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#I had a heck of a time trying to keep his face consistent with different angles lol aren't VUX nervous to move their necks me
sysig · 18 days
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DAX is just so expressive ♥ (Patreon)
#My art#SCII#Helix#DAX#Lol#Have I mentioned I love him lately#As if I ever stop talking about how much I love any of them lol#Okay but genuinely these were really nice as warmups they were really easy to just knock out one by one#He's very expressive as Dexter! *handwaves about human neurochemistry and expressions* lol#I had to make his Neutral look extra dead inside to make up for the rest haha#Funnily enough I have actually been watching a series of streams of like VAs and visual artists and writers and stuff#And they are constantly uptalking 2D talksprites as mood-setters for dialogue#So it was really fun to make these with that in the back of my head like ''Yeah! :D They /are/ good at that!''#Very cool expressive medium :D#See if you can spot the first drafts for a few of these :3c#I'll give you a hint: Scared and Sad(? Regretful ig lol) were from some posted doodles#His grumpy one was also a doodle but I didn't post it so it doesn't count lol#Oh yeah and and a lot of these had little accessories like the fear bursts and the little sigh bubble lol I just...forgot them here lol#They're there in spirit please feel the grump lines and sweat drops in your heart <3#I had a heck of a time trying to keep his face consistent with different angles lol aren't VUX nervous to move their necks me#Just gotta actually get into 3D modeling properly smh#I keep finding myself wanting to make more now that this set's done but I'm not sure what expressions! Confused? Focused? He's so subdued#Oooh he'd suit an expression meme wouldn't he <3 Now there's an idea#Might even open an ask game for that if I can find a good one :3c Hehehe
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okayto · 1 year
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Hi! I'm planning on getting two rabbits soon cause I heard they like companions. Any tips for a new rabbit owner?
Oh heck yes! So for context, I am a fairly new rabbit owner--I got Momiji this past summer and he is the first rabbit anyone in my immediate family has had. I grew up with dogs and cats. So learning how to have a bunny has been a real learning experience.
A rabbit is not really low maintenance, is what I’ve learned. I was actually planning to get a cat after my previous roommate and Artemis-the-cat moved out. I ended up with Momiji instead because of Reasons (foster-in-law fail, basically), but I did a lot of reading before I committed because I was pretty worried. You don’t have to walk rabbits like a dog, but they do need quite a bit of space, consistent attention (for health and wellness) as well as socializing, supplies/items, and a specialized vet.
This got a bit long so it’s under the cut. Spoiler: I love my rabbit! But they’re different enough from dogs and cats that their needs can be surprising.
Below the cut: personality, space, behavior, vets/health, and stuff that costs money.
Their Personality
Like any animal, rabbits will have their own personalities. Momiji is very inquisitive (must sniff all new things, likes to hop on top of all furniture and things to get tall), and often socializes by chilling in the same room, but not right next to me. Rabbits are social and do need a lot of attention (or a pal). They can “purr” (chittering their teeth when happy), and Momiji loves it when I pet his nose and forehead the most. He also grooms me, and a rabbit tongue is closer to a cat tongue than a dog (not very wet, but also not rough).
He will sometimes sit on my chest, especially if I'm lying down, or he'll hang out on a surface like the bed or couch when I'm on the floor, so sitting up puts my head at his level. He doesn't mind if I give his [mostly-]adorable face many, many kisses, and sometimes sticks his face right next to mine (I'm assuming to make it easier to kiss or snuzzle, because that's what I always do and yet he keeps coming back). If he wants pets and I'm not paying attention, he'll force his face under my hand until scritches are dispensed.
Rabbits are prey animals so by nature they can be very skittish. Momiji can jump up from what appears to be dead sleep in approximately .034 seconds if he hears literally anything unusual or sudden (which includes sneezes and phone notifications). How much they tolerate being held will vary—Momiji is good at being held for short amounts of time but will start struggling after about 10 seconds. And rabbits are apparently pretty fragile creatures, so you really don’t want them twisting or jumping out of your arms. Speaking of, I need to trim Momiji’s nails because I’ve got a nice long slash across my clavicle from trying to prevent him from committing suicide via stairway the other day. (Trimming nails seems easier as a two-person job, so I’m willing to pay my vet.)
Speaking of personality: bonding rabbits is a Thing you will want to look into—I’ve gleaned it involves keeping them separated for a bit and then slowly introducing them and building up exposure, until they are safe together. Even if they’re siblings from the same litter, apparently a “baby bond” will break as they get older.
Space for Rabbits
Rabbits need a good amount of space—approximately 16 square feet (4x4 foot area) per rabbit minimum. Because of that, generally I see people recommending x-pens/dog playpen fencing instead of hutches. I got lucky and got some used x-pens (tall! To prevent hops!) from a dog breeder on FB Marketplace. As we’ve adjusted (and Momiji has mostly proven he can be trusted not to destroy furniture), he basically gets my whole guest room to himself when I’m not home, but I used to shut him in the cage. When I was pricing them (before I found them used), I was seeing around $80+ for a pen the right size. (And unless you’re going to jury-rig a ceiling, you want tall ones so they don’t just hop out.)
I’m still figuring out a flooring issue, since I keep him in a room with carpet. My current setup is a $4 plastic picnic blanket as a moisture barrier, covered in a non-fuzzy thrifted blanket that I can wash when needed. This helps keep a lot of his hay out of the carpet, as well as pee. I play to upgrade to a more solid flooring at some point; the FB rabbit groups often have people asking/offering suggestions I’ll check out.
When I am home, he now gets to free roam the house (close doors to off-limits places, like my roommate’s room, or my closet full of tasty shoes), but we worked up to this over several months. I carefully expanded his access (room – room + adjoining bathroom – previous + my room down the hall, etc.). I needed to be sure that he would consistently find his way back to his food and litter box, and use them, and that he wasn’t going to try and chew my house to shreds.
Speaking of chewing…
Rabbit Behavior
I saw someone call it “puppy-proofing on steroids” to describe what they needed to do to get their house rabbit-proof. Rabbits chew. What your particular rabbit chews on is up to chance.
I’m lucky because Momiji doesn’t do a lot of chewing—there’s no way to get him to understand what’s OK and what’s not. He lives in a room full of books, which have thus far lasted over 6 months without being nibbled. But even so: my TV stand is now blocked off with cardboard and stacks of boxes to prevent him from getting behind it—he chewed through the cord to my blu-ray player (had to buy a replacement cord off eBay) and my Chromecast cord (haven’t figured out if it can be replaced or if I need to buy a whole new gadget), I’ve blocked off the corner my modem and internet apparatus sit in as a precaution, and just last night I discovered he’s hit some wires in an extension cord, so I had to get my electrical tape to cover that, then tape it to the wall to keep it out of his way. Momiji has also developed a taste for my faux leather wallet, specifically. As in, I need to get a new one now. (And can’t leave my purse on my bed anymore, because that’s within rabbit-reach.)
Basically, with a critter like this, potentially anything at their level is something you might have to deal with being chewed, or protected. Other people have stories about all cords, baseboards, wooden furniture, etc.
Rabbits also thump their back legs when upset, angry, scared, etc. Momiji has thumped because my roommate’s dog startled him. He’s also thumped because my bedroom door was closed and he wanted in. Today he thumped, a LOT, from under my bed because I’m pretty sure he was annoyed that I was obviously awake and hadn’t fed him his morning pellets yet.
There’s also hormones and everything that entails. If you have a female rabbit, it’s heavily encouraged you get her spayed because apparently the risk of uterine cancer is super-duper high. I haven’t read if there is an associated high risk for unaltered males, but I need to discuss that with my vet because Momiji seems to have testicles that weren’t there before. But besides cancer, from what I’ve read spaying/neutering can also help with mating/courtship behaviors, territoriality, litter box habits, and aggressiveness. Momiji is pretty good about all of the above, thankfully (no problems, and he hasn’t sprayed me with urine as a declaration of love), but every animal is different.
Speaking of vets…
Veterinarians and Health
Rabbits need an exotic vet—they are unusual enough that for veterinary purposes, they qualify as “exotic.” Depending on where you live, that may limit your options. This means that their vet bills might be higher, especially a spay/neuter. The House Rabbit Society has a list of rabbit-savvy vets and some links to other lists, and you could also find an online group and ask for recommendations in your area.
Rabbits need to be eating/drinking constantly to avoid their digestive system going into stasis, which is a life-threatening condition that can kill rabbits within hours, so I have to keep his supply topped up and pay attention to any behavioral changes. I also have an emergency kit (food, gas drops, etc.) that I hopefully never need to use. The majority of their diet is hay and water; some formulated rabbit-specific pellets, and some fresh greens. You’ll want to do a search for what fresh foods are safe, and what aren’t or should only be given sparingly (anything sugary, including carrots, are a treat rather than a staple). I’ve also noticed that sometimes treats will be sold advertised for all small pets but will contain things bad for rabbits, like yogurt drops/coatings, so beware.
I pay close attention, both because I’ve read enough sad stories about someone’s beloved pet passing away in less than a day, but also because my vet said that the closest emergency veterinary care for rabbits (rather than cat/dog-focused) if I have an after-hours emergency is like, 3 hours away. And I live in a city!
So that costs money. As do other things:
Things That Cost Money
So besides veterinary care, and your cage, you need:
litter box (big! I use a large cat litter box, I’ve also seen people just use under-bed plastic storage boxes) (I actually bought 2 litter boxes, so I can fight my executive dysfunction by breaking up “clean the litter box” into the easier “swap in a new litter box” and “deal with contents of old litter box and clean it out” which can be done at a different time)
Stuff for the litter box (I use pine pellets from Tractor Supply because it’s like $7 for a 40-pound bag; you don’t want to use cat litter)
Water bowl (big! They drink SO MUCH water! Momiji has a medium-sized heavy ceramic dog bowl so he can’t tip it over, and he drains it if I don’t keep it topped up. When in doubt, go bigger and heavy) and food bowl, but since so much of their diet is hay and water, the food container isn’t so important
Maybe one of those food mats for animals, if you want any water splashes to be contained
Hay holder (yes, I can put hay directly in the litter box, but it lasts longer if he can’t kick it everywhere. At the same time, he needs to be able to sit in the litter box while munching)
Hay and pellets
Cleaning products (I have both Angry Orange Bio-Enzymatic Pet Stain Spray and Arm & Hammer Pet Stain remover for messes on cloth, Nature’s Miracle Urine Destroyer for the carpet, and Nature’s Miracle small animal cage cleaner spray for pee on hard surfaces)
Carrier(s)
Treats and toys, because who can resist?
Brush (maybe not an immediate need, but don't wait too long--rabbits can't vomit so you don't want them to ingest too much hair, especially during a shedding season) (if you get a fluffier/longer-haired breed, though, you'll DEFINITELY need one quickly)
Baby gate if you will need to block off a space without a door. I got a 48-inch one from Chewy and so far he hasn’t tried to jump it
Toys can mostly wait until you get to know your rabbits. I started off with some plastic baby stacking cups (would put a pellet or two in each one so he had to unstack to get them), some willow balls I found at the store, and some pressed hay cubes. I eventually made him a forage box filled with shredded paper, chopped toilet paper tubes, apple sticks, some rabbit-safe toys he didn’t care about, and then scattered some pellets/small treats in there so he has to dig around to find them. Most recent acquisition is a tube (or really, three tubes that connect at the center) that he politely hops through occasionally. I have more things, but he doesn’t play with them much, unless I somehow affix snacks to them. So start small (and cheap).
Both Chewy and Small Pet Select make it easy to buy everything; I get all my hay from SPS because their prices/amount worked best and I like a site dedicated specifically to small pets, and I really like their hay cubes as a treat (timothy hay/alfalfa blend, or just timothy hay); watching Momiji go to town on a little cube is insanely cute. Incidentally, I do definitely have a lot of treats for him (foraging blend I mix in the foraging box, small dried papaya chunks, meadow loop bites), but Momiji loves his pellets so much I can use them as treats if I want to entice him anywhere, or provide some foraging/finding enrichment after I leave.
Other
Going on vacation? Good luck finding a place you can trust to board your rabbit. At Christmas, I couldn’t take Momiji with me (hours-long car ride could probably be dealt with, but not finding space in a house full of 6 people, 2 cats and 3 dogs), but I was lucky that my roommate wasn’t going anywhere, so I paid them to pet-sit instead of having to find someone to come over a couple times a day. The whole space + socialization needs + consistent review of food/water availability were hard to figure out if that didn’t work out.
Find some rabbit-related groups (I've joined a couple on Facebook; there is one specifically for bonding which will likely be relevant to you since you're looking to get two) and sites (I've found The Bunny Lady helpful, and The House Rabbit Society has an entire section for new rabbit owners) and poke around--when everything is new and the amount of info is overwhelming, I personally find lurking and backreading a bit helpful, because it both gives info, and helps me start crystalizing the things that I do need to find out or ask, regardless of whether I ask in those places or not.
And because you mention getting two: unless they are spayed/neutered when you get them, you'll probably need to keep them apart, including cages with a minimum of several inches between them, until they are about 8 weeks post-op. I have seen, at a conservative estimate, twenty bajillion posts from people who ended up with surprise babies ("but they're so young!" "we thought they were both girls!" "we thought they were both boys!" "they only had access to each other for two minutes once!" "they’ve always been separated by cages!" "but they're siblings from the same litter!") so really, truly please believe me.
Kayt, you're a new owner, what are your sources?
First and mainly, my veterinarian, who is not just experienced working with rabbits but also owns them. A lot of the health stuff I ran past them to confirm. And also aforementioned FB groups, which I'm not citing specifically for privacy reasons, but I went and joined a bunch, so seeing what issues pop up or what people say (and cite) overall has been helpful. I also went and borrowed every book I could find in my public library system that dealt with caring for rabbits, and A House Rabbit Primer: Understanding and Caring for Your Companion Rabbit by Lucille Moore was very helpful and explanatory. There are some things in there that don't seem to have held up since it's original publication 17 years ago (waiting hours if your rabbit isn't eating; feeding your rabbit bread or yogurt), but as a companion tot everything else I think it's fine, and there's also a 2nd edition that was just published that is probably up-to-date.
All that to say: it's entirely possible I've gotten some things wrong, but I've tried to make sure my knowledge and practice is backed up by as many reputable sources as I can find.
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daydreamgoddess14 · 9 months
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Sing Your Own Kind of Song
Tedbecca Prompt Party 🥳
Ted Lasso / Rebecca Welton
No. 75: Soulmate AU - When you get a song stuck in your head, it’s because your soulmate is singing it. Who's singing what at Nelson Road?
~~~~~~~
Ted woke up to Aretha Franklin's RESPECT stuck in his head. He put up with it all day, even had Beard raising an eyebrow when he sang it during the morning meeting, which elicited a giggle from Rebecca.
"Alright, Ted?" She asked,
"Just heard it on the radio this morning, that's all boss." He smiled reassuringly.
"Have you heard about this soulmate rubbish they've confirmed on the news?"
"That you're hearing whatever your soulmate is singin'? Sure did, Gigi Hadid. That's some interesting barbecue sauce right there."
"Isn't it just?" Rebecca mused.
"You believe it, boss?"
"Not quite sure what I believe yet, Ted. Guess I'll see how it all pans out."
"I hear ya, if it's good, then you can say you knew all along, and if it's a steaming pile of doggy poop then you don't lose face either."
"You know me so well, Ted."
"Time to get downstairs for training. I'll see you later?"
"Thanks, Ted. Have a good morning." Down on the pitch a short time later, Aretha was replaced by ABBA. When he cooked dinner that night, it was Diana Ross and the Supremes. When he brushed his teeth before bed, it was One Direction. He tried to counteract it by ignoring the song in his head and sticking with his personal favourite, Kenny Rogers, in the hope that this madness would all blow over.
He lasted a month. During that time, there were new romances popping up everywhere. Roy only needed Taylor Swift stuck in his head for a morning to realise Keeley had been singing in the car on the way to work. Likewise, he'd been to see the latest Top Gun movie the previous night with Jamie, Isaac, and Moe, and had woken up singing 'Highway to the Danger Zone'. Keeley thought she might have some detective work to do, but Taylor Swift had done her a solid when she overheard Roy humming Wildest Dreams. They'd been inseparable ever since. There were breakups, too - Beard and Jane had not been on the same page at all, and while Beard wanted to keep trying, Jane did not. Ted was stumped, though. Whoever his mystery singer was, they were an enigma. Songs ranged from power ballads to current pop, and from obscure TV theme tunes he did not recognise - what the heck was Bullseye?! - to showtunes. He was at a loss.
Weeks went by, and Rebecca grew impatient. Her secret soulmate was predictable. It had only taken her a couple of weeks to work out that it was Ted. He listened to a lot of the same artists on repeat, Kenny Rogers, Bruce Springsteen, Dolly Parton and more country music than she even knew existed. Dolly had given her the inspiration to accelerate her plan. She'd spent the time since weighing up whether she believed it or not. She told no one and instead set out on a little game. Each morning, she'd pick a random song or theme tune to sing - trying to get more and more random and wild each day. In return, Ted had been keeping a log - looking for any kind of pattern or consistency. He found nothing. Whoever his soulmate was, they had the most varied tastes. One morning, he wakes with an unfamiliar tune in his head. He can't place it, it's repetitive and sounds like it should be known to him, but he's none the wiser. When Nate whips out his phone to show Ted a clip of the football from the previous night's TV, the tune accompanies the clip.
"Nate, what's that?"
"It's a clip of Sam's goal from a different angle?"
"No, the tune?"
"Match of the Day? You've been here 3 years, and you don't know the tune to Match of the Day?"
"I watch Sky Sports." Ted shrugged. "Anyway, Match of the Day is popular?"
"It's been a staple of British TV for years." Ted mulled over what he'd learned and consulted his notebook where he'd listed weeks of songs. Adele, Whitney, Shania, showtune after showtune… whoever they were, they liked a strong voice. Then he spotted the little outliers… Geri, Mel C, Posh… they'd snuck the Spice Girls in there individually. This, combined with the Match of the Day theme, had him barrelling out of the office and up the stairs two at a time. He burst through Rebecca's open door to see her at her laptop writing an email and softly singing the Match of the Day theme.
"It's you," he said without saying hello.
"Took you long enough." She smiled.
FIN
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jadedresearcher · 2 years
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Hi.
So I found your lounge, both of them, up north. Peaceful place. Whole lotta nothing. A nice respite from the music and bustling backdrop and pretending (because even the Truth is just you speaking through a filter).
You speak your own truth and the truth (not Truth) of the sim, and in it I see a faint glimmer of the world's truth. Fiction may be more exciting, but truth is more compelling. It's brave of you to stop pretending for a little while, be honest (although it does make it easier that you can't guarantee that anyone will see it. I know this very well.)
Speaking of which. I can't guarantee you'll see this just like you couldn't guarantee anyone would see either lounge. In different ways, though. You didn't know I would exist to find your rooms, while I don't know if this hellsite will gobble up this message or not. Still, isn't language just billions of people, shouting into a void, wishing they'd be heard?
The Truth is a lonely thing. I pity it. I wish it could find a friend. (ALThough maybe it has already? I don't know for sure yet. I'm doing a breadth-first search.)
And of course I'm dancing all around the subject. I don't have a train of thought, much less one with a consistent direction. Plus, re. the previous sentence, I like slipping little cryptic BS messages into my walls of text. And I did it again. Heck. I swear it wasn't even on purpose that time. You know what, screw it. I can't not do it. You enjoy it, I enjoy it. I'll be a class act (when am I ever not?). Made me no never mind. (Gotta love a good double negative.)
Regardless. For these next three paragraphs at least (I've had to edit that "these next three paragraphs" bit twice now cuz I can't stop tangent-ing) I'll try to be wholly truthful. Not easy for me. I'm bad at feelings, much less impressing them on others. Probably why I enjoy memes so much. Too much? Probably. At their best they are a beautiful distillment of a single concept given solid form, one that may otherwise be too hard to articulate. Why are things hard to articulate for me? They shouldn't, by virtue of me being a writer (by hobby if not by trade). But hey, maybe I'm drawn to writing because it's so challenging and different for me. It's a mental exercise. My Brain Is Big And Smart
Finally to the point. I admire what you've done. I admire what you're doing. I deeply enjoy all that FarragoFiction has to offer and have spent way more time on LORAS (both editions) than is probably good for me. ZampanioSim fascinates me. The things you can do pile never stops from getting larger. Puzzles fascinate me. They force me to stretch my logic. Enough about me. This is about you... really, this is about the minor intersection that our brains have made. Something something Vulcan Mind Meld. (That'd be an epic fraymotif.)
I guess, ultimately, what I'm trying to say is: Thanks. Thanks for making these awesome not-quite-games. Thanks for being around and keeping up your happy face as best you can. Thanks for taking care of your own mind before anything else: thanks for learning when to step back, for doing things that you love. You shine through every bit of code you write (no matter how many masking layers you may throw on top), and those bits of code show someone struggling with honesty and loneliness and responsibility, and those bits of code show someone with a fascinating brain who loves puzzles and the people who solve them. And thanks for continuing to love your old work, even after the passion has faded, even if you may so much as dislike it now, because love is seeing the worst parts of someone or something else, harming them without even meaning it, but still choosing them over anything else. To love is to drill a hole into the hull of a ship and to patch it up even stronger as you both drown rather than abandon the craft. To love is to destroy and to rebuild. You love your work, and I can only hope you love yourself. Because you deserve yourself. (In a good way or a bad one. You decide.)
You don't have to answer if you don't want. I tried to rip off Zampanio's skin, and it might sting. (If you even read this.) I'm sorry if so, and I'm sorry for being too long-winded (although, if you think that, you might want to take the plank out of your own eye, buddy). And I'm sorry for apologizing. And I'm sorry for that one. And... let's not recurse too much here. I don't want this to be another spiral.
Thanks for being theoretical.
And thank YOU for being a theoretical Audience :) :) :) And for the top tier Gigglesnort.
I'm glad the Hellsite DIDN'T gobble the message up, because these little messages in a bottle do truly feed me.
And you're right, that the very hidden nature of the words helps them be more Truthful than perhaps they'd otherwise be? I've been doing a lot of hiding lately, and only recently starting to pop my head back up to look around.
It also helps that, well, you know the whole "No Restraint" part of being a Waste? I tend to create on a whim, forget I did it and then watch in bafflement as people start reporting in their progress in puzzles I no longer even remember. Honestly? Zampanio is me leaning into that vibe. POINT is, its also easier to be Truthful when you know you'll forget you did it.
I don't even have that bad a problem with memory, its just when you create a purposefully confusing labyrinth of unending content, by its very nature things will blur together.
"And thanks for continuing to love your old work, even after the passion has faded" Interestingly, today I had the rare pleasure to talk to a Homestuck fan. Rare because I've removed myself from so many of those spaces? Pleasure because it was a reminder of what I'd loved about all that (god homestucks music is just so banging) (and the fandom in general is just such a creative space). And because they were so delighted with getting to see Wigglersim for the first time, when we started trading stories of our experience with the fandom. And I felt this sort of abashed pride? I know I've grown as a creator so much since making those things. I know I'd do them differently today? But yeah, I am so glad past me had that fun, learned those lessons. To say nothing of even further Past Me faking their own death on accident.
Thanks for intersecting your brain with mine, both now, and by trying to figure out just what Past Me was up to. Creation is an act of communication, at least for me, and I'm glad every time I find out I'm not just communicating with Future Me.
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thefallennightmare · 2 years
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Time-Thirteen
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Pairings: 1940'S Bucky Barnes x Reader/ Present Bucky Barnes x Reader.
Warnings: angst, fluff, swearing, some smut in places maybe
Summary: Before the war, Bucky and Reader had the picture-perfect life together. When she lost him, she thought that she would never find that kind of love again. However, someone from a different time returns to give her that love once more. Will she follow them through the unknown or come to terms that her once in a lifetime love is truly gone?
A/N: The next few chapters are going to be short ones because they're going to consist of letters from Bucky! As always, I love any kind of feedback. Tags are still open if anyone is interested!
TAGS: @overthinkinggotmedrinking @igothroughphasesalot @veralyonn @shannonleanna182 @white-wolf-buckaroo @whatawildone @jessyballet @sebby-staan @multiyfandomgirl40 @andeys-obsessions @spid3rgwen @slut-for-buck @spideyyypeter @voguekristen @justmeandmyfuckeduplife @kenziekugler22 @hoodedbirdie @ginger-swag-rapunzel @bluemoon-icecream @crazylittlereader2474 @browneyedgirl365 @amyvandijk @whattheheckisevengoingon @hdbngsprnva
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February 14, 1944
The Howling Commandos.
The name felt so weird on my tongue. It was Steve’s and Bucky’s new unit, for the fight against the enemy. I didn’t know much, obviously, but what I did know was that they spent the last few months finding Hydra bases and destroying them. They weren’t sure how long it would take them but the night before I left Bucky months ago, he made a vow that he would keep himself and Steve safe. Even if Steve was a super soldier now, Bucky made sure to still look out for him.
Thoughts of the last night Bucky and I spent together crept into my mind and while I wanted a smile to come to my cheeks, it didn’t. That night was different than the last time we were together; in a good way. The way our bodies moved together under the sheets felt different, his body becoming foreign to me. He had more endurance and was a bit more rough than normal, not that I complained.
For a split moment, I feared that something happened to Bucky when he was captured but that thought left as fast it appeared. I knew Bucky was fine, he had missed me, that's why our night together felt different.
Letting out a sigh, I gazed over towards the new picture of Bucky I received in his new letter. He was standing with some of the men from his new unit and was holding a gun. Something about this picture unnerved me, seeing him with that large weapon. His face was cold, hard, but I knew that under his strong demeanor was still my soft loving Bucky.
The new letter was still in between my fingers, unread. I had become distracted, almost in a trance, staring at the new picture that I almost forgot about the letter.
Doll,
I finally was able to receive your Christmas gift. Thank you so much for the new copy of The Hobbit. I can’t believe I forgot to bring my own. I’ll hold this close to my chest. Also, the picture that you stuck inside, very risqué. Steve tried to take a peek but I knocked him one on the head. Just because he’s strong and bigger now doesn’t mean I can still kick his ass.
We’ve been moving around all of Europe so it feels like I haven’t had a chance to take a breath. All I can think about is you sweetheart and how much I want to be in your arms. I thought seeing you that night would make it easier but it only got harder. I can’t believe that you’re staying by my side through all of this and that I have you to come home too. It’s what keeps me going through this.
I love you so much, Y/N.
I will try to write soon.
Xxxx,
Your Bucky.
P.S. Happy valentine's day. Your gift should be arriving shortly after receiving this letter.
P.P.S. Steve says hello.
Wiping a tear from my cheek, I let the letter fall onto my lap as I reached for the gift that Bucky had sent me. Inside the box was a lone key with a small piece of paper that had an address on it. It confused me, wondering why he had sent me a key.
“What the heck did you do, Mr. Barnes,” I questioned as I slipped my shoes on, ready to hail a cab across town.
*********
“Holy mackerel,” I gasped, staring at the small one-story home in front of me.
I double checked to make sure this was the correct address and when it was, I slowly ascended the steps to the front door. The key shook in my hand, suddenly realizing what exactly my gift from Bucky had been. It slid inside perfectly and unlocked the door with ease.
Stepping inside, I gasped again seeing the large open floor plan of the home. It may have looked small outside but inside, it was huge! Shock and surprise took over, mouth falling agape, as I made my way throughout the house. Two bedrooms and a full bathroom. This place was double the size of my apartment and it was heaven.
When I reached the kitchen, on top of the counter was a stack of papers, with Bucky’s name on it. Along with another note.
Surprise doll! I had my mom fish the details for me since I’m overseas. I cannot wait to see what you do to our home when I return. I love you, Y/N.
P.S. Steve said that he gets the extra room, that punk.
My mouth was still open, surprise still washing over me.
Bucky bought a house? He bought us a house?
I ran a hand through my hair, a chuckle breath falling from my lips. “Mr. Barnes, you are way too good for me.”
Taking in my surroundings once more, I couldn’t help but squeal and dance in place. Ideas of how to decorate our home swirled in my mind.
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kimnjss · 4 years
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blowing bubbles | ksj
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⇢ pairing: ot7 x reader // seokjin focus. ⇢ genre: smut. // pure unedited filth. ⇢ word count: 4.7K ⇢ theme: established relationships. ⇢ rating: explicit. ⇢ warnings: cursing, slight dirty talk, dry humping, nipple play, oral sex (m. receiving), bath sex, riding, over stimulation if you squint real hard, unprotected sex (be safe loveys!). mentions of exhibitionism.  ⇢ A/N: added a bit of hobi in there for y’all!! buut oof ., i had to do my boy jin bc he’s been wrecking me all week-
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You find Hoseok sat outside, scrolling through his phone. Joon sits across from him and Jimin beside him. The fire in between him lighting up his face, the sharp features that make up his side profile. He laughs at something Joon just said, head tipping back as the melodic sound fills the night air.
Quick to close the space between the two of you, arms hanging over his shoulders as your body rests against the back of his chair. Nose nuzzling gently in his sweet smelling hair and you want nothing more than to have him close.
“Come cuddle,” Hoseok's strong hands are reaching up to wrap around your wrist, his head tilting back to look at you. A smile laying upside down on his face from the angle, and you grin down at him.
Capturing his lips in a Spider-Man like kiss, jaw moving slowly as you become deeper and deeper enveloped in him. You can feel his grin grow against your lips, being granted with that large smile of his as he pulls away – lifting his head to glance at the boys seated across from him.
Discussion of a rematch at ping pong is thrown between them before Joon is standing from where he sits. Jimin not far behind him, securing his hood over his ears before he's looking over at the two of you.
“You want to come watch?” He offers, but Hobi is declining the invitation as quickly as it comes. Dramatizing his fatigue with a yawn and a stretch as he stands. “Think we're just going to go to bed?” Words directed to you for reassurance and you're nodding with a bright smile.
Both Jimin and Joon stalk off in the other direction while Hoseok drops his arm over your shoulder, leading you into the house.
Nights spent with Hoseok were always your favorite. Whether you two were rolling around in the sheets, sweaty and panting your release, or if you were wrapped up in his arms talking about everything and nothing. You didn't mind it, genuinely enjoyed yourself.
Close in age so things felt most comfortable between you two. Much like with Namjoon. Despite the romantic feelings you had for him, there was an underlying friendship there. Like if you two were to be in the same class in school or whatever, you'd be close. More often than not, you found yourself thinking about that.
If you had met the boys in a different setting if they weren't the superstars that they are. How differently would your relationship be? Dating made much easier. Would they all still want to be with you?
“What are you thinking about?” Hobi's words are breaking through your thoughts, steps halted halfway up the stairs when he realized you haven't said a word since the two of you left the table.
He's turned to you, close in the small stairway. Smelling as sweet as he always does, even after the long day spent outside. Your arms are lifting with no hesitation, wrapping around his neck to pull him closer as you lean back against the wall. Shoulders shrugging slightly, you lean up to press a soft kiss to the tip of his nose.
“You, me, us.” His smile grows, hands dropping down to enclose your hips. Warmth spreads throughout your body at the simple touch. Easily leaning into him as he rests his forehead on yours.
“You, me, us... doing what?” His brow lifts as he steps closer to you. A single hand dropping lowering down your hips. Fingers splaying over the curve of your ass, the gentle pressure pushing your hips closer to his.
The giggle that falls from your lips is automatic, not even the slightest bit surprised with how quickly he could shift your mood. Not much effort needed to make you putty for him and he knew it. “You thinking about having all of us fuck you?” He guesses and if you weren't thinking about it then, you definitely were thinking about it now.
It was safe to say Hoseok was most fond of the idea of sharing you. Was always the first one to perk up when it was suggested and never batted an eye if he found Jungkook lurking. Always fucked you harder, rougher when he knew there was an extra set of eyes on him. As if he got off on being watched.
A soft whimper slips past your parted lips, mind flooded with just how good it's felt to be shared by them. Never have you had all of them at once, their concern of overwhelming you leaking through – but even just two of them was enough to make your head spin. Heck, one of them was enough.
Hoseok is taking the sound like a green light to lean up, pulling your lips between his in a heated kiss. Instantly melting into him, your hands creeping up the back of his neck to tangle in the soft strands of his freshly washed hair.
His hands are warm, their decent from your hips to your thighs igniting liquid fire beneath your skin. A gentle tug on your leg has your thigh pressed firmly against his torso, his body slipping further between your legs until his chest his pressed against yours. All at once, his hands are gripping tighter on your thighs, easily lifting your body into his arms – using his hips to push your back against the wall.
“Think I'm gonna keep you to myself tonight, though.” Mouth still pressed against yours as he speaks, teeth pressed against your lower lip when his lips spread into a smile. Head ducking down until he's able to latch onto your neck.
Sucking hickeys into your skin, his hands roaming over the smallest part of your waist. He's holding you up with his hips, and you can feel his arousal through the fabric of his pants.
“Oh.” You gasp, not sure if it's from the sharpness of his teeth or the slow drag of his crotch over yours that he's started. Soft hands creeping underneath the hem of your shirt until he's meeting the top of your bra. In one swift movement, he's tugging the cup down to so you're tit is spilling over the top.
A soft groan falls from his lips, mixing the with your moan from the feeling of his thumb flicking over your hardened nipple. Just a simple tug has your chest lifting, teeth cutting into your lower lip.
With your fingers clutching his messy hair, your hips begin to roll against his. The sudden friction causing his own hips to lift, rutting gently against you. “God, look at you.” You can hear the smirk in his voice, the hand left on your hips tightening. He uses his grip to move your body faster against his.
You can only imagine how you look right now. Cheeks flushed and eyes unfocused as you try desperately to get yourself off through the fabric of your clothing. Fingers clasped tightly around his neck as you bounce between him and the wall. “Should I make you cum like this?” His voice is gruff and close to your ear, his hips lifting to press his cock harder against you.
Head bobbing like some sex-crazed bobblehead, a soft chuckle falling from his lips. He's bending forward enough so he's able to wrap his lips around your nipple. The feeling of his wet tongue coaxing the bud has a shock of arousal cruising through your veins, hips rotating to feel his cock nudge against your clit.
“Y-you feel so good,” You whine, desperation lacing every syllable. His hips rolling slowly, pressed firmly against your clit. The sudden pain of his teeth sinking into your nipple has a yelp flying from your lips, fingers tightening in his hair as you pull him tighter to your chest.
He moves with determination, the goal of making you cum heavy in his mind. And it's not long before you feel the familiar tightness in the pit of your stomach, toes curling at his sides as he drives his hips roughly into yours.
All at once, you feel the band snapping, eyes screwing tight as your head falls onto his shoulder. Your hips move frantically against his, attempting to ride your orgasm out as it washed through you. Heavy breaths lifting your chest as you urge yourself to regain your composure, in slight disbelief with how sensitive you've become.
A chuckle falls from Hoseok's lips as he's pulling back from you, carefully setting your body back onto your feet. “Good?” He says with a grin, watching for the nod of your head. His lips are coming down to press a soft kiss to your lips and your heart is singing with the feeling of them.
The kiss is quickly deepening, his tongue slipping past your lips and rolling against yours. His body pressed against yours and you can feel the hardness of his cock pressed against his thigh. Your mouth is separating from his with a pop, lust-filled eyes peeking up at him.
“Take me to your room,” There's no hiding the whine in your voice and he's grinning at the sound, hand clasping in yours as he pulls you the rest of the way into his room. Your back hitting the softness of his bed the second he's pushing the door closed.
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“Whoa!” You're shouting a bit too loud with the fact Jungkook is asleep in the room behind you. Taehyung's arms on either side of your body, caging you against the railing as you steer the remote control boat.
He's laughing at your surprise of the speed of the boat, chin resting on your shoulder as he watches you play. His fingers wrapping around yours to help you steer. Tae's soft curls tickling the side of your face.
You were woken up early this morning by melodic piano playing from downstairs. Hoseok stirring as the sounds became more consistent and it's not long before the both of you are standing from the bed. Finding Taehyung in the kitchen, you take a seat on the chair beside him, holding his plate as he cooks.
Following him out of the house and onto the dock as soon as you finish. It doesn't take much for him to hand over the controller, letting you steer as he watches. Holding your body close to his the entire time.
“Oh! It's Jin-Hyung!” Taehyung is pointing excitedly, gesturing a little way in front of you. Eyes squinted to make out the two figures jogging in your direction, a large smile lifting the corners of your lips as you wave your arm.
Whatever the conversation they're having comes to a pause when he's catching sight of you. A large grin taking over the elder's features as he waves back at you. “I'm gonna go say hi,” You tell Tae, who simply nods moving back to release you from his grasp.
Both him and Hoseok are seated at on the lawn chairs when you walk up, easily sliding into the vacant space on Jin's lap, fingers mussing up his slightly sweaty hair. His arm is easily sliding around your waist, continuing his conversation carelessly as if you hadn't just park your bum on his thigh.
Gentle fingers draw shapes and patterns against your leg as the three of you chat. Conversation bouncing easily between the three of you, body completely relaxed against Jin's body.
You've seen the least of Jin since you were arriving. He always seemed to be busy either fishing or cooking, the lesser part of you had started to think that maybe he was avoiding you – but the bigger, much smarter part of you knew that that wasn't the case.
Simply enjoying his free time in the wilderness, catching up on all the things that he's not normally able to do with his busy schedule. Either way, you're happy to be in his arm now. Despite how invested he's in the conversation with Hoseok, his attention is still on you.
The gentle brush of his fingers against your skin is proof enough. His chest is hard against your back, the slight dampness left on his shirt from his run making it easier for you to feel the ripples of his abs through the fabric.
You're only half-listening to their conversation at this point, simply enjoying the fresh air, finding comfort in being with them. At ease ever since you've arrived here. It was something about being outdoors, being around the people that you loved that made this trip so healing.
Not a single worry since you were stepping out of the car. And it was only getting better as the days went on.
It wasn't often that you were able to let loose like this with them. Always so busy, on the go and you were really just seeing them when you could. But now? You had all of them around you, free to breathe to be with you and you were honestly so happy.
Your thoughts are coming to a halt when you feel the lull in their conversation, attention on you that has your brow furrowing. Head tilting to the side so you're able to get a good look at Jin. He must sense your confusion, put together that you weren't exactly listening to his words because a soft laugh is falling from his lips.
“I said, I need to go shower.” It's then that you're noticing Hoseok has stood from his spot beside you, only a few steps away as he makes his way into the house. Sliding from his lap, Jin stands – a hand instantly wrapping around your waist. “I haven't showered yet,” Offering up the information in hopes he'll catch your drift.
Tiny smirk twitches on the corner of his lips, his grip tightening slightly around you to pull your body closer to his. “That so?” He says, feigning indifference but you knew for a fact the thoughts bouncing around his mind.
“Mhm. Sharing would make sense, right? Save time.” Although, you had all the time in the world right now. Jin is nodding his head in agreement without a moment of hesitance. “And water.” He adds, picking up the pace of his steps as the two of you enter the main house.
Only a few seconds of debate is had before Jin is filling up the tub, the sound of a bath more appealing to him than a shower. As soon as you're seeing him strip from his sticky clothes and lower himself into the bathwater, you're agreeing.
The tub isn't huge, not enough space for the two of you to sit side by side, so it's obvious where you'll be settling. Jin watches you with hooded eyes the entire time you're peeling your night clothes from your body. Basking in the slow way you pull your shirt over your head, tits bouncing slightly from the movement of your arms.
Then you're moving down to your shorts, tugging them down your long legs along with your panties. His eyes follow your hand the entire way, slowly dragging up to check out your neatly shaven mound. He's hard just from the sight of you standing over him, cock twitching as you lower yourself into the water – a leg on either side of him.
Jin is not pouncing on you the moment you're straddling him, despite how much he wants to – he has more restraint than that. His arms simply wrap around your body, pulling you in close as your head naturally finds his chest.
His skin is warm against your cheek, arms cradling you in nicely into his body. Hard cock pressed firmly against your thigh, but he pays it no mind. Instead, he's walking his finger up your back, twisting your damp strands of hair between his fingers.
“Are you enjoying yourself?” The vibration of his voice tickles your cheek, pushing a smile onto your features.
You nod, recounting the short time spent here. With them. “You guys seem so relaxed.”
Plump lips stretch into a smile before he's puckering to place a soft kiss to your forehead. “And what about you?” He's moving underneath you, leaning forward to reach behind you, but you don't make an effort to un-cling from his body.
“I'm relaxed too.” You answer just as he's leaning back a loofah in hand, drizzled in body wash. “That's good. I'm glad, baby.” He speaks softly to you, bringing the sponge toward your body to lather the soap into your skin.
He moves from your back to your arms to your front, the entire time soft hums falling from your lips – eyelashes fluttering from the gentle massage. His touch so light and soothing, you could see yourself falling asleep in his arms. Jin was always the most gentle with you.
Taking his time with washing you, he makes sure to lather your entire body – paying special attention to your breasts until he's positive their squeaky clean. The same amount of care is given to the apex of your thighs. You'd think he was just being thorough if it wasn't for the constant jump of his cock each time he was reaching an erogenous area.
Your body jolts when he's accidentally nudging your clit, thighs pressing together as a murmured cruse leaves your lips. Jin's head is lifting, brow arched as he searches your features. “Sensitive?” He asks with a smirk, bringing his hand down for an experimental swipe of his thumb over your clit.
Your hips buck this time, head nodding instantly as your hands on his torso tightened. “Very.” The constant, round the clock sex, had definitely affected you more than you liked to admit. And judging from the smirk on Jin's face, he's liking the idea of your new sensitivity.
But he doesn't push it, simply rinses the suds from your body before reaching for the shampoo bottle resting on the shelf. “Wash my hair?” Back straightening and fingers reaching for the bottle in an instant. You squirt a bit of shampoo into your palm before rubbing your hands together, leaning close to bury your hands in his hair.
At this new angle, his cock is pressed directly against your core. Just resting between your lips and you can't stop the gentle roll of your hips that has a groan falling from both of your lips. Large hands resting on either side of your rib cage, thumbs running over the underneath of your breasts as his eyes fluttered closed.
Jin has his head tipped back, lip tucked between his teeth as he allows himself to enjoy the feeling of your nails brushing against his scalp. Massaging the shampoo all throughout his head while at the same time twitching from the light stimulation between your legs.
“Fuck, you're getting so wet.” His voice so low, you're not sure if you imagined it. Sure you hadn't when you feel one of his hands drop, landing directly on your ass to push your hips close to his. This has the rough tip of his cock pressed right against your bundle of nerves.
You whimper, legs spreading slightly in hopes to feel more of him. But he keeps your hips steady in his grip. “My hair,” He reminds and you're only then noticing that your fingers had gone frozen between his strands.
Clean enough, you decide. Too needy for the teasing. Gathering enough water to rinse the shampoo from his hair, your haste pulling a chuckle from his lips. The hand left on your torso lifts, taking hold of your heavy breast; thumb swiping over your nipple quickly. 
At the same time, his hips are lifting his cock easily sliding between your wet folds, pulling a breathy moan from your lips. “Jin,” You pant, fingers curling in his soapy hair as your body bounces over him. Loving the slow drag of his cock against your clit.
“What do you want, princess?” With your head rested back on his shoulder, his lips are close to your ear. Their softness brushing against the shell of it with each word. “I want you.” You sigh, hand lifting to cover his on your breast. Guiding the movements of his fingers over your nipples, applying more pressure to his light touch.
You hear the smirk in his voice, not even having to lift your head to gauge the look on his face. “Want me to do what?” Huffing, a pout takes over your features. Whines are drawn out as you grind against him.
He acts as if he's not a mess from the friction. Doing a good job at suppressing his moans and the contortion of his features. What he can't hide, though, is the precum that dribbles from the tip of his cock onto your thigh. So hard and thick, ready to fuck into you.
Your legs tighten around his hips, shuddering at the new closeness. Hips slowing down so he can feel every bit of slick against his shaft. He bites his lip to hide his groan, but you're letting the moans fall from your lips freely. The sound hitting his ears and hardening his cock.
“F-fuck me,” You gasp when his tip catches at your entrance, but it's so quick you don't have the chance to bask in it before he's moving into the slow drag. “Please.” His fondness for manners hitting you last minute. Jin grins.
Fed up with the teasing, of you and himself, he's quickly lining his cock up with your dripping core. “This where you want me?” He mumbles, watching the frantic nod of your head. But he doesn't move.
“I don't know what that means,” Noticing the confusion that riddles your features. “Please, fuck me here.” You're panting out, legs opening wider for him as if to punctuate your words.
He's pushing forward without another word, thick shaft pushing through your walls, stretching you out with each inch until you're seated on his lap. The breath that you had been holding fans over his chest.
A hand reaching down, fingers rolling your clit around to loosen up your grip around him. It doesn't take long for your body to get used to the intrusion, walls unclenching just slightly – making it easier for him to pull out.
“Fuck, Jin!” You're crying out with the force he pushes into you. The snap of his hips causing your tits to bounce. He's quickly taking notice of that, arms tightening around your body as he tilts his head up – latching his lips around your nipple.
Wet tongue flicking against one side while his fingers lift to tug on the since neglected nipple. He doesn't slow the power of his thrusts, loud moans, and whimpers falling from your lips as you grind your hips down onto his.
Clit rubbing against his pubic bone in this angle, each brush having a pang of arousal shocking your senses. “Feel good, baby? You look so pretty bouncing on my cock.” Words delivered into your chest, but you hear him as if he's speaking directly into your ear.
“S-so good, Jin. Oh, fuck.” Your toes curl from the sudden deepness of his thrusts, tip of his cock brushing against the rough patch of skin deep inside of you. “Again, please.” Head bowed, your forehead pressed against his shoulder. Your thighs threaten to close from the immense pleasure, but it's impossible with the way he's wedged between them.
Jin pushes inside of you again, deeper. Pressing against your gspot deliberately this time and it has your body spasming. Back arching as shouted cruses leave your lips. Eyes squeeze so tight, you're seeing spots on the ceiling when you find the strength to open them.
Walls squeezing tight around him, slowing the movement of his thrusts but he's determined to push you over the edge your teetering on. Cock buried deep inside of you, he lets your hips roll against his. All the way, his fingers are finding that bundle of nerves, pinching it between his fingers.
“I'm gonna...” Words trailing as your lips find his, kissing him hungrily as your body grinds against him. The pace you created somehow faster, rougher than how he had been fucking you before. Jin's got your clit squeezed between his knuckles, and the quick tug has your body crashing down onto his. “I'm cumming, I'm...fuck, Jin!” The screech of your voice fills the bathroom, heard over the splash of bathwater, the slap of your skin as he lifts his hips to meet your thrusts.
Your body tightens around his, going rigid as your climax takes washes over you. Lashes fluttering as murmured words of thanks fall from your lips. Then all at once, you're going limp in his arms, breathing harsh while the aftershocks of your orgasm make your body twitch.
Lowering his hips, his cock slides out of you with ease. Glistening with your release, but still has hard as it was when he put it in. Most of the bubbles he had filled the bath with gone done, but some still coat his stomach and legs.
The moment the fog in your brain is clearing, you're sliding from his lap. His head is lifting at your sudden movement, hand dropping to catch yours just as you're reaching for his shaft. “It's okay,” He assures you with an easy smile, but you're shaking your head.
“I want to.” You pout, fingers closing around his cock to give him one powerful thrust. His eyes are rolling, head falling against the tile of the bathroom. A grin spreading across your lips as you lean forward, lips wrapping around his tip.
He hisses at the wetness of your tongue rolling over him, a hand lifting to tangle his fingers in your wet hair. Hands finding his thighs, you lower your head slowly taking as much of him as you can into your throat. “Fuck, just like that, baby...” He encourages with a sigh.
Cheeks hallowing, you drag your head back before pushing forward. Managing to get more of him into your mouth this time around, nose pressed against his pubic bone. A low grunt leaves his lips as your swallowing around him, teary eyes lifting to look at him.
Jin looks so hot above you. Struggling to keep his head lifted to watch you, teeth cutting into his lower lip. Brows creased with pleasure. “Fuck, princess.” He sighs, at the feeling of your closing around his balls.
He's gasping when your fingers squeeze around them, your head bobbing quickly over him; tongue dragging over his shaft. You ignore the bit of drool that leaks out of the corners of your mouth, concentrating fully on the sounds of his groans as you bring him closer to his release.
It's when his hips start to lift that you know he's close, thrusting shallowly into your mouth. The grip in your hair tightens and he's pushing your head further down. A hand finds his hips, slowing his hurried thrusts as your throat restricts around him. Lips wrapped tight around your base as he spills out.
Jumbled words of praise fall from his lips as you take in all he's giving you, swallowing down every last drop of his thick cum until his hips are sinking back into the water. Pulling off of him with a loud pop, you show off your empty mouth. Loving the way a grin lifts onto his features.
“You're so perfect,” He sighs, sitting up to reach for the back of your neck. He pulls your lips to his, enveloping you in the sweetest of kisses that have a flutter rising in your chest.
Jin is helping you out of the tub once the bathwater has gone cold, pressing loving kisses to the side of your face as he wraps your body in a plush towel. With his own towel wrapped around his waist, his arms are wrapping around your hips.
Walking you out of the bathroom with your body cradled in his. Laughter can be heard from downstairs, the boys talking loudly amongst each other. The sound, mixed with the gentle kisses from Jin's plump lips against your skin has happiness settling in your chest.
Oh, how you wished this week would never end.
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- seven days in the forest spent with your seven boyfriends while they film their upcoming reality tv show. there’s no telling what the eight of you will get into when the cameras are off.
⬷ masterlist ⤖
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2K notes · View notes
dilucslittleangel · 3 years
Text
𝐀 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐈𝐥 𝐃𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐞
Hello!! Usually I wanted to write this same thing with Scaramouche until unfortunately his canon past came out and I had to delete the whole thing- so now, while Dottore will sure take some time to appear in the game, I'm taking my chance to write how I think his past maybe looked like.
Some sentences towards the end have been taken off his artifact!
Word count: 1584
I'd like to say this may or may not fit into canon!! (however I wouldn't mind if this became canon)
So. Where to we begin?
I like to think Dottore had a golden child syndrome from a young age.
Most parents want to see their children thrive and flourish. In fact, the desire to see your child succeed is a normal desire of parenting. Moreover, even good parents sometimes have unrealistic expectations for their children.
But good child syndrome can happen when a child consistently reinforces their parent’s desires for them. These children don’t just want to satisfy their parents- they feel obligated and responsible for doing so. It becomes a significant part of their identity, meaning it affects their overall development. Either one or two of the parent role, are naracisstic.
A healthy child usually wants to succeed and make their parents proud. Golden children take it up a few notches. They may present as anxious children early in life. Similarly, they experience immense anxiety and guilt when they fail to meet certain expectations.
Despite how a golden child syndrome usually develops in a child, it was a little different in this case.
Dottore's father did not give him lots of attention at all. Just like the insane, crazy doctor / scientist he is himself now, so was his father. His father was a mad man, a man who's experiments are more important to him than his own family.
The young boy often watched his father, watching experiments a young boy like him should not see. All his father's attention went to the experiments, did he have to do the same?
The young lad did various of things, but they all were helpless. Nothing made his father even look at him, heck not even at the dinner table they talked. However he didn't want to stop trying. He had to keep on going, so he thought.
His mother? Dottore was just 7 years old when his mother started to feel worse and worse everyday. So worse even she had no other choice but to rest in bed, having a doctor visit every week as her husband was no doctor, just a scientist who couldn't care less. Why did they even marry?
Dottore brought his mother meals every day - at least whenever a helpful aunt came over. Dottore pretty much looked up to the doctor that came over every week. Did he also become so clever and brilliant to maybe help his mother? He sure thought so.
Day and night the young boy spend hours of looking into medical books, learning anything he possibly could. Often would he fall asleep on the ground, all exhausted from studying. He wanted to help his mother.
Besides studying medical stuff and trying to do anything that would make his father give any attention, he'd also spend other day and nights to get the best of grades, always did he bring good ones home. Never would you see anything below 95 points. Dottore didn't even think about having friends, they only were in his way and annoying. He had no time for friends, he only had himself.
Everytime he brought good grades home, he would bring the paper to his mother. She was more than proud of him. „One day you'll be such a handsome man, helping out so many people.. You make your mother really proud..”the sweet voice spoke. He couldn't let his mothers expactions down now could he?
More and more years have passed. Years of studying, years of writing good grades, years of wanting his father to also be proud of him. Dottore was under a pressure of making his parents be nothing, he didn't want to be a good-for-nothing, - a pressure he put himself under. He just wanted to mean something to both of his parents. He wanted to be worth living. Something cracked in the mind of his.
One day, the boy came home in the cold times of the years but he had great news, he scored the best once more in a big test, wanting to share the great news to his mother. He hadn't seen his mother since yesterday, he was happy to see his mother again. „Mother! Mother! Look!”he said proudly as he ran upstairs, he didn't even put his backpack down. „..Mother?”he asked as he entered the room. He walked over to the bed and looked at his mother. Her eyes were closed, chest not rising nor sleeping. „...?” he gently shook his mother, having his hand on the mother's arm, he felt the coldness. The heater was on, how could she get so cold? It got him worried.
„Mother??”he asked loudly, keeping on shaking her till he heard it knock on the door. He put his test paper on the bed and walked downstairs. He opened the door, looking at who was knocking. It was the doctor, wanting to check on the mother as always. „Uhm Doctor.. I don't think mother is feeling well.... She's quiet and so cold..” he spoke. The doctor looked at him. „..?..”the doctor quickly walked upstairs, of course did the boy walk after him. Dottore stood at the door frame, watching the man.
The doctor stood there silently for a few seconds, shrugging a bit together as he suddenly left the room, walking downstairs. „Where's your father kid??” he asked. „I..don't know. He was suddenly gone one day 2 years ago or so..”he answered. „..what?? Then where's your aunt, let me call her, boy.”
Dottore didn't quite understand what was going on but he knew nothing good happen. He looked back at his mother. He walked up to her, climbing onto the bed and hugging his beloved mother. He brushed away the long dark blue hair. Silently, he sank his head on the mothers chest, closing those pure red eyes. He widened his eyes a little as he heard no heartbeat. „...Mother..”. What a shame, he was just supposed to turn 14 in a few days.
Many many more years have passed. While he grew up along his aunt, Dottore had not given up what he did before. Now he had to make his aunt all proud, now that he's the oh so poor failure that couldn't save his mother hm? At least he thought that way, again.
Now being proud 20 years, living on his own in a old lab, doing various of experiments no one would like to recall. He'd just become the madman his father once was. The word "failure" does not exist for him. He cannot be a failure once more, after all.. He's such a big genius. How could a hardworking child with a great smile go to a madman with a short temper who's plans cannot go wrong?
So judgemental the god of his homeland Fontaine, so the people. Fontaine's people were disgusted of the man, afraid of him, they wanted him gone.
Chased away with pitchforks, clubs and angry words, he took fled to the all famous Sumeru Academia where he continued his crazy studies and experiments. He had so many logical theories, yet no one wanted to hear them. One would not even like to look at him. He truly was sick of everyone, of everything.
Years later again, once more the man took fled. Next day awoken, the social reject's legs have given up. Falling into the sand, with a little lake aside, he took a look at his reflection. Half of his face had gotten burn scars, had the man's charm left his side too? Hand covering half the man's face, he remembered it all.
A night of a harmless experiment with potions and fire had kept the man awake. Yet, the man had been tired. Sitting at the table, where he rest his head on his palm, the man closed his eyes. Dottore silently listened to the liquid heating up under the hottest flames. Maybe him closing his eyes was a terrible mistake which he soon got to suffer for.
The liquid had been heated up too much, the man should've turned off the fire by now but he soon was about to reach the beautiful dream realm. Glass exploding and hot liquid splashing against half his face awoke the man. Quickly the man stood up and pressed the towel against his face, sharp breaths escaping, silent cries filling the room, free hand turning off the fire.
How foolish of him, hm?
The man shook his head and closed his eyes. A grip on his shoulder made the man turn around. „..Fatui?”
"Merely an enhanced human? If your great nation can furnish me with sufficient resources and ample time, I could even manufacture that which you would call a god. What say you?"
True indeed. First of the fatui has tracked him down. In the desert that shone bright like liquid gold, he inquired of the Snezhnayan diplomat:
"Will you treat me like the Academia did? Will you call me a monster, a madman?"
"Or will you treat me as my hometown did, and chase me away with pitchforks and clubs...?"
...
"Good. Then, we are now in partnership."
"As for the matter of your title — what do you say to this..."
Taken completely by surprise by the sheer irony of the title he was given, the young man burst into hysterical laughter.
If you'd know ask the man about his theories and experiments, shall you see a sparkle of excitement...
...
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(Drawing of Dottore in the age of four. From right to left -> "Daddy" "That's me!" "Mommy")
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attemptinghaikyuu · 3 years
Text
Fake Dating: Tsukishima
A/n: This bastard could literally push me into the ocean, in which he’d still be the saltiest thing around, and I’d be like “wow... I love him..”
G/n reader
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Tsukishima Kei
You’re childhood friends with him right alongside Yams
And I don’t know what these little kids were bullying you over but after going in for a punch and getting shoved back, Tsuki stepped in
He taunted that the kid couldn’t handle the hit you gave him and after the group ran away, you just sorta followed Tsukishima
You’re friendship took off from there
Sticking to a group of three: you, Yams, and Tsuki did everything together
Such as! Shit talking people like no one’s business :3
OKAY, jokes aside! It’s an awesome friend group
You three have weekend movie nights where you’ll either watch Jurassic Park or bake
Tsuki’s really good at making sweets
Yams and you try to do it like him, but it’s never as good
He’ll tease both of you about it
Don’t worry though, he still eats what you two make because he cares and appreciates all the work you both put in to try to get it tasting good
He’ll also always help if you’re struggling in school
Tsukishima will laugh and say it’s sad you couldn’t figure out that concept in class, then he’ll have a two hour study session to help you understand it😐
He’s the worst no he’s not
You swing by their practice to get little pointers on homework sometimes and Tsuki will immediately help you out
The first time you did this, Hinata screamed and had to be held back from throwing a volleyball at Tsukishima’s head
Hinata was having flashbacks to painful tutoring sessions with him
Specifically sessions where Tsuki would only explain things once before telling him he was on his own
The favoritism is great
Tsuki really saw you and Yams and was like “Ya, I’d kill for them.”
During one of your impromptu visits to your friend’s practice, Noya and Tanaka start complaining about how they don’t have girlfriends and you can just tell Tsuki’s heard this a thousand times
Yams is ignoring it like the champ he is✊
But when after a few minutes have passed, and they’re still talking about it... and are getting louder and closer, you can just tell something bad is gonna happen
And it does, when Noya gets so into his rant about cute girls, that he jumps right into Tsuki
Noya... you can’t rolling thunder your way outa this one
You spare a short glance to your other friend who similarly to you, is sporting a grim look
Turning back to Tsuki, wondering if you need to save Noya’s life, you jump when an arm wraps around your shoulders
“Speaking of dating, you should understand that some people are already in relationships and would rather not hear your sad droning on about not being in one.”
Your brain literally does not connect with what Tsuki has just said for a solid minute, and so the look on your face is the most unconvincing thing ever
The team is shocked and unsure what to believe
I mean, Tsuki looks very serious and even a little smug, but you’re looking like you’ve been slapped in the face
Tsuki picks up on your uncertainty over what he just said
Grabbing your hand, he explains that neither of you had planned to tell anyone for awhile
So finally getting a grip on the situation, you turn to the team and give an easy smile, leaning into Tsukishima’s side to sell his lie
Noya and Tanaka are in an uproar over the apparent dating status of their junior
Suga congratulates the two of you and soon after practice picks up again
Not without pissed off tears from the two second years who had caused this though
Tsuki looks very satisfied from that smh
Yams pulls you to the side and you try to figure out what the heck you should do with him
However, Tsuki already has a plan and he explains it to you on the walk home from volleyball
Whenever the team are around, specifically Noya and Tanaka, you’ll act like a couple
It’s kinda crazy and you’re not sure about it
But you do want to do something for your friend, so you’re decide to go with the unconventional idea
Yams is laughing his ass off watching his two friends fall into the weirdest routine possible
You find yourself wrapping yourself around Tsuki in hugs whenever you spot his teammates
You’ve also started the habit of dramatically calling out to him anytime you see him with someone on the team
Tsuki knows you’re messing with him and so now he’s doing the same, except slightly quieter
Neither of you are super into lovey dovey nicknames, maybe it’s having known each other for so long or you and Tsuki just not being those kinds of people
You both have a ton of embarrassing and high key rude names you call each other instead~
But you start to look forward to hearing him call them out
It had always been you, Tsuki, and Yams before
And while Yamaguchi was still your best friend, things were feeling different lately
Tsuki was starting to spend a lot more time with just you, and there were times when he’d get this soft look in his eyes
You kinda liked it
But it’s not like you were gonna tell him that
In fact, it felt like things were getting a bit out of hand
Was it not wrong how your heart had started skipping a beat when your friend gave you silly head bonks?
Weren’t you using him? You were just supposed to pretend to date him. These feelings blossoming inside your heart we’re ruining your friendship with the person who had always been there for you...
It had been four months since the whole thing had started and you just couldn’t do it anymore
Avoiding Tsuki made you feel like a genuine monster
His look of hurt when you ignored him and left him behind you, choosing to instead look down and keep walking to class
He tried to talk to you during lunch, but when he saw you weren’t going to budge, he backed off with a scowl and concern written all over his face
This lasted for a couple weeks; in which your days consisted of ignoring Tsuki, talking to Yams, and trying to ignore his questions as to why you were ghosting Tsuki
It was frustrating telling Yams that you wanted space, and the dam that had been building up in the time you had been stewing in your feelings, was finally bursting
“I just need to get things back to normal!” You shout, turning your back from your friend, not noticing the second person who had walked up
“I let it get out of hand, it wasn’t supposed to- I wasn’t supposed to feel that way.” You sigh, putting your face into your hands
An awkward pause later and Yam asks hesitantly “What way..?”
“Argghhh! I wasn’t supposed to feel like I was actually dating him! I wasn’t supposed to like him like that!!” You sigh again, pulling yourself up, intending to leave as quickly as possible now that everything was out in the open
“You seriously avoided me for that?” You feel a gentle bop on your head, “Y/n, did you actually think I didn’t feel the same?” The hand on your head was ruffling your hair now
Turning your face upwards, Tsuki’s eyes and slightly blushing face meet yours
Yams laughs lightly, patting his back, and you hear his quiet “finally~” as he retreats to the school building
Turning your attention back to Tsuki, uncertainty leaves you questioning what you’re supposed to do
He notices tho
Taking your hand with a tsk, he gives you a smirk “I can’t believe you’re making me do all the work in this relationship..” and then with unsureness you barely ever saw- added “if you want it to be a relationship.”
A giddiness warming you, one that had been missing in the time you spent away from Tsuki, you replied with an easy smile and leaned into his side enjoying the matching smile that spread across his face
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duskwoodraven · 3 years
Text
Okay! 👏👏 I’d say it’s time for the long after episode MWAF theory/pick apart everything! Of course this will be littered with lots of spoilers so don’t read if you haven’t finished ep 8 yet!
Now as a sort of disclaimer, I know that some people are preparing to throw the Richy is the MWAF theory out the window, which I do not blame them for by this point. The game has screamed over and over again that Richy is gone yet I can’t help but hold on to my theory to the bitter end.😅 I hope everyone has an open mind to what I have to say on the matter. Maybe there will be some points or reminders to help you find your own take on the topic as I explain my own thoughts in the process.
———
First of all, one of the things that has bothered me since the ending is that they still haven’t explained this very basic fact about the MWAF. How in the world did the MWAF know about the group’s investigations and MC’s involvement?
I touched upon this in my last couple theories where I pushed for Richy’s guiltiness by explaining that for the MWAF to know that Jessy would be out on a walk with us, or to know Richy wouldn’t be at Rogers Garage when he was marked, or even knowing we agreed to help this investigation at all, he would need access to the group chats. He would need to know basic information about the groups whereabouts and plan according to it. Not answering this basic fact would leave a gaping hole in the plot.
Micheal Hanson by what we know, left Duskwood more then a year ago, essentially a missing person in the eyes of Duskwood. The group apparently didn’t even know his name so none of them would have told him directly what they were up to. The only way he might be getting information about anything is from Phil, who was being told everything by Jessy herself. That might be plausible if you squint, but yet we know Jessy and Phil’s relationship was even worse in the beginning episodes, I highly doubt Jessy would tell Phil much about herself and the investigation and there is no saying if Phil would even think to move this information along to Michael if he was even in contact with the old bar owner at the time. Also we received a call from the MWAF the very first time we talked to Dan, waaaay in the beginning episodes, we didn’t even know who Phil was at that point, yet the MWAF knew who we were almost immediately.
Then I played with the idea that the MWAF was using an encryption like Alan was or using a spy mode like Jake is, to read everything secretly, but that idea was tossed out too. Michael was a bar owner not a hacker or police investigator, there is little reason to believe he’d know how to do something like that, nor would anyone in his life teach him how to do it either.
(Also as a bonus point for why the MWAF might be Richy, the MWAF didn’t seem to be aware that Jessy and Thomas were heading to the house at all, he still had his candles lit and “art” up so he couldn’t have prepared for their arrival and hide. He might have only noticed Thomas and Jessy where there when he saw the car. This took place after we removed Richy from the chat as well so...)
Secondly, the MWAF’s motivation, why would Michael wait 10 years to take revenge for his daughter and why is he mainly attacking the group over it? For benefit of the doubt, Michael is the few suspects who has a possible motive that makes some sort of sense, yet it’s such a drastic leap in logic for him to attack the group at all.
If Michael is the MWAF and he’s attacking people for revenge, then why would he take Hannah, who we know feels guilty over Jennifer’s death and seems to be working to find out the truth about the case, and kidnap her. She’s trying to bring justice to his daughter, so why would Jennifer’s own father try and interrupt that process? Even if Hannah somehow helped cause Jennifer’s death (reminder that Hannah would have been a child by this point) we know she wasn’t the true killer, it was a man who hit her with a car and took her body into the woods. If Michael really wanted further revenge, killing that man should have been on the top of his priorities, not Hannah.
The hostility he has towards the group is also strange, for a man who cares only for revenge, he seems oddly determined to wipe out everyone, that sounds more like a man who is afraid of being caught then a man who just wants to take down the people who hurt his daughter in the past. That doesn’t sound like the role of a grieving father to me.
And once again he has waited a long time to seek out this revenge anyway, this man was apparently a sheep herder of sorts according to Lily before he disappeared, why come back at all? A parent who lost their child will never lose the pain of that child’s absence, but you’d think the burning embers of revenge would simmer down after 10 years of time and reflection, what could have triggered him to come back? And why would he pick the most foolish spot to set up his base? He should know he was suspected in the past, setting up camp at his own house will easily connect him to the crime as Lilly had demonstrated by throwing out this theory at the end of the episode.
I think it’s more possible for someone else to use Michael Hanson’s house as a coverup to throw off suspicion of himself. Yet who knows? Maybe he is foolish enough to do that lol.
Thirdly, the inconsistency of the legend, the MWAF is not doing a good job at being consistent. He is not taking the people he marked at the first moon of the year and he is also killing them. The original book did not state the people who are taken will die, simply that they will disappear, yet the MWAF supposedly set out to kill Richy, but doesn’t kill Hannah.
And we now know Hannah is most likely alive at this moment because the MWAF stated so in the phone call he was going to kill her. I don’t think he’s lying because it would honestly benefit him more to kill Hannah and tell the group that he did to destroy the groups moral completely rather than keeping her alive.
With these inconsistencies, why should we trust the rules of the legend, they seem to be more like guidelines for the MWAF then actual facts.
Heck, when we talked to Darkness, he told us that the MWAF takes his victims to kill them, something not stated in the book at all.
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From this, the book may very well be wrong and unreliable, perhaps the MWAF is following a different legend, a different version of the tale that Darkness might know about. Either way, it would be unwise to connect Micheal to the MWAF simply because of what the legend says until we know why these inconsistencies are taking place.
Basically what I am trying to say, the group is accepting Michael as guilty too fast for my taste, the only facts we have for Michael being the one who did it is that he’s 1. The father of Jennifer 2. The legend we first read was about a father taking revenge 3. We found the MWAF’s “art” inside Michaels old house. 4. Not many people know where Michael is.
That is enough evidence to have someone arrested and investigated, not to convict them of a crime.
———
So do I still think Richy is guilty? Well... somewhat.
I still firmly believe Richy has the most evidence pointed to him and would have the ability to execute the actions we have seen the MWAF take, he would have had access to group chats, his body is still missing like I figured it would be, and he has the knowledge of Duskwood’s history and landscape. He truly is a perfect fit in many ways in my own opinion except for how he fits into this legend and what his motivation could possibly be. Plus the fact that his hat was bloody when it was found, I don’t know if Richy would be capable of harming himself on purpose to make everything more convincing.
All and all, questions still need to be answered and I don’t want to be too hasty in declaring who the MWAF truly is until we can rip the mask off of his face and get him behind bars for good 😌
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I’ll be interested to hear your takes on this below, and I’ll probably expand on this conversation when I think of more relevant points or to explain my idea more in-depth if anyone is confused over this post, thanks for reading til the end! 💛
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solcheeky · 3 years
Text
our secret
summary: fratboy!donghyuck turns paperboy! when he needs some extra money for college stuff like textbooks. he thinks delivering way outside of campus will save face from being a measly paperboy, but little does he know, the front yard light he hits (and breaks) belongs to his significantly well off classmate... (3k)
warnings: strong language here and there genre: enemies to ..friends? a/n: I’ve merged these two requests together! meaning I have and haven’t included aspects of each, hope that’s okay! (2021 edit: hi I found this in my drafts from last year and idk why I never posted it so yeah, here we go)
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“You’re late.” Your professor calls out as Donghyuck fails to sneak into lecture hall unnoticed
You sigh, you’d think he’d at least look ashamed to step foot into class at such a late time
You suppose with Lee Donghyuck, things were always different
The boy winces comically, inhaling between his teeth brazenly, and students stifle their laughter
Then with a simple raise of his hand, he gestures a flimsy ‘my bad’ and a ‘continue, continue’ before charmingly wiping the sweat off his brow and sitting in the empty seat saved by his friends
The professor frowns, “you’re late.” He repeats as if to encourage the young rebel to at least say something
“I’m Haechan,” the rebel says under his breath, flopping his backpack onto the desk, “not ‘late’” a sarcastic smile stretching his lips as his friends snicker at his dumb joke
You roll your eyes, he was unbelievable.
“Alright, alright, that’s enough.” The professor claps his hands. “And Mr. Late,” he emphasizes, “don’t think you’re getting away with anything.”
So he drops it on him like a bomb: “For the rest of this week, meet me in the office an hour before classes start.”
The grin on Donghyuck’s face immediately wipes off his face and his heart drops to his stomach
“Prof!” He whines back
Karma, you think. That’s what he gets for being so up his own ass
It wouldn’t kill him to wake up a little bit earlier. He relied so much on his ‘so loveable’ personality and popularity, you couldn’t stand it
If you even attempted to do half the things he got away with, you’d be expelled by now
You drop your pen and lean back into your seat with a sigh, you had no choice but to sit back and watch him waste valuable lesson time over this insolence
“You can’t do that!” Seriously, Donghyuck would do anything else other than doing extra hours in the morning
“And you can’t be late to my lectures all the time. What are you not getting here Mr. Late?”
“But I can’t.” Donghyuck immediately regrets saying that out loud like that; the vulnerability in his voice a little too close to home
“And, why not?” Your professor bounces back thankfully brushing past the genuine desperation in his students voice
The reason why not was something ‘Lee Haechan’ couldn’t say out loud. If he did, he’d lose everything
So instead, he sticks with his usual tongue-in-cheek mannerism, “because I don’t want to.”—A sneaky beat around the bush on his part because, little did everyone know, Lee Haechan, the star player and everyone’s favorite goofball, was a measly paperboy
Why?
Because he was dumb broke.
It was a job that required him waking up extra early to race around neighborhoods on his bike, something he had to do regardless rain or sun just tossing as many papers onto people's front porches,
Something he already was finding so much of a difficulty doing: racing to class and acting as if his muscles weren’t burning or the fabric under is backpack wasn’t drenched in sweat
But now this ‘meet me in the office an hour earlier than classes start’ bullshit
That would mean he’d have to wake up even earlier than he already did!
“Doesn’t matter if you don’t want to, you’re going to.” Is the last thing your professor says on that topic before swiftly moving on.
Oh to be born with a silver spoon in his mouth, is what he always thinks as he cycles his rounds in the wealthy neighborhood
If there was one thing he didn’t have, it was this. 
He looks at the blaringly affluent homes that surrounded him and heaves another sigh, the same road he rides every morning (and now this extra early morning) effortlessly reminding him of how absolutely poor his ass was
Grumbling under his breath in a tantrum about his professor in his head, he angrily hurls newspapers onto doorsteps
It was the fact that he had to deal with this at ungodly hours in the morning—as if this job wasn’t already enough
Donghyuck frustratedly hurls another newspaper, but this time around, it shoots straight into someone's front garden post light, knocking it over and completely disrupting the perfect order in which the other trail of foot lights were set in
What the heck?
Immediately, he hits the breaks, his tires screeching loudly in the quietness of the early morning
Profanities frantically leave his lips as he hurriedly drops his bike onto the sidewalk in a clatter, and runs ahead to see the damage he’s made
The lamp was perfectly struck to its side.
Well, that’s just great—he can’t afford college textbooks let alone the broken path lamp on some rich persons lawn
So, his first thoughts are to pull it back into the place, completely irrational, but it’s the only thing that runs through his mind when he’s on a time crunch to get off private property
Except, the damn thing is stuck; literally cemented into this lopsided tilt
Man, Donghyuck swears he could tug all day and it wouldn’t get back into place
It was like the universe was having fun being against him
You, on the other hand, were watching this boy struggle to fix your light back into place from the comfort of your window.
He looked ridiculously cute trying to tug that lamp back into place, curled almost into a ball in the middle of your lawn, his eyebrows sewn into a line of frustration and lips pursed
You knew he was your paperboy from the start of his laborious cycling trips, but did Donghyuck know he was delivering papers to his very own classmate every morning?
You guess not.
...Until now
You knock three times from behind the glass, successfully capturing the boy's attention before mouthing, “what are you doing?”
The agitation on his features drops and immediately his eyes widen at your familiar face
Except, he isn’t given much time to reply before the lamp between his fingers gives in to his weight and recoils back smacking him right in the nose
“Holy shit!” You forget you’re only in socks when you open your front door and race towards him
Donghyuck automatically drops the (now broken) piece of your lawn to cup his bruising face
“Ah- Fucking shit- Ow!” He bends forwards on his knees into the grass, forehead pressing into your lawn before he rocks back up again to scrunch a deep frown up towards the sky. “Jesus-”
“Are you okay?!” Dropping to your knees, you place a cautious hand to his back
“Yes.” He groans into his palms, rocking back down towards the grass again
He definitely wasn’t.
But he needed to get out of there quick; there’s no way he’d let you recognize him
Yeah, you weren’t that stupid.
“Let me see,” you carefully bring him up by his shoulders, your head leaning down towards his to see the damage
“No- Ow! Crap-”
“You’re bleeding!” You try to pry at his wrists but he rips away from your hands
That’s when Donghyuck finally looks up to scowl at you; a frown stitched hard into into his forehead, eyes watering, hair all ruffled, but most alarmingly—a scarlet ribbon of blood running down his wrists
“I’m okay.” He muffles into his hands.
And wow did he look like an idiot.
“Sorry about your-” 
“Jesus Hyuck, you’re not fooling anyone.”
The boy visibly stiffens at your choice of his name
“Haechan.” You quickly correct yourself
He gulps
You glance away
“Let’s just put an ice-pack on that.” Then you’re dragging him into your house
“Quit moving!” You dab a wet cloth across the cut above Donghyuck’s lip
“Well, it hurts.” He tries to complain without moving his mouth too much
You purse your lips and Donghyuck attempts to adjust the ice pack on his nose despite your warning
With a sigh, you take his wrist and bring his arm down to his lap, “Hyuck, if you keep-” you feel him stiffen under your touch. “Haechan.” You keep doing that. “Sorry.”
He just diverts his eyes elsewhere and mumbles, “It’s whatever.” under his breath
So, you bring your attention back to cleaning his cut, your cheeks heating up at the thought of how much of a creep you probably were by calling him by his old name
“I’m-”
“Y/n.” His voice was a little clearer this time, a soft frown on his face, “I remember.”
He kind of wished you didn’t though. This was so embarrassing.
You pull the cloth away from his reddening cheeks, that annoyed flustered look on his face pulling at the nostalgia in you
It was only natural to call him ‘Hyuck’ because you had been going to the same school as him for years
Ever since you were kids, through highschool and now somehow, still impossibly in college, you’ve been with him
You almost had every class with the loud idiot back when he was still ‘Donghyuck’
For as long as you could remember, he had always been the center of gravity in every class, his punchy personality and almost too friendly way of speaking easily giving him the ‘popular’ tag 
It made you have a bit of a crush on him when you were younger, but who didn’t? 
Now, you found him irritating. 
The only thought you had about him consisted of wishing he’d stop using his status to his advantage and just come to class right instead of wasting your lesson time
“Can I ask you something?” He dodges your hand for a second, eyes looking down as if to hide away his embarrassment 
“Sure,” you naturally reach forward again to dab his cut, but he stops you at the wrist
“Can you,” you lift your focus away from his lip to the slight grimace on his face, “not tell anyone about this?”
You blink at him, and a muscle works in his jaw
“Seriously, people can’t know about this.” 
But you simply pull your wrist out of his grip and go back to tending to his wound
You hadn’t told anyone since you’d found he was your paperboy, and that was weeks ago. So why was he so worked up?
Hadn’t the situation already called for it anyway? Who in their right mind would tell anyone after this? For you, it was obviously common courtesy
But before you can reply, he tilts his face into your line of vision. “Are you listening to me?” The frown on his face deepens and he instantly brings the ice pack in this hand over his face at the sudden pain through his nose
That attitude of his easily drove you crazy.
“That was a stupid question.” You give up on cleaning the blood on his lip and push the ice-pack deeper into his face, “if you used that stupid, egotistical brain of yours-”
“Ah! Ow- Ooow-”
“Maybe you’d realize I’ve never told anyone about your paper rounds before.”
“Ow!” He wrenches away from your frustrated grip, the look on his face just as annoyed as you. “You’re going to break my nose!” 
“You broke my yard lamp!”
He looks at you with a huff; a slight puff to his reddened cheeks, furrowed brows and tears ever so slightly brimming his eyes
If that lamp didn’t cost about five times the price of his bike he’d say something back.
You easily read that off his expression
“You don’t have to pay for it.” You start to pack up the first-aid kit you’d opened up on your coffee table just to not look at him in the eyes when you say that
As much as he irritated you, you weren’t that petty
“Really?” The genuine doubt in his face relaxing the annoyance in you a little
“Yeah.” Money wasn’t a problem for you, it was his attitude
But the casualness Donghyuck catches in your tone reminds him of the starkly different worlds you live in
So he musters it up within himself to at least show some kind of gratitude, “...Thanks.” 
And it’s almost inaudible when he says it under his breath like that
But you catch it as you pull a bandaid out of the box before you close it
“On one condition.” You turn to look at him dead in the eyes.
One of his brows slightly quirk up in interest
“Hand.”
He opens his palm to you and you purposely slap the bandaid into it.
“Stop coming late to class, you’re wasting everyone's time.”
Instantly, his jaw goes slack. 
Unable to say anything he stares as you rise from your seat in content, first aid kit in hand, before walking behind the sofa towards the kitchen
You didn’t have to say it like that.
He swings an elbow over the back of the couch, “Sorry for bringing you the paper every morning!” Maybe he was a little offended
You turn on your heels to face him, noticing the bandaid now crushed in the fist of the hand he had over the couch and ice-pack abandoned on the coffee table (the full glory of his bruising nose and cut lip on show)
“I said ‘don’t be late’ not ‘don’t bring me the paper’.” Then you disappear into the kitchen.
Donghyuck has to close his eyes for a second, exhaling a frustrated sigh before standing up in a huff and following your footsteps.
How could you say something so insensitive? Yeah, maybe he broke your lamp or whatever, but he tried to fix it!
And sure, he was sort of bleeding over your couch and used your ice pack, but he totally said thanks
“That’s just- You’re so,” He’s standing at the doorway by the time you’re done, bandaid still stuck in the frustrated grip of his hand
“So what, Hyuck?”
Seeing the all star, team favorite class clown crumble at the simple play of his old nickname made something in your stirr
“Insufferable.” 
You? Your lips turn up in amusement. He was the insufferable one, you almost scoff
“You and your big house, fancy first aid kit, stupid lamps on your lawn,” he takes a bold step forward at every reason until he’s one step to being chest to chest, “I’m just trying to do my job, and go to class.”
You look at him straight in the eyes. “Well, you’re hardly succeeding at either of those.”  
You...
Donghyuck runs his tongue across his inner cheek before biting down on his bottom lip in a brazen attempt to act unfazed by that fatal side comment
A coppery, metal taste pricks his tongue, and he realizes he’s reopened up the cut on his lip again
But that was the least of his worries. You had no idea what it was like being broke. If there was anything he didn’t have, it was everything you did. You probably couldn’t even fathom the type of shit he’s had to go through and even more so: hide.
The way you acted as if his biggest problem in life was as easy as brushing the dust of his shoulder just pissed him off.
“Have you ever thought of waking up earlier?” 
Ah, there it was again, Donghyuck wants to roll his eyes
“I sleep late.” He says dryly.
“Then sleep earlier.”
“I have other shit to do, like study.” 
“Then, manage your time better.” If he really wanted to ‘do his job’ and ‘get to class’, he could’ve done it by now.
He was always messing about with friends and organizing parties, stories spread around like wildfire on campus about the things he occupied himself with other than ‘having shit to do like studying’, you weren’t stupid
It was by the end of high school, when you began to see him as a person who valued himself with the amount of friends knew or the amount of partying he did
And at first you were mad that he had the things you never did, but seeing him easily get washed up by it all made you think maybe you didn’t need what he had
Now you figure his ego was so far up his ass he couldn’t even sit right—that’s probably why he couldn’t cycle to class on time
“And don’t use your bike, you’re clearly slow on it.” You tack on.
“I don’t even have a car!” He snaps back
He made you want to pull out your own hair. “Jeez, first this, then that, god Hyuck, you keep-”
“You say that as if it were so easy,” his words overlapping yours as you continue
“-making up so much bullshit because the only thing you really put effort into is your image,” Your words running over his too.
“-if I could get a car, don’t you think I’d have one already?”
“Then I’ll just take you!” That puts both of you to a stop.
“So, quit giving me stupid excuses to ruin my lectures every day.” If the things money could buy were what he needed, you had it
You snatch the bandaid out of his fist, rip it open and harshly stick it across his bottom lip. It was annoying to see him ignore it like that.
“You usually finish an hour before class right?” You frown up at him
Donghyuck opens his mouth then closes it again.
“Because if you reroute and make me the last house, I’ll take you with me by car.”
“What?” He manages to say. What the hell just happened?
a/n: okay so there was a lot more to the story and character development but it ran too long I had to cut it off bc I cba to edit lmao 
also I seemed to have gone way out of the request lines near the end my bad my bad, but I at least hope you’ve enjoyed it! thoughts???? a part 2?
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stargazer-balladeer · 4 years
Text
What kind of boyfriend are they? [Persona]
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Characters Included: Akira Kurusu, Akechi Goro, Yosuke Hanamura, Yu Narukami, Minato Arisato & Shinjiro Aragaki
Note: I'm mixing Persona 3, 4 & 5! :3 Except all of them are my fav characters (HUSBANDOS—) ahem. Anyway. I hope ya'll enjoy this :3 (This is over 500+ words... whOOPS--)
Reader’s Gender: Neutral
Warning: Spoilers
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Akira Kurusu
-Akira is the kind of boyfriend that teases the heck out of you. Like he loves to fluster you so much from embarrassment, whether from kissing you in public or simply holding your hands. He'll have that smirk on his face, its always present. (You're wondering if it's permanent though—)
-But I can also see Akira as the guy who loves someone, really loves that one (aside from the fact that he dates multiple girls in the game—). The reason why he teases you is because he loves you, and for that reason, when he finds that you are close to fainting or uncomfortable, he'll stop teasing you. He doesn't want you fainting or uncomfortable around him!
-He's also a natural romantic guy. Like he'll give you flowers and gifts (or trinkets he found). He wants to spoil you so much but he has limited money, so he resorted to small gifts and trinkets that reminded him of you. Your dates consist of staying at the LeBlanc, enjoying the cafe itself or inside the attic (i.e: his room).
-He loves affection so much, but not because he's touch-starved, he simply just loves you so much (yes, I'll say it over and over again :3). If you want cuddles, then cuddles you get. No matter where, but I think he prefers it private since, you know, his reputation? He just doesn't want to affect your reputation because of his ;-; But kisses, on the other hand, he can do it even in public, he has no shame -3- He'll even leave a kiss on you for teasing purposes (and to see your flustered self). He'll just laugh at your reaction, finding every reaction you have is cute on you. (He also has a picture of you as his wallpaper in his phone :) and his friends knows it since he shows it to them.. he's so proud and in-love with you :3)
-But if you don't like or uncomfortable of affection or him touching you, he understands. He'll always ask permission before holding you or kissing you. He respects your privacy and comfort more than his own. If you find uncomfortable, then he'll find a way for it to make it comfortable with you.
-I can see Akira giving his s/o a piggyback-ride, no matter whether you weigh heavily or just right (but if you weigh very lightly, he'll be concerned). He really doesn't mind your weight at all (he likes to say you don't weigh a lot). I can also see him as a domestic guy, he learned how to cook (thanks to Sojiro) and learned to take care of animals (Morgana, lol).
-He's protective of you. If you're in the Phantom Thieves, double-protectiveness over you activated. He just doesn't want you to get hurt ;-; He's scared of losing you in the Metaverse. So if an attack is directed at you, he'll get the hit. If you get hit while he isn't paying attention (probably coming up a strategy), after the battle, he'll immediately patch you up or go to a nearby resting place. And I can also see the rest of the Team also being protective of you :3
-Akira is also observant about you, even if he doesn't look like it. So he knows immediately when you're upset or uncomfortable. In which case, he'll drag you away from the source immediately. Leaving that person dumbfounded.
-If you feel sad about something, the actions of Akira would depend on how severe your sadness or situation is (though they are still similar to one another). Did someone talk bad about you? Don't worry, Akira would hug you and voice out all of the good things about you (and probably imagine how he'll defeat that person's shadow). Did someone close to you recently die? Akira will bring some comfort food to you (or to his place if you went there) and comfort you while eating. Are you upset because of your grades? "Treasure.. have you seen Ryuji's?" but in all seriousness, he'll offer to help you study for the next test. Are you having a existential crisis? He'll also comfort you as he voice out how important you are to him, and that's the reason why he calls you his "treasure". Are you sad because everyone is unique and you're just you? Akira would say how special you are to him and that you don't need to stand out.
-Long story short, he'll comfort you no matter what. :) Can I have a Akira pls? -3- I'm getting jealous over here...
-But if he needs comforting, please comfort him ;-; Sometimes, all of the duties of handling his rehabilitation, school and being the Phantom Thief leader and people in general gets to him. He's still a kid— teenager. And it gets to him sometimes. He's the kind of guy that bottles his emotions up until it cannot anymore hold itself together. So please comfort this boi ;-;
-Overall, he's like a perfect boyfriend :)
Goro Akechi
-Akechi is somewhat-like Akira, yet different at the same time. He's hesitant to pursue or enter a relationship because of his Detective (and other) duties, he fear that he cannot handle a relationship because of that. So the word "surprise" might be an understatement at how Akechi feels as you, his now newly-announced s/o, told him that you just want to love him and lets him do whatever he does. Akechi was actually glad to have someone like you his s/o, someone who understands and love him at the same time. Akechi would be lying if he didn't find you attractive when you first meet.
-Akechi will tease you time from time, enjoying every reaction your making each time, it never fails to put a smile on his face. But he might not be into PDA, since he likes to keep your relationship a secret to the world (media). He tells you so that you won't have to fear about his fanbase. But in reality, he just fears that if Shido knows about you, he would use you against Akechi (which he doesn't like -3-).
-Let's face it, he has you as his wallpaper in his phone. Whenever he feels lonely or just have a moment to himself, he'll just open his phone and stares at his wallpaper. He unconsciously smiles at you in the picture as he continues his day with a smile present on his face. Many people who's near to him noted how happy he was when he looks at his phone for some reason. But Akira manages to find out while he's raising his confidant level for Akechi :)
-Akechi would notice every quirks and twitches you have, since undoubtedly, he has a keen and observant eyes. He would immediately know which ones you like, which ones you don't like, how comfortable you are, how uncomfortable you currently are, and more. But that doesn't make him a stalker >:( He just wants to know which ones you prefer and how comfortable you are. He prioritizes your comfort over his :)
-Akechi always put his mask on around everyone else, but to you? His mask is slowly slipping away. If you play your cards right, he might reveal his true self to you and only you. But he won't tell you about Shido, since he still fears your safety. He tells you partly everything about his childhood, how his life is in the orphanage and all that. Akechi'll mentally prepare himself for you reaction, are you disgusted? Would you leave him now that you know? Those thoughts ran through his head. When (not if because you chose him, how dare you not accepting him >:(.) you accept him though, he'll start to cry.
-Akechi might not be a natural at being romantic, but he tries. I can see him as a gentlemen type though :3, like he'll open doors for you and pulls the chair for you. He'll also give you gifts and trinkets he saw while in his detective duties. I imagine him giving you your favorite flower every meeting (or dates) you two have, like if you're just walking and suddenly come across Akechi, he (for some reason) has your favorite flower at hand and ready to give it to you. Expect your house to be filled with flowers with how often you two meet.
-But its not everyday you two meet, note this. Akechi already warned you about his job since it takes up most of his time, so he's usually not able to meet you as often as he likes to. But he'll call or text you if he has free time, probably asking how you are and lets you rant about what happened during the day. Akechi loves hearing your voice, so he lets you rant as long as you want. If he's given a day-off (so rare ;-;), he'll want to spend it with you. Though he prefers to stay at home, but if you want to go somewhere, he'll concede.
-Your dates consist of going to restaurants, cafe and LeBlanc. This boi loves pancakes, so you better bring him to a restaurant where they serve pancakes X3. But if you can cook pancakes, Akechi would probably want to marry you on the spot :). Whenever you are in LeBlanc though, you would stare at the duo trying out-wit each other, its amusing to you how frustrated Akechi is and smug Akira is.
-But I can see Akechi being touch-starved since he doesn't have anyone while growing up, so he practically clings to you like a koala. But if you're uncomfortable with affectionate touches, he doesn't mind either. Just please hold his hand so that he feels safe (it also settles his mind and heart knowing you're still here by his side ;-;).
-If you're in the Phantom Thieves (oh boy, here we go), Akechi would be scared at the idea of having to kill you and the rest of the team. He knows how much the group of misfits means to you, but he knows he has to do the task he's given. So until that time come, just stay in his arms and let him love you while he still can ;-; (I'm making this depressing..). While still into the subject of comforting, if he starts to cry because of all the stress, please comfort him ;-; Though I can also see him pushing you away, in fear you'll get hurt. Just persist and continue to comfort him :) He'll slowly warm up to you.
-If you need comforting though, he'll get awkward and not know how to comfort you. Don't blame him though (because he never had anyone, remember?). He'll try his best to comfort you, and by that I mean letting you cry as he holds you. He'll make you rant about what you're sad about, and just listens to you. After the crying mess, he'll drag you to the TV to watch a movie. He did this so that whatever the reason behind your crying would be temporarily be gone. But if it involve some school issues, he'll help you there since he knows about that area. But the others? Yeah, haha... no.
-Akechi isn't a perfect boyfriend but he tries :) (Just prepare yourself in breaking up with him when you reach Shido's Palace :(.)
Yosuke Hanamura
-Yosuke is a bit of a tease but not too much, only eliciting a reaction from you. Yosuke is also a bit shy when it comes to the subject of romance, so he might be awkward and shy at times (this is the moments where you have to take the lead). Like that time where he first asked you out on a date, he's so nervous that he stumbles with his words (the rest of his friends were cheering for him from behind). You have to connect the dots if you ever want to understand what he's trying to say, and you better say yes :)
-He's not really into PDA like most people expect (probably because of his somewhat-shyness). But he always likes to hold hands with you. Not many people know you two are together though, only his friends (and parents) since you two act like best friends still. His friends also relentlessly tease the both of you (mainly Yosuke though), much to his dismay.
-Yosuke also wants to spoil you so he spend all of his money getting what you want, so please don't abuse this and pLEASE MAKE HIM STOP! Because Yosuke might end up being more broke than ever ;-; He's too kind...
-Yosuke might take a while to get used to the fact that you two are a couple (since he's still hang-up with Saki's death), but when he does get used to it, prepare yourself. Yosuke loves giving you back-hugs, even more if its a back-hug you didn't expect. He just hugs you from behind and stuff his face into your neck or hair, either way they smell good. Yes, he loves your smell, got a problem? He also loves peppering you with kisses on your neck (not in a sensual way though!), he doesn't know why but he does it. If you're ticklish in that area, it just gives him a reason to do just that (he loves the sound of your laughter).
-He shares his headphones with you and lets you borrow it for the rest of the day if you want. He's also the kind of guy that if you're short, places his head on top of your head and arms around your figure and sway the both of you (I like this idea, it's too adorable >w<). Also the kind of guy that uses his height as an advantage to grab an item you need and hold it above his head while laughing as you try to get it back. This is his kind of teasing :)
-Your date consists of Junes or your place (not his because Teddie is there). Junes is his favorite place so if you want to date there, he'll be ecstatic. You two will sit there while eating the food you bought as you two talk about random things you two can think of. I think this is Yosuke's ideal date though, just relaxing and talking. But if his boredom comes to play, be prepared because he's gonna drag you away from Junes or your house and explore Inaba together. Boredom is what Yosuke fears afterall. If you two are hanging out in your house, be prepared for pillow fights and tickle fights because Yosuke is for sure gonna start it :)
-Yosuke would also might use some pick-up lines on you, some cheesy ones and some random ones. If you use a pick-up line on him as well, you two will have a pick-up contest on which one would have the best pick-up line ever. You two will also have inside jokes that only you two understand. Yosuke also loves you pouncing on him from behind and giving you piggy-back rides, but if its in public, he might get embarrassed.
-Being Yosuke's girlfriend also means being great friends with his, mainly Yu. Yu is Yosuke's partner (I SHIP IT!!) so he wants you to meet his partner. The team would instantly welcome you into their group, and they love you very much :3 Yu also hangs out with you and Yosuke, if you or Yosuke suggest it (he ain't telling being a third-wheeler :/). Teddie would also join in on your date if its at Junes, Yosuke easily getting angry at Teddie for interrupting your date.
-If you're in the Investigation Team, he'll get protective of you, acting like you're knight. He'll be damned if you get hit, so he mostly get the hits directed for you. But if you get hit, he'll sulk and beg forgiveness to you (even though its not either your faults that the Shadow is fast enough). He'll also help you train if you have a hard time with your Persona.
-Yosuke is observant and perspective so he notices your mood, quirks and twitches. He'll immediately notice if you're mood dampen, even if its a little he'll notice. He wants to immediately know what's wrong. If you want to cry, he'll let you cry as he holds you close. If you say "I'm fine", Yosuke would argue that you're clearly aren't. Either way, Yosuke would make sure to make you let it all out.
-If you're sad, he'll comfort you. Whatever the reason is, he'll know it later. The first thing to do is comfort you. He'll not immediately ask you to tell him, he'll let you take your time to explain to him why he found you crying (or sad). Is it about grades? Don't worry, it happens. Yosuke would teach you (he's intelligent, he just doesn't know it yet :3). Is it because of bullying (or someone talking bad about you)? Yosuke would get angry at them as he started to rant why they shouldn't do that and that you shouldn't listen to them. Is it because someone close to you died? Yosuke would remain silent as he just hugs you. Long story short, he'll comfort you in every way..
-Remember me stating Yosuke is observant? Yeah, I'm gonna bring it up again. Yosuke prioritizes your comfort over his, as he finds ways for you to be comfortable if you're uncomfortable. Yosuke always reassure you that he doesn't love Saki anymore, but in truth, he's just reassuring himself. But after Yosuke talked to Yu, he'll confront you about this. Please forgive him and comfort him ;-; he needs it. Afterall, first love is much harder to let go of..
-Overall, Yosuke loves and cherishes you. Please be patient with this man as he tries to move on from the death of his first love :)
Yu Narukami
-Yu is the kind of guy that also teases his s/o by kissing their nose, leaving unexpected kiss on the lips and surprising them by hugging them from behind. He loves every flustered reaction you have (and thinks its cute every time). He'll stop if you want, but if not, he'll continue to tease you with his teasing antics. He's also kind of childish (this is my perspective of Yu, don't judge :3) so while holding hands with you, he'll swing it back-and-forth, while also being careful not to hit anyone.
-People can tell that you two are immediately a couple though (from Yu's antics alone), since Yu is an affectionate partner to have. You know the thing where the person's significant other is sitting on a chair while the other is sitting on the floor and in-between their significant other's legs? Yu is on the floor while you are on the chair. This usually results in Yu putting your legs on his shoulders and carrying you around like that, not putting you down until class start or he has to (much to your dismay and embarrassment), which usually Yu reluctantly let you go.
-His friends would gag at the sight of you (Yosuke), but they're super supportive towards their Captain's relationship with you. But they would ask their Leader to tone down his affection towards you.
-Yu loves to cuddle you and peppering you with kisses all over your face, he has no shame (;-; or :)). He's also the kind of guy that stays faithful with one only, and stays with that person because when he loves, he really loves :3 (again, aside from the games :3). He wants you to know about his love for you, and the only way he knows how is engulfing you with it :) He is mature but he lets loose around you because he's so comfortable with you. He's also a domestic-kind of guy (similar to Akira). If you don't how to cook, don't worry! Yu is here to teach you how, starting how to make Curry.
-Yu lets you borrow his jacket (or hoodie) whenever its cold, and usually blush at the sight of you in his clothing. Its usually big since he's so freakin' tall -_- He'll also help you in your projects and homework, usually having it at either your home or his. Though in his, Nanako would pester you two (not in a bad way though). Oh, and also both Dojima and Nanako immediately accepts you as Yu's s/o. So no worries about there :)
-Your dates consist of either houses or exploring Inaba together. Yu's still new in Inaba so he wants to explore it while he still can. Whether you live there or recently moved there (like him) doesn't matter to him. Since you lived there, do you mind showing him around then? If not, don't worry, let's explore together! In houses though, you two just mostly chill. Talking about random stuff while listening to music or watching TV.
-I can see him as a guy that gives you your favorite flower and tuck it in your head :3 (Don't worry, he already got rid of the thorns in it). This guy lives for cheesiness :3 Oh, I forgot to mention. Teddie would tease you and Yu (though very ineffective) and worship you as well since your dating his sensei.
-If you're in the Investigation Team, he'll be very protective of you but he lets you fight (he trusts you that you won't intentionally get hurt :/). But if a Shadow hurt you, Yu would immediately kill it and tend to you. But when it comes to the lady boss (Adachi), Yu would ask you to not join the fight, in fear you would get hurt. If you persist enough, Yu would reluctantly let you join the battle in one condition, stay by his side.
-Yu is also an observant fellow, seemingly enough to figure out a person's true self, even if that person doesn't. Yu can tell if you're not being yourself or not in the mood, he will ask you instantly what's wrong. If you don't tell, Yu would get worried but doesn't press on. He's worried because (if you're not yet in the Team) you might appear in the Midnight Realm or your Shadow self will appear again. So please tell him what's wrong so that his worry will cease. If you do tell him, he'll listen to you.
-If you're sad, he'll comfort you. He'll do it everytime you feel sad or want to cry. He'll hold you close and either bask in silence or listening to you rant. Your choice :)
-Also, Yu spoils you so much to the point that you have to tell him to stop because he might get broke like Yosuke. But he always reassure you that he has spare money. But please stop this boi from spoiling you too much... OR you spoil him in return (he'll gratefully accept whatever you've given him).
-Overall, Yu is an ideal boyfriend to have (I want a Yu :(.)
Minato Arisato
-Minato likes to tease you a bit to see your (cute) flustered reaction, he enjoys seeing you like that afterall. But he won't do it every time. Which is worse because you have to expect the unexpected. Like when you were writing something in your notebook, the next thing you knew that Minato kiss your cheek. Yes, he's a cheeky bastard :)
-Minato also shares his headphones with you and bask in it. If you have a playlist of your own, he'll listen to it with you. Minato is a private boi, so he does little to no PDA. Prefers all of the affection behind doors, his or your dorm. Though he doesn't mind holding hands with you or giving you a hug, only rarely does he give you a kiss in public.
-Minato isn't as affectionate as the other leaders are (almost all of them are except him ;-;), but he tries his best. Like Yu, he shows his love for you through actions instead of words since talking is a pain for him. He'll cuddle you inside either your dorms and pepper you kisses all over your face. He also has no shame ;).
-He prefers to relax and chill since he doesn't want to waste energy (I'm having Oreki vibes here owo'). So his ideal date is to just chillax in the bed, curled up with one another, and cuddling each other. He likes the feeling of your legs entangle with his though. And this is basically your date! Though he will also take you out to Paulownia Mall or anywhere since he doesn't want you to cope up in the room for too long.
-Minato also likes giving you gifts and small trinkets while he's going around town, stating that they remind him of you. He will also remember everything you said to him, which is handy since he also remembers which ones you want. You probably didn't know this so when its either your birthday or Christmas, you'll be surprised to see the thing you wanted to have.
-Minato loves everything about you, your hair, your eyes, your voice, your laughter, your hands, just basically everything. This is the only time he'll be vocal about it, much to your embarrassment. He'll also give you a piggy-back ride if you want, even in public. He might not look like much, but he's pretty strong for a short guy. (Probably from all the training he has done with Akihiko :).)
-The SEES basically accepts you by this point, since you make their Leader happy, their fine with you. Junpei might flirt with you every now and then. Yukari would talk with you about girl things. Akihiko might also drag you to his training session, in which Minato drags you away from your senpai -w- Basically, they just accept you to their wholesome family. Also, Aigis might thanked you for making their Leader happy.
-If you're in the SEES, Minato would still treat you like any other member. Except for the fact that he's stuck by your side through the journey to reach Tartarus' top. He'll help you train your Persona if you need training.
-Minato is also observant about you (all of these bois are observant -_-), so he will instantly know when something is wrong. But he might not let you know about it, and lets it go along. It isn't until you two are alone in the room when he asks you what's wrong. You don't need to answer him, just let him scoop you up in his arms. He respects your privacy though if you want to left alone, but be aware that you'll find him sleeping outside of your door.
-If you're upset about something, he'll know what's bothering you even if you don't tell him, he just knows. For now, he'll comfort you. After that, he'll deal with the problem. If its about someone talking bad about you, he'll get Mitsuru involve. If its about projects and homework or not understanding the lesson, he'll help and teach you about it. He's a smart boi.
-I can see Minato finding it adorable at what you look like with his clothes, he just finds it so cute. He lets you steal his clothes though. As long as you wear them, it's fine. Though you need to return those or else he has nothing left to wear.
-Overall, Minato is a private affectionate bby :)
Shinjiro Aragaki
-Shinjiro doesn't tease often as the previous bois does, but he does tease. If you have a short stature, he'll get what you were getting and hold it above his head while watching you with a smirk on his face as you tried to get it from him. If he's feeling bold, he might place a kiss on your mouth and chuckle at your surprised, flustered face. Though he doesn't do this often.
-Shinjiro likes ruffling your hair for some reason. He won't admit it but he feels relaxed whenever he feels your hair or ran his fingers through your hair, it just feels so relaxing and calm for him. He also likes pinching you whenever he gets annoyed at you, if you pinch back, you two will have a pinching contest.
-Shinjiro has a hard time opening up to other people, so its a huge achievement if you manage to make him your boyfriend. He'll be flustered by it of course as he looks away while blushing ever-so-slightly. He's a bit of a tsun-tsun. But everyone who knows him (Akihiko and Mitsuru) would take note how Shinjiro's face soften around you, you can almost see a faint smile on his face whenever he looks at you. "He looks like a lovesick puppy." - Mitsuru, 2009
-Shinjiro isn't into PDA, so whenever you want to hold hands with him, he'll get flustered. But he won't refuse as he removes his hand from his pocket and holds your hand with his. He's just embarrassed. He'll drag you places to places, probably explore the town while you two can.
-He's not afraid to speak his mind though, beware. He'll speak without hesitation if you did something bad or do something stupid. If you did do something stupid, he'll snicker while teasingly taunting you. You'll get embarrassed by this of course. But when you two started to eat, you'll laugh at his comments about the food. His snide remarks never fails to make you laugh.
-Shinjiro allows you to take off his beanie and place it on your head, he might need to look away to hide his embarrassment and flustered self. His mind is racing on how cute you look with his beanie, WHY DOES THAT BEANIE LOOK BETTER ON YOU RATHER ON HIM?! He'll never understand that logic ever.
-Be prepared as well for competitions and playful fights, because this guy is competitive like Akihiko. He'll playfully banter with you about the difference between some things. Also, he'll be embarrassed when you find out that he cooks way better than you. If you ask if you can have some, he'll immediately say no. But if you continue to pester him, he'll soon give in. Be prepared to taste Heaven :)
-Shinjiro is insecure to himself because there is so much better guys out there for you, yet you chose him. Someone who'll not live long, someone who'll eventually leave you alone with a shattered heart. His mind will always plague this scenarios over and over again, he'll even be wide-awake at night just thinking about it. When he asks you one day why you chose him, you better reply honestly :) Reassure him that you love him and only him.
-Shinjiro is observant as hell so he knows immediately if you're hiding something or upset. Like MInato, he'll not ask you at once. Though if this behavior carries on for days, be prepared for Shinjiro's interrogation :) He just wants to help you, so please come to him if you have a problem with anything
-(I just realized I made SEES bois with sad s/o. Please read how Shinjiro comforts you whenever you're sad there. x.)
-I can see him telling you to find another one to love when he dies. Move on, but don't forget about Shinjiro. Continue living even if he's not there, he'll remain in your heart forever.. (Okay.. I teared up in this one ;-;).
-Overall, please be with this boi until the very end..
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Chapter 2 | | Lamplights and Lonesome Bridge
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warnings; mention of assault (being bullied)
word count; 3k
Tapping the end of her pen on her bottom lip, Zuli took a moment to close her eyes and breathe in the fresh air. She sat cross-legged upon her burnt orange blanket on a grassy square outside the Astronomy and Astrophysics building, writing pages and more pages for her thesis.
The transference of energy in the universe and its inability to be created.
So far she’d handwritten sixteen pages, the words just flowing from her mind but now she’d hit a wall. Slowly laying down onto her back, Zuli looked up at the sky. How could it hold so much space? Matter, particles, chemicals, stars, meteors, planets. And yet all she could see was clouds; aerosols consisting of liquid particles and crystals. The sky is just plain azure; like a door hiding so much beyond it. A crisp orange and brown leaf swivelled down from a nearby branch, landing only centimetres from her head.
She was truly fascinated by everything the world and the galaxies had to offer, intrigued by discovery; obsessed with learning. Letting out a deep exhale and closing her eyes, she almost began to drift off; her brain realising it needed a few minutes to reboot and recover. But a ruckus of sarcastic laughter and shouting stirred her from her relaxation.
Sitting up and shielding her eyes from the glowing sun, Zuli looked around to see where the noise was coming from. Sight finally following Sound, her stomach dropped as she noticed what was happening.
All too familiar she recognised five grown seniors underneath the arches by the Mathematics classrooms surrounding somebody, whoever it was being thrown around like a rag doll. Passed between each student, they were being shoved, hit, laughed at and verbally abused. While she knew she could be quite assertive and intimidating, that really only applied to people her age or younger. Seniors were different.
Continuing to watch at the same time as keeping an eye out to see if any staff were walking past.
“Ha ha, won’t be able to read your sappy love letters without these huh?” One older guy shouted, holding up a pair of clear framed glasses. Oh no. Her heart sank. Something began tingling in her stomach, flowing through to her feet and her arms and hands; she grew angry, scared, overwhelmed.
Collecting her textbooks and notepad, Zuli stood up and marched straight over to the group of boys. Adrenaline and dopamine worked evilly beside each other, triggering Zuli’s instincts of fight or flight; both of them somehow coming into play.
“If you don’t leave him the heck alone, I’ll report you to the dean of the CARE team. I know you. You,” Zuli addressed two of the group, “are from Chemistry. You others are from Mathematics. It’s not a threat, it’s a promise. Back off.” She spoke with such a seething tone to her voice, regardless of her being a small 15 year old kid; the boys listened, gathering their things and jogging off in a different direction.
“Spencer?” Zuli’s tone changed immediately, as she whispered to the boy curled up on the floor clutching his bag. His glasses were thrown just a bit away from him so Zuli picked them up, wiped the lenses with the hem of her sweater and handed them back to Spencer. He snatched them, scrambling to get himself together and stood up.
“It’s a silly question, but are you alri-“ Zuli couldn’t even finish the sentence before Spencer ran off, the back of him becoming a small shape as he got further and further away.
Shrugging her own backpack on her shoulders properly and adjusting her own glasses on the bridge of her nose, she tried to tell her brain not to take it personally. She probably wouldn’t want to talk to anybody after being exploited like that in public.
As she took a step forward to follow him, her foot nudged against something thick on the floor. A book covered in tight lavender coloured woven cloth lay on the floor, as if discarded like trash. Picking it up to observe, she noticed it had S.R embroidered down the spine. Holding it to her chest, she looked up to see if Spencer was still visible.
Watching as he became a little dot in the distance, she watched as he stopped underneath a junction of trees. Go left. Go left Spencer. He looked to his right before running off to the left and Zuli sighed with solace.
*********************************************************
The sunshine and clear sky was quickly a thing of the past as the weather turned into what should be expected of the fall; darkness creeping in early, and light raindrops hitting the ground. And as Zuli creaked open the recognisable doors to the library, it was the rain against the windows that made the soft sound of sniffling even more melancholic.
Following the soft sniffles to where she hoped in foresight Spencer would be, she sighed at the confirmation. Curled up in one of the big leather armchairs in what they’d both christened as ‘their’ corner of the room, Spencer had his knees tucked into his chest and his head tucked into his knees.
Arms wrapped tightly around his legs, he squeezed himself tighter at the sound of soft footsteps creeping toward him. He wanted to be alone. He didn’t want to speak to a dean or a librarian or another student.
But as he peeked underneath his elbow and saw Zuli’s maroon Doc Martens standing by the chair, he lifted his whole head to see her smiling down at him.
“Hey you.” She spoke, for the first time, truly gently.
“Hi.” Spencer sniffed hard, clearing his throat and wiping his eyes with his sweater sleeve and trying to sit up properly.
“You don’t have to get up for me Spencer, I’ll sit over there,” Even though her instinct was telling her to give him a huge hug, she knew he wouldn’t want it, “I think this is yours though.”
Holding out the mysterious book, Spencer’s eyes widened and he let out a breathy chuckle of disbelief.
“I thought they took it,” You shook your head as he took it timidly from your hands, “It was a birthday gift.”
“Wait. Did I miss your birthday?” Zuli asked, eyes widening and mouth open in surprise. Had she been so caught up in her thesis she didn’t notice her own friend’s birthday? As her brain attempted to figure out his birthday, he spoke.
“It’s today.”
“What? Why didn't you say anything?” Zuli supposed also, how hadn’t she noticed from the years before? She would’ve got him gifts, made him some cupcakes, anything.
Spencer shifted in his seat a little, fingernails stretching at a loose bit of cotton on his pants. He was evidently uncomfortable, for reasons that Zuli didn’t know and didn’t want to press on. Looking over Spencer’s shoulder at something happening outside in the hall, Zuli let out a little giggle.
Joining her in looking, Spencer too giggled at the sight of some students carrying a range of pumpkins and running down the hall with them.
A tradition they’d both learned takes place every Halloween at Caltech; students dropping pumpkins from the 9 floors up, watching them smash into tiny pieces at the bottom. It was one of the first things that Zuli and Spencer had done together besides study, laughing at the atmosphere of excitement and madness as the pumpkins shattered on the ground.
Zuli had picked miniscule bits of pumpkin out of Spencer’s hair for hours after.
“Shall we go watch?” She asked, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose and holding onto her bag straps, “It might make you feel a little better.”
Spencer smiled at the doorway before turning to look at Zuli, overwhelmed by her kind soft voice; also wanting both to feel better and see the tradition.
“Let’s go.” Spencer stood up, brushing down his pants and running his hands over his face, removing evidence of his upset minutes ago.
As they both walked towards the doors, Zuli nudged Spencer’s shoulder with her own; getting a little chuckle out of him. Reaching down to turn the doorknob, Zuli leant her full body weight on the door to push it open.
But it wouldn’t. Jiggling the door handle over and over, the realisation creeped in that it wasn’t going to budge. Turning to Spencer, she let out a splutter of anxious giggles, his eyes wide however returning the same laughs.
“Well, looks like we’ve been locked in.” Spencer said, attempting to look through the glass and down the hall in case anyone was still walking around. He knew that everybody would be outside watching the pumpkins, but surely they would’ve seen them both in there.
Looking over to the corner they were sat in, he realised that the chairs were tucked in a corner behind some bookshelves, out of sight from the entrance door. Brilliant.
“Let’s just use the desk phone and call the caretaker or somebody?” Zuli suggested, pulling out her planner from her backpack and heading over to the phone sitting on top of the librarians desk. She’d taken all the emergency numbers of staff and authorities down in case anything ever happened. Preparedness was a relatively strong suit for her.
Spencer paced around the front of the desk as Zuli tried different numbers, stopping only when she began talking to somebody. It wasn’t that he was worried about anything, he adored the library; however he was exhausted and wanted to go to bed. Spending his birthday trapped in a library almost sounded fun, and it was only counting on the fact that Zuli would keep him entertained and busy.
“Okay, that’s fine. No it’s not that bad actually. See you soon. Thank you sir. Bye.” Zuli sighed as she put the phone down, hopping down from where she was sitting on the desk, “They’re sending a caretaker out to come and unlock the doors, but they won’t be for another two to three hours because of the rain.”
“I suppose that’s significantly better than staying here until 7 tomorrow morning.”
“The lady asked if it was cold in here, because the heating turns off at six-ish, buuuuut-“ Zuli unzipped her backpack and pulled out the blanket she was sitting on earlier, “I came prepared. Oh my god! I have an idea!”
Spencer just smiled and pulled his bag strap back over his head, settling it down on a nearby chair as he watched his hyperactive friend begin to push one of the leather chairs forward. He had no idea what she was doing, but whatever it would be he was going to just leave her to it.
*********************************************************“Is your neck hurting too?”
“Yeah. I completely misjudged the size of the blanket, and the distance between the chairs.”
They were both crouched underneath Zuli’s blanket that she had draped over the backs of two chairs; attempting to make a small fort in which they could hide from the cold threatening to creep in. But the blanket was only a small kind of throw, the chairs were absolutely huge and she and Spencer were squeezed so close together they might as well have been fused.
“I’ve got shoulder cramp, how is that even possible?” Zuli chuckled, rolling both shoulders back and wincing. The sudden movement tugged on a part of the blanket dipped behind them, and it soon fell to cover them entirely.
“If a muscle is overused or held in an awkward position over a long period of time, it can spasm. While only temporary, it seems like yours would be in the trapezius muscle, so before it entirely locks up I’d recommend a few stretches.” Spencer spoke, voice muffled by the blanket covering his head.
Bursting out into laughter, Zuli pushed the blanket back off of their heads, letting it sit around their shoulders. Rolling her head around in semi-circles, she sighed as the pain began to drift away. She knew it wasn’t just the way she was sitting, her posture had grown awful. Constantly hunched over books, or telescopes, she barely had time to stand or sit straight.
“Spencer…” Zuli mumbled, her voice coming out in the same way a person would sneak down the hall to the fridge at midnight.
“Mm?”
“May I ask what was so important about your book? Is it a first edition?”
Spencer smiled sadly as he reached for it, the spine poking out of his bag. If only he just told her everything with his mom; she wouldn’t have to ask these things and he wouldn’t have to answer them. He knew she would be kind and considerate - that’s just her in general - but he felt like it was too much to offload to somebody else. He didn’t want a pity party, he didn’t need one. But at the same time, if there was somebody to understand a tiny part of his struggle, it could make it easier. He wasn’t sure what was harder. So he calculated the simplest, vaguest answer possible, so as not to attract any further questions.
“It was a gift from somebody special. My favourite poems, mostly romantic, sonnets etcetera. Those seniors thought it was funny so used their own insecurities to lash out.”
There was a sadness behind his words, Zuli knew he wasn’t saying everything but trusted him enough to know if he wanted to share, he could. Deflecting slightly, her brain held on to the words ‘somebody special’ and ‘romantic’. No, it wouldn’t be something like that, he’d tell her. Surely?
“I feel like I can hear your thoughts, Zuli.” Spencer snapped her out of her thinking, eyebrows furrowed with intrigue, “It’s not what you think at all.”
“No, oh my god, it’s fine, I was just thinking that's all. I want you to feel like you can talk to me if you need to, but also you don’t have to, I just can see that you’re upset by something and I’m here if you-“
“It’s from my mom. She’s um…she’s not well. But she remembered my birthday and sent it to me. I read hundreds of books, but this one means the world to me.”
Zuli watched him with intense eyes. She felt full of adoration, sadness, love and contentment for Spencer. She could see he was hurting, but the lavender book gripped tightly in his fingers clearly brought him fondness. Spencer looked up at Zuli to see why he got no response, to find her smiling with enamour. Two lamplights on the table next to them cast a tuscan glow over the two of them, and he suddenly felt overwhelmingly warm.
“Do you know what?” Zuli sat up quickly, keeping the mood from dipping down and switching it to popping up, “I have something that makes me feel like that.”
Reaching into her own knapsack, she pulled out a medium sized leather book and handed it over to Spencer.
“You can look inside if you want.”
Spencer ran his fingers over the carved outline of a tree on the cover, the flat grain of the leather smooth and cool underneath his fingertips. It was beautifully made, and he could tell from the feel of the leather bindings and the smoothness of the handmade paper. He laid it down in between them both, gesturing for Zuli to open it herself.
She excitedly unravelled the leather strips wound round the outside and opened it up to her cover page. Written in magnificent calligraphy the words;
My Dream Adventures
lazuli aged 6
“It was a gift from my mom too. I’ve written a lot of hopes and dreams here, some of which I’ve achieved and some I’m yet to. She used to say to me that ‘adventure is out there.’” Zuli articulated, flipping the first few pages and pointing at different coloured writings.
“Own a lemonade stand and make fifty dollars.”
“Achieved,” Zuli spoke proudly, “age eleven. Made ninety dollars and bought this new backpack.”
Spencer laughed with true merriment before going back to some of the other scribbles.
“Keep bees and sell my own honey.”
“Yet to.”
“Quite the businesswoman it seems, Zuli.” Spencer giggled at her straightforwardness. Zuli’s smile was wider than the Amazon river, her passion and true self coming out as she expressed herself through her past stories.
“This one looks cool, I like your artwork. To fly a house to Lonesome Bridge and live there forever. Where's the Lonesome Bridge?” Spencer asked, trying to rack his brain and think where this ideal living space was.
“It’s in Utah. I love how you don’t care about how I get there, just where I’m going.” Zuli smiled, looking down at the drawing she’d made as a young kid, a white wooden house with multicoloured balloons poking out of its chimney.
“Not to crush your dreams but how do you expect to fly a house. If I’m not mistaken, Utah is at least six hundred and seventy miles…” Spencer’s voice trailed off as a dark frown dropped over Zuli’s face.
It was replaced with a burst of laughter and an excited flap of Zuli’s hands. “Okay so, I estimated that my dream house would be roughly around one hundred thousand pounds in weight, and if I used balloons that were around six feet in diameter, I’d only need, oh what was it..” She hurried to flip to the next page, covered in scribbles of calculations and more drawings of coloured balloons across the page, “Ah! Thirteen thousand, two hundred and eight balloons.”
Spencer watched as she smiled down at her drawings, continuing to explain how the impossible was actually possible. Although he definitely didn’t have a life threatening disease in which this was a symptom, he felt as if his heart was swelling. Unfamiliar with this feeling, he should’ve been uncomfortable but he couldn’t feel more at ease and peace as he did then.
Zuli felt the same unknowingly to him, her heart pouring out of her mouth within her words as she unravelled her future and shared it all with Spencer. She hoped deep, deep, deep down inside that he would stick around and see these wonderful things with her.
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mc-critical · 3 years
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your analysis of selim? i think he's hated way more than he deserves. hating him for valid reasons is fine but telling that he's gonna be such a bad sultan is really stupid [and especially because only now do they bring out history & say selim was bad which is historically inaccurate as well]. out of all of suleyman's sons, it was only mustafa who was loved by all & talented [show only cuz apparently mehmet was also extremely talented & selim wasn't a bad sultan] enough for the throne. bayezid was extremely hotheaded and you can't tell me that a prince who can't control his emotions, especially in front of state officials, will be a good sultan. everyone tells selim was extremely selfish & the instigator of all their fights, when they were younger & older. siblings are always like that?? mustafa obviously wasn't like that because he was way older than mehmet, mihrimah, selim, bayezid & cihangir to get into stupid fights w/ them. mehmet & mihrimah had frequent & annoying arguments because they were closer in age. selim & bayezid had frequent fights because they were closer in age. this is a thing with many siblings; the elder provoking the younger & the younger disrespecting the elder. why do people point out their sibling fights as evidence for selim's personality? i feel sorry for bayezid as a kid but i feel less remorse for him as he's older. i don't say he deserves execution, especially at the hands of his own father, but he did rebel against his father's order & then proceeded to flee to another empire; like, the punishment for that is execution, what did he expect after rebelling? i feel extremely sorry for all his sons though, they didn't deserve this fate when they were just victims of their father's rebellion. also, unpopular opinion but bayezid is lowkey overrated pls don't cancel me i love him but he's annoying at times like all characters & no one really acknowledges it back to selim, he was honestly very underrated. he was really slandered in the series and he didn't have any real support w/ him until nurbanu & sokollu. although hurrem did vouch for him to go to manisa, it was literally only because he was 'peaceful' [we can read that as untalented as well] and no harm would reach him because he wasn't a threat [i actually really liked this plan of hurrem's, tough & clever; only if she was actually supported in this]. even mihrimah, till the end, is quite unfair to him. he had a problem w/ alcohol & people telling him to just stop? like, it doesn't work that way? people have to suffer so much in order to stop their addictions & they're actually restricted from their addictions; selim was a prince, no one around him could restrict him [his parents could but they weren't w/ him in his provinces]. he did become politically active w/ nurbanu's growing ambitions & he took smarter, more cunning & dirtier measures than bayezid to win the throne. the battle for the throne was bloody; resorting to honour like mustafa did was obviously not the best decision & people insult selim for being cunning enough [or being influenced by cunning people] to win the throne. let's also keep in mind that selim didn't even have much of an interest for the throne until manisa & nurbanu. i also like his relationship w/ nurbanu. it paralleled suleyman & hurrem's w/ the concubine arcs but selim did end up being monogamous to her in the show. their chemistry was fantastic [props to engin & merve for their acting] and although i don't really enjoy the 'a woman makes a man strong & influences him in everything; good or evil' kind of take, i did enjoy their relationship [he also sometimes looked at her like she was this ethereal type miracle, appropriately so w/ her courage]. i like what the show did w/ bayezid's execution a lot, the whole scene was such a wonderful cinematic experience; the music, bayezid's agonizing screams, his sons falling one by one, selim crying because he didn't want it to end up this way, bayezid falling & his screams ceasing, selim's heartbroken face because he was always a soft person & he always loved bayezid;
ahh, what a scene, so much love for it. anyway, that's just my opinion; i think he's hated way more than he deserves, especially in comparison to other characters & he's actually one of my most favourite characters from s4 [but i honestly love all characters w/ their good & bad, mc has many complex characters & i live for it]. what do you think about selim? sorry if you got annoyed at the long ask, i can get really heated when talking about selim [especially in reference to his historical figure], hope you don't mind if❤ [if it is annoying i'll stop it]
(okay, I'll talk strictly about the show, since I don't feel like delving deep into historical waters. There is still stuff we don't know for sure and I do want to keep the line between show and history in my head, except for the similar themes.)
While he isn't particularly my favorite character, I appreciate MC Selim and he is a very interesting subject when it comes to analyzing him. I'm actually amazed with what the show did with him in the span of a season (and something, counting some S02B and S03B moments) - he was one of the most fleshed out characters in S04 and we could get a clear picture as to why he does what he does.
Some people consider his debut to be an insult, for it immediately showed some of his weaknesses, putting him in a bad light right out of the gate. But all I can see in this debut is a showcase of his predicament of the prince no one sees as a capable heir of the throne. It’s as if he sleeps with women and drinks as a coping mechanism he’s delved into, with Mihrimah having to do effort to snap him out of it. The Selim we see in the beginning of S04 is a hopeless person. He doesn’t have dreams and ambitions, it’s as if he’s a already a lost cause and he has no one to truly support him. Even Hürrem wanted to send him to Manisa not because she deemed him as worthy, but to use him as a shield in order to deceive her enemies and protect the actual favorite. That may seem like a clever plan, but in actuality, it failed spectacularly - not only did her enemies not get confused for a second and didn’t attack Selim at all, but she forgot to tell Bayezid why she did it and made Selim confused to the point of demotivation, because none of his brothers were truly happy with this decision and they were all opposing it, directly and indirectly. And while he may not show it that much, because of his more composed and pragmatic nature, Selim is sensitive to the opinions of his brothers and the people around him and their prevailing disapproval may be a part of why he became so different than the rest. It’s like no one wanted to get to know him.
Nurbanu’s entrance in Selim’s life is very cathartic in this aspect, for she actually worked with him and gave him the needed motivation and ambition to fight, awaking sides of him that were dormant for a long time. And yes, I do think that Selim’s pragmatism is something he always had, if the whole arrow incident in S03B where he sabotaged Bayezid’s arrow, which caused him to lose is any indication. 
{I don’t think that the quarrels Selim and Bayezid had when they were little are so much indicators of Selim’s personality as they are foreshadowing of their future conflict. Right, these quarrels are normal for siblings and Mehmet and Mihrimah also fought like that (heck, even little Mehmet and Mustafa had a fight once in S01 and that fight was used as the conflict of the remainder of that one episode), but they weren’t as frequent as the ones of Selim and Bayezid. I don’t know, it’s just the atmosphere of these scenes was different and hinted at something more. It could be because we know the historical events and we could see every tiniest bit of early sibling rivalry between them as build-up, but still, I always felt there just was something else. Like the whole arrow incident I mentioned, a presumably harmless little situation gains a whole other meaning later on. It sets up neatly Süleiman’s opinions of both of them (his reaction to apparent disobedience and the making of a scene by someone he doesn’t expect to, by which I mean Bayezid), Hürrem’s retroactive ignorance of a possible bigger enmity and the roots of the whole conflict. It’s not Selim deciding to sabotage Bayezid’s performance as a last resort, maybe knowing that he surely won’t do better than his brother (doing a pretty typical ,,prank’’ for a little, naughty kid) that is exemplary of his cunning later, it’s his validation and him getting away with it that eventually becomes it, just like how he ends up getting away with stuff in the next season. Selim definetly isn’t the instigator of all the fights, especially because Bayezid, thanks to his more impulsive nature, is much more likely to start a fight in the first place and contrasts to Selim’s overall better composure. Provokations among them were mutual and both were consistently throwing darts at each other, one after another. Their conflict is a very nuanced issue: while people try to play right and wrong, both sides were at fault one way or another. The conflict between them is mostly caused by insensitivity, favoritism and ignorance and the desperation of both to try to prove themselves to their parents and win their support, at the end of the day. Why did they always calm down in front of their mother? Not only because of their joint respect for her, but also because of these same attempts to earn her support. Even Bayezid, who obviously had to be sure of her support, wasn’t completely certain of it after Hurrem turned it on Selim for a while. Selim, on the other hand, obviously never felt her support, it’s like something was missing right from the start. Combine that with their completely opposing personalities and the whole system encouraging competition for the throne and there you have the inevitable ultimate conclusion. That’s why I also love the set-up, the pay-off and the aftermath of Bayezid’s execution. It may be historically inaccurate that Selim, not Süleiman, executed Bayezid, but when you think about it, it was the most logical thing that could’ve happened, ending their conflict with a heart-wrenching bow. I love the scene of the execution itself, too - the action, the dialogue, the direction, the character moments, the themes... I don’t know whether Selim loved Bayezid by that point, per say, after all they went through, but it was clear that he knew that he had to do it, that it couldn’t have ended any other way, but he was broken over it. He was aware that it was, ultimately, a sin, which would continue haunting him. He couldn’t catch a break afterwards, he couldn’t stop. All was solved, but at what cost?}
I love his dynamic with Nurbanu - they balanced each other off so well, their chemistry was amazing, such a power couple. Nurbanu’s biggest contribution is hiding some of his flaws and mobilizing him to fight. Her cold pragmatism ,,grounds’’ Selim’s softer side, she’s there to always remind him of the stakes of the game and to shut off the last ounces of his vulnerabilities after Hurrem died. He sure is influenced by her, but that doesn’t mean that he blindly takes her word for everything - he is always ready to call her out when necessary and assure her that there are lines she shouldn’t cross. Despite of her pleas, he kept having affairs with other women (that is honestly a trend with all the men of the show, but still..), he got mad at her after what happened to Huricihan and most notably, after he found out that she possibly stole his mother’s ring. A part of why their dynamic works so well is precisely this strenght of character and their awesome compatibility. 
I have heard affirmations that Selim doesn’t care about Mustafa, which... simply isn’t true? While they have the least scenes together and Selim is the one that considers him most as a rival and his most dangerous competitor for the throne (which would explain his startled reaction after Musti saved him from the janissary), it’s precisely Mustafa’s death that is the turning point of his character arc. He was upping his game slowly but surely and before then, but he didn’t do much in terms of attacks. Neither Selim, nor Nurbanu once considered attacking Mustafa, the supposed biggest danger to them, which I find respectable and admirable. The bomb with the death drops and then every hope about a fair game is abandoned. Selim gets the realization that being honorable won’t work. The only way to win is bend the system and play dirty. There’s no time for sitting around or looking nice. And even though Nurbanu realized this, too, as well as Selim, Nurbanu was always more inclined to act this way than him and now the righteousness of her methods were only getting confirmed. It was Selim that had to reach this end. Discovering that he is no longer allowed to show any kind of weakness. Every chance that appears on the horizon, he’ll take it. That brings him to his first true dirty plan - the trap he set through the fake Mustafa rebellion.
Speaking of which, the worst deed of Selim’s for me is connected to that rebellion. I know I may be very biased in this regard, since it affects my personal favorite character and isn’t as recalled as others, but I hated when, in Selim and Sokollu’s attempts to wash their hands from the pulled off stunt, Sokollu, his man, told SS that Mahidevran was giving money to the rebellion. Okay, it’s not said outright whether is this directly tied to Selim or it was something Sokollu himself came up with out of desperation or something (though it was hinted that both thought something through in a scene where both were saying that they should come clean out of this all somehow) and it’s not outrightly confirmed whether Mahidevran gave the money or not (I highly doubt she did it; not only because it would destroy her whole S04 arc and she would become, well... MCK Gulbahar, but also because after the messenger told her of her alleged blame in E129, her eyes widened in surprise.), but all it does is be the only explicit case where Selim indeed looks bad, for his proposal to return Mahidevran in the castle doesn’t seem to stem from genuine guilt and remorse, but rather a late and empty attempt to placate his own conscience. Oh, not to mention (for the upteenth time, sorry in advance) how the scene back in E58 where Hurrem tells Mahidevran that her kids will be there taking care for her when she’s alone, which was treated as some big foreshadowing in the show, as well, by both the voice of the S02B narrative and the fandom alike, loses its value even more with that framing, because Selim and Sokollu themselves brought her to this state in the first place!!! Despite it making sense anyway, it’s still such a disservice to Selim as a person both inside and outside of the writing. 
One aspect of Selim’s pragmatism I find most interesting is his ability to turn his enemies into allies, knowing exactly how to amass them and get them on his side, be it through giving them more money and promising them the world. These alliances are all opportunistic in nature and may not be as loyal as those of Mustafa’s or of Mustafa’s people (like Atmaca) with Bayezid, but I think Selim knows this and wants to keep them steady enough for the common goal. As for what kind of a padisah he’ll be.... I believe that state matters would be the least of his concerns, since he was shown to not care so much about them, compared to his other brothers (but then again, the show itself doesn’t put the political capability of the princes at center stage - their personal virtues are always the determining factor of what makes a good padisah and what doesn’t, more of a psychological outlook, if you will.) and he perhaps won’t plan as many campaigns or conquer as many territories, maybe he won’t be that successful at all, but his cunning would bring him advantage in front of his people, he will be at least a bit careful of who he’s choosing and won’t simply lose it in front of everyone, compared to Bayezid’s impulsive temper.
[I love Bayezid as a character, but the shadier aspects of his personality sure tend to be overlooked. While his anger is directed mainly at Selim and Suleiman, it often reaches such extremes to the point it becomes destructive and affects everyone. He doesn’t deserve his execution at all and most of his actions stem from a very sympathetic place, given how SS never truly gave him a chance and he went on the inevitable path, because he, just like Selim, realized that honor won’t work in this war, but took the opposite approach from Mustafa, direct rebellion. And predictably, both approaches didn’t work since Bayezid, too, was taken advantage of. While he didn’t get justice, the lead-up to his execution is a character arc of his and there are many reasons and events linking it all together and showing us why it took place the way it did.]
Selim’s dynamic with Suleiman is proof of how you can be presumably favored, but you have to work to get there. The reasons Suleiman favored him are very telling and sad and we see that he also doesn’t favor him because of any and all capabilities he may have, but because of his self-imposed distorted view of loyalty Selim has to do a lot to preserve, actually. He constantly has to make it so it looks like he’s loyal and obedient and doesn’t work behind his back. He doesn’t get the fullest appreciation from his father, as well, and I certainly feel it impacts him, in a way.
I agree that Mihrimah could be unfair to Selim. They weren’t that close and she had this open preference to Bayezid. Most annoyingly is when, in their confrontation in E139, which highlights even more their parallel sins, Mihrimah doesn’t seem to face that sin of hers when Selim calls her out on it. She has a reason to deeply resent him after what he did to Bayezid, but was offended when he reminded her of the crime she also committed. More solidarity on that front would be a bit better, at least a hint of like recognizing like even for a moment. (but maybe then her scene with Mahidevran later wouldn’t be as impactful? Huh.)
And lastly, about his drinking - Nurbanu tried to restrict him, but it’s true that such habits aren’t easy to give up on, especially knowing how his drinking is a coping mechanism as much as it is something he enjoys. He knows he shouldn’t do it, he’s told he shouldn’t do it, but he can’t help it. He doesn’t drink when he’s planning or scheming, but he keeps on doing it more and more with every problematic action of his. It’s an attempt to supress his otherwise strong conscience to the max, seeing how after his brother’s execution he apparently always took a drink when he was alone at night, fighting an inner conflict with himself. I don’t think there was a way he could stop doing it permanently in the show. It was a part of who he was, unfortunately or not. 
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bluegarners · 3 years
Text
“someone slips on ice and gets hurt... hurt/comfort pls!” ~anon
For 12 Days of Batfam prompts! 
Gotham is cold.
He doesn’t mean that metaphorically, like Batman would normally brood over. Sure, Gotham was pretty heartless when it came to certain things, and yeah, Bludhaven wasn’t any better, and sure, Gotham sometimes felt like one endless cycle of insanity day after day, but he’s getting away from the point.
He’s talking about the frigid kind of cold. Not the kind of cold where snow falls lightly from the sky and dusts the world in white. Not the kind of cold where it’s just chilly enough to put on a jacket and some gloves and start a fire (a contained and safe fire, mind you- arson is not part of that description) and maybe sip some hot chocolate and roast a couple marshmallows for the heck of it. 
That’s the kind of crisp weather Dick would like, but as he said: Gotham is cold.
Which brings him to where he is now, jogging in place and trying his best to stay warm on what may be the most boring stake-out he’s done in months. His suit isn’t built to be warm. It’s not bulky and though it has kevlar in it, the material is meant to help stop bullets and deter knives from gracing themselves into his, unfortunately, vulnerable organs. Point being, the skin tight and relatively thin suit he’s wearing isn’t built for Gotham’s icy chill. 
His fingers had gone numb a while ago, and Dick’s absolutely sure he’s sporting a new shade of blue lipstick from Fenty Beauty, and were someone to see him, Dick’s also certain they might mistake him for Rudolph. He wouldn’t mind being recognized as such an icon, but it wasn’t exactly the sort of thing to intimidate criminals with.
Efforts at staying warm prove futile, and the exercise he tries to do without being obvious also does little to put back some feeling into his toes. He’s thinking about calling it a night, the drug deal he’d been hoping to catch the last few weeks a bust, when a classically suspicious white van pulls up. It’s laughable, in a way, how stereotypical some of Gotham’s “lesser” villains could be, but Dick’s not one to complain.
Makes his job easier after all.
Two men exit the van, shuffling through some contents in the back. They’re both wearing ski masks, somewhat appropriate for the weather actually, and seem to be in a hurry. Hushed whispers go between the two as they wait stoically by the front doors of the van, what looks to be a small ziploc back clutched in one of the goons hands. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that it’s a drug deal, or at least something related to it, and Dick feels a smile creep onto his frozen face as another person slowly walks up to them, shifty and anxious.
A newbie then, Dick thinks, crouching down and carefully making his way closer to them from his vantage point. Must be a kid then.
Based on the height and general demeanor of the newcomer, it’s safe to assume that the buyer is indeed a teenager, at most a young adult. Perhaps not even old enough to buy alcohol. How they heard about the new drug, and where to get it, was a bit surprising, but seeing as the deal was happening in the poorer districts, Dick was sadly not perturbed. 
There are few quick words exchanged, an envelope of cash being handed over for the ziploc baggie, and Dick knows it’s time to finally take action. A good thing too, seeing as it feels like the soles of his boots had become suspended to the frozen concrete.
His entrance startles both parties, the men in ski masks immediately reaching for weapons and the teenager backing away, stumbling over himself in an effort to run. Perhaps if they were more experienced, or at the very least a second more prepared, they would have been able to put up some sort of defense. As it were, though, Dick had been stalking this particular drug for weeks. He knew where most of the suppliers were, knew what areas they liked to sell in, knew their demographics and the supply chain, and also knew who and what the dealers consisted of. 
This “new” drug was really just a potent mixture of PCP and bath salts. A dangerous combination, but not valuable enough to have competent dealers and proper weapons for protection. 
Which is why the take down of both men lasts all of about seven seconds, Dick easily knocking them out before they could reach for any weapons they happened to have in that van of theirs. He’ll give them props for trying though- it’s not everyday Nightwing, of all people, decides to ruin your one job.
With the dealers out of the way, Dick turns back around to see the teen, baggie in tow and still clutched tightly in his fist, booking it across the street. It’s dark enough to the point where the boy just looks like a flighty shadow in the night, but the flickering lamp-posts give just enough light to show exactly where he was heading. The confidence in his gait suggested that he knew where he wanted to go, and if Dick had to make a hypothesis, he’d say the kid was heading home. 
The only place in the world that could feel safe after something like this.
Dick feels a frown pull on his face, the skin tight from being exposed to the bitter air, and not for the first time, feels a smidgen of sympathy for the situation. He brushes it off though, shelving that particular thought of his to the back of his mind, and grapples onto the building over, pulling himself over the ledge. 
He follows the kid from the rooftops, leaping over gaps and darting across fire-escapes to keep up with the twists and turns the teen took. If he knew he was being tailed, then the kid was doing a pretty good job at evading, but he was no match for someone who had trained for years doing this exact thing. Dick may live in Bludhaven now, but Gotham would always be his first home. He knew this city almost as well as Bruce, and the only reason he didn’t know just as much was because he hadn’t given his soul away to it just yet. Bruce had shaken hands with the city and signed away his being when he donned the cowl. 
Dick was attempting to do the same with Bludhaven.
The kid bolts into an alleyway, coat flying behind him in his mad dash, and Dick thinks now is the time to stop the chase. He descends from the rooftop, landing in front of the breathless teen, and holds out a hand firmly. It’s a little funny, the scene he makes. Not only does he look like Rudolph, but with the pose he’s made for himself, he might as well be a crosswalk guard with his hand up to halt speeding cars.
“Alright, that’s enough,” he says, not unkindly. “Let’s do this the easy way, kid.”
The teen takes a step back, the drugs held tightly against his chest. “You’re… you’re Nightwing.”
“The one and only,” Dick smiles, taking a step forward. 
“But-but this is Batman’s city. Why are you here? You’re not supposed to be here.”
“Honestly, kid, that’s not your biggest concern right now. If I were you, I would be worrying about how to explain those drugs you’ve got there.”
As if realizing the contents of the baggie for the first time, the teens eyes dart to it, panic setting in as the situation’s gravity, and what it could mean for him, overwhelms him.
“Th-These aren’t mine,” the kid tries. “I-I swear I wasn’t gonna use them.”
“Uh huh,” Dick says, taking another step closer. “Why don’t you try again, uh, what’s your name?”
“I’m not telling you that.”
“Okay,” Dick shrugs, easing his way nearer. “That’s fine, I’ll just call you Buddy. Now, Buddy, there are two ways this can go. One, you give me that bag and you’ll only be reported for minor drug possession. Gotham has a fine ranging from 30 to 50 dollars for that sort of crime, so it won’t be too bad. The second option is, well, I don’t think you want the second option. So, what’s it going-”
Now, Dick could blame about ten different things for what happened next. He could blame his mouth, as he gets too chatty with the younger ones sometimes. He could blame the poor lighting, seeing even more difficult at this time of night. He could even blame the wind for being too loud, lest he would’ve heard the quick intake of breath and shuffling feet. 
Dick could blame many different things, but as it were, Nightwing was being pushed, hard, and he hadn’t seen it coming. 
The unexpected shove throws him off balance, arms waving in the air for some sort of hold, and Nightwing probably would’ve been able to stop the fall on any other night, but, as he keeps being sorely reminded, Gotham is cold tonight.
Gotham’s cold was unforgiving and instead of snow, it produced ice. And, lucky him, a patch of black ice presented itself right where his unfortunate footing was trying to find some stabilization. His feet fly right out from under him, all four appendages now in the air and flailing comically.
Dick has the awareness to at least look where he’s falling, craning his neck just so, and he internally groans as the sight of an open garbage can meets him. For whatever reason, Gotham liked using metal cans, of all things, and this one did not have a lid on it. 
Fantastic.
He can’t catch himself, his arms out of his control (Dick also blames the cold for the numbness in his hands and, hence, lack of grip), and it’s all he can do but brace for impact. Oh, he’s so going to-
The side of his head slams into the rim of the metal bin, and the world goes white. He crumples against the frozen ground, boneless and suddenly without vision. Something warm, or decidedly extremely cold, slides down his neck and Dick can barely keep his eyes open. There’s no pain, at least not yet his muddled head reminds him, but he can’t seem to move or do anything for that matter. Sensations fail him and the lack of any visuals besides the blaring white and static in his eyes scares him. His tongue feels fuzzy, and there’s something smooth and metallic dribbling past his lips, but his biggest concern right now is getting up.
Laying here, injured, was a big no no. Vulnerability was a dangerous thing. If he could just… If he could just move his arm, he might be able to do something. Call for backup maybe. There’s a drug bust that’s going to go down soon and he’s been tracking these guys for weeks now and it would be a shame if they were to get away. Those drugs were dangerous after all, and in the wrong hands could get someone killed. It could get kids killed. It could get his… his buddy killed. Did he have a buddy? Buddy?
“Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god.”
Dick hears the distorted voice from above, the sound crackly and pitchy. 
“Oh, god, I-I swear- oh my god. I didn’t mean to do that, I swear, I swear. Oh my god, what do I do. What do I- oh my god, I killed him. I killed him.”
If he could, Dick would roll over and try to console the obviously panicking person. He can’t exactly make out everything they were saying, but it sounded bad. What happened? Were they hurt?
A hand is jostling his shoulder now. 
“Sir, Nightwing, I’m sorry, I’m sorry. Please wake up, I didn’t mean to do that. I didn’t mean to hurt you. Wake up, wake up please. I’m sorry, oh my god, I didn’t-”
Another sound pings in his ear, like the toll of a tiny bell, but Dick doesn’t have the presence of mind to really register it. It’s the last thing he hears before the static overpowers him and the white disappears.
.
.
.
Tim hates being sick. He hates being benched even more, but he’s only benched because he’s sick. So maybe he actually hates being sick more than being benched. He’s not sure.
The head cold he’s been nursing, begrudgingly, the past few days has been steadily getting better. He woke up this morning without feeling like his head was being squeezed into a compressor, so it was progress. Alfred still won’t let him drink anything but water, something about hydration being key, but as he sips some hot chocolate from his favorite mug, Tim thinks that what Alfred doesn’t know won’t hurt him.
He’s on monitor duty currently, a task assigned to anyone who wasn’t out on patrol. Barbara was on a break tonight, taking the time off to sleep and try to catch up on other things, so it was left to Tim to handle the comms. It’s boring, horribly so, but it’s the only thing he’s allowed to do without being wrestled to his bed to rest.
He begins pinging everyone for their hourly check-in, a new protocol Bruce decided to implement after “the incident” (Tim still believes that the check-ins are unnecessary- it only happened one time! One time!), and waits for their response. He gets a few pings back, Spoiler being the only one to actually say hi, and waits for Nightwing to answer. 
A minute go by and Tim pings Nightwing again. Most likely, Dick was distracted. He’d said he was on a stake-out tonight, hopeful to catch some dealers in the act. Maybe he finally did. Maybe he didn’t. Tim doesn’t really care; the warm drink in his hands was making him sleepy.
Another minute passes, and Tim lethargically pings again. Concern is slowly seeping into his stuffy brain, but he’s deciding to give Dick a little more time to answer. Dick was a chatter-box sometimes, and though he doesn’t have a headache right now, Tim’s not eager to gain one.
“This is Red Robin, requesting a check in,” he says into the comms, frowning a bit when there’s still no answer. “Nightwing, report.”
He’s technically not supposed to do this, privacy being a very important part of all their lives, but the silence was making him nervous. With just the slightest bit of hesitance, Tim opens the communication line so he can listen to what, exactly, Dick is doing. The comms are two way, and with Tim having access to the main port, he can time into anyone's’ comm and hear the situation. Typically it’s yelling or curses on the other end, the normal reason for not answering the ping being a fight or some unavoidable situation.
What Tim isn’t prepared for, however, is the labored breathing that sounds horribly wet and pained. Like someone was breathing through a straw and drowning at the same time. Okay, not a great analogy, but he’s caught off guard and suddenly very aware of the fact that Nightwing is injured and, probably, incapacitated. 
There’s someone in the background as well, their voice not quite decipherable but panicked all the same. It’s definitely not a voice Tim recognizes and that amps up his anxiety a bit more. 
Quickly tuning to the shared channel, Tim urgently says, “Nightwing’s down. I’m sending out his location. Whoever is closest needs to get there ASAP. Someone’s with him as well, but I don’t know who it is. They might’ve been the one to attack him.”
“Robin and I are close. ETA two minutes,” Batman grunts, the slight pitch change an indication of his worry. “Is Nightwing’s comm broken?”
“No,” Tim sighs, unable to do anything more but listen to it all unfold. “He didn’t report in for the hourly. For whatever reason, he can’t respond. He’s injured, but I don’t know to what extent. He might be unconscious.”
“How long has he been down?” Robin demands.
“I don’t know,” Tim responds, growing frustrated. “He didn’t say anything earlier or call for backup.”
“Have Agent A prepare things,” Batman orders. “Treatment for hypothermia may be needed. Batman out.”
“Robin out.”
The moment of silence after is haunting, but the feeble breaths that come through a second later make Tim’s stomach churn. It fills the Cave, echoing and reverberating sounds of sickness and hurt.
He can’t turn it off though. He has to make sure Dick is okay. That he’s still breathing because although it’s grating and gut-wrenching to listen to, it’s a sign of life.
Tim hates being benched.
.
.
.
The one hundred and twenty three seconds it takes to get to Richard’s location is tense. It’s a blinking blue dot on the radar, flickering in and out as they draw nearer and nearer to the dank alleyway Nightwing was laying in. 
Batman and Robin had opted to patrol with the Batmobile that night, the bite of Gotham’s frost a needless pain to endure. Damian hadn’t made a comment about Richard’s foolish idea to do a stake-out in below freezing temperatures, it wasn’t his place to ridicule the man he looked up to on something so trivial, but Damian thinks he’s regretting that decision a bit. 
Richard listened to him. Not all the time, and frequently the older man possessed more knowledge on what was to happen, but he did consider Damian’s advice and for that, he was grateful. Now, Damian wished he had just slapped the man to get him to see straight. Clearly, the plan had been inane from the beginning, and now Nightwing needed to be rescued and assisted. 
An imbecilic situation.
They reach the entrance, or perhaps exit, of the alleyway, the path too dark to see clearly through. As soon as he opens the door, Damian hears the sounds of flighty footsteps and immediately plunges into the dim. He can see the figure now, a gangly and awkward excuse of a man running to the other end of the alley. Damian can sense Batman behind him in his pursuit, the comfort of backup strange. 
If this man, who they were chasing, was strong enough to incapacitate Nightwing, one of the best fighters in the world, then they may have a problem on their hands. 
Damian stops short though, almost falling onto his face as the gleam of ice appears in his peripherals. It catches the light of a dull and yellowing streetlamp, but it’s just enough to reflect onto the ice and reveal yet another figure, slumped over and unmoving.
Careful of the ice, Damian approaches cautiously, peering closely at the lump of mass laid against the brick wall. Batman keeps in pursuit, and soon, his cape disappears from the alley, determined to catch the fleeing perpetrator. Robin is alone now.
Taking out a flashlight from his belt, Damian directs its beam to the form and nearly gasps.
It’s Nightwing. Richard.
Immediately rushing closer, Damian is startled to see the sheer volume of blood weeping down the older man’s face, a stream of red that flows down his jaw and soaks the hemline of his suit. Taking in the situation, Damian sees the knocked over trash bin, a corner of the top suspiciously rust colored. Additionally, the ice patch that’s near the base of Richard’s feet, and the position he currently lays in, would suggest that Richard had fallen or been pushed over, slipping due to the ice. 
The amount of blood still flowing out of Nightwing is concerning, but if it was from a head wound, then it wouldn’t be surprising. As Richard liked to say, head trauma was the most dramatic trauma. 
The older man is unconscious, lips blue and face much paler than would be healthy. He doesn’t respond to Damian’s attempts at waking him up, including shining the flashlight directly into his eyes after peeling away his mask. However, in doing so, Damian also learns that Richard may be suffering from a concussion or worse, as his pupils barely contract when he passes the light back and forth.
“I have the suspect,” Batman says into the comms. “A teenager named Ben Purole. He claims he pushed Nightwing, resulting in him hitting his head on a garbage bin.”
Damian nods to himself, satisfied with the confirmation. “That is likely,” he responds, applying pressure to the now located head wound. “Nightwing is suffering from head trauma, perhaps a concussion, but appears to have no other wounds. He is bleeding and unconscious though. It would be wise to get him treated quickly.”
There’s a grunt on the other end to signal affirmation and less than twenty seconds later, Batman appears, carefully taking Nightwing into his arms and walking towards the Batmobile still parked at the entrance of the alley. Without prompting, Damian opens the side door, crawling in after Richard had been set to lay down.
The movement and sudden change in temperature seems to rouse him, a groan escaping his lips. Before Damian has properly fastened his seatbelt, the Batmobile is off, gliding easily across the icy roads. Father doesn’t like to drive fast during this kind of weather, though he knows the tires of the vehicle are built to grip onto slick surfaces, but there is a sense of urgency in the way he weaves between cars and runs lights.
“Wh’ happn?” Richard slurs from where his head rests in Damian’s lap.
“You were being brainless,” Damian responds, sniffing slightly, “and slipped gracelessly into a trash bin.”
“Skate?”
“No, you did not skate. What you did could hardly even be called falling. It was tasteless.”
“M’ head hurts.”
“Like I said,” Damian whispers, annoyance fading, “You fell. I believe your head collided with the edge of a metal bin.”
“Bleedin’?”
“Yes.”
“Con..concuss...con…”
“Yes, it is likely you have a concussion. You will be scanned when we arrive at the Cave to be sure.”
A moment of silence passes, nothing but the growl of the Batmobile’s engine to shake it.
“Richard?”
“Mmfph?”
“Are you… Are you alright?”
Two seconds.
“M’ cold.”
“Oh,” Damian says, slightly embarrassed. That was obvious, really. Why had he not provided a blanket yet? Or any sort of jacket or heat pad? Perhaps it was not just Richard being brainless tonight.
Gingerly, Damian shifts about, searching for anything that might provide warmth for the duration of the drive. He finds nothing though, the majority of their winter equipment most likely in the trunk. Richard’s lips are still blue and his shoulders shake in what might be shivers. His skin is cold to the touch, eyes squeezed shut and pained, and Damian cringes at the drying blood beginning to crack around his cheeks.
Now, Damian could provide multiple excuses for his next course of action. Not excuses, no, not that. He’d come to the reasonable conclusion that Richard was cold and may have hypothermia. There was also the conclusion that Richard most likely needed comfort, as he was still greatly disoriented and concussed. Damian’s actions were for the sole purpose of providing means of ensuring Richard’s safety as well, as even though Father was a good driver, one could never be too cautious, especially on such icy roads.
So, yes. Damian draping himself over Richard’s body in an awkward hug was purely for safety reasons. He intended to provide warmth with his own body heat and it was purely for Richard’s comfort. Nothing else. It was to help Richard. Damian did not need anything nor did he seek comfort. 
The hug was for survival reasons. Yes, survival. Exactly that.
Damian will never admit to the small smile that crept up his face when Richard hummed, a small and frozen grin of his own spreading.
The rest of the drive was spent in easy silence and when they arrived at the Cave, Tim and Alfred were waiting for them. By then, Dick had become slightly more coherent. Not exactly lucid, he still slurred his words just the slightest bit, but it was safe to conclude he was in no real danger.
Of course, as soon as he was cleared, Bruce took one last glance at Dick before heading back out again. Damian stayed in the Manor, watching his brother sleep on the cot they kept out for occasions like this. Dick had been given three blankets and a hot pack to hold onto. Hypothermia hadn’t set in, but the bright pink of his fingers and toes were a sign of future trouble if they didn’t immediately correct it.
Hours later, some time in the early morning when the sun had just barely begun to rise, did Bruce return. Alfred had sent both Tim and Damian back up to the Manor, a reprimand of something along the lines of, “Heaven forbid you two be the ones to catch a cold rather than Master Richard tonight,” shaming them enough to carry themselves to their respective rooms and settle in.
Taking off his cowl, Bruce’s eyes instantly travel to his eldest, still swamped with absurdly fluffy blankets and a ridiculous amount of pillows. He’s by his side in seconds, gazing at the color that had returned to Dick’s cheeks. Running a hand carefully through his son’s hair, Bruce frowns as he feels the familiar bumps of fresh stitches, his mouth pulling down further when he sees Dick’s brow twitch in irritation.
He keeps his hand there for a moment longer though, closing his eyes in what might be thankfulness. He’d left to check the garbage bin Dick had slammed into, scanning it for signs of rust or other ill-effects of time. Bruce had felt a surge of relief when he found no signs of oxidation in the metal, calling Alfred to tell him that tetanus was unlikely. Seeing Dick lay there, unresponsive and slurring, had scared Bruce more than he wanted to accept.
He’s a man always prepared for the worst, but never knowing what to do in the aftermath. That part of him that whispers his greatest fears screamed at him tonight, only subsiding once he’d returned. He was a coward, he knew this, but there was hardly anything else he could think to be.
“Bruce?”
He opens his eyes to look down, taking in the sight of his eldest son, rosy cheeked and smiling, no longer covered in red stains and frost. It was a good sight. A great sight. Bruce isn’t religious, but he might even call it a blessing.
“Hey, chum. How are you feeling?”
Dick responds by leaning into Bruce’s touch, content and warm. There’s a suspicious wetness building in the graying man’s eyes, but neither make a comment. It was rare, these moments between them. Far and few between, but appreciated nonetheless.
“I hate the cold,” Dick grumbles, sinking further into the mass of blankets. “Winter in Gotham sucks.”
As if on cue, a hearty sneeze erupts from out of Dick’s nose, startling the both of them. Dick sneezed like he was a married man with three children; purposely loud, dramatic, and with enough force to throw his back out. Bruce blinks, processing the sneeze and trying to decide if something like that was even meant to come out of a person, much less a concussed person. 
He needn’t think too hard about it though as a giggle, yes a giggle, makes itself known, filling the Cave with a lightness it doesn’t often experience. 
Dick is laughing and it’s one of the most beautiful things Bruce has ever heard, and he can’t help but chuckle too.
Gotham is cold, but the small med-bay felt like the warmest place in the world.
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m4gp13 · 3 years
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For those of you who made it through my laughably incoherent ethabaster think piece, here’s some hc’s, you’ve earned them:
- Ethan has sole possession of their one shared brain cell. Alabaster is not allowed to even look at it. This is because they used to have two but Al broke the good one trying to blow up something (probably Percy).
- If Al finds out Ethan left without some form of magical protection i.e. a sigil, a crystal, ground eggshells, he will be pretty much vibrating with nerves until Ethan gets back so he can give him a once-over.
- Alabaster’s from a very witchy family who all worship Hecate for many reasons that differ depending on which estranged relative you ask and they all kinda saw Al as the first coming of witch Christ so he had a lot of expectations at a very young age.
- Ethan knows this and tries to lift as much Titan army business off his shoulders as possible.
- He accidentally lifts too much off to the point where he is drowning in work and is now the one in need of saving. But does he tell anyone that if he looks at one more stack of demands from his mile long list of bosses he’s going to cry for five hours? Of course not don’t be ridiculous.
- Alabaster immediately hated Percy as soon as he heard the guys name but due to the arena stuff and telling Thalia not to k*ll him Ethan actually held a bit of respect for Percy which annoyed Al to no end.
-This was until the not-so-peaceful peace talk in tlo when Percy starts shit talking Nemesis and Ethan just internally goes “actually the witch bitch was right this guy sucks ass”
-However, under no circumstances will Ethan ever tell this to Alabaster; not because he values his pride (he has none) but because he knows the life of a demigod is short and he doesn’t want to spend the rest of his very short one hearing Al rub that one thing in his face for every single second of it.
- And I mean Every. Single. Second.
- So yeah he takes that to the grave and doesn’t even tell anyone in the underworld in case they tell Al when he dies and he doesn’t want to spend the rest of his afterlife with Al being a dumbass. (also yes Ethan got into Elysium, fuck you)
- (Actually I have another idea about where Ethan went post-life but that’s so far from canon it’s more of an AU than a headcanon so we’re gonna leave that out for now)
- Al thought he was the one in charge of the Hecate kids because he was the most powerful and the highest ranking in the army but he was Not. That was Ethan. The Hecate kids thought Ethan was their unofficial adopted baby brother but little did they know he was the mum the whole time.
- Ethan is the only thing standing between them and starving to death. He also does the younger kids hair and gives everyone with long hair super intricate braids that stay out of their faces during “field work”. Al thinks this is more of him trying to take the weight off his shoulders but Ethan knows that if he doesn’t do this shit no one will so he kinda has to. Not that he doesn’t like doing it. being helpful is his love language.
 - Because of their powers over the mist the Hecate kids of the army were notorious pranksters who were usually at war with the Hermes kids (wars usually declared by Al because he rolled a zero on self restraint) but none of them prank Ethan because “nooooo you can’t do him he babey 🥺”
- Ethan has simply decided that what the magic prank wizards don’t know can’t hurt them and just turns to his blind side whenever he sees them sneaking off the ship to get Micky D’s in the middle of the night to stay on their good sides.
- Speaking of the ship, Ethan thinks it’s the dumbest thing in the world that one of their most powerful demigod enemies is the son of a sea god and he actually has a pretty decent relationship with said sea god and their main base of operations aside from mt Othrys is a fucking BOAT. He tells Al all about his worries for the ship and while Al assures him that nothing that bad could happen he always makes sure that the ship always has the least amount of demigods on board at all times just in case.
- It takes all the strength Ethan has not to yell “TOLD YOU SO” at him when the ship blows up.
- Al probably either wears basic white boy clothes or typical witchy stuff (like moons and shit) depending his mood meanwhile Ethan found out about leather and just goes for it.  
- Every grunge/punk/emo/eboy/teachwear bitch aspires to be him and because he aint about all that “gender roles” bs he definitely goes about wearing cool egirl stuff too. Not just slightly feminine shaped jumpers but all the plaid skirts, fishnets and lace trimmed dresses he can steal afford and Al, despite his more basic fashion taste is here for it. You’ve never seen someone more supportive of their pals fits, get you a hypeman like Al. You deserve it. (Ethan is also not afraid to walk around in a full pastel gamer girl fit)
- (Also Al hyping up one Ethans fits in front of a Titan is the reason they were allowed to start wearing army fatigues instead of the whole ancient Greek armour on occasion)
- Ethan appreciates Al’s enthusiasm but he also kinda doesn’t get it. And he definitely doesn't do that “yeah you’re right I DO look good” thing because he just doesn’t know how. He’d always been a little self-conscious about getting a big head but then he found out about Nemesis and hubris and all that fun stuff, looked at his meager pile of self worth and said “ yep, this has to go”
- Al almost starts crying when he finds out and pretty much makes it mission to be such a good hype man that Ethan has no choice but to think of himself as a Pretty Cool Dude via absorbing the hype through diffusion. It kinda starts working but then Ethan [REDACTED] in tlo so we’ll never know what could’ve been.
- To nick a hc from someone ( hi @chromarozee-spam) contrary to his taste in clothes Ethan does ballet (he was a punk AND did ballet, what more can I say?) and while Al tries to support his hobbies he is genuinely afraid both for and of him. “For” because “holy fuck that looks painful are you okay?”. And “of” because “are you sure those are bones inside you because I don’t think bones are supposed do that?!”.
- Ethan tries to assure him that no his spine is not made of rubber, broken bones or otherworldly materials so can he stop bothering him during practice please?
- This does not stop Al from making a million protection wards and constantly asking his deck if Ethan is indeed a Being of this Good Green Earth.
- Eventually his cards pretty much just tell him that he is friends with one bendy heck of a boi and he needs to fucking get over it so he kinda just,, ,,,,, , does.
- Again with the hc thieving (this time from @altorringtons) Al learning to use a two-handed broadsword so he can guard Ethan’s blind side and back in a fight *soft noises* just them trying so hard to keep each other alive because they love each other and they care about each other!
- They also sleep in the same bed whenever they get the chance (fully clothed ya nasties, they’re kids) and they just hug each other soooo tight because they just need to know they’re alright cos they always get pretty banged up in fights against campers or just monsters that are too much like wild animals to recruit. (What? Me? Projecting my desire to be intimately held by the closest person I have to family with their arms wrapped not tight enough to make me uncomfortable but tight enough to make me feel loved? Never! What on earth are you talking about?)
- Because Al is super stubborn and prideful whenever they have an argument Al can’t really bring himself to say he’s sorry so when he’s ready to apologise he just climbs into bed on Ethan’s blind side and cuddles him because he knows Ethan is super worried about getting attacked on his blind side so it’s like he has a guard or a shield.
- Ethan on the other hand just calls him a Rock Boy in a derogatory way until he gets over himself and apologizes but he really does love the fact that Al knows that about him and accommodates that.
- The thing they fight about most is how “heroic” the titan army is. Kronos’ brainwashing worked on Al like a charm and he fully believes that they are the rebellion and camp is the empire. Ethan on the other hand wasn’t at camp long enough for Kronos or Luke to really do anything but it doesn’t matter because Ethan really doesn’t give a shit if he’s on the “evil side” cos he just wants respect and he’s willing to do what it takes without a second thought of how people see him. If he thinks he’s doing the right thing but on the wrong side he can live with that but Al needs to feel like all of his side is on the moral high ground because that’s what Kronos drilled into his brain.
- Ethan knows that Al delusional when it comes to the non-existent heroics of the army but eventually he just decides to let Al believe the titans lies because that’s easier for him even if it hurts Ethan to see him being manipulated like that.
- Due to Ethan not giving a shit on the humanity of his bosses he gets punished a lot more often and a lot more violently than Al because they know that Ethan already knows they don’t care about him so they don’t have to sugar coat him but Al still believes that they’re heroes and his mindset needs to stay like that to keep him obedient.
- Also because I am  a Cruel Person By Nature I hc Ethan’s mortal family (which usually just consists of his dad) as meeting a not very pg13 end at the hands of a monster who wanted to nible on Ethan a tad which pretty much scarred him for life.
- SO, at the end of the battle of Man Hats Are In when Al looks around and sees that his whole family (that joined the titans) are dead! oh no! How sad! At least he knows someone whose been through the same thing so they understand each other and can help each other through this tough time together right? SIKE!
- so yeah Al learns Ethan d-worded in the worst possible way at the worst possible time and just looses it from grief. Loosing his family was bad enough but finding out he lost the one person he thought he would be able to confide in and heal with immediately after just really rubs salt in the wound.
- When the survivors start re-grouping to find someplace to hide until the gods forget about them Al just wanders off because it’s all he can do to not break down on the spot.
- He’s just wandering in a daze for a while and most people just assume he’s high but he snaps out of it and gets into anger mode when Lamia starts attacking him because he finally has something to do and occupy himself with even though it’s hard not to think about his sibling especially when Lamia keeps talking like they never would have died if she’d been in charge which is why she should totally just kill him and lead their siblings instead.
- His desire to have something to keep his mind off his family and Ethan is the first thing he thinks about when Claymore re-alives and immediately starts talking about doing research (yeah because that’s what you need after a long stressful day of fighting monsters and literally dying).
- Ethan keeps trying to cross the veil and help, even if he just sends Al a pleasant dream to help him sleep but contrary to what you might think from the name, the veil is really hard to cross so Ethan just has to bite his nails and watch his friend suffer.
- It gets easier to watch after Al and Claymore pretty much adopt each other because at least he has someone but they do still get into pretty scary situations.
- When they were both premortem they got paired up for a lot of missions for the titan army and they usually just tried to pretend they were on a fun road trip around America when they could and make fun of mortal shit together.
- At one point they were in a motel and the last people accidentally left behind one of Claymore’s books about death and they found it the funniest thing ever. Between a pair of in which one of their mum’s regularly goes to the underworld and one has been there himself they find mortal ideas of the afterlife to be very amusing.
- Alabaster has decided he would not like to share this with the class (Claymore) thank you very much.
- Also when they’re doing their road tripping Ethan knows all the best places to crash, the cheapest food places and the local gangs don’t bother them because between running away from camp and joining the army he just wandered around a lot.
- Like he’d just hop on a random train, take a nap and figure it out when he wakes up; he made a lot of friends this way too as well as his taste in clothes cos he didn’t have a lot of money so he’d just DIY some second hand punk shit. Al thinks he’s the Gandalf of the demigod world because he just knows everyone who might help them and everywhere they could spend the night. He definitely tells his siblings about Ethan being the closest thing they have to a wandering wizard and they fucking love it.
- Also because Nemesis tends to not have a lot of kids Ethan was the only one of hers in the army and Al felt really bad for him because his sibling were his favourite part about the army so he tried to include Ethan in as much as possible with his siblings.
- As an unexpected result Ethan ended up with a small army of super powered children to sick on the people who keep making jabs about him loosing in the arena battle.
- Al sometimes thinks he’s given him too much power but also he will fuck a bitch up if they make fun of his pals so he sees where his siblings are coming from and yeah those bitches had it coming. He also has a copy of bitchcraft.
- Ethan’s dad was the type to play “Stay With Me” by Miki Matsubara on repeat for hours and Ethan would probably enjoy the song but he’s heard it so often that now it makes his ears bleed and Al sometimes tortures him with for fun until Ethan starts throwing shit.
- To steal another hc from @chromarozee-spam Ethan has a thing for cats and one time Al accidentally gave himself mistform cat-ears and Ethan could not stop touching them. Ethan was just craning his head back uncontrollably grinning so much his face hurt. Al can’t bring himself to be upset because Ethan rarely ever smiles since he joined the army.
- Al saw Ethan crying over one of those video’s where people put their hoodies on backwards and put their cat in the hood so he made a mist cat and bought him a hoodie. Ethan of course started crying again but it was happy tears instead.
- Ethan is fucking tiny while Al is almost a foot taller than him. He wouldn’t mind so much if Al didn’t exhaust every opportunity to rub it in his face so he just starts climbing all over shit (especially tall buildings) half to give Al heart attacks and half so he can be like “Sorry? What was that? I’m so high up I can’t hear you. Can you speak up a little? Maybe get a ladder? Or taller?”
- Also I don’t know why but I hc Al as Texan. Ethan gets told about this “Alabaster C. Torrington” guy who knows latin, incantations and other magical knowledge and expects some fancy British guy so when they meet and Al speaks Ethan gets whiplash so hard he fuckin chokes.
- Al is also very casual and Ethan is pretty professional so when he meets this magic general with a straight back and the first thing that comes out of this assholes mouth is some “Howdy y’all!!” bullshit he just dies on the spot.
- Also because Al is texan he is very sensitive to the cold (I’m about 80% sure that Texas is one of the Warm states) so when he has to do stuff in cold places like the labyrinth or new york (idk about that one to but in every film I’ve seen that’s set in NY it’s raining for about 90% of the time) he complains about being freezing all the time until Ethan helpfully reminds him that he can literally make fire out of nothing, surely he can find a way to warm himself up.
- Ethan is also sensitive to the cold because he’s basically malnourished but he’s been like that for a while and thinks it’s normal so he sucks it up until Al notices he’s always cold. Ethan tells him it’s fine but Al is basically a walking electric blanket so whenever Al cuddles him to keep him warm Ethan can’t help but melt because he’s so fucking warm and soft and have you noticed I crave intimacy?
- Ethan started studying Greek myths vigorously since he found out he was a demigod and when he died he kept an eye and an ear out for Al because even though he wouldn’t be able to do anything it still reassures him to know what’s going on, HOWEVER, he was almost filled with enough malice to rip through the barrier between the living and the dead purely to beat an ass when he hears Al’s little “I don’t bother reading about worthless monsters like you!” jab.
- Ethan is very jumpy and fidgety to the point where Al is genuinely concerned and while Ethan assures Al that nothing’s wrong Al is still suspicious. Ethan probably would have told Al about it if it was because of anything but Kronos but seeing that it mostly is, he doesn’t because Ethan feels like Al will just take Kronos’ word over his and he’ll loose the only person he trusts in the army.
- Al doesn’t find out about it until way after the war when Kronos’ brainwashing starts to come undone because by then his mindset is a lot less biased in the titans favour so he can see things that he just unconsciously ignored before and is able to put two and two together. When he does boy is it a trip.
- Ethan is really bad at talking about feelings and stuff so whenever Al gets upset over something and Ethan has no idea how to talk to him he’ll just get him some rocks. One time Ethan found out about those heart shaped valentine boxes that are normally filled with chocolates but people put crystals in them and that just became his go-to for when Al was especially upset. 
- Al is only slightly better at talking about stuff but he can still get Ethan to open up to him which is good because Ethan isn’t very materialistic so it’s hard to make him feel better by buying him things and because someone needs to get Ethan to express himself in an emotionally healthy way.
- Also because of this they just can’t tell each other they love each other. Like they’ll barely whisper it when the other is asleep because they’re just so bad at talking about feelings. It wasn’t that much of an issue until after the war and Ethan gets k-worded and Al is left alone and sobbing over all the times he never told his loved ones how much they meant to him.
- But because this is a headcanon list; fuck that, Al saved Ethan with some sort of magic bullshit and they talk about how much they love each other all the time now because they can’t stand the thought of one of them dying having never been told how much they are loved.
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frogtanii · 3 years
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Wind anon’s reaction to “xxiii. exiled” in PF! Two days late; but here! Okay, I’m just gonna dive right into it
Iwaizumi starting off strong with a “anyone mind telling me what the (fudge) just happened” (yes, wind anon tries not to curse. It’s a thing). The irony is that he was there the entire time. So he may have saw YN barge into Meiko’s room. He may have heard YN call Meiko a female dog. But he also heard and saw Meiko slap YN first. So it’s honestly amusing that he’s the one asking what happened. I guess he’s in disbelief sure... but is it rude for wind anon to like him not knowing what’s going on? Because this means he has to know what happened before YN got slapped. What caused her to be so angry at Meiko? What did she whisper to Meiko? Iwaizumi is in the best place to get on YN squad right now and that is the most ironic thing I’ve seen so far. But moving on...
Meiko... you made it physical first... YN’s been carrying the entire house so hard that there is no way she isn’t strong as heck. Suga’s POV was indeed simping for YN but I might write another poem just on YN’s eyes. Every day we are reminded of YN Supremacy. But back on track, Meiko’s text really does match the fact she had mascara running down her face and she is a mess. I’m impressed by her usage of the emoji actually, because I didn’t think she would be able to see well enough to type up messages in her state. Oh wait, is that too mean? Wind anon always has underlying salt...
YN!! Our queen, angel, love of our lives, you make us so so happy— her messages...from “funny you would bring up that word” to “it’s a promise”—YN is so hot. So cool. As a villain, she would steal the show. YN as a villain would be millions of times more attractive than Meiko— YN with smoky eyeshadow, sleek eyeliner, and mascara, with reddened lips—please, she would be too dangerous for our hearts I cannot—
Okay, I could go in forever with YN appreciation but I already wrote... what is this, 3 paragraphs on just the first image so wind anon has to move forward haha. Osamu telling Atsumu to “put yer girl on a leash” and I’m like, eyebrow raise and scoff, because Meiko has leashes on all of you and you shouldn’t have leashes in a mutual healthy relationship because you should have equal power, agency, and rights— cough cough, but Osamu did say YN was Atsumu’s girl so that’s amusing to me. I think it would be interesting to see his reaction when the whole truth comes out. He will feel inadequate compared to Atsumu surely. How...heartbreaking it would be...
Atsumu is number 1 YN supporter and it really shows. First, defending her autonomy and ability to do what she wishes, while also mentioning he is behind her, supporting her, and defending her. The back is an important place because if someone is behind you, it’s hard to see and defend. Atsumu being at YN’s back shows trust and reliability. YN believes that Atsumu will protect her and have her back.
Kenma’s snark with “u have eyes don’t you”. This connects back to the beginning with Kenma telling Sakusa about how he thought he was cool that way—really shows how they have grown from interacting with each other, you’re absolutely brilliant fr0ggy, imagine being able to convey this much character development from 5 words—you’re so cool!
Okay, Meiko being suspicious part... 21 or something. She is so obvious I cannot. She bring up calling the cops first, and now she is like “nope, no can do, let’s just keep it all quiet, nothing, no cops” I am baffled. She is...not slick. Not smooth. But I give her the benefit of doubt and just say that she was too beat up after YN because I cannot believe her idiocy and I need this for my own sanity.
But I see Oikawa...I see him looking for logic. That’s good, very good, I’m excited. And Meiko’s response... how brash.
YN’s crew being all chill. Feeling myself be quenched. YN chooses violence and walks away beautiful. I bask in her glory. And Meiko trying to defend herself but YN really did hit her a lot so I don’t know how she can say that when there is evidence (her face) of her getting hit multiple times.
Daichi being “I’d love to see if YN’s reasoning for attacking you has merit” and I am like, tilting my shades down to be like “do you even see this?” I am... okay, moving on—
Sakusa! Omi! Sakkun—I love him so so much. I wanna trace all his moles and see if they can make constellations. Just imagine him tenderly holding your fingers in his hand while he dabs at your bruised knuckles.
Okay, I don’t want to get into the BS that is them deciding to exile YN to her room. There are ways to schedule for them not interact. Just give them different blocks for kitchen/living room or whatever. Meiko has a consistent schedule for her YouTube. YN has a decently flexible schedule. Iwaizumi is a hecking manager, there is no way he cannot plan this, and if needed Meiko or YN could get someone else to get them food or something so they don’t interact with each other. Oh well.
Meiko is like TNT...she blows everything up...kaboom. Her existence causes her own destruction... I am almost...awed? I also might make a poem involving YN’s past with Meiko and the psychology of Meiko because it is fascinating how she operates.
Blowing up at Iwaizumi and Oikawa who are part of your greatest supporters...she amuses me. Like a clown. A fool. But even jesters and fools require brains for jokes. I like seeing her get kicked off her thrown by YN.
Okay, this is it for my reaction to exiled, moving on to the next one rn!
wowie!! i gotta say, i now ship wind nonnie x yn, ur so v eloquent when u talk abt her it makes me so happy hehe <333
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