#AND RIGHT NEXT TO HIM…. THAT BORING BASIC BLUE HAT..

[opikiquu]

(disappears for a month and reappears with a slightly obscure hyperfixation) Hey guys

[vulchak]

So. I watched the live action Lilo and Stitch. (Completely unrelated but Jack Sparrow is one of my favorite Disney characters, anyway-) The original is my favorite 2d Animated movie. I wanted to wait a couple days just to get my thoughts in order but I think the notes I took while watching are more accurate to how I feel about this insult to animation, storytelling and character

It got long so TL;DR, This whole movie feels gutted. Gutted of the themes, of the atmosphere, and of the heart. A downright insult to the original. How this badly acted, lit, and animated thing is getting good reviews is beyond me. It doesn't hold up neither as a remake, nor as a movie in its own right

Right off the bat the pace is 5 times quicker than the original. Nothing has time to sink in, I feel like I'm watching the movie at double speed

And they've moved things around for no reason, Stitch is shown first, then Jumba is brought in, which just dampens the impact of both their introductions

Jumba sounds 20 years younger and way more boring than he should, he sounds like a stock random guy, not an experienced and unhinged genius. His grammar is fixed but his accent is also gone which just makes him sound less unique. I don't blame the VA, he did great as the Lego Joker but he was just miscast here

The grand councilwoman is done so dirty already. In the original she sounds genuenly hopeful Stitch can show signs of goodness and be spared. Nope, here she's so monotone it's like she's obligated to ask him to say something

She doesn't ask for an expert, Pleakely comes running in himself. In a cowboy hat for some reason. She also has a bizarre amount of modern slang like "crikey" and "you're kidding" which feels extremely out of character and forced

She also gets Stitch's biology wrong? "Water increases his molecular density" the fuck it doesn't, HIS OWN molecular density is great, which makes him sink. He's dense, that's the point. Water doesn't affect him he just can't swim cause he's heavy

She doesn't seem to care about her own people because she doesn't tell no one to back away from Stitch's ship when he engages hyperdrive. Which in the original was also a built up dangerous thing he did, here it's blink and you'll miss it. We don't even see him properly escape anything. The guns just blow up the door, we see him running down a hall for 2 seconds, next time we see Stitch he's on the ship, that's it

Pleakley is excited to go to earth and Jumba is the one who SUGGESTS it, he basically blackmails the grand councilwoman, saying he'll capture 626 in exchange for his lab back. Pointless changes that only serve to make the story less impactful and more childish. And this whole thing goes by in 5 minutes, in the original I swear it was at least twice as long. (Edit: I checked, it is twice as long)

The social worker scene, completely different, no "my friends need to be punished" line. Overall just, worse version of the original, not much to say

Nani is now outright stated to be studying to be a marine biologist instead of the subtle environmental storytelling of her being a champion surfer from the original. Not a bad idea? But it should've been more subtle, so far it feels like this movie thinks you're stupid and need to be told everything, despite supposedly being "the more mature version for adults"

David is cringe now and that's his whole joke. He's not really endearing anymore

Stitch wrecking his own spaceship is just stupid

Lilo and Nani's argument and subsequent make up talk have absolutely zero impact compared to the original. The constellation thing is cute I guess

When Nani is being shoved out the room so Lilo can make a wish, she didn't even fall on Lilo, and Lilo's wish is worded much worse than the original. More long winded. Stitch coming out from the crash site is SO UGLY compared to the original

If I had a nickel for every movie that's got a blue CGI character crashing a wedding and Uptown funk in the soundtrack I'd have two nickles. Which isn't a lot but at least SONIC 2 WAS A GOOD MOVIE

Lilo meets Stitch. MISSED. THE POINT. OF THE SCENE. ENTIRELY.

First of all he's supposed to go "Haaaiii" after he heard Lilo way hi to him first. How the fuck does he know to say hi when all she did was scream? Second, he's tiny, Lilo picks him up. He's supposed to be so dense adults can barely hold him, how the hell is Lilo just, carrying him around? And if it's water that makes him heavy for real. Then that's just stupid

Also love how no one is freaking out about it, the lady working there casually leashes him and sounds so disinterested. Every person in the movie (except Lilo she's doing very well) sound like they don't wanna be there

They're giving Nani less to do and making her worse. In the original, they were at the dog shelter because she heard Lilo's wish and wanted to make it come true. Now its the neighbour taking Lilo, and not even to the shelter, not to adopt a dog, they just kinda. Do. Without Nani's permission which is another problem

Cobra being CIA and involving the authorities as a whole is. Dumb

Oh so Nani came up with the name Stitch. Wonderful. One stupid decision after another

"I read her text messages." People in present day still keep diaries there was no need to change that. Hello fellow kids ass line

Nani being mean to Lilo after losing the job and making it very clear it's Lilo's fault, instead of comforting her and going along with her bug imagination. Way to ruin the best big sister in your history, Disney

They turned the "Ohana means family" scene comedic. WHO THE FUCK THOUGHT THAT WAS A GOOD IDEA AND WHICH SLUG-BRAINED MORON APPROVED IT?

Nani being a jackass again. "We were left behind" that's exactly what you say to your grieving 6yo sister about the parents who tragically passed, Nani, way to go. Makes it sound like they ditched them on purpose

Telling us about the room full of trophies instead of showing us. This movie is for babies in a way the original never was

Stitch spelling out he has no family instead of the again, much more mature and subtle dialogue of the original

The teaching Stitch hula thing was alright I guess

Nani doesn't even see Stitch being a record player is lame. Followed up with a fart joke

Remix of Hawaiian Rollercoaster ride is worse than the original in both sound and placement. It was a personal moment for the family. To take their minds off the bad day of not finding jobs. Now it's just. Full of tourists, and Nani teaching/being at her job

Also Stitch being the one to ask to go in the water first. Goes against the story, he's supposed to be shown it's OK first, by being taken in by Lilo. But no, just sees a dog, decides he wants to. FUCKING STUPUD

Whole hospital insurance thing seems so showhorned in. Not having a job was reason enough for that contract

And Stitch not being directly blamed for it. Again. Zero. Impact. They've literally turned this into a stock "CG character stuffed into a plot with live humans" movie. And it's disgusting to watch

Jumba is turning into a villain. Lame. His dynamic with Pleakely is also fucked

The hammock scene is again just. A worse version of the original, I don't know what to say at this point. This whole movie is somehow so fast and so sluggish at the same time, it's impressive how bad the pacing is

Stitch doesn't even see the ugly duckling book, doesn't talk to Lilo, doesn't go to the woods with the ducks just. Goes to his crate??? For some reason??

And LILO finds HIM. NAH, missed thr entire point, AGAIN

Wedgie joke, butt joke. More completely unnecessary childish humor

The portal gun is an alright gimmick but. Meh. And no song playing over it. So immediately less memorable scene. Elvis as a whole is very absent from this movie

NAH WE AIN'T DOING A LIAR REVEALED WITH STITCH, WHAT EVEN IS THIS MOVIE

Stitch himself feels like a non character in his own movie somehow, he's just there to be a dog, a cute CG character to sell merch. So many of his important scenes are missing or so watered down it barely feels like the same character

Reference to the other experiments is neat but thats not how 627 is made, you can't just turn one experiment into another

Cobra being the one who turns and helps them. Stupid. He was supposed to be a good guy the entire time

The climax is so anticlimactic compared to the original too. Painfully obvious they were out of a budget

Lilo having to leave Stitch to drawn should hit hard. It doesn't. That thing spent the whole movie being annoying, stiffly animated, and frankly I don't care if it drowns. That's not Stitch. It's a badly made imitation

Oh and now they're recussitating him. With jumper cables. And he threw up the important family photo. This isn't Lilo and stitch. In writing, acting, or soul. And I swear they're reusing voice lines for Stitch in some scenes

The reason for Stitch staying before was such a beautiful simple solution. He was adopted, as a pet, he's Lilo's. But now. Overcomolicated, stupid, and again, the councilwoman used to geneunly want to give Stitch a chance and let him stay. Now she seems much more reluctant and it doesn't work as well. The mosquito thing didn't come up, Stitch doesn't let his antenna and extra limbs out for Lilo to see

David is being so fucking stupid- they turned one of the best Disney men into an annoying stock moron. Oh and Nani doesn't have a job and can't be in charge of Lilo. Sure putting her with the neighbours and letting Nani go study is fine, I guess? But it isn't nowhere near satisfying and misses the entire point of Nani's character

Not sure if there's anything past the credits, I didn't watch those.

[bellesdreamyprofile]

Bare Souls - Austin Butler

summary: you leave your home and everything you’ve known out of respect for yourself ; in the midst of it all you meet a beautiful man whose soul was unknowingly looking for yours

Being at home was too much, being in town was overwhelming — so called friends and family walked all over you, not giving you the simple pleasure of a heartfelt apology.

So you quit your job and packed your biggest suitcase, for it was either killing yourself or keep fighting for yourself. You were brave enough to choose the latter.

Just days later your entire life changed as you found yourself in New York City, the Big Apple, the city that never sleeps. With the dollars left in your bank account, you were sitting in a classic NYC café, sipping an overly expensive coffee and eating a pastry that seemed too good to be true. The blue point pen never ceased sliding against the yellowish pages of your notebook, almost in automatic motion. But you had too much to say and no one to talk to.

"Sorry, is this seat taken?"

You looked up, finding blue eyes boring in yours. Glancing at the table beside yours, you noticed it was missing a chair.

"No, no go ahead.", you offered a small smile and the stranger reciprocated, grabbing the chair and moving it to the next table.

"Perfect, thank you.", his hat masked his face, yet the fact that he was handsome couldn't be denied. As long as he was no murderer or creep, you didn't care. That was what you told yourself anyways.

Your eyes followed him as he sat down, pulled out a device, what looked like a Kindle, and started quietly relaxing. His coffee waited for him on the hardwood table and a pastry similar to yours was adjacent to it. 

You weren't there to look at strangers — you were there to rewrite your own story. The stranger wasn't part of that. Your jaw clenched, but you quickly regained your focus as you continued writing where you had left off. But your concentration levels were drastically lowered due to the interaction.

You crossed the previous two words you had written down — but crossing and rewriting was better than not writing at all. More scribbles all over your thoughts as the sudden insecurity showed up again. You started questioning your decision of moving to a foreign city in a foreign country, you started questioning your own credibility on reinventing your own life — you started questioning yourself.

Tears started forming in your eyes and your heart rate inevitably picked up. You cleared your throat and reached for your coffee, desperately blinking the burning tears away. You grabbed your pen again and hovered over the paper, but nothing came out.

You convinced yourself that it was just one of those days of doubt, days where everything feels impossible, days where the only one to blame was you.

"Hey."

You looked over, slowly dropping your pen. It was the blue eyed stranger.

"Hey.", you offered an unconvincing smile.

"You writing anything interesting in there?", his eyes shifted on the notebook in front of you. Your eyes followed his.

"Uhm, just my own stuff. Thoughts and feelings and such.", you nodded, giving him a small smile. "Lots of scribbling, though. Nothing concrete."

He hummed. "You've written three pages worth of thoughts and feelings. I think that's concrete right there."

You felt your cheeks redden at his words which were basically implying that he had been watching you. If he wasn't attractive, you would've found it creepy. But you saw his watchful, attentive gaze in a different light. He was paying attention. The tears dried up, but the residue of your insecurity stayed. 

A breathy laugh fell from your lips. "Yeah, you're right, I guess.", your cheeks hurt and then you glanced at the device in his hands. "What are you reading?"

He glanced down. "A book about life. Its meaning, its value, its purpose... It's a good read, makes me think a lot."

You felt your chest tighten. "Sounds like a philosophical read.", you said it in an easy tone.

"Yeah.", he chuckled. "I like when I can find answers to my questions."

You hummed. "Very good point of view.", comfortable silence fell over like a blanket.

He glanced at your table and then back at you, the familiar warmth spread across your cheeks. "Would you like another coffee? Or a juice or something?"

Your eyes shifted on the coffee gone cold. "Uhm, sure why not."

The man stood up, adjusted his hoodie and then looked back at you. "Any preference?"

Your lips parted and then an easy smile spread on your lips. "Surprise me."

He nodded, offering a small smile and then he was off. You shifted in your seat, controlling your breath and not letting your thoughts spiral. This was nothing. This is a man who was friendly — simple as that. Typical in New York. Right?

You took a quick peak at yourself in your small mirror and sighed in relief. There were no real tears rolling down your cheeks, but even just a small breakdown could make you feel like you weren't worth of being seen seated with a man as good looking as he was. 

"Alright—", he was back, setting two glasses of freshly pressed orange juice on the table. "Their orange juice is amazing. I hope you're not allergic to oranges?", he raised an eyebrow, making you laugh.

You shook your head. "No, no, I love it."

He let out a breath. "Perfect. I'ma join you here, if that's okay with you?", and you just nodded, because how could you respond in any other way to his polite manners?

"I'm Y/N.", you finally said as he sat down, relatively close to you.

He looked up, his eyes a different shade of blue in that light. "I'm Austin.", a playful smile played on his lips as he stuck his hand out to you. You shook it, laughing a little.

"Weird we didn't introduce ourselves sooner. Feels like we talked for hours.", he said, reaching for his glass.

You nodded, agreeing with him. "Right? Though I'm pretty sure it was like a total of five minutes.", you noted teasingly.

"Even five minutes can seem like a lifetime with the right person.", Austin said, glancing at you. You felt your throat go dry for a moment, but you went on with his words.

"Am I the right person?", you raised an eyebrow.

He shrugged, a half smile on his face. "Right now, yeah. You seemed lost in your thoughts and in a way so was I... Unless you weren't? I don't wanna sound like a dick."

A chuckle fell from your lips. "No, you're right, I was.", you brushed the cover of the notebook with the back of your hand. "I like to write things, just for me. Sometimes I use it like a diary so I write my thoughts in that style, other times I write my thoughts into a story in the third person.", you didn't raise your gaze as your words rolled off your tongue. 

His presence was so calming, easy — if he asked, you'd tell him anything. "When some words feel too close to home it's easier to write in third person. Makes me feel like the issue is there, but it's not really mine. And that's okay.", you added, finally raising your gaze.

Austin nodded, humming, his eyes burning holes on your skin. "That's a really beautiful way to write. And a beautiful way of acknowledging your feelings. Most people ignore them and keep going. Healed or not."

The conversation between the two of you kept flowing like an endless river, no margins, no barriers. Austin was a beautiful soul — he listened attentively, he cared and he answered, always nodding or smiling. Were you even deserving of his kind words and calm presence? You didn't know, but you let that doubtful part of you go for that afternoon.

"Well, that was great juice indeed.", you said, smiling at him as you gathered your things. "I'm gonna start coming here more often.", you admitted, standing up.

Austin pushed his chair back to the table and grabbed his tote bag. "I know right? I usually don't disclose my favorite places, but since you were here first anyways...", he teased, looking over his shoulder. He led the way to the exit and then halted. "Next time we should order their carrot cake. Tastes like cake even though you're eating a vegetable."

We.

Maybe it was a mistake — he probably fumbled his words. You hummed. "Smart way of getting veggies into your system. Approved.", Austin laughed, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"I don't wanna make this weird—", you looked up, a faint alarm going off in your head. "I saw you distressed earlier and...", Austin hesitated before continuing. "I'm really glad I talked to you. I think you're a beautiful person."

Your lips parted and the tears you had forgotten about earlier, started forming again. The most automatic response would be to correct him and say that no, you weren't a good person, for people took you for granted and walked all over you.

But you could never say that. Not after the incredible afternoon spent together, your souls bared and eyes wide open.

"Thank you.", you looked up at him only to find him already looking at you. "I think you're a beautiful person too.", his gaze shifted on his shoes, his cheeks tinged pink.

"I took the liberty of writing my number in your notebook.", Austin said casually, your eyes widening as a laugh fell from your lips. "I just... I really loved talking to you."

Your cheeks had never hurt so much from smiling before. "Me too. And the juice. So much."

The sun-drenched city made him look unbelievably dreamy. Austin laughed, his nose scrunching. "I knew it. The juice won you over."

Your smile was there, intact, as you nodded. Your eyes fell on him, the beauty of a man and soul standing right there with you, sharing the same oxygen and the same space. How lucky were you to be in the presence of someone so beautifully sensitive?

Just after a few hours with him and his energy, you felt feather-light, invincible and so appreciated. Your words mattered, your thoughts mattered and you mattered.

A/N: I´ll be back with the single dad series soon - this was something my soul literally needed to write xx

MASTERLIST austin masterlist

[mha-cuties-pls]

One Last Look.

Pairing: reader x Dabi | words: 1k | rating: T |genre: emotional/romance

Bonus Chapter for: ‘Stolen Hearts.” Read Here

Each day seemed to pass by slower than the next as your stomach swelled to the size of a large balloon; it looked like you were a cartoon character who had eaten a watermelon in one bite.

It was becoming a bit more uncomfortable than you had originally imagined.

“Dabiii,” you whined, not moving from the position you had been occupying on the couch for the past day or so. Stretching your arms and feet out a bit, you sighed contently under the warmth of the plush blanket he had gotten you; it was cheetah print, your favorite.

“Yes, my love?” His voice carried from the other room over the TV show you were watching. Walking in to face you, you watched as he put on his jacket and grabbed a hat;

was he leaving you again already?

“We’re out of popcorn.” You said with a deflated look on your face, “I was going to ask you to get me some, but it looks like you already have plans.” The last of your words came out with a ‘huff’ as you turned your nose away from him and crossed your arms over your chest.

An exasperated sigh left his mouth while he made his way over to where you sat, “baby,” he said, voice smooth as he took your hands in his, and he convinced you to finally look into those ocean blue eyes that mesmerized you so much. “Baby, listen, please; you know I have to go out and do my job with the guys sometimes,” then, you watched him crouch down on his knees, and cup your swollen stomach tenderly in his hands as he laid his face against it and said, “but I will always make it back to you guys. Do you understand me?” The feeling of his voice vibrating on your stomach felt good, like you were more at ease.

He was using his serious voice; it made you smile.

“Of course we understand you, daddy.” You joked, smirking at him while you said it. You knew he loved it when you call him that. “You don’t always have to be so serious about everything.”

“Yeah, well, I didn’t exactly come by you by honest means,” Dabi grumbled as he shoved his feet into his heavy boots by the door, “so, forgive me for being a bit overprotective.”

Rolling your eyes, you walked up and threw your arms over his shoulders, capturing him in an embrace before he was able to go.

“You think it’d be okay if I went down to the store and got it myself?” You asked, looking up through your lashes, hoping it would win you a few extra points. He hasn’t been so generous letting you out lately, which you suspect is because of your current gestational state but; The time you spent here could get so boring sometimes, and you missed going to the supermarket.

Though, Dabi stood silent for a moment as he stared back at you in contemplation. “Okay,” he finally muttered, “but Ashahi is driving you.” Which meant basically you’ll have one of his right hand guys breathing down your neck the whole time, but the excitement of getting to go to a supermarket overshadowed any other feelings.

“Thank you!” You quipped happily, “I’m going to freshen up quickly then I’ll be ready to go!”

And as you carted off to your room to do whatever it was, Dabi watched you with a warm smile.

…

Walking down the aisles of fresh produce, you were suddenly so glad you decided to stop at a farmers market you had seen a sign for around the way. Being able to see all the fresh fruits and vegetables and other commodities sold right to you is something, you didn’t know you missed. And it feels good to be back.

It’s funny, you thought to yourself, the last time you were at one of these things was with-

“_____?”

You froze. That voice, it couldn’t be-

“_____.” He said, his voice barely a whisper, and more somber this time.

But you couldn’t ignore him; you had to look.

Your eyes were wide as your mouth hung open; there, when you turned, was Shouto.

Standing there.

Staring.

And then you two just kept standing there, staring. Not saying anything; not until you grabbed your stomach instinctively, and watched as his face paled.

Oh no.

“Is…” he started, his face starting to twist up, “is that…” trailing off, his dual colored eyes left yours, becoming fixated on your pregnant belly. “Is that his?” He finally whispered, disgust dripping from every word; and it made you freeze up.

You just stood there, like a deer in headlights, looking like an absolute chump while you sat across from him.

Fuck, you screamed internally, you couldn’t believe this was happening. That he was seeing you like this; it was weird, it was like looking back at another life. You almost remembered what it used to feel like when-

Thankfully though, you felt a strong, but friendly, presence grab your arm and pull you away from the area quickly; it was the guy Dabi sent to watch you.

Turning back once more to look at him, you watched Todorokis face as he slowly disappeared into the sea of the crowd as you were guided into your car.

You never thought you would see him again. It sent a pang through your heart; you even felt a bit wistful. Maybe times weren’t as bad as you thought;

The door was shut behind you quickly, taking you out of your trance and you gazed out the window as Asahi drove you away in the quiet luxury of his private car.

Releasing a sigh, you realized how glad you were that Dabi had forced him to come with you in the first place. And you just couldn’t wait until this little excursion to the store was over and he finally came home so you could see him again.

He was right of course, you didn’t need anything else in the world, but him.

Besides, as the pregnancy progressed you realized that perhaps you could use a few of his little henchmen, who run around trying to hard to impress him, rubbing your swollen pregnant feet. It’s the least they could do for the woman carrying his precious little creation.

“Do you think he’ll follow us, miss ____?” His henchman asked, a worried look in his eyes as he checked the mirrors frantically as we drove away.

“No,” you said without another thought; though it didn’t matter what you said, Asahi was already making a move to alert Dabi.

But as you drove away, you knew he wouldn’t try to follow you. You saw the look on his face.

He was broken;

And it was all your fault.

[anns-works]

League Of Jay Tings (bc that right there? wasted potential)

The customizable character was a cool-ass feature and one of the best ideas Unagami had for the game. Even before Jay got sucked in, there were players running around with the ninjas as their skin.

(Scott got bored at one point and spent his time antagonizing the Red Visors in a Gold Ninja skin that was ridiculously expensive. Hw also lost a life. Totally worth it.)

On that note, I would like to point out that Jay and Scott's skins appear to be similar, so I'm guessing its one of the defaults that they ended up customizing (I imagine its like putting on a mustache or hat on minecraft Steve and calling it a day.

So, Jay's early days mainly included trailing around Scott cuz he was the only interaction he had with another person that wasn't just an NPC.

They finally encounter another another player but this one has a (surprise!) Blue Ninja skin. wat resulted was a ten minute long standoff between Jay and the other player which involved a lot of pointing and unintelligible noises.

The player bolted. Jay followed them screaming the entire time. Scott also followed cuz this was the most entertainment he's had in a long time. It's a miracle they haven't been discovered by any of the Visors yet.

The played leads them to a hideaway that had a LOT of people, all equipped with Blue Ninja skin.

Scott's previous amusement quickly turns into horror as he quietly goes what the fuck over and over again. Jay gets an idea like you know what, lets use this.

and basically thats how the League of Jay born in Scott's garage through Jay's ''diabolical" plan (he's making a safe hangout space for these kids and also letting them cause chaos)

(For convenience sake, lets just refer to og Jay as SRJ (after his gamer tag) ft. some of the other Jays from the league! w/ their nicknames. DeeJay777 is Dee. Jay22Walkin is Walker. BlueJay6669 is Blue. JayBird9000 is Birdy.)

Most of the things these gremlins do is mainly going around to vandalize stuff. Scott is apparently the "Master of Color" or whatever that may entail. It just basically means he can go around graffitiing "UNAGAM I UR MOMAS A HOE" or other stuff like that.

And back to the whole customizable skin bit, it was an instant hit cuz of the opportunities it presented. You could be a guy. You could be a girl. You could be as sexy as a kpop idol (is that in thing in ninjago?). You could be an eldritch creature beyond mortal comprehension if you're willing to spend up a few units.

Dee enjoys not having tits for a while. Birdy also loves the whole transmasc feeling. SRJ just updated his skin to be Like That™ to give everyone gender envy.

Unagami once released a feature in the game that would let you access different levels and mini-games based on your selected binary gender (back when that was still a thing). The League hated it and let him know dearly. So Unagami changed it into something else and threw in a couple units in the mix (a goddamn dance competition). This was an instant hit. They planed their next updates based on the League's reactions.

Unagami: I didn't realize it was you at first. But some of your actions proved to be quite educational.

SRJ, flashback to that one time he wrote "UNAGAMI I FUCKD U MAMA HERE" on a wall cuz he was feeling pissy: Sure man, don't mention it.

Also on that note, SRJ DEFINITELY founded the ninjago LGBTQA+ community. I meant ninjago in itself is a pretty non-heteronormative society and you can kiss whoever you want with no issue. But everyjay was trapped in the lair w/o Scott out nothing to do and he's bored out of his goddamn mind and just suddenly suggests coming up w/ names for different sexual orientations cuz why not? taxonomy is fucked but they're bored.

Walker has an anthropology degree and Birdy is studying gender so might as well begin.

After getting out they get awarded by the NU for their fantastic discovery.

SRJ gave up the mansion he inherited from Cliff Gordon to Scott and it sort of turned into a hangout spot for the League.

One League member said on Chirp (jokingly) that the League of Jay should have their own social media platform cuz they're too weird and are apparently freaking out people on Chirp. They get a reply from Blue who tells them she'll look into it, and two months later there's a new social media in town.

Lentils and beans of all sizes, I give to you TRip, ninjago tumblr. The buckwild experience ever. A huge hit among the serpentine immedietly.

Those iconic posts but ninjago style. Red floor at Darkley's. the three weed smoking ninjas. Don't you love the color of the gi. I like your shoelaces, thanks I stole them from samurai x. Garage ballpit.

[dragonfries12]

Y’all ate up my last Regretevator posts, so here’s some more!

Party Beetle Fanfic (Title Pending) - Part 1

Blue text is italics, red text is Folly being creepy (bold), pink text is dreams/flashbacks.

Pest leaned against the wall of the regretevator with his arms folded. Across from him, a white-plated robot was fiddling with some piece of technology foreign to him. Music was playing quietly, backed by the hum of the elevator as it traversed the infinite expanse of floors. Pest wasn’t headed anywhere in particular. On days when he had nothing to do he’d see where the regretevator took him and go from there. Today was one of those days.

Ding! Pest turned his head as the elevator doors slid open to reveal the very subway he’d come from only a half an hour before. Tunes from the nearby jukebox wafted into the elevator for a moment before being interrupted by the distinct sound of a party horn. God damn it. As expected, the noise was soon followed by the appearance of a fluffy-haired robloxian in a party hat.

“Poob!” The robot exclaimed as they entered the elevator.

“Hi Prototype!” They replied, walking over the far corner next to Pest’s, “Happy National Cheese Day!”

“National Cheese Day? That’s today?”

“Mhm!” Poob nodded their head eagerly, “I’d offer you some to celebrate, but I guess you can’t eat, can you? You can though!” Pest winced as Poob turned to him and offered up a tupperware full of various cheeses. “Want some?”

“I’ll pass,” Pest hissed.

“Alright!” Poob placed the cheese back in their sticker-covered bag, unfazed.

“I didn’t even know there was a national cheese day,” Prototype said, “and I have a database for basically everything!”

“There’s national days for pretty much everything,” Poob replied, “Tomorrow is national donut day. I need to go buy some today, then I’m meeting Infected for his anniversary of getting his apartment!”

“Oh wow! How do you remember all these dates?”

“I try my best for my friends. Also I have three calendars.” Poob turned to face Pest once again, “Speaking of anniversaries, it’s our meetiversary tomorrow!”

Pest scowled, “Our what?”

“Our meetiversary!” They shouted, “The anniversary of when we first met, silly! Remember when you-”

They were cut off as the elevator slammed to a halt with a loud crash. Red light bled in as the doors slid open and Pest cursed under his breath.

“Hello.” The voice slithered into the elevator as the entrance was blotted out by an enormous shadow. The dream parasite, Pest thought with disgust. The figure — Folly — gripped the edges of the doorway as she pushed herself into the elevator, black fog trailing behind her. She took her place in the remaining corner of the elevator, claws folded neatly behind her back, and surveyed the now silent group with a glowing, red eye. Her gaze bore into Pest as it passed over him and he held it in defiance. You don’t scare me, parasite.

“U-um, happy National Cheese Day!” Poob stuttered, “Do you want some cheese?” Folly’s eye slid over to them, then down to the platter of cheese.

She chuckled, “A National Day for a simple food? How charming. I’m afraid I don’t consume things the same way you do, though.”

“Oh, okay then. . .” Poob replaced the cheese in their bag, avoiding Folly’s burning gaze. The elevator dinged once more as the doors opened to a mansion of cardboard. “I think this is my stop,” Poob said quickly as they started towards the doors.

“I thought you were going to the infected one’s apartment?” Folly asked with mock confusion.

Poob stopped and looked back with concern, “Um, how’d you know that?”

“You dreamt about it last night.”

“I don’t really like when you do that. . .” Poob mumbled as they shrank back into their corner.

“How else am I to get answers?” Folly inquired. “Of course,” she took a step forward, “you could always provide them verbally. Or perhaps,” she took another step, towering over Poob, “I could pry them out myself.”

Pest shifted a step to the right, placing himself in Folly’s peripheral. Instantly, her gaze sliced through the air and stabbed into him, sending a shiver down his spine. Though she had no visible mouth, he could see a grin in her eye.

“However, I’ll refrain,” she said as she stepped back into her corner. Pest slid back into his own corner, ignoring the glances Poob was casting at him. A suffocating silence settled over the elevator for a moment until Prototype finally broke it.

“If you like learning things,” they offered tentatively, “my friend sells floppy disks with all kinds of information.”

Folly turned towards the robot with an unnaturally casual demeanor, as though Poob wasn’t still shaking across from her, “Ah yes, the computer. I’ve perused her wares, but I much prefer books.”

“Oh really? Why’s that? I’ve heard some people like the smell. . .” Pest tuned out the rest of their conversation, instead turning his focus to Poob.

“Why’s she so obsessed with you?”

“Oh um,” they sputtered, “I dunno. . .maybe all my parties and stuff are really attention grabbing?”

“Hm,” he hummed and turned away. Pest knew there had to be more to it than that, but if Poob really was hiding something, they weren’t going to reveal it.

Folly and Prototype’s conversation continued for a few more floors until the doors opened to what appeared to be a volcanic island.

“Well,” Folly spoke, “this is my stop. So nice chatting with you all,” she paused, halfway out the door, and her slitted, yellow pupil landed on Pest, “See you soon.” The doors shut just as she poofed into a swirl of dark fog, though her laughter echoed in the elevator for a few moments after. Great, Pest thought sarcastically. Folly’s last statement had been more than a goodbye; it was a promise.

* * *

Pest opened his eyes to an inky abyss. He’s known since Folly left the elevator that he wouldn’t be getting a good sleep that night, though the void still unnerved him. Sure enough, he was greeted by a familiar voice, echoing from behind him.

“Hello, bug.”

“What do you want?” He spat.

“I think you already know,” Folly teased.

“I’ve already told you, I don’t know any more about them than you do, so leave me alone.”

“Oh, but you could know things, if you wanted to. They trust you.”

A low hiss escaped between Pest’s gritted teeth as he turned to face the giant, red eye he knew was floating behind him, “Yeah, well, I don’t want to, so piss off!”

Folly’s disembodied voice chuckled, “Is that so? You seemed so worried about them today. . .”

Pest’s anger rose, as did his voice, “I could care less if Poob keeled over tomorrow, but I’ll be damned if I let you be the one to do it. What were you even doing in the elevator? I know you can just appear wherever you want.”

“Don’t you like to people-watch sometimes?”

Pest’s anger gave way to exhaustion, “Fine. Whatever. Go make everyone uncomfortable. But I don’t have any information, so you can go invade someone else’s privacy.”

“Don’t be so sure, bug.”

Pest’s ears began to ring and he lunged towards the eye, “Don’t you-” the ground disappeared beneath him and he was suddenly falling deeper and deeper into the abyss.

Pest carefully gripped the windowsill as he slipped into the dark house. It wasn’t often he robbed a house — he much preferred pickpocketing — but he needed more regretevator tickets and this was the best way to find them in bulk. Gently sliding the window shut, he crept into the house’s living room and began rummaging through drawers.

Without warning, the room suddenly exploded with blaring music as Pest stumbled over a stereo.

“Shit, shit, shit, shit, sh-”

“Hello?”

Pest slowly turned to see a bleary eyed person in starry, purple pajamas staring at him in confusion.

His heart sank as tried to stutter out an excuse, “Th-this isn’t what it looks like!”

“Really?” The person accused, “because to me, this looks exactly like you’re throwing me a surprise party!”

All of Pest’s panic was instantly replaced with confusion, “What?”

“Don’t play dumb!” They scolded, wagging a finger, “I know a party when I see one! Oh, I guess I just spoiled the surprise part though. That’s okay, now I can help set it up! I’m Party Noob by the way, but you can call me Poob! I guess you must already know that, actually, if you’re throwing me a party.”

Pest slowly shook Poob’s hand, still dumbfounded, “I’m. . .Pest. . .”

“Nice to meet you Pest! You want something to drink? What’s your favourite? I probably have it.”

“Uhhh, tree sap?”

“Oh, okay, gimme one minute!” Pest watched them rush away through the house as he stood in the middle of the room, still in shock. How did I get away with that? He thought incredulously. After a moment, he began to wander the room, taking in the unique decor. On one wall, an absurd amount of pictures were hanging, each depicting Poob with different people. Are they friends with literally everyone?

“I’m back!” Poob shouted, “Here you go!” They held out a glass of thick liquid, which was also coating their hands. They actually got me tree sap? Pest took the glass and stared down at his reflection. He squinted at the image, there was something off about it — something red glowed behind him. Something that looked like eyes and sounded like vicious laughter.

Pest’s eyes flew open. He lay still on his stolen mattress, processing his surroundings. Slowly, he collected his thoughts and his anger began to boil once more.

“God damn parasite,” he muttered. He pulled himself out of bed and stared at his clock: 5:48am. The subway would still be empty at this hour. Grabbing a cigarette and a lighter and throwing on his hoodie, Pest slunk out of his home in a forgotten room of the subway and made his way towards the platform where the regretevator was located.

When he arrived, he slumped down on a bench and lit his cigarette. He took a slow, deep inhale, then watched the smoke swirl as he breathed it out. As much as he pretended it didn’t bother him, he missed being able to sleep without a dream demon invading his mind. Maybe one day she’ll run out of memories to sift through and she’ll finally leave me alone.

Crunch!

Pest whipped his head around, looking for the source of the sound. No one should be at this stop this early; there weren’t any trains until 7am. Just as he began to get up, an arm wrapped around his neck and pinned him against the bench. Panic ignited his nerves and he bit down on the arm as hard as he could. He heard a shout from behind him and turned to see his attacker, only to be met with a fist. Air rushed past his face as he flew back. His head slammed against the ground and pain exploded in his skull. The edges of his vision blurred as he watched a shadowy figure sprint away, Pest’s wallet in hand. The last thing he heard was the ding of the regretevator before slipping into darkness.

* * *

Pest awoke to a throbbing headache. He slowly peeled open his eyes and let them adjust to the dim light. Where the hell am I? He carefully rolled over and took in his surroundings. He was on a couch with a foldout table in front of it, surrounded by striped wallpaper. Poob’s house?! Pest pushed himself up too quickly and had to lean back for a moment to let the pounding in his head subside to a tolerable level. He put his hand to his head and felt a bandage on his forehead.

“Oh! You’re awake!”

Pest leaned forward — slowly, this time — to look at the person who had just entered the room, “Poob?”

“Oh good, no amnesia then.”

“Why- how did I get here?”

“Oh, um,” Poob set down the cup and plate he was carrying on the table, “I kind of. . . carried you.”

“What? Why didn’t you call Dr. Retro or something?”

“Oh. I didn’t really think of that. I saw you bleeding on the ground and panicked a bit. What happened?”

“Got mugged,” Pest hissed, turning his empty pockets inside-out.

“Oh. . .” There was a moment of heavy silence until Pest finally looked at what was on the table. There was a plate of buttered toast and a glass of water.

“That’s for you.”

“I gathered that,” Pest sneered. He picked up the glass and downed half of it, then took a bite of the toast. “What time is it?”

“3pm.”

Pest nearly choked, “3pm?!”

“You were unconscious for a really long time,” Poob laughed timidly, “I was starting to get a little worried.”

Pest swallowed the last of his toast and began to push himself up off the sofa, “Whatever, I’m going home.”

“Wait! Careful!” Poob’s warning came too late. Pest instantly became light-headed and stumbled on the Twister mat on the ground. Poob hooked their arms under his elbows as he fell back, guiding him back to the couch. “You should maybe rest for a bit.”

“Yeah,” Pest grunted through gritted teeth, waiting for his headache to become manageable.

“Maybe I should call Dr. Retro. . .”

“No, I’m fine,” Pest protested as Poob reached for a phone, “I just need a minute.” The last thing he needed was someone else knowing he had been found knocked out in the subway by Poob of all people.

“Okay. . . if you’re sure,” Poob said hesitantly, “but I’m still gonna get you some medicine.”

Pest listened to them rummage through cupboards while he leaned back with his eyes closed. Poob handed him two pills, which he swallowed with the rest of his water.

“Do you wanna watch a show or something?” Poob offered.

“Sure.”

“Okay. . .” Poob picked up the remote for the TV sitting across from them and slowly sat down on the opposite end of the couch, “What do you wanna watch?”

“I don’t care,” he said with exasperation. He hated that he was here, forced to sit on a couch with the most annoying person in the world. Even so, if Poob hadn’t been there, there was a good chance Pest would be dead. Whatever, I only have to be here until my headache goes away. I can tolerate them for that long.

The time began to slip away from him, however, as they sat watching episode after episode of a surprisingly good show. Pest only realised that the medication had long since kicked in when Poob pulled a pizza out of the oven for dinner. He thought about getting up to leave, but the smell of the pizza held him in place. No point in passing up free food.

“Here you go!” Poob said cheerfully, setting a plate of cheese pizza in front of him.

“Mmph,” Pest grunted through a mouthful of mozzarella. They watched another episode while they ate, then had sugar cookies for dessert. When he was finished, Pest was about to leave when something occurred to him. Poob had found him in the subway at 5am. What the hell were they doing at the subway that early? Pest turned to Poob and asked.

“Oh, um. . .” Poob twiddled their thumbs, “looking for you. . .”

“What? Why?”

“Today’s our meetiversary, remember?”

“No,” Pest grumbled, getting up from the couch, “Anyway, my head feels better. I’m leaving.”

“Wait!” Poob stood up, “Are you sure?”

Pest turned back in confusion, “Yes? I’m not collapsing, am I?”

“Maybe we should call Dr. Retro. You might have a concussion or something.”

“I’m sure I can make it home and call her just fine from there.”

“But wait, what if-”

“But what?” Pest snarled, “Why do you keep making excuses?”

Poob fidgeted with their hands for a moment, then said in a voice that was barely audible, “Because I don’t want you to leave. . .”

Pest stood there for a moment, taken aback. Then, he stomped toward Poob until he was close enough to grab them by the collar.

“Did you drag me all the way to your house for some playdate?” He spat.

“What? N-no!” Poob sputtered, “No! I really did wanna help! It’s just, now that you’re here. . .I really like spending time with you.”

Pest stared down at them with disgust, “Really? Every time I see you, all I do is ignore you and you want to hang out with me? What the hell is wrong with you?”

“I- I just-”

“You what?” Pest yanked Poob up until they were standing on their tiptoes, “Spit it out!”

“I like you!”

Pest loosened his grip, staring in shock, “What?”

Tears had begun to form at the corners of Poob’s eyes as they looked away nervously, “I like you. A lot.”

All ability to speak abandoned Pest. Poob chanced a glance back at him and he could do nothing but meet their gaze. Though much looser now, he was still clutching Poob’s hoodie, holding their face less than a foot away from his. The paused TV flooded the room with purple light. Pest tightened his grip on Poob’s collar once more and pulled him in so their faces were only inches apart.

Then, he kissed them.

Next

[divineerdrick]

One Piece Live Blog: Get Cruising!

Oh boy! Here we go!

The Netflix One Piece adaptation convinced me to take another stab at the genuine article. My previous attempt had stalled out on Kuro's arc. But with Matt Owens, Steven Maeda, and the gang highlighting what I'd enjoyed my first try, I'm back for more.

Since Netflix One Piece is filled with spoilers for the manga and anime, this first part is going to be #not so live blog. I'm basically going to cover all of East Blue in this one massive blog, having paused after Luffy got his first wanted poster. From here, I'll be trying to go one episode and chapter at a time, using episode previews to let me know if I should watch an episode before reading a chapter. For example, I know that the next episode of the anime is Buggy's journey after getting Gum Gum Bazooka'd off the island. But that episode was covered in Oda's famous chapter pages in the manga.

I might look to see if anyone has a good watching/reading order out there. If anyone knows of one, please let me know!

I should also note that I'm not going to be policing spoilers very hard here. I'm going to try to watch each episode and read each chapter as fresh as I can, but let's face facts. One Piece is an integral part of modern anime's DNA, and it's honestly all over the parts of the internet I call home. I'm going to have some preliminary impressions going in for a lot of the characters and arcs that people have raved about throughout the literal decades. Again, if I find an intrepid assistant who feels like intercepting asks and the like, I might accept their help. But I just think it's pretty hard to do this one as a truly blind read/watch.

Without further ado, here are my #not so live blog thoughts on what I've gotten through so far! I'll also go over my thoughts on the differences between manga/anime and Netflix, and occasionally manga and anime . . .

First Thoughts

Right off the bat, I feel like I need to mention that I still struggled through East Blue. It was definitely an easier read than watch, and I found myself enjoying the manga a bit more than the anime. There felt like there was a bit too much generic Shonen bullshit in this first part of the story. Now granted, as one of the OG Shonen works, this is more that other Shonen anime have made some of this boring and generic, but it's honestly still kinda dumb, boring bullshit here.

But that all changed when I got to Arlong Park. That arc felt incredibly tight and well paced, with each character being well utilized. The jokes all landed, the fights were all awesome, and the villain was enjoyable. This is definitely where One Piece started to sing for me, and showed the promise of why this work has had so much staying power.

Please keep that in mind when I get to my coverage of the various arcs.

Characters

Monkey D. Luffy

Our primary protagonist and the Captain of the Straw Hats took me a little warming up to in the manga and anime. Part of this is that Netflix Luffy is a couple notches higher in terms of good nature and IQ, and a couple notches lower on the pirate scale and silliness. In short, Netflix Luffy is a little closer to generic Protag-kun than his animated counterpart. He's really not a pirate, not even a "different kind of pirate." He's an adventurer using the term pirate as his title.

OG Luffy is definitely a pirate. He's a little mean, a little underhanded, and, most importantly, he won't let anything get between him and his goals. There are plenty of times when he just flat out slaps someone down because he thinks they're stupid or they're in his way. The only reason he becomes Zeff's choreboy is that the old pirate kicks the crap out of him. While Netflix Luffy opines that everyone has a story about Nami, except for Nami herself, OG Luffy just doesn't care. Nami is his navigator, and the thought of leaving Conomi Island without her never crosses his mind.

And honestly, while he took a bit to grow on me, this makes OG Luffy such a more fun and interesting character to follow. Yeah, as even Oda jokes, he's thick as brick. But even this has its charm. He sits at a nice middle ground between Goku and Jack Sparrow. He's just mean enough, and just crazy enough that you can't predict what he's going to do, while still being likeable enough to be a hero you want to follow for a thousand plus chapters.

Roronoa Zoro

The first of the Strong Trio, as I've heard them called, Zoro (or Zolo in the version I'm reading) is probably the character who varies the most from his Netflix adaptation to his OG self. OG Zoro isn't as thick or silly as Luffy is, but he's still a lot of fun. He's nowhere near as tightly strung or straight laced as Netflix Zoro is. He also jumps on Luffy's side a lot faster, accepting his role as Luffy's swordsman in exchange for his swords and sticking to his oath from that point forward. When Mihawk destroys him at Baratie, he's genuinely distraught that he not only lost, but he failed Luffy.

He also gets more time to shine during Arlong Park too, with his own opponent to face down and defeat. Granted, I understand why Owens and Maeda probably did this. At that point in the show, we know Zoro is a badass, especially with Mackenyu's amazing displays of swordsmanship, and Sanji needed to be established as the second member of the Strong Trio. Plus I'm betting Hachi would have been trying on their budget.

But again, this version of Zoro is just more fun to follow. We've seen the straight faced, snarky action hero done to death. I like the fact that the OG is much more laid back and willing to have some fun.

Nami

Tied with Usopp for how faithfully she was adapted, Nami is so far the most serious and intelligent member of the Straw Hats. She's a fan favorite for a reason. Besides sporting a cute design to appeal to the core Shonen audience, Nami is honestly one of the most capable characters in the story. And she's shown repeatedly to be pretty badass when she needs to be. All three versions of her are likeably and laudible.

That doesn't mean there aren't differences though. Netflix Nami feels a bit more victimized. And, I mean, fair! She refuses to get close to the Straw Hats because she believes she's doomed to hurt those around her. It feels more like an internalized failing, rather than the result of the overwhelming external force that is Arlong. OG Nami is a loner because she believes she has to do everything herself. It's not that people around her get hurt because of her, it's because if she involves anyone then Arlong might remove them from the picture. She plays a villain to Cocoyashi village not to distance herself, but because she doesn't want anyone else to get hurt saving her.

Either way, the emotional aspect of her arc throughout East Blue is one of the things that made Arlong Park so compelling. Now that she's free, I can't wait to see how her character develops. If her exit from Cocoyashi is any indication, it will be a lot of fun!

Usopp

Usopp is also pretty faithfully adapted in Netflix, with one small exception. Both versions of the character have dreams of being a hero, the same hero they portray themselves as in the stories they tell. However, for now at least, OG Usopp is a little close than Netflix Usopp. While Usopps cowardly antics seem a lot more over the top in manga/anime action, his acts of bravery are also more numerous.

Usopp won't stand by and let someone else get hurt. He may not be able to jump into the fray when things get started, but the moment an innocent person is in danger he doesn't hesitate. Part of this might be the changes made to the arcs for Netflix's adaptation. In the Netflix version, only Kaya is any real danger from Kuro and his Black Cat Pirates. So when Usopp refuses to leave Kaya's side, it comes off more as him refusing to abandon a friend then sticking up for someone that can't defend themselves. But in the original version, Usopp is defending the whole island from the Black Cats, an island that thinks he's a liar and a menace. He's also the one who jumps to Zoro's rescue when Mihawk strikes him down. And at Cocoyashi he repeatedly intercedes when fishmen are menacing the village.

Even his fight against Chew is because he knows he needs to even the odds or the three lieutenants will easily overpower Zoro and Sanji. While Netfix Usopp flees the moment Chew sets his eyes on him, then manages to setup a knockout punch, OG Usopp lures Chew away and then renews his attack the moment Chew tries to give up on the chase.

In short, Oda does an amazing job at showing that Usopp genuinely does have the ability to become a hero. I know he's still mostly comic relief and is part of what is occasionally called the Cowardly Trio, but I do hope we get to see Usopp get some development towards his dream.

Sanji

The last member of the Straw Hat's I've met so far, I have the least to say about Sanji. His dream and ambitions are perfect as the ship's cook, but they aren't particularly compelling for me yet. His fighting style is a lot of fun to watch though. And, as opposed to Zoro, it's so far more fun in animation and sequential art than live action. His swooning over Nami isn't really entertaining for me, though it's also not annoying. It's again, a little more entertaining in the manga/anime where the cool confidence that would probably serve him well in courting her is completely upended by drooling idiocy.

I will use this space to note another difference for the character, though this time it's in their back story and not their character traits. And it's strangely one where Netflix went with the manga, while the anime changed it. I just find it interesting that in both the manga and Netflix, Zeff sacrifices his leg on the rock to stave off his hunger so that he can give all the food to Sanji. But in the anime, they had him sacrifice his leg ahead of time to save Sanji, thus meaning he already had the leg as potential food source before making the decision. I'm curious why they made that change.

Johnny and Yosaku

While not part of the crew, I still felt I should give the two fanboys a mention. They provide something that Netflix missed out on, and maybe even spoiled a little in where they chose to cut and change things for the adaptation. They help setup some of the power scale for the adventure. Put simply, Johnny and Yosaku help give us a notion of what a normal, human adventurer is capable of compared to the pirates of the East Blue.

While the East Blue is the small pond of One Piece's world, that doesn't mean that Buggy, Kuro, and Krieg aren't real and genuine threats. Johnny and Yosaku traveled with Zoro as bounty hunters, and they presumably fought pirates and other outlaws. But they're completely outclassed when Krieg shows up. And when they go to Arlong park, they're dispatched so easily Arlong doesn't even bother to have them killed.

This helps establish that it's not just that Luffy is starting his adventure in a level appropriate zone, Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, and even Nami are genuinely in their own class by East Blue standards. They are destined for greatness by right of their ambitions and everything they've learned and done to get to this point. They're not Lvl 1 Heroes killing slimes to get their first copper sword, they're already at or near vanilla level cap and just need the unifying force that is Luffy to get them moving.

I don't know if the two fanboys will play any further part in the adventure, save for maybe montages of characters past like with the wanted poster. For now they're staying in East Blue, where they've done what I think the story needed them to do.

Arcs

Alvida and Axe-Hand Morgan

One Piece starts out strong. Alvida makes for an entertaining first goon for Luffy to show off on (though am I spying a reinvigorated "most beautiful pirate" on these chapter pages?) Koby makes a nice lore character to get us started off, and Morgan makes a credible threat to defeat as our first baddy.

Obviously the first thing to point out here in differences is that Netflix, with fewer episodes to work with, assembles our first three Straw Hats here. In the original story, this is just where Luffy meets Zoro. I already discussed the changes there. Though I think this is another one where Netflix went back to the manga for one change? In the anime they have Zoro being punished for a month, but I seem to remember the manga had it as like a week or something.

Either way, the first adventure is a lot of fun and sets up some side plots for later. Where I am in the manga, I've just started getting chapter pages for Morgan and Garp. Netflix, of course, made a whole B plot for Koby, Helmeppo, and Garp as they pursue the bread crumbs Luffy is leaving behind.

Buggy the Clown

This was also a really enjoyable arc. I'm not going to discuss the difference here, as there are just too many. Buggy is given a full side character role for all of East Blue in Netflix, where in the manga we just get the chapter pages. The one difference I do want to highlight is that in the manga and anime, it's Nami that thinks to tie down all of Buggy's parts and not Luffy. Though Luffy definitely shows some of that underhanded nature in this fight as he tickles and nut shots his vulnerable opponent whenever he tries to go after Nami with the Chop Chop ability.

Buggy is just so much fun! I don't know how much he actually shows up in the story, though it's obvious even without the Netflix teaser that he's itching for a rematch. His power is so cool and creative, and though he's so far not very competent with it, Netflix showed the potential it has. I hope I get to see a lot more of him.

This arc also nicely sets up Nami and her story for East Blue, though you only realize it in retrospect. Again, I remember just always having a lot of fun with this one.

Captain Kuro and the Black Cat Pirates

This was my original stumbling block and man did I feel it the second time around too. They try to make Kuro out to be this clever and menacing pirate, but I just never buy it. Part of the problem is he just doesn't do anything!

This is one of those arcs where I was getting tired of the Shonen bullshit. The arc starts with the introduction of Usopp as a comic relief character. Since I hadn't had a chance to see the bravery he'll show later yet, and Netflix didn't deliver on it, that's all I get for him as things start. Then we get a rather cliché murder plot. The butler did it! Kuro is revealed, and his plan is . . .

Well, the hypnosis part is creative I guess? It's more fun and interesting than just, "I'll trick the family accountant to signing everything over to me!" Jango fails to be anything but more comic relief though, and that's with Usopp already looking to fill the role.

Then we get to the fight. Usopp starts to show his bravery, but it's buried under all the attempts at comedically stalling things out. Oh no! They're at the wrong beach! Oh no! Zoro's caught in the grease trap! Oh no! Luffy got lost! Oh no! Zoro got his swords stolen! Oh no! Luffy got put to sleep by Jango!

And all the while, Kuro just stands there. Nami doesn't really do much here either, even though I honestly think she could probably take Kuro on her own. Then Kuro just announces he's going to kill everyone and the pirates stop doing anything too. And when Luffy and Kuro finally do fight, it feels drawn out. Like it really just feel like Luffy could have just walloped him if he'd been taking things a bit more seriously or been a bit more creative with his powers.

I will say, Usopp's bravery does start to shine through here. He keeps getting knocked down but refuses to give up. Usopp honestly is the best thing about this arc and it does set his character up well.

Baratie

And finally we come to it: the wall.

Baratie almost ended my second attempt at this. It starts out so strong too! Sanji's introduction is awesome, Zeff is really cool, and the idea of a bunch of "fighting cooks" that can beat pirates is really fun. Then you get the introduction of Mihawk. This is one of the points where I wish I'd stuck with my first attempt at One Piece. To be fair, Netflix's introduction of Mihawk is fantastic. But this was even better in many ways. I feel I would have enjoyed this more anime/manga first, then been impressed by the adaptation. It comes out of almost nowhere with just the barest hints of what's about to happen before Mihawk splashes down in the East Blue like a giant in a puddle. Netflix felt the need to tie Mihawk into the ongoing story. As other commentators have pointed out, this undermines the sense of scale and danger that is The Grand Line.

OG Mihawk isn't on any kind of mission. He's just bored!

But Krieg and his pirates. Oh man . . .

The point of Krieg is that he is the proof that the East Blue is the leveling zone. Here is a man with a ton of resources and know how. He has a massive armada, state of the art weapons, and a vicious and dedicated crew. The chefs of Baratie might have fought off pirates before, but they're no match for Krieg's crew.

But Mihawk, one man with one sword, destroyed it all.

Yet Mihawk gets bored again and doesn't finish the job. So now Luffy has to prove that he does have what it takes by beating them by himself (with some help from Sanji of course.)

It's a pretty functional device as plot devices go. The implementation just sucked.

Krieg is not interesting. "I win because I have the strongest weapon," is such an old trope and one that, especially in anime and manga, almost always means you're a loser. Gin isn't interesting. He's got just enough character that I would actually like to see if Oda does something more with him. But in this arc he starts out feeling like a weak lackey. Then, surprise! he's second in command! Then he's just a weak lackey again. Then, he's a lackey, but he's strong enough to walk away.

And the less said about Pearl the better.

But the biggest problem is, again, no one does anything! For most of the arc, Sanji is the only one that does any fighting. Other than launching their "secret weapon", the fighting chefs don't fight. And Luffy and Krieg just spend the entire arc staring each other down. It starts even before Mihawk shows up, and doesn't stop until Gin beats Sanji. Luffy makes a couple of extremely half hearted attempts to run . . . run . . . over to fight Krieg. But because, and I can't stress this enough, he only ever tries to run over to fight Krieg, Krieg easily repels him with his guns.

Once the fight actually starts, it's clear that Luffy can just pound Krieg into the dust. He just doesn't. And so the fight drags on longer than it feels it should, as Zeff opines about how Luffy will win because he has the will to do so. Even though, we literally just saw Zoro, who has almost, if not as indomitable a spirit, get owned by someone that's just plain better than he is, it's all actually about will and heart.

Well, maybe not just saw. As I said, this drags on a bit. We're quite a few episodes/chapters away from that before Luffy and Krieg actually start fighting.

Now I will say, I know there's more to this. Luffy is still very young and inexperienced. We start the adventure with him leaving his island, having not been show doing any actual fighting. We're literally seeing all of Luffy's actual combat experience in this anime and manga. He's constantly inventing new moves as he learns his abilities, and he also needs to learn how to use those moves at the right time. So this fight is supposed to be part of Luffy's learning process.

But it's just not fun and not funny and not interesting. He used the Gum Gum Rocket in the first arc, yet he keeps trying to, again, run over to fight Krieg. He's shown he can deflect projectiles, yet he just let's Krieg's poison shell hit Baratie. He punches right through Krieg's steel defenses, then takes his time breaking Krieg's spear.

It's just not a good fight!

But we can leave all that behind us now. Because once Krieg is defeated and Sanji says his suitably over the top farewells to Baratie, we can finally get to . . .

Arlong Park

Like I said, this basically saved One Piece for me and brought me back to the promise of the first two arcs. It also proved that this story can deliver on more than just Shonen action and slapstick comedy. Take everything I said about Baratie, change it to the opposite, and you have Arlong Park.

A lot of people have already talked about the difference between adaptations here, so I'm not going to mention it much. This is already getting long here. I do wish Nami had actually gotten to take some part in the action, but she still gets a heroic moment as she faces down the monster that murdered her mother and has controlled her entire life.

Also the way she reacts as Luffy destroys her prison hits hard.

But yeah, everything about this arc is fantastic. The pacing is great! The characters, and their designs, are all fantastic. The jokes all land. The way they divided up each fight is nearly perfect. And there is real, and intense, emotional pay off.

Even the Shonen trope of taking Luffy out of the fight to come back later is done well. Luffy being dumb and trying to do the cool new move he thought of getting him stuck is hilarious. And Arlong's reaction to it is a peak villain moment. It does make me wonder a bit about the way Devil Fruit powers work, because I thought that the ocean takes you power away. But Nojiko is able to stretch Luffy's head above water. Still, it might be that the Devil Fruit permanently made Luffy out of rubber, and it makes for a creative solution with some genuine suspense.

Even our comic relief villain, Hachi, is both funny and menacing. I really liked the fishmen designs in general, though I'm not as much a fan of Chew's design. Kuroobi is probably my favorite of the fishmen, possibly even more than Arlong. He's got a great design, his fighting style is awesome and a great test for Sanji, and he's shown to be more cool and level headed than his boss.

But Arlong is still a great villain. His planning and cunning and evil are demonstrated throughout the arc. And when the fight actually gets going, it's clear that he's a proper match for Luffy. Not only is Arlong strong, but his moves are just the right level of over the top. I'm particularly fond of the Shark Darts. I am a little sad he pulled out that massive sword to not really get to use it much, though. They also do a great job using him to demonstrate Luffy's strength by showing the force Arlong's nose can take before Luffy breaks it.

Final Thoughts

So yeah, I'm on a cruise now. From this point on it's going to be one episode/chapter one post. I'm going to try to do three to four episodes a week. At that pace, it's possible I might get caught up by years end. Either way, I'm hoping to have a lot of fun!

[erisunoaakaibu]

Spiraltown - Chapter 1: Divination

It’s a beautiful day outside. Birds are singing, flowers are blooming. On days like this, guys who can’t cook properly like Igor…

Should be eating out.

Whoa, that’s a bit lame for the beginning of a story, don’t you think? Anyway, you might be wondering who Igor is. Igor, full name Igor Gunnar, gender male, green skin, white hair, red eyes, muscular build, right mechanical arm, with a few scars on his face. He used to be a soldier, until he lost his right arm. Now he’s the lead vocalist of a rock band that’s pretty popular in Spiraltown.

Spiraltown, you say? Oh yeah, Spiraltown is where Igor lives. It got the name, due to its roads spiraling from the center.

Spiraltown’s overly simplified map, made with RPG Maker MZ. The map isn’t accurate, but you get the point, right?

Okay, back to the story. Igor went out to have dinner. His dining experience isn’t worth talking about though, so I’ll skip that. But when he was going home, all the lights suddenly went out. “Ugh…” He groaned. The guy didn’t expect this to happen. I mean, who would expect that? Luckily the roads weren’t that dark to begin with, since it’s not midnight.

The next thing that happened was probably even more expected to Igor. As he was walking to the bar, he suddenly felt goosebumps all over. Before he could even turn around, a hand had already touched his shoulder. The muscular man immediately turned around and threw a punch at whoever just touched his shoulders, but the person quickly dodged it, as if they were trained for this. Now that Igor had turned around, he finally had a clear look at the other person. A female, wearing a huge hat with a skull ornament on it, green coat and green scarf, dark skin, long gray hair, fit build. Under the huge hat, a glimpse of their eyes was seen: Glowing golden eyes with snake-like pupils.

“Solanine, f*ck you! Why do you like sneaking up on me at night so badly?” Igor yelled. But the woman named Solanine just smirked in return. “What do you want?” “Hang out. Today’s job just ended, and I’m bored as heck. Where are you going?”

Solanine, full name Solanine Nightshade, is currently an assassin whose job is to take down dangerous criminals. Yeah, she’s basically doing the dirty job for the government. You see, not all criminals can be captured, sometimes they need to be eliminated right away.

So both of them went to the bar. “Hey Igor, have you ever thought of consulting a diviner?” Solanine asked, while taking a sip at the cocktail. “No. I don’t believe in fate and such. But why do you ask?” “I just suddenly feel like asking. You see, Ren just got a spare divination slot so I’m going to her place for some tea leaf reading tomorrow. You wanna come along?” Confusion was written clearly on Igor’s face. “Ren? You mean Ren Murasaki? She, out of all people, does tea leaf readings? Isn’t she like, blind? How does a blind person even do tea leaf readings? Are you joking around?” “Oh shut the f*ck up you idiot. If you don’t trust me, you can check it yourself.” “Ugh, whatever. Wait, did you just call me an idiot, Solanine? Do you have a problem?” And what he got in return was another smirk. Anger started boiling inside Igor. The guy was just about to yell, but the bartender had stopped him in time.

* * *

Time skipped to the following day. 

Igor and Solanine entered the divination store that belonged to the person named Ren. The place was decorated to show a mysterious, yet divine vibe. Anyone who entered were all soothed by the smell of incense. Inside, there were various divination tools, from scrying crystal balls to tea leaf reading cups, all were arranged neatly. The two of them heard gentle footsteps coming from behind the dark curtain with a purple eye printed on. And from the curtain, a tall woman with light blue skin walked out. She wore a purple blazer outside a white button-up shirt, her dark blue hair was tied into a bun, and on her neck was a locket in the shape of a teardrop.

“Greetings, Solanine and Igor.” The woman, presumably Ren, spoke, her calm and even voice slightly muffled by the mask she was wearing. “Please come in, I have prepared tea for both of you.”

* * *

“The result is rather… intriguing.” Even though it was difficult to notice, Ren’s eyebrows furrowed a little, while she was “observing” the leaves left in the other two’s cups. “Huh, tell me more then.” “Both of you will face a huge change in your life. A chaotic change indeed. Not a bad change, but… I’m afraid Igor will need to learn anger management.” “I mean, he always needs that! He’s mad at everything and everyone, and when he’s mad he’s really loud.” “Hey!!!” “See?”

Ren shook her head and sighed, as the other two started bickering right inside her shop. This would take a while.

[polarisbear]

i think it’s LAME that none of the other magipa have human designs so i did it myself. also spiced up hughie’s fit n myamu’s new fit from episode 39

(notes + close ups under cut!)

going from left to right: first up hughie

his normal civilian outfits are… weirdly tame? at least if you compare it to the fabric drape hell of his magical realm outfit, so! since he and myamu are supposed to be color palette parallels (+ toma and matsuri) i gave him yellow in his eyes to match myamu’s pink also because i’m not sure why??? his eye color changed between forms.

his palette Is mostly blue and white (to look nice next to toma’s warmer reds and blacks) so he’s got some Very dramatic white pants. wanted his jacket to be the statement piece to everything else is relatively reserved. the chain is supposed to match his necklace, and the bucket hat that inspired the look is from his disguise when matsuri and myamu snuck into omega hq

2nd is myamu!

this is just her outfit from episode 39 cranked up a little since i though the gray hoodie and plain skirt were a little boring. she’s got a heart/lace up pattern on her sleeves and a cute belt. also changed the type of hoodie she has and the hoodie strings

third here is hanitan <3

i Think her and miruki’s aesthetic is decora kei with a hint of lolita and angel aesthetics, so i went with a comfy pajama look since hanitan’s sleepy. she’s the only one to have her animal aspect Obviously in her design since teddy bears and bows are cute and decorated headbands are Super cute. the heart cheek mark is for my own amusement though. draculara moment or whatever.

her hairstyle is two pigtails pulled up front, which is a very warm way to wear your hair. the stitch detailing and patches on her hoodie are in reference to her teddy bear form. she’s got bear gloves to match miruki’s main outfit too. the ugg boots are something hanitan wears just to annoy miruki since they’re a little out of fashion.

fourth to batter: chimumu!

i hate green. teal is a little better but jesus christ this palette was a little bit of a nightmare. anyways, i don’t know what cool sportswear looks like so i was winging it. the most obvious thing is the star motifs, her gloves, hair, short fluff, and sneaker lips are all shaped to look star-like.

the white under-part of chimumu’s hair was added later since i remembered after i was done coloring patano that the magipa usually have multicolored hair so. extra cool points. the scarf and the star pattern on it being exaggerated was to help convey how overconfident chimumu is in both herself and hina, and the sporty look of the outfit was also to enable chimumu to keep up with hina’s training. the yellows also got a bit more lime. the warm yellow was clashing.

fifth in line is carron!

i think she should be tall like the boys. that’s all.

anyways, i think she’s probably the most straightforward translation? like her hair got extended into a ponytail and her stained-glass bunny ears got turned into tailcoats and that’s really about it. she looks basically the same as her animal form otherwise, i even kept the leg shape pretty similar since i didn’t differentiate between her pants and shoes. oh! her pants have a diamond pattern running down the side, to really hammer home both the stained glass and diamond theme.

otherwise i’d say she’s just a cute butler!

the grand finale: patano!

you might not believe me but her fit’s 100% the simplest next to myamu’s. which is why her’s was boring until i Spiced it Up with some patterns (the roses + stripes)

i’m pretty sure her design is supposed to evoke a little german boy in the swiss alps yodeling or whatever so i went with that while also keeping in mind the Loud ruffles of amane’s takarazuka revue aesthetic. so, a boyish outfit with a feminine charm. if i have the energy though i would like to take another stab at patano’s design since i didn’t incorporate her wings, which i think are Very cute. also the wiki is insane i think she’s supposed to look as clumsy as a hippo but she’s clearly a pegasus/horse?? she has a hair tail and hooves and pointy ears, the big snout doesn’t make her automatically a cartoon hippo.

[unmitigatedsuperiority]

Summary: As a storm draws near to the Virginia coast, you and Spencer share an intimate moment. Pairing: Spencer Reid x Reader Word count: 3.3k Category: Fluff Rating: T Warnings: None

read it on ao3 | series masterlist

[previous chapter]

MAY

“Tell me more about your home life,” you spoke out of the blue as Spencer lounged to your left. He lifted his head up off his crossed arms, stared up at you from the face-down position he had taken up.

“What do you want to know? We’ve discussed our cultural differences quite a bit already…”

“I want to hear about your family.” Spencer thinned his lips. You looked down. “I mean, you’ve mentioned your mom a few times, but…I’m sorry. Is this too personal? I just feel like I know so much about you, but I don’t even know anything about your family—"

“Diana.” Spencer’s stare bored into yours, soft and unyielding. “My mom’s name was Diana.”

You brought your cheek to rest against your hand. “What was she like?” Spencer smiled, bittersweet.

“She was a great mom when she could be. She had her issues. Nothing much we could do. But when she was there, when she was fully lucid, she was so wise. I could always go to her for advice. Somehow, she always knew just the right thing to say.”

“You miss her,” you noted. A statement, not a question. Spencer nodded.

“She would’ve liked you,” he said, biting his lip. You took a breath.

“Really?”

“Really,” he reaffirmed. The early morning sun felt especially hot all of a sudden. “Plus, even with all her reminders to not go above the surface, she would’ve loved answering all your questions. Her lectures about aquatic history are sort of legendary.”

“She sounds amazing,” you said.

“Is it weird…” Spencer paused. Sighed. “Is it weird that I wish you would’ve gotten to meet her? In another life perhaps? I know that’s highly impossible. In fact, even just the concept of another life stems from—”

“Spencer?”

“Hmm?” He looked up at you, brown eyes inquisitive. A little shy, but unguarded. He trusted you. Completely. It was a startling realization.

“It’s not weird at all,” you reassured him. He smiled, and you returned the gesture twofold.

LATE AUGUST—SIX DAYS BEFORE

“This just in: Local weather reports of a tropical storm heading straight for the coasts of Virginia Friday evening. Right now, it remains a tropical storm, but it does have the potential to become a hurricane. We are ABC7 News will keep you updated with the latest on this story as it progresses—”

“Damn, I was really hoping to go to the beach next weekend,” Tara grumbled as she flicked the channel off, balancing her bowl of cereal as she found just the right angle for the TV remote to work. You curled your fingers against the edge of the couch cushion, trying to ease your nerves. When you had woken up that morning, you could feel it. A shift in the air. Something to come. It was all you could do not to think about what Spencer would be doing, out at sea, unable to escape the storm. You steeled yourself in the present, focused on Tara’s dilemma instead.

“We literally live on the beach. You could go outside right now, and you’d basically be in the water. For what we pay to live here, you should really be taking advantage of it, anyways.”

“Yeah, but it’s not the same,” Tara sighed, stabbing her cereal with her spoon. “I want to make an event out of it, you know? Embrace the big hat-thriller novel-sitting on the beach life.” You chuckled at her theatrics.

“Yeah. You could still do that,” you pointed out.

“It’s not as fun by myself.” Tara pouted. You placed a hand on her shoulder.

“You could always take me with you!” Tara shrugged off your hand and playfully glared at you. You backed off. “Alright, alright. We don’t need to see that much of each other. I get it.” You leaned back, resting your forearm against the edge of the sofa.

“Okay, but seriously,” she started around a mouthful of cocoa puffs (her guilty pleasure cereal), “we need to get prepped for this storm. Do you want to put all the outdoor furniture in the shed this week or shall I? One of us needs to do it, and the other can go to the store to stock up on food and stuff.”

“I’ll do it,” you grumbled. “You’re so strong and capable; only you could brave the grocery store madhouse that’s about to happen.” You grinned at Tara, clearly buttering her up for what would be the worse option.

She chuckled. “Thanks for phrasing that like it’ll be far more exciting than it actually is. That’s fine, though. I am better at hurricane prep than you, anyway.”

“I’d be upset at that comment but unfortunately it’s true,” you relented. Tara let out a triumphant Ha! She picked up the remote, dangled it in front of you.

“Your turn to pick something to watch. And if there is a single mermaid in it…” She shook her head, dramatically shuddered.

“I get it!” You yanked the remote out of her hand before nudging your shoulder against hers. She repeated the gesture. A nonverbal confirmation that everything was okay. You flicked on Netflix, mindlessly scrolling through the offerings. Not paying nearly as much attention as you should.

“He’s going to be fine, you know,” Tara spoke a few minutes into your unyielding scrolling. You turned to her.

“Spencer?” You questioned. She nodded. It did little to calm the angry, stormy sea raging behind in your chest. The bitter taste of drowning. “How do you know?”

Tara shrugged, circling her spoon around her quickly emptying breakfast. “I just do. Intuition, I guess.” You paused, considering.

“Wow, the woman of science is suddenly taking things on faith?” You replied, half-teasing, half-serious. Tara thinned her lips, a far-off look in her eyes. She took a swig of the chocolate-tinted milk at the bottom of her bowl.

“Maybe I’m a bit more open to things these days,” she replied before pushing herself off the couch and heading toward the kitchen. You settled back into your side of the couch, absorbing her words.

Ever since you and Spencer grew close, you’d had to come to terms with a lot of different things. Like the fact that mermaids existed. Cute mermaids with cow-brown eyes and a laugh like the song of the sea. But that rational part of you, the one Tara had always encouraged, had kept him at arm’s length. No sense diving headfirst into a capital-R Relationship with someone who would always be a fish out of water. A literal fish out of water. Even though you spent just as much time fantasizing about what could be.

Although, you never thought you’d see the day Tara started accepting anecdotal evidence as fact. The most seeing is believing person you have ever met was now supporting you in all your weird mermaid endeavors. She’d come a long way from the woman who tried to nicely—not in a condescending way, she’d argued—convince you that mermaids weren’t real. That maybe you were just seeing things. But now? You knew without a doubt that Spencer wasn’t a trick of the light or a figment of your imagination. He was real. As real as the ocean itself. As real as the morning sunlight felt on your skin every Sunday. And maybe Tara had it right. Maybe it was good to trust your intuition. After all, that is what led you to the rocks at the edge of the beach in the first place. And without that, none of this would be happening at all.

And that would be a damn shame.

“Why did you come all the way out here in the first place?” Spencer had asked you the following morning, curiosity in his gaze. He had laid across the rocks, tail shimmering in the early sunrise glow. Iridescent and mesmerizing. It took you a minute to form words after he emerged from the water. Something in the air felt different today. Maybe it was the storm. Maybe it was the realization of just how invested you are in this relationship—whatever kind of relationship it is.

“What, to Virginia or—”

“Here,” Spencer clarified, tail flopping against the solid rock with a thwap. The sound punctuated his question. You paused, collecting your thoughts.

“I guess…I feel most myself here,” you answered, “if that makes any sense. I just felt drawn to this part of the beach.” Spencer hummed, licking his lips before speaking.

“For whatever we lose—like a you or a me—”

“…It’s always ourselves we find in the sea,” you finished, surprised.

“E.E. Cummings,” Spencer added. Some warm breeze wrapped around the two of you, the sea salt scent thick and familiar. Your heart raced at the cloying sensation.

“Of course, you know E.E. Cummings. What don’t you know?” You teased half-heartedly. A particularly large wave crested and fell in the distance, the sound fading into the background as you watched Spencer. The slight twitch of his lips, softening of his gaze. He sighed, flicked his tail once. You watched droplets cascade out around the fin, glistening in the sunlight. Indescribable.

“There’s lot of things I don’t know, Y/N,” he spoke, pulling you out of your thoughts. His head turned down; his voice softened. “I find myself more troubled by it every week.” You looked at him in his sincerity. Really looked at him. Every perfect blue-green scale and curly piece of hair. Nervous hands and slender build. You could hardly believe that he was here with you sometimes. You cleared your throat.

“Yeah,” you replied, almost a whisper. You glanced down at your bare legs next to Spencer’s shimmering tail. The tang of saltwater crept into your mouth, not unpleasantly. “Me, too.”

Things had progressed so far over the last several months. You could look back on first meeting Spencer with a sense of nostalgia. That foreign shyness between the two of you bleeding into your interactions, lessening over time as each Sunday visit brought you closer. More familiar. Because what you had now was that—familiar. So familiar, you’d know him anywhere. You’d know him like the back of your hand. Like the sounds of the sea.

And yet, there was so much unspoken. So many things you couldn’t—and wouldn’t—know. Like if Spencer could feel the surface breeze whenever he thought of you.

“I’m going to assume you finished the last book I left on the rocks for you?” You asked, changing the subject.

“Of course! Romeo and Juliet. Star-crossed lovers. It was well-written, I’ll give it that.” He reached out to his opposite side, pulled out his water-logged copy.

“That’s going to fall apart,” you giggled.

“It just might,” he agreed. Spencer handed it to you, a wet thumpsounding out as he dropped it into your hands. You carefully pulled the pages apart, turning them gently so as not to disturb the fragile bindings of the book. Unfamiliar scrawled writing surrounded the text.

“You made your own annotations?” You questioned, surprised.

“Well, I loved seeing all your thoughts on paper and getting a closer look at what exactly you were thinking at certain parts. I figured it was only fair you get to experience the same,” Spencer explained. And there it was again. The riptide beneath your ribs.

“Is writing a big part of mermaid culture?” You asked.

“Oh, not at all,” he laughed. “That’s why my handwriting is terrible.” You joined in with him, unable to shake the feeling that something monumental was happening. Like Spencer was opening up to you in a way he never had before. In a way you always secretly hoped he would. It turned out that Romeo and Juliet was certainly the correct choice of book to share with him, if a little on the nose. At least it wasn’t The Little Mermaid.

“Thank you for sharing this with me,” you said, in awe of all the notes marching along the pages.

“It’s just some thoughts I had, some comments. Circling the quotes I liked.”

“Like this one?” You pointed to one passage that had been circled a few times. He grinned, shifted closer to you to read over your shoulder. You felt the chill of the sea water dripping just past your shoulders. Goosebumps ran down your spine.

“’My bounty is as boundless as the sea, My love as deep. The more I give to thee, the more I have, for both are infinite.’”

Spencer recited the words as if he’d said them a thousand times before. You couldn’t shake the sudden feeling that everything that’s happened over the last several months has led to this exact moment. Your chest constricted, your senses in a state of overwhelm. The riptide had turned into a tsunami, no turning back now. As he made eye contact with you, you felt the goosebumps spread down your arms. The two of you diving headfirst into this new dynamic, no safety net. His eyes searched your face. You held your breath.

“I can see why you circled that one,” you breathed. Spencer’s gaze softened, shifted, before he suddenly cleared his throat and looked away. The tsunami quieted.

“While not technically true, as the sea does in fact have ends—I’ve seen them myself—I do appreciate the sentiment. Love as deep as the sea. It’s something that’s always sought after, a theme in so many of the novels I’ve read. I only hope I could experience a fraction of it.”

You paused, studied him, a softness in your gaze. “You will,” you affirmed. Not a shred of doubt in your voice. Spencer stared at you, quizzically. He glanced down at your lips, and you swallowed a lump in your throat.

“How do you know?” He asked, voice barely above a whisper.

“Intuition,” you replied. Smiling. Maybe taking things on faith wasn’t such a bad thing these days.

Spencer smiled back just as wide, and the sun shone just a little brighter.

“Do you ever feel weird about this? Us? Seeing each other every week?” He asked. The surf crested against the rocks just beneath your feet. You watched as the tide pulled it back out, revealing the mussels hanging on below. 

“I mean, if you’d asked me several months ago, I never would’ve thought I’d end up here. But now…” You shrugged. “I don’t know. Everything feels so easy with you. Intuitive.”

“I feel the same way,” Spencer replied. The tide uncovered the sands once more. “Everyone always asks me where I go off to each week. I think they’d lose their minds if I told them.” He chuckled.

“Does anyone else know about me?” You asked. Spencer shook his head.

“I love them all, back home, but they wouldn’t understand. They’re afraid of even coming up for air. Which, I get it. There’s a huge stigma around humans. Stems from centuries ago when sailing was far more prevalent as a means of transport. But” He nudged your shoulder with his own. Static crackled in the air. “They’re not that bad.”

“You’re not so bad yourself,” you replied, cheeky. It could have just been the rising sun painting everything a rosy hue, but you swore you could see a hint of redness in Spencer’s cheeks.

A wave crested against the edge of the rock, saltwater spray misting your face. You waited, patient, before scooting closer to him. Testing the waters.

Sunlight danced off his scales, giving way to breathtaking rainbows of color. Just based on the intensity of the sun, you knew you’d have to get going soon, but you couldn’t seem to tear your eyes away.

“You can touch them, you know.” You snapped your head up at that. He wasn’t looking at you as he spoke, like he was embarrassed to even be talking about the concept.

“I thought you didn’t like to be touched,” you softly countered. Spencer had made it very well known when the two of you had initially met that he was not big on human touch. Over the months, you’ve had some accidental touches here and there, even a few purposeful ones, but never of his tail. The tail was always off limits. You’d assumed it was a combination of a mermaid thing and some kind of quirk that was so uniquely Spencer.

“I don’t like to be touched by strange humans. I trust you.” He looked up into your eyes and you suddenly saw the sincerity in his gaze. He offered a soft smile that made your stomach flip. This wasn’t something to be taken lightly, but the fact that he trusted you meant everything.

You gave him a silent smile in return, let him read your face to see how much he meant to you, before you slowly reached out your hand. He gave you a small nod as if to say it’s okay, you can touch.

Gingerly, you let your fingers brush along the scales. Spencer let out a small gasp at the contact, nearly inaudible. You traced the edges with your hand, smoothing out until your whole palm was on the cool surface. It was still a little damp, with some kind of viscous sheen over the top of it. You didn’t mind, though. You never minded when it came to Spencer.

You felt his tail almost lean into the touch, as if he was trying to hold back from it but something primal within him just couldn’t resist. The moment was strangely intimate – him allowing you a closeness that so few ever get to experience. The ocean waves returned to your chest in full force.

Spencer watched you as you traced along the scales, every groove and dip being explored. You admired his patience as you quenched your curiosity. It was about so much more than that to you, though. And you couldn’t help but think he felt the same.

Seconds turned to minutes until the two of you had relaxed into what had become a natural, comforting position. Your hand brushing up and down his tail in a rhythmic motion. Soothing you both in the face of what was to come.

“There’s a storm coming,” you mentioned, trying not to let the anxiety creep into your voice. Spencer hummed in acknowledgement.

“I know. I can feel it. The anticipation. The water changes when things like this are about to happen.” You retracted your hand, the resulting emptiness of it feeling distractingly cold. You couldn’t read Spencer’s expression.

“Yeah, we can feel it in the air up here, too,” you replied. He scooted forward and swished his tail in the water, the movement rippling out. If a butterfly flutters its wings, you thought. “I’m probably going to have to head out soon,” Spencer added. “To avoid the storm.”

You nodded; throat suddenly dry. “That makes sense. I want you to be safe.” It was true. Tara could attest to the obvious anxiety the storm had been causing you. You needed him to be safe.

“We haven’t missed a Sunday yet,” he said, licking his lips. “I’ll probably be gone for a few days. I might not make it back in time.” You nodded. You didn’t mention that the thought of not seeing him, not having your weekly Sunday routine, made your insides turn to sullen mush. Like the wet sand squishing beneath your feet.

“We’ll be okay,” you affirmed, putting on a smile. Spencer returned it. You got the feeling that you weren’t just talking about a Sunday, but rather something far bigger than either of you could fathom.

You spent the rest of your time together engaged in pleasant conversation, but neither one of you could deny the feeling that something pivotal was happening. And you weren’t sure whether it would have a happy ending.

When you realized you had to leave, you and Spencer didn’t say goodbye. You simply parted ways, knowing what was to come. Something more ominous than any storm. Than any hurricane. So, you didn’t say goodbye. Because this wasn’t goodbye.

And because some things were better left unspoken.

[next chapter]

A/N: Thank you all for sticking with this story that Im so excited to be telling! Consider reblogging or dropping a comment if you enjoyed :) It’s a writer’s fuel

taglist: @everyonesfavoritepipecleaner @moderatelydelusional @reidslibrarybook @reidselle @serenity-lattes @honeydjarin @shinebrightlikeafanbase @crynroom @samuel-de-champagne-problems @sugasthreedollarkookie @reidsbookclub @spencerssweatervests @liltimmyst

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[discopig]

That Other Girl (Thomas Shelby x Reader) [Part 3/3]

Part 1 | Part 2

Warnings: swearing

Word Count: 2,244

It had been a week since your argument with Tommy, and you hated admitting it, but you missed him. As much as Tommy was a busy man, and a lot of your time spent with him involved him doing some sort of work while you kept him company, you still spent every day together, and this was the longest you’d ever been without speaking to each other throughout your 6 year relationship, and it was hitting you hard. You found that time moved extremely slow, and seeing as you weren’t on good terms with Tommy, you didn’t really get the chance to hang around the Shelby household, so the loneliness was starting to become overbearing.

You decided to distract yourself by going back in to work at the Garrison, and as much as you would have liked to avoid Grace and Tommy for as long as possible, you still had bills to pay and didn’t like the idea of the customers you’d grown to know over the years, getting used to Grace and you not being there. She had already turned Tommy into an idiot, you weren’t going to let her stop your earnings as well.

You walked into the Garrison to find Harry behind the bar polishing the glasses, Grace nowhere to be seen. 

“Well look who it is” Harry smiled at you, “ready to get back to work eh?”

You couldn’t help the smile forming on your face as you’d missed Harry and work

“You bet I am, my ankle’s not all there yet but I’ll take it easy”

You joined him behind the bar and started sorting out the liquor bottles that were all over the place from the previous night. You had been working for about half an hour when the door to the Garrison opened and Grace walked in, her eyes going solemn as she spotted you.

“You’re back to work I see” she spoke, tying her apron and joining you behind the bar

You wanted to pull her hair out, but you figured it wasn’t her fault Tommy had taken an interest to her, especially as she’s knew to Birmingham and might not have known of your relationship, but you still didn’t like her as you couldn’t shake off your suspicions of her having something to do with that  copper

“Yes I am, slowly trying to get back into it, my ankle really screwed with the balance of things”, you could tell she wasn’t really paying attention to you.

“Thomas talked about you, you know?”, you went rigid at the sound of Tommy’s name, especially coming from her mouth, “He hasn’t been doing good without you, shows up every evening and drinks bottle after bottle. Had to lock him out once, he almost broke the door down” she rolled her eyes at the thought.

You felt worry creep up inside your veins, as angry as you were at Tommy, you still cared for him and couldn’t find it within you to throw away years of your feelings from him because of your argument, but when you looked up from the bottle you were holding, at Grace, the worry seemed to fade away as you realised he had just been spending time with her while you hadn’t heard from him

“He tell you what happened?” You asked, wanting to know just how much he might’ve shared

“No he didn’t tell me anything, just said you two had a fight, lots of rambling about how he was gonna lose you, how he fucked up. I felt sorry for him but then I figured I don’t know what he did, and maybe he deserves whatever’s going through his head”

You nodded slowly at her words

“He came by a lot when you were out with your ankle”

“What did you talk about?” You had assumed that if Tommy refused to tell you, maybe she would

“About life I guess, I’d tell him about my life back in Ireland and he’d tell me about all sorts, ranting about work, his brothers, nightmares” she replied, “he spoke a bit about you, your family” she stated the last part with an edge of disgust, you sat in silence, lost in her words, “I don’t think you’re good for him”, you snapped out of your daze.

“Excuse me?” You asked, astonished

“You and your little posh family, you’re not like him, your roots are different and I can tell he’s getting tired of it.” You almost had to hold your jaw shut  to stop it from dropping to the floor. What was it with people bringing up your family? You had been in Birmingham for years, and most people wouldn’t be able to tell you were any different from those born and raised in the city, if not for your slightly differing accent. 

You were frustrated she brought up your family as Tommy had yesterday, but then it clicked that she must’ve been the one to feed him all those ideas about you being some posh brat while Tommy was shit-faced drunk, and you were pissed. Not only at her, but at Tommy as well for being stupid enough to even acknowledge anything she said about you

“Listen here you freak”, you glared at her “I don’t know what you’re doing in this city, and why you think you have the right to speak on who I am and my relationship, but you best believe I will find out, and when I do, I’ll have no issue kicking you out myself. First out of my bar, and then out of my fuckin’ city, you hear me? I’d kick you out right now if I could” you spat.

Grace stood there silent, and you returned to sorting out the bottles, trying to control your anger and not knock Grace out with a bottle of very expensive whiskey

You had decided you’d had enough of being lonely, and dragged John out of the house to go to the new museum that had opened a few weeks back. John wasn’t thrilled, museums not being his thing, but he was happy to spend time with you, cracking his highly inappropriate jokes every 2 seconds.

“Tommy’s been doing horrible you know that angel?” 

You couldn’t help but scoff at his words

“Please no Tommy talk for today, I just want to enjoy the museum.” You tried to brush him off, but you couldn’t help but worry for Tommy.

You were strolling around the museum, John’s arm lazily thrown over your shoulder, looking at different paintings and sculptures, when you spotted a familiar head of blonde hair in front of you, standing next to a man. You quickly pushed John behind the wall next to you, and slightly peaked your head out to spy on her

“Psst, John, who’s that man standing next to Grace?” You had never seen him before, and your first thought was her father, but then you remembered what she told you about him

John peaked his head out above you, and squinted his eyes to get a better look at the man, who as if on queue turned his head back to look around the museum suspiciously, as though he was searching the area, forcing you and John to quickly fall back behind the wall to hide yourselves

“Holy shit” John whispered, taking his hat off and running his fingers through his hair, his expression a mix of being deep in thought, and being dumbfounded

“What? What is it John?” You asked, eyes jumping all over his face trying to make sense of the situation

“That’s the copper. Campbell.” 

You were sitting next to John at a family meeting, Tommy’s eyes boring into you as you avoided his gaze. It was the first time you’d seen him since your argument, as he’d seemingly been avoiding the Garrison, and consequentially, you. You were feeling a bit better about the whole situation now that your suspicions had been confirmed, but you weren’t quite ready to confront Tommy about it. 

The meeting went on for a little over an hour, Tommy groggily heading it. Just as everyone was about to leave, seeing as the meeting had come to an end, John spoke up

“Y/N was right” 

Everyone looked between you and John, confused

“Grace is working with Campbell.”

You saw Polly’s smug expression from the corner of your eye. Of course she knew

“What? How do you know?” Arthur asked, Tommy was still silent, a dazed look on his face

“We were at the museum”, you saw a spark of hurt in Tommy’s eyes at the mention of you and John going somewhere together while you had been away from each other, “and we saw her talking to the copper, they were all suspicious and everything Arthur, you had to have seen them, looking around the place like a pair of guilty kids hiding from their ma” John scoffed “I’m regretting giving her all those tips now...” You smacked his arm

Everyone awkwardly stared at Tommy, but his eyes were locked onto yours

It was the middle of the night when you suddenly heard banging on your front door, waking you up from your peaceful slumber. You groggily trudged towards the door, as you rubbed your eyes to try and keep yourself awake, however all the energy seemed to rush back into your body when you opened the door and saw Tommy standing outside, his tired blue eyes piercing into your y/e/c ones.

“Can I come in?” He croaked out

You didn’t know if it was the hour of the night, or the sight of him, tired, at the door, but you didn’t have it in you to send him away, so you stepped to the side to let him in, his eyes roaming over your apartment as though he was there for the first time, even though it was basically his second home.

“Would you like some tea?” You asked, worried he might be cold from standing outside

“Yes please”

You led him to your kitchen where he sat on one of your dining room chairs, you noticed he sat in the same one he always sits in, right opposite the stove, so he could watch you cook. You boiled the tea in silence, before pouring it into the mug he had brought over once and never taken back. It was a simple white mug that Finn had scribbled on with crayon when he was smaller, the crayon never seeming to wash off no matter how many times you scrubbed the mug. The both of you sat in silence, sipping your tea until Tommy spoke up

“I’m sorry Y/N” He looked at you with sorry eyes

“Thomas...” You began

“Please don’t call me that” He pleaded

“But it’s your name. What am I supposed to call you?”

“Tommy. I’m Tommy. You always call me Tommy, don’t change that.”

You stared down into your mug, not being able to meet his eye

“I fucked up Y/N, I was in a bad place and I know it’s no excuse but I was so tired and it just seemed so easy to walk in there and fill my system with as much alcohol as possible”

“You believed what she said about me being some stuck up cunt, you didn’t listen to me when I told you she wasn’t to be trusted” as angry as you were, you were mostly sad. Sad your relationship with Tommy had come to this point

“I know Y/N, and I know I fucked up and I know I made a huge mistake I’ll never forgive myself for, but I love you, I love you so much and I can’t live without you. Just this one week without you has broken me and you don’t know how much it hurt me to see you and not be able to hold you, not have you by my side. To know that I wronged you.”

You were staring into his eyes, trying your hardest not to cry

“You’re only saying this because John confirmed she was working for the copper...” you meekly replied, not believing your own words

“No. I was going to speak to you after the meeting because I’d finally gotten the chance to see you. That other girl hadn’t even crossed my mind once”, his voice was firm and you could tell he was determined to have you forgive him

“Tommy... I don’t-”

“Y/N please, give me another chance, I don’t want to lose you because of something so stupid, because I’m so stupid. Please Y/N I can’t live without you” You noticed a tear run down his cheek and struggled to control your own emotions. You loved him and it broke your heart to see him so upset.

You got up from your seat, panic glossing over Tommy’s eyes before you walked up to him and hugged him, his head resting on your stomach with your arms holding his head close to you

“It’s okay, I forgive you, just don’t cry, please. It doesn’t suit you” You smiled down at him, your hand holding the side of his face as you used your thumb to wipe away the tear on his cheek, Tommy leaning into your touch

“And you really are stupid”, you half cried, half laughed “promise me you’ll never do that again” you held out your pink to him

He smiled up at you and took your pinky with his own 

“I promise.”

AAAAAAH this is the end guys! I decided to give it a happy ending because fuck it why not! This is my first completed series and I really hope you guys enjoyed it. I went a bit crazy with the ending and I hope it’s not too cringe or disappointing, I just couldn’t stop myself. I was thinking about making a version where the reader ends up with John instead (because I love John), so let me know if you would be interested in that

Requested tags: @namelesslosers​

[jinmukangwrites]

Just a short whump piece I wrote to warm up for something else. Enjoy!

Prompt: a fae creature is trapped in an iron cage.

Warnings: description of injury, burns, near death situations

Basically, now that I know Hyrule can canonically turn into a fairy, he will know no peace from me.

-o-o-o-o-

Hyrule doesn't know how he's gotten here. Or, well, he does know how he's gotten here. He knows every detail by heart of how he's gotten here. He just… doesn't know how he's allowed himself to get here. 

He's exhausted. Every inch of his body aches down to his very bones. He's hungry too. Emotionally drained. But he can't do a thing about it. Not when he's as small as a butterfly and about as strong. 

Why did he think scouting ahead in his fairy form was a good idea? The day's been peaceful so far, and he shouldn't have tested fate. But… he's been itching to fly. And it's strange, because he knows he's lived most of his life up until fairly recently with his feet firmly on the ground and his head reaching the shoulder of a pony. 

Yet ever since he's first flown with wings attached to his back… sometimes when he's his normal self his shoulder blades ache and the world feels claustrophobic. 

So yeah, he offered to scout ahead as a fairy. He didn't exactly tell the others that he'd be going in that form… he'd never hear the end of it from Legend… but they probably could tell he was yearning for some space. Hyrule figured that Twilight always went off on his own. Why couldn't he?

And now he's here; fluttering weakly in a metal cage. 

He didn't expect to run into a camp of moblins. He tried the best he could to fly away, but one of the damned creatures thought too quickly and snatched an old lantern. It poured the oil, opened the door, and scooped him out of the air. Hyrule only realized the lantern was made of iron when he scrambled for the latch and his hands began to burn. 

There's a reason fairies are put in jars. Not that Hyrule would like to be put in one of those either. 

His skin burns. The moblin seemed to realize his weakness to the metal and shook him around a bit before hanging the lantern up in their rancid cave, snorting joyfully. They left soon after to celebrate by the bonfire outside, but the damage was done. He's pretty sure there's not a single bit of exposed skin that isn't irritated or blistering. His cheekbones feel tight and his palms are red... His arms and legs look like he's gotten into a fight with stinging nettle. 

The worst part is that even with his shoes he cannot rest. The burn of iron still seeps through as if he's as good as naked. The only way he can fully avoid hurting himself is flying in the center of his cage. However, he's small and he's already been flying for hours. His wings are tired, and the tips of each frail and transparent limb are singed a painful brown from them brushing against the cage unintentionally. There's not a lot of room. 

He's sure he won't last much longer. His body feels so bruised and battered and his eyesight is starting to blur. The strain of the muscles used to move his wings burn just like the iron. Soon enough, he will blink and not open his eyes, exhausted to the point he passes out and lands on the metal floor below him to sizzle. 

How, oh how did he land himself in this one?

He tries to distract himself from the pain. He looks out of the bars of the lantern, fluttering as closely to the small gaps as he dares, and memorizes the room below him. But he quickly grows bored with that, so he hums tunes to himself. But even that gets tiring when his throat starts to demand water. 

How much longer will he last? If he falls onto the iron, will it kill him? Or will it just be an endless torture that he can never escape from until he's starved to death? 

His eyes droop. His wings stutter. Fear clutches his heart in sharp claws, but there's nothing he can do. He's been trying for so long that his body is deciding to stop for him. He can only hope that once he hits the bottom of the cage, the agony will be enough to give him just enough adrenaline to restart his efforts and keep going for a little while longer. 

His wing jolts. His foot touches the bottom and he screams. It's all he can do to lift himself back into the air. 

Distantly, he's aware of the moblin's screeching getting louder and agitated. There's... there's fighting out there. The clanging of swords. Human shouting. Voices that are familiar to him. 

Hope and terror and fear and joy and a whole mixture of all kinds of emotions swirl in his stomach. His friends. They have come for him. 

His wings shutter and fall limply to his back, and as he falls he wonders if they've come too late. 

Immediately, his entire world is engulfed by fire. He can't find it in him to move. He's not sure his muscles work anymore. All he can do is gasp and writhe on the floor of the lantern as his skin sizzles. He tries to listen for his friends through his tortured sobs, he tries to watch the entrance of the cave through his tears, but his attention is weak and the pain is strong. He's almost tempted to give into it and let it consume him. Maybe he'll pass out and the pain will stop. 

A shadow. A shadow appears in the mouth of the cave. Drawing up the last of his strength, Hyrule crawls to the edge of the lantern and looks through the gaps to get a clearer view. 

In walks a familiar head of pink hair below a blue hat. Hyrule has never been more happy to see Legend. 

"V-vet-" he whimpers. Legend twitches and looks around the cave with wide eyes. 

"Traveler?"

Determination fills his bloodstream, right next to the agony. "Up," he sobs. "Up."

His arms give out and he lands fully on the ground, his head making a dull thunk as it hits the metal. He cannot see if Legend heard him, nor if he knows what Hyrule meant. All he can do is curl up and sob pathetically as the pain doesn't lessen. 

He doesn't know how long he stays like that, but somehow he's aware of the world shaking carefully next to the creaking of metallic hinges. His eyes, however, fly open when a soft hand touches his body. 

Tender fingers lift him from the bottom of the lantern, and the next thing he knows he's laying in the middle of Legend's cupped palms, the lantern discarded on the ground and the rings he usually wears nowhere to be seen. 

He still hurts. He's still hungry. He's still exhausted beyond belief. 

Yet, the second Legend brings his hands and Hyrule closer to his chest, making it so he can hear his worried heart, he finally loses consciousness.

"I got you, Rule," Legend whispers. "We found you."

He's safe now. He can sleep. His friends came, and everything will be okay.

[chronicallylatetotheparty]

Float Like A Butterfly... Ch.6 ...Sting Like A Bee

Summary: An unexpected ally appears before Marinette. The only problem is, he's stumbled onto something he shouldn't have. And she needs it back.

---------------------------------

Marinette was having a terrible day.

First she shows up late with the principal accessory of the Gabriel line's Fashion Week showing. Fashion Week! Marinette was looking forward to it all month! 

Next Audrey Bourgeois, Style Queen herself, treats the hat Marinette worked so hard on like gum on the bottom of her shoe. Sure Adrien had been super encouraging but he hadn't seen the look of utter contempt on Audrey Bourgeois face. No one could look that disgusted all the time!

Speaking of Adrien, he didn't make getting over him any easier by being so kind.

And if that wasn't enough Marinette's brain insisted on using Chat Noir's Miraculous to fight the akumatized villain. Again! She didn't want to think about Chat Noir right now because... Because... Marinette blinked rapidly. Deep breath... Because thinking about Chat Noir was painful.

But that wasn't even the worst part.

"Don't worry, Tikki. We'll get the box right after the show," Marinette stage whispered so as to not alert her parents. Who walked not even a meter away.

Tikki let out a concerned whine. Oh, this was a bad idea. She could feel it. Marinette was right that they couldn't get away from her parents beforehand. But that only made Tikki even more anxious to get searching. And Marinette really didn't need something else to worry about on top of... everything else.

She hoped no one found it.

----------------

Chloe's day was ridiculous. Utterly, ridiculous!

She sat next to her mother as Adrien walked down the runway. Lingering dread squashed and thrown into the very back of her mental walk-in closet where she kept unimportant things. Like shoes she never wore anymore, problematic outfits and lingering guilt that totally wasn't her's. Adrien wasn't slowly disintegrating anymore so why dwell on the past?

Adrien's performance was flawless and Chloe was absolutely certain she appreciated his efforts more than anyone else... Even if Alya Cesaire was livestreaming.

The show went off without a hitch. Adrien seemed fine but then he was almost as good at pretending as she was. Chloe eyed him as Gabriel's lackey, um, assistant pulled him along. Not physically, of course. It was more of a metaphorical pulling.

Ugh, Gabriel Agreste started talking with Chloe's mother through his assistant's tablet. Like, yeah, apologizing to the Queen of Style was a no brainer. But he could have at least come in person! Not like Gabriel was doing anything important besides being the world's richest hermit.

... And Dupain-Cheng was there too. Of course she was. At least her mother would put Dupain-Cheng in her place. Chloe felt herself smirk at the thought.

Adrien raised an eyebrow. As though reading her mind.

Chloe pretended not to notice. No petty satisfactions here! No, sir! But it wasn't like the Queen of Style was going to say anything about Dupain-Cheng's hat except-

"It's the most exceptional thing I've ever seen!" Audrey Bourgeois announced.

Exact- Wait, what!?

"You're a visionary, Marinette! Glitter's had its day..."

Chloe's ears rang, drowning out her mother's voice. Exceptional? Her? Over a- a- a hat!? A vice squeezed Chloe's chest with cruel precision. When her own present was rejected without even unwrapping it!? Chloe's fists shook as she bit her tongue.

"Isn't that nice for your friend, Chloe dearest?" Andre Bourgeois asked.

"It's ridiculous! Utterly ridiculous!" Chloe whirled on her mother. "I've never been to New York with you and you're taking Marinette Dupain-Cheng!?" She spat.

"I'm afraid I have a last minute meeting to attend, my dear Audrey," Gabriel announced from the tablet. "Nathalie, bring Adrien home immediately."

Adrien's attention snapped from Chloe to Gabriel. "But, Father, I-"

"Do not embarrass me in front of the Bourgeois," Gabriel snapped, ending the call.

Jaw clenching shut, Adrien stared at nothing with stormy eyes as Nathalie led him away.

"I'm taking her because she's exceptional, Claudette. Uh- Chloe," Audrey stated matter-of-factly, the Agrestes already forgotten.

"I'm exceptional too!" Chloe shot back.

Audrey inspected her white gloves, bored of this exchange. "The only exceptional thing about you, my dear-" Audrey deigned to glance at her daughter. "-is your mother."

Chloe's blood boiled as she shook off Andre's hands on her shoulders, standing straighter. "I'll show you how exceptional I can be!" she promised.

Just as an akuma entered Chloe's present.

---------------

Alya was having an amazing day!

Her livestreams hadn't gotten this many new views since she almost got sacrificed by Pharaoh. The Ladyblog's activity was up. And Ladybug chose her as the Black Cat!

Sure it was weird that Ladybug didn't want to talk about it. But still! Black Cat! Alya tried to contain her grin as she thought about being Ladybug's partner for a day...

Her pace on the sidewalk slowed, enthusiasm dampening a little... Setting her face in determination Alya skipped into gear. All the more reason to piece together what happened! And she'd start with-

A burst of yellow light shot forth from the Grand Palais. Jolting Alya out of her thoughts as the newest akuma victim gave their villain speech from the roof.

"I am Queen Glitter! And from now on the only exceptional person in Paris will be me!"

Alya ran... straight for the villain who was obviously Chloe as she summoned a cloud of glitter and shapped it into a collection of accessories. The constructs restricting the movement of whoever they landed on. Scarves wrapping people's legs together or tying them to lampposts. Hats covering people's eyes as they tried to yank them off. There was even someone with his hands stuck in high heels. Queen Glitter made a giant floating scarf to stand on and took off in a random direction; leaving a trail of gaudy accessories in her wake.

Great. It was going to take forever to catch up to her now! Taking cover in an alleyway so Queen Glitter's sparkly formal wear wouldn't notice her, Alya scanned the street. Mentally kicking herself for not having recorded the villain speech for the Ladyblog.

"Looks like you're raring to go," Ladybug observed as she landed next to Alya. A familiar box in her hand.

"Ladybug! Didn't think I'd be helping out again so soon!" Alya held out her palm and Ladybug placed the Black Cat Miraculous in her hands again.

"Y'know the drill, right?" Ladybug's eyes wandered to the people in various states of running-for-their-lives.

"Give it back when we're done and don't take it personally," Alya paraphrased as Plagg emerged in a ball of light when she placed the ring on her finger.

"Ladyblog girl again?” Plagg gave her a once over. Ears flat against his head but swishing tail betraying his apprehension. "Well, at least Alya's not blue boy."

“He wasn’t that-“ Ladybug shook her head. “Y’know what, never mind.”

Glancing between them Alya filed that tidbit away for later. "C'mon, Plagg. We did great together!"

"You were okay," Plagg acknowledged. "Could've used more cat puns."

Alya chuckled. Of course he'd like those. With a -slightly forced- encouraging smile from Ladybug, Alya called out: “Plagg, transforme-moi!”

Green lightning traveled from Chat Noir’s ring across both arms and down her torso. A green sash wrapping around her waist and trailing into a tail. Running her clawed gloves through her hair as cat ears materialized. Said hair puffing up into an afro. Armor padding her shoulders and torso. Alya flexed her fingers to get used to the feeling. Chat Ombre's suit still felt strange on her skin compared to Rena Rouge.

Ladybug leapt onto the rooftops and Chat Ombre followed her lead. Racing towards the villain while avoiding her glitter. "So what's the plan?"

"Queen Glitter is basically a reskin of Style Queen," Ladybug thought aloud.

"But without that annoying habit of turning into a cloud!" Chat Ombre supplied.

Ladybug launched her yo-yo at a pedestrian and yanked him away from Queen Glitter's constructs as they passed by. "But she can spread her power over a wider area."

"Don't worry, Ladybug. We'll be- Look out!" Alya tackled Ladybug out of the way as a trio of glittery top hats zoomed past.

"Your reign is over Ladybug and wannabe Chat Noir!" Queen Glitter announced as she floated over them. Her appearance was similar to Style Queen except her crown was even bigger and gaudier. A foux glitter scarf around her shoulders. "I don't even care if you don't give me your Miraculous! I'll simply immobilize you and take them by force!"

They evaded a flurry of coats by jumping down to the street. "Really?" Chat Ombre called out. "That all you can throw at us? A tacky outfit?"

"Wouldn't be the first time!" Ladybug agreed.

"No one ever appreciates my gifts!" Queen Glitter stomped her foot. "Fine then. Why don't we try something more expensive!" Raising her hands she lifted two cars wrapped with giant bows into the air.

Alya's eyes widened. "Oh, shi-" Chat Ombre evaded Chloe's attacks as the villain played wack-a-chat. Glitter accessories flying in and attempting to restrict their movements as well.

Ladybug wrapped one of the vehicles with her yo-yo and spun it back at Queen Glitter.

The bright red sports car hurled towards her and- She stopped it with the palm of her hand. "You'll have to do better than that if- Where'd you go!?" Queen Glitter scanned the empty street, rising higher for a better vantage point.

Chat Ombre locked eyes with her for a second before a chimney obscured her line of sight. "Somehow I don't think that bought us much time." Alya voiced as a wave of clothing rose over the city.

Ladybug spotted a strip of blue between the rooftops. Thinking quickly, Marinette grabbed Alya's hand and turned them towards the Seine. Diving into its waters with a torrent of glitter in their wake.

Queen Glitter's constructs crashed into the river and washed away with the current.

Chat Ombre made for the surface once it was clear but Ladybug pulled her back. Chat's staff in her hand and yo-yo on her face. Pointing towards the magic tool Ladybug offered it to Alya.

Nodding, Alya quickly pressed it to her lips and took a deep breath, sweet oxygen filling her lungs. Giving Ladybug a thumbs up once she didn't feel like her chest was on fire.

Grabbing her hand Ladybug led Alya further upstream until they found a boat.

Gasping the (relatively) fresh air Alya examined Chat's staff. "I didn't know it could do that."

"Yeah, the Miraculous are full of surprises. And we'll need one of our own to beat Queen Glitter. Lucky Charm!"

A spotted snorkel fell into Ladybug's hands.

"Don't we already have one of those?" Chat Ombre asked.

Ladybug's brow furrowed as she stared at it. "Yeah... Wait, Queen Glitter's powers don't work underwater!"

"So, all we need to do is get her there!" 

Ladybug glanced at a pair of recycling bins. "And I know just how to sneak up on her."

Chat Ombre grinned. She liked this plan.

---------------

Chat Ombre hated this plan!

It had all gone smoothly. The glitter constructs ignoring the recycling bins they used as disguises. Snake style. Chloe was dumbfounded when she saw them. Enough to let them take the elevator up to the Grand Paris' rooftop where Queen Glitter set up her makeshift throne. Giving them the opportunity to tackle her towards the Seine.

Unfortunately, Queen Glitter could make constructs of any size. Like, for example, a wide brimmed hat big enough to stretch from either bank of the Seine.

"You were going to make me wear this?" Queen Glitter held up the Lucky Charm- "No thanks!" -and struck it across her knee.

Alya winced as the villain broke Ladybug's insta-win button in half. "Please, tell me you have a plan?" Chat Ombre glanced at the spotted hero currently wrapped up in an extra long scarf just like she was. The floating constructs squeezing just a little bit more as Ladybug struggled against them. Alya tried bending her wrist to Cataclysm her restraints but her right hand was held away from the rest of her body.

"No planning! Not that it'll do you any good. I've already won! Me! Queen Glitter! MWAHAHAHAH- Do you mind? I'm trying to savour the moment!" Chloe snapped as Papillon's emblem glowed over her face.

Alya's head turned from an increasingly frantic Ladybug to the annoyed villain.

"Of course I'm going to take their Miraculous! Why wouldn't I take their Miraculous?"

"An excellent question, your Highness!"

Three pairs of eyes snapped towards the source of the unexpected voice.

"... Who the heck are you supposed to be?" Queen Glitter demanded.

"Aristos! At your service!" He bowed with a flourish, giving Alya a good look at the bee shaped comb at the base of his ponytail. Blond hair highlighted with black stripes. Goggles obscuring his face, making his green eyes hard to read despite the grin on his lips. Suit mostly yellow with black, V-shaped stripes on his torso, forearms and lower legs. Three hexagons on his chest giving the impression of honeycombs.

"No no no no no no." Ladybug stared at Aristos, not realizing that she was speaking aloud.

...Well, that can't be good, Alya thought.

"Ha! Did you really think more insects would help, Ladybug?" The villain mocked. Her constructs closing in on the interloper.

Aristos' smile took on a darker edge. "I'm not with her, your Majesty. I'm here to pledge myself to the most exceptional Queen I've ever seen! Really, where does Papillon get off talking to such a glittery figure as your Highness like that?"

Alya blinked. Really? Even Chloe wouldn't fall for-

Raising her hand the villain halted her constructs' advance. "Hmm, well at least you know how to treat royalty." Queen Glitter offered her bejeweled fingers. "I guess you can be my underling."

Ah. Right. Never underestimate the power of Chloe's ego.

The Bee, Alya was ninety-nine percent sure he was the Bee, took Chloe's offered hand and leaned down. Lips hovering over the back of her hand. "Oh! That reminds me your Highness, I have a gift for you."

Queen Glitter's eyes shone. "A present? For me? It better be the latest- Ow! I'm getting to that!" She snapped at Papillon, looking away from the Bee to glare at the absent supervillain.

Aristos removed the striped top Alya recognized as his Miraculous tool from around his waist.

"You didn't beat them! I did!"

Casually, carefully, Aristos placed his top on Queen Glitter's hand. Point against her glittering skin.

"You couldn't do it yourself so you sent me!"

"Venom," the Bee breathed.

"What was-"

Queen Glitter froze as Aristos' top glowed; his power paralyzing her. The constructs bursting into clouds of glitter. Chat Ombre landed in a crouch as her restraints vanished.

"It worked." Aristos sounded as surprised as Alya felt. "It worked! Yes! Nailed it!" He pumped his fist as relief overflowed and- Was he crying?. "Independent hero debut successful!"

"What?" Ladybug was staring at the Bee apprehensively and that didn't help Alya's nerves.

Aristos' mood instantly became more subdued. Blinking rapidly to get the water out of his eyes. "Oh, right. You're still here."

Chat Ombre tried not to take that personally. He did just save them, after all.

Ladybug stepped forward. Voice even, diplomatic. Never mind that she seemed this close to freaking out. "Listen, Aristos was it? I don't know how you found that Miraculous but you have to give it back."

His face was disturbingly neutral. "...Don't I get a 'thank you' for saving the day?"

The tension in Ladybug's shoulders wouldn't budge. "Thank you, but I really need that Miraculous back." She held out her hand.

Aristos stared at Ladybug's hand like it was something alien. Cracks appearing in his facade. "Yeah, pass."  Walking backwards, away from Ladybug and Chat Ombre, he kept them in his field of vision.

"Wh- The- Y-you can't just decide that!" Ladybug sputtered, stepping forward.

"Just did! How do I even know this Miraculous is even yours?" Aristos asked, increasing the distance between them.

Alya got the distinct impression that he was bullshitting them.

"I'm the one who lost it!"

Alya's eyes widened. "You lost a Miraculous?"

"Not helping, Chat!"

Aristos' features twitched, eyes narrowing. "Sure you say it's yours but how do I know that?"

Chat Ombre bristled at the implication. "Ladybug is the Hero of Paris!"

Aristos gave her a once-over, his expression inscrutable, but said nothing.

Wow. Rude.

"That Miraculous belongs to the G- to me."

"That's interesting because I say it belongs to me." Aristos laid a hand on his chest. "Looks like it's your word against mine. Guess which one I'm choosing?"

Ladybug's yo-yo was suddenly spinning in her hand. "I swear, I'm not gonna lose another-"

An insistent beeping from Ladybug's earrings interrupted her.

"Welp! Love to stay and dance but it looks like you two need to buzz off before your precious identities are exposed to little old me."

Why did he sound bitter? Everything about him made Alya's head spin with questions. Not least of which being how the heck someone holding the Bee Miraculous showed up in the first place.

Taking his top, Aristos hopped onto the edge of the Grand Paris' roof. "Might want to deal with her before that happens."

Alya looked to where he was pointing to see Queen Glitter still paralyzed. When she glanced back at the Bee he was gone.

---------------

Adrien's day sucked.

Paris Fashion Week was always a chore but this year was even worse. Despite having friends around he felt lonelier than ever. Getting to talk to Marinette only helped so much. Adrien was still expected to plaster on a smile and represent 'the brand'.

And that was before he got turned into a freaking statue!

At least it's better than mind control.

Shut up!

He did not want to see Ladybug or her new partner up close and personal! Thank you, very much! But like always what Adrien wanted didn't matter.

Imagine his surprise when a Miraculous practically falls into his lap. A familiar glow blooming in his chest against all reason as Adrien opens the box.

"Hello, my King," the unknown, bee-like kwami greets formally.

There's a turning in his stomach that Adrien tries his best to calm it. "H-hi! I'm Adrien. What's your name?"

"I am Pollen," she bowed. "Kwami of Subjection. An honor to meet you. It has been a long time since I've had a king."

"Just Adrien is fine." Taking the Miraculous, a comb of all things, out of it's box Adrien stares at it. It's disguise all black and only vaguely shaped like a bee compared to the details he glimpsed before Pollen came out.

"Of course, my King."

Adrien sighed. Pollen was nothing like Plagg. Then again, Adrien wasn't sure the world could survive two of him. The lazy little jerk was enough to drive any Guardian mad all by himself... God, he missed Plagg.

"Um, anyway, how does your power work?"

Pollen clapped her small appendages together. "It's very straightforward, my King. You simply call out 'Venom' and your top will activate. Then strike your opponent with the point and they'll be paralyzed for however long you desire." She whooshed toward him for emphasis.

"Paralyze..." That was certainly more straightforward than using Cataclysm.

'Cause you sucked at that, didn't you?

Shut up. This was... What was he doing? When Adrien held the Bee in his hands he felt... Alive. Like a promise that things could be better this time around.

Adrien jumped as insistent knocking on his changing room door startled him out of his thoughts.

"M. Agreste? Mme. Sancoeur says we're back on in five."

"Be right out!" Brushing the Miraculous with his thumb to make sure it was really there Adrien placed it in his pocket. Hesitating for a moment he offered his jacket to Pollen.

Nodding, she zoomed into Plagg's old hiding place.

Taking a deep breath, Adrien opened the door. "Let's get this over with."

---------------

Adrien ran off as soon as Papillon's mark appeared on Chloe's face. Catching Marinette doing the same from the corner of his eye. Glass raining down as Queen Glitter broke through the Grand Palais' roof.

Pollen zipping out as he tied his hair into a makeshift ponytail. Holding it in place with the Bee Miraculous.

"Quickly, my King! Say 'Pollen, transforme-moi'!"

Adrien stared at her. He could hear screaming as people ran.

"My King!"

His oldest friend just got akumatized for the second time.

"My King!"

All he had to do was speak!

"Adrien!"

His knees shook as his back hit the wall behind him for support. "But... I wasn't chosen."

Pollen floated higher as her eyes widened in surprise. "Weren't you given my Miraculous?"

Adrien shook his head. "I f-found it... After giving up the Black Cat."

This time Pollen dipped as she nearly fell out of the air. "Chat Noir."

Adrien shook his head even more emphatically. Hands going up to cover his face. "N-no! Not him! Can't be him!" he choked.

Pollen laid her hand on his and Adrien tensed at the touch. "My King."

Something in her voice made Adrien look at her.

"You wish to help, do you not?"

"... Yes."

Pollen's eyes softened. "Then help."

Adrien stared at her. So sure that she'd want nothing to do with him once she knew what a failure he was... But that wasn't the case.

Rising shakily to his feet Adrien gave Pollen a grateful smile. "Pollen, transforme-moi'."

----------------

Aristos panted as he glanced up from the alleyway. Spotting no pursuers. "Pollen, detransforme-moi."

Landing on Adrien's outstretched palms, Pollen beamed tiredly at him. "Excellent work, my King."

Adrien smiled back. "Oh! What do you eat? Plagg loves Camembert but..."

"That would be fine. However, I prefer something sweeter."

"Yeah..." A weight settled on his chest. "Let's see what we can find..."

Pollen frowned. "Is something wrong, my King?"

Adrien avoided her gaze. What was he supposed to say? That disobeying Ladybug felt wrong? That he almost let his guilt and resentment make him say cruel things to his replacement? That his heart wouldn't stop pounding? "It's just... Do you want to go back?"

Pollen blinked.

"You're supposed to listen to the Guardian, right?" Adrien bit his lip as his heart tried jumping up his throat. "It's not fair of me to keep you if you want to go back."

Pollen sat up on his palms. "I have been in the Miracle Box for a long time, my King. I can think of worse things than spending what time I have outside it with you."

Adrien's eyes burned as he wiped away tears. "Thanks, Pollen."

Ladybugs swirled in the sky as they repaired the city.

"Of course, my King," Pollen smiled.

"Call me Adrien."

"Yes, my King."

Adrien sighed. A smile coming to his lips. Looks like Aristos was sticking around for a while.

-----------------------------

Retroactively giving Black Cat Alya an afro.

[rudysrings]

Twin Pogues of the OBX - 1

A/N + Summary: SO I’m currently obsessed with the Outer Banks right now, and I had no idea that there was so much hype about it until I hit tumblr after watching the show. It kind of got me back into writing for a bit so I thought I would go ahead and publish something that’s been sitting in my drafts. It’s essentially a fanfic that goes through the entire show from the perspective of the reader, who is John B’s twin sister. Let me know if it piques anyone’s interest, because I don’t want to keep pushing out something that people hate lol. 

Warnings: Mentions of sex, cursing, slowburn

Word count: 3056

Masterlist

ON WITH IT!

You didn’t want to admit it, but you were tired of listening to the waves. It made you sick to your stomach. It didn’t help that the Chateau was so close to the water that it was all you could hear at night. The waves crashing on the shore. The waves colliding with each other. The waves fighting to topple boats that made the mistake of trying to take on a storm too big for them. 

You listened for your father in every wave. You hoped you’d at least hear the ghost of your father.

Unlike John B, you had no hope that your father was alive. At first, you didn’t bother voicing that thought, but as time went on, and John B continued to have delusions, you started getting more and more vocal about your opinion. Your dad was dead. Period. 

And it was time that John B accepted that, too. 

The two of you may have been twins, but you were as different as two people could get. John B was, for the most part, quiet, reserved and mild. You, on the other hand, had a fuse shorter than the short end of the stick you had pulled. You were hot headed and often misjudged situations too quickly. John B was the calm before your storm. You preferred to call yourself passionate. You smoked, John B did not. You slept around with far too many tourons. John B did not. John B was a dense motherfucker. You could read the room the moment you walked in. The only thing that really bonded the two of you was your love for surfing, your love for the pogues and your love for your dad.

Now that one of those things had died, or simply “vanished,” as John B would say, all that was keeping your two member family together were the pogues and surfing.

The last few months had been hell, and all you wanted this summer, was to have a good time, all the time.

Speaking of which, you and the pogues had decided to break in the summer with a little rule-breaking. Kiara wanted to check out one of Gary’s new beach-house developments, which was being built right over a turtle habitat. You all shrugged at the suggestion and agreed. 

You threw a can of beer up, JJ catching it instantly, wrinkling his nose when he looked at the label. “This is the shit stuff, Y/N,” he complained. 

You rolled your eyes. “Next time I’ll boot-leg champagne for ya, sweetheart,” you drawled.

JJ winked. “That’s more like it.”

Rolling your eyes, you tossed two beers to Pope, which he promptly dropped and bent down to grab, dusting himself off, embarrassed.

You rolled your eyes, watching as he threw one to John B, who was far too drunk to hold onto it, dropping it on the deck of the house, causing it to burst. 

Before you could comment on Kie’s overly concerned “Please don’t kill yourself,” to John B, you heard voices yelling “Hey! What are you kids doing up there?!”

“Shit,” You said, looking for your hat.

“I second that shit,” said Pope nervously.

John B swiftly made his way down, grabbing Kie’s hand and leading them out, Pope on their heels. 

“Guys, have you seen my-”

Suddenly, you felt something slip over your head, and you smiled up at JJ, who patted the top of your head and pushed you down the stairs and out of the house, all five of you laughing as Gary and his men chased after you.

As John B jumped the fence, he held his hand out to help Kie over, doing the same for you once she made it. You rolled your eyes, slapping his hand away and smoothly making it over yourself.

Pope, as expected, fell over onto the ground as he jumped, JJ shoving him further jokingly. You glared at the boy, and he held his hands up as you helped Pope up, pulling him by the hand into a sprint.

JJ held his hand out of John B’s beat up old van, pulling your laughing body in. Pope closed the door as John B gunned it, but you opened it again, teasing Gary, who was struggling to catch up with you guys. 

You tossed him a beer, which he tried to catch, but failed as he stopped running, his hands on his knees.

JJ laughed as he too leaned out of the van, “They don’t pay you enough, bro!” He yelled to Gary.

Your hair blew in the wind, strands of it tickling JJ’s cheeks. 

He spat overdramatically, coughing, “Hey, uh, Y/N? You mind not choking me with your hair?”

You simply gave him a playful punch in the gut, taking a seat in between Kie’s knees, who was sitting on the bench behind John B.

Kie took your long, wild hair in her hands, taming it into a french braid. JJ watched with a goofy smile on his face, his conversation with Pope getting too boring.

John B drove down to the docks, where you guys took out the HMS Pogue for the rest of the day. You tried to slap the book out of Kie’s hands, holding a freshly rolled blunt out for her to share with you, but she glared at you, turning back to her reading. You noticed Pope doing the same thing.

JJ grabbed the blunt from your hands, lighting it. 

You leaned an elbow on his shoulder, tutting. “Didn’t realize we ran with a bunch of nerds…”

Before Kie and Pope could retort, John B turned around, releasing a pile of freshly caught fish onto the deck of the boat and you cheered. “Nice, John B. We eatin’ good, today.”

“Yeah we are. You’re cooking.”

“I’m what?” 

John B smiled smugly, “I did the catching, you do the cooking.”

You rolled your eyes, crossing your arms over your chest, “Fine then I’ll also do more of the eating.”

“I never agreed to that,” John B argued.

You turned to him, “And that’s because you’re a greedy, cocksucking parasite and-”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. We’re here to have fun, you guys,” said Kie, her hands out to the two of you.

“Man, I’d really like to go one day without you guys at each other’s goddamn throats,” Pope groaned.

“Forget the fish, there’s a party tonight. First summer party. We gotta be there,” said JJ.

“Hell yeah, I’ll take a touron dick appointment over fish and chips any day,” you put your hands on your hips, looking at the rest of the pogues.

John B rolled his eyes at your blunt words, while Pope and Kie shrugged, agreeing.

Everyone looked to John B and he sighed before saying, “Yeah, I’m down.”

You all cheered, running over and piling on top of him, laughing.

The party was one of the best you had been to yet. While Kiara got on her soapbox about plastic and the boys were looking for girls to flirt with, you were on the hunt for someone who could make your night count.

As you waited in line at the keg to fill up your cup, the guy behind you spoke up. “You look too good to be hanging around the cut.” He flirted.

Your blood boiled as you turned around to get in this guy’s face. You stopped short once you saw what a nice face it was. You weren’t shallow, just… horny. “Am I now?” You smiled slightly.

He nodded, “Oh yes, too good for North Carolina even. The likes of you belong in Hollywood, babe.”

He had neatly trimmed blonde hair and striking blue eyes. Guess you had a type, after all, you thought fleetingly. 

“Wow, can I get a name, kind stranger?” You flashed your teeth.

“It’s Asher ma’am, and you are?”

You shrugged, handing your cup to the guy near the keg, who handed it back within a second, full. You put your hand on Asher’s cheek, tapping it as one would a small child, “Oh, sweetheart, you gotta earn that.”

Asher’s eyebrows rose, walking with you down the beach. “How might I go about that?” He asked, suggestively.

You smirked. “It’s not how, honey, it’s where.”

And that was all you needed to let this guy rock your world that night.

You woke up alone the next morning in the hammock outside the Chateau, having crashed there after the party. Groaning, you rolled over until you fell on the ground, struggling to pick yourself up. John B appeared out of nowhere, helping you up.

He handed you some water, which you downed immediately, his hand on your back.

“You alright, kid?” He asked. You nodded, “Yeah, I just need a shower like yesterday,” You moaned. 

John B nodded, slapping your shoulder. “Next time don’t drink so much, eh?”

You rolled your eyes, flipping him off as you walked inside. You were heading to the bathroom when you passed John B’s bedroom. You noticed JJ, half-naked and leaning over some blonde on your brother’s bed, his forehead practically touching hers. He noticed you instantly. Some emotion flashed across his face before he glared. “Dude, come on. Get outta here,” he said and you smirked.

“Get some, JJ,” you encouraged, barely dodging the pillow he hurled at you as you shut the door.

As you walked into the bathroom, you couldn’t understand why your stomach lurched when you thought about what JJ was probably doing with that blonde in John B’s bed. You shrugged, it was probably just the alcohol.

That afternoon, you and John B had an appointment with social services, who basically confirmed that you two would be put in foster care after they confirmed that your uncle wasn’t home to look after you two tomorrow.

As John B expected, you didn’t take it well. To your credit, you kept it together in the social worker’s office, but you practically had a meltdown the moment you stepped foot outside.

“How can they just fucking take us away! What did we even do wrong? It’s not our fucking fault Uncle T decided to split! Can’t they see that we’re better off on our goddamn own, John B?!” 

John B shrugged. “Not much we can do, Y/N. It’s the law.” 

At that, your breaths came even faster, “But it’s not fair, John B! What if-What if they split us up?” You were almost hyperventilating now, pulling your own hair.

John B furrowed his eyebrows, pulling you into a hug. “They’re not going to do that. I’m not going to let that happen, Y/N, you hear me?”

You pushed him away from you, “We’ll see, John B.”

The two of you caught a break. Hurricane Agatha came in the same day DCS was supposed to do your assessment. Your mind immediately went to the sick waves that would be forming. You tugged on John B’s shirt, pulling him away from the TV, “Call DCS and call them to reschedule. And then grab your surfboard.” Your grin stretched across your whole face, your eyes probably wild.

John B looked confused, then concerned. “You can’t be serious. There’s a hurricane?”

“Dead serious.” You crossed your arms. “Like you can resist these waves.”

John B shrugged. “Yeah, I’m in.”

The two of you ran out to the ocean, the dark clouds and harsh winds not fazing you, Pope having bailed on you guys, claiming that these weren’t surfable waves. 

As you surfed the waves, constantly getting wiped out due to their sheer size and speed, you couldn’t help the thought: Did a wave like this kill Dad?

John B tried to surf a few waves, but he lacked not only your skill, but also your tenacity. He gave up and simply watched you from his seat on his board. 

When you noticed a clearly fancy boat being tossed around in the waves, you pointed it out to John B, who squinted, trying to make it out. He agreed that it was strange. Who would go out in a storm like this?

The next morning, after surveying the damage that Agatha had caused, John B suggested that you guys go fishing, given the likeliness that there would be a whole lot of fish to catch in the marsh today.

Happy to put off cleaning up for a day and high on the fact that DCS wouldn’t be able to catch a ferry down here for at least a couple of days, you agreed. 

After practically kidnapping Pope from his dad and picking up Kiara, the five of you drove down to the marsh, Pope steering. 

Giggling, you pulled JJ by the hand up to the bow of the HMS Pogue and handed him one of the beers that Kiara had brought. He smirked and held it up along with you as he shouted for Pope to go faster. Pope groaned. “We’ve tried this like six thousand times.”

You shook your head. “I’ve got this. It’s gonna work.”

And it did. Kind of. You and JJ were downing your beers, Kiara complaining that it was getting in your hair. You looked over at JJ from your peripheral and smiled slightly at his silly face, mouth open like a fish as he attempted to get all of the beer that was being hurled out of the bottle.

Until the boat lurched to a sudden stop, catapulting you and JJ into the air. You felt your entire body flip as you fell into the water with a loud crash, water surrounding your ears. You broke the surface immediately, blinking against the sunlight. “Fuuuck,” you groaned.

You felt JJ reach you, wrapping an arm around your waist. “You good?” You nodded at him, resting your hands on his shoulders as you let out a breath you didn’t realize you were holding.

John B called out, “You good, Y/N? JJ?”

“I think my heels touched the back of my head,” JJ groaned.

You swam back to the boat, JJ right behind you. “Pope, what did you do?” You asked.

Pope looked as confused as the rest of you guys. “Sandbar. Channel changed.”

As you made it onto the boat, JJ pulled himself up, too, saying, “No shit.”

As your clothes were soaked, you slid your shorts and t-shirt off, leaving you in your teal halter bikini. 

You didn’t miss how JJ’s eyes dragged up your figure, his ears turning pink when he reached your eyes and realized you noticed. 

Biting your lip to keep from laughing, you turned to Pope, who had his eyes on something in the water.

“Guys...I think there’s a boat down there,” He said.

John B scoffed, “Shut up.”

Kie smiled, “No way.”

But Pope didn’t let up, “No, no, guys. I’m serious. There’s a boat down there.”

You all leaned over the side of the boat and sure enough, there was a large shadow, vague, but obviously in the shape of the hull of a boat.

“Holy shit. He’s right; let’s go!” You said, jumping into the water. 

As you swam towards the shadow, you heard Pope muse, “You think there’s a dead body down there?”

You couldn’t stop your subconscious from immediately thinking Dad.

You almost threw up at the thought of stumbling across your own father’s drowned corpse.

But you knew that if that was the case, you would handle it far better than John B. You swam faster, trying to get down there before him.

The five of you made your way to the boat, your eyebrows raising against the water as you saw what kind of boat it was. This was a rich guy’s boat for sure. You recognized it as the boat from yesterday. You all took a peek inside, but couldn’t make out a body. You sighed aloud, bubbles releasing in the water. 

As you guys resurfaced, you all laughed. 

“That’s a Grady-White,” JJ laughed in shock, “A new one of those is like 500 Gs, easy.”

You guys climbed back into the boat. John B gave you a look. “That’s the boat we saw when we surfed the surge. Maybe it hit the jetty or something.”

Kie looked confused. “You surfed the surge.”

You smirked. “Well… I surfed the surge. John B mostly just watched.” Your brother rolled his eyes but he didn’t correct you.

JJ was getting on the boat when he heard you say that and his entire face lit up. “Yeah, that’s my girl, pogue style,” he said, giving you a high-five. 

You grinned back, your stomach involuntarily tumbling at the words my girl.

“Fuck,” you whispered to yourself. Kie noticed, shooting you a look.

You blushed, looking away.

Pope asked, “Wait, wait, do we know who’s boat that is?”

John B opened the hatch on the deck of the boat, looking for the anchor inside. “No. but we’re about to find out.”

JJ shook his head, “Dude, it’s too deep.”

“Only for the weak and feeble, JJ,” John B said.

“Well, I’m not resuscitating you. I’m just making that clear up front.”

You worried that there could still be a body down there. Your father’s body. John B couldn’t see that. Plus, something about the thought of diving felt like a challenge. You took the anchor from John B’s hands. “I’ll go,” You said.

“What the fuck, no Y/N,” said John B.

JJ grabbed your upper arm, “Yeah, not a good idea,” he said.

You shook him off lightly. “I’m doing it,” you insisted.

JJ shrugged. “Well, I wouldn’t mind resuscitating you,” he joked.

You rolled your eyes, “You wouldn’t even know how.”

JJ smirked, “Yeah, but I have experience with-”

Pope interjected as you walked to the edge. “Diver down, fool,” he shook his head in slight disappointment. But then again, when was Pope not disappointed in you?”

JJ came over to you. Looking you hard in the eyes, he gave you a questioning look. You steeled your eyes. “I’m ready.”

He smirked, “You better be.” He gave you a shove on your shoulders, pushing you backwards off the bow of the boat and you could hardly hear him say “Diver down,” and John B say, “The fu-” before the water hit you, swallowing you whole as you quickly sunk with the weight of the anchor.

Masterlist

[cherripeach]

Chapter 1

Little Match Maker

Summary: Your life motto is "I have the power of god and anime on my side, don't mess with me," and you stand by that with your life. No human, magician, or random creature could ever stop your firm belief in it.  

However, getting transported to this world that seemed to turn your already bad luck worse was not what you wanted to be in your life story, but you made the most of it.Making friends, enemies, and disasters, you were in your prime in this world, and so you decided to help as many people as you could flourish, at least what you believed to be.

Prologue 1-2: Is this a kidnapping?

Chapter Summary: Waking up in a coffin is a great way to spend your day! Don't even ask about the sus masked man and creepy cat.

Words: 3.5k

Relationships: Developing as of now, but future twisted character/reader

Warning: Curse words, jokes about death because lack of fear of danger, joke about Crowley being mentally insane, low-key sex jokes, self deprecating humor, (If I missed anything, please tell me)

Covered in darkness, you were stuck in a small, somewhat squared space. It seemed like today was not your day, but you did get a lot of sleep, you assume. You reached out to every side to make sure that there was no opening or latch that you just could not see. While you were reaching around for something, all the sudden you heard an old creaky door open. Apparently, you were supposedly in a bigger room if this large box containing you could fit in it.

“Was I... kidnapped…?” You could have never guessed this would happen, and you always thought they would be too annoyed with you to actually keep you, “but I’m not a kid.”

It seemed that really nothing would ever go your way because immediately after you affirm your belief that you would not be someone good to kidnap a much greater voice entered the room, and so you stopped your mind to process the words being said, “...lid is too heavy.. Time for my secret move!”

Confusion seemed to radiate off of you at that line, at least, until there was a sharp thud to whatever you were in. But after the thud was a second of calm; nothing happened, no footsteps were heard, and no one spoke. Yet suddenly instead of a loud thud there was slowly heat entering the area you were in. The heat began to engulf the box around you, and soon you could see the bright blue flames eating everything up. In your desperation and in your brain’s rush of survival skills, your mind freaked and decided to take control of your body to both scream and kick the front of this box. The door or whatever of the box spasmed when your kick hit it and your body threw itself up from the heat located in the now black box that looked really much like a coffin. Your observations on where you were ended quickly when you saw a little being running to you. The creature looked like a weird cat mix between a fox or something, but the fact that it was running on its back legs really threw you off. The creature stared at you after you stopped your evaluation of this strange being, and he panicked much like your previous actions.

“wHY aRe yOu up?” the creature could never seem to stop mumbling to themself you learned, and you only heard his last phrase before you could process the rest.

“Wow, the CGI on you is amazing!” This place seemed to be like a living breathing set from your assumption because no kidnapping could ever be as odd and elegant as this place. You always assumed that whenever someone gets kidnapped they would wake up in an abandoned warehouse tied to a wooden chair and men with weapons would come in and interrogate the kid. Waking up in a coffin is not how a kidnapping should happen. Anyway, the cat just seemed as stunned as you and stopped his motions.

“CGAI?? What are you talking about? I am the Great Grim,” the cat bounced back awfully quick after your so-called rude statement to him, “Now give me your clothes, human! Otherwise,... I’ll roast ya.” This “Great Grim” seemed to have quite the ego to think that you would strip for him. He even puffed out his chest throughout his speech and put his paws on his hips.

“Ah ah, no way am I stripping without you giving me money.” You would not be stopped or told to do anything by a little creature that in your eyes could not hurt you.

However, the creature could not swallow your lack of obedience or the words that came out of your mouth, so he in all honesty started to attack you with this “CGI blue fire” again. He acted a lot more like an arrogant child than an arrogant child would act. He even screams something about him being “The Great Grim” again before he gets closer to you. Once he got close to your personal bubble, you decided to see if the fire really was the claimed hottest fire in the world because of its color. You reached out and basically grabbed the fire with an open hand and left it there letting your mind pend what was going on around you, and immediately your brain and its nerves picked up on the pain in your hand. Not believing your nerves, you kept your hand there for another second and pulled it away to look at it, only to notice that the skin on some of your hand was distinguishably different from the rest of your hand. Your mind paused, and you snorted at yourself while you observed your hand and slowly turned around and sprinted from the creature that was gaining on you while you stood there gazing at your hand.

This set or whatever had very real effects as seen by the cat that was continuing to chase you and scream for you to give him your uniform or something and by the bright blue flame. It didn’t just look cool but it also hurt and in your book that’s amazing! The world of CGI and effects really have changed, and wherever and whenever you are, they are way ahead of their time.

Your running from the cat never seemed to stop and you passed tons of weird areas. There was a little classroom, a weird well, and some odd architecture but overall this set was ‘set to perfection.’

You decided to go into the next room you saw to see if this set continued or had any more different scenes, and so you went into this library with tons of floating books. When entering, you noticed that the cat creature was still behind you, but you paid it no mind, not willing to listen to the being and continuing to explore this library.

“You really thought you could get away from my nose? Dumb human! Hand over your clothes if you don’t wanna-” The creature really seemed set on your clothing, but another great sound cut him off as he screamed a large “owww” and later only to respond to the previous sound with a “What’s this cord?”

You turned from the books you were observing and saw a tall man with a top hat and a bird mask like a masquerade party. His cloak and whole ensemble appeared to be out of a fairy tale; he looked like a misunderstood villain whose whole family and lover had died in the past and so he turned to evil in order to help himself deal with the pain. He did look somewhat like an asshole though. Not the point though, let’s get on task.

“This is no mere cord. It is a lash of love.” Briefly in your head you thought that this man deserved to be called clinically insane, but at this point that’s just being rude to those who are. The man after he caught the cat by wrapping the cord around the creature turned to you. “Found you at last. Are you one of the new students?”

And in your haze instead of being confused you nodded, so he continued his speech.

“You should not do things like that. Leaving the Gate on your own!” his manner of speaking was almost too flamboyant for you, but right now all you can do is stick with him and get out of this place, “Not only that, you have yet to tame your familiar which has broken a number of school rules.”

Just as confused as seeing the talking cat, you decided to nod your head and shepley mumble an apology so this man would get off your ass about the talking CGI cat and you apparently. And as quickly as you thought you figured out the situation and what he was trying to lecture you on, the man continued his speech after the cat screamed out that he “wasn’t your familiar!” or something and another.

“Sure, sure The rebellious ones always say things like that. Now quiet down for a moment.” You just watched on as the man slammed his hand over the cat’s mouth and continued on talking, “My goodness. It’s unprecedented for a new student to leave the Gate on their own...how impatient can you be?” His eyes locked on yours to make sure you were paying attention, so you just nodded your head again to show that you were listening when you weren’t.

His speech seemed to be going for a century so you got bored and noticed that after a while he closed his eyes and was not paying attention to you while still having animated hand movements. You, then, began to observe the shelves around you again to see if there was anything odd, and there was, many of the books seemed to be in this weird language that you have never seen. The language looked like something you would find in a horror movie where the people would be so curious to actually touch the book and not throw it away like they should have, so you decided that as much as this place was odd and mysterious you did not want to be that kind of idiot. However, in your inner dialogue of stupid characters in horror movies, the theatrical man turned around with his cap flying behind him and sauntered on out of the room. You realized he probably said something important, but the worst case scenario is he was the one that kidnapped you and would kill you later. No big deal. The main problem right now is that the man was walking too fast for your tastes and has already disappeared from your vision, so you ran to catch up with him.

Finally, you met his step in a hallway, and you decided to ask just what this all was. “Wait, wait, wait sir. First, what’s this Gate or whatever?” You did fake quotes around the word gate by putting up peace signs and bending your fingers, and then you looked at the man with your arms situated over your chest and puffed your chest out to show you meant to be answered when you resumed with “And who are you, man?”

The man, though, was not at all bothered at your vibe and started a new explanation, “It’s the room you woke up in with all the doors...” Then, he went on about this “academy” or something, and you were getting the vibe that this man and this set had to be some kind of prank, “Let’s get a move on!”

You really seemed to be missing the important parts of the conversation or lecture of whatever this so-called teacher is doing if this even is a school, but at this point and time you just want to go back to bed.

He began to stare at your dazed and puzzled form and said, “For I am gracious I will explain everything to you!” This man is like teachers in the fact that if you nod your head and look like you are paying attention, anything is possible. At the end of his speech, you caught the word “ceremony” before he sped off for you to only follow behind him. You went through several more hallways to get to where you think you woke up around. No one remembers what happened once they woke up; it is all just blurred reality.

The man in all of his glory decides that once you arrive at this large door to fling the door open and teacher-yell “Not at all!”

Out of the flurry of voices you were greeted by once the door was opened one person in the cloak just like you calmly states a little disappointedly “Ah, he’s here.”

You decided that with the added amount of people you should probably pay more attention so you can get home quicker and figure this prank out.

“I cannot believe you all…” You really are getting better at tuning the man out because after his short speech this time he turned to you as motioned for you to move in the direction of another object that would come out of a horror movie. You having no context for this mirror or what you were going to do started walking for the mirror while making out the mirror and area around it. Actually, there was a familiar face in the mirror, something you think you have seen from a Disney movie. It was the magic mirror mask (?) from the Snow White movie. It did look a little different with some mask markings by the face’s eyes and the mirror had some more intricate details, but other than that the mirrors looked almost identical.

After your moment of remembrance of the past, you stopped from your walk and put your hand on your chin and just paused to process it all, causing the entire room to stop from their constant talking that you didn’t notice and stare. In a brilliant moment of association, you turned around to the man and the cat that was still in his arms and tried to get out all of what your brain has concluded from the situation, “So like can we just stop this… like I know you were probably hired to prank me or something, but this situation is giving me hardcore cult vibes. Are you gonna like sacrifice me to Satan or something? Please do tell.” The time of the room stopped waiting for a single response to your question. Before there were murmurs here or there as the people were watching you, but now silence pierced the air.

You watched the man’s face after you said your opinion, and while it was covered by a mask, it was clearly obvious from his open mouth and sagged shoulders that he was shocked about the situation. After a moment, he adjusted his tie and dusted his shoulder off in an effort to steel himself, but you were having none of his b.s, and prattled on again.

“Like, I’ll tell you, you lecturing me about this school and that cat is not what I was planning to do today. I would like to get back to my bed and sleep.” You even told him the name of your town, but this just made him more lost than before.

He repeated your town and asked, “Are you even from Twisted Wonderland?”

“Twisted what,” now both of you were lost and gawking at each other.

“Were you not listening to me?”

“Honesty, I thought this was a prank from the second you walked in, and I still kinda do, so I blanked everything out.” You scratched your cheek and made sure you lost your previous eye contact with him. The lack of of chatter from the crowd made your interaction more awkward than even you could make one.

He placed his free hand on his forehead looking almost as disappointed as the first voice you heard besides him and looked down to the floor.

“Right now we are in Night Raven College in Twisted Wonderland where we are at the end of the entrance ceremony. You should be here to become a student at this school as a magician. However, even if you are not from here, the mirror did send for you, so please,” he paused and weakly threw his hand back in the direction of the mirror, “Step in front of the mirror.”

While you knew you could not trust the man, the only thing to do in this situation is turn and step in front of the familiar mirror. The mirror then grasped the attention of all those in the room as asked you to “State thy name,” and you told the mirror your name.

“The shape of thy soul is…” Consequently, the mirror began to join in the confusion of you and the man behind you, “I don’t know.”

You turned around and threw both your hands up in a “don’t look at me” sign only for the man to gaze right in the mirror past you. “Come again?”

The mirror still pulling a puzzled face when it was only a mask tried to state what it knew, “I sense not a spark of magic from this one… the color, the shape, all are nothing. Therefore, they are suited for no dormitory.”

While the people around you began their whispers, and the man behind you gasped in a weird over exaggerated way, you decided to state your mind. “So, like I knew that, but pissy. I’ve always wanted magic and stuff.”

The masked man did not comment on what you said; you think that he probably has had enough of everything. “An Ebony Carriage would absolutely never go to meet someone who can’t use magic. In a hundred years, there has not been one mistake in student selection. So why in the world…”

You cut in with “I’m a total mistake, sir, that’s why,” but the CGI ‘Great Grim’ jumped out of the man’s hold and further cut you off: “Then, I’ll take their place!” All of this is getting too weird too fast so you just casually walked out of the limelight next to someone who was in a group of five, you think, not counting the floating tablet (??). The cat appeared mad before but being in that man’s hold just made him worse.

“Stay right there! Raccoon!” The masked, clearly sus man bolted out after the cat and chased him around at least for a few feet.

“Unlike that dumb human, I can use magic! Let me in the school instead! If you need proof, I’ll show you right now!” The cat was running around the room trying to avoid as many things as possible. You thought that he looked like a crewmate in the waiting ship for Among Us.

The peace did not last longer before the same disappointed voice from when you walked in the room became cross while screaming “Everyone, get down!”

The cat, then, spit out fire in every direction. Neither you nor the person next to you ducked, but you noticed some fire make its way to you and tried to get them out of the way before anything happened. Just as you were about to reach them, they caught on fire. Oops.

“Waaaaah! Hot! My butt’s on fire!” the male, you assumed, yelled right in your ear vibrating your eardrum and causing you to take a step back before fixing the problem. You spotted the man from before screaming to the other people in the room, and then, pointing at the cat.

Two of the taller people next to you began a conversation which you tried to listen in on:

“Good at hunting?... nice, plump snack?” You don’t think you wanted to hear this conversation.

“...Do it yourself.”

You focused your mind back to the boy who was still screaming in your ear until more voices piped up in response to the man.

“Mr. Crowley, please leave it to me.” another boy in the group of five said with this really profound voice. You could just tell he was a bottom or something. You are also assuming that “Mr. Crowley” is the masked sus man.

“That’s Azul for you. Always trying to earn himself points.” Let’s just ignore the talking, floating tablet and everything that should be questioned and focus on the fact that the bottom’s name is Azul.

The boy next to you with his butt still on fire did not find this conversation as interesting as you which in retrospect is obvious because of the fire on his butt. “Um, hey, could someone put out the fire on my butt already?”

“O gosh, I’m so sorry. I got really distracted by everything,” You aimed all your concentration that you had at the boy. You slapped the area that was on fire several times to get the fire out, and after a few slaps, the fire slowly extinguished on the boy. The fire was not as bad as it looked.

The boy turned around to face you and beamed at you as you believe the personification of the Sun would look like. “Thank you!!” His bright red eyes gazed right through your soul through your eyes, sparkling every couple of seconds. You patted the golden retriever’s hood as he just continued to beam through you. He even grabbed your hands and shook them rapidly several times to show his thanks to you and squeezed them to finally drop his grip.

You ignored the conversation that was happening between several others of the group of five in favor of staring at the young sun. A couple seconds after two of the clocked people began to run after the cat. That was your clue to start to pay more attention to the situation at hand than the sun.

~~~

So this was supposed to be a lot sooner but then exams hit and that's always fun. This chapter just had to have my mind commenting on everything, so half of the chapter we don't even know what happens, but it's really only gonna be for this chapter. Thank you for reading this, and I apologize for any mistakes, but I hope you enjoy it! Have a great day or night!

[henryholmesacademia]

Predilection Chapter One

A/N: ahhhhh....I’m so nervous and excited! This isn’t my first time writing and publishing something on tumblr, but it is the first time I write for this guy. Hope you like it, and hope you stick around but please don’t feel obligated too. I don’t like doing synopsis or previews because I feel like it gives the story away, so you’ll just have to feel this one out. Enjoy! Or not, I can’t tell you how to live your life <3

beta reader, co-writer, motivator, and all around love of my life: @lost-aesthetic-of-past​ 

This isn’t a special story.

Might not even be a story at all.

But rather a telling of events that happened in a certain order and have been strung together to create a tale that could cure the boredom of the mind and indulge the land of fantasy.

We won’t start from the beginning. I’ll spare you the boring details and let you come to your own conclusions.

We’ll start our telling of tales in a humble tearoom.

The famous detective Sherlock Holmes had just finished having a somewhat futile conversation with Edith in the search for his younger sister. Come to think of it, it was not much of a conversation as much as it was a reprimanding of sorts. It might even be considered educating him on a subject he knew nothing of and needed a good slap into reality.

“You said she was traveling with a boy?” Sherlock inquired as she was making her exit from the room.

She stops at the doorway. “A useless boy, she called him. I couldn’t help but be reminded of a woman who traveled through here yesterday. We were about to close when she came in. She was wet from rain, but she didn’t seem to mind it at all.” She turns to look at him. “She said you would be here today, and it seems her assumption was correct. She told me that she would be waiting for you at 6 o'clock, Mr. Holmes, and that you had better dress nicely.”

“She left no name?” He raises an eyebrow.

Edith shrugged. “She was very certain that you would know who she was and that you would know exactly where she wanted you.”

Sherlock Holmes has always been talented at keeping his cool. Demonstrating no emotion. His face, some compared it to the likeness of a statue with how unmoved he was in situations.

This would be no different. It had been years since he had last seen the woman who was beckoning him.

And yet, she was always able to pique his curiosity.

“I see you received my message, Mr. Holmes.” Her voice was only accompanied by the sound of her heels. It had seemed that all sound in the bustle of society had come to a stop. No clinking of glass. No servers rushing passed them. It was just her. “And you dressed for the occasion.” Her eyes zero in on his attire. “I do love a man in a tie, as I’m sure you are aware." Oh, how she loved to tease him.

The detective knew basic manners, he was taught right from wrong, how to be respectful toward women, not to mention he had observed enough of the body language and cues of people. Yet, he couldn’t bring himself to stand up and pull out a chair for her.

"I thought sending you a message would better prepare you for this, but I see it made no difference.” She sets her bag on the table and sits down on her own accord. She both loved and hated etiquette. There were so many rules and guidelines to follow. However, it did work to her advantage at times. “Tell me, Mr. Holmes, what adventure are you on right at this moment?”

“When did you return from overseas?” He manages to find his voice, though he never meant to lose it.

“I’ve been told that you are looking for someone. Could it be that marquee from the papers?” She stirs the spoon of the tea that a server had set down in front of her.

“You are avoiding my question. Mycroft is not aware that you are back, is he?” He lets out a deep breath. There was never a chance of getting a straight answer from her. She only knew how to respond in teasing and quick wit. Every smile devious, and every word was calculated.

“And you are very rudely avoiding mine.” Her smile, that teasing smile of hers. “Would you like help with the case of the marquee? If you ask nicely, I’ll go with you. Finding people who don’t want to be found is a specialty of mine.” She lifts the teacup from the saucer to her mouth innocently enough, but he knew better.

“But dealing with the damage you leave in your wake isn’t?” His words stop her drink and she places the cup back on the saucer.

“What a pity.” Her face forms a small pout. “I was rather liking our game.”

“You always think of things as some kind of game. There is going to be a day when you will find not everyone wants to join in. Not everyone is a toy who is vying for your attention in hope that you will play with them.”

“I will learn that the day you learn that people are more than answers to riddles.” She challenges. “Indulge me for a moment, why did you come here? You knew it was me who sent for you. You remembered my favorite restaurant, my favorite tea, and if they did not give you this table, I will forever assume that you were the one who asked for the table that was in the farthest corner of the room.”

“You do not want Mycroft to know you are here.” He tries to gauge her reaction and steer the conversation. Like always, she gives a grin. A true Cheshire cat smile.

“No. And you forget, Mr. Holmes, nobody knows anything until I want them to know.” She gathers her purse and stands up from the chair. “Here I was, hoping that we would have a nice dinner. It’s been…” she trails off as she looks for the right word. “Refreshing to see you, Mr. Holmes.”

“Why waste your time having dinner with me?” He can’t help but ask her. Just from observing her, he remembered how she would do nothing if it did not have a motive that she would find useful.

She pauses for a moment as she considers his question and gives him a genuine smile. A rare, but beautiful sight. “Is it so hard to believe that your company might be missed?” As she walks past him, she leans down close to his ear. “As for earlier, this isn’t a game to me, Mr. Holmes. But if it was…you were always my favorite player.” She whispers and leaves him to dwell with the aroma of sugar and spice in the air.

The great detective takes to his pipe that night as he stares into the fire. If you were to see him, you would think that he would be calculating his next move or contemplating his own life. That he would be entirely concerned for the welfare of his sister or mother that has vanished into thin air.

No.

He was thinking about his encounter with that woman. Not even the one from this evening, but all the previous ones he had with her. Each one is more memorable than the last. But none shall ever haunt his memory as much as when he first met her.

He never expected such a woman of high society to be standing in the same room with Lestrade right next to a crime scene. Her voice floated melodiously through the room as he walked through the front door. The smell of spice and sugar leads him to where a woman had her back turned to him while answering the Scotland Yard inspector’s questions.

“Ah, Mr. Holmes this is-” Lestrade begins.

The woman turns to see him, the ensemble on her hat was grand and elegant, but her striking eyes that hide the mischief behind them and her smile, which seemed to match the sentiment, was not hidden or dimmed. They were…quite beautifully complemented by it, as he recalled the words his mother said to him once as a child. She extends her gloved hand. “Miss Harrison.” She finishes for Lestrade with a pearly white smile. “And you are?” She inquires.

He was shocked for a moment as her hand was extended toward him. Society would not have allowed it to happen as a young woman should never extend her hand, and she did not seem to be married. Her glove did not have an outdent from a wedding ring.

“This is Sherlock Holmes, we ask him for consultation, and he comes when he’s bothered to read a telegram from us,” Lestrade adds when Sherlock remains stoic and silent.

The corners of her mouth seemed to turn up even higher at that. “My oh my, Mr. Holmes, the papers do not do you justice.” She looks straight at his eyes when she speaks again. “Tell me, has anybody ever told you how incredibly blue your eyes are? Why, I keep finding myself stopping to admire them.”

“No, miss, I can not say that I have.” He releases her hand and clears his throat while stepping forward to examine what Lestrade had originally summoned him for a routine theft. But from what he could tell, the jewelry stolen was not the woman’s jewelry. For she seemed to not wear any. Women who could afford such jewelry never left their households without displaying a few pieces and any fortune she might have clearly was being spent and invested in their extravagant garments and perfumes.

“I apologize. He’s not - well he does tend to act like that sometimes.” Lestrade finds himself in a very awkward position at the moment.

She turns to see him examining a table, observing his side profile. “There is no need for an apology, inspector Lestrade. He’s exactly as I imagined him to be. He’ll do nicely for this case. My employer would be pleased.”

“Who is your employer again? I never caught the name.”

“Oh, I didn’t say. They would prefer it if they were not associated with what happened at all.” She pauses for a moment. “Is that any problem, Mr. Holmes?” Her voice is a little louder to get his attention.

He ignores her question.

Just as the inspector is about to apologize again, she gives him a grin. “I quite like him, Lestrade. I might just keep him on.”

And keep him she did.

Sherlock takes out her handkerchief that she had slipped into his pocket when she was whispering in his ear, embroidered with her initials and the outline of her lipstick. A color that was almost as bold as she was. He held it up to his nose and, sure enough, it was the scent of sugar and spice.