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ikemenomegas · 1 year

Note

do you have any favorite headcanons for omega kakashi? love your blog -3-

Cooking Kakashi (insert cooking mama ver kakashi icon... which is a game I would play the hell out of. I want him to like me so bad...)

I love that Kakashi can canonically cook very well and that he likes cooking for his loved ones. Even though the first of those people are no longer here, it brings him a lot of peace to cook for his Alpha.

He likes that he made something with his own two hands that contributes to the joy and health of his loved ones. It’s also an act of living that makes him feel more human and cooking tasty food for himself was one of the things he used to ground himself during his worst moments or when he was alone after missions (a good weapon needs to be able to at least function -> (eventually) I am a person and it's okay to enjoy things because I deserve it).

He was not originally much of an experimenter, but he learned enough about the basics that he was able to start improving upon recipes. His recipes are full of annotations because even though he's got a stellar memory, he's old enough he knows there's only so much space up there. However, half of these notes only make sense to himself. Good luck trying to replicate those dishes...

He's not much of a "collector", anti-clutter Kakashi

So his preferred method of receiving affection is not gift giving.

However, Cooking Kakashi™️ might accept a few things. Recipe books are a little hard because Kakashi has to be interested in more than just two or three things in the book. He typically prefers to decide on these himself. He likes to work through everything in the book and pick out his favorites. If you tell him you want to buy it for him though, he'll let you. A bookshop date, anyone?

The one thing he does love is the cooking supplies you buy him. High quality ceramics, one of a kind glassware, accent-like cups or bowls. If you're careful about only buying a piece here and a piece there, it doesn't build up clutter, and it becomes a nice special occasion kind of gift. Hot pot is not his most favorite meal ever but he loves the donabe you got him.

He also doesn't have a lot of spare nesting materials, but if you can talk him into letting you take him to a nesting supply shop, he'll usually buy something (because he thinks you think he needs more soft things, which makes him feel cared for but can also get overwhelming on occasion).

Overall though, quality time and some physical touch are his preferred ways of receiving affection.

Cat person who has dogs Kakashi

Kakashi shows up whenever he wants or perfectly on time, prefers only certain people and usually small gatherings or being alone (although being alone with his Person doesn't really count as company), has a lot of very, let's call them specific, habits, is incredibly particular about certain things... and is also something of a prankster.

In a way it's very funny because he's the pack leader of his ninken.

Very respectful but incredibly kinky Kakashi.

Consent is sexy and Kakashi is the sexiest because he's the kind of person who won't act without permission. He's also the kind of person who's almost too shy to even think of his Alpha in an explicit way. This isn't a purity thing. It's just a him being shy and feeling undeserving thing. Have to be careful because he's the kind of sub to say "you can do anything to me, I don't mind" and mean it, and part of a long term relationship with Kakashi is teaching him about his own boundaries.

I'm a big fan "yes he does wear that many layers" Kakashi

Part of it is a feeling of security. But it makes me wonder if he just tends to run cold for some reason. Bundle him up in blankets and feed him soup.

The hospital is very grateful for Kakashi's mate. He tends to run away less if his mate is allowed to either stay with him while he recovering and there's a few times where he's been very happy to get discharged home earlier because Tsunade knows someone responsible and capable of getting Kakashi to sit still while he's getting better.

Lazy Kakashi

Kakashi doesn't hate being a ninja. I get the sense that he thinks ninja are necessary in the world, and he's seen both the good and bad that shinobi missions can do. He doesn't hate it, but he's tired of it.

There's a difference between working hard because you have to and because you want to. I'm a huge fan of lazy Kakashi, no work Kakashi! he doesn't want to go on tiring missions anymore and he certainly didn't love being hokage! don't make him! Let him stay at home every day and do whatever he wants to do, let him spend all day in bed with you and a book and his puppies if he wants!

That said, he's been a shinobi so long, he would miss the athleticism if he ever had to leave, he likes being skilled. That's why he goes back to doing non-combat and teaching jobs after retiring. But he leaves plenty of space for well earned leisure time.

Hobby Husband Kakashi

He's used to having somewhat structured time, so sometimes he has trouble picking something to do on his day off. After the war, he also has to figure out how to fill additional hours since he doesn't stare at the memorial stone all the time.

He actually does like to just try new things. He's the type who naturally ends up pretty good at almost everything he tries though so there's not much he pursues more than one or two times. Once he settles in with his mate, he likes to do things with you. It's more fun and fulfilling than doing activities alone. His favorite hobby is reading though. Reading usually gives him an idea of what he might want to try next.

#from the notebook #oh look another thing I lost somehow and had to rewrite. rip me #i should go back to using a normal word processor instead of the drafts here #this is ask is from the first of february #truly the worst sorry #I needed a break from jjk content because it's making me feel very sad lately #finishing these was a perfect change!#hatake kakashi #omega!kakashi #naruto #omegaverse #alpha!reader #headcanons

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lizzie-bennetdarcy · 2 years

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Noah Reid: Fashion Icon

This is for the brilliant and insanely talented @mostlyinthemorning ❤️ Thank you, friend, for this incredible idea. I had so much fun making paper doll Noah! I plan to revisit as Dad Noah blesses us with more fashion icon looks.

I also want to add a blanket permission for those who wish to print these out for your own use. I just ask that you please reblog, and also tag me in pictures! I am currently without a printer so I would love to see what these look like cut out.

#noah reid #noah reid: fashion icon #this was a labor of love #but i am obsessed with how it turned out #paper doll noah #art requests #fan art

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seiya-starsniper · 20 days

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Intros, tags and writing masterpost

Hi there! I'm Seiya, aka starsniper! (she/her) This is my blog for assorted blorbo posting and writing, hope you enjoy your stay 😄 I'm updating this post for 2024, and it's a doozy so most of it will be under a cut! Most of the info is the same, so if you've been here a while, don't fret! If you're new, this post is a pretty good rundown of me and my blog.

Writing Stuff:

AO3 Account: starsniper. You can also read my fics on Google Docs!

I'm also on Discord! The Sadman is a multi-ship open server for the Sandman fandom and it's an amazing community! I've even got my own little author's corner there called Seiya's Sexy Scribbles. Come find me and say hello!

Taking Requests?: I am! Send me anything that crosses your mind, with fandom and ship please!

Transformative Works: Consider this blanket permission to create any type of transformative work based off what I've written! I only ask you let me know what you've created either using the "Inspired By" link on AO3 or tagging me on Tumblr, just because I love, love, love seeing that sort of thing.

Tag Library:

As my blog is multi-fandom, as well as multi-ship, I've made a tag library! The main purpose of this library is so that I can more easily find my tagged posts, but it is also for my followers, who may want to find those same posts, or want to blacklist certain tags and topics present on my blog. Feel free to copy my format if you so desire, it's pretty simple! The library is under the cut, and will be updated a lot in the coming weeks as I wrangle more of my blog into some sense of organization. While the library does not consist of every tag I've ever used (that would be too much!), it does contain what I consider the most important ones.

Lastly, some of the tags will have links, and some will not! Tumblr has a link limit of 100 links per post to control spam posts, so only the tags that are useful for me and others to use as a quick search function will be linked. Tags that are more useful for blacklist purposes will not be linked, however you can still search that tag by typing the below link into your browser: https://www.tumblr.com/seiya-starsniper/tagged/[tag name here]

General Tags:

#seiya talks (all my original posts and ramblings)

#seiya answers (answers out of my ask box! Also includes fic prompt requests)

#seiya gets tagged (for all the tag games!)

#icons by seiya (tumblr icons I've made)

#gifs by seiya (gifs I've made)

#ask game (posts with ask games I reblog. send me an ask on anything you'd like!)

#original art (non-fandom art)

General Fandom Tags:

Note: Some of these tags are more active than others, this list is mainly for my own indexing, and not indicative of how active I am in a certain fandom. A lot posts under these tags will consist of reblogs unless tagged with one of my personal tags.

#the sandman

#dungeon meshi

#dndhat (dungeons & dragons: honor among thieves)

#loki (general loki tag, use #loki tv for only the tv series)

#ofmd (our flag means death)

#bnha (sometimes #my hero academia)

#yugioh (sometimes #ygo)

#fullmetal alchemist (sometimes #fma)

#gossip girl

#blue eye samurai

#interview with the vampire (sometimes #iwtv)

#ao3 (posts about AO3, mostly memes, but may include discourse)

Current Projects/WIPs tags:

#set the night on fire wip

#omegaverse forced marriage wip

#morphienne hell invasion wip

#dreamling memory loss wip

#hobrinthian: hob gets the skull au

#dreamling omegaverse regency wip sequel

General Writing tags:

#writing prompt games (send me a writing prompt from these posts! no post is too old to pick from 😄)

#seiya writes (all of my writing, across all fandoms)

#seiya drabbles (short fics/ask requests, usually under 1.5k words)

#seiya's wip previews (for snippets and previews on what I'm working on)

#wip inspo (things that might turn into fics! feel free to bother me about any of the ones that interest you!)

Sandman Fandom specific writing tags:

#seiya writes dreamling (dream x hob)

#seiya writes corintheus (dream x corinthian)

#seiya writes hobrinthian (hob x corinthian)

#seiya writes corinthienne (corinthian x lucienne)

#seiya writes gaulcienne (gault x lucienne)

#seiya writes hellmuse (johanna x calliope)

#seiya writes dreamuse (dream x calliope)

#seiya writes morphienne (dream x lucienne)

#seiya writes constantdream (dream x johanna)

#seiya writes sandflower (dream x nuala)

Past Writing Events & Challenges I've written for:

Note: these are links to specific masterposts, as well as tagged posts

Seiya's Monsterfucktober Bingo Fills

Sandman Femslash Weekend

Dreamling Bingo Masterpost

Smut May (Smay) Drabble Masterpost (multi-ship)

Smut April (Smapril) Drabble Masterpost (multi-ship)

Smut March (Smurch) Drabble Masterpost (multi-ship)

Centennial Husbands Big Bang

Sandman Fandom Tags:

Note: Because of the sheer volume of dreamling content, I've broken content for the ship out into multiple tags. I've also kept dreamling content entirely out of the #sandman fanart tag as well due to having followers who do not ship dreamling. Other non-dreamling ships may be included in that tag as a result, though those posts will use the appropriate ship tag as well. The same goes for #sandman fic rec as a catch all for non-dreamling fanfic, as well as gen fic.

#sandman fanart

#sandman fic rec

#sandman comics spoilers (anything not covered in season 1 of the Netflix adaptation)

#sandman s2 spoilers (anything related to the filming of Season 2, and Season 2 content when it airs!)

Dreamling Tags:

#dreamling fic rec (dreamling stories I've read and loved!)

#dreamling headcanon (dreamling fanfic adjacent posts)

#dreamling fanart (fanart that I love!)

Other Sandman Ships Tags:

#hobrinthian (hob x corinthian)

#corintheus (dream x corinthian)

#hellmuse (johanna x calliope)

#gaulcienne (gault x lucienne)

#corinthienne (corinthian x lucienne)

#calliene (calliope x lucienne)

#morphienne (dream x lucienne)

#constantdream (dream x johanna)

Other Fandom Shipping Tags:

Note: Same deal as the general fandom tags, some of these are more active than others, and will mostly be reblogs moreso than original content. This section is entirely self-indulgent for me, but also gives others a good idea as to what I ship. I'm very ship and let ship these days, so please don't try to debate me on ships, I won't answer.

#00Q

#taimizu

#xedgin

#thorki

#lokius

#steelatom

#atomwave

Fandom Discourse Tags:

Note: I don't like to participate in discourse, please don't tag me in it. Any past discussions I've been involved in have been resolved between myself and the parties that matter to me. That said, I will occasionally reblog discussions others may prefer not to see, so the below tags are for your convenience. I have these tags linked for my own archiving purposes.

#sandman discourse

#sandman critique

#fandom racism

#fandom discourse

#fandom wank

#ao3 discourse

Content Warning, Squicks and Trigger Tags:

Note: Posts with these tags will include informational/educational posts as well, just to keep things neatly organized. Since this list will inevitably get longer, I will not link any of these tags, but please feel free to blacklist them. I will do my best to try to tag more sensitive topics and also go back and tag older posts but it may take a while! Please let me know if I missed anything.

#nsft (general explicit content tag, if you wanted to avoid all of it)

#bugs (happy to tag a more specific bug)

#spiders

#snakes/#snek

#omegaverse

#pregnancy/#pregnancy kink

#dubcon

#noncon

#infidelity

#age gap

#animal hybrid (all animal hybrids here: centaur, naga, merfolk, minotaur, etc)

#tentacle sex

#interspecies (i.e: human/alien, human/centaur, etc)

#monsterfucker/#monsterfucking (usually also covered by interspecies)

#teacher/student

#racism

#misogyny

#transphobia

Politics tags:

#us politics

#global politics

#palestine

#voting

As a reminder, this post is a live document and will be updated as I find time to do so or, if I think of new tags I want to track and add to this post. I am happy to add additional tags if you reach out to me via DM or via non-anonymous ask. While I do have anon asks on for other purposes, since tagging is a sensitive subject, I will NOT answer anon requests for tags on my blog. If you are concerned about sending an ask from your main blog vs side-blog, Tumblr does let you send DMs from a side-blog, and I'd be happy to talk to you from there. Thanks for understanding!

#seiya talks #new pinned post!#tag masterpost #writing masterpost #some of these tags are new/reworked tags! please be patient as I reorganize my entire blog lmao

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shootingstarpilot · 1 year

Note

WHERE is the art for Shoulder The Sky? I went through as many tags as I could think of and then my browser crashed and I’m not starting over. I can’t find it and I MUST😭😭😭

also I love the series okay bye

Oh, you are lovely, thank you!

The three pieces of art (god, I am a lucky bastard) can be found on AO3, and I'll link them below- send them some love!

@codeblue2 did a lovely piece of Stitch's armor here (and I'm making the stickers series canon because I can, more on that in chapter 3 of and bit by bit)

WolffeSpider (@wolfspider-appreciation) did two absolutely spectacular pieces of art- this one is full of cuddles and fluff and the piece I come back to look at whenever I'm having a bad day (also my icon on this blog!), and the other is an astonishingly detailed Goretober picture of Obi-Wan in Dooku's custody on Iwanaga- please heed the warnings on this one, the artist has an astonishingly good grasp of anatomy and uses their powers for evil <3 Definitely made me reckon with what I'd been putting Obi-Wan through, that's for sure!

Not enough to make me stop, though.

If anyone else has drawn something or wants to, please take this as blanket permission to do what you'd like! Tag me in it if you feel comfortable doing so, and know that I would die for you <3

#shoulder the sky #fanart #god i meant it i really did #i am the luckiest fucker in the world that people have liked my stuff enough to DRAW FOR IT #TO MAKE ART #codeblue and wolffespider i hope you know i would die for you both #or help you hide a body #whichever works <3

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codywanbingo · 2 years

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Event FAQs

What is a fandom bingo?

A bingo is a type of fandom challenge during which participants are given a 5x5 card where all but one square are filled with creative prompts and the last, middle square acts as a free space. A bingo encourages people to create new fanworks for a certain fandom, theme, or ship.

This particular event is focused on Commander Cody & Obi-Wan Kenobi and we’re running it as an open-ended event. What that means is that it doesn’t really have an end point. Instead, we will have three themes every few months and rotate the themes to keep things new and interesting.

How do I request a card?

Go here and fill out this handy form! We do have rotating themes, so the form will update when they change (and we’ll make a post on Tumblr). Once we’ve received the form, please give us a few days to generate your personalized bingo card and then email it out to you.

Can I request multiple bingo cards?

As this is an on-going event, you can absolutely request a second, third, fifth, or tenth card once you finish your previous card.

Clarification: You can only request ONE bingo card per Round until you get a bingo, not one bingo card per theme.

Do I have to fill out my entire card?

Of course not! Once you get one bingo you can go ahead and request a new card. However, if you do fill out your entire card (a “blackout��), you get the added perk of being able to help the mods choose a theme and some prompts for the next cycle.

What if I don’t like my card?

We’ve tried to create each card with a variety of prompts that would appeal to a variety of writers and encourage people to write new things. To help you get a bingo, you are able to move the position of two prompts on your card, or swap out two prompts for two prompts of your choosing (so long as they are in line with the theme of your card).

Please see FAQ Pt 2 for more information.

Okay, so what counts as a fill?

Bingos should be fun, low-pressure events where you can get your creative on. Please keep in mind that these are the bare minimums for a fill and you are more than welcome to exceed these!

Fanfic: At least 500 words

Fanart: At least a sketch, black&white

Moodboard: Minimum, three images

Gifsets/Icons: 2 gifs/4 icons

Poetry: A pair of haikus or 8 line minimum

Podfics: 5 minutes in length, with author permission or blanket permission

Fanmixes: at least 5 songs, with cover art

Fanvids or Fanedits: at least 30 seconds

What ratings are allowed?

Any rating is allowed, although you must rate your work.

What are the requirements for filling a square?

Any new, unposted work that meets the fill minimums. If you want to dust off a WIP that’s been chilling in a folder on your computer, we’ll totally accept it. If you want to use a bingo square to add a chapter to a previously posted WIP, we’ll accept that too. Please notate on the chapter that it is for the Codywan Bingo Event, what theme your card is, and what square you are filling. If you are posting on Tumblr and posting an update, please tag our tumblr!

If you want to combine squares, please contact a mod. Square/prompt combinations will only be allowed on a case-by-case basis depending on word count, length of fanwork, or complexity of fanwork.

How do I post my work once I’ve completed a square?

A valid fill post will be tagged #codywanbingo and @codywanbingo. (So we can reblog you)

You can also add your fill to the AO3 collection.

You can fill out our Submission Form!

Can I use a work from another fandom event to fill a square?

So long as your work is a new, unposted work that meets the theme of your card, the square, and the other event, go for it!

Can I work with a co-creator? / Can I share a card?

Absolutely! If you’d like to sign up together, just notate it on the sign-up form and we’ll put both usernames on the bingo card. If you decide to work with someone after you receive the bingo card, you can request that we send you an adjusted card (no guarantees) or you can simply work off the one card and post your fills with both usernames.

Is there a discord server?

There is! You can join us here!

We had more FAQs! Please see FAQ Pt 2 here!

#codywan #commander cody #obi wan kenobi #fandom event #fandom bingo

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obiquinbingo · 2 years

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Bingo FAQs

What is a fandom bingo?

This particular event is focused on Quinlan Vos & Obi-Wan Kenobi and we’re running it as an open-ended event. What that means is that it doesn’t really have an end point. Instead, we will have three themes every few months and rotate the themes to keep things new and interesting.

This is a sample bingo card:

How do I request a card?

Can I request multiple bingo cards?

As this is an on-going event, you can absolutely request a second, third, fifth, or tenth card once you finish your previous card.

Clarification: You can only request ONE bingo card per Round until you get a bingo, not one bingo card per theme.

Do I have to fill out my entire card?

Of course not! Once you get one bingo you can go ahead and request a new card. However, if you do fill out your entire card (a “blackout”), you get the added perk of being able to help the mods choose a theme and some prompts for the next cycle.

What if I don’t like my card?

Please see FAQ Pt 2 for more information

Okay, so what counts as a fill?

Bingos should be fun, low-pressure events where you can get your creative on. Please keep in mind that these are the bare minimums for a fill and you are more than welcome to exceed these!

Fanfic: At least 500 words

Fanart: At least a sketch, black&white

Moodboard: Minimum, three images

Gifsets/Icons: 2 gifs/4 icons

Poetry: A pair of haikus or 8 line minimum

Podfics: 5 minutes in length, with author permission or blanket permission

Fanmixes: at least 5 songs, with cover art

Fanvids or Fanedits: at least 30 seconds

What ratings are allowed?

Any rating is allowed, although you must rate your work.

What are the requirements for filling a square?

Any new, unposted work that meets the fill minimums. If you want to dust off a WIP that’s been chilling in a folder on your computer, we’ll totally accept it. If you want to use a bingo square to add a chapter to a previously posted WIP, we’ll accept that too. Please notate on the chapter that it is for the ObiQuin Bingo Event, what theme your card is, and what square you are filling. If you are posting on Tumblr and posting an update, please tag our tumblr!

If you want to combine squares, please contact a mod. Square/prompt combinations will only be allowed on a case-by-case basis depending on word count, length of fanwork, or complexity of fanwork.

How do I post my work once I’ve completed a square?

A valid fill post will be tagged #obiquinbingo and @obiquinbingo (So we can reblog you)

You can also add your fill to the AO3 collection!

You can fill out our Submission Form!

Can I use a work from another fandom event to fill a square?

So long as your work is a new, unposted work that meets the theme of your card, the square, and the other event, go for it!

Can I work with a co-creator? / Can I share a card?

Is there a discord server?

We have a Quinlan-centric server now! You can join here!

We had so many FAQs we made a second post!

#fandom bingo #quinlan vos #obi wan kenobi #quinobi #obiquin #fandom event

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codexwanbingo · 2 years

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Event FAQs

What is a fandom bingo?

This particular event is focused on Commander Cody/Captain Rex/Obi-Wan Kenobi and we’re running it as an open-ended event. What that means is that it doesn’t really have an end point. Instead, we will have three themes every few months and rotate the themes to keep things new and interesting.

How do I request a card?

Can I request multiple bingo cards?

As this is an on-going event, you can absolutely request a second, third, fifth, or tenth card once you finish your previous card.

Clarification: You can only request ONE bingo card per Round until you get a bingo, not one bingo card per theme.

Do I have to fill out my entire card?

What if I don’t like my card?

Please see FAQ Pt 2 for more information.

Okay, so what counts as a fill?

Bingos should be fun, low-pressure events where you can get your creative on. Please keep in mind that these are the bare minimums for a fill and you are more than welcome to exceed these!

Fanfic: At least 500 words

Fanart: At least a sketch, black&white

Moodboard: Minimum, three images

Gifsets/Icons: 2 gifs/4 icons

Poetry: A pair of haikus or 8 line minimum

Podfics: 5 minutes in length, with author permission or blanket permission

Fanmixes: at least 5 songs, with cover art

Fanvids or Fanedits: at least 30 seconds

What ratings are allowed?

Any rating is allowed, although you must rate your work.

What are the requirements for filling a square?

Any new, unposted work that meets the fill minimums. If you want to dust off a WIP that’s been chilling in a folder on your computer, we’ll totally accept it. If you want to use a bingo square to add a chapter to a previously posted WIP, we’ll accept that too. Please notate on the chapter that it is for the Codexwan Bingo Event, what theme your card is, and what square you are filling. If you are posting on Tumblr and posting an update, please tag our tumblr!

If you want to combine squares, please contact a mod. Square/prompt combinations will only be allowed on a case-by-case basis depending on word count, length of fanwork, or complexity of fanwork.

How do I post my work once I’ve completed a square?

A valid fill post will be tagged #codexwanbingo and @codexwanbingo. (So we can reblog you)

You can also add your fill to the AO3 collection.

You can fill out our Submission Form!

Can I use a work from another fandom event to fill a square?

So long as your work is a new, unposted work that meets the theme of your card, the square, and the other event, go for it!

Can I work with a co-creator? / Can I share a card?

Is there a discord server?

There is! You can either join the more Rex-oriented server (RexObi) or the Cody-oriented server (CodyWan). Both have Codexwan channels are open to the love of the three of them.

We had more FAQs so we have a secondary FAQ post!

#codexwan #commander cody #captain rex #obi wan kenobi

0 notes

rexobibingo · 2 years

Text

Event FAQs

What is a fandom bingo?

This particular event is focused on Captain Rex & Obi-Wan Kenobi and we’re running it as an open-ended event. What that means is that it doesn’t really have an end point. Instead, we will have three themes every few months and rotate the themes to keep things new and interesting.

How do I request a card?

Can I request multiple bingo cards?

As this is an on-going event, you can absolutely request a second, third, fifth, or tenth card once you finish your previous card.

Clarification: You can only request ONE bingo card per Round until you get a bingo, not one bingo card per theme.

Do I have to fill out my entire card?

What if I don’t like my card?

Please see FAQ Pt 2 for more information.

Okay, so what counts as a fill?

Bingos should be fun, low-pressure events where you can get your creative on. Please keep in mind that these are the bare minimums for a fill and you are more than welcome to exceed these!

Fanfic: At least 500 words

Fanart: At least a sketch, black&white

Moodboard: Minimum, three images

Gifsets/Icons: 2 gifs/4 icons

Poetry: A pair of haikus or 8 line minimum

Podfics: 5 minutes in length, with author permission or blanket permission

Fanmixes: at least 5 songs, with cover art

Fanvids or Fanedits: at least 30 seconds

What ratings are allowed?

Any rating is allowed, although you must rate your work.

What are the requirements for filling a square?

Any new, unposted work that meets the fill minimums. If you want to dust off a WIP that’s been chilling in a folder on your computer, we’ll totally accept it. If you want to use a bingo square to add a chapter to a previously posted WIP, we’ll accept that too. Please notate on the chapter that it is for the RexObi Bingo Event, what theme your card is, and what square you are filling. If you are posting on Tumblr and posting an update, please tag our tumblr!

If you want to combine squares, please contact a mod. Square/prompt combinations will only be allowed on a case-by-case basis depending on word count, length of fanwork, or complexity of fanwork.

How do I post my work once I’ve completed a square?

A valid fill post will be tagged #rexobibingo and @rexobibingo (So we can reblog you)

You can also add your fill to the AO3 collection.

You can fill out our Submission Form!

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So long as your work is a new, unposted work that meets the theme of your card, the square, and the other event, go for it!

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#rexobi #captain rex #obi wan kenobi #fandom event #fandom bingo

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authoressskr · 3 years

Text

october is it’s own magic

[october 3rd]

Characters: f!plus size reader, Bucky Barnes, Steve Rogers, Peter Parker, Bruce Banner, Sam Wilson, Tony Stark, Natasha Romanoff, Wanda Maximoff, James Rhodes, Pepper Potts, Pietro Maximoff, Clint Barton, mentions of Maria Hill, Phil Coulson, and Nick Fury

Warnings: Language, no Beta, basically this is me writing for myself :: Notes: this will be a series. i will be posting it (hopefully*) every day until Halloween. And thanks to @firefly-graphics for the use of the divider! :: Word Count: 521

Soulmate AU. Bucky has a secret admirer. They keep leaving him all sorts of autumnal goodies with little notes. But who the hell is it?!

Please do NOT repost, copy & paste, post, translate, or share my works on any other platform without my EXPRESS WRITTEN PERMISSION.

-+- REBLOGGING is fine and very appreciated! -+-

[october 2nd]

The next morning, you arrive at your office to see a giant basket of things wrapped in orange cellophane on your desk. Wrinkling your forehead a little, you walk around your desk to sit in your seat, which now has a fall-themed blanket draped across the seat and arms. God, you loved comfort items! You carefully move the blanket to the back of your chair and seat, settling down to look at the basket that takes up most of your desktop. Tugging at the black satin ribbon, it releases the hold on the cellophane and you greedily reach inside for the letter at the forefront.

‘No spring nor summer beauty hath such grace as I have seen in one autumnal face.’ - John Donne. But especially yours, my fall lover.

It’s written in lovely cursive with no name or anything else to give you a clue to the giver, frowning a little as you set the card to the side and stick your hand in to begin pulling things from the basket. There are a few scented candles, one a cinnamon pumpkin and the other one simply states “Mansion” with the iconic Haunted Mansion wallpaper print on the sticker which nearly makes you squeal with delight. There are a few face and foot masks and a couple of pair of your own spooky socks tucked along the edges, with a pair of novelty pumpkin earrings, and sat in the center is the loveliest leather-looking bound book with beautiful burnished gold scrollwork and an embossed man upon a horse with no head, a pumpkin in his uplifted hand. You nearly break into tears at the lovely little book. You adored ‘The Legend of Sleepy Hollow’. Your goodie basket has some of your favorite fun-sized chocolates mixed amongst the black, orange, and purple crinkle paper and one of those color-changing Starbucks reusable cups with ghosts, bats, pumpkins, and cauldrons all over it.

Whoever your gift-giver was, they knew most of your likes when it came to Fall and Halloween...which made it sort of painful when you realized it couldn’t be who you wanted it to be. Your phone alarm goes off, startling from your thoughts and making you jump a bit in your chair - signaling that it was time to head upstairs so you don’t miss Bucky’s new gift from his secret admirer. Apparently, there is a lot of that going around…

Bucky is pulling his still-damp hair back when he sees you come around the slight corner, a little unsure of yourself, but he watches your expression change slightly as you make eye contact with him before your eyes sweep over his gym clothed body, cheeks pinkening just enough to give Bucky more hope as your gaze drops quickly towards the floor. At least he knows that you’re attracted to him like he is to you.

“Saved you a seat!” Tony calls out to you, watching as you hurriedly go over to him and slip into the barstool beside him, which puts you more out of reach than yesterday, and he doesn’t like that. But he also knows that while everyone may be helping him to an extent, that they also aren’t going to serve you up on a silver platter. They all will make him work for it - which is fine. He wants to be worthy of you.

“Open. Op-en. Op-en!” Everyone chants softly, looking from the little black gift bag on the counter to Bucky. Bucky rolls his eyes at their childishness but can’t help as his lips twitch upward as he reaches for the bag.

Sitting nestled in the black tissues is the cream little cardstock that he’s come to associate with his anonymous “soulmate”.

Bucky - eat, drink, and give ‘em pumpkin to talk about. Love, me.

Bucky rereads it, this time aloud for the others, setting his note to the side as his hand rustles through the black tissue to withdraw a pumpkin-shaped cookie sealed in plastic that nearly takes up most of his hand. He reaches back numerous times, revealing a dozen cookies in all, 6 with a different jack-o'-lantern expression. He realizes as he looks at them spread out on the counter before him that they’re 6 and 6 of identical cookies, half just done in traditional orange pumpkin color and the other half done in an off-white color.

“Oooh!” Wanda exclaims, flipping the nearest cookie carefully over to reveal the bakery’s sticker on the back. “I loooove this bakery! Their cookies are delicious! Vis got me some on Valentine’s Day - I loved the slight lemon tang to them.” Natasha and you nod along with Wanda’s words, Bucky watching as your fingers brush the marble just under the cookies, expression somewhere else as you smile fondly down at the cookies.

“Coulson got me cookies from there every year on my birthday.”

“And two of those giant champagne cake cupcakes too, right kid?” Clint asks as your smile widens.

“Yeah. Those are still my favorite. They taste just like the ones from my hometown bakery in California. He was thoughtful like that.”

Natasha shoves you playfully, making you laugh. “And what am I? Chopped liver? Who still gets you those cupcakes??? Huh?” You lean over to kiss Natasha’s cheek as her expression changes from teasing to smug.

“You do, Nat.”

Clint chuckles softly, watching the two of them just like everyone else. “She’s only being so nice because her birthday is tomorrow.”

“Your birthday is tomorrow?!” Tony and Steve ask incredulously, as you reach out to pat Tony’s arm.

“Don’t worry, Pepper always gets me something lovely from the two of you,” To which Tony smiles and shakes his head just a smidge.

“I do give wonderful gifts, even if I’ve never seen them.”

“Excellent taste,” Sam adds with a serious nod, which everyone shares.

“Are you all buying yourself extravagant shit for your birthdays from me?”

“Are we not supposed to?” Bucky teases, leaning his hip against the counter and giving Tony - okay, you - his full attention.

“I can’t wait to see what you get tomorrow!” You shift the conversation back to Bucky, while Steve grins at you from the other side of the kitchen.

“I saw you had something on your desk this morning when I was leaving the latest reports on your desk,” he takes a sip from his coffee cup with a sly smile. Your mouth drops open a little at his words, color rising in your cheeks at his suggestive tone.

“Yeah…” Bucky straightens up at your affirmation, forehead furrowed. He had only begun gathering things to give to her...so who was giving her things?

“Go on,” Vision encourages, Wanda patting his hand affectionately.

“It was a very large gift basket. Sooo lovely. There was a throw blanket on my chair when I came in too. It had candles, face masks, foot masks, a pair of pumpkin earrings, my own two cute pairs of spooky socks, some fun-sized chocolates, a reusable Starbucks cup with cute vinyl cutouts all over it, and the best one is a leather-looking bound version of ‘The Legend of Sleepy Hollow’. I didn’t get long to look at it, but it was beautiful. Embossed, scrollwork...it’s a perfect little book - almost like those old Regency novels.” Your entire face is so happy and serene, it makes Bucky smile and relax just watching you. You turn towards him, that sweet smile still gracing your face. “Do you have any ideas about who your secret admirer could be?”

That changes Bucky’s face to a scowl. “No. There were too many of our fingerprints on anything to get something from there...FRIDAY doesn’t record this floor unless there is an event, so nothing there either. The actual cardstock is common and when I searched all the Stark printer systems, there was no evidence of any of the images being printed from the printers in the Tower or any printer connected to our wifi. I think I’ll have to do a stakeout or something to catch them unless I get another lead.”

“Why don’t you go to the bakery and ask for the camera footage from the last week? They only sell those pumpkin ones starting in the last couple weeks of September, so you should be able to find it that way.” Bucky must look startled causing you and Natasha to smile wider.

“Why the hell didn’t I think of that?!” Bucky leans forward, kissing your cheek before he rushes for the elevator. “Thanks, doll!” He completely misses the bright red your face turns, your fingers brushing against where he kissed in shock.

[october 4th]

tagging: @chelsea072498 @clockworkmorningglory @sakurablossom4 @galaxiesinmymind @mizzezm

#bucky x reader #authoressskr writes #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes soulmate au #bucky barnes x plus size reader #bucky barnes x you #bucky barnes fanfic #bucky barnes fanfiction #i'm a few days behind posting this #whoops

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nagaparadise · 2 years

Note

I noticed that somebody else brushed your hair for you, so I thought maybe you might appreciate some clips and ribbons to keep it out of the way if it bothers you, Rune. Can I put one in? I also hope the blanket was okay, I wasn't sure what material you'd like.

Rune glares at the accessories you hold in your hand, and the sheepish smile on your face. His signature unimpressed glare and quirked eyebrow doesn’t leave his face, but at this point, he’s become somewhat used to your antics, and even impressed that you would approach him in such a friendly manner, when most flee from him in terror.

Rune slithers around to turn his back to you, and coils his tail, keeping a large portion behind him, then finally leans forward with his arms crossed. You take it that he’s giving you his OK, and gently sit yourself down on his tail, carefully placing your accessories down beside you, and get to work.

You burrow your fingers into the middle his soft black hair, running them down smoothly to its end. You repeat the motion a few more times, as the silkiness of his hair captivates you, making you want to only run your fingers through his hair — but you catch yourself, remembering that he’s giving you permission for one thing only. You return to the middle of his hair, this time to gather it in your hands. The bundle his hair creates is almost too big to keep together in one hand, but you manage as you wrap a long white ribbon around the thinnest point, having to stop and retie it a few times in order to get all the strands of hair under the ribbon. Once you’ve finally tied the ribbon into a neat bow, you begin to add a couple of clips into the upper half of his hair. Some being a simple multicolored clip, or others having a cute icon, such as a flower.

You move off his tail, and tell him that you’re almost done, but you’ll need to get to his front to finish up. He leans back up and turns to you, arms still crossed, and still keeping his stoic expression, but this time, with a hint of curiosity in his eyes. You show him a clip — one that has the icon of a simple skull — and explain that you found it just for him, and that you’d like to put it somewhere where he could see it. Rune averts his gaze for a second (you think it’s out of embarrassment), and gives you a quick nod. His front bangs are naturally kept slicked back, so you slide it in the bangs that hang off the side of his face, just below his horn, and to the side of his eye.

You grin, satisfied with your work, and he gives you a brief huff, perhaps one of gratitude. He straightens himself out and reaches behind him with two of his arms to assess your work, feeling the clips and ribbon that now adorn his hair. His expression doesn’t change, as per usual, but he gives you a nod, a way to show that he approves of your work.

Feeling like he had more than enough attention, Rune begins to slither away, but you call out to him, asking how he felt about the blanket. He stops for a second, then, gives you a thumbs up with all four arms, and continues on his way.

#exophilia #terato #monster x reader #naga #safe #rune post

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cuttoothed · 4 years

Text

You know what I love? Canon bi ace icon Jonathan Sims.

I’m bi ace myself, and the mere fact of his character existing makes me so happy.

I love how much the fandom has embraced him being ace, and I love that so many fans use his character to explore the ace experience in so many different ways.

I love Jon when he’s sex repulsed. When he’s never had to try it out to know he doesn’t like it. When he has tried it and knows it’s definitely not for him. When he loves kisses and snuggles, or when he’s not too keen on intimate touch at all, and shows his affection in so many other ways.

I love Jon when he’s sex neutral. When he gets why people are so into it, but also really doesn’t get why people are so into it. When it’s maybe a fun or intimate thing to do once in a while, but he’ll never bring it up unless his partner does. When his response to the idea of sex is a shrug and a “sure”.

I love Jon when he’s sex interested. When he’s curious or kinky or just vibes with the good feelings sex can produce. When he enjoys sex but isn’t driven by it. When he’s gray- or demi- and finds himself unexpectedly getting the hots for someone.

I love every fan creator who takes him being ace into account in their work. Every time I see the “Canon Asexual Character” tag on AO3 it adds a month to my life. Whether you write Jon as sex repulsed or neutral or interested, you’re valid in my books. Whether you’re allo or ace, if you want to write about his character and how he might relate to sex, I support you. If you want to write straight up smut, that’s cool too; we all need to blow off a little steam sometimes.

Side note: for allo writers, it’s always a great idea to have an ace person do a sensitivity read on your sexy Jon fic. I’m ace and I sometimes have another ace friend read my fic over, if I’m writing Jon a flavor of asexual that falls outside my direct experience.

I’m aware that the single line in canon we get about Jon’s asexuality most closely aligns with a sex repulsed (or at least disinterested) reading. And it’s great that sex repulsed aces can relate to him so well. But the fact is that many fans⁠—ace and allo⁠—love Jon’s character and relate to him for all sorts of reasons. I support all these fans in exploring all kinds of human experiences through Jon’s character, including sex and sexuality, as long as everything is labeled with appropriate tags and warnings so that people who don’t want to read it can avoid it.

Yes, even things I don’t want to read.

Yes, even things I personally find repellent or distressing.

Fanfiction is not canon, and does not pretend to be. As long as it’s tagged correctly, it’s not my place to tell people what they should and shouldn’t write.

There are people who will say that nobody should write about Jon having sex. And there are people who will say that only ace fans can write about Jon having sex. Well, I have as much Asexual Authority (TM) as anyone else in this fandom, so I hereby give everyone blanket permission in perpetuity to write as much (or as little!) fic about Jon having sex as you like.

Jonathan Sims is an amazing character, and better ace representation than my heart could ever have hoped for. I’m thrilled that so many fans find joy in exploring and engaging with his character in all kinds of ways, and I encourage you all to continue doing so!

Image ID: Marge Simpson holding a potato. Caption reads: I just think he’s neat.

#the magnus archives #tma #jonathan sims #fandom discourse #long post

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ellenoir · 3 years

Text

@doomedog and @alkalinefrog thank you both so much for asking about my baby! Of all of the Death Note characters, Near holds a very special piece of my heart. I think it's my left ventricle.

On to the soft headcanons! Requests for this are still open, so feel free to send them in!

On a side note, my Near doesn't feel much connection to gender or pronouns, they shift constantly based on immediate state of mind. Which means I will write their pronouns 'inconsistently' based on how the relevant hc makes them and me feel.

• what they smell like

The most prominent scent is the very specific, sensitive skin products they use. Milk and oatmeal based body wash, shampoo and conditioner. They also smell like unsweetened coffee from drinking so much, with an undertone of something sweetly musky that is very uniquely her, almost like old books and hot water with honey.

• what their favorite smells in the world are

They have a love/hate relationship with petrol stations, so we'll get that one out of the way first, the rest are all loved. Bedsheets on the third or fourth day on the bed, when they go from being extremely washer fresh to comfortably familiar. Raw tobacco (Watari would smoke his pipe outside the building, but Near liked the smell anyway.) Salty sea air. Peppermint or aniseed sweets. A loved ones' just removed jacket.

• what pajamas they wear/what they wear to sleep in

Near actually tends to take the bottoms off to sleep. The fabric twisting up around their legs is uncomfortable, and if it happens during sleep it can affect their dreams. They sleep in an oversized pajama top and briefs/panties, whichever one they're feeling more at the time.

• my favorite ship (if applicable) and a cute hc about them

I will ship Near with just about anyone. Mostly because I just kinda like DN turning into a big old poly puddle (thanks @resilicns for turning me onto this path lmao). Let's go SuteNia because I've been feeling their chemistry a LOT lately.

Don't get me wrong, Near likes to be held in bed as much as the next tiny. Stephen's arms help her quiet the overactive ramblings inside her skull. But I'll let you in on a little secret. They both love it best when Near is the one holding Stephen, her chin in his hair and his nose buried somewhere around his collarbone. They show each other their vulnerabilities more than anything then. Stephen shows that he's not always composed and strong, and Near shows just how much she needs him in her life. In their bed, that's their most precious moment.

• my favorite friendship (if applicable) and a cute hc about them

Okay so I love the idea of Near having quite a bit more respect for Misa than anyone else. Why? YOTSUBA👏ARC👏POWERHOUSE👏 (he also respects Matsuda even if he would advise him not to run into the building like that). Looking back on how Misa was caught, it was by sheer chance. A single strand of dyed blonde hair falling on the VHS tapes and being sealed inside the envelopes? That was an absolutely miniscule oversight that honestly impressed him greatly.

As for a cute hc? Misa and Near bond over the movie Labyrinth by Jim Henson. Near is absolutely enamored with the incredible puppets and costumes in the movie. Misa straight up loves David Bowie. Misa will sing along with Dance Magic Dance, loud and clear, and dance all around the room as it plays until Near can't help but start to sing and sway along. Misa holds out her hands, knowing not to touch without permission - and Near actually reaches out and takes them, lets her pull him up and start to dance!

• a song that reminds me of them

Hrrmmmm... Hollow and Sorry About Your Parents by Icon for Hire, weirdly enough Sober by P!nk, and Teeth on a String by Stick and Poke. Yeah, all of these songs are sad, and TW for undertones of an abusive relationship on the last one. If I had to pick a nice song for Near... Oh, I know! The Show by Lenka!

• what animal i think they would be if they were an animal

Cat. Easy pick. Near likes to do things on their own terms and their own schedule and does not care much for how other people want them to behave at each moment. However, they love deeply and fiercely and will tolerate a surprising amount of annoying behaviour from someone who is in their pack (my beagle can almost jump on one of my cats and he adores her, despite him being skittish and not hesitating to swat when he's sick of paws almost squashing him). Enjoy to simply sit in the presence of a loved one and do their own thing compared to constant need for direct conversation and interaction. Will hiss, growl and swat when displeased and does not suffer fools gladly.

• what position they sleep in

Loosely curled on her right side, grabbing the pillow and pulling it down towards her front, under a heavy weighted blanket. Near has her hands gently curled in front of her, somewhere between her breastbone and nose. Her legs fold up beneath her, her right leg a little bit tighter to keep her balance as the left leg falls on top. At one point, she looks at body pillows and finds the full wrap around designs. Its love at first sight. She gets one delivered and almost immediately drops off the first time she pairs it with her beloved heavy blanket

• their favorite drink

They subsist on large amounts of coffee (small amounts of milk to offset the bitterness), but its not quite their favourite. Near loves boba! Honeydew, almond, matcha and the classic are her top choices.

• a gift i would give them if i could

What do you give someone with everything...? I would like... If they accept it? Companionship. The fact that Near keeps working with Halle, Rester and Gevanni even years later makes me think they would like some sort of reliable, consistent company. They do have a sort of loneliness that they have to endure, the kind that comes from being the strange one, the out of place one, the one who has trouble connecting to people.

I'm not sure if I could think of anything else. Maybe make them a drawing, or find them some interesting or intricate toys they might like.

#headcanons #death note headcanons #dn #death note #near #nate river

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neonrpt · 2 years

Note

hqcalypso doesn’t use fcs but when answering an ask about it admin said that “for mary jane (watson) i’ll be using fanart of michelle jones.” this user also uses zendaya as a fc for mary jane watson in groups that have fcs. what is the reason.

i do think it's weird imo to use zendaya as a fc for mary jane— zendaya IS the mcu version of mary jane, but idk it's just kinda! weird to me, esp with how mcu has the confirmed the spiderverse through the different peters. and so to use zendaya, you're also making it so michelle can't be played, or as if you're erasing her character. the other peters don't all look alike, so why should mj and michelle? if you want to keep to zendaya's ethnicity, then there are fcs you could use

my issue as well is using fanart? i know they use picrews, and i did get a message about picrews that is gonna go up a little after this one once i get to it— but i just think with fanart, simply crediting the artist isn't really enough? like i'd really ensure you ask the artist properly if they're okay with you using their art as an icon, and not just use blanket permission since so many artists are uncomfy with reposting

#fandom rph #fandom rpt #crossover rp #marvel rpt #answered.#q.#re: rpfcs vs illustrated fcs in mfrp #re: mj watson

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waywardfacegarden · 4 years

Text

burning embers

Modern Au: Zuko centric + The Gaang + Zukka + Friendship/Family feels + Angst and Fluff.

Summary: Zuko learns the meaning of love.

Read on Ao3 here.

There’s something so tragically painful about falling in love, they say.

But Zuko wouldn’t know. He doesn’t know what falling in love with someone is, he doesn’t know what it feels like. Love is a concept so alien to him; he can’t even grasp the root of it. He just knows a broken home, the remaining ashes of a devastating, blazing fire that was supposed to be his father’s love.

He doesn’t know what love is. And yet, he understands: the underlying and heart-wrenching agony that comes with loving. The sorrow that comes with it; it is just there, intrinsically linked. It’s something that the small kid—full of unknown love and golden warmth, but also deep, bitter pain—comprehends at the tender age of 11.

It’s just common knowledge for him, the same way he knows the sky is blue and the sun hides at night.

Family. Love. Father.

Those words don’t have meaning, Zuko thinks, lying on his bed one night, still hearing the disappointment in his father’s voice echoing in his ears in the quiet darkness of his room. They’re there, of course. And he knows them. He can say them. But they feel far away, slipping through the space between his fingers, becoming dust that blows away with the chilly wind of an autumn midnight, escaping him before he can place what was there in the first place.

They don’t hold weight. They don’t mean anything. They’re shallow; they just exist, like a couple of letters strewn together, like when you say your name so many times in a row it doesn’t even feel right anymore; but, he supposes only a few people are blessed with their significance, with tasting them in their mouth with something not akin to hate or bitterness or emptiness.

Loneliness. Despair. Dishonor.

Those have meaning. Those have weight, despite being such empty words.

(But they very much taste like something akin to hate, too—and that’s the thing.

Maybe Zuko just doesn’t know anything aside from [self-]hate.)

Family, love, father. They are concepts that come alive to him the same way a phoenix is born.

They rise, awakening from the ashes that the fire within themselves has burned to death; so beautiful, so mystical, so mesmeric and so incredibly fragile and precious and wondrous, like a mythological creature coming back to life after having known its own death.

He learns the words and their meaning the same way his brain starts learning new things and concepts by reading a book; but he doesn’t learn with his mind—even though a part of him knows that this is where knowledge is stored—Zuko learns with his heart (he has always learned things best with his heart; after all, Zuko wears it on his sleeve; he’s emotional, visceral, volatile—his feelings are way too intense, too much that they burn his chest open; he’s always aflame), with his eyes, with his hands. He learns it in every little gesture that’s given to him, in every little crack (that keeps filling and filling and filling) of the time that goes on, in every little drop of ink that is spilled on the parchment where his life is being written.

He learns the words in the way he begins learning his uncle's tea recipes, in the satisfaction and pride he feels when his uncle congratulates him for a job well-done on a warm, quiet Saturday afternoon as he finishes helping cleaning and serving the tables around the teashop, in the way his favorite cup sits next to his uncle's on the kitchen counter in the mornings, full of Zuko’s favorite bubble tea; he learns them in the ugly, endearing, oversized sweater hanging at the back of his closet, the one his uncle gave him in his last birthday; he learns about love in the gentle smiles of weekends, in the singing of the birds outside his room’s window, in the blanket that rests around his shoulders when he is sitting on the comfy couch on a calm Thursday night, dozing off while trying to study for an English test, in the way the nightmares that used to haunt him are tormenting him less and less every time; he learns the meaning of father in his uncle's ridiculous pajamas, full of tiny drawings of cherry blossoms and tea leaves, in his uncle’s obsession with Pai Sho, and in the wise phrases he keeps throwing at Zuko even when he cannot fully understand them.

He learns, little by little, step by step, like a slow fire burning inside his guts.

And it's a weird, strange thing. Zuko learned that fire hurts you, the same way he learned that love does, but somehow, after years of building his new life, it doesn't feel that way anymore.

His uncle is patient with him. Patient as someone who would teach someone else origami or as someone who’s slowly writing a book. He teaches him, sees him fall, stumble and trip over his feet (both, metaphorically and literally speaking) and he’s there when Zuko gets up again.

It’s a nice feeling. Knowing that someone is going to be there, even if you fall. Even when you fail.

His uncle teaches him, the same way he creates a new tea receipt for the menu; carefully, gently, ever so softly. He takes Zuko, the broken child who looks at him through his pain and hatred, and makes him open his eyes. He points out, over and over and over again, that failing is not a bad thing, that love exists and that it doesn't have to hurt, and that if it does, you can heal from it; he teaches him that Zuko is full of it, full of love, he says that he’s always been.

Somehow, it feels a bit like healing. Of course, Zuko is still broken. Probably, a part of him always will be; but, somehow, he doesn't think that being a bit broken is so wrong now.

Friendship was a foreign concept to him, too. Or maybe not, but Zuko never wanted to get involved with it.

Too much trouble.

(Or maybe fear—fear of what it carries, what it holds in its nature; fear of failing, of not being enough, of being left out, of getting too attached.)

But just as Zuko was wrong about so many things in his life, this is not the exception.

He comes to learn that, too.

It’s a different process than with his uncle. Maybe because it’s slower, or maybe because it’s, rather, faster. Maybe because he wasn’t aware he was learning at all.

Zuko doesn’t know exactly when it starts. Can’t pinpoint the exact moment he started getting involved. Not that he cares much about that at this point, but he would like to know.

They kind of adopt him in their group (or, er, gang, as they call it), without Zuko noticing. But to be fair, Zuko doesn’t notice a lot of things.

Toph is a friend of his Uncle, and she lives near the teashop, so she’s around more time than she’s not; she’s loud and kinda rude, and always calls Zuko a dork or a nerd or an idiot, but Zuko realizes he likes when she’s there. Aang comes along sometimes, with his scarily bright smile. There’s also Katara and her big brother, Sokka.

He likes all of them, to his extreme surprise. They’re all good people. Aang is way too kind, Katara may be scary but she’s pretty cool, and Sokka is just a combination of a very, weirdly endearing, smart dumbass, which is, uh, new.

He honestly doesn’t know how it happened, or when it happened, but suddenly he’s tucked under a soft fuzzy blanket in winter, sandwiched in the middle of the three-spot sofa, with Aang almost laying over his lap. He’s almost sitting on Sokka’s right leg, pressing him against the arm sofa, his side overlapping with Sokka’s. He doesn’t seem to mind, though. He’s sitting there, cross-legged, with his right arm fully extended on the back of the sofa, almost like he’s hugging Zuko’s shoulders; he’s practically leaning on Zuko.

His arm and his side are really warm, though. Not as much as Zuko generally is, but it’s… kind of nice.

“Katara, Titanic is a classic, dude. What the hell.”

Zuko takes a sip from his hot chocolate, blowing off the clouds of steam gathering over the cup—the warmth of it is pretty welcomed in his throat, to be honest, while Katara rolls her eyes at her brother.

“I’m not watching that for the fifth time in a month and seeing you and Aang both cry for an hour later after the already three long hours of the movie.”

Sokka looks pretty indignant about Katara’s attitude towards his (probably) favorite movie, which is pretty amusing.

“You’re just a monster,” Sokka says, dramatically, “that’s why you don’t cry.”

Katara rolls her eyes again.

“I don’t know,” Toph says, from the couch closer to the TV, sprawled all comfortably over it. “It’s actually a really funny movie,” she points out, and then draws out her voice. “‘Jack, draw me like one of your French girls’.”

Aang laughs pretty loud, and Zuko smiles at the bad impersonation despite himself.

“Well, My Heart Will Go On is my anthem.” Sokka says, puffing out his chest.

Zuko actually snorts into his cup and Sokka shoots him a look. He remembers the time Aang and Sokka recreated that iconic scene, with Toph singing at the top of her lungs in a ridiculously obnoxious voice. He actually laughed at that.

Sokka seems to read his mind, because after a few moments of staring at Zuko’s face, his entire expression lights up. He grins, eyes sparkling, and starts singing really loud and purposely out of tune. Aang starts laughing and Toph doesn’t waste time on joining Sokka in singing. Even Katara smiles.

A few minutes later of terrible singing, they’re all laughing. Toph is cackling so hard she’s on the floor, and Sokka keeps leaning over him, laughing in his ear. He believes it should be annoying, but instead of that, it’s actually infectious and Zuko laughs a bit harder.

After they calm down, Toph is clutching at her sides and Sokka is wiping tears out of his eyes.

Aang smiles, then, softly and content, and raises a hand in the air, like asking for permission to talk.

“I have an idea.” He says, and turns around to look at him. “Why don’t we just let Zuko decide? He hasn’t chosen anything yet for our Friday movie nights.”

All eyes turn to look at him at that. He stops his movements, mouth hanging open, hot cup halfway to his lips.

“Uh,” he frowns. “Thank you, but, um. Why would I choose? It’s your thing.”

Everyone stares at him like he has two heads, which, okay fair but why.

“What?”

Aang gives him a soft smile, all kind eyes and gentle features, like he’s about to talk to a baby, but before he can say anything, Sokka is putting an arm around his shoulders and leaning all his weight on him, as if they weren’t already close enough.

“This is your thing as much as it is ours, dude.” He says, grinning, “You’re one of us.” He vaunts, proudly, and ruffles Zuko’s hair.

Katara nods, at the same time Toph goes:

“Yup, you’re already in, loser.”

Aang chuckles. “Yes, you’re our friend, Zuko.”

Zuko blinks, stunned.

That’s…

There’s…

That’s… the F-word.

Friend.

Huh? What? How? When did that happen? Huh? Did he miss something in the past few months?

Sokka, completely oblivious to his emotional turmoil, insistently points to the TV while squeezing him. "So, buddy? Don't you think we should watch Titanic to cry and share a couple of very male tears?"

"You only want to watch it because you have a crush on both Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio." Katara accuses.

"Nuh-uh!"

"Yes, you do! You even still keep that poster of them behind your…"

"Katara!!!!"

Friend.

It’s a nice word.

It tastes like hot chocolate in his mouth on a cold night, it sounds like Sokka’s laugh and Toph’s jokes, and it looks like Aang’s kind eyes and Katara’s nice smile.

It feels like something. It holds meaning. It’s not an empty word. At all.

Sokka’s hand ruffling his hair or over his shoulders, Toph’s nicknames for him, Aang’s offer of help in times he feels like Zuko needs it, Katara’s help with homework and advice on his recipes doesn’t let him forget that. ‘Friend’ is never going to be an empty word.

Friend tastes like hope, like warm food and bear-hugs.

Friend is such a nice word.

The thing with Zuko being generally—and strangely—warm all the time is that summer is a complete nightmare for him.

He's sitting directly in front of the fan at full power, barefoot in just jeans and a light T-shirt, and yet he still feels like he's going to explode. The weather forecast in the morning heralded a heat wave in midsummer, and it's exactly the worst thing in the world that could happen to Zuko's already overheated body. Toph groans beside him, lying with her arms and legs spread like a starfish on the cold ground. It is no comfort to her, however, and Zuko can understand that well.

Katara is looking at something on her phone, fanning herself with a magazine, and Aang remains practically unaffected, just as energetic as ever as he eats the remaining watermelon slices from the bowl they recently filled.

Zuko is wondering if he should go, or if he should fall asleep on the freezing ground that doesn't seem to be freezing at all, when Sokka walks into the living room in his baseball uniform. He has just returned from his morning summer practice; sweat is running down the side of his face, and his shirt is partly sticking to his body from the moisture. He smiles at everyone in greeting before gulping down all that's left of the water on the bottle of his hand. Zuko stares at his Adam's apple bob while he's drinking, and then his eyes trail the trickle of water that slides down his jaw over his desperation to drink all the water so fast. The drop goes down, down, down, dripping over his collarbone and sinking into his neck until it eventually gets lost somewhere inside his shirt. Sokka throws the bottle over the trash can and uses his shirt collar to wipe the water and some of his sweat off his face. Zuko's eyes unconsciously move downward; he can see a line of skin on Sokka's abdomen and stomach.

He swallows. Uh. His mouth is suddenly very dry. He's probably dehydrated. Is he dehydrated? He's starting to feel a little dizzy.

"So? Beloved friends, beloved little sister? Did you miss me? Obviously, you did."

Katara rolls her eyes, but still asks, "How was practice, dumbass?"

"It was cool! I hit twelve curve-balls in a row and sixteen of that weird fastball Suki pitches. Oh! And I'm finally getting the thing about that forkball. Also... woah, Zuko, are you okay?!"

Zuko blinks from where he was staring at Sokka's hair. It's kind of wet. Is that sweat? Shouldn't that be gross? Why is Zuko staring? Does he find it gross? He doesn't think so, but he also can't quite explain why...

"Woah, bud," Sokka says, kneeling in front of him and getting dangerously close to his face. "You're so red, are you having heatstroke or something? Do you feel dizzy?" He leans on his knees and presses a hand to his forehead, pulling up the bangs hanging over it. It feels nice, actually. Sokka's soft hand on his boiling skin feels like fresh water. He kind of wants to lean into it.

He probably does, because Sokka frowns. "Maybe you have a fever..." His mouth presses into a thin line. "Don't you want to take a shower to cool off? I can lend you some clothes, we're about the same height, they'll fit."

Zuko blinks. Huh?

"Here, let me help you." Sokka says, helping him up.

Around an hour later, Zuko feels a lot better, laying with his back on the floor in Sokka's baggy shorts and blue T-shirt with a cartoonish drawing of The Pink Panther. Zuko smiles involuntarily when he looks at it. It smells a bit like Sokka, or at least the detergent he uses. That makes his stomach do weird flips. He's not feeling that hot anymore, but maybe he is getting sick...

"Hey," Sokka tells him, looking at him from above, standing just behind Zuko's head. His toes are barely avoiding touching Zuko's sprawled hair on the floor.

"Hey," Zuko answers back, looking up at Sokka's soft face. His hair is down and still wet from the shower, and a few drops fall on the bridge of Zuko's nose when Sokka hovers over him. Zuko's face scrunches up, more out of involuntary reaction than out of bother, but Sokka chuckles.

"Sorry," he says, not sounding sorry at all. He uses the towel around his neck to messily dry his hair. "You look a lot better, now."

"Yes," Zuko muses, still a bit mesmerized by Sokka's wet hair. And Sokka's face. "Thanks."

Sokka grins brightly at him. "Sure."

He looks like he's about to say something else, but before he can say anything, Toph groans just a few feet away, sitting now on the couch. "Stop flirting and get a room already; it’s gross. We're here, too."

"What? We weren’t—"

Katara agrees, quietly.

"Hey! I was just worried!" Sokka excuses himself. "Weren't you all? His face was as red as a tomato."

Katara looks up from her magazine and gives him a pointed look, with one elegantly arched brow. Apparently, she doesn't even need to say anything else, because it's enough to make Sokka blush.

Oh.

He's cute, Zuko thinks. And then, oh, I think Sokka is cute. And then Sokka stomps over the kitchen muttering unintelligible things, still a faint blush over his cheeks.

Zuko smiles to himself watching his childish behavior. He is, though. He is cute.

It's raining heavily outside, drops pouring loudly against the asphalt of the sidewalk.

Zuko side-glances at Sokka. Maybe it's because after the course of a year, Zuko has learned to recognize many of Sokka's little gestures, or maybe it's the fact that the boy has been so much into his own mind lately, but Zuko recognizes that way he scrunches up his nose, that wrinkle between his eyebrows, that way his eyes twitch.

“Are you okay?”

He’s asking mostly just to be polite, to be honest; he already knows he’s not. He knows something’s up.

Sokka turns to look at him, and then stares at the rain hitting the glass window of the lonely teashop.

“I’m…” He says, and looks at his hand. Then he presses his mouth into a thin line.

“You don’t need to talk about it if you don’t want to,” Zuko says, awkwardly, because as much as he cares, he’s still a mess when it comes to social cues. He’s never going to stop being a mess. And terrible at comforting people.

Sokka sees right through him, though, like he always does, and smiles softly at him. His whole face mellows. It kind of makes Zuko’s heart flutter in his chest, like a butterfly flapping its wings.

“I’m…” Sokka tries again, looking at Zuko’s face. At his eyes, at his scar, at his neck. He feels weirdly exposed, but at the same time… He doesn’t. It’s just Sokka. Which means it’s okay. “Scared, I guess.”

Zuko blinks and tilts his head to the side. He’s not sure if he should ask, but…

“Of?”

Sokka gives him a wry smile.

“Of failing? Of disappointing my dad? Of not being enough? I don’t know, I can’t quite pick a single one.”

Sokka’s voice is not quite bitter, but it feels like that, in the air around them. Zuko knows the feeling pretty well.

“You are enough.” Zuko affirms, without a single trace of hesitation in his voice. Because Sokka is enough, in every single aspect, and he shouldn’t feel like any less than that. Zuko’s also aware of what he’s worrying about, and for Zuko, it’s just absurd—Sokka is one the very few people that shouldn’t worry about passing the entrance exam of college at all, he’s crazy smart. He should know that. But, to be fair, Zuko can’t judge him nor scold him for self-doubt when it used to be all that he was, along with his self-hate. So he says it out loud, looking into Sokka’s wide, surprised eyes. “You’re also really smart, Sokka, I’m sure you’re going to ace the entrance exam. You shouldn’t worry.”

Sokka rolls his eyes, but he also adopts that playful-kinda-flirty side of him. It’s painful because Zuko can see the sadness underlying in his voice and body language so clearly. Can see the lack of confidence in every single motion.

“You’re just saying that to make me feel better.”

“I am,” he agrees, “but it doesn’t mean it isn’t true. I really believe so. You’re the smartest person I know. You’re very capable of doing whatever you want, so have faith in yourself just like I have faith in you.”

Once he says it, and Sokka blinks once, twice, thrice at him, Zuko feels painfully aware (and painfully embarrassed) of what he just said.

Oh Lord, what did he actually…

“Ah,” Sokka says, and makes a face that Zuko can’t name. “You’re blushing.”

Zuko covers his cheeks with both hands. Sokka is probably right, they’re so warm, but still.

“I’m not.” Still.

Sokka laughs, and raises both eyebrows. “You sure?” He asks, staring pointedly at his face, which only makes him blush harder.

Stupid Sokka.

He must know the effect he’s having on him, because he laughs again, lightheartedly. Well, at least he’s not upset anymore…

“I’m not,” he uselessly and pathetically insists, even when it’s tragically obvious he is. But he has some pride, okay.

Sokka grins, but it’s all devilish. It makes Zuko’s hair stand on end. A chill runs down his spine.

“It’s just hot.”

Sokka smirks. “Sure, you’re always hot.”

“Shut up,” Zuko complains and groans, facing away from him so that he can’t see his blatant embarrassment. Sokka’s natural flirty personality wasn’t that much of a problem back then, but it’s only gotten worse, and Zuko just can’t handle it sometimes. It feels like way too much.

“Ah, but you blush when you’re embarrassed. That’s cute.” Sokka points out, a wide grin on his face. “Imagine being both cute and hot, what a crime.”

He sighs theatrically, and Zuko is very tempted to answer, “shut up, look who’s talking,” but he knows he will just get more embarrassed after saying that. He needs to calm down. So he just grumbles while Sokka laughs.

Then, when Sokka has already calmed down and Zuko can feel his face like normal again, they look quietly at the rain, steadily keeping its pace.

“Zuko,” Sokka says, after some time, and Zuko quirks an eyebrow in reply.

Sokka smiles. “Thank you. For believing me. It means a lot.”

Zuko smiles back. “Of course.”

Zuko notices it one night. (Though, looking back, it’s weird he didn’t notice it before.)

Well, more like, Aang notices and points it out, and then Zuko realizes that what he said is pathetically true, lying in bed at night because he still mulls things over sometimes before going to sleep.

“You know,” Aang had casually said, holding a can of orange juice, sitting next to Zuko on the bleachers at one of Sokka’s practice games. “You stare at Sokka a lot.”

Zuko frowned. “It’s his game, after all. We’re here to watch him,” he had retorted, like it was obvious.

“Well, yes, but I don’t mean only now. You stare at him all the time.”

Zuko didn’t feel like he liked where this conversation was going. Something about his expression must had given him away, or maybe Aang was just too good at reading him now, because he said:

“Wait.” He actually had sounded surprised. “You mean you’re not aware you have a crush on him?”

Zuko’s eyes went wide. “What? I don’t have a crush on him.”

Aang quirked up an eyebrow. Sure, he didn’t need to say.

“I don’t,” he had pressed on.

Aang hadn’t looked any more convinced of what he had said. If anything, he looked more convinced on what he himself had said. Aang had looked at him for a very long period of 1 minute before lightly chuckling and nudging him in the arm with his elbow, smiling brightly at him.

It was weird, but Zuko has gotten better at reading them, maybe just as much as Aang has with him. Maybe that’s why he knows what Aang means with all of that. Admit it when you’re ready.

It’s not like he was trying to deny or hide it. It’s not like he was trying to lie. He just didn’t think Aang was actually right.

But he is. Zuko can’t stop looking at Sokka, all the time. Thinking about him. About the way he smiles, with his hair up, with his hair down, with that denim jacket that fits him in all the right angles, with his baseball cap, ecstatic after he scored a run in the 8th inning.

Sokka, practicing on the field. Grinning widely and openly and hugging him tightly when he aced the entrance exam. Leaning in to taste Zuko’s ice-cream into his own mouth. Ruffling his own messy hair. Wearing those silly cartoon t-shirts. Serenading Zuko with Electric Love and the most ridiculous voice ever on his birthday as a joke. Messy eating. Scrunching up his nose while drinking green tea. Reciting 80% of the Star Wars dialogues by heart. Being obsessed with boomerangs and swords (though not as much as Zuko is with that last one). Biting into the end of his pencil when he’s focused on writing an English essay.

Ahhhhh.

Oh, holy honor.

He has a crush. A crush. Feelings.

When did that happen? Why did that happen? He doesn’t know. Was it because of his warm eyes? His pretty smile? His pretty lips? Was it because he opened up to Zuko, let himself be vulnerable around him, bled his heart out so Zuko could piece it back together? Was it because he’s funny? Charming? Cool? Smart? Astonishingly cute? Was it because he made Zuko feel made out of thin air, sometimes, so raw and exposed but yet so safe, so comfortable in his own skin? ...That is, the others don’t necessarily make him feel unsafe, or uncomfortable. He just feels like he can be all open and vulnerable with Sokka better. Maybe because he opened up to him first, about something so personal like his mom (and Zuko knew about losing a mom, too).

Well, whatever the reason, it doesn’t exactly matter, does it? He’s already in deep.

Zuko rolls over his stomach and sighs, groaning loud into his pillow. Why, why, why, why. It’s not like he even has a chance, so why did he have to…

Ugh.

Feelings are stupid. His heart is stupid.

And the way he falls asleep thinking about Sokka’s laugh is even stupider.

The thing is, because Zuko notices all the little details in Sokka’s gestures and behavior, he also notices the way he acts differently towards… Certain people.

“Me and Yue?” Sokka laughs, and Zuko blinks. He didn’t even mean to ask it out loud. Now, he would just hear the confirmation of what he already knew from Sokka’s lips. How is that any better? Good job, Zuko.

“Nah, man, Suki would kill me if she sees me wooing her girlfriend. Or at least kick me pretty damn hard.” Huh? Zuko blinks again. Huh? So they’re… Sokka and Yue… They’re not…

“And believe me, she’s super strong. She kicked me once and I’ve always regretted eating that last cupcake on the fridge.” Sokka makes a face and shudders, like the mere flashback is enough to make him fear. But then he smiles, in that soft way of his that makes Zuko’s knees go really weak. “And I’m pretty sure Yue is immensely happy with her, too.”

Zuko doesn’t know what to say, so he just oh-so-eloquently utters:

“Ah.”

Sokka seems amused.

“Didn’t you know they were a thing? The PDA is so strong when they’re together, you have to have seen it.”

Well, that was… Zuko just thought they were touchy with each other? Sokka is pretty much touchy with him all the time, but that doesn’t mean they’re a thing.

Well.

“That’s rough, buddy.”

Sokka blinks. “Why?”

Zuko frowns. He tilts his head in confusion. “Because you are… Romantically attracted to her? It must be rough.”

Sokka blinks once, twice, three times. Stares. Then, he throws his head back and cackles, clutching his stomach.

“Dude, what the hell.” He wheezes. “Just say the word crush like normal people.”

“Hmm.”

Then, when he calms down, Sokka eyes Zuko.

“Wait, what?” He says, serious all of a sudden. Or at least, surprised. “Do you really think that?” At Zuko’s lack of response, Sokka looks at him, then at his hands, then at the TV, where the video game they were playing is still on pause. Then, back at Zuko’s face. “No, I don’t have a crush on her. Or on Suki, for that matter.”

Zuko frowns. Sokka must know he doesn’t believe him, because he continues.

“I mean, I did.” He admits. “Back when I met her, when I was, like, 14. But I’m over it, now—Not that she’s not great; she’s awesome and I love her, just… Not in that way. It was just a silly teen-crush, anyway. And Suki is my best friend. We had a thing for a few months like two years ago, but we hit it off so much better as friends. She’s my bi icon, though. And bestest friend.”

“Oh.”

“Besides,” Sokka adds, and eyes him pointedly, “I’m interested in someone else right now.”

Zuko stares. Blinks.

What.

So he does have someone he’s interested in anyway. God, Zuko really doesn’t stand a chance. Why even bothering trying? And it’s not like he knows how to try something, anyway…

From the other corner of the room, Aang shoots him a very cryptic look. Zuko can’t describe what he’s thinking, but he guesses he’s taking pity on him. After all, he knows.

Ah. He really doesn’t like having feelings.

His mind is a cruel thing. It’s what keeps him up at night, what reminds him of all his insecurities, what makes him feel undeserving of love, what keeps throwing image after image into his head of his broken childhood on bad days. It’s what, as much as his heart, knows about his deepest desires, his longing, his yearning and thinks it’s amusing to play with Zuko for a bit.

“Zuko,” Sokka says, with a fragile smile on his face, his voice going ridiculously soft, his eyes warming up, and Zuko’s heart pounds on his chest like big waves crashing on the shore of a lonely beach. “Zuko, I love you.”

It’s kind of—very—criminal the way Sokka makes him feel. The way he makes Zuko’s heart seem like it’s going to burst out of his chest with how fast it beats after hearing just those three words, the way he makes Zuko’s entire soul ache and want, the way he makes him feel so grounded, so him, yet so tiny and delicate, like he’s made out of thin sheets of ice.

Is this how love feels?

Is this how it should feel like?

He wouldn’t know. He doesn’t know what falling in love is. He just knows a broken home, the destructive, neon-like, toxic obsession with power his dad had, instead of any tender form of anything else that can be called love that his dad should have had for his mom, but never did.

Falling in love is made to hurt. Falling in love is destined to make you feel sad, and alone, and unsafe.

Falling in love is a cruel thing. It’s not cut out for weak people, and Zuko is weak. He’s destined to break. He has always been made out of fragile, easy-to-destroy things.

That’s why his mind plays with him all the time.

He wakes up in his bed, opens his eyes to the dark quiet of his room, feels the way his heart beats so hard that he can almost feel it on his throat. And he feels lost. And sad.

He doesn’t even scream. He just lies there, feeling the world becoming smaller, feeling himself becoming smaller.

Lord, he’s royally fucked. Screwed. He knows. He’s destined to break.

There’s something so tragically painful about falling in love, they say.

He’s sitting with Toph leaning back on his right side, on the fluffy couch in Katara and Sokka’s living room, cutting up squares out of colorful paper.

They are both terrible in the kitchen. Something coming from being rich kids, Sokka playfully teased earlier. And he guesses it’s true. Either way, they are terrible—Zuko even burned his own kitchen once while making scrambled eggs (and that was. Not a very good day). Sure, he has tried to help Uncle Iroh a couple of times, and he knows a bit of the basics, but besides preparing tea, he’s lost. He can’t cook to save his life. So when Zuko almost lights a fire to bake cookies and mixes up the recipe for the second time, Katara kicks them out and bans them from the kitchen for the next 4 hours. Toph protests just to be annoying—she doesn’t like cooking at all, she has told him, but she loves annoying Katara, it’s her favorite idle activity. Zuko would be offended, but it’s the smartest choice if they want to finish baking Aang’s birthday cake without setting the kitchen on fire, so it’s fine.

Besides, this way he can steal a few glances at Sokka, as he hangs up the decorations he and Toph are making. The muscles under his shirt flex when he raises his arms above his head, his messy hair down from its ponytail, falling over his face when he moves a bit to the left, a line of the smooth skin of his back making its way to Zuko's curious, avid eyes.

Zuko swallows.

Toph sighs heavily and throws her head back. “So, are you planning to make a move any time this century or are you a loser?”

Zuko eyes her, coming out of his stupor, confused. “What?”

Toph smirks. “Right, you’re always a loser, my bad.”

Zuko blinks. Not because of Toph calling him a loser, but because, for a second, he really doesn’t get what she means.

Then, when he does, he buries his face into his hands and groans.

“Even you know?”

Toph laughs. "Yes, idiot, it's stupidly obvious.” She pats his arm. “I can see it and I'm blind, you know."

Zuko groans again. He’s in physical pain right now. "How?"

She shrugs. "I don’t know. Maybe the way you say his name. Or talk about him."

Zuko feels a bit of panic.

What? Is he that obvious? How does he say Sokka’s name?

"His name?"

"Yeah,” Toph confirms, nodding exaggeratedly, “stupidly sappy. It's gross."

"Oh my god."

She laughs again, loudly, because his suffering is apparently amusing. "You also talk about him a lot," she chuckles, "and sigh every time you see him. At least that’s what I assume, given that he’s in the room and you keep sighing like a 12-year-old girl in love. Pinning all the way.”

Zuko wants to die. He seriously wants to die. Maybe he should just tell Sokka he likes him, so when he rejects him, Zuko can just die a quick, albeit painful, death.

Toph nudges at his arm, with her typical abnormal strength for someone her age, but she doesn’t mean any harm. “So?” She asks, again. “Are you planning to make a move or not?"

Zuko sighs, "I can't do anything, he likes someone else."

Toph kind of stops where she’s fumbling with a couple of paper sheets. She then turns around and makes this face, where she’s scrunching up her nose and frowning like she just smelled something sour, or like when she’s deeply confused. "Did he say that?"

"Yes."

"Did Sokka seriously tell you that?"

Zuko’s confused at Toph’s relentless insistence. "...Yes?"

Toph’s face goes back to normal, but there’s something about the way she continues to hum that makes it seem like she still thinks Zuko is an alien, or something.

"You must have misunderstood him—which wouldn’t be a surprise, to be honest." She says the last part in a whisper, but he still hears her. That’s probably what she wanted anyway, but it’s not like he gets it. What does that mean? Zuko gets Sokka. That’s one of the few things he’s really proud of. Did he just think that he got Sokka while, all this time, he actually didn’t?

No. He understands Sokka. Sokka himself has told him that.

"No, I didn't. And I don't have a chance if he likes someone else, so I might as well not even try."

Toph looks mad. "You're super pessimistic, dumbass."

"Hmm."

She sighs, looking deeply tired and frustrated, like Zuko has completely worn her out. Then, she raises her fist and punches him. Hard.

Ouch.

Zuko yelps, and rubs at his sore arm. “What was that for?” he grumbles.

She frowns. “To punch some sense into you, big oblivious idiot!" Toph hums a low, guttural sound in the back of her throat, like she’s a feral dog trying to threaten a pedestrian. “Just try, at least. Everyone is kind of getting tired of your pinning, too."

"Ah." Everyone?

"Full offence."

"Ah."

“Even Katara. The only reason she hasn’t intervened yet is because she says it’s not her business to push you, but I don’t think her reasoning is gonna last long.”

Katara too!? Oh, no.

Zuko seriously wants to die.

Eventually, things go on.

Zuko’s “crush” doesn’t go away. If anything, it just grows and grows and grows until it becomes almost unbearable. But he still can’t say anything.

“Zuko.”

“Hmm?”

“You know,” Sokka says, looking at him with feign innocence, sitting with his hands upwards behind him in Zuko’s room, “that looks heavy, want me to hold it for you?”

Zuko frowns. He looks up from his work to give Sokka a confused look. “What is, my pen?”

Sokka gives him that little, playful smile—the one that is so incredibly hot for some reason Zuko can’t understand. His eyes gleam, even more than they do all the time.

“Nope,” he says, and his smile grows an inch, “your hand.”

Zuko blinks. Sokka flirting with him is nothing new, that’s why he manages to hold back his blush a bit and remain calm, even when he’s a bit dying inside.

He is just trapped between telling him, “god, I wish you were flirting with me for real,” and, “please stop doing it, it’s not good for my heart,” and, “If only you knew how much I really want to hold your hand”, but neither of those options are actually. Something viable.

“Are you flirting with me?” He asks instead, knowing the answer already.

Sokka would laugh, brush it off, and say something like, “ah, but you didn’t blush this time,” and let it go.

He doesn’t, though.

What he does, instead, is shrug and look at Zuko’s textbook, like he’s completely uninterested in the conversation.

Huh.

But then he speaks up again.

“Have been for the past year and a half or so, but thanks for noticing.” He answers.

Zuko blinks. He’s tempted to answer, “yeah, I know, which is a cruel, cruel thing to do, by the way, given how my heart just wants to escape out of my chest and go with you every time you do it,” or something equally playful to play it down like they always tend to do, but… for some reason, this time it feels… Real.

Maybe he should just laugh.

He doesn’t, though, and, “What?” is what comes out of his mouth.

Sokka looks up. “I said that I’ve been doing it for a year and a half or so, thank you for finally noticing.”

Zuko doesn’t understand. He’s not following the conversation at all. “Wait.”

“Ahh,” Sokka sighs, “honestly, if you didn’t notice by the end of the month, I would have felt deeply embarrassed. I was starting to think I lost my charm and I didn’t know how to flirt.”

“Well, that was a terrible pick-up line,” Zuko can’t help but retort, and like he wasn’t mildly-insulted, Sokka grins at him.

“But it worked for you, didn’t it?” He teases, leaning on Zuko’s personal space, “it made you feel something.”

Zuko frowns. “How would you know?”

Sokka stares. “Your face.”

“My face?”

“I can see it. In your face.”

Zuko covers his mouth, frowning. He can feel his own heart race.

Sokka is still way too close.

“You can…?”

“Yup.”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Zuko says, blinking. “That means—are you—are you flirting with me? For real?”

Sokka quirks both eyebrows. “Yes...?”

“But you—you…”

“Zuko, I don’t know where you got the idea, but I don’t flirt with anyone aside from you—at least, I haven’t done it in a long time. So yes, I am actually flirting with you.”

Zuko feels like he just got hit in the head. “Why?”

Sokka blinks. “Because I want to?”

“But why do you want to?”

Sokka shoots him a look. “Zuko,” he says, slowly, “I like you. I thought that was obvious already.”

Zuko blinks. “You have… romantic feelings for me?”

Sokka laughs, amused. “Yeah, Zuko, I have ‘romantic feelings’ for you.”

Zuko blinks again. He’s blinking too much. “So all this time… it was real… when you said… and that time you also said… and… oh.”

Sokka smiles, softly, and ruffles Zuko’s hair. It makes him blush. His heart might also not even work at this point, if it wasn’t for the fact that he can clearly hear it thundering in his ears.

Why is Sokka so calm? Zuko’s about to pass out.

“Katara is right, I’m dumb.”

Sokka grins. “Toph thinks so, too.”

“Toph thinks everyone is dumb.”

“Fair,” Sokka answers; he’s still grinning so wide. God, Sokka is so pretty. “Though I think she only calls us dumb, not that she means it.”

“Mmm.”

He’s so unfairly distracting, too. Zuko can’t stop looking at him.

“Wait,” He says, suddenly realizing something, “so you knew that I—that I—had feelings for you, too?”

Sokka looks at his lips when he talks, and Zuko has to concentrate hard to not straight up pass out from shock and his heart racing so fast it might give him an attack. Has he done that before? He would have noticed, right? Sure, Zuko looks at Sokka’s lips a lot instead than at his eyes, but he would have noticed if Sokka did it, too.

… Right?

He’s starting to feel dizzy. Is he dreaming? Is any of this real at all?

“Noticed it a while ago, yeah. That’s why I’m not freaking out that you noticed my flirting 100 years later.”

For a moment, Zuko is able to set aside his internal emotional turmoil and state of panic, if only to complain.

“Hey!” He frowns. “Wait—”

“You have said that a lot.”

“Wait,” Zuko repeats, just to be annoying, “if you… liked me, and knew that I liked you back, why didn’t you… make a move?”

“Like asking you out? I tried to, but you’re too oblivious.”

“Huh?” Zuko utters. What does that even mean? He’s not—well, he is, maybe, just a bit, but. “Well, if you knew that, you could have been more straightforward, you know!”

Sokka smiles, then shrugs.

“I guess we’re both dumb.”

Zuko feels his lips curling up, not able to contain all his happiness anymore, his brain catching up with the last 20 minutes of his life.

Holy shit, Sokka likes him. Sokka likes him. Him. Zuko. As in, romantically speaking.

Oh.

“I like you, Zuko.” Sokka says, as if Zuko’s brain didn’t shut down already. He reaches out and slides his hand on the table Zuko was previously working, the tip of his fingers touching Zuko’s. “So can I finally, please hold your hand?”

Zuko might pass out for real, but before that, he finally, finally, finally takes Sokka’s hand into his own.

It feels even better than in his dreams.

He feels like burning up, like all of his body is setting itself on fire.

Sokka’s hand is warm, so warm, and soft, so soft, and makes Zuko’s heart flutter like delicate flower’s petals in the wind.

Sokka’s thumb brushes over his knuckles; Sokka’s lips turn into a bright smile, like he’s been wanting to do that since forever.

It feels like home.

When they tell their friends they’re dating, Yue is the first one to say something.

“You mean you weren’t dating before?”

“Shocking, right,” Katara deadpans, but then she smiles, genuine. “I’m happy for both of you.”

(Although remembering that minutes later doesn’t make her any less scary, when she decides to corner him out of the bathroom and put a steady hand on his shoulder, feign-sweet smile on her face, and say with a weirdly off-calm voice that, if he ever dared to hurt Sokka on purpose, she was going to break all the 206 bones on his body.)

Toph grins brightly and kicks him enthusiastically on the side with a loud “Well-done, loser!” while Aang jumps on Zuko’s back and clings to him like a koala.

“That’s awesome, guys! Be happy!”

Zuko smiles.

“Finally, I won’t have to hear Sokka’s pinning all the time,” Suki quips, like she’s tired and utterly uninterested, but even the happiness is evident in her voice.

Sokka still complains. “Hey! I had to hear you be head-over-heels for Yue for months, too.”

“It wasn’t months for you, though.” Suki deadpans, but then her face goes all soft, “I’m kidding, So, I’m really happy for you two.”

Sokka smiles, and she gets up from where she’s cuddling Yue on the sofa to hug Sokka tightly, grinning wide, and then look at Zuko (stumbling with a happily laughing Aang on his back and Toph annoyingly ruffling his hair like a proud little sister) and whispers something in Sokka’s ear.

Zuko is glad that he’s still looking at Sokka from the corner of his eye, because he catches him blushing after that.

He’s cute.

Suki laughs. Sokka frowns, still blushing, and when he catches Zuko watching, he blushes harder.

He’s really cute.

Zuko smiles softly, and Sokka blinks, once, twice, before smiling back.

The cutest.

“Zuko.”

Zuko hums, but doesn’t look up from his work.

“Zukoooo, darling, love of my life.”

Zuko is used to it by now. To Sokka calling him pet-names like those. Of hearing Sokka say he’s cute, or hot, or smart, or witty, or pretty. It still makes his heart flutter, though. Just as Sokka’s laugh does. It still makes him blush sometimes.

(It’s funny because Sokka is the same way—or mostly the same. Zuko said he looked really hot after a baseball game once and Sokka almost died on the spot. He blushed like mad, but after he calmed down, he couldn’t stop bragging about Zuko calling him ‘hot’.

“Look at you, flirting shamelessly with me! You’re all grown up!” and, “I shouldn’t be near Zuko if I’m wearing my baseball uniform, he’ll get a boner,” and a lot of more phrases.)

“Hm?”

“You are—” Sokka sing-songs, and crosses his arms over Zuko’s textbook. He puts his chin over his forearms and looks up at Zuko’s face, grinning, and Zuko would probably be a bit annoyed that he’s not letting him finish his essay if it weren’t for the fact that he’s Sokka. His, ahem, boyfriend.

“I am…?”

“You are,” he repeats, and his smile grows bigger. Zuko thinks about kissing him; Zuko thinks about kissing him all the time. But, to be fair, he used to dream about that, just as much as he used to dream about them holding hands. And just as if he read Zuko’s mind, Sokka reaches out and holds his right hand; gently, like all of Sokka’s touches. It feels so nice, Zuko never wants to let go. “You are pulchritudinous.”

Eh?

Zuko tries to smile, but Sokka looks at him like he’s looking at a cute baby and throws his head back, still close and still holding his hand.

“You’re adorable.”

“What…?” Zuko is sure he looks as puzzled as he feels; he once caught his reflection in the mirror while playing Scrabble with Sokka and therefore knows how he must look. For some reason, Sokka finds it extremely cute. “What does that mean?”

Sokka laughs again.

Zuko narrows his eyes into slits. Or, maybe Sokka’s just making fun of him. (Not in a bad way, of course, Zuko knows. Sokka never means any harm, but he sure as hell loves teasing Zuko all the time.)

“Are you insulting me?”

Sokka wipes tears from his eyes and looks at Zuko with such a sweet face that it kinda makes Zuko stumble, even when he’s sitting.

His heart flutters alive, his face grows warm. He wants to kiss Sokka.

Sokka does, though, pulling gently at his hand and softly pressing his lips into Zuko’s wrist. He grins up at him.

“You’re adorable.”

(Later, when he’s waiting for a toast on Uncle Iroh’s kitchen, still barefoot, decked out in his pajamas and half-asleep, he finally finds what he thinks is the correct word using the search function of his phone—after 20 lame attempts of trying and failing at remembering—and pronouncing correctly—the right word.

He clicks on the dictionary tab, reads over the meaning, stumbles over, slips and falls flat on his ass.

He almost sets his kitchen on fire for the second time.)

Zuko is bad at flirting. He knows. But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t try, hard, and sometimes, sometimes, he succeeds (conscious and unconsciously).

Or maybe Sokka is just too easy to fluster (even when Sokka says it’s the other way around; even when that’s actually, probably, just a bit, true.)

Either way, Zuko basks happily in seeing Sokka get all flustered. It makes him even cuter than he already is.

(Whipped, Toph would draw out, mockingly sing-song.

And, well, maybe he is.)

Kissing Sokka is like setting himself on fire. Like burning up alive, but not in the bad sense. Not in the way he was burned as a little kid.

Kissing Sokka is like sitting near a campfire when you’re feeling cold; like standing on the edge of a cliff, feeling your chest contract; like tucking yourself in a warm blanket, with fuzzy socks and drinking your favorite drink, while hearing your favorite song. It’s like waking up on a good day, like basking in the sun at twilight, like taking a warm shower after a long day.

He feels too much, way too overwhelmed, even with just a brush of lips.

Kissing Sokka is a blessed thing.

There’s something that comes alive in his chest at the same time their lips touch. It blossoms under his ribcage, spreads over his chest, warms up all the way up to his throat. Beating, growing, marveling in every fiber of his being. Maybe that’s what love is—maybe that’s what Zuko has been searching for all this time; this connection, this overwhelming feeling, this deep, raw, unfiltered emotion, coming off him through waves of desperation for more.

He can’t be sure. But even if it wasn’t something he has looked out for, the discovery of it still feels like a sacred thing.

It’s like watching cherry blossoms falling on the street for the first time, like falling asleep on the comfortable side of your bed after a tiring day, it’s coming back home—or to what home should feel like.

It’s something delicate, at first. Zuko doesn’t have any experience, so he just lets himself feel as Sokka presses his lips softly into his own, carding his long fingers into Zuko’s hair.

Zuko feels an electric chill run down his spine, where Sokka’s fingertips—from the hand that’s not on his hair—make a slow path down. He can feel them burning, even through his clothes, even when Sokka’s hand is not that warm.

But it feels like that.

Zuko breathes shakily, moves his lips experimentally, feeling Sokka’s smile against his mouth.

He wants to do something, so he leans in, feeling Sokka’s eyelashes tickling his cheekbones, feeling Sokka’s thumb under his jaw, angling his head in a better position, feeling himself become aflame. He wants to touch Sokka. He really wants to touch Sokka.

So he does.

He uses one hand to gently touch Sokka’s wrist—the one Sokka’s using to keep Zuko’s head up—and, carefully, tentatively, he wraps his fingers around it, caresses the skin like he wants to print a topographic map of it into his mind.

Sokka makes a low, appreciative sound, and Zuko feels so happy it should be embarrassing.

Sokka has his hair down, and Zuko wants to touch it so much because he loves Sokka’s hair. Sokka’s hair is so pretty—Sokka is so pretty—so he goes for it. He brushes his fingers on Sokka’s shoulder, touches the strands of brown hair that lie there, moves his fingers to the nape of his neck. Zuko does this slowly, he wants to feel everything and he’s not going to rush, not after how long he’s wanted this.

He cradles his head with his hand, touches and touches and touches. He pulls at his hair, lightly, and his hand goes down just a bit; the skin of Sokka’s neck under his fingertips is warm, and so soft. He can feel the gentle echo of his heartbeat thundering in the tender curve of his jaw.

Just then, Sokka’s thumb brushes on his bare clavicle, and Zuko hisses, feeling like he’s on fire. Feeling like he’s become burning embers.

It’s just—too much, and at the same time, not enough—he wants more.

He has always been sensitive, but it’s different now. It’s like all his senses are turned on—he’s hyper-aware of everything around him—of Sokka’s hands, of Sokka’s steady, fast heartbeat under his open palm, of Sokka’s smell, of Sokka’s warm mouth, of Sokka’s soft skin, of the way Sokka keeps mumbling his name, softly against his lips or when he breaks apart to breath. He touches Sokka’s face, Sokka’s arms, Sokka’s neck; breathes his name into his own mouth, makes sure Sokka knows how much he wants this, how much he’s dreamed of this: of kissing him, of him kissing him back.

It feels too good to be even real—just as Sokka always makes him feel, even when they’re not kissing.

He might as well die there.

It wouldn’t be a bad way to go, though.

Linked, bare soul to bare soul, with the prettiest, smartest, kindest boy he’s ever met.

There’s something so tragically painful about falling in love, they say. But as he sees Sokka laughing in front of him because of some ridiculous joke Toph made, holding Zuko’s hand like it’s the most precious thing in the world, he can’t help but think that falling in love is anything but painful.

Sokka turns around, catches him staring and grins, playfully wiggling his eyebrows.

Zuko smiles, thinking just how much he loves Sokka, how much he loves his life, how much he loves his uncle, how much he loves his friends, how much he loves being alive, being there, curled up with Sokka on his couch, watching a stupid rom-com movie on Sokka’s cell-phone screen, sharing earphones with his boyfriend. Being there, in the house that he shares with his uncle—his real dad—in the house that he has come to call home. Being there, feeling safe in Sokka’s arms, with Toph hearing music on the TV, while Aang and Katara and Suki and Yue sleep, sprawled there and there all over his living-room.

“I love you,” Zuko tells Sokka, like he just revealed the biggest secret of the universe.

Love.

He feels the word on his tongue, and it tastes sweet. It tastes like the color of Sokka’s eyes, like the tone of Sokka’s laugh, like all of Sokka’s smiles—the gentle one, the soft one, the playful and flirty one, the wide one—all of them. Love tastes like Sokka holding his hand while they go for a walk, like Sokka’s voice when he talks about what he likes, like Sokka’s proud eyes after scoring a run, after Zuko shows him his grades. It tastes like a lot of things he can’t name, like the way Sokka says his name, like the way Sokka makes him feel, like that little mole under Sokka’s jaw, like the way his eyes crinkle when he smiles with the setting sun of the beach, like the way his fingertips feel against Zuko’s neck. Like the way he looks at Zuko like he’s not broken, like he’s the best thing that ever existed, like his scar is beautiful and all of Zuko’s failures don’t matter to him because he’s him, and that is enough. Like Zuko is more than enough, and how he loves that he’s more than enough to Zuko, too.

“I love you,” Zuko says again, in a low voice, and it feels real. It has meaning. It’s not an empty word at all.

For some reason, he feels like tearing up a bit.

Sokka’s face mellows, softens; he brushes his thumb under Zuko’s left eye, just at the edge of his scar, and his eyes become impossibly warm. Zuko wants to kiss all of his face; he wants to taste all of Sokka’s softness on his own lips.

There, in the quiet of Zuko’s living-room, Sokka smiles, and Zuko thinks he’s the most bewitching, stunning, ineffably beautiful being.

It feels like something ethereal. Sokka smiles and Zuko feels blessed to exist.

“I love you, too,” Sokka answers, like he’s sharing one of the secrets of the universe, too, like he’s never told anyone anything more true, and ever so gentle.

Zuko smiles and kisses him.

Falling in love is a blessed thing.

#zukka #zukka fic #atla #avatar the last airbender #my writing #... this is my contribution to the atla/zukka fandom #please let me know what do you think in the comments/tags/ao3!!!!!!!!#have a lovely day and thanks for reading :')

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make-me-imagine · 3 years

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Hi may I request a ship please, with a marvel girl. My name is Nicole, I use she her and I'm a lesbian. I have buzzed short hair (sides and back), I'm chubby, with white skin, blue eyes and I wear glasses.

I work in retail. I like video games, daydreaming, reading reader fics and books, when I can I love going to the cinema, I like to buy pins and badges. I love just laying in bed playing video games (playstation to be specific) or doing stuff on my laptop/phone etc. I hate ppl lol in terms of those who are horrible to us retail workers or other people in that area. I dislike when people touch my things without my permission (especially my mum no matter how many times I tell her not to touch my mugs) I've never been in a relationship, never even held a girls hand. I often say things that people feel sorry for me like saying I don't have any friends or the most physical contact I get is from a stuffed bear I hug at night. I'm a very lonely person who's cried sometimes at night because of it and feel like I'll never be loved/have a gf/wife or friends 🙃

Um turn off would def be smoking/drug taking. Being rude and especially if they talk over me if I trying to say something or isn't interested when I'm talking about something I'm passionate about. Turn ons would be of course kindness and someone who could make me laugh and engage when I'm talking and being interested even if they don't know anything about it. And give me words of endearment since I def need it lol. And I guess patient since like I said I've never been with anyone so I haven't had my first kiss yet. Especially with touch tho I'm so touch starved I may just never want to let of once we do hug. Oh I'll be 28 this year.

Um I don't know what else to say really, please message me if there is anything else or I missed something, I'm typing this quickly cause I'm going into work now lol. Congrats by the way!!!

lmao, I think I would have understood. I hope you like it! And thanks!

I know your icon is Wanda, buuuut...

I ship you with Natasha.

I think Natasha is perfect for you. She is patient and kind and would never push you to do anything. She is protective and will always have your back. I think she would also be pretty good with words of both endearment and affirmation lol. She is also fine with physical affection and would hold you for hours if needed. She would always make you feel wanted and loved and makes sure you know that you are worthy of it and will never be alone.

How you met and her first impression:

You were a recruit for SHIELD and she was watching a training session.

You had caught her eye and she ended up looking up your file to check you out.

Afterwards she introduced herself to you.

She thought you were nice, easy to get along with and had pretty good sociable skills.

She could see something in you that she felt you might not be able to see.

So she took you under her wing; not knowing that she'd become much more fond of you pretty soon after.

Ways she shows you she loves you without words:

Setting up a comfy room with pillows, blankets and what not so you can play video games together in the evenings.

Brushing her hands through your hair when you are slowly falling asleep.

Hugging you from behind randomly.

Holding you close while you are sleeping.

Will listen intently to you when you are talking.

Best-Friend:

I feel like Wanda would be your best friend. You would get along really well and have similar personalities. You two often go to movies together, and also go on double dates.

((This is the last ship to go out!))

#ship #ships #ship request #this is the last ship #xxxtwilightaxelxxx #ask

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