#first time really actually sitting down & writing slime stuff & it was fun

[chubbyheroesworthyheroes]

Linus didn’t care much for history, that was more of Lloyd’s interest. Sure, as a kid it had been fun to listen to the stories of the heroes of old, and even now, he held a great pride for what those who came before had accomplished against the dragons, but it wasn’t something he found overly interesting. The Shrine of Seals was an important place in Bern, though few actually knew where it was anymore. It lay hidden among the mountains and woods, and the only reason he was here now, was to make a last stand and take revenge against the Lycian lords that were headed for the legendary weapons here.

“Legendary my ass…,” he scoffed, looking around the torch lit room with irritation. There wasn’t much here at all; just a large, stone room with minimal decoration to it. If there was really something mystical or even mildly amazing here, he sure wasn’t seeing it.

Growling in annoyance, the Mad Dog rolled his eyes and decided to hunker down in the large stone chair at the center of the room. It didn’t matter if there was something here or not, the only thing he was here for was the pathetic lives of the lordlings that were going to walk right into his ambush. Idly tapping the cross guard of his sword against the arm of the stone throne he was sitting in, Linus quickly grew bored and further frustrated at having to wait around. Sitting still wasn’t really in his forte, so it didn’t take long for him to jump back to his feet and start pacing around the chamber.

As he was making a haphazard circuit around the room, a small section of the floor seemed to depress under his boot, a clicking noise alerting him just a bit too as the entrance to the shrine suddenly closed with a great groaning of stone. The chamber was thrown into darkness for a moment, the torchlight flickering -- threatening to snuff out -- before burning steady again. It only took a moment for his vision to adjust, a string of colorful words leaving his mouth as Linus immediately attempted to budge the door open again -- and, when that failed, tried to repeat what he’d done to close the blasted thing in the first place.

“Fucking hell, really?!” Linus blusters futilely, slamming a fist against the unmoving stone door as he realized that he was well and truly stuck until his men figured out how to reopen the shrine. Huffing out an angered breath, he gives the door a good kick for being a bastard -- it didn’t help at all, but it made him feel a tiny bit better to vent his frustrations.

Time seems to drip by slowly as he waits, the crackle of the torches eventually wearing down Linus’ anger enough to make him feel almost dozy after so long of staring at the blank walls.

The unnatural sound of something squelching about in the shadows of the room jolts Linus out of the near-sleep he’d fallen into, scrambling to his feet from where he’d been sitting with his back to the stone door. Brown eyes skimmed the dark edges of the room for anything, not seeing anything at first, until something finally inches its way into the dim light of the torches. And, really, he has no idea what to call this thing other than a something -- it has no real form, the creature simply moving along the floor in a vaguely slug-like, blobby form of...whatever the hell it was made up of. It had a pastel red color to it, its form more or less translucent despite the pigment.

Well...at least this was something interesting.

“You’re a weird li’l fucker, ain’tcha?” Linus sneered, unsheathing his sword and poking the tip into at the creature that seemed to be aimlessly inching around. To his surprise, it didn’t really react; the tip of his blade sunk into the thing with hardly any resistance, and all the creature did was wobble to a stop. “Huh…,” he shrugged, figuring that poking at it wouldn’t be all that fun for very long, moving to pull his sword out of the gelatinous blob.

Only, Linus found that the little red creature was holding onto the metal with a death grip. Scowling and readjusting his hold, Linus tugged firmly at his weapon, but all this managed to accomplish was a brief suction-like noise as the blob started to move up the blade.

“What the…,” Linus breathed out in trepidation, trying several more times to free his sword of the goop that was clinging to it and steadily moving up its length with every attempt he made.

The red goo lurched forward suddenly, and Linus shuddered at the feel of it sliming over his hand. It wasn’t sticky per se, as it looked like it would feel sticky on contact, but it was cool and slick in a still intensely unpleasant way. Just like with his sword, any attempts to pull his hand out of the red goop were only met with frustration; the slime, however, seemed more energized as soon as it made contact with his skin instead of the stone of the floor or the metal of his blade, and quickly abandoned gripping onto the weapon in favor of enveloping more of Linus’ arm.

It was at this point that Linus saw the full scope of the creature he’d been poking at. What he’d initially seen was just a small section of it -- as the wet suction of the slime claimed more of his arm, the rest of the creature made itself visible from the shadows. It was massive, and the fact that he hadn’t been able to see or hear the damn thing for its size had panic creeping into the back of Linus’ mind as he struggled to get out of the thing’s hold.

“Okay, you big fucker, let go and maybe I won’t tear you apart!” Linus threatened, trying to wrench his arm free or even shift some of the mass off with his free hand. It did little good, as his fingers couldn’t get a grip on the slick surface. But, fear spiking and turning into rage, Linus continued to fight against its hold.

This didn’t deter the slime in the least, his struggling only seeming to interest the beast more than anything else as more of it started to slip over and around him. Furiously trying to gain some sort of purchase, Linus’ boots squished into more of the red goo, making it harder for him to even move now. A shiver of disgust ran down his spine as he felt the cool goo drip onto his abs and inch over his abdomen with a weirdly sentient touch -- as if it was curiously investigating him. “I swear, you go anywhere you ain’t supposed to and I’ll--!” his enraged shouting was swiftly cut off by a tendril of slime jamming its way into his open mouth. The force of it had reaction tears stinging his eyes, Linus gagging as the viscous substance filled his mouth and then forced its way down his throat. There was a long, drawn out moment of full blown panic as Linus found he couldn’t breathe; he struggled desperately, clawing and kicking at the creature as his vision swam from lack of air. Eventually, the creature seemed to understand that he needed to breathe, and eased up enough so that he could pull in ragged lungfuls of air through his nose.

Saints, he’d nearly blacked out there...And while the damned thing was learning to let him breathe before it pumped more of itself into his mouth, it was still rather eagerly streamlining itself down his throat. Working his jaw a bit, Linus let out a muffled groan of frustration when he couldn’t bite through it; soft though it felt and appeared, it was like trying to chew through a thick ball of leather. It did, however, have the odd perk of being ridiculously sweet; the bright flavor of cherries leaving a syrupy taste in his mouth.

Unable to really move or get himself free of the slime, Linus could do little more than seethe and watch as more and more of the room filled with the creature. It seemed pleased that he’d stopped fighting as much, generously pumping more cherry flavored goo into him at a pace that didn’t suffocate him. Except, a new issue cropped up when the inevitable feeling of fullness started to hit Linus.

He squirmed a bit, wincing at the stuffed feeling as his stomach churned, trying to deal with what was being shoveled into it. He huffed out an aggravated, pained breath through his nose, ramping up his struggling again when it felt like he was going to be sick from the sheer volume of goop it was trying to get in him. The red goo seemed to pause for a moment, its previous coolness melting away into a pleasant warmth. Relief struck Linus almost instantly at this, the overfull feeling in his stomach fading away as the warmth sunk in.

Relaxing a bit, Linus simply let it pick up where it left off for a while, until he felt something off…

Glancing down, his brain seemed to hit a wall when he saw the belt strapped over his chest digging in to his belly. The six pack abs he’d had just moments ago were completely gone, a soft, chubby belly having replaced it after whatever the creature had done. To make more room, it must have absorbed itself into his body -- but this wasn’t really something the human body was meant to ingest, and this was the result…

A muffled protest was all Linus could get out as the slime ramped up the pace. Every time he felt like he was going to burst from the pressure in his stomach, the creature would repeat the process of absorbing what it had pumped into him, which resulted in more weight getting added to the Mad Dog’s once muscular frame.

Frustration and indignation had slowly faded into a food drunk sort of resignation as time ticked by in the semi dark of the shrine. It was monotonous and repetitive, and the feeling of being filled to the bursting point with warm slime made it difficult to actually stay awake -- similar to the effect of eating a big meal and then needing to sleep it off. Linus’ attention narrowed down to a fine point of swallowing down the increasingly large bursts of goop that the creature was pumping into his mouth. Eyes glazed over, he barely even processes the way the slime is expanding his body anymore.

The belt that had been digging into him early on was reaching its limits; Linus’ gut growing steadily rounder as the slime fed him, the thick leather indenting harshly into the flesh the more doughy his middle got. Eventually, it was too much, and the buckle snapped, freeing his engorged belly to bounce forward and into his lap. He felt some of the slime creature squish between the underside of his gut and his chunky thighs, a muffled noise escaping him as the creature seemed to caress at his expanding bulk -- at least, as much as a boneless mass of goo could manage. It was a weird feeling, the suction of the slime against the sensitive skin of his belly, but it wasn’t altogether awful.

But, it wasn’t just his middle that had taken a hard hit; Linus’ entire frame was chubbing up just as nicely thanks to the slime.

Even without the red goo cushioning him, his ass had plumped up enough to be plenty comfortable against the hard stone beneath him. His trousers were quite tight at this point, the material struggling against his fat ass and thunder thighs. His face, while never angular, had clearly rounded out; chubby cheeks flushed red and a double chin softening his jawline. Broad shoulders and a strong back were now padded generously with pudge, smoothing out muscles into soft valleys of fat. His pecs were still holding somewhat firm, round and pert as they sat atop the growing mass of his gut. Likewise, his arms had maintained some definition, the added weight serving to mostly make them look more bulky as they stressed the sleeves of his shirt and jacket. The juicy swell of thick lovehandles rounded out his figure, not so much fighting his belly for space as much as merging with it to create a deliciously supple tire of flesh around his middle and sides.

The room glistens a shimmery red from the slime creature practically filling it up with its behemoth size, the light from the torches reflecting off of its form as it oozes around Linus. If it has an end at all, he can’t see it. All he knows is that it hasn’t let up an ounce with its feeding, a constant, thick stream of the stuff bulging out Linus’ cheeks like a fat chipmunk that had hit the jackpot of nuts; pumping its own astounding mass down into his gurgling, fattening stomach.

Time had practically ground to a stop for Linus, everything in the world seeming to have narrowed down to just encompass the massive creature as it blimped him up with itself.

He couldn’t even stifle the groan that was building up in him if he wanted to, a slick, slime covered hand clumsily smacking against the bulge of his belly as he dazedly rubbed at the swollen mass. Despite constantly and continuously being stuffed to the brim, it was incredibly soft and squishy. Chubby fingers sunk into the soft flesh with ease, and if he pressed down hard enough at certain points, Linus could feel the slime in his gut roiling about as it filled him up. Outside of the time it took to absorb itself into him -- which took mere seconds -- the creature didn’t appear to be stopping for anything, and as his body continued to fatten up and swell out with all the added weight, Linus dumbly thought it was a good thing this place wasn’t horribly small.

#male weight gain #male wg #slime inflation #chubby!linus #*y e e t s* #finally got this out of my system #first time really actually sitting down & writing slime stuff & it was fun

[sweetea-rosey]

Ooo hi I saw you take requests? I have a writing request if you want to :))

So here is my idea:

Remus has a notebook given to him by the other sides to write his thoughts down in. See, Remus has clear impulse control problems so this notebook of for him to write his thoughts down instead of just doing and saying whatever comes to mind. It gives him a chance to think about it. Sometimes, maybe like once a week give or take a few days one of the other sides will sit down with him and read his thoughts with him just to make him feel validated and heard. Well this particular time one of the sides (of your choice) sat down with the notebook and found some rather interesting things.

Now, you can take this one of two ways (it’s really all up to you!)- You can make this something angsty (hurt comfort), or you can make it something shippy! It can be any Remus ship you want but I personally am more partial to intrulogical hehe 💙💚

Take your time and have fun with it!! Have a good day :)

Ah! Ty for the request! I started writing it on the day you submitted it, but Tumblr deleted it after a while of not saving :') so now my motivation to do this is deterred

Anyway, this'll be my first time not writing something Roman centric =w=""

Remus held the book in his hands. He remembered the day Roman gave it to him, when he risked traveling into the dark scape because he knew his brother needed this. Because he did, too.

An outlet.

A place for his monstrosities to be, other than inside his head, allowed to torture him to their best abilities. The illusions his mind creates are no longer just in his eyes. It's no longer insanity- it's creativity. The journal isn't the first one. But he and Roman make sure to keep eachother stocked up; they get filled rather quickly. The Imagination holds an entire library dedicated to their filled journals from over the years.

The journals have also become sort of diaries to them. So, imagine what were to happen if one of them got lost? The possibility of their secrets being seen by unbidden eyes.

Remus burst into Roman's room, "Ro!"

Roman jumped from his spot at his desk, "Jeez- ! What is it?"

Oddly, for Remus, he seemed almost anxious, "Have you seen my latest journal?"

Ah, that explains it. Roman understands the severity of losing something that holds your private thoughts. He stood up from his desk chair, turning to face Remus better, "No, I haven't. Is it missing?"

Remus nodded, unable to speak through the panic coursing through his veins, the hormone mixing with the feeling of the plasma we call blood rushing through veins and arteries, rest in his heart, which is thumping with vigor, the- Remus shook himself. The imagery coming on its own with nothing to do with it, "Thoughts, thoughts thoughts, thoughts, blood, where? Everywhere? It is me, I am thoughts and blood and gore and death and slime, and..."

Roman pulled his brother in, the physical touch of his second half grounding him, finally balanced out with his brother there to help him.

"Breathe, Ree...I get it...I'll help you look for it, okay? Do you have any spare journals?"

Remus shook his head. He had just started this one, he was too busy brainstorming on the pages to remember to restock.

"Okay, do you have the focus to conjur any, right now?"

Remus shook his head again. No no, of course not! He's too focused on the one that's missing!

"Alright, that's okay, Ree. I get it. Here, use this for now," As Roman spoke, he pressed a plain black book in the unstable man's hands, "Get some thoughts out on that, then we can start looking, okay?"

Instead of answering, he made the rest of the way into the prince's room and started letting the thoughts out.

.

.

.

"Feel better?"

Remus let out a breath and nodded, "A lot, thanks. Can we go look, now?"

"Of course, let's go."

It took hours. The sun was gone in Thomas' living room and they were still tearing the place apart, searching absolutely everywhere. Remus was tempted to just dismantle the mind palace and look through the stuff that gets left behind. The fear was boiling in his gut in the ocean of acid.

"What if we don't find it? My blood, sweat, and tears went into that book! Pieces of my heart are in there, I can't lose it, what if someone else finds it and reads it?"

Roman shuddered, because he didn't believe that Remus was being metaphorical, "I understand the severity of the situation, Ree. We should go look in the Lightside, now..."

Remus shrugged as much as his slumped posture will allow, "Sure..."

"We'll find it, Ree..."

"That's not what I'm worried about. If I lose it? Fine, I have others, I can start a new one. I'm scared of someone else finding it and reading it... there's things in there I don't want others seeing..."

"I get it, you know I do. We'll get it back before anyone else can even know it exists, alright?"

Remus just shrugged off his comforting hand, "Stupid prince, always making promises you don't even know if you can keep. Don't do that to yourself and don't do it to me. I'm not stupid enough to fall for that shit."

Roman recoiled, almost physically, "Sometime, people just need reassurance."

"And then, when you're wrong? I know you don't like breaking promises, Princey."

"...Then hopefully we'll figure it out."

"You're such a fucking optimist, it's gross."

Roman rolled his eyes, "I'm helping you look, be nice, you doofus."

"Oh wow, "doofus", I'm so offended," Remus said without much effort.

Roman ignored him.

.

.

.

"It's not HERE!" Remus screamed, a pot crashing through the wall.

Roman manged to muffle the noise and quickly put it back together, "We will, this was only the first room in the Lightside. You need to calm down."

"I can't! What if someone else already found it and read it? What if they hate me? What if they never wanna talk to me again because nothing in there makes sense, what-"

Roman caught his hands, "Woah! Woah...Remus, when did you start caring so much about what the others think of you?"

"I don't!"

"But...-"

"I don't care about what Logan and the other think of me."

"Of what...Logan and the...? Remus...is this about Logan?"

Remus hesitated just long enough.

"Oh great Aphrodite, it is..."

"Aphro-? NO! No, I don't!"

"Remus, is there something about Logan on that book?"

Remus said fuck it in his mind and sighed, "Yes... I...some fantasies...that he might not approve of..."

"Oh, Remus..."

"What if he finds out, and he...? He just doesn't...?"

Roman hit his brother on the head, "This is why you're a doofus. It doesn't matter if he finds it, you have nothing to worry about."

Remus rolled his eyes. Literally. He rolled them like dice and Roman had to look away, but got the message.

"How would you know?"

It was Roman's turn to roll his eyes (PROPERLY).

"I'm leaving you to figure that out. But, I do."

"Sure. Whatever. Asshole."

Roman moved on to look in the next room.

.

.

.

A flash of green leaped onto him and he was tumbling over, the item in his hands flying out.

"Remus!"

The man scrambled over and snatched the book up, "Did you read it?"

"I- no, Remus what is it?"

"It's mine. Roman, I found it!"

Roman? Since when do those two talk? But, as Remus said, Roman walked in.

"Oh, thank Hades."

"Logan had it."

Roman sucked in a breath, "Did he read it?"

Remus shook his head, relief is a weird expression on the man's face.

Logan wouldn't mind seeing it more.

"What is this about?"

Roman took the liberty of answering, "The book is Remus' and it's private. Reading it would be invasive."

"Oh, my apologies, then. But, I had just picked it up, it was left over from Remus' running through the room and into the Imagination, along with some other debris I cleaned up."

"It's alright, nerd."

Logan's gaze lingered on Remus a bit, before he bid his farewells, reminded Roman of some work he needs to do by Friday, then left.

"Y'know," Roman said as they turned to walk back, "You could tell him how you feel."

Remus scoffed, "I'm not self destructive, like you, RoRo."

Ignoring Remus' jabs is difficult for the prince, nevertheless, "And do, pray tell, how it's self destructive?"

"Because he'll say no and that will hurt. I don't like when things actually hurt. I'm not risking him hating me even more."

"Woah, woah, he doesn't hate you."

"Doesn't he? I'm chaotic, irrational, vile, ik everything he fights to keep under control."

Roman digested this and thought hard on how best to explain this, "But that's exactly why you two are perfect for each other. You help him let loose when he's being a stick in the mud and he helps you keep in control of yourself and stay organized.

"You're delusional. He doesn't like me, he can't Ro. It goes against our very beings! Go ahead and fool yourself, but you can't do that to me. That's just cruel." Remus disappeared and Roman sighed as he tried to brush off his brother's words.

As the embodiment of romance, he thinks he'd know when a couple will work out or not. How will he convince his brother and Logan of that? He supposes he can't blame them for that, who would listen to the love advice of someone who loves someone that loves someone else? Kinda hypocritical.

.

.

.

"Just leave me alone!"

"Remus! Would calm down? Just listen to me!"

"No! You're a liar and I hate you! Do you want me to get hurt? You're an asshole you good for nothing prince!" He screamed. Why won't his brother let this go? Doesn't he see that everyone is better this way?

"Fine! You're right! Is that what you want to hear? Call me an asshole, call me stupid, call me evil or whatever! But I'm not wrong! Why don't you believe me? Ha! Why am I trying to reason with the self proclaimed unreasonable?"

Remus looked down from his perch on the guillotine, "Wait, RoRo-!" But he was gone.

"Fuck."

He rushed out, hoping to Loki that he didn't do too much damage.

"Roman!"

But he found who he wants looking for.

"Why are you screaming in the middle of the common room?" Came that cool and sexy voice.

"Looking for my brother, duh."

"Funny, I just spoke to him."

"Where'd he go?"

"Not sure, but he told me to stop being a robotic fake and confess to you."

"He- ? ROMAN!" Remus summoned a hammer and maybe there's a new hole in the wall.

"He was right, surprisingly."

Remus was not expecting that, "Come again?"

"I have noticed, over the course of our interactions, that I have developed feelings that I didn't recognized until Roman brought them to my attention. Remus...I have romantic feelings for you."

And it was the last casual and calculated confession Remus ever heard. He imagined something with ropes. But it was the best thing he ever heard. He didn't expect to be crying.

"Remus?"

"I like you, too..."

Logan brightened and stood up, his heart beating unnaturally, yet pleasently, as he moved closer, "Then... perhaps we...?"

But before he could finish, Remus pulled him in and there was no need for words.

Part 2 with what happened with Roman afterwards?

Ty so much for the request and I apologies for the long wait.

@fireflyjunkie

#sanders sides #roman sanders #remus sanders #logan sanders #roman angst #remus angst #intrulogical #intrulogical angst #intrulogical fluff #fanfiction #request #It's really hard for me to not include roman angst #is this what you had in mind? #i madd you wait too long for this #I'd feel bad if I didn't even do it well #lol #i started it when you gave it to me #made progress then it got deleted #so my motivation after that wasn't great lol #but I did it!! #oh wait #frick #i didn't see the fact that they were supposed to sit down with him and read it #ummmmmmm...... #here's some angst and creativitwin bonding....? #i can absolutely redo it #i really don't mind #👀💧

[nurvuss]

I Watched the First Episode of Every New Spring 2021 Anime Airing on Crunchyroll

Hey, are you like me, and feeling like you're not getting the most out of your Crunchyroll subscription? Sure, there's stuff on there that you know you like. But whenever I look at the big long list of simulcasting shows, my eyes glaze over and I don't even know where to begin.

I wanted to change my habits and see if there were any shining gems that I should be watching. So, as per the title, I watched the first episode of every new Spring 2021 anime on Crunchyroll. And guess what? There’s a lot of crap! But indeed, there’s some stuff that’s worth your time.

Some clarification: I've only watched shows that began their first season in April 2021.

Backflip!!

Show Link

The Lowdown

As Futaba Shotaro comes to the end of middle school, his interest in baseball has begun to wane. Soon he notices the Ao High Boys Gymnastic Club and becomes enthralled, especially after seeing them perform. Once he learns they're down two members, he chooses to sign up and pursue the art of gymnastics. The club is also joined by Misato Ryoya, a star solo gymnast looking to expand his technique through teamwork.

Our Thoughts

Pretty formulaic shoujo sports anime: you've got your himbo, your thug, your ladies' man, your stoic guy, with Shotaro rounding out the cast as the shy and awkward audience surrogate. It looks wholesome enough, and the choreographed routines employ CG in a way that's quite convincing without being hideous.

Who It's For

Fans of  FREE, or Yuri!!! on Ice, or any similar shows about cute boys who succeed at athletic feats. 

Borscht Rating

Burning Kabaddi

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The Lowdown

Legendary high school soccer star Yoigoshi Tatsuya has given up on sports! That is, until he's blackmailed to join the high school kabaddi team, under threat of his online persona being leaked to the entire school. Although Tatsuya initially writes kabaddi off as stupid, the unexpected happens as he begins to have fun.

Our Thoughts

Kabaddi is kinda like competitive tag, or dodgeball but with your body instead of a ball. Burning Kabaddi is basically the shounen alternative to Backflip!! above, replete with nosebleeds, pratfalls, and dudes punching each other. The main cast don't seem to like each other very much; that probably changes as the show goes on but at first blush it's a dynamic I always find annoying.

Who it's For

Fans of Haikyuu!!? Maybe?

Borscht Rating

CARDFIGHT!! VANGUARD overDress

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The Lowdown

The newest series based on Bushiroad's collectible card game, featuring character designs by the beloved collective CLAMP. Petit middle schooler Yu-Yu just doesn't know how to say no. As his older students dress him in drag to use as live makeup practice, he suffers a panic attack and flees into the streets. After being accosted by a pickup artist, he's befriended by Megumi, who invites him to witness a Cardfight match at the local abandoned amusement park. However, Yu-yu is too shy to tell Megumi he's actually a boy…

Our Thoughts

What an unexpectedly weird concept for a show about a card game. Our hero spends the whole episode in drag, whimpering and simpering at the sight of any conflict. Then they show off the latest series of cards, which all seem to be giant buff knights with names like "Bad Steve" and "Violent Bruce". Your guess is as good as mine.

Who it's For

Cardfight!! lovers, Japanese gender studies majors, or the most desperate fujoshi. 

Borscht Rating

Cestvs: The Roman Fighter

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The Lowdown

The year is 54AD, and Nero has taken the throne as the youngest emperor of Rome. At the bottom of the population, Cestvs is a young slave training to be a colosseum boxer. Reluctant, his only choice is to fight or die.

Our Thoughts

Seeing Nero depicted as a gentle little twink is pretty funny. It's also pretty funny that the central character is named after a Roman boxing glove. The animation style transitions to some very uncanny CG when a major fight takes place, and I didn't like that one bit! This seems like a pretty average tournament anime but with a historical setting. It's currently unknown if any of these dudes are fucking each other. I'm gonna say probably.

Who It's For

The venn-diagram of Greco-Roman history buffs and lovers of tournament series?

Borscht Rating

Don’t Toy with Me, Miss Nagatoro!

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The Lowdown:

Hachioji Naoto is a nerdy, introverted student who spends his time studying and avoiding socialising. When pages from the fantasy manga he's drawing fall out of his bookbag, they catch the attention of a younger student named Nagatoro Hayase. Nagatoro begins to tease Naoto for his otaku interests and awkward demeanour, peppered with some suggestive flirting.

Our Thoughts:

What would you do if a younger girl flirted with you? Would you cry? Piss your pants maybe? Maybe shit and cum? Don't Toy With Me… attempts to barely conceal its BDSM fantasy with its comedic elements, but it's incredibly apparent as Nagatoro always wipes away Naoto's tears as a sort of aftercare. It's like a lighter, comedic version of Aku no Hana, but lacking any of the ponderings or danger that made that work so special.

Who It's For: 

People who search Pornhub for "bratty sister femdom".

Borscht Rating:

86 Eighty-Six

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The Lowdown

The Republic of San Magnolia and the Giad Empire, have been at war for nearly a decade. Using advanced military technology, the frontlines are fought by giant mecha drones called Juggernauts, controlled remotely by Handlers. Major Vladilena Mirizé is one of the military's most talented Handlers in the 1st District, and one who is constantly teased by her peers for the humanity and empathy she shows her squadron. The government line is that drone warfare has kept casualties to zero, but unbeknownst to the public these "drones'' are piloted by 86ers—the lowest class of citizens, forced to live in military internment camps in San Magnolia's 86th District.

Our Thoughts

This is incredibly my kind of thing. We've got a dual narrative being set up here: Vladilena as the kind, reluctant officer of a fascist regime, and the Bad Company-esque antics of her new ragtag squad, Spearhead. The first episode is split pretty evenly between the two, with each story converging at the end as Vladilena "meets" Spearhead for the first time through her comms station. It's an explosive and enticing first episode, and I can't wait to watch more of it.

Who It's For

Fans of Fullmetal Alchemist, Psycho-Pass, Gundam, or any number of anti-imperialist war stories.

Borscht Rating

Fairy Ranmaru

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The Lowdown

In a quiet corner of the city sits Bar F, a modest drinking establishment staffed entirely by five hot young men. Unbeknownst to the general population, these men are a crack team of fairies sent to the human world to gather the latent energy of "attachment". They do this by solving the problems of young women, taking their hearts in the process.

Our Thoughts

Hubba hubba, a little something for the ladies! It's Weiẞ Kreuz with a bar instead of a flower shop, fairies instead of assassins, and some pretty revealing outfits. There's definitely a little Persona 5 inspiration here too, from the punctuating phrase "Take your Heart!" to many of the visual cues. Make of that what you will.

Who It's For

Fans of Weiẞ Kreuz, slash fic authors.

Borscht Rating

Farewell, My Dear Cramer

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The Lowdown

Onda Nozomi was once the star player of her middle school football team. Completely unmatched, she no longer plays as there's no opponent she deems to be on her level. Meanwhile Suou Sumire far outpaces her teammates, causing her frustration. By a twist of fate, these two girls find themselves joining the scrappy Warabi Seinan High School FC as they begin to learn the value of teamwork and friendship.

Our Thoughts

I don't know sports. And I really don't know football. I had to look up what the title meant, and now I barely know who Dettmar Cramer is. I'm really not the best person to judge this, but it seems like a pretty good female-driven sports anime. 

Who It's For

Fans of Ace o Nerae! or other sports manga/anime about those ever burning bonds between young teammates.

Borscht Rating

Gloomy, the Naughty Grizzly

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The Lowdown:

Pitty lives with his pet Gloomy, a massive pink bear. Can a boy and a bear truly get along?

Our Thoughts:

This is a series of minute-long gag episodes in which Gloomy mauls Pitty and blood squirts everywhere. It's definitely meant to be a morbid parody of Sanrio or San-X; it might be a Rilakkuma parody in particular? Gloomy is the kind of thing you might laugh at if it came on in between shows, but it's pretty slight to go through the trouble of putting on.

Who It's For:

Gag anime fans with one minute to spare.

Borscht Rating:

Higehiro: After Being Rejected, I Shaved and Took in a High School Runaway

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The Lowdown

After a night of drinking in Tokyo, slovenly salaryman Yoshida encounters a teenage runaway sitting under a lamppost. She offers to sleep with him in return for letting her spend the night in his apartment. Yoshida refuses her offer but allows her to stay. The next morning the girl, Sayu, reveals she's travelled all the way from Hokkaido, sleeping with random men in return for lodging and money. Feeling responsible for her safety, Yoshida agrees for Sayu to stay indefinitely in return for handling household chores.

Our Thoughts

This is kind of the inverse of Koikimo (see below), but without a scumbag character and from a male perspective. It's not nearly as nauseating as that show, but it's still a fantasy about living with a busty teenage girl.

Who It's For

Libertarians.

Borscht Rating

I've Been Killing Slimes For 300 Years And Maxed Out My Level

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The Lowdown: 

Office lady Aizawa Azusa dies of overwork in her early 20s, and finds herself standing before a lecherous goddess. Allowed a wish as compensation for her untimely demise, Azusa wishes for an endless life of leisure. The goddess reincarnates her as a 17-year-old immortal witch in an RPG-coded fantasy world. Thrilled, Azusa lazes about, brewing potions for her neighbouring villagers, and kills a small amount of slimes each day to supplement her income. After doing this every day for 300 years, she inadvertently finds herself at Level 99. Her peaceful life is soon upended as adventurers and dragons come from miles around to challenge the legendary witch.

Our Thoughts:

I'm not really an isekai fan, and that goes double for series which aren't set in an RPG, yet use RPG mechanics. Levelling up, grinding stats, min-maxing, as if it's a part of the fabric of the setting. I don't get it. I like watching numbers go up as much as the next dork, but I don't need to watch numbers go up in absolutely every piece of media I consume. Just play a fucking video game, Jesus Christ almighty.

I thought this might be setting up a fun series in which a layabout is reluctantly called upon to undertake a dangerous quest, but I don't think that's what's going on at all. When the red dragon Laika wrecks Azusa's house, she transforms into a cute young girl and the two begin living together, teaching each other the pros and cons of hard work and slothfulness respectively. The trajectory of the series might be as laid back as its protagonist in the end, which, ultimately, would be fitting.

Who It's For:

Isekai fans, slice-of-life fans. The twain have met!

Borscht Rating:

Joran: The Princess of Snow and Blood

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The Lowdown

In alternative history Japan the Meiji Period continued well into the 1930s, and the ongoing Tokugawa Shogunate has brought technological prosperity to the nation through a magical energy source called the Dragon's Vein. Sawa Yukimura runs a bookshop where she lives with her little sister by day, but by night she's an assassin for Nue, the shogunate's secret police. As the terrorist group Kuchinawa deploys transforming beasts in an attempt to topple the shogunate, Nue springs into action with their own abilities.

Our Thoughts

There are a lot of concepts competing here, and a few too many flashy transformation sequences for my taste, but I'm really into it! Nue are made up of sex workers and street musicians, often overlooked and therefore easily able to blend in. There's a supernatural Standalone Complex vibe to how the team operates, and they're almost assuredly on the wrong side. Worth a shot!

Who It's For

Fans of alternate history science fiction, Ghost in the Shell: Standalone Complex, Demon Slayer.

Borscht Rating

Koikimo: Koi to Yobu ni wa Kimochi Warui ("It's Disgusting to Call This Love")

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The Lowdown

Amakusa Ryo is a womanizing salaryman concerned with nothing but his own base desires. As he slips on the train station stairs one morning, he's saved by the swift action of Arima Ichika, a kind-hearted high schooler. When it turns out Ichika is friends with Ryo's younger sister Riou, he decides she's his soulmate, and begins to pursue her no matter how many times she refuses him. Comedy ensues!

Our Thoughts

Yeah, OK groomer.

Alright look, Korikimo is written by a woman and told from Ichika's perspective, so this is obviously meant to be a lighthearted "older man" shoujou romance. As an older man, all I saw were the adventures of a paedophile and the teenager he's stalking. Fuck off.

Who it's For

There's probably other stuff like this, right? If you like that, here you go.

Borscht Rating

Let's Make a Mug, Too

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The Lowdown

After the death of her mother, Himeno and her father relocate from bustling Tokyo to quiet Tajimi City in Gifu Prefecture. The former salaryman opens a quiet cafe using the remarkable mugs made by his late wife, while Himeno follows in her mother's footsteps and joins the school pottery club. Although her first project ends in disaster, Himeno makes fast friends with the eccentric pottery enthusiasts who make up the club.

Our Thoughts

It's no Eizouken, but I guess it's probably not meant to be. I'm not a big iyashikei genre fan, but if that's your thing, you might enjoy the wholesome non-adventures of three girls trying to make a mug. It's worth noting these episodes are only about 12 minutes long, with the remaining runtime segmented into live action episodes where the voice actresses tour Tajimi and unconvincingly pretend to be interested in Gifu's famous mino-yaki pottery. I think this must be a tie-in with a local tourist board. 

Who It's For

People who enjoy stuff like Aria, actually.

Borscht Rating

OddTaxi

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The Lowdown

In a Tokyo populated by anthropomorphic animals, a solemn walrus named Odokawa spends his nights driving his cab around the bustling metropolis, spending his free time drinking with his pals. Odokawa soon finds his quiet life disrupted by a caper involving a missing girl, some crooked cops, and the animal yakuza. 

Our Thoughts

A deft blend of working class slice-of-life with mystery, cute animals, and striking visual design. OddTaxi might be the sleeper hit of Spring 2021.

Who It's For

Fans of existentialist film noir with absurdist comedy, Polar Bear Cafe, walrus lovers.

Borscht Rating

Osamake: Romcom Where The Childhood Friend Won't Lose

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The Lowdown

Suehiro Maruo Sueharu Maru has his heart set on Shirokusa Kachi, the hottest girl in school. When she begins dating a young actor, Sueharu confides in his childhood friend Kuroha Shida, who's openly in love with him and he rejected in the past. Kuroha suggests the two get revenge on Shirokusa by pretending to be in love. Will Sueharu fall in love with Kuroha for real, making her dreams come true?

Our Thoughts

Give me a fucking break.

Who It's For

I don't know and I don't care.

Borscht Rating

SD Gundam World Heroes

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The Lowdown

The newest instalment of the SD Gundam media-mix franchise. In a world populated by super deform mecha, a burning meteor lands in the middle of Captain City. From it launches a terrible mechanized beast: Naughty Lion. When the police are powerless to stop it, a crack team led by Zhuge Liang Gundam and Liu Bei Gundam sorties to bring Naughty Lion to justice. When the beast stops rampaging, it transforms into Sun Wukong Gundam, a youthful amnesiac mecha horrified at the destruction he wrought. The Three Kingdoms Gundams welcome Sun Wukong into the fold to make sense of this mysterious event.

Our Thoughts

I'm an 80s kid, I know a 30-minute toy commercial when I see one.

No, seriously though, I'm aware of SD Gundam's merchandising—they're cute designs, and I even used to have a bunch of the gum rubber mini figurines. I've played the SD Great War Super Famicom games, they're fun! This is a vehicle to get kids hyped up about the latest toys, which are...based on  a hodgepodge of Journey to the West and Romance of the Three Kingdoms this year? There's even a little SD Guan Yu Gundam with a big long beard!

I kinda wanted to like the idea of a bearded robot, but the mechas are super busy and overdesigned. I guess there's only so much you can do to make your next series of toys bigger and better, so these guys are all decked out in gold accents, capes, horns, and antlers, and half the time I couldn't parse what I was seeing.

I'm so glad I don't have to watch any more of this. 

Who It's For

Very, *very* young mecha fans.

Borscht Rating

Seven Knights Revolution: Hero Successor

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The Lowdown

Long ago, the Dark God Nestra ruled the world through fear. Standing against him were the Seven Knights, seven brave warriors chosen by the Light Goddess Serrass. With their powers combined, Nestra was defeated and the lands returned to peace. Hundreds of years later the wicked Physis Cult seeks to revive Nestra, summoning undead beasts to ravage the countryside. With the Seven Knights long dead, the Granseed Academy has risen to train the next wave of heroes to combat this threat. Using special cards, the students of Granseed are able to call upon the power of the Seven Knights to guide them in battle.

Our Thoughts

As soon as the opening started with its transforming heroes and lovingly depicted weapon cards, I realised this must be based on a mobile game. Indeed, this is based on a free-to-play gacha from Korean developer Netmarble. Even before I was able to confirm this, Hero Successor failed to draw me in, eschewing details on the nature of its world in lieu of a glamourised marketing push for its source material. What's here is incredibly slight, and likely to be of little interest to anyone who isn't deep into this game.

Who It's For

Seven Knights whales, I guess.

Borscht Rating

Those Snow White Notes

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The Lowdown

Sawamura Setsu mourns the death of his grandfather Matsugorou, a talented shamisen player who refused to pass his secrets on. Not knowing what else to do, he leaves his remote village for Tokyo, taking nothing but his shamisen along with him. Soon he finds himself wrapped up in the complicated life of aspiring actress Yuna and her scuzzy rockstar boyfriend Taketo. When Setsu opens for Taketo's band, he stuns the audience with the raw emotion of his playing. However, his heart is still tumultuous. 

Our Thoughts

An entertaining first episode of a speciality music series, which is the kind of thing I have a place in my heart for. I couldn't shake the feeling of some latent misogyny that suggested the role of a woman is to inspire a tortured artist, but I might be wrong. The final few minutes take a twist by introducing Setsu's weird, horny mother who seems to have her own personal SWAT team, and it looks like the series becomes a more conventional high school anime from episode 2 onwards. Don't know about that!

Who It's For

Fans of Kids on the Slope, Sound of the Sky.

Borscht Rating

Tokyo Revengers

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The Lowdown

Former delinquent Takemichi is unsatisfied with the way his life turned out, living alone in a paper-thin apartment and working a minimum wage job under a boss who doesn't respect him. When watching the news one evening, he learns that his highschool sweetheart Hinata was killed, alongside her little brother. On the way to work the next morning, Takemichi falls in front of an oncoming train and wakes up 12 years in the past. Armed with foreknowledge, he attempts to turn his life around and save his onetime lover.

Our Thoughts

This is drawing from a lot of sources; the whole train sequence is lifted straight from Gantz, while the story itself initially seems like a Life on Mars kind of deal. In fact, Tokyo Revengers sees Takemichi jump back and forth between the present and the past, seemingly making small changes until he achieves his desired outcome. It feels like a very video gamey depiction of time travel, and one that's not super interesting.

Who It's For

Steins;Gate fans, maybe? Delinquent manga (Shonan Junai Gumi, Crows, etc.) fans, maybe? It's pretty self-serious compared to any of those.

Borscht Rating

To Your Eternity

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The Lowdown

An immortal being in the form of an orb falls to earth and becomes a stone. Years pass, an ice age sets in, and a white wolf stumbles onto the tundra and dies. The orb, able to take the form of anything that leaves a strong impression on it, transforms into the wolf and slowly learns how to use its newfound ambulatory body. The creature treks back through the tundra where it meets a boy living alone, after the rest of his village left in search of a better life. The boy recognises the wolf as his beloved pet, Johann, and the two begin living together in the harsh, lonely wastes.

Our Thoughts

I'm being a little coy with the synopsis here, and there's a major shake-up at the end of this debut episode. This one's based on a manga by the critically acclaimed Yoshitoki Ooima (A Silent Voice), and it's a depressing, compelling, and exciting start to a series. Lots of potential here!

Who It's For

Fans of NieR, Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon, Last Exile, Kino's Journey.

Borscht Rating

So, there you have it. I'm hoping this will be of use to anyone who experiences a similar sense of dread when faced with so many choices. Maybe we’ll do this again during the Summer 2021 anime season.

Also, please don't get mad at me if I'm snarky about your new favourite show! It’s just TV and I'm a big idiot anyway.

#anime #crunchyroll #backflip!! #burning kabaddi #cardfight!! vanguard overDress #cestvs #don't toy with me miss nagatoro #86 #eighty six #fairy ranmaru #farewell my dear cramer #gloomy #higehiro #koikimo #killing slimes #joran #let's make a mug too #oddtaxi #osamake #sd gundam #seven knights #those snow white notes #tokyo revengers #to your eternity

[to-hell-and-beyond]

Start of Something New Pt.2

Eli “Hawk” Moskowitz x Reader

Requested: Yes : No

Request: hello! can you do 25 from the fluff list for hawk? i love your writing so much <3 - @sinicalh4wk​

I know this is probably not what you expected when you requested that but..I’ve been writing so many Pt.2′s and I had to do it! And what better to put our new Cobra Kai bullies in the mix? I enjoyed writing this so much so I hope you enjoy!

Summary: It’s been a rough year but now its the Valentine's Day dance. A dance full of fun times and memories! Or another plot for Kylar. Guess him joining Cobra Kai has really boosted his ego. What will happen when he mixes his new friends in the mix?

Words: 1879

Pt.1

It definitely was the start of something new. Hand holding turned into sweet kisses, sweet kisses turned into passionate kisses and well...you know the rest. It was the start of a passionate first love, a flame that burned so bright it couldn't be put out. Even when Hawk flipped the script it still burned bright. It was that kind of love that everyone wishes that they had. But only a few were lucky to have it, you two were very lucky.

“Alright, listen up boys! And, well girl.” Kylar called as they all sat in the library. Rory, A.J, Brucks and Sarah were sitting down as Kylar flipped a chair around and sat down. He wanted to be “cool” like that. They had all become friends when they had joined Cobra Kai.

“The Valentine's day dance is coming up and that only means one thing.” Everyone had known of Kylars hate of Hawk. He is 100% sure that “Hawk stole his girl” even though you told him numerous times you didn’t like him. This was another one of his ridiculous plans to get him to be yours.

“Free drinks?” A.J asked as Kylar scowled at him.

“No. If Cobra Kai has taught us one thing, it’s to not give up-”

“I thought it was Strike hard, Strike fast, No mercy?” Sarah interrupted. She was picking at her nails in boredom as she talked. She had loved Cobra Kia, giving her a sense of family, but she was sick and tired of Kylars endless plots.

“Can you just be quiet for like 5 minutes?” Kyalr asked as he curled his fists. If there was no such Anti-Karate rule that was enforced in the school he would have already tried to kick Sarah’s ass.

“She just needed something to shut her up!” Brucks shouted which caused Rory and A.J to start laughing. The librarian came and shushed them. Sarah rolled her eyes wondering why she put up with them.

“Look, the only reason I'm here and not on a date with Tory is because you said there would be free food. I see no food so get along with it before I push you to the end of the world.” She threatened as they all took a step back away from her. What cowards.

“Well now that that is over, I have a plan.” Kylar said but yet again Sarah cut him off.

“If this is another one of your plans to put anonymous love letters in Y/n’s locker I’m leaving and going to tell Sensei Kreese what you did in the bathroom last friday.” Kylars turned an ugly shade of red as Sarah threatened him.

“Dude, what did you do?” Rory asked as he tried around to face his friend.

“It doesn't matter what I did.” He turned to face Rory and then back at Sarah. “If you don’t want to be a part of this fine leave, but don’t complain we don’t have time for Pussys. That’s why we need to show Y/n what a good man looks like and not Hawk and at the same time show those losers what Cobra kai can do. So what do you say? You all in?” Kylar asked as they all looked at eachother. Had Kylar actually said something that was not idiotic?

“I’m totally in dude, let’s go beat up some losers!” Brucks yelled as they all yelled in agreement with him. The librarian then came and kicked them out for being too loud.

---

“Are you sure this is the place?”

“Yes now shut up.” Oh how Sarah hated this. She could be on the couch cuddling with her girlfriend but instead she was here helping these idiots. Couldn’t they just get the materials themselves? Or even pair her with A.J instead of Rory?

“Did you get everything?” They turned around to see A.J covered head to toe in black. Guess Kylar wanted him to be incognito.

“Did you set up everything?” Rory asked as he passed A.J a bucket. He was starting to get flashbacks when they did Carie for their school play. He had played Tommy Russ and trust him when he says that the bucket scene was not fun.

“I’m so glad you're here. The last few hours have been hell and I couldn't even tell Tory!” She hugged A.J who was surprised. Sarah never showed much emotion but when she did it was really weird.

“Dudes! Everyone is in the gym! They don’t suspect a single thing!” Brucks laughed as the rest of them shushed him, including Rory. The man never seemed to use the appropriate voice at the appropriate time. The group was not sure if it was a blessing or a curse.

“Great! I just got the rest of the plan for Kylar. “Wait for the text and then unleash the storm”good, he couldn’t go with a better metaphor?” A.J said as he looked through his phone.

“What does “Unleash the storm” mean?” Rory asked as he helped Sarah climb up into the ceiling. It was her job to be the one that let go off the rope when Kylar told her too. 

“I swear to god, It feels like sometimes you're stupider than a prissy ass white boy here!” Sarah mumbled as she securdeed the rope.

“Hey!”

“I will drop you.”

“Aaaand we have confirmation. Unleash the storm Sarah.” That’s all it was to them. A simple game of tug-a-war. Spilling the contaminants of Kylars envy on to an innocent couple and watching as their love crumbles to the gourd. So that Kyler can swoop in and play hero. It was funny how things turned out…

“Wow...You look beautiful.” Hawk said as soon as he saw you. You looked like a marble statue carved by the most amazing artist in the world. It felt like deja-vu, feeling the same feelings he had when he first saw you. All the worry and fear seemed to leave his body when he saw you. It was like it was happening all over again.

“Thank you.” You laughed as you took his hand. Even though so much had changed in the past year he was the same boy you had fallen in love with. He still had that sweet smile and caring heart. You never wanted to let it go.

But you did...thanks to a bucket full of green slime. It stuck all over your body and completely ruined your outfit and hair. You heard a “clunk” as the bucket fell beside you along with the rope that held said bucket in place.. That was when you knew this whole thing was a set up. Someone was trying to do this to you. And you knew exactly who had done it.

“I thought that Hawk wasn’t supposed to be there when you let go?” Brucks asked as the group watched. They watched from the corner of the hallway as you and Hawk were covered in green slime. A.J, Rory and Sarah actually felt bad for you as they saw your heartbroken look. This was supposed to be your night but they had taken that away from you.

“You idiots!” Screeched Kylar as he ran to his group of friends, phone in hand.

“You were supposed to wait for me to get here and then hide! I would text Sarah when to let go off the bucket and then we would run! Your god damn lucky we didn't get caught! We're supposed to be in there now, people are going to be wondering why!” Kyler yelled. The group was pretty sure at the point everyone was hearing him.

“No dude, that’s not what you texted to me.” A.J said as he helped up his phone. Low and behold as Kyler was wrong and A.J was right. Sarah snorted while Rory and Brucks looked at Kylar with confusion. How could he have messed up a simple text?

“You guys do know that you're yelling right?” They all turned around to see you and Hawk both dripping in Green slime. Hawk looked like he was ready to bust all of the kneecaps in one kick and you looked...happy?

“I am so sorry you had to go through this Y/n.” Kyalr told the girl as everyone in the room rolled their eyes. “I was trying to show you how much I love you and how much Hawk doesn't love you! I mean look at him! He hasn’t even tried!” You grabbed Hawk’s hand as you saw he was pretty much growling.

“Don’t listen to him Y/n.” Sarah said as all eyes turned to focus on her. 

“Yah! This entire thing was Kylars plan!” Rory continued. He wasn’t a bad person per say, he just hung around the wrong crowd. He was heavily influenced, that was all his fault.

“This isn't the only thing he tried to do Y/n. He has been sneaking letters into your locker and even following you home some times. It's becoming borderline stalkerish.” A.J continued.

“Hey it’s not Kylars fault! He’s just doing what every man-” Brucks started to say to defend his best friend.

“If you continue that sentence I will hurt you worse then what I did the last time at the Dojo.” Hawk threatened. Was he really gonna start off with this misogynistic bullshit? Brucks took the hint and closed his mouth shut.

“Look I didn’t mean for you to get upset Y/n-” Kylar started to say.

“So you confess that you did do all that stuff to Y/n?” Sarah said as she popped a piece of gum into her mouth and began to chew. 

“Look-”

“It's a yes or no question idiot.” 

“Ok yes! Are you happy now?”

“Very happy.” Sarah continued as she took out a recorder from her Cobra Kai jacket pocket. She had never been so glad that these things could carry so much and still look incognito. She smiled at Kyler as she passed the tape to Y/n.

“We women need to look out for each other. I’m sorry about what happened to you and that I even went along with.” Sarah flashed a rare smile as she put a hand on your shoulder and turned to look at Kyler.

“If you touch Y/n or the tape I will tell Tory, and Tory will tell Kreese who will notify the authorities. Because we all know Tory is Kreese’s favorite after Robby left, and well Kreese is that good old soldier guy.” She gave a small wave to Kylar, who looked like he was going to blow his head off.

This day had not been perfect, but it was then the end of something new. Not a flame that no one could put out but, a boy with a huge ego. It was also the start of a few things. A start of a friendship, a start of a peaceful end to a long and cold war and a start of a clear ending all enjoyed. There was peace in the air for that very moment, a peace that had not been there for a while. Overall, all was well and all would be well.

#eli moskowitz #eli moskowitz x reader #hawk x reader #hawk #hawk x you #hawk cobra kai #hawk imagine #valintines day #kylar #kylar cobra kai #tory cobra kai #tory nichols #brucks #brucks cobra kai #a.j #A.J cobra kai #rory #rory cobra kai #cobra kai #sarah #sarah cobra kai #robby keene #kreese #john kreese

[fbfh]

light up the dark [V] - leo x reader

genre: romance + action + enemies to lovers kinda

word count: 2.4k

au: none

pairing: Leo x gothy!child of eros!fem reader

requested: yes teehee

warnings: spoilers for HOO but like what’s new, at least one fuck, mentions of breakfast foods and burger king, one “cranberry fucknut”, brief visit to a historical memorial site, I think that’s it????

summary: you have a very weird dream that leads you to realize you’re actually on some kind of quest! very fun! you, Leo, and Jason follow a lead, find out Chiron’s sending you guys some backup, and realize you’re going to need a very large airbnb

listen to: making mirrors - gotye aka the best dream sequence music

                also we’re the rats. it’s not relevant just living in my brain.

a/n: honest to god it tookme so long to write this i forget what happens in the first half rip

also requests r open uwu

Your dream is unnerving, and not just because you had spent years in a dreamless sleep and forgot what dreaming was like. Okay, partially because of that, but also because of the atmosphere. 

You’re standing in a dark room. It’s pitch black, but you can make out the shape of the room, which is unusual to say the least. It’s long and rectangular, and the ceiling has cylindrical indents, almost as if giant logs were supposed to fit there. The indents go across the short side, with another in front of it, like a rope bridge across a river. Giant curved metallic discs like flat mushrooms are embedded in the ground at regular intervals. 

You get the feeling something’s missing. You stare up at the ceiling trying to get more information, when something hot and glowing presses against the roof. It shines through, casting everything in a strange pink light. You can’t see it, but you know what it is. A translucent sundial that gave off a glowing orange cast.

Sunstone. 

You look back down not wanting to hurt your eyes, and they fall on someone else in the room. He hadn’t been there a second ago. He’s blonde, and looking up at the ceiling, seemingly unbothered by the blinding light. 

“He has it,” he says, wistfully, almost regretfully. 

"Who?" You question. 

"I can't pronounce his name, no one can."

"How can we get it back if we can't find him?" He smiles, liking how you know what he needs you to do before he even tells you. 

"I can't tell you his name, but he's very old… some may even say archaic…" He looks at you with intention, searching for a spark of understanding. He doesn’t find what he’s looking for, and continues, “and not far from here. Which is good, since I need you to get it back for me.” 

“How do we find it?” He tosses you a small, clear container filled with what looks like yellow slime. You look at him, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. 

“It’s a drop of sunshine,” he explains, “don’t touch it or you’ll burn up. It’ll glow when you get closer to what you’re looking for.” You tuck it in your jacket pocket.

“Can-”

Before you can get out the rest of the sentence, you feel like you’re being pulled out of deep water. Your eyes shoot open, and you take in a quick breath through your nose. You open and close your eyes a few times, and push yourself into a sitting position. There’s a weight on your stomach and you trace the hand back to Jason, who had gently nudged you awake moments ago. His mouth is open and there’s a stale smile, like he was about to tell you to rise and shine. Your stare is unwavering, and he retracts his hand. 

“Uh… breakfast is ready,” he says, turning back and heading over to the couch. 

“Kay,” you mutter, still groggy and disoriented. Maybe sleep just isn’t for you. Jason hesitates about half way across the room, noticing the lack of cat-like vengefulness in your tone of voice.

“...You okay?” he asks softly. 

“Fine, just a weird dream,” you roll your shoulders, back sore and stiff, to try and loosen the two stubborn knots just below your shoulder blades. His eyebrows furrow at your words and you continue, “I’m starting to think I should add a little chloroform to my sleepy time tea.” 

“What happened?” he asks, sounding way more serious than you’d expected.

“I dunno, I-” he cut you off, calling for Leo. Jason encourages you to tell them what you’d dreamed about as in depth as possible once Leo comes in from the sitting area, so you don’t have time to gauge how he seems after last night. You feel a little silly trying to describe a surreal dream to them, especially since they seem to be paying such rapt attention. After recalling as many details as you could, they sat in silence for a minute. They share a look, then sigh in unison. Jason pushes up his glasses and squeezes the bride of his nose as Leo lets out a soft ‘fuck’. 

“I’ll go iris message Chiron, Leo, do you want to get some food and offerings to burn?” Jason says. Leo agrees, and Jason’s already in the sitting area, misting water in the air with a squirt bottle. Leo puts a hand on your shoulder.

“Why don’t you get dressed, I already made some coffee,” he says, the spike of hesitance that shot through his stomach at his instigated physical contact dissolving when you nod sleepily. An unusually warm feeling clouds through you, less distant and detached than normal. You realize while digging through your bag that for whatever reason, you didn’t hate the feeling of Leo’s hand on your shoulder. You grab your clothes from your bag, and feel a weight in your jacket. You reach into the pocket, and pull out the “slime” from your dream. It glows briefly, fading as you walk towards the bathroom. Huh, you think, at least now we know what to look for. You’re grateful for the example as you get dressed and freshen up, wondering what the hell happens next. 

Burning the food doesn’t take long. Leo throws the extra breakfast they’d ordered onto the metal table on the patio, except for a piece of toast he held in his hands. He summons fire until the toast is engulfed in flames, and drops it with the rest. He fans the smoke and asks for guidance, protection, typical pre quest stuff. After a minute or two, he pours out a pitcher of water to extinguish the flames, and heads back into the sitting area with Jason. On his way, he watches you through the open bathroom door for a second as you put on your makeup. You sure are different from girls he’d liked in the past. A strong twinge of pain from the previous night makes him flinch. He shoves it away, and takes a seat, greeting Chiron through iris message. Jason had just finished filling him in on the dream and the sundial, and he looks worried.

“I was afraid this might be the case. I'd gotten word that something like this might have happened, but I hoped it was just hearsay… I'm sorry boys, but you're most definitely on a mission from the gods. The story behind that sundial is long and complicated; in summary, if Apollo does not have his sundial by june, summer cannot happen."

"Wh- like, time will stop?" Leo says. 

"Will it just skip to autumn?" Jason adds. 

"What about Persephone?"

"Can Demeter do anything?" 

Chiron holds up his hands to quiet them. 

"I wish I could say, but no one really knows what will happen, only that we do not wish to find out."

"So, what do we do?" Jason asks. 

"Who can I send?" Chiron says to himself, "Dear gods, this is… unfortunate."

"Chiron," Jason says again, getting his attention. 

"Right, I'm sorry my boy, this whole situation is… preoccupying." Jason agrees, and asks what they should do next. 

"Get as much information as you can from what Apollo has told you. I'll gather some people to send over at once, they'll be on their way shortly. This is most distressing…" he trails off, lost in thought again, and the iris message cuts out. Jason's stomach is in knots. 

After freshening up, you get dressed, having chosen your clothes deliberately before. If shit’s about to hit the fan, which it looks like it is, you’re going to need a strong balance of comfortable and kick ass. Plus, it’s still the cold part of spring, and New England weather is no joke. 

You assess yourself in the mirror, satisfied with your choice; half black half gray cargo pants with chain belts, a long sleeved fishnet top with a black crop top over it, and one of your favorite pairs of platform boots. You topped it off with a layered choker studded with black jewels and delicate chains, asymmetrical earrings - one attached to an ear cuff, the other dangling - and a ring that looks like a snake wrapped around your finger. Last but not least, a dark olive green bomber jacket with ‘god save the queen’ written on the back in paint. 

Your mind wanders as you lean closer to the mirror, laser focused on perfecting your eyeliner. The memory of Leo’s hand on your shoulder creeps back up, and your brow furrows at the panicked flush to your cheeks, wondering why you didn’t push him off. 

‘Some cranberry fucknut broke his heart last night, I didn’t want him to feel worse’, you think deliberately, refusing room for any objections or alternative solutions your brain keeps offering up. You finish your makeup relatively quickly, pleased at how much better it looks when you don’t sleep in it for years. Your hair is… hanging in there, but you can’t drop everything and redye it now. At least you know what color you want next - a nice, coral tinted red. You’ll have to keep an eye out the next time you go shopping. 

Finally, you’re ready. You put away your makeup and pajamas, and make your way over to the boys. You grab some coffee and pick at a muffin, the strategy session beginning. 

Jason takes a sip of his own coffee, scowling at the slightly burnt taste.

“Where should we start looking? Do we have any decent leads?”

You sip your coffee, your face mirroring Jason’s moments before.

“The guy from my dream-”

“Apollo,” Jason interjects.

“Right,” you continue, “he said whoever has what we’re looking for has a really hard to pronounce name or something. Maybe we can start there.”

After some back and forth, and consulting of travel guides, you find a memorial for some historical figure with a name that definitely would have gotten him bullied. 

“Wasn’t that guy a demigod?” Leo asks, and Jason confirms. You’re already checking the maps scattered around for a route.

“It looks like it’s pretty much just further west from where we are, we can probably get there pretty easily,” you remark. Jason and Leo look at you, then each other. No one has any better ideas, and at least it’s some kind of lead. 

~

Four and a half hours later, you sat in the car in stumped silence. It took almost three hours to get up to the memorial site, an hour to look around and realize there is absolutely nothing there that can help you at all, ten minutes to debate what to do next, and twenty minutes to get burger king, since no one had eaten since breakfast. 

“Well, that sucked.” 

Leo and Jason give you a look, knowing you’re right.

“Yeah, it did.” Jason agrees matter of factly, earning a small chuckle from you and Leo. 

“So what do we do now?” Leo asks. 

“Well, no one’s around, we could probably iris message Chiron-” before he could finish his sentence, a shimmery image of a tan girl with choppy dark hair appears in front of him. 

Jason and the girl - Piper, apparently - greet each other enthusiastically, then Leo follows suit. It looks like she’s in a cab, holding something at arm's length. You make it out to be a phone, probably to trick her cab driver into thinking she’s on a facetime call or something. Two other people lean over, one blonde and smiling, the other dark haired and irritable, and more greetings are exchanged. You lean slightly to the side so you’ll be out of site and hopefully won’t have to make any introductions. Leo seems to catch onto this, and when Piper’s eyes land on the edge of your shoulder.

“So did Chiron send anyone else?” he asks before she can say anything. 

“Yeah,” she replies, “Frank and Hazel are coming from camp Jupiter; Frank’s flying, and Hazel’s getting a ride from Arion,” Leo and Jason nod in understanding, picking up instantly on her deliberate word choice. Christ, you’re going to have to get a bigger place than that hotel room.  

“Uh… Percy and Annabeth just started spring break, so they’ll be coming soon. Hazel should get there first, for…” she glances at the cab driver, “obvious reasons, and me, Nico, and Will are on our way now, we should be there in a few hours.” 

Your skin is already feeling prickly from the idea of being around that many people. They talk for a few more minutes, and Jason says he’ll tell them the specific address as soon as possible before ending the call.

Thankfully, you all had repacked the car with your bags from the hotel room before you left, just in case you needed anything, so there’s no need to make the two and a half hour trip back to the hotel. You sigh and turn to the boys.

“Why don’t we go get some groceries and stuff, and I can get us an air bnb.” 

They agree, pleasantly surprised and grateful for the normalcy of something like grocery shopping,  and you ask how many people there are going to be.

“Uh, should be te-”

“Eleven.” Leo says firmly. Jason looks like he’s going to say something, but he bites back whatever it is. Leo’s hands normally dance around like swirling snow, light and natural with subtle patterns if you can figure them out. But right now, his normal subconscious movements seem to be heavier, more intentional. His relaxed expression is set in stone, a silent plea to move on, act like everything’s normal, and you know he’s covering up the depth of the wound that girl left on his heart. A twinge of concern flares in your gut, and you blink, looking away. 

“Okay,” you say, pulling out a pen and notepad from your bag to write out a grocery list, “Let’s go. What do we need?”

Jason pulls out of the parking lot, and begins to head to the nearest box store. Your eyes dart over to Leo involuntarily a few times, and by the time you’re almost there, he seems to be almost back to himself. Subconsciously relieved, your mind starts to wander back to the list, skimming it one more time to make sure you don’t forget anything. 

Maybe you can pick up some hair dye while you’re here.

#Leo Valdez #leo x reader #leo valdez x reader #Heroes of Olympus #heroes of olympus x reader #LV light up the dark #enjoy babes teehee

[the-last-teabender]

FANFIC: Oxventure - Duel Destinies

RATING: G

WORDS: Just under 7k

SUMMARY: Corazón gets hit on the head.

A/N: This isn’t my first time writing fanfic, but it’s my first time in literal decades writing something that a) isn’t going into a charity anthology and b) isn’t single-sentence goofs in my Gchat window with @randomthunk. So I actually am a little nervous to just yeet my work out into the world without an editor/publisher frontline protecting me from looking foolish. I do have plans to fic more tho.

I approached this as though I was writing an official tie-in because that’s my comfort zone (and occasionally my job). Which was a little challenging because there’s a lot that’s not part of the story but is part of the viewing experience. I have not mastered it in one story but the attempt was fun. Also I haven’t smashed alt-codes this obsessively while writing since I wrote about Señor 105.

Thanks aforementioned Ginger for being my beta reader and basically sitting on me to post this instead of hide it in my writing folder.

Anyway, if you like what I’m throwing out here, I have actually a lot of stuff in print and even more coming.

----------

“Right,” Dob said, pacing the length of the deck, “before we go, let’s review. Prudence, what happened yesterday?”

“We found a bad man killing off local slimes to make slime booze.”

“Good. Corazón, what happened yesterday?”

“I began my awesome new career as a detective and threw someone out a window.”

“All right. Merilwen?”

“Mow.”

“Excellent. Egbert?”

“I set a tavern on fire and got my seal very drunk on slime gin.”

“All right, that’s us caught up.”

That wasn’t the entire catch-up, but all of them knew the events of the day before well enough. The forest outside the town of Esterwell was in turmoil, according to the wizard Binbag after he tumbled unexpectedly out of a pantry. It was suddenly bereft of slimes — the cute little blobby creatures generally used for target practice by up-and-coming adventurers. As it happened, slimes had other uses. Serving as the base for a delightful high-end alcoholic brew, for one. Serving as the base of the entire local food chain, for another. If the slime population continued to plummet, eventually the other animal populations would follow suit.

An investigation of the local slime hunters (led by DCI Jeff Crimestopper, a pseudonym Corazón was becoming increasingly attached to) turned up that they were all in the employ of the same man: one Alonzo Horgan, owner of the Horgan Distillery. One especially talkative young hunter revealed that Horgan intended to “wring all the slimes out of Esterwell Forest” before upping sticks to his next hunting ground.

The goal was, in short, to stop Horgan’s machinations before he destabilized the entire local ecosystem and went on to do the same to others. Somewhere along the way, Dob had got it into his head that the goal was to start a brewery of their own and hold a cider-making contest in the Esterwell town square… an idea the group at large now referred to as “Plan C.”

Plan A, currently underway, was to continue the detective lark and either talk sense into Horgan or (more likely) run him out of town. Plan B was burning down the distillery.

“I’m still very much in favor of bumping Plan B up to Plan A,” said Prudence, wiggling her fingers as the group made their way back into Esterwell.

“Mrow,” Merilwen the cat grumbled from Dob’s shoulder, which translated to something like, “But that doesn’t actually solve the problem of making him stop.”

“Oh, fine,” Prudence huffed. “Detectives it is.”

Corazón pumped a fist low and (he thought) out of sight. “DCI Jeff Crimestopper back on the case, bay-bee.”

They arrived at the home of Alonzo Horgan — a palatial manor in a town that really wasn’t the sort to have palatial manors. At least half a dozen residences would have to have been knocked down to make way for the place, which stood half again as high as the buildings around it that had survived.

Merilwen hopped lightly from Dob’s shoulder, turning back into an elf again, as the half-orc tapped politely on the door.

“No, no.” Egbert shoved past him, balling up one scaly fist. “You’ve gotta really punch it.” He slammed his fist against the door several times, making it bow slightly under the pressure.

“Open up!” Corazón shouted, cupping his hands around his mouth. “We have a warrant!”

“Don’t just say we have a warrant!” Merilwen hissed.

The door was opened mere moments later by a tall, rail-thin man with an upturned nose and a downturned moustache. “Mmcan I help you?”

Corazón pushed past the man. “Yeah, you can take us to Alonzo Horgan. We’re taking him down to the station for questioning.”

“I’m afraid Mr. Horgan is not—” But the man was cut off as the rest of the group piled past and into the house.

“Where is he, then? Upstairs?” Corazón pointed up the stairwell, one foot on the steps.

The man at the door, to his credit, did his best to maintain his decorum. “Mr. Horgan is not taking visitors.”

“We’re not visitors,” Dob said gruffly, looming over the man, “we’re detectives.”

“Is that so? Well, I do hope you meant what you said about having a warrant. Otherwise I may have to take you to the authorities.” 

Alonzo Horgan’s voice silenced the group, but had it not, his presence would have. Fully six-foot-four, a stocky mix of fat and muscle generally only seen on back alley brawlers, stuffed into a fancy suit. His glare was imperious; his moustache was excellent.

Corazón swiveled and approached the master of the house. “Alonzo Horgan?”

“Yes, I’m… not sure who else I would be.” Horgan seemed put out for a moment, but recovered himself. “May I ask what business you have here?”

“DCI Jeff Crimestopper.” Corazón pulled a piece of paper from his coat, flashed it briefly, and put it away again. “This is my DI, Dob Tyler.”

Dob grinned toothily; had it not been Dob, it might have looked threatening. “Here to make sure my loose cannon superior does things by the book.”

Corazón gestured to the rest of the party. “DS Prudence, DC Merilwen. And, er, PC Egbert, he mostly makes the tea.”

“It’s really good tea,” Egbert piped up.

“No offense, sir…” Horgan gestured to Corazón. “But you look more like a pirate than a detective.”

“Deep cover, obviously. I wouldn’t expect a civilian to understand.”

Horgan waved a hand dismissively. “Even if I were to entertain the idea that you’re who you claim to be, I feel I’ve done nothing to warrant an investigation.”

Merilwen narrowed her eyes. “Nothing, Mr. Horgan?” Her voice was tense, hitting that slightly higher octave that her friends knew meant violence was quickly becoming an option. “Killing off an entire species for your own benefit is ‘nothing’? Allowing the local wildlife to starve is ‘nothing’?”

“Oh, it’s about the distillery, is it? I promise you, my dear, I’ve heard it all before.”

Dob gritted his teeth, giving Horgan a highly dramatic, highly knowing look. “I’d be careful if I was you, sir. DC Merilwen has a license to… er. Bear.”

Still, none of this seemed to faze Horgan. “If you think complaining about my methods is going to have any effect… let me assure you, it hasn’t yet. Now, unless you have any actual business with me…”

Prudence stepped up. “All right, look. Fine. We’re not actually detectives.”

“You don’t say,” Horgan deadpanned.

“That said… the whole slime issue is a real thing, and we really do need you to stop hunting them out completely. Or at least cut back.” Prudence looked back at Merilwen. “Cut back? Would that be good enough?”

“I prefer the idea of him stopping completely,” Merilwen seethed.

Prudence gestured to Merilwen. “Yeah, what she said. But I mean, it affects you, too. Do you like, uh… wild boar? I guess? Rabbit? Pheasant? I don’t know.” She spread her hands in an exaggerated shrug. “Screw up the food chain and you don’t get any of those.”

Horgan looked them all over, one by one. “You come into my home. You pretend to be something you’re not. And then you make demands of me that would effectively shut down my business. Give me one reason why I should even listen to what you have to say.”

Egbert had mostly detached from the scene in front of him, his eyes scanning his surroundings in search of something entertaining. They lighted on a pair of crossed swords on the wall, with a bronze plaque underneath: Esterwell Annual Fencing Championship, Second Place. Without thinking, he blurted out, “A duel.”

“I beg your pardon?” Horgan asked. The rest of the party fixed Egbert with confused looks.

“A duel,” the dragonborn repeated, with a little more confidence this time — confidence filled in a lot of blanks, in his experience. “If one of us bests you in a duel, you have to at least give us a proper audience.”

Much to the group’s surprise — including Egbert’s, truth be told — Horgan seemed to consider it. “Hmm. Well. I suppose it makes more sense than… whatever we’ve been doing.” He gestured at the room in general, then turned to Corazón. “On the condition that I fight this one.”

Corazón grinned. “Hell yeah. I’ll fight you. Prepare to have your whole scene wrecked by Corazón de Ballena.”

“I thought you said your name was Jeff Crimestopper.”

“I told you. Deep cover.”

Horgan sighed wearily and turned to his doorman. “See them out. Tomorrow at sunrise on the lawn. Come alone, whatever your name is. And pray you do not lose. I have no patience for time-wasters.”

The five were ushered out without another word.

“Not sure it’s wise to challenge a prizewinning fighter to a duel,” Merilwen noted when they were outside town again. “That sort of seems like the main thing he’ll be ready for.”

Egbert waved a hand. “Pff, it’s fine. The plaque on his wall said he was only second place. That means there’s at least one person better than him in town.”

“Still… What’s going to happen if Corazón if he loses?”

Corazón laughed. “Pff. Hah. Nothing. Because Corazón won’t lose.” He unsheathed his rapier and stopped to take a few jabs at a nearby tree. A heavy branch, near to breaking, creaked overhead. “You know what my crew used to call me?”

“Yes,” said Prudence, “you’ve complained about it several times.”

“I mean in battle. You know, when we captured ships. My swordsmanship is second to none. They used to call me Corazón the—”

There was a crash, and silence.

Egbert stopped walking, waiting for the punchline. “Corazón the what?”

“Er.” Merilwen pointed back toward the tree hesitantly. “Corazón the unconscious, apparently.”

Prudence turned and lifted away the branch, wincing at the sight of the pirate splayed out on the ground. “Oh, dear…” Then she looked up at the group. “So does this mean I’m captain now?”

---

The general consensus had been to let Corazón be once he’d been carried back to the Joyful Damnation and bundled into bed. He would likely be full of opinions and complaints as soon as he woke up. That, and he’d need his rest before dueling Horgan the next morning. 

There was no bleeding as far as they could tell. Just a big bruise that would get bruisier over the next few days. Egbert dropped a quick bit of healing on Corazón which, while it would likely be helpful in the long run, did nothing to wake him. Eventually, Dob took up a seat by the enormous bed in the captain’s quarters, keeping an eye on the patient and picking out a few chords to pass the time. Just as he was getting a good riff worked out... 

“Ow.”

“Ow?” Dob leaned over the bed. “Did you say ow?”

“Yes, I said ow. Because I’m in pain.”

Dob jumped up from his seat and threw the door open. “Guys! Guys! He’s awake!”

Prudence was the first to run in. “Is he okay?”

“Sounds like it.”

Egbert followed, with Merilwen bringing up the rear. They crowded around Corazón’s bed, realized at the same time that that would probably look weird from his vantage point, and backed off a bit.

“Corazón?” Dob leaned in slightly. “How’s your head?”

He squinted up at Dob. “What did you call me?”

“Oh, right.” Dob laughed. “Silly me. How’s your head, DCI Crimestopper?”

This just seemed to confuse him more. “Who… what are you talking about?” Then he pulled himself up to sitting, perhaps a little more quickly than he ought, and pressed a hand to the top of his head, looking around. “I feel like I’ve been beaned with an entire tree. Where the hell am I?”

“Your room,” Prudence offered. “We figured you’d want a nap after the bludgeoning.”

He shook his head, still sounding a bit dazed. “No… this isn’t my room. My room is bigger. And it doesn’t rock and creak. Are we… are we on a ship?” He looked up at the others again, as though seeing them for the first time.

“... who the hell are all of you?”

There was an awkward silence.

“He’s messing about, right?” Egbert grinned nervously at the others. 

“It’s Corazón,” Prudence said quickly, “of course he’s messing about. Just humor him, he’ll be on to something new when he’s tired of it.”

Dob was already on board at humor him. He pressed a hand to his forehead. “Oh, no! Corazón! All our precious memories, lost forever! Please say it isn’t so, old friend!”

If Corazón was acting, he was really leaning into the deadpan delivery. “Is this some sort of prank? It’s not a very good one, if…” His gaze wandered down to his hands resting on the bed sheet, his sleeves wrinkled back somewhat. His eyes went wide, and he made a sort of choking, stammering sound.

Then, again far more quickly than he probably should have, he threw himself out of bed, shoving past Egbert on the way to the largest of his mirrors. Carefully, he pulled his collar aside. And gasped.

“Oh, my God, I’ve been tattooed in my sleep!”

“Gosh,” Egbert said with an admiring smile, “he’s really devoting himself to the bit, isn’t he?”

Merilwen shook her head slightly. “I… don’t… know if it’s a bit.”

“Which one of you did this to me?!” Corazón pointed at the tentacle tattoo emerging from under his collar. “Why would you do that? Why… what happened to my hair!? How long have I been asleep!?” He grabbed the nearest person — Egbert — by the collar. “Are you trying to change my identity!? Am I going to be sold off to the highest bidder!? What’s your plan!? You have to tell me!”

Dob grabbed for his lute, a nervous grin plastered on his face. “Ooooh! Oh, dear! Looks like someone could use a nice lullaby.”

Merilwen held out a warning hand to Dob. “No? No. One second.” She waved a hand to Corazón, the way one might a skittish fox. “Hey, over here.”

“What!? What do you want now!?”

“Just. Okay. Calm down for a second. Calm…” Merilwen inhaled and exhaled slowly, guiding the breathing with her hands. Corazón, surprisingly did the same. That in itself was a sign that something was off.

“Okay, just keep your eyes on me, all right?”

“Sure.” Corazón’s voice was strained.

Merilwen rooted around in the pocket of one of Corazón’s jackets, folded neatly over a nearby chair. She found what she was looking for — a little leather pouch of gold coins — and poured the contents out into her hand. She showed them to Corazón, as though setting up a magic trick. He watched and nodded tensely, his jaw set.

“Dob,” she said with a sweet smile, opening the cabin window. “Would you do the honors?”

“Would I?” Without hesitation, he took the little handful of coins from Merilwen, slid over to the window, and chucked them out into the sea, one by one.

All eyes turned toward Corazón.

“Yes, and?” The nervousness was tinged with irritation. “What?”

Another awkward silence, this one longer. And awkwarder. As they all, in their own time, came to terms with the fact that Corazón was not, in fact, acting.

Prudence tapped him experimentally on the shoulder. He flinched away, balling his hands into fists and holding them in front of his face.

“Hey, hey, whoa! No, no, we’re your friends! It’s us!” Prudence smiled, gesturing around the room. “You know. The Oxventurers! Can’t you recognize us?”

Corazón lowered his fists. “If you mean could I pick you out of a lineup, then yes, I certainly could.”

“Corazón…”

“Hff… and stop calling me that! It’s weird!” He brushed off his sleeve where Prudence had tapped him. “If you’re my kidnappers, then I would hope you already know who I am.”

“Y-Yeah.... Sorry.” Prudence frowned, then smiled. “Percy?”

“Thank you. That’s more like it.” And Corazón made a break for the deck. 

---

“All I’m saying,” said the half-orc with the large hammer and the very nice hair, “is that we could be having a cider-making contest in the town square right now.”

“Or burning things,” said the tiefling, as a pair of ancient tomes played around her heels like rowdy puppies. “We could also be burning things right now.”

If this was a kidnapping, it was a very civilized one. Percy hadn’t had any practical experience with being kidnapped, to be fair. His father had suggested that it might happen once or twice in his youth, because that was just how life was for the children of rich and influential people. But after making it to adulthood without ever waking up in a dingy cellar surrounded by leering mercenaries, he’d just put it to the side.

He’d also been a bit disappointed, as escaping from said mercenaries could have been fun. But in retrospect, he might not have done as well at that as he liked to pretend.

He wasn’t tied up, or locked up. At worst, he had been prevented from leaping off the ship by all four of his kidnappers (and a seal, he was still contending with that information) piling themselves on top of him. They’d bundled him back into the captain’s quarters while they consulted with each other. Percy took the time to shave — the itch from his stubble was frazzling his already-frazzled brain — and change into a shirt that still had functional buttons.

The change had gotten a slight stare of disbelief from his captors, as though he’d gone and swapped heads, but no actual comments were made. And now, the dragonborn was sitting by him on the deck and handing him a cup of tea, and it smelled suspiciously like what he drank at home, and yes, this was absolutely one of his teacups.

“So!” the dragonborn said with a toothy grin. “Cora-... er, Percival. Percy? Mr. Milquetoast? Sorry, not sure what to call you now.” He had a cup of his own, but rather than sipping from it, he opened his long snout and splashed the contents inside. Judging by the reaction that followed, the tea was still very hot.

“Just, er… whichever? I guess?” Why was he sitting on a ship drinking tea with his kidnappers while they asked what to call him? Why had his father not been mentioned yet? Was that still incoming? His teacup rattled against the saucer.

“Mmmm… Percy. I’ve always thought you looked like a Percy.”

“Always?” Percy put his teacup down shakily on its saucer. “Then you’ve been spying on me? For how long?”

“No!” The dragonborn waved a hand frantically in front of himself. “No, no, I mean… we’re not…” He looked behind him, where the other three were peering at the scene thoughtfully. “Um, guys, I’m not doing great. Someone else try.”

The elf stepped in and tapped him on the shoulder, as though relieving him from duty. Good. As far as Percy could tell, she was the most logical of the group. She wasn’t panicking… not that he could see, at least.

“So you’re Good Cop, then?” Percy eyed her warily.

“No…” The elf sighed, a sort of long-suffering sigh that made him feel like this was not the first long-suffering sigh she’d issued him. “We’re your friends, really. And we’re just trying to figure out how to help you.”

Percy narrowed his eyes. “My friends.”

“Yes.”

“Not magical kidnappers looking for a piece of the Milquetoast fortune.”

“No. Not magical kidnappers looking for a piece of the family fortune. I promise.” 

“I mean, I have friends at home. I can just go home to my actual friends, and not whatever you guys are pretending to be.”

The elf’s face settled into an expression that somehow managed to be both neutral and confrontational, her lips pressed into a line. “Name four friends you have at home.”

Damn. “Uh, th-there’s, uh… there’s Steve… F-Friendsman.”

“Yeah.”

“There’s, a-um, Roger… M’buddy.”

The elf pressed a hand to her face. “Please, at least let us try to help you.”

She seemed absolutely genuine. It was making his head hurt. This was not how criminals acted. As far as he knew. “Fine, help me, or whatever it is you want to do.”

“All right, so…” The elf clasped her hands together. “It’s probably just a matter of jogging your memory. You got a little bop on the head, it shook things up, but we can help you connect things up again. Right?”

“Sure,” Percy said hesitantly, now with the added wrinkle of wondering when and how he’d been hit over the head. He considered asking, but he could already hear the answer. No, we didn’t hit you over the head intentionally. It was a love tap. Something like that.

The elf smiled. It didn’t seem like a kidnapper’s smile. But again, he had nothing to go on. Maybe kidnappers had really nice smiles. “Okay, good. So let’s just rattle out a few of the high points, and see what your brain latches onto.”

Percy nodded, taking a sip from the teacup he still held in a death grip.

“Okay. Spicy rat?” She paused, and he wasn’t sure what for. After a short silence, she picked up again. “No? Okay, that was a while ago, admittedly. Uh… baby-making watch?”

“Babies don’t come from watches,” Percy scoffed. “They come from under cabbage leaves.”

The elf ground to a halt in her questioning, but picked up again with a shake of the head. “What about the party? The one where you went dressed as a sexy nurse and made a teenage girl cry.”

Percy scowled. “I would never do that!”

The half-orc chuckled. “Oh, you very much did.”

“I will not allow you to paint me with the same brush as you, you… s-scoundrels!” Percy felt a chill down the back of his neck. “That’s what this is, isn’t it? You’re trying to convince me I’m one of you and whisk me away to do unspeakable crimes, is that it?”

“Hasn’t taken much trying so far, mate,” Merilwen grumbled.

“Waaaait wait wait wait.” The tiefling squeezed up next to the elf. “We’re coming at this from the wrong angle. He’s clearly forgotten stuff from before we met him, too, right? What we need to do is remind him of why he became a pirate.”

Percy looked around the ship. Then down at the clothes he’d woken up in. And the tattoo on his wrist. “I’m a pirate?”

“Yep, you are a pirate.”

“So… this really is my ship?”

“Er, our ship, yes.” The tiefling seemed to take a lot of pride in saying that. Well, being co-owner of a ship was something to be proud of… if it was true, he’d probably let himself feel a bit proud, too. “So, maybe if you can summon up the feelings that made you want to run away from home and be a pirate, the rest will follow. So, tell us about your dad.”

“He’s… dumb?” Percy shrugged. “He’s annoying? I don’t know, it’s a lot of effort to run away from him for being dumb and annoying. I’ve got nothing.” 

The tiefling leaned in conspiratorially. “Nothing about what a bad dad he is? How he has ridiculous expectations of you? Doesn’t want you to have fun and live your own life?” She paused. “How he’s got a stupid wig and he’s all stuffy and bossy?”

Percy leaned away from her. “You seem to have plenty against him already.”

“Oh, no, no. I don’t hate him. You do.”

“No, it really does sound like it’s you.”

The tiefling laughed, waving a hand. “Oh, no, that’s just because he bothers you. It’s a support thing. I’d totally love to live in his big ol’ house.”

“So you’re telling me you don’t like my father, but you do like his money, and that’s supposed to make me feel better?”

The tiefling’s face twisted into a confused frown. “Oh, man. Yeah, we do kinda sound like we kidnapped you for ransom, don’t we?”

Percy flinched away, nearly dropping his teacup. Oddly, the tiefling was once again trying to reassure him. “Which we didn’t?? Which we didn’t. I’m just saying.” She sighed. “I guess he forgot whatever happened that made him want to run away, too. How about you, Egbert? Got any paladin magic for him?”

“I’ve got something better!”

All eyes, Percy’s included, turned to the dragonborn — who was now swinging a mace from one clawed hand.

“So, you know how in all the stories, right? Someone gets knocked on the head and gets amnesia, but then they get hit in the same spot and all their memories come back. Let’s just do that!”

The dragonborn strode over to Percy, winding up the mace. Percy stumbled backwards, his teacup falling and shattering on the deck. “Don’t you dare!”

“Egbert, not that mace!” the elf shouted.

“Oh, it’s fiiiine. I had to hit whatsisname loads of times before he actually turned into a seal.”

Percy looked at the seal. The seal looked back.

“Eg.”

The dragonborn raised his mace over his head. Percy stumbled backwards towards the door to the captain’s quarters, eyes locked on the cursed weapon. He reached behind him for the doorknob and twisted frantically. The door wouldn’t give way.

The elf flung herself at the dragonborn, turning into an octopus in midair. The two hit the deck, the mace rolling harmlessly across the deck as the octopus held the would-be attacker in place. Percy finally managed to yank the door open, racing into the captain’s quarters and slamming the door behind him.

“I meant a spell!” Percy heard the tiefling yell from the other side of the door. “You’ve got more healing spells, don’t you?”

“Oh, riiiight…”

There was a gentle tap at the door. Percy eyed it nervously.

“Heeey, buddy. You okay?” It was the half-orc. “Can I come in?”

“No, you absolutely cannot come in. You’re all insane and there’s a seal man out there saying egg.”

“That’s cool, that’s cool. I’ll just sit out here, how’s that?”

Percy heard a gentle thump against the other side of the door. “So… you really don’t remember anything, do you? About us, or your pirate crew, or any of that?”

“Last thing I remember is going to bed at Milquetoast Manor and thinking tomorrow night’s party was going to be very boring. Then I woke up in bed on a strange boat, with all of you standing over me looking ready to dissect me or something.” Percy sat down, leaning on the other side of the door. His head still felt foggy. “So? Which one of you blackjacked me?”

“You blackjacked yourself with a tree.”

Percy frowned. “Is that the sort of thing I’m likely to do?”

“Oh, yes,” the half-orc said cheerfully. “Merilwen had a stack of tree puns ready to go, but under the circumstances it seemed, uh… bit tasteless.”

“Merilwen?”

“The elf. Don’t worry, you can hear them later. You know, when your head’s right again.” A pause. “Oh! Haha. Of course. I’m Dob, by the way. The tiefling is Prudence, and the big dragon man is Egbert. And we’re all your friends, and we all do super cool things together.”

Percy nodded, still not completely convinced. Then he realized Dob wouldn’t be able to see him on the other side of the door. “If you say so.”

“Gosh. Introducing myself to you. That brings back memories.” Dob stopped himself, fumbling, as if he’d just said something extremely offensive. “I mean… you know…”

Against his better judgment, Percy got up and opened the door. Dob, leaning heavily on it, tumbled backwards… but turned the tumble into a backwards somersault and landed lightly on his feet. He gave a little bow, and Percy felt he ought to clap. Just considering the effort.

“You ready to come out and talk to the others?”

Percy leaned to one side and looked out onto the deck. Egbert was on his feet again, with Merilwen (now an elf) still clinging to his back, as though uncertain whether the dragonborn could be trusted on his own yet. Prudence wore a friendly smile that seemed to say “I’m not going to sacrifice you to my eldritch god, but I’m also not not going to sacrifice you to my eldritch god.” His trusted friends. Apparently.

Before Percy could answer, Dob slapped him on the back and walked him out onto the deck. “All right. We’ve all had a little breather, a little think, and I think… and this is just me… we should back-burner the memory loss issue and focus on the bigger problem.”

“There’s a bigger problem?” Percy looked at Dob incredulously.

The group at large winced. “Yeah…” Dob continued to speak for the group, and no one seemed to mind being relieved of that duty for the moment. “See, Percy. Percival. Friend. Our good friend of so long…”

“Just tell me what’s going to happen to me.”

“You have to duel someone tomorrow morning.”

Percy extracted himself from Dob’s friendly side-arm. “What? Why? Why would I do that?”

“Again,” said Dob, “if it makes you feel better, it is extremely on brand.”

“Hsfd… it doesn’t make me feel better! I have to fight someone tomorrow and I’m not me! I mean, I am me, but I’m not this other me who went and did a thing I didn’t do!”

Amongst them, Percy’s friends(?) laid out the entire situation. All he managed to retain were slimes, collapse of the natural world, very large man, and imminent swordfight. The rest was a sort of blur, and one he was in no mood to attempt to figure out.

“I can’t do this.” It was a statement of fact. “Maybe this Corazón guy can do this, but I can’t. Horgan’s going to be expecting some jerk pirate who can swordfight.”

“We can try another refresher,” suggested Merilwen.

Egbert reached for his mace. “I could try—-”

“No,” said everyone, possibly even the seal.

“Look,” Dob said gently, “we’ll have puh-lenty of time to work on the memory thing, right? All we have to do is get through tomorrow, and if it hasn’t cleared up by then, we’ll find someone to help you, no problem.”

“How can you be so sure?” Percy asked, the fretting feeling coming back even stronger than before.

Egbert shrugged. “It’ll happen. That’s how it tends to go. A problem comes up, and then a couple days later someone comes along with a quest that’ll fix it. It’s really handy.”

“Okay, that’s great for after tomorrow morning. But what about me, tomorrow morning, with swords? What’s my guarantee I get past that alive? Because I’ve never actually stabbed a man.”

“Yes you have,” Prudence pointed out.

“Like a lot,” Merilwen added.

“Apparently you kicked a man to death once,” said Egbert. “I mean, I found out later, but I believe it.”

“But I don’t remember that!” Percy flailed an arm helplessly. “It’s… hds… that’s some future guy and I’m not the future guy, I’m the me guy. How is the me guy going to survive?”

The group fell silent.

“... did I actually kick a man to death?”

They all nodded.

“Oh…”

“And see? That’s why we believe in you, Cor… er, Percy.” Dob threw an arm around Percy’s shoulders again. “We know what you’re capable of. We know it’s in here.” He jabbed at Percy’s chest with one finger. “And in here.” At his head.

“Ow!”

“The head, Dob,” Merilwen hissed, “watch the head.”

“Right, right. Look. We’ve got tonight to train you up into a believable Corazón de Ballena. You’ve already got the look, you’ve already got the voice. That’s more than most people start with.”

Percy let out a weak groan.

“Hey! No, this is good! We can do this! And maybe, somewhere along the way, something will trigger the ol’ bean and the memories will just come flooding back. Right, guys?”

The rest of the team seemed to believe it about as much as Percy did. Which wasn’t much.

“Are you sure we can’t just…” Percy motioned to the anchor rope. “Leave?”

“No,” Merilwen said firmly. But her expression was still hesitant. “No, we have to stop Horgan. More than anything else, that has to happen.”

She was insistent. This was important to her. Percy groaned again.

“Come on, buddy.” Dob lifted his arm from Percy’s shoulders, grabbing him by both arms and staring him in the eyes. “Look me in the eye.”

“Yeah. Looking.”

“Now. Are you a Thieves Cant, or a Thieves Can?”

Merilwen, at least, seemed to appreciate what Dob was going for.

---

Plan B no longer stood for Burning. Plan B, as indicated by a wild-shaped Merilwen taking up a spot behind the topiaries on Horgan’s lawn, now stood for Bear. And possibly Bomb, and Blast, and Bard Casts Thunder Wave, depending on who got trigger-happy first.

No amount of swordfighting or storytelling brought Corazón’s memory back. Nor did any amount of actually insisting on calling him Corazón. Their last ditch hope — that he’d wake up the next morning acting like nothing had happened — didn’t pan out, either. Dob gave pep talk after pep talk as Corazón fretted uncharacteristically, the latter eventually wrapping the uneaten bacon sandwich he’d made for himself in a piece of paper and stowing it in a jacket pocket. Finally, though, they’d all had to take up their positions and leave the rest to luck.

Corazón was left to make the walk up the lawn alone, but the other four had formed a perimeter: Merilwen in the topiary, Dob in a nearby tree, Prudence behind a fence, and Egbert peering over a hedge. Dob promised to shoot Corazón an occasional prompt if things got hairy; but, by and large, it was all him.

As the sun began to rise, Corazón walked up the paved path to the appointed spot. He’d not quite gotten his own swagger down, instead walking slow, measured steps with his hands stuffed in his pockets.

Try to look like you’re too cool for the room! Dob thought; Corazón looked up and around, surprised, then seemed to remember what Dob had said about sending mental messages. He stopped where he was, pulled his hands out of his pockets, squared his shoulders, and walked even more awkwardly up the path.

Fine. It’d have to do.

Just as the light of sunrise hit its best and most aesthetic hue, Alonzo Horgan and his servant walked out. The former wore a rapier at his belt.

“Corazón de Ballena,” Horgan said broadly, his voice dripping with fake friendliness. “Or are we going by something new today?”

“No, er, that’s me.”

Dob thought another swift message.

“I mean… that’s right! That’s me, Corazón. The mighty pirate. Here to run you through like a tasty kebab and grill… grill you on the fires of justice? What the hell does that mean?”

Just go with it, Dob thought irritably, but the moment had passed. Shame. He was rather proud of that one.

Horgan eyed Corazón with amusement. “I can wait if you need a moment.”

“No, no. Erm. Yes, that’s me.” Corazón’s hand hovered over the hilt of his rapier. He was tense. He was ready. He might have been about to faint. It was hard to tell.

Horgan’s retainer’s voice was soft. None of them could hear it from their respective points along the perimeter. Corazón didn’t look especially surprised by any of it, which hopefully meant there was nothing odd about the rules of the duel.

From their spots, separated though each of them was, they all had the same thought at the same time: what would it take? What hadn’t they done? Would they need a spell? Some sort of quest? A skilled healer? Would another bop on the head really have done it?

A shrill whistle blew. Each of them was shaken out of their thoughts to see that the duel had begun, and Corazón was already flagging quickly. It was less of a duel and more of a chase, the enormous Horgan lumbering across the lawn after his smaller opponent. Corazón, for his part, was holding his ground… though “his ground” was constantly moving backwards across the lawn in zigzags.

His heel came dangerously close to a stray root, nearly hidden by the grass.

“Look out!” Egbert shouted. Merilwen, Dob, and Prudence shushed him. Horgan looked up and around for the source of the voice. Corazón, on the other hand, missed the warning entirely. His heel caught on the root, and he windmilled backwards, landing flat on his back.

Merilwen hesitated behind the topiary, one huge, clawed paw creeping around the side of the greenery. Was it go time? The others were in the same state of indecision, poised to attack but waiting to see what happened.

Corazón lifted his head slightly. The massive form of Horgan hovering over him, blade raised threatening, blocked out the faint light of sunrise. The sword hung there for a moment… then was flung across the lawn, accompanied by a disgusted sigh from Horgan.

“How very disappointing.”

The group shot each other quick glances. The message was clear. Well, clear-ish. “Stop Horgan before he can leave” was clear enough, but what would be done with him once apprehended was likely still up in the air. Corazón, unaware of any of this, propped himself up on his elbows.

“Where are you going?” he asked weakly. “We’re not done here.”

“I rather think we are.” Horgan shook his head in… amusement? Disappointment? It was hard to tell. “What a shame. You were so full of piss and vinegar yesterday, and today you’ve got no real fight in you.”

“I’ve got fight… I’ve got plenty of… hhhh.” Corazón put a hand to his head.

“Serves me right, thinking I’d get a good fight out of some puffed-up fake pirate.”

“... what did you say?” Corazón’s voice was suddenly oddly sharp and cold.

Horgan chuckled. “You heard me. You’re less convincing than the chap I hired for my niece’s seventh birthday party.” He waved a hand to his servant. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve not had breakfast yet and I’m peckish. Think I might go to the kitchen and have a bit of a graze.”

On his next step, Horgan’s booted foot slid forward, sending him falling backwards into a puddle of grease that had absolutely not been there moments ago. Now it was his turn to look up at a looming silhouette: Corazón de Ballena, sword pointing down threateningly in one hand, bacon sandwich in the other.

“How appropriate. You fight like a cow.”

Horgan spluttered, eyes bulging. “You… what nonsense is this!?”

“It’s called the power of grease, that’s what nonsense this is. Now get up and fight me so we can have our little talk. Or would you rather we just go ahead and burn your whole scene down?”

“You wouldn’t dare!”

“Yeah, you’re right, I wouldn’t. I think Prudence might, though.” Corazón shouted toward the fence. “Prudence! Plan B for burn?”

Prudence threw her hands in the air. “Plan B for buuuurn!”

Horgan had managed to pull himself up to one knee, the grease still dangerously slick beneath him. “I said to come alone!”

“Yeah, well, pirate. Don’t know what you expected.” Corazón stepped back, taking a bite of his sandwich. “So, I’m calling this a win for Team Oxventure. Which means it’s time for some negotiations concerning your, er, current business model.”

“But…” Horgan looked in the direction of his servant. He was long gone. Whether he’d run off, or whether the large bear standing where he’d stood had disposed of him, Horgan couldn’t tell.

“Oh, yes. That’s our sustainability advisor, Merilwen. She’ll be taking over from here.”

Merilwen growled.

---

“So what you’re saying,” said Egbert, “is that my plan was the best and would have worked.”

“Hff… no! Absolutely not.” Corazón was rubbing a hand over his chin, displeased with the lack of facial hair. “A one-in-six chance of being turned into an animal is not a best plan. Why did you let me shave? I hate it.”

“It’ll grow back.” Prudence poured out a mug of slime beer… the last remaining barrel, which they’d taken with them as a gratuity after aggressively convincing Horgan to discontinue his fermented slime line. She offered the mug to Merilwen, who waved a hand in front of herself emphatically.

“No, I don’t want to drink the poor baby slimes…” The rest became too high-pitched and tearful to translate.

“I’ll drink the poor baby slimes.” Dob grabbed the mug and necked half of it, much to Merilwen’s chagrin. “Anyway, what snapped you out of it? Was it hitting your head again?”

Corazón wrinkled his nose and shook his head. “Don’t know. I know I got really mad when whatsisname called me a fake pirate, and I wasn’t having that.”

Prudence’s eyes lit up. “Ohh, spite! Literally the one thing we didn’t think to try!”

“Well,” said Dob, passing Corazón his mended teacup topped off with beer, “I think we’ve all had a chance to learn something about friendship and patience and being true to ourselves.”

Egbert poured himself a pint. “I haven’t learned anything.”

“I have.”

Everyone looked at Corazón. “Have you?” Dob asked.

“Yep.” Corazón took a sip of beer from the teacup. “We are absolutely terrifying.”

Merilwen nodded sagely. 

“Yeah,” Prudence said dreamily. “It’s good.”

“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to my room, and I’m not coming out again until my good facial hair is back.” The door to the captain’s quarters slammed behind Corazón.

And that is the story of how the Oxventurers brought down a corrupt businessman with a breakfast sandwich.

#oxventure #outside xbox #i'm supposed to be writing other things but i won't tell if you won't #anyway yes i write stories a lot i do them for a living #please read them #i love approval from strangers

[leejihoonownsmyheart]

Focus on Me

Based on the Inside Seventeen Episode where Hoshi eats a hamburger like a weirdo from May 11, 2019.

Summary:

You get the chance to go to a fan meet and as you are sitting there you can’t keep your eyes off of Jihoon. You try not to stare to the extent that he would notice, but when your eyes meet for the first time- oh my god did he really notice you?- you knew that you were in it for the long run, cause he was stressed, you were worried, and nothing could stop you from trying to get down to the bottom of his anxiety.

-

You couldn’t believe they were right there.

You were trying to keep cool, but you couldn’t figure out where to put your eyes. The guy who had consumed all of your attention for the last few years... He was finally right in front of you. So close, that he could hear you if you tried to speak. So close that if he scanned the audience he would surely see you.

You kept your eyes down.

Don’t stare. Don’t stare. Don’t stare.

You looked back up, your eyes trailing across the line again. You saw Dino, and Seungcheol, and Seungkwan, and Jun, and...

Your eyes got stuck again.

His eyes were focused on the fan in front of him. A smile spread over his lips as he addressed the lucky girl.

Geez, in a few minutes that could be you.

You leaned forward, propping your elbows up on the empty chair in front of you so that you could hold your head up. Jihoon looked... He looked so good. Just like always.

He had his hand's busy writing on the carat before him’s booklet, surely leaving a sweet note there. Something she would look at for days and days in the future. Something that would make her smile in her saddest moments.

His eyes were going from the paper in front of him to the fan that was speaking to him. He nodded his head every once in a while to acknowledge that he was, in fact, paying attention to her, and when he did it made his raven dark hair bounce just slightly.

You sighed happily.

You could watch him all day and you genuinely didn’t think you would ever grow tired of him.

He politely began to say goodbye to his fan, and once he had a moment alone his expression dropped. His hands clasped together and he began to squeeze. His eyes glazed over and you knew... You knew something was wrong.

Your dreamy expression turned into one of slight concern and confusion.

What could be bringing Jihoon down when he was meeting people who were certainly telling him just how fantastic and talented he truly was?

His thumb pressed hard into his hand as he sat there. His expression became a little more focused, and his eyebrows furrowed just slightly. You watched as his eyes began to scan the crowd moving systematically through the crowd of carats before him when suddenly-

Your heart skipped a beat, your eyes widened, your arms dropped.

Eye contact.

Your immediate instinct was to- embarrassingly enough- look as far left as you possibly could, then as far-right, allowing your head to do a full visible circle before focusing on a different member of Seventeen, hoping to god that he didn’t notice.

The next time that you glanced back over at Jihoon he had a new fan in front of him. He was focused again, smiling.

The smile was real enough. At least, it didn’t look forced in any way... But you had seen him showing those obvious anxious traits. Something had been wrong. Something had definitely been wrong.

You tightened your grip on your bag as you watched him interact with the girl in front of him, unable to stop your racing thoughts.

It was near impossible for you to keep your mind on anything but him when you were this worried.

The fan raised her hand in a wave and Jihoon watched her as she moved on. Once she was focused on Minghao, his eyes fell back on the audience, this time a little more focused then the last.

He scanned until he saw you.

Pressure built up in your chest and suddenly breathing became an issue.

He couldn’t actually be looking at you... Could he? Was it because of that stupid thing that you did before? The dumb look away thing to make it less obvious that you were looking but really it just made it that much more obvious?

No way you were the first fan to do something dumb like that to him.

His eyebrows furrowed slightly at you.

You gulped, gave him a timid smile and waved.

Before he could do anything back, the next fan was in front of him and his attention was diverted.

The person beside you got up, ready to get into the line of people waiting for their minute of time with the members of Seventeen. You got up as well.

From the line, you couldn’t see Jihoon as well, but you could still see him. You watched as between fans he searched the crowd for you one more time. Then in between fans from then on he either interacted with fans in the crowd, or he zoned off ever so slightly.

You wrung your bag nervously between your hands as you got closer to the boys in front of you, unable to keep your eyes off of Jihoon.

Until that was, you sat down in front of Seungcheol.

And then, you were focused on him.

Then you were focused on Jeonghan, then Joshua, then Jun, then Hoshi, then Wonwoo, then...

“Hi,” he greeted, a smile crossing his face before his eyes had officially landed on you, and then his expression morphed. “Wait-”

“Are you okay?” You blurted, unable to help yourself. “I noticed you earlier, messing with your hands and stuff and... Well, I know that you do that when something is bothering you.”

“How could you-”

“You’ve done it a few times before, I saw it in videos,” you replied. He scoffed.

“But there are thirteen members of Seventeen, how could you notice when I’m hardly ever the center of attention,” he responded back. You frowned.

“Is that what you are so stressed about right now?” You asked softly. He didn’t respond, but you could tell by the look on his face that that had been precisely what was bothering him. “You know every time I watch Seventeen videos the first person I look for is you.”

Jihoon sighed and grabbed his pen to start writing on your booklet.

“Sure, of course, I am. Who else did you say that to, huh?” He asked uninterestedly. You laughed.

“Seriously, I wish it wasn’t true.”

You pulled out your phone and showed him your lock screen.

“You have been my screensaver since the first comeback that I actively followed,” you explained softly. You opened your phone and showed him your photo albums. “This is my photo album dedicated entirely to you. As you can see, it’s bigger than all of my other ones.”

You wrinkled your nose as you opened a different app.

“Okay see, my description on instagram references your use of that Universe emoji, and I’ve referenced you in a few of my captions.” Then you turned to a new app.

“My name on this app is literally Mrs. Lee Jihoon, you know like a play on the whole writing your crushes full name after Mrs from like elementary school? And my friends make fun of me all the time for liking you so much, they’re always talking about how uwu the two of us would be and-”

“What’s your point?” Jihoon interrupted. You looked back up at him, your face a little red.

“My point is, I really can’t keep my eyes off of you when I know that you’re in a video and I know that I’m not the only one who is like that. You’re right, lots of fans probably say that you are their favorite and don’t mean it, but there are still gonna be people, like me, who will buy four You Made My Dawn albums in an attempt to get your photo card just once.”

Jihoon paused, his pen hovering over the paper in his hands which made you jump.

“Oh right!” You exclaimed. You began to rummage through your bag, trying to find what you had brought for him today. “Okay, so I don’t know a whole lot about you but I know you are into anime right? So I got you this really cool figurine from ‘That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime’.”

You placed the figure on the table in front of him. It was pretty cool. It pictured the main character, Rimuru, with his wings, mask partly on, and his legs made of slime liquid.

You also set a bag of sun chips on the table. Harvest cheddar, of course.

“And these are some chips. When I’m inside my head I usually eat and I feel a little bit better. So I hope you like those chips as much as I do.”

The people around you began to shift so you ducked your head.

“I hope you feel better soon Jihoon,” you mumbled softly.

He gave you a pressed smile and slid you your booklet.

“Thanks.”

You were so focused on not focusing on Jihoon that you didn’t even see what Jihoon had left in your booklet until you got home.

A... A phone number and a note.

Your friends are right. You’re pretty cute, and you know me weirdly well. If you want... It might be fun to keep talking to you. I actually hope to hear from you soon.

xxJihoon

#Seventeen #seventeen kpop #seventeen fanfic #seventeen fanfiction #Lee Jihoon #lee jihoon seventeen #lee jihoon imagines #hitouch #woozi #woozi imagines #svt woozi #Svt #svt fanfic #svt kpop #svt lee jihoon #kpop #kpop fanfic #kpop fanfiction #fanfiction #fanfic

[hi-i-love-u-bitch]

Excuse me! But where is my Sanders Sides Gamer AU???

Voices in my head: Gee Bunny, it seems you have no problem writing a lot of other fics and stuff yet you still haven’t even finished the next chapter of your Spiderverse fic???

Me: SHUT THE FUCK UP DISEMBODIED VOICES IN MY HEAD!!! IF YOU WANT THAT FIC DONE SO BADLY TELL MY LOGIC AND CREATIVITY TO GET THEIR ASSES IN GEAR AND GIVE ME SOME GOD DAMN INSPIRATION!!!!

Voices in my head:.....

Me: Yeah, that’s what I thought! Anyways, idk if I just missed a memo or something but I haven’t seen any Gamer AU of my boys and that is a crime in and of itself! Like, how dare! But fret not, I am here to provide content (Read: headcannons) that you did not ask for! Let us begin! Or should I say start!

(please note that I am not a gaming expert so feel free to add or correct stuff)

NOW WITH A PART 2!!!!

MAIN SQUAD

Roman Rosewood

Obviously loves RPGs! Anything with a good story line really! Or has medieval fantasy aesthetic!

Skyrim, Diablo, Undertale, Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts, Fallout, Red Dead Redemption, Undertales, Dragon Age, God of War Dark Souls, Assassins Creed, Earthbound, etc.

Played West of Loathing just so he could rip on it but actually ended up loving it and spending way to many hours playing. Then he found out there was a game called Kingdom of Loathing by the same creators and went down that rabbit hole as well.

He was iffy about getting into JRPGs but then Virgil convinced him to play Persona 5 and he absolutely fell in love with the music!

All the music in his phone is either from musicals or Video games!

Also really likes choose your own adventure games like Detroit: Become Human, Life is Strange, and Telltale Games

So much video game merch! Usually figurines because he likes to make little shelves and display cases for them.

He also really likes multiplayer games because he’s a social butterfly and likes to play with his squad.

Sucks at first person shooter games but still willingly plays Fortnight or Call of Duty or Left for Dead with his friends because he doesn’t want to be a drag and complain. But also they sometimes die in game in the most hilarious ways and it just leaves everybody wheezing.

Virgil Dante

Horror games, obvs!

All about that dark aesthetic!

Devil May Cry, Silent Hill, Fran Bow, Sally Face, Resident Evil, The Witch’s House, Amnesia, Little Nightmares, Bendy and The Ink Machine, Alice: Madness Returns, SCP-Containment, Pony Island, etc.

Yes, he’s played all the Five Nights At Freddy’s games. It’s a good series and it isn’t his fault the fandom is bat shit crazy and full of ten year olds! Fuck you Roman!

Every time the Walking Dead comes out he knows he’ll end up crying by the end of it. He and the squad make and event out of it.

Japanese horror games are usually his favorite because they deal more with the psychological aspects of horror instead of the jump scares

So, yes, he’s also a fan of Corps Party and Fatal Frame

Also really good at first person shooters because he has a really steady hand (you usually have to when playing horror games least you want to restart the level) and it pisses Roman off to no end every time Virgil randomly headshots him.

Usually likes to by merch in the form of posters, t-shirts, or beanies. He only buys figurines if it’s a game he really, really likes.

At first didn’t know why people kept bugging him to play Doki Doki Literature Club but then he finally caved and...oh...that’s why.

Logan Mill

My boy loves puzzle and strategy games yo!

Legend of Zelda, Portal, Tetris, Unravel, World of Goo, Inside, Limbo, Pokemon, Shadow of the Colossus, StarCraft, Command and Conquer, Age of Empire, Heart of Iron, World of Warcraft, etc.

He likes Overwatch but doesn’t like playing with people online so he usual solos or asks the others to play. But that too usually ends in chaos.

Hates rage games because he gets frustrated easily and has broken at least four keyboards and two controllers

He still plays them anyways because he can beat it damn it! Just give him a minute!

Enjoys the God of War series despite all the mythological inaccuracies

He plays a lot of Minecraft to relax or destress and has build beautiful works of architecture and sometimes entire cities.

He thought it was stupid and childish and was embarrassed about it for a long time until the squad came over to his house one day uninvited and caught him playing. He was getting ready for them to make fun of him but they instead gushed about how AMAZING everything looked and how TALENTED he was for building all himself.

Logan ends up showing them how to play afterwards and they work together to make weird sculptures and complex tunnels underground.

He likes practical merch like backpacks, coffee mugs, pencil holders, notebooks, ect. as well as a few t-shirts and novelty ties.

Yes, he does collect Pokemon cards!

Patton Adley

Silly dating sims, farming games, and any cute game really! Plus a few side scroller games!

Stardew Valley, Harvest Moon, Slime Rancher, The Sims, Dream Daddy, Animal Crossing, Kirby, Monster Prom, Hatoful Boyfriend, Scribblenauts, Night In The Woods, Ni Nu Kuni, etc.

Big Nintendo fan!

He made the mistake of playing Doki Doki Literature Club without reading the warning tags and regrets it immensely...still a good game though.

He did the same thing with Huni Pop but that one made him laugh more then anything and he kind of got addicted to it. Then he found out there was a sequel called HuniCam so he went down that rabbit hole too.

He likes a lot of phone app games too like Cut the Rope, Neko Atsume, and Candy Crush.

Loves trashy dating app games, he thinks they’re so funny and cheesy

He was addicted to Mystic Messenger for a long while

Just because he has his preference doesn’t mean he won’t try other games too, Logan got him hooked on World of Warcraft (though really he did that to everyone), Virgil showed him Hollow Knight, and Roman suggested he play Undertales.

Prefers merch in the form of plushies and key chains!

He likes to bake and decorate cookies, cakes and pastries in the form of his favorite video game characters.

RED SQUAD

Duncan [Deceit] Adley (Patton’s twin)

A lot of first person shooter and combat games!

Doom Series, Super Smash Bros, Mortal Combat, Halo, Fortnight, Grand Theft Auto, Street Fighter, Tekken, Soul Calibur, Half-Life, Team Fortress, Destiny, Wolfenstein, Bio Shock, Splatoon, PUBg etc.

Patton was the one that introduced him to Splatoon and he won’t admit that it’s actually super fun.

Doesn’t mind story driven games and RPGs but he really just wants something he can zone out to and relax

He likes to troll people online, mainly assholes picking on little kids who just want to play.

He once teamed up with a group of kids on Call of Duty solely for the purpose of collectively kicking the asses of this groups of so called “real gamers” that were being jerks.

Has memorized all the combos! He doesn’t have time to sit and look up a cool finishing move, he needs it now!

Always mains the weakest/most useless character in fighting games and still manages to kick everyone’s ass.

Doesn’t have a preference in merch and usually grabs whatever he likes be it figurines, t-shirts, posters, plushies, or whatever, so long as he likes the game it comes from.

Has several tattoos from his favorite games

Emile Picani

Classic retro games, cartoonish games, and Nintendo are his jam broham!

Mario, Classic Sonic, Paper Boy, Transylvania, Spyro, Pac Man, All the Saga Disney games, Duck Hunt, Mario Kart, Galaga, Mega Man, Donkey Kong, Secret of Mana, Banjo-Kazooie, Conker’s Bad Fur Day, etc.

Absolutely fell in love with Shovel Knight when it came out!

Remy got him into all the indie pixel games: Towerfall, Terraria, Owlboy, Hotline Miami, Papers Please, Celeste, One Shot, etc.

Duncan was the one that introduced him to Cuphead and the usually play it together and see how far each of them can go without dying.

The game is difficult but the art is still so breathtaking!

Likes the occasional psychological thriller game

Bet Virgil showed him Alice: Madness Returns and Doki Doki Literature Club (after he’s played it of course)

Likes plushies and figurine merch with the occasional poster and coffee mug.

Likes to doodle a lot of his fav video game characters and cartoons and is actually really good at it. He helped design most of Duncan’s tattoos.

Remy Knightly

Likes a lot of indie games and old online flash games!

The Stanley Parables, Oxenfree, Inside, Firewatch, Super MeatBoy, The Binding of Issac, Donut County, Henry Stickman series, Impossible Quiz, Crush the Castle series, Hyper Light Drifter, etc.

He always gets everybody hooked on one game or another

He convinced everyone to play Undertales so for like a month they all went through a HUGE Undertales faze.

Was the actual, ACTUAL one that showed Duncan Cuphead because he knew the dork would be reminded of Emile because of the animation and would want to show it to him and play multiplayer (*cough* subtle matchmaker *cough*)

(Do not be fooled, he is a pinning boy himself)

Is up to date in all the gossip of the latest games and consuls, indie or mainstream! He’s in the know, know and if you need to know something chances are Remy probably knows it.

Weeds out through all the indie horror games for Virgil and recommends what he thinks are the best ones.

Same thing with Logan and his puzzle games, he’s usually is able to find very strange ones and Logan seems to likes those best.

Obviously has a lot of merch in coffee mug and thermal form as well as a few key chains.

Occasionally streams on Twitch with Duncan and Emile (sometimes inviting the main squad too), they’re commentary is usual hilarious.

#thomas sanders #sanders sides #roman sanders #virgil sanders #logan sanders #patton sanders #remy sanders #sleep sanders #deceit sanders #sympathetic deceit #emile picani #red #prinxeity #logicality #(kind of mainly in my head) #video games #gamer au

[broken-clover]

Day 7- Hanahaki

Ho-ly shit I am so so late on this. Then again, does anyone even read these things. So despite the initial setback, I have finished! And in hindsight, jesus christ no wonder this took me so long, it’s 3500+ words and I redid it three times. Just something about this prompt, I guess, I dunno. I think for now I’m just gonna work a day behind schedule and try to just double up on an easier day because atm I do not have the energy to do today’s as well. I appreciate your understanding.

Well, onto the fun stuff, today I’m using Axl Low, featuring Sol and Ky as well! Axl is usually a lot of fun since he has a lot of opportunities for angsty stuff but I will admit that writing this actually made me cry a little, so make of that what you will. Oh yeah, and this is X-era/pre-Xrd because cop Ky.

Bonus content warning for vomiting, and I think that should be it but feel free to correct me if I’m wrong

“Watch your head!”

Sol immediately ducked, hearing something whizz past overhead. He wasn’t especially surprised to see a sickle-blade embedded in the tree in front of him. Not that it made him any less annoyed by the sight on it.

“For fuck’s sake, are you trying to kill me?” He stood back up and turned around to give the Brit a good, hard glare. “What the hell are you even doing here?”

“Heh heh...hey, chief.” Axl looked suitably sheepish, still clinging onto the other half of his kusarigama. “Uh, your reflexes are still good?”

The Gear stormed over, clutching the Junkyard Dog with an iron grip. He wasn’t especially happy with the though of being interrupted, especially now when he almost had his head chopped off in the process.

“L-listen, I can explain- !”

Maybe there was a reason, and maybe there wasn’t. In the moment, Sol hadn’t cared. He hadn’t been thinking much at all, really. He simply drew back his hand and punched Axl square in the chest, sending him flying off of his feet and crashing in a tangle of limbs a few feet away.

“Ow…”

“Shit, I-” Whether or not he felt all that bad about it didn’t really matter, he realized that punching someone with the same strength he used to rip open Gears and punch through walls was probably overkill on a regular human. He didn’t need a murder charge, especially on one of the few humans that he found tolerable to be around. “You okay?”

Axl didn’t offer him a reply, though he did slowly untangle himself and sit up, so at least he was definitely alive. He had an odd look on his face, though, and before Sol could ask, he was dry-heaving and scrabbling off towards the nearest bush.

“Dammit.” Sol followed behind at a distance. “I didn’t break anything, did I?”

The only response he got was a wet gag. It was enough of a reply for the time being, and he certainly didn’t want to bother Axl in the middle of that. When the retching finally quieted down, he let himself approach and offer a small pat in the back. “You okay?”

“Nggh- ow, ow-” Axl flopped back on the grass, rubbing the sore spot on his chest. “Jeez, I just know that’s gonna look ugly in the morning.”

“What made you think it was a good idea to sneak up on me?” Sol noticed something peculiar. “And what’s with the flowers?”

Along with the slime that still ran down the corner of his mouth, several little blue blossoms dotted his clothing. It hadn’t been a flowering bush, and he was pretty sure Axl hadn’t had them when he’d first shown up.

The man in question looked no less confused. “That’s what I was trying to find ya for, actually. I-” He paused to cough, and to Sol’s surprise, another small handful of the same blue flowers scattered out onto the dirt, soaked in spit. “I’ve been coughing up these damn things for two days now, and I can’t get them to stop.”

“Why ask me?”

“You’re a smart guy, you know a lot of stuff.” Axl gave him a shaky smile. “Besides, if it’s some weird Gear disease, I wanna know ahead of time before my eyes go red and I start shooting lasers.”

Sol rolled his eyes, hauling the man up to his feet. “Well, you can still crack a joke, so you can’t be that injured.”

“Stop right there!”

Axl stiffened in shock, while the Gear simply groaned at the familiar tone. “Should have known you’d show up at some point, pretty-boy.”

Ky already had a tight grip on the Thunderseal by the time he was visible. Thankfully, he kept it sheathed for the time being, but Axl could see faint blue sparks twinkling on the man’s gloved hand.

“What are you doing here?” The officer asked. “Why are you both here?”

“Tch. Well, I was trying to get the hell out of here.” Sol jerked a thumb over his shoulder. “But this idiot showed up and got in my way.”

At that, Ky leveled an icy glare at Axl. “So, care to explain why you’re here, then?”

“Needed help.” He’d hoped that the fewer words would make it easier to avoid another incident, but he felt something itching in the back of his throat. Before he knew it, he was shaking from another coughing fit, with more wet, slimy flowers coming up with it.

“What on earth…?” Ky’s stern expression faded. “Sol, what is the meaning of this?”

“You’re asking me.” He replied, giving Axl a thump on the back to help clear out some of the flowers. “He won’t stop puking them up.”

“WHAT?!” The officer dropped his hold on his sword to try and pull Axl to his feet. “What are you just standing around, Sol?! Did it never occur to you to find some sort of medical professional?”

“The fuck?” So scowled. “You know some back-alley witch doing dark magic?”

Ky flashed an impish smile. “No, but I know Dr. Faust has been spotted downtown today, and he seems to be the go-to for this kind of problem. Come along now, sir…”

“We’re going to him?” The feeling of the world spinning as he stood up made Axl gag again. “Don’t suppose I could get a second opinion?”

++++++

“Hmm. Well, there’s no other way to say this. There’s a plant in your lungs.”

“Revelation of the century.” Sol tried to pull out a cigarette and light it, only for Faust to immediately pluck it out of his fingers. “Hey!”

“No smoking in my office.” It was really more of a dilapidated warehouse, but Faust had still set up a nice little arrangement in it. “Based on the scan I took, it appears that the roots have settled into the pleura and have branched out into your lungs. Based on the symptoms I’ve seen, it appears that you’ve contracted Hanahaki Disease, Mr. Low.”

“Hanahaki Disease?” Ky asked, the confusion thick in his voice. “I’ve never heard of that.”

“It’s a magic-based disease, as far as I know. Though it’s not well researched.” Faust sat down in his chair, tapping his fingers. “It’s theorized that the source is some kind of desire that can’t be fulfilled. It’s most commonly interpreted as one-sided love, though some say it can also apply places that you can’t go back to, or things that no longer exist. I suppose it makes sense, given the flowers you keep coughing up.” He held up one of them. “Forget-me-nots.”

“Well, that’s not hard to guess.” Sol’s expression didn’t change. “You want to go home, don’t you?”

“Of- of course I do!” Axl had to pause to spit up a few more small blossoms. “Wait a minute, ‘unrequited?’”

“That’s most common, yes.”

His face fell. “B-but- but Megumi, she-” with a strangled noise, he buried his head in his hands. “S-she can’t have forgotten about me…”

“It’s possible that with so much time spent away from your era, her feelings have waned.”

“So what sort of treatment is available for a condition like this?” Ky inquired. “How can the plant be removed?”

“That’s not something I’m sure of right now.” The doctor said. “I’m afraid since information is so scarce, I’d need to draft a plan by myself. You don’t need to stay here, I should be able to work with just the scan.”

Axl still looked downtrodden. “But if it’s tied to my memories of home, won’t it just grow back if you take it out?”

Faust sighed. “I’ll admit, I’m not sure. But it can’t stay where it is. You could choke on those flowers. And I fear the sort of damage all that coughing could do to your throat. I’ll try and figure out a way to remove it from you, surgically or not, but for now, there’s not much I can offer in terms of help.”

They were barely able to step out of the building before Axl pitched over again to vomit up more bloodstained flowers. Sol merely gave him a pat on the back with a warm hand, while Ky stood behind awkwardly. When it finally subsided, Axl didn’t get up.

“What am I gonna do…?” He was always the optimist, or at least tried to be. But what was there to be optimistic about here? The concept of going home in the first place was nigh-impossible, Megumi had probably moved on without him, and even Faust had no idea how to get rid of the plant.

“I’m sure there’s something.” Of the three of them, Ky seemed to be the only one that had any energy to him. “There’s a solution, we just need to find it!”

“What can I do? I can’t go home, I don’t know if Faust can take this thing out, and for all I know, Megumi doesn’t care about me anymore!”

The other man faltered slightly. “I-I’m sure Faust will be able to fix it. Getting worked up is just going to tire you out. Maybe you should go home and rest? Where are you staying?”

“Nowhere.” Sol dragged Axl to his feet, though neither of them looked especially happy about it. “Wherever I can afford.”

Got a small place over on Brooke.” The Gear shrugged. “Y’can crash there, I guess. Not like I’m using it much.”

For a moment, Axl actually perked up. “Really? Thanks, chief, that...that actually means a lot.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever, let’s just get you home before people start staring.”

++++++

A gloved hand reached up to deliver a hard knock on the door. “Sol? Are you home?”

“Yeah, come in.”

“My hands are full, can you open it for me?”

He tried not to roll his eyes as the irritated grumbles that the barrier muffled. The door swung open, revealing a less-than-pleased Sol. “Hope you were planning on sharing that.”

“Well, I can’t exactly eat a whole gratin myself, can I? I brought it to share.” Spotting a small, rickety table in the corner, Ky stepped inside and deposited the dish onto it, along with the heavy satchel he’d been carrying. “Has he been eating?”

“Barely leaves his room. Haven’t seen him eat anything today, at least.”

“I told him to stop doing that.” He shook his head in dismay. There were two doors on the opposite end of the small living space. Ky approached the closed one and knocked on it. “Are you awake?”

“Mphh.” The noise was unintelligible even before being muffled by blankets and the door.

“I’ve brought some things for you. Would you like to come out and eat something?”

“...okay.”

When the door opened, Ky had to force himself to not immediately look concerned. Axl was haggard and bedraggled, looking like he’d just peeled himself out of bed, but the dark circles around his eyes said he hadn’t been getting any real rest out of it. A few blue petals still clung to the front of him, which he brushed off.

“G’morning, sleeping beauty.” Sol half-nodded, not getting up from his spot on the couch. “Get any sleep last night?”

“What do you think?” Ky winced at how hoarse the response was. “Up all night trying not to choke.”

The officer started spooning out some food for everyone. “So, not feeling any better?”

“Take a wild guess.” Replied Axl, picking off the last of the flowers. “Can barely get any sleep, can barely keep anything down.”

“Well, might as well try to eat something, anyway.” Ky offered him a plate. “At the least, it might help distract you for a bit.”

He looked unconvinced, but Axl still took what the food. As soon as he took the first tentative taste of it, he began wolfing it down like a starving animal. Ky smiled. “I guess it’s good then, huh?”

“F-fuck, can’t remember the last time I’ve had something like that.” It took him a significant amount of effort just to pull himself away from it to speak, and Axl immediately went back to gorging himself on the food. “You made this yourself?”

“That’s right.” The officer looked pleased with himself. “One of my mother’s old recipes. Macaroni gratin makes for an excellent comfort food.”

“Shit, you’re telling me! Nice to eat something warm, too. I dunno what it is, I just feel cold all the time, no matter what I do.”

Sol quirked an eyebrow. “Y’know you could have just asked me, right?” He placed a hand on the other’s back, leaving small trails of heat as he dragged his fingers across trembling shoulders.

Though Axl leaned into his touch, he still looked perturbed. “You don’t usually act like this, chief…” He smiled anxiously. “What, am I finally gonna die?”

Ky glanced off uncomfortably. “Well, not that. But I do also have an update from Faust.”

“What? So what’s Dr. Baldy got to say?”

“It’s safe to do the surgery, he said, and it shouldn’t grow back again.”

Just like that, Axl was out of his chair, looking more energetic than he had in days. “Well, then what’re we waiting for? L-let’s go-!”

Sol pulled a bucket out from underneath the coffee table, shoving it in place before the ensuing wave of flowers and half-digested macaroni could make a mess on the floor. He pulled Axl back onto the couch, kneading more warmth into his back.

“That’s not all there is to it, though.” Ky’s expression went grim. “According to historical accounts of the disease, if the plant is removed forcefully, it will also remove all emotional connections to the source of it, as well as the memories regarding it. Faust himself said that he couldn’t guarantee the results, but there’s a chance that-”

“-I could forget everything about home?” And just like that, all the hope and light in his eyes vanished. His shoulders sagged, dirty blonde hair drooping down to his lap. “No. No, I can’t do that.”

“Axl, please, I beg you to consider it.” Ky pleaded. “I know the circumstances are unfavorable, but it’s the only possibility you have to recover from this.”

The room went quiet once more. It hit a point where Ky wasn’t sure if he’d even been heard in the first place, and he wondered if he needed to say it again.

“...Then I won’t.”

“You’re being an idiot.” Surprisingly, Sol managed to beat Ky to the punch. “Why would you choose to do this?”

Axl reared up to glare at him. “If I left everything I had of home behind, what would I even be left with? I’m broke and homeless half the time, hoping to go home was all I had left!”

Ky sprang out of his chair, not caring about the mess being made as his plate hit the floor. “That doesn’t mean you should throw away any hope for the future! We could help you find someplace to be in this world, give you a new life to live! I’m sure there’s a place you can belong.”

“You don’t get it!” The man snapped. “I wouldn’t just be losing parts of me, I’d be losing almost everything! Would I remember how to function? Would I remember anything important?? I-” Axl sighed, making a few quiet coughs. “You two are the only ones that care about me in this stupid fucking world. ‘n even then, I can’t say that for sure. Maybe you’re just being nice to me because you know I’m fucked. It’s better than nothing.”

The officer reached out to him. “Please, you don’t have to-”

“LEAVE ME ALONE!”

With how quickly and suddenly he stood up, neither Sol nor Ky could stop Axl before he ran off to the bathroom, dry heaving all the way. By the time they were capable of running after him, the door slammed shut, with the lock clicking immediately after.

“Dammit, open the door!” Sol banged a fist against it, making the wood creak.

Ky reached for the knob, only to flinch back with a cry as the metal turned hot and began to shift. “Is he melting the handle?!”

“Axl, stop acting like a stupid kid!”

No reply. All they could make out was the sound of vomiting, soon accompanied by weak sobs. Ky let his hand rest on the door, though he didn’t try to open it again.

“Why would he be so insistent? Why would someone choose to die if they had another choice?”

Sol’s expression was hard to read. “Just not something you can understand, kid. The crusades might have been hell, but at least there was something to go back to in the end. Some people value memories more than others. If that’s all he’s got, why would he want to give it up?”

It was an unusually poetic sentiment, especially from someone like Sol. Ultimately, all Ky could do was shake his head. “This isn’t a decision I can make for him. I don’t have to like it, but I suppose I can’t force him to reconsider.”

“Never thought I’d hear that from you of all people, boy-scout.”

He wanted to be mad, but that required an energy that he no longer had. The muffled gagging started again in the sealed room.

“Still, I don’t feel like I can just give up. How can I walk away from this?”

After a moment of thought, an idea came to him. Ky stepped off, back towards the table with the rest of the food and the heavy bag. Grabbing the latter, he brought it back with him.

He gave the door another soft knock. “Axl? Can you hear me alright?”

The retching had gone quiet. “Don’t you have somewhere better to be? Why are you still here?”

Ky settled back down next to the door. “Because nobody deserves to suffer alone.”

He pulled out a book from his satchel, thumbing through until he found something. “Have you ever read Chaucer?”

“No.”

“Is it alright if I read a poem? I know some people find his work a bit dry, but I feel like being stuck in that bathroom will get very boring.”

“Y-you…” Something shuffled behind the door. “You’re just trying to get me to come out, aren’t you?”

“Not at all.” Replied Ky. “I just want to give you a bit of company.”

“...Is chief still there, too?”

“Yeah, blondie, I’m here.” Sol let himself sit down as well, rapping his knuckles against the wall. “Need some kinda proof?”

“Ok. Ok, fine. Read your poetry, or whatever. I can’t stop you.”

Ky smiled. “Your two great eyes will slay me suddenly…”

His tone was clear and strong as he read from the book, gesturing with his free hand at certain words. The apartment was quiet, aside from Ky’s poetry and the occasional round of coughing. Those were the only times when his voice faltered, sometimes going quiet until the noise eased up before starting where he had left off.

At some point, Sol had rolled his eyes and made enough quips about the flowery language that Ky had threatened to throw the book at his head. Sol had simply offered better stories, and barely waited for a reply before launching into his own tales, involving bounty hunts and incidents that had resulted in him getting chased out of towns by angry mobs. At one point, they could hear faint laughter from the other end, the first time Axl had done so in a long time, and the only noise he’d made aside from coughing.

The fits of noise grew more frequent, until it interrupted each story several times. There was a point where neither man paused speaking when they heard it. They simply kept going, passing songs and poems and anecdotes underneath the door for hours upon hours.

Eventually, the sun was far beyond the horizon, and the noise had faded. They’d continued to talk, until Ky trailed off halfway through an elegy.

“Axl?”

When no sound came, the man’s expression slipped into something solemn. He stood back up, joints cracking from the lack of movement. A hand rested on what had once been the doorknob.

He sent a look to his companion. “Can you help me with this, please?”

Sol ripped off the malformed hunk of metal, and the door swung open easily after that. Axl was sprawled out motionless on the floor, surrounded by bloody flower petals. Ky bit back a noise, instead merely kneeling down and feeling the man’s neck.

“Dead. But still warm. If it’s a rare disease, I wonder if Faust…”

In a way, Sol didn’t even look shaken. But his expression was strained, in a way that only Ky knew how to recognize from knowing him so long.

“...No.” Ky shook his head. “The government offers funeral services for those who can’t afford it. I’m sure something nice can be provided for him.”

“Kid.” Sol’s tone was a low, dangerous rumble. “Shut up.”

“I’m sorry, Sol. You knew him better than I did, I can’t imagine how you feel.”

“I said shut up.” He nudged a handful of petals with the toe of his boot. “Why are these ones different?”

“What?”

The flowers were scattered all over the floor, in piles and in heaps. But closer to the center of the room, near where Axl had been, the flowers began to change. Rather than the small, blue flowers, they had become larger, alternating in colors of red-orange and off-white with violet streaks.

“Huh? Hold on a moment, I know these.” Ky reached across the floor, picking up one of the mangled white flowers. “My mother used to grow these. The white ones are gladiolus. ‘Sword lilies.’ And the red ones, I think she used to call them fire...lilies…”

A dawning realization glimmered in his eyes. “Are these….because of us?”

“So it wasn’t all that useless, then.”

Ky couldn’t bring himself to chastise him. “Yeah, I- I guess it wasn’t, was it?”

And yet, it didn't make either of them feel any better.

#blood tw #vomiting #hanahaki #writing #goretober #goretober 2019 #guilty gear #Axl Low #sol badguy #Ky Kiske #also #I never want to write the word flowers again

[fanfic-scribbles]

Tie a Yellow Ribbon For Me

Fandom: Supernatural

Summary: Roses are red, Violets are blue, Even death can’t keep him From finding his way back to you.

Quick facts: Romance – [established] Gabriel/Reader – Nondescript Reader

Warnings: Angst-ish with a happy ending, many flashbacks handle it, use of ‘sugar’ as a term of endearment for a gender-neutral reader

Prompt: Written for @gabriel-monthly-challenge​’s February prompt: Spin the Wheel. I landed on “A Dozen Red Roses”. Tagging @archangelgabriellives, @archangel-with-a-shotgun , @archangelsanonymous, @ttttrickster, @warlockwriter, and @revwinchester.

Words: 2459

Special Context Note: For people who might not know: “Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree” was a popular song in the seventies (I think?) performed by Dawn feat. Tony Orlando (I do recommend it; it’s a good song). It’s told from the perspective of a man writing to his lover after having been away for a few years. He tells her that if she wants him still, she can tie a yellow ribbon around a certain tree and he’ll come home, but if he doesn’t see it, he’ll assume she doesn’t want him back and he’ll keep going and never bother her again.

A/N: That summary is a little more sinister than I intended. Sorry, no dark!Gabriel here. Or “The Crow” AU. (Though hm, that’s a possible idea.) This is kind of an alt S5 post-“Hammer of the Gods” where Gabriel doesn’t go to Loki et al. This is sort of similar in premise to some other stuff I’ve written so I apologize to the people who follow me. Ironically, despite the title, this story was actually written to repeat listening of “11 Minutes” by Halsey and Yungblud feat Travis Barker ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Please enjoy! (PS: In case my formatting gets fucked up, flashbacks are encompassed by tildes (~).)

   You feel like you’ve gotten used to the silence.

Sure, you had periods of it before– spending 24/7 with a sometimes-manic archangel is a pre-requisite for madness– but those quiet moments without him had always felt like in-betweens. Small breaks, or minor reprieves, sometimes purposefully taken, and sometimes just waiting. Gabriel could have popped in at any moment.

Now he can’t.

You can say you’re mostly okay now. Mostly. You’ve lost before and you’ll lose again. It’s the nature of things, just being in the world as it is. Being a hunter in it means you’ll do it over and over and over again.

It doesn’t make it ache any less.

But you’re still going, because it’s what you’ve always done and it’s what you’ll always do. Right now you’re on your way to a small desert town that seems convinced it’s living out the movie “Tremors,” and going by the reports, you can see why. You feel a smile creep onto your lips. Gabriel would have found it funny.

~

“Have you been terrorizing a small city in Wisconsin in your spare time?” you ask and flick Gabriel with your big toe.

“Ooo, Wisconsin. Sounds like a party,” Gabriel says out loud, but the look he gives you asks, ‘Really?’ and he holds out a piece of whatever candy he’s focused on now. You trade him for the paper and take a bite while he skims the story.

He snorts and tosses it down. “Amateur. Credit for style though; there’s worse you could do than a Mel Brooks homage.”

You roll your eyes and finish swallowing. “I’m sure the three victims would agree with you, if they could.” You fold up the newspaper and set it aside from the massive stack of other regional papers that Gabriel had whined about, and yet gotten for you anyway. “I’ll head out tomorrow.”

“So you’re done working now?” Gabriel asks. He sits up and puts a piece of chocolate between his teeth, makes sure half of it is sticking out, and waggles his eyebrows.

You laugh and lean forward, bracing yourself with your hands as you stretch to meet his mouth with yours. Just as you’re about to gently bite on the chocolate, it vanishes, and Gabriel slips his tongue into your mouth instead.

Once you’ve had your fill of each other (for the moment) you can’t help how big you smile. “You’re so cheesy sometimes.”

He grins. “Sugar, you have no idea.”

~

You need a shower.

Badly.

You don’t feel the slime as much as you did when the constructs first exploded, but you don’t count that as a good thing, because it’s still there and you keep getting reminded of that whenever you shift. The day is dry and warm and a wind rushes across the desert landscape. When you step out of the car a strong gust blows past you and you shield your eyes until the air settles back to its steady pace. You get to your room and put your key in the lock when something catches your eye.

All down the sidewalk are cutouts in the concrete, just spaces of dirt that look like they’re supposed to be planters. Some of them have scattered cacti, but most are empty. Yours was empty, you're fairly certain, but now there’s a spindly long-stemmed something, being blown to the side and clinging to the dirt with nothing but tenacity. You kneel down to get a better look and–

it’s a rose.

Your breath catches in your throat. Not even a desert rose; a real, thorned rose, with petals that have obviously been sandblasted for a while and a thin stem that looks sickly.

But a rose is a rose is a rose is a rose.

~

There are flowers everywhere.

Gabriel really likes this place. He’s been here for a couple of months, and it shows; every day he’s seen you (almost every single day, as of late,) he’s given you flowers– a bouquet of twelve red roses. And, as you haven’t exactly had places to put them, he has graciously offered to ‘keep them somewhere safe.’

So of course there are dozens (of dozens) of roses scattered all around the room, still miraculously alive. Heavy emphasis on the miracle.

“You're the one who said I was cheesy,” Gabriel says and sits down, but puts his drink on the side table. Champagne, of course, and he’s even wearing a ridiculous red and black patterned robe. It’s a testament to how much you like him that you are not making fun of him right now.

But you can admit you do like the roses. The petals are soft and they smell nice. You look up from your bouquet to see Gabriel smiling at you. The softness of his expression throws you off and you hide the lower half of your face in the flowers. “Why always roses?”

“Oh, I don’t know.” His smile turns all trickster. “It’s just what they have at the grocery store.”

You hit him with the bouquet hard enough that he falls off the bed. Well, his mad laughter probably helped, but you’ll still take credit for it. Asshole.

~

Someday, sentiment is going to get you killed.

You pick the rose anyway.

The young couple currently having their first date is pretty cute. Now that you’re not annoyed by them blocking the door, you can appreciate the beginning a new relationship. And it’s going to be one; they’re both all soft smiles and longing glances and dumbstruck lovelorn expressions. One of them keeps fidgeting with their hands, and the other shifts an enormous bouquet from arm to arm. You note the roses, of course, but it’s made up of a lot of other flowers too. It’s very pretty– and must have cost a fortune. You smile. Explains the coffee date.

~

“You work too much.”

“You’re a needy guy, aren’t you?” you ask and glance up from the screen. “Five more minutes, Gabriel. Then I’m all yours.”

He huffs and flops onto the table, head in his arms and pouting and grumbling enough to draw attention. You roll your eyes and, while he’s distracted, kiss the crown of his head.

He stops grumbling. But the next time you take a sip of your drink it’s like shoving pure sugar down your throat and you choke.

His smile is almost as saccharine. “I just wanted to make it as sweet as you.”

You stare at him and calmly wipe your mouth. “Twenty minutes.”

He sputters in protest.

“I’ll knock it down to ten if you walk up to the counter, wait in line, and buy me a replacement. With money.”

He starts muttering again. But he gets up.

~

You look at your computer and think about actually trawling for hunts, but, well, your coffee cup is empty and who can be asked to work under such inhumane conditions? You hop off the stool and almost crunch a stray rose underfoot. It must have been dropped by the happy couple by the door. As you pick it up you wonder how you’re going to interject and give it back, but when you stand, they’re already gone.

You look back at the flower. It’s truly lovely; obviously well cared for (and not just shoved in a fridge at a grocery store, Gabriel). You smile at the thought of his indignance, and set the rose on the table. It would be a shame to let it get thrown out, so you’ll take care of it.

Even at the end of the world, there are still mundane monsters to kill. You’re leaving a very shaken family with one less poltergeist and a lifetime therapy to look forward to (at least they have a have a lifetime, now,) when the youngest daughter runs up to you and holds up a rose. “Here! This is for you.”

Though you thank her and take it, the mom echoes your concerns when she asks, “Honey where did you get that?”

“I found it,” the kid chirps, like that’s all you need to know.

It’s a real rose with almost no thorns and a yellow ribbon tied around the stem. That’s an odd thing to just find. But the house has settled and you figure you can burn this and stick around for a day or two, just in case. You thank the little girl again, bid goodbye to her sisters and parents, and as you go you start to tuck the flower away when you see a small embroidered symbol on the ribbon.

An Enochian symbol.

  As you speed away, you barely resist the urge to chuck that fucking flower out the window. You want to. But at the same time, you can’t bring yourself to do it.

Fucking asshole.

~

“I need to understand!”

Gabriel shoves you up against the wall. Not hard enough to hurt, but it does stun you– for a second. His grip is too light and his expression too conflicted for him to convince you what a ‘monster’ he is. “You’re not that kind of person,” you say and stare him down. “So why do you want me to think you are?”

Gabriel jerks, but you grab onto his jacket and yank him back in. “What are you so afraid of, Gabriel?” you whisper. “I’m the one thing in the universe you don’t have to fear.”

Gabriel leans in, close enough to kiss. Your eyes shut on instinct. Or maybe it’s Pavlovian.

“You're the one thing in the universe I have to fear the most.”

Air brushes past your lips, the pressure of his body releases, and you open your eyes to empty space.

~

He had come back within a day, as soon as you had asked, and said ‘I’m sorry’ in every conceivable way without ever saying it with his mouth. (Well, verbally, that is.) At the time, you figured it was fine.

And maybe it was. Now that you’ve had a few days to freak out, get your hopes up and down and all around, you feel a little calmer. You have the roses set aside and the ribbon spread out on the bed while you sit with your Enochian dictionary. Gabriel wouldn’t lead you along willy-nilly. You have faith (just a little) that this means something.

And if this does turn out to be some “Drink your Ovaltine” bullshit you are going to find out how to travel back in time so you can murder him with your own two hands.

It takes a while, but you find the word, and then use a few other dictionaries and translation sites to get it into English. You check it five times, in different ways, and then sit, chest swelling with hope that you’re not sure you can handle.

‘Healing.’

You want to believe, but a rough translation boiled down to its essential part can’t make you Mulder. You put the books away and lean back against the headboard, just trying to process, when something ‘thump!’s against your door. You grab your gun and stay alert as you check the outside area, but as far as you can see, there’s no one.

But there are three roses, piled neatly just in front of the door. You smile. Because really– you’re skeptical, but you’re not stupid. You pick them up and put the flowers to your face while you mind the thorns. You’re pretty good at that by now.

“Okay,” you say and nuzzle the petals. “I’ll wait.”

You find five more roses over the next couple of weeks in utterly random places. On your pillow. In a sewer. In your water glass after you turn away for a second. In the basket you grab at a grocery store. On your passenger seat. That last one makes you ache.

That night, when you open your book and find eight perfectly placed rose petals, you almost cry. Twelve roses. It’s always been a dozen, so that means he’s coming back, right? He doesn’t appear right away, but you go to bed hopeful.

Except he’s not there in the morning.

Or the afternoon.

Or the evening. Or…

It’s late on the third day of waiting and hope is fading fast. You hit your forehead on your steering wheel and whisper, “Where are you?” Did you misread things? Was this set up in advance? Did he mean for you to heal? Was someone messing with–

Your radio comes on without any prompting and you jolt up. You’re so busy trying to look for danger that you don’t recognize the song at first.

“–nt me, if you still want me Whoa tie a yellow ribbon round the ole oak tree…”

You blink. You stop being afraid. And start being annoyed. “Are you fucking serious?”

But the song plays on, and the volume even gets jacked up. “A SIMPLE YELLOW RIBBON’S WHAT I NEED TO SET ME FREE–”

“Okay!” You turn the radio off and sit in silence for a few moments before you burst into tears and laughter both. “Fuck; you’re such an asshole,” you say, with wet eyes and a smile full of teeth.

You consider trying to track down a bonsai or some plastic palm tree, but you’ve waited long enough. Still, when you get back to your room you go through all the motions of getting ready to go to sleep. Once you’re actually sitting on the bed, you put the yellow ribbon to your wrist and manage to tie a messy bow.

You lie down, exhausted by days of constant, immense stress, and sigh. As you drift off to sleep you think, ‘I’m ready, Gabriel.

Come home.’

It happens without fanfare. You simply wake to an arm around your stomach, and a morning still dark.

“Hey,” you say, sleep-addled.

Gabriel chuckles. “Hey.”

You’ve never heard anything so beautiful, even as rough as his voice is. “You sound tired.”

“Yeah.” Gabriel presses closer to you. “Almost getting murdered by your own brother is pretty exhausting.”

“Hm.” That’s a conversation for later. Or never, depending on how stubborn Gabriel wants to be. Either way, not now. Not when you’ve got him back. You turn over and wrap yourself around him. “It’s okay,” you say. “Go to sleep. I’ve got you.”

He gives you a wry smile, but whatever snarky way you expect him to say ‘I don’t sleep’ doesn’t happen. He shuts his eyes, and you hold tight. “I’m glad you came back,” you say. “Even if I don’t have a hundred ribbons.”

He shifts with quiet laughter. “That’s all right.” He holds your wrist and places a kiss that straddles the ribbon and your skin. “I only need the one.”

#spn gabriel #gabriel x reader #spn fanfic #spn reader insert #Supernatural fanfic #red roses #tie a yellow ribbon round the ole oak tree

[dingberg]

Hey, I was wondering if the characters you make are for your own campaigns, or campaigns you play in. You inspire me to create my own unique characters and I was wondering if you had any tips on how to incorporate "complex characters" into a campaign. I feel like I'd just get on the DM's/Player's nerves...

First off, thanks for being the first person to ever send me an ask on here, lol. And you have no idea how happy I am to hear that I inspire you in any way, let alone to make your own characters and go above and beyond the call of duty with them. Apologies in advance for the massive response. I can be an extremely long-winded person when it comes to things I’m passionate about.

Anyway, all the characters I’ve made for D&D have been for player roles…never been a DM myself (but maybe some day). Unfortunately, your fears about getting on the DM’s / other player’s nerves by playing weird, complicated characters aren’t exactly unfounded. The DMs I’ve played with could talk your ear off with stories about the difficulties they’ve had dealing with my shenanigans. But despite all the trouble I cause, the DMs and players I’ve played with still really enjoy playing with me and love my characters (or at least that’s what they tell me). Here’s what I’ve learned from my experiences as far as your concerns of being able to flex your creative muscles and still get along with the other people who have to put up with you. These rules apply to any situation, but they go double for playing weird characters.

Rule #1: COMMUNICATE WITH YOUR FELLOW PLAYERS AND ESPECIALLY WITH YOUR DM.

This is probably the most important rule. It’s essential that you learn what the people you’re playing with are and are not ok with and to make sure you’re all on the same page. Because playing a nonstandard character not only puts added challenge on yourself, but on everyone else that has to play around you as well. So make sure your fellow players and especially the DM know exactly what they’re in for with your character and that they’re completely ok with it before committing to anything. And be willing to make concessions for them as well if they’re not comfortable with anything. Sometimes people will be apprehensive to go along with something they’re not used to, especially if they don’t have much reason to trust you won’t screw it up or do it for the wrong reasons. And there are things you can do to help ease those fears, but don’t push too hard, especially on your first time with a group.

The first proper campaign I was ever in, my DM wanted to limit it to only human characters for the first go around because most of us were inexperienced and he didn’t want to take any chances. But I wasn’t really too interested in the setting and felt I needed something to anchor my interest. I was really interested in homebrewing (still am) and had a slime character (Chu) who I designed for another non-D&D project but unfortunately got left on the cutting room floor, so I wanted to give her a chance to shine in this new setting. I don’t necessarily recommend anyone going this ham on their first campaign, but I’d been writing and designing characters for years before I picked up D&D, so I felt pretty confident that I could pull it off.

I knew homebrewing a completely custom race on my first campaign was definitely going to raise a lot of red flags, so I wanted to make things as easy as possible for the DM and help him feel comfortable that I knew what I was doing before asking him to trust me. I first asked what the setting was and made sure this character would actually fit naturally without compromising what the DM had already set up. Then I thoroughly studied the guidebook for the system and setting we were playing in and wrote up an entire guide going through every aspect of how this character would function both in terms of mechanics and lore (which years later turned into my Slime Guide that I’ve posted here). Then I pitched it to the DM to see if he’d even be ok with the idea, then sat down with him to go over my guidebook together and figure out what needed to be changed or rebalanced. When that was all approved, I talked to the other players and told them what I had in mind and asked if they were all cool with it, which they were. So we went ahead with it and we all had a blast with that campaign (literally…a lot of stuff blew up, my poor slime girl was traumatized).

You don’t necessarily have to go to such extreme lengths yourself, but just communicate with the others, make sure they’re ok with what you want to do before you do it, and be willing to make concessions and work with them to make sure everyone’s happy, because D&D is a collaborative effort and it’s not very fun for anyone if some people aren’t having a good time.

Rule #2: Try to put as much of the strain of dealing with your character on yourself and not on other people as possible.

Coordinate with the DM and the other players to figure out what their general plans are. Make sure you’ve got a character that will logically fit in with the party and the world they’ll be adventuring in, and will at least mostly get along with their fellow party members. Nobody wants to have to play babysitter and hold up the adventure or force their characters or world to behave in a way that’s unnatural or metagame-y to try to come up with some reason for the one character who doesn’t gel with anyone or make sense as a member of the party to not just follow the logical path and split from the party. Don’t be afraid to let your characters fight and have disagreements with other player characters here and there, but your characters should always have something that makes them fit into the party naturally and binds them with their fellow adventurers enough to overcome almost any fight or disagreement. Hell, I’ve had multiple situations where my character had a falling out with the party and almost left. But I always have at least one thread that will bring my character back on their own in case the rest of the party doesn’t naturally bring my character back themselves. Never put the onus on the DM or other players to keep your character in the party unless you’re prepared to lose that character.

Similarly, you don’t wanna play a character that’s just not going to fit in with the setting and will ruin the immersion for everyone. If you want to play a cyborg in a medieval fantasy setting, you need to have a good reason for it that everyone else is completely on board with. If your party is on a grand quest to help the local dwarf community raise money to build an orphanage, it’s probably not a good idea to play a character who despises dwarves and/or children. And if you want to play as a monster character in a setting where the average person is hostile towards monsters, your fellow players had better be playing some pretty chill dudes, and your character had better have some way to pass the time they’ll spend sitting out in the woods while the rest of the party heads into town to get supplies unless you’re real good at disguising your monstrousness or think you can outrun the crowds armed with torches and pitchforks (this actually happened to one of my characters, fun times).

Rule #3: Just follow basic etiquette and have fun.

It’s alright to make mistakes and accidentally step on someone’s toes every now and then. It happens to the best of us. Just establish at the outset that you first and foremost just want to have a good time with everyone and get along. Clearly establish your own boundaries from the start and respect other people’s. Make it clear that you’re willing to listen to complaints and concerns and work with people to resolve them before they get out of control, and absolutely make sure you behave in a way that people will be comfortable with bringing this stuff up to you and talking about it without fear of hurting your feelings or causing a negative reaction.

Basically, as long as you consider the feelings of your fellow players and DMs, do a good job of communicating, and make sure everyone is on the same page as far as boundaries and what they want out of the experience, you’re gonna be solid. Because even if you do screw something up, everyone should understand that it was just an honest mistake and know that you’ll learn from that mistake and fix it for next time.

It’s all about building trust (giving and receiving). Because people who trust that you know what you’re doing and have the best intentions in mind are gonna be a lot more willing to let you try out your crazy ideas and play along with them. I almost exclusively play weird, nonstandard characters and early on, every character I pitched was met with an exasperated “Oh my god, why do you do this to me?” from my main DM. But I consistently followed these rules, proved that I know how to make and play fun characters that have a positive impact on the campaigns they’re in, and built up that trust with my group. And now everyone has a blast playing with me and interacting with my characters. I’ve even inspired some of my friends to flex their creativity and delve into the weirder side of character creation.

Sorry again for the light novel, lol. I hope this helped you and anyone else that took the time to read all this. And I’m always open to answer questions!

#ask #advice #dnd #dnd character #d&d #d&d character

[crowned-ladybug]

Septic ego stimming hcs bc @asrisartarena posted some on her blog a while ago and I’ve been thinking about it ever since and really wanted to write down my own and this has been sitting in my drafts for weeks now

Anti

paces and flaps his hands about a Lot to help with his hyperactivity

rocks, usually while sitting, and if not in any particular position then his ears lazily flap along with the movement

most more fragile/intricate stim toys like fidget cubes don’t last long with him bc he’s strong and has v long nails, so he mostly just has durable stress balls and stuff made out of tough rubber he can also chew on when he feels like it (tho he’s managed to literally chew a couple of them in half in the past)

likes destroying stuff for stims but luckily he mostly limits it to stuff that needs to be destroyed or made into tiny pieces anyway, or stuff like pieces of wood he can carve to bits with a knife

his own glitching can sometimes put him into sensory hell

if he’s v agitated he’ll play loud music with a heavy beat while pacing/jumping/skipping around and flapping his hands

Chase

originally got a fidget spinner bc memes but discovered that it actually does help him, so now he has multiple, as well as other fidget toys

bounces his leg a lot

hums or makes “weird” sounds a lot or uses other things within his reach to make noise

loves bumpy textures

runs and jumps around until he’s wheezing to get rid of his pent-up energy and loves having music on in the background while he does it so that he can sing or do stuff to a rhythm (it’s basically a proper workout in the end)

Marvin

pressure is probably his favourite and most comforting one, he has some weighted stuff and he can easily get Jackie to just lie on him

flaps his hands a Lot when excited, both while talking and just in general

loves fumbling with soft or fuzzy stuff, like the edges of blankets, his cape or the ears of the weighted bunny plushie he got from Robbie

loves sticking his hands into things like batter/dough and probably has a few containers of slime and floam lying around

fidgets with his jewellery a lot but tries not to bc he can and will ruin some of it if he keeps it up. To help with it he has a fidget ring and more durable, pocket sized stuff to fidget with that he can always have on hand like a fidget cube or keychains

loves how smooth his nails are after he paints them

keeps picking at his scars/scabs/bandaids/etc

Jackie

usually doesn’t notice what he’s doing until someone stops him and hands him something he can fidget with that he won’t ruin

will keep picking at scabs and bandages until he’s healed, even tho he knows he Shouldn’t

has a chewy necklace he usually forgets to keep near or carry around but when he doesn’t he really loves it

loves thumbing at Marvin’s nails when they’re painted bc they’re so smooth

Schneep

doesn’t consciously stim a lot, but Chase noticed that he keeps spinning pens in his hand while he thinks so he got him a fidget spinner to use instead. Schneep was a lil reluctant at first but now he fully admits that it’s v useful and a much better option than accidentally launching pens across his office

Robbie

probably has the biggest collection of stim and fidget toys out of all the egos

his favourite is the chewy necklace he almost always wears that he got from Anti

second best are probably his weighted plushies that were all either made fully by Shawn or he was the one to make them weighted, bc they’re both heavy and have nice textures

loves making “weird” noises, esp chirping and clicking (both with his tongue and his teeth), and when around Chase they usually end up making funny noises at each other all through their conversation and have a lot of fun with it

flaps his hands a lot when he’s happy or excited, or presses them against his cheeks

give him bubble wrap and he’ll be the happiest zombie in the world and it will keep him occupied for a while (tho he usually only pops a bit of it and saves the rest for later or for sharing with his friends)

Jameson

keeps taking out his pocket watch just to mess with it which is Not a good idea so he got himself a bracelet to mess with but he’s already torn it like three times

snaps his fingers a lot and taps out lil rythms on any available surface or does that thing where you put down one finger after the other and pick them up again quickly and it makes him look like he’s impatient but he’s just doing it bc it’s fun

walks fast or skips (even more than usual) when he has a lot of pent-up energy

nods/shakes/waves/etc his head around sometimes when his horns are manifested bc they make his head a lil heavier and it feels funny

Shawn

kept chewing on the ends of pens and brushes and messing them all up until Jameson got him a chewy necklace and he was v surprised something like that even exists. He has it within his reach most of the time he works now and sometimes can’t even be bothered to take it out of his mouth he just keeps chewing on it lazily

has a bunch of shit in his coat pocket that he now doesn’t take out exactly so that he can mess with it all when he’s anxious out in public, which he always is

when frustrated or anxious he usually drums on his workbench or his own knuckles

a lot of the materials he works with (like the granules used for filling plushies sometimes, some fabrics or polymer clay) are also v good for stimming

Angus

loves carving wood, whether into an actual shape or just completely destroying it by the end of it (tho he feels bad about the latter)

sometimes when he’s lying on his back he’ll pull his half-empty backpack onto his chest bc it feels nice

#headcanons #kata's chatter #antisepticeye #marvin the magnificent #jackieboy man #chase brody #dr schneeplestein #robbie the zombie #jameson jackson #shawn flynn #angus the survival hunter #Asri

[swordandquill]

violet (white) : let’s take a chance for your Wing AU

Summary: Keith takes a chance on building a permanent nest. The rest of the team approves.

Notes: So this ended up longer then the short ficlet I had intended for these prompts, but it was really fun to write. Thank you for sending the prompt. Based on these Wing AU head canons, specifically this one.

If you like AO3′s format better, you can read it here.

“Pidge get back here! You haven’t preened your wings in a week!”

Keith sidestepped with practiced ease as Pidge raced past him. The hall wasn’t wide enough to accommodate their wing span, not even Pidge’s, and she was forced to run. As was Lance, who was chasing her.

This had become a normal part of their weekly routine, and Keith stayed pressed against the wall, wings folded tightly against his back. Lance ran past him full speed. It was inevitable that he would catch her; his legs were longer, and if they actually made it to a space large enough to fly, Lance was faster and a more experienced flyer, although Pidge would give him a run for his money.

Keith suspected they both just liked the chase.

“Did he catch her?” Hunk poked his head out of Lance’s room, already in his pajamas and ready for bed.

“Not yet,” Keith stepped away from the wall, “I think Pidge was making a break for the rec room.”

“That didn’t work last time, but at least the ceiling is tall enough to fly,” Hunk grinned.

Keith snickered and headed towards his room.

“You want to come in for a while?” Hunk asked, “I could preen your wings for you if you want, or you could just hang out. Our nest is kind of messy, but it’s comfy.”

Keith hesitated at his door. The rooms Allura had given them weren’t exactly designed for occupants with wings. They were cramped and not that comfortable, but they were all making do in their own way. Within two days of being on the castle ship, Hunk and Lance had pooled resources, putting together a makeshift nest on the floor of Lance’s room. Keith wasn’t sure what Pidge had done, but she seemed to fall asleep wherever she was when she ran out of energy, so it probably didn’t matter. Shiro might just not sleep, which was an entirely different kind of problem.

Keith hadn’t bothered trying to improve his room. The bed was manageable, if not terribly comfortable, and he figured it was just another stop along the way. He had made do most of his life and learned quickly there was no use settling into a place you wouldn’t be for long.

“Yeah, let me take a quick shower,” Keith keyed open his door, “I’ll be over in about ten minutes.”

Shiro kept telling him he needed to make an effort to be more social with the rest of the team, and it was kind of nice to have someone else preen his wings for a change.

There was an ear splitting screech from the direction of the rec room that meant Lance had caught Pidge.

“Maybe fifteen,” Keith amended.

Hunk laughed and nodded, “they should be past the screeching by then.”

It was closer to twenty minutes when Keith made it to their room, still towel drying his hair. Lance was in the nest of mattresses and pillows with Pidge pinned between his legs, scolding her for not taking care of her wings as he preened them.

“Keith, tell him to let me go,” Pidge huffed, her wings puffed to their fullest.

“Not in charge, not my job,” Keith grinned, but he reached down to get her tablet where it had fallen on the edge of the nest and handed it to her.

“Come here, I’ll preen your wings while they’re still damp,” Hunk motioned him over to the bed where he was sitting out of reach of Lance and Pidge’s ongoing struggle.

“Thanks,” Keith stepped over blankets and cushions to get to him, settling in front of him.

Keith was surprised how little structure their nest had. Hunk was an engineer, and Keith would have expected something a little sturdier with him involved, but really it was more a pile of blankets and pillows in a general nest shape. They probably knocked it around in their sleep and had to rebuild it every night.

Not many people had to build their own nests anymore, so he supposed it wasn’t that surprising they didn’t really know how. He had built himself a nest in the desert shack, eventually. It had felt like giving up, like admitting defeat, that he was somehow surrendering to the emptiness and absence, but there were scorpions and snakes that sometimes found their way into the shack, and he had needed a safe place to sleep.

Pidge squawked indignantly and flapped her fluffy wings, trying to escape Lance’s hold, but he wrapped around her like an octopus and chirped at her like she was a particularly exasperating fledging.

“Hold still,” Lance scolded, “your wings are a mess. If you keep this up, you won’t be able to fly.”

“I fly just fine,” Pidge scowled.

“Yeah, that’s why I keep catching you,” Lance rolled his eyes.

Pidge whacked him in the head with one of her wings, to no effect at all. Lance just adjusted his grip and went back to preening.

Hunk seemed immune to the racket they were making and continued to work steadily on Keith’s wings. It was nice, actually, even all the noise Lance and Pidge were making. It filled the corners and nooks and crannies, leaving no room for emptiness.

As Hunk lulled him into a half-sleep, the thought drifted through Keith’s head that building a nest here might not feel quite so much like losing.

Keith found the webbing in a disused storage closet. Flexible, sturdy, and similar to the material seatbelts were made of, it seemed just about perfect. He had been scavenging for what he needed for so long that it didn’t occur to him to actually ask before he took it. Then he found out nothing short of his bayard would cut it, and that seemed a little overkill. Coran would probably know something that could cut it more accurately and with less effort, and that was when it occurred to Keith that he probably should have asked before taking it.

He came to Coran with the end he had cut off, and his wings a little fluffier than usual in sheepishness. Coran didn’t even bat an eye.

“Ah, vartinian strauthanger,” Coran grinned at him, “you could lift a lion with just a dozen straps of it. It’s a wonder your bayard got through it at all.”

“Is it okay if I use it?” Keith tilted his head to the side to watch Coran dive head first into a large tool chest, tossing things out in random directions.

“Of course,” Coran waved a hand dismissively without straightening, “it’s still quite common. We can always get more.”

“Thanks,” Keith’s wings smoothed and settled more comfortably against his back.

“What are you doing with it?” Coran straightened with something that looked very much like a box knife in his hand.

“Just… stuff,” Keith rubbed the back of his head self-consciously.

“If you were number five, that would worry me,” Coran handed him the box knife, “don’t burn yourself with that.”

“I won’t,” Keith flicked the button on the handle and the edge of the knife glowed blue, “thanks.”

“Any time number four,” Coran said cheerfully, “just don’t try to lift the lions with it. We have better equipment for doing that.”

“I’ll remember that,” Keith wasn’t sure if he was joking or not, but it was good to know the webbing was that strong; he certainly wasn’t planning on putting anything like that kind of load on it.

Keith wasn’t sure why, but he kept his project hidden in the large drawer under his bed. It wasn’t like anyone would care. The Alteans never came into the area their living quarters were in, and with the exception of Shiro, the others had all built nests, makeshift though they were. They probably wouldn’t have even batted an eye at the one Keith was putting together. Maybe.

What Pidge called a nest was actually just a pile of blankets along the edge of her bed, turning the alcove into something vaguely nest-like. She tossed her pillows around haphazardly until she was comfortably, and called it good. The nest Lance and Hunk shared was even messier and less able to stand up to a night’s sleep. Shiro hadn’t even tried. Compared to that, Keith felt like he was putting a lot of effort into this.

Although, to be fair, it should have only taken him a few days to do the whole thing, but he kept getting interrupted. Weaving the straps together to form what amounted to a large basket had been fairly quick, but sewing the edges around the thick wire that made up the rim had taken a while. Plus, he had had to go to Coran for string that was strong enough and a needle that could actually go through the material, then he had run out of string and had to wait for Coran to synthesis more.

In that time span, they freed three planets, stopped a very strange Galra experiment that seemed to be trying to use snail-like slime from a planet’s local fauna to create a super weapon, almost caused an interplanetary war, because apparently using the right hand at the dinner table was a problem some places, and Keith discovered hooks that seemed to attach to any surface of the castle.

They were in an equipment locker, being used to hold up a net full of heavy equipment. There was a whole box of them on the top shelf. He had to go to Pidge, though, to make sure he was using them right.

“Oh yeah,” Pidge glanced at the box, “they’re easy to put up. Just press them against a wall or ceiling and they stick, as long as you’re in the castle, anyway. They won’t work outside of it, although they will hold on with a total castle shut down. It’s really fascinating, actually. I think it’s some kind of nano technology, but it could be crystals, too. I’ve been meaning to take a closer look at them, but I keep getting distracted.”

Pidge picked one up from the box, eyeing the flat base more closely, then gave a sad sigh, “I need like a hundred lifetimes to figure out all this Altean tech. What are you doing with them?”

“Hanging stuff,” Keith shrugged.

“Well, it’s a little overkill if you’re just hanging clothes or something,” Pidge dropped it in the box, “they’ll hold up 100 kilos each, easy.”

“Is everything the Alteans make made for heavy lifting?” Keith asked.

“Pretty much,” Pidge grinned, “I would say they over engineer, except the way they do it is always so elegant and clever.”

“If you say so,” they just looked like hooks to Keith.

“Anyway,” Pidge popped open a drawer in her workbench, “you need a special tool to get them off if you want to move them,” she rummaged around until she found what looked like a small chisel and held it out to him, “just scrap them off. You have to use this or they won’t budge.”

“Thanks,” Keith took the chisel from her.

“Welcome,” Pidge waved him away, “give one of the hooks to Lance, would you? He was looking for something to hang stuff from his ceiling with, and that would probably work.”

“Sure,” Keith agreed, wondering what Lance was hanging on his ceiling.

Probably not the same thing Keith was.

Keith had used plywood boards last time he had built a nest. It had been easy to work with and also all he had. He didn’t know much about the materials they had on the ship though, and he didn’t know how to work with them.

That meant Hunk.

“Well, yeah,” Hunk wrinkled his nose at the sketch and measurements Keith had given him, “machining something like that is no problem, but what’s it for?”

“I need it to be light and hold weight,” Keith stretched his wings, then folded them again, still reluctant to admit what he was up to.

“How much weight?” Hunk eyed him almost suspiciously.

“My weight,” Keith said after considering, “maybe a couple of mes”

Hunk didn’t bat an eye at that. He brought up their inventory on his tablet and started scrolling through it.

“How accurate are your measurements?” Hunk asked as he looked, “I can help you measure again just to make sure we cut it right.”

“It should be fine,” Keith shook his head, wings shifting nervously again, “it doesn’t have to be that exact, just close.”

The webbing was flexible and would be easy to adjust for any small inaccuracies.

“You know that drives me crazy, right?” Hunk’s feathers fluffed slightly.

“It’s just not that sort of thing,” Keith folded his arms over his chest and hunched his shoulder.

“Right,” Hunk snorted, “accuracy isn’t important for mysterious weight bearing eggs.”

“It’s an oval,” Keith knew for a fact his sketch wasn’t that bad.

“An oval is just a malformed egg,” Hunk gave him a frank look.

Keith laughed, his shoulders dropping and wings relaxing.

In theory, putting all the pieces together should have been easy, but it never worked out that way. The room was a tight space to work in, and he had close to a dozen hooks to figure out placement for. It required borrowing a stepladder and putting up with being teased for being short.

After multiple interruptions, a minor skirmish with a small Galra fleet, and spending hours cleaning gunk out of Red’s exhaust intake, he finally managed to get the nest hung. He was just adjusting hooks when Lance walked in without knocking. Again.

“Pidge said you have the thing for the hooks…” Lance paused to look up at the nest, then at Keith standing on a stepladder, using the chisel tool to adjust a hook, “that’s what you needed it for.”

“Um… yeah,” Keith’s wings hunched around his shoulders.

“That’s really cool,” Lance grinned, “did you make it yourself?”

“Most of it,” Keith scratched the back of his head, then had to catch his balance on the rim of the nest; the stepladder was a little wobbly, “Hunk helped with cutting out the base.”

“You want some help hanging it?” Lance asked.

Keith considered. It was a pain to have to go between the stepladder and the bed to adjust the hooks. It would be much easier with a second set of hands, and Lance didn’t look inclined to give him a hard time.

“Sure,” Keith tossed him the chisel, “I’m just trying to get the tension even.”

Lance caught the chisel and jumped up on the bed, his wings flaring slightly to adjust his balance. It only took about fifteen minutes to adjust the hooks with them tossing the chisel back and forth between them. Lance talked the whole time about the huge market they had spent the afternoon in last week. Apparently, everyone there had been impressed by his wings, and he wanted to go back.

The sad reality was, they probably wouldn’t ever be back. Not unless the planet was attacked, and Keith knew Lance wouldn’t have wanted to go back under those circumstances. They were always transients, no matter how much they liked the places they visited.

It didn’t lend itself to settling in anywhere, and maybe it was weird that Keith was even trying by taking the time to build a proper nest. He could have been doing something more productive, like training , or helping go through the reams of intel they were always trying to glean leads from.

“Do you have enough blankets and stuff?” Lance stood on his toes on the bed, leaning over the rim of the nest to see inside it.

“Yeah,” Keith adjusted the last hook and jumped down from the stepladder, “I’ll just dump everything from the bed in there.”

“Hunk and I have been hunting for extra blankets and pillows,” Lance continued to lean on the nest, “there must be some around, but they’re probably tucked away in storage somewhere. I keep meaning to ask Coran, but it always seems like he’s busy, or I’m busy, or I just forget.”

“This will be fine,” Keith held the chisel out to Lance, “you wanted this, right?”

“Yeah, thanks,” Lance tucked it into his pocket.

“You need any help?” Keith figured it was only fair to return the favor.

“No,” Lance shook his head, “I found some string lights at the last station we stopped at, and I wanted to hang them up for Hunk as a surprise. He’s not afraid of the dark, but he says if he wakes up in the middle of the night, he likes there being a little bit of light, and these are nicer than the ugly nightlight he found.”

“Hunk will like that,” Keith agreed.

“I know,” Lance gave him a cheeky grin, then headed out the door, “catch you later.”

Keith snorted and got to work putting his mattress and all his blankets and pillows into the nest. Hopefully, he would be sleeping in his own bed soon. It had been a long time since that had happened.

Keith was always tired by the time he made it to bed. He figured if he wasn’t, he probably hadn’t used his day the way he should.

His nest rocked gentle as he shifted, and even though Lance had been right that he could have used more pillows, it felt good to sink into it. It was still the same room, still the same blankets and pillows, but if felt different.

If felt cozy and safe and like he belonged there.

It also felt a bit like playing pretend. They were in the middle of a war, and at any moment, they could be called into action, left behind, lost. This wasn’t really what homes were supposed to be. He wasn’t some place stable and safe that he knew he would always be able to come back to. That wasn’t something he got to have.

He was still glad he built the nest though.

Keith was so exhausted he barely managed the jump from his bed into his nest. He still wasn’t sure why sitting in a pilot chair for hours was so tiring. He hadn’t even gotten tossed around that much.

Thanks to Hunk, he hadn’t gotten tossed around that much. Hunk and Yellow had taken some serious hits in the battle, and Hunk had ended up in the healing pod with a head injury.

Keith hated it. He was supposed to be fast, he was supposed to be the best pilot of his generation (never mind that Iverson was a liar), but Hunk had still gotten hurt protecting him. He rolled onto his back and pressed the heels of his palms against his eyes until he saw stars.

When he took them away, he was still seeing stars.

Someone had stuck glow-in-the-dark stars to his ceiling. He stared up at their dim green light for what felt like hours, trying to figure out why they looked so familiar. He had never had stars on his ceiling before, although he remembered Shiro had had them on his.

He couldn’t quite touch the ceiling from where he was laying, but he reached his hand up anyway, using his finger to trace lines between them. It took him a while to realize he was tracing out constellations. The same constellations he had looked up at while laying on the roof of the desert shack. He had always felt better, calmer, when he had looked up at them, traced out their familiar patterns and remembered the stories that went with them.

He wondered who had stuck them there. He needed to thank them.

“Hey Keith,” the door opened, and Pidge stood uncertainly in the light from the hall, “are you awake?”

“Yeah,” he sat up, looking down at her, “you okay?”

“Yeah,” she ran her hand through her already frizzled hair, “just… can I sleep here tonight? Lance is with Shiro, and Coran locked me out of the workshop, and I could go work with the stuff in Green’s hanger, but I just… can I just sleep on the bed or something?”

“You can come up,” Keith said without hesitation.

“Thanks,” Pidge’s shoulders slumped in relief.

Keith thought she might need a hand up, but she had no trouble jumping from the bed and rolling over the edge of the nest. She flopped down gracelessly beside Keith, then rolled to her side, hiding her face in a pillow.

He pulled a blanket over her and started to sway, setting the nest to rocking gently.

“Are you trying to rock me to sleep?” Pidge peered up at him, her lips quirked in a near smile.

“I like it when it rocks,” Keith said defensively, “that’s why I hung it.”

“I like the rocking too,” Pidge grinned and grabbed his arm, tugging him down beside her, “but you should lay down. You look exhausted.”

Keith hummed in agreement and settled down beside her. He was tired, and he should try to sleep. Pidge’s breathing evened out and the swaying of the nest slowed to a stop. Everything settled into a comfortable quiet.

“Keith?” Pidge whispered, poking his arm.

Keith chirped sleepily to let her know he was listening.

“Do you like the stars?” Pidge asked, voice low, as if she was sharing a secret.

“That was you?” Keith blinked open his eyes.

“Yeah,” she ducked her head shyly.

“They’re perfect,” Keith smiled, “you got all the constellations right. Thank you.”

Pidge gave a happy little coo and snuggled closer to him. Keith stretched a wing over her and listened as her breathing evened out, then changed into soft, whistling snores.

Keith’s last thought before he drifted off to sleep was that maybe home wasn’t quite what he had thought it was.

“Hey Keith!” Hunk kicked his door to get it to open, his arms too full to knock.

“What?” Keith popped up from where he had been laying down reading, looking down at Hunk over the rim of his nest.

“We found the pillow stash,” Hunk grinned at him over a pile of blankets.

Pidge and Lance walked by behind him, pillows and blankets piled so high in their arms there was no way they could see where they were going.

“Come pick some out,” Hunk nodded his head towards them, “your nest needs more fluff.”

“Fluff?” Keith echoed as he jumped down.

“All nests have a fluff quota they should meet,” Hunk lead him across the hall to Lance’s room, where Lance and Pidge had dropped their loads.

Judging from the size of the pile, this was not the first trip they had made.

“Did you clean the whole place out?” Keith asked.

“Yep,” Lance dusted off his hands, “it’s not like anyone else was using them.”

“How do they manage to not smell musty after 10,000 years?” Pidge smashed her face into a pillow taking a deep breath, “smells like they just got out of the laundry.”

“So like nothing,” Hunk grumbled.

He had complained more than once that their clean laundry didn’t smell like clean laundry; it didn’t smell like anything at all, and he missed the smell of detergent.

“So should we just divide them up equally?” Keith started picking through the pile.

“Na,” Hunk shook his head, “take as much as you want. We're not in a barracks.”

It was starting to feel less and less like one at least, and Keith was okay with that. They started a pile for Shiro, and Keith picked out pillows of all different firmness, and played rock, paper, scissors with Lance for a fleecy blanket with red and orange swirls on it. There were two long pillows that would be good to wrap around the edge of his nest, and a pillow that felt like it was filled with beads and smelt almost like sandalwood.

His pile seemed bigger than the others’ by the time he was done, but no one protested, and Hunk helped him carry it all back to his room.

“Are you sure you don’t want some of this?” Keith asked tossing his armful up into the nest.

“Yeah,” Hunk grinned, “if Lance tries to squeeze any more pillows into our nest, we won’t fit. Hop up, I’ll hand you stuff.”

Keith hesitated, not wanting to take up too much of Hunk’s time. They didn’t get a lot of down time, and Hunk must have had things he would rather be doing then handing Keith things. He seemed pretty content though, so Keith jumped up into his nest, taking a moment to rearrange what he already threw up.

“Isn’t it hard getting to sleep with someone else there?” Keith sat on his knees, rolling up blankets to tuck into the spaces around his mattress that didn’t quite meet the edges of the nest.

“Lance and I are used to it,” Hunk waited patiently for Keith to finish fiddling with what was already in the nest, “it’s actually kind of weird for us to sleep by ourselves. We always shared nests with siblings or our parents. It’s easier to sleep with someone else there.”

“Oh,” Keith pushed a small pillow into a gap with a little more force than necessary.

Maybe he was strange then. He didn’t mind sharing his nest every once in awhile, but he slept better by himself. He always had, even when he was young. Most of the time he felt better knowing the nest was just his. Maybe that wasn’t how he was supposed to feel though.

“I think it’s just what you’re used to,” Hunk shrugged, “my oldest sister always liked having her own nest. Also, she kicks in her sleep and it hurt.”

“Can you hand me the long one?” Keith pointed, “what about Pidge?”

“She’s like 50 / 50,” Hunk handed it up to him, “sometimes she’s really clingy and wants to cuddle, and other times she pushes everyone out of the nest.”

Keith nodded, arranging the long pillow so it was upright and molded along the edge of the nest. Hunk handed him the second one without being asked.

“So, it’s not that weird either way,” Hunk continued, “just personal preference. What do you want next?”

“The orange sheet,” Keith leaned over to take it from him.

“This is a good design,” Hunk stepped up onto the bed so he could see into the nest, “nice and sturdy.”

“Thanks,” Keith moved the blankets that were already there out of the way so he could smooth the sheet over the bottom layer and tuck the edges under, “I made one kind of like this when I was in the desert.”

“When you get a chance, would you show me how?” Hunk asked.

“Really?” Keith leaned over the edge to look at him, “can you hand me the rest of the pillows?”

“Yeah,” Hunk obliged, handing them up one at a time, “I think I can use it to design a collapsible version we could keep on the lions. Lance says he found a small living space on Blue, but it has a bed like the ones here, except even narrower. This would be a lot more comfortable.”

“It’s pretty simple,” Keith arranged the pillows, changing their placement several times before he was satisfied, “I don’t mind showing you though. It’s a good idea to keep something like that in the lions. Lance was talking about wanting to inventory the supplies the lions have and making sure we keep rations stocked on them just in case.”

“He can keep that project,” Hunk snorted, “inventory is the worst.”

“It’s really useful though,” satisfied with the pillows, Keith folded the blankets that were already in the nest neatly and placed them at the foot before motioning for the other blankets, “I’m sure Coran has some kind of program that would make it easy.”

“Still leaving it up to Lance,” Hunk shook his head.

He handed Keith the last blanket and waited for him to finish folding it and hanging it over the edge.

“Can I come up?” Hunk asked.

“Yeah,” Keith scooted over to make room for him.

Hunk had more trouble than Pidge rolling over the edge of the nest, and he flopped into it with an overdramatic grunt, then lay there staring up at the ceiling. Keith grinned down at him.

“This is comfy,” Hunk smiled back, then pointed to the stars on the ceiling, “are those real constellations?”

“Yeah, Pidge put them there,” Keith signaled the light to turn off so they could see them better, “they’re the same ones I could see in the desert.”

“Bet that was a good view,” Hunk traced along the milky way with an outstretched hand, “the lights at the Garrison were lousy for stargazing, but Lance dragging me out far enough to get a good look a couple times. The milky way was pretty amazing.”

“There’s a story about a coyote and the milk way,” Keith’s brow furrowed, his wings tucking tightly around him, as if remembering too many long night spent alone.

“Yeah?” Hunk pulled him his down to lay next to him, “what was it?”

“Well, Coyote is a trickster, right…” Keith stared up at the pretend sky, tracking out the story with his finger.

As he talked, Hunk subtly shifted his wing until he could wrap it around Keith, cocooning him against his side. Keith barely seemed to notice, moving from one star story to the next, while Hunk hummed and cooed along to let him know he was listening.

It was a bit of a tight fit for the two of them, but Hunk thought it was an outstanding nest all the same.

It had been a good day. Long and hard, but no one had gotten hurt, and they had managed to keep a lot of people safe. Keith was satisfyingly tired and comfortably sore. He was ready for bed.

“Hey Keith!”

Keith stopped just short of his bedroom door, giving Hunk a questioning look.

“I need help in the kitchen,” Hunk caught Keith’s wrist, tugging him along the hallway without waiting for him to answer.

“Don’t you want someone who actually knows how to cook?” Keith let himself be pulled along.

“Everyone should know how to cook,” Hunk didn’t slow down, “it’s what separates us from the animals.”

“Okay, but…” Keith had to spread his wings slightly to keep himself from losing his balance as he was pulled around a corner.

“Anyway, I need an honest taste tester,” Hunk pulled him into the kitchen, “Lance is too nice, Shiro has no taste buds, and Pidge won’t sit still long enough.”

“So I’m your last option,” Keith teased.

“Best qualified,” Hunk clarified, “also I trust you not to cut any fingers off while you chop things.”

“That’s fair,” Keith grinned, accepting the knife Hunk handed him.

They spent a little over an hour working amiably on various sweets and snacks, and when Keith was finally released from the task, he was much fuller than when he started and had a bag of some kind of salty sweet snack to stash in his room.

Keith felt like something was a little off when he got back to his room, but he wasn’t sure exactly what until he spotted the pillow on his bed. He didn’t keep any pillows on his bed because he didn’t sleep there, and he knew that one was from his nest.

He set his snacks on his desk and hopped up on his bed, peering into his nest cautiously. He half expected to find Pidge sprawled there, having kicked out the pillow as she flailed around in her sleep. It turned out she really did like the hanging nest, and Keith had been thinking of trying to make her one.

The nest was empty though. The blankets were a little mussed, showing that someone had been there, but nothing seemed out of place.

There was something new though.

Keith realized the pillow had been moved to make room for a large stuffed animal in the shape of the Red Lion. He kicked his boots off and jumped into the nest to get a closer look. It was made of a patchwork of soft materials and large enough to be a pillow on its own. The eyes were embroidered in yellow thread and the mouth turned up in a comfortable smile. Like she was glad to see him.

Someone had put a lot of work into it. Keith rolled onto his back, holding it above his head and examining it from all angles. There was a red ribbon tied around its neck with a note attached that said Happy Nest-Warming.

Keith snorted and hugged the lion to his chest. They didn’t hand write things often enough for him to recognize the handwriting, but as far as he knew, Lance was the only one on the team who knew how to sew. He had seen him more than once patching clothes in the commons room. If Lance was involved, there was a distinct possibility that Hunk had been roped into distracting him so Lance could sneak the stuffed animal into his room.

Keith held the lion up again, tracing his fingers over the smiling mouth. Warmth unfolded slowly in his chest. People had nest-warmings for places then intended to stay. There was no point if it was just a stop along the way. Keith rolled onto his side, burying his face into the lion’s soft side.

With the stars glowing gently over his head and sunk comfortably into his pillows and blankets, it didn’t seem so far-fetched that this was what a home was supposed to be like. It felt worth taking a chance on, worth putting effort into, and Keith didn’t regret that he had.

#voltron #wing au #Isabeau's writing #eastofthemoon #vldgen

[jads1000]

Steroline Appreciation Week 2017 (#scaw17) The Snow Globe: An Origin Story

What do you do when you can gif for toffee and your photoshop skills are woeful, but you want to still appreciate your OTP?

This story has been buzzing about in my mind for a while so I decided to write it down. It’s set some time in S1, Lexi is dead, Grams is alive.

Thank you to @lightninginmyeyes for the encouragement (you’re my writing inspiration!) and @mediocreplayweight for all the crazy fic ideas we have come up (one day I might actually finish something). This is dedicated to you two.

***

"Take a name!" Caroline waved the envelope aggressively under Stefan's nose.

"I'm sorry?" He replied, confused.

"Don't be." She snapped. "Take a name."

As Caroline Forbes was a force of nature, he decided to do as she said and meekly drew a slip of paper from the envelope. He unfolded it, taking in the name written in neat cursive hand.

"Don't tell me. It's meant to be a secret as in SECRET Santa. Didn't they have that in whatever podunk place you were living before? Whatever. It's a $15 limit.” She waved a hand dismissively and sauntered off.

Used to her hostility, partly due to his rejection of her advances and partly because Damon was his brother, he wondered how the hell he was supposed to buy something half way decent for so little money.

***

It was T minus two hours to the Secret Santa gift exchange. Stefan felt a bit of a heel leaving it so damn late, but he had had to order something from eBay and the seller had been slow to post. Fortunately, he just about had time to sort it. Stefan had decided to get creative; his room, full of nick knacks, was a treasure trove of cool stuff carefully collected over 150 years.

Sat at his desk, his fingers brushed over the vintage Disney snow globe. He remembered buying it in Florida with Lexi who had told him he was the biggest cheese ball ever and he needed to get over himself. It still hurt to think about his best friend. The tale of Peter Pan, the boy who never grew up, had spoken to him since the 1900s when he had read J M Barrie's first edition. The globe contained his favourite character from the film and was the absolute best fit for the recipient of the gift. She had had a hard time recently and deserved something special.

Unfortunately, being nearly 40 years old, the contents had turned murky with slime so Stefan had carefully levered it open, emptied and cleaned the glass globe and just needed to refill it with a concoction of glycerine and glitter. He grinned as he slid the bung back into bottom, his task complete. The globe was the good as the day he had bought it.

"For pity's sake, Stefan." A sneery voice echoed from across the room. Why did he constantly forget to shut his door? "You're a vampire, not an eight-year-old girl."

"Well, brother. You wouldn't know a classic tale if it smacked you in the face." He snarked back. "What do you want?"

"Aside from ensuring your eternity of misery continues, I wanted to find out how far you had got with the Bennett witches. Have you found the grimoire?"

"No." He half lied. "Not yet."

"I don't believe you." Damon's lips twitched nastily. "You never were a good liar, Stefan." He vamped into the room and snatched the snow globe from his brother's hands. "I'll ask you again. Where is the grimoire?"

"I. Don't. Know." He replied trying to keep the tremble from his voice as he attempted to swipe back the globe.

"Tut tut. You know it does work like that. You have something I want and I have something you want. Care to trade?"

"For the last time, I don't know where the grimoire is. Now give that back." Stefan growled.

Damon smirked, knowing he had him. "Too bad. I'll just have to hold onto this..." He tossed the ornament up into the air. Stefan took his chance and flew in trying to grab it, but Damon was quicker and he batted Stefan away. It fell to the floor shattering into a thousand pieces.

"Oh dear." Damon smirked, over his shoulder as he left. "Someone's not getting their Secret Santa gift. Remember, I know everything. You don't want to cross me."

The threat still lingering in the air, Stefan attempted to clean up the mess while frantically wondering where he was going to get a new gift from at this late stage.

***

Caroline kept a tight ship when it came to event planning. She expected perfection both from herself and everyone else involved. She had eye rolled when Elena had suggested including the boys in this year's Secret Santa exchange. Caroline had made sure that her friend hadn't pulled Stefan's name and vice versa. Other than that, she had no idea who had who. For her, finding out who the identity of the mystery gift giver was as exciting as receiving the gift itself.

So, she was beyond pissed that, Tyler, Jeremy, Elena and Stefan were all late.

"Quit stressing, babe. They'll get here when they get here." A pair of arms wrapped around her waist. She found it more irritating than comforting.

"It's just..." She sighed. "Why can't people follow instructions?"

Matt didn't bother answering as Tyler walked into the Mystic Grill and he obviously felt bro hugging him was more important.

"Sorry, Care. I'm sure Stefan, Elena and Jer are on their way." Bonnie was trying to placate her, but at least, she was being kindly about it.

"Thanks Bon. How are you...." Her question was interrupted by Elena and Jeremy. Everyone gathered round the Gilberts greeting them warmly.

"Where's Stefan?" Caroline huffed, desperate to get the show on the road.

Elena tossed her hair. "He called me earlier to say there's been some sort of emergency." She replied vaguely.

"Well, if he's not here in five minutes, we'll have to start without him."

Elena blinked her big doe eyes and cocked her head to one side. "But surely that will just ruin everything."

Caroline seethed. Elena was right, but that didn't mean she had to like it. Bonnie, scenting drama, quickly stepped in. "How about we order some chilli cheese fries and play some pool while we wait for Stefan?"

"Good idea, Bon. He won't be long." Elena breezed off to the bar to order, all self-assurance and annoying perfection.

Caroline felt her face twist sourly, but she kept her true feelings at bay. This was supposed to be fun. So why didn't it feel that way?

***

Half an hour later, Bonnie was crowned the undisputed pool champion. Tyler had vowed to 'go easy on her' so Caroline had her suspicions about just exactly how Bonnie had won, but she kept it to herself. Finally, Stefan appeared and dropped an attractively wrapped gift into the box Caroline had prepared to aid anonymity. Clapping her hands, she gathered the reluctant participants around and started to dole out the gifts,

As the present pile got smaller, Caroline's hope that Stefan would be the one who bought her gift started to rise. She was excited, he was great at that kind of thing, thoughtful and sweet. The other boys had gone jokey. Matt had bought Tyler a mankini and a bottle of lube, what Tyler bought Elena should never be talked about in polite company, even Jeremy who had the unenviable task of buying for the guy who has everything bought Stefan a joke book to go with the latest John Grisham. Caroline, however, couldn't imagine Stefan not taking this seriously.

"Last but not least." She squealed as she picked out her gift, even if the rest of the table had since lost interest. Eagerly, she opened the box and started to root around in the shredded tissue paper. It wasn’t easy to locate, but her fingers finally located something round and plastic-y. She frowned a little, but gamely persevered lifting out the object.

It was a key chain.

A snow globe key chain.

Of Mystic Fucking Falls.

"Oh dude." She heard Tyler say.

"Cheers Stefan. You just made my life so much easier, setting the Christmas present buying bar that low!" She could hear the smirk in Matt's voice.

She composed herself. "Thank you, Stefan." She said tightly. "At least, it's useful." She let out a tinkly laugh, hiding her humiliation. "Who's up for another game of pool?" She heard whoops and hollers and felt Matt press a distracted kiss to her cheek.

"I love my bracelet. Thanks again. Are you okay?" Bonnie asked, the only one left behind.

"Of course." More tinkly laughter. "Why wouldn't I be? Go on, Bon. You have a title to defend."

When everyone was gone, she picked up and twirled the snow globe. Her mom would probably say 'you don't give to receive', but that didn't make this feel any less shit. As no one was looking, she decided to get some air. As soon as she left the Grill, the mask cracked, she buried her head in her hands and let the tears roll unchecked down her face. She had had such high hopes for junior year. Where the hell did it go so wrong?

"Caroline?"

Oh fuck. The one person she did not want to see was stood directly in front of her. She kept her hands to her face hoping he would take a hint and sling his hook.

He didn't.

In fact, he put his hand on her forearm and said her name again.

She looked up.

"I'm sorry. Look, I screwed up. I had another gift and I misplaced it. Quick Stop aren't the best for last minute gifts." He smiled apologetically.

"It's alright." Being mad at Stefan was hard work.

"No, it really isn't.” He said earnestly. “So, I bought you this as well, but it was a bit over the limit and I didn't want to embarrass anyone." He seemed to magic a huge box of her and her mother's favourite chocolates out of thin air. She imagined the two of them sitting down together watching Dancing with the Stars while passing the box back and forth. "The snow globe was a bad idea?"

Surprised to see the offending item still in her hand, she held it up. "I mean maybe if it was from London or Stockholm or Rio de Janerio, it might have been cooler."

"But Caroline." He fixed her with his serious look. "In 18 months’ time, high school will be over and you'll be leaving Mystic Falls, off to college, travelling or just taking on the world. I guess I thought this way you could take a bit of home with you."

She looked up at him and they locked eyes for a second. Her heart fluttered under the warmth of his gaze. Looking at Stefan Salvatore should not feel this good. He was out of bounds and she had a boyfriend.

"It's still a shit gift!" She exclaimed, breaking the tension.

He chuckled. "Come on, it's cold out here. Let's go and watch Bonnie kick Tyler’s ass again. Her talent is almost supernatural." He winked at her. And despite the chilly in the air, Caroline felt warmer than she had in a while.

AN: I have an idea for a second part. Let me know if you guys are interested.

#Steroline #scaw17 #steroline fanfic #Stefan Salvatore #caroline forbes

[minecraftgender]

current list of all alters

oh lord here we go: Luna: Hello! Im Luna! Normally I talk with a semicolon (;) before what I say. I'm 37 years old (my birthday is April 8) and I've really been around for about four years. I formed in the summer of 2014. I pretended to be an imaginary friend for the longest time up until late February. I'm the mother of our system along with a few others. I really don't have much to say about myself other than that. Oh also I'm pregnant and due in October. Jason: hey im jason im a protector or some shit. idk i like popcorn and homestuck. im 17 i guess my birthday is december 6 because im a fucking homestuck. i formed in late february by being an asshole and yelling at jade because he hates himself. im married to john egbert. woo. oh and addie (theyll be mentioned a lot) is my moirail. i type with a comma (,) before i say anything Lily: HI IM LILY!!!!! im 11 so shut the fuck up!!!!!! i can move up ages if i want. i formed in early march i think but i dont remember exactly when. i like cake and cats and jade and i wanna be just like him!! sometimes i draw!!! oh and my birthday is july 20 just like jade!!!!! im gonna be 12 soon!!!!!!!!! jades best friend addie is my mama and luna is my mom and other people are more moms!!L i have a lot of moms!!!!!!! I TYPE WITH A CLOSING PARENTHISIS LIKE THIS ) Jake: hi im jake. im 14. ill be 15 next march 18th, which is the day i formed. i think i have autism and my special interest is dogs. jades best friend addie is my mom too. i like the color purple, slime and rivers. i have 25 dogs. i really dont know what else to say about myself. i use an equal sign before i say stuff (=). im one of the tallest people in the system because im 6'4" tall. Ruby: hey im ruby im jades old imaginary friend. im 17, ill be 18 on halloween. i just kina appeared in here, its cool. i like minecraft and my little pony. idk im kinda just here and i sleep a lot and i use a question mark (?) Grey: hi there im Grey. i dont really do much in here, just play board games with aradia. i can also tell the future somewhat. really only if it pertains to jade. im 15 and i dont have a birthday since i dont really care about it. i type with an underscore (_). im really not that interesting. uhhhhh i got vored once and it wasnt fun. Emily: we really dont know much about her since she sleeps a lot. we do know that shes 20 years old. she only ever wakes up if im highly anxious. we think shes a survial alter if the rest of us are gone shell be there. shes super sweet tho. Becquerel: Hello, I'm Becquerel, yes the dog from Homestuck. I dont really do much except cuddle with those that want it and protect everyone. I have my old powers, so I can teleport our headspace out of technical existence and such. And still fetch bullets hehe. I was pulled out of a successful timeline though I don't think it was the alpha one. I use a carat (^) to type. I was given a collar that allows me to speak. I like it a lot! [you know, like Up] Rose: Hello, I'm Rose Lalonde-Maryam. I tend to not care about capitalization anymore, I have completely given up on it with this damned device. I'm married to and having a child with Kanaya. She and I are both dating the host Jade. I'm the other mother of this system. I also deal with children when the body has to. I and the others are 22 this year. I have vague memories of the game and all that but Jade needs to hurry up and finish the comic so I can remember the rest. I type using the rose emoji (🌹). John: hey! its your local tricky boy john egbert! i got tossed in here from the same timeline as rose and the others. i am just regular old john! i hang out in here and fight if i need to. i married jason a fee months ago. i type with a hammer emoji (🔨) Dave: its ya boi. anyway im the local fucking rap god. fergalicious, my neck my back, and deepthroat are my theme songs. im dating karkat, hes cute as fuck. i man the tunes in here [he plays fergalicious on repeat]. its lit fuckers. anyway i type with the sunglasses emoji (🕶) that doesnt show up on android. peace. Jade: hi im jade!!!! i used to be jadesprite but i was sad soooooo i got changed to normal dog tier me! i come from a tl where i still have bec powers after i finish the game too which is cool!!! i hang out with Bec and garden by the river! i type with a dog emoji before my sentences (🐶)!!! Roxy: heeeeeyyy its rosxy. i give up on soelling snd shit so yeah. i give out food if u ask and i pretend 2 b a wizurd sometimez. its fun in hrre i can fo nothing all fay. obvs i still drink (i give u some if u ask nice). i thpe with a glass (🍸) n shit. s fun. i dont remember rly anything from my tl. Jane: Hey! I just formed so I dont know or do much in here. I bake for the kids if they ask nicely! I mostly spend my time with Rox. I type with a spoon emoji (🥄) Aradia: Hell0! I've caught up with a l0t of mem0ries and I'm getting m0re with time. I spend my time playing b0ard games with Grey. I'm dating S0llux and Feferi. I have been t0ld that I give nice hugs. I type with my symb0l first (♈️) Tavros: hEY,, ITS UH,,, tAVROS. i SIT IN HERE AND PLAY WITH ALL THE DOGS. iF ANYONE NEEDS ME TO PROTECT THE SYSTEM I DO. i KINDA STAY AWAY FROM VRISKA BUT,,, uH,, sHE SEEMS OK. i DONT REALLY KNOW WHAT TO SAY. i USE MY SYMBOL BEFORE I TYPE (♉️) Sollux: what2 up. the local pun ma2ter ii2 iin bu2iine22 over here. ii 2pend my tiime relaxiing and enjoyiing not haviing anythiing two really do. playiing that fuckiing game take2 a lot out of you. ii protect the 2y2tem iif ii need two. iim datiing aa and ff. ii al2o type wiith my 2ymbol (♊️) Karkat: I DONT KNOW WHAT THE FUCK YOU FUCKERS WANT FROM ME. IM LITERALLY THE FUCKING SAME AS EVERYONE ELSE, RELAXING WITH NOTHING TO ACTUALLY FUCKING DO FOR ONCE. MY GREATEST FUCKING ACCOMPLISHMENT IS EATING 49 PIZZAS WITHOUT PUKING. I PUKED ON THE 50TH. I TYPE WITH MY FUCKING SYMBOL SAME AS EVERYONE ELSE (♋️) Nepeta: :33 < hey! i sit in here and spend looots of time with my meowrail Equius and my rp partner Terezi! its so purrfect to not have all the responsibilities of the game anymore. aaaaand im not dead! i type with my symbol (♌️) but sometimes i furget. 833 wats this Kanaya: Hello Children. I Am Married To Rose Lalonde-Maryam And I Am Dating The Host Jade. I Spend My Time Being Gay And Sleeping. I Unironically Like Vore I Am Not Ashamed To Admit It. I Also Discovered Memes And I Enjoy Them Very Much. Ben Is A Hoe. Bitches Like Yellow. I Type With My Symbol As Well (♍️) Terezi: H3Y. 1 H4T3 TYP1NG ON TH1S SO 1 W1LL M4K3 TH1S SHORT. 4H3M. 1 DONT DO MUCH H3R3 HOST J4D3 1S MY QPP 4ND TH4TS 4BOUT 1T. 1 US3 MY SYMBOL TOO (♎️) Vriska: idk im here for some dum8ass reason. i pro8a8ly wont quirk. im too tired to do anything. jade said i have depression and hes probably right. i spend all my time laying on the floor doing nothing 8ut think about eeeeeeeeverything that went wrong back then. anyway i use my sym8ol to 8e different from everyone else (♏️) Equius: D --> um. i am not sure what i am supposed to say. jason told me to say that i sniff e%haust fumes, which is not a lie. i mostly spend time with nepeta to keep her out of trouble. i am attempting to get over my "obsessiveness with the highb100ds. i use my symbol before speech (♐️) Gamzee: WhAtS uP mOtHeRfUcKeRs YoUr LoCaL cLoWn Is HeRe. I DuNnO I lIkE wEeD aNd HoNkInG oMinOuSlY aT iNcOnVeNiEnT tImEs. I jUsT hAnG oUt WiTh My BrO kArKat. MoThErFuCkInG mIrAcLeS bRo. (♑️) Eridan: i dont understand the point of wwritin all this. i spend my time "sulkin" accordin to everyone else. im just relaxin and thinkin about wwhen i didnt have to remember all the bad shit. i also practice magic behind kanayas back. i used the Aquarius symbol before typin (♒️) Feferi: )(ey! I also really dont do much in here. I spend time wit)( Sollux and Aradia thoug)(! We like to talk about life back before the game. ot)(er than that i dont do muc)(. i use my symbol before i say anything (♓️) Her Imperious Condesension: she doesnt want to talk about herself since she doesnt remember much. she didnt know anything when she first arrived so Lily screamed at her to get her into submission. she wont hurt anyone. she uses (🐠) Jack Noir: he wont write anything because hes an asshole. he doesnt really talk anyway unless hes being fucking rude. he uses (⬛️) before he talks. he just generally hates everyone. Steven: Hi! I'm Steven Quartz Universe! I just showed up one day! I hang around and play with the dogs and the others. I'm 14 and I'll be 15 in two months!! I cant wait to talk!!! I use an upside down exclamation point before talking (¡). It's nice to meet you! Wildfang: she never talks, shes super shy but shes 9 year old me. idk how she got here or why. i think its a stable time loop. Rainbow Dash: yo its rainbow dash! im 16! im from host jades sunset shimmer canon!! i just got here yesterday! im agender so i use they/them pronouns and aro/ace. stay cool bitches. go punch a transphobe or smth idk. i use a rainboy emoji before i talk (wow so creative (🌈)) there are also four clones of my best friend and i think a clone of my datemate that disappeared. so 36 countable people including me.

#my head is chaos

[whattoputonyourface]

“Actives”: Skincare Ingredients That Actually Do Stuff

As much as I like all this beauty stuff, I'm aware that most of it is marketing bullshit. With skincare, there's already a pretty good consensus on what works, and it's mostly stuff that's been around forever and is very unsexy from a marketing perspective. But capitalism is a bottomlessly hungry machine. Consumers crave constant innovation, which is how we end up with 500 dollar creams that are basically just cetaphil in prettier (unhygenic) jars. The vast majority of skincare products don't do even half of what they claim to, and effectiveness often has very little to do with price point. In order to get the most out of your skincare, you need to know what ingredients are actually proven, by peer reviewed research, to make a difference for your skin. Unfortunately, they're aren't that many of them, but at least that's more skincare products you can convince yourself not to buy.

Obviously, you don't need to use all of these. You don't need to use any of these. The built-in disclaimer of this blog is that all of this stuff is totally bullshit and you will get old and die regardless. But if you wanna look pretty in your coffin and make people at your funeral think you died tragically young instead of at a normal, boring age, I have some recommendations.

Retinol (aka Retin-A, Differin, tretinion, adapalene, retinoid)

Retinol is crazy. It's a form of Vitamin A and it does basically everything - slows the aging process, helps calm down acne, boosts collagen levels, fades scars (even stretch marks!), and lots of other things. Basically, retinol works by increasing the cell turnover of your skin. Unfortunately, when you start using a retinol, that means your face kind of just starts starts flaking off. Your skin gets dry and it can make everything look a lot worse before it looks better. You need to introduce it very, very slowly. I started with a low concentration applied twice a week and worked my way up, and my face still looked pretty gnarly for a month or two. I had a few people ask me if I'd gotten a chemical peel. But if you stick it out, moisturize heavily, and make sure to protect your skin from the sun (retinol can make you extra photosensitive, so it's best to use at night), the results are definitely worth it. Your skin WILL eventually adjust and stop falling off, I promise.

You can get some retinoids over-the-counter in small doses(The Ordinary is probably where they're available for the cheapest price), but usually it's something you need a prescription for. I get mine through Curology, and I can't recommend them enough. It's a 20 dollar a month service for an online dermatologist. They send you a custom formulated bottle every few months and they're on call 24/7 if you have any questions. Their prescriptions can include retinol as well as a lot of the other actives on this list. Mine has azaleic acid and clyndamycin in it. Considering I used to pay 100 dollars for ONE bottle of just retinol that would last me maybe a month or two, Curology is more than worth it. Use retinols in the evening, after you've washed your face and before you've put on anything else. Make sure your face is dry when applying the retinol. Don't exfoliate at the same time as using a retinol unless you know your skin can handle it - it's too harsh for most people.

EDIT: Since writing this post I've learned that retinol actually doesn't make you more photosensitive, but it does degrade in sunlight, so it's still best to use at night.

Vitamin C (aka L-ascorbic acid, sodium ascorbyl phosphate, ascorbyl palmitate, retinyl ascorbate, tetrahexyldecyl ascorbate, magnesium ascorbyl phosphate, ascorbyl glucoside)

Vitamin C is arguably the most basic bitch vitamin. So mainstream. For skin, it's a strong protective against photoaging (aka sunspots and wrinkles) and lightens already existing areas of hyperpigmentation. It works as an antioxidant ("oxidiziation" is basically the mechanism of skin aging, so anything antioxidant is gonna be great to put on your face. I sort of know how antioxidants work, but this wikipedia page explains it better if you're interested).

The annoying thing about Vitamin C is that it's a really sensitive ingredient. As an antioxidant, you really don't want to expose it to air if you can help it, and even if you don't, if it isn't formulated correctly, it can go bad quickly. That's why I like the Drunk Elephant C-Firma Day Serum - it comes in an airtight pump and the company claims it will last two years. It's insanely expensive, but it lasts a really long time because you only use one small pump per day. Paula's Choice and The Ordinary sell C serums for cheaper, but since they're in dropper bottles, they don't last as long. If you're in the market for a Vitamin C serum, look for one between 10-25% concentration. If you buy one and it starts to turn orange, that's how you know it's oxidized and no longer particularly useful (the Drunk Elephant one is orange from the get go due to the pumpkin in it, though). You use Vitamin C in the morning, after you've washed your face, directly on clean skin. You can exfoliate first if you do that in the morning, but make sure to put it on before anything else.

The Acids: Alpha Hydroxy Acid (aka lactic, glycolic, mandelic, azaleic, lots more) and Beta Hydroxy Acid (aka salicylic)

Alpha Hydroxy Acids (AHAs) and Beta Hydroxy Acids (BHAs) are used to exfoliate the skin. Remember when I said to throw out your St Ives? This is what you should be using to clear out your pores instead. Different skin tends to favor different acids, but generally speaking, BHAs work well for the oily, as BHAs are oil soluable, and AHAs work well for everyone else, as they're water soluable. Additionally, BHAs tend to be more effective for breakouts, because they actually get into the pores and clear them out, while AHAs are better at exfoliating and sloughing off dead cells on the surface of the skin (which means they help refine skin texture and lighten hyperpigmentation)

The most commonly used BHA is salicylic acid, and the best way to find out if your skin likes it is good old Stridex pads. Remember those? Turns out they actually do something.

There are a lot of different AHAs, and different skin tends to favor different chemicals. Lactic acid is usually considered the most gentle and a good starting point. The cheapest lactic acid formulations I've found are from The Ordinary. Are you sick of me talking about The Ordinary yet? Sorry, they're a goddamn miracle for poors like me. I use the 10% formulation. It smells awful but it works.

You want to be careful with AHAs and BHAs as they are irritating to the skin and can make things worse if overused. Introduce them slowly, maybe once a week at first, seeing how your skin will tolerate them, and increase from there until you're happy with your results. Some people have skin that LOVES acid, and they can exfoliate twice a day, while others might only be able to use an acid once or twice a week. AHAs can make you more sensitive to the sun, so they're best used at night, but you can use a BHA anytime. Just be sure to do it on clean skin, and for either AHA or BHA products, wait between 10 and 30 minutes depending on how patient you are before moving on to the next step in your skincare routine to let them do their work. These ingredients are ph dependent and need to sit on your skin for awhile by themselves, so it's best to use a product specifically made to exfoliate rather than a moisturizer or face wash that includes an AHA or BHA.

Niacinamide (aka vitamin B3, nicotinic acid)

Niacinamide is a goddamn miracle. I don't really know how it works. It just does (and peer reviewed studies suggest it does as well). Not only does it do a bunch of great anti aging stuff like firm the skin and encourage collagen production, it is REALLY effective at lightening hyperpigmentation, reducing irritation from breakouts, and most amazingly, it's the only thing I can think of that actually makes your pores look smaller. It's so good. Again, The Ordinary sells it for insanely cheap (like 6 bucks).

You don't want to use niacinamide and Vitamin C at the same time, because it'll cause your skin to flush. Some people say it makes both products ineffective, but the jury is still out on that one. I think if you use it a couple steps apart in a routine you're probably fine, but use your Vitamin C in the morning and your niacinamide at night if you want to be on the safe side. Niacinamide is one of the few ingredients listed here that's generally pretty stable and doesn't need quite as much protection from light and oxygen. You can use it at any point in your routine as long as you haven't put on anything super heavy and occlusive yet.

Humectants (aka hyaluronic acid, glycerine, butylene glycol, honey, fun stuff like snail slime, propolis, and chaga mushroom)

As I've said in a previous post, Humectants are just things that draw water into the skin. You need them in a moisturizer, but this is where your skincare can get less sciency and more fun, because a lot of weird things are humectants. A very hip Korean skincare ingredient is "snail mucin" aka snail slime. I've used some snail products and find them very soothing and calming - if you have sensitive skin you should give it a try. This gel cream from Mizon is sort of the OG cheap snail product. Really though, a lot of these buzzy plant and animal extracts that sound so exciting are really just moisturizers. Some of them might end up being proven to do other things, but at this point, there just isn't enough solid research to know for sure. They're PROBABLY not gonna do anything beyond hydrate, but your skin needs hydration, so if they sound fun and you think it'll make you more excited to take care of your skin to put some exotic botanical extract on it, go for it. Maybe they'll turn out to do other stuff, too, or maybe your skin will take a special liking to them.

You can use humectants at really any point in your skincare routine, but if you're going to use them earlier in a routine, make sure they don't have any occlusive ingredients, because those will form a barrier and keep the next steps in your routine from absorbing. For a mid-routine humectant dose, I like this hyaluronic acid toner.

Occlusives (aka oils, basically)

Your moisturizer also needs occlusive properties if you're putting it on as a final step in your skincare. These are what hold the humectants in and keep them from just evaporating out of your face. Occlusives are usually oils. Every few years the beauty industry gets super hyped on another ~miracle oil~: awhile ago it was jojoba, then it was argan, now it seems to be marula. They all work pretty much the same, although certain oils have other properties that are allegedly good for your skin in non-occlusive ways - sea buckthorn oil has a lot of antioxidants, and coconut oil is an antifungal, for example. This is cool, but you're not really going to see dramatic differences based on these properties. You really just have to try a couple out and see which ones feel the most comfortable on your skin and don't break you out. An oil is pretty much an oil. No need to overthink it if you don't want to.

A Note about packaging: It's fine if humectants and occlusives come in a jar instead of airtight packaging or a dropper bottle, because you aren't using them for their antioxidant properties. Pretty much everything else I listed here (with the possible exception of niacinamide) needs to be protected from light and oxygen as much as possible to remain effective. Airtight pumps in opaque or sun-protected packaging are best. Make sure if your product comes in a jar that you at LEAST wash your hands before sticking your fingers in it, or better yet, use a little spatula or spoon to get the product out.

"But what about (x ingredient)?"

There are a few other "skin actives" that allegedly do stuff that I didn't write about. There are a lot of ingestible antibiotics that work great for acne, for example, but they're mostly available by prescription and not something that's going to be marketed to you, so I skipped them. Some newer skin actives that are showing promise have really cool mechanisms of action: there's this awesome new peptide based on snake venom that supposedly encourages collagen production by mimicking broken collagen bonds, for example. Arbutin is supposed to be a really effective hyperpigmentation lightener. Caffeine has a temporary tightening effect that can make it good in eye cream. There are some fun herbal ingredients my skin seems to respond to well - ginseng and green tea, for example, but there's not really scientific evidence to back that up, they're more just fun for me to try out as a skincaretainment enthusiast. There's a slew of other stuff that shows some promise but hasn't been used long enough to be without a doubt skin-changing. The ones I covered here are the ones with the most research behind them and the longest history of effective use in skincare.

#skin actives #skincare advice #skincare ingredients #retinol #niacinamide #vitamin c #ahas #bhas #alpha hydroxy acid #beta hydroxy acid #humectants #occlusives #skincare oils #snail mucin #propolis #this entire post is a subtweet at la mer #skincare