#I’ll have to queue up all my art for everyone maybe I’ll start tomorrow

[bbonbonss]

Wooo!! Bonbons back 🎉🥳🎉 your art is amazing and beautiful and special and- just dhsidjsjdj so excited

Awgoshh… really didn’t think anyone would be excited (˚ ˃̣̣̥᷄ㅊ˂̣̣̥᷅ )‧º·˚ thank you for that and your kind words!!

[dialovers-translations]

Diabolik Lovers LUNATIC PARADE ;; Ayato Route ー Chapter 2

ー The scene starts in the hotel room

*Rustle*

Yui: Nn...Hm...?

*Rustle*

Yui: ( ...I wonder how long I slept...? )

Ayato: Zzー... Zzー...

Yui: ( Ayato-kun’s still asleep. I better be careful not to wake him up... )

*Creaaaak*

Easy...There.

ー The scene shifts to the balcony

Yui: Hm...?

( ...What’s this smell...? )

( Somehow there’s this really nice scent coming from downstairs. ...A food vendor of some sorts, perhaps? )

*Groooowl*

Yui: ( ...Guess I’ll go take a quick look... )

ー The scene shifts to the wagon area

Pretzel vendor: Aah, miss! What do you say? Are you hungry for a freshly-baked pretzel?

Yui: ( Wah...There’s more different kinds of pretzels than I thought... )

Pretzel vendor: I studied the art of the pretzel for an extended time over in the human world, so I can guarantee the taste.

They’re quite popular amongst my customers down here as well. So, which one would you like?

Yui: ( Hm...What should I do? I can’t decide... )

*Rustle*

Yui: Um...Which one would you recommend?

Pretzel vendor: A recommendation, huh? ...I’d love to say I would recommend them all but...Let’s see...

Male punk A: Oi, old geezer. Give us one of those pretzel things as well.

Pretzel vendor: ...Aah In that case, please get in line over there.

Male punk B: Aah!? We’re askin’ for some right now. Come on, hand them over!

*THUD*

Yui: ...!

ー The crowd grows restless

Yui: ( What’s their problem...? )

Pretzel vendor: Don’t be ridiculous! I’ve got other customers waiting in line. ...!?

*THUD*

Male punk A: ...Oi, old geezer. Who do you think you’re talkin’ to, huh? You want us to get in queue? 

Male punk B: If you keep tryin’ to get all cute with us, we’ll ensure you’ll never do business here again, understood? Take that!

*THUD*

Yui: ( This is outrageous...! )

E-Excuse me...!

Male punk B: Aah? What’s this chick’s problem...?

Yui: Why would you try and pick a fight with this man when he has done nothing wrong at all...?

Pretzel vendor: ...Miss...!

Male punk A: Hah...Hilarious. This chick’s tryin’ to get in our way, see?

Male punk B: ...Seems like it. We can’t let her get away with that though.

*Rustle*

Yui: Kyaah!

( H-He’s so strong...! Oh no, at this rate...! )

???: Don’t touch her!

*THUD*

Male punk A: Uwaah!!

*Thud*

Yui: ...!?

Ayato: Oi, the fuck are you...? Don’t be tryin’ to mess with my woman!

Yui: A-Ayato-kun...!

( Don’t tell me...He jumped down from the hotel’s veranda...!? )

Male punk B: O-Oi...! You alright, mate!? ...Now you’ve done it!

Ayato: What? ...Wanna throw some fists? Fine by me? I’ll be your opponent if you’re that insistent on gettin’ your ass kicked!

Male punk B: ...F-Fuck...! Oi, let’s go!

Male punk A: Y-Yeah...Oi, we’ll remember this!!

ー The two punks run off

Ayato: Phew...Geez...Oi, Chichinashi!

Why did you sneak out while I was asleep? I was worried, you know!?

You got lucky I just so happened to look outside at the right time, but do you realize what could have gone down if I didn’t...?

I know you’re not bein’ targeted now that you don’t have your heart and all.

But that doesn’t mean you should go wanderin’ off on your own.

Yui: I-I’m sorry...

Pretzel vendor: Calm down, you. Please don’t be too harsh on her, okay?

Ayato: Aah? And who are you...?

Pretzel vendor: As you can tell, I’m the owner of this stall. Thanks to her, my precious shop wasn’t destroyed.

*Rustle*

Pretzel vendor: ...This is the only thing I can offer, but consider this my way of thanking you. Enjoy it together, okay?

Yui: Eh...?

*Rustle rustle*

Yui: ( We got so many pretzels...! )

Ayato: You sure?

Pretzel vendor: Yes, of course. Please enjoy the Parade while you can.

Yui: Thank you very much!

Ayato: ...Hmph. Well, guess I’ll have one since we got them for free anyway...

Yui: Yeah. Shall we go sit down on one of the benches over there then...?

ー They sit down

Ayato: Nn...This stuff’s not half bad, considering it’s pitch black. 

Mmh...What flavor is this though? Oi, Chichinashi. You have a bite too.

ー He leans in

Ayato: Here, open your mouth.

Yui: Eh? ...Nn...

( ...He just forced it inside...! )

*Rustle rustle*

Ayato: Hehe. How is it? Pretty good, right?

Yui: Nn...Yeah...I wonder what it could be...? It tastes a little like...black sesame?

( The vendor from earlier did say he got his training in the human world... )

Ayato: Haah? Black sesame here in the Demon World? Well, I guess it’s fine. It’s not bad and that’s what matters.

So? What are we gonna do now? We have to clear the assignment given to us by Walter, right?

Yui: Yeah...

( ...Our ‘wrongdoings’... )

( ...It has to be... )

Say, Ayato-kun? I’ve been thinking ever since...

Ayato: ...? What...?

Yui: While we were running away from the Gatekeeper after coming to the Demon World.

We caused trouble for many people, didn’t we...?

Ayato: Trouble? ...Did we?

Yui: We broke into the basement of someone else’s home, knocking over their cupboards...

Ayato: ...Oh. Now that you mention it, that did happen, didn’t it...?

Yui: So I thought maybe that’s what the Count meant with our ‘wrongdoings’...

Ayato: Hmm. Let’s assume that’s what he meant...What should we do then?

Yui: ...I’m not quite sure myself, but for now, I guess the best we can do is go and apologize...

Ayato: Haah? Apologize? That’s...

Yui: But...The Count said we should redeem ourselves so...I don’t think there’s much else we can do but say sorry...

Ayato: Hmph, I don’t like the sound of that.

Yui: ...

Ayato: But, well, I don’t exactly have a better idea either. Guess I have no other choice but to roll with your plan for now.

Yui: ...Ayato-kun...!

Ayato: ‘Kay, let’s get goin’ right away then.

Yui: ...Yeah!

( Thank you, Ayato-kun. )

ー The scene shifts to the underground passage

Yui: ( It was around here, right...? )

*Rustle*

Yui: Kyah!

Ayato: Shh, quiet!

Yui: ( ...? )

Ayato: Oi, take a look. The atmosphere’s not quite the same as yesterday.

*Knock knock*

Suspicious man A: ...It’s me. Open up.

Suspicious man B: Everyone’s present, right? ...Don’t worry, nobody should have followed us down here.

*Clunk*

Yui: It’s that room...Right?

Ayato: Yeah. I’m sure of it. It’s the basement we broke into yesterday.

I don’t know why, but they were bein’ all secretive. What’s going on?

Yui: ( Ayato-kun’s right, something seems a little off... )

*Rustle*

Yui: Anyway, it’d be bad if we were to get yelled at again for interrupting, so perhaps we should wait here for a bit?

Ayato: Che. We have to wait down here in this gloomy place?

Oi, Chichinashi. Help me kill some time. Nn...

Yui: Eh!? Hold on! Not here...!

*Rustle*

???: ...Well then, we will put our plan into action tomorrow night.

Yui: ( ...Hm? I can hear a voice from the other side of the door... )

Ayato: Come on, scoot closer.

Yui: ...! Ayato-kun, be quiet for a second...! 

ー She pushes him away

*Thud*

Ayato: ...!?

???: ...Exactly. While everyone else is too preoccupied with the Parade.

???: ...I will act as the decoy. ...As for the location, is Zartan’s Mouth okay?

???: Yes, I do not mind. However, there’s a few issues...

Yui: ( ...Is this some sort of strategy meeting...? )

Ayato: ...Oi, Chichinashi...You little...

You sure have some guts to push me away like that!

I’m gonna have to suck you right here, right now then! Come here!

Yui: A-Ayato-kun! Hold up...!

???: ...Who’s there!?

*THUD*

Owner: ...You two...You’re the people from yesterday!!

Ayato: ...!

Yui: ( T-They saw us!! )

Suspicious man A: ...Did you hear us just now!? Which means...You two must be spies, right!?

Ayato: Aah? Spies? The fuck you talkin’ ‘bout?

Yui: Spies? ...You’re wrong! We simply came here to apologize for what happened yesterday...!

Suspicious man B: Shut up! We can’t let you run free now that you’ve heard our plan!

Yui: We’re speaking the truth! We really did come here to say sorry for yesterday!

( Please believe us...! )

Owner: To apologize, huh...? Oi, brat. How about you?

Ayato: Aah!? Who do you think you’re calling a brat!? Don’t fuck with me...

But it’s exactly as she said. We did kind of invite ourselves in yesterday...

Owner: ...I see. Well, but...

You heard our plan. Furthermore...

You did quite the number on me yesterday. You can say sorry all you want, I’m not forgiving you.

Yui: ( No way...! )

Ayato: A number...?

Owner: Hmph...You knocked over one of the cupboards when you ran away, didn’t you?

My precious key broke in the process. See?

*Rustle*

Yui: ( ...It’s snapped right in half... )

I-I’m so sorry...!

Ayato: ...Hah. That’s all?

Oi, old fart. Gimme that key for a sec. I’ll fix it.

Then you’ll forgive us, right?

Owner: ...Well, I would. If you can fix it, that is.

Ayato: Aah? That’s a piece of cake, isn’t it? You just take it to a locksmith and have them fix it for you.

Yui: ( It really is that easy...right...? )

( However...Something seems a little... )

Owner: Hmph. You seem rather confident. I’ll leave this key in your care then.

*Rustle*

Owner: However, you only have until tomorrow. If you fail to repair the key by then...

Ayato: Hah, don’t worry, one day is plenty. See you later, old fart.

Let’s go, Chichinashi.

*Rustle*

Yui: Y-Yeah...

( I have a bad feeling about this...I hope it’s just my imagination... )

*TIMESKIP*

ー The scene shifts to the wagon area

Ayato: Let’s see, a locksmith, locksmith...Aren’t there any ‘round? ...Guess we just gotta ask someone.

???: Welcome!

Ayato: Ah, oi. Mister! Is there a locksmith somewhere ‘round here?

???: ...! You’re that brat from yesterday...!

Ayato: Ah...?

Yui: Ah! 

( This guy, if I recall correctly...! )

ー A flashback ensues

Ayato: Oi, Chichinashi! We’re takin’ a shortcut! This way!

Crepe vendor: Crepes! Who’s hungry for some fresh crepes?

Ayato: Get out of the way!

*THUD*

*CRASH*

Crepe vendor: Uwaah! My stall!

ー The flashback ends

Yui: ( From back then...! )

Crepe vendor: Oi! How dare you destroy my stall back then!?

Ayato: Haah? The fuck you talkin’ ‘bout? Anyway, hurry up and tell us where we can find a locksmith!

Crepe vendor: And why exactly should I do that?

Ayato: Aah? Excuse me...!?

Yui: ( ...! )

Selection

→ Stop him by tugging onto him (☾)

*Thud*

Yui: Ayato-kun! You can’t!

*Rustle rustle*

Ayato: ...Let go! What’s your problem!?

Yui: Calm down...!

*Rustle rustle*

→ Stop him by shouting

Yui: Ayato-kun! You can’t!

Ayato: Shut up! You keep quiet!

Yui: ( He totally forgot! )

You don’t remember how you flipped this man’s stall upside down while we were on the run yesterday!?

Ayato: Hm? R-Right...Now that you mention it, I vaguely remember somethin’ like that...

Yui: Mister! Let us apologize for what happened back then. We truly feel sorry...!

Crepe vendor: Hah! It’s a little late to apologize now.

Yui: But...We really need you to forgive us...!

( If not, we can’t complete the Count’s assignment... )

Crepe vendor: Hmph. You sure say some strange things, young lady. I’m sorry, but I don’t plan on forgiving you any time soon.

As a result, I lost half a day of business yesterday. My sales figures are doomed!

???: Calm down, sir. Don’t be so hasty.

Yui: ( ...That’s... )

Crepe vendor: ...You’re the guy who sells pretzels...

Pretzel vendor: I happen to know those two.

They helped me out when I was being pestered by a duo of punks this morning.

Crepe vendor: ...These two did?

Pretzel vendor: Yes, exactly. So, what do you say? Why don’t you do me a favor and forgive them?

Yui: ...!

Crepe vendor: ...But still...I can’t just forgive them for free...

Hm...I suppose it can’t be helped. What do you think of this offer? You have to run the shop for half a day in return.

Ayato: Run the shop? You mean the crepe stall?

Crepe vendor: Yes. I was actually just thinking of going to watch the Parade with my wife. 

If you two can take over the shop in the meantime, I’ll forgive you for what happened yesterday.

Yui: Really...!? 

Ayato: Hm, a crepe stall, huh...? Well, I don’t mind. Sounds kinda fun.

Yui: I’ll help out too! Thank you very much!

Pretzel vendor: Glad to hear! Good luck, you two.

Yui: Thank you too, sir!

Crepe vendor: I’ll teach you how to make the crepes, so come here.

Yui: Yes!

( Seems like he’ll forgive us somehow. Thank god...! )

*TIMESKIP*

Ayato: ‘Kay, let’s get straight to business. Of course, I’ll be in charge of making the crepes.

Yui: Yeah, sure.

( Fufu. Despite his complaints from earlier, he’s very motivated right now! )

ー Ayato starts baking the crepes

Ayato: Here I go! Voila!

*Plop*

Yui: Ah, Ayato-kun! If you pour on that much batter at once...

Ayato: Ah? I’m sure it’ll turn out fine somehow! Now I just gotta make it round...Huh...?

*Pshhh*

Ayato: Fuck, it’s not workin’ at all...The fuck’s goin’ on...?

Yui: A-Ayato-kun, at this rate...

( ...Actually, this smell... )

*Pshhhh*

Yui: ( ...I knew it, it’s burning!! )

Ayato: Che, fuck...This isn’t workin’ out at all. Fuck this! I’m done! It’s up to you now, Chichinashi!

Yui: Eh!? H-Hold up...!

( ...Geez, in that case...! )

*TIMESKIP*

Yui: ( ...Seems like I got the hang of it somehow...Thank god. )

Female Vampire E: Those look delicious. May I have one crepe?

Female Vampire D: Me too~!

Yui: Y-Yes! I’ll make one right awaーー

( ...What do I do? The shop suddenly got crowded. )

???: Ah-ahー Guess I can’t trust you alone with the store like this. I’ll help you out a lil’.

Yui: ...! Ayato-kun!

( Thank god, he came back...! )

Ayato: ...Oi. You over there, which flavors do you want? Make it quick!

Female Vampire E: A-Are you talking to me...? Then, caramel and...

Ayato: Hah, think again!

Yui: Eeh!?

( How could he treat a customer like that...!? )

Ayato: ...Hmー Let’s see. While I’m at it...There.

*Splatter*

Ayato: Yeah, lookin’ good! Behold, Ayato-sama’s special edition blood-drenched crepe!

Yui: Blood-drenched...!?

( There’s lots of strawberry sauce oozing out from the sides...! )

( I’m sure this will upset the customer... )

Female Vampire F: W-Wow! I’ve never seen such an innovative crepe before!!

Male Vampire D: For real...! This crepe encompasses everything a Vampire loves perfectly...!

Male Vampire E: I’d like one of those as well, sonny!

ー More customers crowd around the stall

Yui: ( A long line formed in front of the shop in no time...! )

Ayato: Hah, if you want one, you better wait there patiently!

...Oi, Chichinashi! Keep on baking those bad boys!

Yui: R-Roger...!

( I can’t quite explain why, but Ayato-kun is something else... )

*TIMESKIP*

Crepe vendor: Geez, you really did me a huge favor. Seems like the store did great business thanks to you two!

Ayato: Hah, Yours Truly made those crepes, so what else did you expect?

Crepe vendor: Haha. Anyway, let’s forget about what happened yesterday. I’ll tell you where you can find a locksmith as well.

Yui: Really?

( Thank god...! )

Thank you very much!

ー The scene shifts to Diamante Fountain

Yui: ...Hmー I’m pretty sure it should be somewhere around here...

( According to the map the crepe vendor drew for us, the locksmith should be on the plaza with the fountain... )

Ayato: Oi, hold up one sec.

Yui: Eh? ...Kyah!

*Rustle*

Yui: ( W-What...? )

Ayato: Hehe, Chichinashi. You’ve got some cream stuck on your face, you know? Just how frantic were you back there?

Yui: Eh!? 

*Rustle rustle*

Ayato: Che...Don’t move. I’ll get it for you...

Nn...Nn...

Yui: ( ...He licked it off...! )

Ayato: ...Heeh, not bad. What you’d expect from a famous place. However...

*Rustle*

...I prefer this. Nn...

*Smooch*

Yui: Nn...!

( Ayato-kun, we’re in public right now...! )

*Rustle rustle*

Yui: A-Ayato-kun...! Now’s not the time to mess around...!

Ayato: Oh? Oi, check that out! That shop has a signboard in the shape of a key. Couldn’t that be the place?

Yui: Eh!? Ah...You’re right. It might be.

Ayato: Let’s go take a look!

ー He walks towards the store

Yui: ( ...! I feel like he just skillfully talked his way out! )

*Knock knock*

Yui: Excuse me!

Ayato: Oi! Anyone ‘round!?

*Thud thud*

Yui: ( Could they be closed...? )

Flower shop owner: Yes, if you’re looking for the locksmith, he has been on vacation for quite some time.

Yui: Eh...!?

Flower shop owner: He always closes his shop during the Parade because he has very few customers at this time of year.

Yui: ( N-No way... )

Ayato: Fuck! We finally made it here and the bastard’s on holiday!? Fuck that!

Ahーah. There goes all of my motivation...I’m already exhausted after all the shit that went down today...

Yui: ( ...Now that he mentions it, I’m a little tired too... )

Ayato: Say, Chichinashi. We have until tomorrow to get the key repaired, right?

Yui: Yeah...

Ayato: Let’s go on a full-on search for the locksmith tomorrow then.

For one, I doubt we’ll have an easy time finding a stranger amidst this large of a crowd.

Yui: ( He does have a point... )

( Besides, Ayato-kun really tried his hardest today, from helping fend off those punks to selling crepes as well... )

( I want to give him some time to rest... )

Yui: ...Right. Let’s head back to the hotel early todaーー

Ayato: Idiot. Who’s so stupid to return to their hotel room at this hour?

Yui: Eh?

Ayato: Why don’t we have a look ‘round the Parade now that we’re here as well?

I’m sure things will work out if we give it our all tomorrow. That being said, let’s get goin’!

*Rustle*

Yui: Ah, wait, Ayato-kun...!

*TIMESKIP*

ー The scene shifts to Saint Nore Park

Ayato: Ahー The Magic Carpet ride really is the best! So, where should we go next?

Yui: ( Ayato-kun looks like he’s having fun. ...I’m glad. )

( We still have a whole lot of issues to tackle, but the Parade only happens once a year, so I want him to be able to enjoy it a little... )

Ayato: Oh, they’ve got something interesting goin’ on over there. Oi, let’s go!

Yui: Yeah!

ー The scene shifts to the venue

Ayato: It’s on! Let’s see who can make their way out of the House of Mirrors first!

Yui: Sure!

Ayato: Hehe. I won’t lose! I’m goin’ in this way. See you at the exit!

ー Ayato runs inside

Yui: ( Okay! I have to try my best so I don’t lose either! )

ー The scene shifts to the House of Mirrors

Yui: ( Hm... )

( Everything looks the same, so I feel as if I’ve just been going in circles this whole time... )

*Riiiiing*

Yui: ...!?

ー It flashes white before her eyes

Yui: ( W-What’s going on...!? I feel dizzy all of a sudden... )

( Did the House of Mirrors make me feel sick perhaps...? )

*Riiiiing*

Yui: ...! 

( ...No...I’m not just dizzy... )

( There’s something wrong...With my heart...With the Kleinod... )

*Riiiiing*

ー Yui collapses

*Thud*

Yui: ( Everything’s going black...before my eyes... )

( ...Ayato...ku...n... )

*TIMESKIP*

???: ...Lady...Young lady...

Yui: ( ... )

???: ...Young lady...Hang in there, young lady...!

Yui: ( ...Somebody’s calling me...? )

ー Yui wakes up

Yui: ...Uu...Hm...?

Vampire gentleman: Aah, thank god! You regained consciousness!

Yui: ( Ah...Right. I fainted in the House of Mirrors... )

Vampire gentleman: I was shocked to find you passed out here! Did you come with someon...ーー

ー Ayato runs up to them

Ayato: ...Oi! What are you doin’ to her!? Back off at once!!

*THUD*

Vampire gentleman: Uguh!?

Yui: ...! Ayato-kun!?

*Rustle*

Ayato: Yui! Are you okay!?

Oi, you bastard! She’s mine! Try to harm her and you’ll regret it!

Vampire gentleman: Kuh...Harm her...? I simply...

Ayato: I don’t need to hear your excuses! I’ll beat you to pulp right now! 

Yui: ( ...! He’s definitely got the wrong idea! )

*Rustle*

Yui: Ayato-kun! You’ve got it all wrong!! It’s a misunderstanding!

He only helped me out when I was feeling unwell...!

Ayato: Aah...? What didya just say...?

Vampire gentleman: ...Hmph! So this is what I get for trying to be kind...!? I’ll excuse myself now!

ー He walks away

Yui: Ah...

( He left... )

Yui: You can’t deny that you went too far just now, kicking him out of nowhere...

Ayato: Che, I had no other choice, did I...?

From my angle, it looked as if that bastard was tryin’ to suck your blood or somethin’...

...Geez, I was waitin’ by the exit but you just wouldn’t show up, so I came lookin’ for you...

Yui: ( ...Ayato-kun... )

I’m sorry for making you worry...

Ayato: Oi, more importantly. I heard you were feelin’ unwell...? Are you alright now?

Yui: ...Yeah, I’m fine now...

*Riiiiing*

Yui: ...ーー!?

( ...Again... )

Ayato: ...!? Oi!

Yui: ( I can’t...My consciousness is... )

ー She faints again

Ayato: Yui!

*TIMESKIP*

Yui: ( ...What’s happening...? My body feels light... )

???: ...Yui...!

ー She wakes up in the hotel room

Yui: Uu...Hm...?

( I’m at...the hotel...? )

Ayato: Ah! You finally woke up...?

Yui: Ayato-kun...I...

Ayato: You passed out. It gave me a scare. I carried you back here for now.

...Are you alright?

Yui: Yeah, I’m fine now.

Ayato: Mmh. Glad to hear that. Don’t push yourself, ‘kay?

*Rustle*

Yui: ( ...He’s stroking my head... )

Ayato: ...Haah, anyway. It’s already late, so just stay in bed, ‘kay?

Yui: Yeah, I will. I’m sorry for causing you so much trouble.

Ayato: ...It’s fine. Besides, I never thought of it like that.

I don’t care as long as you’re safe and sound...

Yui: ( Ayato-kun...I’m so happy... )

( ...Now that I’m feeling more relaxed, I can suddenly feel the fatigue kicking in... )

*Rustle rustle*

ー She falls asleep as the scene shifts to her dream

Yui: ( ...Where am I...? )

( Could it be, again...? )

Mysterious man: ...Hello there, it’s been a while.

Yui: ( This voice... )

Are you...Count Walter, perhaps...?

Mysterious man: ...Fufu. I wonder?

Yui: ...

Mysterious man: That Ayato...He seems rather attached to you.

He jumped the gun and kicked a man he had never seen or met before, what am I going to do with him?

Yui: ...You were watching, it seems...?

Mysterious man: Yes, I saw everything...I wonder why exactly he seems so devoted to you?

Yui: Why...?

Mysterious man: Yes. Have you never asked yourself that question?

Yui: Well...

Mysterious man: Do you perhaps think...He is doing it out of love for you?

Yui: ...

Mysterious man: Fufu, seems like I am correct. However, if you do, I think it is time you think again.

Yui: ...What do you mean?

Mysterious man: That man, you see, only ever thinks about being the best there is.

Therefore, he does not want to lose you, the person who has a heart like nobody else does. ...Am I wrong?

Yui: ...That’s not...!

( Is he implying that Ayato-kun only protects me because of my heart...? )

( That just can’t be...I mean, Ayato-kun is...! )

He isn’t that kind of person. He really does... (1)

( It’s not because of my heart...But because he cares about me as a person... )

Mysterious man: ...Kuku...Hahaha...!

Yui: ...What’s so funny?

Mysterious man: Oh no, my bad. I was just thinking what a foolish, pitiful girl you are...

Do you truly believe a Vampire such as himself is capable of grasping the meaning of true love?

...If you do, you are gravely mistaken.

ー Yui wakes up

*Rustle*

Yui: ...Haah...! Haah...Haah...

( ...Was that a dream just now...? )

*Rustle*

Yui: ...Ayato-kun...? 

( ...He doesn’t seem to be around...Did he head out, perhaps...? )

ー She recalls her dream

Mysterious man: Do you truly believe a Vampire such as himself is capable of grasping the meaning of true love?

...If you do, you are gravely mistaken.

ー The dream sequence ends

Yui: ( ...That’s not true. Ayato-kun isn’t like that. )

( I have faith in him... )

ーー TO BE CONTINUED ーー 

← RETURN TO CHAPTER 1

→ PROCEED WITH MAIN STORY [CHAPTER 3]

→ SUB-SCENARIO #1 [W/ REIJI]

→ SUB-SCENARIO #2 [W/ LAITO]

→ SUB-SCENARIO #3 [W/ AZUSA]

→ SUB-SCENARIO #4 [W/ CARLA]

[omgrachwrites]

Protection - Remus Lupin

Pairing: Remus Lupin x Reader

Summary: When you go and visit your husband at work, you discover that something is wrong and you know that you will say or do anything to protect Remus. Everyone lives au

Warnings: fluff, angst

Words: 1473

Disclaimer: This gif doesn’t belong to me!

A/N: I have seen this headcanon before so I decided to play around with it! Hope you guys enjoy and please let me know what you think, and let me know if you would like to be added to my Harry Potter taglist, I love you all! xxx

The early afternoon air was crisp and cool as you took a great breath of it and smiled, it smelt like it was going to rain. You stood by the pumpkin patch and gazed up at the huge castle which was almost blanketed by stormy grey mountains capped with snow. It was home, it felt like home and it always would, no matter how old you got, you would always consider Hogwarts as your home. Hogwarts had been a place where people could be who they wanted to be without secrets or fear and that was what you loved about it.

As you started the ascent up the grassy hill you grinned as you saw James coming down it, when he saw you he lifted his hand up in a wave, “hi Y/N.”

“James, what are you doing here?” you smiled and he grinned back, running a hand through his messy curls.

“First Quidditch match of the season tomorrow and I thought the team could use a pep talk from a Quidditch legend,” he smirked, looking very smug, “and I did want to see my son. I’ve missed him,” he added, “what about you?”

“I just thought I’d stop by and say hi to Remus, I’m missing him a lot and the house is so much quieter when he’s gone. I brought him some lunch,” you held up a lunch box and blushed. You were so happy and proud when your husband had snagged the Defence Against the Dark Arts post but you didn’t realise just how much you would miss him.

James nodded understandingly, “yeah I get it, that’s why Lily didn’t want me to work away. With our second child coming and everything,” he grinned, James and Lily were your very best friends and you were so excited that they had another baby on the way. It had taken years of trying, “definitely come round for dinner tonight though. Sirius is bringing the new girl that he’s seeing.”

You giggled as you rolled your eyes, Sirius had been a serial dater at school and when you had all left he seemed to calm down a little. Only a little though. The girls seemed to last longer but he seemed to still be scared of the commitment and it made you sad, Sirius was a great guy and he deserved someone that he could be happy with. Maybe this new girl could be the one.

“Lucky us eh?” you smiled, “bye James.”

“Bye Y/N, see you tonight,” he chuckled as he gave you a quick hug.

You sighed happily as you walked into the warm castle and began making your way down to Remus’ classroom. You hovered in the doorway for a little while as you watched your beautiful husband; you smiled as he shook a hand through his hair and pushed the glasses up his nose. The glasses were new but they made him look even more gorgeous. However, your smile dropped a moment later when Remus sighed and frowned, you could tell that he had a heartbroken look on his face.

“Sweetheart, are you okay?” you asked as you walked into the empty classroom and approached his desk.

Remus looked up slightly startled but smiled warmly when he saw you and he got up from behind his desk and walked round it to give you a hug and a sweet lingering kiss, “Y/N, this is a nice surprise angel. What are you doing here?” he smiled but you could still see the uneasiness in his gorgeous hazel eyes.

You smiled wanly as you rested your hands on his chest, “I missed you, and I wanted to bring you lunch,” you smiled as he gasped happily and you placed the lunchbox on his desk, “what’s wrong?”

Remus sighed as he led you over to his desk and he sat down on his chair with you in his lap as he pinched the bridge of his nose, his arms tight around your waist like you were his anchor, “I’ve just been marking essays and they were,” he hesitated, “a little unexpected,” he gestured to the pile of essays on his desk.

You frowned and picked them up, leafing through the pile before you settled on reading a couple of them. It looked like the class had been learning about werewolves and every essay was about the characteristics of a werewolf… and how to kill them. Your heart hurt for Remus, you couldn’t imagine how much it must have hurt for him to read essays that his students had written, essays on how to kill werewolves. But, you were kind of confused.

“Remus, I don’t understand,” you frowned and trailed off when you looked at him and discovered that he had tears in his eyes, “sweetheart. Talk to me.”

He took a great sniffle, “these are essays from a couple of weeks ago. I didn’t take my class for that week because it was the week of the full moon. Dumbledore let me take some time off,” that made more sense, after all Remus wouldn’t have been so upset if he was the one who had set the essays. Though, it did lead to another question.

“Who took over your class?” you asked, you couldn’t understand how someone could be so cruel to him.

“Severus,” he mumbled and you felt a great white hot sizzle of anger go through your chest, “I guess he wants to expose me as the monster I really am. I can’t blame him, after I nearly killed him in school.”

“That’s it,” you stood up, angry at Snape. You sighed as you dumped all of the essays on the floor, stamping on them, you might have been overreacting but you didn’t care. Nobody made your sweet, caring and protective husband feel like a monster and got away with it. You sat back on Remus’ knee and cupped his cheek, “Remus listen to me, you are not a monster. I will remind you every day for the rest of our lives if that’s what it takes. You are the best thing Remus, the very best. You’re so caring and amazing, and sweet. Harry told me that you helped Neville get over his fear of Snivellus. People should look up to you and strive to be like you because if more people were like you Remus then the world would be a better place. You are not a monster, okay?”

His grew misty at your little speech and he gave you a head spinning kiss, “thank you Y/N. I honestly don’t know what I’d do without you. I love you.”

“And I love you.”

You spent the rest of the lunch hour with him, talking and laughing, you wanted to make him feel like his worries were a million miles away. You told him about your work with a sweet smile on his face as his thumb rubbed over your bottom lip. About five minutes before his class was due to start you said your goodbyes.

“Are you sure that you don’t want me to walk you out?”

You grinned at him as you stood up on your tiptoes to kiss him, “I’m sure, I’ll see you soon. I love you,” you smiled; there was something that you had to do before you left.

“I love you more Y/N.”

Fuelled by your anger you stomped down to the dungeons were a couple of students had started to queue for their lesson. Without knocking you stormed right in and glared at Snape. He looked exactly the same, sallow skin and the longest greasy hair with a hooked nose. As he glanced up at you his lip curled in disgust.

“Lupin,” he scowled, using your married name instead of your maiden name like he had in school.

“Snivellus,” you glared back, slamming your hands on his desk, “let’s get one thing straight you hook nosed bastard! If you ever make my husband feel like a monster ever again I promise I will kill you.  You are a disgrace of a human being, making him read essays like that. Screw you and stop bullying your students, especially those who can’t stand up for themselves,” you hissed, thinking of poor Neville.

Snape only scowled at you, his eyes flashing dangerously as you stomped back to the door, opening it before calling back at him, “you’re a git Snivellus, go to hell!”

As you walked out into the corridor you saw Harry standing with his friends Ron and Hermione. Harry was grinning, Hermione was hiding a shocked smile behind her hand and Ron was smirking, it seemed like they had all heard you. You knew that Snape was their least favourite teacher.

“That was bloody brilliant,” Ron blurted out and you smiled, taking a bow. You would do or say anything to protect your husband.

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

Marauders Taglist: @kashishwrites​ @smiithys​ @siriusblackspam​

[twoidiotwriters1]

Written In The Stars XCVIII (Harry Potter xF!Oc)

A/N: Updated: I will be dropping the next few chapters this week, so stay tuned -Danny

Words: 4,487

Series’ Masterlist

Previous Chapter // Next Chapter

Chapter Thirty-Three: The Final Task.

"He really trusts Snape, even though he knows he was a Death Eater?" Ron asked.

"Yes," said Harry.

"Rita Skeeter," Hermione mumbled rubbing her forehead with both palms.

"How can you be worrying about her now?" said Ron.

"I'm not worrying about her. I'm just thinking... remember what she said to me in the Three Broomsticks? 'I know things about Ludo Bagman that would make your hair curl.' This is what she meant, isn't it? She reported his trial, she knew he'd passed information to the Death Eaters. And Winky too, remember... 'Ludo Bagman's a bad wizard.' Mr Crouch would have been furious he got off, he would have talked about it at home."

"Yeah, but Bagman didn't pass information on purpose, did he? And Fudge reckons Madame Maxime attacked Crouch?"

"Yeah, but he's only saying that because Crouch disappeared near the Beauxbatons carriage."

"Makes no sense because then all her students were there to see, and Hagrid as well, unless he thinks Hagrid's unreliable too..." Mel added.

"We never thought of her, did we?" said Ron. "Mind you, she's definitely got giant blood, and she doesn't want to admit it —"

"Of course she doesn't! Look what happened to Hagrid when Rita found out about his mother. Look at Fudge, jumping to conclusions about her, just because she's part giant. Who needs that sort of prejudice? I'd probably say I had big bones if I knew that's what I'd get for telling the truth."

"I'm hardly a supporter of liars," Mel sighed, "but I'm with 'Mione in this one, the wizarding community can be pretty judgy when they want to."

"We haven't done any practising!" Hermione gave a start, looking at the time on her wristwatch. "We were going to do the Impediment Curse! We'll have to really get down to it tomorrow! Come on, Harry, you need to get some sleep."

Hermione and Ron stood up as well as them, then Mel stopped, watching them climb up the stairs. Harry noticed and stayed behind as well, giving her a questioning look.

"I wonder," She said quietly. "How different our lives would be if any of those things had never happened... D'you think it'd be completely different from what it is now?"

"Maybe," Harry shrugged. "My parents would be alive, we wouldn't be neighbors..."

"We would still be friends, though, wouldn't we? But maybe not best friends," She frowned. "Is it wrong that I'm a little glad that's not the case?"

"No," He smiled. "But we're not exactly friends, are we?"

"You know what I mean," She mumbled.

Harry got closer and kissed her temple. Having no height difference really was convenient for them. He finally mumbled a goodnight and left, Mel soon following his example and going to her bedroom.

"You're supposed to be studying for your exams as well, you don't need to put all your efforts into helping me," Harry told them one afternoon after lunch. "I don't mind practising on my own for a while, you know?"

"Don't worry about it," Hermione said, "at least we'll get top marks in Defense Against the Dark Arts. We'd never have found out about all these hexes in class."

"Good training for when we're all Aurors," said Ron casually.

Mel and Harry shared an amused look.

"Hermione's right," She added. "I don't do any of these in my lessons either, it's more of an academic thing, most unusual when I do practical magic. I read and read until my eyes get all heavy. I know a lot of things about magic but it's not quite the same as knowing how to do it."

"I bet it's ten times easier than this," Harry groaned, cleaning his robes after falling on his butt for the third time thanks to a hex he hadn't been able to avoid.

"You're still doing really well, though," Hermione said, reading the list she'd made to make sure Harry had a full training. "Some of these are bound to come in handy."

"Come and look at this," Ron was looking out the window, squinting. "What's Malfoy doing?"

They all huddled up in front of the window. Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle were sitting down the shadow of a big willow tree, Malfoy was holding his hand up to his mouth and speaking into it, the other two were looking around with silly smirks on their faces.

"He looks like he's using a walkie-talkie," said Harry.

"He can't be– I've told you, those sorts of things don't work around Hogwarts," Hermione shrugged it off, quickly losing interest. "Come on, Harry, let's try that Shield Charm again."

"Look at this," Harry said in a tone of exasperation, he was reading Sirius' letter to Mel. "'If Voldemort is really getting stronger again, my priority is to ensure your safety. He cannot hope to lay hands on you while you are under Dumbledore's protection, but all the same, take no risks: Concentrate on getting through that maze safely, and then we can turn our attention to other matters.' Makes me sound like I have no control!"

"He's just stressed like we all are," Mel responded lazily, barely looking up from her Charms essay. "Give it a month and he'll be back to his usual self, joking about eating rats and all..."

"I already did all I could to prepare myself," Harry folded the letter and prompted his head on one hand, watching her as she continued writing. "The task is tomorrow, I don't think there's anything else I can do..."

"You sound extremely calm about it," She said.

"I just think that whatever comes, at least this time I'm prepared. Besides, it's the end of the tournament, which means..." He raised his free hand and grabbed a lock of her hair, playing with it like he often did. "It's all going to be over, and Skeeter will be out of here."

"We won't have to worry about our love lives being published for everyone to see..." She nodded.

"And I'll be able to take you to Hogsmeade on a proper date and all..." He smiled, his mind drifting to a brighter future.

"What a gentleman," Mel put down her quill and admired her work with pride. "I'm all done! No more homework!" She looked up to meet his gaze. She frowned a little, slightly confused. "Is everything okay?"

"Espectacular," Harry smiled broadly, releasing the lock of hair and kissing her cheek.

"Snuffles sent me a good-luck card!" Harry said, sounding delighted.

She leaned closer to examine it. It was a piece of parchment with a paw print that Mel found adorable, Harry seemed to like it as well.

"Emily didn't send anything though, d'you think she dislikes me now because of all those articles?" He asked jokingly.

"Oh yes, I reckon she must hate you for being such a conceited little git," Mel snorted.

Hermione choked on her drink as she held onto the Daily Prophet an owl delivered to her a few seconds earlier.

"What?" asked her three friends.

"Nothing..." Hermione tried to hide the paper, but Ron was quicker.

"No way," He breathed. "Not today. That old cow..."

"What?" Harry insisted. "Rita Skeeter again?"

"Bad news?" Mel raised a brow.

"No," Ron said, hastily pushing the paper out of sight.

"It's about me, isn't it?" said Harry.

"No," said Ron, but his voice broke a little in the end.

Just as if on queue Draco Malfoy shouted from across the Great Hall:

"Hey, Potter! Potter! How's your head? You feeling all right? Sure you're not going to go berserk on us?"

"Oh, bloody hell," Mel frowned. "What is it now?"

"Let me see it," Harry turned to Ron. "Give it here."

Harry took the paper from a very reluctant Ron. A picture of him was displayed on the front page, with the title right under it:

HARRY POTTER "DISTURBED AND DANGEROUS"

The boy who defeated He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is unstable and possibly dangerous, writes Rita Skeeter, Special Correspondent. Alarming evidence has recently come to light about Harry Potter's strange behaviour, which casts doubts upon his suitability to compete in a demanding competition like the Triwizard Tournament, or even to attend Hogwarts School.

Potter, the Daily Prophet can exclusively reveal, regularly collapses at school, and is often heard to complain of pain in the scar on his forehead (a relic of the curse with which You-Know-Who attempted to kill him). On Monday last, midway through a Divination lesson, your Daily Prophet reporter witnessed Potter storming from the class, claiming that his scar was hurting too badly to continue studying.

It is possible, say top experts at St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, that Potter's brain was affected by the attack inflicted upon him by You-Know-Who, and that his insistence that the scar is still hurting is an expression of his deep-seated confusion.

"He might even be pretending," said one specialist. "This could be a plea for attention."

The Daily Prophet, however, has unearthed worrying facts about Harry Potter that Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts, has carefully concealed from the wizarding public.

"Potter can speak Parseltongue," reveals Draco Malfoy, a Hogwarts fourth year. "There were a lot of attacks on students a couple of years ago, and most people thought Potter was behind them after they saw him lose his temper at a dueling club and set a snake on another boy. It was all hushed up, though. But he's made friends with werewolves and giants too. We think he'd do anything for a bit of power."

Parseltongue, the ability to converse with snakes, has long been considered a Dark Art. Indeed, the most famous Parselmouth of our times is none other than You-Know-Who himself. A member of the Dark Force Defense League, who wished to remain unnamed, stated that he would regard any wizard who could speak Parseltongue "as worthy of investigation. Personally, I would be highly suspicious of anybody who could converse with snakes, as serpents are often used in the worst kinds of Dark Magic, and are historically associated with evildoers." Similarly, "anyone who seeks out the company of such vicious creatures as werewolves and giants would appear to have a fondness for violence."

Albus Dumbledore should surely consider whether a boy such as this should be allowed to compete in the Triwizard Tournament. Some fear that Potter might resort to the Dark Arts in his desperation to win the tournament, the third task of which takes place this evening.

"Gone off me a bit, hasn't she?" said Harry casually as Mel finished reading, to which she only sighed.

"How did she know your scar hurt in Divination?" Ron asked. "There's no way she was there, there's no way she could've heard —"

"The window was open," said Harry. "I opened it to breathe."

"You were at the top of North Tower!" Hermione exclaimed. "Your voice couldn't have carried all the way down to the grounds!"

"Well, you're the one who's supposed to be researching magical methods of bugging!" said Harry. "You tell me how she did it!"

"No idea," Mel shook her head. "Unless she's learned to train insects and have them all around the school, which would give the bugging a whole new meaning..."

"Bugging," said Hermione, deep in thought. "It's like... like..."

"Are you all right?" said Ron.

"Yes... I've had an idea– I think I know... because then no one would be able to see... even Moody... and she'd have been able to get onto the window ledge... but she's not allowed... she's definitely not allowed... I think we've got her! Just give me two seconds in the library — just to make sure!" She stood up at once and left the Great Hall in a hurry.

"Oi! We've got our History of Magic exam in ten minutes–! Blimey," Ron turned back to them, "she must really hate that Skeeter woman to risk missing the start of an exam. What're you going to do in Binns's class, Harry — read again?"

"S'pose so," Harry shrugged.

"I wish I'd know what she found," Mel said, looking out to where Hermione had gone. "Maybe if I go after her..." But her thoughts were interrupted as Professor McGonagall came to them.

"Potter, the champions are congregating in the chamber of the Hall after breakfast, Miss Dumbledore, you and Flint are needed at the entrance now," Before Mel could object she added, "Your teacher has been notified and knows you'll be arriving at your examination a bit late, as well as Flint. He'll give you extra time."

"But the task's not till tonight!" Harry's eyes widened.

"I'm aware of that, Potter. The champions' families are invited to watch the final task, you know. This is simply a chance for you to greet them."

Harry and Mel stared at her in disbelief after she left.

"She doesn't expect the Dursleys to turn up, does she?" Harry asked in horror.

"Dunno," said Ron. "I'd better hurry, I'm going to be late for Binns. See you later..."

"I'd better go too," Mel sighed, getting up as well. "I wouldn't worry if I were you, I doubt the Dursleys would have the nerve to show up." She kissed the top of his head, Harry gave her an anxious smile and she walked away a bit reluctantly. At the entrance she was met with a lovely sight:

Mrs Weasley, Bill, and her own mother were there, next to them were Mr and Mrs Diggory, a woman that looked a lot like Fleur along with Fleur's little sister, and two wizards that could only be Krum's parents.

"Mum!" She ran up to the woman and hugged her tightly, doing the same with Mrs Weasley and Bill. "What are you doing here?"

"Can't miss the last task now, can we?" Her mother smiled. "I tried to convince Remus to come as well, but he thought that people wouldn't react kindly after the whole scandal of last year."

Mel's attention got caught on three figures on the other side of the hall. Erick was standing next to his cousin, and on Jo's side, there was a very old man on a wheelchair. They seemed to be arguing with him.

"I'll be with you in a moment," She told her mother and the Weasleys. "Hold on..."

She walked up to Erick shyly and cleared her throat, the boy gave a start and turned to look at her.

"Yes?" He asked in a grumpy voice.

"We have to take the families to the chamber... is everything okay?"

"No– Yes," He looked over his shoulder and back at her. "My Grandad had a relapse yesterday but insisted on coming anyway. Joseph and I had to force him to sit so he doesn't tire himself out, he's throwing a tantrum."

"We can always send him back via floo," Joseph stepped in, half-joking. "Hi, Mel!"

"Hi," Mel beamed, she couldn't help but feel a little excited every time he'd talk to her.

"Well well," Mr Flint spoke over his grandson's shoulder. "You must be Miss Dumbledore!"

"Good morning Sir," She tilted her head to see him.

"My, you're pretty!" He laughed loudly, Mel found it endearing. "I see the resemblance between you and your father– Great man he was, he used to visit my store often. How's your mother?"

"She's right over there," She pointed over her shoulder. "Came to wish Harry good luck, he's my friend, you see."

"I've heard," He looked at his grandson with a knowing smile. "Oh! Haven't introduced myself, have I? Eliot Flint at your service dear girl– You've made quite the impression in my family. Erick's told me about you, and Joseph mentions you at least twice in all his letters!"

"Oh!" Mel didn't know how to respond to that, so instead, she looked at the boys.

Joseph spoke first, noticing the way Erick was positively glaring at his Grandfather.

"You're a great host," He admitted, "I dare say better than my cousin..."

"Thanks," Erick replied with a scoff.

"Well, it's true!" Joseph laughed. "I barely got to talk to you during the school year, and even then you weren't much of a talker. I'm surprised you even mentioned Mel to our Grandad– Mind you, Mel, he doesn't talk about anyone at all, sometimes I suspect he fancies–"

"I talk enough!" He snapped. "Now, if you excuse us we have to take the families to the chamber– You two stay here. Let's go..." Erick grabbed Mel's arm and pulled her away.

"You know," She chuckled, "there's nothing wrong with caring about people."

"I care about people," He replied. "Which is why I feel like I've aged five years this term."

She laughed, stopping in the middle of the large group. They all turned to look at her, which caused her to feel a bit self-conscious. Luckily for her, Erick had no problems with talking to crowds.

"If you could follow us to the chamber, you'll see your kids in a moment," He said in his best formal and controlled voice. Mel got closer to her mum.

"Harry'll be ever so pleased about you coming! He was dreading the idea of his aunt and uncle..."

"The day a Dursley sets a foot in this castle hell will freeze," Her mother laughed.

"I just couldn't miss a chance to come back, really," Bill explained. "All is exactly as I remember..."

Once in the chamber, the families divided into smaller groups. The champions walked in, all except for Harry. Erick left to present his exams and she was about to go as well when he came in, looking around curiously before his eyes landed on the Weasleys and her mum. Then he approached them with a broad smile.

"Surprise!" Mrs Weasley said once he got to them. "Thought we'd come and watch you, Harry!"

"You all right? Charlie wanted to come, but he couldn't get time off. He said you were incredible against the Horntail."

"My little boy!" Emily pulled Harry in for a hug. "You've been so brave this whole year! All the things you've done– never been more proud of you!"

"This is really nice of you," Harry muttered. "I thought for a moment — the Dursleys —"

"Hmm," said Mrs Weasley sternly.

"Sorry for that," Emily laughed, finally letting go. "But the Dursleys won't get to call themselves your family on these grounds as long as I'm alive."

Mel watched them interact, in a way, they were her little family. She couldn't wait to tell her mother about the recent events regarding her relationship with the boy.

"It's great being back here," said Bill. "Haven't seen this place for five years. Is that picture of the mad knight still around? Sir Cadogan?"

"Oh yeah," said Harry and Mel at the same time.

"And the Fat Lady?"

"She was here in my time," mentioned Mrs Weasley. "She gave me such a telling off one night when I got back to the dormitory at four in the morning —"

"What were you doing out of your dormitory at four in the morning?" Bill gaped.

"Your father and I had been for a nighttime stroll. He got caught by Apollyon Pringle — he was the caretaker in those days — your father's still got the marks."

"Fancy giving us a tour?" said Bill, looking at Mel and Harry.

"Yeah, okay," said Harry.

"Oh, I can't," She pouted, "my exams..."

"How about we walk you to class?" Emily offered. "This place is full of memories! I'd love to see the halls one more time..."

As they moved to the door, Amos Diggory spoke to Harry.

"There you are, are you?" He sneered. "Bet you're not feeling quite as full of yourself now Cedric's caught you up on points, are you?"

"What?" Harry stopped.

"Ignore him," said Cedric, giving his father a look. "He's been angry ever since Rita Skeeter's article about the Triwizard Tournament — you know when she made out you were the only Hogwarts champion."

"Didn't bother to correct her, though, did he?" said Amos Diggory. "Still... you'll show him, Ced. Beaten him once before, haven't you?"

"Rita Skeeter goes out of her way to cause trouble, Amos!" Mrs Weasley said. "I would have thought you'd know that, working at the Ministry!"

"Honestly Amos, believing a word she says it's the same as asking to a dog what he thinks about the weather," Emily added.

Mel didn't need the extra time, in the end, she finished her exam at the same time as the rest of the group. Ron asked her if Harry's relatives were in fact there and she answered with a mysterious 'you'll see'.

When they went to the Great Hall for lunch, Ron was surprised to see his brother and mum there.

"Mum — Bill! What're you doing here?" He looked at Mel's mum. "Hi, Em!"

"Come to watch Harry in the last task!" said Mrs Weasley. "I must say, it makes a lovely change, not having to cook. How was your exam?"

"Oh... okay. Couldn't remember all the goblin rebels' names, so I invented a few. It's all right," Ron said to calm her mother's spirits, "they're all called stuff like Bodrod the Bearded and Urg the Unclean; it wasn't hard."

Hermione turned up a bit later, Harry tried to find out what she'd discovered about Skeeter, however, before he could finish his sentence Hermione shut him up, her attention moving to the mothers of her friends.

"Hello, Hermione," said Mrs Weasley, rather coldly.

"Hello," said Hermione shyly.

"Mrs Weasley, you didn't believe that rubbish Rita Skeeter wrote in Witch Weekly, did you? Because Hermione's not my girlfriend," Harry was quick to point out.

"Oh! No — of course, I didn't!" Mrs Weasley blushed lightly.

"Was it all rubbish, though?" Emily asked pointedly.

"What'd you mean?" Mel asked.

"Dunno, something about you and that Diggory boy," The woman fought back a smirk, "and a french boy..."

Mel inhaled sharply and choked on her food. She shook her head energetically as Hermione patted her back harshly.

"That was rubbish too, yes," Harry added, kicking Ron's leg under the table so he wouldn't speak.

"Okay then," Emily replied. "Not that I wouldn't support you, but if my daughter's dating someone, I'd hate to find out through the Daily Prophet."

"Oh, yes," Mel glared at her mother playfully. "I'm well aware of how invested you are in my love life."

Emily winked at her without saying anything, Harry gave her a questioning look but Mel shook her head, brushing it off like it was nothing.

The way the Emily’s eyes shone throughout the day helped Harry picture her at fifteen-years-old, walking around the castle with his parents and Matthew, much like Mel: happy and beautiful. Carefree, with dreams to spare.

Mel's exams went by without any troubles, and by the time they had the feast, she sat next to him, holding his hand under the table while no one else was looking in an attempt to ease his nerves.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Dumbledore said. "In five minutes' time, I will be asking you to make your way down to the Quidditch field for the third and final task of the Triwizard Tournament. Will the champions please follow Mr Bagman down to the stadium now."

As they got up, the Gryffindors broke into applause for Harry; the Weasleys, Emily and Hermione wished him good luck, and they finally left the Great Hall to enter the quiet evening.

"How're your nerves?" Erick asked her. "I must say you're keeping it together better than before..."

"I've grown used to the knot in my stomach," She shrugged. "After the tenth time, this turns into a routine."

He chuckled lowly.

"My Grandad liked you, apparently you reminded him a lot to one of his girlfriends."

"Oh," Mel frowned, "...thanks?"

"I didn't know how to respond to that either."

"I think he's nice," She said. "Very lovely."

"Yeah," Erick replied, a look of fondness betraying his usual cold demeanour.

"Hey," Harry quickly caught up with them, looking considerably more nervous than before. "You remember what the jelly-leg jinx counter spell was? Because I keep trying to remember and–"

"Glasses," Mel scowled. "Don't do that, if you keep repeating things over and over you'll get them all mixed up!"

"Focus on the fact that you got here in a quite respectable place," Erick added. "Unexpected, but definitely something to be proud of."

"Er, thanks," Harry said.

"You just pull through this one, then it'll be over," She gave his hand a gentle squeeze. "You'll be okay."

He nodded, his eyes fixed on the tall maze ahead. Erick and Mel got separated again, the boy had to guide the students to their seats making sure there were no empty spaces and Mel was with the champions.

She walked past Moody and brushed past him, a wave of something hit her and she stopped in place, feeling extremely dizzy.

"Is everything all right, Miss Dumbledore?" Moody asked, eyeing her up in a calculating way.

"I..." She stared at him, wondering why the feeling reminded her so much to Riddle's diary. "Yeah... just nervous, I think."

Moody nodded once and kept walking, Mel did the same.

"This way!" Erick told the students as he walked backwards. "McLaggen, if you can muster a bit of brain to pay attention to what I'm saying, there's a seat right behind you– No, you idiot, I said behind–!"

"Hello?" Emily said to the boy. "You may not know me, but I think you've been reading my books all summer... I'm Emily Sultens."

Erick's cheeks turned pink at the statement. He cleared his throat and raised a stiff hand to shake hers.

"Nice to meet you, ma'am," He said a bit hurriedly.

"Just wanted to let you know, if there's anything we can do to help– more books, or even have you over a few days during summer... I'm happy to help, kid."

"Thanks," He replied clumsily. "I should- uh, I should go back..."

"Sure," Emily smiled, moving out of his way. "See you..."

Erick didn't respond, he merely nodded and walked back to where the champions and his teachers were.

"We are going to be patrolling the outside of the maze," Professor McGonagall explained. "If you get into difficulty, and wish to be rescued, send red sparks into the air, and one of us will come and get you, do you understand?"

The champions nodded.

"Off you go, then!" said Bagman.

Mel gave Harry one last hug before leaving.

"Good luck," She said. "I'll be looking after you."

"I know," He smiled. "You always are."

"And I'm brilliant at it," The girl grinned, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek before finally stepping back.

"Ready?" Erick asked her as they were to part in opposite directions around the maze.

"I think so," Mel replied, holding onto her wand tightly.

Next Chapter —>

Taglist.

@dee123ksha​ @vampiregirl1797 @siriuslysirius1107 @stardusthigh @mikariell95 @vernon-dursley @thesuitelifeofafangirl @tomshollandz @kylosleftbuttcheek @reverse-hxlland @bloodorangemoonlight @omiwashere​ @t-rexs-world

[artificialqueens]

Ms. California, Chapter Four (Crygi) - Mik

AN: Sorry it took so long for me to update! The last part of the chapter is written from Gigi’s perspective. Hope you all enjoy! 

Summary: Crystal moves to Los Angeles from Missouri and meets Gigi Goode, captain of the varsity cheer squad. Queue the 1990s lesbian high school AU that absolutely nobody asked for.

When Crystal walks in the door, it’s pushing 9:45 PM. She’s surprised to hear her mother - who tends to fall asleep earlier on in the night - in the living room, watching something on TV. 

“Hey mom, I’m home,” Crystal calls out. 

“Crystal! Come in here,” her mom yells in response. 

Crystal makes her way into the living room, trying to wipe the smile off of her face in an attempt to avoid the plethora of questions that she’s sure will come from her mother. 

“How was your night, honey?” her mom asks, turning off the show she’s watching and motioning for Crystal to sit down on the couch. 

“Oh, it was fun, we got sushi and saw a movie.”

“Sushi? Was that any good? And what movie did you see?” her mom interrogates. 

“Honestly, it was disgusting, I don’t know why everyone is so obsessed with it here,” Crystal shrugs. 

“And the movie?”

Crystal freezes. She can’t tell her mom she was in West Hollywood watching a lesbian movie - that would be too much, and too obvious. 

“Uh, I don’t remember.”

“You don’t remember what movie you saw?” her mom raises an eyebrow. 

“Yeah, uh, I mean, I was like, pretty sleepy and all, you know?” Crystal lies, knowing that her mom is most likely not buying any of it. 

“Okay… Well, I’m just glad you had a fun time tonight, sweetie,” her mom smiles. “How was the boy? Dating material or friend material, do tell!” 

Crystal wants to say that there was no boy, and that the girl she spent her evening with was definitely “dating material” (whatever that meant) but she can’t bring herself to do that - at least, not yet. 

“Friends, for sure. There wasn’t much of a spark there.”

“Friends are always nice, aren’t they?” Crystal’s mom hums. 

“Definitely, they definitely are,” Crystal fakes a yawn. “Well, I should probably head up to bed, I’m feeling pretty exhausted.”

“Okay honey, good night,” her mom says, kissing her on the cheek. “I love you!”

“I love you too, mom,” Crystal stands and walks up the stairs towards her room. 

She’s relieved that her mom didn’t ask too many questions about the night; Crystal knows that she isn’t a good liar and doesn’t like lying in the first place - especially to her mom. 

Crystal opens the door to her room and immediately flops down onto her bed, smiling into one of her pillows. The night still doesn’t feel real - Crystal is euphoric. She can still feel the soft pressure of Gigi’s lips against her own; thinking of the kiss is enough to send Crystal’s heart and head into a whirlwind. 

The excitement of the night doesn’t come without unwelcome thoughts; as Crystal’s elation increases, so does the realization that she enjoyed kissing a girl and would very much like to do it over and over again. Her sexuality is no longer a completely undefinable gray area; maybe she doesn’t know if she’s into guys, but she’s more than sure she likes girls. Crystal has always considered herself an accepting person and has never had qualms about supporting gay people, even in her small, rather conservative hometown. But she begins to realize that accepting herself is different than accepting others. 

She does, however, begin to fear rejection in a way that seems completely foreign to her. Even though she can’t recall a time when she wasn’t labelled the “weird art kid” and ostracized by many of her peers because of that, this feels different. She knows - from the way that Jackie talks about being treated and from the fact that Gigi and Jan both hide who they are to preserve their status - that if people find out, she’s going to be a social pariah. 

Crystal inhales and exhales deeply several times over, trying to clear her mind. She doesn’t have to come out tomorrow, or any time in the near future, and tries to convince herself that stressing about the situation will accomplish absolutely nothing. 

Crystal sighs aloud, and considers calling Jackie: if there’s one person who she’s sure will understand, it’s her. She tosses the idea around for a few minutes before grabbing the phone and dialing Jackie’s number. She hopes that it isn’t too late, and that she doesn’t wake the curly haired girl or her family up.  

The phone rings seven times before a familiar voice answers. 

“Hello?”

“Hi, Jackie, it’s Crystal, can you talk?”

“Yeah of course, just give me one second, okay?” Jackie says as the phone thuds down. 

Crystal can hear Jackie talking in the background, and hears Jan’s voice echo in response. 

“Okay, I’m back - Jan’s here too, is that okay?” 

“Of course,” Crystal answers, taking a slight pause. “So, I just got back from my date with Gigi.”

“How did it go?” Jackie questions. 

“It was amazing,” Crystal starts. “I had no idea what I was getting into and I still don’t really know how it stacked up compared to other first dates, but I think it went really well.”

“What did you guys do?” Jan jumps into the conversation. 

“Well, we got sushi - it wasn’t very good, but I didn’t tell her that - and then she wanted to see a movie so we went to West Hollywood and saw that,” Crystal explains.

“What movie?” Jackie asks. 

“Go Fish, it’s a lesbian movie.”

“I’ve been wanting to see that!” Jan exclaims. 

“It was really good,” Crystal tells the couple. “We held hands during it.”

Crystal is sure her relative inexperience with dating is showing, but she can’t seem to hold her excitement over the simple act back. 

“And, when she dropped me off at home, we kissed-” Crystal is interrupted by even louder squealing, coming mainly from Jan. 

“Crystal, that’s awesome! How do you feel?”

“I guess that’s why I’m calling, because I like, really liked it - like, I wanna kiss her again and never stop,” Crystal can feel herself blush. 

“That’s big,” Jackie says. “So, you’re thinking you’re not straight?”

Crystal sharply inhales. “I’m definitely into Gigi, so I’m definitely not straight.” 

“Well hey, welcome to the club!” Jan jokes. 

“Are you feeling okay about that?” Jackie wonders.

“Yes. No. Kind of. I don’t know,” Crystal groans. “I don’t know. I never have had a problem with gay people, but when the gay person is like, me, it’s different.” 

“Yeah, that makes sense,” Jackie affirms.

“I know I don’t have to know exactly what I am and I don’t have to come out to everyone right now, but I’m feeling some weird internal pressure that I didn’t even know existed. This whole thing is making me feel embarrassed or something,” Crystal explains. 

“I know it’s easier said than done, but just let things happen as they happen. Try to remind yourself that you’re allowed to take time to process, and as shitty as other people can be, try not to listen to them. You have nothing to be embarrassed about,” Jackie tells Crystal. 

“Thanks, Jackie.”

“Of course.”

“I’ll see you guys on Monday, I think I’m going to try and get some sleep,” Crystal states yawning, genuinely this time. 

“Good night!“ 

Crystal hangs up the phone. She feels slightly relieved, and although she’s still a little bit stressed about the situation, she’s able to fall asleep the second her head hits the pillow. 

~

Crystal is awakened by the sound of her mom knocking on her door.

“Crystal, honey, are you awake? One of your friends is on the phone.”

She sits up, rubbing her eyes. The bright California sun is beating through her window, and Crystal is shocked that she’s remained asleep for so long. 

“What time is it?”  

“It’s almost eleven, you really slept in,” her mom says, cracking the door open. “Can I come in?”

“Mhm,” Crystal nods. 

“I’m going to just leave this here for you, okay?” her mom sets the phone down on Crystal’s bed. 

Crystal is surprised she slept through the sound of the phone in her room ringing; she’s usually an early riser and light sleeper. She figures Jackie is calling to check up on her, and maybe wants to make plans - it’s a Saturday and the weather is more-than-ideal. 

“Hello?” Crystal says, her voice still scratchy and heavy with sleep. 

“Hey, it’s Gigi.”

Oh shit. 

“Hey,” Crystal says, her mind foggy. 

“I didn’t realize I would be waking you up,” Gigi jokes. 

“I didn’t either,” Crystal murmurs, eliciting a quiet laugh from the blonde. 

The line is temporarily silent. 

“I had a really great time last night,” Gigi says softly. 

“Me too.”

“I don’t know if this is too much, too soon, but are you free today? I want to see you again.”

Crystal can’t help but smile at Gigi’s forwardness; it makes her heart flutter. 

“Yeah I’m free, and I’d love to see you again too.”

“Great. Can I come by in an hour?”

“Sure,” Crystal agrees. “Where are we going?” 

“Hm, it’s a surprise! But wear something comfortable,” Gigi tells her. 

“Okay,” Crystal says hesitantly. “I’ll see you soon.”

The phone clicks, and Crystal almost immediately jumps out of her bed and walks down the stairs, in search of her mom. 

“Hey mom, can I go out with a friend today?” Crystal asks hastily. 

“Good morning, sleeping beauty,” her mom jokes. “Sure, where are you going?”

“I don’t know, it’s a surprise!”

“Hm, alrighty, please be safe. Who are you going with?” 

“Her name is Gigi, she’s a friend from art class,” Crystal explains. 

She bounds back up the stairs and quickly showers. She decides to apply a thin layer of foundation and mascara before getting dressed. 

As she ruffles through her boxes - still left unpacked - she realizes she has no idea what to wear. She flips through boxes of shirts and dresses, and finally settles on a blue and white paisley shirt. She grabs a pair of jean shorts, and hurriedly dresses herself before examining herself in her mirror. Crystal attempts to tie her thick, curly hair up into a ponytail - she assumes Gigi will be driving with the top of her car off again - and the result is somewhat abysmal. She’s about to take the scrunchie out to redo it until she hears the doorbell ring. 

“I GOT IT!” Crystal yells, retying her hair and rushing to throw on a pair of converse. She hopes her mom doesn’t beat her to the door. 

She’s too late; as she runs down the stairs, she can see her mom standing at the open door. 

“Hi Gigi!” Crystal interjects, slightly out of breath, interrupting her mom. 

“Hey,” Gigi says casually. 

“I was just telling Gigi how great it is that you’re making friends so quickly!” Crystal’s mom explains. “I’ll let you girls get going. Have a good day!”

“It was nice meeting you,” Gigi politely extends a hand to Crystal’s mom. 

“We’re huggers here,” she responds. “Can I give you a hug?”

Crystal is mortified; her mom definitely acts like she’s from the midwest. Thankfully, Gigi just giggles and goes along with it. 

“Bye, mom,” Crystal calls out as she and Gigi make their way outside. 

“Your mom is sweet,” Gigi tells Crystal, getting in the car. 

“Yeah, she’s pretty cool,” Crystal agrees. 

“I wish I could say that about my parents,” Gigi half-jokes, turning the key to her car. 

“So, are you going to tell me where we’re going yet?” Crystal asks. 

“Not quite yet.”

~

“The Walk of Fame?”

“No.”

“The Hollywood Sign?”

“No.”

“Beverly Hills?”

“Oh, god.”

“Give me a hint!” 

Gigi laughs at Crystal’s attempt to guess the location of their second date; she’s adorable. 

The drive is just over thirty minutes away, and Crystal has spent the first ten minutes shooting out guesses. 

“You’ll find out soon enough! We’re almost there!” 

The drive is filled with music and laughter. Crystal, after her many inquiries, has begun humming along to the Ani DiFranco tape Gigi has been playing. Gigi finds her off-pitch singing strangely endearing. 

Gigi thinks that Crystal - Crystal and her beautiful, curly hair and her dark, enchanting eyes and her bright personality -  might just be her new favorite person to spend time with.

Gigi gets lost in her own thoughts as she drives. Since she and Jackie had broken up last year, Gigi hadn’t really dated anyone. It wasn’t that she had feelings for Jackie still - no, those were gone just weeks after the break-up, in fact - it was that nobody else seemed worth investing her time in. Gigi met girls at all of the bars she was able to lie her way into, and sometimes, they’d even make out and Gigi would promise to call them (she never would).

She didn’t feel the need to be with someone because she was happy alone, genuinely. Relationships, in Gigi’s experience, just complicated things - especially when you’re an in-the-closet lesbian. 

When she met Crystal, all of that flew out the door. The blonde couldn’t put a finger on it, but something about Crystal set her insides on fire. It was beyond the fact that Gigi found Crystal to be absolutely stunning - even in the atrocious paisley pattern the older girl chose to wear. It was that Crystal had a uniqueness to her. She was genuine and kind and whenever she smiled, Gigi felt herself melt.

It’s too soon for so many feelings, and she knows that, but she can’t help it: her emotions are running wild. All she wants to do is show Crystal how much she likes her, and Gigi figures a romantic picnic on the beach - complete with scented candles and expensive rosé stolen from her parents’ wine cellar - is the best way to do that. 

“Are we going to the beach?” Crystal asks as Gigi exits the freeway. 

“You got it!” 

“Which one?” Crystal asks. 

“Malibu.” 

Gigi parallel parks - somehow, without bumping into another car - just blocks away from the beach. She can smell the saltwater in the air, and hears the seagulls cawing. The beach has always been one of the favorite places. 

She pops her trunk open and grabs the thick quilt she brought, along with the woven picnic basket.

“Hey Crys, would you mind carrying the blanket?” she asks. 

“Not at all!” Crystal grabs the blanket from Gigi, and the two set off towards the sand. 

“So, have you been to the beach before?” Gigi asks Crystal. 

“No, I haven’t. I didn’t ever really leave Missouri, so the best thing I have to compare this to is the lake I used to go to every summer as a kid,” Crystal shares. 

When they’re halfway to the water, Gigi tells Crystal to set the quilt down. Crystal spreads out the blanket carefully, attempting to not fling sand around. Gigi places the picnic basket at the center of it, and as she sits down, she begins removing items. She’s made a simple lunch - pasta salad and garlic bread - but Crystal seems enthused regardless. 

The sound of the waves lull the two into a peaceful silence. Gigi closes her eyes and focuses on the crashing of the waves. It’s a beautiful day for a picnic.

“Do you want any rosé?” Gigi asks.

“Oh, um, yeah, I’ll try some,” Crystal answers.

“You’ve never had rosé before?”

“I’ve never had alcohol before,” Crystal admits. 

“Never?!”

“Never,” the brown-eyed girl confirms with a laugh. 

Gigi grabs the two plastic cups she brought along and pours the rosé into them. She takes a sip, and watches as Crystal does the same. Gigi studies her face as she sips it; Gigi thinks it’s refreshing, but that’s probably because she’s been going to parties with the football team since she was a freshman, and anything other than a straight shot of vodka tastes like candy in comparison. 

Crystal puckers her lips slightly, but swallows the pinkish liquid. 

“So, what do you think?”

“It’s really good!” Crystal says enthusiastically. 

“Right?! This is like, the best kind of alcohol you’ll ever have, trust me.”

The two eat quickly and nearly silently; they both are clearly hungry. Gigi suggests finishing off the rosé, and Crystal agrees. 

“I really want to go touch the water, can we go touch the water?” Crystal asks suddenly. They walk with their almost-empty cups down to the water, and Crystal announces that she’s going swimming. This is when Gigi realizes she’s made a terrible mistake. 

Crystal has never had alcohol, and Gigi has practically fed her half a bottle of semi-strong rosé. Crystal is pretty composed, and at worst is maybe slightly past tipsy, but it’s clear to Gigi that she’s some level of intoxicated. 

“You are not going to go swimming, it’s freezing and you don’t have a swimsuit!” Gigi exclaims, half-laughing. 

“But it’s so nice, look at the waves,” Crystal muses. 

“It’s nice, but the second your toes touch the water, you’re going to regret it!”

Crystal apparently takes this as a challenge; she finishes whatever is left in her cup and darts toward the water, faster than Gigi can run. She makes it all the way to her knees before she stops in her tracks. 

“You were right!” she yells at Gigi. “It’s pretty freaking cold!” 

“Then get out!” Gigi laughs, unable to hide the smile that’s growing on her face. 

“No, you should come in!” 

Okay, so, maybe she’s a lot past tipsy. 

“No way! Come on, Crystal, please get out,” Gigi begs, knowing that it will only take one medium-sized wave to knock the girl over. 

“I’m going out farther,” she announces, turning around. 

“Crystal, please do not do that!” 

It’s too late; she’s already propelling herself forward. 

“I’m not getting out until you come in!”

Gigi huffs, realizing she’s going to have to give in to the past-tipsy girl. She’s thankful that she chose to wear a pair of jean shorts instead of a dress, for once. 

“Fine, I’m coming,” groans Gigi as she makes her way to the water. 

It’s fucking freezing. Gigi’s toes have barely touched the wet sand, and she already has goosebumps cascading up her body. 

She really likes this girl. 

Crystal squeals, finally heading closer to shore. Her back, however, is turned away from the wave that crashes over her, dunking her under water. 

“Crystal?!” Gigi screams, quickly making her way. 

She told her not to go swimming. Gigi is panicking now; the brunette hasn’t ever swam in the ocean, and she’s intoxicated. Gigi kicks herself for giving Crystal alcohol in the first place and regret fills her mind. 

“Gigi, I’m okay!” Gigi spins to the right to see a very wet, but still smiling, Crystal. 

“Thank god,” Gigi breathes a sigh of relief. “That really freaked me out, can we please get out?”

“Fine,” Crystal reluctantly agrees. “But can we come back and do this again sometime? Please?” 

Tipsy Crystal is even funnier than the already-funny sober Crystal, and definitely more outspoken. 

“Of course we can,” Gigi replies honestly, thankful that she’s able to coerece the other girl into getting out. Gigi packs up the picnic and wraps Crystal in the somewhat sandy quilt. 

The curly haired girl grabs Gigi’s hand on the way back to her car. Gigi shakes as the wind blows against her wet clothes and hair. 

“Sorry for giving you alcohol,” Gigi apologizes. “I really wasn’t thinking, and I forgot that it’s super easy to get tipsy when you haven’t drank before.”

Gigi recalls her first time drinking alcohol silently; she was fourteen, and she did six shots with the girls from cheer. That night ended with Gigi bent over a toilet in a stranger’s house for a solid hour. 

“It’s okay,” Crystal hiccups, “I had fun!” 

“Me too,” Gigi says. 

She has so much fun with Crystal that she doesn’t even care about the interior of her very expensive car getting sand and saltwater all over it; it’s a task for another day. 

Crystal falls asleep on the way back home, and Gigi is kind of thankful for it: the last thing she needs is someone puking in her car. She enjoys the ride home in silence, allowing the wind to dry her clothes as she goes.

“Crystal, you’re home,” Gigi says after she parks her car. She shakes the girl’s shoulder lightly, trying to wake her. 

“Hm?” Crystal murmurs. 

“You’re home,” Gigi repeats. 

Crystal stirs awake. “Thanks for the ride.”

“Of course,” Gigi smiles, and kisses Crystal’s cheek. 

“Do you wanna come in and hang out for a bit?” Crystal asks. She’s clearly sobered up from the nap, which Gigi is thankful for. 

“I’d love to,” Gigi beams. 

“We have to be quiet, otherwise my mom’s going to bug us." 

“Got it,” Gigi agrees. She opens up her door, and helps a drowsy Crystal out of her car. 

Crystal opens her door quietly, motioning for Gigi to follow her. 

Crystal’s house is warm; it feels lived in, unlike Gigi’s own house. There are mismatching sofas and chairs, and family pictures in assorted picture frames line the walls. Decorations that Gigi would have usually found tacky sit on shelves, but all that Gigi can think is how nice it must be to come home to this house every day. 

Gigi tiptoes behind Crystal up the stairs, and into her bedroom. 

“Sorry for all of the boxes, and uh, all of the mess,” Crystal apologizes.

“It’s okay, you just moved in!”

Crystal laughs, “No, I’ve been here for a month now, I’m just lazy.”

Gigi finds her blatant honesty sweet. 

“If you ever want help unpacking, let me know,” Gigi offers. “I’m pretty good at organizing things!”

“You’re too kind,” Crystal grins. “But it’s okay, I wouldn’t want to put that on you.” 

“I offered! You wouldn’t be putting anything on me.”

Crystal pauses, as if she needs time to think about what to say next. 

“Can I kiss you?” Crystal whispers. 

Gigi blushes - she doesn’t think anyone has ever asked before they’ve kissed her, and she finds it sweet that Crystal is considerate enough to ask. She can tell Crystal is nervous, and for whatever reason, it makes her heart thump. 

“Yes,” Gigi responds.

This time, they’re not kissing under the subdued light coming from the street lamps at night, and they’re not sitting in Gigi’s car. Gigi watches as Crystal moves towards her, pressing their bodies together. They make eye contact for a brief moment before Crystal, being almost five inches shorter than Gigi, stands on her tiptoes and softly presses a kiss into Gigi’s lips. 

Gigi’s hands find their way around Crystal’s back, pulling the smaller girl closer to her. Gigi feels Crystal’s arms loop around her neck.. 

The kiss remains slow and soft initially; their lips brush against each other with a delicate innocence. Crystal’s lips are soft and Gigi can taste the remnants of alcohol and salt water on them. 

When Crystal’s hand makes its way to cup Gigi’s cheek, Gigi takes it as a sign to deepen the kiss. She presses their lips together with more force, and Crystal is the one who moves her tongue along Gigi’s lower lip. Gigi’s tongue meets Crystal’s, eliciting a quiet gasp from Crystal. 

Their lips move together hastily and feverently. Crystal’s hands make their way into Gigi’s messy hair and Gigi gently bites down on Crystal’s lower lip. Crystal moans softly into Gigi’s mouth, causing the taller girl’s stomach to flip. 

Gigi is shocked when Crystal - usually timid and nervous - gently pushes up against her, moving them backwards towards the bed. Gigi’s knees buckle against the edge of it, causing her to cascade down onto the mattress, Crystal’s body following her own in one fluid motion. Gigi’s skin is burning beneath Crystal’s touch and she can feel her breath hitch in her throat as they continue to kiss fervidly. Gigi’s hands make their way up Crystal’s hips and she pulls them down against her in an attempt to get impossibly closer to the girl on top of her.

Their kisses become languid, and Crystal falls beside Gigi on the bed wordlessly. She snuggles into the blue-eyed girl’s side, and Gigi wraps her arm around her. Gigi sighs contentedly as she strokes Crystal’s hair. The shorter girl is curled up on her chest, peppering kisses against her collarbone periodically. Gigi wishes she could keep Crystal in her arms forever; she doesn’t think she’s ever experienced a moment so quintessentially perfect. 

[youllallriseintheink]

A New Beginning

This is a shipping one-off I did for creepyalienghost. After this, I’m doing a request for loverofallarts12, and then I’m moving on to my BATDR story. The pairing of this story is Sammy x Nathan.

---

“What do you mean, you said ‘no’?!” Sammy all but yelled at Henry, drawing the attention of the others in the breakroom.

Henry, who was used to Sammy’s lack of volume control, just sighed. It had been a difficult choice, and he really didn’t want to be badgered about it. “I didn’t think I could. I mean, moving halfway across the country and leaving behind everyone I know is just... a lot. And what if I do make the sacrifice, and Mr. Arch turns out to be just as bad, or worse? I’ll admit it- I’m a coward. I prefer the devil I know.”

Wally, who had been sitting with them, served Sammy a harsh look. “aren’t you the one always sayin’ that this studio is fine, and anyone who says otherwise should just get out of the kitchen or somethin’?”

Sammy prickled. “Well- yes! But think of it this way- if another kitchen- one which had reasonable fire safety- opened up, then wouldn’t you choose to cook in it? There’s shutting up and accepting hardship, and then there’s failing to avoid it. Henry, is Mr. Arch still in town?”

“Yes.”

“And you have his number, right?”

“Yes.”

“Well, would you mind encouraging him to come back to the studio one last time, to see our award-winning music department?”

“Oh, Joey actually gave him a tour of the whole place. You were in your office. Joey knocked on your door when he was about to show him the music department, but you snapped at him that you were busy, so he left you be.”

Sammy turned pink. “Oh. Well, would you put in a word for me anyhow, Henry? Sorry for reacting badly, there. I think your dedication is admirable, honestly. But I feel like I deserve better than this studio.”

“I’ll call him. Not sure he’ll listen, though.”

“Thank you. I owe you, Henry.”

That night, Henry called him with the news that Nathan had agreed to come back to see their music department in action. The next day, Sammy put on the best clothes he could without seeming overdressed for a day at work. He moved up a scheduled recording session for one of the better songs he had on queue to eleven in the morning, and asked Wally to give the music department a thorough cleaning beforehand (Though Sammy poked his nose in himself to make sure it was to his standards).

Soon, the band was in full swing, with Sammy conducting it all. Even though it was a rather small music department, playing a cartoon song that certainly wasn’t to Sammy’s tastes, Sammy couldn’t help but get lost in his work. Conducting took concentration, and it was rather enjoyable. His focus on the flow of the music drowned out the sound of a door opening. Once the song had been recorded and the noise dulled down, Sammy heard a slow clap, and turned to face it.

The man standing at the doorway to the music department was portly, very expensively and stylishly dressed, and had his red hair elegantly slicked back. Sammy had never seen Mr. Arch before, but he was fairly certain that it was him.

Mr. Arch beckoned Sammy over, and he came. “So, an acquaintance told me that you were the true talent of this music department, and that you might be looking for a new place to work,” Nathan said.

“Well, I’m doing quite well here, but I’m always open to new opportunities,” Sammy replied. No need to look desperate.

Mr. Arch smiled at Sammy, and Sammy got the sense that Nathan didn’t believe him for a second. “Alright. Well, why don’t you meet me at seven tonight at Languid Lounge for a drink. Then we can discuss opportunities.”

“Sounds wonderful.” 

Sammy wasn’t sure what, but something about the man made his heart flutter. Made him have to stop and stare, if he could get away with it.

A while after, Sammy wandered into the break room, a dreamy look on his face. “It went well, I take it?” Henry said, a teasing smile on his face.

“Naturally.”

Wally whispered something into Henry’s ear. Whatever it was, it made him laugh. Sammy decided to let it go. Which was stupid. After all, this was only a business meeting- Mr. Arch had said it was about opportunity, after all. “Did he give you his first name, Henry? Mr. Arch, I mean?”

“Yes. Nathan.”

“Nathan Arch.” He said, as though he was savouring the sound of it. “Alright.”

The date itself went very well. It started out all business- Nathan asking Sammy about his credentials. Sammy was rather embarrassed to say that he didn’t have any- no awards that Joey hadn’t snatched from him or even a finished music degree, since he’d been convinced to drop out to join the studio. Sammy could see Nathan’s face drop, and he was sure it was over for him.

“Well, that’s disappointing,” Nathan said. “But, what I’m suggesting is you moving to California and taking a job in an established studio with established standards. You’d be an idiot to come into that position just to get fired from it- and you will if you can’t take the heat. So, I’ll give you a chance anyhow. What do you say, Sammy? Think you can take it?”

Sammy locked eyes with him. “Yes, sir. I can take the heat.”

“Good. Now tell me, what instruments do you play?”

“Many. Banjo, piano, guitar, trumpet, clarinet-”

“Clarinet. That will do. I have a vacancy for a clarinet player. And I’ll keep in mind that you have experience in management, next time a music director position opens up. Assuming you do well, that it.”

“Thank you. If I can ask, why are you doing this? Coming to Joey Drew Studios to look for talent, I mean.”

Nathan sighed. “Between you and me, Sammy? I knew Joey as a child. He was always the type to take advantage of people and take credit for everything. It still didn’t get him all that far- but he wanted to fool me into thinking otherwise. And now that we’re adults, he keeps sending me these letters, full of blatant lies about how well he’s doing, and begging me to come visit his “studio.” And, well, I already had a business meeting in New York, so I thought, why not? And when I got there, it was so clearly a poorly managed wreck of a place filled with all these tired, angry people, and I wanted to show him just how dependent he is on the people around him. So, I decided to hire his best talent.”

Sammy was delighted. Finally, someone who understood his struggles with Joey. And who realized how important he was to the studio. And to think, he was not only getting away from Joey but actively taking revenge on him. “You have no idea what a dream this is for me.”

“You don’t like Joey either, do you?”

“No.”

“Want to spend the night hearing stories about the two of us growing up? He humiliates himself in most of them.”

Sammy chuckled. “Sounds like a plan.”

And so they did. And afterwards they talked about art, which turned into talking about their life stories. They got along very well. Sammy took keen interest in Nathan’s upper-crust lifestyle. “Well, you’re very well-spoken, considering your background,” Nathan said to Sammy.

“Hey, now. I was middle-class, not dirt poor.”

“Right. Well, tonight was fun. More fun than I expected. Want to come back to my hotel room with me? And, maybe since you’re quitting Joey Drew Studios anyhow, you’d like to call in sick and join me to see the sights of the city tomorrow?”

“I’d love to,” Sammy said. And that’s what they did.

Within a few weeks, Sammy was on a plane to California. He and Nathan had continued to correspond over letters. Nathan had admitted to Sammy that he had only really wanted a one-night stand out of him at the time, but since they had spent so long apart, Nathan had grown eager to see him again. Nathan had not asked if Sammy felt the same- it seemed safe for him to assume. Sammy replied that he, too, was anxious to see him again.

Who knew? This could be the start of something beautiful.

[somethingtoconfess]

HIGH ON SKAM 2_Day 1 (Saturday)

Hi guys ! :)

I’m sorry, I wanted to post before but I was really busy and I still needed tme to process everything.

The whole weekeend was amazing and I don’t even know how to express my feelings with words. So thank you once agin to The Rainbow Team and to all the actors present !

My friend Alex (@thebipanfangirl ), whom I spend most of the time at the convention with, already posted about this so you can also check her posts to have other informations.

- So, I arrived early with Luna (@classypicklepatrolroad ) and we had the time to chat a bit with other fans and volunteers. Everyone was in a good mood and really excited !

- Before the opening, we saw the actors walk by when we were sitting in the room and everyone started to get so excited, it was really funny. The opening panel was really fun! Everyone was so excited and Michelangelo talked a lot spontaneously!! He was really confident. Fun fact : He drank a looooot of water! And even poured glasses for everyone. That was sweet !

- Then it was the DRUCK panel and I loved seeing all the actors interact with each other. You can clearly see that they all like each other and that they are quite close ! The questions were really interesting and the actors semmed to have a great time as well (you can watch the livestream on Twitter if you want to).

- After that, we went upstairs to go to the autographs. Hassan recognised me and hugged me while I was waiting in the stairs (and people looked at me weirdly aha).

- Luna and I didn't have a ticket for the autographs (I wouldn't know what to do with them tbh). But we had to give Louis, Arda and Jobel the fanbooks. We waited a bit and then we saw that Louis and Arda were free so we asked if we could give them the fanbooks right now. The volunteers said yes and we gave them the fanbooks. We started with Arda and at first he was confused. Then we explained to him that it was his fanbook and he was really happy ! I also gave Louis his fanbook and he was really happy as well. They both hugged us and Michi and Jule were just watching us and smiling the whole time, it was cute. At first we forgot to take a picture with them so we had to ask a staff member to take one for us and had to queue again but on the side. So we were directly next to Michi who was dipping biscuits in his coffee so I told him "bon appétit" and he replied "Merci" with a really sweet smile. We finally took the photos with Louis and Arda and then we gave Jobel her fanbook. At first, she was confused and thought only Alex did it so Luna and I stood anwkwardly on the side but then she understood and she all hugged us. We took pictures and then Luna and I went out because it was realy hot inside.

- We had lunch and had to hurry up to go back to the convention. Sadly, we missed the beginning of pannel for S4 and we didn't want to go there for just a few minutes so we waited for the photos.

- The photos started with Lukas. I had two photos with him. I hugged him tightly and he was so smily and sweet. I showed him the poses and he laughed a bit at the first one, which was the Titanic pose. We started with this one and then we did the second one, which was a hug with his hand on my face but he squished my face and pushed my hair on my face so the photo will probably be a bit weird aha. I hugged him again and told him I'll see him later

- Then we went to the panel for s3 and it was really nice! Before it started, Michi was already inside the room and was talking to some volunteers. Then Lukas arrived and they had fun together. Then Henrik arrived and fans screamed when Henrik hugged Michi and Lukas. And finally, Maxence arrived last. Michi seemed so confused when Henrik and Maxence talked because he didn't know what they were talking about since he hasn't seen any ot the shows (nor Druck) aha. Henrik talked so slowly and Mawence talked a lot as well. The four of them seemed to have a great time.

- Luna and I had two pictures with Louis and Arda. For the first one, we wanted to recreate memes so we showed them the pictures. They looked at us and did the pose asking us if it was like this so we laughed and said it was. It took us a few tries. For the second photo, we wanted to do like a yoga pose but it wasn't working because of the lighting so we had to change the pose. Instead, we just did a group hug.

- Then I had a photo with Tua and Hassan. So sweet! Tua is sooo cute. One of us had to squat a bit and Hassan wanted to do it because I was wearing a skirt but I said no because I didn't want him to dirty his pants.  So I ended up squating in front of Tua but the photographer took a long time taking the photo so I was shaking like crazy. I hugged them again and left.

- For the Lukas / Michi photo, I was actually really nervous because it was the first time I would be able to talk to Michelangelo in person (and if you didn't know, I went to Rome because I really wanted to talk to Michi). I hugged Lukas first and then I hugged Michi really tightly and told him it was nice to be able to finally hug him and he smiled. I showed them the pose I wanted to do and Michi seemed happy to do it (everyone was doing the same pose so I suppose he was happy to do something else). It was like a martial art pose and he looked at me doing the pose so I laughed. Lukas started to get in position as well and I asked them if it was possible to hold hands as well. They said yes so I went in the middle and held their hands. But the three of us were standing on one leg and we were shaking, trying to find our balance so it was quite funny ! I hugged them again and told them I'll see them soon.

- For the Druck photo, I wanted to do a special pose without the chairs and I waited until the end so it would be possible, and asked 3 different people and they told me it was but then the photographer refused... So I stood in the middle, between Lukas and Arda. I asked them to do a superhero pose but they were confused and I think I'm the only one who ended up doing like the Wolwerine pose so the photo will probably be quite weird aha

- Then I had a photo with the OG cast (my only extra not Druck related) and they were so sweet !! Henrik is sooo tall and his hugs are really tight! Iman and Ina are really pretty and they were smiling a lot. I showed them the pose and they looked at itfor a while (idk why, it wasn't a hard one aha). Henrik asked me if he had to bend and I said it was ok but when I stood behing him I noticed I was really short compared to him so maybe it would have been a good idea aha (as I'm writing it, I received this picture and it's really cute !! I will post all my photos here later as well). I hugged them again and left.

- I was sooo nervous about my photos with Michi. I was in the first ones and I started by saying that I came here just for him and he thanked me with a big smile. I showed him the two poses and he was a bit confused then laughed at the first one. He had to do the « Ma che cazzo » pose looking at me and I actually told him this in Italian (he must have been confused because he knew I'm not Italian aha). We ended up doing it but I don't know how it turned out. I was really nervous so I can't even remember if I looked at the camera or even smiled. I couldn't see him either because he was looking at me so Idk if he did the pose or not aha. Then we had to do the second pose but he forgot what it was so I had to show him again. It was a really tight hug with my head on his chest. The photographer had some issues with the photo so I ended up taking another one so I apologised to Michi but he smiled and said it was OK. I was about to leave but I saw that the photographer was looking at the photos so I talked a bit more to Michi and said he was an amazing actor and that I watched all his projects. He was really touched and smiled when I told him I'll see him tomorrow!

- Because the photos were talking a while and that I was doing my last ones with Michi, we arrived late for the closing panel but it was quite nice! The actors seemed to really have a great time. Michi arrived later. We asked questions and then we watched the closing video (I was in it and I cringed so hard). They took a photo and then they left. Lukas, Maxence and Henrik arrived so they quickly said goodbye (the said they were really tired) and we watched the closing video with them another time.

- We took our coats and ran into Lukas oustide. He was carrying a bag full of gifts that he fot during the autographs session.

And that’s it for the first day. I probably forgot some things but that’s the most important things I suppose. I’ll post about Day 2 (I have even more things to say) later or tomorrow!

I hope you enjoyed it :D

[percussiongirl2017]

See Who, C U

Title: See Who, C U Part 2

Pairing: Former Dean x Reader, Sam, Castiel, Jack

Summary: A simple vengeful spirit case takes an unexpected turn when someone from the WInchesters’ past shows up.

Word Count: 1794

Warnings: Swearing, Dean’s kinda a smartass, Case work, Slight Angst

A/N: (Put in the queue 6/1/19) This work has been queued. This is the last fic I’ll put in the queue. Please enjoy and any and all feedback would be greatly appreciated. (Title is based on a cheer at my college.) Tags are below the cut.

Buy Dean’s Scent Here!

******

    You stormed across campus to the Learning Commons and headed for one of the vacant study rooms. Your next class wasn’t for another 2 hours, but you needed an excuse to get away from them. You closed the blinds and locked the door before sitting down at the table. You needed to finish this case quickly before the boys got too involved. Working through your notes, you narrowed down what the spirit could be attached to before comparing it to the classrooms on campus. Checking your watch, you saw that you had 30 minutes to get to your last class. You packed up your bag and headed for the door when you saw the handle start to turn. Immediately, you stopped and pulled the gun that was hidden on your boot and ducked behind one of the tables. The door slowly opened.

“Dean, you just can’t pick the lock to every room and hope you find her.” Sam chastised.

“Watch me.” Dean said.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” You snapped as you stood up. “I could have shot you.”

“Told you she would have a gun.” Sam smirked.

“What do you want?” You sneered as you put your gun away.

“I wanna talk.” Dean answered. “We have some explaining to do.”

You picked up your bag. “I’d love to stay and chat, not really, but I now have 20 minutes to get to the art complex.”

     You pushed past them and headed down the hallway when someone grabbed your arm. Instinct took over as you tucked yourself in and threw the person over your shoulder.

“What the hell?!” You yelled.

“You still got it.” Dean coughed from the floor.

     You scoffed and stepped over him as you continued out of the building. You crossed the street and walked behind the boy’s dorms towards the soccer field. You walked to most of your classes, so you had found shortcuts to get around faster. After going around the soccer field, you crossed over to the church parking lot and then over to the art complex. You headed for the building in the back as everyone else showed up. The Band room was chilly as you stepped in and placed your stuff in the corner near the guard equipment.

“Don’t worry about instruments.” Your director, Wayne, announced. “We’re just going to talk today.”

     You grabbed your chair and flipped it around before sitting down and crossing your arms over the back. Wayne started discussing the plan for next year as you picked at a loose thread on your chair. The door opened behind you causing everyone to look except you.

“Can I help you, gentlemen?” Wayne asked.

“Yes.” You heard Dean answer. “We need Y/N to come with us.”

“We have a few questions for her.” Sam added.

     Wayne nodded to you as you rolled your eyes and grabbed your things. You could feel everyone staring as you walked out. People already thought you were weird and this was going to add fuel to their fire. Once you were out of eyesight of the Band Room you spun around and glared at the boys.

“What the fuck was that?” You snapped. “You can’t just show up and pull me out of class. I’m not a kid.”

“I see your attitude hasn’t changed.” Dean attempted to joke.

“Fuck you.” You sneered. “I’ve got this case just fine so do me a favor and get the Hell out of here.”

“Y/N, just talk to us for a minute.” Sam pleaded. “We haven’t heard from you in almost 7 years.”

“Who’s fault is that?” You asked.

“Just give us five minutes.” He begged.

You thought it over. “Let me finish this case and maybe I’ll talk to you.”

“Fine.” Dean agreed. “You have to let us be your backup though. We won’t intervene unless you need us to.”

“Whatever.” You rolled your eyes. “Meet me in the main building at 9 tonight after classes let out and don’t get in my way.”

     You turned on your heel before they could answer and headed back to the main campus. You found your truck with ease and started the drive back to your small house. You didn’t want to live on campus just in case you had to disappear quickly. You pulled your duffel bag out and started throwing clothes into in. After the case was done you’d have to skip town. Sam and Dean knew you were here and there was nothing stopping them from coming to get you. You had lived here almost 4 years and now you were going to have to start over again. You didn’t have many possessions, but it still pained you to have to pack them up. Thankfully, most of the professors were doing reviews for the upcoming finals and weren’t taking attendance. You could come back and take finals then have your diploma mailed to your P.O box. You set aside everything you needed for the case and put the rest of it by the front door. It wasn’t much. A duffel bag full of clothes, your weapons bag, and a box of small trinkets was all you had to represent the last 4 years of your life.

     Nine o’clock came faster than you thought as you headed for the main building. You caught a glimpse of the Impala behind the building and shook your head. Of course they were already here. You waited as the night classes cleared out and made your way up the steps.

“Took you long enough.” Dean said as you walked in.

“I said wait until classes cleared out, dumbass.” You snipped. “You guys stick out more than I do.”

“Coming from the chick with multicolored hair.” Dean fired back.

“Knock it off.” Sam elbowed Dean.

“Fuck off, Winchester.” You said as you headed for the stairs. “Stay out of my way.”

     You heard them follow behind you as you swept the second floor and went to the third floor.

“How do you know the spirit is here?” Sam asked. “There’s a lot of buildings on this campus.”

“This is the oldest building on campus.” You whispered as you watched the EMF reader. “It was burned down during the Civil War and was rebuilt in the same spot. The mascot’s a phoenix for a reason.”

     They fell silent as the air turned cold. You pocketed the EMF reader and pulled the shotgun out of your bag. You needed to get to one of the science labs to find what you needed. You headed right as the room grew colder. You opened the lab door and were immediately thrown backwards against the wall.

“Y/N!” Sam yelled.

“I’m fine.” You said as you stood.

     The spirit came at you again but you were prepared this time. You fired a salt round and watched it vaporize before running back into the lab.

“What are we looking for?” Dean asked as he and Sam came in.

“Chalk.” You said.

“Wait, what?” He turned. “This thing’s connected to chalk?”

“Like I said earlier,” You started. “this place was burned down during the Civil War. Professors used chalkboards and this is the only room that still has a small chalkboard.”

     Beakers and other items started flying off tables and breaking as you torn cabinets apart looking for the pack of chalk. You heard Sam and Dean cursing as they fought off the spirit behind you. You moved the chalkboard over and saw the pack peeking out under a stack of papers. You grabbed it and threw it in the sink as you doused it in lighter fluid. You were lighting the match when one of the beakers hit the back of your head. It shattered and you felt something warm trickle down your neck. You swore as the match finally lit.

“Class dismissed.” You said as the sink went up in flames.

     You watched as the spirit burned and eventually disappeared. You put out the fire in the sink and made sure it was cleaned up. The back of your head stung as you attempted to clean up the broken glass.

“What are you doing?” Dean asked.

“They have a class in here tomorrow.” You said. “I’d rather avoid having the police show up again.”

“Cas and Jack can clean up.” Sam said. “You’re bleeding.”

“I’m fine, Sam.” You stated. “I’ll deal with it when I get back to my place.”

     You walked out of the room and let them clean up the mess. You made sure the halls were empty before going downstairs. You were almost to the exit when a hand stopped you.

“I thought we were going to talk.” Dean said.

“I said maybe, Dean.” You reminded him. “I appreciate the help, but I don’t wanna talk.”

“Why, Y/N?” He asked. “Just answer that. Why won’t you talk to us?”

“Because I’ll do something stupid like forgive you.” You tried to laugh.

“Y/N, I…” He started.

“Don’t.” You cut him off. “I’m sure you’ve been fine since I left. You have Sam, Cas, and Jack. You’ll be fine without me.”

     You pushed the door opened and ran before Dean could say anything else. You tossed your bag in the passenger seat and headed back to your house. You dragged your bag inside and left it by the front door as you went to the bathroom. You stripped your shirt off and used it to clean up most of the blood on your neck. You positioned another mirror so you could see the back of your head. There were still a few pieces of glass caught in your hair as you cleaned out the cut. It wouldn’t need stitches, but it was going to be sore for a while. You took a quick shower and retreated to your room to get dressed. Once you were clean and comfortable you emailed your professors letting them know that you would not be returning to class. You were going to come back for finals, but you had a feeling Sam and Dean were going to try and stick around. Hopefully, your professors would understand. You popped a couple painkillers and crawled under your blanket.

     Your alarm went off and you rolled over to shut it off. You sighed and climbed out of bed so you could start your day. After a quick breakfast you finished packing up the last of your things and putting them in your truck. You did a final walk through and left first and last month’s rent on the counter for your landlord to collect later. You eased out of your driveway and made your way to the interstate with a heavy heart. The last four years of your life slowly disappearing in the rear view mirror.

******

Tags:

@impala-dreamer @feelmyroarrrr @mariekoukie6661 @latishiante1001 @ellen-reincarnated1967 @prompt-and-circumstances@ellie-andthemachine @spnbaby-67 @mersuperwholocked-lowlife @meeshw777 @rideandwritethings @sleepylunarwolf @moose-and-sqruille-lover @youre-acting-like-a-psycho @waywardasfudge @amotleyworld @fallenangelsneverfade @claitynroberts @wingedcatninja @dean-winchesters-bacon @death-unbecomes-you @arses21434 @lonely-skys @mannls @internationalmusicteacher @theloudkilljoy @closetspngirl @sandlee44 @polina-93 @awesome-badass-cafeteria-sauce

[manjuhitorie]

Hitorie’s unreleased concert recordings, are coming out on wowaka’s birthday

https://www.hitorie.jp/Loveless_IKI/

Hitorie’s full length DVDs of 2 concerts: The Loveless tour final and the IKI tour final in their full glory! It's region free and the release date is November, NOVEMBER, 4th. wowaka’s birthday.

The cover art has been unveiled, and the details of the bonus items have been divulged! 

The standard edition cover feautures wowaka in ai/SOlate T-shirt twanging his guitar! 

It comes with both concerts and an envelope with a lottery ticket for a chance to win a framed photo. It's cheaper and only comes with the 2 DVDs, the perfect piece! Regular edition DVD: via cdjapan

The limited edition cover features all members basked in laser lights! 

The complete special package comes with both concerts, a new special photobook of unreleased photos by cameraman Nishimaki Taichi, sticker replicas of the staff passes used for both tours, and an envelope with a lottery ticket for a chance to win a framed photo.  It’s also separated into Blu-ray and DVD, so make sure you buy the right one for your gear! DVD limited complete edition: via cdjapan   Blu-ray limited complete edition: via cdjapan Bonus pre-order items!!!

If you preorder from select stores you’ll receive a A2 size poster of the wowaka photo (Tower Records and CDJapan are sure to have it)!

Amazon preorders will include a 5 piece set of concert photo post cards! (Amazon hasn’t prepared a page yet though, I'll link it ASAP).

And preorders from the concert venue booths will nab you a Hitorie-chan themed ticket case. 

The track list is as follows

From Hitorie’s UNKNOWN-TOUR 2018 "Loveless" at EX THEATER ROPPONGI March 25th 2018 01. NAI. 02. Shinya 0-ji 03. Inperfection 04. One Me Two Hearts 05. Nichijou to Chikyuu no Gakubuchi 06. Bathtub and Sleepwalk 07. Eve Stepper 08. Loveless 09. Monocolor 10. Glare 11. Senseless Wonder 12. Unhappy Refrain 13. Social Clock 14. Namid[A]me 15. Talkie Dance 16. Unknown Mother Goose 17. Absolute Encore 1. Dancing Mannequin, Singing Fool Encore 2. Little Cry Baby

AND

From Hitorie’s National Solo Tour 2017 "IKI" at STUDIO COAST May 7th 2017 01. Heart Breath 02. One Me Two Hearts 03. Inperfection 04. Daydreamer(s) 05. Eve Stepper 06. Rularula 07. doppel 08. Lights in the Polar Night 09. Saihate 10. KOTONOHA 11. Hagure no Color 12. 5 Count Hello 13. Dancing Mannequin, Singing Fool 14. Shutter Doll 15. Little Cry Baby 16. Glare Encore 1. Kara no Waremono Encore 2. Senseless Wonder Encore 3. SisterJudy Encore 4. Montage Girl

"The full crowd bouncing around today was the best, I wish I could've shown everybody how crazy you guys looked. Please stick with us through future endeavors to come." After the IKI show in the DVD, ygarshy had said this.

And now.... that chance to see that day's craziness and follow their future is upon us, please do consider purchasing and dancing!!! And thank you for looking... 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

⚠️~~~⚠️~~~⚠️The rest of this post is unnecessary bonus manju material⚠️~~~⚠️~~~⚠️

I had report on the Loveless final compiled together from way back on March 28th 2019, so I’ll post it here again to give a small taste....!

●The stage lighting for Namid[A]me was apparently breathtaking, they made it look like it was actually raining, ●Yumao used a real gong for Social Clock. ●During Senseless Wonder yg went all the way over to snd’s side of the stage, stuck his body against his, and they played it out together. Then came the encore MC break.

●Yu started cheering himself on, while making flamboyant poses: "Yumaooooo!!  Oooh~!  WOooooOOah *rough voice* !!💪( ＞ω ＜💪)” Crowd: “You’re so cool~!” Yu: “Thank goo~ *Goes to a cutesy voice*” “You’re so cute~!” “Thank goo. Thank you!” SND: “Hey dude, they’re all callin’ ya cute and cool y’know.” Yu: “…(short pause) Thank goooo~~~”

wowaka: (laughing) We’re done, that's all we need for MC ahahaa.

●Leaving members stuck on what to ramble about, they’ve already talked so much throughout the whole tour, what’s left? So wo suggested that they do a re-cap on all those fun boring discussions they’ve had. Omnibus time. 

●Back when the Japan was collectively swept off their feet by the Olympic ice skater Yuzuru Hanyu-kun and his performance, wo had also praised him during MC.  Yet just thinking about him puts pressure on Yumao, it inspired Yumao to do his best. And as the next song on Rie’s set list was the inspirational Memai, he concentrated so hard, poured himself in and played super neatly, “Oh shit oh no oh shit, Hanyu-kun makes me nervous.” Yumao explained. 

●During the span of the tour SND fell off the stage way more then once... SND: “The skin on my back peeled off once too.” Yu “Eeeh?!” SND “Saying it peeeled all the way off is an overstatement but..” ”Well then the scab ripped off.” “Seriously?!” “But it healed nicely.” “Ahh” “After that, in Niigata, when I went to brandish my guitar up with a “pwooosh” towards the roof, it went bonking into my forehead.” ●SND’s middle finger had also stopped moving, (nerve palsy maybe??) During Talkie Dance there’s the “piropiropiro” where a “pero, pero” bit comes in between (Queue SND and Yuma singing the riff together), which is very straining. He has to press his fingers against the strings one by one to play it, he was scared but nonetheless. So Yuma watched him at the piropero part wondering “Oh no oh no is it gonna move? Is it moving today??””

When it came down to it his middle finger moved for him so thank goodness... (Manju comment: SND is this karma for all the times you gave the crowd the middle finger when they cheered your name,,, or flipped off girls who waved at you, or giving wo the middle finger a lot? God I love you)

●Yumao “Also ygarshy laughed ONCE!” “There was the one time I was talking nonstop (queue SND and Yumao making “blaghblergh” noises together to imitate him). When yga let out a chuckle, which made me super proud in front of everyone… I went Wahooo!!! but turns out it wasn’t because my story was funny or anything.  It was because yga was off on his own! Testing how many candies he could eat before we would shut up!” SND: “Did you chuckle because you finished the third candy?” yg: “Uhhh” SND: “Well tell us about it.” wowaka: “Is this the first time he’s talking?” yga: “See, I always think our encore MCs are… long. So I feel like having some candy. I was originally worried I wouldn’t be able to finish eating one in time, the song would start and turn into a problem, but.... it turned out that day’s had become the longest MC yet. I lost my inner bet, damn it, I thought. You guys really can talk. Three whole candies worth of talk! So I laughed, and Yumao thought I was laughing at hims story”

Yu: “Yeah yeah!! Honestly the story I had been telling didn’t have a punchline, so I just used your laugh as an escape.”

SND “Foolish” Yu “Yep” wowaka “Well that day the most” Crowd “laughing” Yumao “...Thank goo~ (laughing)” (Yumao you never have a punchline I swear to God I love you too)

●wowaka talked about the story from back when he used to be so so scared of standing in front of people. In middle school his teacher chose him to represent his class in the English speaking competition, yet he was so afraid that he just, went out to the podium crying hysterically. “I can’t talk English in front of everyone waghhh....”

But now he’s able to do >this<. He’s become such an adult. 

SND “I bet there wasn’t even as many people at the competition as there is people here today, haha and you’re able to even talk naturally here, eh, look at you.”

Yu: “Ahh even SND’s such a big boy now~.” SND: “Well we all have.” ●They announced the next nexUs tour at the Loveless tour final. “We just love doing shows” 

●Also Pre- Little Cry Baby emotional speech from wowaka.   “In living we find cool things and sparkling things, yet there’s moments when we betray those things, we worry if ahhh was I wrong with that, there’s so much of this, in actuality that’s all I do, yet still we’re made out of things we can’t throw away, that’s what I think, what is it! Like those sorta texture that have a paint dried over them, like things that are just superficial just… Those are things that I have NO FUCKING  interest in! Like it’s that, c’mON, with music, people are just humans!! trying to be, they’re trying to do what they can do! I have interest in things that only humans can do, some things that can even surpass human, and that’s what fuels me to do music. As long as you follow me, I feel like ,, I could go anywhere!!!!! thank you always, thank you for making me!! Thank you for being here!!!”

This was also the showing they used during the Memorial Service on June 1st… STAFF WE ARE GOING TO CRY “Thank you we were Hitorie, let’s definitely! *through deep breaths* definitely! Meet again!”

Also some from IKI

●wowaka’s mother came to this show.... As divulged in this interview. THE ORAL CIGARETTES had sent Rie flowers in celebration of the event, which were on display at the venue.... Shiohigari SND’s good friend went, also the Synth player of the band “the telephones” who took the picture that’s featured on this blog) went also! ●Before Shutter Doll Yumao did his signature, Yumao! Yumao! Yumao! cheer on rhythm with the familiar intro, but with “Final! Final! instead. Along with We’re ●Hagure no Color had snazzy band introductions molded in between it. ●wowaka had actually cried during Little Cry Baby..... It really is a song that’s so important to him.... I’m anxious to see the video... ●MC: One was wowaka talking about how thankful he is for everyone and everything about this IKI tour. wowaka “I don’t want it to to enddd!” SND “We’re been on this tour for 4 months, it’s been a long time though, it’s amazing, it’s a new record for us.” wowaka “Now what am I going to do with myself tomorrow.“ SND “Go back to our dark dark life...” wo “Why”

SND “You guys had been waiting outside all this time, how was it, was it cold, are you okay? Further crowd: “We were okay-! Closer crowed “(less voices) We were okay.” SND “So you guys were okay and you were cold, okay (laughing). Well if you were cold, then see this sweatshirt Leader is wearing.. please wear one too That thing is perf.  Crowd: “Woooah!!” SND: “Why the fuck ‘Woah.’ Even if you said you’re okay then still go buy one alright. Thanks..”

[sevenseasofrog]

Lads ‘n Lasses Chapter 4

single sex schools are never boring

high school!ben x fem!reader

2.7k words

a/n: lol hi, Me for the first time in about 10 billion years. I kind of hate this Chapter?? But I’ll put the next part up tomorrow which should be better :-)

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

As the autumn colours became deeper and the summer temperatures began to fade, you began to feel as though you were dragging yourself through each day, the thought of your plush duvet at the end of it keeping you motivated. Luckily enough though, it wasn’t just you who the changing seasons effected, and your friends were also beginning to look a little more disheveled with each morning that passed by, and it soon became clear that everyone was desperately in need of a break from the school routine. By the final week of term, motivation to even get out of bed each morning was severely lacking, and it seemed to be the same for Ben. Some mornings the pair of you didn’t even have the energy to speak, still content in each others company though, leaning on each other when you finally flopped down on the tram’s plastic seats.

You hadn’t forgotten that you were supposed to be coordinating your friend’s costumes for the mysterious Halloween party you knew very little about, but it definitely wasn’t your top priority- especially since your workload in and out of school had increased rapidly only a few weeks after the start of the new term. Since the gathering was set to take place on Friday, it was Tuesday that you figured you had to at least start thinking about how terrible you wanted your four closest friends to look. After a few hours of careful consideration and research you found yourself rather impressed with what you had come up with. If they wanted a group costume, a group costume they were going to get. It was perfect, inducing childhood nostalgia and characters which seemed to parallel your friends personalities, the five of you were going as none other than the Scooby-Doo gang. You couldn’t help but feel at least a bit proud of your master plan, but decided to keep it under wraps, just to add to the suspense. You spent the rest of that night drawing out meticulous plans, giving yourself Thursday and Friday to finish them. Out of instinct however you left the next day free, knowing that it was highly likely you would be spending the evening out somewhere to celebrate the beginning of the short break from school.

As he had done for the past five weeks or so, Ben had waited patiently outside your house for you to stumble out the front door, usually looking a little disheveled. Believe it or not, this was one of the things he had begun to admire most about you, little to your knowledge. The fact that your hair sometimes fell across your face, still messy from the previous nights sleep, and more often than not you would have acrylic paint splodged over you like some form of radioactive dalmatian. Both of these were the little things Ben had started to pay more and more attention to, and he couldn’t help but find himself smile whenever he thought of you.

“Last day of your first half term then Benny boy” you spoke with a grin. “Ready to go back down South yet or can you handle a little more of this?”

He couldn’t help but let out a laugh, “I think I’ll cope y’know, maybe a little longer, might even make it to Christmas!”

“You bloody better Jones! otherwise I’ll have no reason to even leave the house in the morning, then I’ll drop out of school, adopt a load of cats and drink cheap wine every day because I never got any a levels.”

“What a pity that would be” He retorted, with blatant sarcasm. You rolled your eyes and gave a gentle shove before the pair of you continued the walk to the tram stop in a content silence.

Eventually, you made your way onto a tram and flopped down on each other. You closed your eyes, enjoying the warmth of the autumn sun and found yourself dozing a little, this didn’t last long however.

Ben flicked your cheek before he spoke, “y/n, wake up you big loser, what are we doing after school?”

“I was wondering how long it would be before you asked, I don’t really care though. Won’t it just be easier to wait till the others get on and ask them?”

“We’re seeing them on Friday though, and Saturday I guess, and probably most of next week too”

“You have a most interesting way of thinking Jonsey. But you’re not wrong. What are you suggesting?” You spoke, followed by a smirk, “Won’t you be seeing me today, tomorrow, the day after that and next week however?”

“Shutup and come to mine tonight okay? We can have a takeaway from wherever you want and we can make up shitty excuses as to why we can’t do anything with the others because right now I can’t really be bothered with anyone else.”

You felt a little taken aback, but unsure as to why. Ben had spoken with a twinge of emotion in his voice, and suddenly seemed a little wound up- most out of character.

“Alright. You got me, but only if we’re having a chinese?

“Suits me”, he spoke with a smile, seeming somewhat relieved, before you both sank into each other in the seats. Even making the cold plastic seem a little more comfortable.

School has been productive. Well, as productive as you could have made it given that you only had some art coursework to finish and given that Ben’s sudden decision that he didn’t want to see anyone else that evening was playing on your mind. You had scrubbed the last of the dried acrylic paint off the battered brushes you had kept for god knows how long and were about to put them back into your bag before being interrupted by the lunch bell. Figuring you should reconvene with Maria and Niamh, you began to head towards the common room so that you could grab some lunch before heading to the library for the rest of the afternoon.

“y/n! hello? care to join us here on planet earth?” Niamh waved a hand in front of you, you had forgotten about your mediocre salad and had started daydreaming mid-conversation.

“shit yeah, sorry, just tired, i was sorting out the outfits for friday until like 2 this morning or something like that”

Maria chimed in too at mention of Friday, “oh yeah! the costumes, I’d forgotten about those, they’d better be-“

You felt your phone buzz in your pocket, undoubtedly your mum checking if you were staying in school or leaving after lunch. “One sec, let me just check this”

Benny:

Call me when you can. i’m going home.

You couldn’t help but wonder whad gotten into the boy, shocked by the sudden character change, you figured this was your call to leave and find out what the hell was going on with Ben. Now all you needed was an excuse to leave.

“Shit, sorry, erm… it’s my mum…she’s locked herself out and needs me to let her back into the house…” You scrambled to pack your bag and put your blazer back on “duty calls… I’ll see you on Friday night yeah?” You signed out at student services and began to walk towards the met stop.

benny: incoming call

“Ben what the hell are you playing at? where the fuck are you?” You heard the frustration in your own voice and couldn’t help but regret it.

“Why do you sound like your running a marathon?” Because I’m speed walking like a lunatic to come and find you thank you. “I’m nearly at the tram stop.”

“Right, ok… wait for me… I’m nearly there”

“see you then.” He hung up.

You continued the walk, thoughts racing, surely someone had just said something to wind him up? Nothing worth overthinking really? You eventually found Ben after what seemed like an eternity of walking and he stank of smoke, he had a cigarette between his lips and it was certainly not the first one of the day. “You going to tell me why I had to up and leave or are we going to pretend it never happened?” You demanded.

“We’re not talking about it until we get home” He said, slightly muffled. As if on queue, one of the yellow trams pulled into the station and Ben put out his smoke before dragging himself onto the empty tram, you followed, still feeling slightly bedraggled. The boy threw himself onto one of the chairs, visibly frustrated, you sat on the row behind and began digging through your bag, simply looking for something to do.

The tram ride was long, painfully so. The silence between the two of you was deafening, something you never expected to happen, but it was clear that Ben needed space from the moment you met back with him. You reached your stop and the two of you stood up, briefly making eye contact with each other.

“I need to erm, get some fresh clothes from mine if that’s okay...on the way to yours..These aren’t exactly.. y’know.. comfortable” You spoke, gesturing at the suit you had worn the past two days.

He gave a curt nod, and you continued the walk away from the platform. You quickly unlocked your front door and shoved a few essentials in a bag, along with an oversized shirt and some joggers, well aware that this would be a long night. Ben has waited downstairs, waiting to head back out again a little further down the road to his house.

It was definitely bigger than yours, and much more modern. It wasn’t that you disliked newer houses, you just felt a somewhat alienated stepping into something that felt more like a spaceship than a house. Each to their own though- that’s what you had always figured.

“Gonna tell me what’s got you in a tizz or do I get the joy of guessing?” Desperate for some hint of the Ben you knew to return.

“We’ll go upstairs first yeah, then we can get changed or whatever” He began to trudge up the stairs and you followed. By the time you caught up with him in his room, Ben already had half of his clothes off, and although now definitely wasn’t the best time, you had to admit to yourself that topless Ben certainly wasn’t a sorry sight as you slipped into the marble en-suite.

“You’re killing me Ben. What’s happened for the love of God?”

“People happened.”

You checked yourself over before unlatching the bathroom door again. For the record, the old grey pants paired with the extra large shirt you had brought at some past gig certainly wasn’t your best look, but it was going to have to do for now.

“C’mon grumpy you can tell me all about it like i’m your very own agony aunt” You grabbed his wrist and flopped onto the bed,causing Ben to follow with a thud.

“So what have people done to you to cause such a commotion Benny? You’ve never been like this and you’ve got me proper fussing about you” He rolled onto his back and began to speak.

“They’ll do anything to drag you through the dirt. I haven’t put a foot out of line and half of the idiots at school have decided they don’t like me for it. It’s so fucking stupid I don’t know why it’s bothering me...It just is and I could honestly-“

“Ben it’s probably pissing you off because that’s a normal human emotion I’m afraid…”

“But it’s not just that and it’s another stupid thing honestly I don’t know what my problem is because it’s got nothing to do with me and-“

“One thing at a time okay? Start at the beginning and then if you want, you can tell me what else is getting to you.”

You felt bad for Ben, you really did, he hadn’t done anything wrong and it was clear he didn’t have much experience in handling his emotions. You threw a packet if tissues at him after he began to snivel and kept brushing his face. It was clear he trust you, this was something which brought a strange relief over you that you couldn’t quite explain. The main thing you could do do help Ben was to listen to him, and boy was he glad that the pair of you had all night.

You had migrated downstairs at around 8pm to order food, normally you would have both sprawled out separately over two of the three sofas in the front room, but when you came back from a trip to the kitchen for glasses of water, Ben had parked himself at the end of where you were sat.

“I was cold.” He looked up at you, as if trying to read your thoughts.

“I never said anything Jones! If it was anyone else I’d have told them to move but I think you can be an acception” You had honestly been expecting some sort of reply, and it came as a bit of a shock to you when you looked up to find Ben staring at the t.v. absentmindedly.

“Ben? what’s up?”

“Sorry it’s just, it’s not worth it don’t worry..” he trailed off

You have a stern look, “Anything you think or say is worth my time Ben, I really mean it.”

“It’s just. Jones. that’s what they call me, at school and, I don’t really know why it bothers me but… I’m not Jones, I’m Ben and, it bothers me-“ His eyes had gone slightly glassy again, “It bothers me because they don’t care about me, they care that I score tries and bring the team up the leaderboard. That’s Jones. I don’t even think Ben likes rugby, but what else can you do when it’s expected of you.”

“One thing at a time yeah?”

“I told you it’s stupid”

“yeah you did, and I completely disagree, it’s Benny from now on”

“No one's ever really called me that to be honest..”

“Does it bother you?”

“I think I like it.. but only you can get away with it from now on”

You leaned back onto him as the pair of you waited for the takeaway to arrive, you had sincerely hoped that Ben felt a little better at least, it was glaringly clear that he was more worried that unloading his problems would simply pass them onto you, and you had taken the opportunity to reassure him that you weren’t there to judge him at several opportunities.

You had been talking about this and that until a wave of fatigue hit you at what must have been around half one in the morning, Ben had insisted that you should go upstairs and sleep in his bed and he would take the sofa.

“Ben you’re my best friend I’m pretty sure I can cope with sharing a bed with you, we’ll both be out like lights when we get up there anyway”

You both made your way up the stairs, leaving the remainder of the takeaway to deal with in the morning, and fell onto the the mountain of crisp white pillows. You burrowed your way under the duvet, waiting for Ben to follow. “Y’know.. this is really comfy. Makes my bed feel like a fabulous pile of rocks.”

“Does the job I suppose”

“à le matin mon aimie”

“à demain”

You felt yourself drifting into a deep slumber, unsure as to weather or not Ben was still talking. “I know it’s late but are you awake?” You gave a grunt, which the boy opposite you took as a response.

“At school right.. well where else would it be.. and I don’t know if it’s true but I thought I’d tell you just in case but erm.. People were saying Lewis has a thing for you and I know you’re supposed to be my best mate but it bothers me because-“ he gave a sigh. “It bothers me because I think I like you, and I know it’s only been two months, but you’re more than I could ask for in a friend and-“ He realised that he had been greeted with silence. “y/n” Ben had to admit to himself that he was a little disappointed when he realised you hadn’t heard a word he said, already fast asleep. He wasn’t sure if he’d tell you again in the morning, or if it would ruin what he felt was one of the best things he had in a long time.

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

@fatbottomedbitch , @crazyweirdocalledfriday , @borhapandshawn , @benhardyjones , @simplyvictoria-93 , @virtualsheepeat

Sorry that my tag list is a bit dodgey, pretty sure that usernames have changed so let me know if you want adding :) xoxo

[emmielupinblack]

A Song for You

Sirius Black x Reader (Modern Rock Band AU)

Rating: Teen and up

Warnings: bottled up feelings, fluff.

Word Count: 1,834

Author’s Note: This is not related to the other Rockband AU I’ve written. This is a completely independent piece. I just love the idea of rockstar Sirius. Yum. Enjoy. The song mentioned is “Buzz” by Halestorm.

Read on Ao3

You grabbed your guitar and pulled it onto your lap. You practiced a few cords, then softly sang your newest song to yourself. It was insane that the group agreed to let you sing a song for your newest album. Honestly, you never thought you would even have the guts to do it. But, there you were, ready to record.

Remus, James, and Peter had already recorded their bits, which left Sirius and you for today. As lead guitarist, you were probably going to do your instrumental part first, then finish with the vocals. Easy enough, right? It’s not like this wasn’t your third album in that very recording studio. You had done some back up vocals. But this was new, different, and definitely nerve-wracking. 

Sirius rocked his head on the other side of the glass, his headphones gently ruffling his wild curls. His fingers glided over his guitar. He was an artist, a work of art while his body swayed to the music blaring in his ears. His silver gaze was locked on his fingers as he raced to the finish.

Once Sirius completed his bit, he grinned to himself and pulled his headphones off. You were up. And it was going to be a long day.

“Y/N,” the recording agent barked at you. You turned to him, a sweet older man named Albus, and nodded.

“I know, I’ll grab my guitar.”

“Actually, let’s do the vocals first. James needs to redo a few songs, or at least pieces of them. We can do your instrumental part with him tomorrow. Let’s get the vocals out and call it a day.” You nodded, then turned to Sirius as he walked into your space. 

“Looks like we’re going our bits together,” Sirius muttered to you, patting your shoulder gently. “Ready to rock n’ roll?” he chuckled. You rolled your eyes. “Let’s just get this over with. I know it’s going to take a while. I apologize in advance if I royally mess up every five seconds.” You blushed a little as you watched Sirius extend his hand to you. You took it and allowed Sirius to lead you into the recording room.

The white walls stared back at you as you approached the two sets of mics in the middle of the room. For a moment, you were afraid that you would forget the words to the very song you wrote. But, you weren’t live. You weren’t even going to perform this song to an audience for another month, when your next tour began. For now, you were with your closest friend, who just happened to be the subject of the song you were about to record. But, he didn’t need to know that. 

You grabbed the headphones that rested on the large mic and strapped them onto your head. Sirius mimicked you, shooting his award winning smile. Then, you both turned to Albus on the other side of the glass, who nodded. 

The music started in your ears, the parts that had been recorded previously. Then, your queue came up, and you leaned into the mic.

“I do admit, I've come to like the attention, the heavy look in your eye,” you sang into the mic. Your eyes flicked over to Sirius, who was already looking at you. His lips were curled into a devilish smirk. Oh shit, did he know? No, he couldn’t know. It was just the song. And, he had admitted a few months earlier that he was ‘obsessed’ with your voice, which is why he offered to give up his thrown as lead singer for one song. 

You turned back to the mic and continued the song, but all you could think about with every word was the gorgeous man beside you. So far, you were knocking out every line. But, when the chorus came up, you found your body buzzing. It wasn’t often that Sirius’ voice was singing along with yours, at least not when you were the lead. His voice alone was enough to give you chills, even after almost five years of performing with the band. 

“I like the buzz deep 'cause of what it does to me. I get a fuzzy feeling washing over me. I get a rush now honey when you're touching me. Is it love? “ Sirius’ voice was barely a hum beside you, but your skin prickled anyway. It always did, every recording session, every concert, and especially when he sang to himself during your frequent house parties. 

Sirius swayed his head as you continued, glancing over at you with his storm cloud gaze every few moments. His eyes appeared darker than normal, almost causing you to lose focus. But, you held you composure just barely, blasting your way through the rest of the song. 

“Wow, that’s it then,” Albus announced to the two of you as you peeled the headphones from your heads. You turned to Sirius again, who was already holding the door open for you, offering you another stunning smile. His eyes were still dark, almost charcoal as his gaze remained glued on you. You exited, walking into the next room to grab your small bag and head to your car. There was no use packing your guitar if you were going to be using it the next day, so you left it tucked into the corner of the room.

All of a sudden, you found yourself needing to wait for Sirius before leaving. Usually, you were out the door before everyone else, needing a nap as soon as recording was done. But, this time, you wanted to walk out with your handsome friend, needing to be around him for just a little longer.

Albus waved goodbye before disappearing into his office. Sirius hovered over his guitar just a few meters away and packed up his beloved instrument. But, he didn’t bring it with him. You were almost certain that he didn’t need to record any more. But, it wasn’t unlike him to become picky about a recording and want to redo something later on. So, he just grabbed his rucksack and heaved it onto his shoulder, then made his way over to you.

Sirius smiled, then held out his arm. “Well, what should we do with the rest of our day?” he asked, glancing over at the clock. It was just after four in the afternoon, leaving the rest of the evening free. James was at home with his wife, Lily, and their two year old son. And Remus was probably sleeping off the nasty bug he had been fighting for the last three days. Peter was never a social member of the group, preferring to be at home with his Netflix. So, it was up to Sirius and you to waste the rest of the day.

You shrugged in response, still thinking about the look in Sirius’ eye while you were in the recording room. And, now, he was walking a little closer than normal, making your head spin. 

“Is it too late for coffee?” you asked with a chuckle. “Or maybe a big, greasy dinner.”

Sirius nudged you gently. “Well, little Miss Rock Star, you definitely deserve both if you like. We can head out to that diner on the other side of town and get something disgusting and greasy.” The two of you approached your car, slowing down.

“And a coffee milkshake.” You smiled as you turned to Sirius, glancing over briefly at his bike. He had painted it recently, and the deep purple edges glistened in the afternoon sun. “That sounds yummy.”

Sirius laughed, then crossed his arms, facing you. “Y/N, can I ask you something?” You furrowed your brow and nodded. “Where did you get the idea of that song? Some of those lines are, well, pretty intimate.” You blushed at the question, not really having a good answer for him. Other than the truth, anyway.

You pursed your lips, then glanced up at him. “It was inspired by someone.” You could feel your cheeks heating up as your gaze locked on his.

“Oh?” He smirked, then licked his lips. Oh, he knew. He knew that song was about him. He had to. 

“Yeah.” You didn’t know what else to say. Honestly, you couldn’t say anything else. Your heart pounded as you watched the gears turn in Sirius’ mind.

“Well, that’s one lucky person, if I say so myself.” He raised an eyebrow, taking a half-step closer. Your heart thumped in your ribcage. He liked your too. Oh, thank god.

You nodded, finally accepting that in that moment, your relationship with Sirius Black had changed. “I guess you are.”

Sirius huffed as he took a few steps towards you, closing the distance between you. The air shot from your lungs as he leaned in, then stopped just before your lips could touch. But, you impatiently rushed forward, pressing your lips to his. 

Your entire body tingled as his hands gently gripped your upper waist, pulling you closer against his chest. The kiss didn’t last long, but it was more than you ever imagined. The man that you had been fantasizing about for the better part of five years was finally holding you like the numerous songs you had written but never shared. 

He pulled away slowly, grinning. “I was hoping that song was about me.” He leaned back just a little to get a better view of your face. “I do have one question,” he asked with a devilish twinkle in his eye.

You tilted your head. “Yeah?”

“Is it love, Y/N?” he teased, repeating the lyrics. You rolled your eyes and leaned away from him, playfully shoving his shoulder.

“Shut up, Black,” you huffed. His low, raspy voice erupted into a laugh, making you smile. When he calmed down, he glanced over at his motorcycle, then back to you. Right, food.

“You want me to drive, love?” he asked, extending a hand to you again. You shook your head, grabbing your keys from your bag.

“Heck no. You finally learn about my feelings for you, and now you want to kill me? I’m driving, Black. Final word.” You bit you lip and smiled at the pouting Sirius. 

“Fine.” He headed for the passenger side of your car, smoothing his hand over your upper back as he passed. “But, if this is going to work, you’re going to have to learn to love her.”

You laughed, opening your car door. “Baby steps. Right now, I need caffeine and grilled cheese.” Sirius nodded as he slipped into the car beside you. The engine roared to life on your command. Then, the two of you headed to the other side of town for your first official date.

[asterinjapan]

The day before the last

Forgot to update again despite staying up way too late, ahem. I didn't want to go to sleep yet, and then they did an interesting item on tv, and then there was a rerun of one of my favourite shows, and uh, then it got to 2 am, oops.

Let me still tell you about yesterday! I don't have a lot of pictures, but I'll upload some from my phone later.

From there, we walked to nearby Ueno park like I had earlier this week. Our destination today was also a museum: the National Museum of Western Art, which is right near the entrance of the park, haha. They have a special exhibition going on right now about the Hapsburgs, one of the most influential royal houses in Europe.

As it turns out, they go way further back than I thought, down to the early 16th century, and the collection contained both portraits of the royals and art from their personal collection, the earlier halls also containing artefacts such as armour, so that made for a very varied exhibition. It also turns out I know embarrassingly little about European history until the 19th century or so, since I could barely answer my friend's questions about context, oops... it got a little better in the later halls where I also started to recognize people, like Marie Antoinette and the only ones I knew were Hapsburg beforehand: Franz Joseph I and Elizabeth (yeah mum, I saw one of the Elizabeth paintings in real life, haha). These are paintings I only knew from pictures, so that was cool to see, and the Marie Antoinette portrait was HUGE, wow.

Once we made it out, it was time for lunch, so we queued up for the museum restaurant. We both got a lunch set with salad, pasta and a mini dessert. I was not expecting this much pasta for the price, so I couldn't finish it all, but my friend taught me the word for someone who can't eat much, so at least I can apologize with the proper vocabulary now, oops. (It's shoushoku, by the way - literally 'small eater'.)

We talked so much that it was soon time for my friend to leave, so I accompanied him to Shinjuku station, where he accompanied me to the start of the walk to the metropolitan government building, because I always get lost at Shinjuku station, pff. Then it was time for us to part ways for this trip. Thank you so much, I had a great time together!

My goal for the afternoon was to get to the top of the building for the free observatory, but I'd uh, forgotten it was a Saturday afternoon, so about a few thousand people had the same idea. Probably not THAT many, but the queue was still so long that I just gave up for today. I was starting to grow sad over my trip ending, so i didn't want to spend my afternoon feeling sad in a busy queue.

I went back to Ikebukuro instead, where I dumped my backpack in the hotel and went into the city to check out sunshine city and surrounding shops and game halls. I had a good time even if I still don't have souvenirs for everyone, and in the end had to leave cause I was getting tired, not because I wanted to go, haha.

I stayed up a bit late as I mentioned, and I'm currently rather anxious as I can't check in for my flight. I tried contacting the airline, but well, it's barely Sunday morning in Holland... fingers crossed they'll get back to me soon. It's fine if I have to check in at the airport, but I wonder now if my extra luggage got through, since I arranged that through the app. Fingers crossed again!

I'm obviously not going to sit around and wait, so I think I'll head out soon for maybe some karaoke and last minute souvenirs. It's really a shame about the JR pass, but I don't think heading far out of Tokyo is a very good idea right now, fresh after the huge amounts of rain with more to come.

Off I go then, for the last time this trip. Pictures and today's report to follow!

[danyka-fendyr]

As the Raven Flies: Part 3

Okay, everybody, you know the drill at this point. I write, I edit, I queue and post, and then I sit here desperately awaiting your feedback while hoping Tumblr didn’t royally screw this whole thing up. Ah, the joys of posting your fic on a barely functional site and trying to keep a schedule. The good news is, the apocalypse is always tomorrow depending on who you ask, and it’s always 5 o’clock somewhere, so just hang in there kids!

Wordcount: 2641 approximately because I may have written this last minute sue me

Taglist: @dreamwritesimagines @rhabakoli @disengagefrmreality

(Look! We’re at three people in the taglist now!)

Vivien tried to listen in on their conversation, but they went outside to talk, much to her chagrin. Slowly, what little she could hear of their voices faded away. And then she was fast asleep, gone until the next morning.

Vivien hated mornings more than anything else in the world. This was for two reasons, the weekday reason and the weekend reason. The weekday reason was, of course, that she had to go to school. She didn’t exactly hate school, but she would have honestly preferred to just learn of her own volition. Not to mention the anxiety deadlines gave her. Reason number two was just that she had to wake up. There was just something so pleasant about sleeping when you were as exhausted as Vivien was all the time.

“Vivien, sweetie, you have to get up. You have school.” Karen’s voice spoke softly from above her as Vivien groaned, refusing to open her eyes.

It was always so bright during the day. She hated it. She hated everything.

“I don’t want to go. Can’t I just call in sick?”

“Sorry kiddo, but that’s not going to happen unless you start puking into my potted plant.”

“Darn it.” Vivien cracked open an eye to glare balefully up at her current nemesis, former role model.

“I made smoothies,” Karen bribed her.

“Really?”

“Really. I also made you a lunch to take to school and set out some clothes for you. All you have to do is get in the shower.”

“Ugh. I guess.” Vivien crawled out of bed, body limp and floppy. “Thanks Karen.”

“You’re welcome. Now go!”

Vivien hopped in the shower, borrowing Karen’s toiletries. She already had a spare toothbrush here since Karen let her sleep over pretty often. Said she needed to get away from the boys sometimes, and Vivien agreed.

She plugged her iPod into the alarm clock dock, unashamedly playing Love Bug. What? The Jonas Brothers made a comeback. They were totally cool again.

She pulled on the clothes Karen had put together for her that Matt had brought over after finishing his nightly patrol. Admittedly Matt had only been able to find them because after the first time this had happened it had gone so poorly she’d left a few spare sets of clothes laying around in her room where Matt could find them, but she’d give him credit anyway. She also may have done some lip-syncing and dancing, but that was between her, God and the downstairs neighbor.

She headed out to the kitchen, and Karen handed her a smoothie in a Mason jar with a straw. “You, missie, are going to be late, and so am I. Go!”

Vivien swung her backpack (also courtesy of Matt, bless his soul) over her shoulder and ran out the door to catch the bus as Karen pulled on her heels, nearly flashing everyone in the hallway while also narrowly missing landing on her face. Vivien steadied her with one arm before taking the steps two at a time, just barely making it before Janet closed the bus doors. She flashed the elderly lady a smile before finding a seat.

School was what school always was. Mostly boring. Her AP classes were fun, but everything else was painfully easy. It wasn’t that Vivien thought she was smarter than everyone else. In contrast, she was firmly under the impression that everyone else was just very, very, abysmally stupid. Poor creatures.

Eventually, her school day started to come to a close. She survived her second least favorite part, gym, only to make it to the worst part of her day. Every Wednesday, like clockwork, she reported to the school counselor’s office. She wasn’t required to do so by the school, but she was required to do so by her own mind. She had conditioned herself to want to do it by buying herself a soda afterwards. It sort of worked. She still hated it, but she was here, wasn’t she?

She took a seat on the other side of the counselor’s desk, trying to seem pleasant and dare she say it, happy.

“Hello Mrs. Brannigan.” She smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes.

“Hello Miss Fairchild. How have you been since we last met?”

“Oh, the usual.” Vivien fake smiled again. She did a lot of that here. “Just working hard at my studies.”

Mrs. Brannigan nodded. “And making new friends.”

Vivien grimaced. “I have friends, Mrs. Brannigan. They just don’t go here.”

Mrs. Brannigan nodded, but she didn’t seem like she believed her. “I just think it would be best if you were friends with some of your peers as well.”

“I’m friendly with my peers. Isn’t that enough?” Vivien jutted her chin out, sharp eyes drilling into the counselor.

Mrs. Brannigan did not balk. Mrs. Brannigan didn’t seem like the kind of person to balk. She seemed like the kind of person to continue blinking placidly even if the building was burning down around her, her mousy brown hair coated in ashes and her dark eyes clouded with smoke.

“I’m afraid not, Vivien.” Oh good. They were dropping the formalities now. “You need friends at school. People you can rely on.”

“I rely on Mr. Carp to give me a good art grade.”

Mrs. Brannigan had the nerve to give her The Look. The sort of look you give someone when you want to convey that you are absolutely done with their nonsense. Vivien was very familiar with this look. Not only had she been on the receiving end of it many times, but she had also leveled it on Matt and Foggy many, many times, even though only the latter half of that duo could see it.

“Do you ever let yourself be happy, Vivien?”

“Yes.” The answer was immediate, and apparently, it was too quick for Mrs. Brannigan.

“What makes you happy then?”

Vivien blinked at her. It wasn’t like she could tell the woman that leaping across rooftops at night and fighting criminals was what made her happy. That would get her put in an institution, at best.

“Music,” was the first thing she choked out.

“How so?” Mrs. Brannigan folded her hands together, placing them on the desk and leaning forward.

“I like dancing to it. You know, just...by myself. It’s fun.”

Mrs. Brannigan nodded. “Well, at least you still know what happiness is.”

Vivien was pretty sure it was meant to be a joke, but it hit a little too close to home. She knew this was supposed to be good for her, but she really did hate it. It wasn’t that Mrs. Brannigan wasn’t a nice lady, but Vivien liked to handle her problems herself. This was entirely too foreign and unpleasant and exposing for her.

“And your family?” Mrs. Brannigan spoke softly. “Have you...been to visit their graves lately?”

It was like someone had found Vivien’s off switch and abruptly flipped it. The light fell out of her eyes, the fake smile from her mouth, and she became just another mannequin sitting in that office, eyes glazed and staring into the distance. She was just...empty.

“Every Sunday. I bring flowers after church.”

“That’s good.” Mrs. Brannigan’s voice was soft, and her face conveyed that she did not think anything that was happening right now was good, an understandable reaction when your patient completely shut down.

“Yeah.” Vivien stared down at her empty palms sitting in her lap.

Uninvited, her brain conjured up an image of them covered in blood. She could hear ringing in her ears, and she closed her eyes tight against it. She shook her head, shaking his voice out of her ears.

Her eyes were wet when she opened them again.

“Well, I think that will be all for today,” Mrs. Brannigan said.

She sounded disappointed, but they both knew she wouldn’t get much farther with Vivien like this. She had tried their first few sessions, but it never worked. At some point, she pushed too hard, and Vivien shut off. They were just working on waylaying that point at the moment.

“You should work on making some new friends though. I’m sure your classmates are all very nice people. Perhaps someone who sits next to you?”

“Okay,” Vivien said numbly.

They both knew she wouldn’t really try. Or maybe she would, and she just wouldn’t try hard enough to succeed. What a familiar feeling that would be.

“I’ll see you for our next session Miss Fairchild.”

“Yeah. See you then. Thank you Mrs. Brannigan.”

Vivien took her backpack, grateful she always saved her counseling sessions for the last part of her day. She swung by one of the vending machines to buy a cream soda before heading out to catch her bus. She popped her headphones on, drinking her soda as the driver pulled the bus forward. 

She stared out the window on the way home, trying to think of anything that wasn’t the color red. This was difficult, considering the fact that Matt wore almost entirely red. She did her best though, trying to take herself back to this morning, when she had been happy with Karen, taking breakfast onto the bus.

But the truth of the matter would always be that she could never go back to who she was.

So instead she escaped. Usually her coping mechanism involved punching people, but that was probably not the best option at this very moment in time, so instead she chose a more literal form of escapism. She pulled George Orwell’s 1984 out of her backpack, flipping to the middle of the book. Was it required reading? No. But it was interesting, that was for sure.

She spent the rest of the bus ride drinking cream soda and reading her book, avoiding the attention of other students. Lately, that hadn’t been much trouble. There had been a certain amount of morbid fascination with her after everything first happened, but it only took a few months for that to wear off, and then came what always came to survivors of great tragedies. She became a social pariah, someone no one wanted to be around or actively interact with if they could help it. After all, no one liked a reminder of the darker moments of their lives, and the walking talking ones were the worst kind. Vivien knew this better than anyone.

She used to have friends. Of course she had. You didn’t get to your senior year of high school without ever having any friends at all, fake or otherwise, and Vivien had the oddly good fortune to be something resembling not unpopular. This fell apart quickly though after her own great tragedy.

Some of them decided that she was simply no longer worth socializing with. That might have hurt if she hadn’t been dealing with far more pressing losses. The others she managed to slowly push away. It started with her new, unapproachable personality. She was pointedly aloof, exaggeratedly lifeless. She didn’t want anything to do with anyone, that much was clear.

She had a few friends who were more persistent than that though. Sometimes she missed them. Right now she missed them. Maybe they had pitied her, maybe they had loved her. It was hard for Vivien to tell the difference these days. Either way, she had to actively tell them to go away, scream at them until they ran for the hills. After everything that had happened to her, she just wanted to be left alone.

She just wanted to be left alone.

“Hey, Fairchild.”

Vivien’s eyes snapped open. She had closed them, head resting against the back of the seat at an awkward angle that would have left her staring at the ceiling if she had kept her eyes open. After a few moments of that undesirable view, she changed her mind and decided to rest her eyes for a minute.

The face she now saw hovering above her own was disappointingly familiar. Wide blue eyes, half a smile, and night black hair that was longer than it probably should be, but not long enough to necessarily be considered long. She only knew him because he had been the only person in the entire school not to spend a brief period trying to bother her as much as he possibly could during the brief interim where she was a person of interest. She sort of didn’t hate him for that, which was unfortunate, because she was pretty sure she was about to.

For a long moment, Vivien considered telling him to go away. Mrs. Brannigan’s voice echoed in her head though, begging her to just please, please try. She sighed, rolling her eyes before rolling her neck, turning around and deciding to play nice.

“Hello Hunter. Your hair is stupid.”

He laughed. She had known he would. He was good at that. Laughing in the face of adversity.

“Thanks. So, how have you been?”

“Oh, the usual. Annoyed. Unapproachable. Trying to decide if I should be goth or punk.”

“Ah, but your prep aesthetic is working so well for you!” He said, with feigned dismay.

Vivien cracked a smile, despite her best efforts. “Yeah, well, I’ve been keeping an eye on Jessica Jones, and her whole leather jacket thing seems to really be working out for her.”

“Fair point. I would like to counter with the fact that it is the woman that makes the clothes, not the clothes that make the woman.” James Hunter settled his arms on the back of my otherwise empty bus seat, resting his head on them.

“If that’s true, then why should I keep the prep clothes?” she countered.

She thought for sure that would stump him, but he didn’t miss a beat. “Because I like them. Not that my opinion particularly matters, as you have made very clear, but wouldn’t you rather have one of us insignificant fools like your clothes than none of us insignificant fools?”

I thought about it for a moment. “Alright. I’ll keep the button downs, Hunter, but only because I don’t want to go shopping.”

“Heaven forbid you have to buy anything that isn’t a sweater vest, am I right?”

“I don’t wear sweater vests.” She crossed her arms over her chest.

“Sometimes you do.”

He was right. Sometimes she did.

“They’re hand me downs, okay?”

He took his head off his hands to raise them in the air, a gesture of surrender. “Hey, I’m not judging Fairchild.”

“I just want you to know that I’m only talking to you because my therapist said I need friends.” She wasn’t sure why she told him that.

“Well, normally I would say that Mrs. Brannigan is full of it, but I think she might actually be right about that. You’ve been painfully alone since the beginning of the year, are you aware of that?”

“Acutely so.”

“I would ask what happened there, but that doesn’t really seem like any of my business.”

Vivien raised an eyebrow. She had...not been expecting him to say something so utterly self-aware.

“Not yet, anyway. I expect you’ll want to be friends first before you tell me why you have none.”

“And who said we were going to be friends, Hunter?”

“I did. Good news Fairchild, you are no longer beholden to Mrs. Brannigan’s unreasonable demands. I promise to be low maintenance.”

She squinted at him before the corner of her lips quirked up a little bit. “Cross your heart?”

“And hope to die.”

The smile fell right off her face. “Don’t do that.”

“Right. Sorry. Uhh...hope to get high.”

Vivien snorted with the unexpected humor of it. Everyone knew Hunter was clean as a whistle.

“There you go. We’ll have you smiling again in no time, Fairchild.”

“No promises Hunter.”

The bus screeched to a halt as she spoke.

“As much as I would like to extort some promises out of you in turn, I do believe this is your stop, Vivien.”

She looked up, and sure enough, they were in the heart of Hell’s Kitchen.

“See you tomorrow.” He smiled at her again, and she told herself that she only smiled back out of obligation.

“See you tomorrow, James.”

[moonraccoon-exe]

Hi, dear moonracoon ! May I ask for your advice ? How do you think an artist can get noticed in the ffxv fandom ? I really wanted to ask you since you're so kind and amazing ! ( >^

HELLO, MY DEAREST BEAUTIFUL ANON!!!! ヽ(・∀・)ﾉ♡♡♡

First of all, I’m sorry that I took longer to this than expected, at least for a personal ask. I didn’t mean to make you wait. (｡•́︿•̀｡)

Okay, let’s check your question!!

Hm! 

First off, I want to tell you that I’m not an artist. So the advice I’m giving you is the best I can think about, but thinking about what I write/post, and what I’ve heard other artists say, but it’s not entirely from experience. So know that if none of what I tell you works, it’s not on you, I may have missed an important advice that didn’t cross my head!

If you’d like, you could ask someone from the drawing/painting world. Yuu-senpai, Hana-senpai, even Solaris-senpai, or many others are very friendly and open and they could give you advice from experience if what I tell you doesn’t convince you. c:

1. The first 5 tags

The first 5 tags under your artwork are the most vital and important, because they’re the ones that actually show up in the Tumblr search section!

You want to use the first five tags under your artwork as the best. Final Fantasy XV and FFXV would be the first two I used, and then something more specific (if your artwork is an Ignis one, then next comes the Ignis and/or Ignis Scientia tag, etc.).

If you want to/like to talk in the tags (like yours truly!), use the last tags or, at least, start from the 6th tag and ahead. The rest of the tags won’t show up in the search section when peopel browse the tag; the rest of the tag space are there for personal use (so you browse the tags in YOUR blog, not in the Tumblr site). 

WARNING: I HIGHLY advice you to NOT use the first 5 tags to fish for attention! If your artwork is a Gladio solo artwork, you have NO REASON to use the Ignis tag or a Noctis tag or even something like a Lunafreya tag!! DO. NOT. USE. UNRELATED TAGS. 

It may work to catch the attention, sure. Someone that follows the Ignis tag may see your Gladio artwork because you used the tag. You’ll catch their attention, but it will be NEGATIVE ATTENTION.

This IS from experience. You do make your artwork reach more people, but all you get is for people to go “Ugh” and scroll past your stuff because you’re spamming artworks unrelated to the tag in the tag. So do NOT!

2. Reblogs

Reblogs are possibly the most vital, most important part to be noticed.

While tagging is GREAT and the first step to make your art go somewhere, I’d dare say the majority of people don’t necessarily follow a tag. I don’t; all that I reblog, all were reblogged from another blog. I only follow the Corqi tag because of how scarce material there is for it, so I don’t want to miss anything. But, for example, I don’t follow any Ignis or FFXV tag (mostly because I want to keep my dash as short as possible lmao, but also) because I follow enough blogs that reblog enough artworks, so why follow a tag if the rest of the people are doing it for me?

Reblogging is a very, very vital part to get noticed because your art is reaching those blogs that don’t follow the tags.

This is, however, not on you. You need another blog to reblog your artwork; one reblog opens many chances so someone else reblogs, and so on and on. The more reblogs, the more chances for more reblogs, and hence, the more people will see it. 

You know what I just thought and I have no idea why it never occurred to me before?

Let’s say you have your art blog. Do you have another one where you reblog stuff? Do you already have followers? Reblog your own artwork; post in your art blog, reblog in the fandom one. That way, you’re your first reblog, and because your reblog/fandom blog will probably have more followers than the art one (at least in a beginning), it has more chances of reaching more people. 

So it’s very important that someone else reblogs your work. This is not on you, as I said, but rather in people giving you a hand at it. Except we don’t always reblog everything we see. 

So why not try to get a friend that starts doing it? 

You’re on anon for a reason, but if you want, you can tag me in your art, or tag me in it pretending to be someone else who happened to see the artwork and thought about me, so I won’t know it’s you (and don’t worry, I won’t get suspicious; I have no way to know it’s you, and I often get tagged in other artworks by people even if we don’t talk often, so I won’t look at the tag and say “Ah! It’s that anon from the other day!” I’ll just think it’s cool someone tagged me in something. Your identity is safe with  me, whether you keep it anon or not

To be honest I don’t reblog EVERYTHING that I see, but there’s big chances I will do it. I really like all the art in this fandom, it’s crazy how skilled you people are! But yeah, showing me can lead to me reblogging it, and there you could find that beginning of the reblogging chain.

Or if you’re too shy to show me, show someone else!!

Any of your friends, or someone you feel confident with, or comfortable with. The point is getting one first reblog that can lead to a few more, and the artwork will start eventually travelling across the FFXV fandom.

Speaking of reblogs, don’t be afraid of reblogging your own work in your own blog itself!

A lot, a lot, a lot of artists do it. A lot of writers too; I do it often!!

What I mean is, think about the world. It’s not the same hour everywhere. I can post something during my evening because everyone is online on evenings, right? So it wil reach everyone.

Nope. To some, it’s night; to some, it’s bedtime; to some, it’s morning. It won’t reach everyone simply because of timezones.

So what I do is, I post something, and then I queue a reblog of the same post but it’s my “12 hour reblog”. If I posted at 6 pm, I’ll queue it for 6 am. I like to do the 12 hr one because I think it’s more chances of reaching many people, with the not-so-literal thought of “if it’s day time here, it’s posting on nighttime in the other side of the world, so in 12 hours it will be this hour tomorrow for them”. I hope it makes sense.

And sometimes I even make a 3rd reblog. Sometimes I do feel shy about it because I fear to be annoying, but 99% of the times it works and it reaches people it hadn’t reached before. 

It’s a way of sending your own work back to the top of the dashboard, and sometimes a way to give a 2nd chance for people to see it; sometimes we scroll past something without noticing, so a reblog will give us a 2nd chance to see it.

3. Posting silly stuff sometimes

It’s not a secret that sometimes a silly stickman comic you drew in 5 minutes gets more attention than the profound artwork you worked in for 10 hours. It can be annoying, disappointing, even discouraging at times. But it is, nonetheless, a good way to get attention. 

I’m not saying you force yourself to think about jokes; most times forced jokes don’t work. But if you ever get a silly idea, don’t be afraid to draw it!

People won’t think about the art and judge it. They’re just looking at the joke. And if they find it funny, they may check your blog for more, and maybe you won’t have more silly comics, but maybe, from 10 people that look in your blog for more comics, 3 will think your other work is AMAZING and will fave and maybe even reblog some of that too. It can even get you a couple new followers.

Again, this is not NECESSARY. I follow artists that have never once in their lives (of this fandom) posted any joke or silly thing, and I still follow and ADORE their work to bits. The only thing I needed was to find them once. 

4. Asks and requests

If you’re up for it and have no troubles, you could also be open for quick requests in your ask box.

Have you seen some of those memes/charts, with many facial expressions/prompts, and people request something? “Could you please draw (X character) in A3, please? Thank you!” That sort of prompts. That can be very useful!

People really like free art. Some of us don’t have money for big commissions, so sometimes, when an artist can make a 15 minutes sketch or doodle of something we like, that’s amazing, and it can lead to earning followers and/or reblogs here and there. 

NOTE: Remember, however, that you’re not WORKING FOR US. You’re not getting paid. Do it for fun, when you can, and don’t stress or overwork or take 100+ requests and try to answer them all in 2 days. It’s only for fun. Alrighty? 

But yeah; sometimes, requests can lead some people to your ask, and hence tto your blog. And it’s fun! A lot of people in this fandom have some damn amazing creativity for prompts (and boy, do I know this!!)

5. Collabs /Drawing for a fic

This works better for writers; people look at artworks way, way, way more than they read fanfics, simply because it’s less time consuming and immediate. 

However, collabs can be an amazing way to get both artist and writer to be known.

There are some that follow the artist; some that follow the writer. So when a writer posts a fic linked to an artwork, people will find out about the artist’s blog that way. And when an artists posts an artwork with a fic linked, people will find the writing blog. It’s a good way that gives and receives equally. 

There are people that are REALLY passionate about a fanfic, so you can be sure as heck that they will check out any artwork about it. That they like it or not, that’s on them, but they will at least check it out. 

So you can also draw for a fic you like, no collab needed.

This works just fine, maybe even better. With this, you not only get to be known, but you also make a writer HYPED AND ECSTATIC. There ain’t a feeling in the world like getting art drawn for your fic. So you can be sure that 99% of chances are the writer will reblog even if it’s not a collab (unless the writer is some FREAK, I can’t imagine why someone wouldn’t reblog an art of their fic???). And so, the people that follow the writer will see it too. 

This can work very well because it’s a way to get at least one reblog for sure, which is a beginning. :)

6. Join fandom weeks/weekends

This is a good way to have fun and get yourself to get known.

That is because this is a way so you will for SURE have at least one reblog. And what’s best is that that reblog won’t be from a blog who has 1 follower, it will be reblogged by a fandom blog who has dozens of followers.

If someone is a lot into Gladnis, chances are they will follow the Gladnisweek blog. Maybe they won’t participate, but they follow it to see the entries of other people, and they have it for sure that the content will be exactly what they’re looking for. 

There is no way your artwork goes unseen in a fandom week! 

7. Be true to yourself; have fun

I know, I know. The most cliché of the clichéd advices. But it’s very important that you remember that.

Don’t draw for the attention; draw for yourself.

This IS another one from personal experience. I honestly never thought I’d write for this fandom, even less have this many followers or this many requests! And you know how I got here? Because I only had fun, shared my ideas, shared my passion for the game with others, I was honest and literally, literally only had fun.

Indeed, what pushed me to fame was literally just joking around. It was the Gladio’s pick up lines series. Which I did not because I wanted followers, I just wanted to make people laugh, and I wanted to share my jokes. 

All that I did was have a lot of fun and do what I wanted, not what I thought other people wanted, and eventually ended up here.

Drawing for attention is like drawing for money; it’s empty art.

You don’t dance, sing, paint, or write thinking about how much money and fame you’ll make. You dance, sing, paint, or write thinking about what your story will say, what you want to transmit, how you want it to look. You’re thinking about creating and sharing, not about the fame.

It’s as I said about making silly things or comics sometimes; it’s only if you want to and if you’re having fun, you don’t have (and must NOT) force it!! (Think about a gas; if you force a gas out, it’ll come out as poop. It must come out naturally. Same with everything else, art included!)

So stay true to yourself. Draw what you want to draw, as you want to draw it. True, you’re not drawing just for yourself; if that was the case, you wouldn’t post it online. You’re posting it because you want to share with others. But do so like that; draw for you and share with others, don’t draw what you THINK the others want or what you THINK the others will like. Draw what you want and what you like, and show us; you’ll find someone that likes it too.

Don’t stress about what people will like or not. Think about what YOU like, and that’s it. 

I understand the concern about getting your art to be known, but that comes later. 

And that’s all that I can think of right now! Gee, I sure hope I’m not forgetting/not thinking about something more or else. But I’m sure maybe some raccoobo can have advice too, so, while I can’t tell you for sure it will happen, maybe someone will drop a comment under this, so make sure to check the notes if you see any. My raccoobos are smarter and have more experience than me, so they may know something else! ヽ(・ω・)ﾉ

Of just draw the boys in lingerie, for some reason most fandom seem to like that? Lol. I honestly rarely like that and prefer them in fancy, but maybe I’m just old fashioned or a NERD. But really, draw what you like, this sentence was a joke c:

Anyway, buddy, that’s that!!

[I’m gonna add a read more; it’s not more, just my personal thanks, but as this is already lengthy, I’m gonna add this under a cut. Hope that’s okay, buddy :)]

Thank you so, so, so immensely much for asking me. I feel flattered that you decided to put this bit of trust in me. I don’t know what I did so you felt comfortable and asked me, but I’m happy about it!! 

Thank you for coming to this raccoonie for advice. I’m not the best at it, but I try. I hope any of this can be useful, buddy. Thank you again for the trust, it’s really valuable to me and I feel very honored that you asked me. :’)

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWW, and thank you SO MUCH for saying such kind and nice and sweet things about me!!! YOU’RE SO NICE, AH, YOU STOP THAT! Now I’m a blushing and giggling MESS, I’m too weak at handling praise aklsdj dfskljf klsdjf d (*ﾉ▽ﾉ)♡♡♡ 

The raccoonie is here for any question or struggle that you have, buddy! I may not always have advice, but I can always share thoughts and ideas, or just read you and give you warmy and fluffy raccoonie snuggles, alrighty? c:

Thank you so much again for asking me and for the bit of trust, and for being so sweet with me

Whether you decide to show me or not, I’ll anyway be sending you some of my most powerful, strongest MAGICAL RACCOON VIBES so you get success and the fame and followers you deserve!! And I don’t know if you’ve followed my blog for a while or if you’ve read my other personal asks, but my magical racc vibes... ALWAYS WORK!! So now you ust gotta work hard, have fun, share, and that’s it. :3

So. *grabs pompoms* This raccoon will be HYSTERICALLY CHEERING ON YOU, OKAY. Greatest of lucks, buddy, I know you can do this!! GO, GO, A-NON, GO GO, A-NON!! YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!! o(≧▽≦)o

Thanks again for everything, buddy! I wish you the absolute BEST and I give you lots, and lots, and LOTS of magical raccoon vibes so it works phenomenally!!! (ﾉ´ヮ`)ﾉ*: ･ﾟ

Greatest of lucks!

I hope you’re having a MOST FANTASTIC day or night!! Hugs!  \(^ヮ^)/

[beckytailweaver]

[FIC] Coco 1934 - Part 2

All the art and stories! Everyone is being so creative lately. I need to contribute!

Here we go again!

For the previous chapter: Part 1

To read Part 2...

Coco 1934: Part 2

When Miguel opened his eyes, he was standing in a large business office surrounded by a crowd of walking, talking skeletons.

All of them jumped.  At least half of the skeletons screamed as well.

Miguel would never admit to screaming, but he did try to run from the sudden nightmare of hollowed eyes and bony, reaching hands.  It took two of the blue-uniformed officers to snatch him up and hold on to him while they half-carried him kicking and yelling to a smaller office chamber.  They made him sit in a chair before a large desk piled with files and papers, and held him there until he quieted.

Behind the desk was a short skeleton-man with eyeglasses.  He looked like a clerk.  He and the officers questioned Miguel about how he'd gotten there—Miguel himself wasn't very clear on that—and who he was, if he had any family in the Land of the Dead.  Which was somehow where he was now.

"Mamá's parents died when she was young," he explained nervously, trying not to stare at the white, painted skull faces.  It would be rude when they weren't being very scary at all, but actually speaking reasonably.  "I don't know their names.  And I think my papá was an orphan."

He watched the Clerk and the guards exchange a look, and wondered what it meant.

"See, here's the thing, niño," the Clerk said patiently.  "You're under a curse.  Not just any curse, either—a death curse.  Which you can only get by messing with something that belongs to the wronged dead, something with the death curse attached to it."

"The last thing I touched was a guitar," Miguel confessed, hunching in the chair, "but the man it belongs to is alive!"  Maybe someone had cursed the guitar and meant it for De la Cruz, and Miguel had intervened.

"Are you sure?  Are you absolutely certain there is no one dead attached to the guitar?  Might you have touched anything else?"

Miguel rapidly shook his head.

He watched the Clerk and the guards exchange another look, before the Clerk sighed.  "The only way to get out from under a death curse is to find the wronged dead and have them undo it—get their blessing, using the magic of a cempasúchil petal—or figure out how to satisfy the terms of the curse and break it, which we have no way to know."

"So..."

"Nobody's much in the business of traditional death curses these days, niño. The last person this happened to was well before my time.  Unless the owner of the cursed guitar is dead, which you've insisted he isn't, you're stuck here in the Land of the Dead until the curse runs its course."

"What will happen then?" Miguel quavered.

The Clerk pointed at Miguel's left hand.

When Miguel found only white bone where his fingertip used to be, he fainted.

Miguel woke up with the Clerk and the officer with the thick mustache standing over him.  The Clerk was fanning him anxiously with a file folder.

"...don't know, at least he's still breathing.  Niño?  Miguel?"  The Clerk leaned closer, still fanning, peering at Miguel's blinking eyes.  "Oh, good.  You're awake.  Come on, then, up you go..."

With shaking hands, Miguel let the two skeletons help him back to his feet.  He felt woozy and his head hurt, and all he could think about was glistening white bone moving like it was alive where his finger used to be.  "What...what's happening to me...?"

"It's how most death curses go," spoke up the officer, his voice quiet and gravelly.

"That and the Land of the Dead isn't exactly a holiday destination for living things," the Clerk harrumphed, straightening his green eyeshade.  "To sum it up, young man, you have a very limited amount of time to remain alive.  Since we don't know much about the exact sort of curse you're under I can only guess how long, but at the rate you're losing flesh...perhaps sunrise?  Certainly no more than a full day."

"S-sunrise?" Miguel yelped, swaying on his feet.  The officer hastily steadied him.  "You mean...after tonight...I'll...?"

"You'll become a permanent resident here, I'm afraid."  The Clerk was businesslike, but there was pity in his eyes, a hopeless kind of pity that made Miguel's chest ache and his knees start to tremble beneath him.  "With no source here for your curse, I'm afraid that all we can do is make you comfortable until it runs its course."

"But...but my mamá, my family, they won't know what happened—!"  His vision started to blur with tears.

"I'm very sorry, niño," said the Clerk, more briskly than he wanted to hear.  "You can wait here at the Department.  When the time comes, since you have no family here, one of the officers will walk you down to the San Gerónimo Children's Home.  A counselor will assist you with filling out the requisite forms before you leave, so that you can be notified if and when any family members arrive in the future—"

"An orphanage?" he yelped, drawing away from them.  "You're sending me to an orphanage...f-for dead kids?  I have a family, I'm not dead!"

"I'm afraid it's only a matter of time," the Clerk sighed.  "And since you are underage and with no known deceased family, you have no residence or legal guardians here.  When an adult from your family arrives, you can—"

"I want to go home!" Miguel declared, but when he tried to back away further, the officer set a very firm hand on his shoulder, preventing him from moving.

"There's nothing we can do, son," the officer said in a gruffly gentle way.  "We don't know of any way to bring you back into the Land of the Living."

"You don't, but maybe someone else does!" Miguel insisted, trying to free himself from the bony hands.  "Let me go!"

"It's not safe for a living person to go gallivanting about the Land of the Dead," the Clerk said, adjusting his glasses.  "There are still bad sorts here that might try to use you for some unsavory purpose while you are still alive, likely to try to contact the living world, and...it doesn't bear thinking about, especially for a child.  It's best if you just wait here quietly until tomorrow.  I'm sorry, Miguel, but that's the best we can do.  Jorge, if you would take him to one of the family rooms, maybe get him some water...?"

Looking stern and sad, the officer pulled him to the door.  Miguel fought him along the way, unable to hold back his tears.  "Let me go!  I'm not dead!  I want to go home!  Let go!"

Just outside the Clerk's office, they almost ran into another uniformed officer and a lanky skeleton in a purple jacket he was frog-marching through the front office room.  "—could have been clocking out to visit my living family already," this new officer was grumbling at his captive, "but I have to haul your obnoxious arse to lockup again—every goddamn year—"

"Carlos! There is a child present!" the lanky skeleton protested, before he took a closer look at Miguel and gasped.  "Ay!  He's alive—!"

"And he's none of your business, Héctor," the mustached officer stated, keeping his grip and pushing Miguel along before him as if to shield him from the other detainee's view.  "Looks like you're in enough trouble as it is."

As they all trudged along almost in parallel for a few moments, Miguel's tear-streaked face turned up to glance at the tall lanky skeleton staring wide-eyed back at him.  In that instant, something passed between them—an echo of determination, a shared desperation, a wily spark of inspiration.

"No! I wanna go home!"  Still struggling against the mustachioed officer's grip, Miguel threw himself with a wail to the floor at the lanky skeleton's feet, almost dragging the startled Jorge down with him.

The lanky skeleton—Héctor?—took a step to the side and tripped over Miguel in such a dramatic sprawl that the two officers collided with each other and stumbled as well. Suddenly everything was a mess of clattering bones and flailing limbs and everyone else in the office was staring in incredulous dismay.

As limber as if he'd practiced for a circus tumble, Héctor rolled out of the mayhem and bounced to his feet with Miguel clutched under one arm.  "Let's go, chamaco!"

The mustached officer made a grab for them from the floor, but like a thief with a freshly stolen jewelry box, Héctor slipped away from the reaching hands and lit out for the front doors.  Miguel was jarred against rigid bone but didn't complain, hanging on to the skeleton's threadbare jacket for dear life.

There was yelling from behind, and another officer tried to bodily block them from the doors, but Miguel's long-legged ride spun nimbly around the tackle, cleared the queue control rail in one leap, and slammed into the office doors hard enough to rattle teeth.  He scrabbled at the handle for a heart-pounding instant, and Miguel felt a hard bony hand grasping at his ankle before they all but fell through the opening.

Miguel kicked out blindly, knocking the reaching hands away, and the skeleton carrying him bolted out of the office like a spooked deer.  Moments later, they were weaving without slowing through thick crowds in what seemed almost like a train station, leaving the frantic officers and angry shouts far behind.

tbc...

Notes: There may or may not be an actual face scanner in 1934! It’s likely a new-ish invention. The marigold bridge magic still works to prevent unauthorized passage, though. The office skeletons aren’t uncaring of Miguel’s situation but they honestly have no idea what to do for him. This sort of thing doesn’t just happen any more, since the world has moved away from belief and magic of decades and centuries past. Even if they could walk Miguel across a marigold bridge, they have no idea how to flip him back into the living world from where they are. Nobody knows how to help, unless they’ve got maybe an Aztec shaman stashed away somewhere or something like that...? Yes, this Héctor is in much better shape than the one in the canon movie. It’s only been a decade or so since he died, so he has multiple living people who remember him. He might be penniless and a bit threadbare, but he’s still fit, unfaded, and even somewhat optimistic. There might be a familiar face or two in the office...

Thoughts welcome!

[lizandsophieinindia]

Day Do

We are alive and well and awake and almost on India timing. Sleeping in a real live bed was a good place to start. The sun rises at 5:15 so sleeping until 7:30 felt like we were sleeping in. 

Tea and coffee time is important here, which is lovely. We enjoyed a long breakfast of South Indian oats and mint jelly and soaked in Nina’s wisdom about the heating and cooling properties of specific foods on our bodies - the intentionality of each part of every meal has been an amazing difference from how my experience in America (Sophie never wants to leave). Every meal is balanced with hot and cold, wet and dry and only foods in season are eaten. Each food and spice is known for different characteristics, interactions and affects on our bodies, so getting the right balance is important for overall wellness - especially in summer heat. Amazing! My idea of a balanced meal is normally at least one green thing in or around my pasta dish, so i’m really feeling convicted/inspired. 

We went to Janpath market for some “touristy” shopping (we fit right in because, as you may know, we are tourists) and revealed our talents for negotiation in foreign countries. 

Sophie: 95 (really got into it, would recommend for Shark Tank)

Liz: 5 (i asked for 10 Rupees (about a nickel) off of one thing one time. Then Amrita had to do it for me because i’m a people pleaser. 

Amrita: 100 because by trying not to haggle with a salesman he ended up giving her half off. She gets all the stars. 

After gathering our loot of shoes, scarves, souvenirs and a much-debated but heavily appreciated leather bag (written while Sophie whispers “I love this bag” across the room) from the market, we went to Khan market - a favorite market of some of the most expensive shops in Delhi - for Mamagoto and it’s DELIGHTFUL pan-asian food which we ate way too much of. The menu was crafted by Amina’s sister-in-law and we enjoyed supporting the family business! The waiter spilled some leftover water on Amrita and apologized with not one but TWO complementary deserts - highly recommend if you have the opportunity. 

With full bellies and full hearts, we waled through Good Earth (think Anthropologie, but Indian) and fell in love with the smells, fabrics and patterns of India used in the most delicate and stunning ways. We couldn’t afford any of it, but it was lovely nonetheless—we had to drag Sophie away from the pillows. 

Then Amina, Amrita, Sophie and I wandered National Gallery of Modern Art - between Amrita and Amina we learned a tidbit about most art and artists in the gallery. I know nothing about art, so I was thankful to have an art major/teacher to show me why the piece took longer than I would imagine or was revolutionary for it’s time. Indian art style is influenced by a few of the same artists, but is different than American styles we would see in a gallery - different brush strokes and media. 

We had a cup of coffee to wake us up after a long day of walking in a beautiful restored Old Delhi style hotel, with high vaulted ceilings and marble floors - all surrounding a courtyard of palm trees and well-placed stone - and then headed back to the house for dinner. 

The gathered group of 12 took our time drinking cocktails in Nina’s living room. I initially thought there was more seating than we would ever need, but each chair and couch was used at some point as people shifted to talk to their relatives around the room. I am amazed and thankful to be a part of this family who loves, laughs with/at each other, and enjoys the company of their loved ones well—queue Sophie observing with her best soft smile. 

Our traditional Indian dinner - where we once again filled all space to fit everyone at a table - was beautiful and flavorful, just what we wanted (and more) from an Indian family dinner. We are coming to love goat - who knew. 

Additional things we learned in India today: 

- There’s always a glitch. Or something is always broken. 

-  Light switches are backwards. Or maybe America just does everything opposite than the rest of the world. (This led us to the question of how the world ended up driving on different sides of the street?? Who was being difficult and uncooperative at some point in time to make that decision??”) *Fun Fact: Italians were the first right-side drivers. 

- Contrary to Sophie’s alleged myth, the peacock feather does not seem to keep lizards out of the house, but, in fact, seems to bring them into our apartment. I’ll still take them over cockroaches. 

We wake up at 4:30 tomorrow to leave for Agra to see the Taj Mahal. Goodnight.