#who would have thought the nation of water would cause so much face water to come out if the players

[illiaccrest]

Don't cry.

[talkbycolor]

the nun and the soldier

A/N; I ACTUALLY DREAMED ABOUT THIS AND THOUGHT LOL WHAT A GOOD IDEA FOR AN OS

Pairing; "[REDACTED]" x AFAB!Reader

CW; cnc? for someone who doesnt know how to put limits the line is very blurry, you will guess / daddy kink but in a priestly way / def religion kink, breeding but im not sure if its just a kink, worship but im not sure who worships who the most / this is more like an au like 1940 battlefield where [REDACTED] is a soldier and MC a nun

The night was like a classic old horror movie scene.

And how not to be scared? Outside the cathedral it was raining heavily, the skies were roaring from the electrical storm and the only lighting was the holy candles, that place was a refuge for the homeless.

After all, many people needed comfort in times of war.

You had decided to stay until midnight, praying to your father to protect the soldiers in battle, that the families would stop going hungry, you held the wooden cross that hung from your chest so tightly, begging for the massacre to stop, the times They brought sadness to the entire nation and God had to save them.

A loud clap of thunder echoed outside the cathedral and the doors were opened, the cold of the night and the wind caused the flame of some candles to go out, so holding the cross tightly to your chest you turned to see who dared to break in. with such violence in the house of God.

"Who's there?" You asked as you walked towards the huge wooden gate.

A man in uniform walked in, soaked from the rain, he looked tired, hungry, hurt, he barely made eye contact with you you felt a chill run through your entire body, not just because of the weather.

"I need food" He was a soldier, you nodded immediately and helped him walk to take a seat on one of the benches while you went to the warehouse for something the man could eat, there was food stored that was going to be donated, or that's what the priest said.

You returned with canned food and some water for the stranger, who snatched your things to eat like a dying dog, water running down his chin and eating haphazardly as he breathed heavily.

"Sir, are you okay? Where is he coming from?" You didn't avoid being curious when asking those questions, although just one cold look from him was enough to make you close your mouth.

…

You only heard him chewing, the man seemed to have had a really bad time and it was no wonder that you could tell from miles away that he was a soldier, and since he came alone, there was a high probability that he was one of the few survivors in the trenches, but you are not going to assume too much.

"Father, please help this poor man to heal his wounds safely, to regain his strength, to protect his life on the battlefield and the lives of our nation -…"

"Stop talking shit" he interrupted you in a vulgar way, causing astonishment on your face, even disgust.

"That is no way to speak before the lord" You scolded him, the black-haired man only laughed hoarsely.

"Bring me clothes, I'm freezing in this" he demanded arrogantly, getting rid of his wet clothes, your kind soul heeded his words, because that's what you were, right? A sweet nun willing to help the needy, love your neighbor as your god ordered.

"Excuse me, I only found the priest's old clothes and I'm not sure they fit him, I hope they can help you" You said as you returned to the bench, he once again snatched the things from your hand.

Yes, he was a rude man.

The minutes passed, the candles continued to melt at the altar, you were praying in front of the golden statue of your lord while the soldier was resting on the benches, grunting at his wounds and trying to stay warm.

"Hey, nun, since you won't shut up come here, I think I know how you could keep that mouth busy" The man suggested with a cheeky smile, it was unheard of how he could say such things in the lord's house.

"Hey! That's enough of-…"

"It wasn't a question, come here or I'll come for you" his voice was sharp, and with no intention of continuing to listen to you, seeing how you froze in surprise he grumbled and took the trouble to walk towards you.

Right in front of the golden statue of your god, he subdued you to the ground and lifted your robe to reveal your underwear, that man was shameless because he simply buried his face between your asscheeks to inhale deeply.

"HEY! HEY" WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! STOP! YOU CAN'T DO THAT!" You begged him, confusion and disgust replaced with terror, but… he was a soldier, a man willing to sacrifice his life for his nation.

"Please, honey, aren't you supposed to be a helpful sweetheart? You promised to help me stay warm, and this is my last dinner before I die?" He murmured on your back, riding you without a word, his hands had already pulled down your underwear while you were busy in your thoughts.

"Oh my god, this can't be happening, I'm supposed to stay pure" You whimpered as you covered your face, too embarrassed by the situation but not trying to push the man away.

He was an angel sent by god to save the country, it would be so rude to reject any order he gave.

He ground his hips against yours in a messy manner, he hadn't even prepared you well when your pussy was already engulfing his cock.

"Wow, you're so tight, so it's true that nuns are virgins, right? I feel so lucky to be the one to take your chastity, dear." His voice was teasing in your ear as you squeezed your eyes shut to endure the sudden intrusion, you were Pretty sure you would bleed.

No one would pass by the cathedral at that time of night, much less in a storm, the clicking of both skins echoed in the enormous building, right in the eyes of your lord.

"P-please forgive me Father for I have sinned, forgive me so much" A hand grabbed your jaw to silence you.

"You better ask thanks to the Lord because you will soon have a son, I will take care of filling this pretty pussy of yours to the brim, okay, angel?" He mocked your prayers but the seriousness in his voice was immaculate, he really wanted to impregnate your womb with his seed.

Your legs were shaking as you tried to stay in the doggy position, the soldier was selfish, penetrating your wet cunt for the sole purpose of having his release and getting you pregnant.

"S-sir please slow down, I feel like you're going to break me" You begged, snot slipping out of your nose as well as tears at how disastrous the situation was, the problem wasn't that the man was using you, because he was part of the brave army that risked his life, it is logical that you want to help.

"... We shouldn't be doing this in the Father's house." Sob quietly, your body reacted so well to his touch and it was inevitable not to moan, causing echoes in the cathedral.

"No, no, angel, call me father, you don't want your lord to hear you acting like a slut in his holy home." His calloused hands squeezed your hips and he pulled you like a wolf would its prey towards its nest.

"My god, angel, you feel so good, I'm melting between your walls, I want to spill all my essence inside you, you're being so good for me, I promise you it will feel better" He whispered lovingly despite the furious thrusts. that you received. "Don't worry, this is what your god wants, right? Demigods are worshiped with flowers, real gods need blood." His tone felt so somber, his hand traveled to your crotch to caress, collecting said blood, your blood.

So if he died on the battlefield, he would at least have left his inheritance in the world and he wouldn't be completely forgotten, right? His greedy hands ran over every inch of your skin under your tunic, squeezing the flesh, he too seemed inexperienced too, moaning and letting out incoherencies as he ground his groin against you, saliva running down his jaw as he moaned like a dog, panting, his eyes rolling back, sharper sounds until you both trembled violently.

Just as he said, you were dripping, as soon as a mirror cascade came out of you and warm semen was present from your pussy, his member was already a little more flaccid as he observed such a work of art in front of him.

He didn't want to die, he wanted this stupid war to end so he could get this nun pregnant and raise a child together.

"It's okay, you'll be okay" he murmured one last time as he clung to you, taking you into his arms with a blank look, but his words weren't.

He promised that when all that was over he would return to you to take care of you and the baby, that was what he wanted most, a life without daily blood, peace.

It's a shame that the promise would never be fulfilled.

♡

[olderthannetfic]

Did Americans really not know smoking caused lung damage until the 1980's? I've gotten several comments to that effect on a fic of mine, but, um. While the story is set in 1940's USA, over here in Britain we've had doctors linking smoking cigarettes to lung cancer as far back as the 1690's that I could find (albeit they don't say 'cancer', but describe cancer symptoms). It was never a totally foreign, unknown idea no one could ever have imagined. And I love dunking on the US as much as anyone, but... it's just so obvious I can't imagine no one in the US ever put two and two together? Even when I was 4, I understood the reason my mum's father was out of breath and coughed all the time was that he smoked because I understood, without being told, that inhaling something yucky yucked you up inside.

I'm aware you as a nation have some dumbasses amongst you but surely the majority were not so stupid that it took until the 1980's for anyone to go, "I think inhaling smoke is bad for you"?

--

My grandmother forced my grandfather to give up his pipe decades before the general public had their faces rubbed in news stories about the dangers. My mom's not around anymore to ask, but I think this must have been either in the 50s when the definitive study came out or in the 60s when the surgeon general wrote about it.

It's not that the info wasn't out there so much as that US tobacco companies spent millions running propaganda campaigns to confuse and delude the public. By the 1980s, people managed to debunk these. In the mid-century, they were heavily muddying the waters.

Here's the first reasonable-looking link I found with some info about this kind of thing: The history of the discovery of the cigarette–lung cancer link: evidentiary traditions, corporate denial, global toll.

I gather this is the Tobacco Control journal, which seems like a reputable source.

The broad strokes seem to be that few people, including in the UK, would have known anything until the late 19thC. From there to the 1930s, evidence was growing steadily as scientists researched a possible link. In the 40s and 50s pretty definitive evidence came out in multiple countries. In the 50s-70s, US companies did junk science as propaganda. In the 80s and 90s, the US swung hard towards seeing cigarettes as dangerous, dirty, and gross.

I remember this cultural change during my childhood. It was massive.

So yes, unfortunately, your 1940s American characters probably wouldn't know that smoking caused lung cancer. Lung damage? Maybe. Like you say, a lot of people could just apply basic logic and observation for that one.

I'm not sure whether they'd be more likely to have no clue or whether they'd know that someone thought it was bad, but they'd think those people were paranoid.

So yes, someone put two and two together, but it could still be OOC for your particular characters. I think it very much depends who they are and exactly how you presented things in your fic.

[unabashednightmarepizza]

𝑀𝑦 𝑇𝑟𝑢𝑒 𝐻𝑜𝑚𝑒

A/N: Okay, I got inspired again and this piece is just me, pouring my absolute and eternal love to the favourite place of mine: Mondstadt! This could be read in sagau or just any other normal piece of work but I wrote it with Creator!Reader AU in mind.

Because let's be honest, they welcomed the Traveller albeit a bit hesitantly, with open arms even when they were really busy with Dvalin situation... And I might be sick of writing/reading Mondstadt as one of the nations who tortured Creator!Reader 👉👈

"Mondstadt."

One might be wondering why the Creator was telling the nation of freedom's name right in front of the said nation but the answer was pretty clear to you as you stood before the entrance of the city with Venti next to you, looking pretty surprised himself with his aqua eyes wide open.

And no, it wasn't to punish someone.

Why was it that everyone thought you enjoyed torturing people when all they ever did was... to make you drunk?

"I'm choosing Mondstadt."

Because, ever since your arrival to the Teyvat, though most didn't trust you and rather tried funny things on you... The people of Mondstadt welcomed you with open arms, even if they were facing a crisis at the time which was "magically" solved very soon.

That was also a test on them and their Archon Barbatos, who went by the name Venti to honor a friend he once did and was unaware how badly things could have turned out had they been...

Well, you got the idea.

Now, Barbatos often prided himself to be your favourite which often got on the nerves of other gods and Archons. But he didn't give much thought to it as he floated around you as a little spirit at the time. Besides you wouldn't have specifically asked him to accompany you to everywhere you went if you didn't feel safe and secure, if you didn't like him, right?

"I see..." Zhongli said somberly while standing right outside the Gates of the city, his amber eyes filled with jealousy and anger directed themselves onto the shorter Archon next to you looking both surprised and proud as he held your hand. He had to pull himself together, however much it affected him, as he thightened his hand into a fist and looked at you with unconditional love and undetering loyalty, no matter whose nation you chose to stay.

"May I ask why, Your Grace?" He softly asked you, with no hint of anger or malice directed to you as you shuffled on your feet anxiously but held your head high. You were obviously the Creator, come on!

Venti looked at you with a turn of his head, his usually pouty lips forming a thight line as his hand naturally found yours. He remembered the first time you arrived, all the Winds and waters were singing and there was a feast of falling star in the sky. He remembered how he rushed to where you landed, the Tree of Vennessa, and were trying to get your balance back on your wobbly legs. His heart thumped inside his ribcage violently at your etheral body, the fact that you chose his land, the three that meant the world to him to ascend down...

He could have fallen on his knees in gratitude eit tears flowing down his soft cheeks and round eyes right then and there.

But what stood out the most was... The fact that you were scared.

And that damned fact made him almost collapse beneath your feet and beg for forgiveness, for something he didn't even know he did.

Please don't hurt me, one simple sentence that he never knew that could cause so much pain to him even after all the battles he fought. How could someone dare to hurt you enough to think that your Archons would do the same, as if they couldn't sense and feel you and your warmth they all once basked in?

Mind you Venti, you awkwardly thought after he explained everything, standing there like a shy kid, that you were the Creator and you had golden blood and he felt you, and cried on his knees for you to believe him as you patted his back and let him hug you thightly. The amount of fanfics I read about this situation made me a little paranoid.

But... Was he grinning and nuzzling closer to your neck?

After that, you were more relaxed. By now, everyone in Teyvat knew of who you were and already started to plan for your arrival in their nations. So far, Liyue and Inazuma were the most eager ones to have you while Sumeru and Fontaine just let you decide when and how you wished to come to their nation and you were glad for them giving you this choice.

But... Well, you didn't really want to leave here.

Mondstadt always stood out to you the most, even after seeing every other nation. Of course they were all special, but Mondstadt was... Home.

Every time you would get hurt in the game, you would immediately seek out to go to one of the Statues of Seven in Mondstadt. Every time you just wanted to stroll around, you would go to Starsnitch Cliff or Windrise and just listen to the nature, absolutely beaming and glowing with you there. It was cozy and warm here...

Then you would always pay a quick visit to the Dawn Winery and Wolvendom to see Diluc, his staff and then Razor and his family. Every time you suddenly appeared in the Winery, or insisted on helping Adelinde out even though the woman begged you not to do that since she knew Diluc would have a heart attack, yet you still did it.

After all, you were the one who cleaned your own home in your world.

Which, by the way, he did just as Adelinde thought every time as you pampered him with a sweet ringing laughter and swiped his soft hair away from his flaming hot face, all the while fawning over how soft and amazing it was and wanted to learn his secret at keeping it so tame.

And may You forbid it if you tease him about the color of his face and even kiss his forehead affectionately?

Now, you would have a very shy and flustered young man clinging onto your touches and love, something he was mostly deprived off, and warmth that couldn't even compare the one his body had because of his vision.

And sweet Razor? The clueless boy would always tug on your sleeves and run around with you, showing every hidden place and then stop and make a makeshift camp for you, eating whatever you found or hunted together. Other Archons would have had a stroke at seeing you sitting down on mud, eating and cooking simple food as you exchanged stories with him from your world as he listened intensely with wide eyes and animated voices.

He was especially into the Supernatural creature stories for some reasons.

Scolding Jean because she never takes a day off, telling Lisa that she was exceptionally bright, assuring Kaeya that he was enough... And then getting yourself into trouble with them by pranking, some adventures and even more... These were all the reasons why you loved here.

Because often, a place feels like home because of the people you met there and those who had an Impact on your life.

With a soft sigh and looking back to the lively city that welcomed you, you spoke with a voice that held many memories. Both from your world, days spent with farming and wishing for them and from this time when you were... Their God.

"Because all of you always saw me as something I have never been for the entirity of my time... A God, the Creator, The Divine, Godslayer, The First Who Came... Which is fine, really, having a lot of cool titles are amazing but..." You rambled off without realizing, worried that your words might piss the Archon off. But why would it?

You were his Creator anyways, and even if you weren't, you didn't deserve to feel bad for thinking the way you did, right?

But they both were just looking at you with soft eyes, clear devotion and understanding crystal clear in them as they only basked in your etheral voice that could bring them to their knees just by itself. Though Zhongli was bitter that you didn't choose to stay in his nation, it didn't mean that you would never visit and have some tea with him, right?

But Venti? Oh the shorter Archon was grinning like a cheshire cat as pride, joy and love filled his entire being.

All for you and because of you.

But a part of him was also smug and all knowing. Because who else would you go to? He was the first one to get to you, help you and protect you. You arrived to his city first, you asked help from them first and you blessed his city, his people, he himself first.

If Zhongli, or other Archons didn't get it then, it was their problem.

Not his.

Besides, he needed to have someone to dedicate his love songs to, after all! And what a coincidence it was that all those songs were about you and you had to listen to them as... The muse itself.

Zhongli was able to read all of these, at least most of it, since he once spent a lot of time with the childish yet strong archon. Unaware of the silent battle between these two that was ready to tear mountains apart for you...You remembered all the times you got to spend with Venti under the tree he usually sat down whenever he needed to pick his thoughts and spend some time with himself.

Alone, as only his winds companied him.

But, after you showed up with bright smiles and a promise to take his mind off of things with your stories or your flower crowns you made just for him because it would compliment him and his pretty face well to which he only accepted with a bashful smile and flushed cheeks, these lonely moments when he would think back to the past and all the mistakes he did turned out to be... A session where you both learnt to accept yourselves as the way you were.

Mistakes and all.

And that was why you were so sure of your reasoning as to why you chose them.

"They have seen me as Y/N..."

They stared at you shocked with wide eyes, perhaps even the other Archons who weren't present heard you and you were sure you heard some people falling behind you...

Must be your imagination.

You shrugged your shoulders and stared ahead of yourself with a small smile and slightly squeezed eyes, both a result of the bright sun that seemed like it felt your own happiness.

Though Zhongli seemed like he didn't understand what that sentence meant... Venti did, and his face visibly softened as a small oh left his lips. His hand silently sought yours to squeeze in assurance, to tell you that he knew what you meant and felt, your own eyes turned to look at him with your own shy smile as you accepted his slightly calloused hands.

Which made the Geo Archon seethe at him even more since... He wished to be the one in Venti's shoes, the one who had your love and affection, the one who you held dear to your heart and close to yourself, much like now.

"They know me as the one who always tripped on their own feet, the one who got so flustered because Kaeya was flirting with them but was being genuine and always made sure I was comfortable. And never once did he hold any malicious feeling as he showed the city to me, I really didn't have the heart to tell him that I already knew every nook and crevice..."

You mumbled shyly with a flush, remembering how it was the first time Kaeya had genuinely laughed and smiled wide as you both came to a stop under one of the trees near Springvale to catch your breath and then eat whatever you wished to do in the village, which was ecstatic to have the Creator in their humble village and served you the best they could.

You didn't have to know, but as Kaeya watched you play with children and then look around yourself as if you were searching for something-no, someone- his heart beated faster as his tan skin darkened in embarrasment when he understood that you were looking for him.

He was the one you wanted to have close to you, he was the one who brought that wide smile to your face... He was worthy enough to spend the whole day with you and you never for once judged him, his past or whatever weight that had been forced on his shoulders since he was a young boy.

But rather chose to drag him towards an opening to watch the night sky and point every star to him, telling him giddily that it all reminded you of him and his one visible eye sparkling at what you said

He made you swear to never tell a soul about the way he cried onto your shoulder and landed a kiss on your forehead affectionately while you patted his back, his almost whole body on top of yours as he resembled a cute koala to you. Because one, Venti would kill him. Two, Diluc would kill him. And three... He couldn't hug you anymore :(

The third one was obviously the biggest reason why, as he pouted at you when you laughed hard at his reasoning, all the while assuring him that you would protect him...

Which gave him yet another thing to think about before he went to sleep, a lovesick smile being glued on his face as he chuckled and giggled like a teenager girl all the while hugging his pillow thightly, hoping that perhaps one day... There would be someone, you, for example, to take over that empty spot.

"They saw me as the one who always made sure that those around them were comfortable, happy and well-taken care of even though they were struggling with their inner demons and in exchange, was equally taken care of and pampered by delicous food."

Because you knew all those young men, women and teens had one hell of a traumatic life and since you weren't able to erase that part or rewrite it... You wanted to at least let them know that you were there for them.

As a shoulder to cry on, a friend to listen, an ear for them to vent... Whatever they needed at that moment. And though they might have been skeptical about your true intentions at the beginning, they quickly found solace within your presence, hugs and love, slithering to your light like moths did to a flame.

Even Diluc, who usually wasn't one for " idle chit-chat" often found himself before you, drinking grape juice together as he told you about his frustrations... More specifically about Kaeya, his brother with whom he re-connected thanks to you.

"The one who was befriended the fastest by the little kids, because they obviously had immaculate sense in new games and story telling from other worlds an enjoyed making an adult suffer for their entertainment."

Indeed, you learnt it in the hard way while playing with Klee. Though you had an amused face as you said this out loud, you underestimated her energy and love to... bomb things, at that time. It was your fault really, Albedo and Jean warned you about it and how she got excited whenever she went fish-blastimg with someone she loved, but even when you met her... You just thought they were exaggerating it.

You were wrong.

They could only slap their foreheads in affectionate anger as you ran away from Klee who was holding yet another Dodoco bomb that was about to explode because she changed her mind from catching the fish to showing you how amazing it was.

And for a second, you indulged with her... That is, until you realized the bomb was about to set off.

"Klee, dear, I think we should really let go of that bomb!"

"But... Mr. Dodoco only wants to meet you! (⁠✷⁠‿⁠✷⁠)" you nervously sweated, thinking how to dodge her without hurting her feelings when the bright eyes of the bomb caught your attention.

"Maybe in better circumstan-WATCH OUT!"

*cue you and her covered in ashes, Klee holding onto your hand as she rambled about how amazing it was throughout the whole time back to Mondstadt while you were shaking from the adrenaline*

"Yeah... It was amazing, dear."

"The one who was always there to pick up the broken pieces of those who acted noncholant and cold, but held the warmest hearts ever." You pointedly looked at Diluc at this part, who came over as soon as he heard that the ex-Geo Archon was here to have a talk with you, watching as his pale cheeks were blossomed with an adorable pink. To be seen as such in your eyes, as a warm hearted man rather than the cold and uncaring one he showed himself to be...

It was an honor.

To hear such lovely words leave your lips was an honor.

Because you were all he had left, after he lost his father and cut all ties with his brother who came clean to him... The only constant thing he had was you.

You who came to him after days of being in Mondstadt, knowing that it was the same night of the same day when he had that fight with Kaeya and comforted him with soft words and your presence right before the fireplace as you both sat together, knees touching. Even though his breaths were laboured, chest contrasting painfully...

"I know it was hard for both of you... But you only have each other, is there really no way for you both to talk it out?"

He listened to you and his heart caved in. How couldn't he, when you were quite literally begging him with desperation and tears in your eyes for him to accept Kaeya back?

Besides, thanks to you... He had his family back now, and both Diluc and Kaeya couldn't be any more grateful for it.

"The one who knew what loosing a loved one meant, but never pushed too far into their comforting and instead let them come to you."

Diluc couldn't help but nod aimlessly as tears slightly dampened first his eyes and then cheek. It was true that you only left there with one question only, knowing how sensitive the topic around Kaeya and his father was for Diluc.

But you just... wanted to pay them back for all the good they did for you, every time they gifted you something heartfelt, made you your favourite food, indulged in your hobbies even though they might not be as interested as you were to them.

And all the time they spent to help you, with quite literally everything since everything was new to you.

You smiled at the fond memory of Albedo and Sucrose, who were trying to explain to you one of their experiments excitedly. Well... As excited as Albedo could be, of course.

But even as a scientist and an artist, there was one thing Albedo didn't realize at that time but much later when he thought back to it: Though you seemed like you understood what they were talking about... You were actually pretty clueless at whatever the hell they were telling you about.

You never were good at chemistry, okay? Not your fault that Albedo was so damn smart!

"The one who didn't always understand what was spoken to them, whether it was way to smart for them or the language barrier but had people to patiently teach them... And later forced to eat all together in the city with others."

Albedo smiled as the same memory replayed in his mind too. The way you often were distracted by the fresh snow in his lab or a colorful show of his newest experiments which made you grin widely with amazed eyes, always brought a smile to the usually stoic blonde man. He might not exactly understand the human nature, and even saw you as some kind of experiment to work on so that he could better understand you, he really liked... The idea of having you around.

He didn't even know when he started to seek for your praises, of your presence whenever you would touch his shoulder softly and urge him to take a break and come with you to either play with Klee or have some warm "sahlep", a warm winter drink from your world that you specifically made for him.

To which he would always agree, no matter what, under the shocked, jealous and impressed eyes of... Well, everyone in Mondstadt.

Because the Creator was offering him something They have done, specifically for him and was looking at him expectantly for his reaction as they swayed a sleepy Klee from side to side on their lap after she drunk the hot liquid.

Did he use Klee to have more of your attention? Maybe... Did he make even more experiments just to have you in Dragonspine? Yes... Yes, he did and he had absoultely zero shame for it.

You clasped your hands together after talking so much, your throat starting to hurt from using it so much since that irritating raspy feeling had made itself visible slowly.

The disappointed face Zhongli had broke you, he looked like a kid being rejected of something sweet. Just because you chose Mondstadt, it didn't mean you hated other nations.

They all had other reasons to love about!

Liyue had more of an enigmatic aura with all the rituals, temples and over all Divine Vibe in them but they also had a lot of rules, though you didn't have to apply them to yourself.

You already dealt with enough rules and strictness in your world, really, so though you liked the over all traditional vibe... It wasn't your first choice.

Inazuma was much like Liyue, though once the strictest one with rules and eternity in all over the Teyvat. Fontaine, though you liked hanging out with many people there, seemed... Cold, though Tsaritsa's land was the one considered to be cold because of the constant snow.

Maybe Sumeru could have been your next choice, but you were still pissy about those mages and scribes who treated your precious baby Nahida like that-

But Mondstadt... It had been the first your created, the first one you saw and stepped foot onto. The first to welcome you and teach you everything, the first to give you a family and a whole lot of friends, the first ones to allow you to be yourself...

They were the apple of your eyes.

"The one who is just... Y/N. That's why I'm choosing them... I'm choosing my home, but that doesn't mean I love any of you less." You patted Zhongli's back with a sorry look that said please understand my point as he did and smiled back. Your comfort and happiness was the most important one after all and if you were the happiest here, though he still sent daggers to a certain half-drunk-of-you bard who was looking at your back with literal heart eyes, he thought he could be... Fine with it.

At least, for you.

"I understand, Your Grace... I just hope that you will come to Liyue soon, which will be waiting for your arrival quite eagerly."

And as you reassured again and again that yes, of course you would... You were yet to know that Venti already carried your words to the certain people you talked about and the whole people of Mondstadt with his winds as the city cried out in joy from having your blessing and love.

And who knows... Maybe, they could have your blessings and love through one another way.

In a more... Romantic and free way.

Bonus Part!

"Oh, but I'll visit Liyue soon! Can you prepare Osmanthus-"

"Nooo~ Your Grace, Dandelion Wine is much much better!"

Zhongli: ಠ⁠_⁠ಠ 😒

You: (⁠ʘ⁠ᴗ⁠ʘ⁠✿⁠) 🤭

Venti: ಥ⁠╭⁠╮⁠ಥ 😭🥹

Also Zhongli: "As you wish, Your Grace..." 😎

[itsaspectrumcomic]

On anon bc identifiable info - advice/thoughts? - This is really long, I'm sorry D: I'm a rambler and all the info is important (to me)

I've always had problems with stuff (according to my mom, "things have always been harder for [me] than everyone else") like I'm always the last one out the door, I lose things a lot (like hats and pencils and water bottles) because I set them down and don't realize, I have a lot of trouble doing textbook homework/notes bc I have trouble focusing

And I have a lot of trouble with social stuff, I never have a lot of friends, I can't keep friends for more than like four years, I feel really disconnected with people and people generally initially like me but like me significantly less after interacting with me a bit

I read a lot, and when I was a kid I would lose all sense of reality outside the book until someone touched me or I finished the book, but I've had a harder and harder time reading anything but fanfic as I've gotten older, and I have a lot of trouble reading very technical/instructions/nonfiction stuff

I have pretty bad insomnia, and spent ~2 years when I was 10-13 ish sleeping ~3-4 hrs/night weekdays and ~12 hrs/night weekends, I have a really hard time getting to sleep specifically - and (tmi maybe tw eating) I've had chronic minor eating issues and constipation (chronic minor dehydration, losing ~ 10 lbs over summers from not eating, etc. like I'm not dying or anything but this will probably eventually cause wear damage)

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But I'm also a very good student, very smart, generally very good at what I choose to do, I just became a National Merit semifinalist, like, I'm doing "fine". I'm not dying, I'm not failing classes or anything, I've struggled since second semester year before last with getting things done, but I have like a 3.7 gpa rn (I could have a 4 if I tried harder (while I am capable of trying harder, it would destroy me))

I was in Gifted + Talented in elementary school, I'm an honors/ap student (my G+T teacher told my mom that the "gifted" basically means "neurodivergent")

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I didn't get help for anything until last year, when I kinda fell off (as much as you can fall off while getting a 3.7 gpa ig) and got assessed for insomnia, which I got help with pretty easily (apart for waiting times) which was amazing. Almost went too well iykwim

And I was looking into why I was having such a hard time with everything (social, focus, sleep, schoolwork,etc) and I resonated a lot with autism and some of the feeling very disconnected from society/ other people but I was like eeeh, I'm a teen and idk I'm not, like, having it that bad, so I was looking into more quantitative solid stuff and I took the AQ + CAT-Q + stuff which still have very subjective questions but I tried to be honest and I got 32 (AQ) and 139 (CAT-Q) and 157 (RAADS-R) but like idk I could be biased or misunderstanding or idk

I mentioned feeling like I had more, underlying issues to the doctor I'm seeing for the insomnia and she was basically like "I work with autistic kids - you're not autistic" which like on one hand, you're the expert and I've only really interacted with the internet so idk but on the other, you've spent all of two hours with me, mostly asking me direct questions about my sleep or talking to my mother, like, ofc you haven't seen anything of me. Did I make too much fake eye contact with you?? (BTW if you dislike eye contact for any reason, which I always have, look at noses (my mother taught me this one) or hair (my personal fav) bc it looks like you're looking at the face, but you aren't!!)

this is getting very long winded, I'm sorry if you choose to read all this but thank you it means a lot to me to get someone who knows something's thoughts on this

So I was like "I am having other problems" and she was like "I suspect you may have inattentive type adhd" and I was initially like what?? but I'm not hyperactive. Can't have adhd. What. But I've been kinda thinking about it and lurking at the edge of adhd communities and googling stuff (google is not helpful) and maybe? idk

SO to get to my point/question

I'm very smart. (not tryna be conceited it's just I am) I'm not currently *dying* struggling, though I am having trouble staying on top of classwork

I'm a girl

I live in the USA

I'm pretty good at acting normal, I have a couple friends (one has diagnosed adhd, one has diagnosed autism, one I'm not sure, one I think? could be neurotypical? but she's also like really not idk) (I (only?) have four friends (which is a lot, for me))

I don't know if I'm "adhd enough" (or "autistic enough" if I was right initially) ((or both idk)) to get a diagnosis. I have hypermobility that causes issues with my joints and has led to me not exercising enough and having to quit violin but I'm not hypermobile "enough" to get a diagnosis or help for it (which sucks because it's literally affecting my quality of life, like, I could be an amazing musician if I didn't have this. D: )

If I try, will I get a diagnosis, or will I be "adhd, but not enough"? Should I continue to spend (my parent's insurance) money on this if it probably won't go anywhere? I'm currently 17, starting my senior year of high school. Will things get disrupted in transition to college? If I go abroad for college?

Also, will I crash and burn in college without my mother's considerable support? (tw eating again) I have always had a really hard time getting and preparing and eating food, and without her/structure idk how much I will eat. I loose weight over the summer bc we don't eat as a family much. when I'm on my own, will I struggle even more? Especially trying to juggle food and school and living independently? What about after college? My uncle was fine until he graduated college and now he's alone and a misogynist and mormon and lives with my grandma and seems kinda really miserable except way more hate-filled - am I doomed to the same path?

anyways this is really dark I'm sorry

specific questions for you are:

should I pursue ADHD diagnosis? Autism?

is there anything specific I should mention/not mention/think about?

is there anything you think I (+ people in similar situations) should research, any specific sites/books/communities you think would be valuable?

would therapy help with anything? social, focus, etc. (I have not had a chance, and I have been noncommittal at mentions bc. i strongly dislike people, and talking to people, and emotions ): )

are things in general going to get better, or worse? please be honest, not reassuring

If you decide to answer this, partially or completely, thank you, it means a lot to me to get someone else's thoughts on this, if not, I completely understand, either way, I hope you have a good day :)

Hello! A lot of what you wrote feels very familiar to my own experience - I was also considered a good student but found things increasingly difficult to cope with, struggled socially, lost and forgot stuff, couldn't focus etc. You're definitely not alone in feeling this way!

You are not doomed and you are not your uncle. Things can always get better, even when you're at your lowest. You never know what will happen next - you could make a friend, you could discover a new passion, you could be offered a cool opportunity, you could get the chance to pet a really friendly dog. Life isn't a straight line - you might be struggling for a bit, and then some nice stuff will happen, and then you might go through a rough patch again, but then things will improve again and you might feel better than you did before.

For eating when you go to college - identify the foods you generally find easy to make and eat and make sure you have a supply avaliable for when you're struggling. For me, that's pasta (you can get dry pasta which lasts ages in the cupboard, but you could also try fresh ravioli which has stuff inside like spinach or tomato or cheese so it's a bit more varied), crackers, bananas, and breakfast bars. That way if you can't make a proper meal, you at least eat something. Also try to carry a water bottle with you everywhere (if you struggle to drink water you could try flavoured water or juice.) If you forget about needing to eat you could set alarms to remind yourself.

Side note: did you know that hypermobility and autism very often occur together?

Onto your questions:

should I pursue ADHD diagnosis? Autism?

It's definitely worth looking into - I can't guarantee you'll get a diagnosis because it really depends on the person/people assessing you and some are more biased than others (if you're able to choose, look for people who say they specialise in diagnosing women and girls or have positive reviews from people in that demographic). Personally I found it helped a lot with getting accommodations, people understanding me, and understanding myself (even before the diagnosis was official). I will say it's usually quite a long process so be prepared for that.

Btw, you can definitely have ADHD without being hyperactive - that's the inattentive type which is more about trouble focusing.

is there anything specific I should mention/not mention/think about?

Honestly a lot of what you've written will probably come up in an assessment! I had to fill out a form with info about my experiences as a child and the traits I have now, as did my mum. If you're high masking (basically when you try to act 'normal' and hide your neurodivergent traits) do your best not to mask so the assessor gets to see you as you really are.

is there anything you think I (+ people in similar situations) should research, any specific sites/books/communities you think would be valuable?

Untypical by Pete Wharmby is an excellent book if you want to learn more about autistic experiences. The author is autistic himself and has an engaging writing style.

How to ADHD is a YouTube channel that focuses on coping techiques for ADHD and is informative as well.

I've found the autism communities on Reddit to be welcoming and supportive - you might like r/AutismInWomen which is inclusive and accepting of self diagnosis and those who are questioning.

You could also follow some of these people on instagram:

morgaanfoley - posts about her experiences as an autistic person

_ellawillis - posts about autism and ADHD and their daily life

candy.courn - posts about autism and disability as well as how that intersects with their experience as an asian person. Also has the most beautifully pink house

colourblind_zebra - makes cute and colourful art about chronic illness and neurodiversity

elliemidds - posts about autism and adhd and runs a community called We are Unmasked (weareumasked on insta)

itsemilykaty - posts about autism, mental health, and her book Girl Unmasked (which I haven't read yet but is supposed to be very good!)

Side note: I also have an instagram if you'd like to follow :) I'm itsaspectrumcomic there as well!

would therapy help with anything? social, focus, etc. (I have not had a chance, and I have been noncommittal at mentions bc. i strongly dislike people, and talking to people, and emotions ): )

Therapy can help a lot - with the right therapist! Look for people who specialise in neurodivergence, particularly in girls. The best ones are on the spectrum themselves :) It's OK if you don't click with the first one you try. You can 'shop around' until you find someone you're comfortable with (which I know can be exhausting but it's worth it when you find the right one).

are things in general going to get better, or worse? please be honest, not reassuring

Like I said before, things will get better, and then you might struggle for a while, and then things get better again. It comes in waves, at least for me. I know when you're having a hard time it can feel like it's going to last forever, but I promise it won't. There are always bright spots.

[eating-plastic]

Carnival Lights: Henry Barrow x Reader

Warnings: mentions of murder (come on, it's Henry), swearing, some mean!Henry, naive!reader, sunshine!reader x grumpy!Henry (my favorite dynamic lol), some fluff, probably grammatical errors

Word Count: 3434 words

A/N: This is for that anon that asked me if I wrote for Henry Barrow (assuming that they wanted me to write something for him lol). I know I said I was going to take a break from Killer Frequency, but the “people pleaser” in me wanted to get something done. So yeah, I hope this isn't too disappointing. I also hope that my interpretation of Henry is to your liking (you gotta get creative when given a blank slate like him 😆). As such, I also hope anyone else that is a fan of this skrunkly also enjoys this as well. Oh, also, this takes place before the events of the game during Marie and Henry's "national murder tour" leading up to Gallows Creek. Just thought you should know that. Bye!

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Sparkling lights and the sound of upbeat music and screams of excitement flood your senses as you skip through the crowds attending your hometown's yearly carnival. You had always partaken in the festivities ever since you were a child, and the event still filled you with joy. Some of the older booth vendors and ride operators even knew you by name.

You had originally shown up with two of your friends, promising that they wouldn't get too "lovey-dovey" with each other since they were a couple, but that was broken about 15 minutes into your arrival. Feeling like a third-wheel, you broke off from them, not really caring too much. You could easily enjoy yourself here without them.

After you finished playing a game where you had to try and hit cartoon sea creatures with a water gun (and failing since your aim wasn't the best), you decided to head to something you knew you were good at: the funhouse maze.

You knew the maze like the back of your hand, and could easily make it from the entrance to the exit, so you decided to see how many combinations of routes you could go. You wanted to know every nook and cranny that these dark, black light lighten halls had to offer.

Once you got bored, you began to make your way to the exit. Once at a crossroad where you needed to turn right, you stopped when you heard a man let out a shout of frustration. Worried that they were lost, you made your way towards the noise to help them out.

'God fucking damnit,' Henry thought. He was so fucking close to getting the man his mother told him to kill. He was right on his tail and then...he was gone. Now he was lost in this Goddamn maze and it was all his stupid fault because he knew he wasn't good with mazes. It was a good idea in theory, since the man would be all alone with no one would hear him scream. But of course in practice it had to bite him in the ass.

He tore his mask off and shoved it into his large duffle bag at his side. God, was it making it hard to breathe in this stuffy prison. Not to mention how that man was probably long gone by now.

'Augh, what am I gonna tell mom?' worry began to flood his mind. She was no doubt going to be pissed at him.

Luckily for Henry, his unaware savior was approaching.

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As soon as you rounded the corner, you were now facing a man of decent stature, with long hair, a black trench coat, and a large duffle bag at his side. It was quite odd attire to be wearing in the middle of summer, but maybe he was just a worker at the haunted house who wanted to try out the maze on his break. He also seems to be oblivious to your presence, muttering to himself.

"Hi!" you chirp, causing the man to jump and spin around.

"The hell are you doing, here?" he hisses.

"Uh, it's a maze at a carnival. I'm here having fun," his harsh tone was completely lost on you. "You're lost, right?"

"What do you think?" he snarls, but you just laugh.

"Yep! I thought so! Come on, I'll show you the way out," you grab his hand, noting that he was wearing black leather gloves. Also odd, but once again that could've been just another part of the haunted house attire.

The man rips his hand from your grip as if yours had burnt his. You look back at him confused, but just shrug and begin to run off towards the exit.

"Hey, wait!" the man shouts and begins to chase after you, making sure to be on your tail so he could leave.

Eventually, you and him were able to taste the fresh air of the carnival, with the added smell of fair foods. You turn to look at the man, only to be taken aback a bit.

He looked to be a boy about your age, with piercing eyes but a very handsome face. You also noticed that he was unfamiliar to you.

"Huh, I don't think I've seen you around before. Are you new?" you smile at him, but he just turns to walk back towards the crowded rows of booths. "Hey, wait up!"

You decide to follow him. If he was new, you didn't want him to be overwhelmed or lonely.

"I'm Y/N!" you grin, but he just continues walking forwards. His eyes scanning the crowds and his jaw tight.

"Oh, you don't talk much, huh? That's okay! What do you wanna do? Do you wanna get something to eat? Oh! Or we co-"

"Look, don't you have friends or something that you can go hang out with?" he asks sharply. Unfortunately for Henry, the tone was once again lost on you.

"I do, but they'd rather make out in the tunnel of love than hang out with me," your tone drops slightly which makes Henry's eyebrow quirk up. After a couple of seconds though, just shake your head and smile back at him. "It's okay though, because I met you! I love meeting new people!"

'Jesus, what was your deal?' Henry thought. You were like a Care Bear in human shape. So sickeningly sweet that it was making him feel weird. How could someone like you exist in the cruel world his mom had told him so much about? Has it not broken you, yet?

"Oh, look! Bumper cars! You wanna go do those?" you beam up at him. Henry sighed. If he put up with this, maybe you would leave him alone. Besides, you provided him good cover. A new face like him dressed the way he was all by himself may drive suspicion. So he turned his head to look at your eager face and uttered one word.

"Fine."

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You weren't bad at bumper cars, but you also didn't win. Not that you cared though, especially since your mystery man had won. You were surprised at his skills and made sure to tell him.

Henry listening to you gush over him was odd. Not used to getting such praise from someone who wasn't his mother. And like with his mother, it made him feel good.

You continue to skip through the crowds with him at your side. He was still scanning all of the people around you, but his jaw wasn't tight anymore. That elated you, as you took it as him finally enjoying himself. You both stop when you hear someone call your name.

"Is that you, Y/N?" the voice of an older man called from a game booth. Your face brightens and you run to him, Henry following after you.

"Frank! I haven't seen you in ages!" you hug him over the booth's countertop. Henry tenses up and watches the man closely.

"You're one to talk! I haven't seen you since you were just 'this' tall," Frank levels his hand to show just how small you were when he had last seen you. He opens his mouth to speak again, but stops when his eyes fall on Henry. "Hey, Y/N, who's your friend?"

"He's new in town! I saved him from the maze!" you chirp.

"Ah, okay," he drawls, looking at Henry suspiciously. Upon seeing you look at him fondly though, he puts on his best "friendly face" and holds his hand out. "Pleasure to meet you, son."

Henry looks at Frank's hand before shaking it, still analyzing the older man. You are completely oblivious to the tension, as you look at the milk bottles that are stacked up in the booth.

"Hey, Frank! Care if we play?" you pull some tickets out from your back pocket. Frank's mood changes at the sound of your voice and smiles at you.

"Of course! You and your friend here get three shots," he kneels down to hand you three baseballs first.

You throw all three and only get three of the six bottles down.

"Oh, well! Your turn!" you turn to smile at Henry and move out of his way. Frank hands him three baseballs just as he did with you. He takes the ball, pulls his arm back, and....

All six bottles tumble down with a force that startles both you and Frank.

"Well I'll be damned! I have never seen anyone knock those bottles down like that! You play baseball, son?" the older man asks Henry, amazed.

"No," he says, shortly.

The older man clears his throat at the awkward silence before looking towards the stuffed animals that hung around the booth.

"Well, you won. Pick out your prize."

Henry wanted to just walk away, but looked at you in his peripheral. You were staring longingly at a pink elephant plush that had a cute, cartoony face. He points to that one.

"This one right here?" Frank asks, taking the elephant down. Henry nods. "Alright! Here ya go."

Henry takes the stuffed animal and nods at him.

"Bye, Frank!" you call as Henry begins to walk away from the booth.

"Bye, Y/N! See you next year!"

As soon as you both are five feet away from the booth, Henry practically shoves the plush at you.

"Here."

"What-?"

"You wanted it. I got it. Now take it," he says shortly. You look up at him, confused, but he still continues to walk forward and scan the crowd. You take the plushie and smile at it. It was the cutest thing you had ever seen, with the softest fur you ever felt.

You squeal and pull Henry into a hug, thanking him. He tenses up and pushes you off.

"What the hell are you doing?" he scowls.

"I-I'm sorry, I-I just w-wanted to...," you trail off, hurt evident in your voice and eyes.

Your change in demeanor causes Henry to feel guilty, and the couple of eyes he could sense on him only added to that feeling. He sighs and rests his hand on your shoulder.

"Look, I'm...I'm sorry, okay. Just...just warn me before you do that again...please," his voice is now soft as he looks at you, wanting you to know that he did really feel sorry.

"Okay," you whisper, still feeling miserable about making him uncomfortable.

"Hey, why don't...," Henry thinks for a second. "Why don't we go on a ride, huh?"

"Okay," a smile forms on your face. "Which one do you wanna go on?"

"Whichever one you'd like," Henry gives you the first genuine smile you had seen that night. This causes your own smile to grow and you take his hand to lead to one of the more thrilling rides. Henry doesn't rip his hand away this time, allowing you to drag him to where you wanted to take him.

Once at the ride you wanted to go on, you handed your elephant to the ride operator and Henry hesitantly gives up his bag, before you enter the ride.

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By the time the ride had ended, you and Henry were wobbling in the best way possible. Henry let out a shaky laugh. He had never felt so alive. Where had this been his whole life? You let out your own laugh at Henry's reaction, before you and him collect your belongings and go on to do more rides and games. While walking, and even making some small talk with your mystery man, he stops when he spots a phone booth.

Henry thinks about his mother, about his mission. He had to call her, to tell her about how he couldn't get a good opening. He wouldn't mention how he was getting distracted or how he was having fun with a living ray of sunshine. He knew how she would probably react if he was honest.

"Hey, uh, Y/N?"

"Yeah?" you look up at him, beaming.

"I, uh...I have to make a phone call. I-I'll be right back, okay?"

"Okay! I'll wait right here!" you chirp.

He nods and gives you a small smile, before walking to the booth.

Henry enters the booth and sighs. He rummages around in his pocket before finding some quarters and inserting them into the machine. He lifts the phone and inserts the number to the motel room he and his mother were staying in. He waits, tapping his foot nervously as he waits. Then it stops, and a familiar voice speaks from the other end.

"Yes?" his mother says.

"H-Hi, mom."

"Oh, Henry!" her voice is cheerful. "Did you finish your 'assignment'?"

"No, I haven't. I can't get a good opening," he doesn't mention that he had lost the man to begin with. "Besides, this one person won't leave me alone. They're constantly following me around and bothering me."

His mom sighs on the other end and thinks.

"I'll be over there in a bit. Keep trying, dear. And remember, if you do find your opening, do what you must. Poor kid," she mutters towards the end of the statement.

Henry's stomach drops. He knows instantly what she meant. He didn't want to hurt you. You had nothing to do with...with all of this. You were an innocent, sweet person in this miserable world. Why get rid of someone like you?

"Henry, sweetie, you there?" his mother questions.

"Y-Yeah, yeah, I, uh...I was just looking around. Look, don't worry about coming over. I got this, I promise. I'll call you if I need you, okay?"

"Hm...okay," she pauses, clearly skeptical at her son's words. "Please just stay safe, okay? I love you."

"I love you too, mom. Bye."

"Goodbye."

There is a click, and then the line goes dead. Henry lets out a shaky breath and sets the phone back on its cradle. A knock at the booth startles him out of his thoughts. He turns around to see you looking at him, concerned.

He opens the door to the booth and steps out.

"Sorry," you apologize. "I just wanted to know if you wanted something to eat. Are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah, yeah...don't worry about it, okay? Food, uh...food sounds great."

"Okay. What would you like?" Henry thinks for a moment before cracking a smile at you.

"Surprise me!"

You nod and walk off to find a food booth. You knew exactly what you wanted to get. You had been craving it ever since you entered the carnival grounds.

Henry followed behind you, curious as to what you were going to get as you passed booth after booth. Then you stop, just what you were looking for.

"I was wondering when you were gonna show up," a woman greets you.

"Hi, Pam!" you smile at her and hand her some dollar bills. "Two candied apples, please!"

"Two?" Pam cocks her head to the side until her eyes fall on Henry. "Oh, I see."

She smirks, interpreting the mystery man besides you and how you were lovingly holding your elephant plush as a date.

A few moments later, Pam turns back to you and Henry with two candied apples in her hands.

"Enjoy, you two!" she winks at you when you and Henry take your treats. The two of you walk once more, while Henry investigates the sweet in his hand. You look over at him and laugh.

"What? Have you never had a candied apple before?"

"Uh, no actually. Are...are they your favorite?" he asks.

"Uh huh!" you nod eagerly. "I have to have at least one when the carnival's up!"

It was true. Ever since you had the teeth to eat them, candied apples had been your favorite treat, even with all of the cavities you had gotten over the years because of them.

Henry slowly raises the apple to his lips and bites down. The taste causes him to pause. He had never tasted something so sweet. It seemed fitting that they were your favorite.

"You like it?" you ask.

He nods his head, before he takes another bite.

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"So you really aren't gonna leave tomorrow?" you look at Henry sadly.

"Yeah, I-I'm, um...I'm afraid so."

You had learned that Henry was just visiting your hometown on a road trip with his mom. You thought that was fun, because your family always goes on road trips every summer, and yet you were going to miss your new mystery friend.

"Oh, Y/N! There you are!"

You and Henry turn around, seeing your two friends running towards you.

"Yeah, we were really worried!"

That causes Henry to stare daggers at them. They were worried? If they were so Goddamned worried about your safety, then they wouldn't have abandoned you.

"Uh, Y/N...who's this?" they both look at the man beside you that was making them feel uncomfortable under his stare.

'Good,' Henry thought.

"Oh, this is just my friend I made who kept me company this whole time," your voice is still cheerful, but you were still trying to guilt them. Henry smirks at that.

"Oh, well, uh...it's-it's getting late. We should start heading home."

Your eyes widen at that and you look down at your watch. It was almost midnight. God, your parents were gonna kill you.

"Yeah, you guys head to the entrance. I'll catch up!" your friends look at the boy besides you. Despite being the same age as them, something about him didn't seem right. They slowly turn around and do as you told them. As you watch them go, you hear a certain someone mutter something behind you.

"Henry."

"What?" you turn to look up at him.

"That's my name," Henry says.

You try the name out and smile. The sound of you saying his name made his chest feel weird.

"You look like a 'Henry'," you quip.

"That a bad thing?" he quirked an eyebrow at you.

"Nope!" you giggle and shake your head. Your demeanor changes and you awkwardly fiddle for something in your back pocket.

"Here," you hand him a small slip of paper.

Henry takes the paper and unravels it, a phone number revealing itself to him.

"Just in case you wanna keep in touch, o-or you know...just letting me know if you're gonna be in town again," you sheepishly state, squeezing the elephant in your arms. You had written your number down when he went off to make his phone call. You felt silly since you didn’t even know his name yet, but you knew you liked him either way.

"I, uh...I think I'll do just that," he smiles at you and puts the paper in his pocket. You smile back.

"I'm gonna hug you. Is that okay?"

Henry laughs, before opening his arms to you. You wrap one of your arms around him and he wraps his arms around your waist. Neither of you want to pull away, knowing that it would mean the end of your night together and who knows how long until you see each other again.

Unfortunately, your friends were waiting for you and he had a mission that you were unaware of. You pull away first.

"Goodbye, Henry," you quickly press a peck to his cheek. He tenses, but then looks at you shyly.

"Y-Yeah...goodbye, Y/N," a shade of pink crosses his face. He then clears his throat before pointing to your plushie. "You take good care of him."

You giggle and nod your head, before turning and walking away from him. Not even five feet away from him, you turn back and wave both your hand and your elephant's arm goodbye. Henry shakes his head and smiles, lifting his hand up to give a small wave of his own.

He stood there, watching your figure get smaller and smaller, until you disappeared into the crowd entirely.

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The man was killed swiftly in the haunted house of all places. No one suspected a thing, believing that the body was just a prop and the screams just sound effects.

Now Henry was laying down on his bed in the motel room his mother had rented. She was in the bathroom washing his knife and mask.

He could still hear the noises of the crowds cheering, feel the shakiness in his limbs after a thrill ride, taste the candied apple on his tongue, and feel your kiss on his cheek.

Perhaps when he and his mother got into the next town and had to split up again, he would see if that number you gave him was real.

[notsoattractivearenti]

Surprise x2 (Christian Pulisic x Reader)

Word Count: 1.5K

Warnings: few cursing words; mentions of pregnancy; possibly can cause baby fever lol. nothing else but fluff fluff fluff! 🥰

A/N: This was supposed to be the first fic I posted, but I just finished it after 2 weeks! Heavily inspired by the video above lol (not the gender reveal, but Christian's reaction). Written especially for dad!Puli nation 🥰🫶 Feedbacks would be appreciated!

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“Shit, it’s 6 fucking AM!” you quietly said to yourself as you just woke up and already feeling extremely nauseous. You got up and rushed to the bathroom because you felt like you were so close on throwing up on the bed. Your husband, Christian woke up to the sound of you throwing up, which was pretty loud. He immediately got off the bed, grabbed some tissues and a glass of water from the bedside table, and went to the bathroom.

You were sitting on the floor, facing down the toilet, and you heard him coming over. You were looking up at his tired-yet-worried face as he said “Y/N love are you okay? Do you want me to get any meds or anything else? I also got you water in case you need it.” You were feeling too weak to say anything so you just nodded, then threw up again. He was there the whole time holding your hair up, caressing your back, and even said “sorry baby” multiple times. You were feeling extremely sick and so worried, so his presence made you felt a lot better. 

“Okay, I’m done,” you said as you wiped your mouth with a tissue, “everything inside my stomach is pretty much gone now, ugh.” He helped you stood up, you flushed the toilet and he asked, “what happened?” 

“I have no idea. Just got nausea out of nowhere.” He then nervously said something that made your heart skipped a beat: “Y/N, I don’t know but um, do you think uh, it’s possible that… You’re pregnant again?” 

You suddenly remembered that you did go through the same thing before finding out you were pregnant with Maxine, your firstborn. You froze for a second then responded, “Fuck. Chris, I need to get a pregnancy test like right now.” 

“I’ll get them for you, come on.” You both went back to your bedroom, then Christian grabbed his jacket and car keys, and kissed your forehead before he left. You had mixed feelings about the possibility of being pregnant again but you started questioning yourself: are you ready for another child? You are a great mom to Max and you love her very much, but going through pregnancy and taking care of a baby were no joke. You felt like you needed more time to do it all over again, but now it seemed like you weren’t given enough time. You and Christian just started talking about trying for baby number 2 — now that Maxine is already 2 years old — but somehow you might have ended up conceiving before you two were even actively trying.

While you waited for Christian, you went to Max’s room to wake her up. You opened the door and saw your beautiful daughter who was still asleep while cuddling her beloved stuffed penguin Christian got her after she was born, which she named Fuzzy Penny. You sat on her bed, and shortly before you woke her up you looked at her and thought how lucky you are to have her in your life. 

Max was a surprise baby, since you and Christian didn’t plan on having a child before you two got married yet you got pregnant with her 3 months after you got engaged. You remembered how scared you were, because you didn’t think you were ready even though you wanted to keep your baby, and Christian convinced you that everything was going to be alright. You’re so glad that he was right, because you couldn’t and don’t want to imagine your life without Max. Even though it’s not always sunshine and rainbows, she without a doubt has made your life so much better than you thought it could ever be. It felt like you just gave birth to her yesterday and now she is probably going to be a big sister.

“Good morning my little angel,” you whispered to her little ear as you gently kissed her head and caressed her arm, “time to rise and shine!” She slowly opened her eyes, looked up to you, then gave you a big, bright smile and softly said “Mommy!” Her little voice has never failed to make you smile. You were filled with worries before and thanks to Max, now you felt at peace. “How was your sleep? Was it good?” Max nodded her head while smiling, then grabbed her shoulder-length wavy hair and said to you “messy hair mommy.” “You have the cutest messy hair honey,” you laughed, then you picked her up “let’s get you out of this bed, and come find Daddy!”

Christian had just come back and as he entered the living room, Max spotted him and shouting “DADDY!!!” His eyes widened when he saw her, “Oh hey look who’s awake! Good morning my princess!”

He bent down to pick her up, wrapping her around his arms. She rested her head on Christian’s shoulder, had her arms around his neck, and Christian gave her kisses on the top of her head – he knows she loves it when he does that, and of course he loves doing it too. 

You couldn’t help but smile, thinking how beautiful that moment was even though you have seen it many, many times. You felt like there were millions of butterflies in your stomach, so in love with the man who is not just the best husband, but also the best father in the whole wide world. 

You were so caught up in the moment you forgot that you needed to take pregnancy test, but then Christian reminded you as he handed the bag over. “Honey, I wasn’t sure how many tests you may need but I got like 4 or 5 in there. I’ve checked all expiration dates so you’re good.” 

“Woah, thank you,” as you took the bag, “I’ll take them all right now.” He smiled, nodded and mouthed “I got you”. 

You went to the bathroom to took all the test. “Okay,” you sighed, “let’s get this over with.” You waited anxiously until you got the results. You heard the timer sound on your phone, meaning 2 minutes had passed. You closed your eyes and took 3 deep breaths, trying to calm yourself down before you saw the results. 

Two red lines. “Pregnant”. You couldn’t believe what you saw. You gasped, and stood still for a minute, trying to process everything. You’d gone through this before, but it still caught you off guard somehow. You were nervous, but now you have positive results, you didn’t feel that way anymore. You’re going to have another child, and you felt good about it. Even though you weren’t sure you were ready, at least you knew you can count on your loving husband for everything, especially much-needed support.

Now that you’d spent some time in the bathroom, you finally felt ready to tell your husband he's going to be a dad for the second time. As you walked to the kitchen, you heard Max and Christian laughing. You then took a peek to see what it was all about, and you saw they were cooking breakfast. He was making Max’s favorite breakfast: pancakes with berries and chocolate sauce – he couldn’t cook before, but the day you two found out you were pregnant with Max he started learning how to cook because he wanted to be able to make homemade meals for his family. You saw they were having so much fun cooking those pancakes. When he was cooking, he held Max on his hip, while flipping the pancakes with his other hand. The kitchen was messy, and they were covered in flour – you could tell they were having a lot of fun while making the batter. He shook the pan for a bit, lifted it, then flipped over the pancake. In awe, Max laughed, clapped her hands in excitement and told him “good job Daddy!”

You didn’t want to interrupt their moment, so you just stood where you are until they noticed you. “Oh hey, there’s Mommy! Come here, we made pancakes!” As you approached them, Christian set up the table with Max’s help – she was still attached to his hip, of course ­– then sat her down on the chair.

“Wow, these pancakes look so good! You two made the best pancakes in the world!” you complimented them. Max gave you a big smile then looked to her dad “Daddy did good.” Christian was blushing, kissed her cheek and said to her “I did good because I have the cutest little helper.” 

Before he sat down, you softly grabbed his arm, and you whispered, “Honey, seems like we got another surprise...” You saw his eyes lit up as you said those words. He looked at you as he responded, “Oh my God, Y/N, you’re really pregnant???” You grinned and nodded. 

He gave you the biggest hug and was smiling ear to ear. He’s always loved being a father, and now he’s going to be a father of two. You could feel his overwhelming joy, which brought you back to the day you found out the first time. Still hugging you, he told you “I love you so much, Y/N! Thank you for giving me two best surprises!” 

Before he released the hug he kissed you on the lips, then came towards Max, hugged her and told her in his excited, high-pitched voice, “Max! You’re gonna be a big sister!”

taglist: @pulisicsgirl @neverinadream @masonspulisic @swimmingismywholelife @chelseagirl98 @bracedes @lovelynikol16 @thoseboysinblue @lizzypotter14

[ggukkiedae]

another confidant

date: april 2018

warning/s: insecure thoughts

notes from c: anything spoken in italics is spoken in english, just some soft jaehyun getting a look into the way hannah’s mind works for today 🥰 and ctto for the gif, it’s not mine i found it on pinterest

i’m literally gonna be watching nct nation in like 30 minutes! so a little post to celebrate that 🥰

word count: 1.5k

in which hannah’s solo date becomes a vent-to-jaehyun dinner

Hannah found herself plopping down onto the ground and groaning out loud as soon as Taeyong called for the end of their practice. They had been going at it for the whole day, not to mention the practice she had with 127 earlier that morning for Chain… Wow. She was actually working on a 127 thing outside of NCT 2018. She really is part of 127. 

A deep chuckle together with a hand tickling her stomach brought her back to reality. Instinctively, she swatted the hand away and rolled back over her head. Once she was sat up, she gave a glare to Jaehyun who simply shrugged. 

“For someone who wants to die, you sure have a lot of energy,” Ten shook his head at her and offered her a hand up. 

“Oh, you and I both know who really wants me to die,” a half-bitter chuckle escaped her as she remembered a few of the comments she received about her joining 127. This statement caused multiple heads to turn towards her in worry, which, in turn, was amusing enough to her but eye-roll inducing. “Would you guys relax? I’m out of my emo phase about this, don’t worry.”

“I gave her cuddles last night, so she’s good,” Jaehyun’s dimples popped out as he handed her a water bottle. “Cuddles that she asked for, if I may add.”

Hannah smacked the 97 liner’s arm as a bunch of cries of disbelief rose from the rest of the members. Surprisingly, or not, a few of the older members suddenly gained energy once again and started coming at Hannah for not being affectionate with them. Both physically and verbally. 

The British girl burst into laughter as she ran away from Johnny, Ten, Yuta, and Taeyong started chasing her around their practice room. When the other members said that they’d try to not treat her too much like a girl to not make her feel out of place, she didn’t think that would mean getting smothered with affection. In all honesty, she wasn’t prepared when members outside of Donghyuck, Jaemin, Kun, Johnny, and Jaehyun all started attempting to coddle her. She wasn’t used to it. She was used to coddling her two maknaes, not the other way around. 

But they had all made it clear after the whole no-sleep fiasco that they were going to baby her to the best of their capabilities. When she tried to get Taeyong to talk them out of it, he pulled the “you’re-the-third-youngest-member” card and laughed it off. 

Coming back to the present time, she felt someone grab her around the waist. It was Johnny, if his laughter wasn’t anything to tell by. Her face lit up as she remembered something that Yoonmi had taught her before. With some hesitation, she hooked her leg around Johnny’s leg and pulled forward until he was on the ground, her on top of him and somehow effectively pinning him down. 

Everyone stopped what they were doing. 

Jisung’s voice was the one that broke the silence. “Did noona just… throw Johnny hyung to the ground?”

“Yes, she did,” Jeno smiled. 

“This is rich,” Donghyuck’s snickers filled the room. “I can’t believe you actually used what Yoonmi taught you and made it work.”

Hannah shrugged her shoulders and got off of a still-in-shock Johnny while dusting off her hands. “Once I tried it on Jungkook oppa, I became pretty confident in doing it on anyone no matter their strength or size. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have dinner plans to go to.”

She picked up her bag and walked out the door, laughing as Donghyuck called for her to bring food home. Right, he was spending the night in her and Mark’s place. Just like he’s been doing every other night for weeks now. 

Footsteps caught up with her, catching her attention and making her glance back. Jaehyun had caught up to her and thrown an arm around her shoulders. 

“Hey, princess.”

“You know,” she laughed at him, “the others have started calling me princess because of you.”

“I’m the original,” he grinned, leaning his head a little closer to hers teasingly. “Mind telling me who you’re having dinner with?”

She rolled her eyes fondly at Jaehyun’s casual attempt of being protective. “Myself, actually. I read about this new restaurant opening up nearby, and I wanted to try the food out for myself before I recommend it to anyone.”

With one look at Jaehyun’s growing smile, Hannah knew he was going to start persuading her to let him come with her. Before he could say anything, she let out a groan and shrugged his arm off her shoulder.

Jaehyun was left watching her back as she walked away, unsure of what just happened. Once she was right in front of the elevators, she pressed the button, turned around, and looked at the 97 liner with a raised eyebrow.

“You coming?”

With a grin, Jaehyun made his way over to her. The elevator doors opened just as he got there. “I knew you loved me.”

She just scoffed, hiding her smile at the chance to bond with one of her new members. “You get fifteen minutes to shower. Meet me in our dorm building’s lobby after.

They accidentally matched outfits, much to Jaehyun’s delight. The moment she saw his pastel blue hoodie and white sweats, she made to get back into the elevator, but Jaehyun snickered at her and pulled her out of the dorm building.

That’s how she found herself seated in the corner booth of a new restaurant, aggressively stabbing the carrots in her dish and dropping them on the spare plate she had requested.

“Hannah,” Jaehyun watched her amusedly while taking some of her pasta with the carrot slice and eating it, “it isn’t so bad.”

She scrunched her nose at him. “The pasta isn’t bad, but who in their right mind puts carrot slices on pasta? Carrots are only good for carrot cakes, and you can’t even taste or feel them in those!”

Jaehyun chuckled and switched their plates, placing his creamy lemon chicken in front of her. “Eat that. You need protein to build up the strength if you’re going to have the complete NCT schedule like Mark and Haechan.”

“Don’t remind me,” she puts some of the chicken on the spare plate and pushed it closer to the boy in front of her. “After Chain, we have our last Dream Comeback with Mark. Have you heard the title song?”

“Not yet,” he gave her a look, “you’re not stressing yourself out, are you?”

For a while, all Jaehyun got from her in response was silence.

Hannah never really understood why the older members, especially recently, have been telling her to not stress herself out. In her point of view, stress was a normal part of the industry. If you weren’t getting stressed out, then didn’t that mean you didn’t care? 

If anything, everything that she went through the past few months made her believe that to a greater degree. She cared a lot. 

“Hey,” Jaehyun lightly knocked on the table in front of her, “thoughts out of your head and into our conversation, please.”

She composed herself. “Right, sorry. I am kinda stressing myself, but I don’t want anything I do to be half-assed, you know?”

He looked at her with curiosity. “How so?”

“I just feel like I wouldn’t be giving it my all if I wasn’t at least a little bit stressed. I care about my work and my performance, and I want it to show. I don’t know if it does.”

The older boy gave her a smile. “It does.”

“It doesn’t feel like it.”

Jaehyun just shook his head, “You’ll never feel like it does because you’re always going to want to pick yourself apart to become better. Trust me when I say this, we all see how much you love this job and how you’re constantly improving.”

She poked at the food on her plate once again, although softly this time, lacking the violence she did it with earlier. She didn’t know if she wanted to believe Jaehyun’s words, but they sounded nice coming from him—someone who saw her work behind the scenes with fresh eyes. Should she take the benefit of her doubt and believe? 

She snorted a little and looked down at her plate, not wanting to spiral into a number of “what ifs” running through her head again. It wasn’t worth it, it always took a lot longer to get things done when she spiralled. Instead, she decided to lift the mood a little bit.

Noticing the food on her plate somehow successfully separated completely between the rice and the meat, she looked up to meet Jaehyun’s eyes. “It’s what I get for being a virgo, I guess.”

“Don’t think I don’t know you don’t believe me,” Jaehyun poked her cheek, “but I’ll let it slide for now. Hey, how do those astrology things work, anyway?”

Hannah excitedly launched into an explanation of astrology in a mix of English and Korean, one unrelated thought echoing in her head. 

Thank god that Jaehyun wasn’t only someone she felt she could talk to, but that he was also someone who knew when not to press.

taglist: @1-800-enhypennabi @strwberrydinosaur @sunflower-0180 @caratinylyfe @1-800-minji @one16core @kimhyejin3108 @chansols @akshverse @world-full-of-roses

drop an ask or a dm if you wanna be added or taken out of the taglist 🥰 requests are also open!

[mythicamagic]

The Drought: A Neuvillette x Lumine oneshot

Summary: A drought has set in, choking Fontaine's water supply. They say it rains when the hydro dragon cries- so what happens when the dragon is unable to shed tears?

Rated T,

2000+ words.

AN: Neuvillette is...so soft. I had to write this. Of course- it could age badly because we don't have all the information about Neuvillette and Fontaine yet - but for now I hope you enjoy!

----------

An unprecedented heat wave had hit Fontaine, the likes of which its citizens had never experienced before. It had lasted more than a month with no signs of stopping- and no rain in sight. 

Needless to say, the Hydro nation was beginning to suffer. Grass had dried up, becoming brittle and yellow. Whatever ice the people had managed to store soon melted the second it was exposed to the sun, and so Cyro and Hydro users were in demand. The canals and waterways were beginning to run dangerously low, affecting Aquabus services and travel.

What's more, this summer's paradise was taking place during the dead of winter. 

Despite this oddity, Lumine continued on with her commissions. It had been some time now since first setting foot in Fontaine but she'd become enamoured with it enough to accept commissions within the nation every day- and a little hot weather wasn't going to stop her.

"You go on ahead. Paimon will stay here where it's cool," Paimon had waved her off that morning from their hotel, floating sluggishly in the shade. 

Lumine felt a wince of sympathy for her. Not everyone could keep cool with the use of the hydro element. Water filled her palm on command- and she splashed it against the back of her neck, sighing with relief as she walked along the path.

"Are you doing alright?"

She blinked, glancing over at her companion. "I'm fine. I can still fight without any problems in the heat," she smiled, eyeing his heavy clothing. "I'm more concerned about you. Aren't you suffering in all…that?"

Monsieur Neuvillette of the Court of Fontaine and the kingdom's undercover Hydro dragon walked beside her, having taken time out of his busy schedule each day without fail to join her. 

"Oh, there is no need to worry. I have my own ways of keeping cool," he gave a polite smile in return. Lumine watched as his expression soon clouded over, attention straying to the empty paths near the usually busy Lucine Fountain. "Your concern should be for the people. They seem to have reached their limit for enduring this weather. In all my years- I've never witnessed such a drought in Fontaine. Truly it is…troubling."

Lumine stopped, lips thinning. Her heart clenched.

Neuvillette's quiet steps came to a halt, and he faced her curiously. "Is something the matter?"

Had he not realised it yet? Surely he had. The answer for why the drought had happened in the first place couldn’t be more obvious when one took into account who influenced the weather most in Fontaine. 

His kind eyes bore into hers, brows furrowing due to her silence. He was patient and empathetic, with an amiable if slightly awkward disposition- as if unused to having friends to talk with.

It was for all these reasons and more that Lumine had become a little- or okay, a lot selfish. She enjoyed his company too much. She should've stopped recruiting him the second she realized what was causing the drought.

"No, it's nothing," she shook her head, forcing a smile. 

Today will be the last day, she decided. Something inside her dimmed at the thought.

-------

They travelled across Fontaine throughout the morning and into the afternoon- fulfilling commissions together and diving into lush waters to reach their destinations quickly. Occasionally Lumine would grin to herself as she watched him swim. Though he had such a serious face, Neuvillete thrived in the water. He moved with an agile, effortless grace, barely kicking his legs. Sometimes he reminded her more of an otter than a dragon. 

He caught her eye during that particular thought, and she blushed, feeling caught. 

Silver hair danced around him as he smiled, offering a hand. Perhaps he thought she was lagging behind due to fatigue. 

Unable to do anything else but revel in indulgence, Lumine took it- her skirts puffing up in the current as she kicked her legs and followed him to the glittering surface. 

Even though the waters had no effect on her air supply, she took greedy breaths once her head broke the surface. 

"A spot of swimming in the afternoon is always refreshing, don’t you agree?" Slit pupils captured hers as Neuvillette smiled, treading water with her easily. 

Lumine bit her lip- unable to stifle the giggle that slipped free. He blinked at the outburst, tilting his head ever so slightly. 

Covering her mouth to try and stifle herself, golden eyes glittered fondly. “Not all of us can keep up with someone who somersaults underwater like an otter, but yes- it's very fun.”

He looked briefly chagrined. “Ah, my apologies. I lose sight of myself when I return to water,” he cleared his throat. “The Melusine often used to complain that I swam too quickly for them to keep up. It is fortunate I don’t use my original form when swimming with you or I’d be quite the disgraceful partner.”

Lumine waded to shore nearby, ringing out the moisture from her hair. “Actually, I’d like to see it someday,” she hummed. “Be warned though; I’ve seen plenty of dragons, so you’ve got a lot of competition if you want to dazzle m-” 

She’d turned absentmindedly, her words soon drying up on her tongue like Fontaine’s drought. 

Neuvillette had followed her to shore and was now removing his coat. The action was a simple one, yet it transformed his entire appearance. His strong frame that was usually obscured by the heavy fall of his coat was now within full view. He wore a dark waistcoat and white poets shirt beneath- the material hugging his torso distractingly. 

Lumine sucked in a sharp breath, running her attention over his arms as he pushed back his sleeves. Now was not the time to be oogling him. She’d be saying goodbye to their extended time together soon. 

She jolted when his gaze caught hers, his eyes briefly slinking down her drenched form. The action sent a thrill down her spine.

He straightened and approached her with slow, measured movements- and it was only in these quiet moments did Lumine really feel his presence. Neuvillette was a humble man by nature, but the ancient hum of energy and unspoken strength clung to him like a second skin if one really looked at him. She tilted her head back to keep eye contact, blood stirring with expectation. 

Neuvillette reached down and draped his coat around her shoulders. “Here- so that you do not catch a cold. I would hate for you to fall ill.”

All the air left her lungs in one fell swoop. Lumine made a noise- caught between several emotions at once. She settled on amusement, unable to stop smiling in his presence.

"You know, you're nothing like how I thought you'd be."

"Hm?"

"Before we met, I'd heard the Chief Justice was a cold and absolute judge. I never expected you to be so…" it was a struggle to find the words. She adjusted the coat around her shoulders and gripped the parting with one hand, beginning to walk with him along the shore. "Refreshing. Earnest, in a way. You couldn't help us with certain things because of the restraints of the justice system but it was clear you cared. Now that I've spent time with you, I can see how clumsy you are with socializing too."

"I think there was a compliment in there, so thank you," he chuckled. The sound was rich and genuine, washing over Lumine like gentle, rolling tides. "Honestly, I never envisioned myself adventuring around Fontaine in my spare time to find lost dogs or defeat wicked thieves."

He turned his immortal gaze upon her, shining with renewed light. "But any time spent with you has been delightfully invigorating. I haven't felt like this since-" he hesitated, then became thoughtful. "Well I cannot remember when. You have done much by inviting me into your teapot and regaling me with stories about other nations and worlds- allowing me to sample their food and marvel at their decor in ways I never could from hearsay. Truly, I will cherish the memories we've made."

He paused, and the silence was so lengthy it felt deafening. He came to a halt, and she stopped, a sick, expectant feeling twisting in her gut. "But I also understand that we cannot continue. That is what you are struggling to say, is it not? I apologize if it has caused you undue stress by trying to find a way to dismiss me from your company but don't worry. I…have been very selfish this past month," his confession slipped out in a small voice. "I put my wants and happiness over the needs of the people. The moment I understood my joy was having an effect on the weather- I should have severed our connection…"

He had more courage than she did. More conviction to do what was needed. Lumine had thought she was a stronger person before meeting him- spending time with him. She felt more worthy of the title ‘selfish’ than he, especially since she opened her mouth and asked;

"Why didn't you?"

Neuvillette stiffened, hands drawing into loose fists at his sides. "I think it would be best if we didn't explore that question further," his expression became so soft and sad in the light of the setting sun that Lumine had to break eye contact. Her heart squeezed, unknown emotions welling up inside her. 

"It's not selfish of you to be happy, Neuvillette. But I understand your thought process and…you’re right that things can't continue like this. I…I really enjoyed our time together too."

She hated this. She wished it didn't have to be like this. He deserved to be happy as much as anyone.

Neuvillette leaned into a low gentleman's bow, plucking her hand from her side.

Lumine stiffened as achingly soft lips pressed to the back of her hand in a long, reverent kiss. Her breathing hitched- those winter lashes lifting to pin her with a look so inhuman and intense it made her reel. Heat roared to life in her lower stomach, her face flaming red. For just a brief moment, he was neither a judge nor a man, but rather an ancient power that had been slumbering in the bedrock of his heart. 

But then he was straightening and turning away with a final nod of farewell. "Good day, madame. Perhaps we may meet up sparingly in the coming weeks? It would please me greatly. "

"Yes, of course," she swallowed thickly. "I'd love to."

She mournfully parted with his coat, handing it back to him. With an awkward curtsey, Lumine began walking away along the shoreline. Every step felt difficult, as if carrying heavy stone. 

Logically she knew something had to change. They couldn't continue as they were. The citizens of Fontaine needed rain. If the Hydro dragon's happiness kept rain away- then what choice did they have?

Something compelled her to look back, even though she knew she shouldn't. Just one look would be fine, right? She needed to know he was okay.

Neuvillette stood amongst the rocks where she'd left him, looking out at the sea. His face was otherwise indifferent as waves crashed, flicking spray up toward him. With his coat tucked into the crook of his elbow and his back cutting a regal figure, he looked every inch the Chief Justice of Fontaine.

Perhaps it was all in her head. Maybe he'd be fine and the weather would settle naturally. Lumine reluctantly turned away and kept walking, her boots crunching along the sand.

Something small and light splashed upon her forehead. And then more- again and again, kissing her skin in water droplets.

"Legend says that it rains when the hydro dragon weeps."

She stopped, tilting her head back to behold the sudden grey skies filled with heavy clouds. The rain lashed harder upon her shoulders until it felt like a torrential downpour. Her hair and clothes were soaked through in seconds. 

Lumine didn't care about that though. She looked back again and noticed Neuvillette had begun walking away, heading in the general direction of the Court of Fontaine. 

This is stupid.

Her feet were moving before she knew it. She ran quicker and quicker, putting every effort into each step with a burst of speed until she was reaching out and grabbing his arm.

With a tug, she turned him enough to catch a glimpse of his eyes. 

Neuvillette stilled, offering a weak smile. "We successfully called back the rain," he said, so quietly it was a miracle she heard him over the downpour. He blinked, lashes wet. "Was there something else you needed- mnph!"

Grabbing a fistful of his shirt, Lumine pulled with all her might until he was yanked from his impressive height right down to her mouth. Pressing up on tip-toe against him, she kissed him hard, pouring no small amount of feeling into it. Her heart thundered against her ribcage. He tasted like rain, lips cold and unresponsive. For a moment she wavered, wondering if she’d gone too far- until an arm wrapped around her waist. Clawed fingers slid into her hair, cupping the nape of her neck. He practically bowed her backwards with the force of his answering kiss, stealing her breath. She felt his hands shake with want of her- claws scraping her skin in a way that left her shuddering. 

“What was-?” he swallowed when they parted, panting softly. “I thought we were in agreement that this could not continue? The skies are already clearing again.”

Sure enough, those dark clouds were dispersing, slowly taking the brief shower with them. Lumine paid it no heed, reaching up and stroking a thumb across his cheek to catch a stray bead of water. “We did. But I’ve decided to renege on that agreement. You can take me to court over it if you like,” she said, looking up into his conflicted eyes. “The people’s happiness shouldn’t come at the cost of your own.”

When he opened his mouth to argue, Lumine hushed him with another kiss. “We were too quick to give up,” she murmured once they’d pulled away, whispering ardently into the space between them. “There’s a solution here where we can have both. Let’s experiment. Since your moods control the weather in Fontaine, all we have to do is find a balance. Maybe even trick your own emotions.”

“Trick them…” Neuvillette repeated in a quiet voice. Shocked, but intrigued- the way he’d always looked when asking for more of her stories. “A novel concept. How, pray tell?”

Lumine gave him one of her best smiles, taking his hand and squeezing it in her own. In that squeeze was a promise: A silent vow that she’d do her best to see to his continued joy. “You’ve heard of happy tears, haven’t you?”

-----

End

[themoonitselff]

National Anthem | Miguel O'hara X Male! Reader

I always think about Lana's monologue and I thought it would be cute to make an scenario with Miguel O'hara about this. ANYWAY I WROTE THIS AT 2AM AND IT HAS BAD SPELLING AND BAD THINGS YKYKY

Summary: Reader is a singer (LIKE, LANA DEL REY BUT MASC) who's dating Miguel. But they don't talk too much because of their works... Lucky him, because he went to his concert tonight.

Warnings: I think none.. There's mentions of sex.

Your voice was angelical, you were angelical, an angel sent from above just to bring the humans what heaven sounds like, you had the beauty of a Sapphire, the body of a Greek God, the voice of a mermaid, all in one, it was like you were born to create masterpieces, and it showed itself on your career, until you reached the fame and met Miguel, your current boyfriend, it's been three years since you know him, and still feeling butterflies for him, unfortunately, he was a busy man, you didn't know too much about his life, but the fact that he was just like the fire in person, flamboyant, hothead and with a passion for expressing himself without knowing the damage he could cause. Of course, he wasn't here, and despite it makes your heart crack in million pieces, you still love him, and trust him no matter what.

You grabbed the microphone and started singing what you writed for your lover a while ago, thinking about Miguel, his sharp eyes, his big hands touching your waist, his pointy teeth marking your skin, his raspy voice with a cocky tone, everything you did was for him.. Your voice come across the crowd, your feelings flushing against your soul, the air blowing in front of you, your eyes were looking in the people for his face, hoping he would be there somewhere, but there would be no signal, although his big presence.

“Tell me I'm your National Anthem..” You whispered, while letting the people sing for you as you hum for them.

The minutes passed and you saw a prominent figure above the campus, you couldn't recognize it because it was so far away, so you didn't mind. And as the staff was giving the best of themselves in the instrumental, you were about to finish the start of a new era with a monologue, something you wrote just for him.

“And I remember when I met him, it was so clear that he was the only one for me.. We both knew it right away, and as the years went on things got more difficult.”

You remembered when you first saw him, in a coffee shop, at morning, a single touch that changed everything, your eyes met him, as he smiled, confident. You and Miguel were like Earth and Water, Capricorn and Cancer, complementing each other, fulfilling each other, knowing what the other wants, besides all the fights you two got because of your different lives, you loved him with all your life, not just sexually, but romantically.

“I begged him to stay, try to remember what we had at the beginning, he was charismatic, magnetic, electric and everybody knew it, when he walked in every woman's head turned, everyone stood up to talk to him, he was like this hybrid, this mix of a man who couldn't contain himself, I always got the sense that he became torn between being a good person and missing out on all of the opportunities that life could offer a man as magnificent as him”

Miguel was charming, and everybody knew him, he was the kind of man that everyone would like to have, he had the body, the personality, the vibe, he was everything, and the fact that he just looked down at you made you crazy, made you desire him more, and despite he was this mysterious man, with his mysterious secrets, you still fell for him.. Sometimes, you thought he was just busy and he deserved to have a rest far away from everyone, sometimes you thought that it would be better if he just escaped with you and show him all of the amazing things you could do to him, and sometimes you thought you were just an overthinker.. Because you knew that it would be hard to stay with a man like him.. Because a cold man with a logical brain, that stays stuck in the reality with his hands, will never make happy a prince like You that lives on the clouds and dreams with happy endings.

“And in that way I.. Understood him, and I loved him. I loved him, I loved him, I loved him.”

You repeat multiple times, sobbing and wishing he could listen to your feelings, to your inner poet that just wanted to be listened, but couldn't because his mind was paying attention to other things, things that were more important than you.

You gave up on the idea of him seeing you right now, your hopes were crushed like a million stars, sparkling and dancing, and finished with the last sentence.

“And I still love him, I love him.”

You left the scenario with tears running down your cheeks and your nose all red because of the suffering, not knowing that the big figure that was standing in top of the state from above the campus was him, but dressed as someone else.. Dressed as the hero who always took care of you when you were walking on the noght streets alone, who looked after you in every single presentation, who wanted to tell you that your concept was amazing, who wanted to tell you that you were amazing.

[oneatlatime]

More season 1 thoughts

I like Katara better in the second half of the season than the first. I found her less annoying. Is that because she has evened out as a character, or is that because there was less of her? I don't know. I'd love to see a quantitative analysis of the number of lines per character per episode. Still, Katara handled the whole Pakku problem with fewer explosions than when she was handling the pirates and the waterbending scroll, and you can argue that the Pakku stuff was much more of a direct attack on her, so I'm going to call her reduced annoyingness growth.

Poor Sokka has been consistently my favourite character since episode one, and that hasn't changed at all. He just got royally stomped on in a way specifically designed to cause as much pain to him personally as possible in the finale, and I'll be interested to see if that causes any long term change. My boy is good at repression, so I doubt there will be obvious change, but this show is good at gradual stealth character growth. I'm looking forward to trying to ferret out the subtle changes to him in season 2.

Aang is lovely. I think he appears to be the least changed of our main cast at first glance, but like Sokka, I expect that getting used/possessed/actively participating in mega fishman destruction in the finale is going to have some effect on him (Still not clear on exactly who possessed whom / who was in control. Don't know if I'll ever know, or if it really matters). Aang is a lovable island of fun in a sea of century old war trauma. When he's not being stupid because he's 12, he's being consistently kind and open hearted, with an unshakable core and sense of self. Congrats to Gyatso on raising such a self-possessed boy. And you know what? He's entitled to stupid 12 year old moments because he is 12.

Poor Yue. Kind of a one note character at first glance, but because she's a mirror of Sokka, she feels just as deep as he does. That's clever writing.

Appa continues to be both team transportation and team dad. I think Sokka is team mom. Katara may be feminine, but it's Sokka who's keeping them fed and going in vaguely the right direction. He's the practical one. While Katara's or Aang's actions often drive the story, it's Sokka who's on clean up duty to make sure that the impulsive and bighearted decisions made by his sister and adopted brother blow up in their faces as little as possible.

I am convinced that Momo has no awareness of the main quest. I think Appa knows that his human and his human's friends are trying to save the world. I think Momo knows that these humans and their big furry thing feed him and keep him warm while going to lots of different places.

I loved that the season finale couldn't be predicted. The end game that the show set up was a showdown with the firelord. I expected that the firelord would make his first appearance in the season finale. Instead, we get a conflict I didn't see coming in a location I had honestly forgotten we were going to. Even if you had watched episodes 1 through 17, could you predict the conflict and location of the finale beyond something something fire nation? I like that I couldn't predict it. Too often shows spend so much time building up to the season showdown that it's almost anti-climactic because you've pretty much guessed the shape that the conflict will take. Not this show.

I think my favourite episode of the second half of this season is Bato of the Water Tribe. I loved having a glimpse into non-war water tribe life. It gives us a look at what it is that the people fighting the fire nation are fighting to preserve/get back. It also gives us a rough outline of the kind of person Sokka and Katara's dad is, which surprisingly adds a lot to Sokka's characterisation. And I love an episode where Sokka gets the A plot. The fight scene was really entertaining to watch, although I do feel sorry for June's big beast.

I think the best (as in the most skillfully executed) episode in the second half of the season is probably The Blue Spirit. It's a character episode disguised as an action episode, and not to get too much into fanfic speculative territory, but I feel like it lays groundwork for a couple of possible paths for the characters that certainly weren't available to them before. Also I love the melancholy note it ends on. I don't like unhappy endings as a rule, but I make an exception for contemplative endings, like the Southern Air Temple, the Summer Solstice Part 2, and the Blue Spirit.

I find I prefer the 'problem of the week' type episodes more than the episodes that serve the larger plot, because honestly I just want to hang out with these guys. High stakes adventures are both important and necessary, but it's also cool to have a problem presented and solved in 23 minutes. I feel like the characters act more like people and less like servants of the plot when they're in 'monster of the week' type episodes.

There were fewer eye-poppingly beautiful episodes in the second half of the season, although the Deserter's forest and fireworks festival was nice. The finale was downright bland, but you can't have lush multicoloured foliage at the north pole. I am so thankful that the show doesn't go for that stupid grimdark aesthetic that movies are still struggling with.

Finally, a word on the blasphemous live action that definitely doesn't exist:

Some of the greatest parts of this show are the gorgeously colourful eyepopping backgrounds, the very well thought out combination of bending and cartoon physics, and Sokka's stupid faces. You know what a live action can't do? Any of those things. So really, why did they even try? I can't think of a show, a world, a story, that is more suited to the artistic liberties and conventions of animation.

[gasmeros]

May I haps ask about the solstice kidnapping zuko AND the zuko jumping one? That smiley face makes me so nervous

ok so the solstice kidnapping one is basically all plotting with a few lines of actual prose that are totally unrelated, so uh. don't actually really have a snippet to share there hhhhhhhh. but basically, there was this post ages ago that got popular, got a lot of fanfic spin offs actually. i just wanted to do my own take on it. the post is here

to sum up, during the winter solstice episode (the one where the gaang fly into the fire nation to go talk to roku for the first time), zhao locks the water siblings up with zuko instead of chaining them to pillars, and they end up talking, and the sibs learn about how zuko got his scar, and thus the gaang basically adopts zuko.

so it's like. imagine that but with my style dialogue and extra whump cuz im me. here's a bit from my plotting:

commence operation learn more about zuko through various kidnappings. from here on, the formula is zuko chases aang, aang kidnaps zuko :) zuko fucking hates this. each kidnapping reveals a bit more information about zuko's circumstances, and last a lil bit longer than the last. at some point the gaang officially decides that zuko is really just a proxy for their real enemy (the fire lord), and they're gonna try their damnedest to sway zuko out of his mindset, or at the very least not cause any harm to him while they defend themselves. zuko's fuckin confused cuz why are they refusing to fight?? to the point where he gives them opportunities to hit him back in combat just to verify that they're actively choosing only defense. that pisses them off cuz what if they weren't doing that? dude??

i actually have two variants branching off this prompt, the other is technically better plotted? that one's the s1 soltice to boat au. basically the same start, but then the gaang starts camping out on zuko's boat with immunity due to a technicality in a promise zuko made to them. here's some of that plotting cuz i feel bad not having actual writing to share with either of them ahdmhsjg

so we get Bison Time, wherein zuko's still not a fan of anything that's happening, but compared to how he was acting with zhao, he's downright pleasant. which is not to say that he's actually pleasant, he is very much being an angry brat who's like one second away from trying to fight them while still on the bison. the siblings have a lot of questions, because what zhao said about banishment and two years searching and public executions was fucking wack and they need to know why he said that, why zuko fought so hard that he thought burning his mouth as bad as he did was an acceptable trade off. they know why, but they need to hear it.

zuko does not let them hear it. he yells and doesn't answer any questions and demands they put him down or else. bits about the mouth burns obviously bothering him, just cuz im me and im predictable

they end up going to drop him off at his ship cuz his crew wont attack without a command, and zuko's not so dumb to make them attack the bison he's on. they end up making him swear to not do anything until after they fly away

Eventually theyre able to land on zuko's ship without risk of zuko being arrested. zuko keeps his word and doesn't let anyone attack until after they leave, and THEN. aang is a smartass and takes advantage of that by just. not flying away :) so zuko can't do anything, cuz then he'd break his word!! that's pretty fuckin dishonorable!! zuko would like to murder aang.

so yyeah. sorry for the dud ask there.

PART 2!!!! zuko jumping :) is about a suicide attempt :))) sorry agsjshf. basically zuko goes to offer his help to the gaang in s3, they reject him, and he just. has nothing left to do with his life?? like he can't go *back,* and he can't do what he set out to do, so.

viewer discretion advised for this snippet, obviously. like the snippet isn't that part, but still, the context might be enough to want to avoid.

Katara's gaze is worried, and she's always been too good at reading him. "Aang? What's wrong?"

He knows he shouldn't say anything, that Zuko's hardly comfortable letting Aang see his suffering, let alone the rest of his "maybe, sort of, don't want to be but am" enemies. Not when they're the reason he—

Aang starts bawling.

i have no idea if i intend to finish this one. it's just not something im sure i know how to handle appropriately.

[shimmerbeasts]

I'm gonna break this ask in two, so it won't get too long From here

someone they fear (For Silco)

someone they would like to befriend (For Jinx)

My muse talks about...||Accepting.

Silco lowered the cigar, he had been dragging on. Exhaling a plumage of smoke and watching it drift towards the large green glass window where it got caught up in the frame's circles and barrier, he looked back at L with a smile, born from chagrin, as he said:

"I find the word fear a very difficult term, especially when it is applied towards people. By saying I fear someone, I am indirectly giving them power over me. I have never been one to fear other people. Was I traumatised by a lot of them and does this create a panic within me when I think of the respective person? Yes, but for me, that is not the same as fear. I believe being weary of someone and having a healthy amount of caution is always useful, but again, it is not the same as fear. Still, it is how you stay in power by being able to read the threats, surrounding you, and not letting an overabundance of fear blind your common judgement."

"The only person on the council of Piltover, whom I fear on a strategic level is Mel Merdarda", Silco spoke and gestured with his cigar towards the council building looming in the far distance, "From all the rich and complacent pigs, which run the City of Progress, Mel is the only one worthy of my attention. She is the daughter of a warmongering nation and the last thing you do, is underestimate a warmongering nation. Mel was raised and bred for war. She knows more about its craft than all the Enforcers combined. She is the only one, who could pose a serious problem for the Cause. Not Talis, even though, he loves throwing his weight around. It is the quiet, intelligent people in the background, you have to watch out for, for they have control over the surface of the water without disrupting it like splashing buffoons."

My muse talks about...||Accepting.

One screw turn, two screw turns...

Jinx stored the screwdriver away and tapped against the little mechanical spider, she had built. Its legs wiggled around and as Jinx turned it on its right side, the small toy began to scamper around. It was still far away from being a useful portable bomb, but it could already move, so that was a start. Jinx's sapphire-blue eyes locked onto the end of the legs. She had modelled the tiny claws after the sharp talons on Sevika's arm. The Loose Canon crossed her arms in thought and huffed, blowing her bangs away from her face.

"Cannot believe I am saying that", Jinx finally confessed towards L, "But Sevika. I wouldn't really call it befriending, just maybe being on somewhat better terms with her. While she reminds me of Mylo on the worst days, she still kind of.... raised me is maybe the wrong word here. I also wouldn't say that she took me under her wing because that would imply that Sevika volunteered to do that." She snorted a giggle and twirled her bangs around long, fine fingers. "She trained me on Silco's behalf. I could tell she wasn't very happy about doing this at first, but she did it nonetheless. And she made sure, I got every lesson she taught me before we moved on to something new.

"And even when I just started learning about gang culture and helping the Cause, Sevika always made sure I didn't fall too far behind." Jinx brushed a strand of blue hair behind her ear. "She reminds me of Vi in that case, which is super weird. But it's true. Despite clearly having problems with me, Sevika still treated me as a part of the gang. She may have viewed me as dead weight, but she never treated me as such around the others."

Jinx flexed her fingers and hugged her knees. She huffed against her trouser leg. "I think that is why a part of me wishes we had a better relationship. As complicated as it all is and as much as I see Mylo and Vi all at once in the brutish bear, she was still there for me. Maybe in a vastly different way than Silco, but she was still there. And I didn't really do much to get on her good sight. I admit, riling her up will never not be fun, but it does not change the fact that I caused some problems for us."

[chriscdcase95]

Unwritten fic update: ATLA + Godzilla: “The Ancient World”

So I've been looking over unwritten fanfic I shelved, and one I often revisit is called The Ancient World, which is the result of me wanting to do a crossover adapting Godzilla and other monsters into the world of ATLA and LOK.

I wrote an older post on The Ancient World back in December, but since then I often revisited the story. Even wrote a draft for the first chapter. The original post is here.

I also had Korra based sequel, Age of Rebirth, which evolved into a crossover with the Star Wars sequel trilogy. I wrote a post for it, but I'm giving it a rewrite since the original post was over 8000 words.

It's not even the only Godzilla crossover I had in mind; I wrote ideas down for one with The 100, and another for Game of Thrones. Both of which The Ancient World took cues from.

Anyways, since I've been doing some revising and revisiting of The Ancient World, I thought I'd give it a follow up post based on these revisions. Much of the story and character arcs remain the same, but here it's expanded by more worldbuilding, character arcs, and a few OC's I had in mind.

----

Summary: Taking place a few years after Avatar The Last Airbender. The United Republic began international mining operations in the Earth Kingdom and Water Tribes, as society progresses with early technological advancements. When they dug too deep, they uncovered the remains of an ancient civilization lost to time, and regarded as myth. When dug deeper, they awaken Titans - beasts of these myths, that brought “The Ancient World” to an end, and may do the same to the current one.

One such the Titan known as “Godzilla” decimates the Water Tribes and makes his way to and through the Fire Nation and Earth Kingdoms. Another is a weakened and wounded dragon fleeing the wrath of Godzilla. Quickly showing its own spiritual power, communicating with humanity, introducing itself as Ghidorah, a claiming to be "guardian" sent to protect the world from Godzilla. Too weak to do much of anything (save for destroying a vast cabbage field), Ghidorah is seen as harmless by the general populations, who rally behind him as the only one who can stop Godzilla.

The leaders of the Water, Fire and Earth Kingdoms elect to throw their armies to face Godzilla until such a time Ghidorah’s power is restored. While Aang, his Team  and a small band of Kyoshi warriors, seek out the secrets of these monsters and try to find the way to put a stop to them with as little bloodshed as possible, Zuko is pushed by the other leaders, prioritizing the threat of Godzilla and a militant approach to deal with them. During an initial encounter with Azula and her followers out at sea, Godzilla attacks the expedition, getting them stranded on "The Uncharted Lands".

Between Ghidorah’s growing power, and the hero’s isolation, people on both sides find themselves going down the rabbit hole, learning of the Ancient World, and the monsters that brought it to an end in a bid to save their current one.

----

First off, let’s get this story’s main ships out of the way; Kataang, Maiko and Tyzula.

Out of the Godzilla timelines, it's mainly based off the Monsterverse, but there's nods to other and continuities.

1. "What is the Ancient World and what is the lore behind it ?"

If you haven’t guessed by the title, the twist would have been the titular “Ancient World” was our Earth. That and the recovery and reverse engineering of old technology explains the advancements seen in Legend of Korra. The “Ancient World” fell to an apocalyptic event known as “The Final Wars”, which would would have occurred a century or two before Wan’s time as civilization collapsed, and excessive radiation and mutation caused the animal hybrids.

The ATLA world would be revealed as the result of ten thousand years of rapid climate and geographic change, with the age of science giving way to the age of mysticism; some Titans show a supernatural and spiritual aspect to them, such as Mothra and Ghidorah. The Lion Turtles would be an example of such Titans. Mothra for example, would have the ability to enhance one's power.

What is currently known as “The Water Tribes” was once Alaska, and Northern Canada. “The Fire Nation”, was once Eastern Asia and Eastern Europe. “The Earth Kingdom”, was once South Asia.

The "Uncharted Lands" refer to any country/continent/region unexplored on ATLA/LOK’s map.  For example, the lands explored in this story were once the province of Ontario and New York state.

The Water Tribes were once Alaska, Greenland, and the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Yukon, Nunavut, and the North-West Territories. 

The Fire Kingdom was once Japan, Korea, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, North China, Far East Russia, South and Central Russia, and the Ukraine.

The Earth Kingdoms consist of India, Afghanistan, Iran, and Pakistan, South China, Tibet, Nepal, Thailand, and Vietnam.

As people and civilizations of these lands ? Think the Grounder's from The 100, or the tribes in Horizon Zero Dawn, and you’ll know what I'm going for. This is something carried over from Welcome to The New Age, when I wanted to crossover with The 100. They have a Clan system similar to The 100, and one of the OC's is called "The Commander", who is Lexa in all but name.

Despite mysticism and spirituality seeping back into the world after "The Final Wars",  these people live more mundane and down to Earth lives. Bending isn't prominent among these people. They know of Bending, but they generally lack it themselves, usually reacting with curiosity and wonder when they see it.

While the Ancient World’s are more obscure "myths" to the Three Known Nations, they're a lot less murky to the Uncharted Lands and their people; in fact they still find bits and pieces of "old world technology", which they try to recreate. As such, they have more knowledge of the Ancient World, and a more objective version of the Final Wars in their mythology. To the Three Nations, "Final Wars" myths vary; to the Uncharted Lands, there are a few variations but the constant was Godzilla was usually the "hero", while Ghidorah was always the villain.

As for this stories OC’s ? There's the Commander (again, a Lexa expy), though she isn't that prominent or involved. When her people first uncover Aang and Azula's parties, she has them brought before her to explain themselves. Discovering their Bending, she offers both parties places to stay as guests; not of her "palace" of course, but at a massive ranch that serves as her "palace's" main food providers.

The ranch itself is owned by a powerful family, that all but runs a community of servants. There's really not much to go about with them; narratively, they have no purpose except for giving the protags a place to stay, as well as an exploration of their culture. Though Aang and co (including Azula’s party) do sometimes end up doing a few chores for them during their stay, which includes helping taking care of a servant's baby, while said baby's mother is sick.

The only “major” OC would be Shirio, a minor Fire Nation noble, and foil to Kei Lo from Smoke and Shadow, but we’ll cover him in character arcs. 

2. Monster and Human interactions

Another thing I came up with was “Channeling”, in which a person (usually a bender) can soul-bond with a Titan through meditation.  A Titan can be telepathically/empathetically linked to a human, some verbally communicating through them. This is something taken from Toho, with the Heisei character Miki Saegusa having a psychic link to Godzilla; and the alien possession from Ghidorah: The Three Headed Monster.

For example, Katara accidentally “Channels” Godzilla at a few points, starting when she and Aang meditate together. It is through this, the protagonists get more of an understanding of Godzilla, vice versa as he interacts with them through Katara. It's shown that Godzilla has a marginal understanding of human emotion, but human culture and etiquette are so beneath him, they leave him utterly baffled. His attempts to comprehend customs - be it dancing at a wedding ceremony, or sitting down to have some tea - are often Played For Laughs.

Katara and Godzilla's "bond" is partially based off of Miki Saegusa. At first you'd think that there'd be a "Brooding Boy/Monster Bonds with a Gentle Girl" but no; Godzilla is surprised (and amused) to see that, caring as she is, Katara will choke a bitch. Between the two, Aang's the more "gentle".

But strong enough Titans don’t need consent to “bond” others. For example, Ghidorah, nearly crippled for two thirds of the story, relies on “channeling” to beg for human assistance. He can’t do much of anything beyond destroying a cabbage field where he goes to rest. Ghidorah has enough understanding of human emotions, relationships, and how they follow leaders, that he seeks out one who he can speak through. Ghidorah's first attempt was to “bond” with Zuko, but fails to make a link. 

His second option was to forcibly bond with the more “vulnerable” Mai speaking through her to manipulate Zuko, and turn the masses against Godzilla, propping himself up as a “Guardian Monster”. Ghidorah claims that other “Guardians” are asleep but will answer to his call. The Guardian Monsters is something taken from GMK (where Ghidorah was the hero). The story Ghidorah tells through Mai is pretty much a recap GMK, even having Ember Island host a stage play of it as “Pro Ghidorah” propaganda.

3. Other Monsters

Revisiting the story, I decided that I  more monsters to fatten the story up. It’s “Godzilla vs Ghidorah” story, but they fight once at the beginning and again at the end, with not much in between. Sure, Godzilla fighting benders could add variety to the “Godzilla vs the Army”, but I’m not sure that’s enough.

Some monsters I considered include Zilla, Desotroyah, Biollante, and even Gigan, but I wanted to use them in other stories and don’t like having to use the same monsters over and over.

Mothra’s also included. For two thirds of the story, Mothra would be in a chrysalis state, having made a home in the Fire Nation. Ghidorah would constantly feed off Mothra’s power to slowly rebuild his strength, essentially torturing her throughout. All while that Mothra is another “Guardian Monster” and who doesn’t mind being fed on.

Mothra tries to “Channel” with Benders, warning them of the truth, but the only one she reaches is Azula. Towards the third act, Azula speaks for Mothra to the Three Nations...but because she’s Azula, they don’t believe her (even with Aang, Katara and Ty Lee advocating for her) - in fact, they end up attacking Mothra when she emerges, with Ghidorah declaring her "tainted" by Azula.

For another monster, I ultimately went with Bagan.

For those who don't know, Bagan was infamous for numerous planned but scrapped appearances in the Heisei era. Toho had different ideas for what Bagan would be, but the “canon” origin they went with was a “demonic dragon god” from Ancient China. This origin for Bagan would be included here. Despite/because of Bagan's obscurity and constantly being scrapped, Godzilla fans tend to overhype Bagan as this ultimate Godzilla villain. To avoid that, Bagan here is a mid-story boss.

Bagan is awakened by the Three Nations, believing him to be a “Guardian Monster” who’d help against Godzilla...only to backfire because, y'know; Demon Dragon God. Bagan lays waste to the Water Tribes and a city in the Uncharted Lands, before facing Godzilla in Ba Sing Se. 

Godzilla is injured and exhausted from the fight, but with the help of Aang and co, Bagan is forced to flee...before having his power and life drained by an opportunistic Ghidorah, who lifts Godzilla into the air before dropping him into Boiling Rocks lake, before going on to lay waste to the Three Nations, with nothing but a weakened Mothra to fight him. 

This prompts a new expedition to revive Godzilla.

4. Ships and Character Arcs

First up is Kataang.

Aang's arc isn't that deep; when he learns of the Ancient World, he briefly angsts about the Air Nomads and his current world being forgotten like the Ancient World. But a lot of that existential stuff takes a back seat to the threat of the Titans and the discovery of Uncharted Lands. Though it still lingers as Aang watches society shift around him. By the end, he comes to terms that even if he does revive the Air Nomads, it'll likely be in a different form.

Aang is also the first one who tries to understand the Titans as opposed to attacking them blindly. While Katara accidentally channels Godzilla, Anng and co eventually manage to verbally communicate with him (albeit through Katara's mouth). Katara is more angry at Godzilla, since he did wreck her village upon making landfall, though she cools down when it dawns on her that most of the destruction Godzilla causes is accidental.

Then we get Godzilla's perspective; he's lost faith in humanity sometime after the Final Wars. He has sensed genocide, war and environmental damage for the past ten thousand years; last time he awoke (Kyoshi's era), he saved the world from another monster, and humanities armies attacked him while he was exhausted, nearly killing him. 

Aang and Katara take it upon themselves to show Godzilla that humanity is still worth caring about, letting Godzilla look through Katara's eyes as they interact with the world and culture around them.

As for Maiko’s arc.

Zuko is put into the role of Hero Antagonist as the Fire Nation throws their army against the threat of Godzilla. Zuko was who Ghidorah first had in mind to “bond” with, but found his mind too “stubborn and resilient”; Mai was considerably easier, although even she slowly severs the bond. Initially, Ghidorah uses Mai's position as Zuko's significant other, and the daughter of a governor to speak to the Fire Nation and sell his claims as a “Guardian Monster”.

To keep Mai in line, Ghidorah threatens to kill Tom Tom using her own hands. After a while, Ghidorah begins underestimating Mai as she begins putting up more resistance to their “link”, eventually overcoming Ghidroah's influence; Mai doesn’t letting herself be intimidated by him, and successfully resists his puppeteering attempts.

With Zuko's help, she severs Ghidorah's link and they plan on revealing the truth. Unfortunately, Ghidorah notices Kiyi is strong for her age, but has a “weaker, vulnerable mind”; forcibly bonding with her, threatening to self harm her to keep Zuko in check, and force him to set the Fire Nations armies against Godzilla, and threatens to have Kiyi kill Ursa to make sure Kiyi plays ball (in some revisions, he makes good on that threat). 

Great guy, that Ghidorah!

And now for Azula, who I consider the stories secondary protagonist. Yes, The Ancient World would be an Azula Redemption fic.

Picking up after Smoke and Shadow, Azula is still trying to influence Zuko and his rule, getting her hands dirty when Zuko’s are tied, following Aang’s expedition behind Zuko’s back. Ty Lee is among the Kyoshi Warriors joining the expedition. Azula figures she can play the expedition to her advantage (“For Zuko’s benefit of course. What would he do without me ?”) when the miners uncovered WMDs, which were to be put on the same ships Aang and co are using “for safe keeping”. 

Azula’s initial plan was to use these weapons to manufacture something to deal with the Titans (“And if anyone should have this power, it’d be the Fire Nation. Zuzu will thank me later.”) However, Godzilla attacks Aang’s expedition, leaving them - Azula and her crew included - on the Uncharted Lands. 

At the start of her arc, Azula herself isn't seeking redemption. She’s still trying to “guide” Zuko’s rule, and maintains a haughty front 70% of the time. But now that she's out of an environment, with none of Ozai’s lingering influences, the emotions Azula considered "weakness" start to surface.

Like Zuko, Azula would have a “bonding chapter/episode” with Team Avatar, and two with Ty Lee (three if you count Azula and Katara looking after her when Ty Lee has a fever). Azula wouldn’t have the same humility as Zuko and very reluctant to show her vulnerability to others. Whenever she shows compassion or altruism (notably, saving a baby from choking) she's quick to downplay it. It isn’t until Azula accidentally “bonds” with Mothra that she airs out her baggage to the others. Even then, she puts up a haughty front afterwards.

For much of the story, the cast has mixed feelings with Azula being among them. Aang is the most optimistic of them, being one who tries to see the best in everyone. Katara and Ty Lee are cautious about Azula, but warm up to her as her arc goes on. Then you got this asshole, Ty Lee's “boyfriend” Shirio (the fics only major OC) who takes “Azula is crazy and needs to be taken down” as gospel. Shirio has a hate boner for Azula, and soon makes it everyone’s problem.

While this is a Tyzula story, we don't go for “Caretaker Ty Lee”. In fact, Ty Lee’s arc is about being assertive.

Ty Lee doesn't immediately forgive Azula, nor does get relegated to Azula's support system. In fact, I'd say Aang would have more to do with helping Azula. Ty Lee has these mixed feelings, always second guessing herself whether she is just afraid of Azula or has buried romantic feelings for her. In fact, during the botched hijacking, Ty Lee is the one who fights Azula head on.

At first Ty Lee reconnects with a childhood friend of hers, Shirio, a minor Fire Nation noble trying to insert himself into Zuko’s circle. Shirio has a Nice Guy/White Knight complex, trying to be the “healthy/wholesome” savior to an “infantile/naïve” Ty Lee. Shirio also joins Aang’s expedition because Ty Lee’s on the trip.

Ty Lee spends much of the first half telling off Azula and standing up to herself, but bit by bit her resolve falters, and her more romantic feelings start to boil over. While Ty Lee herself isn't that instrumental to Azula's reformation, their relationship is used to juxtapose it. The more Azula heals and betters herself, the more she and Ty Lee start to reconnect, and it’s only when the walls break down does Ty Lee let her own walls break too. 

By contrast, Shirio shows a more toxic side to Ty Lee (and everyone else). 

Shirio's corruption arc is juxtaposed with Azula's redemption. At first Shirio seems like an enthusiastic friend looking to help the protagonists, but has a few red flags. Sure, he uses gaslighting tactics whenever Ty Lee second guesses herself. Sure, he self harms when things aren’t going his way. And when initially stranded, Shirio keeps an injured Ty Lee in an isolated camp, claiming everyone else was killed, to be “alone” with her, and feigns surprise/relief when they’re found. But y’know, he’s such a Nice Guy!

Anyways, the more Azula opens up, (re)connects with others and heals herself ? Shirio becomes more bitter, vindictive and unhinged, showing himself as the unstable monster he sees Azula as. He even silently considers smothering a baby because Azula “tainted” it by saving it from choking; he only doesn’t go through with it because he couldn’t get away with it. Later, Shirio helps awaken Bagan, deliberately provoking Bagan’s attack on two cities, getting hundreds of thousands of people killed; all because Ty Lee told him off and shared a dance with Azula at this ceremony they attend.

Azula’s first redemption moment (besides saving a baby) comes when she gets her hands on the WMD’s, but rather than manufacturing something that can kill the Titans, she instead uses it to power Godzilla, when he is left near dead by Ghidorah. The second is during the final battle with Ghidorah, where Azula pulls Kiyi from a river after Ghidorah has her throw herself in. Azula ends up resuscitating the unconscious Kiyi, and the first thing Kiyi does when she sees Azula is give her a hug.

At the end of her arc, Azula is in a much better place than we saw her before; she is even given a position of power in Republic City; I see post-redemption Azula as being “Reformed But Not Tamed Type”, putting her ruthlessness into being a businesswoman. 

In a Korra era sequel, it’d be revealed Azula had a hand in the United Republics industrial development, investing in different industries. Specifically, she helped a young Hiroshi Sato develop Future Industries, and Hiroshi becomes very close to Azula and Ty Lee's daughter.

Yes, I’m implying what you think I’m implying

4. Other Stuff

So Azula's not a human antagonist, then who fills that spot ? Technically the United Republic, with the Three Nations bringing their armies together to stop Godzilla; Zuko leading and representing the Fire Nation, Hakoda for the Water Tribe, Kuei for the Earth Kingdom. I say “Antagonist” and not “Villain”; they're only antagonists because they're in opposition to the protagonists.  

There’s no ill will with the protagonists. You see where they're coming from, and even if they're being manipulated and misguided by an Eldritch Dragon, they are uniting to stop what they see as a tangible threat to their people. And they do realize what they're doing was wrong and spend the third act trying to make things right.

Buuuuuut for a less nuanced Hate Sink ? Shirio’s your guy! Though he spends the last third of the story imprisoned after setting off Bagan’s rampage.

The third act plays out similarly to King of the Monsters, with a revived Godzilla battling an enhanced Ghidorah in the Fire Nations Imperial City. Godzilla would be backed up by the three armies, as well as Team Avatar and Azula. Ghidorah would eventually get overwhelmed and try to flee, but through Aang and Katara's water and air bending - enhanced by Mothra - Ghidorah's frozen solid mid air and explodes into a cloud of snow by Godzilla atomic breath. 

Mothra would survive this fight, but would sense something “off world” and fly off to investigate. Godzilla leaves peacefully after staring down the survivors, and the Three Nations have to rebuild their societies. And Azula's in a much better place with her family, Mai, and especially Ty Lee.

Beyond that, there's really not much else to cover. 

I remember writing this one sequence down that I really liked; it had Aang and his team (and Azula and hers) exploring the Uncharted Land's culture, and end up invited to a wedding. It was the “breather” episode of the story, with Aang sharing a dance with Katara, and Ty Lee sharing a dance with Azula.

In this sequence, we learn that this society has recreated/preserved songs from the Ancient World though various methods (mostly oral tradition). This is low key an excuse for IRL songs to exist in this story and it’s Korra era sequel. 

I call it the “How Do I Live ?” sequence.

[catwouthats]

Why Mike Wheeler jumping off the cliff was a suicide attempt.

Because I feel it it’s talked about in depth enough.

Depression is a range. Some people don't know their emotions. Don't think they are depressed (usually kids since they don’t usually know what depressed is. They don’t have the exact words for it). But they can still self harm through actions and idolizing their own death.

There are many different levels of depression and terms, which I might mention another time but for this one you only have to know one term

suicidal ideation:

“a broad term used to describe a range of contemplations, wishes, and preoccupations with death and suicide.” -National Library of Medicine (Suicidal Ideation)

So the cliff scene (season 1 chapter 6, The Monster).

In this scene Troy threatens to cut out Dustin’s teeth of Mike doesn’t jump. And as Hopper said earlier in the show, a jump from that height -even if there is water below- would kill you. Any mentally stable person would NOT die, they would FIGHT or GO GET HELP until their friend is safe. Jumping off that cliff was running away, he was leaving Dustin with his aggressor. It WAS NEVER A GOOD IDEA. It was an excuse to die. He would get away with dying as a hero to his friends and that was enough for him. He would be gone and they wouldn't blame themselves he thinks.

And as for the hesitation Mike has and the sighs. Notice how timed it is. He is using Troy’s count-down-bluff to prepare himself for what his about to do. He literally jumps on/after 1. Suicide is usually an anxiety inducing event for people trying as there is a lot of uncertainty, so they help themselves through the anxiety. Talking, deep breathes.. counting.

“Counting can relax you because it gives you something to focus on besides your anxiety” -Healthline (Anxiety Exercises to Help You Relax)

so he walks off the cliff casually. He doesn’t try to prepare himself for the water, doesn’t hold his breath, doesn’t try to pencil dive to lessen the harm. He probably thought he was going to heaven when he was being lifted up by El at first. “Did I die already?” But being thrown back on the ground shook him. Probably enough to help him realize how much everything (his parents, Will’s fake death, the bullying, etc.) has gotten to him.

Symbolism to note:

The episode is called The Monster. This is probably not just because the demogorgan almost got Nancy, but also because El and Mike feel like Monsters in society (which is brought to the front in this episode).

When Mike is brought back up, he is hanging upside down. This show’s it is just as serious as the supernatural dangers they face. He is in just as much danger as Will in that moment.

These scenes start at the same time so I synced them up (around 39:22) and I think we can drawn symbolism from it for more of an explanation about the cliff moment:

In The Body, Will’s friend’s and his mom are trying to reach out to him. In The Monster Mike’s friends reach out to him and although his mom isn’t there, we know he mom is very supportive of him and trying to help him get through this low. She lets him stay home from school and has talks with him. Although they technically did save Mike in The Monster, he is only just alive. He is still depressed just as Will was still stuck in the upside down in The Body. But they both have something greater than hope, they have people who love them and are willing to fight for them. *************************************************(This also could possibly imply that Wills was at the cliff in the upside down and trying to reach out to Mike in his own “why can’t he hear me” moment. Because as we see in season 4, you can hear whispers of the regular world in the upside down. But they can’t hear you unless you or someone else can manipulate technology that can make noise like a radio.)

That is all for now, but I will probably make more posts talking about the progression of Mike’s depression and possible causes.

[julietwiskey1]

I posted 2,097 times in 2022

That's 1,855 more posts than 2021!

182 posts created (9%)

1,915 posts reblogged (91%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@akiizayoi4869

@balsa-margarita

@prodogg

@zuko-always-lies

@frellingstarburst

I tagged 1,164 of my posts in 2022

Only 44% of my posts had no tags

#azula - 695 posts

#fanart - 284 posts

#zuko - 194 posts

#ursa - 167 posts

#ty lee - 74 posts

#mai - 59 posts

#iroh - 53 posts

#wiskey answers - 46 posts

#if you havent noticed i like ursa and azula having a good relationship - 40 posts

#ozai - 36 posts

Longest Tag: 137 characters

#if he goes and does it we are days from watching the former anti-war and anti-nuclear crowd openly championing the use of nuclear weapons

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

I think there is an important question thus far over looked in the discussion of cat!Azula. And that if whether or not she’s a good mouser. Does she keep the ship pest free, or would she rather steal food off of a sailors plate?

119 notes - Posted April 19, 2022

#4

Why did Aang never try to learn water healing? It seems like that would have been a very important redundancy for the team. He wouldn’t even need to be that good if you are worried about him taking away from Katara’s speciality. But just a second person around who could heal would be nice, especially if it ever happened that Katara was the one to get hurt and needed healing.

146 notes - Posted February 21, 2022

#3

Could Zuko have fought Azula with flame dagger in their first encounter because he thought he would win that way? Or maybe even have a history of beating Azula in that manner.

After all the last time Zuko saw his sister was three years before than when she would have been 11 and him 13. He would have likely trained and spared with her before his banishment. Azula has always been a superior bender to Zuko though.

But flame daggers is much more like sword fighting then firebending. And we have no indication that Azula ever trained a lot in that form. Also Azula was a lot smaller when she was 11. Zuko likely had enough of a size and strength advantage on her to win a fight in that manner before he was banished. So when they were kids Zuko learned that he could beat Azula in a fight if he got in close and overpowered her.

So Zuko was unlikely being completely brash in that fight and actually fought in a way that proved successful in the past. The issue is he did not account for Azula growing up and becoming stronger and more experienced.

182 notes - Posted April 27, 2022

#2

In my own story I want to write Ursa as a firebender. But I think an interesting way to keep her different from her children is to have her specialized in Fire Dancing and not the combative forms that Zuko and Azula learned.

I think there is also the fun possibility of an arc focusing on Ursa teaching Azula to reconnect to what she loves about bending through a dance. While Azula teaches Ursa to defend herself by teaching her combat forms.

219 notes - Posted April 21, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Azula, I believe, is best written as a heroic villain. She has the qualities and attributes of a hero but the ideology of a villain. A true believer in the Fire Nation cause. Which can make her a hard character to redeem.

Azula has several noteworthy characteristics. She is loyal first and foremost to her nation. Putting herself at great risk for its profit, think of her powerless defending her father on the Day of Black Sun. She also thinks of the group before herself. It has been noted that when she talks of what she is doing it is in the vain of what is best for the Fire Nation.

She is also a hard worker. Tirelessly perfecting her bending if it is anything less then perfect. She is intelligent, thinking of new and innovative ways to tackle a problem. All are often characteristics we associate with good or heroic characters.

While she is undeniably mean to her friends and brother it is not in such an uncommon manor. And let’s face it. She’s a teenager. People do kind of suck around that age. And an asshole is not an uncommon character flaw for a hero to receive.

Yet it can’t be denied that she is in fact a villain. She believes in the good of what the Fire Nation is doing. A child soldier who sought out and eliminated what she believed was the greatest threat to her nation. An imperialist who captured Ba Sing Se for the glory of her nation. Stomping out what little freedom from the Fire Nation was left. All clearly actions of a villain.

And that is where redeeming her can get difficult. She believes all of those actions she did were heroic. The people in her life praised her for it and celebrated her achievements. Letting her know that those things were truly good and heroic achievements. So for her to get redeemed she needs to learn that it was wrong and bad of her to do those things.

It will take time for her to see that she was wrong. And for her to learn that it would take gentle guidance and prodding. Someone who is willing to work with her to show her the truth. Break her away from all of the bad things she has been taught from birth.

256 notes - Posted September 14, 2022

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