#this is the most tea i've put in an ask haha

[septembersghost]

I was a person who thought Maroon was about Harry on first listen and now feels dumb because the Jake of it all could not be more obvious lol

you're not dumb! first of all, the whole album was a lot to take in at first blush, and secondly she relies on some repeated themes in very different senses, so it requires some time and depth to unpack.

let's take dancing. our girl loves dancing as a theme ("and you know i wanna ask you to dance right there, in the middle of the parking lot!" "with you i'd dance, in a storm, in my best dress, fearless." "i'm wonderstruck, dancin' 'round all alone."), and in each context, it's different.

for example, we get dancing with joe j: "i'm not much for dancing, but for you i did." "tonight i'm gonna dance for all that we've been through, but i don't wanna dance if i'm not dancing with you." with him it's part of his charisma and even swagger ("the life of the party, you're showin' off again"), to where we also get, "sashay your way to your seat, it's the best seat in the best room."

we get dancing with jake, "we're dancing 'round the kitchen in the refrigerator light," and there it's a little about that love being hidden away, the nostalgia she's remembering before the crash and the heartbreak.

we get dancing with harry, "you moved the furniture so we could dance, baby like we had a chance," and it's the desperation for their love to not be splashed everywhere, the anxiety of everything swirling around them.

we get dancing WITHOUT calvin, both the entire theme of bejeweled and, "i was dancing around, dancing around it."

we get dancing with joe in dwoht and cowboy like me and glitch, dancing like it was the first time, dancing through an avalanche, swaying as the room burned down, dancing is a dangerous game, "i thought we had no chance, and that's romance, let's dance," and it's all her fear and worry of losing him, of being too much, of ruining things, of romance not lasting, and what happens is (in my interpretation), when the music stops and they're no longer dancing, he's still there. in the silences, in the stillness, painting maps on the ceiling, reaching out for her hand, asking for sweet nothing. the friction and the movement of the dancing can go quiet, and he's the constant. he doesn't drop her.

SO, this brings me to maroon.

"dancing with no shoes" is connected to dancing around in the refrigerator light to me, where they'd be barefoot in the kitchen (a place where, with joe, she found sacred new beginnings), and also, i think, it's a little bit of, "he didn't like it when i wore high heels."

then we get the reference to new york, which also recurs repeatedly with different people (holy ground/joe j: "first glance feeling on new york time;" atw10/jake: "your brooklyn broke my skin and bones;" cbbh/harry: "new york, be here, but you're in london...;" false god/joe: "i'm new york city" "you're the west village;" daylight/joe: "back and forth from new york, sneakin' in your bed;" hoax/imho regarding various heartbreaks and losses: "you know i left a part of me back in new york").

in maroon, it's connected to the dancing: "and i chose you, the one i was dancing with in new york, no shoes, looked up at the sky...and it was maroon," very much conjures the skyline at sunset, and the autumnal feel, and "getting lost upstate."

then there's the wine lyric: "the burgundy on my t-shirt when you splashed your wine into me," and its closest sister being, "you're still all over me like a wine-stained dress i can't wear anymore." the key here is context about clean - a lot of people think clean references harry, but i personally think it's about jake and her recovery from that situation (plus, she was nowhere CLOSE to clean from harry yet at that point aklsdkljfdg she wrote style after clean).

taylor's scarlet lips are very "red lip classic," but she was already wearing her signature red lips when she was with jake (the stain on his own lips that she called home is from her lipstick imo, although i've seen people say it could also be from the wine).

and then, of course, there's the biggest clue, because she is unhinged (affectionate), and it's that she was clearly and prominently wearing the red ring when she announced maroon's title, and the entire song is just varying shades and contours and depths of "red." loving him wasn't only burning red, it was splashes of burgundy wine, it was rosé, it was the bruising purplish red (in fact, the red of loving him mixed with the blue of losing him), the blood rushing to her cheeks, the rust between telephones (phone calls were a significant aspect of their relationship and are mentioned across red as an album), the carnations mistaken for roses (which is SUCH a metaphor, and i say this as someone who actually loves carnations haha, but it's like - i thought this was rare and valuable, when it was cheap to you). it was so red it was maroon. (red is track 2, maroon is track 2).

moreover, the legacy he left isn't only his memory hanging over her, it's also a literal legacy. it's red being the masterpiece it is and finally being recognized as such. it's all too well being considered the gem of her catalog, being so celebrated and beloved that it was TRANSFORMED for her. it's almost marveling that this is what all that pain became - a real fucking legacy.

all that said, mr. styles intentionally borrowed imagery from taylor when he wrote about her. "she's lying in bed with my t-shirt on, just thinking how i went about it wrong. this isn't the stain of a red wine, i'm bleeding love." "same lips red, same eyes blue." "the fridge light washes this room white." "that nice dress in my wildest dreams, lipstick stains you left still on my sheets." i could go on lol. so making the connection wasn't missing what she was saying, it only requires sorting out the varying details.

there's a difference in the sonic approach too - the longing and sad uneasiness in maroon versus the anxiety and even aggravation in question...? i think she wore the red ring for maroon and used the very obvious OOTW sample in question...? to make it certain we knew which stories she was approaching.

question...? is very much a conversation, whereas maroon is a recollection, and i think that's important too. she's not talking directly to jake, she's remembering. (there's also the fact that the cadence of question...? is not dissimilar from keep driving.) harry said, of both of their songs, "it's the most amazing unspoken dialogue ever." i honestly think question...? is taylor continuing it.

[another-random-paradise]

hello! if you're up to it i've had this one idea in my head for a long time that i just need to see written out

basically maybe short drabbles/hcs about leona, jamil, and vil with a reader who, on days where they're tired, is super affectionate physically as in they might see him pass by in the hall and take his hand for a moment/just search for him to get a hug from him, or comes up to him randomly and puts their head on his shoulder — maybe even in a few classes if they're REALLY exhausted, tldr reader just needs some affection when they're tired and loves receiving physical affection </3

~ ☆

Thank you for this lovely request!! I’m the same haha, nothing like a good hug when your tired <3 also I am so so sorry you had to wait this long, I’ve had a lot going on lately,, I really hope I did the request justice <3

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

Reader whose affectionate when tired

Characters: Leona, Jamil, Vil

Format: Headcanons

Warnings: None that I can think of

Leona

-Leona is in heaven

-or at least he thought he was at first

-After all, you being affectionate when tired, means more naps with you!

-except that, thanks to these naps, you aren't tired anymore, and don't seek his  affection as often anymore. And the lazy lion has already gotten so used to it, that he finds it annoying to sleep without it now.

-He'd much prefer you'd just constantly had the urge to nap, like him

-You'll find him grumbling to himself, whenever you don't feel as affectionate, just as you'll find him with a smug grin whenever you cuddle into him while he lazes around the botanical gardens 

-Jack once overheard Leona grumbling, with his tail swishing around angrily, and Jack was confused to say the least, seeing as how the lion was just grinning at you a few seconds ago

-turns out you just weren't all that tired that day, and, in Leonas opinion, didn't give him enough affection before running of - not that he'd ever admit that 

-overall he really loves your affectionate side and wouldn't mind seeing it more often

Jamil

-conflicted, to say the least

-he genuinely loves you and your affection, he really does, but he's got a lot of work and a kalim who he needs to keep alive-

-He has fallen into a sort of routine when you feel sleepy, which is to get you comfortably to sleep as soon as possible 

-If your at Scarabia, he'll bring you to a more secluded couch (you cannot tell me that those couches aren't as comfortable as can be), lay you down, maybe with some hot tea, and stay with you till you very quickly fall asleep

-if you're at school, he always has some sort of coffee at hand to wake you up, or something sugary if you don't drink coffee! he'll make sure it's still somewhat healthy though

-should you fall asleep on him in class, he'll take notes and asks questions for you. Occasionally just looks at you for a few moments, his grades need to be worse than Kalims anyway, so he can't completely partake in the class anyway

-If you get caught by a professor though, he'll just chuckle a bit. 

-You can get mad at him for not waking you up, but he doesn't regret anything, he'll treasure in any time spend with you, where he doesn't have to worry about Kalim.

-on the very VERY rare chance that he has a day off, he basks in your affection! He'll most likely need to catch up on all the sleep he lost to Kalims shenanigans, so you two will most likely be cuddling in his bed, or on one of the couches in an otherwise empty lounge

-Or, maybe, to make sure Kalim doesn't barge in and ruin the moment, the two of you are at ramshackle, after sending Grim to heartslabyul! 

-on rare occasions Grim does join you two, curling up next to you, while muttering something about Jamil stealing his henchmen. You three almost look like a family <3 

Vil

-At first, Vil was confused as to why you'd sometimes be so much more affectionate than normally, but very quickly figured out the pattern; The more tired you are, the more affection he gets.

-He'd be lying if he said he doesn't enjoy the affection, it feels nice to be wanted by someone he genuinely cares for, who genuinely cares for him.

-BUT he doesn't like you not getting enough sleep, what kind of lover would he be if he just lets you miss your needed beauty sleep?!

-Also, he is a busy person with a reputation to uphold; he can't exactly film a movie or brew a potion with your arms wrapped around him, no matter how cute you may look..

-He does Indulge you, letting you cling to him when he isn't as busy, or in between classes, but never without a light scold about the importance of proper sleep!

-If you're clingy for a longer period of time, for example a whole week, he'll try to find out why, and then help you; If you stressed because of a test, he'll help you study, if something is worrying you, he'll pull out all the tricks to help you relax, ect.

-If you're just lonely, well.. he supposes you can sleep over ever so often, as long as he still gets his much needed beauty rest

-The first time this happens, he realises how much better he sleeps with you next to him, how much better the both of you sleep! 

-It very quickly becomes routine; that way you'll get your affection when you're tired in the evenings, but the two can still follow your normal routine during the day!

-...though he does miss, the way you'd hug him from behind in the hallway, or the way you'd lay your head on his shoulder when Professor Trein was being particularly boring.. maybe letting you stay up longer when neither of you have anything important the next day would'nt be all that bad.. 

Once again, just so very sorry it took this long, I promise I didn’t make you wait on purpose, I’m always trying to reply and write as fast as possible <3

Feedback is welcome, just be nice please! Hope you have a wonderful night/day

[chuluoyi]

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐄𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐄𝐃 𝐄𝐌𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐒 . . . 𝐑𝐄𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐒 ! — untold tales

first of all, thank you so so much for those who have read the deposed empress series! i can't thank you all enough—i'm blown away with all your kind words!! <3

and so, what is this? there are actually many little details i've had in mind for this au, but i can't write them all down bc there are just too many and writing up to 9-10k isn't usually my cup of tea :') this is more or less my little notes i held onto while writing the empress series, and i don't want to discard it so with this, i'll be clearing several plot holes you might've found throughout all hail the empress, the crown of diamonds and long live the empire :D

who is the infertile one, naoya or the empress?

truth is... none of them! :D both of them are perfectly healthy, and as of why the empress couldn't conceive while she was still with naoya... well, that has a lot to do with fate and god's blessing HAHA

official explanation *cough* — the empress feels oppressed in eastern empire, naoya isn't being kind to her as of late, and actually, she has a delicate body more than most... so despite being healthy and all, that kind of environment won't support any conception 💁🏻‍♀️

hanabi's children paternity

continuing from point above... naoya is the true biological father of hanabi's daughter and son :) this is my aim since the beginning -> how ironic and pitiful is it that he casts his own flesh and blood away? the main point of zen'in naoya's arc is to obtain his own heir, and yet once he does, he stupidly has them locked and about to be punished

has naoya ever loved the empress?

no. but why was he so kind with her in the beginning, you ask? that's bc he regarded her as an equal. she was the best pick out of highborn ladies in her time, famous for her talents, pretty too, and he deemed her worthy to become his wife. but later, naoya fell out of respect with her since she couldn't produce an heir

but on the contrary, the empress was in love with him, at least during her youth

what is the argument between gojo and empress in part 2 about?

gojo has long wanted to decimate naoya and his empire (no particular justification for this, that's just what emperors do :') let's leave it at that), but it's true that seeing how the empress is wronged while she was married to naoya fuels the fire. gojo may be biased bc he is so in love with the empress, but in his eyes, it's so unacceptable

the empress is suspicious that gojo is only using her after the ending scene of part 1. and she overhears geto's words (“No, Satoru. You are just using her. You were almost there when Empress Y/N proposed that deal to marry you.”), and so she is even more convinced that he's just planning to use her so... yeah, an argument ensues :')

in gojo's pov, empress saving megumi and hanabi means she is doing it out of (lingering?) love for naoya, as he knows that she used to be in love with him. in empress' pov, gojo is finding excuse to wage a war, and with the cursed necklace incident, he has found a right justification to do so

why did naoya send the necklace as a gift to the empress after everything? what happens to it afterwards? does he know what hanabi did?

you know, actually... if it isn't obvious by now, everything naoya does in this series is unreliable :') to put it simply, he's a bit mad ever since empress ditches him for gojo—his pride is so wounded and he's becoming erratic day by day

while looking at the his coronation portrait, he might feel some kind of twisted sense of regret-like emotions (i said "-like" bc he is not right in the head), and then he remembers that he still has that necklace with him, so he might as well get rid of it. it's totally not out of love at all! :D

after hanabi tampered with the necklace and imbued it with a curse from god knows where... gojo of course has it destroyed 💁🏻‍♀️ and naoya doesn't know any of this bc this matter is not made public by the western empire (after the empress' involvement in concealing the evidence), and neither megumi or hanabi want to risk naoya's wrath so they don't bring it to his attention. more like, they don't know how he'll react, and if he throws a fit then it'll be a headache so yeah he must be kept in the dark

still, megumi resents hanabi for what she did, that's why later, he has a hand in banishing hanabi to duke kamo's household :)))

hanabi's doomed fate explained

hanabi was a former maid to the kamo household and they're famous for their cruelty. as of what they've done to her... well, you can imagine all sorts of cruel scenarios and that will be it :) things get better when choso takes over, but still... hanabi still has nightmares from it

so what happened to her? basically, gojo's line in part 3 here: "Anyone who dares to lay their hands on my empress... they have to pay the price."

working together with geto, megumi and choso, gojo orchestrated the whole dumpster fire to make naoya and hanabi fall from grace. first, he digs hanabi's background, and after knowing it, he makes a deal with choso—zen'ins have usurped the throne from the kamos and a new plaything is always welcome so he easily agrees, and then megumi... he complies bc he knows everything is in shambles in eastern empire anyway and he hates hanabi too for cursing the empress, so he helps in spreading the false information about hanabi's children not being of naoya's blood and slips choso's blood in the paternity testing naoya conducts... and yeah, they all have him fooled and hanabi is kicked out that instant

and comes the main event: naoya's stroke is also choso pulling the strings :D so in other words, this is also their plan to dethrone him altogether and install megumi to the throne. the "kindness" megumi shows hanabi is also a part of their plan, as he sends her right back to choso

in conclusion, emperor gojo is actually a cruel, cruel person :) he designs this elaborate plan to take down those who dared to touch his empress...

final note

there are many inspirations for this series if you look closer -> the manhwa remarried empress (part 1-2), queen of tears & queen charlotte: bridgerton story (part 3). i tried my best to add my own twist in all three parts, but again, writing is a form of art and we're leaning towards things that are familiar to us to write :D after all, it's just fanfics... we're free to put them in any situation ;)

it has been such a fun ride to write this series :') again, thank you so much for giving my stories a chance🩵 i never expected for so many to interact, and you all truly make my day!! if i'm going to be honest, writing here isn't always fun... but seeing your asks, comments and tags really is the reason why i'm not giving up writing here :'D and i'm saying this not for me but also on behalf of all writers out there—whenever you drop by with a long analysis/tags/comments for our fics, we're so so beyond happy to read it!!! :) so thank you, and please continue to do so if you can <3

[middlechild404]

Taking care of sick Jack

Summary: You come home to find a sick jack laying on your couch and you can't help yourself from trying to take care of him.

_____________________________________

I walked in through the front door expecting to be alone in my apartment, but instead, was met by a wide figure that was sprawled on my couch. I was treading lightly, because he didn't seem to move when I closed the door, meaning he was sound asleep.

I didn't expect to find him here because it had been a while since we'd seen each other last. Technically, we lived together in my apartment but he still stayed at his apartment most days because it was closer to the studio.

Having him in my space was still a bit unfamiliar, due to the short amount of time he has had the keys. Aside from the unfamiliarity, I still felt the fuzzy feeling at the pit of my stomach whenever he was here.

My hands went unconsciously toward his hair as I was towering over him. I could feel the heat radiating off from his body as my palm touched his forehead.

"Jack.." I whispered, trying to wake him up.

He only moaned and turned to his side, not giving me an answer. I started rubbing his back, continuing my attempt to wake him up. At last, he slightly opened one of his eyes to look at me.

“You're burning up” I stated. “How are you babe?” I questioned worriedly.

“I don't know, I don't feel so good.” He said, trying to get up.

I quickly pushed his shoulders down, insisting that he needed to rest. He didn't fight against it as his eyes closed once his head touched one of the pillows that was on the couch. I swiftly went to the main bedroom and brought a comforter to cover him with.

I've never been a great caregiver due to my many failed prior relationships and my mom continuously preaching “the world is female” throughout my upbringing. My mother didn't take my dad leaving us lightly, therefore she had sworn that she would never prioritize a man's needs over her own. That's something she's been trying to drill in my head ever since I was a kid, attempting to teach me about being independent.

Independent, was a word I'd easily use to describe myself. Although, being independent doesn't mean not helping the people you love, which is something my mother would never let into her thick head.

I had this heart wrenching feeling of worry. All I wanted was for Jack to feel better. Therefore I summoned my non-existent talent of cooking and followed a recipe of tomato soup i'd saved on instagram. While the soup was boiling on the stove, I put some garlic bread in the oven.

When everything was ready and I had poured the soup in a bowl I made my way to the living room, setting everything on the table in front of the sofa.

“Babe.. Wake up. I've made you some soup.” I said as my fingers were playing with his curls.

As he was eating away at the food that I'd made, I walked up to find some ibuprofen to bring down his fever and prepare a concoction with tea, ginger and honey that I found on google.

When coming with everything, he had managed to lick the plate clean. He was now leaning back against the sofa and looking up at the ceiling. I interrupted his thoughts when I placed everything on the table. He gave me a gracious smile as he downed the pill and water.

I encouraged him to lie down on the sofa again as I took the remote and put on his favorite show “Succession”. He grabbed the tea and gave me a scrunched look as he took a sip.

“What is this? poison?” he asked with a look of disgust.

“Haha yes, but the good kind.” I winked as he laughed at my remark.

I motioned for him to lift his head so I could sit down on the couch. His head was now in my lap as I kept going through his hair with my fingers, with succession on the TV. All I could think about was that I could do this forever. I couldn't help myself from smiling and looking down at his face. He eventually noticed me staring, which made him look up at me with a tired grin.

“Thank you for taking care of me, there is no other place I'd rather be right now than in your arms. I love you babe.” He said lovingly.

“I love you too.” I answered while my cheeks were hurting due to the grin my face made at his words.

_________________________________________

I know that it's been a while lovies, hope you like this one! I have had a few hectic months but I'm back now so stay tuned for more content❤️❤️

Taglist: @jackharloww , @j-worlds-blog @itsyagirljaz , @harlowcomehome , @neon-lights-and-glitter

[perfectlysanexd]

So, what have I been up to...? Since I was in Tumblr's spam-bot prison for more than 5 months, I thought I would create a little ICYMI post. (That's "In-Case-You-Missed-It" for the old folks like myself that have to look up all these new acronyms.) Basically, I'm gonna highlight/link to some of the posts I made this year, and you can check them out if you like. :) I didn't want to necessarily do a bunch of reblogs of my own content and clog up the system or something...

I finished posting up my 100's of edited screenshots from Advent Children Complete! You can view the archive of 53 different posts, separated by character, here. It also includes a fun side post about the Mysterious Case of Sephiroth's Missing Straps. :3

I confess, I haven't made too many wallpapers this year. But it's September now, and I have a thought rolling around in my head. We'll see. The archive of wallpapers is here.

Speaking of, so many cool wallpapers came out for Ever Crisis, and I've posted them all! Find them here, at the bottom of this archive post. I swear I'll eventually beat TFS season 1, but...they sure made it difficult for people who don't purchase their packs.

Did you know that Tumblr is feeding your posts(including reblogs) to theird party AI? Well, they are, and you can set it to be prevented in your settings. I talked about it here.

Rebirth coming out was the biggest thing this year, and I made my first manipulation for it back in March! You can see the post here, as well as a simple tutorial for it using GIMP(GNU Image Manipulation Program, free at gimp.org) here.

I also made a second manipulation for Rebirth! If you want to see the additional dialogue that goes with it, that's here.

When I played the demo for Rebirth, I noticed that they had changed Sephiroth's eyes, and it reminded me of something...

Did you know that in Advent Children, Sephiroth's gloves are not as tight as in Remake and you can see his wrists? 😏Check it out! What? Of course this is important!

I took a look at Sephiroth and all his forms over the years. Then I did the same for Cloud.

My AO3 sefikura work In Death was finished on April 26th, and came with a special manipulation. That was also the first story where I was accused of writing non-con, when it obviously wasn't, so that was fun. If you need to hydrate, you can go drink that tea in the comments of, I think, chapter 16 and after. Several people have asked about a sequel, and I do have eventual plans. Hang in there.

I made my first(of many) Rebirth memes, which also came with a blank template.

A peek under Sephiroth's jacket, courtesy of Rebirth. 😏Yes, this is important, obviously.

Another Rebirth meme, featuring Sephiroth being badass.

I put my design for Lucrecia's locket onto my edited EC Sephiroth artwork! This one actually got a lot of notes thanks to reblogging. 💕I also put the locket on Sephiroth's EC in-game model.

I wrote a long one-shot as a thank you for 400+ followers! It's based on my most popular sefikura manipulation of all time—a very indulgent work, and my first time writing for Rebirth. Thanks, guys!

Another meme, haha...oops, and another one. Damn, another one? AND a Sephiroth/Cloud arms-crossed companion meme set?

I did another Rebirth manipulation, this time of the famous sefikura hug scene. I added a second part to it here. AND a third part to it here! This set has quickly become one of my favorites. I also gave it some Japanese dialogue+translation here.

I did a little PSA because I've seen a lot of awfully suspicious digital paintings lately...

I made an account on Twitter/X, just in case they never fixed my blog, so if you're over there, follow me @ perfectlysane77 and say hi. :)

The FF7 crew have super hearing, confirmed??

Do you play Ever Crisis and want to join a sefikura guild? Check here. All skill levels are welcome, and you don't have to talk to anyone if you don't want to.

My first ever edited Rebirth video: "Fill your hollow heart...with me-ow."

And now I've been released from Tumblr spam-bot prison, so I'm sure you've seen even more silly memes from me. So what now? I hope to release the rewrite of Stranger Inside very soon, maybe by the end of the month if possible? The sequel will follow, for real this time. At that point, we'll be back to voting, so you guys will be able to choose what comes after that. I'm really focused on writing now, which is probably why I'm mostly making memes and silly things. Still, if it makes you laugh, I'm happy. 🥰

If you read this to the end, you're amazing.💕

[merbear25]

your back! ^v^/ can you do china, France and Italy x reader romantic headcanons Who's loves horror. Like they talk about horror all the time and show horror movie couples and be like "this is so us!"

Yes, I am! We're back in business haha. Thank you for sending this in! As a horror fan myself, it was fun to imagine these. I hope you like what I've written for you 💜💜

CW: SFW, gn!reader, fluff, slight humor, headcanons, characterization based on the episode Hetalia of the Dead

With a s/o who loves horror (China, France, Italy)

China 

As much as he thought he had a stomach for horror, you quickly put him in his place.

He wasn’t one to openly admit when he was scared, let alone terrified, so watching your favorite scary movies with him presented quite the challenge.

You could tell from the get go that he was struggling, though. He’d tremble and jump a few times, yet denied the film was affecting him. (You never asked by the way. He just felt like he needed to defend himself.)

Cuddling up closer to him when you sensed it may be too much to handle gave him such relief.

He couldn’t help but groan whenever you said “this is so us!” because half the time the couple ended up dying.

Even though you thrived in horror based activities, you understood his limits. Taking him to a haunted house was out of the question; he felt way too vulnerable. Something like a haunted hayride was doable for him, though.

Sure, he clung to you as if his life depended on it, but there was just an ounce more of security with this activity. After everything was said and done, the both of you couldn’t have come out of that more different: his heart was pounding and he felt drained while you were coursing with adrenaline.

With all of this considered, there were aspects of his culture that held their right when it came to monsters. Sharing these legends with you was much more his cup of tea, and he adored how you hung on each word.

France

Although he wasn’t as big of a fan as you, he wasn’t opposed to it. There were aspects that he could enjoy. He was much more partial to the plots being scary than any overuse of jumpscares.

He didn’t really get scared while watching these films with you. It was far more likely that the gore would turn his stomach. If you were completely numb to this and ate during these parts, that’d be more horrifying than anything playing on the screen.

Your comment of “that’s so us!” was rather funny to him, especially given the dumb or silly mistakes the couples always made.

Seeing as you were a die hard fan, he would offer to go on a guided tour of the catacombs. Exploring such a place needed to be done wisely, so don’t expect him to allow you to scamper off because you saw a “cool” skull.

Venturing with the group was nice for him. It was a unique part of his history, and being able to share it with someone who was more than willing to soak up the information was refreshing.

He wouldn’t be able to resist whispering little stories of others feeling cold spots or even a phantom hand on their shoulders. He told you these knowing how they’d pique your twisted little interest, smiling at you when your eyes lit up.

Walking down the streets at night was ideal for sharing legends with you. With the mood set as the moon hung high in the sky, he delivered each tale with conviction, only adding to their chilling ends.

Among all of the genres of film and literature, horror was not ranked highly for him. That being said, he grew more fond of it knowing how much it meant to you.

Italy

Despite his care-free and innocent demeanor, his country wasn’t exactly shy when it came to the horror scene.

He could stomach a lot of the gore to your surprise, even making a few comments on how good or bad the effects were.

Eating while watching such films was completely fine with him, and more often than not, he’d prepared something to compliment the film specifically. Of course, pasta, especially spaghetti, was the most commonly eaten while you watched horror because the sauce resembled the blood perfectly and the pasta was squishy like entrails.

As you messily slurped up your food, your comments of “this is so us!” was excitedly agreed on. When the couple (or one of them) inevitably died, he pointed out another that you two could relate to.

There were no issues for him when it came to sitting and watching something on a screen. However, going out to haunted houses was off the table, which you came to realize in practice. This poor man didn’t expect it to be so terrifying, and there was no way he’d be able to put on an act of bravery. When you eventually made it out, he was shaking like a leaf, leaving you to cuddle and tend to him for the rest of the week.

You being as big of a horror fan as you were, it was the perfect opportunity for him to show you the darker and more mysterious side of the country.

There were plenty of museums highlighting torture, castles which were said to be haunted, and even catacombs.

You were spoiled for choice, but that was fine! He would enjoy exploring each bit with you because he knew that it was a deep rooted interest.

[shitolodise]

Hii peeps, i've made some TF2 morning routine headcanons, bc i'm obesesed with this game and i can never stop thinking about all of the mercs

keep in mind eng isn't my first language so there could be some stuff wrong haha (cries in brazilian)

Scout

One of the last to wake up, usually leaves the room already dressed, his social energy already replenished, having more energy than the others to talk. He starts the day with cereal and milk, and as soon as he's done Scout invites, anyone who has time, to play baseball with him.

Mostly cheerful, Scout tends to crack jokes in the morning, trying to make conversation and asking how everyone's night went, always talking about the dreams he had, if Miss Pauling isn't involved, of course.

Soldier

very punctual, every day he wakes up at 7 am, has a hearty breakfast (bacon and eggs with orange juice, American stuff), and already leaves to put on his uniform, his time outside varies between target shooting, unnecessarily running for hours without stop, break the necks of criminals for America, taking care of the raccoons in Merasmus' house, go back and wake up the others who are still sleeping.

He already wakes up in a good mood and energized, talking loudly in the morning resulting in sometimes waking up the other men. If it's not Scout who is bringing up the subject or telling stories, that role is Soldier’s, that is if he comes back home during the others' breakfast.

Pyro

Wakes up around 8 am, his mood usually already being high up. He likes apple juice and pancakes for breakfast or sweeter things in general. After eating, Pyro goes from setting small things on fire or drawing and watching cartoons on TV.

Always cheerful, he rarely wakes up angry. He comes out of his room already hopping and waving to the other mercenaries.

Demoman

It varies on how he slept last night, depending on how drunk he was. Demo gets out of bed looking in the fridge for anything that has alcohol in it, going so far as to pour vodka into his coffee cup. It is normal to find him walking dizzy through the halls of the house, or sleeping in a random corner of the backyard. He is usually the one who agrees to play baseball with Scout, even though most of the time he has to stop playing because he is too dizzy.

Demoman goes between babbling shit when he wakes up / talking in his sleep (yes, in the middle of the breakfast table), or laughing along with Soldier / Scout. Aside from being drunk, it's hard to see the Demoman wake up in a bad mood or sad unless he doesn't find anything alcoholic in the fridge.

Heavy

he is already up around 8/9 in the morning, a chamomile tea is what he normally drinks in the morning accompanied by his sandwich. He likes to spend his free time reading a book or just sitting in front of the base enjoying the morning breeze, if possible talking to Medic.

Heavy isn't much of a talker when he first wakes up, answering others shortly and quickly, Soldier and Scout’s stories helping him wake up faster, eliciting a few laughs from him. Despite this, Heavy wakes up with a neutral personality, what will happen throughout the morning decides how his mood will be.

Engineer

What time he wakes up depends on how much sleep he had last night as he has a habit of having brainstorms at ⅔ in the morning. When he wakes up, he already takes coffee from the coffee maker, adding milk depending on how much energy he needs in the morning. After eating anything easy he finds in the cupboard, he goes straight to his workshop to finish what he started the previous morning.

Difficult to wake up in a bad mood, he always leaves the room with a smile on his face and greets others, it takes a few moments to become talkative, but after a cup of coffee, he starts to interact better.

Medic

Due to insomnia, Medic tends to wake up very early, already up at 6 am. His first idea is to look at the things he was doing before going to sleep in an attempt to bring his sleepiness back, if that fails, after a few hours, Medic leaves his lab and goes straight to the kitchen to eat something, going about his day as usual. Most of the time his choice is tea (especially when he can't get back to sleep) and something simple to go with it like biscuits, then go back to work on what he was doing before going to the kitchen.

It takes time to "wake up". His mood most times is not the best, easily irritated by too much noise in the morning. He tends to give others dry good mornings, paying more attention to the thoughts running through his head and after a few minutes he finally snaps back to reality. Usually, it's Heavy who can talk to him best.

Sniper

Between the last and the first to wake up since he sleeps outside the base / in his van, it depends on how good his night of sleep was. Starts the day with a strong black coffee, not too much sugar, a slice of bread with butter being a good enough breakfast, and when with patience a fried egg. He gets dressed when he wakes up if he hasn't already slept in his clothes. When he leaves the van, his first hobby, if not seeing the others, is target shooting or watching a program recorded on a cassette tape.

Always looking tired, his social battery is usually very low in the morning and it's even hard to see him out of the van shortly after waking up, but that doesn't stop him from laughing at Scout's jokes or missing the chance to make fun of Spy at the first opportunity that arises.

Spy

He wakes up around 6 am (the first one to wake up) since he likes the silence and his alone time. Usually, he has breakfast, does some kind of exercise or stretching, and gets dressed, staying in his smoking room reading some magazines or books until the others wake up.

His mood starts good when he wakes up, normally calm and with a smile on his face, that is until the others wake up, causing him to revert to his ordinary serious personality.

[strawberry-cowmilk]

Satan's child's relationship with her uncles and the other characters. Headcanons

Hi! That's such a cute and creative idea! (a lot of you are giving me baby fever with these kinds of requests haha) I hope you like what I made of it!

satan's child with the obey me cast

a/n: just to give her some personality, let's say she's the same child I've written for before in my (character) as a dad series, also I'm going to try this new format for this post

mc's gender is not mentioned, not proof read, child is around 5-6 years old

content warnings: children, child getting forgotten in a car

-----

brothers (uncles)

satan might not like lucifer too much, but his daughter does! she likes him because, despite his busy schedule, he tries his best to make time for his family. also she thinks the way lucifer says mammon's name while angry is funny. satan started to let his guard down around lucifer because his daughter likes him so much

mammon is great with kids, he's also one of the most fun babysitters out of everyone. only one time mammon wanted to take his brother's daughter to the mall, on the way they drove past a recently opened casino. mammon went in just to see what it looked like but ended up staying for two hours. also he forgot the child in the car (she was fine, satan killed mammon though)

uncle levi doesn't leave his room too much, but when he does, satan's daughter tries to talk to him. she wants to know what her uncle is up to, and would love to play devil cart with him. sadly levi doesn't trust kids in his room full of collector's items

asmo adores her and she adores asmo back. satan and him are good friends anyways. he gets her clothes from majolish, holds uncle-niece tea parties with her (you and satan are always free to join) and lets her paint his nails. even if it looks terrible he'll wear the manicure with pride

she loves uncle beel because he always gives her akudonald's and candy when you and satan said no. sometimes she gets a little too curious and starts to play with beel's heavy workout equipment, in those times beel has to get her away from the stuff before she hurts herself

she wants to get closer to belphie but he doesn't have enough energy to look after an energetic child like her most times. plus one time she saw him put sardines in lucifer's shoes and thought it was mean. during the same time satan was joining the activity (he had to tell his child not to copy what she just saw)

side characters

diavolo is great with children, sometimes when he comes to visit the house of lamentation he brings her gifts and all, of course this makes her like diavolo. sometimes she even makes him little drawings as a thank-you

she doesn't see barbatos too often, a big part of her impression of him comes from the stories she's heard. and those stories kind of make him look like somebody who works 25/8 and wouldn't want to spend time with her

everyone knows simeon is an amazing caretaker, so naturally he's a great option in case you need a babysitter. your daughter loves spending time with simeon, also because she and luke are somewhat close in age. everytime simeon is watching her, he's got a ton of fun activities planned like visiting a zoo or museum (one that isn't boring for kids)

luke was kind of afraid she'd be short-tempered like her father, luckily she's quite the opposite. luke likes to think of himself as a big brother figure, since the two do see each other often and she always asks him to teach her how to bake sweets. simeon thinks it's good for both kids to have a playmate

solomon also thought she'd be a mini avatar of wrath (also every time simeon babysits her at purgatory hall, satan basically threatens solomon to not give her homemade food) she thinks solomon's magic is really cool, sometimes she'll bring him random objects and asks if he can make them fly

[bonny-kookoo]

Hi

I say this not from a space of hate. I think recently I have noticed lowered energy in your response and they seem quite... cold. Not only that (again just saying this out of concern), it feels as if they are out of obligation rather than a want to really chat with your followers. Again, I may be judging wrong however just wanted you to know how it is coming across for others. Thank You.

Regards,

Anonymous

I appreciate you telling me this. I guess it's because these days, I mostly receive asks that are either criticism (too many ask answers, too many drabbles, too many unfinished stories, masterlist being too long, no taglist) or have nothing to do with me or my content (as in; hey can you help me find this fic, hey have you heard about this writer, hey do you know what happened to this other author, etc), so I feel like the overall interest in what I put out has come to a halt. There's no more requests, no more asks about the characters or anything like that- Which is normal- after all I had my 'high' in engagement during a time when most people were out of work/school. I guess I'm just trying to come to terms with that haha. I'll try and be less cold, this blog means a lot to me so I feel rather strongly about the current state of it, but I'll better myself.

I'm sorry I made you uncomfortable/feel unwelcome.

Just as a general kind of info: no, I do not have any personal/private contact to other writers on this app. I've had some fleeting private conversations with one or two YEARS ago, with one of them having since deleted their blog, and I was friends with another who now decided to leave this platform, but that's it. I only have regular contact with Euphoricfilter and that's the only person I'd consider me being 'friends' with. I don't know anything about drama, about the 'tea-blog', or any other writer. I tend to stay away from that.

I admit that I feel a little cornered almost these days, because I know already that there will be people who will take this as another example of me emotionally manipulating my audience, when that's not what I want to do. I can't win, no matter what I do, I'm always the bad guy, because if I answer all the asks people will get mad that I 'clog up' the blog again. And I believe that contributes to my slight frustration I have with this whole blog these days, because I can't seem to find the words to get my feelings across without people feeling personally attacked by them. I want to continue as I always have, but that's tough to do when your inbox is filled with people either telling you to kys or people who confront you with some random drama they've heard about.

Again, I don't want to emotionally manipulate you, I just want to give my side of this whole situation. You're completely entitled to your own feelings.

I'll try and be more positive moving forward. And I'm really grateful for all that have stayed throughout this content drought we've been having here :/

I'm sorry.

[crenna]

once upon a time...

lili | 22 | she/her | infp

hii, welcome to my blog! i'm lili, and it's so nice to meet you 🫶

this is my personal blog where i post about my life, thoughts, and interests. and who knows what else! i love books and writing a lot, as well as a lot of fandoms and other things like pretty aesthetics. if we have any interests in common, feel free to hang out here for as long as you’d like and come say hi! i’d love to be mutuals and i love making new friends 💕

below you can find info about me, my fandoms and interests, and my blogs!

side blogs: @onceuponaneverafter (OUABH, active), @seeyouinthestars (the aurora cycle, inactive), @legendarydante (caraval rp, active), @rosegoldscrimson (caraval/ouabh rp, active), @the-maidendeath (caraval/ouabh rp, active)

...there was a girl...

𝓐𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐌𝐄

to put it shortly, i'm a hopeless romantic with a love for everything creative! you will most likely find me procrastinating on something, impulsively starting a new project, or falling in love with fictional characters and daydreaming. or all of them at the same time.

i'm a university student, working part time and trying to write a BA thesis - so if i disappear from time to time, i'm probably busy and stressed, and will be back soon!

out of fictional characters, evangeline fox and cress darnel are very relatable to me. if they are to you as well, i love that for us!! this is a safe space for shared fictional crushes, too - if we love the same character, we both have good taste 🫶

...who loved deeply...

𝓕𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐎𝐌𝐒 & 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐒

my fandoms :: once upon a broken heart (OUABH), caraval, the aurora cycle, acotar (the fandom scares me but i've read the books), shatter me, divine rivals, the lunar chronicles, the rosewood chronicles (RWCH), star wars (+ the mandalorian), star trek (movies + next generation s1), shadow and bone, six of crows (first book), minecraft story mode (old fandom but i sometimes reblog stuff from it!), mystreet (also old fandom but i’ve seen it many times), the selection, the hunger games, divergent, she-ra, gilmore girls & more, feel free to ask if i know a fandom!

other things i love :: my friends, giggling over fictional characters and fandoms, taylor swift's music, minecraft, aesthetics, tea, pretty skies and clouds, fairy lights, fangirling, roleplaying, houseplants, writing, reading, dancing, arts and crafts (including drawing, painting, knitting, sewing, graphic design...), singing, baking, the colors purple and pink, flowers, all things soft and cozy, sparkles, pretty dresses, girls (as in i’m bi,, i think, it’s an ongoing crisis but i know i like girls), interior design, and honorable mention goes to the rivals to lovers and sunshine character x villain tropes 💕

my writing :: i sometimes write fanfiction for fun, and make rather slow progress on bigger projects that i'd love to turn into full novels and publish someday! my favorite genres to write are fantasy, romance, and sci-fi - sometimes combined. i also roleplay many of my fandoms, please dm if you’re interested!

...and dreamed big

𝓜𝐘 𝐁𝐋𝐎𝐆𝐒

crenna - main blog :: this is where you'll most often see me hanging out! i post about books, writing, and my life, i reblog posts i like, and i've been trying my hand at graphics (such as dividers) so i might post those at some point too.

onceuponaneverafter - side blog :: this blog is dedicated to the OUABH series, and only has content related to it. a more detailed blog introduction is pinned there! i post theories, general thoughts and observations about the series, and fanfiction (working on it hehe).

seeyouinthestars - side blog :: dedicated to the aurora cycle series, currently inactive until i reread the books haha. only contains reblogs as of right now.

legendarydante - side blog :: roleplay blog for dante/legend from the caraval series. i sincerely apologize for the absolute chaos that rp has become.

𝓠 & 𝐀

do you rp your fandoms? // yes, i do! i'm currently not actively looking for new roleplays, but if we both love a fandom, feel free to dm me with your ideas.

can i tag you in tag games? // absolutely! don't be shy, i love them 🫶

why have you not responded to my message/tag/ask even though you've been active? // even though i try to respond frequently, sometimes it takes me a while to get to individual notifications when i’m not in the right headspace. i might also have just forgotten. so sorry if that happens!

can we be friends? // yes!! i love chatting and meeting new people - especially if we're mutuals, feel free to interact/message me anytime, i promise i'm more scared to interact with you 🫶

— 24.2.2024. 🤍

[vellichxrr6782]

CHAPTER FOUR, shiny toy with a price.

SYNOPSIS: an encounter with your supposed "enemy" leaves you questioning his motives. a drive with your closest friend gives you insight on your new relationship, which could be your biggest break or your biggest problem.

CHARACTERS (in this chapter): ayato, diluc, kaeya, jean.

CW/TW: cussing, kaeya and diluc almost arguing (the epitome of brotherly love).

WORD COUNT: 2k words.

<- previous chapter | cruel summer masterlist | next chapter ->

it had been a few days since the incident at the party. you were honestly rather exhausted from everyone’s endless questions. the news of childe’s girlfriend cheating on him was overpowered completely by the news of you and childe dating. 

your fans were clearly ecstatic, and many fan pages had been opened for you both. you, however, were definitely not ecstatic, considering your life was taking another route entirely. 

jean and zhongli were definitely the happiest, though. maybe because they’re getting their raise soon. 

childe was doing a splendid job of adhering to the rules of the contract. in fact, you’d say he was more dedicated than you were, considering you were the one who agreed to the contract in the first place. 

he put a cheesy, romantic quote in his bio, and asked you to go on a “date” with him, so you could prove the credibility of your relationship, and get some pictures. 

you weren’t looking forward to the date, that’s for sure. for now, you just needed to rest, away from everyone who was trying to leech on you. 

although, coming to rest at komore teahouse was probably not such a good idea. 

you had just ended a meeting with a producer, and you were looking for a place to get something to drink. you entered the komore teahouse, since it was pretty popular nowadays. 

how were you supposed to know that a man you should most certainly avoid, was also there?

kamisato ayato was sitting cross-legged on the chair, sipping boba tea. you found it quite… unusual, a man whose entire atmosphere and mannerisms fell nothing short of ‘elegant’ and ‘refined’, was drinking bubble tea with sparkles in his eyes. 

you immediately covered your face, attempting to sneak by to the cashier to place your order, but lady luck was not on your side, since ayato had immediately noticed you. 

“miss y/n l/n?” he called out, and you froze. you’d barely heard his voice before, but wow, was it a soothing one. “what brings you here?” 

you forced a smile, fiddling with your fingers as you looked at ayato. “oh, ayato, right? what a pleasure to meet you. i’m here to…drink tea? i guess? what about you?” 

“same as you, haha. my manager, thoma, owns this place.” 

“your manager…owns a cafe too?” well, that was certainly new. 

you excused yourself, scurrying over to the register. you placed your order for what you guessed would take the least amount of time to make, and gleefully accepted and paid when you got it. 

attempting once more to sneak past unnoticed, and failing once more to sneak past unnoticed, you found yourself seated across ayato. 

this was sure to end badly if you weren’t careful.

"how enthralling," ayato whispered, after a few seconds of observing you, "the movies fail to capture your beauty, l/n."

"ah, thank you. you’re the new rising star of teyvat’s film industry, aren’t you?" you asked, keeping your distance. god knows what controversy would awaken if you were seen getting buddy-buddy with your "boyfriend"s rival. 

"the one and only," ayato chuckled, "i've heard a lot about you from my sister. my curiosity did not allow me to sit still, i simply had to see you in person."

you laughed awkwardly, your discomfort quite obvious in your tone. ayato was certainly a perceptive individual, so this didn't go unnoticed. 

still, it did nothing to quell his antics. 

"and i must say, i have no regrets." he narrowed his eyes, smiling. he was like a sly fox. and you thought director yae was the fox.

you had to admit, he was very attractive. you could see why he'd instantly shot to popularity, and his acting was commendable too. he was talented and gifted. 

but gods, it would be amazing if he wouldn't get so incredibly close to you right now.

"so, um, how's work?" you asked, internally praying for ajax, jean, zhongli, anyone to come and interrupt. 

"i wouldn't call it work, honestly. it's quite enjoyable to be surrounded by my fans and do what i enjoy all the time." classic response.

wish you could say the same. you loved your fans, yeah. but it was a bit tiring, when the reason people approached you nowadays was to know about the "hot scoop" of your relationship (the term "hot scoop" should be banned, honestly).

"that's nice.. haha." you replied. "um, well, i should certainly get going- "

"oh, so quick?" ayato raised a brow. "my apologies if i made you uncomfortable, haha. i tend to come off as such."

'it's okay', you thought, but said, "no, no! not at all. i'm just busy." you stood up, patting invisible dust off your clothes. 

"well, can i get your number?"

"excuse me?"

unbelievable. he's making moves on his enemy's girlfriend. 

you didn't really wanna be a card he could use against childe, so naturally, you would've declined. but...

"i won't be a bother, don't worry. it's rather lonely for me since i'm new to the film industry." he frowned a little, "still, i'm glad we spoke, though."

how, how could you say no? he's lonely. you would feel so bad. he wants a friend. 

"yeah... sure, i'll enter it." you gave in rather quick, feeling a bit remorseful for acting a tad bit stand-offish earlier.

god, he's ... incredibly two-faced. just a few minutes ago, he was eyeing you up and down suggestively, and now he was acting all cute to get your number?

it's tough being in demand.

you handed his phone back to him, and ayato grinned like the fox he was. a cute one. alright, shut up. ajax would be disappointed if he could hear your thoughts. 

you waved a quick goodbye to ayato, putting on your mask as a disguise, and immediately calling jean to ask where she was. 

"i'm being held up with something right now, y/n. would you mind if i sent eula or lisa to come and pick you up?" 

"please send anyone but eula. her driving skills are gonna get me arrested and i'm too tired right now." you replied, recalling the last time eula almost crashed the car and swore vengeance upon a tree. 

jean laughed, and replied, "yeah, yeah, i'll send lisa." before hanging up. 

you waited on the sidewalk, since that seemed preferable to you instead of talking to ayato who was inside the cafe. you took off your mask, letting out a huge breath. 

you needed to get to the studio to film a scene. the director thought the weather was splendid today, and scheduled a shooting on short notice. 

all of a sudden, a fancy car stopped in front of you. you immediately froze, your thoughts rising to kidnapping. 

the windows rolled down to show a familiar face. there he was, in all his glory, 

diluc ragnvindr. 

not who you were expecting, huh? i mean, ajax, lisa and diluc all owned fancy expensive cars. it was tough to differentiate sometimes. 

"hey, y/n." diluc smiled, which was a first for others, but pretty usual for you. "waiting for someone?" 

"nope, what brings you here?" you replied, leaning against his door. 

"i'm your chauffeur for the day, it seems." diluc opened the door for the passenger seat, and you leaned against the door. "jean sent me."

"she said she was sending lisa though?" you raised a brow, getting in. 

"it's a tuesday, which means it's spa day for lisa. i offered to pick you up instead." diluc sighed, starting the car. "to the studio?"

"ah, of course, typical lisa. yeah, to the studio." you thanked diluc, and he started driving. 

you had known diluc for years, since you went to high school with him and kaeya. he was always silent, but he was caring and reliable. he was quite the gentleman, offering you his coat, bringing you coffee, helping you study, and cautioning you from trying daring things for your own safety. he was also the one who urged you to try out acting as a career choice, and look where that had brought you.

if anything, you owed diluc quite a bit for being an important person in your life. 

"so, what's up?" you asked, leaning back, "it's been a while since we last caught up. it was when we were doing that movie together, no? god, that was years ago." 

"mhm," diluc nodded, "nothing much from my end. kaeya's gotten a modelling gig and he won't shut up about it." 

"i heard about it from childe, apparently it's for a pretty big modelling company, so kaeya's basically a celebrity now." you chuckled, remembering how badly kaeya wanted to model when he was young.

"oh yeah, speaking about childe." you noticed how diluc's expression twisted into a sour frown when he took ajax's name. "i heard you're dating him now?"

diluc had never liked childe. you didn't exactly know why, maybe it was because of childe's... rambunctious personality. or maybe because he was kaeya's best friend? you didn't really bother to ask, since you weren't a big fan of the tartaglia either.

"o-oh, um, yeah-" you stammered, preferring to completely avoid this topic. god forbid you let it slip to diluc that it was all an elaborate lie. "it just happened, i guess."

"i'm surprised, i thought you hated him?" 

"hate is a rather strong word. i just didn't like him much. he's not all that bad though." you smiled, "what about you diluc? you've never dated anyone, right?"

"no, i have not." he replied, looking away. "i did like someone, though."

you gasped, "why'd you never tell me?! i'm your friend for a damn reason, diluc!" this was news to you, and you took offence at yourself for never noticing. 

but then again, diluc was like a closed book that was wrapped and tied tightly, no one could open it. he was unreadable with his emotions, especially ones that related to love.

diluc chuckled, "i didn't realise it back then, there was too much going on in my life. besides, i deemed it pointless to like someone who wouldn't really look at me the way i look at them."

that sounds... quite poetic actually. it was surprising to hear diluc had feelings for someone, or perhaps used to. you wondered what happened, but the topic seemed to make diluc a little uncomfortable by looking at how he was sweating. so you decided not to pursue further. 

"i'm probably in no position to give you advice, y/n. but," diluc started, a bittersweet expression on his face. "our hearts are fragile and naive. they trust easily in times of desperation and convince themselves of lies to seek solace. they break and shatter, crumble and fall."

"still, our hearts are capable of healing. it takes time, don't rush. the same hearts that are naive and easily-distraught can be incredibly cunning and ruthless too." diluc breathed out, as if he’d let go of something that was on the tip of his tongue, a hefty burden on his shoulders lifted. 

"thank you, diluc." you smiled, looking at him. “i appreciate it.”

diluc gazed away from you, "be careful around childe, is what i want to say. he's quite unpredictable, and i don't want you getting hurt."

still caring for you, nonetheless. 

his car came to an abrupt stop, and a bang on your window snapped you out of your train of thought. you met eyes with kaeya, who looked ecstatic. diluc’s smile twisted into a frown of distaste. 

“you?” diluc deadpanned, glaring at kaeya, rolling his windows down. 

“sup, diluc! y/n!” kaeya grinned, getting in the car uninvited. “it’s amazing i ran into you two right now, i could really use a lift to the mondstadt modelling agency.” he threw his shopping bags onto diluc’s backseat, as if he had come from a shopping spree. 

“well?” he urged, when diluc didn’t start the car, choosing to glare at kaeya. 

“what the fuck, kaeya?” diluc said, “where the hell did you come from?” 

“well, i’m sorry i interrupted your lovey-dovey moment with y/n, but i’m getting very late for my photo shoot.” kaeya pulled out a bottle of black nail-polish. he started painting his nails nonchalantly. “start driving, dipshit.”

“what did you just call me-?!” diluc nearly jumped at kaeya, who was unfazed. you put a hand on diluc’s chest to stop him from nearly murdering his little brother. 

“just drive, ‘luc.” 

diluc obliged with no further argument.

published on; 19th may, 2023. writing belongs to @/vellichxrr6782 on tumblr

[subskz]

Rin.... Rin, I crave violence

I saw these and your girl got the most heinous thoughts bouncing around in the head.

SO

Cabin, Snow, There's Only One Bed, Accidental Confession, & Sex. Are you following?

I hope so.

~~~

Picture it: You, Channie, and Co. have decided to stay at a cabin in the woods for a couple of days in winter (see Channie's outfit up above) and as everyone else goes off to have fun in the snow, (I've grown to dislike the snow after having multiple snow days back to back bc I don't get snow often; Ms. Pink was nawt having it) you two decide to hang back

So you two kinda just shrug it off and try to stay preoccupied while by yourselves

And maybe that involves a game or two here and there, music stuff, cooking and things don't get heated until you two make a bet that you, just so happen to, win.

That bet? The other has to do whatever the other says until the others get back.

And you can't help but notice how eager he is to follow your directions and orders; or how he starts to act cuter around you and pouty when feeling a skosh playful.

So maybe you ask for a kiss to gauge his reaction; ofc Channie is malfunctioning so you're all like "jk jk im totally not-" then BOOM! A big ole smooch is what you get.

And then, he's like "omg oh god im so sorry" then you kiss him and he can't help but moan at it (perv Channie?... oh that's something i will be back abt, mark that down)

N e ways, let's talk abt sex now

Chan and his babyboy-isms seem to just increase tenfold; pouty, whiney, all flushed, wanting physical contact, oral fixation all on 10.

And, him being a service top, he is so hellbent on pleasing you. But he's also been dealing with this huge crush on you, so when he finally enters you, he swears he's entering the 5th dimension.

But also instantly blurts out that he has feelings for you... whoops. Can't help it, unfortunately; another victim of being brain mush as soon as he gets off :(

Give him a kiss on his lips and nose and tell him how you feel and help guide him; poor pup is just too into his subspace to even form coherent sentences anymore and probably too preoccupied with sucking on your fingers or chest 🤷‍♀️

Now, afterglow and post-orgasm clarity is such a real thing (it's happened once to me but i had the munchies like fucking crazy so it didn't last lmao) so Channie is embarrassed when he realized that he involuntarily confessed like that.

~~~

Sorry for the word vomit; currently half past 11pm and I've been sipping on black tea all-day so... :) 3rd eye is just working over time.

Also, I called a specific Hyunjin look back in 2021, so Pink is just Clairvoyant when it comes to Hyunjin specifically (it's bc we're both Pisces)

the fact that these pics led to this stroke of genius from you…put channie in a sweater n suspenders more often bc i’m actually gonna lose my mind over how much i love this 😵‍💫 him pining after you…simultaneously so shy but so eager…the desperate need to please you…the way he goes dumb the moment he’s inside you…blurting out his confession…it has all the elements of a perfect channie concept

HAHA yes let’s settle for the romantic atmosphere inside the cabin away from the snow…maybe even w a warm fire crackling to really set the mood ♡ channie being his sweet good-natured lil self and listening to everything you say without question…the thought of him getting playful at some point and pretending to disobey you w a cheeky dimpled grin…pure devastation. he’d look so adorably proud of himself it’s almost enough to let it slide, but you don’t even get the chance before he takes it back w a giggle and follows your order anyway 🥰

his heart-shaped lips look extra red and kissable bc of the cold who could resist <3 and god the way he’d just lean completely into that sweet, unbashedly needy side of himself once he sees how much you like it…the epitome of baby boy w the way he clings to you and nuzzles into your chest and starts to whine if he can’t feel your touch for even a moment. and nothing on earth makes me crazier than the idea of channie’s mind going blank the moment he feels you around him…suddenly he’s lost and clueless and needs you to direct him to do every little thing so he can satisfy you properly ❤️‍🔥 he may not be able to think for himself but he still carries out all your orders like a good boy! and ofc when his emotions are running so high and his head is so scrambled from the pleasure, he can’t help but babble on abt how much he loves you in a way that’ll have him absolutely mortified when that giddy haze finally wears off~

no need to apologize as u can see this resonated w me very much hehe ^_^ you and hyune really have some kind of piscean psychic link that no one else can comprehend i’ll look forward to what you predict next 😼

[lumine-no-hikari]

Dear Sephiroth: (a letter to a fictional character, because why not) #133

It is Tuesday. That means it's therapy day. So that's where I went this morning.

Last week I was there, I met a kindly old gentleman with poofy white hair who really liked my hat. I had a brief, but delightful conversation with him! It was a good time!

In case you are wondering why he liked my hat, this is my hat; it is on my head in this picture:

It's a pretty great hat!! Eevee is one of my favorite Pokémon, simply because it has the capacity to adapt to anything! It looks plain, but it's secretly prismatic! Eevee is a beautiful rainbow of possibilities!

Today, I saw the kindly old gentleman again (apparently we go to the same building for therapy at the same time, I guess), and he gave me a pair of buttons that he made himself, specifically for me! These buttons have my birth name on them, and it's not spelled quite right (mine isn't supposed to have an H at the end; it's so rare to find my birth name on anything at all, let alone without the H at the end!), but I don't care!! It was delightful, and it is the thought that counts, and the fact that he even remembered my birth name at all was heartwarming!

One of the buttons was pin-on; I promptly put it on my owl bag:

And the other one was magnetic; I put it on my fridge, where I'll see it every day!

Related: if it ever becomes safe to reveal my birth name to you, then you have my permission to use either my birth name or this public one that was given to me, which I use pretty consistently on the internet; both of them are appropriate descriptors of my general existence, I think!

…I was sad when he told me that his wife said to him that he might end up accidentally creeping me out. This is something I understand well; I do kind things for others just for the sake of doing it - I don't want anything. All the same, people tend to read more into my actions than I intend, assuming that I've got some kind of ulterior motive or something. I understand why most people worry about stuff like that; most of them have trauma, and most of them have experienced what they thought was "kindness", only to have someone lord it over them all entitled-like later. It's very lame, but it is what it is. It's a little lonely to be misunderstood so frequently, but at the same time, I can understand their caution; my way of being definitely isn't typical in my world.

I wondered if, like me, he is autistic. I hope I get to talk more to him sometime; I want to hear more of his story, and how he became who he is now, if he's comfortable with sharing it. 70 years is a long time to live, and I can imagine that he has a wealth of amazing memories that I might be able to learn and grow from hearing about! But I'm not really sure what is the socially appropriate way to ask, ahahaha… 😅

…After I got back from therapy, I made a tea! Today, it was a vanilla-rose white tea; I think you might like this one about as much as the vanilla-rose black tea, actually. It's got a subtler flavor; it doesn't punch a person in the face with flowery vanilla goodness nearly as hard as the black tea version, hahaha! But that's a good thing; I don't always want my tea to punch me in the face, hahaha! Br gave me this tin a while ago, and it's still one of my favorites:

It's another loose-leaf tea, so I had to break out the tea ball again - not that I'm complaining, of course!

Today, Momma (Or Oma, for short! Or Mia, as M likes to call her, because then she's "Momma Mia", haha!) is on the windowsill! She is Mogwai's mother. She was a rather murdery stray just a few years ago (quite literally; at first she was so aggressive that she had to be kept in a separate room and I had to go in by myself with cardboard armor on my legs to feed her), but with lots of love and time to adjust, she has become very cuddly and friendly, even if she still sometimes gets into brief spats with our other cats! 🥰🥰🥰

This is how the color is after it's done brewing:

...And here's how it looked with the honey added, and the cream swirling around:

...There's so much in my world that I wish I could share with you...

Also notable today was the fact that M, J, and I went out to get sushi with J's sister. And this is a beautiful thing; due to a long and complicated string of misunderstandings, J's sister and I started off on the wrong foot and stayed on the wrong foot for a long time; she didn't understand that I am not the sort of person who speaks in implication, and so a lot of weird assumptions were made about me with subtext that wasn't actually there. I also tend to be very blunt and straightforward (but not cruel!), and people tend to perceive me as rude; for example, if I'm thirsty at someone else's house, instead of saying, "gee, it sure is hot outside," or whatever other indirect thing that hints at the fact that I need something to drink, I will come right out and say, "may I get myself a glass of water?" You would not believe how MAD this makes some people, good grief!!

Fortunately, with J's help, over time my relationship with his sister has changed for the better, and though I wouldn't consider us close yet, she at least doesn't seem to be actively suspicious and mistrustful of me anymore. We went to the local all-you-can-eat sushi place, because she had never been there; I took a few pictures of my favorite things for you:

...Hey, Sephiroth? Do you like sushi? If you do, then what are some of your favorite kinds? If you tell me, then maybe I'll give them a try someday, just to see what they're like...

...I don't have a whole lot else to write to you about today. But all the same, I'm thinking of you. I hope you're okay. I hope things will get better for you soon.

Please be safe out there, okay? Because I love you enough to write to you again tomorrow.

Your friend, Lumine

[ghost-in-the-stalls]

asking for holy blue because thats my jam (this being sagemoderocklee)

Oof okay this one's rough, but I'll do it for you <3

Down below, I gave an explanation and then a small snippet, because that's the most you'll get of this fic in likely a very long time. But it turned into a pretty big rant about my insecurities surrounding this fic as explanation for why it hasn't had any progress in literal years, whoops. Sorry this is so long!

Basically this was one of the first fics I planned out back in 2022 when I really started properly writing fic. The last fics I'd written had been DC comics fics back when I was like 12. I think I said this once or twice, but your stories specifically actually inspired me to be like "no I CAN write a long fic actually!! Those non-porn-oneshot ideas don't just have to stay ideas forever!! I do have it in me!" which led to me plotting this fic.

I then got wayyyy too overzealous, posted a prequel (that I'm not super happy with now and would like to make some changes to before I continue posting), and plotted out the first half of a two-part longform series before I was really ready. It's halted for a number of reasons. Partly because I'm struggling to figure out what I want to really have happen in the second half of the story. The half I have plotted could be a full story in its own right, but it's meant to be continued, so the ending would be depressing and frustrating in an unsatisfying way if it wasn't continued in a second story after that. I'm stuck on a resolution, though, and on turning the ideas I have for the second half into a proper story.

Also, I got overthinking and made myself super insecure about characterization (especially in regards to Lee), as well as how much of the story was very directly inspired by several other big, incredible fics in the fandom by several different authors I hold in really high regard. The stress of living up to that inspiration combined with the fear that the story wasn't original enough in the form I had planned kind of put the brakes on the whole thing. And then I got distracted by a bunch of other fics that I felt more confident in. Horror is my strong suit, I think, and this is not that at all haha

On top of all this, there's a major plot point that comes to light near the end of the first half. It's the type of thing that I've seen written so well in a couple different fics, and so poorly in so many others. It's something that I know is not everyone's cup of tea, even when it's well-written. And I've been torn about how much to be up-front with this plot point and how much to hide it. I want people to know the direction the story is heading in for the sake of their own enjoyment; so people who wouldn't be into it can just avoid it from the get-go instead of getting invested first. But I don't want to spoil things too much. But also, if knowing the outcome of a story ruins the whole thing, then it just wasn't very well written, right? Knowing what happens later SHOULDN'T completely ruin the story. If it does, that's on me for not writing it as well as I should have.

This is the overthinking I've been doing lol this is why there's been no progress on this story. It's funny, because I probably have a higher percentage of this fic written than most of my other WIPs.

Basically, if/when I finish and continue posting this story, it's going to come after a great deal of planning and work. And I'm not going to continue it until I really sit down and parse through exactly what stories inspired it and in what capacity. And after that, if I feel that it's original enough, I'd still want to give links to the stories that inspired it when I post it.

I don't want to say TOO much about the premise, because there's a lot that's meant to be *dramatically revealed* as the story goes on, but I can give a general teaser: It starts with Lee, along with the rest of Team Gai, spending a year in Suna. In that time, Lee and Gaara begin a bit of a secret, illicit affair. Obviously, Gaara's position as Kazekage complicates things, but Gaara intends to make it happen for them anyway. Lee, however, has some hidden commitments of his own that puts an even bigger wrench in those plans. Then, the year is up, things have snowballed, and no one is ready to handle the fallout of Gaara and Lee's rush into things.

You get two mediocre snippets to make up for the lengthy anxiety ramblings <3 featuring Sand Sibs Bantering (+Shikamaru) and a first second kiss between Gaara and Lee.

---

Temari grinned wickedly, a look rarely seen outside the company of the family.

“Alright. We’ll be stuck with them for the next year, so get any negative comments you have out of the way now.”

“If Neji’s still got a stick up his ass, I’m gonna have to be sick for a lot of meetings down the line.” Kankurou jumped in, ready to complain at any opportunity.

“He’s way more polite when he’s in diplomacy mode, trust me.” Shikamaru had finally - after years - adjusted to the siblings’ mean streaks. He took it in stride now. “Besides, he’s mellowed out recently now that Hinata is the acting head of the clan.”

“I don’t think Tenten likes me very much.” Gaara added, unwilling to speak too ill of allies, let alone friends.

Kankurou laughed at that, “She probably just doesn’t know what to do with you, man. You know how Konoha shinobi are, they wear everything on their sleeve. Sometimes Temari and I can’t even tell what you’re thinking."

“Besides," Temari interjected, with the slightest note of griping in her tone (which Gaara knew she would vehemently deny should she ever be accused of it; Temari did not gripe, according to herself and everyone in the world, save those who've known her their whole lives.) "I’m more worried about bowl cuts one and two. There’s only so much of that energy I can take before I want to pull my hair out.”

Gaara found himself responding before he even thought about it, “Lee is just… passionate.”

“Okay we’re supposed to be complaining about Team Gai here but I honestly gotta say–” Kankurou leaned on Gaara’s shoulder, “I really don’t get what it is with you and idolizing guys who beat your ass when you were twelve.”

“I’m not an arm rest.” Gaara’s sand pushed Kankurou away, “And it has nothing to do with that. He’s very dedicated to what he does. It’s respectable.”

“What you got a crush on the guy now?” Gaara’s almost choked on his own saliva, collecting himself when he realized his brother was just – once again – taking a joke further than it needed to be.

The last thing he needed was his siblings catching wind of his ridiculous train of thought as of late.

“That’s enough, you wasted your time with it.” Temari elbowed Kankurou until he straightened out his posture, motioning to the four who had just approached the chuunin on guard duty.

“Didn’t even get a good joke in about the jumpsuits…” She muttered.

---

Lee’s rambling was cut off as Gaara sighed, seemingly fed up with the circles they were going in.

“Did you enjoy it or not?” Gaara crossed his arms and shut his eyes as he asked, almost like he was waiting for a blow to come.

Of course Lee enjoyed it. That was the problem, not that he could reveal that to Gaara at the moment. He enjoyed it far too much, and if he was smart he would nip this in the bud before it continued any further. Unfortunately, that would require lying, which he was never very good at.

“Yes…” but- he tried to say. The word stuck in his throat.

He didn’t want there to be a but.

Gaara’s eyes opened at that and his posture seemed to relax a bit. His torso shifted slightly as he breathed in, like something flowed through him, bringing him to life.

He took a step closer to Lee. Lee leaned in unconsciously. Gaara had to tilt his head up to look directly into Lee’s eyes.

“Do you want to do it again?” His eyes flicked down to Lee’s mouth, his neck, his chest, before pulling back up to his eyes. There was something there on Gaara’s face – a challenge, almost.

Lee could never resist a challenge, even against his absolute best judgment.

If the question was that simple…

“Yes.”

The word had barely left his mouth before Gaara reached up and pulled their faces together.

This kiss was different from the first. Where the previous evening was all hesitance and sweetness, there was a desperation behind this one – a heat coming from them both, creeping down their necks and filling the room.

One kissed turned into two, three, four… And Lee found his tongue creeping out to meet Gaara’s halfway.

[byallmeans1]

C’mon don’t be shy, share your hot take haha. Levihan canon in yams idea would be Levi kissing Hange’s ashes.

For real 😭

Okay you asked for it, the thing that bothers me most abt aot is pushing the plot at the expense of the characters. Jean for example had such a wonderful build up in the 1st season and then he was just... There. Same thing with Armin, I love that boi but somewhere on the way I forgot he actually hates himself and when he had that massive mental breakdown at the end of the manga it was sooo good but it shocked me bc for so many chapters he was just... There. And not to mention that at the end he acted so much out of character. Idk if that's just me, but somehow these characters' actions got detached from their personalities?? Idk how to put it, they were there and they were doing things but there were no "character" moments anymore, they felt more like pawns in the game. I don't even wanna talk abt what happened to Connie and Historia 💀 And mikasa? Her beautiful moment when she thought eren was dead was so powerful and then somehow her character got completely abandoned 💀 it's like yams said "I don't want to play with you anymore". There are characters he put much more effort in, and that'd be Reiner and Gabi for example, and he has shown over and over again that he's able to create interesting characters. So what happened? I mean it's understandable that he was rushing to finish it, creating aot must've been the worst time of his life with the bullying and the pressure, so I get it. But as a reader, it leaves me somehow unsatiated. To see so many characters lose potential (yep the way he got rid of ymir still pains me 🤧)...

So when the characters are the way they are, there's no wonder the ships feel weird. Annie and Armin for example-you can see this ship being foreshadowed from the 1st season and I actually like the dynamic of a girlboss and her sweet bf but then yams puts Annie in a crystal for multiple seasons and then they're in love. Idk I just feel their relationship is more messed up than he shows and Id love to dive into that. And abt Gabi and Falco - it really ticks me off that he's acting like a grown ass man from a romance movie. And how old is he? Nine? I know kids being kids is a foreign concept in anime, but it's the first time I've seen stereotypically masculine romantic traits being put on a child. Usually it was more like kids saving the world, not kids shielding their love interest from perpetrators with their own body, and it was difficult to watch for me. Eren and Mikasa for me are just a couple of underdeveloped (Mikasa) and unlikeable (Eren) characters, but all of this just depends on personal taste.

So yep, that's the tea

[imabiscuitinthousandworlds]

An fix on the average day in the office as a private eye for Spider Noir?

First of all, it's been over three months. I am so so sorry. BUT I hope my 5k oneshot that greatly spiralled away from your og prompt makes up for it haha :)

TW for a bit of body horror, VERY brief mentions of period-typical racism and also some brief Spider God-related ickiness

Light Up Your Insides (Not Today)

The little bell at the door chimed and Peter looked up from his lunch to see a woman entering. She was maybe middle-aged, had brown skin, dark hair and a look of deep worry on her face.

Peter sat up straighter behind his desk pushed his glasses back up his nose.

"Are you--Peter Parker?" the woman asked.

Peter nodded. "That's me. Please take a seat. How can I help you?"

The woman breathed out in relief, but the worry didn't ease up yet. With only a moment's hesitation, she sat down on the chair opposite of him, but she didn't lean back.

"Mr Parker, I need your help. They say you're a good dick, and..."

She trailed off, but Peter could imagine the rest.

"My daughter, she's gone missing. The police wouldn't help me, and the--others I've asked said they were too busy, there's more important--"

Peter nodded. The woman didn't look like she could pay well, which would put others in his profession off. The coppers didn't really care, ever. And it likely wasn't helping that she was African American, either. The woman herself still looked like she was preparing for rejection--but luckily for her, Peter wasn't known for turning anyone away.

"Please tell me more about this case, Mrs...?"

"Johnson."

"Johnson. Do you want a tea? Coffee?"

Mrs Johnson shook her head. "No, thank you."

That was just as well. Peter wasn't sure if he even had tea around and he still wasn't a huge fan of sharing his coffee--not that she needed to know that.

Peter took up a pencil and a sheet of paper. "Then please tell me of your troubles, Mrs Johnson."

Mrs Johnson took in a deep, shaky breath. "It's--my daughter. Flora. She--she doesn't usually run off, she's never done it before, but--it's been two days..."

Against Peter's best attempts, he'd never quite been able to shake the images from that lab back on Ellis Island, even though it had been years. The apple had settled a lot, since then; the criminals weren't as bad anymore, not every last person with any kind of authority was corrupt and the Spider wasn't needed even nearly as much as back then. But he still couldn't help that very first thought when he heard of a black girl gone missing. New York was anything but safe, not really, especially for coloured people.

Peter did his best to keep his calm demeanour, if only because the last thing Mrs Johnson needed was even more stress. "Please tell me what exactly happened in as much detail as possible."

Mrs Johnson took another shaky breath, and Peter did his best to write along.

They had been on their way home along Lexington Avenue when Mrs Johnson had first lost sight of her daughter. First she thought Flora had simply seen something interesting and would return in a minute. But that hadn't happened.

Mrs Johnson had spent about half an hour searching the entire area before returning home in the hopes that maybe Flora had gone there on her own--to no avail. A few hours after Flora's disappearance, she had contacted the police, only to be turned away.

It had been a day by now, her husband and neighbours all aiding in her search, and Mrs Johnson had gone to the last place she had heard of for proper help: in other news, Peter.

Peter had seen lots of gruesome things in his life, and while very few of those involved children, they were the first thing to come to his mind. Especially Ellis Island. It had been a decade, by now, but...

Still, he put on his most serious yet calming expression.

"Lexington Avenue?" he asked.

Mrs Johnson nodded and sniffled. Peter handed her a tissue, but she waved him off and pulled out her own.

"I'll begin the search immediately. I will contact you if I have any more questions or when I find Flora."

Mrs Johnson nodded and swallowed. Then she set her jaw and stood up. "Thank you, Mr Parker."

"Don't thank me yet," Peter said with the slightest hint of a smile, despite the growing worry curling in his chest, and walked her to the door.

He only returned to get his coat and notepad before following right after--he had no time to lose.

-----

Lexington Avenue was bustling at this time of day. Peter looked around.

He was standing in the exact same place Mrs Johnson had described when she had noticed Flora missing.

There were no visible signs, of course not. How might a child go missing, though, and why?

Children were curious. She could have easily wandered off and gotten lost. And then what?

Peter should probably give the closest police station a visit before anything else. But since he was here, he might as well question some of the people who might have seen anything. Shop owners, the people at Pete's Tavern just a bit down the road--it was worth a shot, at least.

The shops all turned out to be failures. Peter pushed open the door to the bar--one last stop before he paid the coppers a visit.

There weren't many people inside at this time of day, but Peter could hear a few hushed conversations. Two men were at the bar, one sitting on a stool, the other wiping a glass down. They went silent the moment Peter entered, eyeing him closely.

Peter knew whom to ask first of all.

"Excuse me," Peter said, striding over to them with the most confidence he could put into his steps, stopping just a bit closer to them than would have been polite. "Where you here yesterday, too?"

"Why are you asking?" the man sitting at the bar demanded.

"Yeah," the man behind it said.

"I'm looking for a girl. About this tall, nine, African American, you seen her?"

The men exchanged a look. It was only for a second, but Peter saw it anyways.

"No," the sitting man said.

"Maybe," the bartender said.

Interesting. Most interesting.

Peter kept his face straight and stared at them.

Finally, the bartender sighed and extended his hand. "Pete Baines. I own the place."

Peter shook it. "Peter Parker."

Pete Baines grinned widely, his stance opening visibly, while the other man grumbled into his drink and half turned away.

"Ah, another Pete! Well then, perhaps I can help you. What did you want again?"

Either Pete Baines was very fond of people sharing his name, or he was a very good actor and dangerous, and be it only because he knew something he didn't want to tell.

Peter returned the smile, albeit slightly strained. "A black girl. Nine years, curly hair, yesterday around noon."

Pete Baines scratched his head. "Well, no, doesn't really ring a bell. Does it, Will?"

Will made a sound akin to a negative, without ever turning.

"Are you sure?" Peter needled. "Her mother was sure she'd seen her wander around here. Can I have a look around at least?"

Will snarled another incomprehensible thing. Pete Baines made it a show of thinking. "Well, no. We don't really get little girls here, now do we, Will? No, I'd have noticed. Sure I'll show a fellow Pete around though, eh?"

Wonderful. Now Peter just had to watch out which parts Pete Baines tried to keep him away from and go there.

Unfortunately, Pete Baines didn't try to keep Peter away from anywhere. Peter was allowed to freely sniff around the entire bar room, including behind the bar. He listened closely to his steps, but even with his enhanced hearing, nothing sounded hollow. They went to the backrooms, too. Will looked promisingly critical at this, but... nothing.

Nothing.

Peter firmly set his jaw and tried not to let his irritation show, even as the back office and several storage rooms turned out to be entirely clean, at least as far as Peter could tell. And he had gotten good at recognising these kinds of things.

And then. And then. Finally.

It was just a broom closet. It was cramped, but not as dusty as Peter would have expected. And, most importantly, Pete Baines moved into the way. It was the first room he entered before Peter, and he put himself right in front of a crate.

Wonderful. Now, should Peter let him know that he knew...?

Who was he kidding. He didn't have any time to dawdle. He needed to find Flora.

"Let me see that," he demanded.

Pete Baines furrowed his brows, but his smile didn't waver. "Yes, of course. Why?"

Peter ignored him and knelt down besides the crate. The lid was brandished with an odd symbol; Peter had the feeling that he'd seen it before somewhere.

The crate itself was empty, save for a thick layer of dust inside.

Dammit.

Dammit.

Peter breathed out slowly and quietly. Then he pulled out his camera and took a picture--just in case. It would take a while to develop these photos, but he could check the library for anything with that symbol later.

Then again, he didn't have time. In the case of missing people--especially children--he couldn't wait for even one second.

"Well, thank you," Peter said and straightened his coat.

Pete Baines sent him another smile, but it was thinner than before. "I hope you find what you're looking for, pally."

Peter just nodded. He strode right past Pete Baines and back outside; a goodbye was probably overrated by now.

Pete Baines said nothing. But when Peter passed through the actual bar again, Will glared at him well until he was gone--and apparently it was even enough to set off Peter's spider sense.

-----

Peter headed for the library next. Developing the film would take too long--longer than he was willing to wait, anyways. He had been too late too often. Way too often. Not this time, not again.

Once at the library, he... had a problem. Where to start looking?

He found a librarian and a pencil to sketch the symbol to the best of his abilities.

"This might have been an old sigil," she told him and led him down the rows of shelves. "If you find it, I'd love to hear--where did you come across it, anyway?"

Peter shrugged. "Just an old crate in a pub somewhere." He took the proffered book. "Thank you."

Then he found a quiet corner to read the brick of a book that was this lexicon of old gods and hoped that it wouldn't be a huge waste of time.

The book was old. And bulky. Even flipping through every page quickly, only glancing at the sigils, he was making very little progress. Of course, some sigils were close to his drawing and he couldn't rule them out, so he also had to properly read four greatly varying articles and copy the most important details into his notebook.

There was a child missing. He should be doing something, something--

Peter flipped another page and this was it.

This was the sigil from that crate.

Florecae. Goddess of flowers, growth and health.

He had heard that name before. He knew he'd heard that name before. But where...?

Of course. Of course. He was a damn twit. He could have known that where sigils and Gods were involved, the Legion of Darkness was his best bet.

And the chances were good that they still had their base in that building down at the docks...

Maybe it was time for Peter to get out the suit once again. Lack of time certainly called for more drastic measures like that.

If he was lucky (and hadn't entirely unlearned how to swing), he might even make it into his suit and to the docks within half an hour.

-----

The Legion of Darkness was, for lack of a better description, a joke.

Peter had run into them before, years ago, when the Spider was still needed. They were neither a lot of people, nor very threatening. Their intentions had always been on par with the name, though--and whether they did or did not succeed in raising an ancient God was irrelevant with a child's life in danger.

The rhythm of swinging past the buildings still came easy to Peter, even though he had changed a lot. He'd become a private dick, and gotten a cat, and let the Spider disappear, and even the Spider God left him alone most of the time. Even the nightmares had gotten fewer.

And yet, the moment that mask hid his face and his coat billowed in the wind as he rushed past the highest of buildings, so far above the street, it was as if all these years of living a relatively normal life didn't matter anymore. His movements were as fluid as back then, despite the age difference. His joints bent too far from one swing to the next, and the apple's smell was unusually sharp. This high up, hardly anything could harm him.

He was the Spider, and if anyone dared to touch that little girl, they were going to regret it.

Along with a slightly saltier, tangy scent in the air, the docks came into view. Peter returned to the solid rooftops, running and jumping too easily and too far for a human.

One of these buildings now must have been the one. No, this one. He was standing on it.

He set his hands down and crawled down the side of the building, but from the looks of it, none of the windows were open. Well, that was... not ideal.

Peter looked at the window below him. The room behind it was dark and seemingly empty. Ah, well, he already knew his spider-sense was still sharp.

He drew his arm back and smashed the glass. Without hesitation, he swung inside right after the shards and crouched down inside the room.

It was empty, as expected, but otherwise, too, entirely bare. No furniture, no proper floor, not even a single proper lamp.

That didn't matter. He was here to find out where the girl was being kept.

The door of the room stood open. The hallway past it was equally deserted and dark. The closer he came to said door, the stronger his spider-sense prickled in the back of his neck. There was no imminent, immediate danger, but something here was very, very wrong.

Peter laid one hand onto the handle of his gun and scanned the hallway in both directions, before turning left. His steps were silent, but his breath sounded louder for it.

He couldn't risk being noticed, not before he got what he came for.

All the rooms setting off from the hallway appeared silent even to Peter's enhanced senses. Had the Legion relocated...? No, they still had their name written on the front door, in fresh paint. (Peter honestly wasn't sure what they were trying to achieve with that, but he wasn't complaining. If it wasn't a trap--but he'd notice in time. Hopefully.)

Okay. He was still on the top floor. He'd check out the floors below and then search more thoroughly--that was probably the fastest option.

Peter had barely reached the first landing when he heard a commotion.

"No, no! I don't want to!" a girl shrieked.

"But Flora is such a pretty name. You'd be just perfect--"

Peter had no intentions of finding out who was talking or what the girl was perfect for. He jumped to the ceiling, where people wouldn't aim first of all when drilling and crawled after those voices. He didn't like not having his guns in hand, but he couldn't risk shooting before locating Flora.

"Come on," the adult voice coaxed, possibly a woman. "Be a good little girl and--"

The door wasn't locked, so Peter threw it open and fired his webs by instinct alone.

A split-second later, he could properly make out the scene: the room had been two rooms, the wall between them crudely brought down. Right in the middle, someone had drawn Florecae's sigil with white paint and in the centre of said sigil--

"Let go of me!" Flora cried out, tears spilling down her face, her kinky hair in wild disarray.

A woman stood half bent over her. She had greenish-white skin, bright hair and--

A sharp pang shot through Peter's skull and he dropped down onto the floor. He could still feel the bullet zipping past him but he turned mid-fall and threw webbing right back. Yelling started up and more guns were being fired.

Peter had to end this, fast, before Flora got hit by a stray bullet. It was too easy to get back into the flow of evading bullets based on instinct alone. It was maybe ten goons, likely members of the Legion of Darkness. Their aim hadn't gotten all that much better. Duck, run, jump--and with a kick to the jaw, the goon crumpled to the ground. Jump, run along the ceiling, shoot--another one down for the count. The energy of the fight was cursing through Peter's limbs, heightening his senses and the smell of gun powder. It had been a while since he'd been able to let loose, let his spidery side take over and ruthlessly beat a bunch of brunos to pulp, and it almost felt good. They were done for quickly.

Peter dropped back onto even ground and turned towards Flora and the woman.

Both were watching him. Flora was still crying, hugging herself.

The woman tilted her head. A smile, too wide for a human mouth, with too many needle-sharp teeth, greeted Peter. Her eyes were bright blue like the sky on an exceptionally clear day and sparkling almost as warmly as the sun. She had too many of them.

"See?" the woman asked with a voice that wasn't very loud anymore at all, but piercing right through Peter's head. "This is a totem. Does it look sad to you?"

Peter grit his teeth. The voice wasn't just piercing, it was literally inside his head--she hadn't spoken on a physical plane. And the woman wasn't even anything close to a woman. Not a human altered by queer magic--no, she was Florecae herself.

Don't listen to her, Peter tried to say, but his voice wouldn't carry, no sound crossing his lips. He couldn't move. He looked down, only to see colourful, blooming vines creeping up his legs. Why hadn't his spider-sense warned him? How hadn't he noticed--

Focus. He needed to focus.

Flora, listen to me. Your mother asked me to search for you. I'll get you out of here, I promise, just don't listen to her. Whatever she wants you to do, don't.

Peter's words stayed silent, but Flora suddenly looked up, directly at him, as if she'd heard him anyways.

"Don't bother," Florecae said, her eyes blazing until her features were unrecognisable beyond the light. It made his eyes water to look at her any longer. Was she getting stronger...?

The light travelled from her face down her torso, illuminating more and more of the room in what might have been sunlight, hadn't it been so damn bright. Florecae's feet lifted from the ground, thick vines and varieties of flowers spreading from where she had stood.

"You are too late, Spider," Florecae exclaimed and her voice came from everywhere around and echoed inside Peter's skull painfully. His entire body was on fire, whether because of her presence or his own spider-sense going nuts, he couldn't tell. "She will be my totem, my sacrifice to walk this plane once more. Surrender now, or be destroyed."

Peter crouched down and began to undo his laces, his coat falling just right to hide it from sight--though a goddess might see regardless. Who knew? His direct personal experience with gods was limited, and Florecae was nothing like the fever dream of getting his powers. They weren't very alike, neither in manner nor appearance. Regardless, Peter wouldn't let anyone else become a God's totem; nobody deserved to go through that hell, least of all a child.

He made eye-contact with the girl. "Run!" he yelled, and the feeling of his words rippling across a surreal, godly plane of existence instead of his physical world made him want to throw up.

Flora's eyes were wide with panic as she shook her head frantically. "If I leave the circle, I'll die!" she yelled back between sobs.

Was this really...?

Peter looked at the ground more closely. He had come inside the sigil without even noticing, and the flowers and plants were restricted to exactly that sigil. Florecae wasn't able to properly touch their physical world, not yet, not without a totem. That meant she could still be stopped. If Peter could just get Flora outside of that sigil without killing her...

A thousand glass shards were piercing through Peter's brain and he could hardly contain a scream as his vision went white. Fire raced down his limbs, more glass shards lining his lung with every half-aborted breath. He could feel his teeth shifting in his mouth, could feel the fangs he had sanded down years ago grow back, lined with venom. His head pulsated. Peter's fingers curled into claws.

When he opened his eyes, they weren't his own anymore. They weren't his human eyes at all, but eight eyes that weren't tangible on this plane, lent by the very thing that still let him wake up screaming regularly. The Spider God's terrifying presence pressed down on Peter's frail, human body, both from inside and out. It would tear him apart--and stitch him back together, mercilessly.

The God's eyes could see Florecae. They could see the blinding silhouette of the physical world and her true, mind-tearing form wherever it was that Gods resided. Peter's entire being ached to recoil, hide away in a dark corner, get away before the mere sight could burn him to ashes. His eyes were watering and his mask clung to his face like a second skin, and still the Spider God's presence tore through his organs. Some of the sigil glowed even around the Goddess's true form.

Flora didn't.

Peter gasped for a breath that wouldn't come and the Spider God's presence left him as suddenly as it had come.

He leapt forwards. His boots were still held firmly in place by vines and the like, but they slipped off his feet and he sprinted towards the Goddess, towards Flora. Flora opened her mouth to a silent scream and Peter reached her, reached for her torso and pressed her against his own body as he continued to run.

Flora was small and light. She clung to Peter's arm as he adjusted her in his arms to hold her properly.

A mind-splitting screech echoed through his ears until he thought his skull would dissolve into nothingness. One more leap and they would be outside of that huge sigil--but the air seemed to thicken, slowing Peter's movements, dragging them back in.

No. He wouldn't let it. He wouldn't let anything happen to the girl, he wouldn't let Florecae win, not this time, not ever.

Peter's free hand shot out and the web attached to the wall of the room. He yanked, and they were sent flying from that choke-hold.

Air flooded Peter's lungs. Flora was still held in his arms, head buried against his neck, sobbing, alive.

He didn't have any time to waste.

"Hold on tight," he muttered as he skidded into the hallway. From behind, he could hear the sound of shattering glass. Peter ran back up the stairs where he'd come from. Somewhere below he could hear yelling, quick steps, but they were just too far away to be a danger. He found the room he had entered through and crawled right back out, into the grey-ish, natural daylight of New York City.

One roof further, Peter dared to stop. He set Flora down carefully. She looked up at him with red eyes. She didn't seem to have any bruises or other external injuries, but he'd have to check again later. For now, he still had to make sure Florecae wouldn't come after them.

"Wait here," he told Flora, even as everything inside him protested that he couldn't leave her alone, not even for a second.

Thankfully, he didn't have to move far to see that whatever had happened in there had had... consequences. He and Flora hadn't left a second too early.

The second floor from the top was on fire. The flames were licking higher and higher, and Peter could hear faint screams from inside.

Good.

He knew the only people inside had to be willing members of the Legion of Darkness. They had kidnapped a child. They got what was coming for them. Whether they got out or burned to death--it was none of Peter's business.

He turned back to Flora. She was sniffling and hugging herself, but she was no longer actively crying.

"Who are you?" she asked very, very quietly.

Peter heard her perfectly well. He crouched down to meet her eye to eye. "They called me the Spider," he said.

"The Spider hasn't been seen for years, mum says."

He nodded. "That's because it hasn't been needed that much. Listen, Flora. I'll bring you back home, like I promised, but I need you to keep a secret. Can you do that?"

She swallowed, but nodded.

Peter hesitated. "Where I'll bring you first... I usually don't want anyone to know who I am. You can't ever tell anyone."

"I won't," she said, louder this time, apparently intrigued by such a well-kept mystery.

"Okay. I'll get you to my office the fastest way I can. Do you think you can hold on to me while I swing?"

Flora smiled, barely, and very carefully, but it was probably as close to enthusiasm as she could get after being kidnapped and almost becoming a totem. Peter had her climb onto his back and hold on tightly. She wrapped her arms around his neck, which wasn't great for him but at least secure for her. Carefully, he crawled a little along the side of the building they were on, but Flora held on tight, and he could deal with her weight--it was barely anything.

Peter swung back home slower than usual. But the child on his back thoroughly seemed to enjoy herself, shrieking as the wind rushed past them.

"We're so high!" she yelled right into Peter's ear at some point, and she still sounded a little scared, but most of all... she sounded excited.

She would recover. She would be able to go back to her life, eventually.

Peter ended it all in a back alley close to his office. He set his feet back on the ground and pulled off his mask, suddenly awfully aware that he had left his boots behind. They had been good boots. Really good boots. And damn expensive, too. Well, after that fire...

"Your hair is really fluffy," Flora said suddenly, still holding on tightly.

She was alright. She was alive. She was safe. That was worth a pair of boots.

Once back inside his office, Peter deposited Flora on his office chair behind the desk, which she immediately began exploring, and rang Mrs Johnson. The only response to his news was a choked sob and and the end of said call, but he had hadn't expected much else.

"You mum will be here in a moment," Peter said. "Remember, I'm just your friendly neighbourhood dick. Don't got no powers, just a good nose for conspiracies."

Flora nodded seriously. "The Spider found me and brought me here. And left."

Peter made himself smile a little. He was tired and sore. He hadn't been in a fight that bad in quite a while, and the Spider God's sudden appearance hadn't helped things.

"She said you're a totem," Flora said suddenly. "Does that mean someone gave you to a God?"

Peter couldn't help a small grimace. "It was... no, not really. A spider bit me, a venomous one. But instead of dying--"

He didn't want to think about it, all the vivid details that wouldn't ever stop haunting him as long as he lived.

"What's it like? Who's your god?"

Peter began sifting through some old papers, if only to have his hands moving. "The Spider God gave me my powers, but it also... well, it's... I've been able to help people. But it's not nice. If you can help it, stay far away from gods."

"No, I definitely want to see more of them now," Flora drawled in a surprising burst of sarcasm.

Peter chuckled. "Let me just get you some city juice and then we make sure you're not hurt, okay?"

Flora hesitated. "Don't leave."

"I won't."

-----

Mrs Johnson didn't even bother with knocking, and Peter couldn't fault her for it. She immediately rushed towards Flora and scooped her up into a tight hug. Flora buried her face in her mother's chest.

Mrs Johnson looked up again after a moment; only her eyes were a little shiny. She tried to smile at Peter. "How can I ever--"

"It's quite alright," Peter cut her off, "as long as you and your daughter are safe." He looked at them. "I don't need money, either," he decided on a whim. He could get by well enough already.

"If you ever need anything, Mr Parker, if it's within my power..."

He nodded. "The most you can do is stay safe, Mrs Johnson. Please."

She inclined her head. "You are a good man. Thank you."

Peter almost wanted to scoff, but he made himself smile instead.

"The Spider saved me!" Flora exclaimed suddenly, just as Mrs Johnson turned to leave.

"Oh? Did he?"

"Uh-huh. He wasn't so scary." The girl nodded and looked over her mother's shoulder right at Peter.

He winked and put a finger against his lips.

She almost giggled and returned the motion.

The girl was safe now.

But Peter would go out this night again, despite his tiredness, and hunt down whatever was left of the Legion of Darkness.

He may have gotten a little inactive, but whoever messed with children would still have to answer to him.

----------

I hope you enjoyed, even though some parts may have been a bit rushed! I did get it out within the same year you asked lmao. Thanks for the prompt, anon. I sincerely hope you see and enjoy this.