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#And the nature of the quests is such that it's not weird to have it be partial like.. again.there's no major plot. it's not like the quests

spiribia · 2 years

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i think one of the most charming things ffxiv will do in the name of making the player feel like they aren’t just being tasked by idle npcs who do none of the work themselves is that it will conjure up a series of tasks that needs to be done and then have npcs volunteer themselves for the majority of these fictitious tasks and leave one as an actual quest for the wol, so it seems everyone is helping in their own way... especially funny when the npcs are like Im going to go attend a dry boring meeting on our behalf now, wol can you be a dear and handle this much more exciting sounding activity. and i love when you have to scour an area and the npcs are like ‘i’ll go east, you go west’ and if you disregard that and the quest-marked area of your map and look long enough in the general unmarked area to the east instead anyway you can often actually find the npc model there as they said they would be and when you interact with them theyre usually just like “dude wtf are you doing”

#talks #also so cute how venats like omg you like searching for items in the overworld and talking to npcs for information too!#and also when shes like so weird that i can just do adventurer tasks alongside you wol and it feels so natural even #though we are from worlds eons apart as if we both just comfortably know this process! Baby girl that is because #the quest mechanics have apparently not changed in 12000 years

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prokopetz · 2 months

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Something I love about The Far Roofs is how much of a swerve its premise is if you're coming to it uninitiated.

Okay, so there's these talking rats with a culture of swashbuckling heroism – basic Redwall/Reepicheep stuff.

Also, there's a magical realm called the Far Roofs which exists above every human community, and that's where the rats go adventuring; a little weird, but you can see the precedents in popular fiction. It's like wainscot fantasy taken to its logical-yet-absurd conclusion.

By default, the game wants you to play as a fictionalised version of your (presumably human!) self and go up onto the Far Roofs to have adventures with the rats. All right, now it's coming together: it's like isekai fantasy meets The Muppet Show, with you as the obligatory human character, right?

Then we get to the nature of those adventures: the rats have this whole culture built around questing against beings they call "the Mysteries" – beasties with names like Harpy and Goblin and Unicorn. So basically it's a bunch of muppety rats on the roofs fighting Dungeons & Dragons monsters, and you go up and help them do it. Great.

And then you get to what the Mysteries are actually like, and... well, I'm going to let the following excerpt carry the weight here. (This particular bit of text also appears in a previously published work by the same author, so I'm not giving anything away that's still under wraps.)

Unicorn, which is named Numinous, dwells three steps away and beyond the world, but most often in the Farthest Roofs, where the Steppes of the Sky come down to touch the Vast and Earthen Court. There it is stepping upwards from the world, as it has always been stepping upwards from the world, caught in a moment of transcendent glory that does not complete. It simply is. Melanthios heard the footsteps of Unicorn. Melanthios heard the ringing of Unicorn’s bells. So Melanthios chased Unicorn off to the Farthest Roofs, and Melanthios did not return. Anton and Karel, who were his sons, were wiser than their father. They heard the bells but they did not follow. Instead, they memorized the scent. They gathered swords, and ropes, and nets, and they went out. They brought food and water and all manner of gear. They clung to the roofs with all four feet wheresoever after Unicorn they went. It proved no good. Anton looked up, and Karel to his brother. The world came down— That’s what Karel said. He had time to look away. He had time to bury his head in his paws. He did not see the fullness of Unicorn’s presence. He only saw Anton his brother become unreal. In the light of the moment of the Unicorn, Anton became as a paper figure in the fire. His reality burned out. His shadow seared into the roofs behind him. Where he’d stood, for just a moment, the Steppes of the Sky came down to touch the Vast and Earthen Court; and Anton was gone away. So Karel ran and Karel ran and Karel ran from the Unicorn; and all his life, he envied but was more fortunate than his brother.

These are gods. You're going up there to kill God.

Like, it's still silly wainscot fantasy with funny talking rats, but there's that tension. It's like if Fraggle Rock occasionally took a hard turn to serious cosmic horror – Lord Dunsany by way of Jim Henson – and that tonal juxtaposition was treated as something unremarkable.

Basically what I'm saying is go back The Far Roofs.

#gaming #tabletop roleplaying #tabletop rpgs #the far roofs #dr. jenna moran #crowdfunding #kickstarter #violence mention #death mention

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dirtybg3confessions · 1 month

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Confession: Today I stumbled upon a clip of literally just a very sweet, loving amateur couple having soft, gentle, playful and affectionate sex on a beautifully sunlit bed, and it just about knocked me speechless. I'm not a big consumer of porn, but I have watched this one ~15 minute clip at least four times by now, and every time, I keep imagining my character and Astarion, alone in the Elfsong on a late afternoon (between his personal quest and the endgame ofc). In my fiction, this is a rare lazy afternoon, and they just found themselves carried naturally away by enjoying the warmth, the intimacy, and each other while bathed by the golden rays of the slowly setting sun, for what seems like one of the last times they may share it. [The couple, they laugh and get a little silly, struggle with stubborn clothes, go slow and stop every now and then just to kiss and hold each other, and they touch each other with such infinite tenderness, you can clearly tell that they're in love- and while I feel almost a bit weird about projecting fictional characters onto them, a part of me kinda wants to have a little cry about just how well it fits my little fiction for those two. It's so simple, yet so beautiful, and so perfect. I'm not even turned on at this point, I'm just profoundly endeared and feeling weirdly emotional about porn. (The guy even does the leg hook thing at one point, and I swear to you, when I first saw it, I just about teared up.)]

#bg3 #baldur's gate #baldur's gate 3 #dirty confessions #bg3 astarion #astarion

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windienine · 8 months

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i want to teach you how to play chuubo's marvelous wish-granting engine...

(diceless rpg released by jenna k. moran in 2011)

... in as few words as i can manage!

there's a person running the game and playing the world (here, they're called the hollyhock god or "HG" for short.)

and one or more other people playing several characters who serve as the game's central cast (the player characters, or "PCs" for short.)

if you're one of the PCs, your main goal is to progress through a storyline by earning experience points ("XP") before play, you'll be given a little card with a set of goals on it. this is a quest. it describes the kind of story you're here to tell with your character today.

a quest needs a certain amount of XP to be completed, at which point you earn a reward and proceed to the next quest.

you can get XP in a few common ways:

completing the goals described on your quest card (major goals can only be completed once and give a large amount of XP, flavor goals can be repeated indefinitely but grant a smaller number)

participating in scenes with other PCs and/or the HG, talking to and working with one another and describing how your character feels. (this is an XP action, and you can take one once per scene)

evoking a specific emotion out of the other players that they reward you with XP for (this is called emotion XP)

a scene involves one or more PCs interacting with one another or the world. once everyone's been in two scenes and taken two XP actions, that is a chapter. you tally up all the XP you earned, refresh your resources, and the session is over.

that is the core loop. you try to progress directly on your quest, you spend scenes interacting with other players, and you play into the archetype you've chosen for a few bonuses. finish a quest, unlock a new storyline.

in other words: you have experiences as your character which give them the will to grow and change.

check out this example ^^^

this one's structured for a loner character-- some mad scientist or mage who knows that the world is in danger and is eager to solve that problem all alone.

but... this isn't really a story about singular great men solving singular great problems alone, though. how much can you tell about this character, their conflicts, and where they're headed, all based on the quest structure alone?

your challenge is to:

do the things listed on the card, when possible. take up burdens, structure the weird ominous dreams and portents your character is experiencing, create scenarios where they have to rely on others against their better judgement (quest XP).

spend time with the natural world and/or the other PCs every scene, having experiences that affect your character personally (XP actions).

act as your character in ways that drive the other players to stunned speechlessness, the usual target reaction for this character's archetype (emotion XP).

be loose and have some fun with it. you'll be working with several quests at a time, so try to chain them together and create openings for other players to fulfill their own goals as well.

... and you've done it! those are the fundamental basics of the game!

#cmwge #chuubo's marvelous wish granting engine #ttrpg #jenna moran #nobilis #lots of folks keep describing this thing as “a tome” and “arcane”#i get why #but here's the core loop broken down into simplest terms. for you!#follow for more guides to rpg esoterica

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aroaceleovaldez · 4 months

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i stand by that a better, more sensible, and more intriguing plot for TSATS would have been, instead of retconning literally everything:

Bob is dead (because he was very explicitly absorbed/killed by Tartarus Himself in House of Hades, alongside Damasen), and nobody is going into Tartarus to save him. He made his sacrifice and is gone. However. Remember how the Titans, including Bob, were just kind of kicking around for several years? Particularly. On a cruise ship full of mortals. And Bob happened to be kicking around in general for an extra year versus all the other Titans. And he mythologically sometimes has a mortal demigod son who partook in the Calydonian Boar Hunt (Dryas of Calydon). Yeah.

So turns out, Bob/Iapetus leaves behind a demigod (demititan?) child. And because Nico was pretty much his only friend, he named Nico his child's godfather. And while he's not being left in charge of the child, as a son of Hades and godfather to this kid, Nico is duty-bound to fulfill Bob's last will and go find this like 2 year old to make sure they're safe. So Nico has to undertake this very unusual quest (that raises many questions, such as "demititans are a thing?" and "DOES THIS MEAN THERE'S POTENTIALLY MORE-?!" and "SHOULD WE BE CONCERNED ABOUT THIS?") and is kind of freaking out because. He's the son of Hades! He's notoriously bad with living things, and animals, and definitely small children! Even if he does find this kid and assure they're safe, he is the last person who should be undergoing any kind of quest involving even potentially having to babysit. Fortunately, his boyfriend is the human embodiment of sunshine and calmness and good vibes, and also once helped a nymph give birth, so he feels Marginally More Confident in theoretical demititan babysitting and offers to come along on this Epic Journey of Figuring Out What In Hades' Name Is Up With This Demititan Baby Business.

Proceed with wholesome epic shenanigans quest of Nico and Will scurrying around trying to locate this random OP baby while Nico has an existential crisis about the nature of his powers because he doesn't want to let Bob down! Both for Hades Kid Honor Reasons and because Bob was his friend! But what if he's destined to fail this quest just because of who he is? Because he's simply not built for hanging out with the living/mortals? And Will reassuring him that He Will Probably Not Traumatize The Weird OP Titan Baby And It'll Be Fine, and simultaneously getting a peek into the weird other life Nico leads hanging out with immortals much more than the average demigod, which Nico considers his norm. Bonus shenanigans of both of them getting caught off-guard and culture shocked from where each other's respective worlds (Nico's mostly-immortal versus Will's mostly-mortal) cross over and learning to navigate those for each other - Nico finally starting to make some mortal connections and get glimpses at modern mortal American life, and Will trying not to get his brain literally incinerated while Nico's happily casually catching up with some of his old friends who happen to be literal gods.

#pjo #riordanverse #nico di angelo #will solace #solangelo #long post //#LISTEN I JUST THINK WE DONT NEED TO BE RETCONNING THINGS WHEN THERE IS A HIGHLY INTRIGUING MYTH RIGHT THERE #listen. *listen.* Iapetus in myth has a demigod child? and we're in the series? that's all about demigods?#and had titans running around for 4 years? some primarily on a giant ship mostly full of mortals?#and Iapetus himself was running around for closer to like 5 years?#I AM JUST SAYING. that is enough time. and the right conditions. that there are perhaps demititans now.#that alone is a fascinating plot set-up that ties in basically all previous series inherently and has a reasonable starting point #of *course* Nico would be named Bob's child's godfather!#of *course* Nico would consider it a very important personal duty to see out Bob's final will and go on some quest about it!#and under those conditions it makes *perfect sense* for Nico to want to bring Will along! and that he would be very helpful on said quest!#bringing along a lot of skills and abilities in areas that Nico lacks! that are crucial for a quest like that!#also then immediately the plot becomes Will reassuring Nico about his powers being cool and not evil and him being spooky is okay #while Will is also trying to not literally have his brain melt cause Nico's casually introducing him to a trio of death gods or something #forgetting that Will cannot look upon a god's true form #and Will's dragging Nico across the US while Nico is struggling to keep up cause Will forgot that Nico's not American and not from that era #its cute! it's interesting! it immediately begs the question of a next-gen series focusing on a main cast of demititan kids #dont go back to Tartarus that's lame and overdone and ruins a ton of stuff. dont retcon everything that also ruins a ton #give us the fluffy roadtrip comedy that they clearly wanted to write instead anyways #you can even keep the elements of Nico feeling out of his depth and Will constantly on the verge of death. except it makes sense this time.#and it's kind of funny cause Nico's just freaking out over babysitting and it highlights how much tankier Nico is vs Will #even just in casual interactions. yeah Nico can casually look upon a god's true form. dont worry about it #meanwhile Will is slowly collecting sunglasses the entire trip and layering them up for whenever Nico introduces him to another deity

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thearchercore · 4 months

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why charles, ironically, is a good fit as a potential condender for a red bull seat and why red bull needs a driver like charles (an essay)

charles embodies the "red bull gives you wings" mentality and branding. red bull prides themselves with pushing limits, constant adrenaline rush of the sports they currently sponsor/participate in. just look at his recent instagram posts, he loves doing weird side quests for the adrenaline rush -- something ferrari does not particularly enjoy. for instance, he once tried skydiving (to quote @gaslightgirlsummer "he’s legally not allowed to do it anymore. he was actually legally not allowed to do it when he did it the first time around either"). when he got asked about it, he said "in case it went wrong, i would not be here to be told up".

max and checo, on the other hand, prefer only racing. they don't do anything extra during their prep or training. in fact, max prefers to train in the privacy of his own balcony. the both don't really resonate with the initial message red bull is trying to push, they only do so exclusively when racing.

red bull is in desparate need of keeping themselves interesting for potential sponsors and just in general, being in the public eye and remaining relavant. their main goal is to sell the drinks, after all. max recently had an interview with the TIME magazine, released around the vegas weekend, conducted around COTA, the interview highlighted that max's focus is on racing and the PR responsibilites pretty much drain his energy because they are part of the sport. it showcased that despite the results in racing, they need someone who's more interesting for sponsors/events to keep themselves in the spotlight, which max and checo don't really do. charles, on the other hand, attends these events quite smoothly.

recently, christian horner at the ferrari movie premiere:

Christian Horner says Ferrari would be ‘crazy’ not to keep hold of Charles Leclerc:

Horner on the contract extension rumours:

🗣️: “It’s totally natural, he’s a great driver. I’m sure they’ll want to keep hold of him and they’d be crazy if they didn’t.”

there's more but to align it with my previous charles PR rebrand post, it's truly fascinating to see charles and his PR team push the narrative of all his adrenaline side quests as of recent from his training (24 hour ski trip from italy to austria and back, or the sliding). i'm not saying that charles is going to red bull, i still believe he wants to give ferrari one more chance, but i am convinced charles has a solid back up plan if ferrari does not deliver again, and red bull keeps their door open in case charles wants to look for a team alternative in the future. don't forget contracts have mutliple exit clauses, and it would be stupid to think charles did not secure the ferrari contract with multiple to make sure he wouldn't waste his active racing years at a team that won't deliver and help him achieve the WDC title. don't forget what charles said - he's ready to leave ferrari if he does not believe in the project anymore.

"Whenever I don't believe in the project anymore, I'll have to go away. Because it’s in these kinds of situations that you don't get the best out of yourself, that you don't help the team as much as it needs to be helped."

and that's exactly what's happening. now it's up to ferrari to deliver on the said project.

#charles leclerc #lestappen gate 2023 #formula 1 #lestappengate #f1

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punkitt-is-here · 6 months

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Yknow i love fo4 and fo76 as games but hate them as Fallout games yknow?

Like theyre nice to play and i love some of the characters but man. They just. Are not Fallout. Its literally like if you took Fallout but made it for a general audience, theres no spice!! Theres no grime!! Why is everything so clean!!!

That's the thing; these games are built with inherently different base goals in mind. Bethesda in the modern day thrives off selling the idea of player empowerment, of being an explorer in a foreign land that you conquer through hard work. You shape the world to your liking by questing and exploring and conquering. And genuinely? I got no problem with that. I think games that gas the player up like crazy and set you loose on a world to make it your own are totally fine conceptually! Like, the fantasy of being able to shape the world the way you see fit is something I think a lot of people can get into, whether you're just looking for control in your life or you just want the experience of feeling like you can have some grand effect on the world at large.

But because of that, I think the core of what makes Fallout so interesting has to be put on the backburner. I don't play Fallout to feel powerful necessarily, and I certainly don't play it for the fuckin' gunplay. I play it because it has such a fun dedication to weird stories that feel like they have something to say, a staff of writers dedicating their time and effort to being a proto-DM at a table, trying to provide interesting and thought-provoking or at least real damn fun stories in front of you, because ultimately, the West Coast Fallout games are about people. They're about characters! And when you focus less on the idea of telling stories in a world and more on empowering the player as a fourth-wall observer, those priorities clash and in the East Coast Fallout's cases, it makes for a game with no spice or edge. Having something to say about, say, the US Military or American Expansionism and Exceptionalism or the nature of clinging to the past kind of fundamentally clashes with the player empowerment fantasy that Bethesda Fallout games want to sell you. You can't have these philosophy-based, morally-interesting factional conflicts that want the player to look inward when the very concept of your game is built around collecting loot and shooting guys instead of learning about that loot and learning about those guys you're shooting and why you're shooting at each other. Having radiant quest loot loop gameplay just doesn't mesh well with a world where choices are meant to have far-reaching impact, because if it did, it'd be impossible to program under a normal development timeframe, and it would likely make the player look inward and go "what the fuck am I doing with my time?" at the endless meaningless quests to go on.

I don't think the "Lone Wanderer Comes Across A Microcosm Of Adventure" format is bad, not at all, but you have to put a lot of work to make that feel cohesive with the larger character and faction-based narratives that 1, 2, and NV are built on, so instead those Bethesda-style games opt more for a toybox, playground approach to the post apocalypse. And when your primary goal is showing the player how cool of a sandcastle they can build, it'll never be structurally sound enough to sustain even a wave of nuance.

#my posts #asks #i-am-loco #fallout

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leisi-lilacdreams · 8 months

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i've been wanting to make fanart of cass and tapa's sonas as a thank you for all the joy they bring me in this fandom

i just love seeing their posts bouncing off each other on my dash when they're both active

it's really amazing and sweet to witness in real time ;v;

rambling under cut

when i look at @somerandomdudelmao 's sona it reminds me of a heartless so that's the direction i went in

naturally i wanted to make @tapakah0 's a keyblade wielder but tapa apparently doesn't play games so she doesn't know what kingdom hearts is and i lost steam in trying to design tapa's sona with KH aesthetics

i'm glad i didn't go in that direction, it would have been weird if tapa was overly complicated and cass was simple

fun fact: when i was about 90% done i realized that i didn't know if tapa and cass even drew on tablets for all i know they both draw on ipads i hope for it to remain a mystery cause i am not changing it

i continue my quest to to figure out stylish yet simple backgrounds

#cass fanart tag #tapakah0 fanart tag #my art #gift art

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wheeboo · 4 months

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seventeen as games they would play on roblox

FEATURING. seventeen (ot13) GENRE. headcanons, crack WORD COUNT. 552

notes: this is purely just for shits and giggles. ty @haecien for sparking the idea on discord and @yeonjuns-redhair for helping me LMAO. i was such a roblox nerd back then pls don't question me thank u. this game traumatized me fr.

scoups - mm2/arsenal/phantom forces: bro would be such a try hard whenever he becomes murderer or sheriff in mm2. he would also own like all the damn legendary knives, guns, knife effects, prob has hella robux and connections to get all those, might also play obnoxious audios on his radio to assert dominance. arsenal and phantom forces is self-explainable since he's pretty good at fps games

jeonghan - brookhaven/free admin games: is definitely trolling and scaring people on brookhaven or any roleplay game lmfao. would pretend to be their child just for him to turn his avatar into the most terrifying monster ever and make people rage quit. he'd easily take over those games that grant free admin, literally everyone would be under his fingers

joshua - royale high: shua was hard since he doesn't rlly play video games? he would def not be into these competitive games. i can see him having fun dressing up his avatar in royale high for some reason. would prob lowkey be an annoying troll, or those rich ass mfs constantly showing off

jun - adopt me: self-explanatory. the top of his bucket list is to adopt all pets possible in the game. might even find ways to scam people out of their stuff (my cousin does this, don't be like her).

hoshi - jailbreak: he likes chaotic games. he brings chaos to the server. tries to also bribe woozi into playing with him so they can both be the Richest Lads in the server. either that or he absolutely sucks at playing the game and keeps getting arrested by the police.

wonwoo - tower of hell/dungeon quest/arsenal/doors: can't really decide on one. he's pretty versatile with his games but i think he mainly prefers battle strategy games and fighting games. would definitely complete a tower of hell obby in less than a minute fr. is probably on the leaderboard of dungeon quest and has all the legendary spells, armour, and weapons. he's also completely fine with anything horror

woozi - those anime sims n fighting games/death ball/robeats: personally i have never played any of those anime fighting games ever but he would def be the one to enjoy them the most. will def beat your ass in death ball with his gigantic double wielded swords. he'd also continuously get hella high scores on robeats

dk - work at a pizza place: no explanation needed. he is living his life as a cook and delivery person

mingyu - theme park tycoon/natural disaster survival: i found mingyu to be hard as well LMAO. i feel like he could make a bomb ass theme park in theme park tycoon tho. either that or he's getting freaked out over the blocky tsunami coming his way

minghao - bloxburg/royale high/those fashion games: ahh he's living his life designing his perfect dream home and definitely has all the gamepasses. has the best fashion in royale high. would definitely spend his robux to get VIP so he can get access to the Better clothes in those fashion games (fun fact: i'm banned on bloxburg cuz i'm just too damn good 😔)

seungkwan - pls donate/works in a group: has the prettiest booth in pls donate so he can get robux but is constantly arguing with the nine year olds who are begging for him to donate to them. might also be an MR/HR/SR at a group (don't work at roblox groups guys, i beg of you)

vernon - bee swam simulator: no thoughts, just vernon playing bee swarm simulator being the best thing ever

dino - speed run: constantly frustrated over each time he falls off the map. he never makes it to the end

taglist (open) ʚɞ @enhazen @haowrld @icyminghao @slytherinshua @jeonride @lockburn-castle @vrnism @weird-bookworm @mhlsymlysn @ryuwonieebae @yeonjuns-redhair @wonwooz1 @woohaeyo @mark-geolli @caramyisabitchforsvtandbts @aaniag @wootify @carlesscat-thinklogic23 @phenomenalgirl9

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nipuni · 16 days

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Time for an old school blog post, Hello!

Just various updates about life and shows and clothes and some photos! Adding a read more cut because I talk too much 😊

Happy equinox everyone!! The mild weather has been wonderful for daily park walks. We have been taking our meals outside as often as we can to make the most of it before summer scorches the land and all life. The longer days allow for a lot more wandering too but the imminent return of the heat is also making the longing to move up north worse by the day. We miss the choppy ocean and seaside cliffs 😭 We love the silence and the rain and the nippy sea breeze!! it's like being suspended in early spring for half the year and a rainy autumn the other half, Ideal if you don't mind humidity, but that's what wellies and flat caps are for. We have been looking for properties to rent to show up everyday so for now we lie in wait.

Speaking of nature, a few months ago we discovered a free app called Plantnet that you use to take and upload photos of plants, trees, flowers and it will identify them for you. You keep a log with their locations and can share them too to help contribute to each local biodiversity database. It feels like a pokedex for plants. There are many apps like this one to choose from too. It's been so fun learning what all these plants are called and memorizing them! I recommend it, is like a little educational side quest to take on while stretching your legs and getting some fresh air. This is not an ad I promise lmao I just think it's neat! kind of sad feeling the need to clarify that.

This weather is also making me want to start making outfit posts again! It's been so long since I made any!! my winter wardrobe is mostly long wool coats or capes and boots so the inspiration wasn't there but now I'm ready to pull out all my stuff back from under my bed storage and experiment again 👏 I've also been meaning to share some of Nicolas outfits for ages too so there is more variety, could be fun!

Speaking of clothes, lately I've grown more and more frustrated with how poorly most clothes fit me to the point where I'm considering learning how to make them from scratch. I usually have to take in the tops and hem the bottoms but most things I try on are just built weird even if I fix the size, or maybe I'm built weird! I think it may be both. Nicolas also said he would love to learn along with me so we will probably embark on that adventure soon. OH and on a short tangent, I got myself a sort of binder-like top that flattens the chest a bit and I'm loving it! I'm very flat already but what little bust I do have has always bothered me when I dress and I've found I feel a lot more comfortable in this type of top. I'm glad I tried it out so if you feel similarly you may want to give it a go too, see how it feels!

On the media side of things we have also been watching more of David Tennant's work. We are still very much in love with him to an embarrassing degree, you can probably tell if you follow me anywhere, my likes on twitter alone give me away alksjdf and Nicolas isn't any better! if he used social media his would look the same lmao.

Since my last report we have watched and absolutely LOVED "There She Goes" we already want to watch it again honestly. The family dynamics for all his characters are always so real and refreshing!! Their relationship with their wives especially are always so believable in every series we've seen, the comfort and camaraderie, the banter and just friendship! You can tell they enjoy each other's company, it feels true. I love it so much!!

We also watched "Inside man" which was..a very stressful mess but David was incredible as always, also very hot and very pitiful which is always great, and Stanley Tucci was on it! so that's also fun.

Then we rewatched season one of Good Omens and the first 4 seasons of Doctor Who, with all the extra content like the Confidentials, deleted scenes, video diaries and more, they are just so good!! our list of favourite episodes keeps growing, season four is incredible, we are loving all these seasons even more the second time around!! Now we are probably going to start watching either Classic Who or Torchwood, along with more of David's work. We were trying to pick what to watch during dinner the other day and Nicolas was like 'damn, David is not in this though, I miss him' and lmao same so now we just watch one show without him and one with him right after to cope 😂

OH we have also been doing more historical reenactment! Since the last one in the 20's we jumped back to Regency times. We have been putting our outfits together for a ball soon and hopefully another one in autumn in the UK 😊 1800 is the farthest back in time we've been yet so it's been fun doing research, finding pieces and learning the dances in class but also very hectic. I'll share more about this soon!

Then we also have a couple of 1900 events coming soon, so I'll be sharing more Edwardian looks as well, our favourite era!!

Anyway I think that's all for now, thanks for reading to whoever is doing so!! I know this is long and not a popular blogging format anymore but I enjoy it a lot, maybe some of you do too 🥰 I will reply to some messages soon, I'm so sorry I'm so bad at keeping up with those!! I've read them all and cherish every word 🥺 Thank you for supporting my art and shenanigans as always!! I hope you have a great week!!

#personal #nips photos #DW report #of sorts tho I should swap to DT report at this point lmao #I may need a blogging tag so let's just do #Nips blogs #that should suffice

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ktsumu · 6 months

Text

WHEN WE WERE THIEVES

pairing: atsumu miya x gn!reader wc: 5.7k

when the case is that your romantic partner was once your literal partner in crime, it’s a fact that it would be shameful if you didn’t know all of their oldest hiding spots. even more shameful is them not expecting you to know, already.

It was the first summer after you turned nine when you met him for the first time, surrounded by cardboard moving boxes and loud trucks.

Actually, you met two of him.

Across the street of your quaint culdesac dream sat a clunky moving truck, close by to a far less clunky car that sat idly in the driveway, doors swung open wide as two boys did literally anything but help unload. They intrigued you from your window—partially because they seemed to fade into each other after they crossed, their matching outfits doing you no favours in telling them apart.

(Eventually, one fell, and you learned the name of the boy who stood victorious was Osamu, by the way the one on the ground wailed.)

The boy on the ground, you found, was Atsumu; at least, it was the name muttered by ‘Osamu’ as he desperately tried to get the former to stop crying before his parents came back outside.

From the comfort of your window, you watched them. By the time they finally stopped playing a twisted version of two-player tag and fell onto the grass, it was dark out, and you were dozing off on your windowsill and pressing your face into the screen that barred you from the outdoors. When your mother came up to make sure you were asleep, she wasn’t mad when she found you awake.

“If you want to play with them, you can just ask,” she suggested. “You don’t just have to watch them.”

You only shrugged, eyes heavy as you listened to them complain about mosquitoes.

“They’re kinda weird.”

With a snorting laugh, your mother had already guided you towards your bed. You only heard one part of her goodnight, your eyes shutting almost immediately after hitting the mattress.

“Huh.” She patted your side, tucking you in tightly. “You’ll fit right in, then.”

And fit in, you did.

The next morning, you had woken up with a new quest: befriend the strangers across the street.

Clumsily, toaster waffles were carefully crafted before being drenched in syrup on a plate; a few steps away from repulsive now, unbelievably attractive then. And then, with your newfound determination and encouragement, you walked across the street when you heard their sneakers scuffing on the pavement.

Naturally, their two-person game of badminton slowed to a stop, the birdie bouncing twice off of the hot asphalt when they saw you coming with your plate. In their direction, no less.

When you reached them and the silence wasn’t seeming to find an end, you huffed.

“Hi. I wanted to bring you waffles and welcome you to the street. I live in the house behind me.”

They stood in shock, so you only extended the plate out in front of you.

“Now,” you begin. “Which one of you is Atsumu, and which one is Osamu?”

The twins only smiled, a mischievous grin being shared between them as they looked at one another, a plot dwelling in the heat of the summer air. For the next two months, Osamu called himself Atsumu.

After the great waffle introduction, you got to know the Miya twins. And shockingly, you could tell them apart after they confessed to swapping identities when you were around just to screw you over. Confessed after much interrogation from you, of course.

In school, they jumped right into your classes, never being allowed to sit next to each other for the first week. Osamu was placed with a boy he’d seemed to befriend, and Atsumu was placed right beside you. And whether that was a blessing or a curse, your little brain couldn’t decide. “Stop copying me!” you hissed under your breath, glancing at the teacher as you nudged his arm. “She’s gonna know you did the same thing as me, idiot!” “Well, what if you copied me?” “I didn’t!” “She ain’t know that, does she?”

With a look of sheer betrayal, you hmph’d, turning back to your own piece of construction paper, layered with other pieces of construction paper. Made from different colours was a shooting star, a bright smile drawn dead in the centre of it. “This is why Osamu’s the nicer twin,” you grumbled, watching his eyes flicker between his paper and your own as he began to replicate the eyes you drew. “He wouldn’t copy me.”

And suddenly, something flashed across Atsumu’s face. “Wh—!? Fine, fine! Stop, don’t worry, watch.”

Side-eyeing his page from where you sat, you watched him grab a marker and draw a massive, obvious frown on his star. Now, yours was smiling, and his star looked mortifyingly sad.

“There,” he mumbled. “Now yours is the only one that’s smilin.’ Is that better?”

When you lifted your head from where it sat bowed, quitting your pouting for just a moment, you couldn’t help but smile, covering your mouth as you let out a blithe, immature giggle.

And Atsumu smiled.

When the art exhibit came around at the end of that month, both of your paintings were hung up side-by-side, and the teacher only mentioned the uncanny similarity once before it became history. For the rest of the year, all of your projects looked the exact same; one was smiling, and one wasn’t. They didn’t need names on them to tell whose was whose.

After the great copycat debacle, you and Atsumu discovered that the two of you could get away with a lot more than just snubbing your art teacher.

By the beginning of middle school, test answers were hidden in crinkled gum wrappers, scraped onto desks with a coin for the three of you to pull off. A holy trinity had been formed with Osamu for the sole purpose of selling premade lunches for inflated prices, the money going to popsicles at the convenience store down the street. And when they didn’t have volleyball practice, all three of you would go looking for the mythical and elaborate ‘candy stash’ the Twins’ parents didn’t want them to know about.

“How are you even sure there is one?” you would ask, following them sheepishly through a door you didn’t know existed in their home.

And they’d cough, swatting dust out of their hair and sharing a look you couldn’t get in on.

“Trust me, we know,” they’d say.

The house would get scoured — the highs, through a creaky attic door which Osamu would throw open. The twins would bicker as they searched the entire attic, and you’d lie and tell them a car just pulled into the driveway when you thought you saw a spider crawl out into the house.

And the lows of the basement, where you would hold the flashlight, leading them into the darkest corners with a proud smile as you heard them murmuring behind you. Of course, this search would always turn up nothing. Because, in hindsight, none of you think their parents were up for venturing into uncomfortable places like the three of you were.

But it was an adventure for the day, and almost always ended up with you sleeping over in one of their beds as they took the floor.

“Is it because your mom told you to?” you’d deadpan, smiling lopsidedly as they’d scoff.

“No,” Atsumu would say defensively, “it’s ‘cause I’m a gentleman.”

“We both are, stupid.”

“Yeah, but who’s the one sleeping on the floor? Mm.”

That night, you were woken up by a fervent and rough shaking of the arm, and you cracked an eye open with an annoyed groan. You lifted your hands and rubbed your eyes as a hand clasped over your mouth, causing you to shoot up in bed.

“Wh—!” you yelled into his palm, shoving him off of you when you realized who it was. “What is wrong with you!?” you whisper-yelled. “Shhh!” he shushed, “I found it!”

“Huh? Found what?”

“The stash!” Atsumu’s face was bright, his straight smile wide and full of pure, unadulterated happiness. When you’re thirteen, it’s the little things that make you feel tall. “Come on, wanna show you.” You grabbed his arm to keep him from leaving. “Shouldn’t we wake up ‘Samu?”

Atsumu really should’ve, but he shook his head. “His feet are too loud, he’ll wake up our parents.”

“But you’re even louder—“

“Quit yappin’ and just follow me, will ya?” he pleaded, his smug grin returning after you swung your feet over the side of the bed.

Because even if Atsumu was louder, and that the concept of his parents finding you two awake this late was terrifying, you’d follow him off of a cliff blind. He knew it, too.

He guided you through the hallway, checking corners like his own home was booby-trapped after dark. His hand gripping yours, you made it to the kitchen, and a chair was already placed awkwardly in front of the counter.

“Get up,” he told you.

“Are you crazy? No! I’ll fall!”

“No you won’t,” Atsumu guaranteed you, shaking his head as he held out his hands again. “I’ll make sure of it. C’mon, get up!”

And, as you always did, you believed him, taking his hands as he helped you up onto the kitchen counter.

From the granite countertops, you felt like you were on top of the house—Atsumu looked small as ever, and he was considered kinda tall for his age.

“Hurry up,” he beckons, “check the far left cupboard over the fridge.”

“Jesus, ‘Tsumu, how’d you even manage that one?” you whispered, opening the door as he asked. And, sure enough, the search had come to an end right then and there. Boxes of leftover Halloween candy lined the cabinet—far more than you were expecting.

“See? It exists,” he gloated.

You grinned down at him, looking down at the hands that steadied you by the legs. “Yeah, it does,” you admitted. “And it was just in the kitchen.”

Atsumu shrugged. “Sometimes, the best place to hide treasure is where most would think to look.”

“That’s kinda smart of you to stay.”

“Imma pretend you didn’t just insult me for no reason. Grab a box and let’s get outta here!”

“Grab a box?” you asked, half hissing. “Would that not make us thieves? That’s a punishable thing.”

Atsumu’s crooked smile gleamed back up at you, bathed in the stream of moonlight that came through the wall of windows in the living room.

“So let’s be thieves. We’re already cheats, y’know.”

So you were. You grabbed (stole) the biggest box of Twix you’ve ever seen to date, and gripped his arms as he helped you down to meet him back on the floor. You gave him a grin that he’d never quite seen before — it was carefree and exhilarating, it sent a surge through his veins — and he would be the only one to see it.

That night, the two of you became thieves. More importantly, you became something much more to Atsumu.

When the three of you neighbourhood kids hit high school, the attention the twins got was a different kind of absurd.

The summer between your final year of junior high and your first year of high school was a rather lonely one — you saw Osamu more than you did Atsumu, and even then you barely saw the guy. Osamu found a troupe of new friends, and Atsumu’s talent as a setter landed him in a new camp every month, so it seemed.

You still texted him a lot, sent pictures from your bedroom window taunting him about his absence, but he and his brother were a rare sight; it was even rarer to see them together.

But when school rolled around, you could at least see what the craze was about. Not that you were included in that.

A lot had changed in three months. For starters, they came back tan and with arms like no other guys in the class had. Osamu had been working on their grandfather’s farm all summer, and Atsumu had been training nonstop. It was safe to say he knew his work paid off, too, judging by the way he’d shamelessly flirt with every person who looked in his general direction.

And they grew, too. They’d always been a little bit taller than you, but now you could see it from a distance. It almost made you glad that Atsumu wasn’t around, because you knew for sure you’d never hear the end of it the second he noticed you were a little bit shorter than him and ‘Samu, even more so than before.

Just like you were in elementary school again, the three of you took the same classes. Different levels, of course—but the content was similar enough to meet up at lunch to complain about them.

It was a war and a half to drag Atsumu and Osamu away from their designated seat at the table of kings (also known as: the volleyball team’s table), but it didn’t take long after you reminded them that getting behind on their grades could take them off the team.

“Why are we even here?” Atsumu whined, groaning as he rested his chin in his hand.

“Uh, to make sure you pass English?” you reminded him with a scoff. “Why? Sad you can’t tend to your fifteen girlfriends?”

“Ha? Fifteen?” he asked in amazement. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you’re just jealous.”

“Jealous?”

“Shaddup,” Osamu drawled. “You’re both annoying.”

“Says you, dickhead,” Atsumu grit, which earned a smack to the back of his head.

Watching them both act just like they always had despite the way things were changing made you laugh, shaking your head as you looked down at your textbook, flipping open your notebook.

“You two haven’t changed that much at all,” you said, mostly to yourself.

But Atsumu looked up, a small smile growing on his face just from seeing yours alone, his eyes focused on the way your eyelashes brushed against your cheeks when you glanced back down.

And Osamu watched his brother, eyes narrowing as he watched him fall.

Truthfully, though, the boys weren’t the only ones who came back from summer looking different. You did, too.

You’d grown into yourself — your clothes that you bought the summer before fit you better, your eyes were brighter. And the twins weren’t the only ones who had attracted wandering eyes; in fact, people had even gone up and asked the twins if you were talking to anybody, to which Osamu told them to ask you themselves. Atsumu told them to fuck off.

And if you had noticed how the twins changed? Atsumu had noticed how you did tenfold.

“You’re such a shithead,” Osamu complained, slugging his bag onto the ground when they got home. “That’s our best friend, freak. Did ya like them when they slept over every night, too?”

“I don’t like them!” Atsumu protested, shoving past Osamu as he grabbed a drink from the fridge. “What even makes ya say that?”

Osamu blinked, dumbfounded. “Oh, I dunno. Maybe the fact that I was trying to do my goddamn bio homework, but couldn’t, because I was too busy gaggin’ at the sight of your goo-goo eyes!”

“My eyes are normal!”

“Not when you’re around them, they aren’t.”

Atsumu grunted in frustration, crossing his arms as he sat at the counter. “So what? Even if I did like them—which I don’t—what’s the issue?”

“You’re a child,” Osamu insulted. “And they're leagues ahead of ya. Besides, you’ve got girls hangin’ off your damn arms, pick one of them and move on.”

Atsumu stuck out his tongue, obviously not above childish cruelty even at sixteen.

Osamu was right; Atsumu was one of the few that had all of their classmates’ attention. But the problem was, he didn’t need ten pairs of eyes on him — he only ever wanted one.

By second year, it was decided unanimously by all of Atsumu’s friends (including Osamu) that there was no chance of him ever getting over you.

Between classes, he was at your hip. During lunch, he was at your hip, asking if you wanted to come sit with the team with him and Osamu. When he walked by your classes with a hall pass, he’d walk extra slow, hoping that maybe you’d spare a passing glance and notice him there; just a glance was enough.

And after careful deliberation with the lunch table, it was officially decided that you were totally off-limits to your high school’s class.

“Stop,” Atsumu would groan, covering his face as Suna snickered under his breath. “I don’t like them!”

“No, you don’t. You love them.”

“I do not!”

Suna just scoffed, turning to Osamu with a nudge. “Watch this—Kita!”

Their team captain turned from his spot walking by, offering a gentle smile as he set his tray down on the table and sat. He nodded to them all, picking up his chopsticks as Suna folded his hands in front of him.

“What is it?” he asked.

“You know about the ban on Y/N in our class, right?”

“Oh. Yeah,” he answered, making Osamu and Suna laugh as Atsumu’s jaw fell open. “Aran told me.”

“See? Everyone knows,” Osamu told his brother, beginning to eat his homemade lunch. “I mean, it ain’t like you try to hide it.”

Atsumu’s brows furrowed. If he was gonna be honest with himself, it’d been a couple of years since he started thinking you could maybe be more than just his best friend. But more importantly, why was it just then people were thinking he was so ‘obvious’ about it?

Instead of fighting, Atsumu lowered his head, insulting his brother and pest of a friend under his breath as he picked at his onigiri.

But as soon as he felt familiar hands rest on his shoulders, he perked right up.

“Hey!” you greeted, peeking over his shoulder. “You look like someone just killed your dog.”

“Me? ‘Course not!” he reassured, turning halfway to face you as his mood did a one-eighty. “You’re comin’ to our game tonight, right?”

“Of course!” you told him, smiling at the rest of the table as they watched you with…unusually eager eyes. “Wouldn’t miss it. Oh! I was also gonna ask if you wanted to review for math afterwards? Your place?”

“I—yeah! For sure!”

“Great!” you chimed. “Cya later. Bye guys!”

The table synced with Atsumu in a collective and oddly dainty ‘goodbye’, watching you leave before erupting with snorts and boyish laughs.

“‘For sure!’” Suna mimicked, making doe eyes at Osamu as they began to jokingly make kissy lips at each other, gripping each other’s arms.

And when Atsumu turned to Kita to ask for help, he was chuckling, too.

The first time you kissed Atsumu Miya, it was your first year of university and it had no witnesses; not even the two of you.

Getting out of high school didn’t mean that you got out of the pitiful drinking games that it entailed, and you didn’t fully grasp this until you went to your first party, only to get called over to a circle of people on sofas by—the one and only—Atsumu himself.

“Hey!” he called. “You came!”

He was surrounded by people you didn’t know, probably from his classes, and all you could do was offer a laugh. “I almost didn’t.”

“That’s lame.”

“You’re lame. What’s new?”

“Agh, you suck.”

Atsumu stood up from where he sat, heading over to you and extending a hand. “Come, sit. We’re gonna play ‘Seven Minutes with the Bottle’.”

Your brows raised. “I can only imagine what that game is.”

“It’s seven minutes in heaven mixed with spin the bottle,” Atsumu explained, as if you weren’t being sarcastic in the first place. You didn’t chastise him for it, you just smiled and cursed yourself when your chest went warm at his honest and eager grin. “Come play!”

“I’m not sure.”

“Please? It’s fun, I promise—one round, ‘kay?”

You don’t wanna say you felt some pressure, but you sort of did; Atsumu has the type of eyes that beg you no matter what he’s thinking, slightly squinted at the corners and a gleaming brown. You caved quicker than you’d like to admit.

(Atsumu says today that he was begging you, because he had hoped that damn bottle would land on you every time he spun it, and he hoped you had a lucky hand.)

“Okay,” you said, relenting as you sat down in his old seat; he took the arm of the couch. “Sure.”

“That’s what I’m talkin’ about!”

The game started fast, with each person taking a spin. It went around clockwise, each person twice as eager as the one before, amused by middle school games. Atsumu kept looking at you the whole time, kept stealing glances; you thought it was chance.

“My turn?” Atsumu asked, acting like he hadn’t just spent the last half hour counting down the seconds until it was his time to go. “Well, if ya insist.”

Atsumu reached out in the middle of the circle, taking the body of the bottle and spinning it, his lips pursing in anticipation. You didn’t even realize that the nose was pointing at you, you were so focused on the way every joint, muscle and vein waved beneath his skin. Golden skin.

“Oh,” he breathed, looking up to meet your eyes. He was pink under the Christmas lights that were strung across the room. “You.”

“Oh,” you mimicked. “We don’t have to.”

“Screw that!” the person beside you said. “Play the game, guys.”

“We’re just friends, though—“

“Are you related?”

“What? Christ, no, do we look related—?”

“Get in the closet, Atsumu.”

You rest a hand on his arm, which Atsumu thought would be the end of him for sure, but you told him something far more dangerous: “It’s okay, let’s just do it.”

Atsumu wasn’t sure you knew what you were doing, which was confirmed when the two of you found your way into the dark, humid closet and shut the door, a phone with a timer sitting in between you; you told him you two could talk.

“Yes,” he said as a cover, nodding as if he wasn’t just thinking about how close you sounded — he hated that he couldn’t really see you, he told you a year later. He wanted to see you. “We should. We can.”

“Okay.”

“…Do you like the party?”

“I can’t talk,” he admitted.

Silence filled the small space, the dim glow of the screen telling you it’d only been thirty seconds. It felt more like thirty minutes—you could hear Atsumu breathing.

You cleared your throat. “You…can’t?”

“What if we just — what if we tried? To kiss, I mean. Just so we don’t walk out like pussies, y’know? Like, just to say we did it. Or we could say we did—“

“Or we can tell them it’s none of their business what we did.”

You remember muffling the laughter under your breath when you heard him begin to backtrack, almost able to watch him nod. “Oh, for sure. Duh. Let’s do that.”

“Atsumu,”

“Yeah?”

“Let’s do it.”

“Kiss?”

“Yeah,” you told him. “We’ll make fun of ourselves later. Let’s just—“

And suddenly, you were not just you, but you were you and him.

He was in front of you, like he crawled to get there, a hand holding him up and the other on the back of your neck. You knew that Atsumu was a ‘good kisser’, some of your old classmates could attest to that — but nothing beats when it’s real.

You knew his hands, the lines of his palms, the rough pads of his fingers; but you didn’t know them when he threaded his fingers through your hair, inching closer to you. You knew his lips (he never shut up, he still doesn’t) but not when he kissed you like he did — you’d never seen him willingly stay silent until that point.

(To this day, Atsumu brags about how he swept you away with your first kiss. You deny it every time.)

Atsumu moved closer, enough to stay in front of you without the support of his hand, and he moved it to your hip. His thumb smoothed over your skin, staying right where it was, content with just breathing you in until—

The phone on the ground went off, a shitty ringtone blaring through the closet as Atsumu pulled back, giving you your space back as he scrambled to shut it off. And once it was, it was just the two of you again, breathing somehow.

Atsumu spoke first. “So.”

“So.”

“What—how was it? Like, was that bad? I didn’t think it was bad, well—it wasn’t awful.”

You were glad that it was dark, because he wasn’t able to see how flushed you were. He was glad you couldn’t see him, either.

“Yeah, it was alright.”

“Yeah, totally.”

It was unreal. So unreal that, even after leaving the party and that stupid game, you and Atsumu kept doing it. Because friends can sometimes make good kisses, you guess.

(“How was that?” the guy from earlier, the one who sat beside you asked, his brows raised. You sat down beside Atsumu again.

“We just talked.”

“Yeah, we just talked.”

“Okay…lame. Who’s next?”)

You and Atsumu have been together for five years now.

A week after the party, Atsumu banged on your dorm room door and kissed you so hard that it knocked the wind out of you. Two weeks later, he went home and told his friends that he did it — he finally asked you out, and the years of their pestering had finally done something.

(“Jesus, ‘Tsumu, way to drag it out.”

“Is that all ya have to say?”

“Well? You’re slow.”)

Regardless, life has been better since the party. You kept your best friend, but you unlocked new benefits — and the benefits just keep getting better.

But, your real favourite part about being Atsumu’s girlfriend, is having a guaranteed invite to the annual Miya's Thanksgiving dinner — where you get their mom’s signature dishes and snack onigiri made from a professional.

Laying in Atsumu’s bed, the one he used to give you when you were twelve, you sit with your laptop perched on his nightstand, watching a movie as you wait patiently for him and Osamu to get back from the store. He begged you to go with them, but there was no way you were going out in the cold of November if you had the option to stay swaddled up in one of his blankets.

Plus, Osamu teased him so he stopped.

(“Wow, you can’t be separated for more than twenty minutes. How nauseating.”

“Wh—? Okay, fine. Bye! See ya in a bit, doll!”)

The movie’s about halfway done, people walk their dogs along the sidewalk outdoors. Your parents don’t live across the street anymore, but the house hasn’t changed — the paint is still the same and you can see the subtle chip in the doorframe. It brings memories back, ones you can hardly believe because of where you’re at now.

To think that your now-boyfriend (boyfriend, what a crazy word) was the boy that you offered a waffle to when you were kids feels surreal. Atsumu once was the boy you’d ignore and when you were mad until he showed up knocking at your window; now, he is the one you kiss before you go to sleep. You share a bed. You picked your side first.

The movie begins to lag and you groan, hurriedly clicking your space bar and cursing it when it doesn’t do anything. You shut the laptop, instead just heading to the kitchen.

Because if you can’t watch a movie, you might as well steal some of the food prep Osamu made, knowing he made extra because he knew you’d steal some.

When you get there, you check through the fridge first — most of the food there is for Thanksgiving, the things you wouldn’t dare eat yet. Normally Osamu has food prep going, yes, but you also forgot that the whole reason he and Atsumu went out is because he had nothing to make the said prep with.

So, you sigh, defeated.

Shutting the fridge, you pause, pursing your lips and looking up to the far left cabinet over where you stand. Few people in the world know what glory lies behind that door; you are one of them.

Much taller and much more sure of yourself, you climb up onto the kitchen counter, reaching up to the cabinet and opening the door. Nothing has changed since you were young, so it seems, because there are still boxes on boxes of chocolate hidden over the fridge, even is no longer anyone to hide it from.

(Well, maybe you need it hidden.)

You grab the first box you see, the only one that’s opened out of the stash, and carefully make your way back down to the ground. You quietly return the stool back to its original place, looking up when the door opens and the twins enter with bags in hand.

“Hey!” you greet with a smile, watching them enter with rosy cheeks and exhausted looks. “How was it?”

Osamu scoffs a bitter laugh. “How do you think a grocery store is two days before Thanksgiving?”

You snicker. “Okay, point proven.”

Atsumu sighs a breath of relief, unzipping his jacket and tossing it over one of the stools as he goes to get around the island — probably to kiss you, or something. He’s like that.

But he watches you reach for the box of chocolates, and for a passing moment, he chuckles.

Then, he turns white as a ghost.

“Stop!” he shouts, making you jump as you pause with the box. “Don’t open that,”

“Huh? It’s already open.”

“No, I mean — can I see that?”

You laugh, shaking your head. “No way, I got it first.”

“C’mon, there’s like eighty bars in there. You’re not gonna have all eighty.”

“Watch me,” you taunt, nodding to Osamu. “You both are too stressed out about dinner. I think we all deserve a chocolate bar, don’t we?”

Atsumu takes a step toward you. “Wait, don’t—!”

You shake the box gently, dumping out a pile of them as you look through the kinds, wondering which one you’ll have. There’s the basics, the classics, some special Halloween editions.

Something else catches your eye.

A small, black velvet box rests on the island in the puddle of sugar, and you furrow your eyebrows at it in suspicion.

“Holy fuck,” Atsumu whispers to himself. You don’t hear him.

You pick it up, looking it over. “Woah, that’s new. We must’ve got a special box or something.”

Osamu narrows his eyes, glancing at Atsumu before walking over to get a closer look. “What do you mean ‘special box’?”

“Like a special edition, or something. They probably gave out costume rings in some of the—“

You open the box, and a hand flies up over your mouth as you set the box right back down on the counter. You may be confused, but one thing is for sure; that’s not a costume ring.

It gleams under the overhead lights, and Osamu’s eyes are wide. You freeze, not really sure of what you just uncovered, until you look at your boyfriend.

Until you look at your boyfriend, and he doesn’t look shocked at all.

“‘Tsumu, why do you look like this isn’t crazy?” you ask, eyes wide as he just leans on the island, dropping his head in defeat. “Atsumu?”

Osamu glances between the two of you, before it clicks in his head and he’s taking a step back, his hands on his hips.

“Holy fuck,” he mumbles.

Atsumu sighs, standing up straight again, and turning to you with a lopsided, barely-there grin.

“It’s not crazy to me,” he tells you, “because I know where the ring came from.”

“What? Where?”

Atsumu smiles weakly. “I bought it.”

Your eyebrows furrow, glancing back to the absolute diamond on the counter, your head tilting as it practically blinds you where you stand. Osamu stands off to the side with a dumb smile on his face, and you just look between them.

“You bought it?”

“Yeah.”

“For—,” Holy fuck.

Your hands fly up to clasp over your mouth, your eyes going wide before they go glassy; you watch Atsumu through a layer of water as he slowly takes the box from the counter, turning towards you again.

Atsumu huffs. “It was supposed to be later,”

“Atsumu!”

“Shoulda known you’d go rummaging back through that cupboard.”

( Osamu chimes in: “Wait, you guys found that?” )

“Atsumu,” is all you can say. Words feel foreign.

He laughs, shaking his head. “I’m gonna re-do it, okay? That works, right?”

“Yeah, yeah! Right?”

“Yeah, okay.”

He glances up to that stupid fucking cupboard, slowly dropping to one knee as his eyes well — just because it wouldn’t have been fair if you were the only one who cried. He kneels on the very spot he once held you up on top of the counter, making sure you didn’t fall.

“Back when we were thieves, we kinda swore we’d be partners in crime,” he starts, and it makes you choke out a laugh. “I know neither of us ever failed to keep our end of the bargain, and I know that promises don’t need nothin’ to seal them and yadah-yadah-yadah…”

Atsumu takes the ring out of the box, looking back up to you.

“I wanted something to say ‘forever.’ This ain’t bad, no?”

You sniffle, shaking your head with a laugh of disbelief. The tears come faster than you can stop them.

You cross your arms. “Did you steal this, too?”

He nods, grinning ear-to-ear. “Yeah, so you’re gonna need to answer a question for me before I get put in the slammer.”

“That means we’re gonna have a jail ceremony.”

“Welp, that’s what happens to thieves.”

Atsumu sighs shakily, taking your hand in his; he runs his thumb over the knuckle of your ring finger, his eyes softening as he holds you. His eyes are brown, but it is not just him, twenty-something and the love of your life.

It’s him, twelve or so years old and making sure you don’t fall off the counter in the middle of the night.

“I have to actually say it for it count, right?”

“Yeah, you do.”

“Okay, okay. Y/N,”

“Atsumu.”

He takes a breath. “Will you mar—“

You don’t wait for him to finish. Instead, you lunge forwards, dropping to your knees and wrapping your arms around his neck, stealing the air right out of his lungs before he could even finish his sentence.

He’s not mad about it, either. He smiles against your lips.

You’ll be stealing from him for the rest of your life, and he’s pretty okay with that.

#atsumu x reader #atsumu miya x reader #hq atsumu #hq x reader #haikyuu x reader #haikyuu!! x reader #hq!! x reader #haikyuu!! fluff #haikyuu fluff #hq fluff #kit writes

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mentallyisekaid · 6 months

Text

「 ✦ Fatui Harbingers x Signora's Sister! Reader, PART 2 ✦ 」

---

Part 1 [Part 2] Part 2.5 Part 3

It's highly recommended to read the parts in order, otherwise few things will make sense!

Author's note ~ From this chapter forward, Y/N will develop a strong, somewhat intimate bond with her fellow Harbingers, but it's still, essentially, platonic. After coming up with the full storyline for this series, I figured it'd best to keep romance to a minimum, so it won't distract me or the readers from what's happening plotwise. But make no mistake - all of them care quite fiercely about you... it's not labelled "Harbingers x Reader" for nothing :) And of course, you're free to interpret their relationship in any kind of way you prefer <3

---

Featured in this chapter, we have (drum roll, if you please)... Scaramouche, Childe and Columbina!

Warnings: brief/indirect spoilers regarding Sumeru's Archon quest and Scaramouche's lore

Word count: 3k

---

A month had passed since the funeral, and the day you'd become the 12th of the Fatui Harbingers at Pierro's request. Truth to be told, you hardly cared whether such a dubious position had been offered to you out of respect for Rosalyne's legacy, or merely because they'd wanted to keep an eye on the immortal girl who possessed two Visions.

For the past five centuries, your life had lacked any clear purpose - perhaps this new title could change things to something a bit more... colorful?

Perhaps they could be the change.

On that note, there was something quite peculiar you'd come to notice about the infamous Harbingers.

Despite joining their ranks, you had kept the reason behind your questionable situation as a secret, so on a very essential level they still knew next to nothing about you (except for the Director who definitely knew enough to make you very uncomfortable!) In this regard, shouldn't they have considered you a stranger, or at least a high security risk?

Yes, yes they should have.

Yet not only did they treat you as one of their own, but it appeared that for some reason, these people cared about you to an extent beyond just professional relationships, always looking out for you in weird ways, like making sure you didn't overwork yourself, stayed healthy and never lacked any weird luxuries like expensive bath salts - that, and the fact that they were almost constantly lingering around you...

As someone who'd grown used to getting by on their own, you didn't really know what to make of their behavior. Or how to return it.

But did you dislike it? Not really. Why? Well, you were still sort of figuring that out.

You were currently sitting in Pantalone's office, looking through some financial reports while the Regrator himself was away on a business trip. As things stood, this was pretty much all that your title as a Harbinger was good for - assisting your colleagues by handling the less direct approaches to their duties as diplomats of Snezhnaya. It was only natural that you weren't yet expected, or trusted, to do any actual fieldwork.

So, your days were mostly spent being surrounded by endless piles of documents...

*knock, knock!*

...and them, as you might have guessed.

You sighed, placing the papers down on the desk when another round of impatient knocks came in. Clearly, that someone was going to invite themselves in regardless of your answer, and it wasn't hard to narrow down the list of possible suspects since only the highest ranking members of the Fatui were allowed in this part of the headquarters - frankly, the doors here tended not to be Harbinger-proof?

But it's not as if you really minded, breaktime was due anyway. Also, their company was always vastly more entertaining than work!

"It's not locked, you know" you commented, leaning back on your chair.

A scoff was heard before the door was rudely pushed open, and an unfamiliar character marched with such arrogance you'd think they owned the place. This made you raise an eyebrow; what an admirable sense of superiority? It wasn't someone you'd met before, but judging from the way they carried themselves, you recognized them nonetheless.

The man with child-like features (and a rather beautiful face) stopped in the middle of the room, staring curiously, though somewhat condescendingly, at the girl behind the desk.

"Are you," he started, "perchance the Director's newest recruit?"

"It's already been a month, but I suppose... in any case, what can I do for you, mister?"

"Mister?" The Harbinger crossed his arms, both amused and irked by your way of addressing him. "Ha, do you not know who I am?"

"Oh, no, I'm fairly certain I do," you sighed. "A presumptuous attitude, and a strikingly non-traditional kasa hat... the Balladeer, I presume? I heard you were busy playing a god in Sumeru with one of Dottore's segments, so I thought it might be a while before I get to meet the last one of my colleagues. But here you are - Scaramouche, was it? To what do I owe the pleasure?"

He was being rude too, you were just returning the discourtesy.

Scaramouche held back a chuckle, the bells from his hat jingling.

"Ah, yes, that would be me. And as to why I bothered coming all the way from Sumeru just to meet you, miss Twelfth..."

"I have a name. It's Y/N."

He clicked his tongue, taking a step closer.

"Yes, yes, whatever. Now, sit there and listen. I was in the middle of my little experiment on blasphemy when I suddenly heard that the Jester had recruited a new Harbinger, who, incidentally, has two Visions and is supposedly immortal - but she blatantly refuses to reveal anything about herself. Surely, you can imagine my slight annoyance at this, seeing as you, on the other hand, seem to know an awful lot about us."

You smiled a bit, fiddling with the quill pen in your hand.

"Yes, I don't exactly go around advertising my past to others. But aren't you same in that regard, Scaramouche?"

"I won't amuse you by answering that." He smiled eerily. "The point is, I don't like being kept in the dark - it gives people the chance to stab me in the back, and that's not something I'm particularly fond of."

"Ask the Director, then. I can assure you he knows all kinds of scandalous things about me - about all of us, no doubt."

He shrugged. "That won't be necessary."

In the blink of an eye, Scaramouche was no longer where he'd been standing before. The Sixth Harbinger had suddenly jumped on top of your desk, scattering the paperwork you'd spent hours organizing. He leaned forward with a smug look on his face, grabbing your chin between his delicate fingers.

"So, our little miss Harbinger refuses to reveal her secrets? We'll get those out of you, don't you worry~"

"My goodness?" Your previously dull eyes sparkled a bit. "What a bold move - it's certainly... something. I must say, I find your character quite fascinating, Balladeer."

"Likewise."

Behind that ruthless, indigo gaze, was a forlorn soul that had faced so much injustice...

When travelling around Teyvat for the past centuries, you'd caught bits and pieces of hearsay about Scaramouche's tragic past - most of it probably accurate. But it wouldn't have been wise to bring up such matters when you'd only just met him, especially since the Balladeer was widely known for his foul temper.

Though, judging from the way was looking at you, he probably knew what you were thinking. Even so, there was no ill intent in his eyes.

A new voice suddenly interrupted your odd encounter.

"I hope you're not harrassing our princess, dearest Scara!"

Tartaglia waltzed in to the office with an ominous smile. Scaramouche jumped down from your desk, scoffing at the sight of his ginger colleague.

"Ha, barely! I just happen to find her very intriguing."

Childe laughed a bit, stepping forward to pat your head.

"Well, I did tell you she was special, comrade. And to think you didn't believe me? Yet, here I find you. It seems Y/N Lohefalter is capable of drawing the attention of even the Balladeer himself, ahahhah~"

You followed their interaction, thoroughly entertained - compared to your previous uneventful life, this was certainly refreshing.

"Foolish boys," yet another familiar voice was heard, and Columbina strode in gracefully. "Avoiding your work to disturb Y/N with these shameful antics? Pierro would be quite displeased. Now, perish."

Damselette then turned her attention on you, smiling sweetly.

"Would you like to have an afternoon snack with me? I hope you've been eating enough, my dove."

"Now, now, don't be greedy..." Scaramouche taunted. "It's rather obvious that she and I were having a conversation."

You smiled a bit, pointing at each one of them with your pen.

"Technically, you're all are here equally uninvited. And on that note - as much as I'd rather do anything else right now - I really should continue with these documents or they're going to pile up..."

"Hey now, you know Pantalone doesn't like it when you overwork yourself, Y/N," Childe pointed out, crossing his arms.

Columbina smiled gently. "Yes, how about we go and have some tea instead?~"

Scaramouche raised an eyebrow at this.

"You sure speak to this girl in an unprofessional manner, Tartaglia, Damselette - if I didn't know better, I'd say it sounds almost intimate. Trying to snatch her away from me, perhaps? But you've already known her for a month; it ought to be my turn to get acquainted with our new little Harbinger. Y/N and I have some things to discuss, after all..."

"Oh?" Childe raised an eyebrow. "Then what exactly were you and her chatting so intimately about before I came?"

"Enlighten us, Balladeer," Columbina chuckled.

You shook your head a bit.

"Let's not go down that rabbit hole-"

"No." Scaramouche cut you off with a smug expression. "These two, and the rest of them... would agree with the opinion I shared with you, don't you think? Surely it's something that we've all been wondering about."

Columbina and Childe shared a brief but knowing look - it wasn't hard to guess what the Balladeer had said to you, and though he should have gone about it a more discreet manner, they couldn't deny their curiosity either.

The angel-like Harbinger walked next to you, brushing back a loose strand of hair from your face.

"I'd rather hear this from you," she hummed.

Her touch was a little cold but gentle, not at all unpleasant. You just weren't used to this kind of physical intimacy, or rather, it had been so long since you'd experienced any kind of intimacy, that it caught you a bit off-guard whenever your co-workers offered these weird gestures. It's not like you... really minded this. But it did make it hard to refuse when they the asked you for something.

You sighed, leaning back on the chair.

"Of course, I... know you're all somewhat displeased that I'm keeping these secrets from you, about my past, that is - how I've lived for this long, and how it's possible that have two Visions. It might be difficult for you to trust me because of this, but even so, I am not obliged to reveal anything. And you know as well as I do that the Jester already knows what there is to be known; he wouldn't have let me join otherwise."

Scaramouche narrowed his eyes, not content with your answer.

"Yes, but I also know that the Director is a man of his principles - either those secrets are shared of your own accord, or not at all."

"Then maybe you don't need to know? Maybe you're better off not knowing?"

Tartaglia frowned, leaning against the wall next you.

"Being a part of the Fatui already means that we're in way over our heads when it comes to anything questionable that's going on in Teyvat. Your... situation, is included in that, even more so because you're one of us now. And in case it's not clear yet, we do care about our own, even if that often gets a bit lost behind our agendas and differences." He put a hand on your shoulder and offered a reassuring smile. "So, we'd like to know more about you, Y/N. I'm sure that's what Scaramouche has been trying to tell you too, albeit he has a weird way of choosing his words."

The Balladeer crossed his arms. "What a speech, Childe." It sounded like a snide remark, you somehow sensed that he didn't mean it as one.

"For once, I agree with these two," Columbina said. "Though both are going about this in a rather thoughtless manner. Regardless of her past and whether or not she chooses to disclose it, she is a Harbinger - and that does not necessarily mean we should know all these things about her. Her only responsibility is to serve the Tsaritsa, after all."

She smiled at you. "But it is a shame you don't seem to trust us very much, Y/N."

Reverse psychology? Smooth.

"I think you've misunderstood me, though. It's not about trust."

You stood up from Pantalone's fancy office chair, stretching a bit.

"At this point, revealing those things might or might not cost me, but I'm pretty sure I won't gain anything from it either. If that's the case - well, is survival not about keeping the trump cards you have, or at least not giving them away for free? And information is often more valuable than Mora."

"You sound like the Regrator, though I'm sure he would disagree about the Mora part." Tartaglia chuckled. "But I like the way you think! So, what is it that you'd like in return for those secrets?"

"I'd be happy to arrange whatever it is~" Columbina singsonged. "Within the bounds of good taste, of course."

Scaramouche clicked his tongue. "What an insufferable girl - what is it you want, then?"

You tilted your head, wondering why these people were so invested in you. One day, you'd surely understand... but in this moment, you could only think about their offer and how it was just slightly too tempting to refuse.

"Well, right now, I'm craving for some excitement. Something more thrilling than this paperwork I'm drowning in day after day. I don't suppose one of you has a solution for that?"

Columbina's soft laughter jingled in the air.

Scaramouche was glaring at you.

Childe's eyes were sparkling.

"Excitement, you say?!" the ginger exclaimed. "Oh, that won't be a problem. How about we make a little bet, Y/N?"

"I'm listening."

"Let's fight a bit~ I've been wanting to see what you're capable of, and a match against the Eleventh Harbinger is far from playing around, so I'm sure it would prove exciting enough for you." He nodded toward the two gemstones hanging from your belt. "Use those Visions, any weapons and all the shenanigans you can possibly come up with - if you think you can. I promise to make it worth your while. Naturally, you'd have to share some of your past in exchange..."

You raised an eyebrow at his suggestion. "...if you manage to win, that is?"

Columbina chuckled. "Careful, Y/N. You'll get Tartaglia too excited~"

Scaramouche rolled his eyes.

"I'm not sure you understand what you're agreeing to, miss Twelfth. But by all means, go play with this idiot - I'll gladly come and watch, it ought to be entertaining. The next phase of my mission in Sumeru is not due in a while anyway." (And if by some miracle you do manage to beat Childe, I'll come up with other ways of discovering those secrets.)

The Balladeer as well had grown quite captivated by you.

Childe smiled innocently. "How about it, Y/N? Are you in?"

"You bet."

---

...who in their right mind had recruited this maniac?

Sure, the Harbingers had inhuman abilities, but this was pure madness. Tartaglia had yet to even demonstrate his Hydro powers, much less a Delusion, but merely by using his agility and a pair of escrima sticks he had already brought you to your knees.

It's not as if you considered yourself to be a particularly skilled fighter, but you did have five centuries' worth more experience than him, and quite a few tricks up in your sleeve. But Childe only ever gave you the time to use your polearm - no Visions, no shenanigans - and even so, you didn't manage to land a single hit on him.

You lay on the floor of the training grounds, breathlessly gazing up at Tartaglia who was pinning you down with his knee.

"Ready to yield, girlie?"

"Ha... I'm not, *huff*, giving up that easily..."

He smiled, putting a bit more pressure on your chest - not in a painful way, but it was still enough to diminish your remaining fighting spirit rather quickly.

"Alright, alright, fine... please, *huff*... stop, Tartaglia... I, *huff*... give... up..."

"You can call me Ajax, by the way."

The ginger stood up, gazing down at you with a grin on his face. Well, at least now you knew that the rumors about his martial arts prowess weren't exaggerated? Neither was the fact that whenever he did fight, there was this euphoric (honestly a bit scary) aura around him. Reminder - think twice before you accept a challenge from this guy in the future!

That said, you had quite enjoyed yourself...

Ajax offered his hand to you, and you meekly took it, allowing him to pull you up from the ground.

Columbina and Scaramouche, who had been silently observing from the sidelines, appeared slightly amused and certainly pleased by the end of your struggle. This outcome had been more or less expected, but ever so welcome. A Harbinger never backed on their word, after all~

"Now then, my angel..."

"...you better keep that promise."

The three of them led you to a small lounge, dimly lit by a fireplace and deserted from any members of Fatui. Exhausted, you slouched down on a couch and closed your eyes.

Damselette came next to you wordlessly, laying down and letting her head rest on your lap. This was a habit of hers that you didn't mind; while admittedly rather intimate, it was something like this that you had long yearned for.

Childe leaned against a nearby wall, smiling at you encouragingly. For some reason, you always felt at ease around him. He was like an "older" sibling - more than she ever was, the one you'd already lost before her death.

The Balladeer was sitting on an armchair, observing you with an unreadable expression. The slight softness in those cold eyes was perhaps only noticed by you; an abandoned soul recognizes its own kind.

"Now then, Ajax, Scaramouche and Columbina. Allow me to tell you a story - one that discloses how my first Vision came to be. While I'm at it, I suppose I might as well reveal why Rosalyne and I shared such a difficult relationship..."

(to be continued)

#harbingers x reader #genshin impact x reader #fatui harbingers x reader #signora's sister reader #signora's sister #platonic genshin x reader #but it's VERY INTIMATELY platonic #scaramouche #columbina #childe #platonic scaramouche x reader #platonic columbina x reader #platonic childe x reader #genshin impact #genshin

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