#was the intention but i'm pretty sure you can still read this platonically

[urlocalwhumper]

android whumpee being beaten to shit in front of a restrained human caretaker. whumper jeering that plastic can't feel pain as they take a metal bat to whumpee's limbs, ignoring caretaker's desperate cries to leave them alone and the android's "blood" staining the concrete blue. (or whatever color you prefer android "blood" to be)

once whumper leaves, caretaker rushes to whumpee's side, but there really isn't much they can do. androids can "heal" like humans do for small things, but damage this extensive and severe is going to need professional repairs.

whumpee is doing their absolute best to stay as functional as they can. shutting down in front of caretaker would only traumatize them further; it'd be like watching whumpee die right before their eyes, even though they could easily be restarted once they'd been repaired. no, they needed to stay online, no matter how many errors filled their display or how badly it hurt.

only one of whumpee's limbs still has function - their left arm - and they use it to weakly grasp caretaker's hand as they pull their phone out of their pocket to call for help.

"you're gonna be okay." caretaker says, voice shaking as they gently kiss whumpee's knuckles. "everything's gonna be okay."

whumpee dismisses all the errors blocking their vision, they can feel the extent of the damage fine enough, so they can look at caretaker clearly.

"i might shut down." they say, and caretaker's head whipped up to look at them so fast whumpee was a bit concerned for their neck.

"it's not permanent." they quickly add, seeing the distress on caretaker's face. "androids- we shut down when we're too damaged to stay functional. once the damage is fixed, we come back good as new." they squeeze caretaker's hand. "it's sort of like... passing out. scary, but i'll be okay."

"you better be." caretaker mumbles. whumpee can't help but laugh a little at that.

and then their vision blacks out.

[generalsmemories]

To raise a child

✧ jing yuan x gn!reader ft. yanqing (platonic)

✧ based on the asks: 3 requests asking for a family fic with jing yuan and yanqing

✧ synopsis: raising a child is always hard, even when you're a long life species with a lot of experiences.

✧ contents: established relationship, fluff, found family trope (a.k.a my one weakness with every media), yanqing & reader have a slight rocky start, mentions of other characters, sentences in italics are readers thoughts.

✧ a/n: i'm not gonna chuck angst into a found family trope unless i feel particulary miserable, they just gonna have a good ole time being parents to a yanqing from when he was a wee babie to the lieutenant he is today - also a lot of this is my own interpretation SINCE I DON'T GET A CRUMB ON HOW THE HELL THIS MAN FOUND MY BABY. not beta-ed like usual i'm sorry.

The first time you were told about Yanqing's existence was when you were not onboard Luofu, which honestly made the first meeting between the two of you a lot worse.

"... Pardon, he found what now while I'm away?" you stare bewildreded at the messenger before you while clutching the letter Jing Yuan had written to you - you can practically hear his easy-going voice resound in your head through the words before you.

"What do you mean he suddenly picked up a whole child?!"

Safe to say that the Luofu were turned upside down by the time you came back to the ship. Rumours spread amongst the citizens, gossip between the storytellers and the newsboard retelling the latest news and constantly updating on any new "information" they had gotten.

To say you got stopped at every corner before you even stepped foot back in land was an understatement. You practically had a crowd waiting for you - it was only by the assistance of Yukong that you had managed to worm yourself out of the crowd and hightail home.

Maybe it's because Jing Yuan knew you would come home first, or maybe it's because he was aware that you had a lot of questions for him. Which was why you had gotten a text prior to landing with the single message of:

"Decided to take the day off today <3"

Safe to say he was left on read.

"Jing Yuan, what has gotten into you-" are the first words that leaves your mouth when you slam your entrance doors open, only for your eyes to widen when Jing Yuan is already waiting for you at the foyer. Hands behind his back and sporting his signature smile, but your gaze isn't at your lover before you.

Rather it was on the smaller child that was hiding behind his legs, he was by no means scared of your sudden appearance you noticed. Rather, he was sizing you up and down with a fierce gaze, almost like a lion cub who had just found its first prey.

The glare made your previous anger and confusion fade into a more surprised shock, rendering you speechless on how to proceed further. Jing Yuan steps in after seeing your anger dissipate upon seeing the fierce boy, raising a hand to ruffle Yanqing's hair before he directs his gaze back to you who is still staring at Yanqing in mild surprise.

"He's a feisty one isn't he?" is what he utters softly, and it's the slight exhaustion in his voice that causes you to let your guard down and put aside your confusion and need for answers aside.

Right now there's a young child before you, a child that you don't know the lineage of - but a child that Jing Yuan himself had picked up and stood his ground against public opinion for.

And Jing Yuan didn't do things without reason.

But you're well aware that he's also the kind to not tell you much as to why he had done a few decisions. As futile as you know it is, you would still try to get something out of him later. But for now, you would have to try to give a better impression of yourself to this kid who you're pretty sure sees you as anything, but a person with good intentions.

... What do you say to a child that is currently holding animosity towards you?

Seeing your distraught face makes Jing Yuan let out a chuckle, glancing down at Yanqing who is still staring fiercly at you, "They're not someone you should be on guard with. That's my spouse, they're just surprised by your sudden arrival is all, Yanqing."

So his name is Yanqing.

The reassurance from Jing Yuan makes the young boy relax a bit, but you can still tell he's very much on guard against you, "... I'm Yanqing," he mutters quietly.

The two of you seem to have a long way to go from the first encounter.

"... What were you thinking?" you question the moment Jing Yuan slides the door to your bedroom shut, you had spent the majority of the afternoon cleaning up a spare room for Yanqing to sleep in after the meeting while the two had headed out to prepare the paperwork for Yanqing to be offcially be recgonized as a Cloud Knight.

"... I saw potential?" he tries, but with one glance at your direction and being faced with your quirked eyebrow makes him let out a sigh instead, reaching a hand behind his head to pull the red ribbon tying his hair back.

He doesn't say anything as he makes his way over to you. Neither does he utter a word when he lets his entire weight fall on top of your own, the noise of surprise you let out making him chuckle, rubbing his face onto neck, "W-Wait, hold on. There's a literal child in this house now, what are you-"

"Dear, what are you thinking?" Jing Yuan snorts before you finish your sentence, wrapping his arms around your waist before flipping himself over so that you're laying on top of him, "Our schedule clashed together too much that it's been 2 years since I last saw you? And when I meet you again you looked like you were going to pull my head off of my own body, this is quite frankly the first instance where I get you all to myself," he explains, raising an eyebrow at your gradually reddening face, "Whatever you were imagining is beyond me, darling."

"... Shut up and tell me the truth already," you murmur before burying your face in his chest, lifting a closed fist to lightly hit his arm when you feel his chest rumble with his constrained laughter.

"I didn't lie when I said I saw potential. Despite his young age, Yanqing is quite gifted with the sword," he starts after a brief silence, fingers drumming along the spine of your back, "But it would be more accurate to say I'm preparing the future generation?" he muses out loud, sounding unsure himself which makes let out a chuckle, "Wow, I'm sure lady Fu Xuan would be delighted by the news of your possible retirement."

"I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint our Master Diviner for another few decades unfortunately. She's still far too young to take up the mantle of the general."

You hum, raising your head up from his chest to make eye contact, Jing Yuan directing his gaze from staring up at the ceiling to instead stare at you as well, "Next time you're thinking of picking up a kid, give me a heads up? Or else you're going to end up on the news again like today with the headlines of you committing infidelity."

He laughs, hoisting you further up his body to peck your lips, "Please, I won't be picking up another child anytime soon. But maybe I need to show the citizens that I only have eyes for one person if they were swayed this easily by the apperance of one child."

"... Please don't say something that embarassing in front of Yanqing."

"See, you're already being a great parental figure."

Great parental figure my ass.

Is what's currently running through your mind as you're once again, left alone with Jing Yuan's prodigal apprentince. it's been a few months after Yanqing's first arrival, and the relationship between the two of you seem to still be threading on thin ice.

Your relationship with the young prodigy hasn't gotten worse, but it has in no way improved either. Whenever Jing Yuan is not present amongst the three of you, Yanqing becomes extra reserved and takes extra caution to not bother you - which makes any attempt to even talk to him 10 times harder than it has to be.

Yanqing is out in the garden, brushing the fallen leaves into a neat pile while you're sitting by the living room table doing paperwork. And yet, ever since Jing Yuan had stepped out for some urgent business, the two of you haven't even spoken a single word to each other.

Yanqing was at an age where you didn't need to give him constant attention, but with the way you two had started on the wrong foot it felt a lot harder trying to get closer to him - mostly because the boy himself tries to not be a burden on you, which in a way has become a burden.

Not to mention, Jing Yuan spends the most time with him training him personally - so the time you spend with Yanqing is close to nothing compared to your lover.

The odds are truly against you at the moment.

At this point, the new paper scroll that you had rolled out were becoming useless with how long you had pressed the ink filled brush on it's surface, the gradual circle of ink stained paper growing with each passing minute.

Topics you can talk about.. Jing Yuan mentioned he was great with a sword, but it's been ages since I've held a sword myself till the point he's probably better than me...

Were you always this awkward with children?

Glancing at the clock, you notice it's almost time for your meetup with master Gongshu over at the Artisanship Commission. So with a reluctant sigh, you glance down at the paper scroll before you - that has long been ruined before you put the brush away and roll the scroll back up.

"... Yanqing I'm about to head to out to the Artisanship Commission, can you..." your voice dies down when you see the boy whip his head around the moment you mention the Commission. And although he tries to hide it, you would be a fool to not notice the sparkle in his eyes at the mention of where you are going.

"... Do you want to join?" you end up asking instead.

You've never seen his facial expression change so much in just a few seconds. First you could tell he wanted to agree, but then you're pretty sure he managed to figure out why you were going and didn't want to be a burden, but still wanted to go. You soon saw hope come back to his eyes, presumably remembering that you personally asked, but you saw the same hope dwindle down when he probably thought that you asked just to include him.

The sight made you laugh, "... A child is a child after all, no matter where they are," you whisper quietly to yourself, "You won't be a bother, Yanqing. And wouldn't it be better for you to look around the Luofu a bit? I'm pretty sure Jing Yuan has only brought you to the Cloud Knights training area after all, we can even stop by Cloudbreath Sleeves to take your measurements so that you can get some tailor-made clothes and not Jing Yuan's old clothes."

That seemed to be the only reassurance he needed.

You're pretty sure Yanqing hasn't noticed that your meeting with master Gongshu ended 15 minutes ago. Neither has he seemed to realize that the two of you have spent the next 15 minutes just observing his every reaction to the swords on display.

His eyes seemed particulary glued to an iridescent blue sword with a black handle, master Gongzhu giving a low whistle beside you, "He's got a good eye."

You roll your eyes, "Send me the invoice later," you reply back before stepping towards the awestruck boy, "Why not bring it home with us?" you ask, Yanqing jumping slightly in surprise, his head turning around with widened eyes, "I can't possibly ask that of you, I can just save up-"

"You're staring at it like it's your first love, Yanqing," you chuckle, reaching out to grab the handle, twirling it around before reaching for the scabbard right underneath where it was displayed - sliding the sword inside.

"Consider it a gift, for future endeavours."

He blinks, taking the scabbard from your hands, staring at the intricate design weaved into the metal - and you notice the faint tears forming at the corners of his eyes before the boy leaps into your arms to give you a hug, "I swear I'll treasure it, thank you!"

Perhaps too shocked by the sudden hug, you fail to realize that master Gongshu had quickly snapped a picture of the scene and sending it to a certain general.

Qingzu had to stop the very same general from storming away from the Divine of Foresight to head to the Artisanship Commission the very next minute.

"... Well the two of you seem to have gotten a lot closer these past few months," Jing Yuan comments the moment he noticed the position you were currently in. You merely glared halfheartedly at him, but Jing Yuan made no effort to help you - instead walking over to bend down to peck your forehead, careful to not wake the child asleep on top of you.

"I told him to head home before me since I still had affairs to tend to, didn't think he would immediately collapse on top of you and doze off," Jing Yuan remarks with a laugh.

You had one hand supporting Yanqing weight on top of you so that he doesn't topple over, so you decide to use your other hand to reach over and flick Jing Yuan on the forhead - a flick he moved away from with a smirk, "He just dozed off mid-talk too. He was talking about your recent spar match before he just fell asleep," you say, "And to think he vehemently denied not needing a nap after a training session because he's not a child."

Jing Yuan lets out another laugh at that, effortlessly wrangling Yanqing away from your hold and hoisting him up in his arms without manaing to wake him up, "Well if you treat him like an adult, he'll show the temperament of a child as well."

"You should try to get some rest as well, dear. We can just order something from Aurum Alley later," Jing Yuan suggests, to which you merely nod to, standing up to stretch your limbs, "Join me then, I'm sure our dozing general is quite tired too."

"My, what an alluring offer. Can I assume that there's something more-"

"Don't push your luck."

here's the 3 requests that wanted a family fic - i actually struggled a bit with how to do this, but alas - i just know future me will conjure something up again so have this as a teaser HAHA

[temis-de-leon]

Gn!MC with chronic joint pain

Characters: Mammon, Leviathan, Asmodeus, Beelzebub and Belphegor (x reader, separately, could be read as romantic or platonic)

Main Masterlist

Anon request: Could I request the brothers with a gn!MC with chronic joint pain? Sure, medicine makes it feel better when they take it, but it never 100% goes away and the meds aren't without side effects. On a good day, they can function relatively normally even if they do certain things at a slower pace. However, on a bad day, they can hardly get out of bed or do basic tasks (brush their teeth, lift a coffee cup, use a hand towel, etc) without difficulty, and require a fair amount of support when flare ups happen

A/N: I'm pretty sure Google thinks I'm the one with chronic pain

.

Mammon

Although he’s the one who spends time with you the most, it took an embarrassingly long time to notice how significant your winces and fatigue were. After all, his initial belief was that humans were naturally weak.

He thought he understood why you stayed too long in bed from time to time or why your brows would frown when you grabbed your backpack if it was especially heavy some days.

You’d say you couldn’t help it whenever he teased and of course, you talked with frustration each of those times, so he learnt to ignore it; just like you tried to do.

Then came the day when he crushed you in the hallway while running away from Lucifer. The only thing he could do before both of you fell to the ground was twist your body so he could act as a cushion, but even that wasn’t enough.

You started to complain before he had the chance to ask for payment for his ‘sacrifice’, but it wasn’t just words or berating; Lucifer was already doing plenty of that.

It was a mix of gasps and moans of pain that stopped both brothers in their tracks.

The only reason why the eldest didn’t obliterate the younger demon on the spot was because the guilt was already eating him alive.

He helps you with no asking needed, carrying your backpack to and from school, helping you put on your coat or making you breakfast, although it’ll most likely be burnt.

He’ll stop if it makes you feel useless or incapacitated on days when you are mostly okay, but if you’re barely able to lift your head off the pillow, you can bet all your money he’s laying right next to you ready to make you some company, even in silence.

It will take him some time, but, eventually, you will have his undying support.

Levi

Being as distracted as he is, with his eyes glued to a screen most of the day, wasn’t an excuse for him to ignore all the pill bottles in your bathroom cabinet or the way you sometimes couldn’t keep up with him when he was excited and walking too fast.

He feels like a horrible friend when you tell him. He should’ve known!

You will have to explain the whole situation to him in the comfort of his room, moments after he requests your presence for the testing of an arcade shooting game that will, for sure, make your arms sore for the next few days.

Although you assure him you can still play, just not for excruciatingly long periods and on lower difficulty, he still feels like he failed you in some way.

Sharing his interests with you will never be enjoyable as long as it has the possibility of causing you pain.

Fortunately, he knows countless games where long-range movements are not required and you can have fun anyway: visual and choice-based novels, turn-based RPGs, social simulation games…

He especially likes the choice-based ones. From your views on morality to romance and friendship, each important interaction with the characters or the lore helps him know you more and more as the game progresses.

It doesn’t stop there, though.

He will also try, not so subtly, to find games, shows, comics and manga where you can relate to the main character in one way or another.

It could be seen as pity, but that isn’t his intention at all. You should enjoy the media you interact with! Either heroes or villains or something in between, you should have someone you can understand on the screen or paper.

Asmo

Since observing you and everything related to you is an enjoyable pastime of his, it doesn’t take him long before he figures out your medication schedule. At first his beauty-driven mind thinks your pills are vitamin supplements, but then he notices the headaches, the stomach issues and the exhaustion; no doubt side effects.

It is on one of your worst days when he knocks on your door asking to spend the evening together. The only thing you can do to greet him is throw a weak peace sign from beneath the blankets and that’s when he pouts and frowns in worry.

He hopes you trust him enough to talk about it in case you want to keep it a secret and, if not, why would he treat it like a taboo subject?

He may be the only one who straight-up asks with absolute normality.

Changes are not noticeable at first seeing that he already liked being around you and dotting on you before knowing anything, but rest assured he will be there if you ever need him.

On days when you feel like you can’t take care of yourself, the only thing you have to do is send him a message.

Whatever you need, he will do.

From drawing a bath so you don’t have to stand up while holding the shower head to applying dry shampoo on your hair so you don’t get out of bed at all. He will also do your skincare routine and even your makeup if you're up to it; brush your teeth and your hair and organize your room while mindlessly chatting with you.

His favourite shared activity is painting your nails since you don’t have to move at all and you still enjoy each other’s company.

The rest of the brothers need to remind him from time to time that you aren’t a doll for him to dress, but he won’t ever do something that makes you uncomfortable in any way.

Beel

He doesn’t really notice until it comes up naturally in conversation.

You’re both in the kitchen, getting a snack to hold on until everyone is ready for dinner, and he starts talking about a new workout plan he is following in the gym. A famous bodybuilder posted it on his Devilgram account and he was too curious not to give it a shot.

Although he can do it on his own, he likes to spend time with you, so he innocently asks if you want to go with him someday and try it, even if it’s a watered-down beginner version.

It’s not like you can’t go to the gym, but the number of exercises you feel like you can do is limited and you need to be mindful while doing all of them. Hell, even at home you need to be careful with some of your movements, doing simple chores like making your bed or washing the dishes.

You remind him how you cook too, usually doing one-pot meals and trying to use your body as little as possible; there are human influencers (highly recommend) that show specific tricks to make cooking easier for people like you, after all.

Luckily, he understands immediately, but that doesn’t mean he’s going to give up.

Unbeknownst to you, he researches specialized exercises and routines, as well as food, made to alleviate pain and strengthen your weakest points.

It isn’t a definitive solution, and certainly not the best, but it’s the thought that counts and he’s genuinely trying to make your life more comfortable and pleasant; not so draining.

He won’t push if you decline his offers and options (he’ll never force you to do anything, even if it benefits you), but will be extremely happy if you accept.

Belphie

He never asks, but you never have to tell him either, he just knows.

Your pain reflects in the way you move and live your day-to-day life, slower than the rest of them and always taking precautions, medicating yourself periodically even if sometimes that isn’t enough.

All of them have dinner in your room when you’re feeling way worse than usual and each time his memories can’t help but go back to that fateful evening in the attic.

He willingly and excitedly caused you abysmal pain back then, but he doesn’t want to imagine how underestimated his measurements are.

You suffered, yes, but all of that happened in the past.

Asking you what exactly hurts and what makes it worse won’t help his guilt at all.

Now that he can help you, he won’t do anything but.

Being who he is and liking what he likes, he has a trustworthy list of mattresses and pillows that he doesn’t hesitate to share with you.

He knows better than anybody else what a well-rested body can do to the mind and, although it may not help much, he insists you try at least once.

Going shopping for something like this and doing it with him is a double-edged sword; while he couldn’t be a better critic, there’s also the possibility of him falling asleep on one of the mattresses on display.

And you know perfectly well you aren’t going to be the one dragging him back home, so inviting Beel as well is always the best choice; especially since you can hang out after shopping knowing that you will have your purchase delivered.

If you still feel like you aren’t getting any rest, he will use a little bit of his magic to make you fall asleep more easily without waking up in discomfort.

.

.

Taglist: @hatchers-hoard @ilovecandys2010  @ollieoven @kingofspadesdelusion @whimsybloom

[legendofmorons]

Hi! Im new to requesting here so i hope im not late or sending you something thats against your rules. I also hope something like this hasn't been requested before.

Could i request some semi-romatic chain x reader (platonic for Wind because he's baby) where the reader needs to go do something (example: shopping, hunting, scouting, etc) and they need one of the links to come with them because they aren't the best at fighting/aren't familiar with this hyrule. So the way they get their attention is by calling for their "Pretty boy". Bonus points if the chain(again platonic for Wind) had a crush on reader!

Idk if you've seen that tiktok audio/video where someone goes, "Pretty boy, with me I say!" "..." "..." "Oh! I'm pretty boy?" "Yes! That came out a bit too quickly-" "...pretty?"

All i can think of is basically reader accidentally calling the link for you choice "pretty boy" subconsciously. The reader could either play it off and the link could tease them or reader can go all in and continue calling said link "pretty boy".

Hopefully that makes sense and/or isn't too much? Also if possible could you make the reader gn? If you don't do it already? Also if doing all of the chain is too much you can just choose specific one's, i dont mind who you pick. Anyways thanks for even reading my request and i hope you have a good day!

I'm happy to do this! This is such a good idea and I'm excited to write it. If I didn't do it the qay ypu hoped let me know!

I went for vague crushing vibes on all of them, but Wind's. If this isn't what you had in mind please let me know!

-In alphabetical order and names are in bigger writing than the story parts

Pretty boy (chain)

Pairing: Chain x reader (seperate), Wind & reader

Rating:

Summary: you call the boys 'pretty boy' these are the results

Warnings:

Other: -In alphabetical order and names are in bigger writing than the story parts

-------

Four

You don't necessarily love going shopping. You don't hate it either, but it's not your definition of fun. So obviously you want someone to come with you.

Four is always fun to have around. He's sweet, and he's surprisingly good at haggling down prices.

"Do you need anything else?" Time asks you, eyeing you over and counting off your weapons for self defense.

"Not really." You say, turning towards the path.

You observe the dirt road before turning your head and calling over your shoulder, "Come on, pretty boy, let's go."

The entire group goes still and silent. They're all staring at you.

Why are they staring?

You replay your words. Oh- shit. You called Four pretty boy.

Well- he is a pretty boy but still!

You turn back to the group, taking in their confused expressions before your eyes land on Four.

Well.... You might as well commit.

"Well? Are you coming, pretty boy?" You ask, flashing a smile to show the playful intent behind the question.

Four blinks a few rides. And then points to himself slowly.

"Me?" He asks.

"Yeah, c'mon, pretty boy."

Four gives a little half fought off smile. "Pretty boy?"

"Do you not like the name?"

"No- I like it."

"Good. Come on then, I could use the company." You say.

Four follows you. It's hard to miss the little giddy pep in his step when he seems almost inclined to giggle.

You'll have to call him pretty boy more often!

Hyrule

"You should take someone with you if you're going to the dungeon. It's better with help." Time says evenly, "And take plenty of fariea and potions. Okay?"

"Okay." You say, "Let me grab my things and I'll bring Hyrule."

"Good idea."

You go to your little space in the clearing, grabbing your bag and making sure you have plenty of equipment. You don't like having to rely on other people all the time. No one does.

You finish getting yourself ready before you turn to Hyrule, "Comr on Pretty boy, you're with me.

"Did you just call Hyrule 'pretty boy'?" Legend asks, a sly look crossing his face.

"No!" You defend, face flushing as embarrassment crawls up your spine.

"It's okay!" Hyrule assures quickly, his own ears tinging with a blush. "I like that name!"

"You do?"

"Yeah!"

You smiles a little, glad he isn't upset about it. "Well... good!"

"Soo.... you think I'm pretty?" Hyrule asks, and his grin is anything but innocent.

"Maybe?"

"I knew it! I'm definitely your favorite."

"Good god." You groan, but you can find it in you to really be upset.

If only they weren't all teasing you the rest of the day. Oh, well.

Legend

You find yourself stuck on middle watch, which is the Worst. Capital W and all. Like for first watch you stay up late, last you wake up early.

But middle watch? You get woekn up and then get to try to go back to sleep later.

Gross.

Maybe someone is awake?

You scan the group, finding what is to be expected at this point.

Time sleeps as still as a log, hand one over the other on his chest.

Warriors sleeps like a soilder, light and still but heavy enough all at once.

Wild, Twilight, and Wind are all in a tangled bunch of limbs. Though to your surprise they managed to pull Four and Hyrule into their cuddle puddle tonight.

Sky sleeps all sprawled out and half out of his sleeping roll.

Then you land on Legend- who seems to be trying to get comfortable. Is he awake?

One way to find out.

"Hey! Pretty boy!" You stage whisper at him.

You don't know what possessed you to call him that. But you did, amd you don't think you're wrong.

He actually sits up, looking to you. "What?"

"Oh good, you're awake!"

"No shit. What did you call me?"

"Uh-" you pause, having hoped he would either not care or not notice. "Pretty boy?"

"That's what I thought. You got a crush on me?"

"I can think you're pretty without having a crush!" You hiss out, face flushing with embarrassment.

Maybe he is right.

"Bummer." Legend says, "Here I was thinking you had fallen head over heels for me. Since I'm your pretty boy.c

"Oh my god. Just forget I said it."

"Nope!" Legend says.

"Whyyyyy?" You groan.

Sky

You are over again pulled into upkeep chores that the quest requires. Which, whatever but you wish you weren't stuck on laundry today.

Laundry sucks with only the river, soap, and sun to do it.

Thankfully, you have Sky to help you. He's such a sweetheart that you really do appreciate his help.

So you settle at the river with the pile of clothes and some soap and resign yourself to the repetitive chore.

You cast a look to where Sky is and call out within much thought. "Come on, pretty boy! Might as well get started."

Sky and Twilight both go still before turning their eyes to you. Both looking fairly bewildered.

Oh. You said the 'pretty boy' part out loud. Whoops.

At least it's just Twilight and Sky here. They're not too bad about holding things against you. Usually.

"Me?" Sky questions, looking fairly confused but maybe just a little flattered.

His ears have a hint of pink on them.

How cute!

"Yeah?" You say, but it comes out a lot more like a question then he'd like.

"I've never been called that before."

"Real? Like- not ever?"

"Never.... I like it, though. Please keep calling me that?"

"Sure, if you like."

"I would."

You smile softly, bit your eyes go back to the laundry. "Well come on, pretty boy. We still have laundry to get done."

Time

You'd ask why you're the one who's always in charge of day to day things like groceries, supply runs, socializing, and all of that.... But you've seen the others try. Some are better in these aspects then others- but you are still the best.

So you're in charge of it.

You've already split the work and have the group gathered around you to hand out the assignments.

"Alright, Four, Warriors, and Sky, you're on weapon inventory. Wild, Hyrule, and Twilight's, you're on market duty. Wind and Legend, you're on laundry."

The others all share looks with their task partners.

"Where am I?" Time asks.

You give a smile when you speak, though you swear the nickname is an accident! "Your with me, pretty boy."

Silence.

Complete and utter silence.

Shit.

You said that out loud.

"Did you just-" Time starts.

You cut him off with a tight voice, "Can we please pretend I didn't?"

Warriors just laughs at you, the ass.

"I didn't say I hated it." Time says simply, though you can see the shit eating gleam in his eyes.

Fuck.

"Great. Well, Time, we're on dishes. "

"I thought I was ypur pretty boy."

You feel your face heat up, but you can even care. Why does je have to tease you? Your heart can't take it.

He's so handsome when he's being a menace. Which is a big problem.

Well also the whole he's being a menace thing. That's a bigger problem.

"You're just being mean to (Y/n)," Twilight says helpfully.

"How? I'm just asking why I went from pretty boy to Time."

You just groan, pulling your hands to cover your face.

This is going to be a long day.

Twilight

Why you're left to babysit the stubbornest Links is still beyond you, and yet here you are for the umpteenth time- babysitting them.

Twilight, Warriors, Legend, Wild, and Wind are scattered about the clearing in groups of one or two.

Thankfully, Wild and Wind are on opposite sides of the area and not collaborating to cause trouble.

Unfortunate you hear trouble before you see it.

"Fan out, get low! Pretty boy with me!"

They all turn to look at you as they drop into crouches.

Oh good. You called Twilight pretty boy. And no one knows who you meant. Great.

You groan because that's easier than dealing with feelings.

"You uh, were looking at me when you said- that name.... am- Am I pretty boy?" Twilight asks, and his voice is a little too thick to be played off.

"Yes. Now get over here we don't have much time."

Twilight does, quickly making his way to your side.

He gets there in time to throw a shield over your heads when the arrow start falling. What a gentleman!

When it's all over you can already feel his eyes on you.

"So uh... I'm pretty boy?"

"Yeah, guess you are." You answer him.

"You think I'm pretty?" Twilight asks, and it's both hopeful and heart breaking to hear.

How can he not see that?

"Of course I do. I have eyes." You say, playing off any and all other emotions.

"So... I'm your pretty boy then?"

You just sigh. At least he's having fun. "If you like to be, sure."

Warriors

You actually don't mind going to town to grab supplies, what you fo hate is pickings who goes with you. Sometimes there's no problem, but sometimes the others get pouty if they don't get to go.

Somethings about socialization? Who knows.

But as you're in Warrior's hyrule, he's coming with.

"Alright, pretty boy, let's go." You say as you turn to look at the captain.

Oh, you said that out loud. Shit.

Maybe he missed it?

"What did you just call me?" Warriors asks, and he looks half confused half endeared.

"Uhhhhh-" You blue screen with nearly no idea what's happening.

But you do register embarrassment blooming.

Warriors takes on a smug look as he asks, "You called me pretty boy, right?"

"Yeah. So?" You ask, failing miserably at keeping your cool.

"You think I'm a pretty boy?" He asks, and you swear his ears are tinkered pink.

Why are his ears pink?

Is he- flattered?

"Yeah... You're pretty. You're a boy. Seems pretty straight forwards."

"That's not usually a name I like."

"Oh. Then I'm sorry I called you that."

Warriors shakes his head and gives you a soft look. Earnest and hinging almost on smitten "Actually- I like when you say it."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"Well, come on then pretty boy." You say, flashing a smile.

"Lead on, (Y/n)."

He links his arm through yours eaaily.

Wild easily.

You find yourself watching Wild as he crouches and waits patiently for the perfect shot. You've been running low on meat lately and you're out here to aid his hunt.

Does ot usually take so long?

You can't tell.

But you would like to have a break from squatting a little behind him.

"Wild." You whisper just barley audible.

He dosen’t seem to here you.

"Wild."

No answer.

"Link?" You call again.

He stil dosen’t respond.

So you try again, "Pretty boy?" You say, words falling out of yourouth without thought or permission.

He stiffens, head whipping around. "(Y/n)?

"Are we even seeing animals to hunt?" You ask softly.

"No- wait- what?"

"How much longer are we going yo sit here? It's been like two hours."

"Twenty minutes. And did you call me pretty boy?"

"Oh- yeah, I was hoping you wouldn't notice."

"Oh... Why?"

"I was thinking we should move to a better place to hunt?"

"Oh... Okay."

"Any ideas on where?" You ask.

"Uh- maybe a hill.... Why did you call me pretty boy?"

"It just slipped out. I won't call you that again though, promise."

"No... Uh- I like the name.... I just don't think I've been called that before."

You have a harder time believing that. Wild really is pretty, has je eveb seen his own face?

"That's surprising. "

"It is?"

"Yeah. It is."

"Well.... I like the name, at least from you." Wild says again, his ears tinged pink and a barley hidden smile present.

"Yeah? You don't want Legend calling you that?"

"Not really."

"That tracks, pretty boy. Come on let's move to a better vantage point."

"Okay." Wild says, and you swear if he were a hardened hero and traveler, he'd be giggling.

Wind

You don't mind being put on foraging duty, especially not when the sailor is your companion. Wind has always been so fun to be around. The kid is like a brother to you almost.

He's a few feet away, digging through a mess of greenery that seems pretty weird to you, but he seems happy. And thats good.

"Hey, (Y/n)?" Wind asks, turning his eyes to you.

"Yeah, kid?"

"Are these those poisonous berries Wild showed us?"

You squint as you scrutinize the purple berries Wind holds up. They definitely look similar.

"I'm not sure. Better leave them alone to be safe, though."

Wind sighs, "I thought you'd say that."

"Then why even ask, pretty boy?"

You don't know why you said it, but you did, and he's a cute kid. So whatever. It's honest, at least.

"What?"

"What part are you confused about, kiddo?"

"Why did you call me pretty boy? Is that an insult?"

"No, Wind, it's not an insult. Not from me at least."

"Oh. Good!"

You bite back the laugh that bubbles up from your throat, trying not to he overtly rude. His fave is definitely one you'll remember.

Wind looks pleased, and maybe a little embarrassed. But the glee behind his eyes is genuine.

"So, I'm your pretty boy?"

"Sure kid." You say, trying again not to laugh.

He's cute, in that kid way with the too big grin.

"The others are gonna be SO jealous!"

You do laugh this time, warm and bright, and glad to see him happy.

"Be nice, Wind."

"Never!" He calls as he starts foraging again.

[eveledoze]

What are your thoughts on envy & thuzi?

i started liking Thad/Uzi from the pilot, Thad seemed like a pretty good choice for her. but then i somehow came up with Thad/Doll and forgot about the first one (+Nuzi showed up)

(old sketch- unfortunately i didn't draw Uzi and Thad together, so have this)

i don't pay much attention to Thad/Uzi rn, but i still think they're really cute! :з i've read a couple of fanfictions and seen a couple of arts with them (and i think a lot of them were prom themed lol) and all of them were superior

i'm not against N/V, but it's really hard for me to feel it, i just don't feel well that it could work (not considering the time when they were worker-drones and the Elliot's house, where they had a nice relationship) because of how V treats to N (and probably also because i didn’t like V at first). i'd like to see V act more trusting and open up to others so i can see for sure that her intentions are good (as i already feel that way, but i want to see it). at this point i feel more like V cares for him in a platonic way, she wants to protect him from bad things but her ways aren't really the best. instead of “figure out things together” and trusting him, she is closed and does not tell him what she knows. her ways are not the best, but i understand that she was trying to protect N from Uzi, since she saw that Uzi was possessed by Cyn and could harm N.

V, I still believe in you.

(demons possessed me to do this)

[thehistoriccemetery]

Heem.... to do... do platonic hc...? If u do (and I'm sorry if your requests are closed), could you write about Jaheira and minthara being Subtlety motherly/material to a Tav who opened up about their crappy relationship with their mother? Like, kind of, being sure they ate something, being sure they go to bed on time (busting into their tent and taking whatever their working on, reading/fixing a weapon or whatnot, like a parent catching their child on their phone at midnight), or like helping them do their hair in the morning and praising them a little more than normal? Please than thank you~

Motherly Jaheira

First of all I love this prompt so thank you anon. Second of all, as much as I love Minthara, I can’t see that woman having a maternal bone in her body. So, I hope it’s alright that I just did Jaheira!

Jaheira could smell the mommy issues coming off of you before you ever even mentioned your mother.

Even she didn’t really know what about you gave it away. Maybe it was in the way you over eagerly tried to please her. Or how your hair was done with all the elegance of someone who never really learned how to braid.

It didn’t matter though, because it only took a matter of days fighting by her side for you to open up to her about your maternal woes one night over wine at Last Light Inn.

You felt so compelled to share your story that you had half a mind to check the wine for Klauthgrass. Aside from a terribly high alcohol content, it was clean.

The night ended with your head in her lap, crying so hard you could hardly get your words out. All while Jaheira listened intently and stroked your hair. Not your best moment, you admit.

After that night though, she is sure to put a little extra attention into you, shooting you an extra look of approval when you did something particularly impressive or taking on the task of teaching you proper hair care.

She does her best not to treat you like a child, yet she sees this little child in you that’s begging to be loved and cared for.

She started calling you cub pretty much as soon as she met you, but now it seemed to slip off her tongue more often than even she intended it to. She also started to subconsciously add complimentary adjectives in front of the nickname. You were “little cub” or “clever cub.”

One night, she noticed you had a particular affinity for tucking an extra bedroll to your chest just so you’d have something to hold on to. The next night you find a small stuffed blue owlbear sitting next to your bedroll.

On nights you can’t sleep, she’ll tell you old Harper tales of days past. Karlach is always all too happy to move her bedroll closer so she can listen in too.

You notice there are patches in your clothes where there used to be holes. Your armor is nicely laid out rather than haphazardly strewn across the dirt.

She knows you are just as capable of taking a hit as anyone else in the party, but she pays careful attention to heal and dress your wounds. She’s much gentler with you than she is with anyone else.

And she insists on checking in on wounds every day. Even when they are minor it is good practice to clean and rebandage regularly.

When it’s just the two of you, she’s sure to be extra affectionate. She knows it embarrasses you a little when you’re around the others, but sometimes you just need to rest your head on her shoulder while she pulls you into a tight hug.

She loves to do your hair for you. She always says her girls were never ones for sitting still, and Jord never let her do anything more brush it and slick it back behind his ears.

She really struggles to be complimentary, but she tries to highlight your finer moments when she can.

And if ever there comes another night with slightly too much wine and a slightly too heavy burden, she will be there with listening ears once again.

[idyllic-affections]

HELLO!! YOUR BAIZHU WITH CHRONICALLY ILL READER IS THE BEST THING THAT'S EVERY HAPPENED!!! I've never seen a blog that does only platonic things, and as an aroace person, IT MAKES ME SO HAPPY! I wasn't too sure if you requests were open or not, but I was wondering if you could make either some headcanons or a fic where the reader (from that series) has a flare up or gets sick and Baizhu takes care of them? I'm unfortunately sick right now (just in time for when my final school assignments are due, slay 😍) but found family and hurt/comfort are literally the best thing ever, and, if put together, I'm pretty sure will cure me /j. If you requests aren't open, then please disregard this message!

Anyway, I gotta go sleep before the fever messes up my brain (if it hasn't already); so good bye, and thank you again!!

a slip of the tongue.

summary. how does baizhu care for his junior herbalist when they fall ill?

trigger & content warnings. flu-like sickness, lighthearted mentions of death.

tropes, pairings, fic length, & other notes. hurt/comfort-ish. baizhu & reader. 1.1k words. they/them pronouns for reader. this post is an expansion of invisible disability? it's rather visible to me & contains vaguely implied spoilers for baizhu's story quest.

author's thoughts. hello lovely!!! thank youu <3 i am slowly collecting people that like this series like how i collect shiny rocks. its great to get a request related to it. i hold this series very dearly, so please (and this goes for everyone reading this!) never be shy to send thoughts about it or requests related to it. anyway, i love catering to aroace folk, you all are so special to me. im on the aro spectrum myself, so i get it. i know from experience that it can be super frustrating looking for fanfic content that's non-romantic. please remember to take care of yourself! i totally understand the feeling of needing to finish final assignments while being sick. me and you are in the exact same boat LMAO... my requests are always open btw! ive no intention of ever closing them. in the end, i went with our poor reader being sick rather than having flare ups, since i already briefly touched on that idea in employee benefits.

how does baizhu care for his junior herbalist when they're sick and out of commission?

baizhu is most often the first to know when they're sick or otherwise unwell. he's so impossibly attentive to their bodily condition, simply because their health is partially his responsibility. he's their teacher. what kind of mentor would neglect to take care of their apprentice? a bad one, that's what kind.

(he also feels somewhat indebted to them—even though they're chronically ill, they're always doing anything they can to help him recover after his "secret art" treatments. even though he's the doctor, they've helped care for him on more than one occasion. he has to return the favor whenever he can. just because he's older doesn't mean he gets to freely take advantage of their kindness.)

if he's not the first to know, he's the second, because the only instance where he wouldn't know first is if they woke up ill at home.

he'll always end up being the second to know, at the very least. someone will inform him of their condition, whether that be a parent or a sibling or another family member. sometimes a friend of theirs may tell him, such as xingqiu, chongyun, hu tao, or xiangling.

in hu tao's case... she may be distrustful of him, but she does tell him when they aren't well. [name] is a childhood friend of hers. she cares about their health and, surprisingly, doesn't want to put them in the ground just yet!

even though she dreads the path they've chosen to walk down... she still cares for them, very much so.

(junior herbalist!reader's lore drop is finally here?!?!?)

regardless of how baizhu finds out, they'll end up being cared for at the pharmacy.

though he could prescribe them medication and let them be taken care of at home...

he often wants to care for them himself.

gui has asked why in the past, and baizhu really has never had a good answer for him.

he's really not sure why he wants to be the one to monitor them. perhaps it's because it gives him a sense of calmness and reassures him that they're recovering well.

after all, if their condition were to rapidly decline for any reason... he could fix it.

(to some others, his concern might seem overprotective. unnecessary. however, something as simple as the flu has been known to take lives. he worries that, because of their chronic illness, they may be more susceptible to a severe case than others are.)

he has the means to save them if something like that were to happen, and undoubtedly, the life of his sweet and kind apprentice is one that deserves to be saved and protected.

perhaps it's also because it seems to put qiqi at ease; baizhu's noticed that she gets fidgety in [name]'s absence during work hours, but when they're ill and being cared for at the pharmacy, she functions very well and often even remembers to check on them herself.

sometimes when they have a fever, qiqi may sit by their side for minutes at a time and just press her little cold hands on their forehead to cool them off. she also ensures that they stay hydrated.

both baizhu and gui find this behavior very endearing. qiqi cares deeply for her big sibling (despite the fact that she's technically older...). her bond with them is something very special and sweet to bear witness to.

bubu pharmacy's work environment is familial and tightly knit by nature, so it isn't too hard to imagine that something would feel wrong if one of the four herbalists were gone for whatever reason. even those who don't work there are affected by the absence of one or more of the pharmacists.

overall, baizhu takes very good care of them when they fall ill.

he monitors them closely, hand-crafts their medicine depending on what they need, makes sure that their fluid intake is maintained...

he dotes on them tbh.

"Ugh..." they groaned, blearily blinking up at their mentor. Baizhu's hand against the feverish skin of their forehead was cold; they couldn't help but lean into the gentle touch. "Bàba?"

He didn't point it out. He hardly even acknowledged their words, as if he were somehow used to it. He only smiled, hand stroking tenderly over their disheveled hair, taming the defiant strands no doubt caused by restless sleep. "So sorry to wake you, dear."

Even Changsheng was quiet—she only hummed thoughtfully from her place around Baizhu's neck. Normally, she'd find something to tease them about (usually because they started it!), but now... she seemed to know that it just wasn't right to tease them in their hazy state of mind.

Gui was quiet, too. He was surprised. He had never heard them address their mentor such an... informal way, let alone with familial terms. He did once briefly think that the dynamic they had with Baizhu was awfully family-like, but...

It was still unexpected.

"Come, now. It's time to take your medicine again, and then you can go back to sleep, okay?"

Gui watched, still silent, as they hummed in absentminded acknowledgement, rubbing their eyes ever so slightly. It didn't seem to help them come to at all; their gaze was still distant and unfocused and they didn't even realize how they addressed the doctor. If they did... they'd probably apologize, embarrassed, but they showed no such emotion. Baizhu gently guided them into a sitting position, rubbing small circles on their back.

Gui handed the cup filled about halfway with herbal medication off to the doctor. Baizhu gingerly guided it to their lips, knowing very well that the guidance was needed; they looked half-asleep sitting up. Archons know they were in no condition to successfully do it themselves. They took the medicine without so much as a whine about its bitterness—they only grimaced slightly after swallowing. Gui supposed that they never really were one to complain about it, even when fully coherent. 'I think it would set a bad example for others if I complained,' they once told him. 'Plus, it's not like Dr. Baizhu gets some kind of sadistic pleasure from giving medication to me, so there's no reason to complain. It's herbal. There's nothing to be done about the taste... I know he doesn't like taking it either. Hehe. It's kind of funny, actually, like we're hiding some kind of company secret. Herbalists who don't like the taste of herbal medicine.'

It was only after he left the room with the doctor that he pointed it out:

"They called you bàba."

"Hm?" Baizhu hummed, turning to Gui. "Oh. Yes... [Name] has done it quite a few times, actually, whether that be because of fever delirium or a slip of the tongue. I don't mind it. It only means that they feel safe enough to be vulnerable here. Qiqi has done it a few times, as well. Those two are only children, so... it is to be expected."

Gui then smiled, nodding. "It's cute."

Baizhu couldn't help but agree, his lips tilting upwards into a little smile himself. "It is."

please consider reblogging, it helps me out quite a lot!

[boydiisaster]

May I request a teen! Male!reader who just lost his dad x any obey me characters (platonic ofc) I recently found out my dad passed away in a very brutal way and he didn't get to know I'm trans either :(

loss

reader: teenage, male, he/him pronouns

tw/cw: death, suicide implications, cussing

author's note: i'm so sorry to hear that anon! i hope things get better for you soon, and that this story helps, even just a little bit

lucifer

There's a sudden shift in the air before you tell Lucifer the news. He sensed it as soon as you found out; a profound feeling of grief overwhelmed him. Tears began to trickle down his cheeks, and he raised a gloved hand to make sure he was truly crying. This was strange, unprompted, out of the blue. Lucifer didn't know why he was crying, why there felt like a hole was in his chest, but then he remembered. Of course, how could he forget?

His pact with you made his and your emotions almost completely connected. He was usually very good at controlling your shared emotions, though. Whenever you felt angry, he could control his urge to scream. When you were happy, he'd control the want to shake his arms and squeal. When you were nervous, he'd control his instinct to shift and fiddle with something on his person. Why couldn't he control this, too?

"My dear boy," he murmurs, wiping away some stray tears that slip down his face. The sight before Lucifer breaks his heart. You're standing in his now open doorway, your form shaking with silent sobs. Your hands are tightly wrapped around your phone, its screen still illuminated with the text from your [mom/other dad/guardian]. This didn't feel real. You couldn't believe it; you didn't want to believe it.

"I'm sorry," you cry. Your words are barely recognizable between the loud sobs that escape your throat. "I'm so sorry, Lucifer, for coming to you like this. I just, I didn't know who else to tell this to."

Lucifer places a hand on your shoulder. Your phone clatters to the ground as you rush over to hug him. You throw your arms around his waist, bury your face in his chest and scream. It's partially muffled by Lucifer's clothes, but he still catches how defeated it was; how broken and filled with anguish it sounded. All Lucifer can do is hug you back tightly, lovingly, and hope that you understand his intention: to comfort you. To say “It’ll be okay” without disrupting your grieving.

Lucifer begins to rock you side to side, as if he’s holding a baby in his arms. “My dear boy,” he repeats.

All you can do is wail in response, causing the Avatar of Pride to hug you tighter.

asmodeus

The Avatar of Lust thought himself very good at reading people. He’d know exactly what the other person wanted to hear, and he’d say it, even though he probably didn’t mean it. Asmo would spew out compliment after compliment just to get what he wanted, and he never thought it bad. He didn’t know what to say in a situation like this, though.

“MC?” Asmo gently cups your tear-stained cheeks, a remorseful expression adorning his pretty face. He tilts his head to the side, confused. “What’s wrong, my sweet boy?”

You stare up at the demon. He’s blurry. Everything in your vision is blurry. You can barely breath from how badly you were panicking. You would have passed out if it wasn’t for Asmo walking in on your breakdown.

“Asmo,” you whimper. More tears slip down your face and land on Asmo’s thighs, soaking the fabric. He’s kneeling in front of you, his knees between your own.

“Asmo, I...” You sob, closing your eyes. The demon holds your head up while the rest of you goes limp in his grasp. “My dad,” you choke out. “My dad, he....”

“Oh MC,” Asmo whispers. “I’m so sorry.”

You shake your head. “I don’t... I can’t talk. I-I just....”

“Then don’t talk,” Asmo leans back, taking you with him. He holds you close in his grasp as you rest between his thighs. You lay your forehead against the Lust Avatar’s chest and cry. You shake with sobs as Asmo just hums a small, soothing tune.

“Sweet boy,” he whispers. He doesn’t know what to say to help you. He wants to try, but he knows words won’t solve anything.

Oh god what he wouldn’t give to be able to take away all of your pain with just a few words. You were still just a kid in his eyes. A child exposed to something so awful, something even he doesn’t like to think about: mortality.

“MC,” he hums. “Deep breaths.”

You breathe in deeply, then shakily exhale. You laugh, and Asmo never knew a laugh could sound so defeated. “I’m ruining your clothes.”

“I don’t care.” Asmo holds you tighter against him. “You need someone now more than ever, I’m not going to leave just to change into something less expensive.”

You laugh again, shaking your head. A tiny smile manages to grace your lips before you’re back to crying, and Asmo goes back to rocking you side to side, humming as he does.

barbatos

There’s a small knock at the castle door as the Demon Prince’s butler finishes up around the throne room. Barbatos looks up, then outside at the moon that’s high up in the grim Devildom sky. He blinks, then slowly makes his way over to answer the door.

“Who could it be at this hour,” he thinks aloud to himself.

The doors are heavy; anyone not used to the weight would have trouble opening them, but Barbatos shows no signs of struggling. He pulls open the doors with ease and is greeted with a curious sight: you. You, clutching something close to your chest. You, with a blank, emotionless look on your face. You, with no light in your once bright eyes.

"MC?" Barbatos furrows his brow. "It's late, dear. Come inside."

You don't respond. You can't respond. Your voice dies in your throat the second you even think about talking. You nod your head, taking a small step forward. Then, you shake your head furiously. You're so exhausted. You haven't the energy to do anything after the news. It took all your strength to run up here in search of Barbatos. Your body is tired, and your mind is drained. All you want is to ask your question, but hell, you can't even move anymore.

"MC." Barbatos gently grabs your shoulders. He tilts your head upwards to look into your dim eyes and you watch as a brief look of sorrow washes over him.

"Oh MC," he whispers. "Darling boy, I'm so sorry."

You look away, but even that begins to take an immense amount of energy.

"MC, I can't.... You know I can't." Barbatos pulls you close. "When rescuing you from mortality, I broke a lot of rules. I can't do that again."

You go limp in his grasp. Your father's gift that he gave you before you came to the Devildom clatters against the stone steps of Diavolo's castle. You close your eyes as Barbatos holds you tightly in his arms.

"Then can you send me to him?" You finally speak. Your voice is barely above a whisper. "If not I might do it myself. Barbatos, I... I don't know what to do."

"Life is precious, MC." Barbatos's voice is stern, almost angry. It makes you shut your eyes tighter. "Your father wouldn't want that. He'd want to see you flourish."

You don't respond. Barbatos feels like there's a hole in the pit of his stomach. He feels as if he himself has just lost something. He supposes that he did, in a way. He lost whatever part of you that you just lost. Thinking that, he hugs you tighter. So tight that it's almost painful. He's cold, you notice, and you're so warm to him.

His dear boy. His child that he'd do anything for. He can't help but feel guilty about that. He wouldn't do anything for you, he realizes, for he won't even bring your father back, even though he knows it will help you.

"I'm sorry, MC." He repeats.

You say nothing back, but the way you nudge his chin with your head tells him everything.

"I'm so sorry."

[just-sp-in-inginthevoid]

Looking back at my 2021 tok rev Tumblr post i was damn right my gut feeling about shinichiro sano being more deeper than just Takemichi Hanagaki spiritual successor. I love Wakui when he add that shin twist. God even back then i was always read dark shin fic i was FEEL right about this guy doing this stuff if he is push to far and I was dang right. Oh god. He need to a reason to continue and Manjiro is his reason. Take that reason away and he will be next villain of the world. Plus with how much responsibility he have to endure in short time and losing her mom and Manjiro in original timeline in short span of course he lose it. Plus there is a factor of grandpa sano being the kind of Japanese guy who doesn't seem to interested in talking with his grandson mental health. And a passive way he let Shin taking part in delinquency too factor in. I guess also because we don't see any Sano relatives who can support the Sano siblings if the Grandfather die. God. The amount of pressure on Shinichiro is tremendous. He is the one line of safety after his grandpa death and god this seek blood family even though he love Emma and Izana. His dedication to Manjiro is everything. Everything.

Also, your post in black dragons real life counterparts open my eyes. It is intentional. And the Shin we want to see is the same depressive fate Mikey have in canon. I love this guy but I want to see him break in further way. Mentally torture him with after his death how his fate originally for him pass to dear brother. Oh god, imagine this some twisted deity playing with his head and letting him know everything. Because i know damn sure takemichi and Mikey didn't tell the truth to Shin.

I WANT THIS MAN TO BREAK PART EVEN MORE

Suffer for my curiosity. I love him so much. He is in his comfort era too much right now it is hurt /no comfort era

Anon. Anon. Anon. I'm giving you the biggest platonic metaphorical forehead kiss rn. I. We share the same mind anon. You have no idea about the energy boost you gave me with that ask /srs

Honestly, reaching the Original Timeline, I wonder how many ppl still see Takemichi and Shinichiro are Basically the Same because they aren't. At least, we never saw Takemichi fall as deep as Shinichiro did. Plus, there's the fact one of Shinichiro's most important trait is being a (parentified) big brother and Takemichi is an only child.

He loves Emma and Izana, of course he does, but Mikey was there before Shinichiro lost his parents and had had to say goodbye to his normal life. Emma and Izana came afterward. There's only Takeomi and Mikey left from his (I assume peaceful) childhood.

Sometimes I think about how Shinichiro only left BD for Mikey to take over when he'll be old enough, and that it weirdly seems to coincide with the year their mom died and really, Shinichiro can go back to civilian life and being a shop owner, but without Mikey he wouldn't have. There's about half a year between their mom's passing and Mikey's accident and like... I think that, BD was such an emotional support for him during his teen years that he would've handle those four years better if they had remained together. If he had decided to fully go back to it (or to never leave) - and not just do shady things by himself - he'd have lived a more stable life - they'd have helped him sm - although Mikey would've still died (and Shinichiro would've probably met the same end since he can't accept loosing his younger brother).

I'm pretty sure Wakasa did (and other former members must have too) but Shinichiro really seems to have decided to take care of Mikey alone - like he has always done. I wonder how his and Takeomi's life were before it collapsed and they were left to figure out what to do by themselves.

Like you, I want to break him. I really want to observe how he act when he's fully broken; the manga didn't give us enough. He decided to name his gang like that when Mikey was still okay, that's a good clue to know he was already messed up from the start.

I have way too many fics to write and none near finished, but yeah, everyone (progressively, confusingly) remembering about their other lives in the final timeline is really, really tempting to write. They all (rightfully) freak out and Takemichi and Mikey really, really don't want them to remember but they have no power over it.

I just want to crush him under a comically huge cartoon hammer and turn him into a crêpe. He looks good covered in blood, and I need it to be both his and other ppl's blood. Let him go berserk dammit.

Rn the only WIP I have featuring a 'messed-up' Shinichiro has this synopsis/summary:

"In which Wakasa retraced his steps to where he left Shinichiro with the homeless man. They take over the world. Shinichiro takes it with him in his fall.

He dies and wakes up the year Mikey was born.

(The curse lingers on him and he won't be able to run away from it for long.)"

It's going to be such a longfic I have no idea how I'm going to manage it... but the prologue is at least there lol Let me know if you're interested

[hosticaaa]

𝒜𝔩𝔞𝔰𝔱𝔬𝔯 ; Cannibalism and allegories.

Al's sexuality is very funny to me because yeah I'm a horror writer of course its impossible for me not to use cannibalism as a twisted allegory for love / desire so we're here with this "I Love Women. I Eat Men. I Fuck Nothing." Shit and I've mentioned before that as far as sexuality goes, people have a very hard time figuring Alastor out and the man really doesn't help anyone, not one little bit ! He has no concept of the ace spectrum so he wouldn't know to relate himself to anything on it which means HE largely thinks he's straight because he defiantly "preforms" romance with women, but still keeps people confused because they stay hanging as regardless most things beyond the courtship stage develop to friendship with him rather than an actual relationship. Read; Queer-platonic relationships but the problem here being Alastor nor anyone he's in such a relationship with have the ability to actually identify it as that so they sit in this weird really good friends, maybe lovers, but suck on the will we/wont we "go further" stage. So Alastor has a ton of "girlfriends" but I'm pretty sure none of them really know what they are to him or how to categorize him, because he's certainly not a 'gay bestie', but then there feels to be more there (mutually) than "straight guy friend", but then you have the fact he has no desire to eat women and according to him only eats men and thats the only kind of lust Alastor claims he feels and he's really happy, if not over-eager to embrace this.

As far as men go its not really uncommon for them to mistake him as gay, bro is out here prancing around and limp wristing it like its no ones business and apparently Alastor's self aware enough to make unsettling jokes that allude to him being bisexual or gay but are actually wholly in reference to his horrible habit of eating dudes (And by preference, only dudes) but again, he'd consider himself "straight" if he had to label himself. Because, also mentioned in an older post, he does have this concept of the fact he just hasn't found the right girl yet and being in hell has kinda removed this idea he had in life that this was something important but obviously rather than giving him freedom in the sense of sexual liberty, he just doesn't feel like he needs to have serious intentions with women anymore, romancing them is something he can easily do with no obligation for anything serious or to even take the relationship to a sexual level, like he's truly just playing all the time. Like I imagine Al has a lot of broken and confused hearts behind him because of this but no one is particularly scorned because he's also always treated everyone so "well" and again the idea of "what even are we" in the first place. And again back to the lust being for men only but uh also being inseparable to the cannibalism which leads one to wonder is Al a very deeply closted gay/bi man ? Did the attitudes of his time period and thus possible social/emotional/mental trauma cause things to be so twisted for him ? The answer is likely yes as I have concepts that younger/human Alastor prrrobably had an idea he might not be "straight" in the usual way everyone else around him seemed to be, and maaybe tried to find out only to perhaps have a bad experience that compounded his existing issues along the lines of his existing contempt for men and his very neurotic need to project a constant aura of power/dominance/superiority ( Something he really doesn't feel near as much of a need to project around women ) and again, ties hard to the cannibalism in a whole different way. Plus we have the concept of Alastor being kind of vain and just finding that no one really measures up to his level of expectation - I just don't know if he really knows what the expectation is because of all this convoluted neurotic shit - if he found someone who met his standard what would he even do ? Embrace it and get normal or, more likely, just move the goal post, so yeah, hes a dandy aspec feminist that's so much easier to say than unpacking any of that.

[moonlightswritingandstuff]

would you be so kind (just to fall in love with me?)

Bianca's moved back to New York, and not wanting to unpack her furniture and belongings, she decides to go on the roof of her building. Rachel Elizabeth Dare was not part of the equation.

read on ao3!

Bianca doesn't want to unpack the rest of her furniture. It's expensive and she paid a pretty penny to have it transported, but she's unpacked her bed and her desk and the fridge and called it quits. Nico's busy, Hazel's busy, Drew's busy, so Bianca doesn't want to do anything without company.

And she doesn't really want to go outside. But she does, all the same.

So she climbs up to the roof, and looks down at the city below.

It's odd to be back in New York. Sure, it's nice, but Bianca's not super fond of how the city has changed. It feels like that one time that Percy decided to rearrange all her furniture slightly to the left - everything is achingly familiar but a few things are somehow slightly off.

It's still as noisy as ever — as any city is, honestly — with sirens blaring and cars' engines going. People honk. It's nice that, despite everything, New York hasn't changed much.

But it's also times like this that Bianca misses Italy. Or, more accurately, Venice. It's an old ache, that's certain, and Bianca has never went back. Her mother was never fond of her family, and her loss is a bruise that Bianca can never seem to heal. Besides, Bianca barely remembers it now.

Because then Maria died, and they were in New York with their new stepmother and her daughter. Persephone and Hazel are wonderful, but it was never the same. Oh, they were family, but it wasn't the same.

That reminds Bianca, she should call Hazel soon, it's been-

"Well, I didn't expect someone to be melodramatically brooding in my usual painting spot," a voice says, cutting through Bianca's thoughts like a knife.

"Melodramatically brooding!?" Bianca snaps, whipping around to see a woman around her age, holding a wicker basket. Her overalls are decorated with paint splatters that look sort of intentional, if anything, and her green eyes are lit up in a beautiful smile.

"You heard me. Is there any other word for it?"

"I..."

"Exactly."

"Did you just come here to insult me?"

"Well, I have other things to do," she says, rolling her eyes. She comes to stand next to Bianca, setting her basket down. "I'm Rachel Elizabeth Dare."

"Bianca di Angelo."

"Cheesed to meet you."

"Excuse me, what?"

"Your shirt says nothing but 'enchantments of cheese' in white font on solid black," she says, like it's a perfectly normal thing to make a pun out of someone's shirt that you just met.

Bianca shakes her head in response to that. "Anyway, you paint?" she asks, nodding towards Rachel's basket, which is full of paint, brushes, and a few canvases.

"Yeah. The view isn't very different from my apartment, but it's louder, and I like the fresh air. Or, as fresh as it can be."

"The view isn't very different? Are you in the penthouse?" Bianca asks, but Rachel remains silent for just long enough for Bianca to realize that Rachel does, in fact, live in the penthouse.

She promptly bursts out laughing. "I can't believe you're in the penthouse. Now I can... anonymously send you gifts?"

"Like watermelon?"

"Who sends watermelon as a gift? Anonymously?"

"You look like you would. You know, like a cryptid — ding-dong-ditching your way with watermelons."

"You're a strange person."

"I get that a lot," Rachel says, winking at Bianca.

Bianca looks down at the streets, her face growing hot.

"Anyway," Rachel says, "I also like painting up here because I like the stars."

"You can't see stars in the city."

"No, but the city lights are a pale imitation, aren't they?"

Bianca shrugs. "I suppose."

"A simulacrum, if you will."

"Getting into Gnosticism?"

"Maybe more of Platonism," Rachel trades back.

"Both are decently terrible," Bianca says.

"Naturally."

"Anyway, the city lights. Have you ever seen all the stars?"

"No. I've never really been outside metropolises," Rachel admits.

"Never? I used to go camping all the time. Well, summer camp — they called it Hunters' Camp, run by this stern woman named Artemis. With a name like that, you wouldn't expect it to be all-girls, but it was."

"Yeah, I've never gone camping."

"Road trips?"

"No, actually — I took a plane everywhere. Besides, my parents didn't usually take me on vacation. Something about tiring them out."

"Oh, I see. Well, I'll have to help you change that."

"Are you asking me on a date?"

"No!" Bianca says, blushing. "Just... continued friendship."

"Oh, are we friends already? How lovely."

"You know what? I've decided to embrace this. We're friends."

"Just friends?"

"What else?"

Rachel shrugs. "You tell me."

Bianca rolls her eyes. “Sure.”

Rachel smiles, or smirks, or something between the two, and a car alarm goes off in the streets below, sound undiluted by the distance.

“I hate car alarms,” Rachel says. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone heed them.”

“You’re right, actually. I’ve always ignored them.”

“Who doesn’t?”

Bianca acknowledges that with an incline of her head. “Anyway, what do you paint?”

“I’ve been trying to emulate Ivan Aizovsky,” Rachel says. “Unfortunately, I can’t do it nearly as fast.”

Bianca shrugs. “Not many can, especially with that level of talent.”

“What do you do?”

“I’m a lawyer,” Bianca says. “I tend to do cases surrounding domestic and child abuse.”

“A noble pursuit.”

Bianca blushes. “I also like composing in the side, but more emulating Romantic composers.”

“Really? That’s so cool — I don't see many people still listening to classical music."

"It's waned in popularity, that's for certain, but I still find it beautiful."

"Do you play any instruments?"

"Piano, actually - kind of a non-answer. Everyone and their mother play piano. Cello, too, though, and my best friend plays violin. I have another good friend, he plays flute."

"I can't play an instrument."

"Really? I'll have to teach you."

"Does that mean you're asking me on a date, Bianca?" Rachel smirks, looking rather delighted at this turn of events.

Bianca blushes. "I suppose."

"Well, here's my number," Rachel says. "Give me your arm."

Bianca obliges, and Rachel scrawls her phone number on Bianca's arm in pen. Drew's undoubtedly going to have questions, but Bianca thinks she can suffer through them, if she can see Rachel's smile again and again and again.

[carolperkinsexgirlfriend]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

tagged by @devondespresso <3

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

twenty-two!

2. What is your total AO3 word count?

161,121

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Lately, it's been stranger things, but I've published fanfic for The Magicians, The Untamed, Sweet Home, Alice in Borderland, Naruto, The Penumbra Podcast, and I Am In Eskew.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

the path to peace (is paved with good intentions)

Hearth-Warmed Chakra

rinsed vision and second chances

Secrets Never Meant to Be Kept

I could say grace was a woman with time on her hands

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Usually!!! Sometimes, I'll get behind by not responding for like a year though, and then I'll be like.......it's been too long.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I don't necessarily do angsty endings, but probably "a matter of going through" because it ends with heavily implied reconciliation that doesn't quite get actualized.

7. What the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

I ALSO don't tend to do like, cookie-cutter happy endings. Usually I go for the, everything's still hard but we'll get through it together, endings. But probably, the path to peace (is paved with good intentions).

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I got that one weird anon I mentioned for the Upside-Down AU, and then I got one person on one of my fics where a pizza delivery driver falls in love with a customer telling me that it was problematic because the driver has no agency. And I was like, lol this is fanfiction and I AM a delivery driver.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I've written exactly ONE unpublished smut fic for Alice Quinn from The Magicians in which her evil counterpart came through the mirror and they fucked about it. I'm thinking of doing a one-shot smut fic for the Upside-Down AU though.

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

Closest I've gotten is me and a friend plotting out the unholy union of I Am In Eskew and The Penumbra Podcast (Juno Steel).

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Thankfully, nope!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yeah, my most popular Naruto fanfic was translated to Russian!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Nope! I've never gotten past the fucked up world-building stage with friends. Could be fun though.

14. What's your all time favorite ship?

As an aromantic person, the platonic ships are usually more important to me. First ones that come to mind are platonic stobin, and from the Untamed, Jiang Cheng & Wei Wuxian who are brothers. Honestly, I usually get sucked into romantic pairings because I'm like, wow, sure would love to see these two interract more! And then all the fanfic is romantic, so that's what I read!!!

15. What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

Definitely my one where Jiang Cheng from The Untamed sees ghosts. If you've watched that show, you understand how this would be both hilarious and deeply fucked up.

16. What are your writing stregths?

I think I'm pretty good at little moments. Like when everyone is having a meal together etc, small, contained scenes.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Getting from point A to point B, like, how do I skip through time without if seeming weird????? So, joining sentences?

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I've never done it, but I think it can serve its purpose. Unless you speak the language though, I think it can veer into offensive and clunky unless you get a translator.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

The Magicians, which broke my soul enough that I wrote a crack fic about it.

20. Favorite fic you've written?

My favorite is always my current obsession, so Upside-Down AU lol, but from what's published, it's definitely two million naturally occuring sweet things which is just a tretius on grief masquerading as a soup recipe.

tagging: @wynnyfryd @rogueddie @steddierthings @altschmerzes if any of you want to do it!

[coralhoneyrose]

Really depressed and disappointed with the handling of the groom Robin unit. The moment I saw the theme of the banner I was nervous that there would be some sort of line somewhere in his dialogue, or the paralogue, or tempest trials that was going to explicitly pull some sort of "no homo" nonsense with Chrom. I was mildly comforted when I saw the meet the heroes text talking about the blue rose corsage that maybe I was worrying over nothing. But then sure enough, we get a throw away line where Robin comments on Chrom getting married to someone else.

It feels like a slap in the face after all the ship bait the last year. One of the most wonderful things about their DoD duo unit was that NO WHERE in any of the promotion or dialogue for that unit was there any sort of friend zoning. They were referred to as "partners" and while it was intentionally left ambiguous enough that people could still try and read it platonically if they wanted, there was DEFINITELY nothing de-confirming it as being romantic. And then with Robin's legendary unit too it really went out of its way to leave open the interpretation that L!Robin was married to a Chrom. And I'll admit, I think the fact that Engage had so many same sex pairing options made me cautiously optimistic that IS was starting to do better with how they handle this stuff.

So for them to then turn around and make a point of having Groom Robin comment that Chrom got married to someone else just...it makes me feel exploited honestly. It feels very much like they knew they could capitalize on shipper's money with those other units and so they allowed the potential reading of Chrom and m!Robin as being a romantic pairing for as long as it was convenient and profitable for them. And then as soon as it wasn't fitting the narrative they were trying to build in order to make money they immediately revert to discounting it.

Cause that's the other thing that gets me. They didn't HAVE to have Robin comment on Chrom's wedding at all. They could have very easily just not mentioned it and left it up to player interpretation. But no, they decided to expressly make a point of emphasizing that the Chrom from this Robin's world is married to someone else.

And I know for a lot of Chrobin fans this isn't necessarily even incompatible with their head canons. A lot of fans are happy to imagine that Chrom might initially marry someone else to have Lucina and then ultimately divorce them and marry Robin later in life. But personally, I have always found that idea tremendously depressing and I am not a fan of that narrative at all. I am not interested in the idea of Chrom making himself miserable in a marriage to someone he doesn't love and I do not like the idea of Lucina having anyone else as her parent except for Robin.

There are other workable explanations too--multiverses and different timelines means that some Chroms could be married to Robins and others aren't. Or Chrom and Robin could be poly, for example. I'm not saying there aren't any mental jumps you can make in order to force this dialogue line to be compatible with some version of Chrobin being together. But even if there are explanations that work, I think it's pretty transparent what IS was trying to do in including the line in the first place. The intention of it is still to wave a little banner in fan faces saying this Robin is not married to Chrom and that Chrom actively *is* in a relationship with someone else. And the fact of the matter is that line DOES shut down any and all versions of how *I* like to envision the pairing working. So of course I'm going to be disappointed.

I'm well aware that the nature of any head canon is that I shouldn't be surprised that canon isn't catering to my personal imagined story line. Especially when Chrom and M!Robin can't get married in original Awakening. I know that.

But again....engage and the DoD unit, and Robin's legendary and even 3H to a lesser extent all made me cautiously optimistic that they were starting to handle things differently. For the last *year* they have very expressly been making a point of allowing my little preferred headcanons to be viable, and actively feeding into them in a lot of cases. In point of that, there has been so much hopeful fan speculation that if they ever make an awakening remake years down the line, that they probably WOULD allow m!Robin and Chrom to S-support. And this feels like a very clear indication to me that no, they wouldn't do that actually, they are only interested in teasing m!Chrobin when they can profit from it in a gacha game, and are perfectly happy to turn around and try and invalidate it again after. And now I just feel stupid for getting my hopes up and thinking they wouldn't do this.

Frankly, it completely ruins any ability I would have had to enjoy this unit at all. Which sucks, because his art is lovely and getting new content of a character I love SHOULD be a wonderful positive thing. I can try and ignore the line and pretend I guess, but honestly it's going to be hard for me to divorce all these upset feelings from it. Maybe with a little more time and space. Idk.

[the-ace-lesbians]

(Warning for potentially TMI, you don't have to read or answer if you don't want!)

Hi, so I (18F) have been identifying as aroace for about two years but I'm starting to wonder if my feelings towards other women are just platonic or if I may be an ace lesbian.

I really liked some of my friends in high school but I don't know if it's a crush because I didn't think about them constantly and it kind of faded whenever I didn't see them for a long time (like over COVID and summer vacation). When I try to think about if I've had crushes, there are no really obvious answers but there are a few people that are kind of in this weird blurry area of, "I never thought of this as a crush at the time but looking back I was kind of weird about her and really wanted her to like me so maybe???" Since I was like 13 or 14 I really liked reading or writing stories about girls in a relationship and even daydreaming that I was one of the characters in the story dating another girl, but I never fantasized about it with real people.

Another hangup is, is it romantic attraction even if you feel uncomfortable with the idea of marrying someone? I don't know if I just have weird feelings about marriage from living with a conservative family that has very strict rules for how married life is supposed to go, or if I genuinely am just not romantically interested.

Like, I like looking at other girls and would love to cuddle with one, and I think I would probably love to love and be loved in a romantic way, but thinking about marriage as the end goal makes it all turn sour. It's less, "I want to settle down and get married and live together" and more "I admire you, I wish I was as strong as you, I want you to tell me about your day, I want to rest my head in your lap while we watch a movie, maybe I want to kiss, and if you called me your girlfriend I think I'd be flustered in a happy way but marriage scares the shit out of me."

So I guess for aces it's a question as old as time: I think I like girls, but does it sound like "I just think they're neat" or "I think I spilled my heart on your shoes, oops"?

I love love, and I love talking about love, romantic or not, so I think I have some good thoughts here for you, anon! I'll put it all undercut to save the people my endless ramblings haha.

Just going top to bottom here, I'll try and answer some questions and give some general thoughts! I am an alloromantic asexual lesbian myself, so if any arospecs read this and disagree or have corrections, please reply to this!

As far as I understand crushes, anon, they don't have to be constantly having romantic feelings about people, or even really recognizing the feelings you have as romantic - romantic attraction is hard to nail down because of how wishy washy and different it can feel and be for everyone. For me, I'd see romantic attraction in myself as the want to have and receive romantic intent with physical interactions, and to be perceived as a romantic couple with my partner by others; Basically, when I kiss a partner, or we go into public together, I want to do it with the intent of being in a romantic relationship.

But, of course, identifying that want is so hard as is. I look back and realize that my obsession and love of certain people's friendship, including feeling jealous when they were with others and not me, wasn't just me being a 'weird kid' but me having a crush on them. I've rarely ever felt the 'butterflies' feeling, or thought about getting married to anyone - actually, the only time I've considered 'marrying a crush' was a comphet crush (The idea of getting married to him CRUSHED me and I didn't know why).

Even at 22, I'm sitting here and I'm pretty sure I have a crush on a friend of mine, we're talking with romantic intentions in mind, and I literally will sometimes find myself forgetting what I was saying when I look at their face or they flirt with me. And yet, I'm still confused because I don't have all those stereotypical 'fluffy sparkly love' feelings.

I will say, I feel as though the media we create and consume shows a lot about our internal desires and wants - obviously there's a nuance to this, but the things we make and consume says a lot about who we are, so I will say that actively making or consuming media about sapphic relationships might tell us what you want or what your brain enjoys, even if you aren't focusing yourself in those situations.

Discussions of sex/asexuality as a comparison to this: Personally, as an asexual, I've never really had fantasies about sex or even intimate situations that involve me, those make me feel uncomfortable and gross, or I just can't actually imagine myself in them at all - unrelated, I can't even consume content that has real people, or even characters played by actors (like, in fics). I find that having a barrier between 'me' and the 'enjoyment' of whatever I'm consuming is what lets my brain understand it and enjoy it. This could be similar here, just with romance; I don't want to have sex, I don't feel sexual attraction, but using a 'third-party' (for lack of a better term) can let me understand and consume the content and scratch some part of my brain.

As far as marrying someone goes, I can completely see where that can be scary or confusing, especially if you come from a conservative background (my deepest sympathies, and I hope you're in a better place, or soon to be). Plenty of alloromantic people don't want to get married, but do have romantic attraction to their partners, even long-term partners - marriage can serve as a 'symbol' of devotion and love, but it's mostly legal, and some decide to go for less legally binding ceremonies. Marriage is a very scary thing, especially when faced with the concept of the 'ideal' conservative marriage, where things are often unfair and unhappy long-term.

Me personally, I'm not that interested in marriage, especially because I'm not able to get married for other reasons. If I were to have a partner I wanted to show commitment to, we'd probably do a more symbolic ceremony and I wouldn't want anything to change after - no sudden shift in division of labor, no new expectations of either of us, none of that.

Romantic attraction without the want to marry is perfectly normal, and increasingly common - and, alternatively, I've seen a few arospecs who want to get married without romantic attraction behind it. This can, again, be because of commitment or devotion to a partner they might have, or strictly for those legal reasons (and, speaking of that, shout out to the countless marriages just for the legal benefits).

As far as if it's romantic attraction or not, that's not something I can decide for you, because romantic attraction is so different for everyone. If you feel the want to be with someone in a romantic sense, or if you get 'fluttery feelings' (I learned recently that those are real, which... wild) thinking about a certain someone, or even if you just find yourself happier around one person more than others, it could be a good indication that there's a romantic want/urge in your brain that just needs to be untangled.

I wish you the best in figuring it out, anon!

[lumpsbumpsandwhumps]

I personally use "creepy/intimate whumper" like "ATM machine": a single full phrase that may be a little redundant but catches people who don't know the M already means Machine, so to speak (though I think "intimate" is the more useful of the two words since a lot of horror is "creepy" in a lot of ways that Aren't That, and some whump at the intersection of the venn diagram with horror can be those too).

Or maybe it's more like "naan bread"? Some people just use creepy, some other people they've never met just say intimate, someone reads both their works by chance and figures whatever *they* go on to write is something both those (seemingly, but probably not really) separate audiences would like. Bread a la India, creepy a la intimate.

"Yandere", however, I think very much has romantic connotations. I'm sure it's occasionally used elsewhere, but I wouldn't personally unless that's the precedent I want to promise I'm following (I don't...want people to read my distinctly parental/teacher-flavored whumper as romantic, for example. you can say "it's already fucked up, what's the harm, we're all freaks here" all you like, but it's less that and more wanting my boundaries to be respected - which seems to be the case with many people who harp on their work not being viewed as A Sex Thing even if you the reader are turned on by it - it's projecting an *intention* they *do not have*, and then often subsequently insisting that they're "just in denial" or "lying" when they clarify that intention, which is ABSOLUTELY crossing a boundary).

Vibes-wise also I feel there's a sense of scope to it? Like when I hear "yandere" I imagine a focus on the initial meeting and/or "falling in love" (whether or not it's romantic), the stalking/obsession before you get to Kidnapping Classic or full-scale murder (if ever), the victim/"love interest" having time or at least a chance to interact with people the yandere sees as rivals for their affection before (again, if) they decide that can't be allowed to continue...like if the story starts and they're already in captivity I wouldn't call it yandere unless it's romantic.

TLDR I think creepy vs intimate is somewhere between convergent game of telephone and concentric circles on a venn diagram (with "intimate" encompassing well enough what people tend to mean), but "yandere" is at least arguably its own circle. Probably nested inside both "creepy" and "intimate", but not including all of what either of those means.

See, I dunno, in my beautiful smooth brain I still just can't grasp the difference between yandere and intimate whumper (since we all seem to be in agreement that creepy/intimate whumper are close enough to the same thing). To me, they're both the same vibe of "some kind of attraction being forced onto whumpee that also causes physical/emotional distress", which is then a catchall for romantic, platonic, and/or sexual interest that a whumper might have. Yandere I would say has the broader scope of what type of attraction it could be, whereas intimate whumper is romantic/sexual (not platonic).

But I've also been into yandere for years so I'm used to all the flavors it comes in, like familial love or romantic love or protective/obsessive love or best friend love -- it's just any kind of love sickness, not necessarily romantic 100% of the time (although that's typically the majority). People who aren't into the yandere scene probably assume that's the only vibe it comes in though, so I can see why they would think that's exclusively where it falls and don't consider it to align with other tags. Similar to how some yanderes can be soft and sweet with their darling, while others can still be just as cruel and painful, which is where the "intimate whumper" falls into place.

Anyways for the most part I'm pretty sure we're in agreement that there's a good amount of overlap between the three tags (:

[handdrawnfantasma]

i got tagged by @monstrousmoonshine (ty!!) to self-rec 5 of my fave fics wot i have wrote so... here we go :')

1. "what if final fantasy x but with the magnus archives characters" aka the result of miri asking 'i had a mental image of jon doing the Sending and where's my jonmartin ffx au' aka clutching a map of dreams, the fic that has taken up the better part of the past 2 yrs and 8 months of my life. if you like tma and you also like fantasy epics like lord of the rings this is the fic for you. (i mean this very literally because the final word count pretty much equals that of LOTR lmao)!! Martin is swept away by a mysterious kaiju death monster into a stagnant future where things have gone Horribly Wrong and crosses paths with Jon who is a summoner tasked to go on a pilgrimage to somehow calm the aforementioned kaiju death monster. JRPG adventures, the world's saddest hiking trip, slowburn romance, found family and MANY revelations about why the world is the way it is ensue, also featuring the author wrestling with the concepts of sacrifice and responsibility and blame and where those all intersect with The Greater Good(tm) and how people's intent to do good or to atone for real or imagined wrongs can be manipulated by others and twisted to other purposes. there are only 6 updates to go until the fic is over so now is a good time to jump in and binge it. if u wanna [ eyes emoji ] honestly this is the first time i've even attempted to write something this long let alone FINISHED it and if i do say so myself i did a good job making sure that the plot made sense and that all the foreshadowing and callbacks/call forwards paid off. i also managed to fit SO MANY tma character cameos in there and some nice parallels to tma canon events as well as expanding on the FFX lore itself so like. im Very Proud of this one haha

2. the variant of soft hanahaki as envisioned by isa and myself and a few of our other friends back on plurk has lived in my brain rent-free for years and so of course i was going to inflict it on jon and martin. milk vetch is a short fic that takes place in the middle of TMA season 3, in a world where unspoken love (whether that be romantic, platonic, or otherwise) causes you to cough up (mostly harmless) flowers until you get over yourself and tell whoever it is that you love them. i had a LOT of fun with jon's POV in this one, his exhaustion and self-deprecation, and i also had a LOT of fun with the concept of the Beholding dropping a dictionary of flower symbolism into his head whenever he so much as looks at a hanahaki flower. it was also interesting to explore like... the psychology/reasoning behind NOT telling someone you love them even when the evidence is Right There, just going full magic realism with it all.

3. not to have never been is a fic taking place in the 13th doctor era sunless skies au that i've been building with kite for about a year and a half! 13 is a sky-captain, the fam are her officers, and this fic is about them getting caught in a weft of unravelling time and struggling to get Out without dying or losing themselves. i'm rly proud of this one because i managed to mix the episodic nature of a bottle episode of dr who (think 42 or Tsuranga) with the Sunless Skies ambience, and switching between 5 different 3rd-person limited POVs really let me play with allowing the voice of the character to permeate the narration which is a LOT of fun. i'm also proud of a couple of the cool things i managed to do with the structure here (having an Ice section followed by a Fire section and then a Dark section followed by a Light section) and some of the hints i laid down for the backstory of a few of the characters...

i actually only have 1 more of my fics to rec for this LMAO and it is still unfinished BUT in the spirit of the meme i'm gonna rec it anyway bc WIPs are still worth reading:

4. spydoc the locked tomb au, aka the result of me watching the power of the doctor last year and immediately losing my mind over the fact that dhawan!master basically reinvented lyctorhood. spydoc are a necro-cav pair from the Fifth House and this tragedy is going exactly where you think it is going (also featuring me straining the torvic affair thru a 13-shaped sieve and then re-straining it thru a tlt-shaped sieve, state-sanctioned codependency, and canon-typical memes, ruth!doctor and yaz are also going to feature when i get back to writing this thing). if you, too, are haunted by all the ways dhawan!master ends up emulating + recreating all of the worst excesses of gallifrey's founders despite the fact that he despises them so much and love trainwrecks as much as i do then u should read this and yell at me to finish it

tagging @birdybirdnerd bc i kno u write a lot BUT if anyone else wants to pick this meme up then pls do, we should all be more insufferable about our own work LMAO