#Midnight answers a cool meme

[questioncoolmidnight]

🌳 for Cool Midnight

She's a very busy woman, and an overly serious one to boot, so she'd deny it if asked...

But she really likes collecting old, pre-war albums.

Though she was literally factory-made to fight Cogs, she deeply misses the world that other Toons say existed before they invaded.

A normalcy she and her beloved spouse,sadly, will never get to have...

[zhelin-thames]

The Chaos Escalates

Read the prev parts Masterpost (Wrong Number)

A few days after Danny was reluctantly inducted into the Bat-family’s group chat, things began spiraling into pure chaos.

It started with a random text from the group chat late at night.

Dick: Hey, Danny, are you busy?

Danny: It’s midnight. What do you think?

Dick: So not busy. Cool. What’s your opinion on capes?

Danny: ...Capes?

Jason: Don’t answer that. It’s a trap.

Danny: Too late. I hate capes. They’re impractical and get caught on things.

Dick: Blasphemy.

Jason: Told you it was a trap.

Tim: This is why I don’t wear one. Functionality > fashion.

Dick: You’re all ungrateful. Capes are iconic.

Danny: They’re also death traps. I’ve literally watched a ghost get sucked into a portal because their cape got caught.

Jason: See? Ghost Boy gets it.

Dick: This conversation isn’t over.

The next morning, Danny woke up to find at least fifteen memes about capes, all courtesy of Dick. Most were dramatic pictures of heroes with billowing capes, accompanied by captions like, “Behold, the majesty you’ll never achieve.”

Danny sighed, grabbing his phone to text.

Danny: You need a hobby that isn’t bothering me.

Dick: You’re my new hobby.

Danny: Fantastic. I’m deleting this group chat.

Tim: You’ll just get added back. Trust me, I’ve tried.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, later that day, Danny got a private text from Damian.

Damian: You are the half-ghost Jason speaks of?

Danny sighed.

Danny: Yep. And you are…?

Damian: Damian Wayne. The Blood son and The most competent member of this family. Do you also possess combat skills?

Danny: Uh, yeah? I’ve fought plenty of ghosts and a few humans.

Damian: Acceptable. Spar with me.

Danny: What?

Damian: You fly, yes? I wish to test my skills against aerial opponents.

Danny stared at his phone, dumbfounded. Who are these people?

Later, Danny complained to the group chat.

Danny: Who’s the kid who just demanded to fight me?

Jason: Ah, you’ve met Demon Spawn.

Tim: Be nice, Jason.

Dick: That’s Damian. He’s... intense. But he means well.

Danny: He literally challenged me to a fight.

Jason: Yeah, that’s him “being nice.”

Damian: Do not speak ill of me, Todd. Danny, I expect a proper duel soon.

Danny: Not happening.

Damian: Coward.

Over the next week, Danny received a steady stream of texts from various members of the Bat-family. From Jason’s snarky commentary to Tim’s endless ghost-related questions, and even Dick’s unsolicited advice on acrobatics, Danny felt like he’d accidentally adopted a whole new chaotic family.

It all came to a head when Danny got a message from none other than Lady Gotham herself.

Lady Gotham: I see you’ve met my knights, little ghost.

Danny nearly dropped his phone. "How tf is a spirit texting me."

Danny: Wait. You’re Lady Gotham?

Lady Gotham: Indeed. And you’ve done well to entertain my champions. I am most amused.

Danny: Amused? They’re insane.

Lady Gotham: And yet, you fit among them so perfectly.

Danny groaned. He was doomed.

Masterpost

[backstageinfatuationvn]

I remember seeing a lil animatic(?) on Twitter on how you worked on Kier’s design for 6 years. I can’t find it anymore tho 😭 but what was your thought process when designing him? I luv luv luvvvv his design smmmm 🥹❤️ you n your co-creator are doing an amazing job 🫶

The animatic is still on my personal twitter account! And thank you!! SUPER LENGTHY POST BUT HERE WE GO!

Originally Kier had black hair and a similar haircut to Kethan (old art from 2024)

The first one was actually him dressed as the phantom of the Opera since he is one of the main inspos (old inspo meme I did)

Kier was originally created 6 years ago actually, back then I also made many versions of him. But the most important one was Gacha (yes I was a gacha kid 💔)

I sadly don't have his gacha photos anymore since it was from a very ancient phone but if memory serves me right, he would've looked like this. Yes I installed the app again HAHAHA

He didn't originally have midnight blue eyes. That was added when I started bringing him back to my works before Backstage Infatuation.

Personality wise, he is originally a yandere! Nothing changed from there in terms of that but interestingly enough... Back then in my gacha days, I originally shipped him with another male OC. A BL gacha series was planned where it centered around Kier's obsession with the male OC but was later discontinued for reasons I cannot remember. It was a long, long, looong time ago.

I focused on other stuff so he started catching dust until I picked him up around early 2024. That's when I started planning for his comeback after remembering past memories on a random tuesday night before sleeping LMAO

I drew two pieces before his redesign (the first two images), this was when I was into the yandere vn games.

Just wanna shout out these two games because these inspired me to make my own!! YOU and HIM and TKATB really inspired me to make Backstage Infatuation (there was also Dramatical Murder). I also have a love for Idol culture and Kpop, so I based Backstage Infatuation on my interests.

It is no secret that Backstage Infatuation is a passion project of mine, most of the characters in the game are old ocs being brought back to life and new ocs being finally used. Kier was one of those OCs that were brought back to life and needed a new makeover.

Fast forward to November 2024, I started redoing Kier and originally came up with his overall face and hair.

Interestingly enough, I actually came up with his idol fit first after seeing an outfit on Pinterest!

This is the original concept of his first idol outfit draft, felt it was too plain but really liked the black and white theme.

Second try and I came up with this! Even added silver feathers to symbolize LUXE's angel theme.

I added midnight blue (with stars) accents and it really made them look ethereal and elegant, at least for me. Which fits the group's original concept!

For his casual outfit, I wanted to go with something stylish and cool at the same time. I went with techwear influence and came up with the outfit now used in the game! Originally he didn't have black leather pants, but denim... It didn't look good in my opinion. 😭

Old and New design comparison

I kinda stole Nightwing's color palette for his clothes and changed a few stuff (mostly the blue)— Sorry I just really like Nightwing 😭 HAHAHA.

Few tweaks there and there, I became satisfied with his design!

I also made different outfits for him, a easter egg outfit I plan to add, his summer outfit and spring time outfit. I do love dressing up my son and exploring different fashions for him. ❤️

I do enjoy designing clothes and outfits. (Already reached the 10 image limit so here's a poorly made collage)

Sorry if this took a long time 😭 I had to find my old gallery saves for some of the pictures but this was such a fun ask to answer! It's nice to have a memory refresh ❤️

I hope this answered everything and so SORRY IF IT'S LENGTHY 😭😭 - Ive (Creator)

[sunflowerspirals]

My Wizzy OCs as...

Reblog and tell me your answers to these OC prompts! (You can draw your answers too, as I think that's what this meme was originally intended for. But I can't draw, so y'all get text orz)

💀 Ophelia Starshroud as… 🌱

a color — the deep, cool black of rich earth or outer space; a flower — Venus flytrap and fly agaric mushrooms (not flowers but shhhhh); an animal — black cat; a scent — petrichor, decaying plants, and a faint zing of something metallic and otherworldly, like if stars had a smell; a song — "Carrion Comfort" by aeseaes; a feeling — desperation.

🌸 Sumi Fallenblossom as… 🛼

a color — every shade of pink you can think of, from pastel pink to baby pink to hot pink; a flower — cherry blossom; an animal — tanuki (idrk why, it's just a vibe); a scent — cherry blossom, cherry-flavored lip balm, and leather polish; a song — "Red Wine Supernova" by Chappell Roan (not really her preferred music style but it's the song I associate with her); a feeling — self-assured confidence.

🔥 Abigail Soulpyre as… 🎲

a color — the vivid, luminescent orange of flames that are maybe just a little out of control; a flower — orange roses (with or without thorns); an animal — orange cat, with all the sweetness and chaos that implies; a scent — bright, clean citrus mingled with the faint, heady aroma of char; a song — "Burn with Me" by Amaranthe; a feeling — love.

🦇 Michael Soulpyre as… 🪻

a color — dark mottled purple like fresh bruises and wilting nightshade blossoms shot through with electric violet; a flower — deadly nightshade; an animal — vampire bat; a scent — leather, motor oil, and lavender; a song — "A Demon's Fate" by Within Temptation; a feeling — fierce protectiveness.

🌊 Ocean Prismshimmer as… 🌺

a color — peachy coral that gently transitions to vibrant turquoise, like the shore fading into the tide; a flower — hibiscus; an animal — jellyfish; a scent — salt-tangy sea breeze and wet sand; a song — "How Far I'll Go" by Auli'i Cravalho; a feeling — the satisfied mellowness that follows a long day at the beach.

🐺 Yulia Seafang as… 🐋

a color — pale, wintry grayish blue, like the blinding haze of a blizzard under the midnight sun; a flower — Arctic bell-heather; an animal — akh'lut; a scent — campfire smoke tinged with the aroma of meat and blubber; a song — "Nitsâtuk" by Angelo Tardanico; a feeling — daring curiosity.

🌑 Luna Mothglade as… 🌕

a color — the pale, glowing gray-green of jungle leaves illuminated by the moon; a flower — monkey orchid; an animal — luna moth; a scent — crushed violets and spice; a song — "Summer Smoke" by Cemeteries; a feeling — grim-faced resolution.

🌼 Suri Liontooth as... ✍🏻

a color — pale yellow, brown, and cream linen; a flower — dandelion; an animal — lioness; a scent — sun-warmed earth and fresh-baked cinnamon rolls; a song — "Diamond Day" by Vashti Bunyan; a feeling — defiant hope.

[concreteburialplot]

Cool About It // 02

02 - Scott Street

Pairing: Noah Sebastian x OFC [Amelia]

Masterlist: here | Crossposted: ao3 | Word count: 9k

Warnings; childhood best friends, mentions of underage drinking, mentions of past character deaths, being drunk, feelings panic, secrets, lots of flashbacks + lore, REMINDER: this is set in the winter lol sorry, 18+ MDNI

Summary; Amelia agrees to a midnight adventure with Noah in the hopes of getting answers to a decade’s worth of questions. Nicholas, Noah and Amelia then find themselves caught up in a game that fills them with nostalgia.

a/n: this is au, fictional, and follows no actual timelines/events, and uses oc's for family members. noah & nick are the same age here.

thanks to @sacredthefran for helping me edit this chapter 💞

don't like it don't read it. don’t be mean for no reason & let others enjoy things thnx :)

Do you feel ashamed,

When you hear my name?

Anyway, don’t be a stranger

Anyway, don’t be a stranger

Don’t be a stranger

- Scott Street // Phoebe Bridgers

The days after Amelia and Noah’s reunion began a thread of texts back and forth between the two – catching up on things that you miss within a 10 year separation like music they’ve discovered over the years, memes, stories from Noah’s tours or Amelia’s time in college, all in tandem with random occurrences that happened throughout the day. Noah was hungry for any information she spilled and soaked it right up like a sponge. 

He’s just bored – Amelia thought – big rock star from LA probably bored out of his mind bouncing from Vincent’s or the Ruffilos’ couch. She didn’t find herself particularly entertaining or interesting, it absolutely had to be his boredom that was fueling their reignited friendship. She was convinced that once he flies back to California with Nicholas that she’d dissolve back into the sky like a flickering star inevitably burning out. However, she intended to bask in the attention and fleeting nostalgia he gave her for as long as she could.

She too was thirsty for knowledge, asking so many questions that it was almost hard for him to keep up. The need to relearn him was too strong. She was curious about everything - the band, touring, recording, it was all so interesting to her compared to her tiny life in a snowglobe of a town.

There was a topic that Amelia had always wondered about over the years – his abrupt departure from their town in the middle of junior year. Her curiosity was just as strong then, asking too many questions that landed her in conversations thickly outlined with stern words and excuses. Not even Nicholas or his family would divulge the information. Not getting any knowledge, not even whispers about the situation in such a small town was odd. If it was one thing Amelia absolutely hated, it was being out of the loop and uninformed. Over time the mystery dissolved into a weird thing of the past, eventually getting overwritten by college exams, new friends, and different jobs, until Noah stepped back into her present. 

Now, Amelia had the opportunity to get the answers she had been seeking directly from the source. She just didn’t know how. She knew it had to be a sensitive topic with the amount of secrecy around the event and the fact that he hadn’t even returned home when his parents passed. It was hard for her to not steep in curiosity now that he’s made an appearance for the first time in years since then.

Amelia was snuggled up on her couch with a warm blanket and a cup of hot cocoa, accompanied with an entire bag of marshmallows to replenish as she drank. She nearly jolted out of her skin and choked on a mallow when her phone abruptly rattled against the coffee table. Her brows furrowed wondering who on earth could be calling her so late.

She picked up the device to read Noah’s name lit up across the screen. Her finger slid across the glass before putting it up to her ear. “Hello?” She pulled her shoulder up to support her phone while her hand rifled through the marshmallows to grab a couple and dropped them into the mug. The steaming liquid immediately began dissolving the sugary puffs.

“Scout!” Noah greeted cheerily.

“Hey?” She replied cautiously, “What’s up?”

“Whatcha doin’ right now?” His tone indicating that he might have an impeding invitation.

“Um…” She looked down at the mug clasped in her hand then towards the tv that was playing Little Women in the background. “Pretty high-level stuff actually.”

“Weeeeeelllll,” He dragged out the word, “Would you wanna ditch your ‘high-level’ stuff for a night adventure?”

Her teeth tugged at her bottom lip mulling over his offer, then pulled her phone from her ear momentarily to check the time. “Noah, it’s 11 pm!”

“Soooooo? The night is young!”

She sighed a little, saying no to him was never her strong suit. “What were you thinking?” She asked, entertaining the idea for a moment.

“Hm…. Some wine? Some good ol’ fashion meandering?”

She chuckled at his word choice, “Meandering?” Her thumb grazed over a missing chip in her snowman-shaped mug.

“Meandering!” He repeated as if it was an obvious and normal suggestion.

A soft huff left her lips, “Fine. But we can’t be out too late.”

“Whatever you say grandma.” He teased and she could hear the smile tugging at his lips as he spoke.

“Hey!”

“Sorrrryyy.” He hummed into the speaker, “Just meet me at the skatepark, okay?”

She agreed and ended the call with him, falling back into the cushion supporting her. She laid her phone flat on her chest, taking a moment just staring at the ceiling. The hollows of her ribs filled with an anxious feeling, something not quite like butterflies but more akin to moths. Amelia had always been drawn to Noah like a moth to a flame. He burned so bright that it singed anything and anyone around him. If you wanted to stay close to him, you needed to master the art of resilience. The one she saw navigate it the best was Nicholas; it was like the fire never even affected him. He wasn’t necessarily a moth to Noah’s flame, but rather a firefly – someone who comfortably hovered in his warmth, soaking it in for what it was, all while glowing a joyous, blinding brilliance of his own right alongside Noah. They complimented each other perfectly, like puzzle pieces created in a factory, made to live next to each other forever. If there was anyone who loved Noah more than Amelia, it was definitely Nicholas.

It suddenly dawned on her that she’d supposed to be getting ready the entire time she’d been lost in her thoughts. She sat her mug down on the coffee table and jumped to her feet, just then realizing she had no idea what to wear to an abandoned skate park at midnight. 

After going back and forth on how she should dress, she decided to prioritize comfort over casual. She threw on some dark joggers with a cream-colored crewneck that had a small teddy bear embroidered on the upper left side. She stopped by her front door to check herself in the mirror that hung above a coat rack. Her finger roughly slid up the corner of her eye to wipe away the mascara that had fallen throughout the day. A sigh escaped her when she fully took in her own appearance. While she had no idea what sort of girls Noah dated after he left, she could only imagine. Visions of stereotypical LA girls suddenly filled her head and stole a bit of her excitement of going to see him. It had to be some fucked up super power that came with being a woman - the ability to pinpoint at least 3 things to be unhappy with within a split second. Her eyes focused on her lips that weren’t overly full with filler, then her lashes that were coated with some fancy mascara she bought on a whim, and finally, her cheeks rounder than the defined faces he was probably used to seeing. And he didn’t dare think about all the girls that scream for him at their shows. It was only then, as she picked apart her face, that it dawned on her how he seemingly had endless choices much better than her. She wasn’t just competing with girls from a high school or a small town anymore, but something much grander, something bigger than she would ever be.

She caught herself in her insecurity, wondering why it was even upsetting her that she couldn’t compare to others. It didn’t matter if she couldn’t measure up because she wasn’t even an option, she never was. 

Side by side Noah and Amelia aimlessly walked around the small, quiet town handing a bottle of white wine back and forth. Amelia wasn’t a big fan of wine but Noah seemed to have grown a liking to it. Well, thinking about it now, maybe Noah’s always had a taste for the bitter liquid. As she watched him take a swig from the bottle, for a split second, it was like looking directly into the past. She saw 16-year-old Noah taking a hefty chug from a stolen bottle of Barefoot Moscato. Even underage with limited accessibility, Noah always made sure to grab the only wine that made Amelia’s face twist the least. That crisp October night was originally supposed to include Nicholas until he bailed last minute for a brunette from his math class that needed “study help”. It was adorably hilarious watching a bright shade of pink adorn his cheeks as he tried to explain why he couldn’t make it. 

When Amelia looked back on that night, there was always a feeling she couldn’t quite place. It was something sweet that often comes with youthful midnight quests but also vaguely like being out of the loop about something she was unaware of. Noah was quieter than normal, not by much, but enough for Amelia to notice. Usually, alcohol had the opposite effect on the boy, however that night was different. There was hesitation beneath every word he spoke - a detail Amelia hadn’t picked up until years later after dissecting the night a million different ways in her head.

Noah wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulling his best friend down to sit at the bottom of the cemented ramp with him. The sky was particularly bright that night, the stars looked closer than normal with shinier twinkles. 

“Look at that one, Noah! It’s so pretty!” Amelia exclaimed, sitting up a little bit, finger pointed out towards the sky. 

“Eh, it’s okay.” He shrugged.

She twisted her body towards him sharply. “‘Okay’?!” She turned back to the sky to admire the glittering star she was defending. “What could possibly be prettier than that?”

Amelia could hear the boy mumble something behind her, even though she couldn’t make out his words, she could still sense the thick apprehension laced between them. In the moment she just took it as fear of upsetting her with an opposing opinion. Peaking over her shoulder, she found Noah watching her with a gentleness she often found in his gaze. She offered the only viable option she could think of since it was the largest and brightest thing decorating the night sky. “The moon?”

A blush flooded her body when the boy chuckled, shaking his head and leaning forward to steal the bottle from her again. “Yes, Amelia. I’m talking about the moon.” He said in a tone that would normally accompany an eye roll. He brought the half empty bottle to his lips. She eyed him intently watching the bottle meet his mouth. She never knew it was possible to crave being a chunk of glass - yet there she was wanting nothing more to be the object touching his lips.

Walking beside him now made her realize that Noah had aged just like wine. Even from very early on he always held the dichotomy of being sweet and savory while simultaneously having the ability to leave a bitter, sour taste behind. When he was younger it was more subtle yet scattered, now it was the same, just stronger and refined through control. Wine isn’t wine without the intricate layers, the undertones, the top and bottom notes, all of it contributes to the integrity and skeleton of the liquid that creates something worth savoring. It’s impossible to separate the complex layers from each other and still claim it’s sophisticated wine. Noah was exactly that, elaborate and labyrinthian. If you wanted him whole, you needed to take every part, every layer. Back then, Amelia naively believed she knew, had and understood every layer of her best friend, her other half. It wasn’t until the morning after that adolescence-filled night that she got the worst awakening that she couldn’t have been more wrong. Overnight he somehow slipped from her grasp without even a goodbye or explanation. He disappeared into thin air. 

He was just, gone.

After a couple months went by with radio silence and no sight of return, in some twisted way, she mourned him while he was still alive. She had Nick of course, who was doing just as poorly as her but they grew distant over time and especially after graduation, she lost him too. Whenever she went back to the memory she would always wonder if she had known he was leaving for good, would she have told him how she felt. Would she have told him that she loved him and that she was jealous of every girl who had gotten the privilege to even hold his hand in the hall or share a kiss at a locker. Would her confession have made a difference? Would it have kept him from leaving?

She wondered if she’d still love him the same now — and if she did, would she tell him this time? Would it make a difference? Could it change or rewrite their history? Would it make up for lost time? Or would it just complicate their vastly different lives? Maybe some things were meant to stay hidden in the comfortable shadows of the past, even if they resurface.  

The scattering sound of Noah kicking a rock ripped her back to the present. She shook her head of the fuzzy memory. 

“So, you spend a lot of time ‘meandering’ in LA?” She teased, tilting the glass bottle backwards to slosh the light liquid into her mouth. The familiar sweet astringent taste caused her to twist the bottle in her palm. Barefoot Moscato.

“No.” He rolled his eyes with a smile and kicked a pebble across the empty skate ramp. “There’s nothing interesting in LA.”

She scoffed at his jaded statement. “Yeah right. And this old dusty skate park in your tiny hometown is more interesting than Los Angeles?”

He shrugged and took back the bottle. “Now that I’m back here? Yeah, definitely.” His inked fingers wrapped around the neck of the bottle to take a sip of his own. “Everything in LA is the same. It gets really old, really fast.”

“Right.” She said skeptically, stuffing her freezing fingertips into her pockets. “Well, everything here has been really old for a really long time.” She wasn’t quite sure why she was being so combative about the sleepy town, most nights she prefers it that way. Whatever’s out there must be a better home for him to be so absent for so long. She knew he had his reasons, valid ones, but 10 years seemed excessive to avoid people who aren’t even alive anymore.

“Sometimes you don’t know what you have until it’s gone.” He stated the popular phrase as if he didn’t believe it before that night.

“Oh, what?” She scoffed playfully, the alcohol riding her cadence. “You missed little ol’ me?” Her words slipped past her lips before she could think twice, and asked it more as a joke than a genuine question.

His flow of speech hiccupped a beat before he replied. “Yeah, and what if I did?” He inquired gently, but intentional in the way he kept moving forward slowly.

Her eyes flickered up at him from where they had been glued to the ground. She quickly mulled over what to say back – ‘I missed you too’ felt too vulnerable, too honest. “Then I’d ask what took you so long to come back.” Her voice was quiet and meek, lacking the confidence it really needed to land a punch.

His next step faltered, clearly not anticipating her rebuttal. “Well I-” He began without knowing how to answer. It wasn’t til he lifted his head that he realized where they had ended up in their aimless walking.

“Noah?” Amelia asked, curious at the reason for his abrupt pause.

His demeanor shifted significantly, the conversation they’d been having previously was nothing more than a memory now. His spine straightened and his shoulders squared, his eyebrows sunk along with the corners of his mouth.

Amelia studied him curiously. His facial structure became so harsh and angular, most people would think he was furious, but she could tell by the weight behind his eyes that it wasn’t so. He was sad, maybe there was anger mingled a bit as well, but it was mostly dejection in the darkness of his eyes.

At first, she thought maybe she’d crossed some line or breached some boundary, but it was the way he looked at their surroundings that told her otherwise. Her eyes bounced around them wondering what could possibly be upsetting him so much. They’d wandered into some random side street with colorful graffiti all over the walls. Her head tilted in the same way a dog's would at a peculiar noise and her eyes drifted to the nearest street post.

Scott Street

It was technically the same street Nick’s house was on, just much further down. This offshoot of Scott St. intersected with 13th Street which was a notorious adolescent hangout spot, at least it was back then. The trio would often spend time there years ago while the street was more nefarious. The boys would drag Amelia there, usually when the summer’s sparkle began to dull, and they ran out of things to do. While she never saw either of them spray painting, she had a sneaking suspicion that they’d leave their mark while she wasn’t with them. 

Most days they’d sit around the asphalt drinking alcohol disguised as energy drinks while Nicholas sketched on the sidewalk with chalk. His works were usually elaborate art pieces of the most obscure fixations of his. One of Amelia’s favorite Nick chalk art installations was when he decided to sketch different album art covers of his favorite artists. After watching him sketch Deftones, The Cure, and Prince, Amelia made a request for Lana Del Rey’s Born to Die album which Nick was resistant to. 

“That’s not real music.” He retorted with a roll of his eyes which landed a smack on his arm from Noah outing him saying, “Shut up you always sing along to Off To The Races in the car.”

“Whatever.” He’d wave off the admission and proceed to create the most beautiful installment of his album series. Amelia was over the moon at the result, taking a bunch of pictures and making them semi-famous on Tumblr.

Another of her favorites was their 16th summer where Nicholas had taken up trying to master flowers. It was rare that Noah jumped on any artistic band wagon that Nick drove, but flowers for some reason was one of the lucky ones. It was quite a sight, seeing them both hunched over themselves in the Virginia summer heat chalking elaborate flowers into the concrete. Nicholas naturally always out-did Noah in the art department, but this go around Noah was able to keep up fairly well and his flowers came out just as pretty as Nick’s.

The corner of Amelia’s lips peaked up remembering how beautiful the sidewalk looked filled with colorful pastel flowers. Her eyes fell to the asphalt and the pickaxe of time chipped nostalgia into her heart at how the chalk hadn’t magically remained engrained in the cement.

Even though the city had cracked down on the law enforcement in the area to “raise the city’s value” they somehow failed to stop the constant layered graffiti work on the grey brick wall. Most days Amelia forgot the street even existed despite driving past it every day to work.

She shook her head to break herself from the memory only to catch Noah walking away from the scene. “Wait where are you going?” She called, quickly walking to where he was.

“C’mon let’s get out of here.” He grumbled which only confused her further.

“Oh, well, I,” She started but fell short, not knowing what to say.

After walking a bit in silence vaguely in the direction of Amelia’s house, she cleared her throat. “Are you okay?” She asked quietly, fidgeting her fingers together nervously. Despite having history with Noah, she still got nervous whenever he was like this. At least when he was younger, he could be… explosive at times. She was never particularly scared of him, he’d never hurt her or anyone, it was just almost painful to see him like that. When he’d get that upset, it was quite rare to get him to share what was truly disturbing him. She didn’t have much hope this time, especially since they had just been reunited. Noah was a tough cookie to crack, she wondered if time had mended all the years of hard work on him.

He remained silent for a while before answering. “I’m fine.” He dismissed the insinuation that he wasn’t, even though his demeanor hadn’t improved.

Amelia pressed her lips together and nodded. “Got it.” Her thumbs wriggled against each other as she walked and decided that curiosity was stronger than her will to stay silent. “It’s just… you don’t seem fine.” Her speed picks up to keep with his increasing velocity.

His fists curl at his sides. “Can you just fucking drop it Amelia?” He snapped. 

It wasn’t often that he cursed at her or used her full first name, especially not in such a serious tone. She knew that when he did it was serious.

Her eyes widened at his response and she nodded again. “Okay.” She replied meekly. “Sorry.”

The remainder of the walk back to her home was quiet and uncomfortable. It was mainly made up of the sound of their sneakers scuffing against asphalt.

When they reached Amelia’s fence it was reminiscent of that first night after breaking into Nick’s house.

“I’m sorry I snapped at you.” He said quietly but genuinely. Noah could be volatile at times but it was always followed up by an apology once he calmed down.

“It’s okay.” Reassured Amelia. “I shouldn’t have pried, it wasn’t my business.”

He sighed. “It’s not that necessarily, I just didn’t want to talk about it.”

Amelia let a pause settle between them before speaking again. “You know that you can talk to me about anything, right? I mean…” Her eyes fell to her scuffed up Converse. “I mean, I know it’s been a while. And you probably don’t trust me like you used to but, I’d still never judge you or anything.” 

Noah’s heart sank at her words, at the implication that she doesn’t hold his trust. But she was right. Ten years is a long time and 16 is such a tricky age. Nobody is a complete person at 16, there’s so much change that occurs between then and a whole adult version of the same person. And yet, it was as if no time had passed between them. His whole life Noah had only fully trusted two people, and one of them was standing right in front of him. She never once gave him any reason to question her trust. The minute he laid eyes on Amelia in the bakery last week, he trusted her all over again. However, this wasn’t a matter of trust.

“That’s no-.” Noah hesitated for a second, inhaling a deep breath that forced his cheeks to puff out while his eyes stared blankly at the sidewalk where he stood. “Scout, I know you would never judge me. It’s just not important.” 

“Are you sure? It just seemed like you went somewhere else in your mind back there. I just,” Amelia exhaled, feeling a tinge of warmth coat her cheeks. “I just… worry about you. Sometimes.” She squeaked out. 

Noah’s eyes snapped up from the cement to Amelia’s eyes at her confession. Her gaze immediately darted from his hold, feeling the heat on her cheeks grow into a burn. Valleys formed between his brows in curiosity, “You worry about me?” He couldn’t help but ask - it had been so long and so much had changed, there was no way she still even thought about him in any real capacity before their reunion. 

“Well,” Her hands anxiously pulled down her sleeves to cover his freezing hands. “Yeah? Duh.”

His stomach filled with swirling butterflies as he took in the girl in front of him. Of course he thought about her too, all of the time. Guilt twisted his intestines knowing that he was keeping this secret from her. As kids, they never kept things from each other, there were no secrets between the three of them unless it was necessary. But this, this was definitely necessary. How could he in good conscience tell her that she was the reason he got distant on the nostalgic street, how could he tell her that she’s the reason he had to leave in the first place. 

Well, it wasn’t necessarily her fault directly, in all honest reality it was his. It was Noah’s fault that he was a rebellious teenager and doing everything under the sun to get him in trouble - with both his parents and the law. He didn’t know why he did it, in therapy he’s told it was for attention. Maybe that was the truth. Maybe he wanted his parents to acknowledge his existence even a little bit. Or maybe acting out landed him in mandatory escapes from home. He liked that reasoning the best. He wondered if perhaps that was why he dragged Amelia and Nicholas into every scheme. If they all got caught, they’d be forced into detention - forced to spend time together regardless of parental schedules or permission. Being home and being alone were the things he ran from the most. He should feel guilty about it, he thinks, for getting them in so much trouble - but for the most part, he can’t. They were his only lifeline, he wouldn’t have survived without them. He took the brunt of the punishments anyway, always taking the fall for them. He paid more than his fair shares of his dues for the choices he made. At the time it seemed worth it but looking at it now, he wasn’t sure. 

“Oh,” His hands fidgeted before meeting her soft eyes again. He could barely stand looking at her while she watched him with such kindness and concern for him in her eyes. “I didn’t,” He exhaled in order to compose his thoughts. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you. I’m okay Scout, I promise. I just, must be hangry or something.” He joked to break up the tension, his favorite coping mechanism. 

“Okay.” She replied quietly with a small nod. They stood in silence for a moment, the weight of unspoken words heavy in the air. Amelia shifted on her feet and wrapping one arm around herself then brought the other to her lips, biting down on her thumbnail. “So, the Ruffilo Christmas party is still on for this weekend, right?”

Noah’s expression softened at the shift in topic. “Yeah! You still planning on coming?”

“Yeah, of course.” A smile formed on her lips. “How could I pass up a Ruffilo party?”

Noah couldn’t help but match the grin that painted across her lips. “It’ll be good to hang out like old times.”

“Yeah, I’m looking forward to it.” She admitted softly. Her tummy that had just been twisted with anxiety was now buzzing with excitement. 

“Me too,” Noah agreed, his own smile widening. “It’ll be fun.”

“Yeah. Definitely.” Amelia nodded, scuffing the heel of her shoe against the pavement. After a quiet pause, she took a step back, glancing toward her small home. “I should get inside. It’s getting late.” She rubbed her own arms with a chattering smile. “And it’s really fucking cold.”

“Yeah, you should do that.” His smile fell a bit. “See you in a couple days?”

“Mhm.” She nodded, unlocking her wire fence as she waved at him. “Goodnight, Noah.”

He waved back, “G‘night, Scout.” His voice not as strong as before, sounding almost defeated.

The weekend arrived faster than Amelia was prepared for. After cycling through various outfits in the mirror, she landed on a mid-thigh length dark emerald velvet flowy dress paired with a bow in her hair of the same shade. The dress was adorned with bat-wing sleeves and a scooped neckline.

Between the anxious, panicked outfit changes and the flurries of butterflies in her tummy while waiting at the front door, it reminded her all too much of 7th grade when she attended one particular Ruffilo Christmas party. That year for some reason wasn’t the same as the ones before, things had shifted. She was growing into her body and suddenly boys looked a little different. Her stomach started feeling fluttery through all their hangouts, but she dismissed it as being due to the cute friends the boys kept around. 

She texted Noah, letting him know she was there and adjusted the bow in her half-up hair. Not long after, a tipsy Nicholas swings the door open wide. “Scout!” His grin reached his eyes, and he wrapped his arms around her, giving her a tight squeeze. “You know you could’ve just let yourself in, silly.”

She let out a content sigh, suddenly feeling much more at ease. Her arms wrapped around him, reciprocating the tight embrace, clinging onto him mostly because she genuinely missed him too. It had always been the three of them, not just Noah. “Nice to see you too Nicholas.”

He pulled back keeping her shoulders in a grip, “Augh my mom is gonna be so happy to see you!”

Walking into the two-story home felt like stepping into a time machine. The home was covered floor to ceiling with the same Christmas decorations she grew up seeing every year. Mama Ruffilo loved herself a good holiday, never passing up on an opportunity to decorate and celebrate something. Birthdays were treated as sacred holidays in their home – whenever anyone close to them had a birthday, that week was blocked off on their calendar. She took it upon herself to throw them a huge party with everyone they knew invited – even if you didn’t really know them. Their parties were grand and extravagant and lasted all day long. She pumped out delicious homemade food the entire day and ended it with a giant cake perfectly curated to the birthday person’s taste. Mama Ruffilo filled every event with enough love to go around for everyone, even the straggling strangers.

Their home was gorgeously dated, built in the early 1900’s and made up almost entirely out of wood. It was spacious but with a tight floor plan.

After some overdue catching up with Nick’s parents, the two of them made their way upstairs to meet up with Noah. The pair made sure to bring nearly overflowing solo cups full of Mama Ruffilo’s famous sparkling cranberry cocktail, an extra re-up for Noah.

The upstairs loft area was their domain, where all the kids used to hang out. The space was decked out with a couch, a couple bean bag chairs and a TV with every gaming console you could imagine. The Ruffilo’s were by no means wealthy, but they tried to give their kids as much as they could, and for the most part they succeeded. The loft area looked the same, as if it hadn’t been touched since the last time she had been there. It’s funny how there are moments in live, where you don’t realize that you’re experiencing something for the last time. Amelia would sometimes think about the last time she saw Noah that starry night at the skatepark, and how she had no idea it’d be their last.

Noah was sat on the couch playing some shooter game.

“Hey.” Amelia said meekly, giving him a little wave. Since the night at the park suddenly she felt shyer around him than before their reunion in the bakery.

“Hey Scout.” He said uninterrupted with his brows furrowed and his tongue stuck between his lips with his thumbs flying over the plastic controller. His gaze flickered up to her in a brief moment of respite, the look was fleeting as his eyes immediately went back reflexively to the game. It seemed as though his brain processed what he saw after the fact, his eyes snapping right back at her, lingering this time as he gave her a once over. It was clear he did not expect her to show up in a short dress that so perfectly accentuated the curves of her body. Of course, logically he knew she had grown up, but something about the way the fabric laid on her body clicked something in his brain. That was a woman standing in front of him, not the girl he used to call his best friend. The realization sent a buzzing warmth down his body that he didn’t anticipate. His focus stayed on her a couple seconds too long, and the sounds of defeat blared from the tv speakers.

“Fuck.” He mumbled, pausing the game and setting down the controller on the coffee table in front of him. He shook his head from the swirling thoughts and pulled himself up to his feet. He wrapped his arm around her, pulling her in for a half hug. “Glad you could make it Scout.” He smiled down at her.

She looked up at him, forgetting how much he actually towered over her – the top of her head barely reaching his shoulder, even with the almost two inches of added height from her shoes. “Thanks for inviting me.”

The boys gathered on the couch while Amelia opted for the matching armchair beside them. The trio spent some time catching up, sharing more stories of their time spent away from each other. Though the boys’ success stories seemed to outshine her modest life running a bakery, they still made her accomplishments seem just as significant and grandiose as their own.

Amelia watched the boys play a couple rounds of their shooter game while she was once again playing catch up to their drinking. She forgot the burn that came from the strong cranberry cocktail but that didn’t stop her from finishing 2 cups of it while now nursing a strong 3rd. The alcohol was quickly spreading tingly heat through her veins already reaching her fingertips.

Her eyes drifted to a corner of the room where a play tent used to sit, and a grin spread across her lips. Clear as day she could see herself at 9 years old hiding in it with her legs tucked up into her chest held tightly by her arms thinking it was the best hiding spot in the house.

“What’re ya smilin’ about?” Asked Nicholas, setting down the controller as their match ended.

She laughed and shook her head, “Nothin, just thinkin’ about how I’d always win at hide-and-seek.” She smirked with pride, straightening up before taking another sip of the fruity drink.

Noah scoffed, “Yeah fuckin’ right, I always won.”

“I don’t think so, not the way I remember it.” Amelia countered with a propped brow.

“Well, you’re definitely remembering wrong.” He challenged.

“Well, why don’t we find out?” Nick suggested with a playful glint in his eye. “For old times’ sake.”

“Fuck it, fine.” Amelia laughed, the nostalgic innocence of it all just as prevalent in her system as the alcohol.

“Sounds good to me.” Noah boasted and pointed a finger at her, narrowing his eyes. “You’re goin’ down, Alastor.” Noah was known to have a strong competitive streak and it showed when he began pulling last names out.

The trio gathered in the middle of the upstairs hallway just as they had years ago.

“Okay, 3 for 3?” Nick confirmed as that was their tradition.

The three looked at each other and nodded in agreement. They all downed the last of their drinks before the game began. Nick leaned against the railway of the foyer with covered eyes and began counting down while Noah and Amelia darted in opposite directions in search of their perfect hiding spots.

It felt silly, running around as 20-somethings looking for their old tried and true hiding locations assuming Nicholas wouldn’t remember them. But the rush of pure child-fueled adrenaline was too good to pass up for the pair, feeling better than they ever remembered. Whether it was the magic of the old house imprinted with their childhood wonderment or the alcohol swirling in their chests that fueled their fun, they couldn’t tell, but it was thrilling all the same.

In the first round, Amelia weaved through the downstairs crowd, somehow picking up another glass of cranberry cocktail along the way to warm her journey to her first spot. She was grateful no one was around to catch her sneaking into the coat closet below the stairs. Noah on the other hand, discovered that finding discreet hiding places now that he was lanky and 6’3 wasn’t the easiest thing to do. In a desperate last-minute attempt, he chose to hide behind some floor-length curtains in the living room. Noah was glad that the people around him were too drunk to question it.

Obviously, Amelia won that round.

By the second round, the trio were way past their limits on the wicked cranberry elixir. Their cheeks were rosy, their fingers tingly and their lips numb. Silly giggles and drunken fumbling were what gave away Amelia’s position, giving Noah the victory of the 2nd round.

Finally, after a sloppy team meeting downstairs, Nick began counting down, though he kept having to start over due to him tripping over his numbers and forgetting his place. Amelia and Noah split in separate directions, but they took advantage of Nick’s extra time. The brunette circled around downstairs but the racing urgency in her heart convinced her that she was running out of time and to give up and try upstairs. A brilliant idea bloomed in her mind like a light bulb in her head, an absolute genius spot she thought. She rushed her way through the traffic in the stairway and almost broke through the door of her destination with the force she ran into it.

She flicked the light on and took in the room, it looked so perfect, like it hadn’t been touched in the past 10 years. Nick’s bedroom was just as cluttered as she remembered it being, every surface covered with something – books, vinyls, figures, old instruments. Three of his walls were dark blue with one accent wall of chalkboard paint black.

She closed the door behind her and stumbled slightly as she turned to take in the chalkboard, covered with messages they'd left over the years. The notes stretched all the way back to an old Girl Scout schedule of hers. She walked towards the board, touching the chalk, reminiscing about that very first day. She rolled the blue powder between her middle finger and thumb remembering it as if it was yesterday. It was at the end of a Girl Scout meeting, and she was helping a younger girl in her troop with her sash. Just as she got it perfect, two older boys ran up to inform the dark-haired girl that their mom sent them to find her and that she was impatiently waiting in the car.

“Nice sash, loser.” Sneered 8-year old Nick with crossed arms.

“Amelia helped me with it.” The younger girl retorted proudly. “She said it’s cool.”

Nick scoffed at the idea, “Yeah right.”

“She worked hard for these badges, they’re special.” Amelia raised her brow, eyeing the small boy up and down. “I don’t see you with anything special.” She sassed.

“I like yours.” Squeaked Noah with wide eyes blinking at Amelia, not even looking the sash he was complimenting.

“Thanks.” A tiny smile formed on her lips, taking in the slightly taller boy with kindest brown eyes.

“I’m Noah-“ He began before getting cut off by Nick yanking his arm towards the exit.

As Noah was getting dragged away by Nick, he gave Amelia a big goodbye wave, “Nice meeting you… Scout!” He called back with a giant smile to the unnamed girl.

“You gonna hide or what!” A voice whisper-yelled from the closet, snapping her from her nostalgic trance.

Her brows furrowed and followed the mystery voice, yanking the closet door open.

“Hey! You’re in my hiding spot!” She whined spotting Noah in her genius idea.

“Finder’s keepers, find a different place!” He said competitively even though there was no real malice in his tone.

“No – I don’t think I will.” She straightened up, “I thought of it, I’m sitting in here.” In her hazy mind, the logic made perfect sense and, in that moment, sitting in her genius hiding spot might as well have meant winning the game.

Noah knew better than to challenge a drunk Amelia and just groaned with an eye roll, tucking his crossed legs further into himself. “Augh, fine, just get in before he walks in here.”

Amelia giggled proudly and plopped herself across from him. She was much smaller than Noah so her fitting into such a small space wasn’t much of a hassle. She brought her bent legs up, wrapping her arms around them and resting her chin on her knees looking at him.

The edges of Noah’s lips quirked up into a wide grin as he looked over her, taking in how adorable she looked with her cheeks flushed and lips stained cranberry-red. “Oh, you’re drunk.”

The redness on her cheeks grew as she giggled at his words, bringing her long sleeves up to her face to hide her face. “Shut up, Noah!”

He let out a laugh at her reaction, finding it quite endearing.

“Hey! So are you!” She snapped at his laughter and smacked him with the access of her bell sleeve.

He shrugged, “Nick’s mom is a great bartender.” He chuckled, convinced that even drinking straight liquor couldn’t get him as drunk as that dreaded juice.

“Too bad Nick didn’t get any of that magic in his genes.” She quipped back with a grin beginning to spread.

They both erupted into a fit of cackles remembering the monstrous concoctions Nicholas would create at any given high school party they were at.

“No, he really didn’t!” Amelia couldn’t keep it together as she shook her head vigorously, almost making her dizzy.

“And you wanna know somethin’?” Noah leaned in and waited until she reciprocated in matched anticipation. “He still doesn’t!”

Amelia’s eyes filled with tears from how hard she was laughing, reaching out and grasping Noah’s arms for stability, pattering her feet as well as she could while sitting down. She shook Noah hard as if the more she moved him the easier it would be to breathe through her drunken laughter.

Noah didn’t help, only laughing harder because of her over-enthused amusement. The feeling of her delicate hands gripping him ignited some warm feeling in his chest that he couldn’t explain, or maybe it just didn’t make sense, or perhaps it was a feeling he forgot came with Amelia. The longer her hands lingered on him, the more familiar it became and in the pit of his stomach he realized that he remembered it vividly. Sitting on floors, wrapped up in fits of laughter always felt like that with her. It was electric and euphoric but soft like velvet and cashmere. Safe and exciting. Perhaps, maybe, it might be what people say home feels like. It seemed alcohol only amplified that feeling. A part of him thought that maybe if he kept her laughing, she’d never leave.

The pair suddenly perked up and their laughter ceased at a loud sound from past the room worried them that it might be Nick finally getting close to finding them.

“Shit!” Noah straightened up peek through the slats of the closet.

“What?”

“You didn’t turn the light off before getting in here.” He hissed.

Before Noah could stop her, she cracked the closet open and shakily pulled herself to her feet.

“Scout!” He called after her in a whisper and fell short of grabbing her wrist.

She sprinted across the room, flicking off the light casting the room in deep darkness.

“Fuck.” She muttered, not really thinking through the fact that she’d have to find her way back in the dark.

“’Melia.” Noah groaned letting his head fall back, pinching the bridge of his nose, suddenly remembering how ditzy she could get when intoxicated. “Just follow my voice and try not to knock anything down.”

“S’kay!” She slurred a bit and if on cue, she bumped into his dresser. “Ow!”

Noah covered his face with both hands, watching the vague movement in the dark through parted fingers like it was a train wreck he couldn’t look away from.

Her hands landed carefully on every surface she came in contact with, though the numbness that made home in her fingertips did not aid in that quest.

“I believe in you Scout, c’mon.” He chuckled, now tracking her with his light-adjusted eyes.

“I’m good, I’m good, I got it!”

By the grace of god, the girl made it back to the closet in one piece. However, it seemed that the precarious feat of finding her way back to her spot in the crowded closet was much more complicated in the darkness.

She stepped in just fine, “See, told you I got it!”

“Yeah, after you bumped into every piece of furniture!”

His comment starts the chain reaction of their drunken laughter. From all the combined laughter of the night, Amelia’s abdomen actively ached and when she couldn’t catch her breath, her midsection failed to support her weight any longer. She lost her balance and stumbled forward. She tried to catch herself, but the darkness and her tipsiness got the better of her. 

Amelia somehow landed in Noah’s lap and it’s only once the giggles died down that they realized her position on him.

Their smiles fall slowly once they notice just how close their faces were to each other’s.

“Hi.” Amelia breathes out quietly, being able to see him clearer with her eyes finally adjusted to the dark.

“Hi.” Noah replied, just as delicately as her. He shifts a bit beneath her, stretching his legs out allowing for her position to settle better. Each knee nestled at his sides, and she rested on his lap gently. Her palms found themselves on his chest, seeking warmth to ground her. A buzz laid claim across her skin and a prickling at her fingertips. She couldn’t tell if it was just the alcohol playing tricks on her but could’ve sworn that she could feel his heart thumping quickly beneath her hand. If it was his heart she felt, hers was racing just as fast.

It’s Noah’s eyes that first flickered down to her lips and that’s all it takes to prompt Amelia to do the same. It’s a game that went on for what felt like an eternity to them, but in reality, it wasn’t even a minute. Noah doesn’t think, he just does, following his drunken impulse to close the gap between them. Amelia’s eyes widen at the unfamiliar feeling of his lips.

It was barely a millisecond before they recoiled away from each other. Their eyes darted back and forth trying to read the other’s expression. It’s Amelia this time that rejoins their lips. It was awkward, neither one of them thinking fully about their actions but understanding it was foreign.

This kiss lasted longer than the previous with their lips locked. When it became clear that neither one of them wanted it to end, Noah advanced by placing his hands on her hips hesitantly. Her hands delicately made their way up to his throat, tenderly cupping the sides and letting her fingers rest on the nape of his neck. He took the gesture as invitation to proceed to something that made him nervous, a heavy pit sitting in the deepest part of his belly. It was something that would cement and advance the alcohol-fueled moment into something more real. He cautiously swiped his tongue against her bottom lip asking for entrance and much to his surprise, she obliged.

Their tongues cautiously met in the middle and began to explore each other. One of Noah’s hands made its way up her body to cup her cheek and pull her in further to deepen the kiss. His touches were delicate and careful, like she was made of glass.

If they had been sober, their minds would have surely been racing with all the paranoia and implications of their actions, but there, wasted on cranberry cocktails, and in the bubble they always seemed to create, there was nothing on their minds except each other.

It doesn’t take long for the kiss to heat up. Amelia’s arms wrapped around his neck, pulling him closer and adjusting to be further in his lap. Amelia’s thumping heart jumped into her throat while his dropped into his hips. Their clashed lips were a messy display of suppressed frustration and drunken bliss - hungry and curious, but soft and cautious.

Her dainty fingers threaded into roots of his lengthy hair as her hips began to just barely roll against his lap. Between the alcohol and the buzzing that made home between her legs, he was about all she could think about. In her drunken state it made perfect sense to follow the urge commanded by the ache in her core.

Noah however being slightly less drunk than her, held the whisper of unrequited adoration in the back of his mind. Emphasis on whisper, his brain was too woozy and fogged up from the girl lazily moving herself against him to care all that much. He thought, if being loved by her only came like this, just one time while they were drunk, maybe it was okay to let her lips grace his just this once. He had no real plans to actually escalate the moment past a heated kiss. She didn’t know what she was doing and would probably forget tomorrow anyway, there was no harm in a kiss.

Amelia pulled away, letting reality drip into her brain just a bit. Her eyes bounced between his own, who looked at her with a look that didn’t waiver like before, completely down for whatever the night was delivering.

When the bedroom door abruptly opened, it was as if their bodies were ripped apart from the way Amelia instinctively flew back into her spot. Her chest rose and fell quickly with her heart racing so fast it threatened to shatter her ribcage. Her cheeks burned the way a child’s would with fear of getting caught breaking rules. Even though there were no rules that stated otherwise, she felt as though she’d broken some invisible law. She wouldn’t necessarily classify it as wrong, just perhaps forbidden.

From all the loud chaos of her fleeing from him to the opposite side of the closet, it was a dead giveaway for Nick of their hiding spot.

Amelia squeezed her eyes shut at the sound of his sneakered footsteps making their way to the closet. She thought maybe if she stayed completely still, by some miracle he’d second guess his trail.

The closet doors creaked open in an instant and light from the hallway flooded the dark room. From the way Nick’s face dropped, it was clear that he wasn’t expecting to see both their faces in the same spot. His expression shifted from knitted confused brows to a wide victorious grin.

“Ha! Y’all made it easy. Two birds, one stone, you lose!” He declared as if he won the olympics, which didn’t really make sense since he didn’t win either. It was a tie between the three of them with each winning a singular round. They all won, they all lost.

“Sorry I um,” Amelia cleared her throat and struggled to leave the closet, crushing old shoes and letting boxes tumble behind her. “Sorry, I just need to leave.” She mumbled quickly, brushing past Nick nearly knocking him backwards.

Her legs couldn’t keep up with her speeding around the house to gather her belongings to leave. She threw her jacket under her arm and tossed her crossbody purse over her shoulder. Her feet stumbled over the steps of the staircase and barreled through the bustling party to land on the cold front door handle. A harsh cold smacked her face immediately triggering her teeth to chatter. The freezing winter wind was vicious and relentless across her pale skin as her legs propelled her forward to a full-on sprint home.

It wasn’t until she bursted through her front door with her back against it that she finally felt a semblance of safety. Her back was so heavy against the door that when she tried to pull herself from it, her spine felt like magnetized concrete. She let out a weighty sigh before forcefully kicking herself off.

Even though the holiday cocktail was still rushing through her veins like vicious waters, she stumbled her way into her kitchen. Her legs ached from the drunken sprint home and her chest was sore from the heavy breathing. Her head spun like a basketball on the tip of a player’s finger.

The fridge light burned her retinas when she pulled the door open and quickly found her target, an old, gifted bottle of red wine. Her eyes landed on the cabinet door that hid her wine glasses but deemed the task too exhausting and pointless. There was a hollow echo from pulling the cork harshly from the bottle’s mouth. The sanguine liquid flowed past her lips and into a greedy gulp, leaving behind a dry bitter burn. Her face scrunched at the taste, disappointed that even at her level of intoxication the beverage was still horrid.

Amelia rested her hands against the granite edge of the countertop, letting the weight of her entire body pool into her palms. Her mind was a fuzzy blur, nauseatingly turbulent with the memories of the past few hours. The thoughts came in relentless waves, giving her brief moments of drunken distraction before crashing back in. She hoped she’d forget tomorrow after a good night’s sleep, and she hoped the same for Noah. God, she hoped the same for him.

A/N; thank you so much for reading 💗 i hope you enjoyed even though it is definitely not christmas time lmao 💗 let me know what you think ! 💗

Taglist; @lma1986 @alastriaa @missduffsblog @xxkittenkissesxx @ladyveronikawrites @baddestomens @measuredingold @jilliemiw86 @vinyardmauro @laurpartyprogram @somebodyels3 @silentglassbreak @thepastelfae

[evendimmer]

Right back at you...

1. Fav human

2. Fav troll alternia

3. Fav troll beforus

4. Fav ancestor (you know, The Dolorosa, The Executor. Etc etc)

5. Which troll blood would you like to be?

6. Fav song

7. God tier

8. What do you think of the representation of your sign?

OK to be fair, I wasn't overly invested in Homestuck but it was a really fun read and I did cry reading certain parts.

Alright buckle up babygirl, this is going to be one of them long ass reads (though thankfully most of them are pictures really lmao)

Shoutout to @3starjammies my girlie who got me into this hell hole in the first place 🫶

1. Favourite Human

Probably not the answer you're looking for but it's got to be:

I mean look—

I'm sorry I'm a sucker for memes 😭

But also like, I like most of the human characters pretty much equally, so it's kinda hard to choose one in particular? I can tell you which ones I don't like; but if I really absolutely have to choose a favourite, it will have to be the Lalondes and the Dirks...

They're just too fucking cool.

2. Favourite Alternia Troll

Terezi

She's smart, she's a troll, got one of the sickest themes of them all

Her bits in [S] Game Over wrecked me so hard (on top of all the characters dying oof that was fucking rough) but THIS was what reduced me to a sobbing mess:

Yeah no fuck that shit.

3. Favourite Beforus Troll

Meenah.

I love her design from the get go, distinctive, unique and screams badass. Not to metion the fact that

She's such a little shit I can't even.

also like she's so gay you know?

Kinda wish she stood up for ghost!Vriska but glad that she decided to go do the right thing at the end.

4. Favourite Ancestor

I'm a simple girl. They got nice design, they look hot, and both their stories are so tragic. That's it 🙂‍↕️

5. Which troll blood would you like to be?

Practically speaking, I would say the highest blood possible because of how savage the troll society is lmao

But other than that, I don't really have a preference.

6. Favourite Song

oof, I have too many of them, babygirl

Descend

All the sexy, sexy leitmotifs god

Savior of the Waking World

I love how magical and sad this sounds at the same time it really suits the ressurection theme

Even In Death (T'Morra's Belly Mix)

Precussions go brrrrr

but my most favourite is

I'm a Member of the Midnight Crew

Best song in the history of Homestuck, hands down.

wah waaah wah wahwah wahwah wah wah mwah

7. God tier

There is only one answer.

Nothing, nothing will ever top the reveal of

Our bb girl Witch of Space 😭

8. What do you think of the representation of your sign?

oh great question kuki dear, I have been thinking about this a lot because honestly, for my sun sign?

He suck.

Apologies to all the Sollux lovers here

I dont like his design. His character is meh. He's mostly used as a plot device and his powers aren't that great either. Gets kicked around and even his ancestors wounded up being a giant bio-battery to power an airship

So its a no for me.

[unwellpodcast]

From the ask meme you posted, would love to know

3. your fav dialogue

and

17. inspirations you had during the creating process

I'm trying to get back into reading (an embarrassing thing to type) and would especially love to know if you had recommendations of horror literature similar to unwell!

FIRST OFF: there is nothing embarrassing about getting back into reading. Activities, even ones we love, come and go through our lives. That's a value-neutral thing~

Gonna give you a few things that inspired Unwell- many of them books you should check out!

Media that inspired/informed/shaped/Reminds us of Unwell

Books/Comics: House of Leaves Wisconsin Death Trip The Gone Away World Sandman Locke and Key Digger

Music: The Mountain Goats (Also, John's books are definitely playing in some similar spaces to Unwell) The New Pornographers Rilo Kiley Defiance, OH Gillian Welch Leonard Cohen Warren Zevon

TV: Gravity Falls Twin Peaks The Haunting of Hill House (Flannagan) Midnight Mass

(also, if others want to send us asks- post link here)

I'm going to hide the answer to #3 below a cut, to avoid spoilers (this is from the end of Season 1)

These are two bits of S1/Ep11 by Jess Buha- I think they really emphasize her incredible range, and also set a really great bar for how weird we could make the show. It also illustrates a way I LOVE to have writers work with me as a sound designer (though I didn't design this episode)- giving me what the audience should FEEL, and evoking something big- rather than telling me exactly what sounds I should use.

=====

LILY: Thanks (to WES) You might be overheated. The sun's setting--it'll get cooler. Here, drink this.

WES: Okay.

WES DRINKS. HE SPITS IT OUT WITH A SOUND LIKE A HISSING CAT AND A TOASTER IN THE BATHTUB.

LILY: Wes, it's okay.

WES KEEPS MAKING THE HORRIBLE NOISE. IT BUILDS IN INTENSITY, SOUNDING LIKE A COMBINATION OF FEEDBACK AND A RABBIT SCREAMING. SOMETHING VIOLENT AND VAGUELY OTHER-WORLDLY.

What that alcohol?

MARISOL: No, just water.

THE SOUNDS OF THE FAIR FALTER. THE WARBLERS SKIP NOTES. FAIRGOERS STOP LAUGHING, AND BEGIN TO MUTTER. SOUR SOUND AS THE BANJEAURINE IS KICKED TO THE SIDE. DIRT RUSTLES AS WES STARTS TO SEIZURE.

RUDY: I don't know. I've never / heard anything--[about it.]

====

And then at the end of the episode, we have this beautiful moment:

====

ABBIE: What did she smell like, when you were a little kid?

SILENCE. LIVING ROOM SOUNDS. HOUSE SOUNDS.

LILY: Like cigarettes.

Like smoke. Like a campfire. Like the ocean. Big and salty--she sweated a lot--I don't know--she was always moving. Always planting a thing or pulling up a thing or painting a thing or hauling a thing. She used to take me on hikes through the forest at night, and she'd turn the flashlight off, and we'd stand there in the darkness, and she'd hold my hand, and we'd listen to the-- you know--the whatevers. The crickets. The owls. Night sounds. It was just us, then. Unlike every other millisecond of the day. I felt jealous cause I guess I wanted her only project to be me, but she was like the ocean, and she had all this other stuff going on. I was always so small in her world--like this small, tiny piece. I just didn't ever want to be forgotten.

ABBIE: I won't forget you.

RUDY: You have a certain je ne sais quoi that sticks in the mind.

And I can't forget good people. Celery liquor?

LILY: Thanks. Lemme grab a glass.

RUDY: Just drink it from the bottle.

LILY: Okay.

LILY TAKES A SWIG.

Whew! Spicy.

ABBIE: Celery-cool.

LILY: Hey, did you win that thing?

ABBIE: Yeah.

LILY: Awesome! Awesome.

END.

====

[hyperfixationtimego]

skifdjdjf no worries on the other asks! it’s almost midnight so I’m sending dumb memes. speaking of dumb memes... Mukuro, when Mondo gets to Hope’s Peak Hell: wow...ur trans pobic........ that’s so cool *cocks gun* - love wins anon 🖤🤍 (he’s not really transphobic tho I think we all know that witifiejrc)

hi my danganronpa germs came back finally and I’m losing my mind a lil because I distinctly remember this ask causing me echolalia for a prolonged period of time and I’m utterly blown away that I apparently never answered it HDVDNDND

NO BUT LIKE. SO REAL <3

Ghost!Leon & Ghost!Chihiro, having regained both their memories after death and knowing full-well that Mondo might be a little confused but he got the spirit: HEY HEY HEY NO NO NO-

(I am also quite partial to the trans mondo headcanon…….Like just the three of them gravitating towards each other by accident would be so sweet and funny to me. But slightly-confused-but-supportive ally Mondo is ALSO fantastic and I adore it ehehe <3 )

[oddmawd]

Hey Mawd, is it okay to ask about "The Wife" from The Hunt in these OC asks or not? Just curious! Nway, sending 🎂,💯 and ☕️ for Rei!

hmmmm, The Wife...that should be fine! i left her somewhat abstract for the reader-insert lovers but she has a distinct personality i could use for this DETAILS ABOUT OCs ASK MEME...(also i did base her closely on Rei LMAO so i can kind of default to Rei's characterization for the ask game too!)

THANK YOU FOR THE ASK I LOVE ANSWERING THESE AND YOU MADE MY ENTIRE FUCKIN WEEK, ILY TY!!!!!!

🎂 BIRTHDAY CAKE — when is your oc's birthday? how old are they? what are their sun, moon, & rising signs (if known)? what about their tarot card, ruling planet, & ruling number (if known)? do they fit the typical traits of these sun, moon, & rising signs?

You put me through my paces with this one because I hadn't actually done any birth chart stuff for Rei, and I'm not very good at astrology stuff! I'm basically just picking stuff that fits the personality I gave her. Her birthday is April Fools Day! This makes her an Aries, and I like to think she was born only a few minutes after midnight, putting her on the cusp of being a March and April Aries. As for her signs... She is an Aries Sun, Virgo Moon, Scorpio Rising. This gives her Aries' ambition and drive but Virgo's desire for order while pursuing her goals, and Scorpio's strong intuition and ability to read emotions. Does she fit these signs? Sometimes, but her past has cooled some of Aries' famous temper, and her Sun and Rising signs further quell some of the impulsivity Aries are known for. She looks before she leaps, unlike the typical Aries, and she's not a selfish person as some people believe of Scorpio. She IS, however, very much a Virgo in how critical she is of herself (especially her appearance). I don't know enough about Tarot or numerology to answer the other questions, but I hope the above is enough. <3

💯 HUNDRED POINTS SYMBOL — share three random facts about your oc that others may not know.

Fun Fact #1: Rei's favorite emoji, coincidentally, is the 💯 emoji. Followed closely by the ✨ emoji. You'd THINK it would be the winking emoji, but nope. She saves winks for in-person shenanigans. Fun Fact #2: She owns no fewer than 50 wigs. Yes, that's a lot of wigs, but not all of them are top-grade, human hair, hand-tied, or even natural-looking wigs. In fact, the majority of them aren't. Human-hair, hand-tied wigs are extremely expensive, and she only owns a handful (collected over the course of many years) for special occasions. She breaks down her wig collection into four distinct categories: The Queens (her best wigs), the Classy Ladies (high-end synthetic wigs), the Party Girls (mid-tier synthetic wigs), and the Hot Mess Ma'ams (the cheapo costume wigs she happily beats to hell and back). Every category has its time and place. The purple wig she wore to the club in The Sight Unseen was a Hot Mess Ma'am she got on Amazon for like $15. (Bonus Wig Fact: She prefers NOT to glue down her wigs, though she used to do so for ballroom competitions and burlesque routines. Her skin is sensitive and easily irritated, and she enjoys changing up her look on an almost daily basis.) Fun Fact #3: Rei loves reading, and she loves reading nonfiction especially. She volunteers are her local library to read books to kids. She typically dresses up in a costume or fancy outfit that fits the theme of the day's book. Rei is QUITE GOOD at acting out children's literature, and kids love her because she's willing to meet them on their level and never talks down to them. She's very good with kids in general. (That may have been more than one fun fact for this last entry...)

☕️ HOT BEVERAGE — does your oc prefer coffee, tea, hot chocolate, milk, water, or some other drink? how do they like to take this drink (ex. coffee with milk, hot chocolate with whipped cream, a specific kind of tea, etc)?

Today, Rei is a double espresso kind of person. She drinks it for utility in the early mornings and to power late-night study sessions. A quick slam of caffeine is just what she needs to power through the day. BUT when she wants something she can savor and isn't in dire need of instant waking up, she goes for a London fog with a pump of lavender syrup. That's her cozy drink on Sunday mornings, curled up in bed with a good book in her favorite bathrobe. Please note that in her club-scene-visiting and dance-competition-dominating and burlesque-performing youth, however, she would down sugar-free Red Bulls by the case. Those were darks times characterized by youthful idiocy joie de vivre and complete disregard for the health of her kidneys.

I LOVED ANSWERING THESE OMG THANK YOU SO MUCH PLZ SEND MORE IF YOU WANNA!

[sweeterthanmydreams]

Desperately need to motivate myself to get words written but cannot. be. arsed.

I think I'll make my goal finishing typing up the material I have, then adding 3000 words to the end of it to account for hitting par on Tuesday. I really wish I hadn't been sick at the start of this month, so I could have gotten rolling sooner. =.=

Things fell apart last Saturday, me thinks, when I was trying to squeeze a puzzle out of my brain for the last leg of the dungeon. It went well in the end, and I came up with a puzzle in the end, but it was a whole 24 hours of panic and brain rot. I think I forgot to turn off "oh-god-I-need-to-finish-designing-this-dungeon-before-six-so-I-can-run-it-and-it's-noon-and-I-still-haven't-slept" mode once I no longer needed it.

Also spent all of last night finishing Rigel for when the next DM takes over on Saturday (we have a cool rotational system in which DMs break larger campaigns into arcs so we can all take turns) which is a big plus for task completion but boy howdy. I thought it would take a few hours, but it actually took all night and I still haven't settled on a hair color for him.

I think I'm going to make big goals for writing tonight be: 1) everything is typed up 2) 3000 new words written before midnight & 3) 3000 more new words written after midnight. If I hit point two before midnight, I'll allow myself to finish my Heather's Surprise illustration (it just needs a background & it's complete!) but if I hit point two after midnight I'll wait until I finish point three. I'd love working out Rigel's design to be an incentive, but I can totally see myself getting carried away and losing track of time.

(There's also an oc ask meme I was thinking of using as an incentive, but I'm not yet sure how I want to go about that so I'll save it for tomorrow. I'm thinking each character sent is a word sprint of a finite length & each so many words I complete in the time allotted is how many questions I can answer. Still gotta roll this one around.)

[camlannpod]

2, 8, 10? <3 - asha

Oh yay!!!! (If you want to ask us about audio drama, here's the meme!)

2. Favorite Genres I am so basic but it's sci-fi and horror babyyyy! I love space sounds, and audio is the only medium where I can actually enjoy horror, so I'm obsessed. 8. Hidden Gems You Would Recommend to a Friend SO MANY. 1. The BookMarks from @wgc-productions is SUCH a charming comedy about two best friends, it's so genuinely funny and warm and I adore it and I desperately want more people to listen to it. 2. @nightshiftpodcast is the emotional, mlm romance driven urban fantasy noir that I have spent my whole life waiting for and I NEED more people to listen right now. 3. Super Suits from @faustiannonsense is such a charming superhero comedy with Jonny Sims in, arguably, his ideal role as a cartoon style announcer. It's so great and I love it. 10. Audio Drama You Wish Would Be Adapted to a Film/TV Series

Man, maybe this is another basic answer but I just feel like a Midnight Burger TV show would be so incredibly lovely. That or like a really cool near-future sci-fi movie of Apollyon.

[dual-domination]

For the WIP meme, "Midnight gunshot in a whiskey bottle"? 👀👀

AHHHH it's my wild west Weilan AU, set post American Civil War (people often forget abt Chinese people in US history) There are historical inaccuracies for the sake of getting some characters in the positions I needed them to be in, but there are enough notes regarding the racist anti-Chinese laws of the time. And we have long-haired Shen Wei! It's heavily inspired by Dark Country songs.

Finally, Shen Wei arranged the sheets on the clothesline under the first rays of the morning sun. The golden hues now covered the contours of some mountains in the distance, as well as taking over the courtyard in front of the house, making the dew glisten where there was some grass. The days were colder and if he didn't avail the sun early in the morning, his clothes wouldn't be dry before dusk. He hadn't felt the weather cool down gradually this time, the days had turned cold all of a sudden, forcing the routine to be soon readjusted. It was just one more abrupt readaptation between many.

In the distance, on the normally dusty road, but now contained by the still-present dew, could be seen the silhouette of a well-known man on horseback. He was coming at a slow pace, he probably would have spent the night traveling. He used to do it, it was part of his stealthy way of existing.

While watching the man, Shen Wei tried to finish hanging the washed clothes faster, leaving the last one on the clothesline as the horse stopped in front of the house of wood and stones. He walked quickly with the empty basket, which he set aside as the horseman dismounted and removed his hat. Dirt from the road, mixed with sweat, had stained his handsome face, the stubble and the dark hair tumbled over his forehead. Though he looked happy to be back, his sunken eyes betrayed weariness and something else. He took off his heavy cloak as well, leaving it at the foot of the stairs with his hat, and reached the beautiful person who welcomed him, wrapped his left arm around Shen Wei’s shoulders and kissed his hair. Normally, he would have felt sorry for touching his grimy clothes to Shen Wei's clean clothes, but not when he was already exhausted from traveling and from so much else. "Are you alright?" It was what really seemed essential to him to know, always, every time he returned, whether from a long trip or a few hours in town. "I am. I would be better if I didn't spend so much time not knowing where you've been and whether I'm going to welcome you back riding your horse or inside a coffin.” Despite the scolding, Shen Wei held him tight, briefly, and then let go of him, watching him. "You're hurt." "No. Well, no big deal.” He knew it was impossible to run away and he tried anyway.

"Liar. You didn’t move your right arm.” Shen Wei was about to poke his arm, but Zhao Yunlan dodged. “It was a bullet in the shoulder, I removed it. The end." He said as if that was simple. That was the problem - for him this was simple. “Did you clean it?” Shen Wei snorted, he would find it strange when Zhao Yunlan came back without having been shot, stabbed or thrown from a train, dislocated something in a collision, broken a few ribs perhaps. But ‘intact’ was something Zhao Yunlan never came back as. “As I could…” He shrugged. “Even your answer is dirty! Come inside, right now. To wash yourself.” Shen Wei hustled Zhao Yunlan up the steps of the house and through the door. “Wash all over, a decent bath. There's hot water on the fire, there always is, I never know when you're coming. There's always that." "I am fine!" Zhao Yunlan had already lost the line between making his protests and trying to calm the other down. The two things had sounded the same for a long time. “You're like a pig with a poorly washed wound, that's for sure. A full bath, with soap, with very hot water on the wounds. Did you stitch it?” “They are cauterized.” “You are very irresponsible.” "I'm still alive."

“No thanks to yourself, is it?” If Zhao Yunlan didn't quite understand the other's sarcasm, much like his own, he would be offended. Not because it was an exaggeration, but because he never forgot for a day what his shadow carried. Shen Wei hadn't always been like this. “I'll take a damn bath the way you want it and you can stitch whatever you think I've taken care of like shit here, alright?” “Of course you will.” *

Idk when I'll have energy to go back to this fic (whole story is drafted) bc its heavy and somber tone, but I hope to finish it one day bc it's one of my favorite WIPs (also my only work with a canon ship jkskjsjsjs) Bonus for having whole SID team there.

[notlesser]

hehehe blog introductory post

(am i doing this right?)

soooo I figured that I should do this since I have followers and mutuals now lol

ANyyywayyyyy

You guys can call me whatever you want, i guess? you can correlate a nickname with my URL but you don't have to

my age is in my bio but if you don't feel like straining your eyes to look at that i was born the same year that pluto was demoted from planethood (rip)

Things I post:

reblogs of things i find funny

reblogs of things that are cool/ interesting to me

reblogs of art i like

reblogs of poetry

my own random shitposts

my art (lie)

my own poetry

me just... talking?

answering asks if i get them lol

queer shit

things that i think are important

weird things (yes very specific i am aware)

Miku Binder Thomas Jefferson (any chance I get)

Things I dont post:

Hate Speech (against ANYONE)

Fundraisers or reblogs of posts asking for money (because idk how to check if they're scams or not)

Overly sexual content (I will make suggestive jokes sometimes but i won't post anything nsft on this blog, ESPECIALLY since there are minors who follow me)

literally anything I wouldn't say in real life

exposing anyones info or secrets

AI Generated anything (i am an ai hater frrrrr)

List of things im intooooooo:

Percy Jackson & the Olympians + anything affiliated

Hamilton

women

Ride the Cyclone

Hatsune Miku

women

Epic the Musical

Weirdcore

Analog horror

tall skinny nerdy men

cats (just in general, not cats the musical)

The Amazing Digital Circus ( however i am a jax hater)

Miraculous Ladybug

women

Taylor swift (fav album is midnights, pls dont be a hater about me being a swiftie 😭)

surrealism

dark romanticism (as in like that genre of literature in the 19th century not the romanticized sexual assault in modern "dark romance" books)

poetry

greek mythology

mythology in general

the world wars

eminem

the cold war

espionage

Gravity Falls

women

art

funny memes

jokes about past history events i shouldn't be joking about (like presidential assasinations, etc)

Steven Universe

Marvel (my favorites are wanda cause of her character and bucky because he's lowk fine)

Star Wars (hardly ever post abt it though)

history stuff in general

butterflies

did i mention I like women?

my wife (a whole man btw)

anyyyyywayyyyyyyyyyyyy

I'm gonna add on to this with a list of all the things i use to tag my stuff, it's mainly for me to reference to so i can find my damn posts, but everyone can use it lolllll

If there's anything abt me that you still want to know my asks are open and I'll answer if it's reasonable :)))))))))))

inside of you there are two intestines.

one of them is large, and the other is small.

[rededgerp]

Hello beautiful members! I hope everyone had a great holiday season and I hope all of your 2024 is going to be blessed and amazing! It is the first of the month and like I stated in a previous post, you will be able to answer Honesty Hour quesions all day, until the clock strikes midnight, making it Tuesday, the 2nd. If you are answering questions, please send them out too and please keep in mind, that goes for the meme too! We know some of you are only asking certain people on the meme list the questions and not everyone. Not cool at all. I will also post a meme for the week shortly. If you have been chosen to do the challenge for this month, it starts today and you have until next Monday to do it. If you have any questions on anything, please ask!

[midnightroseprincess]

Yugi Mutou?

Do I Like Them: I adore Yugi so much. He’s been my favorite male anime character for years. Set the standard, pretty much. 

5 Good Qualities: Empathetic as heck. Selfless as heck. Dedicated to his friends as heck. Strategic as heck – more so than even the Pharaoh, tbh. Forgiving as heck but will END YOU if you try to hurt his friends – inspirational. 

3 Bad Qualities: Sometimes his pacifistic tendencies let people walk over him too much (until they bring his friends into it, THEN he stands up to them – which is good and also relatable, but I wish I’d both he and I would stand up for ourselves more). Not good with telling fangirls ‘No’ to their flirtations. And while he got better, at one point he did deny the importance of his feelings compared to the importance of his friends’ feelings (which is misguided, even if good-intention-ed).

Favorite Episode/Etc.,: One of my all time favorite Yugi moments is the Dungeon Dice Arc in the manga, chapters 134 to 145, which the anime bungled horribly. In it, the Millennium Puzzle is shattered and Yugi is on his own dueling Otogi to win the Millennium Puzzle back. Talk about his time to shine… showing how quickly he can adapt and strategize to an unfamiliar game and dedicate himself to winning because a friend’s on the line. Also he worries about the effects shattering the Millennium Puzzle has on the Pharaoh throughout. Its also an eerily memorable moment that Yami Bakura pops in to encourage him in this weird ‘enemy mine’ kind of moment, saying he’s the true recipient of the Millennium Puzzle (aka kinda validating Yugi’s place in this huge chain of destiny other characters *coughKaibacough* constantly deny or belittle.) Then the fact that it ends with him rebuilding the puzzle in a burning building and SUCCEEDING in the limited time frame he has when it took him EIGHT YEARS to build it the first time. I’m so proud of him. 

OTP: Yugi’s the Launcher of a Thousand Ships, but I usually ship him with either Anzu (Peachshipping) or Heartshipping (Ryou). Anzu and Yugi have childhood friendship going for them, and even with Anzu’s crush on Atem, her bond with Yugi is stronger than most people, even herself, realize. Atem himself ships them, and really what more confirmation do I need? As for Heartshipping, Ryou deserves an extreme amount of support and care from his ordeals and Yugi is in the best position to understand what he went through (to a point) and he and Yugi share so many hobbies that finding common ground to build upon is easy. 

BroTP: Jonouchi and Atem, so much. He’s more or less the freaking light of Jonouchi’s life and holy crap they go 150% on each other’s behalf (manga chapters 11 & 12 when they rescue each other from Hirutani’s gang come to mind.) As for Atem, their brotp is the cornerstone of the show? Their bond is so strong and they reassure each other of their doubts and despite all the detsiny drama they still stay up all night like goofs editing their deck? Effing adorable. Also there’s a lot to be said for the fact that even though the temptation is there for them to shrug responsibilities they have to stay together forever (which can have co-dependent vibes), they acknowledge it and let each other grow in a healthy way until it’s time for them to separate. 

OT3: Anzu/Yugi/Ryou. When conflicted about otps, make it an ot3 as the saying goes. XD Seriously, they work ludicrously well together and make for an extremely supportive ship, both in pushing each other out of their comfort zones at a manageable and healthy pace and also just being happy and adventurous. 

NoTP: Pretty much Yugi with anyone who has ever abused him, belittled him, betrayed him, or hurt him utterly. Namely Insector Haga, Yami Marik, Kaiba, etc., etc.,

Best Quote: “I wish for friends, friends who would never betray me, no matter what… and friends whom I would never betray!” The wish that started it all. It’s my favorite despite all of Yugi’s wisdom and humor because, like, he GOT it. Both in the Pharaoh’s presence and that of his friends. Plus, it kinda gutted me that like, for the longest time, only he and Atem had any idea what the wish was. Then the memory arc happened and Jonouchi, Anzu, and Honda finally realized what Yugi wished for back in the day. And you could argue they didn’t even become friends just because of the wish, but because Jonouchi CHOSE to return the piece of the puzzle he took from Yugi so Yugi could finish it. With or without the wish, Yugi still got what he dearly wanted and needed, but because of it he reached his full potential and became such an amazing character. 

Headcanon: I headcanon that his hair is actually absurdly soft, and as he gets older he starts tying it back more in a low ponytail. Then as he takes over the Kame Game Shop, little kid fans of his adore him and give him hair clips and he’s too nice to not accept them and the next thing you know he’s got like 20 hair clips keeping his bangs out of his eyes and his ponytail in place. His friends think it’s sweet and hilarious. I’ve actually seen this illustrated here and here (go support the artist). I also headcanon that while he still remains to be a bit of a Perky Goth in fashion sense, he does mellow out and start wearing more casual clothing with less accessories as he becomes more confident in who he is and what he wants out of life. 

Hope those answers were good! I didn’t mean for them to get that long, but oh well. XD Can’t expect me not to gush about a favorite, right?

[dawnwalks]

tag drop and if i didnt get everything i’ll cry