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dredshirtroberts · 1 year

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God it's no wonder i never thought of my birthday as anything really special and have just been waiting for people to forget it's a thing for years. Fuck the reality of the situation dawned on me and my god is it depressing.

Like...

When your choice - the thing you pick to do because you want to and think it will be fun - for your EIGHTEENTH BIRTHDAY is a Southern Republican Leadership Convention and the only reason you can complain about it 13 years later is because your politics have changed so drastically (for the better, absolutely for the better do not get me wrong), something has gone deeply, deeply wrong in how your family has handled your birthday up to that point.

oh sure we did fun things over my birthday but it wasn't like I had requested we go on a 2 week trip across the country by minivan, mainly camping the whole way in early springtime, and the only reason we were in town to be able to go to the Washington National Art Museum was because my dad wanted to go to a weekend hockey camp, and that just so happened to be the same weekend when the hockey team my family rooted for actually fucking won a game to get into the Stanley Cup on *coincidence* like...

My sister always complained about what we did "for" my birthday, especially if it was something I specifically requested (like the Art Museum because if we're going to be there and i'm 16 and fucking really into art, i wanna go to the art museum because what the fuck else is there for me to choose from in April in Washington DC?). You know what we did for her birthday *at her request* multiple years in a row? Waterparks, Amusement parks, fancy dinners at her favorite restaurant. My mom *chose* to go on long family vacations over her birthday, it wasn't on accident and coincidental and because we were already going to be there, it was on purpose and the reason we were going was *for* her birthday (except that one year, when it was for my sister's choir opportunities but one year as opposed to *multiple instances.)* We went to the beach many many times for my dad's birthday. We always did things *they* wanted to do.

When I became "fun" to hang out with (read: I was old enough to drink alcohol with my parents), I did a sit and drink with my family at a local bar until my little sister drove us home. I went to the only gay bar in a 100 mile radius with my roommate and didn't even drink, and no one even really cared it was my birthday. I went out drinking with my parents, my aunt and her at the time boyfriend (now husband) and their frat buddy and we lost my aunt, my mother collapsed because she was too drunk and I had to half carry her to the corner where my sister was going to pick us up, and hand feed her chips my dad bought for her when he finally fucking caught up like fifteen minutes later after we told him it was time to go home.

My requests for my birthday were "Something small, at home, nothing fancy, just maybe if we could get steaks and potatoes and broccoli, and a fun dessert" because if I made a big fuss, it was always "oh well that's really expensive and we all know your sister is going to want a big ol' birthday and man we really can't plan for that, and boy the off season in springtime is a terrible time to do things huh? Except for when it's your mother who has an earlier birthday but that's obviously beside the point"

My birthday this past year, another "milestone" in my family were it for anyone else, was a complete disregard for my request of something small because I didn't want anything big. And I got ignored. At my own birthday. And told that my family doesn't believe what I tell them about myself. And judged and berated and the only reason any of that was saved was because my partner loves me and even though they lived far away at that time, they bothered to try and do something special for me, but only within the bounds of what i was comfortable with and that's all i wanted.

i cried because i hadn't gotten anything even close to that in over 2 decades. I didn't know i could *like* my birthday.

I am....I am so mad. I am furious. but also? mainly? I am just...

i'm really fucking sad. what the *fuck*.

#hey i hate my family wow they done fucked up holy shit #i've got just over 3 months til my next one i hope they fucking forget it.#i live several states away hopefully i'll get lucky #fuck all of them #fuck every single one of them how *dare* they

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keywestlou · 1 year

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DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN

DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN - https://keywestlou.com/dewey-defeats-truman/Many dislike Biden today. Including members of the Democratic Party. A similar situation existed in 1948. Truman was President. New York Governor Thomas Dewey was running against him. Truman had nary a friend. The election result was surprising. Truman won! On November 3, 1948, the Chicago Tribune jumped the gun and mistakenly declared Dewey winner of the previous day's Presidential election race in a front page headline: DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN. Truman's victory was shocking. Not expected. Beside appearing without public support, Truman had no money. Contributors were not inclined to be given to losers. Media advertising was the way to go. Truman did not have sufficient funds. So he ran a 22,000 mile "whistle stop" railroad and automobile campaign. Truman stopped in every little town along the way. Described himself as the "underdog." Eventually his appearances took hold. The crowds at his railroad stops grew larger. He spoke from the platform on the last car. People began a chant that grew louder with each stop: "Give them Hell, Harry!" The Chicago Tribune was not the only media outlet to screw up and announce Dewey winner. H.V. Kaltenborn was America's leading radio commentator. His voice distinctive. He went on the air announcing Dewey the projected winner. I had two connections with Truman relating to his campaign and victory. It was late summer 1948. The summer before eighth grade. Truman's train would be stopping in Utica. My buddies and I rode our bicycles to the railroad station. We were able to wheel them up right in front of the platform. Truman no more than 5 feet away. Impressed we were to see and hear the President. Fast ahead 22 years to 1960. I was a senior at Syracuse University Law School. Truman long retired was appearing to provide several talks. One of the events scheduled was a private luncheon with what was represented to be the University's top 12 students. At the time, Syracuse had 35,000 students. I was selected to represent the Law School. A distinction I thought undeserving. Though I had brought glory to the Law School by excelling in a national competition. Luncheon was in a private dining room. Two round tables of 7 each. The extra person at one table Truman, at the other a University representative. Seating was arranged. I was seated next to Truman. Wild! Truman kept us entertained during lunch. His pride and humility both obvious. Truman's talk humorous. He had us constantly laughing. He spoke primarily of the 1948 election. He brought with him a copy of the Chicago Tribune and laughingly showed it off. He even had a recording of H.V. Kaltenborn's statement to the nation that he had lost. He first mimicked the recording. Then played it. He had it down to a science! Be cognizant my friends, the results of political elections can be surprising. How does the saying go.....Don't count your chickens till they're hatched? A no hitter in yesterday's World Series game. The Astros beat the Phillies 5-0. The Phillies threw 4 or 5 pitchers in on the way to victory. None gave up a hit. The series now 2-2. One month ago, I wrote advising there would be a turkey shortage this Thanksgiving. Not only a shortage, also that available turkeys would cost double what they did last year. Nothing has changed, except the cost might be more than double. Cost increase is attributable to increased costs turkey farmers have been experiencing: Food, fuel and fertilizer. PLUS, a particularly virulent strain of avian flu. More than 6 million turkeys have already died in 2020 alone. The number is expected to increase in coming weeks. The Federal Reserve has increased interest rates 0.75 percent for the fourth consecutive time. It represents the sixth overall rate hike this year and represents the Fed's most aggressive initiative since 1980. The increase(s) are supposed to work. Have not so far. Their purpose is to break the back of inflation. On the other hand, though the text book approach, will it instead break the bank, break the economy? Scares me. Be well.

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bazmichaels · 1 year

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High School - Part Two

Pretty soon, it was time for two-a-days. I was ready, or so I thought. The workouts were brutal, and it turns out the head coach was not the most insane one. Coach Woods was certifiable. He would literally start foaming at the mouth when he started yelling, and his body would quiver uncontrollably. Coach Lavelle could also snap like a twig at any second.

But I was getting used to how to deal with them. Then the worst thing imaginable happened to me. The coaches rolled out the new offensive scheme they had devised for us, and there was no longer a fullback position! My position – gone. Instead of a speedy tailback lined up behind a human battering ram (the fullback), we had two speedy halfbacks lined up side-by-side in the backfield. I practiced at halfback, but I didn’t have the flat-out speed needed to run the types of plays we ran out of that formation. Goodbye Ivy League school (spoiler alert: I could never have gone there, anyway, for so many reasons). The coaches also decided to run an option system, so my friend Buddy Phillips, a tall, strong-armed drop-back quarterback who was ready to take over the offense was also out of a job. In stepped sophomore QB Buddy Nauls (last name sound familiar?), a running QB. (Yes, all Ohio HS quarterbacks are named Buddy.) I switched my concentration to the defensive side of the ball and was a starting inside linebacker going into our first scrimmage. Our psychopath coach, who came from the powerhouse Catholic School league, decided to call up his buddies and see who wanted to drive up to Huber Heights and scrimmage us. As it would happen, the juggernaut that is Cincinnati Archbishop Moeller, defending State and National Champions decided they would come up and show us how the best of the best play. Under Coach Jerry Faust, the Fighting Crusaders (I hate that mascot name, by the way) won six state championships and five national championships between 1975-82. They were Ohio's winningest football team of the 1970s (103-7).

All right, then, let’s see how this went, shall we? First of all, the stands were filled with college scouts. That was a potential good thing. They were all there for the Moeller players, but if any of us had a great scrimmage, we could get noticed by a school that normally wouldn’t take a second look at us. The next part was discouraging, though: Their team got off the bus. These guys were massive. Not all of them, but they had enough gigantors to fill an offense and a defense. The way a scrimmage works is that each team runs a certain number of plays, no matter what happens, and then they switch the offense and defense, and the other team runs that same number of plays. The fact that they scored seven touchdowns, and we scored zero does not mean we lost 70-0 – that would be pathetic - it just means they beat us to a pulp. I started as the right inside linebacker. They had the strongest line any of us had ever faced. They also had the fastest running backs and receivers any of us had ever faced. When we played them with our straight up 3-4 defense, they shredded us. I distinctly remember their first pass play; I dropped back into my zone coverage, and then I heard like a sonic boom as the tight end appeared out of nowhere and cut across in front of me. Their 6’4” quarterback had looked me off to his right flat, and then even before he looked back at his supersonic tight end, the ball just appeared in the tight end’s hands. I swear the ball was never in the air – it was some sort of quantum entanglement situation. Anyway, he scored on that play. Here is a picture of that dude, 6’5” Tony Hunter, making a catch later for the University of Notre Dame in front of like a million fans in a home game in front of Touchdown Jesus.

After that, he was a first round NFL draft pick. He played four seasons in the NFL before he had a career-ending knee injury. The only time our defense seemed to have success against their offense was when I blitzed up the middle. Every time we called a blitz, I stood right up on the line in the gap between their center and left guard and looked the QB right in the eyes. When the ball was snapped, I’d charge through the gap and tackle the QB before he could hand off to the running back. The big boys on the line couldn't touch me. I caused a fumble once and the rest were tackles for losses. My mom was in the stands, and she heard some college scouts talking about my quickness. Later, I took a shot to the face by somebody huge on an inside running play. I saw myself on film later finishing out the play sequence, but I didn’t remember any of it. Probably 5 or 6 plays. When I came off the field, somebody noticed that my legs were jelly, and my eyes were glazed over. The trainer came over and diagnosed me with a concussion. The next day, I noticed that my facemask was cracked. That never happens. I stuck around the rest of the game on the bench, but never went back in, obviously. Well – except when the coaches decided to practice a punt play on each side. This was my chance to show off my leg in front of all the college scouts in the Midwest. I had been working all summer to strengthen my leg and improve my form, and I had been launching rockets off my left foot. I stumbled onto the field, barely able to stand, dropped back into punting position, actually caught the snap (whew!), and punted the ball with all my might. I nailed the punt, and it went over 50 yards – straight up in the air. I think it was about 10 yards forward. Well, poop. After the game, my mom took me to the hospital. I was diagnosed with a serious concussion, and I was told not to go to sleep that night, or else I might not wake back up. Oh yeah, my neck was also broken. Not a bad break, but I had some chips break off and they were floating around in there. I also had severe whiplash.

That scrimmage was a great idea, coach. I took some time off from playing a regular position but was able to punt and do some placekicking. After a while, I tried playing positions again, but I never really played the same way I used to. I played ok in some JV games, but I was just really sluggish the rest of the season. I was the starting punter that season and did well. My neck still hurts every now and then to this day. A bunch of players got hurt that scrimmage, to varying degrees. And then we scrimmaged another big Catholic school after that, and more people got hurt. We limped to a 5-5 record that season. We came out of the gates at 1-5, and then I guess some guys healed up from the scrimmages, and we won our final four games.

On to wrestling season. Nope. No more wrestling for me. I didn’t even want to try basketball at this point – my skills were diminished, and I just had the wrong build for it, and a 1" vertical leap. I found myself a bit lost, but I got a lot of reading in. By then, Boston had come out with their amazing first album and Kansas had come out with the spectacular Leftoverture album. I bought those albums on cassette tapes and listened to them as I read and did science experiments in my room.

I got a few other cassettes, including the band .38 Special. They were a Southern Rock band, and I wasn’t as interested in Southern Rock (Marshall Tucker, Lynyrd Skynyrd, ZZ Top) as my sister was, but the singer for .38 Special had a voice I could emulate, so I liked singing along with their songs. And you must admit “Hold on Loosely” is a good song. Now, some of you may be asking “what’s a cassette tape”? The Compact Cassette or Musicassette (MC), also commonly called the tape cassette, cassette tape, audio cassette, or simply tape or cassette, is an analog magnetic tape-recording format for audio recording and playback. Invented by Lou Ottens and his team at the Dutch company Philips in 1963, Compact Cassettes come in two forms, either already containing content as a prerecorded cassette (Musicassette), or as a fully recordable "blank" cassette. Both forms have two sides and are reversible by the user. Although other tape cassette formats have also existed - for example the Microcassette - the generic term cassette tape is normally always used to refer to the Compact Cassette because of its ubiquity during its height of popularity. Compact Cassettes contain two miniature spools, between which the magnetically coated, polyester-type plastic film (magnetic tape) is passed and wound. These spools and their attendant parts are held inside a protective plastic shell which is 4 by 2.5 by 0.5 inches (10 cm × 6.3 cm × 1.3 cm) at its largest dimensions. The tape itself is commonly referred to as "eighth-inch" tape, supposedly 1⁄8 inch (0.125 in; 3.17 mm) wide, but it is slightly larger: 0.15 inches (3.81 mm).[13] Two stereo pairs of tracks (four total) or two monaural audio tracks are available on the tape; one stereo pair or one monophonic track is played or recorded when the tape is moving in one direction and the second (pair) when moving in the other direction. This reversal is achieved either by flipping the cassette, or by the reversal of tape movement ("auto-reverse") when the mechanism detects that the tape has come to an end.

I played my cassettes in a bad boy like this one here:

My mom got some vinyl albums that I liked. Boz Scaggs, Eagles, Chicago, James Taylor, Carole King, Pablo Cruise, etc.

With Spring sports season coming up, and my football career seemingly on the wane, Chip and I started talking about going out for the tennis team. Most of the guys on the tennis team have generally grown up going to their parents’ country club, taking lessons, and playing tournaments. Chip and I just went out and hit. We played enough sets that we learned the rules and a bit of strategy, but we figured we could overpower some of the less athletic guys. Chip was a big dude. He was about 6’3” and 220 pounds and played offensive tackle on the football team. He could hit the ball hard. I could also hit hard, not from my size, but from my powerful lower half and my ping pong-based strokes. I was faster around the court, so I usually beat him, but he could swat. We figured we had nothing to lose, so we found out how to sign up and went for it. We needed to start practicing as soon as second semester started, but it was cold, and snowy, and icy outside. We didn’t have access to any indoor courts, I don’t think there were any in Huber Heights, so we just did what we could in our gym. We did a lot of running and spent a lot of time volleying to ourselves against a wall. We set up a net in the gym and could practice serving. The serving drills and the volleying helped me a lot going into outdoor play. Groundstrokes were impossible to work on because the floor was so slick.

One day, we finally went outside to the courts, shoveled off the snow, and started hitting. It felt good to be outside again and, for me, hitting again. I hadn’t been on a court in a long time. I immediately noticed that we had some really good players. I didn’t know if all varsity high school players were that good, or if our team was really good. I had never watched a high school tennis match before. I watched the guys that looked like they knew what they were doing to see what I could pick up. I had also watched a lot of tennis on TV. PBS and ESPN carried a lot of normal tour tournaments, and the networks carried the grand slams. Now it was time for me to try to play myself. Once we had practiced for a while, we started playing matches against each other. I did well against the guys that didn’t look like professional tennis players, but our best guys crushed me. In High School tennis, at least for us, the top three players on the team played singles matches, in order of best to worst, in theory. Then you’d have your next four best players play doubles matches, also in order of best to worst. Anyone not in the top 7 players would play on the JV team in similar fashion. I made the varsity team in doubles.

Chip played JV doubles. It was a great learning experience for us that first year. I soon found out how good our team was as we won our first 11 matches. We wound up going 18-3 that year, still the best record ever at the school. Pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty good. The following summer, I played in a few local tournaments in both singles and doubles (with Chip). Fun.

#memoir #high school

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katiegavin · 3 years

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#911edit #evanbuckleyedit #evan buckley #carla price #she's like ..okay anyways #asdfghj #911 fox #buddie nation we lost but we won #*

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lonely-lost-soul · 3 years

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First Lady of the Court

Part 3: Ghostbur (C!Wilbur Soot x reader)

A worn journal was opened, the pages faded and yellowing, a pen was placed on the parchment and the owner began to write. The sun rose over the horizon, and the wind nipped at the writer's skin, but they didn’t feel it. They didn’t feel many of life's sensations anymore, sometimes he felt warmth but it was always fleeting. He titled the page:

"Things I Remember", by Ghostbur

-The smell of bread

- L'Manberg

- The Revolution

- Bullying Tommy (he's a child)

- Sparring with Techno as a kid

- The wind

- Being president

- People cheering for me

- Fundy growing up

- Niki

- (Y/N) becoming my first lady

- The van

- Tubbo building everything

- Phil protecting me

- Sally the salmon

- (Y/N) the new love of my life

- (Y/N) adoring Fundy and treating him as her own

- Philza stabbing me to death with a sword

- A large explosion

-(Y/N) crying for me, I don’t like when she’s sad

- The taste of salt

- Air in my lungs

- Winning the election

- A ravine

- Techno's armory

- Books

- Tunnels

- Arrows

- ./..

- I don't know

The ghost’s head snapped up to attention, up until a few months ago he was lost in a void of darkness. Pieces were coming back together for him, he was once Wilbur Soot the president of the country he fought and died for, but now he didn’t have a purpose. He wanted to find Fundy, Tommy and Phil let them know he was here and alright, well alright for a ghost. But most importantly he wanted to find (Y/N), her cries wouldn’t leave his head. It was bad, a bad, bad memory, he’d taken to holding pieces of blue to make him feel better, but even that didn’t help his mood.

Eventually, Wilbur had found Fundy, who wasn’t that thrilled to see him, much to his disappointment. When he found Tommy he was slightly more thrilled and Phil seemed to be relieved yet mournful, Wilbur didn’t understand why, he did a good thing. However he had yet to find her, Phil seemed to be the only one who knew but he was giving him nothing. He didn’t know why was it because you didn’t want to see him? The thought made him want to cover himself in blue and beg for forgiveness. He managed to find a brand new buddy in his mourning, a blue sheep he had dubbed Friend. You would love her, (Y/N) adored sheep she would love Friend, she could be a forgiveness gift. Yet, nobody would tell the ghost where you were no matter how much he begged and pleaded, he watched as his once-prosperous country got rebuilt. Tubbo was doing a fantastic job as president, everyone seemed happy and Ghostbur accepted that fact.

A few days ago, Ghostbur sensed something was wrong. Phil was acting weirdly distant and even though Tubbo was trying to dodge his questions, he couldn’t fathom what was going on, until he saw you. You had come in wearing Alivebur’s old jacket and Ghostbur immediately froze, your hair was slightly messy and you looked tired. You were still you, same gorgeous, beautiful you, if his heart was still beating it would’ve skipped a beat. The only difference he could find was that your eyes looked deader than his own, and he was a ghost, it made him ache terribly. He wanted to float towards you, to welcome you with open arms but for some reason, he hesitated. He watched as Phil made his way over to you, he wrapped you in a hug and you hugged him back, the two made some small talk before Phil rubbed the back of his neck. Your brow furrowed and he watched you blink in surprise, you looked over Phil’s shoulder and right through Wilbur. The ghost would’ve flushed if he had blood, instead he settled on fiddling with the cuffs of his sweater before holding up a hand in a wave. You stumbled back away from him looking over at Phil who gave a little nod, Wilbur watched you shake your head and his heart sunk. His father reached out to you and your face scrunched up, you were hissing at him, clearly pissed off. Phil whacked you on the back of his head and you glared at the older man, Wilbur felt a small nudge on his arm, it was Friend. He took a shaky breath and ran his fingers through her wool, at least she had his back, when he looked up again you were marching over to him.

God, you were hot when you were mad.

“(Y/n)! Darling! It’s good to see you-”

“You son of a bitch!” You spat at him, eyes suddenly blazing with life and fire, Ghostbur felt himself falter and shrink into himself. “You think you can just come back here after what you did to us! How you treated us, how you treated me!” Ghostbur’s face fell, he didn’t remember hurting you, he refused to remember that memory, but the way he clutched his blue said enough. “I loved you! I wanted to marry you!” You choked out suddenly deflating as tears began to well in your eyes, you cursed and covered your face with your sleeve. “I cannot believe I’m crying right now.”

“You need some blue?” Wilbur said in a soft, tender voice different than you last remembered. You looked out over your sleeve finally taking in his ghostly appearance, he was wearing his big, round glasses, eyes a soft grey. Blue seemed to be pooling in the edges almost like tears, he had a shaky smile on his features, the yellow sweater he wore was one you’ve never seen before, a large red gash sat on his chest. He watched you swallow thickly and take a step back from him, “I don’t remember what happened to make you hate me so dear.” His voice quivered and he heard you whimper, “But I am so sorry...you can call me Ghostbur, I want to be different from Alivebur. Though his love for you still lives in me.”

Ghostbur watched you let out a heart-wrenching sob as you fell to your knees in front of him. You were clutching the L’manburg pin on your lapel, knuckles white, hands shaking in petrification. He floated beside you and wrapped you up in his arms, the hug wasn’t unwelcome but it was cold, Wilbur knew you’d feel no warmth from it but he hoped it’d bring you some form of comfort.

“I missed you. So much,” You admitted with a sniff, and Ghostbur couldn’t help but smile sadly.

“I missed you too,” He ran a hand through your hair and you leaned into the apparition's ghostly touch. Ghostbur glanced up at Phil who had a tense smile on his face as he nodded slightly at the ghost, it read don’t hurt her again, and Wilbur nodded. “Where have you been? I’ve been looking all over for you, you need to meet Friend!” His eyes lit up a little as he looked around for his blue sheep, “You’ll love her!”

“I’ve been living with Fundy,” You answered his question and his brows furrowed, but Fundy had told him he had no idea where you lived. “We’ve been taking care of one another, just like I promised you we would,” You responded flatly, your voice had a flat affect and Wilbur shuffled uncomfortably in the air.

Where was your spark? Your lust for life and the good things? Was this his fault?

No. No, it couldn’t have been, he refused to accept that outcome.

Alivebur loved you just as much as Ghostbur did, he felt that love so deep in his being it was almost suffocating. So, he’d never hurt you, you don’t hurt the people you love and that’s a fact. So why were you so sad?

“That’s weird. Fundy said he couldn’t find you!” Ghostbur huffed, shaking his head at his son's actions, “My silly, little champion.”

“Ghostbur don’t call him that, he doesn’t like it.” You stated gruffly crossing your arms and his frown only deepened,

“What do you mean he doesn’t like it? Of course, he likes it, he loves it!”

“No Wil he doesn’t. Stop it.” You hissed and he flinched, your face fell a little and you turned away from him. You shoved your hands in the pockets of the jacket, “I need a smoke.” You muttered and his jaw dropped,

“That’s bad for you! You know that!”

“So what? It makes me fucking feel better. You’re not my Wilbur. Stop pretending you give a shit about me.”

“I do care! I love you!” He argued desperately, “I know I’m not him. I can never be him but that doesn’t mean I love you any less. His love transferred to me, please...give me a chance.” You looked at him up and down and he’s never felt more terrified in his entire existence, he needed your hope, he could fix you.

“You don’t understand how much he hurt me.” You whispered completely vulnerable, “he went crazy, blew up a nation, and left me alone.”

He. Meaning Alivebur, Ghostbur was glad he was distinguishing the difference between the both of them. He didn’t remember doing that to you, after all, Ghostbur didn’t do that to you.

“I’ll never leave you alone. I can promise you that, with my whole heart I swear it.” He took your hands within his own, he knew you could barely feel his touch. You closed your eyes for a minute before reopening them,

“I’ll give you one chance. One. So help me god, if you ruin that chance I will never speak to you again. That’s a promise.”

Ghostbur swallowed thickly, nerves prickling at his entire being, “I won’t waste that chance, my dear.” You gave a stern nod and rubbed the back of your neck with a tired sigh,

“So...Friend?”

Ghostbur’s entire demeanor changed as he introduced you to the blue sheep that had taken a rather strong liking to him. The sheep nuzzled at your chest sniffing at your clothing choice, you hesitated a little before running your fingers through her wool.

“She’s very soft.”

“I know right!” he chimed wrapping his arms tight around his sheepy buddy, he buried his face in her wool. Ghostbur saw a weary smile spread across your face which made him smile back at you in return.

Maybe this could still work out for the both of you.

Months went by and you had set up residence outside of New L’manburg, everyone understood why you couldn’t make a permanent home out of the new country after everything that occurred there. In between watching over an exiled Tommy, Ghostbur would come by and visit you, even though you hated to admit it the ghost of your former lover had won you over. He was just so innocent so unlike the man who blew up his own country, so much like the goofball you had originally fallen in love with, you were enraptured. When New L’manburg blew up you weren’t surprised, there was a dull ache in your heart when you heard the news from a sobbing Ghostbur but you couldn’t feel sympathy. What you did feel sympathy about though was Phil’s uncaring attitude towards Friend, it was the first time you heard Ghostbur get legitimately angry.

It scared you more than you wanted to admit.

Even so, you confronted your former lover; he didn’t like sadness and tried to push the feeling away. You tried to comfort him the best way you could but he insisted he was fine opting to take his blue and forget his sadness. That was another thing, his quote on quote blue, it never did sit right with you. Hurt, sadness, and pain are hard emotions to face but they create character and depth and ultimately shouldn’t just be forgotten so easily, after all, how will you ever learn from your mistakes if you don’t experience sadness. Ghostbur didn’t want to hear your reasoning and still took towards using the blue, you eventually gave up trying to convince him otherwise.

You were sitting outside on your porch, rocking on your porch swing a cup of cocoa in your hand. Ghostbur was sitting beside you, head on your shoulder humming a soft tune to himself,

“Darling?”

“Hm?”

“Can I kiss you?”

Ghostbur had asked so innocently it made your heart leap into your throat. Thoughts of Wilbur and his betrayal flashed across your mind, you wanted to scream and say no. That you’ll never let someone like that hurt you again, you were too strong, you opened your mouth but the hope in Ghostbur’s eyes made you close your mouth. This wasn’t the Wilbur you knew, this was Ghostbur, sure he was the ghost of Wilbur but they were so different. Ghostbur made you happy, he made you remember what it was like to be a good person, made you remember what it was like when you first met Wilbur. He made you smile and laugh, and he genuinely adored and cared for your happiness. You found yourself uttering a soft okay before your brain could comprehend your decision, the smile that lit up across Ghostbur’s face was illuminating. He floated over to you and cupped your cheeks, his pale hands were freezing, but it felt good against your scalding hot cheeks. Ghostbur’s eyes softened as he stroked your cheeks with his thumbs, he leaned forward and captured your lips in a soft kiss, the kiss was cold but not unpleasant. You felt him melt against you, and press desperately on to your lips, you couldn’t help but let out a little giggle you felt him pull away. He had the cutest pout on his pale lips,

“Don’t giggle at my kisses!” Ghostbur sounded so offended, you only laughed harder. “Stopppppppp,” he whined leaning against you dramatically.

“I’m sorry Ghostbur.” You covered your mouth with your hand, “You’re just too cute.”

You watched him freeze at your genuine compliment, a smile broke across his features,

“No, you’re cute!” Ghostbur cooed floating around you and wrapping his arms tight around your waist. You leaned into his touch with bright red cheeks,

“You’re a goofball,” You whispered softly, he nuzzled his face into your hair,

“I love you.” You froze in his arms and tensed up, reality crashing back onto all at once. Did you really kiss your dead lover's ghost? The lover who was a fucking asshole to you and blew up an entire country.

Not a girl boss moment.

“You don’t have to say it back,” Ghostbur was quick to add, “I know how hard this is for you. There’s no pressure with me my dear, I just want you to know how I feel.” He pressed the sweetest of kisses to the side of your head. Tears gathered in the corner of your eyes, not out of sadness, out of shock. You couldn’t believe Ghostbur was once Wilbur, the same man you yelled and screamed at you before his death, Ghostbur was wonderful. Ghostbur was kind and sweet, gentle and tender, one day you’d be ready to say you love him, just not yet, not when everything is so fresh.

“Thank you Ghostbur. You don’t know how much that means to me.”

“Anything for you my dear.”

Months turned into years and you had officially fallen in love with your clingy ghost and his blue sheep. You knew he loved you to absolute bits, there were many occasions where Phil and Technoblade came up to you and begged you to get Ghostbur to stop gushing about you. You only turned red and smiled fondly, they scoffed but ruffled your hair, overall both were happy to see you smiling again. You hadn’t kept up with the dramas of the SMP, all your information was from Ghostbur, which happened to be not all that reliable.

You loved him but he was so naive, Tommy and Tubbo had defeated Dream, taken two of his cannon lives, and locked him in Sam’s prison. When Ghostbur told you a smile overtook your features, finally the bastard was getting what he deserved.

Isolation.

Tommy was growing closer with Ghostbur again too, which you couldn’t help but be happy about, he too deserved to heal from the trauma Wilbur had inflicted. You trusted Tommy, even when everyone else didn’t you tried to have his back and showed you he cared in his own weird way. Which mostly meant not stealing your shit, which you weren’t complaining about, today, however, he seemed tense. You both were walking the Prime Path on your way back to your abode, Tommy was loud and rambling, but they were different from his usual ramblings.

“Tommy?”

“What is it, women? I’m in the middle of my heroic story!”

“Are you alright?” You glanced at him out of the corner of your eyes and saw him go rigid. He cleared his throat shaking away his nerves,

“Fuck you talking about? Of course, I’m okay bitch. Don’t interrupt me again!” He scoffed nose high in the air, you narrowed your eyes and he shrunk under your gaze. “I just…” He rubbed the back of his neck, you thought about his resurrection and assumed it had something to do with that, your gaze drifted to the white streaks littering his hair.

“Hey...it’s okay. Just know I’m here for you,” You assured with a smile. You reached up to squeeze his shoulder, he looked shocked at the affectionate gesture,

“Obviously I know that! Don’t assume things bitch!” Tommy shouted shaking off your hand, you shook your head with a smile and let Tommy continue his story. If the young boy wanted to tell you, he would on his own terms. That night Ghostbur had come home absolutely shaking with excitement,

“Tommy, Tubbo, and Ranboo said we’re going on an adventure tonight!” Ghostbur was absolutely glowing, you couldn’t help but smile faintly at his antics.

“Don’t have too much fun.” You chastised teasingly, ghostbur giggled in delight as you pressed a kiss to his cold skin. “Stay safe, don’t let them bully you too much.”

“They don’t bully me,” he huffed but he leaned in for another kiss. Ghostbur had discovered he loved your kisses, even though they were probably cold to you all he felt was warmth. If he was a hybrid like his son his tail would be wagging, and if he was alive he’d be bright red. “I love you (y/n), of course, I’ll stay safe. I promised you I’d never leave you remember?”

You flushed and nodded, “I remember. I’ll see you when you get home.”

“Until then my dear!” He took your hand within his own and kissed the tops of your knuckles. You flushed pink and he sent you a cheeky grin,

“Get out of here loverboy! Don’t keep the children waiting!” You shouted as he floated out the door with a giant wave,

“I’ll be sending you kisses!”

“Ghostbur oh my god, go already!” You giggled with a fond roll of your eyes, he laughed loudly and floated out the door.

You should’ve told him you loved him. It’s okay, there would always be tomorrow.

You were getting ready for bed when Tubbo called you over the walkie-talkie, he was frantically apologizing and pleading for you to come to the crater that was L’manburg. Tommy then stole the walkie talking and started shouting about Ghostbur and your heart sink into your chest. He didn’t make a whole lot of sense but you put on a coat over your pajamas and ran in the direction of the once-prosperous nation. When you got there Tubbo and Tommy were a mess, Ranboo was trying to calm them down and Friend looked uncomfortable.

Where was Ghostbur?

You opened your mouth to call out to the boys when a pair of arms snuck around your waist. They were warm and real, pale hands caressed your abdomen,

“Hi, darling. Did you miss me?” Warm lips handed on your neck, “I missed you.”

Wilbur was back.

~~~ @blossom-702 @mayempress @thatguythatsshy

390 notes · View notes

artzychic27 · 3 years

Text

In honor of the glorious pride month (Coming up soon), please enjoy these Miraculous Pride Headcanons!

Inspired by this post by @transvoltronhc

You a TERF? Fuck off, beeyatch!

Marinette- The Pan Trans Queen we all Need 🏳️‍⚧️

She/Her- Pansexual/Polyamorous

Every time Marinette inhales, a terf gets punched

Every time Marinette exhales, a trans kid gets a flag

She and Nathaniel supply the face paint

She’s very vocal at pride and gets super violent with protesters

Marinette: *Punching protester while her friends cheer* I don’t wanna see your disgusting face here ever again, you filthy pig! Same goes for the rest of you!

Terfs go to protest, walk away covered in bruises and with a tiny crush on the bluenette

Got into a muscle-flexing contest and won first

Dyed her hair the colors of the pan flag and walks around with a brightly colored, bedazzled trans flag cape

Supplies juice boxes and cookies for the pride kids

She and Marc pass out colorful binders, flower crowns, and starter makeup kits

Drag Queens and Kings LOVE her and are always giving her hugs whenever she walks by / She’s even been commissioned by them to make outfits for their next shows. The audience loved them

Alya- The Badass Pansexual Pirate 🏴‍☠️

She/Her but is not opposed to They/Them

Actually has dressed like a pirate with a sword the colors of her flag. Anarka was so proud

Will punch TERFs with their Pan bestie any day

Ships random people

Leaves many girls swooning as she walks by in her thigh high leather boots

Alya: Sorry ladies, I’m spoken for. *Kisses Nino*

No one dares to flirt with her because she’s out of everyone’s league

One protester made a transphobic comment about Nino, and Alya immediately hit em with a frying Pan

The chaotic aunt of pride

Death drops are flawless!

Hands out phone cases they painted the colors of different pride flags

Born This Way is her anthem

Has many pride-themed superhero tank-tops ‘Super Gay 4 Super Girl’ ‘I’m Bi Man’ ‘Deadpool was at Stonewall’

Nino- The Insanely Cool Bi Trans Guy 😎🏳️‍⚧️

He/Him

Marinette made him a bedazzled cape so they could match

Mari and Kim’s brother in Transness

Dresses in hoodies no matter how hot it is

One of the mom friends. / Everyone wants to be adopted by him. / He once put everyone on baby leashes so they wouldn’t wander off

Everyone refers to him as “Trans DJ Jesus” because he wore sandals with a long curly wig one time. (To this day, no one knows why he did it)

Takes a five-minute break to Vogue with the drag queens

Supplies the music while skateboarding. He blasts every gay national anthem known to humankind

Alya, Adrien, Marinette, and Kim are very protective of him. Once, a TERF pushed him to the ground. Alya, Marinette, and Kim beat up the TERF while Adrien treated his friend to some ice cream

Adrien- Shit! We lost the baby! 🏳️‍🌈😱

He/Him & She/Her- Bigender/Bisexual/Polyamorous

Can’t stop, won’t stop wandering off because he’s never been to a Pride parade before

He was surprised at how accepting his father was. Although, it probably had something to do with Nathalie and Gorilla threatening to expose him as Hawkmoth if he didn’t let Adrien go

The class goes ballistic whenever she goes missing and will interrogate anyone

Myléne: *Interrogating a drag queen* Are you hiding him in your wig?! / Marinette: Get her out! She’s so frail! Her dad doesn’t feed her! / Nino: Found him! He was getting ice cream. / Myléne: ... You are free to go.

Nino has to put him on a baby leash every time

Drinks the most juice boxes and eats the most ice cream

Can’t tell when he’s being flirted with / Rando: Hey, cutie. / Adrien: ... My name is Adrien.

Bigender legwarmers, bracelets, and headbands

Dresses in pastels every year, and people just wanna hug him / He's happy to oblige and will hug anyone / Vows to hug the hate out of protesters

Every time Adrien smiles or laughs, a transgender child is accepted by friends and family and then gets a flower crown

Keeps getting asked if she and Marinette are dating. / Adrien: No, we’re just shopping buddies. (Secretly wishes for more)

A girl once asked if he was Cinderella when he wore a blue headband, and he immediately said yes. Now every week for Pride month, she dresses as a different Disney Princess

Nearly fainted when Marinette and Luka entered a flexing contest and Luka’s sleeves tore

Kim- Mari and Nino’s Bi brother in Trans Pride🏳️‍⚧️

He/Him & They/Them- Gender nonconforming

Kim: I’m a guy, I like blouses and heels, deal with it, people!

Kim/Mari/Nino: Bedazzled Cape Squad!

Muscle shirts and converse sneakers / Has a tank top that reads, ‘I flexed so hard the sleeves came off’

Got into a muscle-flexing contest against Luka and Marinette and got third place (No one beats Marinette)

Also can’t tell when they’re being flirted with

Alix and Max convinced him to dress in drag, and he went all out. Now he has the respect of many drag queens. And every pride parade, he wears heels and a huge wig

Gives everyone (Mainly Max) piggyback rides

Asked Max to be his boyfriend at one pride parade, and people thought it was so cute! They named that day, ‘Kimax Day’

Max- Not a Robot, I’m Agender 🤖

They/Them

Has many pride tank-tops and pins with puns / ‘Error 404 Gender Not Found’ ‘I Don’t Speak Binary Code’ ‘2/3 of the Invisible Trio’

Has Marinette paint their cheeks the colors of the agender and asexual flags

Has one of those digital backpacks with pixelated images on the front

Downloads Pride songs for Markov to blasts from their speakers

When they and Alix convinced Kim to dress in drag, Max may or may not have drooled a bit

Progress Pride Flag cape, socks, and nails

When protestors attack, Max goes all LGBT scientist on their butts, explaining the difference between gender and sex, what hormone blockers actually do, and how not every gay person has AIDS

Once beat up a sleazy protester for... Feeling Kim down there / Max: *Hitting protester with a baseball bat* If you ever do that again, I will fit Markov with a laser and have them slice your rotten dick off!

Marinette and Nathaniel helped them make pride bracelets with the sexualities and gender identities written in binary code. The pride nerds LOVED them

Nathaniel: Our Beautiful BiRomantic Son 🎨

He/Him

He and Marinette paint everyone’s faces before every pride parade

Painted an asexual heart on his Bi flag and wore it as a cape

Cuffed jeans, boots, tucked-in shirt, beanie, pride buttons / Paints pride flags on his denim jacket and shorts

Marc does his makeup, and he looks fabulous

His grandma teaches him how to fight in case of violent Christian protesters / Grandma: Sweetie, you’re Jewish and Bisexual, the world is gonna tear you apart. Learn how to give a mean left hook.

Once took over a face painting booth, now he does it every Pride Month

Enters the 'Crush a watermelon between your thighs' contest every time and always wins first

Saw couples cosplaying as Mightillustrator and Inverser, and cried tears of joy

He and Marc cosplay as couples at every pride parade. The fan favorites are Keith and Lance, Tweek and Craig, and Michael and Rich

CANNOT have too much sugar or he goes crazy and wakes up with no memories of what he did

The next day after an intense sugar high, people were saluting as he walked by and calling him ‘General of the Bisexual Battalion’ / He’s not complaining or questioning it / He has an army now and will one day take over all of Europe. Then the world.

Marc: The Rainbow Flag has Taken a Human Form🏳️‍🌈

Nonbinary- He/Him & They/Them

A True Pride Legend

Born on June 1st at a pride parade.

A singer helped deliver him, his cord was cut by a sword Lesbian, he was swaddled in a drag queen’s glitter cape, and their name was thought of by a drag king

This moment was so beautiful that many protesters cried and decided to join the parade

Everyone will literally stop what they’re doing just to get a picture with them / Everyone loves Marc!

Got into a splits contest and won

Makes flower crowns and knits rainbow flag scarves to pass out to everyone

Certified Mom Friend

Does everyone's makeup

Loses his shit when his shorter friends get lost in crowds

Hugs pride kids who were forced to sneak out or were kicked out of their homes then buys them ice cream / He and Nathaniel have adopted over fifty Pride kids who were kicked out of their homes

Joins Adrien in dressing like a Disney Princess. He SLAYED as Snow White

It may not seem like it, but Marc can throw a punch and fight with one hand right behind their back

Beat up a transphobic asshole for trying to “correct” a trans boy by forcing himself onto him. / They never did find the man’s body. In fact, all of his personal information was gone. Almost like he had never even existed... / Marc looks cute, but he can be terrifying when he needs to be

Alix: Two Out of 3 💚💜🖤🤍

She/Her & They/Them

Leaves many girls swooning as they skate by

Devious little shit

She doesn’t beat up protesters like her classmates. She pranks them until they cry / One year, they all ended up covered in rainbow glitter and pink feathers / Adrien and Rose help them make glitter bombs to throw at protesters, then they run away giggling

Wears sarcastic Pride shirts and black shorts with her roller skates

She and Jalil come out to their father every June

Alix: Father. I am AroAce! / Jalil: Also, I am gay! / Alim: Kids, I know. You’ve been doing this every year. / Jalil: Well... Thank you for being an ally!

This is the only time she’ll wear makeup / She wears it like war paint. Only it’s rainbow

Drinks the most juice out of everyone

Ships people with Alya. SHIPPING BUDS!

Myléne: Smol Asexual Bean ♠️

She/Her

Goes all out for Pride Month / Rolls around in glitter with Rose and Sabrina before every parade

Dyes her hair all rainbow / Wears a ‘Shakespeare was Here’ shirt with her asexual flag skirt

Has also beaten up homophobes and transphobes

Is the most vocal when it comes to putting those assholes in their place. Ivan has to hold her back sometimes

After an acephobe after they made certain comments (You ace folk know what I’m talkin ‘bout) She roundhouse kicked them / Every protester knows not to mess with the bohemian girl

Will blast The PROM soundtrack at max volume from her phone

Cosplays as musical characters. Veronica Sawyer was a fan favorite

Part of the “Where the Hell is Adrien?” Squad

Ivan: My Girlfriend is Stronger than Me, and it’s So Hot 💪😍

Prefers He/Him but is cool with other pronouns - Questioning his gender so isn’t using any labels right now

The responsible auncle

Mari and Alya’s partner in Pansexuality/ He can’t help if everyone is attractive, he just can’t!

Looks like he can kill you, but is actually a cinnamon role. Myléne on the other hand...

Has let Marc do their makeup and nails, and looks gorgeous!

Did drag. Slayed. Rocks those three-inch heels.

Tank tops and shorts club

Like Marinette, no one dares to flirt with him. Not because he’s out of their league, but because they’re scared of his girlfriend

Dyes his blonde tuft pastel pink every year

More pacifistic than her friends are when it comes to protesters, but if the right buttons are pressed, hell shall be raised

They join Alya and Alix in shipping random people

Rose: The Lovely Lipstick Lesbian💄

She/Her- Breaking lesbian stereotypes est. 2004

The kind aunt who supports all of her niblings

Has been going to pride with her dads since she was born/ One of her dads is a retired drag queen

Wears her rainbow fairy wings every year

Has a lesbian flag with dozens of girls' phone numbers written on it. / Doesn’t wear it anymore now that she has Juleka

Throws fistfuls of glitter at protesters and yells at them, “LIGHTEN UP!”

Sprinkles glitter on pride kids and tells them to sparkle

Marinette helps her make rainbow unicorn plushies to hand out to children every year

Dresses as Disney Princesses with Adrien and Marc. Princess Squad!

Bakes cookies to pass around

Drag Kings and Queens love this girl! She’s cute, loud, and carries glitter everywhere

Butch lesbians learn not to flirt with her after their encounter with Juleka

To piss of protesters, she dipped Juleka and kissed her for ten whole seconds / Rose: I bet your husbands don’t love you like that. / Drag Queens: BUUUUUURN!

Juleka: The Gay Witch 🖤🏳️‍🌈

She/Her & They/Them - Total lesbian

Was there when Marc was born, and will never forget that day. (She has an impressive memory, even as a baby)

They swore they saw a rainbow when he was born

Dresses as a witch and wears red eye contacts to every pride event so she freaks out protesters

Has actually cursed them / They just bought the spellbook off of Amazon

Carries around a rainbow parasol

Carries Rose under every threshold she comes across

Is a lot louder at pride events than on regular days

She actually sang Girls Like Girls up on stage, and everyone went wild

Sometimes wears suits

When they saw Rose being flirted with by some butch lesbians, they went ballistic / Now the butch lesbians are terrified of her forever

She and Luka help out with painting her friends’ nails and dying their hair

Dyes her hair rainbow every pride month

Luka: The Responsible Hot & Chaotic Auncle 💖💚💙

Agender- They/Them, He/Him, She/Her - Polysexual/Polyamorous

“For me, gender is like silence... I’m just not into it.”

Doesn’t really care what pronouns people use for him

Wears dresses to every pride parade. Anarka and Juleka have never been so proud

Is always doing drag cosplay. Marc and Nathaniel have never been so proud / They had people gawking when they did Jessica Rabbit cosplay

Purposely bends over in front of people, while wearing leggings, skirts, skinny jeans, or short shorts. Marinette, Kagami, and Adrien got nosebleeds

Marinette/Kagami/Adrien: Luka's ass in those shorts is a Godsend.

Dyes her hair rainbow every pride parade

The minute June starts, they’ll get up in the morning, grab their Polysexual flag, and just run around the city

Has been coming up with Pride songs to sing at protesters. Many of the songs insult them. / Luka: Okay! This one goes out to the trash behind barriers, it’s called, “Please shut the fuck up, you homophobic dildos!”

Got into a flexing contest and won second, but at the cost of their sequined sleeves

Asked Adrien, Marinette, and Kagami to be his significant others at a pride event. They all said yes

Has carried Adrien and Marinette on her biceps, and Kagami on her shoulders

Adrien: ... I marrying them first. / Marinette: Get in the back of the line, blonde wonder! / Kagami: Both of you move to the back.

Kagami: While You Were Busy Being Hetero, I Studied the Blade 🗡

She/Her - PanRomantic/Polyamorous

Surprisingly, her mother was very supportive. She even bought Kagami a rainbow sword / Turns out, Tamoe had a few flings herself. 😉

Kagami came out to the whole fencing team by wearing a pansexual-flag print fencing mask. Adrien squealed all through practice

She didn’t quite understand what polyamory meant and was confused as to why she had crushes on Adrien, Marinette, and Luka at the same time

After a bit of explaining and reassuring her that it was totally normal and not being disloyal to a partner, Kagami came to terms with being polyamorous

Tamoe allowed Kagami to go to her first Pride Parade. On the condition that she take her sword to ward off protesters

She was so overwhelmed and wasn’t entirely sure what to do until she found Marinette, Luka, and Adrien in the crowd with their friends

The four of them hung out together and got closer

Believes Adrien in pastels is one of the purest things on Earth

When Marinette and Luka entered the flexing contest, Kagami had to keep Adrien and herself from fainting

When Luka asked her, Marinette, and Adrien to be his significant others she tried to resist the urge to jump and squeal, but couldn’t hold it in

Likes it when Marinette wraps her trans flag around her. It’s so warm

Chased off a protester and TERF with her sword. They said some shit about Marinette being ‘fake’, Luka being ‘greedy’, and Adrien being a ‘pansy’, and she just snapped / While screaming in rapid Japanese, she chased about fifty protesters away. Her SOs were so proud.

Sabrina: The Ginger Gent 👑🏳️‍🌈

She/Her, He/Him in Drag- PanRomantic

Rolls around in glitter, as is a Drag tradition

Dresses in drag. / The Ginger Gent is her drag king name and she’s got like a glam rocker theme going on

Sequined leather jacket, coiffed toupee, glitter makeup

Started doing drag when she was twelve. Her dad supported her wholeheartedly and even entered her in junior drag contests. She took first place three times

Sometimes puts on private drag shows for Chloé. (Nothing weird!)

Marinette helps makes most of her costumes

Luka’s partner in Drag / Together, they kick ass and still look glamorous

A makeup expert (Next to Marc)

Roger taught her self defense / If you're going to Pride, learn to fight

Has taken down thirty protesters, his hair still looks awesome, and there's not a sequin out of place.

Chloé: The Badass Polysexual Demigirl 💖💚💙

She/Her and They/Them

Not really that attracted to guys

Best dressed. / Marc/Luka/Sabrina: She wishes!

Only allows Marc to do their makeup, no one else!

She has her own float in the parade / She passes out rainbow boas

Taking names and kicking butt

Has actually choked a protester with their flag and they don't do a thing about it since they're the mayor's child

Chloe: It pays to have political power. / Marinette: In this situation.

Doesn't tell people, but they came to Marinette, Nino, and Kim about gender stuff when they were questioning their identity

The day was spent teaching Chloe about the trans spectrum until she found the gender that felt right to her

Whenever Chloe gets excited, she makes out with the first girl she comes across. / Many young female protesters started questioning things when the blonde's lips grazed against theirs'

254 notes · View notes

swqns · 3 years

Text

“ If it meant mending your broken heart, anything.” — 🐋

synopsis ;;

You and Childe were enemies since the moment he arrived in Liyue. You held a silent vow to protect Liyue Harbor from the Fatui after they took your home and family away from you. They were all apathetic monsters anyway... right?

— childe x gn reader

— cw ;; mentions of death, fighting, you tell Childe about your traumatic past lol

— note ;; the ending of this is awful I ran out of ideas 😭😭

You weren’t exactly favored by the Millelith or the Liyue Qixing, to say the least.

You still remembered the first time you fought. In the dark of the night down by the harbor, where the moon reflected off the deep blue waters and cast the entire port in a white glow. It had started as a report of some treasure hoarders up to steal any unguarded goods that had traveled by word of mouth but ended up being the Fatui instead. You drew your weapon, the energy inside of your [element] vision swirling. That small squabble on the underside of the dock had ended with you fighting the harbinger, and you both backing off at the end. You can still hear his voice ringing inside of your head from that night. Gosh, how he annoyed you.

“ My my, you sure do put up a fight. Is your ignorance giving you strength, or are you that confident in your abilities that you continue to fight against a harbinger? “

His hydro blades clanged against your weapon, using the hooked end of the dual blades to try and pry your weapon from your grasp.

“ Harbinger or no, it matters little. Your title does not prove anything to me. “

Your retort had him chuckling, breaking away from the contact of your weapons as he twirled them in his hands.

“ Haha! [name], I had not expected you to be so snappy when you’re moments away from dying. Normally, I wouldn’t go through the trouble, but I deserve to get back at you for killing half my faction. “

“ A punishment deserving of fatui scum. Maybe you should be saving your poetry for your gravestone. “

Your arguments tend to run through the entire battle, his stubbornness, and immaturity not allowing himself to just shut up for once. Yours wouldn’t allow you either.

You shook your head, clearing your mind of the harbinger as you focused. Sitting atop of a roof, you looked out for trouble. This was how you spent your nights since you arrived in Liyue. The Millelith had not been fond of your meddlings with the Fatui, and thus, you were also wanted by the nation. However, your constant state of alert allowed you to continue your work long before the Millelith ever arrived in a scene.

Save, for one incident.

You’d been keeping your eyes on a Fatui agent as he strolled through the now empty streets of Liyue. When the agent suddenly slinked into an alleyway, it piqued your interest. Following him from the rooftops, noticing the glint of his blade as he drew it... you sighed. No rest for the wicked, they always say. Before he could leave the alleyway he had snuck into, you dropped from the roof in front of him.

“ You have no use for your blade here. Sheath it, or die. “

“ I do not take orders from you. “

“ You should’ve. “

Your fight with the agent led you both out of the alleyway and into the Main Street. Thankfully, the hour of the night meant no one was around, all in their homes and asleep as they regained energy for the next day.

During the day, where you sparsely slept in between watching out for your ‘nemesis’.

Your weapon of choice was easy to fight with against the agent’s close-range blades, and you were able to get him to retreat with a minor injury to yourself. It was hard to say the same for him. As you heard a soft, slow clapping behind you, you sighed and slouched forward in annoyance.

“ What a mighty display, [name] ! I was beginning to wonder where my favorite sparring partner had gone until I heard the commotion. “

You sighed again, turning to face him.

“ Childe! Who else would I expect to run into during this hour of the night? How lovely to see you. “ you replied, malice and sarcasm dripping from your voice.

“ Come now, you can be a little more kind to your friend. Do you remember the first night we fought? The moon was just as bright, in the same position it is now. Oh, how time flies. “

“ You bore me. If you came here to call a draw again, then get on with it. “

Boring? No no, he wouldn’t have that, now. A chuckle left the harbinger's throat as he drew his blades, the swirling hydro energy in his hands and his vision emitting a gentle blue glow. He’d never back down from a fight, you knew, and he wasn’t just bark. His bite was just as bad.

You were wanted by the millelith not for meddling with treasure hoarders or thieves throughout the night, but for fighting with Childe and his men. It greatly interferes with the Liyue Qixing’s dealings with the Fatui.

Your fight with Childe went like all the others. You fought on and on for hours until the sun was rising early in the morning. The millelith had finally seen the situation and started closing in on the two of you. Within the mess of elemental reactions, no one wanted to get close. Except for one bold soldier, who was able to cuff one of your wrists before being knocked backward. You grabbed the loose side of it, snapping it around Childe’s wrist as he went in to try and attack you with his blades. He inhaled through his teeth, and you gave him a sly grin. Finally, you had won. And also, you had finally looked at the situation around you.

You were pulled out of your shock by Childe’s grip on your wrist, tugging you to begin running. You thought it was odd, but you hadn’t noticed the Millelith reaching for him also. Were they trying to arrest him, too? You shook your head. Run now, questions later. The harbinger had ended up leading you to the top of Mt. Tianheng. Chests heaving and breaths heavy, you both collapse onto the grass.

Your first reaction was to fight him. To kick, to punch, he was so close and couldn’t just slip right out of your grasp this time. You screamed a string of curses at him, the frustration of everything coming forth when he just couldn’t get away. Childe grabs your wrists, moving them to your chest and away from him as he gives you a chance to calm down.

“ [name], calm down. Did you think this through?” The harbinger sighs, holding up your connected wrists. You huffed, calming down slightly. You hadn’t.. how were you going to get this off??

You couldn’t just go back to Liyue harbor and ask the millelith to remove it. No, they’d try to arrest you. You sat in thought, thinking, as Childe summoned one of his hydro blades. Seeing the blue glow through your swirling thoughts put them at a still, as you hastily reached for your weapon. You ended up pulling your wrist close to you, which yanked Childe forward. He sat back up, using his sleeve to rub the dirt off his face.

“ Hey! Now that was uncalled for, buddy. “ He called, the hydro blade dissipating into the ground after he dropped it. “ I wasn’t going to try anything, you know. “

“ The only time I ever see those blades is when they’re trying to cut my throat. You can’t blame me for that being my reaction. “ You hiss, malice once again dripping from your words.

“ You need to relax. Let's find a way to get these cuffs off, then we can go back to trying to kill ea- “

Childe doesn’t even get to finish his sentence before you cut him off. You can’t help it after all the anger and sadness bubbling in your throat are so close to spilling out. You’re angry. You’re livid. But under all that angst is a heartbreak. The fatui had shown no mercy for your family. They were all slaughtered in cold blood and left to rot until you returned home. God, how the sight pained you. It iron casted itself into your memories and you remembered it every time you saw one of those damn uniforms.

“ Are you insane?! You’re finally right here, you finally can’t slip away from me like you always do, and you expect me to just let you go? Have you lost what little sanity you had left?! “ you scream. You’re so angry, you can’t help it. Childe hadn’t directly been the one to take everything from you, but the association was enough for you to hate him. You can feel the hot tears prick at the corner of your eyes before you harshly wipe them away. Archons, this entire situation is stupid, you think.

“ What caused all this? No one can be this... angry without some prompting. “ He finally speaks, way calmer than you are right now. What caused his sudden change in attitude? How could this bloodthirsty monster have any ounce of empathy for you, someone he’s been trying to kill?

You laugh. You probably sound more crazed than Childe at this point, but you had no control of your emotions. Your insane lack of sleep and bottling of heavy emotions was starting to wear you down.

“ Ohhh, right! Not like the slaughter of an innocent family is enough for me to seethe with hatred at the sight of your damned insignia. “ You hiss. Memories from the day come flooding into your mind, as well as all the bottled emotions that come with them. The anger, the guilt. Oh, if you had just been there. If you had come home earlier. If you didn’t decide to stop on the way home, you could’ve saved them. Childe doesn’t say anything for a moment. All he does is pull his legs closer to him to sit crisscross next to you.

“ Was it your family? “ He asks. He may be a harbinger, nothing more than the Tsarista’s dog, but he knows the importance of family. He knows he’d protect his with his life.

You don’t answer, but your silence speaks volumes. Childe speaks instead. Soft laughter, followed by his words.

“ You know. I started caring about you around the fourth time we fought. The first three.. you were just a new challenge. Never before have I had someone that equaled me on the field. I haven’t been trying to kill you since. Maybe.. just maybe... one day you won’t think of me as an enemy as I saw you. So for what it’s worth, I’m sorry. No one deserves to have their family taken from them like that. If I lost my family... I don’t know what I’d do. “

You stay silent. Not out of anger or guilt this time, but shock. Your gaze shifts to his, sitting in stunned silence for what felt like hours.

“ If there’s even the slimmest chance something I could do would mend your broken heart back into one piece, I’d do it all. In exchange for a good spar, of course. “

...

Maybe the fatui weren’t so bad.

Thank you for reading!

— with love, vellichor

#childe genshin impact #genshin impact #velli.fics #childe x you #childe x reader #genshin impact x reader #ajax genshin impact #ajax x reader #tartagalia x reader #pls don’t let this flop I worked hard on it

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spacecatchako · 3 years

Text

i don't want to be alone anymore (sfw)

you and daichi have been best friends since your first year of high school. now that you're in love (and adults) where will you go from here?

pairing: sawamura daichi x reader

wc: 3,373 words

contains: seemingly unrequited love, confessions, covers the nationals arc, friends to lovers, angst, hurt/comfort towards the end, fluff, reader literally has a breakdown and daichi comforts them, reassurance, cuddles, petnames (baby, princess, doll)

a/n: no, i didn't have any idea how to tag this. this fic is a little all over the place and there are several timeskips. the reader is implied to have issues w family and friends so keep that in mind lol. also i marked diff sections of the fic with ✨ this emoji so if u want to skip over certain parts and go straight to the hurt/comfort feel free babey

you were used to being lonely. sure, you worked hard and you had dreams, but there was some part you that remained unfulfilled. it was like a void that gradually dragged you down. you'd managed to supress it for most of your life up until high school, until all of a sudden something changed.

you met sawamura daichi. he was cute, a first year player on the volleyball team. daichi was kind to you. the two of you became fast friends after meeting on the first day at karasuno. during your breaks in between classes the pair of you would talk about anything and everything- volleyball strategies, your latest sketches, even other classmates that were giving you a hard time. you could be silly with daichi. there was no pressure with him, no need to pretend to be perfect.

but there was something scary about this too. by your second year of school you'd been friends with daichi for about a year. it was then that the realization hit- you had never felt this safe, this accepted, or... this loved by another person. when you'd get anxious because of classes or have issues with your family daichi became a shoulder for you to lean on. he'd go out of his way to send you check up texts and leave you little handwritten notes. the first one that you received was a little post-it note that said "you'll do great on your test today! i believe in you- daichi." he'd blushed like crazy when you confronted him about it. it was new to see your usually sturdy and level-headed best friend blush over a silly note that he'd left. there was something different between the two of you after that first note. instead of walking you home like usual he started to keep a hand on the small of your back.

you hadn't been looking. you'd been talking about how awkward your family was when a stray cat slunked into front of the two of you. you almost walked straight into it before the cat bounded away, crossing the empty street and looking back once to meow at daichi and you.

"sorry, is that too much? i just... want to make sure that you don't trip."

you were confused until you realized what had happened. daichi had steadied you by putting his hand on the small of your back. it felt good, for some reason, to trust him to steady you. trust wasn't an easy thing to come by.

you smiled a tad awkwardly before steadying yourself on your own two feet. "not at all daichi. i don't mind."

daichi smiled and the pair of you kept walking. his hand had stayed where it had been. you felt... guilty for being so touch-starved. and for your best friend, of all people?

"how ridiculous" you thought to yourself. when you came home you knew that no one was there. time to start dinner before your family came home. you'd probably retreat to your room and text daichi when that happened.

daichi was so good and so nice, and by your third year of high school the tiny, lingering bit of attraction that you had had for him flourished into a full-blown crush. you felt embarrassed and guilty. never had you let someone get this close to you. never had you ever let anyone write you notes, check in on you, give you genuine-sounding compliments. it was the little things like "are you okay y/n? you seemed a little quiet this morning. are you getting enough sleep?"

graduation came and went. the notion of parting with daichi and your other friends- asahi, suga, and kiyoko- left a pang of grief in your stomach. you were attending a local university and daichi planned to join miyagi's fire department after nationals. you'd still be close to him and he'd still be living at home, but it was weird to think that you'd be seeing one another a lot less.

nationals was when everything boiled over. you'd promised daichi that you'd be in the stands at every game of the competition, cheering him on.

"id love it if you were there, don't get me wrong. but don't feel like you have to jump through hoops for me! it's a bit of a long trip, i don't want you tiring yourself out." he confesses sheepishly. but you really wanted to go- his mom and siblings couldn't because of school and work, but they'd given him their best wishes.

"I'll hitch a ride with saeko and the crew. she and i work at the same restaurant on the weekends. we already talked and she said she'd be more than happy." you chirp. daichi seems a bit less worried about you after this, but then he remembers.

"um. y/n. you know that saeko drives... well, not badly, just... scarily?" he only seems to be partially joking.

you laugh at his worried expression. "I'll be okay pal. we'll make one of saeko's taiko buddies take the wheel."

daichi mock sighs in relief and you laugh together. this was the last moment that daichi had before nationals where he wasn't laden with anticipation over whether karasuno would succeed or not. he felt relaxed, with you. he thought you were cute, and awkward sometimes, and smart, and... good. so good. you didn't always look to him like he was an authority figure and you were small. he didn't feel the pressure to make sure you behaved or kept you in line because you were good at putting up a front and keeping yourself "in order." sometimes daichi wished that you would let him take care of you, let him listen more often. he wished that you would let him love you.

oh.

oh shit.

"daichi? um, daichi?"

daichi blushed and was snapped back to reality. he... loved you? that's what that care for you was all of these years. that's why he wanted to know if you were taking care of yourself, if you weren't burning yourself out with pleasing your family and school and work. sure, he thought you were cute. he picked up on all of your idiosyncrasies, even sometime pointing them out to you. he had had an inkling that *maybe* he had a little crush on you... but the care that he had come to find that he had for you was so great. he had to do something- everyone was leaving for school and the championships would be over and then when would he see you again? there was this great, big fear of losing you due to confessing. but that fear was minuscule compared to you, his studious and independent friend, pushing him away and forgetting.

"sorry. i was just lost in thought."

✨

yes, you, saeko, and the taiko group arrived a *tad* late and missed the tokonami match. yes you felt guilty for missing it. but when karasuno won against inarizaki and you saw daichi and the team celebrate the win, it was all worth it. you cheered as loud as you can, and once the players cleared from the court, you scrambled to greet daichi.

you see him in the lobby and almost leap into his arms. he laughs. "aaa, hey y/n." he croaks.

you giggle. "hey daichi. congratulations. you were amazing out there."

he's smiling through the sweat and fatigue. you notice, out of the corner of your eye, asahi and suga slowly backing away to leave the two of you alone. suga clicks his tongue, making daichi whip his head around, and he gives the captain a thumbs up." daichi sighs and sets you down, and the two of you are left in the stadium lobby. volleyball players and spectators mingle around, getting food and shopping for merchandise. daichi runs a hand through his hair and turns to you.

"do you want to go outside? there's something that i have to tell you."

anxiety shoots through you. if it's daichi, it can't be bad. of course not. that's one of your best friends. right?

the two of you make your way to the front doors of the stadium and get some fresh air. the sky is blue and the wind is refreshing against your skin. daichi, still sweaty and tired from his game, seems to enjoy it too.

you giggle as he stretches. daichi sits on a nearby bench and gestures for you to do so too. you notice a little shake in his hands as he does so. he's fiddling with the zipper of his karasuno jacket in that cute way that you know he does.

there's a sense of unease, and it's up to you to break the silence. you're alone with sawamura daichi, your best friend and longtime crush.

"daichi? what's wrong?" you ask, concerned.

daichi looks to you, a flush on his cheeks and a light in his eyes. he looks so cute, even when he's tongue-tied and tired from a game.

he takes a deep breath, and the words come out.

"i like you a lot, y/n"

you blink, confused. then it hits you. your crush, sawamura daichi, likes you. like, the boy that you think about way too much, the boy that you feel safe with, the absolute gentleman who cares about you and respects you instead of walking all over you, likes you.

you realize that you haven't said anything before you stutter.

"i-i like you too, daichi. so much."

he's blushing. your face is growing hot despite the winter air. the two of you, literal adults, are reduced to awkward messes because of this confession.

"o-oh. that's... good. i think that that's good." daichi awkwardly says. he laughs a little, then it turns into a full-blown bellow. you can't help but laugh too at how ludicrous the situation is. two friends who have known each other for years, caring about each other, eventually falling for each other. who knew?

"also suga made a bet and told me to confess to you if we won against inarizaki. he told me after the tokonami match. i agreed." daichi huffs after the laughter subsides.

"of course he did. im glad that he did it though." you joke.

"yeah. because then i wouldn't have you." he smiles, getting up. he extends a hand to you, helping you from the bench

"let's go back to the group. i don't want to miss lunch."

✨

it's been months after nationals. you and daichi are in a relationship, happy to be with one another. he's taken you on so many wonderful dates and his family seems to love getting to know you more. but there's still something that's missing. you've always struggled to open up to people completely. even daichi doesn't know what you're like when you completely break.

that changes one day when you have to travel from your dorm, to your parents house, then to daichi's for a date. it was supposed to be casual- just you and him in your pajamas, watching movies and eating takeout. but after being berated by your family for your career choice it triggered something in you. you felt like a little kid again, being told that you're not enough, being slowly manipulated by your family into burning yourself out. dachi helped the loneliness subside, but you knew that, inside, you were still the same little kid. that thought made something inside you recoil, but you pushed it down and made your way to daichi's.

you settle into his bed, your partner beside you. you take a good look at him- your man, sturdy and stronger from work at the fire department. suddenly, you can't help but break for some reason. tears flood your eyes and they won't stop for some reason.

"baby? baby what's wrong?"

you didn't deserve him. why were you even friends with him? someone this nice, this gentle with you, this kind? you wanted him to kick you out for crying. you wanted him to break up with you, because good things don't last.

you were so embarrassed and you'd felt so weak and stupid. you'd never been allowed to cry before, you'd always been told that it was a sign of weakness. good children didn't cry, so now that you were grown up you shouldn't either.

daichi hadn't judged you. he just set the tv remote down and moved in to hug you. other people's touches usually made you flinch and swat them away, but it was never like that with him. not when he supported the small of your back when you fell, not when you jumped into his arms, not when he took your hand after your mutual confession.

the two of you were hugging now, your chin on his shoulder and his head tucked into your side. you could stay like this forever. he was so warm. you could feel the two of your heartbeats almost sinking into one as your sobs quieted down and your breathing slowed to normal. this was the effect that he had on you. it was in this moment that you realized that you loved him- you truly did. the brown-eyed, sturdy, kind, careful, gentle boy that you'd met on the first day of high school had become your friend. then he was your crush. now that you two were adults, he was your first partner. the first person that you had ever fallen truly, deeply in love with.

you felt weak for desiring a love that was this tender. pessimistic you has you thinking that maybe all of the bad things that happened when you were growing up- your family being distant, friends leaving, you feeling alone all of the time- were a sign. a sign that you didn't deserve love. but if you were undeserving, if the pessimistic side of you was right, maybe you could have this moment to keep instead. is that it? if a whirlwind kind of love was too much to ask, you could just keep these moments with daichi close to your heart. if it was possible to take this feeling and keep it in a bottle, you would.

in between sobs, you vent.

"everything sucks, daichi. my family has always been so critical of me. i never get to see any of our friends anymore. im trying to succeed at school but my family won't get off my back. i feel so alone."

daichi pulls away to look at you. his palm is cupping your face and uses his thumb to wipe a tear away. you sniffle. you struggle to meet his beautiful brown eyes, averting your gaze. but you can feel his gaze on you, and when you do finally find the courage to make eye contact, he looks at you with nothing but affection. for some reason you don't feel judged by him. you don't feel... bad for crying in front of him anymore. he's looking at you with nothing but acceptance, nothing but care.

"hey." he starts in a small, gentle voice. "i know how you feel about crying, doll. but it's okay to cry. no matter what your parents say about you, you're a good person. a lovely person, even. you're a good friend too. what they think is stupid." he smiles a little. you love that smile- the way that his eyes crinkle a little and his cheeks dimple. he holds one of your hands in both of his. "i love you. you're good, and smart, and kind, and hardworking. you forget to take care of yourself sometimes, but i think that that's okay. while you're learning how to show yourself more compassion I'll take care of you in the meantime. whatever you need, doll. you're safe with me. no matter what. okay?"

you're crying again. great. you don't stop yourself this time and you throw yourself into his arms. he's there, waiting for you. you let yourself sob into his chest while he gently rubs your back. he holds you in his big, strong arms and hugs you closer. you don't feel suffocated and you don't feel humiliating to be crying. you feel safe. it sucks to cry over what your family thinks of you and it sucks that you don't feel like enough. it sucks that you've felt alone for most of your life. it sucks that you feel guilty for wanting love and it sucks that sometimes, you feel guilty for loving daichi so much. but as he holds you and presses a kiss to the top of your head, nuzzling your hair, all of the pain is tinged with something warm. something safe. something so, so safe. a feeling that you'd never felt before.

it's in that moment that you know- daichi isn't a whirlwind. he isn't a storybook prince that will whisk all of your problems away. no, he's somehow better. he's a pillar of support, a source of comfort, a prince in his own right. no, he won't save you- you still have to take care of yourself. but he'll support you, fill in the gaps, love you unconditionally. maybe a fix-it-all is too much to ask, but you couldn't care less about that now. all that you want his daichi. he takes care of you. he respects you. he loves you, despite your flaws and your feelings of weakness and those moments like now when you just need to be held. he loves you.

when you've stopped crying your voice is croaky and you feel gross. you look up at daichi and he hands you a box of tissues from the nightstand. you're an ugly crier, you know that. but daichi doesn't seem to judge as you dab at your eyes and look to check your reflection in his room mirror. it feels wrong to leave the comfort of his arms, but it also feels like instinct to check your composure. when you're done you turn around to face him, eyes tired.

"do you want to talk about it doll?" you're about to object, in a prefunctory sort of way, but he cuts in. "baby, i don't mind. really. i just want to know that you're okay. i just want to know that you feel safe. you've endured a lot and the way that you feel matters."

you sniffle. "im fine not talking for now daichi. im... tired. just tired. from crying. i just want to sleep." when he shows you nothing but understanding, you stutter out one last request

"ww-will you hold me?"

"of course, princess. ive got you."

you clamber back to bed. daichi and you shift positions so that he's laying down and you're against his chest. he smells like that nice, crisp soap that he always uses. you bury your face in his chest once more, before laying on your side to the sound of his heartbeat.

you sigh. "i love this sound. it lets me know that you're here with me. it let's me know that you're real."

daichi chuckles warmly. you can hear the sound reverberate throughout his chest and it tickles your ear. he's so sweet. it's then that he promises something to you.

"im here, darling. and i am not going anywhere."

your eyes water a little at that. "i love you, daichi. you're my best friend."

he sighs, and it's like you can feel his warm, gentle smile from where you're resting. "i love you too, doll. so much. you are the most precious thing in the world to me."

you know in that moment that you are loved- genuinely, indellibly loved. the roughness and loneliness that you once endured is no more. despite everything, you're learning how to love yourself and to take care of yourself. it feels so, so lonely sometimes and the work seems endless. but whenever you need someone to catch you when you fall, you know that your love, daichi, will be there. forevermore.

his heartbeat relaxes you as you snuggle deeper into his chest. the last words that the two of you utter to one another are ones of love before you both drift off to sleep. you love him- so, so much. and he loves you.

tagging some folks in the longest fic that ive ever written because aaaaaa. if u want to be added to my taglist or taken off plz send me an ask!

@ceo-of-daichi @honeybunny-sawamura @daichis-kitty @goldenshoyo @daichidaichidaichi @kingtamakimurder

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gladerwolfstarkimagines · 3 years

Text

Imagine being Azula’s unofficial drinking buddy at parties and her getting jealous when Ty Lee takes you away from her.

It wasnt often fire nation teenagers celebrated anything. There wasn't always much reason to celebrate and parties were frowned upon for being “frivilrous” so when they did occur it was a big deal. They were usually excuses for the youth of the fire nation to get out all their pent up energy meaning they weren't just chilled dances but big shows of ego fuelled by bucket loads of alcohol with atleast five fights breaking out. All the teenagers were filthy rich so money was no object meaning the parties were extravagant, the alcohol imported, the location classy and the event itself always memorable. The fire nation knew how to throw an event.

When parties did happen it was even rarer that your friends would all be in attendance. Ty lee was always down for any party but Mai and Azula were harder to convince. Azula could be enticed sometimes, she liked people watching so with the right timing you could convince her. Mai was harder, it had to practically be the right cycle of the moon for Mai to agree to come, that or Zuko had to be going which was even rarer than the right moon cycle. But maybe it was because your school years were running out drastically but when a party was announced Ty lee, Azula, Mai and Zuko all agreed to go and you were thrilled. The four of you were good friends, five including Zuko, and you loved seeing them in situations that didn't involve brains or brawn.

The very first fire nation party you attended with Ty lee and so you copied her lead. You followed Ty lee around, nodding and smiling at her friends, talking to them all with as much energy as she did but it was soon exhausting! At the end of it all you found you didn’t care about all the acquaintances you wasted time talking to. So you weren’t looking forward to the next party but there was one major difference...Azula came and that changed things significantly. Azula did not care about some guy from english class and so she distanced herself from everyone and you decided to join her. After having one of the best times of you life isolating with Azula you started a tradition. Every party from then on the two of you would find some place where you could watch but be out of the way of the party. You’d gather a large supply of alcohol and nurse it all evening just in each others company. Ty lee would flick in and out when guys bothered her. Mai would join you when she came or if Zuko was here she'd disappear with him. Zuko would sometimes appear if he' d lost Mai and you'd point him in her direction but mainly it was just you and Azula, relaxing and drinking. You and Azula could be sat in silence or laughing loudly. One of the things you liked most about Azula was that she didn't do anything without a reason, she didn’t partake in small talk just because she felt awkward or wanted to look like she was having fun. If she didn’t have anything to say she didn’t speak and it was as simple as that. You could sit in comfortable silences together for ages, or sometimes you’d think of something and both be laughing, the alcohol making it seem even funnier, and you’d forget there was anyone else in the whole world let alone room.

When you and Azula did this nobody dared approach you apart from Ty lee, Mai or Zuko. You remember in one of the earlier parties a guy had approached Azula and tried to hit on her using a back handed compliment. In response she'd burnt his eyebrows off and since then nobody dared approach her. It didn’t bother either of you, it was nice to be in the company of others but not have to worry about interacting with them. Another time some guys had noticed the amount of alcohol you were gathering from the main table and questioned it before realising who you were. They challenged girls couldn’t drink that much before pailing realising Azula was beside you. Azula challenged them to a drinking competition in response and they (without a choice) accepted. You won of course and since then the whole youth population of the fire nation had regarded the two of you with respect and courtesy. Nobody dared to bother you if Azula was around and even if she wasn’t, they knew who you were and didn’t dare mess with Azula’s best friend.

You were thinking about this as you walked next to Azula on the way to the party and contemplated how tonight would go. Considering your company you figured there would definitely be a intensified version and sure enough when your group walked in most of the party stopped what they were doing to look. Azula and Zuko were royal but you, Mai and Ty lee all had reputations too. Your friends were the smartest most skilled people in the entire academy, not to mention the richest teenagers with the best prospects and it showed. They just seemed to demand fear and respect and you got why, you were in just as much awe of them as the rest of the fire nation.

Of course your friends knew they were wildly impressive and they owned it. "Im going to miss this" Mai smiled as she asked for the best whisky and the kid went into his dad’s study to get it her. "Miss it?" Azula asked "this will always be our lives, you could show up on anyones doorstep and tell them who you know and they’d do what you asked". Mai nodded her head "i suppose i could". Ty lee frowned "but you won’t right?". Mai smirked and Azula laughed, you’d never seen azula and Mai get along better than through a mutual hatred of humans.

You gathered your alcohol and Azula gestured for you to follow her spotting a good table. The five of you flocked to it and started dishing out the alcohol. You were soon having a good time and could tell Azula was too. Zuko seemed content and Mai was enjoying her whisky but oddly the most happy member of your group was not enjoying herself. "So whats the plan for tonight?" Ty lee asked and Azula raised an eyebrow "plan? You’re looking at it". "This is what you want to do all night?" Ty lee frowned and Azula nodded. "But this is boring i'm bored" Ty lee frowned "don’t any of you want to dance? Mai? Zuko?". Mai shot Ty lee a glare so powerful even Azula looked away and Zuko turned up his lip in disgust. "Okay fine, y/n? Azula?" she asked. Azula laughed in response "what about the many times me and y/n sit here drinking makes you think we’d want to dance?". Ty lee sighed "i...i don’t know" and lowered her head. She looked so sad you frowned "i don’t want to but because you want to so badly....". Ty lee’s head shot up and she grinned "you mean it?". "Seriously?" Zuko and Mai asked both shocked and slightly horrified. You nodded "why not?" and downed your drink. Ty lee grinned "youre the best y/n!" and dragged you away.

You didn’t enjoy the dancing but seeing Ty lee so happy made it worth it. She was the kindest person you’d ever met so you didn’t care if you felt awkward or looked very weird trying to copy her movements, your friend was happy and so were you. After a while Ty lee took pity on you, asking if you wanted to get a drink and relieved you left the floor to go grab one. You made your way back to your table to find Mai and Zuko gone and Azula sat alone. "Hey" Ty lee said brightly but Azula just looked at her. Ty lee grabbed her drink and barely put her lips to it when someone called out to her and she rushed away leaving you and Azula alone again. "So where did Mai and Zuko go" you asked. Azula shrugged in response and you frowned. She was angry at you. "I didn’t know they’d gone" you said trying to stop a full blown argument "you shouldve caught my eye and got me to come back". Azula tutted "what makes you think i’d prefer your presence to my own company?". "Well the fact you’re mad i left you?". "I’m not mad you left me" Azula glared "i don’t need you y/n, least of all to sit beside me" she rolled her eyes. "So what’s got you all bitter?" you asked. "Nothing" Azula shrugged "i just never thought you were on of those basic girls y/n, i mean dancing like Ty lee, copying her to fit in... it’s just disappointing frankly". You narrowed your eyes "Ty lee wanted to dance so i went with her, end of story". "If you say so" Azula smirked and you felt your temper peak. "Your seriously this mad at me for having fun with Ty lee?" you asked "i don’t have to stay by your side or ask permission to do things! Our arrangement isnt like that, we never even made it official". Azula blushed and went the most flustered you’d ever seen her "what are you talking about! I know we’re not official!" she cried. "Our plans... I meant we never made our plans offical" you clarified "that we would stick together in parties" you trailed off and saw Azula turn even redder. She'd misunderstood what you meant and that seemed to make her even angrier. "Yes well i shouldn’t have to clarify everything with you y/n, i’m too busy for that". "Well i’m not a mind reader if you don’t tell me what you want me to do i won’t do it, maybe just say what you want next time". Azula rolled her eyes and you sighed "whatever Azula" and walked away.

As you got outside you realised it was never a smart idea to yell at Azula or storm away from her and you'd done both. Part of you was worried what she’d do to retaliate but another part of you was more worried by the concept of the argument itself. Azula had always been your closest friend, you’d seen her be harsh to other people but she wasn’t like that with you. No she wasn't all honey and sweetness but your years of friendship has earned a more raw version of Azula and from that your friendship had blossomed into...well you weren’t sure what it was. You knew you liked Azula a lot and you suspected it was similar to how Mai and Zuko liked each other or how every boy seemed to like Ty lee. You even suspected Azula migh feel that way too due to the way she acted around you. She'd do things like invite just you to places even Zuko wasn’t allowed to go or she’d show you small acts of kindness...securing the drink you liked best or switching lockers with you because she was taller. Nobody saw the small things Azula did, only the big awful ones and you were pretty sure you were the only person Azula allowed to see her like that. But now she seemed to have curled back up in on herself and you hated how that felt.

You were outside pouting when Mai caught sight of you and came over. “What are you doing way out here, it’s freezing!” Mai commented and you shrugged “I had to get some air”. "Why aren’t you with Azula" Mai asked and you sighed "we had a fight". "Ow no trouble in paradise" she said sarcastically smirking but she dropped it when she saw your face. Mai was the most perceptive of all your friends and you were pretty sure she suspected you had a crush on Azula. "Was it bad?". You nodded "i don’t even know where we stand anymore...if we're even friends". "You'll always be friends" Mai reassured you "Azula can stay mad at anyone but you? I’m certain she won’t stay mad at you for long". You frowned "don’t be too sure". Mai didn’t like seeing you gloomy, that was her thing, so she grabbed your arm and tugged you back inside. "Where are we going?" you asked and Mai smiled "to go find Ty lee, she has a way of cheering people up and you are in major need of that".

Sure enough when Ty lee caught sight of your sad face she made it her mission to make you happy again. From jokes to hugs to twirling around of her hands Ty lee tried it all and it was slowly working. Mai got you a comfortable seat hidden away from Azula’s sight and your good mood came racing back.

You were enjoying spending time with Mai and Ty lee but it was your turn to get the drink so you made your way to the main table and started loading up a tray. You stretched to grab the wine Ty lee liked when some guy appeared, leaning across you to grab it first. You looked at him and he smirked "here" holding it out to you. You raised an eyebrow but took it "thanks, i think". The boy smiled "no problem, you know i haven't seen you smile so much, you’re y/n right?". "Can't say i’ve ever noticed you" you replied and he laughed "i didn’t mean it as an insult just you look pretty when you were dancing and smiling...compared to when you just sit in a dark corner drinking". "Thanks for the feedback" you replied and turned to walk away when the boy grabbed your arm. "Hey whats the rush? I was thinking we could get to know each other". "I'm good" you said dryly but the boy was persistent. "Ow come on you don’t even know me! I bet i could make you change your mind just give me 5 minutes". "Look i’m flattered but i came here with my friends and they're the only people i want to spend tonight with". "But you're always surrounded by girls it’s like you scared or boys or something...wait are you scared of men?”. You raised an eyebrow and put the tray down. You opened your mouth ready to lay into this idiot when someone cut you off.

"Youre the one who’s going to be afraid if you don’t step away from her right now" a voice called. The guy smirked and turned around cockily but all that confidence fell away when he saw the princess Azula stood behind him. "Azula....". "Princess Azula to you" she snapped "now take your hands off her before i break them in 3...2..". The boy bolted and you couldn’t help a small smile at Azula. You were pleased the boy was gone but you were more pleased Azula was here. That could only be a good sign. "You didn’t have to do that i could handle it" you smiled "the boys going to be having nightmares for months". "Good" Azula nodded her head "if he can’t take a simple hint then he needs teaching". You nodded watching Azula carefully. You wanted to make up with her but you refused to apologise, thankfully Azula skipped over it. "Want to get some fresh air with me?" she asked and you nodded "okay". You passed the drinks to Zuko who was helpfully passing by and followed Azula outside.

There were some other kids out there but Azula led you past them to a quieter corner. "So about earlier....". "Azula it’s...you dont have to" you winced waiting to skip over it but Azula didnt want to. "No you’re right, if i want you to do something i have to tell you and i'm nothing if not open to efficiency tips" she smiled and you laughed. Azula looked back down and was quiet for a while. You watched her worriedly but smiled as soon as she spoke. "I like being with you" Azula said awkwardly. "Me too, which is lucky considering how much we're together" you smiled and Azula nodded "yes but at school Mai and Ty lee are there or at the palace Zuko’s around...at these parties it’s just me and you and it’s...nice, i like our time together at parties, i’m surrounded by people but it feels like it’s just you and me" Azula blushed "and i felt like Ty lee took that away from me tonight...you took it away from me" Azula sighed. You frowned, you had no idea Azula was so protective over you or that she valued your company this much. "Well i’m here now" you offered grabbing her hand. Azula nodded her head "yes you are" and smiled before looking away her cheeks red. She rubbed the top of your hand with her thumb before speaking again "and you told me to tell you what i want so, to make sure there’s no future confusion, i...when we go to parties i want you to go with me, as in attend with me, we go to them together as an exclusive duo". "Azula friends aren’t exclusive" you blushed and Azula nodded "i know i’m not asking to be your friend y/n". You paused and Azula kept her eyes on you "i want you to be my...more than friend". You smiled and nodded your head "i’d like that very much". Azula smiled blushing too "that is good" and you both stood awkwardly holding hands while grinning from ear to ear.

Later

Everyone ended up at your table as the night rounded down and you wondered if Azula would mind but she seemed content. Really content. She even laughed at Zuko’s joke which was unprecedented. You were sat pretty close anyway but Azula decided to be comfier and put her arm around the back of your chair. You saw the others notice your and Azula together even though they pretended not to. Mai was smiling, Ty lee was suddenly really affectionate with you two and Zuko kept trying not to look but was being very obvious until Mai nudged him. You and Azula noticed but she didn’t care so neither did you. You glanced at Azula and she smiled at you. You blushed in response and smiled back at her. Azula shifted closer and you leant into her, leaning on one another. You fitted together well and felt so safe and protected with her arm around you. You’d always known your place was by Azula’s side but this was the proof. Now you were never going to be parted from her.

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ragewerthers · 3 years

Text

To Defeat A Dragon

Summary: With the 100 year war behind them and the battles now lying more in the council room then on the battlefield, Sokka and Zuko take a moment to reminisce over the last few years.

However, reminiscing comes with a few surprises for Zuko when he forgets something rather important about the spars he used to have with Sokka. But no worries... Sokka is more than happy to remind him.

A/n: Hello and Merry christmas, my friend!!! I am the secret santa for @calmturquoise for the Squealing Santa 2020! Thank you for giving me the chance to write something so sweet for these two and getting to join in on the fun of ATLA again!

I also want to thank @ticklygiggles for hosting this event again! You're amazing and I’m so happy I got to participate in this once more!

The prompt was for some sweet, platonic Sokka and Zuko and I was so excited to get the chance to write these two!!!

You can also read on AO3 at: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28308495

Enjoy! :)

Word Count: 2941

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“I think they’re deliberately starting to make those Council meetings longer,” Zuko grumbled, shifting uncomfortably where he now rested. Currently, he was sat at the edge of the small turtleduck pond in the middle of the royal gardens. Attempting to alleviate the ache in his back he went to sit up a little straighter. The result was his back cracking in a way that was probably unhealthy for someone who was only twenty-three, but really he should’ve known this would be par for the course. Growing up a child warrior really isn’t kind to the bones in the long run. Wincing at the dull ache it left behind it wasn’t enough to distract him from the snort of his less than empathetic friend.

“No, buddy. You’re just finally starting to become the cranky old man you always were inside,” Sokka teased, practically laying beside Zuko as he reclined back on his elbows… before promptly collapsing next to the Firelord with a yelp. A charlie ostrihorse had aggressively decided to seize the muscles in his shoulders and neck and all he could do was roll around in the grass like a crazy person. Apparently, Zuko wasn’t the only one starting to feel the effects of those long meetings.

Zuko instantly smirked at the reaction, happy to see Sokka getting a taste of the elderly lifestyle they now lived in apparently.

“First of all, you deserve all of what’s happening to you right now,” Zuko said, waving his hand in the direction of Sokka’s prone form. “Second of all, what do you mean cranky?! I’m a ray of sunshine.”

The words were spoken so deadpan that Sokka instantly snorted with a bit of pained laughter, still clutching the side of his neck as he lay on the ground. “Don’t d-do thahat! Can’t you s-see I’m hurting?!” he whined, though his smile still remained as he looked over at his best friend. “But yes… how could I forget, oh great Firelord, that the sun is literally supposed to shine out of your butt?”

Zuko finally broke into a more open smile, sitting up a little straighter and nodding. “And don’t you forget it,” he joked, getting another ridiculous giggle from Sokka.

After a few more minutes, the pain finally seemed to subside as the water tribesman was able to sit up with a wince. Rolling his shoulder a bit to try and work out the last of the kink he couldn’t stop himself from letting out an almost wistful sigh. “But isn’t it a bit sad? I didn’t think it was possible to get aches and pains from just sitting! Remember the good old days of our youth when we could spar for hours and hours and we wouldn’t even be phased?”

“What do you mean ‘the good old days of our youth’? You’re only a year younger than me,” Zuko said with a little roll of his eyes as he began to remove his crown. With no further meetings scheduled for the day he figured he might as well be comfortable. Setting it beside himself on the grass he settled back against the tree, ignoring the look Sokka was giving him.

“Hey! We’re older than we were back then, right? So… those are the days of our youth! And you ignored the question,” he huffed.

“Oh… you were actually looking for an answer to your ramblings?” Zuko teased, a small smile fighting to quirk up the corners of his lips as he tried to ignore Sokka puffing his cheeks up like a toddler. Oh yeah… the man obviously had matured so much since those days. “Okay, okay. I do remember. I still consider myself proficient with the dual dao, but I think you’re right. With sitting most of our days away, I’m sure it hasn’t done our skills any favors.”

Sokka’s pout instantly retreated, replaced with a light smile as Zuko agreed with him. “Right? Not to mention that it was always super satisfying every time I won which, I mean, was almost always after our first few spars,” he said smugly, causing the Firelord to instantly focus on him.

“I’m sorry… what?” Zuko asked, his eyes narrowed and voice almost dangerously low.

Sadly, enough time and shared moments between them meant that Sokka no longer feared the ‘fire scowl’. Instead, his smug smile only grew. “You heard me. You may have handed my ass to me the first few times we spared, but after that I almost never lost another fight against you.”

“.... did that cramp do something to your memory?” Zuko wondered aloud. “It must’ve because if memory serves, you almost never won against me. You came close a number of times, but I was almost always the victor.”

However, regardless of how insistent his statement, that smug smile still remained on Sokka’s face as the Southern Water Tribesman sat up beside his friend. “Nope. I’m afraid old age has started to rust up those memories of yours, Sifu Hotman. I won almost all of our spars and I can’t believe you’ve forgotten.”

“......... did you drink one of Uncle’s experimental teas again? You know he almost killed himself doing that once!” Zuko warned, because that was the only way that Sokka could possibly think that he had won so many of their duels.

But something akin to worry grew in Zuko’s chest when he saw Sokka’s smile turning from smug to something a little more dangerous.

“Oh my dear Jerkbender. I think you’ve forgotten that while you may have had the upperhand most of the time when we were dueling, I found out a secret move. Because I remembered a universal truth about dragons.”

Oh yeah… Sokka definitely drank the experimental teas. He’d warned uncle that cactus juice wasn’t to be messed with!

Zuko quirked an eyebrow at the comment before closing his eyes to calm his temper. Taking in a deep breath before letting it out slowly, he turned once more to look at his friend. “Okay, buddy. Let’s get you to the healers,” he began gently, carefully reaching forward to rest his hand on Sokka’s shoulder. “I think they have a remedy for thi-HIHIS?!”

Immediately his arm moved back from Sokka to cover his side as an electric feeling zipped through his veins.

Sokka was only just keeping himself from laughing beside him, his fingers still poised from where they’d managed a small nibbling pinch against the Firelord's lower ribs. “The thing about dragons…,” Sokka continued, ignoring Zuko’s insistence on getting him medical attention. “... is that all of them have a soft spot. Once you find it… you can defeat it. And I was lucky enough to find a dragon with more weak spots then most.”

Suddenly Zuko remembered almost every one of his spars with Sokka… and with it the memory of an evil, horrible truth. Sokka had indeed won most of their spars after the first few. Because that cheating dunderhead had accidentally found out that Zuko… was horrendously ticklish.

And judging from the look Sokka was leveling him with his friend was looking to make sure he definitely remembered this little fact.

“S-Sokka! Sokka, listen to me… don’t you da-AH!” he shouted, rolling away just in time as Sokka attempted to tackle him into the grass. Quickly, Zuko managed to get up onto his knees, trying to get his feet underneath him to stand, but fate decided to deal him a cruel hand once more. His Fire nation robes for all the brilliance and regality they offered him to onlookers were far from practical. Long and flowing silks were seen as traditional and although he’d made many reforms in his time already on the throne, fashion hadn’t quite made it to the table yet. Thus, as he attempted to flee from his friend, his feet only managed to step on the front of his robes, stopping his movements and pausing him just long enough to land himself in Sokka’s clutches.

Before he knew it, two strong arms were already locked around his waist and Zuko attempted to use his words once more to try and plead his case for freedom.

Of course… when had that ever played out in his favor? “Sokka! S-Sokka, I remember, okay? You…. y-you don’t have to do this!” Zuko attempted to sound reasonable and less nervous then he felt, though he realized stuttering over his words lost a little bit of that authoritative tone he was aiming for.

“Oh, I realize I don’t have to do this,” Sokka teased, crooking the fingers of his left hand to press in just a little bit more against Zuko’s side making the young Firelord gasp and bite his lower lip to stay quiet. “But at this point I feel it is my duty to remind Lord Jerkbender about this so he doesn’t forget who the number one spar master is.”

“Spar master isn’t even a thing! You can’t just give yourself titles like th-ahahat! Ah! Nonono!” Zuko’s small diatribe instantly died on his lips as Sokka’s fingers began to wriggle against his side, a few rather unbecoming giggles already breaking free before he reined himself in again.

“What was that? Were you backsassing Sokka the mighty dragon slayer?!” Sokka teased, though he couldn’t help smiling as he already heard the familiar rasp of Zuko’s laughter. This was going to be far too entertaining. How could he pass up this opportunity?

“Dragon slayer?! You’re ridiculous! Let me gohohoahahaha! Stahp it! Stahahahap!” Zuko felt the flutter of Sokka’s other hand where it rested against his lower ribs on the opposite side. Immediately the jolt of ticklish sensations raced through him and he felt his knees already starting to turn to jelly beneath him. Of all of the things he could be weak against, something as silly as tickling was more than enough to sap his strength. Sokka’s smirk came back as he heard that, his fingers, scribbling lightly over both the Firelord’s sides. Working in tandem his fingers lightly brushed along the vulnerable area before massaging quickly into his lower ribs. If memory served, this had been one of the better weak spots of this particular dragon.

“WAHAIT!” Zuko cried out, his laughter finally breaking free from those raspy giggles to something lighter and more carefree. Honestly, it was something Sokka had been so proud to draw out all those years ago when Zuko was still that broody teenager who had joined their gaang. He had been so awkward and to be fair, their dear jerkbender still kinda was, but after attempting through sheer bullheadedness to forge a friendship with him, Sokka honestly couldn’t have been prouder to call him his best friend.

And what kind of best friend would he be if he didn’t tease and taunt Zuko into never forgetting his super awesome new title that he just came up with? A terrible one… and Sokka refused to be a terrible friend.

“Wait? Wait for what? Oh! Were you going to finally call me by my proper title?” Sokka teased as he moved one of his hands down to squeeze along Zuko’s right hip.

Zuko instantly jumped at the sensation, feeling his legs finally starting to cave under him as he attempted to curl up in Sokka’s hold to escape the sensations. He could feel his cheeks and ears heating up as his laugh bubbled up unbidden, the noise still slightly foreign to him even after all these years. However, Sokka had never seemed to have a problem drawing it out of him. He just wished he had remembered that before drawing out the ‘dragon slayer’ once more.

“Nehehehever!” Zuko growled out between his laughter, his hands weakly attempting to push away Sokka’s to no avail. “Ihihit’s a… a stuhupid naha-EHEHEHE! STAHAHP IT Y-YOU AHAHAHASS!” Zuko’s strength finally gave out as his legs buckled beneath him, though with Sokka’s arms around him he was easily lowered to the ground. Sadly this did nothing for his current situation as Sokka had seemed to remember another one of his worst spots.

His stomach.

“Doth my ears deceive me? Did you just call my regal and totally awesome title stupid?! How dare you, good sir!” Sokka teased, his arm braced carefully around Zuko as his other vibrated quickly right against the center of Zuko’s stomach. He’d learned very early on that the easiest way to break Zuko’s concentration and resolve was a nice little attack on this particular area. “You know how to get this to stop, Zuko! Admit that I am the best dragon slayer in the world!”

Zuko snorted as Sokka’s hand began to scribble all around the hyper ticklish spot, trying to shimmy this way and that out of the man's hold to get away from the maddening touch. However, practically sitting on the ground with a tickle monster clung to your back really didn’t leave much wiggle room and Zuko realized his chances of freedom were slim. But his pride just wouldn’t allow for him to admit defeat just yet!

“Thahahaha’ts not e-even a thihihing! I re-refuhuhuse to gihihive in t-to yo-AHAHA! STAHP IT! STAHPSTAHPSTAHAHAHAP!” Zuko instantly broke into the most wild and ridiculous laughter as Sokka snuck one of his hands under his arm, his fingers spidering quickly against Zuko’s underarm in a way that drove the firebender crazy with ticklish laughter. Zuko instantly snapped his arms to his sides, trapping Sokka’s hand against his armpit while the man's other hand continued to scribble and send nibbling pinches all along his stomach.

“Admit it! Admit that I’m the best!” Sokka called over Zuko’s loud laughter, the sound of it making him smile like an idiot even as a few chuckles escaped him. Spirits, it really had been far too long since he’d seen Zuko let loose like this even just a bit. Maybe this was something they needed in their lives a bit more? It definitely wouldn’t hurt after all the droll and intense meetings they were forced to go to day in and day out.

Meanwhile, Zuko was dying. The Kiyoshi warriors were going to show up here to see that their poor Firelord had met his end at the hands of a ridiculous man who had a pension for coming up with truly terrible titles for things! Sadly he couldn’t dwell on his dramatic end as Sokka’s fingers were still attacking two of his worst spots. Zuko knew that there really was only one way out of this. “OKAHAHAY! O-OKAY I AHAHADMIT IHIHIT!” Zuko cried out with unrestrained laughter, feeling the tickling slowing down just a little to keep him giggling ridiculously.

“What was that? Are you trying to tell me something, buddy?” Sokka teased, his fingers wriggling lightly against Zuko’s armpit as the other hand focused on a particularly sensitive spot on the side of the firebenders stomach.

Zuko snorted and kicked his legs out weakly before nodding. “Y-yes! You… you’re the behehehest gah! Not thehehere! Not there plehehease! Agnihihi why-hehehe?!” Zuko giggled hysterically as Sokka found that spot on his stomach. Taking as deep a breath as possible he tried to once more to make his bid for freedom! “Y-You’re the behehehest drahagon slahahahayer! Plehehehase!”

Sokka’s fingers immediately stopped their torment, chuckling a bit to himself. “See? That wasn’t so hard was it?” he teased, patting Zuko’s back as he helped the man sit up, watching the firebender wiping away tears of mirth from his eyes as residual giggles still managed to escape.

“Yes. Y-yes it was,” Zuko shot back, though as he turned to look at his friend, the smile on his face was more relaxed, even after the mini battle he’d just had to endure. “I can’t believe I… forgot what a… giant pain in the ass you were after you figured that out.”

It was Sokka’s turn to laugh as he heard that and he felt his smile growing all the more fond. “It was probably one of my greatest discoveries and I will cherish it forever! Not many people can say they bested the Firelord,” Sokka teased, lightly nudging Zuko with his elbow and getting a chuckle in response.

“That’s fair. But really? Dragon slayer?” Zuko asked, trying to earn back a bit of dignity as he attempted to straighten out his traitorous robes.

“What? It makes me sound so cool!” Sokka cried out dramatically, making it incredibly hard for Zuko not to roll his eyes.

“I’m still not convinced you didn’t try one of uncle’s teas,” Zuko murmured, though he smiled regardless. “And I hope you know that this is the last time the mighty ‘dragon slayer’ is going to win. I won’t be caught with my guard down like that again.”

“Oh? Is that a challenge, Jerkbender?” Sokka teased, leaning closer and wiggling his fingers threateningly.

Zuko couldn’t suppress a snort of laughter as he pushed Sokka’s face away gently with his palm. “I’m too old for your nonsense,” he joked, making Sokka laugh brightly.

“Nah. We’re still young at heart. That’s all that matters,” Sokka said with a fond smile. “And if you ever forget that as well, I’m more than happy to remind you again about the days of our youth.”

Shaking his head, but with a fond smile on his lips, Zuko couldn’t help feeling that familiar warmth build in his chest. The world may be changing. They may still be working to right the wrongs and suffer through countless meetings and council members, but… with friends like Sokka there to remind him it was okay to let loose, laugh and remember that they really were still young at heart, he knew he could face anything.

Even dragon slayers.

#squealingsanta2k20 #tickle fic #my fics #zuko #sokka #atla #fluff #these two are precious #I hope you enjoy this my friend!

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thegameartist03 · 3 years

Text

TommyInnit: Dream SMP’s Next Villain?

ok THEORY TIME because i am awake at 11PM. Warning: It’s very long :’]

If you don’t want to read the whole thing, just read the parts in bold.

I think I see what Dream is doing. By isolating Tommy from his friends, by turning him against L’Manburg bit by bit, Dream is building Tommy up to be L’Manburg’s next villain.

It’s no secret that Dream is against L’Manburg. He has plotted its destruction over and over and over again and succeeded every time. Right now he might be all buddy-buddy with Tubbo, but it’s obvious he has some kind of plan. Think about it, when has Dream ever truly respected L’Manburg? “But why would he be so friendly with an invasive country when he could have already taken Tubbo down?” You might ask. May I remind you, this man is a CHAMPION of Minecraft, the 1,000+ IQ player, and he can be however patient he needs to be in order to see his plans through.

Let’s look at some Dream SMP history, shall we?

During the first war for L’Manburg, Dream lulled Wilbur and the rest into a false sense of security, retreating during battle to make it seem like they had won. Then, just when they least expected it, one of their own, Eret, the first traitor of L’Manburg, turned on them. Eret, crowned king by Dream, turned on his own and led to the destruction of L’Manburg. Had Tommy not given up his discs, Dream would have won the war.

Flash forward to the election. Wilbur and Tommy have been exiled from Manburg. Wilbur is slowing losing his mind, Technoblade has yet to truly pick a side. Wilbur takes inspiration from the green boi himself and decides to blow up Manburg and end it once and for all. Dream indulges him, and Dream and the two brothers make a deal to rain chaos and destruction upon the land. Wilbur said it himself, he had a deal with Dream that Dream’s surrender would force Wilbur’s hand towards that button. Tommy tried his hardest to stop Wilbur, but failed in the end. The only thing he managed to do was lead the charge in killing the Withers, a charge that was hindered by attacks from Dream and Technoblade.

Are you seeing some patterns? Cause I sure am.

Each time L’Manburg makes a stand, Dream is there to bring it down. He finds a weak link, someone who he can turn to carry out his will, and he makes sure they betray L’Manburg. First Eret, then Wilbur and Techno. A situation presents itself, Dream takes advantage of it.

So what situation is Dream taking advantage of now? You might think it’s Tommy’s exile, but no. The exile was part of Dream’s plan, already set into motion weeks ago. He only had to wait for the destruction of L’Manburg and the continuous ignorance of a certain goggled friend of his to build up enough pressure and make someone snap. That someone, as Dream probably predicted it would be, was Tommy. When Tommy griefed George’s house, Dream pounced on what could only be the perfect crime.

So, once Tommy was convicted, all Dream had to do was push his advantage on L’Manburg and work towards splitting Tommy off from his friends. Tubbo has a meeting with Dream and asks Tommy to be calm, of course Tommy’s fiery spirit overtakes him and he ruins it, and Dream continues to ramp up the heat. It was only a matter of time before Dream’s threats and the giant obsidian wall, not to mention Tommy’s passion and the memories of war barely two weeks after L’Manburg had been reduced to rubble, pressured Tubbo into agreeing to exile Tommy. Now Tommy is escorted away to a place where no one knows where he is except for Dream and Ghostbur, and no one but Dream and Ghostbur can visit him.

Now, you might be thinking, why does Tommy matter so much to Dream? Why go to all this effort just to single out one annoying (at first) 16 year old who wrote a very inaccurate and borderline offensive book called ‘How to Sex 2’?

Well, let me reveal yet another parallel to you.

Tommy was a founder of L’Manburg. He and Wilbur started their little nation together, fought side by side, were exiled together. Tommy was always second in command, and he was even supposed to be president of L’Manburg after Schlatt’s death. Tommy has sacrificed so much for his country, he has fought and died and lost everything, all for L’Manburg. He and Wilbur are the very spirit of the nation!

But before L’Manburg, before Wilbur, there was the Disc War between Dream and Tommy. Dream’s grudge against Wilbur and L’Manburg is relatively fresh, but the roots of hatred and rivalry between TommyInnit and Dream run much deeper. They have been at each other’s throats for almost as long as the server has lived. This feud even prompted Tommy to revoke his position as president, a position he had dreamed of and thought he would never hold. It’s safe to say that, were one of them given the chance, they would destroy the other without hesitation. But there’s more. Tommy has always stood in Dream’s way of bringing down L’Manburg. First it was giving up his discs to earn independance, then it was Tommy trying to stop Wilbur, then it was Tommy fighting the withers. If Tubbo hadn’t exiled Tommy, he would have teamed up with Technoblade to bring Dream down. Tommy is Dream’s greatest threat.

So Dream has ruined Tommy’s life. He has separated him from his home, his belongings, his friends, even Tubbo. You’d think that would be enough revenge for someone, right?

Wrong.

You see, the traitor parallel is still in play here. Dream’s plans don’t just end with Tommy’s exile. If you’ve been keeping up with the server, you’ll know that every day Dream logs on just to bully Tommy into giving up his armor and tools and blowing them up. Dream, slowly but surely, is stripping Tommy of his pride and his happiness and his sanity. One day into Tommy’s ‘holiday’, he had a plan to fight back. Now, he doesn’t sleep at night, and he is giving up on ever seeing his home. To make matters worse, Dream spends his time with Tommy, and he makes sure he’s ALWAYS spending time with Tommy, gaslighting and manipulating him into thinking his closest friends have abandoned him and no longer care about him.

I know you might think Dream being so friendly with Tommy, helping him get primes, letting him keep his elder chest, building the bridge with him, setting up his party, is a good thing, but it’s yet another part of Dream’s plan. It was most obvious today, when Tommy cursed those he once called friends and leaned on Dream for comfort in his emotional distress, what Dream’s true intentions were. Dream is gradually twisting Tommy into turning against L’Manburg and becoming Dream SMP’s next traitor.

And no one else can see it happening.

Let me ask you, what happened to the past leaders of Manburg and L’Manburg? The most powerful of the server?

Jschlatt had a heart attack and died, Wilbur was run through by Philza, and Technoblade retired (he never dies, but that’s close enough).

Dream’s plans in the past have always led to the death of L’Manburg’s leader and the destruction of the country by a traitor, a puppet dancing on Dream’s strings.

TommyInnit is already tied.

It’s only a matter of time.

Not only do I believe Tommy is going to betray L’Manburg.

I think Tommy is going to try to kill Tubbo.

Feel free to reblog with your thoughts, I know this was a long post but I’d love to hear some other opinions on this.

#dream smp #mcyt #theory #fan theory #dream smp theory #gamma thoughts #writing #they really are doing a fantastic job writing this story

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wheelsgoroundincircles · 3 years

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The story of Swamp Rat 17: Don Garlits' most misunderstood Top Fueler (part 1)

Don Garlits’ Swamp Rat 17, the Wynn’s Liner, had a very short life in 1973 and is roundly considered to be among the few disappointments of the more than 40 Swamp Rats he campaigned. Here's the story behind this most misunderstood car.

09 Apr 2021 Phil Burgess, NHRA National Dragster Editor

Earlier this year, I wrote a column about racecar experiments that didn’t come to fruition and cited, chief among them, Don Garlits’ Swamp Rat 17, the Wynn’s Liner, which had a very short and disappointingly unsuccessful life in 1973.

I think the reason that car always leaps to the top of my “Well, that sure didn’t work” list is because it was a rare dead end for “Big Daddy,” one of the sport’s greatest innovators and chance takers. Although there are only 38 official Swamp Rats, there were some A and B versions, and the actual number well exceeds 40, according to “Big.” So, he had a pretty great batting average, yet strikeouts are going to happen, but better to go down swinging, right? Or, as hockey great Wayne Gretzky once said, “You miss 100% of the shots that you don’t take.”

[Coming later in this column: Garlits rates his five favorite Swamp Rats and five least favorite. Stay tuned for that.]

Anyway, after heaping criticism upon the car back in February, I thought it only fair to allow The Man Himself to provide the context that defines this car’s place in the sport’s history. Not sure if he’d want to discuss one of his missteps, I reached out to the sport’s most storied driver and received an enthusiastic “I’D LOVE TO!” response to my query and away we went.

Before we get to that discussion, let me provide a little more context. The other thing that always intrigued me about Garlits’ decision to build Swamp Rat 17 was that he had blown away the sport with Swamp Rat 14 (the first rear-engined winner, 1971 Winternationals) and its evolutionary successor, Swamp Rat 16, which won the 1972 Gatornationals. (Swamp Rat 15 was a front-engined car built just in case SR14 was a flop; it never ran.) After all this success, why take this detour, especially when no one else was experimenting with aerodynamics?

Turns out that while the ‘Liner didn’t make its debut until mid-1973, the idea was conceived in mid-1971, not long after Garlits had proven that the rear-engined design worked. It was at that point that Garlits’ old buddy, Jocko Johnson, whose similarly shaped entry had made huge waves in 1959 with “Jazzy” Jim Nelson at the wheel, suggested that maybe it was time to resurrect his design and have “Big Daddy” put it on one of his chassis.

“I always liked streamlining, and Jocko had never given up on the idea, but he needed a success rear-engined car to try it again,” Garlits explained.

The only rub was that Johnson needed a shorter car, a 180-inch wheelbase chassis, to fit under the body, Swamp Rat 14 and 16 were 215 inches.

I've never seen any detailed shots of the car without the body, but did stumble across this image, a 1/16th scale version that Johnson had built to show Garlits his idea. Very cool!

Johnson, a laid-back Californian, began work on the body mold in 1971 but didn’t finish it until 1972, then came to Garlits' Seffner, Fla., base to build the body, which would not be completed and the car not race-ready until Garlits was already on Swamp Rat 19 in mid-1973.

The slow pace for the Liner’s body construction was frustrating for Garlits, who was well-known for being able to build a complete car in just a few days, and in his great book, Don Garlits and His Cars, “Big” pulled no punches about the reason for the delay.

"Jocko by now was growing his 'weed' next door and stayed 'high' most of the time! On several occasions, I went next door, pulled up the plants, and burned them. Jocko just planted more and stayed high."

In anticipation of the Wynn’s Liner’s someday completion, Garlits built Swamp Rat 18, the car dubbed “Shorty,” with a 180-inch wheelbase so he could get a feel for the three-foot-shorter configuration and ran it at several AHRA events in 1972 but never felt comfortable in the car, but he felt sure that the Liner’s body would give the car stability and faster speed, just as adding the rear wing to Swamp Rat 14 had improved top-end speeds.

“18 just wanted to do funny things going down the course," he remembered. “You had to be really careful with it. I had to really slow down the steering to even make it work at all.”

The ‘Liner was finally ready early in 1973, and Garlits towed it and “Shorty” out to California to run the AHRA Grand American event at Orange County Int’l Raceway. Veteran Funny Car racer Butch Maas, finally recovered from serious burns he had suffered in the Hawaiian Funny Car the year before, was itching to drive the car, so Garlits let him and set about getting “Shorty” also qualified for the race.

There had been so much hype built about the ‘Liner, which had been featured on the cover of Car Craft magazine back in July 1972 with the cover blurb “Garlits Aims for 275 mph.” The feature had been shot and originally the blurb had targeted 250 mph (Garlits has a copy of the original mockup with 250 on it in the museum display, and kindly shot a photo for me), but the editors decided to raise more eyebrows. Although the official national record at the time was 234.37 (set by Gaines Markley in April in Seattle), Garlits had run 243.90 mph in the final round of the Gatornationals but didn't get the chance to back it up, so maybe 250 wasn't far enough "out there" for the publication.

“By the time we got the car read, [the editors] told me that 250 wasn’t enough, that they wanted to put 275 on it,” Garlits recalled. “We thought the car might go 255 or 260, but I agreed with them that 275 sounded better and more exciting.” [For the record, we wouldn’t see 275 for another 15 years, when Darrell Gwynn ran 278 in Dallas in late 1986.]

Just as had been the case when he debuted the famous rear-engined Swamp Rat 14 in 1971, Garlits’ fellow racers scoffed at Garlits’ latest project, mostly, he thinks, because if it had been successful it would have created a major sea change in the class just as Swamp Rat 14 had done. That wasn’t to be.

Maas made several attempts in the car but was spooked by its handling and ran a best speed of 180 mph. You can see by the photo here that the car didn’t yet have the bubble canopy on it, and Garlits is not sure it ever did in the car’s short lifespan (although it's visible in the Car Craft cover, Garlits says they didn't have a working cockpit hinge yet). You can also see "Big" in the background holding the bleach bottle. Although Maas couldn’t qualify the ‘Liner, Garlits was able to put "Shorty” into the show but lost in round one to Herm Petersen. “The whole trip was a disaster,” Garlits summed up in his book.

Still determined to make it work, Garlits put Don Cook in the car for the IHRA event at Lakeland Dragway in Florida. Cook had driven the short-wheelbase, rear-engined Piranha in late 1966, so Garlits figured he could get the job done, but he also was forced to lift a half-track on several passes. "They both said it was doing something funny, so I got in the car myself for a ride,” said Garlits.

“It took off kinda slow because it was so heavy, but then it was cruising along pretty well and making a decent run when all of the sudden the motor revved up. I quickly lifted and then felt a bump, like I had hit a bump in the track or something.

“We brought it back to the pit and tore it apart, but there was nothing broken in the driveline, and that’s when we figured out that the whole car had gone airborne and when lifted it came back down, and that was the bump I felt.

“Jocko thought I had sabotaged him, so he wouldn’t get any credit for the design, which is pretty ridiculous. He went to his grave never believing that the car was doing the things I said it did.”

Garlits also had concerns about the amount of nitro fumes being trapped under the body and the fact that the car was not easy to get out of. “I knew that someday it would catch fire, and that would be a helluva deal for the driver, so I just gave up on the project,” he said.

Garlits sold the car to rocket-car racers Russell Mendez and Ramon Alvarez, who envisioned turning it into a hydrogen peroxide-powered rocket car, but Mendez was killed in an exhibition pass in their Free Spirit rocket dragster at the 1975 Gatornationals, and Alvarez, a plumber by trade (who actually had done the plumbing for Garlits' house) needed cash and sold it back to "Big." Given the 'Liners inherent instability at less than 200 mph, one can only imagine what it would have done at rocket-car speed. (“It would probably have flown right up into the sky,” Garlits marveled.)

So, I asked Garlits the million-dollar question: "Is he glad he built the car, or was it just a waste of time and money?"

“It was definitely a waste of time and money, but I’m glad we did it. I enjoyed all of the projects I did, even the ones that didn’t work out, like the Sidewinder and the turbine [-powered] car. Everyone raved about the turbine engines and how powerful they could be, and that car didn't work out but it was fun to figure it out. I always loved experimenting. That’s what made it so fun. When you’re involved with projects like those, your mind is going 24x7, trying to think of all of the scenarios to make it work.

“Plus if I hadn’t gotten together with Jocko, I wouldn’t have his original streamliner in my museum or the body from the Mooneyham-Ferguson-Jackson-Faust car. That all came together because of my relationship with Jocko."

#Garlits #Swamp Rat 17 #swamp rat #don garlits #drag racing #top fuel dragster #dragster #dragstrip #drag race

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mckitterick · 4 years

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Vote Blue No Matter Who:

My argument against presidential "protest votes" this fall.

We can all agree trump is a tyrant, wannabe dictator, and all-around awful person who consorts with the devils among us, yes?

(If your answer is "no," go read some non-Faux news before interacting.)

So please, please don't hand him another four years (ie possible lifetime position modeled after the foreign dictators he fetishizes).

That is, vote for the Democratic candidates. Not Harambe or JoJo Bear or trump's buddy Kanye or whomever. Hold your nose and vote Biden if he's still in the running, or whatever other Dem is running against America's Orange Bane.

From FiveThirtyEight:

Even if a third-party candidate could win over true independents and even some Republicans or Democrats, like Ross Perot did in 1992, it would be extremely difficult to garner enough votes to win - and that’s because of the Electoral College.

Winner-take-all systems hamstring third parties. Take the case of Perot. He won 19% of the vote in 1992, the largest national popular vote share for a third-party candidate since 1912.

But he didn’t win a single electoral vote. In his best state, Maine, Perot lost by 8 points to the winner, who took all the electoral votes, anyway.

Perot’s underperformance highlights the systemic challenge third-party candidates face in the Electoral College. All but two states give all their electoral votes to the candidate who won the majority or plurality (however slim) of votes in the state, so for a third-party candidate to win electoral votes, he or she must win states outright, which even the popular Perot wasn’t able to do in 1992.

/quote

So when someone says, "A vote for anyone but the Democratic candidate is a vote for Trump," it's literally true. Thank the Electoral College.

Voting for anyone else won't "send a message" other than "I'm okay with installing trump for another four years... or forever, if he gets his way."

Don't like that your Libertarian or Green or Socialist or Whatever candidate has no chance of winning? Fight to eliminate the Electoral College. Don't f*ck everything up for everyone because the system screws third-parties.

The message voting for anyone else sends is that you're okay with the collapse of our civilization, and the wake that would send across the world.

That's not hyperbole: Add up the atrocities this administration is responsible for, the tens of thousands of people who have suffered and died because of his incompetence, greed, and hate, then project this course into the future.

Do you really want to live in those ruins? Is sending the message, "But I don't like Biden," worth that cost?

Biden is flawed, problematic, and a Party man. But he also heard the message during the Democratic primaries. Maybe he won't create the kind of revolutionary change Bernie would have sought, but compared to the literal demons the Republicans are putting forward...

Please help change this country for the better. Keep protesting. Don't settle for token appeasement for our demands for progressive reform. Keep the revolutionary movement rolling forward!

Remember that the trump administration would send the military against such protests. He allows right-wingnuts with guns to aid police in quelling protest. He orders violent crackdowns on peaceful demonstrations so he can have a clumsy photo-op with a bible on the steps of a church whose leaders and parishioners he just grenaded, gassed, and shot with rubber-coated bullets.

He calls literal fascists and nazis, "good people."

Want four or more years of that?

Remember: When you're dying of dehydration, a glass of stale, tepid water is still better than one full of bleach.

(And while we're at it, vote out *all* representatives who have backed this murderous creep. That's where thief m third-party votes can make a real difference.)

graph (and some text) source: X

#vote #vote blue no matter who #third parties #electoral college #op

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