#well he's a guy now hi i am autistic also turns out how have you been doinng

[beautifulbrainrot]

I don't know if your doing requests anymore but if you are could you do a mauraders X autistic reader where they help her with a meltdown (also like include lilly,Marlene and Dorcas if you could

Also you don't have to do this or if you do don't hurry take your time :)

i am taking requests! i did this with my experience of how a meltdown tends to start, and how they would help you calm down! i didn’t add dorcas sadly, but i will def write more with her in it! i hope you like <33 i also might do another version, with reader in the middle of a meltdown, lmk if you wanted that!

marauders x autistic!reader

it was a slow buildup to this moment.

you had woken up late, which meant your entire routine was already out of whack, your professor had scolded you when you arrived to lesson late, his loud voice and mean words still ringing in your ears. you hadn’t been able to concentrate in class, the clock's ticking and the tapping of someone’s pen against the desk, defeaningly loud to you, overwhelming you. this made you go silent, unable to express your feelings to your friends.

when you had finally gotten out of the class and gone to lunch, the great hall was loud, chatter and raised voices coming from all around you, blood pumping in your ears as your breathing and heart rate picked up.

this is when the others noticed.

james turned to you when he realised you weren’t interacting with the conversation between him, lily, remus and sirius. you weren’t even talking with mary and marlene, who were next to eachother, and next to you, as usual.

when he saw you, he immediately noticed what was wrong.

you were quiet, your leg bouncing, biting on your lip harshly.

he didn’t want to touch you, knowing that would overwhelm you even more, so he quickly and quietly caught the others attention.

“guys, be quiet.” he whispered, his eyes wide and urgent. the others looked confused before lily turned to you and softly whispered your name.

you could barely hear her, your eyes squeezed shut, voices from around the room still deafeningly loud.

“remus, can you?” mary asked quickly, knowing that you usually allowed remus to touch you when you were feeling overstimulated.

he nodded quickly, getting up, and placing a gentle hand on your back.

you tensed slightly, your lip quivering as you tried not to sob. everything was loud. too loud.

“we’re going to get you outisde. it’ll be quieter out there. okay?”

you couldn’t properly manage a nod, but you relaxed slightly, and stood up from the table. as you walked out, you lifted your hands up, pressing them over your ears to block out some of the noise. remus kept a gentle hand on your back, a reminder that he was right there.

you didn’t instantly calm as you walked outside, but you felt a little more relaxed, away from all the hustle and bustle of the hall.

you still couldnt speak, but remus knew what you needed. he led you to a tree where you sat down, pulling your knees up to your chest, and resting your head on them before starting to slow your breathing as well as steady your heart rate.

after a minute or so, you started to feel better, and your friends came outside.

“are you okay, love?” james asked softly.

you nodded, turning your head up to smile at him.

“there’s that pretty smile.” marlene smirked sweetly, and you smiled back at her.

with your friends by your side, everything would be okay.

hey!! i wanted to let u guys now i’m not writing for the marauders girls, specifically lily, marlene and mary !!

[unoriginal-and-dumb]

I am doing things I AM DOING THINGS I AM!

Explanations for designs and some head canons below here :3

Infected - Asian-American Autistic ADHD aroace (😈) trans. Yknow Wybie from Coraline? Yea like that but like incredibly annoying. His voice sounds like it’s coming from a shitty mic all the time

Lampert (design by @lucid-daydreaming-art )- Autistic 🇸🇪 ja aroace (😈) funny lamp guy Robots-esque probably kinda talks like baymax honestly, I mean a bit different but yknow, the general idea

(I talk about these 2 enough it’s the others turns)

Poob - I think they are a dumb little critter. They run around and their arms flail in the wind like paper. When they try to clap is makes dog toy squeaking sounds. I don’t think they abide by the rules of physics which is why they are stupid looking ❤️ they have hammer space but it is only for weed related items. The curator of the forever weed brownie, if you will. I think they sound like X from bfb. Aroace (😈)

Pest - literally hates poob because they are small and annoying. Uhhh funky legs because I think he would have funky legs. I stole his eyes because well no real reason, but I think if he was like extra pissed you would see his eyes. Since he is like thief maxxing I do not think he would be wearing anything beyond a hoodie and sweatpants, something trying to be non-assuming I guess. He has hair I think but it is very short no way would he want to deal with that. I don’t have a voice hc for him yet. Aroace (😈)

Bive - she a freakkkkk ehhh. I think she is like freakishly tall, has funny bird legs, raggedy ass scrawny tail, and is constantly covered in hair. Her teeth are kinda just floating on her hair head, so if you punched her hard enough they would just go flying out and she would have to put them back into her head silly girl. I think she is also trans hahaahhahahahaha!!! I think she kinda sounds like ENA from dream bbq, the uhh angry side I believe. Ace (😈)

Split - I gave her dog ears because I think they are cute :) she’s probably like normal ish height Bive is just weirdly tall. She looks very nice and friendly but could probably throw a boulder at you and you will die sowyyyy. Gods most chillaxxed soldier. She gives me kind older lady feelings, even if she weren’t older. I dunno she would be like one of those people who have a comically large purse full of hard candy except it would all be banana flavored. I think she has a slower voice, HAVENT gotten an exact idea for her voice yet but she seems very calm. Ace (😈)

Pilby - I didn’t really add or change their design because I already liked it a lot. I think they are very sweet and kind looking, would make a great plush too but I guess we are not ready to talk about that (YES I am still bitter about it) I think being around them is akin to looking outside a window at an apple orchard while it’s raining a bit. I think they sound a bit like raggedy Anne, based on the creators response too. Aroace (😈)

Spud! - I honestly did not have much come to me for his design, they are just a bit of a funky feller and im not sure how I would add to it honestly. Oh but I do think that they run like an ostrich and it is very scary. Also while drawing I was debating why he had a bow and decided that Gnarpy was like CONGRATZ IN ZURVIVING THE TEZTZ and now Spud! Just has a stupid little yuor did it ribbon. Honestly no clue for voice hc… aroace (😈)

Gnarpy - had a lot of fun with xis design honestly. The redesign reminded me a lot of Stitch so I kinda just shoved that into xim. I think they act a lot like Zim. Like a lot. Probably equally as stupid. I think xis second arms are retractable, like stitch, and xe uses that as a very very shitty disguise that everyone can see right through but just don’t mention because xe seems to be having a good time. I think xe sounds like Four from BFB (the earlier episodes mostly) aroace (😈)

DRRETRO - I think that her head that we see in the game is like a projection of herself, Wagstaff Don’t Starve style. Her body would be like excruciatingly normal besides her head, too. Like go to the hospital and see a nurse, that’s just what she looks like. Very normal, it’s a bit unnerving since her head is that. She’s like those overly friendly posters in a very uncomfortable place type of feeling. She doesn’t have fur either, she’s just a weird cat doctor thing. She acts exactly like Doctor Barber from Flapjack. No voice hc, but she speaks in meows so probably just meowing. Aroace (😈)

Mark - I started thinking about tf2 and Anton blast. Anyway, he is completely made from wood other than the clothes. Beard is carved in, not sure if I got that across in the drawing though. Uh yea I don’t have much I just really like engineer. He wears flannel and a construction vest just like any good law avoiding construction worker. Definitely does not so legal things on his construction sites but does not give two shits about that and also probably would try to employ Lampert when he was younger for free workers (no im not projecting what are you talking about). How on the nose would it be to say he sounds like engineer because I just drew wooden engineer with a beard. Ace (😈)

Wallter - sorry wallter fans I had no ideas while drawing him. I dunno he’s big and he’s cement, so I kept him blocky. Urrrrr he has a can of grey stuff jingle jingle. He is the cement embodiment of that one tweet that’s like “nothing better than a glass of wine, except for maybe #men. #yep #imgay! He kinda seems like one of those lowkey scary bald gay guys who are nice but are also scary and still bald. He’s bald. No idea on voice maybe concrete sliding on asphalt for 10 hours. Ace (😈)

[thosewildcharms]

Your rhetorical questions have lit up my brain lol like what if Rick had met Michonne and Andre first instead of Morgan and Duane? 🤯 But anyway on a separate note, it’s so wild to see Rick and Shane’s first scene and Rick laughing along to Shane’s mysoginistic weird ass rant in light of who he is now. He really was just some emotionally repressed small town guy, And while Lori telling Rick “I wonder if you even care about us” in front of Carl was horrible, I wonder what Rick could’ve done or not done that would make her feel that way? And Shane said women’s problem is they don’t know how to turn off a light switch, to which Rick says part of the problem is he’s the one who’s leaving light switches on; I hate to be missing something that’s probably obvious but what did he mean with that?

oh that's a great idea for an AU anon. your mind!

this got long because who am i, so under a read more it goes.

maybe i got my rickgirl blinders on and am giving him too much credit but i thought rick was laughing at least somewhat incredulously at shane's speech (he was at the very least shaking his head a lot until the very end) but yes present-day rick would probably not have entertained that quite so much lol. but to kind of go along with that, my interpretation of light switch thing was rick kind of dismissing shane's, as you pointed out, misogynistic joke by saying he's the one with the issue turning off lights, and also to shift the conversation into the Actual Problems he and lori are having. also in retrospect it kinda feels like the show was lowkey already telling us lori and shane were more suited for each other than lori and rick but i could be reading into that. but listen metaphors have a habit of flying right over my (probably) autistic little head so i could also be missing some hidden meaning there.

as for the fight with lori, there's a flashback (i think in season 2?) where lori is talking to a friend about that same fight and she admits that she was the one who was being the asshole and how she got even more pissed off over how even-tempered and reasonable he was in response. from rick's perspective, he said he would try to talk about his feelings only for it to seem like lori didn't actually want to hear them after all. honestly i think they were just fundamentally incompatible, as we saw over and over in seasons 1 and 2. it wasn't anyone's fault, and their fights probably escalated because they didn't even know how to argue the way the other person wanted them to.

and not to constantly compare rick/lori to richonne, but rick similarly almost never yells or gets mean the few times we see him and michonne argue. the couple of times he did in towl were such an anomaly it set off alarm bells for michonne that something was really wrong with him (and also the situation was just objectively insane). but michonne and rick know how to disagree without getting ugly, and she certainly never has to try to provoke him into communicating because they have a fundamental understanding of each other that rick and lori never had. for sure rick learned from his mistakes with lori but i don't think the rick who was with lori was an entirely different person who said horrible things to his wife. he couldn't express himself the way we see he can with michonne because he just didn't have that type of connection with lori. and to be fair, lori didn't feel that with rick either, and again, that's okay. they probably should have just called it quits well before rick got shot. @cantstayawaycani and @jonesywrites go into this far more eloquently than I did here in their very excellent towl season 1 reaction video that you should definitely watch, because it's wonderful from start to finish.

[gwenllian-in-the-abbey]

i think Helaena can be autistic but also a happy and joyful girl , autism ≠ depression. the way the portrayed the only neurodivergent character on screen as unstable, shunned depressed, and with no importance to the plot feel very ableist and weird , but then they're the ones who made the guy with a foot disability a feet fetishist 🫠

Hi OP, finally answering this because the trailer dropped and still the only Helaena shots we have are from her Jaehaerys' funeral. There is also one still photo of her. If you haven't seen it, here she is, apparently sewing the funeral shroud for her little boy:

So it seems like season 2 is going to continue on this trajectory for Helaena as a character who exists in order to suffer beautifully.

Don't get me wrong. I am glad that the show is going to wring the full emotional effect from Blood and Cheese, not just shock value. The audience will feel the real horror of a six year old child brutally murdered in his own home and the psychological torment of Helaena. It should be terrible, it should be devastating, and I hope they do not pull any punches.

What's disappointing about how the show has handled Helaena is that they didn't really put any effort into building up her character before her tragedy. It's all well and good that she likes bugs and she's touch averse, but what are her opinions? Who is she closest to? How did she react to becoming a mother so young? To what extent does she understand her visions? What does she value? She can be happy and cheerful, or she can be frustrated and angry, and hell, she can be depressed too, but I need to know why. It's telling that I can describe the basic internal motivations for each of the male children, including Luke who was a glorified plot device, but I cannot for Helaena. Aegon wants to feel loved, Jace wants to prove he's as worthy as any trueborn heir, Aemond wants what his brother has, Luke wants to be free from his family's expectations. Helaena? Fuck if I know. I guess she wants not to die horribly.

The ableism is an issue. F&B is full of women who were deemed "simple" -- Gael, Daella, Jaehaera-- without being given much else to define them, and HotD adds another (there's something, I think, to the way the "simple" Targaryens are always women and how disability kind of used as a way to remove them from the narrative and shunt them aside, often tragically). And while it's great to see an autistic person represented on screen, the show consistently has an issue with treating representation as characterization. "Autistic girl who likes bugs" is not a personality. Autistic people, (even those with horrifying prophesies I assume), do have hopes and dreams and feelings about things. The one peek we get into Helaena's life is at the in episode 8 when she roasts Aegon and even that scene is open to interpretation (and gets taken wildly out of context). Now, I can read a lot into the actor performances, but ultimately, lines that could have given a glimpse Helaena personality were cut. It's as if they're afraid that if they give her an opinion on anything she would lose that (frankly kind of infantilizing) "pure cinnamon roll too good for this world" "i would die for her" sympathy from people who are not inclined to be sympathetic for her family as a whole.

(And anon, you're right about Larys. And let me say, turning Larys' clubfoot into the punchline of an OnlyFeet joke also does not inspire confidence that they'll handle Aegon II's eventual disability with any sensitivity either, especially when Mushroom's accounts of his last few months are incredibly mean spirited. We need to start that discourse now so they get the memo).

Sadly, I don't think the show really has any intention of course correcting with Helaena in season 2. I imagine at most we'll have her try to warn Aegon and/or Aemond about Blood & Cheese but they won't understand her warning, and then this will be a vehicle to further their guilt and grief. And while we do need to see Aegon's guilt and his grief, I also want to know if Helaena blames herself, if she wishes they'd run away when they had the chance, if she thinks Aegon could have done something, if she is angry at Aemond for killing Luke, if she wants revenge. I do think, with the public funeral for Jaehaerys, they are going to show that the smallfolk are fond of Helaena, and hopefully that will be expanded upon this season and in season 3 because her death is the catalyst for the revolt that sees Rhaenyra driven from the city, and we should understand why her death has such an impact before she actually dies.

[sapphoscorner]

Edit: please reblog this with some information about demisexuality, I did make a mistake here by saying "Cove doesn't understand sexual attraction" he does, so my bad on that part

SO, I usually don't get too involved in fandom discourse, but with how Baxter fans are acting about the loss in the MDDB I snapped and decided we should have a talk.

(This turned out longer than expected so more under the cut. I BEG YOU TO READ THIS AND TOP UNDERSTAND WHERE THE ANGER AND FRUSTRATION COME FROM.

This is all over place, I tried my best to make this as comprehensible as possible)

Specifically I want to talk about this fandom obsession with him and how, is getting to a point where people are legitimately re-writing the game and erasing Cove existence to have this fucking man instead.

And look, I want to say that I get the appeal, I do, but I don't because Baxter's route is genuinely the worst written one out of the three; Compared to Cove's and Derek's (and Derek treatment in the fandom is a WHOLE OTHER ISSUE) is really not. I'm not here to judge one taste, I am here to tell you that your love for him is ridiculous.

It is genuinely ridiculous how much popular he has gotten and so many of you are forgetting about Cove and how important he is to the story, and generally how he is important to a lot of marginalized people. Some of you keep forgetting that Cove is autistic and demiseuxal and that is such a rare representation to see and it is already erased in the fandom (especially his autism), but now is even more erased because people are grabbing everything that makes Cove Cove, and are applying it to Baxter.

That is also not touching the fandom treatment of Derek and how overly criticize his route his compared to Baxter's, like...DEREK'S PARENTS ARE GETTING MORE SHIT THAT BAXTER CANONICAL BIGOTED PARENTS LOL, WHAT IS THIS?? Are you guys serious?? I've seen a fanfic with Irene being transphobic, why the fuck would someone write that when Baxter's mom is right there?

And Derek shitty treatment doesn't end here because people are straight up erasing the guy and not ?? talking about on how well written he is ?? He is not erased sorry, he's forgotten, no one cares about him. And when people care is a) rare or b) so criticize to the point where is no longer a criticism but just you bitching about it.

And it doesn't end there! Baxter is so talked about that people are more interested in him making a cameo in OL:N&F than the main characters of that game, THAT'S HOW THINGS HAVE GOTTEN, We've gotten to a point where people cares more about some white man than Qiu or Tamarack, which are way more interesting than him as characters but neither of them are white skinny man so lol, who cares about them.

AND TO TOP THIS SHITSHOW IT SOMEHOW GETS WORSE FROM HERE BECAUSE PEOPLE DON'T EVEN ARE CARE ABOUT THE INTERESTING ASPECTS OF BAXTER'S CHARACTER!!

Everyone is molding him like clay to create this, confident rich white boy when he is not?? and that's...the whole point of his route?? That he shouldn't need to put up this mask and to actually be a fucking human being?? THE FACT THAT HE IS A QUEER KID WHO HAD TO CUT OFF HIS PARENTS AND HAD TO BE INDEPENDENT FROM THEM AND LEARNING TO NOT DEPENDENT ON HIS PARENTS? (monetarily wise that is)

And like, people forget the man is queer, he is queer, he's a queer person who had to hide who he is to his parents and then had to cut them out for his own sanity, and no one mentions it.

The fandom as a whole erases queer identities,when this game is literally made FOR queer people don't you love it when straight people come into our spaces and erase our identities lol, that is a problem that more people should acknowledge, alongside the fact that Baxter's stans have taken over this safe space, overtook the main love interest, and ignore the genuine interesting aspects of Baxter's character to make him their own little doll they can play with and not appreciate a guy who is trying to learn how to stop being that mask everyone in the fandom has fallen over.

And I know, I know , I will get shit for daring to go against your favorite white boy, but consider that some of us played this game because an autistic character was in it, consider that this game is queer friendly and the fandom is also erasing that queerness to make horny fan fiction**, consider that some of us fond comfort in Derek and Cove's story and now we see everyone overtaking their stories by a white boy (that you can find in every other game), consider that his talk is tiring, consider also the fact that Baxter is technically queer and no one ever talks about it, consider that this game was a safe space for marginalized people and now it no longer feels that way

.

.

.

**with horny fanfiction I mean people re-writing Cove whole personality (and sexuality if we're being honest here) and making him this...horny big man when...he is not? He got stressed out by simply having to share a bed with MC, he's extremely shy around the subject of sex and he gets incredibly nervous about it.

I personally think that is due of both his queerness and autism (and yeah his personality, but autism affects ones personality so lol, sue me) since demisexuality means he genuinely doesn't understand how people can feel sexual attraction, and mixing that with autism means he probably doesn't understand the SOCIAL pressure around sex and having sex.

Granted that's speculation on my part but as someone who is (probably) autistic and asexual I can tell that, at least a majority feels this way and Cove is literally is the type to have this kind of mentality, he does not understand how Baxter can flirt with him after mere seconds of knowing each other

[astr0exe]

K9 [COD MEN (POLY??) X M!READER] : CH3

Ch.1 , Ch.2 , Ch.3

CAS’ MASTERLIST !!

reader is transmasc and autistic cause i said so :3

AO3 VERSION : K9

(again super scared to post my writing)

(hope you guys enjoy!!)

(again projecting cause reader is so me)

SUMMARY : Reader and Bucky go to the gym, ignoring the flush they feel when their co-workers pay attention to them

CW : SWEARING

Chapter 3 :

First person POV:

I opened my eyes, momentarily confused by my surroundings, then remembered last night, heat rushed to my face as pain blossomed in my head. I look over at my bedside table and notice a cold bottle of water, what looks like paracetamol or aspirin and a note. I picked it up and noticed the almost chicken scratch handwriting.

Hey K9, you fell asleep on the couch and we know how uncomfortable it can be so Ghost carried you into your room. There is paracetamol for you and I think Gaz is cooking breakfast later (well for you it will be now) so get your arse to the kitchen before you don’t eat.

~ Soap

I quickly took the paracetamol, got out of bed and threw a band tee on (silly lil SOAD shirt /lh:AN). Smiling as Bucky sat by my feet. I haven’t trained since I got here so I decided to just do that. Placing Bucky’s harness on, I walked through the compound. When I got to the large training area I noticed how barren it was and breathed a sigh of relief, not enjoying working out in front of people.

The room was huge, rows of work out equipment ranging from weights to treadmills and in the centre a boxing ring. There was also a gun range and knife throwing area through a door on the far back wall. I walked around a little and decided to go over to the punching bags as Bucky entertained himself by napping further away. I wrapped my hands up, made sure to put my headphones on turning my loud workout music on and shuffling it. My eyes closed for a second as Melanie Martinez’s Class Fight came on (AN: I am currently listening to this song and I forgot how good it was), I got into my stance and started going through my combinations.

I keep punching till my lungs ache and sweat is formed on my forehead. Not even hearing when someone came in and started watching me curiously. As I grab my water bottle I notice Ghost staring at me. I accidentally make eye contact with his dark eyes before quickly looking down sheepishly, feeling uncomfortable. I walk over to Ghost, my water bottle still in my hand. I look up at him not speaking for a few seconds, “Uhm hey.. Lt, hows it going?” I look down at his sweatpants before averting my eyes again. He nods slowly, “Good good, hows your head K9? It hurting?” He laughs, mocking me slightly. Before I can answer Soap bounds in, having too much energy for such an early start.

“Hey Lt., Pup! Hows your headache?” He walks over to us smiling wearing a tight grey t-shirt and some basketball shorts. I gaze over at him smiling politely, slowly realising he called me pup. I blush slightly before replying “Uh, its okay aha.. Happy it isn’t too bad, guess I got lucky or.. something.” I answer awkwardly, before hearing Bucky pad over towards me sensing my slight change in stress level. “I’m really hungry, been working out for.. Shit for a while-“ I look and turn to the clock on the wall noticing its been a few hours, “I might just go grab some food, see you guys later?” I ask, feeling the pit of hunger in my stomach grow. Before I can leave the gym, the Captain walks in explaining that we are needing in a briefing room, oh for fucks sake.

[vader-anakin]

Not Just Ken - Ken x f!Reader

Alright so I'm still thinking about the whole story behind the last post I made, trying to give a chance to a new story and I'm fascinated by Ryan Gosling as Ken. Still giving it a shot, at least for now it's only some fluffy stuff!!.

Word count: 2.1k

------------♡☆♡☆♡☆-----------

It was a very hot and dry day, you got your favorite iced coffee from the shop and headed back to work. You had just had lunch and enjoyed the rest of your work break, in the midst of a tireless routine of clients who would still visit your office that day. Walking faster, among countless people who were also running through the streets of Los Angeles, you bump into a man who you hadn't noticed in your field of vision. The blonde, who you thought had just stepped out of a Calvin Klein shoot, dropped grotesquely and almost "hard" to the floor, letting out an "ouch." You quickly reach out his hand to help him up, and only then do you notice how his eyes are deep blue, his teeth perfectly aligned, and his muscular body exuding sensuality.

"Oh my God, I am so sorry! Did I hurt you?", you said as soon as he stood up, smiling at you even though you just dropped him on the floor.

"Hey, it's not broken!", he exclaimed excitedly, checking his left arm, twirling the limb that was still in place. "Hi, I'm Ken," he said, reaching out to shake your hand.

Wondering the way the guy kept a good mood even after being bumped into and falling to the ground in the middle of hundreds of people, you accepted to greet him. "I'm (y/n). I'm really sorry I didn't see you, I'm getting back to work and I'm in a rush".

"That's alright, wow you're so pretty!", said the blonde, still keeping a wide smile on his face. You smirked, getting lost in that impeccable, almost unreal face, forgetting you were rushing to get back to work.

"Well thank you Ken, it was nice meeting you", you said and turned on your back to keep doing your way to work. Even though it would be a good chance to meet someone, you weren't sure it was the right way, maybe it was just a coincidence, and it wasn't supposed to be like that. You reached the sidewalk and as you were about to cross the street looking at both ways, the man was there standing behind you, with a playful smile still. Well that's kinda creepy, maybe he's just going the same way you are and that's all. You crossed the street and turned your left as you're approaching your building as you come back to your office. Looking back, you realize he was still following you. Ok, this is beyond creepy.

"Uh, do you work here?", you asked and raised a brow, watching him shake his head no. "Then why are you following me?".

"I thought you were nice and I don't know anybody here, maybe we could hang out!", he replied. Was that a fucking joke? Why the hell would someone you only know for about 10 minutes wanna "hang out" with you at your work? "I can't right now, I have to work and my schedule is really busy. But maybe some other time". You tried to sound nice and not one tiny bit mas and sort of scared, but he frowned and your head turned into a giant question mark.

"OK, I can wait", Ken said, and gave you a side smile, showing he understood you. You had no idea what to say so you just waved at him and entered the building. That was so awkward and not to mention very random to happen, but the guy seemed nice. Maybe he had a disease, maybe he was autistic and you didn't know, maybe maybe maybe.

Hours after you finished with your last client, you let out a loud sigh as you were really tired and just wanted to go home, take a shower and get some rest. At the ground floor, as soon as you got out of the elevator you saw a bleached hair sitting in a chair reading a magazine about horses and country stuff. I can't deal with this again right now, you thought. Even you tried making a different way to the exit he would probably see you, so that's why you sat next to him.

"Hey, (y/n), I've been sitting here all day waiting for you!", the tall guy lowered the magazine and stared at you with a cherished smile still on his face. HE WHAT?

"What? Why?", as confused as you were, you thought it might be better if you called someone and tell them there's a guy out there who may be lost. Everything was so weird.

"I left Barbie Land and I don't know anybody here. I tried to make friends but they seem scared of me", he replied and your brain flipped at the sound of "Barbie Land".

"AH okay, Barbie Land? Where is that?", you asked but you weren't sure where this conversation was headed. You heard him sigh, closing the paper on his hand before looking at you.

"You have to take this trip with a car, a spaceship, a boat and rollerblades before getting here, so if you wanna be there you do all of that but in reverse". He explained it with so much conviction that you couldn't tell if he really was a person with some condition, in which the parents could have lost him. That could only be it, nothing made sense in your head. Okay, he really looked like a doll, but that story sounded really bizarre. "You don't believe me", he let a sad gaze as you were still trying to follow what he said. Ken lowered his head and let out a noticeable noise of disappointment..

"I- uh... it's not that. It's just... a very weird story". You looked at your smartwatch as the clock hit almost 6:30 PM. "What about your parents?". You know by the look of his face he was an adult, but you were in denial as to what the hell he was talking about. "I don't have any parents. In Barbie Land we only have Barbies and Ken's. Some Allan's too".

Well ok, he sounds so serious about that story, maybe you should give him a chance and talk to the guy. You invited him for a walk to the same coffee shop, sat in front of him as he was looking at the menu. "So you like horses?", you asked and he stared at you, smiling. This man is always so smily and happy. "They're my favorite animals. I would love to have one of them. How about you?".

"Cats and dogs I guess, but turtles, specially sea turtles are cute", you grinned when he made an "aww" face. Everything was still a little tumultuous, the whole conversation seemed out of touch with reality, but you were trying to keep your sanity and trying hard not to get paranoid about the whole thing. "So tell me about you, Ken. You're from Barbie Land, that means you're a doll right?".

"Yes, I am. I can show you if you want. I have all the genitals". Okay, what? You laughed at the way he said it, but the look on his face showed he would like it to be true. Probably he really didn't have any genitals. "I can also stand on tiptoe and if you notice I don't have body hair". Yeah alright, not having any hair on your body doesn't mean much, but we all have some hair. And he was always walking on his tiptoes which is hardly something people do unless they're doing ballet. Still, it was too weird. "I also don't have a heart". He said like it wasn't a big deal, but when he grabbed your hand and pulled it on his chest, you couldn't feel a pulse. And then you knew it.

Holy fucking shit what the actual hell was that? You tried not to show you were definitely surprised by the fact you were actually talking to a doll, but you squeezed his skin and he didn't flinch a little. Ken never stopped smiling, unless the subject was Barbie, who you learned, wasn't in love with him. You also learned that even though he didn't have a heart and didn't know what feelings were, he was always jealous of the other Ken's and felt sad about Barbie, that was why he decided to left Barbie Land.

You got home about almost two hours later, took off your shoes and left your purse by the counter, giving space for the blond man to get in the house. You both agreed he would sleep on the couch until you figure out what to do with him, who made sure he wouldn't leave the real world until he finds out how to bring the patriarchy to the other world.

"Thank you for making me company today. I'm still upset Barbie shot me down", he said as he sat on the couch, getting rid of his cowboy boots, the bandana and the hat. The look on his face explained why he decided he would leave their Land and stay in Los Angeles.

"Hey it's okay. We don't need to depend on someone to live our life", you sat next to him and held his chin, this chilling energy traveling through your body while he kept his gaze at you. "You're gonna survive, but for now I think it's best you get some rest. I'm gonna shower, you can shower after I'm done too".

"We don't sleep and we don't take showers either", he grinned. Ok, that makes sense. Dolls don't need to sleep and neither take a shower. Might as well don't eat either, since he didn't drink the coffee, but couldn't hurt to offer him something to try out.

"That's right, I'm sorry. I know you usually don't eat either, but are you willing to try and find out how to eat? As long as you're staying here maybe you could learn some human stuff". You smiled and headed to the kitchen, you quickly made a chicken and ham sandwich for him, handing him the place. He spent a good whole minute looking at the slice bread until he realizes he didn't know how to swallow the food, and then when he could finally do it Ken made a sound.

"That's really good, (y/n), thank you so much". With a smile, you left him enjoying the food and hoped in the shower. After a few minutes, you put on your pajamas and went to the kitchen to grab some food, watching him lying on the couch singing some tune you had no idea which one. The man ate his whole sandwich, you saw as the plate was sitting empty on the table in your living room. This man is something else. While you were heating your food you were trying to figure out which clothes to offer him to wear since you're a woman and didn't have any good clothes for the giant man in your couch. "Uhm, I'm going to find you some clothes but they might look pretty short on you", you sat on a chair close to the TV and looked at him, while he was still singing the song and "playing drums" in the air.

"It's okay, (y/n). I can lay on my underwear, it's not cold for me anyway", Ken smiled. You thought if he wasn't a fucking doll he would definitely be teasing you, but ever since you met him you've come to realize everything he does is just plain innocent. You two spent a few hours watching TV together, you were trying to explain what a TV show was when you told him you liked to watch some of them. He tried to understand the best he could, but he wasn't so sure he got the idea. Before you went to bed, you brushed your teeth and walked to the living room to say goodnight to Ken, who was already on his underwear, looking at your book shelf. The strap read "Ken" around it and you blushed at the sight of his sculptural body.

"G-Good night, Ken", nice. You were already acting like some teenage girl with erupting hormones. Never saw a man naked before? Many times, but they weren't that good looking.

"Oh, good night (y/n). I hope you have a good night of sleep", he turned around smiling and you wish the lights were off as the man's bulge was definitely getting all of your attention. His eyes are a little up above you pervert. And after all, he does have a genital. At least in this world. Maybe he just doesn't know he does and maybe it's for the best of both of you.

[lucid-daydreaming-art]

intro post whoopee!!!

hi guys im lucid :D you can also call me daylin i don’t really care but i may be like woah how do you know my name (i will forget about making this post 2 seconds after posting it) also I AM AN ADULT im 22 and i do not use pronouns just use my name pleaseeeeeee if you have a disability that makes words hard to process i understand if that’s difficult you can just use they/them instead

first off just getting this out there if youre proship, zoo, pedo, incest supporter, endo system supporter, any kind of discriminatory against protected minority groups, and anti-otherkin, shoo. dont want you here youre not welcome. bye bye my content isnt for you.

immmmm an infp-t 4w5 sanguine-melancholic existential-intrapersonal-visual learner seer of heart prospit dreamer true neutral rogue shifter airbender and dragon type trainer for all you personality label freaks

i like to DRAW!!!!! this is an art blog!!!! i will only post art here, all of my reblogs will be on @trickstergemini save for the posts my close friends make that i want to support here. sometimes i will post just text but thats only if i really need to let you guys known something or im answering a question

my commissions are OPEN!!!!!!!! right now they are strictly on emergency status, which means you choose the price and what i draw and ill agree if its not ridiculously unfair. check back soon for it to be changed to fixed price commissions though

im AUTISTIC i am on that mf spectrum been diagnosed since i was three. for me this means im not naturally fluent in social norms or what’s expected from an interaction or how to read others very well. i also have heavy special interests and find it really hard to turn the conversation away from something im fixating on or specially interested in. i also have extremeeeee sensory issues and a hard time being completely flexible when im comfortable in a routine so just be patient with me man adjustments are hard for me. my empathy is also extremely low and im a really really high masking person so if i come off as well versed or allistic just know that i either took a million years to format the right way to say things or i am entirely going off a predetermined script and will fumble if caught off guard. other important stuff ive got adhd bpd cptsd and major depressive disorder which all those combined makes me really flaky when it comes to responding or follow through. i may not reply to you for like 500 years or maybe i will be gods speediest most motivated soldier. just don’t expect me to be a readily available fully capable robot ok?? ok.

i am one half of @ask-kas-n-lamp the other half is some guy i don’t know he just hacked himself into the account and now i have to deal with him

in all seriousness mod dum, aka @unoriginal-and-dumb or unodum or unoriginal or whatever u know him by, thats my qpp thats my platonic soulmate my bestest friend my number one crate my brain cyst the doctor has to surgically remove from me my parasocial relationship my stalker my servant i keep locked up in my basement and i feed him cement and staples for every meal and for dessert maybe he gets rust shavings. he will be featured in my art like a lot or in my comments and reblogs and i will also be present in his stuff sometimes. if im drawing kasper im drawing his design, that design is not made by me its made by him sooo you should check him out and support him if you like that style or how about instead we get a mass unfollowing going there and you all come to my page and i exclusively will draw his design of kasper and get all the credit lets do that instead

if my requests are closed that means theyre closed EXCEPT for lampert requests those will always be open please ask me to draw him and i will take like three weeks but will happily draw him

uuueeehhhmmm my special interests are pokemon homestuck regretevator geography disney parks and personality psychology. i guess i also am specially interested in dragons but its less of an ill infodump to you interest and more of an i want to be surrounded by this thing because it brings me extreme comfort because it feels like me. i am otherkin im a dragon and i look like this:

i will also represent myself like this if im feeling it:

yes i know i am not actually a physical dragon and im not a spiritual kinner i kin for identity purposes and the fact that i feel some pretty intense crippling species dysphoria idk ive been like this since i was 5 i don’t really have memories of my life where i wasnt experiencing animalistic behaviors and instincts

my favorite music artists are s3rl twenty øne piløts onerepublic imagine dragons of monsters and men thefatrat glass animals ajr queen nine inch nails and muse my favorite medias are httyd movies pokemon homestuck regretevator invader zim our flag means death infinity train gravity falls rosencrantz and guildenstern are dead doctor who my little pony fim dont starve and the mcelroy brothers content

heres some more characters i represent myself as:

ok BYE

[lakesbian]

what are your animorphs thoughts on how the characters have been changing over the course of the series so far? also, do you have a favorite animal moment in the ones you’ve read?

okay this got long due to my rambling so its going under a cut

well i can't say i have any profound analysis on how they've been changing but it's fun...jake rocks because he very rapidly went from "why are you guys saying im the leader im not the leader stop saying im the leader" -> someone has to be the leader, they want it to be me, i'll take the responsibility for making the calls that could get people killed and he Is becoming more repressed and solemn over time about it but he's also great at like. having internal spirals over it and shaking like a leaf and becoming very reactively resentful of both himself for not knowing what to do and everyone else for expecting him to know what to do. & sometimes people are like aww jake it's not your fault but sometimes they yell about how he's the one that got them into this mess so he has to get him out of it while internally regarding him as genuinely being the facade he puts up (<- even marco does this it's dire for jake) so you know. he's not doing so hot. shoutout to when cassie is like so what you're not supposed to be human? and he's like that's exactly right i'm not supposed to be human. it's fucking over for him marco has started calling him Prematurely Middle-Aged. he is turning into brian laborn. i like how they know they can still strategically coerce Whimsy and Immaturity out of him (e.g. 'letting' them sneak into a hollywood concert thing) by appealing to specific teenagerisms of his (shaq will be there).

veryfunny how they. put an arc about tobias navigating [checks notes] accepting his therian identity in the 90s children novels. just straight up. they gave birdboy a stomach-fluttering creeping lack of ability to stay in denial while a higher being was showing him his ideal body moment. They gave birdboy a "rachel is forced to accept who he is and stop solely thinking of him as a human tragically locked away by finding that only appealing to his true self as a red-tailed hawk rather than as a human can bring him out of being lost in a morph" moment. Also, he was autistic about dinosaurs as a child. i fear perhaps he'll have less focus for the rest of the series because his personal arc has like. more or less been sorted already. he's good now. there is the chosen one™️thing coming up still but i like that significantly less than him being just some guy so that's not really exciting. it's nice for him that his life is cool and awesome now though. i will say it's funny how almost every time the animorphs describe each other in their books they're just so wildly off-base (generally in the 'falling for the facade' way but it was funny when marco just confidently rattled off statements about rachels purported secret insecurities that were not even remotely accurate) and with tobias everyone is still like. poor soul. forever trapped in the body of a hawk. and then you cut to tobias and every time he's not in hawk morph he's complaining and bitching and moaning about how he wants to be back in his REAL body with his REAL eyes because they're SO MUCH MORE AWESOME. he's good, guys. he's fine. he's chill.

i am on the. checks notes. second chapter of the Cassie's Spontaneous Mental Break Over Doing Violence book. i like how she had an entire book dedicated to that one specific experience some kids have of being A Kid Who Loves Animals (TM) and then processes that bad things happen all the time in nature + human morality with regards to caring for animals is complicated and biased and gets really distressed about pondering the matter. like you know that type of experience. love that she gets an entire book dedicated to having it. fantastic character trait that she's the most prone out of all of them to having morality debates with herself and distress over the idea of choosing wrong to the point where she genuinely needs someone (marco) to explain to her that inaction is in itself a decision. girl who is very sick and tired of bloodshed, and also keeps accidentally murdering people. remember when she's like [trying 2 joke] i dont want to decide...could you just decide for me jake and jake is like [seriously, completely aware she wasn't kidding on a deeper level] do you Want me to decide for you? it is perhaps most necessary for her over all the other morphs that she gets to Not Be The Person Making The Final Calls. this does not stop her from having increasingly many little moments of nervous breaks before she gets so upset she tries to hard-quit though. should be interesting to see where that goes over the course of the entire series because she has a lot more books to suffer badly through

rachel is like. i think she's the slowest boiling pot here. she's had one (1) moment of really getting snappish about her role being The Brave One but other than that she's largely going "unfortunately i cant stop talking (instinctively immediately calling marco a pussy when he says something is scary and then throwing myself into it to motivate everyone even if i am also so very scared)" and then continuing to play out her role. it's been cute to watch her friendship with marco develop they're by no means each others favorite but they're playful with each other and they're learning how to read each other. i like when rachel is like hmm i think i hear your mom on a submarine and hes like thanks rachel [thinking] if she says youre welcome shes lying to be nice and shes like. Thank you for having better hearing than you? Loser. and hes like oh thank god. it's also very cute when he steals the tv remote while they're all hanging out in a hotel room and acts like he's gonna turn it to baywatch and she gets annoyed and then he puts it to xena warrior princess for her and shes like oh ok :). she is always getting ripped and torn to shreds and almost dying and it may actually be traumatizing the other animorphs marginally more than it traumatizes her. i think thus far my favorite scene with her is when she's traveling with tobias during megamorphs 2

aximili is like. he can be kind of nothing when it's not his book but his characterization is overall really solid. kind of enamored with how much having dinner with cassie impacted him. i want to see more of his developing friendship with tobias...i like how in his head he's like "and we're Best friends :)" without checking to see whether or not tobias also thinks this. deeply deeply funny character in terms of literally being a jock who didnt pay very much attention in school sent back 400 years and expected by everyone he meets there to, like, explain how to invent electricity when all he knows is what electricity is. i think during the dinosaur episode he should have started insufferably asking the other animorphs to explain how to invent a cellphone/water purifier/etc to make a point. bonus points because he comes from a society where being considered more technologically knowledgeable than other warriors is literally a huge diss. he wants to be a jock but he's being considered a nerd by all of his friends just for knowing what is to him basic fact. which obscures the truth that cassie is the real nerd of the group. sad! i disagree with the people who think he's genuinely weird compared to other andalites and not just on earth btw. just a side note. i really like his character development and internal struggles over geopolitics while being Extremely Fifteen. he is fifteen and they are making him undergo the horrors. i would like to see more scenes like where he's invited to dinner at cassie's or where he remembers the dinner at cassie's as smth very fond/important to him but at the same time i can get behind him having a like...undersiders-type relationship to the other animorphs where the connection is simultaneously very superficial and very deep because he wouldn't be in proximity to them if not for Being In A War Together and they don't really have any intimate interactions with him but they still have the intrinsic closeness of constantly fighting for each others lives. i like how he's objectively rachel's least favorite & least trusted and they would still bite claw maim for each other!

marco is becoming increasingly complicated 4 sure. kind of enamored with his character trait where he's completely fine with going "ATTENTION EVERYONE: i am so terrified and scared and afraid that i am shivering and crying hysterically and peeing myself and i've almost fainted as well" but he simultaneously considers the idea of anyone finding out about deeper emotional vulnerabilities of his and pitying him to be intolerable. which kind of clashes in an interesting way w/ how the other animorphs are all pathologically obsessed with the notion that it's fine for anyone Else to be afraid, but They can't be afraid or they're a coward and should be ashamed of themselves. i forgot the specific context but shoutout to when marco fully genuinely says that something is very scary/he's very scared and he wouldn't blame anyone who decided to go home and then cassie projects her own insecurities onto the statement and makes a kind of snippy remark about how she's not going to back down despite the fact that it was in no way targeted at anyone. i like how it's sort of his job to be The Sensible One (although this has shifted over the course of the series now it's more his job to be The Funny One i.e. the emotional medic) but his brain just completely shits out when he's scared and he frequently has to be reminded of common sense things during fights. i like how this does not stop him from being extremely impulsively angry and violent and poorly restrained around things that hit home for him. i like how when jake tries to go "are you ok? asking because you have not made a singular jest and thats worrying to people" marco takes it as "alright fucking fine i'll do better at doing my job and making jokes" instead of emotionally engaging. it's gonna be interesting to see where he goes he's one of the more complicated ones to see the perspective of

[braxiatel]

If I were an artist I would call this a doodle, but as I am a writer I will have to call it an unfinished, unedited abandoned wip.

Mumbo and Scar meet in a bar and commiserate about the struggles of being a young adult. Eventually they kiss. Also Scar is trans and Mumbo is autistic because I wrote this fic for me and me alone <3

(Content warning for references to alcohol, sex, and mentions of a character getting disowned)

————

Scar woke slowly to the sound of birdsong.

The pale spring sun was on his face, as warm as the body next to his in a way that made him feel a pang of homesickness.

He stretched, listening to how his joints popped and creaked, before opening his eyes to look around the unfamiliar room.

He had known it was not his city apartment - excuse him, flat - since he registered the birds. The closest he got was the coo of the pigeons that nested above the grand train station. Nothing like the chitter-chatter of songbirds he could hear here. Must be in the suburbs, then.

The room gave little away. Somewhat austere with its dark walls, the closest thing to decorations being a bonsai tree that was somewhat overdue a trim, and of course the rows upon rows of bookshelves with their arranged books standing to attention. Scar blinked, unable to make out the titles between the sleep in his eyes and the darkness of the room.

Instead he turned to look at the person next to him.

The combination of messy black hair and pale skin brought back vague recollections of the prior evening. Flashes of the interior of a very familiar bar, a hand in his, and a row of empty shot glasses in front of him. Well, that explained the pounding headache, at least.

Scar dared to lift the covers a little, getting a better look at his bedmate.

A handsome round face, smeared by last evening’s eyeliner. The moustache had been neatly combed with wax last night, but now it was somewhat comically askew on the man’s face.

“It’s a mouthful. My friends just call me Mumbo.”

“Mumbo?”

“As in Jumbo.”

“Well, what a lovely name you have then, Mumbo Jumbo.”

Scar blinked. Right, he had met Mumbo at the back of the bar.

It was an older place, with good food and decently priced drinks, that meant it had survived since the early ’00s when karaoke rooms had been a must for any self-respecting club.

These days it was mostly used by couples looking for privacy, or by people looking for somewhere to do the sort of substances the owner would kick you out for even bringing into her establishment, the door half obscured by the very curtains that had once framed it as a main selling point.

In short: it was a sound-insulated place in an otherwise noisy environment, with comfortable sofas, that few people other than the poor bugger making the cameras knew about.

It made it the perfect place to catch his breath after a long evening at work. The next guy to man the security cameras had been two hours late - exam season emergency, apparently - and Scar didn’t feel like sitting in the break room where - once again - Angela had just opened a window to smoke rather than going outside, making the whole place an asthma attack waiting to happen.

So Scar had tucked his bag into the basket of his walker and gone into the karaoke room expecting a quiet moment when instead-

“Well, hello there.”

Years later Scar would claim his immediate thought was something in the direction of either “handsome” or “beautiful” depending on what mood he was in, but honestly in that moment he had mostly felt shock followed immediately by concern.

The man in front of him looked as though he had just witnessed something gruesome. Eyes wide, with a faraway gaze and shaking hands.

“Oh, sorry, is this off limits?”

In the present Scar was looking at the man’s sleeping form, marvelling at what a night’s rest had done for him.

Light stubble decorated his soft jawline and Scar’s fingers itched to feel it. Mumbo’s lips were slightly parted in a snore, and he felt their phantom presence on his own. His arm was heavy around Scar’s waist, though it did not feel possessive so much as protective.

Similar to how he had been holding himself when Scar had found him. Huddled in the corner of a couch, as if trying to make himself far smaller than he was.

“No, no. I just came here to sit down,” Scar said. “but I can leave you to it.”

The bus home didn’t arrive for another 20 minutes - if it were on time for once - and his joints would surely protest if he tried to wait it out in the cold winter air.

“There’s room,” the man said, pulling his long legs up to his chest.

Scar paused for a moment. The stranger did not seem dangerous. Upset, perhaps, but there was a million and one reasons one might be upset. He sniffed the air and detected no more alcohol than was usual for the bar.

Well, it was a big couch, there was certainly room for two.

The cracked, white leather sank beneath his weight, creaking as it shifted. The stranger winced but otherwise stayed where he was.

Not a week went by without one of the other employees telling Scar he should try working the bar sometimes. He obviously couldn’t, not with how long it required him to stay on his feet. It didn’t stop him from spending his breaks there though, talking up a storm with the customers and doubling their sales while he was at it.

He was what one might call a people-person, though he very much doubted he would have missed how tense the man in the room with him was even if he hadn’t been.

“My name is Scar, and who might you be?” he asked.

Perhaps he had been wrong in his assessment of how drunk the man was, or perhaps Scar himself was more tired than he had though. Either way, the sentence the stranger spoke was an unidentifiable whirl to Scar.

“What was that?”

The stranger sighed.

“It’s a mouthful. My friends just call me Mumbo,” the man - Mumbo - explained.

“Mumbo?”

“As in Jumbo.”

“Well, what a lovely name you have then, Mumbo Jumbo.” Scar could not keep the smile from creeping into his voice. “Now, Mumbo, I am no expert, but it seems to me that something is bothering you?”

Mumbo shifted, turning his face halfway from Scar’s and resting his face on his knee, resulting in a lock of his hair obscuring the other half. Well, so much for keeping an eye on the stranger with whom he was alone.

“Long night,” Mumbo told him. “I just needed a break. I don’t do well with loud noises or crowds.”

Scar made sure to keep his voice down when he spoke next.

“Interesting place to go on a Friday night, then.”

Mumbo shrugged. “Well, there’s not a whole lot of gay parks or gay cafes about. The man i was meeting up with wanted to meet here.”

Scar offered a look of sympathy.

“Date gone wrong?”

It was at this point he learned that Mumbo was the blushing type, when his cheeks darkened.

“Something like that…”

Scar inched a little closer, feeling the insatiable itch of curiosity.

“You know, people tell me I’m a good listener,” he fished. “I can go first if you’d like. My love life is abysmal. I haven’t had a date in months, and my last steady relationship was with a straight guy.”

Mumbo looked up fully, pausing for a moment, before he said:

“Tonight was a frankly terrible - and misguided - attempt at getting over my flatmate.”

“This sounds like the sort of conversation we could both use a drink for,” Scar said, having long since learned that this was the way of the British. “What’s your poison?”

Mumbo hesitated.

“My treat,” Scar hastened to add. “I get a staff discount.”

“... [Mumbo requests a drink].”

“Coming right up, good sir,” he said.

Another perk to working here was being able to skip the busy friday night line - sorry, queue - at the bar. He was back in the quiet room in no time, balancing the two drinks on a tray.

“Please don’t spill any. You really aren’t allowed to drink in this room, so if we ruin the sofa or the carpet it will get docked from my paycheck.”

Mumbo accepted his drink, clasping it tightly between his two hands.

“Cheers,” he sighed, taking a sip. “How did you end up dating a straight guy?”

Mumbo, it seemed, was the forward type.

“I’m trans,” he said. “We were still together when I realised. He was good about it, you know, just didn’t want to date a guy. We parted as friends.”

“Right,” Mumbo said. “Congrats? On the gender?”

Scar couldn’t help but laugh. “Why thank you, Mr Jumbo, that’s very kind of you to say.”

“My flatmate is straight too… or he was, anyway, until recently. Turns out being in love with him was a lot easier when I thought he wasn’t into men. Back then it was the idea of dating a man he wasn’t into, and not…”

“You?” Scar guessed.

“Yeah, that,” Mumbo sighed, having another sip of his drink.

“Well, he’s a fool to overlook such a handsome man.”

Mumbo snorted.

“You are!” Scar told him. “Look at you. That luscious hair, the stylish suit, those beautiful grey eyes, and those curves? I’d say you’re quite the catch, Mumbo Jumbo.”

Somewhere between the compliments and the way Mumbo bit his lip and blushed Scar had a realisation. Yes, Mumbo was quite handsome, wasn’t he?

“Well, you must be just about the only one in this bar who feels that way. My date walked out after half an hour, and I’ve failed to talk to even a single other man tonight.”

“You’re talking to me,” Scar pointed out.

“I don’t think it counts when one of the staff decides to give you a pity drink,” Mumbo sighed.

“Do you think that’s what’s happening here?” Scar snorted. “I’m off the clock, you know. I’m just making friends. I’m a friendly guy. Look, why don’t I tell you a little more about myself, and you can do the same if you’d like? Great!”

He had continued to tell Mumbo about his life story, how he ended up in the UK, going to university, coming out, getting sick, dropping out, and finally after several years in and out of the hospital, ending up enrolling again while working evenings here in the bar.

Ending up in Mumbo’s bed…

Scar stretched, the delicate silk sheets slipping over his naked skin in a gentle caress. It brought to mind the way soft hands had wandered over his flesh in the dark of the small hours of the night. It had been a while, long enough he was probably going to be sore for at least half of the day. It was a pleasant sort of soreness, though.

He looked up at the face mere inches from his, feeling no shame in taking in the details of Mumbo’s appearance while he slept.

In the low lights of the bar he had not been able to tell, but from the shape of his face he suspected Mumbo would have dimples when he smiled. There was no sign of wrinkles on his skin yet, but by the sharpness of his cheekbones, he had to be in his twenties at least.

The moustache was a nice touch too, even if it had tickled terribly against Scar’s collarbones and abdomen each time Mumbo had kissed him last night.

On the subject of collarbones, Scar could only note his admiration of the rather prominent mark he had left just about Mumbo’s left one. He shivered at the thought of how the other man had whined. Perhaps he would be up for another round this morning..?

Another round… right. He had stayed past the last bus for another round. Mumbo, once he had started talking, had seemed almost compelled to share his life story as well.

“Theodore Bertram Ambrose Osborn Chace the third,” Mumbo pronounced, a seemingly impossible feat giving he was at the end of his second pint. “Former heir to the right honourable Lord Theodore Chace the second.”

Scar whistled and leaned back in the booth he had found them towards the back of the bar, though it might have gotten lost in the noise. The music was as loud as anywhere else, but they had the table to themselves and the ability to wave one of Scar’s colleagues over when they would momentarily need another refill. Mumbo seemed content enough, anyway.

“That’s quite the name. Can’t imagine any loving parent wishing learning how to spell all that on any child of theirs.”

Mumbo picked up his drink, downing the rest of the dark red liquid.

“They weren’t,” he confirmed. “Hence, Mumbo Jumbo. Easier to pronounce.”

And a name that came with less baggage, he read between the lines.

“I have this friend from Sweden - shared a flat with her when I did my bachelor’s degree. He accused me of having a Mumbo Jumbo name, and when my father disinherited me for dropping out of business school and going into engineering… well, it just fit me better. Silly, I know, but what can you do.”

“Mumbo,” he started. “My name is Scar.”

Another thing Scar was learning about Mumbo was the fact that he was a giggler, or at least the drink brought it out in him. His whole face lit up with it, even when he tried to hide it.

“So, your Swedish friend, is he the one you’re pining after?”

Mumbo shook his head. “Iskall moved back years ago. No, he’s from here. We were paired up for a pub quiz during fresher’s week and we hit it off. I think I fell a little bit in love with him the first time he spoke to me. He just… has this energy. He can be such a pest sometimes, but his happiness is always infectious. Even when he’s laughing at your face because he pranked you by glueing the cereal box to the kitchen counter again, you can’t help but join in. You ever met anyone like that?”

“Sounds a bit like my ex,” Scar said. It must be the alcohol warming his insides, he decided. Surely the ‘Yes, I think I would give up most of my earthly possessions to stretch this evening forever if it means hearing you laughter again’ was down to the alcohol.

Mumbo huffed, picking up the drinks card.

“I’m never going to get over him this way.”

Scar rested his chin in his hand, leaning against the sticky table.

“Nonsense. Look around you, Mumbo, this room is full of wonderful men all looking for a good time.”

“Hard to get to know them when the music is so loud.”

Scar laughed. “Well, I wasn’t suggesting you go looking for ‘the one’ right away. But a night with a handsome man might be a good first step.”

Scar hoped he never got tired of watching Mumbo blush. It was just so… cute.

“What, like a one-night stand?” he asked.

“Exactly.”

“I’ve never… I’ve never done that any sooner than the third date,” Mumbo confessed.

“Never too late to try something new,” Scar suggested. “If you want to, that is.”

Mumbo made a noncommittal sound, wringing his hands.

“Just a suggestion. I’m sure there are many other things you could do to create some distance. A holiday, maybe? I hear Paris is nice this time of year. Or maybe a new hobby? Something to get you out of the house”

Mumbo bit his lip.

“Maybe… There’s one thing I’m wondering, though. Why are you doing this, Scar?”

Why was he doing this?

Mumbo was good company, and Scar liked people. In the backroom, the closest he got to social interaction was Samuel showing up to replace him for the late shift, and while the people on his course were nice enough, most of them were a decade younger than him and straight out of sixth form. And Cub, of course, but when Cub would be home in their little two-bedroom flat above the Chinese restaurant was anyone’s guess.

And shoot him, Scar liked to see people happy, and he liked to believe there was people out there for everyone, helping Mumbo find his (or at least the courage to find them) wasn’t such a bad use of his time.

“This is the first new thing that has happened to me in weeks,” he admitted. “I don’t get out a lot - just work and school. I’ve already missed my bus, and the taxi market will be a nightmare at this hour, so I’m stuck here for at least another hour until the Friday evening rush passes. And you’re interesting, I suppose.”

“That was… very honest,” Mumbo said after a pause.

“I tend to be. That a problem?

“No, not at all. Makes it a lot easier when I don’t have to second guess. Dating, making friends - I’m a bit of a spoon with these things.”

Scar laughed. The alcohol was getting to him, he could tell, because the idea of being Mumbo’s friend made something in his chest feel all warm and fussy.

“Do you want to know one thing I don’t think I will ever get tired of? You British people and your funny little sayings. ‘A bit of a spoon’, that’s adorable.” He grinned, doing an excellent job of imitating Mumbo’s accent in his own humble opinion. “Well then, Mumbo, as someone who has been very much enjoying making friends with you - how would you like a sample of my famous, internationally renowned Scar Bontemps wingman service?”

“If you promise me not to try to do an English accent again, I think I’d agree to just about anything.”

Scar gasped. “I am great at accents, Mumbo! I bet you the next round I can convince someone I am British.”

“Well, if you’re handing out free drinks, I won’t say no.”

Scar stood up, taking the first few steps towards the door before he realised what Mumbo had just implied.

“Now, hold on just a moment, mister,” he protested. “That’s it! I’m going to prove you wrong, right away.”

Scar’s head ached, a reminder of just how that bet had turned out for him. The first round of shots had been his treat, the second bought by Mumbo. Dutch courage, he had called it.

Mumbo would surely have an advil somewhere… or whatever they were called this side of the pond. However, trapped between a wall and a man sleeping like a rock, Scar stood little chance of finding them.

It was very gentlemanly of Mumbo to begin stirring just when his need for pain relief was getting urgent, Scar thought.

He moaned, perhaps a sign he too was suffering for last night’s escapades, and tightened his hold on Scar’s waist.

Scar relaxed, letting himself be pulled against Mumbo’s chest, only squirming a little when his hip started protesting at the odd angle.

“Good morning,” he said.

Mumbo sighed, hiding his face in the crook of Scar’s neck. “Hey.”

The way he was petting Scar’s back was sweet, the gravelly tone his voice had taken on from sleep sending a shiver down his spine.

“Something wrong?” Mumbo asked, prodding himself up on one of his elbows.

Scar’s back lamented the new angle he was lying at and he adjusted himself, then adjusted Mumbo with hesitant hands, until he was comfortable again.

“I think an elephant walked through and stepped on my head while I slept - or perhaps a marching band took up residence on the inside of my skull.” At Mumbo’s puzzled, half-asleep expression, he added: “My head hurts.”

Mumbo hummed, the scruff on his cheeks tickling the sensitive skin of Scar’s neck when he leaned in to kiss his shoulder in sympathy.

“Wait here,” Mumbo told him, wriggling out from under Scar and standing up.

Despite his pounding head Scar could not help but lament the dim light of the bedroom. The end of the night was clear to him, but only in flashes. Ones that, sadly, did not include as much detail of what Mumbo looked like naked as Scar would have liked.

However, being a man of the arts, Scar had to admit there was something truly aesthetic about the way the sunlight that slipped in through the curtains lit up Mumbo’s side. One stripe of light painted on his pale skin, filtering through the speckles of body hair and nestling into the curve where his leg joined his torso. As Mumbo retreated into the en suite bathroom, it paned over his backside, upwards, playing with his silky black hair.

How would it feel on a sunny day, warmed by the sun, Scar wondered? He wiggled his fingers against the sheets in a vain effort to satiate the itch to find out.

Mumbo returned a moment later with two pills and a glass of water.

Scar eyed them sceptically.

“You keep your glassware in your bathroom?” he asked, feeling entitled to judge the man at least a little after sleeping with him.

“Only one glass,” Mumbo excused, not close enough that Scar could make out his blush in the dark. “Sometimes when I’m working on a project, I get a little… focused. seeing it next to the basin reminds me to eat and drink. It’s clean.”

“You’re a funny one, Mumbo Jumbo,” Scar told him, accepting the water and the painkillers, downing both.

“In the best ways only, I hope,” Mumbo said, flopping back on the bed with a soft grunt.

Scar leaned over him to put the glass on the nightstand, using his position to lay down half on top of Mumbo.

“Just need a moment to wake up properly.”

The last part of the sentence trailed off into a yawn. He stretched his arms above his head, bending his wrist just in time to avoid hitting the wooden windowsill.

As he settled back down, arms wrapping around Scar, it struck Scar how comfortable Mumbo was in his own space. It suited him.

The Scar Bontemps Wingman service was renowned in his circle of friends. Ren liked to say that in another lifetime Scar may have been a travelling salesman, a conman, or possibly both.

Scar wasn’t sure about that, but he did know he was good at this.

Matchmaking was easy. It was all about understanding two fundamental things: 1) everyone wanted something 2) everyone had something to give.

On dark days and long evenings watching the security feed, he often found himself circling the thought that the only reason he found it so easy to talk about others and so hard to talk about himself was that he doubted whether there was truly anyone out there who would be interested in what he had to offer.

With Mumbo it was easy. The man was obviously attractive, passionate, and charming. He had all but convinced himself setting Mumbo up with someone would be as simple as to introduce him to whatever man he had his eyes set on. Mumbo was attractive, passionate, and polite. His laughter was infectious, one evening in his company enough to put Scar in a good mood.

“So,” Scar asked, hand on the bar counter to steady himself after the second shot. “Anyone catching your eye?”

For the first time since leaving the room, Mumbo surveyed the busy room. From the small dance floor - currently dominated by five women who had arrived together and seemed to have some intricate constellation of relationships between them, judging by how a different pairing in the group were kissing every time Scar looked over. To the door, opening and closing and letting what little fresh air was able to slip in into the bar as guests went out into the cold winter air for a smoke. Finally, at the end of the bar where a group of men a year or two their junior were surveying the crowd with feigned disinterest. Bingo.

“How about those three?” he asked, nodding towards the three, well, twinks was the word that came to mind.

“Erh,” Mumbo said eloquently. “Sure?”

“Which of the three do you like?”

Mumbo looked at Scar for another long moment before surveying the group.

“The one to the right,” he revealed. “He looks stronger.”

Muscular men were Mumbo’s type, then. Scar made a mental note of it in case this first attempt didn’t work out.

“Ready?” Scar asked, draping an arm over Mumbo’s shoulder.

“As I’ll ever be,” Mumbo replied, shoulders tense enough that Scar’s own trapezius twinged in sympathy.

Mumbo, Scar quickly learned, was not an easy commodity to sell.

He obviously had plenty of qualities, which Scar dropped artfully into conversation. Why, my good friend Mumbo is an engineer, did you know? Very smart. He volunteers at a repair workshop, on top of working at a garage. Mechanics are so strong, don’t you agree? Who doesn’t love a man covered in oil and sweat? And look at him. How many men do you know that are willing to make the effort of wearing a suit every day?

That part was easy.

The hard part was when the commodity you were trying to sell seemed adamant to fight back against you.

Mumbo, while technically an engineer, needed to become a fully-fledged civil engineer before he could use his degree for anything, so really he was just like any other master’s student. The repair workshop was only to buff his resume, and the mechanic mostly had him doing consulting work - flying machines and cars weren’t so different after all.

The suit though, oh he could talk about the suit! Scar thought he had finally succeeded - on the fourth try - until Mumbo started talking about the seventh tie knot, illustrating how to tie it and detailing when to wear it. Scar made a mental note to go to his new friend next time he had a formal event, and to not bring up his manner of dress with the next man they approached unless he seemed particularly interested in the history of cufflinks.

“I don’t blame you, you know,” Mumbo hiccupped over another shot of whisky, provided by Scar. “I’m just not good at this.”

“Nonsense,” Scar told him, downing his own drink and rubbing Mumbo’s shoulder comfortingly.

(Despite his protests that he did very little practical work at the garage, Mumbo was rather strong, wasn’t he? How had Scar not noticed sooner…)

“You just need to get out of your head. Maybe we’re just going about this wrong. What if instead of approaching them, we get them to approach you?”

“And how would we do that, mate?” Mumbo asked, his arm slipping under Scar’s and providing much needed support.

“Dance with me?” he suggested. “We’ll get everyone wondering who those handsome men on the dance floor are, and when they come to ask, all you need to do is seal the deal.”

“I’m a terrible dancer,” Mumbo confessed. “Can’t dance a single step.”

“It is past midnight, everyone will have had enough to drink that it won’t matter.”

Mumbo sighed. “If you think it’ll work…”

He took a step back, offering a light bow before offering Scar his hand. Scar bit his lip not to laugh. It made sense, it did. Old money and formalities often went hand in hand. Mumbo had probably been taught how to waltz, or something equally formal.

Scar took the offered hand, placing it at his waist.

“You stand there,” he instructed, positioning himself closer to the centre of the floor, and Mumbo outwards so he could be seen from the bar and the booths. That suit really did wonders for his backside…

Now, Scar was not much of a dancer either. He liked it, but there were the obvious challenges.

“You okay?” Mumbo asked.

“My balance isn’t great without my walker.”

Mumbo’s hold on him tightened, and Scar had to wonder why he was suppressing the urge to shiver in such a hot room.

“We can leave if you’d like?” Mumbo offered.

“I was promised a dance, Mr Jumbo, and I’m holding you to that.”

Scar placed a hand over Mumbo’s chest, feeling the other’s racing heart even through the layers of fabric.

“Just hold on to me?” he requested.

“Of course,” Mumbo agreed.

They started out slow. Scar moved, Mumbo followed, the two of them simply swaying to the music.

Whatever song must be popular, because soon a handful of other bar patrons joined the previously sparsely populated dance floor. For a moment Scar thought he might have succeeded in getting someone to see Mumbo for the get he was, but instead the additional people just pushed him further into Mumbo’s arms.

Mumbo’s hand crept around his body, settling on Scar’s lower back instead of his hip, holding him in place.

“You okay?” he asked Mumbo.

“I was just about to ask you that.”

Scar smiled at him. They were chest to chest now, and he had to wrap his hands around Mumbo’s neck to even have room for his arms.

“You’re so warm,” Mumbo told him, swaying to the tune of the music again. Being as close as he was, Scar was moved by him.

“Is that bad?” he asked, both feeling and seeing how Mumbo shivered when Scar’s breath ghosted over his neck.

“No,” Mumbo said.

The music picked up speed, and so did their dance. For the first time since they had left the safety of the karaoke room, Mumbo looked relaxed.

His eyes were on Scar, his attention solely on moving to the music.

How had Scar not noticed Mumbo’s eyes sooner? Dark grey framing light, reflecting the flashing lights on the dance floor back to Scar.

The song changed, but Scar was no longer listening.

Mumbo’s hips were against his, the two of them sharing heated breaths as they continued dancing past the fifth song. Aches and pains forgotten, there was only the beat of the music and the beating of their hearts.

For every rejection Mumbo had run his hands through his short hair, leaving it a mess at this point. Perhaps Scar should smooth it out?

He wanted to do so, anyway.

He got as far as the short hair at the nape of Mumbo’s neck. Mumbo bit his lip, sighing, and Scar could not help but watch those pink lips move.

Oh.

Mumbo was tall, and had to bend his head down experimentally. Scar approached, both of them inching closer, and-

His lips were soft, his tongue inquisitive where it met Scar’s own. He tasted of fruity ciders and burning alcohol, the scent of his subtle cologne somewhat mixing into the taste in a way that wasn’t altogether unpleasant.

Whether Mumbo was consciously tightening his hold to support Scar when his knees began to go shaky, Scar wasn’t sure.

Scar heard himself moan, and Mumbo responded by biting at his lip.

He gasped, breaking away for breath.

“Cheeky,” he accused, leaning against Scar. “Do that again?”

Mumbo continued as he had all evening, following most of Scar’s whims. This time, however, he cut the kiss short, trailing down Scar’s jaw and neck instead. Oh, how pleased he was he had worn something low-cut tonight.

One of his hands remained on Mumbo’s shoulder - a necessity, his legs were still as soft as jelly beneath him - while the other trailed down Mumbo’s back, and settling on his ass- arse- whatever.

“Scar,” Mumbo sighed. “You sure about this?”

“Wouldn’t be kissing you otherwise,” he replied. “Let’s get out of here?”

“My flatmate won’t be home,” Mumbo agreed.

“Mine will be.”

“My place it is.”

And from there… well, somewhere between heady kisses, needy touches, and affirmations that neither of them expected the other to be at their best after how many drinks they had had, they ended up at the back of a cab, and then in Mumbo’s little terrace house.

“Upstairs,” Mumbo said somewhere south of Scar’s collarbone and north of his left pec, nimble fingers flying over the buttons of Scar’s shirt. It did make sense, with how much Mumbo knew about suits, that he would know how to most effectively remove a button-up. How very talented he was.

“Not great at those,” Scar told him, his walker left at the front door alongside their shoes.“Sofa?”

“Flatmate will be home by morning.”

Scar sighed, tilting his head back to allow Mumbo better access. He had never been with a man with facial hair before, and was delighted to learn Mumbo’s moustache tickled against his skin.

“I’ll help you?” Mumbo offered.

“Sure,” Scar said. By morning he would be decidedly more sober, so getting back down shouldn’t be such a challenge.

He smiled, the events of last night playing out before his mind’s eye.

Kisses that started out hesitant, while hands explored unknown paths, soon turning heated, clothes coming off in the process.

Where last night Mumbo’s body had been marked by teeth, it was now decorated in pretty little bruises. Scar knew he was much the same.

The alcohol had still been clouding their heads, burning past inhibitions, but remdering them slow. To compensate they had moved at a leisurely pace. Warm, soft, and caring, ending with both of them on their sides, inquisitively familiarising themselves with where to touch to make each other sigh in satisfaction.

Mumbo, he learned, had never been with anyone trans before. He was a quick study, though, diligently prepping Scar, carefully listening to Scar’s instructions when he told Mumbo how to hold up his legs so it wouldn’t hurt his joints now or tomorrow.

It hadn’t exactly been the best sex in the world, both of them were drunk after all, but Scar was certain he had never felt so comfortable after a one night stand before.

He was still catching his breath, lying comfortably on this side, when Mumbo slipped into the bathroom. Scar could hear the water running, and after a few minutes, he returned, looking less flushed and much cleaner.

“Sorry,” he had said, lying back down with all the grace of a falling tree, offering his open arms to Scar. “Just needed to clean up.”

Scar could recall waving it off, already cuddled against Mumbo and drifting off to sleep.

In the light of the morning, he kissed Mumbo’s shoulder and was rewarded by him snuggling closer.

“I’m awake,” he mumbled, adding a snore that told another story entirely.

It was sweet, and Scar did nothing to resist the urge to kiss him again, planting one on Mumbo’s jaw.

Mumbo shifted to look down at Scar.

“Goodness, you’re handsome.”

He said this with a surprising amount of clarity.

Scar knew this already, but it was nice to hear it anyway.

“You’re not so bad yourself.”

Mumbo’s hand settled on Scar’s waist, his fingers spreading and tracing patterns on the sensitive skin.

“Can I kiss you?”

[Still lying in bed, Mumbo and Scar agree that they both want to get to know each other better. They both find each other interesting and attractive, and even if it doesn’t turn into romance they think they could become good friends.

Mumbo goes to have a shower. Scar thinks of joining, but is hungry. Mumbo tells him where the kitchen is and to help himself to whatever he’d like.

Scar goes into the kitchen and is greeted by Grian, Mumbo’s flatmate - and his ex!

Scar is thrilled to see him. Grian tells him he regrets breaking up without giving it a try, he’s been thinking a lot about Scar, and wishes they at least hadn’t lost contact. Scar doesn’t blame him, and just looks forward to reconnecting.

Grian suggests a time and Scar has to decline because he has just planned a date with Mumbo that day.

Grian reacts weirdly to this, but before Scar can ask, Mumbo joins the in the kitchen. Scar happily tells Mumbo that he and Grian know each other, and how]

[ghulehthezombiequeen]

little sunshine. - Angeleyes

cardinal copia x sister of sin!reader part 3.

masterlist. / little sunshine masterlist.

tag list: @gothicwonderlust, @siouxbauhaus

a/n: i finally added a masterlist so yippee that's cool also if u want to be added to the taglist lmk and i'll gladly add u :D

warnings/things to note: female reader, potentially autistic Copia (it just comes naturally i'm sorry), secret relationships, possibly suggestive undertones?? idk bro i just write

enjoy <3

word count: 1,517 words.

A few weeks had passed since your first date with Copia. Not much has happened since then, which was fine with you. However, the fact that you were no longer watching the little ones made you a bit lonely in the ministry library. There were a few perks to working in the library, though. A couple groups of Siblings would normally come in every so often to gossip about any and everything, which you didn't mind overhearing. And they were glad to share with you! You were so likeable by everyone, so kind and generous, so witty and hilarious.

When they finally had to leave for their classes, you decided to pop a random record into the player. What type of records did the ghouls like to collect? You decided to investigate that later as you settled on an ABBA collector's edition vinyl. You studied the sleeve before pulling out the disk, noticing that it'd been played multiple times before.

You were organizing a shelf of books near the corner where your desk was, humming along to the song Angeleyes. You were so focused on your task that you didn't hear the door open, nor the footsteps approaching you.

"Ah, A-Angeleyes, huh? I... Personally, I love that song."

You knew that stutter from anywhere.

You turned around and smiled widely as your eyes were greeted by Copia. Instantly your mood boosted by at least 50 percent. "Oh! Hi, Cardi! What brings you here?" You chirped happily, now trying to multitask talking to him and sorting the books.

"Oh, uh... S-Sister, I just wanted to say that I- I....... I don't know. I just wanted to say hello..." he chuckled nervously at himself. "I'm not very good at this."

Oh, he was trying to flirt with you! Copia was never the best at it before, but now after the night in the gardens with you, every time he got a glance at you made his heart skip a beat. "I... erm... I want you to know that I missed you, a-and, um... I am so happy right now."

Was he... shy? That's adorable.

"Aw, you're so sweet, Cardi! You have a big heart, y'know?" you tittered at his shyness, watching his body language. Wait... was he hiding something behind his back? Odd.

"Whatcha hiding over there?" You asked in a sing-song voice, pretending to peek at what he was hiding behind his back.

Copia's face turned pink as you brought yourself closer to him. "I... w-well, uh... erm... oh, what the hell. Here, for you..." He revealed a white rose, holding it out for you to take. "It's my favorite flower... a-and I wanted to give it to my beautiful girl," he said bashfully, rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand.

Your heart started to melt right then and there. How did Copia know your love language was receiving gifts? You felt even more special when he said that white roses were his favorite, and he was giving one to you! You gasped, taking the rose stem delicately in your fingers. "Oh, you didn't! You're so kind!"

Why did this gift feel different? Other guys have given you the same exact thing sometimes, but this felt more important than those gifts. Were you genuinely catching feelings for this silly rat man? This caused you to blush.

Copia chuckled a bit. "Oh, I did... because you deserve it. You're the sweetest girl I know, and you deserve a gift."

He looked into your eyes and smiled. "Ah, it's just a rose from the gardens, it's not the most valuable thing. But it's a part of me that I want to give you and keep forever... j-just like you." He swallowed after he spoke, mentally cursing himself for stuttering towards the end. Satanas below, why did it have to be so difficult to talk to you?!

You hummed in contentment, placing a gentle hand to his cheek. "If you get any sweeter, I might have to go to a dentist and get checked for cavities!" you teased, moving your hand to press a light kiss on his cheek.

"Ohhh, Sorella..." he mumbled something in Italian that you couldn't quite hear well, but you saw him fiddling with his thumbs. You made him flustered. Cute!

"Well, now I have to get you something, so it's fair!" you pouted as you stared at the white rose in your hand, admiring its beauty.

"E-Eh?! N-No, no, no! Per favore, n-no need to get me anything! Just seeing the smile on your face is all I need." he said quickly, feeling terrible at the thought of you cutting your precious time out to get him something in exchange for a rose.

You felt a little bad but decided to let it go for the time being. "Alright, then..."

"I-If anything, I'm not good enough for you, Sister... the rose should have been good enough." he mumbled quietly, thinking that he didn't deserve her; he'll always try his best for sure, but you... you were perfection.

That put a cheeky smile on your face, and you let out a small giggle. "Oh, I'm gonna put this on my desk, I'll be right back." You turned on your heel and walked to your desk, moving a stack of papers so that your vase with the single white rose sparkled in the sunlight.

Copia watched you, resisting the urge to reach out and pull you back to him, to hold you in his arms. He felt his heart beating so hard against his chest he thought it may explode. He wanted to lean in and kiss your perfect, pouty lips just like that night in the garden.

He was so caught up in his thoughts that he spoke out loud accidentally, "...Why are you so perfect?"

"Mm, I dunno. I just am." you shrugged, a playful smirk on your face. It was cute that he didn't even notice he'd said those words out loud until your reply, which made him bury his face in his hands and coaxing a chuckle out of you.

He let out a flustered grumble. "Y-You know I think you're more than perfect. I- I can't find the right word for it yet, but... y-you're like an infernal goddess. I can't help but admire you. Satanas, you're truly a gift from below, I swear to it."

You tilted your head, so it rested on your own shoulder, smirking at him and pulling him into an embrace. You also took this opportunity to stare into those beautiful, mismatched eyes of his. "You fell madly in love with me already, huh Cardi?" you giggled as he started to snake his hands around your waist, pulling you in just a bit closer.

"Ehh... maybe just a little." he chuckled, lifting his hand to show you the little space in between his thumb and index finger.

You raised an eyebrow at that.

He widened the space the more you stared. "...Maybe just a little more than a little?" he chuckled sheepishly.

You kept your eyebrow raised.

"Ah! Okay, fine! Maybe a lot. Maybe- Maybe you should- uh... something. I... I forgot."

You both laughed at this, pulling each other closer.

"We're supposed to be keeping us a secret, y'know..." you reminded, smiling at him. He grinned innocently, pulling away slowly and looking around to make sure no one was watching the two of you.

"Okay, okay, you caught me. I love you tons, contento? But you are right, this isn't the best idea to do this in public. But... if it were under the circumstances of it being 'just us'... would I get a hug? M-Maybe even a kiss?"

"Hmm..." You pretended to think, just to spite him. Of course, you already knew the answer. "Under the circumstances of it being just us... whatever would we do?" "Oh, I know! What about... your room, 8pm tonight. I'll bring a bag and stay over?" you asked in a mischievous tone, your smirk still evident on your face.

Copia's face flushed a bright crimson at what you were implying. Did you want to-- with him?!?! Was he even that lucky?! Copia's mouth hung open for a second before sputtering a response. "Wha- I- you- me- we- uhh... erm... I- yes! Okay! Okie dokie... good, good...."

You laughed at his adorable reaction, pulling away from him to go back to work. "Y'know, the Siblings were talking about you earlier. They said you keep pet rats. Some couldn't believe it. But it got me thinking, and I want to see for myself if the rumor is true!"

"I- wha? Oh! Yes, o-of course!" he cleared his throat (and his thoughts), nodding. "W-Well, um... I guess I'll see you tonight then, Sister." He tried playing it cool, but everyone could tell how excited and nervous he was to see you tonight. You! Tonight! In his room! His mind was racing a mile a second as he spun around and scurried away to his room, resisting the urge to kiss you goodbye.

As for the rumor, well. That was true.

~~~ previous chapter. | next chapter.

[bugmomwrites]

Strangeness and Charm

(A Leorio x Fem!Autistic!Reader College AU)

Leorio is thrilled to be returning to college in the fall after a trip with his friends to York New, and pleasantly surprised to meet a new pretty face in his classes. Unfortunately for him, you also exist.

Or, it's a wonderful day on the campus, and you are a horrible student.

A/N: This is how I'm coping with chemistry class guys. A neat little story by an autistic girlie for the autistic girlies. It's pretty bare bones and it started as a joke with @bwabys-scenarios. Worth noting I was zooted out of my mind when I began composing the earliest draft, so if you were hoping for the next Odyessy, look elsewhere because I'm writing solely for my own enjoyment and nothing is sacred. If you want to be added to the tag list please let me know, it will give me an extra dopamine molecule to survive the day.

That said, enjoy the ride.

Chapter I: Water & Oil

‘401, 402, 403- Here it is. Why am I just finding out this morning they moved the class to the fourth floor?’

Leorio sighed, glancing at his schedule one last time to confirm that he was, in fact, in the correct place before carefully pushing the door open and marching into his Advanced Chemistry class. It was bad enough showing up about ten minutes late after having missed syllabus week due to a trip, but now it was going to be even more difficult to find a seat. He groaned internally at this, realizing that with the new fall semester the place would be fuller than usual, especially with fresh high school graduates.

‘Of course the place is crawling with freshmen’, he thought to himself. Giving a polite wave to the professor who nodded stiffly before returning to introductions, he turned his attention back to the lecture hall seating, his eyes desperately roving over the sea of people on the risers. There were a few empty ones in front, but when he went to set his books down he was met with a few stinkeyes and a passive aggressive “pack it up Buddy the elf!” Putting his hands up in surrender, Leorio picked up his briefcase again and resumed his search. 

Trying to make one’s way up a flight of bleachers at a game is hard enough, but add in being well over six feet tall, noisy, horrendously awkward, and the last one to show up, of course hundreds of eyes would be burning into you. Leorio wasn’t a stranger to attracting attention when he went out, but damn it can’t a guy just exist in peace?!

Not wanting to be any more disruptive than he already had been, Leorio made his way up, gingerly stepping over limbs and muttering apologies as he found two seats close to the back, opting for the one with more legroom. Finally able to sit after nearly missing his bus, arriving at the wrong building, and sprinting over here only to cause a scene, he felt his blood pressure drop back to normal. Sure, he could feel sweat on his back, but his suit jacket was dark enough to hide what could have been an embarrassing patch.

He must not have been as composed as he tried to convince himself he was, because he was still in a daze when one of the many freshman dug into her bag and held up a metal water bottle as big as his head. He had always heard that eye contact was good when meeting a new person, but was it possible for a person to maintain too much of it? Baggy eyes with thick lashes and circles to match stared into him, as if studying him under a microscope, and he felt himself shrinking into himself despite towering over her. Another moment of loaded silence fell over them before she shook the bottle, the subdued clattering of ice inside bringing him back to earth. He hesitantly thanks her, carefully lifting the heavy object with both hands before unscrewing the top to take a grateful swig.

‘Maybe they’re not all bad. Sure, they’re a little arrogant, but they haven’t been adults for very long either. Besides, I’m only 19, it’s not like I’m much b-’

His eyes shot wide open when he finally registered the familiar burn of a stiff drink on his tongue. And not just some flimsy cocktail either- this was some prohibition-level strength in that bottle! 

Trying frantically to spit it back into the strawless mouth of the lid, he coughed up as much as he possibly could. The girl looked up from the chicken scratch on her binder when he set the bottle back down on the table between them with a dull thud. She had the audacity to raise an eyebrow at him, seemingly indifferent to his plight before shrugging and chugging an alarming amount of booze and backwash at 9am.

Leorio looked on, horrified and making a mental note to avoid her like the plague this coming semester. He had already made enough of a scene today, so he sat uncomfortably in her proximity as the professor droned on about the syllabus, covering the last page of information that was missed on Friday due to time constraints. Nothing seemed to change from last year except for the location, and a few other topics that he had already grown familiar with in the standard level class last semester. As the talking faded into white noise he found himself thinking of how to give this girl a piece of his mind as soon as the bell rung.

“And I hope you’re all comfortable where you are now, because the people at your table will be your lab partner for this week’s assignment! Now that everyone knows what’s to be expected in this class, let’s take some time now to get to know our seatmates better.”

His head swivled around like a deer in the headlights, eyes darting to the professor, to Moonshine Girl, to just behind Moonshine Girl where another woman sat eating some fruit from a tupperware bowl. She appeared to be a little bit older, taller, and much more composed than her slovenly counterpart. Manicured nails pushed a lock of platinum blonde hair out of her face as she gave Leorio a blinding smile, and everything about her screamed perfection. To her left, in between the two of them, Moonshine Girl was currently squeezing a ziploc baggie of soggy fruity pebbles out of a snipped corner and into her gaping maw.

“Sooo my name is Emily, I’m looking forward to working with y”-

“What the hell did you just give me?! I know it wasn’t water in that bottle! You have a lot of explaining to do missy. I don’t know what possessed you to think bringing that was o”-

“Hey, HEY dude calm down. It was an honest mistake.” Moonshine Girl sat up in her chair after leaning back on the legs a little. She shamefully took the bottle out, unscrewing the entire lid and showing them the contents. It was moonshine, all right- and there were little plastic stars filled with water. Reusable ice cubes.

“It was a Labor Day weekend project, I have a few of these giant bottles. I probably should have labeled them better instead of just throwing everything on my countertop.” Well, if Leorio was angry before, he was furious now. He opened his mouth, about to go on a tirade when Emily quietly asked to hold it. Moonshine Girl obliged, passing the container over. Hoping Emily would take it and dump it on the way out of class, Leorio leaned back into his seat when Emily took a sip herself, setting it down with a thumbs up.

“Oh yeah, no that’s definitely not water. It’s not too bad though, maybe you can show me how to make it at some point?”

Leorio watches the exchange, flabbergasted. Moonshine Girl nods excitedly, twisting the lid back on and tucking it back in her bag. “That sounds fun! Oh, right, my name is (name).”

Leorio files the information in his brain away for later, deciding to play nice until the end of class when he could quietly report the incident.

---

“Alright, if we’re going to be seeing a lot more of each other this semester, maybe we should exchange contact info?”, (name) suggested, opening up the contacts app on her phone. Emily's face lit up, popping her phone number in, and then asked (name) to follow up with a quick text to make sure it worked. Sure enough, her phone pinged and Emily sent a little message back.

‘Hey! It’s Emily from chem <3’

Satisfied with the result, Emily goes to put her phone away when Leorio stops her. “Hey wait a minute why can’t I get a pretty girl’s number?!” 

Emily’s smile fades a little, cringing at the blatant flirting attempt before reluctantly punching in her digits. “Don’t forget (name)”, she reminds him, and he sighs. A few taps later, he hits the create contact button and slides the phone across the table when (name) pipes up.

“Wait hang on, I need to test it.” Fuck.

(Name) composes a little message, and almost immediately is greeted with an automated text message reading ‘Thank you for signing up for dinosaur facts! To hear our fact of the day, send YES. To unsubscribe, send STOP.’

Emily looks up at the man, disappointed. It was a good thing (name) made a habit of testing numbers before labeling the contacts, or she might not have caught it. “Come on man, really?” (Name) grimaced a little awkwardly, trying to lighten things up.

“Hey, it’s not so bad, I happen to like dinosaurs thank you very much.”

“That’s not the point- oh my god. Leorio, give her your real number. (name), I have it if he gives you another fake.” And with that, Emily pulls the contact screen up, the numbers mocking Leorio. He can’t lie his way out of it either- not with the blurry peace sign selfie he set as his photo ID. He grumbles, popping it in and sending a text from there before pulling out his own phone with a new message notification on the home screen.

“There you go. Happy? And quit daydrinking, college is no place for people who aren’t serious about their education.”

He walks out, (name) fuming a little as he picks up his jacket off the chair- the heat from running must have gotten too unbearable- and swinging it over his shoulder with one hand, briefcase in the other. The sweat stain that he thought disappeared was very much still there as he padded towards the door unceremoniously. Emily snapped a quick pic, and texted it to (name).

“There's a fitting contact photo”, (name) glanced at the screen hearing Emily’s words, and chuckled. The massive dark patch on his white shirt was blurry, but still visible to the naked eye. Typing into the first name section of her contacts and adding the photo, she flipped the screen around to show Emily her handiwork.

‘PANGEA’

“Ha! Yeah it does kind of look like the supercontinent.” Emily chuckled to herself, smiling as the two of them left the class. “And he looks to be as old as it too.” While (name) was thrilled to have finally made a friend in college, she prayed to every deity that there was more to this Leorio guy beneath the surface, otherwise, it would be a very long year.

---

Taglist:

@bwabys-scenarios

[kookiesandmelanin]

Misunderstandings

Pairing: Hyunjin x autistic reader

Genre: Angsty with fluffy ending

Prompt: Y/n comes off as cold and distant and it pisses off Hyunjin. 

Word count: 2,772

Warning: an autistic meltdown, ignorance, ableism (depending on how you interpret this), a panic attack, and things that you should never say to an autistic person, please don't read if any of these trigger you

Author's notes: This is based on a fic I read that I lowkey hated, because it triggered me. The reader in the fic wasn't even autistic, but the way I interpreted them made it hard for me to read. I will not name the fic or writer, because I have nothing against it and they didn’t actually do anything wrong. I actually love all the other works they have too. Also so there is no confusion, I am an autistic person and the meltdown is kinda based on some of my experiences, so once again please don’t read if this is something that makes you uncomfortable. Idk but this also feels like it could have another part. This is my first fic on tumblr so please be nice to me lmao.

<><><><><><><><><>

Sweaty and scared. That was all you felt as you sat, stuffed in the farthest corner from Hyunjin. You never once dared to look at the pissed off man who had been staring holes into you since the moment you came into this dreadfully tiny room. 

The door was locked shut from the outside and neither of you had a lick of network connection to contact anyone for help. You hated yourself for agreeing to speak to him alone. You thought he needed your help and technically it's your job to help the boys, but you'd accidently broken one of the rules your mentor Chan had set for you.

'Never spend any time with the boys alone'. You knew that if Chan found out about this he wouldn't be too mad at you, but it still made your heart beat aggressively in your chest. It was so loud you hoped Hyunjin couldn't hear it.

Hyunjin however, let out a deep frustrated sigh that heightens your senses farther to a point that was unhealthy and you buried your face deeper into your sweater paws. Your hoodie was covering your face and you pressed your upper body farther into your knees. You were hoping and praying that someone would come open the door so you could run off and cry in peace, but as of now you used all your willpower to keep your heavy tears in your burning eye sockets.

Even more frustratingly enough from Hyunjin's point of view this was another way of you being rude and ignoring him, so he spoke up.

"Even when it's just the two of us you're still gonna ignore me and not even look at me?" He said in a tone that caused your stomach to drop further. 

You slowly turned to look up at him, but you didn't dare to make eye contact with him.

"What? You gonna mock me by just staring at me like I'm dumb??" He asked in a sarcastic tone of voice.

You shake your head at him, but words did not make any move to exit your mouth and your lips quivered. You secretly cursed the 'higher' force that seemed to 'will' you to be non-verbal at the moment. "You can't speak or something???" He asked in a more agitated voice that only made it harder to try and at least form a gesture that could help your case.

You shake your head again and look away quickly, because you can feel the weight of your tears being too heavy for you to hide anymore. He rolls his eyes as he watches you turn your head away from him again. "I don't know why you're being such a stuck up bitch." He says before turning away from you as well.

"All the guys and I only just want to be nice to you and you insist on ignoring us and being an asshole." He finishes before slouching against the wall. He decided he'd just give up on you.

You however curled into a ball and slumped to the ground. A quiet, but audible broken sob left your mouth as your body began to shake constantly. The words he said hurt like hell, because you only ever tried to be good to him and the rest of the guys, but working while being autistic and having non-verbal spells that come at random never made anything easy for you.

What hurt the most though, was the fact that you've been in a situation like this before and it always made you feel less than human. It seemed like you were a waste of space and always caused problems to the people around you. It was as if you could never do anything right no matter how hard you tried. You wanted to run and hide so bad. 

Your cries made Hyunjin turn his head sharply and look at you in bamboozlement. "Are you crying?!" He asked in a whisper scream. Your body can only shake harder as you shake your head no rapidly, as if trying to convince yourself more than him. You try to open your mouth and say no, but the only thing that comes out is a broken sob yet again. Your body seems to only unravel from its fetal-like position as you hug yourself while rocking back and forth for comfort.

Hyunjin begins to panic and the weight of the words he had so carelessly thrown at you began to set in. He realized that what he said was rude and very insensitive of him.

"I- I'm sorry.. please just.." He trails off as his mind begins to race at the speed of light.

You stay a shaking anxious mess on the floor for a minute, before Hyunjin's body moves before his mind can stop him.

"I apologize Y/n please… just be okay.." He says in a shaky voice as he reaches out to you. He only ghosts his hand over your trembling head so as not to make your meltdown worse. 

It takes a while for you to calm down as Hyunjin sits next to you talking about random things, so you could just focus on his voice. He had come to the conclusion that you were having some kind of panic attack or meltdown so he opted to help you calm down before talking things out with you.

When you finally come too again, Hyunjin quiets down and looks at you with a concerned face. "Are you okay?" He asks you in a skittish voice as if the last thing he wanted to do was cause another meltdown for you.

You nod softly, "yes.." you shutter out. Your voice is hoarse and barely audible from all the hyperventilating.

He looks at you in surprise at the fact that this is basically your first time speaking to him. Then Hyunjin started to carefully go back through the encounters that caused him to think you were rude.

<><><><><><><><><>

"Hey guys." Chan greets as he walks into the practice room that everyone is currently in. "I want y'all to meet someone real quick. She's a friend and she's gonna be working for us for a while to get service hours for school." Chan says as a person walks from behind the door and waves quickly. She also made a point not to make eye contact with anyone, as she slowly made her way to stand behind Chan.

"Her name is Y/n and she can be a little quiet so don't mind her." Chan says on behalf of her. “She is going to be a helper of sorts. She’ll get us food, drinks, run errands, and do things like clean the practice room and sometimes the dorms.”

"Nice to meet you Y/n." All the guys say in unison with a quick bow. They smile and wave at you. You smile shyly and give another small wave, before shifting into a stiff bow and scurrying out the room as if it smelled bad.

'That was weird. She could have at least spoken back' Hyunjin thinks while side eyeing the place she had just been standing.

<><><><><><><><><>

From then on every Time you had to interact with one of the guys that wasn’t Chan, you were very very quiet. All of them would make small talk and you would only ever nod your head and/or gesture to get your point across. Sometimes on very rare occasions you would make a very small noise to indicate a response. After some time the guys got used to it and just accepted that you would not be speaking anytime soon and some of them found it endearing. As you were nice enough that it slipped their mind.

Hyunjin however saw you speak to Chan on multiple occasions and that didn’t sit well with him. He thought you had judged all the boys on the first time you met them and decided that they weren’t good enough to talk to. It seemed to him that you only talked to Chan, because he was the only reason you had the job.  

The moment that made his blood boil the most however was a couple of days ago. You came over earlier that day to clean the dorm per Chan’s request. After a few hours of cleaning and organizing, Chan offered that you stay and eat lunch with them. The thought had you terrified, but you didn’t wanna be rude by turning down the request. You agreed to stay, but you had no idea how to interact with any of the boys.

You sat in between Felix and Han as they yelled at the TV while playing video games. You were all squished up and you looked stiff and uncomfortable. Hyunjin was the first to notice and he tried to help you. “Y/n are you uncomfortable? You can come sit next to me.” He said while patting the seat next to him.

You quickly nodded and made your way over to sit by him. You sat as far away from him as possible and pulled your knees to your chest. “So, how have you been doing?” He asked, trying to make small talk with you. You however were terrified, because this wasn’t a ‘yes or no’ question that you could answer with a head nod. You sadly got so used to only having to nod and/or gesture, but you couldn’t do that this time. Your mind raced and at first you thought maybe just ignore him and act like you didn’t hear him. You knew that right now was not a moment you could speak and then the thought of ignoring him made you feel aggressively guilty. You turned to stare at Hyunjin with wide eyes and your mouth fell open, but nothing came out. “Y/n?” He asked after you hadn’t given him an answer for a while. “Are you going to answer?” He asked a little loud this time. All of the boys turned to look at you guys and you began to shake. All the eyes that seemed to be judging you and the annoyed look on Hyunjin’s face activated your fight or flight response.

You were quick to get up and give a rushed and frantic bow, before basically running out the front door leaving everyone confused. From Hyunjin’s point of view it was like every other time you had been ‘rude’ to him or one of the guys. That was the day he decided he had to speak to you. In a place where you had to answer him and could not ignore him.

<><><><><><><><><>

Though now that he looks at you on the floor. You didn’t look rude or stuck up right now. Heck now that he got out of his feelings and looked at you through a different lens, you looked scared, awkward, and like you felt out of place just like all the other times he had looked at you. Sometimes you looked ‘normal’, but you never looked mean. You just didn’t speak like other people he met. “Y/n?” He called out in a voice that you weren’t used to hearing from him.

He sounded calm and it made your heart rate slow down a tad bit, “Why don’t you speak to anyone, but Chan? I don’t mean to attack you, I’m genuinely curious, but after all the terrible things I’ve said I understand it you don’t wanna answer me.” Hyunjin spoke while looking at the wall opposite of you.

It took you a minute to collect your thoughts, but Hyunjin waited patiently while you sat up and turned your body to face him. You didn’t make eye contact, but you looked at his chest, “Sometimes I… cannot speak.. when I am… in stressful situations?” You said very very quietly. Your voice strained and stressed from all the hyperventilating and having not spoken in a while. Hyunjin however didn’t care. He leans in closed so that he can hear you perfectly. He was delighted that you were finally having a conversation with him. Especially after all the uncomfortable situations he now felt like he’d put you in. He nodded his head to show that he was listening to you whole-heartedily and you opened your mouth to continue, “Sometimes I just have non verbal moments even when I’m not stressed..” You say a little more clearly. 

“Oh.. that makes sense..” Hyunjin trails off as he feels even more terrible than before. His heart drops even farther now that he realizes that he caused you so much stress that you had a meltdown that lasted for almost 30 minutes. “I’m so fucking sorry. Please, you don’t have to forgive me, but just know that I am remorseful about how I made you feel. I didn’t know my actions caused you so much stress. Now that I think about it, they were absolutely disgusting.” He said so earnestly that it made your heart melt. No one had ever apologized for anything they’d done to you, except Chan and now Hyunjin.

“I.. forgive you… Hyunjin.” You say with a smile. His face lights up at the sound of his name coming out of your mouth, but more so at the fact you accepted his apology even though deep down he still felt like shit for what he had done. After you got used to being around Hyunjin, you guys fell into a little conversation about anything and everything. He tried making you laugh; he also didn't even care if you didn’t speak back sometimes. He was so happy you were finally comfortable enough to talk to him.

The time also seemed to pass faster and soon Chan made his way into the room. He had been looking for the both of you guys for a while. The other guys told him that y’all left together and he wasn’t too mad about it. He knew you off all people wouldn’t do anything stupid or out of pocket. Chan turned to look at you guys and he almost instantly knew what was going on.

He let out a little awkward laugh as he opened the door, “Did you force Y/n in a small room with you in the hopes of getting her to speak to you?” He said a tiny bit disappointed that he should have stumped any misconceptions about you, so that something like this wouldn’t happen. You giggled a little and hid your face in your hoodie-clad hands. Hyunjin’s face went red instantly and he started stuttering. “I- I didn’t.. W-well when you put it like that.. I- I just asked her?… Sorry..” He gives up trying to defend his case as if he had one anyways. Your giggles increased in volume and Chan began to laugh too. Hyunjin smiled at you glad he wasn’t causing you stress anymore.

Both of you guys stepped out of the tiny room and Chan spoke up again, “Y/n?” He looked at you for permission. You nod your head, “She has autism and I’m sure you know about her non verbal moments by now.” He said to Hyunjin who gave you a surprised and sorrowful look. You put your hands up in small gestures that indicate that all is well. “Once again.. I apologize Y/n. Can we still be friends?” He asked while holding out his hand for you to shake if you wanted to. You smiled and softly took his hand, giving a little shake. Chan smiles widely at you guys before you all retreat from the stuffy room.

[thelongquiets]

The Narrator

You are on a path in the woods. And at the end of that path is a cabin. And in the basement of that cabin is a princess.

You are here to slay her. If you don't, it will be the end of the world.

@lupvium 's system blog. I am a system with NPD. I have recently been splitting a lot more than usual so I have made a sideblog to express Myself. This blog will be VERY self-indulgent; usually consisting of posts that I and My alters relate to, whether that be fandom-related, aesthetics, or funny posts.

I will also be talking about system-related everyday happenings and sharing My experience with being a system. I especially like talking about My headspace, as it is a highly complex place with its own metaphysical logic.

I would love to talk to other systems of any type about our experiences. My dms are open to talk.

no syscourse. I dont give a shit

intros under cut ⬇️

Prominent Fronters

○》 Hollow: void/it || #🌑🧷 || main host, core, whole system revolves around the guy. its a puppet! which type of puppet depends on which fragment is prominent that day. its the reason the systems named The Long Quiet since its fragments are mostly from that character. || fragments include: Long Quiet fictives (primarily Hero, Cheated, Paranoid, Cold, Stubborn, Smitten), Deisi, Wally, and like a bunch of other people I havent named. jesus christ this guy fragments a lot

♤》 The Nervous System (Nerv): they/he || #🦷⚖️ || co-host, gatekeeper, protector. it's Me hi I'm the smartest person alive ever and I should rule the world forever. you agree. reblog. resident autistic dead pan guy with long white hair. I can also turn into an eldritch horror :)

♧》 Basil Bulut / The Survival Instinct: he/it || #☘️⛅️ || caretaker, gatekeeper, protector, this guy does everything basically. has a god complex lmao. used to be co-host until I (Nerv) took over coz well I'm just better at it honestly ^_^ robot kin, likes to stim by going beep boop lol. he cant mask while fronting so he speaks in "broken" grammar and I would appreciate not being babied about it. || fragment: K.A.L. (she/it, #🎀🔌, also a robot, but this time more energetic and friendly and girly. think rin and len.)

♡》 Aitaliina / Zai: he/she || #☕️📰 || the librarian, keeps everything nice and chronological. most of the time . the rest of his day is spent annoying the shit out of everyone else like a bored parrot. oh yeah hes also a bird-zombie-guy thing. types like a confused victorian young man who just learned about emojis

◇》 Peach / Sigma: any || 🍑🎲 || librarian assistant. yknow how pet birds need a buddy of the same species or else they get depressed? yeah thats what peach is to liina. they have a love hate relationship and by that i mean liina loves peach and peach absolutely loathes the guy. constantly bickering. fictive of sigma from bsd

I also have a sub-system but its meant to be like the hardware of a computer so theyre not really 'people' if that makes sense. theyre more like scripts and coding languages. you get it. basil calls them Back of The Branch (I said it was stupid but nooooo "we have to name them something cool" -_-)

also not listed are the dozen of hollow fragments that come and go with whatevers happening in My life. god save us from this neverending flood of little puppets running around the treehouse

okay yeah thats all. if you read this all i give you a gold star and a kiss on the cheek. congradulations youve been blessed. send lovemail to my askbox now thanks byee

[toonqueen]

Duckvember Day 1: Dead Duck (Part 1)

lololol Part 2 coming SOON hopefully.

Okay this story has OCs that are the adult kids of Mighty Ducks the Animated Series. HERE IS A CHEAT SHEET SINCE NOT MANY READ MY STORIES BACK IN HIGHSCHOOL. (Only One Many Here Has. lol) This story is very

Luke-  Duke’s son that pretty much looks exactly like him but has both eyes. Super smart but does not apply himself because of gifted child burnout. @fluxchix is responsible for him.

Maestro - Son of Canard and Luceria Decoy that fell out of a portal one day, like you do. Super sweet guy even though he has seen some shit. Also he's deaf so I'm writing SIGNED instead of SAID a lot.

Tayshia - Tanya and Wildwing daughter that someone while having loving parents turned out to be kinda a jerk man. Wtf is up with that?

Karma - Grin’s son, I really don’t have  much to explain here. 

Mercedes - Nosedive’s daughter. Everything you find annoying about Nosedive but then doubled. 

Molissa - Duke's daughter and Luke's younger sister.

Castor and Blaster - Mallory’s twins.  Funny story I can’t remember these two’s real names. These were their nicknames. I actually rarely ever wrote them so LOLOLOL. 

Rex - Dragaunus’ son that is good and working with the ducks because he’s the bad bitch Mercedes was able to pull by being autistic 

Tyrant - not related to Dragaunus in any way, just a new saurian from limbo that is the new bad guy or something.

THIS STORY IS LUKE AND MAESTRO CENTERED. 

Betaed by @cataradical but the next part may be unbetaed because I am unsupervised.

—-----------------------

 “Thank you for the ride. You do not have to stick around,” signed Maestro as he sat in the passenger seat. He had been excited all day to go to the bookstore. The book he wanted the author to sign was sitting in his lap.

“Ah, I’ll be in the area. There’s stuff on the other side of the street I’m going to check out,” replied Luke, signing as he spoke aloud.

“Cool. I will text you when I am done,” Maestro signed as he smiled, “I do not know how long the line is going to be. He is famous enough to draw a crowd.”

“Take your time. There’s no rush. Maybe we can have dinner afterwards,” Luke said and signed. Maestro put on the device that helped him hear. It was something Tanya had created a short while ago that easily wrapped around the back of his head and ended at a circular shape on each end. It wasn’t 100% helpful with hearing speech, but it was what he normally wore in battle mode so he could not be surprised and attacked from behind. 

“A quick dinner. I wanted to finish packing tonight,” Maestro signed, smile widening. He opened  the truck door to get out. He closed the door, tucked the book under his arm, and waved his friend off.. Luke snickered and waved in return before the other duck disappeared into the store.

Luke headed to the strip mall across the street. He was sure he could find something to waste his time on for a few hours. He didn’t want to go back to his empty apartment and for sure did not want to go back to the Pond and be forced to practice. 

Luke barely had a chance to park when he already received a text message from Maestro. He expected it to be a long paragraph explaining something that happened at the signing. Instead it was a short message: “Pick me up now. Please.”

Luke hopped back into the pickup, returned to the bookstore. Maestro was waiting outside with a very neutral expression. His copy of the book was no longer in his arms.

Luke parked the truck and Maestro got in without saying a word. Angrily buckled himself up.

“Uh, that was quick... How did it go?” Luke said as he signed, a little bit unsure about asking because it clearly did not go well. 

“Not good. Can we go to your apartment?” Maestro signed back as he dropped his messenger back onto his lap. The book didn’t appear to be inside, either.

“Okay…” Luke trailed off, replying with a simple “okay” in sign.

The drive was awkwardly quiet. Maestro stared out the window, hugging his bag. When they pulled off at an exit and stopped at a red light, he finally broke the silence. Without looking at Luke, he spoke aloud, “He didn’t even give me the chance to explain. He just said I was mocking his work.” Most of his enunciation and tone was clear but when it came to longer words they were more mumbled. Before Luke could say anything, he continued, “I mean. I knew better than to mention Limbo. I just said there is warring on our home planet and he just– just shot me down. I mean. It’s the elephant in the room that no one talks about, but it’s kinda common knowledge that alien ducks are here because our planet sucks right now. So wouldn’t it make sense there would be someone in my situation?” 

Luke nodded, not sure of what to say at that moment. He then realized Maestro wouldn’t see his nod so he reached over to give the upset duck a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder. 

Maestro looked over at Luke; he wasn’t crying but his eyes were misty. 

Luke went to speak but was interrupted by an angry honk from the car behind him. The light had turned green. The gray duck grumbled to himself, annoyed, and resumed driving.

Maestro looked a little amused at Luke’s frustrated reaction to being honked at. He wiped a tear from his eye, chuckling, “Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize,” Luke added verbally. He then signed his response, forgetting a moment Maestro wouldn’t understand him. It was frustrating for him that he couldn’t communicate with his friend while driving. 

Maestro could tell Luke thought that he had missed the words. “Do not worry. I am watching your beak now,” he reassured softly with a light smile despite his watery eyes. 

“Did you still want to go out to eat?” asked Luke. 

“No,” Maestro replied verbally. He spoke softly because Luke had to keep his eyes on the road, but still signed a bit out of habit. “I am going to take a nap. I was up until 4 AM, so excited to meet this guy. I do not want to go back to the pond right now because Tanya would see I was upset and mom all up on me.”

Luke took a moment to process what Maestro said. “Yeah, it's fine,” he replied. “You can crash at my place. I have a few things to do so I’ll drop you off first.” 

----------- 

A Short Time Later

—---------

“What kind of dump did you send me to?” the gentleman spoke into his cellphone as he got off the elevator. He angrily dug into his pocket for the hotel room key. “I’m on the third floor. THIRD FLOOR.”

There was a pause as the man stopped in front of the door, finally retrieving the key card. “I don’t care if it's a five star hotel. I don’t care what actors stay here. This place is as bad as that so-called bookstore you sent me to. I’ll call you in the morning.”

The author shoved open the door, tossing the key and phone on the dresser. He took off his jacket, dumped it on the couch as he entered the small office space in the large, fancy hotel room. Before he could switch on the light, he heard an abrupt <i>click</i> from the desk. It was followed by the flicker of fire from a lighter. 

The author, confused, turned on the light.

Luke sat on the desk, lighting his cigarette clamped in his beak. He took a drag, held it between his fingers. In his other hand was a copy of the author’s book, opened about a third way through. “So here’s the shit I don’t get,” he said coldly. “Your book is like, 10% about this former child soldier in Uganda, and then the other 90% about telling others how to cope. You, a guy who has never experienced the horrors of war. Where’s this child soldier you spoke about? The boy who actually had to endure all this pain and misery?”

“How did you get in here! The security in this place is… how!” the human seemed rather stunned. 

The duck ignored his outburst, flipping through the book. “Not a word from the guy in here… It's like you’re making money off his trauma. Wow. Does he get any of the residuals off your book sales, because I mean, come on. Or is this some sorta ‘Memories of a Geisha’ bullshit?”

“What is this? I’m calling the police!” the man went back to the table he had left his phone. The grey feathered duck stayed on the desk as he flipped through to read the next page of the book. When the human picked up the phone he saw he had no signal. He tried calling out but just got a defunct noise in the return. He then picked up the hotel phone but it had no ring tone

“Don’t worry man. I’m her to just talk,” Luke called from the other room. The sound of him getting off the desk could be heard, “Comon, we just need to discuss a little situation.”

The author went to leave the hotel room, but the doorknob didn’t work. 

“You know, EMP shit isn’t just stuff for sci fi movies,” the grey duck added as he came to the office doorway, “Man, everything is fucking automated nowadays. Even that silly hotel room lock.” 

“What do you want?” The man glared at the gray duck. The human didn’t seem scared but knew he was in possible danger. 

“Heh, can’t you at least guess? Maybe?” He stood. “I mean, it's not that often you see two alien ducks in one day,” Luke said as he leaned against the office doorway. He took another puff from his cigarette.

“You’re threatening me because I called out that other duck’s publicity stunt?” the author snapped. 

“Alright, first of all, there was no one from ‘our media’ with him,” Luke gave finger quotations as he spoke, cigarette bouncing between a pair, “he came alone and stood in line with all the others. Why couldn’t you just sign his fucking book and let it go?”

“What kind of PTSD trauma do you ducks have? You play hockey, right? You’re celebrities. I don’t see anything about your experiences related to the contents in my book,” the human ranted, more annoyed than anything else.

“Look, you could &lt;;i>technically</i> say that about any of the other ducks around my age born on Earth.,” Luke explained irritably. “But Maestro wasn’t, okay? He came to this planet when he was fourteen. I think he’s only told me about half of the shit he went through before he got to Earth. He really, <i>really</i> liked your book.” He didn’t expect the author to understand, however. “And even though you’re an asshole, obviously, the book helped him a lot. I could tell.”

Luke stood up right, moving closer to the author. The human stood his ground. Completely unempathetic, just as the duck guessed. 

“And what, praytell, did you want me to do about your friend’s problem?” the author demanded, crossing his arms. 

Luke rubbed his own forehead. God, this man was dense. “You wrote a book to help people, and your attitude is like… <i>this</i>?” he sighed. “Look, how about this. Wait a few days, and then send him a signed copy of your book with a nice short note apologizing.”

“And what if I don’t?” the human replied, unfazed. 

“How bad would it look if the advocate against child soldiers was taking blood diamond money this whole time?” Luke threatened, biting down on the cigarette. He took out his phone and opened up a search.

“I’ve done no such thing,” the author grumbled as he loosened the tie from his collar a bit.

“Oh, I can probably find connections in half an hour. If not, I can make a few up, all 100% believable,” Luke stated as he typed on his smartphone, “I might even have it done in fifteen minutes.”

“Impossible. Get out of here now,” the human said sternly, but it also had a slight tone of worry.

“You really want to try me? I’ve already shown that our advanced alien technology just blocked all the electronics in your room. Don’t you think that I could do more?” Luke asked rhetorically.   The other paused and let out a defeated sigh.

“All this because I hurt your friend’s feelings?” the human replied.

“Yep!” Luke could only reply as he gave what could only be described as  a sarcastic ‘buddy buddy’ patting on the back to the author, “I’ll check up on you and make sure you do as I said. Alright?”

“I will,” the author grumbled, reluctantly taking Luke’s threat seriously. Luke was heading away from the author and to the nearby window.

“Then, I’ll catch you later,” Luke replied before opening the window, “and if you breathe a word of this to the cops, I’ll know.”

“Uh.... alright,” the author said unsure as he saw the duck disappear out the window and probably take the fire escape down. Before the human could say anything else he was gone. 

As Luke was walking to the maroon truck he was borrowing he received a text. 

Mae: Where are you at? I just woke up. 

Mae: Not asking because I expect you to come back. 

Mae: Just asking. No rush. 

Luke saw the messages as he got into the maroon pickup. He replied back.

Luke:  I was just picking up your favorite donuts, from that little place across town. 

Mae: Oh geez. You didn’t have to!

Mae: Thank you! <3

Mae: I’m actually hungry for real food now but I’ll eat one on the way to real food or something. Ha.

Luke: Alright. I’ll come pick you up. :)

After he replied he put the phone in the passenger's seat with the box of donuts he really did get before his meeting with the author.

[emoweeb-the-simp]

someone said yes to the tf2 post so fuck it we ball with

general merc relationships hcs!!!

(friendship & dating)

i'm trying to make this as gender neutral as possible. also no romance w pyro bcs i hc him as aroace :) s/o means significant other, but in this case, a petname for a gf, bf, etc!

Scout

() scout is the friend ever

() he has got your back!!!

() adhd icon

() maybe with enough convincing, you teach this man how to READ.

() ...& then he falls for you.

() he just sees you one day & is like "wait why are they cute now"

() he just starts joking about wanting to date like "yo what if we kissed lol" as a joke

() & YOU ACTUALLY KISS HIM.

() he's red now

() like

() redder than a cherry & tomato combined

() he makes it real obv that you both are dating, he means well though </3

() "GUESS WHO'S GOT A (s/o) NOW!!! SUCK IT!!"

() will stop if it makes you uncomfy or embarrassed :)

() huge on pda & petnames but they're corny petnames

() only problem is that he is easily jealous.

() "HEY! that's MY (s/o) pally, find ya own!"

() if some knucklehead even thinks of flirting with you, he will give them a very strongly worded speech about his s/o being his

() not to the point of being a yandere though, he will fight a dude for you but he won't (intentionally) kill someone!



Solly

(bear w me i'm not too good w soldier)

() this man. is autistic. i can confirm because i am autistic with adhd

() no convincing will change my mind

() ANYWAYS you are the most active person on the field other than scout

() & brave at that

() when this guy yelled at you, you kept a straight face

() no reaction or tears

() if you hate loud noises, he will be a lil more quiet to you after that :]

() also you became soldiers favorite person in the base bcs of that

() but the exercises are NOT easier but the only exception is that if you aren't really fit or you have a medical condition. he is NOT a monster.

() "MAGGOT!!!! JUST BECAUSE YOU ARE MY BEST FRIEND FOREVER DOES NOT MEAN IT SHALL BE EASIER!!!"

() this man can GRILL

() he has some good grilling skills, but not cooking skills.

() solly slowly falls for you but doesn't even know it.

() & when he DOES realize it's love, he is IMMEDIATE to ask you

() "HEY CUPCAKE! DO YOU WANNA DATE ME?"

() you are VERY flustered

() but you return his feelings ofc & now when someone slightly insults or teases you, he will yell at them.

() "MY (s/o) IS NOT A BASTARD, YOU ARE!!! NOW DROP & GIVE US 20!"

() you are his chill pill. you're the only person who can calm him down

() like scout, he easily gets jealous.

() he thinks you're a blessing to 'murica & he NEVER says that to anyone so he means it <3

() he has a hidden soft side that you activate in him & it is the most adorable thing ever <333333



Pyro

(nonromantic btw)

() you became besties the day you understood him.

() he isn't really a bad guy :)

() he is roommates w engi.

() "ah, ya here to see pyro again? don't stress about it, hun, come on in." :)

() you LOVE drawing together

() he compliments everything you do & hypes you up!! :D

() MANCHILD

() despite being besties, he will NEVER. EVER. show what's under the mask.

() only engineer & medic know, & they will NOT tell you. >:(

() "sorry kid, i can't tell ya what's under the mask."

() "HAH! do you zhink I vould tell YOU?! not in a MILLION YEARS!!"

() you're one of the only people stopping him from "going into pyroland" (committing arson)



Engineer

(tw: amputation mention!! just one but STILL!!!)

() you show a heavy interest in scientific/engineering stuff

() so

() you attract him

() he shows you his gunslinger, short circuit, etc., & you're all impressed

() you then ask if he had no arm at birth so he made the lil hand attachments & he just goes "oh hahah yeah yeah..."

() he had it amputated by the medic turns out. he keeps it a secret between himself & the doctor to this day.

() he has

() the best

() cooking

() ever.

() like fr

() LET. HIM. COOK.

() when he falls for you, he immediately knows

() but he's been heartbroken before

() so, he just stares at you with loving eyes, daydreaming about a future life that may never happen...

() ...until py(b)ro does eventually make him confess because he learned from the doctor that compressing feelings is bad & it is big nono bad >:(

() he couldn't say no to that level of cuteness! so...

() he confesses to you via love song on his guitar

() ain't no way you're saying no to this. if you do, no you didn't you said yes shhhhhh

() every once in a while, he'll let you hold his gunslinger hand :')

() it's cold but also warm?????

() but fyi, he is a busy man

() you have to remind him to sleep or he will accidentally pull an all-nighter

() but his cuddles make up for it ૮ ˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶ ა

() SOFTEST TUMMY EVER <33333333333333333

() you help each other with burnout ofc



Demoman

() you stole his last scrumpy

() oh boy was he PISSED at you

() you two both yelled at each other & it almost got physical

() ...

() then you two became best friends.

() like WHAT IN THE HELL?

() so now you both share drinks every night together <3

() which is how he fell for you

() you're tough, strong, & also a lil sassy!!

() he took a lil too many drinks one night &-

() "eruhhhhhh i think i love ye man..." & then proceeds to slur his words furthermore

() you're cuddling him when he wakes up & he almost has a heart attack

() but he doesn't leave your arms

() he snuggles closer to you <3

() this man is tied w engineer for the best cuddles imo they are TEDDY BEARS

() protects you at all costs

() oh btw his eyelander hates him being so lovey-dovey

() but you two will have small talk

() do not touch eyelander

() DO NOT TOUCH EYELANDER

() DO N O T TOUCH EYELANDER

() eyelander will be pissed & trying to attack you while demoman will worried

() not fun. 1/10. do not recommend



Heavy

() you were fluent in russian & english

() so you served to him as a translator for a bit

() he seemed intimidating

() one day you were doing your workout in the base & heavy noticed & was like " little person strong??"

() so you & him are gr8 friends now

() will give you a crumb of the sandvich

() that's it though

() you are always complementing sasha/sascha & apparently heavy can speak gun because heavy is saying that sasha/sascha says thanks :)

() idk if it's sasha or sascha i seen both so bear w me

() he eventually, like everyone else on this list, falls for you

() like engineer, he makes some sort of art with words for you

() unlike engineer though, it's a poem <3333333

() it's specifically in russian so no one but you or him can understand it

() became lovey lovey with him FAST

() he is the equivalent of a bear

() a lil intimidating at first

() but depending on who you are, he loves you <3

() will stop guys flirting w you UNINTENTIONALLY

() "hey sweetch- HOLY SHIT-" *running* () "hm? why..why was little boy running?"

() if he ever forgets a certain word in english, he comes to you :)

() lifts you up A LOT

() he means well by it

() if you tell him to not do that, he ofc will stop for you



Medic

() you didn't take his bullshittery. you were thinking:

() "MAN IF YOU DON'T CUT THAT SHIT OUT-"

() but instead of thinking it, you accidentally said it.

() oops.

() thankfully it was just you & him.

() you knew a thing or two about medical stuff so you two bonded!!!

() you, him & engi helped w experiments that either of you had!

() you also talked about random things

() he is secretly a softie & falls HARD for you

() like with engi, he's afraid to tell you because he's been heartbroken as well,

() but he does want to be alone with you more often than usual,

() so you figure him out & wait

() he does eventually confess, & was very relieved that you felt mutual with him

() yeah you two spend a lot of time together more, but ofc you still hang out w engi!!

() it wld be very rude to just leave him behind like that >:(

() although he will accidentally pull an all-nighter too if you forget to make him come to bed.

() calls you "mein Täubchen" or any other german petname he can think of

() you & his doves are close friends

() OH one time you & him were practically cuddling on his chair while he was working right, & then archimedes flew on down to your head & rested there

() you're sure it was to just get medics attention but medic LOVED it

() you were asleep though :(



Sniper

() loner

() you become friends after making sure he isn't being attacked by a spy

() you give him a warning sign that there lies a spy

() now he lies behind sniper

() "ey, thank ye for earlier"

() "ah no worries, i'm always glad to help!"

() you'll visit his van & chill

() doesn't even realize he's fell

() he just zones out on you a lot more.

() you confess first & he's like "wait that was the feeling?"

() he's never felt this way give him a break </3

() shy, at first

() he does branch out to you more

() takes you out on camping & maybe hunting dates if you're comfy with it :)

() keeps the relationship PRIVATE

() "ey look luv, as much as i love ya, if we share this with anyone, our careers are done for"

() means it in the best way though



Spy

() flirts with each other abound

() started as jokes, ended in actual love

() you eventually ask "hey are we actually dating?"

() he says "maybe, if you want to" to mess w you & flirt

() you SWOONED just by those words

() so you two are ALREADY dating

() you go FAST with him friendship & relationship wise

() by the second date, you two probably 👉👌

() of course, he is taking this relationship TO THE GRAVE.

() if ANY rumor were to get out about "spy has a (s/o)", he will deny it until EVERYONE is convinced.

() he loves you oh so much

() he TRULY means well & will protect you by any means necessary

() after he checks everywhere to be sure nobody is looking, he'll show you what's under the mask & tell you his real name

() the only rule with that is to call him by his name in private

() & ONLY in private

() outside, you two may never be alone

() he'll ramble to you about his life as you sleep on his chest <3



sorry it took a bit, school & life always kick my ass