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ninjagirlstar5 · 3 months

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Buddy you're like the Teruya person in my head, how would you rewrite his role/participation in Sdra2? (My guy deserved better)

...Ngl, I'm kinda happy to hear that you see me as the Teruya person in your head. I think about Teruya so goddamn much that I'm constantly writing about him and coming up with ideas for him and shit that I really want to share it with others. He lives rent free in my brain and I wouldn't have it any other way. So hearing that I am becoming known as the Teruya person to at least one person is, like, an astounding achievement for me, lmao.

But anyways, back to your question. I have ideas on how Teruya could've been more utilized in the story and hopefully it'll be better than what we actually got. That being said, uh, disclaimer that while I do think Teruya should've been handled better in SDRA2, these are just ideas I will be spit-balling off the top of my head while going through each chapter, and concept of good ideas =/= good execution. This is just how I would approach rewriting Teruya in SDRA2. With that out of the way, let's start from what we know of SDRA2!Teruya and what his arc is suppose to be, what didn't work, and then go from there.

So, from what I can tell with the direction LINUJ was taking Teruya, he was meant to be a character that did his best to help protect the SDRA2 cast despite being stuck in the killing game with them and was trying to prevent history from repeating itself, only to fail repeatedly. That's a pretty sad arc to go through, especially since he has to die at the end due to Mikado turning him into a fucking firewall that prevented anyone from interfering from the outside or even leaving from the inside and the only way to get rid of it is by dying himself. However, the main problem with how he's written and used is how woefully underutilized he is in the main story and when he IS used, it's executed in a way that pretty much assassinated his character to the point that no one with common sense would trust him in the story afterwards. Like I said before in my other Teruya post, the most I can remember of Teruya in the story is his useless Hope platitudes in Chapter 2, Teruya dipping out of the group and becoming nearly irrelevant in Chapter 3, going cRazY in Chapter 4 just because and no other reason which ends up dragging his character through the mud, and then he just...dies in Chapter 5. It's still sad and fucked up, but because he lacks character moments for himself and just a general role that allows him to bond with the cast and show how important he really is (no matter how little he thinks of himself and his skills in the killing game), his death just doesn't hit hard enough, especially on repeated viewings. Not to mention that his amnesia is obviously just a plot device to keep the characters from finding out about the Utsuroshima killing game's connection to the Proto-Killing game and to keep us, the players, in the dark about what Rei, Kinjo, and the Kisaragi Foundation was up to between games. Now, I'm not saying we need to stop the plot to know EVERYTHING they've been up to in the past, that would be a whole other issue. But as the story went on, the lack of information ends up being more of a flaw in the writing as barely know what things were like from Teruya's perspective and how he feels about Rei, Kinjo, and the Kisaragi Foundation. We have to take what little crumbs we can whenever he does share. Which is little to none cause, again, he just peaces out of the group in Chapter 3 and barely mentions either of them beyond just crumbs, so a lot of players end up getting blindsided by how Kinjo and Rei are written in SDRA2. Just because I can SEE the path that LINUJ is taking these characters doesn't mean that there's enough foreshadowing or information from Teruya, who literally knows BOTH of them that he could've shared stories of what they're like now but no, we're not allowed to know any of that, for the path to make sense from where we last left them off. We don't get enough of an explanation for Kinjo and Rei's development between games...well, in-game. So...how can we rewrite this?

Well, for starters, I'm getting rid of the amnesia plot. Like yeah, at first it makes sense to keep a returning character from solving the plot instantly, and so that the cast can remain in the dark. But after a bit of thinking and hindsight, this amnesia plot doesn't really help the story or Teruya's character. As the Mod from ASOOT mentions in these string of asks I sent, he's not a mysterious person as we already know who he is from DRA, especially for those that sat down and watched/play the game themselves. He's someone we're familiar with and we spent an entire game seeing him go through his first killing game, falter, make mistakes and problems for others, before deciding to do better by putting all his efforts into helping the group. Teruya is a character we know, so if he's here, that means that it directly relates to the last game's events in some way, and since he survived his first killing game, he's the guide our current cast can look up to for help. But he can't exactly do that if he's constantly just fainting every single time he's on the verge of remembering something. If giving him amnesia means giving LINUJ an excuse to write Teruya out of the group multiple times, I don't want it. It just prevents him from partaking in the group and forging bonds with everyone, so the fandom is left making their own interpretations of his relationships with them. It's not that I don't mind creative freedom in fanon (in fact, I love it, it's free real estate babyyyy), it's just that, in this case where the plot requires many characters to DIE, you need them to have some kind of impact on the characters and story. And that can't really happen if the bonds between the characters aren't expanded upon, or, God forbid, aren't there in the first place. So the amnesiac Teruya plotline has to go. (That being said, I'm sure there's someone out there that COULD make this plot point work in a better way, I'm just choosing not to go through with it.)

"But Star, wouldn't that mean that Teruya can just tell everyone about the Proto-Killing game without consequence?" Oh, don't worry! Just because Teruya doesn't have amnesia here doesn't mean he can just SAY what he knows out loud. For one, Mikado would NOT allow it and I bet you he would input a rule that prevents Teruya from speaking TOO much. It's not as if he CAN'T give out information, the problem is how much he's allowed to tell. The rule would probably go as follow: "Rule 17: Teruya Otori is allowed to tell only 1 piece information of his previous killing game to the class between trials. Any attempts to go beyond 1 will be given a warning and, if attempted again before a trial, can be punishable via death. This piece of information can be anything that happened or related to the killing game and will be refreshed after a class trial has taken place." This keeps Teruya from running his mouth to the group if he ever figured out the deeper connections Void has to Utsuro and how similar the Utsuroshima Killing game was to the killing game he survived from as pushing his luck will result in him literally dying a useless death. That would not be ideal, in Teruya and group's mind since he has information they don't and frankly they don't want him to die, and Mikado, too, since he does not plan to kill him until late into the game. Teruya also has to be very selective with what he's allowed to talk about and also has to figure out what would count to Rule 17 and what doesn't. Anything related to the Proto-Killing Game, especially when it comes Utsuro, the Tragedy, and even the Neo World Program, seems to count, but general advice on how to cope in the killing game and anything related to the ones who did survive with him, Rei and Kinjo, don't so he's at least allowed to talk about them freely to an extent. I'd imagine Teruya went as far as to make a list of what he could and probably couldn't talk about to the group and ranked them on what he would assume be the most important to talk about but leaves the most speculative things to the side as he'd want to gather clues to make sure it's related to the killing game. After all, assumptions can easily spread misinformation and he wants to try and advise the group the best he can, even when he's not allowed to tell them all he knows (at once). Not only that, Teruya may purposely conceal certain knowledge to try and minimize the target on his back cause, well, Void is out there in the group and if it becomes obvious that he knows too much about their plan, one of them might take action and try to murder him (much to Mikado's annoyance). It's not that he won't have it written down somewhere in case something happens to him, it's just that he doesn't know who to trust completely even as he tries to help the group. (I like to think that Teruya developed a habit in writing down what he knows so that even if he doesn't make it, his notes might help someone after his death.) So, basically, as time goes on, Teruya carefully reveals certain things about his past killing game whenever they find relevant information, but may struggle to decide when and what would be good to reveal in the moment and even regret it if he realizes later on that another piece of information would've been more helpful or that the information he gave out previously turned out to be useless. And since he has to wait for a class trial to happen in order to be allowed to reveal more, he's just a bundle of anxiety waiting for the other shoe to drop and hoping that it won't happen (it does).

Onto the topic of Rei and Kinjo, I think Teruya's FTEs would've been a great way to have him tell stories about them and how he feels. I haven't reviewed his FTEs in awhile, but Teruya bonding with Sora through the stories of his own work would be very sweet, reminiscing on his past even as he's unable to talk about it clearly due to Rule 17 so he tries to work around it by being vague. And when he talks about Rei, he mentions how scared and frustrated he was of her at first due to her cold attitude and overall unpleasant nature but over the years of working together, they've not only gotten a lot closer but Rei seemed to have soften up a lot, although he asks Sora not to tell anyone that he said that since Rei would be...nevermind, it wouldn't matter now, would it? Sora would try to comfort him but he ends up rebuffing her efforts, saying that he wants some alone time, so she leaves as he quietly cries in his grief. Cause let's be real here, even without amnesia, Teruya would NOT be certain that Rei would have been able to escape in time. Sure, he can't locate the exit code Rei made, so that implied it was used...but did she use it in time? That was the real question. And since he saw what remained of her avatar's body, Teruya...isn't confident that she made it. He's fine the next time he and Sora hang out, apologizing for ending their time together so abruptly but Sora is understanding, saying that it's normal for him to grieve since he was clearly close to Rei. They continue hanging out and I'd imagine in his last FTE, Teruya brings Sora to his room to practice sewing together and he ends up opening up about his other friend that he survived with, Tsurugi Kinjo. Someone he cherishes dearly...but has grown concern for lately. Sora tries to pry, but Teruya remains vague, saying that it's not his place to talk about it, but he can say this much: something bad happened to him about six(?) months prior to this mission (cough, Tsurugi killing his dad event, cough) and he's been very distant from them. Teruya had been trying to be supportive, but lately he's been making...questionable decisions. Decisions that even Teruya has been uncomfortable with and is a bit worried about the decisions he's been making behind their backs. Sora digs, asking what he means by that and Teruya clarifies that being a leader of an entire organization fighting Despair isn't easy, he can tell. Teruya knows that Kinjo has good intentions, even when his methods are...extreme, and even made poor decisions in the past that has hurt both Rei and himself. But Teruya stuck through it for him because he knows that even good leaders can fuck up sometimes and does his best to understand his POV while trying to get him and Rei to see eye to eye. They tend to do that a lot. The fighting, he means. They've been fighting a lot on how the Kisaragi Foundation functions and the direction Kinjo has been taking it, so Teruya often has to step in and mediate between the both of them. He doesn't mind, he's just doing his job and his duty as a friend. He'd do anything to make sure they're getting along. But, still...he's never...intrude on HIS work before. He's hesitant to continue, but when Sora offers him a hug, he caves and lets her hug him. Teruya admits that Kinjo had taken out a bunch of money from the Kisaragi Foundation account, one that was a huge red flag as Kinjo had never done this before over the years. Not without telling Teruya what it would be used for and without his permission. He even confronted him about it, but Kinjo refused to tell him, saying that he had a "backup" plan in the works in case something goes wrong on the mission but that it wouldn't work if more people knew about it. It greatly worried him...but when Kinjo asked him to just trust him and it'll work out in some way as long as he was stopped, Teruya chose to agree. Sora is baffled as to why, but Teruya just says that Kinjo is smart. Smarter in ways that he'll never catch up to, same with Rei. And as frustrating as Kinjo can be sometimes, he...he is his friend.

And Teruya wanted to trust in his friend. Trust that he was being secretive for a good reason and that it'll all work out. Besides, it was only a backup plan. They might not even need it.

Despite his words, Sora can tell that Teruya seemed...exhausted. Like he's been through this song and dance one too many times, and just wanted to stop and rest. And yet, he kept smiling anyways, because he clearly cared so deeply about the people he has in his life. He was doing his best to be supportive of his friends, to be their rock in their hard times. Teruya then apologizes for suddenly venting to her like this, but Sora tells him not to worry about it. In fact, she'd rather that he comes and talk to her about anything cause he clearly puts up with so much. Teruya denies it, that's just what any good friend does, but Sora points out that while he IS a good friend, he also seems a bit tired and as his friend, it's her job to make sure he's okay, too. He's surprised by her words...but then he stares at her with so much love and care that it made Sora's head hurt. He thanks Sora, and she feels as though their bond is now unbreakable and nothing in the world could destroy it. (And these moments of Teruya talking about Rei and Kinjo's current selves should, hopefully, soften the blow of how they're shown and written later in the story when they appear.)

And now, finally, onto the actual Chapters. Let's start with Chapter 2...and tbh, I don't have too much issue with how Teruya was introduced (Mikado is being Mikado, what a shock), just remove the amnesia plot point, add and explain Rule 17, and have him be integrated into the group like before. Kokoro, of course, drags him away to have him protect her as she searches for Void members, and then, when he officially joins the group at breakfast, he gets bombarded by questions that he struggles to answer. Especially since Rule 17 would make it very difficult for him to decide on where to even start, let alone what information would be most important to tell. I feel like Teruya is the kind of person to make a mistake in trying to start in the beginning, but ending up wasting his one time use for the rest of the chapter, which he starts to kick himself for when he realizes that he could've told them this or he could've told them that since it was far more relevant. Either way, I think the best way to better utilize Teruya in general is to just...give him more shit to do. And I know the perfect role to give him: a mediator. It's a role that he apparently had back at the Kisaragi Foundation between Rei and Kinjo according to LINUJ in his concept art and I will forever be annoyed that this was never shown to us in-game, only told after the game is already over and in a place where not many people would see unless they went digging. And honestly, Chapter 2 would be a great start in showing Teruya's skills as a mediator by having him help convince the people who left the group out of fear of Void to rejoin them. Honestly, it's kinda weird how most of the members that left instantly came back after one day aside from the twins, but then again, Emma and Nikei were part of Void so they probably had their own agendas to attend to (Emma trying to stick to the plan while Nikei rejoins the group probably to avoid suspicion from either them or Mikado). But honestly, I think it makes more sense for the individuals to rejoin the group one at a time, first with Emma as she's more loyal to Void's plan and needs an excuse to get closer to Kokoro, then Nikei who might've needed more convincing to rejoin and hey, wouldn't you know it, Teruya is there to help! He may even help Setsuka in plotting to bring the twins back, although when the moment comes, Hibiki is a lot less receptive to him as while he's clearly not a Void, she still thinks he's suspicious because she's never even heard of the Kisaragi Foundation before and isn't sure if she can trust some shady place like that. That kinda hurts to hear even when he knows that she wouldn't remember due to the Neo World Program (not that she would either way due to the implications with Kanade in the Chapter 6 twists) and Setsuka has to step up to both comfort Hibiki and give her hope. With the twins back into the group, the rest of the Chapter 2 plays out the exact same way as while I love Teruya, I don't want him to come off as this perfect guy or anything. He should be allowed to make mistakes that ended up with dire consequences, and failing to focus his attention on Kokoro and Emma during their conversation is one such mistake. A failure of him unable to protect one of the smartest people in the group and falling for Emma's act as Kokoro, a betrayal to him and everyone else. He knew it was dangerous to believe in Shinji's reckless plan, he knew what it's like to be betrayed by someone you wanted to trust and befriend, knew that just friendship alone may not be enough to convince someone to turn back on a horrible decision if they're desperate enough. But he wanted to believe that just their kindness alone would've been enough. It should have been enough. Right? But it wasn't. And now, with the second Void dead, Teruya is reminded that he's being naïve in thinking that Void has the same standards as them, that if they already agreed to the plan of murder long before entering the killing game, then they could be just as dangerous as Mikado. Regardless on if they chose to side with him or not.

Chapter 3...needs a huge overhaul to the point that it'd be better off scrapped and started over with. But this post isn't about Kanade and her bullshit twists, so for the sake of my sanity, I'm gonna play this chapter loosely and just focus on Teruya. So, Teruya is just trying to do his part and help the group recover from the last trial. Thankfully, he's not doing this alone as Hibiki is trying to be more proactive in her support while Shinji is doing what he can as a leader to reassure everyone that they can get through this together. Setsuka, though, has been silent and distant from the group, which doesn't go unnoticed by Teruya and he goes after her to try and see what's up. Since we're seeing things through Sora's POV, we won't get to see most of these conversations since they happen off-screen but this at least gives an implication that Teruya is doing something important, even when we don't see him. I think there could even be a scene where Sora is walking around and accidentally ends up eavesdropping on one of Setsuka and Teruya's conversations, with Teruya trying to get her to open up. He's not pressuring her to take up the role of being a leader again when she's not feeling up for it, but he does want her to know that she can rely on the group just as much as they can rely on her. While Setsuka is receptive to his advice, it's kinda obvious that she's not going to tell him (or anyone else) what she's been up to lately...at least, not yet. She just asks him to trust her since there's something she has to do but it needs to be a secret, so he has watch over the group without her for the time being. Teruya, skeptical in his silence, eventually agrees but tells her to be careful since Void can be anyone of them and Setsuka just says that she knows, and even points out that hey, she could be a Void, too, you know? But Teruya denies this firmly, although he doesn't explain why, just saying that out of everyone in this group, he finds her to be the most trustworthy (hint, hint, wink, wink). Setsuka is moved and thanks Teruya for saying that before they part ways, with Sora somehow managing not to get caught. How lucky. Then, Shinji tries to get everyone on board with his "Befriend Void" plan again, but Yuki, being depressed and becoming more cynical (no thanks to Utsuro slowly taking control of his brain), pushes back on this plan and surprisingly, Teruya actually backs him up on this although it's less because of the "nothing we do matters" argument and more out of a practical reason of, "can we even trust members of Void when one of them still killed anyways despite Mikado's betrayal revealed to them?" Even if they do befriend Void, they don't know their motive for the killing game and without knowing for sure what it is, they can't be certain that it'd be something that's fixable or if it's something they're so desperate for that they'd still choose to betray them anyways. After all, betrayals hurt the most when it's someone you know. Shinji, however, ends up snapping back at both of them, going on about how he has to keep a smile on his face to reassure people he rescues as a firefighter cause if he doesn't, then it'll only scare and panic them further. He has to do this because there are people that need to be helped and he's firm in his plan because he thinks that the members of Void need help, too, and he's not going give up on them just like that. Both Yuki and Teruya feel a little moved by what he said, and Teruya admits that he does want to keep trying but they all need to understand how dangerous it is as they still don't know who else Void could be. The group reassures him that they'll be more careful going forward, even going as far as to promise to stick together as a group or at least in pairings. Teruya, feeling like he can trust them to keep their word, agrees and they all part ways from there to continue their investigations.

When they arrive on the island and Teruya gets the photo from Rei from the outside, he immediately goes back to the group and this time, he's actually willing to explain what the photo is about: the 79th Class of Hope's Peak Academy, his classmates...and the participants of the Proto-Killing Game. He gives a recap on what happened for those who didn't play DRA can be in the loop but also keeps it brief for those who did, but he also takes the time to gush about his old friends in one sentences since God, he loved them so much and misses them to this day, but tries to stay on topic. This is probably around the time when someone goes, "Hey...doesn't these events sound a bit...similar to our game?" And then the group points out how the last two cases were structured, with the first case having a split on whether or not the culprit is a girl or a boy and the second case having someone who turned out to be "two-faced" betray and attack someone (although in this case, Emma technically succeeded in her murder even if she got caught while Kizuna became the victim instead). It's clearly not one-to-one to the events that Teruya experienced as some details don't line up (especially with the second case), but the core premise is still there and the gears are starting to turn in Teruya's head, although he's not sure what to make of it. For all they know, it could just be a coincidence...right? But Hajime mentioning that he was "required to cause a split between the girls and the boys"...and Emma accidentally messing up the plan only to receive approval from Mikado anyways since it lined up pretty well regardless...They still needed more clues but they were starting to put together a full picture as Sora points out the ripped part of the photo. Teruya admits that he wasn't sure why it has that but he does know who was taken out of it - only for Mikado to suddenly appear and wrench the photo out of his hands with the most furious face he's made yet. The group tries to get it back, but Mikado burns it to keep them from knowing any more than this and disappears, muttering about how he needs to move the timetables up thanks to her. Teruya, distraught that he lost yet another photo of his deceased classmates, apologizes for losing their clue and letting Mikado get the best of him but the group reassures him that it's okay. It's then that Monocrow drops by, saying that even if Mikado didn't get involved, he was going to pop in to prevent Teruya from talking about the mastermind of his killing game due to already using up his one-time use of sharing information. A little pissed off now, Teruya says that he's going to the library to do some research and leaves, with the group deciding to give him some space for the time being. Later, Mikado brings out the motive videos and it plays out like in canon, although I'll admit, I don't know what Teruya's motive video would be. Just that he's shocked that Mikado even knows about it and gets pissed off that he tried to use it as his motive video and then leaves, too angry to help the group in his current state of mind. And genuinely speaking, I'm coming up with a blank for this one. Maybe it was a mission that went wrong between Teruya, Rei, and Kinjo and Mikado is trying to imply that Teruya didn't know the full truth about it but the implication only pisses him off cause he believes that he knew everything about that mission and he trusts that no one had lied about it, so no one was fully responsible for what had happened...at least, he thinks so. Either way, the motive videos don't really come up again after Chapter 3, from what I remember, so this kind of ambiguity doesn't need to be answered. Teruya's reaction to it is more than enough to understand how he feels about this motive. He does, however, arrive to breakfast on time, apologizing for leaving so abruptly last night when he probably should've stayed behind to help calm everyone down. They all accept his apology, although Hibiki clearly isn't looking too hot and Setsuka once again asks everyone to meet up for the parade later that evening.

After getting filled in on the details, the group goes to do their own things as they wait for the parade. When they all arrive, Setsuka is nowhere to be seen but are reassured when she messages them moments later to tell them that something came up and that she'll be a little late. So they're all waiting for her, which is when Teruya shows up, asking if this is all of them as he takes note of who's here. When the group says yes, Teruya quickly grows concerned. Sure, Kanade says that Hibiki is resting in her room and he trusts her to be honest since that's her sister, and they're not exactly including Mikado and Syobai since neither of them are trustworthy in the first place, but...where's Setsuka? Has no one considered going with her? They all admit that they haven't seen her all day. Which is when Teruya...kinda explodes on them with a giant "WHAT?!" This surprises everyone and they reassure him that she's fine, she just messaged them, but Teruya doesn't care about that! He cares about the fact that Setsuka is alone and hasn't been seen since this morning alive and well. And while she may have messaged them, who's to say that's actually her? Teruya may not be very helpful in the trials, but his memory is good enough to remember the details, and it's been proven by Emma that people other than the user can use each other's handbooks as long as they at least have the owner's fingertip. How can they be certain that Setsuka's okay? How can they be certain that she's alive? How can they wait around for a fun event when Void has taken the opportunity to use them for their murder plans TWICE IN A ROW?! As soon as Teruya is done with chewing them all out for failing to keep an eye on each other (including himself), Sora speaks up, saying that Teruya is right and admits that she's been having a really bad feeling in her gut for awhile now. It doesn't take much to convince everyone else to agree, and they all split up into pairs at Teruya's insistence to cover more ground while also making sure no one is alone. With each unsuccessful search of each location, they all grow more and more frantic, and thanks to the parade that starts not long after, it becomes very hard to keep an eye out for Setsuka and each other, let alone hear each other over the noise. But eventually, they do find her...At least, they find her corpse. Needless to say, Teruya is heartbroken to find that he was right and lost one of the few people he knows he can trust, Hibiki is shellshocked at losing her best friend, and everyone has to go through a third trial. I don't have any ideas on how this murder trial would go as of writing this, but again, this isn't about Kanade. All you really need to know is that Hibiki lives and Kanade dies, good riddance. And Teruya is deeply frustrated at how useless he was during that trial, that he was unable to protect Setsuka from a monster like Kanade. As if making up his mind, he leaves swearing that he'll protect them all, no matter what.

I'll admit, I don't...remember much...about Teruya's role in Chapter 4 aside from being fucking crazy. And that one moment where he cries over Haru and Satsuki's statues, which, you know, ow. That really is depressing. But, uh, one question: why the fuck would Nikei have Syobai keep those statues when the entire point is to prevent Utsuro from coming back as one final act to spite Mikado? As good as this scene is from what I can recall, this also makes Nikei dumb as fuck just leaving those statues where they are and there's no actual explanation as to why Syobai wouldn't take them out if he's being paid to do this cause say what you will about him being a shitty person, at least he doesn't half-ass his work when he's being paid unless other circumstances prevent him from accomplishing the job he's set out to do (or if he gets bribed). But, whatever. I'm not here to fully revamp or rewrite Chapter 4, I'm just here to explain what I'd do with Teruya here. And I don't remember enough about Chapter 4 to really make a concise plot-to-plot moment with him and the cast as I haven't played through Chapter 4 myself as a reminder, so I'm just going to try and summarize what I'd do with him in general. SO basically, after Chapter 3, Teruya, feeling as though he can't trust the group now that someone like Kanade existed (who wasn't even a VOID and she still murdered someone, before and after joining the killing game) and that they're not taking it as seriously as they should've despite losing six people at this point, decides to take full control of the group in an effort to protect them and also to compensate for his own insecurities on feeling useless as while he's great as a mediator, he still sucks at the trials and he's been berating himself for not being like them a.k.a. Rei and Kinjo. So now he's trying to take control of the situation by putting himself in a position of power and not just the mediator. Problem is, Teruya is constantly micromanaging everyone's decisions: if they're going to investigate somewhere, they need to ask him for permission, no one is allowed to move around alone EVER, he'll constantly ask where everyone is even when he just saw them, it's...a whole thing. And while the group is trying to be understanding, they're also really stressed cause uh, yeah, they ARE aware of the situation and nothing they've been doing has been working so far! Tensions are high, arguments are spilling out between Yuki and Sora, Shinji's friendship plan doesn't seem to be working out, Yoruko is stressed trying to keep the peace and is snappier than usual and she's struggling to keep an eye on Hibiki, who has completely shut herself away, since she KNOWS she can't be alone right now as she's helped many people through their dark times as a hostess to recognize the signs that hey, she, uh, might do something here, and Teruya isn't helping with how he's constantly breathing down everyone's neck over every little decision and- oh hey, it's Nikei. Oh, he has something to tell us, wait what the fuck do you MEAN you're a part of Void-?! And the fallout that causes.

It's not constant drama, thankfully. Teruya may not trust Void at all at this point, but he's willing to try and mediate between the group and Nikei when he makes it clear that he's revealing himself as a member of Void because he's choosing to betray Mikado and refuses to work with him anymore (although his intentions aren't as good as he claims). It's the role he best plays as, after all, and since Nikei isn't tied down by Rule 17, they may be able to get plenty more information out of him than they can with Teruya, who's forced to be selective with what he reveals between trials. And Sora is trying to keep her own morale up by hanging out with everyone one-on-one and trying to get Teruya to chill out a little bit with the constant micromanaging by setting healthy boundaries. Boundaries that Teruya is struggling to respect because he's gotten really paranoid after Chapter 3 and doesn't want to fail anyone else, like he did with Kokoro and Setsuka, so he ends up pushing them anyways. He doesn't want anyone to be alone, to get hurt, or killed. He just...he just wants everyone to be safe. Teruya is just a mess, is what I'm trying to say here.

Teruya doesn't even need to have the gun (if the gun is even HERE in this Chapter) to cause conflict, let alone cross that line at pointing a gun at everyone cause we don't need to make him lose his fucking marbles. Just have him be more controlling in a twisted attempt to keep everyone safe, only for it all to backfire on him because his constant micromanaging is ruining everyone's morale, productivity and increasing their stress. The calmest of times seems to be when they're exchanging information with Nikei and when they're cooperative with Teruya's orders, and it's almost pleasant. But whenever Teruya's controlling paranoia rears it's ugly, that's when tensions get high again and it starts to become a cycle. A cycle that Nikei probably took advantage of in the background for his own plans. Eventually, it all comes to a head at some point where it's Teruya's turn to get snapped at by Yuki, who tears into him for his micromanaging, which is fair as that has done more harm than good, but then takes a step too far, saying how everything he's done up to this point hasn't been helpful at all and that an idiot like him should've never survived his killing game. Which naturally earns him a slap from Yoruko and a yell from Shinji as that was TOO far, no matter how bad Teruya's decisions have been after Chapter 3. He should've never had said something like that as that's insulting to his own survival and his friends that had died horrible deaths that he has to live with for the rest of his life. Just when it seems like Yuki is about to double down, Hibiki, who has finally started to recover thanks to Yoruko and Sora reaching out to her, speaks up and pleads with Yuki to stop and realize what he's saying. His criticisms on Teruya's micromanagement is valid and all but he's also using his status as a survivor against him, hurting and blaming him for things that were either a simple mistake or completely out of his control. It wasn't his choice for Emma to snap and hurt Kokoro before going through with murder nor was it his choice that got Setsuka killed, that was...that was all Kanade. He's done a lot of good for them, too: he tried to give them advice to help cope in the killing game, he gave them information even when he couldn't tell them everything, he's mediated many of their conversations to help them agree on what to do...Teruya has helped them so much and kept the group together plenty of times. Sora also speaks up, saying that while Teruya may not be at his best right now, that doesn't mean everything he's done up to this point hasn't helped them at all. And it's not like most of them have been at their best either. This...actually gets Yuki to sober up, quiet for a moment as he processes their words and finally apologizes for his behavior. He admits that he hasn't been feeling like himself lately, I wonder why, and with everything happening all at once, he's been struggling to take care of himself. Everyone can't blame him for that, even when there have been things that shouldn't have been said, and Yoruko suggests that maybe he shouldn't force himself to investigate for awhile. They're all tired but especially him, and he should lay down and rest. Yuki is hesitant but Shinji backs Yoruko up on this, saying that even firefighters need to take a break from work every once and awhile and that there's nothing shameful in that, which is enough to convince him to go to his room and rest. That's when Hibiki realizes something and asks where Teruya went, and a look around the room reveals that Teruya had disappeared at some point in the conversation. Sora, thinking that Teruya might be suffering as well, decides to go look for him and Hibiki and Yoruko immediately decide to join her. She asks if Nikei, who seems a little pale, will be coming with them but he immediately snaps out of it and says no, he'll just join Shinji and Yuki instead so they can investigate together later. Iroha (who I have not mentioned at all up to this point, oops) fumbles but ultimately goes with Sora's group instead and they split.

Sora and co. find Teruya by one of the destroyed statues, ones that he can tell were meant to be Haru and Satsuki from the remains but for some reason were left in this state (most likely due to Nikei's meddling through Syobai), sitting and just having his head in his hands. They're careful as they approach him, Sora asking if they can talk. Teruya just waves in a way that says, "Do whatever you want," and the girls try to give him space as they get closer. Yoruko asks him about how he feels and Teruya just says that he feels like shit, everything he does is shit, and he's just so sick of every shitty thing that has happened in this stupid fucking killing game. Iroha tries to cheer him up with her twisted sense of toxic positivity, only for Teruya to snap at her that there's nothing for him to be happy about right now. That shuts her up pretty quickly but he apologizes for snapping at her. It's just that her positivity isn't helping him right now. Iroha ends up not saying a single thing afterwards, unable to come up with anything to help...and perhaps, feeling a little guilty for something she hasn't told anyone else. Sora asks if this is about what Yuki said, and Teruya, after a few minutes, slowly admits that's part of it but also cause he's just...questioning why he's even here. Why, out of all the amazing people he knew, did he survive when there are so many other people that could do better than him. Yoruko knew Yuki's words stung deeper than it should've but Sora steers the conversation on topic, asking why he thinks he shouldn't have survived when he did so much for them already. But Teruya doesn't believe that, saying that if he was so useful then none of these murders would have happened, that his role as a mediator would've kept people happy or at least keep them calm and rational as they try to contact the Kisaragi Foundation or wait for them to arrive. But it didn't. The murders still happened anyways. He messed up in protecting Kokoro, and he couldn't protect Setsuka even though he knew she was important and never figured out Kanade's true nature. Hibiki cringes and he notices, apologizing for dropping her name out of nowhere like that, he's just...He's so tired. Tired of just losing people he loves and cares for and constantly getting betrayed by those he trusts and...He's just fucking tired. The girls are quiet at that, as everyone can relate to his words. Hibiki just sits besides him and then carefully lays her head against him, saying that she misses Setsuka, too. That actually gets Teruya to break a little, crying as he never wanted to hurt anyone like this. He just didn't want to lose another person. He didn't want to lose another friend. He didn't want to repeat his mistakes, so he...he tried to emulate someone he knew and respected, Tsurugi Kinjo, but tried to tone it down because he knew his methods were very extreme and didn't want to completely ruin their trust in him. The fact that this is the toned down version kinda scares Yoruko and she sees it more like a red flag but Teruya defends him, saying that while he's not perfect, he's done a lot of good, too, and for that, Teruya respects him. But aside from that, he apologizes. He truly, deeply apologizes for his actions, realizing that all he did was tear the group apart and has been nothing but useless to them when it matters most. But Sora rebuffs those words, saying that while he has his flaws, made his mistakes, and has his weaknesses, he has plenty of strengths, too, and has been doing everything in his power to help everyone. His way of understanding both sides of an argument and mediating between them has brought many of them closer together, he's helped Setsuka and Shinji bring members of their group back when they were starting to fracture, and he's brought up valid points whenever they started to become negligent in protecting each other. Teruya doesn't have to be like someone else to help everyone, he can just the best version of himself.

Yoruko pitches in, saying that there's nothing wrong with striving to be a better person than you were before but if he's constantly setting an impossible standard, then he'll never be happy with himself. Iroha can't bring herself to say anything. Teruya is silent for a moment but he does agree with them. He really does. It's just...he often feels like it's never enough, just by being himself. There's one last thing Sora wants to ask and it's why Yuki's words seem to hit Teruya harder than everyone else's. Sure, he's said something awful, but it's not like no one else gave him similar criticisms during the whole chapter. Teruya just sighs, saying that he might as well use up his one piece of information up now since thanks to Nikei, they were able to gain far more insight into Mikado's plans without any problems (although there are probably some things that Nikei kept to himself). One of these things is the Neo World Program they're in right now...and the motive for the entire killing game: the revival of Utsuro. Sora feels like her head is cracking open but she manages to keep herself together as she asks him which one he plans to talk about. He chooses to talk about Utsuro since he admittedly doesn't understand the Neo World Program that much and while Nikei clearly knows OF him thanks to all of Void having been blessed by him at some point in their childhood, he's never actually MET him, unlike Teruya who was a victim of the Despair and had his entire life turned upside down thanks to him. Hibiki asks how this is relevant to Yuki and Teruya explains that this more than relevant to him because Utsuro stole his identity to infiltrate the 79th class. This shocks the girls (yes, including Iroha cause she didn't realize the extent of what he did cause she wasn't paying attention) and Teruya goes on that their appearances to each other were eerily identical, from their faces to even their own voices. He knows this because he's talked with him, interacted with him, tried to get him to play with him and the class...he even got to know him when he gave himself false memories of Yuki Maeda and believed himself to be the real deal in the killing game. Utsuro...no, the Yuki Maeda back then...Teruya considered him to be an actual friend of his. A friend that was erased thanks to Utsuro, just like all the others. Hibiki is extremely uncomfortable to the point that she looks ill and Sora feels as though this headache is going to kill her. Yoruko asks how that is true if Yuki is, well, here? And Teruya explains that in their investigations, they found out that the real Yuki Maeda, the one that's in this killing game right now, was actually still alive for some reason but before they can retrieve him to wake him from his coma, he had been taken away from somebody and eventually they found out it was Mikado after a bit of digging. Teruya doesn't know why Utsuro had spared him but the point of the matter is that Yuki Maeda is real, he's alive, and Mikado had plans to revive Utsuro somehow through a killing game and that was just a disaster waiting to happen. So they tried multiple times to stop him but somehow he was always one step ahead, and Teruya entering the simulation with Rei was one of their last ditch efforts to stop his plans before it could get started, which...well, they all know how well that went. As for why Yuki's words hit harder, well, it's simply because he felt as though he knows him even though they've never technically met before the killing game. It's stupid because he knows the Yuki back then and the Yuki now are two completely different people, but they're just...so damn similar that he struggles to keep them separated. So when Yuki yelled at him like that, he felt as though someone he knew for a long time was genuinely getting hurt by his actions when he's supposed to be better and when he stopped, he noticed his expression. The way he just...looked like Utsuro in that very brief moment. Teruya had to get away after that as he didn't want to do something stupid that could end up breaking the rules.

This...was a lot to take in, and Sora thanks him for telling them this. But she also suggests that he should lay down and rest, since this entire situation is clearly getting to him. Teruya clearly doesn't want to, saying that he has to keep an eye on everyone, but Hibiki notices something and asks if he's slept at all. This confuses everyone until Hibiki suddenly reaches up and wipes something off of his face, revealing that he was wearing makeup underneath his eyes which had bags underneath. Almost immediately Sora starts wiping the rest of his makeup off, much to Teruya's horror and Yoruko grills him on why the hell he has bags. Forced into a corner, Teruya admits that he had been keeping a lookout at the Monocruise while everyone was sleeping, making sure no one had left their rooms to plot a murder during nighttime. But because he'd been doing it all by himself, he's been practically working on fumes for days and suddenly his worsening attitude and bad decisions made a whole lot more sense as he had been sleep deprived the whole time. Yoruko is both creeped out that Teruya stayed up the whole time and a little hurt that he trusted them that little, but Sora actually defends the notion, saying that two out of three of the murders so far were prepared for during the night so it wasn't bad idea. The problem is that he did this all by himself at the cost of his own health and sanity. Which means that he MUST rest now cause holy shit, no ifs or buts, the girls will not allow him to ruin his health and sleep schedule any longer. Teruya, knowing full well that he has no choice in the matter or else he'll suffer the wrath of the girls, acquiesced and they bring him back to his room to rest. He splits from the girls the moment he's inside and realizes how dogshit tired he REALLY is and decides maybe he really does need sleep. So he lays down in his bed and immediately crashes.

And, since the universe hates him, Teruya wakes up to a Body Discovery Announcement. Any sense of exhaustion flies out of his body, he goes down to the scene, praying that he didn't hear what he just heard...but, nope. It's Shinji's body and Teruya just...shuts down after that. Again, I don't have any ideas on how I would change the murder trial, but something I noticed in the Chapter 4 trial is how...quiet Teruya is. Like, you know how some people just become silent on the outside but on the inside they're going through the most emotional turmoil they've ever had? I think that's what Teruya was doing during most that trial and God, that hurts to think about. Anyways, Nikei gets revealed as the culprit, it turns out that he had been trying to manipulate them all to get Yuki Maeda killed but Shinji somehow figured him out and tried to stop him in an attempt to protect him, he tries to kill Yuki as a last ditch effort to ruin Mikado's plan but fails when Teruya and Sora intervene because they're determined to protect Yuki no matter what, and he gets dragged off to his execution. The group's dynamic starts to crack once more, with Yuki becoming more like Utsuro, Yoruko and Sora having their falling out due to her secrecy, Iroha running off to the bathroom most likely to cry, Hibiki desperately trying to get everyone to stay and Teruya is left reeling from the events of Chapter 4...but the twists weren't over yet as Sora knocks on his door, asking to come in so they can talk. Teruya reluctantly lets her in but admits that he's not in the right headspace to give any kind of support right now. Sora says that's fine since she mostly came to him to give him something: an exit code from Rei Mekaru. Teruya is shocked, asking where she even got this and that she better not be bullshitting him about Rei, which Sora awkwardly says that she might've fallen from a pretty high place but somehow managed to survive through pure damn luck as she fell into a place that somehow broke her fall without breaking a single bone. Probably due to the weak coding that Nikei purposely changed up. Teruya is confused on how that even works but Sora just shrugs and says that the point is that she just so happened to cross paths with Rei Mekaru trying to get into contact with anyone and when Sora responded, she immediately transferred this code over to her handbook and asks to bring it to Teruya before the connection cut out. Teruya, relieved that Rei actually survived and realizing he could get out with this, asks Sora for it but she actually gives him a condition. A condition that left him reeling:

"Tell me about Akane Taira."

Chapter 5 I don't have much to complain about from what I can recall so let's just get this show on the road. The Chapter starts off the same with Teruya saying that he wants to hold off a little while longer on telling her, even if it means being unable to leave just yet since Sora didn't want to risk him leaving without telling her anything, the group arriving to the 5th island (but this time with Hibiki), Mikado blows up the Monocruise and then dips, and the group ends up splitting up due to their fractured dynamic. Sora goes around investigating like usual, but after a day, she ends up crossing paths with Teruya. Surprised to see him, she asks what he's doing and he admits that he's been looking for her and was wondering if they can walk and talk. She agrees and they go around the city to investigate, although they're somewhat half-hearted about it. He asks how her investigation has been going and she admits that she found an interview with an older Yuri that shouldn't be possible, but that's about it so far. Teruya admits that it is possible but won't go into details as he still wants to hold up his end of the bargain by not wasting his one-time use. Sora asks if he's here to accept the condition but he says that he's not going to do that just yet but for good reason. For starters, he wants to make sure the group is back together before he leaves. It didn't feel right to leave things like this and he wanted to do his part one final time before he gets out and reunites with the Kisaragi Foundation. While he knows that time goes faster in the Neo World Program, he feels like the Kisaragi Foundation shouldn't be taking this long to rescue them and feels that it's better for him to see what's the hold up and try to get them out from there. But the group is still his responsibility and he has to make sure everyone is okay before he leaves. And secondly, there's some things that they should discuss as a group before he goes, namely Mikado's motive and how he's apparently going about it. Sora is confused but he simply says that he thought it over all day and now he has a sneaking suspicion on how he's reviving Utsuro. He's not sure if he's right, though, hence why he wants to talk to everyone and get their opinions on it. After that, they were both silent as they walked, uncertain of what to say to each other. Teruya, again, apologizes for everything he did in the last Chapter but Sora reassures him that she's already forgiven him and while she can't speak for everyone else, they probably still care about him, too. Teruya just says that he hopes so cause he did enjoy hanging out with everyone in their downtimes. Even when they were stuck in a killing game and with Void around, he genuinely had fun with them and cared for them like they were his friends. He wants nothing more for their safety, even if they choose not to forgive him. Sora admits that she had her own fuck ups, too, and that he's not alone in that, which Teruya chuckles over and they settle into a more comfortable silence. Although Sora has noticed that Teruya is constantly staring at her with wariness, like he knows that she did something wrong. And, if her own suspicions were right...he had the right to hate her for life. That was when they both get a message from Hibiki, and just seeing it sent shivers down their spins: she's pleading for help as she just witnessed Yoruko walking around with a knife. Teruya immediately asks where she is and she answers that the three of them are at one of the hotels at so-and-so street and Teruya, with his good sense of direction and memorization of maps, clocks in that they're only three blocks away and could probably make it in time if they run. They just need a sign for Hibiki to put up for them so that they don't waste time searching every hotel and she says that she'll try to hang something from the window but please hurry! Sora says to keep an eye on where Yoruko is, and the two of them book it to the street. After a bit of scanning, they find the sign Hibiki had set up for them from one of the windows and enter.

Upon their arrival, they see that Yoruko had pinned Yuki onto the floor with a knife raised and Hibiki begging her to not do this. Yoruko just snaps at her, saying that Yuki has to be Utsuro and that if he just dies, if Mikado's plan can be stopped here and now, then it'll all be over. Teruya immediately takes charge, demanding that Yoruko drop the knife while trying to keep Sora from tackling her in case someone gets hurt. Or worse, killed. Yoruko refuses, though, convinced that the Yuki before them is a fake somehow just like the one in Teruya's killing game and that he'll betray them all once the whole Utsuro thing is completed. They can all tell that Yoruko has reached her breaking point and Teruya nearly regrets telling her about Utsuro the other day, but tries to remain calm, saying that Yuki IS real and that Mikado is doing something far more sinister but he can't put it together without them. Sora pleads with Yoruko to hear him out and spare Yuki, so that they can all get out together and the moment she hesitates is when she gets out of Teruya's grip and tackles her. Teruya gapes at her recklessness for possibly breaking the No Violence Rule but the tackle makes Yoruko drop the knife and Hibiki immediately runs over and kicks it away before dogpiling her, begging her to stop trying to hurt Yuki. She doesn't want her to become a murderer, she doesn't want her to stain her hands with blood, even if it's for the greater good, and she doesn't want to lose her. If she murders, she'll become a blackened and because everyone would know it was her, she'd get executed and Hibiki doesn't want that. She wants her to survive, along with everyone else. She wants to hang out with her, go shopping with her, and have fun with her. She wants her to live. This actually gets Yoruko to pause, calming down enough to realize what she was doing and how this could've affected her and her own friends. But before anyone can breathe a sigh of relief, Yuki...uh...you know. Tries to unsubscribe from life. Everyone is horrified to witness this moment, everyone begging him not to do it but Yuki is convinced that he's too dangerous to let himself live, not when Utsuro could come back and end up hurting everyone, and tries to...yeah. Thankfully, Sora is there and I believe it was a freakin' lightning bolt that struck the knife out of Yuki's hands, much to everyone's shock. That is when it started to rain and Teruya starts ushering everyone inside, leaving the knife behind.

Distressed but no longer at each other's throats, the group takes their time to process what the hell just happened and Teruya goes searching for snacks and drinks and blankets because my God, everyone needs that. With everyone wrapped up in their own blankets with snacks that no one could bring themselves to touch at this very moment, the group finally sits down and talk out all their problems with Teruya messaging Iroha to join them but she never shows. I actually can't remember exactly how this scenes goes, but basically the group is starting to get their shit back together, apologizing to one another, and then start putting their heads together as to what the truth of their situation really is but with Hibiki and Teruya there this time. They realize through their discussions of the facts that Void is using Yuki's body as a vessel to revive Utsuro by putting him through similar events of the DRA cases and breaking down his sense of self to make room for him. None of them understand exactly how that's even possible, but Yuki knows that it's working cause he constantly feels like he's fighting against someone else in his brain, he's remembering things that he knows didn't happen to him but did, and there are times when he feels like's losing control of his own body, expressions, and even the words that comes out of his mouth. Yuki is understandably freaking out over losing his sense of self, but Sora is quick to comfort him and pulls him into a hug, giving him reassurances that it'll all work out somehow. Teruya then reveals another thing that they should probably talk about and it's the condition that Sora had given him: Akane Taira. Everyone else is confused but they're quick to explain that Sora was able to get an exit code from Rei Mekaru but it's only a one time use thing and she explicitly told her to give it to Teruya the first chance she got. But she wanted to know who Akane Taira is because, well...she fears she might know who she really is. Teruya swears, hoping that wasn't the truth since he had started to suspect that she was her since she wouldn't have known that name unless someone else told her, but the fact that Sora is saying that meant that she remembers something, right? Sora admits it's nothing concrete, but it's enough for her to realize that her past self has done irreversible things to both her past friends...and Teruya. Teruya, with clenched teeth and feeling his heart breaking in two once again, admits that yes, she has done a lot of wrong and does his best to calmly explain what she's done. The Proto-Killing Game, her worship of Utsuro and how she'd sacrificed all of their friends for him, and the Despair she gave to everyone thanks to her betrayal...it was horrible. And Sora, knowing full well that these answers would not be pleasant...starts to freak out as she's crushed with a sense of overwhelming guilt. She never thought she was that horrible of a person, never even considered the possibility, but the fact that she is Akane Taira and that she hurt so many people, including Teruya...Oh God. No wonder she feels as though she's been acting strangely lately. It's like the more she remembers, the more and more she'll lose her current self and the ability to control her own actions. Yuki is distraught to realize that his own friend might be in the same boat as him in a way, but Yoruko, after taking the brief time to mentally recover, steps up to the plate and shakes Sora, giving her a speech that proclaims her current self as "Sora," and so long as she chooses to be "Sora," she won't become "Akane Taira." Not anymore, not if she chooses to be a different person and do better. This actually gets her to calm down from the overwhelming reveal of "who" she is and she sits back down, with Yuki curling up next to her as silent emotional support.

Yoruko sits back down and Hibiki speaks up, saying that no matter what happens, no matter who Sora is in the past or what will happen to Yuki in the future, their present is the most important part of themselves. They're here now and they can always choose to be better people than they were before. They can always work to strive for a better future. But Teruya bitterly says that while Yuki is clearly a victim and is going through a bodysnatching moment from Utsuro beyond the grave, he can't say that Sora will be getting a future. Yoruko starts to snap at him but Sora puts her hand on her shoulder and says that she understands what he means. Just because she's "choosing" to be Sora now, it doesn't erase what she's done in the past as Akane Taira. She's still hurt and killed a lot of people and she can't just pretend that her past as Akane Taira never existed. She'd just be running away from the responsibilities of her own actions and Sora refuses to do that. Teruya, still hurting but moved by Sora's words, whispers that he wishes he can do more for her. But if she truly is Akane Taira and is alive to this day, justice must be served for the victims, for both the living and the dead. Sora just nods her head, accepting any and all punishment that will come her way once they leave the Neo World Program. And with his end of the deal done, Sora hands over the exit code to Teruya and he starts to prepare to leave. Hibiki asks him what will happen next and Teruya explains that once he leaves, he'll talk to Rei and everyone else about what the hold up is and figure out a way to get them all out from there. It'll probably take a few days from their perspective but Teruya promises to work as quickly as he can to get them all out. Worse case scenario, they'll have to create a bunch of exit codes and try to transfer them to their handbooks. Yuki says that it sounds tedious to which Teruya replies that it probably is considering how long it took for Rei's exit code to reach him through Sora. Yoruko questions about the final Void and they all consider it but Teruya eventually decides that there's no point in searching for them anymore. They're the last one standing and when they leave, they'll be arrested alongside Mikado so they'll find out regardless of whether or not they search for them. Besides, it's better to try and keep the peace and stick together instead of poking the bear at this point. Once he was ready, Teruya tells the group to stick together and to try and work things out between them whenever an argument starts to crop up. They all bid Teruya goodbye, but before he goes, Sora speaks up...and says that, for what it's worth, she is sorry for what she's done.

Teruya, unable to come up to response to that, simply leaves.

And, now that Teruya has a proper role and actually interacted with the cast in a way that should hopefully suit his older and mature character more, we get to the final events of this chapter. Syobai does his thing with Sora while she's on a grocery run and finds out that she's Akane Taira then leaves the Neo World Program much to her confusion, she gets rescued by Yuki and co., and much later a broadcast appears across the city with...Teruya?! They all rush to find him but alas, it has long since been too late: Teruya Otori is dead. Yoruko is confused as to why Teruya is still here, Hibiki falls to her knees and cries over his body, Sora is shocked that they actually lost him when they shouldn't have, and Yuki can't wrap his head around how and why this had happened. From there, the investigation and trial goes pretty much like canon since I don't really have any problems with it, it just has Hibiki in the trial now. But I do have an idea that could add to it but I'm not sure if it's feasible? Let me know what you guys think on this idea:

Teruya leaving a note on his suspicions on who really killed him...but Mikado had taken it off of his body and only reveals it AFTER the voting results cause he's an asshole like that. He happily waves it in eeeeeveryone's faces and it's Sora that rips it out of his hand and, after confirming that it's something that Teruya would write to them, she reads it out loud for everyone to hear:

"I am Teruya Otori, and if you're reading this, I'm dead and you've found my body. I don't know which one of you will find me first, but please read this carefully: I am going to die and I know it, and there's nothing I could do about it. I know that sounds confusing with how I left you all and I wish I can say more, but there's only so much I can write until Mikado realizes what I'm doing and takes my journal and pen away. So I'll just get straight to the point.

Iroha has been giving me food that's probably been poisoned the past few days, but I don't think she's the culprit. I think Mikado is using her as a scapegoat to get away with murdering me as he had told me straight to my face that whether I starve myself or eat, my life is in his hands and he can kill me whenever he wants. Not only that, Mikado is the only one out of everyone that can cook actual food thanks to his "magic." No one else. These rice bowls they've been giving me look freshly steamed and don't look like they're from the mart. So who's to say that Mikado didn't poison the food behind Iroha's back?

I'll admit, I'm only bringing up this possibility because that's what my gut is telling me and it's all just speculation on my end. So don't take my word as law and carefully go through the evidence, think, and discuss it together. It could be Iroha but never forget that Mikado is also here, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. I hope this letter at least helps you guys think about the case, and if I'm right, bring Mikado down no matter what. And if I'm wrong

I'm sorry for failing you all, even beyond death."

Everyone is silent in the trial room as their mistake slowly dawns on them. And Mikado...laughs. He laughs and laughs, saying that he's actually impressed that an idiot like Teruya managed to figure out the truth of who the real culprit is just by gut instinct alone. He even left a dying message and managed to hide it for so long. He almost wishes he was like this more often, he could've been more entertaining! But it's juuust toooooo baaaad that his dying message never got to the right people! Because of course it wouldn't. Mikado did use Iroha in creating the murder plan "together" and a simple search of his body to make sure everything is in order was enough for him to discover the note. In any other circumstance, he would've left it alone, but because his speculation was too spot on, Mikado decided not to risk having the possibility get stuck in everyone's head and took it with him. Sora curses Mikado but he simply shrugs, saying that he had won...and it's time for his reward: watching everyone get executed. And bada-bing, bada-boom, Chapter 5 ends with everyone's execution getting interrupted and Kinjo making his post-credits appearance.

Chapter 6...okay, it's basically an exposition dump but 2x because LINUJ made a lot bad writing decisions that forced him into corner upon realizing that a lot of the information he wanted to tell will have to be crammed into the final chapter because he didn't think ahead on how he was going to trickle all this information in through the first 5 chapters. Like, seriously, I'm sure we would've been able to cut down Chapter 6's run time if we just had some of these reveals in Chapter 4 through Nikei or even Chapter 5 through Teruya. But you know, whatever. I'm mostly bringing up Chapter 6 even though Teruya is dead at this point simply because I want Sora to react to Kinjo's willingness to sacrifice Teruya (and Rei) just to keep Syobai's double status as a double agent a secret. I want her to call him out on it. I want her to point out how fucked up it is for him to sacrifice his own friends for the greater good without even telling them anything, keeping them in the dark and using their own trust in him against them. To use and abuse Teruya's trust in him, betraying him without him even realizing it because he died before he could ever find out. He trusted him and he...just tossed him away like trash.

And Kinjo, knowing full well that it's his fault but with the audacity of the sun, just looks at Sora and says, "And what gives you the right to say that?"

It takes all of Sora's restraint and guilt not to jump over her podium and punch Kinjo in the face, Akane Taira style.

And now we've finally reached the end, and oh my god, it took me two days to finish this. Clearly, I am insane for Teruya Otori and way too wordy for my own good cause this is long as fuck. Sorry. But yeah, this is how I would go about rewriting Teruya in SDRA2. I hope he comes off as better written but not like a flawless being or anything cause he still fucks up and makes mistakes here. Tell me what you think of it once you reach the end and what you think works and doesn't work. I'm hoping he comes across as someone that's a bit more competent and mature, but only outside of the trials cause otherwise he fumbles a lot in there. Like, seriously, his Ultimate Talent as a merchant would be great for negotiations and LINUJ claimed that he was a mediator in the Kisaragi Foundation but again, he's so underwhelmingly underutilized that it drives me insane. Give my man some spotlight! Give my man some love!! He deserved better writing, goddammit!!!

#Asks #Star Talks #SDRA2 #Teruya Otori #Super Danganronpa Another 2 #SDRA2 spoilers #DRA Spoilers #I'd tag everyone else but then this list would get really long #so I'm not gonna #ah teruya otori we are in it now

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apiratefellinlovewithastar · 1 year

Note

do I have to pick, can I just ask all the Rick & Morty ask game questions at once 😂

ay Bri 😂😂😂 honestly I’ll let you do it because I KNOW that if I don’t answer them rn I’m gonna forget and then get lazy about it 😂

adding my beautiful gf’s ask here as well 💗

Morty my absolute beloved 💛💛💛

Domestic Beth for sure

Yes, those two were romantically involved and fucked nasty 100%

I saw someone saying Wren and honestly? Such adorable and fitting name!!! I love it so much. This is canon now

iirc adult swim ordered 10 no? so that many, hopefully an extra one or two xD

metaphorically speaking I would smash Young C-137, pass the old one lol. (but I would totally smash Miami)

Is it really a villain if he’s done nothing wrong, ever, in his life? (Evil Morty ❤️💛)

HOOOO BOY. This is the hardest question yet! I love most if not all episodes for one reason or another. But my top 4 categories are the BAMF Morty ones, the break-up ones, The Citadel ones, and the Rickbot ones.

The ones where Beth or Jerry take the spotlight, regardless of how little or much 💀

My least favorite characters are both Beth and Jerry, funnily enough. They’re awful parents and while I would enjoy their narcissistic and/or manipulative behaviors otherwise, they stopped being alluring the moment I fell in love with Morty (instantly). Baby boy’s well-being comes first now and forever

Mistreating Morty 🔪 *inserts community meme template* I can excuse genocide, but I draw the line at making the baby sad

Not at all! While their voices are part of their essence, it’s not what makes the characters themselves. It’s not the end of the world. Dubbed shows are proof of it. Besides, vocal chords change all the time!

ALL MY BELOVED RNM MUTUALS <33333

Morty and Summer!

Ohhh!! that’s an easy one. Any scene where Rick thinks he’s being subtle about his affections for Morty, regardless of how one perceives them. It’s just so funny to watch that pathetic old man trying so hard to repress his emotions and STILL come off as jealous, possessive, or a simp. Morty has him wrapped around his little finger and Rick KNOWS it. He HATES it so much it makes him look stupid and yet he STILL complies. [chef’s kiss]

Ahhhhh. Best Season is 3 or 6.

Worst one is, hmmm. Maybe 4?

something something death of the author etc etc

“Nobody exists on purpose, nobody belongs anywhere, everybody’s gonna die. Come watch TV.” and “You can’t help it. You were bred for it.” and “Every version of us spends every version of all our lives in one infinite crib built around an infinite fucking baby.” Honorary mention to “little junebug.” They live rent free in my brain 🥰

SUMMER 💗💗💗

#🎐#bri #nevi #rick and morty #rnm q&a #📌

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trailjunctionarea52 · 16 days

Text

In my experience, friendships have been a revolving door of hit or miss. Sometimes, I thought someone was my friend when, in reality, they were acquaintances at best. I can't even start to count the number of people I have been there for, but when I needed somebody to listen, they wouldn't even consider it. So, over the years, I have learned to un-doormat myself, and once I see the red flags—which I recognize much sooner these days—I disengage quickly from them.

But every once in a while, when I least expect it, sequences of events lead to meeting people who somehow become part of my life on some level; for me, the most important one is friendship. The best thing about friendships is that there are no obligations besides being a good person; that's it! For my life right now, I don't have any room or energy for a romantic relationship with anyone; I don't have the time or patience to take on the emotional load of a partner, and I think that's good to know about myself. But friendships are entirely on the board of pieces I need in this game of life.

Last night my friend Anthony invited me over to his house for dinner, and I have to say it fucking SLAPPED! It's been six months of eating like a peasant, healthy(mostly), cheap, and usually out of a pouch like the hikertrash I am—nothing fancy! So I was stoked to be invited to break bread with him and his wife Rue, who are both great company! Is there a kinder gesture than a friend inviting me into their home to break bread? I don't think so! I can say without a doubt that they are friends of mine! Pretty rad!

And since I was on that end of Bishop, I decided to stay at the Buttermilks last night. It was windier and much cooler than the volcanic tablelands down below, which was a nice change of pace. It also meant it was easier to code brown because I had more privacy and options—TMI? Maybe, but that's my reality.

Ok, hard switch of topics: onto, you guessed it! Hiking! Wow, big surprise! Mono brain as fuck, right?!? Back in June, I had a great time with my friend Ducky when we hiked the TRT, but due to the elevation, he had difficulty breathing, and I was very sympathetic to that fact. But regardless, we made the best of it and still had a great time! That said, I have a hard-on for that trail and fully intend to hike it in my fashion, which is big and fast miles! I have unfinished business there, so I've bumped Big Seki out of the mix to prioritize the TRT, my kid's birthdays, and pacing Anthony at his Hundo next month.

My last day of work is the 14th, and I plan on starting the TRT on the 17th, which is only eight days away. And hopefully, this Davis fire near Reno slows the fuck down because, last I read, the fire is creeping up towards Mount Rose, which would fuck up my plans. That's something out of my control, so I'm not going to worry about it besides hoping my family and others in that area aren't hurt. And I'm not too fond of talking about my injuries because my body typically heals very quickly. Still, my left knee has eight days to recover fully, and I'm convinced it will, but holy fuck, it's living rent-free in my head, which is something I have to work through mentally—I'm not prone to injuries, so this is something new to me.

I looked at shuttle prices, and it is much cheaper to book a shuttle to South Lake Tahoe than Tahoe City. Even though Tahoe City would be more convenient—because the trail starts in town—I will choose the cheaper option. And best believe me when I say I'm getting a room afterward for at least a night because it's been over a month since I've last showered and slept in an actual bed—holy fuck, I can't fucking wait! And after I'm done crushing that trail, I'm treating myself to a big green leafy salad and a basket of fries with a side of ranch! These are things I fantasize about! Kinky shit!

Anyways I'm done…

But I would like to end this by saying I love this life, even the painful parts, and I'm happy to be here living it the best I can!

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ineeddream25 · 2 years

Text

Discussion plan gone wrong

[SAGAU! Imposter Reader]

Veritas Inter Astra

[Before]

Tw : Contains Violence

Welp, this is it. This is the continuation. Have it folks. I'll surely be updating this in the future but IDK how long. cuz currently, I'm still preparing for a college entrance exam. Hopefully, this will suffice for now. If you have any ideas, complain, or brain-rot, feel free! Oh, Ayato simps be winning in this chapter lol.

Faith is a sacred thing. It is holy, full of loyalty, and something that roots deep within people's hearts that serves as a guide. Guide on how they live their life. Guide on how they choose their morality and how to treat someone. Like how to treat a person like you! Who is mistaken as an imposter?

You are aware of the looks given to you. Those Shuumatsuban ninjas didn't even hide their glare while escorting you and Ayato. You grumbled. All this ordeal has left you very exhausted. Waking up in the middle of the storms, getting attacked, and now having to walk a long way to The Kamisato Estate. Yeah, you'd like to take a bath and maybe some warm food.

After navigating through the Chinju forest, your group arrived at the gate of The Kamisato Estate. You heard comments from the NPCs about how beautiful this place is. It seems they are not exaggerating after all.

You gasped. The sheer luxury of this place is up a notch. The soft glow of the lantern as the sky slowly turns to dark blue is beautiful. As if they are guiding you to this fine architecture. The soft blows of the wind with a hint of saltiness from the sea are also very refreshing. You stood in awe. Your ordinary self feels intimidated by the presence of this place alone. You, whom some moments ago, are just someone who tries to pay the rent of your apartment. You backed up a little, discomfort and insecurities filling your heart. Are you allowed to stay in this place? Your mother once look at you apartement and literally said “Damn you lived like this?” Once. Hey, That time it’s because exam week, you’re way too busy with your grades to care.

"Ayato, are you sure it's okay for me to be here?" you asked in doubt. Sure, when you played the game, you have always wanted to visit this place yourself. Honestly, who wouldn't? If you're honest, sometimes you would think, "How does it feel to live in such a luxurious place?" The thought always made you giddy and smile from the excitement. But now, after seeing the real thing, you're not so sure. Ayato smiled, not his usual political smile, but one genuine, full of love and adoration. It makes you uncomfortable. You didn't feel... worthy.

Before he could answer, one of his ninjas, though scared, snapped back at you. "You dare refer to Lord Kamisato so casually like that? Filthy imposter, you should know your place!"

You flinched back. You don't have enough energy to bicker back, and your anxiety's spiking up. The wind blows fast and harsher. You squeezed your hand so hard it turned white. You can handle people being mean to you, but that doesn't mean you don't feel hurt. You ignore the wind that starts getting restless, the trees trashing around along with the wind.

"Look, Ayato-- Lord Kamisato. I appreciate your thoughts." You bowed, apologizing. "But it seems that I won't be received well in your place. I'll go back with Nobu and continue my travel with them--"

"Shut up." You flinched, not daring to look up. Ayato's voice is devoid of any warmth.

Did you mess up somewhere? Did your bow is disrespectful? You heard little gasps behind you as well. Oh no, you definitely messed up.

But I don't want to die.

An idea pops through your head

Hey, I can apologize! He will forgive me, right?

You stand up straight, expecting Ayato to glare at you.

Only to see a body stumbles in front of you and fall to the ground. His face was pale as paper. You scream and walk back. The sight of it scares you, but you can't help your sense of morality to help him.

"IS HE DEAD?!" You scrambled to him, grabbing his hand to check any pulse left. In the past, your school has given you some first aid lessons. It's time to practice your knowledge. You reached to the area on the side of his neck. You are relieved when you feel the weak pulse there. After calming yourself, you realize that the unconscious man was the one who mocked you before.

You feel someone's hand gently caressing your cheeks. You startled, whipping around your head to see Ayato looking at you worriedly. You felt relieved that he's not angry at you, but can't he sees the man being unconscious in the dirt? Sure, he is a jerk. Maybe he deserves it a bit. But he looks like he is on the verge of dying!

"T-Thank you for your concern Ay-- Lord Kamisato. But, um, the soldier, Shouldn't he get some treatment?" you asked hurriedly. Ayato squeezes your arms gently once again.

"Just call me Ayato, Dear creator." He said while longingly looking at you. He wanted your attention on him, but the man, who offended you oh so greatly, is diverting your attention from him.

Ayato glances at him. His eyes turn cold and emotionless. How dare this man belittle you, the great creator. How dare he mock you. It seems that the education instilled in them is still not working effectively. He needs to note that for his plan.

The samurais in the back are frozen stiff. They've seen how Lord Kamisato creates a bubble around the ninja's head, mercilessly drowning him, slowly and silently crushing it with water pressure whirling inside the bubble. They've seen the anger and fury gleaming in the head commission's eyes. They've seen it before, anger so primal but so concealed. They wouldn't have noticed if they'd never experienced it before.

Nobu walks forward intending to tell you what has happened. You need to know what happened. The leader, sensing one of his youngest member's intentions, grabs his shoulder harshly. Nobu jerked back, head whipped around to glare at him. The leader motions to Lord Kamisato, who is glancing at them. His eyes filled with hidden messages.

"You don't want the same cruel thing to happen to you right? Don't intervene."

The leader got that message clear. He wants to help you, but he is still powerless in front of the commissioner and his army. Lord Kamisato called you the creator, but to him, you are just a clueless person who doesn't know anything. He will make you one of the group, but now, he hopes your fate there will be lucky, even if his gut was telling him otherwise. If there's another chance to help you, he will repay this sin.

You are still waiting for Ayato's response. Quietly tugging his arms, you called out to him. Ayato's attention is back to you now. His eyes change forth between fury and adoration, which unsettles you. He looks at one of your hands on the unconscious soldier's head.

"No worries, My grace. He is a little bit exhausted from today's mission and hasn't been resting. I'm sure enough rest will make him better the next day." He lied smoothly. The ninja gets the messages and takes their friend back to their living quarters.

You stood up awkwardly. Ayato is still holding your arms. His eyes are still soft with adoration and another emotion you can't pinpoint.

"You can let me go, Lord Kamisato." Ayato looks partially hurt. "Just Ayato, Dear creator. Call me Ayato, like how you used to call me before coming here."

"But, I just met you! What do you mean how I used to call you?"

Ayato looked confused. It seems that something happened when you were transported here. Ayato once again invited you to come inside. You tried to deny it because you don't want to see or hear other people mocking you again. Ayato reassures you, but you still doubt it.

You looked back, but the samurai group was already nowhere to be seen. Your feel your hearts break a little. They don't care about you, huh? You have no other choice but to go with Ayato.

You glanced at him. His expression brightens when he realizes you're looking at him. His lips go full of smiles and his eyes crinkle with mirth.

Maybe, living here for a while is not so bad.

You are guided to the front door of the estate. The Zen garden stretched beautifully across the manner. The white sands look soft and fresh. The lanterns glow warmly in the dark.

You felt yourself relax a little. The guards salute in their Lord's presence. They can't help but notice another person who is tagging along with their Lord. They wanted to converse but their Lord send them a warning gaze while covering the mysterious person's face with his sleeve, resulting in him half hugging the figure to himself.

Ayato suddenly feels his heart thudding fast. Warmth spread all over his body and he feels so bashful. Who knows being this close to the creator feels so comforting. It's similar to the aura enveloping him when he's in the vessel mode but way more powerful.

You are clueless. When Ayato obscures your vision with his sleeve and hugs you, you feel flustered. He smells of wood and weirdly, milk? It is soothing, but still, you're flustered.

"Ayato?! What are you doing?" you squeak. Ayato looks even more bashful. His face flushed even redder. The guards look stunned. Is someone calling their lord on a first-name basis?

"A-Ah I see. it's some important guest to you. I'll call Thoma my lord." The guard rushes inside the manor. While Ayato, who now couldn't hold his desire anymore, decide to embrace you as a way to hide your face.

"Oi, Ayato. Is this necessary?!" You look up to him. Face red and flustered. Which led to Ayato feeling even more overwhelmed.

My creator is way too cute. How can I be calm?!

Trying to reason with himself. Ayato said, "Of course, we wouldn't want to see your face now, don't we? You don't want the same thing to happen again. Right, dear?"

Your confused expression is endearing, per se. One of his hands slowly caresses your cheeks. Both of your faces flushed red because of the situation. Ayato cups your cheeks. His smile is full of love.

"I'll explain everything to you later, dear. We need to find somewhere private--"

"Shall I prepare a special room My Lord?" an unfamiliar voice suddenly joins in. You and Ayato jolt in surprise. Ayato hides your face and you hug Ayato even tighter.

Thoma stood there looking awkward. Ayato is a little bit unhappy someone disturbs him, but he is also relieved that Thoma has arrived.

"Ah, Thoma. Prepare one of the most secluded rooms in the estate." It's a question with many meanings. But, with Ayato's flustered face and his wavering voice, its meaning took a big turn.

"Are you going to do that My Lord?" Thoma asked bashfully. You, who are frozen from meeting another cast of Genshin so quickly took alert at the question that Thoma gave.

"Do what???" Your question is left ignored. Ayato quickly replied. "Yes, Thoma. We will do 'that' private thing. So you all better don't disturb me for the rest of the night. You don't want to interrupt our... 'private' moments. Don't you?"

Thoma stood straight and almost saluted, which you think is funny. "O-Of course My lord! Er- Enjoy your time in intimate moments!" He stuttered.

You choke.

Intimate moments?! What is Ayato going to do with you?! You look at Ayato with a horrified expression. He looks panicked and quickly mouthed you "Trust me" before bridal carrying you through the halls and quickly ran to one of the rooms that has been recently prepared by the servants.

Ayato shuts the door and the servant quickly hurried away, afraid they'll disturb their lord.

Ayaka, whose just arrived at the scene walked to Thoma. She closes her fans. Eyes looking at the room his brother just went in.

"What happened Thoma, why do you look so pale?"

"His lord is doing someone,"

Ayako raises his eyebrows."You mean something?"

Thome is silent, looking at her with a serious expression.

"My apologies, Lady Ayaka. But did I stutter?"

"Oh my Excellency, The Almighty Narukami Ogosho, God of Thunder!"

The gossip went wild that night.

====

LMAO, PEOPLE THINKING AYATO GONNA EAT THEM CAKES

But in reality both of them just awkwardly conversing. Help them

Thoma : Ayato have someone special!

Ladies in Inazuma : Oh no!

Creator : [No clue] Oh My God, You have someone special? Why didn’t you tell me?

Ayato : [Groaning] How can someone be so endearingly stupid.

TAGLIST!! : @kazuhira07 @karmawonders @ello-its-me-ya-boi @emperatris-rinaka

#ayato kamisato #genshin impact ayato #genshin impact theory #sagau #genshin self aware au #kamisato ayato #yandere #yandere kamisato ayato #genshin thoma #imposter!reader #DreaminginStory #genshin cult au #genshin impact sagau #genshin impact #self aware genshin

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deangirl-interrupted · 3 years

Text

You Wake up a Stranger to Yourself (then you learn to live with her)

For @spnwomenweek Day 2: Family Claire POV Claire/Kaia Wayward Sisters Fluff Background Destiel & Saileen Rated: T (just some swearing) Note: Niamh is pronounced “Neeve”

______________________________________________

You're not a Winchester.

Until, one day, you are.

Claire watched the ceremony with a certain smug satisfaction, from her place beside Castiel as his "best man."

She knows that Castiel's used the name Novak when he's needed Jimmy's old I.D. (and face) to do useful things like rent cabins in which to raise the child of Lucifer. But it's never truly been his. It's a name he stole.

But when he and Dean got married, with the legal papers and everything (thanks to Charlie) Castiel was given the gift of the name Winchester.

That gift was sealed with a kiss.

Claire watched as Sam clapped Cas on the back and said, "You've always been one of us."

***

When Sam finally popped the question to Eileen, it had been three years since they'd defeated Chuck and saved the world again. Dean kept hassling him, telling him to man up and just do it. Sam kindly reminded him that he'd spent an infuriating twelve years pining for his husband, so kindly shut the fuck up about it.

Eileen had no intention of dropping her ancestral last name, and Sam had absolutely no problem with that. They decided to hyphenate to Leahy-Winchester, with both of them taking that name.

Claire was 25 when she found herself on a hunt with Eileen. They'd known each other for years, of course, but had never hunted together. Claire had been practicing her ASL since before Sam and Eileen got hitched, and Eileen was impressed with the ease and fluidity that Claire had mastered.

It was a simple salt and burn, nothing too strenuous, so they had some down time.

Leaning up against the side of Claire's car, Eileen suddenly said, "This is my last case."

Claire blinked at her a few times before saying and signing, "What, why?"

Eileen gave her a shit-eating grin and slowly rubbed a hand over her abdomen. "I'm brewing a new Leahy-Winchester."

Claire cackled. After hugging Eileen and wiping happy tears from her eyes, she said, "The monsters won't know what hit them."

***

Claire let Kaia drive them to go meet baby Niamh Leahy-Winchester.

Claire had been jumpy and nervous for some reason. She hadn't actually been back to Jody's in an age, and she hadn't seen the Winchester clan in even longer.

It's not that she didn't want to, she'd just been busy traveling with Kaia, looking at the world as an explorer and not just a hunter. Actually stopping to see some sights and stuff. And it's not like she hadn't been texting everyone! They had a group chat! It was a perfectly legit way to stay in touch!

She felt a bit guilty about it, anyway.

Kaia looked over at her and smiled, as if she could tell what Claire was thinking. Hell, maybe she could.

"It'll be fine," Kaia said as they pulled to a stop in front of a one story rancher with yellow siding, a white dogwood tree in the front yard, and a devil's trap painted underneath the welcome mat.

They held hands as they approached the house, and didn't bother knocking since the door was cracked anyway.

Everyone was gathered in a fairly small living room, huddled around Eileen and a tiny bundle in a yellow blanket with bees embroidered on it.

(Claire knew, without a doubt, that Cas had picked that out. He may have even knitted it himself, the weird ass.)

Claire knew that Kaia was still a bit uncomfortable around large groups like this, even though she knew and loved them just the same, so she let go of her girlfriend's hand and sauntered over to the group, throwing an arm around Dean's shoulders from behind.

"What's new up in here?" Claire said, throwing a wink at Eileen.

Claire soon found herself caught up in a group hug consisting of her surrogate mother and her two (kinda) gay dads.

"Geez," Claire said, trying to wiggle free, "You guys act like you haven't seen me in a year. I can't breathe."

Jody pulled away and said, "It has been nearly a year, Claire! And before you say anything, texting doesn't count!"

(Damn.)

Cas pulled away but left his hands on her shoulders, keeping her at arm's length and giving her a good once-over.

Seemingly satisfied by whatever he saw, he finally let her go.

"We've missed you, Claire," he said, so softly that it broke her heart a little.

Dean smiled and said, "Yeah, you leave for months at a time and you don't call, you don't write..."

Claire knew that she was letting Dean get her riled up, but that was just part of the comfortable little game they played. "I texted all of you! Like, literally everyone in this room! Some of you I even texted this morning!"

Alex and Patience laughed at her from their spot by a large bay window with sheer white curtains, and when she looked over at them, they both gave her a little wave.

Claire knew they wouldn't be coming to her defense.

It made her smile.

Donna walked over and pulled Claire to her, giving her just as big of a hug as the others. "Okie doke, let's leave the poor girl alone, and let her meet Niamh."

Claire was then unceremoniously dragged over to Eileen, who was watching with amusement. But it also got her closer to Sam, who stood up to give her a hug, and then leaned down to take the infant from Eileen's arms.

"Niamh," Sam said to the baby, with the most besotted look on his face, "This is your big sister, Claire."

And with that, Claire's brain made the sound of a record scratch. Claire.exe stopped working. Big sister? Is that really how Sam and Eileen saw her? As a daughter? Dean and Cas acted like that with her, and so did Jody and Donna, but those were more obvious. She and Sam had never been as close, though he was often the more reasonable Winchester brother. But this whole time, she was just everyone's adopted kid?

Claire was self-aware enough to know that she had softened a bit as she got older, but as Sam gently placed Niamh into her arms, and she looked around the room at everyone she loved, she felt her eyes go all misty.

This whole time, after losing both of her biological parents as an only child, it turned out that she had more parents and siblings than she knew what to do with.

Kaia appeared next to her, to look down at the baby in her arms.

"She's so small," Kaia said, whisper soft.

Claire looked at Kaia with a watery smile and then back down at the baby.

Gently rocking the infant, Claire quietly said, "Hi, Niamh. I'm Claire, and this is Kaia. You are so loved, and I know that someday you're gonna blow us all away."

Niamh gurgled happily.

***

"Are you sure about this?" Charlie asked Claire over the phone.

"Yeah, why, is it weird?"

"No, no!" Charlie said, quickly. "It's just that...I know I'm not from here, and I'll never be 'their Charlie,' but I've learned that this name comes with an awful lot of baggage."

"Nah," Claire said, easily. "To me, it's a name that sets me free."

Charlie laughed a bit and said, "As long as you're sure, I'll send the new documents to you tomorrow."

"Thanks, Charlie," Claire said with genuine relief in her voice. "This really means a lot to me."

After a "peace out, bitch!" Claire ended the call and let her phone drop to the sofa.

Kaia walked over and sat down next to her, taking one of Claire's hands in both of hers.

"When are you going to tell them?" she asked.

Claire grinned and squeezed Kaia's hands, "I'll probably wait for a while. I don't want to give them the satisfaction."

Kaia laughed.

***

When Claire and Kaia met with the landlord, to see what would hopefully become their first official apartment together, Claire shook the little old lady's hand and said with a dazzling smile, "Nice to meet you, I'm Claire Winchester."

#spnwomenweek #claire novak #claire-centric #saileen #destiel #claire and kaia

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draken-rotzi · 3 years

Text

Bug Man x Reader Part One*

Read on AO3

SO, wanted to write something of this topic bc we all need some more Musical!BJ in our lives, it’s a nice comfort ngl, I enjoyed writing it and hope you do too c:

(Got carried away so here's the first half while I edit the second one in the meantime, it takes a bit to get to the main part we all want to read forgive mE it's better in th next one believeme)

I'd love some feedback since I haven't written anything since 2019 ;v; some wordings might seem odd since my brain speaks spanish first english second

Summary; Old boring university life and a broken but hopeful heart meet the supernatural and whacky demon/ghost with the most, reader-chan needs to get out from a toxic relationship and what's a better help than a magic dead man? Cutting ties might seem easier when someone else arrives and flips your world upside down with no warning.

Mostly fluff, bits of angst l8r

Female reader, but tried to not give any other specifics to the character themselves, OCs appear

It was a fresh autumn afternoon, birds still chirped before migrating to warmer areas for the winter, the wind was cold but nice, not yet freezing but enough for people to wear light coats. You sit on a school desk, a class about taxes and fees, you drift off a bit looking at the window while half-listening.

You lived in a medium but popular city, it was a great place, with nice, kind people for the most part, huge malls, restaurants and lots of places to go out with friends or alone.

...

"Miss ___? Care to answer this equation here for the class?" The teacher asks, a tall, slender woman that radiated authority, it made some students shiver in times like this with a direct question.

"Oh? Yeah- sure miss Adams" You replied, while trying not to look confused since you just missed the topic, hopefully you remembered from the last lesson by the time you walked up to the blackboard and took the marker to write.

...

After class, you were walking with your friends to the cafeteria next to the main exit to wait for an uber to arrive; your side job as a freelance wasn't good enough yet to afford a car, but it helped pay the bills and to have enough for a bit more more than the basic needs.

Your two best friends at college were Itai and Rob. Itai was a funny dude, with a darker tone on his skin, not so tall and full of charisma. Rob was a bit more collected, but still a lot of fun to be around, being the voice of reason for you three most of the time, emphasis in most, because sometimes he got carried away too.

"Man I hate that class, I don't understand a thing! Why do we even need math?" Itai tells the group, sounding annoyed as usual, he was a simple guy, but simple guys need a degree too, to secure a better job.

"Well if you paid attention instead of eating that cold baguette in class you won't be that confused my man" Rob replies, laughing a bit at the end

"At least you weren't asked to do math in front of the class" You sigh, putting down your backpack and sitting on a table next to the building's exit, looking at your phone to know how much time was left for the driver to arrive, around 10 minutes.

"Yeah everyone felt so bad for you, but hey, if you’ll be daydreaming at least look at the front instead of the window next time, it might help you" Rob said while opening a bottle of apple juice, his favorite, he wouldn't drink any other thing, he was probably 60% apple juice after years of drinking it that often.

A few minutes passed by, the three friends chatting about the day's events, their plans for the weekend, and how to get the next assignment done. A figure appeared behind you putting a hand on your shoulders.

"Well hello ladies!" A man chirped, you turned around laughing softly

"Hey yourself!" you replied "Already off?"

"Yeah I've got the last hour free so I'm gonna head out to Kris' place, we'll play some games and work on that big project I told you the other day"

"Great, have fun! You say hi to Kris from me yeah?"

"Sure thing, see you later!" He says with a squeeze of his hand on your shoulder, then a quick pat on the head, turning around to leave.

"Bye, take care Nick!" you say as the man walks out of the cafeteria's door waving a hand.

Silence lingers for a bit until Itai breaks it

"Hey so, you're still going out with him?" He says with a crooked smile and a nervous look, Rob has a similar expression

"Yeeeah... it's been okay for some time now, you know? Hah" You look down for a second, pondering "Maybe this time is the good run?" Uncertainty fills the question, but you still smile to your friends.

Nikolas wasn't the model boyfriend, at least not for your friends; he was full of sweet words, hugs and kisses, only in private places though. When it came to the campus he treated you just like any other friend.

There was a small reason, according to him, he wanted to wait a bit more to make it public, get to know each other better, just to be certain from both sides.

That was the excuse a year ago.

It wasn't like he was out and flirting with other people, not at all, but one could expect to be treated like a love partner after so much time and moments together, you’ve gone to the movies, to dinner, to each other's houses, hell your families knew you two were dating, it just wasn't more than the bare minimum from him, seemed more like a thing someone does if they have free time, not make time for that thing, the thing being the relationship.

It seemed to be only a problem of neglect and apathy, probably, though you were so dumbly in love with him at first, you have been hoping and asking for a change since the relationship escalated to more than just holding hands and light kisses.

"I don't think anything's gonna change, he's been stalling for a whole year now" Itai mumbled, looking at Rob, he nodded in agreement

"Yeah, just dump him already, you deserve way better, you give him everything you got and he just throws the leftovers at you."

"I guess, but we're going out this weekend! You know he doesn't like going out often"

"With you" Rob adds

You hesitate a reply, it was true, most of the times you asked him to go out for a change, he was either too busy or decided to change the event the same day, turning it into a make out session in his house every time. Even though you saw each other 2 days every week, you have seen him go out with his friends more often, on actual enrichment outside activities.

"I know..." you sigh " I'll think about it, I'll try to talk with him about it next time”

Both of your friends let out a small groan of annoyance, they knew you weren't gonna do it, or that he'll just brush it off as always, between the lines of 'oh you're overreacting'

"Ah my ride's here!" You got up from the table and grabbed your backpack, tossing it over one shoulder.

"See he can't even give you a lift to your place!" Itai teased, they knew how you felt about the whole situation, but joking around sometimes made it a bit less bitter.

"Ha-ha, you know we live in opposite ends of the city! Besides none of you give me a ride either" you said while sticking a tongue out on your way outside the cafeteria

"Yeah because you live at the ends of the earth for some weird reason!" Rob joked back

Everyone said their quick goodbyes, and after a calm ride back home you remembered something just as you were locking the door, tossing your backpack into the living room’s couch you walked over to your room.

You flopped onto the bed, looking at your phone you opened some pending messages on the family group chat, apparently a distant relative of yours had died, and the family was gonna hold a small funeral tomorrow morning on the local cemetery, you didn’t enjoy those kind of events since you’d get really emotional, but since it was something really small, no more than 20 people, it was private and most likely no strangers would see you cry over someone you barely knew.

Tomorrow was saturday so it was okay to spend one free morning humoring your family.

After some mindless browsing on your phone, it was already 12:30am, you haven’t even got off your sneakers since you got home, you did a quick self-cleanup in the bathroom, tossing today’s clothes to the side to change into an oversized shirt with no pants as a makeup pijamas, it got a bit warmer in the afternoon so you wanted to enjoy wearing something light before winter fully arrived, getting under the sheets and you were out fast, maybe from all the overthinking of what’d tomorrow might bring, you’ve forgotten what are funerals like.

But there was certainly no way you’d know what would happen at all the next day

...

The event was simple, thankfully there was not much crying, seemed like everyone accepted already what had happened, some kind of illness you heard, at least they weren’t suffering anymore and they’ve come to terms with everyone close to them, that was nice you thought, it sure felt a bit heavy in there, as usual for funerals. After the ceremony, the family offered a barbeque in the departed’s honor to bright up the mood a bit; right at the cementery, maybe it was cheaper than renting a place for it.

Free tasty food was something only an idiot would decline, so you spent some time doing small talk with the relatives you knew best, but still you mostly just listened and ate in silence.

You saw a glimpse of color and movement out of the corner of your eye, since everyone was wearing dark tones it stood out, turning your head there was just an empty plastic table with some half-full plates and glasses, still, you felt a shiver up your spine, it was probably the weather.

When you looked back at your phone's clock it was already 6 pm, guess dad jokes and food made time fly, you said your goodbyes and condolences to everyone and headed out, you were still at the cemetery, so you had to call a ride back home, the driver dropped you near a convenience store just around the corner of your apartment, since you needed to buy a snack for dinner, on sundays you usually had takeout, so no need to worry much about it right now.

_______________________________________________________

“I know I didn’t imagine anything, that breather saw me at the cemetery! we even locked eyes for a second! It may work this time, just gotta get closer while they're alone”

_______________________________________________________

…

Walking down the street, humming a bit to some music and a bag of snacks in hand, dusk started to set, some stars could be seen and the sky was a beautiful fuchsia tone with oranges and purples mixed in the clouds. On instinct, you took your phone out of your jeans pocket to take a picture of the cute sky.

Just as you took a couple of pictures, to make sure at least one was good to share, something caught your attention out of the corner of your eye again

You felt a shiver like a cold wind out of nowhere, similar as to when a car drives a bit too close to someone on winter, but there was not even one driving car on the street.

"Oof, should get back now, it's getting colder" picking up the peace to get home faster-

A piece of paper slapped you in the face

“EW- wind trash” you muttered while grabbing what seemed to be a flyer, and it flew indeed.

You naturally took a closer look at it when you took it into your hands and out of your face, it was a very faded print, with an image of an… insect? man? holding a hammer over a small house and people, you chuckled, it was a funny irony cartoon, a bug crushing people.

Half of the flyer was unreadable because of some liquid or dirt, already dry but you couldn’t read what was supposed to be, written under the drawing was the end of an ad;

“Ghostly services one name away!

RESIDENTIAL - INDUSTRIAL - COMMERCIAL

Call BETELGEUSE

BETELGEUSE

BETELGEUSE!”

“Betelgeuse? ...Like that one star?” There was that shiver again, Halloween was a week ago, so this kind of paper seemed normal to be hanging around with the wind.

As you walked down the street, some lights started flickering, the cold wind seemed stronger and the sky was a deep dark purple now, strange, it was supposed to be clear dark blue by now, fall nights came quickly this time of the year, still it didn't feel like the usual night. You were just around the corner of your street when the closest light bulb exploded and zapped with a loud 'CRASH', making you stop for a second cowering from the shards

"What the-!? No one told me we'd be getting winter thunderstorms sooner what the eff" muttering swears you made a run to your apartment, scurrying for the door keys in the process, lights kept flashing and the wind made windows sing a high 'oooo' noise, you have seen this kind of weather before but no one would like to be outside when it happened, nervously and quickly you finally fit the key in the lock and opened the door, hurrying inside and closing it behind, a loud bang thundered through the silent room, the unexpected storm slamming against the walls and windows, you left the lights on before going out.

After a minute it seemed to calm down, wind turning into a breeze and the sky now it's usual black, no stars in the sky.

You let out a sigh and walked to the counter to drop your keys, the phone and your purse, you had to make sure all the windows were closed for the night, luckily it was Saturday, so no need to go out tomorrow on that crazy weather.

Windows secured, you changed into your winter pajamas, a gray pair of pants with a pattern of a cat on toast and eggs, with a pastel blue loose shirt. Making your way to the kitchen you decided a light snack would be enough for tonight, after that run and emotion on the way back home you had no energy to cook a proper dinner, not even microwave, it was also too late for it anyways you thought.

You put the snack bowl and a cup of water on the kitchen counter, looking to grab your phone. You noticed you still had the dirty flyer, forgot to drop it between the commotion maybe?

Placing it aside and unlocking your phone screen, you opened the ‘best friend's’ chat group

You. 'Hey guys, did you get any of that weird winter storm action today after school?'

Rob. 'Nah, it was a clear sky for me'

Itai. 'Same, also I was asleep all afternoon'

You. 'Strange, I got caught on this whirlwind on my way back home from the store, just my luck I guess >:('

Both of the boys. 'Lol yea'

Putting the phone down and chomping on some of the snacks, you thought about the events, it was indeed a clear sky earlier, only a couple of common clouds you took pictures of before it. You grabbed the phone again, quickly to see if any of the photos looked good.

"Pleasepleaseplease" you muttered in excitement, it was a very cute view, hopefully one picture captured it nicely.

And they did, a couple looked stunning, you smiled, thinking at least it was worth getting your hair all messed up by the wind, you were about to delete one picture it since it was blurry when you noticed a different kind of blur, it was gray with splashes of green in the corner, similar to what you saw at the funeral.

"There was nothing green on the other pictures, was it?" you looked through the other photos and they were pretty normal, full of pink, purple and blue from the sunset.

You looked back at the flyer

"Betelgeuse, betelgeuse, betelgeuse huh" You said in a playful tone, grabbing the torn paper from the counter, you felt a shiver, a strong one this time, well that was the opposite of a calming experience, but still the word felt strange when you said it, it wasn't like you hadn't said before, Orion was a popular constellation, and the Betelgeuse star was on it; but this time the air inside had a tense feeling.

All the lights went off after a second "Now a blackout? What's with today ugh" picking up your phone to use as a flashlight, after a couple of seconds before you could turn it on, all the lights came back again, but you almost had a heart attack when you saw someone standing in the center of the living room, enveloped in a green mist.

"FUCK wh- WHO THE FUCK-" you stuttered before turning around and grabbing the closest thing to use as a weapon, a wooden spoon used for beating eggs this morning "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE? WHO ARE YOU? GET OUT!"

The figure was a man, taller than you, dressed in a striped black and white suit, dark hair with green tints at the end, a wicked smile plastered on his face, he took a look around, then back to you, endless chills went down your spine when you met his eyes, you could feel the tense aura from before growing stronger, anticipating, colder.

"Well who might I be? You should know, you called my name baby! Glad to make some business with you tonight!" He said as he extended a hand and walked, floated? quickly towards a paralized you, frozen in place, you only managed to put the spoon up in self defense from whomever this man could be, the lights were out for just a few seconds, was he inside the apartment all this time?

"S-stop right there you!" tried to threaten the man with the wooden tool, he didn't seem to notice nor care, wrapping an arm around your shoulders, then placing a sloppy kiss in your face, petrified, you shivered and gripped the spoon harder, he felt oddly cold.

...Did he just kiss you? Who does he think he is??

"No no, no stopping now! We just got started cakes, and now that you said my name three times, I can finally interact with you and everything here in the world of the living! Gotta say thanks it's been real boring being invisible for so long lemme tell ya-"

*WHACK*

You hit the man in the head with the wooden spoon as hard as you could.

...the spoon broke.

The man's smile grew wider

#hope it's o k a y #I'll reblob this tomorrow with tags it's 2am help me #fanfic #fanfiction #beetlejuice #betelgeuse #beetlejuice x reader #beetlejuice x you #musical beetlejuice #draft #female reader #could be both Blum or Alex I love them both sm #or any other that u seem fit #I need a name for this jhfdsdfj #is 'whack' the correct sound?#sorry for the cliff #might edit later

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shinjukuspiritcommittee · 4 years

Text

Top 20 2021

My Favorites (updated)

Hello my readers, it’s been a while since I just posted something not related to a headcanon and I am doing one right now. I just wanted to take a bit of a break to just get SOMETHING on here on my days off work. Plus I’m just trying to find my groove when it comes to writing again so hopefully this helps me just get back into the mood of making a post more often lol. I wanted to revisit this topic for a while just because we’ve had a lot more events and a lot more alts in the game were added. And I know for a fact LifeWonders reads these posts in some capacity because I have meme’d an AR into the game with my top picks from the last list I did for Christmas 2019. No I didn’t. I’m just joking around and I know LifeWonders doesn’t read this.

Anyways rather than just make up a list on the spot like last year I decided to use the Housamo Sortmaker (Link: https://club.housamo.xyz/sortmaker/ ) to try and make a list that’s more revealing to what I was thinking at the time. Since I talked about 20 characters ish last time I’m just gonna read from my 20th place to my 1st place spots and try to justify whatever I was thinking at the time. Anyways-

20: Marchosias and Susan: This one was a surprise for me if I’m being honest but I’m just gonna blame the fact on Shukou’s recent involvement with LifeWonders in the form of Live A Hero and how Ryekie and Mokdai live in my headspace rent free whenever I think about the characters in that game. Maybe we can see about getting some LAH headcanons since that’s a LifeWonders property too). So out of all the characters Shukou drew for Housamo why did I pick Marchosias? Easy, it’s been 4 years and this poor man has yet to receive a proper alt or any kind of skin for that matter and I think that it’s a crime. Sure he’s not my favorite but he’s definitely grown on me because he’s just a gentle dad kind of character and his design has grown on me over the years. I just hope he doesn’t get left behind since he has a lot of really interesting and potential things to look forward to in the future given how the main story has unfolded.

19: Shiva/Algernon: The helmet heads are together because DAI XT quickly became my favorite artist for Fire Emblem Heroes and I really just like their designs. DAI XT just knows how to draw robots, armor and muscles well. Also Chapter 11 with Shiva you can read into some interesting perspectives. I don’t want to spoil any of the untranslated content for anyone who’s waiting for the official english translation. But if you are curious Roureem has a blogspot where he posts summaries of the newly released events.

Link: https://housamosummaries.blogspot.com/

18: Cthugha: I love this goober so much. He’d constantly try to act super sentai just trying say good morning everyday. He may not be very bright but that just adds to his charm and honestly I enjoy how he always tries to play the hero in a lot of scenarios because it’s refreshing when they implement him after a bunch of heavy hitting story stuff. I’m not gonna spoil too much about it but I will say he’s more than welcome after everything Chapter 10 and 11 put the reader through.

17: Mineaki: I’ve made a post about him being one of my least favorites way back when I first started this blog and let me just say how times have changed and I’ve learned the value of not judging a book by it’s cover. I still think there’s something a bit off about Kowmei’s style for his characters, but Mineaki has definitely grown on me. He’s a caring instructor who does watch out for his students even if it’s not always in the most direct way possible. Not to get into too many spoilers he’s got a lot of intrigue around him as well and I am curious to see his role get expanded down the line.

16: Ded: Housamo is the reason I really like christmas. The Christmas stories despite following a similar structure to each other do tend to be my favorite stories. Ded himself is also just another good dad character. He’s also two guys for the price of one, so I mean… you know… you’ve got the forever ask your other dad situation. There wasn’t much thought put into this choice I just like santa as a concept because I think the outfits are cute, it’s always nice to get something for people you care about on Christmas and Ded is the perfect embodiment of both sides to Christmas.

15: Shinya: Everyone we need to manifest buff Shinya for 2021, this is not a drill. This is legitimate. We must make Taromati’s and my wish come true. To be more serious again he’s just a sweet and gentle character. He’s also drawn by my favorite Housamo artist. Their characters always just look so naturally good. I’m just surprised he hasn’t gotten much of an alt given he’s perfect material for Valentine’s day. He’s just a soft boy and I would love for him to be in more things because I just enjoy seeing him.

14: Jacob: I have to be honest Jacob is on here because every time I look at him he just gets more handsome to me. I wasn’t all that impressed with his introduction and we don’t know much about his background but I’ve just been drawn to him more and more. Maybe it’s just because he’s drawn by GomTang? I just like looking at him and I can’t help it. To speak a bit less crass he’s another gentleman kind of guy and those are always nice.

13: Shennong: Yeah I like the doc a lot. Firstly, I’m a huge sucker for big bulls and Shennong fits the bill. The white fur really adds to his appeal visually and the purple horns give off a bit of an unnatural appearance. Shen feels like someone who’s been touch starved and alone for a long time given how he acts as a character and when we actually hug him I just lost it. He always has others well being on his mind so he’s not afraid to jump in and help, or give a much needed lecture about when you need to take better care of yourself. He just comes across as very well balanced overall.

12: Heracles: I won’t lie- at first he didn’t interest me much. He looked incredibly plain when among the rest of the cast and he seemed like the typical “bait” character since the banner had Echo, Barguest, Gyumao and Snow. But after reading the translation for Valentine Time Slip I was taken aback at how much of a gentle giant he turned out to be and I just really liked his interactions with the others in that event. And honestly his special quest from that year was one of the more unique ones given the slower pace and more romantic vibe it had. After the event warmed my heart I did a complete 180 and I just knew I really liked him.

11. Yasuyori: Before I start praising him I feel I have to justify why he didn’t quite make top 10 and it will have some mild Chapter 10 spoilers. To be as vague as possible his resolution just didn’t vibe with me at the end of Chapter 10. Like it wasn’t a bad resolution and it was the right choice to make but in my opinion there really wasn’t a moment I felt was clear where he made a choice for himself. Everything just sort of happened around him and it felt like he didn’t really do much to improve his situation. To an extent I kind of see that being the idea given his origins and the story he’s based on and there is some semblance of him coming to terms with himself alongside his isolation being portrayed pretty well, but I just wasn’t satisfied with it as much as I would like to be. With that out of the way, oh my god I just want this boy to never stop smiling and I just want to give him hugs constantly please he just deserves to be happy!!! Yasuyori is a character who’s got a lot of baggage and he’s just trying to find ways to properly cope with his trauma and not repeat past mistakes and I just really like that idea. His role in Xmas 2020 (sorry I just forgot the name of that event, but its when he gets his alt) was a much better representation for his character in my eyes. I’m not gonna spoil anything like I keep saying but he isn’t one to disappoint in future appearances and I just hope this lovable lug keeps getting the support he deserves.

10: Hephaestus: A spicy way to start the latter half of the list. I just want to give this lad a hug and tell him he is worthy of love. But at the same time he is a little shit… and I love that. I can’t fully explain why I grow a paternal instinct in me seeing this grown man sob about his mother but I just do. I want to keep him safe and give him all the affection he wants. Though I am aware a lot of Hephaestus’s interest in his parental figure is… questionable. I am just gonna say I would accept his love for what it is and he just wants approval.

9. Shuten: I’ll be honest I have no proper reason for why I like Shuten so much. He’s just a cool and reliable guy. He just seems like a go with the flow kind of person most of the time and he’s a bit more direct than most of the characters which I always appreciate. Plus I have an unspoken bias for naop guys in Housamo.

8. Durga: While not number 1 on this list, I still really like Durga. She’s quirky but not to an annoying degree, she’s determined and definitely very confident in her own abilities. Her growing to be more sociable throughout her events is something I enjoy seeing because it really creates this sense of growth.

7. Kyuma: I get a lot of people don’t like Kowmei’s art but I really think we should look past it because Kyuma is one of the sweeter picks. He’s someone who just wants to prove himself for his own worth and not what David can provide, but David is part of him and it just creates the potential for a good arc. Plus this boy is unintentionally smooth and will just take your heart when possible. I honestly want to see Kyuma more in events because he’s honestly the jock that carries 3 of the 4 brain cells. He’s also the last one without an alt so I’m just hoping he gets one in 2021 because he really deserves one in my opinion. (Also fan art makes him really cute).

6. Tomte: Tomte is relatively new but honestly his event in 2019 really endeared me to him. I’m trying to be spoiler free because the best way to enjoy these stories is for yourselves but let me just say his arc in the event was really endearing to me and much more than I was expecting. His fan service is also incredibly hammy and I love it. Visually Tomte is one of my favorites, I love his multi colored hair and starlit pupils cuz it makes his otherwise more generic look have some flare. I knew I liked him out the box and when I read about him in the summaries and can’t wait to read the official translation for him. I was just very endeared.

5. Tetsuya: Tetsuya fucks. Moving on…

Jokes aside this one’s a bit simple. I have no shame in admitting I think he’s attractive and his whole resistance towards wanting a relationship is cute in a weird roundabout way. When he says no I just want it MORE. I just really like duo haired tsunderes.

4. Kengo: Kengo 3rd alt 2021. Please LifeWonders I need my favorite Summoner. He’s a bro and that’s what counts. Kengo has got your back, not afraid to rely on you, a very fun and dynamic guy. Sure he’s not that bright when it comes to making plans or any book smart, but there are times where he’s the best at being able to read the room or just understand what someone needs to hear even if it isn’t always what someone wants to hear. His bullheaded nature is actually one of his redeeming qualities because it’s nice to just not overcomplicate things and just understand what’s actually going on. Yes the early story didn’t do many favors for him but to me the events, especially the later ones, do much more work for his character. To me, at least.

3. Ashigara: Ashigara is best bear, and I will defend that stance in 2021. The main thing that draws me to Ashigara is that I can see a bit of myself in him. He gets very emotional when he gets left alone, he’s very loud when with his friends, has a tendency of speaking his mind- just someone who wears his heart on his sleeve. I also appreciate that in spite of the negative he isn’t someone who backs down when the going gets tough and in a few instances he’s able to hold his ground physically at least.

2. Wakan Tanka: Love at first sight. This ray of sunshine still persists as the number 1 husband, but number 2 character. Firstly I am a huge fan of the partial beast aesthetic. The buffalo ears and the horns are absolutely adorable. Secondly he’s a perfect body type; he’s not too muscular but not exactly flabby. Third he is just so positive and I love that. He’s someone I admire and wanna hug.

1. Taurus Mask: The more things change the more they stay the same. I’m still a big Taurus Mask fan for all the same reasons as last time. I just… relate to this boy. He is an incredibly shy boy who uses his public persona for confidence. Maybe I’m reading too much into it but it’s like we’re soul bros!

So yeah, my tastes haven’t changed in a year and a half.

#tokyo afterschool summoners #housamo #Just Thoughts #qna #sfw

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subukunojess · 4 years

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So I take it you have a Disney Chills story in mind for Oogie Boogie? I had a feeling you were hinting at that. He would be fun since he's less about faustian deals and more about cheating/gambling and there's DEFINATELY a cautionary tale waiting in that fact.

wELP!

I had this sitting for a while mainly because I had to think about it for a bit. Mainly because of how to portray Oogie in the Disney Goosebumps universe that the author has set up. Now I have seen Oogie since I was around 6 years old and I've been writing him ever since I was around 16(?) so at least for a decade. Two reasons delayed me from creating a story idea:

1) The Oogie Boogie content I have planned so far is darker. Before the new year, I had written a dark one-shot for Oogie before Christmas Eve that contained some of my headcanons about his origins. I was pretty nervous about it due to my fear of making Oogie out of character and being too vague. Other stories I have planned for Oogie involve him being a "boogeyman" and scaring some people, a complete origin story which is most likely "A Bug's Life": Hot Topic edition, an Oogie's Revenge AU which also serves as a Lock, Shock, and Barrel origin idea, something for one of my friends, some Shelley Marie content, and crossovers galore. Except for the Shelley Marie content and crossovers, my plans for Oogie are really dark for middle school. I guess Oogie Boogie grew with me and I have to find a balance for him if I were to write with that age range in mind.

2) Oogie Boogie Bash and Villainous has changed my mindset about Oogie. This was a major reason for me. I'm not saying that Oogie's soft and completely changed after I've seen his work in the Disney Parks. Oh, he's still the Oogie we know and love. Before, he had small roles in the Disney Parks whether he was singing his song briefly in shows, meeting the guests once or twice, or holding a Freaky Fun House show in Beast's castle. He had this scary and confident attitude and he was owning it.

Then Shelley Marie came.

I loved Oogie Boogie Bash with all my heart and the Villainous firework show has got to be my favorite show of all time due to the voice acting, the animation, the water technics, the fire, the music, everything. I understand that Oogie was toned down a bit for a younger audience. But then this lovable bioluminescent Lydia Deetz-like child comes along with her giggles and cackles, endangering herself while meeting villains, and then near the end is the most touching, warmest moment that Oogie has ever had to the point where Ken Page just blends right in and it lives rent-free in my brain in the words:

Oogie Boogie is good with kids.

Now so far, it's only Shelley Marie and it may be just a story, BUT THAT SCENE CHANGED MY PERSPECTIVE ABOUT OOGIE COMPLETELY.

It would have been difficult for me to come up with a story where he haunts a teen and wins while my mind is going "But wait! Oogie's good with kids now!" and I'm like "Really?!"

So yeah, that's why I took long on this. I wanted to get that out of my chest. But without further ado, here's what I would do:

I do not have money, so I would never get the Disney Chills book experience (hopefully I will). However, with TV tropes and reviews, I'll do my best. In good timing too since the third book "Second Star to the Fright" is out now. If I were to write a Disney Chills story, I would get a spooky title pun. So far it would either be "The Boogie Song" or "To The Brim with Fright".

The cheating/gambling route is definitely the route to go with especially with the middle school age. I remember the days of board games, video games, tournaments, and the like after school and during the summer. I would also incorporate the "sore loser" aspect since I dealt with that a lot in my life with other people.

So far, I have the idea of a shy kid who loves to play games and they're good at them until they go against other kids and lose immediately. They doubt their abilities until they find some strange red dice somewhere and they play around with it and keep it. It seems like every time a kid finds the villain item, the villain shows up in some form and offers a deal. Either I could go with that route as well and have Oogie offer the kid a chance to win every game OR have his shadow come out instead, the kid uses the Lucky Dice that makes them win every time and they get obsessed with winning. Things spiral until they become a monster of what they were before and the real Oogie shows up at the end and either takes them away or eats them alive.

I automatically thought of a boy for the scenario, but it could be a girl too.

So that's what I have so far if I were to create a Disney Chills story.

#Oogie Boogie #Nightmare Before Christmas #Disney Chills #idea #concept #story #tornrose24 #Oogie Boogie Bash #writing #Shelley Marie #sorry this is so long #and that it took so long

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chiluc · 4 years

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if no one else sent u diluc for the character ask game yet then.. Him... but if they have u could also do childe bc i am genuinely curious abt that one ngl

THANK YOU FOR THE ASK BLOOK ILY <3

since i havent done either of them i will do both :) bc these silly little anime men live in my head rent free!

first impression - PLEASE THIS IS SO FUNNY. I DESPISED DILUC WHEN HE FIRST APPEARED I SAW HIM AND THOUGHT HE WAS A CISHET </3 can you believe. he was my first 5* character that i pulled and i was SO upset bc out of all the characters i couldve gotten it HAD to be the one and only character that i hated.

from the moment i saw childe i just knew he was an unhinged bitch boy <3 and i loved that for him <3 not much has changed (ngl i am a HUGE sucker for that archetype <3 character who puts on a nice and friendly facade but actually kills people for fun my beloved 🥰)

impression now - diluc my beloved 🥰❤️💕 would literally die for him and i actually cried when i pulled him on my alt account he means so much to me. baby you 🥰 literally my sole source of serotonin thank you diluc mwah mwah

childe is still an unhinged bitch boy what can i say <3 i hate him 🥰

sort of unrelated but childe and diluc have switched places in my team as main dps and sub dps bc diluc sets everything on fire and ends up with like 25% of his hp left when im done killing things so 😔✌️

favorite moment - literally every moment 🥰 love you so muchh diluc 🥰 okay okay slight spoilers for diluc story quest but when he is sassy toward huffman 🥰 so true king please speak more 🥰

spoilers for the main story quest but i LOVE when childe finally drops his facade and becomes uninhibitedly chaotic and then IMMEDIATELY after losing the fight with the traveler hes just like haha my bad bestie! no hard feelings <3 and then unleashes the fucking god of the ocean and peaces out <3 king behavior!

idea for a story - oh do not get me started. i literally have lost track of how many aus i have for Them it's actually so bad. i think my favorite au is where childe betrays the fatui and takes the gnoses for himself and becomes the archon of all the elements :) and diluc serves as his diplomat bc i said so 💅 they get married and have a huge fancy wedding and diluc becomes the pyro archon and yes i am mentally ill <3 do not talk to me about this or else i will never shut up this is a promise

unpopular opinion - i do not like zhongli/tartaglia as a ship. idk it's like the power imbalance i think but something about it rubs me the wrong way. also i cannot see zhongli as anything but an aroace grandpa i am sorry but chili shippers are incorrect (/j)! like i do not care if you ship them but it is not for me! i stay as far away from the genshin fandom as possible while still running a genshin blog so idek what other opinions are unpopular but yeah. thats the big one

favorite relationship - hopefully you all already know this but chiluc (childe/diluc) lives in my mind remt free and in fact i am the one paying rent bc they force me to draw them every fucking day of my life and they are canonically married i do not make the rules they told me this themselves. they are in love.

besides the obvious answer though i also am OBSESSED with xiao/diluc as friends and childe/kaeya as fwbs do not ask how any of this came to be because i do not know! my brain is eroded <3

favorite headcanon - diluc is autistic and childe is adhd this is true and correct and i will die on this hill. another headcanon i have based on dilucs specialty dish (pile em up) is that diluc holds the record for pile em up and to this day has not been defeated <3

a headcanon i have for childe is that hes really good at styling long hair because he takes care of his younger siblings a lot and yes this is for the purposes of furthering the chiluc agenda but it just makes cents luv!!! 💅

ask game here!

#TJANK YOU FOR ENABLING MY BRAINROT BLOOK 💕❤️#is the mental illness rampantly present enough do you think? or need i say more <3 #SERIOUSLY LOVED ANSWERING THESE I AM SO SORRY FOR MY BRAIN <3 NO I AM NOT <3 I AM

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takethisroad · 4 years

Text

fanfic author tag game!

tagged by: @halewoods

tagging: anyone who wants to play!

Where you post: depends what it’s for! I’ve got snippets on this blog for fandoms that I Lose or Have Lost My Mind over. Any longer stuff or stuff for fandom events goes on AO3. (Prior to tumblr/ao3, it was lj and the pit of voles but if you’ve seen my writing on there, no you haven’t ;-* )

Most Popular One Shot (by kudos): crack filth that I wrote a decade ago for a meme on lj, that’s all you need to know

Most Popular Multi-Chapter (by kudos): lmao it’s a personal victory to get over 5k words. I’ve got exactly one multi-chapter fic up on AO3, and it’s we could be more (than just part-time lovers).

Favorite story you’ve written so far: HOW DO I CHOOSE.

There’s one I’m writing (for a very loose definition of writing... it’s been on pause for years and I only picked it back up earlier this year) that, while I know it needs major revision and work, and will probably never be posted, sparks Extreme Joy when I work on it.

Otherwise, honestly, probably A Well-Made Man simply because trans Jack Rackham lives rent-free in my brain.

Fic you were nervous to post: ALL OF THEM. I hit post and immediately hide because my writing is - how can I put this - hot garbage. That said, probably The Finest Thing (Whatever It Is One Loves), because it was my first time doing Fandom Trumps Hate and the person who requested it donated a bunch of money to charity, so I really wanted it to be perfect.

How do you choose your titles?: song lyrics, mainly. Otherwise, if there’s a line from the fic that I like, it might go there.

Do you outline?: what the fuck’s an outline? jk jk it depends. For prompts and snippets on this blog, no. For longer fics (keeping in mind that “long” for me means “5k”), i’ll jot some notes down if there are scenes I want to hit or a 5+1 structure, or anything like that. Or if I need a plot. Plot is hard.

# Complete: 13 on AO3. A bunch of snippets on here. More lost in the ether of the 2000s-era internet.

# In-Progress: You’re really gonna make me do this, huh? Christ, I don’t even know how to count them. Fics that I’ve worked on in the last 2 weeks? Ones I haven’t touched in 2 months but fully intend to finish before I die? There are oodles of WIPs that I want to write one day, with no specific timeframe. There are about 2 or 3 fics and snippets that I’m actively trying to get done before the end of the year.

Coming soon/not yet started: half my WIP ideas. I have a lot of notes on my phone about lines I would like to use or concepts I would like to explore. For example, I am still daydreaming the Nassau General Hospital BS AU, though I’ve barely put anything on paper for it.

Prompts?: I love prompts! However, I am the worst and still have prompts in my inbox from the summer, so uh. Once those are done, I’ll be open for more (and hopefully will not need half a year to respond).

Upcoming work you’re most excited about: nothing’s super upcoming? Slowly chipping away at the silverflintham post-series fic i have going, but gods only know when that will ever be posted ;p

#takethisroad talks #thank you for tagging me!!! <3

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myhockeyworld87 · 5 years

Text

Nervous Regrets - Tyler Seguin - Part 6

Requested: No

Word Count: 3922

Warning: Cursing

POV: Reader

Notes: Total fluff piece. Currently finishing part 7.

The last twenty-four hours had been a whirlwind; to call it a roller coaster of emotions would be too cliché. It was more like that carnival ride, the one called the Zipper; the long-armed ferris wheel type ride that held several free flipping cars, that caged your body in, as it rotated around and around. Spinning constantly, flipping you through the air when you would reach the peak of the arm; the ride left you giddy and nauseous all at the same time. In your teens, it was your favorite ride; now in your late twenties it was a metaphor for your life.

Last night you had no intentions of telling Tyler you were pregnant; in your circle of friends you were known as everyone’s confidant. The fact that you couldn’t keep your own secret wasn’t lost on you. There was no going back now, but what your next move with Tyler was going to be still had you guessing. From the moment you’d found out, you knew Tyler would be a part of the baby’s life; never questioned that. Clearly you hadn’t anticipated the joy he would experience; while not at first, it was quite evident at the end of the night he was excited about being a father.

So, here you were, sitting on your couch in an old pair of Dallas Stars sweats; eating ice cream straight from the container, while you watched your baby daddy play hockey. While said baby, could not be seen yet; you were obviously taking this mom indulging in her favorite foods’ thing seriously. The only thing missing was the pickles, and since they made you nauseous even before you were pregnant; you had an inkling you wouldn’t be running to the store any time soon. It felt good to watch the Stars play again; you’d blocked them out of your life, just as you had Tyler. Oh, you still kept in touch with some of the wives and girlfriends, not so much now; but the first few weeks you did. It felt odd sitting in front of the television, when it was a home game; the norm usually being sitting in the designated wags section. While you didn’t quite belong there anymore now; this didn’t feel quite right either. But really was there anything in between?

“Come on ref, that’s a fucking horrible call?” you yelled at the tv, then spooned another bite in your mouth, as you watched Rads get called on some bullshit high stick. Thankfully Tyler wasn’t on the penalty kill unit; it was added stress neither him or you needed. With about four minutes into the second, a bad turnover by the Kings had Tyler dangling the puck around the goalie. Weaving in and out looking for the perfect shot; you hadn’t realized you were on the edge of your seat. Faking to his left he shifted at the last minute, completely fooling Quick in the process; the puck skidded over the goal line, sounding the horn. “Score,” shouting at the empty living room, you cheered.

Finishing the game, and the container of ice cream, you turned off the tv and headed to bed. Weeks of sleeping, still hadn’t prepared you for this tired feeling pregnancy brought with it; your body was exhausted. Mentally however, you couldn’t make your mind stop spinning; thoughts of Tyler occupying them. When you met him, he’d been your Prince Charming; sweeping you off your feet into a love so grand there was no other possible ending then happily ever after. That Cinderella wasn’t knocked up at the end of movie, after the prince had cheated on her; was something Disney must have omitted. Being the heroine of this fairy tale was going to take more than a pair of glass slippers that was for sure; hopefully, in sleep you’d find a godmother, that brought you sage advice and wisdom instead of a dress.

When morning came however, you were no further ahead than you’d been the night before; so, getting up, you headed to work. The day went blessed easy in the morning; it was the afternoon that turned into a cluster fuck. First, Andrea brought you in a beautiful bouquet of red roses, long stemmed placed in an exquisite vase; they were the classic, something every woman dreams of receiving. It was who they were from that had you frowning. The card read simply, Hope you are feeling better, Always, Robert. Somehow you had pushed thoughts of him to the recesses of your brain. Despite his possessive nature, Robert deep down was a good person. He deserved to be told face to face, that things between the two of you weren’t going to happen.

The second time she walked in, Andrea wasn’t carrying anything; which didn’t disturb you; that was not until she held your office door open for not one, not two, not even three; but ten gorgeous arrangements of flowers; all in hues of lilac. That the color was a melding of both blues and pinks wasn’t lost on you; though it surprised you Tyler would come up with it. Delicate blooms of roses, hydrangea dotted with small sprigs of baby’s breath adorn most of the vases. However, one stood out, while it still contained roses, this one had a unique flower interlaced in it; star shaped little blossoms ran up and down the stem. What stood out was the fragrance, sweet smells of springtime filled the air; giving off an aroma of new beginnings.

Apparently, the florist had come along to deliver the massive number of flowers; she saw you take interest in the bloom. “It’s a hyacinth, the flower of forgiveness. In the world of magic, it is said to symbolize love and happiness as well as protect it’s recipient from harm.” Handing you the card that went with the arrangements, she turned to leave. It read simply, I’m sorry. I’ll never fuck up again. Love For All Eternity, Tyler. That’s when you noticed that damn single tear was back.

“Thank you, so much. They’re all so extraordinary.”

“Your welcome my dear. You must be very special and he must be extremely sorry. It’s not every day I get a call with such specific requests. Most men think the rose covers it all. But yours, he knew what he wanted before I could even make suggestions. Trust me they weren’t easy to find at this time of year either, or I would’ve done more than one bouquet.” She walked out the door, and that’s when you lost it. Dropping down into your chair, you sat there and sobbed. Sure, Tyler had sent you flowers after he cheated; now that you thought about it, they’d all been roses. Always in various shades and color, but always just vase after vase of roses. That he had specifically requested these for you this time, meant more to you than every rose he had ever bought you. Your heart melted a little more, the ice thawing so that even you weren’t sure if it existed. He’d said he was sorry, practically begged for your forgiveness, swore it wouldn’t happen again; you weren’t sure it was possible, but this, this was telling you that perhaps you should at least try. It wouldn’t be easy but maybe, just maybe if you did you both could find peace and be able to move forward together.

The hour you took to collect yourself, put you behind with work and had you staying later than you anticipated; which meant you were running late when Tyler showed up. The small apartment was something you rented on a month to month basis as you tried to determine what the best living arrangement for you and the baby would be; it was nowhere near the house you’d lived in with Ty. Running to the door to answer it; you were still in your work clothes. “Hi Ty! Sorry I got caught up at work and ran late. I just need to change.” He stepped into the apartment, taking in all the surroundings. It had been furnished when you rented it, everything very clinical and clean, nothing that spoke to the person that lived there. All your belongings still in storage. “Have a seat, do you want a drink or anything? God, I think I have some wine or something here, not that I’ll be joining you.”

“I’m good babe. I’m not drinking anymore either.”

You were halfway back the hall to your bedroom, when what he said actually registered in your brain. Sliding your heels off, you had to know more “What? Why aren’t you drinking?”

“I just…I don’t know. You can’t drink, I kind of feel like it’s something I can do with you; at least until the baby’s born.” No wonder you loved this man; that he wanted to do even something this tiny meant more than words could ever say. Entering the bedroom, you quickly grabbed a pair of jeans and a loose flowy top; thank god jeans were made with spandex in them nowadays, not knowing how many more times you’d be able to put them on this easily. Grabbing a pair of chunky wedged sandals, you headed back out to the living room; back to Tyler.

“So where are we headed?”

“I already told you, that’s a secret. You ready to go.” Excitement was radiating off of him; it was contagious.

“Yeah, I just want to grab a quick protein bar. I think someone’s feeling a little snackish.”

Chuckling he responded back, “Would that be you or the baby? Because I distinctly remember you used to always have snacks in that suitcase you call a purse.”

Playfully, you swatted his arm. “So, I like my snacks, nothing wrong with that. Besides I also remember a particular someone, who would dig in that so-called suitcase, for something to eat on a regular basis.”

“You got me there, babe. You did pack two didn’t you,” this while winking at you.

“Of course.” With that, the two of you strode out the door, to the car. Being ever the gentleman, Tyler came over and opened the door for you; that he took the seatbelt and proceed to buckle you in was new. “What are you doing? You know; I can buckle the seatbelt.”

“Just making sure you’re both safe and snug in here.” This over-protective thing was going to take some getting used to; though it did tear down yet another wall that you had built up against him.

The drive was silent; soft music playing in the background; nothing like the drives you used to take. When his hand would be in yours or on your thigh; music as loud as it could be, you both singing the whole way, Tyler mainly off key. Reaching your hand over you began to scan for a station you both enjoyed. “What, you didn’t like what I had on?”

“Ummm, no, not really. I thought we were in a freaking elevator,” chuckling you added “in a museum, run by dead people.”

“It’s supposed to be soothing and create a loving environment for the baby.” Raising an eyebrow, you looked at him, like he had just grown three heads.

“Where did you come up with that?”

“I read it in one of my daddy baby books.”

“Oh!,” it was the only response you could think of; your mind still grasping at the fact that he was reading a book for expecting fathers. That wall you thought about earlier was definitely crumbling now. “So, did you learn anything else,” this said while you worked your way back to the station with the elevator music on it.

“Hmm, that you should start to show soon. That the kid is the size of an apple, pear or orange; that seems to vary depending on what book I read. Oh, and that we should be able to find out the sex at that next ultrasound you mentioned.” He seemed to really be doing his homework. “Do you want to find out the sex?”

“Ummm, I hadn’t given it much thought. What do you want to do? I think it’s a decision we both have to make. Like I don’t think I could stand it, if you knew and I didn’t. It would drive me insane.” People always said that life was full of surprises; you kind of felt that statement contradictory. There truly weren’t many really authentic surprises left in life, but the miracle of life itself. However, knowing would make things so much easier, you’d be able to pick out the color of the baby’s room, buy all his or her clothes in appropriate colors, even have his or her name all ready. You really could go either way, and maybe this decision could be up to Tyler.

“Hmmm, I think it would be fun to know. I kind of remember one of the guys talking about doing a baby reveal or something; which sounds like a lot of fun.” Well that decision was made; we’d be finding out at the next ultrasound it seemed. “But you know, when are we ever gonna get a surprise like this. Maybe when we have the second one, we can find out the sex, but I think this first one I don’t want to know. If that’s ok with you?” Woah, and here you thought that there were no real surprises in life, that statement right there was one; first that he didn’t want to know, second, that he was already planning your next child, together.

Your stunned silence, had Tyler looking over at you wondering if you’d heard him. “Yeah, I agree, I don’t want to know. Unless it’s like super obvious or something.” Staring out the window, you tried not to focus on images his words evoked; a happy loving family, Tyler playing with your toddler on the floor of the living room, while you fed child number two. It was something you hadn’t let yourself think about; hadn’t seen this as your future after everything that had happened. But here, now, hearing his words; the picture was so real, you felt you could reach out and touch it. Shaking yourself, you brought yourself back to the present; seeing familiar homes pass by. “Are we going to the house?” While you’d made headway today; you weren’t completely sure you were ready to walk back into the home you once shared.

“Umm, no.” His short answer was all you received. A few more turns had you slowing down to the apparent destination. The large house loomed in front of you; recognition dawning on your face as the vehicle made its way through the gate. You’d been here before, probably driven past it over a hundred or more times; always with this same man by your side, but never up the drive to the house itself. To say that the look you gave him was questioning was an understatement. “Surprise!” That, that was the only word he said, it really didn’t give you any answers.

He seemed so pleased with himself; yet you had no clue as to why. “Ok, I’m gonna need a little more than that Ty. Surprise, what?”

“It’s the house, the one we always talked about raising our family in.”

“I can see that. Why are we here?”

“I bought it, for us.” He stated it that simply; smiling brilliantly at you. That you needed a deep cleansing breath before you even thought about replying back to him should have made him at least sense your mood; instead the lovable idiot just continued to smile.

Massaging your temple, from the headache you could feel forming; you spoke as calmly as possible. “You did what? Tyler, what the hell are you thinking?”

The smile that lit up his face dropped instantaneously. “I thought this could be a fresh start for us. Plus, we’ve always wanted this house. It came up on the market a few weeks ago; obviously I didn’t buy it then, we weren’t together. But I called yesterday and it was still for sale, so I had the realtor start working on everything, it’s practically ours.”

“We’re not together now Ty. Why would you have him start the whole process? What the hell were you thinking?” That wall, which had been crumbling before, was now being rebuilt by a dozen stonemasons; their incessant pounding making your brain hurt. “Is this some grand gesture to get me to forgive you?”

“Yes…no. God I can’t do anything fucking right with you; can I?” His head crashed against the back of the seat and he blew out a frustrated breath; hands clenching the steering wheel in front of him. “I’m trying here. I really am. Can you just go inside and look at the place? Not for me, hell not even for you; but for the baby?” The pleading sound in his voice had you halting progress on the barrier around your heart.

“Ok,” you relented; it wouldn’t hurt to just look at the place. The door to the house opened then and Tyler’s realtor stepped out; suit and tie all business like, ready to make the sale of the year. Opening the car door, you got out walking around, matching strides with Tyler. Greeting the realtor, you tried to keep an open mind; you’d dreamed about what the interior would look like, this was finally your chance to see it. The massive double doors opened to an understated entry way; an elegant dining room off to your right. The place was tastefully decorated; not ornate or too elaborate, more relaxed as if the people who lived here truly made this a home and not some decorated show piece. The office on the left, was light and airy, not heavy with wall to wall bookshelves; a family portrait hung above the fireplace. You couldn’t help but imagine your own family’s photo hanging there.

Continuing the tour, next you saw the kitchen; flashes of you baking and preparing meals for Tyler and your children popped into your head. It opened up to a family room; where you saw the kids playing with the dogs. Walking down the hall, you entered the master suite, enormous in size it looked out onto the pool; a king size bed fit easily into the room. Images of you and Tyler rolling around on the bed took control of your brain, arms entangled, bodies sweaty, moans filling the air; you looked away needing to shake the thoughts from your head. A sitting area off in the corner offered an opportunity to enjoy your coffee in the morning light. French doors leading outside to a private alcove overlooking the pool; a lounger large enough for two people covered most of the area. It was intimate, shielding its inhabitants from small prying eyes; a place the two of you could make love for hours on end. It was too much; you were standing outside and yet you needed air. Falling back on the sunbed you’d just sexually fantasied about being on with Tyler; you sat, taking deep breaths.

Tyler whispered something to the realtor, who strode back inside the house; leaving the two of you alone. Sitting beside you, he quietly asked, “you ok?”

It was a loaded question, physically you were fine; mentally you thought you were going to explode. “I don’t know Ty.” The look of concern that crossed his face, had you quickly following that up. “It’s not the baby, we’re ok. It’s just this…” waving your hand at the beautifully manicured landscape in front of you. “This is supposed to be our dream home and we’re just not in that place right now. I won’t lie to you; I wish we were.”

Taking his hand, he made soothing circles up and down your back; the movement evoking all those images from just moments ago. “Babe, we’re going to get there. I know it’ll be hard, but just try to have some faith in me.” Turning your head, you stared into his eyes, searching for the trust he spoke of; wanting so much more. There was hope there, hope for a future the two of you could build. Love, so much love it made you ache; even a tinge of sadness for what had been lost. Finally, you saw it, that small glimpse of faith; that it came from the reflection of your eyes in his, is what surprised you. His hand stopped; simultaneously your breathing sped up. Even though the small voice in the back of your brain told you not to surrender; you pressed forward anyway. Taking his face in the palm of your hands, you brought his lips to yours; it was a sweet caress, filled with promises. Slow and gentle, the kiss left you dizzy; neither one of you fighting for control, just relishing the touch of each other. Mouths fussed together as one; you could’ve stayed like this for hours, but softly you pulled away, resting your forehead against his.

His eyes were closed, lids hooded so you couldn’t tell what was going through his mind. Why you thought you’d be able to know what he was thinking, when you didn’t even know where your mind was; you couldn’t comprehend. All you knew was that it was a start; a tiny move in hopefully the right direction. Taking a second waiting for him to look at you; when he didn’t, finally you said, “I’m still not sure you should buy this place.”

Eyes flying open, he looked at you; grabbing your hands, he helped you to your feet. He drew you to the edge of the water by the pool. Standing behind you, he turned you to look at the expansive lawns. His hands encircled your waist, caressing your stomach, where your child grew. Resting his chin on your shoulder; he spoke, his voice low, “Can you see it? Right over where the water’s real shallow. The kids are splashing around with the dogs. I’m over there by the grill, cooking up some burgers for dinner. And right there,” pointing to edge of the pool. “You have our newest little one in your arms, rocking back and forth near the kids in case they need you.” That you could almost smell the burgers, bespoke of how vivid the image became in your head. You wanted, no needed it all; could only pray for it to become reality.

That’s when it happened, you weren’t entirely sure what it was at first; but then it fluttered again. “Did you feel that?”

“Was that the baby?”

Tears sprang to your eyes; only this time they were tears of joy. “Yeah, I really think it was.”

“Think he’ll do it again?”

“I don’t know, maybe? Wait did you say, him?”

“Did I? Hmmm, maybe I did.” Then as if the little one knew we were discussing him or her; it happened again. “I think he or she likes their new house.”

“Tyler, don’t you think we should talk about this?”

“Mmmm, too late, I already told the realtor to have the papers ready, for when we go back inside.” With that he took off running before you could smack him; playfully of course. Shaking your head at what had transpired in the last thirty minutes or so; you wandered around the property. Tyler, had gone inside, you assumed to sign said papers. Maybe, just maybe, he was right and this could be the new beginning you were searching for.

#tyler seguin #tyler seguin imagine #tyler seguin imagines #nhl imagines #nhl imagine #nhl fanfic #dallas stars #dallas stars imagine #dallas stars imagines #fanfic #hockey imagines #hockey imagine #hockey fanfiction #nervous regrets

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noona-clock · 5 years

Text

Which One? Joo Hyuk - Part 8, Final Chapter

Genre: Coffee Shop!AU

Pairing: Joo Hyuk x You

Warnings: Mild cursing

Prologue, Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, Epilogue | Words: 2,664

You were fairly sure your heart had just stopped.

Like, literally stopped. It was no longer beating because you had died of embarrassment.

“Oh my god,” you muttered after you realized it was actually you and Joo Hyuk on the Kiss Cam.

ON THE KISS CAM!

“Oh, wow,” Joo Hyuk said with a nervous chuckle.

You slumped down in your chair and hid your face with your hand, but you could see Joo Hyuk putting his own hands up and waving them slightly in front of him as if to tell the cameraman ‘nope, not today.’

A few seconds later, he murmured, “Okay, it’s gone.”

Your eyes flicked up to the screen just to be sure, and indeed, you saw another couple who had no qualms kissing each other.

“Wow, that --”

The camera cut from that couple, though, and you and Joo Hyuk came back on the screen yet again.

Cheers erupted from the audience, and you heard a group of guys in your section cry out, “Come on! Kiss!”

Traitors!

Okay, they didn’t know you and Joo Hyuk were barely dating. They didn’t know you and Joo Hyuk at all. But still. They were traitors.

You shifted uncomfortably in your seat, averting your gaze and hoping you looked as embarrassed as you felt. If the cameraman felt bad for you, maybe he would cut away quickly and move on to someone else.

Joo Hyuk, again, waved a hand and this time actually said out loud, “No, no.”

You figured your self-conscious face was no longer on the screen when you heard the crowd begin to boo. They were obviously disappointed the two of you hadn’t kissed after being shown twice now, but oh well. They could deal with it.

“All right, it’s over,” Joo Hyuk told you, though he wasn’t looking at you.

“Good grief, I don’t think I’ve ever been so embarr---”

The crowd suddenly erupted into cheers again, and they began chanting KISS KISS KISS KISS!

Oh, come on.

It couldn’t be.

But one look up at the Jumbotron confirmed your fears.

You and Joo Hyuk were up there for a third time.

“Oh, my god!” you whined in disbelief, practically doubling over as you buried your face in your hands.

You waited for Joo Hyuk to make another dispute, but instead of hearing him say anything related to the word No, you heard him mutter. “All right, come here.”

You sat up, and before you knew it, Joo Hyuk’s hands were on either side of your face.

He was leaning toward you.

And then his lips were on yours.

Unsurprisingly, the stadium filled with approving cheers, claps, and whistles. Even though probably half of the spectators were out of their seats buying food and drinks, it still felt like every single person there was watching you, applauding your kiss with Joo Hyuk.

Your first kiss with Joo Hyuk.

Hopefully not your last but definitely your first. There was no margin of error on that one.

...Oh, great. Your first kiss was in front of thousands of people. On the Kiss Cam at a sporting event.

Joo Hyuk pulled away after only a couple of seconds, but he stayed close to your face, his hands still cradling your cheeks.

“Sorry,” he whispered.

You managed to shake your head the tiniest bit, not wanting in the least to force him to take his hands away. You very much liked the warmth of his skin against your cheeks. “No, it--it’s okay,” you whispered back. “We... didn’t have much choice, it seems.”

“No, not really,” he chuckled, his breath fanning over your lips and reminding you of that ever so brief kiss.

Joo Hyuk slowly let his hands drop from your face, his fingers sliding off practically one-by-one. He leaned away from you, and a soft, nervous laugh bubbled up from your throat.

Now that the kiss was over and you were each back in your own personal spaces...

Well, you could hardly stand to look at him because you were so embarrassed.

So, after about a minute or two of just sitting there, avoiding each other’s gazes and drinking the last of your beers, you cleared your throat.

“I, uh -- I’m going to use the restroom,” you told him, barely waiting for his response before standing and heading over to the stairs.

You took this time to compose yourself and, of course, call your best friend.

“Hey, you!” Jane greeted cheerfully. “How’s it going?!”

“Well, we were on the Kiss Cam,” you told her immediately, not doing anything to hide your slight panic.

“WHAT?!”

“We didn’t do it at first, but then they came back to us -- twice. So we kissed. And now it’s really awkward.”

“Please listen to me, Y/N,” Jane pleaded. “Just tell him you feel awkward. Get it out in the open. Once you do, you can move past it or you can just both feel awkward together.”

Obviously, you didn’t want to tell him. But Jane was more experienced than you; she knew what she was talking about! And she cared about you. She would never steer you in the wrong direction willingly.

“Okay,” you breathed. “I’m going to head back, the game should be starting again soon. I’ll just tell him.”

“Good for you!”

You nodded to yourself, hoping it would help boost your confidence, and then you a murmured a ‘good-bye’ to Jane before hanging up.

The players were coming back onto the field as you jogged down the stairs to get back to your seat, and you let out a soft sigh as you plopped back down on the hard, plastic chair.

“Just in time,” Joo Hyuk grinned.

“Yep,” you replied. “Sorry, I just -- it was a little awkward after that -- you know.”

Joo Hyuk’s smile turned shy, but he nodded in agreement. “Yeah, it was. But now we can focus on the game.”

“Right, exactly!” you chuckled.

The two of you stood as the players formed their line-up on the field, and when the whistle blew to start the second half, you almost let out a very long, deep sigh of relief.

Well. You’d gotten that over with. And it had been pretty painless, too!

Thanks, Jane!

The rest of the game was uneventful comparatively. The Tigers scored two more times, so you and Joo Hyuk double-high fived two more times, and there were some pretty rough fouls, but nothing even close to the Kiss Cam Incident happened.

So, that was good!

When the final whistle blew and the horns blared to celebrate the Tigers’ win, you and Joo Hyuk cheered and clapped and were far happier and way less awkward than you had been about an hour ago.

As it is with most crowded events, pretty much everyone started leaving at the same time. You and Joo Hyuk filed out of your row and headed up the stairs with everyone else in your section, Joo Hyuk following behind you.

When you reached the main level of the stadium, the crowd got even larger, a huge mass of people moving toward the exit at the same time. You felt Joo Hyuk’s hand on your shoulder, obviously not wanting to lose you. You were extremely tempted to reach up and just take his hand...

So, you did.

You lifted your arm and put your hand over his, grasping his fingers and moving his hand from your shoulder so you could lead him back to your car.

Of course, your heart was pounding.

But he didn’t let go.

In fact, you continued to hold hands once the crowd dispersed in the parking lot. But then Joo Hyuk murmured that he was going to take off his jacket, so that was the end of it.

You almost wondered if he’d done that on purpose because holding hands had made him too uncomfortable...

Once the two of you were in the car, waiting to back out of your parking space, Joo Hyuk requested you simply take him back to The Mug.

“Ji Soo is still there, so I should probably help finish closing up,” he told you, looking at his phone screen, presumably a text message from Ji Soo.

“Oh, yeah, closing by yourself is no fun,” you remarked. You’d worked enough retail jobs to know this very well.

You managed to inch your way out of the parking lot, your conversation with Joo Hyuk shifting from the game to The Mug. You’d been wondering for a while about the origins of their cute little shop, so you finally decided to ask.

“Well,” Joo Hyuk began with a sigh. “We both grew up here, but we went to college a ways away from here, so we were there for quite a few years. We decided to open up a coffee shop because that’s just what we wanted to do. We both like coffee, I have the business brain, Ji Soo has the customer service brain -- we figured it would be perfect. We tried finding places to rent where we used to live, but there just wasn’t anything. So we both thought ‘why don’t we move back home?’. We found this space, and here we are.”

Ha! So they were new in town.

Kind of.

The point was, you’d been right about not seeing them around before. Two guys as attractive as them and a single girl like you? You would’ve known who they were, so you felt mightily vindicated to hear they had just recently moved.

“Well, I’d say you guys made the right decision. It seems like you’re doing really well,” you said, glancing over at him.

“Yeah, I think we are. We’re about to look for a part-timer, so that’s a good sign. And we’re going to pay you back for helping with our Instagram, too, don’t worry,” he assured you.

“No! Joo Hyuk, I’m serious, you don’t have to. The free drinks are more than enough. I would’ve done it for nothing.”

“Would you really have done it for nothing? Or are you just saying that to be polite?” he asked with a smirk.

“I really would have. I know stuff like that is my job, and I’m glad I do get paid, but it’s my job because it’s what I love to do.” You took a gulp before continuing on, mentally thanking Jane again for being your cheerleader. “And I like you guys. I like your shop. Any excuse to go there, I’ll take it.”

Okay, sure. It wasn’t a confession or anything, but...

“That’s good to hear,” Joo Hyuk mumbled, his grin very apparent in his voice. “You’re welcome any time.”

You pulled into The Mug’s parking lot just as you were starting to feel completely comfortable and hardly awkward at all -- of course. You and Joo Hyuk had been talking more about starting the shop, and it had turned into him telling you all these funny and embarrassing stories about being friends with Ji Soo.

It was wild how similar he was to Jane! You were pretty certain you could become really good friends with Ji Soo, especially if you and Joo Hyuk actually started dating.

“Well, here we are,” you said with a sigh as you pulled into the spot closest to the entrance. “Thanks for coming. And say ‘thank you’ to Ji Soo for covering for you.”

“I will,” Joo Hyuk chuckled. “Thanks for inviting me, I had a really good time.”

“Me, too,” you grinned.

You watched as he unbuckled his seatbelt, your heart suddenly racing because you wondered if he would lean over and kiss you.

Not only were you wondering it... you were hoping. You wanted him to.

You knew that meant you should just go ahead and do it.

But before you could say or do anything, Joo Hyuk was opening the car door and sliding out of his seat.

“Thanks again,” he said, lifting his hand in a wave as he closed the door.

You simply waved back, hoping your disappointment wasn’t showing on your face. But Joo Hyuk had already turned to head inside, so it wouldn’t even matter if it was.

You let out a sigh, and as you moved to put your car in reverse, something caught your eye.

Joo Hyuk had taken off his jacket when the two of you had been walking through the parking lot, and once he’d sat down in your car, he had put it down on the floor.

Well, he’d forgotten it.

You quickly bent to grab it, unbuckling your seatbelt and turning off your car so you could run in and give it back to him.

But as soon as you set foot outside, he was there.

He wasn’t in the shop or even on his way to the shop.

He was standing practically right in front of you.

“Oh!” you gasped, startled by his sudden appearance. “Oh, my gosh. Sorry, you -- you forgot your jacket.”

The expression on his face was quite serious, his brow furrowed earnestly as he took a few steps toward you.

“I couldn’t go inside -- I had to come back because I have to tell you something,” he said.

“...What is it?” you asked softly, your voice almost trembling.

“I like you. I’m sorry I haven’t had the nerve to say it before now, but I like you. I’ve liked you since I spilled that drink on you.”

Your heart had leaped into your throat at his words, but you still managed to smile at him and say, “I like you, too.”

This prompted Joo Hyuk to take another step toward you, and he reached out to take your hand.

“So, this was a date, right?” he asked, running his fingers over your knuckles.

You nodded.

“So... can we have a re-do on that kiss?”

“Oh, yes, definitely,” you replied with a breathy chuckle. And without missing a beat, you stood on your toes and pressed your lips to his.

Joo Hyuk let go of your hand but only so he could slide his arms around your waist, pulling you close to him. You smiled into the kiss, managing to wrap your own arms around his neck while still holding his jacket.

Speaking of...

You pulled away just slightly, letting your nose brush over his. “So, you didn’t take off your jacket as an excuse to stop holding my hand?” you whispered, smirking.

“No,” he chuckled. “I had wanted to take it off even before then because the crowd of people got too hot.”

“So you were suffering silently.”

“Yes. But no because I was holding your hand.”

A very soft laugh escaped through your lips, and you were just about to lean in for another kiss when you remembered --

“Also, I lied to you earlier,” you admitted.

“You did?” he asked, squeezing your waist. “What about?”

“Ji Soo did bug me to ask you out. And I didn’t actually have an extra ticket. I just made that up to make it easier for me to ask you.”

Joo Hyuk’s lips pulled into a grin, and he shook his head slightly. “I’m not surprised. He’s been on my case since the beginning. I knew it was only a matter of time before he moved on to you.”

“Since the beginning? What do you mean?”

“When I came back from taking you home that night, he slapped me in the back of the head for not offering to pick you up again the next morning. He’s been scolding me to be more obvious ever since,” he chuckled.

“Well, I think it’s pretty obvious now,” you replied.

“Yeah, I think so,” Joo Hyuk whispered before capturing your lips in another kiss.

Not even ten seconds later, you heard the squeak of the front door. Before you could pull away, you heard a very loud and cheerful whoop.

“Hell yeah!” Ji Soo cried, punctuating his glee with some applause. “It’s about time!”

Epilogue

#kwritersworldnet #nam joo hyuk scenarios #nam joo hyuk imagines #nam joo hyuk au #nam hoo hyuk fluff #nam joo hyuk fanfic #kdrama scenarios #kdrama imagines #kdrama au #kdrama fluff #kdrama fanfic #nam joo hyuk #nam ju hyuk #kdrama actor

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spunky-89 · 5 years

Text

Paradise Awaits

A/N: Hey guys, here is the next part of my “Dick’s Vet” Series. You can find all the works Here. Sorry it's been so long since the last update everyone. I lost my direction with this little story. But with some time for my brain to breath, I was able to become re-inspired. Hopefully, I will have more parts to this series soon, but no promises.

Word Count: 1655

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After a crazy month of long shifts, back to back missions, and high crime rates, you and Dick decided you needed to get away. You had hardly seen one another the entire month, mostly just passing by each other with a quick kiss and an ‘I love you’ before heading out the door. By the end of the month, Dick had had enough. He told the league and the batfam and everyone else that he was taking time off and the world had to be in immediate danger for them to call him in. He called your work and told them you were taking time off as well. Then he planned a small getaway to allow the two of you time to just exist outside the bustling lives you lead in Gotham. When he told you what he'd done you were a little reluctant to agree. You were both called in constantly and you would hate to be so far away if you were needed. Dick was quick to shut you down though, saying you both deserved a break. You couldn't argue with that. So you packed your bags and headed off on an adventure.

When your boyfriend told you he planned a nice beach vacation your first thought was Jersey Shore or something near there. Then when he said you were flying you thought Florida or maybe California. Never did you think that meant a trip to the Caribbean. Your eyes lit up as they took in the crystal clear oceans and white sandy beaches. “What the hell Dick?” You asked, a bright smile on your face. “What? I told you we were getting away, I meant it.” He smiled as he kissed the side of your head. The two of you loaded off the jet and into the airport. You were always a sleepy traveler, but you were wriggling with excitement as you traveled to wherever it was you were staying. When you noticed you had traveled well past the resort area and into a more lush and secluded part of the island you looked at Dick with a raised eyebrow. He just smiled and gave you a wink. Eventually, the driver pulled up to a large house on a beach, no other houses for miles. The house wasn’t as massive as some of the ones you passed, but you didn’t mind. You almost prefered it this way. “Are you just gonna sit there and stare from the window or do you wanna get out and go inside?” Dick teased. “Don’t be an ass.” You giggled as you bolted out of the car and up to the front door. “Hurry up.” You yelled to your boyfriend who was moving slower than you would have liked. “I’m coming, I’m coming. Hold your horses.”

After twenty minutes of running from room to room, around the outside of the house, then back around inside the house you finally felt like you explored enough to stand still. Dick had kept up with you and laughed as you explored the house. He picked it out with your taste and style in mind. Bruce had offered to rent a bigger house but Dick knew that wasn’t your style. And it was just the two of you so there was no need for some big 15 bedroom house. “Enjoying yourself sunshine?” He asked you. “Very much, this is ridiculous Dick. Like, I can’t- why?” You managed to ask. You knew he’d understand your question. “Because you deserve it. And I feel awful about the way this last month and a half has been. I hate that I’ve barely seen you, let alone had ten minutes to tell you how much I love and adore you. So I decided that you deserved to have a whole week on a tropical island with no cell service where I can tell you over and over how much I love you.” He finished with a cheeky grin. “No cell service?” You asked. “I wanted to be sure there were no unnecessary interruptions to our getaway. What better way to do that than to make it super difficult to reach us.” You smiled and put your arms around his shoulders (having to stand on your tippy toes slightly) and giving him a big thank you kiss. His hands went to your waist and effortlessly lifted you, your legs wrapped around his waist by habit. “So what was that about telling me you love me over and over again?” You breathed into his mouth. “How about I start by showing you?” He smirked as he ran to your bedroom.

Two days into your stay, you finally managed to leave the house. You and Dick were totally fine staying in the house and just chilling for the first two days. The two of you caught up on your lives and the important things that had happened. You'd seen his family more than you'd seen him lately. And he loved that. He loves that you and his family got on so well. However, he was almost jealous of how close you were becoming with his family. Which was one of the reasons why he was more than glad to have you all to himself for a full 48 hours. He would have loved to stay in your secluded paradise for the whole week, unfortunately, you were running low on food and you desperately wanted to explore. He caved when you pulled the puppy dog eyes on him. The two of you put on your bathing suits and some clothes to make you look a little more put together (a light dress for you and a t-shirt for Dick) and set out. Apparently, there was a motorcycle that Dick had rented and had delivered for you guys to use to get to the more populated areas. You eagerly got on behind Dick and smiled as the wind blew your hair back. Pulling into the resort area you took in all the colorful buildings, palm trees, and tourist like yourself. You cuddled yourself closer to Dick, the smile on your face unable to be wiped away. Dick eventually pulled the bike into a spot on the side of the road and you climbed off. As soon as he got off you launched yourself at him again. “Thank you, Dick,” You murmured when you pulled away from the sweet kiss you gave him. “Anything for you sweetheart.” He smiled. You beamed back up at him. The two of you wandered the streets for a little while, just taking in the sights, before heading off to find some form of a market. After stopping a couple of locals (thank god Dick spoke so many languages) you were able to find your way to one. “Did you know I find it really attractive when you speak other languages?” You offhandedly mentioned as you filled a bag with produce while Dick paid for what you picked up. He did a double take and stuttered for a moment. It was cute to see him flustered. It was hard to do, but it was possible. Especially when it came to you. “I uh, I did not know, uh know that. But uh, that’s...that’s good to know.” He stuttered out, staring at you, the look in his eyes a mix between awe, love, and lust. You giggled at how much you threw him off and continued your shopping happily, a different kind of pep in your step.

It took you less than an hour to finish your shopping and wandering. Dick was trying not to rush you home but you knew him well enough to know when he was impatient. You loaded your bags safely between the two of you and hopped back on the motorcycle and headed back towards your little slice of heaven. You both rushed to put away the groceries you bought and when you finished you dodged under Dick’s arms to dart out the back door. You threw off your sundress and flip-flops as you went. You peeked over your shoulder quickly to see him hot on your tail. You laughed and cannonballed into the beautiful pool you had yet to enter. When you came up you had just enough time to doge to the left before Dick came down on top of you. You laughed as he came up in front of you and grabbed you around the waist and spun you around. You felt so light and free. The warm sun shining on you, the cool water and shade from the tropical trees around the patio keeping you from melting in the sun, and the arms of the man you loved around you, his laugh filling you with an elated, bubbly, carefree kind of joy. He kissed your neck over and over as he held you tight in his arms, keeping you from squirming away. You laughed as he tickled your neck a bit with his nose between kisses. You eventually managed to squirm enough to swim away from him backward. He pursued you up to the edge of the infinity pool overlooking the ocean in the distance. When he got close enough you wrapped your arms around him and smiled up at him, eyes soft as you took in the peaceful expression on Dick’s face. “I love you so much.” You said softly as you looked up at him. “And I, you.” He said, pulling you close to kiss you softly. It felt cliche, cheesy even, to share such a love filled kiss with the man of your dreams on a romantic getaway as the sun set on the ocean. But you would have given anything to stay in that moment forever.

You and Dick returned to Gotham A week and a half later (almost a week after you were supposed to be home) tan and happier, calmer, and more on your game than you’d both been in ages.

#dick grayson x reader #dick grayson one shot #nightwing x reader #fluff

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jarienn972 · 6 years

Text

Only a Little Superstitious - Chapter 14

As real life has been a bit hectic lately, I haven’t had a lot of time to spend in my fictional worlds to get some writing done. Finally found some time to get this chapter finished up and while it’s a bit shorter than prior chapters, it has some important interactions for Emma: one with Grandmother Bending Willow and one with Killian. She knows that some big decisions will need to be made soon so this chapter gives a peek into her state of mind. Just a little dash of fluff and a little dash of angst here...

AO3 FF.net

From the beginning on Tumblr: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

After a lengthy but ultimately successful argument with Regina, Emma had the Queen's promise that the dagger would soon be on its to Arizona. Emma's explanation as to why she needed it hadn't been particularly easy; their theory was certainly far-fetched at best but it was the most plausible reasoning they had and thankfully, Regina was persuaded to humor Emma's crazy idea. Now, half an hour after the conversation with Regina ended, Emma and Grandmother Bending Willow sat in Killian's sharing their own quiet repartee until the vibration from Emma's cell phone interrupted them. Glancing at the screen, Emma could see that it was a lengthy text from Regina informing her that the courier had just departed Storybrooke and was now heading to Portland to put the package on a plane bound for their distribution center in Philadelphia. From there, the package would be transferred onto another aircraft to Phoenix and was expected to arrive there approximately 6:30pm Mountain Time.

Still wishing there had been a magical (and faster) way to get this incredibly important package here, Emma typed out a brief response, knowing in her own mind that these next few hours would be an anxiety-ridden waiting game. She could only imagine what story Regina had given the courier upon handing over a package containing not only the potion which was cleverly concealed inside tiny plastic prescription bottles Dr. Whale had provided but a very old and very sharp ornate ceremonial dagger. Hopefully, Mayor Mills had stressed the importance of the contents enough to impart a little fear into the courier – enough to ensure a safe, timely arrival. Regina had advised earlier that she had prepared enough potion for two doses and each was disguised as cough medicine should there be any scrutiny. The dagger had been identified as a historical object being sent for authentication through the National Parks Service representative who had located it through the assistance of the Storybrooke Historical Society. The latter organization didn't actually exist, but it provided a legitimate cover story to convince the courier to accept the weapon.

So now it was all about waiting. Emma was no stranger to waiting around, having spent many a sleepless night staking out a skip, but this experience was testing her patience. Killian's life was being threatened, both by the very real physical wounds as well as magically through the effects of the dagger's dark magic and there was no easy way to help him. Even with Grandmother's offer to stay and keep her company, Emma was anxious and this was going to be an aggravatingly long day, especially if Killian didn't wake soon. The longer he remained unconscious, the more Emma worried he might not wake at all. She'd honestly been surprised that he was already back in the room when they returned from the garage – even more so to discover that the doctors hadn't put the breathing tube back down his throat. Not being intubated made it slightly less of a battle to get the potion into him but he still had to actually be conscious to drink it.

Grandmother had done her best to help quell the evil spirits she sensed surrounding Killian. She'd added an additional turquoise stone and a few additional items to the medicine pouch including a tiny bundle of dried leaves bound with a thin piece of straw and another carved amulet, although Emma didn't get a close enough look at the stone to see what it resembled. The old woman drew the leather cord tightly closed again and repositioned atop Killian's chest.

"He is weak right now, but he still has much fight in him," Grandmother insisted as she hovered above his slumbering form. "These spirits have not been kind, but their time will soon pass. Time is short however as the Blood Moon will soon rise."

"It's tonight, isn't it?" Emma asked aloud, even though she already knew the answer.

"Yes, only a few hours from now," the elder woman replied.

"So, if we calculate that it's been three days since Yzma started all of this, then we've got three days left in our window of opportunity to re-open the portal," Emma thought out loud. "Assuming we can locate the right spot out in the vast expanse of desert and mountains where the magic might be strong enough…" Her sleep-deprived brain was running on overload as she contemplated all of the possibilities and probabilities that needed to align just perfectly to activate the portal. Not exactly as simple as tossing a damned bean. "And this is assuming that I can somehow summon the magic out of the mountains too and magically repair that broken dagger… Who am I kidding? I could rent a car and we'll be home in three or four days… but…"

Grandmother had a faint smile stretching across her lips as she placed a reassuring hand atop Emma's shoulder. She sensed the younger woman's apprehension and didn't envy any of the decisions Emma would need to make, but she knew her place was to guide Emma toward the right choices. "You've not made that decision because you fear he wouldn't survive the journey." She wanted Emma to know that she understood her hesitation to use such non-traditional methods – such untested methods. "I do see how these decisions are vexing you. No journey will be without risk, but I have felt a strength in you that is unlike any other being I've encountered. Listen to your heart. Listen to Killian's heart. There, you will find the answers you seek and you will be able to chose the correct path."

Emma tipped her head upward so that her gaze met the Navajo woman's warm and understanding brown eyes. Almost at once, Emma no longer felt the same insecurity and sadness. Something about those wise, knowing eyes filled her aching soul with a few moments of peace.

"Thank you," Emma said as she wiped at her tear-stained cheeks with the back of her hand. "I honestly can't thank you and Carlos enough for all you've done for us. You opened your home to a couple of strangers and believed my crazy stories about who we are and how we got here. I feel like we've known both of you forever and somehow, you seem to know me so well."

"I have always believed that people are brought into our lives for a specific reason. It may not always be clear what that reason may be at first, but there may always be some greater purpose." Grandmother's words certainly spoke to the wisdom of her years, yet while she couldn't quite figure out why, Emma's head told her there might be some other unknown connection. No matter what they might share though, nothing could disguise Emma's obvious fatigue and Grandmother's maternal instinct took over. "Now, I know you must be exhausted, child. It may be a while before your husband wakes and you should use that time to rest. You sleep for a while and I will wake you when he does."

"Okay," Emma replied with a weak nod of her bedraggled blonde head. "I'm not even going to argue." She sank back into the chocolate colored vinyl armchair trying to find a comfortable position. "I don't know if I'll actually sleep, but I'll still try." Grandmother grinned at the younger woman as located the spare blanket in the cabinet and handed it to Emma. There was no fooling this old woman. She knew Emma would be sound asleep in a matter of minutes – and she wasn't wrong.

The gentle nudge barely registered to Emma. The sensation of a hand upon her shoulder dissolved into her dreamscape until the sound of her name being called at last roused her from her deep sleep.

"I'm awake…" Emma stammered. "I'm awake…" She repeated the mantra as she stretched her cramped legs and twisted her torso as she attempted to work out the uncomfortable kink in her spine that came from sleeping in a chair with her knees nearly drawn up to her chest. She tried to remember if Storybrooke had a chiropractor because she was definitely going to need one once they returned home.

"Good afternoon," Grandmother's soft, calming voice replied. "I hope you had a good rest, but I knew you would like to know that your husband has awakened as well."

"Killian's awake?" Emma bolted upright, aches, pains and lingering drowsiness forgotten as her eyes darted immediately to the bed to her left.

"He is indeed, but he is still very weak," Grandmother warned. "He's been drifting in and out of consciousness for about an hour, but he seems to be coherent now. His mind is much sharper than you described earlier and he even remembered my name, although perhaps the spirits reminded him of that. We will not worry about those spirits right now though and I will give the two of you some privacy. Would you like me to bring something back for you later? You must be starving, child…"

"Coffee would be wonderful," Emma responded with a gracious smile. "Not sure about anything else… I haven't really thought about food, although I'd never turn down a good grilled cheese sandwich."

The old woman grinned, happy to see Emma's spirits lightening somewhat now that Killian had awakened. His battle was still far from over and Grandmother had made a vow that she would remain here to aid this couple until the evil was dispatched.

Killian had only heard portions of their conversation, his eyes still closed as he forced himself to remember where he was and what he'd been through. He was struggling with the tempting pull of the darkness and its pain-free bliss, but he knew he needed to be awake. Needed to let his wife know that there was still plenty of fight in him. "Swan?" His voice may have been raspy and barely audible, but it was a sound that didn't cease to make Emma smile.

"I'm right here," she replied, grasping his trembling outstretched hand. His skin was still far too warm and as he turned his head toward her and allowed his eyelids to open slowly against the assault of the bright overhead lights, Emma was heartbroken to discover that his eyes didn't seem as blue anymore. They were dull and greyish, lacking his usual spark. She squeezed his fingers tightly as she hopped out of the vinyl chair and moved to join him on the narrow bed. "Are you still hurting as much as earlier?" Oh, what a dumb question to ask, she chastised herself as the words rolled off her tongue.

"No, Love…" he assured her with a feeble attempt at a classic Killian Jones smirk. He didn't want her constantly worrying about him, but she wouldn't be easily convinced. "Still a few aches and pains, but it's not so bad…"

"You're a lousy liar, Killian Jones," was her response to his statement. "You're still way too warm and you're recovering from a very real stab wound while simultaneously having to fight the supernatural effects that the damned broken dagger left behind, so please, will you just be honest with me?"

"Not sure what you want me to say…" he said, not really knowing where to even begin. His skin may feel warm to her, but he in fact felt chilled clear to the bone. Half of the tremors in his limbs were caused by shivering, but the pain was still a very real factor as well. Whatever drugs were coursing through his veins merely dulled the constant discomfort. His entire torso ached with indescribable variations of agony – part searing, part throbbing and part crushing. How did he dare attempt to put this into words without horrifying the love of his life? "Yes, I'm in pain, Love, but it's no worse than anything I've experienced before and I've no intent to give in to it."

"Regina's potion will be here in just a few more hours," she reminded him. "If we can get the dark magic blocked, it should help you regain some of your strength and hopefully, get rid of the damned fever. Have you remained any movement in your legs yet?" She'd been assured by the doctors that he'd suffered no permanent damage from the broken dagger tip and that as the swelling decreased, he should recover normal movement but as she watched him squeeze his eyelids closed to concentrate, all she saw was complete and utter frustration etched into his features.

"It would appear not," he replied in a dejected voice and she immediately lowered her body against his, hugging him as tightly as she could without injuring him further.

"It will be alright," she assured him, resting her head on his shoulder even as she raised up a bit, feeling the pressure of the bag of rocks squished between their bodies. She intentionally turned her face away from his, not wanting to upset him with her now steadily flowing tears.

"I know, Swan," was all he said. She may have been shielding him from seeing her tears, but it didn't mean he couldn't feel the dampness soaking through the thin fabric of this awful dressing gown the hospital had put on him. "You're so tense, Love… Have you slept any?"

Seriously? Emma thought to herself as she tried to stop the waterworks, a tiny smile stretching across her dampened face. He was the one lying here feverish and in pain, and yet he was worried about her? "I got to sleep a little," she insisted. "It wasn't easy, but Grandmother can be very persuasive…"

"Good. 'Knew I liked that old woman…"

"Okay," she grinned, lifting her head so she could once again meet him eye to eye. "Don't you worry about me, Pirate. You just concentrate on getting yourself better…"

"That sounded like an order…" he teased.

"Did it need to be?" she laughed, thankful that he was in good enough spirits to taunt her with a joke. "Look, you just worry about getting some rest because I want to see you back on your feet and out of that bed…"

"Too tempting to not take advantage of me?" Killian asked with a devilish smirk, nearly convincing her that he was back to his normal, saucy swagger but it was too blatantly obvious that the amorous grin was merely a façade.

"Hardly," she chided with a small, unamused shake of her head. "Although you do cut quite the figure in that blue and white hospital gown… What exactly is that print? Paisley? No – are those little crescent moons?"

"Can't say I've been bothered to notice," was his reply, not even caring what design the ugly garment possessed. "What is the purpose of this bloody garment anyway? Scarcely covers anything and it's godawful scratchy…"

"I'm not even going to attempt to give a response to that because honestly, I don't really know. I'd say modesty, but since they tend to leave your backside hanging out, who the hell knows? I'm just glad to see your sense of humor returning. Makes me feel a little better…"

"Nothing to fear… I may be temporarily incapacitated, but that does not mean I've lost any of my charm or wit…"

"You're incorrigible," Emma chuckled. "That's what you are." He could joke all he wanted, but it was becoming evident that he was extremely tired. "Anyway, I know you're exhausted. I'm going to go find Grandmother. You just sleep…"

"So, was that an order?" he asked, eyelids already drooping.

"Yes, that was an order, Deputy. Love you." She wasn't certain he even heard her reply as his body had already gone slack with sleep. "Love you," she repeated, pressing a kiss into the back of his hand before replacing it at his side while she stood, eyes drawn to the clock on the wall next to the sink. It was now nearly 3pm. Just a few more hours to go and things should get better.

#cs ff #cs fanfic #cs fan fiction #captain swan ff #only a little superstitious

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