#the other side of the coin is that he gets to keep his tattoo which could be argued that the soul's characteristics take priority | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

meyousing · 1 year

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𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨, 𝐈'𝐥𝐥 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐘𝐨𝐮 [𝟐]

𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭: chrollo + prompt 27 “you know that I’ll find you. I always find you.” + reincarnation(& or soulmate) au

𝐬𝐲𝐧𝐨𝐩𝐬𝐢𝐬: you’re able to find a place to rest before you continue your journey home, but you can only make it so far when your soulmate has so many methods at his hands to keep tabs on you.

𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐬: this is PART 2 [final part] of a soulmate au where mates have a nen tattoo of the other's portrait on their hand. sfw, manipulation, some violence, implied side character death.

return to 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝟏 here!

You’d managed to run for half a day, adrenaline taking you as far away as you were capable. When the sun had started to set that same night, your energy began to diminish along with the sunlight, and your legs simply couldn’t carry you anymore, not even in a walk or trudge. Thankfully, you’d made it far out enough from the previous wasteland, that there was somewhat of a city surrounding you now. A city, with more people around, and less of an odour plaguing the air.

Despite the security you felt from having more people surrounding you, you were very worried about taking a break. You had none of your possessions, so paying for the safety that four walls of a motel room could provide was impossible, short of begging and pleading for one with the receptionist. But you weren’t certain of where exactly you were, your paranoia made it so that you still felt like you were in close proximity to your initial drop off– still in close proximity to Chrollo, who must have been hunting you down this entire time. That thought also had you worried about finding a place to rest outside; the risk of being entirely exposed and out in the open scaring you out of it immediately. It was out of the question.

“Please, I’ll find a way to pay it back later. It’ll just be one night, I’ll even take a room that hasn't been cleaned yet! I’ll take anything that you have, please…” you begged the receptionist with interlocked hands, your head bowing down in desperation. He only groaned.

“Listen, I don’t want to keep repeating myself. I can’t let you have a room without an upfront payment, that’s how it works here. You’re gonna have to pay here, or go somewhere else. Those are gonna be your only options around here.”

Rage boiled within you, nails digging into your skin as you glared back up at the man.

“There has to be something else I can do instead of an upfront, I don’t have any money to pay with right now!” To prove your point, you reached into your pockets and pulled them right out in a dramatic display to show him just how empty they were.

As you did, a handful of coins flew out and onto the floor.

The receptionist raised his eyebrows at you. Surely now he must have thought you were a complete idiot who just exposed your plan to swindle him. You blinked off your shock at this discovery, laughing nervously as you bent down to pick the coins up and place the right amount onto the counter; shocked once more to see that you still had some money left over after the room was paid for.

You were still in your work uniform. To save yourself some time while doing laundry; any money that you got from tips were immediately taken out of your pockets and kept in your purse, which was back at your apartment right now. This money was not in your pocket before… but, whatever higher being placed it there for you would be getting plenty of praise and thanks later on as you fell asleep in a cheap and warm motel bed for the night.

The room had two single beds, and the water here was lukewarm at best, but you had never been more thankful to have a somewhat heated shower in your entire life, than you were right now. It could have been freezing cold for all you cared, you were just incredibly grateful to be able to fully wash off the parting gift of grime and filth that Meteor City left on you.

As you hummed a tune and worked the fragrant motel shampoo through your roots, you knew that while this moment of peace was delightful–you couldn’t relax just yet. Tonight was a privilege, you didn’t know if inns or rest stops would be as easy to come by, like this one had been, as your journey home continued. Not to mention the lucky coins appearing in your pocket, would you have to pick up a part time job somewhere to afford transport fees later on? After such an exhausting day, you wanted to at least try and relax, to avoid thinking about stressful matters such as this before the actual treachery of your trip ensued.

Instead, you chose to live in this moment as immersively as possible. You relished in the feeling of weight being lifted off of your scalp as the shampoo scrubbed out the debris, appreciating the relief that it brought. Then you prepared your conditioner slowly, taking your sweet time as you worked it through your ends. You wished this could last forever, if forever meant confining you to this bathroom in exchange for Chrollo never being able to track or find you. Though all good things must come to an end, so when your hands began to prune like raisins and the air became a bit constricted from the steam, you turned the water off and wrapped yourself up in a bunch of towels. You shivered from the further drop in temperature as you stepped onto the bathmat, remaining there for quite some time until your trembling ceased, keeping your eyes shut and letting the towels warm and comfort you until you were effectively air dried.

Unfortunately, there was no second miracle of the night with new clothes magically being provided to you, so you had the option of either changing back into your work uniform, or hoping your towel would stay wrapped as you got under the sheets. You decided on the latter, as going back into your outfit would have rendered your memorable shower meaningless.

You unravelled the towel that had wound your hair up, dropping it on the floor and using the dryer that hung from the wall until your hair was more damp than soaked. Usually you’d be more cautious of sleeping with wet hair at all, and would dry it completely. Your mother, friends, coworkers, always warned you of how harmful it could be to let even the slightest dampness remain overnight, but in your current situation, you were just happy to know you’d be sleeping with a pillow under your head in the first place.

Turning the bathroom light off after you were finished, you wrapped another towel around your shoulders for some extra warmth while the other stayed around you, tied at your chest. You tried to fight off a yawn to no avail as you shuffled over to one of the beds, your exhaustion obvious as sleep became imminent. Your arms felt like jelly as you untucked the comforter and sheet, sliding under them and instantly finding a comfortable position to fall asleep in. Frailty from everything that your body had just been put through allowed you to rest for the night, succumbing to a slumber the very moment your eyes closed.

Waking up the next day was strange. Being supported by a mattress was lovely, and your reintroduction to consciousness allowed you a few seconds of blissful forgetfulness as you slowly came to. As far as you knew, you had just woken up from your morning nap after work and were ready to get some tasks done for the day. But as you writhed in a stretch, everything came back. No, all of what had just happened was not just a bad dream.

You didn’t know what time it was either, which only disoriented you further. You had no phone to check, and no watch or clock in the room anywhere to show you. The idea of leaving this bed could have made you cry, but you knew that you couldn’t stay in one place for too long in these circumstances. You begrudgingly sat up, rubbing your eyes and hunching over as you mustered the strength to throw your legs over the side of the bed to stand up. As you did, you noted that the towels you wore stayed on through the night, an indication of how solid you must have slept.

Walking over to where you had thrown your uniform the night before, you stared it down while fearing the idea of putting it back on–the junkyard scent that still lingered on the material served as a reminder of where you had just escaped from. With no other choice, you slowly changed into it, wishing that wearing a towel dress in public was socially acceptable to save you from that reminder.

Thinking about parting with the clean towels had you wondering if you could sneak one out with you as you set off. You’d definitely have to deal with that pesky receptionist asking what you were doing with it, since you had to go see him anyway. Not only to return your room key, but also to ask what time it was. As much as you wanted to procrastinate on this interaction after the way your last one went, you knew that too much time was passing and you had to get moving. Keeping one of the towels folded in your arm, you left your room, embracing the soft breeze of the somewhat fresh air as it cooled your face and blew your hair.

Inhaling softly, you opened the door to reception and cringed at what was coming next; probably a huge eye roll and no show of thanks as you returned your key. The door shut behind you, and what you hadn’t expected was for the receptionist to be standing there facing you, already staring with his hands folded behind him and a wide grin on his lips. Since you were still annoyed with his lack of empathy the night before, you hadn’t planned to go into this too kindly, but the intensity of his smile had you mirroring him subconsciously.

“Here’s the key,” you stated, dropping it on the desk and waiting for his response. He only blinked–with one eye at a time–which unnerved you greatly. Was this some kind of sarcastic retaliation to show that he was still annoyed with you from yesterday? Whether he was being petty or not, you didn’t want to waste more time here than you already had. “Could I ask what time it is?”

“It’s time to go back home” he whispered, voice quiet and syllables muffled under his breath. You mistook this as some kind of inn-culture joke. Like, obviously you’d be going home after staying in a motel!

You chuckled, a bit fakely to appease him, while waiting for him to actually tell you the time. But when he continued to stare and not say a word, your smile started to fall and your brief laugh tapered off into silence. Okay…you get it, he’s bothered by you. Asking for the time would be your last question for him, then you could leave and part ways for good. Why was he dragging this out?

You were about to repeat yourself, saying Can you just tell me? When his next move caught you off guard. You flinched back as his face fell expressionless and he collapsed forward, straight for his desk– he had gone unconscious. Rushing over, you leaned atop the desk’s edge to see him; how his arms had stopped him from falling to the floor entirely and surrounded his head, but his legs contorted beneath him, they looked broken. From such a slight fall? The sight was frightening, and you were about to back away to look for help, when you noticed something that you hadn't seen initially. There was something sticking out of the back of his neck…was that… an antenna?

“I heard how impolite he was to you last night. Chivalry truly is dead in today’s day and age, isn’t it?”

That voice was all too familiar, and it certainly didn’t come from the receptionist. You snapped back to stand up straight and try to turn around, but you did not expect your back to collide with someone’s chest. His hands found your hips, effectively stilling you before they slid along your waist, meeting to clasp over your abdomen. You looked down, recognizing and hating how Chrollo’s hands were ingrained in your memory from the countless times you’d held and caressed them before.

Rather than experience dread and paralysis upon your first meeting like you would have expected (sure, you’d love to lie and say that you wouldn’t ever get caught, you never expected a first meeting. But you knew this would happen, didn’t you?) you only felt defeat. His chin pressed into your shoulder and you cowered, the gentle exhale from his nose tickling your cheekbone.

“Why did you run?”

Of course he didn’t seem mad at you. All he ever had for you was patience and understanding. This almost made you feel worse, like you were a rebel acting out against a caretaker who wasn’t mad at you, just disappointed. You didn’t know how to answer him, but thankfully he continued before you could.

“I knew that you would try to, It’s a natural reaction to have in a situation such as this. I just want to know why…did I do something wrong?”

Was he being serious right now?!

“I paid for your rent…I made food for you, no expenses paid on your part. I did this all without complaint, because I wanted to. How else do you think you were able to afford a room here?”

So… it was him who put the coins in your pocket? You had him to thank for a restful night after, causing you so much grief to begin with.

“As my soulmate, you deserve the finest. So what is it?” He spun you around in his grasp, embracing you face to face. He was looking right into your eyes, though his appearance caught you off guard; his usual head cloth was lacking, revealing some type of cross tattoo, and his hair was styled back rather than down. He’d never appeared to you this way before–it made you nervous, it had you squirming away but he only squeezed you closer, fingertips caressing you as he held on.

You were at a loss for words, heart thumping too loudly in your ears for you to even hear your own thoughts. His eyes seemed so sad, like he was on the verge of tears.

“Did you think that after doing all of that, I would just let my soulmate go?” his eyes hardened then, tone dropping a few decibels as if it were only meant for both of you to hear. Nobody else was around to save you, anyway, yet it still sent a chill down your spine.

You shook your head, not knowing what else to say. Your throat felt like it was full of thorns as you swallowed, eyes welling with hot tears as the reality of this situation dawned on you.

He didn’t say anything else, only gazing at you for a moment longer before placing a hand on the back of your head to pull you into him fully, pressing it into his chest while his other arm was secure around your waist. You trembled softly, like a mouse caught in a trap, being loomed upon impendingly by its predator. That wasn’t too far off from the truth, was it? Chrollo had a way of hunting you this entire time, even letting you have some time to yourself before making it known that he could have taken you back whenever he saw fit. If only he had given you some more time.

“Did this teach you a lesson, about how it’s useless to try and run?” He whispered the last part right next to your ear, lips tickling your skin as he nipped at the lobe softly, pulling away with it in his teeth until it couldn’t follow anymore, and nuzzled his cheek into yours.

The closeness and intimacy of what he was doing, mixed with the implications behind everything he said, had you flustered and panicking. You whimpered as you tried to wriggle away from his grasp, and astonishingly, he let you out. Your body flew back into the reception desk from the force in your movements, you winced from the sharp surface digging into your spine. You braced yourself and tried to find stable footing as the tears that streamed down your cheeks began to impair your vision. Chrollo remained in his place, watching you with sympathy written across his features, moving his hands to rest in his coat pockets.

“If I let you go right now, let you run as far as you liked, or even paid for your transportation; you know what would happen, don’t you?” His head teetered to one side, giving him a flair of condescendence that made you feel utterly stupid. You shut your eyes, unable to keep looking at such an expression and absorbing such an aura that only made you feel so, so bad about yourself. He was surely convinced that he was entirely justified in every aspect of this situation, completely civil in how he was handling everything. He spoke again, and this time his voice was a step closer, making you tense and screw your eyes shut even tighter.

“Tell me what would happen.”

You shook your head, the only verbal response you offered being a choked out sob. You raised a shaky hand to wipe your tears away, blinking your eyes open in an attempt to clear them, to gain some form of solidity in this.

It was when Chrollo’s hand romantically lifted towards your face that an idea came to you. Ever the amorous, the poet that he was, surely if you had expressed your perspective to him in some kind of fairy-tale-esque device, he would be more understanding of you. Of why he was not in the right here, and how what he did was not the only realistic solution.

You stopped him, daring to press your palm to his, fingers quivering as you held him there. You sniffled before looking up, your voice breaking as you chose your next words slowly and methodically.

“If you truly love me the way you claim to, as my soulmate…you should let me go.”

As you tried to gauge a reaction from his unchanging expression, anxiety filled your nerves. You tried to drive the point home by forcing your fingers to intertwine, clutching his hand in a (false) show of affection.

After a moment, one where he looked contemplative, he finally smiled at you. You returned his smile, thinking that your words struck something within him and that he would agree with you. Then his fingers curled around your knuckles and his hand squeezed yours with such bone-crushing strength, you cried out and brought up your other to pry yourself out of his grip.

“Your soul is bound to mine, nothing could ever keep us apart.”

He leaned in, his nose inches from yours as he pushed your hand down and pinned it against the desk, the force in the movement making it vibrate and jolt the rest of your body.

“Even if I did let you run free, Y/N, you know that I’d find you. I will always find you.”

#✧meyou #✧musinghxhmasterlist #chrollo #yandere chrollo #chrollo x reader #chrollo lucilfer x reader #chrollo lucilfer #phantom troupe #hxh #hxh x reader #hunter x hunter #hxh chrollo #hunter x hunter x reader #chrollo x y/n #chrollo x you #soulmate au

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honest-moth-of-silver-grove · 7 months

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Hiiii, I saw the match ups and i had to participate 🩷

(my first tav was technically based off of me heavily, so i hope that’s okay? and i wanted to give this photo for some help bcuz i love them sm)

So, Jae is afab but uses they/them pronouns, a high elf druid that loves chaos - in healthy amounts - and they’re tattoos represent smudging their eyes when hunting, the dye in their hair comes from their sibling who loved messing with colors. They tend to be pretty neutral when it comes to making decisions, however they help anyone for a bit of coin, if they can cough it up. Their scars are from the animals they tried handling before they were ready :’)

They love swimming, telling stories by the campfire, and listening to their partner read to them since it helps them sleep. They have sleep terrors/visions that usually keep them up, so hearing their lover helps a lot. Quality time and physical touch is their love language, but they can get overwhelmed by too much heat, so they usually just hold hands or hold the others’ pinky. they tend to stare into space just lost in thought with everything going on

(i hope this was okay !!! and thank you in advance !! 🩷)

A/N: Ahhhh, your Tav is so pretty! And it’s totally okay! I basically did the same thing with my Tav- she’s me, but like with powers lol.

For you, @a-jynx I think Jae’s best matchup would be Halsin!

ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ Halsin doesn't have preferences when it comes to gender or appearance. He’s very in tune with his feelings and when he falls, he falls pretty hard. He can’t help it.

As a fellow elf druid, Halsin is immediately drawn to Jae. They appear cunning and mischievous, which draws him in all the further. Halsin may prefer to keep the peace, but that doesn’t mean he isn't up for a little more, shall we say adventure, every now and then. Jae’s desire for chaos keeps him on his toes- in a good way. He may occasionally frown upon Jae’s moral compass being so dependent on the coin, and he’ll voice his displeasure should the situation arise. But for the most part, Halsin is also neutral and can be swayed not by coin, but by the exchanging of favors. He’s more of an ‘I’ll scratch your back, you scratch mine’, guy, so he usually goes along with Jae wherever they lead.

And Halsin finds Jae’s tattoos gorgeous. They’re primal, yet natural, and it just hits that sweet spot for him. He also admires Jae’s hair color, as he, himself is rather apprehensive about coloring his. He thinks it’s rather brave of Jae to proudly showcase their personality. Jae’s scars are also a point of admiration for Halsin, as it shows Jae’s learned to give creatures, and by extension, nature itself, the respect it deserves.

Halsin loves spending quality time with Jae out in nature- be it swimming or hanging out by the campfire. And he loves reading to Jae. He’s an avid collector of books- his camp is practically overflowing with them and he’ll never pass up an opportunity to share them.

And physical touch is most definitely one of his love languages. He makes it very clear throughout the game just how much he wants to touch the player- to love them in that way. However, Halsin is also very much aware of his size. If his body heat is too much for Jae, he’ll happily back off and be very happy with just holding Jae’s pinky. Whenever Jae has night terrors or disturbing visions, he’s right there, ready to lend Jae his soothing voice or warm hand.

Jae is such a source of light in Halsin’s troubled life. He would love nothing more than to stay at Jae’s side and support them, in whatever way they need.

#halsin x tav #halsin imagine #baldurs gate imagine #bg3 x tav #bg3 imagine #bg3 matchups #baldurs gate 3 #bg3 #matchups

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zorritoenllamas · 7 months

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Behind the Mask

A Modern!Au I've been writing, for my quinoli heart...

A camboy's AU ;) Explicit, you're warned!

Quincy x Olivine - Nu Carnival

Holy Temptation IS LIVE NOW.

"Good evening my dears... I hope your week has been productive - mine was exhausting! Shall we get started already? I can't wait to play with you guys!"

Randomguy69 has bought 5 coins.

Lover1boy has bought 1 coin.

Selflishbear has bought 3 coins.

SwitchKing says "Finally!"

Lover1boy says " I LOVE YOU HOLY, I LOVE YOU!"

"Oh, I see you are very active tonight," Olivine finished adjusting the white lace mask with matching bunny ears, to finally turn his face towards the camera. Beautiful emerald green eyes stood out behind the mask. "SwitchKing, I'm glad you're here! Randomguy69, Loverboy, Selfishbear thank you so much for the coins, you guys really spoil me too much..."

It's never too much!

You're the best

I'm hard already

Holy I want you to sit on my face

Please answer my private message!

Do you do meetings?

Holy looks beautiful as always!

The messages and coins kept coming into the chat. The live visits soon reached more than a thousand views. It was the usual, but the young man could not get used to it. He could not understand how he had become so famous in this world. Surely Klein's God would know his intentions and good purposes, blessing him in this way. As always, he thanked him inwardly for his infinite help. After all, Olivine was a man of God.

He continued to greet one by one for several minutes. He liked to take the time to get to know everyone who was dedicated to accompanying him on his transmissions, even though most of the time it was virtually impossible to keep track of it. There were too many of them. There were some who were always repeating themselves and it was easier to recognize them....

His heart skipped a beat when he noticed the name of the person who had just entered the chat. He was about to greet him with enthusiasm, when suddenly...

Forest Hermit has bought 150 coins.

Forest Hermit says "Good night, Holy".

150 coins. Each coin was worth about a dollar. 150 dollars, in the blink of an eye. Olivine blushed, though with the led lights setting the room, it was impossible for it to show on the video. "Forest Hermit... As always, I thank you so much, is there anything you want tonight? You can ask for whatever you want," he said into the microphone.

Forest Hermit says "You know what I like."

Olivine laughed. Of course he did. "Okay.... I'd like to dedicate this stream to Forest Hermit, who everyone should know by now..." he smiled tenderly. He began to line up some of his toys on the piece of furniture where he kept his computer. Several vibrators and dildos of different sizes, shapes and materials. Finally, he sat down in front of the camera and unbuttoned the white shirt he was wearing.

Emerald green stone piercings attached by a thin golden chain decorated his bulging pecs, so bulging that several times he had had to clarify that he was a man like any other, only his chest was bigger than average. On his abdomen, another piercing to match those of his nipples decorated his navel. And going down even further, almost reaching his pubis, a delicate tattoo could be appreciated, his trademark. A heart design with decorations on the sides, in a light pink tone.

Once stripped of his shirt, he looked directly into the camera to wink flirtatiously, sticking his tongue out mischievously.

"Hermit... This is for you."

Forest Hermit IS LIVE NOW.

A soft background beat accompanied the viewers as they began to greet each other in the chat room. In the transmission, a large, rustic room could be seen, with a variety of wood carvings and decorations. In the distance a large unmade bed could be seen, which the regular stream visitors already knew, but in the foreground there was only a fluffy chair, visibly comfortable, covered by some kind of animal fur. There were a few candles burning and the light was very dim, giving the video a more intimate atmosphere.

Suddenly, the fur covering the chair began to move. The head of a small animal peeked out, staring into the camera with its glowing eyes.

"Topper got there first this time."

"Topper, cover your eyes!"

"It's so cute..."

"I still can't identify which animal it is..."

"Where are you Hermit?!"

"Hermit, would you sell Topper?"

"Go to sleep", a deep, seductive voice chimed in, causing the chat to erupt in increasingly obscene messages. "It's late", a hand followed by an arm appeared on the screen, affectionately patting the animal's head, who made a joyful little noise in response, jumping swiftly out of the chair.

"Finally!"

"Hermit, Hermit, you were taking your time!

"Take your clothes off already!"

"Hermit I want to join you today!"

"I thought you would have fallen asleep by now..."

"So annoying...", without warning, Quincy took a seat in front of the camera with his usual stoic expression. The dark circles under his eyes were visible even behind the mask he wore, a plain black leather mask. The sound of notifications of coin donations increased almost comically, drawing a half smile from the young man. "Little devils..." he stretched out his arms, spreading his fingers in front of him. He was wearing a dark brown bathrobe open to his navel, leaving his marked pecs and abs in full view. Judging by his damp hair, he had just gotten out of the shower. He didn't pay much attention to the messages; he didn't usually interact directly with his audience during his broadcasts anyway. He would just go about doing whatever he felt like doing at the time, or fulfill a few requests that caught his attention enough. Occasionally he would invite someone to join him, on particular occasions.... In fact, he had only invited one person, who had come to a couple of sessions, and had been the one who had helped him get started in this world of camboys thanks to his huge following. They had quite a... Particular friendship, but a very solid one.

Holy Temptation entered the chat.

"I was already starting to wonder if you were coming...", Quincy said almost in a whisper, making it clear who he was talking to. In the chat everyone started talking again, now that another of his favorite streamers had arrived. He waited a few seconds...

Holy Temptation says: Good evening Hermit, I hope I'm not too late....

Quincy did not respond. He merely opened his robe even wider, revealing part of his pubic hair.

"Let's get started."

#fanfic #nu carnival #nucani #quincy #olivine #quinoli #nukani #ao3 fanfic #fanfiction

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barkspawn · 1 year

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a: "you're so pretty." b: *nervous laugh* "im what?" a: "i said you're so pretty" (a then proceeds to kiss b) prompt with Elliott please🙏

Featuring: Dresses with pockets

Amelia both loved and hated dressing up. Her hair was always uncooperative and her makeup was never even. The flower dance was no different. She decided this year to keep it simple. She was already wearing the new dress she and Emily had been working on and had already applied some basic makeup.

She huffed as she examined herself in the mirror, ensuring she was good to go, knowing the walk itself would take some time.

Quickly, she pinned some of her hair in an attempt at something different from her day-to-day, knowing she'd probably take it out by the time the dance even started.

She started out the door, waving a quick goodbye to Loaf before making her way south toward the forest.

She was able to fit her phone in the pocket on one side and her small pouch of coins in the other.

Emily is a genius for the pockets.

Emily was honestly a genius with sewing in general. They took Amelia's measurements one time and Emily made the entire dress and it fit Amelia perfectly. Amelia couldn't wait to see her and show her how nice it turned out.

Elliott crossed her mind more than once. She thought about asking him to dance this year if she could gather the courage. She couldn't even begin to imagine actually doing so. If she remembered correctly, he looked incredible in his suit to the point where it flustered her. He had been her friend since day one and he took to admitting she inspired him. Once, he referred to her as his muse and she feared her heart might explode.

Elliott was an incredibly attractive man, which made it all the more difficult when she started liking him. She couldn't help but think he was so far beyond her league.

Her smile shone brightly as she approached the small bridge to the dance area, greeting Evelyn and George as she crossed.

“You look lovely, dear,” Evelyn commented with a light touch to Amelia's shoulder. Evelyn hadn't been very subtle about her disapproval when it came to Amelia's tattoos, but she eventually understood that even if Amelia wanted to change them (she didn't), she couldn't.

George gave a small hum in either a hello or agreement, clearly miserable being out here.

“Thank you, Evelyn. The flowers are gorgeous,” Amelia looked around before her gaze came back to the older couple, “you've truly outdone yourself.”

The woman gave a bright smile and waved her off, “many years of practice. Thank you! Now, go on and don't let us keep you from the party!”

Amelia gave her thanks and walked into the large area, looking around curiously. Everyone seemed to look so nice, even if Sam, Sebastian, and Abigail looked miserable. Amelia was worried she was late with how many people were already there.

She gave a few hellos on her way to the snack table, pouring herself a cup of punch.

She felt a nudge on her side, looking over at Pam, who was laughing to herself, “hey, kid. I put a little extra something in the punch.”

Amelia opened her mouth to say something, but closed it, not wanting to start that issue. Instead, she gave a half-hearted laugh before giving Lewis a heads-up to make another bowl for the children.

She didn't switch hers out, though. She might as well take the courage where she can get it.

She turned and smiled brightly as she saw Leah, waving at her from a table along the side. Amelia beamed, making her way over.

“Thank Yoba. I thought I was going to wander aimlessly forever,” Amelia teased as the woman pulled her in for a tight hug.

“Never!” Leah laughed, stepping back and looking Amelia over, “Em did a really great job! Then again I'm sure that you could pull off a burlap sack.”

Amelia shook her head, feigning shock, “you mean I could have worn a burlap sack? Damn!”

Leah rolled her eyes before leaning on the table, tall enough to do so while standing, “I definitely think Elliott will be happy with the dress,” Leah teased, heat growing in Amelia’s face before she added on, “or the sack.”

“Leah!”

Leah held her hands up in surrender, still laughing, “I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself,” she took a deep breath, looking around at everyone, “speaking of El,”

“Leah.”

“Have you asked him to dance?”

Amelia felt her cheeks still burning as she stole glances at the entrance to the field far more often than she'd like to admit. She shot Leah a look, making her groan.

“Ames. If you don't ask him, you won't know. I keep telling you,” Leah put her hands on Amelia's shoulders, “he is definitely into you.”

Amelia frowned, sighing, “and if he isn't? Then I look like a fool and he–”

Amelia caught sight of Elliott at the entrance as he politely declined to buy anything from Pierre. Leah must have noticed, following her gaze to the man, a grin growing over her face.

Amelia's mind had gone completely blank and it seemed like she had forgotten how to breathe. Elliott looked nice every day, of course, but today, he wore a white suit, and although it was the same as every other suit here, he looked incredible. It was perfectly tailored, likely also Emily’s doing, and brought out every perfect feature the man had.

“Breathe, Ames. Don't need you dying before you can even ask him,” Leah nudged her, bringing her back to reality.

“You didn't tell me that he looked this amazing in a suit,” Amelia hummed before shooting a glare at Leah, who laughed aloud, “that's just a fact. Sure I'm biased but it's unreal.”

Leah shook her head as she waved at Elliott. He gave a bright smile as he played off his own double take at Amelia. Leah looked at her, who stood completely oblivious.

Leah hugged Elliott as he approached, a quiet laugh escaping his lips, “well hello, Leah,” he pats her back, returning the small hug before he met Amelia's gaze, “and hello, Amelia.”

She couldn't help but smile, “hey, El.”

“You look lovely,” Elliott started before looking over at Leah as well, “you both do.”

“We always look lovely, sir,” Leah teased before smiling briefly at Amelia, “you certainly look nice though, right Ames?”

Amelia was caught off guard, but smiled, “yeah, you really do.”

Leah was clearly already growing impatient with the other woman, “So, El, who are you dancing with this year?”

He arched an eyebrow, not seeing the look Amelia shot her, “no one at present. Why? Are you asking?”

Leah’s lip curled in playful disgust, “with you?” she furrowed her brow, “not my type, Romeo.”

He laughed and shook his head, “I take no offense to any of that other than being called Romeo. I'm hardly that… impulsive.”

Amelia laughed, taking another drink of her punch as Leah met her eyes.

“Find someone fast then, not-Romeo,” Leah commented before starting toward the punch bowl, “I'll be back in a bit!”

Amelia's eyes widened a bit, cursing her best friend as she left.

“I always feel like she's part of some maniacal plan when she acts like this,” Elliott joked, leaning casually on the table. Amelia laughed, shaking her head.

“El, somehow I don't think you're wrong,” she raised the cup to her lips once more before noticing he was looking down at her. She felt her face flush as she caught his eye, “do I have something on my face?” she touched her cheek, fingers cold against the burning skin.

He smiled as if suppressing laughter at a thought, “not at all. Just admiring your dress. You truly do look lovely.”

She cursed the blush rising in her cheeks, about to comment before he added, “pink is also a lovely color on you.”

She furrowed her brow, looking down at her dress before it occurred to her that he was commenting on her blush.

She frowned, placing her cup on the table, “I can't help it. You come in here like an Adonis and start complimenting me,” his brows rose as she continued, “not to mention I blush if someone so much as likes my shoes. So don't pick on me,” she teased, turning to look out over the vast expanse of people and the dance floor.

It was a long moment before he answered, his tone amused, “like an Adonis, huh?”

She felt her cheeks burning again, trying to will it away. She did say that, didn't she?

“El, you know you look good. It's not like a secret.”

“Strange how it surprises me then,” he hummed, looking straight out over the people, taking in everyone, “and what about you?”

“Hmm?” she glanced up at him, trying to read his face, “I don't think I'm an adonis if that's what you're asking.”

He laughed aloud then, the sound sending a flood of butterflies through her being, “no, I'm asking who you will be dancing with.”

“Oh, uh…” she bit her lower lips, giving a slight shrug as she turned her gaze forward again, not meeting his eye, “no one. Just watching this year.”

“Well, that's just not acceptable. Perhaps we can change that.”

She laughed quietly, “I'm sorry?”

He looked down at her, who had finally looked up at him. He gave a warm smile before arching an eyebrow, curious as to if she actually didn't understand.

“I'm asking you to dance with me, Amelia,” his smile grew when he saw the pink rise over her cheeks.

“Oh,” she smiled, nudging him with her shoulder, “I guess I’d be alright with that.”

He put his hands over his heart, a pout playing at his expression, “you wound me, Amelia. Don't sound so excited.”

She rolled her eyes and shook her head, “maybe this is how I show excitement.

He laughed again, that beautiful melody.

“I've seen you on several occasions far more excited.”

“Maybe this is just maximum excitement,” she teased, the microphone coming to life with minor feedback.

“It's time for the long-awaited flower dance! Grab your partners and get ready,” Lewis called, yelling despite there being a microphone.

Elliott offered his arm, Amelia wasting no time in taking it as they walked to the dance floor. She caught sight of Leah almost choking on a tortilla chip as she spotted the two, looking genuinely shocked.

Amelia and Elliott took their places across from one another, this being the most annoying part of the dance. Though the longer she took imagining his hand on her waist and her hand in his, the more she realized it was actually about to happen.

They met eyes as he, and the rest of the men, danced closer before bowing in exchange for a curtsy. He stepped in and took her into his arms, effortlessly dancing in their small space. She met his eyes once more during the dance, his smile faltering for just a second, though she noticed.

The dance came to an end and people started to clear the floor. They made their way back toward the table. She barely heard his voice when he commented, “could you look at me for just a moment?”

Once they got to the table, she turned and looked up at him, her breath catching at the look he gave her. It was like he had just figured out some complicated issue and was marveling at the solution. But there was also a certain fear she didn't often see in his eyes. She looked over his features, worried that something was wrong. Was he leaving the valley? Did he notice that she had feelings and he had to turn her down?

“You are very pretty, Amelia.”

Amelia laughed, the sound nervous and breathy, “I'm sorry, I'm what?”

“You're very pretty,” he tucked his finger under her chin, meeting her eyes with a decisive smile, “I’d even say beautiful.”

Before she had a chance to respond, he leaned down and pressed his lips to hers, his free hand falling to her waist as she stood shocked for a moment. She felt him falter for a moment, concerned for her lack of response. Before he could pull back, she reached up and touched his face, her other hand resting over his lapel. It was a long few seconds before they couldn't help but smile, their foreheads resting against one another.

“I'd call you handsome,” she breathed, “but we already know I think you're an Adonis.”

He laughed quietly before pressing his lips to hers in one more too-short kiss, cut off by an excited yell from Leah, “I honestly was not sure if the whole leaving you two alone thing would work, but damn!”

Elliott kept his arm around Amelia, her heart beating hard and fast, “and I got a picture!”

Amelia laughed aloud, giving their friend a look, “you just take pictures of people kissing now?”

“I do when it's obvious that my two best friends who do nothing but drool over each other finally do.”

Amelia frowned. Elliott did not need to know how much she liked him. But.. He liked her too?

“I'm going to leave you lovebirds alone,” Leah grinned as she walked back over to see Emily.

“You drooled over me then?” she teased, relishing the feeling of his arm around her waist.

“I'm still not certain that this is real,” he joked, pressing a kiss to the top of her head, “this is the thing of old romance novels. Just… Being around you brings me so much inspiration. It's like…” he paused, looking down and meeting her gaze, “you're my muse.”

She laughed, leaning her head into his chest, “I promise I'm very real. I don't know if I could be your muse, that's so much bigger than me. Besides, the women in those books–”

“--couldn't hold a candle to you, Amelia. I truly believe that you are my muse,” he paused, smiling as she wrapped her arms around him in a hug, “I suppose this is when I invite you for a long walk on the beach, hm?”

She laughed, breathing him in. He smelled of the sea, yes, but his smell reminded her of when it rains and she would curl up by the fire with a new book. It just felt like comfort. Like home.

“Only if there will be stars filling the entire sky,” she teased, “I could bring some wine.”

He smiled, “most romantic date Pelican Town has ever seen.”

#elliott sdv #elliott #sdv elliott #stardew valley elliott #elliott stardew valley #elliot stardew valley #stardew elliott #sdv #sdv fanfic #stardew #stardew valley fanfic #stardew valley #stardew fanfic #barkspawn oneshot #oh look a one shot

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caemthe · 5 months

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@crimsontroupe said.º

“I was going to say I was impressed with your ability to keep up with me, but I guess that is pretty unnecessary.” Rannulfr laughs, allowing his tired body to simply collapse against the grass. The rain of a few hours ago allows it to still feel damp, and with that the wolf inhales sharply. He takes in the smell of grass, of a good session of sparring. No matter that they look like they would kill each other several times. There was enough self-control to not exchange lethal blows, but the threat was there. He laughs heartily, slapping the ground as if he is convincing himself of something. “We should team up. You and me. My ideals are not noble. I just want the people I care for to lead a better life.” A moment of vulnerability. Ran seems not to care, wiping sweat from his forehead. “What we have is not enough. I have seen too many people fall into despair, backstab each other the moment somebody tosses a few coins at them to convince the poor sod to betray everything he stands for. I am sick of it. And I could use a trustworthy partner. What do you say?” (ran/cú)

Colorful and refreshing laughter made it past the young wolf's lips as he precisely blocked all of Rannulfr's swings and had all his attacks blocked just as masterfully. If it had been minutes or hours since they started, he couldn't tell, too focused and enthralled by their sparring to pay attention to anything else. It was fun. He was having fun, the most he had in a long while.

It was rare for Cú to meet and cross blades with someone he could call an equal in feats and skill. For a warrior who often had to hold back to not inspire fear or jealousy in those he met, it was exhilarating to finally be able to go all out and not worry about striking too hard, accidentally causing damage he didn't mean. It was even rarer to find himself walking the same path as someone who faced life and the obstacles in it in a way that made his heart tremble with delight. How joyous it is to know there are people out there who are willing to fight for what they think to be right.

His warm body lay on the damp grass next to Ran, the beating of his heart loud in his chest as if it was relishing after their sparring session. The sky isn't dark and the clouds above appear fluffy and calm. The scent of rain still lingers and he's very aware that he's alive, living, exuding life. And he's thankful for that. The loud beating of his heart lessens and his breathing calms down as well. It's then that Rannulfr talks again and he listens, head tilting to look at the other man, ruby-like gaze tattooing this scene in his memory till the end of times.

He's not laughing anymore but a sincere smile adorns his features. "Your ideals sound noble enough to me," he first replies. "It is infinite times easier to look the other way than to recognize that which is wrong and take action against it. The fact that you're willing to go so far despite the many obstacles in your path tells me all I need to know about your ideals."

Still, the proposal came as a surprise. Ruby-like eyes widened slightly, tail swinging from side to side a couple times. Ran wanted them to partner up? That was... When he first started his journey, he promised himself to not get involved with war. War was what destroyed his homeland and all he once held dear. War was senseless greed with no winners. Such was what he thought at first but the more he saw the world, the more he understood it was sometimes inevitable. And he wouldn't call what Rannulfr sought war, liberation and justice seemed more appropriate. And those he would defend until he drew his last breath.

"I'll be a blade for those who seek righteousness and justice, not for those who seek power and to subjugate. As long as you remain true to yourself and to the ideals you just spoke of, I'll stand by your side. That means you can lower your guard while you rest because I'll be watching your back. But, if you ever become that which you wish to overthrow, I'll become the blade on your neck then." In other words, yes, he would be their right-hand man.

"But I must warn you that it has been just me until now. I've never fought in a large group unless we're talking about eliminating a horde of ghouls or lesser monsters. I may turn out to be a lacking sub-captain and you might need to teach me plenty of things at first. But I'll give you my undying loyalty, my skills in battle will be yours to guide. Are you fine with that exchange? There's no turning back."

#crimsontroupe #cu. ° ( lancer. )#ask. ° ( delivered. )#au. º ( rubedo. )#/ ty for the ask!!! i read it like 50 times and every time i still was like aaaaaaaahhh

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weirdlet · 10 months

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4 and 10 for Glory?

Ooooh-

4. Do they have any scars or tattoos? (good way to get into literal backstory)

Let’s start with the obvious- he has very finely done but deliberately left visible top surgery scars, done with magical healing. On top of that, he has an ornate star/sailing chart tattooed over his chest, with a Renaissance Faire woodcut style sun and moon on either side. There are plentiful other small tattoos elsewhere, not all of which have been defined- but there may well be some land or flying creatures tattooed on his feet, the way my dad talked about navy men getting.

On his right bicep is the logo of the White Sails mercenary group- Glory was recruited basically as part of his parole, so this is a combination ‘yellow ticket of leave’ and mark of the legion.

He has a few lashes across his mid back from learning the hard way as a cabin boy, and a collection of fine nicks, scars and rope-burns on his hands and forearms from fishing and handling ropes and general sailoring and fighting. Since getting thrown into the deep end of this campaign, he’s been pierced through, knocked down, and magically healed a number of times, including the time he was run through by a manticore, woke up in the court of Glasya, daughter of Asmodeus, and irritated the hell-queen so much that she threw him back like a too-small fish (as he tells it- she was really chucking fruit at him when the Revifify scroll hit). He’s intent on at some point getting a teasing pinup of her on some part of his arm or back.

10. What objects do they always carry around with them? (What do they need for their normal, day-to-day routine? What does ‘normal’ even look like for them.)

(this will be the fourth time writing this out, I have given up on trying to do this in mobile, it keeps whisking away without having saved and I am ready to chew glass)

Rather than go through the full non-exhaustive bookkeeping of what an adventurer has on their character sheet, I'm going to go with the specific ideal things Glory would have on his person.

His sword and knives- the one for slashing and stabbing, a couple of the others for off-hand attacks, fish-gutting, rope-splicing, general cook-work and minor surgery, you know, the basics.

His net hammock and the tackle to hang it; it's the only way he can sleep comfortably with his wings/lifelong sea legs.

Contrary to popular belief, Glory does not wear every SINGLE coin that he owns at all times- but he likes to keep an assortment of gold and silver chunky bangles and armrings on, a selection of earrings, horn-tip caps and strings of coins around his waist and hips. Easy to spend, trade, put on and take off. 'Wearing your wealth' is a big part of his culture as both a sea-brat from the shadier side of Mintarn's floating market, and as a notorious pirate.

Sharpening, sewing and repair kit- a lot of his downtime is spent in upkeep on his gear, his friends' gear, etc. Nothing will look brand new or perfect, but it will function as it fades even as it approaches Ship of Theseus levels of restoration.

A fine-toothed, pretty comb that used to belong to his mother- one of the paste jewels has popped out, but it's a very well-carved bit of ivory.

The Bandoleer of Holding that holds his restorative potions and/or alchemist's fire at the ready- when he has them [IF I HAD THEM!!]

His flute/panpipes- good for long watches and late evenings.

#Glory's Travails #character asks #thank you so much!!

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merscylilith · 2 years

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Opposite Side ( Ch.261 spoiler)

Correction : That's totally make sense. Mikey face his karma for something we havent know,yet.

At this point, i think, we have read the pov of Takemichi in manga, unfortunately, Takemichi didnt remember much anything from his past. So, im sure he missed something this whole time.

The main focus were Takemichi, Mikey, Hanma and Sanzu.

I did read some other people theories about this. Coin is the best option for this title. Let's says, Sanzu is the other time leaper. Coin have two side, that could be one evil and one angel. Sanzu is on the evil's side and Takemichi on the angel's side.

Assume Hanma is the one that keeping the time. Not to mention, he got Sin and Punishment as his tattoo. I can sense that Hanma play around with Sanzu and Takemichi here. Honestly, im not sure how to defined Hanma, is he bad or good guy ? He seems in both side.

But why it has to be Mikey ? To be honest, Sanzu have no intention to put Mikey on the darkness, he more likely to keep Mikey on his determined destiny/fate path as for the sin that he had done (devil) meanwhile, Takemichi wanted to save Mikey from the darkness which means, he wanted to change Mikey's fate ( angel )

Hanma is the same as The Grim Reaper. He have an ability to choose which side is for Mikey. But why Mikey ?

Because Mikey is the one connected to other people the most. Hanma is Kisaki's pawn. And Kisaki in love with Hina. But Hina like Takemichi. So, in order to get Hina, Kisaki have to be one of Mikey's right hand. With all these, Hanma thought, it would be great oppurtunity to punish someone that have a "sin" like Mikey. Why Sanzu and Takemichi ? Because they both have opposite personality and the important person in both timeline. Sanzu is the only Mikey's childhood friend that left, and Hanma definitly knew that Mikey value his childhood friend more than anything, so, Hanma put Sanzu to fight as an evil side. Why not Draken? He knew Draken wont got easily manipulated. If you asked me, im sure Sanzu is not a natural bad person, he must have his own reason ( aside his traumatic past). Takemichi ? Takemichi was related to Hina and Kisaki's plan, so, put Takemichi to fight on amgel's side, is the best choice of Hanma to determine Mikey's fate.

Hanma's plan here so crystal clear. If any both Takemichi or Sanzu FAILED their task in order to determine Mikey's destiny/fate , they will get punishment from Hanma. That's why we can see why Sanzu desprately doesnt want Takemichi save Mikey, they both have an advantage and disadvantage. Im not sure, but Sanzu have an intention to save Mikey from further unfortunate events, remember, Sanzu not good to express his feeling, he must have his own way in order to carry out the burden.

In the original timeline, Takemichi never knew who is Mikey or anyone from Toman, he supposed to not know anyone from the deliquents. So, pretty sure, the met between Takemichi and Mikey also were not "coincident", someone must planned their first met.

I really wanted to know, Sanzu's trigger as if he really the 2nd time leaper. The way he asked Takemichi about the time leaper, he seems so desperate to know more or confirmation. It's like, as he knew something about the time leaping IF he's not the 2md time leaper.

I know this explaination or theories doesnt make sense. I just make a theories based on the thing that happened in the manga only . Im not sure to relate the TOKREV theories with other Wakui's works will helped me alot. I will stay natural to make a speculation based on the events in the TOKREV manga only.

There are a lot hole in their backstory. We are not in the end of the manga, as long as we havent get Hanma's real identity, Kakucho's last name, Kisaki's last word, Sanzu's scars, basically any event that have no further explaination.

The time manipulation between them really did happened.

One more thing, Takemichi doesnt remember anything from his childhood past. Probably the memories of his childhood could explain everything, why and how the time leaping have to be him.

#tokyo revengers #kantou manji gang #tokrev #bonten #tokyo manji gang #tokyo revengers spoilers #tokyo revengers theories #mikey sano #sanzu haruchiyo #takemichi hangaki #hanma shuuji

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laeorinel · 8 months

Text

FFXIV Write 2023 - Day 18 - A fish out of water

Minor Endwalker spoilers

Did not have the energy to write yesterday so made an attempt for something a bit longer today

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For what was probably the hundredth time today, Samara had to tell herself yet again that she could not throw the vexing tome in her hands across the other side of the room. That would probably end with both her and the rest of the Scions getting thrown out of the Noumenon. So she stubbornly continued reading the book, attempting to pick out anything from the sea of words that would be useful. If only the sea would stop churning and making all the words blur into one another. Gods, how did the others do this?

"To think this is what it takes to make you look like a fish out of water. You look as though you half expect that book to bite you." Said Estinien to her side, not trying to hide the mirth in his tone. This time, he had been unable to avoid getting dragged into helping out with research by Alphinaud, or maybe he was just here to keep an eye on her. The other Scions were elsewhere in the Noumenon, likely trying to push their luck on which floors and tomes they could access.

"As if you are faring any better yourself, Mr Dragonslayer," she muttered under her breath, sending the elezen a glare as she heard him chuckle.

He was right, though, and Samara hated it. Staring up the bookcases nearly five times her height, her mind went blank, not knowing where to start amidst all the books and scrolls.

Reading, understanding and condensing down valuable knowledge was a skill that likely came naturally to each and every Sharalyan native. A skill Samara lacked. She could not be more out of her depth. Her people told their history and knowledge in stories and songs; hell, they did not even have a formal written language, much less books and scrolls.

"What of your rogue? Surely, he could come to your aid." Estinien said as he flipped through another book, skimming through the pages briefly.

"He is with the others in the lower levels. Only Archons can access whatever is down there. I can't see myself getting one of their fancy tattoos any time soon."

"Would you want that? To be marked as one of them?" Placed the book back on the shelf, turning his attention more to his friend than the research task ahead of them.

"I mean, it's as unlikely to happen as it is for you to learn how to handle coin." Samara sighed as she placed another tome back on the shelf, unsure if anything inside would be helpful.

Estinien rolled his eyes at the mention of coin. "But if you could?"

Samara traced a clawed finger over the backs of a few tomes, only vaguely understanding some of the concepts mentioned in the titles. "I suppose there is a certain appeal in it. It would be nice to be known for something other than being the Warrior of Light."

"Is that accolade not enough?" he crossed his arms as he watched her, noting a shift in her demeanour. He was used to hearing Samara sound confident and brash, every bit the brazen warrior people needed her to be, but her voice was lower, almost hesitant as she spoke.

"It's not that, I just...it feels like I sometimes do not know who I am anymore. I've always been a warrior. I know my job is to hunt and kill things others can't, but these days, I find myself wondering if I can ever be anything else."

Pulling free another book with a sigh, Samara started flipping through the pages, eyes squinting as she tried to make sense of all the words, muttering as much to herself as to Estinien. "I'm like one of those heroes from a bard's tale. Everyone knows about my deeds, but what about the person behind the title? Even I'm not sure who she is these days..."

It did not take long for her to put the book back. She did not have the faintest idea of what the manuscript meant. "Regardless, I know I'll never be one of them. I'm as likely to become a scholar as you are to lay down your spear." Samara muttered as she vaguely gestured to the white-garbed Sharlyans around them.

Estinien huffed, leaning back against the bookshelf, the wood creaking ever so slightly under the weight of his armour. "Never say never. While it may not be any day soon, I will have to lay down my spear eventually. All our paths will come to an end, my friend, and you should figure out who and what you want to be when that time comes."

He watched her again and again pick up a book, read for a few moments, then place it back, looking more annoyed each time. He could see the tension in her body, tail taught and barely moving with all scales and spikes flaring, the set of her shoulders as stiff as that of the statues around them. He knew this feeling well. The frustration of not being able to do a damn thing to help. Yet he knew there was more to this than her struggles with reading Sharlayan manuscripts. "For what it is worth, I cannot say I do not understand what you mean. For most of my life, all I knew was fighting dragons. And then, the war was over. When the Azure Dragoon- when I was no longer needed after Nighogg's fall, I felt lost. It took many months of aimless wandering before I started to see it.

"See what?" Samara looked away from the book briefly, even though it would be apparent to anyone watching she was not actually reading anything. She had not turned a single page in the last few minutes.

"A path ahead of me no longer defined by grief and rage, a path I never dreamed I could tread. I would be lying if I said the first few steps down that path did not terrify me, nor can I say the path was always clear and yet, look where it has led me. I now wield my spear in defence of this entire star, not just a single nation, fighting alongside trusted friends."

Samara sighed, snapping closed the book she was holding before placing it back on the shelf and picking up another. "But still fighting. Do you think it will ever end?"

"There will always be something new to fight for. The question is whether it will be your fight. You sound as though you have grown weary of it all."

The Auri woman sighed, placing the book she held back on the shelf before moving over to the bannister. As she looked down into the seemingly neverending depths of the Noumenon, she spoke, her voice sounding heavy, weary and progressively more annoyed as she went on. "I am just tired of being the big hero. I am tired of having the weight of hundreds, if not thousands, of lives resting on my shoulders. I am tired of knowing that whatever few moments I have to just be me can be snatched away in a second. And even when I'm given a task a damn child in these lands could do, I am useless as anything but a blade to be pointed at something. And all of them down there know it. Even Thancred."

"I am of no use as anything but the Warrior of Light, and the world will always demand that I am at its beck and call, and I have no choice but to answer."

"You always have a choice, my friend. If the day comes when you cannot or will not fight, I will take your place. You have earned your rest a thousand times over."

Estinien could almost see the moment the mask slipped back into place, the Warrior of Light taking centre stage while Samara was cast back into the shadows. "There can be no rest. Not yet. Not while Zenos still lives. Not while the Final Days are upon us. Not while everything I hold dear could be snatched away in an instant." Samara said as she turned back to the bookcases, picking out the first book she came across. Estinien was pretty sure she did not even look at the title.

Samara gestured for him to return to the shelves, not looking up from the pages. "Come. Enough chatter. We have work to do."

#ffxiv fanfiction #ffxivwrite2023 #ffxiv write 2023

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yenache · 2 years

Text

Funky Lil Lookism Headcanons

Random list of headcannons I have collected over time in my notes app. Most of these were from last year💀.

J-High/Johan/Hostel

If he's not out there literally stopping illegal organizations, Daniel watches anime during his free time.

Zack can actually speak English decently. (Mira ONCE told him that she couldn't understand this English song and he just started learning English just so he could translate everything to her).We love a Bisexual and Bilingual king.

Mira was REAALY interested in Psychology when she was like 13-15 and Zack would be trying to impress her saying "Johan is crying. I know that something is wrong because I am an empath😌" while Johan is literally having a breakdown on the side of the room because of the bullying

Jay and Joy both collect coins/ paper bills from any country they could get their hands on.

The girls would have a monthly girl's night out where they splurge and be the girlbosses they are.

Mira had an astrology phase and would base everyone on their zodiac sign.

Sally has a secret stash of BL under her bed hhh. YOU SAW HOW SHE REACTED WHEN JAKE AND ELI ACCIDENTALLY KISSED WHILE FIGHTING. MY GIRL HAD AN AWAKENING

Zack listens Ricky Montgomery.

Eli definetly exploits the fact that he's an attractive Asian and would post shit on tiktok like "Pick your Asian🤪" or "I'm just a lonely Asian. Who wants to keep me company🥺🥺"

Warren has a tiktok account where he does pranks on hostel members(and sometimes Big Deal if he sharpened up his Jeet Kune Do skills cause boy-) but he doesn't know that the comments are laughing AT him not WITH him.

Hostel probably share one whole tiktok account where they post family stuff.

Sally, Natalie and Amy, and Derek and Max would also duet Eli and Warren's cringey tiktoks.

Zoe DEFINETLY had that acrylic painting on calculators phase and now every single person in the classroom has painted calculators by yours truly.

Johan gets cold really easily.

Jasmine probably runs an online shops where she sells cute children's clothes and other accessories and she's actually a decent mother figure to the kids.

Zoe thinks the prettiest features of a person is their smile and she finds irregular/toothy smiles really cute.

Joy is a really popular editor on Instagram and would even edit her friends.

Zack's type is definetly brown hair and puppy-like visuals.

Jay teaches Joy simple self defense moves.

Jace would tell Vasco little fun facts throughout the day and Vasco absolutely loves them.

Workers/Big Deal/Choi group

Jake would color in his tattoos when stressed.

Everyone in Big Deal is gifted handmade scarves and lip balms by the girls from the street.

Samuel used to have a Gabpryong Kim stan account

Vivi used to secretly bring food from the mansion to Xiaolong. Xiaolong always refuses to take it.

Sinu can do a perfect Joker impression down from the mannerisms to the voice.

I have no idea how but Jerry and Johan would've been friends and Jerry would've called themselves "the pretty boy duo😎" 💀💀

Kouji likes grape Fanta and thrives off that drink.

Goo gives new suits to his secret friends every month. He always makes sure to give Samuel's clothes a size too small.

Samuel would rather get beat up by Jake than admit the fact he cried during Encanto.

Lineman would make really bad metaphors and would have to explain what it means.

Gun and Goo watch survival shows together. They loooveee the Produce series.

Gun and Goo used to post the cringiest unfunniest shit on Vine. Goo still thinks it's top-tier humor.

Kouji made one of those "cringefest vine compilations"on YouTube which was 90% of their videos.

I firmly believe Jake is still stuck on his musically phase and taught Johan 2016 slang while they were doing their shift as bouncers. You do not understand how mortified Zack was to hear Johan use 2016 slang.

Gun actually just tells everyone he meets who's at least decent at fighting that they're "wOrThy tO bE mY suCcEsSor" just to inflate their ego.

Every time Big Deal wants to recruit someone into their gang, they just chase them down until they get a yes.

And those are some of my Lookism headcannons! If you guys want some more of a specific character you can just ask me! I'm not particularly good at romance headcannons though so...maybe someone more talented can help you with that💀💀.

#lookism #lookism headcanons #lookism webtoon #daniel park #jay hong #zack lee #mira kim #vasco lookism #eli jang #johan seong #jake kim #zoe park #gun lookism #goo lookism

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nejibaby · 3 years

Text

Afterglow

Pairing: Portgas D. Ace x Y/N

Summary: Without Ace, your nights are back to being long, dark, and empty. But when you finally reunite, Ace refuses to just be your Daylight.

Daylight - Part 1 | Afterglow - Part 2

Word Count: 4.3k (my hands slipped, I’m so sorry)

Loosely based on: Taylor Swift’s Lover album (but mostly about the songs Daylight and Afterglow)

A/N: I really think Whitebeard is a great father, yk? So I see him as someone who you can always seek and rely on. He looks tough (and he’s actually tough), but he’s soft too! And Ace too, in that respect is similar to WB. I really believe he’ll be such a good boyfriend 🥺 Anyway, I really enjoyed writing this so much! Thank you to everyone who read this, I love yall 🥰

Sailing by yourself in a boat for one reminds you how vast the sea actually is. With the rowdy Whitebeard pirates, sometimes the sea, no, the world, seems a lot smaller, a lot more manageable, but alone, it feels so massive it’s almost frightening.

It’s easy to get lost, except there’s no such concept like that for someone like you who doesn’t have a destination to go to in mind. Quite simply, you’re wandering, but not lost.

You drift from one island to another. Your initial intention is to get as far away as possible from the crew. Now that that’s achieved, you’re unsure of what to do next.

You allow yourself to observe and to experience some sort of normalcy at the islands you dock at. It’s a good thing that you don’t really stand out so no one suspects you’re a wanted pirate.

Walking down the streets of random towns, you’re reminded of how lonely being a Celestial Dragon was. No one wants to interact with a World Noble, afraid of the consequences if they’re angered. Things changed drastically when you became a pirate though. People don’t shy away that much with pirates in certain places. They interact with you, albeit hesitantly sometimes. Nevertheless, you felt so free and happy.

Now, you’re still a pirate, as marked by Whitebeard’s infamous tattoo. But with the unsuspecting townspeople and the lack of the presence of a crew, you don’t feel like one. Somehow it makes you feel empty.

The void is immeasurable. Despite it being unbounded, you’re sure that a single person can fill that emptiness: Portgas D. Ace.

But there are oceans separating you from Ace— a distance that you put. With the space between you, there’s silence in your voyage, however, it’s quite mystifying how every island you reach seems to scream his name.

There’s an island where you’ve docked at that’s snowing all year long. It brought back memories of when you were fairly new to the Whitebeard Pirates and had landed on a similar island. Back then you’ve worn a coat as you disembarked Moby Dick, however, the cold continued to seep through your layers of clothing. You couldn’t handle extreme temperatures that well but you didn’t want to make a big deal out of it so you continued to walk alongside the crew to scout the area. The thing was you may have been terrible at hiding it because Ace noticed the way your body was shivering and your teeth chattering. You were only acquaintances back then but he went to your side and striked a conversation with you. You didn’t understand why you became comfortable when he approached you all of a sudden, but then later that night you realized that he used his devil fruit abilities to warm you up.

At one island with a bustling town, there’s this restaurant that serves a variety of meat. You’re reminded of Ace and his bottomless pit of a stomach, and of his narcoleptic episodes while eating. He has a tendency of eating and then running, and the first few times he did it with you had you reeling. When you’ve finally realized that he’s never going to change, you start to keep a pouch of gold coins with you, reserved for paying for the food he eats. You leave it on the table just as Ace pulls you to run, and he has no idea about it. Owners or servers at the restaurants would still follow you out, but not to berate the both of you for not paying but to return the extra gold coins because you pay too much. Like usual though, Ace pretends not to hear them and they never got to catch up with you and Ace.

On another island, there’s a huge wild boar thrice the size of a human. It reminded you of the time you got so excited to explore an island that you speedily ran towards the forest alone, only to be met by a wild boar. The size of the boar stunned you and its glare kept you frozen in fear. A loud scream escaped your lips when it lunged at you, except the impact never came. When you’ve gathered your bearings, the wild boar was dead and… cooked, courtesy of Ace’s devil fruit abilities. He saved you, but he played it off as if he had his eyes on the wild boar since the beginning “to hunt it down.”

The current island you’re at is in famine. As soon as you docked at their port, a group of men has drawn their swords at you. For a moment, you thought they were bounty hunters so you grabbed your daggers and took a defensive stance. However, from the way they keep looking back and forth to you and your boat, and from hearing the faint sound of their stomach grumbling, you can tell they aren’t. Behind some trees, you can see the heads of some children peeking with worried yet hopeful looks on their faces.

Slowly, you raise your hands up in surrender, dropping your daggers in the process. You can’t turn your back on them — figuratively and literally — so you walk backwards towards your boat. The men look at you curiously but they don’t ever lower their swords.

In a quick motion, you grab a bag containing all of your food supply and throw it at them. One of the men catches it. “You can have them. It isn’t much, but that’s all I have.”

The man who was able to catch the bag carefully opens it and sees food. He almost cries at the sight of it. The rest of the men lowers the sword after you offer no sign of aggression. They start calling the other citizens of the area afterwards.

The children are the first to come running towards the men — all of them conveying excitement. You couldn’t tell how long they haven’t eaten but judging from how thin they are, it has got to be quite some time.

A small girl stumbles and falls near you and you quickly come to her aid. There isn’t much damage, just a scraped knee so you carefully patched her up.

“Thank you,” she gives you a toothy smile and then starts heading to the men who are distributing the food.

She comes back a moment later, arms outstretched to hand an apple to you. “For you,” she says.

Something blossoms in your heart because of her sweetness. “Thank you, but it’s fine, you can have it,”

She doesn’t object but then she hugs you tightly. “Thank you so much.”

Surprisingly, even on an island like this, you’re reminded of Ace. You remember his story about coming to Wano and meeting a child named “Tama” who seemed to be as charming as the child you helped and is under the same fortune.

Now that your mind has drifted to thoughts of Ace, you didn’t want to think of anything else. Even as the people gather around you to offer their thanks, and even as they usher you to a bonfire to celebrate for the food to eat, the thoughts of him linger in your head.

And just like in all the previous islands you came to, you wish he’s here with you too.

There’s longing in your heart, but there’s also something else— something pleasant that you can’t quite describe— and you attribute it to the gratitude of the people.

The mother of the child you helped, Sito, offers their spare room for you to take and you graciously accept. Soft snores almost immediately fill your ears after a few minutes of them bidding you good night.

The longer you stay awake, however, the pleasant feeling you felt a while ago starts to leave a bitter taste in your mouth.

You’ve always criticized yourself for not being able to do more when you were still a Celestial Dragon but now that you did something good, you start to feel selfish for doing it because it makes you feel better about yourself.

It’s at times like this that you seek Pops. There’s a sudden urge to hear his voice and his thoughts. So you grab your Den Den Mushi, but you hesitate.

You’ve lost track of the days since you left Moby Dick. And in that time frame, you never once called Pops. Although you didn’t really promise to call, maybe he was expecting you to, especially since you know he wouldn’t do it first.

You sigh. Maybe this call is long overdue after all.

You step outside the house and start to contact Pops using the Den Den Mushi. It only rings once and then it’s answered, almost as if Pops was waiting by the Den Den Mushi. The thought brings a smile to your face. “Pops—”

“Why on earth are you only calling now?!” His angry tone welcomes you.

“I’m so—”

“Is that Y/N?!” Marco interrupts. Ah, how could you have forgotten? It’s at this time that Marco reports to Pops. “We’re so worried about you -yoi!”

You can hear sounds of struggling on the line and then there’s a loud smack followed by an even louder crash. There’s a moment of silence which makes you wonder what’s going on in the ship.

“Why didn’t you call earlier?!” Pops’ voice booms. “If you’re going to leave a Den Den Mushi, I’m going to expect your reports but I received none of that.”

“I’m sorry Pops. I have no excuse,” you sheepishly say.

“Everyone’s worried about you,” he pauses but then his voice rings louder once again, “Some are even outside my room trying to listen in on our conversation. But if they know better, they should leave us alone.” The sound of rushing footsteps could be heard in the background as Pops finishes his sentence.

You chuckle, imagining the crew eavesdropping. “How are you Pops?”

“I’m doing fine.”

“How’s everyone? How’s… uhm… Ace?”

“Everyone’s just missing you. You didn’t say goodbye after all,” he says. “I put Ace on a mission because he won’t stop pestering me about you. He won’t come back in a couple of days.”

“Oh.”

“He misses you a lot,” he sighs. “He strides to me everyday to demand your whereabouts. Each time I wouldn’t tell him but he never learns. Vista says he’s on his 56th attempt the other day.”

The brief image of Ace that your mind comes up with brings a small smile to your face.

“When are you coming back?” Whitebeard breaks your reverie.

“Ah, I’m not sure yet… It might take a while.”

He hums. “So how are you? Have you been eating well?”

“I’m doing fine, Pops. No one’s been coming after me yet so everything’s going well,” you respond. “But… Can I ask you something?”

“Of course.”

“There’s this island with people who haven’t eaten in so long so I gave them everything I have.” There’s a loud growl coming from Pops so you immediately continue your speech before he could scold you for doing such a thing. “I feel really good about what I did as they thanked me. But then the longer I thought about it, I started feeling ashamed because... wasn’t it selfish since I did it to make me feel better about myself? Then I started to wonder if it was wrong to do good things just because I wanted to be absolved of my parents’ sins. Was I wrong in doing this, Pops?”

“No, you did the right thing.”

“Really?”

“Yes, you’re not an inherently bad person for getting paid in gratitude.”

“But…”

“Making yourself happy by making other people happy is how it’s meant to work. If one of your key motives to doing good things is to feel good, then you’re still doing something good and there’s nothing shameful about that.”

Hearing his words puts you at ease. You’re glad you called him. “Thank you, Pops. I’m sorry for worrying everyone there and for disrupting Marco’s report. I promise I’ll call more often from now on.”

“It’s fine. Just don’t forget to take care of yourself too. Where will you be headed next?”

“I’m not sure. I’m just going where the sea leads me.”

“Be careful.”

“You too, Pops,” and with that, you bid your goodbye and hang up.

By morning, you start preparing your things to leave. You didn’t want to stay for too long because you didn’t want to consume even a portion of the small amount of food they have.

Sito offers you to stay another night, worried that it would be uncomfortable to sleep on a boat. “You can stay one more day. There’s still enough food for us to share.”

“Oh no, I don’t want to impose,” you decline. “But do you mind if I ask what happened here?”

There’s sadness in her eyes, it was easy to tell the memory pained her, but she tells you everything anyway. “This island is one of the few lawless areas in the world, hence, it’s a place where pirates would dock at. A group of men once docked here and kidnapped the leaders of our town. They were sold off to be slaves, because apparently the Nobles like to enslave people of power…” Her words start to fade on you upon the mention of the World Nobles.

Anger flares up in your system immediately. How low can the Celestial Dragons go? It’s sickening to think that you share the same blood as them. It’s because of this revelation that something becomes clear in your mind.

Ever since leaving Moby Dick, you’re just wandering aimlessly. But after hearing Sito talk about this island, you’re finally sure of what your destination should be.

Sabaody Archipelago.

Specifically, the Human Auctioning House.

From the sudden fury that overwhelms you, not even the fear of being within arm’s reach of the Marines, and possibly dying, could stop you from going there.

It’s reckless and foolish, but isn’t this the reason you left Moby Dick that night— to face your nightmares instead of running away from them?

You listen politely as Sito explains everything else but her words enter and leave your ears without you having to comprehend them. Fortunately, she doesn’t notice your inattentiveness, probably because she wants to pour her frustrations out to a stranger.

You offer your sympathies to her and promise her you’d come back with your crew and help them some more. It’s a simple promise yet for someone who hasn’t been offered help for so long, it means a lot, enough to even bring tears to her eyes. And just like that, you leave.

There are two more islands to stop at before you reach Sabaody Archipelago. You gather provisions on one island and buy explosives on the other.

The only thing you’re sure you can actually do alone is to blow up the Human Auctioning House. Facing the World Nobles is for another time, unfortunately. As for the Marines, well… You’d worry about that if they indeed come. You know you’d be able to handle them as long as they don’t send an Admiral after you.

The thing that worries you the most, however, is Pops’ reaction once you let him know of your plan. While you can always just not tell him, it feels wrong, and you promised you’d report to him, after all. And it’s hard for you to admit, but you secretly want to be saved in case your plan goes askew. That, and well, you still want to make up with Ace, may it be just strictly as friends, but preferably as lovers.

You decide to call once you’re about to set sail towards Sabaody Archipelago. You’re sitting in the middle of your boat, still anchored at the port when you told Pops your plan. And as expected, he’s mad.

He demands you to go back to the crew immediately. “Captain’s orders,” he says. But after a few moments, he retracts his words and says, “Your father’s orders.” You feel the weight of his words when he said that and you almost concede. But the faces of the slaves your family had flashes into your mind and it solidifies your decision.

Interestingly, despite the weeks you have spent away from the crew, their ship is nearer to you than anticipated. As confirmed by Pops himself when he angrily said, “Enough! I’m sending Ace to get you! Two or three days is enough for him to catch up with you.”

But quite frankly, that’s also enough time to execute your plan. And if the odds are in your favor, then Ace might just come in time for your escape.

Arriving at Sabaody Archipelago, you keep your face hidden underneath the hood of your cloak. It’s normal for pirates to walk around the place without having to hide their identities, but it’s a luxury you can’t afford. If someone catches wind that you’re here and reports it, the Cipher Pol just might come and capture you before you can even execute your plan. That just won’t do. So on the first day of your arrival, you only scout the area of the Human Auctioning House and retreat back to the inn you stay at.

You carry out your plan on the next day. You place a bomb where the side of the stage is supposed to be. It’s a distraction so people inside would leave the premises. The plan is to find the keys and free the slaves while the people are panicking from the explosion. Then eliminate the head of the place, Mr. Disco, and finally blow the place apart. It sounds simple but with you having to do all the work, you know it isn’t.

Now that you’re here, your nerves are spiking up. Arriving at the entrance of the building, you take a deep breath, your hand automatically reaching for the bracelet that Ace made you. It instantly calms you down.

It baffles you how fate works because on the very day you decide to free the slaves that are being sold off at the Human Auctioning House, Ace’s brother, Luffy — along with his crew — is at the same place to rescue their friend who was kidnapped.

Somehow even on a dangerous mission like this, there’s still something or someone who’d remind you of Ace. It makes you wonder: has he really embedded himself too deep into your life that there’s no escaping the thoughts of him? Not that you mind; the thoughts of him bring you peace, after all. But still, it’s fascinating that even in both mundane and dangerous settings, he makes himself known to you.

Upon entering the Human Auctioning House, everything happens so fast and unexpected. And quite frankly, a lot happened that wasn’t part of the plan.

Aside from finding the Straw Hat Pirates, you got yourself injured when you used your body to shield their fish man friend, Hatchi, from Saint Charlos’ gunshot. Then you confronted Saint Shalria personally despite you not planning to get involved with the Celestial Dragons. As for the slaves, it was the Dark King, Silvers Rayleigh, who actually freed them. The only things that you personally executed from your plan were Mr. Disco’s elimination and the bombing of the Human Auctioning House.

Escape is easy once the building starts to explode because the Marines would have to lessen the forces who're chasing after the pirates in order for them to successfully put out the fire. Without any Admiral on the scene yet, it’s not hard to slip away from them and/or fight them.

Even with the gunshot wound on your arm, you’re able to take down each and every one of the Marines who are chasing you. But halfway through your journey back to the grove where you left your boat at, you lose your adrenaline.

You start to feel the sharp and stinging sensation on your arm once again, yet, you couldn’t help but smile. You have gotten out alive. The slaves have been freed. With both Mr. Disco and the building gone, the Human Auctioning House will no longer be operational, or at least not yet until someone steps up. But that won’t be after a long time.

It’s a wonderful day.

You look up at the afterglow of the sunset with a serene smile. You have a feeling your nights are going to feel shorter now and less frightening than they were before.

Your peaceful moment is cut off by someone rather abruptly. You jump in surprise as someone wraps their arms around you from behind all of a sudden. “I finally caught up with you.”

Your breath hitches at the sound of the voice. “Ace? What are you doing here?”

He doesn’t answer your question, but he mumbles, “I’m sorry if I only came now. Pops wouldn’t tell me where you were, but I came as soon as I could.” Then he tightens his hug. “I was so scared, I thought I’d lose you…”

“Ace, I’m sorry about—”

“Hey, it’s on me, okay?” He interrupts. “I blew things out of proportion, and now you’re blue.”

You pull away from his hug to face him.

“Y-your arm! You’re bl-bleeding,” he stutters after seeing your injury.

But you pay no mind to that. “Ace… I’m really sorry about us—”

“Ssshhh, baby…” he rubs his hand on your back.

He looks at your figure carefully, focused on looking for any more bruises or wounds. When he doesn’t find anything more, he gently holds you by your waist. “Don’t blame yourself, I’m the one who burned us down, but… it’s not what I meant.

“It was all in my head, okay? It’s just that the Celestial Dragons are all grouped in my head as scums and that they’re inexcusable because… my brother was killed by a Celestial Dragon.”

A wave of guilt flows through your body, enough to weaken your knees. Before you could fall, however, Ace catches you and brings you to his chest. But this doesn’t stop you from sobbing on his chest. “I didn’t know, Ace. I’m so sorry.”

“No, that’s the thing, baby. It isn’t your fault. It wasn’t you who pulled the trigger. And… I have to admit I failed to see that at first,” he says as he hugs you tighter. “I shouldn’t have stood there frozen after you told me your story. I’m supposed to be the one who understands you...

“I’m not trying to make excuses and I’m not trying to make this about me but it’s just that… for so long I thought that I inherited the bad blood of my father, and I spent my lifetime failing to see that his sins aren’t my sins,” his voice cracks as he cries. “So when I found out about you… My mind automatically held you liable for the sins of the Nobles…

“But I talked to Pops and he straightened me up. I understand now. Our parents’ sins aren’t ours. It never was ours to begin with. So I’m sorry for blaming you for something you didn’t do…”

Ace stares at your crying form. He cups your face and sincerely says, “It’s so excruciating to see you low,” as he wipes the tears on your eyes. “I’m sorry if I hurt you…”

“It’s fine Ace, I forgive you. But…” You look directly into his eyes. “I’m at fault too,” you confess. “I was the one who left... I was so used to living like an island and isolating myself that it didn’t occur to me that I was punishing you with silence… I should’ve waited patiently for you but I ran away…”

Ace rubs your back gently and presses his forehead against yours, “I forgive you too.”

You smile in relief.

After a couple of minutes in silence, Ace tilts his head. “Y/N?”

“Hm?”

“Remember when you said that you saw daylight after sleeping in a long, dark night?”

You give him a curious look but nodded anyway.

“Beside wishing that I was there for you sooner, it had me thinking...”

“What?”

“Uhm… The world is terrible and cruel, and no one can ever really stop the dark nights from coming.”

You frown. You don’t really understand what Ace is trying to say.

“I guess what I’m trying to say is,” he rubs his neck while his cheeks starts to blush, “if you ever have to go through those dark nights, I wouldn’t want you to wait for daylight.

“I want to be there with you on those nights until they’re over. I don’t want to leave you when things get rough and only show up when you’re better. I know you see me as your daylight but I don’t want to be just that.”

His words warm your heart, and makes it skip a beat. “You know, Ace, there are remnants of light that linger in the sky even when the sun has long gone down and the night starts. It’s the afterglow,” you mumble.

“Yeah, but that goes away too after a while,” he frowns.

“Well, lucky for you the moon reflects the sun’s light during the night, huh?”

He grins. “Yeah, yeah. I like that. I want to be your source of light, may it be the daylight, moonlight, or the afterglow.”

A moment of silence engulfs the both of you. Under the soft afterglow of the sunset with your arms wrapped around each other, you feel at peace.

Once upon a time, you used to believe love is black and white— that it’s straightforward. It was either you love Ace or you don’t, there were no gray areas. No matter what he feels, says, or does, your love for him never ceases.

But then some other days you believed that love is burning red— that it’s full of passion, lust, and romance, much like the nights you spent entangled in the sheets with Ace.

However, right now in Ace’s arms, all you could ever think about is that love is golden. It was warmth and comfort, like what daylight brings. It was contentment and serenity too, much like the feeling of lightness one gets when seeing the afterglow of the sunset. Either way, it’s Ace who makes you feel those.

No matter what color love actually is though, for you it’s always embodied by Ace.

208 notes · View notes

j-amespotter · 3 years

Text

★ august [pt. 1] - s. b.

“you weren’t mine to lose.”

Pairing: Sirius Black x Slytherin!Reader, Regulus Black x Reader (mentioned)

x. x. x.

Summary: As one of the Order of the Phoenix’s freshest recruits, love certainly was not on Sirius Black’s mind the summer after he finished school – especially not with a Slytherin, who just happened to be his brother’s girlfriend.

Genre/Warnings: angst, alcohol, language, mentions of death & war, infidelity, implied smut

Word Count: 3.1k

A/N: august but from the guy’s pov?? i think yes. this was the first one-shot i wrote for this series so let me know what you think! lmk if you wanna be added to my taglist. p.s. i do not condone cheating!!!!!!

masterlist

Your lips were centimeters apart. It seemed too late to change course, but he had to ask. He had never done something so reckless, which for him, was saying something. “Are you sure?”

He was scared of the answer. One look at you told him you were scared of answering. “We’ve never… I mean, I’ve never done this before,” you whispered. Your noses grazed against each other, tantalizingly close.

His hand hovered underneath your robes. It felt large against your bare stomach. “We can stop.”

“I don’t want to stop.” With one hand around his neck and the other on his chest, you tugged him closer. The moment your lips met erased his doubts so fully that if he stopped to think about it, it would have scared him.

Your shoes slipped off as he delicately lifted you off of your feet. Gently, he laid you down on his bed and paused to stare at how small and trusting you looked in the moment. It was only your fifth visit to his flat, yet you already looked like you belonged. He would never have expected someone from his forgotten life to fit into his current one so unquestionably.

*One Week Earlier*

It was getting easier and easier to slip away from Regulus these days. While you were accustomed to seeing less of each other during the summer holidays, now you were more distant than ever. You knew why, of course. Being a Slytherin, you were privy to an entire host of secrets – Regulus was too. Hogwarts’ rowdiest, most divided class graduated just a month earlier, and many of your friends, if you could even call them that, had chosen a side in this war. His side.

You knew Regulus agreed with the Dark Lord’s philosophies and marveled at his promises. However, it was not until this school year that you realized exactly how much your boyfriend worshipped the elusive man responsible for the murders of so many innocent people. He would scour the Daily Prophet for news, eager but not uneasy. He trailed after Snape, Avery, and Mulciber, and the whisperings about the three of them were hardly positive. It was rumored that all of them had been "marked." You didn’t know exactly what that meant but worried Regulus was next.

He sensed your fear but didn’t say much to soothe you. Perhaps he thought he could convince you to join him – or, at least, stand by his side as he signed away his services. You weren’t interested. In fact, you were terrified. Though your family was prominent, prosperous, and pureblood, they never participated in what your father coined to be “blood politics.” Your indifference, which occasionally transformed into blatant disgust, over the growingly common prejudice among your peers ostracized you from your fellow Slytherins. You managed to keep your reservations to yourself for the sake of House unity but could no longer remain silent. Not when your childhood love drifted further and further away from you.

It was slow, but of course, there was a final straw. In his last letter, Regulus wrote that his cousin Bella was teaching him how to duel “the proper way.” As someone who saw nothing substandard in your Defense Against the Dark Arts education thus far, you could only imagine what Bellatrix Lestrange would consider to be the “proper” way to duel. You had limited experience with the woman, having only caught glimpses of her as a child at Grimmauld Place and as Regulus’s date to her wedding. Nonetheless, the rumors about her were becoming increasingly hard to ignore.

So you sought the one person you thought may listen to you. Of course, there was the issue of finding him. You had no idea where he lived, though you doubted he would be thrilled to meet you, especially at his place of residence. You thought of writing to him but could not risk seeing and sending the words you had not yet uttered aloud.

Ultimately, you decided that the best course of action was to find him in public, no matter how difficult it would be. You knew if you willed it hard enough, fate would bring him to you – and you understood the power of your love better than anyone.

It took six days of solitary walks through Diagon Alley for you to finally find him. It wasn’t easy at all. You managed to keep your parents at bay by entrusting your safety with your pureblood Slytherin status. However, what was once the most bustling shopping center in the Wizarding World became drearier by day. More wanted posters appeared on brick walls as the number of disappearances grew. Within days, there were fewer groups of visitors for you to huddle behind without drawing suspicion.

He was in the Leaky Cauldron with a shorter man, someone you recognized to be Peter Pettigrew. They were huddled together but deep in conversation. Actually, it seemed as though he was doing most of the talking. You found yourself staring at his muscular, tattooed arms as he gestured wildly at Pettigrew, who stared at him with wonder, excitement, and apprehension all at once. Despite the normal-looking exchange, both men gripped their wands tightly and took turns periodically glancing over their shoulders.

Peter was too far away for you to read his lips, but checked his watch and jumped in surprise. You inched closer, hoping to find an in for your mission. Finally, you were close enough to hear his parting words. “Sorry, Padfoot... Mum’s waiting for me. You know how she gets, especially now.”

“Alright, mate. Get home safe. I’ll see you… when I see you.”

You were not stupid. You had no idea what that meant, but judging by Peter’s stiff nod, there was definitely a predetermined meeting time and place that they could not risk anyone overhearing. Given the circumstances, you could hardly blame them.

Your interaction with Sirius Black was limited, but you had heard enough about him to know that he was reckless, devil-may-care, and according to his brother, inconsiderate of everyone’s feelings. Hearing the sincerity in his goodbye to his friend sounded quite the opposite, or perhaps was just a sign of the times.

Peter scurried away and out of sight. You saw Sirius reach for a pouch in his pocket, out of which he scooped a handful of Sickles. They clattered onto the table. Before he finished counting his change, you slid into the seat across from him.

Startled, Sirius stood and pointed his wand at you. His motions were seamless. It was as if he could kill you with a single swish. You hardly had time to wonder if you would be as skilled with your wand as he seemed to be when you finished school. “Listen, I just want to talk. Please sit down.” There weren’t too many other customers in the pub, but there was no doubt your exchange was attracting attention.

Sirius sneered at you. “Why would I want to talk to you? Did he send you? Whatever it is, I don’t want to hear it.”

It surprised you that he knew who you were. Regulus was convinced that Sirius abandoned the Black family once and for all and did not care for his extracurricular activities. Granted, much of your scheme relied on the fact that he did. “No, he didn’t send me. I need to talk to you about him, actually. In private.”

He looked apprehensive but curious. You sighed in relief as he lowered his wand and sat down, “Whatever you have to say, you can say it here.”

“Please,” you tried again. “I’m no threat to you.”

He stared at you, and in his pale eyes you saw something so familiar yet so foreign. “Fine. Follow me.”

He swiftly led you out of the pub. Although you were eager, you maintained an acceptable distance from him. The air was sticky; you could feel your flushed cheeks. You always hated summer because of the unbearable weather and because it was always the longest you would spend apart from Regulus. However, you found yourself entranced by the way Sirius’s neckline glistened. There was a warm glow radiating off of the little bits of his exposed skin, slightly tanner than his brother’s. You were surprised at how easy it was to distinguish these details. You always considered yourself to be too young for and morally above noticing Regulus’s physique. It was far too shallow to remark on a man's physical beauty and far too desperate when all you could see were his neck and arms.

“Get your license yet?”

You shook your head. “No, not yet.”

“Okay,” said Sirius, extending a hand. “I’ll take you with me.”

You were used to Side-Along Apparition, so your surprise was more at your surroundings. You landed on a street in front of a very tall building. Craning your neck to observe the one in front of you, you asked, “Where are we?”

“London,” he answered vaguely. He had not let go of your hand.

“I figured. But this looks like a Muggle building.”

“Got a problem with that?” He snapped, and as if he had just realized what he was doing, he let go of your hand as if it was rotting.

You internally groaned at how sweaty it was. “N-No. I’ve just never been around here, that’s all.”

You waited for a snarky response, but received none. Instead, he pushed open the door of the building and led your to what you could only assume was his flat.

“I would say make yourself at home, but don’t.” Sirius did not have guests often, and when he did, they definitely did not include his little brother’s girlfriend. Damn, he thought to himself. Wait until James hears about this.

You were still in school – although, so was he, just a month earlier. But you were in a rival house. And worst of all, he had seen you in the same position, perched onto a sofa with inquisitive eyes, when you both were children at his parents’ house. It was curious to him that you looked just as out of place then as you did now.

“I know this is strange, but I have no other choice.” Your voice broke off and for the tiniest millisecond, he felt sorry for you. “I think he’s… I mean I feel that… that R-Regulus is planning on joining the Dark Lord.” “Call him Voldemort, will you?” Sirius interrupted irritably.

You flinched. “I really shouldn’t.”

Though he was annoyed, he understood and did not probe you further. “Listen, I don’t know what you thought trying to find me, or even how you found me for that matter, but I can’t help you. I know what you’re worried about and you’re probably right to be worried. But I tried talking to him before I ran – I mean, left. He won’t budge. He’s in too deep. Sorry,” he added.

Your eyes glossed over. “I figured you’d say that.” Tears streamed down your rosy cheeks. “S-Sorry, I don’t mean to load this on you. I just feel so alone sometimes. And so scared for him. He really has no idea what he’s getting himself into, does he?”

Sirius stared at you, contemplating whether he should tell you what his dim-witted brother was really getting himself into. He only started to see it for himself now. “I’m not sure what I should tell you, but I understand. If you want to talk about it…”

You glanced at him in wonder, cocking your head to the side. “Er, thanks. But I should get home. My parents must be worried. Can I Floo out of here?”

You looked even more upset than before, and Sirius felt guilty for leaving everything so unresolved. Although, should he really care about your feelings? Anyone who willingly chose to spend time with a tosser like Regulus probably deserved whatever hell he would put them through… although…

“Yeah, I installed one,” he said, gesturing to the fireplace.

Wiping your eyes nimbly, you stood and smoothed the front of your robes. “Thank you. Sorry if it was a bother.”

“No problem. I know… I know that you aren’t like them. And I know what you’re going through. Probably better than anyone.”

You smiled at him, and without warning, his stomach flipped. It couldn’t have been the first time he’d seen you smile, but it was definitely the first time you smiled at him. Maybe you had once before when you were children. For now, all Sirius seemed to hone in on was the soft dimple on your right cheek and the way your eyes lit up almost automatically.

“If you ever need to talk about it, you can always come around here.” He knew it was strange for him to offer you that, but you had known each other for so long. You both had the same doubts… perhaps you lacked the bravery to act on them as he did, though he could hardly fault you for that.

“Thank you, Sirius,” you said softly.

☆

It was more than sex. You would spend hours talking, entangled in his bedsheets, watching the sunrise together for several mornings in a row. Sirius glanced warily at the clock on his bedside table. “Where do your parents think you are?”

You were drawing circles on his bare chest. “I told them I was with him.”

Despite being the reason you sought him out, it became an unspoken rule between the two of you to not mention his name. The subject of Regulus and, by extension, the war became as taboo as saying Lord Voldemort.

He hated it. He tried to convince himself that he was acting on lust, that he just needed to relieve his stress of the war and Order training, but he couldn’t. Not when every time you arrived unannounced, he scribbled excuses to get out of dinner with the Potters, or drinks with the boys, or hell, even Order meetings.

Sirius wished he could explain it to James. Surely, his best friend would convince him of the stupidity of engaging in an affair with his brother’s girlfriend. But then he would watch you wearing his shirt, sipping wine, and dancing barefoot in his kitchen. He would imagine you wrapping your arms around his waist on his new motorcycle and his insides would implode. Then, he would decide that he did not want to be dissuaded. He was falling for you. One look at you told him you were falling for him too.

“Where have you been, mate? The parents are driving me up a wall about you. Lily’s convinced you’ve got a girlfriend or something,” joked James.

They were sitting in the pub on a night Sirius knew you had a family function to attend. He swallowed bitterly as he wondered whether or not Regulus would be there. Were you together right now? Did you confess? Was he angry? Were you crying?

Noticing his best friend’s silence, James raised an eyebrow. “Do you? Have a girlfriend or something?”

Sirius knew he could not lie to James, but he debated exactly how much he wanted to delve into the subject. “Or something.” Before he could he stop himself, the secrets were spilling off of his tongue.

When he finished, Sirius wasn’t sure if he felt better or worse. He tried to focus on James’s hazel eyes as they widened at every turn in the story. “Mate… you’re fucked.”

He tried not to ponder at these words too hard in the hopes that he wouldn’t splinch himself Apparating back to his flat. It didn’t shock him to see you there – he had allowed you too much access to everything and he had no intention of taking it back.

Emerald green dress robes were slipping off of your shoulders. With pearls draped around your neck and pieces of hair straying out of your topknot, Sirius could not help but swoon at how beautiful you looked. He wondered briefly what it would have been like if you had chosen him over Regulus. What if there was no foul play? Would you be happy? Or would you run away, as you had with his brother?

He was still tipsy. James’s warnings ran scattered in his brain, ringing like a siren. But they mattered little now that you were in front of him. “How was–”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” you interrupted. Then you stepped forward and tugged at his half-unbuttoned shirt, pressing your lips against his. “Make me forget.”

“Consider it done.”

Your bare limbs tangled together as you shared wine-drunk, open-mouthed, sporadic kisses, giggling and whispering words of sensual encouragement. How did you become so in sync in a matter of weeks? Sirius had never fallen this hard. “I’m yours, (Y/N).”

You hummed in satisfaction, fingers wound up in his hair.

“I mean it,” he urged. “I love you.”

You didn’t respond. Strange, he thought to himself. You never hesitated in reciprocating, ever. When he jumped, you jumped with him, no questions asked. He glanced at the clock from over your shoulder and watched it strike midnight. It was the first of September. “You’re due at King’s Cross today, aren’t you?”

You nodded, not meeting his eyes.

He chuckled darkly. All of a sudden, he felt cold and strangled. He wanted to push you far away and yet, pull you close to him so you had no hope of escaping. “Will you write to me?”

“Sirius…”

“Don’t,” he snapped. “Don’t say my name like that. I should have known… fucking snake.”

He hadn’t let go of you. “I’m sorry darling,” you whispered, “but I can’t give up on him yet.”

It was all he had to hear. He couldn’t think of how he was going to recover from this, not when you were lying right in front of him. “I think you should go.”

“M-Maybe someday we can–” “Forget it.” He should have seen this coming from the second you walked up to him in the pub. You had come to him for Regulus and now you were leaving him for Regulus. Yet another bit of happiness his brother snatched away from him. But even so... he was your first and Regulus would never know. He would never know that you lost yourself in him. His no-good elder brother. But none of that mattered now, not when you were going back to him. After all, at the end of the day, you were his.

I should have known. Sirius silently cursed at himself, watching the retreating figure of the girl he had fallen in love with. He should have known that you were always on borrowed time. You were gone quicker than the seasons change, and left with him your sweaty, sun-kissed memories.

PART 2

Taglist: @iwritesiriusly @mads-bri @she-seeks-magic @sarcasticallywitty15 @lunalovecroft @fific7 @u-no-poo

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cheeriecherry · 4 years

Note

hi!! how are you? can you write for baku, deku, & todo where they meet their s/o family for the first time & they’re super scary? they’re all super tall, buff, full of tattoos, loud, aggressive, mean & the fam is super overprotective over s/o & the 3 are just freaking out bc s/o is the opposite? s/o is super sweet, calm, bubbly & short so the last thing they were expecting was this & they’re just freaking out & trying to get on their s/o’s family good side? sorry if that sounds complicated 😭

The more specific the ask, the better! I’ll see what my brain can come up with, I’ve just had couch medicine so

Requests are temporarily closed so I can catch up on them!

BAKUGOU KATSUKI

-Loud boi isn’t gonna let anyone know that he’s intimidated.

-He’s already a little nervous to meet your family for the first time, though he’d never admit it. You were so hesitant to ask him to come over, and at first he thought it was because he was the loud and aggressive one.

-But that Saturday afternoon when he walks up to your house and your dad answers the door, he’s like ‘oh’ and it all clicks into place.

-He loves you a lot, so he wants to make a good impression, but he also never backs down from a challenge. So he and your dad have a stare down in the doorway, until you stroll around the corner and see them.

-You scold your dad and tell him to stop being rude to your boyfriend. Your dad doesn’t say anything, but he sighs and lets Bakugou in.

-The fun doesn’t stop there, though. You tug Bakugou around the house from room to room introducing him to your family, and every single one of them gives him the same cold, mildly threatening stare.

-Ngl your uncle who lives in the basement apartment kinda scares him, but he doesn’t say anything and tries to play it cool. The guy is built like a brick house and covered head to toe in intricate tattoos.

-He doesn’t mention it, but you can tell that your boyfriend is wondering about potential ties you have to the mafia, with a guy like that living in your house. But you assure him it’s just your uncle’s quirk that gives him the art on his skin, and that he’s actually pretty shy about it and doesn’t like going out.

-The last person he meets is your mom. With everyone being so much taller and physically stronger than you, he assumes that your mom is gonna be the person you got your tiny genes from.

-Lol no

-She’s at least six feet tall, and without a doubt the most intimidating person in the house. She’s got the face of an angel and the grace of a butterfly, but behind her smile Bakugou can see the willingness to kill anyone who hurts her baby (you).

-Lunch with the fam is a little awkward at first, until your younger cousin goads Bakugou into a spice eating contest. Then the shouting at the table begins, everyone placing their bets on who they think will win. You’re the only one who bets on your boyfriend, and you get like a hundred collective bucks out of your family members when he wins.

-He’s earned the respect of your cousin, who’s like eight maybe and now deems Bakugou a respectable opponent. Bakugou is torn between yelling and patting the kid on the head, so he probably does both and shouts at the kid to keep practicing so they can try and beat him one day.

-At the end of the visit, your boyfriend is surprisingly calm. You’re walking him home, arm in arm, not really saying much. Though you do tell him that he’s taking your living situation pretty well.

-He’s like wdym? And you explain to him that most of your friends and potential partners are scared of your family and refuse to come over because of them.

-Bakugou just scoffs and is like ‘of course they are, because they’re chicken shits. As if I’d be scared of a bunch of-’ and he pauses because you start laughing, not at him, just about the situation.

-Your family actually really likes him and find him a suitable boyfriend for you. They know you’re strong, but they want someone who can protect you and who’s loyal to you, and they see that in Bakugou. They probably invite him to the next family gathering.

MIDORIYA IZUKU

-A nervous boi

-He wants so badly to make a good impression on your family, to get their approval of your relationship. He knows you’re close with them, so he doesn’t want their potential opinions of him to sway your desire to be with him.

-He dresses casually but tidy, and while he waits at the door he fiddles with his shirt a bit.

-Almost has a heart attack when your sister opens the door and glares down at him with the rage of 1000 suns.

-He does his best to introduce himself formally and be polite, but your sister is making it awfully hard for him to stay focused. She doesn’t say anything to him, so he just continues chattering until he’s off on a tangent and saying way too much.

-And you’re like ‘I feel my boyfriend danger senses tingling’ so you go downstairs and lo and behold.

-Ofc he’s not in any actual danger, just the danger of making a fool of himself. You set a hand on your sister’s arm, and the moment you do it’s like all the anger in her body dissipates and she turns into a sweet, smiling bean. Then she skips away to go do her homework.

-You pull Midoriya inside and give him a once-over anyways, just to make sure your sister didn’t burn holes in him with her glares. But he assures you he’s alright, and he’s a lot more relaxed now that you’re around.

-Probably says something like ‘I can see why you were so nervous about bringing me to your house, your older sister seems really protective of you’

-and you’re like ‘um,,,,actually she’s my younger sister’ and he’s like ‘wot’ and you’re like ‘also she’s the least scary of everyone’ and he’s like ‘wOT’

-You waste no time parading him from room to room to show him off, all while his soul slowly escapes his body.

-Your parents actually scare him the least, like, of course they’re protective of you, but they have the common courtesy not to exaggerate their scary qualities. They still tower over both you and Midoriya, but they’re mostly civil in terms of interactions.

-Your older brothers scare him a little bit more. They share the basement suite, so you drag your boyfriend downstairs to introduce them all to each other...and interrupt their poker game with their friends.

-All of them have some kind of tattoo visible, nothing Midoriya recognizes as any gang symbol, but he’s still wary. However, he manages to say hello and all the pleasantries, and actually gets a smile out of one of your brothers, who tries to rope him into a game of cards.

-Thankfully you save him with the excuse that you still have more family to show him off to, but he’s left with the promise of ‘later, then’.

-Lastly is your sister, who he’s technically already met. She’s arguably the scariest of everyone. She’s easily almost six feet tall and looks like she could bench press the two of you with ease. You promise him that she’s a literal sweet pea, but when the two of you walk up to her room, Midoriya isn’t so sure.

-She glares at him hard, like she’s judging him about everything and if he doesn’t pass she’ll snap him in half. He has to swallow the lump in his throat, and quickly looks around the room for some kind of thing to ask about that might get her to open up.

-And he sees it. One of the rarer All Might figures from an old merch line, one that he also has, so he’s like ‘do you like All Might’ and it’s like a switch is flipped.

-You breathe a sigh of relief as the two of them start nerding out about their favourite hero, sprouting facts and recalling films and old news videos. When he mentions that All Might teaches at his school, your sister honest to god squeals, and starts asking all kinds of questions about what kind of teacher he is, what he’s learned, what it’s like to be a protogee of such a great hero. He answers everything with glee, all his former fears forgotten.

-When it comes time for dinner, your sister insists that your boyfriend sit next to her, which is apparently a very high honor because one of your brothers sulks off to the other end of the table. (You assure your brother later that it’s just temporary and that your sister just really likes your boyfriend).

-But seeing the two of them interact warms your heart, it’s usually hard for your sister to make friends because she’s so intimidating, so you’re glad they’re getting along. And so does the rest of your family! They see Midoriya’s kindness and hardworking attitude, and they warm up to him pretty quickly.

-It ends up being a really enjoyable night, despite the rocky start. Though sadly yes your boyfriend does eventually get roped into a game of poker, and yes your brother’s cheat, but you cheat too, and you’re all betting in chocolate coins. You share your hoard with him.

TODOROKI SHOUTO

-He goes into it being not nervous, and ends up being Quite nervous once he meets your family.

-When he arrives, you’re thankfully the one to answer the door, so he doesn’t get hassled, so everything seems pretty normal right off the bat. Until your cousin walks through the room and is like ‘???? who’s this pipsqueak???’ and Todoroki is torn between being his usual snarky self and being polite.

-He wats to throw shade right back, but for your sake he wants to make a good impression. You’re used to his manners (or lack thereof) but he doesn’t want your family to think he’s not worthy of you. He really loves you a lot and wants to stay with you.

-So he goes for a formal introduction, even going in for a handshake. It’s kind of funny, because your cousin is like ‘lol what are manners’ but your glare forces him to return the gesture. His hand completely dwarfs your boyfriend’s, and you have to hide a snicker.

-And then the guy awkwardly wanders out of the room.

-You and Todoroki kind of just stand there for a second, and then he’s like ‘is this what you meant when you said your family was intimidating’ and you’re like ‘:3′

-You give him a tour of the house, a nice modest place with traditional aspects. It’s nowhere near as big as his, but he like it that way, it makes the place more homey and warm.

-You introduce him to family members as you come across them; your younger twin nuisances cousins, who are more mischievous than dangerous, your aunt and her wife, who look like they could get away with murder, your brother and his friends, who mostly only glare at Todoroki to try and make him uncomfortable.

-Thankfully he’s used to the stoic and slightly scary expressions, thanks to his dad. He wonders momentarily if you’re safe here, but then he realizes that everyone in the house is especially kind to you, and very affectionate when they think he’s not looking. He doesn’t even bother asking the question.

-Lastly are your parents, who are in the kitchen preparing dinner. They’re a little perturbed that you’re both in the kitchen when they’re working, but they seem to be less purposefully intimidating than everyone else. They’re still a little scary though.

-Then he notices that your parents are making soba. From scratch. Which is particularly difficult to master, so he figures they must be pretty well practiced if they’re so good at it.

-Without thinking, he asks if they’ve made soba before, and soon your parents are sprouting off about their culinary careers and the restaurant they run. You were supposed to take over one day, but you ultimately chose a different path in life, even after they taught you so much.

-Todoroki didn’t even realize you could cook, but now he wants more than anything to try your meals someday, or learn a few things from you and make dinners together.

-It startles him a little that he’s thinking so far ahead in your lives, but honestly if you’ve managed to get him as a boyfriend then you’re likely to have him for your whole life, if you want him.

-He talks a little more with your parents about the food, expressing in his way that he’s looking forward to a dinner that’s had so much hard work go into it. And you can see the little light go on in your parents’ heads, the light that signals they approve of your choice in boyfriend and have started making room in their hearts for him.

-Dinner is nice, pretty peaceful aside from your twin cousins causing their usual trouble, but he’s nonplussed by it. he still wonders how you managed to come out so small in comparison to everyone else, but it doesn’t bother him too much. He can see that you’re loved and well cared for, and a little piece of him hopes that one day he’ll be able to get to know your family even better.

#bakugou x reader #bakugou katsuki x reader #midoriya x reader #midoriya izuku x reader #deku x reader #todoroki x reader #todoroki shouto x reader #bnha x reader #mha x reader #bnha headcanons #mha headcanons #Anonymous

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greensaplinggrace · 3 years

Text

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The Threat of Explosion (Complete) Isaac/Hector

Isaac acts decisively to keep Hector from siding with Carmilla.

A.K.A. The seduction of Hector or Isaac thinks Hector deserves nice things.

Good Gloaming (Complete) Isaac/Hector

“Ah,” Isaac sighs when they first meet. “You’re the other Forgemaster.”

He says “other” the way most people say “pig shit,” but Hector’s tired from traveling and he doesn’t really think much about it until he’s gotten lost for the third time in an hour, in the same wing of the castle—following the directions that Isaac gave him.

In Memoriam (Complete) Gen & Trephacard

Trevor Belmont's family died when he was 12. He's spent quite a lot of time running from it since then. Lying to himself.

“But you know that the word Teloch means of death, right?”

Maybe, maybe it's time to stop.

Deliverance (Incomplete - 35/?) Trephacard

Adrian is beginning to think that Wallachia will be a smoking pile of ash long before he, Trevor, and Sypha can stop Dracula’s war on humanity. They’ve been chasing the castle for months, but each time they get close, it vanishes. Traveling with such genuine and trustworthy allies has been unexpectedly pleasant; Adrian doesn’t mind that Trevor and Sypha are involved with each other, but he is taken entirely by surprise when they open their relationship to him one evening.

Hopelessly in over his head, his heart keeps urging him forward, even when he’s forced to confront the darkest aspects of his nature. Adrian must learn to swallow his pride and let himself be vulnerable if he wants a chance at happiness. Unfortunately, there isn’t much time for looking within when the world is drenched in blood and magic, and the path to victory may destroy him completely.

With Broken Words I’ve Tried To Say (Complete) Trevorcard

In which Alucard sends a letter to Sypha, but ends up corresponding with Trevor instead.

The Shops On Morning Street (Complete) Trevorcard

Trevor Belmont, former monster hunter and current florist, is tasked with looking into the proprietor of the new tattoo parlor across the street, much to his annoyance.

What he finds is Adrian Ţepeş, current half-vampire, current tattoo artist, and a whole lot more than Trevor bargained for.

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luxekook · 5 years

Text

chapter one.

⇥ pairing: jungkook x reader; eventual bts/ot7 x reader

⇥ genre: college au with fluff, smut & angst

⇥ summary: a series in which the reader meets (and falls for) seven members of the Beta Tau Sigma (BTS) fraternity

⇥ word count: 2.3k

⇥ warnings: 18+, cursing, dirty talk, kissing, hickies, drinking, tatted jungkook, nipple piercings

Chapter One

Fall of Junior Year – 8:57am

I curse every single decision that has brought me to this very moment as I power-walk across campus, sweating under the already blistering sun. Campus in August could easily be compared to a swamp given the amount of unearthly humidity, and I'm pretty sure I currently qualified as the local swamp thing.

The only positive feature in my morning has been the table of free coffee and doughnuts staffed by Student Government. The first day of the fall semester always seems to be accompanied by frantically wide-eyed freshmen and celebratory freebies. However, air conditioning is the only thing I would be celebrating today as I finally reach Tyson Hall – the destination of my 9:00am class.

As I rush to my classroom with one minute to spare, I slump into a seat in the far corner – my preferred location for people-watching out of the large windows and for getting away with doing homework for other classes.

Familiar faces surround me, an unsurprising observation given that this is our mandatory research seminar as psychology majors. I notice my friend Jenni sitting in the opposite corner, eyes glued to her phone screen.

Opening my laptop, I shoot her a text to come sit with me. Her head whips up, black braids moving every which way as she immediately piles up her things and hustles over, “(y/n), I forgot you were in this seminar! I just switched over from quantitative research because I couldn’t take any more statistics – or Dr. Harding.”

Dr. Harding is the dean of the psychology department and has been teaching here for ages. Feared by most psychology students for his tough grading and intimidating persona, he’s actually a huge softie – something I discovered by going to his office hours and seeing all 85 pictures of his grandchildren hanging throughout the room.

“He’s not that bad, Jen.”

She scoffs, “You would say that because you got an A in statistics like some sort of wizard. Besides, Dr. Newman is so much nicer.”

Jenni has an excellent point. Dr. Newman is the main reason I chose this seminar. As one of the most respected researchers at our university, she’s known for her qualitative studies on gender across cultures. I consider Dr. Newman to be a real badass woman and I lowkey stan her.

I turn to reply, but Dr. Newman begins taking attendance and class begins.

Fifty minutes later, Jenni practically drags me out of the classroom, “I cannot believe she kept us the whole 50 minutes. Is she aware that it’s syllabus week? It’s practically law to just read over the syllabus and then dismiss class. This is outrageous– (y/n), are you even listening?”

“Hmm?” I totally had tuned her out, focusing on the number of students flooding the quad. I had missed this – the rush of students heading to class, the yells of people greeting each other from entirely too far away, the buzz of excitement over potential parties…

“Unbelievable. How did I forget you have this whole weird-ass feminist crush on her?” Jenni forges forth, “It doesn’t matter. What are you doing tonight? You’re going out with us, right? Luna and I want to go to Hannigan’s.”

Since the three of us had all turned 21 over the summer, we finally could legally go to the bars in town. Hannigan’s currently holds the top spot on the list of bars that most of the upperclassman frequent. It’s a popular Irish pub downtown known for its cheap beer and mixed drinks.

It’s also BTS’s unofficial hangout – a fact that makes me slightly uneasy. After learning who the higher-ups are in BTS, I have taken to avoiding them like the plague. It was a relatively easy thing to do since the spring semester tended to be less focused on rushing and recruiting for fraternities and sororities.

But now it’s rush season, and I’m pretty much fucked. There will be no avoiding seeing BTS’s president Kim Namjoon out recruiting with his vice president Min Yoongi and his social chair Jung Hoseok. There will also be no avoiding pledge master Taehyung leading around new BTS pledges like a mother duckling. And don’t even get me started on how Kim Seokjin, Park Jimin and Jeon Jungkook will be popping up everywhere to advertise the latest BTS bash.

Sighing, I figure that the chances of actually bumping into them at the bar will be slim, given that it will most likely be super crowded and I can easily blend in.

I turn to Jenni as we keep walking towards our next classes, “Yeah, I’ll go to Hannigan’s. Are you going to come over to get ready at our place?”

Luna and I had moved into a cute little off-campus apartment over the summer. As it turned out, it’s cheaper to live off-campus than on-campus if you look hard enough. We also had it pretty good location-wise being just a few short blocks from both campus and downtown.

“Yes!” Jenni replies, slowing to a stop out front of the science building, “I’ll be over around 8 with tequila. I’ll text you later. I’ve got to go to neuro-psych lab now,” she rolls her eyes, “Hopefully we won’t be kept the whole time.”

Waving, we part ways, and I shake my head.

Tequila never leads to anything good.

Hannigan’s – 10:54pm

Fate seems to be on my side for once in my life. As soon as Luna, Jenni and I walk into Hannigan’s, my eyes are drawn to the back table where the BTS usually sits. It’s empty.

It’s practically an unspoken rule that no one else can sit there, and even though the bar is packed with all other tables accounted for, that one remains vacant – and for good reason.

Greek life essentially has a cult following around here. The Greeks provide status for those who are into that whole exclusivity thing. They also provide the best parties because of the size of their houses and because the university will never complain about one of their best sources of revenue.

I didn’t to rush a sorority way back in freshman year because I couldn’t feasibly afford it. The dues were way out of my price range, considering I was already paying for my education on my own. Luna, on the other hand, is in Epsilon Xi Delta (EXID) and consistently makes me and Jenni tag along to different Greek parties with her.

"Come on, bitches! Let's get some drinks," Jenni drags me and Luna through the packed room towards the bar that is already encircled by a crowd of thirsty students.

Tonight’s plan is simple – stick together, have fun, scope out cute seniors. Having already taken some shots before we left (saving that coin), we’re definitely feeling ourselves, flaunting our outfits like we didn’t spend a good hour picking them out earlier.

I had settled on a black t-shirt dress with a checkered flannel tied around the waist and some black Doc Martens. Luna and Jenni had tried to convince me to wear heels with them, but I knew syllabus week was a marathon – not a sprint. My feet would thank me later, and theirs would be crying.

As the bartender slides us our beers, the opening beats of Cocky AF by our badass queen Megan Thee Stallion blast through the speakers dispersed throughout the bar. Turning immediately to each other, we clink our beers together, take a sip, and head to the makeshift dance floor.

We squeeze and push our way through the masses until we reach a spot towards the back where the crowd has thinned out a little more. Within seconds, we’re in motion, hips swaying in time to Megan saying ‘bitch, I look good and you know that’.

Shaking out my hair, I get in the zone and lose count of how many songs we dance to. Eventually, our beers empty and Luna turns to me, “Another?" She accompanies her shouted question with an unnecessary charade of shot-gunning a beer in case I couldn’t hear her. I roll my eyes, laughing while I nod in response.

“Save our spot!” Jenni yells and disappears into the crowd of dancers with Luna towards the bar.

I continue dancing on my own. Swaying my hips, I decide to put my hair up to try to cool off a little in the sweltering bar. The music shifts into a new song, this one slower, more seductive, a favorite of mine – Lost in the Fire featuring The Weeknd.

As Abel’s angelic voice flows over me, a pair of hands slide over my hips from behind me. I start to pull away, but then I notice – the hands are tattooed. And for some reason, that hot little fact makes me relax into the large body behind me.

Those tattooed hands tug me back even more, bringing me flush against him as he falls into time with my movements. God, this guy can dance – a rarity these days.

His body is all hard muscle and heated skin. His mouth is hot against my neck, alternating between kissing, sucking, and biting. My skin buzzes. Fuck, I haven’t felt this way since–

Turning my head slightly, I can make out the vague outline him and it confirms my sinking suspicion... He’s a BTS boy.

"Hey, noona," he murmurs in my ear, his lips brushing over it as he speaks.

Fuck my life, I think as I shiver involuntarily in response. Spinning to face one of Satan’s henchmen, I toss my ponytail over my shoulder and jut a hip out in both defiance and defense. But really nothing could have prepared me for the sight of Jeon fucking Jungkook, the golden boy of BTS.

He somehow looks like he’s gotten even bigger since the last I saw him playing pong against Taehyung at that party – information that I cannot even comprehend. His left arm is completely tattooed, along with a few smaller ones dotting his hands. I glare at them, blaming those hands for throwing me off.

“Like them?” Jungkook waves his fingers in front of my narrowed eyes, “I got them this summer.” Smirking lazily, Jungkook makes his own perusal of me – taking extra time along the way.

His jaw flexes as his eyes turn molten, “You’re killing me, noona. Tae didn’t mention…” He trails off, swallowing hard.

I follow his gaze. Oh fuck. I had forgotten I decided to forego a regular bra tonight because I wanted to show off my piercings. Just having a thin bralette under my dress, my pierced nipples are definitely noticeable under Jungkook’s heavy stare.

Refusing to give into him, I square my shoulders, “Yeah, I got them this summer, too. But, I don’t see how that’s either your or Taehyung’s business.”

At my words, Jungkook rips his eyes away from my tits to finally meet my own eyes again, “Oh, but it really is our business. Tae said we’d like you and I agree.”

His voice is low and rough, and I swear I can feel it washing over my body, making all of my synapses fire in response.

“We?” I choked out. In full panic mode, I spin and try to leave, but I barely make it a foot away before getting stopped by a now-familiar tattooed hand wrapped around my wrist.

Luckily, a crashing sound echoes from the back table where the other BTS boys must be, and Jungkook lets out a string of curses, “Fucking hell, listen I have to go make sure no one’s hurt, or Joon will kill me. Stay here, okay? I’m not done with you, (y/n).”

His hand rushes up to the nape of my neck, pulling me into him. Our lips fuse together in a brutally hot kiss, his tongue slipping against my bottom lip for a fraction of a second.

And then he’s gone – disappearing rapidly through the fray to manage whatever trouble his frat has gotten into.

I stand there, shaking fingers on my lips wondering what the actual fuck just happened.

“Hey, sorry we took so long! This bitch cut in front of us and I swear she ordered for the entire fucking population of North America—”

Luna smacks Jenni’s arm, cutting her off, “You okay, (y/n)?” Luna peers closer at me, “Holy shit, is that a hickey? We were only gone for 10 minutes!”

My hand flies to my neck as both Jenni and Luna grab me, dragging me to the slightly quieter back alley of the bar. As they conduct the second Spanish Inquisition, I spill the details on what happened.

After a moment of silence following my explanation, they both start talking at once:

→ Jenni: “Hell yes, girl, go off! Jeon Jungkook is fine as fuck…” → Luna: “(y/f/n) (y/m/n) (y/l/n), have you lost your damn mind…”

→ Jenni: “…I’d hit that in a heartbeat. I’m so proud!” → Luna: “…Do you not remember last semester? Are you high? Oh my GOD, did he drug you?!”

“Stop!” I slap a hand over each of their mouths, “Jesus, Mary and Joseph, you guys are impossible. I am not ‘hitting’ anything, and, no, he did not fucking drug me.”

Sighing, I continue, “It was a lapse in judgement, okay? I remember last semester more than anyone, but he’s just so powerful and I don’t seem to have any common sense around BTS.”

I take my hands away from their mouths and immediately Jenni asks, “Wait, what happened last semester?”

Luna slings an arm around my shoulder, “Come on, let’s go get pizza and a six-pack from Ralph’s. We can go out another night this week.”

“Take-out from Ralph’s?” Jenni’s eyes widen comically, “This must be major tea. Let’s go.”

Instinctively, we clink our beers together for the second time that night and chug the remainder of our bottles in true broke bitch fashion (never leave paid-for beer behind).

With that, we trek back through the door and out of the bar. We finish our night filling in Jenni with our less than savory experience with the infamous BTS fraternity last semester.

But, as I lay in bed for the night, I can’t help but wonder if Jungkook had looked for me that night after I left… Or if he told Taehyung...

taglist (message me to be added):

@catsandstrawberries @h5naaa

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badass-at-fandoming · 3 years

Text

My Favorite Betrayal: Sevastian of the Winter

As one of the starter love interests for Lovestruck's popular Reigning Passions series, Sevastian of the Winter is a tumblr favorite. When I finally got around to reading his route, I enjoyed the stunning art and intricate writing--but this one moment really knocked me off my feet. I gotta post about it. Major spoilers ahoy.

One of the major themes in Sevastian's route is betrayal (which works so well in conversation with the theme of duty in Amara's route. The two routes are truly two sides of the same coin. But that's another post). From the plot to the art, betrayal, and its consequences, are everywhere. The decapitated statue in the Winter Quarter. Sevastian's nickname as "The Betrayer Prince." Heck, the Mark of the Betrayer Sevastian receives is mirrored on MC's sword-esque wedding dress.

[[Image ID 1, Sevastian pulls back his shirt to reveal a gleaming blue sword tattoo. The text reads, "Lines of twisting flame trace the shape of a stylized sword."]]

[[Image ID 2, MC and Sevastian stand side-by-side in their wedding clothes. MC's white dress has an incredibly deep and narrow neckline, with silver chain keeping it in the shape of sword. MC says, "Today marks the beginning of our life together."]]

As the plot goes on, Sevastian betrays, or contemplates betraying, various people and causes. Under the Silver Dagger persona, Sevastian betrays the other nobles by stealing their wealth. He betrays Lyris' trust and friendship by not talking to him after the wing debacle. He thinks about betraying his morals by murdering his father. You get the picture.

But there's one that stood out to me by a mile. It's this scene in s5:

[[Image ID 3, With weeping willows and fireflies behind them, Sevastian and MC stand distressed. MC has hold of Sevastian's forearm, while he leans slightly away from her. They both have anguished expressions on their faces]]

Let's re-orient. MC figures out she's the lost heir to Altadellys' throne. Lord Ubel, Sevastian's father, is salty about it, and MC and Sevastian flee his wrath and the capitol city. They hook up with the rebels, who oppose Ubel because he's an uber-rich dillweed. Led by General Nisse, the rebels task MC and Sevastian to convince the neighboring nation of Rovdyr to send troops and supplies. Our duo is on their way, but an ally betrays them. The situation devolves into a fight. A poisoned blade stabs Sevastian. Only MC's great-grandmother Edera pulling Sevastian into the hidden land of Fortrylle saves him. In this land infused with magical energy, time "stops" for Sevastian, and there's time to find the antidote for his ailment. Which is great, except the rebel cause is pressed for time. They need those Rovdyr allies. As illustrated in the above CG, Sevastian has the brilliant plan of leaving Fortrylle, letting himself die, and thereby forcing MC to get on with her royal future.

And I saw red.

My reaction was as searing as it was visceral. As a queer person, it's a very special experience to feel seen and represented in a work, but this was the first time I felt seen and absolutely hated it. This time, Sevastian was betraying MC and all they had fought for to be together. By throwing away his life, he was throwing all the choices MC had made to be with him right back in her face.

Part of the strength of my reaction stemmed from the fact that I had the 1980s AIDS epidemic on the brain. I'd recently watched Netflix's Circus of Books documentary. In it, a monogamous cishet couple recalled the epidemic and how it affected their lives and bookstore, which was a gay hot spot. Overnight, it seemed, their employees and customers started dying. They added hospital runs to their weekly errands. They called homophobic parents to inform them of their son's death.

And here, in the distorted mirror of fiction, was another queer man dying. No, not dying, but killing himself, so his partner "didn't have to suffer." So they "wouldn't be held back." So she could "move on" with her life and her queenly destiny. I'd heard those reasons before. I spiraled into the hundreds of stories of queer people killing themselves so their straight-passing partner could integrate into the heteronormative; into what others wanted them to be. The parallels drove me mad. Like these other deaths, his suicide felt so needless. Sevastian went on and on about how the rebels needed their queen, their rallying point.

The real kicker is: they don't. Like, no gamer wants to hear that their character is unnecessary to the story, but it's true in this case. MC and Sevastian don't bring anything particularly special to the rebel cause. They don't know military strategy or secret supply routes or a hitherto unknown access point to Altadellys. We learn later that Captain Amara and Queen Safir are around. With Amara's long history of service and Safir being the literal lost queen, they lend an equal, if not greater, sense of legitimacy to the revolt, and are excellent rallying points. Even securing Rovdyr forces don't require MC: General Nisse makes a war treaty with them on her own in Amara's route. The most MC and Sevastian contribute is Ubel's stolen funds. But once those are handed over, they're superfluous.

Just to nail this point home, MC has repeatedly said she doesn't have any particular inclination to be queen. It's more that the other options are terrible. Any destiny to be queen, any ultimate desire to wear the crown, is all in Sevastian's head. He's ignoring what she most wants, which is him, alive and by her side and loving her. I wanted to throttle him. In the midst of sickness and death, they had a chance to live in peace.

So, my God, was I impressed by this writing. For the low, low price of $0, I was absolutely knocked on my ass. Shit's GOOD, bro. I had to gush about it. Thank goodness the next scene gave us an affirming cuddle as a breather.

[[Image ID 4, MC and Sevastian stand close together in a grove of weeping willows. MC's eyes are closed. The text reads, "I lean into his chest as he curls his arms around me, half wishing I could crawl under his shirt and hide there."]]

This post is mega-long and has not real point besides LOOK AT THIS PRETTY, but ya know. Binge read Reigning Passions and you'll see what I mean. Thanks for reading!

#lovestruck #reigning passions #sevastian of the winter #homophobia #suicide #sickness #death #injury #well this got dark fast lol #circus of books #text post #everything's fine

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