#anyways (for my mutuals mainly) sorry for posting out of the blue and turning off my asks. There's been a lot going on at home and mentally

[sampoststuff]

Hey there! It's been a while since I've engaged with the Road 96 fandom, but I made a form not too long ago about the character encounters (basically, which one is your favorite and why). I am using the results for a video I'm working on, since the game is coming up to it's second year anniversary. I'd appreciate if anyone wants to fill out a form!

[beyoncesdragon]

title: catch up now? 

× pairing: Idol!Jungkook x Interviewer!Reader, old friends from highschool kinda stuff, abandoned but maybe rediscovered love on both sides. 

× summary: Three years are a long time. In three years, many things can and will change. But three years hadn’t been quite enough to change how two people feel about each other. 

× warnings: a little teeny bit angsty but it’s nothing, really. Mainly fluff, some flustered, overly eager Gguk and old memories coming up. 

× wordcount: 2k

× a/n: Not gonna lie, this might be one of my favourite pieces I've ever written. I really hope you enjoy this too! it’s somehow inspired by ‘Love Maze’ (BTS) and also ‘50 Proof’ (eaJ). Will probably not have a pt.2

main masterlist | bts masterlist

When he had read the name of the interview host - or hostess more like - Jungkook had already felt the familiar tingle in the pit of his stomach that he had thought had disappeared over the course of time. Yet, he wasn’t surprised that it was still there.

He had however not dared to hope that it could actually be you, there sure were other people called (Y/N) (Y/L/N), who has pursued their dream of becoming an interviewer, media person, whatnot. He didn’t even know if you had actually graduated uni and made it in the job, hence he hadn’t seen any of you in about four years of him debuting now. He had occasionally checked out your Instagram or Twitter, yet he shied away from following you on any social media platform. You weren’t really public about your work or personal life on both, you mainly retweeted stuff (he found out about your love for Bingsu and Makgeolli ice cream like that) and posted a few selfies or landscapes. He hoped that you had been able to pursue your dream of traveling around for a bit, in South Korea and outside of it. Though again, he didn’t know.

Jimin was seated right in front of him and Jungkook couldn’t help but nervously play with his hyungs honey blond dyed hair. Jimin chuckled surprised yet amused about his open display of nervousness and turned around slowly.

“Everything okay, Jungkook-ah? You seem more nervous than usually.” He remarked, making Namjoon look over to the maknae in wonder. “He does, right? I thought so too. Did something happen?” Jungkook only shook his head.

Not yet, he thought to himself.

The cameras around them started to blink all at once, the light has been set up correctly and the camera and sound team had settled down around them in the dark. Manager and publicists stood somewhere in the back, swallowed up by the dark. The only person that was missing still, was you. Or the person called (Y/N) (Y/L/N), Jungkook tried to tell himself.

Suddenly there was a soft laugh from somewhere off the scenes and his heart tripped over its own beat and finally, finally, you stepped into the light.

You looked pretty as ever, grown into your features entirely, like a lotus flower finally in full bloom. Jungkook had to swallow dry. The light coral red of your lip balm complimented your skin and the subtle almost invisible make up you wore, accentuated your already beautiful features even more. You hadn’t changed your hair much, but it was a bit longer and looked so soft in the bright light. His eyes almost subconsciously darted to your fingers, searching for evidence of a possible relationship. He was almost ashamed how quickly he ended up thinking about this, his own boldness making him even more flustered. (There was no formal looking ring on your ringfinger though, to his relief.)

There was a warm smile on your lips as you bowed deeply to them all, greeting them respectfully. The boys returned your greeting immediately and a bunch of annyeong haseyo-s sounded through the studio. Jungkook felt Namjoon look over at him again, a piercing gaze Jungkook knew he wouldn’t be able to withstand if he met it. So he just kept looking at everything but Namjoon...not that this was hard to do when you were right in front of him.

“Thank you so much for being here with us.” You said with a smile, looking at everyone with the same look of respect and polite distance. Like you were supposed to, at work, as a professional. Like you didn't know them personally. Everyone, including Jungkook.

He felt his heart drop to his stomach. Could it be that you...forgot about him? It couldn’t really be, right? How would you actually be able to, you really...in this moment your eyes crossed again and something flickered in your eyes, a facade crumbled for a few seconds only. It was an amused twinkle, like a cheeky wink and a minimal curl of your lips. 

Acknowledgement.

And Jungkook’s heart did multiple flips, breath caught in his throat and eyes widened.

You had started with the questions, keeping the conversation light and flowing. The vibe in the room was comfortable and built up on mutual respect - yet Jungkook felt as if he was sitting on red-hot needles. He wanted to talk to you, ask about how you had been, what you were doing (if you had a boyfriend) if you were happy, if you got a cat, how your mother’s little business was going (he’d anonymously purchased countless items, to support your family), if your favourite colour still was cyan blue and your still religiously bought Pajeon and Makgeolli on rainy days, if you ever spent a second of your day thinking of him (because he did).

Him, your somewhat ex-best friend from highschool, him, the one you spent hours talking to in the ungodly hours of the morning, him who you had lost your first kiss to (though lost wasn’t the right word: you gave it to him more like). Him who you had poked fun of when the first girl approached him in his Rookie days and he’d been flustered to no end.

Him, who had promised to you that he wouldn’t abandon your friendship and yet the two of you drifted apart anyways.

Not for the lack of trying on either side though. Jungkook’s schedule had just become even fuller, his nights shorter, training longer and fans more obsessive. And you had seen each other less often, greetings were shorter and late night talks turned into good night wishes over text quicker.

You on your part weren’t mad, a little disappointed maybe. Sad for sure, but not mad. After all, you had expected it to turn out like that. So had the rest of your little circle, Haneul, Hwang, Kyong and Myunghee. Whilst the five of you had supported Jungkook on his journey with all you’ve got, you all tried to overcome the obvious pain of him drifting off.

Some (mainly Hwan and Kyong) with working harder in school for example. You did that too, but sometimes you also partied a little harder, were awake at three AM a little more often, missed him a lot more. It hurt letting someone you love go.

Jungkook and you had always been a bit...closer. Why you didn’t know, how you couldn’t possibly explain. But you were and him rising into the heights and new dimensions of being an idol destroyed this almost completely. This strange world of fame, those walls of flashing cameras, the flow of expensive goods and seas of screaming people, that was his world. He was a star, figuratively and somewhat literally. He shone more radiant, higher, longer, prettier and too bright for an innocent, young love to coexist.

So you stayed behind, soon having lost his number due to him having to change it, his contact information soon had less to say than what you could find on the internet.

His new hair colour? Well, you could google it. Height? Current weight? Several fan sights knew the answer. Achievements? The internet again.

 It was strange, ridiculous to some extent. And it hurt. But you couldn’t blame him, so you never did.

⋄

When you had heard that you would be interviewing BTS last week you could help but feel scared. You hadn’t seen him face to face for three or so years, three years with no FaceTime, texting, three years of not seeing his bunny smile, smiled just for you.

And when you had seen him again, laid eyes on him for the first time in thirty-five months, you realised that nothing you ever felt for him had faded away. It was all the same again, your heart still jumped in your chest and your stomach still fluttered whenever he did as much as breathing. The only thing that had changed was his height and him having had the biggest glow up you had witnessed in your life, yours included – though this Jungkook would disagree vehemently. 

This Jungkook who got pulled out of his thoughts and memories almost violently, as you directed a first question at him only.

“I…” he started, gulping hardly, having forgotten the question already halfway.

“Sorry I can’t – how have you been?” you stopped shortly, stunned and a tad confused at first. You hadn’t expected him to be so bold. Or clumsy, for that matter. Yet you couldn’t help but giggle, and all the unsaid words and ignored truths between the two of you disappeared into smoke, taking all tension with them. Just like that.

“I’ve been fine, Gukie. Busy. Long-time no see, hm. How about you?” somewhere behind the cameras someone dropped a pen and there were multiple gasps being heard. The rest of the bangtan boys didn’t look any better; Jimin had his mouth open, Taehyung was looking back and forth between the two of you, Yoongi just froze, Jin and Hoseok had clasped their hands in front of their mouths and Namjoon just looked like someone poured a bucket of ice water over his head.

But Jungkook? Jungkook was smiling widely, his bunny smile, smiled just for you. 

“Busy too. Yes, very long time no see.” He replied sheepishly, a small laugh escaping his lips as he looked around the dead silent studio. “Why…how do you know each other?” Yoongi finally asked, eyes snapping back and forth between the two of you.

“Well I guess we have to tell them now. We know each other from back in Highschool. We were pretty close friends back then.” You explained softly, giving him a small smile. Jungkook nodded quickly. “My apologies. I didn’t wanted to completely ruin the interview but…I haven’t seen you in three or so years. Sorry.” You waved it off. “It’s okay, Jungkook. We will catch up later, alright?” Jungkook nodded, making the mistake of looking over to Namjoon, who looked like he finally understood everything. “Is that why you were so…never mind.” He ended in a mumble and Jungkook was glad he did.

⋄

The second the interview was officially finished and all the cameras shut off, Jungkook was on his feet and approaching you. He didn’t even care about formalities anymore as he just wrapped his arms around you and pulled you into a tight hug.

The first thing he noticed was that he couldn’t nestle his face in the crook of your neck as easy as he had been able to do in high-school. The second thing was that you had changed your perfume into something more flowery and fresh. The third thing he noticed was how much he liked having you in his arms again, especially because he could now rest his head on top of yours.

The first thing you noticed was how broad your Kookie had become. Broad and tall and firm everywhere. The second thing you noticed was how he smelled more expensive, faintly musky but still very much like Jungkook. A scent you could pick out from a thousand, unique and everything you loved. The third thing you noticed was how familiar and how looked after you felt in his arms, how protected from every harm. You had missed this feeling.

“Aigoo, Junkookie!” Jin yelled from behind, causing you to chuckle embarrassed and trying to break the hug. But Jungkook simply tightened his arms around you, having no intentions of letting you go any time soon.

“Just ignore them. They’ll leave, eventually.” His voice was muffled by the skin on your neck, since he had now buried his face there, taking deep breaths.

“And we?” you asked with a small laugh, not moving either. “We stay. We catch up. Got a lot of that to do.” Sounded good enough to you…just that you had expected them to make a bee-line for the exit after the cameras cut due to their busy schedule.

“Catch up now?” you asked after a few seconds of him still having his arms around you, unmoving. The young man shook his head.

“No…not right now.” He took a deep breath, hiding his face in the crook of your neck, mumbling against your skin and the fabric of your blouse. 

“In five minutes. Let me just hold you for a little while, you…you have no idea how much I missed you.” 

If he only knew.

— ✩ thank u for reading ✩ —

[1-800-i-ship-it]

khun modern bf headcanons?

Hmm oof i am probably not the best person to be asking this cause I dont write fics or anything but I’ll do my best

So i realized that i just wrote plot stuff but im posting anyway cause i spent way too long on this ahaha 

apologies in advance for typos that I'm too lazy to go through and correct

Enjoy the headcanons that i wrote later + plots that i originally wrote and went on a long tangent on oops

Headcanons:

Khun would be that subtle overprotective boyfriend 

He’d just kinda silently watch from afar but he’d totally kill anybody who hurt bam in any way, shape, or form

But he’d like be SUPER sweet with bam like

Pet names yall PET NAMES like khun and bam would prob both mutually melt when they call each other pet names

Khun would always help bam with hw and whatnot, let’s pretend bam’s a physics genius cause thats just how i imagine him in modern life, always has trouble with law class (he’s  taking it just for khun so he can understand what khun’s talking about) so khun helps him

Khun would be a super smooth talker, can woo a n y b o d y, exceptional at speeches, captain of speech and debate team

Khun would never admit he’s jealous but like the whole gang would know (except for bam who’s clueless as usual) 

Like bam is friendly with everybody so khun’d just be like ugh screw yall 

But then bam always confides in him and spends a crapload amt of time with him so he knows he’s just doubting himself and he’s mad at himself about it cause he knows bam is loyal to a fault and would never betray him

When bam gets older bam uses this against him hehe

Khun would also be that bf that everyones jealous of 

Everyone would want to be with khun but he only has eyes for bam

Ignores everybody else who hits on him

Side note i still stan top!bam and bottom!khun 

Khun would also be super thoughtful and goes out of his way to help make bam’s life easier whether its doing chores or smth etc, and each time bam smiles at him and expresses his gratitude khun’s heart would melt for the 1000th time

But like secretly khun really likes confident and sexy bam

They’d probably roleplay ngl (let ur imagination wonder~)

Khun would enjoy just spending time with bam :’) just cuddling and doing mundane things, they’d be super adorable together, hugs and kisses and ah just too cute-

Khun secretly likes bdsm and bam knows this 😏they switch roles from time to time, i cant decide who’s sub/dom

Khun would plan a super elaborate proposal to bam but then somehow bam would catch him off guard and then khun would just blurt it out when they’re together <3

Khun’d always be up early to cook for bam, they both morning ppl tho khun’s always sleep deprived bc hes also a night owl 

Khun is shy with pda in public but eventually he and bam decide they dont care anymore and just hold hands and act all lovey dovey to the point where shibisu cant decide if he’s a proud dad or if he wants to throw up, rak is always proud of his turtles, endorsi and hatz literally want to throw up all the time and would die before admitting that they secretly approve of khunbam

Khun is all around a model bf that i am sure half the fandom would be willing to date but im sorry guys khun’s taken cause he’s only got eyes for bam~

Plot things/idk what they’re called:

CEO!khun and intern!bam

Assassin!khun and assassin!bam who eventually get together and destroy the corrupt system

Gdi i thought of so many while having dinner but i forgot

Hmmmm

Imagine bam as jue viole grace like forced to work in a gang or smth and then khun as the gang boss 

I totally dont have a thing for badass assassin themed things pls dont judge me

Teacher!khun and student!bam (ofc it’d be near graduation if u get my drift...😏)

Idk why i thought of this but imagine idol khun o.o wait YO idol khun + assistant bam

Tutor!khun and student!bam 

I feel like im literally just saying the same ideas

Theres a reason why im not a fic writer :’)

High school sweethearts -> angst bc parents dont approve, sad forced breakup, no contact -> get back together when older after a time-lapse when they’re more mature, heated reunion 

Best friends bam and khun since preschool, since they were in the womb, PINING, both of them scared to admit it cause they dont want to ruin their friendship, meanwhile the entire gang is betting on them getting together (aka mainly rak and shibisu betting, hatz, endorsi, anaak, (insert s2 and s3 gang dont wanna spoil) everybody etc)

Uni students with khun as a law major and bam as a cs major (both geniuses, nerd bam), roommates *insert smirk* lots of pining, blushes from them casually changing in front of each other...the rest is up to ur imagination

Khun and bam as rival sports teams coaches 

Age gap!khunbam (not a lot, somewhere between 5-8 yrs), with bam as the younger one who kept saying that he loves khun but khun just laughs it off bc bams a kid but then khun sees bam after he comes back from college and bam gets a massive glowup from clueless cinnamon roll to clueless cinnamon roll hottie who only has the hots for khun (still) and then khuns all like “fuck” *dies inside*

Single dad khun, bam as a daycare employee who keeps getting flustered by khun, khun takes interest in bam bc he doesn’t ask nosy questions like other ppl, and bam has these mesmerizing golden eyes

Tailor/dry cleaner owner!bam and office worker!khun who constantly needs his clothes to be altered so they fit exactly how he wants them to (this eventually results in awkward moments and blushing), and also dry cleans like his countless number of suits and dress shirts and whatnot

Author!khun and publishing assistant!bam (is it even called publishing assistant honestly i have no idea but u get what i mean right), khun never signs books but bam convinces him to 

Poet!khun and uni student!bam as a literature major who’s a big fan and wanted to meet khun at one of his signings but is too shy even though shibisu drags him there, accidentally bumps into khun in the bathroom, is all flustered, ends up talking to khun for super long, khun loves bam’s enthusiasm for the subject, offers to give feedback on bam’s poems, bam is literally about to combust, they have lots of meetings and khun flirts with bam who’s clueless but blushes a lot anyway, they kiss *ahem* the rest is history

Spy!khun and bam, khun realizing he doesn’t want to hurt bam, sends fake info back to his country (ruled by eduan and jahad), eduan finds out (sent khun out in the first place bc khun was a threat to him cause the ppl liked khun better), sends out an assassin to get khun, who knows this and escapes with bam somewhere, some complicated plot taht idk how to figure out but you get the drift, eventually khun rules the country with bam

Real estate agent khun and contractor bam, eventually start their own business together

Khun as student pres, also known as the ice king bc he’s turned down dating everyone who asked, bam as the transfer student who catches his attention  (bam with more of a jue viole grace complex), the silent physics genius who is also on par with khun when debating in speech and debate club 

Khun and bam as besties, always do their hw together and hang out after class (cause bam always needs help haha), something leads to them fake dating, eventually real dating 😏

Khun and bam as besties, always do their hw together and hang out after class (cause bam always needs help haha), someone (rachel, DO NOT KILL ME I HAVE A REASON) asks bam out and he doesn't know how to say no (the rest of the gang egging him to date cause they know khuns gonna be jelly) khun goes and sulks, eventually bam gets hurt and manipulated by her, khun is pissed off, rachel is reported for abuse, khun and the gang fight for bam, khun is there for bam all the time, after a while bam asks khun out of the blue if khun likes him (shibisu let it slip that khun is gay bc god knows bam is oblivious af), khun is shocked but says yes bc he cant hide it anymore, bam says he always loved khun but thought khun was straight (bc of some dumb rumor someone said) which was why he ignored his feelings and agreed to date rachel bc he just wanted to distract himself, lots of cuddling thereafter, they get together, rak wins the bet for when khunbam will get together, khunbam gets married

oh man that became way longer than i expected...anon i hope u enjoyed that? half of it prob made 0 sense ngl and idek if i answered the q properly?

kudos to you if you actually read like all my rambling :’)

[song-fox]

"You're A Dork."

.

Roman's P.O.V.

This is it, I thought gleefully to myself. I'm finally gonna know my soulmate's first words to me!

Well, at least for after I get my soulmark.

I closed my eyes excitedly as everyone began the countdown to midnight. It was my sixteenth birthday, and it was tradition for everyone to stay up until 12 o'clock for when the words appeared on the person's wrist. After years of daydreaming and wondering, I was finally about to find out what they would say to me. But even still, I had so many questions. What would he look like? How would he act? Would I already know him, or would it be a complete stranger? Would he like Disney as much as me? Would he even be a he? I desperately hoped so, otherwise all those years of denial and coming out would have been pretty useless.

"Three..."

I took in a couple of breaths, balancing on the balls of my feet.

"Two..."

I tugged at my sleeve. What would my wrist say?

"One...!"

I immediately opened my eyes and pulled down the sleeve of my red hoodie, revealing the black letters that stood out against my pale skin. My eyes scanned over them frantically.

You're a dork.

I almost laughed out loud at that. It certainly wasn't what I was expecting, but it wasn't exactly an unpleasant surprise, either.

"Ooh! What'd you get?" Patton asked, bouncing around and looking just as excited as I was, if not more. Right. He couldn't see the writing on my arm. No one could. Soulmates are supposed to be personal and should be your own choice to pursue them, so nobody can ever see the writing on someone's wrist.

Unlike me, Patton had already found his soulmate, on the same day as his birthday, in fact. Of course it had been Logan, our mutual friend who seemed to have been dropping incredibly obvious hints that he was crushing on the boy, at least by Logan's standards.

I grinned at them both. "It says You're a dork."

Logan snorted. "Fitting," he remarked, earning an elbow from me.

Patton, however, seemed ecstatic. "Aw! That's really cute!"

I put down my arm, still smiling. "Yeah, it is."

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

Over the next few days, I was waaayyyy too confident on finding my soulmate soon, if not right away. If Patton could do it, why not me?

"'Sup, dork!" a kid yelled out one morning on the bus. We were on our way to school, so he could have been talking to anyone, but still I pulled down my sleeves and quickly read over the words.

No match. It was probably for the best, anyway. The guy was straight, and also kind of a jerk. He wasn't even talking to me, either.

Oh well. Maybe next time.

Months later. I walked into the local bookstore, looking over the list that Patton had given me. Logan's birthday was coming up, and Patton had suggested gifting him some books and gave me a list of specific ones. Patton himself was making Logan a scarf, since it was nearly winter and the nerd got cold easily.

I walked over to the checkout counter a few minutes later with a stack of books in my arms. I placed them in front of the cashier, surprised at their weight. Those books were heavy.

The cashier hummed as he grabbed the books and scanned them, reading over their titles.

"Encyclopedia, A Brief History of Time, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd... wow, you're a nerd," he teased. I paused, then quickly glanced at my upturned wrist whilst the cashier bagged the books. No match.

Of course.

"Oh, uh, they're just for my friend. But he is a nerd. I'll tell him that you acknowledged it too," I remarked. The guy smiled, handing over the books.

"Have a nice day."

A few more months passed. I tried hard to forget that I had a soulmate and to stop constantly checking my wrist every time someone said anything similar to my soulmark. It worked, for the most part. I spent most of my time at school, anyway, and the rest of my days were mainly hanging out or talking to Logan and Patton.

I also spent a lot of my time drawing and painting, although that didn't really have much to do with the whole soulmate thing. I just really enjoyed it. I even posted a lot of it online, along with some picture of my friends and I just hanging out and goofing around.

One day while I was drawing, I heard a faint vibration from my phone, signalling a notification. I dropped my pencil and grabbed it, scrolling through all the random notifications from weird group chats until I found one from a comment on one of the pictures I had posted.

I tapped on it. The picture was one that Logan had taken, with him looking disappointedly into the camera whilst Patton and I goofed off in the background.

I kept scrolling until I found the comment.

PurpleDinosaur123: Lmao youre such a dork

For a second I felt my heart stop, and I scrambled to look at my wrist.

No match.

I sighed, instead opting to type out a reply.

Royal_arts: Lol thanks for noticing, I really do try

I put my phone on silent and tucked it away.

Almost a full year had passed since my sixteenth birthday, and although it was irrational, I was starting to lose hope. I know, it was dumb to expect a soulmate in just one year, but still. I couldn't really force myself to feel any different.

I pulled out my phone and texted to a group chat with Logan and Patton.

Me: i'm sad :(((((

DadPat: Is this about me eating the last cupcake?? if so I'm sorry <333

Me: wait you ate my last cupcake

Me: nvm it doesnt matter,, i'm just being angsty over the whole soulmate thing

DadPat: Aww, chin up kiddo, you'll meet him someday

Nerd: It's true. My parents didn't even meet until they were nearly thirty

Me: but what if i never meet him :(((

DadPat: Of course you will!! you're destined to, remember? it's basically set in stone :)

Nerd: Well, actually

Me: stfu logan i'm trying to cheer up here

Nerd: Right. My apologies

Me: s'cool

DadPat: Ah well, just get some sleep kiddo, maybe you'll feel better in the morning. love ya!! gnight!

Nerd: Indeed, perhaps some rest will benefit you. Goodnight

Me: goodnight ya nerd, ily2 patt

With that, I turned off my phone and let sleep overtake me.

I haven't seen him in a while, and it's a pleasure to see him again.

"Do you think I'll ever meet my soulmate?" I ask, staring into the dark, nightmarish atmosphere. He sits with me too, a warm and comforting presence beside me. He laughs and shakes his head, although it isn't a negative sign.

"You're a dork."

I tilt my head. "What do you mean?"

"Roman, you're a brilliant and amazing and creative person. Don't doubt yourself. Anyone would be lucky to have you."

I mull it over, before pausing. "Wait, what did you say?"

"I said that anyone would be lucky to have you."

I shake my head frantically. "No, no before that!"

"I said 'You're a dork'."

I feel like my breathing has stopped for a second. I stand up, backing away.

"No, no, no," I say breathlessly, running a hand through my hair. I nearly trip over my own feet.

"What? You don't want me?"

"No, I- I, but.." I'm stumbling over my words. Tears are threatening to spill out.

"Not you... not you... please, not you," I plead to deaf ears. The threat is now a battle with my emotions. My cheeks are wet with bitter tears and I'm gulping back breaths.

"Please..."

I jolted awake, my mouth ajar and sucking in precious oxygen. My eyes stung with fresh tears.

I grabbed my phone off the table and texted the group chat again.

Me: hey patt?? i'm gonna need a ride later

DadPat: Oh? what for?

DadPat: Are you meeting someone??

Me: kind of

DadPat: ??  ',:/

Me: i need to have breakfast, i'll just text you the location later, k?

DadPat: Okie kiddo, I'll pick you up at noon <33

Me: thx, ly

As he said, Patton was waiting outside my house by lunchtime. I stood anxiously outside my house, holding tightly onto a bouquet of flowers. Hydrangeas, hyacinths and lilacs, all varying shades of purple.

Patton waved me over, and I noticed Logan was sitting with him in the front seat.

"Hey, kiddo! I hope you don't mind that Logan came along; he saw your texts and wanted to make sure you were okay." Logan waved awkwardly at me.

I sniffed and wiped my eyes. "Thanks. It means a lot."

Logan tilted his head. "Roman, are you okay? You seem upset."

I let out a deep breath. "I met him."

They both perked up at this.

"Wait, really? Roman, that's amazing! Who is he?" Patton piped up, eyes glimmering excitedly. I kept silent and simply looked at him, watching his misty blue eyes scanning my face.

Logan realized it first. He stifled a gasp and his eyes widened, before softening sympathetically. Then it clicked for Patton. He gasped, and his hands flew to his mouth.

"Oh my gosh, Roman, I'm so sorry, that must be terrible," he rambled, his eyes shiny with unshed tears.

Logan nodded, then gestured to the flowers. "Are those...?"

"Yeah," I muttered simply. Logan stayed quiet, knowing better than to press on.

The ride was agonising. Patton had tried putting on some Disney songs, but I insisted no music. The day was beautiful, otherwise; the sunlight glinted on the morning dew of the bright, crisp grass. The trees were lush and full of life, and daisies poked out of the masses of summer foliage.

We arrived after twenty minutes of almost complete silence. The only time it was broken was whenever Patton tried to crack a joke, or when he saw a sign that said ROAD WORK AHEAD and muttered, "Yeah, I sure hope it does," under his breath.

I got out of the car, the gentle breeze stinging my watery eyes. I gripped the bouquet with both hands, as if I were scared that it might have disappeared or suddenly died.

Just like he did.

"Would you like us to accompany you?" Logan asked tentatively. I shook my head slowly, my gaze trained on the ground.

"No, I-I'd like to be alone with him. You can join me later."

Logan nodded and stepped back to join Patton.

Walking through the maze of stone slabs was painful, as it always had been. Even the grass that had been bright and lively just a few minutes before seemed limp and dull.

I kept walking, each step slower than the other, but I kept going. I needed this. I needed to see him again.

I kneeled down in front of the grey stone slab in the ground. Letters were etched neatly into the grave, chipped away with time but still legible.

Here lies Virgil Emory

2004 ~ 2019

Gone, but not forgotten.

I took one more look at the writing on my wrist. The familiar curving lines and dark ink contrasting against my skin.

You're a dork.

I placed down the bouquet, a faint smile on my lips.

"So," I said, choking back a sob. "You're my soulmate."

[fallinglntokillugon]

Rainy Wait Reward

[AO3 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22375756]

A Sweet KilluGon One-shot by Falling lnto Pieces

Synopsis: On a rainy afternoon, Killua waits for Gon at the shoe lockers. When Gon finally shows up, what does Killua want? Part of my Japanese Schooldays AU!

Characters: Killua and Gon

Pairing: KilluaXGon, KilluGon

Genre/Mood: Boys’ love, Rainy Day, Junior High School, Japanese Schooldays AU, Fluffy

Rating: G+

So, I tried writing the next chapter for Erotic Exotic Pet, got three pages in, and had to scrap it. I tried again and got to the same exact road block, causing me to scrap it again. Today after school, I decided to write something small. I think it’s quite cute, and I can post the whole thing here on Tumblr because it’s safe~ Please leave comments and likes if you enjoy the Japanese Schooldays AU! (*Translation Notes at the end*)

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

“Killua, what are you still doing here?” Gon asked as he turned the corner to find his best friend leaning against the second-year shoe lockers.

“I could ask you the same thing,” the white-haired boy responded, slipping his smartphone into the pocket of his pants before straightening up. He rolled his shoulders, which were stiff after such a long wait. Killua pointed past the entryway and out the doors. “It’s raining today.”

“It is,” Gon confirmed the obvious, leaning down to take off his indoor shoes. He opened his locker and tossed his boots out onto the tiles.

“So I was hoping you’d be around to share your umbrella with me. Didn’t know it would be two hours after school ended though…”

“Did you forget yours?”

“What do you think, Baka?”

“I’m thinking you did,” Gon gave a small giggle, sitting on the wooden slats to pull his boots over the bottom of his pants to protect them from the rain. He watched his best friend hop over to where the Class 2-A lockers were, retrieving his sneakers.

“Oi, praise me.”

“Huh? Why should I do that?” the black-haired boy asked in a confused tone as he stood up and slung his book bag over his shoulder.

“I didn’t try using any of those over there,” Killua said, gesturing to where the umbrella stands were located at the end of each locker row. Even though almost all the students had gone home, there were quite a few umbrellas in each of the three stands. Sometimes people brought one on a rainy morning and stranded it there when the weather turned sunny in the afternoon. Most were the clear white ones bought at the convenience store a few blocks from the school, so no one could tell them apart at the end of the day. Those tended to be left behind just in case someone could figure out which one was specifically theirs and wanted it.*

Of course there were many students, mainly male, that would snatch and use umbrellas at random on rainy afternoons if they forgot their own. Some boys would even brag about never needing to buy one, since extras could always be found in the umbrella stands. But, that meant a girl or two were stuck fruitlessly searching for their missing umbrellas. Killua used to be one of those types of guys, as well as a flirt who would charm his fangirls into letting him borrow their umbrellas and run off with it. When he’d transferred to this school, he’d been chided for doing such things.

Gon, the main one to chew him out on the subject, smiled widely at his best friend. He gave a nod of approval and a thumbs up. “Good job for not stealing, Killua.”

“And I want a reward too.”

“You said you just wanted praise,” Gon puffed up his cheeks. His best friend could be so pushy for attention sometimes. He walked down the row to grab the green frog umbrella Grandma Abe had given him for his birthday two years prior. It was big and sturdy, with good grips on the handle. He took it out of the holder and unbuttoned the button. Before he could give it a shake, he felt a pair of arms wrap around his shoulders from behind.

“C'mon, give me something for having waited for you. Two hours, Gon. It was so humiliating to stand next to your locker like an idiot for that long,” Killua complained. Blowing a puff of warm air at one of Gon’s ears, he grinned like a cat when he noticed the tip turn pink.  

“I-I didn’t ask you to stay here and wait for me,” came a cute stutter as Gon furrowed his brows in embarrassment, “You… you didn’t even tell me during lunch that you didn’t have an umbrella, even though it was raining then.”

“I didn’t notice. Why would I look outside when I can watch you eat?”

“Because then I could have told you that I had a saitest* for math after school!” Of course, that was only one hour long. Gon had run into their science teacher after that, helping the man prep the items needed for tomorrow’s lab. Since there were five classes, it took them awhile to get everything in order. The black-haired boy suddenly felt a set of teeth nibble his ear. He let out a squeak of surprise.

“If you won’t give me anything, should I just take whatever I want?” Killua murmured, his grabby fingers creeping down the smaller boy’s uniform.

“Hey! Don’t do that!” Gon cried out, shaking out of the loosened grasp. He spun around, brandishing the umbrella like it was a blade. His visage was bright red, showing he wasn’t angry, just trying to protect himself. “I’ll give you a reward or whatever, okay? Don’t just touch me in weird places when we’re at school.”

“You don’t call them ‘weird places’ when we’re in private,” the Zoldyck teased, pressing his finger against the metal tip of the umbrella, flicking it aside, “even at school.”

“Well, then think about the security cameras!” Gon swung his childish weapon upwards, pointing towards the corners of the entry area. Indeed, there were three small black boxes that sent real-time footage to the Staff Room.

“That’s never stopped you before,” the white-haired boy answered calmly, slipping his backpack on before resting his hands behind his head, “and anyway, it’s not like they check them every moment.” To Killua’s surprise, his partner’s face became even more red and a bit of steam exited his ears. Such a flustered overload was absolutely precious, though he had no clue why that comment caused it.

“G-geez, Killua. I’m not… that much… of a pervert.”

“Pfft, you’re too honest for your own good.”

“Shut up. There’s nothing wrong with l-liking to feel good, right? You’re the one who always says that.”

“And I never thought you’d try to use it to justify how naughty you’ve become,” Killua chuckled, a seductive sparkle in his blue eyes. He gazed behind him at the cameras, flipped one off, and then started walking towards the school entrance. “Well, we should get going. It’s twenty minutes to your house, but I have to stop by a conbini* to buy some stuff Gotoh says we’re out of.”

“Don’t you want your reward or something?” Gon asked, following after the other boy.

“I was just kidding. You didn’t seem like you really wanted to give me anything anyway,” Killua replied with a shrug. He stopped at the double doors, turning back when he heard the umbrella pop open. “Hey, wait until we’re outside before you- mmf!” Under the cover of the frog umbrella, the younger boy’s words were cut off by a pair of soft lips upon his. He definitely had not expected, especially after that outburst, for the smaller boy to initiate such a sweet kiss. Then, Killua felt a tongue slide across his teeth. Truly surprised, he grabbed Gon by the shoulders and pushed him back. Body rigid and face blushing, he looked down to see his spiky-haired beloved try to hide a cheeky grin of victory.

“Sorry for making you wait so long,” Gon hummed, trying not to giggle as he bounced past his stunned partner and out of the building. Positioning the umbrella properly above his head, he spun around and held out an inviting hand, his chocolate brown eyes filled with affection. “Let’s go, Killua!"

(*Translation Notes*)

*In Japan, these plastic white umbrellas are everywhere. Some people put colorful paper tape on the handle to mark it as theirs, but for the most part, they all mix together and no one knows whose is whose. On top of that, Japanese honesty can keep some people from just grabbing one at random, which might end up causing problems for other people. On the other hand, at some places, there can be an unspoken system of "borrowing umbrellas" in which, as long as you return it the next day, rain or shine, you can take someone else's... and cause a chain of mutual stealing.

*Saitest = Retest, Make-up Test. In Japan, a saitest is usually after school. Since students have club activities, it shows them that they should do better in class so they don't have to miss the thing they care about. In this AU though, Killua is on the student council as a class rep and Gon is in the going home club.

*Conbini = A convenience store. Choosing from 7-Eleven, Family Mart, or Lawson, Killua probably likes Lawson while Gon likes 7-Eleven. The one near their school is probably a Family Mart.

[chalabrun]

between the dirt & desperation, ch. 1

Word count: 3,753 Pairings: Symbrock Rating: T Warnings: None Summary:  Sequel to “Angry & Half in Love with You”, it’s been well over a month since Eddie moved away from San Francisco to start over in his hometown of Manhattan. Yet, it’s difficult to return to a normal life when what you were once addicted to becomes addicted to you.  A/N: This is a crossover between Venom (2018) and Sam Raimi’s Spiderman trilogy (2002-07)

( READ ON AO3 )

Cities had moods. They had character, and personalities. It was hard explaining to someone from the suburbs or a small town of 5,000 where everyone knew each other. Eddie had been born in the city of cities, the one that everyone from Helsinki to Beijing and everywhere in between thought of when asked to imagine America, even for the tiniest of moments. Even Americans themselves. Manhattan had a personality so large and old that the entire East Coast looked like it. Like the Big Apple could be any city from Maine to just a stone’s throw above the Bible belt and they wouldn’t be wrong. Not entirely.

New York was steel and teeth. It was craggy concrete that bubbled like rivers of dried and cracked lava through the streets. A raw, industrial creation. When Christ told his disciples to be fishers of men, he wondered if they’d anticipated it’d look anything like this, that the net they threw would bring people together in a new Noah’s ark. Expansive, secretive, old, haggard, but also alive. Old and new. Fast-paced and robust and industrial. It claimed chilly winter nights and congested traffic as its temple, old jazzy film noir and sleepless, caffeinated nights as its sacrifice.

San Francisco had always been different. A bright tendril of Los Angeles, soaked in sun. If the sun made its harbor in Hollywood, then San Francisco was where its rays touched first, but also where its shadows were longest. It didn’t have the steel and shadiness New York did. Or ever would. It felt like your favorite relative you saw on the holidays, of palm fronds and brisk walks on a beach crested by an ocean so brilliant it was bluer than the sky it was supposed to get its color from. Peeled away and without secrets.

Maybe that’s why he never really felt like he’d belonged. Why he finally up and left after the whole Life Foundation incident. And after divorcing himself from the Other, when it finally became apparent how utterly at the mercy he was at the symbiote, they had to part ways. Lest he lose himself on top of all sense of normalcy. Of Anne and Dan and how utterly suited and picture-perfect they were for San Francisco.

It’s why New York’s rough and tumble called him back like a siren, and he just couldn’t refuse.

“Hey, I think ya dropped these.”

The subway emerged from a long and ghastly dark tunnel that made your reflection too easy to see. The back car for the early morning train from Brooklyn was mercifully sparse, all things considering. The man in question had dropped a sheaf of photos the lights blocked its glossy contents of, until it became apparent as to what it was.

Opaque, wide eyes set in a mask made of webbing. Red like blood, like slaughter. Interrupted by a Pacific blue on the chest, crawling up the side of a skyscraper in stunning detail. Eddie became shell-shocked at the sight of it, mind phasing to a rapid negative of the photos. Blinking, it went away.

“Oh, sorry about that. Guess I’m still kind of clumsy in the morning.” The brunet who speaks with wide blue eyes and earnest, smiling thin lips is the picture of someone untouched, but not innocent.

Eddie remembered himself and smiled back. “Yeah, no, no. These are some killer shots, though. You the guy who’s been getting Spidey’s mug in the papers? Man, even I gotta envy that kinda skill.”

The other man chuckled modestly. “My boss tends to differ on that front. He thinks all my stuff is pretty mediocre.”

Eddie’s brows bounced in disbelief, sputtering, “You serious? This shit looks like you got Spidey to pose for you in a SoHo photo studio. And he thinks this is subpar? Man, I wouldn’t wanna be workin’ for him.” Handing the photographer’s material back to him, he added, “Y’know, I do investigative journalin’ myself. Hell, I just got hired on to the Daily Bugle just the other day. We might actually see each other around.”

A boyish and incredulous look crossed the brunet’s face almost shyly. “Wait, seriously? What are the chances of that? —Oh, I’m Peter, by the way. Peter Parker.” He offered his hand to shake. “I’m more freelance, but I guess this makes us coworkers, huh?”

“No kidding. Can’t say I’m adverse to the idea. You photographers are like the muses of us journalists. At least, I think I got that off’a fortune cookie somewhere. You headed to HQ or somethin’?” Smiling crookedly, he shook Peter’s hand a little too enthusiastically. Blame finally getting something resembling a friend on that. “Oh, uh—yeah, Peter. I’m Eddie. Eddie Brock. Real name’s a bit longer, but kinda pointless, y’know?”

Their hands finally released, Eddie backtracking to whether or not he’d shaken it for too long. Clearing his throat, visibly fidgeting, he awkwardly ushered Peter through when they’d finally made it to a mutually apparent destination. “Hey, uh—after you, Pete.”

Peter smiled thinly at that. “Bugle’s this way. It’s not all that hard to miss.” Completely oblivious as to the sudden change in demeanor, Eddie shrugged and alighted on the platform with the other. At least he wasn’t going it alone this time around.

“Will you shut that thing off! If I have to hear one more goddamn word out of that smug Daily Planet’s reporter’s mouth, someone’s going to get fired!”

John Jonah Jameson leaned back in his rickety reclining chair, proudly smoking a thick cigar, a smug and politically incorrect aura bleeding from it. Thick brows raised dubiously as he went through Peter’s crop of photos like an inspector of choice swine at the country market, sticking a knife in the fat to gauge its leanness of the meat. And by the way his cigar hung from his teeth, he didn’t look too impressed.

“This the best you’ve got, Parker? I’ve seen brats on Instagram take better selfies at 3 AM after getting the damn munchies.” Peter himself looked tense, jaw gritting but too subtle to be noticeable or angry. Even Eddie found himself morbidly fascinated by the exchange and feeling vaguely bad for Peter himself.

“It’s the best I’ve got, Mr. Jameson. I got better lighting, and everything,” Peter reasoned, bordering on protesting, splaying his inventory out more. “Like for that one scoop you were talking about. I got this,” he pointed to a photo of the Friendly Neighborhood Spider accelerating up a wall in the wake of a crime scene, “in exactly the kind of context you were looking for and everything.” Incriminating, but falsely planted. Just what sort of deal had they made, anyways?

“It’s crap,” Jameson rebutted bluntly. “You think stories are made from HD screenshots? Nah, I want in-action pictures, Parker. Hell, I think it’s why teaming you up with Brock here will do you some good. You’ve got promise, but I just don’t see it—”

“Sir, your wife she’s—”

“Tell her I’ll call her back! Can’t you see I’m busy?” Jameson barked to his secretary who shrunk back, gazing sidelong as though the employees at desks behind her back were a captive audience. Jerking his head towards Eddie, he quipped gregariously, “What do you say, Brock? You up to heading to Oscorp to interview Doctor Octavius?”

Eddie needed a moment to mull over the name, feeling a pit open in his stomach at the realization. Oh God. Oh no—this was turning into San Fran all over again. Exactly what he’d been trying to escape. Except—Eddie calmed his breathing. It didn’t have to be a repeat. He’d get the interview, get in, get out, and not stick his neck where it didn’t belong like last time. Easy.

“You can count on me, Mr. J. I’ll keep Petey here from takin’ photos that look too good, eh?” As if to prove a point, Eddie circled an arm around Peter’s shoulder and shook it for emphasis, Parker glancing at him in bemusement, brows furrowed.

“Yeah…what he said, Mr. Jameson,” Peter replied stiffly, shrugging Eddie’s arm off and offering him a distantly apologetic look.

Alright, that was something. Only one more head-ducking event to go, and he’d be in the clear!

Several days later of navigating his way through an apartment at various stages of unpacking, and Eddie cobbled together an outfit that seemed decent enough: a button-down dress shirt, crisp black slacks, penny loafers, a dark jacket, and tie. Dressy, but still informed the world that he wasn’t some Washington Post shill. Remembering his past mistake with Carlton Drake seared the reminder not to get involved, not to fuck this up. He did enough time with what happened and paid dearly for it.

Even if he’d turned a new leaf, that didn’t mean he didn’t lie awake thinking about the symbiote. He did. God, he did. It was just the little things, mainly. Buying chocolate and tater tots and wondering why the hell he had. Thinking something and pausing, waiting for a response. It was messing with him, but he had to move on. If Venom was really that hellbent on keeping him, it would’ve. But, it didn’t. He had to remember that and move on. All graceful, and shit.

That didn’t make the memory of their parting any easier. Why did it still come back and bite him in the ass? It had been a month, maybe more. Why did his heart still ache like there was an emptiness to fill?

“C’mon Eddie, get your shit together,” he muttered to himself after stepping off the platform in Midtown Manhattan where the Oscorp tower rose in rivalry to that of Stark Industries’. It was an enviable life, being able to live so richly and without much complication, building an empire off the wit, grit, and ambition that made the American Dream. …Eddie mentally jotted that down. That could make for a good opener in his article.

“There you are. Right where I left you.” Eddie smiled at the sound of Peter’s voice. Sweater vest over some dress shirt and crisp trousers; the glasses made Parker look like a classic point Dexter. Guess that made Eddie the classic rebel to match.

“Yeah, yeah. Least Aunt May spiffed you up pretty good, eh? We ought’a start going; looks like it might start soon, an’ all.”

After their first meeting, they’d met a few times at a bar. First, it was logistics. The sense and sensibility that came with networking that any New Yorker in any industry worth his salt knew how to do. Brock wouldn’t have gotten nearly as far otherwise. Then, it was real friendly talk. Bonding over being born and bred city slickers felt like a homecoming he didn’t ask for, but sorely appreciated. It was nice having friends that didn’t quite stick as much in San Francisco.

“You ready to head on up, or does your hair need more greasing?” Peter teased as they crossed the street in unison. “Could stop at McDonald’s, too.” God, the shit-eating grin. Parker had a real mouth on him when he wanted to. A real potshot when it came to sarcasm and its humor.

“Can it, wise guy. Let me look a little bit smart ‘ere.”

Little more words were exchanged when a familiar professionalism beholden to men in journalism overcame them both almost in tandem, greeted by a front desk secretary who gave them both guest passes specific to the press conference Doctor Octavius was holding in one of Oscorp’s more “public-friendly” labs. Fair enough, even though the investigator in him wanted nothing less than to pass through all restrictions and really see the seedy underbelly. No corporation made it this big without a few body bags along the way.

At the demonstration proper, an enormous curtain separated the small gathering of reporters and journalists like them from the class act behind it. Eddie folded his arms and Peter appeared equally pensive, but a lot less out of place amid shined shoes and news anchor smiles.

“So, this guy, this Otto Octavius—any idea what he’s got cookin’, or we just gonna be surprised?” Eddie turned to Peter to ask who was like a kid in a candy store. He was still in is later college years, far as he knew. Practically a friggin’ baby, which explained a lot. That put a couple years between them. “’Cuz I ain’t really the surprises type.”

“Well, yeah. That’s kinda the whole point, right? Besides, it looks like it’ll start soon.” Peter’s eyes were wide as saucers and totally affixed to the front row. “Let’s get up front. I want a good view of what we might see.”

A flutter of anticipation and nervousness flowered in Eddie’s breast, practically feeling preemptive adrenaline pump through his veins. “…If ya say so, Petey. Guess it can’t hurt.” Why did it feel as though a sense of foreboding hung over them like a cloud? Along with something damnably familiar? Eddie swallowed down a clout of nerves he hadn’t felt before, following it tow as Peter dragged him to the front where no one seemed to mind. The lab’s ampitheater slanted downwards, anyway, so it’s not like they were blocking anything.

Clutching his camera in hand, Peter looked as though he might unleash a barrage of snapshots in his excitement. Which suited him just fine. Not that the camera shutters weren’t going off already like Peter was trying to commit to memory via his camera. Eddie, meanwhile, ticked on the portable recorder he kept on his person at almost all times, checking the small mic clipped on his jacket’s lapel.

And just in the nick of time, too. The lights dimmed substantially from their florescent blaze. Across the stage did a middle-aged and stocky man come unto the podium, smiling in a way that did little to offset the brooding intensity beneath heavy, thick eyebrows. The face of a scientist who grimly saw the failing condition of the world and had many a sleepless night trying to contrive of ways to offset the inevitable flatline. Cartlon Drake had that look, he remembered. This man wore it more intensely, and that much was exceedingly obvious.

“Ladies and gentlemen, we stand upon the brink. We live in a world where we’ve yet to explore the unknown while what we do is on the verge of collapse. And in response to it, it is the burden of those gifted with an aptitude of their calling to answer that call and play their part in saving this planet. The only one of its kind that we know of.”

With all the aegis of someone of his stature, of his eminence as a scientist, it still made Eddie feel wary of him. Even before the crawling sense of déjà vu, it clung to his tongue like gum and stuck there. What he wanted to speak out against before he even knew what it was. Clapping once, the maroon curtain rose and slowly did that sensation return stronger than it had ever before.

He should’ve known something out there was conspiring against him. Before him, in a cylindrical tube, was the symbiote. He could feel a low pulse that hummed softly, knowing exactly what it was doing: subduing the Other. Slowly did Eddie’s arms unfold, completely transfixed, and he had to resist every urge in his body to leap on stage and bash the glass in.

It was in pain.

Dr. Octavius gestured at the tank with a sweeping gesture, a dark humor in his smile. “I present to you the symbiote. Roughly a month ago as I’m sure you are all aware, the Life Foundation discovered these beings on an unsanctioned space flight. In San Francisco, innocent human lives were subjected under the machinations of Carlton Drake to try and bond it and others like it. Inhumane, and completely reprehensible.”

Venom stirred in the tank, almost in a stupor before rousing to life. Familiar, achingly agonized eyes widened in recognition of Eddie and the symbiote began writhing madly in the tank, inky tendrils crawling up its curve in futility, as if trying to escape to get back to him. His heart caught in his throat that throbbed sympathetically, every protective instinct in his body revving to high gear that wanted to spirit it away. As if knowing his thoughts, Venom thrashed in desperation and he swore he could hear it whimper and whine as though it were next to him, panicking once it knew he was here.

“It’s alive. Instead of subjecting this creature to the harms of bonding to a human host, we mean to study it, to replicate its properties without bringing harm to humans. Through this being, this symbiote, we intend upon harnessing its potential as both armor and protection and regeneration to benefit mankind. Think of it: a suit that could heal the infirm and disabled, helping them walk again. Or, sending people armed in this suit to hazardous places to save endangered lives in the wake of disaster. Even going beyond that, at no cost of life.”

While Octavius continued orating, Eddie tried to maintain his composure, but it was difficult with every passing second. His field of vision completely whited out save for his view of the symbiote, how it was practically ready to capsize the container in its desperation with Eddie so near. He hardly heard a word spoken until Octavius mentioned him by name, Peter’s perplexed look matching that dozen who stared at him in unison.

“Mr. Brock, is it? I’ll admit, I was surprised to find you among the list of those who were in attendance, but pleasantly surprised. Please, why don’t you come up here? Maybe you can hold their attention better than I can.” There was a murmur of polite laughter, though there was nothing humorous in the scientist’s eyes. If anything, it looked more like he was sharpening a knife and Eddie was the whetstone.

“Oh—right, yeah, sure thing, Doctor Octavius,” Eddie responded automatically, smile tense as he vaulted on the stage instead of taking the short set of stairs nearby. No one seemed to really mind, despite the formalness of the event. Hooking his thumbs in his pockets, it was a struggle not to keep his eyes wholly trained on the symbiote that loosed a long-pitched whine at their close proximity.

“Now, as many of you may be aware, Mr. Brock was one of two known successful hosts that bonded with one of the symbiotes, notably this one. I’ll admit, I’m quite curious: what was it like, being at the mercy of this fascinating creature?”

Eddie swallowed thickly, Peter’s blue eyes intense upon him that he only surreptitiously met. With every moment under the limelight, he felt his self-control crumbling and a white-hot rush of adrenaline take its place. He was sick. He was so fucking sick and he hadn’t even touched the Other in over a month, their time together having been brief enough as it was. “See, that’s the thing. It’s not really a ‘creature,’ y’know what I’m sayin’? It’s alive. Maybe not our definition of alive, but it thinks, it feels—it knows what it is. Who it is.”

Disguising his adrenalized state as thoughtful pacing, he rounded away from Octavius who watched him hawkishly, conspiratorial murmurs ringing the crowd like mist, like gathering storm clouds. And he could hear it in waves. “Humanity often thinks we’re the only ones out there capable of thinkin’ about our place in the universe, of makin’ bonds so profound that even the sun feels cold to us.” A flash of red along the wall: a fire extinguisher. It looked heavy. Heavy enough.

In the calm before the storm, he placed his hand on the glass, barely aware of the flashing bulbs of the cameras. Venom reacted intensely, that familiar, savage purr as it pressed itself yearningly to the glass, a passion so heavy it weighed like blood. “’s alright. I’m here now, baby. I’ll get ya outta there.” If it could devour the oils from his fingers, the milky clear prints left behind, the lingering heat—it would. Starved, so starved, not even meat could sate that hunger.

“What was it like being its host, Mr. Brock?” one of the reporters prompted, a stern blonde with flinty-ash eyes. “Were there any detriments to your health? You look fine, by looks alone.”

Eddie cleared his throat, coughing into his hand. Octavius’ gaze was like irons on his, having seen it from the sidelong view he had of the tank. Eddie’s own faltered as he pretended to focus exclusively on the crowd, Peter’s enthusiasm faltering. Like he knew about the chaos to unleash.

Posturing to look as though he were preparing to answer the question, he instead bolted for the fire extinguisher and paid no attention to the sudden shock upon the crowd while Octavius’ smug darkness shifted to a frenzied possession. Lunging for the tank, Eddie manfully smashed the glass, taking several tries before there was a fissure enough for Venom to seep through and spring into Eddie’s arms. Despite the whizzing of bullets from the security guards stationed nearby, Venom craned up to lick Eddie’s lips in a semblance of a kiss, wanting to sink into it. To be enveloped and taken by that tar pit he’d feared.

“Eddiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeee,” Venom crooned adoringly, wrapping around the blond with aplomb and all the anxiousness of before melting away. A massive black tarp of its nebulous miasma unfurled like crow’s wings around them, the bullets repelled uselessly. It nuzzled into his neck, content to stay there forever.

“Hey, Ven, we gotta get outta here. Y’think you can help me out here?”

A toothsome, wolfish smile of all fangs spanned its black lips, eyes narrowing in a feral cheer. “We’ll protect Eddie. We’ll keep him safe,” came its savage purr, all before the proximity between them closed with a harsh entanglement of mouth and tongue, Eddie forgetting to breathe and almost glad not to. Gradually, the eddies of his vision clouded away to a soothing blackness, one he never thought would’ve been.

And I’ll keep you safe, too—promise.

All he could remember last was rocketing into the very sky, smashing through skylights that rained down like shards of ice and incited a panic, Octavius enraged while the rest scattered. It was to be a state of emergency, sure, but little else mattered now.

All faded to black.

[forte7]

Forte’s Fan Character Flashback Friday - #11

Name: Kaede Hatake Series: Naruto Background: So, this is probably the last Flashback Friday; turns out I'm kinda out of fan characters to really bring back - at least those that I really remember or have images of. But I will be ending this series off with a bang, I guess, cause today we're going to talk about one of my favorite fan characters who has way more development than a fan character really needs, but hey, I enjoy it and it's fun.

Anyway, I've posted stuff for this character before, but have a lot more I can share and have been kind of holding back for this post.

This is Kaede, my long-lived Naruto fan character. As cliche as it is, she supposed to Kakashi's adopted daughter, who of course, also happened to repress her memories of her actual family and birthplace and thanks to the Third Hokage's permission and whatnot, was able to just more or less seamlessly mesh into living in the Hidden Leaf village.

She was created right after I really got into the series, which was back around 2007, which correlates with one of the earlier images I have of her on my dA. You can see that one here, actually: https://www.deviantart.com/forte-girl7/art/Hatake-Kaede-69525304

Fun side note for that, I had done that image all on the free program GIMP and with a mouse and I'm still amazed at my younger self for having the patience to do all the things I used to do with just a mouse. I've been spoiled by my tablet, haha.

Anyway, one reason why I've been so attached to this character is because, like Rey a while ago, I used to RP with this character on a Naruto RP forum. However, this forum was much more active and the person who RPed as Kakashi was super into the idea and we really ran with the different scenarios we could put the two in. I'm actually still friends with that person and we talk about it from time to time and after the forum itself had gone under, still wrote fanfiction things together, just for funsies.

There's another reason why I got attached to the character and it's kind of a weird, personal, psychological reason, but could really be applied to a lot of my fan characters. As you may have noticed over the course of this series, a lot of my fan characters are either a character's daughter or younger sister. I never did the love interest thing; it wasn't and still isn't a thing that I was into. Not sure why, really, but not my thing.

The gravitation to having characters with older brothers or I suppose "idealized" father figures, however, I can totally explain. The brother thing is simple: I've always wanted an older brother, but as the eldest of the family, that was never going to be a thing. So, I guess I tried to find some kind of surrogate relationship with my fan characters. The same can be said with the father thing, too, but I do still have my dad around and while he isn't the worst dad, I guess he could have always been better. I don't want to paint my dad in a bad light, but he's always been a bit overbearing and had a lot of expectations for me that he pushed so much, I'm sure it didn't help with how my mental state's progressed through the years. Really, it's still a thing I deal with to this day and the more I think about it, the more I understand my younger self's need for "better" father figures to attach myself to.

Kaede was definitely one of those characters, and with someone like my old RP friend fanning the flames, it was hard not to get attached to a source of escapism that I really craved and needed at the time. That and having a set up like that and also have a friend who funnily enough cosplayed as Kakashi at one point saying "she should be canon", well, that's how you make a 14/15 year old's day, haha.

Anyway, I do have a lot of older art for this character (plus a lot of newer stuff), that I'll put next. I'll try and put them in chronological order, starting with some of the older stuff I have.

Old Drawing 1

Old Drawing 2

Old Drawing 3

Old Drawing 4

Old Drawing 5

Old Drawing 6

She's had a few different outfits over the years, though I do have a lot more stuff of her in more random outfits not really connected to her "actual" design. You can tell I was going through that "young weeaboo" phase looking at them, cause there are some of her as kitsune, some of her and Kakashi transformed into dogs, lots of them with bad fashion sense, and even here, she used to have a giant, paper fan as a weapon, cause "they have those in anime". And yes, I know, Temari has a giant fan, but her's is actually like.. a bamboo folding one, while the one here is obviously just a silly paper one that again, you would see in anime as a gag item.

Also, a few notes about some of her outfit inspirations: her earliest outfit looked way too much like Sasuke's, which I wanted to stray away from, but was hard considering I insisted on keeping her color palette the blue/tan mix.

One reason for wanting to stray from that is because of Kaede's odd stance when it comes to Sasuke. Personally, he's not my favorite, but Kaede herself is at odds with him, because of Kakashi's focus on training Sasuke in the earlier part of the series, mainly because of their mutual connection that is the Sharingan. Kaede has a slight inferiority complex when it comes to this relationship and is a major source for her lack of self confidence in her abilities.

Also, one of the later designs is an obvious rip-off of Kakashi's outfit from the Gaiden storyline (the bit where he actually gets his Sharingan). I liked elements from it, but again, would go on to tweak it so it wasn't just stealing from another character. Of course, if you look at the designs (and naming conventions) for a lot of the characters that are related... well, sometimes it seems like they didn't try much harder, hahaha.

And as another note, the reason why some of these images have the dA watermark on it was because I got these from my storage on there and they had those enabled. For the next few, which aren't in storage, I'll just link to the actual dA posts. These are still fairly old at this point, cause I haven't posted a lot of the newer stuff on there or anywhere yet, cause I've been... just going crazy on making new stuff and not posting it.

https://www.deviantart.com/forte-girl7/art/Daddy-s-Girl-126086387

https://www.deviantart.com/forte-girl7/art/Naruto-Kaede-326539607

Those two are from 2009 and 2012, while the ones earlier were posted in 2007ish. Also, the age progression there is pretty similar to the current one, though in the most recent, her older outfit reflects the changes to the general Konoha shinobi found in Boruto.

Now, this is just all visual development for the character. When I say a lot, I mean, a lot, cause there's also a written development to go with this. Granted, a lot of it is more recent, but that's because of me being weird.

Some of the posts there on dA do have the startings of a character profile, but they always say "I'll post most later" or "I'm still working on her profile" or whatever and that never came to light. That's mainly because, as I've mentioned before, I'm oddly pick about how plausible my characters may be in the canon universe. Kaede is no exception and may be the one that really sparked how particular I am about it.

I've been meaning for the longest of times to actually write a fanfiction that more or less adds Kaede to the story, though through research/rethinking, I would now add events not directly connected to the manga/anime, which would be needed either way, cause it's not like I was gonna shove her in the background of every actual scene from Naruto's story. However, because Naruto was still ongoing when I got into the series, I decided to bide my time and wait until it ended and how things unfolded.

While now that it's ended, that means I can comb through everything and actually make sure everything's covered, but it was quite an thing to tough through, considering some of the things that happened in the later chapters of the manga. I don't want to spoil anything for anyone really, but the series is pretty old now at this point and into their next series anyway, and some of the stuff that they pull off and hope you accept in the end game of Naruto is a bit much and trust me, you do not want to get me started on THAT topic, hahaha.

Anyway, now I'll be sharing some of the stuff I've been working on the last bit of time to actually maybe see that long-form fanfiction come to fruition. Please note that a lot of them are still a work in progress, but they have come a long ways since those earlier profile/backstory promises. It turns out that sitting down and combing through stuff, even after the fact, is a lot of work and very time consuming, because again, there's a lot of baloney that Naruto really hopes you'd be fine with, when sometimes they themselves don't stay the most consistent, especially when it comes to their actual time line.

I'm trying really hard not to go on a rant here... so let's move on the links and I'll explain them one by one if needed.

Profile Here's Kaede's current overall profile. It includes the general things on a profile sheet, like name, appearance, personality, backstory, and the likes. This also covers the same parameters for Kaede through the year, because I want to be thorough cause I'm weird like that. I also have little skill charts that use the same ranking system found in the Naruto Character Guidebooks, because I guess I like to waste time, hahaha. The backstory part of this is also kind of serving as a rough draft/abridged version for certain story events I'd like to write out, so sorry if they read... weird.

Relationships This document goes into more detail of Kaede's relationships to other characters. Kakashi's isn't full filled out yet, though it should probably be one of the longest ones, but I've been focusing on other characters, mainly her extended family, that I've been adding to bolster her backstory. There are line breaks between certain groups of characters, and the order after Kakashi should be Kaede's actual parents, her extended family (mainly a lot of her mother's relatives), Kaede's teammate and sensei, Naruto and the others of Team 7/Kakashi, and then other characters from the show.

Supporting Profiles Now, because I'm making up a whole gang of extra characters for my silly little OC, that means they also need profiles for a bit more fleshing out of their own, so that's this document, cause I just don't know how to stop myself sometimes. These again follow an order in their appearance, going from her biological parents to extended family, then teammates, followed up by teammates/colleagues of her biological father.

Technique/Skill List Pretty self explanatory. There are technically two versions of this list, where the other is really just a list. This one is the spreadsheet that covers other parameters of the various techniques/skills/jutsu/whatever and where I keep other notes.

Timeline This one is pretty much the biggest pain the neck for me, because again, it's taking time to cross reference the canon timelines that sometimes muddle themselves up anyway and can be annoying, yet amusing to read. This timeline focuses mainly on characters directly involved with Kaede, such as her extended family/what have you, so it's not the same in-depth one that I've been using on the Naruto wiki. Again, I'm trying to put her into the story, but that doesn't mean she's present and/or relevant to everything, cause she wouldn't be, hahaha, though there are some events present that are only there as kind of reminders for what's taking place in the main storyline.

As seen in the supporting profiles doc, all the characters I've come up with have designs, too, or are in the process of getting them and I've posted sketches and finished versions of them on my Patreon, cause those are also still a work in progress. I want to say I'll post them when they're done, but with me, who knows when that'll be, so I'll just some of them here now:

Supporting Character Drawings

Anyway, I think I'm gonna wrap this one up, cause I've blabbed for long enough. I know not a lot was actually covered Kaede-wise here, but that's because a lot of it would just be repeats of the stuff covered in the way-too-many-documents-for-a-fan-character up there.

Also, like I said, this is probably the last Fan Character Flashback Friday, so I want to thank you all for taking this journey with me to the past to revisit some rather fond memories and fun designs.