#it has problems namely the length but I'm glad we have it

[sgnjimmy]

Hey can you do something about Owen Knight and the Black Reader to help Owen Reader study for a math test and be fluff thank you

𝓞𝔀𝓮𝓷 𝓚𝓷𝓲𝓰𝓱𝓽 𝔁 𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓭𝓮𝓻

≛ 𝙰/𝚗: so sorry for taking so much time with your request ((one year of delay is crazy, im terrible sorry)). I had so much fun starting this but then I just got stuck, so my bad. If you have any complaints or if you want something fixed let me know, I'll see what I can do. also, he might be a bit OOC, but that's bc he's mesmerized 😍.

≛ 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝: 999.

Owen has his eyes fixated on you as you're explaining the same math problem for the third time today. You probably would be mad at him if you knew he's paying more attention to your pretty lips, rather than your lovely voice. But the blonde couldn't care less about school stuff when you were sat, prettily, right beside him — at an arm 's length of distance. He's so glad you agreed to help him with this, and even more so for coming to his house to do it.

He should feel guilty, and if he stopped to think about the whole situation for a minute, he is.

The truth was that Owen didn't really have any problems with math, you see. He just saw an opportunity to get close to you and the boy took it without blinking an eye. At the end it was all worth it, he can finally admire you up close, and…

God, what a sight, Owen thinks smiling.

Your skin looks so soft, he wishes to touch it but, of course, he refrains himself. He doesn't want to scare you off when he just now got you alone in a room with him.

Owen entertains himself by smelling the perfume you have on. He wonders which brand it is and where he can get it… Maybe he can sneak a question about it later.

Owen’s so lost that he's daydreaming about buying clothes like yours and spraying your perfume on it so he can pretend it's you.

Your voice brings him back to reality.

“Hey, hey. Owen?” You wave your hand in front of him. “You there?”.

“Sorry, so sorry. What were you saying, pretty?”

There. Pretty. Owen always drops pet names when talking to you, and it sounds so effortless that it has your heart skipping a beat. You only hope Owen doesn't notice the way you quickly pursed your lips in response.

“Mm, I know it's a lot. We can take a break if you want.”

A break? Great! Owen thinks. Now he'll have the chance to actually talk with you instead of just staring.

After making up his mind Owen gets up from his chair.

“Yeah, sure. Do you want anything? A drink? Snack?” The blond asks you with a smile.

The kind of smile that had you daydreaming of him. The kind of smile made you say fold when Owen came up to you between classes to congratulate you about your latest score. All the teachers were talking about it, and one even mentioned it in Owen's clase. Since you two weren't in the same class it was hard for Owen to talk freely with you but he still didn't want to give up.

So when he heard the news it was like a sign from heaven, telling him to ask you to tutor him since you were such a good student.

“I'm good. Don't wor–”

“No, it's fine. Just ask away.”

You don't reply right away. Still contemplating what you should do. After a couple of breaths you figure that Owen is trying to be a good host. You should just accept his kind offer, after all maybe when he sees you're taken care of he'll concentrate on the actual task in hand, math.

So you give in, and tell yourself it got nothing to do with his pretty smile.

“Just a sandwich will do, thanks.”

“Great” Owen starts to turn to leave but when he sees you're copying him, the blond stops in his tracks. “No, no. Wait here, I'll be back in a second.”

Owen is not back in a second. Instead it looks like he's taking his sweet time making that sandwich.

You began to question if you should go down the stairs and check what's going on but before you can get up from your chair, Owen walks through his bedroom door. You notice he holds a wooden tray with two plates, cups and a jar of juice.

As you watch him approach you make room on his study table.

"Here." He says, placing a plate in front of you.

You guys fall into a comfortable silence while eating. After the food is gone, Owen decides to make a move, asking you things to get to know more of you. It starts with what lotion you use, he compliments it's smell and told you it suited you.

As the minutes went off, you got more comfortable chatting with him about anything and also answering the questions he threw now and then. The sun was already setting and you two didn’t even notice.

A ring from your phone interrupted you as you spoke in reply to Owen's latest question.

“It's my parents.” You explain as you read the messages on your phone. “Shit, it's 9 already… Sorry, but I should get going.”

You get up from your chair to gather your things from the table.

“No, i'm sorry. I didn't mean to keep you here so late. I didn't even notice it got so late.” Owen hands you the books you brought, helping you pack your things.

“Don't stress about it. Is just that my parents are worried about me walking home late.”

“I'll walk you.”

You make a noise from surprise.

“What? It's fine, you–”

“I can walk you.” Owen opens the door of his room and makes a gesture for you to go first. “It's only fair, since it's my fault that you're here at this hour.”

“You don't need to trouble yourself, I'll–”

“I insist.” Owen simply says, but what gets you it's that on his face lays that damn smile. “Please, angel.” He adds, and you give in for the second time today.

You just might do so for the rest of your life if he keeps this up.

Owen isn't aware of it but since he met you he's been playing dirty. Those heavenly blue eyes and soft smile. The pet names and light touches. He had you since day one.

But he didn't need to know that…

© 𝙨𝙧𝙜𝙣𝙟𝙞𝙢𝙢𝙮 2024

#owen x reader #owen knight x reader #wind breaker x reader #wind breaker #fem! reader #wb x reader #owen wind breaker

[teenandbeyond]

Shota Aizawa x Fem. Black Reader

I wrote this to flesh out the possible relationship between Aizawa and an OC for my fanfic.

Want more from me? 𝙼𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚝

☆*: .｡. .｡.:*☆☆*: .｡. .｡.:*☆

🐱Beauty at the Café🐱 (MHA or My Hero Academia)

Warning(s): Reader is a rich MILF (Kid is in his class), Bold=English

You and Aizawa have frequent meet-ups at a quaint little cat café...it's about time you met his friend Present Mic...

✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨

The first time you ran into each other was purely coincidence.

He heard of this newly opened cat café that was popular, yet somehow quiet and far from packed.

And he liked cats, so why not check it out?

You sponsored the café due to the owners being young, you wanted to support them as a fellow cat lover and owner. They wanted you to try out all their dishes for your opinion.

You noticed him as he sat down at a table next to yours.

"Oh. That you Eraser head?"

He slowly turned his head, recognizing the voice, "Ms. [Last Name]."

You leaned your head on a fist with a pearly white smile, "I'm both surprised and unsurprised to see you here."

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked dryly.

"You kinda seemed like a cat kind of man, that's all. Funny we ran into each other, though."

"What are you doing here? This isn't usually the area people in your class enjoy."

You chuckle, "Even the rich like cheap when we're modest—But actually, I'm here on business."

"Business. Sounds about right for the richest woman in the world," he turned his attention to a soft-looking Birman.

"Cinnamon."

"What?"

"That's her name. Cinnamon."

"Oh."

Eventually, he would sit at your table with you. And eventually the length of conversation grew.

Once he realized you weren't some snobby rich lady, he was quite a bit more comfortable with you. But he wasn't too surprised, your daughter acted far from spoiled. Had no idea she was a rich kid until he met you and learned you were her mother.

He was glad one of his favorite students had a good parent to match.

And even though he didn't want to admit it, he was really starting to warm up to you.

He wasn't the biggest fan of the business suits, heels, and overall made up look. He wasn't one to care about appearance that much.

But your coiled hair, thick and natural...

He loved the feeling of freeness it gave off, it took away the intimidating classiness that clashed against his...he didn't know.

And he supposed you weren't always dressed to work, sometimes he saw you in casual and steetwear. Baggy clothes, tees with the faces of old rappers, heavy boots and cardigans.

He admittedly liked when you wore comfy clothes better.

But he thought you could pull of anything.

You best accessory to him other than your hair was your smile. Which was saying a lot coming from a guy who wasn't the happy type.

But there was a problem.

Someone was onto him, noticing he was going out more.

Hizashi.

So Aizawa tried to be slick, hide you from him...

But he should've known his friend better than that.

"You don't need to come with me."

"I just wanna see what's so great, that has you coming here every other day! You never go out this much."

"I like cats."

"Sure, cats," the blonde smirked, "You met a woman there didn't you?"

"No."

"You did!" he gasped, "Is she there now?"

"I don't know."

"I want to meet her!"

"That's not necessary."

When Hizashi laid eyes on you, he had to lower his shades, he was in complete disbelief.

"Huh...she's actually very pretty."

Aizawa glared at his friend, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I just thought it'd be someone sadder-looking, like you. That seemed like it'd be more your type."

Aizawa can only sigh, then you happen to look up mid-bite.

You smile and wave to the familiar pro-hero as he approaches, "Hello, again, Aizawa. How've you been since the last time I saw you?"

He groans, sliding into the booth seat across from you, "Could be better. Got tailed this time."

You lean forward on a fist in intrigue, observing the person accompanying him, "You're a friend of Aizawa's...Present Mic, right?"

"You can call me Hizashi!"

You and Hizashi seemed to get along swimmingly, which made Shota feel both fond and annoyed at the same time.

Then he lost you both when you started speaking in English.

"Nah, there ain't no way!"

"Yeah, that's what he did," Hazashi was cackling like a hyena.

"That villain was tweakin'! What did he think you was finna do? Let him just do that? Crazy!"

Apparently when you were comfortable, your English became more casual. Aizawa thought it was cute.

Then he decided he did enough social interaction for one day.

But just as he and Hizashi went out the exit, he sharply turned to him.

"What?"

"Give me your phone real quick, Shota."

"Why?" he narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

"Just trust me."

"I'm not trusting that smile," but Shota gave it to him anyway.

Hizashi ran back inside and Aizawa impatiently waited until the blonde came out with a goofy grin, handing him his phone back.

"Why are you smiling like that?"

"You can thank me later. And look, you already got a text!"

Aizawa looked down at his phone. Your name was on the screen and lo and behold, there was a single text.

'I had fun! It was nice to see you again Eraserhead o(^▽^)o'

"Whoa! Is that a smile I see?"

The minuscule smile was gone, "No."

"It waaas!" he gently elbowed his lonely looking friend.

"It wasn't.

"You think she's cuuute," he poked Shota's side.

"...Whatever."

"You didn't deny it! Who would've thought you could pull?

"Shut up, idiot.

'coffee's on me next time if youre up for it.'

#anime #bnha #bnha aizawa #mha #mha fluff #mha x reader #boku no hero academia #my hero academia #shota aizawa #aizawa #eraserhead #fluff #bnha x black reader #x black reader #black reader #mha x black reader #x black fem reader #black fem reader

[thegeminisage]

oh boy IT'S tng update time. last night* we watched "imaginary friend" and "i, borg."

*tonight. it's 1am. whatever. it's posting tomorrow when i'll be awake but busy. anyway im gonna have to start splitting these up so tumblr will stop FUCKING me re my character count

imaginary friend:

what i like about this episode and indeed tng as a whole is that the little girl was fucking adorable. tng fans, your show has at least one point of validity. whenever there was a child on tos i wanted to throw them out of the airlock because they acted possessed. all the children on tng inspire within me motherly concern.

HOWEVER. THERE SHOULD NOT BE. CHILDREN ON A STARSHIP.

we've gone over this at length. we don't need to do it again. i am sick to death of hearing myself talk about it. i want to stop. and yet. every. and i mean EVERY. SINGLE. PROBLEM. in this episode. happened because there were children on a starship.

problem #1: child is making up a fake imaginary friend instead of making real ones = it's because her dad hops from starship to starship

problem #2 her imaginary friend is real now and wants to drown her in the pool like in that one episode of s*pernatural = this is because an alien, from space, read her mind, which it could not have done if she wasn't in space on a starship

problem #3: the alien HATES the grownups and thinks they should die = because she is seeing the ship from a child's pov, because there are children on this starship

and on and on and on.

aside from this huge and ongoing point of contention it was solidly watchable. i liked the little girl. i like guinan. i like worf being a big old softie when he found them out of bounds. i like people not undermining deanna's counseling work. i liked the horrifically unsettling imaginary friend with laser eyes who definitely absolutely inspired 2.11 playthings.

can anyone tell me if the other star trek shows just let them have kids on the ships? ds9 i get because that's a space station but are there kids on the ship in enterprise? voyager? discovery? genuinely please write in i can't take living like this

i, borg:

ooooooh. ooh i am twirling my hair and kicking my feet and giggling about it. OHHH finally we get a good tng episode. and not just a good episode a GREAT episode. the liz community has forgiven tng. oh baby where do i even begin

okay, firstly, beverly. she so instantly sees someone injured and HAS to help, i mean HAS to, it's so good. it's very bonescore in a way that doesn't feel like they're trying to make her a cheap bones knockoff but rather a spiritual successor. he would have also helped his enemy rather than watching him die. hell, he DID do that and got quite literally mind-raped for his trouble, and he'd probably do it again. i was really really lukewarm on poor bev at first but she's come into her own so well and i'm proud of her

the borg himself - third of five, aw, just like seven of nine - but no, hugh - the name is dumb but whatever i'm glad he has one - was well-cast. it would have been easy to make him uncanny and an unpleasant presence onscreen (this was my biggest issue with data's daughter even though the ep DID make me cry, deeply sorry to data whomst i love the most). his "you will be assimilated resistance is futile" song and dance was actually really funny when played off of geordi's wry indifference. "ok, but before we get assimilated, can we please finish x test?" so true king

geordi's a natural choice to pair with this guy because when he's not being the creepiest person on earth to holodeck girls he's sociable, outgoing, and patient. PLUS he has experience befriending machines because of data. hugh actually reminded me of data in some ways because of his general lack of understanding re: humanity but - and this is critical to me - HE IS HUMAN

like, i feel like the episode didn't quite nail the point home hard enough possibly because they were afraid of the implications but the cold hard truth of the matter is that each and every person on the borg cube IS A PERSON. they have been assimilated, but we've twice now seen that it's possible to unassimilate them with only a few days of effort. picard (and guinan!) consider the entire collective their enemy but the collective is comprised of brainwashed prisoners. those fucked up little borg babies they found in the cube were assimilated as INFANTS - i assume they weren't born on the cube bc if the borg could reproduce on its own it wouldn't need to assimilate - but even if they were born on the cube, they had no choice but to be this. you know.

which is whyyyy it's so fucked picard was like yeah give hugh some digital poison let him carry it back to his cube and we'll kill them like ants <3 like, oh my god his lingering borg trauma or whatever. MWAH. when he told deanna he didn't wanna talk. when he and guinan had to trauma-bond while fencing. when he told geordi that he needed to unattach himself because it was nothing more than animal experimentation. STONE FUCKING COLD BY THE WAY. he is fighting in the war on animal experimentation on the side of animal experimentation. he was going to let his cre heal and feed that kid and then send him back laced with poison. diabolical <3

and, of course, when he didn't want to speak or associate that borg kid at all because that's who he used to be AND WHO HE STILL IS in some corner of his brain (!!!)

LIKE. WHEN HE WAS FINALLY CONVINCED TO INTERROGATE THIS KID. and IMMEDIATELY broke out the locutus voice. he still remembered all the protocol! the way of speaking! everything! i was so shocked and thrilled.

i love also how everyone who spoke to hugh came away extremely unsettled but also totally convinced of his humanity. even guinan, which was so fun, because she was even more anti-borg than picard at first and they were bonding over trauma and fantasy racism. that bit where hugh, who had only known about the concept of loneliness for like an hour, immediately pegged her as lonely after like three lines of dialogue. oh my GOD???

i was decently satisfied with the ending - obviously they couldn't send him back with poison nor could they protect him from the borg, but i wish they had informed him of the inevitable memory wipe before he made his choice. (a selfless choice! he loves geordi!!) still i think he mostly walked into it with eyes open. very sad but very proud of him.

my one tiny nitpick with this episode is that for all beverly's genuine and justified concern about hugh, i don't think theyre ever gonna address the fact that she shot and possibly killed some of the borg in the episode where picard got assimilated. i feel like after realizing they are all people, like hugh, she should also realize she's broken the hippocratic oath, and have a little crisis about it. i have no idea why we had the DOCTOR shooting and killing anybody but let alone if we aren't gonna get into that. i don't think anyone cares/cared except me though.

but tbh, for me this is one of the main draws of the borg. they're ALL brainwashed cyber-assassins and they're ALL prisoners and in theory ALL of them could be saved if only they would stop attacking first. sure, yeah, in fights you gotta do what you gotta do because your own life has gotta come first, but the unique scifi horror aspect of all of those guys being perfectly innocent people fucks and they should utilize it a little more!!!

NEXT TIME: "the next phase" and "the inner light."

#personal #star trek blogging #tng lb

[therand0mwriter]

Friends-The Spring Party

OHSHC x female!reader

[Unedited]

*1 Year Later*

*Kyoya's POV*

'I really need to see her...' I thought as I sighed, the stress of the day taking over me. I pulled out my phone and sent her a text.

Kyoya

Are you free right now? I would like to see you.

(Y/N)💛

Yes, I'm  in our library, our usual spot

I softly smiled at her text, thinking about how we were able to find a quiet corner no one ever goes to in library 3 during our first year at Ouran. 'It's crazy to think we've only known each other a year, but it feels like we've known each other forever.' I was glad she was close by, after dealing with the host club, or should I say Tamaki, going over our budget again and having to solve that problem, I wanted some peace. And she was it.

I made my way into the library, passing a few students on the way to (Y/N)'s and I's spot. I peeked my head around the last corner, and there she was. Sitting at the small table next to the window, staring out, watching the setting sun as it gave her a golden hour, making her look like a kind goddess... 'But, why does she look so sad?'

I fully step out and make my way to her. Once she noticed me, her eyes brightened and a smile grew on her face, "Kyoya!" 'I love it when she says my name like that.' I sat down and went straight to the point, forgetting why I was stressed, "Alright, what's the matter?" She looked confused, "What do you mean?" I chuckled, "(Y/N), you know there's no point in hiding it. We can read each other like open books," I then softly said, "So, tell me what's wrong."

Her eyes were wide for a moment before they softened, a sad smile growing on her (thin/plump) lips, "My club is getting shut down." This caught me by surprise, "What? Why?" She let out a sad sigh and leaned her head against her hand, staring out the window again, "In words of our advisor, we 'aren't doing enough'. Bake sales can only take us so far, and no other clubs are hiring us for catering so... there isn't anything we can do."

With no hesitation I said: "Cater for my club." She turned to me, her eyes wide once again, "What?" "Cater for the host club. We're having a party in a week, you can cater then. And if our guests like your sweets as much as our previous vendor we'll hire you full time." She was speechless at first, taking in the offer. She gradually started to shake her head, "Wait, I don't- why would you- I can't let you do this, Kyoya."

"It's no trouble, (Y/N). Really. If anything, you're the one doing me a favor. We have one member of our club that eats sweets non-stop and it hurts our budget. I don't mean to sound rude, but if I could hire you for half the price and the same quality as our current vendor that would be absolutely wonderful to me." I explain, my signature grin on my lips.

She paused as she stared into my eyes, reading me the way she always does. When she realized I was going to help her whether she wanted it or not, she softly smiled and giggled, "Suuure, that's the only reason why you're hiring me." "Of course, strictly business." I chuckled.

*Time Skip, 1 Week*

*3rd Person POV*

All three of the baking club members were setting up their sweets for the host clubs party later in the evening. The club consisted of 2nd year Murasaki Miya, a girl with ivory skin, dark brown slanted eyes and long, straight black hair with bangs. She was a straight to the point kind of person, she would tell you the truth no matter what (even if it'll make you cry), but she was kind and welcoming to everyone. Then there was 1st year Aiko Takai, she had chin length, dark brown (almost black) hair, wide forrest green eyes, ivory skin and constant rosy cheeks. She was very bubbly and outgoing, eager to learn and try new things. The thing people remember most about her, is that she always has a constant smile on her face. Finally, the founder and president of the club, the 2nd year: (Y/N) (L/N).

Speaking of (Y/N), she was currently explaining to her two members that they weren't able to wear what they want at the party tonight. "Well then what are we supposed to wear? I had a whole outfit planned out!" Murasaki complained, not hiding her frustration. "Yeah!" Aiko added, a sad look on her face. "Because the host club, our employer, has kindly asked us to follow a dress code." (Y/N) calmly explained to the two. She then added, "Plus, I got you guys cute waiter outfits with your favorite colors! So there's that at least!"

"Ooo, yay!" Aiko had cheered and clapped, already forgetting her previous sorrows. Murasaki rolled her eyes but smiled nonetheless, "Alright, as long as it's cute and has purple." "And mine blue!" Aiko quickly added. (Y/N) chuckled, "Don't worry, they do."

"Hello ladies, how are we doing over here?" A smooth and sultry voice said behind the girls. They turn to see the one and only Kyoya Ootori, a polite smile on his face. (Y/N) and Aiko kindly smile back, while Murasaki tensed up, surprised at the sudden appearance of her crush. "Things are going well! Only a few more desserts to set up then we'll change." (Y/N) answered, getting an approving nod from Kyoya. "Good, right on schedule. Thank you again for doing this, I hope you ladies enjoy the evening." He bowed then left to go attend to the orchestra.

Once he was out of sight, Aiko elbowed Murasaki and giggled, "You were frozen!" "Don't remind me!" Murasaki grimaced. (Y/N) rolled her eyes and smiled fondly at the two girls, going back to setting up.

*Time Skip*

"It is so good to see you here tonight, my little lambs. The Ouran host club would like to bid you... welcome." Tamaki announced with a flourish to the multiple girls that came to their party. The chandeliers flickered on and a orchestra started up, making the guests clap in amazement.

After all of the host club members bowed in sync, Kyoya also made an announcement, "As always, ladies, the host club members are here for your entertainment. So, we invite you to dance to your hearts content. Based on her dancing skills, one lucky young lady will be chosen as tonight's queen. The queens reward will be a passionate kiss on the cheek from our king."

"Good luck to you, my darlings." Tamaki winked towards the crowd, making multiple girls either faint or squeal in delight.

After the host club members went their separate ways to entertain guests, Kyoya looked around the dessert table, looking for one specific girl, (Y/N). He saw the other two members of the baking club, each of them wearing an undershirt of their favorite color (either purple or blue), black waiter coats, black pencil skirts, black shoes (flats or heels) and gloves that matched their shirts. They each were holding a serving tray full of sweets, going around to the guests and offering desserts.

[A/N: Murasaki Miya]

[A/N: Aiko Takai]

When he found (Y/N), she was handing a guest a slice of cake, kindly smiling all the while. After the guest left, Kyoya took a step towards her but immediately halted when Honey and Mori came up to the table. He couldn't hear what they were saying, but they were all smiling, making him on edge. Kyoya brushed off his concerns though when they left not long after (Y/N) handed Honey a slice of cake and Mori a, what seemed to be, some type of coffee cake.

Kyoya stepped up to her and immediately complimented her, "You look lovely tonight." She was wearing what the other baking club members were wearing, but she had (f/c) as her secondary color. [A/N: If your favorite color is black, use your 2nd favorite color.] Her eyes widened at the compliment, but once she saw who it came from she smiled, "Thank you, you look dashing yourself."

"How are you enjoying the night?" Kyoya questioned as he picked up a napkin. "It's nice, I love the music and lively atmosphere. I just wished I could be on the dance floor too..." She replied as she placed a shortbread cookie on Kyoya's napkin. "How about this, after all of the guests have left, I'll owe you a dance."

"You don't have to do that, I don't want you to pay extra for the orchestra to stay a few minutes longer."

"Then we'll dance without music."

"Kyoya..."

"I insist, my rose."

"Haha, your 'rose'? Do you really want to dance with me that badly?"

"More than anything."

A blush grew on (Y/N)'s face and she bashfully looked to her side. "Alright," she agreed. Kyoya took her gloved hand in his and kissed the back of her hand, "Until then, my rose."

Both of the teens hearts were racing at Kyoya's bold moves, neither of them expecting it. Unknown to Kyoya, the reasoning behind his flirtatious attitude toward his friend was because of how Honey and Mori looked at her earlier. They seemed extra friendly with the girl and it subconsciously worried Kyoya. He knows any one can fall for the girl, but that doesn't mean he wanted it to happen. Call him selfish, but he didn't want to share his little peace of heaven with anyone else, not even his friends.

Not long after Kyoya left, the twins came up to the dessert table. "Good evening, (Y/N)-senpai! We didn't know you were catering for us tonight." Hikaru and Kaoru said simultaneously, warm smiles on their faces. The girl laughed, "Yes, I was hired last minute by your club!" "Well, we're glad you're here!" Hikaru started. "Dance with us before you leave for the night!" Kaoru ended.

(Y/N) giggled, "Alright, will do. As long as you grab something to eat!" Each of the twins took a macaron of their choosing and took a bite. They let out a dreamy sigh, "Amazing as always!" "Oh good, I'm glad." She chuckled. "We weren't talking about the macaron!" They slyly wink at the girl, making her blush and roll her eyes. "Alright my kohai, go and entertain your guests." She shooed them with her hands. This prompted the twins to take one of her hands into their own, taking hold of her ring fingers. They brought her hands to their mouths and kissed her ring finger knuckles. "See you tonight, senpai~" Then they scurried off.

'Double trouble for sure...' (Y/N) thought as she shook her head, a warm smile on her face. 'Guess I owe everyone a dance now.' She continued to think, thinking back to her, Honeys and Moris conversation from earlier.

*Earlier*

"(Y/N)-chan! I didn't know you would be here tonight! You look so cute!" Honey had cheered as he bounded up to the dessert table. "Good evening, Honey-senpai! Thank you, you look very nice yourself!" (Y/N) giggled. She turned to Mori, "You too, Mori-senpai. Very handsome!" He gave her a soft smile and gently nodded in acknowledgment.

(Y/N) then handed Honey a piece of cake, "Here you are, senpai. I saved you your favorite!" Honey laughed, "Thank you, (Y/N)-chan! You know me too well!" She turned to Mori again, "And here you are, Mori-senpai. I tried a new recipe for a coffee cake. Let me know how it is!" "I will," He nodded. "We have to go now," Honey started, turning to head back to the guests, Mori following suit. "Dance with us later!" Honey largely smiled as Mori nodded once again. (Y/N) nodded her head in agreement as she waved bye to her senpais.

*Time Skip*

All of the guests had left for the night, the orchestra packing up. The baking club was also cleaning up, saving the untouched sweets and throwing away garbage. Before they started breaking down the tables, Kyoya walked up to the trio. "I believe a dance is owed?" He bowed and held out his hand, facing (Y/N). Before she could move to take his hand, Aiko squealed. "If that's the case I want to dance with Honey-senpai!" She bounded up to said blonde, an excited smile on her face.

Honey paused at first, briefly thinking about how he wanted to dance with (Y/N) instead, but his host instincts kicked in and he largely smiled, "Okay!" (Y/N) looked to Murasaki, curious on whom she wanted to dance with. She saw the ravenette looking at Kyoya through the corner of her eyes, a longing look in them. (Y/N) softly smiled and went behind Murasaki, placing her hands on the, now confused, girls shoulders. (Y/N) pushed Murasaki towards Kyoya, both of their eyes going wide with surprise.

(Y/N) leaned and whispered into Murasaki's ear, "You can do it!" She stepped away to watch her two friends. Murasaki had a dark blush on her cheeks and was avoiding eye contact with Kyoya. Kyoya observed the girl and realized she liked him. He was disappointed, he wanted to dance with (Y/N). But as a host, he has duties to fulfill. He bowed to the girl, "Would you do me the honor of dancing with me?" Murasaki was finally able to look at Kyoya, a surprised look on her face (her dark blush still present). She wordlessly nodded.

"Now all we need is some music!" (Y/N) said as she looked around to the left over instruments. She didn't notice Hikaru, Kaoru and Mori walking up to her, about to ask her to dance. "Suoh!" They halted when she called out for their boss. Tamaki looked towards her, "Shall we?" She gestured to the instruments. Tamaki softly smiled, "We shall." He answered, going and taking a seat at the piano. (Y/N) picked up a cello and sat on a separate chair next to Tamaki, "How about 'La Vie en Rose' by the Brooklyn Duo?" "Sounds good," Tamaki replied, starting to play said song.

[A/N: Video and song do not belong to me.]

(Y/N) and Tamaki used to be in orchestra class together. They have played together countless times, his devotion to the piano and her adoration for all chordophones had one thing in common: to gratify people with their music. Because of that, they played magnificently with each other, bringing their listeners to tears. Their love and respect for music (and their friendly personalities) made them good friends.

When the music started, Honey and Kyoya lead their dance partners into a waltz. Kyoya, Honey, Mori, Hikaru and Kaoru were all disappointed that they couldn't dance with their crush, but... the way she played was captivating. With her serene smile and relaxed posture, they could easily tell that she was thoroughly enjoying herself. And that's all they want, for her to have a good time.

Kyoya and Honey were only able to catch glimpses of her while dancing, while Mori, Hikaru and Kaoru were able to give her their full attention. What they didn't know, was that they all had the same look on their faces, a look of pure affection.

Haruhi smiled fondly at the two playing music, but when she looked to the rest of the host club, her face dropped. Realizing what was going on, only one thing ran through her mind.

'Uh oh... this is going to be troublesome.'

#x reader #reader insert #fanfiction #friends fanfic #ohshc #ohshc x reader #ouran high school host club #kyoya ootori #kyoya ootori x reader #mitsukuni haninozuka #mitsukuni haninozuka x reader #takashi morinozuka x reader #takashi morinozuka #kaoru hitachiin x reader #kaoru hitachiin #hikaru hitachiin x reader #hikaru hitachiin #Youtube

[alexilulu]

OK I need to post about Gundam Witch From Mercury or I'm going to just be weird for a few days

It's a fucking crime this didnt get a full order. it's tied with G-Reco for shortest main series (not counting OVAs like 08th MS team, etc or Build which is...it's own weird thing) Gundam show ever produced. fucking AGE got 49 episodes and this got 24.

I also have a lot of problems with the way that season 2 feels like, insanely abrupt. In like...a dozen ways! It's kind of insane how much it feels like they just had to cut entire lengths the story was going to go to. This isn't to be like...hating, necessarily. I enjoyed the ending we got, it was a Gundam-ass Gundam ending in almost every way I can think of, and it's still fun.

But man...I just look at the bones of what they had and it makes me feel like there was another show that didn't get to be made here. With Shaddiq and earth, the mercs, Suletta never once finding out the man who killed her father (sorta, kinda, not really, but also yeah) is the cool fat dude with the side shave, or what in god's name is going on with "war partitioning" or the corporate governance apparatus and everything else. I'd have KILLED for one powerpoint to pop up in here!!!!

People talk a lot of mess about IBO season 2's quality (and they're wrong, but i'm not getting into that) but the fact that it had it at all meant that season 1 got to fucking breathe! 24 episodes going from earth to mars and theres like 8 plots that happen getting there that are pure character time, just great stuff to keep putting shotguns on the mantelpiece about! Every seed of the downfall of Tekkadan in season 2 is almost directly foreshadowed in season 1! I know Mikazuki, the most bizarre, taciturn gundam protagonist in the world, like the back of my hand by the end of season 1, because i watched that dude go through hell!

I don't want to get down on GWitch for pacing because it's really fucking hard to make anime in 2023, i've seen the shit studios go through to put it out right now, but season 2 is where it becomes extremely obvious to me that some more of these motherfuckers should have died in season 1. There's so much shit that happens that just eats screen time for ensemble storytelling like it has time for it, but it absolutely does not. It slays me.

Ultimately, I'm glad we had such a well-received gundam out right now, and I love a great deal about it (elan 5, you're my special guy) but...fuck.

What could have been.

#gundam #gundam the witch from mercury

[elyzsia]

DILUC PROTECTING A YOUNG THIEF FROM THE KNIGHTS.

A celebrity in Mondstadt all for the wrong reasons, this young person was. Every store owner knew their face, every store owner knew of their devious deeds, and every store owner had been robbed more than once. Why had Diluc gone to such lengths to protect them from the severe punishment which was awaiting them so?

Was it because they lacked a satisfactory guardian and he was hoping he would suffice enough to point them in the right direction? Was it because they had absolutely nothing to their name because they lost everything so young? He honestly wasn't sure. Probably. Many other reasons, too.

Not to mention it pissed off the knights to an extent which was almost amusing.

Charles crossed his arms from behind the bar, a quiet laugh escaping his lips as he observed the two knights dragging a h/c-haired teen through the tavern doors, the three of them clearly peeved. "What've they done now?"

The knight switched his agitated gaze to the man. "Stealing. Yet again."

"I wasn't even stealing!" the h/c-haired teen protested loudly, violently shrugging the hold of the knight off their shoulder, then proceeding to pry off the hold on their forearm from the other. Quickly turning around, they pointed directly at the knight whom had spoken. "This is exactly why Master Diluc doesn't deem the knights suitable for the titles that they have been given!"

"Because you were caught stealing from Marjorie?" Charles asked, causing them to turn around to him in a flash. The prominent smile on his face agitated them to the max.

"Not you too, Charles!" they scoffed. "I wasn't even stealing! They just, like, assumed I was going to steal before I could pay for it... Besides, who the hell would steal from Marjorie? What would I actually steal of worth from her? A- a glass ball?"

"We saw you walk away with it."

"Lies!"

Wasn't exactly sure if it would prove beneficial or not with their unpredictable nature, but he had decided to teach them how to pour drinks in the tavern. Forcing them to act as some sort of waitress from time to time, too, and paying them for their time in "training". Just so they have some money to spend, and knowing it would class as some experience for a future job somewhere else.

A future job somewhere else which never actually came to be, as he kept them employed at the Angel's Share anyway.

Jean has approached him asking why he is protecting this thief many times, and every time he has stated that he is trying to change them out of those ways, saying that them getting taken in by the knights would hinder that progress. She trusts him, and wholeheartedly hopes that he succeeds. As much as she knows the reason behind the thievery, she is still the Acting Grandmaster, and it's a problem.

Has forced them to apologize to store owners personally on numerous occasions. It is a very... embarrassing experience.

"I am sorry Flora..." the apology was extremely stiff, and questionably genuine. They could not look the girl in the eyes, constantly averting them elsewhere. Peering at Diluc in the near distance, leaning against a wall whilst watching everything go down, they noticed his unamused expression. Well, he always seemed unamused. But more so right now. "...For tripping over your flowers as I ran away from the knights."

Flora's eyes had widened, leaning forwards. "Woah, I never thought I would hear an apology today--! I'm glad you're trying to fix your wrongdoings, [name]. It's going to be difficult but I support you."

"Ah, thank you.... and sorry again."

Was it the apology or the impassive stare of Master Diluc which had caused them to sweat so much?

#diluc #diluc ragnvindr #diluc x reader #platonic #genshin platonic #yuiee.txt

[libertyreads]

March TBR--

I'm hoping the month of March goes a little better for me reading wise. I felt like I got a decent amount read in February (while still sticking to my goals for the year) but a lot of it was so mid. I'm ready for any of these books to just grab me by the throat and keep me hooked. I have two rereads in preparation for new releases later this year. I also have two NetGalley ARCs and a hockey romance (because I've read one every month of the year so far, why not keep that going?).

The Stardust Thief by Chelsea Abdullah-- This is one of those books you hear about a ton on the bookish spaces of the internet and I decided it was finally time to see what all of the hype is about. In this one, we follow Loulie al-Nazari as she and her jinn bodyguard are forced to help the sultan find an ancient lamp that has the power to revive the barren land. There is a ton more in the synopsis, but like a lot of reviewers these days, I feel like synopses are starting to give too much away. I'm hoping for some City of Brass vibes and lots of adventure.

The Foxglove King by Hannah Whitten (Reread)-- I read this one a year ago and I'm excited to dive back into it before the next book comes out. In this one we follow Lore who escaped from a cult beneath the city of Dellaire over 10 years ago. Lore's job as a runner sustains her, but when a run goes wrong and her power is revealed she's forced to work for the Sainted King to find the person in his court responsible for the deaths of entire villages on the outskirts of the country. Thrust into the Sainted King's glittering court, Lore becomes tangled in politics, religion, and forbidden romance. This was my favorite book of January last year so I'm excited to reread.

The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu-- A first contact with aliens story that's been translated from the original (and set to be released as a Netflix show soon) and follows the outcome of a secret military project that sent signals into space to establish contact with aliens. Will the alien civilization on the brink of destruction be welcomed on Earth or will there be a fight against an invasion?

Teen Titans: Raven by Kami Garcia and Gabriel Picolo (Reread)-- Before the next in the graphic novel series comes out, I plan on doing a quick reread of this one. Number one in this series introduces us to Raven who is forced to move to New Orleans following the accident that takes her foster mother's life. But that accident has also taken her memory. Then strange things start happening. This is a fun series and I'm glad I get the chance to reread it.

No Coincidence by Rafat Kosik-- Translated from the original Polish, this is the first novel in the Cyberpunk 2077 series. Apparently, this series includes collected editions of limited series, standalone graphic novels, and also full length novels. There are four authors who have contributed to it. It is all based on the game Cyberpunk 2077. My understanding is that you can start in a few different places. I hope it's true. Let's talk about the actual book now. This one appealed to me because of the cover. But the synopsis really got me. A misfit group is forced to do a heist thanks to some good, old-fashioned blackmail. The gang includes a veteran turned renegade, a Militech sleeper agent, an amateur net runner, a corporate negotiator, a ripperdoc, and a techie. They must come together to pull off the deadly heist. Also...is this the third book in this TBR about people being forced to work for people above them??

Must Love Hockey by Sarina Bowen (Kindle)-- This short hockey romance follows a woman who has an allergic reaction at a hockey game and is rescued by an equipment manager whose name she doesn't manage to catch. I've read and enjoyed Sarina Bowen before so I'm hoping this is a fun and quick read.

The Dead Cat Tail Assassins by P. Djeli Clark (NetGalley)-- The Dead Cat Tail Assassins are not cats. Nor do they have tails. But they are most assuredly dead. Those sworn to the Matron of Assassins--resurrected, deadly, wiped of their memories--have only three unbreakable vows. First, the contract must be just. Second, even the most powerful assassin may only kill the contracted. Third, once you accept a job, you must carry it out. And if you stray? A final death would be a mercy. Eveen's newest mission brings her face-to-face with a past she isn't supposed to remember and a vow she can't forget.

Ghost Station by S.A. Barnes (NetGalley)-- When I tell you that I was squealing the day I found out I got access to this book, please, do picture it as a cute and dainty squeal instead of the insanity that actually unfolded. I loved Dead Silence from this author so when I saw they had a new space horror novel I HAD to try to get an ARC. Space exploration can be lonely and isolating. Psychologist Dr. Ophelia Bray is assigned to a small exploration crew and she is determined to make a difference. But as they begin establishing residency on an abandoned planet, it becomes clear that the crew is hiding something. Her crewmates are far more interested in investigating the eerie planet and unraveling the mystery behind the previous colonizer's hasty departure than opening up to her. That is, until their pilot is discovered gruesomely murdered. I cannot wait to read this one.

This TBR is giving me such a good feeling. There's Sci-Fi, there's Fantasy, there's Romance, there's Sci-Fi/Horror (a beloved genre pairing for me), there's a graphic novel. I'm just hoping March is such a good reading month. I kind of need it.

#monthly tbr #tbr #to be read pile #to be read #tbr list #march tbr #the stardust thief #Chelsea abdullah #the foxglove king #Hannah whitten #the three-body problem #cixin liu #teen titans: raven #kami garcia #Gabriel picolo #no_coincidence #Rafat Kosik #must love hockey #Sarina bowen #the dead cat tail assassins #p. djeli clark #ghost station #s.a. barnes

[devilsqueen98]

Blood Moon

Things seem to be going well until secrets are revealed, the truth of werewolves. Amaris and her pack will discover what lead to sad tragedies in their lives. There will be love, heartbreak, and loss. In the mist of it all hope for them. Yet at what cost will it do to take down a vengeful raging filled witch whose target is Amaris's family.

TW: 18+ MDNI, Contains characters from different tv shows that I love.

A/N: A little bored so imma write y’all a story. I’m Native American and will used some of my cultures folklore but with a twist. So sit or lay in bed and enjoy.

Ch 1: Across the Country

"Most new wolves explained they been bitten by a rogue wolf." Sabrina said reading off the reports, "it goes up ten percent since last year." To say she's a beautiful woman with long shiny black hair, chocolate brown eyes that could freeze your heart. "Here." She open the map of Arizona with marks of territories we share with three other packs. Native Banes is west, Purestone to the east, and down south is Lockheart. As for my pack, Black Feather; we have the north after my father retired from being alpha two years ago. I received the responsibility for my home territory. However he still has some type of responsibility with his old pals. "Actually fifteen percent in the last six months." Jason a tone built guy with short dark hair, caramel tone skin and dark brown eyes. His brother Adam has the same built and similar features. "Don't start arguing about percentages." I waved my hand in the air for them to stop. Jason smiled, his smile caught many girls attention.

"No need to see who has more brains." Audrey spoke coming down with drinks with Adam behind her. A short lassie with shoulder length soft light brown hair and hazel green eyes. "We already know Sabrina wins by a thousand." She adds handing her gal pal a drink. "Ouch." Jason said with a hand over his heart. "She's not wrong." Adam comments before taking a sip of his ice tea. "Double ouch!" Jason gasps. "Alright. Alright enough. Let's get back to work." I chuckled. "On that note, both vampire and werewolf cases been popping up in Phoenix." Cat says handing me the paperwork. Her soft light brown eyes stared at me, with different shades of brown in her hair. "On that NOTE, glad we don't need blood to stay alive." "True we been the same age for years, well slowly aging." Adam speaks while tossing a ball in the air. He's right we're like vampires but better edition. Each of us are from the original packs but sadly their families were massacred the night of the great fire. "Do you all have things ready to go?" My mother calls from the the basement stairs. I mentally groaned to myself. "Why must we leave to Miami, Florida?!" Sabrina groans sliding herself onto the table. "What I heard it has a real vampire infestation problem." Cat answered. From leaving the forest to the city is absurd. Then again it's not a permanent move just temporary stay. All we gotta do is help and kill some bloodsuckers. And BOOM we're done and back home.

"This is the house we'll stay in for the time being. It's all furnished just need to pack the necessities to Miami." Mom said showing us a picture of the two story house. "Just hope we finished the job quick." I huffed with arms crossed I'm not really excited but will have to deal with it. "Now pack some stuff to take." She scooted the diner chair back, queuing us. As everyone went upstairs to pack some things I walked beside my mom. "Here's the paperwork on Phoenix. Oh! They didn't say anything else about the problem?" "No, but with the meeting they'll explain more on the topic. Now go pack some things, sweetie." My mom kindly gestured me to the stairs in which I obeyed.

"Amaris do you have another box?" Cat asked in which I gave her my last two. I don't really have much to bring just clothes and some books. "Thank you!" Cat shouts from her room while I mark my boxes with my name so it doesn't get confused with the others. "You ready?" Adam asked leaning against the door frame. "Eh, but hey we get some vampire action later. It's not all bad." I replied taking hold of one box to bring downstairs. "U-Haul is here!" Sabrina shouts.

We went up and down with our boxes to put in the truck. "Boys put the sheet on the diner table." Glanced over to my two younger brothers helping in covering some of the furnitures. "Alright start loading." My dad's voice spoke from the open front door. "Cat how many boxes do you need?" Jason question.

Boxes after boxes of our stuff filled the U-Haul to its end. "Yes we're done!!" Cat shouts while doing some kind of victory dance resembling a game of hot potato. "Calm down Cat, don't start tweaking." Adam said. "Like she can." Audrey whispered making Sabrina snickered as Cat glared at the both of them. "Don't start a dog fight girls." Jason came from behind and wraps his arm around my shoulders. "Lame joke dude." "Okay," Dad claps his hands, "Mrs. Peter is having a party tonight and invited us before we leave to Miami. Be ready by seven." He finishes.

When arrived to the lovely outdoor light party; we all splinted up going off to socialize with others. I was too busy admiring the decorations, lights hanging from trees, mason jars dangling down from branches above. Also, some of the light were wrapped around the trees. Tables with white cloths, small candles, and flowers in the middle. There's music and a wooden dance floor placed over the healthy green grass. "Wow. She always goes all out." I said to myself walking around. "Hello Amaris." "Mrs. Peter, what a lovely party." I complimented in which turned into a full blow conversation.

"There you are! Kol Mikaelson is here. He's looking for you." Audrey interrupted me and Mrs. Peter's conversation. "Evening darling." His voice smooth like wine and sweet as sugar. Turned around to see Kol and notice Audrey and Mrs. Peter left quickly. "Evening Love." I mocked his accent. Kol flashed me his breathtaking smile. To say I was captivated by him. So distracted I didn't realized he was centimeters away from my face as he gently pulled my hand up to his lips, placing a loving kiss on top. "Always looking beautiful, Amaris." He stated. "Thank you," I couldn't stop smiling, "as do you, Kol." He chuckles. Yes it's very odd and out of the picture I have feelings for the complete opposite creature. An Original vampire label as the wildest Mikaelson and the happy homicidal maniac. According to Niklaus and Elijah.

We stared into each other's eyes. "May I have this dance?" He asked, a cheeky grin appearing on his face. "Always." I smiled back, lightly laughing to hide my hardcore blushing. Kol guide us to the center of the dance floor. "Kol, I still haven't got the hang of dancing, you know." I laughed as he lift my still intertwined hands up, to the side, and placed his other hand on my waist, mine resting on his shoulder. "Not to fret, my love." He began, "I've had quite a few centuries to practice." He smirked making me giggle, he smile wider as we danced across the floor.

After the party Kol and I went for a walk. "Miami is quite a long trip." "Hopefully it's not a long stay." I said as we slowly made our way back to my house. "You'll be okay." He says twirling me into him. "Guess your right." We smiled and head down the road to my home. Getting closer Kol haves me a soft kiss, "Goodnight darling." Turned to walk away, but stopped due to me still holding his hand. "Stay." I said before opening my front door. Kol smiled and followed right after me. Up the stairs and into my room where we changed into more comfortable clothing. "Now goodnight Kol." I said giving him a sweet kiss. "Goodnight darling."

Forced down onto my knees with someone's hand tightly grabbing my hair. Glanced up seeing familiar faces down from the alter. The unknown man stood next to me as two minions throwing down Kol. "Kol!" I cried as he was weak and beaten to a bloody pulp. The man who was standing beside me moved and bend down to my level. "Now Amaris your going to kill Kol." His pupil expanded as he stared directly in mine. He was compelling me. I felt my fangs retracted losing the control of my own body. "Amaris! No fight it!"

I gasped for air as if all my oxygen was sucked out. My breathing became more steady after a few minutes. Pulled myself together and took a moment to analysis the dream. What the hell?! Rubbed my eyes, then my neck from the stiffness in the muscles. Pulled myself off the bed and head into the bathroom. Turn on the cold water to refresh myself after the nightmare. Stared at my reflection long dark brown hair, brown eyes and tan complexion. "Are you alright?" Kol asked from the doorway half asleep. Moved myself to stand face-to-face with him. "I'm okay." I said laying my head on his chest. "You sure, Amaris?" He whispered before placing a kiss where my shoulder meets my neck. "It's just a stupid nightmare, Kol. Let's go back to bed." Lightly grabbing his hand and lead us back to the bed. "Are you sure?" He asked worried laced his voice. "Yes. Now let's get back to sleeping." I said, pecked his lips. Kol smirked and soon it turned into something else.

A few days later we were getting ready to leave. My dad and Adam left early the next day after Mrs. Peter's party. Pulled Klaus and Elijah in for hug before making my way to Kol. "I'll see you soon, darling." He says and kisses my forehead. "Sooner I hope." I gave him a kiss before leaving with my family. On the way there I was getting a bit nervous but I pushed it aside. "Don't worry Kol will still be here Amaris." "My only concerned is the problem were diving head first in." I said staring at the passing trees outside the car window.

From the car to the plane was a blur honesty. Even so a uneasy feeling grasped at my throat and couldn't shake it off. Before taking off I place my headphones on to past time. "It won't last long." I whispered closing my eyes from feeling more comfortable in my seat.

Someone was shaking me I opened my sleepy eyes to see Jason. "How long?" I asked stretching. "Don't know, but we're in Miami." He said as everyone else was getting their bags. "Come on let's go." Jason said as he grabbed my backpack. All of us walked out of the aircraft. I took in the warm air of Miami and the smell of the ocean. Not gonna lie I almost gagged from the overwhelming smell. "The taxi is here."

As the taxi driver drove everyone was looking out of the windows seeing the big houses. My only thoughts is the vampire problem in this city. The van stops in the long driveway. Hopped out and grabbed our bags while mom gave the middle age man the money and left.

Once we entered the house everyone went running to find the perfect room. Jason took my bag so he could put it in the second biggest room he says it's because I'm the alpha. I decided to poke around the house for a bit. Big kitchen, backyard and pool too. There's the basement. I head down and see it's the same as our house, having the same resembles of a hospital and vet. No humans can't have these house unless they have the right too which is mostly not possible. And cells made for our kind and vampires. "They're here guys!!" Cat yelled and I started to making my way up the stairs. "Hey ready to unpack!" Adam said unlocking the U-Haul. "Yay! I'm so excited." Audrey dropping sarcasm. I grabbed the huge boxes of clothes. "Amaris you gotta act human." Dad said making me sigh. "Sabrina help, please?" She grabbed the other side of the box and took it inside.

In my new room, hanging my clothes in the closest when a sharp agonizing pain on the side of my head overwhelms me. A small whine left my lips so I don't alert the others of my discomfort. Less then a few seconds it stopped all together. It could possibly be the full moon, I haven't shifted in awhile.

#kol mikaelson #werewolf #vampire #the mikaelsons #original story #the originals #my writing #fanfic #im bored #witch #elijah mikaelson #niklaus mikaelson #Spotify

[oh-three]

Send me headcanons and tell me about your pet for the sleepover asks

Headcanons:

Cobb Vanth has never left Tatooine before.

Din Djarin is touch-starved.

Boba Fett is overly friendly with those he's closest to and randomly bear-hugs them if he's not seen them in a long time. (In the Mandoverse era)

Fives & Wrecker would be chaotic besties.

Young Tech forbiddingly studied a lot of things behind the instructors' backs. The Kaminoans gave up trying to train him out of it.

Omega actually was being trained as a medical assistant to Nala Se, and helped perform many different surgical operations.

Tech also has extensive medical knowledge, having had some extra medical training on top of everything else. (Still, he froze when one of their own was gravely injured for the first time.)

Tech often overextends himself to the point of passing out.

The Bad Batch would visit Cut's family when on leave.

Surface Pau’ans have a naming ritual for their young two-hundred and ten days after birth (six months, they just keep track by the day since full moons don’t work with there being nine of them)

Pau'an features darken with age, becoming more of the gray-white than the pristine white of youth. And their eyes, the irises gradually turn from gray to black.

My pets:

Brandy- the sole dog of the house. She's a cross between a Border Collie and a Black Lab, and almost nine and a half years old. We got her when she was a puppy, one of my mom's friends rescuing her from the home of someone who didn't know how to care for her. (We had another dog named Hardy, he was ten or eleven when he passed in 2020- there was a big change in Brandy's behavior after losing him, because he'd always been here with her)

Clyde- second oldest cat and the one we've had the longest. We got him and his sister from a foster home when they were kittens. She ended up having heart problems and having to be put down before reaching a year of age, and he's doing very well. He's overweight, always has been, but dieting only helps so much. He's twelve, now, and lost a tooth the other week.

Sassy- our oldest cat and the one we've had second longest. She was around three years old when we got her from the shelter, who had got her off of empty land off of the housing areas here. It's taken years to coach the aggressiveness out of her, and she still starts fights with Clyde despite going on thirteen herself.

GrayD- we got him from the same shelter we got Sassy at. Wouldn't stop meowing from the other side of the glass, and my youngest brother decided that's the one we were getting. He has a brother, and we saw him online again last year looking for a new home. Had the same name, coloring and shared GrayD's fur-length (they were kittens when we first saw them). I'm glad it's GrayD that we chose, though, because he has more personality than any other cat I've met. They're turning seven this year.

Rocket- got him from a different shelter, picked out again by my youngest brother. (My other brother picked Sassy out, and I'd picked out Sabrina, who'd passed after less than a year of having her in 2020). His original name was Jansky, and my dad hated it. He's named for his love for running around, and because he does kinda resemble Rocket the Racoon in his facial features. He's the only cat that we haven't declawed, so I still do get scratches by him a bit (he chose me as his favorite person). He's our quietest cat, doesn't meow much- and it's still quite high pitched despite him going on two this year. I carry him around on my shoulder, and he likes to rub his face on the corner of my glasses. My cat bestie.

Top image: Brandy

Bottom image, left to right: GrayD, Clyde (back), Rocket, Sassy

#thanks for the tag #star wars headcanons #personal

[jxd-the-kid]

Justice League: Ray Fisher Deserved Better (and the Snyder Cut gave it to him)

(Just in case you don’t know Ray Fisher is the actor that played Cyborg in the Justice League movies)

I watched the Snyder cut of Justice League last week and a thought has been milling about in my head, and I felt compelled to write about it after watching a few video essays about the film. 

In the original Theatrical Release Cyborg is kind of a nothing character, he’s just kind of there and willing to help. Aqua-man is kind of suspicious of him because he’s made of mother box, but nothing really comes of that. Cyborg in the Theatrical cut sucks. 

I originally assumed that was because they didn’t really know what to do with Cyborg, he’s not usually a founding JL member, and as far as I know he only became a part of the JL in the comics somewhat recently, so while I was kind of left wanting more from the character I didn’t think much of it.

However after watching the Snyder Cut, I now know that they had plans for Cyborg to be an actual meaningful character in the plot, both for the plot of the movie as well as setting up future possibilities. He has a whole character arc with his relationship with his father, and a more integral part in the climax that the Theatrical cut completely cut out.

Knowing that the Cyborg story line was already there and was simply removed from the Theatrical Cut rubs me the wrong way.

Not to mention the controversy between Ray Fisher and Joss Whedon which I don’t feel like going into to, but goddamn.

#justice league #zack snyder #joss whedon #Snyder Cut #zach snyder's justice league #Cyborg #Ray Fisher #I have more thoughts but this is the important one #the Snyder cut is the better movie but that wasn't a high bar to clear #it has problems namely the length but I'm glad we have it

[marshmallowgoop]

Hi! So I've been reading your long posts and would like to say I'm always glad to read it so you don't have to try to make it short just in case you thought it's annoying (it's not!)

Anyway I would like to ask what do you think about that episode where Conan sense Heiji falling into the sea? You've already talk about it, but do you perhaps have an explanation for why after sensing, and literally shouting Hattori's name to the sea, he then continued his investigation? When I first read it I was like, "??? Boy aren't you going to look for your best friend? He could be dying??". And I've been looking for an explanation of that scene because there's no way Shinichi will just ignore Heiji in danger (even if he's not sure about it) just to solve murder.

Hi! Thanks so much for reading, and for your kind words! That's reassuring to know.

I don't actually think I have too much to say on this aspect of Episode 174, but I guess we'll see! Do note that I haven't read the manga version of this case yet, so I'm fully going off of the anime depiction. And from the anime depiction, my personal view of the story, especially as it pertains to Shinichi and Heiji's relationship, is extremely positive. From what I know, I think it has to be the most blatant example of how deeply Shinichi cares about Heiji.

The way I see it, Conan does everything he possibly can to find his friend. There's not a moment's hesitation once he senses that something's wrong—he immediately asks the ship's information desk if they'd seen "the guy with the Kansai accent," runs to the deck when they confirm that they'd lent Heiji a flashlight, and screams "Hattori" so loudly and repeatedly that the majority of the passengers hear him.

There's a genuine effort here. The problem is that that's just... kind of the best that Conan can do. He looks like a six- or seven-year-old child. No one takes his concerns seriously. Kogoro consistently brushes Conan's feelings off as nothing to get riled up about:

Kogoro: He's prolly off somewhere sniffing around for clues.

(Not that Kogoro would probably take Shinichi all that seriously if he looked like himself, either. But I'm sure he'd have an easier time overall.)

That said, I do recognize that Shinichi will absolutely act in risky, dangerous ways if it means protecting the people he cares about—or really, if it means protecting anyone. The way he runs across a burning bridge to save Ran from a murderer (Episode 132), or the lengths he goes to in order to shield Ai from the Black Organization when she's captured by Pisco (Episode 178), or, of course, how he helps rescue a known serial killer (Episode 288), all come to mind. That's just how Shinichi rolls.

Shinichi: Do we need a reason [to save someone]?

But there's a key difference in each of those situations compared to the one in Episode 174: while Shinichi could have easily gotten himself killed in any one of those instances, there was also the high chance that his actions would benefit someone else.

I don't think that applies in 174. At least, not in the same way. Conan could have recklessly jumped on a life raft to try to find Heiji, sure, but that probably would have only jeopardized Conan himself and not have gotten him any closer to locating his friend. The cruise ship is noted to be going 30 knots when Heiji falls into the sea—the equivalent of 55.56 kilometers per hour. By the time that Conan could even get on a life raft, it's likely that Heiji would be so far off that there's no way Conan could find him without a motor, especially in the dark.

Not only that, he'd potentially be putting other people at risk by abandoning ship. Conan fears that Heiji had been knocked overboard by a murderer. That murderer could wind up hurting or killing others if Conan leaves as well; given that he's the one who eventually solves the case—and stops a bomb from detonating on the boat!—he's clearly the best detective left onboard and the one who's most capable of putting an end to the crimes.

I think Conan dedicates himself so thoroughly to the investigation because that's the best way to not only find Heiji but also protect everyone else, too. The case is important because if Conan cracks it and finds the murderer, he also finds what happened to his friend, if the worst had really come to pass and Heiji was attacked. He prevents further wrongdoing. And I think focusing on the case is exactly what Heiji would want Conan to do, if you consider his actions in The Last Wizard of the Century, where he begs Conan to catch Kid rather than help him when he's injured, to be true to his character:

Heiji: W-what're you doin'?! Get going!

It's maybe also worth noting that Conan didn't have any solid proof that Heiji was thrown overboard, and he spends much of the episode trying to convince himself that it didn't happen. I get the sense that Shinichi feels that people like Heiji are so smart and clever that they can't be taken down by anyone (which also explains his whole predicament as Conan, as well as some of his behavior around Kid, since he nearly blows the guy up on more than one occasion but always trusts that Kid'll get out of it (Episodes 356 and 704, for a couple examples I know)).

And Conan's early reaction to Heiji's disappearance in 174 follows this line of thinking exactly. Nothing bad can happen to Heiji. He's the kind of guy who can get out of anything.

Conan (internally): No way! Not him, of all people...

Conan: It can't be true... It can't!

And after this, though Conan does dedicate himself to solving the case—for Heiji's sake as well, as I see it—he also never stops thinking about Heiji and does continue his search on the boat. Near the end of the episode, he's shown still asking crew members about Heiji's whereabouts and requests that they examine everyone's rooms. He wants to be wrong about Heiji being lost in the sea and is in major denial that anything bad could have happened to him:

Conan (internally): Where's he gone?!

Conan (internally): Where are you, Hattori? Why aren't you here?

To me, this isn't someone just shrugging their shoulders, figuring that their friend will probably wind up okay, and calmly solving a mystery in the meantime. This is someone who feels their partner's absence every moment that they're not there and who's doing all that they can to find them, desperately hoping that they weren't hurt.

I guess I did actually have quite a lot to say after all (no surprise there, probably!), but I'm a big fan of this case (at least in the anime). The art style stands out to me as one of the nicer-looking episodes, having a good balance of the roundness of the early seasons and the sharp angles of more modern Conan, and there's some fantastically fluid and expressive character animation, not to mention eye-catching shots. That scene where Conan and Heiji deliberate on the case and eventually find that they disagree? So aesthetic.

And, on that note, I do love this episode for Shinichi and Heiji. It's become so natural for them to fall into deducting with each other by this point, and their teamwork here is immensely memorable—I mean, they get a whole dang montage, with the main theme, as they investigate. How often does that happen? (Well, I guess I wouldn't know. I am like 600 episodes behind. But still!)

It's true that they're not totally in sync, of course; they do find that their conclusions don't match. But when they do, they don't insult each other or get angry. They just smile, think it's interesting, and strive to find out who's right! Super healthy—and sweet—way of handling it.

And, gosh. When they say in unison that the man claiming to be Saizo Kano is a fake, it's so adorable that it always makes me smile:

Conan and Heiji: A fake!

But more than all that, the episode's just a really touching look at how much Heiji means to Shinichi, and Conan's reaction upon realizing that something's wrong is hugely emotional, at least to me. It gets so much focus, absolutely highlighting its importance, and Conan's desperation is depicted in such heartbreaking, devastating clarity.

That's just how I see it, though! I totally get feeling like Conan acts coldly here, deciding to solve a crime rather than actively search for Heiji, and I hope I didn't come off as too dismissive of that viewpoint in my writing. But to me, Conan's dedication to solving the crime is a dedication to finding his lost friend. And while he may not be sprinting across a bridge as it falls apart beneath him, or tranquilizing Gin of the Black Organization, there is still a risky I'll-put-my-life-on-the-line-to-save-others element to this decision, too. If Heiji got thrown overboard for his investigation, then there's a chance that Conan might as well, especially as he wanders around the ship all by himself searching for clues. But Conan goes through with it because he sees that as the best way to uncover what happened to Heiji and protect everyone else.

And, though they are just filler cases, Episodes 294-295 and 376 both feature a similar-ish situation, where one of Conan's loved ones goes missing, and his behavior is pretty consistent with this episode. It's confirmed to him in 294 that Ran was kidnapped, and she's kidnapped right in front of him in 376, but in each, Conan waits to gather facts and information before racing to find her. The cases do admittedly have more dramatic action rescues than what you get in 174, but I don't at all doubt that there would have been a dramatic action rescue in this episode, too, had it been needed.

In any case, as I see it, sometimes the best thing you can do for someone is something incredibly reckless. But other times, maybe it's best to wait first and try to fully understand the situation. I think that's exactly what Conan does in Episode 174, and while it might not be quite as startling a reaction as in other situations, it still means a lot to me. There's a palpable sense of loss without Heiji there, and Conan never gives up on trying to find him. I really felt like I understood how important Heiji is to Shinichi.

There are certainly episodes where I have problems with Shinichi's behavior towards Heiji, or vice versa, or both (Episode 263), but personally, this one does nothing but strengthen their bond. I can only see Conan's reaction as the reaction of someone who's lost someone extremely important to them, and it gets to me. So much.

#detective conan #case closed #replies #anonymous #ramblings #heiji hattori #shinichi kudo #conan edogawa #long post #sorry the long-windedness of this probably is pretty annoying! #i hope it makes sense? i had a lot of trouble wording this one ^^; #but this is just my take! i totally understand not liking well-liked things haha so i get not feeling the same way here #i'm just personally really fond of this one #thank you for the nice ask!! :')

[hotchscvm]

best friend’s daddy - part three

Warnings: dark!andy barber, language, mentions of age difference, mentions of sex, underage drinking, pregnancy

Word count: 4.8k

Summary: A series of snapshots with your past and current life with Andy Barber.

[highly requested—and i mean highly]

masterlist

Newton, MA - 2017 Homecoming Game

He saw you immediately, shamelessly staring at the bright, yet fake smile slapped on your face as you posed for the picture. Andy's eyes drifted to the football players arms around your waist, too far down for the assistant district attorney's liking, not that he could do anything about it. He was unable to contain the eye roll when one of the players pressed a quick kiss on your cheek while you looked at the camera.

Andy knew he had no right feeling that way. He knew you thought he hated you. The glares, the tone he used, the disapproval glances he gave Jacob whenever you were with him. It was enough evidence for you to think he didn't want you around. He didn't. But not for the same reasons as you think.

Jacob ran past him, pulling you into a hug as the players around you ran back to their pre-game huddle, hyping themselves up. He heard your laugh, his previous annoyance washing away as he listened, wishing he didn't have to keep up his act. Instead, he watched from afar, noticing the fake smile replaced by a genuine one as you hugged your best friend, your cheer skirt rising before dropping back to it's already short length as soon as Jacob let you go.

Like the years before, Laurie didn't come to the homecoming game, claiming she was far too busy with work but Andy wasn't dumb. He could see it in her face everyday, helplessly watching his wife distance herself from him. But he couldn't blame her; he was doing the same. After all, not everything is supposed to last forever.

He secretly admired you, silently praising your will to pursue the career you wanted despite the very many attempts, and lectures from your parents about becoming a lawyer. Andy had gotten calls from them, more than happy to show you around the building with your parents hope of you magically being interested in what they had planned. But you were stubborn, and you hadn't backed down. He was impressed.

You glanced at Andy, surprised he wasn't glaring at you but rather staring at you with an expression you couldn't quite place, and you quickly diverted your eyes back to Jacob. "I'm so glad you came! Thank you for not being a total nerd tonight."

"My dad practically dragged me out of the house, grumbling about how I had to support my best friend when she's on the cheerleading team." Jacob explained, motioning to his father, the older Barber climbing the stairs as he claimed a spot on the bleachers next to your father. "I think it was just an excuse to watch a game that didn't feature the Patriots."

Once again, you were surprised. As said before, you thought he didn't care for your presence; to hear he wanted his son to support you was surprisingly shocking no matter how small it was. "Oh. Looks like he and Dad are gossiping again. Your mom didn't come?"

"No, she had work. What about yours?" asked Jacob.

"Business trip." you answered, sarcasm dripping from your voice. You saw the Instagram posts her friends posted, the so-called business trip had turned into a vacation with the girls. You heard your name being yelled, your cheer squad waving you over. Turning back to Jacob, you smiled. "They're calling me over so I gotta go. I'll find you after halftime, okay? We can ditch."

Jacob arched a brow, the corner of his lips twitching up. "But you're head cheerleader. Aren't you supposed to stay for the whole game?"

"Nah, Leila can take over after halftime. I'll just make up an excuse and say I went off with a guy or something." you said, tightening your ponytail. "Oh, and don't use the last stall in the boy's bathroom. Pretty sure someone had sex in that."

"Pretty sure that someone was you." he replied, grinning as you flipped him off. He laughed when you nearly ran into toddler, apologizing to the little person before running to the squad.

Jacob joined Andy and your father, answering questions from your dad, and listening to the two fathers talk about the mundane life as the game started. Andy's vision kept drifting off to you, cheering on the sidelines as the game, accidentally missing parts of the game. Not that he minded to much, he had a nice view, and he knew the score. It wasn't that much of an inconvenience for him.

Before halftime, you snuck away, going into the school to grab another hair tie from your locker. Thankfully, the field was close to the west side of the school, the locker bay only a short walk from the entrance. Coincidentally, just as you walked towards the bathroom with the hair tie, Andy bumped into you, the phone in his hand dropping to the floor.

"Oh, shit." you cursed, quickly bending down, grabbing the phone and handing it back to your best friend's dad. "Sorry, Mr. Barber, I wasn't looking."

Andy sighed, studying his phone instead of giving into the urge to comfort your tense state. For the millionth time, he wished he didn't have to act like a dick to you. "It's fine. Just watch where your going or you might head into the mens' room."

Not knowing whether he was serious or not, you gave an awkward nod, walking pass him. You hadn't seen the lingering glance he gave you before walking back to the game. Pushing on the bathroom door, you let yourself drown in your jitters, hyping yourself up before coming back and performing.

You had forgotten about Andy by the time you returned.

—

Newton, MA - May 14, 2018

Andy heard the knock, getting out of his seat to unlock the door. A presence befall him, a feeling he only got when you were nearby. With that thought, he immediately opened the door, greeted by the sight of you soaking from the rainfall, shivering, eyes slightly swollen, and downright miserable.

He called out your name in surprise, shocked to see you in such a messy state, let alone see you in his office. "What happened? Come in, come in. Are you okay?"

"Sorry, I—" you shivered, biting your lip to keep from spilling every problem you had faced on him. "It was raining so hard that I had to stop so I wouldn't crash or anything. And this was the closest building I parked to. I ran inside but I guess it didn't make any difference seeing how soaked I am."

Andy wrapped his jacket around your shoulders, unable to find a stray blanket or anything warm to give you. He led you to the leather couch, softly pushing you down to sit on it. "Come here, sit down. Did school end early?"

"No, um, I skipped." you sniffed, sinking down on the leather, letting Andy's coat fall over your shoulders. "I had a fight with my mom. A big one. So, I didn't exactly feel that great to come to school and I've been driving around since eight."

"Sweetheart, you're soaked. You're going to get sick." Andy murmured, wiping his warm hand over your forehead, the little droplets of water wetting his hand. "I have some clean clothes in my gym bag. Tell me what you were fighting about, it might make you feel better."

You watched him grab his duffel bag from under his desk, opening your mouth to protest but the cold, wet clothes made you close it. "I made some backhand comment about having a job in fashion, then she just blew up. She wants me to be a lawyer, go to the best schools, and be successful even if I'm not happy. I told her to fuck off, yelling that I'll do what I want. She didn't like that answer, so I grabbed my keys and drove around."

Andy gave you his Patriots shirt, and a clean pair of sweats, taking his wet jacket from you. You whispered a thank you, before taking off your dripping shirt, not caring Andy was watching. He cleared his throat, diverting his eyes away from your half-naked body. "Well, what did you want to be? What do you want to do after school?"

"I don't really know, except for the fact that I don't want to be a lawyer, that's for sure." you replied, putting on the sweatpants Andy gave you, relishing in the warmth. "I'm sorry for getting your couch wet, I—"

"It's okay, don't worry about it, sweetheart. Are you okay, now? Do you want me to do something about it?" Andy asked, unsure to hug you so he settled for an awkward pat on your shoulder, moving closer to you.

You scoffed, fidgeting with the hem of the large Patriots t-shirt, rolling your eyes at the question. "Trust me, there's nothing you could do about it. They're both so persistent on me being this successful lawyer that it doesn't matter if I want to be one. Tell me, Mr. Barber, what's so fucking great about being one?"

He bit back a smile, shifting on the couch until he was touching you, the serotonin you gave him encouraged Andy to brush back your dripping hair behind your ear, tilting your chin up to meet his gaze. With wide eyes, and a slight frown, you meet his eyes. "Well, firstly, you're able to help people. In layman's terms, you either can defend a client, or prosecute a criminal. Putting the bad guys away. Um, you can meet new people, have some experiences that's unlikely for others. But, you're right. You shouldn't have to do what you're parents have planned for you."

"Try telling them that." you sniffled, goosebumps appearing on your arms, subconsciously leaning your cheek on Andy's hand. He heard the angelic sigh escape from your lips, his smile appearing. "Thank you for the clothes and everything Mr. Barber."

"Don't mention it." he replied, bravely wrapping his arms around your slightly shivering body. Andy felt you tense for a few moments before slowly relaxing, shifting so he could rest his chin on your head, his thumb rubbing soft circles on your back. After a few minutes of silence, Andy reluctantly broke the silence. "Would you like me to call Jacob?"

He saw the flash of hurt in your eyes before you composed your expression, nodding slowly as you pulled away. "Yeah, I'll call him. He has free period so he won't be missing anything, I promise. Sorry for keeping you from work, Mr. Barber."

Andy shook his head, helping you up from the couch. "No, no, no. I just had some papers to go through, you didn't keep me from anything. The rain is slowing but you can stay in here until Jake comes. If you want."

You nodded, giving him a weak smile. "Thank you."

—

The Barber House - June 1, 2018

Giggling uncontrollably, you leaned against Jacob, a bottle of beer in your hand. Jacob laughed over the cartoon character with you, throwing his head back at the ridiculous scene on screen. Scooby had just stared at the screen, ending the episode, the screen turning black before another episode started. The noise Scooby made just had you and Jacob in another fit of uncontrollable laughter.

The sleepover had been spontaneous, yet long way overdue. In less than a week, you'd have graduated, and moved out of Boston, living in New York City as you went to the same college. That was one of the upside of finally leaving Newton, but even with the continuous nagging from your parents, you were still going to miss them.

You had been extra quiet, knowing full well Andy was stressed for something Laurie had done, the wife walking out of the house just as you had pulled up on the driveway. She had given you a friendly greeting, asking questions about graduation, before hugging you and driving away in her car. You knew it was bad as soon as you entered the house, seeing Andy glaring at the kitchen counter as you waited for Jacob to come save you. Thankfully, you didn't have to make small talk with the lawyer.

But the his tense expression was enough to keep you quiet in Jacob's room. Well, until he turned up with beers he had gotten from a mutual friend of yours, Cory Gilbert, the bartender at the bar and grill you and Jacob frequented at. He was over 21, legally able to buy the beer, giving it to Jacob as a present for graduation. Cory had given you a nice bottle of brandy, but you had decided to save it for graduation night instead.

Getting drunk hadn't been hard, for Jacob anyways; it took more than a few pleads from your already drunk friend to convince you to drink with him. Once you did, you felt the liquid slightly burn down your throat and you greeted the giddy feeling it left you. Soon, you were found leaning against Jacob's bed, sitting on the floor as the both of you cackled at the animations playing on the screen.

Andy still hadn't came up to hush the both of you; and to be honest, you weren't sure to be relieved or disappointed. You settled for relieved once as you saw Scooby and Shaggy running away from a "monster."

It was half past ten when you finally got up from your spot on the floor, leaving Jacob to drunkenly slur at his phone while the tv played in the background. Getting up, you headed to the bathroom, careful not to make anymore sounds than you already had. You were too drunk to notice Andy standing outside his door, arms crossed as he amusingly stared at your little tip-toe walk to the bathroom.

You finished your business, washing your hands, and heading back to Jacob's room when you lost your footing and stumbled into Andy's arms. You yelped in alarm, glad for the muscular arms that caught you. Looking up, you saw what your drunk brain could only describe as Adonis. You smiled, patting his pec as you slurred. "Thank you, Mr. Barber."

"How drunk are you, sweetheart?" Andy asked, not letting you go. He felt you swaying slightly in his arms, bringing you closer to his chest until your face was only a couple of inches away from his. His eyes flickered to your lips, his tongue licking his own. "You look flushed."

Giggling, you couldn't help but grin at the human contact. You had been so sure he hated you, but from your current position, your assumption seemed silly. "You're making me blush. Me and Jacob haven't been drank—drinking that much, pinky swear."

He snickered at the tiny slip up with your grammar, the slowness and laziness in your voice evidence enough if it hadn't been for the burst of confidence, and shouts from Jacob's room. "You shouldn't be lying, especially to a lawyer. Let's get you sobered up, wouldn't want you waking up with a bitch of a hangover tomorrow, now would we?"

Andy places a hand on your back, his hand intertwining with yours as he tried to lead you downstairs safely but you halted in the middle of the hallway, laughing as you sneaked behind him. You tapped his shoulder, trying to push him down. "Gimme a piggy back ride, Mr. Barber. Like the ones you gave me when I was four!"

The lawyer burst out laughing, finding your drunk confidence adorable. He couldn't help but agree, squatting down enough for you to climb onto his back, your legs wrapping around his waist, your arms locking around his neck. Andy held your legs in place with his hands, shifting you upwards so you rested comfortably on his back. Turning his head, he raised an eyebrow. "You ready, princess?"

You nodded in response, your hair ticking his neck as you snuggled closer to his neck, nuzzling your cheek. All the alcohol had rushed to your head. Andy walked down the stairs, careful to keep his grip on you as he did so. He heard all the tiny giggles and gasps you made, his bad mood dissolving with each sound. He couldn't remember a time Laurie had made him that happy.

Reaching the kitchen, Andy sat you down on the kitchen island, reluctantly letting you go as he went to grab a glass of water. He gave you the glass, but you rejected it, too busy looking at the game on the tv, seeing past the arch and into the living room.

He set the glass on the counter, leaning against it as he crossed his arms, staring at the mesmerized—and drunk—girl in admiration. You turned your attention back on him as soon as the commercials rolled, catching him ogling you. Blushing, you giggled once again, waving him over.

Curious, Andy stepped towards you, surprised when you gripped the collar of his shirt, dragging him closer to you until he was only a couple of inches away. Leaning in, you whispered in his ear. "I have a secret."

"What is it?" Andy asked, one word away from kissing his son's best friend. The tension radiating from interaction had him weak, helpless from the very tempting chance to take you right there and then.

Cupping your hand around your lips, you felt him snake between your legs, bringing you even closer. With your lips near his ear, you whispered, "I have the biggest crush on you. Sometimes I wish you were single so I could ride you until I physically can't."

Andy growled, his hands digging into your waist as his lips hovered over yours, his blue eyes piercing yours. He murmured your name, so close to losing all of his control.

"Every time I come over, I hope you'd push me against a wall, rip my shirt off and fuck a baby in me." you confessed, loving his body warmth. His grip had tighten on you to the point it was borderline painful, but you relished in it, the alcohol numbing the rational thoughts in your head as they screamed at you to shut up.

The lawyer was so close to doing what you wanted, nearly taking you right there. But much to his dismay, his morals had held him back; surely all it would take would be another sentence murmured from your lips but he considered himself strong. "Sweetheart..."

Just as Andy's lips brushed over yours, loud, heavy footsteps made him pull away, spotting his son drunkenly enter the kitchen. You smiled brightly at Jacob as if you hadn't been about to kiss his father. Andy raised an eyebrow at his son, irritated for interrupting. "Jacob, what're you doing?"

"I—" the boy frowned, forgetting momentarily on what he was doing. Jacob pointed at you, returning a random wave. "I was looking for her, because I got worried she fell in the toilet or something."

"She's fine, I was just sobering her up." Andy answered before you could, reluctantly helping you off the table, wishing he had a few more minutes alone with you. "Don't let your mom see all those bottles when she gets home. She won't be lenient as I am."

Jacob saluted in response, watching his dad help his best friend off the table. He was too drunk to notice the longing looks you had exchanged with Andy. "Okay, dad. Night."

Andy stood in the kitchen, alone, watching his girl giggle at something his son whispered. With more confidence than ever, he pulled out the manila envelope from the kitchen drawer, placing it on the table. Laurie would find it when she comes back.

—

Newton, MA - July 4, 2021

"You're so fat." Jacob commented, eyes widening when he felt the baby kick. Without much thought, he invaded your personal space, placing his cheek against your stomach. You sighed, rolling your eyes at your best friend. Jacob chuckled. "This little guy is gonna be a soccer superstar. Like Cristiano Ronaldo."

Andy chuckled from the driver's seat, pulling into the driveway, pulling Jacob off your stomach and back to his seat. "Don't antagonize her, Jake. She might rip your head off for breathing the same air without her permission."

Childishly, you stuck your tongue, making your baby daddy burst out laughing before as he turned off the car and opened the door. But you could hardly say his comment was an exaggeration, grimacing at the memory of nearly snapping Andy's arm off when he had forgotten the almond milk from the weekly visits to the grocery store. It had been both a blessing and curse to have Jacob in the outs of the pregnancy when that incident occurred. You hadn't wanted him to see the growing bump.

With the help of both Barbers, you got out of the car, carefully and slowly for the sake for both you and the babies. The two were chatting as they unloaded the baggage from trunk while you made your way to the house, reminiscing in the days when Jacob's glances weren't filled with betrayal, as if you had ripped his heart from his chest.

It wasn't everyday he looked at you with that raw emotion in his eyes—the betrayed looks had started to decrease the more time you spent together—yet you still felt guilty. With a hand over your growing belly, you opened the door, bombarded with memories from childhood, once again reminding you who you were having a baby with.

Once Jacob had sprinted out of the room, in anger and denial after seeing his father tangled in bed with his best friend, you had pushed Andy off you, wanting to go after him. When Andy argued it was better off for Jacob to be alone, you had blamed him for everything, for ruining the lifelong friendship with Jacob and weeks of stress caused by sleeping with him the first time. The lawyer hadn't denied the guilt or blame like you thought he would—like you wished he would—instead drowning in the insults you threw his way.

You didn't start to forgive him until Jacob came back, but then loathed him after the your best friend announced he needed some time and space to think it out, uncertain which conclusion he would come to. Thankfully, he couldn't live without you in his life, no matter how hard he tried, so he came running back, wishing for an apology when all you wanted to do was cry and wish you didn't have to spend two months without him.

Andy, like the charming bastard he is, had slowly broke down the wall of bricks made from your anger and hatred, and unwillingly, you let him in. Jacob had explained, quite awkwardly, he should be in no way a problem to yours and Andy's relationship, only to be slapped by the pregnancy news. Surprisingly, he kept it light and took it well.

Unsurprisingly to Andy, the fetus (he had been very upset when you occasionally called the baby that) had been conceived on Thanksgiving, proving the plan B useless. You had given up any pretenses at that point, and gave in to Andy's precautions no matter how ridiculous they had been; safety for the fetus.

Your parents had been content with the excuses you've made, only a little suspicious on not wanting to see them during the months of carrying the baby. The baby boy to be precise. But the lack of visiting since college was consistent enough for them to not rise suspicions.

You settled down on the couch, exhausted by the road trip despite how short it was. Newton was hardly small, but with Andy's former title, it wouldn't be long before rumors spread, and with rumors came exaggerated stories along with middle-aged women judging your life decisions because they had nothing to do all day other than sit in their lazy asses.

Andy and Jacob set the bags down by the doorway, Jacob letting out a huge sigh while his dad walked over to you, kissing your forehead. You couldn't help but smile at the gesture. He sat beside you, leaving no room to breathe.

"Hello, gorgeous."

"Ugh." Jacob groaned, turning his eyes away from the PDA. "Okay, I'm gonna go before any more of this happens. I'll see you guys for dinner."

Before you could ask, Jacob closed the door, practically sprinting to his car. Seeing his father in bed with his best friend had scarred him. You turned your attention back to Andy, head tilting in confusion. "Where's he going?"

"He's giving me some alone time with you. Had to pay him a few bucks after he complained about stealing you, but he'll manage for the next couple of hours." Andy explained, his hands absentmindedly stroking your belly, his smile beaming.

"What's happening in the next couple of hours that he can't be here for?" you asked, curious. The blast of hormones had been a gift Andy knew he didn't deserve, with you crawling over his body in the earlier months of the pregnancy, waking him up with lips wrapped around his cock. With his precautions for the baby, he'd been a tease for the past few weeks with the due date just barely two months away.

He rolled his eyes, shaking his head in amusement. "It's not that, sweetheart." Andy chuckled at your pout, disappointed by the outcome. "I just wanted to spend some time with you."

You knew there was something more, but you let it go, one thing at the front of your mind. Your fingers clawed at his shirt, biting your lip. "Then let's spend some time together." Leaning closer, you softly nipped at his earlobe, whispering in his ear. "Daddy."

Andy murmured your name, stern and sure but the bulge in his pants deemed a different story. That was enough for you to stop seducing him. "You're going to be the death of me."

Laughing, you turned the tv on, cuddling next to the soft man. Well, as close to cuddling as you could with the belly in the way. Your feet had been sore despite the not having to walk much all day, but the road trip had taken a lot of your already drained energy. Andy understood, gently taking off your shoes and massaging your feet until they no longer felt sore.

Two hours were wasted watching true crimes documentaries, Andy passionately commenting on the evidence they clearly had missed, and voicing his opinions of who was clearly guilty. You muffled a giggle, amused by the former lawyer. It still surprised you to see Andy so ... light? The forehead creases only coming together when something had displeased you, no matter how tiny. Retiring must've done something to relieve the stress he carried.

It wasn't until the third Buzzfeed Unsolved episode came on that you got tired. Andy, sending the change, muted the screen, pressing a soft kiss on your close eyelids. He positioned you so you were leaning against him, your back to him as you laid on the couch, a hand over your growing stomach. Anxiety seeped through his veins.

Andy cleared his throat. Playing with your hair, he said, "Marry me."

Your eyes snapped open, growing wide as you pondered if you had heard him right. "What?"

He shrugged. "Marry me."

Andy had said if so casually, it wasn't a question, but a statement. Or more accurately, a demand. You turned around, putting space between you two. Your eyes were hurting from the lack of blinking. "What?"

He reached in his pocket, the small, velvet box that had rested uncomfortably in his pocket took your breath away. Andy opened the box, revealing a diamond, far too beautiful to look at. His smile widened, taking in your shocked expression. "Please marry me."

A minute of silence passed.

"You're fucking insane." you whispered, staring intently at his blue eyes who were sparkling in excitement. He knew the outcome.

Andy's smile hadn't wavered. "Is that a yes?"

"No!" you shouted, getting up from the cough. He stood up, his arms ready to catch your unbalanced body. You glared at him. "I'm not going to marry you because I'm pregnant! No! No, no, no. I forbid you to ask me that question until this baby is out of me."

He laughed, wrapping an arm around your waist. "So, when I ask in two months ... ?"

"You'll just have to see." you murmured. A smug smirk fell on his face, but this one was warmer, more heartfelt.

"You'll say yes."

You shrugged, but couldn't help the smile appearing. "Probably."

< previous

#chris evans #chris evans fanfiction #chris evans x reader #chris evans smut #steve rogers #captain america #reader insert #dub con #dark!andy barber #andy barber smut #andy barber x reader #pregnancy #mentions of dubious element #under age #defending jacob #jacob barber #laurie barber #andy barber fanfiction

[monstas1ut2]

(1/2) Sanji Vinsmoke

(๑˃ᴗ˂)ﻭ

DBSB, 3272, nigga, that's my potna dem

G-L-O-B-E, A-B-B, nigga, that's my potna dem

Softly touching up the edges, the orangish, red hair color was now apart of you. Just staring into the mirror as you let go a bit of a smile. The only time you smile when you look at a mirror is when you're staring at your face... any more inches down and it's like you could just puke.

"I like that color on you (y/n)!"

Glancing towards the phone that was on the sink , you just gave a kissing noise. The woman on the other side of the screen happened to have the same color hair, though hers was natural.

"Thats what's up Nami, it was a lotta money... but...Sanji brought it fa me..." You muttered that last part, still feeling bad about even talking about him.. It caused the female to sigh, she knew your problems.. and your issues that you face everyday. Nami is caring, as well as the other female who happened to be in the call. Robin, and Nami had always been on this agonizing journey..

Their bodies were beautiful, just perfect. While you, felt as if you'd be better off covering up with a jacket. It's bad, really... Sanji is your lover, you've accepted to live with him and yet you still cover yourself up anytime he's around. A jacket is always in arms length.

Once, Sanji almost walked in on you changing and in result in hating yourself.. you immediately threw the bedsheet over you. This obviously made Sanji feel some type of way but at the same time he respects you. As strong as you are, as much as you deal with just being a black woman.. he respects you...

Sanji hasn't touched you in any way, not sexually, nor in a domestic type way. His hands are always to himself.. as much as his insides hated it. All Sanji begs to do is touch and love on you. Alas, you overthink and wonder why Sanji is even with you..

"You neeed to tell him how you feel, (y/n)... the situation will only become worse... Your relationship is so strong that sex was never needed.. you're a beautiful woman... You're unique, and fun to be around... give it a chance, yes?" Robin's soft voice echoed slightly in your brain, just sighing out in retaliation. Nami's face showing that she definitely agreed.. but it's just not that simple..

You wish it was that simple.

"(Y/n)-swan~~~~ I'm home!"

A jolt rushed through you as the look you gave the two females happened to be a rushed one.

"Imma talk to y'all later Ight..?" You gently spoke before ending the call as quickly as you could. Moving from the bathroom and you grabbed your black jacket. It was quite huge on you and it had 2pac's picture on the back of it, his name on the front. This jacket originally came from your brother, but you claimed it of course...

Throwing your phone on the bed, you gently walked into the hall and went downstairs. The house you both lived in was a dream. Sanji isn't a poor man... he has his own restaurant, and it rivals with Gordon Ramsey's restaurant... come on..

"Hey, you feelin' ight..?" You gently spoke as you were finally off that last step. Your blonde man standing in front of the door as he blew some of the cigarette smoke. It was something you didn't mind.. the house was big so.. not everything smelt like it...

Though seeing your beautiful, slightly chubby face and your beautiful new colored hair made him die inside. His throat and lungs giving up on him as he choked and coughed. A huge blush rushing quickly to his cheeks and ears... Even now he just.. he gets all school girl on you.

"Babe! Babe! You Ight..!? Aye..." you kinda panicked actually, just softly touching his arm and moving to pat him on his back. The coughing fit he was having eventually surpassed and you were now holding onto his arm. His arm happened to be between your breasts.. he could feel it, he didn't need to see it..

Thing is, you didn't even realize...

"I'm fine.. it's just, you're so beautiful... I bought that right..? Glad that was a thing.." Sanji rambled off to himself as he then finally stared at you and chuckled. That genuine smile causing your insides to twist and turn.. your face was burning up, but your ancestors gave you the ability to not show the blood rushing to your cheeks..

"Oh.. you like it..? Thanks baby... thanks for buyin it fa me..." your voice soft as you got on your tippy toes and wrapped those arms around his neck.. well you tried.. he had to lean down a bit.. his lips connecting against yours and all you could taste was cigarette smoke, but it was this hint of sweetness.. probably from whatever he cooked today.. nevertheless, you were used to it.

The kiss was short like always, and Sanji didn't dare touch you. His hands weren't inching whatsoever, as much as he wanted to... he didn't want to make you feel uncomfortable.

"Oh, since you worked today, d'want me to make you sum to eat?... or.."

"Actually, I wanted us to go to my restaurant and eat... we haven't done that in awhile." Sanji's gentle smile and that shrug made you feel completely bad. The two of you rarely go anywhere together.. it's just that you hate the fact that Sanji has to go anywhere with you...

A little smile appeared on your face, it seemed a bit forced but as good as your acting skills were, it probably passed. Fidgeting on the heels of your feet, you kinda shrugged as well. The hoodie that you had on suddenly felt tight and honestly you hated it. Did you look huge in this too...?

"I-.. Ight.."

(๑˃ᴗ˂)ﻭ

What in your right mind possessed you to say 'ight'?! Just flailing around in your walk in closet. As many clothes you had, as many outfits.. you never touched them. They collect dust every day. But that's nothing compared to what you were doing now, the clothes being scattered across the floor as you looked at your final option..

"I'm not goin..."

The words you spoke made your eyes kind of tear up, just staring at the soft, white dress. It was soft and it wasn't tight, but at the same time.. it clings to your skin. It shows every bump and curve. Not to mention how it had little slits on the side.. to show more of your thighs that were already showing... Nope.. just Nope..

Though another bomb was going to come rushing down, because how the hell were you going to tell Sanji..? What were you going to say? Jesus Christ...

Actually, there is this one thing... yes.. for sure..

"Yeah... it just started... can you get me them pills in the cabinet? Ion wanna move... we can literally go next week though.." you gently spoke when you were now in front of Sanji in the bedroom.

It was odd, just a few hours ago you were perfectly fine... not to mention how your period just went off a week ago. The blonde keeps notice of these things, he's not a dumb male who doesn't pay attention to his girlfriend. He's only collecting notes, he'll go with your maze run for now.. but in the end.. he'll find the way.

"So.. you're just up for me makin somethin..? I can teach you the gumbo you wanted to learn..." you gently spoke, only because the atmosphere was kind of tense? Or maybe it was just you... Sanji was laying on his back and he was smoking like usual.. but it seemed like he was thinking hard about something.. and it made you want to go shit.

Have he finally had enough..?

"I thought you'd never ask (y/n)-Chan" Sanji gently purred with those same hearts in his eyes as he decided to follow you out the bedroom and to the kitchen. There was some things Sanji just didn't know how to make. Yes he's an amazing chef and you're sure he'll get this in one go.. but he doesn't know much about.. let's say : black people dishes.

You've just been teaching him about the wide range of things.. and he's been having a blast. As well as being enamored with your aave...

Sanji just loves being with you... didn't matter what it was.. he's obsessed with you, even though his touch is limited..

(๑˃ᴗ˂)ﻭ

The night had already been here, though it was now 11 pm, the house being ripped of all its lights that were on. Sanji made sure everything was cleaned up because it wasn't a surprise that you were knocked out in bed already. His own attire consisted of just his underwear... which you didn't mind but that's probably because you wore that jacket to sleep every night..

Sanji snapped out of his thoughts and he noticed the light to your closet as was still on. His body maneuvering over to go inside and turn it off.. though.. the mountain of clothes restricted him. His eyes widening as the cigarette from his mouth had dropped ever so gently to the floor.

The closet was a mess.

(๑˃ᴗ˂)ﻭ Masterlist 2

#black reader #poc reader #smut #one piece x poc!reader #one piece x reader #vinsmoke sanji

[iamanartichoke]

I wasn’t going to address this bc I’m pretty sure it will accomplish nothing bc people will believe whatever they want to believe - but, well, at least *I’d* feel better getting my side of the story out and then moving on with my life.

Cut for length.

I’m aware that the fallout of my “controversial” post has several people upset. I have seen, over the past 24 hours, several vagueposts about me. I have seen one user in particular (who I am not going to tag but I’m sure she knows who she is, what's up) make *several* posts about how I’ve betrayed her. I have seen that I am now a “toxic possie,” that I am gaslighting people into thinking they misinterpreted me, that I have “out of nowhere” changed, become toxic, or suddenly have a problem with people I’ve been mutuals with for years for “no apparent reason.” I have *also* seen that I don’t want to be proven wrong, that I can’t handle the inevitable backlash of what I’ve said, that I don’t know what torture is or what narrative framing is. And that I have been “pretending” to be on one side all this time, that I am now slandering the takes that I’ve previously defended, etc.

And I just need to say - for one thing, what in the actual fuck are you talking about by saying I’m GASLIGHTING you, but for another thing, if you truly think that my POV is coming out of nowhere, with no apparent provocation, you clearly haven’t been paying attention.

And I mean, that’s fine, whatever, but just for the record? I got fed up MONTHS AGO. Some of you I unfollowed a long time ago (thanks for noticing!), some of you I blocked way before my post was even a thing (what’s up!) and some of you I was never fucking following in the first place, nor have I ever even had a conversation with you (or if I have, it’s been brief and in passing on some post or another). And I wasn’t following you nor did I ever attempt to befriend you because I don’t agree with most of your takes and don’t want to engage with them.

To the person who thinks I deliberately betrayed them, specifically - I don’t even KNOW YOU. Most of the time I’m hardly aware that you exist, until your posts cross my dash due to the mutuals we had in common, and I’m not impressed with what I’ve seen. It’s not your response to anons that have sent you hate and death threats that I take issue with - obviously no one deserves that and you’re free to defend yourself from it however you like. My issue is that I have seen you and others hop on posts that started out either neutral or positive and turned them negative by reminding everyone that the series is harmful, that Sylvie is abusive, that Mobius is a torturer, that the TVA being fascist means that the show is pro-fascist (and I’m the one who doesn’t understand narrative framing? Please.) etc etc etc and it’s fucking exhausting. This has happened to a few of my own posts, too, and I’ve watched them spiral into seriously negative posts that I didn’t want my name attached to bc I didn’t agree w/ the direction the arguments were taking.

So when I saw you reblog my Mobius post and saw notes start coming in from series-negative people, I said, NOPE. And like I said, I’m glad I did bc the result was that I feel I ended up having fruitful conversations. I don’t want to be proven wrong? I WAS proven wrong. I ACCEPTED that I was proven wrong. I am FINE with being proven wrong. I’m not fine with trying to navigate my way through vitriol to defend myself against people who are so quick and immediate to accuse others of being abuse apologists, toxic, pro-torture, gaslighters, and whatever else takes I have seen in the last day, who aren’t going to listen to me anyway. I'm surprised I haven't been accused of being a terf yet (unless I have and I just haven't seen it). (And also I’m not taking the post down bc while I agree it was harmful, it was also productive and also it’s my fucking blog and I can keep up whatever I’d like, but thanks for adding some pro-censorship vibes to this dumpster fire.)

I haven’t “switched sides.” I was never on a side to begin with, which I have repeatedly said since this series started airing. I have defended a lot of you, absolutely, bc I don’t think anyone should be bullied for their takes and I don’t think criticism should be discouraged. I still feel that way.

But for months now, my efforts to be neutral and/or to stick up for people I thought were my friends have been ignored and unreciprocated, people I thought were my friends posted my meta in their discord servers to attack it, people stopped tagging their negativity, making it impossible for me to curate my fandom experience, etc. I have gone out of my way to apologize to people if I’ve hurt them, I have held my tongue so that I *wouldn’t* hurt anyone’s feelings even though I thought their takes were trash. All to no avail.

I’ve BEEN fed up. The fact that those of you this applies to are only JUST NOW noticing? Really just proves my point: y’all don’t actually give a shit about me, you’re just mad that I’m not holding my tongue anymore so you can go on thinking that good ol’ non-toxic artichoke is on your side. I'd say I'm surprised with how quickly you jumped to assuming the absolute worst about me, except I'm not surprised at all.

I am 1000% sure I am going to regret posting this, but I'm not unblocking anyone I've blocked, so if you have shit to say, go ahead; I won't be seeing it. Think whatever you want to think about me. If I haven't blocked you but you no longer wish to follow me or be mutuals with me or think I'm an asshole, feel free to leave. Peace out. I don't care anymore. It was nice knowing you until it wasn't; I'm 500% done with the way things are in this fandom.

#i'd say #not for reblog #but i can't stop you so whatever #edit: i privated this post bc i did end up regret posting it due to the overall tone of it #bc it's kinda unhinged tbh #but now that it's been a few days - i am not mad anymore but i'm STILL bothered #by how this all went down so i'm leaving 'my side' up for the record so to speak #hi i'm charlotte and my superpower is staying ever-so-slightly salty indefinitely

[perseusjackson-jasongrace]

breaking it down to find a meaning

neighbours au?

this came out of literally no where. I was getting ready for bed and I had "I wanna love somebody" by We Three stuck in my head and then I opened tumbles and this just poured out of me? Yea I literally wrote this in the tumblr post option. no google doc we die like lovers.

I point this out only to say this is defs not edited lmao. I didn't even expect it to be this long it was supposed to a tiny drabble?

please enjoy!

[all images have alt text]

There are exactly three things wrong with Percy's current living situation.

1. He has far too little lounge space for his terribly long body. His shins have hit the coffee table six times today in his attempt to maneuver from sitting on the couch to standing.

2. The spare bedroom is not a good enough sound quality for his guitar or his drum practice. The bathroom is much better. He cannot practice in his bathroom forever, or ever.

3. His neighbour is undeniably, completely distractingly hot.

He hasn't allowed himself to rate the problems in order of most troublesome because he's a little ashamed about which one might take first place.

Since moving in one week ago Percy has had many opportunities to arrange and rearrange every aspect of the tiny two bedroom— or one bedroom and a makeshift studio— apartment until he could walk around it blind. He knows not to step on the third floorboard from the left wall on the way to his bedroom because it creaks unpleasantly and he thinks his downstairs neighbours are going to shove a hot poker through the roof just to brandish the annoying foot that keeps making the noise. He knows that the oven setting has to be juggled just right for it to go on. He knows the curtain railings in the living room are far too thin and brittle— he will have to replace them before the month is out. He knows you have to turn the hot tap in the shower three times and the cold tap four to get the exact perfect temperature. What he doesn't know, however, is his neighbour's name, or the colour of their eyes, or anything about them. All he knows is that they're hot.

But today, bruised shin and all, Percy is determined to introduce himself. If for nothing else but to gauge just how upset they might be when he starts up what his mother used to lovingly call "Melodic Madness".

So far it takes the reign as number one reason he's had to leave his previous living spaces. Mr Chiron from Strawberry Valley, who told the landlord the noise was so loud it made his steel kneecaps rust. Creative, but Percy isn't sure it's feasible. Then there was Minerva from Olive Grove who took one look at him and told the landlord he was a drug dealer, or worse, a drug user. He had raised a brow, couldn't stop his lip from tugging up, liking the way the ring that hugged his bottom lip stretched deliciously. He almost killed her on the spot. He would have laid lillies at her funeral and she would have risen again to throw them away. The last place, a Mr Hedge. Percy was glad to leave him behind. There were baseball bags swinging and yelling almost as loud as he played every time they crossed paths. For his own safety Percy didn't even wait for the man to call the landlord before he wad tucking his drumsticks in his pocket and high tailing it to, here.

Here being Sunset Gardens. Here being in this small apartment that fit him almost perfectly. Here being one knock away from meeting his new neighbour.

Percy wonders, as he looks at the soft cream wood of the door, if he should have worn a turtle neck to hide the snake tattoo wrapping around his throat. Or maybe a button down and a tie, to hide the swirls of ink on his arms. The black t-shirt he has on, a normal longer length to his usual cropped look, is clean and soft from use. He decides it'll have to be good enough because he can't wear button downs all the time. How ever will he afford all the ties that come with the obligation?

Percy knocks on the door.

There's silence behind it. The silence of sleepy world, too cozy-can't move. The silence that doesn't wish to be disturbed.

The door opens.

His neighbour's eyes are blue. Bright blue. Startling blue. Blue enough to make his lungs feel a lack of oxygen. He's reaching for the sky and it's getting harder to breather the higher he gets.

"Hello." Says his neighbour.

Percy is flying closer to the sun than Icarus ever will, ever could.

"Can I help you?"

He needs to stop staring. He needs to say something that doesn't make him look like a gaping angel fish. All starry eyes halos and floundering for relief from the air. Do fish know how beautiful the sky is? He imagines if they did they'd all kill themselves trying to get to it. He's doing it right now.

"Hi," He grins. Teeth white, straight, flossed because his mother forced him to learn the habit. "I'm Percy, your new neighbour."

"Jason," The voice is warm, deep. He knows if he lay his head on that spectacular chest he'll feel every vibration when this blue eyed spectacle talks. It'll be like getting into a really nice car and feeling the seats rumble beneath you.

"How are you finding the apartment?"

They're still standing on his door front. Jason won't relent his sanctuary. Percy won't toe over the line, curiouser and curiouser as he is.

"Good. Living room is causing some bodily harm," He waves to his shin, "But otherwise very good. Cozy."

"We share a wall. I don't know if it's your bedroom and mine or..." His neighbour trails off.

"It's my spare bedroom against you." They both glance to his door, light from his lounge flooding the passage in a perfect parallelogram.

"That's actually what I wanted to talk to you about." He's looking into the sky again. Watches as hair falls over that golden forehead. His hands— tattooed "amare" on his left fingers and "amari" on his right— twitch to push it back, to grasp the white strands, to know what light feels like. He tucks them into the pockets of his sweatpants. He tells them behave. The twitch in their hiding place. He doesn't let them seek.

"What about it?" Jason is frowning, in that worried way that says he's used to bad news and he's tired of it too.

"I uh," Percy's eyes flicker around the world. "I play guitar and drums. I'm using that room as my music room."

"Oh." The relief in Jason is a pointed arrow straight at his heart. Even cupid could never shoot something so potent. "That's okay. I'll use your music as inspiration when I paint."

Percy is Icarus three seconds after he believes he can fly. Percy is Patroclus when he feeds Achilles. Percy is Hercules after completing his first trial. Percy is a hero and a warrior and the luckiest person alive. Percy is alive.

"I hope you're good." Jason shrugs as if he hadn't tattooed a permanent place into the underside of Percy's ribcage.

"I hope so too." He manages to say back.

"I'll show you what I can create from you the first time and you can judge." Those blue eyes are so wide with innocence. Not the innocence of life but of words. His neighbour has no idea what he's doing to him. Has no idea that he is about to go home and make song lyrics out of all these declarations.

"I look forward to it." He smiles wide. It's ocean deep with happiness.

There are exactly three things perfect about Percy's current living situation:

1. The kitchen has a gas stove enough counter space for him to make bread and his mother's gumbo

2. His bedroom is big enough for him to fit a king sized bed easily. He is a sprawler when he sleeps and he cannot be happier to sprawl across never ending expanse.

3. His hot neighbour is perfect.

#Jercy #Jason grace #Percy Jackson #pjjg fanfic

[laurelnose]

Very New to your blog and the posts are probably way old but I saw you do Witcher Biology (??) rants sometimes and Id love to hear your take, if you have one, on what monsters (namely "naturally occurring" ones like draconids and insectoids) contribute to the ecosystem if anything and whether or not they should be hunted into extinction. I was discussing it w/ a friend last night after dealing with Iocaste, the last silver basilisk, and now its smthn I'm Invested in

re monster ecosystems: I just figure theyve probably found a niche in the world by now and can eat anything smaller incl. humans but because theyve got no natural predators aside from eachother and arent hunted by anything but witchers , monsters are just breeding and eating and wldnt that damage the land? or have they made their own like, circle of life or whatever ? Ive little knowledge on the subject as a whole but the whole thing intrigues me

hi & extremely belated welcome, anon! my apologies for the length of time you’ve been waiting for this answer; I had to think carefully about how I wanted to respond to this ask, because: there’s a lot going on here. also, because I am a disaster, I ended up posting it to ao3 first while I was avoiding tumblr for a spell and then completely forgot to come back. oops. i’m sorry!! This one’s about 5000 words long, which is a lot for tumblr, so reading on AO3 may be preferable.

-

The two main thrusts of your first ask (how do monsters interact with the ecosystem and should they be eradicated from the Continent) are questions of invasion ecology, the study of non-native/invasive species and their effects on the environment. Monsters, having arrived on the Continent about 1200 years ago during the Conjunction of Spheres from entirely alien dimensions, are indeed technically non-native species!

However, invasion ecology is…somewhat controversial, to say the least—there are a lot of invasive species, who have a lot of different & complex impacts, and a lot of different ideas about what we might do about any of this, and it’s basically all arguing all the time, so I wasn’t really sure how I wanted to approach the topic. Not to mention that for reasons I couldn’t initially put my finger on, it seemed wrong to apply theories of invasion ecology to the Witcher monsters. We’ll get into it! There are also a couple of common misconceptions/oversimplifications of how ecology works in your second ask which I want to unpack. Hopefully I pulled this together into something that makes sense, and feel free to ask me for clarification!

Some important background facts:

Species have always been moving to and “invading” new places on their own; humans and globalization have accelerated this process into a Big Problem, as the sheer number of invasive species being introduced all over the globe strains ecosystems already under pressure, but “native ranges” are always shifting, sometimes more dramatically than you might expect. If you go far enough back in time, all species are “non-native”.

Because of this, the very definition of “invasive species” is hotly contested. This is why you’ll hear dozens of terms like introduced species, injurious species, naturalized species, non-native species, etc.; these all have slightly different connotations, but all refer to a species that did not originate in a particular location.

An introduced species is usually classified as “invasive” as opposed to “non-native” or “naturalized” if its presence significantly alters the ecosystem it invades; some people define this more narrowly as a species that causes harm to an ecosystem. “Harm” can take a lot of different forms, as every non-native species interacts differently with the ecosystem they were introduced to.

Aside from various potential impacts to human economic activity, most forms of ecological harm by introduced species involve the decline of native species, by a variety of mechanisms; invaders might eat natives, outcompete them for food, interbreed with them, carry novel pathogens, etc. Invasive species are primarily a threat to biodiversity.

Now, here’s my Hot Take:

The Conjunction of Spheres is analogous to real-life ecological cataclysms such as the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event, and thus monsters are not invasive species.

The Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event saw the extinction of 75% of all species on Earth after the Chicxulub asteroid hit, including the non-avian dinosaurs. The Earth has had several disasters like this, of varying severity—the Great Oxidation Event killed almost literally everything on Earth except for the cyanobacteria who caused it. These cataclysmic extinction events completely upended existing ecosystems, altering habitats beyond recognition and leaving swathes of niches emptied of life that the survivors could evolve to exploit.

The most recent Conjunction of Spheres on the Continent is supposed to have thrown everyone living on the planet at the time into chaos and darkness; it wouldn’t be unreasonable to assume that the interpenetration of multiple spheres caused mass extinction of species living in the pre-Conjunction environment, similar to Chicxulub or the GOE!

But Socks, you might say, evolution works on a massive timescale! It took millions of years to fill the niches left open by Chicxulub, but it’s only been 1200 years since the Conjunction of Spheres! And you are absolutely right*, but the Conjunction of Spheres canonically came pre-loaded with new species. We actually have no proof that any of the animals we see originated on the Continent: if humans are a post-Conjunction phenomenon, why not also dogs? Why not bears? Who’s to say any of those were actually there before-hand? (The elves, I guess, but as they have not, actually, said so, there’s no proof!!)

* FTR, 1200 years is a shockingly short period of time to go from cataclysm that plunged the world into darkness and chaos to functioning medieval-era society considering how long it actually took humanity to build 13 century Europe (horses had been domesticated for at least 3000 years by that time), even if we’re not assuming that most of the ecosystem was destroyed, so, my timeline concerns here are minimal, lmfao. TIMELINE WHAT TIMELINE.

…and actually now that I think about it the three options for the origin of dogs are a) elves or dwarves domesticated them, b) humans brought dogs with them during the Conjunction, or c) dogs have existed for less than 1200 years, and I refuse to accept that dogs are practically a new invention in the witcherverse, wtf.

Anyways: we really have no idea which species are truly “native” to the Continent, or what the physical environment was like prior to the Conjunction. While monsters are not native to the Continent, monsters are also not invasive—there cannot be decline of pre-Conjunction biodiversity or harm to the pre-Conjunction ecosystem because there is no pre-Conjunction ecosystem anymore.

should monsters be hunted to extinction?

So, the thing is, I think we should try to eradicate invasive species from non-native ranges if we can; the biggest problem with that is feasibility, not morality. It’s much more difficult than one might think to eradicate an invasive species once it’s established, and we have to be very careful that the methods we choose don’t have other impacts, but invasive species are a huge threat to the biodiversity of Earth! If monsters are invasive species, then the answer is yes, they should be eradicated from the places they are not native to.

(Notably, on Earth this kind of eradication is not the same thing as extinction; it would be a local extinction, or extirpation, where the species is totally wiped out in the places it invaded but still exists in its native range. This does get way more complicated if the invasive is already extinct in its native range.)

However, I have just outlined a possibility that would make it plausible for monsters not to be invasive species. Let me also outline why I prefer this interpretation. Here is a book conversation between the sorcerer Dorregaray of Vole and Geralt:

“Our world is in equilibrium. The annihilation, the killing, of any creatures that inhabit this world upsets that equilibrium. And a lack of equilibrium brings closer extinction; extinction and the end of the world as we know it. … Every species has its own natural enemies, every one is the natural enemy of other species. That also includes humans. The extermination of the natural enemies of humans, which you dedicate yourself to, and which one can begin to observe, threatens the degeneration of the race.”

“Do you know what, sorcerer?” Geralt said, annoyed. “One day, take yourself to a mother whose child has been devoured by a basilisk, and tell her she ought to be glad, because thanks to that the human race has escaped degeneration. See what she says to you.”

–The Bounds of Reason, ch. 6

This is a, uh, incredibly unsubtle reference to a debate that has been ongoing for decades; Geralt’s stance here is one of the key arguments in opposition to wolf and bear reintroduction. What do we do about large predators that may pose a threat to humans? How do we balance preservation of the ecosystem with the safety of people who have to coexist with these predators?

I can’t fully agree with Geralt, because large predators are integral to the ecosystem, which I value for its own sake and because humans depend on healthy ecosystems. But I can’t fully agree with Dorregaray either, because Geralt is right: human life is valuable and worthy of protecting. This is an issue that India has been running into in the past ten years; as their tiger conservation efforts yield fruit, people become more likely to encounter tigers, and thus more likely to have a bad encounter with a tiger. It’s become a political struggle as rural people who have to actually live with the possibility of a tiger attack come into conflict with urban conservationists who just really want to preserve tigers (& in some incidents, some of those conservationists have been Western, which is a whole additional level of fuckery). The fact is, there isn’t a good answer to this yet! We certainly should not drive tigers, wolves, or any other large predator to extinction, but we also have to figure out a way to keep people safe. It’s something humanity still has to wrestle with.

Under this framing, which CDPR reinforced when they chose to have the Count di Salvaress defend Iocaste as an endangered species while making significant provisions to minimize the damage she could do to human life, there’s far too much baggage attached for me to say yes, monsters should be hunted into extinction. If you’re going to make monsters analogous to wolves, of course I do not think we should get rid of monsters entirely!

And frankly, Geralt doesn’t think so either, despite his hardline stance about monsters that eat humans. Sapkowski isn’t exactly an anti-conservationist; though Dorregaray is shown as out of touch in this passage, at another point the narrative sides with him calling Philippa out on exterminating a species of ermine for her fur collar, and it’s consistently put forth that Geralt’s best quality is that he doesn’t want to perform violence for the sake of it or destroy things without cause, and one of the representations of that is that he refuses to kill endangered species even at cost to himself:

“What should I say about you, who rejects a lucrative proposition every other day? You won’t kill hirikkas, because they’re an endangered species, or mecopterans, because they’re harmless, or night spirits, because they’re sweet, or dragons, because your code forbids it.”

–Eternal Flame, ch. 2

If monsters and other post-Conjunction creatures are invasive species, the nuance in this conversation is flattened, and Geralt’s refusal to kill mecopterans and hirikkas becomes a flaw rather than a virtue. Boring! I also think that one of the strongest themes in the witcherverse is the idea of all monsters being human ills; wraiths are manifestations of hatred, necrophages multiply because of human bloodshed, cursed ones are created out of malice, mages like Alzur and Idarran of Ulivo go out of their way to straight-up create monsters from scratch*, etc. Iocaste attacks humans and takes livestock because the traditional prey of the silver basilisk, roe deer, has been extirpated by human destruction of their habitat. The aeschna in Blood of Elves attacks humans because humans have altered and polluted the flow of the Pontar, hunting the aeschna’s previous food (seals) to extinction. The true monster is the actions of humans. Monsters that appeared unbidden from another dimension into a previously functional ecosystem to invade and cause problems undermines this theme; monsters that are integrated into the ecosystem and subject to the same social and ecological forces as other animals supports it.

* Idarran’s “idr” monsters from Season of Storms absolutely should be eradicated. Did the world not have enough man-eating arthropods, Idarran? Did you really have to mutate horrible new ones and release them in populated areas?? Mages are a scourge, lmfao

Additionally, one of the biggest reasons I felt like I couldn’t actually apply invasion ecology to monsters was that, whether you accept my Conjunction theory as sufficient biological justification for this or not, monsters just don’t really behave like invasive species. It’s hard to explain this because the setting is pretty brief about its ecological details, but aside from the fact that the narrative frames them like just part of the ecosystem of the world, there are never any details like “that type of flower doesn’t exist anymore because giant centipede tunneling destroyed the soil they needed to grow in.” When monsters are the aggressors, their victims are always humans, not the environment or other animals, and again monsters are themselves often treated as victims of human actions.

So I say monsters aren’t invasive species!

Which means that monsters are, regardless of their strange origins, now a part of the Continent’s ecosystem just as much as bears and wolves.

So let’s talk monster ecology.

what do monsters contribute to the ecosystem, if anything?

So, the phrase “contributing to the ecosystem” is actually super loaded, and I want to unpack that before we go anywhere else. Ecosystems are made up of organisms, and organisms interact with and impact ecosystems, but they don’t necessarily contribute to ecosystems! The implication of “contribute” is that it is possible for an organism to not contribute, and it follows from there that some organisms are not useful. This is functionally nonsensical, and also dangerous.

Conservationists talk a lot about “intrinsic value,” which in this context is the idea that we should want to keep species around just because their existence is valuable! Biodiversity is intrinsically valuable. This is important, firstly because I do believe that all species are intrinsically valuable, but also: ecosystems are so enormously complicated that we do not know the full extent of any species or individual organism’s impact, and we can’t predict what the consequences of removing any given species might be. Treating all species as intrinsically valuable is hedging our bets. All organisms affect the ecosystem, because it’s impossible for them not to, and while some species definitely have outsize impact, none of them are “not contributing,” and frankly even if some of them weren’t, it would be the absolute height of human arrogance for us to decide we could tell which ones were useless when we barely even know what most species eat. Mosquitoes are the base of the entire goddamn food chain, and you still get assholes claiming they don’t “contribute anything.” Of course, most people don’t really mean all of these implications when they use the phrase, but I don’t find it useful to talk about what species “contribute,” and avoid using that language if I can!

What I assume you mean by “what do monsters contribute” is a combination of “what roles might monsters play in the ecosystem” and “are monsters actively harmful to the ecosystem, i.e. do they cause loss of biodiversity?”

And this is difficult to answer! As I’ve said, I don’t think monsters are invasive species, and thus don’t harm the ecosystem, though we know that monsters can be harmful to humans. However, when it comes to the role they do play in the ecosystem, there isn’t enough in canon for me to do more than wildly speculate! Also, there are so so many of them, and the role of a hirikka is going to be wildly different from that of a draconid.

Just offhandedly, most of the big predatory monsters can be assumed to fill the same roles as Earth’s big predators, one of the big ones being overpopulation of prey species, which has ramifications throughout the ecosystem. Some of them are canonically ecosystem engineers, or animals that physically alter their environment (think beavers); for instance, shaelmaar and nekker tunneling. Additionally, the big insectoid colonies can’t be relying solely on naturally-occurring caves for their homes; they’ve gotta be constructing some stuff themselves. These tunnels can be repurposed as habitat for other organisms, from giant centipedes to sewant mushrooms. Necrophages, like corpse-eaters in our world, likely limit the spread of diseases from decomposing flesh (and really wouldn’t be as much of an issue if everyone would stop, you know, doing war and mass murder, lmfao). Arachasae use tree trunks and organic plant material to conceal themselves, which is likely contributing to plant reproduction in a few different ways—but the arachasae decorating essay is a different topic that I swear I will finish one day oh my god—

…anyways, feel free to ask about any specific monsters or niches if you’re curious, but if I tried to go into detail with every single potential niche/ecosystem service all of the monsters we know of might fill, we would be here all day!

Let’s talk about a couple specific things you brought up in your second ask.

> theyve probably found a niche in the world by now and can eat anything smaller incl. humans

I mean…maybe! That is, yeah, they’ve definitely settled into niches by now, but feeding is way more complicated and interesting than that.

For instance: orcas can eat basically whatever the fuck they want—orcas are fully capable of bringing down everything from fish to seals to gray whales to great white sharks. But they don’t. In the Pacific Northwest, the resident orca pods almost exclusively eat salmon, while the transient pods largely feed on seals. Orcas are kind of an extreme example, but this is something called resource partitioning and it’s a big part of how animals limit competition with one another and what enables lots of predators to coexist in one place!

We see a big fuck-off dragon thing and we assume that it’ll eat anything it can fit in its mouth, and definitely some predators work like that. But just because an animal is technically capable of eating something and deriving nutrition from it doesn’t mean that it will. Silver basilisks made roe deer the staple of their diet before the destruction of beech forests meant they had to turn to humans—which is a pretty specific dietary restriction when there should be multiple species of deer running around, not to mention everything else a draconid could be killing! And given how many types of draconid there are…I have to assume there’s some kind of resource partitioning going on to prevent them all from conflicting with each other! For instance, if basilisks prefer roe deer, maybe forktails prefer wild goats, while wyverns are mostly kleptoparasitic (stealing other predators’ kills).

And of course, not all monsters eat humans at all; harpies steal from and attack humans, so they’re a dangerous nuisance, but they don’t seem to eat them. And in the books Geralt mentions plenty of monsters which are totally harmless.

So yes, there are lots of things monsters could be eating, but it would strongly depend, and there’s a lot of interesting places one can take monster diets! Netflix decided their strigas only eat specific organs, leaving the rest of the body untouche, & I love that for her. More monsters that need a particular kind of nutrition that leads them to take only specific body parts from some kills!

> because theyve got no natural predators aside from each other and arent hunted by anything but witchers, monsters are just breeding and eating and wldnt that damage the land? or have they made their own like, circle of life or whatever ?

Absolutely—invasive species whose populations rapidly increase once they’re away from their natural predators cause the decline of native species, often by eating natives directly or competing with natives for resources. And in fact, even native species who become overpopulated can seriously damage the ecosystem (see: white-tailed deer in the United States, whose overpopulation has such negative ecological effects that some people argue we should classify them as invasive, even though they have definitely been here this whole time).

However, even if we grant that monsters are invasive, it’s a little more complicated than that for a few reasons!

Despite the apparent preponderance of them in the witcher games, most monsters are supposed to be strongly on the decline, like witchers themselves. Geralt’s profession is falling out of necessity; human development of the Continent is going to be the biggest suppressing factor in monster populations in the future. Monster overpopulation is just canonically not a problem in this universe! But even in the scenario where the Inevitable March Of Civilization isn’t threatening monster populations, there are a lot of factors that could and would limit monster populations.

(TL;DR for this next part: yeah I definitely think they’ve figured out their own little circle of life—the term you’re looking for is ecosystem equilibrium, btw!—& I’m going to take the next 1.2k to talk about how.)

For starters, predation is only one among many limiting factors that affect populations & prevent them from ballooning out of control:

food availability: If there’s not enough food, there’s not enough food! It also matters how adaptable the animal’s diet is—silver basilisks moved from deer to humans, but if the eucalyptus went extinct koalas would not switch to eating cycads.

illness and parasites: Some people argue these are more important than direct predation for limiting populations, and I am often inclined to agree. Basically, if a population becomes very dense, illness and parasites spread more quickly, creating a natural limiter on how many animals can live in any one place. The greater susceptibility of some individuals to illness or parasites also winnows down populations. Non-native species often escape a good portion of their native diseases by moving to a new range—however, given how fast bacteria and viruses evolve, 1,200 years is a pretty decent amount of time for new diseases to arise. Also, just going to drop a link to my treatise on monster parasites here. It’s gross, mind the warning at the start of the post.

mate availability: If only a certain percentage of the population is actually able to reproduce, that’ll eventually bring the total number down. RIP Iocaste’s boyfriend 😔

territory/shelter availability: Animals need a certain amount of space and certain types of spaces to survive, and space isn’t infinite! It again depends on how adaptable an animal is; rats find ways to thrive nearly everywhere, but pandas can only live where there’s bamboo. If there’s not enough space to hide from predators, reproduce safely, store food, and avoid adverse weather, the population again limits itself naturally.

natural disasters: Wildfires, drought, flooding, tsunamis, storms, etc. pick off significant portions of wildlife populations. Disasters are sporadic rather than directly linked to population like most of the other factors but these periodic blows to population and the other impacts of fire or flooding are often integral to the ecosystem (see especially: fire regimes and fire ecology.)

Now let’s talk predation & monsters! (Genuinely, I think predation is one of the most interesting things in ecology; people tend to simplify it down to things eat other things, which—yeah, but there’s so much more going on there!)

First, I wouldn’t underestimate the effects of monsters eating other monsters! Even if it’s rare for a draconid to snatch up a nekker and carry it off, the threat of a draconid doing so can have dramatic impacts; researchers found that just playing the sound of dog barks on a beach stopped raccoons from foraging for crabs for over a month after the barking stopped, leading to an increase in crab populations, even though no raccoons ever encountered a dog. This is called the ecosystem of fear (which as a term is metal as hell) and it theorizes that just the fear of predators can lead to chronic stress for prey animals, decreasing reproduction and making them more susceptible to disease. Maybe draconids in Toussaint eat only a few dozen nekkers a year, but that might cause thousands of nekkers to have fewer offspring or fall to disease. When it comes to ecosystems the direct effect is usually only a small part of the story!

Second, when we talk about a species not having natural predators, we’re usually talking about an animal that would have a predator back in its home range—lionfish, for instance, have plenty of predators in their natural range (the Indo-Pacific), but no natural predators in their invasive range (the Caribbean), so invasive lionfish, suddenly freed of a limiting factor, can run amok. However, a great white shark has, aside from orcas (who do not actually eat white sharks, they’re just assholes sometimes) and occasionally other white sharks, more or less no natural predators anywhere once it reaches maturity, and that’s fine! Lack of predation of great white sharks did not cause their populations to explode and consume the ocean. White sharks are limited by other factors.

So: it is possible that wherever draconids originated (and it’s entirely possible that “draconids” came from multiple different places, tbh) there was something bigger that preyed on them, but it’s not unreasonable to assume they were also apex predators in their previous dimension (I mean…look at them), and that adult draconids were never really preyed on by anything else! It isn’t necessarily an issue for there not to be predators of certain monsters on the Continent.

(Though, of course, we also shouldn’t forget that most apex predators are prey when they’re young—baby white sharks are snack-sized for a lot of fishes, and bear cubs and wolf pups are similarly vulnerable. Based on the size of the eggs you see in TW3 draconid nests, a basilisk is hatched around the size of a little dog, which is the perfect size for small, ballsy predators such as wolverines to sneak into a nest and snap them up—predators such as more wolverines or raptors like eagles and hawks might also come directly for the eggs.)

When it comes to smaller monsters such as nekkers, who likely weren’t apex predators in their original dimensions and would thus be subject to that lack of natural predators—there are usually specific reasons why prey species manage to avoid predation in their introduced range. Lionfish confound Caribbean predators because lionfish are covered with huge poisonous spines that Caribbean predators don’t know how to deal with.

Drowners, on the other hand, are basically just man-shaped fish; they don’t have any adaptations or defenses that would really stump a bear or a wolf. Again, bigger monsters are still probably checking the populations of smaller monsters no matter what, but there’s really no reason a bear couldn’t figure out how to eat a drowner! Unless a monster has a unique defense (e.g. scurver spines), is actively distasteful to eat (rotfiends, probably), or is just difficult to take down (nekkers in packs), most of the non-monster predators* on the Continent will have incorporated various monsters into their diet by now, or suppressed monster populations indirectly with the threat of predation or by competing with them for food. It has been over a thousand years, which is nothing evolutionarily but is still a decent period of time for mammals, who pass hunting techniques down to their babies, to figure out how to eat ghouls—especially if we’re considering that the Continent’s mammals may also be a result of the Conjunction and would thus have to have been just as adaptable as the monsters to establish themselves. And I’ve also actually talked before about how wolves specifically might be preying on necrophages!

* For reference, the non-monster predators are, considering the Continent is more or less Europe, most likely lynxes, brown bears/polar bears (in Skellige), wolverines, foxes, badgers, and a variety of large birds of prey.

So—yes, if monsters were truly overpopulating, then that would damage the ecosystem. However, canon tells us they are definitely not doing that, and there are also many factors that would prevent that from happening!

(Though I will say that some of the reasons white-tailed deer are overpopulated are that we got rid of cougars and wolves and human development creates a lot of extra habitat of the type that deer like. Given that we know many of draconids are for sure in significant danger of going extinct, and the trajectory that Europe’s wolf and bear populations followed in real life, it is possible that the Continent will have to contend with an overpopulation of some of the smaller monsters at some point as they continue to try to eradicate the larger predators, both monster and non-monsters—you think the drowner problem is bad now, wait until the bears are gone and city development has tripled the number of sewers. Yet another of those humans-make-monster-problems-worse things I am fond of in the Witcherverse!)

…whew. that was a lot of words. In conclusion: ecology is really cool & there’s a bunch of ways monsters can fit into it!!

#kaer morhen biology of monsters 101 #and a bit of #witcher book blogging #asks #anonymous