#Lmao I swear it’s the chapters where I’m like hm I might have to put stuff from what would be next chapter in or this one might be short

[bigboysteveharrington]

I’m just over 15k into the next chapter of The Things in Life That I Can’t Find so this is definitely being the longest update yet, but I’m getting close to done though

I’m gonna take a break for a bit and then hopefully finish it off and then who knows how many hours it’ll take to edit it so the chapter may be up tonight depending on how sleepy I get while editing

[imagines-r-s]

sticking it - j. farabee

chapter 6

a/n: now you’ll all see why i said be excited for ch. 6 lmao. (also, with ch. 5 not showing up in the tags for a minute, some might not have seen it, so i’ll link it here) but anyways, this chapter was difficult to write bc i’m not used to writing anything but angst lmao. and huge shoutout to my baby gracie for helping me out with this chapter. please enjoy and i’d love to hear feedback

also, like i told an anon, this is in memory of bee’s hair :((  (he still looks good with the new hair, don’t get me wrong)

taglist: @butgilinsky @barbienoturbby @sunsetholland​ @lovenhlboys @sortagaysortahigh @hockey-racing-fubol @oopsiedoopsie23 @iwantahockeyhimbo @dreamsndior

warnings: (2) your mom jokes, jealous!joel?, once again simp nation for the both of them, swearing (it’s a problem ngl), idiocy 

sticking it masterlist

wc: 4.1k

(gif not mine)

When you told Marcus and Michelle that you had to be out for a month, they advised you to only come to the gym three times a week for two hours for the first two weeks and you’d figure out a plan for the two weeks after, that way you could take a much needed break out of the gym. The thing stressing you out the most was gym and they obviously realized it, so they were hopeful it would give you a chance to breathe. 

You planned to go to the gym Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays from 6-8am and then you would spend the rest of your day at home doing whatever you needed to do that day. The first Monday you spent those two hours doing ab workouts and helping the other girls around the gym, then you went home and stayed in your room for the rest of the day. You put your phone on do not disturb, so no one heard from you, which caused Kevin to come to your apartment to make sure you were okay. 

Tuesday played out the exact same way, early practice, then going home and staying in bed, and Kevin coming to make sure you were alright. Kevin even invited you to come out with him and some of the boys, which you politely declined saying they should have their time together. Wednesday, you simply stayed in bed, choosing to actually keep your phone on today, you were just tired and felt drained from everything going on right now that you couldn’t really muster up the energy to talk to anyone. 

Wednesday night, as you were rewatching Marvel movies, your phone started ringing with a call from Ryanne. Quickly answering it, “hey Ry.”

“Hey babes, how’re you doing?”

“I’ve been better, I’ve also been worse, so.”

“Me and Claude were wondering if you’d want to come over and hang out with us and Gav for some of the day, we’ll provide food and such, but we miss you, babe. So, we figured we’d ask while you have a chance.” 

In reality, Ryanne had heard from Claude that you wouldn’t be able to do extensive training for at least a month. She might not have known much about gymnastics, but she knew you well enough to know that you were always constantly training - she was well aware that if that ever got taken from Claude that he would be devastated if he was out for that long and with two weeks to prepare for a big game.

She had checked in to see how you were with Kevin one day after practice and when he mentioned everything that was going on, she was worried about you. She knew that she likely wouldn’t be able to help much, but she did know that there was one part of the equation she could help. Knowing that she already had a plan to have a send off party before the boys went on a roadie and also knowing that everyone on the team would be there, she somehow conveniently planned to invite you over a few hours before it started. 

“Oh, yeah, I’d love to, honestly. What time do you want me over?”

“Anytime after three is fine. I’ll see you then, hun. Oh, and wear something cute.”

“Why exactly?”

“Just do it,” Ryanne said, not having time to think of an excuse, “bye.”

As you were about to say something else, the ring that told you she had hung up rang out. 

…..

Joel wasn’t doing as good as he wanted to be recently and with an upcoming roadie, he knew he needed to spend more time on the ice before the game. Having asked a few of the guys to work with him during an unscheduled morning skate, he was able to work on what he needed to. 

“Wait, so she’s out how long?” Joel overheard Travis ask Kevin as he made his way into the locker room. 

“Like four weeks, but two weeks with the brace and basically no training, then two weeks with athletic tape on her knee and no hard landings. But she’ll only have two weeks before Championships, so she's not feeling too great about it. Plus, she has to use her brace and crutches again and she didn’t enjoy that the first time,” Kevin replied. 

“Is she going to be okay?” Joel hadn’t meant to ask his question aloud, but as soon as Kevin heard his voice a smile grew on his face. 

“Yeah, Lover Boy, she’ll be fine. She hasn’t really been up to do anything recently, but other than that I think she’ll be okay. She has to use her crutches again, which is honestly very entertaining,” Kevin stated before turning to leave the locker room, turning right as he got to the doorway, “random question, are you planning on going to G’s for the send off party tomorrow night?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Just wondering,” and with that Kevin was gone, leaving a confused Joel behind. 

Kevin knew that you had a lot on your plate right now and that you wouldn’t want to go to anyone about your problems. He also knew that the both you and Joel, were simply too stubborn to fix the problem going on between you on your own, hence why he had mentioned something to Ryanne. He knew that Ryanne would jump at the chance to be able to help you feel better and as soon as she mentioned the party set-up idea, he was in. The plan was then mentioned to most of the team, knowing that the help of many was needed in order to help the two idiots. 

….. 

After sending Kevin a quick text that you were leaving, you left your apartment and made your way to Ryanne and Claude’s house. Gently knocking on the door, you smiled when Ryanne opened the door, “awe, babe, I’m so happy you’re here, I missed you so much.”

“I missed you, too. Not to be rude, but where is the tiny human?” you asked, looking past Ryanne to see Gavin walking towards you, “hi, bub. Oh my god, you’re getting so big.” 

“Well if you came around more often, you’d get to see him more,” Ryanne mumbled, watching you play with the boy in front of you. 

“I heard that,” you said, in a sing-song voice.

“You were supposed to,” she replied, mocking your tone, “anyways, Claude is on his way back from the store, so he’ll be here soon, but I haven’t talked to you in forever, how’s everything? How’s gym?”

“Oh, well. I’ve been better, this last meet definitely wasn’t all that great and not being able to train doesn’t really help my case either, but I’m making the most of it,” you said, shrugging. 

“And you’re actually having to listen to Adrian this time around?” she said, pointedly, causing you to chuckle. 

“Yeah, I have to actually listen to Adrian this time,” you smiled, “I hate that I have to actually wear my knee brace, though. And I have to use crutches. Can you believe that?”

“Considering it’s you, I’m more shocked that you’re actually using them.” 

“Ry, shh, let’s not call me out too much today,” you replied. 

It wasn’t too long before you heard the front door open, Claude walking in a few seconds later, “awe, it’s my favorite babysitter. Come on, babe, let’s leave while we can.”

“Haha, I almost forgot how funny you are, G,” you said, sarcastically. 

“I’m sure, I’m sure. You know what would be nice though?”

“What?”

“Helping me put the groceries up,” he said, smiling sweetly causing you to groan. 

“Are chores and babysitting all I’m good for to you?”

“Well,” he looked up to the ceiling, as if he were thinking for another answer,”hm, nothing comes to mind, y/n/n.”

“Oh, that was mean,” Ryanne said, playfully elbowing Claude. 

“Thank-”

“She’ll never babysit again if we’re mean to her,” Ryanne smirked. 

“Oh, wow, I see how it is, don’t worry,” you said, the three of you laughing. 

As the three of you were setting out groceries - you mostly sitting on the kitchen island, taking things out of the bag - the three of you caught up. Claude talking about his hopes for these next few games, Ryanne talking about how Gavin was doing - not missing the few times Gav ran through the kitchen -, and you talking about whatever you could. 

“Ok, so we haven’t brought this up yet, but I was just wondering if you had any idea what’s going on with Beezer? I know you guys had gotten closer recently and he’s just not himself, so I’m asking if you know anything,” Claude asked, closing the fridge before turning back to you. Both him and Ryanne had a pretty good idea of what happened, but if they were missing something, they wanted to know. 

“Oh, um, well, about that one,” you sighed, gathering your thoughts, “me and him kinda haven’t talked since I told him I only wanted to be friends.” 

“Ok, but from the looks of it, it looked like both of you wanted to be more than friends?” 

“Yeah, but, there’s a lot more to it, you know.”

“No, actually, I’m a tad bit lost, y/n/n.”

“Look, I can’t have any distractions right now and I was worried about it affecting gymnastics, so I told him I only want to be friends.”

“That’s dumb,” Claude replied, quickly.

“Thank you, many people have mentioned that.”

“He has no place to talk in a situation like this,” Ryanne finally spoke up, causing you to look between the pair confused, “when his life was just hockey, hockey, and hockey, nothing could fill those spots. So, when our relationship was first starting he did the same thing to me that you’re doing to Bee.”

“This was supposed to be a philosophical moment and you messed it up,” Claude replied. 

“I didn’t mess it up, you’re just mad because you basically called yourself dumb. But pushing him away isn’t a smart option and it just hurts both of you in the process,” Ryanne said before walking back to where Gavin was. 

“Look, I know you said you didn’t want distractions, but this seems to be having a worse effect on you than you hoped. From the looks of it, when you started pushing him away, it affected your performance. Just pointing that out for you.”

“Yeah, I know. You didn’t have to point it out, you know.”

“Yeah, but you would have continued to ignore the obvious fact that you were just scared of a relationship in general,” he shrugged.

“I don’t even know how to talk to him about it or at least how to start the conversation.”

“Well, lucky for you,” he looked down to check his watch, “the guys are all coming over in like 10 minutes, so you’ll see him then.”

“Huh?”

“Yeah, it’s a send off party for the roadie this weekend, why do you think we got so many groceries?” and with that he left you in the kitchen by yourself. 

…..

Joel sat in the backseat of Kevin’s car, Nolan in the passenger seat, as they made their way to G’s house. By the time they got there, most of the guys had already gotten there, seeing a few familiar cars in the driveway, but one stood out in particular. He knew that it was yours from some of the times he had seen you driving, “what’s y/n/n doing here?”

Nolan and Kevin both chuckled at that, “she came over here earlier to watch Gavin, I think,” Kevin said. 

“Oh, cool,” Joel replied, attempting to sound nonchalant as possible 

“Don’t try to act like you’re not freaking out. You aren’t slick, dude,” Nolan added, shaking his head, “you two better talk, too. Because everyone is tired of the two of you being idiots and not talking shit out.” 

“We’re not idiots.”

“You are,” the other two said in unison. Joel didn’t try to argue as he followed the pair inside their captain’s house. 

As soon as he entered the house, he took note that almost all the team was here, most of the team was outside, but he immediately found you sitting on one of the barstools with Gavin sitting on your lap as you talked with Ryanne. “Go talk to her,” Nolan whispered, causing him to jump. 

“God, Pat. What the fuck?” Joel said turning around. 

“I said what I said. You’ll have to talk at some point, might as well just do it. Plus, she’s on crutches, so like, if she wants to run away it will take her a while.”

“Um, that’s- I mean, that’s valid, but-”

“At some point today, you should talk to her. I obviously can’t make you and it’s up to you, but I think it would help fix things,” Nolan said, shrugging.

“Yeah, I know, I know. I plan on it.” 

You and Ryanne had stayed inside with Gav since the boys were grilling outside, so when Nolan, Kevin, and Joel walked in, you were one of the first people to notice. Kevin made his way over to you almost as soon as he came in, “so, you enjoying the party?”

“Considering I didn’t know it was happening, sure I’m having a great time, Kev.”

“Well, I guess it’s a surprise party then,” you quickly shot him a glare, “surprise.” 

As you heard the back door open, you looked up to see Joel already looking at you, shooting you a quick smile as he followed his teammate to go outside. “I swear, if all you guys do tonight is spare glances at each other and don’t talk, I’m going to lose it,” Ryanne said from beside you. 

“I think everyone will, to be honest,” Kevin added, “well, I’m going outside. If you need any help, just let me know.” 

The boys had a few different plans in place to get the two of you to talk; conveniently sending Joel in to help while you were inside, telling Joel to go help out inside, asking Joel to get Gavin, and as a last resort, make Joel jealous. 

When everyone had been done eating, Claude asked some of the younger guys to help him clean up and bring out the cooler with drinks that was still inside. Joel had somehow conveniently avoided going inside while helping and when he did, he went straight to the kitchen and right back out. He wasn’t wanting to avoid you all night, but he didn’t know what to do. Shortly after, Claude had asked Joel to go in and get Gavin, somehow right as you had left Gavin with Ryanne, which also ruined that plan. 

Ryanne knew that it would be suspicious if they kept trying those same plans. So instead, she basically forced you to go outside with her. She helped you get outside, Kevin shooting up from his chair to help you get down the stairs of the deck, “you don’t have to help me out, Kev.”

“Knowing you, you would trip and break something. You’re already hurt enough,” he said, causing you to roll your eyes. As Kevin looked up, he didn’t miss the way Joel lit up as he saw you, “hey, your boy is looking over here.”

Looking up, your eyes once again met his, to which you sent him a light smile, “yeah, he’s been watching me since I stepped out here.”

“y/n/n, you would only know that if you were looking at him, too.”

“Yeah, I never said that I wasn’t though.” 

“You know, it’s obvious the two of you aren’t mad at each other or anything like that. So, why the fuck haven’t you talked yet?”

“Oh, um. Words are hard,” you said, walking away towards Travis and Nolan on your crutches. 

“You’re literally on crutches, you aren’t moving that fast.”

“You know who else isn’t moving that fast?”

“y/n. I swear, if this is another your-”

“Your mom,” you yelled back to him. 

“What is up with you and making your mom jokes?” Nolan asked as you got closer to them. 

“They’re funny?” 

“y/n/n just has the sense of humor of a middle school boy, that’s why her and Beezer got along so well,” Travis added, helping you move your crutches so you could sit down at the table they were at, “how are the crutches?”

“How’s your mom?” you laughed, causing the two of them to groan, “nah, they’re not fun. In any way shape or form.”

As you were talking to Nolan and Teeks, Kevin and Ryanne realized that none of the plans they had tried were working. Both of them knew that the only plan that would probably work was to make Joel jealous, so Kevin texted Carter, Morgan, Nolan, and Teeks to let them know that was the plan that they were going with. 

“y/n looks really good today,” Carter said, causing Joel to spit out his drink. 

“Better watch yourself, Hartsy,” Joel replied, shooting a glare towards his friend. 

“I was just being honest, she really does. There’s nothing going on between you guys anymore, right?” Carter watched as Joel visibly tensed at the mention of what was happening between the two of you, knowing that the plan was working he continued, “I mean, if nothings going on between you two, then she’s single, right?”

“Well, I mean-” Joel stuttered out, “we haven’t talked in a while, but that doesn’t mean-”

“I’ll be right back, okay?” Carter said, making his way over to the table you were at, causing Nolan and TK to chuckle as they saw Joel’s face drop, “hey, y/n/n.”

“Hey, Hartsy, it’s been a minute. How is everything?” you smiled. You kept talking to the group around you for a while, not noticing the way Joel was becoming visibly angry. He didn’t want to seem jealous, but he assumed that Carter had been flirting with you this whole time, so he made the executive decision to talk to you now. 

Since your back was facing him, you didn’t see him coming, but the three boys around you did, only trying to hide their smiles since the plan was actually working. “Hey y/n, can we talk?” he asked. 

You turned around to finally face the boy you had been avoiding, “yeah, hold on a sec.” As you continued some of your conversation, Joel was getting more and more irritated, mostly because Carter was sending looks his way that he couldn’t exactly read. Joel, being the impatient person he was, pulled the chair you were sitting at away from the table, pulling you up to stand before lifting you up over his shoulder, “Bee, what the fuck?”

He simply ignored you as he carried you up the stairs and back inside his captain’s house. You tried pushing yourself off as he made his way up the stairs, but it was deemed useless when he just tightened his grip, “Farabee, I swear to god. I will hurt you.”

Eventually, he opened the door to the guest bathroom and gently set you down on the counter before locking the door, “what the fuck was that for? If you want to talk, you could have just waited a second. But no, you had to be all dramatic about it,” you said, rolling your eyes. 

“Are you done?” Joel asked, crossing his arms and leaning back against the door.  

“I mean, yeah. Are you?” 

“Yeah, but I’m tired of us ignoring each other and I miss you, so we need to figure stuff out.”

“Awe, you miss me? That’s cute,” you smiled. 

“y/n/n, I swear, now is not the time for that one.”

“Ok, sorry. I’ll be serious now,” you said, crossing your arms to mock him. 

“I just want to know what happened at the lake?” 

“Oh, we’re going straight to the point, alright,” you sighed, “look, what I said at the lake wasn’t true. I got this idea in my head that if you were in my life, you were a distraction from what I wanted.”

“How’d that work out for you?” he said, smirking. 

“Oh, no, see that’s what we’re not going to do. No need for the attitude. Anyways, I had this idea that if anything happened between us, that I would mess it up and it would mess everything in my life up. So, pushing you away was the safest option.”

Joel took a moment to gather his thoughts before pushing himself off the door and made his way closer to you, ending up standing between your legs with his hands on either side of you, “look, I’m saying this and I mean it. I understand where you’re coming from with the fear of distractions thing, but I want you to know that I would never intentionally keep you from your goals and dreams. I’m just extra support, you know.”

“Yeah, I realized that after you ran from the lake house. We could have had this figured out by now, if you had stayed,” you said, sarcastically. Rolling your eyes for added dramatic effect. 

“Oh, shut up. You have no place to talk, babe,” he said, smiling when he heard you giggle, “what was that for?”

“I kinda missed you calling me babe, I guess. Kinda crazy, dude.”

“Awe, so you did miss me?”

“I never said I didn’t,” you said, quietly reaching up to wrap your arms around his neck. You saw the way that his eyes went from your eyes to your lips, “I also missed this,” and with that you pulled him closer until your lips met in a long awaited kiss. 

As the two of you broke away, your foreheads were still together, “hey, Bee?”

“Yeah?”

“You know who else I missed? Your mom,” you laughed. 

“Way to ruin the moment, babe,” he smiled, “That was funny though, so I respect it.”

“Dude, I’m so funny sometimes.”

“Looks aren’t everything, babe,” he said, laughing at the gasp you responded with. 

“Oh, that was rude. I’ll get you back one day though,” you watched as he went to leave the bathroom, “hey, Bee. I’m not supposed to walk without crutches, hate to break it to you.”

Rolling his eyes, he made his way back to you, turning around right in front of you, “here.” You leaned a little bit forward, wrapping your arms around his neck once again as he readjusted his grip on the back of your legs, so he could give you a piggyback ride on the way back outside. 

“You know, they didn’t tell me there was a party,” you spoke as he made his way back towards the door. 

“Oh, they said it was teammates only and then I saw your car,” he replied, pausing a moment as the two of you realized what had happened at the same time, “so, this was-”

“Yep.” 

“And Hartsy saying he was going to ask you out was part of it?”

“Hartsy said he was going to do that,” you started cackling. “Wait, were you jealous of him?” you asked laughing even harder. 

“It’s not funny.”

“Oh, yeah. I know, it’s hilarious.” 

“I will drop you right now,” he said, as he opened the door for outside, “and you’ll stuck right here, Ms. ‘I can’t walk down stairs right now’.”

“That’s a low blow,” you said, as the two of you made your way back to the table you were at. 

“Oops, sorry, babe,” he set you down close to your chair, but sat down before you could.

“Oh, so now you steal my chair, too?”

“Oh, shut up, you’re fine,” he said, pulling you to sit in his lap, “there you go.”

“So, I see the two of you made up?” Nolan asked, pointing at the two of you. 

“We also made out, in case you were wondering,” Joel replied, earning an elbow to the stomach, “ow, that hurt.”

“Sucks to suck, babe,” you replied, causing the smile on his face to grow even more. 

When Kevin and Ryanne watched the two of you walk back outside, they were happy to see that the plan worked. Ryanne simply laughed and shook her head as she heard the exchange between the two of you, “they are so in love and I don’t even think they realize it.”

“Ryanne, that is a big word, that I’m not prepared for. So, please, let’s not do that today,” Kevin replied, earning a laugh from Ryanne, “they’re happy though, that’s all that matters to me.”

[the-acid-pear]

I did my homework and i did my chores, time to tackle on the third book of this series, Son of Ogre

Chapter 1

Okay but the fuck is Baki planning to do if he stops fighting? That's literally all he has, he's not smart

WOOH THATS A BIT REALISTIC

PREHISTORIC ELEPHANT?!

King just went to have a snack. Also FUCK does that meat look tasty FUCKKK

This baby so cute 🥺

I'm so glad Yuji is doing stupid hilarious shit again it had been a while

Congrats on Baki for that mantis

Chapter 2

Who tf is this kid?

Poor kid lmao, i assume he will meet Baki

Look at my boyyy

HSTSRFAYDF DON'T CALL HIM A MANLET

Imagine Baki actually kills this kid HSJDYSSHCBT

Third comment with a ton of likes is "we do not condone child violence. We do, however, find it hilarious"

Chapter 3

AH SHUT UPPP KIDDO

But i like Baki memeing a round a lil

Chapter 4

🥺🥺 that's so sweet...

HELLOOOO STRYDUM MY GOD YOUR TITS GOT FATTER SIR 😳😳

Yujiro is such a fucking threat to society lmao

I love seeing Baki with his eyes open, he's looking more like his old self

Oh, shadow boxing incoming, alright

Chapter 5

Yuri? 🥺 /j

THE RETURN OF IRON MICHAEL?!

Chapter 6

I love how there's our silly little mains after every cover LUV em <33

Baki just dissociating his ass out and using it on his favor, the king

Why is Baki eating sour prunes aren't those meant to be sweet?

We all salivating

Chapter 7

Love to see there are even more swears there now

I can put my face next to my foot too tho

FAGDRJSEHARD YUJIRO CAN BEAT THE CANCER HOW ICONIC 😍

Also i would LOVE to see Yuji fight an Orca

WHAT?!

I love how everyone in the comments is calling out Rumina for not seeing issue going down to a dark hidden basement with a shirtless man older than him

Chapter 8

"piggy back me" USHSYFLFUDSY

This fight is going to be good

Chapter 9

Imagine Baki dies right here right know against an imaginary mantis lmao

Okay Baki getting damaged makes sense but the WALL?

Baki's dead (GOD IT HAS BEEN SO LONG SINCE I HAVE SAID THAT)

Ffs it's true Baki COULD create himself a stand 😰

Chapter 10

OH FUCK IT'S TRUE

Chapter 11

This fight is so boring i had to take a 6 hour break

Baki just can't win against nature eh

This reminds me of Garland pulling a suplex on that Anaconda

Chapter 12

I can't wait for the main cast to ACTUALLY appear, instead of just, you know, them in the covers

This fight is slow but cool but slow

To fight a mantis you must think like a mantis 😎

Though it's true in this manga you will most likely win if you steal your opponent techniques so

Chapter 13

I MISS IGARI FUCKKK

This is so dumb i luv it

That mantis be swearing lmao

Love it when Baki goes full Yujiro

Chapter 14

TOBA...

Holy fuck do mantis fly?

Secret Chapter?

Is this how Yujiro got born?

Idk girl i would have killed him if i was you

WHAT.

I KNOW THOSE FROGS THEY ARE FROM PUERTO RICO I THINK

I might just be sleepy but this is so confusing

AKSHSKGSKSGSJSG JUST KILL THE BABY IT AINT THAT HARD

Chapter 15

GAIA...

Why is he like this?

Is "he" with us right now?

...gotta admit that IS true...

I love Strydum sksgwhwg

Yujiro really went XD

I don't think my man Arun in the comments is aware how gay what he said is, though maybe I'm wrong

Chapter 16

GOD THESE FUCKING COVERS MAKING ME SO NOSTALGIC, LOOK AT SPEC!

ANIME KENNEDY?!

I can't believe Bush is dead

AN ASIAN BOY HAS JUST KIDNAPPED THE PRESIDENT...

8 of January? My god he's a Capricorn

I'm sorry, what?

LAHQIGWKQFWKSFWIWG 😭😭

I love Baki so much, THIS IS THE KID THAT I MISSED SO MUCH

This explains why Baki was in prison clothes in the anime teaser

Chapter 17

BIG NUMBER

That one mf like 😐

Glad Baki is 18 now at least 😌

Love to see Oliva back

Chapter 18

This page not even bothering to charge the pages anymore

I'm sure there were better ways to go to jail, well, actually, no, but still

Toba used to just chew that off

Baki did that mantis hit you in the head too hard?

I. I watched way too many prison movies and shows. I don't like seeing someone as young and pretty as Baki in such a place. I rlly don't.

Chapter 19

Yanagi baby i miss you...

IRON MICHAEL?!

Mfkhsjsys 😳🥴

Eh got my hopes too high

CHE BAKI PIBE... LA PUTA MADRE NI ACA ME ESCAPO DE MIS COMPATRIOTAS

I hope he swears too i want to see a boludo o pelotudo PLEASE

I mean para pelotudos lo veo a Yujiro todo el tiempo pero igual JSGWKEGWG me pone bien argento ver al Che carajo

Chapter 20

HE SAID BOLUDO SUAHWKWGAKSGSKSGSKGD

I can't take this omfg new fav I'm sorry Doppo but he just said boludo 😭

Pendejo is more used as pibe here but i will let it pass bc idk the lingo in Cuba and he spent some time there so

Why don't i speak like this too ffs? All i do is say eh and call it a day

He's cocky enough to call anybody any age pibe so I'll let that pass too

Por favor no lo hagas che sksgwj

Chapter 21

Che, pibe, it's a good day to die...

Chapter 22

GSHAGSTSG he should have said "no boludo"

I'm falling in love with this boludo myself

That's talented and brutal

OH RIGHT YOU LOSE YOUR BALANCE WHEN YOU DONT HAVE THAT

Chapter 23

Hm that's, cringe

YESSS HE SAID PELOTUDO

OAHWLGWKQFSKSGSJS SIII ROMPELO TODO CHE, ROMPELO TODO POR DECIRTE YANKEE KSGSSJGS

Honestly i too get pissed off when called American or European, though i won't throw shit to Baki, he's some random 18 yo japanese boy, no way he would recognize latinoamerican lingo lmao

King shit Baki boy

Chapter 24

Oh that's why he's called Jun Guevara, that's fair

I like how they are mixing a bit of truth and a bit of lie it's fun at least

Chapter 25

I like how they are drawing nipples now, occasionally

I can't wait for Viêt to complain about propaganda in the comments

OH SHIT

😳 :Y

He's sooo nice 😍

Chapter 26

Only three? You mean the third is... 👁️👁️

HAHA YEAH YUJI-CHAN <3

I can't believe he works for the USA I'm crying and shaking rn

What a progressive manga, the three strongest and most dangerous men and none of them are white 😍

GET HIS ASS BAKI

Chapter 27

Why is this guy sweating sm?

LDYDYSUGFUDT BAKI PLS

I like how the only time Baki was willing to kill a person was when he thought Sikorsky had hurt his girl

Chapter 28

I feel like Ian will die

Man i love how Baki is drawn in this book

Ffs i called it, i have watched way too many prison things to know how shit goes down

I have seen these three before in fanart but I'm curious to see what they can do

Chapter 29

Their faces remind me of Doyle

OH I CANT WAIT TO SEE EM IN THE ANIME

ASSHOLE DON'T CALL ME STUPID 😢💔

I'm gonna struggle to tell em apart but i think I'll manage

Okay I'm not the only one who thinks they look like Doyle, fair

Chapter 30

The mouth vs Yujiro when?

Someone mentioned the have the same vibe as the dudes that worked with Gaia and like 👁️👁️

Chapter 31

Lmao someone in the comments recommended the same thing

These three must be great at sex (sorry)

KSHALDHDKD NEW FAV COMMENT: "go to Japan and look for the word "defeat". That way you won't feel cocky anymore"

Chapter 32

Hehe hello Junnn~

KSHAKDHKWGS

La luna

Chapter 33

LOS TRES...

Okay that's funny, hocico instead of mouth (hocico is used for animal mouths)

I'm so glad i know Spanish

The two things that drive me insane and make me ramble are Doppo's beauty and this stupid argentinian

OSHSKWGSKSG

Chapter 34

Imagine he's doing that illusion thing Dorian did

With his own blood, that's so cool...

Hoho...!

I did that once when i had a terrible nose bleed, didn't go well

Chapter 35

This book is fucking boring NGL

"now that you got no more urine left in you"

AH.

GAHDYR LMAO

Chapter 36

HO THAT TITLE, PLEEEASE I NEED SOMETHING, ANYTHING, TO HAPPEN

HHH he kinda cute...

Oww :(

JDJSJFRGAJ

God piantao is an old word i had never heard it before

AND he took a piss.

LOCO NO SEAS HOMOFÓBICO NINGUNA MINA ACA ES MEJOR QUE ESTE PIBITO TE LO ASEGURO SKSGSKGSJAAGS

Se me cayó un ídolo y yo que le quería dar 😔

ÑSHWQLSGOSGDKW

Let's see if he lied to Baki about just liking eh /j

Chapter 37

I luv Oliva lol

AJSGSKSLAGHS BAKI SNAPPED

I too wonder where the fuck Kozue is

Chapter 38

LSHSLDGSLSGSIEG

He is jealous of what you two have, it's normal, el Che just rejected his love after all ;/

Oliva is a king

OH A HANKERCHIEF I THOUGHT THAT WAS UNDERWEAR SHSGS-

Oh shit Oliva is like 45?! He looked so young

Te fuiste a la mierda, Che, el chabón estaba siendo re bueno con vos

Baki is just dead

Chapter 39

I love how realistic Che's fear is, he's rather smart, though not this time

POOR GUY AJSGSWJW

I didn't realize Che said "what more, it may be a woman!" but to be fair they ARE in jail so

Chapter 40

I'm feeling kinda bad for him ngl

I feel happy for him tho 🥺

Bruh they added one page after the ending of some naked anime girl tf 😐

Chapter 41

These prisoners having fun is kinda sweet

YO INSANE

Bitches be complaining about Maria's looks are just jealous 🥰

Chapter 42

Damn she lorge

He loves fighting naked eh

Only valid person is the one saying Oliva deserves better treatment which tbh true

Chapter 43

Fun fact i wear my jacket like El Che too, unless it's too cold

El che with the hair lose is so cute bro,,,

Something something fingering joke

Sikorski could fold a coin too

I bet the bandana will break

Chapter 44

I would have just fallen on top of him, how is he gonna counter that, eh?

Oh that super fun to know!

Oh the good ol dirty technique, i have seen this one before!

Chapter 45

NOOO MARIA DON'T DO THIS TO HIM

This fight is super cool tho i love these two characters

Chapter 46

They just keep changing the rules i think Itagaki is just flexing at this point

LAAOSFKAGSKAGSKAF???

Baki wants his protagonism back

I'm getting pissed off they keep putting semi naked underaged girls at the end of every chapter 😐

Chapter 47

Bruh just realized, the mouth got so hyped as this new cool villain and they died in their first appearance 😭

His damn bandana...

[gayforheadphonesgirl]

Falling Back Into You (Chapter 4)

(A/N): I'M ALIVE EVERYBODY. Finally got some time and inspiration to continue working on this fic. Hopefully I'll be more active again within the next few weeks. Consider this my Christmas gift to the gays. Enjoy! (Apologies for the lack of the keep reading break, I'm on mobile lmao)

----

Alex woke up to an empty space beside her where she vaguely remembers (Y/N) sleeping there last night.

"(Y/N)..." she mumbled half asleep when the events of last night suddenly came back to her.

Alex flushed and sat up abruptly. She winced as a headache hit her after moving so fast.

"Shit" she said.

"Shit" a voice said at the door. Alex whipped her head to see Mia standing at her bedroom door, rubbing sleep out of her eyes.

"We don't say that Mia" Alex said, laughing at herself at being caught swearing by her daughter. She motions for the young girl to join her in bed and Mia grinned before crashing into her mother.

"Good morning, little miss" Alex said, peppering Mia's face with kisses. The young girl giggles.

"G'morning. You and Auntie (Y/N) sure say a lot of words and tell me I shouldn't say them" Mia said, looking at her mother curiously.

"Ah well..." Alex said nervously, rubbing the back of her neck. If only Mia had heard her and (Y/N) on the field when they would fight with officials.

The former Orlando forward remembered (Y/N) screaming at the referee after she was taken down during the 2019 World Cup Final against Sweden.

"What the fuck? That's a damn penalty! Don't you have eyes, shithead?" (Y/N) said. The referee wasn't having her hotheadedness but was looking at the VAR's direction.

"Careful, (Y/N). You don't want to get carded" Kelley said, putting her hand on her shoulder.

(Y/N) huffed and glared at her teammate. She was furious at the officials and looked ready to charge at the Dutch players if Kelley didn't hold her back.

"Easy, hotshot. Why don't you check on Alex instead?" Julie chimed in, joining the pair.

The mention of Alex seemed to calm her down. Instead of acting on her impulse, (Y/N) rushed to Alex's side after the referee had gone to VAR.

"Hey, you okay?" (Y/N) said, looking worriedly at Alex. The latter nodded but winced a little.

"I'm good. We got this" Alex said, giving (Y/N) a smile. The latter returned the smile brightly.

"Yeah we do" (Y/N) said, helping her up. The pair looked at each other and got lost in their own world for a while.

For a moment, Alex was sure (Y/N) wanted to kiss her right then and there. She almost forgot to breathe as (Y/N) glanced down at her lips.

But they were both taken out of their daze when the crowd roared after the referee signalled the penalty.

(Y/N) grinned and pulled their foreheads together, seemingly fired up again.

"Let's fucking go" (Y/N) said. Alex couldn't help the blush that creeped up to her face but she grins back nevertheless.

"Let's fucking go" Alex repeated.

"Mooooom" Mia's voice reeled Alex back in from her flashback. She had apparently zoned out for a while, flashing back to that memory of her and (Y/N).

"Hm? Sorry. I spaced out did I?" Alex said, looking at her daughter. Mia giggled.

"Yeah momma. Is it the hangover?" Mia said. Alex gaped at the young girl.

"Wh-where did you learn that?" Alex said, one of her eyebrows raised. Instead of answering, Mia pointed to the bedside table.

There was a note in (Y/N)'s messy scrawl, aspirin and a glass of water.

Thought you might need this for your hangover. Had to get back to my loft but I'll see you Wednesday for dinner?

Had fun last night. Xoxo (Y/N).

Alex's heart warmed as she reached for the note.

"Where's Auntie (Y/N)?" Mia asked, looking over at the note.

"She had to go back home, hon" Alex said. Her daughter pouted.

"I miss her already" Mia said. Alex couldn't help but agree silently.

"We'll see her on Wednesday" Alex said. Mia hummed in agreement.

Alex quickly took the Aspirin and proceeded to stand up. She held her hand out for Mia.

"Come on babe, we've got errands to do" Alex said, assisting her daughter off the bed.

----

Alex and Mia were just about wrapping up with their grocery shopping when they once again crossed paths with (Y/N).

Mia had spotted the retired soccer star reaching for some produce and had sprinted in her aunt's direction.

"Auntie (Y/N)!" Mia exclaimed while running down the aisle.

(Y/N) perked up at the sound of the familiar voice and abandoned the beats she had been reaching for to scoop up the dashing seven-year-old into her arms.

"Heya kiddo" (Y/N) said, chuckling while lifting Mia of the ground. Alex had followed after her daughter, heart racing a bit at the prospect of facing her crush after last night.

"I missed you Auntie" Mia said, jumping up and down after (Y/N) let go. The older woman ruffled Mia's hair and smiled heartily.

"I missed you too Mia" (Y/N) said.

"My my, it's only been a couple of hours and here you both are talking like old friends reuniting" Alex said jokingly as she finally reached the pair.

(Y/N) grinned at her.

"Don't worry Al, I missed you too" she said. Alex couldn't help the blush that came to her face as she pushed (Y/N) playfully.

"Shut up" Alex said, nervously pushing her hair back behind her ear.

Seriously? This feels so high school. Alex thought.

"How's that hangover feeling?" (Y/N) said. Alex rolled her eyes at that but smiled at the other woman.

"Better now that I've seen you" Alex said without thinking. Now it was (Y/N)'s turn to blush. She looked like she was about to say something back when another voice called out.

"(Y/N), there you are where are my beats?" A woman said, approaching them.

"Ah yes, Portia sorry. I just got caught with my friend Alex and her kid Mia" (Y/N) said, scratching at the back of her neck.

A woman with long blonde hair and crystal blue eyes walked up to them looking at (Y/N) expectantly. But at the mention of their names Portia whipped her head at the mother and daughter.

Portia took in the pair in front of her. There she was, Alex Morgan in the flesh, the woman that has been giving her bestfriend gay panic for as long as she can remember.

And if her memory serves her right, even more these past few days. Suddenly, an idea popped into her head. Portia wanted to do a little experiment because (Y/N) had been insistent that Alex didn't feel the same way.

"Portia, this is Alex and Mia. Alex and Mia, this is Portia my longtime business partner" (Y/N) said gesturing between the three people now crowded in the produce aisle of the grocery store.

Portia clinged to (Y/N)'s arm and smiled at Alex.

"Nice to meet you" Portia said, smiling. But unbeknowest to (Y/N) and Alex, she was watching the latter's reaction to her actions very carefully.

"Nice to meet you too" Alex said curtly. She couldn't help the jealousy that was starting to bubble up in her belly as she watches the blonde woman get all touchy with (Y/N).

Portia caught the subtle twitch in Alex's eye and almost grinned at her discovery. She was right -- (Y/N)'s former teammate did reciprocate her feelings.

"What's a business partner?" Mia said looking curiously at the woman. Portia crouched down to Mia's level and smiled.

"It means your Auntie (Y/N) and I work together. I handle all her finances when it comes to her social work and business" Portia said.

Alex was tempted to pull Mia away from the other woman's reach. She really didn't like her aura... or maybe that was just the jealousy talking.

"Well, we must be going our way now" Alex said, with both Portia and (Y/N) noting the slight annoyance in the forward's voice.

(Y/N) frowned at Alex's sudden change and could only scratch her head.

"Uhm... well yeah okay. It was nice seeing you Al. Wednesday?" (Y/N) said. Alex simply nodded and headed to the other direction.

"Come on Mia. We've got a lot more on our list" Alex said. Mia looked at (Y/N) and shrugged.

"Okie dokie. Babye Auntie. Nice meeting you, Aunt Portia!" Mia said with a smile and wave befote skipping to her mother who was already a few paces away from (Y/N).

"What was that about?" (Y/N) asked, looking confused. Portia rolled her eyes.

"Oh my God. You lesbians are so helpless" she said, laughing before walking away to continue her shopping for the office grocery supplies.

"What the hell does that mean?" (Y/N) said, walking after her with their shopping cart in tow.

----

"I'm telling you Kelley, this woman was all over her!" Alex said exasparated. She was chugging down wine on her kitchen counter with Kelley.

The latter had dashed down to the Morgans after a lengthy text from Alex about (Y/N) and Portia.

"I mean, is she her girlfriend? Why didn't she mention it before? Is she playing with my feelings?" Alex continued to ramble, getting angrier and more hurt by the minute.

Luckily, Kelley was there as a voice of reason.

"Woah there Alex, slow down. That's a lot to unpack. Firstly, we don't even know if they're together and secondly, (Y/N) doesn't even know how you feel" Kelley said looking pointedly at Alex.

The soccer star grumbled but couldn't help agreeing with Kelley's words. Mia walked into the kitchen with her mother's phone in hand.

"Momma, Auntie (Y/N)'s been calling non stop" Mia said, waving the still ringing phone in the air.

Kelley looked at Alex and motioned to the phone.

"Your decision" Kelley said. Alex was still salty about what had happened and the wine was starting to get to her.

"Nope. Auntie (Y/N) is on timeout. I'll talk to her when I want to" Alex said. Kelley facepalmed at her friend's stubborness but let it be.

Mia shrugged and walked back to the living room -- the phone still ringing.

It had stopped ringing but went on again after a few minutes. Mia sighed and picked up the call.

"Alex?" Came (Y/N)'s voice on the other end.

"Hi Auntie (Y/N)" Mia said, fiddling with the TV remote while she held her mom's phone to her ear.

"Mia. Hey. Where's your mom?" (Y/N) asked.

"In the kitchen" Mia replied simply.

"Can I talk to her?" (Y/N) asked hopefully. She had been overthinking everything since Alex's weird behavior at the grocery. Had she done something wrong?

"Nope. Momma says you're in timeout" Mia said. (Y/N)'s confusion only grew.

"Timeout? What do you mean? Why?" (Y/N) said, worry overtaking her.

"I dunno. But I hope it ends soon. I wanna play soccer in the living room again with you Auntie. Bye!" Mia said. Before (Y/N) could protest, the seven-year-old hung up on her.

----

(Y/N) groaned in frustration. Portia chuckled at the sight of her friend pacing around the room in their office.

How could she be so blind at Alex's blatant feelings towards her? Has (Y/N) noticed the way her former teammate looked at her?

"I'm in timeout... why am I in timeout?" (Y/N) said, looking helplessly at Portia. The latter simply shrugged.

"Maybe it was because of the experiment I did earlier" she said nonchalantly. (Y/N) whipped her head at Portia and stared.

"Experiment? What experiment?" (Y/N) said, still confused as ever.

"Just try to charm your way back. Surprise her with flowers and chocolates or something" Portia said. She had to admit, it felt a bit bad to set her bestfriend up like this but if it was the only way to confirm Alex's feelings...

"You know what? You're right. I'll head on over there right now, if she'll have me" (Y/N) said, already texting Freda for another one of her beautiful bouquets for Alex.

---

Alex was busy preparing food for dinner for her, Kelley and Mia when a knock came at her door.

She opened it to reveal (Y/N) holding a bouquet of Asphodels and an apologetic look. Alex was stunned silent.

"Uhhh. I was told I was in timeout and wanted to apologize" (Y/N) said. Alex mentally facepalmed herself. Of course, Mia would tell (Y/N).

"It's nothing. Don't worry about it. Thank you" Alex said, retrieving the flowers from (Y/N)'s hands.

"Well if I did something wrong I'm sorry" (Y/N) said following Alex inside. The latter was feeling a bit embarassed at how she had acted.

"It's not a big deal. I promise" Alex said, unable to face the other woman. (Y/N) wasn't convinced and reached out to hold her hand.

"If it upset you, then it's a big deal, Al. I care about you a lot. Tell me what's wrong" (Y/N) said. Alex faced her and suddenly got lost in her eyes.

She was so tempted to just throw it out all the window and kiss (Y/N) right then and there.

Alex licked her lips cautiously and was about to bite the bullet when suddenly--

"Alex I have found a breakthrough! I-" Kelley stalked into the room but paused once she noticed (Y/N).

"Heyyyy, (Y/N)" Kelley said awkwardly. (Y/N) let Alex go and waved at the former Utah Royal.

"Hey, Kell" (Y/N) replied. Alex could only sigh and shake her head at the timing of her friend. In retrospect, maybe it was for the best she hadn't acted on her impulse and kissed (Y/N).

The latter couldn't help but feel sad at the loss of contact.

"Yeah, I'm just gonna check on Mia real quick" Kelley said, scrambling out and up the stairs.

"Look Alex, whatever it was... I'm really sorry" (Y/N) said, looking at Alex with pleading eyes.

She just couldn't resist those orbs looking at her like that and sighed.

"Don't worry about it. It was nothing, okay?" Alex said with a smile. (Y/N) was relieved at the sight of the other woman smiling back at her again.

"So, I'm not on timeout anymore?" (Y/N) said with a hopeful glint in her eye. Alex laughed.

"No you're not. Now go before Mia sees you and makes you stay for hours" Alex said. The other woman chuckled and nodded her head.

"That wouldn't be so bad, would it?" (Y/N) said as the pair walked out the door. She turned to Alex before heading out.

"No, it wouldn't" Alex said, smiling. (Y/N)'s heart soars that everything was back to normal again.

"So, Wednesday?" (Y/N) asked, leaning on the door frame.

"Wednesday"

To be continued.

[cherryrogers]

bittersweet {3}

pairing: boxer!bucky x rogers!reader

warnings: swearing, things get a bit saucy oop, mostly fluff.

synopsis: The world of boxing wasn’t something you knew much about, but after a certain boxer with blue eyes and an irresistible charm wove his way into your heart, you soon learned that it went far deeper than red gloves and gold medals — you thought that the boxer happening to be your brother’s best friend was bad enough, but darker affairs had only yet to come to light.

a/n: so i was gonna completely leave this until i finished FFY, but this chapter has been sitting unfinished in my drafts for ages and it was bugging me lmao,,, but after this part things are gonna get interesting :)) please enjoy, and any feedback is appreciated!

Series Masterlist

There was something different about Bucky after his match, Steve noticed it slowly but surely. Usually, the guy would get a high for a couple of days after his win, and then he’d be too focused on training for the next match to even crack a smile.

However, it’d been two weeks since his match. Two weeks since he won, and Steve was beginning to get suspicious at how long Bucky’s high had been strung out.

The blond eyed his friend questioningly from the mat on the gym floor across from his, watching as he’d complete a set of bicep curls, take a sip of water, smirk as he checked his phone, tapped away at the screen, and repeated that exact routine again. Training wasn’t a game to Bucky — nothing could ever normally cause him a distraction, but there was something that kept drawing him to his phone, and Steve was curious to know what.

That’s when something popped into Steve’s mind; something he’d completely forgotten about.

“Hey, Buck. I forgot to ask last week — how was your date after the match?”

Of course it was the date, right? His friend must’ve really taken a liking to the girl he went out with.

Bucky kept his gaze locked in front of him, pulling the heavy weights towards and away from his chest. “Good.”

“Just good?” Steve pressed, laying against the mat and beginning a set of sit-ups. “You haven’t stopped checkin’ your phone since you got in here.”

The boxer knew his date was better than good, but he wasn’t sure how much he should tell Steve. He was his best friend, Bucky was supposed to tell him everything about the date - he didn’t waste any time persuading Steve to tell him about Peggy when they first started dating.

“I like her, Steve,” He stated. “When we went out after the match, it didn’t feel like a first date with her -- it felt like I’d known her forever.”

It was true. Bucky had been out with his fair share of women, and not once had he felt so comfortable around someone so fast than with you.

“That’s good, Buck,” Steve nodded, smiling genuinely at his best friend. “I’m glad things are goin’ well. It’s about time you found a girl who can put up with your ass.”

Bucky let out a laugh at the joke, but he couldn’t help but feel a pang of guilt in his chest. Of course he felt bad about persuing you, especially while Steve was completely unaware of it. If he thought you were just another pretty girl, he probably wouldn’t have dragged you into the locker room on the first day you’d met him. But you weren’t just another pretty girl; you were the pretty girl. The pretty girl whose eyes twinkled when you laughed and whose smile could light up a whole boxing stadium.

Maybe you and him were doomed from the start, and you were just waiting for Steve to inevitably find out and disown the both of you. But Bucky didn’t want to think like that. He wouldn’t know where you and him were heading if he didn’t at least try. Bucky wanted to give whatever you and him had a shot, what was so wrong about that?

After finishing his final set, Bucky placed the weights back on the rack, grinning to himself as he saw his phone screen light up again. He’d just asked you if you were free any time soon. It was hard to meet up without Steve knowing, as you assumed he’d get suspicious if the both of you were constantly going out at the same time.

How about you come over to mine later today? I get off work at 5?

Bucky’s breath hitched. He hadn’t been to your apartment before, obviously since you’d only been talking for nearly three weeks, but still.

Sure, sounds good.

Awesome! See you then, James.

See you later, gorgeous.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a smile on your face for so long, Buck.” The blond in front of him joked, earning himself the middle finger from Bucky.

The teasing grin was soon wiped from Steve’s mouth when a figure approached the weight rack, grabbing two weights and placing himself on a mat next to him and Bucky.

Feeling Steve’s eyes piercing into his skull, the man sighed heavily. “Are you gonna be mad at me forever, Steve?”

Lifting himself up from the blue mat, the blond only hardened his look. “What do you think, Quill?”

Picking up his water bottle, Steve mumbled something about ‘going to take a shower’ before heading to the exit of the gym.

“Jesus, what’d you do to piss him off?” Bucky took a seat on the nearest bench before taking a large gulp of his water.

Peter shook his head and chuckled, beginning his own set of bicep curls. “I go to college with his sister, (Y/N), and he found out that I made out with her at a party last year.”

Luckily, Peter was too focused on the strain in his muscles to notice how Bucky’s hand clenched around his water bottle. That wasn’t an image he needed in his mind.

“I mean, I didn’t even know she was his sister. Honestly, even if I did, I probably would’ve still-”

“I wouldn’t finish that sentence if I were you,” The boxer warned, causing Peter to furrow his brows. “Just cause Steve ain’t here, doesn’t mean I won’t kick your ass for talking about his sister like that.”

Bucky would’ve said that even if you and him weren’t secretly a thing, but he didn’t exactly like that fact the Peter was talking about the girl he liked like that either.

Peter sighed. “Damn, you and Rogers seriously need to chill out. It was once when we were both wasted — doesn’t mean I can’t still be friends with her.”

“Well, it’s your funeral if he catches you near her again.”

Bucky always knew how protective Steve was of you. Even after leaving high school, he still thought of you as his baby sister who needed to be hidden from the outside world. Of course, Steve was aware of when you’d sneak around with boys and out to parties when you were sixteen — he didn’t think you were a little girl who knew nothing about the world around her. But if there was any way he could protect you from getting your heart broken, he’d go to lengths to make sure you didn’t get hurt.

That included keeping you away from dumb, party-animal college boys like Peter Quill. And perhaps that also included older, charming, cocky boxers like Bucky Barnes.

Not that he was ever planning on breaking your heart.

While there was a small part of his mind that thought Steve maybe wouldn’t kill him if he found out about him and you, Bucky soon came to the conclusion that Peter’s funeral wouldn’t be the only one happening if the boxer wasn’t careful.

And that was something Bucky was really hoping to avoid.

* * *

A pleasant smile graced your lips as your eyes landed on the clock on the far side of the room. 4:55pm.

Bucky would be showing up at your place in just over an hour, and you were excited.

Things had been going good between the two of you. You texted back and forth most days, met him after his training sessions at the gym, let him pick you up from college despite trying to tell him you were perfectly capable of getting the bus back. It was still pretty casual, but not in ‘friends with benefits’ way, more in a ‘we like each other and we make out a lot but we’re not anything serious yet’ way.

Steve also hadn’t caught on that you were seeing anyone yet, and you wanted to keep it that way. While everything was well with you and Bucky, you didn’t want your brother to freak out about something which might not even last. Even if he didn’t know it was Bucky you were seeing, he’d definitely be eager to find out. He was still your stupidly protective big brother — he’d only want the reassurance that you were being treated right, which you couldn’t blame him for. You’d never had a proper boyfriend before, but you’d surely had your fair share of experiences with shitty guys who were far from what Steve approved of for you.

Bucky was different, though. If he wasn’t his best friend, you’d actually be confident in thinking that Steve would approve of him. Maybe one day. Maybe he’d be able to understand.

“Is there a reason that you’re grinning from ear to ear?” Your boss stepped out of his office, raising his brow at you.

“That’s for me to know, Sam, and for you to not know.” You pushed yourself away from the desk, standing from your chair.

The man scoffed, crossing his inked arms over his chest. “Hm, alright. Turn over the sign on your way out, will you?”

“Will do, boss.”

“You got someone pickin’ you up? It’s startin’ to get dark out pretty early this time of year.”

You opened your mouth to tell him that you’d just get the bus like always, but the ringing of the bell at the door and a sudden voice breaking the silence interrupted you.

“She sure does.” The redhead that had just entered responded for you, walking up to your desk and leaning her elbows on the light wood. Your brows knitted together in surprise.

“Hey, what’re you doing here?” You asked her, picking up your handbag from under the desk and slinging the strap over your shoulder.

“Picking you up?” She answered, as if you were supposed to be aware that she was going to show up randomly. “You’re having your boyfriend over tonight, right? It’ll take too long for you to get home on the bus, and I know for a fact that your apartment needs cleaned up. Plus, you’ll wanna get ready, paint your nails, put on a little makeup—”

“First of all, he’s not my boyfriend,” You confirmed, more to Sam than to Natasha, who only liked to tease. “Second of all, you know me way too well, it’s kinda freaky. And thirdly, thanks for saying all of that in front of Sam, because now I’m never gonna hear the end of it from him.”

Sam scoffed. “I’m a grown ass man, (Y/N). I’m not gonna tease you about havin’ a special someone in your life... but you should get outta here. Wouldn’t wanna keep your boyfriend waiting.”

Making your way around the desk to your friend, you rolled your eyes at your childish boss. Who allowed him to have his own business? “You know, if you weren’t the one giving me my rent money every month, I’d be calling you a pretty mean name for that comment right now.”

“Alright, alright,” The man held up his hands in defence. “But seriously, I’m closing up once you leave, so you should hurry it up.”

With a playful glare, you motioned for Natasha to follow you out of the shop, making sure to turn over the sign on the door. “Thanks, Sam. I’m feeling really appreciated as an employee right now.”

“I’m glad; see you tomorrow, (Y/N).”

“Unfortunately so, Samuel.”

Natasha chuckled once the door clicked shut, walking you over to her car. “I really think you have the most laid back boss in New York. If I told Fury I wanted to call him a mean name, I’d only get a death stare and probably an extra pile of work to do.”

You smiled at the girl’s words. Sam and you had known each other for years, way before he opened up his tattoo shop. Him and Steve used to be friends in high school, but sort of drifted apart when Steve got more into boxing and Sam wanted to focus on his shop. He had told your brother about opening up the shop a year prior, and how he was looking for someone to work at the desk, and as a freshman in college who was in desperate need of cash, you thought you’d be perfect for the job. Since then, you worked there whenever you weren’t in class on weekdays.

Of course, he was your boss, but you didn’t see him as some big, scary authority figure. He was Sam, the dude that used to play video games with your brother in the basement for hours on end. In a way, he was like your second older brother. Not that you needed another big brother, Steve had the protectiveness and stubbornness of about three brothers combined.

“So,” Natasha smirked, climbing into the car at the same time as you. “You have to tell me more about this dude, (Y/N). Did you say he was a boxer? As in a boxer at your brother’s gym?”

Nodding reluctantly, you tugged your seatbelt over your body. You weren’t sure whether it was a good idea to tell Natasha that it was in fact your brother’s best friend you were having over that night. She was friends with Steve, not as close to him as she was to you, but you were sure she’d think it was a bad idea for you to be hiding this from him.

Maybe it’d better to keep Bucky a secret for now.

“Yes, he goes to the gym. Steve knows him, he just doesn’t know that I’ve been seeing him.”

“(Y/N)...” The woman shook her head, beginning to pull the car out of the parking space. “Are you sure it’s a good idea to hide this from Steve?”

“I’m not hiding anything, Nat. It’s only been just under a month since we started seeing each other. He doesn’t need to know anything yet.”

Natasha eyed you cautiously. It didn’t seem right to her that you were completely against telling your brother about the new guy you’d been seeing. Sure, he was protective, but he wasn’t an utter asshole. You and Steve were all each other had for a while; it just seemed odd that you weren’t yet planning on telling him anything, even if the guy went to his gym.

Despite wanting to question you further, the redhead decided to stop for the time being, giving you the pleasure of a stress-free car ride back to your apartment. When you were ready, she was sure you’d tell her more about your mysterious new man.

After dropping you off outside your building, you blew an appreciative kiss to your friend before essentially skipping into the lobby, thinking about how you’d finally be able to see Bucky again properly after the quick meet-ups and short phone calls you’d dealt with all week.

While you and him weren’t serious yet, you always got a warm feeling when you knew you were going to see him. Being around him was just nice, to put it simply. Nice was good.

Since you weren’t going out, you decided to keep your look natural for the night. A light layer of makeup topped off with your signature cherry lip-gloss was applied to your face after you took a quick shower, and soon enough, you were ready to see your man.

Well, he wasn’t technically your man, but the thought of him taking other girls into the locker room at the boxing gym and making out with them wasn’t so appealing to you.

The apartment wasn’t a complete mess, yet you still practically zoomed around the place picking up odd items of clothes and putting away textbooks you’d left in the kitchen. After spending so much of your free time with Bucky, it was becoming to difficult to find time to just sit down and study. Between him hanging out with Steve at the gym and you hanging out with Steve on the weekends and you trying to find the time between work and classes to hang out with Bucky without Steve getting suspicious? You really needed to make a timetable or something.

When a sudden knock sounded against the front door, you felt your heart pang with excitement, and after rushing to open the front door and seeing Bucky Barnes standing in front of you, your heart completely melted.

As always, he looked like a three course meal. Screw that, a five course meal. Hair neatly tucked behind his ears, dark jeans covering his toned thighs, a boyish smirk sat on his lips. A large bouquet of classic red roses were enclasped in his hand, and your eyes were immediately drawn towards them.

“Hey, gorgeous.” He greeted you, his eyes wondering up and down your figure. Not in a way that made you uncomfortable, but like he was taking in your appearance, which he was. How could he not when you always looked so pretty?

“Hi, James,” You smiled, eyes flicking between his face and the roses in his hand. “That’s a lot of roses you’ve got there.”

The man let out a laugh. “I hope you like ‘em, cause they’re all yours.”

You took the flowers from his grasp slowly, tracing your eyes over every petal on every rose, trying to ignore the way your stomach was doing flips at the gesture. You leaned up, placing a quick kiss to his cheek. “Thank you, James. They’re beautiful.”

“Beautiful flowers for a beautiful girl.” Bucky winked as you pulled away, and you were sure that your face was probably as hot as the cinnamon-scented tea lights you’d lit around the place.

A flattered smile set on your lips. “Did you come up with that line on the way here?”

“Came up with it just now, actually.”

“Wow, I’m impressed.”

“Does that mean I’m allowed inside now?”

“I guess so.” You chuckled, stepping aside so Bucky could walk through the doorway. As you closed the door behind him, his eyes wandered around the area.

It was a pretty small place; the only rooms being your bedroom, the bathroom and the conjoined kitchen and living room. It’s not like you needed anything bigger, though. Not when the majority of your time in the apartment was spent watching Netflix and writing assignments way too close to their deadlines. Natasha stayed over every now and then, making herself at home on the couch or sleeping next to you in your bed if you’d had a night in with a bit too much alcohol. Bucky was the first guy you’d ever taken to your apartment, though. You didn’t like the idea of bringing guys you’d likely never see again into a place you thought of as your safe space, but Bucky wasn’t one of those guys.

“So, you live here by yourself?” He asked, his head turning to you as you placed the bouquet of roses gently on the kitchen counter.

“Yeah, I moved here a little while after graduating high school. It’s a lot closer to campus than where I used to live with Steve,” You explained, opening the fridge and picking out a cool bottle of red wine before grabbing two glasses from the cupboard. “Do you want a drink?”

Bucky made his way over to where you were stood at the kitchen counter, already pouring out the wine before he could answer the question. The man thanked you as you slid a glass across the counter to him, bringing the drink to his lips for a small sip. “God, I don’t think I can even remember the last time I had a drink.”

“Seriously?” You raised your brow, tapping your nails against your own glass.

“I spend more time in that damn gym than at my own house,” Bucky let out a laugh, a sound you weren’t sure you’d ever get tired of hearing. “Doesn’t leave a lot of time to sit down and have a drink. I’ve never been much of a drinker, anyway. It’s nice every once in a while, though — with the right company.”

A smirk had unsurprisingly made its way back into his lips, and you shook your head at him. “And what company is that? Women you’ve made out with at the gym?”

He scoffed. “I’ve told you, (Y/N); you’re the only girl that’s ever happened with.”

“It’s okay, James,” You mirrored his teasing expression. “I believe you, and I’m honoured, truly. I mean, being the only girl that James Barnes has made out with in the sweaty guy’s locker room...”

“You say that as if it wasn’t the best makeout of your life.”

“Best makeout of my life?” You almost choked on your wine. Well, that wasn’t exactly untrue. That man was one good kisser, but you wouldn’t let him have the satisfaction of hearing that from you. “I don’t know about that one.”

“Well, I can’t imagine your one with Peter Quill was any better.” Though he murmured the words into his glass, Bucky could tell you’d heard him by the way your eyes widened in surprise.

He couldn’t help but chuckle at the defeated expression on your face. “Oh, god. How do you even know about that?”

“Gossip travels fast at the gym, babydoll.” He shrugged with a smug grin, earning himself an eye roll from you.

“And why are a group of grown men at the gym discussing my personal life? Aren’t you guys meant to be, I don’t know, working out?” You asked playfully, pushing yourself away from the counter and making your way over to the couch, Bucky following you without a second thought.

You plopped yourself in the corner of your couch, crossing your legs underneath you as Bucky sat on the other side, placing his glass on the glass coffee table. “It’s your brother that’s makin’ a big deal out of the whole thing. Can’t even be in the same room as Quill without shooting daggers at the guy.”

“I didn’t think he’d be that pissed off about it,” You shook your head with a chuckle. “Peter’s harmless, everyone knows that. I know that Steve’s only protective because he cares, but losing his shit over Peter Quill? Come on.”

Bucky let a laugh slip through his lips. “I can’t imagine how he’s acted with your actual boyfriends, never mind just a guy you’ve made out with.”

Your gaze dropped to you skirt at the man’s statement, fingers playing with the hem of the material. “Well, I guess I’m lucky that I’ve never had one.”

Nervously flicking your eyes up to the man in front of you, your brows furrowed at his surprised expression. “You’ve never had a boyfriend?”

“Is that weird to you?”

“No, not weird,” Bucky shook his head, shuffling a little closer to you on the couch so that your knees were touching. “Just surprising, since you’re, well... you.”

Your quirked a brow, a smirk forming on your glossy lips, indicating for Bucky to carry on talking.

Catching onto what you were hinting at, Bucky rolled his eyes, but gave you what you wanted. “Well, you’re smart, beautiful, good at carnival games...”

“Ah, yes,” You chuckled. “The quality that makes or breaks a woman. I mean, I am pretty good at carnival games.”

“Not as good as me, though,” He winked, earning himself a playful glare and a nudge to the knee. “But seriously, has no guy ever been lucky enough to call you theirs?”

The phrasing of the question brought heat to your cheeks, but you tried your best to act nonchalant. “I’ve went out with guys from time to time, but never been with them long enough to be, well, dating them. They’ve all been frat boys, though. Each one of them as immature and self-centred as the other. I made a vow to myself after the last one that I’d stop going for college guys. And well... I met you.”

A satisfied grin formed on Bucky’s lips as one of his hands picked up yours, causing your heart rate to pick up. “I’ll admit, you did get pretty lucky with that one.”

“Never mind; I take that back. You’re probably more self-centred than the frat boys,” You squeezed the hand holding yours, as Bucky shot you another eye roll. “I can’t lie, though. I was kinda surprised that you weren’t already spoken for when we met.”

“Like I said, I’m at the gym training more than anywhere else. I don’t have a lot of time on my hands to go out and meet people.”

“Well,” You took your bottom lip between your teeth, untucking your legs from under yourself and shuffling forward to lay them over the boxer’s lap. “That’s where you met me, James. Who said you couldn’t meet a girl at the gym?”

One of his hands went to your exposed calf, gently running his fingers along the soft skin there. “I guess luck was just really on my side that day, gorgeous.”

A quiet hum sounded from your mouth as you leaned in, unable to resist his perfect lips any longer. Both of your arms snakes around his neck as you felt him immediately kiss back, the bittersweet taste of wine evident on his tongue. The hand on your calf was slowly trailing up to reach your thigh as the other gripped your waist tightly. His touch was scarily addictive; every time your lips met his, it was like electricity shooting through your veins, the adrenaline making you only crave more of him.

You forced yourself to pull away for a couple of seconds, allowing you to kneel on the couch before swinging a leg over his clothed thighs to straddle him. His hands instinctively fell to your waist again, pulling your body to press against his as gentle kisses dotted along your jaw. A whimper fell from your swollen lips as Bucky’s mouth latched onto a sensitive spot on your neck, sucking a deep purple mark onto the skin before softly kissing the delicate area.

There was a gentle tug on the hem of your top, making you pull back slightly. Bucky’s voice was deeper than before as he spoke. “You wanna take this off, beautiful?”

Fuck it, you thought to yourself, reaching for the bottom of the cotton and pulling it up and off your body. The boxer’s eyes ran across your exposed chest, your lacy pink bra not leaving much to the imagination. He continued his line of kisses from the crook of your neck across your collarbone, savouring the taste of your skin and your moans of pleasure as he left another pretty mark on your body.

It was just so easy with Bucky. You could laugh with him and talk to him about anything without difficulty, and that would easily flow into a heated makeout session with you straddling his lap or being pressed against the wall. Nothing felt forced or unnatural, everything was just how the two of you wanted it to be. That had been the first time you’d taken your shirt off in front of him, and you’d never gone further than making out in the three weeks you’d been seeing each other. It wasn’t that you didn’t want to go any further, because boy, did the thought alone make heat rush to your face. It just didn’t feel like the right time yet, which was fine. As long as everything stayed swell between you and Bucky, you’d happily wait until that time eventually came.

The two of you stayed like that for twenty minutes, hungrily locking lips and running your hands over each other’s bodies until you were both panting for breath. It was you who suggested stopping for the time being, and Bucky agreed, knowing that continuing would only make the two of you crave more, which you weren’t yet ready to carry out. After finding your discarded top from the floor and pulling it back over your torso, you positioned yourself again so that your legs were thrown over his thighs, head resting on his shoulder as his hand fell to your hip. You turned the television on, some old movie playing quietly in the background as you started up another conversation with Bucky about God knows what for another hour or so, only getting up to refill your glasses wine before quickly sitting comfortably against Bucky again and falling right back into conversation.

Laughter occasionally filled the room when Bucky uttered a sarcastic comment, and when you replied with just as much sarcasm as him. The conversation remained completely uninterrupted, until your eyes caught a glimpse of the dark sky scattered with stars through the window. As much as you wanted to stay curled up against Bucky forever, the boxer had training to do early the next morning, and he didn’t want to risk a questioning from Steve if he showed up late to the gym.

After reluctantly swinging your legs off the edge of the couch and downing the remainder of wine in your glass, you were soon seeing Bucky out of your apartment.

He stood in your doorway just as he had done when he’d first arrived, and it amazed you how quickly the night had flown by. It seemed like only minutes prior that the man was handing you a gorgeous bouquet of roses and asking if he was allowed inside.

There was a different look in his eyes, though. The nerves that were evident in his slightly widened eyes were long gone, replaced by a fond, affectionate glint that made your heart swell as he looked down at you.

“Thanks for tonight, babydoll,” Bucky smiled softly, tucking a strand of hair begin your ear, exposing the dark mark he’d left on your neck and letting his eyes linger on it for a few short moments. “We should do this more often.”

“Make out and drink wine? That’s something I could get used to,” You rested your hands on his chest, biting back the grin that threatened to spread from ear to ear. You leaned up to press a final kiss to his cheek, but were satisfied to feel Bucky’s lips on yours instead when he lightly tilted your chin to the side.

The kiss was long, neither of you wanting to be the one to pull away. You just couldn’t get enough of him; his touch, his lips, his sweet pet names and teasing comments. How the hell someone so perfect happened to walk into your life, you weren’t sure.

If Bucky was a stranger to Steve, he might’ve been the only guy that you weren’t afraid of your brother not approving of. Sure, he’d get the stupid lecture and the cold shoulder in the beginning, but you were positive that he’d think that Bucky was good for you. Things unfortunately were that simple, though. Because Bucky was Steve’s best friend, and the two of you were sneaking around behind his back. It bothered you, and it bothered Bucky too. However, things were still relatively new, even when you felt like Bucky was a guy you never wanted to let slip through your fingers, your brother wouldn’t be able to understand that just yet.

Reluctantly, you pulled away from the longing kiss and gently shoved at Bucky’s chest. “If we stand here any longer, there’s no way you’re gonna be up for training tomorrow. Get yourself home, James.”

The boxer sighed, trailing his fingers down your arm to your hand, giving it a final squeeze before stepping out into the hallway. “Drop by the gym some time soon?”

You crinkled your brows. “I would, but what about Ste-”

“Steve doesn’t train on Thursdays.” Bucky reassured you quickly, making a smile crawl onto your lips.

“Thursdays... I’ll see what I can do.” You didn’t have classes on Thursdays, and you only worked the morning shift at the tattoo shop that day, so you knew you’d have time to see Bucky at the gym — you just liked to see the stupid grin on the boxer’s face when you teased him. “Now, seriously; go home. And be safe.”

“I’m always safe, (Y/N).” He affirmed with one last wink before he finally began to walk away from your apartment, and you slowly shut the front door, leaning your back against it once you heard the click of the lock.

Fuck, he was just so perfect. Everything was perfect with him, and if everything stayed that way, then maybe breaking the news to Steve wouldn’t be so far from perfect too.

However, it was probably foolish of you to get so wrapped up in how smooth things with Bucky were going. It was unfortunately never going to last, the ease of it all.

Unknowingly to you, things were about to get a whole lot more complicated.

* * *

Series Taglist:

@littledarlinhavefaithinme

[deviant3lover]

OOOOOOOO! You writing for other charaters now? Cuz, here are some bois I'd like to see your take on! Pick and choose who you'd please: Zombieman, Child Emperor, Tatsumkai, Sonic, Flashy Flash, Mumen Rider, King and, (one I'd really like to see) Sweet Mask. Thanks, and happy early birthday!

Thank you~! And lmao, my birthday was like, a month ago now;; I swear my attention span is hella weak- I see a shiny thing and I 

Z I P 

Outta my work and go over to look at it for the next 3 days.

And anon… dear anon…

I will do ALL OF THEM.

MUMEN RIDER:

If I’m being honest? I honestly hated him when he was first introduced.

He cycled as fast as he could to confront the Paradisers, had a moment where he parked his bike, (a bit awkward, but I faintly enjoyed the sight) pulled off a show of confidence that implied that he knew the gravity of the situation and has a way of dealing with it effectively (the common subversive tactic: weak looking character has tremendous strength) and then got DECKED ON with one hit, showing that it was just shallow hot air he couldn’t back up.

And then he got credit for the work that Saitama did. (Albeit unintentionally.)

Not… the greatest first impression. I thought he was an overconfident guy who was playing hero, uncomprehending of the danger that he puts himself in for the sake of living in an idealised fantasy that since he’s the protagonist, since he’s the one with determination and a heart of gold, it’ll all work out. Him cycling towards the Sea King at full throttle, with him apparently not taking the hint from the Paradisers, drove that belief home to me even more.

(Wow, I sound like Garou here. :o…)

And then he launched into his spiel.

How he felt like he wasn’t good enough to take the promotion, how he knows, better than anyone, that he’s weak. That yes, he might not win- might even get killed for his fruitless efforts for it, but what matters is that he tries. Not because he feels like he can pull it off eventually, or that the monsters will submit to how ~brave~ he is, but because it’s just important to try in the face of overwhelming odds, if it means that others have a slightly better chance of surviving because of it. Willing to die just so others won’t, even when you’re dismissed as a weakling both in the present and after death.

And that made me doubt about what I thought of him.

It wasn’t until I saw him trying to convince TTM to leave Garou alone, trying to intervene when Garou attacked him, and getting his face smashed repeatedly into the concrete sidewalk for his efforts by the same man he tried to defend, that I was utterly convinced that Mumen was genuinely heroic.

This may be a little dark, but I have a feeling that Mumen’s sense of justice doesn’t entirely stem from his selfless nature, but also from feelings of worthlessness. That he goes above and beyond to be a hardworking hero because he feels he has no worth if he dares do otherwise. The Christmas extra chapter in the manga sort of sparked this belief for me. If Mumen’s sense of justice was purely selfless, he’d mention other options (e.g. Friends inviting him out, new bistro downtown, setting up a mini Christmas tree and treating himself to a nice present) and maybe consider injecting some time for himself for them, if not on Christmas day, then the day before or after. Instead, he says with a smile, that he’ll be patrolling the streets for danger with no allusion to his personal life. And that lingering suspicion still sticks to me to this day.

CHILD EMPEROR:

First impression? I didn’t think too much of him, because I didn’t have much reason to. Very little screen time in the early manga/anime didn’t get me to form much of an attachment or investment in his character.

But later on? I like him! A kid prodigy, but it’s made clear time and time again that he still has room to improve, and I’ve always been a big fan of personal growth and developing self-reflection/awareness in stories. The fact that he wasn’t a stuck-up brat who thought he knew everything, and (taking into account that he’s literally 10 years old) still had a great deal of growth ahead of him in terms of the technological and the personal…

Yeah. I’m definitely holding out my hope for seeing a side story dedicated to him.

If I had the luck to choose the idea for the plot, I would love to see what sparked his love for technology, his mishaps and successes and so-so’s when it came to developing his skills and his gadgets. I want to be able to see the people around him reacting with awe and confusion over this kid hurriedly drawing up complex diagrams on a chalkboard board for different ideas before they leave his mind, which gadgets he’s put the most work in, the most time on, and is proud of, and finally; if he had a snobby phase and is ashamed of it. Bonus points if he took a break from his work to read up on how to be more like a mature adult so that older people will take him more seriously outside of being an inventor.

SONIC:

I, uh… honestly don’t think too much of him? He never really stuck with me.

Conversely… I do, however, like the few times we get the spotlight shined on him. He’s a badass to watch, and I laughed and cringed when the infamous ‘accidental punch’ scene came up on my screen. Considering the fact that I watched the anime first before the manga, I wasn’t anticipating it at all.

Which makes me glad in this case! The animated scene feels way more impactful and memorable than the manga version. I felt the build up and the rapidly increasing dread rise in me as I saw Saitama’s fist slowly punch Sonic’s unmentionables. Animating the- ahem- impact of his punch done me in and seared that scene into my mind.

Hmm… I feel like Sonic’s a more rebellious version of Flash, whilst also having been influenced by him. The both of them enjoy taking care of themselves in more luxurious ways, with their glossy hair and refusal to be filthy or rough in any way (e.g. Flash taking good care of his hair in the shower, Sonic opting to cook the monster cells and serve them tastefully before eating them) but I feel like Sonic likes rebelling more outwardly towards how he’s been trained and conditioned as a ninja compared to Flash. He just gives off that vibe~

Expanding on that, I feel like he’s more self-reflective and subtle in his thoughts. Flash is sort of absorbed in his own business and narrow range of experiences (not that I’m blaming him: he’s a busy man) while Sonic is more rooted to reality, and is a little more mellowed out to show for it. In the audio CDs, he gains a new understanding of what Saitama is forced to go through and respects him more as a person than just a milestone to beat, and he overcomes his trauma of Saitama ‘punching him’ by accepting what happened and simply keeping the possibility of it happening again in mind; not to torture himself or blame himself for being ‘weak,’ but to acknowledge what he’s fearful of and accepting it, allowing him to move on.

FLASHY FLASH:

I was gunning hard for him to be a cold-blooded woman assassin who wants to look elegant and deadly at the same time. Femme fatale, minus the seduction.

I was a little disappointed when he turned out to be a guy, and more so when he riled up Metal Bat with his insults while telling them to cut it out (counter intuitive, but it wouldn’t have been so bad if I wanted to see that. But I didn’t want to see it so lmao-) so, apart from his cool character design, I was a little turned off in my investment in him.

I was hoping that they kept the name ‘Lightspeed Flash’ instead of Flashy Flash. Yes, I know that they’re pretty much the same in terms of meaning, but the former just sounds more dignified. Considering he’s a man who takes himself seriously in both his work and appearance, I feel like it’s more in character for him to suggest a hero name that sounds more impressive, but still shows that sort of silliness underneath when you look closely.

He gained back some of my respect for him when he directly told Tatsumaki off for stealing his kill and talking down on him. That takes mad guts and I was wondering which of the heroes are willing to risk a serious fight with her to prove that they’re not one to be trifled with.

(Metal Bat was a little different in that regard: at the time, I just saw him as another affectionate parody of the delinquent trope. Nice contrast to the rest of the older, calmer heroes, but a little generic.)

Flashy Flash… yeah. I feel like he’s willfully disconnected himself from the world both emotionally and socially. Not because he’s afraid, but because he thinks it’s useless. He’s already seen the worst of it thanks to his upbringing, so there’s no point in putting in effort to go out and explore just to discover what else is wrong with the world.

I also think that, like Tatsumaki, he feels more than competent on his own and believes doesn’t need any outside help or interference. Hence, anyone who doesn’t meet his personal standards immediately has their opinions and suggestions of him dismissed or not truly considered with respect. He thinks he knows what’s best, even when there’s opinions screaming that he’s not, because he doesn’t respect others that way.

KING:

OOF- Okay, I was actually pretty ambivalent about him.

I thought he was cool when he intimidated the Tongue monster into submission, then thought he was an egotistical, vain hero when confronted by the G4 monster, then thought he was a pitiful, cowardly man forced to flee out of necessity, and then thought he was an endearing puppy when he realized just who Saitama is to him.

And. Hm.

King is… a very genuine man. I like him. Like Mumen Rider, he’s willing to put himself on the line to protect others. What makes me a little conflicted is if he’s more, the same, or less heroic than Mumen.

More: He has absolutely nothing to defend himself with in terms of physical skills or strength. His luck is his only maxed out stat in the hero game he’s obliged to play, and he’d rather be left alone, but he still puts his life on the line to help others, even when he’s scared witless.

Less: He does have his awe inspiring, fear inducing reputation that can neutralise the monster threats more often than not, and is aware of this, using it to his advantage. So maybe he’s a little less courageous since he knows it will work in his favour more often than not.

My take on him…  King strikes me as a good man. In a normal, monsterless world, he won’t be the kind who’ll fearlessly charge into battle against terrorists, or pull off any awe inspiring feats by himself by passing life saving legislations; this man isn’t interested in grand scale heroics and would rather support those who are interested and are good at it.

No, King strikes me as a man who wants to keep to himself and offer his sincere help to those who manages to become good friends with this shy man. He may be quaking in his boots at imminent danger, but he’ll still try to stand up for what’s right when someone else is being taken advantage of, even if he’s not entirely sure of what he’s doing.

AMAI MASK:

(RECENT WEBCOMIC SPOILERS!!)

I never cared much for Amai until now.

I can’t imagine anything more devastating than working yourself down to the bone to protect and give people hope, to cultivate others into what it means to be a true hero, only to realize the people you worked so hard for was just as hideous as you used to be. This man worked so hard, and him protecting the people he cared about wasn’t enough to deter them from reacting with horror and disgust. It wasn’t even five minutes until the first of his ungrateful ‘fans’ tried stoning him.

Thank God Saitama intervened… the look on his face after he was called a cool guy was both ugly cute and heart wrenching. He may have been called dreamy or inspirational by the adoring masses, but being broken down to the very thing that you’ve been ashamed and fearful of your entire life, and still having someone who sees you as someone worthwhile must’ve meant the world to Amai. He’s a monster, yes, but he kept a vice grip on his morals and never let them go, even when his grip on them was weakening with every breath he took.

I also liked the way that ONE written his rise to fame. The build-up and anticipation surrounding how he looked behind the mask, Amai himself being bitter over the vanity of the public, learning to accept it, and gradually became obsessed with embodying the symbol of justice- this time, where everyone can see it. But it wasn’t on his own terms, no; instead of being seen as the ugly but virtuous man before, he has to present himself as a handsome idol, instead of being loved and revered for who he truly is; ugly and all. That it’s not a defect.

And I felt pity for him when I realized that’s what happened.

My opinion and takes (interpretations) of him? He’s interesting, to put it lightly.

If I think more on it, I feel like he’s losing himself to his delusions. It’s ironic: someone focusing on saving the hearts of others, yet all they can see is themselves.

True to the series, Amai reminds me of Genos. Of what Genos would’ve turned out to be if he was kept alone with no one he can truly connect with. No one who can remind him of the sweeter things in life that don’t matter. No one you have a personal, deep connection with to return home to.

Amai strikes me as a man who’s so focused on eliminating evil that he sees it everywhere, no matter how small or large it is, or if it even exists. If someone doesn’t live up to his standards or sees what he sees, he immediately has this sort of insurmountable, unseen distance from them that can’t be easily crossed.

In all honesty, I’m intrigued and worried for him. Part of my indulgent ideas for him is that he’s slowly starting to hallucinate and had started monsterize from the inside for a long, long while, and it’s only by the Association’s dependence on him and his adoring fans that keeps preserving the man that he used to be when he was purely heroic, but hideous. And even then, it’s not enough.

I feel like he’s painted himself in a corner where he feels it’s too late to try and get help for his condition, instead desperately searching for someone who can take his place. He knows how important a symbol is, and if he had the choice, would keep it up as long as he lives, but his passion for it isn’t enough to drive off what he’s becoming.

And he was right.

ZOMBIEMAN:

I may have done Zombieman already, but I also realise that I’ve missed out on some things that I wanted to include~

In contrast to Amai, Zombieman strikes me as the type of guy who’s a sort of ‘Frankenstein’s Monster’ character. Unlike the book character, Zombieman is in a society that accepts, reveres, and adores him for all he does despite his questionable history and to what degree he is ‘human.’ He doesn’t seem to believe that what he is makes up for who he is, and anyone who thinks otherwise will earn his ire; but again, like Frankenstein’s monster, he knows it’s a part of him, and that it’s still a source of discomfort for him. He needs to get that skeleton out of his closet for him to truly enjoy life.

TATSUMAKI:

Honestly, I didn’t notice too much of her character until much, much later in the manga. Prior to that, I admired her ability to take care of the worst threats by herself. Soloist heroes and protagonists were always a soft spot of mine: learning to handle the worst of what life had to throw at you and being good at it, but not necessarily good at taking care of your emotional and mental wellbeing, confiding in others about that, and showing that it’s okay to be vulnerable or lost or flawed, and endeavoring to fix that?

Yesss. Good trope. One of my favorites.

So, what finally caught my attention from her?

Her fight with Psykos.

I was sort of seething with the way Psykos was chilling smugly in her underground lair. Her plan was smart, but the way she was so self-assured and the way she thinks she’s above others; human and monster alike, sipping wine all the while?

That irritated me a lot.

So, to see Tatsumaki rip her from her cozy room and into the fray of the battle, coercing her into spilling intel by twisting her limbs and body each and every way to force it out, and striking fear into her heart with that sadistic, predatory smile of hers?

I loved it. Whoo!

As for takes… I’m not sure if I have any on her to be honest! At least, not one that isn’t already canon. She believes that you shouldn’t rely on others to become strong, or to save you, and has lived up to that idea by herself. She can back up her words and I admire that.

I do feel a little sorry for her, considering what she’s gone through. As much as I agree with her, sometimes she can take it too far.

I was a little irked by her showing little to no concern for shielding her team mates from getting crushed underneath the rubble of a building, with Darkshine stepping in to protect them, but I suppose she had a point; you have to take care of yourself on the battlefield.

Still; her total lack of concern left me a little perturbed.

This was curbed a bit by her refusing to uproot the association until she knew Tareo was safe; I feel like that added more character to her in the manga, as opposed to the webcomic.

In conclusion: All of these characters are good. UoU! Murata and One are great writers, and they made them feel fleshed out and distinct from each other in almost every way possible whilst keeping them believable. And I love them for it. :3

[phantasticworks]

If You Don’t Love Me, Pretend - Chapter Nine

Hi everyone!! Thank you so much for all the lovely comments on the last chapter, it literally makes me so happy to see everyone enjoying this story so far! <3 I hope you all are staying safe and taking care of yourselves in quarantine!!

read on ao3

Words: 10.7k

Summary: The twins have their first day of school and Dan and Phil find out some new information about their family. 

Warnings for this chapter: Swearing, mentions of past trauma (but very subtle)

Surprisingly, Dan manages to get through a few hours of work without any serious incidents reported to him, but every chance he gets, he checks his phone for any new messages. Eventually, he opens it to find something he constitutes as a mild emergency and decides to take a break to give it his full attention.

Phil: So I have a tiny headache the twins will be fine if I go have a lie down for a bit yeah?

Dan: are you feeling dizzy?

Phil: Not really? Just tired and my eyes hurt.

Dan: take your contacts out and go have a nap

Phil: Yeah?

Dan: yeah they should be fine i hope you feel better

Phil: :)

He doesn’t text Phil back, his stomach twisting with nerves at the thought that Phil is there alone with the kids with a headache. He wasn’t so worried about him not being able to take care of the kids, but he was very concerned about the migraine. Phil’s doctor had already warned him to not overwork himself. Suddenly Dan starts wondering if he’s been putting too much of his own work on Phil.

Dan worries himself about this for the next half hour or so, but when his phone dings, he welcomes the distraction.

Phil: The kids are literally playing so loud. Like they’re perfectly fine but they’re in their room and they’re like SCREAMING

Dan: just put in some headphones and drown them

Dan: OUT drown them OUT

Dan: Do not drown our children.

Phil: LMAO

Phil: Stop making me laugh it’s making my head hurt more.

Dan: :( im sorry love. I’ll be home soon to take care of you

Phil: Don’t be silly, I’m a grown man, I can take care of myself.

Dan: im going to pretend you didnt just try and pass up my servitude

Dan: dont be noble or whatever you know i dont mind taking care of you

Phil: I know. Thank you.

Dan: if you feel like getting up take some medicine and maybe put a movie on upstairs for the kids? I should be home in an hour

Phil: Alright. See you later.

Dan: <3

Dan hurries to finish the document he’s working on, and he’s out of the office within half an hour. He stops at a shop and grabs some chocolate and a pack of little marshmallows that Phil likes, mainly just to cheer him up, since it wasn’t a cure for a migraine by a longshot. He considers getting takeaway, but he knows they’ve already agreed to stop doing that so much, for the kids’ sake.

When he gets home, the flat is mostly quiet, only the soft sound of the TV drifting down the stairs. He toes his shoes off quietly before making his way to his bedroom, the door left slightly ajar. The light is off, but there’s a lump under the duvet in the form of his best friend. He can tell from his breathing and the tense set of his shoulders that he’s not asleep, as hard as he’s probably trying to do just that.

“Phil?” Dan murmurs, walking over to sit on the edge of the bed.

Phil rolls over, his eyes finding Dan in the darkness of the room. “Hey,” he rasps out. Dan studies him, frowning when he notes how red Phil’s eyes look.

“Did you take your contacts out?” He asks, his voice bordering on accusing.

“Yes.”

“Have you… Were you crying?” Dan asks softly.

Phil hesitates before shrugging, wincing a little at the movement. “My head just really hurts,” he breathes.

Dan’s heart squeezes painfully seeing the pain Phil is going through. “Oh, love,” he sighs. He stands up, moving towards the bathroom. “Hold on, let me get something.” He runs a cloth under hot water, squeezing the water out to use it as a hot compress. They really needed to invest in some of those, honestly. “Here,” he says softly, brushing Phil’s hair off his forehead and playing the towel gently over his forehead. “Wait right here, I’m going to get you some coffee.”

“I don’t really-”

“I know, babe, but you know it helps. You don’t have to drink all of it, yeah?”

He watches Phil’s Adam’s apple bob as he swallows. “Okay,” he whispers, his eyes closing.

Dan hurries to the kitchen and quickly makes Phil a cup of coffee, racking his brain for anything else that might help him. He comes up short, so when the coffee is ready, he takes it back to their bedroom. “Sit up for me?” Phil follows his instructions and reaches out for the mug, his hands shaking more than usual. “I’ll hold it,” Dan mumbles.

After Phil’s sipped all he can handle, Dan allows him to lay back down. ���I’m going to go check on the kids and I’ll be right back, okay?”

Surprising him, Phil shakes his head a little. “No, I just- I need to sleep,” he says pleadingly.

Dan hesitates, but nods uncertainly. “Okay. I’ll shut the door, then… But you have to text me if you need anything.”

“I will,” Phil agrees.

Nodding, Dan moves to leave the room, pausing when he hears Phil’s voice again. “Hm?”

“I said thank you.”

His heart melting, Dan walks back over and presses a kiss to Phil’s cheek. “Of course,” he murmurs. “Get some sleep, yeah?”

Phil only nods, his eyes closing again, his eyelashes fluttering. Dan hopes sleep finds him easily this time, and he really hopes he has the best dreams.

Dan finds his way upstairs and spends some time with the twins, who are very worried about Phil apparently. He assures them that he’s fine, and they watch a movie quietly before Dan heads back downstairs to start dinner and check on Phil. He stops in their room first, quietly opening the door and slipping inside.

“Phil?” He calls softly.

Phil doesn’t stir, and Dan quietly tiptoes over, finding the towel discarded on the floor. He notices that Phil’s coffee cup is a little emptier, which he takes as a good sign. He smiles a little, but what really warms him is when he studies Phil. He’s not on his own side of the bed this time. Instead, he’s migrated over to Dan’s and he’s got Dan’s pillow wrapped in his arms, his nose buried in the fabric. A tiny part of Dan wonders if feeling closer to him helped Phil sleep. He finds that he likes that idea quite a lot. However, it’s a stupid thought, and he discards it quickly.

He presses his hand gently to Phil’s forehead to check for a temperature. Luckily, he feels fine, maybe even a bit chilly. Dan tugs the duvet over him, making sure he doesn’t get cold. With another lingering look, he tiptoes out of the room to go make dinner for everyone, a secret grin on his lips.

~~~

The night before the first day of school was rough. For Dan, at least. The kids were surprisingly excited to be starting at such a good school, and Phil was excited that they were excited. Dan, however, was a bit of a nervous wreck. He knew there was no reason for him to be particularly nervous, but those first-day-of-school jitters had never left him for some reason, and even now that it wasn’t his first day at a new school, he still felt anxiety swelling up in his chest the night before.

“Could you turn your volume down a bit, love?” Phil mumbles from his spot on the bed beside Dan.

Dan startles a bit, not realizing that Phil was still awake and could hear the music he was playing on his phone. “Sorry,” he whispers back, turning the volume down a couple notches.

Phil hums and there’s a moment of quiet before there’s a shifting on the mattress, accompanied by a weight pressing down on Dan’s waist, in the form of Phil’s arm. “Are you going to sleep tonight?” Phil murmurs against the shell of Dan’s ear.

Shivering lightly at the brush of his lips, Dan shrugs. “Maybe. Can’t sleep right now. Too anxious.”

“Yeah?” Phil responds. “Wanna talk about it?”

Dan mulls it over before shrugging, unconsciously allowing his hand to fall to Phil’s arm, where he begins stroking gently. “I don’t want the kids to get bullied. I’m afraid that if anyone asks about their parents or their home life, they’ll tell them they’re living with us.”

Phil seems to pause to take this in. “And you don’t want anyone knowing that they live with us?” He sounds confused, and he has every right to, because Dan’s not quite sure that’s it, but he’s even less sure about how he wants to describe it.

“No, it’s not that, I just… I don’t want them to get made fun of, for us. Like, for having two dads? I know we aren’t- I don’t really know how to describe it.” Dan lets out a frustrated huff, his anxiety about the whole thing making it even harder to formulate a cohesive thought about it.

“I think I get it, Dan. You don’t want the kids to have to deal with those little homophobic twats that they’ll inevitably encounter. But, we can’t do anything about someone else’s kids and their homophobia, Dan. What we can do is raise ours to be compassionate and accepting, you know?” Phil strokes his thumb against Dan’s hipbone, lightly raking his t-shirt up with every stroke.

Completely without his permission, tears spring to Dan’s eyes, and he knows that he’s likely going to start sobbing if Phil doesn’t change the subject soon. Something else prickles at the back of his mind then, and he can’t help but stop the movement of his hand against Phil’s arm in contemplation. “You say “ours” an awful lot now,” he comments.

Phil stiffens, and his movement against Dan’s skin slows to a stop. “Is that a problem?” he asks cautiously.

Dan can feel his face heating up, and he ducks his head, pretending to be focused on his phone, where the Spotify app is still quietly playing music. “No… I like it. It makes me feel like we’re really a family.” The words are whispered, and Dan almost wishes he’d muffled them against his arm.

There’s a breath of quiet laughter then, followed by the feeling of Phil fully relaxing against Dan’s back. “We are.”

Dan turns off his Spotify playlist and locks his phone, tossing it onto his nightstand for the night. There’s a brief flare of uncertainty that Phil might not appreciate the closeness, but Dan pushes that thought away and presses himself back, snuggling into Phil’s warmth.

Phil hums, a content noise that resonates through Dan’s body in their closeness, and Dan smiles in response. “Night,” he whispers, closing his eyes.

“Night, bear.” There’s definitely a kiss pressed to the back of his head, but for once Dan doesn’t feel like he should pretend he didn’t notice. He doesn’t call him out on it, but when he feels Phil’s breathing evening up behind him, he tugs the hand Phil had settled on his waist, lifting it gently to press a kiss to his palm.

It’s nothing, he reminds himself firmly as he allows himself to drift to sleep. It was just a little selfish moment. Everyone is a little selfish once in awhile.

~~~

“Bear? It’s time to get up, come on, I made breakfast.” The voice was too close to Dan’s ear, and it made him whine in protest, squeezing his eyes shut tighter.

“Don’t wanna,” he mumbles, rolling over to speak into his pillow.

Phil laughs, and a second later Dan feels Phil’s hands carding through his hair. “Daniel,” he says firmly.

Dan groans, tilting his head enough to open one eye. Phil’s face is close, and there’s a soft sort of smile on his face. “Don’t use your dad voice on me.”

“My what?” Phil says through a laugh.

Rolling his eyes, Dan rolls over onto his back, tossing his head over to the side and pressing his forehead against Phil’s thigh. “You know. Your dad voice. That’s exactly how you talk to the kids when you’re pretending to be stern.” His voice is slightly muffled into Phil’s pajama pants, and he ignores the way that feels slightly inclined to press his lips to the flannel.

“I do not!” Phil protests, tugging on Dan’s curls.

“Ow,” Dan whines. “You do, but I’ll let you keep thinking that you don’t.”

Phil huffs loudly. “Whatever. It’s time to get up, the kids are already eating their breakfast, and you need to get up.”

“Ugh, fine.” Despite his half-assed agreement, Dan makes no move to get out of the bed. He thinks he’s gotten away with this when he feels the bed shifting with Phil’s weight, and he snuggles back into the blankets, allowing his eyes to drift shut.

“I’ve gotten the kids’ lunch- Dan!” Phil’s voice pitches up an octave, as he apparently realizes that Dan has yet to get out of bed.

“What? I’m going, I’m going,” He whines, rolling over to face the opposite way. “I just need… a few more minutes…”

“Daniel James, if you aren’t out of that bed in one minute, there will be consequences.” Phil’s voice is hard, and Dan can tell he’s likely getting annoyed, and maybe not in a joking way.

Grumbling under his breath, Dan rolls out of bed, coming to stand in front of Phil. “I’m up, don’t get your knickers in a wad.” He crosses his arms over his chest, which probably just proves how childish he’s being.

Phil tilts his head, a soft look in his eyes. “You’re…” He stops himself, and Dan arches an eyebrow.

“I’m what?”

Without so much as another word, Phil steps forward, wrapping an arm around Dan’s waist and pressing his lips to his forehead sweetly. “You’re being a brat, but I know you’re tired, so I’ll let you be grumpy. Pancakes are on the table.”

Dan doesn’t even have a moment to reply before Phil is stepping away, out the bedroom door as if he hadn’t spoken at all.

Shaking his head slowly, Dan makes his way over to the bathroom. After a quick wee, he washes his hands and makes his way to the kitchen, the scent of pancakes leading him in. He needs to shower, but pancakes are far more important to him right now, and he knows he should eat first anyway. The sound of voices makes him smile, especially when he recognizes Phil’s, telling the kids that they can go wild with the toppings.

“Don’t get them jacked up on sugar, Phil, we don’t want their poor teachers to have breakdowns on the first day of school,” Dan says, rolling his eyes as he enters the kitchen, bumping Phil’s hip as he goes over to the coffee pot.

Phil glances over at him, shrugging innocently. “I did nothing. I’m just an innocent bystander, honestly.”

Dan quirks a brow at him as he pours himself a cup of coffee, his gaze sliding over to the twins, who are both hiding smiles as they pile treats atop their pancakes. He shoots Phil a pointed look, and the older man’s face flushes. “Mhm,” Dan hums disbelievingly.

“Come on, Dan! It’s the first day of school! They deserve to have a good breakfast for that,” Phil protests, holding his hands together as if he’s praying. He puts on his best pitiful expression, clearly begging for mercy with his breakfast shenanigans.

Rolling his eyes at the ridiculous expression on his best friend’s face, Dan pushes past him, going to sit at the table. “Fine, but you have to do the dishes when we’re done.” At Phil’s answering pout, Dan shakes his head. “Nope, not gonna work. They’re going to be all sticky, and you’ve created this mess, bub.”

“Fine,” Phil sighs petulantly, dropping into the chair beside Dan. “I guess I can do the dishes.”

Dan smiles sweetly. “I guess you can too. Now, let me see those marshmallows.”

After eating too much of a too-sweet breakfast, Dan sends the kids to get ready for school, calling after them to remember to brush their teeth and wash the syrup off their faces. He takes one glance at the state of the dining table and decides to take pity on Phil. Sighing, he begins gathering up all of their condiments and moving to go place them in the cupboards where they belong.

“Did you change your mind about the dishes by any chance?” Phil asks sweetly, smiling with his tongue poking between his teeth.

Dan rolls his eyes at the suggestion. “Nope. But if I don’t put these up, you’ll probably eat them as soon as I turn my back.”

Phil mumbles something that’s probably a protest, but Dan dutifully ignores him. “Can we do a family picture with the kids before they leave?” He asks suddenly, turning away from where he’d begun washing their dishes.

“Uh, yeah, sure,” Dan replies slowly. “What made you think of that?” He asks softly, moving to place some of the sweets in a cupboard beside Phil. He stays there even after he’s closed the door, leaning his back against the counter and facing Phil, his arms crossed.

“I don’t know, I just…” Phil shrugs helplessly then, looking a little lost for whatever reason. “I want to remember those kinds of things, you know? Like, this is our first assignment, and I want to have memories of them when they go back home, or… wherever,” Phil’s voice drops off, and Dan can tell the idea bothers him just as much.

Pulse suddenly racing, Dan steps behind him, cautiously looping his arms around Phil’s waist and setting his chin on the older man’s shoulder. “I know it’s tough to think about them going home,” he whispers.

Inconveniently, his heart rate picks up further, jackhammering into the other man’s shoulder blades.

There’s a hand in his hair then, fingers threading through the curls. “It’s their first day of school with us,” Phil says helplessly. “I’m so excited for them, but...” His voice sounds froggy and snotty, and Dan has never related more.

“Yeah,” Dan breathes out softly.

Dan doesn’t let the hug linger. He extricates himself from Phil’s personal bubble and fusses with his hair instead of pulling him closer, holding him longer. Phil’s gaze darts to him for a moment, but he drops it back to the dishes in the sink. A glance at the clock confirms that he needs to hurry up and shower if he’s going to make it to work on time. “I have to shower, sorry.” He’s not sure what he’s apologizing for, other than for the firm set of Phil’s mouth as he putters with the dishware.

When he finishes showering, he hurries to get dressed so he can go put together lunch for himself and the kids, running through a mental list in his head of all the things he needed to remember to grab before he left. He’s a little more stressed than he’d anticipated, but he’s sure that when they’re in the car he’ll feel less nervous. He just needed to get everything together first, and then he’d be fine.

He stumbles into the kitchen as he tugs on a black sock, not paying attention to his surroundings. When he trips over his own foot, he’s fully prepared to go crashing to the floor and probably die or something, but before he can, he feels himself being caught.

“You need to slow down or you’re going to kill yourself,” Phil laughs, steadying him by his shoulders. It’s a completely different Phil than the one he had left in the kitchen twenty minutes before.

“I’m in a hurry!” Dan pulls the sock on with one final tug and hops deftly out of Phil’s lingering touch, headed for the twins’ lunchboxes.

Except they’ve vanished.

He stops, squinting at the empty space on the counter. He knew for a fact that he’d left them right there, and now they were just… gone. What the hell?

He whirls around, his eyes flittering around the room as he struggles to locate them.

“Looking for something?” Phil asks.

“Yeah, the fucking-“ Dan pauses as he glances over at Phil, something in his voice striking his interest.

Phil rolls his eyes before shooting a pointed glance over at the edge of the table, where the lunchboxes were sitting neatly with the twins’ backpacks and Dan’s laptop bag.

“Oh,” Dan says slowly, a little confused. “Did you-?” He hesitates, looking over to Phil with a raised eyebrow.

“Yeah, I packed lunch. Yours too.” Phil nods back to the table then, and Dan’s gaze catches on the extra lunchbox on the table.

Dan’s inconvenient heart is warm. “Oh,” he repeats, sort of lost now that he has nothing to do. “Thank you.”

Phil grins at him. “I told you there were things I could do.”

Dan rolls his eyes at this, crossing his arms as Phil moves away from the refrigerator. “I never said you couldn’t,” Dan reminds him helpfully.

“Yeah, well,” Phil shrugs then. “Your mum,” he mutters, quite predictably.

Dan giggles, but before he can bant back, they hear the sound of feet running toward the kitchen. “No running in the house, guys!” Dan calls, smirking when the sound of the stampede quiets immediately. Phil rolls his eyes at this, but smiles broadly at the kids when they walk in. “Everyone ready for school?” He asks brightly, his optimism infectious.

The twins nod excitedly, and Amelia quickly moves to put her backpack on. “I’m ready to go!” She says excitedly.

“Hold on just a second, Mia, Dan and I want to get some pictures of you and your brother on your first day of school,” he says, gesturing for her to put her backpack back on the table.

“Where do you want them to stand?” Dan asks, moving to stand closer to Phil and handing him his phone that had been on the edge of the table.

“Hmm… Balcony, maybe? That would be a nice background,” Phil suggests, nodding to the patio behind them.

Dan nods, gesturing for the kids to go ahead of him. “Go stand beside the plant out there, that’ll look nice.” He ushers them over to it and positions them in front of it, straightening Jaiden’s little tie as he does. “There we go. Mia, did you brush your hair this morning?”

Amelia nods, running a hand through it to prove that it’s tangle-free. “Yes!”

“Good, I’ll spray some hairspray in it before we go- are they good, Phil?” Dan interrupts himself to ask, stepping back and studying their poses with a curious eye.

Phil nods, tugging on Dan’s shirt. “Yeah, now get out of the way a little,” he teases as he brings the phone up to snap some photos. “Alright, say school!”

The kids grin and say the word simultaneously, and Dan’s heart is filled with warmth at how genuinely excited they seem, though his stomach churned at the idea that their school experience might turn out like his. He reminds himself that things are different, times have changed and schools must be better. Hopefully he’s right.

“Alright, selfie time!” Phil announces, tugging on Dan’s arm to drag him over beside the children.

“What?” He asks, trying to hold his laughter in.

“I want pictures of all of us, too!” He rolls his eyes as if it’s the most obvious thing, but doesn’t give Dan any more time to protest, as he’s crouching down and holding the phone out. “Well come on, Dan we don’t have all day,” he says, gesturing for Dan to copy his pose.

A warm feeling floods his chest at the idea of this, these family pictures that really don’t even begin to showcase all that they had to go through to be in these children’s lives. He smiles for the camera, but he can feel the emotion welling up in his chest as he waits for Phil to give them another arbitrary word to say for the picture.

As soon as they’re finished with the pictures, Dan sends the kids to get their backpacks and lunchboxes, turning to look at Phil, who’s scrolling through the pictures with a smile. “Send me those?” He requests softly. Phil glances up at him, his lips falling into a smaller, more affectionate smile.

“Of course,” he replies. “C’mere.”

Before Dan can protest, Phil latches onto his shirt and tugs him closer, opening his camera app and holding his phone out. “What-” Dan starts, glancing between Phil and the phone.

“I wanted a selfie of just us,” Phil says in lieu of an explanation.

Dan is staring at the side of his head, ruining any chance of a good selfie probably, as he considers how genuinely sweet his best friend is. Uncomfortably aware of the camera on him, Dan leans forward, pressing his lips to Phil’s cheek. He hears the shutter of the camera, but he doesn’t even care, tilting his head to smile and flick out a peace sign at it for a proper selfie.

There’s another click before Phil drops his arm, tapping the photos to get a better look at them. A smile tugs at his lips as Dan watches his face. “These are good,” he says softly. He lingers on the first one a little longer than the second but locks his phone and clears his throat after a moment, locking eyes with Dan. “C’mon, time for school.” He leads the way back inside, disappearing down the hallway to allow Dan some space to get his things together.

A few moments later and Dan’s ready to go, and he walks down the hall to find the kids waiting beside the door, listening to Phil, who’s crouched in front of them and speaking quietly. Dan can’t catch his words at first, but when he gets closer he realizes that Phil is telling them what he packed for their lunch and what to do if they don’t understand something in class. “You can raise your hand if you don’t understand, or just wait and ask me or Dan when you get home, and we’ll try to explain, okay? Make sure to use good manners with all your teachers and find good kids to be friends with.”

Dan smiles at Phil as he stops to listen to him, leaning against the wall and crossing his arms as he watches the twins react to his words. Amelia nods eagerly, but Jaiden’s eyes flicker away from Phil and over to Dan mid-lecture, a little grin making its way onto his face. Phil seems to pick up on this, and he tosses a quick glance over his shoulder at Dan, an apologetic look on his face. “Don’t let me interrupt you,” Dan gestures for him to continue. “You’re giving them some solid advice, I’ll be quiet until you’re finished.”

Phil shakes his head and stands, bringing a hand up to the back of his neck and looking a little awkward. “No, I was finished, actually. Got your keys and your phone?” He asks, turning around to face Dan.

“Yeah, Dad, I’ve got all my stuff,” Dan rolls his eyes, giving the kids a cheeky grin as he speaks.

Phil gives Dan an unamused stare. “Alright, Smarty Pants,” he grumbles. “Have a good day at work, be careful driving.”

Dan nods in response and goes to open the door. “C’mon, kiddos, time for school.”

Jaiden turns to follow Dan, but Amelia immediately moves towards Phil. Dan almost calls her back before he realizes what she’s doing.

Phil looks up at Dan in shock as Amelia wraps her arms around his waist in a hug. “Bye, Phil, I hope you have a lovely day,” she says sweetly.

An odd look covers Phil’s face as he looks down at her, and Dan almost worries that he might start crying. But then he’s grinning and petting her hair affectionately. “I’ll be fine, Mia, I’ve got to go to work later too, you know.”

Amelia nods at this and lets go of him, and Dan watches in mild surprise as Jaiden takes her place. He’d seemed the less affectionate of the two of them. Still, Jaiden seems completely comfortable going over to give Phil a hug in the same manner as his sister had, squeezing Phil tightly with a small smile. “Bye Phil, see you later.”

“Bye guys, love you, have a good day,” Phil calls after them as they move past Dan and out the door, his eyes catching Dan’s gaze. His face appears a little pinker, and Dan wonders if it has anything to do with the likely incredibly fond look that he’s shooting him right now. “What?” He says defensively, the color on his cheeks darkening when Dan only smirks.

“Nothing,” Dan sings, shaking his head as he moves out the door. “You’re just being a good dad and I’m proud of you,” he admits more quietly, the grin on his face softening into a genuine smile.

Phil rolls his eyes at this, but Dan can tell he’s fighting a smile. “Go, before you’re late.” He shoves Dan’s shoulder gently, moving him out the door faster.

“I’m going, I’m going. See you later.”

“Text me when you get to work,” is the last thing Phil says before closing the door behind Dan.

The twins are standing patiently, and Amelia has a toothy grin on her face. “What?” He asks her somewhat defensively, a little embarrassed at the playful scene they’d just witnessed.

Amelia only shrugs then, holding her hand out for Dan to take like he normally does to lead them to the garage. “You’re bein’ a good dad too,” she says simply, holding her other hand out for Jaiden, although he just shoves it away. Amelia frowns and moves to grab his hand anyway, and he slaps her hand this time.

“Jai, don’t hit your sister,” Dan says half-heartedly, his heart still jumping at the sweet thing she’d just said to him.

Jaiden reluctantly takes his sister’s hand, and a smile lights up her face as they move into the elevator. Dan allows her to press the button for the garage, watching with amusement at the relief that floods Jaiden’s face when she drops his hand. Sneakily, he moves around to Dan’s other side, tucking his hands into his pockets. He shoots a glance up at Dan and gives him a sheepish look, but Dan only winks at him. He understood the need for personal space, and honestly they were big enough not to need to hold his hand walking from the elevator to the car in a secluded parking garage, anyway.

The drive to the school is full of excited chatter from the backseat, and Dan tunes out of their conversation for the most part, spending most of his mental energy on running through a mental list of things he needed to do when he got to work, as well as thinking about where he needed to take the twins when he got them to their building. It seems like the drive was way too short by the time they get to the primary school, and Dan’s stomach churns with nerves for the children as he sees all the other parents leading their kids in. He hopes and prays that they’re okay today, and he hopes his wishes are heard by someone, somewhere.

“Are you two going to be embarrassed if I walk you inside?” Dan asks, hoping they say no.

Luck must be on his side, because both of them shake their heads before insisting they want him to walk them inside. This time, he makes both of them take one of his hands to walk them inside, talking quietly about how much fun they’re going to have and how he can’t wait to hear all about their day when they get home. “And I’ll be here waiting for you guys as soon as school’s over, okay? And you can tell me all about your day and what you did, alright?”

The twins both nod and mumble their affirmatives, but Dan can tell they’re getting antsy and ready to go. Out of the corner of his eye, Dan sees Esme, the counselor of the primary school. He smiles at her, and she responds with a wave as she makes her way over.

“Dan Howell! I thought that was you, but I wasn’t so sure. I almost forgot that you had two little ones in school this year!” She says pleasantly, smiling broadly at the twins.

“Yep, this is Amelia and Jaiden,” he tells her, nodding to each of them as he says their names.

Esme crouches down and smiles at them. “I’m Miss Esme. I’m the counselor here, and an old friend of Mr. Howell’s.” She winks at Dan then, and he tries to hide a grimace as his stomach churns uncomfortably. He’d almost forgotten the reason he didn’t care much for her, but there it was, the blatant flirtation, despite the fact that she was at work.

The twins move slightly closer to Dan, a little shy about a new person he was sure. He tries to smile apologetically at Esme. “They’re just a little shy at first. They’re very excited to meet their teachers, though,” He informs her, squeezing their little hands reassuringly. He hopes they know that they’re safe here, and he really hopes he’s not wrong about assuming that.

“Oh, I bet! Well, I can take them, if you’re off to work?” She says helpfully, standing up and smiling at Dan. Without giving him a chance to respond, she reaches up and runs a hand down his arm, leaning in a little closer. “I know you’ve probably got a lot to do.”

Dan forces a smile onto his face. “No, thank you.”

“No, really! It’s no problem, I’m sure you don’t have time to go get their schedules and find their classrooms and everything. Believe me, I get it, single parenting and everything, and the first day of school is always just the worst,” Esme smiles knowingly, probably assuming that she’s doing him a favor. She holds her hands out as if to take the twins’ hands, but they shrink back closer to him. If she notices this, she doesn’t respond to it.

“No, actually-“ Dan realizes something then as he replays her wording over in his head again. She must have no idea that he’s not a single parent. The idea that she’s just assuming he’s still single is for some reason hilarious to him even though technically, secretly, it’s true. “My fiancé and I got their schedules and everything early and we’ve actually already memorized them, so I think we’re good, actually.” He tries not to sound smug, he really does.

Esme’s face falls at his words, and Dan watches in amusement as she seems to process what exactly this means. “Oh, your… Oh.” She says, deflating.

“Yeah, so if you don’t mind, I’m going to go ahead and take them to their class, but it was great to catch up with you!” Dan nods to her as he begins leading the twins away. “See you later!” He calls as he leads them down the corridor.

“Does she like you?” Amelia asks almost as soon as they’re out of earshot of the woman.

Dan shushes her gently before shrugging. “I don’t know,” He lies. He did know, she’d been flirting with him for years, and had asked him out more than once. He’d always politely declined. There was nothing wrong with her, of course, she was a beautiful, smart woman. Dan just never felt anything for her, and he didn’t want to lead her on or anything. A small part of him is relieved that now he has a valid excuse to get her to go away now, but an even bigger part of him is just weirdly pleased that he gets to claim Phil somehow, even though he knows it isn’t real.

“I think she likes you,” Jaiden chimes in, looking up at Dan with a funny look on his face. “Do you like her too?”

Dan’s mouth drops open at the question, more than a little surprised by it. “What? No, I don’t- I’m engaged to Phil, guys. Do you know what that means?” Amelia shrugs after a moment of consideration, and Jaiden shakes his head. Dan swallows down the bitter taste in his mouth at the lie he’s about to spin to these children. “It means someday we’re going to get married.” His throat burns with the lie, but he chokes it out in spite of himself. “So, no, I don’t like Esme.”

“You like Phil?” Amelia asks, as if she’s just double checking.

Dan nods, hoping this conversation comes to an end soon. “Yep. Just Phil.”

“Huh,” Amelia hums. “Can we go to the park after school?” She asks when they reach the classroom door, completely changing the subject.

Dan lets out a loud laugh at this, not surprised that her child attention-span didn’t want to linger on the whole Phil situation. He wasn’t sure how much more convincingly he could lie about that. “We’ll see, okay? You guys be good today for your teachers, and be nice to the other kids, okay? I know you will, so I don’t even have to say it, but I want you guys to have a good day and tell me all about it after school.” Both of them give him a hug then, and he doesn’t bother hiding his grin. “I love you guys, I’ll see you in just a few hours, yeah?”

“Bye!” Amelia chirps as she skips into the classroom, much more of a social butterfly than her brother.

Jaiden pauses, looking a little more apprehensive. Dan crouches down beside him, laying a hand on his shoulder. “You’re going to be fine, little man. Your sister is going to be right there with you today, yeah? Everything’s okay.” He speaks softly, hoping that none of the kids passing by can hear their conversation. Kids weren’t all bad, but some of them were evil little shits that could practically smell fear, and he didn’t want them to use that against Jaiden.

“Okay,” Jaiden says softly, tugging his backpack strap further up his shoulder. “And you’ll be here when we’re done with school later?” He asks, turning his big brown eyes up at Dan, looking hopeful.

“Yes sir, I’ll be waiting right outside with the other mummies and daddies, okay?”

Jaiden nods and quickly steps closer to Dan, throwing his arms around his neck and giving him a big hug. “Bye, Dan.”

“Love you, bub.” Dan can’t help how choked up he sounds, and he just hopes that Jaiden doesn’t notice.

Stepping away with a wave, Jaiden goes to find his sister in the sea of children already in the classroom.

As Dan walks back to his car, he tugs his phone out of his pocket to send a text to Phil.

Dan: im really loving the whole dad thing rn we’ve got good kids

Phil: The best :)

Dan: is it pretentious to say I think we’re doing a good job

Phil: Nah we’re killing it

Dan: yh we are

Phil: Quit texting and driving Howell

Dan: not

Phil: Lies and slander. Be careful pls

Dan puts his phone into his pocket and the key into the ignition.

He waits until he’s actually in his own office to respond to the text, and he can’t quit smiling at the feeling filling up his chest. Not that he had been specifically miserable or anything lately, but this feeling was great, and he wanted to relish in it.

Dan: k dad im at work now u can quit having a fit about my texting and driving

Phil: Good. I hope you have a good day

Phil: Oh! Check your lunchbox! ;)

Dan falters a little at the winky emoji, something they didn’t often use in their chats, at least not unironically. He’s a little nervous to open the little container, but he does anyway, cautious in case it’s a prank thing.

Instead, he’s surprised to see a little post-it note on the lid of the container. He pulls it off to get a better look and his heart feels fuller as he grins down at the ridiculous doodle Phil had drawn. It’s an (admittedly horrible) doodle of a rat, and above it in Phil’s horrible handwriting, he’s written Dan a little note.

Have a g(r)e(at) day! Xx

Dan can’t help the giggles that fall out at the stupidity of it, but he can’t help but grin. It’s such a Phil thing to do. He tucks it into his top desk drawer, cleaning out a little corner for it before pulling out his phone to text Phil again.

Dan: r u kidding

Phil: Did you like it?

Dan: it’s horrible

Dan: i love it

Phil: :)

Dan: Did you do one for the twins too?

Phil: Yes!

Phil: Well, theirs are nicer, I drew Jai a pigeon and Mia a mermaid

Dan: you’re an actual twelve year old

Phil: In that case, you should probably be arrested

Dan: shut up, im working

Phil: No you aren’t you’re texting me

Dan: go awayyy

Phil: :)

~~~

The first day of school was a success, if the twins’ excited chattering on the way home is anything to go by. Amelia talks incessantly about how Louise’s oldest daughter Darcy is in the same class as them and Jaiden contributes with his own stories about how he sits next to a boy who likes the same dinosaurs as him. He’s sure to inform Dan that he knows more about them than the other boy, but he promises to teach him everything he knows about them.

“So, did you guys like your teacher?” He asks when they’ve pulled into the parking garage of the apartment.

“Yeah!” Amelia nods eagerly. “Mrs. Evans is really nice!”

“Yeah? That’s great!” Dan smiles as he glances back at them through the rearview mirror. “Jai-bird? What do you think about her?”

Jaiden shrugs. “She’s nice but she asked everyone to go ‘round and share something about ourselves with the class and I didn’t like it.”

Dan bites his lip to hide his smirk. He’s honestly still a little shocked at how similar Jaiden is to himself and Phil, and it honestly just makes his heart swell with a weird sense of pride. He isn’t biologically theirs, but he might as well be, considering how similar he is to them. “Yeah? What’d you guys share?” He asks curiously, turning the car off and getting out.

Jaiden, who had been sat behind him, tumbles out of the car, hiking his backpack up on his shoulders as they walk around to Amelia’s side. “I told them I liked pigeons, and then I told them that sometimes we feed them after dinner.”

Dan’s heart flutters at this, and the part of him that’s still overly concerned with homophobic little kids wonders if Jaiden had said anything about the whole “two dads” thing. He sort of hopes he hadn’t, because he knew how mean kids could be. Instead, he just glances down at him with a smile. “Yeah?”

Jaiden nods, then gestures vaguely to Amelia. “Mia said something stupid for hers.”

Amelia pouts at this. “Did not!” She argues.

“Did too!”

“Did not!”

“Did-“

“That’s enough,” Dan says over them, leading them into the elevator and holding Amelia back so Jaiden could press the button this time. “What did you share, Mia?”

“I told them I wanted to be a mermaid princess when I grow up,” She announces proudly, sticking her tongue out at Jaiden when he rolls his eyes at her.

“Well that’s not stupid!” Dan tries to say encouragingly. “Mermaids are pretty cool, and princesses are just like queens!”

Amelia looks up at him with a pitying smile on her face. “No, they aren’t, Dan. Queens have to do all this work, but princesses just get to have fun and be rich.”

Dan can’t help the snort that falls from his nose at this information, although he does try to cover it up with a cough. They’re at the door to the flat now, so Dan releases her hand to unlock the door. “Oh, sorry. I don’t know a lot about princesses I guess.”

The six-year-old only pats his hand sweetly. “It’s okay, you’re only a boy, you don’t get to know everything.” She gives him a charming smile as she dances past him and into the flat, kicking her shoes off and dumping her backpack by the shoe rack.

Dan stares at her for a moment before his gaze darts to Jaiden. Jaiden doesn’t even look surprised, and he only shrugs at him before following his sister. “It’s okay, Dan. Even grown-ups don’t know all the stuff,” he says reassuringly, leaving Dan alone to just stare in shock at the both of them.

He doesn’t even have a comeback, following them in and locking the door behind himself. He shakes his head incredulously, laughing softly to himself as he shoves his trainers off, straightening them up on the shoe rack neatly. “Do you guys have homework?” He calls to where they’ve disappeared into their room.

“No,” they call back in almost unison.

Dan rolls his eyes as he picks their backpacks up off the floor, hanging them on their little hooks neatly. He’d lecture them about that another day. He grabs their lunchboxes and takes them into the kitchen with his own, dropping them onto the counter to sort through the things they hadn’t eaten. Both lunchboxes are nearly empty, although Amelia still had a pack of fruit gummies and a pack of crackers, while Jaiden only left the crackers. That had been a shot in the dark, honestly, but Dan smiles to himself when he realizes that neither of them must like that kind.

After emptying them of any wrappers and the crackers, Dan sets them back on the counter where he’d left them last night to be repacked in the morning. “Do you guys want any snacks?” He calls, moving to the cupboard to grab a glass for some water. After filling it up, he realizes he hasn’t heard a response. “Guys?” He asks. Again, no response.

He sets the glass down before moving down the hall to where their room is, slowing his steps when he hears what sounds like a quiet argument. He doesn’t intend to eavesdrop, really, he doesn’t, but when he hears the name Levi pop up once again, he can’t help but stop to listen.

“Of course, he wasn’t at our school, idiot! He’s in secondary school,” Dan hears Amelia hiss. He frowns, trying to figure out who this Levi person is to them.

“Then maybe he’s at the other school!” Jaiden argues back.

“Who cares?” Amelia responds, and Dan hears the sound of the mattress squeaking as she climbs onto her bed. “We won’t see him anymore, Jai.”

Jaiden makes a huffing noise, and Dan hears what sounds like something hitting the wall. Mia responds with an indignant yelp, and Dan hopes he hadn’t just thrown something at his sister. “It’s not his fault, you know,” Jaiden’s voice is quieter this time, and Dan finds himself inching closer to catch his words.

“I don’t care,” Amelia snaps. “If he hadn’t called those people, we’d still be with mummy and daddy!”

Dan’s heart begins beating rapidly then, and he suddenly has a feeling that this Levi person must be close to them, if he’s apparently the reason they were separated from their family. Dan swallows hard at the memory of Hazel giving him what little information she could about why they were taken away. Drugs and an unstable financial situation: that was basically all that Dan had been privy to. Hazel herself hadn’t been very educated on the case, considering it had been transferred to her from a separate fostering organization.

“They don’t care about us!” Jaiden yells back at his sister.

She shushes him loudly at his words, and then denies it. “That’s not true!”

“Yes, it is, Amelia. Levi was trying to help! Mummy and Daddy were mean to him!”

Dan doesn’t have to see her face to tell that Amelia is in tears when she responds. “No. No, no. They- Mummy was sick!”

Jaiden huffs again. “No. Levi told us she wasn’t really sick.”

“He left us!” Amelia raises her voice. “He left us, and then those people took us away.”

Whatever Jaiden’s response was going to be, Dan doesn’t figure out, because then his phone is ringing in his pocket, and the kids go silent. Dan startles at the noise himself before moving back down the hall a little and acting like he was walking out of his bedroom as he pulls his phone out of his pocket. “Do you guys still want to go to the park?” He calls, trying to keep his voice from wavering.

The twins respond with an affirmative, and he silences his phone when he sees that it’s his mum. He could call her back later, when he had more time and wasn’t on parenting duty. It had been awkward talking to her since he started fostering the twins, but when he’d asked Phil if he was experiencing the same with his mum, he’d denied it. Apparently since Kath was under the impression that they were actually together, she was a lot less bothered by the idea that they were basically raising a family together.

Dan tries not to feel queasy at the implications that has.

Just as they walk out the door, Dan’s phone buzzes with a new message. He wrestles the phone out of his skintight jeans, smiling down at it when he sees the message there.

Phil: I saw a video of a baby bear eating trash today.

Dan: okay?

Phil: It reminded me of you :) <3

Dan: I hate you

Phil: Rude!

Dan: you know im kidding

Phil: I know <3

Dan: quit being gross

Phil: :( Fine I’ll take my affection to my other fake fiancé.

Dan: ouch

Dan: also more on the levi thing

Phil: oh shit was I right?? It’s a ghost isn’t it?

Dan: no you spoon

Phil: then??

Dan: I’ll tell you tonight. It’s important.

Phil: K. see you later

~~~

“I’m home!” Phil calls from downstairs about half an hour after they’ve come home from the park. The twins perk up, and Dan glances at them before grinning, shrugging when they look at him questioningly. That’s apparently all the permission they need to run downstairs to greet Phil. Dan stays on the sofa, listening with a smile as they greet him.

“Phil!” Amelia screeches. She especially got on well with him and was always excited to see him when he got home. Dan wondered if maybe he reminded her of her own dad. The thought makes his stomach churn nervously, but he brushes it away.

“Hi, guys! Oh!” Dan doesn’t have to be watching to know that they likely just jumped on him, and he smirks. “Hello, Mia. You shouldn’t jump off the stairs like that, it’s dangerous,” he chastises gently. She mumbles something Dan can’t hear, and then he hears him speaking to Jaiden. “Hey, little man,” he says affectionately, and Dan can picture him ruffling his hair. “How was school?” Phil asks, and Dan can hear him walking up the stairs now.

The children begin chattering excitedly, and Dan can’t really decipher what they’re telling him between both of them speaking so quickly. He puts his laptop on the coffee table, tossing his arm over the back of the sofa and leaning back as he watches Phil come up the stairs carrying Amelia, Jaiden right behind them. Phil’s eyes dart around the room, a smile stretching his lips when his gaze meets Dan’s.

“Hey,” Phil greets him softly, shifting Amelia in his arms a little.

“Hi,” Dan grins up at him. He nods to Amelia with a knowing smile. “That one might have missed you,” he teases, relishing in the way Phil’s cheeks turn a little pink. He still wasn’t completely convinced that he was good with the kids, although Dan had tried more than once to convince him that he was doing just fine.

“I guess she was the only one,” Phil teases back easily, pouting when Dan rolls his eyes at his childish behavior.

“Oh, I missed you alright,” Dan says, hiding his smirk when Phil sets Amelia down before sitting on the sofa beside Dan. Subtly, he grabs one of the pillows that had been tucked under his left arm. “But I’m sure I won’t at this distance.”

He barely has a moment to take in Phil’s confused expression before he’s swinging the pillow, smacking Phil in the face with a thump.

“Dan!” Phil yells through his poorly concealed laughter.

“What?” Dan asks sweetly, tugging the pillow out of his reach and tucking it under his arm before Phil has the chance to retaliate. Phil notices this, and with narrowed eyes he lunges forward, grabbing for the pillow while grabbing one of Dan’s wrists in the other hand, pinning his hand to the sofa. “No!” Dan screams, rolling over onto his side to try and cover up the pillow. He vaguely hears the kids giggling somewhere behind them, but he’s not even paying attention to that when Phil gets a mischievous look on his face. He doesn’t even have to say it before Dan realizes what he’s going to do. “No, Phil, please don’t- Oh my god!”

Phil snickers as he begins tickling Dan’s side, his laughter bouncing around the room over Dan’s screeches. “You deserve this!” He yells gleefully, dropping Dan’s wrist to attack his other side.

Dan thrashes beneath him, struggling to catch his breath over all his screaming. “No, no, please! Stop! I’ll- I’ll- I’ll behave!” Dan shrieks, feebly trying to shove Phil’s hands away.

“You promise you’ll be nice?” Phil asks teasingly. Something in his voice has Dan blushing, and he draws his legs up, effectively pushing Phil away a little.

“Promise!” He says loudly, breathing heavily when Phil finally stops his attacking. His breathing is labored, and his sides hurt from laughing so much. “Bloody hell, mate,” he wheezes. “I’m too old for this shit,” he mutters under his breath, hoping the kids didn’t hear him.

Phil quirks an eyebrow at him but smiles anyway. “Sorry, I got a little carried away. Are you okay?” He asks sweetly, dropping a hand to Dan’s back and stroking gently.

Dan nods, smiling up at him. “I’m fine, yeah.” His heart is suddenly bursting with something warm as he looks up at his best friend, and he barely realizes it when he reaches up and tucks a piece of hair back into Phil’s quiff, flattening it back gently. Phil’s gaze darts up to Dan’s hand, but they settle back on Dan’s face as his lips fall into a softer smile.

Before Dan has a chance to get too caught up in the moment, whatever it was, he hears a giggle from above him. He glances up to find Amelia and Jaiden hovering over the arm of the sofa where his head is resting. “Can I help you?” He teases.

“Were you two about to kiss?” Amelia asks, smirking at him.

He can feel the blush on his cheeks from the question, and he tries to stutter out an explanation. Luckily, Phil beats him to it.

“Nosy Nancy, why don’t you come over here? I have a surprise for you,” Phil grins, lifting the hand that isn’t on Dan’s back and wiggling his fingers at her.

She squeals before darting behind the couch, Jaiden following close behind.

“Hide and seek, guys, so try not to run everywhere!” Phil calls to them before he glances down at Dan with an apologetic look, but Dan only rolls his eyes before shoving him away.

“Go, go chase them, it’s your turn to play Fun Dad.”

Phil grins before ruffling Dan’s hair and standing from the couch to go play with the twins. “Dinner?” Phil asks inquisitively, pausing before commencing the chase.

Dan rolls to his feet, shoving Phil’s shoulder as he passes him. “I’ll start dinner, go. They want to play, and I wouldn’t put it past them to attack you if they don’t get what they want.”

Rolling his eyes, Phil moves to the stairs to find the kids, who Dan can hear giggling downstairs somewhere. “Right, because they’re so vicious.” The sarcasm is palpable. “Still need to talk later?” he asks softly as they walk downstairs.

“Yeah,” Dan nods. “We can talk when we go to bed?”

Phil nods at this. “Okay.” Then, louder so the kids can hear him, “Ready or not, here I come!”

~~~

After eating dinner and sending the kids to bed, they finally find themselves in their bedroom getting ready for bed themselves. Dan has long since gotten over feeling awkward changing in front of Phil, and he carelessly tugs his jeans off and throws them into the laundry hamper before doing the same with his shirt, replacing it with a t-shirt. He isn’t entirely sure who the shirt belongs to at this point, but honestly most of the things they have are interchangeable, so it really doesn’t even matter. Phil does the annoying thing he always does and leaves his jeans and shirt in a heap on the floor, and Dan dutifully goes behind him and collects them to throw in the hamper.

“They already asleep?” Phil asks from the bathroom when he sees Dan moving around the bedroom.

“Yeah, they were pretty tired after the first day of school I reckon,” he replies, tugging the band off his left hand and setting it on the nightstand. He runs a hand through his hair as he steps into the bathroom, cringing when he feels how greasy his hair is. He’d been running his hands through it a lot today, stress mostly, and it showed.

Phil, who’s brushing his teeth, squints at Dan’s reflection in the mirror. “Alright?” He asks around the foam in his mouth.

Dan nods but crinkles his nose at him, prompting Phil to spit before rinsing his toothbrush off. “Hand me the toothpaste,” he says as he grabs his own toothbrush from the cup. Phil hands the tube over and then studies Dan’s reflection as he begins brushing his teeth.

“Your hair’s getting long,” he comments, bringing a hand up to card through Dan’s curls. Dan unintentionally cringes away, not wanting Phil to mess with his already dirty hair. “Sorry,” he mumbles, dropping his hand.

“‘S fine, just need to wash it,” Dan responds. He finishes brushing his teeth in silence, splashing cold water on his face when he’s done. “Did you take your contacts out?” He asks Phil, turning around to face him.

Phil nods, quirking an eyebrow. “Done in here?” He asks, his hand hovering over the light switch. In response, Dan only nods as he heads back into their bedroom, going straight for the bed.

“I’m exhausted,” he mumbles into the pillow after he’s crawled under the duvet.

“Same,” Phil sighs, and Dan feels the shifting of the mattress as he settles under the covers on his side. There’s the sound of metal clinking against wood, and Dan assumes he’s taken his ring off. “Lights off?” He asks softly, his hand coming to rest on Dan’s shoulder.

“Mhm, please.”

There’s a click of the lamp being turned off, and Dan sighs into his pillow. “Levi?” Phil says softly, reminding Dan that they still needed to talk.

Dan sighs but rolls over onto his back. “They talked about him again today. They didn’t know I could hear them I guess.”

“Yeah?” Phil prompts when he falls silent. Dan watches out of the corner of his eye as Phil hesitates a little before reaching his hand out and gently pushing Dan’s curls off his forehead. Dan quirks an eyebrow at him, but Phil only shrugs.

“I think he’s their brother,” Dan admits finally, staring up at the ceiling as Phil gently pets his hair. It’s soothing in all the right ways, and he knows he’ll likely fall asleep with him doing it if he doesn’t stop soon.

Phil’s hand pauses in its movement as he seems to process Dan’s words, but when Dan opens one eye to look at him, he quickly continues. “Oh. Are you sure?” He looks conflicted, as if he isn’t sure what his reaction needs to be.

Dan shrugs. “No, but it sounded like it could be.”

“What did they say?”

After recounting the conversation he’d overheard, Dan falls silent, closing his eyes as he allows Phil a few minutes to process the new information. It takes him a few moments, but eventually he speaks. “What do you think we should do? I mean, obviously Levi got taken away too, but where is he now?” He sounds confused, and also hurt. Dan can understand why; the whole situation was beyond fucked up, and his heart hurt to think about the fact that there was another kid involved in this situation, one who didn’t even have a sibling to keep him company like the twins did.

“I don’t know. I think we should call Hazel and ask about him, probably,” Dan whispers, silently hoping that Phil agrees.

Phil hums in consideration. “Do you think they’ll let us take him?” He asks, sounding hesitant.

Dan’s eyes snap open to gauge Phil’s reaction. Phil glances down at him, his lips pressed into a straight line. “It wouldn’t hurt to try,” Dan says softly, reaching a hand up to stop the movement of Phil’s hand in his hair, intertwining their fingers instead. It wasn’t something he did often, especially with no audience, but he felt that they both needed the grounding contact right now.

“I don’t know, Dan…” Phil’s voice is full of concern, and he’s got a guarded look on his face.

“He’s their brother, Phil,” Dan insists quietly. “Sure, we’re doing our best to be their temporary family, but he might be the only family they’ve got left after all of it is said and done.”

Phil sighs, squeezing Dan’s hand before pulling his hand free and moving to lay down. Dan hates the way his hand feels empty without the contact, so he rolls over to face the opposite way and shoves his hands under his pillow. “We need to think about it some more, okay?”

“Whatever,” Dan mumbles, allowing his eyes to drift shut again.

There’s a moment of silence before Phil speaks again. “Are you upset with me?” He asks, his voice soft.

“No, I’m just thinking.”

“Daniel,” Phil reprimands his facetiousness.

Dan groans and rolls over to glare at him. “No, okay? I’m not mad. I just…” he trails off, squeezing his eyes shut and rolling back over. “I’m just tired, honestly. All of this is really overwhelming.”

Phil seems to consider this, and Dan can almost feel the hesitancy in the air before Phil reaches a hand out to rest on Dan’s side. “I know. But you can still talk to me, you know. I’m your best friend.”

“I know,” Dan chokes out.

There’s a moment where neither of them speak and Dan hears Phil sigh deeply before his hand falls away. Dan frowns, feeling the distance between them more tonight than he usually does.

Quietly, so that Phil doesn’t realize how truly affected he is by the conversation and the lack of conclusion, Dan speaks. “You can… I’m not mad. I’m really not.”

The room is quiet for a moment before Phil responds. “Do you want me to?” He doesn’t have to specify, because both of them know what they’re talking about at this point.

Softly, Dan says, “Yeah.”

The mattress shifts as Phil moves closer to Dan, throwing an arm around his waist and snuggling against his back. Dan relaxes into the touch, moving one of his hands down to grip Phil’s wrist to hold him in place. Phil squeezes him gently and Dan shivers as he feels his breath fan across his neck.

“Cold?” Phil whispers.

Dan shakes his head. “No.” He hesitates before speaking again. “Are you upset with me?”

“No,” Phil assures him. “I just don’t know what to do about this. I need more time to think about it, okay?”

“Okay. We’re okay?”

Phil laughs softly, and Dan knows he doesn’t imagine it when Phil presses his lips to the nape of his neck. “We’re okay.”

[secretagentspydetectiveninja]

hey so remember like last year when i was re-reading misadventures and fixing typos? (well, i say that, but it was just an excuse to re-read it and write some absolutely absurd commentary on it...) i found old notes in my phone from january with even more so guess i may as well post it because people seemed to find it funny at the time, it’s basically just The Misadventures of Aish Realizing Things though

[yeah so here’s the original notes i’m not even gonna change anything even though lots of Lore has happened in the show and we Know things now, you just get to see what january aish typed]

ok well let’s go then chapters 31-35 oh god

oh yeah the ML Blackout! I remember that

hm it’s occurring to me maaaaaybe I should post a bit of a warning on this chapter. like “yes this starts off stupid and cracky and fluffy but takes a complete 180 in the middle and you will end up sobbing.”

or maybe I should put that as a disclaimer on the whole fic cause it’s one hell of a ride

THE AROACE SCIENCE JOURNAL YESSSSSSS THAT COMES BACK LATER

yeah the reason why the early parts of this chapter are very lighthearted is honestly because the fic was getting a bit too bleak, I needed something cheerful, so paper planes and arm wrestles it was

wait... isn’t this just that scene from Anansi??? where like Nora challenges Nino to an arm wrestle but then he wins because Someone Else Nearby Did A Thing

also this is Peak characterization, damn Aish, you rly outdone yourself, congration

any time I drop the word “inkling” into a fic it is always 100% a splatoon reference

MAX WOW TONE DOWN THE GAY

heh... BI-ceps...

oh my godddd Max trying to play off his ogling as “ah yes I am scientifically studying Kim’s arm muscles ofc, it’s science I swear” is SO frickin funny I’m already losing it

Alix: “scientifically speaking I’m hot therefore you have to lose this arm wrestle” hshdhdghshskkjkdhshs

^literally the kind of nonsense every single teen I know spouts irl

including me when I was a teen, I just said things

(I still just say things)

you can’t bring up the sports bra thing goddammit, I agree it’s cheating because it has the power to one-hit kill anyone in the vicinity

I love how Max thinks his crush on Kim is “under control” while like. visibly swooning over him

OH MY GOD THE PILLOWS SHHDJDHDHDHSKHS

OKAY SO LIKE I was supposed to put the thing about Kim snogging a pillow in chapter 20 but I forgot or something and then I just had to get it in somehow, oh it kills me dead just thinking about it, I’m dying, I’m dead

and the fact that he admits to it as well, holy moly

KIM

K I M

THAT’S GAY

OH WOW

this is the moment when Alix’s Kimax shipper heart was suddenly feeling validated like “omg wait Kim DOES like Max??? like for real??????”

awwwww Kim, Max doesn’t have those kind of superpowers, you just have a crush on him that’s all <3

THE SKATEBOARDING SNEK!!!!!!!!!!!!

“What the heck is that?” “My snake.” DYINGGGG

Kim trying to figure out if the snake is sitting or standing is a whole mood

ohhhhhhhh my gosh poor Alix trying so damn hard to subtly ask Kim if he likes Max and Kim’s just. so DUMB he doesn’t even get it no matter how obvious she is

she’s even trying to pull out those stupid amatonormative “so is he MORE than a friend???” questions just to get this idiot to figure it out because she knows allo-romos are Like That and he still doesn’t get it,,

[future aish says: the word is alloro, past aish. it’s alloro]

AND SO NOW SHE ASSUMES THEY’RE NOT INTO EACH OTHER BECAUSE SHE THINKS EVEN KIM CAN’T BE THAT STUPID

YOU UNDERESTIMATE HIS STUPIDITY

oh no... oh NO.... the letter.... here we go....

btw yes Gabriel had Kim’s grandad assassinated, it was indeed his doing

...isn’t this lowkey the plot of The Lion King?

or Long Live The Queen

hmmm let’s just say in the sequel poor Kim really will have to deal with the stresses of ruling a country >:D

NO MY POOR SON HAVING A BREAKDOWN, I WANT TO HUG HIM

(also can I just say like... this chapter is actually well-written for the most part? I’m actually kinda impressed)

unfortunately I know the feeling of wanting, needing to return home, but it fills you with dread... *hugs Kim forever*

Kim crying all over Max both hurts me and sort of heals me because Max is so sweet and comforting about it ohhh my heeeaaart

AWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

THIS IS LOWKEY A LOVE CONFESSION I SWEAR, IT’S SO CUTE

chapter 32 being called “Un chat noir” is kinda dumb af but also it just so happened that I accidentally had the chapter called “Coccinelle” be chapter 64, aka exactly double of 32, so that was kinda neat

Plagggggg!!!!!!!!!!

and Wayhem lol, I think I’ve already mentioned how originally this noble was just some random irrelevant unnamed OC until I decided way later it’s gay stalker fanboy

oh yeah that’s how the nobility recognize the royalty, I forgot lol

(also nobles from countries with widespread newspress or tv will recognize them from news reports and stuff I guess)

the fact that Plagg just hates Wayhem is funny to me for some reason

MISADVENTURES

HOLY SHIT I ACTUALLY THREW IN THE ACTUAL WORD

except it was in reference to Adrien... let’s just say that The Misadventures of Imperial Prince Adrien may or may not make an appearance in the sequel >:D

...the Adrienette is literally just in this fic so that people would read it, ngl

hhhhhhhhhhhh okay it’s true Alix is an aro idiot who doesn’t know anything about romance but for once she’s RIGHT, Kim IS in love with Max, but she assumes she’s wrong hshgshdjhdnsnsh

oh my god noooo timeline twin go away and stop giving me nightmares

I still love how they hate each other, that’s some top-notch self-hatred right there and I need to get on their level

[future aish note: no past self!! be nice to yourself!! you are a cool bean!! own it!!]

YOU FOOL... EVERY CLASSMATE WOULD TAKE A SWORD TO THE HAND FOR ALIX, WHY WOULDN’T THEY

ỳïķèš,,,

honestly I probably should stop being lazy and actually go back to like idk chapter 8 and put in an actual monopoly game (it had to have been before the oracle sessions in ch10 at least)

fun fact!! I have indeed very nearly had a fist fight over the last dark blue card in a monopoly game!! also I blatantly cheated, and the main opponent locked someone else (an 8 year old btw) in a cupboard... it was Wild(TM)

me and my irl friend actually came up with the butterfly thing when we were at the cinema once, she made up this random angry gardener OC who stepped on a butterfly after being fired or something lol

I mentioned Rose liking unicorns!!!! before Captain Hardrock!!!!!!!

shdhdhkshs Alix is such a moody emo brat in this fic I adore it

“The only real difference between you and me is one dead butterfly.” goddammit that’s the creepiest fucking thing, I’m genuinely shaking

technically it’s a butterfly’s fault for ALL the timelines which means that we’re all one butterfly away from death at any moment

cheerful stuff

no, no, you’re not trying to block it out on purpose... I’M trying to block it out on purpose bc I’m highkey shamelessly projecting

god I wish my timeline twin would manifest in the astral plane and punch me in the arm too

“Count yourself lucky you’re not a pillow, idiot.” in-context this is contender for Most Cursed Line I Have Ever Written In My Life

and yes Alix was about to straight-up swear

Mylène rollerskating is extremely blessed and good

pfffffffff Max you coward, I stand on swivel chairs all the time

*me, chanting at the spider in my room* KIMAX! KIMAX! KIMAX!

Kim literally making every excuse to not put Max down is amazing honestly

Kim and Max’s origins story is sooooooooooo cute wtf

THIS IS SO BLESSED OH MY HEART

HE’S JUST STANDING THERE CUDDLING HIM I’M

DECEASED

I,,,, swear to god,,,,,,,

so like. I know it’s now canon in the show that Kim really is as oblivious to his feelings as I wrote him in this. but MY GOD. IT’S FRIGGIN PAINFUL

KIM YOU ARE IN LOVE WITH MAX, FULL HOMO, THAT’S WHY YOU’RE FEELING LIKE THIS, IT’S NOT THAT COMPLICATED DAMMIT

oh yeah I wrote the kimax bits rly early and my old url was @queenkubdel haha

aight now a no-kimax chapter, but at least it’s a goodun

there’s that catradora-esque weather girls frenemyship again

Kim having a full-on breakdown when he finds out Alix’s hair isn’t really pink is actually really blessed, no lemme explain

so this universe has magic, right?? so he thinks to himself that the reason his friend has pink hair is because she must be some sort of anime protagonist or Really Important and Cool or something, and it never even occurred to him to doubt her

in other words he’s betrayed because he WANTED HIS FRIEND TO BE A COOL SHONEN HERO

which is both hilarious AND very sweet

...oh wait I’ve scrolled down and it turns out I literally explained all that in the fic itself hhdgjdvzjdjhs

and yeah honestly I can’t blame poor Kim for taking it so badly, he’s still reeling from his grandfather’s assassination so it’s natural his emotions are not exactly Regulated atm

actually when are his emotions ever regulated

1703-1899 hm... might change that since the fic takes place in 1957-1960 so even though it’s a commissioned history of the empire it was before Gabriel was even born so like why would he even care lmao

“Great Western Ocean” so pretentious, just say the Atlantic omg

I’ve been playing way too much civ because the first thing that came to mind was that everyone’s denounced Agreste due to the high warmongering penalties of the industrial/modern eras

Chloé and Kim is one hell of a brotp okay I still firmly believe that

also Chloé still loves her rococo fashion, she’s just toned it down enough that she can fit through doors and it’s not quite as “in your face” towards commoners

listen I know in the show Kim still liked Chloé for a while after Dark Cupid but in this he got over her quicker because his crush on her wasn’t as deep in the first place

Kim literally tells Chloé he gave the brooch to Max and yet STILL doesn’t realize he likes him!!! KIM!!!!!!!!!!

Chlodemption arc yesssssssss

also she’s a lesbeean

(ye Pollen will be in the sequel don’t you worry)

god I’m so proud of her <3

it feels believable too, so I’m proud of myself!! (I’m trying to be nice to myself before next chapter where I will no doubt roast myself so badly I’ll never recover)

outdated laws about marriage... jeez was that cursed foreshadowing or what

YES IT’S IVAN, I LOVE THIS BOY, HE’S SO GRUMPY AND ANGRY ALL THE TIME AND HE HATES KIM

...actually wait this is sibling culture

I literally speak like this to my brother and he’s my best friend so in conclusion Ivan thinks of Kim as an annoying brother

Jalil why are you a historian. just go be a psychologist and stop your sister accidentally hecking up the country

omg the Antarctica thing, I’m just imagining Jalil in the freezing cold with a massive coat on and getting chased by penguins

I love how the timeline twin’s plan was “escape school, force Adrien to get a venomous pet, then abandon him immediately in the middle of nowhere” and later on it turns out she skipped step two and just ditched him lmaoooooo

being so ace that your brain goes straight to “death and murder” before anything else is the biggest mood, I speak from experience

Jalil knows... he had that conversation with Kim in chapter 20... he Knows

“a bit unsupportive” um that is an extreme understatement good grief he was more savage than ME

RISE OF THE KIMAX SHIPPERS

oh don’t worry the venom death still haunts me too

chapter I Hate You... “A rather rotten winter party” well it should have been named A RATHER ROTTEN CHAPTER DO YOU KNOW HOW IMPOSSIBLE THIS ONE WAS TO WRITE OMG I HATE WRITING MYSELF INTO CORNERS

you see I had to have a motive for the timeline twin to explain things properly so that I could put in a really really dumb pun later but that meant I had to unfortunately suffer many allergic reactions again

[future aish note: forgot to mention, i also needed a motive for kim to stop eating chocolate forever, so i had to Curse this chapter as a sacrifice in order to save his life later on]

alright, alright, here we go, I’ll stop procrastinating and just get this over with

oh yeah it’s chapters like these that the fic’s rated T lol

the Adrikim friendship is indeed important... for later... like, plot-relevant levels of important... life-saving levels...

“some event” is the Peace Ball actually and I can’t wait because that chapter’s actually a good one

KIM BRAGGING ABOUT KISSING ADRIEN LAST YEAR IS SO FUCKING FUNNY OH MY GOD I’M LOSING MY MIND???

like last year he was LITERALLY LIKE “oh boo hoo I cannot tell anyone about this because Adrien is Ã Bøyê” and now he’s just like “yeah I kissed a hot boy and what about it???”

to be fair he is on an extreme sugar rush from all the chocolate he ate, which will... be a plot point in just a moment...

PILLOW GIRLFRIEND

I’m the amused nobles, they are me

oh my god Kim we get it you want to kiss someone (Max) and you don’t want to outright say it

holy shit do any of these kids ever think before they speak??? not to sound like the timeline twin or anything but alix... you could have avoided this if you’d bothered to use your one (1) brain cell

[future aish note: bold of me to assume that alix has a brain cell]

Kim wants to now fight his PARALLEL SELF oh my god, get on my level Kim, I want to fight my actual self like right now so there

stfu all of you, this is poisoning my liver

Max is the biggest mood and at least mildly sensible thank god, but he really shouldn’t have left those two alone for even a second

I AGREE PLATONIC LOVE IS UNDERRATED

the chair... the fucking c h a i r... I’m already lying down but I need to lie down harder just to process the absurdity of this

(I think I was gonna have Alix fall off the chair just because that’s hilarious but I forgot)

look I can’t take heartrate seriously but if you ever write it then you are legally required to put in kissing contests or you’re doing it wrong

fudgin Adrienette kiss offscreen and irrelevant

DJWIFI!!! AND ACTUAL PROPER DJWIFI!!!! I was sick of seeing it treated as some kind of pair-the-spares beta couple so I flipped the script and had them literally call out that trope while treating Adrienette as irrelevant instead, which is also why the sequel will be extremely djwifi-centric

“super swanky bae” please stop misusing commoner slang I’m begging you

THERE’S THE PLOT POINT I WAS TALKING ABOUT

Theo was right here, he witnessed with his own eyes how much chocolate Kim ate, so he knows for a fact that if you give Kim chocolate he will scarf it down without a second thought... so hypothetically if one sent him poisoned chocolates... dyou see where I’m going with this...

oh and Theo still has like every job btw

Alya!!!! no!!!!! hire him again!!!!!!!! then he won’t send the chocolates!!!!!!!!!! aaaahhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!

there goes me hinting how alyadrininette is the ultimate ot4 again

...do I really wanna scroll down and keep going? no I don’t but I guess I gotta, and relive every one of my most embarrassing school sleepovers in the process

full offence to everyone bothering to read this but kissing sounds gross, actually

(for the record it was probably like... 10 seconds or something idk it was Not Long At All)

“probably not more than 5 minutes” omg I just said it was 10 seconds??? hmmm m okay like 20 seconds maaaybe, Kim just has no sense of time perception

neither do I based on my microwaving skills

SHIT THIS IS LITERALLY A SCHOOL SLEEPOVER

INNOCENT DUMBASS AROACE ASKING “what does that mean? what’s this? what’s that? it’s okay you can tell me :-)”

omg I forgot the snake was there ahshdhdkshfs I’m the snake, probably wants to launch itself out of the window so big mood

most of the fic so far had Alix being really aro so I was like damn... gotta make her really ace too

(if I ever bother writing the Kimdine AU then you actually get an aro character who isn’t ace, because we need more of them, but I won’t say who) (okay fine it’s Luka)

I tend not to be too British in my writing so as not to give the Americans heart attacks whenever they see someone referring to their mother as “mum” etc, but like... sometimes you just gotta throw in the word “snogging”

(I’m typing this out on my phone rn and it has exactly 69% battery, I hate this and also hate that I felt the need to mention that)

THE HOCKEY THING MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE BEEN BASED OFF A REAL LIFE THING. *SWEATS NERVOUSLY*

honestly I was soooooo tempted to actually write The Talk bit, it would have been the funniest thing ever, but I was also 99% sure I would have to change the rating to M (despite it not even remotely being smut lol, just a regular biology lesson) and there was no way I was doing that, pretty sure I pushed the T rating at some points as it is

[future aish: god i am still so tempted to write it. man, i’m tempted. it would be the funniest thing. but no... i have sworn not to write anything above a T rating so guess i won’t.]

YEAH THE THROWING UP THING TOO WAS DEFINITELY NOT BASED ON REAL LIFE OR ANYTHING *MORE NERVOUS SWEATING*

(it genuinely wasn’t a flowerpot though. it’s my life’s goal to throw up in a flowerpot and I still haven’t achieved it.)

all of this is an Ace Mood(TM)

also I love how elaborately I’ve worded this, like yeah idiot royal teenagers are too royal and posh to ever bother just saying the word “sex” like a normal person

to any 17 year old aces: you aren’t too young to know, I told myself that aggressively when I was 17 but now I’m 22 and I’m still just as ace as I always was sooooo yeah

I also hope I can wake up tomorrow and forget I read this trash

well tbh... it’s not total trash... it highkey reminds me of my school days, like, maybe that was subconscious or something... god who even knows

jeez if timeline twin slapped me in the face I’d just keel over and die from sheer terror, other than that that’s HILARIOUS

timeline twin: “YOU HAVE ONE (1) BRAIN CELL NOW P L E A S E CONSIDER USING IT”

fuckeninf hell listen,,, so when I was writing this chapter I didn’t know I was aro... I mean, I was kinda questioning it?? but all I knew was I was ace, and that me not knowing that as a teenager almost totally screwed me over because like

to be normal or to feel normal there’s things you do or say that you don’t want, and things you know would happen or whether you want something or not you’ll take it because you think you’re expected to, because otherwise you’ll have to confront yourself with the fact that something is wrong with you and you don’t know what or why or how to fix it

and being aro on top of that is misunderstanding how to navigate close friendships because of this fundamental fear that if you want to be close with someone then friendship can’t suffice, that how much you care about them doesn’t matter

and things I did or almost did, or had the chance to do and only stopped because (awfully enough) crippling anxiety which ironically saved me (let’s just say the dude turned out to be a creep)... yeah basically this is all a callback to that aroace teenager feel where you can’t help not being true to yourself because you don’t want to, because you don’t know what’s wrong or right, only what’s “normal” and the ache of knowing that you’re not, no matter how much you try

and I didn’t know I was aro while writing this but in hindsight it’s easy to see how that played into it too, and writing this definitely played a part in me realizing I’m aro and was somehow trying to work through some very pent-up feelings about friendship and closeness with people, as well as pent-up feelings about being ace and how that tied into everything too

...in short, do not phuck the pharaoh or you will get HOUSE ARRESTED and DIE

(jk jk she’ll just be awkward around you forever lol, and then SHE’LL get house arrested and die, because you’re not commoners so your actions actually have consequences you dumb idiots)

this entire thing is just a whole mood and lowkey my teenage years holy fuck holy fuck I hate that I’m only just realizing how bloody hard I was projecting

I literally read a post the other day about how unrequited love is only ever usually explored from the perspective of the person who’s in love, whereas aros are usually on the receiving end of it and it’s a tragedy in its own right that you might do things that wind up driving you apart because you can’t bring yourself to love them back but you can’t tell them because of the fear that it’ll push them away... and I gotta say, I totally nailed it 💪

...you know what I’ve changed my mind, chapter 34 is good actually, and now I need to make a time machine and go and hug my 17 year old self for living this, and then hug my 20 year old self for writing this, I’m sorry I was mean to this chapter it’s very relatable and I shouldn’t keep beating myself up over it

thinking makes me miserable too!! that’s why it’s optimistic nihilism only lads

impulse control, hmmm... someone who’s good for him, hmmmmmm... it’s almost like someone like that is right there and exists and is already in love with him 😏

so apparently timeline twin’s idea of “fixing her life” is burning all her bridges and then hecking off to the Kazakh wilderness for over a year

did Alix just... ask the snake if it’s aroace too???

I mean it definitely is, but...

UGH SNAKES DON’T BLINK, I’M STILL SO ANGRY ABOUT THIS

chapter 35, thank god, the title “Finally!” is very apt

(because I can finally change the music from Death Valley to something else lol)

oh poor Max, his heart goes on a real rollercoaster these few chapters doesn’t it? it’s okay buddy, in like 10 chapters you’ll get your man...

NO BUT SHE H A S FIGURED IT OUT!!! SORT OF!!!

I just misread “despite” as “despacito”, I’m going to bed and continuing this tomorrow dammit

alright I am now funky refreshed and ready to roll, let’s get this kimax party started

Max is angsting internally like “no one’s realized I like Kim :( well except Juleka but she’s a lesbian so she doesn’t count” ashgdjsghskk that mlm/wlw solidarity is holding out I see

YES ALIX YOU DO NEED TO TALK TO NATH MORE, THAT’S YOUR FREAKING BEST BUD IN THE SHOW MAY I REMIND YOU

this is all so Irony it’s murdering me dead

okay yeah I’m gonna be really honest and salty here for a second, this bit where Max is annoyed that Alix takes Nath more seriously as a contender than him was me being a bit salty over the fact that like... kimnath/tomato ketchup is a great rarepair but got so weirdly popular amongst people who didn’t seem to care about Max as a character at all despite how close he is with Kim in canon, and as a Max Stan it made me sad because he’s already not very appreciated in fandom

[future aish note: HE IS NOW BABEY!]

THERE IT IS

I WANT TO HUG MAX TOO, BLESS HIM

I also want to hug Alix because godddds I’ve been in that situation where if you were allowed to just TELL the idiots that they like each other then all their problems would be solved but noooo, you’re sworn to secrecy... *sigh*

“I’ll make sure that doesn’t change, ever...” me: *thinks about the sequel and cackles evilly while cracking my knuckles* well,,

A R O M A N T I C

listen it was VERY IMPORTANT to me that I actually put in all these actual words in the fic and made them relevant, like gay, lesbian, bisexual, etc (I think the only one I didn’t was trans, oops?? gotta remember that for the sequel, at least Nino IS trans in this even though I never said the word)

[future aish note: i feel like i didn’t say pan either, or nonbinary... more stuff for the sequel folks! i can’t put in everything but i may as well try!]

bc you see all these tv shows where a character is bi but they say they “don’t like labels” or a character with no love interest get suddenly paired up with someone random at the end... like NO I wanted to do the OPPOSITE of that bc people’s identities are IMPORTANT so I wanted to MAKE IT RELEVANT 💪

and even though I didn’t yet know here that I was aro and highkey projecting, there’s already a fair few fics dealing with asexuality but not aromanticism?? so I rly wanted to make the aro side of things important

almost relieved??? Max, you buffoon, she IS relieved, extremely

Malix friendship is good and severely underrated and I still haven’t forgiven myself for not putting more of it in this

“He was never eating chocolate again” HO-HO-HOLY SHIT THAT’S SOME FORESHADOWING RIGHT THERE

Rose is a distinguished bi who doesn’t realize Kim is a disaster bi

Kim oh my god you can’t just out Adrien “just about functional bi” Agreste like that

I love that Rose calls Kim a casanova even though he’s very much not... how many people are even into him over the course of the fic? Max, Adrien, it’s implied Marinette used to be, Lila is ambiguous, same with the lacrosse guy later, oh yeah Ondine highkey lmao along with 90% of the teenage population of Saharan Africa, Kim himself in about 2 chapters time...

Rose giving Kim the gay talk is so blessed omg I need more interaction between these two

“If you swung one way you were gay, if you swung the other way you were straight, more than one way made you bisexual, if you didn’t swing any way at all then you were probably just Alix...” I will literally NEVER be able to outdo this line, this is Peak

hmm I don’t think at any point in the fic Max says to Kim that he’s exclusively into boys... I guess he said it offscreen then lol, point is He’s Gay

OMG KIM, YOU FINALLY REALIZED WHAT THE NOSEBLEED SCENE MEANT, GOD BLESS YOU

this is like in Syren when he realizes the mermaid is Ondine and that she was trying to tell him she likes him... except this is the gay version of that

yeah Rose I really do need to get more sleep, that one was directed at me and I know it was

Kim being all like “fellas is it gay if you take off your shirt and a guy swoons at you 🤔🤔🤔”

no, no... Max is definitely a complete trainwreck at romance, just slightly less than you

god freaking dammit not the sports bra again,,, I s2g later in the fic all Ondine would have had to do is to show up in a sports bra and Kim would immediately go full ot3 mode no questions asked,,,,,,,, (I mean he does see her in a swimsuit but that’s not the same??? sports bras are in a different league okay shush)

psssssst!!! you should read heartbroken!!!! it’s a kimax fic and it’s so good!!!!! this was a lowkey shoutout!!!!!!!!

genuinely tho, even if Kim hadn’t liked Max too here, he’s being so sweet about it?? he’s worried about his poor friend’s emotional state and wishes he could have done better to help!! gahhhh their friendship/relationship is just So Blessèd

hsndhkdhdkshdh I only noticed it after finishing the fic and occasionally skimming back through, but so much of the time whenever Alix shows up Kim’s all like *ungrateful* “oh not you again” like WOW that’s one way to greet your friend?? mood tho

[future aish note: i did the exact opposite in No Romo, funnily enough! kim’s not in it much but whenever he sees alix he’s like “friend!!! friend!!!!!” and she’s just like -_- “oh it’s that guy again”]

he’s not even paying attention to her omg she’s trying to save the timeline here you idiot

POOR ALIX how frustrating,,, and also I’ve literally been there,,, the woes of being a wing-girl indeed

and now Kim wants to fight himself, why am I not surprised

aND YES HERE’S WHERE IT HITS HIM, THE EXACT FUCKING MOMENT

WHERE HE’S SUDDENLY LIKE “OH WAIT MAX’S LOVE FOR ME ISN’T UNREQUITED??? I LIKE HIM TOO HOLY SHIT????”

aaaaaaand he immediately asks the aro for love advice, why is he like this omg

gosh this is sooooo sweeeeeet

I did not let up, did I? just went ahead and made this as cheesy and cutesy and over the top as I could because It’s What Kimax Deserves

(there wasn’t rly much Kimax content yet in the fandom at this point so I had total free reign and went all-out with it)

sfjsgskdhs and there goes Alix getting her wing-efforts sidelined again

“I’m never asking out someone on a whim again. Or, uh, confessing that I like someone on a whim either.” so uh... you know how I said I’m considering making the sequel Kimaxdine? well if I do then uh. hm. this might change. because reasons.

I don’t know why I made nothing Alix ever says make sense but I’m glad I did because she’s so freaking funny

I swear I talk about Max’s eyes being “magnified in his glasses” multiple times in this fic, either that or I’m having serious deja vu

Kim’s so cute dammit!!! now that he knows he likes Max he’s just swooning over every little thing and it’s!!!! adorable!!!!!

(I wonder if this is how it was with Kimdine in the show? it does seem like Kim already liked her but just hadn’t noticed...)

huehuehuehue Kim later on you do indeed recklessly propose to Max on the spot... in like 18 chapters or so

also the fact that Kim thinks things through better when he’s around Max is just the total sweetest and also what Alix was basically trying to aim for

I love Kim showing off that he can pack all his stuff in half an hour like buddy, the porters can literally help you with that, you’re royalty remember

omg I’d forgotten I left a note here later for binge-readers!! being all like “drink water and eat food and go to sleep uwu”

lmao guess I’ll take my own advice then and leave it there for now

[future aish note: same, goodnight]

[robotslovedeath]

Why You? | Draco M. x Reader (3)

A/N: I’m totally not improvising this as I go uwu anyway enjoy chapter 3 while I listen to some chill music to get me going (chill as in p!atd and some nostalgic game songs from childhood) also! i genuinely like harry as a character and i swear im not trying to shit on him lmao sorry if you think i loathe him with a passion. making him a dick in this is my intention just for the purpose of this fic dndbsb try listening to I'm a Mess by Bebe Rexha while reading! my ideas mostly rely on that song 👀

Word count: 1,633 words

Warnings: None.

Summary: Y/N’s been awfully interested in Harry Potter ever since she met him the first day she arrived at Hogwarts. Not that everyone else did, but crushes. What else could she say? It isn’t until Draco, coincidentally crushing on Y/N, spots Potter and her laughing wholeheartedly, like nothing else in the world matters. Frustration hits him unexpectedly, and he tries everything to get him to lure you to him, eventually making you his.

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 |

"Harry, it's not what it looks like-" You began, pleading him to not bring it up to anyone else. Especially Ron and Hermione. You couldn't believe he had seen the hug between you two. Thinking about that, why the hell was Harry even spying on them?! Has he not got anything else to do? It was creepy in a way. "Y/N, it's way more than what it looks like. Are you serious? I-I've spent days trying to get your attention away from that sick Slytherin, how could you just disobey my orders like that? You're my friend and Malfoy can't just do as he pleases."

You were in utter disgust. Did he think you were some animal figure to him? Like you would go to anyone you saw and immediately take a liking to them? How arrogant could he be? He specifically mentioned that you were his friend. Did that mean that you could only rely on him? "Excuse me? Am I a joke to you? Do I look like I care about your current relationship with Malfoy? I don't give a single damn about that. If you're trying to protect me, then do it correctly! You're only making me want to run back to him!" You spat, your eyes ready to pour the remaining tears you had left in you.

"You're better than this, Potter." This time you called him by his last name. You didn't know him anymore, he was a complete stranger again. How could you love someone like him? Draco was right after all. For once, he actually was. Eventually, after running away from Harry, you found yourself in an empty classroom. The room being your second place to study in, just incase someone bothered you. As far as you were aware, no one knew about this place. Large sighs escaped your dry mouth, the loud ruffling of your books in your bag making so much noise. You finally found your F/B again, continuing off where you recently were.

In the end, you quickly got over your Harry-phase and decided to focus on your studies again instead of some lame crush that probably wasn't that big of a deal anyway. Well, you sure hoped it didn't or you would probably regret it again. Nose inside your book, mind inside your own little world, you didn't notice the time had gone by so fast. You put your book away right as you were about to exit the room, taken by surprise at the sight of him suddenly entering without warning.

"Y/L, thought I might find you here." Draco spoke, a signature smirk highlighting his pale face. "Draco- didn't I tell you to leave me alone? I really don't have the time for this, classes are about to start in a couple minutes-" He truly startled you. How would a guy like him know where to find you? It was strange, but you were glad to have at least a bit of company for the remaining break. "And also, please don't tell anyone about this place. I use it a lot and Ron and Hermione can't find out or they'll get mad--"

He cut you off with a shake of his head, and let you go past him. "They won't know anything unless they see where you run off to. I don't think they care enough anyway, Y/L. Why don't ya ditch 'em for a while, hm? We're pretty much Weasley and that Mudblood but way better. Way better than Mister Potter too, darling." The word 'darling' lingered on his tongue for a while before smiling again, noticing this as an unsure agreement at first. "I could.. maybe arrange that. I just need excuses, they won't believe a word if I make something on the spot."

Draco was definitely in for that simply by the look on his face. "You could tell them you're off to snog me for the next 800 years-" "Draco! Are you out of your mind? They wouldn't believe such a preposterous lie. As much I wish they would, they aren't fools." He at least tried to get your attention for some time, clearly failing to do so. "Anyhow, I'll.. probably think about it for now. It all seems so fast and I can't get use to it, Draco. Please give me time." You mumble rather slowly, distracted by how you were about to be late to class. "Apologies, I should get going. Good day, Draco."

Finding your seat ever so quickly, your short breaths made a couple pair of eyes stare in your direction. Just as you were about to settle down, class started. It was another boring lesson, you still being at the back and nearly dozzing off, before somebody hit a book to your head. "I'm sorry, Y/N! The professor told me I had to do it for your own sake, I would never do such a thing, I promise." It was Longbottom, his gentle side always being close to you as he realised how bad you were hurting ever since childhood. You kinda liked that side of him. You could even say you loved it a tiny bit. "No problem, Longbottom. No need for the apology." Guess this day wasn't as bad.

Class was dismissed and you only had to survive one more class until the day was over. Then you had all the time in the world to finish your book, avoid the trio and maybe go and check what Draco was doing. Not that you liked him. He was only your friend. "Hey, Y/L! I haven't seen you around much, is everything okay?" Finnigan was talking to you now, unusual for him to check up on you. Or maybe another demand from Ron. You knew how worried he would get seeing you with a Slytherin of some sort.

"..I'm fine. You really don't have to worry about me," You were thinking for a while, until, "say, Ron didn't send you here to ask how I was doing, did he?" You gave an unsure smile at him, your brows in a frown. "Bloody Weasley! Uh, excuse me while I step outside. Professor, may I head to the bathroom?" She gave a nod of approval and you proceeded outside to find the nearest corridor and lean against it, nowhere near your current classroom. How could he waste somebody's time just to ask how you were doing? You hadn't even talked to him since you last saw Potter. You didn't want anything to do with them anymore.

You got the fact they wanted to protect you, but it was so selfish trying to control you. What if you liked talking to Draco? What if you liked seeing his face? Hurrying over to the classroom, you found your seat again except this time someone's gaze was on you. You could feel it from the back. "..What are you looking it at?" Frankly, you felt like that was way too harsh but it didn't matter. He's a big boy, isn't he? Draco could handle it.

"Don't forget your assignments. Other than that, class dismissed." Well, that was it. Dinner and then everything was going to be fine. You really should have looked where you were going; bumping into a familiar chest, and looking up in sorrow. "Oh.. Draco. Hi." Your words slipped ever so quickly, hands by your sides, trembling sightly. "Hey, Y/L. Rather odd of you to be the first one out of class. You normally take your time once class is over, what's the problem with you now?" You wanted to get away from him, not having any time on your hands at the moment. "I'm.. heading somewhere. I.. broke my finger and I have to go to the hospital wing?" Your voice went way higher than before, vaguely smiling at Draco.

He chuckled. His chuckles turning into full on laughter. "You're kidding, right? You've never broken a bone. Ever since you got here you stated you were the healthiest witch alive." How could he remember that? Why did he? "That's none of your business. Enjoy dinner, Draco." Turning away from him, you sprinted to your beloved, empty classroom and sighed in relief when you saw he hadn't followed you. Even if he did, Draco knew where you were hiding from the beginning. You regretted that you didn't look back.

"You really hate them, don't you?" You jumped from your seat, landing on the floor with a loud thump. "Don't scare me like that! Bloody hell, what do you want?" He landed you a hand, taking it and standing up again. Dust was scattered everywhere on your robes; glad they weren't on your face. Although.. you began sneezing, face red and puffy. Great, you forgot about that allergy. "..Why do I feel so weak around you? You managed to make me fall and sneeze uncontrollably. 'You proud?" An annoyed groan left your mouth while you wiped the dust away.

He stepped towards you, too close than you intended him to be. "What are you doing?" He didn't say a word, only gazing into your E/C eyes. He wasn't about to.. you know. Was he? "Y/N, there's nothing to be afraid of. I'm only going to.. know you a bit more." "Huh? Know me? What do you mea-" Cold lips connected to your warm ones, completely bewildered by what was happening. You couldn't seem to get away from Draco. It was like you were under his spell. Without magic. You two stayed like that for a couple seconds, eventually pulling away and leaving a string of saliva between your mouths. "I- did we just-? Did you--?" He nodded, walking out of the abandoned classroom and heading straight for the hall.

He really did just kiss you.

[ryouverua]

Trial 4 - Post-Trial (Pre-Execution)

Investigation 1 / 2

Trial: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4

DO YOU UNDERSTAND HOW FEW SHITS I GIVE ABOUT YOUR PREGNANCY DRAMA RIGHT NOW

Glad you care as much as I do, Monokuma.

... Nothing? He’s completely stone faced. What does that mean? Is he shaken at how Shuichi wrest control from him at the very end? Is it regret? Taking the time to mull things over, or brace himself? Something else? I’m pretty convinced he showed a lot more of his true self in this trial than he usually does, so he may be trying to calm himself down. Hmm....

Nice reflex, Kokichi!

H-He’s just going to roll with that? Well, I guess he did get the murder he was hoping for...

MY CUTE LIPS

how dare you make me laugh during such a trying time

Wait, are you saying the memories are being held separately now? You’d think the avatar error would corrupt that kind of data. I guess I might be overthinking things though - I suppose the memory data could be being held separately until Gonta goes back in and is able to retrieve them properly? ... Yeah I’m definitely overthinking this.

OH WELL OKAY NEVER MIND THAT’S APPARENTLY SPOT ON

no way

NO WAY WE HAVE AN ALTER EGO GONTA

ahem, my apologies, ~Gonta Alter Ego~

Well shit, there’s that second self Gonta had been lacking!

FML THEY’RE SO CUTE

WHY DID THIS HAVE TO HAPPEN PRE-EXECUTION UGH

So we’re establishing that they have the power to do this kind of work, huh? I guess... having a mini-killing game simulator inside another killing game simulator would be too much? I do remember that one image of Kaede with that helmet on her head, but...

Wait so - wait wait wait, doesn’t that mean Gonta Alter Ego knew that real boy Gonta wouldn’t be able to remember what happened in the world?

No seriously, give me a second to think about this -

- I’m 99% sure Gonta wasn’t lying to us when he said he didn’t realize he switched the cables. He did make it sound like it sound like he was following what Himiko was saying.

- Could Kokichi have tricked him into switching them? But then that would a) mean that Kokichi knew what the error would be and how it would affect Gonta and b) fly in the face of everything we saw in the last half of the trial, including absolutely losing it on Gonta when he was incapable of defending himself. He was also sitting on the opposite side of the room, and I’m pretty sure everyone would have kept Kokichi from physically putting together his helmet because, well, come on.

- Is Gonta Alter Ego’s existence dependent on the error, as I mentioned earlier? Monokuma said that he was created using the simulated thought patterns of Gonta via his previous login and combine them with the leftover memories. I wonder if they could do that with anyone else? Or or or -

- Monokuma has very, very easy access to this stuff! What does it say about Monokuma and the whole situation that he has the memory and personalty files on hand like this? Could the computer really be powerful enough for them to have completely - well - scanned their brains in a way that allows him to just pull up Gonta again, after the fact, without Gonta being directly plugged in?

- I... just... keep returning to seeing Kaede and Shuichi in that helmet from way back when, you know? That was supposed to be them losing their talents, but if that’s true (and it isn’t my semi-crack theory about them having downloaded the personalities/memories/etc of previous dead? Ultimates or something - “I want to die”), then that would mean their talents, their beings - because I think it’s fair to say their talent informs their personalities, and vice versa - are literal digital files floating around somewhere that had to be accessible in order for them to be ‘returned’ to them - and man, if Monokuma had access to those, that would help solve how he planned to act on that Necronomicon motive if Angie was able to go through with it!

Interesting how this has been the motive in the first, second and now this chapter, huh? Kirumi might not have included the class in her ‘everyone’, but that was definitely what moved her hand.

meanwhile Korekiyo Shinguuji, you special, awful, special boy...

His weakest points, of course, are always painfully exposed during the trials, and there have been plenty of people willing to comment on them, even when they’re thinking they are being kind about it (and of course, not all of them are). His strengths - rendered useless, nearly immediately.

And his talent - well, other than pointing out the distinct lack of insects in the area, the only time it was ‘used’ was in the disastrous Insect Meet-n-Greet. When it rains, it pours.

Maybe that’s what Gonta needed - not just someone to listen, but someone who could relate to him so strongly. But of course, at this late hour...

Damn, and it changed from ‘able to’ to ‘willing to’.

And there it is - straight from the horse’s mouth. No wait, that’s not right - we got it from the horse’s mouth earlier, but our resident horse is an admitted liar -

I don’t know if he’s so much ‘bad’ as he is being cagey about his reasons.

Wait you what??? So the card key is for a place we haven’t been able to access yet? Where, then? An area of the school we haven’t unlocked yet? A viewing tower - or hell, Kaito’s lab? That would be the prime place to have a (powerful) telescope and we haven’t gotten it yet -  

“Save everyone” - it sounds... less believable from you, but at the same time... I’m just, are you saying it for Gonta’s sake? To trick us? Or are these your real thoughts? You’re a smart guy, Kokichi - you have to know that getting past the obstacle that is Miu here is only a short-term win. From this point on, you’re going to have to live with everyone left, and Gonta isn’t going to be here to protect you...

And hell, if these are - were - your real thoughts, at the time, does that mean you really were thrown off enough in the trial that you threw everything you and Gonta planned to the wind?

So, the meeting we got to peek in on... Man, I really, really want to know how Kokichi was able to figure out Miu was gunning for him. Maybe they’ll explain that next chapter? He’s perceptive, but there’s gotta be a limit - right?

Oh, so that’s - completely - hm. At first it seemed like the motive was ‘the right to see it’ - something for the classmates to fight, or kill over. But now, the way Monokuma is talking - he’s making it sound like seeing the outside itself is enough to drive someone to murder. I am... totally... biased by my VLR-loving ass and still thinking it has to do with them being in space/on a ship, and them either being far, far away from Earth or them being able to see the devastated ruins of Earth after being pelted by meteors.

So, uh, I feel like that motive would work with everyone except... maybe Kaito lmao. N-Not that I think he wouldn't be upset, but I imagine he’d be like, oh fUCK YES WE’RE IN SPACE! And oh, that’s definitely not Earth. There’s no way the Earth was destroyed. It’s totally fine, we just can’t see if from where we are! insert monokuma hitting his head against the wall in the background

So there actually was something in the simulation after all of that? I was 99% at this point that it was all a lie too!

Why do you insist that the motive and the case itself are separate???? Sure, knowing the exact mechanics are important, but knowing what moves the hand and heart in the end are pretty damn important!

This... this had to be when they left near the beginning. Does that mean they were carrying the Flashback Light with them the whole time after that???

OH you little stinker

By the way:

vs

Interesting choice in wording by both of them. Earlier Kokichi said he ‘showed’ Gonta, and here he says he ‘entrusted him with it” - both very much a way of talking about Gonta as if he was at least near him, if not equal to him. However, Kaito is using the term ‘exposed to’ which is very... well, passive, and really makes Gonta out to be the victim. So who do we believe? Kaito’s side, where Gonta is just a hapless victim in all of this? Or Kokichi’s side, where Gonta was a willing perpetrator? We’re going to get more on that, but I think the way they talk about Gonta is so interesting - it’s clear a lot of the classmates ended up putting Gonta on a pedestal via infantilization, something we’ve brought up before, and I (RELUCTANTLY) love how that was used against them all as a weapon.

Also damn it I definitely checked all over the map and found nothing but that was only because Kokichi got to it first >:( 

It’s always interesting to watch how Kokichi uses his status as a liar to get what he wants.

All of the sayings I want to use right now involve horses for some reason, and I swear that isn’t intentional, but what comes to mind immediately is, “you can lead a horse to water, but can’t make it drink.” And of course the inverse is right here - Kokichi led Gonta to the light and chose the exact words that he knew would make him pick it up himself, but unlike what Kaito said ‘Gonta was exposed to it’, which paints the picture of Kokichi unexpectedly blasting him with the light - Gonta practically runs over before shining it on himself. With that said, I’m absolutely not absolving Kokichi of wrongdoing - he is fully aware of how desperately Gonta wants to feel useful. Feelsbadman.jpg

METEORS? RADICAL 6? HINAMIZAWA SYNDROME EPIDEMIC???

FUCKING BRUTAL

But... damn it. No, this makes sense. This was the motive I was struggling with outside of ‘killing in defence of someone else’. Ah, damn it, damn it, Gonta...

ISN’T

WAIT

ISN’T THAT WHAT SHUICHI REMEMBERED HIMSELF SAYING

Man, I can’t imagine how shocking it would be to see someone who is you, with just a few hours of extra memories and a bit more insight separating you, saying something like that.

And he was able to find some reprieve last chapter via Angie, but then she died... Oh, Angie, you were divisive and manipulative as hell and I even found times when you rubbed me the wrong way, but I’m still mad about you going out the way you did. You earned that halo and those wings on your portrait, damn it!

Seeing Gonta like this is breaking my heart. oTL But damn it, ‘outside is hell’. That’s... leading exactly where I think it is, huh...

I’m just struggling with how convenient it was for him to target Miu, who was coming after him! I guess he knew that Miu was creating circumstances for her to murder him away from prying eyes which, of course, worked out in the opposite direction, but still - !

This is a terrible time to push the ‘Gonta is martyring himself for us’ line strategically speaking, which... could mean that either this is from the heart (evidence for - his current sprite, which seems to only accompany the most weighty lines and is far different than his usual crying sprite / evidence against - the way he attacked Gonta in the trial... unless now that the trial is over and the execution is looming, he’s realized their time together is limited?) or this is his way of thanking Gonta for his service, by trying to get him the recognition he craved before he dies? Or something else entirely?

Is this... real, Kokichi??? Is this real??? And possibly a much better use of the ‘despair’ mechanic than DR3 could ever hope to use???

still a stupid name

The shocking thing is how simple this all is when you look at it. The complications came from Miu’s murder plan, and the only thing that implicated Gonta is the avatar setting on Kokichi’s avatar. Without that one clue, they would have absolutely would have implicated Kokichi.

I do enjoy that in the face of ‘death’, he’s still able to make jokes like this. Then again, maybe it’s only because of having Gonta as back-up that he can... 

Yeah, she is not happy about being called out. She’s pretty resolute despite that, which speaks to how confident she is in her work.

Of course, Miu being Miu, she has to say it out loud because her general insecurity is next level.

Aaha never mind about what I said before - this is absolutely because he has Gonta on back up. Actually, I wouldn’t be surprised if that was his signal to Gonta to come and ‘save’ him.

Isn’t it amazing that we have now had two killers who both want to get out to ‘help everyone’ and believe they alone can do that in a way no one else can?

He actually made a remark about how Miu’s reason was just an excuse, which - man, ‘your murder isn’t valid but ours is?’ That sure as hell wouldn’t fly in court.

Ugh, and this is why I’m super curious about if the faces they make in the simulation can be manipulated by the user of the avatar or if they are directly informed by how they’re feeling and can’t be controlled. This is a very angry face or someone who has previously described this as a ‘fun killing game’! Is it authentic or not?

I’m not sure if it’s nice of Kokichi to tell Gonta and everyone else that Gonta was able to come up with that plan or not. On the one hand, it really rubs in the fact that everyone was underestimating him. On the other hand, it further dirties his hands to have participated in the cover-up afterwards.

Again... is this more kindness on his part or not? This isn’t a team that real Gonta would ever want to be on, but on the other hand he is validating Gonta as an equal in a way that he was never able to in the regular school life..

Yeah, actually though... fair.

I-I don’t know if I would go so far as saying tricked, Kaito! God, I do love you, but you are making incredibly rash and biased decisions right now!

Real!Gonta is miserable because he killed Miu and Gonta Alter Ego is miserable because he made everyone suffer needlessly and he’s assuming they will continue to suffer as they outlive him and everything is such a damn mess right now fml

Meanwhile Shuichi’s heart is being torn in half which, you know, #relatable

Notably absent: ‘us’. Not please forgive us, please forgive him.

Interestingly enough, it’s changed from ‘their plan’ to ‘Gonta’s plan’ now that he’s casting it in a sympathetic way.

And here we are, on the opposite side of the ‘truth and lies’ theme - being presented with a case where maybe it is better to not know. I can see why Umineko fans really enjoy DRV3 - replace ‘lies’ with ‘fantasy’ or ‘magic’ and we’ve got that same battle being fought out here. Actually, now that I think about it, both had a ‘lower level’ game master obscuring the truth with fantasy/lies with a ‘higher level’ game master pushing the protagonist(s) to find the terrible, bloody truth...

This sprite is a bit closer to his ‘crocodile tears’ sprite so I’m a bit wary, but - hm...

I wonder if their deaths would have been instantaneous, similarly to VLR and their poisoned bracelets, or if it would be a spectacle. Oooh, a terrible thought - if everyone aside from the culprit was dragged off to their own personalized execution...

The fact that Gonta Alter Ego is willing to jump to Kokichi’s aid would mean more if he hadn’t also been so fast to help Kokichi out in Chapter 2. :(

“Role of the villain”, huh? This... if all of this and everything coming after are his true feelings, then...

Shuichi has his role as the detective, and he has his role as the Supreme Leader - but who but you yourself imposed that burden on you???

He’s really trying to create a clear line between Gonta and himself - Gonta is a martyr, who took it upon himself to do a terrible deed on behalf of Kokichi, while Kokichi, the villain extraordinaire, was the bastard who pushed the burden all onto Gonta. How the hell is he going to survive the next chapter??? I swear I keep saying, Kokichi, are you trying to make yourself a bigger target - but seriously, Kokichi, are you trying to make yourself a bigger target here???

He is really not used to anyone coming to bat for him! Especially after that bit about ‘everyone hating him’ this must be like a punch to the gut. 

You will always be a gentleman to me!!!

AH NO FUCK I MEAN WE ALL KNEW THIS WAS COMING BUT -

Shuichi is me right now because - is this, real? Are you legitimately saying that? I... I’m pretty sure you were the one who brought up how Monokuma would never let one of us switch out for the blackened in Kirumi’s trial, or am I just misremembering??? Is it okay for me to be questioning your sincerity right now? I feel awful, but -

He... Maybe he was prepared to get executed, if they landed on him as the criminal. Would Monokuma have let them choose Kokichi as the killer if they got it wrong, or would he really have killed everyone else and left Gonta alive? What if they had tied in the votes? Would Monokuma have executed both of them?

T... This just brings me back to Kaede, but this time it’s directed at Kokichi specifically as well as everyone else...

K... Kokichi turnaround? Maybe? M... Maybe he’ll... actually pull a Kuzuryuu and work with....... us......... why does that not seem likely at all......

I REALLY DON’T GIVE TWO SHITS ABOUT YOU TWO CAN YOU NOT

H-He has a specific “Gonta!!!” audio clip?! A-And his face here, omg - 

Even now he’s just thinking about what he wasn’t able to do as;lkdfj

NO KOKICHI ACTUALLY CRYING FOR GONTA IS MAKING THIS 100 TIMES WORSE

NO THIS ISN’T - DON’T LET THOSE BE HIS LAST WORDS - NO FUCK NO NO ASL;DFKJ -

WHELP - 

You may be wondering why the screenshots cut off here. The answer is - oh dear god Monophanie just went full ALIEN on us and mY GOD YOU’RE GOING TO KILL OFF GONTA, BUT ALSO HAVE A FUCKING SCYTHER RIP OUT OF HER STOMACH AND GO ON A MURDER RAMPAGE

yeah I was, uh, physically unable to keep screenshotting though the execution

but I can still give you my general thoughts ranging from the eloquent to the general brain babbling:

whY is she getting so big the pregnancy thing is gross enough but -

Oh god she’s swelling up, Gonta’s face is swelling up, everything is terrible -

WHY. WHY OH GOD WHY WHO CAME UP WITH THIS EXECUTION IDEA

Rest in fucking pieces Monophanie/Monotaro, I didn’t expect you both to die but I’m not mad about it

Evil Scyther fUCK NO i-it... ran Gonta through....

And now they’ve been set on fire for NO FUCKING REASON DAMN IT YOU’RE ALREADY STINGING HIM AND HE’S BEEN STABBED - I-I suppose it could be seen as a reverse Celes, considering she was going to go out via fire then was unexpectedly hit by that truck

For that matter this was also very - well, they killed Alter Ego in the first chapter 4, so that’s the obvious reference, but all those insect shots was a bit ‘A Million Fungoes’ too, yeah?

[thrufiyah]

Midnight Sept 28 2021 12:30am

Midnight thoughts

Finally got babygirl to go to sleep hopefully she’ll stay asleep. Homeboy over here dont even know I got up or that I’m sitting up typing rn ha smh. Anyway... honestly... lately been feeling lonely but with support if that makes sense...

Lots of paperwork here to fill out reg benefits, insurance, etc but it’s working out gradually. might be able to get a cabin soon for my own lil fam so we’ll see how that works out and we plan to move next year so we’ll see how that works out too... 

kinda leaning towards going our own way bc its a lotta hands involved and the left doesn’t always know what the right is doing or diff views on everything kinda confusing rn but itll work out

def an adjustment period. but just kinda feel lonely bc not rly anyone to talk to about honest thoughts? honestly? sometimes doubting... but excited in planning? now that were officially getting our own room to fill up w our own stuff is kinda sorta cool but not sure how it will go when the weather is bad

just gonna just keep typing as i go until i get rudely interrupted. lol

kinda bummed that i won’t be able to do this once lo arrives bc thatll be two bebes to constantly watch and never have time for myself

i always told myself not to have kids until i was financially stable and i broke the one promise to myself...... the one thing i didn’t want for my life..... but GOD you make a way when there’s no way

what else... worried about bebe growing if she’s ok normal all parts eating enough growing enough just idk.. always gonna be wondering... 

ill even be wondering when both kids grow up and things will come up like disabilities along the way and that scares me. not in the fact that i can’t handle it but how their life will be as they grow up

just hoping they have everything that they need and grow up happy and feel loved all the time and able to express themselves....

my patience does run thin these days but maybe its my hormones? but again maybe not lol haha

wow everytime i come back here i feel different and im always at a different stage in my life. 

missing my family in the way of how they remind me of who i am and where i came from they say ive grown up and that im independent but idk how much of that is really true

what else... dont rly talk to anyone much either... if anything it’s hb’s mom and then hb and even that isn’t much

daylight savings time is diff - sun didn’t go down until 7pm-8pm and it felt different. finally found my favorite grocery store that gives me a little piece of home and got to see a new side of town with the shops near the mall.. that was exciting lol

it’s really such a trip how much of a stop life is at the moment rn but i guess its a way to tell me we got to slow down hashtag cashaley haha

teddyswims and allenstone were dope on that yt video though lol

i oughta listen to more music to mellow out! haha. DEF need my own headphones or earpods... which HB didn’t give away my freakin mpower flames... lol. but headphones be hurting my ears but also i be needing them sometimes to chill or watch a movie

idk what the future holds but im holding on jesus lol im holding on....

hmm what else. lately ive been WAY TOO addicted to chocolate... and hmm what else... i need a journal just for notes like shopping lists, to do lists... etc.

glad im back in the tumblr and pinterest world lol. but pinterest to me seem like fleeting dreams and a whole lotta money mama does NOT have haha

hoping my work visa comes in soon so that i can apply for the residency one in december as soon as baby is born lol. 

i can’t believe i dont remember if i bled a lot or not after giving birth last year... but last year was such a year of turmoil trials and tribulations... so to me i get it.. but yeah anyway

it’s weird... i feelike im here and not here.. maybe bc of lockdown and now in level 3 but a lot of empty dreams happening! but goals are def being met and worked on and completed so i can’t complain about that

i get worried everyday if bebe in there is still kicking so many horrifying and sad stories around the world its just no way to protect your kids idek

as far as self care... i was kind of doing it but at least im cleaning more and helping around the house more? i just hope im not slacking where it’s most important

what else.... hm.... what else is on my mind tonight. body be SORE LIKE A MF. from having to be a 25/8 366 day arm pillow, having huge ass legs to lay on my side, damn i miss my side lmao, to having to share a freakin blanket lmao.

idk just a lot going on and not rly any outlet to do. this mf still aint notice im sitting here lol anyway

what else is on my mind.... for some reason i really wanna find more haircare stuff lol. i need pa’us lol and rubberbands, scrunchies, bins, what else... idek but i need it alll please and thank you lol

babygirl is kod rn so cute but baby just dont move sleep peacefully by yourself for now haha

anyway we’ll find out this week if we’re gonna move to the next chapter and hopefully nana approves of our new plan idek

what else... i swear i clean up and two seconds later its a mess again in here

trying not to be too paranoid about stuff in here but it gets to me when they all start to puss ugh yuck fkn gross man but well get by maybe the nzbugs aint used to american fat skin haha

fitness is something im def looking forward to out here... kinda need to go for walks more often whether its just down the street or the small park nearby which here is called the bush lol

dont even get me startttttted on vocabulary... lets see what ive learned so far here...

bush / wop wops - foresty tree area, gumboots - rainboots, jumper - jacket or longsleeve? dairy/superette - small convenience store not connected to a gas station, what else... rubbish - trash... idek cant think of anything else... oh chocolate is specifically chocolate and lollies are gummies and others i guess... newspaper rolling for all food leftover or compost i guess... idk thats all i can think of for now

what else..... that was GROSS bruh. haha tay said don’t lose your venacular... lol. maybe if i keep listening to throwbacks that remind me of home...

ok i feel better i guess now that i wrote down some thoughts gonna try to put these clothes away and then get some rest for tomorrow

kbye!

[ryouverua]

Love Key #5 - Kaito Momota

Well SHIT it took way too long to start that Saimota train! I'm ready to hop in for the ride though too so CHOO CHOO GET OUT THE WAY

Wow it really didn’t get long for those Saimota vibes to get going!

Of course Kaito charges into this with his voice raised. Of course.

Have we... gone full shounen sports anime???

Shuichi is just thinking oh god what the hell am I about to compete in - if it’s wrestling I swear -

“I am nothing if not fully committed to whatever role I have thrust upon me! potentiallypunintended”

But man, Shuichi is determined to get his bearings ASAP. To what end, Shuichi? To what end? 

“Because I’m totally okay with it if you are. In fact, I think the genre we’ve shifted into requires a half-to-full episode of reminiscing about all the hardships we’ve overcome to get to this moment! Preferably via montage with our OP song playing in the background!”

“Kaito this is already an incredibly weird situation - please don’t get too meta on me, my poor bi heart can’t handle it.”

A fellow astronaut?

I think we actually were talking about the position Kaito would take as an astronaut, and pilot was mentioned as a strong possibility - so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised to see it up here! Yeah... hotshot pilot really does go well with Kaito’s character, doesn’t it...

“Kaito what the fuck are you talking about and who am I and -”

“Hold up fellow rival I’m totally monologuing right now ANYWAY AS I WAS SAYING -”

Honestly though does anyone else find it hilarious that Shuichi’s absolute confusion didn’t break Kaito’s immersion in the fantasy in the slightest?

I do love the word ‘eccentric’ for Kaito, because it honestly wouldn’t have been the first thing to come to mind for me - but I guess to Shuichi, who is so withdrawn in himself and anxious all the time, an aggressively positive extrovert who chases his ambitions and believes in himself/everyone around him so strongly would be a completely alien concept to him! I actually think that it’s the fact that Kaito believes in Shuichi so strongly, and not just in himself, that throws Shuichi off the most, too!

So, um, did you guys have judges giving you scores? Was this done in private or via actual accredited competition? It’s clearly not a traditional race based on speed, so...

Assuming this fantasy is one that’s being judged by other people (because once again I’m thinking about the fantasy scenarios way too seriously), I can sort of see this taking place in the hangar before they go into their planes. So Kaito spots his rival pilot and confronts him, because this will be their last time competing together and chances are he’s just realizing how significant the ‘rival’ pilot has been in his life.... hm ~ 

Oh! He’s getting serious!

It is their way of connecting. What else will they have once the competition is put to rest?

Kaito is going to have to confront the fact that all of the people he’s trying to nurture and help grow will be left behind once he goes into space, though. I... suppose this is hinting at that, just a little bit. He dreams big, but big dreams come with sacrifices.

But, of course, then he wouldn’t be able to ever achieve his dream of going to space.

S... Shuichi, you do remember that you aren’t actually the pilot he’s ‘talking’ to, right? It does seem significant that Shuichi is losing himself to the role, though. Has he done that in any of the other events? Minus Kokichi’s of course, considering the fact that Shuichi was himself in that one, I haven’t noticed anything on this level from the ones I’ve done so far. And with that said, you could easily read into it as Shuichi commenting on their training nights together. They do seem like the only times Shuichi has been legitimately happy - outside of his time with Kaede, of course.

Ah, that stings a bit. 8′D This is a pretty good reminder that, despite me loving the ship so much, Kaito’s perfect fantasy is not Shuichi - or at least, not Shuichi as he is now. Actually, I know the game is pushing for potential Maki!endgame but I think Kaede might fit the bill better. I remember noticing it a lot in the first chapter (and... uh, low-key shipping them tbh), but Kaito always seemed really impressed by Kaede, and whenever Kaito was about to chip in with what I imagined to be a big friendship/supportive-type speech about ‘never giving up!’ and ‘believe in your friends!’, Kaede would always beat him to the punch... and yet Kaito never seemed to feel threatened by her. They’re both pretty headstrong, and Kaede did strike me as being competitive in her own way - honestly, as a rarepair ship they would work really well together!

With that said, I can imagine Shuichi’s fantasy involving someone supporting them through all his worries (COUGHKAITOCOUGHKAEDE) so... you know. It almost feels like Shuichi is getting to live out a bit of his own fantasy situation right here - being in a position where he can hold his own against Kaito, and where Kaito recognizes him as an equal while still being his supportive self, with his eyes only on him...

also I feel like I should note, just because Shuichi isn’t Kaito’s ultimate ideal doesn’t mean that he wouldn’t be up there. In fact, I’d argue that Kaito’s big thing is raising people up to the level where they can be as confident in themselves as he is in them, and in himself. Maybe in the future when Shuichi reaches that level Kaito could see something more in him? okay maybe not in the game canon but post-game fan material wink wink nudge nudge guys plz

Ah, so he is able to move on. Whelp, Kaito is officially in a better mental state than me, hoarder of physical items, internet tabs and memories lmao

All jokes aside, it is pretty impressive to be able to work towards your goal with such determination. I can understand why Kaito could probably grate on a few people playing this, but I really find that sort of attitude impressive.

.... Quick question. Is Kaito saying ‘man’ as general slang or is he acknowledging Shuichi as a man? As in, Kaito is confirmed to be at least bi under the right (shounen) circumstances? I’M JUST ASKING... FOR SCIENCE...

Shuichi just remembered that he isn’t an actual pilot, huh. 8′D Just pilot with your mind, sweet cheeks! You already drive brain cars; surely a plan can’t be that big of a jump, right?

OH MY GOD I THOUGHT THE SCENE WAS NEARLY OVER BUT APPARENTLY NOT

I AM OKAY WITH THIS

Kaito really likes someone that can keep up with him energy-wise, huh?

Oooooomfg this is so shounen-genre it hurts

“My... ahoge... is so.... confused right now....!”

DID YOU REALLY ONLY JUST REMEMBER

I... I think this is the first time Shuichi acknowledged the bed itself as a tool of the room before actually interacting with it in any way lmao

Whoa Shuichi whOA

Oh yeah, this is definitely Kaito trying to provoke a reaction from someone he thinks will fight back, not an attempt at intimidation.

KAITO YOU HAVE TO BE DOING THIS ON PURPOSE

is it close enough for Shuichi to feel those scraggly goatee bits I don’t know why but his goatee will never not be funny to me

:O !!!!

This is basically the closest Kaito can get to a confession, huh?

It’s interesting to get it at this point, after the reveal of the disease he has. It’s another clear indicator that Kaito has trouble being honest with other people about vulnerabilities despite him doing his best to encourage other people to rely on him. And it’s strange, because he’s fully honest and eager about his own ambitions and passions! And love itself is a passion of sorts, but this is the type of thing that requires a certain level of vulnerability, and it’s also something where he doesn’t have full control over his destiny the way he does over his other goals - if the person doesn’t love you back, then there’s very little you can do about it. I hesitate to go so far as to say that he has a fear of rejection, but he definitely doesn’t want to be the one to say ‘I’m in love with you’ before the other person does, as far as I can tell...

“Quite literally, actually. See, look!”

But man, Shuichi is literally acknowledging the situation he’s in (dubious as it is lmao) and knows that there’s a 99% chance that Kaito wants to confess to his feelings to ‘him’. Shuichi, you do realize what a powerful position you have right now, right?

So I guess the question is whether Shuichi is hesitating because he doesn’t feel the same way, he just doesn’t want to take advantage of the situation... or whether Shuichi wants to earn that confession as ‘himself’, and not just as some fictional ideal manufactured by the power of the room they’re in. I suppose that depends on the viewer!

I’ve made it pretty clear that I’ve been shipping them for a while so, uh, you all probably know how I want to read it, but there is plenty of room for other interpretations too ~ they do have a fantastic bro-ship going on too!

Aaaah, Kaito :( I have a feeling that while he’d be willing to pursue a gay relationship with pilot!Shuichi, he understands how unusual that would be in ‘that world’. I wonder if that means he would be that open and understanding with his own sexuality if it ever came up in-game? He doesn’t seem to be struggling with his own feelings in the sense of ‘oooh ~ forbidden love ~’, but rather the idea of his rival’s own feelings being returned.

Between Kokichi’s love key and this one, Shuichi is a mess.

Ooh, maybe I was wrong? He’s psyching himself up to do a proper confession after all!

Well, adrenaline does have a way of ramping up all of your emotions! Aaaw, Kaito looks so excited! Rain or shine, rejection or no, he’s officially decided to come clean after all!

NO SHUICHI TAKE SOME INITIATIVE

This is the one issue they have in the game too - Shuichi is relying on Kaito to do all the emotional and communication-based heavy-lifting, and it means that Shuichi won’t press Kaito on the issues that need to be pressed in his attempt to stay in Kaito’s good graces. Aaah, I’m so worried about my boys...

“BE THE SHOUNEN RIVAL YOU WERE MEANT TO BE, SHUICHI!”

“I’m already being a stand-in for the original protagonist, what else do you want from me?!”

“It’s how I get turned on, okay?”

“It’s what - ?!”

“I-I mean fired up! Yeah, I totally meant fired up...!”

This is the gayest competition-based ship I’ve seen since Yowamushi Pedal’s Toumaki

You would like it to be that way, huh? Man, I do wish we could see some of the consequences of these nights in the interactions during the game, but I guess what would be super tricky to program and, uh, game-breaking... but I suppose that’s what fanfiction is for, right? 8′D

I really didn’t expect this to be so enlightening on the two of them as characters though, and their platonic relationship as well as their shipping potential! This may be up with Kokichi’s as one of my favourites ~

[ryouverua]

Miu and Co’s Stimulating Virtual Adventures (Part 1)

is this going to be a normal field trip?

WITH KOKICHI OUMA? NO WAY ~ !

insert shuichi groaning

Oh cool we got a whole animated sequence!

I FUCKING KNEW IT

AAAAAAH!

AAAAAAH!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

THEY’RE SO FUCKING CUTE WHAT THE HELL

THIS ISN’T WHAT I EXPECTED AT ALL!!!!

Yeah, seriously! I guess I was expecting sprites similar to Hajime’s from last game, or at least an island setting - this really does look like a murder mystery manor! good god we aren’t on rokkenjima are we

I’M SENDING A STRONGLY-WORDED LETTER TO THOSE IN CHARGE

Aaaaw, it’s played off for laughs but it really is sad for K1-b0 to be constantly disparaging himself like that.

But there is good and bad about the new sprites, which someone who has been incredibly aware and sensitive of the changes in his own body probably clued into immediately...

See now that the audience knows, he can slip and say stuff like this out loud, huh? It... almost makes me wish the scene at the end of the last chapter had taken place at the end of this one. That might just be a pacing thing though...

PUSH HIM DAMN IT

PUSH HIM ON IT SHUICHI I BEG YOU

... DAMN IT HE’S NOT PUSHING HIM.

HA

I just realized, we’re going to see a lot more of people’s emotions thanks to the way the sprites work. I wonder if they directly translate to mood? Does that mean Maki and, hell, Kokichi will be more transparent here?

Omfg the literal first thing Kokichi does to K1-b0 is punch him!!! The robophobia never ends...

Wait, question though - how is it connected to K1-b0? I mean blah blah blah, brainwave technological voodoo etc is connecting all the other kids to the helmets, but what about for K1-b0? How does that work? I... guess it’s better not to think about it too hard? 8′D

Man, Iruma’s a lot cuter here too. Also, seems like a good time to mention I’m totally in love with their little headshots at the bottom left with the little animated dialogue bubbles. The others might not like the sprites, but I like it, Miu! Maybe it’s just different when you’re in a 3rd person POV vs 1st person POV?

I love it when Tsumugi goes off like the total fucking nerd she is.

DAMN WE’RE NOT EVEN ON A TROPICAL ISLAND AND PEOPLE ARE STILL GETTING BURNED

LEAVE K1-B0 ALONE KOKICHI JEEZ

So basically they’re leaving the door open for someone to be killed in here. I figured that would be the case...

Kaito is pretty quick on understanding too which I appreciate, considering how they’ve been playing up his ‘brash dumb’ character type up lately.

You are way too happy about that.

Though it also means that if someone dies in here, we’re not going to see any marks left on the body in the real world or here? That’s not good either!

Yeah, that’s... honestly what I’d like to know. Seriously, wouldn’t Miu have found it when recoding everything if it was in here already? And if she did, why wouldn’t she tell them?

I’m telling you, Tsumugi being a snobby nerd will never get old to me. You know she’s got a N64, Super Nintendo, and maybe even older consoles like Atari and Dreamcast tucked away somewhere!

It’s funny - Kokichi doesn’t reference games nearly as much as Tsumugi, but he’s clearly a gamer too. Makes sense I suppose - I always think of a chessboard when I look at his scarf.

I’m sure this info will come in handy, but not sure how yet. 

THAT WILL DEFINITELY BE IMPORTANT FOR GONTA-RELATED REASONS

NO DAMN IT STOP DEATHFLAGGING HIM BY NEUTRALIZING HIS ADVANTAGES DAMN IT

This... really sounds like they’re setting up the rules for a murder mystery game...

Maki made an interesting note about the game - when you take physical advantage away and talent in general, it’ll completely change how a killing game would potentially go down. But I mean... wouldn’t that just be battle royal-type slaughter? Not that any kind of killing game can be considered ‘elegant’, but I can’t help but wonder why a brutal option like this is available at all..

Also can I just say the remixed music and the cute little noises when they waddle around... I love this. I love this, guys. Also watching Shuichi run is hilarious tbh.

A wild rarepair Kaito x Tsumugi appears???

I’m telling you, we’re going to be seeing more of everyone’s genuine emotions on their face here! Man, I’m really liking this set up already.

Kokichi is desperate to ship Kaito with anyone other than Shuichi so he can have Mr Detective all to himself

I think it means he falls for Kokichi’s verbal bait way too easily. 8′D But hey, Tsumugi doesn’t seem to be against Kaito’s interest! Not... obviously, anyway. just gonna casually that pairing to the question mark pile...

Yeah, that’s a pretty classic Kokichi move and... that’s... also a really bad idea. Maybe this is a good chance for Shuichi to get to know him in the context of the game as opposed to FTEs?

Okay, is it just me or is he trying to piss Kaito off especially right now??

NO GONTA YOU’RE TOO GOOD FOR THIS WORLD AND THE ABSOLUTE WRONG CHOICE TO WATCH KOKICHI

fml if Kokichi gets Gonta killed which is where I feel like this is going I will be so upset - but I feel like Kokichi won’t do it himself??? Maybe someone attacks Kokichi and Gonta puts himself in harm’s way instead and dies instead? Like, Kokichi is basically turning Gonta into a goon of his, and we all know what happens in movies and games to the henchmen of ‘Supreme Leaders’...

Honestly guys, how soon do we forget? Are we really going to let them go off together like this? The Bug Meet-and-Greet was literally just a week ago! I know a lot has happened since then, but still!

I do like that both Maki (not included) and Kaito caught on that Kokichi pulled that trick on purpose to have Gonta with him - I just wish they followed up!

On the other hand, we could just as easily get Tsumugi murdering Miu lmao. I’m telling you, if Miu shows up dead...

I didn’t need this in here but I kept it because he’s adorable like this

SHIT THAT’S RIGHT THAT’S HOW MY DOG REACTS WHENEVER HE JUMPS IN THE SNOW I-I mean don’t call Kaito a dog, Maki! That’s not very nice even if it is accurate

Man, I’m starting to wonder if Tsumugi is going to kill Miu here for real 8′D

Always a ray of sunshine, our Sweetcheeks. I’m leaning towards them having some sort of incident happen by the end of this, if not an outright murder. They’re talking too much about how the brain and senses experiencing ‘death’ and causing the body to follow suit for them not to do anything with it. I mean, I guess the exception would be if it’s talking about an overall VR experience like the last game!

So the storage room is pretty much empty and the binoculars can only see as far as the line on the map which Miu is going to explain too. Man, the more things get set up, the more convinced I am that someone isn’t going to make it to the end of the chapter...

Next K1-b0 has an interesting bit of dialogue about how there’s nothing beyond the walls of this world, and how it makes him think about the academy walls. Which... again, I think is leaning towards an apocalyptic world/space scenario? It certainly seems that way to me. It’s interesting to have him point it out though, for some reason. 8′D

I’m 99% sure that’s her default setting, but okay.

weird tangents like this is why I love shuichi

It’s like, a legitimate thing to fixate on and worry about and I totally relate to it but at the same time I’m sure he recognizes how ridiculous it sounds in his head

Isn’t that you? 8′D

oMFG WH A T

WHY ARE YOU DOING HIM WRONG LIKE THIS MIU

MAKI NO I THOUGHT YOUR ROASTING DAYS WERE FINALLY BEHIND YOU

HIMIKO I THOUGHT WE WERE BONDING EARLIER

WE WERE BONDING DAMN IT

I’m shocked that the sprite is able to capture the absolute betrayal on it face but somehow, it does

whispers this is getting its own special post

“Look at my glorious self, doing you the favour of allowing you to prostrate yourself in front of all your classmates!”

Miu you’re making a lot of enemies this chapter, including the sub (lol) protagonist. We've already had one first POV murder - do we really want another one?

That’s going to go missing at some point. If the murder happens, maybe the murderer will grab it and hide it or something?

"Oh, I’ve been lurking here for a while! But I needed some time to come up with my best masochist!Shuichi jokes and lines. You’re not going to hear the end of this for a long time, Masoichi Subhara!”

... or that. could be that too.

Hm, so I guess it’s on the other side of the map. It would be one thing of Kokichi is by himself but Gonta is with him and I trust him way farther than I’d be able to throw him and Kokichi for that matter

KAITO NO YOU’RE MAKING THINGS WORSE

OMFG SHUICHI IS JUST A COMPLETE WRECK AFTER WHAT JUST HAPPENED

And you know Kokichi is totally trying to figure out what he missed, and why all the other classmates are giving the two of them weird looks/snickering...

Oh, and now we’re finally getting to the line shown in the map.

Kokichi are you just trying to cash in some Saiouma chips because you realize how much Saimota happened when you were away with Gonta? 8′D 

H-Hey don’t look at me, look at Miu! She started it!

Okay at this point I will be shocked if there isn’t a murder here or some sort of incident causing a murder in the real world.

Also Kokichi you’re way too happy about this...

What are you playing at here man???

And you! Shouldn’t you know where it is since you reprogrammed the whole thing?!?!

Miu and Kokichi are conspiring about something??? Again???

Please don’t fall for it...

..... Yikes. 8′D I-I’ll give it to him because I have a feeling his failing health and the events of last chapter regarding the occult probably have him feeling emasculated.

Yeah, seriously. So Kaito is on the roof, Kokichi is in the salon and... free for all for everything else. Uh, okay....?

IF GONTA FUCKING TURNS UP DEAD KOKICHI I SWEAR I WILL DUEL YOU IN A SHADOW GAME MYSELF duel links has upped my skill somewhat I should be able to hold my own...

Thank goodness for Tsumugi’s odd affinity for Gonta oTL

a) Maybe this is the chance for us to get to know Tsumugi a little better in-game since we’re going to explore the rest of the mansion together

b) Kaito really has no bloody idea how he and Shuichi’s relationship comes off to the rest of their classmates (or maybe he does and he’s a-okay with it)

c) MAKI...... 

oh no

THAT’S.... NOT..... QUITE IT.....

nothing like the sting of figuring out you’re third-wheeling 

This is in no way the game trying to establish groups and/or alibis. Got it.

Left side: Kokichi, Gonta, Kaito, Shuichi, Tsumugi

Right side: Miu, Himiko, Maki, K1-b0. Alright, good to know.

I really don’t need this to be here but the fact that Kaito is so woefully oblivious and also apparently just... completely into Maki as a friend only is  hilarious to me. I mean, maybe the game will push more romantic feelings on his side in the last chapter but he’s just coming off as so gung-ho about their friendship without taking it to the next level - it’s just.... so refreshing...

It’s nice to see Kaede always being in his thoughts outside of general ‘I must do this for Kaede! Inspiration via manpain!’ stuff.

FUCK YES I THINK I’M RIGHT ABOUT THE ESCAPISM SECONDARY THEME we’re finally bringing it up in nearly identical words again! sorry tsumugi things aren’t looking good for you mastermind-wise

With that said, of all people, she dismisses it herself. 8′D Maybe if the game had better graphics engine - would that be good enough for you princess???

DANGANRONPA YOU ARE DANCING ON A KNIFE’S EDGE RIGHT NOW

Man I keep dancing back and forth between the idea of her being a victim this chapter and a killer and I just... can’t... decide on one. Ugh. The only thing that keeps me from thinking she’ll be a victim is having Gonta right there, raising just as many death flags as her. I-I guess we’ll find out shortly anyway...

Meanwhile while I ramble, K1-b0 has Priorities