#Eighteenth Official Post

[faux-ecrivain]

Yandere Darling

Yandere Darling x gn reader

(Eighteenth Official Post)

(This isn’t my best)

(Yan’s name is Amos)

Yan Darling that used to be kidnapped, that thought he would never escape.

Yan Darling who fought everyday to keep his Kidnapper from hiring him (regardless of how much they claimed they loved him).

Yan Darling that almost gives in after months and months of torture and mind breaking, who almost believes the Kidnapper when they say no one’s coming for him. (“Give up Amos, sweetheart, no one’s looking for you, no one wants you.”)

Yan Darling who cries tears of joy (and anguish) when you rescue him (completely by accident, you just wanted to rob the place).

Yan Darling who panics when you leave his side to talk to the police officer, he’s afraid that’ll he’ll get hurt again if you aren’t with him. 

He tugs on the back of your shirt, your turn your head to look at him and are met, briefly, with teary eyes, and pouty lips. “Please don’t go, I’m scared..” He mumbled, his eyes cast to the ground  and his hand clutching your shirt like a life line. You can’t help but feel the urge to protect him, to watch over him and it’s only because he reminds you of your little brother. “Alright, I’ll stay, but I’ll have to talk to the policemen eventually.”

Yan Darling who’s eyes light up when you tell him you’ll go with him, his heart pounds when you ride in the ambulance with him and then when you sit beside his bed he can’t help but cry again.

Yan Darling who cries even more when you try to sooth his cries, he apologizes over and over again. He feels so terrible crying in front of you like that, he shouldn’t do that, but he can’t help himself.

Yan Darling who starts giggling when you begin to panic over him, he giggles even more when your face contorts into confusion and you don’t know how to help him.

You were fussing over a crying Amos when he started to giggle, you didn’t know what was so funny and asking him didn’t help. He just kept giggling, then when your face shifted into confusion he began to full on laugh. (It was kind of creepy) He only stops when he starts coughing and his throat feels sore, it’s been a while since he laughed like that. Amos smiles when you hand him a glass of water, you’re so kind to him.

Yan Darling who pouts when you have to leave, no he doesn’t care if visiting hours are up, he just wants to spend time with you.

Yan Darling who makes you swear to come back tomorrow, or he’ll never talk to you again, and feels delighted when you agree.

Yan Darling who can’t wait for you to come back and when you do return, he greets you with open arms. 

Yan Darling who chats with for hours and hours, occasionally bursting into tears if you show him an inkling of kindness. Each moment spent with you is a moment he cherishes.

Yan Darling who looks forward to you visits and even dreams about visiting you.

Yan Darling who was upset when you didn’t come in on your usual days, then he got even more upset when his family visited instead of you. He doesn’t like his family, but they don’t seem to care.

Yan Darling who gives you the cold shoulder when you do eventually come visit, regardless of the reason you give him (or the apology).

“Amos, I’m really sorry, I just got caught up in work and by the time I got off visiting hours were over. (Actually you were in jail and just got bailed out)” You apologize again, trying to get his attention and you even go as far as to place your hand near his own hand. He takes notice of this and can feel his resolve crumbling, he really wants to hold your hand. “Hmph, liar, I bet you were just avoiding me!” 

He grumbles, his lips pulled into a cute pour and his eyes narrowed in a heated glares. “No, I wasn’t avoiding you. I could never avoid you, I care about you too much.” You smile softly and his resolve wavers, he gives into your kindness, and cautiously grabs hold of your hand. “Hm, fine, i guess I’ll forgive you, but don’t do it again!”

Yan Darling who is so excited when he’s finally released, now he can go over to your house and spend more time with you!

Yan Darling whose mood quickly drops when he’s released to his family and not you. He didn’t want to be with them, he wanted to be with you..

Yan Darling who gives his family the cold shoulder, no matter how much they try to care for him (he knows it’s all an act).

Yan Darling who begins to lash out when his family forbids him from visiting you. (“I’m not a child, mum! I can make my own decision and see my own people!”)

Yan Darling who runs away from his family and wonders around until he comes across you. Actually, you had saved him once more when he had been cornered by a group of thugs and almost beaten up. 

Yan Darling whose heart races when he sees you defending him, protecting him and his mind runs back to when you first rescued him. You care about him so much, you must love him.

Yan Darling who readily nods when you make a joke of being his bodyguards and following him 24/7. He gets so confused when you become concerned for him, did he say something wrong (yes, he said you should stalk him).

Yan Darling who begins to cry when you ask him why he’s out so late and so far from home, he reluctantly informs you of his troubles and is overjoyed when you invite him over.

Yan Darling who finds your house fascinating, it’s so lived in and it’s so.. you!

Yan Darling who eagerly listens to the tales you regale him with tales of your exploits and stories about your childhood. 

Yan Darling who gets upset when you compare him to your younger brother, he doesn’t want to be your brother! He wants to be your lover. 

He pouts and glares at you, he doesn’t want to be your brother. “I’m not your brother! I’m not related to you at all!” He gets so confused when you giggle at his response, he’s being very serious right now. Don’t laugh at him!

Yan Darling who pouts and tells you to take him seriously, he’s a person too! 

Yan Darling who becomes relieved once you reassure him that you do indeed view him as a person (and essentially a man).

Yan Darling who whines when you tell him it’s bed time, but relents once you promise to tuck him in and kiss him good night.

Yan Darling who gets all flustered when you do actually tuck him in and kiss him good night. Ah, you must really love him!

Yan Darling whose face is all red when you kiss him, he’s never felt this way before..

Yan Darling who struggles to fall asleep and can’t help but think about you, think about a future with you.

Yan Darling who gets angry when he thinks about the prospect of you leaving him or finding another to dote on. His little heart couldn’t handle having you leave him and it definitely couldn’t handle you loving another!

Yan Darling who catches himself before his mind wanders into dangerous territory, he shouldn’t feel this way, especially not after what he’s gone through. He doesn’t want to hurt you like he was hurt, he wants to love you.

Yan Darling who apologizes when he sees you in the morning, which of course confuses you. Why is he apologizing?

Tears stream down his face as he confesses his thoughts and begs for your forgiveness, meanwhile you’re still trying to process that weird dream you had last night and this situation doesn’t help. You put down you mug and try to reassure him, surely whatever he’s feeling is normal, and he shouldn’t feel so guilty over such thoughts. After all, he seems to have no intentions to make his dreams come true.

Yan Darling who feels so much better after you accept his apology, that’s so kind of you and after he’s caused you so much trouble. Oh, he just wants to hug!

You’re surprised when Amos entraps you in a hug, you didn’t expect this to happen. You awkwardly pat his back and then wait for him to quit hugging you. He’s seemingly oblivious to how uncomfortable his unexpected hug makes you, he seems to take your reluctance to respond as you being shy. He smiles and hugs you tighter.

Yan Darling who whines when you manage to escape his hold, he just wanted to share his love with you.

Yan Darling who almost throws a temper tantrum when you prevent him from hugging you again.

Yan Darling who’s only placated when you  offer him some warm food, although he’s sure to kick up a fuss if you don’t cuddle him later this afternoon.

Yan Darling who becomes overly clingy and affectionate throughout the passage of time, each moment around him is spent in his hold or with him hanging off your arm.

Yan Darling who’s scared you’ll leave him alone and does whatever it takes to keep you happy.

(you can probably tell, but I lost motivation halfway near the end, when I started this fanfic i was half asleep and had stayed up all night. So, it wasn’t the best and I apologize for that.)

(Also, you could expect another post later today, but don’t get your hopes up!)

[luminetti]

Dressed to Kill

༘⋆ Summary: In which, you, a professional cosplayer, mistake Bakugou’s hero outfit for a really good Halloween costume. ༘⋆ Pairing: bakugou katsuki x fem!reader ༘⋆Warnings: n/a, reader is just the biggest dumbass (lovingly) also, i cannot stress this enough. they are NOT CHILDREN in this. they’re both at least the age of college seniors  ༘⋆Notes: huge thanks to one of my biggest inspirations for writing in general: @andypantsx3 ! this fic is lightly inspired by—and lowkey a lovechild of—her pieces, baby are you playing tricks and unconventional, so if you somehow haven’t read those yet, i strongly recommend doing so!  also now that i actually have more than one piece of writing, id love for some writer/fandom moots! im very new to tumblr and would love friends :’)  ao3 release

Halloween was by far your favorite holiday. 

As a child, you were always drawn to Halloween, not just for the candy, but for the extravagant costumes and house decorations. Nearly every year, you stayed up late with your father, hand-sewing various details onto your costume. Finally, for your eighteenth birthday, you were gifted your very own sewing machine which officially kickstarted your interest in cosplay.

Throughout your first couple years of college, you worked on your Twitter account, posting quick mirror selfies of your various cosplay projects. Only during senior year did you finally feel comfortable enough to go out in public for your first official photoshoot.

‘Comfortable’ was a bit of a stretch. Very seldom does one feel truly comfortable when posing in front of a grandiose fountain in the middle of a public garden, fully clad in foam armor. What made it significantly worse was when the aforementioned armor looked more like a metal bikini than an actual chest plate worn into battle.

Poor character design choices aside, you loved Halloween for that very reason. With everyone dressed up–or down, for some–there was no reason to feel self-conscious during your monthly photoshoots. Sure, there was the occasional snide remark, but the number of supportive comments from passersby was enough to quiet your uncertainty.

This year you had stayed up late for the past month putting the final touches on your purple staff, even attempting an LED system that allowed parts of it to glow. It had taken two weeks to get the prototype of the dress situated since you weren’t used to sewing such a large amount of detail into your fabrics. Unfortunately, this also meant it took significantly longer to finish the outfit than expected, leaving almost no time to do your wig. But, in true cosplayer fashion, you managed to whip something together with an older purple wig, just in time for tonight.

You did, however, only realize the character also had a sword occasionally, but there was no way you were going to make that in time so the staff would have to suffice.

The night had already been proving to be one of the best so far. Starting around eight in the evening, you and some of your closest friends had gotten together for a costume party, a series of shitty horror movies, and a plethora of even shittier cheap cocktails. Despite not being much of a drinker yourself, you always participated in the annual spooky-themed cocktail charcuterie. This year you weren’t holding back. Your pride and joy charcuterie consisted of nine drinks including, but not limited to ghost-themed Aperol Spiritz–nicknamed Spirit Spiritz, Bloody Marys, and your personal favorite, Bonejitos. They even had little skeleton dudes sitting on the rim of the glass.

Unfortunately, your friends weren’t very amused by your festive drinks, even going as far to say your ingenious Bonejitos were a stretch. So, clearly they didn’t see the vision. Eventually, the party events died down as the guests began to go home, allowing the night to evolve into just drinking.

“Did you get a photo of your costume yet?” Himari, your friend from freshman year, questioned.

You shook your head, absently watching as the rest of your friends downed your masterly made Bonejitos. Liars, all of them. “‘A stretch’ my ass,” you scoffed.

Himari dug around in her bag, retrieving her camera. “Halloween photoshoot? Your fit is cute and I’m getting bored here.”

You did like the idea of photography-major level photos with none of the price involved. “I love you, Mari.”

She stuffed your spear under her arm and with that, the two of you stepped out into the cold and crisp autumn air, the breeze running over your bare shoulders and thighs. You shivered lightly, pulling up your thigh-highs and hugging the excess fabric close to your body.

Himari glanced at you in concern. “Does the Raiden Shogun not wear a jacket?”

“Unfortunately, she doesn’t.” You chuckled, rubbing your arms. “You can’t be sexy and wear a jacket,” you joked.

She hummed in sympathy, looking around for a good place to set up. The park was a particularly popular spot during Halloween, specifically known for its comforting lighting and ambience.

 “What about there?” Himari pointed to a small gazebo surrounded by violets, lit up by a string of fairy lights. There were a couple groups nearby, but otherwise it was pretty much empty.

You nodded, excited. “Good eye as always, Mari.”

She handed over your spear and offered an arm,helping you step up onto the platform and underneath the gazebo. While she adjusted the lights to her liking, you took a moment to adjust your skirt and sleeves.

“Do you think it’s too short?” you asked, tugging on the cloth. Thankfully the character wore a pair of shorts underneath, but the dress was barely miniskirt length.

Himari looked over briefly before turning back to the lights. “No, not really. Why? Are you uncomfortable?”

Before you could answer, a group of college-aged girls passed by the gazebo, clearly a bit drunk. As they left, one of the girls that was hanging onto her friend’s arm looked over. “Don’t be, girlie! You look hot as fuck!” she shouted out, words slightly slurred.

You flustered, blabbering out a quick thanks in surprise. There’s nothing like a friendly drunk girl to get your confidence up.

From behind the camera, Himari gave you a thumbs up. “Give me one of these.” She mimed leaning against the wooden banister. “Yeah like that, but with your leg more out.”

The shutter clicked several times as you did your best to recreate her gestures.

Himari proceeded to guide you through a series of poses, occasionally having you incorporate your staff or the gazebo. Eventually you got used to the flashing camera and allowed yourself to melt into the character, embodying her essence as best as you could.

Time flew and before you knew it, Himari was calling you down from the gazebo to look over the photos. You hovered over her shoulder as she flipped through each one, pausing at her favorites.

“I’ll import these onto my laptop and send them back edited sometime this week,” she told you, removing her glasses and wiping them off with her sleeve.

You nodded. “Thanks for doing this, you really didn’t have to.” You rummaged through your bag, hoping to find at least a little money for her efforts. Feeling a couple bills between your fingers, you held them out to her.

Himari’s eyes squinted and you realized she was staring over your shoulder. “I think that guy in costume was looking at you,” she said, still cleaning off the lenses.

You turned to see a tall man across the park, large grenade shaped gauntlets resting on both his arms. He quickly looked away once he saw your head turn. Looking closer, you realized he was dressed in a dark black sleeveless jumpsuit with orange and green straps along his body.

He was clearly a Dynamight cosplayer. And by the looks of it, a really talented one at that.

You were almost convinced that he had real hero equipment on. His armor pieces were strikingly accurate, and you made a mental note to look for more realistic prop materials.

“He probably spent a lot of time on that,” you mused to Himari, who had already gone back to inspecting the photos.

“You should go ask him about it.” she suggested, collecting the rest of her things and zipping her bag. “I’ve gotta catch an Uber soon.”

Maybe it was the lingering confidence gifted by the girl from earlier, but you managed to muster up enough self-assurance to wave goodbye to Himari and stride right up to the cosplayer.

As you got closer, you realized just how much work must have gone into all the details. The gauntlets–a very convincing metal–had several dents and scratches, giving it a worn down look, as if it had been used frequently.

His hair looked far too real to be a wig, likely just being his natural hair with lots of product in it. The most impressive detail by far was his physique. Had he trained specifically for this? The closer you got the more you noticed. If you were lucky, maybe he’d give you the name of his supplier.

“I love your outfit!” You smiled cheerily at him.

He turned to look at you, slightly taken aback. “Thanks?” he replied, folding his arms as he looked you over, eyes lingering on your cosplay.

You felt a twinge of anxiety as he inspected your outfit. He probably just didn’t recognize the character, you convinced yourself.

“I’m a cosplayer too,” you clarified, gesturing to your dress. “But clearly not as dedicated as you.”

You watched as his chest puffed lightly at the compliment, though he titled his head, a bit puzzled.

Clearing your throat awkwardly, you tried a different method. “How long did it take to make?”

He blinked at you and shrugged. “Dunno. Maybe a couple of months? I just told them what I wanted.”

Oh, you got it now. He’s just a model. It wasn’t uncommon for people to collaborate on cosplays, especially ones where one person either commissions or buys a cosplay from an artist, and then models it themself. Either way, he was still one of the best you’ve seen.

You nodded in understanding. “Do you have social media? I’d love to see what else you’ve done.” Pulling out your phone, you loaded up your Twitter, preparing to enter his tag.

“Dynamight Official. All one word,” he replied hesitantly, looking you up and down as if he was scanning for signs of sickness.

You chuckled faintly. He was really dedicated to his role. “Well, what's your name? I follow a lot of cosplayers already. Maybe I’ve seen you?” You pulled up your profile and turned the screen around to show him in case he recognized your tag.

His arms unfolded and his face slowly morphed from confused to exceptionally amused. “Bakugou Katsuki. I am Dynamight.”

Waving him off absently, you nodded as you scrolled through your followed accounts. You swear you’ve seen him online before. “Sorry, I’m not really good at roleplay. But you’re pretty convincing.”

He leaned against the cold metal lamppost, watching you sift through various Twitter accounts. You sneaked a glance to check his facial features again, but he was already staring straight back at you.

In such close capacity, his striking crimson eyes stood out to you. Even his contacts were high quality… Fighting back the warmth that threatened your cheeks and ears, you averted your gaze downwards.

Your eyes flicked to his waist. You hadn’t noticed it before, but a thick black bomber jacket was tied tightly around his torso, unlike the real hero’s costume. Well, you stand corrected. You certainly can be sexy with a jacket.

Speaking of jackets, you had been so caught up in conversation you hadn’t realized how cold it had gotten. The soft breeze from earlier had picked up into chilly wind, rustling the fabric of your dress as it blew by.

Bakufaux–haha–seemed to notice your interest in his jacket, untying it and tossing it over your shoulders. “Bit cold for you, Princess?” he drawled. “D’nno how you’ve managed in that outfit.” He gestured to your short dress and tall socks.

You couldn’t help but notice how his gaze lingered on you for a half second longer than normal. Not that you would’ve said anything. Thanks to his jacket, you were enveloped with warm and musky scents of charcoal and sandalwood. Though, being honest with yourself, you’ve been distracted ever since you walked over.

You snapped out of your trance when he pushed himself off the lamppost and leaned over you. It could’ve been twenty degrees out and you’d still swear you were overheating.

“Ever considered cosplaying in my costume?” He asked, watching your darkening cheeks closely.

Maybe it was the shit eating grin he wore proudly on his face, or the sneaking suspicion in your gut, but you had an inkling of a feeling he knew something you didn’t. In a surge of confidence and curiosity, or perhaps just pure adrenaline, you took a step forward.

“And if I have?”

Something snapped behind his eyes and you could’ve sworn his gaze dropped to your lips. He might’ve actually kissed you if you weren’t interrupted by the sound of glass shattering and the screams of customers inside a late night coffee shop.

You felt your heart rate increase as he swore under his breath, whatever smug expression he previously had was replaced by something far more intense and serious.

‘“I’m not leaving you out here alone, stay close to me,” he urged, taking one last look at you before turning and running towards the sound.

It took you a second to realize you were running behind him as fast as possible.

As the two of you neared the coffee shop, you noticed numerous shards of glass laid out on the concrete. On a second glance, you noticed some of the smaller shards were beginning to melt, turning the ground slightly slick.

You halted to a stop, almost crashing into your new friend. You felt a warm hand snake around your waist, lifting your body off the ground and onto a nearby bench.

“Don’t touch the ground, and stay right here,” he told you sternly, before turning and rushing straight into the cafe.

You watched, frozen in astonishment, only able to hear the horrific sounds of glass and… explosions? Occasionally you caught a glimpse of blonde hair, dropping off a poor customer caught in the crossfire, before dashing straight back inside. In what felt like seconds, he had already retrieved nearly every patron from the cafe, all while the villain was still inside.

Quickening footsteps approached from behind your place on the bench. You barely had a chance to comprehend the noises when a flash of red zipped past you, making a beeline straight for the cafe. Only after several trips in and out of the building did you finally recognize the eccentric costume of Pro-Hero Red Riot as he gathered the remainder of the victims outside.

Through the ringing in your ears you could only vaguely make out shouting between Red Riot and someone else still inside the building. It was all intelligible until he turned to you and the victims. The last words you heard was look away, or at least you assumed.

You weren’t interested in waiting around to find out so you shut your eyes tight and turned away from the scene as best as you could.

At first nothing happened. But after a beat, you felt your eyes burn behind your eyelids as a blistering wave of heat surrounded you. You think you screamed, but you weren’t entirely sure. Every muscle in your body tensed as the bench shook underneath you, threatening to break.

But as quickly as it came, it passed. You couldn’t tell how long you had been trapped in that position, clutching your knees to your chest with your eyes sealed shut. A warm hand shook you out of position, jostling your eyes open.

When your eyes finally adjusted, blocking your vision of the cafe was none other than a tall silhouette, and familiar red eyes.

“Hey, stay with me, Princess. You hurt?”

You felt calloused hands hastily press against your body, examining you for injury. He took a hold of your ankle, easing you into extending. “Anything?”

Shaking your head, you gripped onto him as he lifted you from the bench to your feet, steadying you with strong arms.

“Happy Halloween,” you managed to mutter meekly into his chest.

You felt him shudder beneath your head as he laughed, surprisingly heartily.

“Certainly one you’ll remember.” His low voice resonated in your brain, calming whatever nerves were remaining. “Let’s get you home, m’kay?”

You let him navigate you back to your apartment surprisingly deftly given your shaky directions, until finally you found yourself thanking him at your doorstep and shutting the door behind you.

Now that you were home and given a chance to breathe, you weren’t sure what was real. Everything mixed together in a blur and you couldn’t tell if it was all a dream or not.

As you groggily slumped against your bed, you felt something soft bundle against your back. Sitting up, you reached behind your back to feel the cool fabric of the black jacket you had been holding tightly against yourself. Embroidered on the sleeve were a pair of initials you hadn’t noticed before.

B.K.

With a strange pounding in your chest, you pulled out your phone.

Sure enough, you had one new notification.

@DynamightOfficial followed you back

The device buzzed in your hand with a second notification. A direct message request alongside an image. Swiping to your messages, you opened the text from your new follower.

Front and center was a quick photo of Bakugou’s hero costume, laid out neatly on his bed. Directly underneath the image were two small text bubbles.

u take commissions?

ive got something in mind for ya

[venomous-qwille]

Weekly Magma Session 18

That’s a wrap for our eighteenth ☆ DCA Artists ☆ Weekly Magma!

Please use the tag #DCA Artists Weekly Magma when you upload your art if you’d like to get reblogs from the Palooza!

Here are the the boards from this session <3 You can check out everyone popping off below~

[ID: The above images are from a Magma canvas with various pieces of Sun and Moon fanart drawn by different artists. End ID]

If you like what you see and you crave more (..I know I do), you can find a bunch of these amazing artists are tagged below!

@thecatnipwizard // @spadillelicious // @foxboidrew // @wamzus // @synthrobeat // @eclipsedcrystalstar // @lec743 // @pasteldragonstuff // @glade-constellation // @trixxstrawberry

@mamamuse-kit // @ronithesnail // @sweetgentlecider // @venomous-qwille // @dragoncxv360 // @just-a-drawing-bean // @systemanonymous // @i-may-be-anyone // @sunnyxd // @alexluminosbucket

@the-daycare-assistant // @greedyarts-official // @gopsnippers // @chknbzkt // @bubbiethesaur // @miaumiautzi // @pr0ng3ls // @lilsteppybigoof // @slimelijah // @silvermizuki // @severallizards

@skizabaa // @eggufrog // @nicmares404 // @asriel20asi // @passsionfish // @sillywabbits // @rambunctioustoons // @glade-constellation // @theblog-with-thestuff // @agent-darkfest

@garbagechocolate // @smoljeanius // @craykaycee // @goddess-of-clouds // @museofmom // @making-my-wey-down-town // @sun-e-chips // @o-g-i // @aquacomet // @kibbits // @toucheholland23

Someone missing? I try hard to keep track of all the artists who participate! Make sure you add a legible signature (tumblr handle) to future Magmas so I can find and tag you!

If you would like to take part in our future Weekly Magmas please take a moment to join the ☆ DCA Artists ☆ Magma group where we will be hosting all our weekly sessions. Future Magmas will be live on:

Saturday 6pm-4am UTC

I will be posting the Magma link on tumblr when we do go live, so keep an eye out around this time!

See ya next time Superstars ☆

[olympeline]

@fireandspiceland’s recent posts made me realise I never knew how much I needed a USUK cardverse/omegaverse combo AU in my life. Well now I do! So have a Situation Involving Them that I just came up with:

The King of each of the four Suit Lands is always an alpha, the Queen an omega, and each kingdom has their own way of choosing their royal pair. In the Land of Spades, the Queen is born with his or her Royal Mark and so taken from their family and raised to rule from a young age. Meanwhile the King gains the Mark once he or she beds the Queen in heat for the first time. This means the Queen is born to rule, but the King can be anyone so long as they’re an alpha. To make sure they get someone worthy, a potential King must face a series of trials. Ending with the most treacherous of all: catching the Spade Queen in the traditional hunting grounds of the Garden of Thorns. Catching the Queen, subduing them, then bringing them back to the castle to be wedded and mated during their next heat. While the Queen can fight to kill, obviously the would-be-Kings can’t. Which puts them at a huge disadvantage right from the start.

The Spade Queen is always a powerful mage so the threat of facing them one-on-one is enough to repel all but the most elite warriors. Nevertheless, there’s usually a new Spade King a year or two after the Queen comes of age. The prize of a kingdom is a big motivator after all. Enough to bring the greatest warriors from all over and make them daring. But - unfortunately for the kingdom - their latest Queen is different. Their latest Queen is one Arthur Kirkland: green-eyed, straw haired, peasant son of a sailor turned Spade Queen-in-Waiting from the moment his midwife spotted the Mark before the cord was even cut. As is traditional, Arthur is a mage. But even for a Spade Queen, he’s not just powerful but stupidly powerful and ruthless with it. He’s also proud, haughty, and absolutely bound and determined that no one, but no one, is going to subdue him. He’s nobody’s broodmare, goddamnit! He’s his own man! Arthur bloody Kirkland is not getting wedded and bedded, not ending up wasting his talents raising litters of babies while some meatheaded brute usurps his place in the kingdom he’s been learning to rule since he was barely more than a babe himself! Arthur has a razor sharp mind and many plans for the Kingdom of Spades. Plans to reform society and make life better for all who live there. Something he can’t do if bound to a Spade King and forced to do his or her bidding. The laws of the land make the King of Spades monarch supreme. The Queen utterly subservient to them and there to birth royal children - Dukes and Duchesses of Spades - who can then be married off to forge alliances with other kingdoms. Excuse Arthur while he seethes at the thought of all of his brilliance being squandered on a life of endless sex followed by birthing royal brats in a nest.

Arthur had his first heat in his early teens and the kingdom officials started the tournaments as soon as he did, confident they’d have a new King of Spades in a year or two at most. Only to grow increasingly horrified as Arthur destroyed every champion brought in to chase him. Most of the time he didn’t even bother to run as a Queen usually would. Instead just calling on his litany of flesh melting, bone shattering spells to finish each encounter in mere minutes. His sixteenth birthday passes, then his eighteenth, nineteenth, on and on. Now the Queen of Spades is close to his twenty-first year and still he’s unmated! Not only that, but his reputation has grown so fearsome that the kingdom officials can barely find any champions willing to face him. The old fossils are close to despair and Arthur is smugger than a smug vendor at a convention of smuggery. He knows if he can make it past his twenty-first birthday then he will legally be an adult and the kingdom’s steward will have no choice but to hand all the powers of monarch supreme over to him. The old King of Spades is long dead and so is the old Queen. Making Arthur the undisputed highest authority in the Kingdom of Spades once he comes of age. Then no one can stop him making himself Queen Regnat, able to rule with no King. Able to change whatever laws he wants. Able to put a stop to these cursed tournaments once and for all and choose his own Spade Prince - not a Spade King, a Spade Prince! Subservient to his Spade Queen! Definitely a Prince - in peace.

He’s so close now, just one more month to go. All the years of training and endless sleepless nights of practicing spellcraft til he keeled over from exhaustion will be worth it. Arthur knows he can do it. He’s powerful now, so, so powerful. Who could ever hope to match the sheer force of his black magic? As far as he knows, there’s only one challenger left who’s been stupid enough not to throw in the towel. A young knight from a minor noble family by the name of Albert or Alfred or some such. Arthur barely listened to the details when Councillor Yao told him he had another challenge coming up. Arthur has practically been through more would-be-Kings than he’s had cups of tea. He’s heard it all before. He’s sure this Alfred or whatever will be no different.

Quite sure.

(This is getting long so end of part 1! Hopefully you guys will be interested in reading more once I type it up. 😘)

[fatehbaz]

“Dutch King apologizes for Netherlands’ role in slavery.”

The Dutch/Netherlands abducted slaves from West Africa; hosted the Dutch West India Company; operated an extensive profitable sugar plantation industry built on slave labor; and established colonies in the greater Caribbean region including sites at Aruba, Curaçao, Sint Maarten, Bonaire, and the adjacent “Wild Coast” (land between the Orinoco and Amazon rivers, including Guyana and Suriname). Many of these places remained official colonies until between the 1950s and 1990s.

---

Scholarship on resistance to Dutch practices of slavery, colonialism, and imperialism in the Caribbean:

“Decolonization, Otherness, and the Neglect of the Dutch Caribbean in Caribbean Studies.” Margo Groenewoud. Small Axe. 2021.

“Women’s mobilizations in the Dutch Antilles (Curaçao and Aruba, 1946-1993).” Margo Groenewoud. Clio. Women, Gender, History No. 50. 2019.

“Black Power, Popular Revolt, and Decolonization in the Dutch Caribbean.” Gert Oostindie. In: Black Power in the Caribbean. Edited by Kate Quinn. 2014.

“History Brought Home: Postcolonial Migrations and the Dutch Rediscovery of Slavery.” Gert Oostindie. In: Post-Colonial Immigrants and Identity Formations in the Netherlands. Edited by Ulbe Bosma. 2012.

“Other Radicals: Anton de Kom and the Caribbean Intellectual Tradition.” Wayne Modest and Susan Legene. Small Axe. 2023.

Di ki manera? A Social History of Afro-Curaçaoans, 1863-1917. Rosemary Allen. 2007.

Creolization and Contraband: Curaçao in the Early Modern Atlantic World. Linda Rupert. 2012.

“The Empire Writes Back: David Nassy and Jewish Creole Historiography in Colonial Suriname.” Sina Rauschenbach. The Sephardic Atlantic: Colonial Histories and Postcolonial Perspectives. 2018.

“The Scholarly Atlantic: Circuits of Knowledge Between Britain, the Dutch Republic and the Americas in the Eighteenth Century.” Karel Davids. 2014. And: “Paramaribo as Dutch and Atlantic Nodal Point, 1640-1795.” Karwan Fatah-Black. 2014. And: Dutch Atlantic Connections, 1680-1800: Linking Empires, Bridging Borders. Edited by Gert Oostindie and Jessica V. Roitman. 2014.

Decolonising the Caribbean: Dutch Policies in a Comparative Perspective. Gert Oostindie and Inge Klinkers. 2003. And: “Head versus heart: The ambiguities of non-sovereignties in the Dutch Caribbean.” Wouter Veenendaal and Gert Oostindie. Regional & Federal Studies 28(4). August 2017.

Tambú: Curaçao’s African-Caribbean Ritual and the Politics of Memory. Nanette de Jong. 2012.

“More Relevant Than Ever: We Slaves of Suriname Today.” Mitchell Esajas. Small Axe. 2023.

“The Forgotten Colonies of Essequibo and Demerara, 1700-1814.” Eric Willem van der Oest. In: Riches from Atlantic Commerce: Dutch Transatlantic Trade and Shipping, 1585-1817. 2003.

“Conjuring Futures: Culture and Decolonization in the Dutch Caribbean, 1948-1975.” Chelsea Shields. Historical Reflections / Reflexions Historiques Vol. 45 No. 2. Summer 2019.

“’A Mass of Mestiezen, Castiezen, and Mulatten’: Fear, Freedom, and People of Color in the Dutch Antilles, 1750-1850.” Jessica Vance Roitman. Atlantic Studies 14, no. 3. 2017.

---

This list only covers the Caribbean.

But outside of the region, there is also the legacy of the Dutch East India Company; over 250 years of Dutch slavers and merchants in Gold Coast and wider West Africa; about 200 years of Dutch control in Bengal (the same region which would later become an engine of the British Empire’s colonial wealth extraction); over a century of Dutch control in Sri Lanka/Ceylon; Dutch operation of the so-called “Cultivation System” (”Cultuurstelsei”) in the nineteenth century; Dutch enforcement of brutal forced labor regimes at sugar plantations in Java, which relied on de facto indentured laborers who were forced to sign contracts or obligated to pay off debt and were “shipped in” from other islands and elsewhere in Southeast Asia (a system existing into the twentieth century); the “Coolie Ordinance” (”Koelieordonnanties”) laws of 1880 which allowed plantation owners to administer punishments against disobedient workers, resulting in whippings, electrocutions, and other cruel tortures (and this penal code was in effect until 1931); and colonization of Indonesian islands including Sumatra and Borneo, which remained official colonies of the Netherlands until the 1940s.

[mrsfrecklesmarauders]

AN: Little post for Regulus's birthday that in my headcanon is today. 25th of June, Cancer child, obviously.

This one is a little sad but sometimes I need to write angsty things about Regulus to deal with my personal pain because I kin him so much.

Content warning of verbal and physical abuse plus mentions of self harm.

*****

Regulus had always been invisible on his birthday. It wasn't that people actually forgot. It was just not a big deal like Sirius’s birthdays for example. Sirius had always been the king. Even if he was the rebel. Even if he fought constantly with their parents. Even if he represented everything that the family didn't. Sirius Black was the heir. Therefore his birthdays were special. Regulus's were not.

It always mixed with the end of term exams as well. This year, Regulus had gone through his GCSE's with stress but hopefully successful results that would come out on August. Being a Black, Regulus had lots of expectations on him to get full marks. Like Sirius surprisingly did for his.

Regulus didn't have a party or a cake until summer officially began.

Regulus's sixteenth birthday was stained by Sirius's rebellious behavior. It was the summer before his eighteenth birthday, before he became an adult and he had to start behaving like the heir everyone expected of him.

So Regulus's birthday party became an excuse to invite "important people" over so they could meet Sirius. A business meeting with old people that Regulus didn't even know. Regulus didn't have friends besides Barty, he didn't expect much people of his age. But still.

Their Grandfather Pollux was dragging Sirius around to introduce him to coworkers, shakeholders and businessmen. Orion and Walburga were acting like proud parents. Everyone was pretending. Regulus was practically a ghost.

"It's okay" Regulus sighed as Sirius commented furiously how it wasn't fair, when he could escape from Pollux into the kitchen for some forbidden drinks "I hate my birthdays anyway"

"Grandfather is a dick. Heard his lung is failing, hope he passes soon"

"Sirius!" Regulus gasped but he hid a smile. Honestly it sounded cruel. But that man had been horrible to them their whole lives.

"I don't think I am ready for this, Reggie" Sirius added, looking around with disdain. The group of people chatting formally. Like a meeting in an office. Not like a teenager's birthday.

"I knew I had to be the heir one day. But that seemed far away when we were kids... Now I only have one year left at Hogwarts, and then my life is supposed to be this... Boring meetings, pretending to be perfect, talking nonsense about superficialities..."

Regulus was relieved he was not the heir. He had a plan with Barty to run away as soon as they finished school. Actually, they didn't even matter for their families. But Regulus didn't think about the burden Sirius actually had right now.

"There's no option" Regulus murmured as he had a sip of his drink.

"What if there is?" Sirius asked "What if I ran away with Uncle Alphard to Rome or whatever"

"He just left to make some businesses. He will be back"

"Are you sure about that?" Sirius’s eyes glistened revealing how much he missed Alphard "I think he got tired of this family and ran away"

Regulus panicked. He knew his brother well. And he was capable of going after Alphard. Maybe, if it wasn't for Potter, Lupin and Pettigrew, he would have already be gone. And Regulus didn't want to lose him. He didn't know what would happen if Pollux would lose his heir. But it wouldn't be good. Plus, Sirius was the only person that kept Regulus sane.

"If you leave, and Grandfather has a heart attack for your absence, this hell hole would be chaos. I don't want to be there when it happens"

Sirius twisted his mouth in a half smile "Good thing I'm bringing you with me when I leave"

"When? I thought it was a matter of if..."

"When, Reggie. When" Sirius winked.

They ended up their conversation as Sirius was summoned by their mother again. Sirius groaned openly as Walburga fixed his suit and tie.

"You look like low class lawyer, Sirius. I don't understand how people believe you can be a good heir. But hell, here we are"

"They say I take my gracious looks from you, mother"

Walburga answered by tying his tie tight. A little bit more and Sirius could choke.

"Now get over there and behave like a human being"

"Care to pay attention to your son on his birthday?"

Walburga flickered her eyes towards Regulus for a second. But fixed her penetrating gaze on Sirius.

"His birthday was days ago"

"But we are supposed to be celebrating today!"

Regulus could feel the tension building up between them. He didn't want to witness a fight. Those were horrible. And they were worse when they involved Orion.

Walburga just pursed her lips.

"Just go back in there before I lose my patience"

Sirius’s eyes were daring. He didn't move for a few seconds. Seconds in which Regulus thought he was going to lose it and do something dumb.

"Luckily we are not done with the celebration"

Sirius simply said that and gave a little wink to his brother. Then he walked away.

Walburga sighed with patience as she turned to Regulus. Now that Sirius was gone, she had a softer expression.

"Don't worry, love" she whispered in French only for him, squeezing his chin gently "I have your birthday cake ready for later"

"Thanks, mum" Regulus replied in French as well.

The rest of the evening passed in a numb blur. A feeling Regulus had been having lately. If you could call it a feeling at all. Usually, Regulus survived school with Barty. But summers were split into horrible social events of fake and superficial people and the constant fights of Orion and Walburga. Between each other. Or with Sirius. Regulus was drowned in a teenage angst. Youth didn't seem like the best years of his life. He wasn’t even excited to be sixteen.

"How much he is growing" people would say "He is as handsome as his father. Surely there are lots of girls after him... Maybe my niece would be interested. She lives in America"

"How skinny" another would say "Does he play any sports, Orion? It is good for young boys to be athletic. I was captain of my rugby team when I was his age"

"Oh, how adorable. He is shy, isn't he, Walburga? Not very suitable for businesses. Good thing you have Sirius"

"A handsome boy like him without a girlfriend? Maybe it is the piercings, son. See girls think that is weird. You don't want people thinking you're a puff, do you?"

These kind of comments made Regulus hate himself even more than he already did. He hated how shy he had sounded. How socially awkward he was. How he was seen as this baby, mummy's boy. While Sirius was natural with words, with presence, with the winning smile. Everyone wanted him for business, for recommendations, for making him their sons' model, their nephews'  friend, their nieces' and daughters' future husband. It was sickening. Sirius could be the best heir for the Company and the family name. He just didn't give a fuck about any of it.

Regulus locked himself in his room when everything became too much. He had a knot on his throat. He just wanted to crawl in bed and cry. He was ashamed of himself and what he was. He felt guilty for not being enough. For not being more. For not being the center of attention, not even in his fucking birthday.

Regulus sat on his bed and opened up his drawer. Inside it, Regulus kept a large pair of siccors he had stolen from somewhere.

Regulus had been the angsty teen that not only related with depressing songs about how society sucked and everything was hopeless, that had had his embarrassing emo phase at thirteen when he covered his face with a fang and used only black clothes; Regulus also had cut his own arm.

It was a secret no one knew. Not even Barty who wouldn't be scandalized by these things. It was recent. And Regulus did it a couple of times to feel something. To focus the mental pain into a physical one.

Regulus wanted to do it tonight.

Luckily, he was interrupted by a knock on his window that made him jump. Barty was smiling through the glass. He had a new piercing on his nose.

Regulus hid the scissors inside his drawer and ran to open the window for his friend.

"Happy Birthday!"

"Don't you know how to use the front door?"

Barty crawled inside.

"And face the pretentious wankers from downstairs? No, thank you!"

Regulus smiled "I'm glad you are here"

He didn't want to hurt himself anyway. He felt worse afterwards.

"I brought you a present. And you are going to love me for it" Barty grinned as he took out something from his back pocket.

A big bag of weed hanged from his fingers.

Regulus grinned "God, I love you"

They smoked for a while on Regulus's bed. Barty asked him about the party. Regulus said it was shit. Barty didn't ask no more. Regulus loved him for not pressuring him. They smoked in silence only with punk music in the background. Barty commenting on weird facts that Regulus didn't need to know. But it was nice to focus on something else.

A few hours later someone bursted through his door and Regulus almost had a heart attack hiding his spliff, thinking it was his mother. But Sirius was on the door with a grin on his face and a bottle of gin on his hand.

"Look what I got for ourselves, birthday boy!" he chanted.

"Oh fuck"

"Crouch, you're here"

"Black" Barty said as he let out some smoke.

"Is that weed?" Sirius asked with his eyebrows raised. "Nice! Let's begin with the actual celebration"

"What about our parents?"

Sirius shrugged "Let them have fun with their little orgie of rich old boomers"

Barty cracked up laughing at that.

Regulus started to have some fun with his two favorite people smoking weed and drinking gin with him. It was funny that Sirius and Barty were so similar but quarreled about everything.

Regulus loved them. They made Regulus happy and they made him feel young and alive for a while. They tried playing Monopoly until Sirius threw the board away because he was losing. They gossiped and laughed about people at school, including teachers.

"Okay, hottest girl in school to shag" Sirius said, "Go!"

To Sirius’s surprise, both Regulus and Barty were silent. They had always said Hogwarts girls were too stupid for them.

"Don't you want to shag someone?" Sirius asked

Regulus actually didn't.

"Come on! I know both of you are virgins"

"I am not a virgin!" Barty exclaimed but when Sirius gave him a look he added "Fine! I'd prefer cutting my dick off than shagging one of those brainless princesses"

That was why Barty was Regulus's best friend. They were too similar.

"Me too"

"Come on! There must be someone you find pretty, sexy, hot..." Sirius insisted. Of course he had a long history with girls.

Regulus and Barty stared at each other. This was often something boys didn't understand. How they weren't interested in any girl. The boys in their class used to tease them for it. Calling them fags and each other's boyfriends. Until they got sick of it and arranged to have a default answers. Sirius was the teasing type.

"Emmeline Vance" Barty said.

"Alice Fortescue" Regulus said almost immediately.

Regulus chose Alice because she was the prettiest girl in school. And she was unreachable since she was dating Longbottom. So people left him alone with his "crush". Barty chose Emmeline because everyone thought she was a lesbian and they found funny how Barty didn't have a chance with her. Actually, they didn't care about those girls.

Sirius had the same expected reaction as everyone else. Teasing both for their silly crushes. He even mentioned that Alice and Longbottom were on a break and that his little brother might have a chance.

"You know, I lost my virginity at sixteen" Sirius winked "And Fortescue looks like a good shag"

"Sure" Regulus said. He didn't care.

Sirius was drunk anyway.

"I love girls" Sirius added, his mind somewhere else "I mean I'm very into girls, eh Reggie? No one else.... It is just weird that he is in my mind, yeh know?"

"Who?" Regulus asked amused.

But Sirius didn't answer. He placed his head on Regulus's shoulder with his eyes closed.

"He's pissed" Regulus laughed, turning to look at Barty and finding out he was fast asleep next to him as well. Regulus smiled.

These two. They had made Regulus's birthday worth it somehow. Regulus hated everyone else. Except for these two boys next to him. They made life worth living.

Regulus fell asleep thinking that was the end of the day. However he was woken up hours later by Walburga and her angry expression.

"What is the meaning of this?" She asked as she held the empty bottle and the rest of the stash.

Regulus's heart started beating fast in fear. His mother didn't know how he had drunk, had had drugs and wasn't the innocent lamb she believed.

"Mrs. Black..." Barty cleared his throat as he spoke "Let me explain..."

"I want you out of my house, Bartemius" Walburga snapped "I will call your father in the morning"

Regulus gave Barty an apologetic look. Bartemius Senior was going to punish his son hard. Barty knew it. He looked scared already.

"Regulus?" Walburga was staring directly at him.

"It was me, Walburga" Sirius said next to him and Regulus remembered he was there "Stole the bottle, bought the weed and even called Crouch here to make things interesting. It was my baby brother's birthday after all"

Walburga clenched her jaw.

"Of course it was you" she said looking at Sirius with disgust.

To be fair, Regulus was frozen on the spot. It happened a lot to him when he got too stressed and frightened to react. He wanted to tell the truth but he couldn't.

"I keep insisting to your father and grandfather that you're nothing but a waist" Walburga commented to herself "You are a disappointment. Probably going to end up in rehab or jail..."

Sirius was still drunk with puffy red eyes from the weed. But still what their mother was saying was hurting him. She didn't even care that Barty was there.

"But dragging your little brother into this?" Walburga shook her head "You might want to drown but don't bring Regulus into this"

Sirius chuckled.

"Maman..." Regulus began talking in French. He wanted to tell her it was all his fault. But his voice shook.

"Perhaps I just wanted to give your son a bit of fun, mother. You know, like a man" Sirius’s voice proved the alcohol was speaking for him "Not like the pussy that you had made of him"

Regulus closed his eyes to avoid the tears to fall. He hated to be this weak. To be this fragil. Barty was right there.

"Get up, get a cold shower and compose yourself before your Grandfather leaves. He would want to see you" Walburga sighed with patience.

"I can do whatever I fucking want" Sirius replied drunk as a horse "Didn't you hear? I'm the heir and I will own everything you see around..." he smirked evily "That pisses you off, doesn't it? To think you will have to respond to me like the little bitch you are"

SLAP! Sirius’s little comment caused his such a strong slap across his face, that Walburga's ring cut his cheek and it began bleeding.

Barty gasped and covered his mouth. Regulus, who was used to it, just closed his eyes and nailed his fingers on his palm so hard that it hurt.

Sirius was shocked as he touched the blood on his cheek. Regulus saw it in his expression. He was done. He hated this woman. He hated this life. He hated it all.

Regulus knew he would leave with Alphard. Forever. Regulus knew he was practically one foot out.

"I guess I will make an excuse for your Grandfather" Walburga said as if nothing had happened "I want both of you sober by the time everyone leaves. Or else, your father won't have mercy"

She was right. Orion was ten times worse.

"Bartemius" she turned to him "Get out of here, before I lose my patience"

"Eh... Eh.. Yeah..."

That was the beginning of everything. The beginning of the end as some might say. It easily became the worst summer of Regulus's life.

The relationship between Sirius and Walburga became worse. Sirius’s rebelty was worse. He went to Orion to the office and came back with a terrible mood. Dinners became a battlefield. Until the point when Sirius couldn't take it no more. And he left.

"I can't do this, Regulus" Sirius told him between tears the night he packed his things "I cannot be with them anymore. I cannot become what they want. I can't become like them. This life sickens me..."

Regulus couldn't hold the tears falling down his cheeks silently because he couldn't ask his brother to stay. It wasn't fair. How could he if Regulus himself sometimes wanted to leave.

"Please come with me"

"Where? To the Potters? With Alphard?" he shook his head.

"Doesn't matter! Anywhere but here" Sirius took a step closer, begging desperately "Reg, we can disappear. We can ran away together. They won't have a power over us. I promise"

Some part of Regulus wanted to follow his brother anywhere. But another part of him knew that The Black Family would not lose the heir. If it wasn't Sirius, it would be Regulus. That was it. All eyes would turn to him. They would follow them to the end of the world to make sure one of them took the place.

But Sirius didn't see the details. How by being selfish, he could hurt other people. The Blacks were like a Jenga. If a key piece was taken out, the whole tower would fall down. And Sirius was one of the most important pieces.

"I can't, Sirius" Regulus cried "I'm sorry"

He wanted to beg him to stay and solve this together. They needed to fix Walburga with her drinking problems and childish behavior. They needed to stop Orion from committing fraud and doing everything he could to keep the power. They needed to find out why Alphard left. They were family after all. They couldn't just abandon everything.

"Okay... Suit yourself" Sirius snapped angrily as he grabbed his bag.

Regulus watched him go and he knew once Sirius crossed the door, he was going to lose him forever. And that hurt.

[teaberrii]

Chapter Eleven: The Way You Make Me Feel

Alhaitham has the looks and the smarts. He will also be the stand-in CEO for his grandfather's company for a year.

But, he's been mysteriously cursed to turn into a cat every night since his eighteenth birthday… until he meets you, an employee at his grandfather's company, who rescues him as a cat and changes him back with one kiss.

Alhaitham/You

Notes:

Cross-posted on AO3

Female reader

Chapter index at the end of chapter one

“This is a pleasant surprise,” your mother says, smiling.

“What are you doing here?” you ask.

Your mother looks at the small group of women around her age a short distance away. “We decided to do something different today.”

You recognize them from one of the local community clubs your mother joined last year. She had casually introduced you before because one of them has a son around the same age as you. You knew of her motives, but you played along as you didn’t want to be rude.

“Now, what are you two doing here?” your mother asks, turning back. “An early date?”

Before you and Alhaitham can say anything, one of the aunties says your name as if surprised. She looks you up and down. “My, it’s only been a year since we last saw you, but you’ve grown!”

“Have I?” you laugh. “Maybe it’s all the milk I’ve been drinking.”

Then, one of them looks at Alhaitham. “Oh! What a handsome young man!"

"Is he your boyfriend, dear?”

You and Alhaitham look at each other. You also notice the curious look of your mother. Well, you’ve made it official to everyone back at the hospital. Why should you say anything different now?

"Alhaitham?" A woman pushes her way to the front, and Alhaitham looks just as surprised to see her as she does him. But, then, the woman looks at you. "Is it true? Are you dating him?"

You raise a brow. What’s with the attitude?

“Do you know him?” your mother asks.

The woman crosses her arms. “He was my daughter’s fiancé.”

Fiancé?! You look at Alhaitham, whose expression remains calm but has a seriousness you’ve never seen before.

"F-fiancé?" one of the women gasps. "Oh, honey, don't tell me this was the man who left your poor daughter in tears!"

Of course, you have no idea what is going on. However, regardless of what happened, you’re a little amazed at how calm Alhaitham is, especially after a comment like that. Or should you be scared?

The woman looks at you. “It’s not good to get involved with this man, dear. You’ll end up with a broken heart!”

“We were unhappy."

Everyone turns to Alhaitham.

“She was happy until you ended things with her!” the woman fires back, a little too emotionally.

“No,” Alhaitham says sternly. “We ended things so they wouldn’t get worse.”

“You—”

Whatever happened, you know that violence is not the answer. When the woman steps toward him, she looks like she wants to hit him. However, your mother puts a hand in front of her.

“This sounds like a personal affair,” she says to her. “Let’s not cause a scene.”

The woman glares at your mother. "Your daughter is dating a man who hurt my daughter. I'm helping you so she won't endure what he put her through!"

“My daughter’s business is my business,” your mother says. “Not yours.”

With one last huff, the woman spins on her heel and walks away.

“...Well, this is awkward,” one of the others says. “Should we let her be?”

A woman looks at Alhaitham. “Young man… is it true about what she said? We… did hear that her daughter was engaged. She was going to show him off, but the engagement was called off.”

The last thing Alhaitham wants to do is gossip about his past with people that have nothing to do with it. However, leaving it be would cause more misunderstandings. He's not hiding anything. He didn’t do anything wrong. Yet, if he stays quiet, things might escalate out of control. Alhaitham can care less what the aunties think, but he cares about what you think. He also cares about what your mother thinks.

“With all due respect, auntie,” you say, and the women look at you. “That’s his business.”

“...Well, I suppose you’re right.”

Once the women walk away, your mother turns to Alhaitham. “As an outsider, I have no interest in your past affairs. But”—she looks at you—“as you are involved with my daughter, I want to know the kind of people she’s with. You do understand what I’m saying, right?”

Alhaitham nods. “I do.” He takes a short breath. “It’s true that her daughter and I were engaged. I was one the who broke it off.”

“...What happened?” you ask.

“...In short, I didn’t love her,” Alhaitham says.

“Yet the two of you went as far as to get engaged,” your mother says.

“We were young,” Alhaitham admits. “We didn’t really know each other. Not at the level that would make a lasting relationship work.”

You can understand where he's coming from as you've been there yourself. It's all fun and games, like going to the movies, shopping, or hanging out at someone's house in the beginning. But, when it comes to the bigger, serious, "adult" things, that's when you truly get a feel for who this person is and whether this relationship would really work.

“I just made tenure when she brought up marriage,” Alhaitham continues. “Our relationship was also still in its early stages. It was far too soon, and I wanted to focus on work.” A short pause. “I also didn’t want to start a family, and that caused a rift between us.”

“Then, what made you propose?” you ask.

"Her mother was aware of our problems. So, she came to see me. She told me how after getting married, everything would change. We would be more loving towards each other. She told me about her experience with her husband when he proposed."

"Oh boy…" your mother sighs. "Don't tell me that was how she convinced you?"

“...I was inexperienced." He sighs. "I went with her mother's advice, thinking that maybe things would change with something more tangible as proof of love."

You're getting shivers just from thinking of the consequences if something more... dramatic were to happen if Alhaitham really tied the knot. Money. Property. You can't help but think that the mother might have some ulterior motive if she wanted her daughter to get married to Alhaitham so soon.

“And this girl accepted?" your mother asks. "I don’t expect an answer… but it sounds strange that she would accept a proposal if she felt something was wrong.”

"...There was hesitation from both of us. Even after she accepted, there was something that felt uncomfortable. I… wish I could put it into words, but I can't."

You never thought Alhaitham would have a past relationship like this. Then again, you’ve never really thought about Alhaitham’s past relationships until now. You've always thought he would have stable, loving relationships that just didn’t work out. The last thing you’re expecting is a broken engagement.

“...But I finally went to talk to her."

“...I’m sorry,” Alhaitham said quietly. “I can't do this.”

“Are you scared to admit it, Haitham?” she asked. “You just… you don’t love me. That’s it. Plain and simple.”

The strange thing was that Alhaitham thought he did. The spark was there in the beginning. The attraction was there in the beginning. So, where did it go wrong?

Was that why he was so absorbed in this work? Yes, he loved what he did. But was it also because he didn’t want to face the ugly truth? He didn’t love her. Now that he heard those words out loud, it was like a breath of fresh air.

"Truth is, I already knew," she continued quietly. "We weren't the people when we first started anymore. I thought you would change... I kept waiting for you to change, but you never did."

She took off her ring and put it on the table.

“...You know what’s annoying?” she asked, looking at him, and he saw the pain in her eyes. “I can’t bring myself to hate you.” Then, a wry smile. “You should’ve just cheated.”

“...Despite the mess, I must applaud you for focusing on your career at a young age,” your mother says. “Young people nowadays are too easily swayed by others.”

“Mom,” you say. “You’re generalizing again.”

"I hope that clears things up," he says.

Your mother smiles at him. “Well, you didn’t do anything criminal.”

You gently nudge him. “Consider yourself lucky.”

“Now… after that large detour… the two of you still haven’t answered my question yet,” your mother says. “Are you two on a date?”

The little smile and look you and Alhaitham give each other tells her everything she needs to know.

“Well,” your mother says with a small smile, “I expect my daughter to be back at a reasonable time.

Alhaitham chuckles. “Of course.”

“Wait… since when did I have a curfew?” you joke.

Your mother gives you a look. “I don’t want you to get too carried away.”

“Alright, I understand.” Then, you sigh a little dramatically. “I’ll be back at a reasonable time.”

“...It sounds like you don’t want to be.”

You gently elbow Alhaitham, and your mom laughs.

Once your mom leaves, you turn to Alhaitham and ask, “If you don’t mind my asking… how many past relationships did you have?”

“One.”

“Just one?”

“Is that surprising?”

“I just thought you would’ve had a few relationships. And… I remember you said you even went to a matchmaking party.”

A short chuckle. "My grandfather knew someone running the event and insisted I try it."

The two of you walk side-by-side along the path when you say, "I guess nothing worked out."

“...It was an interesting experience, to say the least. Not one that I would try again.”

You nudge him. “I bet you were a hit.”

"It wouldn't matter because I wasn't interested in anyone." Your hand brushes against his, and he seizes the opportunity. Alhaitham takes your hand and slides it into his pocket just as a chilly breeze blows by. Even after it passes, he's still holding your hand. He leans slightly closer. "...I never met someone I wanted to pursue so badly… until now."

Your heart almost stops.

"Did, um, did your ex know about your curse?" you ask.

“I told her, but she didn’t believe me. But, by then, our relationship was beyond saving.”

You can hear your heart in your ears as you and Alhaitham continue the journey down the concrete path. How long is he going to hold your hand? But maybe the better question is: how long will you let him hold your hand?

◆◆◆

Childe has a hand on the wheel but has no idea where he's going. He'd lied to his parents that he was busy with errands. He'd rather not subject himself to snarky conversations from relatives who sang high praises for their kids but none for him.

It's not like Childe wants praise, though. But respect, at least even from his parents.

“...That’s a surprise you’d want me to come,” Childe said over the phone. “I thought you’d forgotten that you even have a son.”

“Childe,” his mother said sternly. “You know that’s not true.”

“I’m busy that day.”

“With what? Work?”

“And if I said yes?”

His mother sighed. “I don’t understand how you could be busy with work.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“...Nothing. Forget I said anything. I don’t want to fight with you again.”

Childe didn’t bother to say goodbye.

His mother works in finance, and his father is a doctor. While Childe initially thought they didn't understand what he did for a living, he later realized that was not true. Rather, his parents look down on people in the entertainment industry. It's obvious in their attitude, but they stopped trying to get him to switch fields as the job still brings in money. However, they have no idea how it works and still thinks those working in the industry are "failures in the traditional field."

Childe still remembers the day he ran to your house and spent the night with you and your siblings. The fight between him and his parents got so bad that he didn’t want to spend another minute in the house.

The car slowly comes to a stop at a red light, and Childe sighs loudly. Is this how it's going to be… forever?

As Childe casually glances to the side, someone immediately catches his eye. Childe quickly moves into the next lane and honks once to get the girl’s attention.

Childe rolls down his window and smiles. “Hi, Lulu.”

“You got a car?”

“What are you talking about? I’ve always had a car.” He gestures for her to get in.

Lumine narrows her eyes. “Are you sure it’s safe?”

“Trust me, Lulu. With you in the car, I’ll be extra safe.”

Once Lumine gets in, Childe rolls up the window and drives off.

“You’ve always had a car… but you don’t drive to work?” Lumine asks. Then, she smiles. “Ooh, don’t tell me it was because you wanted to get with Sis.”

“If I wanted to get with her, I would come to pick her up every day.”

“...Fine. Good point.”

“Were you heading home?”

“Yeah. I was visiting Aether today.”

“Oh? How’s the brother doing?”

Lumine smiles. “He’ll be discharged by the end of the week.”

“Congrats. Bet the kid’s happy.”

When Childe merges onto the highway, Lumine looks at him. “Um… I thought you were going to take me home.”

“Did I say that?”

Lumine frowns. “If this was anyone else, I’d be worried.”

“But since it’s me… you’re excited, right?”

Lumine scoffs. “No, I’m even more worried.”

“You sure don’t look like it.”

"Well, let me call Sis right now, then." When Lumine takes out her phone, Childe grabs her hand, startling her. She immediately looks at him, and he glances at her. "What are you doing?"

“...Could you keep me company tonight?”

Lumine blinks once. Twice. Her? Keep him company? Tonight? Surely he isn’t talking about the whole night, right?

Childe looks at her again. “Do I have something on my face? Why do you keep staring at me?"

“W-well, why me?” Should she also ask why he’s still holding her hand?

“Because I enjoy being with people. I thought it was obvious.”

Whatever fluttery feeling she had has just vanished. Now, she’s giving him a deadpan look. “Do you also enjoy holding hands with other people?”

Childe gives her a slight, mischievous smile. “Nah. That’s only with you.”

Lumine almost wants to throw him out the window.

◆◆◆

You and Alhaitham are back at your place as that ex-fiancé business dragged your walk out longer than you thought. When you and Alhaitham leave the lakeside, you have only an hour to spare before his fluffy transformation. So, any dinner plans have to be put on hold.

You’re leaning against your counter, drinking water, when you see the bathroom door open. However, the last thing you’re expecting to see is Alhaitham wearing nothing but black pants. Yet, that’s not what surprises you.

Why is he not a cat?

You put your cup on the counter just as Alhaitham says, “This has never happened before.”

“You mean… your transformation has never been late?”

Alhaitham looks at the clock. “No. Never.”

You know this is not the time, but your eyes start to wander. From his lean biceps to his abs, you stop before it gets too obvious. However, when you meet his gaze, you know it's too late. He knows you were looking but doesn't seem affected in the slightest.

“Well, um, did we do something different this time?”

“...We almost kissed,” he says, approaching you.

The calm way he says it makes your mind go blank.

"...But we didn't," you say.

Then, a silence settles in, but it teems with unspoken messages.

When he gently touches your cheek, you continue holding his stare. Your hand is on his shoulder and slowly makes its way to the back of his neck. You hear his breathing quicken at your touch. Do you have that big of an effect on him?

By now, Alhaitham has leaned closer to you, his lips close to yours. One of his hands is on the counter; his forehead is against yours when he quietly says your name. Your other hand grips the counter tightly as if letting go means that there would be no going back.

However, when you feel his soft lips brush against yours for the first time, you know you need more.

When you gently press your lips against his, Alhaitham's tongue grazes against your lower lip, and you instantly welcome him into the warmth of your mouth. One taste. That's all it takes to realize you'll never get enough of this man. His hand caresses the small of your back, amplifying the wild tremors along your nerves.

You never thought you'd be pressed against Alhaitham, his hand carding through your hair as you kiss each other again… again… and again... yet his kiss is almost deeper and harder than the next. It's as if he found something and needed more. You're clinging to him, using him as an anchor to steady yourself in a world that spirals into beautiful, desirable chaos.

No one has ever kissed you like this before. Reckon, you've only kissed one other person, one that left you more empty than loved. Yet, Alhaitham's kisses draw something out of you, unleashing a desire you've never known, a feeling you wouldn't mind getting addicted to.

Reality hits when you break apart for much-needed air.

Looking at each other makes you want to lean in again. However, Alhaitham is faster. Yet, what you thought was another kiss is a low whisper in your ear.

“...It was so much better than I imagined.”

Poof.

You're still recovering from that statement when you slowly look down. Kitty Alhaitham slowly makes his way out of the pants lying on the floor. He gives his head a quick shake just as you crouch. Then, he stands on his hind legs and puts his front paws on your knees. He stares at you, and you stare back. Then, he leans closer and happens to look down. You're wearing a loose tank top, and when he sees the space between your breasts, he immediately uses his paws to cover his eyes.

“...Don’t tell me you’re getting shy after that?”

You slowly remove his paws, and he looks up at you.

"I wonder if this will affect your kitty transformation now."

Alhaitham meows softly and puts his head on your legs, his tail swishing upwards. You scratch his head.

“...I’m going to take a shower.”

As you're in the shower, Alhaitham takes a little tour of your counter, looking through some of the pictures and miniatures you have. When he comes across a photo of you, your siblings, and Childe, he slightly smiles at how cute you look in a school uniform. What kind of student were you? Definitely a studious one. Then, he slightly narrows his eyes at Childe and puts his paw on Childe's face just as you come out.

“Haitham? What are you doing?”

Alhaitham looks over his shoulder, and the frame falls with a soft thud on the counter. You walk over and pick him up.

“Are you being naughty?”

Him? Naughty? Never.

His wide, innocent eyes as he lies in your arms like a newborn baby have you convinced. Just as you put the frame upright, Alhaitham stretches and his paw brushes against your breast. You immediately look down, and he freezes.

Wait. That was an accident.

Alhaitham meows and looks from you to his paw, slowly lowering it while keeping his innocent stare on you.

“I’ll pretend that never happened,” you say. Then, you rub his fluffy tummy. “But don’t think I’ll overlook it the second time.”

Alhaitham meows, and you gently tap his little nose.

Just then, your phone dings with a message as you put him down on the counter.

Collei: I’m so happy you’re coming!

You texted Collei earlier, telling her you're attending the school reunion. You're still looking at the message when you hear a soft meow beside you.

Alhaitham is beside you. While he’s not looking at your phone, you can tell what’s on his mind.

“It’s an old friend,” you say. “Her name’s Collei.”

Alhaitham tilts his head slightly.

“I told her I was coming to the school reunion.”

School reunion? This gets Alhaitham curious. Then, he remembers the photo with you in your school uniform he saw earlier and subtly smiles.

“What are you thinking about, Catman?”

Alhaitham takes one step and presses his nose to yours. You feel a soft lick, and you chuckle.

“I wonder what will happen if I kiss you now.”

Alhaitham cleans his face with a paw while you smile mischievously.

"But, I kinda like you more in cat form."

Is that a little pout? Alhaitham must know he's cute, but you already imagine him saying he could please you more in his human form.

Whoa.

You stop your thoughts from going any further.

Alhaitham gently bonks his head against yours, and you give him a quick scratch.

That's when you hear your phone buzz again. But this time, it's a message and a photo, something you definitely aren't expecting. The photo is of Childe and Lumine, and he's the one taking the selfie. Both of them are doing finger hearts.

Hang on. Why is Childe with your sister?

You finally read the message that came with it.

Childe: We’re in the area! Could we drop by?

Chapter Twelve

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[my-deer-friend]

The post you reposted about not hating historians was really interesting, thank you for sharing it. Do you have recommendations for historians who are researching queer history in the 18th century?

Do I!

(Note that I'm using "queer" below in the modern sense of "behaviour outside the sanctioned/accepted gender or sexual norms of the time".)

Strands of scholarship

I've come to see two broad approaches in historical queer studies, at least those focused on the 18th century; these are my own observations, and not formal groupings (as far as I'm aware).

One one side, you have those scholars who have a very open and loose conception of queerness, and are usually interested in "queering the past" – aka using a queer scholarship lens to investigate historical social-cultural behaviours. They often focus on literary analysis and tend to be more liberal about applying modern queer terminology to the past, and usually lean social constructionist or postmodernist.

On the other side, you have strict queer scholars, who have much more stringent definitions of what is "definitely queer" and what isn't, and are interested in making sure that only those historical figures who are "truly" queer are labelled as such. They tend to focus on official documents like trial records and homosexual acts as the most valid kinds of evidence of queerness. These are most often critical realists.

The first group risks taking an over-broad approach to historical queerness, while the second risks being overly narrow, so the majority of scholars tend to fall somewhere in the middle. I do however think it's important to be aware of the differing entry points that a historian might be taking, so that you can read more critically.

All that said...

Here are some recommendations

Haggerty, G. E. (1999). Men in love: Masculinity and sexuality in the eighteenth century. Columbia Univ. Press. For me, this is the gold-standard starting point. Haggerty takes a very pragmatic and compassionate approach to investigating historical queerness. He has also published a more recent book about Horace Walpole which I've skimmed and it looks excellent (Haggerty, G. E. (2011). Horace Walpole’s Letters: Masculinity and Friendship in the Eighteenth Century. Bucknell University Press.)

Godbeer, R. (2009). The overflowing of friendship: Love between men and the creation of the American republic. Johns Hopkins University Press. Another excellent foundational work, this one focused more on America.

Tobin, R. (2000). Warm Brothers: Queer Theory and the Age of Goethe. University of Pennsylvania Press. This book focuses on queerness in late-18th/early-19th century German culture, but has lots of useful cross-cutting insights.

Sedgwick, E. K. (1985). Between men: English literature and male homosocial desire. Columbia university press. Sedgwick doesn't pull many punches, and that puts her ahead of her time; you'll find many theorists leaning on her study.

Malcolm, N. (2024). Forbidden Desire in Early Modern Europe: Male-Male Sexual Relations, 1400-1750 (1st ed.). Oxford University Press. I have heard great things about this book and it's somewhere on my long, long reading list – but by all accounts it's worth a look, and is the most recent source on this list, so it should contain the most up-to-date scholarship.

Cleves, R. H. (2014). Charity and Sylvia: A same-sex marriage in early America. Oxford University Press. This one takes place in the early 19th century, so not quite what you're looking for, but is an interesting investigation into (the scarcer field of) female same-sex relations.

Norton, R. (Ed.). Homosexuality in Eighteenth-Century England: A Sourcebook. Updated 17 December 2023. http://rictornorton.co.uk/eighteen/. An invaluable resource of source documents and analyses (with the small caution that Norton very blatantly uses modern queer terminology in historical context).

These are all books, so they serve as a good starting point for a broad exploration; all of these authors have also published academic articles, which go into much more depth on narrower topics. I also have some more focused resources, if there is a specific topic within this massive field that you have a particular interest in!

[jadedwolf18-blog]

Mini Phantom Invasion

<<Chapters One - Six | << Chapters Seven - Twelve

^^^^^

*****

These chapters were inspired by this post by @blackfoxsposts

*****

Here’s two chapters! The first is a recap of the two years we skipped over and the second is Danny interact with some of the BatFam

🤍🖤💚💙💚🖤🤍

Chapter 13

Danny sighed as they stared out into the dark purple foliage of the forrest. They and Elle had been exploring the far reaches of the Zone for the last week, bonding and spending time together before things got busy again. 

They would be returning tomorrow, to Phantoms Keep, as their eighteenth birthday was the day after. It was also the day of their coronation and the day they would officially claim Elle as their daughter. It was crazy to think that it had already been two years since they’d fled their old dimension. 

*****

Danny and Dan had become the protectors of Japan, as a whole, during those two years. They had even trained with Katana every now and then, that had been an interesting meeting that lead to Dan working part-time with the justice league. 

Danny themself preferred to remain in Japan and had only met the main members of the JL once, during their initial introduction. They and Dan had set up their head quarters in the village they had first started out in. It had now bloomed from a simple farming village into a small town that rivalled Amity Park in size. Though its main focus was still farming and the production of grains and fruit.

The area that housed the hot spring, their cave and both the big shrine and the smaller shrine had been left undisturbed and was still surrounded by forest, as it was declared the Holy Hunting Grounds and home to Japan’s protector spirits.

The small town had expanded in the opposite direction and its’ architecture and atmosphere kept to a historic aesthetic, their were no modern glass structure or tall buildings. Not that the interiors were devoid of modern facilities but, if one were to visit, it would seem as if you had stepped into the past. The Shrine stood as the tallest building and had been expanded to resemble a historic Shiro or castle. Their new symbol displayed proudly on its Tori Gate and above its entrance.

Danny and Dan had come up with a new symbol in their first month of actively protecting the town and before they started to include the whole of Japan as their haunts territory. It was now a circle with a white, up right triangle in the centre and a stylised version of the Kanji 幻 (maboroshi), meaning Phantom/vision/illusion/dream/phantasm. The Kanji and circle that adorned Dan’s suit were red to match the bracelet on his wrist, while Danny’s circle was red and the Kanji was Ecto-green. 

Even Elle’s wore the new symbol, both the circle and Kanji were a slightly paler green. It had become their family insignia, similar to the Bats and Birds of Gotham. They still went by Phantom when operating outside of Japan but were now mainly known as Maboroshi to the people of Japan.

Over the last two years Danny had gone back to their old dimension a few times, at first it was to check in with Jazz, Sam and Tucker but they had started to grow distant the more he refused to return. Jazz understood, encouraged it even but Sam and Tucker didn’t understand, Sam viewed it as abandoning their duty and Tucker thought they were just over reacting, that they could just live somewhere else and things would be fine. It had all come to an end the last time the had seen them. The other reason they had returned, with Dan, was to look for clues about their mother.

They had spoken more with Pandora and the ghost they had learned was their aunt, she went by Rina, she had told them that their mother was the Mother of Merfolk in her home dimension and was known as Aqua Rigina, a goddess to those who live in the see. She had passed her title to her daughter, their older sister, before fading from her dimension to travel and explore with her new found freedom. 

She had found a home in a new dimension, amongst a different pantheon and it was while traveling the dimensions, connected to the greek pantheon, that she came to care for a human. She new she would not be able to stay but she had hoped to be able to visit often. She never got the chance to tell him once she found out she was pregnant and well… they knew the rest. 

They and Dan had made no progress on finding out who their father was nor what dimension he was in. They only knew that the dimension was connected to the Greek pantheon but that was hardly helpful when there were so many. Short of entering their DNA into every universes data base, which they did not want to do, they could only hope they bumped into someone who knew. Danny knew there was a chance that their father would want nothing to do with them but they still hoped, that small part of them that had never grown up, craved to be accepted by their family.

On the brighter side, they had met with their older sister and her husband, though they brought sad news about her mother. She had accepted and welcomed both of them. They had spent some time with them, getting to know them and the other Mermaids of The Seven Seas, they even learned about their mer powers. It had been fun to meet their sister, brother-in-law and niece. 

*****

Danny had only just fallen asleep when they heard twig snap, they opened their eyes and slowly sat up, coiling their tail tighter around Elle, who had shifted to her creature form in her sleep. They kept their focus in the direction the sound had come from, pupils blown wide to peer into the unnatural darkness of the Ghost Zone forest. 

Chapter 14

Danny continued to watch and listen, even as they slowly roused Elle from her sleep, making a low growling purr and and a short series of quiet clicks, warning her of the potential threat and to stay in her creature form. She was quick to go on alert, ears twitching, trying to find what had put them on edge. 

They listened to the near silent footsteps, there were two, one significantly heavier than the other. As the two figures drew closer and they could just make out their forms, Danny released a long, low warning hiss. The figures paused, for a moment, at the edge of the forest, just out of sight. Danny stopped their hiss and watched, waited, for their response.

Minutes ticked by before the larger figure moved, slowly, forward and into the small clearing. The beginnings of a hiss was cut short when Danny recognised who was currently standing before them. Bruised and battered, cracks in their armour and an unconscious blue bird slung over their back. The smaller figure stepped forward soon after, revealing the hard to miss combination of red, yellow and red. 

“Batman?” Danny was shocked and confused as to why Batman and two of his birds would be in the Infinite Realms, let alone how they had gotten in and so far from any of the main haunts. “Do you need help?”

The smaller bird shifted into a defensive stance but Batman placed a calming hand on his shoulder. “Phantom. Do you know where we are?”

Straight to business it is then, they thought wryly as the corner of their lips twitched in amusement, they motioned them forward and ignited the campfire. They watched as the three drew closer, Batman gently lay Nightwing on the ground and checked him over before taking a seat across from them, on the other side of the fire. Robin was hesitant but soon followed Batman’s lead and took his own seat.

Danny relaxed, leaning back, using their tail as a back rest. They pulled Elle onto their lap and held her close, letting out a calming purr as they silently let her know who the new comers were and that they weren’t a threat… to them anyway.

“You are currently in the Infinite Realms or the Ghost Zone to pit it frankly. It’s where those who died violent deaths, have unfinished business, a strong attachment to the living ream or were created by the culmination of a belief go when the die. You, though, are not dead.” Danny looked them over, they were definitely in rough shape but they were alive. 

“So how, may I ask, did you end up here?” Danny started running their claws through Elles hair as they waited for a response. They knew Batman was weighing his options, they hadn’t worked together often, Dan was the one who had the most interaction with the JL. 

“We were fighting against the League of assassins, you’ve had run ins with them before according to Maboroshi. Nightwing was knocked unconscious, Robin went to catch him before he fell into the Lazarus Pit but their line was cu by an assassin. I went after them, instead of being submerged in Pit water, we were transported here.”

“Hmm, how long have you been here? Maboroshi hasn’t made contact, so he must not have been informed of your disappearance yet. You are lucky I had been close by, I don’t normally venture out this far.” Elle chirped and repositioned herself, seeing as they were safe, she was quick to go back to sleep.

“Hnn.” Batman looked into the fire, no doubt processing the fact that they were in the land of the dead.

“Who is that?” Robin asked, demanded.

“Robin!” Batman was quick to give his version of admonishment.

“What, it is a perfectly valid point of questioning, they are an unknown.” Batman sighed as he turned back to Phantom.

“To answer your question, Robin, this is my daughter. We are on a bonding trip, though we will be returning home tomorrow.” He watched as Batman physically perked up at the mention of a child, Danny found it amusing that such a large and intimidating figure had such a soft spot for children. “Back to the reason you are here and how long has it been, since you entered the Realms?”

“It has only been a few hours but Nightwing needs medical attention, as does Robin.” Batman ignored Robins pointed gaze.

“And you, I assume, by the looks of your suit. Rest for now and do what you can to field dress your wounds. I’ve got extra food you can eat, its human safe. Once you’re rested and fed, I’ll bring you to the Far Frozen to get a proper medical check. I’ll also send out a message to Maboroshi, get him to let the other Bats and Birds you’re ok.” Danny slowly set Elle into the cradle of their tail, as the reached for their travel pack that contained their food. They had snacks and junk food mostly but they also had pre-made meals they could heat on a fire. Setting up the rack to hold the fire safe containers, they made sure the food wouldn’t fall before turning their attention to their accidental guests. “Once you’re cleared by Frostbite, I’ll bring you to Phantoms Keep and get you through a portal home.”

“Thank you, Phantom.” Batman turned his attention to tending to Nightwing as Robin continued to stare at them.

“How do you know we can trust them?” Batman sighed and answered before Danny could say anything.

“Phantom is a protector spirit, Robin, it is in their nature to protect those they deem as theirs and help those that need it. It is more complex than that but that is the gist of it.” Robin huffed but seamed to be satisfied, for now, with the answer.

*****

The clearing had been silent as the Gotham vigilantes ate, Batman continued to check on Nightwing, though you wouldn’t know it by just looking at his expression, Danny could feel the worry, guilt and pain, coming off the big bad bat, as they fussed over Nightwing and Robin. Much to the young boys annoyance but Danny could tell he felt comfort in knowing that Batman cared for him, along with his own worry for Nightwing. 

Once the two vigilantes had finished their meals and everything had been packed away, Danny carefully picked up Elle and their travel pack. They floated up and shifted their tail to legs, before putting out the fire and upping their own natural glow to provide light for Batman and Robin. Batman picked up Nightwing, resettling them on his back and waited for Robin to join him before following after Phantom.

🤍🖤💚💙💚🖤🤍

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[hihello-pinky]

11 First Kisses

a record of eleven defining kisses you shared with Yeonjun

Non-Idol Choi Yeonjun x she/her reader! WC: 4.8k words Genre: friends to lovers to exes/strangers to lovers, some angst, some fluff, hurt maybe comfort? TWs: none (please let me know if I somehow missed any!)

A few disclaimers (?):

I know I’m supposed to be writing for Sight but I was trying to look for inspiration and I stumbled upon this in my drafts so...

I know this blog is for Haikyuu but please let me post here because I can barely manage this so I don’t think I can open a separate blog for TXT and also because this may be the first and last time I will write for TXT

ANYWAYs

here we go ~ kindly reblog and/or leave a comment if you liked it!!!!

-x-o-x-o-

Kiss #1

You both were fifteen, paired for a science project. You were sitting at the back-most part of the library, the tables near you unoccupied. You were busy explaining something Yeonjun couldn’t grasp and he could hear the frustration starting to drip from your voice since it was becoming obvious that he wasn’t listening. “Yeonjun, you’re not paying attention,” you said sternly.

“I am,” he replied, but his eyes were still trained on your plump lips as his head rested on his hand.

You dropped your pen and crossed your arms, facing him. With your eyebrows burrowed together, you whispered the threat. “I’m gonna ask Teacher Min if I can still switch partners.”

His only response was, “Can I kiss you?”

You were so taken aback by his question but after a few moments, nodded reluctantly. Yeonjun cheered internally – what he read in the books was right, after all! So, he carefully leaned in and gave you a quick peck. It was sweet with a faint taste of your favorite strawberry milk drink. You and Yeonjun’s very first kiss.

-x-o-x-o-

Kiss #2

His parents held a simple celebration for Yeonjun’s sixteenth birthday and he thought it was the best time to introduce you to his parents as his girlfriend ever since he finally asked you out a few weeks ago. You were nervous as he was your first boyfriend, you even stuttered while greeting them and you were so cute that Yeonjun committed the image to his memory. Who knew a meet-the-parents scenario would make the confident and smart L/N Y/N lose her nerves?

After the celebration, he snuck you into his room (after convincing you for ten minutes that you were not going to get caught and that if you did, it wouldn’t be a big deal, anyway) and as you sat awkwardly on his bed, he laughed and said, “Relax, we’re only going to kiss.” You visibly breathed a sigh of relief and you looked so adorable at that moment, sitting on his dark blue comforter, that he leaned in and kissed you. Your first kiss as an official couple.

 -x-o-x-o-

Kiss #3

Last day of summer before twelfth grade, Yeonjun and you were in your living room seated on the couch with a small distance between you two, watching Ouran High School Host Club, while a bowl of popcorn stood on the table in front of you. Yeonjun was starting to get into watching anime, all thanks to you. Your Mama told both of you that she was going on a quick grocery run for some salt or egg, he couldn’t recall.

As soon as the door shut behind her, you pulled Yeonjun closer towards you and he laughed a bit. He was surprised in delight because he was always the one initiating the affectionate acts between you. But that afternoon, after pulling him to your body, you turned your head in front of his and stole a quick kiss before focusing your attention back to the TV. He’ll always remember it – your first kiss that was initiated by you.

-x-o-x-o- 

Kiss #4

Your last year in senior high. Prom night. Yeonjun pulled you away from the dance floor, you struggling on your heels as he guided you towards the photobooth. Right before the camera shutter went off, he cupped your face and put his lips against yours. It was your first kiss captured in a photograph.

-x-o-x-o- 

Kiss #5

Your eighteenth birthday. The two of you were cuddling on your bed, your head on Yeonjun’s chest as you both looked at your ceiling decorated by the old glow-in-the-dark stars that everyone loved as children. Yeonjun had pasted his on random places but yours seemed to be arranged into constellations.

“And what’s that?” He asked, pointing to the five stars close to each other, which looked like they were the first ones to be pasted on the ceiling.

With his soft breath warm and comforting near you, you answered, “That’s Cassiopeia.”

“Like the calculator?” He asked innocently and felt your body shake in laughter.

“No, like the queen in Greek mythology. Did you not listen to literature class?”

Shaking his head, he looked down to face you and stared at your dark eyes. Before he could get lost in them, Yeonjun confessed. “I was bad in class because I was always busy watching you.”

You blushed, pink dusting your cheeks, and poked his nose. “Since when did you have a crush on me?”

“Seventh grade,” he answered without a second thought. “You were annoyed at me for checking your science quiz messily.”

“Crazy!” you exclaimed, almost hitting your head against his. “That was the moment I began to really notice you. Who would have thought I’d end up falling in love with the boy who can’t grade a paper properly?”

Yeonjun became silent as soon as you finished your sentence and he didn’t tell you then but at that moment, he was so relieved. He’d been dying to drop the L-word on you but was afraid he would scare you away. Could you imagine how he felt when he heard your slip of the tongue?

You realized what you have said and gently snuggled closer to his chest, your hair tickling his chin. In a whisper, you said softly, “I love you, Yeonjun.”

He planted a soft kiss at the top of your head before turning down so you’re face to face. “I love you, Y/N.” Staring into each other’s eyes, you leaned towards each other and closed the gap. Your first kiss after saying I love you.

 -x-o-x-o-

Kiss #6

You were crying. Not the tears-silently-running-down-your-face kind of crying but the messy-tears-and-runny-nose crying. It was time for the both of you to go to college and Yeonjun got accepted in the country’s top university for musicians and dancers. When you first found out the news, you were filled with pride because you knew how much Yeonjun loved performing. However, Yeonjun getting accepted into his dream school also meant he would have to move to a city four hours away from home.

His parents were kind enough to let you know you were welcome to tag along when they would drop Yeonjun off in his dorms but you declined the offer, not trusting yourself to bid a proper goodbye and besides, you wanted to give that moment to his parents.

So, you and Yeonjun set a date for the whole day before he moved and as you watched the sunset under your favorite tree, the fact that the day was closing to an end hit you like a brick and you weren’t able to stop yourself from ugly-crying at the thought that your boyfriend would be moving the next day.

“I promise I’d go home as often as I can,” Yeonjun said as he tried to wipe your tears away.

Instead of being comforted, what he said only made you cry harder. Yeonjun pulled you against him and let you cry until it felt like you ran out of tears. And when you regained your composure later on, he sweetly kissed your lips. “I’ll hold on to this,” you said after a while, smiling gently at him, “our salty first goodbye kiss.”

-x-o-x-o- 

Kiss #7

On your fourth anniversary, you and Yeonjun had a fight. You were both on your sophomore year in university. You were elated when he told you he’d be coming home for the weekend and you prepared a surprise for him. Yeonjun did come home, but he wasn’t alone.

Soobin and Taehyun were with him, his friends that he met on his first year. As it turned out, Yeonjun only went home to show them around your town, to let his family meet them. He didn’t remember what you were supposed to celebrate. So, Saturday came and it was your anniversary but you didn’t even get to see him until late at night when you dropped by their house.

When Yeonjun saw you, his face didn’t transform into that happy expression he always wore whenever the two of you meet after not seeing each other for some time. Instead, he said with a hint of surprise and something else in his voice, “I didn’t know you were coming.”

You replied with a nonchalant shrug. “Well, you sure don’t know a lot of things these days.”

At that, Yeonjun frowned before he grabbed your wrist and brought you to his room, his guests and family awkwardly trying not to look at the scene. Once he closed the door, he asked in a barely contained voice, “What the hell was that?”

And you knew you should have been calmer but instead, you retorted with, “Who the hell forgets what the date today is?”

Yeonjun’s budding anger was replaced with confusion. “I don’t know what you’re talking… about.” The way he slowly trailed off let you know that he just remembered at that moment what the day was. “Shit. I’m sorry.”

You wanted to stay mad but the apologetic look he gave you – like a puppy asking to be forgiven after chewing something he’s not supposed to – made your heart melt. You reached for his hand and squeezed it. “You owe me one day where you’ll only be with me.”

Yeonjun laced your fingers together and raised it towards his lips so he could plant a kiss on the back of your hand. “Of course. And I won’t only give you one day, I’ll give you the rest of my life.”

You were glad that his lights were off because you were absolutely sure that you blushed like crazy at the implication of Yeonjun’s words. “Shut up.”

He laughed at you and leaned closer, your lips barely touching. “You’re not mad at me anymore?”

“No…”

A sigh of relief. “Thank you,” he lightly brushed your lips against yours. “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” you replied.

As if to seal your exchanged words, he locked his lips with yours and the two of you shared your first make-up kiss.

-x-o-x-o- 

Kiss #8

Yeonjun’s twenty-first birthday celebration. He had come home after not visiting your town for a few months. It was the first time that you were nervous about him coming home because you knew there were a lot of things that needed to be addressed. During the past months you’ve been away from each other, you lacked communication and time together. You weren’t even sure how to interact with Yeonjun. But still, the smile he gave you as you arrived at the celebration his family threw for him was enough to reassure your heart.

You could name a lot of memories between you and your boyfriend which brought you happiness, and you were about to add that day to the memories but alas, it’s as if time just decided to tease you, letting you borrow joy for a quick moment. The whole celebration, you felt confident about your relationship and where you and Yeonjun stood in each other’s lives. But then came the announcement of his Dad.

“Yeonjun has grown into a fine man,” he began. “I’m very proud of my only child and since today is a special one, we want to share with you that he got accepted for a spring program focusing on music and dance in Singapore this coming break.” He paused as if letting everyone absorb what he just said. “On top of that, he also got chosen as one of the cultural exchange students in Japan for one semester.” Applause followed around the room, cheers and hoots of excitement from the guests and you felt bad for not being completely happy with the news.

The spring and exchange programs meant he’d be out of the country for six months. Half a year. Could you both make that work? And more importantly, you kept thinking about how come you had to learn about them that way? Did Yeonjun purposely not tell you or was he just too busy?

Yeonjun walked you home after the celebration and you were silent the whole time. In the past, any silence between the two of you was comfortable, basking in the feeling that you could tell what each other was thinking without words being exchanged. But at that time, it felt as if you were walking the streets with a stranger. You finally broke the silence when you stopped in front of your gate. “Congratulations.”

Your bodies were facing but you weren’t looking at each other. “Y/N,” Yeonjun finally said before reaching for your hand, gingerly enclosing it with his. You could feel he was staring at your face but still felt scared to meet his eyes. Instead, you looked down at your hands, your brows furrowing as you noticed the chip on your newly-manicured left pinky. “Are we okay?”

Maybe it was the way that there was uncertainty in his usually confident voice. Maybe it was the implication of what he asked; a silent acknowledgment of the things you’ve both been trying to ignore for the past months. Whatever the reason was, Yeonjun’s question made you burst into tears. It didn’t help that his fingers were quick to brush them away.

“I don’t know, Jun,” you finally answered after regaining a little bit of composure. “I’m not sure about us right now.” At that moment, you almost spilled everything to him: the fear, doubt, hurt, and longing that you’ve been feeling. But instead, you reached up to your face to wipe the stray tears left. “I’m sorry.”

He pulled you close to him, and the familiar warmth of his arms around you didn’t help in stopping your tears. You felt his lips on your forehead. “To be honest, I’m not sure as well,” Yeonjun confessed and then cupped your face, making sure you were eye to eye as he said the next words. “But this I’m a hundred percent sure of. I love you, Y/N, and I won’t give up on us. Okay?”

You nodded, badly wanting to believe that everything will be okay between you and Yeonjun. “Okay.”

A small smile finally found its way to his lips. He brought your face closer to his, brushed his thumbs against your lips, and leaned down. A kiss. A whisper of promises. With the dark sky littered by stars, it was a moment that you would later try to forget. Your first kiss with Yeonjun that didn’t bring butterflies to your stomach.

-x-o-x-o- 

Kiss #9

It was at an old friend’s wedding where you met Yeonjun again after several years. It was an unexpected and awkward reunion. The last time you heard back then, he was happy with his job in Japan, working at a dance academy that had sourced him when he was studying there. You remember how, after the exchange program, he only went back to the country to finish his last term in university and shortly after graduating, moved to Japan.

“Hey.” His voice broke you out of your thoughts, making you look at him. Now that he’s in closer proximity, you could properly observe him. He had grown his hair to barely above his shoulder, the black silky strands looking vibrant as ever. His body was well-defined. He looked different and yet the same. Those warm eyes looking at you intently. “I didn’t expect to see you here.”

You offered a friendly smile. “Shouldn’t I be the one to ask you that question?”

Yeonjun actually laughed a little and the sound brought a wave of nostalgia to you. “I moved back six months ago.” He rubbed at his nape – a force of habit you knew he had since he was younger. “It’s nice to see you again, Y/N. It’s been so long.” He took a sip from his drink and you couldn’t help but stare at his plump lips. You’re reminded of how they felt like against yours.

“Yeah...” You answered distractedly. Upon realizing what you’ve been doing, you quickly cast your eyes somewhere else. “How have you been?”

Yeonjun pursed his lips, contemplating on an answer before settling with a simple, “Great.” His eyes crinkled a little as he smiled at you. “How about you? You look dashing.”

You tried to not put too much meaning on his compliment. “I’m good. I teach kids in fifth grade.”

That made him smile. “As expected of you. You always loved to help others understand lessons they have trouble dealing with.” His words unintentionally brought you back to when you were fifteen years old, trying to explain to Yeonjun a topic for the project you were paired to work on together. That day in the library, when you both had your first kiss.

“Well,” you cleared your throat, setting your glass down on the table. “It was nice seeing you again, Yeonjun.” You hoped he couldn’t hear the hesitancy in your voice and the way your heart was beating loudly in your chest all because of him. It’s been many years since you last saw each other and yet, the moment you first saw him two hours ago, all the longing came back instantly, as if they were always there and were barely contained by a flimsy gate.

“Yeah...” Yeonjun replied awkwardly. He slightly fidgeted in place and it pained you that you could no longer tell what it meant for him. You could no longer read Yeonjun as easily as you were able to before. Still, he made no move to leave you. “Do you want to-”

“Y/N!” An excited voice joined you but immediately faltered once the person realized you were with someone he didn’t know. “Oh, hi.”

You smiled at the guy. “Kai, this is Yeonjun, the one who kept on putting all kinds of bugs and insects inside Beomgyu’s locker up until middle school. Yeonjun, this is Kai. He moved to our town a few years back and is the one responsible for this very event. He’s the one who introduced Beomgyu to his partner.”

The two exchanged greetings. “Oh, you really came! I’ve heard a lot about you!” Kai shared excitedly, making your eyes widen in panic. Realizing his slip up, Kai quickly amended with, “I always tease Beomgyu and he tells me how there’s someone from his childhood who always played a prank on him...”

Whether Yeonjun bought it or not was unknown to you, another reminder of the bitter reality that you no longer knew him as well as you did in the past. Before the three of you could continue your conversation, another friend who hasn’t seen Yeonjun in years called for his attention from a few tables down. He gave you a quick smile before reluctantly going to the said person.

After Yeonjun left, you gave your friend a pointed look and Kai quickly held up his hands in defense. “I’m sorry I slipped up!”

You rolled your eyes before mimicking him. “You really came!” An accusing look was on your face. “Did you know all along that he’s invited to the wedding?”

Like a deer caught in headlights, Kai only gave you a guilty look. “Hear me out, okay? I didn’t tell you because I knew you would be overthinking a lot on the months and weeks leading to this day. You so obviously still have feelings for Yeonjun and I just didn’t want you to... you know... think a lot about him more than you already do on a daily basis.”

“I do not think a lot about him on a daily basis, Kai.”

He scoffed. “You so do.”

You sent him a glare but it was in a friendly nature. Kai became one of your closest friends ever since he helped you get a strawberry milk from one of the vending machines in the school where he also worked as a teacher. He was also the one who tried to set you up on dates with other people, all of which miserably failed, which he attributed to you never getting over Yeonjun, your first love.

“Shut up, I’ve already moved on.” Kai only laughed at that because you both knew that it was far from the truth. He didn’t call you out though and the two of you continued to banter, passing the time, all the while unaware of eyes that kept watching you.

Beomgyu was a friend of yours who always gets back to people who have wronged him and it’s one of the things you oddly liked about him. But alas, you didn’t know the day would come when you would be a pawn in his revenge. Stupid, younger Yeonjun and his locker pranks.

As it turned out, Beomgyu, a dear old mutual friend of you and Yeonjun, oh-so-conveniently overlooked a tiny detail when booking the rooms at the hotel and resort where all the guests of his beach wedding would be staying. The mistake being, you and Yeonjun having to share a room with only one bed.

“This is so cliché,” you groaned out in frustration as you stood inside the room and heard the sound of the door shutting behind you. “Beomgyu is so unbelievable!”

Yeonjun quietly went towards the bed and it wasn’t until he was seated on the soft mattress that he spoke. “That brat.” A small shake of his head before looking to meet your eyes with a slight smile. “He never changed, huh.”

“Yeah.” The way he was looking at you made you feel things and suddenly, frustration was no longer your most dominant emotion at the moment. You cleared your throat, eyes not leaving Yeonjun’s as you carefully said the next words. “But I’m glad he didn’t. It’s comforting to know that despite all the things and people that have changed and slipped away through my fingers, some remained and stayed the same.”

Silence settled in the room but Yeonjun’s gaze didn’t falter. You hated how you couldn’t fathom what the look on his eyes meant. He stood from the bed and walked towards your frozen figure near the door and stopped when there was only a small distance between your bodies. “Y/N.”

“Yeonjun.”

It was a simple exchange of your names and yet, it felt as if there were so many words that were said between the two of you. Thousands of things left unsaid during the past several years when you were out of each other’s lives. Finally, he spoke aloud. “Do you want to talk, Y/N?”

You nodded almost immediately, your heart rioting inside your chest. “But can I ask a question first?”

With a slight tilt of his head to the side, he said, “Okay.”

For a split second, you were tempted to back out and change the question you were about to ask him. But you remembered how you’ve never been truly happy in the romance aspect of your life during the past years and so, with a deep breath, you decided to just go along, knowing your cheeks were flushed pink. “Can you please kiss me?”

His face broke into that handsome smile of his that was all too familiar, eyes turning into small crescents as he closed the short distance between you. It would always be special and you’d be forever grateful to Beomgyu for somehow making it happen.

Your first kiss with Yeonjun, ten years after the break up.

 -x-o-x-o-

Kiss #10

If someone would ask Yeonjun what his favorite day was, they’d probably expect him to answer with any of the following: the day he got accepted into his dream school, the day the dance academy in Japan offered the contract to him, the day he met the performer who was his role-model, the day he first kissed you. All of which would be wrong.

His favorite day would be the one where his younger self’s dream became a reality: him waiting at the end of an aisle of flowers, you walking down in your white dress and a bouquet of beautiful flowers in your hands.

The girl of his dreams looking as beautiful as always. As beautiful as the day you were annoyed at him for incorrectly grading your test paper. As beautiful as the day he first asked if he could kiss you. As beautiful as the day he first brought you to his room. As beautiful as that night he took you to prom and you spent the half of it complaining about how your feet hurt from wearing heels. As beautiful as the day you said goodbye to him before he went off to university. As beautiful as the day he broke your heart shortly before he flew to Singapore. As beautiful as the day he saw you at Beomgyu’s wedding.

In every single moment, you looked beautiful. Yeonjun couldn’t believe how lucky he was to be given a second chance of loving and being loved by you. And after you exchanged your vows and put the rings on each other’s fingers, he couldn’t help but shed a single tear for what you were about to share.

A core memory for him: your first kiss as husband and wife.

-x-o-x-o- 

Kiss #11

One hundred days after your wedding, Yeonjun was surprised when you came to him with an idea. Let’s record all of our important “first kisses”! He laughed a bit and told you that there was only supposed to be one first kiss. But you had insisted and asked (forced) him to think back to all the kisses you have shared and surprisingly enough, the both of you were able to come up with 10 first kisses that defined your relationship.

“Isn’t this cute?” You had asked him as you finished decorating the small scrapbook that you both were working on. “How sweet that it ends with us getting married. Ah, I’m getting all the feels from a romance book!”

He had agreed absentmindedly as his mind was more focused on taking in every single one of your features. The whisker dimples that appear whenever you smile and laugh. Your eyes that he could spend eternity getting lost in. And most importantly, your lips that he couldn’t kiss enough. “So, you finally agree that we stop recording at ten?”

You poked your cheek with your tongue and after a bit of contemplation, gave him a smile. “Yeah. I think it’s best to leave it at that.” You looked so lovely at that moment, and, unable to stop himself, Yeonjun leaned towards you for one sweet kiss.

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

Yeonjun closed the book and looked at the woman beside him. She always looked younger than her age and the only indication that she’s approaching her fifties were the streaks of gray hair beginning to peek out from her head. The woman looked at him, confusion written all over her face. “I don’t understand.”

He resisted the urge to tuck a stray hair behind her ear. “You don’t understand what?”

“I thought the agreement is to leave it at ten first kisses? Why are there eleven?”

A smile that was a mix of happiness and melancholia made its way to Yeonjun’s lips. “Well, it was supposed to really end at kiss number 10. But something happened that prompted a need for one more kiss to be recorded.”

She tilted her head in question, eyes full of curiosity and urging him to go on. Yeonjun inwardly sighed; this was usually the hardest part. “Y/N, five years ago, we got into an accident and it was pretty bad but between us two, you suffered more.” He watched for any change of expression on her face before continuing. “You suffered a lot, love. Severe global amnesia, you can’t retrieve past memories and you can’t store new ones. For a long time, at least. Your new memories can only last from three days to a week.”

“Oh.”

As usual, Yeonjun waited for the woman to say more but she just stared at the book on his lap, eyes squinted as if she’s waiting for something to happen. Was she waiting for him to break out in laughter and admit it was a cruel joke? However, what she asked next surprised him.

“I still don’t understand why Kiss #11 exists...”

For the first time in a while, Yeonjun let out a genuine laugh. “You see, Y/N, the recorded eleventh kiss in the book is just a placeholder.” He gently cupped her face. “Can I kiss you?”

She blushed, her rose-colored cheeks warming his heart. Still, she managed to let out a small, “Yes.”

And same as that time in the library all those years ago, Yeonjun leaned in to the only person his lips belonged to. “This is our real Kiss #11.” The kiss was gentle, soft but was full of emotions. He smiled at the love of life. “Our first “first kiss”.” The first kiss of many years to come whenever you would wake up not remembering again.

[tellthemeerkatsitsfine]

In the last few days, I've made two long and rambling posts about Cowgate, a short incident from 2003 that haunts my nightmares. I think people should know that when I make posts like that - the ones that go way too long about something entirely niche - I am operating under the assumption that absolutely no one is reading this bullshit. Even the small handful of people who read this blog regularly, I assume you skip over those ones.

That's not just a hypothetical assumption, I make writing choices accordingly. I assume the only purpose of this post is to give me somewhere to put the hauntings besides my nightmares, and therefore, it doesn't matter if it's readable. I know that my whole blog is full of errors, but on posts like that, I get especially lax with things like editing. I go really deep on things where on a different post, I might think - okay, that's far enough. Because no one is reading this.

I have now been proven wrong several times about those couple of posts, which both mildly embarrasses and delights me. First of all, I got this great comment from @beastlyanachronism, which is now how I love to picture myself:

Then, the wonderful @lastweeksshirttonight proved that they'd read not only the posts but the comment, by immediately messaging me a corresponding picture. I replied that I love the image, I will definitely start my post with that image the next time a new Cowgate-based detail is found and I need to write about it. I didn't expect that to be soon, though. Breakthroughs are few and far between.

But then, I got another message, proving that at least three different people have read my post (actually four, if you count the very kind British man who read my post and then sent me a message to explain the nuances in the expression "bottle it"). And that last message is the reason for this post. Because, I can't believe I've been given cause to use this image so soon:

Further content behind the cut, because not everyone needs this content all over their feed.

This relates to the message I got last night, from the extremely helpful @linkeightvideo, who not only read my posts, but joined the cause and did his own research. And came up with this link:

The Metro cow is a thing!!! I knew the wording of that YouTube comment was weird (calling it "the Metro cow", rather than something like "a cow that said Metro on it"), suggesting that this was a specific and recognizable instillation. And I was right! But I cannot take credit for figuring that out, all credit goes to @linkeightvideo, who is the best.

The above link is to an archived version of an article from August 5, 2003, about three weeks before Cowgate occurred (which was August 26, 2003 - fun fact that has absolutely nothing to do with anything because to the best of my knowledge he wasn't there or anything, but that was also Nish Kumar's eighteenth birthday). The article is from the Edinburgh Fringe website. It's short enough so I'm just going to paste its text in full:

The Fringe was hit by a bunch of cotton-pickin', rootin-tootin' cattle ruslers in the early hours of Saturday night. The almost life-sized, bright blue and red Metro bull was stolen from outside the Metro Fringe Box Office. Metro newspapers are appealing for its safe return before the police are called and urge anyone with information to come forward. Metro Fringe Box Office Manager, Gillian O'Connor said: "We're distraught to have lost such a valuable member of the Box Office team! Please bring him back." The bull had just completed a secondment outside London's Victoria station, where he stood unmoved for a month. Yet after only a few days on duty with the Fringe he has gone missing leaving today's Festival Cavalcade a bull short of a procession.

That's it!!! That's the one! It was blue and red! I know it was blue and red, because Adam hills shouted "it's got red horns, it's all the rage". And it was almost life sized! And it said Metro on the side! Further research - also done by @linkeightvideo, he deserves all the credit in the world for this - finds that Metro sponsored the Edinburgh Fringe Festival that year, and also directly sponsored the Gilded Balloon venue.

So, the company called Metro had a large cow that was used in advertisements, and for one month in the summer of 2003, it was in London, outside Victoria Station. Then it was brought to Edinburgh, because they were sponsoring the festival and running a box office. They put it outside that box office, and it got stolen within "a few days" (which makes sense, as August 5th is a few days into the festival). It was meant to be part of the Festival Cavalcade, but couldn't be due to thieves.

Then, three weeks later, it spends all night on stage during a late-night comedy show in an Edinburgh venue that Metro sponsors, where it gets taken apart. How do we get from one state of affairs to the other? I don't know, but I'm a hell of a lot closer to understanding than I was yesterday. If the cow was somehow recovered, it would make sense from them to move it indoors, where it can be guarded better (again, credit for this idea goes to @linkeightvideo, and I think it makes sense). I mean, it can be guarded from drunk thieves in the middle of the night. Apparently the stage of the Gilded Balloon is not a good place to guard it from (shockingly) sober comedians in the middle of the night.

This made me try searching again for the specific words "Metro cow", and I found this article from December 12, 2003. It's a list of people who are involved with whatever organization this is, I'm not really clear on that. But it includes this one guy named Stephen Auckland. He's from the North of England, and as of when this was written, he was listened as the managing director of Metro. The bottom of his profile says:

An able sidekick to Associated Newspaper's Mike Anderson, even when it came to keeping up appearances following the disappearance of Mootro, Metro's cow mascot, from the Edinburgh festival. Auckland offered to dress up as a pantomime version. Luckily, they found the cow.

Guys! Guys! It has a fucking name! The Cowgate cow has a name! It's named Mootro! Now that I think about it, I actually can't believe I've never named the thing, given that I named the event (Cowgate), and giving the cow a name is the sort of thing I'd do. But I don't have to, because apparently it's named Mootro.

And the story has an update. It was stolen by August 5, and then it was found at some unknown point, and by August 26 it was in the Gilded Balloon. And then it got taken apart on stage.

I think this brings up one obvious question, which is: if this thing was important enough for its theft to be reported on the Edinburgh Fringe website, how come they were allowed to destroy it? The obvious answer would be that it was specifically made for just that one Edinburgh Festival, and was meant to be destroyed at the end of it anyway. But why did it spend a month in London right before that, then? And why would they do that anyway? Surely it's not efficient to make something like that for only a month, you'd think they'd plan to have it last a while and move it around based on where they're sponsoring things.

I can't believe this. This is the biggest revelation since I figured out who the fuck Karen Koren was, the woman referenced in Adam Hills' song, after after ages of Googling comedians named "Erin Coren" (finally worked out that she was the venue owner, which seems obvious now but it hadn't occurred to me at the time, when I was expecting it to be a reference to another performer). Actually, this is a much bigger revelation than that one, which just explained a couple of Adam Hills' lyrics. This is the biggest revelation in all the Cowgate research yet. The two main questions at the heart of the Cowgate mystery are: "Why did you do it?" and "Where did you get the cow?" And now one of those questions has been answered! It has a fucking name!

That second article referred to it specifically as the Metro "mascot". I guess a company is going to make more than one version of a mascot. But still, I don't think you're allowed to just destroy a sponsor's mascot. Maybe that mascot was at the end of its life anyway? Maybe Daniel Kitson just doesn't give a fuck? Maybe Daniel Kitson stole the cow in the first place. There's a whole new question. Who stole the cow? How did they get it back? How did it get from there to its whereabouts on August 26?

I know it wasn't on the Gilded Balloon stage every night of the 2003 Edinburgh Festival, because there's no sign of it in this montage, from Late 'n' Live on August 19, 2003 (also a fun video and great snippets of Chocolate Milk Gang history, if you can get past the second-hand embarrassment of Kitson trying his rap battle thing with an actual musician, and the presence of an actual musician makes the whole thing seem less ironic and therefore harder to watch - but you do get to see David O'Doherty beat up Jason Byrne and that's hilarious, also it's very funny to watch Daniel Kitson do something as out of character as brag about "nearly" winning a Barry Award and having a girlfriend from Australia, especially given how the latter turned out):

So it wasn't there on that night. Also, it just couldn't have been there every night. The Gilded Balloon is a proper venue that has proper shows during most of its time, it couldn't just have a large cow on stage for all of those. Also, in the beginning of that montage video from August 26, you see Kitson talking to the audience about the cow, and it sounds like he considers its presence as much of a novelty as they do. I mean, he's making fun of them for thinking it's a novelty, but he doesn't seem familiar with it, it seems like something he has to address:

This is the main reason for my theory that they didn't plan it beforehand, the montage shows the audience giving Kitson challenges for easy things to do with the cow, he asks them for more difficult challenges and then the video cuts, but I think the audience then asked him to tear it apart. It's a theory that makes sense based on some circumstantial evidence, but it does open up other questions. The main one being whether you can get permission to destroy a company's mascot between the beginning and the end of a comedy show, especially a comedy show that takes place entirely in the middle of the night. It doesn't seem likely. It also opens up some smaller questions, like what they were planning as the end of the show - the finale of the last night of Late 'n' Live, so you'd think they'd have something - that got bumped for this.

This reminds me that I had some further thoughts on the other mystery, of what actually went down on the night of August 26. I was thinking of the somewhat blue sky theory of there being two previous. Evidence for this: Adam Hills referred to "three chances", they were able to pick up chisels off the ground that seemed to just be lying around (possibly having been discarded after previous attempts), and Kitson in that video does have their air of someone who's already watched this go wrong and is really determined to make sure they get it fucking right this time. Evidence against: I'm not sure that works from a show planning perspective. What if it had worked on the first try, then what would the finale have been? If they'd watched it fail twice, would they really have made it the finale, knowing it may well fail a third time and that would be a shit ending? Though this could possibly be explained by the presence of the pipe that someone runs on stage, significantly increasing their chances compared to any attempt where that pipe was not in play.

I thought of something else today: the cow was already down when they started that video. Earlier in the night, we see comedians sitting on the cow, it's standing up. But at the end, when those guys run out to try to take it apart, they don't have to knock it down first. It's already lying on its side. They could have knock it down just before starting the song, but why would they do that? Surely knocking it down would be a fun dramatic moment, so if this were the first time they'd messed with the cow, they'd leave the knocking down to be part of the process. Unless this weren't the first time, and they had dramatically knocked it down before starting to try taking it apart, but this one done at some earlier point that the video didn't catch.

Anyway. That's the revelation. Along with some further thoughts on theories, but the main thing is the revelation. Massive breakthrough, and I need to thank @linkeightvideo one more time for research that he was under absolutely no obligation to do, but he came through anyway. What a legend. Am I using the British expressions right? What a solid gold legend.

[faux-ecrivain]

Headcannons about Yan Emperor

(Seventeenth Official Post)

(Name is Adonis Margold)

(Links to help you; 140 Shades of Purple Color With Names, Hex, RGB, CMYK Codes - Color Meanings , 134 Shades of Green Color With Names, Hex, RGB, CMYK Codes - Color Meanings , 140 Shades of Purple Color With Names, Hex, RGB, CMYK Codes - Color Meanings , eighteenth century | British Food: A History )

He hates it when he starts sweating, it makes his body feel all sticky and uncomfortable 

He hates the color Harelquin green and despises the color Fuchsia purple, but loves the colors Chinese violet and tea green

He’s actually the son of a concubine/mistress and was quite close to his father (the late Emperor)

Despite this he has no intention of taking a concubine or mistress

His favorite food is filet mignon 

His favorite dessert is smoking bishop (a British dessert from the 18th or 19th century)

He dreams about a domestic life with you (he’s even considered adopting/having a few kids)

He hated you when he first met you

He hates the Duke so much that he has a target dummy that has the duke’s painting on it and the emperor literally rips that thing apart with his sword/arrows

He’s been through 21 failed assassination attempts on his life, 33 failed assassination attempts on his mom’s life, 14 failed assassination attempts on his dad’s life, five failed assassination attempts on his siblings and 6 successful ones (he had a lot of siblings).

He doesn’t know how to ride a horse and wants you to teach him

He sleeps with a stuffed bear at night

He has a very comfy bed and often invites (commands) you to lay with him

He doesn’t hate the peasants, but he wants nothing to do with them and do he devised a plan to just take care of their needs, so they’ll stop bothering him

He absolutely despises any and all, except you, nobles, like he cannot stand being in a room with them for long than 20 minutes

His favorite flower is the Dawnrising flower, it only blooms at Dawn and he loves the way it looks. 

It comes in two shades, one has a yellow center which fades into orange at the beginning of the petals which then fades into a light red and has splashes of light blue in it, and the tips of the petal are a dark shade of pink

The second version has a dark shade of purple center that fades into a light purple near the edges, then it fades into a pink as the petals bloom and the tips are a shade of blue

Although, Dawnrising flowers are quite rare and he’s only found a handful, all of which he’s kept alive and taken wonderful care of them

He doesn’t actually want to be the Emperor, but he’s the only one left in his blood line and he’s not one to forsake responsibility 

He adores cute fuzzy animals and has a pet cat (it’s a tiger), it’s quite big though and has to be kept outside

Many women have tried to win the Emperor’s heart, but he has turned them away and will continue to do so. 

This has caused speculation about the Emperor’s sexuality, some assume he’s into guys, but the truth is he doesn’t care about the gender as long as they have a respectable personality (also he just really wants to marry you)

He’s a very good dancer and favors the tango

When it comes to cuddles, he prefers to wrap his arms around whomever he’s cuddling and then lay on top of them (no idea why, of course this doesn’t mean he’s against being the little spoon when cuddled)

He gets bored rather easily and gets irritated just as quick

Despite his friendly personality, he’s actually quite cruel and temperamental. If someone bugs him too much or resists him too often, he’ll lash out and severely punish them

If the person he loves doesn’t reciprocate then he’ll wait a little for them to come to their sense, but if it takes too long then he’s not above kidnapping and murder

He has a reputation for being a monster on the battlefield, it’s said that he’s killed entire armies of opposing forces before (of course, his reputation could never live up to yours, you’ve got far more experience in battle then him)

He has a thing for really strong people and if the person he’s perusing has some muscles, well, let’s just say they should expect an onslaught of perversion and flirtatious remarks/touches 

Although, if the one he loves Isn’t particularly strong, he doesn’t mind and will still love him

His favorite color is Liserian Pink

He likes watching the middle class performers do plays, actually he likes to watch plays in general and operas

He’s visited many places on Ilasatra and his favorite place to visit is Rais (the equivalent of china in this world)

He’s enjoys learning about other cultures and heritages, his own is a bit messy and he doesn’t like thinking about it

He hates his grandfather and doesn’t care for his grandmother 

He never really cared for his siblings, except for a little boy named Frederick those two were quite close and up until little Fred died (at the age of twelve) Adonis spent a lot of time with him

He likes to read books on myths, particularly Terres myths (equivalent of Greek myths in this world)

He has a journal that he uses to write down every dream, every thought and everything about you, actually he has many, many journals. :)

(Hope you enjoy this and don’t forget to reblog/comment!)

(Also, please send in some asks/requests about my characters, I’m happy to answer them and it’ll give me the motivation necessary to continue posting!)

[kleio-with-a-k]

A (very basic, incomplete) timeline of the history of fanfiction

Got into fan studies like a month ago, and learning about how fanfiction has changed is definitely my favorite part. I should note that there were works you could classify as fanfiction as early as the eighteenth century, but I'm more interested in the evolution of modern fanfiction.

Beginning of fanfiction as we know it

1960s - 1970s - Women writing Star Trek fanzines basically invent fanfiction, and also the idea of having sex, which no one had thought to do before. Everyone say thank you women. The fandom term "slash" originates from early Kirk/Spock fanfiction. (Kirk SLASH Spock.)

1981 - Several women (because yes, they were also women) receive cease and desist letters from Maureen Garrett, director of the Official Star Wars Fan Club saying that "X-rated" fanfiction is strictly prohibited and that "the word has come down from George Lucas, himself, that STAR WARS pornography is unquestionably unacceptable." This managed to mostly deter people from writing Star Wars smut (until the Internet), an example of what Mel Stanfill calls successful "domestication" of a fanbase.

Fanfiction goes online

1990s - early 2000s - Fanfiction moves online. It is no longer necessary (or preferable) to create fanzines that are sent out to a mailing list - or traded at cons. Obviously people still make physical copies of zines and are still attending cons, but the internet makes available a plethora of free fan-made content. It also becomes harder (although as we shall see, not impossible) for companies to control what types of fanfiction get passed around.

Anne Rice and fair use (and why companies can basically do whatever they want)

2000 - Anne Rice, author of Interview With The Vampire, posts a message on her website stating that she disallows all fanfiction of her works. Several fanfiction writers receive cease and desist letters. The following year, fanfiction.net scrubs all fanfiction of her works from their site.

What Rice did would probably not have stood up to legal scrutiny, but that doesn't really matter. Fair use doesn't really mean shit because companies FREQUENTLY use language that exceeds their actual legal authority as a scare tactic. People don't know what constitutes fair use and even if they did, sites like YouTube (or like fanfiction.net) tend to side with the companies and IP owners. That means that a lot of what gets taken down is fair use but is stuff the IP owner finds objectionable, a la 1980s Lucasfilm. (See Mel Stanfill's Exploiting Fandom, chap. 4 for more about this)

Early mainstreaming of fanfiction: "And when everyone's a nerd...no one will be."

2006 - The infamous Harry Potter fanfiction "My Immortal" is posted on fanfiction.net. I originally thought about putting this here to be funny and cause you kind of have to, but I actually think the widespread ridicule it received is probably indicative of the fact that fanfiction was still seen as something weird and niche. (Yes, I'm aware this is not the only reason it's funny.)

2008 - Iron Man, the first movie of what would become the Marvel Cinematic Universe, hits theaters. I've seen people cite the MCU as the sole reason for the mainstreaming of nerd/geek culture. I think I have to agree, and with the mainstreaming of nerd/geek culture comes the mainstreaming of fanfiction.

2011 - Fifty Shades of Grey is published. The author, E. L. James, is open about the fact that her story started as Twilight fanfiction. This is one of the first (THE first?) books with mainstream success that is essentially published fanfiction.

Fanfiction goes mainstream?

2015ish to present: Is it weird to read or write fanfiction anymore? It doesn't really feel like it. The transformative works website Archive of Our Own has seen a steady increase in the number of visitors to the site every year since the 2010s. (And a lot of people, not just the weirdos, at least have some idea of what AO3 is.) It is no longer as taboo to turn your fanfiction into a published book. Which is remarkable, because as late as 2019, Mel Stanfill (to whom I owe my life) talks about how the ways in which women engage in fandom (fanfiction) are not profitable or career-advancing like the stuff male fans do (video game modding, amateur filmmaking). To me, it looks like that has changed. The fanfiction-turned-books that I've seen get the most snide laughs are After by Anna Todd (2014) and The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood (2021). But secure the bag regardless, ladies. We love to see a girlboss winning.

Further Reading (because obviously you're as invested as I am):

Fake Geek Girls: Fandom, Gender, and the Convergence Culture Industry by Suzanne Scott

Exploiting Fandom: How the Media Industry Seeks to Manipulate Fans by Mel Stanfill

Enterprising Women: Television Fandom and the Creation of Popular Myth by Camille Bacon-Smith

The Fan Fiction Studies Reader ed. Karen Hellokson and Kristina Busse

Fan Fiction and Fan Communities in the Age of the Internet ed. Karen Hellokson and Kristina Busse

[nonas-third-tantrum]

my fic for the TLT Big Resurrection Event is officially posted! if you like magic and mystery and bad jokes and angry mutual pining...this might be the fic for you

magnificent things

48k | Rated T | Gideon/Harrow

Summary: Harrowhark Nonagesimus has never known anything but the orphanage that raised her. She should be content, but she wants more. So when an invitation to join a magic festival arrives just before her eighteenth birthday, she decides to take the chance at a different life. Problem is: Harrow's magic powers are nearly nonexistent, and she's not exactly a performer. Enter Gideon Nav, childhood enemy, turned successful magician. Harrow reluctantly agrees to let Gideon accompany her to the festival, where they meet a strange cast of talented magicians, all of whom seem to be hiding something. As the event progresses, Gideon and Harrow grow closer, but they can't seem to escape the troubles of their past - or the machinations of the Festival itself.

or: harrow and gideon team up to do a magic show. it goes…about as well as you'd expect.

with art by @necromancer-adept and cosplay by @/kitschycreates

[jennyislander]

Happy Eighteenth Day of Pride! I can finally get back to this virtual Pride parade.

We all know why I am keeping the illustrations of this post series at a PG-13 rating or lower. So here's a shout-out to the dude with the grizzled beard, coffee cup, Mr. S Leather belt, and yellow safety helmet with a rainbow-colored ‮odlid‬‎ sticking out from the front who marched in Brooklyn back in 2019. Sir, your attιtude and ensemble were a bright spot in my morning.

But! Here's a photo that ran in Toronto Life back in 2017. The model is Danny DeVille, who describes his glorious Bo Peep outfit, complete with a wig made of shaved pool noodles(!!!), like this: "I just wanted something campy that's waterproof and doesn't melt in the sun." Darling, you achieved so much more. Behold!

Here's another that may get my post unposted, but HAT. Designer and model: Cyril James, who says that he makes his own costumes for Pride because "I just love to make other people happy."

What do they all have in common? Old ‮sreeuq‬‎, my dear. May we all live so long and so freely.

Spotting them in the crowd, the DJ puts on a song from Sir Elton John. "I'm Still Standing," official lyrics video. It is a little Pride parade all by itself.

[sanrielle]

It was just a dream, right? Not real. But it was so sweet, nonetheless. The howling loneliness that kept him awake at night was finally quieted, if only for this moment. There was no thought to it—no plan, no analyzing, no shame. She was simply there, in his arms, graciously letting him drown himself in the ocean that swirled around them.

I'm stoked to finally publish the first chapter of this Tokka fic! I was stuck on it for ages and recently found the will to work on it again, and I'm really happy with how it's turned out!

Rating: Mature

Warnings: None

Tags: Post-Canon, Friends to Lover, Idiots in Love, Flirting, Innuendo, Humor, Happy Ending

Excerpt:

‘Just wanted to let you know Suki and I split up. It was mutual. I guess. Anyway, she went back to Kyoshi Island. I guess she figured it would be too weird for her to stay here and keep being Zuko’s bodyguard. Ty Lee has taken over.

Speaking of Zuko, he’s planning a vacation on Ember Island to celebrate your, my, and his birthdays. You’ll probably get an official invite soon. It’s been way too long since I saw that grumpy face of yours, so you better be there! No excuses!’

Toph lounged in her bed, her head against the wall and ankles crossed out in front of her, and idly tapped her finger on the letter. Her assistant had read it aloud to her about an hour ago, and now the words were forever etched in her memory.

Over and over again she replayed them, imagining his voice instead.

‘Suki and I split up.’

‘It’s been way too long since I saw you.’

‘You better be there!’

In four months, summer would come—along with her eighteenth birthday. It wasn’t a milestone of any significance. She’d celebrated the official beginning of adulthood on her last birthday, which had sadly lacked Sokka’s presence thanks to some political shenanigans in the Fire Nation.

How long had it been since they last saw each other? Since she last felt his strong arms giving her one of those bear hugs she pretended to hate? It was a silly question, of course; she knew exactly how long it had been.

Two hundred and seventy-five days. 

Even then, it had been only briefly. His job as Zuko’s advisor kept him busy. Too busy. The frequent letters they exchanged weren’t nearly enough.

But he broke up with Suki…

Toph decided something then and there: She was going to make him see her. She wouldn’t chase him; it couldn’t happen like that. Toph Beifong chased no man.

No—

She was going to make him fall for her.