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bluebunnysart · 4 months

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Domestic Stray (Hoshitele Cat AU)

TITLE: Domestic Stray

Ship: Cat!Haruno x Cat!Matataki

Word count: 3188 words

A/N: Finally putting words down in a document to try to bring the Hoshitele cat AU to life! Just to quickly set expectations, what I’ve written will focus mainly on Haruno and Matataki, as cats! However, do note that these cats are INSPIRED by Haruno and Matataki and thus will not be completely the same. I’ll try to make them as in-character as I can while trying to connect stuff with the source material, but this is a cat alternate universe, so keep that in mind before you engage with this (100% self-indulgent, made for fun) work.

Just in case, TW for blood in this first scene lol but we’re mainly a cute slice-of-life/lowkey love story (on the slow side), and I would never have them harm each other, so rest assured. xD

While writing this, I debated whether I should have honorifics (like -chan) or not, and I think I won’t. Since this is an AU, this is one of those things I won’t have because Haruno’s the only one who’s gonna be using them anyway. xD

If you’re ok with all that… Hope you enjoy!

I knew I shouldn’t’ve trusted them.

That was the thought a certain light brick red-colored cat had as she forced herself to put one paw in front of the other, despite her entire body screaming at her to stop. With each painful step, a decent amount of blood would pool on the ground beneath her, forcing her to keep going unless she wanted to leave behind an even more obvious trail to where she was.

If I actually die from this, I’ll be so pissed off, she thought bitterly, biting back a hiss as she accidentally stepped on a small, pointed rock. Normally she wouldn’t make such an amateur-ish mistake, but it was kind of hard to see with her vision going in and out, and the blood pouring into one eye from the gash on her forehead didn’t help.

Quickly. She had to find somewhere to hide quickly just in case those other cats (who she’d given a good beating to, thank you very much) decided to come back for more. With how much blood she’d lost, she knew she didn’t have much time left before she straight-up passed out, but if she could find a place to rest for just a little while, then there was still hope for her yet.

House cats didn’t like it when anyone intruded on their turf, but house cats were also soft and typically unused to combat; she was pretty sure she could take one. And if she chose the right spot, then she wouldn’t have to encounter a dog, a human, or a cat!

The scent of blood might be strong, but the smell of everything else in the neighborhood would be even stronger.

Taking a deep breath, the light reddish-brown cat forced herself to keep going, letting her nose guide her. She couldn’t be too picky, lest she risk collapsing while still out in the open, so she chose quickly.

Small gap under the fence she could squeeze through? Check.

No strong scent of humans or cats in this area? Check.

Long row of bushes that would effectively hide her and help mask her scent? Check.

By now, her wounds had stopped bleeding as much, so there wouldn’t be the equivalent of a giant bloody arrow pointing to where she was. This was perfect.

The light brick red-colored cat collapsed on the spot, shutting her eyes tight with a grimace as another wave of pain went through her from the impact.

That’s it, she thought firmly as she felt her consciousness rapidly slip away. If I survive this, I’m not trusting anyone ever again.

–

Birds were chirping. And although her eyes were closed, she could tell that the light of the sun was shining on her face. Which means…

I’m alive? Matataki thought, as her eyes snapped open. It took a second for her vision to adjust, but instead of seeing the green of grass or the dark green of the bushes she’d taken shelter behind, what she saw was… A wall?

Huh?

Her heart sped up as the almost-too-familiar feeling of dread started to creep in. Without moving her body, she scanned everything she could see in front of her first: a wall, and above it, a windowsill, and on top of that…. A cat!

Matataki felt her hackles rise, but she didn’t make any sudden movements just yet. The other cat was currently facing away from her, looking out the window, and it looked like they hadn’t noticed her yet. If Matataki was careful, maybe she’d be able to get away while the other cat was still distracted. After all, if there was a cat here, then maybe there was a cat door?

Very, very slowly, the reddish-brown cat tried standing up, but it was no use. Her legs immediately gave way, but instead of landing on the hard floor, she landed on a soft cat bed, which she just now realized she had been on top of. The sound had been muffled, but the other cat had been so close. There was no way they wouldn’t have noticed, Matataki thought.

Sure enough, the other cat, who was a lovely vanilla yellow color, turned around. Her eyes, which were a more saturated yellow, at first looked surprised, before they shifted into something else.

“You’re awake!” she exclaimed, and her voice sounded kind of… relieved?

“Who are you?” Matataki asked, eyes narrowed. And what do you want from me? she thought, but she decided to ask one question at a time.

“Don’t you remember me?” the yellow cat asked, and Matataki took a moment to study her in more detail.

Horizontal black stripe on the top of her head that followed the shape of her head but ended at her ears. Perpendicular to that stripe was a vertical stripe that went down the back of the cat’s back and flowed into a black tail, which Matataki had seen before she’d turned around. And finally… The thing that set a wild cat like herself apart from a house cat: the black strip of fabric tied around the cat’s neck, which ended at a neat bow behind the cat’s neck.

“Nope. Not ringing any bells,” Matataki said bluntly, with a deep frown. If this cat was trying to pretend they knew each other in order to get on her good side–

“I’m Haruno,” the blonde cat said warmly, seemingly unbothered by Matataki’s cold reply. “I guess it has been a really long time since we last spoke to each other,” she added in a lower tone, as if speaking to herself. To Matataki, she continued: “I say hi to you sometimes when you pass by. We’ve never had a proper conversation or anything before, but, well. It’s nice to meet you! I’ve always wanted to get along.”

Unfortunately for Haruno, the brick-colored cat had stopped listening to her after ‘I say hi to you sometimes when you pass by.’ Instead, those words had caused Matataki to dive deep into her memory to try to figure out if she remembered anything like that. In general, Matataki didn’t speak to house cats, so it was 100% likely she had never spared the golden-colored cat a reply. But when it came to friendly house cats and the cats that lived in this neighborhood… Maybe something like that happened?

“Matataki?”

Matataki snapped out of her thoughts and almost glared at Haruno. “How do you know my name?” she asked, not bothering to hide her wariness.

Haruno blinked, obviously surprised once again. “You don’t know?” she asked. This time Matataki did glare at her, so she hastily explained: “I thought you would already know this, but you’re kind of famous around here. Like, from all of the things you know and can do. I heard you’re really good at using tools! And apparently there’s no place that can keep you out if you’ve decided you want in.”

Haruno wasn’t even bothering to hide the admiration in her tone as she praised her, and Matataki couldn’t help but feel awkward from suddenly being showered with compliments. Being famous or whatever isn’t a good thing, she thought darkly as she remembered what had happened to her. They only keep you around to use you and then try to get rid of you so they don’t have to honor their end of the deal.

“Whatever they say about me, I don’t care,” Matataki said, her tone harsh. “What do you…” She paused as she glanced down at herself, finally noticing and registering the bandages on her body. “...did you do this?”

“Nope! Not me! My human did,” came the reply, which sounded happy and proud. “I’m glad I found you as quickly as I did, because it looked really bad–”

“Wait,” Matataki cut in. “What happened? What human?” she asked, her blood having run cold. Was that human still around now?

“My owner. My caretaker,” Haruno answered. “Who’s usually out of the house, by the way, so you don’t have to worry about meeting them if you don’t want to.” The vanilla-colored cat had read the panic and look of displeasure on Matataki’s face and directly addressed it. “As for your question about what happened, well… You were kinda out for three whole days. I was wondering when you’d wake up, but your breathing was normal, at least, so I knew you would eventually. Anyway, I’m really glad you’re alright! You really gave me a heart attack out there…”

Once again, Matataki was drowning the rest of her words out in favor of focusing on what the other cat had just revealed. Three whole days, and she’d been patched up by a human? It was good she wouldn’t have to interact with it, but… Ugh… If she had to live with a human, then maybe it would’ve been better if she hadn’t been saved.

Pushing that thought out of her head, the light red-brown-colored cat tried to stand up again. She managed to succeed for a couple of seconds, but her legs were shaking too much, so she eventually opted to sit.

Okay. She was way too weak to leave, and even if she did leave, she might not last for long, especially if those cats were still out to get her.

“Okay, house cat.”

“It’s Haruno.”

“Yeah, that.” Whatever, she almost added, but she decided being snarky to someone she was at the mercy of probably wasn’t the best idea. “I assume there’s probably a reason why you brought me in here, so just tell me your terms. You house cats– er… House cats like you are usually more pacifistic, and I can at least pay you back for helping me.” Even though I didn’t ask you to. “So just tell me what you want, and we can settle this peacefully, without any issues.” As long as it doesn’t involve any humans.

Matataki was met with a blank stare before Haruno’s eyes widened in surprise yet again. Looks like Haruno was as unused to dealing with her as Matataki was with house cats in general, who she tended to ignore altogether.

“Terms?” the blonde cat asked. She immediately shook her head. “Nonono, you don’t need to pay me back or anything! I didn’t try to save you with an ulterior motive or anything.”

During their whole conversation, Haruno had been sitting on the windowsill and Matataki had been either sitting or lying on the cat bed. Now, Haruno chose to jump down from the windowsill so that they were more or less on the same ground. With them sitting in front of each other, it was clear Haruno was more than a little bit bigger than the injured cat, which made Matataki frown.

“I didn’t help you because I wanted something from you,” Haruno repeated, flicking her black tail. “When I see someone in trouble, I just want to help them. I couldn’t just leave you like that,” she said, her eyes softening.

The yellow cat’s eyes were a bit too earnest, so Matataki found herself immediately looking away from them. It didn’t matter what others said. The only thing that mattered was how they actually acted in the end.

“Anyway–” the stray cat said, trying to continue to negotiate her exit, but she was interrupted by the sound of her stomach loudly growling. Before she could react, Haruno was already on her paws again, her golden eyes sparkling.

“How inconsiderate of me!” the house cat exclaimed, yet she looked excited for some reason. “I have no idea when your last meal was, but you haven’t eaten for at least three days! You must be famished!”

Matataki opened her mouth to deny it, but after a second, she seemed to reconsider and closed it. There was no point trying to avoid looking weak in front of this cat. She had been too weak to stand properly, for goodness’ sake.

Haruno seemed pleased with this silent agreement, if the smile on her face was anything to go by. “I’ll be right back!” she announced, darting off. As Matataki watched her black tail disappear out of view behind a wall, she couldn’t help but silently agree that Haruno seemed to really like taking care of others.

I’m not trusting anyone ever again. The very last thought that she’d had before passing out came back to her again, and she internally patted herself on the back for remembering what she’d decided on. No matter how nice someone acted, they showed their true colors eventually– especially when it was no longer useful to act nice.

Everyone is selfish, after all. In the end, the only one you can trust is yourself.

It took barely thirty seconds before Haruno was back. In her mouth was a bowl, which she proudly placed in front of Matataki and pushed towards her.

“Since you’re a patient here, we provide only the highest quality care,” Haruno said cheerfully in almost a faux-professional voice. “This is my favorite! Wet food! I know wild cats hunt and all, but I bet you’ve never tasted chicken before! Go on! Try it!”

Matataki looked at the contents of the bowl suspiciously. Brown mashed “stuff” mushed together with pale light chunks mixed in and strange yellow-ish liquid coating everything and oozing out the bottom. She didn’t know how cats would be able to get their paws on poison, but she couldn’t rule the idea out.

“You eat it,” she demanded. Even if she was hungry, maybe she could still find something else.

“But it’s for you,” Haruno said, looking disappointed that her offer had been rejected. She seemed to look up in thought before finally nodding. “Oh, I get it! You probably haven’t eaten anything like this before, so you want me to taste-test it for you to show you it’s safe. Sure! It’s really yummy, so I’ll take a couple of bites. But I really want you to try it too! Is that okay?”

“No promises.”

Haruno seemed to think this answer was good enough, so as promised, she took a couple of bites of the wet food. Matataki watched as she licked the rest of it off her muzzle and then sat back with a satisfied expression, looking at the slightly smaller cat expectantly.

Well. No cat would be crazy enough to consume poison in front of her, so after maintaining Haruno’s stare for a moment, Matataki finally gave in and decided to try it.

It… was better than anything she’d ever tasted. Cooked food was much better than raw food, and the stray cat didn’t often get the chance to eat it for obvious reasons. Either she was really hungry or she couldn’t get enough because the food was gone before she knew it…

When she looked up, Haruno was giving her a really kind smile, which really made her fur stand on end. It felt like she’d lost somehow… Matataki was a stray cat! A wild cat at heart! And she would not be won over by house cat luxuries, even if they tasted better than her usual.

“You– you don’t have to watch me while I eat! I’m not gonna waste it!” the light red brick-colored cat snapped, mostly to hide her growing embarrassment.

“Hehe, sorry,” Haruno said with a giggle, but she looked more amused rather than apologetic. Matataki didn’t know how to react to someone reacting to her like that. As if to throw the injured cat a lifeline, however, Haruno changed the subject. “It’s not good to eat too much, so that’ll be it for now. The automatic cat feeder gives you the exact amount you need at the exact time you should have it. Convenient, right?”

She paused, as if she remembered something. “Water!” she exclaimed, her tail standing straight up. “I’ll get you some water! And I’ll make sure not to spill it!”

As if this was going to turn into a thing now, Haruno dashed off. This time, she took a little longer to return, but as promised, she carefully offered the other cat a bowl of water. Matataki hadn’t even gotten a word in before the yellow cat had decided to act on her own, and once more, she eyed the bowl before doing anything else. She considered refusing since she’d already been offered a handout earlier, but one glance at the taller cat reminded her that she should probably stay in her good graces, so she gave the water a cursory lick or two before moving back again.

“Okay!” With that word, Haruno curled her tail into a hook shape and circled Matataki as if she was examining a shiny new toy. In reality, she was just making sure the bandaged cat was in good condition and not in need of anything else. The smaller cat narrowed her eyes and regarded her uneasily as she did this, and Haruno took the hint and stopped.

“Can I get you anything?” the house cat asked, and Matataki shook her head.

The only thing Matataki wanted was to get out of here, but in her current condition, that was a horrible idea, so she was slowly accepting that she would be stuck here for a little while. But she probably couldn’t have been stuck with someone even friendlier or more helpful than Haruno, so at least it wasn’t worse.

“What are you expecting from me?” she finally asked, unable to articulate sentences like Is it fine if I stay and I can’t leave right now so I’m stuck here. The latter statement would reveal too much information (and vulnerability) to a cat who had the advantage over her, even if it was only a house cat.

“Nothing,” Haruno answered easily, with a smile. “I just want you to recover and get better! So you need lots of rest, you shouldn’t overwork yourself, and if you ever need anything, you can just ask me!” She curled her tail over her paws, her eyes sparkling beautifully like yellow topaz gemstones. “You’re welcome to stay as long as you want. You’re my guest.”

Matataki almost let out a sigh of relief, but it just came out as a slow exhale. In her entire life, she’d never been treated with as much grace and hospitality as this. It made the skin under her fur crawl because she knew it would all fall apart eventually– it inevitably did, when it came to her relationships (or lack thereof) with other cats.

“...thank you,” she finally said. Even though she was incredibly out of her element and expecting the worst, it still felt like an important weight had been taken off her shoulders. She would do her best to avoid the human, but since she wasn’t being left outside to fend for herself in her weakened state, it was still much better than nothing. She just hoped Haruno wouldn’t force her to get along with her human, even if that human had possibly saved her life.

She didn’t say anything else though. She just looked at the other cat, and Haruno was wearing the brightest smile she’d had all day.

“You’re welcome! Let’s get along from now on!”

END

A/N: Ok that was much longer than I expected and I kinda started writing at like 10:36 PM and now it’s 2:46 AM. So that took me like… about 4 hours to write! But it was really fun to me! :D I really wanted to write something for them and now I’m glad and happy I finally did it! c:

Yes, if you’re wondering, I did look up cat facts whenever I needed them. I also looked up stuff about blood loss. I’m thinking Matataki stays with Haruno for like a month, at the very least? And any other stories will be about them doing various activities or bonding.

I didn’t think I’d make the intro as long as it is (actually, I was planning to make it like maybe a 3-sentence scene or preview and go straight into the waking up scene, but it has important details I might like to reference later so you know what? Yeah, I’ll keep it like that.)

I’m a Warrior cats kid so I’m totally used to all the cat descriptions and stuff (paws, tail, muzzle, lol) but it might be weird for a non-cat person, I think. xD Anyway, I’ll upload this to AO3 on request but since this is just a niche thing for now, I’ll keep it on this blog only. This won’t be the last time I write about them, I think, ‘cuz I like this AU a lot, but hopefully I did a good job capturing their characters! I don’t want Matataki to be too mean or Haruno to be too hyperactive/helpful or anything, but this is their first meeting and they’re drastically different, so their differences get exaggerated a bit. If anyone ever feels like giving me feedback, I’m totally open to it! Anyhow, I love cats. How did you know? xD

#hoshitele #hoshikuzu telepath #stardust telepath #cat au #haruno x matataki #mataharu #my writing #fanfiction

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leos-regression-cove · 2 years

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All The Lessons I Never Learned

9. Preparations (Part 1)

Synopsis: Loki gets home and is extremely overwhelmed by how his life is changing so quickly.

Word count: 751

Stand Alone?: No!

Warnings: Alcohol/alcoholism, mild paranoia, control issues, anxiety, mention of Odin's A+ Parenting™️, Frigga's texting habits, no littles in this chapter (part 2 has the little one though!)

Notes: Loki's habits, mental health, and addiction are not the primary focus of this story and are only touched on in a few chapters. You might not want to stick around if you're looking for some real rock bottom heartbreaking stuff because you're not going to find that here. This or chapter 5. A Minor Withdrawal are about as bad as it gets.

Read it on AO3!

Upon unlocking his apartment’s door, Loki breathed a heavy sigh before sitting down on his couch and planting his face into his palms.

Oh my gods. I’m really going to have to do this, he thought to himself. “Oh my gods I actually have to do this,” he repeated, aloud this time.

There were a few seconds of silence before he picked up the raven out of his suitcase’s pocket and studied it closely for a minute; “There’s a camera in you, isn’t there?” he asked, squeezing it to check. You could never be too sure or too careful in a situation like this.

“Well,” he said, getting up after not finding anything, but still not entirely convinced. “This is my apartment. I hope it’s big enough.” He gave the bird a little tour, showing it the kitchen and his living space, the main bathroom, and then, finally, the unused guest bedroom, leaving his master suite untouched by the bird’s eyes.

The guest room had come furnished with the rest of the house and still looked as bland as the first time he had gone in there. Now though, it was covered with one notable decoration: a thin layer of dust. “This will be your room,” he said, feeling awfully silly as he brushed off a shelf and sat the bird on it.

Then, he set his hands on his hips. And surveyed the space himself. This should be big enough, right? It was around the same size, maybe a little bit smaller than Thor’s current bedroom, but that was okay. The little would have the city at his fingertips, the apartment didn’t need much room, Loki reasoned.

Just in case the bird did not have a camera, he sent over a couple photos to his mother with a “do you think this is enough room?” written below it.

Loki soon began to unpack his luggage, trying to keep his mind off the rest of his crumbling life. At least this was something he could control.

His messages dinged.

“That’s probably 👍… . Do u have extra space for toys 🧸…?” the text from his mother said.

“I don’t but central park isn’t far. He’ll have plenty of things to do,” he replied.

After doing the bulk of his unpacking and bringing his hamper out to where his in-unit washer and dryer were stored, he surveyed the rest of his home, trying to imagine life with a preschooler running around mucking the place up.

It luckily wasn’t an especially stuffy apartment. It was chic, but not hyper-luxurious or fragile, and there wasn’t much that could really get ruined. Loki was reassured after finding his parents’ home in a generally nice condition.

That was really it on his end. Not so bad, he considered. More work to come, definitely, but for this next week, it was all coasting from here.

He continued to think back on his trip as he opened up his liquor cabinet, and pulled out a bottle of tequila.

Better work on that drinking habit.

It felt like Odin’s voice was echoing through his head.

Who was he to talk, anyway? That old man used to drink enough on the daily to kill a horse, but he was still a father.

Loki knew that these situations were very different as he was neither independently wealthy nor did he have a wife and a team of servants like his father. And, in all honesty, Odin wasn’t an especially good father. He had gotten better in his old age, but… it was hard to shrug off the past. Regardless, he was not the type of caregiver Loki would ever strive to be.

Sighing, Loki twisted off the top of the bottle and poured some into a water glass.

“Fine. Fine. I’ll do it,” he said aloud to no one in particular, before setting down his cup and opening up his phone.

He rested one hand on his forehead and leaned against the countertop as he scrolled through alcohol recovery sites and scoffed a little bit whenever a drinking problem was called “a disease”, “an addiction”, or talked about ruining someone’s life. Pfft… he was fine.

Regardless, he kept down this path of research. He clicked on AA schedules and read through local groups and times. But ultimately, he closed the tabs, shut off his phone, poured himself another ridiculously large glass of clear alcohol and gulped it down as if it were just water before stuffing the bottle back into his cabinet.

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hanasnx · 2 years

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❝ fantasizing. ❞

── tcw!anakin skywalker x reader

MINORS DNI 18+ WORD COUNT: 4k SUMMARY: seeing you cozied up with general skywalker caused the clones to talk about what they’d do to you if you were theirs. anakin stands by and listens, smug that he’s allowed to do anything he wants to you, and his battalion can only fantasize about it. NOTES: there are two versions of this fic! one in 3rd pov and this one in 2nd. i wrote both cos i know ppl have preferences; also i had to make up clone names bcos i didn’t want to use any existing clone names and risk mischaracterization. specifically written for the clone wars' characterization of anakin. WARNINGS: dead dove do not eat, f!reader, established fwb relationship, lowkey clone slander, clones speaking about a woman sexually that theyre not involved with sexually, lowkey unedited, anakin skywalker having a filthy mouth with his clones, dirty foul mouthed vile delicious “locker room talk” towards love interest, clones bet whether or not general skywalker bangs love interest, ooc anakin, ooc clones, speaking explicitly and sexually about someone behind their back, also explicit content if that wasn’t already clear

“I’ve got something for you,”

You had come here to exercise, but all you had done so far was play on your holo-tablet to find the right music for the occasion for ten minutes. You looked up at the sound of the voice, straightening your back when you realized who it was.

“General Skywalker,” you addressed ANAKIN SKYWALKER properly, since you were in public. From his attire, you guessed he was fitting this visit in between meetings. With a wave of his hand and a soft smile, he dismissed the title.

“Look,” His hand came out from behind his back, a long, wide blade revealed. “Don’t have much time, but this,” he lifted it into to eyeline, twirling it by its hilt in his grip, the overhead lights glinting off of it. “is a vibroblade.” He met your gaze, brow raised, proud of himself for acquiring it.

“It’s for me?” you asked, setting your tablet aside to stand, approaching him. He hummed in confirmation. For safety, he downturned the blade, handing it to you by the hilt. It was a fine sword, but you were confused, knitting your eyebrows together as you tested the weight of it in your hand. You glanced between him and the weapon questioningly. “Thanks, but I don’t usually… use stuff like this. Knives are more my speed this feels very…” you raised the sword, in a way you thought a pirate would, “‘swashbuckle-y.’” You dropped your arm. Anakin scoffed.

“You’ve been here a while, and we’ve run into plenty of siths by now. Figured it was high time to get you something to defend yourself with in close quarters.” He pointed a finger onto the weapon as he explained, “Watch,” His large hand came to fix atop yours on the hilt, and you inhaled. Your reaction went unnoticed as he brought his saber over, igniting it. The blades of both met each other, and you witnessed how the lightsaber didn’t cut through the vibroblade. “If things get hairy, and there’s no escape, you’ve got a backup plan.” They were hard to come across, Anakin was lucky to have this one, and he was relieved to be able to give it to you, smiling down at you expectantly for your answer.

You broke out of your impressed stupor. It was a thoughtful gift. The fact that you were untrained with a sword of this size stopped you from expressing your full gratitude. That, and the warmth of his hand was still on yours.

This fitness center was made out of a repurposed hangar so it was cavernous, with expansive floor space. It had the usual: weights, punching bags, a closed off shooting range, etc. There was a lot of unused area, and spare supplies would often be dropped off. A ways away, a few clones had escorted boxes of dry rations on a hoverboard, unloading it here until it was time to relocate it if there was room in the mess hall kitchen. Ko, a clone officer, sat a box down, before taking notice of a familiar head of hair across the room. “Hey, men,” he said through a grin, “is that General Skywalker over there with (y/n)?” His comment caught the attentions of his fellow soldiers, halting what they were doing to spy.

“Ha! Skywalker,” Dice laughed, assumptions forming as to what their General was up to, “You don’t think he’s trying to butter her up, do you?”

“C’mon, guys,” Stringbean huffed, “I wanna get this over with.”

“Look, ‘Bean, they’re basically holding hands.” Copper pointed out, leaning against the cargo behind him and lulling his head in Stringbean’s direction. “Who’s gonna win the bet if we don’t pay attention?”

“Maybe making a bet about whether or not General Skywalker— a Jedi— is trying to get close to (y/n)—“

“Ah, ah, ah!” Dice wagged his finger at Stringbean, correcting him, “Whether or not they fuck, ‘Bean.”

“Well, how are we supposed to tell?”

“By watching.” Ko hissed, warning them to hush up and pay attention to the pair over on the sparring mat.

You bit your lip, meeting Anakin’s gaze who was unfaltering in his eye and physical contact. “I don’t know how to use a sword.” you admitted, your tone coming out meaner than you meant to, saying it like it should be obvious to him.

Anakin didn’t seem to notice it, “Here,” instead rounding your body to stand behind you. “I’ll show you.” Directing both of your hands onto the hilt, replacing both of his hands atop yours. He was such a wide shouldered man. That, and by doing this he curled and enveloped you almost completely. You swallowed thickly, letting him move you. There was no way that you didn’t note how strong he felt, how tall and toned with thick muscle he was. His rigid chest against your back, his flexed arms pressing into yours, his chin hovering over your shoulder, cheek against your hair— you felt dizzy with excitement. No doubt you’d ask for his help in relief later when it was time for ‘lights out’. You had a sneaking suspicion he knew exactly what he was doing to you.

He changed your positioning effortlessly, angling the blade to the imaginary opponent, “You’ll block like this. Center yourself,” Impossible to center yourself without thinking about shoving his cock into your center over and over— “When you attack, you’ll come down like this,” He raised your arms, bringing the sword down slowly, with purpose. When he stepped forward, his hips pressed into yours, and you stepped forward, not before feeling something familiar and half hard poking into you. A tingle traveled down your spine and you smirked. “If you can afford leaving yourself open, you can thrust,” Another step forward, and he shoved the blade into the air in front of them. You hadn’t been listening at all— mind occupied with General Skywalker’s perfect body pressed up against yours, fitting together like puzzle pieces— but you perked up when he mentioned thrusting. You can very much afford to leave yourself open right now, if only he had the time to properly reintroduce himself to the space between your legs. Overwhelmed, a deep blush bloomed onto your cheeks and ears.

A mischievous smile stretched out onto Copper’s lips, “Mates, is it just me or she turning red with ol’ Skywalker over there?”

Stringbean, forgetting his past protests at the notion he could be losing the bet, leaned forward, “No way,”

Dice rubbed his chin with his hand, “That she is, Copp, this is too good.”

“I’ve never seen her blush before,” Copper muttered, unable to deduce if it meant the General was making you uncomfortable, or you were attracted. You weren't pulling away at all.

“Oh, to be in his position,” Ko chuckled, the General had to be enjoying himself. Any of them would if they switched places.

You cocked your head to look at Anakin, who’s gaze lingered on yours. He stepped away, his warmth leaving you when he detached, clearing his throat. “I’ll be sure to give you more formal lessons on it another time.” You hoped he would, turning to face him with a hand on your hip. “Obi Wan and I have already agreed to switch off sparring you. You should get experience with different fighting styles.” Beginning to walk backwards off the mat, “It won’t be easy! We’re gonna fight dirty, like a sith would. Okay? I’ve gotta go, I’ll see you around,” he said, pointing to you, voice growing in volume as he furthered from you.

You nodded at him with a knowing grin, shaking your head from his ramble. “Bye, bye, Skywalker,” You gave him a flirty wave as he dismissed himself. He faced forward, and the spying clones pretended to be busy.

“Officers,” Anakin nodded at them in acknowledgment as he walked past, “I’ll see you guys later for deployment?”

Ko nodded back, saluting, “‘Course, General.”

Dice managed to slow Anakin’s stride, unloading the last bit of cargo and leaning his hand on it, “Oi, Skywalker, I saw you getting all up close and personal with (y/n) over there. Seemed cozy.” It was his special interest in poking at things his fellow soldiers thought it best to leave alone. Especially because they didn’t want their commanding officer to know they’d been spying on him.

Anakin didn’t think anything of it, expecting observation in a public area, especially when (y/n) was involved. “Just showing her some moves, that’s all.” he answered innocently, moving on to get ready for his next mission.

The men’s heads followed him as he scampered off. This was all too fishy. Copper hummed lowly, “Oh, he showed her a couple of moves, alright.” Stringbean hit his shoulder with the back of his hand playfully.

“We don’t know that yet.”

Ko scoffed, “He’s trying to move in on her.” He was certain.

None of them knew he had already moved in on you, countless times.

Their deployment was within the hour. Tasked with bringing aid to a neutral planet in order to secure their alliance with the Republic. The troops expected a resistance from the opposers, which didn’t bode well for their moods. There always was a hill to climb in order to reach victory, it was the hill that proved fatal for some. The clone troops were prepared to lay down their life for their cause, but they preferred not to focus on the possible tragedy awaiting them. Instead, they sought distractions. Distractions that made them feel normal, like there wasn’t a war occurring, that they weren’t waddling in the trenches of it.

This squad (who affectionately referred to themselves as the “Groundhog” squadron) swapped stories, knowing this would be a long ride in a shuttle, having entered the atmosphere of the planet. Their helmets in their hands or underneath their arms, seemingly reminding everyone how human they were. The conversation served its purpose, taking the men’s weight off. Anakin leaned onto the wall of the shuttle, eyes closed as he attempted a crude form of meditation. Jokes were cracked when they got onto the subject of what they’d do after the war, but nobody pointed out it was wishful thinking. Having a lover, or a wife, was a common fantasy amongst the group.

Stringbean hopped up to sit on some armory cargo, resting his blaster on safety beside him. “Maker to think…” he voices his thought aloud, picking up his leg so he can rest his elbow on his knee, shaking his head with a soft smile. “Having a plot of land to myself. A family. That’d be the life.”

Copper piped up, “I don’t even care about the family part, ‘Bean, sign me up for a wife.” It made the other clones chuckle with him.

“Ah, a wife…” Ko sighed in content from the idea, fixing his back against the cargo and resting his head back. “… beautiful woman, got a good head on her shoulders, capable, resilient. Sharing a home with her would be the dream.” Imagining it, his fantasized wife, and (y/n)’s face surfaced in his mind. It didn’t necessarily surprise him. Visualizing you offer him a meat pie you prepared for him was doing something to him.

Dice snickered, “It’s been a while since you troops’ve been laid.” Anakin smirked to himself. He shouldn’t be eavesdropping but he couldn’t help it when he felt so proud to have gotten some this morning. The officers didn’t take notice, continuing their conversation. Dice copied Stringbean, jumping up onto a box to sit, but crossed his arms. “Hell,” he scoffed, “it’s been a while since I’ve gotten laid,”

“Well there’s slim pickin’s in our line of work, Dice, don’t go feelin’ sorry for yourself.” Copper patted him firmly on the shoulder, and Dice nodded knowingly, elbowing him back.

“Let’s see,” Ko started counting on his fingers, “there’s a bunch of Jedi,”

“Bunch’a prudes, more like. No offense, General,” Dice chimed in. Anakin waved his hand dismissively, downturning his lips, knowing he was probably the only one in this battalion getting any tail.

“None taken,” The Jedi insisted, without breaking his meditation.

“But it’s not like we’re not a ‘bunch’a prudes’ ourselves,” Stringbean interjected, outstretching his hands in a defensive gesture, and it earns him a laugh from the squad.

“I hear that.”

Anakin shook his head with a smile, unable to steel himself from listening in.

“Alright, so we’ve got the prudish Jedi, our fellow Clone brothers, and…” A smirk stretched out onto Copper’s lips as he finished the sentence Stringbean started, “(y/n),”

A chorus sounded of groans, chuckles, sighs, filthy comments amongst the troop… You were a popular subject revisited yet again by the squadron. Anakin peeked open an eye, observing his soldiers’ reactions to his informant-turned-commander, who begs for his cock almost every night.

“Don’t get me started on (y/n),”

“The things I’d let her do to me,”

“Oh, the things I’d do to her if she’d let me,” A clone responded with a dark snicker.

“It’s like she doesn’t even know she drives me crazy.”

“Oi, you’re not the only one, mate.”

Anakin closed his eye before someone caught him spying. It was best to stay as far removed as possible.

“Stringbean, go back to that farm fantasy of yours.” The men wanted to hear it again, and Stringbean added a revision.

“Like I said, just a plot of land to myself.” ‘Bean gazed at the ceiling, visualizing his regaled tale in his mind’s eye. “(y/n) as my spoil of war,” These touch starved army men exhaling at the wording made Anakin scoff silently through his nose. War deranged men, showed their true, darker selves, and the Jedi witnessed it firsthand. Experienced it himself. The urge to step in rose in Anakin’s chest, but he denied it. He wanted to hear what these depraved creatures really thought of his lover. As if imagining it themselves, the boys followed Stringbean’s example and looked to the ceiling. “We’ve got two kids: a boy and a girl. (y/n) and I share yard work, and at the end of the day, cook dinner together—“

“Oi, get to the good part!” Dice jeered, and some men snickered.

“Okay, okay,” Stringbean grinned sheepishly, motioning with his hands to settle down. It seemed his fantasy was seeping into Anakin as well. “After dinner— kids asleep— we start cleaning up. She’s doing dishes, I’m clearing the table. I get a look of her in that apron,” Some guys suck in a breath. Anakin cocked his head, furrowed his brows, and exhaled through his pursed lips at the image of you in a little apron and nothing else. “Can’t help myself. Come up behind her, start fondling her. Then I nail her on the kitchen table.”

“Stringbean, you dog!” A clone shouted, and the troopers began weakly beating on him, tossing their helmets at ‘Bean while he grinned and flinched, knowing he deserved it. Being the first one to spell out a dirty fantasy meant facing certain scrutiny.

Once they had settled down, Copper wanted to share, outstretching his arms to gesture the men to quiet. “Alright, alright, that reminds me, lads.” he introduced, dropping his arms once he’d gotten everyone’s attention. “There was one day I got ahead of myself in training, (y/n) was there. Picked me up, dusted me off, brought me down to the medical bay. That night?” He raised a brow, cupping his chin in his hand, “I had the filthiest dream about her.” Being watched with bated breaths, he wasn’t sure if he should even tell this story.

“Well, don’t keep us in suspense.” A clone told him incredulously, but it was all in good fun.

Copper went on, “I dreamt she snuck into my room, told me she couldn’t stay away from me. She couldn’t keep her hands to herself, kept palming me through my pants.”

Anakin recalled an exact moment when you told him the same thing, did the same thing to him when he was recovering in the medical bay. He knit his eyebrows together, biting his lip to keep from saying anything.

“Got excited. She took care of me, sucked on me a bit, mounted and rode me ‘til I had nothing left. Fat tits bouncing. I’m surprised I contained myself while I was sleepin’.” Copper finished, leaning his elbow against the cargo.

Dice dissolved into laughter, pointing to Copper and looking amongst the group, “Mate says he’s surprised he didn’t jizz himself like a teenager,” The group followed Dice’s suit, laughing, including Copper.

Anakin felt himself perspire because he was stuck on the imagery of your “fat tits bouncing”. He swallowed thickly.

“Oi, the body on that broad, eh?” Dice reminisced, “Went to the fitness center and she was there. Had on a little bra, barely strapped in that chest of hers,” He cupped the air around his chest comically, he bounced his hands, causing a few snickers. “She didn’t notice me practically drooling like a hound. She’s glistening with sweat. Hair sticking to her forehead and neck. She’s jumping rope and I can’t tear my eyes away… the tightest yoga pants I’ve ever seen, if she bent over bet I could see her pretty little hole. The woman’s gotta know what she’s doing to us,”

Anakin, like the rest of these sleazy soldiers, was visualizing the whole damn thing. Except he knows he tore apart those yoga pants as soon as he saw you bent over in front of him. Of course you were pissed at him for it, but knowing now all these filthy perverts were waiting for the day you’d wear ‘em? He was glad he did it. Put them to one last good use getting you nice and wet for his cock. To hide his guilt, he rested his hand over his face.

“Hourglass figure, wit as sharp as a tack, looks that could kill, I wish she’d get over that crush she’s got already and get with a real man.” A clone added and an intrigued smile broke out onto Anakin’s lips, concealed by his hand.

“A crush? No way,”

“Say it ain’t so,”

“It’s obvious! A woman like that hasn’t hopped on anyone’s dick since she got here— and we’re all strapping young men— I’m tellin’ ya, girl’s hung up.”

“I could make her forget him. Gimme one night with her, she’ll forget he even existed.”

Anakin scoffed. That was highly doubtful.

“What about you, Ko? What do you think of (y/n)?”

“What’s to say that hasn’t already been said?” Ko shrugged, but the encouragement from his squad changed his mind. “I just wanna stick my dick in that cleavage. C’mon, you all have seen it. She displays it like she wants attention,” he spoke defensively, as if he had a case to defend, “Wonder if she likes being called a slut.”

You do. Anakin thought about you with a smile.

“Wonder if she is a slut.” Dice leaned back against the cargo with a wolfish grin.

You are. Anakin thought about you in response once more, smile widening.

Anakin wrestled with himself. On one hand, he could join the conversation, bond with these disgusting depraved men and their dark fantasies, or stay indifferent and detached. He knew that war changed people, and this was an outlet. They weren’t interested in taking advantage of someone when they were bred to be docile and trained to protect the innocent. You were particularly extroverted, and a bit of a tease— he had learned that first hand. Your flirtatious speech was smooth and confident, and you moved in an aesthetically poised manner, Anakin found you beautiful no matter what you did. Unashamed to admit he’s gotten stiff watching you fight alongside him on the battlefield. No wonder your image fell victim to this merry band of neglected soldiers. Attractive and available, so you had become a relatable object of fantasy. A prize to focus on to get through tough times, to get through the possibility of dying tomorrow. Never in a million years would he justify it, but he could understand it. Especially because he could hear his praise of you through the voices of these men. He could sense their intent. None of them would cause you physical harm. Briefly, he pondered if you sired these feelings in them on purpose, knowing the gross comments they made with each other when they were alone. An image of you getting off to it flashed in Anakin’s mind. It wasn’t far off from your personality to pleasure yourself to the idea of power.

“Oi, awfully quiet back there, eh, Skywalker?” Dice called, and Anakin looked at him. “We didn’t scare you or nothin’, did we?” On the contrary.

“No, just listening.” The Jedi replied nonchalantly, crossing his arms and legs as he settled against the hull wall.

Dice wanted to ask if Jedi had dirty thoughts too, but he didn’t want to shatter the illusion that Anakin was one of them— human— if he answered no. Sometimes they liked to pretend Anakin was not a peacekeeper, did not adhere to an oath, in a way Anakin liked to pretend that too.

“You ever get off to the thought of (y/n), General Skywalker?” Stringbean blurted out, breaking the silence. Immediately, the platoon scolded him playfully.

Anakin pinched his chin, “(y/n), you say?” Yes, he had. Yes, indeed, he had. More than he cared to admit. More than he thought a Jedi ever should. “Oh! You mean Commander (l/n),” He pushed off the wall, leisurely striding to the center of the group. His inflated ego had gotten to him, having completely overshadowed his more jealous traits ages ago. His tone and correction of your title made his squad nervous, and they watched with bated breath. They questioned if he was cross with them.

“I wouldn’t say,” Anakin started, a mischievous glint in his eye. He folded his arms behind his back, pacing as he noticed their worried looks. Maker, he wished he could tell them, witness their reactions when he tells them he’s been banging the “broad” they fantasize their filthy little minds about when they’re alone. His head was so big it was a mystery how it fit into the hull of this ship.

“We know you’ve got a little soft spot for her, sir, it’s obvious.” Copper ached to break the tension, and he desperately moved it into the direction necessary for him to win the bet. “We’ve all got one.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about…” The clones averted their gazes from the Jedi once he spoke, shuffling nervously in place. “but Maker, if I were simply a man, I’d do whatever it took to make her mine.”

Grins broke out on their faces at the fact Anakin played a trick on them, and some cheered their agreement with his case.

“Isn’t she other-worldly?”

“Extremely.” Anakin replied.

“She makes it so hard—“

“Maker, don’t I know it…” Anakin mused, reminiscing how hard you make his cock rather than what the clone was referring to.

“Has she ever hit on you, sir?”

“Oh, all the time. She’s shameless.” And Anakin meant shameless. Downright blasphemous, the words that would come out of that pretty mouth of yours.

“Easy?” One clone asked with hope.

Anakin gave him a look. “It wouldn’t be a problem for me either way.” he responded smugly, acting out the role of the indifferent Jedi who’s confident he could get you if he really wanted to.

His battalion went wild over the fact their leader is in on their little crush. Like they brought him down to their hellish level, innocent from the knowledge Anakin has put the body they covet the most in every position and every location. Painted you with his cum countless times. Has witnessed your pleading gaze and expression twisted in pleasure when he hit that perfect spot inside of you.

General Skywalker rode on that ego high, “Gentlemen, nothing quite like comin’ home from a battle, and (y/n) greeting you with open arms, open legs, and an open mouth.” He stood in the middle while his clones cheered thinking about that imagery, thinking their general is merely joining the conversation, and making it all up.

To keep the charade going, to find out more about how Anakin really felt about you, Ko yelled out, “Skywalker!” Anakin hummed in response. “Fuck, marry, kill: (y/n), Master Luminara, and that cute Pantoran Senator Chuchi,”

At the mention, the other clones joined into the game, muttering their answers in a big jumble. Anakin waited his turn to speak, “C’mon,”

“Don’t be like that, it’s just a game.” Ko assured, moving to sit at the edge of the cargo.

“Alright, alright. Let me think. Okay, one’s easy: Marry (y/n). Make her my little trophy wife.”

Like a pack of hyenas, they chittered with laughter.

“Sir? You wouldn’t wanna just ’fuck’?” The question was asked to serve a purpose, to nail in the bet.

“Why would I want to fuck once, when we’re hitched I get to fuck always?” Anakin answered. Once the hollering died down, he added. “Doesn’t matter the time of day. She shouldn’t be walking around with an ass like that if she didn’t want it split open twenty-four-seven.”

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respectable-username · 3 years

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🔐 Why You (Probably) Don't Need A VPN

A rant by a software engineer sick of VPN ads from her favourite YouTubers

TL;DR:

Here are some legitimate reasons the average internet user might want to use a VPN:

To connect to their company's internal network

To bypass the Great Firewall of China (or other types of website blocks at country or organisation level)

To watch Netflix etc as if you were in another country

Here are absolutely rubbish reasons to use a VPN:

Privacy

And today, I'll tell you why.

Hang on, won't a VPN stop hackers from stealing my passwords?

I mean, it does encrypt the web traffic coming from your device.

You know what else encrypts web traffic coming from your device? Your browser.

Yes, in the year 2021, pretty much all websites on the internet are accessed over HTTPS. The "S" stands for "secure", as in "your request will be securely encrypted". If your browser is using HTTPS, nobody can capture the data you're sending over the internet. More detail in the "I like too much detail" section at the bottom of this post.

It's very easy to check if you are using HTTPS by looking at your URL bar. In most browsers, it will have a lock on it if secure:

(From top left to bottom right: Chrome on iOS, Safari on iOS, Chrome on Windows, Edge on Windows, Firefox on Windows, and Safari on Mac. Screenshots reflect the UI at the time this post was written. Oh gosh this has taken over 4 hours to write.)

But isn't moar encryption better? What if somebody breaks HTTPS?

For starters, nobody's breaking your HTTPS, and there isn't any benefit from double encrypting. This is because of the maths behind encryption/decryption!

Encryption works kinda like a lock and key, except the lock is maths and the key is a special number only known to the person allowed to unlock the information.

The important thing is, without the key, all the locked data looks like complete and utter garbage. Completely unusable. Barely distinguishable from random noise. There's absolutely no way to tell what the original data was.

The other important thing is that the key is nearly unguessable. As in, with current technology, will generally take more than the lifetime of the universe to guess by chance. And when technology gets faster, we just make the numbers bigger again until they're once again secure.

For any major website you use, they will use a strong encryption algorithm (ie lock) with big numbers so your keys will be strong enough to withstand an attack. This means your data is safe as long as that lock icon is in your URL bar.

A VPN will not make the existing garble any more garbled. The extra $10/month or whatever you're paying for does not buy you any extra protection.

If you want to know more about how encryption and HTTPS in particular work, see the "I like too much detail" section at the end of this post.

Something something viruses

How's a VPN going to stop viruses? It controls the path your internet traffic takes, not the content that gets sent down that path. I guess it could block some known virus-giving hosts? But if it's known to the VPN provider, it's probably also known to the built-in antivirus on your computer who can block it for you.

(Oh yeah, 3rd party antivirus is another thing that's not worth paying for these days. Microsoft's built-in Windows Defender is as good as the third party options, and something something Macs don't get viruses easily because of how they're architected.)

Honestly though, keep your software up to date, don't click on anything suspicious, don't open files from sources you don't trust, and you'll be right most of the time.

And keep your software up to date. Then update your software. Hey, did I mention keeping your stuff updated? Update! Now! It only takes a few minutes. Please update to the latest version of your software I'm begging you. It's the number 1 way to protect yourself from viruses and other malware. Most major software attacks could have been prevented if people just updated their damn software!

But my ISP is spying on me!

Ok, it is true that there are TWO bits of data that HTTPS can't and won't hide. Those are:

The source of a request (your IP)

What website that request is going to (the website's IP)

These are the bits of information that routers use to know where to send your data, so of course they can't be hidden as the data is moving across the internet. And people can see that information very easily if they want to.

Note: this will show which website you're going to, but not which page you're looking at, and not the content of that page. So it will show that you were on Tumblr, but will not show anyone that you're still reading SuperWhoLock content in 2021.

It's this source/destination information that VPNs hide, which is why they can be used to bypass website blocks and region locks.

By using a VPN, those sniffing traffic on your side of the VPN will just show you connecting to the VPN, not the actual website you want. That means you can read AO3 at work/school without your boss/teachers knowing (unless they look over your shoulder of course).

As for those sniffing on the websites end, including the website itself, they will see the VPN as the source of the connection, not you. So if you're in the US and using a VPN node in the UK, Netflix will see you as being in the UK and show you their British library rather than the American one.

If this is what you're using a VPN for and you think the price is fair, then by all means keep doing it! This is 100% what VPNs are good for.

HOWEVER, and this is a big "however", if it's your ISP you're trying to hide your internet traffic from, then you will want to think twice before using a VPN.

Let me put it this way. Without a VPN, your ISP knows every website you connect to and when. With a VPN, do you know who has that exact same information? The VPN provider. Sure, many claim to not keep logs, but do you really trust the people asking for you to send them all your data for a fee to not just turn around and sell your data on for a profit, or worse?

In effect, you're trading one snooper for another. One snooper is heavily regulated, in many jurisdictions must obey net neutrality, and is already getting a big fee from you regardless of where you browse. The other isn't. Again, it's all a matter of who you trust more.

For me personally, I trust my ISP more than a random VPN provider, if for no other reason than my ISP is an old enough company with enough inertia and incompetence that I don't think they could organise to sell my data even if they wanted to. And with the amount of money I'm paying them per month, they've only got everything to lose if they broke consumer trust by on-selling that data. So yeah, I trust my ISP more with my privacy than the random VPN company.

But my VPN comes with a password manager!

Password managers are great. I 100% recommend you use a password manager. If there's one thing you could do right now to improve your security (other than updating your software, speaking of, have you updated yet?), it's getting and using a password manager.

Password managers also come for free.

I'm currently using LastPass free, but am planning to switch after they did a bad capitalism and only let their free accounts access either laptop or mobile but not both now. I personally am planning to move to Bitwarden on friends' recommendation since it's not only free but open source and available across devices. I also have friends who use passbolt and enjoy it, which is also free and open source, but it's also a bit DIY to set up. Great if you like tinkering though! And there are probably many other options out there if you do a bit of googling.

So, yeah, please use a password manager, but don't pay for it unless you actually have use for the extra features.

No I really need to hide my internet activity from everybody for reasons

In this case, you're probably looking for TOR. TOR is basically untraceable. It's also a terrible user experience for the most part because of this, so I'd only recommend it if you need it, such as if you're trying to escape the Great Firewall. But please don't use it for Bad Crimes. I am not to be held liable for any crime committed using information learned from this post.

Further reading viewing

If you want to know more about why you don't need a VPN, see Tom Scott's amazing video on the subject. It's honestly a great intro for beginners.

I like too much detail

Ahhh, so you're the type of person who doesn't get turned off by long explanations I see. Well, here's a little more info on the stuff I oversimplified in the main post about encryption. Uhh, words get bigger and more jargony in this section.

So first oversimplification: the assumption that all web traffic is either HTTP or HTTPS. This isn't exactly true. There are many other application layer internet standards out there, such as ssh, ftp, websockets, and all the proprietary standards certain companies use for stuff such as streaming and video conferencing. Some of these are secure, using TLS or some other security algorithm under the hood, and some of them aren't.

But most of the web requests you care about are HTTP/HTTPS calls. As for the rest, if they come from a company of a decent size that hasn't been hacked off the face of the planet already, they're probably also secure. In other words, you don't need to worry about it.

Next, we've already said that encryption works as a lock and a key, where the lock is a maths formula and the key is a number. But how do we get that key to lock and unlock the data?

Well, to answer that, we first need to talk about the two different types of encryption: symmetric and asymmetric. Symmetric encryption such as AES uses the same key to both encrypt and decrypt data, whereas asymmetric encryption such as RSA uses a different key to encode and decode.

For the sake of my writing, we're going to call the person encrypting Alice, the person decrypting Bob, and the eavesdropper trying to break our communications Eve from now on. These are standard names in crypto FYI. Also, crypto is short for cryptography not cryptocurrencies. Get your Bitcoin and Etherium outta here!

Sorry if things start getting incoherent. I'm tired. It's after 1am now.

So first, how do we get the key from symmetric crypto? This is probably the easier place to start. Well, you need a number, any number of sufficient size, that both Alice and Bob know. There are many ways you could share this number. They could decide it when they meet in person. They could send it to each other using carrier pigeons. Or they could radio it via morse code. But those aren't convenient, and somebody could intercept the number and use it to read all their messages.

So what we use instead is a super clever algorithm called Diffie-Hellman, which uses maths and, in particular, the fact it's really hard to factor large numbers (probably NP Hard to be specific, but there's no actual proof of that). The Wikipedia page for this is surprisingly easy to read, so I'll just direct you there to read all about it because I've been writing for too long. This algorithm allows Alice and Bob to agree on a secret number, despite Eve being able to read everything they send each other.

Now Alice and Bob have this secret number key, they can talk in private. Alice puts her message and the key into the encryption algorithm and out pops what looks like a load of garbage. She can then send this garbage to Bob without worrying about Eve being able to read it. Bob can then put the garbage and the key into the decryption algorithm to undo the scrambling and get the original message out telling him where the good donuts are. Voila, they're done!

But how does Alice know that she's sending her message to Bob and not Eve? Eve could pretend to be Bob so that Alice does the Diffie-Hellman dance with her instead and sends her the secret location of the good donuts instead.

This is where asymmetric crypto comes in! This is the one with private and public keys, and the one that uses prime numbers.

I'm not 100% across the maths on this one TBH, but it has something to do with group theory. Anyway, just like Diffie-Hellman, it relies on the fact that prime factorisation is hard, and so it does some magic with semi-primes, ie numbers with only 2 prime factors other than 1. Google it if you want to know more. I kinda zoned out of this bit in my security courses. Maths hard

But the effect of that maths is easier to explain: things that are encoded with one of the keys can only be decoded with the other key. This means that one of those keys can be well-known to the public and the other is known only to the person it belongs to.

If Alice wants to send a message to Bob and just Bob, no Eve allowed, she can first look up Bob's public key and encrypt a beginning message with that. Once Bob receives the message, he can decrypt it with his private key and read the contents. Eve can't read the contents though because, even though she has Bob's public key, she doesn't know his private key.

This public key information is what the lock in your browser is all about BTW. It's saying that the website is legit based on the public key they provide.

So why do we need symmetric crypto when we have asymmetric crypto? Seems a lot less hassle to exchange keys with asymmetric crypto.

Well, it's because asymmetric crypto is slooooow. So, in TLS, the security algorithm that puts the "S" in "HTTPS", asymmetric RSA is used to establish the initial connection and figure out what symmetric key to use, and then the rest of the session uses AES symmetric encryption using the agreed secret key.

And there you have it! Crypto in slightly-less-short-but-still-high-enough-level-that-I-hope-you-understand.

Just realised how long this section is. Well, I did call it "too much detail" for a reason.

Now, next question is what exactly is and isn't encrypted using HTTPS.

Well, as I said earlier, it's basically just the source IP:port and the destination IP:port. In fact, this information is actually communicated on the logical layer below the application layer HTTPS is on, known as the transport layer. Again, as I said before, you can't really encrypt this unless you don't want your data to reach the place you want at all.

Also, DNS is unencrypted. A DNS request is a request that turns a domain name, such as tumblr.com, into an IP address, by asking a special server called a Domain Name Server where to find the website you're looking for. A DNS request is made before an HTTP(S) request. Anyone who can read your internet traffic can therefore tell you wanted to go to Tumblr.

But importantly, this only shows the domain name, not the full URL. The rest of the URL, the part after the third slash (the first two slashes being part of http://), is stuff that's interpreted by the server itself and so isn't needed during transport. Therefore, it encrypted and completely unreadable, just like all the content on your page.

I was going to show a Wireshark scan of a web request using HTTP and HTTPS to show you the difference, but this has taken long enough to write as it is, so sorry!

I could probably write more, but it's 1:30am and I'm sleepy. I hope you found some of this interesting and think twice before purchasing a VPN subscription. Again, there are legit good uses for a VPN, but they're not the ones primarily being advertised in VPN ads. It's the fact that VPN ads rely so heavily on false advertising that really grinds my gears and made me want to do this rant. It's especially bad when it comes from somebody I'd think of as technologically competent (naming no names here, but if you've worked in tech and still promote VPNs as a way to keep data safe... no). Feel free to ask questions if you want and hopefully I'll get around to answering any that I feel I know enough to answer.

Nighty night Tumblr. Please update your software. And use a (free) password manager. And enable two factor authentication on all your accounts. But mostly just update your software.

#technology #vpn #things you don't need #things that piss me off #res rambles #res writes

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hard--mode · 3 years

Text

Here's the notes for everything that would happen up until the end of the story.... as far as I had it figured out. You'll notice things are a lot less fleshed out the later things go. That's a big reason why this never got finished. the longer I tried to keep the thing running, the more I realized I never had any idea what I wanted to actually DO with this story which made it pretty hard for me to keep up. it's hard to write a story you're trying to take seriously if all you really have are jokes, it turns out.

I haven't reread any of this or edited it at all so who knows what kind of notes I might have written in between things haha

P: so as i was saying about undyne-

C: who’s undyne?

Everyone freezes. Chara just walked right up to papyrus without being noticed. Paps freaks out for a sec before he pulls sans into a huddle. Chara frowns and tries to peek around.

~Montage of papyrus’s excitement and harder puzzles, death montage

~Junior jumble: its sudoku now

Chara’s doing puzzles and sees flowey spying. They shout him over

C: HEY! still following me, loser? Don’t you have anything better to do? (but they smile)

F: somebody’s gotta make sure you don’t get killed too much out here

Flowey pops up closer to them

C: nah, I’m fine! I’ve got that reset power!

F: not for long considering how much you use it (mumbles. Rolls eyes??) (some depiction of chara dying a lot in the bg)

C: by the way…. In the ruins you were telling me to use it… care to tell me more about it since you seem to know so much?

F: I-... uh… well you already know the most of it. It just resets you back to your last SAVE point like nothing happened. Only beings with a powerful SOUL can use it, so monsters with their weak souls can’t.

Chara stops their puzzle work and sits to even the heights: Can flowers?

F: what the heck are you-... oh, no no no. I’m different.

C: so you have the power too.

F: No! I mean-, i used to before you came around. Yeah.

C: so you’ve done resets. (urging him on)

F: yep.

Chara waits a while: ...thats all you have to say?

F: yep

Travel scenes from here on out depict chara and flowey together

Gauntlet:

Flowey remarks that he doesn't remember a save point being before it. Chara goes along and gets paps’ bit. He does to activate it

C: wait this isn't for real right? U can't be srs!!!

P: yeah I am, this is hard mode!

Just show chara repeatedly spawning at the save and running back in with flowey watching them

Then cut to the end chara on the other side of it panting and exhausted, papyrus shocked but also beaming

P: wow you did it!! I'm so proud of u human! I didn’t think you would actually be able to get through it--- I mean- drat! Foiled again! I'll get u one of these times!

Papyrus runs off and Chara watches him with a look of wonder in their eyes.

F: don’t get too excited. his pride is cheap, he’s proud of everyone and every thing

Chara grumbles and marches forward: whatever. I don’t hear you saying you’re proud of me, so why do I have to listen to what you have to say

F: You know, you’re gonna have to fight him soon. Didn’t sans say so? What are you going to do then, die over and over until you give up or are you going to try to murder him just like you did with Toriel? :)

C: I am not! I’m gonna talk him out of it and go right past him like everyone else. Who knows! Maybe he won’t even fight me because he’s that cool. Even if he does, he’s probably a wimp anyways.

F: I wouldn’t be so sure! I bet you don’t stand a chance.

C: shut up! Quit following me if you’re gonna be this useless.

Paps fight

As papyrus carries their body to the shed to rest. Opens on their vision returning and they see their hands hanging toward the ground.

C: why didn’t you kill me? You’re stronger than everyone else, you could easily do it. Why dont you finish me off so everyone can leave or whatever it is you need me to do? Why did you hold back?

P: OH! YOU’RE AWAKE!

C: you held back…

P: OF COURSE i DID! I COULD NEVER KILL YOU, YOU’RE MY-- I HOPE I’M NOT BEING TOO FORWARD, BUT I LIKE TO THINK OF YOU AS MY FRIEND! AND EVEN THOUGH WE DO NEED YOUR SOUL, YOU DESERVE A FIGHTING CHANCE TO DO… WHATEVER IT IS YOU’RE TRYING TO DO.

Chara is too shocked and confused by the sentiment: I don’t… I don’t understand?

P: WHAT’S SO HARD TO UNDERSTAND ABOUT A FRIEND NOT KILLING YOU? HUMANS ARE SO STRANGE ...OH! I SEE NOW! THE REASON WHY YOU CARRY YOUR KNIFE LIKE THAT. IT’S BECAUSE YOU’RE MORE AFRAID OF US MONSTERS THAN WE COULD EVER BE OF YOU!

He sets them down in the shed on the dog bed.

P: I’M SORRY, HUMAN! I WOULD HAVE GIVEN YOU MORE WARNING IF I HAD KNOWN HOW YOU FELT.

C: then… does that mean you’re going to let me go?

P: ABSOLUTELY NOT! I ALREADY CALLED UNDYNE TO MEET ME SO SHE CAN TAKE YOU! AND YOU NEED TO REST NOW AFTER ALL THAT!

C: !! I-I don’t know who Undyne is, but I can’t do that. I’m in a hurry to get out of here.

P: HMM… IF YOU’RE IN A HURRY THEN… NO, NO YOU CAN’T! WE NEED YOUR SOUL, I CAN’T JUST LET YOU LEAVE. UNDYNE’S REALLY COOL TOO, YOU’LL LIKE HER!

C: No, I have to go.

P: AGH, WELL… I SUPPOSE IF YOU CAN GET PAST ME BEFORE I CAN CATCH YOU, THERE’S NOTHING I CAN DO. BUT I WON’T GO EASY ON YOU!

Cut to chara walking toward waterfall, papyrus calling after them to come back and hang out sometime. They keep walking and mutter to themself: Sorry, but I’ll get out of here before that ever happens.

WATERFALL

They see monster kid and side eye sans as they charge in, hurriedly.

Chara keeps flowey around and asks him to read the words for him. FLowey says it’s not important at all to anything they’re doing. It’s just monster history junk that means nothing if chara’s trying to leave. Chara’s like shut up cmon help me out maybe there's clues. FLowey reads some history stuff in waterfall treating it like shit they already know

F: why do you care about all this garbage anyway?

C: I dunno, I guess it just sounds familiar. Like a story I heard a long time ago.

Chara stops suddenly and checks their phone. Flowey asks what’s up

C: i thought it rang… you didn’t hear-

The phone starts ringing. Papyrus is cheerfully on the other end and they walk and talk.

He tells them about how he heard so many horrible things about humans and the surface but chara was much nicer than he ever expected. Chara asks where he heard that and he says a flower told him. Chara covers the receiver and looks around for flowey, suspicions of him raised.

Montage w monster kid and umbrella

Chara falls from undyne’s spear attack and wakes up in the trash with flowey over them.

F: hey, wake up. I can tell you’re not dead so hurry up and get moving.

Chara’s kind of bummed: she killed me four times back there. And it wasn’t even a fight. I couldn’t talk her down or… i couldn’t even talk to her, I could barely see her.

F: what, are you giving up or something? You know she can kill you as much as she wants and you aren’t gonna die.

C: I know that! I know this is just like a game where you can keep on going but… it hurts. And it’s exhausting.

F: what will you do then? Sit here in this trash and do nothing?

C: *sigh* no. I’m just feeling down in the dumps.

They smile and get up.

As they’re walking out, they hear a click and someone to tell them to “hold it”

Mad dummys behind them and she just has a gun. Pointed directly at chara. She starts on her thing about the cousin and then blook saves the day.

Chara meets up with blook again. They go to where the snail races used to be. It’s all busted and unused

C: what’s this supposed to be…?

B: oh…. this used to be a snail farm…. And this was a race course…. For snails…. But a long time ago people started to call the races “insensitive” so we had to close them…. Sorry you can’t have any fun racing snails…

C: why was it insensitive…?

B: ...i’d… rather not talk about it………..

Timeskip

C: hey flowey! What’s up with this place and snails?

F:...i wouldnt know.

montage

After waterfall where undyne says how many souls they have

C: flowey… if they have 6 human souls, that means 6 others fell down and died here, so…

F: what?

C: i just- i mean you were the first one i met-

F: no, no, no, ive never killed anyone. You’re the only human i’ve seen since i woke up

Chara relaxes: ok. So you dont know anything about them.

F: no. i heard some things from toriel, not much. It’s too late to try asking her, but she’s seen all of them. She was there at the beginning even.

C: the beginning?

F: you know…. When humans started falling down here and monsters started killing them.

Chara goes silent in thought: wait… how… long has this been going on? How old is toriel?

F: dunno

Chara after having a rough time: it’s hard, but no matter what happens i can just keep trying. I’ll make it out of this! You believe in me right, flowey?

F: no i think you should give up.

Page/chapter ends there. Next is chara going up to fight undyne.

Open on a riff on the “long ago” cutscene that chara cuts off by saying they already know this story

Undyne screams SHUT UP!!! I’m doing my HEROIC MONOLOGUE!! Whatever, I bet you haven’t heard the part about the King and Queen’s human child who died of illness and their other son who was killed by the humans when he tried to return their body to the surface?!

C: No I think I heard that one too? Why are you telling me all this anyways??

U: because this is an UNSKIPPABLE CUTSCENE!! NYAAAGGGHHHH!!!!!

Chara’s getting their ass beat and on low hp: I’ll die in a hit or two. But that’s fine because I’ll just start this over. I’ll start from… where was the last save point…

A vision of them with flowey. Their eyes go red and the flashback cuts in between shots of them running from undyne

F: I think you should give up

Ch: what… give up?? I thought you were on my side with all the telling me to keep going and-and the hanging out with me?!

F: as if you had any other choice but to keep going! We both know you don’t.

C: so you’ve just been following this whole time waiting for me to give up and die, huh?! Why, are you trying to steal my soul just like everybody else?!?

F: it doesn’t matter how hard you try, you’re going to die! And die and die and die! You can reset as much as you want, it won’t change that! So what if I am waiting for you to give up? You’re the last thing keeping monsters trapped down here. If you give up, you’ll give everyone what they want!

C: I thought you wanted to help me?! I thought you were my friend!

F: I would never be friends with a human! You’re all nothing but killing machines!

C: I haven’t killed anyone!

F: You killed Toriel! No number of resets can change what you did! You’re a horrible, disgusting human just like all the others and everyone would be happier if you were dead!

Flowey could say something about dying down here is better than their inevitable death on the surface. Their death would at least be worth something. Mean something

Chara escapes the fight, undyne collapses, and they walk away. they tell themselves they won’t give up. They don’t need help, especially not from that dumb flower. They’ll live to spite him and everyone else who tries to kill them

Chara goes in and meets alphys and overall is p meh abt it bc bad mood. Alphys helping them through the underground makes them talk to themselves about how they dont need flowey, they can do this themself. Friends are no good.

hotland is as normal. probably figure out some indication of things not right. make the game seem broken bc they arent supposed to get so far like this

Chara meets with sans at mtt resort for food reluctantly. Lets him say his piece. After he’s done threatening to kill them chara says to his face that they really don’t like him.

Need some hubbub about them having to kill asgore to get out. Theyll be like yeah I know that (somehow)... oh but I need a plan… how will i come up with a plan..

Flowey finally appears to chara again just before they get to new home and tries to talk them out of leaving. Disparaging the surface and telling them they could live happily down here. Chara says no, it’s too hard because people are constantly hunting them down and being the last soul, no ones going to stop that. He says that he’s sorry for the way he was before

Chara smiles back, and then looks away: What you said before… about.. My inevitable death on the surface…

F: that was… don’t worry about that.

C: are you afraid of it?

F: well- yeah, it’s a dangerous place. Everyone knows that.

C: I’ve died a lot more times down here than I ever did up there.

A beat

C: you go back and forth a lot between talking about how I should stay down here because it’s better… but also if I die down here… everyone gets to go free… to the horrible, awful surface.

F: uh,, did I say all that…? I may have contradicted myself a little… I guess… in the end I just wanted an excuse for you to stay around. I really don’t want you to die.

C: so you did see me as a friend after all?

F: well…you reminded me of someone who was my friend. I wish we could have been friends.

C: Do you think… If I reset back to the beginning and did this again, if I said the right things… we could have been?

F: No… You could be as nice to me or as mean to me as you want. No matter how many times you reset, some things never change.

C: ...Did you ever… have to reset because you killed someone?

F: ……….once… and then I never reset ever again. The power to reset… makes you do bad things. It’s wrong. I had to stop because i knew… I’d make someone really upset if I kept messing around.

C: well, in that case… I guess I’ll just have to get the rest of the way out of here without any resets!

Flowey smiles: I dunno, keep one or two under your belt. You’re a pretty big klutz.

C: Thanks for helping me out of here, flowey. Even if you just did it because you were begged.

Can you imagine a more paranoid flowey who is less interested in attacking you and regaining the reset ability, but is pleased af that you have the reset ability because that means you can't die, and instead he spends the entire game trying to convince you that humanity is hopeless. That there is nothing on the surface world returning to. That it's safer, down here.

he's part of the reason why things are so much harder

he's the one that starts the rumors about the dangers of teh surface world

there's a definite sense of paranoia all across the board

When they approach new home, flowey appears one last time and grabs chara by the hand, telling them not to go. They can live in the underground, they’ve made a lot of friends here. Chara says that they have to go, they’ll find a way to get out without killing asgore. Flowey says that he tried to stop them, this is as far as he’ll go. This is goodbye. They bid their farewells and chara goes along, but flowey secretly follows them, much less detectable than ever before. It’s revealed when he’s hiding with the flowers.

Chara walks up to new home, regarding it as a vaguely familiar sight. They walk down the many halls knowing exactly where to go. The monsters speak as they go through the motions. They find a cookbook in the kitchen with a page for snail pie missing. Chara mumbles about already knowing the story and that they should all shut up. They walk more quickly to stay ahead of them. Then one mentions the snail pie and chara stops dead in their tracks. No that’s not how it happened- they stop, and take back off.

They are stopped by sans in the judgement hall, glaring at him.

S: well I had a whole speech to give ya, but you look like you’re in a hurry. You’re a weird kid, but you’re fine. The king’s up ahead.

OTHER alternative: chara realizes something’s wrong and runs back to get everyone, probably threatening to kill asgore to convince them to come quickly. Sans is avoided due to the mob approaching behind them “I heard the word that you’re on your way to kill the king.” c: are you here to stop me? “Nah. But you’d better have a good plan to back yourself up, kid. King’s up ahead”

They run up to asgore, no nonsense. Some time is taken to progress things. As they leave the throne room, flowey watches from the flowers, chara looks back to confirm he’s there.

Asgore draws up the souls, the fight is about to engage, before he can smash “MERCY” chara yells: ASRIEL. Get the souls.

Everything stops. Flowey is behind them, stunned and confused. Chara turns and asks him what he’s waiting for. Hurry up and take the souls before everyone else gets here. Nearly every last monster is coming, if he can become godlike and absorb them, it will be enough strength to break the barrier.

Flowey is confused, how do they know that? Chara tells him he did it before. Doesn’t he remember? Doesn’t he remember them?

Either flowey does it and something happens, or flowey waits too long and chaos erupts which gets them killed, and then chara and flowey have to meet up and workshop.

Final fight:

He probably says some shit about frisk and how he cant lose frisk again, chara must insist that theyre not frisk. When they say their name is chara, he hesitates for only a moment. Finally, when chara’s pinned and about to seriously die…

C: you remember it now too, don’t you? It took me a while, I couldn’t remember a thing until i started hearing your name around. You’re an all powerful god now, you should be able to remember it all better than me

A: shut up.

C: would frisk want us to fight like this?! Would frisk want you to kill your own sibling?!

A: c-.... You’re… you’re really chara?

He lets them go

They reach the conclusion that frisk messed with everything and put them here with no memories so they could do something frisk could never do. Frisk thinks they deserve to live, no matter how much the two may disagree. They have to play along. Asriel is a god and can use his powers to break the barrier and bring EVERYONE back to life so they can live together happily.

go to final fight and everyones already there, things are very confused, flowey takes the souls and things glitch out (screen phases between bosses) and chara realizes this isnt how things are supposed to be, tells asriel theyre sorry for their baggage but he doesnt understand bc he isnt theirs, and then they gotta find frisk somehow

OR... they realize things in the speech and don't go to fight asgore bc theyre finding flowey... they feign fighting asgore and then suddenly tell flowey to take the souls("Asriel! get the souls!" and thats the first time they call him by name)...? i like that a bit better. they start going on about crazy shit that makes roided out flowey kind of lose it at them which leads to them apologizing to their own asriel but then realizing they need to find frisk

but HOW do they find frisk

The end shows chara asriel and frisk hugging eachother, all alive and well. Then the two are “processing…” and remember that oh, theyve done some dark messed up stuff.

#unsure what to tag this as lol #sorry if the readmore doesnt work for any reason

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quartings · 2 years

Text

College Adventures Special Episode VI: Interview with Jeremiah Cortez (Dogs in Space)!

A bit more of a casual entry this time, but I 100% had to talk about my Writing for Animation class professor and creator of the amazing Netflix cartoon Dogs in Space, Jeremiah Cortez! Spoilers for S1 of Dogs in Space btw! (Please watch it, it’s great)

(Btw, his class is the setting for College Adventures Season 3 Parts 7, 8, and 11!)

· For most of the semester he was under NDA about his series, so it was really tough hearing him say stuff like “Oh man, there’s the joke/character/scene in the show that’s SO good! I can’t tell you about it right now, but can’t wait for you all to see it!” so much.

· Nevertheless, he showed us a ton of character sheets for the show, and they were super-extensive!! There was so much detail in them for how every character dynamic in the whole show should play out, and it was really fun to see!

· Netflix really wanted him to cast a big-name celebrity as Cpt Garbage, but he managed to fight against that in order to find the right person instead. Some names thrown around included Seth Rogen and Will Ferrell!

· For the same reasons, Netflix was also very against hiring no-name David Lopez as Chonies, but Jeremiah insisted he was right for the job (and I agree!)

· Loaf was originally written to have a British accent, since he’s a British Bulldog!

· Apparently while recording her lines for Kira in the finale, Debra Wilson actually broke into tears! That’s dedication!

· Also, Kira wasn’t even going to be the antagonist of S1 at first! It was originally going to be an alien that the crew of the Pluto found. And his “evil” plan was to steal the dogs’ gene-alteration tech to splice himself and become strong enough to get revenge on the evil aliens who conquered his planet.

· One of the other producers went to Jeremiah and told him he wanted the S1 villain to be Laika instead- an abandoned dog with an anti-human agenda. Jeremiah initially turned him down because Laika wasn’t gene altered and would have died of old age long before the events of the show, so after 2 days of back-and-forth, they settled on changing Laika to Kira so her life would fit in the timeframe of the series. Honestly one of the best examples of writing compromise and cooperation I’ve ever seen!

· Not going to lie, seeing him come to class every week with his notebook covered in cute stickers he drew himself was super-nice to see!

· In his lecture about color schemes, he accidentally gave away the twist about Kira’s heel-turn, but the writing on the show is so good anyways that I didn’t mind at all while bingeing!

· On a lighter note, the Dachshund magician character is called The Magnificent Chipolata, and was originally created by one of Jeremy’s storyboarders as a joke! He liked it so much that Chipolata became a recurring character!

· Jeremiah also confirmed the fan-theory that Ed conned his way into the position of ambassador for the Pluto, forcing the original holder of that role to be a hot dog cart worker on the M-Bark.

· The puppies episode was one of the first ones written for the show! Jeremy said it was important for season 1 to have episodes with the creative freedom of fillers while still having plot advancements.

· Sailor Moon & DragonBall parody episodes were also considered for those same reasons, but had to be cut for time.

· The show’s production was hit pretty hard by covid. Even though voice actors can hypothetically record from home, some people don’t have a good enough setup to record non-echo-y audio. Kimiko Glenn recorded all her first takes in her kitchen with a low-quality mic and it was all pretty much unusable!

· Jeremiah also talked about some future shows he was thinking about pitching! Out of courtesy, I won’t say exactly what they were, but I will mention some rough trends about what he likes!

· Pretty obvious from Dogs in Space, but he likes the contrast from putting genuinely cute wholesome characters in horrifying dark situations. (I wholeheartedly agree with this! If adult animated protags actually had nicer art styles, I would empathize with them more in dire situations)

· He also wants to make a musical series like Centaurworld or Phineas and Ferb, but is unsure of the logistics behind making one as of now.

· He thinks up character arcs first, then creates worlds and characters that match them, rather than the other way around (Which I think is a really cool and useful writing technique!)

· He’s upset with Netflix’s strategy of cancelling most shows before 3 seasons, citing Parks and Rec as an example of shows that get much better when given more than 2 seasons to grow.

· Finally, he gave us an exclusive sneak peek at the first episode of season 2! I promised not to spoil anything major, so all I will say is that I like the direction they’re taking and hope they’ll update the opening sequence to match it!

· Season 2 should hopefully drop around next spring!

#college adventures #dogs in space #jeremiah cortez #grizzlyjerr #q speaks #positivity

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mochinek0 · 4 years

Text

Agreste-Wayne?-5

Alya had gone to her parents' and gotten her old cameras, equipment, and phones. She needed to know the truth.

She set everything up and began to download everything into her computer at home. She found an unused notebook with the stuff she had brought home after she was fired and set it next to her. Alya quickly pulled out a sharpie and wrote 'Lila Rossi' across the cover.

She found her oldest recording from when Lila had first transferred in and began to write every word down. Alya noted down the date, from which equipment it was found on, and it's new file name. Once it was written, she brought up Google and set to work on finding her proof.

As she set to work, she quickly came to realize there wasn't much proof, aside from the blog she had created in the past. She copied down every celebrity name and how she knew them. She could see the change in her work. She would post interesting article about things her friends had done and information about it to spread the news. She had done a piece on the environment because it had meant so much to Ivan and Mylene. She had even done one with Nino and Alix about music and the history behind it. After she met Lila, it was slowly filled up with things she had told her without any of the information. There was no proof like before; just post after post.

Marinette had been right. She had asked her if she had found proof. Mari had told her she was changing and she needed to stop or she'd ruin herself. Back then she couldn't understand what she had meant. She thought Marinette was jealous of how much time Lila spent with Adrien and petty of how successful her new friend was. All she did, was yell at Marinette to fact check herself and see how blind she was to someone who was doing great things. She shouldn't have done that; she was the one who dreamed of being a reporter, not Marinette.

It wasn't that long after that they decided their friendship was over. She never talked to Marinette again.

Alya took her glasses off and set them on the desk, before rubbing her eyes.

'How long have I been sitting here looking at all this?' she wondered, as she closed her eyes and saw the screen etched into her retinas.

Alya looked off to the side and saw her notebook was quickly filling up with lies and notes. All the stories Marinette had claimed were lies were being shoved back into her face and it hurt to face the truth.

'I need some air.' Alya decided.

She quickly saved her work, got up, stretched and decided to grab a bite while she was out.

As she walked around Paris, she saw pictures of Adrien fading and some new ones of Juleka being posted. As she turned the corner to her favorite café, she bumped into a broad chest.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Alys spoke, "I wasn't paying attention to where I was going."

She looked up to apologize further and recognized his eyes.

'Nino!'

He quickly turned and went back the direction he had came from.

"Nino!" she shouted, chasing after him, "Wait!"

'Why would he listen to me? I broke up with him because Lila told me she saw him with another woman?'

"Please!" Alya cried out and he slowed down to a stop, "Did you know?"

"Alya." Nino sighed, "If you're trying to get me for-"

"Did you know Lila was a liar?" she questioned.

That's not the question he had been expecting.

"I wasn't sure. She kept flaking on me for gigs and after awhile I realized I was stand still. So I kept booking myself. When she told me of one she could get me into or that she would introduce me to someone, I didn't get my hopes up. I talked with Adrien and Marinette and they both knew. Mari said she tried to tell you and then I remembered how we treated her in college. It made sense that she wouldn't help us later. I apologized." Nino stated.

He watched her visibly sag in defeat.

"Lila as your source wasn't she?" he asked.

She only nodded in confirmation and he sighed.

"Come on. I'll treat you to lunch. You probably need to vent." Nino offered.

"That would be nice." Alya smiled.

"I was fired for that 'exclusive'." Alya spoke, as they sat down, "I want to expose Lila so no one falls for her lies again."

"What are you going to do?" asked Nino, as he looked at the menu.

"I pulled out my old equipment. I have all her old interviews, still. I feel so fake. I was never meant to be a journalist. I was such a bad friend to Mari. I told her to fact check about Lila's accomplishments. Almost twenty years later and I'm doing what I should have done in the first place, fact checking her stories." Alya sighed.

"So what, you'll go to the papers with this?" he asked, as their small lunch arrived.

"I want to, but I feel like they wouldn't trust me, now." she groaned, "Do you still talk with them?"

"Yeah. After I apologized, we got closer." Nino admitted.

"Did you go to the wedding?" she questioned.

Nino nodded and saw Alya hold her sob back. Nino could see how hard this was for her to take in. In college ,he was sure that Alya and Mari would be inseparable, but Lila came between that. She was probably realizing the same thing.

"I should get going. Thank you for lunch." Alya said, as she stood up.

"Alya." Nino called out.

Alya looked towards him and saw a napkin, being shoved at her.

"My number, in case you need to talk." Nino offered.

Alya took the napkin and smiled.

"Thanks, Nino." she said as she headed home.

Tag List: @danielslilangel @pawsitivelymiraculous @crystalangelluna @tomanyfandomsonmymind

Permanent Tag List: @animeweebgirl @i-is-mysterious @kitten12113 @a-star-with-human-name

#agreste-wayne #daminette #alya redemption #nino lahiffe #alya cesaire

272 notes · View notes

writer-dreams · 4 years

Text

Matchmaker (Draco Malfoy x Reader)

Hi everyone! So....I know that it's been a while but I've recently joined a writing challenge called Cliche Month Challenge. It was made by @wreckofawriter (thank you so much for inviting me). Expect 2 more fics for this challenge. Also, I'm so sorry about being slow with requests, I am still writing them, I'm just being a turtle. This was really fun to write and I'm excited to write the other 2.

Prompt: 5 times Pansy and Theo failed to get Draco and Y/n together, and the 1 time they succeeded.

House: You choose

Blood Status: You choose

Warnings: Underage drinking, possible swearing, slight angst

Word Count: 4,822 words

A/n: If I'm being honest, this is a little messy and the point of view changes quite randomly at times. I'll also admit that it does seem pretty repetitive (heh). The reader in this story is female / uses female pronouns.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

3rd Person POV

Pansy and Theo snickered to each other in one of the hidden corners in the empty corridor. They watched as Y/n and Draco bumped into each other, waiting for the scene to unfold. For years, Pansy and Theo had to watch as the two friends fell deeper in love with each other but refused to confess their feelings because they were afraid it would ruin their friendship. Pansy was almost at the point where she almost screamed out to Draco that Y/n loved him so much and that she was sick of watching them dance around each other. Theo, on the other hand, found the two's obliviousness amusing and he wanted to see how many times he had to push them in the right direction before they confessed. So, the two teamed up to try and get their friends together to stop their useless pining. They continued to watch, listening in to the conversation between the two.

"Oh, sorry Dray, I didn't see you there." Y/n chuckled, feeling a light blush dust her cheeks.

"I didn't see you there either, (N/n)." Draco smiled back at her, blushing as well.

They stared at each other, an awkward silence now filling the room. Y/n couldn't tear her eyes away from Draco's grey eyes and his handsome face. Draco couldn't stop looking at Y/n's swirling (e/c) eyes. There was a certain warmth to them that captivated him. A few seconds passed before Y/n turned away and coughed slightly.

"Um, have you seen Pansy anywhere? I got this note from her to meet her here." Y/n asked, pulling out a small piece of paper.

"That's funny, I'm waiting here because Theo left me a note to meet him here." Draco said, confused.

"Do you think they-"

The two suddenly burst out laughing, thinking that they had both been ditched. They had no idea that Pansy and Theo had orchestrated the whole thing to let the two spend some time alone.

"Well, seeing that our friends have seemed to abandon us, how would you feel about spending the day with me instead, bestie?" Y/n smiled.

"I would love that, dear best friend." Draco answered.

From their hidden corner, Pansy and Theo watched the pair walk away. Pansy let out a frustrated sigh, turning to Theo.

"It didn't work! How can two people be so blind?" She pinched the bridge of her nose in annoyance.

"Calm down, Pansy. We'll keep trying and eventually they'll see." Theo smirked. "I have another plan."

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Classes had just ended and the hallways were filled with students quickly trying to move to their dorms or next class. Pansy and Theo waited outside of their friend's classrooms, prepared to pull off Theo's plan. Although Pansy would call said plan stupid, Theo wanted to see how far something as simple as this would go. Finally, Draco and Y/n emerged from their classroom, talking excitedly to each other. Pansy stuck her leg out in front of Y/n while Theo shoved Draco forward. The end result was Y/n falling to the floor with Draco falling on top of her.

The two teenagers stared at each other, completely forgetting about the awkward position they were in. Their faces were turned into a deep shade of red, their lips just barely an inch away from each other. Y/n's eyes flickered to Draco's lips, feeling his soft breaths hitting her face.

Pansy and Theo watched from the sidelines, the latter convinced that his plan had worked. He had a smirk on his face while Pansy raised an eyebrow at him. There was no way that Theo's stupid plan would work if her note plan failed. She turned back to her friends on the floor, seeing that all of their classmates had created a circle around them, waiting to see what would happen next. At first, it seemed as though Y/n and Draco were in their own world before Y/n took a look around and noticed the crowd. She looked back at the boy on top of her, her face growing even redder.

"Um, Dray, do you mind g-getting off of m-me?" Y/n stuttered, as if finally taking in the situation.

Draco also seemed to snap back into reality as he too looked around. "Oh yeah, sure. Sorry about that." He apologized as he stood back up and offered a hand to Y/n, who gratefully accepted it.

The students who were watching the scene, grumbled disappointedly before continuing on their way. Pansy looked up to see that Theo's smirk had faltered, a fact that she found herself smiling at.

"Not so easy, is it Nott?" She taunted.

"I got further than you." He answered bluntly.

Pansy snorted, patting Theo's back gently. "Like you said, we'll keep trying until it happens."

Theo flashed Pansy a smile, chuckling softly. "Damn right."

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

This time, Theo had concocted a plan based on Pansy's first idea with leaving fake notes for Draco and Y/n. It was around the time that dinner would happen and the sky outside was dark with thousands of stars littered across the black space. Like last time, Theo and Pansy hid themselves away from view, waiting for Draco and Y/n to arrive.

The two teenagers arrived at roughly the same time. Their eyes were lit up in surprise when they spotted the picnic blanket and candles placed gently on the grass.

"Did you-" Y/n started.

"What? No. Did you?" Draco asked.

Y/n shook her head before stepping in closer to the blanket. Atop of the checkered material, another note was waiting for them. Written on it, their names were printed neatly in fancy handwriting.

"Well, it looks like this whole set-up is for us." Y/n said, showing Draco the paper.

Draco raised his eyebrows before his signature smirk made its way onto his face. "Well, who are we to deny?"

Y/n's face turned red as Draco sat down on the blanket and gestured for her to sit with him. She obliged, settling next to her best friend.

"So, I'm guessing this note I got from you is also part of the set-up then?" Y/n questioned, taking out the note that Pansy left on her desk out of her pocket.

"I guess so, considering I also got a note from you." Draco chuckled, pulling out a similar note.

Y/n rolled her eyes at the utter ridiculousness of this situation. This had to be one of the stupidest pranks that anyone has pulled on her. Though deep down, she was glad that she could spend more time alone with Draco, so perhaps this 'prank' wasn't as bad as it seemed to be.

"Hey (N/n), you can really see the stars tonight." Draco pointed at the sky.

Y/n looked up and admired the stars with him. It felt nice, just being here with him and looking at stars together. She lay down on the blanket and started looking for any constellations she recognized. Out of the corner, she could see Draco closing his eyes and breathing slowly. He looked so peaceful in the quiet evening, the candle's light making him more attractive. Eventually, he opened them again before turning to her.

"Thank you, Y/n. Thank you for always being there for me. For always listening, no matter how little the problem is. I don't know what I'd do if you weren't my best friend." Draco said sincerely.

Y/n smiled back, "I'm happy that you're my best friend too, Draco."

About an hour or two had passed before the two friends decided to head back inside. They blew out the candles and took the blanket inside with them, smiling and laughing before they disappeared into the castle. Pansy and Theo came out of their hiding place, with Pansy grinning at a frowning Theo.

"It was a good attempt, Nott. Though it appears that not even you can get the two oblivious idiots together." She laughed.

"I'm still not giving up." Theo grunted.

"And neither will I. We'll get them someday, I just hope it won't take years."

Theo chuckled at the thought of him and Pansy spending the rest of their years at Hogwarts trying to get their two friends together. "Yeah, let's hope."

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

One of the students was hosting a large party in one of the school's unused rooms. Luckily for Pansy and Theo, they managed to convince their two friends to come join them. There was a rumour that Blaise had managed to sneak some alcohol into the party to 'spice things up'. Pansy and Theo arrived at the party to see Y/n and Draco already chatting away happily in a corner. Theo leaned over to Pansy, a worried expression on his face.

"Are you sure about this?" He asked.

"Of course. Drunk words, sober thoughts, all that stuff. Just keep Draco away from Y/n and leave the rest to me."

He nodded before making his way to their friends, greeting them before taking Draco's arm and leading him away, leaving Y/n all alone. Blaise approached Pansy, two glasses of firewhiskey in his hands.

"Hey Parkinson, you want to join in on the fun?" He asked, lifting a glass to her. Pansy smiled, taking both glasses from him.

"Of course." She said, making her way over to Y/n, who looked a little nervous as she watched the rest of the party.

"Hey Y/n."

"Oh, hey Pansy."

"Great party, eh?"

"I guess so." Y/n answered uncertainly.

"What's wrong?" Pansy asked, knowing exactly why Y/n was uncomfortable.

"Pans, you know I've never been much of a party person, I don't even know why I agreed to come here."

"Because of Draco?" Pansy questioned slyly, watching Y/n's face grow red. She laughed at her friend' reaction, becoming even more amused at Y/n's attempts to shush her.

"You know what you need, Y/n? I think you need a little bit of liquid courage." Pansy held up the glass of firewhiskey to Y/n.

Y/n seemed to consider this before she cautiously took the drink from Pansy. She looked at the Slytherin girl, who nodded approvingly. Gathering her courage, Y/n lifted the glass to her lips and let the burning liquid go down her throat. She looked back to Pansy, seeing her friend offering her another drink.

"Two drinks in and you'll probably feel more comfortable." Pansy smirked, knowing fully well that Y/n was a lightweight and two drinks would be enough to get her totally drunk.

Y/n ignored any warnings ringing through her head and gulped down the second drink. Not long after, the effects of the alcohol began to take over. The next thing she knew, her brain felt fuzzy and she couldn't quite think properly.

"Pansy, have I ever told you how much I love you?" Y/n hiccupped. Pansy chuckled at the sight of her drunk friend, gently wrapping one of Y/n's arms around her back and taking her back to Draco.

"Yes, you have. Now for you to say that to Draco." She muttered.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Pansy had finally found Theo and Draco, Y/n was a drunken, blabbering mess. Draco looked worried as he took Y/n off of Pansy's back.

"What happened to her?" Draco asked, brushing some of Y/n's hair out of her face.

"She had a bit too much firewhiskey to drink. Come on, let's take Y/n back to our common room so she can sober up." Pansy answered, watching Draco take one of Y/n's arms and Theo take the other. The group then headed down to the dungeons to the Slytherin Common Room. The whole time, Y/n loudly exclaimed whatever was on her mind, with the trio trying to keep her quiet so they weren't caught.

"You guys ever wonder why the Dark Lord has no nose? Like, if I were to be the most powerful wizard to ever exist, then surely, I'd wanna look good. Who wants to be famous for not having a nose?" Y/n shouted.

"Yes, yes, Y/n. Noses are great. Now, can you please be quiet?" Pansy sighed. She knew that Y/n was a lightweight but she didn't know how difficult she would be to handle.

Soon, Y/n fell asleep, the trio letting out a sigh of relief. Out of the corner of Theo and Pansy's eye, they noticed Draco smiling softly at Y/n's sleeping form.

As they entered the room, they noticed that it was completely empty. Everyone was still at the party, allowing the four friends to have the whole room to themselves. Draco and Theo gently put Y/n down on one of the couches, Draco sitting next to her. A few minutes had passed with idle chit chat between the three as Y/n continued to sleep. The night was still young and everyone was not likely to return from the party for a few hours. Eventually, Y/n appeared to stir a bit from her sleep, though she was still very drunk. Pansy elbowed Theo gently in the side and they both excused themselves before exiting the Common Room. In reality, they were hiding in the entrance to the boy's dormitories. Pansy gave Theo a high five as they leaned against the wall to peer into the Common Room.

"Draco...." Y/n murmured, finally starting to wake up.

"Y/n! How are you feeling, do you need anything?" Draco took Y/n's hand and squeezed it gently.

"Draco....I need to tell you something...." Y/n continued muttering.

"Yeah, of course. You can tell me anything, (N/n)."

Pansy excitedly looked over at Theo. "It's finally going to happen!" She whisper-shouted. Theo put a finger over his lips and gestured for her to continue watching.

"Draco....I...I...."

"Come on!" Pansy was ready to scream. Her body was filled with anticipation and she could barely hold it in.

"Draco....I'm really glad that you're my best friend." Y/n smiled sleepily at him.

"Oh come on!" Pansy face palmed. Theo was shaking beside her, trying to hold in his laughter.

"Shut up, it's not that funny!" Pansy swatted Theo's arm.

"Of course it is! You were practically splitting at the seams from excitement only for it not to happen!" Theo held a hand over his mouth, still trying to stay quiet.

Pansy rolled her eyes and went back to watching Draco and Y/n, disappointment settling into her stomach. She was so sure that this would work, that drunken Y/n would be dumb enough to confess to Draco her undying love for him.

"I'm glad that you're my best friend too, Y/n." Draco grinned. "Now, let's get you to your room. You're going to need to sleep off all that alcohol." Draco lifted Y/n up bridal style and carried her off into the direction of her room.

With both of them now out of the room, Theo burst out laughing. He practically fell to the floor from the endless laughter. Pansy watched him with crossed arms, waiting for him to finally finish. As the laughter died down, Theo took a couple of deep breaths before he settled down.

"Got anymore bright ideas?" Theo joked.

"Maybe." Pansy smirked, a new plan already forming in her head.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Pansy was tired of their plans failing. She took out a small bottle of a love potion out of her bag, seeing Theo raise an eyebrow at it.

"This is your big plan?" He asked, almost unimpressed.

"Well, everything else hasn't worked so far! This is almost a guaranteed way for them to get together." Pansy reasoned, pouring the potion into a glass of orange juice. Due to being hungover from the party last night, Y/n ended up sleeping in past breakfast. Although Pansy couldn't sneak any food out of the Mess Hall, she had managed to grab some juice on her way out. She watched the potion disappear into the orange liquid, smiling to herself. Theo was doubting the plan, but she'd show him. This would work, she told herself.

Of course Theo doubted the plan. He'd heard of far too many stories where love potions only lead to trouble. He looked back to Pansy, seeing her smile at the mixture in her hands. She was so confident, so sure that this would provide the success they needed. He couldn't wait for this to fail so he could have another laughing fit. Not saying that he wanted this to fail, just that it would be hilarious if it went wrong. He chuckled, thinking of various scenarios where it could take a bad turn.

30 minutes later, Pansy found Y/n tiredly walking through the halls to get to class. Luckily for them, the four friends had Charms together in the morning, so it would be easy to give Y/n the potion and watch her reaction.

"Y/n! You doing okay? You were pretty drunk last night." Pansy greeted, "I couldn't get you any food, but I got you some juice so you have some energy."

Pansy handed her the drink, Y/n thanking her. The three then headed to Charms class, with Y/n complaining about how groggy she felt. They arrived and saw that Draco was already there, patiently waiting for his friends. Y/n sat down next to him while Pansy and Theo sat behind them. Y/n took a sip of the juice, not expecting a strangely sweet taste to fill her mouth. It was an unnatural sort of sweet, like someone poured a whole bottle of honey into the drink. She brushed it off though, thinking that it tasted weird because it was the first thing she had consumed that morning.

"It's happening!" Pansy whispered excitedly, as she elbowed Theo's arm.

"Don't get too excited, Parkinson." He reminded her.

It didn't take long before the potion had taken over the (h/c) haired girl. However, to Pansy's confusion, the girl's gaze snapped from her notes to Blaise Zabini. To her horror, Y/n got out of her seat and settled into a new one next to Blaise.

"Oh no...." Pansy cursed to herself.

"Hey Zabini. Have I ever told you how attractive you are?" Y/n asked, giving Blaise a flirty smile. The potion apparently also gave her newfound confidence.

"No, but I would like to hear more about it." Blaise returned her flirty tone as Y/n giggled.

Pansy continued spitting curse words under her breath as she looked over at Draco's heartbroken expression. Theo looked at her with crossed arms and a smug smirk.

"What did I tell you?" He said, sarcastically.

"Shut it. Now you gotta help me convince Draco that she's not in love with Zabini!"

"Fine. Just keep in mind that this was your plan." Theo rolled his eyes.

Pansy and Theo leaned over their desks to Draco, who was still looking at Y/n with sad eyes. Pansy felt horrible and was terrified that she'd driven them apart.

"Hey Draco...." She started, not sure how she should approach the situation. Draco looked up at her, hurt evident in his eyes.

"Cheer up, I'm sure that she doesn't actually like Zabini." Theo reassured. Draco nodded silently before his eyes went back to the (h/c) haired girl clinging onto Blaise's arm. He let out a sigh before turning back to his work, glancing at Y/n every now and then through the corner of his eye.

"Merlin, Theo. We need to get an antidote for this thing and we need it bloody fast." Pansy scowled.

"Well, I could make it but it'll take me the rest of the day."

"Then, you need to get started on it now. I can't watch Y/n cuddling with someone like Zabini any longer without feeling the urge to vomit."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The end of the day was nearly approaching and Pansy was anxious for Theo to be done with the potion. The whole day, Y/n flirted and complimented Blaise, which really didn't help the Slytherin boy's already overinflated ego. Poor Draco was stuck watching his best friend fawn over an arrogant arsehole. Eventually, he was so upset that he retreated to the Common Room, hoping to avoid seeing them together again.

Pansy stood by Blaise and Y/n, cringing every time she heard her friend gush about the large muscles the boy had. Where was Theo? She wasn't sure how much more of this she could take and she could only imagine how Draco felt. Finally, she spotted Theo hurriedly running towards her, holding out the antidote. He quickly handed her the bottle and she turned towards her spelled friend with full intent to end this now.

"Hey Y/n! I dare you to drink whatever is in this bottle!" Pansy taunted.

"What? No! What if it's poison?"

"What are you, chicken?" Blaise challenged as he turned to his new admirer.

Y/n's face turned red as she begrudgingly took the bottle from Pansy's hand. Pansy smiled knowingly, realizing that Y/n was only taking it to impress Blaise. Y/n removed the cork and swallowed the contents, not even hesitating or stopping to breathe. When it was empty, she nearly dropped the glass as a sudden dizziness hit her.

"Guys, I'm feeling a little woozy." Y/n trailed off, the world spinning as her eyes closed and everything turned black.

Y/n awoke to Pansy and Theo calling her name. She opened her eyes and found the two looking at her with worried eyes.

"What happened?" Y/n asked when the memories suddenly flooded her brain. She grimaced at the thought of how she acted, especially when she constantly fed Blaise's massive ego. "Wait, where's Draco?"

"He's in the Common Room. He left after seeing-" Theo started but he didn't need to finish before Y/n felt the immense guilt build up. She hated the idea that Draco thought she liked Blaise. That would never be true in a million years.

"What about me? Why don't you tell me more about how attractive you think I am." Blaise asked, pushing himself between Theo and Pansy, holding out a hand towards her. Speak of the devil. Y/n scowled before shoving his hand away and getting herself up.

"Shove off, Zabini. I'm going to get Draco." She flipped him off as she started quickly making her way to the dungeons with Pansy and Theo behind her.

When they arrived, Theo and Pansy hid in the entrance of the boy's dormitories and Y/n found Draco sitting on one of the couches, staring intently at the fires burning warmly in the fireplace. Her heart twisted at the sight of him and how his usual bright eyes seemed blank. She sat down next to him and waited for him to acknowledge her. Finally, he turned to her with a deep frown.

"Didn't know you liked guys like Blaise Zabini." He said, coldly.

"Dray, I swear that it wasn't me. I was spelled with a potion. Please, you have to believe me. I don't love Zabini, I love-" Y/n cut herself off before she could reveal her big secret. "I don't want you to get the wrong idea. You're my best friend, Dray. I would hate it if you saw me as that type of girl."

Draco gently took her hands in his. "You promise you're not into Zabini?"

"Yes. Merlin, I would take back all those compliments I gave him if I could. He such a pompous arse."

Draco chuckled, making Y/n's heart skip a beat. He wasn't mad at her and he believed her. Her best friend was back and she hoped that she would never come that close to losing him again. She loved Draco too much.

"And for the record, you're my best friend too, (N/n)."

"I know."

Pansy crossed her arms and sighed deeply. She royally messed this one up, didn't she? Theo smiled softly at the girl next to him, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Are we done with your extreme plans now?" He teased.

"I give up. It's your turn to come up with a plan now." Pansy said, dejectedly.

"Oh, I have one." Theo's smile grew wider.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

"Are you ever going to tell Draco about your crush on him?" Pansy asked Y/n as they walked through the halls together.

"Pans, you're not supposed to be talking about this in public."

"I just want to know. You guys are best friends, you're not meant to have secrets."

"That's just it, we're best friends. If I told him, it could ruin our friendship. Or worse, if we fall apart, we could never be as close as we used to be. It's easier for me to just keep these feelings hidden because I don't want to lose him." Y/n sighed.

Pansy's face grew hard as she suddenly took hold of Y/n's arm and began dragging her somewhere.

"What are you—Pansy! Let go of me this instant!" Y/n shouted but Pansy ignored her, leading her to an empty classroom.

"I'm tired of you refusing to tell him about your feelings just because you think that you'll lose him." Pansy growled lowly as she tossed Y/n into the room. "You two are going to talk and I'm not letting you out until you confess."

Pansy closed the door and locked it, causing Y/n to panic. She began to knock furiously on the door, begging Pansy to let her out. "Pans, let me out! This isn't funny!"

"You're trapped here too, eh?" Y/n's pleading was cut short when she turned and saw Draco at the other side of the room.

"Yeah, how did you get here?"

"Theo told me to meet him in this room, then he turned and locked me in here." Draco glared at the door, knowing that Pansy and Theo were probably listening in to their conversation.

Y/n turned back to the door. "Pans, I swear to Merlin, let me out!"

"Did you two confess yet?"

"No!"

"Then you don't come out." Pansy's blunt statement caused Y/n to bang her head against the wooden door.

"We don't even have feelings for each other!" Y/n shouted before she heard some sort of heavy breathing. Confused, she turned back to Draco to see him looking at the ground, his fists clenching and unclenching. She approached the blonde boy, worried about why he was suddenly acting like this.

"Dray, are you....alright?" She asked, cautiously.

"No, I'm not because, Salazar, I love you, Y/n!" He shouted.

Y/n froze in her tracks, unsure of what to say. Her heart was racing and her head was filled with a million thoughts. Draco loved her? After all this time, he loved her and she didn't even know.

"And it hurts to know that you'd only ever think of me as a best friend. Yesterday, when you were with Zabini, it was hell to watch you flirt with him because I was so incredibly jealous. I hated the thought that you liked him, and that you could never see me that way. Then you told me you were spelled and I actually thought I still had a chance. Now, we're trapped in a room together because our stupid friends think that we like each other. Under different circumstances, I would have never told you about these feelings because I was willing to let you be happy with someone else as long as I could still be with you, even as a best friend. I love you, Y/n. I love you so much and I would do anything for you. Though, it's been made clear to me that you don't feel the same." Draco finished his rant, still breathing heavily.

Y/n's brain was still trying to process this new information. Too many thoughts were running through her mind and her mouth refused to move. Those three words were at the tip of her tongue but for some reason, she couldn't say them. Her silence was all the answer Draco needed.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't of have said that. This was stupid. Just forget what I said." Draco averted his gaze to the side, tears starting to form.

That's when Y/n couldn't control herself as she ran up to him and pressed her lips against his. Draco let out a surprised squeak but soon began to kiss her back. Eventually, the two parted and Y/n embraced Draco tightly.

"I love you too, Dray. Merlin, I was afraid to tell you for so long because I didn't want to lose you. I tried to push away my feelings but I never could. I wish that I had confessed sooner. Like I said before, I would never be into guys like Blaise because I love guys like you. I love you, Draco Malfoy. I truly mean it with all of my heart." Y/n whispered.

Unexpectedly, the door to the classroom burst open with Pansy whooping loudly as she walked in. Behind her, Theo smirked at the now couple as Pansy gave him a high five.

"We finally did it! Salazar, that took forever!" Pansy cried.

"Wait....all those other times....you guys were the ones setting us up?" Y/n raised an eyebrow at her friends.

Pansy froze, realizing the potential 'danger' she was in. She slowly nodded as Y/n's face twisted into a scowl. Taking this as her cue to leave, she tugged on Theo's sleeve and the two took off running down the corridor.

"Come back here, you two!!"

**********************************************

Thank you so much for reading! Fun Fact: A friend actually gave me a couple of ideas for this one! She helped edit it for me and she definitely ships Pansy and Theo in this one. (You don't have to ship them, I wrote it so that you could either see them as close friends or maybe growing closer and closer as the fic goes on. Let me know what you think.) I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. Thank you again. Until next time.

-Jade

274 notes · View notes

brinesystem · 3 years

Text

How To: Deep Clean

This is going to be pretty long, so it’s going to be under a read more.

Deep Cleaning

First, get a meal. Something easy to eat, a drink, etc. Cleaning takes a ton of energy, and even if you're not hungry now, it's good to have food readily available. Also, choose a playlist if you want! If you don't know what, we recommend spotify and just letting it play.

Start with dirty dishes. You don't need to clean them all right now, just gather them up and bring them to the kitchen. You can put them next to the sink and get them later. If you're cleaning multiple rooms, do this in every room, and Then decide which room you'll be cleaning first and go there. I recommend the bedroom. Grab an empty, full sized trash bag as well, and bring it with you. It's surprisingly helpful.

Next, laundry! Gather all of your dirty laundry into a single pile. If you own a washing machine, bring it all near there, and sort it into 2-4 piles. (Lights, Brights, Whites, and Darks. if you don't have enough, you can merge brights and darks, and whites and lights together. Our family personally has lights, brights, and black clothes) If you own a washer, put a load of wash in, and then go back to the room you're doing.

Now, look around your room, and try to collect trash into the trash bag! If you find something out of place during this, put it in a pile on the floor and leave it there. You can sort that out afterwards. If the trash bag is full after this step, go throw it out and get a new empty one. If it isn't, leave it in your room for the next step!

Look at your room again and choose an area to start with. Your desk, for example, or your table, etc. Choose somewhere that's a bit stressful to look at, just is very cluttered, or that you've been putting off.

If anything is on there that doesn't go there, remove it and put it into your floor pile. Then, figure out if it looks okay or not. If it still seems crowded, or you see items you don't want, this is a great time to start removing things!

Look at each item and decide three things.

1. Do you need this item? This is for things like official documents, schoolwork, tablets, etc.

2. Do you want this item? This could be anything from fidget toys to old artwork.

3. If you answered yes to both, is this the best location for this item?

If you said no to the first two, put it into either a donate/sell pile, or the trash. It's alright to throw away things that you don't want!

If you aren't sure, or it's an item belonging to someone else, put it into a new pile and leave it for later. You can always revisit items later, or when the item’s owner is around. DO NOT throw away or donate/sell items that aren't yours!

If you said yes to either of the first two but no to the last, or are unsure about the last, take a minute to try and figure out a good place for the item! If that place is cluttered or something similar, move it near there and leave it. You can clean out that spot later.

If you said yes to one of the first two And the last one, leave it where it is, and move on to the next item!

Repeat that step as many times as necessary to finish that area off. If you find hidden trash, throw that out, and try to keep things in your piles!

No need to clean it all perfectly in one go, either. Take breaks.

Once that area is finished, look at the pile you have of things that didn't belong where they were, and see if any go in the area you just cleaned. If so, repeat the process on them.

Clothes

First, make sure all your clothes are clean. Washed and dried, at least. You don't need to fold them yet!

Then, choose a drawer or category. We usually go drawer by drawer, and then move onto unfolded clothing. Take all the items in that category out, and figure out a few things.

1. Do you like this piece of clothing when you wear it? (sometimes, clothes are pretty, but you don't actually enjoy wearing them)

2. Do you need this piece of clothing? (uniforms, clothes that you borrowed, event clothing, etc)

3. Is it fit and functional? (does it fit comfortably enough to wear normally, does it have holes, can you do the things you want to while wearing it, etc)

If you said no to those, decide whether it can be donated or sold. If neither, put it in the trash bag. If it's neither but you like the fabric, decide if you want to keep it to do something with! Old band T's are a good example of shirts we don't throw out even if they stop fitting, because they're either being saved for nostalgia, or we plan on cutting out the interesting parts and using it as patches or other fabric material.

If the item has holes, you can mend it! But, if you aren't realistically going to, just throw it away. If you will mend it, either put it into it's own pile to be mended, or write down what it is and put it away.

If it has stains, doesn't fit, or you just don't like / wear it anymore, donate it! You can also sell clothes if you'd like, but donating usually ends up being a better option for clothing.

If it has holes and you will mend it but not wear it, mend it later, but for now, add it to your donate pile

Repeat those steps for every category of clothing.

As a note, things are stained, but usable, or you can't afford to replace them. I recommend looking into thrift stores, or overstocked clothing! They're usually cheaper, and can be a good way to replace things that you need.

Post Organization

So, things are in their right place! Or maybe you are just sick of organizing, and things are 'good enough' for now. Either one is alright! Try to make sure the floor is cleared at least, and you have a surface to work on though. You may have even gone through several trash bags by now. (We usually go through three, oops)

Now, it's time to do the cleaning part of this all! Get another snack if you're hungry, get something hydrating, and start with dusting. If you don't have a duster, you can use a clean rag, an air canister, or skip this step. You can also go out and buy a duster, but it's up to you. Dust everything you can. Knick-knacks, fans, cobwebs in the corner, tops of doors, etc.

After you've done that, it's time for flat surfaces! For these, wipe all of the actual "bits" off first, preferably into the trash, but onto the floor is fine for now. You'll clean that in a second. This means stuff like crumbs, confetti, glitter, etc. Try to wipe anything loose off, if it doesn't belong there.

Then, wipe it down! If it's wood, marble, or glass, you might have a particular spray to use with it. You may also have a general cleaner you can use! If not, a clean, damp (not wet), mildly soapy washcloth will do fine! I recommend dishsoap rather than a body soap, as a note.

Try to wipe it clean of anything sticky, stained areas, etc. Once that's done, if you're worried about it being damp, dry it off with a clean cloth or paper towel, and move onto the next surface!

You can and should also do any non-fabric chairs at this point.

Now, fabric seating! Couches, chairs, etc. If you have a carpet, you can get this done now as well! All you're going to do is vacuum. Vacuum the tops of the seats, in between cushions, under cushions if possible, the pillows, everything! -

Floor

The reason you do the floor now is because that way, if you drop anything gross in the previous steps, it's fine, because you're cleaning it now. If you have a vacuum and that works for your floor, do that now! If you don't, or need/want to sweep, do that instead. I recommend bringing the trash can into the room you're in first, so it's easy to access.

Get under the furniture here too! If something that belongs off of the floor comes out, you can clean that off lightly and set that aside for afterwards, or deal with that now. Up to you, but definitely don't forget under the furniture! Move things around if you need to and are able to.

Afterwards, move onto the next room. You want to try and get them all done at once, if possible! Now, check all fabrics for stains or odors. There are stain removers and enzyme cleaning supplies meant specifically for cleaning carpets, rugs, and cloth furniture! If you don't have any, you can usually google how to remove it with homemade cleaners, but I would recommend just writing down the location and that you need to buy cleaner for it later.

If you have hardwood or other non-carpeted floors, you may also need to mop. I recommend doing that now!

If you own a steamer or need to add wood polish, etc, you can do that now, but it's not actually necessary, and mostly up to your preference.

Take out the trash if you've filled it with vacuum bags or floor dirt, and replace the bag.

Specifics

If you're able, clean stains from your walls. This might be mud from boots / paws, or random ones that popped up.

Have you checked your laundry? If not, swap out a load and put a new one in. (Yes, the cleaning step was written earlier than this. You can finish it up tomorrow if you still have dirty laundry. It piles up, it's okay to take a few days on it.)

Dirty dishes! If you have a dishwasher, first check that it's empty (if not, run it, or put away clean dishes). Then, rinse off all the things in the sink. You don't need to clean them necessarily, but rinse them off so they're ready to be put in the dishwasher, and if anything has food crusted on, set it to soak in hot soapy water.

(Cast Iron should NOT be left wet. Please put all cast iron aside and google their care if you're uncertain)

If possible, clean what you can and put it away. If not possible, at least you rinsed things off and are ready for when the dishwasher is done again!

Check your fridge. If there's many cans / bottles / etc, check all of them for expiration dates, and throw out anything unusable or empty. If there's food, check that it's still good, and clean out anything that's gone bad. If there are stains, spills, etc, wash them with a soapy, damp washcloth (warm water works great for this), and clean off anything that was sitting in that before putting it back in the fridge.

Repeat this step with the freezer, but also check for freezer burn.

Repeat this step again with any cabinet / shelf foods!

If you have room trash cans that you haven't cleaned out yet, do that now! Bathroom trash, bedroom trash, office, etc. Sometimes you forget, or they end up getting filled again in the cleaning process. Try to get any and all full trash / recycling bins cleaned out and put new bags into each.

If you see anything else out of place or that feels unclean, do that now.

Final Bits

Check your written notes for things you need to buy / get, and write down if you need any organizational tools, like more shelves, a new dresser, etc.

If you have piles of donation clothes / stuffed animals / etc, put those in a clean trash bag and write Donate on them, if you don't have time to donate those right now. If you have items you want to put into a garage sale, try to keep those all in the same area in a single room. It'll be easier to access later when you're ready to do so. If you can't do that now though, try to put them all into the same area in storage.

If any rooms smells bad, now's the time to add air freshener (make sure to not spray that on your animals though!), and double check that there's nothing causing that smell.

If possible, I recommend dealing with any pet cleaning things now, and picking up any mess made in this process immediately. Or, you can do that at the same time as flat surfaces, if that's easier for you!

Throwing out destroyed toys, walking, brushing, nail trims, cleaning cages, etc.

We usually do these things last if the place is dirty because there's more room to maneuver, but that may not work for you!

If your pet needs anything, write down their needs as well in your written notes.

And check your plants! Water them all now, if you haven’t recently, and make sure they’re all near windows, or at least where they should be.

And now, you should be done!

Even if you can't do this all in one day, or it looks impossible, doing bits and pieces of this can still help a lot!

Music, food, open windows, etc. tend to make this whole process a bit easier, but it still usually ends up being a lot of work.

It's okay do take as many breaks as needed, or to only do one portion of it a day / week. Even if you spend a whole week doing each step, it'll still get done eventually, and doing any of this is always better than doing none at all!

Notes:

Marie Kondo is a great person to watch tbh? If you don’t believe me, watch her show. Really. Tumblr seems to dislike her a lot, but she doesn’t ever shame people for keeping items, and she recommends easier methods for people with ADHD, depression, etc.

If you have ADHD!!! THIS IS FOR YOU!!! Do visual organization! Your brain is good at picking up things and remembering them visually, use that to your advantage! If you use something a lot, don’t put it in a cabinet, keep it out, because you’ll Probably never Consistently put it back. If it looks ugly, try to make it look nicer, because your brain will be more willing to remember shit and actually use it. This has been a PSA from one ADHD brained bitch to another.

If you need help or advice, PLEASE, feel free to dm us! I’m more than willing to give out advice or specifics on cleaning shit, because it’s a hobby / hyperfixation of mine. I really don’t mind helping out if it’s hard, or you need an alternative method, as long as you’re willing to put in the work and such!

#cleaning #deep cleaning #spring cleaning #organization #darachi

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fraidy-farfelle · 3 years

Note

Hey, for the ask game. Maybe 19 with either Frankie or another character of your choice? Thank you and hopefully this ask is good and helpful

Ok so I got WWAAAAAYYYYYY too carried away with this. Thank you for the ask! I’ve only ever written for a female reader, so I hope that this is okay. I’m still working out if I want to take the time to write out Frankie’s lines with his accent or not, so any feedback on that would be appreciated! I hope you enjoy it!

“Where would you Mark me? Could you point it out?”

It was a crisp morning in Toria. Autumn had made its debut; biting winds carrying the colorful leaves in beautiful patterns. Frankie turned up his collar and huffed in annoyance at the latest breeze. Why, he wouldn’t even be out if not for-

“Frankie!~” He instinctively snapped his head in the direction of the voice calling for him. ‘Ah yes, the Dame of the hour…’ He thought to himself, a smile disguised as a smirk made its way onto his face. A woman came into his vision, running towards him with a radiant smile, her cheeks red from the cold. He couldn’t help but muse over how angelic she looked with her (h/c) hair flowing behind her, almost looking metallic in the pale sunlight. She screeched to a halt before him and took a moment to catch her breath.

“Whaddaya think ya doin, runnin around like a chicken with its head cut off?” Frankie said, gently brushing her bangs out of her eyes. “I had to swing by my place to grab some stuff, and Jack decided he was in a talkative mood. I hope I didn’t keep you waiting too long!” She said once she finally caught her breath.

“Ya gotta learn how to tell people to fuck off, (y/n). You certainly ain’t beholdin’ to that striped bastard.” He said with a frown, taking the backpack that he noticed slung over her arm from her. She reached to take it back, but he gently batted her hand away. “You know I’m too nice to do that. Besides, we both know what he’s capable of. It’s better to be kind to him.” He nodded his head in reluctant agreement, and busied himself with buttoning up her coat. He opened his mouth to chide her for trying to catch a cold, but she rolled her eyes and held her arms up to accommodate his mother hen nature.

“Ya still ain’t told me where we’re goin, love.” He said, finally satisfied. “If I told you, it wouldn’t be a surprise, now would it?” She said with a giggle and took his hand. “Ready?” “You lead, an I’ll follow.”

After walking through the woods for a bit, they came to the shoreline of a lake. Frankie had been to this lake before, but he noticed something new. “Has that cabin always been there?” She laughed and shook her head. “No, you haven’t missed anything. This is what I’ve been working on this past month. Shall we say, somebody owed me a favor?” Frankie was in awe. The cabin was small, but had a covered porch and the timbers seemed to fit seamlessly together. He didn’t get much time to think on it, as she tugged him forward. She used a strange looking key to unlock the door and they stepped inside.

The inside of the cabin was a single room; a kitchenette on the left side, and a bed and wardrobe to the right. A rustic fireplace dominated the back wall, with a door on either side. “(y/n), what exactly is this?” A bashful look adorned her face, and she held his hand in both of hers. “Well, in the simplest of terms, I built it for you. I know how hard it is for you to live at Hookman’s and I also know we can’t just go on vacation. (He opened his mouth to apologize, but she squeezed his hand to silence him.) I knew what I was signing up for when we started dating, Stitches. It’s okay. But, I see you getting so stressed out. Between Jack, Will, and now Issac, and all of the jobs Bell sends you on, I had to find you someplace where you could get away from everything. I didn’t find one that already existed, so I decided to make one! I called in favors for the materials and the actual cutting of the logs, but I brought them here myself. You and I are the only people who know about this place.”

She looked down nervously, unable to meet his gaze. Frankie dropped the bag unceremoniously to the floor, and pulled her into a warm embrace. (y/n) immediately melted against him and held on to his jacket. After a moment, he pulled back and cupped her chin with his fingers, forcing her to look at him. He had happy tears in his eyes that fell as he tried to blink them away. “Thank you, (y/n). I love you. So much.” He then pressed a gentle kiss on her lips to drive his words home.

Later in the day, after they had caught their food from the lake and had a fire roaring in the fireplace, they spent the day walking in the woods. Unfortunately, (y/n) had tripped and fallen on a tree root, and had managed to bring Frankie down with her, leaving them both covered in cold mud. Laughing at themselves, they made their way back to the cabin.(y/n) made her way to the door to the right of the fireplace, motioning for him to follow. Behind was a small bathroom with a shower, and the room was heated by the bricks of the fireplace. “Oh! Um, you use blockers so I can’t really tell. You’re not nearing your rut now, right?” “No.” “Just checking! That means we can share. If you’re comfortable, that is!” Her face was now tinted red in a blush, unused to speaking so candidly. He smiled and ruffled her hair. “It’s alright with me if it is with you.” With that, they shed their clothes and hopped in.

“Sorry, the hot water doesn’t last long. This way we won’t freeze to death.” She said, starting to lather up her hair. “Don’t worry, it’s fine. I may be an Alpha, but I can control myself.” “Woah!” (y/n)’s foot suddenly slipped, sending her face first into Frankie’s chest. He instinctively wrapped his arms around her. “...I have to admit, this does make it more difficult.” Frankie quipped. (y/n) knew she should apologize and right herself. But with Frankie holding her so closely with nothing between them, she finally could make out his scent. Notes of sandalwood and leather completely enveloped her. With the warm water coming down on them and the warm feeling of Frankie’s skin, she couldn’t find it in herself to pull away. Frankie made no move to push her away. The contented sigh he heard from her made it impossible. He closed his eyes and relished in this moment, while doing his best to not get too excited.

The Omega in his arms suddenly spoke. “Frankie?” “Hm?” “We… we are going to be mates, right?” “What brought this up?” She lifted her head to look him in the eyes. “I’ve wanted to be your Omega for some time now. I just… didn’t want to push you. I figured since you lost Amy, bonding with someone would be too painful. But, I love you more than anything! I’ve noticed your jobs have been more dangerous lately, and now I’m terrified that I’ll never have the chance to be with you!” Frankie was stunned into silence. He could see the worry and love in her expression clearly, and he realized he hadn’t been good at conveying his feelings at this point. The stress of her emotions was causing her to emit a sweet smell subconsciously, and it made his mind reel for an answer. “I… didn’t mean to make you feel so anxious. I’m sorry. You’re right, as usual. I was afraid. I love you more than I thought I had in me. I’d be proud to be your Alpha.”

Squealing with joy, she jumped up and wrapped her legs around his waist. “Oi! Careful, it’s slippery in here!” “Where?!” “Where what?” “Where would you Mark me? Could you point it out?” “I’ll just show ya.” Frankie said with a smirk and lowered his face to the left of her neck. He started leaving open mouthed kisses between her neck and shoulder, until he found her sweet spot. She sang his name out like a hymn and with a triumphant “There!” he gently broke the skin just enough to leave a love bite. Resting his forehead against hers, he said, “I promise to make it official once we’re done here.” “Well then, what are we waiting for!” She exclaimed and happily hopped out of his arms, nearly making him lose his footing. “Jesus Christ, Woman!” he yelled out, but could only shake his head when all he got in response was laughter.

#anonymousstinkkat001 #frankie the undead #frankie creeps

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sugarmaplewings-fics · 4 years

Text

Deep Blue Fantasy Part Seven

Pairing: Merman!Tamaki Amajiki x fem!reader

Warnings: None, maybe a vague sexual reference

Author’s Note:

Whoo! It's Sugar; back to bring you the conclusion to the Mermaki saga. So it's finally over! I'm a little sad to see it go, but I'm glad to have my vision complete. I think I worked on this for ~3 months.

Anyway, not to bore you before we get to the story, I just wanted to give a huge thank you for all the support! Even if you don't leave comments or even a like, I want to thank you for reading. I don't publish these for the notes or comments. I do this simply because I want to get my writing out to the world for people to hopefully enjoy. If you liked reading my stories, even if you don't say anything, I'm happy to think I made you smile with something I've written. It's still nice to know for sure, but no pressure.

Thanks again for reading, I couldn't do it without you guys.

Love,

-Sugar

✤✤✤✤✤

{Pt. 1} {Pt. 2} {Pt. 3} {Pt. 4} {Pt. 5} {Pt. 6} {Pt. 7}

くコ:彡くコ:彡くコ:彡くコ:彡

The membranous lids over Tamaki's eyes slid to the side, only to be met with more darkness. It was then that he remembered. He was alone, at the bottom of the ocean.

Tamaki straightened, now unused to the drag of the water slightly hindering his movements. His tail curled up, and he studied the overlapping scales that adorned it, looking pitch black in the dim depths of where he had lain. He must have fallen asleep after he'd fled from you. Tamaki looked up towards the surface, wondering how much time had passed since. It looked considerably brighter up there, so he'd probably slept the full night. Great.

The fins on his tail waved a little in the mini currents swirling around him. He watched a little crab wander over the grey sand before burying itself beneath the fine grains. Now that Tamaki was settled down, he realized how dumb his actions the previous night had been. Seriously? Running away? What good did that do for him?

You were royalty . . . . Interesting. He really should have seen it coming, what with all the blatantly obvious signs there were. Maybe he had been trying to lie to himself. Maybe he had suspected all along, but just wanted to play to the fantasy that you were still, somehow, not too far out of his league.

But a princess? That had been too much. And yet . . . Tamaki found that you never talked down to him. You never treated him different. You must have known he was a commoner, and yet you hadn't been put off by it. Maybe you were only interested because he was a merman? But you hadn't even known it that first day, and your kindness hadn't changed since.

Tamaki laid himself back down, sand softly shifting under his ruined white human shirt. He hid his face in his hands again, replaying the events of last night over in his mind. What had he done? You were so close to him, and the dance you'd had was nothing short of magical. The connection he'd felt between you . . . he couldn't have just imagined it.

The merman gingerly lifted a hand, letting his fingertips ghost over his chest where your hands had been placed mere hours before. He pushed into himself a little harder, trying to imagine it was you, mind beginning to race with ideas of how it all could have gone differently.

Tamaki's fingers froze. His chest was smooth. Too smooth. It was only then that he remembered what had made him human in the first place, followed by what he'd done with it.

The necklace!

In a moment of denial, Tamaki began patting himself around his neck, ripping his shirt over his head in a desperate attempt at finding the valuable object he was borrowing. But he knew it was gone. He distinctly remembered throwing it behind him as he ran into the sea.

He laid himself back down in the sand again, right next to his old shirt.

Stupid stupid stupid stupid—

Tamaki let out a high pitched keen into the water around him, trying to vent his frustration towards himself. Not only had he destroyed his chances with you, he'd also broken his promise to that Nejire mermaid.

It was over. He'd yee'd his last haw. There was no more hope for him. He'd have to go to live off in the corners of the ocean, holed up like some kind of hermit crab where no one he'd ever known would find him again. This was it. It was time to go run—no, swim—away again.

Tamaki didn't move. He allowed himself to lie down and sulk for another good, long time before finally hauling himself up. He needed help, that much was clear. Maybe Mirio would lift his spirits enough for him to snap out of this. Besides, his best friend had a lot of good ideas and always seemed to know what to say to Tamaki.

He flicked his tail, letting himself rise up a bit in the water before sluggishly making his way in the direction of his old home.

Tamaki soon came upon the merpeople village, the familiar outline of homes jutting from the sandy sea floor. He swam through them, trying to keep a low profile in case someone decided to question his disappearance for the past week. Granted, not letting anyone see him for extended amounts of time was nothing new for Tamaki, but now that he was guilty, it was hard to brush the fact aside.

He couldn't help but feel like an outsider among the buildings. Tamaki had never been all that social, so he didn't have the most ties to the town he'd grown up in. Really it had always just been him and Mirio, but now that he'd experienced you, he felt as though there was no going back to his old ways.

I may still have to, Tamaki glumly thought before finally reaching the large entry hole in the side of Mirio's home. He sent a ping inside, letting it bounce around the sandy mud walls. A dark form moved in the shadows, quickly telling Tamaki that Mirio was, in fact, home.

"Tamaki?" Mirio asked, running a hand over his face like he'd just woke up. "What are you doing here?" The blond finally registered the panicked expression on his friend's face, and ushered him inside. "What happened?" Mirio signed, floating back to activate a luminous lamp so it would be easier to converse. "Why are you a merman again?"

Tamaki crumbled a little, hunching in on himself. "I messed up."

Mirio's brow ridge pushed together, trying to make sense of what might have happened. "Did she reject you?" he guessed, trying to get his friend talking.

Tamaki shook his head. "No. It's almost like . . . I rejected her . . . ?"

"What?"

"She—Apparently—I didn't know—" Tamaki's tail wouldn't stop twitching, his fins waving in invisible currents. "She told me she's royalty," he finally motioned out.

Mirio blinked. "Humans do that? With monarchies?"

"Yes." Tamaki nearly growled in frustration at his predicament. "Except she doesn't have an empire or anything, she's what's called a princess. And her dad is rich and important and he like, owns the islands around here and I had no idea this entire time until last night and—"

"Tamaki." Mirio put a hand on his shoulder. "Breathe."

Tamaki paused, allowing himself to pull extra water through his gills. The sensation helped him calm down for a second, but then he began to fret again. "She—she was teaching me how to dance like a human, you know, with my legs and stuff, a-and we almost kissed but then I just had to ask her what a princess was and she looked upset and I ruined everything and I looked like an idiot—"

"Tamaki."

The merman in question froze again, slowly dropping his hands.

"It was an honest mistake," Mirio assured him. "Did she say anything about it?"

"No," Tamaki admitted. "But I ran away before she really could. There was something in her face . . . . She just looked so sad."

"Hmm." Mirio tapped a finger to his chin, thinking. "Have you told her you like her yet?" he finally asked.

"Not really, no." It was then that Tamaki's brain decided to give him flashbacks of the sponge incident, making him subtly shudder.

"Well . . . do you think she might like you back?" Mirio prodded.

Tamaki's first instinct was to say no, to keep his hopes from getting too high by denying any possible indication that you might think about him in that way. And yet, all the time you spent together, coupled with how close you had grown within the short time you'd known each other, and there was the moment you'd held yourself so close to him after you danced, mere moments before he ruined everything. If only he'd kissed you then . . . .

"Maybe," Tamaki hesitantly signed.

"And you know you like her, right?"

"Of course."

Mirio triumphantly lifted himself a little higher in the water. "There you go. Now all you have to do is tell her how you feel. Simple as that. She can only either reject or accept you. If she says no, then you can come back home with me and never see her again and we can pretend this never happened. If she likes you back, then yay! You have a girlfriend."

Tamaki was almost indignant towards how simply Mirio put it. Why did he have to make so much sense? But he had to admit he was right. Tamaki should just go back to you and apologize, maybe propose courtship while he was at it to get everything over with. Except one thing was stopping him . . . .

"So, uh, there's one more problem," Tamaki said.

"Oh?"

"You know the necklace I used to turn myself into a human?"

Mirio's eyes darted to Tamaki's chest, finding it bare before looking in his hands, as if he may have been holding it this entire time without him noticing. At the realization he couldn't see it, his gills flared a bit. "Tamaki? Where is it?"

"That's my problem. I . . . lost it."

"Why would you do that?!" Mirio lightly shook Tamaki's shoulders.

"It wasn't on purpose! I just . . . needed to get it off, and then I threw it somewhere . . . ."

"You threw it somewhere?!" For once, Mirio looked more panicked than his best friend. "But we have to give it back to Nejire! And you need to talk to her—that girl! What's her name again?"

"(Y/N)."

"Exactly! Is there any chance we could find it?"

Tamaki wanted to hope, he wanted to say that there was a chance, but he knew better. The ocean was so vast and violent, even within the past few hours it had to be gone forever. Tamaki should have thought more about the price he would have to pay for such a reckless action.

His slumped shoulders were enough of a hint for Mirio to what he was thinking. Mirio slumped a little too, feeling a bit defeated. "So is that it? Is there no other way for you to contact her?"

Tamaki began to think. You had been doing well with the sign language he'd been teaching you, and that stretch of beach Mirio had showed him where there weren't so many rocks would be a good place to meet up . . . . His mind began to spin, already trying to work something out for you.

"Well?" Mirio asked, wondering what made his friend shift his mood so suddenly.

"There may be something I can do," Tamaki said. After a few more moments of sorting out his thoughts, he began to relay them to Mirio.

"That could work," Mirio ruled.

"I may not be able to get my legs back, but I still have to apologize and tell her how I feel," Tamaki said, newly determined.

Mirio pumped his fist. "Let's go!"

By the time Mirio and Tamaki were ready, the surface had already surpassed its peak brightness. Tamaki vigorously pumped his tail in the direction of your island home, sincerely hoping you didn't hate him after the stunt he'd pulled.

✤✤✤✤✤

You hadn't slept well last night. Worry for your friend had worked its way into your very being, your position flighty and your eyebrows creased.

You didn't know how to feel. You weren't angry with him—well, maybe you were a little mad that he ran off without giving you a chance to talk or even say goodbye. You just wondered why he had gotten so upset. Truth be told, you'd thought he knew what you were talking about when you called yourself a princess. You liked how he treated you . . . just like any other person. He'd thought you were just another human. So that was why.

The realization had struck you the other night. You'd always hated the way people tended to act towards you; treating you either like you were some type of bomb or a piece of glass; dangerous, but fragile. Yet Tamaki had been different. Tamaki treated you like a friend. He was genuine and he was sweet . . . and he was a merman who had little clue as to how your world worked.

Had it all meant nothing? Would he flip that switch inside of him and never be himself around you again? Had that been the last time you'd see his carefree smile? The smile you were starting to fall in love with?

Love? You had more important things to worry about. Like your kingdom. And also the fact that he'd turned tail and ran the moment you said 'royalty'.

Stupid, you thought, though you weren't certain if it was directed at yourself or him. Forget about seeing his true smile again, you may never see him again.

You'd finally walked back to the chateau alone in the dark after deeming Tamaki gone for good. You hadn't even bothered to tell anyone that he was gone. What were they going to do? And it wasn't like now was a great time to reveal to an entire chateau of people that the boy you'd been hanging out with for the past week had actually been a merman this entire time, but now he ran away. Oopsie.

Ever your faithful friend, Brianne still poked her head inside your bedroom, wondering where you'd gone off to. She must have noticed the slump you'd fallen into after walking in on you laying face-down on your plush bed.

"Everything alright, princess?" she asked, concern lacing her voice.

"Y-yeah." You forced yourself to sit up in the bed, already in your night dress.

"Where's that boy?" she asked you. "I haven't seen either of you for the past hour."

You bit your lip, trying to decide whether or not you should lie. "He's in his room," you finally said, internally cringing at yourself for choosing untruth. "He doesn't like crowds much, so he went to bed early. I think I will too." You staged a yawn.

"Sounds like him," Brianne remarked. "He's stayed here all week and I don't think I've heard his voice. Oh, well. I hope he'll be up for the dance tomorrow night. I think he'd like it. Have a good rest, princess."

"Thank you. You as well."

She left and shut the door behind her, leaving you alone in your room with your thoughts. A week ago, you had been used to being alone, simply anticipating the return of your father from his important business in other lands. But now you had grown used to a very particular presence, and his absence was already beginning to settle very heavily on your heart.

One difficult night later, you found yourself in the company of your father, trying to keep all conversations away from the mysterious visitor you'd been harboring in the chateau. You'd missed your father, the king, and you still listened to every story he told you of his most recent travels. But at every pause, every distraction, your mind began to slip. It danced to lands of indigo-black hair, and infinite eyes of sapphire and cobalt, of a timid, gentle voice.

Tush! You'd let yourself catch feelings. What could be a more foolish move than that? You tried to subtly grind your teeth as your father began to talk about some lord of Ospal and their herring trade. Of all the people across all the seas, it had to be the one you couldn't have. The merman who fled. The merman who was probably only interested in you because you were a human.

Obscenities that had no business floating around the head of a princess angrily danced around in your mind, only interrupted from their chaotic boogie when your dad asked if you were okay. You glanced up from the desk you'd been boring holes into with your eyes, guiltily trying to wipe the blatantly aggravated expression off your face for a more pensive one.

You were dismissed after a long lunch with the king, retreating to your study to pour over your books. Maybe that would take your mind off the boy who'd made off with your heart. Or at least, that was what you'd hoped until you glanced out your window when a flash of movement caught your eye.

This window happened to have a lovely view of your beach, sprawling out below a large black cliff face abruptly cutting downward to dark ebony sand. Your gaze had grown used to the constant motions of the sea; black brackish waters undertoned with green and crested with white foam, infinitely pushing forward and rolling back on the shore. But what your peripheral vision wasn't accustomed to was a sudden flash of shiny brilliance lifting and falling from the waves beyond the rocks.

Your eyes darted up, uncertain if they'd seen right, and if they had, what it was they'd detected. But there it was again, and another. Two unmistakable scaly tails were poking out from the water. One was a sort of light blue green, while the other was more of an indigo black, reminding you of a certain someone's hair. You had only seen the likes of these tails in drawings; art typically accompanying a fantastical story, but there they were, basking in the steadily lowering sun right outside your window.

You shot yourself up, letting your chair screech as it abruptly slid out from behind you. Clutching your thin skirt in one hand, you began to run through the halls, flying past people in other rooms as you went. You flung the back door open, slippered feet pounding on the lush grass leading down to your favorite part of the island. They finally met the sand, your chest heaving as you focused your gaze on the two figures sliding above and under the surface.

"Tamaki?!" you called, hoping he would be able to hear you.

Sure enough, a familiar head poked up, waving to you urgently and pointing to your right. You frowned, confused as to what he was trying to say before he made a show of swimming in that direction.

So he wanted you to follow. That was something you could do.

You began to pick your way down the shore, trodding through overgrown tan grass and weaving through rocks deposited and littered throughout your path. After a few minutes of constant checking that the other was there, you found yourself on a new expanse of beach; this one still as violent as the last, but certainly more devoid of the large black rocks jutting from the frigid waves. It was then that Tamaki finally began to swim towards you rather than parallel, coming as close as he dared to the sandy beach.

You kicked off your shoes and stood at the edge of the water, wincing at each lap the cold water took at your bare feet. Don't go into the ocean had been drilled into your head so thoroughly from such a young age, that even going this far tensed your muscles to run at any moment.

You frowned at how far Tamaki had to float, bobbing up and down meters away from you. Hesitantly, you took another step, letting the water rush over your ankles and fleck onto your calves.

No closer, you saw him sign, fighting to keep himself in position and his hands visible at the same time. Not safe.

Your face ticked. You knew that.

"What happened?" you called out over the sea, hoping you'd still be able to understand each other. "You just left me, Tamaki. Why?"

Hurt flashed on his face after a moment of processing your words. I'm sorry! he signed. I got scared.

"Why are you all the way over there?" you asked. "What happened to your legs? The necklace?"

Tamaki winced again. You really seemed to be hitting the worst points right on the head. I, um, lost it.

"It's gone?!" you asked, incredulous. The volume you needed to be heard over the sound of the waves wasn't helping with your tone.

Look, Tamaki signed. I have something I need to tell you. I messed up and I was being stupid last night, and I'm really really sorry for overreacting—

He jerked a bit in the water, jolting him out of the rant he had begun to go on with his hands. He glared down into the water, and it was only then that you wondered what had happened to the second tail.

"Is that what you wanted to say?" you said, making him look up at you again. "If you need to go back home—I-I understand. You were a really great friend, Tamaki. I really liked you."

Tamaki shook his head, frantically waving his hands at you to stop. That wasn't it! I just, um, well, this isn't a goodbye. I wanted you to know—I've been thinking about it for a long time—I—I'm in love with you!

You blinked. Had you interpreted that correctly? He had just used a lot of signs you weren't familiar with. "What?!"

A little cloth bag was suddenly launched out of the water, splashing next to you and drenching a side of your skirt. You bent down to pick it up, watching as Tamaki's hands moved to scold his friend.

Mirio! She doesn't like it when you throw things at her!

You pulled at a drawstring that was keeping it closed. Inside was an assortment of shells, some of which the likes you'd never seen before.

"Are these for me?" you asked, clutching the dripping bag.

Tamaki nodded. If you'll accept them. Do you, by any chance, like me back?

You squinted at his hands. "I'm having a hard time understanding you," you said. "You've only been teaching me this for a week."

Tamaki stopped short, letting his hands fall back into the water. A sense of hopelessness began to wash over him. He didn't know how much you were able to understand. The distance between you frustrated him, and at that moment he would have given anything to be back in last night, with you pulled flush into his chest. If only, if only.

He punched his fist into the water, the resulting splash flecking him with a familiar wetness. So this was it. He had been so close, but you'd never know his true feelings. He may as well take his losses and turn to go now.

"Will I ever see you again?" you called, the expression on your face only describable as deeply sad.

He wanted to say yes. He wanted to say he'd always find a way to be with you. And yet, it couldn't be. You were from two very different worlds, and even now you were struggling to talk to each other. It would be best if he took the cold approach, steeling himself to never appear on your beaches again.

Tamaki was about to shake his head, sealing his answer when he noticed the grass on the shore part for a familiar figure.

"Gabriel!" you said, startling at his sudden presence. "Where did—how long have you—?"

"Princess, get out of the water."

You heeded his calm but firm voice, glancing back at Tamaki's head before gratefully stepping out of the cold sea that had been encasing your feet.

The burly man stood next to you, crossing his arms as he studied Tamaki from afar. "A merman," he stated. "So the legends are true."

You swallowed. "Please don't tell anyone. It's supposed to be a secret."

Gabriel nodded and held out a hand. "Don't worry about it, princess. Now what's going on between you?"

Tamaki had dared to drift a little closer, ears straining to catch words he faintly remembered the meanings of.

"He's leaving now," you said, casting your eyes to the sand. "I guess this is it."

Gabriel made eye contact with Tamaki. "You sure that's what you want to do? Because I have something that might change your mind."

You blinked, confused, looking up to see Gabriel fishing something out of a pocket on the front of his burgundy shirt. A thin cord was raised from the material, followed by a curious shell securely tied to the center.

"I found this little trinket washed up on the beach this morning. I knew it looked familiar."

Tamaki caught sight of the necklace, eagerly swimming forward.

"It's yours, isn't it? It was the only thing you were wearing when you washed ashore. I believe it belongs with you."

Tamaki finally gave into the waves pushing him to shore, surging towards you and Gabriel. This was his chance, the necklace wasn't lost after all! He could tell you how he felt and you could be together!

You watched as his form took greater detail with proximity. A long fishy tail more than half the length of his human torso powerfully pumped itself through the water. Iridescent indigo scales caught the light, ever changing between black and blue. Lighter, thin blue fins flared around the tail and from behind his ears. You couldn't help but think about how absolutely beautiful he was like this, in his original form.

It was then that it really registered for you that Tamaki was a merman. You'd believed him, and the stories of his undersea home only helped you to imagine him in this way, but it wasn't until you were actually able to see him like this that it clicked for you how smitten you had grown for this mythical creature, who existed, and was your new best friend.

He pulled himself onto the sand, dragging a once graceful tail heavily onto the beach. Gabriel placed the necklace into his outstretched webbed hand, and Tamaki went to lift it over his head.

"Wait!" Gabriel said suddenly.

Tamaki froze, looking to Gabriel uncertainly.

"That thing doesn't give you any pants!" he said, causing you to burst out laughing. "You can't be like that in front of the princess!"

Tamaki sheepishly lowered the cord. He had a point.

"Wait here, I'll go find you some." Your friend turned to sprint off, leaving the two of you alone together.

"Tamaki!" You knelt down and threw your arms around him, disregarding how cold and wet his skin was. "I was starting to think I was never going to see you again!"

He patted your back with shaky hands, having gone rigid at your sudden touch.

You pushed yourself back. "Look at you! You're an actual merman! That's crazy! Can I see your tail?"

Tamaki shuffled himself a bit, pulling it most of the rest of the way out of the water. He sincerely hoped that Gabriel would be back soon, otherwise he'd be in a bit of a predicament. His gills would stay moist for only so long.

You admired his scales, glistening with seawater in the afternoon sun. "Pretty," you murmured to yourself, eyes unashamedly scanning up and down his body. You studied the various fins and scales on his tail, marveling at how seamlessly he went from man to fish at the base of his torso.

Tamaki's first instinct was to hunch in on himself and be a touch embarrassed, but he couldn't help a sense of flattery at how your eyes scooped him in with such fascinated wonder. Remembering how the mermen back home would show off, he shifted so he could stretch out his tail a bit more, trying to gently flutter his caudal fins. The effect wasn't the same as it would have been underwater, but luckily he didn't look too much like a floppy dying fish.

"Can I touch it?" you asked, making Tamaki jump and go back to hunching in his shoulders. Typically, tail touches didn't occur among simple acquaintances; usually gentle affectionate rubs among close friends, and tender handsy touches during . . . those times. Thinking about it made Tamaki's entire face turn red, even as your face remained innocently curious.

He shakily nodded. What could it hurt? You gingerly brought your fingertips down onto his scales, finding them moist and cool and smooth. He was still a bit slippery, though you could tell he was beginning to suffer from the exposure to the dry air. The sensation of your fingers on his tail was foreign to Tamaki, and he found himself not wanting you to stop. You were so gentle, so tender, little jolts of electricity found themselves running all the way up to his spine.

A sudden whistle cut through the air, making both you and Tamaki jump. The merman turned, recognizing the pitch. A blond head had poked from the waves a few meters away, bobbing up and down as close as he dared.

Holy hagfish! he signed. You two work fast. On the beach, you're going to start that?!

Tamaki tensed, honestly having forgotten that Mirio was still there. How long had he been watching you?

You weren't quite certain as to what the blond was saying, but the way Tamaki's soul left his body and, if it were possible, his face turned even more brick red told you enough that you should probably stop touching him.

As if on cue, Gabriel saved you both by running back in with a pair of trousers. "For our guest," he said as he presented them to Tamaki.

You turned as he finally slipped the necklace over his head. The pain of transforming was over far faster than it had the first time, and within seconds he was standing and pulling the brown cloth onto himself.

"(Y/N)."

You turned back to him, seeing Tamaki standing before you again as a human. "Tamaki!" You pulled him into a second hug, letting his damp hair tickle against your cheek. Finally, he hugged you back, and the sensation was so warm and so fulfilling you never wanted it to end.

As always, the moment was ruined by your audience.

Two sets of hands clapped, one from the land, and one from the sea. You cracked open your eyes to look at Mirio, who motioned a sign which you didn't know the meaning of.

You pulled yourself from Tamaki. "Can I still understand you?" you asked.

"I hope so," he said, causing you to beam at him.

"So what were you trying to say out there? I couldn't see you that well."

"Oh." Tamaki looked at his bare feet, spotting the brown cloth bag that momentarily laid forgotten on the sand. He turned to glance at Mirio, who gave him a thumbs up, then looked at Gabriel. Tamaki knelt and grabbed the bag of shells, presenting it to you again. "I'm sorry this always ends in disaster for me," he began, letting you take it from him. "I just needed to get something off my chest."

"What is it?" you asked, wondering if he'd done all this just to say he was leaving you.

"Ever since I first saw you on the beach, I-I—I've liked you, (Y/N). And then I went on this crazy adventure to get myself in a position where we could meet and I could get to know you, and all that time, I-I just couldn't help myself. I'm falling in love with you, (Y/N), and I don't care if we're some of the most different people on the planet, I still want to be with you. I'm so sorry about that stunt I pulled last night and I know I messed up. I'm no prince or anything, but—please give me a chance."

Tamaki finally let himself meet your eyes. He hadn't expected to see your touched expression, looking upon his face like he was the sweetest, most caring person in your world.

"Of course, Tamaki. I'd be honored to court you." With that, you flung your arms around his neck and partook in the kiss you'd missed out upon the night before. Tamaki melted into your lips, his slightly salty taste mingling with your sweet.

The kiss didn't last long, but it spoke volumes. You pulled apart, cheeks glowing with rouge warmth as you took a final lingering look into each other's eyes.

Loud splashing made the two of you look back to Mirio, who was giddily celebrating with his own merman cheers. Tamaki smiled at his friend, glad to have had him at his side all this time, leading him to this very moment.

"Now, I have no idea what he just said," Gabriel began, making the two of you turn back to him. "But I'll assume he confessed his feelings, and now Brianne owes me a drink."

You and Tamaki chuckled, settling into a state of complete contentment.

"Now you two lovebirds best be getting back home," Gabriel continued. "The dance starts in an hour, and I suspect neither of you want to be late."

You gasped, having forgotten the welcome party that had been planned for the evening. "Come on!" you said, taking Tamaki's hand in yours. This time, there was an extra warmth behind it, and you took an additional second to twine your fingers around his. With that, you pulled him back along the beach toward home; Gabriel in tow from behind, Mirio still frisking along parallel in the ocean.

Tamaki couldn't wipe the grin off his face if he tried. Three weeks he had. Three weeks to be human, to fall deeper in love with you. It could never be enough time, but once it was up, he wouldn't rest until he found a way to spend the rest of his life with you. He pushed the gnawing worries down deep inside, letting excitement for the night course into his system instead. You and him and the town would dance under the stars, and no matter what, he'd give you the time of your life.

✤✤✤✤✤

Just as he'd expected, his three weeks flew by in a blur. He hid nothing from you, so it was a certain understanding quickly established that one day soon, he would have to go.

Taking the opportunity nevertheless, you spent those weeks well, hanging out in the chateau or wandering around the island. Tamaki never lost his curiosity for your world, and you were eager to show him everything you knew. He started to become familiar with some of the townsfolk, and even met a few sailors at the docks when they came. Tamaki also began to grow closer with your father, explaining after a few days that he was, in fact, a merman, and that, yes, you were dating him.

He seemed open to the idea, especially once he got to know Tamaki better. The king left you alone to bond when needed, and the two of you certainly did. News spread that you had found yourself a boyfriend, and everyone on the island agreed that you were cute together. Brianne was quickly let in on the secret that he was a merman, and she finally began to warm up to Tamaki.

Those three weeks were some of the best of his life; wandering the grassy plains with you and watching the clouds one day, holing up in your study for hours the next. You found excuse after excuse to kiss him, enjoying the way it made his cheeks flare with color. Every now and then though, he'd steal one from you, delighting in how the tables turned to make you flustered as well. Anything from hand holding to hugging fired his heart into a furious beat, savoring every moment he could hold you close as his own.

But all things must come to an end, and his mental tracker finally reached the number 29. You stood with your father, Gabriel, and Brianne on that expanse of open beach, solemnly watching as he waded further into the sea. You had given him a final hug and a kiss, and he whispered a promise into your ear that he would find a way back to you, and this one would be permanent.

Tamaki's body shuddered as waves slapped at his thighs, and he suddenly began to lose his footing. His pants slid off as his legs began to merge once more into a single appendage, familiar indigo scales scattering over his surface. He swam to Mirio, who had been waiting for him, giving a final wave over their shoulders. This was only a temporary goodbye, he would make sure of that.

After readjusting to being a merman for a bit, Mirio and Tamaki made their way south to visit Nejire, ready to return the now useless necklace. One long day of swimming later, they poked their heads into a familiar cave. Had it only been a month since they'd been here last?

Mirio swam straight in, confident as ever. He loudly clicked, calling for the mermaid. She glided out from an area in the back, lighting up at the sight of them.

"Hey, it's you guys!" Nejire pulled the boys into the back room, delightedly listening to Tamaki tell her everything she wanted to know about the human world.

Both she and Mirio fired off questions, nearly overwhelming him at some points. Eventually, they were satisfied, and Tamaki opened his bag to present the necklace back to its rightful owner.

"Sure sounds like you had fun!" Nejire signed, taking the necklace and putting it on a shelf behind her for safekeeping. "I'm definitely going to try it out sometime! I'm not sure if I'll go to that island. Maybe the mainland. Do you think I'd meet someone cute like you did? That would be so tragically romantic. I belong in the sea, though, isn't that right, Amajiki?"

"Actually," he began, "I was wondering if you had another option, something more permanent."

She stared at his stilled hands, then looked back at his face. "So that's what you want to do? Be human forever?"

Tamaki nodded. "I don't think I'll miss the ocean too much. I may not see Mirio every day, but we can still always talk every now and then. (Y/N) said that some of her other islands have calmer beaches that would be better for visiting with him."

Mirio nodded. It had taken him some time, but eventually he had grown to accept the fact that Tamaki preferred to be on land with you.

"You want to be human . . . ." Nejire mused, tapping against her lip for a moment.

"Is it possible? Can I do it?" Tamaki studied her face, allowing himself to hope it could be this simple. He had already accepted it was likely it wouldn't be, and he was more than prepared to journey through the merpeople empires around the world to find someone who could help him. But Nejire was a start, and it never hurt to ask.

Nejire's slightly pointed teeth made an appearance as she began to chew at her lip. "My mother . . . she was the last sea witch before me. She may be able to help you. She retired earlier this year and gave the shop to me, but I can go fetch her for you if you'd like."

Tamaki nodded vigorously and waited as she swam off. An hour later, she came back with a second mermaid in tow. She looked strikingly similar to her daughter, her hair just a few shades lighter. Tamaki assisted in explaining his situation to her, and she agreed to help.

"Normally I wouldn't want to be involved in breaking the laws," she said, "but it's their own fault for not enforcing them. I'll help you, little merman. You seem passionate about this human girl. I'll make you a brew, but just understand you won't be able to come back to the ocean."

"I know." Even if everything fell through with you, which Tamaki was certain it wouldn't, he was deeply intrigued with exploring the land and sea, witnessing the sights the earth had to offer.

"But mother," Nejire said, "don't potions have a tendency to not last long? I mean, once they go through one's system—"

"That's only for the amateurs." Nejire's mother grinned. "I know how to give lasting effects. Come along, there's much to be done!"

✤✤✤✤✤

You gazed out at the sea from your window, thinking about Tamaki. You were prepared to wait weeks—months even for his return, but even so you couldn't help but miss his presence. Your father kept you busy with your duties, yet every chance it got, your mind found itself wandering back to the timid mer-boy.

You hummed to yourself contentedly, glancing back down at your notes. You so happened to be studying some of the Greek legends; illustrations of gods and monsters decorating the margins of the page. You couldn't help but wonder if all of them were true, since you'd now met a merman for yourself.

Eventually you were able to settle back into your work, the distant sound of the ocean occasionally breezing into your ears as your pen scratched at your parchment. The story you were reading was interesting, so much so that you didn't hear your door creak open behind you, nor did you pick up on the footsteps that snuck up from over your shoulder.

A pair of pale, somewhat lanky arms gently wrapped around your shoulders. You jumped and spun, meeting two indigo blue eyes with your own (E/C). Raven hair fell over his nose and a small smile graced his handsome face. The face of the man you adored. The face of the man who would be yours forever.

"Hey, princess," he said. "I'm back."

...

The End.

くコ:彡くコ:彡くコ:彡くコ:彡

Taglist:

@bnhavibes @engel-hageshii @inumorph @good-so @krissy189 @milkteeboba @pansexual-potterhead @selfship-mishaps @ure-a-sunflower @xeina @kingtamakimurder @basicaegyo @iiminibattlehero @pyrofanatic @sokkasangel @xoxopam4

#tamaki #amajiki #tamaki amajiki #mermaki #tamaki bnha #tamaki amajiki bnha #tamaki mha #tamaki amajiki mha #tamaki x reader #tamaki amajiki x reader #bnha x reader #mha x reader #reader insert #deepbluefantasy #sugar fics

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phoenix-is-the-hottest-thing · 2 years

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Fic Writer 20 Questions ✨

tagged by @cadriona

1. how many works do you have on ao3? 16 honkai fics (plus a translation I published on behalf of the translator) and... ... ... 69 total?!

2. what's your total ao3 word count? 351 347 words, apparently!

3. how many fandoms have you written for, and what are they? honkai aside, that's a secret

4. top five fics by kudos? i'm only gonna do honkai fics so 1. There Are No Thought Crimes 2. Backstage Stars 3. The Moon 4. The Temptress 5. Wreck Me Like This City y'all are horny

5. do you respond to comments? why or why not? yes! because i love comments and I love interacting with readers. I guess it's my reward after all the hard work writing~

6. what's the fic you've written with the angstiest ending? Once again only gonna bother with Honkai fics Mmmm... honestly? I don't write angsty endings a lot, but I'm gonna say If Your Wounds Would Heal In Paradise for now.

7. do you write crossovers? very very rarely, and when I do it's more along the lines of "fandom A in fandom B's setting as an AU"

8. have you ever received hate on a fic? if I have I don't remember! which is for the best

9. do you write smut? if so, what kind? yes, and I think I've pretty much only ever written f/f smut..? f/m I could do but I wouldn't want to write m/m because ✨ I am not attracted to dudes✨ and it would prolly bore the hell out of me. time will tell though! (note: trans people count toward their gender, trans mei fics are still f/f for example)

10. have you ever had a fic stolen? lol yes, very recently in fact! but I got them to take all the stolen stuff down so it's all good.

11. have you ever had a fic translated? yes right here, in chinese! However I am no longer in contact with the translator for personal reasons.

12. have you ever co-written a fic before? yep it's very fun! published stuff not recently though

13. what's your all time favourite ship? don't got one i'm a multishipper and always have been

14. what's a wip you want to finish but don't think you ever will? I bet y'all are afraid i'll say thotty crimes but nah i'm finishing it... soonish I'm kind of afraid of finishing it to be honest it's my longest fic ever I don't want it to end AHEM to answer the question properly, I'm thinking more of a wip in another fandom... my fandom experience was half utter crap (who gets wrapped up in a fight with the creator, seriously?) and half wow I met so many friends, and in the end updates have stopped and I've p much lost interest so ehhhh idk if/when i'll get back to it. probably not soon. maybe not ever :(

15. what are your writing strengths? i think i'm pretty good at drawing pictures in people's minds! I've been told as much anyway

16. what are your writing weaknesses? not being a native speaker sometimes trips me up, and I'm unused to past tense writing so I sometimes fumble more than I should with it. have been practicing tho

17. what are your thoughts on writing dialogue in another language? love it want to do more of it EXPRESSLY did so in thotty crimes because I thought it's dope. i got native speakers to help me for most of that, though, I think that's good practice

18. what was the first fandom you ever wrote for? not honkai :P it was a korean webcomic, i was 13 or 14

19. what's your favourite fic you've written? don't have one! once I've written a fic it's done. that's it. unless there's a glaring mistake or I'm rereading it for fun, I don't look back so I guess "the fics I'm passionate about that I've yet to write" are my favorites...

20. tagging? @e17omm and anyone else who wants to do it really

#fanfiction #asks #soooorta #i swear i didn't do the fic count on purpose #i counted them up and #*bahahaha*#dangit tumblr i didn't click post don't take my enter button so literally

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seungminotes · 4 years

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Necessary | Kim Seungmin

Warnings: 1.7k highschool au

A/N: I consider this to be the best thing I have ever written. I love Kim Seungmin, thank you.

Kim Seungmin was the last person you expected to be taking a lower level math class. Him being one of, if not the smartest student in your year, the only word you could possibly use to describe him was big brain. Yet there he was being seated next to your mathematically-disabled self, bright and early on a Monday morning, in a remedial math class.

Somehow you felt out of place now, as if you’d taken the wrong class, maybe there was some sort of even lower remedial math class where you actually belonged.

Seungmin had that effect on people. Though he wasn’t one to properly notice it. He made others feel inferior, but wasn’t one to take notice. He didn’t care about those around him anyway. A true tsundere, you often hear others call him. But you couldn’t tell if he was cold or just plain arrogant.

The way he sat next to you, with his perfect posture and head held high, and the way he didn’t even bid you a morning greeting, left quite a bad taste in your mouth.

How does one sit so properly and mannerly, yet doesn’t have the manners to acknowledge another’s existence?

Whatever, you decided, this wasn’t going to bother you, or get in the way of you getting better at math. This class wasn’t exactly the place you were used to either, but last year for whatever reason the numbers in your head jumbled around and you couldn’t pass a test to save your life. Now you were here, and you were determined to ace every test this year.

As if he had read your mind, Seungmin turned to you.

“You’re bad with numbers,” he said, no emotions displayed in his voice.

“Why else would I be here?”

He didn’t answer you, he just turned back towards the board, opening his notes and laying his head down on them.

You scoffed, there was no way you were going to fail a test in this class, your pride was going to make sure of it.

As time went on, you noticed Seungmin was not exactly happy about being in a lower math class that was obviously much too easy for him. You really wondered why he was here in the first place.

He never took notes, paid any attention, or even turned in the homework. You’d assume these bad habits were what landed him in this class in the first place.

The workload wasn’t even that bad, would it kill him to spare thirty minutes of his day to solve a few problems?

Despite this lazy lifestyle, Seungmin never received anything below a 100 on any test. Now that you envied.

Because even though you had made a promise to yourself and so far had kept it very well, you struggled to keep it that way. Studying until the wee hours of the night to make sure you could understand the subject with no problems at all, you lost sleep and just a bit of your sanity every time an exam was coming up.

This time was no different, only the restlessness was quite unbearable as you tried to stay awake in class. Your teacher’s droning voice did nothing to help and eventually your head slumped a little heavier on your arm, you had fallen asleep.

Falling asleep in this class was always a nightmare for you. Missing the information you desperately needed to make by in the course, you couldn’t understand how some students didn’t take notes, how did all the information possibly stay in their head.

When you had woken up, your teacher was just wiping down the board full of equations from the period. You looked down at your blank page of notes, regret and anxiety soon sinking in.

You could easily ask a friend for notes, it wasn’t that of a big deal to be honest. But taking in your own made sure you had everything, you couldn’t think of anyone who made sure to do the same.

The bell rang and it was time to go to your next class and you hurried to get your stuff packed up in time. As the boy next to you got up, you noticed he wasn’t sitting in his usual lecture position, head down and eyes closed. Today he had sat straight for whatever reason, and as he stood he pushed a stack of papers onto your side of the desk.

You hadn’t noticed at first, still wondering about his sitting position, but once he walked out of class, you looked down onto your table and inspected the overturned pages.

Considering you were most likely to be late soon, you just shoved the papers into your notebook and ran out of class.

It wasn’t until when you got home that you remembered the odd papers Seungmin had slid you after class and got your notebook out to examine them.

Turning them over you realized the boy you had once considered lazy and arrogant, took such detailed notes on today’s lesson that you could consider it a textbook guide.

His neat handwriting sprawled the paper elegantly and the pink highlighted titles accentuated the already sophisticated aesthetics of his notes. This was the type of organization you’d see on a study blog you only wished to emulate. On the margins he’d put a star next to things considered more complicated, and a happy face at the end of a concept, there were even slightly adorable doodles of a puppy’s face at the corner of one of the pages.

Seungmin never took notes. It was common knowledge. You’d never even seen the boy’s handwriting. Were these even his?

Deciding not to question further, you silently thanked the lord for such a gift. You’d have to thank Seungmin too, you thought.

That night you placed Seungmin’s aesthetic notes in a protective plastic and placed them in your binder. You studied them extensively and even rewrote them. He worded things much better than your teacher ever could. Everything was so simple. That night you could sleep peacefully.

Unbeknownst to you, Seungmin had taken a liking to you and your rather determined nature, something he wished he had when it came to studies, yet didn’t exactly need. Seeing you work so hard for a measly math class seemed pointless to him at first, but when he realized it was quite important to you, enough for you to lose sleep over, he discovered how much of a strong trait it was in you. It low-key made his heart squirm when he walked in to you reviewing notes before a test, or when you had set up your colored pens and highlighters in front of you before a lecture, or when you raised your hand when you genuinely didn’t understand something. Seungmin was deeply infatuated with you, but simply chose to ignore that. Seungmin never wasted his time on things he thought unnecessary. Yet that night he laid in bed, wondering for hours if you were awake and if you were, if you may have been looking at his words.

The next morning you woke up refreshed from a good night’s sleep and ready for school.

In class you placed the extra hot bun and a pink carton of strawberry milk on your seatmate’s desk as a small thank you, you had to repay him somehow. No matter what you had previously thought of him, he had in a way saved you.

You don’t think you had ever seen Seungmin smile. It was a slight and shy smile, but a smile nonetheless when he saw the cute little snack awaiting him on his side of the table. He knew it must have been you and it tugged his heartstrings quite hard, no one had ever really done this for him.

Still he didn’t look at you as he sat down, and he most likely wasn’t going to. You had to make the first move.

“Thank you,” you turned to him, holding out your hand in hopes of a friendly handshake.

Seungmin didn’t respond, though he did turn to face you wide-eyed with a straw stick in his mouth. His hand gently held the carton of strawberry milk and he didn’t make a move to reciprocate your friendly greeting.

You slowly pull your hand away.

“You can have them back, I don’t need them anymore,” you reach towards your binder to pull out the protected notes, but Seungmin finally does move, stopping your hand.

You eye him blankly, confused at his actions. He looks at you nervously before looking down.

“You can keep them,” his voice is firm yet soft and gentle.

Kim Seungmin is not cold or arrogant, you decide, he’s adorable.

You simply nod, absolutely dumbstruck by his change in nature.

Class starts and ends and though you promptly take your notes, you are considerably distracted by the actions of the quiet boy beside you. Today he placed his head down as usual, but his eyes were not closed, instead they traveled around the room, ever so often landing on you and halting.

As you and your classmates begin to put away their materials before the bell, you notice Seungmin softly spring up.

He takes out a pad of unused sticky notes from his bag and quickly scribbles his phone number and a puppy doodle on the pastel pink paper, hurriedly handing it your way as the bell rings.

Once again you look at the boy, eyes blank of emotion, only now his shy smile returns for a second time and he confidently reaches for your hand to put the sticky note in it himself.

“I think you’ll like these numbers more,” he slyly flirts.

“That was horrible,” you laugh at his rather unexpected words, making him flush a pleasant shade of pink.

Seungmin had never been one to flirt, heck he never even really spoke to girls, but he was definitely willing to make an exception. Because Seungmin never wasted his time on things he deemed unnecessary, but now it seemed that you were necessary in his eyes.

“Call me sometime?” His voice was smaller, much more reserved than his confidence outburst from before.

“My pleasure.” You beamed up at him.

And with that smile Seungmin could now guarantee that you were absolutely necessary.

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