#but either way i'm not sure how much stuff i'm going to be churning out

[cafecourage]

That lack of requests is criminal. Don't mind me while I churn out a couple more. (this is actually helping with my brain-deadness so I'm gonna alternate between studying and dropping stuff in your inbox lol)

Hyrule with an s/o who is also good at magic (but can't heal worth a damn) and is able to give themselves fairy wings while maintaining full height. Like they can just become a hylian-sized fairy.

And maybe he finds out because he fell off a cliff and they saved him?

- Glitter ✨

Is is gonna be similar to another ask I got. But first some random Hc’s that I don’t think go together with the story I wrote but still is fun to think about.

- Hylians could gain the abilities to have magic through other means. Hyrule, himself, being an example of that. While I am all up for half fae Hyrule, but Changeling Hyrule, and Battle Mage Hyrule is also up there. Either way how ever you look at it, Reader and Hyrule are 100% covering each other’s backs.

- If Reader is bad with healing, I am going to assume they can do more specialized magic like defense up, shielding, etc. Not actually healing but it’s still something. I imagine that Reader and Hyrule are like a sword and shield combo, though who is who is ether or as you can shield the both of you and he can heal.

- Imagine if Hyrule was the one that taught you the fairy spell? You are just more adventurous with messing with it to change your height so it can stay the same. You guys just teach each other since you’re the only two that know how to even do magic in the first place. These are just some idea’s though. If Reader was half-fae they would probably already be able to do it and can teach him too.

When your mother, Great Fairy Mija, offered your help to the Champion on his latest adventure. You didn’t expect much to come from it, nor for Link to say yes in the first place but that was beside the point. Honestly it didn’t phase you to much that there was more Link’s in the group. If anything you had heard it before from other Great Fairies that a bunch of heroes have gotten together before. And you can assume it wont be the last time this was going to happen.

What you didn’t expect was how fast they clicked and adopted each other. Though living in a Fairy Fountain you were kinda used to quick adoptions, so it wasn’t a big deal just surprising.

You were a lot slower to integrate into the group as you weren’t a hero for courage so less predictable compared to all the Link’s. Which was fine as you knew the champion, now known as Wild, had the same issue with trusting people too.

So having eight more insane semi impulsive guys to befriend wasn’t too difficult. Especially when you did openly used magic to help them in battle though you made sure to get consent before hand. You heard the stories you heard what happened to some of them it is only fair. The Hero of Twilight and Legends you were especially careful around. Rather be safe than yelled at.

You quickly noticed that the traveler who was given the title of Hero of Hyrule, was similar to Wild. It felt easier to befriend him than anyone else. Which was fun. You, him and Wild typically tended to stay together as giving your home Era’s wandering was commonplace. Hyrule did tell you about his magic when healing was needed, “You’re half fae though.” The Vet pointed out as Hyrule took over bandaging the Captain. “Wouldn’t that be natural?”

The answer was actually longer than it needed to be but that wasn’t a story for now, “well. Yes, but no.” It was also convoluted to explain and honestly with the fight everyone just went through, again it was a story for another day. “The short of the answer is that I don’t have the ability to do it safely to others… or myself.” That only earned them a quizzical look but before the conversation could be continued it was side tracked. Which was good for you.

You would of explained once everyone was better and relatively settled as it was a weird and long explanation of Magic not really being something Hylians could do in the first place with out items. Of course there were acceptions, Princesses, Gifts from the Goddess, etc. You at least wanted to tell Hyrule what you knew as he seemed to get his magical abilities in an unnatural manner. There wasn’t a doubt in your mind that it was on purpose for him to find these things but, the guy literally held on to the triforce for years before secretly giving back to the princesses to hide it away.

Monsters are still after him for his blood after all.

The horror you felt when you heard him whisper that can be still felt to this day. “Why?” You asked.

“Because, thats where it was.” He whispers softly as you two walked through the path around the canyon heading into hebra mountain. The idea was to find Zelda who was near the stables waiting. Honestly there was a voice in the back of your mind that was telling you to go see your Aunt who was by Rito Village but that was probably a week trek out on foot.

“Still that magic isn’t really information that would typically be spread.” You commented offhandedly as thats not how blood magic worked. You think. It’s not like you tried. Forbidden magic is forbidden for a reason. “But Monsters are Monsters I guess.” You shrugged looking to the side into the snow. The path to hebra wasn’t the safest as it was the hardest reason.

“Well it just did…” You looked back at Hyrule there is slight movement in the snow. Unfortunately you couldn't get out the words "Lizalfos!" Before everything was in disarray.

It was quick to lose yourself in battle, but you tried to keep your calm as you fight back. Making sure that those who need it get their buff. Typically stronger people get defensive buffs, those who work better with speed gets a tad boost for that. You look to your left where Hyrule was.

Only to see him get pushed back loosing his footing. That alone made you dash forward as you feared the worse. The worse being what happened.

Hyrule fell into the Tanagar Canyon.

Just to spite that monster you sent a lighting spell his way before diving off the Canyon after the Hero. You reached out to grab him as you focused on your own magic again. Transforming your form slightly to a more natural state for you. Wing's sprouting behind you as you slowly pull him in your arms. You didn't know if you were strong enough to fly the both of you up. However you aimed for a better landing as you turn up and a slow descent.

It wasn't a soft landing but nether of you were hurt. "Are you ok?" you asked setting Hyrule down as you had to hold him a bit strangely.

"Yeah... Just surprised." He said calming his heart, he looks up at you "thank you." His gaze shifts up to the Canyon wall. "How do you think we can get up?"

"Uhhh..... Magic?" You suggest as you look at him. "You have that fae spell right?"

Hyrule made a face like he really didnt want the other to know about it "yeah... I guess."

"I can carry you in that form! Don't worry."

"That's... some how worse."

#twilight (not lu) speaks #linked universe x reader #luxreader #linkeduniverse x reader #fairybread

[hxney-lemcn]

i wanted to ask if you could do brett hand x gn! reader but angst? like stuff with his family and its getting worse. hope its not a bad idea

have a good night/ day hun!!

summery: reader tries to cheer Brett up. They find out just what is making Brett feel down and fluff ensues.

tw: toxic family relationships, hurt/comfort

a/n: ...teehee, so I'm pretty sure this was requested like...a year ago...uh...sorry for the late upload?? LMAO! If you're still interested here you go 💀

wc: 1.2k

Master List

I couldn’t focus on the shitty 80’s movie playing when I had Brett curled into my side. I noticed he seemed to be down at work, and offered to host a sleepover. Yes it may be childish, but after learning about Brett’s shitty family and how he never really had a childhood, I thought it would be nice. 

Brett didn’t hesitate to agree. Although his demeanor was enthused, his brown eyes still showed unhappiness. Which led to our current situation. Watching classic 80’s movies and cuddling on the couch. I kept sneaking glances down towards the brunette, his eyes glued to the tv. His head rested on my chest, and my arms wrapped around his back.

At one point, his eyes started watering, which led me to pausing the movie. Clearly something was eating at him and I wasn’t gonna just watch him suffer. 

“Why’d you pause-”

“What’s wrong Brett,” I said, interrupting him. I wasn’t gonna let him bat around the bush.

“N-nothing, why do you ask?” He deflected, eyes darting all over the place. He was a terrible liar.

Bringing a hand up, I ran my fingers through his hair, which made him relax almost immediately. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to,” I soothed. “But I don’t want you to hold it in either. You can talk to me.” He fell limp, admitting defeat as I gently scratched at his scalp.

“It’s…” He stuttered slightly. “I-its my family.” I tensed when they came up. I’ve only met them once, and it was not a pleasant meeting. I mean, Brett literally took a bullet for his brother and he’s once again on their shit list. Which I could never understand. Brett was the sweetest man I had ever met! He listened, he cared, and he’d do anything to make his friends happy…well more like anyone happy (clearly coming from his family trauma), but still! He was an absolute sweetheart. 

All in all, I did not like his family. In fact, you could even say I hate them. I couldn’t tell Brett that though, as he still loved them dearly. Something they did not deserve. 

“What did they do this time?” I asked, trying to keep myself from letting my distaste show in my tone. 

Brett nuzzled further into the crook of my neck, “Just the usual, called me a disappointment and I never deserved to have even been considered for the 1st ranked sibling. How they don’t understand why I even bother to show my face around them anymore.”

I took deep breaths, trying to calm myself down. I know family is important, but if my parents did that, I’d be out the door and never come back. I have no clue how Brett could be strong enough to endure his parents' neglect and emotional abuse. I know his family is important to him, but there's a certain point that people should just cut ties.

“Oh Brett,” I muttered, nuzzling the top of his head. “My sweetheart. My sweet little boy.” Brett’s hold on me grew a little tighter at the nicknames, and I felt tears hit my neck, but I paid it no mind. “You deserve so much better. They should be the ones begging for your love and attention, not the other way round. You are so accomplished, loved, and overall amazing. You’re a boss at the shadow government, you’ve got a team who loves you! …in their weird little ways of course. Not to mention that you are just a caring and loving person.”

Brett sniffled, “Then why are they so mean?”

My heart churned, feeling my own eyes water at just how beaten he sounded. 

“I’m not exactly sure of their history, but I assume it’s because that’s how their parents treated them,” I replied, trying to think how people could be so cold to their own children. “That and a mix of them not having the capacity to actually care for you and your siblings. When they look at you, they see a commodity, not a person.”

I winced as Brett let out a sob mixed with a whimper. Did I make it worse?

“But you’re not a commodity,” I muttered, pressing a kiss to his temple. “You’re an amazing, beautiful person who deserves the love you get and even more. I know you care for your family, but I think the best thing you can do is let them go. I mean you have a work family who do care for you, who want to see you succeed. I hope I’m not overstepping, but I feel like your family is holding you back. I know you can grow so much more if you learn that their affection and approval isn’t worth the pain and hurt. Because there are other people willing to give you that affection and approval.”

Brett let a sob escape him, his arms squeezing the life out of me, but I wasn’t gonna stop him. He was babbling things I couldn’t make out, but I think it was things of gratitude and love. I didn’t need to hear what he was saying to know that he was grateful. I was just glad I seemed to have gotten through to him.

“Th-they found someone to m-marry me off to,” He stuttered. “A-and I didn’t want to disappoint them, b-but I don’t want to marry them! I want to marry you! A-and I told them that, and that's when they started t-to insult m-me.”

My eyes widened at his bold proclamation, my hand halting its ministrations in his hair. They wanted to marry him off? I guess that wasn’t out of their reach. But he actually said no? Because he wanted to marry me?! I felt myself fluster at the thought. I couldn’t help but picture us standing at the altar, or podium, in front of the sea? Maybe in the woods? I wasn’t sure where, but a beautiful place, with us exchanging our vows of love, and then becoming wedded. 

I snapped out of it when Brett’s teary eyes met mine. They were big and watery, almost like a sad puppy. He seemed to be freaking out, eyes frantically searching mine.

I cupped his jaw, brushing my thumb over his cheek, “I would be honored to marry you.”

His eyes widened, cheeks warming under my touch, a bashful smile gracing his face. A tear fell down his cheek, and I wiped it away.

“I would be honored to marry you,” Brett emphasized. 

I chuckled, feeling elated, “I guess we’d be honored to marry each other.”

Brett giggled back, the brightest smile I’d ever seen on his face, “Yeah.”

Pulling his face down, I littered his face with kisses, causing his giggles to continuously fall out of his mouth. I nuzzled our noses before leaving one last kiss to his lips. He hummed in content as I wrapped my arms around his neck, the kiss being a slow, passionate, loving one. 

“Do you wanna continue the movie?” I asked after we pulled apart.

Brett’s eyes were glued to my lips, “Could…we do that again…please.”

I blinked, an explosive laugh falling from my lips, “Brett this isn’t our first kiss.”

#brett hand x reader #inside job x reader #inside job #brett hand #x reader #fluff #hurt/comfort

[jiangwanyinscatmom]

Seeing the behaviour of this fandom (*cough cough "jiujiu" stans) has made me so tired. I can't go into the wangxian tag without seeing so much unproperly tagged shit and "yunmeng shuangjie reconciliation" stuff I just groan and want to die. I'm sure these people have not read the books, because how can you get such a twisted version of a character. It's baffling to me as someone who genuinely liked Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian's complicated relationship that develved into something toxic and unbearable due to JC acting the way he did and how much he leaned into his hatred. Anyways, I only wish you the best when dealing with these guys Orion, ya certainly do not deserve this. Love ya, the gang, and the posts. Long live wet racoon JC! -🐉🦋

Me, in my happy little tag just for me, happily still shit talking the raccoon that is Jiang Cheng, thriving that his stans are still butt hurt about the way I talk and love him

Either way, I'm sure happy in my corner of knowing how to read while they have to come up with a whole side fic about an OC called Jiang Cheng while I can happily pull out any passage from the book to eviscerate whatever UwU sad boi sue meta they want to churn out. ☺️

#mdzs #mo dao zu shi #lol jc stans

[thotsforvillainrights]

Hi! Been a long time fan. 💕

Hope you & the baby are doing well!

May I possibly bother you of getting something with my favorite birb Setsuno finding out he’s having a baby? 🥺

(Baby should be doing just fine! Made exactly 11 weeks today! For about 4 days uninterrupted I've been fighting the most gnarly morning sickness ever. Everything I eat and drink makes me sick. I'm sick from not eating and sick from eating. The only that works is chewing peppermint gum. Anyway, let me get off my ramble and churn out some good old Setsuno content. It's been a while since I've been able to do so!)

(Also again this one is pretty specific so I apologize if some readers can't insert into it! I'm open to writing a Setsuno and his partner adopting alternative later upon request!)

~Setsuno Becoming a Dad~

headcanon|scenario|imagine|match-up

-The overflow of emotions he feels in that very moment of you showing him the two pink lines on that stick just overwhelm him all at once. He at a loss for words. He doesn't even care that you just peed on it either. He grabs it gently and doesn't say a word as tears begin streaming down his face. When he finally gathers himself enough to speak to you, he just barely utters out an 'I'm going to be a father?' before looking at your watery eyes for confirmation. As you shake your head he immediately smiles widely and repeats himself much louder this time. That question no longer a question but now an exclamation so loud the neighbors hear it. "I'm going to be a father!!!"

-He literally calls out of work the next day much to Overhaul's dismay. He just wants to spend the whole day with you planning things. I mean sure you've talked about kids in the past and planned some stuff here and there but never on this scale. It's totally different now that its real! He spends the day asking whether or not you want to reveal it now and if not then how will you two do it later on? Of courser a few small people like his parents and your parent need to know early. Maybe your boss possibly so you can plan out parent leave as well? It just depends on how you want to go about things. Don't even get him started on the registry and the baby shower! He's big on planning everything out so don't be afraid to tell him if he's being a little bit hectic on you with everything at the moment. Everyone needs a break here and there.

-Oh you two finally get to take a day out to go baby clothes shopping early. You insist on getting a few gender neutral items since it's still too early to know the baby just yet but Toya swears in his heart it's gonna be a little girl. He gravitates toward small dresses and overalls with matching sun hats. "Look! She'll be so cute when the summer rolls around in this! We can take her to the beach and collect seashells!!!" Way too excited for the surrounding parents who need to back away from the crazy shouting man lol

-His favorite part so far has been staying up late with you in bed and going off your list of baby names together. Although he feels in his heart this will be a girl, he has a much fuller list of baby boy names than traditional girl names. His argument is that some of them can be interchanged.

-Has already put a 'baby on board' sticker on the car and the kid isn't even born yet. "You have to do it so the EMT can know there's a baby in case of an accident to tend to first. What if we forget about the sticker and really need it one day?"

-Has never lapsed in taking care of you, not one day. He even changed his shifts at the hassaikai and worked overtime just so he can be home at the right times to help take care of you. That means for you he's bringing all your craving foods and rubbing your belly all night if he needs to. Morning sickness if no match for him. He's at your feet with medication, ginger ale, and chewing gum. Whatever helps you, he's getting his hands on it. The only downside to his intense care is that you have to go to the doctor a lot more than most people. Any slight cramp or off putting feeling has him going into a frenzy over you to make sure the baby and you are okay. You'll certainly need to put your foot down here or the two of you will be spending more time at the doctor's office than at home.

-Don't even get me started on when your water breaks. The delivery is a whole other story!

#bnha #mha #boku no hero academia #my hero academia #toya setsuno #setsuno bnha #shie hassaikai #eight bullets #eight precepts of death #eightfold cleansers #yakuza #headcanons

[fuzzydreamin]

I wonder who this "classified" client is that had the Gunners going after the HalluciGen stuff?

Same mysterious person/group that is generally pulling their strings who we never uncover in-game?

The items they were after are two of the five or so products HalluciGen were working on before the bombs.

The Irradicator was meant to be a new way to get rid of rads on the field. Like those arches you can walk through, but completely hand-held. Like the very opposite of the Children of Atom's gamma guns. They backfired completely and instead hugely irradiate their users and the surrounding area. Like... a really nasty version of the Children of Atom's gamma guns... Like a mininuke in gun form.

The original design and research could be useful, sure, but with the forementioned arches, as well as biosuits and medical treatments, the only people interested in something like this would be someone expecting to take on large amounts of radiation in short amounts of time that they can't afford to stick to biosuits and other equipment, perhaps environmentally.

The next item is much more interesting:

InvisiWave was meant to be a new step forward in stealth technology, doing away with the need for full suits or cumbersome stealthboy devices. By the time they did their first shows they hadn't gotten anywhere, and just rigged up some mirrors, two hacked Stealth-boys, and a trap door, but when we come through the place we can see that they've managed to create a device that... removes things. Anything hit by the field becomes invisible, inaudible, and intangible. It's just gone. Seemingly. Whether it's still actually there or not is a question left in the air, but we can't interact with it anymore. There are no marks for vaporisation either. Perhaps if someone was hit by this they... become a ghost? Extraplaner stuff happens? It's on the level of some of Fallout's weirder shit, but all possible.

But who would want this? Even if they're going after it for it's actual stealth capabilities, stealth-boys are rare but not in that short of supply, and both the Railroad and Institute have already advanced their own designs on them, with the Institute being able to churn theirs out fairly easily, since Kellogg and their coursers are inundated with them.

My only guess for who would be facing a ton of rads and wanting any edge they can get on not being found is... Doctor Brian Virgil.

So, maybe in this one case the Institute was somewhat involved with the Gunners movements, but in a rather backwards anti-Institute way based on who might be behind it and why?

If it was him, it begs the question of how he contacted them. He couldn't have sent anyone in his place as he probably wouldn't have been able to send a synth without alerting suspicion, and he had to become a mutant before he got out of the Institute, and by then I'm sure he made a bee-line to the deepest areas of the Sea.

Who knows. Either way, the Gunners never made it that far by the time we get to them.

#gunners

[thesinglesjukebox]

MANDY, INDIANA - "PINKING SHEARS"

Ian brings us some British-French post-punk with no Indiana involvement...

[7.40]

Ian Mathers: I don't remember what the song was, but I still remember the feeling the first time I encountered music that didn't immediately make sense to me. This isn't quite the same thing as music I find disappointing or lacklustre at first but grow to love -- a category that contains an awful lot of my favourite music, and is an endlessly renewable resource. But up until that point everything I had run into was something I immediately either liked or disliked (yr boy was a big fan of "Never Gonna Give You Up" when it was originally a hit, if that helps date me), and to hear something that was somehow neither was profoundly disturbing. As I got older and more into music, finding something that truly doesn't make sense at first has become rarer and rarer. More things get adopted into your repertoire, you have more context, and often you realize that stuff that bent your brain in your own history had plenty of antecedents that make them less singular. And that feeling... that little shock of non-recognition when you're used to recognizing so much, that little moment of "why or how did someone come up with this?" that sparks across your brain... it's like hearing about a new country when you thought you knew all of them. It's a reminder that life never settles into a comfortable box. None of the elements that Mandy, Indiana use to make their music are particularly confusing to me (hell, I even took French all through high school). But the first time I played i've seen a way, I had that feeling. These didn't feel like songs. They had elements of songs. Some like "Pinking Shears" even had choruses, relatable sentiments (who isn't tired?). They had sounds and structures I was broadly familiar with. But something about the way each track, and the album as a whole, was put together made me feel like my brain was degaussed. I spent maybe my first four listens in a rapturous quasi-panic, for the first time in years not being able to respond to a piece of music in the ways I was used to responding. I'm sure when that happens to anyone, it's not 100% inherent to the music itself. There may have been other bands who could have done this to me if the phase of the moon or my choice of lunch that day had been just right. But it felt rare and precious when I got that experience from Mandy, Indiana. And then, a second miracle: as I kept listening, "Pinking Shears" and the rest of i've seen a way resolved in my ears into just songs, the way these things always do (since it's hard to repeatedly experience the shock of the new from the same thing). And it turned out those songs were really really great. [10]

Vikram Joseph: This is so strange and addictive - a righteous French diatribe about racist border policies over a rhythmic racket and stomach-churning synths that sound like a cow in distress. From Brooklyn Vegan's English translation: "Those we bombard are told to fuck off / and then we elect bankers / and posh assholes and rentiers / and we are surprised to get fucked." I mean, yeah. Imagine how fatigué we are. Imagine how fatigué we are of it. [8]

Tim de Reuse: What's it take to go industrial in an age of digital purity? Chase the feeling of a grimy, misanthropic without actually getting any dirt under your fingernails. Meticulously ugly, to distract you from how it's actually neat and tidy. Check out the perfect knife's edge of that snare drum; check out the huge, reflective metallic object that passes for a bassline; check out the clean, papery reverb. I'd criticize it for being inauthentic if it wasn't so much more fun than the things it's ripping off. [8]

Joshua Minsoo Kim: Nestling its way into a sound between Filth-era Swans and the EBM of the same decade (Severed Heads, Front 242, Nitzer Ebb), "Pinking Shears" aims for a raw, cavernous sound that's more hollow than all-consuming. The playful French vocals provide an amusing contrast to all the whirring, but that's sort of it. Big synth bass, big crunch, big yawn. [5]

Micha Cavaseno: Vaguely answering a question nobody asked, which is "What if Liars were signed to Amphetamine Reptile or Skin Graft?". It's got one point, and it delivers it in perhaps the most cast-off gag and splutter of a way, before hurrying along with its day and avoiding trying to remember what color and texture of its release it was, but never quite getting rid of the taste for the next couple days. Love the clutter of the percussion sounding like a rude joke at a dance's expense, pushed aside by a belch of bullying rock. How rude. [7]

Taylor Alatorre: I always sorta felt that the world needed a Kidz Bop version of Einstürzende Neubauten. [7]

Hannah Jocelyn: I'm sorry, that percussion riff sounds like "Crack a Bottle," the vocals sound like The Google Translate Song, I can't take this seriously. That said, [6]

Oliver Maier: This is my "just say you hate fun". [8]

Jacob Sujin Kuppermann: Genuinely a bad and unpleasant time in the way that most latter-generation "post punk" can only feint at. Feels much longer than 2.5 minutes, but not tediously so -- each moment of this drags you down into itself, each metallic hi-hat snap and guitar scratch a barb into exposed skin. [8]

Nortey Dowuona: Simon Catling's humming bassline shows up halfway through the song over Isaac Jones' drums, with jagged shards of guitar by Scott Fair slunk in at each interval at the end of Valentina Caulfield's chorus, punctuating them with a phlegmy shriek. Caulfield's vocals at first feel like a representation of politesse but gain an edge of menace over the crashing of the percussion. The bass presses the guitar into the margins allowing Caulfield to fill up the middle of the mix, repeating the refrain. [6]

Michael Hong: I like when that beefy fart of a bassline arrives, a really nice rejoinder for the rattling voices in your head. [6]

Brad Shoup: I love when post-punkers stomp, when they strip it down to a megalithic groove. All kinds of stuff on the ground can stick to it. The first half feels like a (bear with me) minimal, metallic go-go take on Cop Shoot Cop's "$10 Bill". To reach the more trad second half, they catapult in some streaks of noise. (This transitional part, and I take far more pleasure in hearing than saying this, sounds like "Come With Me" from the 1998 Godzilla soundtrack.) But that recedes, and Valentine Caulfield reveals the song's final form: protest rap. A [7] for the journey. [7]

Wayne Weizhen Zhang: You don't need to be francophone in order to understand Mandy, Indiana's vitriol and rage. But the lyrics are worth dissecting: "Nothing makes me want to continue in the filth of our society/I don't have have any desire to wake up when we let humans die in the Mediterranean." This is a tirade about how we treat refugees, and the existential exhaustion that comes from living in a world where this feels normal. [7]

Katherine St Asaph: For months I assumed based on the name that Mandy, Indiana was an emo band. If I had known they would instead be spoken-word French over a harsh but oddly unchaotic post-punk dervish, I might have listened to the album earlier than Q4. Assumptions foil me again! [9]

Aaron Bergstrom: I did not expect the revolution to be this much fun. Embrace the chaos. Build a new world from the ashes of the old. Dance on the barricades. [9]

Claire Biddles: My face is just gasping_pikachu.jpeg the whole way through this -- yes!!! [9]

Michelle Myers: Mandy, Indiana's music makes me feel like I'm wearing a perfectly worn-in leather jacket and red lipstick that never smears, waiting in line to get into a club that I already know I'm not cool enough to get into. [6]

Kat Stevens: I'm glad there'll always be people making music that sitcom teenagers can slam their bedroom doors and stick on at high volume, to the despair of their parents. "Where did we go wrong, Adam?" "I don't know Helen, our sweet girl... it's like I don't even know her anymore. Were we too indulgent? Too strict?" "Well Adam, in retrospect maybe constantly playing The Downward Spiral to get her off to sleep while she was a baby wasn't the best idea." [7]

Alfred Soto: To play loudly and indiscriminately when holiday twaddle begins to choke you. [7]

Anna Katrina Lockwood: I am so tired, yet I cannot sleep. [8]

[Read, comment and vote on The Singles Jukebox ]

#mandy indiana #music #music writing #post-punk #music criticism #music reviews #the singles jukebox #Youtube

[leighlew3]

Hi Leigh, friendly neighborhood blob here. I come with a very specific question about writing or creation and all that jazz. I have told you before how you and the fandom have inspired me to create more. And I've been working on something incredibly personal to me, diligently, for some months now. And as I delve deeper into it, the more personal it gets. At this point it almost feels like I'm writing a diary for all to see. And the idea of putting it out there is making me a bit uneasy about it all. (To give some background, this project started as something else entirely, and now it has morphed into my own understandings about my life, and all the complicated stuff I had to deal with when it came to my family, the people I'm supposed to love and all that) This has gotten away from me at this point. But I can't stop either. I'm clearly processing something with it. And I'm really pouring everything into it. You know how personal art could get at times. You must have gone through some uneasy and probably very painful creative feelings like these too. How do we get past it? How do we be brave enough to show people something so very personal to us like that. Because at this point I can't even hide behind characters. I know this is very raw, whatever I've conjured up. Generally I'm just ashamed and scared.

Anyway, enough about all that. I hope you're doing alright. I hope you do get some softer moments in between. Convey my love to your cats as well. Take care of yourself Leigh, much love. 💜

It’s okay to be scared.

But I’d like to shake ya to say PLEASE don’t feel shame. Being ashamed for your art, your story, for who you are — I just make sure you’re on worst enemy, so please try to move past that. Please try to let any feeling of being ashamed go.

Sometimes the best character work comes out when they become super organic and start writing themselves because you’ve infused such personality into them and even if that’s your personality or your story, or your history, or your traumas or whatever… that’s just gonna make it all the more rich and realistic, hopefully.

Just keep going, churn it out. And then take a beat and decide what you wanna do with it after you sit with it for a sec.

If you one day share it with the world, great! It sounds like people are in for something that’s very authentic and meaningful. And it may speak to somebody in a way that they need to feel less alone.

Alternatively, if you just keep it to yourself for the rest of your life, that’s fine too because if nothing else it was an exercise in sort of self therapy and cathartic and getting some stuff out that you clearly needed to get out. If all it does is help you bring something out of yourself that you needed to give voice to in someway, that’s a good thing!

Keep going. You’ve got this. 💜

#writing #life

[amberrskiies]

Solomon's Cooking... Never Again - MC! Monday Prompt #3

Prompt : Solomon offers MC a taste of some of the food he’s made. How does MC react?

Characters : Amber (MC), Solomon && Mammon

Pairing : Solomon && Amber [ Platonic Relationship ]

Prompt provided by @obeythedemons ! For the full MC! Monday List, it can be found here!

🍂🍂🍂🍂🍂

"I'm guessing by the looks of it you got the gist of what I taught you right?" Solomon asked as Amber nodded, confidently.

"Yep! I think I am getting the hang of this sorcerer magic stuff." Amber said, smiling as Solomon chuckled.

"Well you're my apprentice for a reason. I know you're capable of learning everything I teach you." He said as he checked the time to see it was nearly dinner time.

"Time really passed huh? Are you hungry by chance? We have some leftover food you can have." Solomon suggested and Amber was pretty much famished and hungry so she couldn't deny.

"Yeah sure. I am hungry anyways." She said as they both made their way to the kitchen.

Solomon opened the fridge to find that there were some of his remaining leftover stew left and he heated up for Amber. She, on the other hand looked over to see what he was doing until she looked at the contents of the pot.

She wasn't exactly sure what was in it but she could tell it was some sort of stew but the big question was that if it was Solomon's cooking or not. The thought made her stomach churn, making her remember how she first tried his cooking and was literally knocked out for days that Mammon and Levi were both losing their minds over.

Solomon used the ladle and poured some stew onto the bowl. The smell instantly hit Amber's nose and she could make out a few herbs but at the same time the smell didn't seem right either. Solomon then came over and put the bowl on the table.

"I hope you like this. I made this stew and I am happy on how good it tastes." Upon hearing this, it made her stomach sink and lose all her appetite.

"Ah thank you Solomon! I'm sure it will taste great!" She said being the greatest friend she is.

She internally prepared herself as she casually (tried) to pick up her spoon. She took a small spoonful of it and without any hesitation, shoved it inside her mouth.

The minute she did that, she instantly wanted to throw it out but she couldn't. Not in front of Solomon to the very least. So she gulped down the food much to her dismay.

"So, how is it? You seemed to look like you have enjoyed it." he asked as she nodded forcefully.

"Y-Yep it's really good...!" She said as she continued to finish the entire bowl while trying not to throw up.

Luckily she finished the bowl of stew and just prayed that she doesn't throw up until she reached the House of Lamentation.

"A-Anyways I gotta go. Lucifer is gonna get mad if I come back late. See ya later Solomon!" She said before casually speedwalking out of Purgatory Hall and making a sprint for the House of Lamentation the minute she was out of the doors.

The moment she was a few minutes close to the House she felt like she was about to hurl. She slowly but gradually quickly opened the gates and walked towards the door and carefully opened it and closed it after she got in.

"Oi! Amber there ya are!" She heard a familiar voice say as she turned to see it was Mammon.

"Lucifer was wonderin' when ya was gonna show up! Dinner just started a few minutes ago." He told her.

"I-" She felt her stomach lurch as Mammon looked at her in concern.

"Oi! Are ya okay?!" he asked, clearly worried.

"Okay Mammon... do me a favor and carry me to the nearest bathroom if you don't want your outfit ruined..." She said as Mammon, as tried not to throw up.

"Wha...? Okay sure just hold on!" He said, picking her up and running towards a bathroom.

The minute Mammon reached one, he quickly opened the door and let down Amber who wasted no time to hunch over the toilet and threw up in it as Mammon had visible concern in his face.

"Oi! What happened? Are ya sick or somethin'?" He asked, checking her forehead after she was done throwing up.

"No... Just made the worst decision by eating Solomon's cooking..." She confessed as Mammon looked at her in bewilderment.

"Why would ya eat Solomon's cookin'?!" He asked as she winced at his loudness.

"I don't know. I was a little too late after learning it was his food. Plus I could never say anything bad to him cause it might hurt his feelings." She said, now sitting on the bathroom tiles while leaning against the wall.

"Well at least ya didn't get knocked out for days like last time. Considering ya haven't eaten anythin' I think it's best you have somethin' even if it's a small amount." Mammon suggested.

"I don't know... I feel like I lost my entire appetite..." She groaned a little as she picked herself up from the floor.

"Well ya have to eat somethin'. Yer gonna starve at night if ya don't and there's a high chance ya won't be able to eat late at night cause Beel might empty the entire fridge." He said as she sighed.

"Fine, I'll eat something." She said as Mammon grinned.

"Good! Now come on. The others are waitin' for ya at the dinner table." He said pulling her along as she didn't complain and just followed knowing she'll get a good meal this time.

A/N - I feel like this was a little sucky but I tried- ;-;

#obey me #obey me shall we date #obey me one master to rule them all #obey me mc #obey me x mc #obey me solomon #solomon #obey me mc: amber #mc! monday #mc! monday prompt 3 #obey me mammon #mammon

[em-writes-stuff-sometimes]

Hey bestie, hope everything is going well with your real life responsibilities ❤️ Chapter 12 was soo good tho!!! I know I personally had nothing to do with the story, but damn did I feel proud reading that last chapter and then both parts of the story together. I know you have a lot more planned (squealing in excitement) but even without it is such a good fucking story. So well rounded and the world you created just…UGH!!! i can go on and on and on about how much I love it but I’m not gonna turn this into an essay.

Thank you for sharing your work with us!! ❤️❤️❤️

Heeeyyyy, I (think) I'm doing alright with my real-life stuff, lol! Is it kinda bad that I have a 2500 word thing due on Thursday and I've written maaaaaybe 300 words? I mean, I know what I'm doing for it now, so that's already half the battle, right? (Plz someone help enable me)

I'm so so happy it reads well together, as I was just churning stuff out like an absolute demon without really making sure it all flowed (I mean, I have gone back and rephrased little bits and pieces, little inconsistencies I've noticed, and of course sometimes I change the High Valyrian when I've realised my earlier translations were incorrect). It's a bit of a weird 'verse in that it isn't completely Reader-oriented but it isn't OC either; vague enough that you could feasibly superimpose whatever in there but detailed enough that there's very real opportunity for the audience (I hope) to feel as though they're connecting with the events that unfold as they play out. I started this as a writing exercise, and honestly I'm finding it way easier than third-person fics or first-person OCs, which I've tried (and failed) my hand at in the past. My idea (vaguely) is that as Reader 'grows up', the political subtext becomes less 'sub' and more 'text' - the audience gets to immerse themselves in the game of thrones leading up to (and potentially including, IDK) the Dance.

Thank you so so much for reading! Looking forward to sharing my next thingo with you guys, so far I'm at around 1000 words (keep in mind these will be shorter than my usual chapters most likely).

#fanfiction comments

[bakuliwrites]

Moonlight- Julian x Bakuli x Lucio

Rating: M (MINORS DNI)

Tags (for this excerpt): Slightly suggestive, alcohol

Pairing: Julian Devorak x Lucio Morgasson x Bakuli Björnsdottir

Summary: Julian and Bakuli join Lucio and Nadia on the palace veranda for drinks. Lucio is unsure of how to feel about the doctor's apprentice, vacillating between intrigue and jealousy.

So, I'm editing a version of End Up Here to feature my fan apprentice, Bakuli. I'm not sure that I'll ever release the full thing, but for fun, I might post some of it on Tumblr from time-to-time. So here's a bit of it from the segment Moonlight in Chapter 7. I am having fun editing this version and getting to add a lot of personalization to the role of the Apprentice.

Lucio swirls his crystal snifter, watching the earthy-colored cognac churn gently around the glass before settling as he brings it to his lips. The brandy is sweet, gliding smoothly over his tongue, warmth blooming through his chest as it travels down his throat. His keen eyes watch as Julian and Bakuli both sample the finest beverage he owns.

“Count Spada left me crates and crates of this stuff,” Lucio brags, “I only bring it out for my favorite guests.” 

Julian makes a satisfied hum as he takes his first sip. When he draws the glass away, small, glimmering beads of the mahogany liquid dot his lips. Lucio watches as Julian’s tongue softly passes over them, lapping up the lingering droplets of cognac left behind from his initial sip. As a smile brightens the doctor’s face, Lucio feels his own heart fluttering. He’s not sure if it’s all the wine he’s had (and now cognac) or something else. Either way, he can’t help the heat that creeps slowly to his cheeks. The Count takes this moment to drape his arm along the seatback, close but not too close to Julian. Bakuli sits to the doctor’s other side, pressed near, searching eyes fixated on Lucio’s form. 

“So, what’s new in the life of Julian Devorak?” Lucio begins, waggling his eyebrows at the man, “You finally get to go on all those adventures I inspired you to go on?”

Julian chuckles, “Well- yes, actually.” He looks proudly over to the Count, eyes lighting with joy, clearly itching to share his stories. Just like Montag shared his stories with him.

“Whaddya say, Miss. Bakuli?” Lucio goes on, eyes dragging over Julian’s companion, delighting in the way she blushes as his gaze sweeps to her, “Should Julesy tell us all about his adventures?”

She grins sheepishly at the Count before turning to Julian and excitedly begging him to share his tales. She calls him, “Ilya,” Lucio notes. A bit too cozy for Lucio’s liking. The ugly feeling of envy constricts his heart, until Julian starts talking again and its grip slackens so it can slither back into its cave.

“Alright, alright,” Julian acquiesces, though he doesn’t seem to need all that much encouragement. He launches into the full account of where he went after he and Montag parted. Apparently, Julian has done quite a bit of traveling around the continent, assisting in medical tents during all kinds of battles. He’s gained a great deal of experience since that fateful encounter outside Vesuvia. And has gotten into more than a bit of trouble. Pirate ships, brigands, highwaymen, bar fights, you name it. He even has some strange story about a run-in with some Crabmen on a remote island off the coast.

“Ilya, you’re just making things up now,” Bakuli exclaims with an exasperated eye roll.

“No! I swear it happened! Lucio, you said you’ve seen the Crabmen. Back me up!” Julian chortles. 

“Oh, yeah. They’re everywhere,” Lucio adds with a mischievous wink at Bakuli, who merely dissolves into giggles and returns to diligently sipping at her drink. Lucio finds he can’t settle on how he feels about her. One minute, she’s laughing at one of his jokes, the next she’s got her hand on Julian’s thigh and it’s driving Lucio nuts. Part of him wonders if he’s jealous of Bakuli, or maybe he’s jealous of Julian. Or maybe he’s jealous of both of them.

Gah! he exclaims to himself, This is too confusing.

Putting this thought aside for a moment, Lucio is delighted to hear Julian’s tales, mainly because all of them seem to have been inspired by him. Julian lists all the places he’s been, each destination somewhere Lucio had told him all about when they were alone in the medical tent together. The trajectory of Julian’s travels seems to follow the path Lucio took, back in the day, before he was Count. While most of the doctor’s travels were medical visits in nature, he still had plenty of time to do some sightseeing and get up to all sorts of nonsense.

“Glad I could inspire you to go to all those places,” Lucio praises, pouring himself another glass of cognac, “I mean, who wouldn’t be inspired?”

While he’s excited to be with his old friend again, he feels horribly on edge, antsy. His heart pounds against his ribcage, seems to vibrate the cloth of his blazer. He wonders if Julian can see it, thrumming wildly, threatening to beat straight out of him. 

Cognac, he thinks, Cognac will fix that. Loosen me up. Don’t know why I’m so nervous. No, not nervous. Counts don’t get nervous. Warriors don’t get nervous. 

Lucio listens and absorbs as much as he can. His attention span for other people talking is limited. But he picks up a few other random things; like, Julian said something about not having time to play the vielle anymore. He came to Vesuvia because he’s following the plague (a topic of discussion Lucio hopes to avoid entirely for the remainder of the night). And he and Bakuli have been together for a few months now.

Together? Like together, together? that damned, meek voice whimpers in Lucio’s head.

Just because he said, “together,” doesn’t mean we can’t all have fun together, another voice speaks confidently, Just like Noddy and I. 

As if on cue, the door to the veranda swings open and out comes Nadia and Lady Delphine. Their gowns sweep languidly behind them as they glide across the patio to join the other three. With the presence of the Countess and her companion, Julian’s storytelling becomes even more animated. He even acts out a few duels he had with some swashbuckling pirates on the high seas. 

Maybe later, we can have a duel of our own. Pick up where we left off, all those years ago, Lucio contemplates to himself, watching as Julian flits around the veranda. He’s reminded of the day Julian surprised him with his unexpected mastery of the sword. But it’s not the actual fight that sticks in Lucio’s memory. It’s the aftermath of it. Julian’s back pressed against Montag’s chest, his amber scent filling the mercenary’s nose, pleasant and calming. Julian’s narrow hip in his hand, thrusting it back, hearing the soft grunt the doctor’s attendant makes. Lucio’s gaze trails back to Bakuli, whose smile is as bright as the moon above. She looks at Julian adoringly, like Julian used to look at Lucio. The Count wonders if she’ll ever look at him like that.

What a ridiculous thought, Lucio scolds himself, turning back to his drink, Why would she? And why would I even want that? 

But his grousing doesn’t last for long. Julian has always had this special ability: to bring joy out in everyone. His charisma and charm have a way of cheering up even the grouchiest of individuals. Lucio likes to think he has that ability, too, and that’s why he’s drawn to Julian. And Julian to him. Even Nadia and Lady Delphine seem to be having a great time. The night air is filled with merriment, gentle laughter and chatter floating through the breeze, carried into the heavens like a quiet blessing. 

“Wow, you really did get up to trouble without me!” Lucio exclaims when it seems Julian’s tale is coming to a close, “Imagine what we’d have gotten into if we’d traveled together.” 

Lucio winks at Bakuli once again, who shifts shyly in her seat and snuggles close to Julian after he reclaims his spot on the sofa. Silence. For once in his life, Lucio feels like sitting and observing. He wants to drink Julian’s form in, see what he hasn’t seen for ten years. He worries, and he hates that he worries. But an overpowering need to break the uncomfortable silence wells up in him. Rarely is he lost for words. But there’s something about Julian, something about Bakuli that numbs his tongue.

If I say the wrong thing. If I make the wrong move. Just like everyone else, he’ll leave me. And then I’ll be alone. Just like always, that accursed worry whispers, Just like everyone has, all these years. And I don’t even know this Bakuli, but I know she’ll leave me, too. If I say the wrong thing. Don’t fuck this up. Just this once, don’t fuck this up.  

“Doctor Devorak,” Nadia addresses in her smooth voice, “I hear you and my husband are old friends?”

Thank the Gods, Noddy, Lucio sighs in relief, passing her a glance he hopes she interprets as grateful. She graces him with a subtle, knowing look. She seems to know something he doesn’t. See something he’s unaware of. Noddy always knows. Noddy knows better than he does. Noddy’s good at reading him. Noddy’s good at everything she does.

And I’m good at nothing, worry snivels.

Shut up. Shut up, shut up, shut up. 

Rotten carpaccio. Rotten brat. Sick with you for nine months. 

“I was, indeed, the one to hack your husband’s arm off,” he distantly hears Julian proclaim, drawing his attention back to the conversation. Lucio absentmindedly reaches for Julian’s empty cognac glass, fills it, and gestures for Bakuli to hand him hers. As their eyes meet, Lucio feels a sudden and intense wave of jealousy once again. Like he can see the life he’s wanted dancing in her eyes, the life that is supposed to be his: Julian at his side. Not hers. Like she’s mocking him with her proximity to Julian.

And then he sees something soft in her gaze. A life yet to come. One with room for all three of them. One where Bakuli and Julian can stand at Count Lucio’s side, a united triumvirate leading Vesuvia to greatness. The Count, the Doctor, and the Magician.

Maybe they’d have room for me in their life, meekness whimpers, interrupting his glorious daydream, Maybe they’d have space in their life for me.

Pathetic. As if you’re some sort of stray dog they’d bring in off the streets, he scolds himself, anger roiling in his core.

“And what about you, Miss. Bakuli?” Lucio blurts as he hands back a full glass of cognac to her, surprising even himself with the question. His tone is blunt, blunter than he meant it to be, and he can feel how piercing his own gaze is. However, Bakuli remains resolute, poised, and ready for whatever comes next.

“You’ve been awfully quiet. How do you know Jules?” Lucio questions, giving way to petty jealousy. He heard it from Julian once this night. For some reason, he feels like he needs to hear the story from her mouth, too. As if somehow, that would give him a complete understanding of their relationship. His gaze flicks to where Bakuli has her hand resting on Julian’s thigh. She smiles amiably at the Count, clearly untroubled by Lucio’s question, and seemingly the least bit intimidated.

“We met when Ilya moved to Vesuvia,” she answers diplomatically, “We were in line at a market stall.” Her wistful smile afterwards is enough to tell Lucio that their relationship is more than just a physical one. It both incenses and excites him. Lucio isn’t sure whether to be terribly hurt or curiously intrigued. Either way, he doesn’t have a chance to respond to her comment.

“I’ve heard a lot of wonderful things about you,” Bakuli goes on, turning her tenderness towards the Count, welcoming him softly into her heart. A white flag. A surrender, of sorts. A comment as if to say, I am not your enemy.

“I’m excited that I’ve gotten the opportunity to meet someone that means so much to Ilya,” she finishes, a pleasant smile that extends all the way up to her hazel eyes. Lucio doesn’t remember the last time anyone looked at him that way: with a gentle compassion that leaves no room for animosity. He can’t be upset with her, a feeling that is almost unfamiliar to him. This entire evening, Bakuli has neither insulted nor demeaned him. She’s politely listened to his stories, asked questions when she’s needed clarification, and overall been the perfect guest. Neither she nor Julian have deigned to whisper foul things behind his back. Otherwise, Lucio surely would have heard, given that they’ve been right by his side this whole evening. Just like Julian, there is no pity in Miss. Bakuli’s gaze. Only a shimmering inquisitiveness and quiet benevolence.

So, Count Lucio of Vesuvia decides that perhaps he can grow to like this magician, even if he is a bit jealous.

“Jules is also the one that gave me my name,” Lucio blurts in an attempt to dispel the odd tension. His mouth forms the words before his brain can stop him. Other people weren’t supposed to know that. That was something Lucio wanted credit for. The genius of it. Lucio meaning, “light,” and all. He’s the Light of Vesuvia, clever for coming up with that. But some piece of Lucio couldn’t help announcing this to this tiny, intimate group. Perhaps it’s Julian’s sudden reappearance in his life making him nostalgic. Or Bakuli’s silent thoughtfulness that makes him want to open up, for some gods forsaken reason.

“He is?!” Bakuli beams, eyes lighting with surprise as she perks up in her seat, “You never told me that!” 

Lucio forgets all about his worry when Julian turns a bright crimson, drawing a devilish grin from the Count.

“He sure as hell is!” Lucio teases, delighted by Bakuli’s enthusiasm and Julian’s sheepishness, “Aww, look at him blush! Still the same modest mess you’ve always been, Jules.” 

“Oh, goodness. Tell me about it! He can hardly take a compliment without turning at least twenty different shades of red,” Bakuli twitters teasingly. That’s the most she’s said all night and Lucio is ecstatic.

“Look at him, he’s blushing even more!” Lucio cackles as Julian buries his nose in his glass and pretends not to hear his companions. 

“You should see him when he gets praised for something,” Bakuli goes on, leaning ever so slightly across Julian so she can speak to Lucio more directly.

“Darling!” Julian exclaims, clearly mortified. 

“I bet he’s a disaster!” Lucio guffaws, “You should’ve seen him back in the day. Every time I’d tell him he was doing a good job with my arm, he’d start sputtering!” 

Oh, I like this magician, he realizes, listening to her laughter as he tells her about how flustered Julian used to get. He likes how sassy she is, the glint of mischief in her eyes. She seems to like him, too. Just moments ago, Lucio had been conflicted about her, unsure if he should be wary, jealous, or try to get to know Bakuli. He’s still not quite settled on how he feels about her, but their shared teasing of Julian aids in making Lucio feel less threatened. She has plenty of hysterical stories to share about the doctor (to which Julian laughs, flustered, blushing a thousand shades of red, as predicted). Lucio has plenty of his own to tell. Soon, the night is just one big contest to see who can make Julian blush the most. Lucio feels he’s won, but Bakuli certainly puts in a good effort.

#the arcana #julian devorak #lucio morgasson #count lucio #julcio #julian x lucio #julian x bakuli x lucio #bakuli bjornsdottir #my fan apprentice #end up here rewrite #my editing

[expired-blueberries]

hi i was the reboot massacre anon. it wasnt only you there were a couple people i was responding to. thank you for answering though!! youve got some interesting insights (i mean this genuinely)

im gonna be real i forgot a lot of details because it's been a While since i gave up. i had like a vague memory of starting to like the rich kid villain but then feeling like that stopped and didnt end up going much anywhere? i guess that mustve been "starting to get more backstory but then he didnt show up again forever."

also i worded the kevin and albedo thing badly: i did like new kevin for the most part actually, he was interesting. i was more disappointed about lack of albedo, since he was one of my absolute favorites. that one is on me for just clinging to old continuity.

but there are a lot of new designs i like too. most of the blue energy fused versions of aliens were really cool, as were kevin's corrupted/upgraded versions, and even that steampunk xlr8 that was only in like one episode. im not just like Unilaterally Hating Things That Are New theres a lot of neat stuff in the reboot

i dont think most of my complaints are with old vs new continuity. my biggest issues were just feeling like theres a lot of inconsequential filler, flat characters, and confusing or lacking motivations. to me, most episodes felt like EITHER the writers/producers didnt respect the characters/world enough to fully think through the logic of what characters are doing or what impact they have on the worldbuilding (my initial lizard-brain emotional reaction), OR theyre being forced to churn out so MANY episodes one after another that they dont have time to give "minor details" as much thought (my later conclusion after thinking on it). but maybe this gets better in later seasons though! thats why i was thinking i might try again.

in particular, the way you describe ben's reaction to the knight (i remember there being the beginnings of a new knight villain) is interesting to me, even if max's reaction is odd. because the fact that ben shows panic at all feels like more character depth than i ever saw in the early eps. like thats interesting to me because theyre really considering the consequences of how an actual ten year old (or anyone really!!) might actually react to someone powerful so easily and repeatedly swatting him aside. even original ben didnt get to be afraid very often. makes the characters feel more real if they can have negative reactions to things.

Aww, hey anon, great to see you again! Hope you're doing well~

Sadly, you're right that Billy (rich kid villain) didn't show up much again after he started getting insights into his backstory. Even when he did, any forward progress he could've made was quickly torn away from him. I can think of at least two times he could've had some character growth, and, indeed, even HAD character growth, only for said growth to then be rescinded for the end-of-episode gag. He pretty much ended the series the same as he started it, which is a total tragedy. I hope if the reboot timeline is continued in the future that they make him a full-fledged friend of the Tennysons, but I also doubt it'll happen  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I also totally get what you mean by missing Albedo! He's such a cool guy, and I think the reboot could've done something really fascinating with him if they added him to the cast. I'm not sure if it would've been something good, necessarily, but definitely interesting all the same. Personally, I'm okay with him not being in the reboot (despite how much I like him), just because I really enjoyed the cast that we already had, and I'd be worried that we would have to get rid of one character just to add Albedo. But I definitely get wishing he were in the reboot! I've seen a lot of fanart of him in the reboot style, because a lot of people feel the same as you!

I agree with the complaints about inconsequential filler. Unfortunately, the reboot is stuffed to the brim with it. I guess that's what happens when you only have ten minutes and an episodic cartoon style to tell a story... sadly, you have to spend most of that time doing absolutely nothing new. I'm glad that your conclusion is different than your original perspective, though! From what I've seen of the crew that worked on the show, it seems like a lot of them really respect the franchise and enjoyed the characters (Kelly Turnbull in particular has had the best tweets talking about it IMO). I definitely understand the initial kneejerk reaction of thinking that they disrespected the franchise and didn't care about the story, especially in the shock of moving from the prime timeline to the reboot timeline, but I'm glad you moved on from that thought! For a lot of prime timeline fans who tried reboot and dropped it, it seems like that initial kneejerk reaction is what stopped a lot of them, so I totally get it.

Although I disagree with thinking the characters are flat and have confusing or lacking motivations, I also understand where you get that idea from. The episode format (ten minutes long, mostly just jokes and action sequences for a large amount of the show) definitely doesn't do it any favor, and a lot of the time the only time you can get actual character depth is when you're least expecting it, or else in a special/movie. That's definitely one of the downsides of reboot. Some of the characters, like Max, are pretty one-dimensional, too, I'm sad to say. Kids cartoons nowadays often seem to dumb-down the adults, which is tragic.

Ultimately, I think a lot of the depth of reboot comes from having to do a bit of deeper thinking on your own, rather than just accepting what the reboot gives you. Like, yeah, Billy seems pretty flat on the surface, but then you have to think about how dismissive his parents are, how it seems like there's nobody in the world who truly cares about him, and how it's obvious deep down that he genuinely wants friendship but is never allowed to get it, and he's pretty interesting. Or, Charmcaster just seems like some kid who ran away from home to live out her witchy dreams, but then you look a little deeper and realize she was being groomed and predated upon by a being that was centuries old and only using her as a battery, and suddenly her vitriol at the world starts to make sense. A lot of the depth, you have to connect dots to find it. It's there! But it's hidden. Personally, I enjoy doing that sort of deep searching. It's in my nature to overthink everything. But I definitely understand why you might not have noticed it on first watch, especially if you didn't watch the right episodes.

I think you are pretty correct on your later deduction, that they don't have enough time to give the little details attention thanks to the sheer amount of episodes they had to put out. They make a pretty good big picture, but the small picture does lack, unfortunately.

If I could be so bold as to suggest what to watch? If you find that you really can't sit through the entire reboot, but you really do want to see why some people (like me) sing its praises so highly, I suggest you skip almost the entirety of the first season, picking up on the season finale (Omni-Tricked parts 1-4). From there, season finales, specials, and the movie are good to watch. I also suggest all of the Forever Knight episodes, because every episode with him in it that I can remember furthers the plot of his arc. I would also watch the Michael Morningstar episodes. Not all Kevin episodes are necessary to watch, but I find they're almost always some of the most enjoyable, so I suggest just watching all of them. Charmcaster episodes are usually pretty good. I personally like the Billy episodes, but like we've already discussed, his character doesn't really go anywhere permanently, always losing its gains by the end of the episode. Episodes with Phil are usually pretty good, or at least okay, and I'm pretty sure at least a few of them advance the plot or hint at backstory. Really, I've seen at least two posts on two different social media sites about plot-based episodes of the reboot to watch, so if you looked it up on Google, you could probably find them and have a better idea of what to watch!

Honestly, the thing a lot of people don't realize about reboot, is that it actually does a pretty fantastic job (imho) of handling serious topics and the characters negative emotions. That episode with the Knight is one example, but if you want another example, then I'll humbly point you to the Ben 10,010 special. In said special, we see Ben in the future as a washed up and burnt out hero, living a solitary life away from all friends and family. This is the future that he eventually ends up at after all his years of heroics, and I think it's the most realistic; what person could grow up normal after being forced to become a hero so young? After living through unimaginable horrors? After having the very universe itself thrust onto their shoulders? In the end, my greatest complaints with that special is that we don't see future Kevin as a human, we don't see Glitch in his humanoid form, and Ben does the loathsome "gains a lot of weight while depressed but he loses it all at the end to show that he actually is all better now!" trope. But this special and that episode aren't the only ones we see the characters deal with negative emotions! I know Gwen has an episode where she handles feeling unappreciated and uncared for, and Ben actually has another episode featuring the Knight where he deals with negative emotions like not being trusted by his family and not being listened to. On its face, reboot doesn't look like it would ever handle these topics, but it does, and I think it does a pretty great job of it! They're usually resolved pretty quickly, but what can you expect from a ten minute long episodic series?

Haha, sorry again for the word spam, but yeah! Like I said before, I totally understand if you try reboot again and still end up not liking it. It isn't for everybody, and that's totally okay! That said, I hope that if you DO end up giving it another chance, you enjoy it! Who knows, stranger things have happened, right? Like an alien watch falling to Earth and giving a random ten year old the power to shapeshift

#blue talks

[angstfactory]

💭

💭 - when did you realise you were lgbt?

"I wish I could say it was any specific moment in time. Or that I considered any of it normal, either. Nobody in my family was like that, I was from a conservative area-- I didn't have much exposure to any of that kind of stuff so it was never anything I thought or learned about. My dad was a traditional kind of guy, too. Not a bad one, just traditional. The kind of man that did all those typical 'manly' activities with his sons and made comments about them growing up to be heartbreakers, etc. For the longest time, I never really thought about anyone in that way. I knew I preferred to hang out with other boys and I engaged in the same activities they did, because I wanted to be accepted. Anyone would. I also idolized my big brothers, too-- I tried to copy them all the time. When I saw them go through puberty and start chasing skirts, and how much our dad encouraged them to be 'respectful rascals', I figured that was what I was supposed to do, as well. It didn't really matter that I had no interest in anyone. Once girls started to notice me, I went with the flow of my peers. I remember I once went on a few movie dates with this one red-haired girl, can't remember her name anymore, because my friends kept ragging on me about her crush and that I should... So I did. I stopped doing that after she held my hand. It felt strange and I felt wrong, since I knew I didn't care about her the way she wanted me to.

I wasn't sure if something was wrong with me or not. I guess I felt like there must be, because I didn't have the same interests as my brothers and I couldn't answer my dad whenever he asked what girl I had my eye on. I think he was hoping I was just a late bloomer. But as time went on, I found myself watching other boys. A few would randomly pop up in mind from time to time as I wondered what they were doing in that moment, or if they were thinking about me. Sometimes I felt weird, too. Like my stomach would churn, my hands would get clammy, my throat would close up... I would get nervous. I didn't really know what all of this meant, but I knew it wasn't normal. I never heard my brothers talk about anything like that-- not around other boys, anyway.

And then the stable boy happened. He wanted to earn some extra cash to help his family out, so my dad would let him come over to help with our chores. We clicked immediately. It was so easy to talk with him, laugh with him. It quickly got to a point where I was counting the days until he'd be back around, because I missed him so much. I thought we were just best friends and I know I was lying to myself. I didn't want to focus on why I memorized everything about him, right on down to the way he talked to the flecks of green in those blue eyes. It was different with us, though, because I could feel that he felt the same way. I could see him looking at me, I could feel him standing too close. And I never once thought to recoil or ask him to stop. Not even the day we tripped into the hay together and he rolled on top of me. It was hard to stop kissing each other after that. We cared more about stealing time together than our chores. We'd run off for hours at a time and nobody would know what we were doing. I'm not sure what anyone would think if they did. What my dad would think... my family.

It didn't last. His family moved away and I was left alone again with a newfound understanding of myself. Now I knew the answer to so many of my questions, yet I had no idea what to do. I was afraid of what people would think if they found out. Especially my dad. He was so invested in me finding a good woman to settle down with, give him some grand babies... How was I supposed to tell him I didn't want any of that? How could I say I was gay? So I did what was easiest and I kept it to myself. I was too much of a coward to say anything and give my family the respect they deserve in knowing who I truly was. I thought I was protecting them and myself. I thought I could even make it all go away. And now it's too late. I'll never have that opportunity to talk to any one of them about this. I'll never get to know if my father would be proud of me, regardless.

He was a good man, though. I know that much. As I get older, I see the things I never noticed when I was younger. Like how much he loved us, how much he risked and sacrificed on the daily. And to tell you the truth... I don't think he'd care who I loved, ultimately. I think he'd only care that I was happy. It's taken me a long time to come to that understanding, but I know it's true.

He would have really liked Jason. Mom too."

#&& i can't carry this anymore; wonder what it's like to be okay 🐺 #answered #this got out of hand #excuse me

[guillemelgat]

(Late) January Language Goals / Update

I just realized that I made a goals post for the beginning of the year, but not for the beginning of the month! I’ve actually been doing a lot of language study this month, so I figured I should make the post and update y’all on how language things are going.

I’m trying to do one language per month, which will allow me to cover all my languages and add one new one as well. This month, I’m working on Romani, which I’ve been meaning to work on for the past two years and just haven’t. I’m reviewing and drilling all the lessons in Ronald Lee’s Das-duma Rromanes, which is what I used to start learning the language and which covers a lot of bases for a basic understanding. Every Sunday, I’ve been making a stack of flashcards and exercises based on the lessons, and I’ve been doing one lesson every day throughout the week. I think it’s definitely helping, at least to expand my vocabulary. I’m really excited about how it’s going, but then again I would literally die for Romani so I’m pretty sure I would ever not be excited to be studying it. The goal is to get myself to a level of confidence where I can actually use it to talk to people (God forbid I talk to people!) but that’s a high bar so it might be a while. Either way, I think the month is going fairly well so far, so we’ll see!

As for the blog, I know I’ve been terrible about posting and I’m not sure if I’ll be much better this quarter, but I’m going to try my hardest to finish the IYIL posts (SIDE NOTE BUT DID Y’ALL SEE THE ANNOUNCEMENT THAT WE’RE GETTING A DECADE OF INDIGENOUS LANGUAGES STARTING IN 2022?? BECAUSE IT’S ABOUT GOTDAM TIME). I also have a few translations that I’ve been meaning to post, so hopefully I can get those out too.

#i'm probably going to be a bit mia on here but i'm going to try my best to make posts #maybe having a busy semester will make me want to post things here more idk #but either way i'm not sure how much stuff i'm going to be churning out #god i love romani so much #like i'm like i couldn't possibly have this much love for a language #and then i go back to studying it and i'm like ope guess i can #i really want to talk to people in it but i'm very nervous about it #because i don't like talking in languages until i'm absolutely perfect #but idk i might see if i can find a place to put it to good use #i know there's a big community in the midwest and i'd love to do volunteer stuff with helping refugees and stuff #if i can find it and work up the courage to do it #because i'd love to speak it more and talk to actual roma and like just do more there?? #anyway that's all that's the update #hope y'all are having a good january #romani #language goals #random stuff #general:goals #romani:general #romani:goals

[idiacide]

could you elaborate on further on floyd's part? I'm pretty sure everyone in twst has issues but I always thought that Floyd was more on the stable side in comparison to the rest, so it made me curious about what his possible issues are (i have a vague idea for jade's something something about control and the need to be in it.) But like only if your comfortable! Btw can I be curious anon? Thanks!

See now you’ve gone and done it, you’ve enabled me to talk at length about my boy. You probably were NOT asking for a 5k word analysis of Floyd (including a line reading of his vignettes). But apparently that’s what my brain decides to churn out. So without further ado

Shark Dissection: A Floyd Leech Analysis Essay

Some brief disclaimers: I actually do agree with you that overall Floyd is one of the more stable boys here. I don’t think he’s walking around with some great well of untreated sadness and neglect. Like many people, he’s simply got some issues rattling around his brain that have gone kind of unaddressed and unprioritized, and the longer they go without comment the more likely they are to cause problems that seem inexplicable. Additionally, there’s admittedly some level of self-projection occurring here. In terms of behavior, I’m not much like Floyd. But the way his brain works makes sense to me, feels familiar. In a way, he takes a lot of the impulses and feelings I have and acts on them in a way I wouldn’t have the nerve to irl. This also means that I see a lot of myself in the way that he handles his own internal state.

I have ADHD. Floyd, while not canonically diagnosed, has a lot of behavioral overlap with typical ADHD diagnostic criteria. Part of that package is emotional dysregulation. The ADHD brain isn’t particularly good at regulating anything, and that includes feelings. My entire life I’ve had this thing where if you ever asked me how I was feeling, I honestly couldn’t tell you. I might even get irritated with you for asking. How am I supposed to know what I’m feeling, or why? I just know I’m going through it, and its not gonna stop until I can either distract myself or someone comes along to lift it. I have to figure out what I’m experiencing after the fact, rather than just basically be able to understand the cause and effect of my own brain chemistry. Floyd’s frequent mood swings and “irrationality” track a lot with stuff that I’ve been going through my whole life, and unlike me I don’t think Floyd has the language or the desire to fully understand why he is the way that he is. This combines with some elements I see in his past to create some issues with developing consistent relationship attachments that he hasn’t acquired by virtue of biology or proximity.

All this to say: I don’t consider my reading of Floyd the end all be all. I’m too bound up in it to say that I’m being objective. But I do think there’s a lot of textual evidence for the things that I do see in him, so take that for what you will. So let’s get into it.

It all starts from Jade and Floyd’s way of relating to other people. More specifically: they kinda don’t? The twins have a habit of seeing other people as more tools for their own entertainment than actual people deserving of notice. I’d argue a lot of this stems from their childhood, based on some things Jade says in his birthday card:

Could you tell us a memory you have about your birthday?

A memory....Oh, yes. I’ll share a story from my childhood.

It wasn’t just our relatives that would come over for our birthday every year-but associates from our father’s work as well.

And they gave us a mountain of presents.

What kind of things did you get?

All sorts of things: sweets, seaweed eye masks, and strange toys one could only acquire on land.

However, among those things were luxury substances clearly no child would need.

It seems those presents were from desperate people trying to gain our father’s favor...er, rather his trust.

Our father always made sure anyone who sent us those deeply meaningful gifts also left their signatures...

On a document which read, “This gift was given to you out of good faith, and we will not request anything in return for it.”

Even our father had a tendency to worry at times, just like our mother.

Well, they do say that married couples take after each other...It’s good that they get along well.

...Just what kind of household do you two come from?...

Heheh, this is simply a family-run line of work. We do all sorts of meaningless business with all kinds of people...Its very normal.

I’d argue we see two things at play here. One, a family tendency to toy with people, particularly desperate people. Jade is recounting this all with a clear sense of amusement, like it’s an old in-joke. More than that, his father seems to be toying with his “associates” through his sons birthday, making them sign documents assuring that its an honest gift when they all know the actual purpose. Two: Jade and Floyd serving as spectators to larger actions. Jade doesn’t even remember their birthday as being strictly “about” them. Rather it was an event through which they got to participate in the family business and get a little more insight into their father’s dealings. Again, his amusement here is important. For many kids I think there’d be a sense of hurt feelings, or concern, or even pride. But for Jade (and one has to assume, Floyd) this is simply another entertaining circumstance of his life.

I’d argue this stemmed from the home outward, resulting in the twins not being particularly encouraged to see other people as. Well. People. Rather, they approach them like they’re game pieces. This isn’t necessarily malicious. In Azul’s case, what drew them in to Azul was the contradiction between his crybaby nature and his ambitious talent for magic and exploiting others. They thought he would be fun to watch, and so they did, eventually developing a friendship with each other that seems to feature at least some level of trust. However, it definitely showcases this tendency to be driven by curiosity before empathy.

This continues at NRC. Jade and Floyd definitely have amicable relationships, and yet there aren’t truly a lot of people that they trust outside of each other. Floyd ESPECIALLY demonstrates this. He uses playful nicknames, both as a way of telling people apart and a way of subtly putting them down. He picks his favorite targets for bullying and teasing based on who will give him the biggest reaction, and lets his whims dictate how much he wants to engage with any given activity. He won’t put himself out of the way for pretty much anyone but Jade or Azul. There’s no one else in his life for whom friendship trumps his own convenience and entertainment, at least not consistently.

There’s a side effect to all of this though: when you see people as playthings, it’s hard to feel like you can actually trust them with your own emotions. This seems to bother Jade less. Jade doesn’t seem to deal with particularly strong emotions, even playing into the fact that he doesn’t have any around his brother. And as Bean Day demonstrates, he is perfectly capable of having friendly and amicable relationships with other people when he feels so inclined. Jade may sometimes put people off, but you get the sense that if he ever wanted to reach out he would be able to find someone to listen.

Floyd is different. Floyd has emotions which are frequently large and uncontrollable. More than that, he really doesn’t seem to have anywhere to take those emotions when they strike. His entire life, whether by nature or nurture, he’s taught himself that the only people he really needs to care about are his brother (and Azul), who as previously stated doesn’t really seem to experience emotions in the same way as Floyd and thus is often just as at a loss about how to cope with them as anyone else. Thus, the only avenue he seems to trust to make him feel better is to mess with people...or to lash out at them.

So let’s talk about where those emotions stem from. Floyd’s emotions get read as unpredictable for a pretty good reason. They can shift on a dime with almost no warning, and suddenly everyone around him has to deal with the consequences. I don’t really blame any of them for wondering what the hell his deal is. However, I think when talking about Floyd’s emotions, it’s useful to separate the cause of the emotion from the scope of the emotion.

The scope of the emotion, as I’ve already stated, can be attributed to ADHD/ADHD-like issues with emotional dysregulation. As I’ve stated, having ADHD means that your brain doesn’t effectively filter your emotions to give you an idea of what a rational response looks like. As bewildering as it can sound, there are plenty of days where I just can’t connect the dots that what’s irritating me is a project I’m working on. I just know that I’m furious and everyone around me seems to be contributing to it. This doesn’t mean I get an excuse to treat people however I want, obviously, but it does mean that when I’m in the middle of it it can be difficult for me to realize that I’m getting angry at something that isn’t the root cause of my problem. It ALL feels like a cause. Additionally, this kind of behavior is often even harder to contain for people who are undiagnosed, because they don’t know enough about themselves to recognize that they’re being irrational. They may often assume that everyone would act this way in their situation, even if that’s not true. So, my argument is functionally that Floyd is experiencing perfectly rational emotions. He’s just experiencing them to a degree that is unusually destructive, and doesn’t know (or, admittedly, care) to stop himself from acting on them.

As far as the cause goes, while obviously there’s not one cause for every switch, it’s often pretty useful to piece out when you take the time to scrutinize his internal state. I’m gonna go through his vignettes now to point out where the switch happens, as well as why I think it happens.

School Uniform (R):

Floyd, while bored at the library, spots Riddle hunting for a book and decides to antagonize him, holding it over his head and making him chase him around the library for it. However, near there end, we hit this beat.

Floyd: C'mon! Catch me, catch me! I'll give you the book if you do!

Riddle: AUGH! STOP RUNNING AROUND! I AM DONE WITH YOU! Jade has never once pulled these silly pranks, and he's had every opportunity as a classmate! How twins could be such complete opposites, I'll never understand!

Floyd:...

Riddle:Why must you always, ALWAYS...?! Tell me, Floyd! What have I done to deserve this mistreatment?!

Floyd: Ugh. I'm bored.

Riddle: WHAT?!

Floyd: I'm out. Here⁠—take the book.

Riddle:What...just happened? I can't tell if I upset him, or if that was yet another one of his mood swings. *sigh* I've had enough of that man's caprices for a lifetime.

Riddle’s frustration here is 100% understandable here, and I don’t blame him for snapping like he does. Floyd is being a brat, and he’s doing it to bother him. However, I’ve spoken before about how I don’t really think Floyd enjoys being compared to his brother, and this vignette is a huge part of the reason why. Riddle’s not really saying anything different from what he was before. He’s shouting at him, getting upset, theoretically giving Floyd exactly what he wants. But he’s thrown a wrench in the works, asking Floyd implicitly why he can’t be more like his brother, and suddenly all the fun’s gone out of it for him.

It’s important how he frames it here too. He doesn’t say he’s upset. He says he’s bored, and tosses back the book. Again, I don’t want to poor meow meow Floyd too much here. But bothering Riddle is the endgame. There’s no reason for this to suddenly be boring for him...unless boredom is not actually the reason for him leaving, just what he decides to attribute the feeling to. He’s offended, maybe even legitimately hurt that a person who he considers (however unwillingly) a friend has just implied wanting him to be something other than what he is. He’s been rejected, and rather than confront that I think what he’s doing here is rejecting him right back. At least for now.

PE Uniform (R):

Floyd: Huh? What's up, Crabby? You're staring at me. Wanna join in?

Ace: I had no idea you were such a baller. You had three people after you, but you slipped around 'em like... I dunno, an eel or something! I'm seriously floored, dude.

Floyd: Aw, it's nothing special. If you thought that was cool, then check THIS out.

Ace: Ooh, ooh! What're you gonna do?

Floyd: Patience, Crabby. Stand there and watch. Lead up with a dribble and... Slaaam dunk! Yeah BOIII!

Ace: Whoaaa, that was crazy! You're tall AND you can jump that high? I call shenanigans! Ha ha.

Jamil: I'm with Ace on this one. You just jumped high enough to literally look down through the hoop. How did you even manage that?

Ace: You could totally go pro. Maaan, I wanna learn to dunk like that!

Floyd: I got a thing for swimming, obviously, but I like running and jumping too.

Ace: On that note... Would you be on my team for today's practice game?

Floyd: You wanna tag-team those chumps, eh? Sure. Why not?

----

Floyd: I'm bored.

Ace: What?

Jamil: Come on, the match has started.

Ace: Hold up, Floyd. What happened to those crazy skills you were just showing off?

Floyd: Uuugh, this is such a draaag. I quit.

Ace: What the heck, man?!

Floyd: I'm not in a basketball mood.

Ace: But you were totally in the zone like three seconds ago!

Floyd: Yeah. I had fun, and now I'm done.

Ace: Dude, quit being so lazy and make with the dunking already!

Floyd:You are REALLY starting to get on my nerves. How about I squeeze you until you can't whine anymore?

So we have here, pretty standard Floyd shenanigans. He’s having fun, until he isn’t, and then he makes that everyone else’s problem. Again, Ace isn’t in the wrong here for reacting as he does. From his perspective Floyd just flaked out on him and threatened him for asking that he do the thing he said he’d do. Floyd’s being a dick, regardless of the emotions he has around it. What I find most interesting about this interaction though, is specifically how Floyd responds to Ace’s praise. He’s surprisingly quick to undercut his own achievement, waving it off as nothing special even as he eagerly shows off for a little more of it. He reacts enthusiastically to Ace hyping him up, though he treats his own talents like something normal (“I like running and jumping”). Even agrees to be on his team, and I’ve mentioned how rare it is for Floyd to commit to something for someone else. I see this as an example of the “anxious” half of the mixed attachment. Floyd wants to be validated without having to beg for it, enough to jump into things quickly when he’s found an unexpected source of it.

And then a sea change occurs. Sudden mood drops or abrupt lack of interest isn’t exactly unusual with ADHD (though, it happens to Floyd a little quicker than most). Despite having fun with Ace he’s clearly ready to drop the task and move on to something more fun. When Ace (a little understandably) reacts with frustration, that’s when Floyd gets aggressive with him. The avoidant half kicks in. “Oh, so I’m just a dunking machine to you? Well fuck you too then.” He places distance between them to avoid having to really untangle his own feelings on why he’s suddenly demotivated, and also seemingly to hurt Ace for turning on him.

Labwear (SR)

Woof, this one is probably the clearest demonstration of Floyd’s emotional vacillation. Sorry for the back to back long quotes I’m gonna be doing here but. It’s relevant.

Crewel: Floyd Leech, would you care to explain yourself?

Floyd:......

Crewel: You're turning in my quiz completely blank. I can only conclude that you crave a taste of my signature discipline.

Floyd:......

Crewel: How long are you going to stay silent? Even puppies bark back when spoken to.

Floyd:...Aroo. There. Are we done yet, or did you have more barbs to sling my way? All this nagging is really harshin' my vibe.

Crewel:......You're bold, Younger Leech. I'll give you that much.

Floyd: I ain't "younger." I ain't "older," either, but c'mon.

Crewel: I suggest you exercise more discretion in deciding who you bare your fangs at.....you BAD DOG!

So here again, we see those consistent themes: Floyd’s frustration at being asked to explain himself when his motivation suddenly drops, and a connection drawn to Jade that seems to needle at him. Crewel seems to be assuming their birth order based on maturity here, which Floyd objects to very quickly. Almost like it bothers him that Jade was brought up at all.

Jade: Oh, hello, Floyd. Heading back to the dorm? ...What's wrong? You're glowering.

Floyd: Professor Beakfish chewed my head off and assigned me a fifty-page apology essay as punishment.

Jade:"Beakfish"? Like the black-and-white striped beakfish? Oh, you must be talking about Professor Crewel. What did you do to incur his wrath this time?

Floyd: Literally nothin'. I didn't feel like takin' a quiz, so I left it blank. I'm not the only guy with low grades in that class, so how come I'm the only one he singles out?

Jade: Didn't you score a perfect 100 on your last test? Of course he'd think you were slacking on purpose if you went from a 100 to a 0.

Floyd: Maaaan... This is lame.

I think it’s notable that Jade says “he’d think you were slacking on purpose”. Implying to me that he seems to understand that on some level, it’s not necessarily in Floyd’s control when he chooses to put in effort or not (though he acknowledges Crewel is coming to a pretty logical conclusion). Floyd leaves pretty shortly after this to be alone, too irritated to even confide in his twin, after which he has this exchange.

Savanaclaw Student: Hey, who thinks they can just bump into me without apologizin' or— Erk! F-F-Floyd!

Floyd:......

Savanaclaw Student A: S-sorry! We didn't know it was you...

Floyd: ......

Savanaclaw Student B: Look, uh, we don't want any trouble, so...

Floyd: Huh? Nah, don't feel like starting any.

Savanaclaw Student A: Wait, really?

Floyd: I said it's cool, okay? So how about you scram already before you make me wanna ruin YOUR day, too?

Again, we have another repeated pattern here. Floyd’s more likely to get aggravated when someone starts interrogating his motives. Its scope is unreasonable but its cause, at its bare essentials, is understandable. When you’re in a bad mood you don’t want someone to pester you with questions.

What ultimately turns Floyd’s mood around in this vignette isn’t some deep meaningful affirmation, and pretty essentially the most likely person to give it to him in this situation, Jade, doesn’t try. He’s in avoidant mode. He’s going to resist all forms of praise or encouragement and assume ill-intentions. What snaps him out of it, finally, is Ace and Deuce hitting him with color changing magic and him finding it so funny that it instantly snaps him out of his funk. His motivation is kickstarted again, and with it I’d argue a desire for affirmation:

Floyd:Aha ha! I didn't know you could be so incompetent at basic baby magic! You guys are hopeless! Look at this complete mess of colors I've got going from head to toe. Pinks, blues, yellows... What color were you even going for? It's kinda funny bein' this colorful!

Deuce: He's laughing? Does that mean...he's in better spirits now?

Ace: W-we're saved!

Floyd: Now I wanna give it a whirl! Heck, I'll give you guys some color-changing pointers while I'm at it.

Deuce: Who is he, and what has he done with Floyd...?

It seems like a whim, and to some extent it is. I doubt Floyd is really making many cognizant connections between this and his argument with Crewel earlier. But I think its important to understand: what put him in a bad mood was rejection, being chewed out and having it assumed that he’s being intentionally dense and not trying hard enough. What snaps him out of it is giddily spectating someone being actually incompetent, and realizing its something that he can not only try for himself, but help them do as well. That takes him right back up to his peak, and as a direct result, he stops avoiding people.

Ceremonial Robes: (also I couldn’t find an upload of the official translation for this vignette so. Here’s the link to the fan translation I ended up using: https://twistedtranslations.tumblr.com/post/614193938568495104/floyd-leech-dont-wanna-12)

So what does a positive interaction with Floyd look like? As I’ve said again and again: I really don’t wanna fault anyone I’ve previously shown for how they reacted to him. At the end of the day how Floyd feels is no one’s responsibility but his own, and the ways in which he lashes out are specifically designed to provoke and upset people. He can hardly complain when people get, well, provoked and upset. But I think the ceremonial robes vignette showcase an excellent example of someone finding a way to engage with him that actually produces positive and even productive results.

Kalim: If you like music that much, you should enter the light music club! We can play together.

Floyd: I’m fine.

Kalim: But you like musical performances, right? It’d be a waste to quit.

Floyd: I don’t like being told by a human what to do… And right now, moving my body is the most fun. Lately I’ve been interested in dancing! Now that I have two tail fins, it’s been so entertaining. Sometimes I can’t even tell the difference between left and right.

Kalim: Tail fins? Left and right… ah, do you mean your legs?

Floyd: Yes, legs! Moving your legs is fun, so dancing is fun as well. I love fun things. I don’t want to do boring things. Applies to everything.

Kalim: I also love fun things! They’re the best! That’s why even if I love music, I also love dancing… You know, our hobbies are kind of the same, huh?

Floyd: Huh…you think so?

Kalim: Yeah, do you want to try performing together next time?

Floyd: Aha. With me? Okay, but I think you’ll be surprised at how good I am.

Kalim: That’s fine, I’ve heard a lot about you. You should definitely show me how you dance.

Floyd: If I feel like it.

----

Kalim: Ah, here you are! Floyd, do you have a moment!?

Floyd: Huh, what are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to hold a party for the great observers?

Kalim: That’s where I have a problem. The guy who plays the main drum has gotten a cold and can’t participate today. We’ve tried to rehearse without the drum but the song doesn’t feel authentic without the percussion… And that’s when I remembered you.

Floyd: Me?

Kalim: You said you had experience with the drum. Don’t you want to show off your technique to everyone? I’m sure performing together will be fun. Come on Floyd, let’s liven up the party together!

Floyd: Huh? Don’t wanna.

Kalim: …Huh. What do you mean you don’t wanna?

Jade: Pf. Floyd, it wouldn’t hurt you to be more polite in your refusals.

Floyd: I don’t wanna do things I don’t like.

Kalim: But didn’t you tell me it was fine when I offered you earlier to perform together?

Floyd: I told you I didn’t like being ordered around by humans, didn’t I? And you know, I don’t feel like matching with y’all.

Kalim: You don’t have to force yourself to match the other guys. If you do things like you do, that’s fine as well.

Floyd: … For real?

Kalim: Of course! As I said before, having fun at a party is essential! The guests and the entertainers should both have fun.

Floyd: Okay, then I’ll do it.

Kalim: Really?!

Floyd: Yeah. As long as I can do whatever I want.

Kalim: You really saved me, thank you, Floyd!

Floyd is trying to fall into his usual habits, being intentionally difficult, squirming out of things he otherwise promised to do, and insisting on having his own way. In this state of mind even Jade struggles to get him to do anything. But Kalim somehow intuitively hits on the way home. He reaffirms Floyd’s desire to have fun, and encourages him to do his own thing without worrying about whether its correct or not. Floyd even seems a little thrown off by it, confused that Kalim doesn’t have more of a problem with him and surprised by the extent to which he seems to identify with him. As a result, he agrees, as long as it can be on his own terms, and the performance goes shockingly well...

....For a while!

Floyd: … Eergh! Just hitting stuff is boring.

Kalim: U-uh, Floyd, why did you suddenly throw your sticks away!

Floyd: You were the one who told me I could do what I wanted. I feel more like dancing than playing drums.

Kalim: It’s true that I said that, but… Why did you abandon your instrument?!

Floyd: You’re supposed to have fun at a party, right? Everyone should stand up and do whatever they want~

Kalim: … Haha, ahaha! Man, this became super lively and fun. Floyd’s really dancing without worries. Okay. A party shouldn’t be like this. Come on everyone, sing and dance! Don’t hold back on enjoying this bustling party.

Floyd: Oh, you guys finally stood up. How about I’ll strangle you if you don’t get excited?

Jamil: What a terrible fuss. Certainly, a party should be enjoyed… But there’s a limit to everything.

Azul: Floyd’s drumming was popular in his home town. It had a rhythm that made you move your body just by listening to it. Well, the guy himself broke out in dancing all the time… It was always troublesome.

Jamil: If this isn’t a chaotic situation. Aah, how will I explain this to the principal…

Azul: Do not worry, I shall help you. That’s why I came.

Jamil: Why do I have the feeling it won’t be free of charge. My head hurts… I also feel like dancing and forgetting everything.

Kalim: Isn’t this fun, Floyd!

Floyd: Yeah. Dancing is enjoyable after all. … Let’s get fired up even more!

Floyd’s being difficult again, temporarily flummoxing Kalim. What’s crucial here though, is that Kalim doesn’t become upset with him. He does the best thing one can do with Floyd, and rolls right with the punches. For as chaotic as it is, it genuinely seems to improve spirits at the party. Even Jamil, stressed and overworked, seems to get into the spirit as he accepts there’s probably no stopping this train. As a result, Floyd’s investment doesn’t waver. He continues to have a good time. Even the threats, though they seemingly aren’t avoidable, seem more playful than actually angry. It’s a rare interaction with Floyd where everyone walks away a little bit the better for it.

Concluding notes:

So to restate my points: No, I don’t believe Floyd Leech is secretly a sad little boy so tormented by the cruel world. Floyd gets pretty much the reaction one would expect from his behavior. He doesn’t put in the effort to explain himself, or to control himself, and as a result it’s not really fair to expect other people to do the work of untangling his feelings for him. Additionally, I think for the most part, he’s genuinely a pretty happy guy. He has his low points, like anyone, but by and large I think we seem him being pretty content with his life and relationships as they are. Some people don’t need to resolve every issue they have to achieve some sort of equilibrium. I’d argue that Floyd is very much one of those people.

However, in service of a broader analysis: I think often times, we act the way that we’re treated as much as we’re treated the way that we act. Even by the people who know him best, Floyd is often treated as inexplicable, irrational and even frustrating to deal with. For as true as those statements often are, I think it has influenced his own relationship to his internal state. He lacks the kind of cognitive structure necessary to unpack why he feels a certain way, or what he needs to do about it. Oftentimes, I think he’s even a little out of touch with what he’s feeling. All negative emotions get looped under the same category: bored. And being bored is the worst thing there is for someone like Floyd. It’s an itchy, powerless feeling that makes you feel suddenly adrift. What was just working for you, making you happy and excited to be where you were, has suddenly turned on you, one way or another. And now, its hard to even get excited about moving on to something else. What if that turns on you too.

As an extension of this, to quote the old song, how can you know who you are till you know what you want? Floyd is cued enough into himself to know when he’s lacking something, but because all bad feelings are boredom, the only solution left is to sulk or to make something happen. It doesn’t matter what his brain is actually crying out for (validation, stimulation, comfort, privacy). He just has to make something happen (even bad things), or go hide in his room until he can’t take the quiet anymore. Then, when the dust is settled, everyone’s mad at him, and he still doesn’t know or understand why he’s feeling/felt this down. It’d be tragic, if it also weren’t often so, so funny.

#twisted wonderland #twst #floyd leech #long post #analysis #curious anon

[rolandtowen]

three times Zuko comes into the Jasmine Dragon coffee shop, and one time Sokka leaves with him. Set in the Neurodiverse Zukka AU, but can read as a standalone.

*banging pots and pans together* "Come over here and get yall Neurodiverse Zukka!"

Read it on Ao3 or under the cut!

TW: discussions of skin picking and implied child abuse

i.

When Sokka pulls into the parking lot of the Jasmine Dragon, he is unsurprisingly the first car there. Being a freshman in town means getting the worst pick of shifts at local businesses. Sokka was hired on to work the opening shift, which means he wakes up at the ungodly hour of 5am to open the shop before the first round of sleep-deprived college students comes in. The pay isn't bad, Mr. Iroh is an incredibly fair man,

The bell on the door jingles on his way in, and he flips several light switches on, watching as the coffee shop slowly comes to life. He busies himself with getting the beans for the day grinding, pulling his first shot and dialing in the expresso. When he takes a sip, the espresso is spot on for the day, which is a relief. Having to make adjustments as customers start filing in is a nightmare.

Today's brew is floral and citrusy, so he decides to make himself and iced lavender latte - with oat milk, of course, because he's gotta do it for the gays - and he spends the next 20 minutes setting out pastries and fiddling with the display cases, making everything look perfect.

At 6am sharp, Sokka unlocks the front door and flips their sign to open, before retreating behind the bar to nurse his latte. Not even five minutes later, the door bell jingles, and Sokka sees a flash of dark hair, face obscured by a pile of textbooks and binders. The figure runs into one table, and then another, and Sokka is rushing out from behind the counter. He gets there just before textbooks go toppling everywhere, his hands taking a firm hold of the top bundle. As he pulls the books into his arms, he sees the face behind them.

Breathtaking golden eyes.

And.. a massive burn scar.

"Hi!" Sokka says, "I'm the barista on shift today - my name's Sokka." He would reach his hand for the other man to shake, but for the stack of textbooks in them.

Golden Eyes smiles.

"I'm Zuko, Zuko Sozin," he says, setting his remaining textbooks on the table by his side. Sokka follows suit.

"Hey, I think I've seen you before - are you taking Piandao's Intro to Biology class?"

"Uh, yeah - yeah! You sit a few rows in front of me." Zuko laughs. "Your doodles are uh, something alright."

Sokka knocks him good-naturedly on the shoulder. "I gotta keep my hands busy for my brain to focus." He looks down at the stack of books on the table. "What on earth are you studying, to have that many books?"

"Uh, Biology and Chemistry double-major, Pre-Med track." Sokka's eyes widen. "It's really not that much! I got a bunch of stuff out of the way with AP credits."

Sokka raises an eyebrow.

"Okay, it is a lot - but I'm really passionate about it. I want to be a doctor."

"Well, Dr. Sozin, what can I get started for you today?"

"Can I get a iced matcha, with a lot of honey?"

Sokka raises his other eyebrow. "A doctor with a sweet tooth?"

"Kind of?"

"Don't worry, I won't rat you out to your dentist. An iced matcha with extra honey?" Zuko nods and Sokka smiles. "You got it, doc."

ii.

Sokka falls into a routine at the Jasmine Dragon. He opens the shop every morning, and every morning of the fall semester so far, Zuko Sozin comes in at precisely 6:05am. Zuko will order an iced matcha with honey, and sits at a table by the window with his laptop and at least two textbooks open at all times. Then, at 11:50am - Sokka guess he has a class that starts at noon - Zuko leaves the shop, always making sure to throw his spare change into Sokka's tip jar.

He's so beautiful.

On a slow day, Sokka comes out from behind the safety of the counter and works up the courage to ask Zuko if he can study with him. Zuko looks shocked at first, but his lips quirk up in a smile as he gestures for Sokka to sit in the chair across from him, moving his textbooks to make room for Sokka's one book and laptop.

"What are you studying, Sokka?" Zuko appears to be genuinely interested.

"Oh, uh, social work, with a concentration in mental health." Sokka waits for Zuko to laugh at him. It never comes. He looks up at him over their laptops.

"That's really cool."

"You think so?"

"Yeah! I mean, some pre-med majors can be really pretentious, really dismissive of mental illness, but um - not me. I don't really have that luxury." Zuko laughs, as though at a joke with himself. "What's the Intro to Biology for, then?"

"Not all of us got our common core out of the way with AP credits, like some nerd I know." Zuko smiles at that, and looks back down at his laptop screen.

Sokka pulls his keys from his pocket and starts fidgeting with the stim toy he keeps on his keychain as he reads through his latest assignment for his Mental Illness and Society class. He bought it on Etsy, relieved to find a neurodivergent-owned shop after scrolling through a lot of stores that just seemed to be hopping on the 'trend' of selling fidget toys. He flips to the next page in his textbook, popping the buttons back and forth in a steady rhythm. He remembers Zuko's sitting across from him and stops abruptly.

"Is this annoying? Do you want me to stop?"

Zuko just cocks his head. "Why would I get a say in what you do? It's kind of your shop, right?"

"Um, to be polite?" Sokka laughs. "And you would be surprised how many customers I get who think they get to tell me what to do." His eyes settle on the half drunk latte in front of him. "It's not really my shop either, I just work the early morning shifts so Mr. Iroh can sleep in. If you ever get to stay past noon sometime, you'll see him come in. You can't miss him, short guy, talks in riddles. He's older, a war vet I think - I just get that impression from some of the stories he tells me. But anyway, did you want me to stop fidgeting?" Sokka looks back up to meet those golden eyes.

Zuko glitches for a second. "Oh! No, no, go for it - if it helps you to study, I'm all for it."

Sokka smiles, and looking at the way Zuko keeps picking at his cuticles gives him an idea. He digs into his backpack and pulls out another stim toy, an acupressure ring. ""Do you want to try this instead of maiming your hands?"

Zuko hesitantly holds out a hand and Sokka drops it into his palm. "You don't have to."

Sokka scoffs. "I know I don't have to - I want to. Come on, I wear it on my thumb sometimes -" and suddenly he's taking Zuko's hands into his and getting very close to Zuko's face. Zuko can smell espresso on his clothes and Sokka's hands are so warm against his. Calloused, sure, but warm. He holds Zuko's right hand gently, pressing the spiky ring onto his thumb. "And you can rub it back and forth with your pointer finger and it gives you that kind of prickly sensation that you get from skin picking, just without the skin picking." Sokka pulls his hands away and Zuko immediately misses them. "Give it a shot, tell me what you think."

Zuko tentatively rolls the ring over his thumb. Huh. The cute barista's right, the acupressure gives him that same prickly, scratchy feeling that picking at his nails and cuticles does. "Wow," he says, "I think you've converted me."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Then keep it, I've got a thousand more where that came from, ADHD perks."

Zuko instinctively opens his mouth to protest but the words die in his throat.

"You, you have ADHD?" He stops rolling the ring across his thumb.

"Yup." Sokka's lips popped on the 'p', and he turned to the next page in his textbook. "And I'm pretty sure you've got some spicy stuff happening your brain, too. But you don't have to tell me."

"How are you so open about it?"

Sokka's hand stills around the fidget. "My parents never treated me like I was deficient in any way - my brain just works differently, which means I have trouble with some 'normal' stuff. But I also strengths in areas that others don't have naturally. Accommodations aren't anything to be ashamed of."

"Sounds nice." All of the levity drops out of Zuko's voice.

Sokka levels a look at Zuko. He lets his eyes flit to the right side of Zuko's face and the scar there. He's seen it so many times, and the burns look so concentrated, almost... intentional. His stomach churns at the thought. The scar's old... and Zuko's at college now, he has to be safe - he has to be.

"Like I said, you don't have to tell me." Sokka's hand starts to fidget with the buttons again. "But I have it on good authority that I am a good listener."

"I'll... I'll keep that in mind." Zuko looks down at his hands, fingers rolling the ring back and forth against his thumb. "Thank you."

"Anytime, doc."

iii.

Somehow, fumbling through their collective social awkwardness, they manage to swap numbers.

At the end of the fall semester, Sokka texts Zuko for the first time.

S: hey, im gonna be a few minutes later. don't worry, im still coming.

Z: okay. thank you.

When Sokka finally pulls into the parking lot fifteen minutes late, he sees Zuko waiting outside the door, sitting on a bench, head buried in one of his chemistry textbooks.

"Hey," he puts his keys in the door. "You can just come in while I open, it won't take too long."

Zuko follows him inside, and he closes the door against the chill.

"You didn't have to text me," Zuko says, like it's a question.

"I wanted to," Sokka starts flipping on light switches. "I know you've got your routine, and I didn't want to stress you out when it got messed up."

"Why would that matter to you?"

"Um, I don't want you to be stressed? I kind of care about you."

"You... you care about me?" Zuko stands in the middle of the coffee shop, unmoving.

Sokka smiles. "Yeah, I think I do."

"Why?"

"I think we could be friends?"

"Oh." Zuko's face falls for a second - what Sokka has come to understand is his 'processing' face - and he looks back up a second later. "I think we could be friends too."

"Friendship with a barista has great perks, you know." Sokka laughs as he starts up the grinder. "Although the perks of a social worker friend aren't too bad either."

"How's that going? With your first semester ending?" Zuko sits on a stool at the bar and watches Sokka putter around behind it.

"Well, I'm going to pass Intro to Biology, not for lack of trying on Piandao's part - I swear he's trying to weed out all the humanities kids. It isn't even a weed out course!" He polishes an espresso glass furiously. "How are you doing?"

Zuko chokes. "Oh, I'm - I'm fine, you know it's a hard class and all -"

"You're getting an A, aren't you?" Sokka squints at him from behind a bag of coffee beans. "Curve breaker," he scoffs.

"Hey, it's not my fault that I'm, what did you call it? A 'burnt-out gifted kid with people pleasing tendencies'." Zuko crosses his arms and huffs at the memory of that conversation. Sokka had read him like a picture book. And it was not fair for one person to be that good at emotions.

"You are correct, I did indeed call you that." Sokka pulls the first shot of the morning. "And it looks like I was right."

"You know what you said the other week, about being a good listener?"

"Sure do," Sokka takes a sip of the espresso, swishing it around in his mouth before spitting it out. "What's on your mind?"

"Well, if we're going to be... friends, I just think you'd want to know that - I'm autistic." Zuko stares at Sokka searching his face for any cues about what the next words out of his mouth will be, waiting for the facade of friendship to drop. He furiously rolls the acupressure ring up and down his thumb.

"Okay, that's great!"

"...what."

Zuko's hands freeze and he squeezes the ring against his skin, feeling the pressure increase.

"That's great, I'm glad you felt safe enough to tell me that. I kind of guessed your parents weren't as accommodating as mine?"

Zuko laughs something sour. "No, no they were not." He looks up in surprise as Sokka puts an iced matcha, extra honey, in front of him. "You're right though, I do feel safe here. I feel safe with you." Zuko looks down at the acupressure ring on his thumb, softening his grip. "You could have totally ignored me, but you didn't. Or you could've been mean about my quirks - but you weren't. Why?"

"Well, for starters, you tip well." Sokka smiles and leans across the counter, bracketing Zuko's elbows in with his own. "But you're also a really great guy - you're passionate, you want to make people's lives better, and you're also like, really beautiful."

Zuko feels his cheeks flush. "You really think that?" His fingers still against the fidget again, but he doesn't feel the need to press it into his skin. He's captivated by Sokka's words. Surely, Sokka couldn't actually mean -

"Oh, yeah. Every bit." Sokka brushes his hand against one of Zuko's, the one with the fidget ring. "Can I hold your hand?"

"Yes, please, yes." After weeks, Sokka's hand is back in his, and Zuko thinks he's going to implode. "Can, can you hold both of my hands? With both of your hands?"

"Of course," Sokka's positively beaming, grabbing Zuko's hands and running his thumbs across his knuckles. "Now you're absolutely allowed to say no to my next question, and there are no hard feelings."

"Yes?"

"Can I kiss you?"

"Fuck yes."

The iced matcha is forgotten.

+ i

Sokka's feet hurt like hell. Mr. Iroh had called in him to work a double on Friday, and since he doesn't have any classes on Fridays, he foolishly agreed.

It won't seem so foolish once you see the paycheck, he reminds himself. He and Zuko have a deal. Zuko pays for his medical school with his job shelving books at the University library, and Sokka pays for their tiny apartment by caffeinating all of the other broke college kids in town. By some miracle, they seem to be able to make it work. Zuko graduated into the medical college a year early, which helps with tuition costs, and of course his brilliant boyfriend got all kinds of scholarships.

Sokka is indescribably proud of him.

The door bell jangles just as Sokka is wiping the crumbs off the last cafe table. "Hey, we're starting to close up for the night, so it'd better be a to-go order," he calls over his shoulder.

"Even for me?"

"Zuko!" Sokka drops his cloth immediately and spins around, pulling Zuko into a hug. Zuko taps the small of his back when he's ready to let go, and Sokka lets him go, beaming. "You came to visit me at work?"

"More like I picked up your favorite soup dumplings from Haru's across the street and thought we could walk home together?" Zuko shrugs, gesturing to the brown paper bag in his arms. "How's that sound to you?"

"Baby, that's just what I needed today." Sokka picks up his cleaning supplies. "Okay, I just need to put all of this away and then we can lock up and go home, how's that?"

"Great," Zuko smiles at him. "I may have also picked up some more Doctor Who DVDs from the library," he smirks.

"Oh, you trickster!" Sokka yells from the kitchen, before appearing again. "You used my one weakness, pork soup dumplings, against me in order to get your nerdy way."

"Oh, big talk coming from the guy who watches astronomy documentaries for fun," Zuko laughs as Sokka leads him out of the shop, switching off the lights and locking the door behind him. "If it were up to you, we'd be watching Cosmos all weekend, and I can only take so much of Neil deGrasse Tyson explaining the peculiarities of the moon."

"Hey, the moon is cool!"

"You are correct, the moon is very cool. It's freezing, because it's a rock. In space. With no atmosphere. Or life." Zuko deadpans, earning a light punch on the shoulder from Sokka.

"Fine, you get Doctor Who tonight, but Saturday is going to be all PBS Nova, baby. Brace yourself." Sokka takes Zuko's free hand into his as they start the walk home.

"Well, as long as you're there, I'm happy."

Notes:

fidgets in this work were inspired by those from shop StimBox

#neurodiverse au #neurodiverse zukka #neurodivergent zukka #autistic zuko #adhd sokka #coffee shop #modern au #college au #med school au #bisexual sokka #asexual zuko #gay zuko #zukka #first kiss #zuko is an awkward turtleduck #pre relationship #developing relationship #sokka is a nerd #zuko is also a nerd #touch starved zuko #stim toys #fidget toys #fluff #romantic fluff #how many tags can char fit on a post #rolandtowen #my fic #atla #avatar #the last airbender