you'd think the percy jackson trailer would make me excited to watch it but no it just reminded me that actually i hated half of the characters from the book

Percy Jackson episode 7 spoilers!!!

First of all, that cliff hanger is more cruel than the actual cliffhanger...okay maybe not but you get the point.

- WE GOT CRUSTY'S. If I'm honest though I wasn't really disappointed when I thought he wasn't in it.

- I am sad we didn't get DOA records but the fact that they didn't fare with Charon tells me DOA does still exist they just used a different entrance so I'm hoping for it to be used in a different season. Would be funny if Nico used it in the 5th season with Percy.

- Annabeth's "Dude, don't make me come back out there!" Tell him, WiseGirl!

- Oh my god Percy and Sally at his first boarding school is so sad but when I tell you I cheered when he locked that car door! Persassy at his finest.

- "not in Kansas" "Hey focus, we left kansas four days ago." "Yeah, I-" so it's basically Canon they were going to see the Wizard of Oz in BotL then yeah??

- Percy is so polite with all the souls! "We're all dying...to some extent."

- The boys bribing Charon and Annabeth is staring at them like they are about to get them in trouble again.

- "You can buy a new whistle" I cackled

- AWW CERBERUS...I mean Ahhhh Cerberus!

- Annabeth is so smart but Grover getting eaten?? Was scared he wouldn't come back.

- I feel bad for Aryan being covered in that gloopy stuff that looked gross.

- She just chucks Percy the ball to get herself up! INGENIUS!

- Aww Annabeth's little sad backstop moment and Percy wasn't even listening!

- The way Grover lost the pearl is very clever! I wasn't expecting that but it makes more sense than Poseidon forgetting about Sally.

- New Information?!?!? Mate you could have sent an email!!!! I'm sorry but maybe the fact he was on the school gymnasium roof probably suggests that the school wasn't keeping a good enough watch on him!!! Report the school!!!

- HOMESCHOOL??!?!?! Of course Sally can't do that she's barely able to support her, Percy, and Gabe as is! But Percy seeing all of that is so sad.

- That soul is terrifying I never want to watch the fields of Asphodel scene again (I've watched it four times)

- Annabeth getting stuck because of her regret (which I'm assuming is regret leaving home) I was scared for her. Completely forgot about the pearl.

- I really thought the sound were going to do some Weeping Angel level scary stuff.

- She's so smart using the pearl

- I thought the desert was another dream sequence but nope! How did I forget!

- Sad we didn't get the tartar sauce line but I'm also glad we didn't.

- I am convinced they only came off of Grover's hooves because he has hooves and not feet. If his foot filled the shoe properly he would have been dragged to Kronos.

- "is this?" "No!" "Well it looks like-" "it absolutely is not" "Okay, so what is it then?" "Yeah that's the master bolt." "I mean, I think so right??" I love how they show it takes them longer to get to the truth without Annabeth.

- return the bolt ❌️ Take the bolt to the person you think stole it ✅️

- The café scene is so sad what! "I would never do this to you." Has me sobbing. my favourite thing about the show is all the extra scenes we're getting that explains how difficult it was for Sally to raise Percy, it just adds to why there's so many year-round campers.

- that elevator is badass

- I love how Hades tries to connect with Percy with the nautical reference. He's so funny. I want a scene in season 4 or 5 of Nico just ranting in Italian and Hades sat on his thrown like "Yeah yeah I know."

- PERCY DEFINITELY PANICKED SEEING HIS MUM IM GOLD BECAUSE WHEN HE WAS IN GOLD HE ALMOST SUFFOCATED TO DEATH AND SALLY HAS BEEN LIKE THIS FOR FAR LONGER. HE'S PANICING THAT SALLY IS EXPERIENCING WHAT HE DID.

- "huh?"..."the bolt is my brothers drama I don't want anything to do with it." Spoken like a true middle child.

- "my helm!" "Your what?" So funny. Percy knows loads of stuff about Greek mythology but not about the helm.

- Oh my god, the way this is setting Annabeth up to be the traitor??? The helm turns people invisible like her hat. Percy realised he was supposed to be dragged to Tartarus, which would make sense why she saved him from the chair...he knows someone partnered with Ares, and both Annabeth and Ares were upset with Athena when Ares arrived!! Kind of suspicious...

- "Kronos." chills.

- Hades helping them in exchange for the bolt makes sense now because he only wants to defend his land. He's thinking he's the closest to Tartarus, so he will experience his father's wrath first and therefore needs the strongest weapon.

- "Nice pearl?"

- "Hold fast mum."

- Sally burning the milkshake as an offering is so smart but WHAT CAFÉ HAS MATCHED IN THE SUGAR BOWL?!?!?

- The way Poseidon just turned up because Sally needed him <3 (couldn't do that for Percy though could you mate?)

- "it's a him, he saw it." I cackled.

- Poseidon and Sally having that kind of relationship where they put feelings aside to help the other person. It's giving besties with a child.

- "one day...one day when he's ready...when he knows who he is...and where he belongs...and fate has revealed to him his true path...and that day..." And that day is next Wednesday because surprise! Its a cliff hanger! And the end of the episode!

- The way they looked at eachother when they realised what was about to happen though has set them up to be such a perfect trio.

- I will never get over how cool Ares is!

- And riptide/anaklusmos (which for non book readers is the name of Percy's sword) looked so sick.

This episode was so good and I'm so glad it wasn't like a 25 minute episode. Even though the actual content only took 36 minutes, it felt well spaced and gave time to understand what was happening. I am a little teensy bit worried for how the last episode will go as there's quite a lot to cram in. They have to find the Helm and fight Ares and then they have to return to camp so I'm a little bit worried but I have faith that Rick, Aryan, Leah and Walker will pull it off.

"The Demise of Nico's Rainbow Socks" - Solangelo - One-Shot

Summary: Nico and Will find themselves caught in the rain and can't have the picnic they wanted. This is inspired by the rainy day prompt for @solangeloweek !!

TW: There is some mention of food in here.

Read on AO3

Word Count: 1508

“Will, I absolutely do not think this is a good idea.”

“And why not? I already have everything ready.”

“Which is why you need to pack it all up. It’s literally about to rain.” As if to prove his point, Nico gestures harshly at the gray clouds that threaten the sanctity of the wide blue expanse above. A low thunder rumbles from the mass of gray, and a moist breeze throws both Nico’s and Will’s hair around.

The son of Apollo pouts and gestures to the picnic before him. “But I worked so hard on this. Do you really want all my efforts going to waste?”

Nico raises an eyebrow, and a small smile quivers against his mouth. He crosses his arms. “Did you, by any chance, make these sandwiches, Will?”

A bright grin flashes against Will’s lips. “I did. That’s why it’s a rare treat, since I never cook.”

Despite Nico’s hesitance with settling in, he drops to his knees and watches the food nervously.

“You see,” he says, “that is exactly why I should be afraid. You know how bad you are at cooking. And besides, the rain is going to soak all your hard work. Do you really want that?”

Will huffs and crosses his arms. “The least I could get is a thank you. It’s not like you could do any better.”

Nico laughs and grazes his finger against the sandwich in front of him. There isn’t much here - only two sandwiches, one for Nico and one for Will, and a pack of apple juice boxes. A wicker basket sits comfortably at the far corner of the red-and-white picnic blanket, but Nico doesn’t really know why it was necessary - they could really have just carried all this to the beach. Will’s a natural overachiever, though, which probably explains why he brought it with him.

“Instead of touching it, I think you should actually taste the sandwich,” Will suggests, nodding sarcastically. “Might be a better experience.”

Nico shakes his head. “I don’t really trust anything you make. The last time you tried to barbecue for the camp, almost everyone got sick.” Nico leans in, his eyes peering at Will’s with sincerity. “And I’m telling you, Will, it’s all going to soak through if we don’t leave right now. This thunderstorm doesn’t look merciful.” Then a new smile cracks against Nico’s face and he takes Will’s warm hands into his own, brushing his fingers against the blond’s palms. A softer look takes over Will’s eyes. “Besides, we can take this time to actually learn to cook. I could teach you things I know.”

For a moment, Will almost looks convinced. His eyebrows lower as he considers his options, and his fingers tangle with Nico’s. Then he shakes his head and sighs. “I don’t want to go inside, though,” he murmurs.

Nico frowns and tilts his head, confusion rippling over his face. A hesitant look overwhelms Will’s features and he looks away from his boyfriend, turning his eyes to the rippling blue water underneath.

“Hey,” Nico says, gently brushing his fingers against Will’s cheek. The latter turns his gaze back, but there’s something sadder in there, something desperate. “What’s wrong?”

The son of Apollo offers a gentle, sad chuckle. “It’s not a big deal, Nico. Don’t look so worried.”

“But you look sad.”

“It’s just…” Will sighs. “I don’t know. I feel like we haven’t had an actual moment to ourselves these days, you know? Hades has been on your case for the past few weeks about all these different things, and I guess I’ve been busy getting ready for college. I just miss you. I don’t want to go inside and be around my siblings.”

“Then we don’t have to go to your cabin,” Nico says. “We can shadow-travel back to mine so no one gets suspicious.”

“Yeah, but…” A small smile blooms across Will’s pink lips. “I like the rain. There’s something really intimate about it. And I want to be intimate with you.”

Nico gazes at Will. His blue eyes radiate a warm, loving energy, and his skin glows softly under the clouds. At the sight of his boyfriend’s golden glory, Nico’s heartbeat quickens.

Even in the overwhelming darkness, Will somehow still finds a way to shine.

Another rumble of thunder - this time louder and more insistent - rolls across the camp, and Nico and Will both jump. Silence envelops the two as they wait for the haunting moment to subside.

After a few agonizing moments, Nico lets loose a gentle laugh. “Then we can be alone in my cabin. We can just stand on my porch or something. I don’t want to get soaked like your sandwiches. You know how much I hate wet socks, and I am literally not wearing shoes right now.” As if to prove his point, Nico shifts his leg and showcases a rainbow sock. “Do you see this? I already have sand in it. Do you really think I want to get these fuzzy socks wet?”

A grimace slashes against WIll features. “Okay, yeah. That wouldn’t be fair to you. You’re already going through so much, as I can see.”

Nico nods morosely. “So much.” Then he smiles. “I’ll help you pack, though.”

But just as Nico’s fingers graze against his plate, another round of thunder rumbles throughout camp. Nico and Will snap their gazes back to each other, surprise and anxiety sparking in their eyes. They’re frozen in time, unable to move out of fear that just one act will bring the rains crashing down on them.

Lightning cracks against the darkness. Instead of doing the logical thing, like shoving the sandwiches into the wicker basket, Nico immediately moves his feet underneath himself to protect his socks. Will covers his head with his arms.

“Uh oh,” Nico murmurs.

A beat of silence passes. A gust of wind ruffles through their hair. Then the first drop falls, landing gracefully on Nico’s hand and trailing over his skin. After a few seconds, another bead of water comes down, this one bursting against the picnic blanket. One more catches up, then another, and soon the rain tumbles over the boys, blooming against the fabric of their clothing, breaking against their clear faces as the two of them tilt their heads up to watch the debris of the clouds fall.

Nico and Will look at each other in shock. Silence billows in the space between them, broken only by the loud torrent of rain. Next to them, the drops seep through the sandwiches, rendering them inedible.

Another sound breaks through the rain, and it takes a moment for Nico to realize it’s a laugh. Will’s laugh. A bright grin flashes against his golden features, and he gleams under the dark clouds. His light spills into the dock and saturates Nico’s skin, and a sense of warmth blooms under the latter’s skin. Nico bites his lip as he watches the pure childlike wonder that illuminates Will’s face.

It’s not often that he’s like this. Nico wants to savor this moment.

“It’s raining!” Will exclaims, almost like he can’t believe it. His blue eyes burst with color in the darkness. “This is so cool.”

Nico opens his mouth to speak, but under the loud cracks of thunder and lightning, his voice barely weaves through the raindrops. He huffs and pulls himself closer to Will, wrapping his arms around his boyfriend’s shoulders and leaning his head against his neck.

“Great,” he mutters. “Now we’re wet.”

“How are your socks?”

“Dead. I hate this.”

“We can go inside, if you want. But I’m not sure it’ll do much.”

“No.” Nico tilts his head to face Will, and a smile of his own glimmers against his face. Nico’s dark eyes lock with Will’s blue ones, and they face each other, basking in the intimacy of the torrents. “No, you were right. There is something nice about the rain.”

It’s freeing. It’s liberating. It makes Nico feel like he’s washing away all his sins and mistakes, like he’s starting anew. And in Will’s embrace, he’s finding a new version of himself.

“Yeah?” Will whispers. His own arms wrap around his boyfriend’s waist and he leans his forehead against Nico’s, lending some of his warmth. “I thought so, too.”

Nico presses his fingers against Will’s cheeks and kisses him, stealing some more of his loving energy and comforting heat. They move to the sound of the rain, to the ripple of the water, to the cracking of branches and the rumble of thunder. They move with the nature around them, with the storms above them, with the air through them. They become one with the world encompassing them.

When they break apart, Nico smiles. “Now we need to figure out a way to get through the sand without making my socks more uncomfortable than they already are.”

Will chuckles and presses his head against Nico’s. “I’m sorry about your socks, but I love you.”

Nico tightens his fingers against Will’s sweatshirt, yearning for his warmth. “I love you, too.”

Interestingly enough the fandom isn't always rational with their criticism. Take Percy and Rachel for instance. A perfectly healthy cute and functional relationship dynamic, but people really hated it because it got in the way of Percy/Annabeth.

I think it can also come down to the fact that not all situations are exactly equal if that makes sense. If you have a character dynamic in couple A, that often playfully bully of fight with eachother that's a different dynamic than relationship B, where one person has trauma resulting from bullying and the other parter behaves in roughly the same way as couple A do. In that case the behavior may be seen as inappropriate. Not that this example has anything to do with the ships at hand, but I think a long form meta examining the different paralleling issues from both relationships and their validity would be easier.

Also I haven't seen anything about about Nico/Will being called toxic. Yikes, what are people saying exactly, because I don't doubt a lot of people might be projecting unconcious bias.

Oh absolutely, I may seem young but I remember the Rachel vs Annabeth ship wars all too well... I do not want to go back 😅

The rest is under a read more though, I got a little carried away talking! Also this isn't my best post on the issue by far so please feel free to check out the tags I mention later on!

(AN: I use nblm alongside mlm in this post because some nblm individuals will consider their attraction to men as gay, or queer, while others will not and those individuals are often closely connected to mlm experiences and they also deserve to talk about their thoughts and feelings if they wish. I am aware nonbinary people are not a monolith and not all nonbinary people will categorize themselves or their attraction this way, it's up to nonbinary individuals reading this to determine where they fall on what)

As for Solangelo being toxic some of the conversations revolve around the ableist nature of the ship, this is definitely most obviously a dynamic in BoO, and it's a more than fair point about the ship I don't have anything negative to say there in the slightest!

(The above parallels with the idea that Will is introduced as a "healer character" for the "sad gay kid", which is a fair criticism as well but one that's often left rather one sided, because while that is true- if it's a way Nico likes being treated (watched closely for injuries and cared for) then it's not wrong, and in ToN Will is seen overstepping Nico's boundaries which causes a healthy argument about Will doing so and he stops, so if Nico doesn't tell Will "no" or some variation he's obviously not horribly uncomfortable with the situation, or from the way it would be interpreted alongside previous text, there's fair reason to think he likes it)

The thing with Solangelo I see often is "Nico is still processing trauma, and internalized homophobia and isn't ready for a relationship" which is a huge misunderstanding on how trauma and internalized homophobia work as a whole, because the experiences can be different for everyone. You can absolutely date someone while processing internalized homophobia, you may struggle with certain things but it is absolutely doable for some people. And trauma is such a varied thing, and it's not like he's solely relying on Will either, he is seeing Dionysus for therapy and getting the help he needs! Your life doesn't have to go on hold for therapy no matter how much trauma you are sorting through! (Not disclosing my medical history or anything but I have struggled with both things and my life didn't stop for me to deal with them, I made new friends, went on dates, etc- it is possible depending on the person so the very narrow view of "this is unhealthy" and "this is impossible" rubs me wrong when it's treated as fact over opinion, because it's an opinion).

There's also constant discussions about how fandom (in current) fetishizes both Nico and Will, which I, and other mlm and nblm have spoken our own thoughts on multiple times to be largely ignored by the biggest perpetrators of this "they're overly fetishized narrative". There's also fairly consistent discussion of how fandom treats Nico and reduces him to uwu small gay boy, which more often than not seems to mean "effeminate" rather than actually harmful stereotyping (yes queer men are allowed to be "girly" especially considering there is some canon text that could be interpreted with that meaning, if there wasn't a plausible way to determine canon that way I wouldn't care if people were going after others feminizing Nico a bit- but the issue is again, fact and feeling aren't the same and fandom seem to conflate the two rather often).

(Some of that ties into nonbinary Nico head canons which are common as of current, and that argument quickly becomes transphobic is people don't watch themselves... Even without bringing nonbinary Nico into the equation, headcanoning Nico as femme isn't bad or wrong, and to say otherwise becomes gender policing which is bad).

There's also this weird obsession with there being a "correct way" to ship mlm ships (specifically solangelo), which when considering it's not mlm or nblm saying those things, it becomes really uncomfortable. Especially because the wording of some posts is less "hey this is homophobic" and comes off more like people are more upset at seeing an mlm couple than at the fact that they're being shipped poorly.

All of this in combination with the constant, talking over of queer guys (specifically mlm and nblm) comes off really messed up, and yeah homophobic.

It's not something that can be pinned down to one specific thing but rather a series of smaller microagressions (which in sure most of are intended in good faith but are being filled with subconscious bias) that build up over time- which is why my concern is that solangelo is facing harsher criticism/different treatment that percabeth simply for being a queer ship.

I can't be 100% sure on that like I said, because that's something that is hard to gain tangible evidence for, or maybe even impossible :/

If there wasn't so many other small things going on alongside the harsher criticism of solangelo, I would honestly just ignore it... But the weird policing of "how to ship solangelo" while proclaiming it's "overly fetishized" all while speaking over a not insignificant number of mlm and nblm who have agreed with certain opinions, or taken time to write their own (+ some of the rhetoric that can be found on he blogs of people commonly expressing these opinions) is super uncomfortable and definitely homophobic... Even if they were treating the ship kind of weird, but treating the queer guys talking about it well and actually listening (because the current solangelo fandom probably has the highest proportion of queer guys in comparison to any other fandom I've been in with an mlm ship as of right now) I wouldn't be so bothered... But sadly that's not the case..

(I'd also like to note out of my posts criticizing the current conversations happening around the issue my post saying "listen to mlm voices" got a lot more notes than some of the other ones, which I can't say is specifically anything, because like solangelo perhaps being treated unfairly to percabeth, I am willing to acknowledge there might not be an issue- but it's weird how often mlm and nblm's posts on "listen to us" will be uplifted but never any actual criticism... Just a thought)

I detail things a little closer and in more detail in some of my posts tagged #fandom homophobia, #mlm fetishism, and #gender policing in fandom, it's not a full or comprehensive list (I've only really started speaking up in the last month or so), and it is largely solangelo specific. However I am always interested in listening to the voices of other queer guys about the issues and hearing out their thoughts as well (people aren't a monolith and I'm interested in trying to be as nuanced as possible!) and I acknowledge that although I am mlm and am going to be a little better at recognizing issues and calling them out (although I like every person am not perfect of course)

So yeah! That's a bit of the current ongoings, again not a full comprehensive list, and definitely not my best explanation ever but I think the point gets across well enough? Definitely check out my other tags if you're interested in more, there's also definitely more posts I need to make on some of the things I've seen (maybe not all of them so solangelo fandom specific, and maybe some of them even more solangelo fandom specific) but it's rather slow work in progress!

my writing samples!

if you’re interested in commissioning my work (or you just like reading excerpts), i’ve taken some time to prepare writing samples! 

more commission information can be found here or you can private message me for further questions! 

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💖 dramatic

this is an excerpt from a rangi/kyoshi one-shot i did recently: 

Rangi’s exhalation is loud in Kyoshi’s head, but perhaps almost silent in the world. “I used to see you guys around the mansion,” she confesses. “I would… watch you two. It was my duty, of course, to watch him. But not you.”

This isn’t exactly news to Kyoshi. Rangi has spent lifetimes saving her from herself and the world. Her bodyguard before she knew she needed one.

“I know.”

“You wanna know what I thought?” Rangi shakes her head, a strangled bit of laughter escaping her lips. “When I saw the way he’d admire you? I thought… The Avatar and his servant… what a pathetically tragic way to love. So caught up in the power imbalance of it all.” 

“Rangi -”

“And then,” Rangi stares up at the sky now, squinting into the brightness of it all. “I fell right into it myself. Only you’re not the servant, Kyoshi. You’ve never been the servant. It’s me. In love with the great and powerful Avatar. Hopelessly and endlessly lost in the difference between duty and pleasure.” 

That is absolutely wrong. If nothing else, Kyoshi knows that. “You’re not.”

“In love with you?”

No. That’s probably true, even if Kyoshi still doesn’t know why.

“You’re not my servant. You’ve never been, and you never will be.” 

Rangi finally meets her gaze, and Kyoshi is surprised to see a glassiness there, reflecting in the bronze of her irises. She reaches out and runs a hand along the girl’s jawline, gently tracing every scar, every ghost of pain.

“Whoever made me the Avatar was really, really stupid,” she whispers. “You would’ve made a better one.”

“I’m not Earth Kingdom.”

“I don’t care.” Kyoshi knows how the cycle works. And she still thinks the Era of Rangi would outshine any past or future Avatar.

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💖 comedic/light-hearted

 this is an excerpt from a jay/carlos de vil one-shot: 

“You have a crush?”

Carlos whipped around, staring at Jay who had just come up the stairs. “Where the fuck did you come from?”

“Uh -” Jay blinked, pointing down the stairs. “Downstairs? Look, someone said you go ... oh, you found a friend.” His gaze fell on the cat.

“He’s my new best friend.” Carlos was only half joking. “You’ve been demoted.”

Jay feigned hurt for a moment. On the whole, he didn’t look as drunk as Carlos would’ve expected. “So, this crush of yours,” he said at last. “Is he the reason you agreed to come?”

The irony wasn’t lost on Carlos, and if he weren’t too busy wishing the earth would swallow him whole, he might’ve laughed. “Uh - I don’t -”

“Come on,” Jay laughed. “I won’t tell anyone. Not even Mal. What’s he like?”

Carlos made a face. “The one time you’re not hammered at a party, huh? Just my luck.”

Jay shook his head. “Come on, man! Just give me a hint!” 

Carlos mimed zipping his lips. 

Jay is here. With you, his brain whispered unhelpfully. Not downstairs. Maybe you have a chance. 

Jay smiled, oddly genuine. “I get that parties aren’t your thing, ‘Los. Must be one hell of a guy if he’s worth all this.”

“Yeah, well,” Carlos mumbled, picking at a spot on the carpet. “He looks cute when he says please.”

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💖 alternate universe/timeline adjustment 

this is a sneak peak of an unpublished equalist!asami/korra fic that i’m currently working on :) so stay tuned for more of this: 

“Miss Sato,” a voice called from beyond the reinforced door. “You have a visitor.”

Her father, surely! Or one of his associates. But when door slid open and someone stepped inside, it wasn’t Hiroshi.

Asami turned towards the wall. “I don’t want to talk to you.” 

“Asami, wait.” Korra didn’t try to get any closer. “I just -” 

“Just what?” Asami muttered. Her voice dripped with sarcasm. “Wanted to see me put away? Make sure they’d gotten the right girl? A non-bender standing on the sidewalk at night is so dangerous, see. Glad you’ve got the police force cracking down on the issue.” 

She could feel Korra’s frustration and revelled in it. She liked being able to get to Korra. 

“No! That’s not! Ugh!” Korra paced, her footsteps heavy. “I don’t have much time! I just wanted to ask you to meet me! Away from anyone listening! Under the Silk Road Bridge.” 

“I’d love to, but you see,” Asami gestured around her cell. She still hadn’t dropped the cynical act. “I’m kinda busy at the moment.” 

“Your father is already trying to buy your way out,” Korra told her. “You’ll be released before most of Republic City wakes up. I know you, Asami. You wouldn’t… you’re not -” 

“Not what, Korra?” Asami finally looked at her. Hard. “Like the rest of the non-benders? One of the good ones?” 

“You betrayed us!” 

“And you couldn’t save those people from being rounded up like animals!” 

Korra opened her mouth, but no words came out. She threw back her head in frustration. “Fine! I’ll leave you alone! But tonight, at midnight, I’ll be under that bridge. I hope you will be, too. I just want to talk.”  

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💖 angst/pining

this is an excerpt from a casey/izzie fic: 

Casey couldn’t breathe. 

She was used to the breathlessness that came with running, the burning and tightening of her lungs as she demanded more from them. But when her feet skimmed across the pavement, racing, racing, like her heartbeat, it didn’t scare her. Rather, she relished it, craved it. The way her whole body felt alive, how she could feel every tingle in her arms and legs, how everything seems to still and grow quiet around her - she loved it. 

This was different. 

Her vision tunneled, entirely swallowed by Izzie and the boy in the corner who had his tongue in her mouth. The people around her suddenly felt too close and the music too loud. She wished she had Sam’s noise canceling headphones. 

Casey wasn’t even trying to inhale anymore as she stared, watching the girl whose lips she’d taken a chance on kiss a boy - a stranger. She could feel her chest burning, could feel the rest of her body screaming at her to take a breath, to do something. But she couldn’t. She could only stare until the need for air became too much.

She gasped, her feet moving against her will. The room smelled like too much weed, stinging her eyes and nose. Casey began to back towards the door.

It wasn’t that she was heartbroken; no, she knew what heartbreak felt like, and right now, that space was occupied by Evan. 

This was on her. She’d decided to break off something good and consistent and wonderful to chase after someone who played hot and cold like Evan played video games. She had no one to blame but the person in the mirror. 

Somehow, after being jostled around by several other bodies, she made it to the hallway. It was quiet, thankfully, the noise of the party muffled to the pulsing of the base inside the hotel room where she knew Izzie was still liplocked with that tall stranger. 

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

How could she have thrown away something so good for this? 

She wanted to go back to being normal; to the time when she looked at Evan’s eyes and didn’t see Izzie’s reflecting back at her.

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💖 hurt/comfort 

this is an excerpt from a nico minoru/karolina dean fic: 

“You’re still glowing.” The words came out low. Nico’s eyes flicked up and down her girlfriend’s illuminated body, taking it all in. She knew Karolina could control her light now, which could only mean one thing.

“I wanted you to see it,” Karolina admitted, ducking her head. Now that Nico’s eyes were open, she could see just how much fear flickered behind Karolina’s warm glow. She had removed her arms from Nico now and twisted her hands together in front of herself anxiously. “I needed you to see it.”

Nico swallowed hard, unable to pull her eyes away. The light brought so many emotions flooding back. The first time she’d seen Karo glow. Early nights at the Hostel when the power would short out and Karolina walked around like a glowing flashlight. All the times Nico ran her hands down her hips and kissed her neck and watched her glow brighter than all the stars in the sky. 

“I see it,” Nico promised. 

“You’re not scary,” was Karolina’s response.

They were words Nico had said many times to Karolina, but never had anyone said them to her. 

“Then why am I… like this?”

“Nico.” Karolina shook her head. “Your darkness isn’t evil. It just… is. And I know you can master your magic without the Staff. You’re more than its power.” 

“Am I?” Nico didn’t know what she was. She’d been trying to figure it out for a lot longer than she cared to admit. 

She was the Dead Girl’s Sister. She was That Goth Bitch. She was a loner, an outcast, a freak.

“You’re Nico Minoru,” Karolina said quietly. “And that’s… that’s enough.”

----

💖 fluff

this mal/evie moment is an excerpt from longer fic titled In Loco Parentis:  

Evie had really outdone herself. She’d managed to put together a figure cutting, sapphire satin dress that fell off the shoulders in the most tasteful way possible. With her dark makeup and striking updo, Evie could’ve passed as at least twenty-five. And Mal had never wanted to kiss her more.

“I’m proud of you,” Mal said during a quiet moment, rubbing the other girl’s shoulders gently. “You look great. You did good.”

“Well,” Evie laughed, tipping her head back. “I did well.” 

“Whatever, princess.” Mal’s voice had gone soft, her chin resting on Evie’s shoulder. Unable to help herself, she pressed a gentle kiss there, glancing up to see if she’d overstepped. But Evie didn’t look upset; on the contrary, her eyes were wide and her cheeks pink.

“So that’s what it’s like when a girl kisses you,” she breathed, tucking Mal’s hair behind her ear.

“Believe me,” Mal purred. “You ain’t seen nothing yet.” She waited for Evie to correct her grammar again, but instead, the girl pulled Mal gently out from behind her, capturing Mal’s lips with her own. 

And just like that, Evie was kissing her.

“You’ve got lipstick on your face,” Evie whispered as she pulled away, doing her best to wipe it off.

“I don’t care.”

“I can’t fail you today.” Evie tugged at the hem of her dress, sighing. “I can’t. Mal, this means so much to you.”

But for the first time in a very, very long time, revenge on her mother was the last thing on Mal’s mind. Evie’s eyes and lips and voice took up all the space, blooming in her chest. “You can’t fail me,” she promised.

And that was the sheer and utter truth.

-----

💖 single character-centric

this is an excerpt from a catra-centric exploration:  

She’s lost count of the nail marks. 

When Hordak first threw her in this cell, Catra resolved to count every single tally Shadow Weaver left on the walls. But now that she’s fifty-two marks in - or maybe fifty-three? - her determination is beginning to waver. 

She also doesn’t remember Shadow Weaver being locked up for fifty days. Maybe the nail marks don’t represent days at all - or maybe the old lady is as crazy as she is evil. 

Lowering her gaze to the green glowing shackles around her hands, Catra tries - not for the first time - to wriggle out of them. Their buzzing is growing increasingly irritating.

How dare Shadow Weaver leave? Did she stop to think what would happen to Catra? Did it even cross her mind that she might be thrown in this cell as her replacement? Or maybe she did and just didn’t care? 

Catra’s face twists in a grim smile. Of course her own fate hasn’t given Shadow Weaver any pause. She got what she wanted.

She tries to think back, to find the place where she went wrong - a single moment she can pinpoint where her plans went to shit. But the pieces just don’t fit. Nothing adds up. 

Because Catra has done everything right. She’s climbed the ranks. She’s done her job well. She’s accomplished everything Adora could have and more. She’s surpassed even Shadow Weaver’s authority! 

And yet, here she is. In chains. Awaiting punishment. 

Adora always comes out on top. Hasn’t that been beaten into her since day one? Adora gets to walk away unharmed, with her new best friends and glowing hair. Adora gets Shadow Weaver, despite being a defector, a traitor, a failure! 

I would’ve stayed for you.  

Catra kicks out with her back foot and pushes away the tray someone delivered to her earlier. She’s not that hungry anyway - and certainly not for brown ration bars. 

The tray makes a satisfying clatter as it skids across the floor, and Catra bares her teeth in a halfway smile. If she’s going down, she’s going to go down fighting. She’ll make it as difficult and as painful for Hordak as she can - right until the very end.

-----

💖 second person

this is an excerpt from a summer/tessa fic i wrote by request: 

She’s happy now, you know. 

She’s brighter and happier and just really fucking in love. 

You can see it. You can hear it in the way she talks and the way her eyes light up when she walks into the room. You notice how she perks up when her name is dropped during casual conversation and how she makes a point of talking about her at every possible offhanded moment.

And honestly, you’re happy, too. You’re happy for her. You’re happy for them. Because they’re just so cute, and everyone says so. 

And if you notice that Tessa is wearing her sweater - the one you used to wear because it made her mad and got those sparkling eyes to fix on you for just a few more seconds -  you don’t say anything. 

Because it wasn’t like the sweater belonged to you or was anything other than a polyester cardigan with a small hole in the elbow. 

It’s not like when you draped it over your shoulders, she would roll her eyes and grumble and demand you give it back. Your heart wouldn’t jump, and your mind wouldn’t rush with the adrenaline that came with shooting a snarky response. 

It’s not like you memorized the way she used to scoff - that sound in the back of her throat - or how she’d wave her hand dismissively while you wondered what it would be like to hold it and never let go.

 It’s not like you’ve ever wanted anything from her - attention or otherwise. 

It’s not like that sweater gave you an excuse to touch her shoulders, to catch a whiff of her perfume, to pretend the old sleeves were a good substitute for her arms. 

When words finally do form in your mouth, they’re not the ones you want to say. They’re snarky or sarcastic or snide. They’re perfectly in-character for you, the airhead, the fair-weather friend, or just The Bitch. 

Plain and simple. Easy to categorize and even easier to overlook. 

You won’t think about what it feels like to hug her or how comforting it is to rest your head on her shoulder for those brief, world-stopping seconds - so close you can smell her shampoo and whatever else she uses to make those curls behave themselves. Those moments are meant to be locked away, to be kept safe, where they can’t become anything they shouldn’t. Because the two of you have come so far, but nowhere near far enough. 

Yeah, you’re not my type. 

It’s confirmation of a dead end.

-----

if any of these pieces catch your eye and you want one of your own, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me! i’m in the process of working on some really cool commissions right now, and i’m more than happy to add yours to the mix!

♡  ♡  ♡

A very indulgent prompt that I’d like to ask of you is Jason and Nico just admiring and blushing at eachother laying in a meadow or on a beach!! Sorry if that’s to vague! But I just would love to see happy blushy babies!

thank u for my life

---

Nico’s asleep. His eyes are fluttered shut and he’s laying on his side on their blanket, seemingly not caring for the sprinkles of sand here and there even as it tickles the sliver of exposed skin at his waist. The picnic basket rests between them, containers of half eaten food hiding inside along with a bag of chocolates that Nico had brought to sate Jason’s sweet tooth. He shifts, a cool sea breeze ruffling his dark hair, and moves a little more forward so that his forehead is pressed against Jason’s shoulder.. It traps the basket between them, edge digging into Nico’s stomach.

“Ugh…” Nico mutters, stirring, and Jason looks over from where he was watching the clouds pass overhead in the darkening sky.

“Look who’s finally awake,” Jason smiles.

“I’m… I fell asleep…?” Nico moves the picnic basket away, rolling onto his back as well. “How long was I out?”

“Maybe like half an hour? Not long. Sun’s setting, so I lit one of the candles.”

Nico doesn’t respond to this, instead opting to watch the sky above them as well. He’d have to go home tomorrow. He’s already spent a week in Pasadena, and  judging by the curious gaze Jason’s teachers were giving him, Nico hadn’t exactly been mousy while hiding in his dorm room. It was… it was definitely a week of firsts for him. He and Jason had shared the bed and he’d woken up more than once to find the son of Jupiter using him as a makeshift teddy bear. They’d gone out to dinner together and just talked, walking back to the school instead of shadowtraveling. They went sightseeing at a botanical garden after classes. They went to the theatre to see a Marvel movie, which Nico had gotten maybe a little too excited about and had spent the walk home talking almost as fast as he did when he was a child. Jason had given him the strangest look then. Almost… fond? With a gentle smile that made Nico’s chest feel tight and his stomach hurt.

He looks over at Jason and finds him with his eyes fluttered shut, lips bearing that same sweet smile.

“Jason?” It’s quiet, intermingling with the sounds of the sea.

“Mm?”

“What are you thinking about?”

Jason opens his eyes. “I’m just happy you’re here. That you came.”

“... You really missed me that much?”

“Since the day I left. I should’ve stayed at Camp a little longer.”

“You can’t be serious.”

“I am.” Jason rolls onto his side, the glow from the candle dancing along his face, and Nico wonders how much fun Aphrodite had sculpting someone like him. “I can’t believe I’m only just now finding out you snore in your sleep, man.”

Nico’s stomach twists and his skin burns with embarrassment. “I don’t need to take this from an overgrown koala. Do you know how hard it is to sleep in the same bed as you? You’re like a sloth.”

Jason laughs and Nico feels as if he’s being reeled in.

“I never said it was a bad thing! They’re like, so small. It’s sweet.”

“You’re annoying.”

He starts cackling again, and Nico scowls, glaring up at the now black sky. It fades eventually, and they’re left in silence. The next time Nico goes to sneak a peek at his best friend, Jason’s staring right back.

Oh.

Nico holds his gaze, examining the features of his face. He looks regal, eyebrows sharp and eyes staring straight into his soul, as if they’re back in Diocletian's Palace and Nico’s being stripped layer by layer in front of him. His head is slightly tilted, mouth quirked in an almost... affectionate smile. Maybe Nico is just imagining things. Yeah, that’s absolutely it, that’s--

“You look happier.”

“I-- I do?”

“Yeah. Healthier too. Filled out and getting more tan. Your hair suits you.”

Nico reaches up to touch it, his face burning red. “It does?”

Jason huffs out a laugh through his nose and his eyes flutter shut again. “I bet the boys at Camp are just falling at your feet.” Nico doesn't notice the way his smile falters.

“You're one to talk… have you seen yourself?”

It’s Jason’s turn to blush, but he doesn’t respond, the two of them watching each other in silence for another minute or so. Something in the air’s shifted, but Nico doesn’t know what, just that he feels an urge to kiss that he’s never felt for anyone else before. It terrifies him, freezes him up.

“We should go,” Jason murmurs, but makes no move to get up.

“We should,” Nico whispers, blue eyes threatening to swallow him whole. His stomach hurts.

Eventually, Jason blinks and sits up slowly, running a hand through his hair, and Nico takes that as a cue to start moving as well, blowing out the candle and putting a cover on it. They don’t speak as they clean up and start heading back, and Nico’s so focused on the pavement at his feet that he doesn’t notice the longing glances Jason spares him from time to time.

---

I hope I did it justice!! Send me jasico prompts!!!

No one asked and no one will probably read but here’s songs that remind me of some of my most beloved hypmic boyos (Yes I wrote this at five am and I was being biased) Alert this is very long and shitty don’t read if ya don’t wanna get a brain rot and I advise you not to break your mind before 2nd drb.

Bonus up top:

All Stars + Kotonohoto:

- This Is The Moment - Macklemore & Ryan Lewis

CLASSIC LOVE IT KEEP GETTING DRB VIBES

- I’m Ready - AJR

THIS IS LIKE DIVISION ALL STARS VS KOTONOHOTO

Yotsutsuji:

- Three Thirty - AJR

IM NOT SURE ABOUT THIS ONE AT ALL but since he’s a character that we never really got to understand and analyze, or maybe the fact that he was put falsely into his comatose state pains me.

“You start thinking about the clock ticks, you get nervous, you start stressing, so how am I supposed to fit this, in three minutes, and thirty seconds?”

“Listen to my aching heart. Quick before you skip the song. We are human after all. And we. Don’t. Stay. For. Long”

Naughty Dialogue/MCD +:

- Bang - AJR 

JUST LOVE THE VIBE 

“I’m way too young to lie here forever (IchiKuko) I’m way too old to try so whatever (SamaSasa) so come hang! We’ll go out with a bang!”

- Partners in crime - ft. Ash Costello

The vibe too! Idk I really like it!

- A Bud Like You - AJR

I LOVE THIS SO MUCH IT FITS THEM EVEN MORE HELL YES

Naughty Busters: 

- Rope - Kulick

“I keep slipping on down but I can’t let go yet”

Pain 

- Kids In The Dark - All Time Low 

 “They left us alone, the kids in the dark, to burn out forever or light up a spark, we come together, state of the art, we’ll never surrender, so let the the world sing”

More pain but cute 

Mad Comic Dialogue:

- I’m Not Ok - Weathers 

HHHHH THIS SONG IS ONE OF MY FAVES

“IM JUST LIKE EVERYONE ELSE FUCKED UP LIKE EVERYONE ELSE”

- Weak - AJR 

“But I’m weak, and what’s wrong with that? Boy oh boy I love it when I fall for that” (fall for each other those Lil gay boiz)

- Broken -lovelytheband 

“I like that you’re broken broken like me, maybe that makes me a fool?” (sasa)

“I like that you’re lonely lonely like me, I could be lonely with you” (sama)

“There’s something tragic, but almost pure, think I could love you, but I’m not sure” (sama)

“It’s something wholesome, it’s something sweet, tucked in your eyes that I’d love to meet” (sasa)”

- Rose Colored Boy - Paramore 

Y e s 

- Sober Up- AJR

“Hello hello, I’m not where I’m supposed to be, I hope that you’re missing me, cuz it makes me feel young”

*Cries in SamaSasa*

“Won’t you help me sober up? Growing up had made me numb, and I wanna feel something again. Won’t you help me sober up? All the big kids say I’m drunk and I wanna feel something again. Won’t you help me feel something again... how’s it go again?”

“And I wanna feel something again. I just wanna feel something again. (My favorite color is you)”

“Can I finally feel something again?”

*Cries in SamaSasa again*

Otome (I’m so in it for her):

Dollhouse - Melanie Martinez 

Just. Her backstory. Shit. 

Fling Posse:

- TMD (Talk Me Down) - R & R 

This song just reminds me of the overall relationship between fling posse! I’d make an edit but I’m lazy and sad 

- It’s On Us - AJR

(Honestly AJR is my emotional anchor and it’s obvious)

“It’s not your fault you don’t feel safe it’s not your fault so don’t take blame (no it’s on us)”

“We can try together, make it right together, we can fight together, it’s on us, though your trust is stolen, though your heart is broken, you are never broken, it’s on us” 

“We know what we need to do we’ll be there it’s not on you”

Now da main course:

Samatoki Aohitsugi:

- Karma - AJR : 

THAT PART WHERE ITS LIKE “Where the hell is the karma?” HNGGG

- Can I Get a Witness - Sonreal :

OKAY hear me out:

“I fell in love with you cuz you made me feel, I fell in love with you cuz you kept it real, but you changed up on me, you changed your flow, and now I’ve been hating on you every where I go”

BASICALLY YEAH AND THE REST OF THE SONG TOO

- Honest - Nico Collins 

No comment... 

- Middle Finger - BOHNES 

Oh god I love this song 

“But I refuse to let you make me feel like I can’t fly, not only will I soar again, I’ll own the fucking sky” 

“Livin like a riot, setting off the sirens, fists are clenched I’m fighting, soul has been ignited, ain’t got time for dying, I’m too busy thriving, more than just surviving, heart is beating violent”

And just so much more, this song reminds of his spirit that no matter how many times it’s been broke down just won’t give up, and I love it

- Little Poor Me - Layto 

“I tried hard you know I care, I care, I care, just a little poor me, just a little poor me”

The way he protected what he loved with all his heart, Sasara and Nemu, yet, he still lost them at the end. 

Jyuto Iruma:

The Car - Nightly 

Idk why it fits him—the feel of it I guess 

Ramuda Amemura (maNy but I chose):

- Rabbit Hole - AViVA 

Gives me the feel where he drags people down with him but wants to escape 

- Hypnotized - AViVA

I DONT EVEN GOTTA FUCKIN SAY IT

“Can’t you see you’re hypnotized? Locked inside those eyes. Now don’t you go out at night, you’ll end up hypnotized”

“Look into my eyes find it so appealing look into my eyes send your body reeling, now you’re hypnotized, drag you down down down”

Gentaro Yumeno:

- The Way - Layto

Not so sure about this one—but 

“New Speak, show and tell, this will be my hardest sell, wise men, always say, sadness raps in golden plate” 

Reminds me of how he was bullied and unsocial in school, also how his care takers were elders and made him happy 

- 100 Bad Days - AJR

“A 100 days made a hundred good stories, a 100 good stories make me interesting in parties” 

NSJSBSJJSISS LISTEN IT F I T S

Dice Arisugawa:

- Disaster Party - MAGIC GIANT

FUCKIN-THIS SONG IS SO DICE STFU AND

“You’re a brave heart, but you’re broken, and an Angel, but you’re choking”

THIS REMINDS ME OF HOW DICE SILENTLY ACKNOWLEDGES GENTARO AND RAMUDA BUT DOESNT PUSH INTO THEIR BUSINESS! WHAT A GOOD BOY WE HAVE oh and

“Throw away all your money” hhhhh

- I’m Not Famous - AJR 

Reminds me oh how he could have been literal royalty but decided to say fuck it

Hifumi Izanami:

- Echo - Crusher-P

We don’t talk about why I link this to fumi 

- Oh oh and there’s this part in Parents - Yungblud, “Hi nice to meetcha! Got nothing to believe in! So tell me when my breathing, stops-“ idk it reminds me of his phobia and past 

- Make you Mine - Public The Band

HHHH HES SOFT BBY OKAY 

Doppo Kannonzaka:

- Isolate - SubUrban

“Segregated, situated, hanging on, sophisticated, liberated, nauseated, I just want my medication, individuality and blue lights give me headaches, I’m not changing for the better, I’m just changing clothes on weekends”

Need I say more?

- Come Hang Out - AJR

I personally love this one 

“Come hang out cuz you’re outta your mind, you’re working so damn hard, you forgot what you like, come hang out, don’t you leave us behind. But, I’ll be there next time”

“Come hang out cuz you’re missing your life”

“Should I go for more clicks this year? Or should I follow the click in my ear?”

I feel like this song is from everyone who cares about him which is also me—

Jyushi Aimono/Hitoya Amaguni:

- Crybaby - Melanie Martinez

ABSOLUTELY NOT SHIPPING but the part where it’s like 

“I look at you and I see myself”

Makes me cry because I remember how Hitoya lost his brother to bullying then you have Jyushi so he wants to help the little boy live his life and achieve his goals, unlike his brother, sadly

Sasara Nurude:

- My Play - AJR 

Fucking. Just watch the official vid. That’s all. It’s about parent divorce and slaps.

“When I show you my play, will you pretend you didn’t know, if I make a mistake? It’s gonna get really really really really bad, before it’s okay. But maybe you’ll forget it all, while you’re watching my play” 

- Rose Colored Boy - Paramore 

OHH BOY I WROTE A WHOLE FIC ABOUT THIS ON WATTPAD 

- Istanbul (Not Constantinople) 

FUNNY FUNNY SONG CLOWN LIKE FUNNY FUNNY 

Rei:

- Hushh - AViVA 

Fucker got one. 

“Hush Hush, keep your pretty mouth shut, hush hush, lose your inhibitions”

- This Ain’t A Scene It’s An Arms Race - Fallout boy

Like HeLL.

“Fitting you with Weapons in the form of words, and don’t really care which side wins, as long as the room keeps singing that’s just the business I’m in”

“I’m not a shoulder to cry on, I digress, I’m a leading man, and the lies I weave are so intricate, oh so intricate” 

If you read this then congratulations why the fuck did you waste your time

because you gave me a shot (and its been a long time since someone gave me a shot)

words: 2,552

solangelo week day 3: fantasy

read on ao3

When Nico asks Will to go to homecoming with him, he wasn’t expecting a yes.

Sure, they had a thing. They were friends, no more than that, but they were definitely closer than your average two friends. Maybe they were just comfortable with each other, or maybe it was because of Nico’s massive crush on Will that he may or may not reciprocate.

To each their own, though.

Nico wasn’t going to ask him out, originally. Honestly, he wasn’t even sure that he wanted to go to homecoming himself, much less with the boy he had liked for years, (that is, if Will said yes.)

If Piper and Annabeth hadn’t brought it up during lunch, he probably wouldn’t have asked Will at all.

They’re talking casually as they do during their shared lunch period. It’s no different from your normal Friday, although Nico can definitely see Piper and Annabeth sharing some pointed looks with each other every time he and Will got into another deep conversation.

(By deep conversation, he means he would go off about something and Will would sit there and nod. He never seemed upset about it though, and he once told Nico that he liked to hear him talk about the things he was passionate about, so Nico never stopped.)

The moment the two bring up the homecoming dance that night, though, Nico knows he’s being set up.

He doesn’t partake in the conversation at first, hoping that if he keeps quiet and doesn’t give his opinion about Annabeth and Piper’s dresses that they’ll drop the subject, but he gets no such luck.

“So,” Annabeth says, crossing her legs. “Are you going tonight, Will?”

Will looks up from his sandwich in surprise.

“Um, I don’t know. I don’t really know who’s going, so I don’t know if I have any reason to,” he explains.

Nico knows what’s coming next without even hearing Piper start talking.

“Really? Because Nico-”

“Do you want to go to homecoming with me?” Nico asks before she can even finish. If he’s going to ask out Will, he’s not letting Piper do it for him.

“With us, I mean, ‘cuz we’re going as a group, but, like, with me with the group,” he continues rambling out an explanation, trying to ignore the way his heart had leaped into his throat. Out of the corner of his eye, he can see Annabeth and Piper rolling their eyes at him.

“Oh,” Will blinks. “Yeah, okay. I’d like that.”

“Okay,” Nico says. “Okay, cool. Sounds good. I’ll, uh, text you tonight, then.” He can feel heat creeping into cheeks, and does his best to push it away. He was not expecting a yes after that mess of an invitation and holy shit Annabeth and Piper that high five was not subtle.

“Okay,” Will nods.

Before Nico can stutter out anything else embarrassing, the lunch bell rings, saving him.  He says his goodbyes to Will and the girls quickly before making his way to his art class. Even with the loud, overlapping conversations and crowded space that the hallway brings, he’s still replaying the conversation in his head.

Nico enters the studio a little bit pinker, and a little bit more confident in himself.

⁠—

Nearly three hours into the dance, Will still hasn’t shown up. No, text, no apology. Not even an excuse as to why he stood Nico up.

Nothing.

It was too good to be true. He should have known.

Nico curses at himself internally. He should have known. Just when he felt like he finally did something right, the universe reminds him that everyone in the world is against him once again. As much as he wants to keep denying that Will didn’t stand him up, he did.

And it fucking hurts. A lot.  

Maybe it wouldn’t have bothered him as much if Will didn’t act so genuinely excited to go to homecoming with Nico. If he didn’t want to go, or only said yes out of pity, he could have at least hinted to Nico that he wasn’t going to show up.

All day though, Will kept giving him that look; the look that he saved just for Nico. And as they were leaving their chemistry class that they had together last period, Will had told him “see you tonight!” before splitting off to their respective study halls.

For the first few hours, Nico tried to act like it was something besides him that caused it. Maybe a family emergency, or maybe he was too nervous to dance with another boy in front of the school (if he even was planning on dancing with Nico that was.) But wouldn’t he have sent Nico a text, or said no in the first place if that was the case? Even Will had sent him a shitty excuse, Nico still probably would have accepted it over whatever this feeling was.

Yeah, no. By the third hour and still no word from Will, he wasn’t going to keep lying to himself. This was him being stood up.

It just sucks, because Nico thought they had something. For once in his life, he really thought someone was giving him a shot, and yet. Which meant he was probably making up anything between him and Will because he just wanted it so badly, and Will was too nice to say no.

He’s right back at square one.

No, he’s been at square one the entire time.

That hurts too.

Nico is still moping by himself at the table like he has been for the entirety of the dance when, out of all people, Reyna out of all people comes out and grabs his arm. He didn’t even know she was here.  

“Come on,” she says. “We’re dancing.”

Usually, Reyna can get Nico to do anything, but the last thing he wants to do right now is dance.

(That part sucks too. The situation has essentially ruined his first homecoming, which he should be upset about. He isn’t, though. Because it’s Will , and because Nico is tired, and he can never be mad at Will even when he isn’t tired.)

He groans, pulling his arm away from her. “No, we’re not.”

“Nico,” Reyna says, pulling at his arm again. “You don’t need a dance partner to dance. Now come on.”

Maybe he’s considering her point, or maybe Nico just realizes this isn’t a battle he’s going to win, so he stands up.

Nico follows Reyna out onto the dance floor. The majority of their student body is already swarmed together. It’s sweaty, and crowded, and makes Nico feel weirdly embarrassed like he doesn’t belong in this group.

He’s about to tell Reyna he’s going back to sit down, but before he can escape, she pulls him into a smaller group of their friends off to the side. It’s still connected to the bigger crowd, but they’re in a kind of circle and everyone’s dancing, and it feels okay.

“See? This isn’t so bad?” she elbows Nico, who rolls his eyes. She’s right though. It’s actually kind of fun. None of them are particularly good dancers, but nobody is really paying attention to each other either. Everyone is doing their own thing.

A new song starts, and it’s one Nico recognizes from his childhood. Everyone in the room does too, and immediately more people come out to the center of the gym. The dancing gets faster paced, and the energy builds until its exhilarating.

At some point, their circle gets bigger, and Nico finds himself pushed more into the center of it. His first reaction is to get the heck outta there, but after a few seconds, the energy is back, and he just lets go.

Lets go of Will. Lets go of the school. Lets go of everyone around him, saying his name (he did not know this many people knew who he was.)

Lets go of the night altogether and just lets himself exist .

And somehow, every bad feeling he previously had is gone. It’s all replaced with the absolute exhilaration and genuine happiness to be there.

The song ends, replaced by the start of a slow one. Thankfully, Nico doesn’t feel his heart sink like it had for the past 3 hours every time he watched couples group together. Instead, he just tales the minute to breathe.

To his surprise, Annabeth makes her way over. She’s wearing a blueish gray dress that stops right above her knees, the color matching with her boyfriend, Percy’s tie.

“I’m sorry for what happened at lunch,” she tells him. They’re not even that close, and she’s at least half a foot taller than him, but she still grabs his arm as if he’s her date instead. “I always think about how long I waited for Percy to ask me out, and I didn’t want you two to have to sit through that weird gray area, but it wasn’t what I thought it was.”

Nico shrugs. “Yeah, well,” he says vaguely, then “It’s okay.” Because it is. He honestly feels the best he’s felt all day in this moment.

She grins, raising her eyebrows slightly. “I saw you dancing. Will doesn’t know what he’s missing,” she says, and it causes heat to immediately rush to his face.

Before he can respond, though, his eyes catch something (more like someone.)

Will Solace is making his way across the gym floor to Nico.

Annabeth notices too, patting Nico’s arm before returning to Percy and the others. Meanwhile, his eyes are still trained on the approaching boy.

“Looks like I missed a lot,” Will says softly. He must have come in at the tail end of the song, which means he saw Nico, proving what Annabeth said.

Nico’s still so shocked by him, and his presence even after 3 hours, and the soft blue button up that matches his eyes that he’s paired with a navy blue flowered tie. His hair is slightly styled, but the curls still come through around his ears and in front of his eyes. It’s too much, and yet he can’t take his eyes off of Will.

He’s here. For Nico.

“The dance started three hours ago,” Nico finally says, because that’s the only thing he can say. He wants an explanation, wants a reason to forgive Will.

“I know, and I’m sorry. My family is crazy, and there’s only one car, and my mom was in between gigs and my siblings were being annoying, and none of that matters because I am so, so sorry.”

“You could have texted,” Nico responds in an attempt to ignore the feeling, and he notices how hurt he sounds. He is hurt, and he’s scared for whatever excuse is to come next.

“I cracked my phone earlier on my way out of school, and I don’t have your number memorized, so I couldn’t reach you,” he fishes said phone out of his pocket and shows it to Nico. It is indeed cracked, and bad enough that it won’t turn on. It almost makes Nico laugh, the way he brought it just to prove himself. As if he needed to prove himself to Nico.

“I’m really sorry about being so late,” he continues, and he sounds so desperate it tugs at Nico’s chest. He’s still looking at Nico right in the eye. They’re so dark in the dance lighting they almost look black, but he can see the tiny bit of blue reflecting in the light that is searching, begging for his forgiveness on this.

“You’re going to need to get your phone fixed at some point,” Nico smiles slightly. “I’m better at texting than talking to your face.”

“Oh yeah?” Will raises his eyebrow, and he’s still searching Nico’s face even though they both know exactly what's going on right now. “Why’s that?”

“Shut up,” Nico shoves him slightly, but Will holds onto his arm, and pulls him in close.

“So am I forgiven?” he asks as they begin to dance together slowly. He says it in a way that Nico can’t tell if he’s joking or being serious, but the answer is obvious.

“Yeah,” Nico nods against Will’s chest. (He’s taller than Nico, too. Basically everyone in the school is.) “Yeah, you’re forgiven.”

And maybe Reyna is right. Maybe he doesn’t need a dance partner to dance.

But it’s so much better with one.

⁠—

The two of them are sitting outside the school together after the dance winds down. They’re both waiting for their rides. It’s like a cruel race to see who gets here faster: Nico’s neglective dad (honestly, his stepmom is probably the one coming) or Will’s mom who works late night gigs.

At least it gives them more time together though before they’re separated for the weekend.

(Nico is really praying Will gets his phone fixed at some point over the weekend so they can text or meet up. He doesn’t know if he can wait until Monday morning to see Will again.)

They’re holding hands, too. Will had grabbed Nico’s hand after they sat back down after their dance together and hasn’t let go since.

“Thank you for waiting for me,” Will says, taking Nico by surprise. (There’s been a lot of surprises tonight.)

“I wasn’t expecting you to,” he continues, squeezing Nico’s hand softly. “When I realized I was going to be late, really late, I thought you were going to leave. And that I blew my one shot at this.”

He squeezes Nico’s hand again, not quite making eye contact with him, but he shifts a little closer so their thighs are touching. Nico feels his heart leap into his throat.

“I didn’t want to,” he admits. “I kind of spiraled a bit, but Reyna and the others were able to drag me out of it. It never crossed my mind to leave before then, though. I guess part of me just knew, or was just really, really hoping you would show up.”

“And then I did,” Will grins cheesily, finally making eye contact with him, and Nico almost forgets how to speak as Will’s face inches closer to his

“And then you did,” he agrees after a second.

“I’m glad you stuck around.”

Nico swallows. “Me too,” he says. It’s barely a whisper, and Will wouldn’t have been able to hear him if their lips weren’t an inch apart.

Will glances down, then back up to Nico. “Since you asked me to homecoming,” he starts, his eyes flickering back down for a moment. “Can I ask to kiss you?”

Nico’s chest swells. “You don’t have to ask,” he says before closing the distance between them.

Will shifts slightly, kissing him deeper. Nico’s hands come up to rest on his cheeks, then slide up, running through his hair. He has no idea what he’s doing, but it feels right.

And sure, they’re on a bench outside of their high school, where literally anyone or their parents could see them, but none of that matters when Will pulls back after a minute, his eyes wide and lips slightly pinker.

“I’m really glad you stuck around,” he says, and Nico laughs slightly before pulling him back in.

Yeah, despite the negative feelings that the night started out with, it was worth it to be able to do this.

⁠—

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Prodigal son s1e1 live-blog, for @loubuttons and @thisbibliomaniac because the fact I’m watching this show is y’all’s fault. But under a cut, because I’m nice like that.

his dad looks a bit manic...and saying “we’re the same” doesn’t bode well, given what I know about the show. also 80% sure he’s got gum disease, going by how red his gums looked in that smile.

Serial killer! Makes sense!

He’s distracted by the cicadas. Five seconds and I see what the fuss is; this is one precious boi.

Brrzap; that taser looked painful. Ooh, and cue the freaky childhood flashbacks! His dad is clearly the worst and this poor baby needs a better relationship than this to cling to.

YOU LIE, YOU SICK THING. THERE *ARE* MONSTERS AND YOU ARE ONE.

faces in a jar. That’s no bueno. Bad guy with a gun, also very no bueno. “Someone breaks us.” tbh my friend, I believe too strongly in original sin to agree with that.

oh yikes, the sheriff. Even bad guys have humanity.

“I get it, you don’t punch a sheriff.” He is a baby, but yes also a little stupid.

Oh hey, Lou Diamond Phillips is in this!! AND Michael sheen! LDP was one of the best parts of “Stargate Universe.”

He’s still friends with his dad. This is heartbreaking and extremely unhealthy. I feel stupid for just now recognizing Michael Sheen is the dad. He plays warm and sympathetic and psychotic equally well and it’s frankly impressive. plus that’s an A+ beard.

Soooo homebody has Severe Issues. That was not a good nightmare. But “I can see clearly now” is a fabulous song.

His sister seems like a good egg. I am HERE for good sibling relationships!! Plus she has a killer outfit on. If I could be an actress, I would be one for the wardrobe alone. She has gorgeous eyes, too.

Oh heyyyy it’s LDP! “Spooked puppy dog look” yep I like him. But his sister lied ;_; so much for good sibling relationships. I mean, yeah she’s trying to protect him, but still.

“psychologist, forensic profiler, acquired taste.” I love Gil and I love Gil’s relationship with Malcolm and I already love JT’s relationship with Malcolm. “So you’re a necrophilic?” Iconic. We stan one rude boi.

also can I just point out that Gil’s outfit is frickin classy?

A copycat killer...copying his dad. Welp, let’s just dive into the emotional anguish, shall we?

Gil, you trash bucket, you KNEW. you KNEW the killer was copying his dad! And now you’re saying you’re not asking him to talk to his dad, but you’re definitely asking.

“It wasn’t a healthy relationship.” Okay, at least you know it.

His mother does not look old enough for two kids in their late 20s. Aaaand she’s trying to rub his life. Rude. He’s a grown man, woman, mind your business and shove your pills where the sun don’t shine.

Don’t drink the tea, Malcolm. Pls. I beg.

Oooookay, the coroner is mildly insane. Which makes she and malcom would instantly get along.

welp, we’re diving into BDSM. I am Uncomfortable™️. And I’m pretty sure the killer is at the dom’s apartment, if not the killer himself.

“My profile’s wrong.” Whoopsie.

Nico is a victim sitting on a bomb. Well that’s dandy. God bless Malcolm and his complete lack of social skills.

“I’m gonna chop off your hand!” UM??? Aaaand the bomb just went off. A’ight, I’m hooked.

HOLY FRICK HE ACTUALLY DID IT, THE ABSOLUTE MADMAN. “I’ve got to give them a hand.” What even is this show, holy merciful smokes.

Oh no, his hand is shaking. MAYBE HES THINKING ABOUT CHOPPING HANDS OFF, GEEZ.

His mother is trying to set him up. Hoo boy. This is an awkward family dinner. And ainsley sold him out without hesitation, nice. No don’t say he’s a copycat!! Ainsley is a reporter, don’t say—heck. This is going to end Very Badly. Pls malcom no.

oh gee, mom knows the victims’ names. That’s heartbreaking. I will give this show major points for exploring the fallout of a serial killer’s actions for his family.

Screw his father to hell and back for being a kind and gentle dad while also being a serial killer. That’s just messed up.

And we get another nightmare, that’s splendid. That poor detective who just got clotheslined. Bless her for hugging him till he’s awake again.

Poor Gil, dealing with a hyper frantic boi who is Not, I repeat, Not in Control whatever he thinks.

Oh here we go, he’s off to talk to daddy dipstick. This is gonna be a thing, clearly, where he has to ask his dad for help solving cases.

Do not, you horrible waste of humanity, look so pleased about your copycat. Is it a prison guard copying him...? How did he know so quickly the pages were stolen?

HE’S STILL SEEING PATIENTS?! How did he not get his license revoked for KILLING PEOPLE?! This is stupid. He’s enjoying this. I hate him. I hate him for being charismatic and charming and interested in his son.

Huh. He’s scared his son won’t leave. Welp, there’s our series hook: he promises to come back and see his dad. At least he got what he needed.

Malcom running into his mom at Berkhead’s party is frankly hilarious. Also I suspect the wife rather than the husband. She’s probably jealous.

Oh yep, private conversation upstairs AND her husband’s upstairs! So I was wrong, the wife is the fourth victim, which makes sense given Malcom’s refined profile. Okeydokey, I can work with how this show handles plot twists.

Dani’s in danger. How do we fix it? By strolling in like a boss. Malcom, you absolute nutcase. “You’re still in control.” Bro. Broski. Bromonid.

Is that a knife?? Aw Dani, you were so close! MALCOM NO threatening to use the paralytic on yourself is...I mean, it’s working, but also BRO YOU ARE NOT OKAY. why are you looking at Dani as you confess your motivation for being a profiler? Why are you begging Carter to kill you. This is bad. ooh also title drop!

Enter Gil!! Intriguing bookend with the beginning; also props to the guy playing Malcom for capturing that bitter disappointment at not dying.

Oh yikes, Gil was almost a Surgeon’s victim. And Malcom was the one who called him...makes sense with the nightmare and Gil and Malcom’s connection makes sense.

Does he eat a candy every time he solves a case? That’s adorable ;_;

Hmm, so his dad is pulling strings behind the scenes. Yep, I hate him. Aaaand now he’s emotionally manipulating his son and offering him help to maintain that phenomenally unhealthy relationship. Ugh. Smug piece of dirt.

Heck. This is my quarantine binge now.

6, 20, 33 🏎

6: who's your favourite team principal?

Here comes a sentence I usually use ski jumping related: Der Andi. Like German's stick together. And he's so nice and chilled and you just have to like him. I am already so exited to see more of him in dts since he's the new guy and we don't know him that well.

20: what do you think about your f1 commentators ?

Tbh it's a hate love relationship. Like I grew up with them and normally I really like Heiko and Christian but it's just so annoyed how they are so bias and sometimes they really talk nothing but bullshit but at the same time I know that it could be much worse since I have to watch the orf broadcast when RTL thinks I am not in Germany (rude. Don't know what they are talking about) and yeah I really don't need more Helmut and j*s in my life..

And Heiko and Christian are just an old married couples so most of the times it's quite fun they just need to rethink some overdone views and opinions. They have hardcore boomer vibes.

And the rest of the guys ? I mean Kai is just iconic and I will miss his interview (flirting) with hulk so much. And then Nico and Timo as expert's are just so nice to see. Like you can say a lot about Nico but I just like to have him there and he always gets so exited and I live for Timos and Sebs friendship. Oh and Flo is also a good guy.

33. Do you watch any other racing serie? If yes, what do you watch? Your favourites from there?

I watch Formula E for three years now and yeah what should I say I am so happy to have this series it's definitely more exiting than F1 at the moment but there is still something missing. And my favourite there is definitely Robin Frijns because that boy is realatable af. And than the German squad ofc like especially Maxi and then André the wanna be German who has the insolence to speak German with a French accent.. and Pascale aka Nicos and Lewis love child, F1 did him dirty but I am sure he is happy there. And then Sam bird ofc because I stan our ensvison boys so hard they are so much fun and behind the visor is the highlight of every race weekend.

I also watch some DTM but not that much and I don't really follow it. I mainly watch it because of Robin and Ferdinand Zvonimir Maria Balthus Keith Michael Otto Antal Benham Leonard von Habsburg-Lothringen. (Yeah I probably shouldn't say his whole name because I don't want to see a jail from the inside but 🤷🏼‍♀️)

Oh and apropos Ferdinand, there isn't a question about the junior Series so I have to make this even longer. Because I cannot talk about others series without talk about my babys. So I have actively watched the ADAC f4 and Italian F4 because of my Norwegisch son Dennis and also because of Charles little brother. And I also watched some formula 3 regional to support Sophia, Danish baby bean 2.0 and Schumi 2.1

And i wish I could watch f3 and f2 aswell but since F1 TV refuses to work here I am stuck to the live Ticker what is 100% stress but it's worth it since I need to see how my boys are doing. And with my boys I mean Jack Aitken, danish baby bean 1.0 Christian Lundgaard, Callum Ilott, Marcus Armstrong, Robert Schwartzman, Schumi 2.0, Max Fewtrell, Jüri Vips (I am sure am missing some but yeah) and apropos Jüri I am going to watch super formula this year to look after him band mine and Landos Boy Sacha. (aka secret love of my life)

(The last part is absolute brand new news to all of you you could never have guess any of it I mean who would support ((adopt)) different series and drivers ??)

[this has been sitting in my drafts since saturday. it’s super long lol but writing this all down helped me process the clip] i have to say that i liked the last clip (let’s say as a whole) of ‘This is why I don’t like you.’ and by that i mean the approach and most of its execution. maybe a few rewatches helped, and maybe a bit of distance helped, too. 

the beginning sequence is badass. love the girls acting cool and goofy at the same time. great music choice once again. eva doesn’t mess around, does she. i do hope they will tone down her jealousy. i’m a bit concerned. the way she reacts is realistic and i get her, i do, i just hope she’ll grow soon, cause being jealous 24/7 is draining and i want her to be happy. the dancing sequence is fantastic. there are all adorable goofballs. (i hope luchì gets a line soon. know that i’m waiting). i hope we see more of this in the next weeks. those are only snippets, but they are great, because they show us friends having fun together. edoardo with his friends (the villa boys are slowly growing on me and we don’t see them often. thank you ludos). also for giving chico the screentime he deserves. the myth, the legend, the chaotic energy. i hope we get to see more of him together with edo. and if it’s a snippet of them dancing (?) together. edoardo is loyal to his friends, we all know that i think, but we actually see him having fun with them in a very soft way. you can feel they go way back. you only geek out with your best friends like that, don’t you? while he dances, he keeps glancing at eleonora who is enjoying herself with her friends. she has a lovely smile, i hope we see more of that as well. i feel like we’ve seen her more restrained this season. sure, we get a closer look on her since it is indeed her season. not everyone smiles 24/7 even if said persons is a literal sunshine. but i felt like she let go of the visible tension she’s been feeling on the dance floor for a while. i liked that part. when we see eva already drunk at the bar i already had a bad feeling. then come the two guys. i tensed. it was hard watching her talk to those absolute douche-bags. to those homophobes. they took advantage of her. and i was scared. then ele comes in and tries to get her away from the men, but it’s not working. eva is so caught up in her insecurities and her hurt over giovanni being with sofi that she seeks validation. ele is not giving it to her, and so she asks the men who had just spend a drink on her. she didn’t see nothing wrong in that in the moment. i can’t blame her, she was wasted. i hope she wouldn’t have the need to learn from this, but let’s be relastic, i hope she does. girls/women shouldn’t stop enjoying theirselves on a night out, and yet, they have to be attentive if they don’t want to be exploited. there’s always a possibility that people will do exactly that. and it sucks. it’s a sad and cruel world we [sometimes] live in. that being said, i appreciate how it was handled. even ele going to marti for help. a teenage girl asking her male classmate/friend whom she trusts to help her with dragging away their mutual female friend from men who are prying. it’s realistic, it’s real. it’s tough to watch. it’s not something that was shown in order to be realistic for the sake of realism. this is how it could go down. this is how it went down too many times for too many people. (one time is one time too much). this is how it will go down in the future. so what do the viewers take away from it? they relate. cause it happened to them. it happened to some of us. to a lot of us actually. they’ll talk about how real this scene was and how much it hurt. women, nor any gender, should get treated this way. will there be people who will be shocked with this scene because it felt too real? yes. it makes me sad, it truly does. if there are people who have watched this scene or similar scenes to this and weren’t aware that this is part of the realism we are living in, i hope this scene gave them something to think about. people who behave like the men in this particular scene probably didn’t watch this scene nor equal ones. but if people who think this scene was over the top or unrealistic, i hope they realise now that this scene wasn’t all of that and i hope they will change their view on what is okay to say/to do to a person who is clearly drunk. (look for the friends if they are not close, order a glass of water, make the person sit down). it’s a sensitive topic, but skam is about sensitive topics. this scene wasn’t a wake-up call for me. i know that this stuff happens every day. i, too, have been hit on. both during a night out and walking down a bloody street during broad daylight. i was even sexually assaulted during work when i was only a couple of years older than the characters we follow on screen. i’m glad they choose to tackle this topic. yk one second you’re dancing and having fun with your friends, the next you’re being hit on. it’s a puddle of emotions, yes, but we all know skam is like that. this was very intense, but i’m thinking it only raises awareness and it gets us (back to) talking about this sensitive topic, and hopfeully, to each other. that is what i took away from this scene. other than being scared for eva. moving on. eva shouldn’t have taken the drink, but it’s not her fault. it’s been a while since i’ve went out ending up completely wasted, but i’m not unpruned to react/behave like that even if i have a couple of more years on my sleeve. sometimes you do stuff you regret when you’re drunk. i don’t want to think about the times i was this level of drunk and nothing happened to me, because i was just lucky to be in a room full of normal decent humans. or it was because i just got lucky none of the assholes in this world tried something with me. it can happen to anyone, anytime. i’m happy ele had an eye on eva. this is also so very realistic. those friends who watch you when you’re going out together. you watch each other, sometimes one watches the others more closely and vice versa. those friends that walk you home/want you to text them when you’re home. when you’re safe. okay. ele goes to marti and marti’s face changes in a milisecond. bless his soul. bless his heart. bless martino rametta and everone who is like him. simple as that. he grabs eva and eva follows him instantly. their friendship, boy, i’m glad we get these snippets. but then the atmosphere intensifies. the story with eva beforehand was a good build-up, it really was. all my senses were heightened. marti drags eva away, he knows how serious this situation is. and yet he manages to stay calm. everyone who reacts like him shouldn’t be praised, because it’s decent human behaviour. and yet. alas. the men come on to him and the situations gets scary again or even more scary idk. he gets called a slur. he’s shoked, hurt, scared. all of it. but he won’t give in to these men’s provocations and starts to walk off. they don’t let him though. giovanni appears out of nowhere? no. he was standing beside him when ele came to martino. maybe he followed his action. he’s fierce in his protectiveness. giovanni is one of the kindest and warmest and softest characters in the skamit universe, but he won’t have you insulting his best friend. not on his watch. we’ve known that, yeah, but these seconds of him jumping between martino and the men are an amazing continuation of what we’ve seen in s1 and s2. as sad as it was watching him do that. he shouldn’t have to. but he did, and i am glad. i’m also glad elia came to the rescue. these boys. oh man. i am enjoying eleonora’s season. despite the change in releasing the clips, despite the dragging storyline concerning ele x edo x silvia. i am. and i’m excited to see where the rest of the season goes. i would give anything though to follow martino through his eyes for, well, idk, many many seasons. his season just captivated me. martino captivated me. marti x nico captivated me. fede captivated me. i’m sorry if this is annoying. this short scene with him though- for a second i was back in his head. i was back in season 2. damn. anyway, the way we react to things comes in different ways. this is where nico comes in. i think he didn’t hear what’s been said. i don’t think he acted ooc. maybe he was even asked to take sofi to the side. maybe the boys pushed him away, because they know how vulnerable he is. tends to be. he’s allowed to. and if it was his choice, i still wouldn’t call it ooc. we’ve seen him through marti’s eyes. we know he’s utterly vulnerable. it’s one of his biggest character traits. i think it would have been a bad call to make him jump into the fight, too. it’s not him. he’s like marti. he’d try to leave the situation. yes, the men were the ones who started it. all of it. with words, with aggression. they were ready to throw fists. i’d try to push them away, too, had they attacked my friends. where was nico? it’s all speculation, isn’t it? we see him and sofi for a split second in the background when gio rushes to marti’s side. we don’t know if he heard what it was all about. i’m thinking that the directors made a choice here. especially in the snippets of the aftermatch. why don’t we see his ‘concerned’ face? why is he “just” standing there (calmly even. maybe) with sofi and why doesn’t he rush to marti when the latter one is worrying over gio after edoardo and his friends throw the men out? (coglione. btw bless you, edoardo). it makes me think he didn’t know what was being said at all. i think he either didn’t know what the situation was about or maybe he thought it was about giovanni (and eva) after all. marti dragging away eva because ele wouldn’t ask gio for help in this particular situation, because he’s with sofi now. but then gio goes anyway, because someone tried to hurt eva and he still cares about her. maybe that’s what nico thought. it could be a possibility. another one could be that nico froze because of the fright. i really think there lies a reason behind him standing with sofi. and i think it will be resolved. they have been handling marti x nico with care (we’ve seen them in the bg and they are happily in love. we’ve seen it on the dance floor, too. happy boys happily in love). now, there wasn’t any concern in the snippet we see of him going to marti and the boys. there has to be a reason to it. it was all blurry anyhow and like 0.0001 seconds so what. there was concern at one point though, i’m absolutely certain. we didn’t see it though. and if it was because of him freezing at the situation, then so be it. who are we to judge other people’s reaction? those snippets of him in the bg don’t make me love his character any less. i know he loves marti and i know he’ll shower him with love more than ever and i know he’d never not care about marti. i’m not even mad at the decision to not show his reaction. he’s not the focus. marti has a bit more to it all. he’s a main and the whole harresment/homophobia scene happened with the three mains involved. i’m not mad (yet. lol), because i think there’s something following up to all of this and i’m positive we get the soft epilogues for marti x nico in the bg at one point. my shipper heart wants a lot of scenes with my faves. but this is also skam. a show that’s fast paced- you have to read between the lines sometimes. that being said, i thought this scene was difficult to handle, but i wouldn’t say it took away one thing from the other. eleonora x edoardo’s story is just beginning and like i said, i think we’ll get another look on the homophobia mention. i’m also thinking that this was maybe an intentional creative decision. one main/one ship gets a scare and one gets together. sometimes life is like that. very often so, i believe. people don’t have to like this of course. it didn’t upset me. eva being harrassed scared me. marti being cornered scared me. i could enjoy ele x edo, i just needed a few rewatches to let it really get to me. the conversation they have before she tells him she doesn’t like him was very well done. edoardo is so soft omg, giancarlo, calm down. i adore his approach on his character, i really do. i think he’s a great actor. i think, deep down, edoardo’s even one of the most vulnerable characters. there’s a sensitiveness to him. when his mother is mentioned, when he looks at eleonora and when you see how far he’s gone for her, but still wants her to be alright, even if he doesn’t play a part in her life. it’s acted out subtly but it’s also very visible, you know? he longs for eleonora to like him. he’s been trying really hard. i think for the most part he’s been respective towards her and i really like the growth we’ve seen so far in him. i’m excited to see where this will go. eleonora is scared of admitting her feelings. she doesn’t want to give in, but she also does. she’s seen another side of him by now and she struggles to keep up with idealistic views on men/human beings in general. she’s been soft for him in s1 and s2 already. when he calls her beautiful, she isn’t appalled, because it’s the way he says it. the way he conveys it. it has charmed her. when they talk on the balcony in illegale, she’s even more soft for him. little glances here and there. he challenges her. she likes it. and yh the whole silvia storyline doesn’t want her to go into to it and she tells herself that she can’t betray her friend like that and so on. but what do you do when someone you’re actually not keen on, gets to you in a good way? that’s eleonora struggle, her conflict. short intermission: i’m glad they didn’t make eva x silvia kiss each other’s faces off. if they don’t make one of them a lesbian/bisexual/, what’s the point? exactly. the kiss scene: i like that ele’s speech was cut short. it’s repetitive and edo doesn’t want to hear it. he’s hurt. obviously. it makes sm sense to me that he stops her. it’s been talked about how edoardo has been waiting for her for over a year. what about eleonora? i think she’s been falling for him for a while now, too. that’s why she runs and that’s why they don’t need any more words. it fits. i liked the thunder thingy touch. or whatever you call it heh. i thought it was done very well. maybe the rest is hella dramatic. not that the thunder thingy is not dramatic, you know, but some things are dramatic and some things are dramatic. anyway. i think the blurry take of the scene was a creative decision in the sense of that it was done in order to portray a metaphor which is that we aren’t able to see everything yet, because this is just the start of their relationship. we are looking at them through frosted glass. we don’t have all the details yet, and neither do they. the way it was shot certainly is growing on me. i like their happy faces. their smiles. they matched each other and it was wonderful to see. i like neck kisses so him kissing her jaw(-line) was *whistle noise* kisses in the rain are often cheesy. they are supposed to, i think. sometimes i like them, sometimes i don’t. i didn’t mind the rain in this one, it wasn’t as if it started raining on cue. scenes with rain involved also bear a metaphor and when it’s done right, it takes away the cheesiness of it all, or let’s say some of it, at least for me. rain usually means clearity, right? rain is essential to all living things. if it doesn’t rain, nothing will grow. and when it pours, it means it washes away your troubles, your negativity etc pp the rain in this scene probably wasn’t there just for the aesthetic (some say it took away the aesthetic. i think that’s something you can argue about), it was used, because it washes away eleonora and edoardo’s previous sins. if you want a dramatic appeal to it. it made them clean (again) and now they are standing naked in front of each other, because the rain got rid of their baggage, their dirt. ele had an epiphany on the dance floor that was long called for and she found clearity in the kiss under the rain. edoardo was defeated, he truly believed eleonora did not like him and after one long year of waiting, he gave up, because he can’t and he won’t pursue someone anymore who doesn’t want him. the rain washes away his sins, because eleonora accepts them now. she let down her guard and she sort of came down from her high horse. for edoardo it’s clearity because eleonora coming after him means that he didn’t imagine their connection and their banter. her clearity is his clearity. the rain implies that everything (for now) is settled between them. the coast is clear, so to speak. it means the start of their journey together. i admit that i didn’t care too much about their kiss that much at first, because i was still taken aback by eva and marti being harrassed and not seeing nico react to marti being hurt. and it’s not that we all have to like the same scenes or creative choices anyway. i don’t think the clip was bad because two massive things were happening. i don’t even think it was rushed. maybe that’s just me. with some clips you experience a rollercoaster of emotions. this one clearly was one of those. of course it’s absolutely okay not to like it or any other one. (or aspects of it). there’s still a lot to come this season and time for side storylines to develop. time for clarity and time for resolve. that being said, i know it would have been unrealistic for filippo to come to this party, but boy, did i miss him in that clip.

watching every naruto opening and discussing my opinions because im bored liveblog

original

took me a little while to warm up to it idk why maybe because its not as up tempo and its a shonen and i want to get hype but i love it now. love the part where the camera pans around team 7 fighting randos they are babies… also its so funny when sasuke holds out his hand to naruto to help him out of the lake and he jsut fist bumps him. gay boy

Haruka fucking kanata baby!!!!!!!! a fav. like we all know this. i listen to the song just regularly a lot and every time it comes on shuffle im like Oh my god its haruka kanata. read the english translation of the lyrics… sns

this one got stuck in my head for a while lol. i like seeing everyone babie and i like naruto shaking his head at the end to dry off like a dog

DDMnanannaddnnaaaaa naaaaaaaaa nda aaWE ARE FIGHTING DEAMERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OOLI OLI OLIOOOOoohh!!!!! very fun very good also a very good time in the show, hello tsunade

**edgy shonen opening where theres something important in front of a chain link fence**

lol skipping 6-9 bc thats the huge chunk of filler which i didnt actually watch most of

shippuden

heros come back is SO GOOD absolutely one of my favs. banger first of all. i love how its actually choreographed and naruto sakura kakashi are like moving to the beat and i love the part where the animation is like pencil sketchy and theyre running and their bodies warp bro its just cool. the part where everyone dramatically reaches for gaara is fun, also love deidaras moment. anyway i shake my ass to this song eveyrday

distance oh god oh fuck. YOU ARE MY FRIEND!!! the sasuke and naruto stuff where they are little baby at the beginning at the end we return to the same place theyre there and like about to stab each other i’m going to scream. i lvoe the song of course. hello sai! i love team 7s little spotlight moments where they get to pose to the music its so cute. why is sasuke snake jesus? DO you remember that long lost DREAM!!!!!!!!!!

BLUE BIRD YA BANGER ok the whole symbolism. when naruto falling next to sasuke rising is positioned like yin and yang lol. when naruto is falling from the sky but then sasuke comes to mind and he springs into action lol. ok random people from the fillers i dont care about. naruto fell in the lake he picks up the bird feather interspersed with a couple shots of sasuke horgh. additional reading: paper bag by fiona apple

closer is one of the ones where im like eh its ok its not my favorite and then it gets to the chorus and my dumb ass is jsut screaming YOU KNOW THE CLOSER YOU GET TO SMETHING THE TOUGHTER IT IS TO REACHIT. the funniest part where narutos moping and thinking of sasuke and then he just perks up and smiles at the camera like. gay boy. like getting to see the asuma fight scenes in this op, also it was so funny seeing him get all the screentime in this op knowing hes about to die like yeah very subtle

SHA LA LA!!!! LOVE IT i love it i love it soooo much first of all banger second of all naruto looking into the water and his reflection is sasuke. lollllll. metaphor m-e-t-a-p-h-o-r the little prechorus bit in the middle gives me chills. love sasuke walking into the purple pool like a smug motherfucker thats my boy. at the end zooming into sasukes pupil zoom out it’s narutos eye oh the poetry..

signs another one of the ones where im like eh whatever its fine but not my fav but by the chorus i am standing on the table freaking out. like fuck jiraiya but this one got me a lil. the lighting and choreography of the sasuke itachi fight bit is sooooo nice and pretty, love getting to see all the new players in the story. baby ame orphans fading to the shot of yahiko as pain.. :(

this one literally makes me cry. i get chills what the fuck. definitely one of my favs. am i a bitch? maybe. i like the song by itself but like the way the rise/general shape of the melody flows with the visuals its like oh god oh fuck. again fuck jiraiya but like the role his character serves as a link between these disparate groups of people and the way thats used in this opening… how it starts and ends with him writing and this is the arc where naruto reads tales of a gutsy ninja and he learns about how he got his name and jiraiya wrote the book and hes WRITING and im going CRAZY!! i’m starting to tear up watching it rn. the shot of konan and the pains in that moment just before they leap forward. Sayonaaaaaaara aa lksasldfkwpoeifjhnuerIELFeuiertekdjsnlfweiourbg kakashis moment is cool in this op. also love to see the girls getting fight scenes in this op cus they sure dont in the actual show LOL anyway yeah im at the part where the melodys just hitting sooo different oh my god naruto frog eyes

DIVERRRRRRR. FAV literally like naruto is drowning. hes drowning and everyone is pushing him up so he can breathe again everyone is fighting to save him and thnen he s ouf ot the water and then he sees sasuke drowning and he JUMPS BACK IN. FOR ONE PERSON EVEN THOUGH ALL THESE OTHER PEOLE were working to help him out he dives back in for SASUKE whos drowning in the eyehole of obitos mask which is cool. ok yeah this is another one where im like tearing up because THe cymbal is em….. the way The movement of the visuals is choreographed with the song is so much. nico TOUCHED the fucking walls.

this one kinda annoys me i dont know why it just wasnt my favorite. love the sasuke and naruto staring at each other intensely moment though, would this be a shippuden opening without that. also the part at the end where sakura holds up her kunai and it like slashes and covers sasuke and naruto… inch resting…

newsongs so weird i love it. like what the hell is going on. why is naruto running like hes from some weird gmod video from 2013. love the LITERAL choreography, everyone dancing to the song like this is a musical. theres just a lot of weird moments which is fun. love sai naruto and sakura making the seal together to shoot lightning. raikage leaping gracefully across the beach

i do not enjoy this one. i just dont. it just feels like we’re bootlicking which of course we are because this is the war arc and everything is a nightmare

i remember seeing the first episode with this opening and i was excited bc its like… great another naruto pining for sasuke one this is what im here for. a light banger. minato manlet monday. ohh right this was the one where gaara sees his dad again and his OH I SEE SASUKEE

Banger! nico did indeed touch the walls again. i like that this one is like visually thematically consistent thru the whole thing, i like the nighttime dimly lit atmosphere with the bursts of brighter colorful lighting, also whenever i see tsunade i freak out. narutos cute at the end

SUCH A BANGER!!! also very cool visual style, appreciate it for that like the last one, its got that pretty consistent aesthetic with the red sky and the high contrast black blocking its fun and cool to watch. did i mention the song is a bit of a banger. obito passing thru the rock is cool too bad hes an idiot

ok from this one there were two lines i remember always seeing in the english sub that made me freak out. and one of them was like “this red hot love burning my heart” and it was over kakashi and obito fighting like damn OK. also the “i put the candle out with my finger” thing sticks in my head idk why. hate that we have the narutos big meaty claws i mean manly hands moment though. omg its hashirama and madara and then it CUTS TO SASUKE AND NARUTO IN THE SAME POSE LOL OK…

SILHOUETTE IS a banger… not as much so as some of the others but its a lot of fun. very colorful op, we got some naruto pining for sasuke, classic. also love the thing where ppl are running and they age as they do and they sort of grow into their present selves, a fun visual bit. the end where narutos like obito be nice now look at all these people behind me who think youre a meanie please be nice :(((((((((

another one with a really good visual principle ugh i love how the style of the show is integrated w the styles of more traditional printmaking its very swexy and nice to look at

LINE uugrgh i love this one, maybe a fav… naruto chasing after the light and sasuke trying so hard to snuff it out as they both reflect on their memories of each other oh god oh fuck… also i love the bits where it just has all the characters in a row like it reminds me of that one post about how in the endgame trailer they had a shot of all the female characters together to be like Girl power!! and someone was like yeah thats them showing u exactly how many women theyre going to disrespect LMAO but yeah i do love this op. also the song itself being slower w/ the triplet tempo is a nice change of pace

blood circulator hee hee… the version of this with naruto and sasuke moments is A Lot but even just the generic first version is fun. the part where narutos like knocked on his face hes sinking into the tar and hes not even trying to save himself hes just staring at sasuke, but then he sees sasuke distressed and he goes bijuu mode immediately like What did u say about my mans? there is some homoeroticism

i really hate everything about this i hate it all. sasuke is cute. thats it. ok first of all why did choji cut his hair his long hair look was so gooooooood. hinata bimboification? i mean if anything it was fun to watch these fillers just cus it was fun to watch kakashi be the hokage but really goofy and also the Crumbs tossed to the kakairus… but yeah i hate everything temari got bimbofied too like ugh please let her be a dyke :( this isnt even me talking necessarily about the opening this is me just being like i hate the naruto ending. LOL SASUKE AND NARUTOS NO HOMO BRO HIGH FIVE AT THE END LOLLLLL

ok im done

Victims With Numbers

Fandom: Nanbaka/Corpse Party (crossover) Genre: Horror Characters: Hajime Sugoroku, Samon Gokuu, Kiji Mitsuba, Kenshirou Yozakura, Jyugo, Uno, Nico, Rock, Tsukumo, Liang, Upa, Qi, Honey, Trois, Musashi, Sachiko Shinozaki, Ryou Yoshizawa, Yuki Kanno, Tokiko Tsuji, Yoshikazu Yanagihori, Yoshie Shinozaki, Takamine Yanagihori, some OCs to take the role of Kizami later on instead of actual Kizami Includes major character death.

Chapter 11 of ?

Uno leading the way, despite this being an unfamiliar place, brought several benefits. He had a better sense of direction and much better luck than Jyugo had, so if anyone could lead them to some safe space or exit to this hell maze, it was Uno. His intuition had led them true nine times out of ten, and after a bit of walking he'd managed to calm down enough to use it to their advantage. They'd not come across the monster again, at the very least. After he seemed to feel they were far enough away from the zombie and the death room, he stopped and leaned against a wall with a sigh. Jyugo leaned next to him and they waited in silence for a time.

"...How are your feet, Jyugo?"

"My feet?" He looked down, frowning. Now he thought about it, they were getting sore, and when he looked at them, he saw bruises, cuts and dirt. The floor here was a lot less comfortable to walk on than the floor at the prison. Stones and sharp objects were all over the place. Walking in the prison, his feet would be absolutely fine, but here they were chewed up pretty quickly. It was similar to walking up and down an unkempt alleyway for a few hours. At least he hadn't stepped on any more rusty nails. "They're fine." He lied.

"You want to wear my shoes for a little while?"

He shook his head, refusing as expected. "Nah, I'm good. You need them. They won't fit, anyway. Your feet are, like, twice the size of mine, and they won't get past the shackles." To prove his point, he placed one of his feet next to Uno's.

"Anything else I can do to help? Your feet look sore."

"Carry me?"

He pretended to think the request over. "Not happening. Don't want to muss up my hair."

"Of course not."

The conversation lulled again, and Jyugo felt any ease that had come over him slip away again.

"...We're definitely not in Nanba any more..."

"No." Uno looked up to the ceiling. "Don't know where this is, but we have to find a way out."

"You think the others are here too?"

"...I don't know. I hope not. Anything could happen..."

Another lull in the conversation.

"Hey, Uno?"

"Yeah, Jyugo?"

"Anyone ever tell you that you have really skinny legs?"

It was Uno's turn to look down, but before he could really come up with a response, he found himself being distracted by a not too distant sound. Rattling of chains, a tired-sounding groan followed by an uneasy squeak and a shaky 'hello handsome'.

"Wait...is that...?" At Uno's words and gesture, the two crept slowly towards the sound. The voice broke through the silence again.

"Uh...ah...you don't want to touch me, you know...anything could happen...probably something weird. Or something might explode, or...okay...how do they do this in movies? Oh, I know! BEGONE, FOUL DEMON!"

"Nico!" The two boys said this in unison, and hurried to where they believed they had heard their friend, and found themselves in a thin, dead-end corridor with tables on either side. Each table held bloodied tools and severed heads. For the time being, they managed to ignore this and walked to look through one door, on the left, at the end of the table. Through this door, they could see the huge man from before, a large sledgehammer in his hand, and on the floor in front of him was Nico.

Nico looked suitably afraid of what he was facing. The chain around his ankle had an additional link through it, leading to a loop attached firmly to the ground, and his other three limbs, normally free, were chained down in a similar manner. Upon realising that playing the priest wasn't going to drive the monster away, Nico looked around in slight panic as the man began to raise his weapon. "Okay, uhh...that's not working...what would those two pretty boys from Building 3 do?"

From next to him, Uno heard Jyugo mutter "Honey would swear at it." A second later, they heard Nico swear at the monster.

"...We need to have a talk with Honey when this is all over..." He turned away from the door a moment. "Jyugo, hide under that table-"

"What?"

"Trust me. I'm going to grab that thing's attention, lead it away from Nico. When I do that, you go in, unlock his shackles and get him out of here."

"Uno, no. What if that thing gets you?"

"It won't. Trust me, I bet you anything I'll be able to lead that thing on a merry dance and it won't even come close to catching me." He gave a thumbs up for good measure before pushing Jyugo into a suitable hiding place and getting up. The man adjusted his grip on his hammer, and Uno picked up an object Jyugo couldn't quite see  and hurled it at the beast. Whatever it was, it made a shattering noise, and the beast lowered the hammer and walked toward the door to investigate. Once he'd caught sight of Uno, Uno shouted 'come get me, idiot', turned and took back off down the hall, and as he'd expected, the creature gave chase.

Once he was sure they were out of sight, Jyugo pulled himself out from under the table and hurried into the room.

"Jyugo!" Nico exclaimed happily. "Am I glad to see you!"

"Yeah, same here." He knelt down and undid the shackles keeping Nico's limbs pinned. "Are you hurt?"

"The big zombie teacher hit me on the head earlier and it hurts, but otherwise, no."

"Okay, can you walk?"

"Yeah..."

He helped Nico up and led him out and down the hall.

"I...I thought I heard Uno..."

"Yeah, he was here...he's causing a distraction, he'll meet up with us again later. He promised." God, he hoped that thing didn't catch him. Or them. Or anyone else that might be down there.

Nico struggled to make sense of the dirt walls around him. "Is this place near the school?" He managed. They hadn't been running long, but already he was getting out of breath. Jyugo was as well, but fear of being caught was driving them on.

"School? What school?"

"The...the school. The one we woke up in, after the earthquake."

They slowed to a walk to help them catch their breath, and Jyugo looked back to him in confusion. "We woke up here. Me and Uno did, anyway."

"There's a whole school here, really! Me and Master found a lot of classrooms. It's not as nice as the ones at Nanba."

"You were with Upa?"

"Yeah, but the big zombie teacher separated us."

"Hmm...so the guys from Building 5 are here too?"

Nico nodded. "Yeah, everyone from the game room, I think! The big bird guard was with us too. I didn't want him to leave us, but he heard someone scream and...he didn't come back after that. I think something bad happened to him, too." A shiver ran through him and he drew closer to Jyugo. "I don't like this. I'm scared."

"I'm scared too...but it'll be fine. We'll get out of this." The words seemed hollow, and Jyugo wasn't sure he believed them at all. His mind flashed back to the dying screams of the teenage girl, and the thoroughly mutilated bodies he had seen. He stopped suddenly, Nico bumping into him, and shut his eyes tight, trying to think of something else. Anything else. If he had tried to fight that thing, would they have been able to save the girl? Would Uno, true to his reassurances, really be okay? Would he ever see his friend again? And what about the others, the ones who were bound to be wandering this hellscape but who they hadn't seen yet?

"...Jyugo? Are you okay?"

"...I'm just...tired..."

"Can we sit down?"

Not knowing if it was safe to, Jyugo shook his head. "We need to get out of this maze."

"Is this a basement?"

"A basement?"

"To the school. It looks like a cave."

"It does look like a cave..."

"A basement cave." There was a small silence, and Nico's next words were much quieter. "Where are we going? Where's Uno going to meet us?"

That...was a good question. Uno hadn't told him where to wait for him, and even if he had, this place was like a maze. Not even Uno's brilliant sense of direction and impeccable luck had been good enough to get them to where they wanted to go. Were they just supposed to pick a spot and wait there until someone found them? If they did that, the monster might find them first...

"...I don't know."

Nico let out a sad hum to show he understood. "He'll be okay though, right?"

"I...he'll be okay. Uno may be a crybaby, but he knows how to handle himself in scary situations." And the more he thought about it, the more he realised that was right. He probably didn't have to be quite so nervous about his friend's wellbeing...right? Well, considering the room they'd been in before, it was understandable that he was worried, but this was Uno.

Nico shook his hand free from Jyugo's grip and walked to the next corner. "If it's safe here and there's nothing coming, we can sit down for a bit, right?" Before Jyugo could even think to answer, Nico was shouting. "Jyugo! There's a door here! I think this is the way out of the basement cave!"

He hurried to Nico's side, and there was indeed a door. Unlike the previous one Jyugo had seen, this door was a sturdy-looking wooden door, no blood stains, and it was up a staircase. Considering what he'd seen behind the other doors in this place, he was sceptical that it really would be a way out and not another room full of corpses or sharp objects, but the two of them approached the door nonetheless. As with others before it, it was locked, and as with others before it, the lock was quickly opened.

"This is...this is the school."

"Here?" The hallway before them was worse than the one before. It was a straight shot, by the looks of it, and hopefully no unpleasant twists or turns. The floor looked splintery, more uncomfortable than the loose dirt from before, and had a lot of holes. The wood was clearly quite weak in places, so they would have to watch where they put their feet. He could already see more dead bodies, but it wasn't quite as horrific as the bloody room he had hidden in before. It didn't look much like a school to him, if he was honest, but then, it had been a long time since he'd really been in a school. A proper one, that was, not some prison education room for school-age inmates, which was bound to be vastly different in and of itself.

Nico nodded. "This is it. Definitely. We were by the doctor's room when..." He went quiet and looked to the floor.

"A doctor's room?" Jyugo glanced at his feet. An infirmary would be invaluable, but it was clear something was bothering his friend about it. "You okay?"

"There's...bad stuff there." Wrapping his arms around himself, Nico took a seat at the top of the stairs. "The big bird guard, Master, Uno, Master's old man friend...I don't want anyone else to get hurt..."

"...You saw Qi earlier too?"

"At the doctor's room. They..." Nico shook his head. "I don't want to remember it."

Jyugo sat beside him and awkwardly put his arm around his shoulders, hoping to comfort him. "Don't worry about it, man. We'll wait here for Uno, okay?"

"...Okay..."

"He'll find us. He's a genius, remember?"

"Yeah...we just have to wait for him."

The two of them sat there, facing the maze they'd just left, huddled together for warmth and comfort as they waited for their friend to come back to them.

i also love your barisi christmas themed prompts and if its your thing i'd love something where they go to mass or talk faith/religion. (a hc of mine is that faith is really important to barba too he's just not as open about it as sonny)

I was able to post this on AO3 earlier but Tumblr wouldn’t let me post from my phone for whatever reason so here it is now! I know little to nothing about Catholicism so I hope nothing in this fill comes off as disrespectful or exceptionally unrealistic but I did really appreciate this fill. We do see a lot of religion from Sonny’s perspective but not from Rafael’s so I had to give it a good think as far as how he might feel about things. I hope you enjoy!

–

Could Christmas Eve possibly be better spent than naked in bed with his boyfriend in his arms and a bottle of wine at their bedside?

Sonny is quite certain the answer to that is a resounding no.

“Have I told you yet that being with you is the best gift I could possibly hope for?” Sonny kisses Rafael’s cheek, grinning against stubbled skin when he hears the snort he’d expected.

“That might actually be the fourth or fifth time you’ve said it in the past hour, yeah,” Rafael says, “and it hasn’t gotten any less cheesy.”

“I don’t hear you complaining.”

“No, you don’t.” Rafael doesn’t elaborate but the way he bares his neck is good enough for Sonny, who slowly traces a line with his tongue up the side of Rafael’s throat then grazes his teeth over Rafael’s earlobe.

“You’re beautiful,” Sonny murmurs, wrapping his arms tighter around Rafael’s waist. There’s no space left between them, Rafael’s back is already flush against his chest, but Sonny tries to pull him closer anyway.

“You’ve said that a few times already, too.” Rafael’s breath hitches when he says the words, he doesn’t fight in when Sonny tugs lightly on his hair to tilt his head back so they can share a deep kiss.

“You’re sure we can’t just do this all day tomorrow, too?” Sonny asks once they’ve parted.

Rafael has to take a few second to recover, to flick his tongue over his lips as he very strongly considers canceling on his mother for their Christmas Day plans but then sense stumbles its way back into him. “My mom might actually murder you if she knew you were keeping me from seeing her on Christmas with your sexual wiles.”

“Who said anything about sex?” Sonny blinks innocently but Rafael doesn’t look impressed. “Okay, I guess there are worse things than spending our first Christmas apart. We’re going to have to fix that next year, though.”

“Next year, huh? I like the way you think.”

“Thought you would. What are you two doing, anyway?”

“Same thing we do every year, Christmas mass at St. Jerome’s.”

Sonny blinks, replaying Rafael’s words in his head because he’s not altogether sure he’d heard them correctly. “Sorry, you said mass? Christmas mass? At a church?”

“What, do you think I’ll burst into flames if I step foot on holy ground?”

“Of course not, I just… didn’t know you went to church.”

“I don’t,” Rafael says casually. “Just Christmas mass.”

“Oh.”

“You disapprove.”

“No!” Sonny sputters, trying and failing to find the right words. “I mean, are you even religious? We haven’t really talked about it, which is weird if you think about it because you know I am so I feel like it would’ve come up at some point if—”

“Sonny. Relax.”

Sonny realizes then that he’s sitting straight up against the headboard, shoulders stiff and muscles right, and he forces himself to take a breath to release some of his tension. He doesn’t know why he’s getting worked up; but that isn’t exactly true, is it? Rafael has offered up opinions on the Catholic Church before but he’d never once mentioned actually attending it. Sonny can’t help but wonder why Rafael had kept this from him, he doesn’t think that’s unfair.

“So you go every year.”

“Yes. Family tradition.”

“But you don’t believe in God.”

“What gave you that idea?”

Sonny groans. “You’re messing with me.”

“A little,” Rafael admits with a wicked smirk. “It’s like I said, I go once a year on Christmas because it’s what we’ve done since before I can remember. I spent a lot of time at St. Jerome’s when I was a kid, I learned how to play the piano there. I learned that I liked to sing there.”

“Wait, what? You sing?”

Rafael holds up a finger, shaking his head. “No, no,” he corrects, “I like to sing. There’s a difference.” He pauses, waving his hand dismissively. “They may have asked me to sing at Christmas mass this year.”

“Holy shit.”

“I hope that’s not how you start your confessions.”

“Why wouldn’t you tell me you sing?”

Shrugging uncomfortably, Rafael shifts in Sonny’s asks so he can lift his head to meet his boyfriend’s eyes. “I don’t know,” he says, “it’s personal.”

Sonny reaches down to lift up the sheet draped over Rafael’s naked torso, glancing pointedly downward then back at his boyfriend. “We’re a little beyond personal, aren’t we?”

Batting Sonny’s hand away, Rafael laughs, letting his head fall back against Sonny’s shoulder. “Okay, point taken. I just don’t like the idea of it being common knowledge. I can’t even really say why, it’s just… I don’t know. I don’t talk about it a lot, that’s all.”

It’s not as if Sonny doesn’t understand what that’s like. As open as he tends to be, even if sometimes he doesn’t necessarily intend to be so candid in the first place, he still has things he prefers to keep private. This relationship, it’s still growing, it’s still relatively new. They’re still learning about each other. Sonny is okay with it taking time. “You don’t have to tell me,” he says sincerely, threading his fingers through Rafael’s. “Not now, not ever, I get it.”

Rafael hums, bringing Sonny’s hand up to his lips to press a kiss against his knuckles. “It’s okay, I want to tell you. When I was younger, my grandmother would sing me these lullabies. Some of them were Spanish lullabies. Some of them deeply, deeply disturbing Spanish lullabies. I’d end up singing along with her and she loved it, she would always say how much she loved to hear me sing. She’s the one who turned me on to really loving music, she’d teach me Cuban folk songs, we’d sit together for hours listening to Benny Moré, Mongo Santamaría, La Lupe, Arsenio Rodríguez.” He pauses, letting out a soft laugh at a memory Sonny wishes he could see. “She loved Gloria Estefan. Abuela told me I had a gift, that I shouldn’t let it go, but…”

Sonny tilts his head, curious, already deeply invested in the story Rafael is telling him. They’ve shared stories about their pasts with each other, Sonny knows a good amount—not everything, he’s sure, but a good amount—about what Rafael’s father had done to him, he’s asked questions about scars and been met with actual answers, but Rafael doesn’t talk about his grandmother too often. It’s been a few years since she’s passed but but Rafael, the wound is still fresh. “But?” Sonny prompts.

“My dad was my dad,” Rafael says, sighing. “So we figured the only way to get around that would be to sing for the kids’ church choir. It worked, my mom convinced him it would be a good way to teach me discipline and he was always looking for ways to do that so he didn’t ask too many questions. Sometimes my mom came to watch but abuela was there for every rehearsal. She’d help me practice at home. It’s how we became so close, through the music.”

Sonny hears Rafael’s voice wavering and almost stops him, almost tells him it’s okay to leave it at that if it’s too difficult to talk about his grandmother.

But then he sees the small, fond smile on Rafael’s face and decides it’s better not to say anything at all.

“I stopped going to church when I was fifteen.”

“Why?” Sonny asks. With his free hand splayed over Rafael’s soft belly, he has a feeling he already knows the answer. It’s the same answer to why he’d almost become a priest.

“That’s when I kissed a boy for the first time. His name was Nico Ruiz. People found out. Not about our kiss, it didn’t lead to anything, but his parents caught him with another boy. That week, the sermon was about homosexuality.” Rafael’s laugh is bitter. “Mid 80s, AIDS epidemic, you can imagine how well-received that kind of sexual deviancy was.”

“Yeah. Yeah, I can imagine.” And he can. Except instead of running away from the church, Sonny had thrown himself into it, out of fear of rejection, out of fear of his own feelings. It’d taken him a long time to get to where he is now, to accept himself and the fact that he’ll never be able to make absolutely everyone in his life share that acceptance; but he’d still kept his faith and he’s thankful for that, for the relationship he’s kept up with God, every single day.

It makes his heart ache to think Rafael had lost that, even for a second.

“Anyway.” Rafael’s voice has lowered, his hands fidgets over his belly. He regrets bringing this up, Sonny can tell, so he brushes his lips against Rafael’s shoulder. It seems to work well enough. “You said you thought I didn’t believe in God. I do. Sometimes I do, sometimes I think there’s no way there could be one, not in this world. I definitely don’t believe in the Church.” He hesitates. “Is that ever a problem for you?”

“No,” Sonny says immediately. It sounds forced, he realizes that, so he tries again. “No. Do I wish you’d go with me, okay, yeah. But I get it and it doesn’t change the way I feel about you.”

“So you don’t go to confession and go through a laundry list of things about being with me?” Rafael’s teasing but Sonny frowns, shaking his head.

“Being with you is the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I do thank God for you, Rafael, you should know that. Everyone who knows me well probably knows that.”

For a moment, Rafael goes quiet, though his chest rises and falls more rapidly before he clears his throat. “I’ve thanked God for you, too,” he admits. “I don’t know how much that really means to you when I–”

“Everything,” Sonny says. “It means everything and so do you.” Rafael won’t look at him, in spite of his sweet words. He needs out of this conversation for now, he needs to tap out, and that’s okay. Sonny doesn’t mind. “So hey, tell me what you’re singing tomorrow.”

The corners of Rafael’s mouth twitch upward. “O Holy Night. It was abuela’s favorite.”

“‘Maybe I can sneak out of my Christmas mass and come to yours, watch you sing.”

Rafael is quick to whip his head around to fix Sonny with a glare. “Don’t you dare,” he says, “I will never forgive you.”

Laughing, Sonny holds up a hand in mock surrender. “Okay, okay, last thing I want is to die by death stare on Christmas. You’ll sing for me sometime, though, won’t you?”

“Maybe,” Rafael says, lifting his chin. “Probably. Something we decide is ours.”

“You saying you want to sing me a song and it’ll be our song? Who’s getting cheesy now?”

“Sonny, I swear to—”

“I like it,” Sonny interrupts. He cups Rafael’s cheeks, kissing him. It’s always the best way to render Rafael speechless. “Let’s never stop being cheesy.”

The Ones Left Behind

Notes: A direct sequel of sorts to @outcastcommander‘s fic Promise Me. With that said, the Fetts bros and their parents belong to her!

Myles quietly approached his best from behind as the slightly older man wept, clinging to Kayla’s body. “Shh……” Myles soothed as he dropped to his knees beside his foster brother and gently separated Jax from Kayla , gently easing their sister to the ground and proceed to take Jax into a hug while the medics joined them

“Where’s Tor?” Jax snarled as he looked up at Myles with a tear brimmed eye, filled with some type of burning hatred and mourning grief that didn’t fit for the Vizsla.

“Oh, no you don’t..” Myles said as he tightened his hug on Jax and stood with the smaller man, then proceed to drag him off to where Tani and Talan were. He’d known Jax long enough to know when the emotions of others were severely affecting Jax, and Kayla wasn’t here any more to help him focus.  “C’mon, there’s somebody who needs you. Right now.”.

“Let me go, Myles!” Jax snapped back as he struggled against the larger man. “He did this! He took them away!”.

“I am not letting go, you’re losing control again.” Myles just kept him there. “Jax, he’ll kill you too. You know that, and the boys already lost their parents and grandfather, they don’t need to lose you too.”.

“I….”.

“Talan’s here too, remember?” Myles spoke quietly as he dragged Jax towards their targets. “Forget about that demagolka for now. He’ll pay his debts, but right now, Talan needs you.”.

Jax stopped fighting and muttered something under his breath, which caused Myles to loosen his grip. “Talan?”.

“Yeah, y’know, the little hellkitten?” Myles smiled sadly. “This was his first mission as an adult.”.

“Kriff me.” Jax growled as he shook his head. “You can let me go now.”.

“Are you going to run off?”.

“No, I….I promised Kayla I’d raise her boys.” Jax answered quietly which caused Myles to release him and let Jax walk beside him and lean heavily on the younger man. “Jaster should’ve let me grab Nico and Ikar to do recon.”.

“He should have, but Montross thought it was unnecessary.”.

Jax laughed at that, a cold and broken one. “Unnecessary?” Jax repeated coldly, which sounded so wrong coming from his friend. “My sister is dead, Myles! Our leader is dead! Your best friend is dead! How many of our vode are dead?!”.

“I’m not dismissing your concern, Jax. For all we know, that bastard sold us out to Death Watch and it’s been dealt with.” Myles said as he spotted Tani signalling him over. “And we’ve been summoned.”.

“Next time will be different.” Jax muttered as he hurried over to Talan and started checking him over with all the concern belonging to a father. Myles nod absently as he met his sister’s eyes, things were going to change.

Jax sighed as he watched Talan disembark the ship and rubbed at his face, the kid hadn’t said a word since Korda 6 and it was starting to seriously worry him. If he knew one thing about Talan, it was that the runt was never this quiet, he may look like his mama but he was still his buir’s son.

“What are we going to tell Dag’ika?” Jango asked as he and Myles joined him, the new Mand’alor and Cab’alor. For whatever reasons, the roles fit for the two younger men who stood side by side.

“How do you tell a two-year-old that his mama and buir ain’t comin’ home?” Jax asked quietly as he went to follow after Talan and realized just how young they all were. This was going to hurt, he could already feel the excitement coming from the kit. “‘Cause, I don’t. Hell, if somebody told me that when I was a kid, I’d be ecstatic, but Dag? There’s no good way of tellin’ the kit without hurtin’ him.”.

“And Talan?” Myles asked as he walked over to Jax and tapped his gauntlet. “C’mon, Jax. We both know he’s not acting right.”.

“I don’t know.” Jax answered as he disembarked and was instantly greeted by a concerned Sarna who was holding a chirping baby in her arms, which caused Jax to wince. He knew that chirp.

“Jax? Myles?” Sarna asked with a slip into that weird accent of hers. “What happened?”.

“Dad was right about Montross’s ambitions.” Myles stated as he join the group with Jango who looked away.

Sarna snarled as she let Jax take Dag from her, which earned an inquisitive chirp from the the kit as Jax walked over to a crate and set him down on it before crouching in front of Dag. “Dagorlad…..” Jax paused as he thought over his words, he was absolute osik at this sort of thing.

“Sometimes, life isn’t fair.” A voice behind him spoke, startling the young man as Rav appeared next to him. “There are battles that, sometimes, warriors don’t come back from.”.

Dagorlad looked back towards the ship as the last survivors disembarked then back at the pair and let a frustrated chirp and fuss.

“The ones we’re forced to leave behind go on to march far away with others we’ve lost.” Jax added as he bit his lip. “Like…..your nana and grandfather.”.

Jax winced as he watched the realization dawn in those mix match eyes of his nephew and watched as the little one started to cry.

“Shh.” Rav quickly took Dag into her arms before Jax had a chance to move and held the little one close, attempting to comfort the kit as Jax stood and became aware of Talan standing a few feet away.

“Talan?” Jax asked as he moved towards his elder nephew who stared blankly at him. “C’mon, kid. Say something, even if it’s just a hum.”

Talan just remained silent and glanced at Dagorlad before looking back at Jax blankly.

“Talan?” Jax tried again as he took the kid into a hug. “Knock it off. It’s okay to cry, y’here me? Scream, shout, anything! It ain’t healthy keeping that bottled up.”.

Talan’s breath hitched as Jax spoke before the kid clung to Jax and buried his face against Jax’s chest and his shoulders started to shake.

“That’s it, kiddo. Let it out.” Jax soothed as he gently brushed his hand through the kid’s hair and just stayed like that for a few moments. “I promise, I won’t anything happen to you or Dag. And I will make sure Tor pays for this.”.

“I don’t need your protection! I’m not a little kid!” Talan declared as he slipped away from his uncle and rubbed at his face angrily.  “And if anybody’s going to kill him, it’s me.”.

“Don’t think I’m going to sit out making him pay, kiddo.” Jax as he looked down at Talan, seeing that fiery anger that reminded him so much of Kayla. “He’s taken almost everythin’ from me. It’s time for payback, but we gotta do it together, alright?”.

The two Mandalorians jumped slightly as a loud crack exploded through the area and turned to see Rav staring at what was left of a knee-high rock in horror as she hugged Dag close to her, gently trying to comfort and reassure the wailing child.

“Rav? Did he just…..?” Jax began to ask in worry as Talan bolted forward to check on the pair then inspect the rock while Rav just gave a shaky nod. “How the hell is that possible? He’s not old enough to be that!”.

“You’re scaring him!” Rav snapped back as Dagorlad started chirping for both Talan and Jax.

“Shh, shh, I’m sorry.” Jax cooed as he rubbed Dagorlad’s cheek. “Ba’vodu’jax is just a bit strained right now. I’m not angry at you.”.

Dagorlad chirped again, this time a repeating chirp for Talan who turned his attention to the small group and caught Jax’s eye, they both knew what this meant.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m comin’, Squeaks.” Talan said as he swiped the brat from Rav and smiled slightly as Dagorlad instantly cuddled against him, letting out more fussy chirps at all of them.

“Don’t worry, kit. We ain’t goin’ nowhere.” Jax assured his nephew as he leaned against Rav who elbowed him in return with a slight smile. “We’ll protect you from the big, scary monsters.”.

Translations:

Vode - Brothers/sisters/comrads

Dag’ika - Little Dagorlad

Mand’alor - Sole Ruler, chieftain of chieftains

Cab’alor - The protector of the Mand’alor 

Ba’vodu’jax - Uncle Jax

Thia’s Arrival

An Anon sent me this prompt from the list I posted!

Prompt: Please, just hold my hand.

— — —

There was no way to prepare for parenthood when you didn’t have months to plan for it. Percy and Annabeth? No worries, they had time to prep. Nico and Will? Time to prep. Thalia and Reyna? About five seconds to figure out what the hell was happening.

“I am literally going to drop kick my father in the balls,” Thalia’s hands sparked with barely controlled anger. “What was he thinking? Oh yeah, he doesn’t think!”

“I still don’t understand...” Reyna frowned examining the note over and over again. She’d flipped it over, turned it upside down, and even folded it before opening it again. There was no additional information.

“Read it to me again,” Thalia pressed her lips into a thin line as she paced back and forth.

“Thalia, it’s come to my attention that you’ve recently been looking to add a member to the family. I took it upon myself to sort out all of the necessary details for you. Prometheus has crafted a child in your likeness as well as Reyna’s. I hope this helps make up for the tough childhood you had. If you wish, I would happily recommend naming the little girl-“ Reyna didn’t bother finishing the note before she crumpled it up and chucked it across the counter.

“All of the necessities? What does he think you need to take care of a baby? Just two people and that’s it? That food spontaneously exists along with diapers and a bed and pajamas and more?!” Reyna was certain Thalia would spontaneously combust at any moment. It wasn’t that Thalia was upset at the child, it wasn’t the kid’s fault, but she was contemplating the many ways she’d beat the crap out of her father.

“Honestly, I don’t even know what to do.” Reyna groaned resting her forehead against the countertop. “I’m so far from the motherly type it’s ridiculous. When Maria was born she cried the first time she saw me!”

“That was a little funny-“ Thalia snorted before seeing the death glare on her wife’s face, “but I have a plan. It’s just temporary.”

“Thalia, love of my life, the best friend I’ve ever had, I hate to tell you that most of your plans are complete shit.” Reyna arched a brow as if she expected Thalia to deny the claim.

“You may be right, but I have some experience. It’s not the best, but I did handle Jason.” Reyna could practically see the gears turning in Thalia’s head. “I can run over to CHB in no time and see if there’s anything I can borrow from Percy. Last I heard Maria had outgrown pretty much everything and they probably have some of her old clothes.”

“Thalia I don’t want to be here alone! What if it cries?” Reyna frowned, she could feel her heart hammering in her chest.

“Then you hold her and rock her. If that doesn’t work maybe swipe some formula that’s left over from Eli. Make sure it’s not hot, test it on the back of your hand.” Thalia was beginning to remember the basics of how she’d take care of Jason all those years ago.

“And your knowledge is exactly why you should stay and I should go.” Reyna stood ready to pounce on the door and beat Thalia outside but the other girl was ready.

“Not a chance. I’m the fastest.” Thalia called over her shoulder already stepping outside. There was a slight crackle of lightning, a tit bit of thunder, and a gust of wind. Reyna groaned running a hand through her hair. Thalia has learned little less than a few months ago that she could run as fast as the wind itself.

“Why did I have to tell her to experiment with her powers?” A slight whine was the only response to Reyna’s words and her attention was drawn to the small baby still settled snugly in its blanket and box. “Oh Gods I’m so going to die.”

— — —

Explaining the situation was difficult but Thalia managed to rattle it off as quickly as possible. Percy had learned long ago to really stop asking questions when weird stuff happened.

Still, he was kind enough to scrounge up some bonus items from Leo and Calypso as well. Thalia had been smart enough to ‘borrow’ a backpack from a nearby store on her run over and it was now bursting at the zippers. “Thanks. Uh, gotta blast. Talk more later!”

And with that she was already jetting off back towards home. The trip took no more than a handful of hours which was quicker than if Reyna had taken a car or Pegasus. Bouncing up the front steps Thalia anxiously entered the house once more.

It seemed Reyna and the baby were having a staring contest. It was almost funny if it didn’t look like they were both going to throw tantrums. “Thank Gods you’re back.”

“What happened?” Thalia sighed taking the bag from her shoulders and digging through it.

“Nothing.” Reyna noted, “just...it’s weird.”

“Yeah, I’m with you on that.” Reyna watched as Thalia went on auto pilot. The daughter of Zeus seemed to know exactly what to do which was very different from Reyna’s ability at the moment.

The little baby seemed much more at ease the moment a bottle was in her mouth. Reyna watched curiously as Thalia kept one hand supporting the end while she also used the other to prop the baby upright. “So...how often do they do this?”

“A lot.” Thalia laughed. “It’s how they grow.”

“I see. Then what do we do after this?”

“You’ll see.” Thalia promised, “right now I’m just trying to make sure a baby doesn’t die in my house. We can decide the details later.”

— — —

Reyna made sure to stay out of the way through most of he evening. The only thing she really contributed to was putting back together the small crib Frank had dropped off which was Eli’s first one.

With the directions laid out Reyna did her best to follow the pictures. She hated small writing though, because it wasn’t just small-it was excessively small.

“Alright, you look old enough for this,” Thalia hummed. Reyna glanced up to see a soft towels sprawled on the counter with a very naked baby carefully settled on top. “Now, don’t you fuss. It’s actually pretty fun I promise.”

“She can’t understand you, you know that right?” Reyna laughed.

“Yes, but it makes things less awkward.” Thalia have Reyna an amused look.

“What’re you going to do?”

“Get her cleaned up. She was outside for a while which is bad. Immune systems in babies are horrible. That’s why everything has to be so sterile when they’re really young.” Reyna could tell Thalia was mentally cursing her father.

“Isn’t she too small for a bath tub?” Reyna questioned.

“Yes, which is why we’re going to use this.” Thalia picked up a small and soft little wash cloth and held it up for both Reyna and the little girl to see.

Reyna rolled her eyes on amusement and temporarily abandoned her work to curiously watch what was going to happen. “She seems excited.”

Thalia carefully took the end of the wash rag back from the little chubby hand that had grasped it. “I would be too, in all honesty.”

Reyna couldn’t help but be alarmed once more by how much the baby looked like her and Thalia. The same skin tone she had and the same colored hair. What small rift of hair the baby had literally wouldn’t lay flat and it was as wild as Thalia’s. Then there was the little smile that matched Thalia’s too.

The baby squirmed when the wet cloth first made contact with it’s skin but soon she seemed to be relaxed. Reyna noticed that Thalia’s touch was even more gentle once she reached the top of the baby’s head.

“Is something wrong there?” Reyna hummed in curiosity.

“Nah,” Thalia shook her head. “You just have to be careful. See, babies have a little soft spot on the tops of their heads where their skull hasn’t fused together all of the way. If they get hit or touched too hard their it’s bad.”

That bit of information absolutely terrified Reyna. “Oh.”

“There,” Thalia rested her hands on her hips for a moment, “done. You can dry her off if you want.”

“I’m perfectly fine with observing,” Reyna laughed nervously.

“Alright, if you insist.” Thalia bundled up the little girl with ease before tucking her snugly in the crook of her arms. “But she’s cute...look at her!”

“Believe me, I have.” Reyna replied. “For someone who was so ready to take on all of Olympus you seem to be rather...attached.”

“And you’re not?” Thalia quirked an eyebrow. “I mean look at those chubby cheeks. Though, they aren’t as chubby as Jason’s were when he was little. Boy did he have some baby fat.”

“Thalia, I’m gonna finish this up you can finish whatever you’re doing with her,” Reyna tucked her hands on her pockets, “then maybe it’s wise if he had a talk.”

— — —

Reyna had finished the crib and the baby was out like a light once it was set up in the edge of their room. Both Aurum and Argentum were curious as to what the heck was now in their house and sat outside the crib staring in expectantly.

“Are we really keeping her?” Reyna asked.

“Of course, what else do we do?” Thalia frowned. “It’s not like there’s a return policy.”

“I know,” Reyna rolled her eyes, “I’m just not-“

“Comfortable?” Thalia finished. “Rey, I wasn’t comfortable with Jason at first. You learn. That’s the whole freaking point. It’s not like we’re both at a complete loss. There’s an advantage in that.”

“Yeah well the whole idea of a kid being that small is-“

“Scary. Of all the things in the world you’re scared of a baby?” It wasn’t hard to read the mood of disbelief on Thalia’s face.

“It’s fragile.”

“Well duh.”

“I’m not good at ‘fragile’”

“Pffft, and I am?” Thalia laughed. Just the past week she’s accidentally punched a little kid too hard on the arm when trying to give him a pep talk. “You know what? Stay there.”

“What are you doing?” Reyna asked in alarm as Thalia scooped up the sleeping baby. “No, I am not holding her.”

“Come on! It’s not so bad.” Thalia sat on the edge of the bed giving Reyna a serious look.

“Don’t you dare.” But it was too late, Thalia had already thrust the sleeping child into Reyna’s arms. “Thalia Grace I will murder you!”

“I’ll take my chances.” Reyna was stiff, she sat with a straight spine, tense shoulders, and rigid hands gripping the sleeping little girl. “Loosen up, relax a little.”

“I am relaxed.”

“Then that’s horrible relaxation.” Thalia snorted. Reyna gave her wife a dirty glare and relaxed the slightest bit.

“Happy?”

“Very.”

— — —

Reyna still wasn’t sure about the situation. She watched the baby’s nose scrunch up like a little rabbit’s, saw a small fist squished up against its cheek, and she felt that it was all a ploy to get her to fall in love.

She couldn’t be tricked like that-but then there was the cute little sneeze, and then the yawn. Her defenses were absolutely destroyed, but she was still cautious.

“You doing alright?” Thalia asked after a couple of moments.

“Please, just hold my hand.” Reyna held out her hand expectantly and Thalia took it in her own. “I’m literally shaking.”

“Good lord you’re so dramatic!”

“In Latin you idiot what do you expect?” Reyna scoffed.

“Can we keep her?” Thalia asked seriously. There was a long pause and Thalia’s anxiety only grew.

“Yes...but I get to name her.” Reyna decided.

“What?! Why?!”

“Because this was your father’s stunt. Not mine!” Thalia wanted to slap the smug smirk off of Reyna’s face but she reluctantly agreed to the deal.

“Fine...but only because I love you.”

“That’s what I thought.”