody, the sound of your voice was making his worries and troubles melt away and his pain subside like storm clouds.

“Once in a lullaby…”

The word you would have used to describe him in that moment, would have been ‘adorable’, something that one wouldn’t have thought of the dashing captain of the Silver Eagles. But… he was, in fact, adorable. Behind closed doors.

[loathsomeloner]

Down by the Harbour

Cove Holden x Gender Neutral Mermaid!Reader

Summary: A reimagining of the Our Life Beginnings & Always prologue where the MC is a mermaid now!

Word Count: ~6k

Warnings: None other than probably OOC Cove, I'm not confident in my abilities to write characters that I didn't create so-

Authors Note: RAAAAH THIS IS FIRST FIC IVE EVER WRITTEN- This was supposed to come out last week but work absolutely demolished my energy and then my writing got too out of hand and this became so much longer than I anticipated. This was supposed to be a fun little fic but 20 pages and 6000 words later here we are, whoops? Also idk if this is even a bad thing but this fic ended up being a little bit more MC centric than I inteded it to be, as in Cove doesn't really show up until a little bit into the story, apologies if that annoys anyone you can just skip ahead if you wanna see Cove meet the mermaid MC that badly. OH ALSO if anyone is interested in the funky mermaid lore I imagine this universe having feel free to let me know! I'd love to ramble about it! Anyways I've gone on long enough, thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy the story!!

Likes, Comments, Reblogs, etc etc are very appriciated!!!

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When you were just a tiny fry, you found yourself in a gorgeous coral reef that’s become your beloved home. You loved to explore the reef and discover just what was out there in this vast habitat. You especially loved to scour the seafloor and find any items that caught your eye, “treasures” you called them, whether preciously valuable or utterly useless, if it interested you, you’d always pocket it to add to your collection. Finding treasures became your favourite pastime and now as a fingerling you like to consider yourself a “professional scavenger”.

One kind of treasure you especially love to find is those funny little objects that the humans from the surface would leave behind. Your coral reef seemed to be near a human habitat as very often you’d see humans exploring the coral reef similar to how you would. While the humans incredibly intrigued you you always hid away and kept your distance to only observe them from afar, then when the humans left you’d come to collect the treasures they’d leave behind.

While the coral reef was a vast habitat, over the years you’ve learned that even if the reef is safe there are still places you should always stay wary of. One such place was the place you called the threshold, the threshold was where the waters became empty of any healthy coral or fauna and the water became murky and hard to breathe in. All that was left was an empty wasteland that’d send chills down your fins. The threshold was luckily small enough to easily be able to exit if you ever found yourself there, however, what lies past the threshold was the one place you never wanted to find yourself in.

Because that place is where all the monsters sleep.

Sometimes whenever humans were exploring the reef they’d bring these giant monsters with them that would stay at the surface of the water, while they had never caused you any direct harm they still deeply scared you. The monsters would make these awful sounds that’d shake you to your core, and sometimes they’d drop down giant nets that’d steal away the fish and bring them up to the surface. Once in the past, you had gotten curious enough that you nervously followed the monster once it began moving and found yourself deep in the threshold, at some point through the murky waters in the distance you could see more monsters all at the surface. You put two and two together and deduced that whatever this place was was where all the monsters lived, then at that point, your fear got the best of you and you got out of there as fast as you could.

After finding out where the monsters lived you went back home and decided to give yourself a rule to never cross the threshold and never make contact with the monsters lest you find out where the monsters take all the fish they steal. Since then you fell back into your usual routine of scavenging for treasures and hiding whenever humans came near, your comfortable routine lasting for years up to the present…

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On this bright and sunny day, you were currently making the rounds across the reef searching the sands for treasure. Earlier today a huge amount of humans visited and explored the reefs, they did bring a monster with them but luckily it was quieter and it didn’t decide to steal any fish. Because of the sheer amount of humans that had visited there were so many treasures you saw them drop, it felt like for every one treasure two more would appear just nearby. You found so many things such as cans, bottles, lines of wire, those masks that the humans would wear, you even found those beautiful silver rings you’d see some humans wearing on their fingers! You’d hit the jackpot today!

Just as you were packing away a pretty net you could use as a shawl you found something had moved in the corner of your eye, when you looked over to see what it was you saw a manta ray tightly wrapped in plastic. The manta ray was shakily swimming through the coral, clearly struggling to navigate due to the plastic restricting its movements. You gasped then put down your bag and quickly darted toward the manta ray to help it, unfortunately, you had moved too suddenly as the moment you got close enough to reach out the manta ray got spooked and quickly began to flee. You called out to it to try and get it to stop but the animal didn’t listen so you swam after it.

Despite being hindered by the plastic the manta ray proved to be a very slippery catch as every time you got close to it it’d slip right out of your grasp and continue fleeing. It was honestly very frustrating however you were determined to help the poor frightened animal. You laser-focused on catching the manta ray which caused you to not notice that the coral and plants were beginning to become less present and that the water was becoming increasingly murky…

Finally, the manta ray seemed to tucker itself out as it slowed its efforts at swimming which let you finally catch it, you smiled in triumph as you finally reached the manta ray and carefully laid your hands on its fins. It thrashed around to try and escape your grasp again but you quickly shushed it while gently stroking its back which thankfully made the manta settle down. Once it was calm you began to get rid of the disgusting plastic, tearing it apart with your sharp claws.

As you tore the last bits of plastic off a deafening rumble had suddenly come from behind you, you barely had enough time to wonder what that noise was until a large shadow ominously passed over you. The shadow made you look away from the manta ray and finally take in your surroundings properly, the waters were a vomit brown and the seabed was completely barren with no pieces of coral or fauna in sight. Horror seeped into your bones and you began to panic as you realized that you had swam straight into the monster’s territory.

You looked above you and lo and behold a monster was moving directly above you, you felt like screaming but clamped your mouth shut in fear of the monster hearing you. This monster was the loudest one you’ve ever heard, making a deep yet scratchy rumbling sound that shook the ground below you. In your fear, you almost forgot about the manta ray until it slapped your hands with its fins before quickly swimming away. You went to get up and follow it but as you did the ground shook under you and suddenly you were scooped up into the largest net you’ve ever seen.

The monster had caught you.

You screamed and tried to get out but the monster’s net had completely engulfed you. Rocks, garbage, and even other fish were caught in the net with you as it dragged across the ocean floor, kicking up sand as it drove on. In your state of panic, you flailed around and got your tail stuck through one of the holes in the net, adding fuel to your panic. You tried everything to get out, but the more you struggled the more trapped you became. 

As the monster continued moving and catching more things in its net you began to hear more monsters in the distance. Not even wanting to imagine what the monsters were going to do with you you doubled your efforts in trying to escape. In your desperation, you had begun to viciously scratch and bite at the net itself to try and break it, even as bits that you’d chew off got in your mouth you spat them out and continued. Finally, you had tugged, scratched, and bitten the net enough that it finally tore and you tumbled forward. You must’ve put much more strength into your escape than you thought as when you broke through the net you caused the entire net to break and nearly snap off, even the monster stumbled a little.

Very unfortunately however, even if you tore through the net a large piece of it was still wrapped around your body. You tried to get it off however the net was tightly wound around you and you were being thrown around by the currents that all the monsters were creating. The entire world was spinning both figuratively and literally, so much so that you felt like you were gonna vomit, and it didn’t help that you were already so disoriented and panicked from the adrenaline before. You felt the net tighten around your body more and more but before you could try to escape again your dizziness had become too great and everything went dark…

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How did this day go from great to absolutely horrible in mere minutes???

All you wanted was to just add some new human treasures to your collection but now here you were, washed up on jagged and uncomfortable rocks with your body and tail twisted in all the wrong ways because of this stupid human net! One of your arms was twisted backwards and pinned to your side while the other was bent painfully and pressed into your chest and neck. Your tail meanwhile was bent and twisted in various directions while being simultaneously constricted by the net. Everything felt sore and even the slightest movement would cause shocks of pain to burst throughout your body.

So right now all you could do was just lie there on your back, you still felt exhausted from before so your mind still felt too sluggish to think of a logical escape plan. You huffed and laid your head back against the rock, your mop of wet hair splaying out under you. You seemed to have washed up under some small wooden structure as when you looked above yourself you only saw a bunch of wooden planks lined up together and extending outwards into the sea, so much for trying to pass the time by cloud gazing…

Judging by the little amount of sky you could see when looking to your side it must’ve been pretty late in the evening right now, the sun had been pretty high in the sky when you first got caught (at least you think it was), just how long were you out for?

You felt the ocean water gently wash over the end of your tail, relieving the soreness but only for a brief moment before the tide went back down. A whine escaped your throat, you couldn’t help but wonder if the ocean was deciding to taunt you now, showing just how close to home you were despite being unable to move. Were you… going to be stuck here forever? You could only count the number of times you were on land with one hand, and even then you’ve never been out of the water for this long. Would something happen to you? You had no idea, and that made you increasingly nervous.

You probably shouldn’t wait long enough to find out if something would happen if you were on land for too long, but you were at a loss as to what to do. Your body still hurt and you still couldn’t move, and even if you could move and shimmy back into the water your arms were stuck in a position that made scratching at the net impossible and last time you check you can’t make your neck grow longer so biting the net was also a no go. How were you supposed to get home???

As you wallowed about your predicament the silence was suddenly broken when you heard a loud thumping from above the wooden structure. You immediately stopped what you were doing, your fins flaring out in alert to focus on whatever the noise was. It moved from the start of the structure all the way until the end of it where the sound stopped.

What in the world was that??

Quiet as a guppy, you listened carefully for any more noise to try and figure out what that was. You’ve never heard a sound like that before in the reef, was it a surface thing? You racked your brain to try and think of whatever it could be... Could it be… a human? What would a human be doing here? Aren’t they supposed to be with the monsters? Oh no… What if the human was looking for you to bring you to the monster you escaped from earlier?! You couldn’t let the humans or the monster take you again! Subconsciously the tip of your tail that was sticking out the net silently flailed as you feared being discovered. You need to get out of there right now-

*Hic- Hic- Sob…*

Wait… What was that..?

From the end of the structure was a different sound from before. The noise was quiet, almost like a whisper, you heard something taking in gasps of air in very quick succession along with sniffling and whimpering. Was the human… crying..? Why? What are they so sad about? Your previous fear of being discovered had begun fading away and was now being replaced by great sympathy, you never liked it when things were sad and it was no different with humans. You almost wanted to speak out to the human but you were unsure if revealing yourself would be a good idea.

The human’s cries continued while you quietly listened until a particularly harsh tide rolled up the land and crashed over you and dragged you downwards. You slid down the rocks before abruptly stopping before fully being in the ocean again. The jagged rocks scratched at your back and the sudden movement made your twisted limbs burn with pain and soreness, you couldn’t control the pained cry that left your mouth. Writhing from the pain you had rolled onto your side without realizing, as your bit your lip to try and stop your crying. The pain slowly cleared from your head letting you tune into your surroundings again, it was then that you realized the sounds of crying had completely stopped.

“..H-Hello?”

Oh no.

The planks of wood creaked above you as you assumed the human was moving around after hearing you.

“Is someone- hic- there…?” The human said again, their words briefly cut off by a hiccup and sniffle.

You stayed completely silent, not moving a single muscle. The human seemed to be doing the same thing as you couldn't hear any more noise coming from them, well, except for the sniffles and hiccups they still let out. As this silent stand-off continued you found yourself starting to consider properly speaking up to the human.

Back when you’d seen humans in the reef you never really got to hear them speak, you always thought that since the humans were almost always around the monsters the humans would sound similar to them, but it seems to be the exact opposite. This human’s voice… was so… meek. They didn’t sound like a monster trying to find you, they sounded small and sad and… like a fingerling. Just like you.

And just like that the tiny bit of fear that lingered in your head completely crumbled. Gathering the strength you could you rolled to lay on your back again, weakly grunting as you did. Taking a deep breath you puffed out your chest and opened your mouth.

“H…Help..”, your voice came out much weaker and scratchier than you anticipated, you knew you hadn’t exactly spoken words–especially not human words–for a while but wow…

Scratchy and unused voice aside, you listened for any response from the human. However you were only met with silence, strange, did the human not hear you? You shut your eyes and called out for help again, saying it louder this time. Resting your body back down on the rocks you yet again listened for a response, and yet again you were met with nothing. Now you were really confused, they were talking before but were completely silent now, what gives??

You almost went to call out again until you saw a shape in the corner of your eye that wasn't there before. You quickly looked over and saw something peering down at you from over the wooden structure, but just as suddenly as it appeared it darted away. That had to be the human! You heard thumping come from above you until suddenly the sound dashed towards you, the human was running to stand right above you!

You barely had enough time to react when from your side something swung down from the structure. You jumped in reaction and looked over and immediately felt your jaw drop at what you saw. A body like yours, but with two legs dangling down from their hips, there was undeniably a real human being staring down at you.

The human dangled from the wooden structure using one arm to hold themself up, their other arm down at their side, strangely the arm by their side was wrapped in a weird thick pink… thing. You’d never seen anything like it, but the bright pink stood out against the night so much you couldn’t help but focus on it. After a few moments of silence, the human suddenly let go of the wood and dropped down to the rocks, breaking you out of your fascination with the human's strange pink wrapping.

The human stood completely still, they just stared at you with wide disbelieving eyes. They wore a thin white top and thick beige shorts, on their face was something that you’re not entirely sure of what the name is, it was one of those frames with glass in them that you remember finding sometimes in the reef. What really stood out to you from the human was their eyes and hair, both of which were coloured almost exactly like the sea. Looking into their eyes reminded you of the bright clean waters back at the reef, and their hair that gently swayed in the wind made you think of the calm waves you’d see during those rare days where you’d perch up on a rock above the water. Your curious mind almost wondered if they were a human version of the ocean itself, if so maybe that pink wrapping would be their coral.

After you observed the human, you tilted your head at them, the movement startling the human and making them gasp, the action almost making you giggle. The human shook their head then wiped at their eyes with the hand wrapped in pink (which you thought looked slightly uncomfortable) then looked back at you and gulped.

“... Are you real..?”, they asked tentatively. Their voice shook ever so slightly as if tears were gonna start falling from their eyes again at any moment.

You nodded your head in response to the question, even if you felt it was a tad strange, of course you were real! The human took a very slow and careful step towards you, mumbling something you couldn’t hear properly.

The human went silent yet again, but their eyes drifted from your face downwards towards your tail. Suddenly feeling quite bashful underneath the human’s stare, you slightly fidgeted your body which you quickly regretted as soreness sprouted in all your limbs. Right, you almost forgot the twisted state your body was in.

After seeing you fidget the human’s eyes widened, “You’re stuck.”, they thought aloud.

After a pause, the human suddenly walked closer and stopped just next to you. They still looked slightly wary and held their hands up in what you assumed to be a position that tried to make them look more docile. Even so, you couldn’t help but feel slightly intimidated by how the human towered over you and you felt your body shrink back. At that, the human sputtered.

“I-It’s okay..! I wanna get the net off you.” They crouched down so they weren’t ominously standing over you.

From here you could see their actual face much more clearly. They had chubby cheeks that had streaks of dried tears running down them, and when you looked up into their sea-coloured eyes they looked slightly red from crying.

The human looked away from you and instead looked over at the net wrapped around your body, they winced at how the net was digging into your skin and reached out. You tried to stay as still as possible as they grabbed a piece of the net with their not wrapped hand, cautiously sliding their fingers under the material to put some space between it and your body. Their hand was ridiculously warm against your cold skin, but they weren’t reacting to the temperature difference.

The human then grabbed another piece of the net with the hand wrapped in pink. They breathed out an “Okay” and suddenly tugged harshly to try and rip the net. Your body shook with the action and you yelped in a mixture of shock and pain.

“Ah- Sorry!” The human said, they continued tugging at the net but a little softer this time. It didn’t necessarily stop all the pain, but the gesture was sweet enough for you to try and keep your cries to a minimum.

Despite the human tugging on the net as hard as they could the net wouldn’t rip. After one extra hard try the human let go of the net and huffed, falling back onto their bottom to sit on the rocks, their cheeks puffed out in an angry pout. 

“I can’t break it.” The human grumbled, and you couldn’t help but sigh in disappointment with them.

You rested your head back on the rocks, then an idea came to mind. You looked back at the human, more specifically their hands. Just like you thought the human didn’t have claws like you did, that’s probably why they had more trouble with the net than you would. If the human didn’t have any claws that could tear the net, then they needed to find a substitute!

With some strain, you rolled onto your side which got the human's attention, they shuffled backwards and watched you to see what you were doing. With your cheek pressed against the rocks, you bent your neck so you could grab one of the jagged rocks under you with your mouth. Once you had one you looked back up at the human, who was just staring at you in confusion. With your limited mobility, you made a slicing motion with the rock in your mouth, and at that, the human got what you were trying to communicate.

“Oh! I can cut the net with the rocks!”, They looked at the rocks near them and almost immediately spotted one they could use. They grabbed it and ran their finger across the jagged edge of the rock, nodding in approval once they deemed it sharp enough.

They reached back down at the net but paused before they tried anything. They looked back at you for a moment.

“Um, please don’t move too much. I don’t want to cut you.”, You nodded and made your whole body go limp.

The human brought their attention back to the net and grabbed hold of it. They held the net with their wrapped hand and held the rock in their not wrapped hand. Very carefully to not cut you the human slid the rock between you and the net and pressed the sharpest edge of the rock against the net. Then very slowly they began to move the rock back and forth to slowly slice the net. The process wasn’t smooth by any means, the human had to adjust their grip multiple times and make sure they pressed the rock against the net hard enough to actually do something. But the human didn’t give up, and after what felt like ages of cutting, finally, the rock cut through the net!

Once the rock cut through you and the human let out a cheer of triumph, your tail moved in excitement and the human went back to cutting the net, though this time filled with much more vigour after the initial success.

Soon enough with the human's efforts they were able to cut through a large enough portion of the net for them to reach under and tear the rest of the net much more quickly. Once the net was torn enough for you to regain control of your limbs you cheered and rolled over onto your stomach, flailing your tail around to fling leftover pieces of net off of you. 

Finally, your limbs weren’t in pain anymore! Relief washed over your body so strongly you nearly felt like crying. To your side, you heard the human sigh and felt them grab the net from under you and throw it somewhere else. You sprang up from the ground and sat down properly, looking at the human with stars in your eyes you leaned towards them and smiled.

“Thank you..!!”, Your voice was still pretty scratchy but you made sure to sound as thankful and happy as possible.

At the sound of your voice again the human’s eyes widened before they nodded, “No problem.”, you swore that even in the dark you could see their cheeks turn red ever so slightly.

A silence fell over you and the human, both of you looked out towards the sea but neither of you made a move to leave. After the brief pause, the human spoke again while fidgeting with their fingers.

“So… um… You’re really a mermaid?”, they asked. 

You were slightly confused. Mermaid..? You’ve never heard that word before. You looked back at them and tilted your head in confusion.

“Mer…maid?”, you said, pronouncing it very carefully to try and get it right.

The human paused for a moment, they looked just as confused as you were. “You…”, their words trailed off as they looked down at your tail, they looked back at you, “You don’t know what mermaid means..?”

You shook your head to which the human scrunched his eyebrows.

“Never… Heard of… ‘Mermaid’… before.”, you shook your head. The human hummed and then looked out at the ocean before pointing at it.

“You live in the water, right? And you can breathe in it?”, they asked to which you nodded.

“Reef is… my.. Home”

The human mumbled then resolutely said, “So you’re a mermaid.”

You still didn’t understand what that word was, but you honestly weren’t sure how you were supposed to respond, the human had said that you were a “mermaid” so surely you felt like you kind of had to agree with them.

Without waiting for you to confirm or deny what they said you were the human spoke again. “How did you get here? And how did the net get on you?”

The topic change was slightly abrupt, but they did ask a question you could actually answer, so you did.

“A monster.. took me! Grabbed me in.. its… its net. I got away… Bit my way out. But.. my mind.. hurt… so I fell… asleep.”, you explained as best you could, trying to use the best human words you could in the way that made the most sense.

Luckily the human got what you were explaining and nodded along with your story. They turned their body to face the ocean instead of you and rested their arms on their legs.

“Mm. I got here ‘cause of my dad.”, they said, your fins perked up at the mention of the human’s dad. You looked at the human curiously, wanting them to explain further.

“Dad..?”

The human nodded, but before they began explaining their expression suddenly saddened and it looked like tears were gonna fall from their face again.

“My parents… They don’t love each other anymore.. And- hic- and I had to leave home and come to this- this stupid town!”, tears began to flow out of their eyes again after their outburst which left you internally panicking.

If you were being honest, you weren’t entirely sure what the human was talking about but you still didn’t want to see them cry. Wracking your brain for a way to make the human feel better you got reminded of the manta ray you had helped earlier today, more specifically how you got it to calm down so you could help it.

Hesitantly you raised your hand to the human's seafoam green hair. Then making sure to be as careful as possible so you didn’t spook the human you began to pet their hair. The second your hand touched their head they stopped trembling and froze like a statue.

“I’m sorry…”, you soothed. The human turned their head to look at you with pure bewilderment which made you self-consciously take your hand off their head and drop it back down to your side. Maybe humans didn’t do that to comfort their friends…

Thankfully the human didn’t look angry at what you did, just very perplexed. They sniffled and wiped the new tears from their eyes, mumbling a shy “Sorry” back at you. After that, you and the human settled into another moment of silence, the rolling tides of the ocean becoming comforting background noise.

The two of you stayed like that for a while, sitting next to each other and watching the waves. You could tell that both you and the human were getting tired, your body and mind felt more sluggish and out of the corner of your eye you saw the human yawn and rub at their eyes to try and get the sleep out of them. Yet despite the growing fatigue neither of you moved to leave. You both stayed put right there together, and neither of you really knew why.

“...My name is Cove.”, the human suddenly said. You had gotten so used to the silence that you almost jumped at the sudden noise.

You repeated the human’s–Cove’s–name, liking the way it rolled off your tongue so naturally. The name almost felt familiar though you couldn’t tell why. You smiled and said the name one more time.

“Coove~”, you said it in a sing-song way which made Cove look at you dazzled, and he couldn’t help but return your smile.

You then pointed at yourself, ready to introduce yourself. “You.. Call me-”

“Cove?!”, someone suddenly yelled from somewhere.

You and Cove immediately whipped your heads around to the sound. You didn’t recognize this voice at all, it sounded much older than you and Cove combined. The voice yelled out for Cove again, sounding very concerned, how did the voice know Cove’s name? Oh no, was it..?

Cove looked back at you with fear and a new sense of urgency, “It’s my dad!”, he gasped, confirming your suspicions, “I-I don’t want him to see you! You have to go back home!”, he urged.

Cove’s sudden sense of scared urgency immediately spread over to you making you panic. Even if Cove was sweet and had helped you out of the net that didn’t mean all humans were like that! Who knows what Cove’s dad would be like?? From what Cove had said and how sad he sounded, then his dad must be terrible!

Gathering strength into your body you began hurriedly shimmying further into the water. Cove crawled over behind you and placed his hands on your back, the sudden warmth against your scales making you jolt, though Cove either didn’t notice or didn’t care about your reaction as he simply began to help push you into the water. Eventually, once your whole tail was completely submerged you were able to let the incoming tide sweep you down into the water.

Letting yourself sink into the water, you felt nearly all the tension that had built up exit your body. It was so nice to be back in the water where you belonged. Or, almost where you belonged. You were still deep inside the monster's home and you had to navigate out of there, you could only hope that all the monsters were asleep. But that’s a problem you didn’t want to worry about right now.

Swimming back up to poke your head out of the water, you saw Cove still sitting there at the water's edge. He was checking behind him, presumably watching to see if his dad would show up. Hearing you poke your head out of the water he looked back at you, jolting a bit as you had startled him.

You smiled and raised your hand out of the water, “Goodbye Cove!”, you didn’t want to leave him without saying goodbye.

Cove nervously returned your smile and waved back at you with his hand wrapped in pink, rushing out a stuttered goodbye. After sharing your farewells, you quickly dived back down underwater, ready to finally make your way back home. The water was muddy and the environment was still depressingly barren, making it tricky to navigate, but you weren’t going to let that deter you.

As you were slowly but surely making your way back home, your thoughts kept drifting back to Cove, he somehow managed to feel so strange but so comfortingly familiar at the same time. Everything about him just made your brain go wild with curiosity. Humans had always intrigued you but they always felt too foreign, too invasive for you to gather the courage to speak to them, but Cove wasn’t like that. He felt… nicer. That’s the only way your young mind could put it. You wanted to find out more things about him, his personality, his hobbies, his fears, his dreams, anything you could uncover about him you wanted to figure out.

You wondered if you’d ever see Cove again, you really hoped you would…

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Cove stood at the edge of the ocean in a daze, he felt like he was dreaming. Did he seriously just meet a real mermaid?? There’s no way! That person had to be some sort of actor wearing a fake tail and makeup or something. But the tail didn’t look fake… and neither did their fins or gills… Oh jeez, maybe all of Cove’s messy feelings were really getting to him.

Cove was stuck in a tornado of events. First, his parents fighting more, then them breaking up, then his dad saying that they had to leave to somewhere else, then him being brought to this weird town where all anyone does is fish, and now on top of everything Cove has to meet a real mermaid??!! He barely knew what to make of all of this.

He looked to his side and saw the cut-up net he had helped the mermaid out of. When he first saw them all tied up he knew he wanted to help them, but he was so caught off guard by their appearance that he still froze. In the end, Cove was glad he got the net off, the net was coarse and scratchy when he tugged on it, there was no way being wrapped up so tightly in it was painless. The net must’ve come from one of the boats that he and his dad saw when they were exploring the harbour, they looked very similar. Hopefully, the mermaid wouldn’t get caught that badly again.

Cove sighed and kicked at the rocks underneath him, it was only a matter of time until his dad found him here. That sucks, Cove had hoped he could stay away at this secluded dock forever. At least the mermaid got away, Cove wanted them to be his own little secret, besides his dad would probably scare them away or something which could make it so Cove never saw them again. 

“Cove! There you are!”

Speak of the devil. Cove turned around and saw his dad hurriedly make his way over. Once his dad reached Cove he dropped to his knees and quickly gave Cove a once-over to make sure he was okay. Once he knew Cove was fine his dad pulled him into a tight hug and lifted him up. Cove tried to push away from the hug to no avail, groaning at the affection.

“I'm sorry, looking at the boats must’ve been too boring right? Let’s go check out the house now okay? You must be tired, I know I am!”, Cove’s dad laughed as he began to walk back to the main harbour with his son in his arms.

Cove grumbled but conceded, “Fine…”

Cove rested his chin on his dad’s shoulder and took one last look out to the ocean. He wondered where the mermaid was now, they mentioned ‘Reef’ being their home, did that mean there was a coral reef near here and that’s where they lived? Hopefully there was, Cove would love to visit. He had so many questions about the mermaid, but his growing sleepiness made it hard to focus on any of them.

Feeling his eyes finally droop close, Cove could only wonder if he’d ever see the mermaid again. He really hoped so, maybe they’d make this town a not-so-terrible place to live…

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Thank you for reading! Forgive me if the writing in this is kind of funky or flawed, I haven't written this seriously in months and I'm trying to get my groove and style back

If this gains enough traction and interest then I might continue this as a fun little series so once again any form of interaction is greatly appriciated and encouraged!!

[neuroticbookworm]

Understanding the Core Four of La Pluie

Last Saturday, I screamed into this hellsite about the brilliance of La Pluie episode 10, and in the last couple of days, I read many amazing metas from my fellow La Pluie fiends that broke down all the well-executed dimensions of this episode (keep an eye out for this week’s La Pluie meta roundup from my pal @lurkingshan). When we last saw these characters in episode 9, Lomfon was running the hamster wheel in his brain, trying to figure out how to navigate his situation of hearing Saengtai (and Patts) when it rained. Tien was nursing a crush on Lomfon, and Tai and Patts had made things official and were stronger than ever. Then came episode 10, which turned everything upside down and left us speechless.

I loved and enjoyed every aspect of this episode: acting, plot development, cinematography, screenwriting, and more. But the one that blew me away the most was how the motivation and drive behind each character’s actions were perfectly in line with the character traits the show has already established. I initially wanted to write this post only to explore these traits, but after observing the La Pluie fandom discourse for the past week, I expanded it to include my defense of why every character in the La Pluie Core Four "deserves" the resolutions the show is poised to give them in the coming days.

Tien:

When Tien enters the pivotal conflict scene in the rain, he walks into a kiss between his brother and the guy he has a crush on. Absolutely heartbreaking. We see him stand still on the side, while Patts rushes to push Lomfon away from Tai and punch him repeatedly in the face (though not hard enough, as my friend @bengiyo argues here, and I fully agree. That ass-whooping should've been harder and longer). And after Patts and Tai walk away, Tien faces Lomfon, who just recklessly messed up the lives of everyone around him with no regard for anyone's feelings.

Here’s a quick list of Tien’s personality traits that were on display in this scene:

Tien is calm. He is pissed, he is rattled by the events, and yet he starts with a pretty calm "What did you mean?"

Tien is logical. He immediately counters Lomfon's explanation about his hearing loss and him being Saengtai's soulmate with, "You liar. I'm speaking now, and you can hear me."

Tien is a good communicator. He clearly confessed his feelings to Lomfon and how he thought his feelings were reciprocated, even when his heart was in tatters. He managed to be the most open and honest person out of everyone involved in this mess, and he hadn’t even done anything wrong. We would’ve completely understood his actions if he had just walked away after cussing out Lomfon, but that’s not the Tien we’ve seen and adored for the last nine episodes.

Tien is brave. He had been developing feelings for Lomfon for a while, and he thought his feelings were reciprocated. Being vulnerable and confessing your feelings to your crush is a nerve-wracking experience in its own right, and yet Tien confessed his feelings after Lomfon had just kissed his brother, potentially ruining any possibility of a relationship between them. For that alone, he is one of the bravest sonsofbitches I've seen in a BL so far.

I was not expecting to be surprised by Tien in this episode. I don’t exactly know what I thought his reaction would be to the Lomfon-sized wreaking ball I knew was coming, but I had only anticipated a heartbroken Tien. Instead, I got a Tien who was the only level-headed and rational person in this fight. And all of these wonderful traits were already established in the show's previous episodes:

Tien is one of the calmer Saengs. We have seen each of the Saeng brothers handle their parents' split very differently in the flashbacks. Saengtai and Saengchan are usually in tears and are physically reactive, whereas Saengtien and Saengnuea are the ones holding them back and comforting them.

Lomfon is not the only one who ran experiments to understand his feelings. Tien is also logical (albeit less neurotic and more sensible than Lomfon), and he worked through his sudden feelings for Lomfon after they held hands in the classroom by holding hands with his friends. He’s also open to opinions from others, as he talks to Tai about his feelings. Which makes him…

A good communicator. Tien also calls out Tai’s reluctance to communicate with his mother rationally, and to try and understand her side of things in the divorce and her relationship with her boyfriend, Nu.

Tien is an excellent subversion of the "playful and less mature younger sibling" character because, while he is easy-going and playful, he’s also the most emotionally intelligent and mature character out of the Core Four. Moving on to his elder, albeit much less emotionally mature brother, Tai.

Tai and Patts:

I’m analyzing Patts and Tai’s actions together because this way it’s easier to compare their words and actions towards each other in this episode, to their relationship dynamics that were established previously. The explosive fight and the subsequent breakup were shocking, but smart cookies like @lurkingshan, @bengiyo, @shortpplfedup and @ginnymoonbeam posited in our conversations, before the episode aired, that it was time for Patts’ frustrations and insecurities to rise to the surface. And boy did it rise up. This conflict between the primary couple has already been extensively analyzed by @lurkingshan here, so I will add my little observations on how Patts and Tai’s behavior in this fight is supported by the writing of the show so far.

@ginnymoonbeam has shared her thoughts on Tai’s avoidant personality, here. I want to add that Tai is also incredibly stubborn and hard to please. His father says so, to Patts during their dinner in episode 5.

The phrase "seems like an understanding person" is very telling, five episodes later. Tai also has the propensity to see life in black and white, especially when it comes to romance. His faith in soulmates is broken the moment he witnesses the end of a soulmate relationship. There is no room for explanation, as evidenced by his decision to ghost his soulmate for 2 years, and his coldness towards his mom, whom he has decided is the sole villain in their parents’ divorce. Simply put, he reads too much Nora Roberts (check out @syrena-del-mar’s excellent meta, La Pluie meets Nora Roberts).

Moving on to Patts. First off: no Patts hate is allowed in this house. I do not condone violence, but I also think the reasons behind the display of violence deserve to be talked about without the air of dismissal surrounding it (@shortpplfedup backs me up on this, here).

Patts had been understanding of two years of silence from Tai, and had been incredibly patient while working and finding solutions to Tai's fears around relationships and commitment. All the emotional labor in this relationship had been done by Patts, he verbalizes his desires and thoughts every time and is often left hanging by Tai, in silence. After Patts and Tai’s (supposed) heart-to-heart in Doi Mae Pliang (shout out to @indigostarfire and @lurkingshan for the incredible observation that Tai chose not to verbalize his answer to Patts’ question "Do you want to be my faen?", here and here), Patts must’ve felt that they are finally on solid ground, after years of uncertainty.

When Tai lied and hid his plans with Lomfon at the park, Patts must’ve felt devastated. And when he saw Lomfon kiss Tai, he finally snapped. He took out his anger on Lomfon, but as @bengiyo observed, Patts still managed to not leave a single bruise on Lomfon. His restraint is a sign that his frustration is not directed at Lomfon, but at Tai. Patts’ anger and Tai’s refusal to communicate openly escalate the fight further and further, until all the tension breaks at Tai’s room, with Patts agreeing to break up.

Something that stood out to me in this conflict is that the escalations were so well written that they did not feel like they were being done just for the sake of moving the plot along. Every question thrown at each other’s faces and every furious answer spit out in response felt natural and fluid. When Patts shows up at Tai’s door, he is not there with the intention of picking the fight back up. The first thing Tai asks Patts is, "Are you drunk?" and Patts tells him that he is not. They both know and understand how horribly this can go if one of them loses control. When Patts asks him "You still love me, don’t you?", Tai infuriatingly responds "This is exactly why I don’t want to talk to you".

And we see Patts getting angry at his response, shouting this:

To which Tai responds with this:

Tai did not utter those words to aggravate Patts. He truly believes that in an ideal, happy relationship, the couple must be completely compatible, so totally in sync that they will know all the answers to the questions that didn’t even need to be asked. Tai stumbled into a clear understanding of the Patts-Nara mess in episode 8 and told Patts that he was not mad about it. He did not ask questions or demand answers from Patts. Sometime during his deadly trek up Doi Mae Pliang, Tai decides that their love is enough to conquer whatever the universe throws at them. Not understanding, not communication, but love. That’s why Tai shuts down every time Patts demands an explanation; he thinks needing one means that Patts does not love him "the right way". And when Patts finally blurts out "Let’s breakup", we see him immediately absorb the weight of those words and backtrack. But for Tai, this is the final proof he needed to confirm that Patts is not right for him. So, he thanks Patts for the time they shared together and shuts the door in his face.

I sincerely hope Patts holds his ground and does not apologize unnecessarily to Tai. Tai is 100% in the wrong here; he needs a stern talking-to from someone who understands both Tai and how love and relationships actually work (my money is on Tai’s dad), and then he needs to do some very difficult but necessary introspection about his understanding of love. When he is finally done and realizes that he has made a massive mistake, I hope that Tai is the one who seeks out Patts to reconcile.

And finally, the messiest mess of the Core Four…

Lomfon:

Sigh. Oh Lomfon, you fucking disaster. I’ve been wary of you, I’ve been fascinated by you, and now I want to buy a ladder so I can climb on it and ring your head like a fucking bell till you forget the “How to acquire Tai in ten easy steps” list you have in your head.

There is no question in my mind that Lomfon fucked up spectacularly. He orchestrated a date with a man who was already taken, proceeded to reveal the truth about his soulmate connection in the most dramatic and emotionally destabilizing way possible, and then kissed him. And he does all this in the midst of developing feelings for this man’s brother.

Folks, I now have a confession to make. The nearly 2k words I had put before this section were to gently lure you into an "In defense of Lomfon" post.

The two major criticisms I’ve seen so far that are leveled against him are that he has disregarded Tien’s feelings and that he has been grossly manipulative in how he chose to reveal his soulmate connection to Tai. I will try to tackle both of them with an objective lens. My goal here is not to pose an explanation or argument for every shitty thing Lomfon has ever done in the show; it is just to present Lomfon’s traits, stripped from the (rightful) anger the fandom feels after the events of episode 10, so I can understand and accept the redemption the show might give him in the coming week.

Before I get into the specifics of the defense, I want to focus on the Keychain Acquisition scene we finally got in this episode. We see Tai run after his dad, and Tai suddenly notices Lomfon, who is focused on the papers in his hand and wearing headphones, about to walk into a busy street. He rushes to push Lomfon out of the way, tells him to be careful, and then runs after his dad again. From the moment Tai touches Lomfon, to the moment Lomfon looks up only to see Tai running back, this whole interaction takes about fifteen seconds. I counted them. Fifteen seconds.

When we watched this scene, @lurkingshan and I could not believe how absurdly mundane it was. The show has been teasing a connection between Tai and Lomfon for weeks, and this is it? Tai pushed him out of the way of a moving car and shouted an obligatory "be careful, it’s dangerous" in Lomfon’s general direction before going back to his own problems. But that’s all it took for Lomfon to decide that this mystery stranger is his "first love". He did not even get a proper glimpse of Tai because, by the time he looked up, Tai was already running. I wonder how much of Tai’s voice he actually registered, given the fact that he had to rip his earphones off first and that he was disoriented from being pushed to the ground.

I understand that teenagers have wild imaginations, but even for them, this is a level of delusion that is only achievable if any and all human contact is rare. I have held hands and gently pulled and pushed friends and family members out of the way countless times in my life while crossing a busy road. If Lomfon had saved the keychain as a reminder of the day he almost died before a kind stranger saved his life, this would be a completely different post. Since Lomfon attaches such an intense meaning to an event that is so commonplace (the showing-kindness-to-strangers part, not the almost getting-hit-by-a-car part), all this scene shows us is that Lomfon is utterly and pathetically lonely.

I’m not just reading this from the keychain scene. Since this show has some very clever writers, Lomfon’s "Social Loner" status is established from the very first episode. Before Tien meets Lomfon at the bookstore, we see Tien interact with his friends and his brother. In contrast to this, when we see Lomfon for the first time, he’s alone and is immediately picking a fight with Tien. Which leads to Lomfon meeting Tai for the very first time, and Tai intervening to break up the catfight. Tien even says this to Lomfon:

Remember when we were theorizing about Lomfon potentially knowing Tai before this incident, after the Keychain was introduced in episode 7? Because in episode 2, when he meets Tai at the coffee shop, he talks about Tai’s articles? And we were thinking, there’s no way he just stalked this person online after meeting him for about 2 minutes, just because he took his side. Nobody would be that obsessed, right? Right? Nope. This boy is really THAT obsessed, because he does not have a single friend who can take his side on a daily basis and normalize this experience for him.

With this information, some of Lomfon’s actions start making a little bit more sense, as his social isolation must make him very inept at reading normal social cues and emotions. He may fancy himself a logician, but he cannot factor feelings and emotions, his own or otherwise, into his calculations. I intentionally only used the word "obsession" when I talked about his feelings for Tai, because I know that he’s not pursuing Tai because he felt his heart flutter in his chest. He’s pursuing him because: 1. Tai took his side in the bookstore argument; 2. He then went home and stalked Tai on the internet and figured out that he’s a writer, which was interesting, because he likes... reading, I guess? (I’m feeling physical pain due to second-hand embarrassment from typing that sentence.) and 3. He found out that Tai has read some of his favorite books and figured that they must have the same passions and interests.

And here is my defense for the first criticism: When we consider just how little time he must’ve spent in his entire life, thinking about other people and their problems (because he must have the heartfelt and intimate connection it requires with only a rare few people), Lomfon does care for Tien. He held Tien back when he was recklessly rushing into a storm to save his brother. He calmed Tien down with very persuasive arguments that were both logical and empathetic. He respected Tien’s opinions enough to discuss the concept of soulmates with him twice (in episodes 7 and 10). During their discussion in episode 10, Tien tells him he doesn’t know whether he would choose his soulmate or someone he likes. After the scene, we see Lomfon sitting alone, ruminating on this thought for a few seconds. He asks his friend and possible crush for advice on what to do, and when he doesn’t get a concrete solution, he decides to give his way a try. And we see him make the call to invite Tien to lunch and a day at the park.

And what exactly was he trying to accomplish on this date, you may ask? Well, to paraphrase @bengiyo, he just wanted to run an experiment for "The Foot Pop" theory from The Princess Diaries. Matters of the heart are not something you can distil into equations. You either have to let the desire fully confront you, let it cloud your logical brain, and bravely let it guide you into your next steps. Or you can open up and be vulnerable about it with the people closest to you, ask for their opinions, and then take a decision that’s a bit more informed, yet firmly rooted in what you want based on what you feel. Both of these options are foreign to Lomfon. He has never solved problems this way, nor has he witnessed someone solving problems like this. So he recklessly kisses Tai, to prove to himself that all the calculations he had performed on his and Tai’s compatibility were right. He kisses Tai, and when he does not feel the butterflies, he pulls back, sees Tai’s stunned face, and immediately realizes that he has made a horrible, horrible mistake.

You know where he should’ve run the experiment, for better results? Riiiiiight here:

gif by the ever lovely @liyazaki

It could’ve been so simple and sweet. This loser just had to take the route that would cause the most damage.

Moving on to the second criticism that Lomfon is shady and manipulative in his actions in episode 10. I agree, he easily could’ve found a much less dramatic way to talk to Tai and Patts about this shared soulmate bond situation. But taking this straightforward route takes a lot of social courage and nuance, which Lomfon clearly does not have. If he and Patts had not been staring daggers since the moment they laid eyes on each other, the solution to their soulmate problem could’ve been calmly discussed at a table over breakfast. Since Lomfon decides to posture up to Patts as a romantic rival, with Patts already on edge about his intentions with Tai, Patts brusquely tells him to stay away from Tai. Which does not help matters one bit, and leads to Lomfon making all the wrong moves straight into disaster.

The biggest questions that were constantly in my head after this fiasco were "How the heck is Tien ever going to forgive him?". "Is a happily ever after even on the cards for Lomfon and Tien?". "Will it be believable and realistic if the writers give us one?".

I do not want to speculate on how the writers may choose to end this arc, because I want to ponder these questions purely based on what we know so far, without an ending of my choice already in my head, so I don’t skew my arguments to fit.

Lomfon may believe that Tai is the one who is most compatible with him, but he could not be more wrong. We have not seen any interactions between them where their personalities complement each other. We only see Tai in these interactions through Lomfon’s obsessive lens. But on the flip side, we see that Tien is rational and emotionally mature enough to give Lomfon an honest chance to explain himself and apologize. If Lomfon takes the time to look inward and understand his feelings for Tien, he will then convey them with sharp focus, and without any ambiguity. Because, let’s be honest, Lomfon is many things, but he is definitely not the type to prattle. And for Tien, who is also a straightforward and no-nonsense communicator, this approach might be the first step towards understanding and eventually forgiving Lomfon.

I know that I am skirting around a lot of Lomfon’s major fuckups on this road to redemption, but as I stated before, I’m not here to explain away all of his mistakes. I know Lomfon has some serious introspection and atonement in front of him. The only way he can ever hope for forgiveness is if he goes into this journey without hoping to be forgiven. He has to do it for the people that he has hurt, with no expectations in return.

Lomfon is not irredeemable. Does he deserve all the hate he is currently getting from the fandom? Yes. Did he deserve the ass-whooping? Hell yes. Will he also be worthy of Tien’s (and our) forgiveness if and when he reevaluates all of his actions and apologizes to him? Absolutely.

Shoutout to @lurkingshan, @bengiyo, @shortpplfedup, @wen-kexing-apologist, @ginnymoonbeam and @kyr-kun-chan for discussing their La Pluie thoughts and opinions with me, which helped coalesce my thoughts into this post.

Tagging @blmpff on request

[m1ckeyb3rry]

Pomegranate Ink: XIX

Series Synopsis: Unable to heal but willing to fight, with a fiancé in Kyoto and a last name that looms over everything you do, you accept an offer to study at Tokyo Jujutsu Tech. What you did not know was that your salvation and your ruination alike would soon join you at the school, neatly wrapped in the form of a boy followed by death.

Chapter Synopsis: You meet the final first year before reuniting with Todo, albeit not under the best circumstances.

Series Masterlist

Pairing: Yuta Okkotsu × Female Reader

Chapter Word Count: 5.3k

Content Warnings: angst, misogyny, naoya zenin, forbidden relationships, canon-typical violence, character death, original characters included

A/N: okay so i do think this story is going to end up being much longer than i ever anticipated it being lol whoops

“Why is she staring at me like that?” you muttered to Maki, who shrugged, clearly as lost as you were. After taking care of the entire Itadori situation, you had rejoined the rest of your classmates under the excuse that Yuta had suddenly become incredibly busy and you had had to cut your trip short. You had arrived upon an interesting scene: Maki fuming at Toge, Tullia, and Panda, while a redheaded girl sat beside Megumi on the stairs with her chin in her hands.

This was normal enough, but that was not what made it interesting; the odd part was that, for some reason, upon seeing you, the girl’s eyes had turned to stars, and she had not stopped gazing at you strangely since. You inched behind Maki, who stood in front of you with hands on her hips, like a bodyguard or something.

“You’re Y/N L/N, right?” the girl finally said, voice high-pitched with admiration.

“Yes. Do you know me?” you said. “Wait, of course you do, I’m a Grade 1 —”

“You’re the daughter of a famous model, so there’s no way I wouldn’t know you! Wow, you look just like her!” she squealed, tackling you in a hug and squeezing her arms around your waist. You yelped as she knocked you backwards and you crashed into the grass, though she paid no mind. “I’m Nobara Kugisaki! Please, call me Nobara, though! It’s a pleasure to meet you, ma’am!”

Nobara yanked you to your feet and shook your hand fervently. You blinked at her, unsure of what, exactly, was going on. Daughter of a famous model? Well, that was true, your mother had been a model before marrying your father, though that wasn’t usually what you were recognized for…

“She’s also a Grade 1 sorcerer, and the heir to the L/N name,” Megumi said. “As well as being one of only two upperclassmen of ours that can actually be considered respectable.”

“Who cares about all of that?” Nobara said. She still had that same, sparkling look about her, and you were genuinely worried she might drop to the ground and start kissing your feet at any given moment. “She’s literally the daughter of that one model! Don’t you know who I’m talking about?”

“No,” Megumi said. Nobara scoffed.

“Of course you wouldn’t. Boys,” she said, rolling her eyes. “Ignore him, Miss Y/N! By the way, do you have any contacts in the industry? Woah, I did not think when I came here that I’d actually be able to find someone who might be able to help me out in such a big way, but I’m definitely glad I chose to come here now!”

“I don’t have any contacts in the industry, no,” you said slowly. “I guess my mother might, but she’s been retired from modeling since she married my father, so I doubt anyone she’d know would be relevant in the current times.”

“Do you think you could introduce me to your mother at some point? She’s a real role model of mine,” Nobara said.

“Um, sure?” you said. “She’d probably be happy to hear that you think so highly of her.”

“Of course,” Nobara said, bowing at you. “Thank you, my most respected upperclassman. You are definitely my hero for helping me in this way.”

“Anytime,” you said, casting about for someone to help you. Maki was your best chance, but she was currently stifling a laugh, which meant she was basically out for the count. You stuck your tongue out at her discreetly; she returned the favor promptly. You had to smile, then, despite the absurdity of your introduction to the final first year.

“She’s definitely a little odd, but I don’t think we can judge her for it,” Tullia said later, as you, her, and Maki walked to the nearby convenience store. It had been a while since the three of you girls had done something together, and you had all unanimously agreed to at least take this small trip to discuss what was going on in your lives.

“That’s true. We were all admittedly not the most normal ourselves back when we were her age,” you said.

“First of all, she’s basically the same age as us, so I don’t know why you’re acting like all of this happened a long time ago,” Maki said, snatching the candy you were eyeing and adding it to her bag. “Secondly, speak for yourself. I’ve always been really normal.”

You and Tullia stared at Maki, trying to discern if she was joking or not. When you realized she was actually serious, you both burst into laughter, tears gathering in the corner of your eyes at the absurd statement.

“That’s rich, coming from you!” Tullia said.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Maki said.

“You’ve said some really questionable things back in the day,” you said. “Remember when you called Gojo ‘Frosty the Snowman’ that one time?”

“That was warranted,” she muttered.

“It was, but that doesn’t make it any less absurd,” Tullia said. “Face it, the three of us were definitely headaches as first years. The proof is in this: Maki, Gojo is like half-terrified of you, and Y/N, Gojo loves you more than anyone. And when it comes to Gojo, anything extreme is basically a warning signal that you’re doing something wrong.”

“What about you?” you said.

“I’ve been compared to Gojo in intelligence,” she said. “I don’t think that that’s a compliment, though.”

“Nope,” Maki said.

“Definitely not,” you said.

“See? Using the Gojo metric, we’ve all been really strange from the start. So we can’t judge Kugisaki for being like that as well. I think that it’s kind of part and parcel of being a sorcerer. Can you even name one normal one?” Tullia said.

“Nanami seems pretty normal,” you offered. Tullia snorted.

“That man does not know what a bed feels like. He probably sleeps standing up, like a horse. Not normal,” she said. You mulled this over, ultimately deciding she was right on that count.

“What about Utahime Iori, the head teacher from Kyoto?” Maki said. “She’s seemed calm the few times I’ve seen her.

“No, she’s definitely nontraditional as well. She didn’t let me share Noritoshi’s room because she was afraid I’d sabotage him in his sleep, remember? She’s crazy competitive, like to an unhealthy extent,” you said. “It’s not like I necessarily wanted to share his room, because, uh, we all know what happened during that event, but the principle of the matter remains.”

“Exactly,” Tullia said victoriously.

“Tullia, isn’t your cousin a sorcerer? What’s he like?” Maki said.

“Fucking crazy,” you said.

“He’s not the person I’d use as an example of a normal person working in sorcery, that’s for sure,” Tullia agreed. “Kaito’s always been a little intense, to put it mildly.”

“I guess there really is no one,” Maki said. “So we can’t judge Kugisaki at all!”

“That’s the case,” you said, sighing. “I can’t believe that she only signed up to be a sorcerer so that she could come to Tokyo, though.”

“It’s not that dissimilar to you becoming a sorcerer so that you could escape your marriage to Noritoshi,” Maki said, offering you the candy she had bought for you as you walked out of the convenience store. You accepted it gratefully, allowing your hand to linger on hers in thanks before popping a few pieces in your mouth as you strolled back towards the school.

“How has he been, by the way?” Tullia said. “I miss him.”

“You do?” you said, taken aback at the matter-of-fact statement. She hummed in thought.

“Not him as a person. It’s his wallet that I’m talking about; since he’s his clan’s proxy, he has to pay for whatever I tell him to, since the Kamos are still so grateful to me for saving your life,” she said. You did vaguely remember that kind of conversation happening during Noritoshi’s last visit, though at that time it had been in the context of bribing Harvard into letting her in.

“He’s been good. Busy making Elakshi feel welcome at Kyoto, if you know what I mean,” you said, winking in an overexaggerated way at Tullia. She laughed in delight, winking back at you, causing Maki to snicker at you both.

“I guess he deserves a revenge affair or two,” Tullia said.

“They’re good together, according to Todo, who watches them for me. Noritoshi is surprisingly really very romantic when he’s inspired; her dorm room looks more like a greenhouse from all the flowers he’s bought for her,” you said.

“How does Todo know what her dorm looks like?” Maki said.

“I don’t really find any merit in questioning his methods anymore,” you said. “What matters is that he gets the information.”

“What dirt do you have on him, that’s he so willing to do what you ask?” Tullia said.

“Surprisingly, not much. I offered to get him tickets to meet that idol that Noritoshi said he was so obsessed with, but he started sobbing and told me to save the money. Apparently, he’s been ‘clean’ ever since the exchange event,” you said, remembering the conversation with startling clarity due to how absurd it had been, even for Todo.

“Hey, Todo, if you spy on Elakshi and Noritoshi for me, I’ll buy you, uh, Takada-Chan tickets,” you said, elbowing him in the side. He choked on the McDonald’s milkshake he was sipping on and then gave you the most betrayed look you had ever seen him wear.

“Y/N,” he said, handing you the milkshake and getting on his knees. You arched an eyebrow and decided you might as well drink it while it was in your hands and he was doing…whatever he was doing. “How could you suggest something like that?”

“Aren’t you in love with her or something?” you said. You thought you were beyond getting surprised by him, but he continued to defy expectations, bowing his head and beginning to genuinely wail.

“No! I’m clean now, and I have been ever since you defeated me at the last exchange event!” he said.

“What does that mean?” you said as he cried, hugging your legs. You patted him on the head in an awkward attempt to comfort him, though you doubted it was successful.

“I don’t think about her anymore. You’ve replaced her in my mind, don’t you see? The ideal woman of a man like Okkotsu, and my rival to boot — how could I not be inspired? I don’t need Takada-Chan there to help me win anymore, not when I have you there to always guide me to victory,” he said.

“Okay,” you said. “If you spy on Elakshi and Noritoshi for me, I promise I’ll make sure we fight at some point during the next exchange event. I’ll tell Gojo to rig our individual match up to be against one another again or something like that”

“Alright!” he said, springing to his feet and snatching back his milkshake, finishing what was left in one massive gulp. “That sounds like a deal.”

“What even?” Tullia said once you had told them the entire story. “I will never understand him.”

“What does he mean by you being there to guide him to victory? Since when have you been his mentor or whatever?” Maki said.

“I wish I could tell you, but I haven’t the faintest idea. He’s mentioned it before, the whole notion of me giving him advice and whatnot, but I don’t ever do anything like that, so I don’t know what he means by it,” you said.

“I don’t think there’s a point in trying to assign meaning to it. Todo just says things, and it’s up to the rest of us to ignore them,” Tullia said. Maki considered this before nodding in agreement.

“Speaking of which, it looks like he’s in town,” you said, showing them the little red dot on your phone that was Todo’s location. “I wonder what he’s doing around here without even telling me. You’d think he’d offer to stop by!”

“To be fair, you did tell him he has to pay for you whenever you two hang out, so that could be a contributing factor,” Maki said.

“That’s true, but if he isn’t coming to hang out with me, then what business does he even have being here in the first place?” you said.

“Say,” Tullia said, in one of her rare bouts of wisdom. “Isn’t that where the vending machines are? Didn’t Toge send Fushiguro and Kugisaki there to pick up some lemonade for him and Panda?”

“Oh, shoot,” you said. Maki said something far more explicit, and an instant later, Tullia facepalmed as she came to the same conclusion as the rest of you — that Todo and his classmates had come to mess with you all, and specifically your underclassmen, in preparation for the upcoming exchange event. The fact that you were absent was only a bonus, as you were at present the only person who could deal with him for any extended period of time.

“Let’s go,” Maki said. “I have a hunch that my sister is involved in this, too, and I don’t want her doing something we’ll all regret. Tullia, come with me; Y/N, take care of your rival, please.”

“Of course,” you said, taking off at a run, using cursed energy to boost your speed so that you could keep up with Maki. Out of the corner of your eye, you saw Tullia unscrew the cap of a bottle of bleach, downing it and then joining you at a sprint.

There was a path of destruction leading from the vending machines to one of the nearby buildings. Groaning, because there was only one person as flamboyant as to do that much damage for no reason, you veered away from Maki and Tullia, leaving them to take care of Mai and Kugisaki, who you had briefly spotted before leaving them all behind.

Taking the stairs two at a time, you quickly reached the roof and were met with an expected but unwelcome sight: Todo, grinning and with his fist drawn back to hit an already-bloodied Megumi, who was swaying where he stood. For his part, though, Megumi had raised his hands, clearly about to summon some shikigami or another, but you weren’t sure if he’d be successful, so you took the chance to send a needle flying over his head, striking Todo in the forehead. It stuck firmly into his skin, freezing him in place before knocking him backwards as the cursed energy slammed into his weak spot. He crashed to the ground with a thud, and you crossed your arms as he lay there in defeat.

“Todo,” you said in disapproval. “Why are you bothering my junior? He’s already destroyed enough of Japan’s infrastructure as it is, so please don’t aid him in continuing to do so.”

“Y/N!” Todo said from where he was still prone on the floor, sprawled out like he was tanning. “I wasn’t expecting to see you!”

“Really? You came to my school and are surprised I’m here?” you said, patting Megumi on the back. “Go on and ask Ieri to heal you before you start feeling the concussion I’m sure this idiot gave you. I’ll deal with him.”

“Will you be alright?” Megumi said, giving Todo a disapproving look. You nodded with a sly smile.

“Of course. Who do you think beat him last time? I’m sure he’s upset about that and came to try and sabotage my team, isn’t that right, Todo?” you said, the final part of your sentence pointed at your self-proclaimed rival, who just chuckled.

“I’d never stoop that low,” he said. “I just came to tell you that I refuse to take part in this event if you all don’t drag Okkotsu and the third years back to participate as well.”

“You know Yuta’s studying abroad, so he can’t come. As for Hakari and Kirara, they were suspended, so they definitely won’t be involved,” you said. “My apologies. At least I’ll be there, though, isn’t that a consolation? Megumi, do you need help getting back to the campus?”

“Don’t worry,” Panda said from behind you. “We’ve got him. Sorry for being late.”

“Salmon!” Toge said brightly. You turned around, and true to form, your classmates were standing there, obviously ready to take on Todo in case the situation called for it. You were impressed that they had that kind of nerve, although then again, with Toge possessing Cursed Speech, it wasn’t an impossibility for them to hold him off until help could arrive.

“Great, thanks. Todo, let’s go get you a shirt so that we can have lunch,” you said, leaning over to pluck the needle from his forehead and offering your hand so that he could get up. Megumi cringed as Todo got to his feet, but the fight had left him by now. He only pointed at Megumi accusingly.

“I’m disappointed in you, boy. Your taste in women directly reflects your fighting style: boring and ineffective. Be glad she arrived to save you in time,” he said. Megumi scowled.

“What is his type in women? Is that why you were beating him up?” you said.

“Yes, I’ve never heard such an awful answer. He said he only cares about whether they have a strong moral character!” he said. “I was horrified.”

“I’m actually taken aback as well,” you said. “It’s definitely a surprise for someone who spent any amount of time in their youth around Gojo to give such a mature answer. Congratulations, Megumi, you’ve really impressed me.”

“Can we stop talking about this?” Megumi said over his shoulder as Toge and Panda began to help him walk down the stairs. “It’s not something I want to discuss with either of you!”

“Man, you help a kid a few times and suddenly they’re acting like they can back-talk you,” you said, sighing and digging in your bag for the emergency t-shirt you kept around for Todo. He was prone to tearing off his clothes when impassioned, so you usually had a spare set with you at all times.

“I’m telling you,” Todo said, face severe as he pulled on the red sports jersey you offered him. “I don’t like him one bit.”

“There’s no reason for that. He’s a good person, so you shouldn’t have gone so crazy on him,” you said. He pouted childishly.

“A drab type in women is a drab type in women!” Todo said. “I can’t let someone get away with that kind of answer.”

“I don’t understand why you think like that,” you said. “There’s no kind of woman that’s drab. It’s rude of you to imply that there is. By the way, I think I’m your only friend, and I’m a woman, so you should stop offending my gender like that.”

“It’s not that any category is wrong, necessarily. I agree with you — for someone to call anyone drab is just plain impolite! That’s not what I base my judgments on. Rather, I believe a person should know what they want. If you’re too uncertain or vague with something as inconsequential as your taste in women, then you won’t be able to make decisions when they count. Giving such a bland answer as a ‘strong moral character’ is a sure sign of hesitancy that can be fatal in battle,” Todo explained.

“I see,” you said. “I don’t know if I would ever adopt such a method myself, but I guess I can understand the reasoning behind it, even if I do find your logic a little strange in places.”

“That’s the beauty of sorcery. We’re nothing alike, but we’re both equally as strong. We can even put aside our differences and be considered rivals,” Todo said.

“Don’t think that you being nice like this is going to get you out of paying for my lunch,” you warned him. “I’m still annoyed at you for bothering Megumi, so I’m going to order something expensive.”

“It was worth a try,” Todo said.

“No, it wasn’t. Now, tell me something: why were you really here?” you said.

“I said so already,” he said, ushering you into the passenger seat of the new car he had bought for his own eighteenth birthday. You did so willingly, buckling your seatbelt and turning on the seat cooling.

“That was a lie. You already knew that Yuta, Kirara, and Hakari couldn’t come to the event, and you were already satisfied with just fighting me, so that means you had other motives. I’m not accusing you of anything; well, I guess that I am, but I mean that I’m not angry. I’m just trying to figure out what’s happening so that I can best prepare for it,” you said.

He fiddled with the buttons on the car, turning up the air conditioning and making sure that the seat was at exactly the right height for you. You watched him throughout, waiting for him to speak, knowing that the silent treatment got to him every time. He was so extroverted and loud that the quiet always bothered him, and if you did not say anything for a while, he would definitely fill the minutes with words of his own.

“Principal Gakuganji needed me to drive him down so that he could meet with Principal Yaga before the exchange event!” he finally said, all in a rush. You leaned back, satisfied with yourself. He was like a dam: now that he had begun to talk, he wouldn’t stop until he was finished and it was all out.

“Interesting,” you said. “So you were just supposed to give him a ride? How’d Mai end up here, then?”

“He did mention that we should meet our Tokyo counterparts,” he said.

“Uh-huh. But you didn’t first seek out your very own rival?” you said, raising your eyebrows. “It seems a little counterintuitive, doesn’t it? And on the subject, why didn’t Noritoshi come? You’d think he’d jump at the chance to see his beloved wife-to-be.”

“He was busy on a date — I mean, hanging out with Elakshi,” Todo said, clearing his throat.

“What an interesting update. I’m sure you were planning on telling me all about that later,” you said. “It’s not like I’ll get mad. I’m just a little nosy; anyways, he knows all about me and Yuta, so it’s only fair.”

“Yes, Y/N. Of course, Y/N,” Todo said, his words monotonous and strict like he was following the orders of a superior.

“Back on the original topic, though, why did Mai come instead of one of the others?” you said.

“Principal Gakuganji thought she might like the chance to say some words to her sister,” he said.

“Those two haven’t gotten along for years. Why would she want to say anything to Maki, unless it was something hostile? That’s it, isn’t it? You guys were supposed to come here and threaten my classmates. It wouldn’t have mattered what Megumi said his type in women was; you’d have beaten him up regardless,” you said.

“I’d have been gentler if he was less boring,” Todo muttered. You scoffed.

“Do you guys really have such little faith in yourselves? Do you think you can’t win the event without upsetting the opposite team? I mean, I know it must’ve been really embarrassing for your entire school to lose to two first years during the last event, but that doesn’t mean you take it out on poor Megumi and Kugisaki,” you said.

“That’s not what we were doing!” Todo said.

“Really?” you said as he parked the car and got out, opening your door for you and waiting until you had gotten out to shut it and lock the vehicle. “That’s convincing.”

“Forget about it. There’s something else we should discuss. Just us two,” he said.

“Whatever it is, it’d be better for you if we wait until we have food. I’m already irritated enough, so you don’t want me being hungry on top of it,” you said.

“I’ll call over a waiter,” he promised. “This place is known for having quick service, so it shouldn’t be too long. Then we can talk.”

Todo was right; it didn’t take much time for your food to be delivered. He waited for you to get halfway through your meal before he rolled his shoulders, obviously trying to figure out what to say. It was rare to see Todo lost for words, so you actually did pause your eating, just so that you could peer up at him in curiosity.

“What’s the matter?” you said. “I’m not that mad anymore. Toge said in the group chat that the first years are fine, so it’s not a big deal. What’s done is done, so there’s no point in dwelling on it. Is that what was bothering you?”

“No. That boy who died,” he said. “Sukuna’s vessel. You knew him, right? I remember that meeting. Gojo said you agreed that he should be saved.”

“Itadori. Yes, I did say that. It came to nothing in the end, but in the moment, I was one of the ones saying he should not be executed,” you said. Todo could not know the truth about Itadori’s existence. Although you trusted him well enough, he was simply too close to the higher ups, being in Kyoto under Principal Gakuganji’s watchful eye. Besides, you hadn’t even told Yuta, Maki, or Tullia. If you could not tell the boy you loved, your best friend, or the girl whose energy you shared, then you could not compromise your resolve by telling Todo, no matter what.

“Why did you think that?” he said. “I didn’t take you for the type to be so fond of that kind of creature. He shared his body with the King of Curses, you know.”

“That’s right,” you said. “To tell you the full truth, it wasn’t like I was passionate about saving him. I definitely believed he deserved the chance to live, but I knew that he was a real threat to the world, so if execution was his fate, I would’ve understood. However, I saw with my own eyes that he had the will and ability to suppress Sukuna when necessary, stopping him from taking over and killing Megumi and I. That definitely boosted my opinion of him. Also…his situation reminded me of Yuta’s.”

“Okkotsu’s situation, huh? I almost forgot that he was set to be executed at one point,” Todo said.

“Exactly. But Gojo managed to save him, and I’m so grateful for it, because what would I have done without him? I didn’t want someone else to feel like that. I didn’t want all of those lives that Itadori might’ve touched to go unchanged just because the higher ups couldn’t conceive a future where he was useful and allowed to live a little longer,” you said.

“So that’s your defense,” Todo said. “I think I can see where your reasoning comes from. He’s gone now, though. What is your opinion on that?”

“It was a preventable tragedy,” you said. “Was that your other purpose in coming to the school? Finding out what our feelings for Itadori were? The other second years weren’t close to him. The first years are understandably upset at the loss of a trusted partner. As for me, I am disappointed. There was no reason that they should’ve been on that mission at all. There were more qualified sorcerers available to take the job: namely, you.”

“I wasn’t offered the role or informed about the mission details!” Todo said immediately. “I didn’t — you should know I’m not that kind of person.”

“I do. I’m not blaming you for it, but isn’t it suspicious? The higher ups said that there were no other sorcerers that could’ve taken the job, but they didn’t even try contacting you about it,” you said.

“You think that there was foul play involved in his death?” Todo said. You swallowed, studying his features, weighing in your mind how much would be prudent to tell him and how much you should withhold. You didn’t want him to let something slip to the wrong person by accident, but you also didn’t want him to have to carry that kind of burden, as well.

“I don’t know if there was or wasn’t,” you said. “That’s the kind of thing that I can never confirm, and I probably don’t want to, either. Opening an investigation wouldn’t end well for anyone involved. However, I am not pleased with the circumstances surrounding it, and it was definitely an avoidable death. Whether it was done with malicious intent or was a mere oversight, it speaks to a need for reevaluation on the higher ups’ part. Though I doubt that’ll ever happen.”

“It won’t,” Todo said. “You’re right, I think. Don’t investigate this matter further. Principal Gakuganji seemed to find it important that I tell you that. He said — I’m quoting him, okay? Don’t be mad at me — nothing good happens whenever Y/N L/N and Satoru Gojo get involved in matters beyond their understanding. I didn’t really like it, but I knew he’d get someone else to tell you if I refused, and I thought they might do it in a worse way. I agreed just so that I could tell you it’s bullshit.”

“He’s always been like that,” you said. “Even when Naoya was suspended from sorcery. He blamed me for it instead of Naoya himself. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but the higher ups don’t like people that don’t follow their exact rules, which means people like me, Gojo, and Yuta are generally hated by them.”

“It’s ridiculous,” Todo said. “Anyways, that was what we had to discuss. Let’s talk about something more fun now.”

“That’s it?” you said, and then you smiled. “Yes, let’s talk about better things. Did you hear that the band I made you listen to is finally back on tour?”

You returned to the school in the long hours of the late afternoon. It was still hot out, the summer sun showing no signs of setting anytime soon, and you exhaled happily, stretching as you neared the dorm buildings. Todo had dropped you off on campus, picking up Principal Gakuganji and Mai in exchange. Principal Gakuganji had glared at you as he got in, which almost certainly meant that Gojo had done something or another to piss him off, but other than that, you were actually pleased with yourself and with the day as a whole.

On cue, your phone buzzed. You didn’t really want to see who was messaging you, as there was a high chance it was someone wanting you to do extra work for them, but when you unlocked the screen, you were glad that you had. The text was from Yuta, who you always kept updated about your day-to-day going-ons.

‘Want me to beat him up?’ The message was followed by a badly photoshopped image of Yuta’s face on a WWE wrestler, slamming his opponent into the ground. Said opponent naturally had Todo’s face pasted onto it in the same fashion, and you laughed, saving the image and sending it to Toge, who’d definitely find it as amusing as you had.

Unfortunately, before you could respond to Yuta, you got another text, this one a lot more ominous, especially considering the fact that the sender was Gojo, who usually texted with a multitude of emojis and the caps lock off. Reading over the message, you found your cheerful mood to be somewhat soured by concern at the uncharacteristic behavior.

‘Y/N. I’m saying this, not as a teacher to his student nor as a brother to his sister, but as a sorcerer to his peer: I need you to do me a favor.’

[moonpiemoonshine]

Dirt and Grime pt.2

(A Barney Ross fanfic)

The next night the men had found themselves in a busy bar. Barney had noticed how honey had not shown up to the bar just yet. Him and his crew had started their drinking and celebratory partying. After about an hour Honey had arrived at the bar, dressed in short jean shorts and a tight fit tank top. She headed towards the bar and took two quick shots of tequila to get herself loose and more active. After her drinks she grabbed a man’s beer out of his hands and headed towards the crew. The men let out hollers and whistles at the woman, Barney is unimpressed with his crew but was heavily impressed with Honeys look.

“Hey boys” she said sitting alongside them in a sing song tone, “you just sit here or do you actually party?” She asked in anticipation.

“We have about another hour before people leave then we fully party” Lee said and this excited Honey.

“That gives me an hour to do what I do best” she smirked and downed her drink, she saw Gunnar’s full drink besides her and she quickly downed his. She left with a cocky giggle and went to the dance floor.

Barney kept his eyes glued on the girl, grimacing when he sees men get too close. He enjoyed watching her have fun and dancing. Barney did notice the heavy amount of drinking she had been doing but her actions haven’t been distorted in anyway so he didn’t worry. He was tempted to go in and dance with the woman but he knew it wasn’t a good idea, he death glared Caesar and Gunnar for dancing with her making them back off.

After the big crowd of people left it was just the crew, Tool had also shown up once the crowd had disappeared. The men were laughing loud and playing a drunken game of poker. Insults and jokes being thrown around and good alcohol being shared in the crew. Knife throwing competitions happen and drinking contests follow. After a while the boys had finally noticed the mechanical bull in the corner of the building. One by one the men had tired it out but they were so disoriented they only lasted little less than a minute. Barney tried to impress Honey on the bull, trying to last the best out of the group. After he had fallen Honey broke into laugher and knew it was her turn to get on the bull. She sauntered her way up to the bull, taking Tools hat while getting to it. The men whooped while she got on the bull and they all laughed and cheered seeing her last longer than them. But a last she fallen off and Barney was quick to help her up.

“Woah there cowgirl, can’t have you sleeping on the floor” he chuckled while getting her up.

“Yea, there are much better places to be sleeping right now” she replied in a flirty tone.

The party continued but only for a little while. One by one all the men started to go home. Honey leaned on the outside of the bar waiting in the cold. Every once in a while looking down at her phone. Barney grew worried for the girl, wanting so desperately to help her but not wanting to creep her out. After a bit a car had finally pulled up in front of the bar. Honey had took a few steps to the car but looked back at him and quickly jogged over to the man.

“It was great to work and party with you B” she lightly slurred with a wide grin. She planted a quick kiss on his lips before she jogged back to the car and quickly getting in.

Barney was stunned but happy. He hoped his small signals had worked on her, but again he knew she must have been a bit drunk so she most definitely won’t remember. Honey had Barney on her mind, and with thinking about him she was thinking about the hanger. She had given her driver directions to the hanger and she had stumbled into the hanger and walked around the barren building. She had went up to the giant plane and leaned against it. She had climbed up the wing and laid down on the nose of the plane. She looked up at the stars and tipped the cowboy hat down over her eyes. She let her heavy eyelids shut, letting herself fall asleep.

Late the next afternoon Barney headed to the hanger. He was delightfully shocked when he saw Honey, sprawled out on the nose fully asleep. He let out a light chuckle and he knocked on the side of the plane. This action waking up the sleeping girl and she quickly sat up and looked around to assist where she was at.

“Morning cowgirl, this the sleeping place you were talking about” Gunnar joked and Honey laughed to herself.

“Not exactly” she stated and slid down the side of the plane. She landed in Gunnar’s arms and she let out a soft squeal.

“What all do you remember? No way you deliberately wanted to sleep here” Barney asked letting the girl down but still holding her steady.

“I remember the throwing contest, shot contest, the bull, waiting outside, and…” she trailed on faking forgetfulness but held a sly smirk on her face and went in and gave the man a kiss. He was stunned but kissed back and once they pulled away form each other she continued, “that seems to be about it” she finished and Barney smiled.

“Glad you remember the best parts” Barney replied and the two smiled. “You need a ride home?” He asked causally and Honey had not even thought of that.

“If you don’t mind, I have a dog I need to make sure didn’t pee on the carpet” she answered and Barney smiled.

Barney led her to his motorcycle and Honey couldn’t help but snicker at the customization he had done to it. She was quick to hop on and get going. Barney was happy to see how eager she was to get on the bike. She had pointed and showed Barney the way to her house. Barney had not really assumed that she would’ve lived out in the countryside of the city. He found the landscape beautiful and calming.

When he had seen her small little wooden house, in a empty country field he felt soft. This was a serene place he’d love to live. The quietness and beauty matched the woman holding onto him. He pulled up next her small white truck and she was slightly quick to get off the bike.

“Thanks for the ride Barney” she said to the man, he was listening but was busy looking at the scenery.

“It’s no problem” he replied sounding distracted.

“Keep me updated about the next job” she said while walking to her door.

When she opened the door her red heeler had practically jumped out the door. She let out a small squeal in excitement and picked up her dog and walked into her home. Barney longed for the feeling. The feeling of coming home to a beautiful place and someone that loves you.

Barney wanted to see Honey every moment he found himself alone. He hated having to only see her during work. He knew that forming this connection wouldn’t be a good idea in his line of work. He didn’t know if she even wanted it. He was older and she had so much time and so much potential. Barney’s head was full of the young woman, wanting what’s best for her, but also he knows she could bring out the best of him.

After a couple weeks another job had been assigned. Barney had called in a few get together before hand but Honey had never showed up to any of them. He took this as a sign that she wasn’t interested in them or him besides from work. He doesn’t blame her, she lives in a dream and she would wanna stay in it as much as possible. He kept her in the loop through quick calls and the rare text. Once the day of leaving for the job came up he was on edge waiting for Honey. He wanted to see her, and he had to keep a cool and content composure while waiting for her at the hanger. All the men on the team all traveled by motorcycle, but Honey usually went around in a small white truck.

His nerves were put to rest when he saw the white truck in the distance. He had let out a sigh of relief he didn’t know he was holding. Once she was out of the truck she was decked out in all black attire like the rest of the team usually wore. Barney was admiring her from the ground up but when he finally got her face he was confused. A bruise had adorned her left temple and the corner of her mouth. She kept a normal expression on her face when she walked up to Barney.

“Hey,” is all Barney could say. He didn’t wanna pry and he knew she didn’t need to tell him anything.

Honey gave him a small smile in acknowledgment while passing him and went to a work bench. She had taken two small hand guns that were on the bench and grabbed ammunition for them. She packed them into her bag and had quickly loaded into the plane. Barney wanted to think she was on edge but he remembered that when he had saw her last it was just him and Honey alone. He also knew she was usually quiet and wanted things done in her own pace. She was drunk the last time he had seen her in a social setting so he needed to not fret about her. Now all on the plane they were off to some European country to stop a group of terrorist making a human hostage situation. While on the plane Gunnar had finally noticed Honeys face and decided to use it a way to fill the silence in the metal bird.

“Hey nice shiner, you gave it to you” Gunnar asked in a crude tone.

“Bar hoping, I broke out two fights and I couldn’t help but join” she said focusing on sharpening her blades.

“You? Bar hop? On your own time?” Gunnar retorted in a disbelieving manner.

“Well yea, between this and my training I do at home I got all the free time in the world.” She stated unenthused, “unlike you sitting around doing nothing, and failing to touchin’ it aren’t really my ideal past times” she finished causing some men to snicker at Gunnar’s now flustered face.

Once the arrived it was dark so they had to quickly get on the scene and try to shut it down. They all crouched onto a ledge and looked down into a small canyon full of people. Most in uniform but the rest were all in civilian clothes. Barney passed around a pair of binoculars and once they reached Honey she grumbled at the sight.

“Ugh not these guys” she groaned under her breath while giving the binoculars back to Barney.

Barney had heard her comment and decided to ask her about it later. He gave the command for the crew to fall in and start taking them out. Honey was quick to go to a separate cliff edge and clung to the bottom of it and used a free hand to grab a gun strapped to herself and she waited for just the right moment. She allowed the crew to get a little close and she let out three shots down into the camp and the three shots had landed on three of the men in uniform and once they had noticed the men were hit, the rest of the crew had fallen into the camp and started taking down the men. Honey let go of the cliff and started to slide down the edge of it, while sliding she pulled up the back mask cloth she had hanging around her neck and pulled it over her nose.

She got into the camp and using her knife she had taken out the two men guarding the hostages. Using a small clean baby knife she cut a man free and gave him the knife telling him to free the rest. She left quickly to take out nearby uniformed men. Honey had been spotted and a man holding a machete had tackled her to the ground, he had grazed her sides with the sharp machete but Honey maneuvered her gun to his side and shot him. She had left him there on the ground knowing he would die from the gun wound, and was quickly onto another uniformed man to get rid of. During this fight her opponent was much bigger and she had suffered a much bigger wound from him. She had gotten him onto the rocks and he used a rock to make the gash from her previous cut bigger with a rock. During their altercation her mask had fallen down and the man was set into a whole different gear. He had brought out a specialty gun with pellets full a weird substance.

Honey finally used her gun and used the rocks besides her to ricochet the bullet into the man’s head. It was too late for Honey to put her mask back up cause another man had seen her. She had to take precautions to not get hit by their bullets, so she mostly used her two guns strapped to her. Her fast movements and precise marksmanship was knocking lots of men down one by one, but she was caught and held down by another bigger man and he was trying to stab a syringe type thing into her. Her resistance was good, and finally she had gotten her hand into a good position to snap the needle, and when she did she stabbed it into her eyes and she was quick to put a bullet in him when she got up. She took out more men, having to struggle a bit form the pain of her side but once she noticed the fighting was gone when she had taken down the last guy she felt like she could barley walk. She stumbled to the rest of the team and let them know she had let the hostages go and they were safe. The team decided that they’d set up camp next to the plane for the night and leave in the morning. When they reached the base of the cliff and knew they needed to hike up it Honey knew she wasn’t gonna be able to make it up.

“Caesar, my guts might fall out my side right now. I need you to help me up there” she asked and had pressed her palm to the gash showing Caesar the severity of her injury.

Barney heard her statement and looked back and watched Caesar as he held the girl on her back and hiked up with her. Barney knew Caesar could hold Honey with ease, but he constantly looked back making sure she was alright. When they reached the top of the cliff Honey wanted to walk but Caesar wouldn’t allow her and he carried her all the way back to the plane. The men set up a small makeshift fire and set out small tents and started to prep their meals for the night.

Barney sat close to Honey while she rummaged through her bag for her medical supplies. Honey propped up her knife and planned to use it as a makeshift mirror. She took off her black compression shirt and rubbed her numbing paste on the giant wound. Barney could see her slightly struggling to see where she was stitching up her wound since she couldn’t see all that well from her small knife. Barney turned to see Gunnar wiping off his giant machete and a idea hit Barney.

“Gunnar, lemme borrow that for a sec” Barney asked taking the machete not giving Gunnar a choice in the matter.

Barney moved Honey’s knife and replaced it with the machete. Honey thanked the man, now having better confidence in her movements. She finished stitching the wound quickly and put some more ointment in the injury. She slid the machete back to Gunnar and quickly put her shirt back on and re prepped the equipment.

“Anyone need me to overlook anything” she asked and most of the men nodded their heads.

Honey went through putting her ointment on the men and cleaning up the occasional busted face or cut on the arm. She was gentle, her pacing being a swift but calming one. She had finally reached Barney and all he had was a small cut on his brow so she just dampened her fingers with a simple but much stronger disinfectant for him. He kept his gaze on the woman, not caring since the men were laughing and busy eating to care what he was doing.

“You knew those guys” Barney asked once she finished.

“Yea. You know in comics how there’s always some super drug to make the perfect soldier” she said putting her things away, “these men think my mother had made that, and they think that she’s still alive to give it to them” she finished and finally relaxed and looked at the man. “They are the ones who gave me this busted up face. They think they’ll find her through me” she stated blandly and this pricked a sense of worry in Barney.

“Do they bother you a lot?” He asked hoping to ease this worry.

“No, just every once in a while. When they get desperate” she said and laid down.

Barney had no idea how to respond. So he just laid down next to her. He wanted to turn and hold her close but he knew he couldn’t. Honey was at ease and super relaxed. She didn’t know why Barney gave her this effect but she didn’t mind. She would love to be around him more just for this feeling but she knew she couldn’t. Barney was a busy man and she didn’t wanna interfere with his work. The next morning came quick and the group was quick to leave for home. They had all been wanting to go back so they could party and celebrate their quick victory. Unknowing to Honey, Barney was finally vocalizing his feelings but not to her, but to his co pilot Lee Christmas.

“What’s on your mind. It’s not here with me obviously. What’s more important than me?” Lee asked in a joking but also sincere ish tone.

“It’s a woman-“ Barney started with a sigh.

“You’re not lying to me are you? You having woman issues isn’t a real thing” Lee said being quick to cut him off.

“I wish I was lying. It’s..” Barney was conflicted, he really didn’t know if he should tell him but he trusted him. “..Honey, she’s been on my mind since the last job” he sighed.

“Woah, I would’ve never guess that spitfire got your brain into more mush than it already was” Lee commented but let Barney continue.

“We shared two kisses, one where she was drunk but another one the day after and just don’t know what to do” he said feeling a little weird talking about this. He didn’t like being open but he knew he needed to.

“Didn’t know you were a charmer” he joked and Barney looked at him with a unenthused look, “well I know it’ll be weird but you gotta talk to her about it. You don’t know how it’ll go if you two get together but still doing work here” he continued making a genuine effort to help.

“Yea, I just gotta find the right time to” Barney said in a worn out tone.

“Don’t do it too late or nothing will come out good” he started peaking Barney’s interests, “gotta find the sweet spot” he finished in a joke and Barney rolled his eyes.

When they landed they all were quick to leave. Honey was notably the last one to go alongside Barney. She wanted to make sure her side wasn’t gonna bother her while she driving so she stayed in the hanger trying to wrap her body. Barney had noticed her and wanted to help and didn’t need to worry about prying eyes. He came up behind the girl and took the wrap out of her hands and started to take over for her. Once the wrap had ended Honey had made sure to secure it to her body. She looked up at the man holding the eye contact with a loving gaze, not realizing their hands were grazing each other.

“Thank you again, Barney.” She said getting snapped out of their gaze and started to walk off putting her shirt back on. Barney had followed her back out to the woman’s truck and helped her into it. She had rolled down the window and Barney leaned into the truck through the now empty window. “We partying tomorrow?” She asked.

“Yep, we’re gonna be at Tools place around nine or so. Nothing to crazy” he said letting out a small crooked smile.

“Dang it, that plane was a comfy bed” she joked letting a small snicker leave her lips. “I’ll see ya tomorrow Barney” she ended rolling up the windows and leaving the hanger. Barney waved her bye while she drove off, he watched longingly as her truck slowly left his line of sight. Seeming to drive herself into the horizon.

The next night started off surprisingly hard. The men had been heavily drinking doing many drinking competitions. Honey was heavily involved in these competitions. She kept flirting with Barney but he didn’t start doing it back till he got more drinks into his system. Once the night got late the two didn’t really know what they were doing. The rest of the crew had left and it again was just Honey and Barney. Barney had called a ride for Honey to get home but while waiting in the cold, Honey was cold and held herself close to Barney. The hold then turned into the two drunkenly making out. Once the ride had shown up, Barney didn’t wanna leave her so he went into the car with her. They had been driven to her house and the two were quick to go into Honey’s bedroom. Usually Barney would try to look and really take in his surroundings and appreciate what would be in her house.

The next morning Honey was lightly starting to wake up but was violently woken up when Barney’s arm had slung over her side, and unknowingly hurting her injured side. She shot up and groaned from the pain and hit his arm off of her. At first Honey had thought it was some random guy she had in her bed but was shocked to see Barney. She couldn’t remember a thing from the night before, and she didn’t know what to do.

“Barney?”

[musette22]

Hellooo, it's me, I'm alive! Sorry for disappearing again this weekend, I hope everyone had a great one! 💛 Mine was really really wonderful, so, time to overshare because I'm feeling all mushy and tired but happy. These past few days made me realize once again how lucky I am to have so many incredible people in my life 💕 I love them SO much and I'm so grateful they love me too, which sounds cheesy but it's true 😅

I don't think anyone particularly needs these, but I still want to share some of the stuff my friends and family have said and done this weekend just because they're pretty amazing and I kind of wanted to write it down to remember it (I'll put most of it under the cut though, because it got longer than I anticipated. whoops, who's surprised, not me either)

So my friend's little boy, who is three, got a little confused about pronouns while he was chatting away, and accidentally called me a 'he'. His mom gently corrected him like, "No honey, auntie Minnie is a she." And when he asked why, she said "Because Minnie feels like a she. What do you feel like?" And he gave it some thought and said "I think I feel like a he", so she said, "Well, there you go, we'll call you a he then! But if you feel like a she later on, or auntie Minnie feels like a he, then that's also okay. Does that make sense?" And he looked thoughtful for a second, said "Yep", and carried on playing.

Later that day my other friend picked up her almost one year old, looked at his little face and said "I'm pretty sure he's either going to be a construction worker or a drag queen. Maybe both." And then kissed his nose and told him she'd love him regardless of what he'd become.

I was talking to the husband of one of my friends (who is my friend too, but I knew her first), and out of the blue he asked me, "What kind of music do you like to listen to? I know you like Arctic Monkeys, but what else do you like?" So I told him I listen to a lot of 40s and 50s music, among other things, and then the conversation carried on. And then later that night, Billie Holiday suddenly came on, followed by Chet Baker, and it turned out he'd actually made a whole playlist of 40s music because he realised he'd been playing a lot of recent popular music during the getaway so far, and he wanted me to hear something I liked too

At some point I was talking to the husband of my other friend, and when he asked me whether I'd been seeing anyone lately, I kind of shrugged and told him that it isn't really a priority for me right now, that I'm not excluding the possiblity of dating or starting a family, but I'm not actively looking for it either. He just clinked his beer bottle with mine and said, "Cool, that makes a lot of sense. We don't all have to follow the same path in life to be happy, right?" And I was already grateful that he got it, but then he was quiet for a minute and said, "Shit, I'm sorry, I bet you're fed up with people asking you about dating and kids. It's literally no one's business but yours and I'm sure that if you ever want to talk about it, you'll let us know. I won't ask again."

At some point, my friend suddenly dropped down onto the couch next to me, put her arm around me and said "My god, I feel like we've only talked about kids all weekend, sorry about that." So I assured her I didn't mind at all (I adore those kids, I really do), and she was like, "Still, tell me about what you're reading right now, and while you're at it, please show me the cutest picture of Chris you saw this week," and then she spent a while cooing over my boys with me in return.

I was sitting next to my other friends' three year old little girl in the car on put way back from visiting a nearby castle, and she was super impressed and a little overwhelmed in that way kids have sometimes. She kept wondering aloud whether 'the princess' had been at home, and whether, if she'd ever meet her, the princess would want to be her friend. So I told her that of course the princess would want to be her friend, probably even best friends, and then she laughed and said "No silly, you're my best friend" and hugged me, and I kind of melted into a puddle

During brunch today, I was telling a story about how when I was jogging recently, I thought I was being followed by a guy on a scooter, and that I'd stopped to send my mom my location because I was genuinely a little scared. As it turned out, the guy just wanted directions, so I laughed it off and told the story as a joke, but then my brother frowned and said, "No, but it's not okay that you can't even go on a run without feeling scared just because you're a woman", and then told me he read an article recently about the precautions many women necessarily have to take whenever they go out or go on a date, like location sharing, or faking phonecalls, or bringing pepper spray, because we often fear for our safety in a way that men rarely have to. And then he said he'd never realised that before, apologised to me, his girlfriend and my mom on behalf of men in general, and said he wished we'd never have to deal with any of that

I was talking to my mom while we were on a walk, and she told me about an old friend she'd run into recently. So I asked her how they knew each other, and she proceeded to tell me a story about how in the 80s, they used to do sit-ins together to demonstrate for immigrants' and unemployed people's rights. When I asked her if she'd never been worried about getting arrested or anything like that, she just shrugged and said "Not really, because I knew that we were doing it for the right reasons and that was what mattered most."

Anyway, I know they're all little things and they should all be normal things, but I'm aware that they aren't always, or everywhere, or for everyone. And they just made me stop and marvel at how wonderful these people all are, big and small, how comfortable and at ease I feel around all of them, and how amazing it is that they not only exist and work to make the world a better place, but they also care about me in return. Like, not to sound like a hippie, but whoa, I'm feeling a lot of love and gratitude right now ❤️

[bluejaybytes]

💘🍛 I like both of these. What's most important to your oc (of choice but I'm thinking of Maggie), and what their usual dinner looks like <3

Hiiiiiiiii <3

💘 HEART WITH ARROW — what and/or who do(es) your oc consider the most important to them?

Maggie has sooo few people she's close with BUT the people she IS close with she is VERY close with, the three main ones would be her brother, Hawke, her Girl Best Friend (come to your own conclusions on this one, they'll never have an actual discussion about it), Jenna, and one of the ghosts that hangs around her, Opal. Hawke she was always fairly close with as a kid, while he never actually believed her when she would talk about the ghosts and their various shenanigans, he was always one of her strongest and most reliable supporters, and would claim to believe her. She knows now that he never actually believed her (She figured that out as a preteen), but she definitely appreciates the fact he was still always there for her and standing up for her when she'd get talked over by others. When she wakes back up after her murder, finding where he lives is one of her first priorities, because she's basically having like a million crises at once and figures he's the person she trusts must to be able to help her.

Paragraph break because I'm going on longer than anticipated WHOOPS. For Jenna, she's close with her for several reasons. The first part is... honestly just a bit of necessity. Maggie's lost and scared and has no idea what's going on, and Jenna's the first person to approach her and is someone willing to try and help her figure out what's going on, during a situation where anyone else would've just forced her to go to a hospital (Which... to be fair Jenna definitely should've suggested they go to some sort of medical help, given that she was passed out in the middle of a field and wakes up talking about being murdered). Outside of necessity, however, she and Jenna just like... basically instantly latch onto each other. They're frankly both a bit obsessive with each other because they both... really don't have anyone else? Once the plot ends and their lives calm down they'll get some other friends and their dynamic will become more sustainable longterm, but in the moment they've only got each other and GODDAMN do they have each other. Jenna's like 90% of the reason Maggie wants to actually take care of herself, because if she's not doing it, Jenna just does it for her, and she doesn't like feeling like a burden, even if Jenna's doing it willingly and without viewing as such. Their bond is so largely based on their willingness to support each other, so. yknow <3

For Opal, she's known Maggie since she was only a few months old! Ghosts took notice of Maggie's ability to see them LONG before Maggie would be learn this was Not normal, AKA, as a several month old baby, she'd track ghosts with her eyes and try and interact with them like any other person, which alerted the ghosts to the fact she could actually see them. This made her essentially a bit of a celebrity/VERY weird and kinda creepy to the ghosts, so word of the Magic Baby Who Can See Dead People spread, and tons of local ghosts would hang around just to see her themselves. Opal ALSO heard of her, and she just generally loves kids, so she went to go see baby Maggie, only to realize that oh man. This is going to be. a tough life for this kid. So she takes it upon herself to watch over her, and chases away other ghosts who bother her so that Maggie doesn't have to spend her entire life being harassed by ghosts. Their dynamic is a bit weird throughout Maggie's life, as Opal tends to be a bit overbearing, and also tends to talk over the living people Maggie's trying to talk/listen to, making it difficult for her to concentrate, but as frustrating as Maggie finds her to be, they still are very close, Opal's someone Maggie can be actually open with, and someone who is always trying to look out for her and protect her any way she can. Their dynamic gets WAY more strained after Maggie's death but this is already a VERY long ramble and that would involve a LOT more so I'll save that for another day

🍛 CURRY AND RICE — what does your oc's typical dinner look like? do they usually eat dinner?

Bad it looks bad.

Okay the actual answer is more nuanced <3 Prior to her murder, Maggie was still living at home (She was only 17 and had JUST graduated highschool, graduating a year early), so her typical dinner was just... whatever her mom made! Nothing too fancy, just pretty generic dinner items. Maggie's never really had much of an appetite, but also stayed up extremely late every night, so typically it'd be eating like half the normal portion of whatever dinner was -> stay up until 2am -> Get hungry and finish off the other half of dinner -> stay up until [god knows how late]. Her favorite meal is probably stew, though while she is an extremely picky eater, of the foods she's okay with she doesn't tend to have really any standout favorites.

Once she wakes back up after her murder and has to care for herself, her dinner is... crackers. As mentioned, she's an extremely picky eater, but she also has no skill in cooking and is also just deeply depressed, so she can't really give the effort to care about it enough to want to eat properly, so she just. doesn't! However, once Jenna starts hanging around more, specifically hanging around for long enough stretches of time to see Maggie's abysmal self care and eating habits, THEN Maggie's typical dinner stops being "crackers" and starts being whatever Jenna makes her. This is typically things like easier to prepare meals like mac n cheese, but Jenna always adds things to them that aren't included to make them nicer, so it's always more than just "box of kraft mac n cheese", its got some added vegetables and meat added in there to make it better!

Once Maggie actually starts trying to learn how to cook herself, her typical dinner consists of one single bite of whatever she tried and promptly failed to make, and then a plate of Whatever Jenna Made Instead. She's trying her best but oh boy. its not great.

[allthepeculiarthings]

So I am answering this on anon as I don't want to be laughed at if I get this wrong, but I believe it's because Voldermort was more dangerous than Grindelwald. So you have Grindle and he goes to school, finished his education and mucks around with pure blood society in various cities around the world. He's a nuance, he's spreading all this Greater Good stuff around, yes he's torturing and killing the odd muggle here and there, but apart from a few jail breaks, he's captured at last and while they were a few bad years with him on the loose, in the end he was captured and never bothered anybody ever again. Tom on the other hand was never captured. His first offical kill was before his 6th year at school (15/16) he attacked students at school via the COS. He was making horcruxes. We know he started torturing others from an early age. Voldermort also travelled, he was obly in England. If he wanted you dead, he would find you overseas. He took over the entire British MOM. He and his followers attacked in broad daylight and often didn't care for witnesses.

While Grindalwald is eligant in his attempt to seze power, Voldermort is ruthless, even as a child.

Hi! I appreciate this response! I’m always open to discussion and having my mind changed. Also my answer became so much longer than I initially anticipated. Whoops. Sorry. I also veered off course but this isn’t an assignment so I’m not cutting my rambling out. 

I understand what you mean, but I’d like to point out - the general wizarding world doesn’t know about the general menace Tom Riddle was as a child. These things he’s done -torture other children as a child, open the Chamber of Secrets, kill Myrtle at fifteen/sixteen years old, make horcruxes- the general public has no idea about this. They don’t know. They don’t even know that Tom Riddle is Lord Voldemort, because Voldemort keeps his identity under wraps. The main idea behind my post was - where in the books do we get the notion that Voldemort was an international threat, that struck fear into every wizard and witch across the world? 

In the real world, the IRA (which the Death Eaters are quite clearly modelled after) doesn’t quite have the same reputation that Hitler and the Nazis did (which Grindelwald and his acolytes are supposed to represent). I don’t mean to compare two devastating real life wars, but socially and culturally, the Nazis have had more of an impact on the world, and are more widely known and remembered. Yet the implication JK Rowling paints in the books is that Voldemort’s reign of terror is more potent. 

What you said about Voldemort being ruthless, even as a child, is true. But the fact that he is ruthless as a child doesn’t really contribute to his boogeyman status in the wizarding world, simply because the wizarding world doesn’t know of Voldemort’s childhood. 

Also, Grindelwald didn’t finish school, he was expelled from Durmstrang. Here is an excerpt from Deathly Hallows:

“At sixteen years old, even Durmstrang felt it could no longer turn a blind eye to the twisted experiments of Gellert Grindelwald, and he was expelled.” 

He was also supposedly expelled for “near-fatal attacks upon fellow students”. 

Therefore, while we don’t know whether Gellert was torturing other children when he was younger, or stringing rabbits up from the rafters, it is evident that he was also busy being evil at sixteen years of age, much like our beloved Tommy Riddle. 

The most interesting part of this is that the students of Durmstrang, and therefore presumably a very large portion of the wizarding population, are aware that it was Grindelwald that carved the Deathly Hallows mark in the wall of the school, and therefore it is very likely that the general population is aware that Grindelwald was expelled for getting up to trouble from a young age. Unlike what they know about Tom Riddle. 

Also, you said that Grindelwald “mucks around with pureblood society” - after he is expelled he goes to England to stay with his aunt, where he meets Dumbledore. After the disastrous break up, Grindelwald fucks off to Europe, where he raises and army and spends more time chasing after the Hallows. This is kept vague in the series, because it isn’t the main focus of the books, but Grindelwald is expanded upon in the Fantastic Beast movies.

In addition, both Grindelwald and Voldemort successfully take over ministries. 

Grindelwald, in The Secrets of Dumbledore, takes over the German ministry in a spectacularly corrupt fashion, and it is clear that he has overwhelming popularity among the working class. He almost becomes the Supreme Mugwump - using his own face, his own name, and not working from the shadows. (I won’t get into why I think it’s ridiculous that he didn’t get the position but alas). This spotlight that shone upon him, the attention the entire wizarding world would pay to the Supreme Mugwump, would ensure that he was remembered. 

Voldemort, as you said, managed to take over the Ministry of Magic, but he worked more so from the shadows - not that the British population was unaware that he had taken power. However, it was not something spoken about in the papers. Voldemort intentionally didn’t want the spotlight on him. There is no face, they don't even dare to say the name. Nobody really knew what Voldemort was getting up to, what evil he was stirring up. We don’t even know his motive, besides of course, power. 

It isn’t clear what control Voldemort had of other countries. Understandably so, because the books are from Harry’s point of view, and Harry was not primed to fight Voldemort politically. However, my wonderful friend (@barnbridges) pointed out that Karkaroff, the headmaster of Durmstrang, was a death eater (as well as Antonin Dolohov). This indicates that Voldemort did have international reach, and that it was considerable, but we don’t know what he did in those countries. 

Basically my main point here is that Grindelwald’s actions and style of take over would have led him to be cemented in the minds and memories of wizarding kind. Harking back to my earlier comparison, much like Hitler. Voldemort operates more from the shadows, and while he may be more ruthless than Grindelwald, society doesn’t really operate that way. Therefore, I still don’t understand how or why Voldemort seems to trump Grindelwald in terms of significance. 

I went wayyy off my original point but its whatever lol. Thanks for this ask, I had fun responding! <3

[inthishousewestanspiderpunk]

So last week, I saw Barbenheimer and whilst I preferred Oppenheimer, Barbie has had more lasting power in my mind and whilst lying in bed the other night, I couldn't help but think that if Encanto was modern, Luisa would watch the movie and buy a Barbie doll to give herself the childhood she didn't have on account of being constantly under pressure. Then it got me thinking that Isabela would basically go Sid from Toy Story with her old dolls, seeing how she's no longer 'perfect' and never liked playing with them the way they were meant to be played with. And how because she and Pepa had similar upbringings with putting on a front, they would definitely bond more and Pepa is more than happy to help her niece with her project.

Also after this incident, Casita builds a rage room and for good reason, there is a LOT of repressed emotion within the family.

Hope you enjoy!

Charlotte :) x

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Luisa nervously asked her older sister. She had been roped into 'playing' with Isa's collection of dolls from when she was younger. Well, 'play' was not a word that came to mind when blowing up said dolls and immolating them, but sisterly bonding, right? "Positive!" Isabela replied, looking over the makeshift wall with a firey confidence in her eyes. "Ready when you are tia!" Pepa gave a thumbs up and concentrated, closing her eyes. The room filled with dark clouds and a low rumble took over, drowning out all noise. Isabela and Mirabel were watching eagerly in anticipation. "...six...five..." The air tingled with electricity which made the hairs on the back of Luisa's neck stand up and Mirabel's already frizzy hair to go even more so. "...two...one..." A blinding flash erupted from the clouds above, followed shortly by an explosive bang. Isabela and Mirabel whooped in triumph and high fived each other, relishing in the success of Isa and Pepa's experiment. Luisa, on the other hand, was looking in horror at the now charred doll, completely unrecognisable by this point. Pepa was also joining in the celebration, cheering and whooping with the girls. "Yes! Take that Valencia! I never liked you anyway!" All four were so wrapped up in their emotions, that none of them noticed Bruno coming in, followed by several rats. "Ah, there you are! Julieta said...that...dinner is ready." He realised what was going on. "My vision cave!"

[ocareyna]

My Imperial City Ocarina Bass C and Night By Noble Alto C, and the little miracle story of how I got them

[Originally posted on Reddit here]

For a while now, I’ve been interested in getting an ocarina, and because Christmas was approaching, I decided to buy myself one as a gift. The thing was, which kind would I get? I liked the sound of altos but worried that in person, the high pitch would hurt my ears. On the other hand, I adored how basses sound, but even a plastic one was way out of my budget. After posting some questions on this sub, I decided to just ask God what He thought of it all and went to sleep.

When I awoke, a notification was waiting for me: u/SeienShin offered to give me his old bass C ICO ocarina! I am just overwhelmed with gratitude for his generosity. After weeks of waiting for my precious new-slash-old ocarina to traverse the ocean, it finally arrived a couple days ago. Thank you again, u/SeienShin!!

But the story doesn’t stop there…

While I was waiting for my bass to arrive, I received an email from Ebay: the alto NbN that I had been eyeing before had significantly dropped in price. Nowhere else online was it available for that cheap, but I had already spent my budget on shipping the bass, so what could I do? After I bemoaned my first-world tale of woe to my parents, the last thing I expected was that their response would be, “We’re giving you cash for Christmas, and don’t you dare think of using it on school loans. Get the other ocarina!”

Without further ado, I present to you, 하루 (Haru) and よる (Yoru):

[Pictures and ocarina reviews under the cut]

Yoru’s name comes from the Japanese word 夜, which means “night” (as in NbN).

Impressions:

The NbN is heavier than I expected. Since it’s plastic, I thought it would feel like a toy, but this is one solid ocarina.

I wish that there was a groove for the subholes...

The high notes don’t hurt my ears!! I have high sensory sensitivities but I’m pleasantly surprised that I can handle them. This ocarina is pretty loud, though. Thanks to a suggestion from u/idayam, wearing a face mask while playing significantly muffles the sound, but the pitch does sound a bit altered to me.

Haru is “day” in Korean. I was hoping to find a Chinese name since the ICO was crafted in China, but “Haru” matched “Yoru” so nicely in both meanings and sounds that I couldn’t resist.

Impressions:

The sound is GORGEOUS, and the vibrations from the resonance are so fun. I feel like I get swept away when I play this.

The subholes have grooves for my fingers! The finger holes in general are pretty big compared to the NbN, but I manage to cover them pretty well except for the left pinky hole. That one is so wide, I can fit my pinky in until the first knuckle! After a short while, that finger starts to hurt from trying to stay in position. Does anyone have any tips?

The size makes it hard to see the left hand holes, but I think I’m doing pretty well regarding that. Still, it’s weird to switch to the NbN and suddenly see everything again. Not a problem though!

Anyways, I’m having such a fun time learning the ocarina. I’ve played a bit of piano and dabbled in violin, but this is my first woodwind. It’s such an interesting experience to think about how breath pressure or tongue movements affect the sound.

Also, since I received both of these ocarinas secondhand, I cleaned them with antibacterial soap. I dunked the NbN in a bowl of soap + water, and I wiped the outside of the ICO with soap + water and stuck a piece of soapy paper through the mouthpiece. I wasn't sure how the clay would react if I immersed it in water too, but since it hasn't been played in years, the cleaning was really just an extra precaution.

Whoops, this post is longer than I had anticipated, so I’ll post my videos separately.

If you read this far, thanks! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

[apileofashandember]

For readers of 'the things that keep us from falling apart'

Me: *looks at the date of when I last updated* oh whoops

--

Okay hi, so like I get that its been a while, but I have reasons.

My goal for chapters 57-59 is one thing: Write them all before posting.

Before I got sick in January, I had been rather ahead of schedule, but alas, life happens at that was no longer the case.

I've been kinda going through stuff, and found my motivation for writing fluctuating often. And also, i kinda jump between fandoms like its hopscotch, so i fell out of the fandom just a tad. I still like it, and the fic is still my baby, and I WILL complete it, it's just taking a lot longer than anticipated.

I'm also struggling with this final arc just a bit. I'm playing with character's that I'm not quite familiar with, but are essential to the plot, so I'm trying my best to not be entirely OOC. And as it is the final arc, my perfectionism is being my worst enemy, so like, I'll write something, and just absolutely hate it. Trying to work through that ain't fun.

Just felt the need to let you all know.

Thanks for the support!

In the meantime, if anyone has comments or questions or anything really, feel free to put them under this post or the last chapter, and I shall do my best to respond :)

[silentprincessandsweethibiscus]

Four Minus one:

Chapter 3- Arson is a Totally Valid Pastime: Just a little lighthearted fun amongst the chaos squad, what could possibly go wrong?

And its done! this chapter took so much longer to write than i anticipated. it was giving me trouble right from the get-go, and then another hyper fixation decided to consume my whole brain for about a month, so im just glad to be putting this one up tbh. the next one is already in the works, and going better then this did, and the one after that is done, so fingers crossed i shouldnt disappear for over a month again.

The group of Links had fallen into an easy rhythm. Working in a team was a bit difficult for some of them, but a larger chunk than Four had expected fell into it at least somewhat naturally. Warriors, Sky, and surprisingly Wild all attributed it to being knights. Or at least, in Wild’s case, having the muscle memory of being a knight. Time vaguely mentioned something about a War. Wind talked about his life at sea. Twilight joked that it was no different to herding the kids back home, and refused to elaborate on if he meant goats or Hylian kids. Legend and Hyrule were the only two that really struggled with it. Although, it was easy enough to drag Wild and Wind into some kind of trouble as well. 

Which is exactly what was happening now. Wild, Wind, and Hyrule were all trying to talk Four into helping them with, something. They were honestly a bit unsure, with the three of them all talking over each other, but Wild had promised vegetable risotto for dinner if they helped, and there was no way Four was about to turn that down.

“I still don’t understand what it is you even need me for.” They looked up at the three, book open in their lap. Wild had not waited for Four to acknowledge them before they started talking, so Four had been unable to put it away before starting this conversation, and they were honestly a bit glad it wasn’t in Hylian, as they were pretty sure none of the three knew any other languages.

“Because it’s, like,” Wind thought about it for a moment. “It's like an experiment! Come on Four, you love those!”

“Plus,” Hyrule added, “Time says we need a ‘responsible Link’ if we are gonna walk away from camp to do anything with fire.” Four was fairly certain that Hyrule was adding on a bonus reason, not implying that Four wouldn’t also enjoy whatever chaos they wanted to get into, but they still raised their eyebrow in question of the phrasing.

Wild also recognized how that sentence could be misconstrued and elbowed Hyrule in the side. “But we were totally gonna invite you to help us anyways.”

Four laughed at that. “You better.” They gave the other three a wicked grin and dropped their voice to just above a whisper. “But, the longer Time, Twilight, and Warriors think I’m responsible the better. For all four of us.”

They got matching grins back from Wild and Hyrule, and a hearty “Whoop!” from Wind as they packed their book back away, and the four of them set off, away from camp. It was at this point that Four realized each of them had a flaming item in hand. Wild had a meteor rod, Wind his bow, and Hyrule had a fire rod Four was almost certain fea had ‘borrowed’ from Legend. 

As they walked, Four put some thought into it before pulling out their gust jar. “You three seem to have the fire covered, I’ve got this. Can put it out real quick if I need to be the responsible one, but that’s not the only thing it can do.”

As they got to the clearing Wild started pulling out firewood. “You are on ‘documentation’ and ‘put out’ duty then. We wanna see which item can make the biggest blaze before it runs out. Twenty bundles of wood for each of us should be a decent start.”

“Only twenty?” Hyrule raised an eyebrow. “We use like, three or four to start the campfire.”

“Yea,” Wind nodded, practically vibrating as he bounced around from foot to foot. “I feel like twenty is lowballing it a bit Wild.” Four laughed. “I’m with Wild. We want to see which item will make the largest blaze, not start a forest fire.” Pulling out one of their journals from their pack they began drawing up some charts to record the coming information on. “Twenty is more than enough to start.”

Wind blew a raspberry at Four. “Aw come on man, what happened to you not being a responsible Link?” “This isn’t responsible, this is knowing that starting a forest fire would skew our results.” They looked up from the journal. “I want accuracy.”

“And I don’t want an earful from Legend later.” Hyrule added with a chuckle, seeming like fae had just considered how upset faer’s predecessor would be if they got into any trouble out here.

“Right.” Wild nodded as they put down the last pile, all three of them set evenly around the clearing. “Then that's settled. There’s huge areas without trees in both mine and Rulie’s eras if we need to replicate this with a bigger pile later.” “This is a test experiment for the time being.” Four added with a nod. They stood in the middle of the clearing, gust jar at the ready, taking notes as the other three worked. They had to chase down several misfires from Wilds meteor rod, and it was the first to break. Followed by Hyrules magic for the fire rod running out, then Winds fire arrows. The blazes all seemed the same at the end of it, which would say some interesting things about the meteor rod, but all three of the fires seemed to be as big as they were gonna get without more wood, so the results were largely inconclusive. 

Four mused that when they had the chance they would have to replicate the experiment with a few different wood pile sizes as Hyrule drank a potion for the magic depletion and the other two packed up their stuff. Four began to mumble to themself, scratching more notes into their journal while trying to block out Wind and Wilds roughhousing in the background.

Wild said something and there was a blissful moment of silence from their friends before Four heard the telltale whistle of an arrow and felt someone shove them. Snapping back into focus, and throwing the journal into their pouch with practiced ease, Four made a quick check of their surroundings. They noted Hyrule in front of them, faer’s reflect spell dissipating after a moment, Wild was to their left, and Wind in place beside Hyrule. All four heroes pulled out their swords, just in time for the clearing to fill with Wind’s era’s miniblin. Further assessment determined the arrows to be coming from a few of Sky’s bokoblins hiding between the trees. 

The four of them quickly got to work, dancing around each other and taking out the miniblins, but the archers were creating a decent obstacle. They managed to cut the miniblins' numbers down by about a quarter, but the fewer of them there were the easier it became for the bokoblins to hit the heroes, instead of their own allies. An arrow managed to strike true, hitting Wind in the leg, making him stumble and miss the miniblin he was aiming for. Four jumped in to cover for him as he shouted obscenities that would make Blue both proud and horrified.

Wind took the cover to yank the arrow out and glared at the trees. “We need to take out the archers!”

There was a flash of blue as Wild exchanged their sword for a bow. “Four, you and I take them?” “Agreed. Wind, you’ve got me.” It was a statement, not a question, but Wind still nodded as he and Four traded places so Four could exchange their own weapons out. “I've got the Eastern half if you have the Western?”

Wild didn’t respond as they got into position, and the two still fighting with swords got back into a rhythm of covering them from miniblin attacks as they worked. Soon enough the bokoblin archers were dealt with, and the two Hylian archers turned their bows on the closer threat.

“At least these all seem to be normal monsters,” Wind chimed in as he took out another one, “None of them seem to have black blood.” “Don’t jinx us sailor, the fights not over yet.”  Four shouted as they shot a miniblin rounding on Hyrule. On que there was a booming roar and the group felt the ground shake. Fortunately for the heroes, the few remaining miniblins all shrieked and scattered. Unfortunately for them, a moment later a lynel entered the clearing.

“Shit! It's one of mine!” Wild replaced their bow for the oddest looking weapon Four had ever seen as they dodged an attack from their newest opponent. “Everyone scatter! Take it from different sides, and whatever you do, avoid its front!”

They watched as Wild immediately did exactly the opposite of what they just warned, crouching down right in the lynel’s path, and as Hyrule ran to the monster left, fae yelled in horror. “What are you doing?”

Wind and Four took the right as Wild shot up with a burst of air. The lynel stopped suddenly when its target shot out of view, giving the other three time to strike before it roared and turned to the biggest threat, shooting fire breath at the spot Four and Wind were in. Four yelped and jumped to its left, and Wind to its right. With Hyrule now at its back the three managed a few more hits before a blur flew down towards the monster's back. Despite its size Wild managed to slam the strange weapon against it several times in quick succession before the lynel finally dropped in a puff of smoke.

There were a few tense moments as they all waited for something else to come out of the woods. When nothing did Hyrule rounded on Wind and pointed at the ground. Wind threw up his hands and took a step back. “Whoa, whoa, I’m fine. Let's get back to camp first.”

“Unwise.” Four looked down at the spot where the arrow had pierced Wind. “Time and Warriors are already going to fuss over that wound as is. Would you prefer it to be open when they do? That would just give them more of a reason.”

There was a bark before Wolfie tried to gently make Wind sit with his paw. “See,” Wild added, “Even Wolfie agrees with Four.” There was a pause as Wind agreed with a grumble before Wild processed what they just said. “Oh Fuck! Wolfie!”

Wild’s wolf companion fixed them with an exasperated glare, barked once, booped Hyrule’s ankle with his nose, then fixed his glare back on Wild. Hyrule just nodded in response. “Read you loud and clear Wolfie. Wild, you're next.”

“No need. I just slammed it a bit hard on my landing there.” They pulled out their slate and started swiping the screen. “I just need a red potion. Four, do you need one?”

Four shook their head in response. “Nah, just some scrapes and bruises over here. I’ll probably bandage up a few of them when we get back to camp, but no need to waste a potion on any of it.”

“I want to look you over first, but you’re right, no need to waste a potion on that.”  Hyrule nodded as fae healed up Wind’s leg. 

Four agreed and Hyrule made quick work of checking them all over. Once fae declared them all clear enough to head back they turned to follow Wolfie back to camp. Sure that the four heroes were following him, the wolf shot off ahead, presumably to let the others know they were all fine and on their way back.

“So.” Wind dragged the single syllable out to an almost outrageous degree before continuing with a sigh. “How much trouble do you think we’re in?”

“I think that is entirely dependent on how long Wolfie was there.” Four mused. “Because if he saw the experiment, we might just be fucked.”

Wind snorted at their cursing as Wild shook their head. “He would have stepped in earlier if he was watching the whole time. He must have come when he heard the lynel.”

“It’s a wonder he’s the only one who came.” Hyrule was still on high alert, eyes and ears to the forest as they walked, but luckily whatever monsters had survived the encounter seem to have well and truly fled.

“We are all capable heroes, the others probably just sent Wolfie ahead as a precaution.” All of them, save Wild, Four supposed, had multiple quests under their belts, there was no reason for the others to second guess their abilities.

“Fours right! It was just one Lynel, we have all dealt with worse individually.” Wind was annoyed at the prospect of the others not trusting them to handle themselves. “It’d be pretty rude of them to assume we couldn’t handle it.”

“Right,” Wild nods in agreement, “So they probably sent Wolfie while they all got ready to go if there was a problem, since he’s the fastest.”

“Or they sent him because of that.” Hyrule interrupted the others' current trail of thought to point out the portal sitting dead center in the middle of their camp, or what was left of it anyways. While they had been fighting monsters in the woods the other Links had been packing up all their stuff so they could all move quickly once they got back.

Time tossed Wind his bag while Sky and Legend handed Four and Hyrule theirs. “Any injuries?”

“Nothing I haven't already dealt with.” Legend was fussing over Hyrule, despite faer’s confirmation that they were all fine, and Four couldn’t help but chuckle at how much of a mother cucco he was when it came to Hyrule.  “The four of us are all right to go.”

“Alright, good. We’ll discuss further what happened once we have settled in on the other side.” Time nodded in approval and moved towards the portal. “Alright, everyone, buddy up.” Four whispered to Wild as they and Sky walked past to take their place in line. “I’d better still be getting my vegetable risotto.”

Wild laughed as Twilight tilted his head in confusion next to them. “Don’t worry smithy, a promise is a promise. Dinners your call tonight.”

Four almost felt bad about the disappointed look on Twilight's face at that. “Good.” Almost. They smirked at their little victory. The small group's little arson detour didn’t actually have any discernible results, but they certainly had quite a few new notes for the journal they had been keeping on the other heroes, so the bribery was really unnecessary, but they wouldn’t be giving up their prize regardless. Four and Sky were the last two through the portal, and the others were already setting up camp on the other side, Wild's cooking pot set up with a small fire heating it from underneath.

[jellyfishonabudget]

BAM, type icons

If you're going to post pokemon art, you need type icons. So I drew my own!

Some of these are existing icons, some of these are self-made, and some of these are combinations of existing ones or tweaks to them.

Like for example, this normal-type icon. It's a combination of the icon for Normal in SWSH and before, and that of Battrio/Tretta. With a little bit of Mezas in there.

Fire and Water are pretty much existing icons (Water also being Battrio/Tretta). When I was designing Grass' icon though, I wasn't thinking of the icon from the Ranger series... I tried to add a little more energy to the icon for electric and forgot to color in the bolt dangit

I added a little aura to the fighting fist. Some respect to the very rare special category moves for fighting type. That's just the New Snap flying icon. I decided to take inspiration from Masters EX with the poison icon.. I like how it turned out. Ground's icon is just if MasEX and SWSH had a kid. Rock is also the MasEX icon.

I gave the bug icon little antennae! I cannot draw the moon. Psychic is just the tera jewel from SV. Ghost is a nice reference to one of my favorite series, leave a guess which series. Steel isn't inspired by any particular icon except maybe the modern one.

Ice is the MasEX icon with a dash of Mystery Dungeon DX. Dragon's icon is also the MasEX icon with a little mouth added. Fairy is some stupid hodge-podge of previous icons: GO-SWSH's weird light burst, Rumble Rush's heart, and the modern fairy symbol. oh my god i made the little tail ends too thin

And a bonus! Classic ??? type, and two fanmade types: Nuclear from Pokemon Uranium (awesome fangame go play) and Cosmic from Pokemon Infinity (also really cool).

WOW this got much longer than I anticipated. Whoops. Having never played Masters EX (i do not enjoy gacha anymore) I am surprised by how good the icons in it are.

Expect to see these used in future posts, and some touchups to them from time to time!

[broomballkraken]

Title: As in Coffee, As in Life Chapter 1: Plain Ol' Black Coffee

Fandom: Octopath Traveler 2

Pairing: Osvald/Partitio

Word count: 2270

Warnings: None

Fic Summary: “A bit o’ sweetness helps everythin’ along. As in coffee, as in life.” That was the mantra of Partitio and Roque Coffee Company. Partitio’s first customer on the opening day of the café, however, very much disagreed with this philosophy…well, the coffee part of it anyway. After learning more about Osvald, Partitio is determined to bring a little sweetness into the crestfallen professor’s life, whether he is ready for it or not.

Chapter Summary: Partitio is getting ready for the grand opening of his new café, and he ends up serving his very first customer a little earlier than he had anticipated.

“There, I reckon that’s everything…”

Partitio dragged an arm across his forehead to wipe away the sweat, and he leaned on the handle of his boom as he gazed around his brand-spankin’ new café. It seemed like it was yesterday that he was walking across the stage at his college graduation, happier than pig in mud as he accepted his diploma. Now, just over a year later, he was opening his very own café in the city where he got his business degree, New Delsta.

A lot had happened between now and then, including the retirement of Partitio’s pops, which led to the rebranding of the coffee company from “Papp and Roque” to “Partitio and Roque.” Roque was still running the main shop in Partitio’s hometown of Oresrush, but Partitio didn’t know how much longer his step father would be on the scene; his pops was always badgering him to join him in retirement.

Partitio was all-too-willing to take over the business to allow Roque to do just that, but he also knew that Roque wasn’t just going to hand the entire company over to a greenhorn businessman like himself. Partitio was going to have to prove himself first, and he was determined to turn this humble little café into the most hoppin’ coffee joint in town!

As he stowed away his cleaning supplies and swapped his yellow coat for an apron, something outside caught Partitio’s eye. Someone was peeking in the window, with a curious look on his face as he tugged at his beard. Partitio beamed as he bounced to the door; it seemed like he was going to get his first customer a bit earlier than he had anticipated.

“Howdy there, friend!” Partitio said after he had swung the door open. The man jumped about a foot in the air and stared at Partitio like a deer in the headlights. When he recovered from the shock, the man straightened his posture as he fixed his askew glasses, and Partitio had to crane his neck to look him in the eye, which was unusual for someone as tall as Partitio was.

“Whoops, sorry! Didn’t mean to startle ya.” Partitio laughed as he placed a hand on the man’s shoulder. The man glanced briefly at Partitio’s hand before he cleared his throat and took a step back.

“It’s quite alright, I should be going-”

“Wait!” Partitio beamed as he closed the distance between them again and placed both hands on the man’s shoulders this time, “I saw you lookin’ in my shop here, so you must have a hankerin’ for a drink, am I right?”

“Er, well, the prospect of a new coffee shop opening up did intrigue me, I must admit,” the man said, rubbing his chin as he looked at Partitio over his glasses, “but it looks like you’re not open yet.”

Partitio glanced behind him at the ‘Closed’ sign in the window, and he shrugged. “That’s fine! I think I can make a special exception for my very first customer! C’mon!” Partitio backed into the door until it was open, and he waved a hand in front of him as he shot the man a wink. The man hesitated a moment, before he stepped into the shop and Partitio closed the door behind him. He then rushed behind the counter and spread his arms wide.

“Welcome to the New Delsta branch of Partitio and Roque Coffee Company! What can I getcha, sir?” Partitio was practically shaking with excitement as the man approached the counter, humming as he gazed around the shop with a curious glint in his eyes. Partitio tried not to be too obvious as he sized him up. The man was taller than him, which was not something that Partitio ran into very often. He was pretty dressed up; he wore a vest and slacks under a trench coat, and his long, gorgeous hair was neatly tied up under a fancy top hat. If Partitio had to guess, he would say that this man was some sort of fancy businessman or maybe a lawyer, and the briefcase that he carried made Partitio think that one of those guesses must be right.

Leaning against the counter, Partitio waited patiently as the man scanned the menu that spanned the wall behind the counter, and he couldn’t wait to see what kind of complex drink he would have to make for his first order. Hopefully it would be something nice and challenging-

“I’ll have a large black coffee, please.”

“Huh?” Partitio straightened up as he blinked slowly and cocked his head to one side. “That’s it?”

“Yes?”

Partitio recovered from his surprised state, and he laughed as he shot the man a wink before he turned to the coffee pot. A plain ol’ black coffee, huh? Maybe he should have expected that from a man so sophisticated-looking that he might as well have walked right out of a high-profile court case and stumbled into his quaint little café.

“Well shoot, I thought my first drink order would be a bit more of a challenge. I think you’re just goin’ easy on me.”

“Not at all,” the man said, adjusting his glasses as Partitio glanced at him out of the corner of his eye, “The way I see it, the more bitter, the better.”

Partitio winced as he filled a mug and set in on the counter. Black coffee was really not his own cup of tea, but to each their own. “Well, I take mine with plenty o’ milk.”

“That’s absurd.” The man’s face scrunched up and he shook his head, and Partitio raised an eyebrow as he continued: “Milk blunts the bitterness from the beans...the very bitterness that stimulates the mind.” He seemed totally serious, and Partitio found his enthusiasm on the subject of coffee to be rather...alluring, even if he himself disagreed.

“We’ll have to agree to disagree there, Mr…?”

“Osvald.”

“Well, pleasure to meet you, Mr. Osvald! The name’s Partitio, and thankee kindly for bein’ my very first customer!” Partitio beamed at him, and an idea came to mind, so he quickly ducked behind the pastry case.

“As an added thanks, have a coffee cake on the house!”

“You don’t have to-”

“I want to.” Partitio chuckled as he held out the plate, tipping his hat at Osvald. “C’mon, take it!”

“...Thank you,” Osvald said after a long pause, and he raised an eyebrow as he looked at Partitio over his glasses, “But I’d like you to share it with me.”

Partitio’s eyes went wide at that, and he stole a glance at the clock. He still had 45 minutes until he had to open shop for real, and he had done all of the prep work already, so he gave Osvald a firm nod.

“Sure thing, friend! Let me make myself a drink first so I can join you proper.” After Osvald had paid for his coffee, Partitio quickly poured himself a cup before adding a generous amount of milk. The way that Osvald’s brow furrowed and lips pursed did not go unnoticed, and Partitio couldn’t help but snicker.

Partitio moved out from behind the counter, and they sat at one of the two-person tables. Osvald placed the plate between them, and Partitio wasted no time in splitting the cake evenly in half. He watched with bated breath as Osvald lifted his mug to his lips and took a sip of his piping hot coffee.

“This tastes...fantastic,” Osvald said as a smile crossed his face for the first time, and the beautiful sight gave Partitio pause. He felt his cheeks start to heat up, so he quickly blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

“Er, so...You mentioned ‘stimulating the mind’ back there, are you some kind of scientist or...?” Partitio had been so sure that he was a businessman or lawyer, but that comment from Osvald made Partitio think that he might be in a more academically-inclined career.

Osvald shrugged as he took a bite of the coffee cake, letting out a pleased hum. “You’re not far off. I actually teach chemistry at Solestia University. I moved here at the end of the previous school year, so this coming semester will be my first.”

Ah, so he was a professor! Partitio was kinda bummed that he had already graduated; Osvald seemed like he would be a very interesting teacher...not that Partitio would have needed to take a chemistry class in the first place, but having Osvald as a teacher might have incentivized him to take it as an elective.

“Well shoot, I just missed ya then!” Partitio laughed and took a sip of his drink. “I graduated last year with a business degree.”

“And you already own your own shop? Impressive.”

Partitio shrugged before scratching at his chin. “Well, I did have a head start. My pops and step dad started this company in my hometown. I’m just running this new branch here in New Delsta.”

“Still, if they trust you enough to run your own shop, then they must have complete confidence in your business sense and skills.”

“Aw shucks, you’re gonna make me blush here.” Partitio joked, but he did feel his cheeks heat up ever-so-slightly. Osvald was a rather charming man, but he seemed oblivious to the fact, and Partitio watched as Osvald finished off his coffee and his cake shortly after.

“Thank you, Partitio. Your coffee is truly a step above the rest, and the cake is rather delicious as well.”

“Thankee kindly!” Partitio’s heart swelled with pride as a toothy grin crossed his face. “I’ll admit, I was pretty nervous this morning, but you’ve been the best first customer, and I reckon that I can take on the entire day now, no sweat!”

Osvald chuckled as he folded his hands in front of him, giving Partitio a once-over. “Well, you certainly fooled me. I didn’t detect even the slightest bit of nervousness from you.”

Partitio decided to not tell Osvald that he had dropped his boom five times while cleaning because his palms had been sweating so badly, nor that he had been freaking out in the group chat with his roommates ever since he got to the shop. Instead, he took the empty dishes up to the counter and returned to the table with two fresh mugs of coffee.

As they sipped on their drinks, which were on opposite ends of the spectrum of coffee colors, Partitio rambled about his time at the university and suggested places around town for Osvald to check out, while Osvald listened, quiet and attentive. After their mugs had emptied once again, Osvald glanced at his watch and stood up.

“Ah, I need to get going. I still have to review my lecture notes before class,” he said, and Partitio nodded as he stood as well.

“And I’ve gotta get ready to open shop!” Partitio looked at the clock on the wall and saw that he had 15 minutes until the shop opened for business. He walked Osvald to the door and opened it for him, and he held out his free hand.

“Thankee kindly, Osvald, for being my very first customer!” Partitio beamed when Osvald smiled and took his hand, giving it a firm shake.

“I should be thanking you, Partitio,” Osvald said, his eyes locking with Partitio’s over his glasses, causing Partitio’s cheeks to flush pink. Golly, Osvald sure was attractive, and Partitio swallowed thickly as he tugged at his collar.

“...For helping me find a new coffee shop to frequent.”

“Does that mean that I’ll see you tomorrow?” Partitio blurted out without thinking, and his face flushed fully when Osvald nodded and tipped his hat.

“I believe so,” Osvald said as he started walking down the sidewalk, and Partitio stared at him as he paused and glanced over his shoulder, “Good luck with the rest of your opening day, and thank you again for the delicious coffee.”

Partitio’s heart raced as Osvald turned and walked away, and a huge smile slowly spread across Partitio’s face as he waved vigorously at him.

“Thankee kindly, Osvald! Have a good day, and see you tomorrow!”

Partitio watched him go, and an odd, warm and fuzzy feeling settled in his gut. Osvald seemed like a mighty fine person, and Partitio was looking forward to calling him one of his regulars.

“Oh no! Am I late?”

Partitio turned to see Agnea, one of his roommates and his very first employee, running up the sidewalk, and he grinned when she stopped in front of him, breathing heavily.

“Mornin’, Agnea!” Partitio said, chuckling at the panicked look on her face, “Don’tcha worry, we’re not open quite yet!”

Agnea let out a deep sigh. “Oh good! I saw that man leavin’ and thought I missed the grand opening, and being late on my first day wouldn’t look good at all.” She raised an eyebrow at Partitio and placed her hands on her hips. “Who was that, anyway?”

“Oh, just my very first customer! He was hangin’ out here takin’ a look through the window, so I let him in early.”

“Oh wow! How’d that go?”

Partitio filled Agnea in on his encounter with Osvald as they went inside and prepared for the grand opening. Soon enough, Partitio had flipped the ‘Closed’ sign to ‘Open,’ and got lost in the rhythm of running the café, but one thought managed to stay in the back of his mind: Partitio couldn’t wait to tell Osvald - his very first customer and self-proclaimed regular - all about the grand opening of Partitio and Roque Coffee Co.