#Nan answers questions

[nerdemic]

Tag 9 People You Want To Know Better

I'm finally home so I can do the thing!

Thanks @doverstar for the tag!! <3333

three ships: Zuko/Katara (Avatar: the Last Airbender), Samson/F!Inquisitor (Dragon Age: Inquisition), Merlin/Morgana (Merlin - that is 10000000% @doverstar's fault because they just reblogged a gifset with them and I went all heart-eyes).

first ship: Robin/Raven! (Teen Titans)

last song: Don't You Dare (Make Me Fall in Love with You) - Kaden Mackay

last movie: Howl's Moving Castle/Bob's Burgers (comfort movie)

currently reading: Letters to the Church - Francis Chan (listen, not my favorite fella but reading it per a recommendation from a friend (:), The Last Days According to Jesus - RC Sproul

currently watching: nothing really? maybe Jujustu Kaisen ?

currently consuming: Eggs! And hashbrowns! :D

currently craving: more eggs. more hashbrowns.

Up next is: @aheartundercrossfire @riickety-cricket @shenzi-hemlock @oasisr@bourbonandcinnamon

[three-soulmates-askblog]

kusuo ur cool af

[olde-scratch]

mm momsger high au. i didn't mean to misspell that. inspired by this post from @tobisiksi . sorry this took so long i had everything written out and then tumblr Deleted Everything even tho i had like two backup posts.

i tried to include everyone i could and give all of them unique monster types but there are some repeats :( ib sowwee i tried to make them unique when i could tho. lmk if u have any suggestions for characters or different monster types.

ALSO HAPPY HALLOWEEN!! i have to work but im going dressed as saiki so i still have the spirit

Saiki Kusuo - Lovecraftian Eldritch Horror

i mean. duh.

he poses as his own (human) worshipper to avoid being indoctrinated elsewhere

"i can't attend, i have worship tonight." "oh that's cool who do you worship?" "they don't like being talked about." "ohh so it's an... invite-only system. right......"

deciding now that closed worship systems like saiki purports are generally a total Scam and people avoid them like a plague. it fits with saikis foray into the internet lol

hes still sooo silly dw

to the people with the eldritch kusuo headcanons, i see u..... i hope u like monster high........ :)

Saiki Kuusuke - Cult Worshipper (Human)

bet you thought i was gonna say mad scientist. WRONG that's his day job.

kuusuke operates as a mad scientist since humans aren't allowed into the monster world (afaik humans arent even seen outside of jackson, who is half monster). idk what he makes tho. maybe he pulls a doctor finklestein and makes bone animals to roam the monster world?

kuusuke is the one who got his family into the monster world btw. i mean he definitely found it p quickly after kusuo started morphing and speaking in tongues and shit

kuusuke would LOVE the monster world, at least at first. he might get bored really quickly, but he'd love being able to be more of a crazy bastard than he already is

kuusuke functions as a head cultist for kusuo, but instead of strengthening him with sacrifices and praying for protection, he weakens him with sacrifices (the limiters) and prays for himself to be smote (kusuo to play games with him) (kusuo ignores him a lot)

maybe he made amp/anpu like he did warp. idk.

Saiki Kurumi / Saiki Kuniharu - Cult Worshipper (Human)

they were 100% human before being dragged into the monster world due to their sons

they basically live the same as they do in canon tbh i dont think a lot would change in the monster world

during the new years chapter maybe instead of saying kusuo has powers, they say something about his eldritchness or how glad they are to "worship" such a chill god. god i wanna write this now.

Kaidou Shun - Vampire

okay so not ACTUALLY a vampire but i think it was nopsi who had like an au where kaidou was like a weaker version of a vampire?? GOD i dont remember the name (hampir?? i cant find it on wikipedia, did it start with an f????). for all intents and purposes, im just gonna consider him a weak vampire

i cant remember if he'd be made thru a human/vampire relationship but if he was then i think we should play into the manga hair colors of his siblings and say that whole toki and sora and his mother are all full vampires, he was half vampire (perhaps he's from the father's side of the family from a previous relationship, since his mother has purple hair in her manga cover i think??)

draculara has her red drinks and her spf and her cute little parasol so OF COURSE kaidou has all of those as well. i think it would be very funny if kaidou had his umbrella customized to look like a hidden anime weapon, but it wasn't waterproof so he has to use a different one when it rains

i have a gen 1 og draculara from when i was a kid and i love her she's so cute :] someone draw kaidou in her outfit he'd slay. actually, just draw all of them in her outfit(s). gloom beach teruhashi. sweet screams mera. freak du chic saiki. sweet 1600 saiko. fearleader hairo. you cannot make her look bad idc.

Nendou Riki - Zombie (Frankenstein's Monster type zombie)

okay so this might be controversial but imagine:

everyone's chatting like normal, nendous head falls off, everyone goes deathly silent, nendou puts it back on and goes back to talking, cue kaidou screeching

bc im rewriting this im not gonna go thru my thought process so my idea was that takeuchi was a mad scientist who created midori after himself bc he only had access to a mirror (neither realized they looked the same). takeuchi died and chouno, who was smitten with midori, remade takeuchi who midori named riki and chose to raise as her own. chouno intended it as a poetic final goodbye but cut to 16 years later and hes still not over her lol

nendou being undead could also play into his appreciation for life.... protecting the obviously smaller and weaker saiki and kaidou.... his care for his dad that he never met (altho he might have two dads in this au?).... THE HAMSTER SCENE. NENDOU :((((

Teruhashi Kokomi - Tomie

im SORRY for bringing up junji ito but come ON

for those who dont know tomie, she's basically So Beautiful that men are supernaturally attracted to her until she drives them mad with her beauty. they cut her up and scatter her remains and they turn into more tomies

however. teruhashi isnt just a pretty girl. she's The Perfect Pretty Girl. so we can just ignore all the bloodshed and murder and deathmatches :D

i debated making her a siren but that just doesn't fit her for some reason. she doesn't have to try.

in op's post they made her aphrodite reincarnated but i don't think that there are gods walking amonst the student disembody unfortunately

Teruhashi Makoto - Intersection Bishounen

IM SORRY THE TERHASHI SIBLINGS JUST FIT JUNJI ITO SO WELL

the intersection bishounen is a vengeful spirit that roams the streets and gives fortunes to young girls that drive them to suicide, after which they come back as ghosts and beg for his affection.

makoto is more of a teenage/ya heartthrob than a vengeful spirit tho so we can get rid of all the cool stuff like fortune telling and driving to suicide

the intersection bishounen also didnt want to fuck his cousin so points to him

Hairo Kineshi - Fire Elemental

i KNOW he's BORING

think of heath. i think heath is like the son of hades or something idfk i say fuck that ive never heard that before until i started getting back into monster high that's not canon to me

theres... a surprisingly low amount of sports name puns :( there's casketball, ofc ofc, because mh is american. there's monster soccer from toralei's ghoul spirit notebook, but baseball and tennis from clawdeen and spectra dont get named so they dont have names. thats BULLSHIT btw someone who's good w puns help me im freezing up

gilda goldstag was also a fire elemental right? i dont actually know anything about her other than that she was in the student council bc she was in the doll pack

theres a wind elemental mentioned in spectras ghoul spirit notebook. figured that id mention it idk

i have nothing else to say this should be obvious

Mera Chisato - Shouku-jinki

okay i need to preface this with something that is very important to me about this, the Japanese creature the jikininki/shoku-jinki originated in the story of musou the preist. as far as ive been able to see, there is a second story featured on wikipedia about a pregnant woman that is legitimately someone's fucking oc insert. im not making this up, it appeared one goddamn day and i dont want to make an acc just to get rid of it but i dont want to have my ip address just There and i dont know how to like draw attention to it. so please know that the story of musou is the only legitimate source of the jikininki and the "jijinki" are just someones fucking oc inserts. i dont know why they did this, i dont know how it's still there bc its been YEARS how has no one removed it??

anyways im calm now.

jikininki (or, iirc the more modern version is shoku-jinki) are demons that were greedy or impious in life and were cursed to wander the earth forever starving and thirsty. at night, they eat dead bodies.

sooo remember how mera acted when she got her money back for a day.

her death was the cause of their bankruptcy, maybe they put all their money towards avenging her?

i think that mera would come from a half human, half monster family so she could already be in the monster world, but i dont have to worry about what powers she'd have due to being a monster.

her mother would be a demon and her father a human who doesn't quite know how to navigate the monster would, so he still has to go away to earn money. also imagine four kids following mera around, three have devil horns and taiks and one is just some guy. (idk if she has 4 siblings but you get the idea)

so yeah, mera is immortal, unable to feel satisfied by any amount of food or drink, working herself to the bone to provide for her siblings. the mera lore is Strong w this one.

u could totally also go for some real body horror with her if u wanted

Yumehara Chiyo - Ghost

ill go into the difference between ghosts and souls in toritsuka's part since you cant take away toritsukas thing but you cant just remove ghosts from mh

i initially thought of making her a cherub/cupid but girlie would be getting No One Together. also there's only one cupid in mh and uhhhh there would be no hope if that was chiyo. yk what chiyo loves tho? gossip. u know what spectra loves? gossip.

i think the ghosts in mh all have a chain motif iirc? ik spectra does but sirena von boo also does (the siren/ghost hybrid) and i dont know any other ghosts off the top of my head

anyways yumehara is totally just a regular people ghost. maybe she cries blood or somethin fun like that? maybe have a bit where she keeps getting told off for having makeup and its her eyes leaking or its her having anti blood leaking drops or wipes

Saiko Metori - Mummy

i was gonna make him a vampire but HELLO??? CLEO IS RIGHT THERE????

rich, bratty, self-centered?? DE NILE IS CLEOS LAST NAME.

idk if him being a mummy would change him like cosmetically, like skin tone or hair texture or whatever but i cant draw so that doesn't quite matter to me. altho ig hed probably just look like a pale, dehydrated, brittle pile of bandages if you wanna be historicallty accurate

his father glows because he's ra next question

he definitely decks himself out in a looott more gold than just his earring as a mummy. bangles, cuffs rings, anklets, hair accessories.

the bodyguards are just the tomb protectors that cleo gets as slaves

he gets a custom made desk of pure gold at pk and he never uses it

i think in ancient egypt married couples would be buried together regardless of if at least the wife was dead or alive, so he definitely propositions teruhashi to take a sand nap with him

he gets a pet crocodile. he has a tiger in canon i think and cleo gets a snake so like. nile crocodile obviously.

i cant tell if he lives in a pyramid just randomly in the middle of hidari wakibara, or if theres a bit about nendou asking him where his pyramid is and saikos just like "bro i Dont Live In A Pyramid."

Kuboyasu Aren - Werewolf

hello?? violent, tragic past that comes back to haunt them regularly and interfere with their daily lives?????

i dont think werewolves can turn into wolves in mh but like if you want doggy kuboyasu who's as big as kaidou, go for it

KUBOYASU WITH DOGGY EARS AND A TAIL.... i dont think that werewolves in mh have tails but thats. a crime.

kuboyasu can smell the rest of the cast. god i wanna know what they smell like in the non weirdest way possible.

i dont have a lot to say about this. doguyasu

Toritsuka Reita - Cult Worshipper (Human)

okay so there's a difference between ghosts and souls in this version. ghosts are a form of undead that are sort of just humans that can float and go thru walls and stuff. souls are the base forms of dead people that remain chained to existence with no knowledge of who they were. normal people can see ghosts, but not souls. toritsuka can see both

toritsuka was also raised in a temple in this au, pretty standard stuff. nothing interesting there.

:)

so yk how toritsuka found out abt saiki thru the souls

and yk how saikis an eldritch monster that melts mind and twists reality to his will in this au

toritsuka does not know the meaning of the term eldritch btw

if ur a torisai or toritsuka angst fan then u can always imagine toritsuka thinking himself inferior to the rest of the pk psychickers bc he's a human and didnt even find saiki by himself, but with the help of his ghosts. sorry i gotta push the torisai agenda.

i personally also hc him to be hypersexualized by the adults in his life due to his touchyness from a young age which lead to him being ostracized by his peers when he began repeating the behavior, thus encouraging the development of touch starvation that he misinterpreted as horniness. in other words, "damn bitch u live like this?". sooo do with that what u will in this au.

(could saiki like..... taste his desperation??)

Aiura Mikoto - Cult Worshipper (Devil)

basically aiura but with cute devil horns and a tail that reacts with her mood. she 100% bedazzles and paints her horns like she paints her nails.

shes still a prophet and stuff but like shes just a lil demonic now. as she deserves.

"yeah i can totes check ur future!!" (rips open a portal to the underworld, chants in a forgotten language, focuses in on one damned soul that writhes and screams for mercy as it withers out of existence where it will wait to be reborn into hell after being offered the temporary reprieve of total nothingness) "babe ur bf is cheating on u like one hundo percent. but ur gonna be a bomb ass doctor one day!!"

i want her to trip toritsuka with her tail

she's not human and she lords it over toritsuka's head when they fight for saiki's attention

Akechi Touma - Cult Worshipper (Human)

initially i wanted to make him a bugboy bc yea but consider

saiki knew him in elementary school so he pulled a real I Tracked Down My Childhood Friend Who Is Actually An Eldritch Monster Masquerading as a Pretty Boy with Pink Hair in a High School?!

yeah soo like what if their dynamic was "what if we were friends in our childhood years before you had to leave to stop the uncontrollable desire you had to break down my reality and drive me into irreversible madness, yet despite knowing the danger i faced i still hunted you down, my prayers meant solely to get a response from you devolving into genuine reverence, solidifying myself as your most loyal devotee...... haha jk. unless?"

we all know that akechi likely faced no difficulty finding the monster world dont even ask

you can insert ur own hcs with his mom all ill say is that shes probably masquerading as some sort of cult worshipper or jekyll/hyde situation to live in the monster world. or maybe he just moved schools and lives sort of nearby but not in the monster world idk

akechi would fucking Love the monster world. he'd never get bored of it. you know the sweet potato scene? oh, honey, he's got access to information about the average size of different monsters, along with the influence of proportions and size, magical interference, etc etc. hed fucking LOVE the monster world.

Satou Hiroshi - Ghost

ive already got three ghosts (see suzumiya and makino) but i couldnt think of the Most Generic monster but hear me out

he's a sheet

hes got two black or cut out circles for eyes and a little 'o' for a mouth. just fuckin 0 。0 .

HES SO. USELESS.

SO PLAIN.

SO BORING.

SO GENERIC.

SO. PERFECT.

and saiki is IN LOVE WITH HIM.

toritsuka is honestly so offended that he is not the ghost-themed object of saiki's affections

satous friends and baseball team are either the core basic monsters (werewolf, vampire, zombie, etc) or theyre basic japanese spirits. im. not doing tons of research on if there are generic japanese demons or if theres just sort of one kind of demon that has a lot of forms,,,, im so sorry i can only do so much research please correct me if you know better

Rifuta Imu - Catgirl

i dont know what the name of the actual catgirls are in mh (werecats?) like purrsephone and toralei and meowlody but fuck it catgirl

she would have THE cutest collar. OR she'd have a ribbon around her neck w a matching one on her tail like catrine de mew. she could maybe even have some sort of shredded piece of clothing like catty noir's skirt or a habit of shredding things

im sorry i dont know a lot about cat breeds so i dont have a lot to say about her species

cat themed accessories.......

btw she's a cat bc of japans obsession w cats. i considered making HER a siren since i scrapped that idea for teruhashi but i feel like it just. doesn't suit her.

Bonuses (people i couldnt find that much to talk about)

Suzumiya Hii - Cursed Soul

i mean what else would she be.

okay so shes not a SOUL shes a GHOST i just think it sounds better like that

Makino Arisu - Ghost

ring-style ghost. i think it's called a yuurei? i did my research for her but i forgot it and the og post got deleted so. im upset.

Matsuzaki - Headless Horseman

idk what is his horse would be i just wanted bloodgood to have Presence in this and the principal is only seen like. three times.

i considered giving kuboyasu the status as headless horseman bc of his motorcycle but g1 bloodgood did not serve that much cunt for her type to be given to a 16 year old im sorry

(i also recently got a bloodgood as my first doll when i got back into mh and i love her :] she came w a cool coat that isnt her og coat but its nice anyways)

Chouno Urkyoku - Mad Jester

okay so ik i said he was a mad scientist but he retired that in order to go into entertainment. it's not going too well.

you could also go for a ringmaster/clown route but we all lived thru 2016 (or was it 2017?) and the ensuing cliche-ifying treatment the media gave scary clowns put me off them personally lol they kind of bore me

(if u don't live in the us or don't know what im talking about that happened in 2016, then god i envy you. just look up "2016 clowns usa" im sure you'll figure it out)

Michael (Ikemi something I think?) - Zombie

idk it just fits him

zombies in g1 can only communicate thru moans which makes them nonverbal in some way but g3 STOLE that from us. fuck them.

Nendou Midori / Nendou Takeuchi - Frankenstein & His Monster

i explained this in nendous thing im not repeating myself sorry

PK Principal - Gorgon

yes its bc of the glasses

also i think theres something fun about being able to say he can rule the school with an iron fist (or ig rock fist) without needing to use his eyes

Kongou - Minotaur

big strong and VIOLENT. you can also play into manny's more delicate side with kongous change of heart after saiki helps him realize what matsuzaki does for him

Takahashi - Goblin

idk i think it just suits him

Shima - Changeling

her whole bit is being a forgettable face so what if she was always just a Little Bit Different every time you saw her

Iridatsu family - Mummy

okay ik ive already done mummy but HEAR ME OUT.

idk abt the mom but i think it would be funny if yuuta was just covered in bandages and his whole thing is tripping over/hitting people with them

The pervy teacher who wasn't actually pervy at all he just had an unfortunate face - Human

he's not even disguised as anything

the monsters saw him and said "nah im p sure he's one of us" and then took him

teacher doesnt quite care cause the monster world has better health plans /j

The "your manga artist is gnc af" guy - Kitsune

kitsune are typically seen as elusive tricksters which doesnt suit his character BUT

theres a whole joke about japanese mangakas being worked to the bone to provide chapters every week or so for serialization even going so far as to hide or make excuses as to why they did not complete the chapter

i feel so bad for them bro i could not (used to do weekly updates for fics for 5 years before i started needing money bc i turned 18)

also. someone give that man fox ears and a tail.

The Alphonse guy - Invisi Billy

idk what invisi billy is but he can be here helping alphonse hide from the shame of his chunnibyou :D

Makoto's rival guy - Banshee

it just. Suits Him.

idk if there are male banshees bc we only know sarah screams and her mom but we can have a trans icon if we need

[ganymedesclock]

I’m betting after the early draft fic about Nan’s meeting with Taylor, when she’s done meeting the party, she half wonders what she’s gotten herself into, and decides not to say anything, if she even cares. Prolly wrong lol

Nan did agree to take "a favor" as payment from a strange child in a bar who she suspected was trying to buy a guide through the mountains to evade the crown. At this point the situation was already surreal enough to get her attention, but she assumed she had control of the situation.

On the one hand, the presence of types like Diana might challenge that slightly. On the other hand, you do have to remember Nan isn't an Untouched Normie who's never seen magic before by any means; she does rob royal tax collectors who have all sorts of state-of-the-art magic wards and such. Her best friend is an apex predator that is only mostly intelligent in the same way humans are. Her son is essentially possessed and this shakes out to about the same as him having an uncommon medical condition.

This is a setting where everybody kind of has it in the back of their head some pretty weird stuff could happen; you might not have grown up in the haunted house that devours all of its occupants every so often but you probably know of it.

So like, this is the first time she's been in company with quite this many demons but she's a bit stubborn to suggest she's out of her depth. Like Nan is kind of the party's resident Normal Person but she's a normal person in a world with its share of both mundane and magical perils that don't stay off your case just because you're normal.

This is the field kit she goes into battle with, and she did personally take out the former owner of that skin.

[cridhe]

are you indigenous?

short answer: no.

long answer: the family lore says yes (on both sides. since all sides of my family were rural working class) but since relationships with indigenous ppl, consensual or otherwise 😑, were kept very hush hush back in the day and also due to the stolen generations, we dont know any more than word of mouth passed down through generations. many family members (including my brother and my pops family) look and have often been mistaken for indigenous, and my family often takes this to mean there is some truth to the family legend. if i am mob, however, i dont know who my mob is, and i dont know how id even go about finding them. i am white anglo-celtic australian. rural catholics (aka poor settlers) and family lore, to me, is not enough to justify taking up indigenous spaces. so when im filling out forms and they ask, i always answer "neither indigenous nor torres strait islander" even though the real answer is a more complex "i dont know and i dont know how id find out"

[finelinevogue]

life goes on

summary - just a tiny blurb of post tour engagement talk

a/n : this contains a very brief mention of cancer, so be aware of that xx

word count : ~1k

pairing : boyfriend!harry x reader

The sun was setting just down past the mountains.

It had been a busy day and everyone was exhausted. You had all gone on a couple of yachts out to sea to dolphin watch and then come back and swam in the sea onshore.

After the end of tour, Harry had invited all of his family out to spend a month together in his gorgeous Italian house in the countryside. It was perfect for everyone, because it had endless garden land, a hot tub and a large swimming pool. It was a great house for the kids.

Harry’s family’s children were hear, and could be currently heard running around the garden with Nerf guns Uncle Harry had bought them to play with.

Currently, everyone was sat outside on the large patio area. There were bean bags, L-shaped sofas and other various comfortable chairs for people to sit on and none were spare.

“H?” Gemma asked, “Where’s Y/N?”

“Toilet I think.” Harry answered.

“When are you and Y/N getting married then, H?” Harry’s uncle, Dave, asked.

Harry laughed in shock and a few people cheered to that idea.

A lot of people were nursing beers and a few others with various cocktails they’d made for themselves. You had helped Harry set up a help-yourself bar for everyone to make whatever they wanted.

Harry himself had a Corona in hand, with a lime in the top because apparently that’s the best way you take it.

“Oh, let them be!” Anne shushed her brother up. “They’re still in their honeymoon phase.”

Anne watched as her son got all shy, blushing as he thought about how in love he was with you. Anne smiled, knowing her boy would always be happy with you by his side.

“They’ve been in that phase for six years now. The poor girl will run if he doesn’t ask soon.” Dave piped up again.

“Y/N can ask me too, y’know.” Harry suggested, shrugging his shoulders.

“We all know you’re too romantic to let Y/N do that.” Someone else piped up, to which they all agreed.

“Heyy!” Harry protested, but deep down he knew they were right.

Harry had always wanted to get to ask you the big question. Being engaged and looking forward to his own wedding has been something he has looked forward to, ever since watching his first romcom.

Harry won’t settle for giving you anything less than the perfect proposal.

“I do want to be alive to see you get married, love.” Harry’s nan, Marge, chimed in, making everyone laugh.

“You will be, nan. I promise.” Harry held up his beer in promise to his nan. “And anyways, why aren’t you all nagging at Gem - whom is also still not married.”

Harry knew exactly why.

“Don’t believe in marriage, H.” Gem said. “Plus Michal says it’s too difficult choosing a ring.”

“That is true.” Michal nodded and agreed, making Gemma laugh and cuddle closer into his side on the sofa.

Harry looked at them and then towards the house, missing you after only two minutes. He wondered where you were.

“Have you gone ring shopping yet, H?” One of Harry’s aunts, Linda, asked.

“Yes.” Harry shot his head back around to face the conversation.

“Is it going to break the bank?” Dave asked.

“Nothing could dent that boys bank, Dave.” Linda laughed.

Harry smiled along, knowing the ring safely tucked away in his suitcase was just what you had asked for. It had been a reasonable price and it’s beauty outshone everything else.

“Y/N trusts me to pick out the right ring.”

“Good lad.” Dave nodded onto Harry.

“Excuse me a minute.”

Harry put his beer down on the floor and left his family to go in search of you.

He wandered into the house and because it was very open, he was able to tell you weren’t downstairs. He shouted your name up the stairs, but no one responded.

“Babe?” He called again, standing at the bottom of the stairs.

He was getting worried now and ran up the stairs two at a time. He wandered down the hall and straight into your shared bedroom.

No one was on the bed and no one was in the bathroom.

“Y/N?” Harry shouted again, a little more sternly this time. “Where the fuck is—”

He looked in and out of all bedrooms upstairs and the bathrooms too, but no sign of you.

As Harry rushed back down the stairs and opened the front door. He was ready to shout your name again when he saw you sitting the hammock by the front garden gate alone.

He closes the front door and furrowed his eyebrows as he walked quickly over to you.

“Baby? Where have you been?” He asked, dodging in between the cars as made his way to you.

You looked up at him and smiled, but it was one that did not reach your eyes.

Harry watched as you brought a small tissue up to your noses and wipe underneath. He put together, as he moved closer towards you, that you had been crying.

“Baby…” Harry said softly, coming down to crouch in front of you.

You swallowed a lump in the back of your throat and rolled your eyes at your own emotions. Harry was nothing but patient with you, waiting for you to gather up whatever thoughts you wanted to say.

Harry stayed crouched down in front of you, hands clasping yours to stop you from picking away at the skin by your nails - a nasty habit he was constantly telling you off for.

“It’s my mum. She’s back in hospital.” You sadly smiles, watching Harry’s face drop too.

Harry let out a tut and a heavy sigh, sagging his head in sadness.

“Cancer came back. She’s been in for a month and has only just told me.” Your words started to come out in splutters towards the end of your sentence as you began to cry again. “Fuck, m’sorry.”

Harry popped his head at your apology. “No, don’t you start apologising for things that don’t need an apology. Don’t care that this is celebrating post tour. All I care about is you and seeing that smile on your face. If you haven’t got a smile today, that’s okay but we’ll work together to put one back there again.”

You nodded your head in understanding.

Harry moved to sit next to you, laying you both down on the hammock. Harry sat so his feet still touched the floor, but you moved so your whole body was on the hammock and you could tuck yourself into his side. Harry rocked the two of you slowly and rubbed his hand up and down your back, whilst you closed your eyes and listened to the sound of Harry’s heartbeat.

“We can go see her when we’re back, can’t we?” You asked.

“Of course. Why do y’ask?”

“Just checking, in case you had music plans or anything.”

“Baby. You know I’m yours now for the foreseeable future.”

“I know.”

“We can go see her every day if you want.” Harry suggested, “And also. I don’t care what you say, I’m paying for any extra treatment and care to make sure she’s as comfortable as she can be.”

“Ha—”

“No I’m not arguing with you on this, love.”

“But…”

“Yeah, your butt is lovely, I know.” You could hear his smirk as he patted your ass lightly with his hand.

That put a little smile on your face anyways.

“Thank you.” You said softly.

“It’ll be your bank account someday soon too.”

And you smiled again, knowing the prospect of an engagement was soon approaching.

[mikaela-the-slut-expert]

Tea Shop

Xie Lian x M!reader x Hua Cheng

Y'all I've been thinking for ages how to make a two person scene a three person scene. What am I supposed to do, make two brides??? So if you have any ideas come bless me with them. 🫵🙃

Previous part: God of Song's second ascension

_____________________________________________

After you guide Xie Lian carefully out of the heavens so that he doesn't kill himself by accident . It takes a day to get to a tea shop. It could've taken longer, like three days but you saved yourselves sometimes. Since you can actually have spiritual prowess. The only reason it wasn't any quicker is because Xie Lian demanded you to not overwork yourself and use too much mana.

Xie Lian has always looked simple enough with plain, white robes. You on the other hand have to take on an 'avatar' you don't need anyone noticing you either. So you also dawn white robes, but of course a veil stays on.

You and Xie Lian sit at a table in the corner of the tea shop and you sit across from him. The two of you look over the scroll Ling Wen has given you... it isn't very helpful, but that's alright.

Both yours and Xie Lian's attention is captured by a silver butterfly. It flies across both of you and out the window. When you turn your head your heart almost drops out of your throat. Xie Lian is surprised as well to see two men sitting by you. One sat by you and the other sat by Xie Lian. There's only so much room on these benches after all.

You grimace at their presence. It's not hard to read the spiritual energy from them, they're obvious officials. You glare at them, Xie Lian is much kinder, "Oh uh who are you guys..?"

"Fu Yao" the one by you replies.

"Nan Feng" the one by Xie Lian replies.

You've never side eyed someone so hard in your endless years of life. At the 'Fu Yao' person beside you.

Ling Wen transmits a message to the two of you that they're volunteer officials. You huff inwardly. There's no way anyone from the upper court would offer their deputies from the middle court to help them.

That's because they aren't from the middle court though.

"Well I thank you for your help" Xie Lian says, quickly accepting their new guests.

"Which highnesses sent you?" You ask with narrowed eyes. You know they aren't deputies. Who are you to stress Xie Lian out more though, he already looks horrified when the officials answer his question.

"The palace of Nan Yang"

"The palace of Xuan Zhen"

"..."

Your glare only grows sharper. You've no clue why Mu Qing out of all people would want to help. You also have no idea why he would sit next to you of all people.

"Oh did your generals send you?" Xie Lian asks with a mouthful of tea.

"They didn't know we were coming" they answered in unison.

Xie Lian ponders for a moment, but you're quick to make the two squirm. Just because you can.

"Two officials from the lower court shouldn't go off without permission no? The trouble surely isn't worth it." Your eyes crinkle, as you smile at the two.

Lower court used to be what's now called the middle court. It was changed when whiny officials started complaining it made them seem trivial compared to officials in the upper court. To them an apparent mark to their honor. To you a pathetic attempt to seem important.

"..."

"..."

Your smile widens under your veil when they don't answer. What are they going to say? Their lack of words don't stop Fu Yao from glaring at you or from making Nan Feng squirm in his spot.

Xie Lian ever so kindly saves them, "Well do you know who we are?"

"You're his royal highness the crown prince and he's general /n"

"You're the justice of the mortal realm, the center of the world"

Mu Qing does not regard you at all and rolls his eyes when he answers.

Xie Lian chokes on his tea, "Did he just roll his eyes?"

" He did, tell him to scram" you and Nan Feng say together.

"Any official who was available was welcome to help so who are you to tell me to scram?" Fu Yao sneered. Again his words are only pointed at Nan Feng, not you.

"Ah well more help is better than none right?" Xie Lian smiles.

You sigh and all four of you go over the scroll together.

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

Eventually it begins to get dark and all of you will need to find a place to sleep. Long ago, Xie Lian and you would sleep in the streets or on the ground. You put a stop to that. After becoming a powerful enough ghost and god you entreated yourself to your own palace. Not in the heavens though, you chose for it to be in the ghost realm. This was a while before Crimson Rain took over ghost city

Your palace just happened to be in close proximity to it and eventually ghosts started inhabiting themselves. Now all three realms call your palace, "The city of the lost". It's rarely talked about because well it's "lost" not many people find it, your city also doesn't cause trouble. It's just kinda there.

That is where you would usually go though but now you have two more officials with you and you'll be damned if you bring Mu Qing into your city.

"Why don't we find a temple of Nan Yang? I'm sure there's one around." You say, standing next to Xie Lian.

The four of you do eventually find one, it's a little run down but it's good enough. Your attention is dragged away when you notice a girl praying. A girl praying in a temple of Nan Yang? Makes you want to give your heart out.

You can't resist your temptations when Xie Lian asks why the temple has so many women worshippers. It's unusual for a martial god's temple after all. While Nan Feng feels the need to block the question, Fu Yao indulges it.

"I know what you want to ask, you want to ask why there's so many female worshippers right?"

You hold the urge to cackle, and lean in close to Xie Lian's ear. You happily ignore the two officials's glares. You whisper to him, "Xie Lian many women worship Nan Yang's temple so in the future their man will have... Good assets" you giggle into his ear.

For a martial god it isn't normal for many women to pray in their temples. Xie Lian was an exception because he was more of a ' feminine god ' depicted with lotus flowers. You were an exception because of femininity and because you're the God of song. The arts, like dance, drawing, and song were more partaken by women than men. Most martial gods don't have femininity, so rare for women's prayers.

You stay close to Xie Lian's side as Fu Yao judges the poor girl to pieces, calling her ugly. Xie Lian sighs, "You can't talk about girls like that Fu Yao" but you can tell Xie Lian is thinking the same thing. You snicker placing a hand on your hip.

Xie Lian notices a slash in the girl's dress, he tries to offer her his outer robe so that she can cover herself but of course she freaks out. She moves to slap Xie Lian but why would you just stand there? You grab her wrist and throw her to the side. 'throw' is an overstatement it was truly a nudge.

Once Xie Lian tells her she has a slash in her dress she finally accepts his robe and then runs out of the Temple.

Now Xie Lian's undressed. Bandages over his chest, and neck can be seen now. Nan Feng and Fu Yao stare in quiet shock. You on the other stare in admiration. Xie Lian is undeniably beautiful. You chuckle softly and remove your outer robe, unlike Xie Lian you have an under robe on. You move it over Xie Lian's shoulders.

"Should've let her run out with the slash in her dress. It's just like you to give the clothes off your back, A-Lian" you hum softly. Xie Lian smiles in thanks and puts on your robe.

He does look very pretty especially in your clothes.

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

The next day all four of you go back to the tea shop. You aren't paying attention to the conversation about Mount Yunjin. You'd much rather pay attention to Wèizhī. The two birds hop around on the table and chirp away.

You decided to bring them today, simply because they bring you peace of mind. Of course they aren't only birds they're much more than that. Anyone would know if they're close to you, and they've seen the earring hiding behind your long hair.

Right now they're birds though and you'd much rather chirp away with the Magpies then pretend to chat with the officials next to you.

It isn't until loud drums and a gathered crowd outside has all four of you going outside to check it out. A line of men outside carrying a sedan is what the crowd is gathered for. As for the last inside the sedan... She looks like her neck has been snapped. It proves so when a fake head rolls to yours and Xie Lian's feet.

"Ew" you sneer and quickly kick it away. You assume whatever these mortals are doing is connected with the Ghost Groom. You stand to the side however as Wèizhī perches on your shoulders.

"If I was a ghost groom I'd kill the entire group for sending such an ugly thing to me" Fu Yao comments in disgust and rolls his eyes

"Fu Yao you aren't talking like an immortal should." Xie Lian said. "And can you fix that eye-rolling habit of yours? Why don't you set a small target for yourself first and only roll five days or something like that?"

" Set it fifty times a day and it still won't be enough!" Nan Feng yells

"Leave Fu Yao alone, if he rolls them hard enough maybe they'll fall out on their own." You add, with a snicker.

You're interrupted by yelling, one of the men in the group yelling about how it's useless and that they should just charge into Mount Yunjin and dragging an ugly freak out. They all hoot in agreement.

"Ugly Freak? Shopkeeper what are they talking about?" Xie Lian asks

The tea master explains, "The ghost groom has such an ugly appearance that no woman loves it, so he wears bandages around his face. That is why he kidnaps brides."

"Just because his face is wrapped in bandages doesn't mean it's ugly. There's a possibility it's so beautiful that it doesn't want others to see it, so he covers it up" Fu Yao says.

When Fu Yao quickly glances at you, you ignore. This isn't about you and you know that Fu Yao is truly a prick. No need to make something out of nothing.

Your group's attention is caught when the same girl from yesterday begging them not to go do anything dangerous and a man bitching at her because she refused to join them.

You don't care about anyone's affairs unless it has something to do with Xie Lian. You perk in attention when the man pushes the girl roughly, Xie Lian ever so kindly catches her.

Xie Lian uses Rou'ye to smack down the man and then just as quickly hides back in Xie Lian's sleeve. You snicker softly at the slumped man in the dirt. The man is not happy though, he's having none of it. He brandishes his sword and yells that Xie Lian is using wicked magic.

Nan Feng uses his palm to snap a wooden pillar of the tea shop and the group of men run in fear. You side eye Nan Feng. You have mixed opinions on him, but even after so long... "You're still just a brute dummy. You're paying for that" you smile behind the veil and return to Xie Lian's side.

The four of you eventually head back to the temple. With newly acquired information from Ling Wen, you now know that you're going to need a fake bride. However you can't use any mortals since it's a wrath level ghost.

"Well if we can't use women we'll have to use men" said Fu Yao.

"What man is going to want to dress up as a bride?" Nan Feng sighs.

The two suddenly have the same idea and look over to you and Xie Lian.

"???"

"No." You glare.

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

Nighttime, the temple of Nan Yang.

You watch as Xie Lian walks from the back in a brides dress, hair down and flowing. You sigh into your hand. It doesn't look like a bride at all

Nan Feng has a more extreme reaction, "Fuck!" He just can't stand to see Xie Lian in a brides dress, it's awful.

Fu Yao scans Xie Lian with a complicated look.

"Do you have something you wish to say?" He asked

Fu Yao nodded "if someone sent a woman like this to me..."

"you'd kill the whole town was it?" You snicker.

"No I'd kill the woman." Fu Yao replied frigidly.

Xie Lian smiles, "Then thank goodness I'm not the woman."

You hum, "A-Lian let me help you, obviously these two have and never will see a bride in their lives" you smile, "not unless it's each other..." You mutter the last part out.

"Excuse me..." The four of them look at the voice. It's the girl from earlier. She has a white robe in her hand and stands with trepidation. "I've washed these clothes to return them to you and thank you so much for yesterday and today"

You see Xie Lian smiles in response but suddenly remembers his attire.

"Are you... if you want I can help?" She asks, no longer shy.

"No miss you misunderstand this isn't a hobby of mine" Xie Lian laughs nervously.

You on the other hand are happy with this development. "Yes! Come help us."

And so that began Xie Lian's makeover. The girl has a sewing kit on her and helps Xie Lian fit into his dress. You do Xie Lian's hair - you do it all the time anyways - and together the two of you do Xie Lian's makeup. After you're finished with him, he looks like a proper bride and a damn good one too. If you weren't a ghost there would be a blush on your cheeks.

__________________________________________________

Guys. If anyone has actually read all of these parts I need y'all to tell me if Y/n is making sense. 😭 Like do we understand the background and his character? Do we understand the b i r d s?

Time gap between here and first glance

First Glance

[euovennia]

I am yet again requesting headcanons for the 141 (or whoever you want <3) with a reader who has an angry resting face. And to add onto that, they are very expressive with their love but it comes off as aggressive (not on purpose) because they always look, you know, mad. Like when reader says "I love you," it sounds like a threat and really, they look like they wanna kill them, but they don’t.

whew, i'm so sorry for the wait on this! i took a small break from tumblr so i could focus on finishing some assignments i had for my classes, but they're all completed and turned in so i should be good for now! also i wasn't 100% sure if you wanted this to be platonic or romantic, so i tried to write it to where it could be interpreted as both. thank you for requesting and, as always, i hope you enjoy :)

warnings: none other than the fact that i don't know how to stop myself from typing more than i need to

summary: the 141 learns to adjust to life with their newest recruit; you.

john 'soap' mactavish

when price first introduces you to the group, he can't help but feel like he's done something wrong

and honestly no one can really blame him for feeling that way

the expression that paints your face when you make eye contact with him practically screams, "sleep with one eye open"

and while it is mildly terrifying, he only sees it as a challenge

because in his mind, if he can get the mighty ghost to warm up to him, he can get anyone to warm up to him

so as soon as price cuts you loose from the brief introductions, he's already right by your side pestering you with various questions

and while it was a bit off-putting, you weren't really surprised because price had already told you all about soap before he decided he wanted you on his team

so you just kinda stood there and let him fire off his questions while answering them with that angry expression and bored monotone voice that he can't help but love

like you're standing there, arms crossed with perhaps one of the most pissed off expressions he's ever seen in his life but all his mind can think is >:(

needless to say, he doesn't take your prickly exterior too seriously and it's because of this he's able to get closer to you a lot quicker than the other members do

and it's because of this he tends to vouch for you a lot more to the other members when it comes to getting to know you

"they're not that bad, i swear!"

"johnny, they look like they wanna rip your arm off every time you're near them."

"but they don't, that's the funny part!"

best believe this man is fighting for his life whenever your rbf gets brought into the conversation

and i imagine that one day you actually manage to overhear one of these little debates/conversations (tbh they could go either way with how divided they can be over it, especially when it's gaz vs soap)

and you can't just ignore the way your heart warms as you hear soap valiantly defend your honor

it's one of the few times you're genuinely thankful for his big mouth

after listening in to the conversation for a few more minutes you eventually decide to walk away, heart full and the smallest of smiles pulling at the edge of your lips

i think it goes without saying that you go a little sweet on him after that encounter

well

as sweet as you can go when you're the human embodiment of >:(

at least in the opinion of soap

you don't really see the resemblance tbh

anyway

you start doing little things for him

things like offering to take watch for him when you're both on a mission because you noticed that he hadn't really bothered getting any rest

sitting by his side and letting him ramble on about his family, especially how he always begged his parents to let him stay with his nan over the summer because she owned a little family farm that he absolutely loved to run around on

and even the time you learned how to make scotch pie using his mom's recipe he had tucked away in his room

no matter how much he may deny it, that last one had him tearing up as soon as he took a bite

but honestly, can you blame him?

the man barely gets to visit his parents back home because of his work and it crushes him

honestly, it was probably one of the first few things he confided in you when you first started talking

so naturally when price announces that the 141 has been approved for a two week leave, you don't hesitate in logging onto the computer and buying him the first tickets back to scotland

what you do hesitate with is actually giving them to him

so you decide to gloss over that part completely and instead opt for shoving the tickets inside an plain envelope with his name scribbled on the front and a small note that simply reads, "go." before sliding it under his door the night before everyone is scheduled to depart from base

the moment soap gets his hands on those tickets he can't help the way he runs through the halls and bursts into your room to give you the biggest hug you've ever had in your life

unfortunately for you both, you'd already left base by the time he discovered the tickets

and so with a heavy heart, soap makes his way back to his room before packing his bags with a new vigor

the plane leaves in six hours, but he's so excited he can't help but want to arrive early

needless to say those are probably the best two weeks of his life

and while the others are interested in hearing all about his trip, he simply brushes them off in favor watching the door so he can be there for the exact moment you walk in

and after making him wait more than what he felt was necessary, you finally walk in

and this man

the way he shoots up from his seat and runs over to hug you

it's almost enough to send you both flying to the ground

but luckily you've got some stellar balance and manage to save yourselves from being teased by the rest of the team

but with the way soap is squeezing onto you while repeatedly whispering, "thank you," into the nape of your neck, you don't doubt they'll make fun of you for that

even with the mild embarrassment you feel, you simply wrap your arms around the scottish man and offer him a few pats on the back

and as sweet as it is for the other men to witness such a tender scene, they can't help but notice how upset you look

it's almost laughable

and as much as they want to step in and tell soap to back off, they can't help but notice the way you cling onto soap with that soft look in your eyes

so they remain quiet as you and soap hang onto each other, hearts full of warmth

kyle 'gaz' garrick

i'm gonna say it now

out of anyone in the 141, he was probably the one most intimidated by you

he's the youngest out of everyone and so it stands that, naturally, he has less experience than others

it's for this reason i think he's so keen on staying close to price

i mean the man practically plucked him off the streets and said, "you're mine now," so i think it's reasonable that gaz grows a tad more attached to price than the other members

so when he catches a few glimpses of you around base barking orders at the recruits and slamming them into the mats during sparring sessions, he's not exactly dying to meet you

even so, he finds he's not too worried about the possibility

with how often the 141 departs base to go on various missions and how you always seem to be too caught up in whatever you're doing at the time to be bothered to even glance his way, he eventually comes to the conclusion that you'll never meet

until one day price strolls into the common area where he and the rest of the team are minding their own business with you trailing right beside him looking aggravated as ever

he's already a bit uneasy with the fact you now know where the team goes to relax, but that unease slowly shifts to downright horror when price reveals that you're the newest member of the team

now gaz is usually a pretty easygoing and friendly guy so any chance to meet and bond with new people is always bound to be a good time in his book

but he can't help the shiver that crawls up his spine whenever you're around

seriously, who or what made you look so pissed off all the time?

anyway

because he's so hesitant of being around you, he tries his hardest not to bother you

which basically means he tries not to be in the same room as you

and while you may not really notice or care, the rest of the team certainly does

especially price

he's the type of man who prides himself on having a team that knows they can all rely on one another on and off the field and so he'll be damned if you and gaz are the ones to ruin his little streak

so guess who gets assigned to accompany you and the recruits on your morning workouts from now on?

gaz!

and while he's not necessarily thrilled about the idea of being forced into such close proximity to you, especially first thing in the morning, he respects price enough to not question his decision and just ends up going along with it

and at first he doesn't really pay you much attention in an effort to not do anything to accidentally make you even more upset than he already assumes you are

but then he starts to notice something

he notices the way the recruits light up whenever they see you, whether it be during the morning workout sessions or when you're walking around base

and it baffles him because you just look so upset, he can't possibly imagine why they're all so keen on sending you wide smiles or enthusiastic waves

but one day he looks just a little bit closer and he can see the faintest hint of amusement on your face as your lips showcase the ghost of a smile

that's when he really starts to pay attention

and suddenly he can't help but feel a little ashamed of himself

because now he can practically feel his heart melt every time you interact with the recruits

like how you would bring extra ice-cold water bottles to the morning workouts for the recruits who'd forget to bring their own

or the way you wouldn't hesitate to slide them some money if they mentioned being hungry while you were around

and especially how you don't hesitate to lend an ear for them if they seemed to be troubled by something

it's in those few little moments that he can see just the tiniest cracks through your annoyed expression and heated glares

you're not angry at all, he decides, just real shit at expressing yourself

and upon deciding this, he realizes you're not so scary anymore

so now instead of avoiding you like the plague, he actively seeks you out

at first it's to help you out with carrying the extra water bottles for the recruits in the morning and planning the workouts for the week

but then it turns into him asking to sit with you at the mess hall over dinner and keeping each other company in the commons area

and as much as he tries not to, he can't help the giddiness that floods his body when you start to show him that aggressive love he sees you dish out to the recruits

shoving snacks into his hands when you notice he hasn't eaten in a while

quietly sitting with him while he goes through paperwork because you both know he has a tendency to get distracted

and his personal favorite, draping your jacket over him when you walk in on him sleeping anywhere that isn't his room

he always wakes up with a smile tugging on his lips

and despite how cold and distant you may look while doing these things, he doesn't give it much attention anymore

not when he can see the love and care that's reflected in your eyes

simon 'ghost' riley

despite you and ghost having similar exteriors, it becomes more and more apparent to gaz and soap that you're actually quite different

which isn't a bad thing, of course! just a bit unexpected

but it's because of this striking difference that you and simon tend to keep a majority of your interactions on the field

and you both are more than happy to keep it this way

gaz and soap however, are not

so naturally they put together a plan; a plan that consists of soap giving you his most treasured tactical pen so you can use it to write away in that little journal of yours on the ride back from missions just so he can later "confront" ghost and admonish him for stealing said pen

and during all this, gaz simply remains on the sidelines just looking pretty

anyway

after laying into simon for a good ten minutes, soap walks away from the encounter with a small smile before walking up to gaz and saying something like, "now we wait"

and they do wait

patiently

but after a full two weeks pass by and neither gaz or soap can find any evidence of their so called "master plan" working, they can't help but feel a little discouraged

unbeknownst to them, it totally worked

just not in the way they envisioned

you see, by the time soap came up to simon to lecture him about stealing his pen, ghost had already come to notice you scribbling into your notebook with it

so once soap had finally decided to leave him alone, he immediately confronted you about framing him for such a crime

but you just kinda stare up at him with that annoyed look of yours before revealing soap had willingly given it to you

and things just kinda click into place for the two of you; soap wanted to get you talking

and while you and simon had to admit it wasn't a bad plan, you didn't want to give the scotsman the satisfaction of knowing it had actually worked

so whenever you and simon find yourselves in the company of the rest of the team, you decide to remain distant

but when it's just the two of you?

you're straight chilling

especially when you visit him in his room or vice versa

like just imagine the two of you drinking tea that simon was nice enough to make and watching war movies while bashing all the inaccuracies and bad calls the characters make

or when the two of you are out and about on base free from the prying eyes of gaz and soap because they're out doing their own thing

you and simon love finding random groups of rowdy soldiers just to intimidate them

i don't know about you, but i can definitely see simon just standing there with his arms crossed and eyes narrowed while you rest your hands on your hips with your lips pulled into a frown

price definitely gets complaints about the two of you

he does nothing about them

and for a while that's pretty much the gist of how you and simon spend your time together

but i like to imagine that after a particularly rough mission, simon would seek you out just to sit with you

and i can see him as a stress smoker so when he finally does manage to find you and take a seat beside you, you slide him a pack of cigarettes and a lighter

he doesn't ask how you know his cigarette preference, but instead gives you a small nod of approval before pulling up his mask over lips and taking a drag

and that's how you spend your night

just sitting beside each other as you watch the evening sky gradually begin to fill with stars

i think it would depend on how bad the mission went in order to determine exactly how long the two of you stay sitting under the stars, but it doesn't matter because it'll end the same way; you reaching over and giving simon's hand a quick squeeze with a small, "get some sleep, simon. you need it," before you walk away

and he finds himself confused to two reasons

reason one: why did you grab his hand why did he like it?

reason two: how can you say such sweet words but still look so mad?

as much as he wants to play that moment over in his head just to make sure he was remembering things right, he decides against it in favor of heeding your words and getting some sleep

but it's after that moment he can't help but notice how your mannerisms have changed

not only are your words of reassurance more apparent than before, he's also noticed you have a tendency to give his hand/shoulder a reassuring squeeze every now and then

he can't help the small smile that threatens to pull at his lips when you do

but he also can't help but notice how distant and reserved your face looks when you do all of these things

he doesn't really mind it though

but he eventually does bring it up to you one day

it's probably after he tells you one of his god awful dad jokes

like he'll look over at you and notice your sour expression and say something like, "don't look so pissed, they're not that bad."

and you'll respond with a tilt of your head as you tell him, "i'm not pissed. i like your jokes."

then he'll nudge your shoulder before telling you, "with that face? coulda fooled me."

and you'll roll your eyes in faux annoyance as you brush him off with a simple, "that's just my face."

and then he'll look down at you, thankful for his mask so you can't see the small smile making its way onto his face

he might even say something dumb and cheesy like, "i know. i like it."

and you give him one of your rare smiles

and i could end it there and say the two of you are bffs

or i could sprinkle in something about soap running up on the two of you chanting, "my plan worked, my plan worked!"

that's for you to decide

[daisyblog]

Caught

Our Story Masterlist Summary: YN and Harry’s relationship is exposed after a photo of them kissing is leaked. Written in Louis' POV. Warning: swearing

Louis POV:

EXCLUSIVE: One Direction’s Harry Styles caught kissing bandmate’s sister

One Direction charmer Harry Styles has been pictured kissing his bandmate’s sister, YN Tomlinson, at Harry’s childhood friend's University party that the pair attended together last night. Students who were at Jonny's party said “They really seemed to have a connection and only had eyes for each other”. Another student said “They were enjoying themselves, laughing and joking together..were even dancing together”. Harry and YN were then seen getting into Harry’s car where he drove her back to her hometown. Whilst we think the pair are sweet and clearly enjoying themselves, what we want to know is…What does Louis think about his bandmate and sister locking lips?

“I’M GONNA FOOKIN’ KILL HIM” I shouted as I slammed my phone down in front of me on the table.

“Louis..what’s wrong?” my mother questioned as she stood behind the kitchen counter prepping mugs of tea for my grandparents who were sitting opposite me at the dining table. “HAVE YOU SEEN THIS?” showing my Mum the article I just read and the photo attached. She only glanced at the photo quickly and continued making tea. “Oh no..no..please don’t tell me you already knew” I could see it on her face, she knew because she was not shocked, it was like she had already seen it.   “Louis..” my Mum began to speak. “No…this can’t be happening” I said with a sarcastic chuckle. “Where is she?”

“Look..I’ve been trying to sort this out all morning…do you think I wanted to be up half the night with my daughter sobbing in my arms ‘cause she thinks her brothers gonna hate her” my Mum spoke “Just please…calm down for a moment..and let's talk about this without the screaming and shouting..yeah?” “Louis…come and sit with your Nan and me a second son” Grandad interrupted. I went back to my original position and slumped in the chair and crossed my arms. My Grandad’s voice interrupted my thoughts “Okay..so you’re going to sit there a moment..without interrupting me..okay?” “Yeah” “Okay..I understand you’re angry” I interrupted him with a huff “..but answer me this..do you ‘onestly think Harry would risk the band and your friendship if he didn’t like her?” I thought about it and he was right, Harry wasn’t a nasty lad, in fact, he’s the one who tries to look out for everyone and always makes sure they're okay “No” “Does he talk about other girls..does he bring them back to the flat..is he disrespectful?” again, the answer was no. Even when the other boys were talking about their girlfriends or girls they liked Harry would always just sit there and listen. My Grandad’s voice spoke again “I’ll take your silence as a no…have you even considered that maybe they’re meant for each other…ey?” at these words, I looked up and saw my Mum and Nan give me a slight smile. “Okay I get your point…doesn’t mean I’m ‘appy ‘bout it though” I spoke. “Just promise me this” Grandad spoke again “when YN walks through that door…don’t scream, don’t shout, don’t assume anything…please just listen to her…Harry too” I thought about it and took a deep breath “Yeah..fine I promise” Feet are heard coming down the stairs and a couple of seconds later YN appears, walking very sheepishly. I’m given a warning look by my Mum and before I say anything YN’s voice is heard. “Lou..I’m so sorry..I really am” she said with tears threatening to spill from her eyes. I rub a hand over my face because I hate seeing my sisters upset. “I-I…w-we…we never meant t-to hurt you” she sobbed. I got up from my seat and walked over to her, opening my arms as my feet took me to her “Come ‘ere” and she wrapped her arms around me and sobbed into my chest “shh..c’mon it’s alright…I-I’m just shocked that’s all” After YN had calmed down a little and stopped crying, she joined me and our grandparents at the table. “Look..I can’t say I’m ‘appy ‘cause I’m not..but I just need some time to think okay” “I am sorry Lou” YN apologised again. “I know you are…where’s Harry now?” I asked. “He went back to London after the party last night” she explained. “So…is it serious then..you know..you like him?” YN nodded “Yeah..he’s really nice Lou…you should know that” she said with a slight grin. “Yeah…he is…I am gonna talk wiv him though..you know that” “Just listen to him Lou...’cause he’s actually terrified he’s messed up…not just wiv you but with me too”

---

I walked up to mine and Harry’s shared flat, having just driven almost three hours back from Doncaster. I put the key in the lock and opened the black door. I close the door behind me and kick off my shoes. I take a deep breath before I walk slowly towards the lounge door, as I was in Harry lifts his head from his hand where it was leaning on the arm of the sofa. “Louis” he began “L-l-look I’m…I don’t know what to say..but I’m sorry” I sat down on the sofa opposite him and leaned my elbows on my knees “I’d be fookin’ lying if I said I was ‘appy…but I’ve had time to think on me way ‘ome…and I’m tryin’ to do what’s best for me sister” “Is she okay?” Harry asked with worry written all over his face. “Uhh..yeah she’s okay…just a bit upset by the whole thing” “I’ve fucked up man” He said and buried his face in his hands. “Do you like her..like is it serious..or is just a phase?” I needed to know for sure. “Lou..I-I would never have risked this if I didn’t like her…I don’t how to describe it but..I can promise you it’s not just a phase…I’d never want to hurt her or you…you’re my best mate and I just wish I’d have told you and you didn’t find out like this” he rambled. “Harry” I spoke “If you hurt her..I will hunt you fookin’ down...now come ‘ere” I spoke as I wrapped my arms around his shoulders. “I’ll look after her Lou..I promise” he squeezed me tighter “thanks for not punching me too..I’ve been waiting for it all morning” he said with a grin. “The band needs your handsome face…otherwise I would ‘ave” I joked. --- As I was walking back from Zayn’s flat where I’d been for the evening, watching football and filling him in on the situation, my phone buzzed in my jean pocket. YN Thank you for listening to Harry. I really am sorry Lou! I’ll phone you tomorrow, love you lots xxx I began tapping my fingers against the screen, adding the nickname I used to call her when we were younger. LouisI love you Tiny xx

[mausinly]

Baby fever got me thinking abt ghost and kids <3

Ghost finds himself leaning against a stone wall, fiddling with the straps of his gear as he listens to the bustle of the locals. He's in a more rural part of the city, one half full of shops and restaurants and the occasional pub (of which Ghost is waiting for Gaz and Soap outside of), the other half being a neighborhood on the other side of the cobblestone wall behind him.

It was meant to be a more casual mission, gather some intel and do a bit of a stakeout. Gaz and Soap would chat with a man that has information for them, while Ghost waited outside in case there was trouble or they needed to make a quick escape. After a few hours, he quickly realized this wasn't much of a mission at all.

It was peaceful though, a breath of fresh air compared to the adrenaline and bloodshed of his usual work. He was debating on calling it all a bust and dragging his boys back to base when a small sound hit his ears.

He went silent for a moment before he heard it again, a small whisper of a voice beckoning for his attention.

Ghost lets out a sigh. "The hell...?" He looks around, trying to pinpoint the source of the sound.

"Psst. Up here." A small voice calls from... above him?

Ghost looks up to see a face peering down at him from the top of the stone wall, a few meters above him. A small child, a little girl with short, red curls, peeks over the stone to look at him with big brown eyes.

The two of them just stare at each other for a few beats, observing one another warily until the girl speaks up.

"Are you a soldier?" She asks him with a surprising amount of confidence, speaking with a bluntness that only children seemed to possess.

Ghost pushes himself off of the wall to turn and look at her fully, glancing back at the pub to check for his team before looking back at her.

"Affirmative." He says simply, giving a little nod before falling back into silence.

The girl looks puzzled at the unfamiliar word, but uses her context clues to conclude that it means yes. She steps up a little more, crossing her arms over the top of the wall to look down at him better.

"My nana was a soldier... I think." The little girl says, her tone a little uncertain. "My mum said she used to fly planes and we have a picture of her with a bunch of medals."

"I've never seen a soldier in real life, though." She adds.

Ghost can't help the small chuckle that rumbles from his chest at the child's observation. "That so? Your nan sounds pretty interesting." His eyes crease as he smiles up at her from under his balaclava. "I'll let you in on a little secret... being a soldier's pretty boring a lot of the time."

The girl gives Ghost another quizzical look, blinking those big doe eyes at him. "How? Don't you get to fight bad guys and shoot big guns?"

Ghost supposes she isn't wrong. A lot of his work does include diving headfirst into enemy territory, fighting the desert sun and blowing up old "friends". He still lets out a small laugh at the girl's naivety. Ghost wonders if he'd ever been that innocent once, maybe when he was a toddler and the cruel world his father built hadn't yet beat down on him.

"Sometimes." He says finally. "But there's also a lot of sitting—waiting for things to happen. And paperwork." He tacks on.

The girl makes a face. "Like taxes?"

Ghost nods solemnly. "Like taxes."

The girl makes a soft, long "oh" sound before they fall into silence. Ghost looks back at the pub, half hoping to see Soap and Gaz walk out and half hoping they stay inside so he can keep talking to this silly little kid.

"My names Ginny, by the way." The girl pipes up. "What's yours?"

He debates in his head for a moment. "Ghost." He says finally.

Ginny makes another face. "Ghost? Like a dead person? That's a funny name." She says bluntly. "Is it a nickname? Technically Ginny is my nickname."

Ghost listens as she rambles a little, waiting for her to finish so he can answer her questions. "Yep, like a dead person. And yes, it's kind of like a nickname."

"Do they always give you silly names in the mil-militry?" Ginny tries to ask, scrunching up her face a little as she struggles to pronounce "military".

"Sometimes." He says again. "Sometimes you choose your own, sometimes it starts as a nickname that sticks around."

"Did you choose yours?" She asks.

"No." He replies.

Before Ginny can bombard him with any more questions, a voice calls from somewhere far off, making the girl look behind her. She calls back to whoever is summoning her and turns back to Ghost.

"My mum's home, I've got to go." She says, her tone a little flat as she seems disappointed to leave.

"Alright. I'll see you around, Ginny." Ghost bids her farewell. "Be good for your folks."

"I will! Bye-bye, Ghost." The girl gives a determined nod, waving goodbye to him before stepping down and disappeared behind the other side of the wall.

Ghost stands there for God knows how long, in his own little world until Soap walks up behind him with Gaz in tow. The sargeant claps him on the shoulder about how the mission was a bust and apparently the man didn't have all the info they needed. Thankfully, he'd have what they needed at a later date. All Ghost hears is "we'll be coming back here soon".

[onceuponaoneshotfanfic]

Whiskey Kisses

Part of my 900 Followers Celebration!

Request: HI CONGRATS ON 900 FOLLOWERS!!!!! could I please request “admit it. you used to have feelings for me,” with Roy Kent? 💙💙

Roy Kent x Reader

1.4k words

Warnings: Language, drinking

“You’ll never guess who’s joining us for dinner!” your mum squealed as she scurried around the kitchen, her question greeting you as you walked through the door after work.

“Nan?” came your flat answer as you grabbed a slice of tomato from her cutting board.

Her sneaky giggle told you that no, it was not your grandmother.

A half hour later, you were still blinking in shock. Roy fucking Kent was sitting next to you in the dining room, sipping a beer and eating your mother’s cooking while chatting nonchalantly with your dad.

You hadn’t seen Roy in… five, six years? Your parents were close mates, and the two of you had always been friendly. There was always an offer for you to join your parents at Richmond matches when he sent over tickets, but something always came up, stopping you from going. Apparently he came over for dinner about every six months or so, something your mother had conveniently forgotten to mention when she insisted on you coming tonight.

Dinner was as normal as dinner could be, with Roy politely asking you questions about work and what you’d been up to since the last time you saw one another. He seemed particularly interested when you mentioned breaking up with your long-term boyfriend, the dull one who was obsessed with the fact that you vaguely knew a professional footballer.

“Never did get him that autograph he wanted,” you teased, knocking your shoulder into Roy’s, suddenly overcome with that old familiarity of two people who’d grown up around each other.

Roy snorted, shooting you a grin, the one you remembered fondly. “He wasn’t getting one from me.”

“No?” You raised your eyebrows.

“Fuck no. I hated that prick.” He wrinkled his nose as you allowed the subject to drop.

You’d be lying if you said you weren’t attracted to Roy Kent. Or at least, you had been. There was a time when you were about sixteen when you stupidly thought you had a shot with him and kissed him at a party, in your bedroom where the two of you were sharing the bottle of whiskey he’d nicked when your parents weren’t looking. He’d kissed you back, being a horny sixteen-year-old boy, but never spoke of the incident again. The next thing you knew, he was making his debut and dating models and actresses. And he became nothing more than a charming anecdote you could share at the pub after a few drinks, someone you politely said hello to at your parents’ garden parties when he could find the time to make an appearance.

After dinner and dessert, you announced that you should start walking home. Roy was immediately on his feet.

“Let me drive you.”

So, you wound up in that giant black car, the one your father felt the need to tell you about after Roy had bought it, alone with Roy Kent for the first time since that night in your childhood bedroom. And, much to your displeasure, you felt just as nervous as you’d felt then.

When his car pulled up to your house, you turned and did the polite thing, knowing the answer would be no: “Come in for a nightcap?”

You fully expected him to decline, to say something about being in training in the morning, to explain that he had a party to get to, or to mumble something about a date he was late for. Instead, he turned off his car with a “Sure, why not?”

For the second time that night, you found yourself surprised to be sitting next to Roy Kent, this time on your couch, once again sharing a bottle of whiskey.

At first, the conversation stumbled, with you asking questions you already knew the answer to about his football season and his sister, who you really should call sometime, and him repeating questions from dinner about your work and asking if you were really done with your ex or if it was just a break, because if so, he was sorry for calling him a prick. But, as you poured a second and third round, he relaxed into your couch, an arm draped behind you and you leaning into it, wondering if he remembered that night as vividly as you did.

“Don’t think I’ve ever seen your house,” he murmured, glancing around the living room. “It’s nice.”

“Thanks,” you managed, trying not to focus on the warmth of his arm. “I like it.”

He glanced down at you, smirk playing on his lips. “Fucking throws you back, doesn’t it? Alone, sharing a bottle. Might not be your bedroom, but I guess this is technically yours.”

He remembered. “Yeah,” you chuckled, tucking some hair behind your ear so you could focus on something besides Roy Kent sitting on your couch with his arm around you. “We were just silly little kids then.”

“It sure didn’t feel silly then.” He turned to face you properly, drink completely forgotten in his hand now. “Admit it. You used to have feelings for me.” There was definitely an edge of teasing in his voice, something you hadn’t heard in ages and didn’t even know you missed until this moment. But there was something else, something more serious, something almost hopeful.

You rolled your eyes, hoping to diffuse the quickly growing tension. “I was sixteen and had been drinking. I’d have kissed any fella was in that room with me.”

His grin didn’t fade. “Sure, sure,” he murmured, his hand coming up from the back of the couch to brush some hair out of your face. “Guess I was just lucky to be that fella,” he hummed.

The whiskey lowering your defenses, you rolled your eyes. “Yeah, must’ve felt really lucky, the way you never spoke about it again.”

“I mean…” Roy bit his lip and let out a breathy chuckle. You weren’t sure you’d ever seen him look… nervous? “Come on. The girl I fancied fucking kissed me and then I had to head back to Sunderland in the morning. Didn’t think I had the right to- to ask you to, I don’t fucking know, wait for me or some shit.”

Oh.

“You fancied me?” You didn’t bother hiding your own smile.

Bashful looked good on Roy Kent. “Fuck off, you know I did.” His thumb stroked your cheek. “Always thought you were gorgeous. Smart. Funny. Only girl I ever met who knew how long a keeper can hold the ball.”

“Six seconds,” you answered automatically, a hint of bragging in your voice.

“You were my fucking dream girl,” Roy teased, his hand still on your face.

You squirmed, trying not to lose the warmth of his touch. “That’s a lot of past tense there, Kent. Guess I blew my shot?”

His mouth opened, but no sound came out at first. He closed it and opened it again, finally finding his ability to speak. “You’d never blow your shot,” he said, his voice low. “Not with me.”

Praying you weren’t making a total fool of yourself, you leaned forward to close the space between you, space you knew had been there for a long time. Suddenly, you were sixteen again, Roy Kent’s mouth on yours, tasting like whiskey and delight. Sure, there was a beard scratching your face that hadn’t been there last time, and the sounds of your parents and their friends shrieking with laughter wasn’t coming in through the windows, but the exhilaration and joy were still there. And the feeling of his tongue skimming against yours still sent electricity through your whole body; you couldn’t help but think that he was much more skilled with it now than he was as a teenager.

When you parted, there was that same breathlessness, those same expressions of bashfulness and embarrassment, the same questions being exchanged between your gazes. Except this time, Roy did something he didn’t before.

“Think we could have dinner sometime?” You’d never heard this kind of nervous hesitation in his voice before. You liked knowing you were the cause of it. “Without your parents.”

“That would be nice.” You set down your glass and scooted closer to him. “You’re a much better kisser than you were at sixteen,” you teased, taking his glass and setting it down next to yours.

He grinned. “You sure? Think I might still need some more practice. Care to help me with that?”

He didn’t need to ask twice.

[hxnguxng-jxn]

Hello, you can make a scenario 𝐗𝐢𝐞 𝐋𝐢𝐚𝐧 × 𝐌𝐚𝐥𝐞! 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 × 𝐇𝐮𝐚 𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐧𝐠 Reader has known them for years and always had the mania of eating the nails until he is hurt and they cured it and tried to take away that habit then the years pass they havent seen each other and meet again but reader pretends to be someone else but they know it is him because of his habit of biting his nails but he does not know that they know it he just thinks he is nice to him as he would to anyone

Writer's Note(s): I can do this for you! Also, since you didn't specify if Reader was a Ghost/Heavenly Official/Mystical Monster I kept it ambiguous!

Info on Reader: Reader is intended AMAB, and uses he/him. The Reader is an immortal of some kind and knows the two characters from long ago, but age is ambiguous.

Timeline: Post Book 1, and in Book 2. Is in that timeframe. Spoilers for Ke Mo and Ban Yue, and the Ghost City.

【🔴】 Reader takes part in the dice roller scene. If you know, you know. Also, Hua Cheng bites Readers finger.

Fujoshis and Fem Readers DNI || Please enjoy!

Everyone in the group Xie Lian accompanied had strange backgrounds, behaviors, limits, and actions. He's not naive enough to not see the evidence that San Lang might be the mysterious Hua Cheng, or how the two assistants sent to protect him knew just a little too much about him and had specific memories they did not like to recall.

He could see many things, and he could understand a lot more than he could, say, 350 years ago. His mind remembers what his body could not, he likes to believe.

Especially when the tensions were so high during his adventures after his third ascension. Being in the rotation of San Lang, Fu Yao, Nan Feng... and you.

He could see glimpses of you in your disguise throughout the time he's seen you; with your choice of weapons, the food you prefer and how you cooked it, what type of clothes you prefer on other's and yourself.

But his major sign about who you might be―like San Lang's knowledge, like My Qing's eye rolls and hatred for his memories―was you biting your nails till the tips of your fingers were raw during stressful moments.

Everyone had nervous habits, even the most stoic still would like to dodge questions they prefer not to answer. And Xie Lian liked to fiddle with his bamboo hat, or start moving immediately to fix the situation.

Like Mu Qing and Feng Xin again after so long, it was almost like a lightbulb went off in his head. But unlike the unease of nostalgia hitting him, it was something warm in his heart and he was tempted to ask how you've held up all this time.

He also might have leaned on you too much during the situation between Ke Mo and Ban Yue because he knew you and what you could do. You were reliable and he did adore you...

And before long, he noticed his feelings were off somewhere and it was getting far more intimate between you two. And then you three.

San Lang―Hua Cheng proven at this point―also seemed to slither into his heart and rightfully so. He was kind, he was open about what he was comfortable sharing, San Lang treats you right, and he's sweet on him as well.

The emotions of potentially falling in love with two people at once, and seeing San Lang kiss your bandaged fingers after you chewed them raw stirred something like... butterflies, for no better comparison.

And then, Hua Cheng disappeared and you left him in one night. No notes, but all the evidence you existed around him. Breakfast from you, chopped wood from Hua Cheng, carpets on the line like you do, leaves raked like Hua Cheng.

Xie Lian ran back inside. You're not leaving him behind. He'll follow you both, to any end.

The City of Ghost's is good at bringing people together...

Red, red, red. The den of Gamblers was always filled with such color except when the customers would come in wearing anything but that. The attendants rotated the ghosts and Hua Cheng took what was owed and distributed... what he owed. If he even did.

The curtains between him and the current obsessed customer were briefly interrupted by a Heavenly Official (Lang Qingqiu) and the sudden appearance of three more individuals of interest. Of course, Shi Qingxuan was of interest because that means he had more than just one Heavenly Official in the Ghost City.

But seeing the veiled bamboo hat and the man next to him wearing a white veil to obscure their identity from afar, he could practically feel his non-existent heart beat and his fingers twitch. Who was this man under the veil? Why was he next to his gege and whispering back and forth so swiftly?

Hua Cheng was about to call them up as they figured out who would roll for Lang Qingqiu's freedom, when the man passed the roller to Xie Lian and rushed to bring his hand under his veil. For a brief moment, he thought the man would lift the veil, but the hand simply rested under it as Xie Lian looked up at Hua Cheng behind the curtains.

And then he felt the need to have you both step forward and to come to him so he can see you closer and fully. The curtains may not help seeing past your Veil of Illusion from over your face, but he could get a read on your demeanor and how you fall in line with his gege.

Having you both step forward because of the feminine announcer requesting for him was easy. "Would the challenger and his assistant with the veil please step forward. The proprietor would like to correct your dice rolling technique. It is incorrect."

Of course, gege is baffled and confused there is a technique to this, and so are the useless dreg that are his customers. The man under the veil takes after gege and helps escort him up with you, mumbling one or two things back and forth, before they stepped up to him.

Looking down at gege and trying to search for any sign of identity on the other man, he takes the offered dice roller and shows gege how to... handle the elongated item, and how to shake it up and down in even strokes. Gege's hands are strong and grip the roller harshly, so he offers to perhaps soften his touch in case he... breaks the roller.

He's helping. Honest.

And of course, the gesture has gege blanking before accepting the help he gave. But Hua Cheng wasn't done. And you aren't getting out of this without him seeing if he perhaps can identify you.

"In case your luck is bad or you're unsure if the dice aren't enchanted, I will allow this man to roll with you. I can tell your companion would know how to read magic." Hua Cheng states, knowing no slacker would wear a Veil of Illusion to the Gambler's Den. This one was smart. "But you'll have to roll at the same time."

"The same... time? How would I do that when my companion is holding the cup?" Your voice is familiar and yet so far away from what he expected. It wasn't the voice he had been waiting for (the voice of your disguise), it was something that hit his nostalgia in many ways.

"Here, I will show you." Hua Cheng assured. "Hold up the cup."

Of course, gege had terrible luck and would take any measures to make sure they didn't mess up with Lang Qingqiu, and extended the cup for instructions. "Take hold of it with your dominant hand over his shaking hand." You hesitate before you put your hand over his gege's. Good, the Ghost King thought, your not someone who sees themselves above gege in his den.

But it was after the instruction to use your other hand to hold the middle, while gege held the top and bottom, that he noticed you weren't wearing gloves or any kind of hand covering. Your nails were non-existent and your fingers were basically chewed to pieces and raw in some places, obviously chewed recently. That, and there was a specific bite mark over your index finger much further down on your non-dominant hand...

... While fixing up your hand after you had caught a sword in it, San Lang managed to lightly scold you while he patched it up. He knew you could just heal it instantly, but your fake identity was not supposed to be powerful, and it had to suffer with this annoying wound for appearance sake. Of course, Hua Cheng felt something stir in his stomach at the sight of your lightly bleeding fingers, and had taken your index into his mouth on instinct to taste the red stained there. If he might have bitten you out of surprise he had let his composure go, only he had to know...

"... Hua Cheng, sir?" Your voice snaps him out of his memories. You, the immortal under the veil, and gege hadn't been given the next instructions yet, and you sounded even more weary of this.

If he was young and human again, he was sure his face would heat and his body would betray him as the sight of having you and gege before him again was... something invigorating. He controlled all of his impulses with one short mantra he could remember, before he laughs off the wait you endured.

"Apologies, my dearest guests." He didn't give any excuse, all he gave was a simple instruction as he watches the roller between you both like a hawk. "Shake in a rhythm, match with your partner and cover where he cannot hold. The dice can't roll with no momentum."

Small Thing:

The Windmaster and Xie Lian look on as you fix your veil and make sure your outfit hasn't burned from the many fires they've had to put out from under you. A few feminine ghosts with fire inclined spells had taken a liking to your physique and your posture, and had tried to lift your veil with no results as you turned them down. Of course, getting into a fight hadn't been what you wanted, but winning was no issue with your squad as stacked as it was.

The Windmaster, Shi Qingxuan, had helped put out the final fire under your boots before making jokes at your expense. "Oh, our blushing husband, wearing his veil and not allowing anyone to see! Could he be a Ghost King in disguise? Could he be a rebellious or mysterious Heavenly Official? Wow is me!"

Of course, the God had taken off faster than strong winds could after you started chasing him in his feminine form. The Heavenly Official wasn't about to lose Xie Lian's trust by fighting the man he had accepted into their party on the way here, but he sure can tease you.

Xie Lian, when you returned to him and assured him you hadn't hurt your supposed guide at all, almost reached for your veil slowly to lift it just slightly. A face, so far in his memories lit his body on fire with a need to see it again... but he stopped short of seeing your chin. You hadn't stopped him and your adam's apple bobbed in anticipation and nerves. Xie Lian simply let the veil fall back down as his mind settled on what he wanted.

"I won't pry, but I'd love to see your face sometime." Xie Lian soothes your nerves while putting his hands on your arms gently.

"What if I'm not who you're looking for?" You ask him after a brief pause, your voice full of something bitter.

"You and San Lang, asking the wrong questions..." Xie Lian chided. I'd like you both no matter who or what you looked like. "You are him. But we're missing Hua Cheng."

There was a brief pause before whatever caused you to hesitate lets you go. "... We are. Let me lead you into the city, then, your Highness."

[timetoletmyimaginationfly]

One Gift From You

Nanami Kento x Reader

Happy Valentine’s Day my readers! I hope you enjoy!

(Song Inspiration: Like No One Does by Jake Scott)

Nanami: I’m sorry, sweetheart. I’m being held up at work again.

You sighed deeply. It’s been about a month since he’s been stuck at work lately. But you know you couldn’t say much. You knew that having a boyfriend who is a sorcerer is going to be a lot. Even when Nanami warned you and gave you a few opportunities to back out, you chose to stay six years later.

You: I understand! Come home safe, honey. I have dinner left on the table for you. I love you❤️

And you were the non-sorcerer. You worked as a nurse and worked overnight shifts. And if Nanami returns home on time, you at least have ten minutes with him before you leave for work. You routinely clock in early, learn about your patients, and roughly plan your night before you get report.

And despite the short interaction you get with Nanami in the evening, you at least get to have a few hours with him before he leaves for work. Or at least until you fall asleep. You make his coffee and breakfast before you wash up for bed, even though he tells you not to.

“Sweetheart, you worked your third night,” Nanami said. You smiled and gave him a soft kiss.

“I know. But I love making you coffee,” you said. “And you said that you love the coffee I make.” Nanami would pull you in close to his arms.

“I don’t deserve you,” he said.

“You’re silly. You do so much for me.”

“Because you do everything for me.”

“It’s because I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

You sat by the computer. You drank your coffee and typed away, mentally ready to run to your patient’s room if something were to happen. After a few sentences of typing, you looked up and stared at the room. You looked at the monitors. Everything was okay.

“She okay?” the primary attending asked as he walked by. You nodded.

“After earlier, yeah she’s good,” you answered. You let out a small yawn. A cup of hot coffee was placed by your computer. You smiled. “Thank you, Mr. Doppelgänger.” He lightly laughed.

“I don’t see the similarities between me and your boyfriend.” You unlocked your phone and compared the picture between the attending and Nanami.

“Nah, you’re the doctor version of him.” He chuckled and shook his head at your silliness as he took a sip of his coffee.

“You two planned a fun date for tomorrow?”

“No, why?”

“Valentine’s Day. I’m surprising my wife. No matter how many times I tell her, she keeps forgetting,” he said.

“What?!” you questioned, your voice slightly louder and looked at your phone. You frowned. “I forgot.”

“Your birthday was a few days ago.”

“I forgot too.” He ruffles your hair playfully. His cell phone suddenly ringing, already walking away once he answered the call. You sighed. Usually, you and Nanami would plan something small for Valentine’s Day. But the two of you have been busy lately, especially Nanami. You heard your name get called from your coworker.

“You don’t mind keeping an eye on my patient?”

“I don’t mind, but maybe ask another nurse too? Just in case I’m busy with mine.”

“Thank you!”

It was past midnight. Your phone brightened and you smiled.

Nanami: Goodnight sweetheart❤️ I miss you and I love you❤️

You: Sweet dreams! I miss you too honey! I love you too❤️

The sounds of Nanami’s alarm woke him up at 6AM. He rubbed his tired eyes and looked at his phone. He cracked a smile from the missed text messages from you. All of them about how your night is going. And from the looks of it, it seemed to go pretty well so far. But after all the stories you tell him, there’s a good possibility that something was bound to happen before you left.

Quickly, he headed to the bathroom and shower. He wore his usual uniform without the jacket and decided to let his hair relax for now.

Two hours passed. He heard the door open and he heard your keys jingle as you closed the door. He heard you call his name. You sounded chirpy and awake. More than usual after a third night of work. Nanami headed to the door and smiled softly.

“Good morning, sweetheart,” he said. He cupped your face and kissed you deeply. You felt your heart race from his kiss. Six years together and he still gives you that effect. “How was work?”

“Way better than expected. My patient stayed stable. That’s all I needed for a good night,” you answered happily. “How was work? Did you get home too late?”

“Gojo-san kept pestering me to go out around 9. So we went out for drinks with Ieiri-san and I arrived home around 11:30,” he answered. “Work was good though.” You leaned up and kissed him again.

“Gonna keep your hair like this?” you asked curiously.

“Depends. How do you me to have it today?”

“Mmmm you can keep it like that for now.”

“I have something to show you.” Nanami held your hand and dragged you to the kitchen. Your eyes widened.

Nanami set up dinner. Two plates of pasta was placed on the table. A glass of red wine and a glass of water. A bouquet of red roses and sunflowers sat in between the meals and a small black velvet box sat in front of the flowers.

“Kento, what is this?” you asked with a large smile on your face. Nanami chuckled and lead you to the counter.

“Our Valentine’s Day dinner for breakfast,” he answered. “I knew you forgot. I took the opportunity to surprise you.”

“You got sunflowers?”

“They’re your favorite, sweetheart. I have another gift for you.” He left the kitchen and as quick as he left, he returned back. You gasped when a book bouquet appeared in his arms. You ran to him and looked at the books in the bouquet mixed with wildflowers. They were the ones you saved in your cart.

“How—When—Kento!” Nanami lightly laughed.

“I checked your cart list,” Nanami said with a playful smile. “You got a lot on the list. You should spoil yourself every now and then. Do you want me to pay for more?” You quickly shook your head.

“Thank you, though,” you said. You looked at Nanami. You gently brushed his hair away from his eyes. You felt yourself melt in his eyes and smile. “You truly are the best.”

“I want to be the man that you deserve.”

“And you are. I feel bad. I completely forgot about Valentine’s Day that I didn’t get anything for you.”

“I think I can change that.” You cocked your head slightly, looking at him with puzzled eyes. Nanami placed your book bouquet on the empty side of the counter and picked up the velvet box. Your eyes widened. You didn’t want to assume.

“Kento?” Softly, he called your name. Slowly, Nanami opened the box, revealing a diamond engagement ring that made you gasp. You felt tears from in your eyes.

“I bought this ring four years ago,” he confessed. He softly chuckled at your more surprised expression. “I waited for you to finish school. But then you were still busy so I waited and waited. And then I got busy. And…sweetheart. I love you. You’re so hardworking and do everything with no complaints. You still make sure I have food when I come home from work before you leave for work. You make me coffee when you come back. You make sure our home is tidy. It’s like I don’t deserve you because you go above and beyond for me.” You softly wiped your tears away before he got down on one knee. “And now that we finally have a romantic moment together, will you do me the honor and marry me?”

“Yes,” you said. Nanami slid the ring on your finger and picked you up by the waist and spun you around. You laughed and kissed him. “You’re not the only one who feels that way.” Nanami raised an eyebrow. “The way you massage my feet and legs after every shift, no matter how much sleep you got. The way you set up a hot bath when I text you how horrible my night was. When I’m too tired to cook, you order food from one of my favorite restaurants. Kento, you buy me something every week even when I don’t need it. You are a dream come true.”

“Am I?”

“Of course. You come home late from work, you hold me tightly because you know how worried I get. You let me cry in your arms without complaints. Nanami Kento, I can’t wait to become your wife and continue to do the things I love doing for you because I love you.”

“I love you, too.” He kissed you one last time before you pulled your phone and took a picture of your ring.

“Now I can show your doppelgänger my ring!” Nanami laughed.

“I don’t see the resemblance, sweetheart.” You playfully rolled your eyes. Nanami pulled your chair out and the two of you clinked glasses to celebrate.

Fun fact: Last week in my clinical, I kid you not I found my bf’s doppelgänger! I literally rubbed my eyes, thinking I was going crazy😂 I’m a nursing student and if you guys read some of my stories, I usually have the reader as a nursing student, nurse, or a tech. It’s the most relatable for me.

[watchmegetobsessed]

SECRET RECIPE

A/N: its out last sunday fic of fanficmas! still working on the second christmas fic, i got into a bit of a delay but im hoping to finish it on time!

WORD COUNT: 2.4k

SUMMARY: Christmas time brings some worries and surprises and of course lots of love in the life of Nan and Harry.

MORE FROM THE NAN&HARRY UNIVERSE

This fic is part of ❄️ FANFICmas 2022 ❄️ Read more about fanficmas here!

 Harry’s in the middle of recording a verse for a new song he’s been working on for the past days when the music cuts off and he looks at the technician through the window with a confused expression.

“What happened?” he asks, pulling the headphones off. Jim, the technician presses a button and speaks into the mic that carries sound into the booth.

“Man, your phone is blowing up.”

“It’s fine, I’ll just call them back,” he shrugs.

“It’s Y/N. She’s called like six times in the past two minutes.”

His stomach churns.

He’s fast to exit the booth, fetching his phone from one of the seats. You know he’s at the studio and wouldn’t call if it wasn’t an emergency.

“Let’s take five,” he says, unlocking his phone and opening his call log, seeing all the missed calls from you. Jim knows it’s his cue to leave, he walks out without a word as Harry dials your number, a knot forming in the pit of his stomach.

“Harry!” you answer out of breath.

“What’s going on?”

“I’m on my way to the hospital.”

“What? Are you okay?”

“Harry, it’s not me, it’s Nan,” you let out a shaky breath.

“I’m on my way,” he says, packing up his things immediately.

Jim doesn’t fuss when Harry ends the session early. He jumps into his car and you tell him what happened as he heads to the hospital as well. Nan apparently went on a date and out of all the activities she could have done with her date, she went skating.

“What was she thinking?!” he snaps, smacking his hand against the steering wheel when he has to stop at a red light.

“I just arrived, how far are you?”

“Ten minutes away.”

“Alright, meet you here.”

Harry soon arrives at the hospital and parks his car down in a frenzy, rushing inside. The nurse behind the desk recognizes him right away, but before she could start fangirling, you come up to him running.

“Hey! There you are,” you exhale, hugging him tight.

“How is she?”

“She fractured her hip, can you believe it?”

“For real, I love her more than anything, but sometimes she can act like a child,” he shakes his head in disapproval.

Walking down the hallways you stop at room 102 and Harry follows you inside. Nan is right there, lying in bed, chatting with the nurse, already telling her about recipes and gardening.

“I promise you Sweetheart, that’s the key to the perfect banana bread!” she explains and her face lights up when she sees the two of you flood into the room. “Harry! So good to see you!”

“Nan, what did you do?” he questions right away, ignoring the way the nurse blushes upon seeing him before walking out of the room.

“Oh, nothing crazy, don’t worry about me!”

“Skating at your age is actually crazy, Nan,” you shake your head, taking a seat on the edge of the bed, careful not to hurt her.”

“Aye, watch your mouth!” she wiggles a finger at you, but you just roll your eyes at her.

“Let’s start at the very beginning. You were on a date?!” Harry gawks at her, standing over you. Most of his worry is gone, seeing Nan be her usual sweet but sassy self.

“Oh, we’re not talking about that,” Nan waves around, but there’s no way Harry will just drop it like that.

“No, no, no, you’re not getting away with it! You didn’t tell us! Who was he anyway?”

“It’s none of your business! I’m a big girl!” she jokes.

“Yes, but going on a date is something you share with your family, don’t you think?” you ask, giving her hand a squeeze. “You demanded to know everything about my first date with Harry, it’s not fair you keep things like this from us!”

“Frank’s daughter works at the flower shop on Ernest Road. I’ve run into him several times before and we’ve had some pleasant conversations. He asked me out and I said yes, that’s it,” she shrugs, fixing her hair just to avoid looking at you or Harry.

“And you didn’t have a better idea than skating? Nan, you have to be careful!”

“I used to be a great skater in high school!” she protests like a little kid, Harry needs to bite a smile back.

“Oh my God,” you pinch the bride of your nose. “I’m gonna get you something to drink. Harry, stay with her so she doesn’t go skydiving or something,” you mumble as you walk out of the room.

“I’m kind of offended, Nan,” Harry places a hand over his chest, stepping closer to her bed. “I thought I was your guy.”

“Oh, Harry!” she sighs. “You know you’re my number one,” she chuckles, a slight blush tinting her cheeks that just makes Harry even more confident about himself.

“Apparently Frank took my place!” he scoffs dramatically. “I need to meet him, Nan. I’m not gonna let him just steal you away like that, I have to make sure you’re in good hands!”

“Please, don’t act like I’m getting engaged!” she chuckles. “It was just a date!”

“Yeah, but then more dates come and next thing we know you’re walking down the aisle!”

Nan lets out a belly laugh that soon turns into a wince and Harry instantly regrets joking around.

“I’m alright, I’m alright,” she assures him when he moves to check her. “Harry, I’m just looking for some company, I won’t remarry.”

“I know,” his gaze softens, sitting down to the edge of her bed. “And I want you to have fun, but you need to be more careful. You’re sturdy, but not indestructible, okay?”

“I know,” she sighs. “Just wanted to have some fun like when I was younger.”

“We’ll find another way that doesn’t include fractured hips,” he smirks at her.

Harry has been MIA for hours. It’s not unusual when he’s at the studio, but you know for a fact he has the day off, so why isn’t he answering your texts?

You keep wondering as your work day drags by and when you finally head home, you try to call him again. It rings and rings and you’re starting to get anxious that something might have happened to him. When you think it will go unanswered the ringing finally breaks and a familiar voice answers, but it doesn’t belong to your fiancé.

“Y/N? Hi!” Nan’s upbeat voice welcomes you and relief washes over you.

“Nan? Would you mind telling where my man is?” you chuckle as you get into the car. The phone connects and the answer comes through the speakers.

“Oh, he is just up on my roof!” she says as if it wasn’t a big deal at all.

“What?” you chuckle in disbelief. “Why?”

“He’s helping me decorate! Showed up here this morning, he’s been doing all the work all day!”

“Oh God, of course he did,” you chuckle.

It’s been a week since Nan’s skating accident and she’s been miserable because she can’t get around like she usually does. She has someone from the family checking up on her every day and a nurse comes by in the morning and in the night too, but you all know how much she hates to be in need of help. You keep telling her it’s just temporary, she’s been having a great recovery, but she needs to be more patient with herself.

Harry must have wanted to make her feel better, she’s been moping about not being able to decorate like she usually does, so your fiancé probably took matters into his own hands.

Without thinking twice, you head over to Nan’s place to check up on both of them. When you arrive, you’re glad to see all the décor Nan whips out every year. Lights are running along the edge of the roof, huge candy canes are peeking out of the ground in the garden up front and garlands are snaking up the columns of the front porch. And the last touch? Santa’s sleigh is on the roof, Nan’s favorite décor every kid adores around the neighborhood.

You knock on the front door with a goofy grin, looking at the snowman ornament hanging on it. The door flies open and you’re met with your lover.

“Hey there,” he smirks and pulling you inside he greets you with a big kiss on your cold lips.

“Hi! Nan said you’ve turned into her little elf for the day,” you chuckle, enjoying the warmth inside as Harry takes your coat.

“I did the best I could,” he smirks shyly.

“Y/N! Hi!” Nan cheers from her armchair, her cane resting against the side of it. Before she could try to push herself up to greet you, which for sure she plans to, you rush over and plant a smooching kiss to her cheek, stopping her from moving.

“Stay, Nan. How are you feeling?”

“I’ve had a great day with Harry. Did you see the décor outside?” she beams.

“I did, looks great,” you smile at her.

Harry makes some tea and the three of you sit by the fireplace. Nan is obviously happy to have company and you’re glad to be spending time with her. She really scared you with her little accident earlier, she got lucky, it could have turned out to be way worse.

“Alright, you two head home and be together,” she sighs, checking the time and seeing how late it has gotten.

“We’re happy to be here, Nan,” Harry smiles, taking her empty mug and heading to the kitchen to clean up.

“Y/N, give me that box over there,” she gestures at a little wooden box on the shelves next to the fireplace. You obey and hand her the box, watching her dig into the stack of papers inside. “Here, this is for you,” she hands one over and you take it, scanning over it curiously.

“What’s thi— Oh. This is… This is your secret recipe. Your gingersnap cookies…”

“I want you to have it.”

“But why? You haven’t given it to any of my cousins yet,” you look at her with wide eyes.

This recipe comes from Nan’s grandma, so it’s been in the family for a long time. Every woman eventually gets it, your mom has it too, but she can only pass it on to the generation coming after you, that’s the rule. Nan hasn’t passed it on to anyone and you and your cousins have been wondering who’ll get it first.

She chose you. Though you would have sworn your cousin Riley would be the first, she is the first who got pregnant and now has two kids.

“Because what you and Harry have reminds me the most of what I had with Steven. Riley’s husband would have never spent the day here, climbing on my roof and hanging ornaments. And Lydia… God, I’m afraid she will never settle!” she chuckles, bringing up your female cousins. “You two… are something truly special and soon you’ll finally get married. I want you to know how to make it by the time you’ll have babies.”

You can’t help the tear that rolls down your cheek as you lean closer and give her a hug.

“Thank you, Nan,” you whisper, kissing her cheek right when Harry walks back in. He looks startled to see you crying.

“Woah, did I miss something?” he cautiously asks, but you just shake your head chuckling.

“Everything is perfect, don’t worry,” Nan smiles up at him. You give Harry a look that tells him to just drop it and so he nods.

The nurse arrives to help Nan get ready for bed when you leave and you hug her just a few moments longer than you usually do before walking out.

“Are you sure everything is alright?” Harry asks when you’re home, standing side by side in the bathroom, doing your usual night time routine.

“Nan gave me her gingersnap cookie recipe,” you say with a smile as you brush your hair, looking at him from the mirror. For a moment, he rakes his mind to figure out what it means and when he does, his eyes go wide.

“Oh! You’re the first one then!” he beams at you proudly.

“Yeah,” you chuckle. “She said that what we have reminds her of what she had with Pa.”

“That’s very sweet,” he smiles, brushing a hand across your back, pressing a kiss to the side of your head.

“She also brought up us having babies, I think she is getting impatient,” you add with a little laugh as you turn around and lean against the sink to face him.

“Wow, she can never have enough!” he grins. “I got comments on proposing to you for months and now that we have the date reserved she found something else to poke me about!”

“She’s not rushing us, you know. Just wants to see us become parents.”

“Soon,” he smiles and stepping closer his hands find your waist. “First, let’s make us official. Then we can move on to baby making.”

“So… that’s the plan?” you tilt your head to the side.

“Is it not?”

“I don’t know,” you chew your bottom lip.

“Y/N? Want to share something with me?” He takes your chin between his thumb and index finger, making you look him in the eyes.

“I was just thinking… We’re getting married in February. It’s not that far away, maybe we could… start trying sooner? It might not happen right away and if it does, it wouldn’t even show at the wedding…”

For some reason you feel so nervous about proposing your idea. You’ve talked about trying for a baby next year, you’re very much on the same page so even if he says no for now, you’d definitely start in a few months. You just figured that maybe you could start sooner.

Harry gently cradles your face in his hands, a tiny smile tugging on the edges of his mouth.

“So… we should just drop the pills, hm?”

“Y-Yeah. I mean, only if you’re okay with it. We don’t have to if you—“

He presses his lips to your lips, melting away your nervousness instantly as he kisses you softly but passionately.

“I’m more than okay, Y/N. I know you’re it for me, we don’t have to wait for a certain date to start trying.”

You can’t stop your growing smile as you look up at him.

“Okay. No more pills then,” you bite into your bottom lip.

“And a lot of baby making,” he smirks cockily, sweeping off your feet and carrying you into the bedroom. You’re a giggling mess as he throws you to the mattress, but they soon die down when he gets on top of you, occupying your lips with something much more exciting.

Thank you for reading, please like and reblog if you enjoyed and buy me a coffee if you want to support me!

[vclvetfleur]

Obedient Chapter 8

roman roy x fem! reader

Summary: The retreat dinner started as Logan's game plan was set into place. Jealousy and envy towards the others began to set in, ruining what Logan had been trying to set up for such a long time.

TW: Veganism, Logan Roy, Connor was interested in politics at an early age

Word Count: 4.6K

Notes: I had to put this chapter up as soon as I finished it.

Chapter 8: Connor Roy was interested in politics at a very young age

Logan sent everyone out of the room. Dinner was about to be set up as they had just finished cooking all the dishes. Everyone found their seats at the table. Roman sat with you, Jess sitting on your other side while Kendall was right across from Naomi, Shiv on Kendall’s side. You were close enough to start a conversation with Nan as was Shiv. Nan came out with a large turkey, setting it on the table as if she had anything to do with preparing it. She set it down before starting her speech to only make Naomi make her own little speech. Once they finished speaking, everyone around the table clapped, you following their lead. Roman rolled his eyes, exaggerating his feelings towards it. It was the purest form of pretension. You lightly kicked Roman under the table.

Jess leaned over to you, whispering. “See, I told you it was gonna get worse.” She let out a light chuckle before putting her napkin in her lap.

Kendall leaned towards Naomi and began to congratulate her speech. Instant sparks began between the two of them. You watched impressed before ignoring them for Roman and Jess. Everyone went back to their own stupid conversations before. Before you knew it, Roman got into a conversation that he seemed to get stuck in with his stupid jokes. He was asked about books, lying that he could even read in the first place. “Can you recommend anything?” He asked. Roman tried to come up with something but was also trying not to fuck with this guy even more than he was before. “Oh, didn’t you tell me to read that classic novel, uh fuck- what was it?” You jumped in to save him as you tried to think of a book you had put on the back burner for a bit. Roman looked over, hiding a laugh behind his hands, but acting as if he was just talking to you. You truly were always there for him. “Oh yes! The Pachinko Parlour!” You exclaimed. “Roman doesn’t wanna spoil it for me though. I like to experience them as I read.” You made an excuse for Roman not to go on.

“Oh yea, I’ve read it like 3 separate times. I’m actually giving her my copy. Uh- but what’s your memoir mostly on?” He asked as if he gave a single fuck about the memoir.

“Well, I’m kind of interested though. What is that book about Rome?” Shiv tried to embarrass Roman at the table. “Yeah, who’s the author?” A woman apart of Nan’s family asked as she tried to pull it up. “Can you spell it?” She questioned.

Roman tried to struggle with the concept, even forgetting the name of the book. Logan watched carefully, annoyed that Shiv would even do this. This was not the time to embarrass one another. Logan observed everyone to make sure they weren’t messing up the deal.

“Oh come on, I really don’t want this spoiled.” You tried to help Roman out. Jess decided to help out either, looking the book up and sending a text to Roman. He looked at his phone quickly, finally able to even answer a few questions.

“It’s fine. Uh- so- it is about…” Roman dragged out his sentence. “It’s kind of about this woman teaching a girl French.” He simplified it. He didn’t have a lot of time to read everything Jess had texted him.

“That’s it?” Shiv continued, a smirk appearing on her lips as she leaned down to sip soup off her spoon. You decided not to eat the soup. You didn’t know what kind of broth was in it.

“Well-uh no Shiv. It’s just kind of them, just- uh- well she sees her as a mom and it’s about identity and fucking war and stuff.” He was struggling. It was painful to watch. “It’s mostly about her family.” He tried to recover from whatever Shiv had set him up for.

“Alright, let’s not spoil it any longer for me now.” You cheerfully smiled at everyone. “So uh- what about you? Have anything you could recommend me? I’m mostly into classics or just anything devastating honestly.” You tried to take the spotlight from Roman.

He felt like a loser around everyone. It was almost as if he was a kid again being made fun of for saying something annoying. He felt such a deep shame overcome him.

“Why aren’t you eating, my love? Something wrong with it?” Nan took notice. You looked over and shook your head no. “No-it’s not that it’s just-uh I don’t eat meat.” You reassured her. She sat back and looked confused. It was just soup. “It’s just- I don’t eat any animal products and I wasn’t sure if it was uh- bone broth or something.” You tried to explain. She nodded slowly as she tried to find a solution to the issue. “It’s fine though. Please don’t worry.” You smiled, putting your hands over your heart.

“No-no. It’s fine. One of my daughters’ children is vegan. I’ll make sure with the staff of that fact.” She commented before asking a staff member to make sure what was in the food. She told Nan about some of the courses that were going to come out later that would be okay for me. They nodded to each other as your plate was taken away.

“I fucking knew you were a grass eater.” Roman snickered. “I can’t believe you would like to me like that.” He pressed. Finally the spotlight was off of him and no one was paying him any mind anymore. You were the freak at the table that can’t eat most of the food that was prepared.

A conversation started between Nan and Logan about politics and their network thanks to Shiv admitting she was happy to be leaving politics to work with the company now. They tried to shift some blame to Tom, as Tom was always pinned as some kind of scapegoat for anything Waystar did wrong. Kendall tried to rebuttal in the argument and make Waystar look better. Shiv wasn’t making this better though. Nan felt offended before looking over at you. You wanted to but in and say your opinions, but knew they didn’t align with the companies. “Anything you need to get off your chest?” Nan asked you. You shrugged before finally deciding to get into the conversation. “Well-uh, I agree with Logan that at Waystar we’re allowed our own opinions. I mean he hired whoever has the ability to interview and do journalism at ATN, no matter their political party. I mean, I don’t personally agree with anything ATN says, but that’s my own views.” You shrugged, sipping onto your champagne.

“And what exactly are your views?” Naomi asked, leaning in. She wanted to hear more from you. “Oh. I guess, I would consider myself a Marxist. I think money is just- it’s a concept we created.” You started before Nan cut you off to agree. She went on about it and spoke the evils of it and went by talking about what actually mattered. But Tom came in and shared that his view was money mattered since he had to pay things with it.

“Yeah, but Tom, do you think that’s all that has to do with who we are? For example, as Nan said virtue and integrity is what do matter at the end of the day. If we don’t have our morals, what’s going to happen when the planet dies, and you guys don’t have money to buy your ways out of it?” You tried to hit back at him. Nan agreed with you as did Naomi. It seemed like they thought you were the only one in the company who actually had some kind of insight. Shiv saw this and jumped in and dismissed her husband’s argument. Which only ended a small and petty lovers’ quarrel. Jess had to step in and settle it. “I think that we have our own lived experiences that create our perception of money and how the world actually works. But regardless, it’s what makes Waystar so brilliant. I mean look at Shiv and Tom, two completely opposite opinions, yet so deeply in love. I mean you should’ve seen their wedding. It was beautiful.” Jess tried to remove the conversation from something so hostile to something sweet. Jess was always the peacekeeper. She always tried to minimize any arguments and didn’t ever pick sides. But it mostly to keep Logan happy. If she was actually allowed to tell everyone what she thought, she’d tell Tom to go back to whatever cheese state he was from and remember what it was like before marrying Shiv. But the topic of Tom’s position came into play. It felt tense. It felt as though everyone sent digs at the Roy’s. Everyone insulted the siblings. It apparently was enough for Tom and Shiv to excuse themselves. “Do you think they’re gonna fight or…well that’s all they ever do.” Jess whispered to you. You laughed quietly.

Apparently, Jess was wrong. Tom had to calm her nerves since she went into full panic.

Kendall excused himself later too, Naomi taking notice. Kendall had gone into the bathroom to sniff the coin bag of coke in his pocket.

God, this dinner felt like a massive mistake. The only thing saving this was Jess and you, since you were both neutral.

But you spoke too soon apparently because one of Nan’s family members began to target you. “So who are you related to in this table?” He asked. “You both don’t seem very… y’know.” He pointed to you and Jess.

“Oh me and Jess knew each other in college. We both just happen to work at the company too.” You tried to answer.

“Oh? Who got hired first? You both seem so young to be this heavily involved.” It seemed inappropriate to even imply we couldn’t get the job based off of our age.  “You know also if you don’t align with their ideals. Especially the commie.” He pointed towards you.

“Uh- yea. I’ve been working for Kendall for 2 and a half years now.” Jess tried to remove herself, but couldn’t find an exit route. “As what exactly?” He asked. “An assistant.” She clarified.

“Why are two assistants this heavily involved with the company then?” He seemed to act as if we had any rights to speak onto what would happen in the company.

“Well- I had practically told Nan earlier, but they really treat us like family. I think we spend most of our days together really. I mean even the other night both of us and Kendall went out to dinner. And Logan was gracious enough, even a week into me working there, let me in his home and hosted a dinner for me. It’s a little thing they do for people who just get hired.” You lied. Logan caught on and seemed pleased enough. “But no one knew you didn’t eat meat products?” He seemed to caught on to your lies.

“No, but it was like a dinner like this. I just picked whatever I could.” You tried to explain.  

“Just leave the poor girl alone, you’re making her uncomfortable.” Nan scolded him.

But the conversation of CEO came up after Logan’s eventual step down. It caused concern for the entire family as they anticipated to hear their own name. But Logan refused to even say anything. He just left it up in the air. But Shiv interrupted and asked Logan to admit it was her. Roman looked at Shiv then Logan for confirmation. He had spent weeks preparing for the CEO position because Logan told him he had to. Only to have promised Shiv the same position. It felt as though it had gotten stolen from him. The room was quiet. Nan asked if it was true and Shiv confirmed. “Rome?” You whispered. You rested a hand on his arm, feeling how incredibly tense he was. “My life is fucking over.” He whispered to himself. Logan tried to back pedal, but Shiv wouldn’t let down. Roman felt as though he was going to cry at the table. The dinner was a complete mess. Nan dismissed everyone and Roman couldn’t be more happy for everyone to leave the room. Everyone got up, Roman with his head in his hands as he was in complete disbelief of this new betrayal. “Did you know?” You asked him. But Roman was too shocked and just told you he didn’t.

You guided him out of his chair, putting an arm around him as you made him go outside with everyone for a breathe of air. Jess decided to leave you two be. She felt sorry for Roman. She just hoped it didn’t end with a crash like Kendall. You walked down with him as you tried to have him focus on the view. “Just relax Rome. Maybe he was trying to keep his options open. Y’know, a backup?” you tried to rationalize. He didn’t wanna hear any of it.

“But what the fuck was all of that? As if he couldn’t have that conversation after I fucked up. I mean- just-“ his brain couldn’t grasp with what had happened. He bit his lip and tried to prevent himself from having a meltdown. This entire dinner was an entire shit show. He needed to leave. But he was stuck here. All thanks to Logan. And if he did anything to upset him, he would get blamed for creating the deal to fall apart more than it had already done. “I don’t know Rome, I don’t know. I’m sorry.” You whispered, rubbing his arm. “Can we just fucking go? I wanna go fucking inside.” He was basically shaking. You nodded, leading him back inside. You went into the bedroom he was staying at for the night, setting down on the bed. Roman just grabbed his clothes from his bag that he had packed and went into the bathroom to change. He had been taking a while though. You got up, putting your ear on the door. You couldn’t help but hear sniffling and low murmurs of insults thrown at himself. “Rome? You alright?” You called out before knocking. “Can I come in?” You asked. Roman got up from the bedroom floor as he just seemed to slide down on earlier as his emotions got the best of him. He had tried to hide the fact he was just crying in there, wiping his face before opening the door. But his cheeks were still wet and his eyes were puffy. “Roman..” You sighed, trying to pull him into an embrace, but he shoved past you.

“Do you think they have booze in here?” He asked in a calm tone as if nothing was impacting him. But it wasn’t working. He sounded disappointed. “Fuck- I should’ve known. Dad would’ve never thought of me. I don’t know why the fuck I even- just.” He couldn’t express his emotions. You searched the room for booze before finding a bottle left in a cabinet. Roman took it from you, laying on the couch that sat near the window as he took swigs of it. “What am I even supposed to do?” He asked. He looked up at the ceiling to prevent him to starting to cry again.

“I don’t know Roman, but I’m sure it wasn’t-“ you began to lie. You didn’t think Logan was ever setting him up for CEO. Anyone can see it. Roman was the last choice. Worst case scenario. Even with all the management training In the world. Even with the amount of times he’s been put in the COO position. Roman wasn’t ever meant for CEO in Logans eyes. “I just-fuck Rome- “you breathed out. “I just think- Logan has his options open. Shiv might’ve just taken his suggestion as fact rather than what it was; a suggestion.” You tried to reason.

“But you saw them out there. They constantly tried to insult me to my face. They all know how fucking stupid I am. I even had to have you cover for me.” He had run his fingers through his hair, tightening his grip on it. His breathing was irregular. It was either really fast and uneven or just deep heavy breathes. Roman felt as though there was a giant rock on his chest, and he had to try to catch air before he eventually passed out.

“Rome, you’re not stupid.” Your tone had so much pity in it. He knew it. You saw him as pathetic. Why wouldn’t you? Everyone else did.

“Yes, I am. Don’t act as if you don’t think so. I even fucking know it.” Roman mumbled, taking another drink from the bottle before offering it over to you.

“No Roman. You aren’t. I do think you’re very smart. If you weren’t Logan wouldn’t offer you the position in the first place.” You tried to season with him. You sat down on the floor next to him, trying to reason with him. But the mood was set for the night. “You may not have your siblings’ strengths, but you have our own they can’t compete with.” You laid a hand on his arm. He nodded trying to pay attention to you, but nothing you said made sense to him. His thoughts were getting the best of him.

“No- they’ve all told me before.” Roman tried to explain. He tried to get the words out before giving up. “Can you just fucking drink with me? I don’t wanna be a bigger fucking loser having someone stare at me get drunk.” He raised his voice. You knew he only did so because he was upset. You took the bottle from him and just took a swig. You set it down next to yourself, just knowing if you gave it back, Roman would finish it.

“If it matters, my family use to treat me like the dumb one too.” You opened up. You never really opened up about your issues with your own family. You had cut them off back when you were 16. You left the house as soon as you could and never looked back. Now it was about maybe 7 or 8 years since you’ve spoken to anyone. “They use to really make me feel like shit. Like call me a moron, that I did nothing to contribute to the family, that I was worthless.” You tried to recount everything. “But- I know I’m not that. Because I put myself through college, got good grades and now I work at one of the biggest companies in the world.” You hoped it would cheer him up. But you weren’t sure anything could.

“I’m sorry, I just-.” He mumbled. “I just- fuck- my dad just- I feel like he doesn’t trust me though. I mean- I did everything he asked. And what? Shiv? Really?” He didn’t know how to react to your story. He just knew his life was essentially over. His career would be gone with Shiv there. “I even told Shiv, I never considered CEO and then she tells me I can. For fucking what? So, she can do this to me?” He was questioning out loud. Not even that he was talking to you anymore. More just talking to himself.  “What’d you do? To prove it to them? Do they still-just-.” He tried to ask.

“I mean- we don’t speak.” You cleared your throat. “This is more different though. Roman it has to count that he even offered you. He didn’t even confirm it at the dinner. He might still have you in mind.” You tried to make him think differently.

“Fucking Nan. Old stupid bitch.” He mumbled. You laughed, getting up and sitting on the couch with Roman, moving his feet over.

“Come on, move over…” You tell him.

He grabbed the bottle off of the floor, clinging onto it as he tried to finally feel some kind of buzz. But still nothing.

“I’m sorry that I dragged you here. If I didn’t- maybe- I don’t know. My dad went in on you. I just- “he sighed before passing you over the bottle. You both took turns drinking from it. “I really-I just fucking need you… to be around I guess.” He tried to cover up what he wanted to say. He wanted to tell you that he needed you. Not as in support. But right now. His ego hit a massive wall and he was just hoping if you shared some kind of feeling it’d cheer him up, but he decided against it. He couldn’t ruin this right now. Especially since he did need you to be with him right now. “Hey, no, it’s fine. Nan was nice to me. Your dad wasn’t as harsh as he was to Shiv. He basically insulted her the entire dinner.” You pointed out. He barely acknowledged any of Romans wrong doings the whole night. It must’ve counted for something with Roman. “I mean did you hear half of the things he said to her.”

Roman cracked a smile, nodding. He did realize maybe it wasn’t the end of everything. Shiv might’ve ruined the deal. It could impact her chances of being CEO if she’s willing to spite Logan this much when she knew how important it was.

“You’re really smart Roman.” You reminded him. “Really.” You laid your head on the back of the couch, looking up at him. He looked so sad. You wished you could’ve comforted him a bit better, but it didn’t seem like that’d happen anytime soon.

Roman didn’t want to acknowledge your compliments. He just didn’t believe them. Despite what you said. He looked over at you, looking down and up. His eyes stayed onto your lips a bit too long before finally looking at your eyes. He sighed once again before looking at the window to avoid any thoughts he had about you. He wanted to grab you and finally do what he’s been thinking about for days now. But again, he needed to be professional enough around you. If you didn’t reciprocated feelings it could be the end of the one thing he enjoyed having around him.

“Also what a douchebag that guy was? Did you hear him just straight up call me a commie?” You brought up, your lips curving into a smile, laughing out of confusion of the awkward interaction.

“I think the biggest blow of the night was finding out you were a commie. I mean come on. All vegans like communism.” He started to finally revert back to him.

“You’re not too mad about that, are you? I really like this job; I hope it doesn’t impact my abilities to work now.” You batted your eyes at him, leaning close up to him. Your bottom lip turned into a pout as if you were begging him to reconsider his thoughts. “I don’t know how I feel about some dirt eater working around me honestly.” He joked. His heart began to pick up the pace as you had gotten close to him. He wanted to hold you and finally make that connection. His fantasies began to run wild of everything he’d do with you if he wasn’t so scared of everything he actually wanted to do.

“Okay fine. What if I compromise with you?” you joked. Roman looked at you curious to how you’d even do so. “I don’t know, y/n, what’s done is done. How wont I know you won’t poison my food with that crap?” He asked you.

“How do you know I haven’t?” You smirked.

You still hadn’t moved away. You were still awfully close to him. You tried to reason with him, but his mind was somewhere else. Almost as if he was in his own little world. You blamed it on all the stress he had just gone through. But in reality, his mind kept playing every possibility in his head. How you would feel. How you’d taste. How your bodies would just know what to do together. But Roman didn’t want to ruin what you had. This work dynamic worked so well. You actually cared about him. He couldn’t waste whatever you both had for some stupid mistake he might regret. But leave it up to Roman to let his body work faster than his mind.

His hands reached up to your cheeks, landing there before pulling you into him even further. He messed up. He knew he did. But it had been too late. He finally closed that gap between the two of you. Your body didn’t know how to react. Roman just kept his lips onto you, hoping you’d reciprocate. He was begging, pleading for it in his own mind. His hand leaving your cheek and fell down to hold onto your waist. The other remained but loosened his grip onto you.

You kissed back. You didn’t know if it was the alcohol or the fact you wanted to kiss him. You moved closer over to him, adjusting to face him better, moving onto his lap. Your armed draped around his neck as your lips moved with his. Roman finally relaxed under your touch. He didn’t fuck up. This wasn’t gonna end in a complete fucking disaster. His hand ran through your hair, the other roaming your body. There was a quickness to the kiss. Almost as if this was the last time this would ever happen again. A kind of hunger that had been there for awhile. A new fear set in. He didn’t know how to deescalate this. He had no intention on furthering this with anything but a kiss. Possibly dry humping. But his fear of intimacy was starting to creep up. He just thought he’d let it become an issue if it started to become one.

You couldn’t believe what you were even doing. You didn’t even think you had a crush on him. Sure, a few fantasies. But you weren’t ever sure if you’d actually go for it or ever really happen. But it was. Your heart was practically beating out of your own chest, adrenaline running through you.

The kiss finally broke apart, both of you just looking at one another, unsure of where to go from here. There was a sense of nervousness. An anxiety of whatever relationship you both had before was officially gone. “Can you stay the night? Please.” He began to beg. He didn’t want sex out of this. He wanted to know your feelings towards him, if you even felt the same. You held your breath, unsure of how to respond to him. You didn’t have any intentions of sleeping with him. What if people found out? “Uh- Roman… this was just- “You tried to let him down easy.

“Please. Just- I don’t wanna fuck you or anything. Just stay here.” He asked, his hands still around your waist. He drew little shapes into your hips out of nervousness of how you were going to even respond. He was worried you’d reject him.

“Okay Roman, I’ll stay the night.” You smiled lightly before being met with a softer kiss from Roman. You let yourself get drawn back to him.

He laid back further, allowing you to straddle his waist. His hands sliding down to your thighs as you laid down to kiss him back. It wasn’t as rough and eager as the first one. It was sweeter, calmer. It felt natural between the two of you. This was extremely wrong, but you wanted this just as badly as him.

Notes: It finally happened! AHHH

Chapter 9

[ryuseiired]

mahiru. 12.

im expecting this to be an answer that requires a read more. go, autism boy, go. talk about mahiru and all the ways people sleep on her character

I LOVE YOU. YOU KNOW ME SO WELL. right. yeah here we go. i Do have thoughts. on this one.

12. what do you wish would be discussed more often about them in the fandom?

ok. well first off. i think we should just talk about mahiru more in general because i love her. but here is my biggest thought on What Exactly Some People, Especially Not On Milgramblr, Are Sleeping On About Mahiru: there's a lot of talk about her murder case, and that's great, but... i think a lot of the things that really draw me to her as a character and to her case tend to slip by people on account of the way milgram likes to- as kazui shows us in cat- keep it simple, victim and perpetrator. but i think trying to understand her better also gives a better understanding of where exactly things did go wrong in the relationship that put her in milgram.

the rest of this answer where i elaborate more will, in fact, be under a cut because you are right that i have an essay locked and loaded on this and actually this turned into a mahiru analysis/theory post by accident i meant to answer mostly normally but unfortunately i'm not normal about mahiru shiina.

let's talk about this is how to be in love with you. can we talk about this is how to be in love with you? i'm dying to talk about this is how to be in love with you. and god, its english name is a mouthful, i understand why some people just go with calling it ai nan desu yo.

obviously (hopefully) we all know mahiru getting guilty voted over this mv was absolutely fucked and unfair. i'm still mad about it. especially because i think that if you look at this is how to be in love with you (and her interrogation questions from its trial) in particular (as well as some other stuff), it says a lot about mahiru as a person, and in turn about her crime.

it's easy to miss underneath how friendly and cheerful she is with the other prisoners, how she seems like such a social butterfly, but... i don't think mahiru actually had a lot of connections other than her boyfriend, and i think this is a big factor in what happened with him. mahiru... seems lonely. like her life is... very empty. and i don't see people focus in on this fact a lot, despite how her first trial voicelines even say as much:

there's nothing left without him, and at least if she's here she can talk to es and the other prisoners. mahiru's interrogation questions paint a picture of someone who doesn't really have a lot in their life. when asked in t1's interrogation if there's someone she can confide in, mahiru's answer is the lady who works at the beauty parlor she goes to. this doesn't seem like the answer of someone who has close friends to talk to instead, at least to me. like. that's not... you'd think if she had friends she felt she could talk to, she'd have mentioned that here, right? that'd be the place to mention any close friends?

in this is how to be in love with you we see her spending days off at cafes alone, and she tells us about having hobbies that are generally solitary, we see her reading in the mv and interrogation reveals that prior to milgram her hobby was watching dramas. she tells us in interrogation that growing up, she was a sheltered girl. she also appears (taken from this is how to be in love with you) to have recently arrived in tokyo, meaning she may not know a lot of people there and has probably moved away from most of her family (though she does mention attending a relative's wedding).

i think part of the problem is that when mahiru meets her boyfriend... she doesn't appear to have much in the way of anyone else. mahiru is social, mahiru loves talking to people, mahiru doesn't really know how to act without copying others... and her boyfriend is the only person she's close with. she appears to be relying on him for almost all of her social connection.

as i just mentioned, she also has the habit of copying others, incessantly. the infamous "i'd smoke if my lover did too" interrogation answer, and again, the text in this is how to be in love with you...

(transcriptions into english from here!)

see the things that jump out here? "even though i'm just copying everyone else in everything. is that the right thing to be doing?", "i thought to buy the same bread he did", "i wasn't really thinking when i blurted out "me too", so now we run together". you can see this in the lyrics too. "i'm going to start relying on you if you're kind to me, so please forgive me!"

i think these are key traits in why her relationship went the way it did. i don't think mahiru is uniquely "toxic" or too needy/clingy in a way that means she can never have a relationship (and god, don't get me started on how i've seen people say this). i think she's obviously a highly social person, and was in a situation where she was relying on one person (assumedly with lower social needs than her) to fulfill all of her need for that. i think she's horribly anxious about losing that connection and having to be alone again, and she doesn't know how to deal with it other than to constantly (and annoyingly, disruptively) ask for reassurance. i think she bases herself on others and ignores her own desires in order to imitate them and/or do what they want, and if her boyfriend also didn't have a particularly strong sense of identity and/or also wasn't the type to stand up for himself, it would be really easy to get sucked into this horrible loop where you're both trying to copy and please each other and now you're both constantly putting aside what you actually like for the other person and neither of you are happy.

except mahiru is happy, or... she thinks she is, because she's happy to give herself up for love. she says as much herself: "we fought sometimes, i was happy to get hurt." but... there's something else in the lyrics, isn't there? "i pretended to be a good girl, i don't want to be "ok"". my take is that mahiru isn't getting what she wants/needs out of the relationship, and knows it on some level. but she isn't going to leave him, either, because she's decided this is true love and also if she did that she'd be alone again. so she hopes something will just change instead, or convinces herself that she is satisfied. but she's not. near the opening of this is how to be in love with you: "i guess we can just say that this feeling is happiness, i can't stop feeling like there's something missing." so she keeps pushing, she keeps trying, and... well. we know how that ends.

so after all this rambling, what's my point, exactly? i don't think either mahiru OR her boyfriend were any sort of perpetrator. nor were either of them a victim. i don't think the relationship fits neatly into that framework, even though milgram judged mahiru a murderer and her boyfriend to be her victim. i think there's a reading that doesn't need any of that: two people who seemed to get along well and have similar interests who got into a relationship, and who were actually incompatible in their deeper needs in a relationship. mahiru clings to this relationship despite this, because she needs it. because she can't be alone again. because having a boyfriend who fails to fulfill what she wants/needs is better than having nothing.

neither of them are bad people, nor (from what we can see and from my opinion on it) did either of them do anything particularly wrong. what makes the most sense to me is a competing access needs sort of situation. mahiru needs reassurance and a lot of attention/interaction (especially from a romantic partner, something she idolizes having because of how special you're supposed to be to each other!), while her boyfriend needs more space than what she's giving him... but mahiru, at least, definitely doesn't want to break up. so eventually, they end up in a situation where he feels there's only one way out.

i think this lens can be supported by what we see in i love you, too! note lyrics like "this can't go on, something's got to give", "why won't you just accept me", "mon-mon-monstrous, cuz i love you so much". and...

here's something else she says in i love you: "i don't need anyone else, as long as i have you." but the truth is... mahiru does need other people. the truth is that one person can't fix the underlying issue that mahiru is desperately lonely and has very few connections in her life. the truth is that it's incredibly unfair to rely on one person to fulfill all of your needs and to desperately insist upon staying in a relationship just to avoid being alone, and mahiru realizes this too late.

so. um. i've never really seen anyone else talk in too much detail about an interpretation of the character/situation like this. i see a lot of "they were both toxic" but i think that's a kind of weak simplification of it, you know? what is "toxic". it's bad, obviously. do we think they're bad people doing bad things, or just that the relationship was bad? is that "toxicity" inherent to them as people, or could things have gone better in a different relationship? are they both "toxic" or are they just both stuck in an incompatible relationship where neither of them are wrong but they are unable to meet each others' needs?

i don't know. it's 4am and i've been writing this for two hours and i'm honestly not sure if it's coherent or not. but to end this here's another footnote of something i cant stand people sleeping on about mahiru: she is so stupid forgiving of literally everything and it kind of kills me and i dont really see anyone else point this out as being a bad thing that could get her really hurt. like. she forgives kotoko for almost killing her and says she doesn't resent anyone for anything. she puts up with anything, as seen by what i mentioned about her desire to stay in the relationship with her boyfriend even though it was obviously not giving her what she needed and it was hurting her too! i think if mahiru had ended up in a relationship with a different guy, it would be entirely possible for her to be in an abusive relationship and refuse to leave it because of this particular tendency. and i don't see this mentioned much. probably because, again... mahiru's framed as a perpetrator. she killed her boyfriend, right? so obviously she's not the one who'd be hurt in a relationship.

ok. i'm done now i promise i am so done with this for real. um. if you read this whole thing thank you. i'm sorry it's so long or if it's incoherent in places. i just have a lot of thoughts about mahiru shiina