#though i'm not *100%* set on it happening? or i guess it's just more *when* it happens that i'm indecisive on

[ut-scatteredextension]

What's the worst reason you had to reset?

"..."

"I HATE HOTLAND."

[going-to-ikea-for-the-fries]

It's a Match! || poly!141 x Reader

[Chapter 26] || [Chapter 27]

Pairing: 141 x gn!Reader Words: 500~ (in the video + picture) cw: accidental exhibitionism/voyeurism, good natured teasing Summary: While overcoming recent heartbreak, you decide to join Tinder in search of a rebound. Your friends advise to just Swipe Right indiscriminately... What happens when 4 soldiers from the same squad match with you? a/n: This chapter is **different**. You can read it OR watch it live! So sorry btw that the video is not embedded 😭😭🙏 a/n #2: Also this chapter is 100% inspired by this fanart by @ramvur but with Simon, instead of Price.

Chapter pre-27: Away (UPDATED!)

If you'd rather watch their text convo: CLICK HERE

It's 6 A.M. when your phone start buzzing repeatedly on the night stand next to you.

You paw at it languidly, blinking away the sleep as you attempt to unlock the phone and rub the sleep out of your eyes.

johnny: baby guess what!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11 johnny: baby johnny: babyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy johnny: if ye dont answer my texts 🙄 you: jesus christ johnny its 6am what are you doing up??? 😑 johnny: good morning love!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! johnny: weve got training today 😙 johnny: guess what happened you: what simon: Good morning sweeheart. johnny: WAIT WHAT ARE YOU DOING ANSWERING? you: good morning si 🫶 you: wait what do u mean u were calling for me no? johnny: I MEANT SIMON HES IN THE INFIRMARY HES NOT MEANT TO BE ANSWERING johnny: HOW DO YE EVEN HAVE YOUR PHONE you: i feel like u need to stop asking how he does things you: uve known him for longer than me and im not surprised anymore you: also IN THE INFIRMARY? johnny: thats what i was coming to tell you!!!!! 🙄🙄🙄🙄 you: why did u frame it like its a good thing?????????? johnny: because he got put there by Kyle during training johnny: we were practising chokeholds and he passed out you: I STILL DONT SEE HOW THATS A GOOD THING JOHNNY johnny: HES FINE YE DON'T UNDERSTAND johnny: HE GOT ROCK HARD WHILE KYLE HAD HIS LEGS WRAPPED AROUND HIS THROAT you: WHAT??? you: tell me more 👀 johnny: 😏😏 johnny: he was wearing shorts and his cock just popped out you: LIKE OUT OUT? johnny: out out 🍆 you: wow 😮‍💨 you: did u get any pictures? 👀 johnny: i did bonnie do ye want them? 😏 johnny: even caught the look in prices and kyles faces when it happened you: send me send me send me you: wait it happened in front of them???? johnny: worse happened in front of everyone 🥴 we were training with other units you: oh shit you: that has to have been embarrassing you: is he okay though from passing out? you: johnny? you: wow imagine ignoring me kyle: johnny's a little occupied at the moment lovie! kyle: good morning btw! 😚 you: good morning ky!! 🫶 you: occupied? kyle: ghost's chasing him for telling you everything and johnny's running for his life 😭 you: 🙃 you: normal day then? kyle: normal day 🥴 you: okay then well hope the training went well kyle: it did! 😏 anyway got to go kyle: pls go back to sleep need you well rested lovie you: i will i will.

Sighing a bit, you set your phone down on the charger again and attempt to go back to sleep... unsuccessfully so.

After half an hour of tossing and turning, you find yourself grabbing the phone again and your thumb clicks on John's name in your contacts.

You don't text him often, the last time having been nearly a week before, but, right now, you felt like you should.

you: the lads just woke me up you: johnny more specifically 🙄 you: now i cant get to sleep again john: if it's any consolation john: I told him not to john: need help? you: how would u help? john: can call you and sing you a lullaby? you: pls dont john: then I'm out of ideas darling you: u could help in another way john: and what's that? 😏 you: remember how u said u had a house of ur own you: and if i ever needed a break we could go there? john: i see 😏 john: want me to take you away for the weekend darling? you: yes please

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

taglist (CLOSED! not adding anyone else, sorry!):

@daisychainsinknots , @bunnysdaydreams , @iite-cool , @lahniu , @pagesfalling , @tapioca-milktea1978 , @live-love-be-unique , @thelaisydazy , @littleghosthunter , @bossva , @emotion-no-hot-yes-hotel-trivago , @chamomiletealeaf , @ghosts-hoe , @kariiiel , @ltbarnes , @irregulardongyoung , @spacelia , @hayleybarnesx , @cod-z , @frescoisnotinthemilitary , @leeeenistop , @lucienbarkbark , @xxshadowbabexx

@severenswife , @enarien, @agoodmoviekiss , @l0lziez , @whos-fran , @greatstormcat , @openup-yourmind , @neoarchipelago , @sodavrr , @cutiecusp , @lilliumrorum , @c-nstantine , @kneelforloki , @comeonatmebruh , @codsunshine , @waiting-so-long , @captainquake42 , @gazspookiebear , @mynameismisty , @reap3erslov3 , @reaper-chan666 , @poohkie90 , @kitwithnokat , @stick-the-dumbass , @mothsdrabbles , @justanerd1 , @thesinsoflust , @thriving-n-jiving , @blckbrrybasket

[biscuitboba]

Hii, do you have some zolu/luzo ff rec??

Hii!!, uhh i have over 100 zolu/luzo fics downloaded YES OF COURSE, i'll try and list down some (many) fics with one chapter only cuz i'm not sure if i can stop recommending if i include multi chaptered fics... (But if you want some rec for the multi chaptered fics just let me know!! Ohh and maybe some ongoing fics?)

This is gonna be a very long post😭🙏

Bleed like an Idiot by Augment [13k words]

Rating: Mature (for mild gore/torture)

Something something about their fear of disappointing/failing each other, the perfect amount of angst, so good

Not that Luffy wouldn’t die for each and every one of his crew, and he knows, though he will make sure it never ever happens, that they would die for him. But to supersede Zoro’s dream like this, that makes Luffy feel so hideously guilty it locks up his lungs, and his jaw, and he can’t speak, touch Zoro, anything.

The salt & the sea by novks (thychesters) [25k]

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Modern setting, reincarnation au. Zoro being the last person to regain his memories (of his past life) and luffy being lowkey annoyed by it lol

It’s like with Nami, hitting him full force, but it’s so much more than that as the reality of it all comes crashing down around him. Zoro, his (first mate, first friend in this world of pirates, first crew member and first one he swore an oath with), his—he isn’t even sure what to call him. There’s too much but too little to describe him.

Zoro. Zoro, who—no, no, no offense to Nami—should have been first. Zoro, who’s a constant, and he’s practically vibrating with the need to reach and touch him, make sure he’s really real. His tongue darts out to wet his lip as he steps forward, crowding into his personal space and finally grinning because I found you!

Luffy wants to call him an idiot, because it figures he would get lost finding his way home.

But Zoro just blinks at him, flushes, one eye still framed by a familiar scar and says, “Oh, sorry,” and makes it so much worse when he says, “Do I know you?

Of First Mates and Duty by Whatev3rs [14k] 

Rating: General Audiences

Zoro's bad at feelings, but he is trying ok!! 

“First mates… we devote our lives to our captains. Our entire beings. We live for them, breathe for them. And they expect us not to fall in love?” He smiles, small and knowing.

Zoro’s eyes widen and he sputters, trying to muster a response. The man only laughs more.

OR

Being a good first mate was easy enough for Zoro. That is, until the… feelings.

If I Had to Give a Reason by MiniPandaBuns [5k]

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Tooth-rotting fluff, Zoro and his view of luffy, #feelings, love confession, idiots in loveee

“I wonder what you see in him.”

"Too much." He'd say. "It's endless. All of my reasons can't be condensed into words."

I love him simply because he exists. Because Luffy is Luffy, limitless and free.

Inseparable on the face of Impossibility by the11thhour [25k]

Rating: Not Rated

Luffy is taken by some bad guy, his boyfriend and family (crew) to the rescue! #superworriedzoro:(

A fun trip to a new island takes a turn for the worse when a mysterious group of pirates cause trouble and Luffy goes missing. The crew led by Zoro embark on a mission to get their captain back while his vivre card burns away.

When the Dew Falls Up by louluna [10k]

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Time travel au, there are two zoros!!

As the bright light enveloped his body, Zoro knew his day had gone to absolute shit.

New year's kiss by grimsoul [4k]

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Post wano, the title is pretty self explanatory i guess.. fluff, very sweet!! 

Luffy didn’t understand back then but the couple seemed so happy. Kissing someone to strengthen a relationship must have really worked.

It’s been long since that time so Luffy had almost forgotten about it. But then as he sails again now with his crew—the title of an Emperor latched to his name, their journey getting closer and closer to the One Piece, to his dream—a new year approaches them.

Found in the Crack of Your Palm by The_Furthest_City_Light [11k]

Rating: General Audiences

#luffybeingsuperdemisexualatzorofor11k (personally demi luffy is my favorite headcanon of him!)

Zoro’s hands are big, thick and knuckly and covered in calluses from his swords. He has a strong grip, too, and strong muscles because he trains them to be strong.

None of it explains the way Luffy’s body lights up when Zoro clasps the back of his neck, like every nerve is alight and trained on the palm cupping the baby hairs at the back of his skull. His stomach knots over itself and he wants to eat everything in Sanji’s kitchen. Zoro’s skin is a little rough and sweaty from fighting and warm.

Zoro is close, his forehead nearly butting Luffy’s and Luffy couldn’t move if he wanted to, trapped there by the closeness and the touch that makes him aware of Zoro’s skin against his in a way he’s never been before.

Zoro’s eyes bore into his, digging deep into Luffy and dragging out—something, buried in the base of his spine. He feels like the earth is tilting, and freefall seems like it might be fun.

the moon asks a question by d_s_writes [1k]

Rating: General Audiences

A very short fic, but can't stop thinking about the rest of strawhats and their idea of love vs luffy's, like- he really gagged me here😭

Zoro doesn’t understand—how can he feel all the things that the others had spoken of, yet none of it the same time? He felt that each of their versions of love were merely motions of love, rather than love itself.

He doesn’t get it. Love has never been a word, or a sense of belonging, or any of those things. He had only ever really thought of love when he looked at Luffy.

OR: An investigation of the lives and loves of the Strawhat Pirates.

Robin knows by leopardgeckoz [3k]

Rating: General Audiences

Oh moment for both zoro and luffy but especially for the oblivious captain

In which Nico Robin has always known how her captain and first mate feel for one another, and the scenario's in which the rest of the crew discover it.

Alternatively

"Every passing hour of Luffy's silence drove Zoro further and further into madness. He wanted Luffy's smile, his laugh, his chatter, but his captain had spent the better part of the day on the complete opposite sides of the ship as Zoro. Out of sight, but most certainly not out of mind. If anything, his absence plagued Zoro's even more."

step 1: die by swordsmans [11k]

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Roronoa zoro and his unstoppable self  destru sacrificing tendency for his one and only captain (featuring sanji!)

After two years with Ivankov, Sanji knows something about Luffy that Zoro does not.

ship to wreck by novks (thychesters) [9k]

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Zoro and luffy but from nami's perspective?? Mutual pinning and luffy's oh moment

Nami is the first one to notice something is amiss, but then given her current competition is Luffy and Zoro, it isn’t surprising.

“Do you love Zoro?” She doesn’t bother beating around the bush. Doesn’t bother with easing into it with any metaphors or small talk, one of which Luffy would have little interest in, and the other of which would go over his head.

He stares back at her, and for a split second she feels like she’s gone and shoved her foot right into her mouth. Something flickers through his eyes, but she doesn’t have time to fully study it before his features shutter again.

Luffy tilts his head. “Of course I do.”

Part of her wants to cheer, shout aha! because she knew it, dammit, but then he proceeds to barrel right over that.

“I love you too,” to which she freezes, and then: “And Usopp, and Sanji, I guess. You guys are my friends.”

She wants to scream.

But Patience Boasts by Augment [9k]

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Ughh i love the way this fic portray zoro and sanji's dynamic… anyways, lowkey wingman sanji!

Sanji and Zoro have very different love languages.

Kizuna by YokoHogawa [5k]

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

#nakamaship, basically 

Usopp carefully watches Luffy over the sandwich he is biting into, and he can’t help but worry.

Sanji has an anxiety problem.

Something wakes Zoro at the crack of dawn.

Half a step (into the sun) by TheOctopusofWriting [29k]

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Demon prince zoro, that's it, that's the point.

Zoro was the exiled prince of an island of demons. He spent the first portion of his life wandering from island to island without any place to really call home, that is until he follows a boy in a strawhat out to sea and finds the home he'd been looking for

to cut your teeth on love by freckledshoulderblades [10k]

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Smth smth the bond between captain and first mate...

Zoro meets Luffy and gives himself over wholeheartedly the instant Wadō is placed between his teeth again. Luffy meets Zoro and decides in a heartbeat that Zoro is his

Take Me Out to Sea by MiniPandaBuns [3k]

Rating: Teen And Up Audience

Just them being all sweet and wholesome<3

Luffy and Zoro take a pleasant little swim together, despite the fact that Luffy can't swim and Zoro told him no. Many times.

He just can't refuse his Captain. Even if he does, Luffy still wins, because he's just Luffy and that's how it goes.

everybody wants your time by dwaal [3k]

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Uhh abo au, omega zoro and alpha luffy, jealousy, bonded mates, making out, y knoww~

An unclaimed omega on the seas can be a liability. It's commonplace for captains to bite any of their crew to prevent any incidents, but the marks are usually temporary.

Zoro is intensely aware of this, as Boa Hancock proceeds to make herself at home on the arm of his captain's chair

it's an ambush! by tuhituhi [3k]

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Zoro meeting his bf's brothers for the first time!

Luffy's middle name should be B. for Blindside the way he's constantly taking Zoro off guard. Or maybe the D. stood for Devious, or Devil- any of them would fit, considering the Situations this man has put him through. OR

Zoro meets Luffy's brothers. Was he expecting this? Technically. Was he prepared for this?

Not in the slightest

end of summer (now i know) by taka0 [2k]

Rating: Mature

Just luffy being very sappy (and a tiny bit horny) about his zoro<3

Luffy loves all of Zoro while they lie in a hammock.

Ocean theology by swordsmans [40k]

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Reincarnation au, yearning and devotion, symbolism-

“Zoro—”

“Did you know?” he repeats, desperate, and Luffy just looks at him. And he wonders, then, how much of this has been preordained—how much of this is real, how much of this is him. How much of what he’s felt since they were wedged side-to-side in a shitty wooden boat on the East Blue has actually mattered, and how much has been the universe pressing him down into the mold of someone else's heart.

And then Luffy is gripping his horns, bringing his forehead down to meet his, repeating, “Zoro? Zoro?” like his name is a mantra, like he’s gone somewhere far away and gotten lost on his way back.

And Zoro blinks at him, then, and sees both of them at once—both of them—and he grips Luffy’s face in his own hands (claws) and presses his lips (violent, full of teeth) against his. Because this is who he has been waiting a thousand years for, the brightest and most beautiful of them all, the one thing he could never have—could never see, not if (Luffy, Joyboy, Nika) had made different (worse) choices—the thing that could never thrive in the darkness, just like he could never (has been unable to for centuries) survive without it—

let thy sword be thy tongue by queerweather [14k]

Rating: Mature

Sword language, sword personification, swords- zoro not being so normal about his captain, whats new?

It’s strangely exhilarating, imagining himself on his knees in front of Luffy, blindfolded. Like he really is getting executed this time. All of Zoro’s senses stand at attention and his mouth fills with saliva.

The flat of Kitetsu’s blade presses cold against Zoro’s cheek. “Zoro,” Luffy scolds. “I haven’t even done anything yet.”

.

.

.

Hindsight is twenty-twenty, and Zoro is not afraid of Luffy handling his swords; Zoro is afraid of how Luffy handling his swords might unravel him.

The only animal by batman [10k]

Rating: Explicit (sexual content)

 It's about roronoa zoro and how he pines for his captain

It wasn't until Kuraigana that he realised how the world had split into two kinds of touch: swords and hands.

Luffy's hands.

(In a stolen week between islands, Luffy touches Zoro again.)

Sunward bound by iffervescent [13k]

Rating: Explicit (sexual content, top zoro)

Ace luffy & sex positive luffy!!

Zoro's a pirate bounty hunter, which means he's used to going after the pirate he wants and getting them. Except this time the pirate he wants is his captain and now he has no fucking clue what to do.

Expressions by Leoporidae_Lagomorpha [2k]

Rating: Explicit (sexual content, top luffy)

Them being disgustingly in love whats new?, sexy times (plot what plot) 

Monkey D. Luffy knows, that despite popular opinion, Roronoa Zoro is a man of many expressions.

hanabi | 花火 by narramin [8k]

Rating: Explicit (sexual content, top luffy)

Just the captain and his first mate being silly while enjoying their date in wano (eventual smut)

firework /ˈfʌɪəwəːk/

noun

plural noun: fireworks

• a device containing gunpowder and other combustible chemicals which causes spectacular effects and explosions when ignited, used for display or in celebrations.

• a display of great skill or energy.

Luffy and Zoro finally reunite in Wano, visit a gambling den and go on a less than traditional festival date night.

a tale of two gods by grimsoul [6k]

Rating: Explicit (sexual content, top zoro, implied switching)

Sun of God x God of death. a fiery tryst between two gods

“Ne, Zoro, come with me,” Luffy said, giggling, pulling him closer. “You’re going to be a part of my court.”

Contrary to what most people believed, hell was a rather cold place. Zoro had been quite used to it, the lack of light, the vast glaciers, his body no longer as fragile as it was eons ago, and so a simple touch like this from Luffy, from the sun, made him feel like his flesh was scorched—melting away easily like winter in summer’s heat.

They were close, so close that their foreheads were almost touching, and despite the burn of it, Zoro didn’t push him away. He smirked, his one eye glowing just as red as Luffy’s.

“Don’t decide something on your own, idiot.”

running just to keep my hands on you by nevermordor [6k]

Rating: Explicit (sexual content, switching)

They are so competitive in pretty much everything lol

The thing they do is kind of like a game, because Luffy likes games, but it’s also kind of a competition because Zoro can’t not turn anything and everything into a competition. It doesn’t have a name and there are only two rules, because more than two would just be making things boring and overcomplicated.

1. Whoever takes out the most guys in a fight is the winner

2. Whoever is the loser has to do whatever the winner says

“Why’s it gotta be a whole game and stuff," Luffy says. "That’s gonna take too long.”

“It makes sex more fun," Zoro explains. "You gotta win it, you gotta earn it. Like anything good in life. Like pirate king or greatest swordsman.”

Luffy considers this.

One on one by EclecticIsMyMiddleName [6k]

Rating: Explicit (sexual content, top luffy) 

Post canon, domestic married luffy and zoro my beloved… they are so in love?? It's sickening

Zoro's just trying to get ready for the day, but Luffy has other plans

Prayers Carried on Waves Reach the Sun by anarchycox [8k]

Rating: Mature (sexual content, switching)

Sun god luffy & demon zoro ftw

Luffy is the sun god, Nika. Zoro is a demon. And his boyfriend. They make it work. On earth the Thousand Sunny is the ship of worship for the sun god, the crew Nika's priests. When they call for help, Luffy and Zoro go to their aid.

Luffy decides they should stay a while, and Zoro loves him enough to do so.

Being human is a pain and stupid, but for his Luffy, he'll endure it.

Ok i need to stop here cuz it's getting way too longgg, but i'm just so ill about the two of them sorry not sorry😭😭

[midnight-black2]

Ahh this is my first time requesting anything but I need prompt 5 for Farleigh 🙈

Imagine him being cocky for getting a higher score than reader and reader basically putting him in his place. 🫣🫣 (also i’m absolutely obsessed with your writing!!)

𝐂𝐎𝐂𝐊𝐘

pairing : farleigh start x reader

synopsis : pretty much what the req says

disclaimers : sub!farleigh, dom!reader, public sexual intercourse (idk what this is called), handjob (m!recieving), slightly mean reader, degradation, ruined orgasm, probably more lol

note : thanks for the compliment ! hope you enjoy this '

it was by five points, five fucking points, and all farleigh did was torture you about it.

typically, you scored higher than him, mostly because you just straight up put in more effort. he couldn't care less about studying, he was just a naturally good tester. for this reason, he normally knew his place. but the one time he studied and you didn't, the one goddamn time. he wouldn't let you live it out, all he would ever do was talk about it, teasing you and making fun of you.

"wow Y/N, i think you're falling off," he stated, with a sarcastic, disapproving look. he was leaning over, hovering over your shoulder to get a proper look at your score. you were flabbergasted, you actually got a 95%. farleigh had gotten an 100%. if was quite literally embarrassing. that was when it first happened, but he didn't leave it there, oh no.

"ah-ah, don't you think i should skip ahead of you?" farleigh asked, his annoying voice startling you from your thoughts.

"what?"

"well i got a higher score, those have always been our rules." the thing you hated most was that he was right. it was also stupid because he made the damn rule, and you didn't care about being ahead in the lunch line one way or another. you figured the only reason he had done it was to make victory that much sweeter when he actually did score higher than you. so you stayed silent, letting him sit ahead of you.

and another incident...

"so if anyone here needs tutoring, don't hesitate to ask. our programs are specifically designed to connect students while effectively getting them to learn," mrs. abram spoke, as she handed out tutoring flyers.

farleigh shot you a glance, before mumbling your name, and covering it up with a fake cough. you groaned, with a sigh before frustratedly stuffing the flyer in your bag. he was being insufferable, and there was only so much you could take.

the final (notable) time he teased you, you two were partnered on a history project, the exact class he had excelled on the exam in. of course, just your fucking luck.

as he sat down, he had this complacent smirk on his face that you wanted to slap right off. he set the assignment papers down on the desk, and turned over to face you.

"well, i'm glad we got partnered, yeah? you probably need my help," he said, mockingly.

"jesus christ farleigh it was five fucking points! get over yourself!" there it was, you snapped. it was only a matter of time, though it just so happened to be in the middle of class. farleigh's smirk only grew, as if this was what he had wanted the entire time. the teacher had scolded you for cursing, and almost dismissed you from class. fortunately, you managed to stay, and the whole time you felt the urgent need to snap farleigh in half.

finally, after what felt like days, the class ended. however, instead of heading to the next class, you followed farleigh down the hall, before pushing him inside of some random storage closet. he was about to ask you what you were doing, he was about to leave...until you said something.

"what the fuck, farleigh," you uttered, coldly. he faltered, something in the way you sounded made him feel some sort of way. it was dark, and farleigh couldn't make out much, but if he had to guess, your expression would have been that of a deadpan, glaring into his soul.

"i don't get why you're so mad. i scored higher, and that's final."

"i'm mad because you don't know your fucking place." you spat back, inching closer to him.

"yeah? and what's my place, hm?" he questioned. his voice had an edge to it, but more than that he was genuinely curious.

"beneath me," you answered, no hesitation whatsoever. did you say it because that's what you actually thought? no. were you angry? yes. did you think farleigh would get off to it? also yes--and, he did. he did so much that he was developing a hard-on.

"you sure about that?" he asked, voice wavering.

"your dick is," you replied, gripping his cock in his pants. his knees buckled, and he let out the smallest whimper, that was nearly inaudible. "you're so pathetic, farleigh."

"yeah? well you're still gonna give me a handjob. so pathetic or not at least-" he cut himself off with a moan as you squeezed roughly once again.

"just shut the fuck up for once," you instructed, as you unzipped his fly. you, not-so-gently, took his cock from his boxers. his tip was an angry flushed red, and leaking pre. you chuckled at the sight, and he turned to face away, embarrassed.

you thumbed at his tip, and he whined softly. your fingers formed a circle shape, before sliding up and down at mid-pace. if you didn't want to miss too much of your next class, you'd have to make this quick.

"f-fuck, Y/N," he moaned, bucking his hips up slightly. you placed a hand on his hips to keep them pinned. you sped up your pace just a bit.

"is this what you've been wanting, farleigh? i really don't know how you got an 100% because all you seem to do is think with this stupid cock of yours," you said, as it was your turn to smirk this time. his head tipped back with a strained moan.

"shit, oh my god," he cursed, feeling himself grow close to an orgasm already.

"guess i should've done this a lot sooner, hm? really would've shut you up." your hand became brutal, but god did he like it.

"please," he said, not even sure what he was begging for. it was too much for him.

"please? are you serious? you take what i give you, farleigh." he whined at that, cursing under his breath.

"fuck Y/N, i can't-i...i think im gonna cum," he stammered, as his legs felt light, like they would give out any second. and just like that, you stopped. he whined, as you shoved his cock back in his underwear, and zipped back up his pants. you had left him with a raging boner, and he felt he could cry at that. as you exited the closet, he couldn't help but fear what he had gotten himself into.

𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒 © 𝐤𝐲𝐚-𝐢𝐬-𝐤𝐨𝐨𝐥

𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐲? 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞

[oneatlatime]

The Painted Lady

Air Bison, Sea Bison, and now Sludge Bison.

I have no idea how Aang is swimming through a solid. Must be an Avatar thing.

I bet there would be time for more potty breaks if Sokka hadn't spent 100+ hours of their time drawing up the schedule. A very Sokka thing to do though.

Because hills often have horns. Great disguise.

You can't tell me that a factory that close to their town wouldn't also become the town's primary employer.

That is a lot of town.

I sense a return of preachy Katara. This episode is going to suck.

I'm with Sokka on this one. Buy fish, move on, defeat Firelord, return to help with environmental remediation if time permits.

I like Doc. And Shu. Nice people.

Writers: if you have to make one of your characters an entirely different person to set up the episode's lesson of the week, maybe the lesson doesn't fit your chosen characters. This is the Warriors of Kyoshi all over again. Funny how that's happened to Sokka twice.

We are all Sokka.

And where exactly did this mysterious painted lady get the food to deliver to the village, if the reason the Gaang stopped in the village in the first place was because they needed food?

Let the record show: I lost the last of my patience with this episode 8 minutes and 9 seconds in.

Waterbending healing has never thrown off that much light before. Even the spirit oasis water wasn't that bright.

Also where is the water she's healing with? Usually she has a big bubble of it.

Impersonating a religious figure. That won't end badly.

"Well I hope she returns every night otherwise this place would go right back to the way it was." YES!!!!!! THAT'S THE POINT!!!!!

What was Katara's plan? Forget about the eclipse, forget about fighting the Fire Lord, we're going to stay here for the rest of our lives so that the painted lady can put in a nightly appearance. THIS IS WHY SOKKA DOES THE PLANNING.

Spirit magic is more doing the worm than doing the wave. Good to know.

Bold of a kids' show to advocate for ecoterrorism.

Aang's like "Hey spirit lady! Here's my resume! Here's my connections on LinkedIn!" Why did Katara think that faking being a spirit within two feet of the bridge to the spirit world would be consequence free? Actually that presupposes that Katara thought. Which she didn't. Sokka does her thinking.

"I don't get to meet many spirits. But the ones I do meet, not very attractive." I am OFFENDED on Yue's behalf. And Sokka's. I guess Aang doesn't like Water Tribe girls after all.

"I guess I just became her." No. That's an excuse and a deflection. I don't want to hear it.

What was I saying about Aang and Katara enabling each others' bad tendencies?

Sokka is horribly out of character this episode, but Aang is as well. In what universe would Aang be so unbothered by Appa being sick, and then so unbothered by the reveal that Katara had been faking Appa being sick? Like, this is Appa. He nearly skinned a bunch of sandbenders over the guy. And he finds out Katara's been messing with him and calls her 'great' and 'a secret hero.'

So this factory, despite being operational 24/7, has no night staff, not even a night guard? Because if it does (which it absolutely does - automation is a problem for factories in our world, not the ATLA one), Katara and Aang just killed A LOT of people.

And so she follows up one short term solution with another short term solution, which causes a third problem she will no doubt solve with a short term solution. You think there won't be reprisals for the only obvious suspects to this industrial sabotage? You think they won't rebuild the factory?

Sokka was kidding when he said that the Spirit Lady had better blow up the factory, but not in the way Katara thought he was kidding. Katara thought he wasn't being serious. But Sokka was serious, in that blowing up the factory is as short term a solution as appearing every night. He thought the joke - exchanging one bad solution for another - was obvious.

Somebody's enjoying himself a little too much.

Unfortunately, serving as Exhibit A is the most Toph has had to do all episode.

It is cathartic to see someone finally call Katara on her nonsense. But I'll bet everything I own that the narrative is going to side with her anyway.

Welp. I won that bet.

"You need me." Correct! Katara unsupervised needs bailing out after five minutes. "And I will never turn my back on you." A much more realistic goal than never turning your back on anyone who needs you, and also Sokka summarised in one sentence. Impressive for an episode where they had to Flanderise him beyond recognition to make Katara somehow the good guy.

Oh for fuck's sake. It's not about having a heart. This late in the game it's pure damage control.

So that's where the Painted Lady's food came from. I guess Fire Nation factories count as pirates?

I like the jetskis. The seem far more stable than actual jetskis.

It never occurred to Katara to obscure the evidence even a little bit? At least rub some dirt on the emblem. Look at me assuming Katara has thoughts.

Actual reprisals for once. About time.

This kid is annoying.

Toph gets to be a haunted house sound effects machine.

That's awfully waterbendery for a Fire Nation spirit.

I don't buy for a minute that anyone would be able to stay perfectly upright and balanced after an air blast from below without extensive trampoline training.

This won't work. His superiors, or the next shift change, or the first recruit wanting to climb the ranks quickly, will rise to the challenge presented here by the "painted lady." And as soon as one FN attack goes unchallenged by the "painted lady," the village is toast. I give them a week, tops.

Kudos to some clever in-universe bending special effects. Doesn't save the episode though.

Katara's preachy speech here makes absolutely no sense in light of the rest of the episode. Scolding them for not saving themselves, when waiting around for someone to save them appears to have worked perfectly? And having little miss I-must-save-the-whole-world-on-a-weekly-basis-otherwise-my-sense-of-self-implodes deliver that scold?

Who are these people wearing the Gaang's skin?

Yeah, nothing screams undercover in enemy territory like an entire village knowing that you're a waterbender. Good thing the only competent tracker in the Fire Nation is Zuko, otherwise these kids will absolutely be dead long before the eclipse.

Hi Bushi! You're about the only part of this episode that doesn't drive me nuts!

At least the animators had fun with this one.

Is this guy mopping the river?

Exactly how many days did they take out of Sokka's schedule to restore the ecosystem? I don't care how overlevelled these kids are at bending, you cannot mechanically separate an entire river's worth of dirt from water in an afternoon.

Well that's just he piss icing on the shit cake, isn't it? It wasn't enough for Sokka to lose all reason and come around to Katara's very flawed way of thinking, it wasn't enough for Aang to call her a hero, it wasn't enough to have a village worshipping at her feet, Katara needs affirmations of how right and special and correct and perfect and morally justified she is from the spirit world itself. This is Mary Sue stuff.

Final Thoughts

This is the first time an episode of Avatar has felt like a waste of my time.

It's also the first time I've felt like an episode has gone out of its way to insult the audience.

Katara talking about how she knows what she's doing is wrong is worth absolutely nothing when a) she goes right back to doing it; and b) literally every other part of this episode trips over itself to assure Katara that she's in the right.

Katara is downright punchable this episode. Sokka is Flanderised; Toph is non-existent; Aang is just there; poor Appa is an unwitting accessory to crime; and Momo has as much impact as a housefly.

So the execs forgot about the existence of The Spirit World Part One and demanded a save the environment special episode. The writers responded by forgetting that they'd already established that Katara was ride or die for literally anyone with a pulse in Imprisoned, and gave us this to remind us of that fact. They also forgot that they'd already established that Katara has no moral code whatsoever the minute her personal interest is involved in The Waterbending Scroll, so they decided to recycle the "narrative sides with Katara endangering them all over Sokka being reasonable" plot from that episode and hope we wouldn't notice. We did.

At least with Imprisoned, Katara kind of sort of caused the problem that she fixed. She was super tangentially involved in that kid's arrest. Here, she causes problems by trying to fix problems that she didn't really have any business getting involved in.

The more of this I watched, the more I wanted someone to slap Katara. What I wouldn't give for an episode where she is wrong (has happened a lot) and the episode doesn't pretend otherwise (has never happened). For god's sake, LET HER BE WRONG AND FEEL IT. How else is she going to progress past being self-righteously fourteen? Why is she being so consistently insulated from consequences? Aang chooses power over family at the end of season two and gets actually murdered for it. Katara steals, lies, skirts dangerously close to being a false prophet and does a nifty little ecoterrorism (with Aang's help), and she gets villagers being a bit shouty before big brother comes in and fixes it. Then she gets divine sanction for her actions so even the shouty bit is negated.

There's an interesting contrast in Katara's "I will never turn my back on people who need me" and Sokka's "I will never turn my back on you." It shows which of the two doesn't have their head in the clouds, and has actually formulated realistic expectations of how much a single person can do. It also speaks to the fundamental difference in how they operate. Katara acts; Sokka mitigates. Sokka does Katara's thinking for her; Katara outsources her thinking and then gets pissed when rational thoughts don't conform to her emotions' view of the world.

Why haven't the villagers moved away? If the water was poisoning them this much, why are they still here? Was the early 2000s too early to have a theme of climate refugees? Or the pollution equivalent? That would have been more interesting than this.

I hated this. Why isn't this the episode that gets hated on like the Great Divide? Its sins are nothing compared to this.

Doc, Shu, and Bushi were the only good thing in this episode, but they weren't enough to make this one remotely rewatchable.

One out of Three so far on season three episode quality. No other season has had this bad a ratio this early. This does not bode well for the rest of this season.

[twisted-wonderland-shenanigans]

I have a funny idea in the Monster au, baby teeth. Mini! Yuu either injured themselves causing one or two teeth to fall, or through eating. Like baby teeth fell, and then goes, "look look my teeth fell out!! :D". While their mouth is bleeding a bit. Plus, I'd imagine MC would have the myth of the tooth fairy, and then goes "I'm gonna put my teeth under the pillow for the tooth fairy!! :D"

Twisted Wonderland Monster AU: A Visit from the Tooth Fairy

Warning: Slight blood mention! Won’t go too into details on it, but please let me know if I should tag it another way!

TA-DA!!!!! I finally finished the mini!Yuu tooth fairy fic~!!!

Ah, the age old tradition of the tooth fairy visiting to leave a quarter or a dollar under a child’s pillow in exchange for their fallen teeth (or in one funny post, $100 from the “drunk tooth fairy” 😂). I vaguely remember I once had a heart shaped pillow my mom gave me that had a little pouch on the front to put the tooth, and I’d have it set to the side and wake up to a $1-$5 bill in the pouch instead. Each tradition is different for each family, but still, innocent fun in the end!

Monsters in this AU are no stranger to losing baby teeth. It’s all part of growing up and getting their adult teeth or fangs! But while they do have fairies in Twisted Wonderland, it’s hard to say lore wise if they do have tooth fairies or have that story for kids too. For the purposes of this ask though (and cuteness), let’s say that they don’t have a tooth fairy and now these boys have to figure out how to keep the “magic” alive.

By the way…this turned out much longer than I intended, so now it’s a fic. 😅 Enjoy the older brother shenanigans!

Under a read more due to length!

///------///

“Hey, Yuu! Guess what I just picked up from the Mystery Shop? Iiiiit’s…candy~!”

“Candy! Candy, candy, candy!!”

“Hold on, Yuu. Don’t go eating too many pieces this time, or you’ll spoil your appetite for lunch again!”

“Aww, come on, Deuce, let the kid have a lil’ fun,” Ace said, plopping the small bag of treats into the toddler’s waiting palms as they grinned happily, skipping away to enjoy their spoils. “Besides, they know the rule: if their tummy is full, they don’t get any of Trey’s desserts!”

Jack frowned as he said, “You did that on purpose so you could get their slice of cake or pie, didn’t you?”

“What? Psh, no! I’m just being a good big brother to the lil’ tyke,” Ace said with a scoff. “Where’d you get an idea like that? Besides, Grim swiped their tart last time, not me!”

“Hey! It’s not my fault they weren’t allowed to eat it before their nap time!” Grim protested. “And you swiped one of their cookies when they weren’t lookin’ last week, pal!”

“Why you little-!”

“Here we go again,” Epel said with a sigh.

“Disgraceful,” Sebek said. He glanced down when Yuu came back over with their stuffed rabbit Mr. Flopsy, the basilisk sitting still as the toddler climbed up to sit on his lap. “Absconding with the food of a weak and defenseless human child…have you two no shame?”

Before the two could react, Yuu looked up at Sebek and asked, “What does ab…abd…scion…ab…”

“Abscond?” Epel supplied.

Pointing at Epel, Yuu nodded and asked, “What does that word mean, Sebby?”

“It’s what happens when Ace swipes a cherry pie from Trey’s kitchen without permission and runs away,” Jack answered instead with a slight smirk.

“Hey!”

“The point is, little human, that you should never steal what doesn’t belong to you,” Sebek said with a huff.

“Oh. Okay, big brother!” Yuu said, turning back around and starting to dig into their treats. While the first years continued to talk (or rather bicker) around them, the toddler was quietly humming a tune as they played with Mr. Flopsy’s rabbit paws, occasionally reaching into the bag to pull out a new piece of candy or two. Some were soft like marshmallows or gummies, others were hard with a crunch. As they were chewing, they noticed the strange sensation in one of their front teeth. They’d felt it before when they visited the nice dentist man with the pretty assistant lady that looked like Sebek, but they forgot what he’d said about that tooth. Another quiet crunch distracted them from the thought, a new flavor bursting in their mouth that made them smile and giggle.

Reaching into the bag for another, their hand grabbed what felt like a bumpy gumball, their hand barely able to wrap around it as they pulled it out of the bag. It was white with rainbow flecks sprinkled across the surface, Yuu contemplating only for a split second how they were going to eat it before bringing it up to their mouth and—

Crack!

“Owww!” Yuu yelped, dropping the candy and wailing in pain as their hands reached up to cover their mouth.

“Yuu! What’s wrong?!” Deuce asked.

“Ah! Don’t cry, human, you’re safe!” Sebek said, trying to figure out how to console the crying child as tears began to form in their eyes.

“What happened?!” Jack asked, immediately kneeling in front of them. “Shh…it’s okay, Yuu. Are you hurt?” Somehow, Yuu managed to give him a nod, still muffling their whimpers behind their hands. “Did you bite your tongue? Are your teeth hurting?”

Epel caught sight of the candy that had fallen and picked it up. “Hol’ on…izzat a jawbreaker?!” he gasped.

“Say what?! How did that get in there!?” Ace said, swiping the bag and beginning to dig through the contents. “I’m not seeing any others…I swear I checked the bag before I bought it! Grim, did you slip that in when I wasn’t looking?!”

“I thought it was a big gumball!” Grim yelped, looking distressed now. “It looked just like one—I didn’t know it was a jawbreaker thing!” Now near tears, he whimpered, “Now I’ve gone and hurt the human…Professor Crewel’s gonna kill me!”

“Fergit Professor Crewel—the researchers ‘re gonna tan our hides if we don’t git Yuu t’ the nurse’s office!” Epel said, his accent slipping in thicker than normal in his panic.

“Let’s go!!”

/---------/

“Don’t worry, they’re fine.”

It had been a confusing and panic-inducing five-minute sprint to the nurse’s office from the dorms, students getting bowled over or jumping out of the way of the charging first years. Even Riddle could barely yell at them to not run in the halls before Ace and Deuce shouted “Yuu’s hurt! Nurse’s office!!” in unison. Their panic was only increased tenfold when the nurse wasn’t in the infirmary, instead rushing over to the closest researcher and begging for help after explaining the situation.

So, to hear them say that the human was okay, the first years were relieved yet bewildered as they all but collapsed to the floor in exhaustion.

“What even happened? I thought we broke Yuu’s jaw on accident with that jawbreaker!” Grim asked.

The researcher gave a gentle smile as she turned off the little flashlight and said, “Well, while it was unwise to give something that hard or large to a toddler to begin with, I understand it was an accident and that you meant no harm. Besides…you may have helped loosen one of their baby teeth.”

“B…baby teeth?” Deuce repeated.

“Yes, though they’re also known as primary teeth or milk teeth. From the records we’ve gathered, Yuu has already lost at least one small tooth before they arrived and has already gotten one of their adult teeth in.” Turning to the toddler, whose hands were now in their lap, the researcher said, “Sweetie, would you open your mouth and show us your pretty teeth, please?”

Looking at the first years for a moment, Yuu cooperated and opened their mouth wide.

“See this front tooth here, next to the canine?” the researcher said, using a gloved hand to reach out and gently nudge one. What should have been solid now gave way, the tooth wiggling with each nudge. “During Dr. Zigvolt’s dental exam, it was noted that the adult tooth buried in the gums beneath this tooth was beginning to push down. It likely was already starting to become loose, the candy simply sped up the process…if a little painfully, but it happens.”

“So…Yuu’s just going to lose a tooth naturally and get a new one?” Ace asked.

“That’s right. Children in monster species start losing teeth in the same order that they came in, so by our calculations, since this is the second tooth to fall out, Yuu’s front teeth came in first. It’s not so different from some of the more common monster species in Twisted Wonderland. We just need to keep an eye on it, and make sure the process goes smoothly within the next few days or so.”

“Phew…that’s a relief,” Grim said. “Ya hear that, Yuu? You’re gonna grow up big and strong like us when you get all your big human teeth!”

Yuu’s expression grew bright and cheerful as they said, “Yay! I want pretty teeth like JackJack and Sebby!”

“If you get those kind of chompers, don’t start teething on us!”

/Several Days Later/

Word spread quickly what transpired, and while most of the students had relaxed knowing that nothing was wrong, it was hard to ignore the exciting news. Sure, it was always exciting knowing that a monster child was one step closer to getting their full adult teeth, but knowing that Yuu—the only known human child in existence—was getting their own adult teeth? It was a “#riteofpassage #baby’sgrowingup #don’tknowhowtodeal” as Cater had posted on his Magicam channel.

So when the tooth finally fell out after Yuu accidentally got hit in the face by a swinging door (and lots of reassurances and boo-boo kisses were given)…

“It came out! It came out!”

“It sure did, Yuu,” Trey said, patting the small human on the head as they triumphantly held up the tooth. “That’s a pretty big one you got there!” He gave them a look and asked, “Have you been flossing your teeth like I showed you?”

“Mm…yes!” Yuu said, giving a decisive nod and grinning widely.

“Well that’s good, otherwise I’d have to cut back on the goodies I give you!” Nudging them towards the others, he said, “Why don’t you go show everyone else?”

With an excited squeak, Yuu ran over and all but launched themselves into Cater’s lap as the hippogryph laughed. “Look, look! I lost my tooth!”

“Hooray! Baby’s second tooth is gone~!” Cater said with a cheer, giving Yuu a boop on the nose before snapping a pic. “Aww…soon you’ll be too big to sit in our laps. #wheredidthetimego?”

“What are you gonna do with the tooth, Yuu?” Deuce asked.

That was when Yuu’s expression grew even more excited than before, revealing the gap in their teeth as they loudly proclaimed, “I’mma leave it for the tooth fairy!”

“Tooth…fairy?” Riddle asked in confusion.

“Tooth fairy!” Yuu repeated, oblivious to the baffled and confused looks around them as they looked at their baby tooth. “When you lose a tooth, you’re s’posed to put it under your pillow for the tooth fairy, and when you wake up—she leaves you a quarter!”

Exchanging a look, Ace asked, “And this…tooth fairy…just comes in at night and steals human teeth…for money?”

“She doesn’t steal! She trades for them,” Yuu told him. “I’mma leave mine under my pillow, and when the tooth fairy comes, you’ll see!”

“Uh…is there even such a thing as a tooth fairy?” Deuce uttered, looking thoroughly confused. He didn’t remember his mother telling him anything about a tooth fairy before…

“She’s real! She’s really real!” Yuu insisted. “She’ll come tonight!”

“Okay, okay, we believe you,” Trey said. “In the meantime, though, it’s time for breakfast. Do you want waffles or pancakes?”

“Pancakes!!” Yuu cheered.

“Alright then, let’s go. You can help me mix the batter."

“Yaaaay!!”

As the two disappeared into the kitchen, Ace couldn’t help but look at the others and ask, “So…who’s going to tell them there’s no such thing as a tooth fairy?”

“Well, maybe not here in Twisted Wonderland, anyway,” Cater said with a shrug. “But who knows? Maybe she does exist wherever the humans are now. Besides, what’s wrong with letting little kids believe in something innocent like this tooth fairy or those tooth stealing clowns?”

“Please don’t remind me of those,” Deuce uttered with a shudder.

/The Next Morning/

The gentle sunlight was streaming in through the window, landing on the slumbering toddler tucked in tight. Slowly blinking in the bright light, Yuu mumbled as they rubbed at their eyes…before sitting up with a gasp. “Tooth fairy!!” they said, giggling happily as they lifted the pillow up-

Only to find the tooth still there.

“Huh…?” they uttered in confusion, shaking the pillow to see if the coin was inside to no avail.

“Good morning, pup,” came Crewel’s voice as he entered the room. “I thought I heard you up earlier than usual. It’s time to get dressed…what are you doing?”

Yuu turned to look at him with confused eyes as they pointed at the small tooth, saying, “The tooth fairy didn’t come for my tooth!”

“Ah, I see.” He’d heard about this ‘tooth fairy’ from one of his students when they dropped the toddler off with the staff, but he didn’t quite understand the logic behind it. “You didn’t stay awake all night trying to catch this ‘tooth fairy’ now, did you?”

With that, Yuu’s head sheepishly ducked close to their shoulders. “Yes…but I had to get proof for my big brothers!” they said, reaching over to pull the Ghost Camera into their lap. “I’ll prove she’s real!”

“I’m sure you will, pup,” he told them reassuringly, giving them a pat on the head before lifting them into his arms. “Now come along. It’s time to get ready for school.”

Despite this turn of events, Yuu still held hope that the tooth fairy would come. They chattered with each of their adoptive big brothers, telling anyone who would listen about the pretty tooth fairy who traded teeth for money (a concept that Azul couldn’t quite see the merit of). Even the researchers were not immune to the child’s enthusiastic ramblings during one of their tests. By the end of the day, when they settled down for bed, they swore that tonight would be the night that she would arrive!

Yet once again, the tooth was still there when they awoke.

“She’ll come,” they said, though there was a slight hint of doubt in their voice. “She has to come…”

And still the next day, they were greeted by the same sight, the tooth seeming to mock them as they sat there staring at it. Why was it still here? Why hadn’t she come? They didn’t care about the money anymore…they just wanted to know that she was real.

It came as quite the shock when Yuu was brought to school that day, the students and staff alike worried at the unusually quiet behavior from the toddler. They hardly even played “potion-master” as enthusiastically as they usually did. So, when it came time for lunch, Yuu sat there looking glum, pushing their food around on their plate with their fork while their big brothers watched in concern.

“Hey, cheer up, chickadee!” Cater said with a smile. “The cafeteria made your favorite today. You don’t want it to get cold, do ya?”

Yuu gave a slight shrug, but otherwise didn’t seem to react much as they continued staring at their uneaten food.

“Do you want me to do the magic carpet thing again?” Kalim asked, picking up a spoon and scooping up one of the sides. “Ready? Nyeeeooom~! Brrrrr, here it comes~!”

The spoon came close to their mouth, yet Yuu didn’t accept the bite. Instead, they heaved a heavy sigh.

“Aww…that usually works,” Kalim uttered, large ears lowering sadly. “Are you not hungry? Did you have too much to eat at breakfast?”

“No. They didn’t even take the cookie I swiped from the kitchen for them this morning,” Ace said. “They always take the cookie even when they’re full.”

“Come now, little one. What’s wrong?” Lilia asked, leaning in close to try and see their face. “We can’t help if you don’t tell us.”

For a moment, Yuu glanced up at him before lowering their gaze again. Then, in a quiet voice, they uttered, “She didn’t come…”

“Who didn’t come?”

“…the tooth fairy…” Eyes growing shiny with unshed tears, Yuu mumbled, “She was supposed to come…she always comes when you lose a tooth, but…but she didn’t.” Tears began to fall now as they sniffled, their voice cracking as they said, “She’s…she’s not real…”

In that moment, the toddler began to cry, Lilia immediately scooping them into his arms and wrapping his wings around them for comfort. Yet even this didn’t seem to help as it normally did, Yuu’s heartbreaking wails causing other students to turn in concern. No one knew what to do. But before anyone could ask what they could do to soothe the child—

“Well of course she’s real, Yuu!”

“Ace? What are you doing?” Deuce hissed at him under his breath. “Now’s not the time!”

Pretending that he didn’t hear him, Ace slid over to look Yuu in the eye and said, “You said yourself that she’s real, right? So, it must be true!”

“B…but…she never came,” Yuu whimpered. “She…she doesn’t exist…”

“Well…when the sun and moon are covered by the clouds and you can’t see them, does that mean they don’t exist?” Ace asked, raising an eyebrow at them.

Sniffling, Yuu shook their head and said, “No…”

“Then why wouldn’t the tooth fairy exist too?” he continued, holding his arms out as though to indicate the whole school. “Just look at us! Did you ever think that we could exist?”

“…no?”

“And yet: here we are. We also never believed we’d ever see a human like you, and yet, here you are. To us, you are like the tooth fairy: you exist, which means so does she.” They still didn’t look too convinced, and so he asked, “Do you remember that package you were really excited to get two weeks ago? The one that Idia ordered for you online?”

“Yeah…it got lost,” Yuu replied.

“Yup. And yet it arrived a few days later than it should have, and you still got your present in the end. So, you know what? Maybe that’s what happened with the tooth fairy!”

“Huh?”

“Think about it: you’re not where you were last time when you lost your first baby tooth, right?” At Yuu’s nod, he smiled and said, “So that means she knows you lost a tooth: she just hasn’t figured out how to get to you yet. And if she’s as amazing and great as you say she is, then I’m sure she’ll be here any day now. And you know what? I’ll bet she’ll have a big stash of coins or goodies waiting for you as an apology for making you wait so long. And when she does…I want you to show me your treasure. That will prove to me that she’s real. What do you say? Will you give her more time to pull through for you?”

By now, the tears had stopped, a small, hesitant smile on their face as Yuu nodded. “Okay,” they said. “I’ll wait.”

“Great. Now…are you going to eat your lunch, or are you going to let Grim eat it all before you?” he asked, pointing at the chimera sneaking the roll off their plate.

“Nooo!” Yuu called out with a giggle, their hands reaching out to try and snatch the roll back. “Grim, that’s mine!"

“Hey, you weren’t eating it!” Grim replied, though he had a smile on his muzzle.

While the two play-fought over the food, Cater leaned in and said, “Nice one, Ace. But…what are we going to do if she doesn’t show up?”

“Don’t worry, we’ll make sure she does,” Ace said with a sly smile.

/Later that night at Heartslabyul/

“Here you are, Yuu,” Trey said as he tucked the toddler in, fluffing their pillow before sitting next to the small bed. “Nice and comfy?”

“Uh-huh,” Yuu said with a nod, though they looked nervous. “Thank you for letting me spend the night.”

“You’re welcome, Yuu,” Riddle said with a small smile. “I was surprised that Professor Crewel agreed to let you stay in our dorm for tonight.” He held up a smaller star shaped pillow, the stitching on the fabric spelling Yuu’s name and having what looked like a small pouch on the front. “Here. Vil wanted me to give you this for your tooth.”

“Why?”

“He thought that it would be easier to present the tooth to the tooth fairy if it were in a pillow of its own. He even placed a good luck charm on it as well, just for you,” came the response as Riddle placed it close to their head. “I’ve taken the liberty of placing the tooth safely inside the little pouch here, so it should stay safe and secure until her arrival.”

“Hold up! Can’t forget Mr. Flopsy,” Ace said as he held up the stuffed yellow rabbit, tucking the toy in next to Yuu as he patted the sheets. “There we go.”

“Thank you!” Yuu said, hugging their plush friend close as Grim curled up next to them. Their smile faltered a little, and they looked nervous once more. Then, in a quiet voice, they asked, “Do…do you really think she’ll come tonight, Ace?”

“I think she will,” came the cheeky response as Ace gave them a warm smile. “After all, she is magic, and you do believe in magic, right?” When they nodded, he said, “Good. Then so long as you keep believing in her, she’ll come through for you. Okay?”

“Okay. Good night!” Yuu said, nestling in tighter under the covers with a renewed smile on their face.

“Good night, Yuu!”

When the lights shut off and Trey had settled down in his own bed, Yuu lay there staring up at the ceiling. Then, in a quiet whisper, they said, “Please be real…”

As they finally drifted off to sleep, they were unaware of the faint glow of silver-blue light beneath the doorframe…

/The Next Morning/

“Yuu! Yuu, wake up! She came! She came!”

The toddler was woken from their sleep by Grim’s excited calls, blinking blearily at the chimera before their eyes landed on the star-shaped pillow. A sharp gasp escaped at the sight before them before they called out, “Trey!! She came, she came, she came!!” The two scrambled up onto Trey’s bed and began jumping up and down, chanting, “She came! She came! She came!!!”

Grunting, Trey sat up in bed and patted around the side table for his glasses before putting them on. “Huh? Wha-? What’s going…on?” His eyes grew wide as he stared, uttering a quiet, “What…the…?”

The star shaped pillow was sitting atop a large pile stacked neatly next to their bed, filled with a myriad of plushies and sweets and treats. There were even several satchels of coins and madol scattered about the piles, including several large softball-sized crystals of various hues and colors.

“Whoa,” he uttered in disbelief. “Where did all this come from?”

“The tooth fairy! She came, just like Ace said she would!” Yuu said excitedly, hopping from his bed to theirs as they reached over to dig into their new treasure stash. They pulled out what looked like a large black and purple dragon plushie, hugging it tightly to their chest before happily saying, “She’s real! She’s really real!”

“Nyahaha~! Lookit all this loot!” Grim cheered, cackling as he started digging into the pile too. “This tooth fairy lady is awesome!”

At that, Trey couldn’t help but smile and laugh. “So she did. Why don’t you go get Ace and show him your new treasures?”

Yuu’s smile was so bright even with the gap, and they hopped off and bolted out of his room, shouting, “Ace! Deuce! Cay-Cay! Riddle! She came! She came! The tooth fairy came! Come look!”

Shaking his head, Trey uttered, “I can’t believe he managed to pull it off. Was this all from the other dorms?”

“Yeah! The Ramshackle ghosts were happy to help out. Who knew that being a ghost would be perfect for sneaking in like this?” Grim commented, tiny wings fluttering as he happily swayed with the cash in front of him. “I wonder if I can convince Yuu to buy me some tuna cans with this loot…hm?” He noticed something and reached out to pull down the star pillow. “What’s this?”

“Hm…?” There was a small piece of paper sticking out of the pouch, and when Trey pulled it out…a small silver disk fell out onto the bed. It looked like a coin, but not one that he’d ever seen before. Unfolding the small note, he blinked as the glowing letters faded, arranging themselves into a message as he read, “Thank you for your patience, little one. I am sorry I could not arrive as soon as I could. Please accept my gifts as an apology for making you wait so long.”

Both chimera and satyr exchanged a look before Yuu came bursting in again, closely followed by the others as the toddler began showing them all their new treasures. Ace—though he was smiling—had an odd look in his eyes, and Trey could see a small piece of paper hidden in his fist. When asked about it later when Yuu wasn’t around, he showed the paper that he said he’d found hiding under his pillow…along with a stack of similar looking silver coins like Yuu had gotten.

“To the ones who helped the little one believe: thank you.”

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

I am STILL waiting for Rollo to burst into Sage Island out of sheer anger and spite. Come on, you can't prove the man right after GloMas and NOT let him make a cameo in episode seven!!

While I do love Rollo and I'm all for vindicating him (especially as both JP and EN servers dropped book 7 part 1 right after initial runs of GloMasq), I want to make it clear and reiterate that I 100% believe Rollo will NOT be showing up in the main story, cameo or otherwise. I'd advise everyone else to not get their hopes up as well, just enjoy the fan works that come out playing with the idea 💦

Here's a compilation of why this couldn't happen, as I have spoken about this topic a number of times in the past:

Rollo showing up would imply that the events of Glorious Masquerade (which takes place around Halloween time) are canonical to the main story, even though this would create many continuity errors. For example, Deuce's UM, which is very important to GloMasq, is not gained until book 5 (which occurs in late winter, early spring). GloMasq cannot take place autumn after Deuce gets his UM either, as the third years would all be gone on their internships. Another continuity error that is recently created by book 7 part 7 is that Silver + Sebek and Idia do not seem to know each other (they have to introduce themselves to one another), meanwhile they seem quite familiar in GloMasq.

There is no reasonable way that Rollo would even KNOW what is going on or be able to breach Malleus's barrier. Only high-level officials such as Briar Valley royalty and those in STYX seem to be aware of the ongoing situation and even they have trouble trying to break into Sage's Island. Why and how would Rollo have this same knowledge, then somehow get inside Malleus's barrier?

This could set up a precedent which puts more unnecessary pressure on the devs and the direction they take future stories. It's not fair if Rollo is the ONLY Halloween character that gets to show up in the main story (especially this late into it), that would be favoritism. This creates the expectation for devs to somehow find ways to give Fellow and other future Halloween characters cameos or some relevance in the main story.

Not everyone has played GloMasq or read its story. For the people who have, it's a nice treat I guess? But for those who haven’t (even with the new feature that lets you read missed events, there is no guarantee that everyone has), this is coming out of left field and makes zero sense if they don't have context for who Rollo is. There is little gain from having him show up for the risk of alienating late or casual players, no matter how brief the cameo.

A simple summary of who he is and what he did could be implemented, but it really detracts from the experience of going through it yourself and disrupts the pacing of book 7 in order to "make space" and "play catch-up" for this other character that was NEVER previously mentioned or alluded to in ALL of the main story. This is just... not good writing in general. This would read as a convenient deus ex machina for anyone unfamiliar with Rollo. It's not the same thing as the dorm members from the previous book coming to help you save the day in the current book. At least in that situation, there is a shared understanding of the main story campaign and a practically guaranteed bond with those characters. The same is not true of Rollo, whom you as Yuu barely get to interact with that much even in his event.

To summarize, it's just not pragmatic, especially when you consider all the implications of bringing an event-only characters into the main story. There is a good reason why vignettes and events were indicated to NOT be in the same timeline or canon as the main story: to avoid contradictions and issues such as the ones I have listed above.

[kanmom51]

JK live 5 June 2023 7:03 am KST

Cr./ The creators of the media used in this post.

First thing first - we address the elephant in the room. JK cut his hair!

It's only a trim. Keep telling yourself that. Only a trim.

Breath in, breath out...

But I'm telling you, if he shows up soon with another "just a trim" I'm going to literally lose it. 😭😭

Now after we addressed that are we ok to move on? K?

This my peeps is a close to 2 hour live. I ain't gonna and can't talk about every single thing this man talked about. Not when JK was in such a chatty mood. Nope. No can do. In any case you should be running to watch this, cause the man is friggin adorable, and no matter how many times I say it or describe it, which I definitely will, it's no comparison to seeing him yourself.

JK is happy.

This is the second live we can see that figurative jump in his step.

The man is super chatty, sharing stuff that maybe, just maybe, he wasn't supposed to share (or another theory is that he's done this so his bf doesn't have to talk about that certain thing he promised us he will talk about in his next live...). He's also being an utter brat, and I am loving every single moment of it.

Figures.

I'm putting this here now.

Why, you ask?

Because you remember those Feb 2023 lives? You know, the ones where we felt something was off? When I said it looks like he was struggling, he's off quilter for lack of structure and support?

Well my friends, it looks like our JK is back. With his more or less set schedule. With his Jiminie by his side to be his anchor and his catalyst all in one.

Did I tell you yet how much I love this man?

shhhh, JK wants to set up a movie date with us. Don't tell the company about it though...

The whole conversation is happening but it's literally him just thinking out loud, hilarious.

JK brain power. That man is something so so special. The time and effort it took him to try to figure out what time he will be eating lunch when his dermatologist appointment is at 11 am and he has a workout straight after that. He's hilarious.

It was 1:30 pm. That's what his final result, btw, lol.

Mingyu and the Super dance challenge

I had a whole thing written in my vanishing post about Mingyu and how JK said he'd called him but that he's not serious. Speculating if this will ever come to pass.

Well, looks like JK decided to take things into his own hands now, didn't he?

JK caught him by surprise, so much so that Mingyu did the challenge in his socks. My guess is that JK is telling us all, including the higher ups, that doing this, dance challenges, is going to be on his terms. When he wants. Where he wants. With whoever he wants.

JK being JK

I love how JK tells it how it is.

He reads through the comments, says army is cute and will never change. interacts with comments. Answers questions. But he also isn't afraid to call bull, lol.

For example, loved his reaction to the comment "I'm not going to breath until you read this".

Being savage without being savage, lol.

The rainy day fight

D'ya think I wouldn't talk about this one? No way, no where, no how.

Do we ignore the fact that JK literally scrolled back when seeing the comment?

Nope. I don't think so.

JK saw the comment just run by, and he scrolled back cause he wanted to see it properly, and once he read it, well, of course, answer it. Idk what caught his attention there. Was it the account name? I saw talk and an actual clip showing that from the name it was a clear Jikook account. But then again, saw somewhere else mention that might not be true. This is one I'm not 100% sure about, so will leave it open with a question mark.

Anyway, that smile when reading the comment.

That last one was him reading the comment, not him commenting on if JM is or isn't doing a live.

But in saying that, JK with that smirk,

knew that JM ain't gonna be telling no rainy day story, so he might as well, lol.

The difference between JK describing it and JM, lol.

JM's short version:

JK's is a more lengthy one, although at the end of the day, if you pay attention, you realise that JK didn't tell us what they actually fought about, or more so, what was it that he said to JM to have JM tell him he's on his own from there on...

So, let's talk a bit about the fight, why don't we?

First thing first, JK puts a timeline on the fight, it being during their trainee days. That gives us a clearer time stamp, which would be anywhere between mid 2012 to a day before debut, which is 13 June 2013.

Now, you may ask why is it that JM was so off with the dates? And more so, why didn't JK correct him?

To the first question I say that this fight was way more impactful for JK than it was for JM. JK was the one who wrote a song referencing it. JK is the one that brought it up to start with during Festa 2020, and it took JM a few seconds to register and remember it. He was kind of caught off guard and could have just messed up the on the spot math, or he could have forgotten exactly when it took place.

To the second question I say that possibly JK didn't want to correct JM in front of the cameras, that the timing was less important for him to talk about and more so the fight and the making up. Or, he didn't want to correct him to stop the flow of JM's story telling, or just didn't want to correct him in front of the others, or he did the math wrong too, lol.

Now that we have cleared up the timeline, pre-debut days, let's talk about the fact that the other members clearly did not know about this fight, including Hobi.

This was a fight that happened between the two. Something that had a profound impact on JK. So much so he referenced it in a song. So much so he brought it up to apologise for it once again in during the Festa dinner.

But as impactful as it was for JK, I feel like it didn't have the same affect on JM. Not that it wasn't memorable, because it was, we saw it was, but it wasn't life changing for him as it was for JK. Yes, I think it was life changing for JK.

So, what are my thoughts about why this fight was so etched in JK's mind, so carved into his consciousness, so much so he literally wrote a song about it (that is a hill I am willing to die on) and brought it up in Festa 2020, years later, with so much water under the bridge since then?

All while I don't think it meant the same to JM? Yes he remembered it. Yes it was emotional for him. But it wasn't as impactful as it was for JK.

I am willing to go as far as to state that I feel that this fight was teenager JK's eureka moment as to how important JM was to him. And please do not get me wrong, this is not about JK crushing on JM or realising he is attracted to him. Not then. Not yet. This is way back in 2012-13. But this is about JK realizing that he needs JM. That he wants him by his side, he wants him close as a close friend, as someone to look up to, someone to help guide him, someone to care for him, someone to look out for him, someone who can understand him.

Do we remember this?

Because of Still with you, because JK brought this up 7 years after it happened, because of JK's facial expressions while talking about it, this was a truly meaningful moment for him, in my opinion perhaps the moment where their friendship shifted for JK or more so solidified.

You know what they say? When you think you lost someone is also when you understand just how important they are to you. It takes losing them for you to realise just how important they were to you.

As for JM, well he always had a soft spot for JK. His behaviour through this also shows us that. He didn't scold JK in front of the others, respected him enough to take him aside and try to talk to him. Although he walked out, he answered JK's phone call and straight away went into carer mode. He forgave him pretty much immediately and was almost as emotional as JK was (crying hugging). So yes, it was a fight to remember (he does once JK reminds him of it) but it wasn't as impactful on JM as it was on JK because maybe for him it didn't change the way he felt about JK, while for JK it was, as I mentioned, a moment of clarity, of understanding.

Lee Mujin's Limousine Service April Fool's day - the JM episode.

Well, the episode shows up on JK's YT. Surprise surprise? Not really, lol.

JK's initial statement is that he should watch that...not that he hasn't seen it yet. And why the distinction you may ask? Well, because his behaviour during this was a little puzzling. On the one hand he does things like FF the episode and avoids Lee Mujin calling JM oppa, and you can't think that this was unconsciously done. Or he imitates JM down to the nose touch and it feels like this was not the first time he's seeing this. All while on the other hand his reactions at the start of the episode seem to be of someone watching the episode for the very first time.

Is it possible that JK's oh so accurate imitations stem from him knowing JM oh so well? Down to the nose touch? Of course it is. I mean those two are fully in tune. We've seen so many moments where it's like this is the same person, same brain. So, definitley a possiblity.

Either way, the look on his face and his reactions never lie when it comes to JM.

JK sings Like crazy with JM.

First time he does this. Watch Like crazy with us and join in on the singing. And it's so beautiful.

Do we talk about it? Why it's taken him so long to do this?

Well, obviously I can't know for sure, but I do think that this one is an emotional one for JK.

This song is about JM's struggles during the pandemic. He told us so. Struggles that JK clearly witnessed. Struggles that JK clearly experienced with him. Struggles that JK probably also tried to help him cope with. Obviously this was not an easy time, and if this song was a type of release for JM, for JK it might be reliving something that is still weighing on him. A reminder of helplessness. Of not being able to help JM through. A reminder of the coping mechanisms. A reminder of not being enough.

But that isn't to say JK doesn't love the song. You can see how it does make him emotional, closing his eyes as he sings "you and I" and in several other moments during the song, including towards the end.

And maybe he wasn't ready to show us that just yet in his previous lives.

He was now.

And again, showing us he does like the song, he hums Like crazy again later on in the live.

JK is JM's happy place. That is part of his love language. He makes JM laugh, and many times it's by being his bratty cheeky self.

JK makes JM laugh. In JM's own words, he's his happy virus.

This part is funny and cute and JK just being JK by imitating JM.

And this time it's all about having fun, but JK as a whole mimics JM, not only for fun, but also as a compass, a guide as to how to behave or react. We saw him do it a lot in the younger years. JK wasn't joking when he told JM he's watching him, lol. We certainly do have the receipts for that one.

He has been doing this since forever. So very neuro divergent of him.

@jikookotters said to me after this live that JM should release a book - "My life with a brat".

and

Well, it has bestseller written all over it, guaranteed.

LMAO.

All fun aside, I'd say it's a small price to pay. You know, having a bratty bf that brings a smile to your face in the process. Same man that looks at you like this:

For the whole world to see.

Literally the whole world, having millions of people just sitting there watching him watch JM and melt.

Songs JK listened to and sang for us:

Traffic light - Lee Mujin

Wasurenai TANAKA

Jay Park yesterday (Omg, the lyrics...)

Your love's the sweetest sound Around you, my heart just pounds Your touch, I'll write it down So high, I can't come down Was hopeless, took notice Baby, like a siren, mm, and you gave me faith, oh You're the answer, all my problems solved Life with you is so beautiful, I won't trade it away I was lost but found my purpose now I'm glad you're keepin' me around, I won't trade it away Whether I'm up or down or I wear no crown Love me the same way, the same way you did as yesterday Whether I'm rich or poor, just call me yours Love me the samе way, the same way you did as yestеrday Oh-oh, oh-oh Did as yesterday Your smile is all I need Without you, these lungs can't breathe I'd fall from the sky for you Wanna do better and thrive for you Was hopeless, took notice Baby, like a siren, oh-oh, and you gave me faith You're the answer, all my problems solved Life with you is so beautiful, I won't trade it away I was lost but found my purpose now I'm glad you're keepin' me around, and I won't trade it away Whether I'm up or down or I wear no crown Love me the same way, the same way you did as yesterday Whether I'm rich or poor, just call me yours Love me the same way, the same way you did as yesterday Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh Oh-oh-oh-oh Oh-oh Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh Oh-oh

I know he's a problematic person, but that song, I definitley get why JK likes it.

I have seen many are worried this is a precursor for him having a collab with Jay Park (we did see JK in his studio last year), and that very well may be. We will just have to wait and see about that.

JK also watched "JK vocals I liked", well tried watching and gave up in the middle because The best of me on replay was just too much for him.

And his G-Dragon imitations, lol.

This was in no way him dissing G-Dragon. This was him being a fan of the man, something he has also shared with us in the past.

OK, Is it time to address the other elephant in the room?

JK's unwillingness to sing a BTS song...lol.

Maybe better not🤣🤣

JK's goodbye to us.

Questions to ask ourselves after watching the live:

Is someone going to explain to JK why the comments are disappearing?

What is JK working on his English super hard for? He makes a point of telling us multiple times during the live that he's working on it hard... I doubt it's only for his TikTok narration for Take two...there is more coming from JK. Question is what and when? Hopefully soon.

So why did JK want us to know about the book he's going to be reading? JK made a point at the start of the live to grab the book and place it on the table in front of him, later to show us the book and tell us he bought it and will read it. Why did JK want us to know about Michelle Zauner or her book? Collab? This is a bit of a stretch, well ok, a huge stretch, but could it be because Michelle Zauner, an openly bisexual woman, married her bandmate Peter Bradley back in 2014? So many questions...

How many times does JK have to mention JM while talking about the rainy day fight?

What was up with JK's glasses? He clearly told us that he needs them. And he was also about to get up go get them, but then stopped and said he's too lazy. But was that it? Really? Or did he just remember/realise that he forgot his glasses at that very place he came from shortly prior to the live? You know, the same place he came from arriving at Brunnen and placing his jacket (is that a motorcycle riders jacket?) on the sofa. Same Jacket he moved aside so maybe we don't notice it too much.

JK getting the book and moving the jacket:

Will we be seeing JK at one of Yoongi's Seoul concerts? Did Yoongi see the live, hear JK's request for a formal invitation up on stage? Lol. JK did say that if Yoongi asks him up, he'll do it... Oh, and do we buy concert tickets for the streaming with those prices???

What's up with JK's YT algorithm?

Do I bring this up again?

Yeah, I guess that explains the algorithm with all the cooking and JM going on there...

Kookie, your obsessions are showing...

What was it with the guitar JK left out to tell us that he's not practicing at all although he should be? At first I thought it might have something to do with JM's acoustic performance, Letter with the guitar, you know, being the JM spoiler king and all.

But now that Take two is out, I can't help but consider perhaps this time it wasn't about JM but more about Take two... the opening guitar. Although (yes, this is me flip flopping here) the opening guitar in Take two is an electric guitar... So yeah, no idea.

Do his neighbours, by this point, have Hybe on speed dial? I mean, I'd love to have JK as a neighbour, I really would? Nah, I lie. I love JK, you know I do, but my god, the noise that man makes, I would be hospitalized by now for sleep deprivation. And the creepy creeps that are out and about looking for him? Nah. Love him, but would rather not be his neighbour, lol.

And last but not least what so ever - why the heck is this man so utterly adorable? This man that on stage is a lean mean killing machine (well, most of the time). How can that be the same person? HOW?

Once again JK has come to us, in his time and on his terms. And once again he's shown us in few words and many actions just how much he loves and appreciates army, and how much he loves JM. He does what he does, says what he says, within the limitations, showing us all his love and support for JM.

He's so friggin loud even those that are unwilling to see are having difficulty ignoring it.

So, are we taking bets on when we're going to be getting him live next? And will we finally be getting a JK Letter sing along? Now that we have an official Letter (Dear.Army) release on YT that is. Now, wouldn't that be an interesting one?

[cairavende]

Worm Arc 19 thoughts:

Hopefully this is the only time I have more than a month wait between arc recaps. I was distracted.

Not a long arc really, but god damn did a lot happen.

My daughter is no longer eaten . . . ate . . . aten . . .

My daughter is no longer inside of a creature. That's good. Even though I was obviously 100% fine at the end of arc 18. I'm just more fine now.

Big props to Weld for just going swimming in a giant flesh pool and pulling people (and dogs!) out. He's an ok guy.

Based on the weird "dreams" Skitter was having while inside Echidna I am running on the assumption that the clones are pulled from alternate reality versions of the consumed person where said person had died. Well, not the clones themselves really, but the powers of the clones (and possibly their personalities/memories). Not sure it will end up mattering, with Echidna being dead.

But basically I think the dreams were partially visions of alternate realities.

I've been on the "alternate realities are gonna play a big role and are tied to powers and everything" boat for awhile now, but this arc finally brought that all to the forefront of everything. Just with Scapegoat and Scrub's power, clone Eidolon's powers, the door, and such. So that's cool!

Speaking of Scapegoat, I love his ridiculous little power. I saw it coming the second I saw the name and I was enjoying every second of it.

"She’s fucking blind!?" has gotta be one of the best moments in Worm so far.

Skitter finally realizes that Tattletale has been very clearly taking actions to portray her as the leader to everyone else. Cause bad ass lesbian super villain trio is everything.

Skitter hard carried the second Echidna fight. Everyone would probably be fucked if she wasn't there.

Starting off with taking out the teleporter Grue clone. My girl knows rule number 1. First, GEEK THE MAGE!

And of course she was using her bugs to monitor the entire battlefield, but then she starts giving information and direction to everyone. Kept track of clones, preventing any (hopefully) from escaping). And taking out a fair share of them herself!

Fucking just full on use swarm speech to speak to everyone across the battlefield at once! FUCK YES SHE IS BADASS!

I'm sure Shatterbird won't show up again and isn't going to be an issue at all!

And she's the one that sets up the trap to cut Echidna in half and contain clone Eidolon so Miss Militia can take him out! Clockblocker gets partial credit for helping I guess. But still, Skitter saved all their asses 10 times over.

Also Clockblocker is obsessed with my daughter. Kid has it baaaaaaaad.

I love that in the first few chapters there is some teasing of Cauldron's secrets being spilled a little bit, then Legend completely reveals that Cauldron exists but lies about details, and then suddenly clone Eidolon just dumps everything out there!

Faultline and crew - "We…worked on finding info on Cauldron for a year…and…he just…he shouted it out."

And through all of this Tattletale just out here like "I'm gonna tear a hole in reality!" God I love this reckless chaos child.

Gully deserves to punch a few Cauldron people. As a treat.

Lisa "I took one look at you and instantly knew I would take over the fucking city just to see you smile" Wilbourn over here! GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!

SERIOUSLY IT'S SO GAY!

"OH NO LOOK AT THAT POOR TRAUMATIZED CUTE GIRL, I CAN FIX HER!" IS THE MOST LESBIAN THING

Real quote: "Maybe- maybe when the interuniversal trade takes off. Can you imagine? With me and you as the top dogs? The whole world will pay attention to us." HOW CAN SHE BE THIS LESBIAN?

CHATTERBUG CHATTERBUG CHATTERBUG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (SMUGBUG SMUGBUG SMUGBUG if you prefer)

THEY CAN RULE THE WORLD TOGETHER AND I WILL FORGIVE ALL WRONGS DONE TO REACH THAT POINT CAUSE GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!! (Also obviously Rachel will be there too.)

(I'm sure Taylor crumpling the papers from Dinah in her fists at the end of the arc isn't ominous at all.)

Blasto Interlude thoughts:

Sucks to be Blasto I guess

Accord is terrible as always, glad to see more of him. Love his minions.

Colin can't do anything right. Seriously dude you cut Bonesaw in half and still lost! You have magic cut through anything and turn it to dust tech and you couldn't kill her! God.

Dragon is hard carrying this SH9 hunting team.

She got Manton! That's crazy! Good job robot daughter!

I 100% do not expect Siberian to stay gone. I mean outright Bonesaw is gonna be cloning people and she can probably get some of his DNA. But even without that, it was just too convenient, happening off screen like that. I dunno. It's not safe.

Also Blasto, I'm really sorry about what happened to you but also you tried to make a half Simmy clone! God damn that was the dumbest thing you could ever have done. You are so lucky it didn't work (probably), cause if it did it would have been because she planned it. God damn.

Time for the Slaughterhouse 99 or whatever. Gonna really suck for people.

Parahumans Online Interlude thoughts:

Timeskip!!! Shortish timeskip but still! It's been so day to day for so long so suddenly jumping ahead was surprising.

Greg from act 1 is back! And also kinda a dick. And probably has a Thinker 1 power. Tattletale light basically. Fits with what Taylor said about him in act 1 too.

GstringGirl is probably Sveta, that feels right.

Glad to see the Case 53s making their own team, that's a good start.

WagTheDog wanting to work for Bitch is super cute! I'm glad it seems like that is going to work out.

Loved seeing some of the stuff of people talking about Skitter. I've been wanting to see what the general public has been saying about her cause from an outside perspective the stuff she has done seems 10 times crazier than it is, and it is already crazy.

Emma Interlude thoughts:

Fuck this bitch

Sure she went through a really hard situation and she has terrible parents and it is easy to see how she got to where she is, but that doesn't excuse her actions. I still don't like her at all.

I don't know how much more I need to say, except that Alan shouldn't have left his traumatized daughter home alone with the instructions "If you feel like doing something bad please call the therapist who's number I put on the fridge" christ dude. You are worse every time you show up.

Like learning that Alan knows everything about Sophia as well? Just makes him even worse! Probably upgraded from a 3 fire asshole to a 4 fire asshole by now.

[room-surprise]

Hi there, I’ve been reading your Kabumisu fic (SMHTGOTG) and I am obsessed!!! I love the way you interpret Kabru’s and Mithrun’s personalities and adapt their stories to a modern world. I can’t wait to see more of Mithrun’s past and them meeting the Laios gang!

I truly feel like you gave them the love and depth that Ryoko Kui wants for her characters. I really appreciate it after seeing more one-dimensional takes about Dunmeshi characters on twitter (of course it’s twitter) and even tumblr as the series got more popular.

Kui put so much effort in creating a beautiful and heartfelt story, trying her best to reflect complicated social issues through fantasy setting, showing how characters with varied backgrounds/ races overcome prejudices, grow to respect each other’s differences and how human they all are deep down, all while encouraging fans to care for their health, but all some people zoom in is which race is the most obviously problematic, which race is allowed a free pass to hold prejudice, which character is not that great actually did you not know they were racist at some point in the story??? (Growth? Never heard of her. Ignorance? That’s a CRiME!)

Ironically, all of that just reminds me of how performative the canaries are when they act all shocked and offended about Mithrun stating the slur the elves used to say all the time

(So sorry for the long rant 😭, I just really appreciate your fic and the analysis your made about Dunmeshi among the increasing bad faith takes)

OMG... Anon thank you so much for writing to me! This absolutely made my day. You're very sweet. Honestly I have the best readers in the world you're all paying such close attention to what I write and picking up what I put down, and that makes me so so so happy 😭

The #1 thing I ask myself while I'm planning and writing my fics is "does this feel like something that would happen in Dungeon Meshi?" And I guess I'm doing an OK job of that because people keep telling me what my writing feels like :D

And you are 100% right, there's always been bad takes and oversimplifications of the world and characters of Dungeon Meshi like what you're describing, but since it's getting more popular that means more people are talking about it, which unfortunately means, statistically, that there are going to be more bad takes…

On the positive side, there's also been lots of wonderful new fic and art that people are making, and lots of good takes too! Just a bit frustrating to wade through the swamp of bad stuff to get to the treasure.

Gotta just try hard to stay positive and focus on making good stuff you love, and not stressing about stuff that's bad and makes you upset.

And never apologize for writing me a long message!!! I agree with everything you said and I was so happy to read this when I got up this morning, so thank you for taking the time to write to me. You can write or DM me any time (though obviously you can't stay anon if you're DMing me lol)

[diazfox]

(A tentative guess about your BuckTommy vs Buddie post)

I guess a big part of it is because it's canon ? It's canon and it seems to work, and it seems to be make Buck calm and fluffy and happy in a healthy way, which is what a lot (all ?) of us want. So we can get behind that, for now.

Your "why not a similar support behind his exes / fetishizing MM relationship" question is valid and i think the difference is because it's the first time someone Buck dates seems to really fit with him without having something that we can pre-shot is going to be a problem, and the first time he goes into a relationship (getting myself ahead of things there) without it being to heal something in him ? And as I've read other people point out, Tommy's not silo-ed out, he has a backstory with the Begins episodes, he is friends with some of the 118, so it makes him less of a plot device than Buck's female exes.

And about the second part, the fetishizing part, i think sadly it's just a real thing that happens here, on tumblr and in fandom spaces : men are seen enjoying being together and fandom smooches them together together. One could even argue that it's the same for Buddie, wanting them to be together together when canon just factually says they are BFFs. I don't think anyone is erasing anything, but all that is canon about Buddie is that they are BFFs (a lot can be read as more that friends but ultimately it's with shipping goggles on, only - i'm not a very optimistic person, though).

I guess some of us think that if they didn't make Buddie happen for this long, then it may be because it is meant to stay on the fandom shipping side ? And we're given this incredible chance to have a canon lgbt character with an unusual story of self-discovery that doesn't happen a lot in tv shows so we're just enthusiastic to go with the flow ?

And if it turns out that the writers have the guts to get Eddie his own self-discovery journey, and if that later leads to Buddie happening somehow, then I think all BuckTommy shippers will be glad that it finally happened, and that it is canon, and is finally the Truth.

damn, thanks for your insight! i do see how things being canon and properly canon (like Tommy having a "backstory") can cause shifts in perspectives looking into the future.

i 100% understand why some might think buddie is a form of fetishization too. ngl i've seen strong arguments like "why can't 2 male characters share a strong emotional bond platonically? why does it have to lead to romance?" i guess my main reason for bringing up fetishization with respect to bucktommy is the fact that they are quite lacking in the "strong emotional bond" department. so it feels pretty much like "2 hot guys kissing and touching each other hell yeah" to me.

but i realise i'm overlooking the fact that this is bi buck's first relationship, though. i forgot to consider the fact that majority of this support for tommy comes from the fact that this is the first love interest of buck's to whom he can give all of himself and get twice as much with all the freedom in the world AS A BI MAN. thank u for putting me on to the fact that i've been misinterpreting this enthusiasm to some degree.

thats not to say that just bc something is canon or just a headcanon everything is set in stone. writers and actors themselves have made it very clear time and time again that audience reactions and engagement matters when it comes to plot development. in your own line of thought, right until 7x 03 they didn't make bi Buck happen for so long. so would u say it was meant to stay merely on the fandom shipping side? i just think the possibilities are endless, and maybe we as a fandom can try to have a bit more resilience to see through fan-originated storylines instead of a "i'll just go with whatever is canon bc it's easier" ethic.

[moghedien]

Is show Moraine stilled stilled or did Ishamael like tie off a shield on her or something? Cause the way they're talking about it it seems like she's supposed to be stilled, but if she were Lan's bond would have been severed and passed to Alana, no? Pretty confused about that

So they seem to be very intentionally not giving whatever happened to her an exact name. When Rafe and others were asked behind the scenes, they very specifically didn't say exactly what happened. Within the show itself, they haven't actually used the word stilled to describe what happened either. The most they said is that she was cut off.

They way I'm currently interpreting that is that Moiraine and everyone else believe she's stilled, but she isn't actually and Ishamael just tied off a shield on her. A few reasons for that, Lan's bond being a major indication that she isn't stilled as he woulda felt something at the very least if that bond was gone-gone. For another thing, it seems like she still can't lie. That isn't completely confirmed I guess, but they seem to imply that she still can't lie a lot, which wouldn't be the case if she were stilled.

But a few other reasons I have is that I feel like they'd have no reason not to say the word stilled in the show if she was actually stilled. I feel like they're specifically not saying that word now because some viewers would take characters saying that as confirmation from the show that she were stilled, even if its just a character saying what they actually believe. I feel like its an intentional choice to not make things too definite.

They also very clearly reminded us of shielding with the moment with Nynaeve and Liandrin when Nynaeve gets shielded. Liandrin pointed out things like you can feel the source and see weaves, which are things we see Moiraine experiencing. I think you can still feel the source while stilled (don't remember 100%) but the Liandrin moment seemed very clearly like trying to show us this one thing you can do with the one power and the implications of it.

But also in terms of the actual moment it happened in season 1, it looks like Ishamael is tying off something and its sorta being set into Moiraine. It doesn't look like when Logain was gentled, and I can't imagine the process of stilling and gentling is so different that it would look dramatically different. And you also have to remember that Moiraine cannot see weaves from a male channler. She wouldn't have seen exactly what Ishamael did to her, she would have just felt it. So she is largely just working with assumptions on what happened based on what happened to her after the fact. Maybe she suspects it wasn't a stilling, but she might not have any way to be completely sure, since stilled women don't usually stick around to be questioned.

Also this might be completely bullshit because I genuinely don't remember for sure, but I do feel like there was something about tying of a shield on someone that wasn't common knowledge with the Aes Sedai at the beginning of the series? I don't always remember what was common knowledge and what was learned as the series went on and more lost info on the one power was discovered, but I really felt like there was *something* that present day Aes Sedai didn't know could be done that would mean they wouldn't know that a shield could be tied off on someone. Again, that could be completely wrong though, I don't remember for sure

[acourtofthought]

Hiiiii,

I just wanted to ask whether you think there is even a slight possibility that SJM might go for a Gwynriel book next?

I know you're adamant that it will be Elucien (I'm kind of hoping it is them too), but is Gwynriel completely out of the picture in your mind?

I'll be happy with whatever ship happens because it would finally end this shipwar, but I've just seen a discourse between Eluciens and Gwynriels about whose book is next, and I think SJM's set it up so it could go either way.

I definitely think there is a real possibility for Gwynriel to be next!

There are a lot of reasons, both plot related ones and ones that make the most sense to me in relation to the characters individual journey's that lead me to think it will be Elucien's however these aren't my characters and this isn't my story to tell. I have no authority over what SJM does and even with my best guesses based off what's she's said or done in the past, I don't know if the way I think is the way she thinks.

I'm not even confident enough to say that I know without a doubt that E/riel is not happening though I think that is much less likely.

There has been discourse between Elucien's and Gwynriels as of late, you're right. For some Gwynriels, I think they are just so ready to have confirmation that Az will not end up with Elain because of the battles with E/riels over the years and are excited to see him end up with one of their favorites instead. But as a result I do think some are at times forgetting to be a little more considerate of who they proclaim to be their allies in the fandom (Eluciens) and why the force feeding of the"Gwynriels book is 100% next!" rhetoric (because of Az's recent buildup) sort of stomps all over Elucien's who know Lucien had buildup from book 1 and has been a prominent character from the start yet that still didn't guarantee him a book yet. Who is being undermined by Az's character.

I think if the roles were reversed and Lucien was mistreating Az in the series and Az had been waiting for the resolution to his mating bond since 2016 they would probably be feeling a lot like Elucien's right now. And if Elucien's book is next and they then acknowledge they'll be waiting another 4 years for an Az book, they'll probably be feeling a bit of the intense disappointment Elucien's have lived with.

On the flip side to all that, a few Elucien's (not many, I know I'm one of the main ones) have been more vocal in arguing against all that which does contribute to the overall negativity in the fandom. But I do think that sometimes it's too much for anyone to look the other way and be the bigger person. We're all human but I have noticed that Elucien's are often expected to be the bigger people in this fandom, that they're expected to be the ones who sit quietly by and allow everyone to say whatever they want about Elain or Lucien, to just accept that "they're delusional for thinking Elucien could be next when it's so obvious" and the second you begin to argue back you're called out for the exact same behavior the other groups have participated in.

[good-beanswrites]

Okay, kyanako said that I can ask for a director's commentary on the fic you wrote for me.

Is there anything you’d like to share about writing this fic? Any thoughts during the writing? Maybe any questions for me?

Not you too 😭😭😭 Haha, but thank you for the option to ask you questions, because I actually do have a few! My normal commentary is in pink, but I put questions in blue :) Some of them are specifics about your characters, but I also just want to hear your takes on writing Es 👀 I don't write them super often, so I'm curious how you characterize them...

Es clutched at their head. Their fingers tore through their hair. It was the middle of the night, so they resisted the urge to shout. They didn’t want to draw any attention to themself. If they remained completely silent, though, they wouldn’t need to refrain from crying.

And so they cried.

I wanted to start off right away by setting the theme of Es experiencing the typical pain of a child in their position, but refusing to be treated like the are.

You see, there is only one sensation worse than waking up from an awful dream: waking up from a very, very, good one. 

I'm kind of relying on readers understanding this feeling already, I didn't really know how to put it into words 😅 (Is this common for people?) It's happened to me several times, and it genuinely can hit harder than a nightmare.

Es had grown accustomed to the nightmares that Milgram produced. In these dreams, Es might take the place of the prisoners. Their stomach would twist with horror at the blood on their hands. Other times, they found themselves in the victim’s shoes. They’d wake in a cold sweat, feeling hands closing around their throat, or weapons swung at their temple. 

I feel like a lot of fics (rightfully) focus on all the messed up things Es experiences on a daily basis, like this. I'm usually more upset by their canon lack of interest in their past and future. Their refusal to miss/hope for anything better is really what hurts me, and it took a while to figure out what may push them to the point of finally acknowledging it. I thought a dream was a good start. When you picture them, are they wondering about their identity a lot? Would certain things be enough to jog their memory, or do only extreme situations get through to them?

But they weren’t prepared for a dream of absolute peace. They were happy. They were laughing. There were people nearby, smiling. It was all emotion and no detail – not a single face, place, or voice, was clear – but they knew for sure what the dream had consisted of.

Es was with their family. 

I debated so long on naming specifics about what they saw, whether it was glimpses of your characters or small lines of dialogue... I still hadn't decided if I wanted the dream to be a real memory or just their imagination, though, so I kept it up to interpretation. (Also, I was so afraid of getting something wrong about who they'd be close to or how they'd react in your mind 😭 "he wouldn't fucking say that" fr). In an early draft of this, Es had fallen asleep while cataloguing the prisoners' family members, and dreamed that they were a part of some of those families. It wasn't as effective as I'd hoped, so I got right to the point and made it their own family here.

So uh, I guess, what would they dream about if it were 100% accurate to their real family? I also thought about making the dream a vision sent from them to communicate a message -- is this something that a family member could/would do? And which relative is Es closest to? I've heard you talk more about their father, but I wasn't sure if that necessarily meant they were the closest. (I wanted to make a more specific parallel with one of the prisoners. I'd pair them with Amane if they were close with their father, Haruka if it was their mother, Mikoto if it was a sibling. Since I wasn't sure, I thought Haruka was a safe bet.)

They choked out another sob. 

For the longest time, they wondered if they even had a past to remember. But that was all foolishness – Milgram was in the business of judging humans, not creating them out of thin air. They’d tried asking Jackalope, once. He turned out just as cryptic as some of the prisoners in their interrogations. Another time, they had considered using the prison’s mysterious machine on themself. There was no way to operate it alone, though. And when it came down to it, they were always alone.

Yeah. So. I made myself upset realizing the isolation Es feels :((( They're at Jackalope's mercy as much as the prisoners are, but they can never truly bond with the others over it. They're different from the prisoners, but they don't even have that much power over them (only responsibility). I thought about including an actual attempt to use the machine without someone watching over them, and what a risk that would be. It ended up taking the story way off-focus, but I wonder what could actually drive them to the point of doing something dangerous in the name of getting memories back, or would they always be accepting of the situation, given their personality?

They curled themself tight, dragging the bedsheets with them. Usually when they wondered about their past, mere curiosity washed over them. Now, they were flooded with an entirely new type of longing. It filled their chest. No, that wasn't it. Rather, the feeling left a wide hole through them.

I'm glad you thought the curling up was cute ;--; I just wanted the reader to remember how young and small they are ;----; I was sad writing this and needed everyone to remember along with me 😭

If they did have a family, had Es been stolen away? Could there be someone else out there right now, crying in the middle of the night, just as hard as Es was crying for them? The thought was not comforting.

Or, like Es, had they forgotten all traces of their connection? That possibility also did more harm than good.

Es tried to reassure themself – if this family hadn’t come looking for them, maybe it meant they weren't wanted in the first place. Maybe Es had been willingly turned over to Milgram, their parents glad to be rid of them.

That thought didn't help at all.

I had a lot of fun evilly choosing the most painful possibilities for Es to consider >:3 (<- SHE'S LYING SHE MADE HERSELF CRY). The uncertainty would hurt any any reader, but as my target, I hoped to pinpoint some exact things you'd mentioned in the past. I was picturing the art of Es' father hunting Milgram down, and some of your comments about them remembering and missing Es.

Something clattered out in the corridor. That must have been what woke them. They rose from bed, ready to raise hell. How dare one of the prisoners rip them from such a dream. Es could never return. The offender would pay for this. 

It took only a moment to put on their uniform and wipe the tears from their cheeks. They swung the door open to find Haruka stumbling down the hall. 

I'm always a sucker for the uniform being a symbol of Es' obsession with their role -- putting it on is the same as them putting up an act, even if they don't quite realize it.

“Prisoner number one, what the –” they grabbed his arm. Only then did they notice the dazed look in his eyes. His body flinched, waking from what must have been sleepwalking.

“Ah! W-warden!” He blinked, his mind still stuck somewhere else. “I’m s-sorry! What, ah… I was dreaming... She was – she was right here…”

After this part I tried ending the drabble with Haruka saying, "I was dreaming," and Es replying bitterly, "me too." Haruka then says, "it was about my family," and much quieter, Es repeats "me too." As much as I loved the exchange, I wanted the gut-wrenching pain of Es rejecting their family rather than missing them at the very end 😎👍

Es took a measured breath. They steeled their expression. There would be no unleashing hell tonight. They had lost sight of their role. They had gotten distracted with childish emotions and silly dreams. They were Milgram’s warden, not some kid like Haruka who wandered around the prison late at night looking for his mama. 

Es adjusted the hat over their hair. It was good, they told themself, that they couldn't remember a thing from the dream. They didn't need any of those people. They were perfectly fine on their own. Such a distraction would not happen again.

I had to mention the uniform hat again because I'm just too obsessed with the symbolism asdfsdfs. And yeah, like you said, all of this was an attempt to convince themself. They don't really believe it, but they have to make themself believe it, or else they'll be in even more pain...

“Let’s get you back to bed.”

“But, my p-parents, they were–”

“They’re not here. Nobody is. Back to your cell, prisoner.”

Of course "they're not here" is reflecting Es and Haruka both missing their parents, but I hoped the last line would also continue the parallels between them -- at the end of the night, Es is a prisoner here too :(

[americas1suiteheart]

Night Out

Patrick Stump x Fem! Reader

Kinda NSFW, just a bit of a warning.

Summary; You and the guys go out after a show to ease yourselves, one too many drinks later, a few things are said, leading to an interesting moment between you and Patrick.

Notes; This is the closest thing I've ever written to smut, I'm not going any farther in this fic either. Anyway, enjoy. (Or maybe it will be on Ao3..) I also noticed that I tend to ramble in my fics, my bad, guys.

Warnings; Lots and lots of mentions of drinking and alcohol, sorta suggestive at the end, drunk confessions, implied drunk sex but not written, and foul language. (This is probably one of the fics with the most warnings in my discography)

Volume: ■■■■■□□□

A little night out after a show was just what you and the guys needed, just to take your mind off of some of the technical difficulties during the show, and most of it was partially your fault.

Before the show, all of tech and stage crew were setting up and putting everything together, you were setting up the mics on everyone's instruments. Once you had finished that, which was *very* rushed due to everyone being late because of traffic, you went to help with connect everything to the mixing boards, lighting controls, all that nice stuff. Unfortunately, you had mixed up some of the cords when you were doing that, and you guessed that you hadn't secured one of the lights.

Miking up all the instruments and messing it up was one thing, then mixing up the cords for the mixing and lighting boards and computers was another, but not securing a light correctly was the big screw up.

When the band came out and they started playing, only Joe's guitar had sound coming out, and only on one of the monitors at that. Pyrotechnics don't seem as cool when there's only a faint guitar playing without the rest of the band. The set up had to be fixed *extremely* quickly, meaning that at least 10 minutes of the show was postponed.

Then the lighting wasn't able to be controlled by the lighting techs. That was another 10 minutes of the show being postponed.

Once all of that was fixed, the band was 3 quarters through the show, nearly being finished without any more difficulties.

Then the worst happened.

That light I didn't secure correctly just happened to fall right next to Pete, thankfully nearly missing him. The thing about those lights is that they weigh around 100 pounds. It caused damage to the stage and broke the light.

Luckily no one was injured, but the costs for the damage definitely will hurt.

"Y/n? You gonna come with us or not?" Joe says, snapping you out of your trance.

"Oh, uh, yeah. Sorry about that." You say, quickly getting out of the vehicle.

"I would say "don't sweat it" but you almost killed me." Pete said, meaning for it to be in a joking manner.

You shrunk a little and looked down at the floor as you continued to walk to the entrance of the bar with the boys.

"You're not making it any better, Pete.."

You were surprised that they even asked you to get drinks with them after that. I mean, yes, you've been friends with them since Andy joined the band, but you seriously fucked up tonight and almost killed Pete.

"You just need one drink and you'll feel better, Y/n. You just had a rough day, everyone had a rough day today even before the show, even another tech screwed up." Joe put a hand on your back and tried to comfort you.

"Yeah, you're right." You smile at him as you walk through the doors with everyone else.

Music was blaring and lights flashed. The place was crowded and smelled of alcohol and BO. Guess that's just normal for a downtown nightclub, though.

"I'll go get us a table. You guys can go get drinks, just find me." Andy said, pointing in the direction of all of the booths.

"Thanks, Andy."

The bar area was crowded with people that may have already gone way past their limits.

Once pushing your way through, you order your drinks. You were never one for hard liquors or mixed drinks, you kept it simple and just got two beers and a soda for Andy.

Once finished you all make your way to find the table Andy had saved, finally spotting him.

"Hey, Andy. I got you a soda, did you get food?" You ask, handing him his drink and sliding down into the booth next to him.

"Yeah, just some wings and fries, nothing special."

"Okay, did you get anything for yourself, though?"

Andy was your younger brother by a year, so you always worried about him. Yet despite the fact of you being older, he somehow managed to act more mature than you, like an older brother instead.

"I got another order of fries, don't worry. Thanks for getting me something to drink, N/n."

Patrick slides into the booth to sit next to you and puts his drink on the table.

At first it was weird getting to know Patrick because he was much younger than you, barely going into his 20s when you were already into your mid ones. It took some getting used to, it felt odd being friends with someone that much younger, and you felt even weirder when you found that you'd grown more than fond of him as you two got closer.

You take a chug from your drink as you listen to the boys argue about pointless things.

You got lost in your own thoughts, still thinking about the accidents and mishaps that happened because of you.

Were you really just having a bad day, or maybe you were just being lazy. Were you? God, you're so getting fired.

A hand on your back snaps you back, making you look beside at Patrick.

"Are you alright, Y/n?" Patrick says with obvious concern in his voice, his brows furrowed.

You stare at Patrick blankly and nod, looking away back at the label of the bottle like it was the most interesting thing.

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

Only about an hour of being there everyone was already a couple drinks in. The music seemed louder than before, it was getting hotter what seemed like every minute, and you had already forgotten about the events at the show.

"Okay, okay, how about when we get back to Chicago, we go and get like this and just fuck around downtown, then we could crash at my place." Pete says after taking the last sip of his drink.

Everyone at the table agrees. Even if Andy doesn't drink that doesn't mean that he's not down for something that made him feel like a teenager again.

The boys all joked with eachother, and that whole time you found yourself leaning into Patrick as you laughed along with them.

All the anxiety that you had with fear of doing too much quickly went away as soon as the amount of alcohol content in your body began to settle in, gosh this will suck the next morning.

By now you were already completely attracted to Patrick, his arm around your waist as you leaned your head against his shoulder as you talked with everyone else. Even if you couldn't think at that moment, you were still very conscious about this and trying not to heat up too much, hoping to push it off as the alcohol making your cheeks get a little pink.

"We're going to get more drinks, are you two gonna come?" Joe asks, leaning against the booth closest to where Patrick was sitting.

"No, I'm cool."

"I'm fine, too."

"Do you want us to bring you guys anything?"

You and Patrick look at eachother for a moment and you tried to decide whether or not you should get another drink.

"Yeah, sure. You think you can just grab me another beer and then some water if it ain't too much trouble?" You ask picking your head up off of Patrick's shoulder as you take some cash out of your wallet to give it to Joe.

He gladly takes it and walks off with Pete to the bar.

Andy was somewhere unknown to your knowledge. He had been gone for about 20 minutes now, he never said anything about going back to the bus or restroom, so you were starting to get a little worried.

"Do you know where Andy went? He just left without saying anything and I'm getting a little worried, now." You ask Patrick, anxiously looking to see if you could see him on the dance floor from where you were sitting.

" I think he said something about some girl he saw. He might be somewhere on the dance floor talking or trying to find her." Patrick assures you, taking a drink from his glass.

"Oh, okay. Good to know." You hum, laying your head back down onto Patrick's shoulder.

"Don't worry about him, Y/n. He's an adult, he knows not to do anything stupid."

"I know, I know. I just worry for him all the time though, you know?" You shrug.

Joe and Pete were taking longer than when they had previously gone back for more. Why did all of them disappear?

Speak of the devil; Pete and Joe showed up, drinks in hands and arms, passing them on the table to their own spots and yours and Patrick's.

"Did you guys see Andy over there?" You ask anxiously.

Pete and Joe look at eachother shrugging, then looking back to you and shaking their head 'no'.

Patrick's right, he's an adult, you shouldn't be so worried. He knows better and is responsible.

Somehow, somewhere in the conversation, it started to sound a lot like a middle school girl's sleepover party. Pete began talking about some of the girls he had a thing for when he was in high school, then so did Joe, and then they insisted it was your turn.

"Nope, never had a crush." You say,

"There's no way in hell, man. You're 34 years old and you've never had a crush? I don't believe that." Joe says.

"You sound like teenage girls.."

You ignore Joe, taking another cold fry from the basket and swirling it in the ketchup. You turn over to see Pete whispering something to Joe, then Joe giving a shocked expression as he looked back and forth between you and Patrick.

"What? What are you guys talking about?" You ask.

"Nothing." Joe and Pete say at the same time.

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

"Duuuudddeee, I'm telling you, man. Patrick totally has a thing for you." Pete slurs, grabbing your shoulders and shaking you slightly, making the nausea worse.

You feel heat quickly rise to your cheeks and tips of your ears.

"Dude, get off of me."

Regardless of what your stomach and head was currently telling you (to lay off the alcohol, and quickly for that matter), you continued to down a shot or two, or you think. Not that you really remember right now, though.

You felt lightheaded and heavy at the same time, and were currently trying your best not to suddenly fall asleep.

Everyone that had been sitting at the booth was now gone. Probably chatting with people, trying to get numbers, especially Pete and Joe, and just dancing. The only one that remained at the booth sitting next to you was Patrick.

He looked just as equally gone as you were. He was so pretty like that. The way the alcohol made his cheeks flushed, and the lighting of the club made it even better.

"I love you."

You suddenly blurt out, your brain had long lost your ability to make smart choices and not do things like this. And at this point you didn't really care, I mean, its not like you or him would remember it either way.

"What?"

"I love you, Patrick."

Patrick looks at you for a moment, an unreadable look on his face, and his face seemed to turn a crimson red faster and faster by the minute.

Very unsuspected and suddenly, a pair of lips crashes harshly onto yours and hands are on your waist.

You moan as Patrick trails his hand up your back and pulls you closer to deepen the kiss.

At this point, the both of you were being very handsy with eachother in the booth, where any of the boys could walk to it and see the both of you just going at it.

"We should go somewhere else." You say, breaking from the kiss. Your lips were swollen, you were out of breath and your whole body felt like it was on fire.

"I agree. Somewhere more private?" Patrick suggested.

You two walked to the single stall unisex restroom, which was by some miracle vacant.

It smelled of alcohol and throw up, and thankfully the smell of vomit was very subtle, but regardless, you wouldnt've cared.

Once inside and the door was locked, Patrick immediately pushed you against the wall and placed sloppy kisses on your neck.

"Fuck, Patrick.." You moan as you run your hands through his hair.

While doing something like this might be wrong, especially inside of a very unsanitary restroom, you hadn't cared one bit right now.

The ecstasy that ran through your body had you squirming at the pleasure.

This'll be a little secret between the two of you..

Volume: ■■■■■■■■

Okay, okay. So, I've literally never written something like this at all, and I got tired of having this in my drafts for literal months, so I very half-assed and quickly finished this. Tbh, I/m not happy with how it turned out at all, and it could've very well been a regular fluff fic, but I like trying new things, and I'm not really sure if I should've.

Anyway, I hope some of you dirty motherfuckers enjoyed this. This will most definitely be up on my Ao3..

[iwritenarrativesandstuff]

So, after reading this post I noticed that the water motif always seems to pop up in Chuuya's character. The tank from SB, the ocean, him almost drowning, etc. WHAT IF, JUST TO PISS OFF ME SPECIFICALLY, DAZAI FUCKING DROWNED CHUUYA TO TRIGGER CRAZY PTSD FROM THE TUBE TO SNAP HIM OUT OF THE VAMPIRE THING. NOW, I KNOW THAT THIS IS PROBABLY NOT WHAT HAPPENED BUT. WHAT IF. IT WAS. WHAT BETTER WAY TO REMIND HIM OF HIS OWN AUTONOMY THAN TO MAKE HIM REMEMBER WHEN HE WAS HAVING AN EXISTENTIAL CRISIS ABOUT WHETHER HE'S A HUMAN BEING OR A FUCKING LAB-MADE CLONE. SEEMS LIKE A DAZAI THING TO DO.

Also, water=ocean=fish=mackerel=Dazai. Dazai is the water to Chuuya's fire. Like how he can "douse" Chuuya when his flames get a little too out of control, aka corruption. (Ouhghghghghghhg character foils and parallels.) Wait, since Fyodor is a greasy rat wouldn't he be like oil to Dazai's water?? Constantly at odds and literally impossible to combine??? Sus. Him using Chuuya, who's like fire. Using him to make him "stronger"????? Idk. Do with this what you will.

"WHAT IF, JUST TO PISS OFF ME SPECIFICALLY" <- Do you have ANY IDEA how hard I laughed at this?

Hello again, by the way.

Oh! That's @carrotkicks's Code 01 Stormbringer art! It's so good, huh? The tags on it got to me too.

I had been thinking along similar lines to you when I first read Chapter 101. See, I think I may have mentioned before, but that chapter was actually the first one I read when it came out - up until that point I had been frantically trying to catch up on everything I had missed. I think I had just finished Stormbringer maybe two days before? And then that happened. Yeah. :') (<- face of pain)

So, Stormbringer was still fresh in my memory when I read it and I instantly went "why would you drown him Asagiri??? why the hell would you do that to him?" And then I came to a similar conclusion. The last time Chuuya was entirely submerged was the lab tank, and that memory is distant, vague and associated with the violence of Corruption. So, that's what I seriously thought might happen, especially since Stormbringer all but confirmed Chuuya has PTSD, and trauma tends to activate fight or flight. Even more so because there was no way Dazai would just go "welp see ya Chuuya nice knowing you". Yeah, I really thought he was intentionally trying to piss him off (though I think the water trap was set in advance, before he knew Chuuya would be there).

I went online to see what people were saying and everyone was upset, and I was like "yeah! me too!" but then people were talking about how mad they were at Dazai for killing Chuuya and I was so confused because well. This is why I was upset.

Look at their faces! Both of them! They are both miserable.

Anyways, while I don't think the water was intentional on Dazai's part, I do think that whole "sorry there weren't any" with the big fake smile was done to make Chuuya angry enough to fight back and regain control. I'm pretty sure he's in control of himself now, but I'm not 100% certain how - Was it the water? Was it the words? Had it just finally been long enough for him to snap out of it himself? Had he secretly been in control the whole time (doubt it but don't want to rule out the possibility)? Guess we'll find out. Eventually.

Also WATER-OIL-FIRE galaxy brain! Nice nice nice! Water being our introduction to Dazai, the way it flows and can erode rock and soil, change the course of things. Oil being used to lubricate machinery, and power engines, so that every cog runs smoothly in Fyodor's plans. Wildfire that rages and burns and can go out of control but is also warm and protective for those in the night - the duality of Chuuya. Also with the idea of oil adding fuel to flames - I had just commented on how it seems likely Fyodor has something up his sleeve on the off-chance Chuuya shakes off the brainwashing; could be information on singularities, or skk's bond, or even Chuuya himself. It may even be part of the plan, honestly - he's seen how these two work before. For him to make the "mistake" of gloating to Dazai that he doesn't know how to "use" Chuuya's ability concerns me.

Hm. I will chew on this. Tasty.