#an actual conversation. so who knows how many pages it'll be by the end. the chapter's already 6500 words

[clenastia]

i dont know why the running joke of this chapter is kakashi fearing for his kidneys. where did that come from. WHY did that come from.

i should probably cut that in editing it's a little ridiculous.

except it makes me giggle every time so maybe i should leave it there.

[king-paimon]

Houseki no Kuni Chapter 106 Thoughts: Bon Voyage...

Hello all. I hope these last few months have been kind to you in some way. These months have been... a lot. Some very good things happened, and some very bad. I wish we lived in a world were tragedies were just fiction, but that sadly isn't the case. I won't elaborate, but I promise, I'm okay. I just hope 2024 improves, though I know for many others, just hoping isn't enough.

I'm sorry for this late post. Once again, real life had me so distracted that I honestly forgot about Houseki no Kuni's chapter coming out this month. I only remembered when I saw activity around my older HnK posts.

Well, I finished reading the chapter and it was very beautiful and sad in different ways. I'll share more of my thoughts, though I don't think it'll be as long or detailed as my previous ones to be honest... Though I could be wrong! We'll see how it fairs. And who knows? Maybe I'll make another post to dissect this chapter further. But for now, I'll just write whatever comes to mind and try to make it as coherent as possible. I hope you like it. And as always, please feel free to share your own thoughts!

Here we go!

Thunderous Spectacle: The Final Journey

Once again, Ms. Haruko Ichikawa decided to flex her art skills by making beautiful, bombastic illustrations that encapsulates the chaos that is happening on Earth. And the ship departing looks straight out of a sci-fi movie; my mind went to Star Trek when I first saw those pages. Maybe Dune would be more appropriate; I actually don't know, I haven't read or watched Dune, though I hear it's very good.

I wish I had more to say about the visuals for this chapter, but I think they speak for themselves. I will say though...It's moments like this when I marvel... this was originally about a silly gem child trying to find their place in the world. And this is how their journey is finally coming to an end. Almost nothing is recognizable. This certainly was not how I thought this story, or specifically Phos' story, was going to unfold. I wonder if this was Haruko Ichikawa's plan from the beginning? Who can say...

Speaking of plans... Let's talk about Phos's and Eyeball's conversation.

Manipulation or Consideration: Humanity's Parting "Gift"

That was an interesting conversation Eyeball and Phos had when they were finishing up putting the little pebbles onto the ship. I think I remember stating in the last post how I thought it was odd that the Lunarians had this ship prepared for Phos. I'm glad this was somewhat addressed, but the conversation reveals that there was more behind this literal Deus ex Machina ship.

(I will never stop calling it that)

So if I'm understanding Eyeball's logic, Adamant and the Lunarians were considering Phos in the end? That after Phos fulfilled their last duties to the remnants of humanity that they'd be given the chance to leave the planet with whatever species came about before the planet died- Oh. Wait.

Wait.

Was this the thing that Adamant and Aechmea were alluding to back in chapter 96???

Oh my goodness, I think it was.

As I was typing this and going over some of the saved pages I had from the previous chapters, I saw the one with Euclase and I suddenly remembered their weird conversation with Adamant and Aechmea. I also remembered wondering what the heck they meant in the later chapters since their plan for Phos seemed to only be self serving.

HUH.

( Please let me know if I'm way off! For all I know, I could be making stuff up, but oh my goodness, when I made that connection AAaahh)

This was not how this portion was originally going to go, but there you go. I was going to talk about how twisted but not surprising how calculated everything was from the the Lunarians and the other ruminants of humanity's end. And I was also going to mention how the Doctor also fit into this since she was also calculated and manipulative in her own ways. Despite the different forms it takes, humanity didn't seem to change much in this world...

I was also going to originally say that the Deus ex machina ship feels like a backhanded "gift" for Phos, especially after everything that happened to them. And though I still feel that way, after thinking back to chapter 96, I'm now starting to see Phos's perspective of this gift. That despite everything that they put them through, Phos's former families still left this parting gift for them so they could live on elsewhere after they are long gone and when Phos was free from their duties. It's still a backhanded gift in my opinion, but it showed that they cared... at least a bit.

And the fact that their plan also included Eyeball is just wow. I do not blame his small, comedic outburst for that realization. He was manipulated too from the getgo!

At least in the end, Phos chose not to go into the ship. Phos intended to burn that bridge. Even though this thought was implanted by Sensei, Adamant, and the Lunarians, Phos still made that choice on their own and they are owning it. It's bittersweet, though, because regardless of whether or not they stayed or went, Phos's decisions were still a result of them being manipulated one way or another. Pretty much a lose-lose kind of situation, but at least the choice that Phos chose in the end still aligned with what they wanted in they end.

They are giving Eyeball and the little pebbles a chance for a fresh start while Phos can finally end the cycle... By taking humanity and himself to bitter end...

Or does he?

Goodnight, Phosphophyllite

The final farewell between Phos and Eyeball was touching. In a last minute decision to give Phos closure and in an act of true salvation, Eyeball took the last piece of Phos with him. The true remaining piece of Phosphophyllite. To me, this action felt more earnest and heartwarming than the Deus Ex Machina Ship (but that's just me).

What will happen with that piece of Phosphophyllite? Who knows? Maybe that piece will gain sentience and live a peaceful life with the pebbles? A life free of all the constraints as well as the freedoms that was intentionally and unintentionally reinforced within societies created by the former remnants of humanity? I suppose we'll have to wait and see.

As for the Phos that was left behind? The Phos that we've watch evolve from the beginning to end? They will finally rest.

They will finally, and truly be free.

(Albeit in a seemingly not so pleasant way?? Well, they weren't complaining so maybe the lava and other harsh elements isn't hurting them. I hope that's the case.)

I had the feeling that this chapter will be the last time we see Phos, or at least this version of Phos, and it would be a sad but proper send off.

But after seeing THIS at the end, I'm not so sure:

Of course Haruko Ichikawa decides to be cheeky with that little note. Ma'am. Why did you say this???

Is this her roundabout way of saying that Phos is kind of back to square 1? Of being the lonely, jobless Phos who no longer has a purpose and is left with nothing to do but "think." That's pretty funny/messed up joke if that's what she's hinting at.

But again, we'll have to wait and see.

WELP. That's all I have for you all. I hope you enjoyed my ramblings and I'd love to hear what you thought about this chapter. We're nearly at the end of this saga. We're are almost there...

Please be worth it.

[thevestigeofvanillaan]

Dreary.

Sasuke Uchiha x Fem Reader.

angst. nerd reader, sasuke is a jock. highschool au. good ending? smut 18+ minors please do not interact!! pre-relationship. secretive. somewhat public sex. cervix kissing. spanking. mention/underage use of alcohol and drugs.

"Out of my way loser." Shikamaru, a tall, handsome jock in uniform shoves me into a locker as he walks past with several similarly uniformed jocks.

"Aren't you excited? You look so bummed out.. Big football game tonight!!" My friend, Ino says enthusiasticly, walking up to me.

She's a hot blonde, who's tall, and a cheerleader. She's gorgeous.

And I'm just me. In a big school. A nobody compared to others.

Ino and I have been friends since we were younger since we lived close.

"Yeah, I guess. Why did they choose today? It's so muggy out." I ask.

"Because by tonight it'll be dark and foggy. The field will be more stiff by then. It looks so pretty out there."

"You cheering tonight? I'd wish to have someone in the stands with me." I fake a smile.

"You know.." She pauses. "You can come sit on the track where we cheer. Perfect view of the game, and you'll have some friends to talk to!" She proposes.

I contemplate whether I should or not.

But eventually decide.

"I'd love to. I can get some work done since there won't be so many loud people shoving me up on the bleachers.." I giggle a bit.

"Loosen up, have fun.. You're so stressed about school work. There's a party after the game I want us to go to. Come on.. it's our senior year! Have fun with us!" Ino places a hand on my shoulder with a genuine expression on her face.

"I guess I could take ONE night off the notebook." I enunciate the one, showing no mercy of not doing it again.

She hugs me and squeals. "I'll see you tonight at the game!" She shouts as she walks off to her class.

I sigh and walk to my next class too, as passing time is almost over.

I sit down at my seat in last period, which is algebra.

"Hey Mrs. Eddie." A deep voice sounds.

I look behind me only to roll my eyes when I see Sasuke enter the room.

I don't like Sasuke. He's so rude and pushy. He thinks everything is about him.

He's a gorgeous jock. Everyone loves him.

Except me.

"Well hello Sasuke! Are you excited for the game tonight?" Mrs. Eddie, a young, and very attractive young women walks over to his desk, behind mine.

"Sure am, comin' to watch me?" He asks her.

"Well of course! Only for my favorite boy out there!" She giggles and walks back to her desk.

Barf.

He kicks the back of my seat as he usually does.

"What do you want Sasuke?" I turn around and ask him this same repetitive question I ask him almost every day.

"You goin' to the game tonight?" He asks.

"Yeah. And I'm sitting on the track." I turn around.

But he continues the conversation, curious.

"Oh? And what are you gonna do there? Cheerlead?" He laughs hysterically at the thought of a nerd cheerleading.

"What if I was?" I ask.

"I wouldn't believe my eyes. What are you actually gonna do?" He asks seriously.

"School work." I ask bluntly.

"Lame. You goin' to that party?"

Why does he ask so many questions?

"Yes."

"Seriously? I thought that shit wasn't your type of thing." He asks.

"It's not. Ino convinced me since it's senior year to loosen up and do something fun for once."

"Of course she did." He adds.

"Alright class. Open your math books to page 245." Mrs. Eddie says to start class.

Time goes by quickly when I hear the end of day announcements about the game.

I stretch and crack my back from the annoyingly uncomfortable position I was sitting in while taking notes.

Sasuke grabs my wrist and pulls me to stand up.

"I hope you slip on that field, Uchiha." I whisper when our faces are almost touching from how he pulled me up.

"You weigh as much as a feather." He ignores my previous statement, getting out of my face and releasing my wrist. "I'll see you tonight."

And off he goes with his book bag, out the classroom to his car.

I notice he forgot his reading glasses that he never wear on his desk.

I grab them and run to go find him.

Damn that kid is fast.

Already at his car?

I went to his car and there he is, talking to Naruto.

I walk up to him. "You forgot your glasses."

"Oh." Is all he says before he grabs the glasses from my loose grip, getting in his car with the window rolled down.

I walk off to my own car, getting ready to go home.

I receive a text from Ino.

"I can pick you up so you have an easy ride to the party after, come wearing a dress. The theme for the game is formal wear anyway." She wrote.

That's stupid. Why should I go to a football game wearing a dress?

"Okay." I type back to her.

I start my car and hear the load engine roar, the radio turns on and starts playing some sort of 2000's rbnb music as I drive out of the parking lot.

I don't live too far from the school. So I arrive at home and park my car in the driveway.

I make my way inside, my father greeting me.

"Hey honey! How was school?" He asks, preparing some sort of food for himself.

"It was fine. I'm going to be with Ino tonight at the game and this party she wanted me to go to." I smile to him, placing my bag down.

"Be safe please. And no drinking or smoking. I was your age once, don't you forget!"

"I know dad. You know I'm not into this stuff." I chuckle.

"Just be safe.." He places his hands on my shoulder and I nod.

He brings me into a hug.

We let go and I head upstairs to my room to get my homework done.

I get all of it done and decide to take a shower, getting ready for the game which starts in about an hour and a half.

I grab a towel and go to the bathroom connected to my room.

I turn on the shower.

Warm temperature causing a bliss of warm clouds fogging the room.

I undress myself. Slipping out of my top. Unclipping my bra. Taking off my converse, then my socks. Unbuttoning my jeans and pulling down the zipper. Shimmying the uncomfortable, tight material down thick thighs. Stomping my ankles out of the pant. Looping my thumbs in my thong straps and pulling the underwear down to pool my ankles. I step out of them and kick the dirty clothes to the side.

I walk over to my walk in shower, feeling the mist of the water hitting my naked skin. Engulfing the hot air on my goosebump covered skin, making it all go away. I step in. Feeling my hair flatten, and my muscles relax.

I take shampoo and work it into my hair, closing my eyes, the sweet smell of the shampoo arousing in my hair. Rubbing my scalp. And washing it out just to do it again with conditioner before I grab my brush and begin to brush the wet hair. Knots effortlessly leave my head. Painlessly.

I turn and slip out a slight whimper when the warm beads of water hit my areolas. I cup my breasts for a moment before I grab body wash.

Putting the substance on the pink loofah before I run it under water quickly. Then I begin to rub it on my body.

I feel so relaxed. Everything I was worrying about had just faded away into the hot steam collecting on my mirror. The condensation that sticks to my floor, making it slippery, but not completely wet. Just dampened.

I let my head rest back, all the weight on my shoulders flowing off with the water. Creating a pool at my feet.

I rest for a moment before brushing my teeth and deciding to end my shower.

I open the translucent door to my walk in shower and immediately feel cool air rushing to stick to my skin, causing goosebumps to form. My lips quiver, and my teeth begin to chatter when I quickly grab my bath towel and wrap it around my cold body.

The most calming experience I've had in whiles - was that exact shower.

The cold weather outside fighting to beat the warm temperature of the water I was under.

In the end. It won that battle.

Because when I leave I enter reality once again. That it's late fall. And I still have things to do tonight.

I walk out of my bathroom, into my bedroom.

I look in my closet for a dress that wouldn't be too uncomfortable.

I found this tight black dress, it was long-sleeved, and reached to my mid-thigh.

I got a black bra and black underwear to wear as well so that nothing could possibly slip out.

I grab a black puffer coat that I've been waiting to wear for the longest time, but until now the weather has been so warm.

And now it's cool, and dreary out.

I get dressed quickly and receive another message from Ino.

"I'm outside." She wrote.

"Be right out." I text back.

I throw on some black doc martens and grab my purse before walking out to Ino's car.

I see her in her cheer uniform, and Sakura, another cheerleader that I'm also friends with sitting in the back seat. Ino sits in the passenger seat, alongside her boyfriend Sai. Sai is another quiet kid, but Ino really liked him throughout middleschool. They've been a thing since freshmen year.

I enter the backseat next to Sakura.

"Hi!!" Sakura yells, wearing her cheer uniform, giving me a quick hug.

"Hi guys! The uniforms are so cute!" I smile and try to yell over loud music.

"Thank you! Don't worry we brought dresses too for the party. I love your outfit!" Ino yells, looking back at me as Sai begins to drive to the school.

We arrive in a short amount of time. We get out of the car and I notice that it's real foggy, and dark out. Just like how Ino said it would be.

We walk up to the football field.

I see the other team, and then our team on the other side of the field.

The big scoreboard all lit up.

The blinding lights that light up the field.

We walk over to the track that surrounds the football field, making our spot almost right next to the other cheerleaders.

But we are right in front of the student section, where the many, many bleachers are already almost full.

"People must've been really excited for the big senior football game, huh." I say, placing down my purse near the gate where I'm going to be sitting.

"Yep! It's always a huge deal every year. But especially this year since the senior are just so dreamy.." Sakura says, admiring the team.

"They look so good in uniform.." Ino adds. "Baby, you would look really good in a uniform. I'd go wild." She smirks and hugs the taller figure.

"Thanks." He says quietly.

I couldn't deny.. they do look really good.

And although I hate Sasuke, he stands out. In a good way too.

I see Mrs. Eddie in the crowd smiling with her husband.

I scowl at the fact that she went to watch Sasuke but is with her husband.

Weirdo.

"Baby can you go get us some snacks from that consession stand?" Ino asks Sai.

"Yeah of course." He says before hopping over the gate and walking over.

"He's the best." Ino smiles, watching him go.

"You're so fortunate." I giggle at her.

"When are you gonna get a boyfriend?" Sakura asks me.

And without thinking I quickly say "When are you?"

There's silence.

"I didn't mean it like that hun.. it's just that I feel like it's nice to have someone like that." Sakura smiles and sits next to me on the ground against the gate.

I look at her and give her a sympathetic look.

She smiles, showing that she didn't take it like that.

Sai returns with some food and hands some to Ino and places the rest on the ground near us.

"You guys can take whatever you want." Ino smiles at us.

I smile back but politely decline her offer.

I'm not really hungry.

The foot ball players are let off after their stretches to come hang out before the game starts.

Sasuke and Naruto walk towards us.

"Hey!" Naruto waves and runs over here.

"Hi Naruto." I say.

"Surprised to see you here without a notebook." He laughs.

"Surprised to be here." I smile and stand up.

"I'm really cold." I say.

"Come inside, your wearing a tiny little dress, of course you're cold." Sasuke says, looking me up and down.

I follow him inside, waving my friends goodbye since they have to warm up with the cheer team.

"So, you really are coming the the party tonight." Sasuke says, looking at me.

I look back at him when we lock eyes. I quickly look at the ground awkwardly, but I can still feel his eyes on me.

"Yeah, I guess so." My hands are in the pockets of my puffer coat.

We enter the school and I take my coat off.

Sasuke takes the coat from me and carries it himself.

"Where are we supposed to go?" I ask.

"If you want to we can just roam the halls." He says.

I look up at him and nod assuringly.

We walk together in the desolate hallways of our highschool.

"Are you going to college for football?" I ask.

"That's the idea." He responds. "Can't believe this is my last highschool game though."

"I bet." I smile at the floor.

He leads me up the stairs.

"I don't seem to understand you.." He begins.

But he stays silent for a moment.

"And why is that?" I ask him to keep talking.

"Because everyone is so attracted to me. And you're just.. different. You little nerd." He chuckles deeply.

I wanna squeeze my legs together after that hardy laugh of his came out.

"What do you mean? You're saying I'm not attracted to you?" I ask.

"Yeah, pretty much." He summarizes.

"I mean.. You're pretty annoying."

"You callin' me pretty, princess?" He looks at me and smirks when I look back up at him.

"No.. I never said that!" I giggle.

"Oh but you're thinking about it aren't you."

"No.. maybe." I blush slightly and look down.

Since when was he so... charming.?

We walk in silence for a few more minutes before he leads me back downstairs and he hands me my coat.

"Thanks." I say, putting on the puffy product.

"You're welcome." He says before opening the door, leading us outside.

He led me back to the track where the cheerleaders are before running onto the field.

Before the game begins, they congratulate the seniors on their final game and for the time and effort they've put into making the team a greater one.

"Welcome to the annual senior football game, or the last football game of the season." The speakers sound a raspy male voice.

"I'd love to congratulate the following senior football players. Naruto Uzamaki, Sasuke Uchiha, Shikamaru Nara, and Kiba Inuzuka. Thank you all for contributing to making the football team not only great, but remarkable. You guys may collect your flowers and name bomber jackets after the game tonight. I hope everyone enjoys the final game of the season." He concludes the announcement.

Everyone begins clapping and getting extremely hyped up and the game begins shortly after.

The game goes by quickly. Almost too quickly.

Our team winning within an hour due to mercy rule.

Their team hadn't even scired a touchdown.

Each time we scored a touchdown the band in the stands would play victory music.

And at the very end to celebrate our victory they played the entire song.

He wasn't lying when he said the team was great and remarkable.

I've never seen such a thing.

By the end we all get ready to leave. Which I'm excited to do as I was fucking freezing.

Before we leave, I admire the dreary atmosphere.

It's gorgeous.

Foggy. Dark. Desolate. And Dreary.

It's everything.

It'd the end too. I'll never be able to experience this again.

"Hey, Ino. I'm really glad you had me come out tonight." I smile as I catch up beside her, walking to her car.

"Of course honey. It sucks that this is the last time we're ever really going to have an event like this happening." She frowns, but then she smiles. "But at least we can still party!!" She yells, causing Naruto, Kiba, Sasuke, Sakura, and even Sai to start shouting too.

I laugh.

Sasuke comes over to me. "Wanna ride with me? I'm lonely!" He yells over the shouting adolescents around us.

"Yeah sure!" I yell back and he grabs my arm, leading me to his car.

We're laughing and running together in the soft mist falling from the leaves above us.

And it's then that I realize that I think I've fallen in love with him.

This has always been my dream.

Being able to laugh and have fun with someone like this in the dreary world we live in.

We get to his car and just stand there, both hands in eachothers.

"I wanna try something.." He says.

I giggle "Try what?"

"Kiss me." He says before letting go of my hands and putting them on my waist, pulling my cold body closer to his.

Without a word, I bring my hands to his jaw and pull his face closer to mine.

I stand on tippy toes so I can reach the already slightly bent over man.

I feel hot breath hit my face, and can see the white clouds from the hot air hitting the cold atmosphere.

I sit for a moment and smile. He smiles too before closing his eyes.

I follow him and close my own eyes.

I pull him as he pulls my waist and our lips collide with one another.

The sultry feel of his lips is not only breath taking, but addictive. I can't get away from it. I want to feel it forever.

We release before he pecks my lips once more and I let go of his jaw. I get off my tippy toes and he straightens his posture, looking down at me.

I look back up at him.

My face feels so red and hot.

My lips feel wet and puffy.

I smile at him.

He smiles back before almost snapping out of a trance.

He coughs then proposes "We should get going." And walks to the driver side of the car.

I walk to the passenger seat, frowning.

Wishing, no, wanting that moment to have gone on longer.

But it was just a kiss.

In this dreary parking lot.

With someone who meant nothing to me yesterday.

I buckle my seat belt and he begins driving, not bothering to put on his or even turn on music.

"Where is the party?" I ask.

"Shikamaru's house, he lives pretty close to the school." He responds, pulling out of the school property.

"Oh, yeah, he lives on my road." I say.

"So it'll be easy to get you home then won't it." He smirks at me. "Just don't get drunk princess."

I smile back at him.

We make in there in the next two minutes.

"I'm gonna change in the bathroom, come with me?" He asks.

"Yeah, sure." I say.

"Great." He says, parking and opening his door.

We both exit the vehicle and go to the front door, where we enter what's already a shit hole full of teenagers.

He grabs my wrist so he won't lose me and leads me to the bathroom.

Luckily no one is in there, so we can easily go in.

We go into the bathroom and Sasuke takes off the football gear he had on.

Right in front of me.

I covered my eyes.

"What are you, a virgin? You don't have to do that." He chuckles.

"Well I am a virgin, one, and two do you want me to open my eyes and watch you change?" I take my hands on my eyes to see him in boxers and no shirt.

I instantly blush and go to cover my eyes again when he grabs my wrist before I can.

"You're a virgin?" He asks.

"Yes..?" I question why he would ask that when I just said I was.

I mean.. yeah, virgin at 18 is kinda weird. But listen, I want it to be with someone I actually really like and wanna marry one day.

"How are you a virgin when you look like this?" He puts his hands on my waist.

"I just wanted it to be with the right person.." I say.

"I could be your right person." He says immediately after, almost cutting me off.

"Sasuke, how could you be the right person when we aren't even dating. We weren't even talking like that before what? Five minutes ago? I don't think so."

"Wow. You wound me. You don't want this baby? We could have this.. we could have everything." He rolls his eyes dramatically and holds his heart.

"Sasuke.. it's not like that. I would love that but.."

"Then why won't you let me fuck you?" He cuts me off.

"You know what Sasuke. Maybe I will." I walk up to his placing my hands on his bare chest.

He takes my jacket off me.

"Yeah? You want me to punish you for arguin' with me?" He brings his hands to the bottom of my skirt before rolling it up, up, and further up..

Until it's up to my belly button.

"Huh?" You want that?" He brings his hands to the hem of my underwear, slowly pulling them down. "I want an answer."

"Yes, Sasuke." I nod, tears prick my lashline at subtle realization of what I'm doing.

But those tears of sadness turn to tears of neediness.

He pulls them down to pool at my ankles and turns me around violently, bending my over the sink.

"Now you can watch in the mirror as I fuck you since you're just such a naughty little virgin f'me."

Tears that were once stuck in my eyes begin to roll down my cheeks.

"Look at yourself." He pulls my hair back to make me look at myself in the mirror in front of me.

"Sasuke.." I moan softly.

"What?" He asks.

"Please.."

"Please what baby?"

"Please fuck me good.. wan' a remember you.." I moan when he messes with my clit.

"I will baby.."

I see in the mirror him pulling down his boxers and I can see his large cock spring from his boxers.

It bends downward from sheer mass weighing the large head downwards.

He leads it to my puffy and neglected cunt and I start to grind myself into him.

"Patience honey.." He flashes a toothy grin as he covers his tip in my essence before gently putting it in and completely out before repeating that motion.

After a few times, I suddenly feel more going into me.

It hurts.

It hurts so bad at first when he begins to fuck me with half his length.

Until that pain turned into an unbelievable wave of pleasure.

"Fuck-." I manage to moan out. "S'good.."

When he begins to fuck me with his full length I can feel it against my cervix.

"S'big Sasuke.." I moan out to him.

"It's okay baby.. doin' so good for me.. fuck. So tight!" He groans, kitting his head fall back with pleasure when he breaks me in.

I'm seconds from cumming already as I squeeze around him..

"Fuck! Are you about to cum?" He asks, fucking me harder as I suck him in.

My clit begging to be played with I reach my hand under and begin rubbing it in slopping circles.

"Mhm.." I respond to his previous question.

"Fuck me too baby.." He says, slapping my ass hard enough to leave marks.

"'M cumming!!" I moan loudly to warn him.

"Fuck!" He groans meeting his own climax.

His thrusts become slow and sloppy until it stops.

"Fuck.. Sasuke.." I breathe out heavily.

I watch his bare chest fall up and down as he's out of breath as well.

"I'm gonna.. stop by your house tomorrow.. with plan b.." He says inbetween breaths.

I giggle and stand up, pulling my dress down.

"I need to go home." I say, looking at my mascara covered under eyes and my messy hair.

He walks up behind me and hugs me.

"Look at us baby.. maybe I won't buy you plan b. Maybe I'll just keep you forever." He holds his hands on my stomach.

I giggle. "Keep me forever? You were just gonna leave me?"

He chuckles back. "I'm moving to go to college babe." He turns me around.

"But.."

"I know honey. But I'll still be right here." He pokes my heart.

"Was that your plan?" I shout at him. "To fuck me into remembering you and being attracted to you because I was the one fucking virgin girl who wanted a fucking future without you in it!?"

"Well now I'll be in your dreams and your future." He winks and had been putting on his sweatpants and a tight black shirt, along with his bomber jacket. "Now.. imma go party. But.. I'll always be with you okay? You're mine now. I'm no one else's. I'll visit you." We walks over and puts hands on my hips, kissing my cheek.

"I fucking love you but hate you so much for this." I chuckle and peck his lips.

"I love you." Is all he says when he walks out the bathroom.

I walk out after him, with no underwear on and go sit outside, away from the party.

The dreary outside world.

That I couldn't just live my dream in.

I hear someone open the door walking outside.

"Let's go home." I hear Sasuke say behind me. "My place. Stay the night with me."

I get up and go down the steps and enter his car.

He enters after me.

"I have your underwear." He chuckles and holds them out in front of me.

I go to take them but he pulls them back towards himself.

"They're mine now. Just a little something to have when I don't have you at college." He winks.

"So the reality is.. you fucked me so I could remember what you feel like while you're off at college.. and now I'm yours and only yours forever huh." I narrow it all down.

"Pretty much. You're my princess."

"And you're no knight in shining armor." I smile at him.

He begins driving his to his home, in the foggy, desolate, dreary nighttime weather.

I'm not even gonna lie rn, that was probably the most descriptive shower writing piece I've ever written/even seen.

But um yeah this is kinda based on a relationship I had in highschool but obviously most of it is not real.. because I would've not acted like that.

But I hope you guys enjoyed it lol it took me like 3 hours to write but I actually was really into this one and think it had some reality to it.

[hyunsuks-beanie]

Matters of the Heart Ep. 8

Pairing: Best friend! Yeonjun x gn. reader

Genre: Fluff; Angst; Maybe eventual smut

Content Warnings: University au!; lots pining; our main leads being stupid; I haven't planned smut for this one, but it might as well turn suggestive; this chapter is another angst filled load of drama but I promise it'll get better (real better) in the next one- please don't hate me!

Word Count: 2k words 

Mellow speaks:  Ookkkayyyyy, so this is long overdue and I'm super sorry for that. I've just been really busy the past week and it took a toll on my health too but I'm better now! Let's get on to it!

Tagging: @sweethyuka @yedamology @enhacolor @axartia @hyunsuksmygod @yogurteume @duolingofanaccount @zurimochi @blahbluhblahbluh @yeonyeonyeonjun @yjs6x @silent--cry @delacyrose224 @rlajjunie @hotboyyeonjun @blue-last-page-514 @bluxjun @yutacchin @zen003xx @yawnzznlvr @magicalstudentwhispers @foryawnzzn @nyfwyeonjun @bluejin0812 @najaemin138 @laylasbunbunny @moaberryjjunie @najaemin138 @laylasbunbunny @moaberryjjunie @robin-obsessed @calssunflower @swankynebula 

(Taglist is open!! Send in an ask/dm to be added, or simply comment under this post!)

《Previous  Next》

You can feel someone's gaze on you, burning holes into the back of your head as you continue your animated telephonic conversation. Who are you talking to? Well, that's a story for after you see who it is that's been staring you for two minutes straight. That's the thought you hold as while turning around towards the entrance of the cafeteria, almost certain it's going to be one of your friends, hoping despite yourself that it's Yeonjun. 

But when your eyes land on the doorframe, all you see is a group of....second years? You can't say for sure, but you know pretty well that it couldn't possibly have been any of them. The presence that you were feeling is all but gone, and you can't help but feel confused about who it was who left without a word. Furrowed your brows, you try to find an answer to the question for a little longer, only to have the voice that filters through your phone pull you out of your thoughts. "Y/N? You there bub?," the voice calls out, making you roll your eyes even though not a soul is there to see it."

In hindsight, maybe someone should actually have been there to see just that, and also to hear what you say next.

"How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that? Only Yeonjun can call me bub, no one else," are you words, making the person on the other end raise his hands up even if you can't see him. "I'm sorry, love," he laughs, proceeding to tell you how much he misses you and how he wishes you could come back soon. 

"I really miss you guys too, and I promise I'll be there one day soon, with my whole gang this time," you tell him, smiling a little as he says he might as well come to Seoul himself. "Need to see that Yeonjun of yours with my own eyes, after all. I wanna know what it is he has that I don't." That makes you let out a laugh, the sound a little happy and a little wistful while you tell him that your best friend has a girlfriend. 

When it's time to hang up, your chest feels lighter and your head feels clearer, the thoughts and worries that you had been carrying around with you for weeks finally having found an outlet. You were trying to be okay, but it was hard not being able to tell anyone how you really were feeling, for fear of making things uncomfortable for your friends. 

"Thanks for calling today, Leo. You know talking to you never fails to make me feel better," you say before ending the call, a happy spring in your step as you make your way out the cafeteria. It's then that you notice that Yeonjun is nowhere to be found, even though he had promised he'd be there as soon as he got done talking to Yena, in order to discuss the theme for the radio's upcoming week. 

"Weird," is the only thing you can think to yourself, a confused expression on your face as you embark on your quest to find him again, something you seem to have been doing a lot recently. You call Soobin up, but Yeonjun isn't with him. "I'm with Taehyun right now, we were just buying some pet food. I haven't seen him since the ceremony," he says, hanging up after suggesting that you try calling the other two. 

And you're just about to do that, when your eyes land on a familiar mop of hair not ten feet away. There you see Kai, a heavy book tucked under one arm while the other is casually thrown around a shorter mop-haired guy, the sight making you let out a fond chuckle. As your feet carry you over to them, you soon register the fact that the one you're looking for is not with them either. 

The realization is somehow written all over your face, making Beomgyu let out a sigh as he rolls his eyes. "He's not with us. Maybe you should try asking his girlfriend," he says, his hand now resting on your head as he pats it gently, a sympathetic smile on his face. "Yeah Y/N," Kai pipes in, shifting the book from one hand to the other, '"Better ask Yena than us."

The looks they give you have you going into defensive mode once more, a forced laugh escaping you as you get ready to prove a point. "You're staring at me funny," you retort, shutting down any arguments they might have up their sleeves when you turn your back to them, your fingers dialing Yena's number before you can stop yourself. But she doesn't answer, a behavior that definitely strikes you as odd coming from her.

"Guess I'm on my own, huh?," you muse to yourself, beginning to walk away from the square and down the corridors in search of Yeonjun. The classrooms are turn you up nothing but dust, your annoyance growing with every call of yours that goes to voice-mail. "Doesn't take that long to answer and tell me you're busy," you mutter under your breath, the sound of your sneakers falling against the tiles as you jog down the halls, empty-handed till you reach that one door. 

The door to the dance practice room, the place that's the closest to Yeonjun's heart after your beloved rooftop, and the place you still dread visiting because you're scared of seeing something you aren't all that keen on seeing. Even though it's never happened in the weeks that you've been back, you can't help being a little wary of finding Yena there with your best friend, not wanting to encroach on their time alone and making things unnecessarily uncomfortable. 

Yet right now, as the loud bass of the music bleeding through the speakers makes its way to your ears, coupled with the loud banging of footsteps, you find yourself approaching the door slowly, pushing it open because you already know someone's in there. And what you see inside is something that fills you up with even more dread. 

No, it's not Yena with her arms wrapped around Yeonjun's shoulders, kissing him like there's no tomorrow. Instead, it's Yeonjun, alone in the room, his body moving to the rhythm as if he's mad at something, the anger clear on his face. The grunts and groans that escape him as he goes about doing his thing tell you he's not in a good mood right now, and it becomes even more evident when he doesn't notice you standing by the door. 

You're transfixed by his moves, his emotions laying bare for you to see with every step he takes. He's one with the music, the loud beats and the thumping of his feet gelling into one the longer you watch. Mesmerized by his performance, you don't even realize when the song comes to an end, Yeonjun's heavy breaths becoming the only thing to be heard as his feet stop moving, his body almost collapsing to the floor before his eyes land on you. 

"What're you doing here?," his voice draws you out of your trance, more icy than it's ever been. It has an edge to it that catches you off-guard, causing you to blink your eyes, perplexed at his sudden hostility. "I came here to see you," you respond after a couple of beats have passed, confused to say the least. "You never showed up at the-"

"Didn't show up?," he asks, sounding incredulous of your words, his gaze accusatory as he turns to look at you fully. "Didn't show up? Try, 'I was a bit too busy to notice when you did show up,'" he all but spits, venom lacing his voice. "What're you on about?," you catch yourself asking in return, becoming defensive for the second time that evening, "I never saw you enter the cafeteria, but if you saw me, you could have approached me instead."

You know you're being reasonable, but as Yeonjun crosses his arms over his chest, dry laughter slipping past his lips, you feel more vulnerable than anything else. "Well, I couldn't exactly approach you when you were so busy being all sappy on the phone now, could I?" "Wait a second," you think to yourself, your eyes trained on the man in front of you as you feel things click inside your head. 

"On the phone? I don't know what you heard Jjun, but I think you're getting the wrong picture," is what you say, taken aback by the way he's taking this, "I was just talking to Leo, my friend from Australia." The moment those words escape your lips, you see Yeonjun widen his eyes, the sight making you feel he's finally catching on to what you're saying. But of course, things don't go that easy for you, his anger only seeming to rise as he asks, "Leo? That idiot who asked you out back during your first month there? The one who totally had the hots for you?"

And that's when you know he's off on a tangent, all sorts of stupid stuff spewing out before he even thinks to stop. "So he's the one you're messing with now? Seriously? And you didn't even think to tell me? I mean, I deserve to know if you're being all 'I love you sweetie' with someone, don't I?" That's the last thing you hear before losing it, your own patience wearing thin as as you launch into a rant.

"Deserve to know? I really don't understand how you got yourself under that illusion, Choi Yeonjun. You don't deserve to know shit, not after you kept the fact that you have a girlfriend from me. You didn't think I was important enough to know, but did you ever see me getting angry at you over that without reason? No, because I'm not petty like that.

And despite that, you still have the audacity to call me out for not telling you if I'm messing with someone? Didn't it occur to you even once to actually try and talk to me about it, instead of lashing out from the get-go? If you remember the fact that that 'idiot' was the one who asked me out during my first month there, then shouldn't you also be aware of the fact that you had been the first person I had told about it. But no, it seems like it very conveniently slipped your mind, huh?"

Now he's the one at a loss for words, blinking like a deer caught in headlights. "T-that's besides the point," he tries to reason, his being overcome with guilt as he finds his accusations getting washed away. But you're not having his drama now, the feelings you've been holding back on coming to the fore at last. "You didn't feel bad even once keeping me in the dark, but you suddenly take it to heart if I don't tell you about a friend?" 

"Well you seemed much more than friends with him to me, the way you were smiling and being all giggly on the phone." "Yeah right. A phone call was all it took for you to determine my relation to Leo, isn't it? You're so damn perceptive, I must say. Maybe that's why you thought not telling me would save me the pain, huh?" You're on a roll now, angry words bursting like fireworks as you feel your eyes grow watery. "Well just so you know, you not telling me hurt me more than anything else ever has." 

"And so you decided to get back at me for that, didn't  you?," he claps back, not a hint of remorse evident in his voice even though he can feel it inside. "You decided to go against my back and get yourself a boyfriend, right when I-" He stops short at that, the next lying dying at the tip of his tongue as the waterworks finally begin for you. 

"You know what?," you seethe, eyes bloodshot and hands shaking as you manage to get one last thing out. "Yeah. Yeah I did get myself a boyfriend behind your back. Because you don't fucking deserve to know." 

And with that, you're out the door. 

[birlwrites]

how do u organize ur 100+ notes pages for ur dark lord wip??? i have so much respect for u omg!

aghskfgjhjfd thank you so much!!

first of all, a bit of context: i, as a person, love organizing things. spreadsheets are my first love (although i don't actually use them for my planning doc - i DO use them for various related planning things though, like characters' class schedules!). this is important because any kind of organizational system is going to require maintenance as you keep going, and i enjoy doing that maintenance, which means i have a lot of patience for it (although i don't think this is actually particularly labor-intensive?)

but the short answer is, a table of contents in a google doc!

(EDIT: this is all about my planning doc, but i also organize my doc where i actually write the story with section headers - i write out the chapter number in heading 1, in words instead of numerals so google docs doesn't automatically turn it into a numbered list, and then i include D at the end of the title if it's done, and P after that if it's been posted, so i know where to go in the doc to work and where to go to grab the next chapter to post!)

the planning doc started out as a stream-of-consciousness conversation and then later my beta and i were like 'oop it's going to be impossible to find stuff in here, let's add headings.' when you add headings to a document, google drive will automatically put a table of contents in a sidebar, and then you just click on the heading you want to jump to it in the document (if you don't know how to do this, i included a guide for how to use headings at the end of this response)

HOWEVER. the issue with this technique is... there are well over 100 headings and sub-headings in this document. as in, i started counting, got to 100, saw how many were left, and went 'ugh fuck it.' and if you're adding things in a relatively stream of consciousness way, the order of the sections may not.... make a lot of sense. (ex: a subsection about barty and sirius parallels is in a section about regulus's relationship with emotion. i'm sure you can think of HOW those two things are linked, but if i were just looking for the barty and sirius subsection, i have to say 'regulus and emotions' would not be my first choice of section to look at)

that's where the table of contents comes in. i created another section at the beginning of the document to hyperlink to every topic, organized in a way that makes sense - so the section overall is called 'topics organized by category' (needed a section header for the table of contents so i could jump to it with the sidebar) and there are subsections for character-, worldbuilding-, plot-, and meta-related stuff

but! i still couldn't find anything, because each subsection had too many things linked. so then i created more subsections. i'll list out exactly what the subsections that i use are at the bottom, for those who are interested, as well as how to do all of this in google docs

(also this got REALLY long lol so i'm putting the rest of it under a cut)

so, for example, in my 'characters' section, there are sub-categories for sections and subsections about regulus specifically, sections/subsections about regulus's relationships with other people, sections/subsections that go into detail about other people, and sections/subsections that talk about a lot of people or are more general. so if i know which section i'm looking for, i can pretty easily figure out which category it's listed under, and then i just go to that category and find the proper hyperlink!

(when you use headings in a google doc, you can then hyperlink to those headings, the same way you'd hyperlink to a link - just highlight the text, add a hyperlink, and then in the little search bar that comes up, search up the heading you want. it may also pop up on its own - google drive looks at the text you've highlighted and if it matches (or almost matches) a heading in the document, it'll suggest that heading to link to)

so! i can go to the top of the document and then pretty easily find the section that i'm looking for and jump to it using the hyperlink. some of the bullets (they're all bullet pointed) have annotations (which are just sub-bullet points in normal text) explaining the section a little more

i wound up also making the sub-categories into sub-headings so that i could jump to them too, because the table of contents is over 3 pages long. oops

and the final component in keeping things organized: hyperlinking to relevant sections within other sections! this is something i started doing after there were already a TON of sections, so it's very non-comprehensive, but when i remember, i'll add a note at the top of a section or subsection that's just 'related sections: ' and then list out any related sections and hyperlink them

so, for example, in my 'regulus and evan' section, at the top i link to a subsection about how regulus's relationship with touch and physical affection impacts them (which is in a larger section about reg's relationship with physicality in general), as well as a subsection about evan and flirting (which is in a larger section that's just about evan)

and then in the evan section, i link back to the 'regulus and evan' section, but i also link to plenty of subsections elsewhere that discuss the rosier family, and quidditch, and so on and so forth. and sometimes i'll link to other sections randomly in the middle, instead of at the beginning of a section, because as i was typing i realized i should link that one too lol

but the stream-of-consciousness way of planning is good because it lets you think of things organically. so that's why this process is built around working WITH that and helping to be able to find stuff later, rather than trying to regulate where things are discussed, because that just makes it super hard to think of anything

(have you ever been in a discord server with a lot of channels, and inevitably you end up discussing something in one channel that should probably be in another, because that's how conversations work? and INSISTING on perfect adherence to the channels would stifle the conversation. so you have to roll with it)

HOW I CATEGORIZE:

(this way of breaking things down helps me find stuff pretty quickly, so i'm sharing it in case it helps anyone!)

CHARACTERS: exactly what it sounds like. sections that focus mostly on characters. my subsections are:

regulus (the protagonist(s))

regulus and others (the protagonist's relationships with other characters - this is specifically about *relationships*)

others (sections about specific other characters - i have many of these, but some examples are: barty, evan, lily, heather, maeve, jessica, and the list goes ON AND ON. focused on sections about individuals or pairs of characters - very in-depth, is my point)

general (what it sounds like - more general character-related sections, and character-group-focused sections. for example, there are sections about the junior death eaters, the marauders, and the extended black family, but then there are also sections that are lists of quidditch team rosters, dark families, an incomplete list of every oc...... AND there are also sections like 'appearances' and 'mannerisms' that just cover a ton of different people)

WORLDBUILDING: also exactly what it sounds like. subsections:

general (this is really just anything that doesn't fit into the other two categories. general worldbuilding stuff)

magical theory (this section is really 'internal consistency on the rules of your world'. like, if you were writing sci-fi, this section would be more about all the science that you're making up for your story, rather than all the magic i'm making up for mine)

logistics (lists of spells; layouts of certain important locations such as hogwarts and grimmauld place; lists of who's friends with who; membership of different sides in the war, etc)

PLOT: again... exactly what it sounds like lol. i don't actually have subsections for this one - instead i've sub-bullet-pointed some sections under other sections. for example, there's a bullet point that links to the general 'The War' section, and one indentation under that, there are a bunch of other war-related subsections that are elsewhere in the document.

exactly what a plot sub-category looks like will depend a lot on the story you're writing, seeing as... duh... it's about the plot lmao

META STUFF: the final category! this one also doesn't have any subsections. stuff that falls into this category is: anything that discusses overall story structure, writing style, themes, pacing, and an outline of what happens in the chapters i've completed (which really could have gone into 'logistics' - it's just so that i can remember 'did i already explain the solarium or do i have to do that in a future chapter?' and such things)

i also cross-list sections in multiple categories in case they fit in more than one (to minimize confused scrolling and hunting around). and i don't list every section and subsection in the table of contents - if there's a subsection that would fall into all the same categories as its overarching section, i usually don't list it b/c it would be redundant, but sometimes i do if that overarching section is very long

my other tip is to attempt to write VERY CLEAR section headers. they don't always have to be boring, although a lot of mine are boring. and i type 'regulus and' over and over because there are a lot of categories that are about regulus's relationship with SOMETHING. but it means that i can find (and sort!) those sections easily. but then i also have sections called 'vulnerability yay!' and 'repression<3'

and maintain as you go - when you add a new section, right away scroll up to the table of contents, categorize it, hyperlink it, and then use that hyperlink to jump back down to your new section and keep adding to it

USING HEADERS IN GOOGLE DOCS:

just a quick how-to guide for anyone who wants to do this but doesn't know how.

so! i'm going to explain how to do this on a browser, i'm sure it's possible in the app but i use a browser. open your document and look at the bar across the top where you choose the font, font size, color, bold, bullet point, etc. etc. etc. there will be a dropdown menu towards the left of this bar that will say 'Normal text'. unless you've already done something, in which case it may say 'Title' or 'Heading 1' or something like that. (it's next to the dropdown menu with the percentage number)

when you click on that, it'll bring up a list of all the heading styles you can use, in order (top to bottom - except normal text, which is at the top and doesn't show up in the sidebar outline. also you can't link to it) of what... priority they take? like, 'subtitle' would be nested under 'title' in the sidebar document outline. similarly, 'heading 2' is nested under 'heading 1', and 'heading 3' is nested under 'heading 2', and so on.

so if you want to use a heading style, click the heading style you want and then start typing. you can also type it and then select it and change it to the heading style you want by clicking the heading style you want (you may need to hover over it and then click the 'Apply' option when it shows up)

for sections, i use heading 1. for subsections, i use heading 2. and for subsections nested under those subsections, i use heading 3!

another fun thing: you can change what the heading styles look like! make the font look how you want it (you can change font, size, color, alignment, and maybe other things too but those are the ones i know about for sure). then select it, go to the heading style menu, hover over the heading you want to change, and then click on the 'update heading to match' option when it shows up! then every time you use that heading style, it'll automatically change the font etc. to match.

i find changing the heading styles fun to make it match the vibe of the story lol, but i don't always do it because i tend towards vibes that go with fonts that are. uh. hard to read. (hello calligraphy)

ONE LAST THING: if you're working on this document with anyone else, be sure to talk to them about a way to track new changes/let each other know what you've changed. when your document is small and manageable, people can potentially just scroll looking for new stuff - when it's over 130k (oops lol), that is not feasible. so maybe you comment on anything new, or you send each other messages with lists of what you've edited, etc etc etc (and you'll also need a way to distinguish which one of you has typed something - choosing a font or color for each of you to type in can work for that)

if you want to experience the behemoth of a fic that is the result of all of this labor, check out a taste for hard victories!

[n1k1tty]

kiss me ! part 1

jake was definitely head over heals for your cold personality, and he wasn't going to let anyone take you. but heres the problem: he couldn't find a single way to keep a conversation with you. despite your scary demeanour, jake decides to man up and does everything out of his will to get you.

fluff, jake x reader, (not proofread)

jake was frustrated to know that many guys have been after you the second you stepped in that classroom doing the bare minimum.

hearing ‘wanna grab lunch with me?’ here and there somehow always made him ball his fist to prevent himself from being a problem. yet again he couldn’t blame other people for wanting to ask you out either. he even sometimes wished that you had rejected him so he could move on. although of course he didn’t really mean that.

because now he was wandering around the school looking for you while he was on a “bathroom break” during his soccer practice. he knew you always liked to stay at the school rooftops admiring the view while listening to music. not like he was stalking you or anything...

you turn your head to look at the person at the door "you again? when are you going to leave me alone? pervert" you scoff, kicking the little pieces of rocks as you avoid jakes eyes. it was almost the millionth time you've seen jake this day, and it was always for the same reason, to piss you off, well more like ask you out --which still pisses you off.

you weren't one to believe in love, or maybe just not yet. because you weren't even sure if you were capable enough to love someone. even the thought of having to be so sweet and touchy with each other grossed you out, and of all people, jake especially knew that. so why was he so determined to get you to fall in love with him?

you weren't one to believe in love, or maybe just not yet. because you weren't even sure if you were capable enough to love someone. even the thought of having to be so sweet and touchy with each other grossed you out, and of all people, jake especially knew that. so why was he so determined to get you to fall in love with him?

"hmmm maybe never?" jake chuckles at the sight of you rolling your eyes "then i'll move schools --countries if that's what takes for you to leave me alone" as you turn around and face him, eyes widened at the thin space between the both of you "and maybe i'll find you"

you raise your eyebrows "well that's borderline criminal act" you wander off "now sim jaeyun i think it's best for you to leave before you add up to my anger --i mean you already are. but wouldn't that be horrible?" jake's eyes follow you as you drag your feet "not really" he states "you're hot when you're mad"

you scoff out of disbelief, hitting him hard on his arm, looking away almost immediately as you trying to hide your heated face "shut up before i'll push you off this building" letting go of the grip you once had on his collar, "alright, alright sorry ma'am. but if you're really mad for whatever reason, come with me. i'll take you to a place" he suggests, offering his hand for you to take "you should be happy. i normally wouldn't even consider letting anyone know about my spot" he shoots you a grin

you take time trying to consider his offer, but as much as you don't want to stroke his ego about convincing you to go with him, you really needed something to release your anger "as long as you shut up about this" you give him a side glance "no promises" he sends a wink your way "ugh, fine"

he gently takes your hand as he drags you out of the school "can you jump over the wall?" jake looks at your flustered face "....no..?" you answer, making a line with your lips, causing him to let out a small chuckle "okay cutie, i'll help you up" you cringe at the nickname "call me that again and i'll break your neck" you step on his knee as he tries to boost you up "yeah that's right, keep going"

but as jake looks up he couldn't help but feel flustered, looking away "i made it!" you pant, hands resting on your knees as you wait for jake to come up as well. but after a few seconds of not hearing him, you call out his name, peaking your head over the wall "jake? i swear to god if you leave me out here i'm killing you"

"n-no i didn't leave you" he stutters, trying to collect himself from being a flustered mess "then come up here! the sun is setting, you wouldn't want to miss it"

"y-yeah it's just that i uh, i saw.....your....you know?" he explains, his hands not knowing what to do "you saw my what!?" you shrieked "no no it's okay i looked away!" he reassures you "ugh, just- just come up here!" you yell, already walking ahead as you try to cool down your heating face "so pink aye?" jake jokes, catching up to you

"SIM JAEYUN!" you yell, kicking him on his ass "ow! okay sorry!"

jake was resting his head on his hands, watching as you play with the small puddle while watching the sunset, not even an hour in, jake panics as he sees the amount of missed calls from riki "oh shit! my soccer practice!"

--

the following days after that, almost everything remained the same, jake continuously teasing and flirting with you, you getting in trouble for the littlest things, never coming home until the latest of the hour. but yet again, almost everything remained the same

you were now in denial of your feelings towards sim jaeyun. it would hurt too much of your pride to actually admit it, because after all, you've always told sim jaeyun you hated him.

you groan "jake, there's a reason why i'm failing english, okay? just accept the fact that i'm the worst" you bury your head on the pages of your book, seated across jake at the back of the library "i didn't even ask for you to help me! i simply just asked for your notes that just happened to have a first grader's hand writing" he scoffs, a little taken back by your sudden insult on his hand writing "thanks? i know you didn't ask for help, i just wanted to do this with you so that you don't get detention for not knowing proper english" he explains, handing you another sheet of paper with an 54 circled on the right corner "seriously y/n? 54? come on, one last set of questions and i'll take you to the new cafe just across the street"

and almost immediately, you bring your head up, grabbing the pen and taking the set of questions. making jake giggle "y/n, just say that you like me, you know i'm not going to reject you-- ow!" you smack him on the head with the pencil "that's absolute nonsense!" you whisper with a harsh voice, digging your face on the note book as you try to cover the little smile you had on your face

i think it was safe to say you got 4 out of 10 right, causing you to almost have a mental breakdown at the library "i can't do this sim" you groan "i think you just need a break yeah? wanna head to the cafe?" jake stands up to pack your stuff, giggling at the sight of your head still buried in between the pages of the book "c'mon y/n" he kneels beside you "get up, let's go to that cafe"

you've never felt your pride hurt as much as this did, having to show jake how bad your were at english, him having to tutor you without you asking for help, and jake bringing you to the cafe even though you weren't even remotely close to getting at least 6 right

and you weren't exaggerating when when you say jake had to drag you all the way to the cafe "hi! what can i get for you today sir?" the girl says, the obvious heart eyes she has for him pissing you off even more "hi yeah i'd like to have a caramel machiatto" he responds politely, smiling at the obvious glare you held at the girl, poking out your tongue after she was called by the manager, an old lady replaces her "anything else for your girlfriend--" before you could correct her, jake immediately speaks up "she'll have (drink)"

he smiles at the old lady before paying "i'm sending you money later whether you like it or not" you roll your eyes "and i'll send it back" he holds your waist as he leads you to a table, causing your heart to beat 10 times faster "yeah? well i'll send it back to you again! i'll keep doing it until you die!" he scoffs at you "as if!"

--

even after multiple attempts of trying to make jake ask you out, the boy who you thought was so smart couldn't take a single hint at all.

but in jake's defence, you were a little bad, considering how bad you were with boys, he vividly remembers that one time when you were trying so hard to make him jealous by talking to other guys. he even laughed as you struggled to keep up with a conversation.

or that other time when you tried to hold his hand just to do something romantic just for once but ended up letting go because he wouldn't stop teasing you about it. he still took your hand, yet he never asked you out still.

"you okay darling?" your mother asks, taking a quick glance at your droopy form leaning on the counter as you wait for her to finish cooking "is it a boy?" she teases, making you perk your head up "i knew it!" she gives you an endearing smile as she gives you a plate with eggs on it, a heart shaped ketchup placed on the top of the egg "mom!" you whine

"okay fine, it is a boy. but don't tell dad" you whisper, smiling once she zips her lips "what's his name?" she asked, tilting her head as she leans on the counter in front of you "jake"

"jake?! i love jake! you should invite him over sometime" she squeals "he's a nice guy, i'm sure he wouldn't hurt you, so what's bothering you?" you sigh, taking a sip of the water "he likes me, it's like the whole world knows. but he just keeps on flirting with me and never actually tries to ask me out" you pout, aggressively taking a bit of the scrambled eggs, making your mother chuckle "oh baby, i'm sure it'll happen soon. just give him some time! unless if you're that impatient, then maybe you should try considering to be the one who makes the first move" she walks away, heading upstairs

no, as much as you hate it, that would hurt too much of your pride. so you decided to wait.

--

summer just had started and you couldn't even explain how much you hated the heat. staying under the shade 70% of the time whenever you went out with jake and his friends "guys! i have an announcement" jay yells, you were currently over at jay's house, just having a little party with just the 8 of you "my father booked us a trip to hawaii"

"WHAT?!"

part 2

— HEY 👵🏽 so i decided that this would be a multiple part story bcs i didnt want it to be too long!

i haven’t written the second part yet, but hopefully i’d have it done before tuesday

feel free to ask if you want to be tagged once the second chapter is out!

this has been n1k1tty! see ya!

[wh6res]

three's a crowd | nomin

synopsis. picking favorites is impossible when you like neither of them.

warning. read at your own risk. abuse, bullying, poly relationship, yandere themes, manipulation, nonconsensual touching, noncon, degradation, smut threesome oop

disclaimer. i do not condone whatever tf i wrote in this nor does it reflect my beliefs or values or morals and such. it is all pure fiction and i also dont think jaemin or jeno would act like this in real life.

note. this was meant to be a new year's gift lmao i obviously got a lil carried away 👀 anyway a late happy new year to you all! we survived 2020, let's start living in 2021, yeah? lmao if covid lets us grr mwah!

the relationship you had with the two of them was a weird one, bordering on taboo, but it wasn't as if you willfully chose to be who they wanted you to be and it took jaemin's unwanted pining and jeno's intimidating demeanor for you to fall right into their arms.

it was a joint effort on their part, you couldn't've possibly stood a chance.

"this many?" the cashier asked. "are you sure?"

stepping back and studying the whole situation, you figured you only had your addiction to caffeine and procrastination to blame. it was a chain reaction you didn't even know will lead up to your inevitable doom.

if you hadn't been slacking off during your first semester of junior year college, you wouldn't be forced to overwork yourself trying to catch up to the looming deadlines, but to be able to 'work yourself to the bone' you need your boost of energy… and that was when you met one of them.

"uhm," you scratch the back of your head sheepishly as you eye the six glass bottles of iced coffee. sure, it looks bad and you kinda appreciate the look of concern the cashier throws your way but it was none of his business.

"yes. now could you, like, you know… hurry up? i'm in a little bit of a time crunch right now."

screw it. although you hardly snap like that with other people on a daily basis, it'll be a whole different conversation if you were under a significant amount of stress and today, unfortunately, is one of those days.

now can he just fucking stop asking questions and give you your six bottles of death drink to keep your fucking brain going so you can pass an eight-page essay tomorrow? thank you very much!

the guy snickered, the beeping sound of a barcode being read sounding a thousand times more annoying than it usually sounds as he keeps his hand busy by punching your items out.

you fail to notice how he studies you through the gaps of his lashes, finding you interesting rather than threatening as you stood before him with your messy hair and oversized hoodie.

"haven't seen you around university grounds 'till today," he tries striking another conversation with you. "you new? i'm jaemin."

this was your first mistake, you shouldn't have been so… downright rude when you met him. if you were granted the miracle of meeting him a 2nd time, you would've acted more nice, throwing yourself at his feet even to blend in with the rest of his fangirls you didn't even know about at the time. you would've done anything to make sure he never gives you a second glance, to never pique his interest.

jaemin is the pep squad captain. flying over colored blue mats and doing tumblings in the air with no ounce of fear. he was the best in his team, that much was evident when your friend dragged you into watching a pep rally practice. his landings were clean, balanced, and executed to the best he can at all times.

no wonder he was popular, his talent is outstanding and his looks are a bonus. his killer combo of a smile and wink after pulling off a tough flip is enough to send them squealing in their seats.

he spotted you that day and since then, he snuck the quickest glances at the bench during practices. recognizing you as the coffee girl he met during his convenience store shift. jaemin tries not to let his disappointment show too much when he doesn't see you, but of course, a pair of cold calculating eyes could see right through him.

"i saw that," his boyfriend said, hand darting forward to hold jaemin's gym bag for him. "you kept looking at the crowd. do you want to see her that much?"

"but she reminds me so much of you, jeno!" he retorts, pouting at the slight grumpy tone the other boy used. "i can't help it. she doesn't seem to give a fuck around me so she's quite interesting. maybe she can even be a great addition to our relationship!"

"well," jeno replies after a beat of silence, plastering a small smirk on his face before slinging an arm around jaemin's shoulder.

"convince me?"

you don't like jaemin's attention. not in the slightest. and it seems that was enough reason for the reign of terror his little fanclub has subjected you too.

it wasn't the petty elementary forms of bullying like pulling at your hair or calling you names. they pale in comparison to the other things they do to you—beating you up, messing with your homework, "accidentally" dumping their food trays on you.

and you weren't stupid.

you knew exactly who was behind it, knew how jaemin spectates the whole thing from afar so that he can swoop in at the end to play your knight in shining armor.

"oh, you poor thing. do you need help?"

the first time you accepted his "help" you ended up in a supply closet near the gym during your free period, cornered and weak as your cries for help drowns under the squeaking of shoes and the booming sounds of rubber balls hitting the floor.

if it weren't for jeno appearing out of thin air and prying the boy off of you, you would've been painted blue and red from the death grip he had on your wrist, neck, and waist.

you can still remember feeling the soreness of your scalp from when he pulled your hair too hard. remembered feeling his teeth gnawing at your lips as if he wanted to tear them off.

that time hadn't been the first time you saw jeno. you've shared a few classes with him and it strikes you how polar opposites they are with one another.

while jaemin likes to bask in his professor and classmates' recognition by confidently reciting his answers, jeno would rather keep to himself. liked sitting at the last row, near the window, so he'd be the first to go once the professor ends their lecture. while jaemin loved the attention of his fangirls, jeno preferred solitude. while jaemin is impulsive and wild, jeno liked to think things through.

it was within these reasons that you decided to do what you did. but your judgement of character has never been more wrong.

you approached jeno one day in the library, tried to make yourself appear as stoic and confident as possible. but your constant slouching and averting eyes was a dead giveaway.

you came to talk to him about what jaemin has been doing, hoping there's one person left in this entire school that isn't under the cheer captain's trance. the one reasonable person that has already saved you once and (hopefully) is willing enough to save you again. the only one that probably has a certain level of control over jaemin, if the supply closet incident is anything to go by.

but you've overestimated lee jeno.

"you should've just given jaemin what he wanted."

"but—but aren't you two lovers? isn't it bothering you?"

you try baiting him, only for an uncomfortable shiver to start crawling down your spine when he chuckled humorlessly, pushing his school materials to the side while pinning you with an unreadable stare.

how can a person make someone feel so small just by a gaze alone? it was nothing like you've felt with jaemin. this is way worse.

"the only thing that's bothering me is why you're not ours yet."

you feel cold fingers creeping their way under your shirt, going higher and higher until it brushes against your bra. and when your eyes meet, the look on his face was unmistakable—what are you going to do about it, huh?

you stood up in lightning speed, the chair you've been sitting on scraping loudly against the floor.

you've never ran out as fast as you did.

and jeno swears it'll be the last.

you tried everything in your power to ignore them for the next following weeks but it soon became useless when the two boys took it upon themselves to give you your space.

although judging by the pinpricks you feel on your back, and the constant weight of a stare you feel on your shoulders, you knew they weren't done with you yet. far from it. and for some reason, you just knew they wanted to lull you into a false sense of security first before striking again.

and while they continued to ogle at you from afar like a hawk circling its prey in a desert, you took it upon yourself to return the favor. not because you were the slightest bit interested in those creeps but maybe, just maybe, if you look hard enough you'll find a way out, a weakness.

but what you realized made your insides churn in great discomfort—although it may seem that jeno holds the reins in the relationship since his reserved nature fits the role, it's actually the other way around.

jaemin might appear too self-centered, too focused on himself to give a fuck about his surroundings but in actuality, he has quite a knack for reading people. even more so than jeno. and it was scary how he used it to his advantage, and paired up with his devoted fangirls? it was hell on earth.

you found it alarming how the two seem to magically appear wherever you are.

although you weren't in the least bit surprised. for some reason, you can't take your eyes away when jaemin's devotees flock around him (and jeno) in a circle.

it almost reminds you of a shoal of piranhas, waiting for their meal to drop into the water before ripping it to shreds with their teeth. only their "meal" isn't actual flesh but the carefully crafted words jaemin says that drive them into a sick frenzy.

one that has them doing everything in their power to satisfy him like the loyal dogs they are.

so this was how he got them to bully you?

"oh, that? don't worry! yangyang just ran into me during cheer rehearsal. no biggie. my cheek stung a little bit, though…" is what he said but really he's telling them "scruff him up a bit for me, why don't ya?"

"of course, i can't be the best all the time. haechan is just too good, maybe even better than me…" is what he said but really he's telling them "can you remind him where his place should be?"

all the while jeno did nothing to hold him back.

no matter how wrong jaemin is, how much of an asshole he is, jeno will stick by his side through and through. so as much as jaemin is a puppeteer that gets a kick for controlling people, jeno is as much at fault for looking the other way.

because in jeno's perspective, why the fuck would he do shit when he can just get off from the entertainment that comes with jaemin's sweet little mind games?

we lost :(

you had been busy sorting through paperwork for one of your professors in the faculty when your friend texted you the results of the intercollegiate cheer dance competition. a frown paints your face, heart feeling heavy at the bad news.

in all honesty, you still supported the pep squad—you just hated the captain and his boyfriend. they've been practicing non-stop for this and prior to the weeks of the competition, jeno looked a lot more tense and jaemin less smiley than usual. you swore you even saw the latter snap at one of his fangirls.

not to mention, they paid less attention to you, too, and it was the best three weeks of your life.

tension starts rising in your shoulders, fingers absentmindedly running through the edge of the papers you had been sorting until you became immersed with your thoughts.

jaemin must be in the worst mood yet.

and jeno too, probably. if anything, that guy gets triggered the most when something bad happens to jaemin or when he catches snippets of people talking shit about his oh so "perfect" boyfriend.

jeno is a lot scarier when jaemin is in one of his mood swings, you noticed. he steps up in the relationship to offer comfort to the other boy and for outsiders? it isn't a great experience to go through—being on the receiving end of jeno's ice cold stare is a position you don't want to find yourself in after that time in the library.

he is still as much a threat to your peaceful life like his lover.

you snap out of it when the blinding headlights of a vehicle seep through the closed blinds. you hear the gentle hum of an engine switching off as the headlights vanished as quick as they had appeared. that must be the cheer squad's bus.

as you look around the empty faculty room, something in your gut tells you to ditch file sorting duty for professor kim tonight and fucking get the hell out of campus grounds as quick as you can.

after haphazardly throwing the unsorted papers back into the cabinet, you groan aloud when the keys to the office drop out of your skirt’s pocket.

the indoor gym where the cheering squad practices is right across the hallway. you sure as hell don't want to bump into jaemin. or jeno, too, if he had decided to ride along the cheer squad's bus on the way home.

you kept looking for the keys underneath the cubicles, cursing aloud when you heard the telltale squeaks of shoes rubbing against linoleum. you almost hit your head against a table when you quickly got back up your feet, darting forward to shut the lights for the faculty room.

they can't know you're here. alone. and if it meant sitting in the dark for a few hours 'till they leave, meant going back home a little later than usual is what you have to do then so be it.

you try not to react so violently when the door you're leaning on jolts when someone from outside slams their back against it.

"it's not like we didn't do our best, right guys? i don't have regrets. it might sound fucking cheesy and although i'm sad myself, atleast we did what we can."

it's jaemin. his voice clear as day.

you try peaking, craning your neck up from your place on the floor. only to see the back of his head leaning against the glass section of the door. someone else joins in on the conversation, followed by coach park himself, and you slowly tune out whatever they're saying as you stealthily start scanning the faculty room.

you curse under your breath. is there no other exit other than this door? jesus christ! even classrooms in this university had two doors—

"what are you doing here?"

the switch flickers on, basking the once dark room with light. only when you hear an echo of your name being called, did you snap out of it and quickly picked yourself up from the floor.

"i said, what are you doing here?"

their coach asks, drilling the question as he looks at you skeptically with his arms crossed. you try not to look at the people behind him.

particularly, not at his cheer captain standing on his right.

particularly, not at jeno, who stands out like a sore thumb with his blue hair, a protective arm snaked around jaemin’s shoulders.

this isn't your lucky day, too, you guess.

"i was…" you cursed yourself for stuttering. "i was, uhm, i was file sorting for prof—professor kim, sir."

coach park looked like he didn't believe you as he narrowed his eyes in scrutiny. your nerves are going haywire and you can feel the sharp pins of their stare with how close they are.

you kept juggling your weight with the balls of your feet, hands fisting and unfisting behind your back. you want to leave. you have to leave.

"file sorting… in the dark?" he asked incredulously.

fuck this.

"uhm, you can ask professor kim himself tomorrow, coach. for now, uh, i'll be going now. i'm sorry you guys lost…"

originally, the exit is on the right side, at the end of the hallway. but no, you are not going to pass by those two while on your way out so you ducked behind a random student standing on the coach's left instead and practically ran away from the scene.

everyone had been too busy. too busy looking at your retreating form to even notice jaemin and jeno exchanging glances, too busy to notice the latter untangling himself from their captain to slip away unnoticed, his hurried steps filled with a burning purpose.

you didn't know why you ran, but you did. your shoes practically booming against the floor as you sped away through darkened hallways. you're sweating profusely, heart hammering in your chest. you can worry about professor kim tomorrow but right now you just had to—

"why are you in such a rush, pet?"

crashing into jeno felt like crashing into a wall. if it hadn't been for his arm quickly wrapping around your waist, then you would've landed on your butt before him.

with the small distance between the two of you, jeno could see as clear as day through your eyes.

jaemin was right.

it was addicting to stare into them.

especially when he can see every single one of your thoughts flying through your pretty little head. but hey, it wasn't their fault you were so easy to read.

jeno barely conceals the wicked smirk on his lips when your hands come up to his chest, trying to push him away but to no avail.

he can see your eyes shifting from shock, to confusion, until it finally settles on fear—to which it's slowly becoming a favorite emotion of his to see on your face.

"you know, jaemin is in a really shitty mood right now. and we were wondering, maybe you can cheer us up?"

no. this can't be happening.

"jeno, please." your dilated eyes and disheveled hair made his blood run south. "let me go. you don't want me. you don't need a third party in your relationship."

you yelp when he lets you go, literally shoving you against a wall—which you found out is actually a door, as it swings open as soon as your body crashes against it.

with jeno looming unforgivingly before you in his full height, the tears stung extra hard but you won't let them fall.

if he wanted to bask in the image of your weakness then it'll be something you'll deprive from him for as long as you can.

"i don't need a stupid bitch like you to tell me what i feel." he scoffs. "don't fucking kid yourself, you little whore—i don't want you. i'm not jaemin."

the echo of the classroom door shutting closed surged through you like a wake up call.

this is really happening.

you've always led a decent life, had done nothing too questionable and you've always thought maybe life will spare you if you lived quietly enough. but the feel of jeno's freezing hands crawling against your skin felt like life itself had spat at you in the eye and left you to rot in a ditch.

"i've always liked how you wore skirts," he comments. playing with the ruffled hem of the soft fabric as he purposely grazed his knuckles against your supple thighs. "gives me easy access, don't you agree?"

you scream when he flips your skirt up to reveal the innocent pink of your cotton panties. it was as if a switch had flipped inside of you and the will to fight started coursing through your veins.

"stop! jeno! i don't want this!"

his brows furrow, grunting as he struggles to push the waistline of your skirt up higher with how much you're thrashing underneath him. you buck your hips, tried curling in on yourself, anything to prolong what he wants to do to you.

with your legs trapped underneath his, you blindly reach forward, relying on your upper body instead to push and scratch whatever your palms and nails reached.

you continue screaming like a banshee until he shoved two fingers into your wet cavern.

"stop fighting me," he sounded strained, as if he's holding himself back. you feel him fisting the fabric of your skirt and you fear he's simply going to rip it apart.

you tried responding to him, only the sound had been muffled, gurgled by the flat of his fingers pushing down against your tongue mercilessly. when you reach forward to push him away, your hands land on the apple of his cheeks, nails digging through skin.

until it slips and—

you lie rigid when red scratch marks in the size of your fingernails slowly appear on jeno's skin, his head turned to the side as he paused. your actions slowly start sinking in to him as he shuts his eyes and bit his lip 'till it looked like it was about to bleed.

oh no.

"jeno—"

the slap he planted on your cheek left your ears ringing. all those hard earned muscles of his put to good use—if the tears hadn't fallen for the last few minutes, then it definitely started falling now.

the hit had been so strong, a few of your hair flew astray, the buzzing feeling of your skin tempting you to reach a hand up to soothe your abused cheek.

until jeno let out a low growl and your hand immediately drops limp against your body, afraid of whatever else he can do to you other than a slap.

"that's more like it," he whispers under his breath. you let out the tiniest of whimpers when his hand darts forward to fist your hair. "do you know what happens to bad girls? they fucking get busted up. do you understand me?"

his patience is nonexistent.

jeno slams your head against the floor when you don't answer because you thought his question had been rhetorical. it felt like your skull had been split in two as you wail in pain.

"are you fucking deaf—i asked you a fucking question!"

the hand that cups your jaw is painful as he squeezed your cheek with his blunt nails. your hand shoots up to wrap around his wrist, silently pleading for him to let up as you sobbed out loud. you started nodding as best as you can despite his firm grip on your face.

your reply was nothing short of pathetic. with lips forcefully pursed and the steady stream of your tears and snot rolling down your face, your response is gargled and hardly incoherent and jeno seemed to thoroughly enjoy your anguish if the condescending curl on his lips is anything to go by.

"look at you," he whispers, his face coming close to yours as he holds you down. there was something in the way jeno stared so intently that it made your skin crawl.

"i think you're prettiest when ruined like this."

with his nose touching yours, he felt too close, bordering on intimate as you felt his hand creep back up your thighs, trailing up with feather-like touches that made goosebumps appear on your skin.

you tried wiggling your legs underneath him but one sharp look from jeno is enough to make you stop.

the hand holding your face moves. coming down from gripping your face to encircling his hand around your neck.

"do you like it when i touch you? freaky bitch."

his hands trail further up, up, up until you felt him slotting a finger underneath your panties.

jeno didn't like how frozen you were underneath him as he pulls at the hem before letting go. the elastic snapping back against your skin.

the action evokes a strong feeling through the young male, promising to have you writhing and screaming and begging because by the end of all this, you'll be so needy and frustrated that you will have no choice but to give in to what your body wanted.

"jeno, didn't i tell you to play nice?"

someone stands by the door, the minimal light from the hallway creating a silhouette with his form but you knew who he was. that deep voice, with the same annoying flippant tone, is a dead giveaway.

you didn't know why you even hoped in the beginning. as if there'll be someone who can save you from these two.

you thought the flash of hurt in your eyes was quick to disappear but jeno noticed it quicker.

in a span of seconds, he pulled you up from your position from the ground and tugged you towards his lap. you haven't even gotten the time to settle on your new position when he already smashed his lips against yours.

it was messy. too much saliva. too much teeth. no tenderness to it at all.

the fabric of his jeans felt rough, not to mention the ice cold belt buckle made you severely uncomfortable as it seeps through the thin fabric of your skirt.

when you attempt to hover over his lap, jeno grunts as he snakes an arm around your waist, pulling you back down without your lips breaking away from each other. you didn't know why he let out a whine, but you understood the moment you fully sat down on his lap and you felt a tent on his jeans hitting your clothed entrance perfectly.

in a normal circumstance, you would've found everything hot and might've actually gotten off from it but not when it's him who’s doing this to you and you didn’t consent to any of this.

you start squirming again. palms lying flat against jeno's chest as you attempt to push him away and jaemin sees this as the opportune moment to slot himself behind you, caging you in between them.

“i want my turn,” he hisses and without an ounce of hesitation, jeno stops to do what he's told.

jaemin doesn't waste any second to grab your face, awkwardly craning your neck up to meet his lips in the same feverish kiss.

while jeno had been all teeth and aggression, practically forcing you to open your mouth and kiss him back, jaemin on the other hand is more soft, more romantic, you daresay. he seemed to like taking his sweet time by clutching your face, kissing you like he actually meant it.

he pulls away slightly, resting his forehead against yours as he murmurs something incoherent under his breath and then he's kissing you again.

you think you heard something along the lines of, "finally."

you've been too distracted by jaemin to notice jeno's nimble fingers quickly fumbling with the buttons of your blouse. it was only when you feel the sensation of his tongue laving against the swell of your breast did you turn away from jaemin, jerking backward in surprise.

"no—!"

your scream is cut off by a hand cupping your mouth. jaemin pulls your back towards his chest, molding your body against his as jeno licked and suckled all he wanted, thankful to have the other boy there to not worry about restraining you and keeping you quiet while he has his fun.

"ah, ah, ah," jaemin teases, going hard over the pleading and teary look you sent his way. it looked pathetic, he wasn't going to lie, but it doesn't mean he didn't love it. "just keep still and appreciate jeno's efforts to take care of you, alright baby?"

you don't like how he talked as if this was all a mutual thing, how he talked slowly like you were some toddler who didn't understand anything.

it's cruel how jaemin giggled and basked in your vulnerable state as he kept his eyes pinned on you while undoing the zipper of your skirt. your muffled cries of his name only serving to egg him on.

the way he stared was similar to jeno, too intently and intrusive, like he wants to burn your image of despair in the back of his head.

you whined involuntarily when jeno got bored of all the licking and thus decided to start biting and nipping at your chest instead. he was hypnotised by how responsive you were, how every little bite and nibble made you shudder.

it was a shame that jaemin had to cover your mouth. he didn't get to hear your pretty mewls but it wasn't as if he'd let the night end without hearing them loud and clear.

jaemin is fast in undressing you, feeling slightly betrayed by how quick your skirt and blouse fell under his hands.

you know what he wants, what he's going to do, and the tears fall harder when you can't dodge away from him. forced to endure and accept whatever they give you.

"you act like you don't like it but look how fucking wet you are," you bit your lip hard when jaemin starts circling the pads of his fingers against your clit, fascinated by how more juices streamed down your thighs.

"jeno, do you see this? fuck."

you can only blink in defeat, staring off to the side as you force down any noise bubbling up your throat, forcing yourself to think of anything else other than what's happening right now.

you try not to think about how they managed to tear all of your clothes off while they're left completely dressed. tried not to think about the fingers lazily drawing up and down your slit to collect your essence.

if they're doing this as a way to further humiliate you, it's working.

"slut," jeno mocked, a wicked curl on his lips when he wraps his fingers around your throat. the moment he dives down to claim your lips again is the same time jaemin pushes two fingers inside you.

"look at how wet you are because of me," jaemin whispers hot against your ear and you feel a sick churn in your stomach when you feel his smile against your skin.

he purposely drives his fingers in and out quicker, settjng a brutal pace, wanting you to hear the lewd squelching sounds. "hear that? do you hear that, darling? that's because of me—"

"don't go talking big now, jaem," jeno retorts, pulling away from your lips to start nibbling on the back of your ear. "i was here first. did you see how she fucking reacted when i sucked on her tits?"

you're quick to catch how jeno particularly loved degrading you. but how he talks about you as if you're literally not in front of him naked made you hit a new all-time low.

you felt… filthy.

his hands find purchase on your butt—only because jaemin has already claimed the front. for now.

you close your eyes tight when he painfully squeezes the flesh of your ass. you swear, his blunt nails will paint your skin black and blue.

"i'm the favorite!"

"i'm the favorite!"

as someone who's part of a varsity team, you already knew a competitive nature runs through jaemin's veins. but never had you thought jeno would share the same sentiment. once again they prove that they're cut from the same cloth.

all of a sudden it wasn't all about claiming you as theirs anymore rather it was all about who can make you moan the loudest, who can make you cum the most, who can make you feel the dirtiest you can be.

you're absolutely terrified for the hours to come.

thankfully, they have yet to ask for your verbal opinion or validation. they let your body do all the talking—every repressed shudder and sharp gasp is enough.

but it's game over once they pop the million dollar question.

"who do you like best?"

you don't want to find out the consequences if you actually answered their question because you didn't know what could be worse.

jaemin's manipulation or jeno's aggression?

but it was all normal. trial and error is inevitable in order to build and mold you into the ideal lover for the both of them.

because adding someone new to the mix has never been easy—after all, three's a crowd.

[apinchofm]

Diana and Phoebe in between research!

I loved in season 3 how they showed Diana and Phoebe working together, and it implied that they became quite close, so had this in mind!

Diana stretched and yawned as they went over yet another dead end. She knew finding the pages from the Book of Life wouldn't be easy but this was tricky.

Having Phoebe, who was a diligent and organized historian in her own right was a massive help. This girl knew how to go through auction houses, museums and collections like it was nothing.

"Are you tired?" Phoebe asked, noticing Diana shifting. She was five months pregnant now, she supposed she would be getting tired more often.

"No, let's just take a break." Diana moved to the sofa near the fireplace, and beckoned Phoebe over, "Let's just hang out. It's been a while since I've had a conversation that wasn't about a magic book."

They spoke about growing up, school. Phoebe knew a little about Diana, mainly the dead parents part and was glad to spend some time with her.

"Yale is beautiful, but Cambridge here is better." Phoebe replied, "We are the original, after all."

"Cambridge?" Diana smiled, impressed.

"I know this family are an Oxford bunch." Phoebe joked, "Marcus doesn't consider it a deal breaker."

"It'll be our secret." Diana teased, "What made you study Art History? It's very niche." She had done straight history at undergrad, narrowing her focus when she got to postgrad, but everyone was different.

Phoebe sipped her coffee before answering, "I used to visit so many museums and historical sites when I was growing up. There was always a story behind the artwork, a mystery. And I always wanted to know why. I think a lot of people think art is frivolous but it tells us so much. Like those miniatures of yours."

"We are the children that couldn't stop asking why?" Diana said, "Are your parents historians?"

"No, my mother's a teacher, linguistics, which helps with old languages. My father is in the Queen's diplomatic service." Phoebe said and the witch was further impressed, "That's how they met, actually. Surprised a lot of people."

Diana nodded in understanding, "That's really sweet. I bet they would adore Marcus." A doctor from an old aristocratic family? A rebel who had never cared for social convention?

They were perfect for each other. Diana was hoping she would get to see a wedding, despite how tense things were between Marcus and Matthew.

"They would love him, though the part about him being three hundred years old they may find a touch unsettling." Phoebe said.

"Oh, and the diet consisting of blood."

"Little things, you know?" They both laughed.

"You're human and you are dating a vampire and you don't even back down at his father." Diana said, "I'm impressed. And I'm glad you're here and that Marcus has someone."

"Thanks, but you are the most impressive one here." Phoebe replied, "Super witch."

"Ugh, don't. You're the only one who treats me normally." Diana said, "It's nice, just getting to be a historian again,"

"Books were always my escape too." Phoebe mused, "Funny, isn't it, where life takes you? We read our way to where we are now."

Diana winced as one twin kicked and laughed, "Hilarious. I miss chocolate.

Phoebe held her finger, and went to her handbag and pulled out a bar of Cadbury's dairy milk, "Period craving." She split the bar in half and gave it to Diana

"You, Phoebe Taylor are my favourite."

"As are you, Dr Bishop."

[doubledgesword-2]

Soulmate Au Part 3

Part 1 and Part 2 are here! Requests for the Adult trio are open!

WARNING DUB-CON AND EXPLICIT SMUT +18 Please do not te upload somewhere else!!

You started to suspect something was wrong with you when you walked deep into the forest, looking to harvest the crops. Your mind screamed at you to keep walking. Walk away from this place and leave them behind. The minute your feet took one step forward, the most intense migraine struck you. You tried to walk forwards and work through the pain, but it became too debilitating to the point your legs gave under you, and your body crumbled to the ground.

Your eyes clenched close, and your body tucked in into a fetal position, your hands clutching your shirt in hopes it would lessen the pain. Suddenly, you heard a rustle behind you, but couldn't really be bothered to turn and look at the disturbance.

"Oh, here you are. I was worried something might have happened" Chrollo came from behind a tree, his coat gracefully moving as he came to stand before your crippled form.

He sat down beside you taking your body into his lap. His hands stroke your hair as tears came down from your eyes.

"(Y/N), this is such a nice and peaceful place you've built" his voice was so calm, and his hands went through your locks with such comfort that you were calming down for a second.

He took a deep breath, eyes close with a smile as if truly enjoying the quiet and the light breeze blowing through. Chrollo leaned down close to you, your body shaking in pain still. His hands petted away a couple of strands of your hair as his lips came close to your ear.

"You weren't thinking of leaving now, were you?"

The tone of his voice made the question feel like a gentle threat. But a threat nonetheless. He kissed your temple and kept running his hands through your hair, breathing in once more, smiling at the sunbeams coming through the leaves and shining down on the two of you.

"I am delighted you have decided to stay with us. It would have broken all our hearts to know you weren't happy here" he looked down at your form, no longer distressed but still slightly shaking and sniffling.

"You are happy here, are you not?"

You nodded weakly in response, and he beamed at you. He picked you up gently, bridal style, while his hand carried the woven basket underneath you.

"Let's go, I'll prepare dinner tonight. Just the two of us, little treasure. All is well".

Chrollo brought you all the way to the cottage, filling the air with casual banter along the way. His excitement grew whenever the prospect of a new book came into the conversation.

"It's very eloquent poetry. I am sure it'll sound melodic coming from your lips".

Chrollo walked into the cottage with you still in his arms. The other two were nowhere to be seen, and it confirmed what he had said: you two were truly alone. Chrollo settled you on the sofa, your fluffy cat meowing around his legs. He crouched to pet the cat's head.

"What are you craving today, love?" Your eyes were close, dried tear streaks under them, but you opened them to see him smiling warmly at you while still petting your cat.

"Chef's choice," you replied simply, trying a smile of your own, but it came out more like a grimace.

"Mmm, hard choice, I'll surprise you then" he gave your forehead a kiss and moved away from your vision line.

After leaving you on the sofa, Chrollo had draped his coat over the chair, washed his hands, and got everything ready for the food. Your eyes were droopy, body tired after your horrific headache, so you drifted off into a nice comfy nap.

A fantastic smell wafted around the house, waking you up to find you have drooled on the decorative pillow. Chrollo was in front of you, smiling at your cute and sleepy face.

You shot up, looking around as if you weren't in your house, and you didn't know who was in front of you. Then it all came back, the realization hit you, and you wiped the drool with the back of your hand. Chrollo chuckled at you and got up to kiss the top of your head, lingering for a second, hugging you to him.

“Dinner is ready, come on love."

A bit disoriented and groggy, you got up and went to the table. Everything was set up with candles surrounding the dinner table and the kitchen. A single rose in a vase was in the middle of the table, the same vase that you had changed the flowers that fateful day they had found you. Chrollo was waiting beside the chair he had pulled out for you. He had a proud smile as you went to sit at the chair, and he gently pushed you in. The whole thing was adorable, and it would have been romantic if you weren't wary of the man. He sat down as well and was looking at you with loving eyes. You pretended he wasn't fixed on you as you took the first bite out of your food.

"I hope it's to your liking. I had never made this one before" he had ended up making your favorite dish, and you were happy to have it; the food was truly delicious.

The fact that he knew your favorite dish shouldn't give you the feeling of dread, and yet it did. You knew the trio had most undoubtedly memorized everything about you, no matter how small the detail was. Still, you couldn't wrap your head around the idea.

"It's delicious, thank you" you forced a smile at him, and he chuckled under his breath, looking down at his own plate.

"You don't have to pretend with me (Y/N). I'm not Hisoka or Illumi; I'm a simple thief but a gentleman at heart. I know you're uncomfortable, and this situation is new to you. I don't blame you".

You looked down to your plate, feeling a bit embarrassed that he noticed your inner turmoil. His words should have offered comfort, but you couldn't feel it or find any. Instead, they further pushed down the heavy stone in your stomach.

"I-I don't know how to feel, still. I'm adjusting, trying to at least" you took another bite and gave him a close-lipped smile as you chewed the food.

Chrollo's dark eyes pierced yours; he wasn't buying it.

"Then perhaps we haven't fully helped you experience love in this relationship," he gave you a closed eye smile and took a mouthful of the food.

You felt shivers run up your spine, body tingling in fear and dread as if you were at the dropping point of a big coaster ride. Your heart beat faster to the point where you started hearing it in your ears.

The door seemed like an excellent option right now.

Your hands went under the table to grip the edge of the chair as you tried to ground yourself back into the moment. 'He didn't say anything. He just made a suggestion with a smile', you told yourself, looking for the logic in his words, and calming yourself. But it wasn't working, you had felt it. Felt the tiniest flare of his aura reach out to you in silent warning. Nothing big but just enough to put you back into place. There were so many meanings behind that little jesting phrase that it made you anxious.

"Are you alright? You seem a little pale" he placed his utensil down, getting out of the chair and crouching near you.

His cold hand reached to your cheek, caressing you and making you look down at him.

"Perhaps some air will do you good," he grabbed both your hands in his and pulled you up and out of the chair.

You were in a slight daze watching him as he placed a coat around you and dressed in his own. Chrollo exited the cottage with you around his arm. The two of you looked like a loving couple taking a stroll in the middle of winter.

As you walked into the forest, passing by trees and bushes taking in the sights under the moonlight, Chrollo pulled a book from inside his coat and handed it to you. You took it. Still, a bit shook but figured some reading might do you good.

"I borrowed it," the way he said borrow told you he meant stole "figured you might like it" he side-eyed you as your doe-like eyes looked up to him in question.

You looked down at the cover seeing it was a very elusive limited edition copy of one of your favorite authors. Your heart skipped a beat, and for once in a long while, you were pleasantly surprised and excited. Your lips pulled into an unconscious smile, and by the time you had noticed you were smiling and tried to hide it with a serious look, Chrollo had already smiled and locked the sight in his mind. You looked precious.

"Why don't you read it out loud. I'm sure it's a good night for some reading if you don't mind?" His suave and smooth voice questioned, but you knew better than to resist him.

So you nodded, muttering a thank you. He nodded back, closing his eyes briefly and then looking back at you with expectation. You opened the first page and started to read the prologue as the two of you walked. Your lips never stuttering a word as you got lost in the story, pulled into it to the point were you forgot his eyes on you.

Chrollo was looking around the trees, admiring the majestic scenery as your words filled the nightly air. He knew your tone was hesitant and scared. You hated reading out loud and especially to him. You'd told him it was something about the sound of your voice in your ears. But he loved it. The way you pronounced or mispronounced words made his heart flutter. How your tone changed when you got lost in the narrative and started muttering small comments for the characters under your breath. Your little mannerisms made you adorable in his eyes, and the more he looked at you, the more he wanted.

He wasn't satisfied.

At the beginning of his relationship with Hisoka, there were some bumps he had to overcome when it came to the clown. But once he did, he could say he came to love the jester. When Illumi came into the picture as his second soulmate, he was a bit surprised. He, at some point, even doubted the assassin could actually be capable of emoting or loving. But one night, when they were all together tucked away in a vacation home right in front of the beach, he realized something about themselves.

He was sitting on a comfy armchair sofa in the balcony, book in hand, a glass of wine resting on its wooden arm. The sun was setting as cliche as it may sound, but his eyes rested on the page's words. When suddenly, he felt a head fall on his lap.

Assuming it was Hisoka, he didn't even glance down in hopes of secretly riling him up. Though curiosity got the better of him, so his eyes did glance down, and he was surprised. On his lap, long black hair fanned across it, was Illumi with his eyes close and a peaceful expression on his face.

Chrollo's heart fluttered.

He felt his cheeks heat up as he stole glances of the assassin. He almost closed the book, but he was afraid the sound would shake the scene and make the Illumi leave. So he kept pretending to read, not being able to fully concentrate with the comforting weight of Illumi on his lap.

They bonded after that, growing closer together. Hisoka was proud of them. The troupe had always been his family but getting to feel this kind of love was different.

That's when he realized soulmates were meant to be together for a reason. So when your name appeared on their skin out of nowhere, he knew they had to find you. You were not being loved as you should. That's why he understands your apprehension and your wariness of them. They're not exactly good in lawful standards, and their moral compasses might be slightly broken. But if there's one thing they know for sure, loving you is one of their main goals.

You just need to see it.

"As soon-"your reading got interrupted by a pair of lips on yours.

Chrollo's hands grabbed both sides of your face and brought you close for a fevered kiss. The book fell out of your hands as they came to rest on his arms.

"I couldn't resist," he mumbled out of breath against your lips. You, on the other hand, were freaking out a bit.

The fact that you were in the middle of a clearing in the forest was making you anxious. Chrollo dived in again, looking for your lips, but you turned your face away bashfully. You looked down to the grass seeing the book and bending down to pick it up as if he hadn't just kissed away your breath.

He was a bit hurt, but he had to remember that you weren't like them. You needed a little more coaxing to come out of your shell. He would help.

You straightened, inspecting the book for any creases or tears in the pages. You dusted away some dirt, closing the book delicately and looking up at Chrollo.

You frowned at the sight. Not that it wasn't a pleasant one, he was handsome and pretty, but you weren't buying it. At some point, you were pretty sure you were in soulmate denial.

"What are you doing?" You asked meekly, seeing as he had shaken away his coat and was shirtless at the moment.

Your fight or flight sense was glaring up, and you hugged the book to your stomach. Chollo placed his coat in the grass, open as if it was a picnic blanket. He turned to eye you, his eyes no longer cold.

"I know you're afraid, but there's nothing to be afraid of. Let me show you just how much I love you," that was your cue.

He took a step, and you mirrored him taking one back. This made him slightly tilt his head to the side, the look playfully menacing. Chrollo took another step and your nen flared up in warning, this time stronger than the last time you had tried this. He looked proud instead of intimidated, and it angered you.

The loving way he looked at your nen didn't help your case, and so you attacked. Your nen moved fast, striking the spot where he was. But he was fast, as quick as Hisoka, and that was a disadvantage to you.

Chrollo had suddenly disappeared and left you in the middle of the clearing. You leaned down to quickly put the book out of harm's way and then stood in attention. The moon shone brightly on you, giving your dangerous look and angelic glow. He could've groaned and moaned out loud just like Hisoka would've done, but he bit his lip instead, looking at you through the foliage.

Your ears were strained, searching for any noise as little as it may be. But there was no noise when he came, fast and swift bringing you down. The two of you rolled around on the grass, he chuckled as you winded up, straddling him. Your face scrunched up in concentration. His hand lifted to your cheek, caressing it, which made you flinch for a second. Chrollo then flipped the two of you, causing you to shriek at the suddenness. He pinned down your wrists, bringing them beside your head. Your wide-eyed looked at him startled, yet something was growing in your stomach's pit.

"You're getting better. Illumi should be proud," he leaned down, bringing his lips close to your ear. "Your nen is worth stealing, I wouldn't mind, if it meant keeping you as well" he bit your earlobe, making you bite your lips.

You tried to wriggle your wrists out of his hold, but his hands tightened around them. Chrollo started kissing your neck, nibbling and sucking his way down your collarbone. Still, you kept muffling your noises, biting your lip, and holding your tongue.

He wouldn't have it. Chrollo bit down in between your neck and shoulder, making you moan loudly.

"That's more like it," he chuckled against the spot soothing it with a lick and kiss, "Do you think I could steal some more noises from your lips?" He asked, bringing his lips close to yours.

"Would you let me?" You could feel his breath on your lips as he talked.

Chrollo kissed you hard, tongue poking your entrance and biting your lower lip so you wouldn't deny him. He sucked on your tongue, relishing in your futile attempts to keep quiet. His hips started grinding slowly into yours, pressing down his hard-on on your clothed spot. He was only wearing his pants, back and chest bared under the moonlight and shining with a thin layer of sweat. He separated for some air, leaving you a bit dazed and fuzzy. His hands coming down to your clothes gripping your shirt and tugging at it. That jerked you up from your state, making you gasp, your hands coming to his own grabbing them. You tried to pull them away from you, but he took both of your wrists in one of his hands and pinned them hard on the ground.

You groaned at the slight pain, and he took the opportunity of your raised arms to slide the shirt up and jumble it around your hands in makeshift bounds. He smiled down at your bra and the way your brows scrunched up in struggle. Your fight was strong, but he was stronger.

Chrollo leaned down to your chest, kissing the curve of your breast pressed on the bra. He bit down on the mound, making you groan.

"You're so soft, so beautiful," he whispered to your chest as his hand slipped the breast out of the bra. He massages the nipple, head dipping, and licking the other to attention. You started squirming under him, bringing your tied hands to stop him but ended up hugging his head closer to your chest, a moaning mess.

A fire was rising in between your legs, and you felt the electricity go down your spine.

'What were they doing to you?!' You screamed in your mind trying to fight the feeling.

Chrollo's hand left your mound, his mouth kept sucking on the other, as he sneaked down to your waistline. You had been wearing a comfortable attire since it was a bit hot, and you were tending to the crops today before your accident. He easily slipped down and into your panties. His calloused and experienced hands didn't waste any time and felt your slit. He smirked when he found you wet, but not enough for him. Chrollo gathered some slick and gently rubbed on your hooded pearl. You jerked under him, muffling a moan by biting your lip. His lips left your peak, glistening and wet under the dim moonlight. He went to the crook of your neck, inhaling your scent, and planting open-mouthed kisses as his other hand maintained a steady rhythm on your nub. He didn't change the speed, going in gentle circles on your bundle of nerves.

You were getting desperate, feeling the pleasure rising in you, and pushing shame to the back of your mind. Your hips bucked unconsciously, and he tutted you like a child, smiling in victory against your neck with closed eyes.

"Tch, tch, tch, not yet, I think you deserve some punishment for being so stubborn with me" he bit your earlobe, making you whine in response.

Your body struggled against him, but he let his weight drop on you, making you stay still. Chrollo's hand then went quicker and quicker, driving you deep into pleasure but not all the way. You whined again, trying to move away from his hand, but he went faster. Suddenly you felt the ice-cold rush from the tip of your toes to your core, pleasure flooding your system like a wave. Your body shook under his, toes curling, and you let out a moan closing your eyes at all the sensations.

Chrollo groaned with you, his pants too tight for comfort. He grinned against you softly and sat up, still straddling you. In your high, you didn't felt as he pulled the rest of your clothes down and his arousal out, the tip an angry red as he stroke it, shuddering under the feeling. He then pushed into you, making you gasp and open your eyes wide to the see him. His eyes closed, and he bit his lip briefly. Then his dark eyes opened slowly, looking down at you in adoration. His mouth was slightly opened, breathing heavily at the feeling of your warmth engulfing him. Hair was falling sideways and forwards, almost covering the cross on his forehead. The light glowing behind him gave him a surreal look and feel.

It was euphoric.

You moaned, and he started moving slowly, leaning over you to capture your lips as he sped up. His hands were beside your head, supporting his body as he rocked with you. He rested on his forearms, bringing himself closer to you as he changed speed and slowly rolled his hips, making you feel everything.

"I love you so much," he whispered into your cheek, kissing it afterward.

Chrollo groaned lowly when he bumped into a special spot that made you clench hard around him. You moaned.

"Found it," he chuckled low, speeding up and hitting the same spot over and over.

Your hips buckled, meeting his as he sat up. He gave you a half-lidded look, smiling at you. His hands came to rest on your hips, pressing them down as he rammed inside you. He couldn't take how good you felt, your same walls gripping him and becoming him deeper. He complied, going faster and deeper, making you moan and whine. Chrollo's hand sneaked to your hooded pearl, rubbing it at matching speed with his thrusts.

Your body jerked, heat, and cold consuming you at equal measure. Your body glistened with sweat under the moonlight, making you glow and shine like a jewel worth stealing. Chrollo bit his lip at the picture, wishing he could just have it to look at it all the time. Instead, he committed it to memory, his hand rubbing your nub furiously.

Suddenly your body arched beautifully, your breasts offered to him as you came with a shriek. Pleasure flooded you, making you twitch and shake. He joined you with a groan, head thrown back as his body arched as well, driving his length deep inside you, releasing all of himself into you. Your walls massage him as he thrusts slowly.

The two of you panted heavily.

Chrollo's hands were beside your head, supporting his body as he caught his breath. He looked down at you, your skin looking perfect under the lighting, your lips puffy and slightly opened as your naked chest heaved, making your breasts move up and down. You looked gorgeous, and he couldn't ask for more. He was satisfied, and a sense of fullness filled him at the moment.

He pulled out, making your face scrunch up in pain at the slight discomfort of the tenderness. Tucking himself back in his pants, he zipped them up and laid down beside you. He undid the mess around your wrists, and you pulled them down beside your body, resting the aching muscles. His head was supported on his hand as he laid on his side, looking at you in love. Your eyes were closed, and you seemed to be calm, almost sleeping.

His fingers came to lay on your stomach. The ginger touch made you jump slightly at the suddenness, but otherwise, your eyes remained closed. They moved around your form, tracing your marks, your waves, the way your mounds curved into your chest, your collarbone, and finally, they came to rest on your neck. He caresses it with the back of his hand, coming up to your cheek and staying there.

You opened your eyes slightly, looking at him through a tired glaze. Chrollo smiles warmly, coming close to peck your lips. He pulled the coat around your form, covering you from the night's chill, and gathered you in his arms.

Chrollo stopped to pick up the book you had neatly placed away from the mess and chaos. Smirking at your thoughtfulness. He gave you the book or at least propped it on your stomach as your sleepy form was losing the fight. He carried you all the way back to the cottage, where he placed you on the bed. You turned to the side, and he petted your hair, kissing your head. He came back to put the leftover food away and the dishes in the sink, making sure to turn off the candles. Your cat was eagerly following him like he had treats in his pockets.

Chrollo went back to the room, taking off the rest of his clothes and stripping you of this coat. He draped it on your vanity, the rest of the clothes scattered in a corner of the room. Your fluffy black cat went to them, kneading the fabric and then laying on top.

Chrollo pulled the covers back and brought you close to him, pulling the two of you under the sheets. He snuggled closer to you, the two of you naked as the day you were born. He pressed a kiss to the back of your ear, nuzzling your neck afterward and then resting on top of your head.

"Sleep well, my love," mutters, and you reply with your own muffled and unintelligible goodnight. He smiled, closing his eyes in bliss.

He couldn't wait for the morning to do it all over again.

[honoredbastard]

I COME BACK WITH THOUGHTS/THEORIES ON ITADORI AND HIS RELATIONS- I THINK.

anyways, so i'll just point this out: i'm not good at speaking my thoughts in an organized manner. i absolutely suck at it, i speak on how my brain brings up the thoughts so i might ramble, get over my head in a thought, etc. i can't control it so i apologize in advance for the jumpiness of the texts. i will spell a lot of things wrong and not everything will be correct, as i read translations and on a manga site. don't worry it's not illegal, i believe.

MANGA SPOILERS AHEAD.

i apologize for my absence! last week or two weeks ago the tower to my computer completely broke and will not turn on. i tried to repair it and follow my fathers instructions but nothing worked. even cleaned off the fan and went through countless nights readjusting things. it's not my cords either so to help me out my father is working extra shifts to get me a new pc. so in the meantime i'll do small posts like these but not full writing/head canons until i have a computer tower lol. a family member was kind enough to allow me to have their phone while we work throughout this issue.

now onto the actual topic:

kenjaku and itadori's relationship. ( family wise ).

for context in the most recent chapter, 160 "colony" kamo shows up in sasaki's home and talks to her about the culling game and a barrier. but that's not the point, the point is as he's guiding her to the barrier inside her "dream" at the end he says "oh right. i almost forgot to tell you. thank you for getting along with my son." and then she is awakened inside the barrier, in her pajamas beside iguchi. when sasaki and iguchi look at the barrier and gather themselves they bring up kamo.

sasaki asked iguchi if he mentioned his son and he says no. this leaves sasaki in a state of confusion when itadori flashes in her mind. she says his name aloud like she finally connected the dots. now. why am i bringing up this whole kenjaku thanking sasaki for being his "son"'s friend. it throws me off because why didn't he thank iguchi?

did he not think iguchi meant their friendship? because sasaki was the one uninjured and still counted itadori as a friend? does iguchi not consider itadori as a friend anymore?

because we haven't seen these two at all since the incident. that raised many questions in me. as well "how can itadori be related to kamo?" and itadori is related to choso.

because kamo's technique is explained ( vaguely. we are aware he can create barriers, take over bodies, and has incredible cursed tools. chapter 134. this is also where choso makes his connection ( i believe. ) to itadori yuji as his brother. but because we saw this with todo many thought itadori just had another unconsious technique that allows the person who is hit create false memories and believe of a completely made up relationship with itadori without his knowledge. but alas, i was wrong. ) and we're given more hints shown than told ( imo ) i tried my best to make sense out of the situation and what he said. i think my conclusions are pretty solid, so continuing on.

we're given very little history on itadori, his past, and family. at the start of the manga we know that itadori's only family he knows is his grandfather and that he is ill in the hospital. at the very very beginning we learn that itadori is your average cute, fluffy, laid back but strong and goofy protagonist. in smaller words: itadori is kirby but even cuter and dumber.

my first impressions of him is a pineapple. if you're confused to this saying: it's calling a person prickly on the outside but sweet on the inside. and this is true, itadori's grandfather seems prickly and cold on the outside but he genuinely cares for itadori.

he raised itadori for all we know and did that with his all in assumption. but this ends up backfiring onto itadori, because he cares so much for his grandson - he ends up leaving a " curse " on yuji.

help people. save them.

itadori takes this to heart as his grandfathers speech is his last one. when he looks over to his grandfather the man is dead and now yuji is left alone. then the following events occur.

at this point in time i assumed itadori was an orphan ( he technically is if we're connecting the dots. his parents has not been shown, he doesn't speak of them, they aren't in the picture. we can conclude either they disowned itadori or died before he could make complete memories of them. )

but when we are shown in chapter 143 itadori's parents we see this "woman" jin ( yuji's father ) and his grandfather talking about has the same scar pattern. this scar pattern is either stitching ( assuming that is how kamo keeps the top of the opened skull from coming off. this is also how kamo revealed his cursed technique / body of sorts ( the brain, assuming that is kenjaku in his cursed technique and not the body / puppet he is controlling " getou suguru " ) to gojou. )

this is the only way i find kamo being able to assign itadori as his son. why is that you might be asking this dumbass here.

we do not have the full story, exact date, location, and full context of the memory/dream itadori is having. this cannot be fake either because kamo would than have no reason to call itadori his son. or is there? anyways.

take a leap of faith with me. imagine that before itadori is born ( he seems no more than a few weeks or days old in this memory. hence why i am thinking my conclusion is pretty solid in theory. but yknow gege, there might be something different. ) anywhooo.

TW. D3ATH/IMPLYING ANTI LIFE ATTEMPT

kamo had to have taken over yuji's mothers body after an accident OR after she gave birth to yuji. his grandfather is interrupted by her before he can finish his sentence but it seems to be leading to the conclusion that either kaori ( yuji's mother ) died while giving birth to yuji or kaori could not conceive and tried to take her own life or cause an accident that would take her life. ( i read a fan translation for this part but im pretty sure i also read the official translation today too and it added up to the same. )

i believe in the first idea, but since kamo's cursed technique wasn't explained in detail i don't know the conditions of his body technique. does the original host of the body have to be dead? can he regenerate body limbs ( i highly doubt. getou lost an arm during his fight with yuta. overconfident dick. reminding me of an ex ANTWAYS. i forgive him for being overconfident smooch. he learned. OFF TOPIC but continuing on i promise.

this is being continued from the cut off point. i'm so upset so it'll just be summarized. i can't believe this shit lol i took three hours just to finish it for it to literally cut off the bottom half.

continuing on in a sadge mood. kamo must not have the complete ability to take over a body. after all getou took his only arm he had as he was dying and choked his own body to his full ability. getou was willing to die ( possibly, you never know he could be alive if he killed his own body. moving on. ) just to have the chance to save his friend from being swallowed by a damn box.

so there has to be a chance that kamo cannot fully take over the previous persons complete consious and memory of their body. if getou still had his other arm after losing the fight to yuta, he could've choked kamo with both arms. in theory kamo wouldn't be able to control the right arm and die to the previous host choking him to death.

so why wouldn't the other hosts do it? after all, kamo did say it was his first time experiencing such a thing. assuming kamo has lived throughout many bodies in his 150+ lifespan none of the previous hosts could take control of their body.

i believe getou was completely influenced by gojou and his six eyes. there is no way gojou would even try to speak out to his friend unless he had an inkling or saw getou still in there. helpless and without the ability to save himself from the cage he's in.

being used and puppeteered in his own body by an external force. laughing in the world he could not. putting getou into a constant misery and defeat that he couldn't escape his hell. the one he tried so hard to fight and get out of. even if it was the wrong path.

gojou was the last person to witness getou dying. he had to watch getou bleed out after their conversation because he couldn't bring himself to kill his friend. the one he spent his whole jujutsu student life with. so for gojou to say such a thing to getou despite all that he did had to break getou out of his misery and give him that small sliver of hope that he could do something. of course he failed, but i doubt that's going to be the end of that.

the only way i see kamo being related to yuji is if he took over kaori's body before the pregnancy. assuming that when kamo takes over a body he becomes one with said body and is that person for however long he lives in said body. my only thing is, can he take over a persons body whilst they are alive? i would go more in depth like i did the last time but i am extremely upset about my work being erased so that's the end of this part.

thank you for reading! i have one more thing for you though.

the last time we see sukuna in a manga page after the shibuya incident is where he is on his throne and in his domain. this is after yuji is stabbed by yuta and is presumed "dead" at the time. he seems to be interested in yuta and i can think of 2-3 things. I would love to hear your theories too so don't be afraid to barge into my dms like the koolaid man.

A - sukuna is interested in Yuta because of his ability to use the reverse healing technique ( only a few sorcerers know this. sukuna being the first. shoko being the second one to be told that she has this power and then gojou. ) because of this he sees potential in yuta as well or has added this boy into his plans. after all, there is very few that can make sukuna make an expression that isn't an RBF. aka megumi and possibly gojou. I was looking at the page of him stabbing yuji and noticed we only see the entry point of where the blade enters. it's smaller because some got chunked off so its a possibility yuta used this to his advantage when "killing" yuji and instead hit an artery that could kill him but quickly healed him afterwards. or just his heart. the ideas.

B. Rika, Yuta is able to completely control Rika as shown. Even though he claims he is on the weak side, these two combined seem like an unstoppable force. He may be interested in Rika as she is a curse that has been put on someone that can fully control it. Not many people is shown to be able to control their curse. As we haven't met many.

this was enti and that's the last of my post! thank you for reading and it was a fun one. even though i had to restore this shit. anyways, i'd love you to add or fix up my ideas and tell me your thoughts and opinions! Thanks a bunch!

^ this is for pure humor

[iaintyourbro]

The Unknown Journey Continues

Part 1

I know it's been a while... but I've been going down a rabbit hole with @starlight-samurai regarding time loops, Jenova, Minerva, and more fun. So I figured I'd try to put it into one post to get the insanity out of my head. Everything in here is based on things we've found by either going through more obscure Ultimanias, learning more about Dirge of Cerberus and trying to decipher what the hell Jenova is by putting together various sources - including other Square Enix games - and how they handled freakishly similar scenarios.

Did you know there is a companion mobile game for it that was out on the good old flip phones? Did you know there was an online mode in Dirge of Cerberus only available in Japan, but had story elements that were not in the main game?

The sad part is, there's still so much to go through...

(I've also had various discussions with @ourfinalheaven, Manu, who doesn't have Tumblr, so here is her Twitter. and Somebody's Nightmare (here is her Twitter). So I wanted to tag them here, as it's much more fun to discuss these ideas as a group, since it'll only help you build on and strengthen your own ideas.)

Please be aware, there will be Spoilers for FFVII - Almost all Compilation titles, Xenogears, and NieR Automata throughout this.

So let's go on a journey where we explore what actually already exists in the compilation - including the idea of the whispers and timeloops - how Minerva may play into everything, and what exactly Jenova is capable of doing.

I asked Sesi if he'd ever played any of the NieR games, because he'd said something that made me wonder if they were going to take a similar approach. As a very, very quick high level summary: NieR Automata deals with a time loop type of idea. The androids will be rebooted and repeat the same things over and over again. This is broken when 2B is killed by A2 because she becomes infected with a virus. That being said, you have the option after Ending E to either erase all of your data and end the cycle OR you can try again. The Pods have a discussion, and one asks, "But won't they just do the same thing again?" and the other replies with "Maybe. But it could also be different this time."

Here's Sesi's message back to me when I asked him about this (cleaned up a bit since we were having a casual conversation over Discord):

Maybe I could just guess based comparatively on the Dirge storyline, because that was sort of SE's first flirtation with “robots and androids” since they’re all programmed and locked behind like task managers and shit that can shut them down. The story of the online mode for DoC that came out in Japan, we never got to see it, you’re basically an Android OC and you have to get to “the end of the level” and then essentially die, and a new one takes its place. This keeps happening until Weiss is essentially freed from being able to be task managed by the guys who are suppose to be able to control them and I know from tons of years with Square games that they’re verrrrry bad at differentiating their narratives they tend to just keep “ripping themselves off” so is it anything close to that?

Cuz if so I think I kinda know what you’re saying and yeah, I agree, I think with CC bringing in its poetic symbolism and LOVELESS, and DoC bringing back the cyclic nature of the lore, whispers, premonitions and future visions, proto-Materia and the perversion of this next cycle since the planet can no longer cleanse and protect itself and its will is weakening lesser and lesser to the point where it’s fate is “in a true sense of jeopardy This time essentially it’s all tied in together and sort of played as though it's a fated track; a cycle of events and something has hitched it, thus the whispers manifesting and Sephiroth's higher implied control over his destiny. Of course, even all that is just their new red herring game, but it’s definitely a part of the lore they want to play with, in order to go back and reMAKE the OG with the comp inserted from inception. Also gut punch a lot.

Time Loops

I was somewhat surprised to find out that this concept is NOT new to FFVII's universe. It's discussed in Dirge of Cerberus... probably one of the least played and least understood of the compilation. (Trying to sell a third person shooter with terrible controls to a market of mostly people used to turn-based combat wasn't going to go well.)

On top of it, we didn't even get all of it, since online mode was never released outside of Japan, and the Dirge of Cerberus Lost Episode was on Amp'd Mobile and Verizon flip phones back in 2006. Were you around for the cell phones in 2006? I had the ones on the list, and how somebody could play a game on those blows my mind.

Square has a tendency to reuse themes from their other titles. Probably one of the most blatant is the similarities between Xenogears and Final Fantasy VII. They were both being developed at the same time and a lot of ideas that didn't make it into FFVII ended up in Xenogears.

NieR

So how does this work? In NieR (both Replicant and Automata), you play the same path multiple times. Each time, it's slightly different depending on what side quests you did your first and second playthrough, but there's also other subtle differences throughout the story. In Automata, you get to play as 2B your first playthrough and 9S for your second. They follow the same path, but you get it from his perspective the second time and it reveals a bit more of what is going on. However, even with some slight differences, the main plot points stay the same and the ending result it also the same.

Then on your third playthrough, you wake up in the Bunker, and you're getting ready to go on a new mission. This time, though, 2B is killed and shit hits the fan. Things get crazy, you play as a new character: A2. In the end, pretty much everyone "dies", but you can choose to "reboot" and try again. You also can say you are done and let them all rest and delete your save data (the game gives you the option for both Automata and Replicant, and with Replicant, it actually leads to a new ending).

The striking thing for me is... There are certain events that will always happen, no matter what.

Fixed Points in Time

It's been years since I've watched Doctor Who, but there was something that stuck with me, and that was the fixed points in time. You can read about all of them here, but here's the basics:

Now, of course Doctor Who goes into this with much more detail and it's a recurring theme. However, as you read through that page, you'll probably find many aspects that have been used in various JRPGs that you've played. And Doctor Who most likely pulled some of the idea from classic Science Fiction novels. Each story puts its own spin on it.

How does this relate to FFVII Remake? Well, when they say that the major plot points will stay the same, it reminds me of this. No matter what, Cloud must fall into the Sector 5 Church, the Sector 7 Plate must be dropped, Aerith and Zack both must die, and Meteor has to be summoned, to name a few. So, with a time loop, those things would still have to take place in order to prevent a complete collapse of reality (at least in how Doctor Who uses it).

Therefore, the Whispers are ensuring that the Will of the Planet is followed.

One of the major themes in FFVII is that of loss. People die and they do not come back. Yes, other FF games do allow this to happen (FFX, FFXIII, FFXV), but VII is not those games. It was written with that idea in mind, that once a person dies, they, just like in real life, are dead and cannot be brought back.

I've previously written that I think they'll make us believe we are able to change fate, but we will eventually be slammed with the reality that we can't. That is because the planet has determined that certain events are fixed points.

Xenogears

Xenogears takes a bit of a different approach to the loop idea. Instead of repeating the same time period over and over, it has the characters reincarnated, and the same outcome happens each time: Elly dies. However, each time it's different. After all, they're in various time periods, in some cases thousands of years apart.

In all of the lives of Fei (who will have a different name in each time period) and Elly (who is always Elly/Elhaym), Elly will end up dying trying to protect Fei and the others. In one life, she is a religious figure at a totally not Catholic church, in another she's the wife of a scientist who was working to create children from nanomachines due to mass infertility issues. But she is ALWAYS with Fei, even if his name changes.

In her Mother Elhaym time, this is when Lacan (Fei) finally snaps. Though he's not fully aware of his past lives, he becomes aware, the anger consumes him, and he becomes Grahf. Fei is then reborn into the time period you play the game in.

There's a lot to unpack with this, so I won't go into it. Grahf wants to destroy God (Deus) because he thinks if he does, then it'll stop the suffering (his suffering).

If you do want to read more about Grahf, you can do so here, but it probably won't make much sense unless you've played Xenogears up to that point... Since it's much later in the game that this is all explained.

Lacan's desire was to stop the cycle of Elly always sacrificing herself for his sake. Though Grahf is not a perfect existence - he's not fully "The Contact", he sacrifices himself in order to let Fei move forward, and hopefully stop the cycle, by destroying the Deus system. (Elly also tries to sacrifice herself here, but Fei goes after her and stops her.)

Now, some people may think I'm saying that Cloud or somebody is going to do this in order to save Aerith or Zack (or his village or mom), but in FFVII if they do the loop method, I don't think Cloud, Tifa, Barret, and the others are aware of it. Most likely, it's only 'Sephiroth' and Aerith who are aware of it.

How this Could Be used for Final Fantasy VII

I'm stressing could because there's so many different possibilities on how they use this (if they are using this), so please, don't take this as fact. This is based on speculation based on what we know.

A time loop is a great way to explain away the differences in the story that we've seen: Biggs being alive, Wedge living for longer than he should have, etc. Since these are not major plot changes, they can simply say that this time it'll be slightly different... but your fixed points (major plot points) will remain the same.

It's a way to pull in some of the more obscure themes from Dirge of Cerberus and also play with the LOVELESS lore.

It could all simply be a big red herring and it's really just a remake of OG, but with the compilation tied together nicely... since it works much better when it's combined and not in 50 different games, books, movies, etc.

I don't think it's a "sequel" per say, not in the way I generally perceive a sequel. It's more of a loop of the same thing. The question is, when is the loop started and what will cause it to end? When will the planet (if it even is the planet) determine that it's good enough to begin moving forward?

JENOVA, Sephiroth, Genesis, and Minerva - Oh My!

Let's be real... Genesis isn't exactly the most popular character in the FFVII Compilation... but what if they make him one of the most important to the story? //Ducks as various fruits and vegetable are thrown in my direction//

I think what Genesis is probably most known for is his love of LOVELESS. He has the entire thing memorized and randomly says lines from it throughout Crisis Core. LOVELESS lore is still something I'm trying to grasp, so I am not going to comment much on it. Once I understand it more, I'll update this.

...And then this happens. The secret ending for Dirge of Cerberus, where Genesis picks up Weiss. Weiss, who has now been introduced along with Nero in FFVII INTERmission and is an optional ridiculously hard boss in the Shinra battle simulator in chapter 17 of the main story. There is some lore associated with the battle sim - so if you don't plan on beating it or you just can't, you can look up the pre-battle and post-battle cut scenes on YouTube. They're very short, but interesting. (I beat this asshole last night - it's a hell of a fight.)

....To Be Continued because apparently Tumblr won't allow more than 10 images per post now.... Next will be more on JENOVA and Sephiroth along with Minerva.

[imagines-by-a-typical-fangirl]

The Perfect Bad Boy (Pt. 14 of 18)

Pairing: Billy Hargrove X Reader

Word count: 3 K

Summary: Working as a lifeguard in the Hawkins Community Pool, you try to fit in after moving from New York. Things were going pretty well when you notice you've been under someone's stare. Billy Hargrove, Hawkins' bad boy, has been staring at you since day one. You never intended to have anything to do with him, judging by the reputation he has. But Billy won't leave you alone, determined to show you his feelings are different this time...

As if your heart flooding you with confusing feelings wasn't enough, there are weird, strange animals lurking in the woods... But those have to be just part of the wild live of the woods surrounding Hawkins... Right?

<- Previous part (13)

Next part (15) ->

{Stranger Things Masterlist}

×

Hunt and Destroy

“Alright... A lot of new words and names...” You mutter, looking at the floor between your feet. It's late now, and Eleven has been talking for over an hour. The story is long and you had to stop her to ask a few questions. More than a few, actually. Everything sounds like a very strange story, the weirdest, something nobody could come up with. To prove it, Eleven turned the TV on with her mind, skipping through the channels before turning it off again. But you didn't need any proof. You know what you saw and it was very, very real. “Upside down, Demodog, Demodorden...”

“Demogorgon. With a G.” Dustin corrects you, smiling. How can he be smiling?

“Demogorgon, ok.” Nodding, you take a deep breath and stand up. “So... What's the plan?” You ask, pacing around the living room.

“Well, we need to gather the whole party for this,” Max says and the others nod.

“I'll talk to my mom and Hopper,” Jonathan speaks out. “We have to do this as soon as possible so... tomorrow.”

“Yeah. Can it be here?” You're not sure if you can make this demand, but right now, being anywhere else after dark is too much. The sunlight is your protection since it's deadly to the... Demo-something. It burns them. They like it cold, said Eleven.

“Sure.” Jonathan answers and you offer him a small smile in return. “Could it be by five? Before the sunset.”

“Yeah. We can sneak out of the pool again.” It shouldn't be a problem, and if Anthony is there, you could pretend to be sick.

“Tomorrow is our day off.” Billy reminds and you take a deep breath, running a hand through your hair. You completely forgot that.

“By the morning them. Maybe we'll get something figured out we can start working on through the rest of the day.” Mike suggests and the whole party agrees. “We should get going though. It's late.” Mike gets up from his spot on the floor.

“Wait.” Mike can't possibly be for real now. “You're not gonna head home now. With those things out there.” They're getting closer to the town, and it means they'll hang around all night. “It's dangerous. You should stay.”

Most of them agree easily, chattering among them. Max seems excited, but Mike exchanges a look with Nancy. “I don't think our mother would let us crash at Billy's place.” She says with an apologetic look.

“Oh.” You know why. Billy told you where he was going to when the Mind Flayer almost got him... Or better saying, who he was going to meet. Mrs. Wheeler. You did felt weird back then, and it sure makes you feel weird now, but whatever he did before, you left it where it belongs. In the past. “Just call and tell her you'll be crashing at my place.”

“Yeah, man. C'mon. Slumber party.” Dustin cheers, smiling, and once again you can't understand why they aren't terrified. Guess they're just used to it. But how can someone get used to monsters lurking around?

“Alright, then.” Mike agrees, making his way to the phone.

“They didn't get it yet,” Billy whispers in your ear.

“They didn't get it.” Repeating, you wrap your arms around his neck. “I'm really trying not to freak out right now.” The words come out of your mouth, rolling out your tongue.

“Let's go to the bedroom so you can rest and we can talk.”

“Ok...”

“Alright. It's done.” Mike comes back with his sister, gesturing at the front door. “Should we get going?”

You and Billy exchange a look. They really didn't get it. “Uhm... So that's it, guys.” You start, taking Billy's hand and pulling him with you. “You can crash either here or Max's room. First to wake up makes breakfast.”

“Wait. You made me lie to my mom?” Mike asks as you move further into the hall.

“(Y/N) is living here.” Max ends the mystery, and you can feel her massive eye roll.

“Holy shit.” You hear Dustin and Steve mumbling as you get inside the room.

Billy lets you shower first, and as you wait for him, you look through his college books. Everything seems very complicated. Your fingers run through one of the pages, taking in the many numbers, but not really reading anything. Your mind is too far away right now. The scene keeps playing back, over and over. The... Demodog, as the kids call it, its face opening up, the guttural noises it made. You wish it was just a nightmare, but everything seems very, very real.

Billy's sudden touch makes you suck in a sharp breath, shaking a little. “Sorry. Didn't mean to scare you.” The feeling is quickly replaced by the usual warmth he makes you feel. Safety and comfort.

“It's ok, I'm just... How is it possible that the kids seem to be so fine with it?” Turning around, you lay your head on his chest as he pulls you close.

“They've been through a lot. They know how to deal with it and you don't have to participate if you don't want to.” Billy touches your face, fingers caressing the soft skin of your jaw. “I'll do anything to keep you safe, you know that right?”

You do. But staying out would not only make you a coward, but it would mean one less person to help them do whatever they're planning to. And, whatever this thing is, it had a part in messing with Billy's life. With Max's life, and all her friends. It's kind of personal. And, if Billy is in danger, you want to be there to make sure you'll do anything to save him. “I want to do it. I just need time to... Process everything.”

“You won't be alone. And I'm not talking only for myself, but for everyone else too.”

“Ok.”

“Now come. You need to get some sleep.” Billy pulls you to the bed, and, instead of laying beside him as usual, you decide to crawl on top of him.

“Am I crushing you?” You ask as you lay your head on his chest, smiling to feel his strong arms around you.

“Haven't you noticed the weight I can lift? You're nothing compared to it.”

Closing your eyes, you feel as he places a kiss on the top of your head. You've never been like that with Billy, literally on top of him, and it's good. Today, more than ever, you need to feel safe. Protected. And he's the only one who makes you feel this way. “I'm so happy we don't have to go to work tomorrow.”

“Me too.”

Pulling yourself up, you move upwards until your face is close to his. “Do you think the kids are talking about us?” Despite your mind being apparently stuck reminiscing the same moment, the terror in your chest, you try to change the subject. Hopefully, it'll keep you from having nightmares tonight.

“I'm sure of it.” As he speaks, a noise of glass shattering reaches us. “Max!” Billy yells at the top of his lungs, startling you. “What the hell!”

“Stop yelling.” You giggle, playfully slapping his shoulder.

“Just a glass, Billy,” Maxine answers from somewhere in the house.

“Better clean this shit up!” He shouts again.

“Shut up!” You whine, lowering yourself on him a little. “Or else I'll have to make you and it won't be nice.”

Billy raises an eyebrow, that usual smirk making its way to his lips. “Oh, and how exactly wouldn't it be nice?”

Yeah, you didn't really give much thought before making the threat. “Okay then.” Smirking, you close the distance between you until your lips are brushing on his before you sit up abruptly, a hand covering his mouth. “See? I told you it wouldn't be nice.” He opens his mouth under your hand, and you feel his teeth biting your skin. “Billy!” You complain, taking your hand away from his mouth. “I can't believe you bit me, you jerk.”

“You got what you deserved.” He suddenly pulls you down, making you lay next to him. “Now, quit playing around and sleep, princess. Tomorrow will be a long day.”

“Kiss me goodnight then. To keep the bad dreams away.” You ask him softly, melting into the slow, warm kiss he gives you.

It doesn't help with the nightmares though. Twice that night you wake up, a breath caught in your throat. You struggle not to let Billy notice, snuggling closer to him.

You're more than happy when morning finally comes. The house is so damn loud, and breakfast in a mess. You like it though, the craziness distracting you from yesterday's events. The rest of the party is here by nine, thanks to the urgency of the matter. And then, after everyone is fed up and the dishes are clean, which took half an hour since nobody wanted to do it, everyone sits in the living room to talk.

And you just can't seem to keep up with it. The boys speak fast, Hopper yells, Joyce tries to calm him down, he argues with Eleven, which is like his daughter, you got that, and then he argues with Mike. Nancy and Jonathan always check with each other before saying something, Steve always finds the flaws on the kids' plans, pointing out the many ways it could go wrong, and Dustin often gets into some kind of argument with him. There are a hundred different ways things could go wrong. A thousand ways you could die. Running a hand through your hair, you hold onto Billy's biceps, laying your head on his shoulder. You're the only one who didn't say anything since the conversation started. There's just nothing you can help them with, you'll just stick up to whatever plan they have.

What they know for sure that these Demodogs are here because some of them must have been left behind in some kind of incubation period until it started growing again.

“So that's it. Hunt and destroy.” Lucas says, nodding to himself.

“Yes. We don't know exactly how much time we have until they start going full Demogorgon, so we should start acting now.” Mike states. “Immediately.”

As if something was lit up, everyone starts moving. “My place in one hour, everyone,” Hopper says and suddenly the crowd disperses, the house once again silent.

You're still in the same place you were, on the couch, legs crossed, eyes on the floor. “Hey. You ok?”

“Yeah.” Taking a deep breath, you stand up. “So. Hopper's place. One hour.” Saying this more to yourself than to him, you get up and pace around the living room. “Should we take the baseball bat?”

“Steve has one far more fun than that. You'll like it.” You can tell Billy is keeping his voice nice and soft, trying not to push you over the edge with everything that's going on. “(Y/N), you don't have to go. You know that, right?”

“I do. But I'm going anyway.” Walking over him, you tiptoe to place a kiss on his lips. “Those kids are so brave. I don't want them to think I'm the weak link.”

“Alright, but we stick together. No exceptions.”

“I agree.” It does make you feel a lot better.

In the next hour, you and Billy shower and get ready. You make sure to wear short jeans and a light shirt so you won't feel too hot. The plan is trying to find the Demodog's nest. This part has to be made during the daylight, to make sure no attacks will happen, so you have no choice but to walk around the woods under the sun. Billy makes sure to shove a lot of water on his backpack, using literally every bottle he found in the house. And Max gathers some snacks for the day.

You reach Hopper's place at the same time Nancy, Jonathan, and Mike does, realizing it's also Joyce's place. The party is gathered in front of the house, a big map of Hawking on the ground. Beside it, a pile of some random stuff that you guess will be the... Weapons you'll use. Just in case.

Hopper is the one to assign everyone a place to start, the area they'll have to cover, and where they'll have to stop. There are lines drawn over the map, and you hope Billy has everything memorized because you don't even know where is where. Then, the groups are separated. Billy of course says he'll take you and Max. And Lucas, much to his dismay, will come along too. When people start taking stuff from the pile, you immediately get what Billy mentioned earlier. There's a baseball bat with nails on the top. Smiling, you take it.

“That's so badass.” You mutter, looking at Billy. “This will be my weapon of choice.”

“Hey. That's mine.” Steve exclaims, reaching out his hand.

“Not anymore, buddy.” You sass at him, swinging the bar and hitting the air.

“But–”

“She's good with the bat, trust me,” Maxine says and you nod. Some people have an interrogation on their faces, and Steve keeps staring at the three of you, as if waiting for further explanation.

“We have an inside joke.” Lowering the bat, you turn to look at Billy.

“Restricted to the Hargrove family,” Billy states, taking one the radios from the pile and starting the make his way to the car. “And Max.”

“But what about me?” You feel a little set aside by his affirmation, wondering what he meant. It's impossible that he's ignoring the fact that you were there that day. “I'm in the joke too.” Whining a little on purpose, you follow him.

“You still only notice half of things.” Billy winks at you as he gets inside the car, and after Max and Lucas get in the back seat, you get in as well. “I know you know what I meant.”

“Maybe I didn't.” Billy has this way with you. You were expecting the first sensations to fade, but they didn't. He still makes you nervous, the butterflies on your stomach doesn't seem to grow immune to him. And part of you is still scared of the things you think he means. You did got what he said, but it's safer to just pretend you didn't, right?

The short drive is filled with chattering. The kind of chattering you didn't want to hear since it's all about the Demothings. You stop by the woods, and Max and Lucas will be the ones responsible for the map since they have a compass.

And so the ‘hunting’ starts. You're glad it's not a real hunt though. You remember when you invited Billy for a trail with your friends, but walking through the woods feels different now. Before, you had only the normal wild animals to worry about, not some monsters that came out of the gates of hell. But you try to keep in mind that the sunlight means protection, so you'll safe. For now.

“Billy, can you make sure we'll have enough daylight to make the way back to the car?” You ask him, putting your hair up on a ponytail.

“I will, don't worry.” He moves closer, taking your hand in his. “We'll be ok. Just focus on trying to find anything unusual in the woods.”

“Sure.”

Billy doesn't let go of your hand until you stop to eat something. Lucas and Max start arguing a lot when you resume your walking, complaining about the directions. Billy is clearly pissed, not very fond of the idea of his little sister dating. It's cute the way he keeps staring at the young couple, paying attention to whatever they're saying. You wonder if Billy ever thought about having kids.

Wait. What the hell? Step back, you tell yourself. Too soon for that.

At some point, a fresh breeze starts blowing, and you couldn't be more thankful for it. Letting your hair down, you run a hand through it out of nervousness.

“I'm telling you, we have to go West now,” Lucas says.

“Yes. First West then North.” Maxine takes the map from his hands, taking a look at it. “It's obvious if you think about it. Just look. Try using your head for a moment.”

“Are you calling me dumb?”

“Yes!”

“Alright, both of you.” Billy intervenes, his voice with a tiny hint of anger. “Will you two make a goddman decision or will I have to?”

This will be interesting. Billy and you have been walking a couple of feet behind them, so as he moves ahead, you stand there, crossing your arms. The breeze brings a soft sound, that looks like the sound the pools make when it's windy. Following it, you spot water, only about ten feet away. Leaving the guys behind to their fights, you make your way there, making sure there are no big trees hiding you from their sight. When you get there, you bend down, putting one hand on the freshwater.

“(Y/N)!” It's Billy's usual yell, the one he always uses to scare the shit out of you. “Do you want to give me a heart attack?” When you turn around to look at him, he's already close by, Maxine and Lucas coming right after.

“Sorry, but I found this lake.”

“Lover's lake,�� Max says, sitting down on a rock, eyes on the map.

“Lover's lake?” You repeat, crossing your arms and looking at Billy. “Why haven't you ever brought me here?” By the name, you think it would be a nice romantic date. And you remember by what you saw on the map, the lake is shaped like a heart, the reason for the name.

“Oh, you're new here. Sometimes it slips my mind.” He puts he bag down, safely away from where the small ripples reach. “People usually come here to... You know. So I thought that if I brought you and then you found out what really happens here you'd come to the wrong conclusion about my feelings for you.”

That's a very good explanation. And it makes you feel... Special. Different. “Thank you, then. For... Having this in mind.” As you speak, you take off your white shoes, all dusted by now.

“What are you doing?” He asks, an eyebrow raised when you look up at him, using his arm for balance to take off the other shoe.

“I'm using the Lover's Lake to something else than making out.” You start walking backwards, into the water.

“Whoa, look at what (Y/N)'s doing,” Lucas says, and you give them a glance. Max giggles, putting the map down.

“Try to drown Billy, would you?”

“I'll do my best.” When you stare back at Billy, he's already in the water.

You move back until your feet stop touching the bottom, so you start swimming further away. The freshwater is a blessing, washing the hot day from your skin. For a moment, you decide to leave the worries behind, just for a couple of minutes. Billy is quick to reach you, and you're suddenly aware of the kids staring. “We have an audience, keep that in mind.” You tell him when he pulls you close, strong arms encircling your waist.

“Were you ever kissed underwater?”

“No.” Your smirk matches his as you take a deep breath and push yourself down.

The kiss is a mess. You have to focus on holding your breath through the process, what makes you laugh, throwing bubbles on Billy's face. You manage to reach the bottom, your back hitting the rocks as Billy floats on top of you. But eventually, the oxygen you were saving is over, so you push him away and swim back up, laughing when you reach the surface.

“What a chaos.” You burst out when he comes back up as well. “We suck at underwater kisses.”

“I think I swallowed some water,” Billy says, coughing a little.

It only makes you laugh harder, removing the hair glued to your face. Swimming closer to him, you wrap your arms around his neck.

“Hey! Mr. and Mrs. Hargrove! Let's get moving!” Lucas shouts, making you roll your eyes.

You burst into laugh again when Billy flings you over his back, carrying you back to land.

And the walking restarts, with Max and Lucas constantly arguing and Billy trying to make them stop. The good thing is that it distracts you. And the bad part is that it distracts you from searching around for any signs of a Demothing nest. Your eyes scan through the woods, among the trees, looking for–.

“Holy shit!” Lucas exclaims and then he jolts away, running, followed by Max. You and Billy exchange a look before rushing after them.

Before you can ask what was that, you see it. A huge hole on the solid ground. It would fit a car in it. The thing goes down, in a slope, and then it keeps going until it makes a turn left. It's clear it doesn't belong to any kind of wild animal. It's not natural. A low, guttural low snarl reaches your ears, and you involuntary gives step back.

“Call them. Them then we found it.” Lucas says, taking a pencil and making a mark on the map.

The moment Max takes the small radio, you hear static. “Everyone listen up.” Steve says, more voices talking behind him. “We found it. A freaking hole in the ground. It has to be–”

“That's it.” Eleven's voice cuts him off. “We found it too.”

It was supposed to be just one.

“What?” Steve asks.

“Head back now. Everyone.” Hopper says and Max turns the radio off.

This is far worse than you thought.

×

@chloe-skywalker @dpaccione @dreamin-of-dacre @funeral-7 @uncookspaget @youhavemyfantasticbeasts @halloweenbitch2764 @redlovett @multific @shinydixon @nikkixostan @clockworkballerina @nope-thanks

[twoidiotwriters1]

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

A/N: Meet Mel’s little brother :)

Words: 5,235 

Series’ Masterlist

Previous Chapter // Book Six

Listen to: ‘Thread’ -by Keane.

Chapter Thirty-Six: Leon Regulus Sultens-Black.

HE-WHO-MUST-NOT-BE-NAMED RETURNS

[...]Albus Dumbledore, newly reinstated headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, re-instated member of the International Confederation of Wizards, and reinstated Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, was unavailable for comment last night. 

He has insisted for a year that You-Know-Who was not dead, as was widely hoped and believed, but recruiting followers once more for a fresh attempt to seize power. Meanwhile the Boy Who Lived —

"There you are, Harry, I knew they'd drag you into it somehow," Hermione interrupted.

"Of course they would," Erick rolled his eyes, he was sitting on the floor between the two beds, his back against Hermione's bed. 

Now that all his Slytherin friends knew the truth, they had stopped talking to him, so Erick was now spending all his time with Mel.

"He's 'the Boy Who Lived' again now, though, isn't he? Not such a show-off maniac anymore, eh?" Ron grabbed a bunch of chocolate frogs from his bedside table and handed one to each. 

He leaned over and stretched out his hand to Erick, the older boy stared down at the chocolate and then up to him, Ron waved it impatiently in front of his face and Erick grabbed it quickly.

"Yes, they're very complimentary about you now, Harry," Hermione agreed. "'A lone voice of truth... perceived as unbalanced, yet never wavered in his story... forced to bear ridicule and slander...' Hmm... I notice they don't mention the fact that it was them doing all the ridiculing and slandering, though... 'You-Know-Who's Last Attempt to Take Over, pages two to four, What the Ministry Should Have Told Us, page five, Why Nobody Listened to Albus Dumbledore, pages six to eight, Exclusive Interview with Harry Potter and Mel Dumbledore, page nine...' Well, it's certainly given them lots to write about. And that interview with Harry and Mel isn't exclusive, it's the one that was in The Quibbler months ago..."

"Daddy sold it to them," said Luna. "He got a very good price for it too, so we're going to go on an expedition to Sweden this summer and see if we can catch a Crumple-Horned Snorkack."

"...That sounds lovely," Hermione said after a short silence.

"So anyway, what's going on in school?"

"Well, Flitwick's got rid of Fred and George's swamp," said Ginny. "He did it in about three seconds. But he left a tiny patch under the window and he's roped it off —"

"Why?" 

"Oh, he just says it was a really good bit of magic."

"I think he left it as a monument to Fred and George, they sent me all these, you know," Ron pointed at the bunch of Frogs. "Must be doing all right out of that joke shop, eh?" 

 "I'll miss them..." Mel sighed.

"You can always buy a few of their products and set them around the school," Harry offered, "it'll feel as if they were still here."

She chuckled softly, around them the group shared confused and relieved glances. It wasn't exactly like before, but they could sense the friendly tones of their conversations, they had stopped fighting.

Although it didn't mean there wouldn't be fights later, they had pushed the conversation about their lifeline further into the future, right now they didn't have the energy to discuss life-changing matters.

"So has all the trouble stopped now Dumbledore's back?" Hermione asked.

"Yes, everything's settled right back down again," Neville nodded.

"I s'pose Filch is happy, is he?" asked Ron.

"Not at all! He's really, really miserable, actually..." Ginny lowered her voice. "He keeps saying Umbridge was the best thing that ever happened to Hogwarts..."

"If any of you feel like pranking Filch next year, let me know so I can look the other way," Erick joked.

All of them turned to see Professor Umbridge on the bed opposite Ron and Hermione's. Dumbledore had rescued her from the centaurs, nobody knew how, and Umbridge was out of it, therefore unable to speak.

"Madam Pomfrey says she's just in shock," Hermione explained. 

"Sulking, more like," said Ginny.

"Yeah, she shows signs of life if you do this," said Ron, and with his tongue he made soft clip-clopping noises. Umbridge sat bolt upright, looking wildly around.

"Anything wrong, Professor?" called Madam Pomfrey, poking her head around her office door.

"No... no..." said Umbridge, sinking back into her pillows, "no, I must have been dreaming..."

Hermione and Ginny muffled their laughter.

"Serves her right," Mel scowled. "She caused a lot of suffering this year..."

She looked down at Harry's hand, and the boy moved it only to hold hers.

"Speaking of centaurs," Hermione spoke, causing Harry to retreat his hand abruptly, "who's Divination teacher now? Is Firenze staying?"

"He's got to, the other centaurs won't take him back, will they?" Harry shrugged.

"It looks like he and Trelawney are both going to teach," said Ginny.

"Bet Dumbledore wishes he could've got rid of Trelawney for good. Mind you, the whole subjects useless if you ask me, Firenze isn't a lot better..."

"How can you say that?" Hermione frowned. "After we've just found out that there are real prophecies? It is a pity it broke..."

"Yeah, it is. Still, at least You-Know-Who never found out what was in it either, it was clever of you to break it, Mel. Though you really shouldn't have used your hand to do so..."

"I think it made you look really tough," Erick smiled.

Mel returned his gesture tensely, she wished she could feel as calm as the rest of her friends, she wanted to go back to normal but she couldn't ignore what was about to happen once the school year ended, now her home had as many ghosts as the castle.

"Hey, where are you going?" Ron asked in a hurt voice when Harry stood up to leave.

"Er — Hagrid's. You know, he just got back and I promised I'd go down and see him and tell him how you two are..." 

"Oh all right then," Ron grumbled. "Wish we could come..."

"Say hello to him for us!" said Hermione. "And ask him what's happening about... about his little friend!"

Erick occupied Harry's place, he nudged her arm. 

"You're going to let him go just like that?" 

Mel contemplated the door in silence. She was ready for Harry's grief this time, there would be moments when he would want to be left alone and she had no problem with it. She understood, there were moments in which she wanted to hide away forever and never wake up.

"He doesn't need me right now," The girl shrugged. "And before you give me a lecture, I don't mean it in a bad way. Whatever he's going through... I can't help him go through it faster. I can't even help myself..."

Mel looked out the window to avoid her friend's eyes.

"How about we go for a walk?" Erick suggested.

They stopped once they reached the courtyard. It was deserted, most of the students were out on the school grounds bathing in the sun. Mel sat on the edge of one of the archways while Erick remained standing, she could feel him staring, but she kept her eyes down.

"So you and Harry are okay now," He started, "no more fighting?"

"None at all," She sighed. "We have better things to do than to fight over our love life. Not that it matters, we've stopped liking each other that way."

"How come?"

"It just happened," She replied quietly.

Erick hummed, moving to sit next to her. 

"Maybe you're meant to be just friends. I mean, your relationship is already too complicated with the lifeline..."

Mel couldn't care less about what her relationship with Harry was destined to be. She didn't know what she wanted to do with the connection after hearing Harry's reasons to keep it.  All she could think of was her mother; she'd sacrificed so much to keep them safe, what Sirius had done to help them... She was running out of days to think of a proper way to apologize to her family. Dumbledore had taken the blame but those were just words, in the end, it was Mel and Harry who'd decided to drop every precaution, part of her felt she deserved all the hurt.

"You know," Erick said quietly. "I've been thinking about dropping out of school after this year."

"Why?"

"Well, my intention was to become a Ministry worker, but after these last few months, I realized they're useless. It would change my plans completely... but maybe I could join the Order?"

"Is that what you want?"

"I don't know what I want," He sighed tiredly. "I know I'm good at duelling and I have nowhere else to go... Did you know Sirius offered to take me in for the summer?"

Mel stared at him. 

"Well, he did," Erick continued. "He said I could live with him, that he didn't mind having me around — said I reminded him of his younger brother... Wish I could've done something to help him..."

"You should hate me," She blurted out. "My mother's going to hate me. She'll hate me for being impulsive and for not listening to my uncle — My brother will hate me..."

"Why would I hate you?" He frowned. 

"It's my fault that your parents kicked you out," She responded. "I made you write those letters to Anne. It was me who dragged you into this mess, you never wanted any of this, you would've lived a quiet, prosperous life —"

"And I would've been miserable," Erick shook his head. "You never forced me to do anything. You asked and I granted every time because I wanted to, I needed you to give me that final push... I made my choice the moment I met you, Mel."

"It's my fault you don't get to live with Sirius — it's because of me that you won't have a nice home —"

"It's because of you that I'm still alive," His voice trembled with incredulity. He moved closer and held her by the shoulders. "You're the best thing that's ever happened to me, I'm so lucky I found you..."

The girl had been shoving all her worries deep within herself for too long, she hadn't cried properly, refusing to let herself grieve since she felt she had no right to do so. Erick's voice sounded honest and comforting, she cracked under the pressure.

Erick hugged her and Mel wept like she hadn't done in months, not even while making peace with Harry. She sobbed as loud as she wanted, and the knot that had been stopping her from breathing finally loosened a bit, it made her feel as if she was slowly shrinking back into her child self, the girl cornered in the playground, but she wasn't alone anymore, and she was no longer a weak little thing.

Erick ran a hand through her hair gently, there was something about the way he touched her that made her feel safe. 

"You'll feel better. I promise you will..."

He'd lost someone not so long ago, the only adult he'd loved and cared for him. He was probably still grieving, but the fact that he was there, in one piece, was the definite and only proof she needed to hold onto her hopes.

When the last day of school arrived, it also meant having to sit there surrounded by curious eyes all staring at her and Harry, and she knew what Dumbledore would say during his speech. 

Stay together. 

She'd talked about the same thing for three days in a row and she was exhausted, if she could, she would drink a potion to forget everything, maybe even the fact that she was a witch, and she would go live with her uncle Lupin, surrounded by nothing but trees...

However, Mel had to keep fighting. It was far from over.

She decided to skip the feast and asked her friends to bring her food once it ended, she slowly made her way back to the tower. Mel turned right on one of the corridors and stopped abruptly when she saw Harry. 

For a second they stared at each other in mild confusion, they had been careful not to spend too much time alone because they knew they would end up discussing things they weren't ready to address. Mel gathered enough energy to give him a weak smile.

"Trying to find your appetite? Me too."

Harry raised his eyebrows. 

"You're not hungry?" 

"It's been happening all year," She sighed. "I guess I grew out of that too..."

"No way. You'll be eating in a week, I expect."

"I expect the same from you," She replied. "I'll make sure you eat twice as much. Merlin knows you need it."

A faint smile appeared on his face. 

"Care if I join you? I could use a walk."

The silence didn't last long when they found Luna.

"How come you're not at the feast?" asked Harry.

"Well, I've lost most of my possessions. People take them and hide them, you know. But as it's the last night, I really do need them back, so I've been putting up signs."

"That's horrible," Mel frowned.

"How come people hide your stuff?" 

"Oh... well... I think they think I'm a bit odd, you know. Some people call me 'Loony' Lovegood, actually," The girl said casually.

"That's no reason for them to take your things," Harry replied. "They used to call Mel a nutter too, but they didn't hide away her things."

"That's because they thought I was an attractive nutter," Mel rolled her eyes. "Prats. People need new brains, Luna. You're wonderful."

"D'you want help finding them?"

"Oh no," Luna smiled. "They'll come back, they always do in the end. It was just that I wanted to pack tonight. Anyway... why aren't you at the feast?"

Harry and Mel shared a look and shrugged. 

"We didn't feel like it."

"No," Luna agreed, and for a second, Mel was able to see something more than just the usual vagueness in her eyes. "I don't suppose you do. That man the Death Eaters killed was your godfather, wasn't he? Ginny told me. She also said your mother and him were expecting a baby, Mel."

Harry nodded, Mel barely replied with a broken 'yes'.

"Have you..." The boy started slowly. "I mean, who... has anyone you've known ever died?"

"Yes. My mother. She was a quite extraordinary witch, you know, but she did like to experiment and one of her spells went rather badly wrong one day. I was nine."

"I'm sorry," Harry mumbled.

"Yes, it was rather horrible. I still feel very sad about it sometimes. But I've still got Dad. And anyway, it's not as though I'll never see Mum again, is it?"

"Er — isn't it?" Harry glanced back at Mel with slight worry.

"Oh, come on. You heard them, just behind the veil, didn't you?"

"You mean..." The boy started, but he didn't dare to finish.

"In that room with the archway. They were just lurking out of sight, that's all. You heard them. I could see you felt them too, Mel. They're always there."

Luna smiled at them carelessly, as if she'd just commented on the weather.

"Are you sure you don't want us to help you look for your stuff?"

"Oh no. No, I think I'll just go down and have some pudding and wait for it all to turn up... It always does in the end... Well, have a nice holiday."

"Yeah... yeah, you too."

"Bye, Luna."

As they watched her go, Harry turned his head slightly without withdrawing his eyes from the Ravenclaw.

"You think she's telling the truth?"

"About what?"

"Everything."

Mel stared at the notice on the wall for a moment, deciding to use her popular card one last time in order to help a friend. 

"I think I would love for it to be true," She responded. "And since I have the liberty to believe in whatever I please... then yes, I think she's right."

Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle, who had clearly been waiting all week for the opportunity to strike without teacher witnesses, attempted to ambush Harry halfway down the train as he made his way back from the toilet.

The attack might have succeeded had it not been for the fact that they unwittingly chose to stage the attack right outside a compartment full of D.A. members, who saw what was happening through the glass and rose as one to rush to Harry's aid. 

Ron and Harry walked back into their compartment and told them what had just happened outside, Erick put down the book he was reading and scoffed. 

"One would think that having your parents sent to Azkaban would knock some sense into you... I'll have to keep an eye on them next year, then."

Mel turned to look at him in surprise.

"You'll come back?"

"Yes," He said, a little smile playing on his lips. "I got a letter this morning ..."

He pulled a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to her. It was her mother's handwriting.

"I'm welcomed to stay with you this summer, and I think I'll take the offer," He grinned. "I don't wish to work at the Ministry, but I could learn a few things before I'm off to become a member of the Order. Besides, I can't think of a better way to thank Sirius than to look after all of you in the meantime..."

"I think that's very sensible of you," Hermione agreed. "It would've been stupid to give up your education now."

"What's stupid is that he's been ignored by his housemates," Ron replied. "The only decent bloke that house got in decades and they hurled him out? That's rubbish!"

Everyone stared at Ron with amusement, the boy turned a bit red.

"What? I can admit when someone's a good person!"

"I don't know what to say," Erick laughed. "Gryffindor's king just gave me his blessing..."

Ron turned redder and threw a jellybean at him.

Harry and Ron whiled away most of the journey playing wizard chess while Hermione read out snippets from the Prophet. It was now full of articles about how to repel dementors, attempts by the Ministry to track down Death Eaters, and hysterical letters claiming that the writer had seen Lord Voldemort walking past their house that very morning...

"It hasn't really started yet," sighed Hermione gloomily, folding up the newspaper again. "But it won't be long now..."

Neville let out a short sigh, absently patting his Mimbulus Mimbletonia. Mel put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed, he looked up and smiled tensely.

"Hey, Harry," Ron kicked his leg.

Cho Chang was passing by with Marietta Edgecombe, who made a great deal out of hiding her face. Harry barely reacted, glancing at her before returning his gaze to the game.

"What's — er — going on with you and her anyway?" Ron asked, unsure of whether this was a safe subject to handle with Mel around.

"Nothing," Harry answered.

"I — er — heard she's going out with someone else now," added Hermione, looking at Mel as well.

"You're well out of it, mate. I mean, she's quite good-looking and all that, but you want someone a bit more cheerful."

"Right, because Harry's a ray of sunshine," Erick taunted.

"She's probably cheerful enough with someone else," Harry shrugged.

"Who's she with now anyway?" Ron asked.

"Michael Corner," Ginny responded.

"Michael — but —" Ron stammered. "But you were going out with him!"

"Not anymore. He didn't like Gryffindor beating Ravenclaw at Quidditch and got really sulky, so I ditched him and he ran off to comfort Cho instead," Ginny said distractedly, focused on her Quibbler.

"Well, I always thought he was a bit of an idiot," Ron said happily. "Good for you. Just choose someone... better, next time."

"Well, I've chosen Dean Thomas, would you say he's better?" Ginny replied. 

"WHAT?" 

Ron knocked over the chess and Crookshanks chased around the pieces. Grey merely opened one eye before going back to sleep. 

Erick laughed again, freedom suited him. The stiffness of his shoulders had vanished and although he kept some old-fashioned attitudes, he was slowly coming out of his shell. Affection settled on Mel's heart.

"What about you?" He asked her, bringing her back from her reverie.

"What about me?"

"Do you have any new prospects in mind? I know Fred's hard to beat, but..."

"I don't think I'm ready to date anyone yet," Mel responded sincerely. "Why?"

"No reason," He replied. 

His eyes lingered on her long after she'd looked away.

The moment came when the train got to the station, and she stayed behind, unsure of whether she wanted to see what was expecting her outside the platform. 

It was time to meet her brother.

"Remember what I told you," Erick offered his arm for her to hold.

Her mouth was dry, but she nodded and held his arm firmly, letting him guide her to the other side of the wall with a firm step.

There was Mad-Eye Moody, looking quite as sinister with his bowler hat pulled low over his magical eye as he would have done without it, his gnarled hands clutching a long staff, his body wrapped in a voluminous traveling cloak. 

Tonks stood just behind him, her bright bubble-gum-pink hair gleaming in the sunlight filtering through the dirty glass station ceiling, wearing heavily patched jeans and a bright purple T-shirt bearing the legend the weird sisters. 

Next to Tonks was Lupin, his face pale, his hair graying, a long and threadbare overcoat covering a shabby jumper and trousers. At the front of the group stood Mr and Mrs Weasley, dressed in their Muggle best, and Fred and George, who were both wearing brand-new jackets in some lurid green, scaly material.

Emily was next to Lupin, she was hugging a bundle of blankets that could only be one thing. She didn't look like Mel was expecting, there were dark circles under her eyes, but she was far from angry. 

Her face filled with relief as soon as she saw her. Mel stumbled back, not knowing what to do. Emily realized that her daughter was afraid and she looked at her in confusion. 

"Mel," She began carefully. "D'you remember what I told Harry last year after the third task?"

Mel remembered, of course. 

"You said no one would blame him for fighting as hard as he could."

"That's right," Emily cupped her daughter's cheek. "I was so scared of losing you... My brave, brave girl."

Mel hugged her mother tightly, around her, she heard the others welcoming the rest of their friends.

"Ron, Ginny! Oh, and Harry dear — how are you?"

"Fine..." 

"What are they supposed to be?" Ron's voice asked.

"Finest dragon skin, little bro," Fred responded, probably talking about his clothes. "Business is booming and we thought we'd treat ourselves."

Mel finally stepped back so Erick could say hi as well. She realized then that she was now as tall as her mother.

"It's time you meet someone," Emily said, drying her face with the back of her sleeve. "Come here... this is Leon Regulus. Reggie, this is your sister."

He was the tiniest person she'd ever seen, didn't have much hair yet, but his eyes were definitely grey. She remembered Luna's words and in a way, she felt that a part of Sirius still remained.

"I have a brother," She whispered in awe.

"Is that your sibling?" Ginny beamed. "Can I see him?"

Quickly, Ron and the girls approached to look at him. 

Harry stayed behind, a bit unsure of whether he was allowed to meet him.

"Hello, kids," Lupin greeted them while the rest of their friends surrounded Emily.

"Hi. I didn't expect... what are you all doing here?" Harry asked.

"Well, Emily can't drive and watch over the baby at the same time, as for the rest, we thought we might have a little chat with your aunt and uncle before letting them take you home."

"I dunno if that's a good idea," Harry said awkwardly.

"Oh, I think it is," Moody growled. "That'll be them, will it, Potter?"

Mel looked over Moody's shoulder and saw the Dursleys, shocked to the core at such scene. She couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity of it, the first genuine laughter ever since coming back from the Ministry.

She felt someone poking her shoulder and she turned, coming face to face with the twins.

"What, we stop seeing each other for a few weeks and you forget we exist?" Fred smirked. 

She jumped into his arms, hugging him tightly. 

"I would never forget you. Have you met my brother?"

"Yes, ugly little thing," Fred grimaced, George hit the back of his head. "What? It's true! No newborn is pretty..."

"Bold words from someone with the ugliest taste in clothing," Mel laughed again, it was interesting what a bunch of familiar and happy faces could do to her soul.

"We heard Erick's staying with you this summer... Pitty, we were thinking about hiring him as our assistant."

"I would rather choke on my tongue," Erick walked up to them. "You look ridiculous, and that's coming from someone who likes to wear formal shirts on the weekends."

Fred and George trapped him in a bear hug and messed up his hair, Erick tried to fight back but it only made things worse. 

"You missed us!"

"Flimsy little prince like you must bore to death without us around to keep things interesting..."

"Trust me," Erick grunted, looking at her with a smile. "Mel made sure you weren't that sorely missed."

"Ah, kids!" Mr Weasley looked at them. "Boys, let go of him! Ah, look at what you did! He looks like a madman..."

Erick blushed a nice shade of pink, but he laughed it off. 

"It's okay, Mr Weasley..."

"He looks far better like this," Fred teased. 

"Don't listen to them, they're just jealous," Emily replied, followed shortly by the girls and Ron. "Harry, would you like to meet my son?"

Harry wasn't expecting her to address him, but he didn't have the nerve to say no. Emily took it as a yes and did something she hadn't done with the rest of them: She asked him if he wanted to hold him. 

Harry stared at the baby without uttering a word. He took him, and with a few pointers from Emily, soon enough Leon was safely tucked on his arms. 

"He's... he's got his eyes," Harry said quietly. "Reggie, you say? ...He's brilliant."

For a moment he forgot about the rest of the world, Harry could see his godfather reflected on those small, shiny eyes, and with that came a life with no mistakes in it yet, a new opportunity to make things right.

Emily didn't take the baby away, instead, she joined the group of adults.

"Well — shall we do it, then?" Mr Weasley then directed his attention to Moody.

"Yeah, I reckon so, Arthur." 

He and Mr Weasley took the lead across the station toward the place where the Dursleys stood, apparently rooted to the floor. Hermione disengaged herself gently from her mother to join the group.

"Good afternoon," said Mr Weasley pleasantly to Uncle Vernon, coming to a halt right in front of him. "You might remember me, my name's Arthur Weasley."

As Mr Weasley had singlehandedly demolished most of the Dursleys' living room two years previously, Harry would have been very surprised if Uncle Vernon had forgotten him. Sure enough, Uncle Vernon turned a deeper shade of puce and glared at Mr Weasley, but chose not to say anything, partly, perhaps, because the Dursleys were outnumbered two to one. 

Aunt Petunia looked both frightened and embarrassed. She kept glancing around, as though terrified somebody she knew would see her in such company. Dudley, meanwhile, seemed to be trying to look small and insignificant, a feat at which he was failing extravagantly.

"We thought we'd just have a few words with you about Harry." 

"Yeah. About how he's treated when he's at your place," Moody growled. "And trust us, Emily has made sure to tell us all about it."

Her mother smiled brightly.

"I am not aware that it is any of your business what goes on in my house —" Mr Dursley started, but he was soon interrupted.

"I expect what you're not aware of would fill several books, Dursley."

"Anyway, that's not the point," Tonks added. "The point is, if we find out you've been horrible to Harry —"

"— and make no mistake, we'll hear about it," Lupin added, looking briefly at Mel and winking.

"Yes, even if you won't let Harry use the fellytone —"

"Telephone," Hermione corrected under her breath.

"Yeah, if we get any hint that Potter's been mistreated in any way, you'll have us to answer to," Moody growled.

"Are you threatening me, sir?" Mr Dursley asked in anger.

"Yes, I am."

"And do I look like the kind of man who can be intimidated?"

"Well..." said Moody, pushing back his bowler hat to reveal his sinisterly revolving magical eye. Uncle Vernon leapt backward in horror and collided painfully with a luggage trolley. "Yes, I'd have to say you do, Dursley."

He turned from Uncle Vernon to Harry. "So, Potter... give us a shout if you need us. If we don't hear from you for three days in a row, we'll send someone along..."

"We'll keep an eye on him, Moody," Mel's mother replied, "Erick, Mel and I will. Feel free to have every meal with us from now on, Harry. There's no reason for you to be eating rubbish."

Aunt Petunia gasped loudly at this.

"I..." Harry blinked. "Okay."

Emily stepped forward and seized Regulus, then she stood on her tiptoes and kissed Harry's cheek. 

"We'll see you in a while, love."

"'Bye, then, Potter," Moody patted his shoulder.

"Take care, Harry," said Lupin. "Keep in touch."

"You're not coming?" Mel asked. 

"I'm afraid not," The man said, hugging her one last time. "We have work to do."

"I could help if you want," Erick responded quickly.

"You're not going anywhere," Mel argued, holding his arm protectively.

"Maybe later, kid," Lupin answered, staring at them in slight amusement.

"We should move," Emily responded before Erick could argue back.

"Harry, we'll have you away from there as soon as we can," Mrs Weasley said. "And of course, Emily dear, all of you are invited."

"We'll see you soon," said Ron shaking Harry and Erick's hands.

"Really soon," Hermione added. "We promise."

Harry then summoned a real, loving smile. He waved at everyone goodbye and then turned to Mel and Erick. 

A strange thought came to her when she watched those two boys standing next to her and her mother: Family.

Difficult times were ahead, but they would go through them. Together.

"Well," Harry scratched the back of his neck. "I'll see you later."

Erick sat in the backseat with restless curiosity, examining every detail.

"First time?" Mel grinned, looking over to the older boy and her little brother, completely asleep on the baby chair. "If you feel like vomiting don't stress, I get carsick too..."

"Ready?" Emily asked.

Mel stroke Grey's head and turned around to face forward. 

Yes, she was ready.

Next Part —>

Taglist.

@dee123ksha @vampiregirl1797 @siriuslysirius1107 @stardusthigh @mikariell95 @vernon-dursley @thesuitelifeofafangirl @tomshollandz @kylosleftbuttcheek @reverse-hxlland @hamiltonwc @omiwashere @t-rexs-world @just-here-to-escape-from-reality @21bruhs @i-am-scared-and-useless-bisexual @dielgonacoffee @thelastpyle

[cyberfairyblog]

Why Jillian Sucks

Hi, welcome to Odyssey Mystery Hour! I'm your host @gritsandbrits and today I'll be talking about a hot topic in the AIO fandom! Wanna know the tea? Keep on reading!

In the weeks I started getting back into the radio series, the newer episodes have started to irk me, mostly because of one of the more annoying additions: Jillian. Marshall. 😬😬😬

Even though I ship Jason with my self insert OC this not going to be about her. There's a lot of reasons why I do NOT like the idea of Jillian x Jason becoming a canon thing on the show. I hope to describe these feelings as best I can.

Who is Jillian you might ask?

Well to put it simply, Jillian is what happens when a Soccer Mom and a TikTok boyfriend mate and spawn an unholy baby and name them Rachel Berry. Out of the aspects of Nu!Odyssey I dislike, Jillian is the one thing I truly despise. Thankfully I've met fans who share the exact sentiment! 😁😒

Double-N Annoying, Double-O Nincompoop

Making her debut in 2018, Jillian is described as lively and upbeat, if a little high strung and immature; the perfect recipe for Kid Appeal! Before she moved to Odyssey she lived in different cities and worked nineteen jobs before becoming roommates with Connie and her sister Jules.

Now this is actually a fairly interesting set up: a new character struggling to find purpose only to discover it in a quaint small town. But as it turns out her going through that many jobs seems to be more than just struggling to find purpose.

When I first saw her design my thought immediately went to the smarmy classmates I went to school with.

We're introduced with this iconic line: "Hi!! I'm Jillian Marshall, double-L Jillian, double-L Marshall! It's so nice to meet you!"

With that one sentence I knew I was about to die.

The following episode has Jillian bumbling through every job interview much to Connie's duress after which she conveniently ending up working at Triple J Antiques...the same place Jason works!

A little backstory on Jason: he is the adult son of John Whittaker, one of the show's main character, and a bit of an Ensemble Darkhorse. He was introduced as a secret agent meant to bring action and intrigue into the show. He was set up as a charismatic and reckless sort of guy clashing with the calmer Jack Allen. After the Green Ring Conspiracy Saga, Jason officially retired from James Bonding and settled down to work at the Allen's antique shop.

Given his immense popularity there's understandable concern for how he is written and who he gets paired up with. So what does that have to do with Jillian.

Well, the idea of Jillian working at the same exact place as Odyssey's resident bachelor and calling him cute raises a few eyebrows.

"B-but Grits all she did was call him cute! You're reaching too far into this!"

Am I? Look I know this wouldn't be much of a big deal too but that is a subtle tactic the writers threw in to get the cogs turning for Jillison. Jason is clearly uninterested and even implied to dislike her. Jillian bemoans this but Connie reassures her that that's not the case. But hey at least she called him cute so OF COURSE she's going to end up being his love interest!

To me removing a character's core trait to justify a romance means you do NOT know how to actually write a compelling romance. It's trite, it's forced and painful to listen to.

It's also obvious she's a replacement for Bernard, given they have similar personalities and her brief stint on TV (which she also failed at lol). But whereas Bernard was actually endearing, Jillian seems more of a cliche womanchild with zero self awareness and tact. No actual depth, just a personality that is incredibly dumbed down and even insulting. Seriously they made her the dumb blond stereotype in an era where we should've moved on from that! 🤦

Did I mention she goes to church?

Yep she's gonna be one of those Christians.

Literally Loveless, Literally!

Oddly enough the narrative frames this as a rivals to lovers thing, where Jason is both the charismatic friendly guy and the super uninterested Straight Man. The constant twisting the turning makes him go OOC. See we know he's fit better as the former because that goes in line with his canon personality. But when they make him the latter he just comes off as unnecessarily mean. This is turns frames Jillian as someone we should pity: "Oh the attractive male doesn't like me because I went into his office without permission!!"

Wouldn't it make more sense for Jillian to be the one uninterested in a romance since her focus in to find a job/better purpose and romance might distract her? That would make a fun subplot...IF SHE WASN'T OBNOXIOUS!

A pattern I noticed and several fans pointed out: Jason's previous love interests were consistent in that they were strong minded women who challenged him in different ways. Their personalities bounced off creating a fun dynamic that was entertaining to see. Even though they didn't end up with him, you can still see and hear and feel their chemistry which is my goal for Jason x OC. Tasha doesn't make Jason OOC & they had a bittersweet arc, so their interactions were organic. Monica only made him OOC because she was a villain actively manipulating him. So again that worked in terms of story and led to Monica's redemption if my memory serves.

However, Jillian's dynamic is not that fun to listen to. You can feel her annoying Jason through the airwaves. She's strong but only in the sense of feeling something hard underneath your back laying on the bed and realizing that's just your earbud. She's vibrant yes but what else? She doesn't have any unique traits to contrast Jason, and any attempt at a contrast would mean making him act out of character. Adding her bumbling clumsiness and annoying voice, Jason would get tired of her very quickly. He's the type to go for people to have intelligent conversations with, not make him lose braincells. She could very well bring out the worse in him, it'll be an unhealthy relationship.

Here's a tidbit worth mentioning: the VA for Jillian actually auditioned with Jason's VA Townsend Coleman. Now that is big ass red flag right there! No hate towards the actress, just throwing that out there. There's also a facebook page dedicated to Jillison. Typical FB stupidity ramped up to eleven, or AIO fans who see something in Jillian; or at least THINk they see something worthwhile in her.

It doesn't help the writers keep insisting that these two go well together. The audience knows they do not work well as a pair but the narrative keeps insisting they are anyways. I recall an episode that had them pretend to be married while undercover and it was bad. Like REALLY humiliating to see Jason put in that position. He also told her to shut up much to my joy because she could NOT stop being irritating for five minutes. Alas the show still tries to justify Jillian being the Perfect Woman for Jason when she's anything but. And not even endearingly imperfect.

Follow Up

These tags I wrote on one of the AIO posts describes how I feel about Villain Marshall and the Jillison coupling as a whole. It just wouldn't work because Jason needs someone that can actually CHALLENGE him, have their own personality that can bounce off his (without being forced), and most importantly DOESN'T AGGRAVATE THE FANDOM!!

I have not met a single person anywhere that say they like Jillian. It's a different story apparently on the Club App - they like her for reasons I'm too cowardly to find out. But no, she sucks as a character. She makes a annoying friend, and is not a good addition to the show, much less a good love interest.

The only good thing she brought us are the nicknames we gave her 😌

That's all for now thank you for tuning into the Odyssey Mystery Hour. Next week I'll be talking a bit more about my OC Vanessa and her role in the world of Odyssey! Goodbye and make sure to lock your doors to prevent Jillian from coming in!!

[houseisekai]

House Isekai: A Realm Reborn - Part 1, Old Places and New Faces (2 of 2)

House Isekai ARR Masterlist Here

—

Upon their return to Fodlan, Kazuma, Rean, Towa, and Aigis have found that it has changed drastically. Whether it was for better or worse, was unknown.

After reuniting Sitri and meeting the second generation of Garreg Mach students, the four make their way once more into the Zanado Tower...

Class VII pressed onwards as they looked at the environment constantly shifting around them.

Colossal platforms flew past them with lights flickering to life.

Altina struggled to process it all, so much information was flowing in at once.

Kurt tried his best to ignore the fantastical sights around him and tried to find an exit.

All he found were several crates with notes scattered on them and massive doorways.

Many of the platforms moved higher up into the room, but he had no idea where that would lead, so he avoided them.

(Juna) "K-Kurt? Do we know where we're going?"

(Kurt) "N-...No."

(Ash) "It'll probably be fine. Rean went through here right?"

(Musse) "Maybe? Where is everyone?"

(Altina) "...I seem to detect life forms?"

(Kurt) "Friendly?"

(Altina) "Unknown. None match Instru-...Hold on a moment."

(Everyone) ?

(Altina) "I am sensing Instructor Rean's presence. It is near the very top of this...building?"

(Musse) "Hm...I'm worried about the other ones."

(Juna) "Same here. We all got our weapons right?"

Class VII nodded and drew their weapons, keeping it at the ready.

(Juna) "Whew, least we're not totally unprepared."

"ALERT! ALERT!"

The five of them quickly moved closer together, looking around the area and trying to find the voice.

"THREAT DETECTED, UNKNOWN SIGNATURES DETECTED, ENGAGING SECURITY MEASURES."

(Kurt) "Is...it talking about us?"

(Ash) "If it is, then we better shut up and get out of here."

[A Long Fall - Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers OST]

Sitri and the others stepped into Tower and heard the alert blare throughout the area.

(Kazuma) "The hell?"

Aigis turned back and looked at the Garreg Mach students and frowning.

(Aigis) "Is it detecting us?"

(Helena) "Considering this is our first time here, probably."

(Kairos) "W-WHAT IN THE WORLD?!"

(Elizabeth) "What is this place?!"

(Astrid) "It's so...bright!"

(Stefan) "Yeah, the glowing crystals are kinda hurting my eyes..."

(Sitri) "This is the Zanado Tower. It's where House Isekai came from, what I can understand anyway."

(Helena) "That the truth?"

Helena turned to the four.

(Towa) "We think so?"

(Rean) "Honestly, the details are a bit lost on us as well."

(Kazuma) "The only person that knew that much was Sothis and Byleth and..."

Their faces showed a hint of sadness before Elizabeth brought up another question, not noticing their shift when mentioning Byleth.

(Elizabeth) "S-So, this is where that creature was sighted? How do we even begin covering this large of an area with our small number?"

(Sitri) "W-Well...Um..."

KABOOM!

(Everyone) !?

(Rean) "Think that's our culprit?"

(Towa) "I can't think of anyone else that could be here!"

(Sitri) "Everyone, move out!"

...

(Buck) "Ach, damn it!"

Buck waved away the smoke that was covering the area.

(Mickey) "H-Hey, at least we got the door open, right? Even if it was a little too much."

(Dutch) "Doubt using 7 explosive charges is considered "a little"."

The massive door in front of them was completely blown into pieces, the debris scattering everywhere, and some falling into the cavern beneath them.

Romeo checked the scope of his sniper and put one finger on the trigger.

(Mickey) "If that alert was about us, then it's going to get even more pissed off."

(Dutch) "Every security system must know where we're at now."

(Buck) "All the more reason to get our asses moving, now-"

Buck turned back to the hole in the door before noticing something on his visor.

The motion tracker was detecting several things coming to them, and he quickly motioned backwards to the cover they were using from the door breach.

Everyone got their weapons pointed at the door waiting for them.

(Buck) "On my mark..."

From the smoke, several figures emerged wielding all sorts of weapons ranging from swords to bows.

And it was then the squad's visors picked up the outline of them, they were human.

(Buck) "HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!"

...

Amber kept her bow trained on the four hiding behind cover, waiting for instruction.

(Duvalie) "They're human...I think?"

(Kaeya) "Never seen that armor before."

(Lisa) "Jean, dear?"

(Jean) "Who are you all?"

Her eyes drifted to the massive hole behind them. How could they have caused an explosion that big?

If she said the wrong thing, they could be killed.

(Buck) "Sergeant Gunnery Buck, and this is my squad! UNSC, Helljumpers! How 'bout you miss, we on the same side?"

(Jean) "My name is Jean, of the Knights of Favonius!"

Buck looked at his other squadmates and they shrugged.

(Buck) "You folks happen to know where we are?"

(Jean) "I'm afraid we do not. But we are allies, not enemies if that is what you're wondering."

Romeo examined every one of them as Buck was speaking to them. They didn't seem to be dressed for battle. In fact, the green one that looked like a girl had a damn instrument, not a weapon.

And the purple woman with the witch hat only had a book.

(Mickey) "Frankly, I say we don't take the chance."

(Dutch) "Yeah, great idea, kill the only things that HASN'T tried to kill us."

(Buck) "Alright. We believe ya. Stand down."

The squad nodded and stood up, the Knights of Favonius stepping forward.

(Jean) "I think it's plain to see we're...both out of our element."

(Buck) "Seems like it. As I said, call me Buck, and these are my men."

(Mickey) "Mickey."

(Dutch) "Name's Dutch. Pleasure."

(Romeo) "..."

Buck's visor became see-through, his face being visible as he turned to face Romeo.

(Buck) "What's the matter? Helmet turned off?"

Romeo shrugged.

(Venti) "Um, is he okay?"

(Buck) "Oh, I get it. Permission to speak. Smartass."

(Romeo) "Name's Romeo, ladies."

He turned to face Jean, Lisa, Duvalie and Amber.

Rolling her eyes, Duvalie butted into the conversation.

(Duvalie) "Ugh, keep it to yourself. Anyways, I'm Duvalie, head knight of the Stahlritter."

(Mickey) "Thought you were with the...whatever you guys were called."

(Kaeya) "Favonius. Actually, she's from another world, as I'm assuming you all are. Kaeya, by the way."

Buck examined their clothing again and when he started to think on it, no human from their world, no matter the planet, would wear something so outlandish as that, especially in the middle of a war.

(Diluc) "...Diluc."

(Venti) "I'm Venti!"

(Amber) "Amber, hope we get along!"

(Lisa) "And I'm Lisa. All of us except Duvalie are together."

(Romeo) "Before we get caught in a never ending cycle of introductions, can we get the hell out of here before anymore of those things show up?"

(Jean) "You've seen them too?"

(Buck) "Weird glowy blue gnome looking things?"

(Duvalie) "The hell is a gnome?"

(Lisa) "Let's put it this way to make sure we're on the same page, were they carrying a staff and rather short?"

(Dutch) "Those are the ones, ma'am."

(Diluc) "Abyss mages are attacking them too..."

(Kaeya) "Think Romeo had a point, we'll discuss this once we're in relative safety, we were nearing the exit I believe, before you all blew a hole through that door."

(Mickey) "Hey, we had to get in somehow!"

(Buck) "Hold up, we weren't going to leave just yet. There was a group of kids that was making their way upwards."

(Amber) "Kids? We didn't see anyone else on the way."

(Romeo) "Oh, right. They just got here. I'm all for saving them, but we barely managed to get away from those mage things. Our bullets didn't seem to do anything."

Jean held her rapier and nodded.

(Jean) "Allow us to take care of it with you. Change of plans, we're headed back in."

She stood next to Buck as he darkened his visor and checked his assault rifle.

(Buck) "After you, miss Jean."

...

Rean was the first one through the hole in the door and looked around, no one appeared to be there.

Everyone else stepped forward weapons drawn, and it was now Rean noticed what everyone was carrying.

Sitri had the Sword of the Creator, Kairos and Elizabeth had spellbooks, Helena had a knife, Astrid held a lance, and Stefan wielded an axe.

The students appeared to have no hesitation about their weapon of choice, but Sitri was slightly trembling.

It was clear she had done some training with a sword, and yet...

He shook his head, now wasn't the time to be focusing on that.

(Aigis) "I am detecting several lifeforms down below."

Aigis turned to her right and looked at the glowing circle-like shape at the end of the walkway.

(Towa) "Anyone familiar?"

(Aigis) "...Negative."

(Kazuma) "Then let's get down there, maybe the little shits that caused this are close by, considering how recent that explosion was."

(Sitri) "Right, let's try to find a way down."

Sitri and the Garreg Mach students stepped near the circular platform while the former House Isekai members examined the explosion hole.

(Aigis) "These explosions appear to be made from devices similar to C4..."

(Kazuma) "What, these guys packing modern day weapons too?"

(Rean) "What's C4?"

(Aigis) "Small explosive charges that you can put on virtually any surface."

(Towa) "Something that small can cause that much damage?!"

Meanwhile, Elizabeth was examining the glowing circular platform with the other students and Sitri close to her.

(Helena) "What is it?

(Elizabeth) "I'm not sure...Maybe it's some kind of-"

Elizabeth put her hand on the platform, which made it glow an even brighter orange as it catapulted the group forward to the other walkway, causing them to scream.

Rean and the others turned their direction and saw them land on a platform which began to move away.

(Kazuma) "AW SHIT, SITRI!"

(Towa) "THE STUDENTS!"

(Rean) "After them!"

Before they could move any further, they heard strange noises behind them, which made them draw their weapons...

...

When Kairos got up and saw the moving platform, he immediately turned to Elizabeth.

(Kairos) "GREAT JOB, YOU IDIOT!"

(Elizabeth) "D-Don't you yell at me with that tone! How was I supposed to know that-"

(Helena) "Both of you shut up. Focus."

She held onto her knife tighter as she realized the platform was heading downwards.

(Sitri) "Is everyone alright?"

(Astrid) "Just fine, Lady Sitri. Can't say we'll be that way for long.

(Stefan) "We're going deeper into the tower, is that a bad thing?"

(Sitri) "This is my first time in the Tower when it wasn't being controlled by memories, so I'm not sure..."

(Kairos) "Fantastic..."

Elizabeth had a mind to slap Kairos but kept it to herself, instead examining just how far down they were going...

...

Class VII moved even quicker after hearing the explosion, trying to find anything resembling stairs since they were unsure about the elevators.

(Musse) "I don't think we have any other way up."

(Juna) "Maybe we can-"

BOOM! BOOM!

Two gunshots roared through the area, with a thud echoing and signaling that someone or something was brutally killed.

Kurt motioned forward and Class VII turned the corner to see a massive man clad in yellow armor, towering over some strange creature.

It was short, fat, and blue. It was uttering some language they didn't understand before the soldier stomped on its head, crushing it.

Class VII drew their weapons and the yellow soldier turned to face them.

(Yellow Soldier) "...Children?"

The soldier eyed them up and down, trying to identify them as Class VII did the same.

The armor he was wearing looked heavy and durable, being wide as some of the doorways they passed through. He stood at around 8 feet, holding a rifle as big as his chest.

(Kurt) "...What was that thing you killed?"

The soldier turned to the creature and shrugged, the shoulder pauldrons moving up and down was the only indication he did so since his armor was so massive.

(Yellow Soldier) "Most likely some form of xenos. It opened fire as soon as it saw me, so I purged it. Better I have done so since children are in the area."

He turned to face them.

(Yellow Soldier) "Though you are far from defenseless it seems."

Kurt didn't put away his weapons, and neither did anyone else.

(Yellow Soldier) "...I am Raelyn. Raelyn Amuto, Adeptus Astartes."

(Juna) "You're a...what now?"

(Altina) "Does not match any known organization in Erebonia."

(Musse) "Not ringing a bell for me either..."

(Raelyn) "...You are?"

(Kurt) "We are Class VII, part of Thor's Military Academy, Branch Campus."

Raelyn lowered his rifle, the helmet's unblinking lenses seemingly staring straight into them.

(Raelyn) "We are Space Marines, mankind's greatest warriors."

(Ash) "Evidently."

(Raelyn) "Do you know the area I am in?"

(Kurt) "Not a clue. We were following our Instructor to find out where he went, and we ended up here."

(Raelyn) "Hmph. Stay behind me. I do not know what awaits us-"

He stuck a hand outwards as he noticed a platform moving downwards. Everyone readied their weapons again, and keeping it on them seeing another group land in front of them.

(Buck) "Hey, those are the kids! And...!"

(Kaeya) "Looks like they already met one of the Abyss mages."

(Mickey) "Goddamn, that is some armor!"

(Raelyn) "Guardsmen? And..."

He lowered his weapon, though Class VII didn't.

(Jean) "Before you ask, we are not enemies, and we are just as lost as you all."

Dutch turned to the knights and noticed Duvalie had her sword still up.

(Dutch) "What's the deal with her?"

(Venti) "Huh? Duvalie what's wrong-"

(Duvalie) "THOSE BRATS, THAT'S WHATS WRONG!"

(Altina) "Threat detected."

Class VII and Duvalie stood off against each other.

(Raelyn) "...It's safe to assume you are acquainted then."

(Kurt) "She tried to kill our class, our instructor and HIS class."

Jean frowned and turned to her.

(Jean) "You told me you were a knight of justice."

(Duvalie) "I-I am!"

(Buck) "Everyone, stand down! This pissing match is only going to slow us down!"

Buck saw the corpse of the Abyss Mage and sighed.

(Buck) "And it's clear you've already met the things trying to kill all of us. I don't know your histories, but that doesn't matter for right now! Let's get out of here and THEN you all can-"

Another platform landed behind Buck, making everyone turn around.

(Sitri) "U-Um...!"

(Helena) "Oh crap."

(Kairos) "I swear to the Goddess, Elizabeth-"

(Elizabeth) "WILL YOU SHUT UP?!"

Stefan gulped and adjusted his helmet.

(Astrid) "Uh...hi?"

(Everyone) ...

(Amber) "Hello!"

(Romeo) "For god's sake-."

(Juna) "Just how many of us are lost down here?!"

(Sitri) "Um..."

Sitri took a deep breath and tried her best to look confident.

(Sitri) "My name is Sitri, leader of Garreg Mach, and you're in our world. If you want answers, please come with us."

The students stared at her as if she were crazy.

(Kairos) "What?!"

(Elizabeth) "Look how many of them are here, I don't like these offworlders any more than you do, but we need to NOT piss them off, as you are very much pissing me off!"

(Helena) "You're not doing much better yourself-"

(Stefan) "H-Helena please that is NOT helping!"

(Astrid) "ANYWAYS! You want answers, we got it! Please let's just get out of here!"

Everyone looked at each other.

There was an awkward silence before Raelyn stepped forward first.

(Raelyn) "Very well, Sitri. Lead the way."

(Sitri) "Well um... we don't know the way up."

Jean motioned everyone to her, and they all stood together as the platform's lights pulsated quietly.

They sheathed their weapons and quietly looked out in front of them, staring at the massive crystal in the middle of the room.

Just where was this, and why were they brought here?

What were those creatures attacking everyone?

And what is Garreg Mach?

Hopefully soon, they would have answers to all these questions, and find a way back home...

...

...

...

(Altina) "...We are not moving."

(Duvalie) "Gee, I couldn't tell."

(Lisa) "Dears, what's the holdup?"

(Stefan) "D-Don't look at us!"

(Raelyn) "Are there too many on top of this?"

(Buck) "Dutch, the button?"

(Dutch) "Oh, sorry."

Beep!

...

Aigis blocked an ice spike that was aimed at Towa with her Persona, Athena easily blocking it with her shield.

Towa took another potshot with her pistol, but it was stopped by some icy aura surrounding the Abyss Mage as it danced along, taunting them.

Rean and Kazuma swung their weapons at it, but were deflected and sent flying back.

(Aigis) "None of our attacks are working!"

(Towa) "W-What do we do?!"

(Kazuma) "Do we hit it harder?"

(Rean) "Heed my call...!-"

Whirrrrrrr...!

(Everyone) !

Everyone, including the Abyss Mage, looked back to the walkway and saw a platform that carried a large amount of people unload, everyone drawing their weapons.

(Altina) "Instructor!"

(Rean) "What in the-What are you all-"

(Buck) "There's those sons of bitches!"

(Raelyn) "PURGE IT IN THE EMPEROR'S NAME!"

The Abyss Mage screamed in terror as those with guns opened fire, it quickly teleporting away from the massive group.

(Diluc) "Damn it, it got away!"

(Aigis) "...No other presence detected besides us. It appears we are safe for now."

(Kazuma) "Tch, wanted to show that asshole a thing or two, now...'

The four looked at the group and to Sitri. Towa and Reans' eyes were glued to Duvalie, her taking notice as well.

(Aigis) "...Are these friends?"

(Jean) "I hope we can be."

(Kairos) "They better."

(Rean) "Uh..."

(Duvalie) "NOT. A WORD."

Sitri took a step back as everyone scattered to their respective group.

Duvalie stood with the ODST's and Raelyn while the Knights of Favonius stood by themselves.

Class VII followed Rean and Towa, as the students of Garreg Mach got near Sitri and each other.

(Kaeya) "Quite the odd group we have lined up."

(Buck) "I can't help but feel like we're out of place."

(Raelyn) "Agreed..."

(Duvalie) "Of all the people, it had to be YOU."

(Rean) "G-Great to see you too, Duvalie."

Sitri trembled slightly before feeling a hand on her shoulder. Turning behind her, she saw Sothis smiling.

(Sothis) "Don't worry. I've seen this happen before, and I know what can get them together real quick."

Kazuma noticed Sothis talking to Sitri, but considering how on edge everyone was, he decided not to say anything.

(Kazuma) Please have a good idea, Sothis...

(Sitri) "I-If I could have everyone's attention!"

Everyone turned to face her, which made Sitri silent for a moment, but after putting her hand on her chest, she looked more determined than ever.

(Sitri) "I know everyone is terribly confused on where they are and what's happening. I do not have the answers myself, but I assure you, we will."

(Astrid) "We?"

(Sitri) "Yes. With the arrival of so many newcomers from other worlds, and with veterans of this situation being here..."

She nodded again and looked at everyone.

(Sitri) "As leader of Garreg Mach Monastery, I hereby reestablish, House Isekai!"

(Aigis) "Oh?"

(Rean and Towa) "HUH?!"

(Kazuma) "THE FUCK?"

(Buck) "...The hell's an Isekai?"

His squad, Duvalie, and Raelyn shrugged.

(Kurt) "Has...Instructor Rean and Towa done this before?"

Class VII looked at Rean, then back to Sitri.

Jean nodded.

(Jean) "It seems this is not their first time being visited by people from other worlds."

(Diluc) "Hmph, I blame the Traveler for this."

All things considered, the Knights of Favonius looked relatively calm about the situation.

The students of Garreg Mach all had mixed opinions. They didn't view House Isekai in a very good light, but now they HAD to be a part of it.

(Kairos) "This is not going to end well..."

(Elizabeth) "Oh dear."

(Helena) "This oughtta be interesting."

(Stefan) "Hah, that's one way to put it..."

(Astrid) "Goddess help us..."

...

(Sitri's voice) "...I hereby reestablish, House Isekai!"

Mercedes smiled as she heard Sitri's voice through her crystal and put it into her pocket and stretched.

Through the door, a small girl and a fairy came into the room.

(Recette) "Hey Mercie! We got the reports from this month in!"

(Tear) "Yes, it appears to be within...why are you smiling?"

(Mercedes) "I've just been listening into Sitri's progress."

(Recette) "What's going on?"

Mercedes didn't say anything as she motioned them to follow her.

(Sitri) "We have a welcome back party to work on!"

(Tear) "For...who?"

(Mercedes) "Just some old friends..."

PART 1: ENDED

TO BE CONTINUED...

[Lost in Paradise - ALI]

Gotta get it homie gotta move it If you gonna do it then, push everything to the side Everybody just talk nobody really do it You should keep a secret until you actually do it No need to double check with someone Use your judgement only, break the walls Let's do flashy fake More Cool, keep it low, prove them wrong I won't give up the fight in my life 'Cause my life is living for love I won't give up the fight in my life Stand off and groove on time Tokyo prison Going to relight your feelings When times get too rough Night and day are fading Going to relight your feelings There's no time to explain Gimme your love Access to your love Oh yeah Lost in paradise Night and day are fading out When times getting rough Access to your love Lost in paradise Night and day are fading out Keep on dancing now Hеy hey hеy hey heyeah

[alittlefrenchtree]

Here it iiiis! Not the tiny horse but the last chapter of the first book of the first book (it makes sense somehow). The One and Holy ⚡️

✨Chapter 22✨

This is a chapter I’ve been waiting for since I’ve started the book, which means the build of the story is really well made for me. Even the setting, Paul sitting with his mother but not feeling very different than if he was alone, since he’s mentally so far away, with the hutment, the desert and the night…. so perfect. Reading it I was so impatient to just turn to the next page, I purposely take a break so sit with this first part and digest it as it should and deserve to be digested.

Let’s start by saying I have a lot (a looooot) of expectations and crazy high ones with how this whole chapter is going to be convert on screen. The ambiance of the setting is so good and since most of the "action" is happening inside Paul’s head it’s not going to be easy, both with how it’s going to be filmed and how Timmy is going to act. This is not something we’ve seen him done before and I wonder if he has it in him. It’s definitely going to be an interesting challenge, one of the kind that doesn’t come very often in life (if not ever) and I’m already very proud of him for trying. And I can’t wait to hear him talk about it, and how he did it. I hope lots of people are going to make him ramble about this particular scene (Josh please, 3hrs of podcast are required here. Thank you.).

There are a few images I particularly want to see on screen, such as:

and this:

and this: (i mean is it p💛rn? because it sounds like p💛rn to me.)

and this, even if it has less to do with how Timmy is going to act and more about how it'll be shown on screen:

I'm actually delighted because Paul is giving me stuff I was expecting from the character. When he's looking for sorrow inside him as it's expected from him and finding nothing, or finding that he can stop it and put it aside to examine it later... It's something I find very relatable and that I would have found even more relatable when I was Paul's age. I'm not sure how it works exactly for him though. Because of these two parts:

and

(yes I'm also triggered but the typo but let's ignore it)

My guess is that something shifted at some point through the chapter and allow him to access this mourning phase but I'm not sure I can pinpoint it (yet?). It'll be something interesting to study and to make theories about.

He's extremely touching in this chapter. There are a couple of lines that made me go aaaw Paul 😭❤️ Like this one:

Paul heard his mother's grief and felt the emptiness within himself. I have no grief thought. Why? Why? He felt the inability to grieve as a terrible flaw.

You know I like to think of every piece of art/creativity as part of a gigantic conversation through time and I feel like this part of Paul is somehow in a conversation with Elio and his father in his home office. They're both in this distress state regarding of grieving, one being overwhelmed with too much of it and not knowing what to do with it, and the other one needing it and not knowing where or how to find it. It's cute, imagine the both of them talking about it.

This one as well:

And now he saw that he had a wealth of data few such minds ever before had encompassed. But this made the empty place within him no easier to bear. He felt that something must shatter.

My poor baby boy 💔

The chapter is so difficult to take in when you're trying to connect with Paul's feelings and mood. He has these very hard words towards himself like freak and monster and he panics, not understanding what's going on, and at the same time knowing his mother was aware to some extend of what he was supposed to become and he's mad at her and at the same same time there is all this infinite knowledge pouring on him and drastically changing him second by second. And then the mindset in which he ends up is so interesting. I'm not sure how I feel about him being something else (thank you Oliver Queen), because I liked the Kwisatz Haderach concept very much but there are too many sentences for me to not be hyped right away. Paul's answering to Jessica's thoughts as she was saying them out loud is 💦, saying stuff like "They thought they were reaching for me. But I'm not what they expected, and I've arrived before my time. And they don't know it." and like "I'm something unexpected." and "You couldn't possibly know. You won't believe it until you see it." is 💦💦 but, mostly, mostly, the image of the seed. I love it so much. I'm a seed. I don't receive it as something necessarily positive. Like all the futures he's able to see, the seed can grow into anything, good or bad or both. Totally something tattoo material 🖤

About the little sister... Still not convinced. Obviously she exists enough to have a name but it doesn't mean much since Paul can see all versions of all futures now. Who knows in which one we will walk. He could very much know the name of a never born child who happened to exists in another version of reality. Still not sure what part she'll take if she does exists. A Knife apparently?

First part general notes:

I liked it a lot. It's a good introduction for the universe and for an epic tale. If anything, it gets me even more expectations for the rest. I guess I could ask for even for details? More pages, slower narration? I wouldn't mind at all. With an universe of that richness, I want to bask so much in it that I would want to throw my money for overpriced merchandising reproduction without blinking twice. Maybe I miss a bit of that for now. Otherwise, I like what I'm seeing right now. I'm just crossing fingers for the plot to remain good all the way through and for the characters to stay interesting. But my god do I have crazy, crazy high expectations for the movie now. Tbh, I'm not sure they'll even be met, since movies rarely match books and books are mostly highly superior. But I'm keeping faith and trust and hopefully we'll end up with something good, or good enough. Even if we take the Timmy factor aside, I'm loving this Dune journey so far. Can't wait to see what's next 🌔💛