#when i get back my step dad is still not participating so i say 'why don't you just take me to the fucking hospital.'

[volinare]

nightmares

the end of tags is when i woke up

there was also this part in the beginning where i made out with a guy ive met like. a couple times. and then a different guy starting trying to light a fire on the beach but a wave came all the way up to the sand line. I hand to jump over the sea weed as it came back in.

he used to cans and they were both smoldering. eventually he gave up and i was about to just throw them away but a woman was like 'fire safety what are you going to do?' and i was like 'oh right. truman show. and just decided to keep them both and deal with it later

#dream log #saw my dad today #in the nightmare i was at work/school and i had a baby with me #i think it was my cousin #he was like 13 or so and my cop either and i are trying to get him to think about something but he freaks out #we had locked him in this moving room #i get him out cause he's freaking out and that's when he turns into a baby #right before he through up my moms brothers show up #i ash him about the babies early childhood if it was chaotic #they deny it #i start getting more and more frantic saying i needed to get the baby to the hospital because their breathing was getting really shallow #i go out side and my step dad and mom are there #i say i need a ride to the hospital but my step dad keeps putting it off showing instead all these stops he wants to make in the form of #music #he never gets to explaining the definition. he takes so king that i run out into the street (like... 1/8th a mile) and look around to see i #if there's something near by but theres not #the babies foot is in my mouth this while time for some reason #like the whole run. #when i get back my step dad is still not participating so i say 'why don't you just take me to the fucking hospital.' #and he still doesn't participate so i punch him in the face #while im still facing him he retaliates and slaps the back of my head. my mom only orotests to me punching him #i get fed up and walk to my ex in his car who happens to just... be there #and while im walking there my mom makes some c comment like 'wheres your car?' #and im like 'idk.' #and shes like ' you know when i was in highschool some guys parents went and larked his car on the roof of the school to prove a point. #he never saw it again' and i was like... cool i guess. bye #so i get in my exs car and then theres this fade cut to us running through a ware house or something #my ex is talking about how my uncles are okay and one of them confessed to the babies childhood being chaotic #theres this random guy trying to stop us and a blue ladder that i literally saw like ... a couple times a work that's every where #i make a wrong choice at a fork in the path and just know that he's going to cut me off with no way of blocking him this time

[disneyprincemuke]

ღ this barbie has a baby

"wait a second," max blinks, hands in the air to stop the conversation from going any further than it could. the rest of the guys quiet down and slowly turn to him. "are we just going to glaze over the fact that she said she's bringing a baby to the paddocks tomorrow?"

lando furrows his eyebrows. "surely, she's not talking about an actual baby, right?" he looks around for approval. "i just assumed she was talking about a... partner... boyfriend, perhaps?"

mick shrugs, "i always just assumed she was talking about a grown person. she wouldn't bring an infant to the track."

"is no one even concerned that she's only turning 19 this year and you lot assume that she's got a baby?" alex asks, scowling at his friends as he scratches his head. "maybe she knows someone named baby?"

"she calls them 'my baby', though," mick points out as he presses his lips together. "it has to be a person, right?"

"who's betting what?" charles raises his eyebrows. "i think it's neither a partner nor an infant. a car she named baby, maybe."

max furrows his eyebrows, throwing charles a questioning stare. charles just shrugs before looking around the group to get their opinions as well.

"okay, i bet dinner that it's just a friend," alex says. "you're all going to be eating your shit when tomorrow comes."

lando shakes his head. "i still think it's a boyfriend."

"what if it's a girlfriend?"

"fine," lando scoffs, clenching his jaw as he glares at charles from the corner of his eyes, "then i think it's a partner. happy?"

mick scrunches his nose. "i am not participating in a bet about my teammate! and i've seen her car before – it's definitely not called baby."

"don't be such a party pooper," max frowns. "come on, mick, you have to have made some assumption about who or what this baby is. i still think it's an infant."

"she's 18!"

"potato, potato," max waves their concerns off. "so this is all for dinner, right? bet?"

"yeah, bet."

"mick!" she throws her arm into the air at the sight of the german entering the paddocks, waving him to approach her. "come here! i want you to meet baby!"

mick perks up, eyebrows shooting up that he's coincidentally the first face she's seen as their day starts. she's in the middle of a crowd, hands held out ahead of her as he approaches. as the crowd dissipates, he realises that she's got a stroller parked in front of her.

could it actually be an infant? oh, god, suddenly he's very concerned for her as a person in general. how could this have happened?

"this is baby!" she grins, unzipping its cover to reveal two ears and a brown sweater. "my cat!"

his blue eyes jump between the cat and the girl with a pink bow in her hair, unsure what to do with the revelation that baby is a cat. so who exactly is buying dinner tonight? "your cat? baby is a cat?"

"yes!" she beams, reaching down to scratch the feline's chin, who purrs and closes her eyes at the affection. "my dad got me baby two years ago when i finished in the top 10."

"wait," mick looks down at baby again, "is she wearing a louis vuitton sweater?"

"well, she's a sphynx," she frowns, fixing the sweater and pulling it down a little, "she gets cold sometimes." then she takes a step back with a grin, hands held out as she spins around. "and look! we match!"

"why are you spinning– oh, what's this?" lando grins, noticing the way they were conversing before he even passed through the gantry. "oh! what is that?"

"her cat," mick says through gritted teeth, eyes widening and hitting lando softly on the arm to urge him to just keep his opinions to himself. "baby. that's barbie's cat – baby."

"you named your c-" lando scowls softly, dropping his head low as the girl stops spinning. he turns to mick to hide his face away and blinks. "that's not a cat, mate. that's raw chicken."

mick simply shrugs in response. “i know.”

“she’s a sphynx! isn’t she cute?” the girl giggles, tapping lando on the shoulder. “and we’re matching clothes.”

lando stares at her. “this is baby… a cat? not even a person? not even an actual infant?”

she blinks at him. “infant? i’m 18.”

“what are you guys doing obstructing the paddock entrance and wh– hey, what’s this?” alex approaches with his hands grabbing the straps of his backpack.

“it’s baby,” lando grins, blinking hard at his friend. “a cat.”

“oh, how love– oh,” alex cuts himself off as he hunched over and looks into the carrier. he looks at lando and mick. “i imagined a more fluffy cat.”

“is that raw chicken wearing an lv sweater?” max pops up between mick and lando, furrowing his eyebrows.

“raw– she’s a cat,” she says again, pointing at baby with vindiction. “do you need to start wearing glasses?”

max grins with a small nod. he turns slightly to the men next to her. “why does her cat look something i’d find in the poultry section of the grocery store?”

“probably because it is part of the poultry section of the grocery store,” alex mutters, maintaining his grin to appease the young girl standing in front of them.

“oh, what a lovely looking cat!” charles beams, towering over the stroller wide eyed. “can i pet her?”

“yes! this is baby!” she shrieks excitedly, grabbing charles’s shoulder. she holds her arms out. “look — we’re matching clothes!”

charles’s eyes widen along with his smile. “oh! you have to get me some so i can match with you guys one day!”

“fun’s over,” max grumbles under his breath, waving his hands in the air to dismiss themselves. “i’ll see you and your chicken later.”

she furrows her eyebrows. “she’s a cat!”

— bonus

"a chicken?" oscar blinks, scowling slightly at the older men standing before him. "she has a pet chicken?"

"sphynx cat," mick points out with a tired sigh and a roll of his eyes. he turns to max, "you can't keep calling baby a chicken. you'll upset barbie."

max throws his hands in the air. "you should have seen baby! that's not a cat!"

logan tilts his head, eyebrows furrowed. "what's a sphynx cat?" he shrugs when he receives stares from them. "i'm not a cat person."

"those hairless cats," oscar explains. "have you got a picture of this said pet chicken?"

"pet chicken?" fernando had been walking by when he suddenly overhears something of a pet chicken which, in theory, is already such an absurd situation. he just has to know what is going on. "who has a pet chicken?"

"barbie."

he takes a step back. "that's some next-level rich people behaviour. not even lance owns a chicken?"

"sphynx cat," mick corrects again, looking around to ensure that she's not around to hear the guys making fun of her choice of best friend in the form of a pet. "it doesn't even look like a raw chicken, mate, it's a grey cat."

oscar grins. "so raw chicken that's expired?"

"a sphynx cat!" fernando cheers with a soft clap. "how nice! but isn't that a bit..."

"could be worse, really," mick mutters. "she told me earlier she originally wanted a tiger."

"really? what pulled her away from wanting a tiger?" logan asks.

mick sighs. "she read up that it's not very conducive for wild animals to be domesticated. she does, however, contribute tons of money to wildlife charities monthly."

taglist: @33-81 @darleneslane @namgification @happy-nico @nikfigueiredo @localwhoore @angsthology @renarots @elliegrey2803 @cha-hot @cosmoscoffeee @fanficweasley @sugarhoneylemons @aquangxl @omgsuperstarg @strawberryubin @lovecarsgoingvroom @mangotaitai @cherry-piee @ladyladybuggg @lethalvenus @gentlyweeps-world @spilled-coffee-cup @charizznorizz @wcnorris @storminacloud @minkyungseokie @viennakarma @leilanixx @daniellef89x @fezlvr @lavisenri @xcharlottemikaelsonx @ultraviolencesam @selsbackyard @ilove-tswizzle @riddle-me-im-sirius @kindestofkings

#max verstappen x reader #alex albon x reader #charles leclerc x reader #lando norris x reader #mick schumacher x reader #fem!driver #f1 fem!driver #female driver #formula 1 fanfic #disneyprincemuke #disneyprincemuke imagines #disneyprincemuke f1 #disneyprincemuke sd

[ysrjune]

omgomg what abt like reader and sam monroe are really good friends and he like has a thing for her in high dchool but she moves away n they run into eachother in the future AND HE LOOKS LIKE ANAKIN NOW.

(shut the fuck up this is so cute but like sad to me. im gonna sob 💔) also im literally listening to 'into you' by ariana grande, so that's why that's the title, ahaha 😈

Into You ✦

Sam had been a really good friend of yours since sophomore year. You didn't hang out with the same people at all, though. Sam hung out with a couple of druggies and ‘freaks’ while you were paired with ‘normal’ people.

You became friends with Sam because you had the same p.e class with him. He was often left alone and in the corner after walking 2 daily laps. Some guys even made fun of him, but Sam would always ignore them. Even your own girlfriends would make fun of him! You always felt bad for that poor boy.

So, one day you left your friends after walking 2 laps and went to the corner that Sam was always at. He didn't notice you at first, but once he did, he looked nervous. Why was a girl going up to him? The worse scenarios were going through his head. Maybe someone dared you to do that thing were you go up to a random kid and ask them out and if they say yes, you laugh and explain it was a dare.

When you finally stood in front of him, he glanced up anxiously and looked back down, waiting for you to just get it over with. “Hi, Sam.” You sweetly greeted with that charming smile of yours. He only nodded his head to your greet.

“Look, I know you're probably scared im gonna say or do something mean, but please trust me when I say I wanna be your friend.” and sat next to him. He was stunned at what you had said. You were so pretty and had a bunch of friends. Why do you wanna be his?

Sam messed with the stud inside his lip, making his labret move from the outside. “Just cause you feel bad doesn't mean you have to be my friend.” He softly spoke. Yeah, that was the big part of it, but you also believed everyone should have a friend.

It's not like Sam was completely friendless, but he was left out in a lot of his classes that his friends weren't in, and you wanted to change that. “Sam, I wanna be your friend because I think there's more to you than what people think.” He finally looked at you but still kept an emotionless expression. “Yeah, okay.”

And from then on, you bothered him every simple day during pe. You made him walk with you, run the miles with you, literally participate im everything in that class. He acted annoyed at first (which really, he loved the attention), but as time went by, he came around.

Sometimes, you'd ditch your friends to go inside the hallways or classrooms to spend lunch with Sam. You two became so close that he let you meet his mom, dad, step-dad, and little brothers.. and boy, did they love you.

The point has been made. You're close friends. Junior year was the year his biological dad died, but you helped him through it all. Especially with his drug problem. Since the last week of sophomore year, he's had a crush on you. At first, he tried to brush it off, telling himself that it's never gonna happen and to just keep you as a friend. You were the only one who genuinely cared anyway.

Sam had dated some girl named Alyssa for a while, which you hated. She was such a dirty hoe.. there were rumors that she kissed Sam's dad and that she told Josh to lie about never having sex with her, but come on, no one really believes that.

You tried to be happy for Sam, and you were for a little bit until Alyssa had a cow over you being too close with Sam. As a girl who's experienced the same, you understood and stopped talking to him for a while. Only giving him smiles and waves when you'd see him around.

What you didn't know is that when you stopped talking to him, he was really mad at Alyssa. “Alyssa, I love you, but you have to understand that she's the only one who really cared for me before you. I can't just stop talking to her like that. If I never met her, I'd probably would have already been dead because of how fucked up on drugs I was.” But she clearly didn't care.

She was so damn jealous that she wasn't the one who helped him through all that. Not only was she mad over that, but she was upset that you were prettier. Inside and out. She was so toxic with Sam, and everyone knew. His friends told him to just break up with her, but he didn’t want to. That poor boy was too scared.

At the end of 11th grade, he finally broke up with her, though, even though it was quick. All he said was that he was unhappy, and she used him for attention and that it was over. She didn't get a say in it because he walked away right after. And who did he immediately go to? You. He craved you so bad.

You had a boyfriend now, and he was so pissed. That should have been him. He was just too scared to say anything. Always seeing you hugging and kissing all over him was gut-wrenching. That whole breakup was right when the bell rang after school, so he planned to go to his house to freshen up and talk to you.

He knocked on the door around 6 in the afternoon just in case you were eating dinner at 4-5. Your mom opened the door, greeting him with a big hug since she hasnt seen him in so long. Let's just say things were awkward at first between you two at first, but after explaining everything, it was fine.

You gushed to him about Jesus, your boyfriend. Talking about how sweet and handsome he is.. Sam acted happy for your sake, but ooh, he was so jealous.

Stuff went back to normal, and you two became close again really quick. Sam met Jesus, and it went pretty well. Even if Sam was jealous/mad, he saw that Jesus really liked you and seemed like a good guy. What relieved him even more was that Jesus didn't mind your friendship.

“Oh, yeah. I had a homie who was on drugs and stuff. He didn't have anyone to help him out like that, so it's chill that you helped him out like that. I'd never get mad over him wanting to hang out, you know?” Your boyfriend explained one time when he was over.

You lasted with Jesus for a couple of months until the last few weeks of school because you were going to an out of state college. Sam didn't know that was the reason, though. He just saw it as a chance to finally confess. You two were sitting in an empty classroom together at lunch.

“Sam, we need to talk.” You speak softly. “We are talking.” He replies, eating a chip. “No, like. I have something serious to tell you.” His heart dropped. Were you gonna drop him? Did he do something wrong?

“What is it..” You friend replies with an anxious look plastered on his face. “I'm moving after graduation. Like, to an out of state college.” One part of Sam was happy, and the other was devastated. He finally got you back, and now you're leaving?

“Oh, um,” He looked to the floor. “That's great. Uh—not in the sense that, like, I want you to leave, but, you know. It's great that you have this opportunity.” He tried his best not to cry but failed. You two spent the whole time crying to each other, saying how much you'll miss each other.

But you'll keep in touch.. right?

—

You and Sam were bawling by the end of it. He was probably even sadder because it's not like he can tell you he likes.. no. Loves you, because what's the point?

He went along with you to the air port, saying goodbye. Hugging you hard and placing a kiss on your head. “Have a good time, okay? Have fun.” Sam says, eyes all red and droopy.

You nod, kissing his cheek and leaving a faint mark. Before he knew it, you were on that plane and gone. You swore that you were gonna call and visit for the holidays, but guess what! You didn't.

Spring break? No. Thanksgiving? Christmas? His birthday? Nope. He tried calling one time, but the number was out of service. That was the last straw. He was so mad at you.

He got over it after a year or so, too. He pushed himself to be more social and actually go out. His appearance changed, too. No more eyeliner or dressing in dark clothing. He even dyed his hair brown.

—

He kinda forgot about you since even after your four years at college were up, you stayed. You forgot about him too. Your new friends kept you busy all the time, along with your job.

Your look didn't change as drastically as Sam's. Your style of clothing changed a little, and so did your attitude. Back then, you were such a goody two shoes. Now, you go out amd party and break the rules more often. Nothing totally illegal, but you get it.

You still talked to your parents every night. They asked so many times to come visit you because they're getting old (a little dramatic, but it was still true) so you finally said yes after 6 years of not seeing them.

Your cousin had picked you up from the airport, thrilled to see you. She was chatting it up and telling you about everything that has been going on since you left. Then it hit you. Sam Monroe, that emo boy you loved so much probably still lived here. Your cousin knew him back then, too, so maybe she knows what hes been up to.

“Oh, girl. He's like, a totally different person. Dyed his hair, became more talkative.. like, literally. A bunch of girls from high school like him cause they realized how handsome he is, I guess.” She keeps babbling on about him to you. He changed a lot, it seems. But there was no way you were gonna try and go look for him. You knew he was more than likely mad at you for not calling and visiting.

Your parents had invited a bunch of people over for a welcome home party. They were all in the backyard, though. So, you had time to get ready. Sam was left in your mind while you showered and got ready. How different could he really look?

After you get ready, you make your way to the backyard, greeting aunts and uncles, cousins, and family friends, but most importantly, your parents. You were smothered by your mom's kisses and practically crushed by your dads hugs. They missed their little girl.

You drank with your cousins and played party games while the older adults watched and laughed at you, losing almost every round, causing you to face the penalty and take a shot.

By the end of the night, you were so drunk. No memory of what happened that night when you woke up in the morning. Confused in your old room, you groan and whine. A headache was bothering you, and you felt super weak, but you remembered that your dad wanted you to go to the hardware store with him to pick up a few tools.

You knew he would offer to just let you stay and rest, but you haven't seen him in so long and wanted to spend as much time with him as you could. With another groan, you force yourself to get up and shower. You didn't even bother to put on makeup or do your hair.. not even to wear a cute outfit.

Sweats with a baggy t-shirt and a pair of slippers was your choice. Your mom gave you something quick to eat before leaving with dad. The store was close by, so the ride there wasn't too long. Dad asked about everything you did over where you live.

Ex boyfriends, the classes you took, and a lot of other things were talked about, even when you got off the car and entered the store. You talked his ear off while he was looking through the aisles. One thing about dad was that he's never at the hardware store just for what he actually needs.

Normally, he'd tell you to shut up with all your talking because, well.. you're a chatterbox. but this was an exception since he hasn't seen you for a long time. Half an hour passed by before he asked you to go get something for him in aisle 12.

You looked and looked around that aisle for what seemed like forever trying to find a specific tool dad asked for. A groan escapes your throat, and before you know it, you are asked a question by a worker.

“Need any help, ma’am?” His voice was soft and calm. You turned around to see a very tall, muscular man with tanned skin, brown hair, and piercing blue eyes. He was very handsome. So handsome that he left you speechless, and it was sort of weirding him out.

“Ma’am.” He repeated himself, looking slightly uncomfortable. You knock out of your trance and visibly cringed at yourself. “Sorry, um. Yes, I need help.” You respond with a nervous tone. “Yeah? Okay, what do we need?”

“A shovel.” You reply, trying to avoid eye contact. The man laughed a little, shaking his head. “Well, this definitely isn't the aisle where you'll be finding those.” Great, now you look stupid. Did dad send you to the wrong one on accident? Who knows. You just felt really stupid.

“Come on, n/n, I'll show you.” He says and starts walking away. It took you a couple of seconds to realize that he had just called you your nickname. What the fuck? How does he know that? Wait.

No, there's no way. This guy looks nothing like the one you had in mind. “Here ya are.” He interrupts your thoughts. “Oh, thank you,” You squint to look at his name tag. It was him. “Sam.”

“Did it really take you that long to realize?” He snickered and set his hands on his hips. “But I guess I can't blame you, though, huh? I look nothing like I did when you left.” Of course, he had to add that last part. Now you were sure he was pissed about what happened.

“Yeah..” was all you replied while literally checking him out. he didn't mind it. He knew he was handsome. His confidence grew a lot while you were away. “So, anyway. I'd recommend this one.” He quickly changed the topic.

—

He talked to you for a little while in that same spot. About why you left and why you didn't call back—but he was so mature about it. He wasn't angry or sad.. he was just asking like if it was normal. He even walked you back to where your dad was at, and said hi.

It made you smile to hear him ask for your new number. “Just so you know, I'm taking you out tonight, and you can't say no. Pick you up at 8.” He smiles at you. You shake your head and smile again. “Okay, see you then.”

—

errrm part 2 when 🤔

tags, @heartsforanakin @sockiess @radiantvader @anakinstwinklebunny @lunalitva @lvrfay3 🎀

#hayden christensen #sam monroe #life as a house #sam monroe x you #sam monroe x reader #sam monroe imagine #sam monroe smut #i love sam monroe #sam monroe fanfiction #hayden christensen fanfic #hayden christensen star wars #anakin skywalker smut #rots anakin #anakin skywalker x you #anakin smut #anakin skywalker x reader #anakin skywalker

[thisblogisaboutabook]

Bad Idea, Right? - Part 4

Eris x Reader/Azriel’s Daughter

Azalea is back at it again with the snooping. Azriel being a dad. Rhys being Rhys. Reader and Eris are hot.

Part 2 Part 3 Part 5

Warnings: Smut, Language, 18+ MDNI

They say it’s the quiet ones you have to watch out for. While I get the sentiment, I’m inclined to disagree. Quiet is fine - good, even. I like quiet. It’s the quiet ones with an adorable face and a big fuckin’ mouth that are the problem.

The tall red haired male walked out of Uncle Rhysie’s office and in a quiet voice threatened him, “If the Shadowsinger or his daughter are made aware, I have every right to retaliate accordingly.”

The two males strode down the corridor too quickly to notice the tiny, sneaky feet taking off down toward the opposite end - back toward the crowd.

“Daddy!” Azalea yelled breaking Azriel out of his brooding long enough to swoop his youngest daughter off her feet. “What is it, sweetheart?”

“That guy that was with sissy! He threatened Uncle Rhys!”

“Where is he baby? Do you know?” Pointing her little index finger she gasped, still catching her breath from running down the long corridors, “down that hallway!”

Azriel’s shadows immediately shot out down the hallway breaking off from eachother to search down any corridors they may have gone down after leaving the study, finding Rhys in under a minute. Azriel appeared at his side only a moment later. “Where is he?” the spymaster growled. “I’m going to kill him.”

Rhys put a hand on his brothers shoulder. “You’ll do no such thing.”

“This isn’t time for your diplomatic bullshit, Rhys.” Azriel’s voice a low, dangerous tone. “He’s assaulted my daughter and threatened my High Lord. I have every right to retaliate accordingly.”

Rhys only shook his head, unphased by his brother’s rage. “No, Azriel. I know it’s a less than desirable situation, as a father, your brother, and Y/N’s uncle, I understand your rage. Especially given the unsavory history between Eris and our family.” The High Lord shrugged, loosing a breath and shaking his head. A rare break in his unruffled stature, a drop of his guard that only those closest to him would ever see. “But - your daughter is a consenting adult and a willing participant in this…dynamic between the two.”

Azriel started but couldn’t form words before he continued. “I’m not sure why Azalea thought Eris threatened me but I assume she overheard the words between Eris and I once we stepped past the wards on the study where we discussed the terms of a bargain.”

“What. Bargain?” Azriel ground out.

“The details of the bargain are between Eris and I but I assure you that your daughter has not been assaulted and I am not in any danger.”

Azriel gaped, quickly regaining his composure before rebutting. “How are you so sure? He’s a snake, Rhys. His word means nothing. His sense of loyalty only lay in self-preservation. He’d tell you anything to save his ass.”

“Eris,” His brother replied - taking on the grating tone of a High Lord. The tone that only came out when he was about to pull rank. “Has been a valuable ally in recent decades and has given us no reason to distrust him during that time. I’m not about to put our court at the risk of conflict with the Autumn Court and severing all diplomatic ties over who he’s sleeping with, Y/N included.”

“So my daughter is just a pawn in your political game?”

The ground rumbled as the strike hit its mark. “I remind you that she is still my niece, my niece who I love dearly. You would be wise to remember that I am still your High Lord and to consider your next words carefully as it seems you are implying I’m not capable of making sound decisions for my court.”

“There is no question regarding your court decisions, Rhysand. But what about our family? She is my DAUGHTER and I will protect her by whatever means necessary. Once again, I ask, how do you know Eris is not just covering his ass?”

“I will speak no further on this other than telling you that Eris has repeatedly gained her verbal consent - I was allowed into his mind to hear it for myself.”

Azriel stilled. Words once again failing him. Rhys felt guilty for putting his brother through this. Truly, he understood his upset. Azriel’s daughters meant everything to him, the gods knew he and Elain had been through hel and back in bringing them into this world - praying to the mother and any other gods that would listen for the chance to be parents.

In Azriel’s eyes, Y/N would always be the little girl who used to sneak out of bed late at night, climbing into his lap and begging for him to sing to her and her own restless shadows. He cherished the countless nights she’d fall asleep on his lap while he went over reports in his study, humming tunes that his own mother sang to him during what little time they had together during his childhood.

Perhaps the instinct to protect his girls from the ugliness of the world he’d grown up in clouded his vision, perhaps he was being overprotective, but he couldn’t let it go. This was the male who left Morrigan behind to bleed and suffer alone after being discarded like waste by her hateful family.

Sure, Eris and Mor had worked things out after finally having a one-on-one conversation fifteen years ago. And sure, maybe the reasoning behind it was logical and his side made him less of a bastard than initially thought, but…. He was still the male who had been engaged to Mor five damned centuries ago, and now he’s sleeping with-

The thought made Azriel’s gut churn as he finally broke from his contemplative silence, voice cracking to the point that his brother truly pitied him and the situation at hand. “She’s only twenty-five years old, Rhys….”

Rhys sighed, his voice softening into a more empathetic tone. “I know, Az. But she’s older than Feyre or Elain were when we pursued them, the same age Nesta was when her and Cassian- What I mean is that they were all perfectly capable of making the choice for themselves. Do you think they regret it?”

The rhetorical question lingered in the air before Rhys continued. None of the Archeron’s regretted their decisions. Cauldron knows that Azriel still couldn’t fathom why Elain chose to love him through even the good times let alone the worst of them. Her patience a soothing balm to his melancholy. He’d never stop being grateful for Elain, his daughters, the joy they could spark within the darkened depths of his soul.

“You are a great father, Az.” Rhys spoke gently. “Some of the hardest moments of parenting involve letting go. Freeing our children to live and learn from their own decisions. We’ve always believed in giving a choice, haven’t we? Shouldn’t that extend to the ones the Mother herself blessed us with to guide and nurture? Y/N has flourished into a headstrong, brilliant, take-no-shit female. You can trust her to care for herself.”

Rhysand’s reasoning seemed to placate Azriel, if only momentarily, though the agitation of his shadows betrayed the neutral expression on his face. “I trust her, Rhys. It’s Eris that I cannot bring myself to trust. What happens when he breaks her heart?”

“You’ve got wings, brother. If he breaks her heart and everything comes crashing down, you’ll be there to catch her.”

Azriel let out a contemplative sigh.

“I’ll always catch her.”

His brother’s hand reached out, resting on his shoulder with a firm yet reassuring grip. The newly formed tattoo from his bargain peeking out from under his collar.

“So, you’re really not going to tell me about this bargain?”

Rhys gave a half smile, shaking his head. “Sorry, brother. Even the greatest spymaster in Prythian’s history won’t pry it from me.”

“We’ll see.” Azriel murmured, the tiniest bit of humor lacing his words. “Well, I better get back to Elain and Azalea. If Elain needed a drink after the incident on the balcony, she’ll certainly need one after leaving her alone to endure Azzy’s incessant questioning on ‘sissy and the fire guy’.”

“Future Spymaster” Rhys mused.

“Ugh.” Azriel groaned, roughly running a palm over his forehead, threading scarred fingers through his raven-black hair. “Don’t give her any ideas.”

————————

“Fuck! Eris! Right there. Please, oh gods - please!”

With legs thrown back and my calves on either side of my head, Eris was fucking relentless.

“I like seeing you this desperate.” he cooed, rutting into me with a particularly hard thrust.

He’d edged me for an hour - an hour that felt like eternity - the sweet promise of oblivion so close to my grasp just to be torn away over and over again.

“Eris, please.”

His lips pressed softly against my temple, a stark contrast to his rough, punishing thrusts. “I know, baby. I know.” His heated whisper caressing the shell of my ear, shooting chills through me.

“So proud of you. Taking me so- Fuck!” He ground out through gritted teeth. My inner walls tightening around him in warning of another impending climax - a desperate plea for release. “You’re so. fucking. tight.”

Tears streaked my eyes from pleasure and the desperation for release. His pace becoming staggered as he loosed his reign on the punishing rhythm he’d set. His groans a fucking melody to my ears, a symphony of worship dedicated solely to me and for only my ears.

His thumb found my clit, hitting that perfect rhythm he’d memorized so well. I’d fall over the edge in no time if he’d allow it. “Cum with me, pretty girl.”

My eyes rolled back into my head at the command.

Fucking finally.

A little added pressure from his thumb and a whispered praise later - I was an incoherent mess of moans beneath him. The sounds of my climax and his groans filled the room, his cock twitching in a battle of dominance against the clenching of my inner walls, his release filling me so completely that I never wanted emptied of him.

We laid in reverent silence with his head buried in the crook of my neck, our chests heaving in a come down of the euphoria that had just torn through us.

Eris finally broke the silence, amber eyes meeting mine. “You are- that was.. Fuck- incredible.”

A smile quirked the edges of my lips, “It was.”

I paused, taking in the gorgeous male above me before gripping his ass and digging my nails in.

“Never fucking edge me like that again.”

Eris only chuckled darkly in response.

—————————————-

Eris

An internal war raged within Eris. The gentle rise and fall of Y/N’s chest only interrupted by the occasional snore, which she insisted she NEVER does, clued him in to the fact that she was deeply asleep. Even her shadows had settled in without stirring.

When she’d first spent the night with him two years ago, she never slept like this. Her rest was light and fitful, shadows on alert.

Around a year in, her shadows began settling themselves in at night, and six months ago he heard the first little snore fall from her lips. He chuckled to himself before his heart filled with contentment at the fact that she felt safe enough in his arms to let her armor fall.

An intrinsic part of him wanted to remind her to always be on alert. For fucks sake, she was the beloved niece of a High Lord, the daughter of the infamous Spymaster of the Night Court, and a coveted Shadowsinger herself. Throwing Eris into the picture only complicated things for her more. If the wrong people laid their hands on her - fuck, he couldn’t even think of it without the heat beneath his skin turning boiling.

Yet - he knew she was capable, raised surrounded by warriors in every sense of the word, some of the most powerful beings in Prythian’s history, who knew damned well that there would always be a target on their back. He was well aware from his own upbringing to always keep his guard up and to never be quick to trust. Hell, his own father didn’t even love him.

Throw in the fact that she was raised by a loving family - the emphasis on protecting herself would have been immense, exhausting in its own right.

For now, he’d quietly revel in this gift of trust she’d subconsciously given him. The fire coursing through him now settling into that of contentment, radiating from him into her. She didn’t need another reminder of the dangers of her very existence. For now, he could give her the gift of comfort and peace in return for her trust.

She’d effectively ruined all other females for him, whether she knew it or not. Hell, there had been no other females in these two years. When she looked at him she saw him as Eris and not the High Lord of cunning whose mask he wore - just as he saw her as Y/N, not merely a descendant of a family with an infinite number of ways to kill him if he broke her heart. Not to mention the ways she could brutally end someone who hurt her if she so pleased.

No, in the confines of this room they were Eris and Y/N, and only that. He couldn’t help but press a kiss of adoration to her shoulder at the thought. The love coursing through him for the female in his arms a thing of secret, lovely beauty that he’d keep to himself for a while longer.

—————————-

Y/N

I’d managed to sneak home unnoticed the following night - thoroughly sated after Eris insisted he make up for each orgasm he’d denied me the previous evening. Fortunately, nobody noticed my arrival home yet, effectively avoiding any awkward conversation that I was not yet ready to face.

Of course, I should’ve known that someone would realize I’d made it home.

Quietly sneaking in my door Azalea came into my room.

“What are you doing up, Azzy?” I asked.

“I missed you sissy. Daddy said you were with Nyx.”

“I was, we went out with Adish and I stayed at his apartment afterward.”

She sniffed the air, crinkling her nose. “You don’t smell like you were with Nyx.”

“You sure put the nose in nose-y” I laughed.

“Daddy was mad last night. He doesn’t like the fire guy.”

Sighing at my little sister’s pertinence I replied, “I know Azzie. Father doesn’t like any males that I…” choosing my next words carefully to avoid any further damning questions, I continued. “…spend time with.”

“Did he…. Um, fuck you?”

“Azzy!!! You can’t ask people that and that’s not nice to say. How do you even know what that means?”

She looked down at her feet, brows furrowed.

“I overheard Mommy and Daddy talking late last night and dad said he wanted to kill Eris for fu- um, doing that to you.”

She paused. “What does that mean anyway?”

Good gods. My little sister. “Azalea, you’ve got to stop snooping on everyone.” I paused, once again choosing my words carefully. “It just means that we spend time together without being around other people.”

“Oh! Like Nyx and Tamlin’s daughter.”

I put my face in my hands. “I don’t even want to know how you know that - but please keep it to yourself. That’s nobody’s business but Nyx and Layla’s. Okay?”

Azalea paused, considering. “Fine…”

“Make a bargain with me that you won’t tell.”

“Daddy said we can’t make bargains anymore because the tattoos hurt.”

“Shit, fine. I forgot. Pinky promise then?”

Azalea smiled. “I pinky promise. Can I sleep in your room tonight?”

“Yeah, sissy. You can.”

We lay there in silence for a few minutes before Azalea said, “Did you know that the fire guy and Uncle Rhys made a bargain?”

“Eris, Azzie. His name is Eris. Yeah. I saw his tattoo. He said it was just about something political.” I stuck my tongue out for emphasis. “Boring High Lord stuff.”

“Is that why he told Uncle Rhys that if he told you or daddy that he would re-um, retaliate?”

My heart jolted at that. Anger rising in me to the point of nausea.

What. The. Fuck.

“Don’t worry about it. Let’s get some sleep.”

I did not sleep that night.

————————————————————————

A/n: Thank you to everyone who has been reading this series! I have been having fun with it and the comments you all leave have been very entertaining. This will not be the last part - I’m on the fence of how long I’d like for it to be. Do you all prefer longer or shorter series fics?

Also, I chose Elriel as the parents in this series because the Aunts and Uncles dynamic fit better with the storyline. Low key, I also wonder if Gwyn could be related to the Vanserras and that would be… awkward. I will not take a stance on Elriel vs. Gwynriel because both are lovely females deserving of happiness, whether that happiness lay with Azriel or not, I don’t care. I just want everyone to be happy, ok??? Don’t yell at me. Ok, love you all. Xoxo

Tags: @b0xerdancer @myheartfollower @ang-taylorsversion @acotarobsessed @uniquecolorwizard

#sarah j maas #acotar #a court of thorns and roses #azriel #a court of silver flames #a court of frost and starlight #a court of mist and fury #a court of wings and ruin #azriel shadowsinger #eris x oc #eris x reader #eris vanserra #acotar smut #daddy!azriel #daddy!eris #two totally different definitions of daddy #elain archeron #rhysand #azriels daughter

[maochira]

dad!ego's child meets the bllk team? theyre not a soccer player and are actually very not into it </3 thanks!

I have to enter my dad!Ego era again jskjfh (I never left it I just write so little for him lately I'M SORRY)

Synopsis: You never cared much for soccer and don't understand much about it, but of course you still want to be on your father's side during the U-20 match - that includes meeting the Blue Lock Eleven before that.

Requests open! - dad!Ego masterlist

Tags: gn!Ego's kid!reader, aged up Ego so him having a teenager kid makes sense

For months, you listened to your father talk about Blue Lock and the players, even though you rarely understood anything about it. During that time, you picked up the names of a few players like Isagi, Bachira and Rin, but you don't even know what they look like. All you know are the bits and pieces of information your brain picked up from your father's rambles whenever you had dinner together.

Despite your lack of interest in soccer, you immediately knew you wanted to come along to watch the U-20 match. Not necessarily because you were interested in seeing the match, but mostly to be at your father's side.

The entire time, you don't really know where you're going. You're either following Anri or your father wherever they go and try to not be a bother. And then, you find yourself in the Blue Lock Eleven's locker room.

At first, none of the players notice you because you're hiding behind Anri and everyone is focused on the speech Ego is holding, but when he's done with that, you're just kind of standing there, leaning against the wall and trying to be as unobtrusive as possible.

The first player to approach you is Karasu. As he walks towards you, you can feel yourself getting slightly nervous. Because of what your father has told you about the Blue Lock participants, you feel rather intimidated by all of them. "Aren' a bit too young to be an assistant?" Karasu asks as he takes a step closer to you.

"Oh uh... I'm not an assistant," you let out a little nervous laugh, "I'm just here because of my dad."

"Oh? And who is that?"

You gesture over to Ego, which has Karasu speechless for a moment. He takes an even closer look at you. "You don't really look like him." Karasu shrugs, but then you move some hair that's fallen in front of your eyes to the side and Karasu immediately catches the only thing you have in common with your father, appearance-wise at least.

"YO GUYS EGO HAS A KID!" Karasu yells through the entire room which immediately catches everyone's attention. Well, everyone's except Rin's. He doesn't seem to care at all.

Besides that, everyone has the same reaction: surprise. The thought of Ego having a kid that's their age has never crossed their minds.

The next person to walk up to you is Otoya. And he immediately starts flirting with you which gets him a death stare from Ego. That's not what makes Otoya back off, though. It takes Karasu to drag him away from you - which you're really thankful for because, on top of being nervous, you donn't want to get flustered as well. You just don't want to embarrass yourself in front of the Blue Lock team.

Bachira and Isagi are the next ones who talk to you, in the hope they can make you feel more comfortable after Otoya tried to flirt with you.

"Which soccer position do you play? Are you a striker as well?" Isagi asks, assuming you play soccer - which isn't a bad assumption, considering who your father is.

"Oh eh... I don't play soccer. I barely know anything about it." You answer with another nervous laugh.

Isagi already feels bad for making that assumption and he's about to apologize, but before he gets to say something, Barou, who's standing a few meters away but heard what you said, asks in a mocking tone: "Why are you here, then?"

This makes you feel even more nervous. Looking at Barou, he intimidates you more than the othee players, so you don't know how to defend yourself. Luckily Bachira does that for you.

"Oh come on, they can still watch us play!" He says to Barou before turning to you with a bright smile that quickly lets your nervosity fade and makes you feel more comfortable.

You really want to continue the conversation Isagi and Bachira tried to start with you, but before you come up with something to say, the team has to go outside because the match is about to start.

A bit later you find yourself sitting with the players who don't get to play right now. You wanted to sit next to Anri, but somehow ended up with the rest of the Blue Lock players.

The one you're sitting next to just happens to be Barou. Occasionally, you hear him mumble little complains about what's going on in the match and how it would go much better if he was on the field right now.

"I bet you'd do great..." You look at Barou with a soft smile in attempt to lighten his mood a little bit.

"Oh shut up." Barou responds without looking in your direction at all. "You don't even know anything about soccer."

"But I just said you'd do great-"

"I'd do much better than 'great'," Barou's eyes wander over to you with a condescending gaze for a moment before he returns his eyes to the field.

"Tell me," you continue talking, "What would you do if you were on the field right now?" Even though he still intimidates you, something about Barou is just so interesting, it makes you want to talk to him more.

Without any hesitancy, Barou goes on a whole rant about what he'd do on the field. You don't understand most of it, but still listen closely to everything he says. It doesn't take long until some of the other players who sit with you join in and you find yourself stuck in a conversation with them.

They're mostly rambling and ranting, but the more they talk the more you find yourself understanding what exactly they mean.

And as odd as it is, you feel like you want to get to know the Blue Lock players better. Not because of soccer, but because you want to know what they are like as people. Maybe your father will let you enter the players' areas in the facility some time so you can get to know them better.

Taglist (sign-up link): @kaineedstherapy12, @gojosorrygeto, @luvcalico, @truegoist, @st4rcheese

#💟 maochira writes #bllk #blue lock #blue lock x reader #bllk x reader #blue lock x you #bllk x you #ego jinpachi x reader #jinpachi ego x reader #ego jinpachi x you #jinpachi ego x you #karasu x reader #tabito karasu x reader #otoya x reader #eita otoya x reader #isagi x reader #yoichi isagi x reader #bachira x reader #meguru bachira x reader #barou x reader #shouei barou x reader

[tmpestuous]

Like I Want You

part one.

summary: you and bucky have been best friends your entire life and it’s never been anything but platonic. so why do things get so bad when he gets a new girlfriend?

pairing: college!bucky x reader

word count: 4.4k

warnings: fluff, angst, childhood friends to lovers, female!oc, sexual references, mentions of grief and accidents, mentions of dead parents, bucky is down horrendous

a/n: here is me trying to convince myself not to only write avenger!reader fics that i have too many ideas for… i kinda hate this but it’s okay

"sometimes i wish you knew,

but i disguise the truth.

i say i'm happy, but i'm still stuck on us."

After a long and exhausting week, you were more than grateful that it was finally the weekend. Midterms during the Fall were always the worst–you felt they might have been even worse than finals week with how drained you were and no short vacation in your near future. 

All you wanted to do was head back to your dorm, lay down, and relax. But it seemed like the universe always had different plans for you than you expected. A quick six knocks on your door and you knew it was Bucky. Though you were always excited to see him, you didn’t plan on seeing him so soon after a midterm that felt like it drained your entire soul away.

Nonetheless, you eagerly made your way to the door. Bucky always knew how to lift your spirits and you were sure this time would be no different.

You and Bucky had been destined to become best friends since before either of you were born. Your parents were very close to each other and having kids the same age only meant they made sure your friendship was in your cards.

What they hadn’t anticipated is just how close you and Bucky would be. You did just about everything together. When you were kids, you’d be in the same clubs. In elementary school, you both went to swimming classes together. In middle school, you’d joined the debate club while Bucky started participating in sports and you’d be right there to support him. He’d support you in your debate competitions. The same routine continued in high school, and now college. 

Bucky was your support system and you were his. Of course, you both had your families who were just as supportive in everything you both desired to participate in, but nobody understood you both like you understood each other. When Bucky first woke up after his accident that resulted in him losing his left arm, you were the first person he asked for. You stayed with him throughout his entire recovery process and getting used to his prosthetic. He was there for you when your dad died and you had a rough grieving process. He was sympathetic to your loss, having lost his own dad, and helped you through every step of it all. 

Nobody had you like Bucky had you. You were like each other’s lifeline, and nothing was gonna change that.

You and Bucky were both very comfortable with each other; you’ve slept in the same bed, given each other forehead and cheek kisses plenty of times, and you both even decided to be each other’s first kiss to somehow avoid heartbreak and embarrassment. However, you never attributed it to romance and you were sure Bucky didn’t either. You’ve had your fair share of relationships and so had he. 

So why was it so shocking to open the door and see Bucky with his arm around a girl?

“Hey, bunny,” he said with a grin on his face, but you were more centered on the girl leaning her head on his shoulder and how you were usually the one doing so. 

“Y/n?” Bucky said in a concerned tone, snapping you out of the weird trance you put yourself in. “You okay?”

“Yeah,” you said confidently, though your head was very much in a daze. “I’m okay. Hi, honey. I wasn’t expecting you so early.” You said, not directly addressing the girl under his arm.

“I had class and was walking this way anyway since Alina, here, lives in this building,” he said as he smiled down at the girl next to him. “Alina, this is Y/n, my best friend.”

“Hi, it’s so nice to finally meet you,” she said while shifting her gaze to look at you, extending her hand for a shake that you politely participated in. “James has told me so much about you.”

“It’s nice to meet you too,” you said, though you were still slightly confused about the current situation. “Are you Bucky’s… girlfriend? Friend?”

Bucky eyed you with furrowed brows and widened eyes like you had embarrassed the living shit out of him. Alina shrugged her shoulders playfully.

“I guess you could say I’m his girlfriend,” she replied, though you could tell from her tone that she definitely wasn’t sure. “James and I have been seeing each other for a few months now, maybe it’s time to make it official.”

“Oh, that’s nice,” you said, crossing your arms across your chest. “Maybe I’ll see you around the building more often now that you’re a familiar face?” 

You were definitely trying to be friendly, though all of the questions you were about to ask Bucky were floating through your mind like letters in some alphabet soup. She seemed nice, but there was something weirdly off about how you felt about her and Bucky. You were a bit hurt that after “a few months”, this was the first you were hearing of her. Not to mention Bucky’s metal arm, the one he held so much disdain for, was wrapped around her like it was second nature to him.

“Yeah, definitely!” Alina responded to your suggestion with a smile. “I should probably head back to my suite now, I have a lot of work to catch up on.” She turned to Bucky and gave him a long hug, but Bucky was staring right at you in confusion. After she pulled away, she interchanged glances between you and your friend with the brooding stare. “I’ll see you tomorrow, James. It was really nice meeting you, Y/n.”

After he said his goodbye and Alina walked down the hallway towards the elevator, Bucky made his way inside your suite behind you, shutting your front door.

“What was that all about, Y/n?” he asked hesitantly, not exactly sure of your feelings.

“I don’t know, James,” you emphasized on his name. He hated being called that. By anyone and everyone. You don’t even remember the last time his mother uttered his name with the exception of scolding him over doing something wrong.  “You were seeing someone for a few months and didn’t even decide to mention it to me, which you’ve never done before, and then didn’t even give me a heads up before introducing her to me.”

“I didn’t know where I was going with her until recently, Y/n,” he said softly. “I think I might have feelings for her. We’ve hooked up a few times but you know I’ve never been tied down to the same person for a few months. I’m trying to find someone to be serious with.”

For some reason, in the back of your mind, you had wondered, Why not me? But you quickly shoved the thought aside. Bucky was your best friend, nothing more and nothing less.

“Okay, Jamie,” you said. “I trust you. I’m happy for you. I just wished you had told me sooner.”

You weren’t really upset with him. You honestly weren’t even that upset that he didn’t tell you. Something just felt off, but you wanted to be supportive of your best friend. It was the least you could do.

Bucky stepped toward you and cupped your face. “I know, bunny,” he said remorsefully. “I’m sorry. I was nervous things wouldn’t work out and I really wanted you to like her. I won’t keep anything from you again, okay?”

You smiled slightly as you nodded, looking up into his pretty, blue eyes. They were a lot more blue than you’d realized before and you found yourself weirdly getting lost in them. Your thoughts got interrupted by Bucky kissing your forehead three times and pulling you into a hug.

“I love you, bunny, so much,” he said before pulling away and looking in your eyes again. “Forgive me and watch a movie with me? I’ll let you pick this time.”

“You say you’ll let me pick every time and then deny every suggestion I make, Buck,” you said as you furrowed your eyebrows playfully. 

“I mean it this time,” he fought back, sticking his pinky out in front of you. “Pinky promise.”

You intertwined your pinky with his, “Okay, honey, I forgive you.”

He smiled wide at you before grabbing your arm and dragging you to the living room. You were at least glad you were back to your normal banter and hoped it’d stay for longer than usual.

On the contrary, though, you were seeing less and less of Bucky as the weeks went by. You’d make plans and somehow, he’d always end up flaking for some obnoxious and random reason. The common denominator in almost every excuse? Alina.

First, it was when you were going to have your weekly study-dinner date together.

Hey, bunny. Alina’s taking me to her favorite food spot today and I totally double-scheduled the same day of our date by accident. Raincheck until tomorrow?

Then it was when you were both supposed to go back home for the weekend for a family event.

I won’t be able to go back home this weekend actually, bunny. Ma’s really upset with me but Alina and I are studying for a big exam together and I could use the help.

Then it was another study-dinner date. A movie night. Even just a regular hangout day. 

You hadn’t seen Bucky for more than an hour at a time in the last week and a half. It was not only frustrating but hurt your feelings. You had always come first in Bucky’s life after his family, so to feel replaced was something you’ve never had to face nor address before. It also felt like Bucky didn’t care, which confused you even more.

One day, you had gone to a party with your suitemates when Bucky and Alina had caught your eye. 

Bucky wasn’t one for big parties, he’d usually be off in the corner somewhere circling a drink in his cup after being dragged to said party by Steve and Sam. 

But this time, he was in the middle of the crowd, dancing with Alina without a care in the world. He didn’t look the most comfortable doing it, but he was doing it for her. That was all you picked up on. Bucky caught a glimpse of you as he danced before whispering in Alina’s ear and making his way over to you.

“Hi, bunny,” he said with a slight slur in his voice. He wasn’t drunk but he certainly wasn’t sober either.

The stench of alcohol on his breath also smacked you right in the face like it had a tangible hand. 

“Hi, Bucky,” you said, more concerned about his inebriated state that he’s rarely ever in without his buddies around. “Where are Sam and Steve?”

“They were acting lame and didn’t wanna come with me,” he said with a pout. “I don’t think they like Alina, they immediately said no after I said she had invited me. You like Alina, don’t you, bunny?”

Even though he had a few drinks in his system, you could tell Bucky was being mostly sincere. He valued your opinion a lot, and he also valued Sam’s and Steve’s. You noticed how upset he was and cupped his face to look at him.

“Yeah, yeah, of course I do, honey,” you reassured, though not totally sincere. You didn’t want to upset him any further and you didn’t have any other reason to dislike the girl other than the fact that she was taking your best friend away from you. “You should probably go back to your dorm and get some rest, don’t you think? It’s late and I don’t want you out drunk alone.”

“I’m not alone, silly bunny,” he said with a chuckle. “Alina’s here with me. She’ll take me back.”

“I know she’s here, Buck, I just meant—”

Then, as if on cue, Alina walked up and wrapped her arms around him, making you subconsciously tear your grasp from him. She didn’t even seem buzzed.

“Hey, James, you wanna go back to my room? We can have more fun there than here,” she said, catching a quick glance at you before staring in Bucky’s eyes. 

He pondered for a bit, looking at her before looking at you. There was a bit of sadness in his eyes when he stared at you, almost as if he was hesitating to leave you here because she asked him to go. He looked back at her and nodded.

“Yeah, let’s go,” he agreed, which only stung you in the chest even further. He turned back to you and waved softly as they walked off, “I’ll see you tomorrow, bunny.”

He, in fact, did not see you the next day. Or the following. Or the day after that. You hadn’t even received so much as a text from him to let you know he was okay. 

This wasn’t the Bucky you knew at all. This wasn’t your Bucky. But, being the good friend you were, you didn’t want to intrude on his relationship.

A few days after the party, you had gone to his suite to see Steve for a project you were working on together. The boys usually spent Friday nights playing some sort of game together; it was their way of bonding and de-stressing after a long week. That was exactly why Steve’s text took you by surprise on that Friday night. 

Walking in through the door after Steve opened it, you saw Sam sitting on the couch watching TV. Bucky was nowhere to be found, his door sealed shut.

“He’s not here if that’s what you’re wondering,” Sam voiced, making you snap your head towards him. “That girl’s got him wrapped around her finger. I’ve never seen him act so much like a lost puppy.”

“At least you’ve seen him,” you thought out loud, almost immediately regretting it after the words slipped from your mouth. 

Steve popped into the living room, taking his previous seat and looking at you. “You haven’t… seen him?” He asked incredulously, a look of complete disbelief across his face.

“Not since Saturday, and even that was an accident,” you shrugged, taking a seat in between the both of them. 

You explained your recent, unwarranted dynamic with Bucky to the boys and they were more surprised than you were. They then explained their dynamic and how Bucky had even ditched practice to hang out with her, telling their coach he wasn’t feeling well. You sighed to yourself, not understanding how Bucky could ever get so distant from the people most important to him. It wasn’t like him at all, and it only made you even more upset to see Sam and Steve hurt by his lack of presence.

“I’m so sorry, kid,” Sam said, patting your shoulder lightly. “We figured he was avoiding us but we definitely didn’t think he’d ever do that to you.”

“It’s okay, I just wish he’d talk to me more.”

You stayed the night at their place, Steve eventually grabbing you a blanket from his room and making sure you were comfortable on the couch. Bucky had come back in later that evening after both Sam and Steve had been asleep, seeing you asleep on their couch. It broke his heart but he also didn’t have the guts to wake you up by taking you to his bed. He sighed to himself before walking into his room with tears glossed in his eyes.

You picked up more on Bucky’s sudden shift when you had gone home one weekend for a regular family dinner and he brought her with him. Bucky’s never introduced any of his flings to his mother before, knowing she was a woman of high standards. And boy, were her standards high today.

“Who’s this, James?” Winnifred asked her only son. You could tell she was serious when she used his first name, her eyes gazing between Bucky and Alina in curiosity.

“This is Alina, Ma,” Bucky wrapped his arm around her. “She’s my girlfriend.” 

“It’s so nice to meet you, Ms. Barnes—”

“It’s Mrs. Barnes,” Winnifred corrected. “How’d you two meet, James?”

“We have a class together and got paired up for a few discussions, then eventually started talking and now we’re here,” Bucky answered carefully. “I thought it was time to introduce you and Becca to her.”

“Hm,” was all she said. “Well, dinner is soon, so we’ll get to talk there.”

Winnifred made her way towards the kitchen where your mother was finishing up on the food with your sibling, not uttering another word to Alina.

In the dining area, you were helping set the table for dinner with Bucky’s sister, Rebecca, when she cleared her throat to get your attention. Looking up at her immediately, she looked around to make sure no one was hearing her before she spoke.

“This dinner tonight isn’t looking like a great idea,” she spoke anxiously. Rebecca Barnes was not one to be nervous about many things, so you were more than interested to hear her talk. When you didn’t say anything, she continued. 

“I overheard Ma talking about that girl Bucky brought home and it didn’t really sound pretty,” she whispered loud enough for only you to hear her. “I have no idea what happened but if I were that girl, I’d take the first bus back home.”

You shrugged. Nobody in either of your families knew that you and Bucky had been distant lately and you didn’t really make the effort to say anything anyway. You were trying your best not to overthink it and convince yourself that you were actually being replaced, though you really had no evidence otherwise.

Then, on cue, the lovely couple walked into the room. Alina met your eyes right away before you mentioned having to ask your mother something before dinner and excusing yourself from the dining area. Bucky watched you walk off in confusion, not sure if you were avoiding him or not.

The truth was that Bucky was getting a bit tired of Alina. He wasn’t one to flake on plans at all, especially not plans with you or his family. Prior to this, the worst he’d ever done was accidentally sleep through Sam’s birthday dinner. But someway and somehow, Alina always set up plans for them and Bucky, being the gentleman he is, didn’t want to make it seem like he was more interested in spending time with his best friend than his girlfriend.

But he was. Throughout the past few weeks, Bucky realized he depended on your presence a lot more than he’d been able to recognize—even before meeting Alina. He never thought much of it, seeing as though you’d been friends for so long and never tried to pursue anything further. He had simply thought you never had those thoughts about him, so why should he have them about you? In all honesty, he felt he was using Alina to distract himself from the possibility of wanting you instead, which did make him feel awful about himself.

Don’t get him wrong, he does like Alina. He thinks she’s pretty, smart, and has a great personality. But she’s not for him. At least he’s starting to think so. The knock of sense only came when Sam and Steve had decided to grill him about it.

“So what’s going on with you and this Alayna girl?” Sam asked, eyes laser-focused on shuffling the deck of cards in front of him.

“It’s Alina, and nothing crazy is going on,” Bucky said monotonously. “We’re just going with the flow.”

“Going with the flow,” Steve repeated slowly before taking a sip of his drink. “Is that what you’re calling it, Buck?”

“What do you mean?”

Sam finished shuffling the cards before staring over at Bucky. “He means we both thought you were definitely gonna end up with Y/n and then you brought the randomest girl in here and sat her in the living room instead of taking her back to your room.”

“Y/n’s my best friend, she always has been,” Bucky reassured. “Nothing’s gonna change that.”

Steve set his drink down. “Are you sure about that or are you trying to convince yourself of that? I don’t know, Buck, this girl just isn’t for you, in my opinion. I haven’t even seen you so much as call Y/n in the past few weeks which is very unlike you,” he defended. Steve knew that Bucky had to hear it from someone, and he was more than positive that you weren’t going to try to butt in out of fear of pissing him off or making it seem like you were meddling with his relationship. Nonetheles, Steve also wasn’t going to blow up your spot and mentioned your conversation with him and Sam. It wasn’t his place. 

Bucky stayed silent as Sam dealt the cards. He hadn’t talked to you the way you usually spoke to each other for about a week now, and if he said he didn’t miss you, he knew he’d be lying straight out of his ass. But he didn’t want to disappoint the first girl he thought he had feelings for.

But did it really seem like you were the one for him? You’ve both had your relationships and seen the end of those, both for yourselves and the other, and you’d always have each other’s backs in the end. But it was almost like an unspoken rule that you’d never pursue anything with each other. You’d never mentioned anything about it, neither had Bucky, and you were both too close for that to possibly be ruined by a romantic relationship. 

But God, had Bucky thought about it. He’d shove the thoughts out of his mind because he felt it was useless. But was it actually worth trying? Was he wasting his own time by trying to convince himself otherwise?

“Buck, it’s your turn,” Sam said, snapping Bucky out of his thoughts. 

“Right, sorry,” Bucky said before placing one of his cards down on the pile and finishing his turn by picking up one. “Did you guys really think I’d end up with Y/n?”

Sam chuckled. “Hell yeah, man. You two are perfect for each other. I think you’re also the only two in this world who don’t see it.”

Their whole conversation that day lingered in Bucky’s mind every day since then. But he never had the guts to speak up about them or break things off with Alina. He was too nice for that. He was raised better than to waste a woman’s time. 

He had just hoped he hadn’t inadvertently ruined your friendship in the process. 

Bucky and Alina helped Rebecca finish setting up the table. There wouldn’t be too many of you but it was both your family and Bucky’s, so there were always at least 6 mouths to account for. 

You made your way back into the dining room, your mom and Bucky’s following suit behind. Bucky’s eyes landed on yours, though you quickly diverted your attention elsewhere. Everyone took their usual seats, including Bucky, who always sat across from his mother and next to his sister.

This meant that the only available seat was the head of the table, which was Bucky’s father, George’s, seat. Much to everyone’s dismay, Alina decided to sit there for the sake of sitting next to Bucky. 

It was almost like someone had pressed pause on a movie with the way everyone froze and looked at her, Bucky included. Both ends of the table had always been left empty for your father and Bucky’s. It was another unspoken rule between everyone, since they had both always sat on their respective ends and no one felt the obligation or desire to sit in either chair. 

“You can’t sit there,” Bucky spoke up, his voice cracking a bit. “Sit somewhere else.”

“I was just trying to sit next to y—”

“I said, sit somewhere else, Alina,” he repeated himself, a lot more bass in his voice that reminded you of George himself.  

Rebecca quickly stood up from her seat before making her way to the empty seat in between you and her mother. Alina then took her spot awkwardly, the rest of the table entirely speechless.

“Let’s have dinner, shall we?” Bucky said stoically. 

That was the most awkward family dinner you’ve had in your entire life, and not to mention the most silent. Once everyone was finished, Winnifred was the first to leave the table, your mother following suit. The rest of you cleaned up the table, your sibling and Rebecca choosing to take care of the dishes. 

Since you were in Bucky’s family home this time around, the only space you’d usually sleep in was in Bucky’s room. Your mom had set your bags there, which left Alina in a space of confusion.

“Why are your bags in Bucky’s room?” She walked into the kitchen and asked you with an attitude drooling off her tongue as you were placing the plates back in the cabinets after drying them off. 

“My mom probably put them there, she took my things up,” you replied matter-of-factly. “I usually stay in Bucky’s room when we sleep over. We’ve done it since we were kids.”

Bucky overheard your conversation as he stepped into the kitchen, returning from consoling his mother from the sheer embarrassment he just faced with his girlfriend completely disrespecting their house rules. She didn’t know better, he thought, but he knew his mother wouldn’t take that for an answer.

“We can sleep in the guest room, Alina,” Bucky interjected before Alina could reply, not wanting another awkward situation in the same night. 

“You’re gonna sleep in the guest room of your own home for the sake of letting a guest sleep in your room?”

“Alin–”

“I’ll move my things and sleep in the guest room, Bucky. There’s nothing to worry about,” you stepped in with a stern shift in your tone, before walking out of the kitchen to collect your bags from his room.

Bucky felt embarrassed again. You had heard him starting to ask her not to embarrass him in front of his family another time for the rest of the night, but didn’t care to eavesdrop on a conversation that clearly didn’t concern you. Not after he’d ignored you for weeks. 

You didn’t speak to Bucky for the rest of the visit, driving back to campus without a single word of acknowledgment. It hurt, it hurt really bad. But you held your own anyway, and just tried to focus on doing your best without him.

--

part two.

#bucky angst #bucky fanfic #bucky barnes fic #bucky x reader #bucky barnes x female reader #bucky x y/n #bucky x female reader #bucky barnes #bucky imagine #college!bucky

[ssadumba55]

Shoot (Leo Valdez X Child of Apollo! Reader)

A/n: this is something I've been trying to write for a while but could never finish. it's not a request, just something I really felt inspired to write. I don't write enough for Leo! Plus this really helped me get my flow for writing back

For most demigods, finding out they're a half-blood and having a place to finally fit in is the best feeling in the world, for you it just makes you feel ostracized more than ever.

Your mortal parent had dropped you off with the hopes that maybe you’d finally belong somewhere, be with people who were like you. But as soon as you stepped into the camp, you knew that wasn’t going to be the case.

Camp Half-Blood, at least it seemed to someone who had never been, was a place where everyone knew who they were. There were the good looking Aphrodite kids, the mischievous Hermes kids, the crafty Hephaestus kids. And then there was you.

The first week of camp was spent trying to figure out who your godly parent was. Judging by how little you fit into the existing cabins, you were sure your godly parent was going to be some extremely minor god or goddess.

But to yours and everyone’s surprise, a week into camp you were claimed by Apollo. The god of the sun, of prophecy and poetry, music and medicine. Nothing that you felt a personal affinity for, it just made your feelings of not belonging worse.

You had no friends at camp, keeping mostly to yourself. The closest to a friend you guessed you could say you had was Will Solace, your brother.  Half brother. He was the Apollo cabin head counselor and, probably sensing your slight distress when you first moved in, latched onto you almost immediately. Which meant his weird son of Hades boyfriend, Nico Di Angelo, also hung around you a lot. 

Even if you had wanted to make actual friends, it would be impossible with Nico hanging around. A lot of the campers were uneasy and unsettled by his presence. He was alright with you, though. The two of you rarely ever conversed directly. He only hung around you if Will was there too, so you wouldn’t really consider him a friend. 

The more camp activities you participated in, the stronger your desire to isolate yourself from the other campers came to be. You couldn’t play any musical instrument they had at camp, when you tried to help Will in the infirmary you just ended up getting in the way more than actually helping and you really didn’t understand the point or process in poetry.

Being good at nothing your dad was the patron god of stank, especially when it seemed like he’d gifted all his other children with the joys of mastering these skills. Sure, you were okay at hand to hand combat, not bad with a sword either and you loved spending time with the pegasi in the stables but none of that made you a child of Apollo.

Which is why the four of you were on the archery fields now. It was the last of the activities you had to try from your fathers plethora of patronity and you hoped it would be the one you were at least semi decent at. The sun was setting on another day at Camp Half-Blood, there was still time before dinner though so Will had decided to take you out to the fields and see if you had merit as an archer.

With him was his ever faithful boyfriend, Nico and Leo Valdez, a chipper son of Hephaestus who had actually volunteered to come help.

Why, you would never know, it was probably just going to end in disappointment.

Still, you stood with your legs parted, exactly as Will had instructed. Fingers pulled the bowstring back taut, the arrow nocked and ready to be sent flying. Just you and the target, you could do this. Before you could think anymore about it, you released the arrow and it soared… for a few seconds before promptly hitting the ground.

Seriously? It was like your dad was intentionally picking on you, making you bad at the things he was good at on purpose just to get a rise out of you. 

“Hey, that looked pretty good! You should try raising the arrow a little higher next time,” Will said from your right, shooting you an encouraging smile before turning back to helping Nico with his shooting. Nico wasn’t an archer, nor did he have any interest in shooting. He probably just liked the excuse to be close to Will.

You let out a groan as Leo stuck his thumbs in the air, grinning encouragingly as well.

“Come on, try again! I know you can do it! You make the… the preparation look so easy!” He was clearly trying his best to be supportive, but had no idea how to be so. It was annoying, he was too chipper. Plus, the two of you barely knew each other. Why was he even here anyway? This was one of the few rare occasions you’d seen him outside of his cabin or workspace. He spent hours there, according to Will. Supposedly he was working on something special, but nobody wanted to ask what it was yet.

You glared at him, but it didn’t seem to deter his attitude. His stupid face was really starting to bother you.

“If you think it’s so easy, why don’t you do it yourself.” You shoved the weaponry into his arms and stomped off. It was childish and uncalled for. You knew it, but you couldn’t take it anymore. Coming to this place was the worst decision of your life. Someone called out to you, probably Will, but you ignored him and kept going.

Hot tears pricked the back of your eyes as you made your way to the dock to sit and relax, clear your head. The dinner bell rang shortly after but you didn’t join them. It would be too embarrassing to see Nico, Leo and Will after your outburst. Plus, you weren’t hungry anyway. You just wanted to fit in somewhere, belong. Do something right.

As the sun began edging closer to the horizon, you realized though that you’d have to go back to your cabin eventually. Miserably, you picked yourself up off the dock and began the walk. Maybe if you were lucky, Will wouldn’t be back yet.

As you neared the cabins, your shoulders relaxed. You could hear the sounds of singing coming from the amphitheater. That meant everyone was distracted with a sing-along. You could sneak off to bed and nobody would even notice you missing.

“Hey! Wait up!” A voice said from behind you and you turned, immediately a wave of guilt flooding into you. Leo Valdez was making his way toward you, in his hand what looked to be a case. He probably wanted an apology for your freak out earlier, after all, none of it had been his fault.

You slowed so he could catch up, avoiding his eyes as he fell into step beside you. 

There was silence for a few beats, then he broke the silence; “Are you alright? You ran off really fast, I called out to you, but Will said it was probably better to give you your space.”

Somehow, he was only worried about you even though he had every right to be upset.

“I’m fine. Wouldn’t you rather be at the sing-a-long?”

His face turned slightly pinker, like he was almost embarrassed about being there with you and not with everyone else.

He swallowed and stuck out the case for you. “I… Well, I wanted to give you this and I promised Will I’d check on you so…”

You took the case, it wasn’t heavy. Curious, you kneeled down and placed it on the ground, opening it to see what was inside. Sitting there was a crossbow. It had clearly been modified, though you weren’t exactly sure how. Slowly, you lifted the weapon from its case and inspected it.

“It’ll probably be easier to shoot with than that big bow and- oof!” Leo was caught off guard by your arms around his neck, after you’d made sure to carefully put your new weapon back. You hugged him, feeling tears well up slightly.

Leo wrapped his arms back around you, and his body temperature seemed to rise a little the longer the two of you stayed like that. After a while though, he soon worried he may combust if you guys stayed like this much longer.

“I can show you how to use it..” He offered, gesturing over his shoulder to the archery field. 

The two of you made your way up to the archery field, empty because everyone was still at the amphitheater. He took your hands in his, guiding them where they were supposed to go. Ah, taking a page out of Will’s book, you thought, this must be his way of flirting.

Leo placed his hands gently on your waist to steady you, your eyes meeting and he once again looked away with that pink tint on his cheeks 

Your face heated up as you focused on aiming your weapon. Maybe, just maybe, camp wasn’t so lonely after all.

#percy jackson imagine #heroes of olympus imagine #leo valdez x reader #leo valdez imagines #will solace #nico di angelo #child of apollo!reader #gender neutral imagine #gender neutral reader

[yoshistack]

That's Why They Call It The Present

Surprise @leoriowithaknife! Twas I that did your @codesecretsanta present for this year!

They had many wonderful idea for prompts (some of which I may tuck into my back pocket to make at a later time), but the one that immediately jumped out to me the most was the idea of Aelita spending time with Jeremy and his family for the holiday! Giving me an excuse to write my favorite characters post one of my favorite episodes for S4? Sign me up! I had so many ideas in fact that I turned this into a series of vignettes chronicling some moments of their holiday together. It was super fun to do!

This is my first time being able to participate in this event, and I was thrilled to work on this this month. I hope you like it too!

Ao3 Version Link: Right here!

-

For a second time today, she finds herself standing in front of the main gate to Kadic saying goodbye to her friends before they disperse for the holidays (“For real this time!” Odd adds with a laugh at the ridiculousness of it all). Just like before, it’s a slow trickle of departures, starting first with Yumi heading back to her house; then Odd heads off in the opposite direction toward the airport, giving a quick wave as he disappears around the corner with Kiwi in tow. Ulrich stands beside her for a while in a comfortable silence until his parents eventually pull back up in front of them, and suddenly it becomes a lot more tense. His dad doesn’t get out of the car, but the glare he sends to them speaks volumes. Ulrich doesn’t seem phased by it, merely shrugging and making a snarky remark about lion dens before pulling himself inside with a brief farewell salute towards them. Then he’s gone too.

And then that just leaves her and Jeremy.

She shifts her weight from one foot to the other and tightens her fingers around the strap to her bag. It feels surprisingly light. Did she pack enough? Should she run back to the dorm? Does she even have time? She glances down the street.

No one in sight.

Maybe she should…

A hand on her shoulder makes her jump. “Hey, relax,” Jeremy tells her. He gives her a soft smile and, as if he can read her mind for once, adds, “They wouldn’t have insisted on me inviting you if they didn’t actually want you there too.”

She clicks her tongue in thought. That may be true, but she still finds it’s hard not to feel nervous at the prospect ahead of her. This is Jeremy’s parents after all; he’s one of her best friends. “I get that, I do. But I just…” She barely suppresses the urge to sigh. “I guess I just don’t want to make a bad first impression is all,” she admits to him.

“You? Make a bad first impression?” He lets out a sound somewhere between a laugh and a scoff. “I doubt that. Especially not with them. They’re pretty easy going.”

From what she remembers of her brief encounter with his dad, she believes him. He’d seemed very kind, and Jeremy’s always spoken positively about him (which is more than she can say about how some of their other friends feel about their parents). But even the most patient of people have to have their limits, and having to travel back and forth from their home to Kadic and back again several times all because of her seems like a good way of reaching them. Surely he must be at least a little annoyed with her?

The thought of him looking at her with anything close to the ire Ulrich’s dad had looked at them with pulls a frown back across her mouth.

“Besides,” Jeremy nudges her with his shoulder to pull her out of her thoughts. He nods toward an approaching car—slightly bigger than the one he’d originally been picked up in. “I think they’ve been looking for an excuse to get to meet you for ages anyway.”

As if on cue, the car slows to a stop in front of them. She instinctively stands up straighter when the driver's side door opens and Mr. Belpois steps out. 

When he smiles down at her, it is warm. Not even a hint of irritation hidden within it. 

And just like that she remembers how to breathe again.

The remaining tension frozen in her spine melts away as he approaches with a bright look in his eyes. “You must be Aelita,” he says, voice light. “It’s so nice to finally meet you properly. Jeremy speaks a lot about you, you know.” He offers her his hand.

She takes hold of it while glancing at Jeremy with a raised brow. “Does he now?” Jeremy rubs the back of his neck sheepishly and points his gaze everywhere but at her face. She bites back the laughter threatening to spill out of her. “Thank you for inviting me,” she says instead, turning back toward his dad. At the sight of the car behind him again, she starts, “I hope it wasn’t too much of a bother…”

Mr. Belpois waves the concern off before she can even get it all out. “Not at all,” he quickly reassures her. “We’re glad to have you.” He lets go of her hand and motions toward her bag instead, which she gives to him after only a slight moment of surprise. “Shall we head off then?”

Jeremy opens one of the car doors for her while his dad goes to put her bag in the back. He’s got another grin on his face when he climbs into the seat next to her a moment later, this one decidedly more cheeky than before. “I told you it’d be fine,” he says, only just a bit smugly.

She ducks her head to hide her own growing smile. 

She’ll let him be smug. Just this once.

-

Jeremy’s mother greets Aelita the moment she steps through their front door with a hug that almost takes her off her feet. She lets out a startled sound—she’s much more used to giving those out than receiving them, but it’s not necessarily an unwelcome surprise. Jeremy laughs loud somewhere behind her, until he gets enveloped in one too the moment she lets go of Aelita. She takes a step back to get her bearings again. When she looks up, she briefly thinks she’s seeing double.

Jeremy looks a lot like his mom.

It’s clear to her where he gets his hair color from. His eyes too. In more ways than one, she notes to herself with a soft laugh as she watches them both adjust their glasses after they pull back from their long embrace. Different styles though—hers are a lighter tortoiseshell and more rectangular, as opposed to the simple black round ones Jeremy prefers.

His mother pokes and prods at him a bit, turns him around and looks him over. Has him spread his arms out to the side in a way that makes him resemble something closer to a Jeremy-sized bird spreading his wings while she notes how tall he’s gotten since he saw her last (Which, she’s not wrong; he’s gotten exceptionally lanky within the last few months alone). She both compliments him and dramatically laments over how mature he looks now. Just generally does all the things Aelita assumes must be normal for a mother to say about their son growing up.

Perhaps the most surprising part though is the way Jeremy takes it all in stride. He rolls his eyes a bit, but otherwise doesn’t at all protest any of the questioning or the way he’s being posed around like a doll on a shelf. At some point during it all he catches the look Aelita is giving him and flashes her a slightly tired smile that speaks volumes about how many times he’s gone through this before.

Something about that thought sends something warm spreading through her chest.

When she’s finally satisfied, Mrs. Belpois sends the two of them towards Jeremy’s room so they can both put their things away. Along the way she takes a look around—at the smaller, mismatched novels wedged between larger math and science books on the bookshelves, or the not quite hung straight photo of a much younger looking Jeremy’s parents hanging in the hallway. Practically every flat surface she passes has something piled on top of it, things that likely have a proper place somewhere out of sight, but were much more convenient to just keep laying around wherever they were set down last. 

To her, it all speaks to the kind of people Jeremy’s family must be like. It's a different feeling than the one she gets from Yumi’s house, where though she never feels unwelcome, things look sometimes unnaturally clean and fragile, and at times she feels she’ll ruin it all just by walking through it. Here, it’s not as neat. It’s not quite messy either, but rather… it seems lived in. Comfortably lived in.

She hasn’t really thought about what Jeremy’s house must look like since a time when the thought of living on Earth at all seemed so overwhelmingly foreign to her, but if she had to have guessed, she never would have thought where Jeremy came from would seem so… normal.

His bedroom feels much the same way. Four blue walls lined up with shelves full of artifacts that speak to the kid Jeremy used to be. Mostly, she finds upon closer examination, space related things. There’s no shortage of rocket or astronaut figures carefully lined up in front of a row of space themed books that slowly shift into computer related ones the further the row goes. An old poster with a big crease in the middle of it, crunched corners and an image of the planets of the solar system circling around a graphic of the sun printed on it is taped up beside his bed in a way not unlike the one he has back in his dorm. In one of the back corners is a desk pushed up against the wall that’s clearly where his computer set up at Kadic used to sit. Now it just holds several piles of clothes on it instead. 

The most interesting thing she finds though is a picture of a younger Jeremy on the nightstand of him with a muted smile on his face at what looks like… a swimming pool?

“My dad thought getting me involved in swimming would help me make friends as a kid,” Jeremy answers the unspoken question when he finally notices her snooping. He moves some of the clothes and sets his laptop bag down on a newly made free spot on the desk. He winces at the small layer of dust that clings to his fingers. “Sorry about the mess. It’s just, well… you know…” He shrugs, thought going unfinished.

“I think it’s perfect,” she says. Jeremy looks at her curiously. “Your family and your home. It’s all… very you.” She turns toward him fully, speaks sincerely as she looks him in the eye. “I wouldn’t want it any other way.”

His surprise turns to something more thoughtful. “Yeah,” he eventually agrees with a slow nod. “Neither would I.”

-

Two days into their break, and she doesn’t think she’s ever seen Jeremy look so relaxed in the entire time that she’s known him.

He’s sitting at a small table across from his mom in the living room, a game of chess laid out before them. His brow furrows in thought, hand lingers in the air above the board, until a light sparkles in his eye as a move suddenly dawns on him. In a flash, he’s moved one of his pieces and claimed one of his mother’s pawns for his own, letting out a triumphant laugh she didn’t think Jeremy was capable of in a non-XANA fighting context. While his mother contemplates her next move, he leans back in the tall wooden chair with a smirk.

Aelita can only stare. If not for the fact that his laptop (still safely nestled in its bag and tucked away around a corner just behind him) hasn’t let out so much as a peep since they got here, she’d have thought it was XANA playing some kind of longcon with her.

“Good book?” Mr. Belpois’ voice makes her jump as he enters the room holding two mugs—a hot chocolate for himself, and the one she’d requested as well.

She glances down sheepishly at the book laying forgotten in her lap. “Something like that,” she responds. She quickly sticks a nearby bookmark where she stopped (not that she made it all that far, but progress is progress) and plucks the mug with the whipped cream foaming at the top from his hand with a light, “Thank you!”

Mr. Belpois takes a seat on the old, faded sofa beside her as she takes an experimental sip. He chuckles at the delighted hum she lets out. “Good to have your approval,” he says, then follows her gaze over to the ongoing chess match. “Do you play too?” he asks after taking a sip of his own.

“Ah… no.” She admits with a wince.

Spending a year of your life believing yourself to be a computer program makes chess seem like such an incredibly boring game (no matter how much Jeremy has tried to convince her otherwise).

Mr. Belpois nods sagely. “Me either. Was always more of a checkers kind of guy myself.” He shrugs, setting his mug down onto the coffee table in front of them. “It’s nice to see them get to play again though. It’s been ages since their last match.”

She lets out another hum, this one more muted, as she watches. They both sit there in silence like that for a few minutes. That’s something Jeremy seems to have in common with his dad then: the ability to sit comfortably in silence together.

She thinks it’s a useful skill to have.

(One a ‘cousin’ of hers could stand to learn at times).

Eventually though, she speaks again. “I’m not used to seeing him this way,” she admits, still watching Jeremy as he adjusts his glasses in contemplation of his next move. “So… laid back.”

“Is he not that way at school?” Mr. Belpois asks, though the look on his face tells her he probably has an idea already.

“He’s very…” She hesitates, trying to think of the right word. “...focused, on the things he works on. It’s a fight to get him to actually take a break most of the time.”

Not that she’d believe that, seeing him right now. If she didn’t know any better, at least.

“That sounds like Jeremy alright,” Mr. Belpois agrees. “He’s always been very dedicated to his projects. His mother and I would catch him staying up at night with a flashlight trying to read just one more chapter of a book when he was younger. I was actually expecting him to be like that this time too, so this is a nice surprise.” He glances over at her, seeming to give her a once over, before he says, “I think it might have to do with you, actually.”

She blinks. “Me?”

“Well, you and the rest of your friends in any case,” he clarifies, an amused look on his face. “You all seem to be a good influence on him. Who knows? Maybe that’s what finally got through to him.”

She snorts into her drink. “Somehow, I doubt that,” she says. She can’t imagine this will last once they go back to school in a few weeks

Still, for now though…

Deep in thought, Jeremy scans over the board several times, a hand to his chin. Eventually, he spares a glance over toward her and his dad and raises a brow at the sight of them whispering to one another. She waves back, giggling at the confusion still plastered across his face.

…she’ll enjoy the peace while it lasts.

(Later that night, she takes a quick peek at the superscan when Jeremy’s not looking. Just to be absolutely sure it’s really him. She can appreciate the peace while still being safe, after all.)

-

“Aha! Found ‘em!” Jeremy calls out.

Aelita abandons the cabinet she was rummaging through, letting the door swing shut behind her with a soft bang, and wanders over to the drawer he’s just pulled open and looks inside. A small hoard of brightly colored cookie cutters stare back at them—some older and made of plastic, others quite a bit newer looking with rubber grips on top of metal. For as small as the drawer looks, it’s deceptively deep. 

“Wow,” Aelita breathes out. “That’s… a lot.”

Jeremy tries and fails to hold back a snicker when he looks up at her again. “I told you cookies were serious business around here,” he says, which, true, that is something he warned her of this morning. But she thought he’d been joking! “Help me take these over,” he says, grabbing a few.

She follows, and soon there’s a small stack of them carefully balances in her hands as they move back to the other side of the kitchen just as Mr. Belpois reenters wearing a festive looking, dark green apron. “Ah, you found them. Good,” he says with an approving nod.

She sets them down next to where the rest of the baking supplies have been sectioned off too. Jeremy sets the few he’s carrying down next to those.

One light blue one in particular catches her eye. “Ok, I understand the candy cane, the stocking, and the reindeer. But… why is there one of a rocket ship in here too?” She asks, holding the plastic cutter up.

Jeremy’s face starts to go red and reaches for it. “Oh that one isn’t–”

Mrs. Belpois beats him there and gingerly takes it from Aelita’s grasp with a soft gasp. “Oh, this one used to be Jeremy’s favorite!” 

Jeremy whines. “Mom… She doesn’t need to hear this.”

“Oh no, do go on,” Aelita counters encouragingly, a grin spreading across her face as Jeremy sputters more.

“He used to insist on a space theme,” his dad helpfully supplies as he sorts through the ingredients. “We’d made gingerbread men astronauts and planets along with everything else, because ‘Space should have Christmas too!’” His dad pitches his voice up as he says that last part, and  in such an impassioned way that she imagines it must be based on a memory.

One Jeremy must remember based on the groan he lets out. “Dad…”

“The rocket shape was always his favorite one though,” Mrs. Belpois trudges on,  placing a hand on his shoulder even as he covers his face and tries to shrink away from the conversation. “He always had to be the one to decorate them though. And the lines had to be just right! Because otherwise they wouldn’t fly, right Jeremy?” She shakes his shoulders.

Mr. Belpois starts, “Remember the year he couldn’t get any lines straight? He was so upset he–”  

“I was five!” Jeremy sputters out in protest before he can say anymore.

Aelita’s smile splits her face as she doubles over from laughter. His parents soon join in too. Jeremy’s shoulder sag in defeat and he covers his face with his hands, muttering between his fingers. It’s hard to make out most of it, though she swears she hears a “Please don’t ever tell Odd…” somewhere in there.

His secrets are safe with her…

(…Probably.)

When the time for decorating comes a few hours later, there’s a wide array of shapes to pick from. Snowmen, reindeer, and candy canes abound. Mixed in with some stars, planets, and of course, a handful of rocket ships.

Jeremy huffs when his parents insist he decorates one of them, for old time’s sake, practically shoving the icing bag in his hand. He makes a show of rolling his eyes over the whole idea. But he doesn’t ever back out of it, and Aelita catches him smiling when he thinks no one is looking at him.

Jeremy’s parents busy themselves with turning the gingerbread men into a slew of tiny astronauts. Jeremy’s dad fills in one of them with green and declares it a martian, while his mom makes a couple that look suspiciously like her and Jeremy.

Aelita, meanwhile, paints a wobbly, but familiar looking bullseye symbol across one if the planet shapes, much to Jeremy’s parents' confusion. When he catches a look at it though, he shares a knowing smile with her.

They split that one when they’re done with decorating. 

They both agree: victory never tasted so sweet.

-

Snow rolls in not too long into their holiday. When the clouds finally start to slither away a few days later, it leaves a world covered in a fluffy blanket of white in its wake. It’s not uncommon weather for the time of year, but she still finds herself absolutely enamored with it.

Jeremy humors her enthusiasm by going on walks with her when the wind doesn’t blow too badly. There’s a park a few blocks from his house they go to and people watch. Often times they see younger kids laughing and playing in the snow—sledding down hills and getting into snowball fights with each other. Sometimes they see older people grumbling to themselves as they slide around the sidewalk trying to take shortcuts to where they need to get to.

Today they pass by someone walking their dog. A husky, big in stature with bright blue eyes, trying to eagerly bound down the way and only being held back by a firm grip on its leash by its owner. 

And she finds herself staring after them long after they leave; until Jeremy calls her name. “Aelita?”

“My mother disappeared in the snow,” she finds herself saying before she can think to stop herself. Jeremy stops, guides them over to a nearby bench that’s been cleared of loose snow, and sits with her before she continues. “Around the holidays, actually. I think I got Mister Puck just before…” she trails off, frowning. She thinks that's what happened, but she can’t be sure.

Her memories are blurry like a mirror after a hit shower: clearly containing movement, but impossible to discern the details of. She can’t be sure where one thought begins and another ends.

Then remembers who she’s talking to and shakes her head. “But you knew that already, didn’t you?”

Jeremy hesitates. “Sort of,” he eventually admits, rocking his head side to side in a so-so kind of motion. He rolls his shoulders in a shrug. “Your… Hopper’s notes sort of allude to it a few times, but he never went into heavy details about it. I… kind of got the sense he didn’t want to talk about it. More than he really had to, at least.”

She hums, breathing deeply into the pink scarf he gave her back in her dorm just before they left. For once, Jeremy doesn’t have more knowledge than her about something that happened in her old life. She’s not sure whether that fact should make her feel happy or like she should cry.

“…Was it a good holiday at least?”

“What?” The sudden sound of Jeremy’s voice again startles her out of her thoughts. 

“The holiday you had. Was it a good one?” He asks again. Then, he makes a face. “Well, before… you know…”

She blinks. That’s not a question she’d ever expect to hear from him of all people. 

But if she thinks about it…

“Yes…” she says slowly, then nods, more certain. “Yes, I think it was.” She leans back against the bench, ignoring the chill seeping into her back, and furrows her brow. “I remember building a snowman. I think she helped with it…” She’s not certain on that, but the thought is nice at least, so she doesn’t challenge it.

Jeremy hums. She thinks that’s going to be the end of it. But then he’s on his feet again and holding a gloved hand out toward her. “I know it’s not the same… but do you want to try building another?” 

She stares at him with wide eyes.  Is he serious? She waits a moment, but he doesn’t waver, and never rescinds the offer.

“Who are you and what have you done with Jeremy Belpois?” she asks with a low chuckle.

She reaches out and puts her mitten covered hand into his own.

They build it behind the bench. It doesn’t end up being very big—the ground is covered but they still don’t have a lot of snow to work with. The snow is hard to pack together, and the snowballs end up being pretty misshapen. They make its face with what few mismatched pebbles they can find scattered around.

It’s not a very pretty thing to look at. But Jeremy’s laughing throughout the whole process, and she’s smiling so wide that her face hurts when they’re done.

And that’s good enough for her.

-

Christmas itself winds up being a pretty low key affair in the Belpois house. There’s no rush to get things moving by a certain time, no flurry of activity, no expectation of any kind of timeline. Things remain calm, even after they all sleep in a little.

When they do eventually get up, things are… peaceful, for lack of a better word.

It’s not always like this, Jeremy tells her as they eat breakfast later—cinnamon rolls, warm and delightfully gooey. “Most years we end up going to my aunt and uncle’s house for the holidays and meet up with extended family. And it gets really chaotic with that many people. Especially my cousin.” The face Jeremy makes at the mention leads her to believe there’s a story there, but he doesn’t elaborate. Instead, he smirks a bit and says, “But they’re out of the country this year, and some others are sick, so it’s just us this year.”

Mr. Belpois nods as he takes a sip of his coffee. “Spending time with family is nice. But there’s nothing wrong with having a quiet holiday every now and again too.”

Jeremy’s dad, she decides, is a very wise man.

They move onto opening presents afterwards. Jeremy is hesitant at first, admitting he’d wished they’d waited now to open their gifts to each other instead of letting Odd convince them back in her dorm. But she waves it off.

“I’m just happy to be here at all. Now…” She picks up the wrapped box sitting beside him on the couch and thrusts it toward his face with a grin. “Get to opening already.”

He does. Most of what he gets are clothes—more sweaters, a new coat to replace the navy one he’s been wearing that doesn’t quite fit his arms all the way anymore. Probably the most exciting thing (based on his reaction at least) is a new brown laptop bag, looking much sturdier than his threadbare green one now. He’s ecstatic, voice pitch higher as he thanks his parents earnestly. 

His parents exchange gifts with each other too. She doesn’t think she’ll ever see anyone as excited about a novelty mug as Jeremy’s mom is when it’s presented to her.

Aelita watches it all. She’s more than happy to.

…And then suddenly Mrs. Belpois holds out a small stocking stuffed with small sweets and treats out to her. “Here. It’s not much, but…”

Aelita’s at a loss for words. There hasn’t been much time to prepare something like this. When did they do this? “You really didn’t have to-”

“We know,” she interrupts her kindly, smiling. “But you’re a part of our holiday this year. And we wanted you to feel included.”

And how is she supposed to say no to that?

Most of the rest of the day playing board and card games. She dominates in Uno, Jeremy manages to spell out the word ‘supercomputer’ in a game of Scrabble, and Mr and Mrs. Belpois outlast them both in a game of Monopoly that stretches well into the evening.

(Suddenly she completely understands why Ulrich has forbidden it from ever appearing in their game nights back at school)

His parents are still duking it out over a multitude of properties when they both excuse themselves back to Jeremy’s room and decide to give the others a call.

It goes… Well…

Yumi doesn’t get much out, just a few brief words about how her holiday is going before Hiroki bursts into her room demanding she play with him in the new game he got for Christmas and drags her away. Ulrich, similarly, doesn’t say much, and based on the sound of his voice she thinks they woke him up from an attempt at going to bed early. 

Odd answers, but they can’t hear him at all. Everything is completely drowned out by a cacophony of sound Aelita eventually discerns as holiday music blasting at what she assumes has to be max volume. For a brief moment Odd’s manic cackling rings out over the sound of “All I Want For Christmas Is You”, and then the line goes abruptly dead.

…So it all goes about as well as can be expected.

“Well, at least we know they’re all alive,” Jeremy notes dryly, earning a giggle out of her. “Sorry if all this wasn’t as exciting as…” He waves vaguely.

“She shakes her head. “I think I like the energy level exactly where it’s been at today,” she tells him. “It’s been a much better way to spend the holiday than all alone in my dorm room.”

“Well, that’s not entirely true. You wouldn’t have been all alone,” Jeremy says. At the confused look she gives him, he adds with a snicker, “You would’ve had Kiwi.”

“Oh, well then in that case!” She throws her head back with a laugh. “I think I much prefer the company of you and your family.”

“Yeah,” Jeremy gets a soft look in his eye and glances at the door, the sound of his parents' voices still trailing through as their game still goes on in the background. “They’re pretty great people.” He looks back at her, smiling. “Merry Christmas, Aelita.”

She returns it. “Merry Christmas, Jeremy.”

#code lyoko #code secret santa #aelita schaeffer #jeremie belpois #COME GET YER FLUFF

[professionallydeadinside]

Heyo!! I’m gonna be participating in Bullet Train week so get ready for a mix of fanfics and fanart! I swear not all of them are gonna be this long idk why I had so many ideas for this prompt wkakdkdkdk

@bullettrainpromptweek

Day 1: Kidfic

——————————————

“Hi! You’re pretty! Wanna play with me and my brother?”

Back then, Yuichi didn’t fully know what the other boy was saying to him. He knew English well enough, but the way the other boy rushed out his entire sentence startled Yuichi enough where he could do nothing but blink in surprise.

This wasn’t the first time he’d seen the two boys and he knew a good amount about them. He knew the boys’ family was staying in the apartments near his own home and that, by how often he saw the two boys playing on the building's steps, he could also infer that both of the boys’ parents were out during the day. Yuichi could see them more often than not already playing by the time Yuichi’s father brought him to the park and still playing by the time Yuichi was told it was time to leave.

“Louis, I doubt he speaks English.” Louis’ brother stood a little behind with his arms crossed tightly. Yuichi had heard about him more than he had Louis. Particularly that he had snatched a teacher’s keys but was adamant he hadn’t used them.

“Sure he does! I’ve heard him talk to his old man before. You’re probably scaring him.” Louis jokingly elbowed at his brother, who seemed to actually growl in response.

“Me? You’re the one who just walked up and started yelling at him. Let’s just go, we can go to the shops or whatever.”

“The shops? Really? After they’ve put you on a big ‘keep out’ sign? Real smart, Francis. Let’s just stay and play here.”

“What? With the boy who can’t speak English?”

“H-hey.” Yuichi stuttered a bit, not knowing if getting in between the brothers’ argument was a good idea or not.

“I can talk. You just caught me off guard.”

Louis beamed, a stark contrast to Francis’ blatant look of contempt.

“Great! Let’s go to the shops!” Grabbing Yuichi’s hand, Louis tugged him up from his sitting position and pulled him in the direction Yuichi vaguely knew the shopping markets were.

“What the hell! You just said you didn’t want to!” Francis snapped.

“Language.” Yuichi replied. It was purely out of habit from hearing his own father say it in response to his colleagues swearing in front of Yuichi. But now Yuichi wished he hadn’t spoken, seeing how the look Francis shot him was down right murderous. Yuichi unconsciously scooched closer to Louis as the brothers led the way towards the back gate of the park.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

Louis and Francis jumped at the sudden confrontation, both of them being much more used to going around undetected by adults. Yuichi, on the other hand, simply straightened up and turned around at the sound of his father’s voice.

“To the shops.” Yuichi replied. He felt a little embarrassed seeing how his father raised an eyebrow at that. Yuichi knew he was no doubt going to get a lecture about stranger danger when they got home.

“No you’re not. Stay here, okay?” Yuichi nodded and sheepishly turned to the brothers with a shrug. Louis frowned but didn’t press the matter. He went to pull Yuichi to the playground when Yuichi’s father spoke up again.

“You too, young man.” Yuichi and Louis watched as Yuichi’s father stopped Francis in the middle of his escape with a quick grab at the collar of the boy’s t-shirt. Francis whipped around, smacking his hand away.

“You’re not my dad.” Francis scowled. Yuichi’s father rolled his eyes.

“Still. I don’t want you wandering around without an adult. Stay here.”

Francis opened his mouth again to protest but was stopped with a sharp jab at his arm from Louis.

Disappointed, the three boys meandered to the swings. Yuichi sat down on one while Louis decided to sit on the ground. Francis leaned on the frame of the swingset.

“Why’d you stop me? We could’ve just ran.” Francis complained. Yuichi felt his life flash before his eyes considering what the talk at home would’ve been like if he had run from his father. He shuddered to think about it. He made a little noise of apology to Francis as Louis kept his eyes to the ground.

Suddenly, Louis picked up one of the many branches that scattered the playground and pointed it at Francis’ chest. He stood in a pose reminiscent of a fencer.

“En garde, Sir Diesel! It is I, Sir Thomas, and I’m here to defeat you!” Francis yelped and jumped back in surprise as Louis swung at him.

Catching on to what he was doing, Francis grinned, grabbing a stick from the ground like his brother. Except, unlike his brother, Francis made a point of also grabbing Yuichi. He pulled him close until Yuichi’s back was flush against Francis’ chest, his stick angled at Yuichi’s throat like one would angle a sword.

“You’ll have to kill me if you want to see the princess again, Sir Thomas!” Francis cackled.

After shaking off his initial surprise, Yuichi snickered and allowed himself to be pulled away by Francis up into the highest spire of the playground. Louis followed in hot pursuit, shouting as he followed.

“Come back here villain!” His voice sounded muffled as the other two disappeared into the tangled tubes of the playground.

It was cramped as always, Yuichi was sure even as a littler kid he had a hard time playing in them. The light shown through the colored walls as their breathing was amplified by its tight conditions. Twice they were nearly trapped in one of the dead ends.

“Take a left!” Francis said in a hushed whisper, he sheathed his stick in one of the belt loops of his shorts. Yuichi lagged behind for a bit but eventually caught up. He squinted his eyes as he and Francis made it back out into daylight.

A far away voice was heard, echoing through the system of tunnels. Louis sounded a lot further away than before.

Francis turned to see Louis looking baffled at a scarf fluttering in the wind like a flag, tied to the outside of one of the lower spires, not at all the spire Yuichi and Francis were in.

Francis looked at Yuichi with wide eyes who simply shrugged with a grin.

“Just wanted to keep the game up a little bit longer.” The other boy beamed at that. He gave Yuichi a light punch to his arm.

“You know, you aren’t that bad afterall.”

Before Yuichi would celebrate the other boy liking him, Francis noticed Louis was no longer at the lower spire. He could hear the sound of him making his way to the upper one. He quickly rearmed himself with his stick and pushed Yuichi onto one of the side ledges. He was ready as Louis appeared, clutching Yuichi’s scarf like the decapitated head of a warrior.

“Sir Thomas.” Francis smirked. “Nice of you to join us!”

He gave a warning swipe that Louis jumped away from.

“How unfortunate you’ll have to die.”

Not giving Louis the chance to give a comeback, Francis lunged. The crack of wood against wood was heard with each attack Louis was able to block. He brought down the sword once more and held it there, pushing down and feeling both sticks bow under the pressure.

“Surrender now Sir Thomas, and perhaps I’ll spare you.” Francis was nearly pushing Louis off balance.

“Never!” He growled.

“You got this Sir Thomas!” Louis turned to see Yuichi cheering him on with a shy smile. The sight seemed to power him on as with all of his strength, Louis flipped Francis off him. Francis’ stick flying out of his hand and sliding under the wall surrounding the spire. Yuichi heard as the stick hit the ground.

Francis looked around him. He only had two ways out, the one Louis was blocking or the slides behind him. He could also jump off the railing but getting another leg cast didn’t sound ideal. He stepped back more and more as Louis approached, stick sword keeping him from fighting back.

“Surely you’ll show mercy!” Francis had gotten onto the actual start of the slide and struggled a bit to keep from sliding down as the rubber slipped under his shoes. Louis kneeled down and set down his stick.

“Not to you, Diesel.”

With a grand flourish, Louis pushed his brother down the slide, feeling a little shock from the static that had collected. Yuichi ran to the banister to see Francis slide down and collapse onto the ground at the bottom.

“I've defeated the evil!” Louis slid down the slide as well, hopping over his brother to prevent crushing him. Yuichi decided to just take the stairs.

“Oh brave prince, you saved me!” Yuichi said in a pitched up voice.

“Now the prince and princess need to get married!” Yuichi turned to see Francis sitting up, brushing sand out of his short hair.

“You’re dead!” Louis protested.

“Shut up!” Francis dug in his pocket and produced a pink ribbon.

“I stole it from some girl.” He said, handing it to his brother. Noticing the look from Yuichi, he shrugged.

“What? She had another one.”

Using the ribbon, Louis wrapped a stand in ring around Yuichi’s finger.

“There!” He exclaimed, clearly proud of his work.

“Now, we’re basically married! All we have to do is have the wedding!” Yuichi felt his face get warm.

“Tomorrow.” Louis decided. Yuichi shook out of his daydream. “We need to get married tomorrow, then Francis can be our officiant. If not, then I don’t know if I’ll see you ever again.”

He grabbed the other boy’s hands and smiled. Yuichi could barely recognize his own voice when he agreed so quickly to the faux marriage. But with the way Louis’ smile widened, Yuichi was sure he would’ve agreed to anything the boy asked of him.

Francis laughed at how eager he was. He claimed he’d help make sure the wedding day was perfect.

The wedding day, unfortunately, never came to be.

A sudden rainstorm prevented Yuichi from attending his own “wedding”, despite his best efforts to get outside. His father refused to let him go out just to get sick. By the time the sun came back Yuichi came to a terrible realization. The family had moved out somewhere during the storm, leaving nothing behind except the ring of ribbon still wrapped around Yuichi’s finger and the lingering regret that Yuichi hadn’t talked to him sooner.

Yuichi grew up fine without Louis. Eventually even forgetting about him like most children did their first loves. That was, until the same boy Yuichi had fallen for popped back up in his life on a bullet train to Kyoto, now bearing the name Lemon. He thought by now his feelings would’ve faded, how surprised he was to find they had persisted throughout the years and had simply been masked over.

This brought Yuichi to his current situation, lying comfortably on a past love that he thought would just remain as such. Yuichi hadn't even noticed he was spacing out until Lemon waved a hand in front of his eyes.

“Yuichi? Nickel for your thoughts? Or, penny, I guess. You know, I always found it weird that it was a penny and not like, a dollar! If I wanted to know someone’s thoughts that badly I reckon I’d give them at least two quid. And if they didn’t tell I could always give them somethin’ else.” Lemon cracked his knuckles and winked. Yuichi smiled, readjusting to settle closer to Lemon’s shoulder.

“It’s nothing, dear.” Yuichi looped the ribbon he had insisted his father sew into the hem of his scarf around his fingers.

“Nothing at all.”

#btpromptweek23 #yuichi kimura #lemon bullet train #yuimon #tangerine bullet train #shigeru kimura #bullet train #my writing

[unorthodoxx-page]

A Tale of Spirits thoughts, updates and final (super short) sneak

I’m clearly in a posting mood lol.

So, I’m still on track for a Sunday release for this next chapter.  I just need to stop getting side tracked by other stories.  I do have some updates though.

1. Recoil one-shots

The first one-shot should be out sometime next week.  Once that drops Recoil will be added to a series so everything is easier to find.  I’m stuck between two on which to post first.  Note: These will not post in any type of chronological order.  So these are the two titles I’m considering for the first drop.

The Tortoise and The Arachnid 

A Meeting of Magic 

I’m leaning towards the Tortoise one first but we shall see.

2. Human divorced dads au! (Title: Twist in Fate)

This is happening, but it’s not going to be a chaptered fic.  I want to play with a certain writing style and I feel like that would work better as one chapter/one shot.  It’s going to be a long one-shot though.

Here’s a small interaction from the story (it’s been fun to work this out): 

Lou turns back to the car with Leonardo stuck to his heels.  The little boy keeps a tight grip on the flair of Lou’s pants and a thumb in his mouth. 

Draxum frowns, “Isn’t he too old to be doing that?” 

Lou looks down at the kid.  “Blue is fine.  He does that when he’s scared.”

“‘M not scared!”

Lou opens the back of the van.  “Of course not Baby Blue.  Now be a brave boy and take your bag.”

I’m trying to get a lot of things in motion/rotation before Nanowrimo starts.  I’m participating for the first time and I’m sure I can juggle the original work, A Tale of Spirits, one shots.......and Twist in Fate 😅😅  I believe in myself though!!  I’m definitely not setting myself up for failure...... In all honesty, I’m going to be ok.  I’ve been like, really into writing this year, so I’m confident in how I’m going to handle November.

Anyway!  Here’s the sneak for chapter 3!  I will warn you that out of all my sneaks, this is the most likely to change before the final draft.  The heart of the interaction will still be there, but the wording might be COMPLETELY different by Sunday.  I don’t consider this a spoiler but I’m putting it under a cut to be safe.

SNEAK PEEK (Zuko POV)

There’s a creak behind them and Zuko turns.  He falls into a defensive stance and shares a look with Uncle.  He should have know that there would be more soldiers in the depths of the ship.  Azula would never be foolish enough to pull out her entire fighting force.  They need to get through them as quickly as possible and escape before Azula gets out of the water.  Zuko should be scared, but he can feel the heat of Mikey’s weapons on the nape of his neck and Uncle’s steady support to his left.  They’re going to make if off this ship.  One way or another.  

However, what steps onto the platform aren’t more soldiers.  It’s not even a human, but a tall, lithe spirit covered in dark shades of greens and purples.  Zuko lets his hands fall in shock.  A spirit.  Azula has a spirit.  How?  And why didn’t she say anything?  Of course she’s been blessed with a spirit, a familiar baritone hisses.  Your sister has always been lucky.

“Donnie?”

#rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #atla #Avatar The Last Airbender #rottmnt #ao3 #atla fanfic #tmnt #crossover #crossover fanfic #fanfiction #a tale of spirits #ao3 fanfic #tmnt Donnie #tmnt leo #tmnt mikey #tmnt raph #zuko #aang #iroh #katara #toph #sokka #azula

[random-writer-23]

The pearl Guns (Jesper x F Reader)

A/N: Hello lovelies! Welcome to the first one-shot I'm publishing on this blog, this one was written pretty recently so it's probably going to be much better than the others I'll be posting on here of my past writing, but when I get to publishing more new stuff it'll hopefully be decent as well. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it, and any comments, likes, shares, and reblogs are appreciated! Happy reading! Word count: 3131 Requested: No Warnings: not really, just the usual Jesper flirting and just sexual tension but nothing other than that.

As a member of ketterdams socially elite, I was expected to behave like a perfect lady at all times of the day, whether it was at a dinner party hosted by my father, a traveling conference my father forced me to attend, art shows, or whatever else my father expected of me. My father was one of the biggest and richest merchants in the city and as a result, I being his one and only daughter had practically no say in my life. I had to be the perfect daughter in order to preserve his reputation. Which is why I am currently getting ready for a large dinner party my father is hosting.

"is it still too loose (y/n)?" My maid Magaret asked, referring to the corset backing of the dress I was wearing.

"Oh um, just a little tighter Margaret" I replied, feeling the tug of the ribbon on my back tightening my corset. "that's good" I responded when I felt the dress tight enough to support me. She tied it at the back and stepped away towards my vanity mirror where she started preparing to do my hair. I looked in the full-body mirror at the dress. It was an (f/c) dress that stretched all the way to my ankles. I gave a small spin while Margaret nodded her head approvingly.

"Alright, dear now sit down so I can do your hair" Margaret moved me to sit in front of the mirror and grabbed my hairbrush, beginning to brush my hair. Once she was done she patted my shoulder and I turned around so she could do my makeup. Once she finished she patted my shoulder and I stood up while she cleaned up my vanity.

"thank you, Margaret," I said as she helped me into my shoes.

"Of course dearie" she replied brushing my dress out straight and giving me a smile as she left the room. Margaret has been my maid since the day I was born, cleaning my room, feeding me, reading me stories before bed, taking me to school, and taking care of me when I was sick. She was more like a parent to me than my actual father is. After my mother passed he distanced himself from me. I always assumed it was because I am the spitting image of her. I took one last look at myself in my mirror, I looked like the ideal image of a perfectly well-behaved daughter, all that was left to do was to play the part. I exited my room and headed downstairs to stand next to my father as he welcomed people into the house.

"Please behave tonight (y/n)" My father whispered with an exasperated sigh, placing a stern hand on my shoulder. Which to others might have looked like a gesture of comfort, but I knew it was an order. I stood up straight smiling and offering to take our guest's coats making small talk with the ladies as my dad spoke to the merchants, directing them to a conference room where the merchant council was going to meet. While those not attending the meeting were directed to the living room to talk amongst themselves and enjoy the rest of the party. After the rest of the merchant council had arrived my father gave my shoulder a squeeze and walked off toward the conference room to participate in the council meeting. I was left to my own devices to wander around and keep the guests occupied and wanting for nothing. I wandered into the living room where everyone was chatting with each other. The band playing their music softly in the background. I smiled while chatting with some of the guests before, excusing myself to get a drink. I poured myself a cup of water refusing to let one of the servants do it for me and then exited the room squeezing past the waiters who were getting ready to serve trays of appetizers to the guests since the actual food wouldn't be served until after the council meeting ended. Smiling and nodded through the halls of people making small talk and giving hugs until I finally made it outside. Giving a nod of acknowledgment to the guards posted at the door, who were no doubt ordered by my father to keep a close watch on me. Once I finally made it outside I took a deep breath and moved myself past the few guests who were lingering and chatting in the garden, toward my favorite spot. I sighed walking past the decorative rows of rose bushes, kicking a small rock along the path. The gazebo sat upon the highest spot in the garden, shining in the moonlight and overlooking the bay. Lifting my skirt I stepped gently over a puddle of mud and onto the hard floor of the gazebo. I looked around, finally out of view of the guards stationed at the door.

"man I hate these dinners," I said to no one, in particular, letting out a huff, I finished my drink and placed the empty cup on the gazebo railing.

"You and me both beautiful" A man's voice replied and I spun around to see where the voice came from.

"And who are you?" I asked backing up and holding the skirt of my dress up, in case I had to make a run for it. The man gave me a weird look before gesturing to his clothes.

"I thought it was a bit obvious that I'm a guard, love" He laughed, and against my better judgment I laughed as well.

"well, whose guard are you?" I asked calming down my giggles, "cause you can't be one of my father's I would have seen you around here before." I watched his eyes widen for a second before he composed his features and spoke.

"You're (l/n)'sF daughter?" He asked and I nodded in response letting go of the hold I had on my skirt and leaning up against the railing of the gazebo. The stranger's presence made me oddly relaxed. "how could someone as ugly as him make someone as pretty as you" He flirted with a wink and I blushed looking away from him.

"Why thank you" I giggled bringing my hand up to my face to hide my blush.

"and if you must know, I'm only a temporary hire. First time working here, brought in for the party" He explained and I nodded along. It wasn't unusual for my father to bring in members of the stadwatch for events and parties he put on. More security means fewer problems he always said.

"I see, well that explains why I haven't seen you around" I replied with a smile, "so you're a stadwatch guard I presume?" I asked moving away from the railing to sit on one of the gazebo benches.

"you could say that" He moved from the entrance of the gazebo to lean against the railing across from me, as he moved I snuck a glance at the guns holstered to his side.

"so if you're a guard, why aren't you, y'know guarding things?" I asked with a small smile.

"I am, I'm guarding you, the most important guest at the party" He declared "you don't know what kind of unsavory characters are lurking in your gardens" He lowered his voice and looked around animatedly. Making me laugh.

"I should have assumed my father would send a guard to tail me" I sighed dramatically before looking at the stranger slyly, "I just didn't know he'd be so handsome" I giggled, as a surprised look crossed the guard's face, he reached up scratching the back of his neck shyly.

"I don't think I can take so much flattery from such an angel" He smiled and fanned himself dramatically, which made me laugh again. We fell into a short silence as our laughter died down.

"if I may ask what kind of guns do you have," I asked partly wondering about his guns, and also just wanting to keep talking to this handsome stranger instead going back to the boring party full of stuffy noble folk and businessmen.

"Oh these?" He moved his coat aside to show off the one holstered on his left hip, and I nodded. He took it out of the holster and moved closer to where I sat, for me to see them. "They're zemeni-made" he explained. "and you see the handle?" he pointed at the handle which had a pearlescent look to them, so I suspected it to be pearl. "it's made of pearl" he confirmed my suspicions.

"That's what I thought it was!" I said excitedly prying my eyes away from the guns to look up at him, to see him already looking at me with a smile. I looked back at his guns quickly, my face heating up again. "what else?" I asked him, and he cleared his throat to continue.

"well they can fire up to 6 shots really quickly one after the other, and as for the type of gun they're revolvers" He held it out to me. "you can hold it if you'd like"

"oh, could I?" I asked positively beaming at the offer.

"of course" He responded with a chuckle, I stood up and took the revolver from him gently, and examined it.

"Now what's that?" I pointed to the middle of the gun where a weird-looking circle sat.

"That's the barrel, it's what holds the bullets" he explained and I nodded. "there's the trigger, that's what you press to shoot it," he said pointing to the trigger. "you wanna try shooting it?" He asked with a sly smile and I nodded excitedly. "alright, let's uhhhh aha" he said his eyes landing on the cup I had placed on the railing and had just about forgotten. He walked over and moved it to the middle of the railing. "Now back up a little" He walked back to me and moved to stand next to me. "that's it, and then since it's already loaded" He held my wrist gently and fixed how I was holding the gun "that's better, we're going to pull this right here to cock the gun, and now keep your finger off the trigger there, we're gonna aim first." He moved from my side to behind me and let go of my wrist moving his hand up my arm and stopping at my elbow. I shuddered as a chill ran up my spine "now straighten your arm, love" He said pushing my arm straight "that's it" I felt the hand not holding my arm come to rest on my hip. My breath hitched as my face flushed, and I could feel my heartbeat quicken when he spoke, I prayed he couldn't hear how loud it was. "Now point it straight ahead" he moved my arm so it was pointing directly at the cup on the railing. "and close one eye and look down at the gun, is it pointing at the cup?" He asked. I didn't really trust myself to speak so I nodded. "all right now when you're ready, fix your stance 'cause there's going to be a little recoil and I don't want you to fall. Widen your feet" I fixed my stance like he said, "there you go, now bring your finger to the trigger, don't pull yet" He shifted, his hand moving from my elbow back to my hand, fitting it snuggly in his, placing his finger over mine on the trigger. "you ready?" he asked.

"yeah, ready" I responded, trying desperately to control my racing heart. I felt him push my finger down on the trigger and heard a loud bang as the bullet shot out of the gun and hit the cup on the railing shattering it to pieces. I grinned as I realized I hit it, letting out a stream of giggles in my excitement. "I hit it!" I squealed moving out of his hold to jump around in excitement.

"I knew you would," he replied, and my smile faded slightly at the realization I couldn't feel his warmth anymore. "a little more practice and you'll probably be better than me" he added with a smile and I chuckled, looking at the gun in my hand I regretfully gave it back, and he tucked it away, back in his holster. I watched his movements carefully until I heard the distant sound of footsteps coming hurriedly in our direction.

"Oh no that'll be the other guards" I looked at him worriedly, "they probably heard the sound!" I said my voice rising in panic. "they're going to tell my father!" I whispered in horror mainly to myself.

"hey, hey don't worry, just uh... follow my lead," He said with a sly smile. I nodded turning to face the approaching guards who were now within eyesight.

"What's going on over here, we heard a gunshot. are you alright miss (l/n)" The taller guard asked us, holding his hand on his gun warily.

"That's my fault, I was trying to entertain miss (l/n) while watching over her" the stranger responded to him, as he stood at attention. I nodded my agreement.

"oh yes, my father instructed him to watch me, and he saw me out here alone. It's not his fault, I was curious about his guns, and asked if I could shoot one" I told the guards, and they nodded along.

"well alright miss (l/n), as long as there's no trouble we should be returning to our posts" the shorter one replied and they both gave me a short bow as I dismissed them. Once they were out of sight the man and I burst into a fit of giggles.

"that was close!" I laughed covering my mouth with my hand as I did.

"what do you mean you were a natural!" he exclaimed as our laughter died down, and we descended into a nice silence. I looked down at my feet clasping my hands in front of me as he cleared his throat. I looked back up at him for a moment meeting his eyes, as I smiled.

"oh I um, I never got your name," I said quietly, trying not to disturb the moment.

"well, you never asked for it love" He responded his face breaking out into a smile as he took a step closer to me.

"I'm asking now" I challenged, a matching smile appearing across my face, only then realizing how close we were.

"well then, Love my name is-" He was inturrupted by the grating voice of my father, shattering the calm between the man and I.

"(y/n)" I heard his voice, it sounded far off but I knew if I didn't go now it would get closer as he looked for me.

"I'm sorry, you were saying? your name." I apologized on behalf of my father and tried to resume conversation with the guard.

"next time love," The guard said with a sly smile, taking my hand and pressing a slow kiss to the top. "you best be off" he let go of my hand and the warmth of his kiss stayed with me as he left the gazebo. My eyes trailed him as he left and I went to find my father before he got any angrier than he probably was.

Dinner was served by the time I made it back to the house, and my father gave me a stern look that meant we'd be having a discussion later. I ate my dinner in silence, sitting next to my father, listening to the chatter of guests as they all spoke with one another.

It wasn't until late in the night when we bid the last guests a good night as they left the house, and my father turned on me.

"the guards posted at the garden door informed me of your little gunslinging," he said his voice level and steady. "what were you doing? hmm?" He asked sternly.

"I went outside for some fresh air and then started talking to one of the members of the stadwatch you brought in for tonight's party. The one you instructed to tail me tonight" I explained wringing my fingers as I avoided eye contact with him.

"What are you talking about? I didn't send anyone to watch you tonight, and I didn't bring in any extra members of the stadwatch for tonight's party" He said tired of this conversation already.

I looked at him shocked "but, the guard..." I trailed off at the look my father gave me, and he sighed pinching the bridge of his nose and closing his eyes.

"(y/n), it's been a long night, we'll continue this conversation another day, just go to your room" He demanded softly.

"but i- yes father" I responded not feeling up to protest. I made my way up the stairs and stopped at the top. "goodnight father" I said quietly.

"goodnight (y/)- " He hesitated cutting himself off in the middle of my name before speaking again. "goodnight (n/n)" he said calling me by the affectionate nickname he used to when I was small. My eyes watered as I turned away from him and continued down the hall to my room. He hasn't called me that since before my mom passed.

I laid in bed that night staring at my ceiling long after Margaret had left after helping me out of my formal dinner wear. Thinking thoughts about the stranger and why he would have lied to me, thoughts about his lies merged into thoughts of how gentle he was, and how warm his hands felt on my arms and hip. Those thoughts slowly turned into other thoughts, fantasizing about the stranger in ways that were most definitely not ladylike. Finally falling asleep to the comforting thought of when I would possibly see him again.

--Time skip--

The answer to that would be never. I looked for him at the next party my father hosted, and the next one, and the next one. But he was never to be seen at any of them. I asked stadwatch guards I met about the boy with the pearl revolvers and none of them knew. Eventually, my memory of the stranger grew faint. I couldn't remember the details of his face or the sound of his voice, but no matter how fuzzy the memory of my moment with the stranger got the warmth of the kiss he placed on my hand that night stayed with me forever.

~Fin~

QOTD: Who's your favourite crow?

Join my discord server: https://discord.gg/9bwRmtXCuB

AN: so originally this was supposed to be continued and much longer than it is here, but I just felt that it was a nice ending, so I cut out the longer version and ended it like this, however....... I still have the other version of this story, so I'm thinking of posting that version as well as keeping this version up. So let me know what you guys think. But I hope you enjoyed this. 

#Jesper fahey #Jesper x reader #Jesper fahey x reader #Six of crows #Shadow and bone #the crows #crooked kingdom #fanfic #Fanfiction #oneshot #x reader #fluff #jesper x reader fluff #jesper fahey x reader fluff #shadow and bone s2 #Jesper #Jes #Shadow and bone netflix #shadow and bone season two #netflix shadow and bone #Jesper fanfic #Jesper oneshot #Jesper x reader oneshot #Jesper x reader fanfic #Jesper x reader fanfiction #Jesper fahey x reader onshot

[traumacatholic]

I'm not sure if this is the right place to put this. I'm sorry if it isn't.

I recently found your blog, and it really resonated with me because I do have a kind of religious trauma. I would probably be more religious today if the things that happened to me didn't happen.

My parents were away from the Church for a while and then they came back. I was praying for that to happen, but sometimes I just find myself regretting that and missing my relationship with my parents before that. Especially with my dad.

I know my dad had good intentions, but he became ultra religious and then just did things that affected my relationship with God, especially as loving Father. I just am religious to avoid hell, and to survive another day. Sometimes, i've had 12 hour religious based reprimands, all in God's Name.

Even now, I'm struggling with SSA and so forth, and I'm seriously just considering leaving. I find myself questioning some of Church teachings and just falling away. I hate myself for it.

I don't want to end up leaving and at the same time I do.

If you are unable to give advice or anything, prayers would be appreciated. And perhaps prayers for the conversion of a friend, that may influence me to stay.

Thank you for your blog and just being here.

I'm sorry to hear that you're struggling. Praying for other people's conversion or journey in the faith is complicated, especially if they end up in a very different place from what we intended. As hard as it is to grapple with, someone doing violence to you (emotional, physical etc) in the name of God is never your fault. Even if you prayed for them to connect / reconnect with the faith. As much as we can pray for God to guide them, the responsibility of how they respond to God's grace and calling is theirs.

When I was in an abusive relationship, I prayed continually for him to be more open to the faith. His response was to seek out material solely to argue with me and say that I was 'doing the faith wrong', despite the fact that he was still actively hostile to the faith. I dropped the faith because it felt like the only way I could continue on. When I went to Mass or when I tried praying, I just had so much anxiety from the relationship that it was hard to be present and really participate in those things. But dropping the faith didn't stop that person being hostile to me, it just transformed the way they were hostile to me. And it left me miserable. I had cut myself off from the faith, the faith I still believed in. The relationship I still wanted with God persisted even though I left. And I wouldn't want that to be something that you go through, especially looking back at my experiences at the time.

I really do appreciate that you're in a tough position. But I don't think stepping away from the faith is going to solve the problems that you're experiencing. I would try speaking to your Priest (or the Priest of the Church your father attends), and try having this conversation with him. He might be in a better position to help both you and your father. Have you tried speaking to your father about how much his actions are harming you and your relationship with God? I appreciate that this is a tough conversation, but I think if you can, it's best to be really clear that as well intentioned as he may be, it is causing more harm than good.

A lot of converts go through a similar problem, where they can be so passionate about their new faith that they end up causing harm to both themselves and those around them. Because their passion for the faith isn't tempered by compassion and humility. I'm not sure how long it's been, but it's possible that your father will over time settle - which I appreciate doesn't solve the issue of the here and now. Which is why if you can, I would recommend getting a Priest involved to step in. He might be able to find ways to redirect this energy towards something that's more beneficial and less harmful. Perhaps speaking to your mother might also help in some of these aspects.

For yourself, something I would recommend is trying to find something or some things in the faith that you can cling on to. For me, the Blessed Virgin Mary has always been of great comfort to me. I also care very deeply about seeing each person as an Icon of God and of each of us as being part of the Body of Christ. And when things do get overwhelming and stressful, then these can be of great comfort to me. They can be a source of direction, of healing, of guidance, of hope. And I hope that you are able to find these things for yourself.

There are so many different Saints, some of which will have had very similar experiences to you. For others, things like the Eucharist can be of great comfort and joy. I think taking some time to kind of explore these parts of the faith can be really helpful. And it'll feel really meaningful because these are things that you have sought out and found. Be open in your prayers to God, also. It's okay to voice frustration, it's okay to express your pain and your feelings - even if these feelings are 'negative'. You don't need to hold back in your prayers. I think the more we release our emotions and our genuine feelings and hopes, the more healing we can find in prayer.

If you are questioning some of the Church's teachings, then the only way to really deal with this is to grapple with these teachings. Read into them more from the Church's perspective. Explore the counter-arguments. Otherwise you will still be stuck with these teachings causing anxiety/pain/etc. Your thoughts about them won't go away just because you drop away from the faith. Believe me, been there and done that. The only thing that helps is to grapple with them and to come to an actual conclusion.

I will keep you in my prayers. May God bless and comfort you, and guide you.

[palialaina]

Everything is falling into place.

Well, mostly.

I have some questions I want to ask, but the town is so small, I don't want it to get around.

Maybe I'll ask Dad...

It's been calm since the ceremony, at least. People congratulated me, Najuma asked how I liked her fireworks (I loved them. Though watching them explode I got a memory of something like chalk in my mouth. Ew.), and no one's had any sort of requests or crises I needed to handle.

So I've been able to focus on what I've started calling the Sleepover Room.

Coming along quite nicely, I think. I do want to fix up the colors of the other harvest bed, maybe go purple-blue... Not sure yet. And I definitely need a rug! I've looked a few times at Zeki's, but either he doesn't have any in stock, or I'm broke!

Mostly the latter. Zeki's prices are mean... Which is funny, because for a little conman, Zeki's actually pretty nice. He says Earth type personalities like his aren't anything like Water types (re; mine), but he's softer than he wants to let on.

It's kind of nice.

Jel and I went out to Bahari again. Or rather, I told him I was going to go to Bahari because I needed some stuff, and he insisted I wait for him to get some things together.

He came back with a hat bigger and floppier than Uncle B's and his own version of a beach outfit. Honestly, he looked absolutely ridiculous, and it... it made me feel a lot better about the future for this relationship of ours. If he can wear something that makes him look super silly, and help me get a ton of oysters, then maybe me being a source of inspiration to him works out...

I hope so, anyways.

Also, he unintentionally launched himself with that geyser, and when I'd stopped laughing, he decided to call it a day. A bit more excitement than he'd bargained for, but he did well, and I appreciate every last bit of effort he put in.

I found this, and I swear it was singing to me. Sort of how the Night Sky Temple seems to sing when I step into it. (Caught a void ray! Just three more things to go! Also, Hekla told me that finishing what I did unlocked something under the water. I don't like that information Hekla.)

I wonder what it's tied to, and how it works. It's not too far from another door that looks like it needs a Flow battery, so maybe it's part of that? I wish I knew. Jina's told me a lot about these ruins, but there's so much that she doesn't know, and other people won't tell her.

And I'm no use, whatever these ruins are, they're completely unfamiliar to me. They sing to me, sure, but I don't have a clue as to why...

Oh, and my new friend Orion decided to write to me the way Lark does. So now I have two friends writing me letters!

Berry,

Thanks for explaining stuff! I would’ve been super lost without you. Well, I’m still lost, but I would’ve been double lost, or something. But it’s cool. This place is really relaxing! I’m working on getting my house set up, but there’s so much to see and do I keep getting distracted. And people to talk to! Everyone’s so nice, or neutral at best (I still say Eshe’s putting on an act, nobody can be that unpleasant in real life). Foraging, mining, fishing, even catching bugs.

I feel like someday Jina is going to write something that will be The Definite Truth About Humans and everyone will be super impressed and it’ll be taught in schools around the world. I’m honored to help however I can. Elouisa, on the other hand, is going to write a hundred books, none of which have even the slightest truth to them, and I will happily read every single one and gleefully participate in whatever crazy experiments she cooks up.

I keep trying to get Reth to involve me in his practical jokes. He swears he doesn’t do stuff like that. I don’t believe him.

Soooooooo I kinda need your advice on something. Talking to Chayne is really relaxing, and thought-provoking. Which is a problem. After talking with him I spent so long thinking about the Phoenix and Paths and whatever I didn’t pay attention to where I was going, and wandered in to an unfamiliar shop. No big deal, right? Well it wasn’t actually a shop, it was a house. When I realized I was trespassing I ran the heck out of there as fast as I could. Which is why I ran into you. Sorry again btw. Anyway, apparently that was Tish’s house. Which, I guess I’m lucky it wasn’t Hassian or Celeri, but I still need to apologize to Tish. Except if I go up to her and say “Hey, sorry I snuck into your cute house and looked at all your neat stuff” I’m pretty sure I’d die on the spot. What should I do?

-Orion

PS: Still have the carrot Nai’o gave me. First thing I got in this place, I’m never getting rid of it.

Nai'o still giving out carrots. He's gonna get in trouble again at this rate. Hehe.

I do love living in a place where there's not really locks on the doors. You can just poke your head in and look around, and no one gets bugged by that. It feels... like a novelty, I suppose, which I guess means that it wasn't common Before.

I'll see if there's anything Tish wants this week and maybe let him use that as a silent, non-specific apology so he doesn't die of mortification~

I have to visit Bahari again. Iron for sure, and once I wake up, I'll have more glow worms, so maybe I can finally catch that recipe!

Or that fish. Either one. Hekla's... concerning comments aside, I really want to know what'll happen once I finish opening this vault thing. I wonder if the door back in the hiding place next to the Phoenix temple will open? Or maybe something out in Bahari Bay?

I just need the sushi recipe, a giant goldfish, and a long-nosed unicorn fish.

And a whole lot of glow worms. Einar's probably going to induct me into his guild at this rate! Sheesh!

#palia online #palia #singularity 6 #berry plays palia #palia game #palia journaling #palia journey #palia mmo #palia roleplaying

[hdjinam]

𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓’𝐒 𝐆𝐎𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐎𝐍, 𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐘𝐎𝐍𝐄 ? no one new here, it’s just 𝐌𝐈𝐋𝐋 back with a third muse ! i’m continuously inspired by this space, & by all of you, & couldn’t help myself ! my new creation’s name is 𝐑𝐎𝐇 𝐉𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐌, & he’s from the hustle & bustle of seoul ;; the songpa district, to be more specific ! he entered the world on 𝟐𝟎𝟎𝟑𝟎𝟕𝟏𝟖, making him an emotional ( mess ) & nurturing cancer sun, as well as 𝟏𝟗 𝐘𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐒 𝐎𝐋𝐃. in april of 2021, he was officially signed to 𝐊𝐈𝐒𝐒 𝐒𝐓𝐔𝐃𝐈𝐎𝐒, & hopes to one day début in a boy group as a vocalist, songwriter, & maybe even a visual, he doesn’t know, but he’s been around for the last few years & has been having a really good time. below the cut is a brief rundown of him, & if you’re interested in plotting with us, 𝐏𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐄 𝐋𝐈𝐊𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐓 ! ♡♡

𝐈𝐍𝐒𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐒. death tw.

———   jinam is the unfortunate victim of his environment in many ways. his parents are business & academic oriented, as well as religious, & while they tried their best to instill their values, morals, & work ethic into him, he fought them every step of the way. he hated going to church, he hated participating in school, & it was clear from the time he learned to speak that he didn’t get along with his father — the pair of them being polar opposites in basically every fashion. his dad is rigid, commanding, forceful, & ( toxically ) masculine, & growing up, he had no idea how is own flesh & blood, his own son, could be so different from him. it filled him with a disappointment that he still grapples with, & jinam has spent his whole life wondering why being himself is so wrong ;; why his father won’t accept him for everything that makes him him. despite not having much of a relationship anymore, these thoughts are a burden that jinam lives with to this day, & it’s safe to say that he has quite a bit of ❛ daddy issues. ❜ i do not use this term lightly, & it will be elaborated on later in this introduction post.

———   his biggest safe place growing up was his maternal grandmother’s house. at least once per week, he would spend the night there, & she allowed him to blossom however felt natural to him. as a kid & teen, jinam had a lot of interests, all of which were located in the realm of art, performance, & creative literature. he adored painting, sketching, writing poems & short stories, as well as singing along to whatever music came on the radio — all of which his grandmother supported, nourished, & allowed in her household. in truth, he reminded her a lot of her late husband. he, too, had a knack for the arts, as well as a gentle personality that many claimed was overly ❛ feminine, ❜ but that never stopped him from expressing who he was, authentically. when jinam was born & became his own person, the resemblances were uncanny — not only in spirit, but also in visuals — & she wanted him to know that he was just fine as is, no matter what his dad told him. her home, & her presence, were the only things that made him feel seen.

———   unfortunately, he wasn’t only bullied at home, but also in school. because of this, he kept to himself for the most part. he wasn’t entirely friendless, thankfully, & he cherishes the friends he made back then more than anything ;; considers a lot of them his chosen family — particularly those who are also queer, or the ❛ black sheep ❜ of their families. note: it goes without saying, that these are all possible connections up for grabs if your muse is from, or lived in, seoul, & is near the same age as jinam. anyway, in school, he was made to focus mostly on academics & keeping his grades up, but he also had quite the rebellious streak — one that drove both of his parents bonkers. whether it was ditching class, sneaking out to meet up with his friends, or skipping church as a protest, it caused problems for him. his home life was chaotic because of it, but he always had his grandmother. that never faded or changed, & one day, with her help covering for him, he ditched school with his friends to audition for hydra labels. it was done mostly on a whim, & two of their group of four were luckily cast ;; him being one of them, as well as a newer pal to him.

———   his involvement in the company wasn’t supported by his father, but at that point, he had all but stopped caring for whatever jinam was going to do with his life. allowing him to train at an entertainment company meant jinam was no longer his dad’s ❛ problem, ❜ so he remained silent — so much so that he & jinam haven’t spoken to this day. it’s bittersweet for him, but he remained focused on his training — opening up like a flower now that he’s quite literally surrounded by the arts. at hydra labels, he’s learned how to be a better singer, & songwriter, & how to feel more confident in himself in a variety of ways, & while it’s tiring & not fun all of the time, he wouldn’t change the experience for the world. however, that said, he’s prone to a variety of distractions. coming into his own, especially with age, has him focusing a lot on his love life, particularly the guys around him ;; the guys who are so tempting in all the wrong ways ;; the guys who seem to fill the void.

———   it’s been a wild two years, & throughout it, he’s written a lot of music, & has never felt so free, but just as he began finding his footing in life, he suffered the greatest loss he’ll ever face. ( death tw ) in the middle of the year 2022, his grandmother passed, & his heart has been broken ever since. grief is a hard cycle to break, & while he’s done his best to pick up the pieces & move forward, he can’t help but feel lost. he wears jewelry of her’s every single day, & writes to her in a journal she gave him whenever he’s feeling blue. though, in her will, she left him her home ;; stating she wanted for him to still have a place where he felt safe, where he could be himself. it’s created a stir in the family, but he’s unbothered by it. whenever he’s not at the company & has free time, he spends it there — maintaining it as best he can, & feeling her energy.

———   nowadays, he’s been doing his best to début, especially since it’s his two year anniversary with the company. he’s writing a lot, singing a lot, dating a lot, & doing his best to make his dream come true. he’s still hurting in ways, but he’s realizing that the hurt he feels will likely never go away, so he’s learning to live with it.

𝐓𝐘𝐏𝐈𝐒𝐓’𝐒 𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄.

to find out a little more about his personality, click here ! i’m so excited to write him out & develop him more in this space, & he’s open to any & all types of plots. i value complex & deep connections, as well brainstorming something fresh for each interaction, but i’m just as happy to look through any wc’s you might have ! thanks for reading if you did. you’re the best ! ♡♡

#( ☽ ) ——— 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒐. roh jinam.

[titconao3]

Fic authors self-rec! ✨ When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you’ve written, then pass on to at least five other writers ❤️

Thank you to @perverse-idyll for thinking of me <3

NGL, that's a tough one - both because i have, as of the time of writing, 170 published works on AO3 (how did this happen!!??), but also because, well. i am Very Bad at choosing and self-promo, so... i'll use the response i got from readers to guide me.

i've answered for HP fic then rambled about other fandoms. And now i should post this before i tweak even more, change my mind about the picks, etc.

If i stick to Harry Potter fics, i'd go with: > Realisations, because it's been recced by others (!!!), and it's first-person narrative, which is a nice challenge to write. i went into it wanting to see if i could do first-person smut, but of course it's mostly feels. If anyone had told me, back when I was still a Hogwarts student, that I’d have a crush on the one and only Severus Snape – dungeon bat, greasy git, Death Eater, etc – I would definitely have laughed. Or, more likely, screamed at you, maybe tried to hex you, and assumed you were a Voldemort supporter.

> The Box, because it's Petunia-centric and it was recced as well (!!!!!). Petunia is a fascinating character, when you take a step back from the children's book trope and try to see what made her the way she is, what would make a person become Petunia Dursley. Petunia Dursley is a sensible woman; she’s always been. She’s not the kind to get all fanciful and trust shady people, oh no. She knows only too well what happens when you do.

> Winter Bloom, written for Hoggywartyxmas for @my--witch. Severus Snape/Kingsley Shacklebolt. i aimed for both humour and feels and flirting. Features Bill Weasley, and Severus in a vintage leather jacket (art by @my--witch !). “Romantic? You’re dressed like Santa; I might be a Death Eater but even I am not that much of a pervert.”

> Fuck, Marry, Kill which got positive feedback for the humour. It's very Idiots In Love, misunderstandings galore, etc. And Firsties dedicated to their Head of House! He’s an addict, after all, like his parents before him – his father to the bottle, his mother to his father, himself to power and now to Potter. Every time Potter’s hand winds into his hair, pulls and then softens, cradles his too-sharp cheekbone and touches his too-thin lips, he can feel the sheer power in it. He could obliterate Severus, if he wished to; he will one day, either because Severus pisses him off one too many times or because he’ll realise all the reasons why this, all of this, is a terrible, terrible idea.

> The Fair - look, i managed a short fic for Snape Case! It's child Sev centric and his parents. Like i do with Petunia, i want to delve into Eileen and Tobias. We don't know much about them, but i like to think about the circumstances that made made Tobias hate magic, that led them both to neglect Severus, that resulted in what little we see of them. i like to think that they loved each other and their son, once. They feature in several of my HP works. He was still hungry afterwards, but he didn’t say anything. He’s only six, but he’s not a dunderhead! He’s heard his parents whisper angrily at each other, heard his dad ask why his mum can’t magic them some money. Every time he does, his mum shakes her head and says she can’t, and every time, his dad goes out and slams the door and comes back after Severus is in bed.

Daredevil AHAHAHAHA omg. What ship? What mood? egads, there are so many. i don't know! i wrote mostly Matt/Frank, Matt/Elektra, and Matt/Foggy.

If i may, i'll start by saying i consider what i do as event admin for @daredevilexchange, @frattweek, and @themattfogblog as work i'm proud of, even if technically they're not fics i've written (well, i did participate several times ;-).

But as for my fics... there's a lot in that fandom and i really can't pick 5, so let's go with some rare pairs, like Matt/Venom/Eddie (Snacks at the Laundromatt), or Matt/Tony Stark (Court Crush), Matt/Cap (Through Your Eyes), or Matt/Hawkeye (Hawkguy and the Devil). There's even Matt/Loki, Green Sleeves! And there's gen as well.

And actually, this is the occasion to remember @dichotomystudios, who unexpectedly passed away a year ago. Her many contributions to the fandom ranged from wonderful art, great canon knowledge, heart-warming cheerleading, dedicated work as part of the SaveDaredevil campaign... to being a friend to many in the fandom. She created three art pieces for The Littlest Catholic, a Frank/Matt fluff, angst, and humour fic featuring dollhouses. We talked a lot about it, exchanged ideas, giggled like loons... she is very missed.

For those of you struggling with Ikea furniture, may i point you to Nailed It for some Schadenfreude - but really, i wrote several Fratt fics going for the lulz (crosswords flirting, dating app adventures...), and i hope readers enjoy them. Also, there's a dog in the Lucy series, and a cat in a fic titled (i kid you not) The Fratt Cat. Yes, i am good at titles. Oh! And the Dog POV fic: A Good Dog !

Let's also mention Crossing the Styx, which was a writing collaboration with @pixelbypixelfanfic. i don't think i could have a better experience with anyone else <3 we wrote this over... oh, over more than a year, and i think in the final result it's really hard to say who wrote what.

There's some more MCU/Marvel stuff, mostly Loki-centric, some shippy like Frayed Threads (Loki/Steve Rogers, there's not enough of you) and some not like in the religion of the insecure (i must be myself) (mentioning that one because lookit, i too can do the all-lowercase song lyrics with brackets title thing!).

i was lucky to collaborate with several artists who are also friends in the general Marvel fandom - @rrr-nightingale and Iithril, looking at you <3 - and @metaderivative podficced several works, including the Dog POV one :D

i dabbled in other fandoms (my What We Do In The Shadows fics are more feelsy than humour, with bonus focus on Zoroastrianism for the second one), the Good Omens one is pre-TV show and not vibing with today's fandom, we should simply forget about the old, old Star Trek TOS stuff, and then there's the whole Lucifer catalogue. i started writing again because of that fandom, but it's also one of the few that i've left behind, for Reasons. However, out of the *checks* 52 fics i wrote there, there's also some fluff, some angst, some smut, some plot. Even the de-aging plots, the mega depression fics, the Latin titles, the let's think real hard about death fics, the bodies and sex are hard omg fics, mixing humour and feels, having religious themes (Lucifer angsts about being Lucifer! Matt Murdock decides to become a monk!!) etc. I did start several trends of mine there ;-)

Sorry for the ramblings; i figured you wanted only the HP stuff but i wasn't 100% sure. i have a small enough number of HP fic out for now so it's easier to pick 5, but for the rest? ...nah, can't °_°;;;

#tagged #tagging game

[shslpunkartist99]

PLEASE TELL ME MORE ABOUT LEROY AND HIS SIBLINGS

ESPECIALLY THE ONES YOU MENTIONED IN THAT MORE RECENT-ISH POST OF YOURS

LIKE WHAT ARE THEIR NAMES AND WHAT THEY'RE LIKE AND WILL LEROY BE ABLE TO HELP THEM RECOVER TO SOME EXTENT

PLEASE

I MUST KNOW MORE ABOUT THIS BLUE BOY OF YOURS

Ajslflwjskala

It's sad stuff, I will say that. They were made during my teen rp days, so you know it was edgy, but even after fixing them up, it's still sad.

Tw for abuse and drugs (won't go into deep detail, but still felt I should put the warning up). It's also VERY long, and I didn't even include the possible recovery. I'll include it in another post, considering that would only be for the Symbol verse anyway.

Leroy has an older sister and a twin brother, named Leona (6 years older) and Leo. Their father was abusive to both the kids and the mother for years, and it unfortunately became too much for mom, as she left the kids behind when Leroy was only four.

Despite barely being a teen, Leona took the role of the caretaker, doing her best to take care of her brothers while keeping them safe from dad. During the years, she was part of a softball team, then baseball, was able to participate in a tourney, and won a huge grand prize. Since dad never cared for her hobbies, she hid the prize money from him, took the brothers and whatever little belongings they had, and bought a house with the help of a friend's parent.

It was then that Leroy wanted his name to be Leroy; not only to match with his siblings' names, but because hearing his actual name brought fear and trauma from the father. The siblings agreed, and thus, they lived their new lives together in their new home.

Leona continued to be the caretaker of the others. Leo tried his best to step up more as well, but Leona always seemed to have it done better, so part of him began feeling jealous and inadequate. Leroy looked up to them both, and admired how strong and dependable they were.

Years went by, and once the brothers reached 17, Leona decided it was time she lived her own life now. Yes, they technically weren't adults yet, but she would still have her name on the house until they were old enough to take over. She wasn't able to live life her way because of mom's abandonment, so she wanted to travel and experience the world's good sides. She would still come back and visit from time to time, of course! But it was time for her to make the most of her life while it's still happening.

Leo and Leroy worked hard to maintain the house in the meantime. Leroy even dropped out of high school and got a job in order to help, as well as kept the house clean and helped with chores. Leo, however, wasn't doing too well. He still felt he should be the caretaker, especially now with Leona gone, but he can't keep a job, he gets distracted easily, so he makes more messes, and he gets tired easily. His mental hasn't really recovered, and he started getting thoughts of "Leroy sees me as weak. That's why he's taking care of me and doing everything. Just like Leona.."

When trying to find work, Leo ended up encountering... not so good people. They claimed to do simple delivery services, and they would pay him good money if he did it. Desperate to be compentent, he accepted the shady job, and earned money for him and Leroy. But as time went by, he got more involved with the job, more involved with the people.. and got caught in their secret affairs.

It was a hidden cult, and they convert most people with the use of drugs, manipulation, and brainwash. They ended up getting hold of Leo, and they made his condition worse and worse. Leroy was worried about his brother, but Leo never told him about it. He would just go to the cult, do their orders, go home, struggle to eat and sleep.. until he never returned home.

Leroy waited patiently for his siblings to return home for years. Hopeful ignorance blinded him for so long, but it ended up messing with his brain. For instance, he kept a bedroom perfectly clean for them. However, he would sometimes try to open the door, only to believe that it was locked. His brain would make him believe that his siblings were behind the door, locking him out and keeping him away, so he would end up crying and begging for them to let him in. He hated being home because of how empty and quiet it was, but he didn't dare sell the house, as it would be "a spit in the face to Leona and her sacrifices".

Skip to Tsuri coming into Leroy's life and living together. Tsuri was fed up with these breakdowns, so he did some research on where the hell his siblings went. With Naomi's help, he was able to quickly travel to where Leona was living.. and found she got into some trouble of her own. She got involved in gang shit against her will, and now she's stuck as their bitch until she's dead. Nowhere to escape, and having her hooked to their addictions, the reason she never returned home was because they would kill them all. Leroy and Leo's life is better with her here, away from them.. let them be happy..

Except they weren't. Leo was more or less worse. He was hardly himself anymore. Completely devoid of personality and thought, he was a walking mummy that did whatever the cult wanted. He hardly reacted when hearing Leroy's name. He was lifeless, only moving by whatever fumes they forced through his lungs.

Tsuri never told Leroy about this. If he did, he knew Leroy would try and find them, and it wouldn't work out as well as they would want. Even though it hurt, it was better to let the family go..

#Leroy #the only person Leroy met was his mom. accidentally #he saw her happy with a new husband and child #he felt his heart get stabbed multiple times #against his best judgment. he went and talked to her when she was alone at her house #she didn't recognizs him because of how much he changed #he tried to stay calm but the emotions went flying eventually #“you left me. you left me and Leona and Leo with that.. DEMON. you may not have deserved the pain but what about us?? YOUR KIDS??” #“YOU LEFT YOUR OWN KIDS TO MAKE YOUR OWN FAMILY?!!” #but that got mom to panic and threaten to call the police #so Leroy left in tears. cursing her to hell #the only good news is that dad is dead. Tsuri killed him pretty early in his and Leroy's life together