#Edit: I've now added a title because it was bothering me that it didn't have one

[snek-panini]

At long last, I've finally finished a new book! And it's actually not a fanfic this time! This is a bind of Jules Verne's Around the World in Eighty Days. This was supposed to be my fourth book for Binderary, but I didn't finish it in time. Procrastination's a bitch. Fun fact: the first thing I ever bound was a public domain short story called The Machine Stops, but since it was the first it is...not a good skill showcase. This one is so much better. More pics and process talk under the cut!

Close-up of the cover, and a pic of the spine. The blue bits are cardstock, and brown ones are faux leather left over from when I bound Pray for Us, Icarus. The images and author's name are in black embossing ink. Something weird happened with the texture on these--the author's name came out nice and smooth and solid like always, but the stamped images have a bumpy texture to them and some leather visible through the powder. They were done with rubber stamps on an ink pad and the text was done with an embossing pen, so I think it's a difference in the ink. It's a nice texture though, so I don't mind. I had originally thought to put the title on the front, but I really liked both stamps and I like how it came out.

Top view and endpaper. I'm really pleased with how the case fits; that's been something I struggle with on a lot of projects and I think I'm finally getting it down. The endpapers are a floretine print that I bought from Hollander's and cut to size. They got a little wrinkled when I cased in, especially in the back. It's my first time working with this kind of paper and I used too much glue. I also tried stitching them to the text block this time, but I don't think I'll bother with that again. I didn't like how flimsy the single-sheet signature felt next to the thicker ones in the text block. Fun fact for those who've seen an adaptation of this story but not actually read it: there is actually no hot air balloon in the book, even though it's in all the adaptations. There was a movie made in the 1950s which added the balloon and it's been in every version since then.

Title page and chapter header. I've been saying for a while that I wanted to up my title page game, and I really love how this looks. The image here is a free vector pulled from Seekpng.com. It's the same image on both pages, the one on the chapter header is just smaller and in gray instead of black. I've also chosen a name for my bindery, largely because other people had names for theirs and I thought it was cool and wanted my own. It's Paper Snake Press, you can see it at the bottom of the text. I want a logo too but haven't gotten around to making one yet. 2d art is, uh. Still not a strength for me.

The text I used was pulled from Project Gutenberg. Typesetting it was and interesting experience, surprisingly different from typesetting fic. When I do fic I keep the editing very light, just really obvious things like misspelled characters' names and quotation marks that are flipped the wrong way, but it always needs something. This one didn't need any of that, which was nice. It also has way longer sentences and paragraphs than fic, and I thought that might be a product of its age, that writers just wrote longer sentences and were more verbose in 1873 than they are now. But then this week I started working on another fic that has the same features, from someone I've suspected for a while is a published author, so I wonder if it's actually a professional author thing instead of a shift in reading tastes over time. I'm not really going anywhere with this speculation, I just thought it was interesting.

I have two more works-in-progress printed and waiting. One is an author copy and just needs casing in, the other's in a halfway stage and has a lot to be done, so it might be a bit before I have more books to post. But there's a whole stack of things I've typeset that I'm waiting to print, so there are good things coming.

[callipraxia]

Writings from 3am

As the title indicates...sometime in the night, I got up, feeling compelled to write out a little scene that doesn't have a proper story to go with it. It's minimally edited for coherency here. If you haven't read my fic Interproximal Gradations (third in the For Want of a Jailbreak trilogy) on Ao3, then none of this will make any sense whatsoever, as Quattro and Stan are referring to events from the last three or four chapters of that story; specifically, this occurs sometime after the end of chapter 26, which itself takes place after a ten-year time skip. It...probably won't make that much sense even with that context in mind, to be honest, but it'll make marginally more sense than it would without said context.

All clear as mud? Great. Here's the thing:

Stan sat alone at the kitchen table, smoking a cigar and laying out cards for a game of solitaire. He didn’t look up when Quattro – carefully; he hadn’t yet gotten around to repairs to his suit since the shootout with the feds – sat down, but he did speak.

“No,” he said.

“No, what?”

“No, there’s nothing significant about me playing solitaire right after my brother’s funeral.”

Quattro nodded slowly. “Right,” he said, not bothering to attempt to sound sincere. He remembered the day his brother had died, and what he’d said after he’d finally been forced to accept the reality of the situation, at least as well as Stan did, if not better: I guess I should pick a different name now, huh? Mine doesn’t really make any sense anymore. I guess I’m just Solo. He would bet his best wig that the reference was deliberate on Stan's part. "Sure there isn’t.”

Seconds passed, and the sound of the kitchen clock ticking them away was the only thing that interrupted the silence.

"How's the leg?" Stan asked finally.

"A few minutes at the auto shop and it'll be fine." Quattro shrugged. "I've told you, I don't really feel things anymore. I'm not sure if I would even if I took off my suit...maybe. Who knows." Half his trouble had been that it had been so long since he'd consciously felt anything that the impact had thrown him for a loop; before that, he had honestly thought he no longer sensed contact with his person ‘naturally’ at all. He had no intention of taking his suit off just to test the limits of his probably-atrophied sense of touch, though. Instead, he cleared his throat and added, “you know I’m going to kill him, if I ever get the chance."

Stan grunted in acknowledgment, showing no signs he found this shift in topic at all strange. “Know you’re gonna try,” he conceded.

Quattro nodded and thought he might have smiled, bitterly, behind his mask. “Because we both also know you’re going to try to stop me.”

“Yep.”

“Even though it’s his fault we just buried the last family either of us has besides each other.”

“No we didn't. Mabel’s still out there, somewhere, and I’ve heard you call Soos your brother with my own ears.” Stan pointed to one of the ears in question to illustrate, as if Quattro could have possibly missed them. “Plus, Dipper’s still part of the family. He might not want to be, and you might not want him to be, and I might even ring his bell for being an idiot and a fed and especially a fedidiot if he walked in here right now, but he’s still family.”

“If you want to get technical about it, I guess he’s sort of my father,” Quattro agreed. “In a...weird, Dr. Frankenstein-y kind of way. Except he’s the one who’s gotten to wander around the world and do whatever he wanted to do all these years like the Monster, and I’m the one who gets to watch everyone I care about die whenever he’s around. You might outlive me, but Soos? Mabel? Everyone else?”

Stan’s hands had gone very still on his cards. “What do you mean, I might outlive you?”

Quattro looked at him closely for a moment to see if he was joking, but he didn’t look like he was. Did he really think, then, that Quattro somehow hadn’t noticed that….

“You haven’t aged a day since the end of the apocalypse, Stan. Do you really think anyone believes that’s a coincidence?”

The silence turned sullen before Stan finally removed his cigar from his mouth. "That damn lizard."

“Your friend the blind lizard god’s never spoken to me in my life,” Quattro assured him. “It’s just that I do have eyes. Sort of. See?” He reached up and removed his outer mask, revealing his real face for a moment. “Time’s been messed up in this town since the world un-ended, but most of the people kept getting older. Including your identical twin. But not me - “ he pointed to the perpetually twelve-year-old visage normally hidden behind his mask – “and not you.”

Stan squinted at him, clearly trying to tell if he was bluffing – and then, to Quattro’s surprised, laughed.

“Paper boys,” he announced, “have no business being as sharp as you, kid. Scissors are supposed to be one of your natural enemies, aren’t they?”

“Not so much while I’m wearing this,” said Quattro, gesturing toward his artificial body as he reattached his mask. “So – what did they do to you, anyway? And why?”

Stan sighed. “Bozo the Lizard God said that his brother made it hard for him – Bozo, I mean – to see me,” he said. “Said that looking at me made him feel like he’d gotten drunk on a trampoline. No-Eyes then said – something, I don’t remember exactly – but that it had something to do with Bozo spending too much time in the underworld. Nobody told me this, but I’m guessing...from that, and from some other stuff I've put together, I’m guessing that the way No-Eyes kept me alive was by making it...really hard for your standard-issue death gods and death angels and all those kinds of things to see where I am too clearly.” Stan chuckled grimly. “And I even think I know why he did it.”

“To save the world,” said Quattro. “Right?”

“Eh, yeah, that, too,” said Stan. “But I don’t think that’s why I’m still alive, ten years after I did that. I think that’s because of you.”

Quattro could only stare in response to this at first. “Me?”

“Yep – sort of. See, I punched him and Bozo both in the face.” Quattro nodded; Stan never tired of that story. Not that Quattro did, either; thinking too much for too long about Stan's former contacts on the Other Side had still made him angry, sometimes, even before Dipper had come back to town; now, after what had happened to Ford, he just wished he could time-and-dimension travel well enough to loan Stan his suit's gloves for said face-punchings. It was unlikely that even alloys that were nigh-indestructible by earthly standards would have made any difference, but a guy could hope.... “And I told ‘em some of it was for Tracey. The Lord of Jerks said I had no right to get upset after how I – was to you two – back then, and so I told him to shove it, because maybe Tracey wasn’t one of Bozo’s, but he was one of mine, and that therefore I could say whatever I wanted about him, unlike Bozo. So….pretty sure if I ever get a chance to ask if it was supposed to be a reward or a punishment, he’ll just say ‘yes,’ because again, jerk, but I think that’s about the time he got the idea to just...not help Bozo get over feeling drunk whenever I was in the room. Not yet, anyway.”

Quattro thought about that for a moment, and about everything that had happened since, and about how difficult he was to kill lately. "Yeah, it was definitely a punishment" he said. "If it helps, though - even in the absolute worst-case scenario, we'd get taken out in the heat death of the universe I guess, but it shouldn't take that long. Doing the math, thinking about how much air I have to let into this thing to talk...I'm guessing I'll dry rot or something in...probably not more than a hundred fifty, two hundred years, maybe. So if you're right, you'd be off the hook then, too."

Stan seemed to mull this over. "Well, guess it beats sticking around until the heat death of the universe, anyway," he said.

[dashawfrostart]

This Month In "Time & Again" #19: The Prints Have Been Shipped!.. (possibly an insubstantial post)

Hallöchen!.. All of a sudden, almost a month has passed. And I didn't even notice... Wait, I'm having a rather strong feeling of déjà vu here. Oh ya. The previous post starts the same (well, almost). Some (namely myshelf) might want to go ahead with the joke and say every day is exactly the same (oddly, even as of 2024, I still manage to mix up the title of the song with the title of that short indie game called Every Day The Same Dream). ... But that's probably enough of Nine Inch Nails references for now.

So! The awesome news!

The print-friendly versions of "Time & Again" for the Chapters 1, 2, and 3.1 have been completed, and the prints have been ordered, and now they're already on their way to me! Yaaaaay!

I had troubles with the printer's website, unfortunately, which prevented me from finishing up this giant, outstretched-in-space-and-time project as fast as I [thought I] could. But now it's all done, and all that adding full bleed hassle is over, and I'm not going to bother doing that for chapters 3.2, 4, and 5 for now, because they're not gonna get printed yet. Next time I'm gonna be working on print-friendly iterations of "Time & Again", it's most like going to be once the complete edition is on its way. And I still have ways to go. ... without simple and fast ways of automation, and without assistance of smart AI algorithms that might help speed up the process of flat colouring based on the creator's predefined palettes - I definitely got long ways to go. 😑 *sigh* (yes, yes! I still hope that somebody makes a plugin for Krita that will be able to do exactly that, because that would've been wonderful and SUUUUPER helpful for me! For now though, there's only but nobody came).

And aside from that... I actually don't even think I've done much. Most of my latest accomplishments - including the creative ones - were not "Time & Again" related, to better or worse. Or not quite, let's say.

However, I've started working on an alternative cover art for "Time & Again" - the one that I had in mind for quite a while; the one that's been lurking around somewhere in the perils of my pencil sketch dump for long, that has appeared perhaps around the time of development of Chapter 2. Currently, it's missing proper shading and a background.

Also, following a suggestion of my friend, I made a cute comedic artwork that will eventually end up as an art print for an artistic event I'm planning on participating in later this year. Yaaaay!

For now, I refrain from showing any progress because of some certain reasons, so I'll share the final versions later on.

That's very funny and weird how it turns out sometimes!.. Thanks to one of the minor characters in my story (and spoiler: they will appear in Chapter 6! 😉🥳) I've made a discovery that I quite enjoyed! To get a better understanding of the aforementioned character, I started listening to vaporwave. And I must admit, I'm enjoying the genre through and through. Not exactly your elevator music type thing, but at times not too dissimilar. Or at least it feels soothing and meditative to me, in an odd and crooked way. And hey, lots of distorted samples from my favourite gems of ye olde good 80's. A music nerd such as myself simply cannot cringe at that, for sure. Good job, my character. You must be proud of yourself, you sleek and fixated, yet somehow adorable genius. Now get in the f***ing robot (I wish I didn't say that; it gives me an incredibly unsettling wrong association now... 😅). That very same character is also the reason why I'm intermittently playing Broken Reality now - and also enjoying it through and through. Very inspirational and quite relaxing. Really looking forward to play the anticipated sequel, too!

Alas, there's a little confession to make.

The problem is that, right now I'm not yet certain how to approach Chapter 6. And no, I am not talking about the form of it (however, the visual representation of that giant pile of Lothar's self-hatred should be taken into GREAT consideration as well, indubitably - but that is a rather impressionistic question, methinks).

What I cannot deny right now is that I don't feel like I'm in the mood. "Why is it so important, and why is it such a big deal?" you ask me. Well, first of all, as a content creator, I truly believe that you have to be in the mood in order to create quality content. Second, because of a specific nature of Chapter 6, it's incredibly important to get myself into a certain mood prior to working on the final writing (for even the script is not yet complete, although the substantial majority of it is certainly done, and it's even overflowing in specific spots 🤣😅 dammit, Lothar, you think too much). I could possibly say I'm a little scared to delve into it, because it might turn into a descent into an endlessly black pit with no light anywhere around, even from above. I need a certain mood that is best described as Traurigkeit und Weltschmerz (and virtually anything along the line).

And this is the feeling I'm lacking right now. Perhaps, too much stuff is going on in real life right now, or maybe I simply allow myself to distract from being "Time & Again" productive a little more than I should've... Or maybe the simple answer is that I'm a happy and cheerful person by nature, but to write a proper Lothar I need to become a very dark and grim dude, dammit! 🤣

I also realize that I'm behind on my creative schedule, too. Which is probably not helpful. But, as I said earlier, I'm not exactly scrunching myself into strict timeframes either.

But at the end of the day, albeit slowly and with a certain degree of uncertainty - I'm getting there. Medicated Lothar and his personal problems are definitely not forgotten by me. I'm letting it flow freely, to ensure the greatest result to be achieved.

That's all for today. No illustrations, but that's how it has to be for now! See y'all later! 👋🎨

[horizon-forbidden-sheesh]

Writing Process: Drafting

Sooooo, I started drafting Part 2 almost immediately after Part 1 concluded—and by now I've abandoned my Scrivener file entirely and am doing everything in Google Docs. (I talk about my switch from Scrivener to Google, here. ⚙️)

This time, I didn't have all the journal entries to work from, either. I was starting entirely from a blank slate. So at first, I just let myself WRITE. All the scenes I was most excited about, in no particular order, just to squeeze all the juice out.

I did that for like a month. And then, when I had about 15-20k words of random bits and bobs, I started to put them in order, and develop a through-line. That's where the draft docs & trackers came in.

✏️ Away from Scrivener, I needed some extra organizational tools to house my more general notes, research, & scraps. So, I built this li'l cutie with easy links to all my Google draft files, and included a brief summary that helped me greatly when plotting out the next set 10 chapters for Part 2:

*The chapter titles were updated as my outline changed, but the summaries did not! The descriptor for Chapter 20 is now, like, Chapter 23.

Keeping the descriptors short really helps me stay on task. If I have so much I need to cover in a chapter that it drops my formatting to the next line, I know I probably won't be able to cover everything in ~3,000-5,000 words.

✏️ Now, that's just the first page of the "Table of Contents." As of today, it's 13 pages long, and it also houses a TON of notes and working drafts and snippets of dialogue that I am saving for future, as-yet-unspecified chapters.

It's really messy—and sometimes when I'm out & about and my service is shit, I whip open my old Notes app, just to get a thought down. Here, have a taste of what's been rattling around in my brain...

Dialogue often starts as just the dialogue. I layer in tags & descriptors later, during the editing process. Most of the conversations I've written started with me talking to myself alone in the car, in the shower, or while washing dishes. (This works for copywriting too. My best ideas almost NEVER come to me while I'm sitting-down-looking-at-a-screen. Of course.)

For instance, that same conversation made it from the Notes app into a Google Doc and has since evolved to:

A li'l somethin-somethin from the upcoming Scorcher Season's Chapter 24 🔥

✏️ Once I've got all the major plot points written, I'll go back and write the "boring" stuff in chronological order. Okay, it's not really boring. It's just the filler information that helps a reader get from point A to point B, and I edit as I go. This ends up being like half of the total word count for the full 10 Chapters.

I'm currently hitting this point in Part 3—and you can see below that just writing my favorite parts here and there gets me pretty far on its own. Over the last 3 weeks, I've nearly exhausted my imagination developing the general story arc. Next up, I'll go back and start fleshing out each chapters one by one.

Wanna know something CRAZY?? Over the last ~year, I've noticed that I tend to write nonstop during Mercury Retrogrades. Like, I don't want to do anything else. I'm learning not to schedule any major projects for these ~3 week periods, so I don't blow my deadlines on account of being too obsessed with my fanfic to bother. 😅

After my decision to expand to 4 Parts total, my original ToC Doc got a bit... top heavy. (Also, I got really tired of manually calculating all the word counts.) So, instead of continuing in Docs, I added a tab to my spreadsheet:

*Hiding my chapter summaries so as not to spoil!! 😈

As you can see, I fill in the links as I create the draft docs... and I've already had to split a chapter in half due to scale, so the untitled <Scorcher 7> dropped to Part 4. I'm hopeful I won't have to split any more, so I can end strong on 'Ten Days.'

I don't usually start the finale until the very end, because I've learned that the wonderful comments I receive will sometimes give me extra ideas that I want to ensure make it into the fic!

✏️ Around the time I've fully completed the first 5 chapters, I'll give myself the green light to start posting. That leaves me just enough runway to finish out the rest of the season, and posting on a timeline helps keeps me motivated & accountable!

This is getting kinda long, so I'll write about Trackers & Timelines I've developed along the way in another post.

Thanks for being here! 🖤

xo, Sheesh.

[evren-writes]

Snake Eyes

Deep in the forest, something twisted and horrid lives. With eyes that lie like a snake, and horns twisted like the devil, people warned of its cruel nature. If you were to ever enter the forest alone at night, you’d be found dead by dawn with no cause identifiable by man.

And while the village told no living soul to dare step foot in those woods, Arren didn’t like to be told what to do.

That didn’t make his self-inflicted task anymore enjoyable, however. While spite and desperation was an excellent motivator, wandering for hours in the dark was absolutely fucking annoying.

Arren growled to himself as he brushed dirt out of the scrapes and cuts on his knees. A beaten, broken part of him didn’t care if it got infected, almost wished for it, but the fire burning deep within him suffocated those thoughts in smoke. He would succeed and bring the head of the monster to that shitty town and make them beg for him back.

It was either that or burn the whole place to the ground and leave nothing but ashes, but the ever persistent ache of what they had done kept his sensible side frustratingly sharp.

A sensible side that immediately evaporated once the wind carried a hissing laughter along with it. The sound was smooth and silky, with a little bit of smugness mixed in. Arren hated it and would relish in murdering this motherfucker.

“What brings this little, lost light to my forest?” The voice taunted, seemingly enjoying this game very much.

“Don’t call me that.” Arren said flatly, obviously having the exact opposite experience.

“That’s- That’s not how this works.” The way the voice wavered filled Arren with bitter satisfaction.

“Well, if you want to stop being a dumbass anytime soon, my name is Arren.” It’s not that he particularly wanted to be on first name basis with the horrible beast of the forest, he just disliked the nicknames more.

And, to his surprise, the monster laughed in response. It was snake-y or smug in a way that decided life or death. It was just. Happy.

What the fuck?

“I can’t tell you how relieved I am to meet someone like you!” The voice exclaimed out, and suddenly, it wasn’t a part of the wind anymore.

It was right behind him.

Arren whipped around, hand reaching in his coat pocket, ready. The figure that walked out of his shadows was both exactly what was described and not at all.

Golden horns that curved back like a goat rested on its skull. Two green snake eyes gazed at him with a giddiness, and beautiful golden scales rested under those eyes like makeup. And other than scaled hands with deadly claws at the end, it looked fully human.

Human and not as scary every had made him out to be. Half his head was shaved and wild black hair fell across his face. His clothes looked like a torn funeral suit, with several different kinds of flowers pinned to his lapel, most of them purple.

This would be easier than Arren thought.

Before he could curl his fingers around the hilt of the small dagger he had brought, the monster spoke up again.

“So why are you here, then?” He asked, walking towards Arren, who stepped back several steps in response.

“What?” Arren hissed back, not in the snakey way, but in a very angry human way.

That made the monster stop. His smile slowly dripped into a frown and he looked away uncomfortably. Pulling at the cuff of his suit, he answered.

“People usually come here to die.” He said softly, avoiding eye contact. “I try to chase them off, but it doesn’t work. They’ve accepted their fate and I’m always too late.”

That didn’t make any sense at all. With reluctant confusion, Arren let go of the hidden dagger and brought his hand to his side again. It would be so easy to stop this thing in the heart while it refused to look at him. He could gain his place back and his sins forgiven.

But at the very core of his being, Arren was a learner. He craved knowledge and the answer to mysteries more than he did redemption. If he killed the monster right here and now, then he would never learn what any of that meant.

So for now, he asked questions.

“How did you know I wasn’t here to die?” He asked, though it sounded more like a demand with his forceful tone.

At that, the creature perked up and looked at him. A smile tugged at his lips again and another laugh escaped his mouth. Yeah, cruel fate his ass. This thing was a complete fucking loser.

“Well, for one, people who want to die don’t usually call me a dumbass.” He responded, and Arren thought that more people really should. “And second, the light thing I said actually meant something.”

Oh, now that was interesting.

“So it wasn’t just a dumb nickname?” Arren asked, subconsciously stepped forward and ending up standing face to face with the monster.

“Yeah! That’s what these are for.” He said, pointing to his eyes. “It’s difficult to explain, but people who are about to die here look dark and foggy inside. You were like looking directly at a forest fire, and I don’t just mean because you’re hot.”

Arren peeled back his lips into a snarl. The sound furious and indignant, and that asshole had the gall to laugh at him. A sound so bright and delighted maybe he was the fucking forest fire here. Fuck him.

“But you still didn’t answer my question.” He said suddenly, snapping Arren out of his simmering rage. “Why did you come in here?”

Arren didn’t owe this thing anything. Meeting a monster in a forest and having him tell you a few interesting things didn’t mean he had to spill his whole stupid life story.

Except he was going to anyways. Not because it was boiling over the pot and definitely because he desperately needed to tell someone.

“I was going to kill you.” Arren said, feeling a bit of disappointment at how little the monster seemed bothered. “So they would let me back into my home.”

The monster tilted his head as he took in this information. Then, his lips pursed themselves into a frown and he gently reached forward. Arren froze. So many different reactions exploded through him, all involving attacking this thing right now, that it left him motionless.

It let the monster gently sweep the messy hair out of his right eye and gasp at what he saw.

Arren knew it looked bad, probably even worse from the last time he checked. A long, messy cut that went from the top of his forehead to halfway down his cheekbone. Bloody and with his right eye crusted shut, probably for the best.

He hadn’t bothered to clean it or treat it in anyway. He had just immediately run into the forest to get away and never looked back.

“Why would they-?” The monster started, but Arren didn’t let him finish.

“Because I tried to kill my father.” He said simply, as if it wasn’t horrific news.

The monster opened his mouth to speak again, likely to spew so many more questions that it made Arren sick.

Abruptly turning away, Arren spoke again. “Don’t.”

Thankfully, his boundary was respected, and he didn’t hear anything. His heart was beating fast in his chest. Finally he had come out and said this to someone willingly, but feeling it all flood back was so fucking upsetting and he hated it. Hated all of them.

Except he had nowhere else to go and he didn’t want to die.

“You can stay here.”

Arren jumped when he heard the monster speak up so abruptly and turned around. A clawed hand was extended towards him, and the expression on this supposed cruel beast was wild and welcoming, like this was some kind of exciting new adventure.

Briefly, the thought dealing with the devil flashed in Arren’s mind, but that was only after he had already took the devil’s hand. For some reason, this idea was a lot more welcoming than his first one.

“Plus, I think I have an idea on how to keep you safe.” The monster spoke up, a grin embodying his features.

“I don’t need you to keep me safe.” Arren bristled, but he couldn’t help the curiousity welling up within him again. “What is it?”

Gesturing grandly, the monster pointed to his own right eye. Arren could feel the reckless and exciting energy radiating off of him. Arren would be lying if he said it wasn’t as infectious as it was worrying, but he was a liar so he wasn’t going to say that.

“I’m going to give you my eye so you can see the ins and outs of this forest like I can!” The monster declared and Arren stared at him blankly.

“What the fuck are you even talking about?!” He suddenly yelled, realizing that yes! This situation could get even weirder! “How do you even know you could do that?!”

The monster’s expression took on a more sullen and distant look as he stared somewhere past Arren’s shoulder.

“There are some things about me that I just know.” He said, sounding far away. “Like that I used to be a human before this and that I had a different name.”

So there was even more mystery to this place? Also this was when Arren realized he had never bothered to ask if the monster had a name. He was so used to it just being a creature that stalked and haunted the woods, that he hadn’t even realized that it could be someone.

“So what’s your name now, then?” Arren asked, finally deciding to be polite.

The monster seemed to snap out of it and turned to look at him. His features softened and he looked a lot less sad. Arren decided he liked this version a lot more. Meaning, that he found it the least annoying.

“Blight. That’s who I am now.” Blight said, looking stronger and more sure of himself now. “So, are you in or not?”

Blight, huh? A poisonous name that promised of death. It didn’t feel quite fitting for what he knew now, but Arren liked how it sounded. Powerful and threatening.

As for the question... What else did he have to lose?

“Fine. Fucking whatever.” Arren grumbled, crossing his arms and Blight just laughed in response again.

Reaching a hand out, Blight gently cupped it over Arren’s right eye. It aggravated the aching sensation and brought a sting along with it, but that was fine. He watched Blight take a deep breath and close his eyes, and suddenly Arren felt dizzy and the world was literally spinning around him like some sick punishment for all his crimes.

He wanted to cry out, beg for all of it to stop and say he’d never do it again. He wasn’t sorry but it didn’t matter because the sickness outdid any pain he could ever feel and he had learned his lesson.

Then, everything abruptly stopped.

The world was different.

[hot-wiings]

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Requested By: Wattpad User

Edited: 8-17-2020

You laid on your stomach across Ochako Uraraka's bed. Spotify's 'Top One Hundred Pops' playlist could be heard in the background, but your best friend and you didn't care much for Timberlake's voice as you skimmed through magazines together. 

You stopped flipping pages and closed your magazine before tossing it next to you on the bed. Your attention was now turned to Ochako who simply stared down at her magazine. You noticed she hadn't really been flipping her pages or really participating in conversation like she usually would. 

“Is something bothering you Ochako?”

With a hefty groan, your best friend closed her magazine and tossed it next to her. She had a slight frown on her face as she turned to you. Her eyes were glossy and her smile was gone, she looked and acted nothing like the girl you'd grown to know and call your best friend. 

“[Y/N], have you ever been on love?"

A blush spread across your face as you thought of the boy who held your heart. The boy who held your heart, soul, and entire reason for being. Izuku Midoriya, your secret boyfriend, the man who held your affection. Not that you'd ever told him truly how deep your love for him ran.

"Yes, I have."

"There's this guy and I think... I think I'm in love with him.”

“Ochako... If you really think you feel this way about him, then you should tell him.” 

You had pulled yourself up from your lying position to a cross-legged sitting position next to Ochako. She sat in front of you with her arms crossed, hugging herself. She looked so troubled. So sad. 

“I... I want to, but lately, he's been spending less time with me, and more time with this other girl. I'm worried he might have caught feelings for her."

You reached out and pulled Ochako's hands into yours. You squeezed them as a way of comfort. 

“Ochako... If you really feel this way then you should tell him. You should tell him before it's too late.”

“You're right, [Y/N]. Thanks for the advice, you're like the big sister I never had.”

Ochako wrapped her arm around you tightly and pulled away with a smile on her face. A smile you hadn't seen in weeks. She looked more like the Ochako you knew. 

“I'm gonna tell Midoriya how I feel!”

Suddenly it was like a weight came down on your chest. Midoriya? Your Midoriya? Love of your life Midoriya? How could you have missed the signs? He was hanging out more with you, less with her. The way she tried so hard to get his attention. How could you have missed the obvious signs?

Suddenly you hated the fact you and Izuku kept your relationship secret. At first, it was so your classmates couldn't make a big deal about it, as time went on with your dad being All Might it just made more sense to help preserve Izuku's secret of being Toshinori's successor, but then the secrecy made it feel more romantic.

"You like Izuku?"

Your heart swelled as Ochako flopped back on the bed with an ever-growing smile.

"How couldn't I? He's sweet and nice. He's caring and he inspires me to be a better hero."

You bit your lip as you thought of what to say to your best friend. What could you say? 'I'm Sorry, I'm already dating him'? How could you hurt her like that when she's been nothing but a friend? How could you hurt her like that when she feels your like a sister to her? You couldn't.

The more you thought of Ochako and your boyfriend the worse your bad thoughts swirled. You'd never amount to great title your father left and the expectations people expected of you. Izuku would grow to fulfill your father's title, he would be a real hero. But what of you? You would grow to be an undercover hero like Eraserhead. But Ochako? She would look great at Izuku's side. She would be someone he could fight with side by side. She would be someone worth being with Izuku.

She would suit Izuku much better than you. They would be perfect together, better than you could be.

"Ochako, I have to go now. I hope it works out for you though!"

Quickly you got up off her bed and grabbed your bag before bolting out the door. Once you were away from your best friend and alone in the halls you slid your phone out of your pocket.

[Y/N]: Izuku... I think we should stop seeing each other. [Sent: 8:17 pm]

You don't even watch the little read sign pop-up. You don't watch Izuku's chat bubbles pop and go away. You just slide your phone back in your pocket and let the tears slide down your face.

You couldn't help but watch them as they ate lunch together. You were tables away from them, Ochako took this as you giving her and Izuku time to be alone together, really you were giving each other distance from the breakup.

You couldn't help but watch them as they ate lunch together. It had only been a couple of months, but it appeared a lot could happen in three months. As Ochako sat close to Izuku it felt wrong. As Izuku laughed at her jokes you felt sick. As Ochako leaned her head against Izuku you felt utterly disgusted.

Breaking up with Izuku was the worst mistake you ever made, but how could you not? If you hadn't Ochako would've been hurt. It was the worst mistake, but they were so happy and perfect together. They were like two halves of a whole.

They were two halves of a whole yet you couldn't help but stare at them. You couldn't help this jealous feeling from taking over as you hung out with Ochako. You couldn't help this wanting urge that overcame you every time you and Izuku passed in the halls. You couldn't help that he always crossed your mind. You couldn't help that seeing them together crushed your soul.

You couldn't help these feelings, yet you were the one who pushed him away from you and into the arms of your best friend.

Abruptly the chair next to you was pulled out and Katsuki Bakugo plopped his butt down next to you. Compared to yours, his lunch looked like a five-course meal. Of course, watching Izuku with Ochako really took away any appetite you had in you.

"Hi."

You smiled over at the blonde boy. Ever since you stopped sitting with Izuku, Katsuki had been hanging about with you. Contrary to what most of your class would say, Katsuki could be nice. His generosity came in his own rough way, still, he was a true friend to you.

"Stare at that shit-munches any longer and you'll burn a hole on his head."

"I wasn't staring."

Your words tumbled out quickly and fast. You didn't want anybody thinking you were crushing on Ochako's new boyfriend, not when they weren't privy to the information that said new boyfriend was your ex.

"Do you even realize how fuckin' obvious you make it? You're crushing on the damn nerd!"

"Shut up Katsu! You don't understand."

You pushed your lunch away from you and crossed your arms. You felt sick just having this conversation. You felt repulsed, and you knew the food would have a hard time going down.

Katsuki pushed your food back in front of you and crossed his own arms.

"So eat and explain it to me."

'I'm not hungry."

"Don't be fucking stupid. Not eating just because you're upset is gonna make you feel sick."

The sight of Ochako out of the side of your eye all over Izuku hurt and disgusted you. It repulsed and aggravated you. You didn't want to eat, yet, the look on Katsuki's face as he insisted you ate made you feel indifferent.

He cared for you, he was trying to be a good friend. For the sake of Katsuki, you pick up your fork and scoop some food in your mouth.

"I can't really explain it- I and Izuku dated before he and Ochako got together."

"Did the fucker break your heart?"

Despite Katsuki's gruff voice and colorful language, he still spoke quiet and kind towards you. Although, you could detect some disdain for Izuku in his voice.

"No, I ended it... I thought... I thought he could do better."

Katsuki doesn't say anything and you were sure you either upset him by talking about his enemy, or bored him to death by talking about your feelings. That was what you thought until you felt his warm fingers snap against your forehead.

"Ow."

He flicked you right out of nowhere.

"You're a fucking Idiot. If anyone could do better it's you. Deku was lucky he even had you, he never shoulda' let you go."

As the school bell rang Katsuki put his lunch container in his bag and walked away. He didn't head in the direction of class like everyone else. No, he was making a beeline for that shitty nerd, Deku.

The hard truth is you and Katsuki were a lot alike. You were both willing to suffer if it meant the one you truly loved was happy and thriving.

You sat on your bed, laptop, notebook, and homework books strewn across your lap. It looked messy, but not as messy as the rest of your room. You had dishes on the counter and clothes scattered in piles. It was messy like your life. You had kind of let it go to shit after you broke up with Izuku.

A quick, brisk knock on your door could be heard. You groaned as you pushed your work materials off of you to answer it. You hoped it wasn't your teachers, with such a messy room that would be embarrassing. Mostly you prayed it wasn't Ochako.

You unlatched the hook, twisted the knob and pulled the door open. You didn't know who you expected. Your teachers maybe, perhaps Katsuki. You didn't know who you expected, but you didn't expect to see him.

Izuku, with his messy green hair, looked like a mess. He was out of breath and it looked like his eye was purple and swelling. You wanted to pull him into a hug. You wanted to check out his eye and clean it up. You couldn't, that was Ochakos job.

He wasn't yours. Not anymore.

"Hey... What are you doing here?"

"I've been such an idiot."

You hugged yourself and leaned against the door frame as to not give away how nervous and timid you felt with him being here.

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about us! I should've fought for us and I didn't. I thought you needed space. I tried giving you space but it didn't help. It just pushed us away from each other."

"Zu' it doesn't matter. We're just not right for each other."

Izuku walked closer to you and you hugged yourself tighter. You had to be strong, you had to push him away. You had to, but as he placed his hands on your shoulders you felt your distance fall.

"We are right for each other. We were perfect for each other."

"No, we're not!"

"Yes, we are! Kacchan told me everything. I thought you needed space, what you really needed was reassurance."

You turned around from him and walked further into your dorm. Why couldn't he let this go? He could be so much happier with her.

"You needed reassurance and I didn't give that to you. I didn't fight. I didn't try. I just need you to know that Ochako will never be it for me. She will never be the girl I want to tell all my secrets too. She will never be the girl I think about late at night. She will never be the girl I love. She will never be you."

"She's so pretty, nice, and thoughtful. Why don't you want her? My skills, my looks? Just mediocre. Mineta doesn't even look at me, and he would look at trash if it had a vagina. I'm just All Might's daughter. I'm not special in any other way-"

While Izuku could admit fault for not being there for you, for not noticing how insecure you'd become in your relationship, he would never admit to or apologize for threatening Mineta into never looking at you.

"Don't you dare say that! You have never been All Might's daughter to me. You have always been [Hero Name]. You prove every day that you are more of a hero than anyone here. Your special, brilliant, and beautiful. I'm in love with you."

Izuku pulled you into his arms for the first time in three months. The emotions inside you broke and you allowed yourself to let out everything that had been bothering you. Everything that had been making you insecure.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there for you, but I'm here now, and I'm never leaving you."

As Izuku held you in his arms it felt right. It wasn't Izuku and Ochako. It was Izuku and you.

[estrxlar]

The Ghost Of You

03 - Music Room 3007

Chapters songs:

*Dagger; Slowdive

On The Level; Mac Demarco

F song; Strawberry Guy

^^^ when including * in chapters next to a song, that means it is a song that will be performed in the chapter.

———

— Y.L. Perspective

      "Sunshine girl is sleeping. She falls in dreams alone," sings Toruku in a calming tone into a microphone, along with the strumming of a guitar. "And me, I am her dagger. Too numb to feel her pain."

     "The world is full of noise, yes. I hear it all the time. And me, I am your dagger. You know I am your wound." I join in, adding onto his

      The words we sang were truly upsetting. About a boy, a lover, who is aware he's hurting the girl he loves. I couldn't compare any relationship I'd ever been through to those lyrics.

      Although one had always caught my eye: "I didn't really lose you, I just lost it for a while." It was easy to automatically think of the boy I was duetting with when we covered this; for some time now, Toruku has had small feelings for me.

       One of the things that repelled me from a relationship with him was the idea that it would end horribly, and that it would potentially ruin our relationship.

      Not to mention how much drama that would cause for two other unproblematic teenagers who were only trying to make a living off of their talent: Hikishi and Giki.

      But today wasn't about what would happen between the two of us— today was her day.

     "I thought I heard your whisper, it happens all the time." And with that, the song is brought to an ending, followed by my gaze met with the blonde boy.

       "That was, once again, better than before. But I feel as if it's missing something." He explains, as he removed the wooden instrument from his arm and leaned it against the bean bag he sat in.

       Music room 3007 contained the following: I couple of bean bag seats, a coffee table, a vending machine, almost every instrument in existence in an extra storage room, tools used to record and analyze music, and posters + records we kept throughout the years.

       Truth is, music room 3007 wasn't even really a part of the school anymore. Sure, it was still on maps and the district still paid the electricity, cable, and water bill. But barely any students or teachers paid much attention to it, for it was stuffed behind the gyms, which were two large buildings that would block out any view of the smaller one that stood behind it.

      'I hope Sugawara won't have any problem with finding this place.' I think to myself, as I stand from the chair to turn the camera and microphone off.

      We would set up different amps, microphones, and cameras when recording a cover of a song. This time, it was a basic acoustic from 1993, named 'Dagger' by Slowdive.

     After turning it all off, I plop back onto the cushion. "I think we've don't this quite enough times already, 'Ruku. We should upload it already and get on to the second song. I mean, we've been here a whole hour trying to perfect 'Dagger'." I say, removing my uniform's blazer, and throwing it across the coffee table. Next came my tie, and I unhooked the first two small buttons of my white collared shirt. The music room got hot when so many electronics were in use.

     "Maybe you're right. We should probably get onto another song." He replied, running his hands in the bridge of his nose and down his neck.

      I quickly stand up from my chair and stand behind him, leaning onto his shoulders. "I think you're just tired. Are you sure you wouldn't wanna go home?"

      Toruku runs a hand up my arm, patting my shoulder, then sighs heavily. I couldn't imagine how tired he must be after today. His thoughts must've been wearing him down. "Yes, I'm sure. Besides, I don't wanna leave you all alone."

      "No need, Sugawara will help me get home, remember?" I ask him, followed by a moan of protest. It worried me that Sugawara and Toruku most likely wouldn't get along, especially since both seemed so compatible at first.

      Both his hands leave mine and lay in his lap. "And what's with this Suga guy, Y/n? Is he your buddy?" His voice echoed through the band room, stabbing the back of my brain while I think for an answer that wouldn't sound suspicious. I would say no, but who knew what the future could hold.

"I dunno. But he means no harm! At least I think so.." Tired from squatting, I lift to stand on both feet properly. Toruku slides his hand away from my figure and brings it towards his face. It covers his mouth as he once again sighs. "You seem tired after today, Ruku. Is it because of Moku?"

Hopefully, I hadn't overstepped any boundaries with what I had said. Hopefully, I was remotely correct about why he looked so down. "Yeah, it is. I won't act as if it doesn't bother me because I know it bothers you too. Although it's been three years, I still feel very guilty for going on without her."

'At least he knows I'm here with him.' I thought, moving to the bean bag I had been in just a few moments ago. By her, I meant Torukus passed girlfriend, and my best friend: the reason I practically stopped living at the age of fifteen. Honestly, Toruku and I weren't even really that close. I knew her as her boyfriend and he knew me as her best friend. And as close as we were to her, we were never friends. Moku's death only brought us closer to each other, stirring up the beginning of a rock band.

      "I know what you mean. I do. Thankfully, this birthday of hers went better than the last two, wouldn't you say?" I ask, leaning on my elbows that sat on my knees.

      "Definitely. The previous ones all ended up in fights and long makeups. I guess we're just more laid back about it now," He explains, getting up from his seat, and browsing the instruments that were hung on the wall. His fingers wrap around his belt loops as he stands. "I feel bad for getting over her so quickly."

       "I know exactly what you mean. Never forget that I'm right here next to you, Toruku. That we've gotten through this together instead of alone. Although I wish you had talked to me more when it had first happened, I was all alone!" I chuckle at the last part, even if it wasn't funny at all. "I think the life we made out of our relationship has turned out for the better. Look where we are now: moving to American in about a year to sign to a label. Wouldn't she be proud we've gotten so far?"

      "Maybe you're right," Toruku says, leaning against the back wall. His hair danced over his eyes barely, as they stared right at me. "Maybe you should hit up Toru and Hajime, ask how they're doing. They went through this too, you know."

      "Yeah, I know. I haven't because I'm afraid of what they'll say, or if they even say anything at all. They're both a part of a very different social class after all. If anything, I'll probably get a simple thumbs up on my message." My voice grows low, expressing my tiredness from this conversation already.

      Toru and Hajime were two other people that used to be in my friend group with Moku throughout our childhood. Both were loud and expressive and played volleyball, but they were also very kind and friendly towards Moku, Toruku, and me. Once middle school had started, the five of us grew closer and closer by the second. We joined volleyball clubs, hung out at our houses practically every day, and grew popular throughout the years. But once Moku had passed, we all fell apart. She was what held us together after all.

       Both Hajime and Toru decided to go to another high school, and Toruku and I went to another. After that, we hadn't heard a single word from them.

      "It's worth a try, Y/n. We wouldn't want to seem inconsiderate." Toruku says as he pulls out a pack of cigarettes from his pockets, as well as a lighter. After lighting one, the smoke leaves his mouth slowly, as he continues. "I wish you would at least try to make amends between them. You were closer to them than I ever was."

     "I'll try. Just not now."

———

       After another hour of practice with Toruku, the two of us stood silent on our phones while we waited for Sugawara. Something told me that he had gotten lost. Either that, or he just forgot about me, which I wouldn't blame him for.

       But right when I was about to tell Toruku that we should go home, a message from an unknown number had shown up on the top of my phone screen that alarmed me.

      [Text Message: ###-###-####]

Hey, I can't find the music room. It's not on the school campus. Either that, or it's the most invisible classroom ever brought to this school.

     [Reply to ###-###-####]

I'm assuming this is Sugawara? Sorry, I don't have your number saved. If otherwise, the wrong number.

       After the second the message gave me a preview, I fully entered the screen. It had a profile picture, but not a contact name. Although, that was my very first-year-like of me to be irresponsible. [Sugawara] read the title after I'd edited it, and nothing more. Only a few brief messages that we had just sent to each other.

Sugawara

  

Hey, I can't find the music room. It's not on school campus. Either that, or it's the most invisible classroom ever brought to this school.

I'm assuming this is Sugawara? Sorry, I don't have your number saved. If otherwise, the wrong number.

Actually, right number! But seriously... I have no idea where the hell you are. Is it off-campus? I might just cry if I don't figure this out. I've been at it for a solid ten minutes.

Ten minutes?? Damn boy, you could've just asked to meet me in the cafeteria or something. Toruku and I have been waiting here for a while as well.

Sorry!!

No need to apologize.

- you have started sharing your location with {Sugawara}-

Thanks. See you in a bit.

      After discussing where I was hanging, I decided to look more into this saved contact. 'Had I really been so close to him as to have discussions with him?' I think as I decide to read a few more messages above our most recent convo. They only consisted of homework answers, tutoring questions, and a few more comments about school festivals and such. A good ten invites to a volleyball game were stored in there as well. I hadn't realized how much he had meant to me just two years ago. Time flies, taking most of your memories with you.

      A few more moments went by before a knock came upon the room's entrance door, as well as the voice of someone behind it. "Uhm— hello..? Is this the right room?"

     "No, go away," Toruku replies in a deeper, scarier voice as he shuffled towards the door to reveal Sugawara standing there alone with a frightened expression.

      Suga sighed, putting a hand over his chest while he smiled. "That gave me a heart attack." He says, fixing his eyes towards my sitting figure. "Ready to go?"

     I nod, lifting from my seat and stretching out my arms while yawning loudly. "God, I'm tired," I mumble to myself, gathering my bag and the tie and jacket I had taken off, before slowly walking over towards Sugawara. "Isn't it after practice? Shouldn't you be all tired and worked out?"

    "Oh, no. Today was only focused on the new players, which honestly didn't go so well." He explained, finishing with a soft chuckle. Though I could tell it was filled with disappointment, for the way he looked down on the floor was purely depressing.

      But quickly steered the conversation another way to distract him from it; that was the least I could do. "Oh, well, today it was just Toruku and me. But thankfully we just recorded some extra vocals so we didn't have to record the rest of the teams' jobs."

     Sugawara distracts himself, taking small glances around the room as I explain to him what we did. He observes the different colors and pictures on the walls, the furniture we helped ourselves to, and the instruments gathered onto the wall. "It looks quite comfortable in here. To be honest, I'm surprised that the school even lets you decorate this place all by yourselves."

       "They didn't, they just don't know about it. It's quite convenient if you ask me.." I mumble, shuffling from one foot to the other. What I said was no lie, we were truly blessed to have had a room to ourselves here on campus. If it wasn't for the band teacher who had shown it to us, we probably would've spent our practice time in a garage where there's no AC or comfortable floors.

      Meanwhile, Toruku explained to Sugawara the reasoning behind each decoration, I check the timing. It was 6:00 PM, just in time for my mother to get home from work.

      "Should we get going?" I ask the grey-haired boy, as he's brought back to reality. He and Toruku sharply turn, pausing their supposedly intriguing conversation, as he nodded to my question.

       "I guess so. Well, thank you for showing me this place, I never would've discovered it if it wasn't for you two." Sugawara states, bowing towards the blonde boy with a cigar.

      "Alright, I'll catch you later, Y/n. And it was nice meeting you today, Sugawara." After I have a small hug to Toruku and said my goodbyes, Suga and I were out the door.

      Our walk began with the two of us climbing down a few stairs, and jogging towards where the sidewalk actually began. From there on, it was easy getting towards the main part of campus, and walking home would be a piece of cake. For Sugawara, I mean.

       "So, do you walk home every day?" I ask, tightening my hands around my bento box. The silence between us rested heavily on my chest; not a single word left his mouth.

       But it may have been because he was stuck in his own little world, for soon after my question, he blinked his eyes a couple of times and cleared his throat. "Oh, no— not really. I only walk after practice when I stay late. But on free days, like in the morning, I ride the bus."

       Nodding, I explain my way of getting to and from school as well. "Me too. Well, usually my mother would drive me before school even started. Either that or I would ride my skateboard and hide it in some gutter. You know how angry the school gets about skateboards." I laugh, hoping he'd approve of joking with school rules. But knowing Sugawara, he probably already knew I bend some.

       "Ah, yes. That's convenient. But how far did you live before moving into [Neighborhood]? Surely not too far, right?" He questions, looking down at me for an honest answer.

        I widen my eyes at this, making my answer to his questions obvious already. "Uhm.. no! Just a mile and a half away, not a big deal.." My head turns the other way while I giggle at Sugawara's shock. It wasn't a big deal for me at all, I didn't mind getting the few extra steps in the morning. As for him, he must have not had to walk that far every day to understand. I didn't blame him for being so surprised. It wasn't every day you find someone who voluntarily walks that far.

      "Oh— that's.. that's a lot! I'm sorry that you had to do that. It must have been hell! But thankfully you have someone to join you on transportation, right?" Sugawara gives me side-eyes, as a smile appeared on his pale face.

      "Yeah.. you're right." My sentence runs low in the cold, shaking as I shift from the sidewalk to the road. The pavement felt hard and slippery due to the transition from winter to spring, yet it was still freezing outside.

      "You know... it was strange bumping into you today. To be honest, I feel like I'm fifteen again. I think that's just how you make others feel, you know?" My words come out abruptly, but I didn't mind. After today's long day all I wanted was one honest conversation.

     Thankfully, Sugawara felt the same I did. "Spending time with each other must have brought back lots of memories, even if they were small." He says to me, observing the way my feet jumped from the curb to the street.

      The feeling he brought was like a scent from years ago when you're a little kid. Whether you're reading by a window, or running through a meadow, you'd forgotten it ever even tickled your senses.

     "It's kind of strange. Even if we weren't best friends, you still meant a lot to me. I'm wondering whether or not you're still the same, and if that could be brought back." I explain, drawing out my arms to make a tree-like pose while I played hopscotch with the roads. The keychains that hung on my badge made a 'clunk!' noise against the ID, meanwhile, I discussed. "We've both changed so much, Sugawara."

       "You're right, we have. But for the better, you know? I think at the moment I'm mentally healthier than in the past year. And as for you, I think anyone can see that. I don't mean that your time of grief was a mistake, but I'm happy that you've been nicer to yourself."

       "Yeah, me too." My words stutter, interrupted by the loud engine behind me. Sugawara and I quickly turn towards the noise, widening our eyes at how close the vehicle was. Suddenly, an ear-piercing honk is signaled from the driver, and I'm quickly pulled from in front of the car to under a streetlight in one's arms.

       The action is hasty and happened in just a split second, but enough to save me from being run over. Barely comprehending what had just occurred, I freeze in place just like the slippery road. And as the car honks off, I'm left, once again, alone with Suga. Only this time, uncomfortably in his arms.

     Lightning travels down my back once I realize I was being held by a stronger, warmer body. Both my arms were being tightly held by his, and my body barely being separated from his by an inch. I stared right into his eyes, as he did so as well.

     "Y/n, you. you've got to be careful. Be careful."

      Sugawara's words ring in my ears, as I rapidly blink to regain consciousness. Immediately after, a scatter to search for my school bag, which was thrown only a few feet away from me. After retrieving it, I quickly stand onto my feet and turn to Suga, who's already prepared to continue our walk.

      "I'll be careful."

      With that, the two of us continue our journey towards home in silence once more.

      I've gotta be careful with Sugawara.

——

Thanks for coming back to read :) I know my story is crappy but I've only been writing for a little so you could understand why. Please please vote for my chapters, thank you.

- star

[mars-the-4th-planet]

Ivy Munger plays WAL (part one)

The youtuber Ivy Munger sits on her gaming couch, where she holds an ancient cartridge up to the camera. "Hey guys and gals and nonbinary pals," She says. "Today, we're not playing a horror game, or a hentai game, or a strategy game, or anything like that. We're going to be playing a good-old-fashioned obscure Nintendo game! Like I wanted to do all along, but nooooo the network says I gotta pander to-"

Someone whispers to the youtuber off-screen.

"-Anyway, we're going to be playing WAL, a not-so-hit from the late 1900s starring Waluigi. I've been wanting to review this for a while, but I was busy doing... Other things."

Sakura, Ivy's anime girl pet, is seen in a flashback where she walks in on her master/mistress on the computer. "Hey Chief!" She says. "Are you recording or editing a video so we can have a consistent upload schedule for our game reviews? Or streaming a game so you can spend time with the adorable and handsome Skye Munger? Or maybe you're bettering yourself by learning something online!"

Ivy didn't respond. Sakura hopped onto her desk so she could see the monitor. "Chief!" She chided. "You're just staring at a spiral again!"

Ivy's eyes are also spirals in the flashback.

"Which brings us back to now." Ivy said, now in the present. "I had Sakura go to the aquarium so she wouldn't bother me. The squids always entertain her for hours. But I got to thinking: Why don't I go ahead and make a review? So here we are boxies, are you ready to learn a little bit more about Waluigi lore!?"

"Yaaaaaay!" cried the edited in audience in the background. "Alright! So first things first, a little background."

"WAL is a product created by Nintendo as a part of the 'grow the world' initiative, in which they would donate food, seeds for crops, as well as tractors, pails, shovels, plows, and all sorts of other farming equipment to communities struggling to make enough food for themselves. Half of the excess profits from this game and other GTW products would go to help fund this project. The idea behind it is making these communities capable of feeding themselves in the long run. How successful it was is debatable. But it seems like their heart was in the right place, at least!"

"Yes. Nintendo's one collective heart that beats in the center of the Japanese Empire." Spookbox added, after materializing out of nowhere. "I wonder what would happen if it stopped?"

"Uhhh..." Ivy looked confused. "First, it's not an empire anymore, second, what are you doing here? I thought you died or something in the last episode."

Spookbox scoffed. "Clearly you don't understand how episodic shows work, Ivy. I come back every other episode."

"...Anyway." Ivy went on. "Let's get the game started and I'll show you how it works."

The screen switches to a recording of a retro-looking game screen. On the front is Waluigi, stomping the ground in an inexplicable rage. The background looked like that of Super Mario World.

"So as you can see, WAL starts us off with Waluigi looking angry. This exact stomping animation is reused in other games, and is referenced in 3D titles like Super Mario Tennis and Super Smash Bros. Let's hit start."

"The game then goes into a cutscene, in which we see the W brothers counting up their coins while Mario is tied up in the corner, looking furious. Next to them is an old fashioned psychiatrist booth that says: 'rope therapy: 5 coins.' Apparently Mario was foolish enough to be duped into getting tied up and robbed. Which seems a little out of character for him, since I had the impression Mario wasn't that dumb."

"Oh really?" Trolli said, poking his fluffy head out from behind the couch. The camera cut back to the real world. "Clearly you're not a REAL FAN of the Mario franchise, because if you WERE then you'd remember that Mario was always portrayed as dumb in the show Super Mario Mario Ontario, which was the Canadian version of the Super Mario Bros Super Show."

"Take a shot every time someone says super or Mario during this episode." Suggested Spookbox. "Spooky, that would kill them!" Ivy pointed out.

"Good."

"Anyway Trolli, no I didn't watch that because I-"

"Was into my little pony at the time?" Trolli asked with a smirk.

"....yes."

Trolli doubled over with laughter and disappeared. Spookbox sat on the couch next to Ivy. "Let's keep it moving Ivy, before any more dumb characters show up."

"Hey! They're not dumb-"

"Just review the game Ivy."

"..." The screen now displayed the game once again."

"So, in this cutscene, there's a crack that appears in the ground. Waluigi jumps to save Wario as the earth opens up, swallowing Mario and the bag of coins. I'm not sure where they go, but I assume the Mario equivalent of hell."

"At this point, Wario and Waluigi shout 'Our coins!!!' showing zero regard for Mario's life. At the same time though, it's kind of a wholesome moment as it shows as greedy and willing to scam people as these two are, they both care enough about each other to say "our coins" in the heat of the moment instead of "my coins" which implies they both intended to share and not trick the other."

"It's revealed that Bowser is at fault for splitting the ground open, as you see him in the flying clown head he was in during Super Mario World. He's flying high above the scene, and you can see from his angle that the continent is shattering and floating in different directions. It's never fully explained why he wants to do this, other than to "divide and conquer" as he puts it."

"It's heavily implied after this part that the mushroom kingdom is supposed to be Italy, due to the presence of Italian plumbers. In addition, Bowser's actions are supposed to represent what Spain did to the Italian states during 1413. I don't know anything about it, I just read that fact on the fan wiki."

"So as time goes on, all the little bits of the continent that made up the mushroom kingdom develop their own, like, biomes and stuff. I guess because their position on the planet is different now so the water level and latitude changed and- I don't know, I'm not a scientist."

"Clearly not!" Came another voice. The camera switched back to the real world just as Spookbox said "Oh no."

"But that's okay, because I am!" It was a new character, who looked like Ivy but (slightly) more girly (than the already girly ivy) and wearing a scientist costume from what remained of K-Mart. "My name is Dr. Kutunari. But you can call me Kutie!" She said, sounding like Ivy but more high pitched and whimsical. She did a pose that emphasized her hips. "What needs to be explained here?"

"Nothing! It's just a video game, go away!" Spookbox snarled. "Aww..." Dr. Kutunari said sadly before leaving.

The screen went back to the game, with a new character having subtly been introduced for future episodes.

"So Bowser has created a world with many biomes for the purpose of conquering it. You see a brief montage of various classic Mario enemies taking over the world from swamps to mountains to fields to forests to deserts to snow. There's nothing stopping him, the toads sure aren't going to. You see the toad general, who surrenders on the first day. It's a sad display really."

"However, Bowser forgot one thing: Waluigi. He's not going to rest until he gets his coins back. Him and Wario both. So they talk to like, this Star spirit thing, that says their money will return tenfold if they can create the web of time using Star Crystals. Which makes them both have heart eyes. To do this, they need to put one in a top secret machine that exists on each of the chunks of the continent."

"Afterwards, it's explained that the landmasses will be squeezed back into their correct place. Bowser of course will do everything in his power to try and stop you. Waluigi is just about to head out with Wario, only to see Wario trying to climb his way down into the split in the earth. Obviously trying to get his money back faster. Which now only leads down to the ocean, and has lots of steam flowing out of it that disorients Wario and makes the rocks slippery. Apparently he couldn't wait to put the land back together, and instead wants some money immediately. Despite the EXTREME DANGER of crawling down a giant slippery crack in the planet..."

"Waluigi tries to call Wario back up, but one last tremor of the earth causes Wario to slip and fall, which makes Waluigi cry and shake his fist at the sky. He vows to defeat Bowser and fix everything. Then you're presented with the save file screen, and are free to start Level One. Level One is set in the grasslands, as you would expect."

"Ugh... We're out of time Ivy." Spookbox grumbles. "We'll have to make it a two parter."

"Yeah I guess you're right." Ivy said, the camera now back on her. "We'll see you all next time as we delve into this classic Nintendo game!"

"We didn't even get to the part with the bullet bill dating minigame!" Trolli complained from somewhere off-camera.

"We'll do that tomorrow. I'm Jukebox, and thank you beautiful people for a wonderful time!" She said before blowing a kiss at the camera and the screen going black.