#bc shes going to have to go through like all of sixth form alone

[thursdayg1rl]

god FINALLY this hell day is over

[thirdtidemouse]

i have to do more bc she isnt rly brought to life yet.. she will change a LOT... but this is dylan :-] (hammarlund? underhill?) i couldn't not do a hilda oc and i couldnt not make it a nervous werewolf. she stresses herself out but is surprisingly organised about cooking, one of the famously stressful activities. she spends a full day planning out a meal, cooking for herself and kaisa (thank god. that nerd cannot cook) and then asks for detailed reviews.

she is very stressed out about being a werewolf though. she has just finished being a teenager and this is kind of that all over again. she does not want ANYONE to find out and confides reluctantly only in kaisa. what she fears is people fearing her, and she feels like the moment her life has been pieced back together again, she's losing grip, again. it's almost a black hound situation when the people of trolberg hear about a werewolf sneaking around. some episode centred around the mystery ensues.

she likes food + music! although she's more of an amateur at music, she owns + plays a guitar, a mandolin, a banjo, and a harmonica. very folksy. she has a swedish-welsh accent. try and imagine it please.

the default sister dynamic is kaisa getting home from work late (she probably lives in a flat in/around the library), and dylan being in the midst of homemade ravioli or something with a sauce that took 6 hours. kaisa asks about her day to be polite. dylan tells her about the sauce that took 6 hours, a long hike, 3 different invasive plant species, a lot of butter, and the use of powertools. kaisa has been re-shelving niche history of magic books but got so caught up re-reading them that it also took up 6 hours. when they have eaten dylan asks for her opinion and scribes the whole thing down in her notebook as kaisa voices her 5 star yelp review. they do not ask anything else about each others days and interact mainly through dylan slow-motion fake-punching kaisa while she is trying to just hang out in the living room or do her work and is ignored. only when she is in a very good mood will kaisa fake-punch back. dylan has a lethal case of younger-sister-that-is-taller syndrome.

sorry for my handwriting but the vague outline of her backstory WHICH MAY PROBABLY CHANGE is:

from the time she was 8 and kaisa was 21, they lived alone together. kaisa became a full-fledged witch between then and age 25, when suspicion against witches was on the rise for a short while - dylan never became a witch, but the only trusted adults in her life (basically kaisa and tildy) were, and they decided it would be best for her to grow up somewhere less troublesome. they were both pretty messed up about her having to move away, dylan holding some kind of spite toward her sister for a while, and kaisa feeling incapable, guilty and ill-equipped to take care of her.

she went to school in wales at 12, living with as-yet-unspecified family members/friends, and while kaisa almost immediately regretted sending her away, dylan adjusted quickly and spent the rest of her school career there. after a few years she forgave kaisa, because she ultimately enjoys her life, but she is stilll missed at home. at 17 going on 18 she became a werewolf (whether she was bitten or it was always in her somewhere?) and four months later she finished sixth form and called kaisa out of the blue asking if she could come and move in. since they didn't live in trolberg before, she's new to the city.

i will write more cohesively about her relationships to other characters/flesh her out more later, ESPECIALLY the werewolf stuff, but now i have to go to bed. thank you for reading :-] feel free to ask/suggest anything about her!! i love discussing hilda ocs

by the way this is i think my first ever actual OC? i've made up others before but they've just been single designs i've never really thought much about their actual selves because i suck at writing. dylan is the first one thats really stuck. part of her is based off myself and people i know, most of her is not. the main similarity between us is double-denim.

this is fun though. critique is welcome

(obviously her werewolf self is a swedish elkhound. i know the design kind of just looks like a furry im working on it)

[figula]

evening

today wasn't as annoying as yesterday, i am mostly over the tax thing. managed to knock like 12% off the total by going through all my groceries purchases (all my business expenses are really spread out, it's annoying) but ill have to pay like £450 which. bleh i guess is fine bc i actually have the money to do so it's churlish of me to complain about a bill i can pay, when there are people who cant afford to eat healthy meals or heat their homes! let alone pay an unexpected bill w/o problems

i got a few commissions today + made a few ready-to-ship wigs that i'll put on instagram tmr so that's good too

had a chat w/ my high school best friend liz - she had the most incred gossip that none of you will care about but i'm going to share anyway! she's dating TOM LASTNAME! this is actually crazy news im so excited. they always kind of liked each other (they met when htey were 16, in sixth form) and now they're both 30 they're actually properly giving it a go bc they're not dating anyone else + the timing is right and she was like "there's so much feelings and history but it seems so SIMPLE" and i was just like omfg that's so romantic. passed this onto ben (who does not know either of the people involved - well he's met liz once or twice - but made appropriate responses when needed) and was like "that's so romantic, that's so much better than our story [met on tumblr on the citalopram tag]" and ben was gravely like "it's never romantic to date anyone from your hometown" lmfao but i do think it's so lovely they're together FINALLY + i really hope it works out for them. i told her to bring him to the wedding as her +1 bc i really want to see them together <3

[shesawriter39049]

|FEVER| M|

Pairing: Namjoon X Reader

About- Namjoon just has a kink for letting you do whatever the hell you want with him...Whether that be putting him in a hot pink suit shirtless! Or, telling him he’s a good boy as he fucks you into oblivion!

OR- Namjoon and yourself hooked up 5 months ago when the boys were in London on Tour, and you were the creative director for there British GQ & Harper’s Bazzar Cover! Now, months later he’s prepping to release his second mixtape “RM vs Rap Monster”. Opting to go a complete 360 from his first release Mono in all realms. So, with that being said BigHit thinks he needs someone with a little more... “umph” Take a wild guess as to who they call...

WC:1.2k (Sneak peek)

WARNINGS: Switch OC (Top & Bottom...but there's no real dom/sub tones here) Service top/power bottom Namjoon, praise kink, Fingering, Unprotected sex(Back shot), come play, dirty talk, light choking, light overstimulation, (This is lowkey a little softer than it sounds) The OC kinda leads this, but Joon isin’t the cliché “sub” he just likes letting her take control.

NOTE- Just my take on the OG cliché Artist X Stylist AU (Though she’s more of a full package, Art Director/Stylist/Photographer ETC) I have tried to add some minor elements to make it a little more realistic. I will say I typically stray from “Idol-verse” just because if we’re being real, the cultural difference alone sometimes stunts my creativity...BUT I just had a little fun with this one...so I hope you all enjoy it. Also, I don’t go into much physical details but in my mind regardless of race, aesthetic wise the OC is a huge contrast to what he’s use to which is part of her appeal. I picture a tatted Barbie of some sorts...

SIDE NOTE: No shade, but shade, I was lowkey inspired to write this bc I have very strong opinions about the creative team at BH....

*** Let me know if you guys want the full thing or not...I kidna flaked on posting because it is such a cliché lol

SONG- FEVER DUA LIPA  FT ANGELE

~~~~~~~

“Well, it’s a yes for me” Eyeing him in this Hot pink-fitted Burliti suit, which you paired with a very sheer black Arnar Mar turtle neck. The minute you saw the piece on the runway you’d been dying to get it on someone with melanated skin, and it just so happens, the boys are fresh off the US leg of their stadium tour! So, lucky for you, baby boy’s been in the sun a lot, and Namjoon’s currently a sinful shade of brown and you're totally here for it…

Then to top it off, the mesh material of the turtle neck creates the perfect silhouette around his offensively toned chest, outlining the muscles sinfully. Eternally snorting at the way the fans are gonna thank and curse you out all at the same damn time once they see the looks you’ve pulled for this man!

And yes, you had your crew bring extended shades of foundation and concealer, because his face and neck will match if your name is going to be attached to these damn photos! 

Head tilted to the side as you silently observe the way he rakes over his reflection in the mirror, it’s a sixth sense you’ve acquired as a stylist at this point. Half of your job is essentially being a hype man/self love coach, real shit, a lot of these artist aren't always as...confident as one may think!

And just like clockwork Namjoon runs his palm down his thighs, smoothing out nonexistent wrinkles on his pants for the umpteenth time in the span of oh I don’t know 30 seconds? Which in turn prompts you to say….

“You look good Joonie...” Musing over your second glass of Don, the compliment was genuine, tone warm, soothing even, not a hint flirtation insight because that wasn’t your motive. You weren’t trying to get him flustered you’re just trying to gas him up a little, you wanted to see Namjoon get alittle cocky and feel himself!

Ears perking up like an overgrown puppy, head whipping in your direction “Yeah?” The way this man’s eyes just lit up like the soul skyline. I just-goddamn, an almost bashful smile toys on those plush lips of his, and you can’t help the way your chest flutters with nothing but fondness.

“So fuckin cute” Flutters off your lips, as you hide a smile of your own behind a half empty whine glass. The delivery was so faint it almost go lost in the background music floating through the air. However the slight flush hitting his cheeks let you know Namjoon heard you whether he wanted to admit it or not!

”Mmmhmm, the color looks fuckin insane against your skin, not to mention, the way everything's going to pop once we tone your hair a little! “ Eyes drinking him in from head to toe, though there was nothing suggestive playing within your iris. Very much aware of time and place and right now your genuinely looking respectfully! Seeing if any alterations are needed, making sure you like where everything sits along his frame. Making notes in your phone of places you want to pin and adjust later...snapping a couple shots here and there. 

Licking his lips anxiously as he plays with the lapels on the blazer “But like-I mean-I- dont’-It doesn’t look like I’m... trying too hard or anything?” Brows furrowed in the center of his face, jaw tight, wincing slightly at his own words, almost as if he was afraid of your response. The vulnerability within his delivery was more than evident, and no matter how common this is with artist, it’s still just as devastating! Regardless of how much he tried to play it off as if he was just making casual conversation, you can see how blatantly uncomfortable he is . Gazing back at you wide eyed, and uncannily exposed, pointing at the outfit in question. Licking his lips anxiously as he plays with the the blazer, switching posses subtlety trying to get a better feel for the suit.  

You stayed silent for a minute, taking the time to actually process before speaking which is rare, not gonna lie. Gaze piercing as you hop off the bed, wine, and accessories in hand, swaying closer. “It’s fashion”. The baited pause almost implied that’s all you had to say, as if one-word was self-sufficient, and in your mind it was...but you knew better than to just leave it at that.

“Art at its finest Mr. Kim” You smile something a little devious, and he flushes even deeper as you slowly start to invade his space eyes locked with him meaningfully. You can physically see the shift, the closer you get, Namjoon starts fidgeting slightly under your gaze but he doesn't back down.

“It gives you room to play, create...it’s something that let’s us connect to people without saying a damn thing.” Suddenly the hand that wasn’t holding your alcohol has become a prop, flailing around haphazardly as you spoke, pointing at the various pieces hanging on clothes racks in your suite! The penthouse has essentially been transformed into your own personal walk in closet for the next 5 or so days! “It’s a statement. A opportunity to tap into a side of yourself that maybe you can’t always verbally articulate to the world around you! More importantly, it’s supposed to be fun, it’s literally something that can be removed within seconds! I mean we all have to wear clothes so why not just enjoy it?”  Head cocked to the side as you appraise him, brow quirked, eyes warm, yet there's a clear challenge playing within your gaze.

Namjoon’s watching you intently, almost as if he’s taking mental notes as you speak...the heaviness within those dangerously honed eyes of his could almost be unsettling to some, but you quite like it. Made you feel as though he actually gives a flying fuck about what you’re saying.

“In my opinion the only time it looks like someone’s “Trying too hard” Making little air bunnies with your spare hand “Is if they look uncomfortable in what they’re wearing, confidence is key, and I know you know that better than anyone RM!” You muse batting your lashes in Namjoon’s direction, and he dimples back at you, eyes sinking into tiny crescents, face rivaling the color of his suit, trying to hide said smile behind his own glass of champagne.  

“I could put you in a damn clown suit...” Words trailing off your tongue lackadaisically as you grow distracted searching the bar for a specific chain from John Hardy. “Which” Focus snapping back in his direction making the later splutter a little “Would be fire as fuck if I did by the way, but-”  Namjoon ended up cackling midsentence, almost choking on his drink in the process, fist pounding against his sternum.

Yeah..killing the leader of Bangtan wasn’t really high on your list tonight....

“Ayee, none of that shit...” Smacking him in the back a little more so just to be an ass because he wasn’t even choking anymore “Don’t die on me until we at least get this damn photoshoot done, I had to cancel my trip to Jamaica for this shit!”

Now he’s damn near choking and his laugh was contagious, it’s just.. loud, carefree so yes, your cackling, and there's nothing cute about it. But you honestly don’t care, you let yourself get lost in it! Finally able to feel the atmosphere in the room start to shift to something a little less scripted and a little more organic...

Throwing his hands in the air as If he’s waving a nonexistent white flag “I’m sorry, noona” There’s a pout playing in his lips, not exactly aegyo per say, but it’s fuckin adorable “Blame PD-nim, it’s his fault we had to do this so last minute” Wheezes from his throat, in the form of a slight whine, almost rivaling Jimin if I’m honest.

You already know he was laughing more so due to your delivery, specifically, your casual use of profanity over anything else. This is actually something you use to be self-conscious about, especially at your first shoot with the boys, at the shoot for GQ . Well aware it wasn’t as common in Asia for people especially women to use “fuck” like a comma. So you were hoping they wouldn’t be offended, or uncomfortable by your dialect, and, thankfully they didn’t seem to mind. Much like Joonie over here, they found it entertaining over anything.

“Yeah, a huh, sureee...” Eyes rolling to the back of your head playfully as you start lightly altering the suit in question with clips and pens. “Stay still babe” The pet name slipped off your tongue effortlessly, honestly, that's what you call most people in your life. However you were far too focused to notice how wide eyed and flustered the man before you became upon hearing it directed at him so casually.

A faint little “Sorry” muses off his lips as he gnaws on his inner cheek, trying to stay still as you ghetto-rig hems into place until you can get this under your sewing needle.

“ No, but real shit…” You sigh, taking on a slightly more serious tone “If you step in front of that camera like you own the bitch, regardless of what your wearing..., then they can’t tell you shit! If your comfortable there’s no such thing as trying too hard” You shrug nonchalantly like that was the simplest concept known to man, downing the rest of your drink “Alright, that’s all, thanks for coming to my Ted talk” Waving him off as if you’re about to leave the room and he pouted playfully, jokingly begging you not to leave him yet...it felt good to be able to banter like this. The shift continuous shift within the atmosphere was more than welcomed…

Hesitantly you watch his eyes find their way back to the full length mirror, which promptly smacks you back to reality!

Unfortunately you didn't fly all the way to Seoul just to drink,  and shoot shit with Namjoon for hours on end,  your actually here to work…

Sooo...

“Alright” Placing your arms on his shoulders, giving him a reassuring squeeze as you peer over his shoulder. Meeting his gaze through the glass, chin resting gently against the blade. “Back to the reason you came Mr. “I’m sooo anxiously” Shooting him a teasing little smirk in the process “The suit, yay or nay”

So, here’s the thing technically the official fitting is tomorrow, and as far as his team knows he’s in the studio with Yoongi and Hoseok finishing up a song!

Which of course raises the question as to why he’s here..alone..mind you..no staff or security in site.

Just Kim Namjoon and yourself.....

~~~~

Heyyyy, Lemme know if you guys want this or not, it will leave kinda open ended because it was supposed to kinda be a 3 part mini series initially. Part 1 ends the morning of the shoot, the full thing is set to be around 6/7k! Spoiler, the company is going to want to keep her around for more than just Namjoon’s solo project....

Also, YES...I did see that they actually put Tae in that Burliti suit (I wrote this long before that shoot was released)...I actually hated the way it was styled it though...I never thought I’d say this but MGK’s team did a better job than BH....

[helnjk]

Sixth Year - D.M.

Draco Malfoy x fem!reader

Platonic!Blaise Zabini x fem!reader

Requested: yes

Hey if requests are open could you do a prompt#21&50 for Draco.. Could it be a bit of angst and end with fluff? Thanks!

“all you do is make empty promises” “i’m tired of your lies”

Word Count: 2.5k

Warnings: angst, swearing

Summary: 6th year with Draco isn’t turning out how you expected it to be.

A/N: ok 1, i wanted to try writing angst (pls give comments/reviews!! i wanna know how i did) & 2, other than the request, i kind of based this off of one of my fav tiktok acct’s shifting stories aksjdhsadh you can find her here ! i love her tiktoks and she’s what got me into shifting LMAO but anyway ! let me know if you wanna be added to my taglist ! enjoy xx

THIS IS A REPOST BC I THINK TUMBLR DID ME DIRTY WITH THE TAGS

Prompts are in bold

—

Eighth. This was the eighth night you had stayed up until god knows what hour waiting for Draco to show up.

The moon was high in the sky by the time you realized he wasn’t coming yet again. The biting wind rushed past you as you tried to gather as much warmth as possible from the jacket you brought up to the Astronomy tower. Your breath came out in short puffs, white wisps trailing from your mouth out into the chilly night.

With one last glance at the midnight stained grounds, the only light emanating from the moon above, you wrapped your jacket tighter around your body and turned to make it down the stairs. It was a long trek to the Slytherin dorms, which gave your mind more time to spiral. This meant fighting back the prick of tears at the back of your eyes by the time you had reached the dungeons.

The next morning, you found yourself at the Slytherin table barely able to keep your eyes open. You hadn’t gotten much sleep, your mind refusing to stop running the different scenarios with which you imagined Draco must have gotten into causing him to forget your rescheduled plans.

“Y/N?” Blaise’s voice startled you into opening your eyes, having nodded off, leant against your palm.

“Huh?” You murmured, trying to blink the sleep from your eyes, “Sorry did you say something?”

“You alright? You look like you could just drop dead any second,” His eyes scanned yours worriedly, shifting closer to you so that you could have something to lean on.

“Gee thanks Blaise,” A sarcastic drawl came out of your lips, “Just tired. I was up late last night at the Astronomy tower waiting for Draco.”

His brows furrowed at your statement, “Draco? He got to the dorms pretty early last night. Didn’t say he had anything planned with you last night.” Eyes widened at the realization of what he said and he quickly tried to back track, “I mean-That’s not-”

Despite the distinct crack you felt in your chest, you mustered up the faintest of smiles (which probably looked more like a lopsided grimace), “It’s alright, Blaise. Thanks for letting me know.”

The rest of the day passed by you in a blur.

Everyone seemed to notice the melancholy mood that you were in, everyone except for the only person you wished would pay attention.

Being in your sixth year at Hogwarts, you were excited to spend a good chunk of it with your boyfriend. After all, there were no OWLs or NEWTs to worry about (yet), so you assumed that this year would bring more time for you to spend together.

You were wrong. Clearly.

The moment you had stepped off the Hogwarts Express in September, Draco started to spend less and less time with you. It was November now and the less time you found yourself spending with him, the more you noticed that he began to keep things from you. His eyes would shift whenever you would ask him what his plans for the day were or when you questioned who he would be with all day. He never gave you straight answers either.

“Why? What do you have planned for us today?”

“Just off brainstorming for our next date.”

“Obsessed with me, are you? You’re too cute darling.”

No matter how charming he had tried to be with his answers, you could tell something was off with him. None of the so-called plans he came up with ever came to full fruition. Often, you would find yourself waiting for him to arrive, either at the common room to take you to wherever he planned your date to be, or up in the Astronomy tower since that was where you went when you wanted to spend time, just the two of you.

Some nasty rumors had also been circulating Slytherin house. It started when someone overheard Harry Potter speaking to his friends about running into Draco right before a quidditch match, but the catch was that he was in the company of two other girls. Of course, you tried not to let these kinds of things get to you, they were just silly little rumors after all.

Still, these kinds of thoughts plagued you at night when you would go to bed not wrapped in the arms of the person you loved most.  

When you brought up these feelings with him, it had only started an argument.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Y/N.” Draco said rather harshly after you asked him about the rumors, “Are you implying that I’m cheating on you?”

“No!” You replied immediately, “I just want to know where these rumors are coming from. You’re my boyfriend, I should know what to say when people ask me about it.”

“Then tell them they should be minding their own damn business.”

You didn’t bring it up after that, afraid that if you did, it would cause an even bigger rift between you two.

By the time you had made it back to the common room, it was mostly empty. There were a couple of seventh years trying to get in some extra revising time in the corner, but they mostly left you alone. Not wanting to go up to your dorm yet, you settled on the couch next to the blazing fire instead. By some stroke of luck, Draco came stumbling inside the room as you sunk into the cushions.

“Draco!” You called out, his name slipping from your lips before you even knew you were saying anything.

His eyes registered that you were in the practically empty common room a second slower than usual, “Y/N. Hi love.”

“I missed you last night,” You admitted as he reached you.

A furrow in his brows told you that he didn’t know what you were talking about, “Come again, love?”

For the nth time, his words struck a chord deep in you. You didn’t think it was physically possible, but they added yet another crack to your already broken heart. You cleared your throat in an attempt to push down the lump that had formed, “Uh, I was waiting for you in the Astronomy tower? Because we had plans?”

As if a bucket of cold water dropped on him, his demeanour changed completely in the blink of an eye.

“Oh darling I’m so sorry,” He muttered softly, taking your face in his hands and pressing kisses all around, “I was completely knackered yesterday, I didn’t even think about anything after dinner except sleep. I’m so sorry. What can I do to make it up to you?”

Instead of the calm you usually felt being around Draco, you felt like you were at your breaking point. You couldn’t do this to yourself anymore. It was surprising to realize, that even with the added comfort of being at the receiving end of his kisses, there was still a large part of you that was tired. You couldn’t fall back into his arms after more than a dozen attempts at trying to keep the relationship afloat.

Gently, you pried his hands away from his face and took a deep breath. You could already feel the sting of unshed tears in your eyes as they locked with his, “I don’t think you can do anything to fix this.”

“What-Love, what are you talking about?”

“All you do is make empty promises, Dray.” You whispered, “And I’m tired of setting myself up for disappointment.”  

The love of your life was speechless, so you took the opportunity to stand up quickly. “I don’t understand what you’re doing or why you’re being so secretive about it, but find me when you’ve figured out if it’s worth it or not.”

Without waiting for his response, you hurriedly made your way to your dorm room and sparing no glances back in his direction.

-

A few days after your heartbreaking conversation with Draco, you still weren’t one hundred percent. It didn’t feel like you were ever going to be one hundred percent again. Your only solace was your friendship with Blaise.

For all intents and purposes, he was your best friend. Even before you had started dating Draco, the two of you were thick as thieves.

Oftentimes over the next few days, you found yourselves huddled in a corner of the common room. He would remind you to eat and to do your schoolwork as you went about your days mindlessly.

“C’mon,” He said one night, holding his hand out to you as you were cuddled up against a cushion. You merely raised your eyebrow at him, “Get up, I’ve got somewhere to take you.”

With a sigh, you pushed yourself off the couch and took his hand. It was well past curfew, but it never really bothered the pair of you. Being Slytherins made you resourceful with how you navigated the castle, the easy dynamic between the two of you enabled you to sneak through the shadows unnoticed by anyone who might have been nearby.

“Why are we going to the Astronomy tower?” You whispered as you climbed the seemingly endless staircase.

“Just thought you could use some fresh air.” He answered nonchalantly, “Feels like you’ve kept yourself cooped up in the castle this whole week.”

“That’s awful sweet of you, Zabini,” You teased, the shadow of a smile on your lips.

He shrugged as you got to the top of the tower, “Just don’t like seeing you so sad.”

Few words were exchanged between you two as you leant against the railing of the turret, taking in the view of the grounds in the dim light. The moon was full and high in the sky, and the breeze wasn’t as biting as it was the last time you were here.

Something about being up there in the clear night with Blaise was doing wonders for your aching heart. It might’ve been the fresh, crisp air, it might have been the calming presence of your best friend. You were grateful either way.

As the wind picked up, you huddled closer to Blaise’s warm body. What was it about boys being basically walking furnaces all the damn time?

“Draco’s a prat,” He murmured as he wrapped his arms around you, “I just wanted you to hear that.”

“He’s not though,” You defended weakly, “Something’s up with him, definitely, but I don’t think he’s being a dick on purpose.”

“Yeah but he’s still made you feel like shit.”

You shrugged, “And I let him.”

After a few minutes of silence, you heard the distinct sound of a door swinging open behind you. You craned your neck to see who would be up here at such a late hour when your heart stopped in your chest.

“What’s going on here?” Draco sneered, taking in the sight of you cuddled up at Blaise’s side, “Replaced me already, Y/N? Reckon he’s the reason why we’ve broken up?”

You felt Blaise tense up beside you but paid no mind when your focus was solely on the rage brewing in your chest.

“How dare you,” You seethed, “You have no right to accuse me, we weren’t even doing anything!”

He had the audacity to scoff at your retort, “Sneaking off at nearly midnight, to share a romantic night under the stars? Seems like more than just ‘nothing.’”

Before you could respond, you felt Blaise’s warm hands on your shoulders, “I’m gonna let you handle this one, love.” Blaise whispered in your ear, “He doesn’t deserve anything from you, but I feel like I’ll only make it worse if I stay.”

You nodded slightly.

“Hurt her even more than you have, Malfoy, and you’ll see just what kinds of curses I know how to cast.”

With Blaise making a quick exit and taking away your source of warmth, you crossed your arms in front of your chest and clutched the jacket you had on closer to you.

“You never had a problem with my friendship with Blaise before,” You muttered.

“Because he wasn’t all over you then!” He argued.

“We’ve always been like that and you know it.” You rolled your eyes, “Why are you even up here Draco?”

“So you own the Astronomy tower now?” He huffed, stepping next to you to lean on the railings, “I needed somewhere to think and clear my head.”

Almost as if there was no gaping chasm between the two of you, your bodies slowly inched towards each other until you were shoulder to shoulder. Almost as if the boy standing next to you hadn’t broken your heart with his secrets and his deflection tactics, his presence seemed to calm your elevated heart rate. Almost.

“Are you finally going to tell me what’s been going on with you recently?” The words that escape your mouth are no more than a whisper. You hold your breath in anticipation.

“Nothing’s been going on,” Is all he says in reply.

“Stop lying through your teeth, Draco!” You burst out, your frustrations finally getting the better of you, “I’m tired of your lies. Do you not trust me? Is that it? Because I can help you, you just have to let me in!”

“Of course I trust you! I love you for Merlin’s sake, Y/N!”

You sucked in a breath, all of your resentment seeming to escape your body, “I love you too, Draco,” You whisper, taking his warm hand in your cold ones, “But all of this sneaking around, this hiding, I don’t think I can handle not knowing what you’re up to especially when it’s affecting you this way.”

Draco took a deep shuddering breath, you could practically see the gears turning in his head. “I don’t want to lose you.”

That wasn’t what you expected him to say, “You won’t, you just need to be honest with me.”

He turned to face you, thumbs rubbing gentle circles on your hands, “I can’t tell you exactly what I’m doing,” You opened your mouth to argue but he cut you off with a look, “All I can say is that I love you and I want to protect you. What I’m doing has nothing to do with how much you mean to me, but it’s something I have to do. I just need you to be here, be with me.”

“I don’t understand,” Came your reply.

“I’m saying that I have an important job to do, and I want to be with you, but that means you’ll have to be okay with not knowing everything.”

“You’ll tell me if you need any help though, right?” You all but whispered.

“I’ll tell you if you absolutely need to know,” He nodded slightly.

“Okay,” You were still trying to wrap your head around everything that he said. It wasn���t exactly what you wanted, but it was a good compromise, “And you can’t keep blowing me off. If you want me to be here for you, then you have to do the same for me.”

“I can work with that.” A slow smile graced his pale features and you felt your heart stutter at the sight, you hadn’t seen him look so calm and at ease in a long time.

“Good.” You pressed your cheek against his chest and reveled at the comfort it brought you. He wrapped his arms around you and you could feel yourself melting into his touch.

[samwrights]

Hi there I just wanted to let you know I recently discovered your blog and I think you might be one of my all time favorite writers🥺😭I absolutely love everything u write and so If u don’t mind me asking could I get sfw and nsfw headcanons for jealous ushijima and sakusa💖💖and hope you have a lovely day🥰

The sfw:nsfw ratio is lAUGHable bc hello welcome to no filter fridays

Also, oh my god don’t call me one of your all time favorites; I’ll cry about it for days bc that’s such an honor.

Fem reader ahead.

Warnings: spanking, punishment, manipulative behavior, unhealthy relationships, possessive, rough fingering, facials, cum dump (?)

Sakusa;

You don’t even know what you did.

There’s something to me about Sakusa that screams pouty, sulking jealous boyfriend.

See also: petty.

I also imagine, when envious, Sakusa can hold a grudge that is soaked with pettiness.

Beyond not talking to you—I’m talking like he will make his own meals and nothing for you.

Clean his own dishes but not yours.

Rearranged your shampoo, conditioner, and body wash in the shower. Which seems like nothing until you waste your expensive conditioner on your armpits.

He keeps doing this shit until you finally sit him down and ask what the fuck you did.

Sakusa’s petty ass responds with, “you know what you did.”

No tf you didn’t. And you make sure you tell him that.

“My last tournament that you came to watch—whoever was sitting next to you offered you a water bottle that they drank from.”

“Kiyoomi, she’s my frie—“

“I don’t care who she is,” he snarls, “she has no business sharing anything with you, let alone swapping spit with you.”

The couch you’re resting casually on engulfs your back as Sakusa gets in your face—his normally devoid eyes dripping with envious slime as you try to create distance.

One thing is clear—you’re in danger. And why tf did that turn you on?

“I think you need a reminder of who you belong to, [name].”

Sakusa’s tone is calm—too calm for the way he throws you over the arm of the couch and all but tears your pants and underwear off, presenting your bare ass to him.

“One spank for every day you let go by—count them.” He snarls and, despite the malicious tone, you figure that 6 days and six spanks can’t be that bad.

But that was stupid of you to assume that he wasn’t nearly going to all out assault you and each spank hit your skin with a resonating smack.

Even worse by the time you powered through to the sixth, Sakusa kept going. “It’s not enough, [name]. I can’t get the image out of my mind, the mere thought that my girlfriend exchanged spit with someone—“ his sentence ended with two of his fingers plunging into your sopping wet pussy.

“I have to cleanse you myself—make sure nobody else touches you but me.”

Cleanse, apparently, means to give you a baptism in cum.

Cum in your hair, all over your face, in your mouth, neck, chest—every inch of you is doused.

How in the fuck did he even have this much in his body, what the—

“You’re still dirty, babe.” Is the only response he gives when he tires out, six hours later.

Ushijima;

Ushijima is not good at hiding his envy. At. All.

While, yes he tends to be more reserved when showing affection, jealousy seeks out of his pores like sweat on a humid summer afternoon.

In typical Ushijima fashion, he’s incredibly direct about it without even realizing it. Mostly because he wants to understand why you would even think to do something that would invoke these feelings in him.

Albeit, you had no ill intent.

That doesn’t stop him from having the blunt, abrupt, nearly awkward conversation.

“Why would you bring Semi and Reon with you to watch my match?” He’d asked after the two of you had returned home—the two aforementioned men hadn’t seen Wakatoshi since high school grad, and you’d thought it’d be nice to have them join you.

That is not what came out of your mouth though.

“Why wouldn’t I bring our friends to watch you, Toshi?”

“They’re my friends, you are my girlfriend.”

Ushijima makes it a point to remind you of the fact by the way he thrusts his cock roughly into you with no preamble.

Every thrust hurts and is accompanied with some form of possessive questions. “Who’s fucking you this good?”

“You, Toshi.”

“Not Semi? Not Reon?”

And despite your cries of denial, his cock wedges itself deeper and deeper until the head can’t possibly bury itself any further.

“No, Toshi, you!”

“That’s fucking right, princess. Now cum for your boyfriend like a good little girl.”

[welcometotheocverse]

oooooh in any verse (but especially piece by piece) — how do you think Henry would feel about Kirsty? (especially with how she kind of forces jess into developing emotional intelligence lmao)

So I think in My Way they’re pretty close but that Piece comes with a bit of a hurdle like...Henry...isn't used to people outside of Jess caring about him right? So seeing Jess have his own kids would kick up a lot of insecurities like is Jess leaving him now? How would he fit in here? Are these new kids more important like Henry's entire world for the first 9 years of his life was Jess.

Jess was the only safety Henry knew for nine years. He was very much the cornerstone of his formative views on the world. And that...tends to have ramifications because welll...Formative years. Jess himself was a baby so he wasn’t always the most present or stable but it was all that Henry knew. To Henry, Jess is his family, his safe person. He’s the one he knows will protect him, and see to his needs and the only constant person to talk to him.  This is why it takes a while for him to come around to anyone outside of the two of them, this is why he hides around Jess and even Luke doesn’t get him to come downstairs alone for a good month. I do think that seeing Kirsty A) be friendly to him ( and that Kirsty is good with kids and has experience with kids so she’d probably approach him in a very ‘projects safety’ way) and B) that Kirsty hangs out so much with Jess and that  her calling out Jess on things he might not realize hurt Henry  ( not always telling him why he’s disappearing, the disappearing in general, his constant defiance of authority figures ( which makes Henry nervous because in his experience that always leads to bad) ) would make her a Safe Person and he would go like “Jess&Kirsty are safe” and then “Jess and Kirsty ( separately) are safe” and like of course he’d be a sweet baby angel throughout this whole thing bc Henry even when scared is set to “sweet baby angel” like he’d be nothing but nice to her ( albeit completely quiet and hidden behind Jess at the beginning and then slowly like....”speaks 2 words with Jess around” “Speaks full sentences with Jess around” “trots after Kirsty even when Jess isn’t around.” ) specially if she also gets Luke to shape up in re to like “im gonna yell at Jess about smoking and bludgeon a hole in the wall while the kids are sleeping!” ( luke...Luke no lol) 

So I do  think in Piece he starts off liking Kirsty fine and like   in My Way it would follow the same trajectory but when she gets pregnant ( and specially because it happens after Jess leaves Henry at Luke's ) they have a lot of "you're not being replaced/we're still a family all of us" to work through like his reaction to the pregnancy would be...pretty bad actually.

Like he wouldn’t be aware of it, or why because he’s legit a baby and ( like most traumatized ppl) all he is is reactions to bad memories and stimuli and trauma responses that he doesn’t realize he’s having but it would kick up a lot of “Jess is starting a family with someone else” and “when Liz finds someone to date we become secondary” and this would be one of the first times in his life if not the first that Jess is doing something without it being Jess&Henry and that....can trigger a lot of shit? From a kid with his specific background?

I think he’d eventually come around specially because Luke has Lulu to help him in “how to parent traumatized babychild without further hurting said babychild” and Kirsty  herself would by then ( I imagine? ) have some insight but he would definetely be somewhat resentful about Jess now having “his  own family” and probably revert to a lot his s2 behavior and this might also affect his relationship to Kitsty in that he might go back to not talking much to her ( or to Jess) and sorta feel “she’s taking Jess away and they’re both leaving me to make a family.” probably for at least until the fifth or sixth month of pregnancy. After the twins are born and they’ve had some talks about it/he’s had time to adjust though he would probably come around.

[writing-is-my-guilty-pleasure]

Strong || Tony Stark x Reader

A/N: Reader is learning German and Tony wants to learn too bcs of them and so the reader is showing him simple flashcards with vocabulary and dying laughing at his awful guesses and then she holds up one last one that says "stark" on it and he's guessing all the negative adjectives ya know and finally the reader looks at him with heart eyes and admiration and is like "It means strong" and Tony internally cries

Also pronunciations are meant to be incorrect at first

This is an old draft I had - I’ve been really busy this week clearing up stuff at my sixth form and preparing stuff for Father’s Day tomorrow (in the UK) and will be busy tomorrow too! Not what I wanted to put out; I wanted to get a request or part 4 of ‘Patient’ out, but I’ll just work on them both next week. Enjoy! :)

Main Masterlist

Marvel Masterlist

“Vee heisen see?” You muttered under your breath as you listened to the pronunciation of the words through your headphones as you walked into Tony’s lab, where he was working on a new suit. “No, that sounds wrong.” You said to yourself, and said it again. “Wie heißen sie?” You nodded to yourself when you were happy with your pronunciation, and clicked onto the next sentence to learn.

“Bless you.” Tony called absentmindedly from where he was working, and you turned to look at Tony, taking out your headphones to hear him better.

“Sorry I didn’t hear you, what did you say?” You asked politely, your high heels tapping out a steady rhythm on the floor as you walked over to him, holding a pile of papers you needed Tony to sign.

“I said bless you, because I don’t know what noise just came out of your mouth but it wasn’t a human sound.” Tony grinned, taking the pile you offered him, and the pen you then held out. He grimaced slightly at the amount of papers he had to sign, and reluctantly started to read through them all.

You snorted in a rather unladylike manner at Tony’s words, and shook your head. “I’m learning German, not speaking an alien language, Tony.” You laughed, admiring what Tony had made so far.

“Why on earth would you want to learn German?” Tony asked, looking slightly horrified. “Isn’t it one of the hardest languages to learn?” He signed the first paper with a flourish, setting it aside, and pulling the next paper towards him.

“Because we’re going to Germany for a meeting in a month, Tony, and I wanted to be prepared for any fans who ask you questions, and I have to be the translator.” You sighed, reminding him of his ‘duties’. “And I can talk about you behind your back without you knowing.” You said cheekily.

Tony gasped in mock offence, smacking your arm slightly. “Okay, that’s rude.” He pouted, but he was trying to hide a smile. “And of course, how could I forget about the meeting, Y/N, you never stop talking about it.”

You grinned at him, and patted him on the shoulder. “Well, while you consider the idea of the meeting in Germany and finish signing those letters, I’m going to practise more German.” You stuck out your tongue as Tony rolled his eyes at you, and left the lab, sticking your headphones back in your ears.

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

It had been a few days since you’d told Tony you were learning German, and you hadn’t seen him very much since then. So, in the brief time that you had off from your job, you decided to go on a Tony hunt. The first place you went to was his lab, but upon seeing it empty you simply asked F.R.I.D.A.Y. where he was.

“Mr Stark is in his room, Y/N.” F.R.I.D.A.Y. replied in a matter-of-fact tone. “I believe he is currently shouting at his phone, so I would be grateful if you interrupted his one-sided argument.” You sighed, and thanked the A.I., moving briskly towards the lift, pressing the button that would take you to Tony’s room.

“Tony?” You knocked on Tony’s door when you reached his room, and there was a pause before his door opened with a flourish, his signature smile on his face, although you could see the annoyance in his eyes.

“Y/N! How can I help you?” He leaned against the doorframe casually, and you smiled at him in return, straightening your jacket.

“I heard you were having a bit of trouble, and I was advised to help you and break up your argument with an inanimate object.” You said, trying to conceal your amusement. Tony waved away your comment however, and you finally laughed. “Seriously Tony, what’s up with you? I haven’t properly seen you in days, and you always make it your mission to be the centre of attention.” You folded your arms, raising an eyebrow as your eyes bore into Tony.

Tony stared back defiantly, but when it was obvious you weren’t going to back down, he rolled his eyes slightly. “I’ve been trying to learn German, and my stupid phone wasn’t acknowledging that my pronunciation is correct.” He said, narrowing his eyes at your expression.

“I thought you said German was an ‘alien language’?” You said, making quotation marks with your fingers. “And why are you even bothering? I’m getting good enough that I could probably translate for you.”

Tony shifted slightly, shrugging. “I was bored, thought I’d find something to entertain me.” He said airily, but under your gaze he gave in. “I don’t know, you were doing it and I thought it could be our thing.” He gestured between the two of you.

“Our thing?” You repeated, grinning at Tony as he nodded. “Tony why didn’t you just ask me to teach you instead of throwing a hissy fit at your phone?”

“Because you’re always busy and we never hang out.” Tony replied quickly, pouting slightly. You sighed heavily, deciding not to mention that you were always busy because you had to clean up the mess wherever Tony went.

“Fine, let me come in and I can teach you German.” Tony beamed, and stepped aside, allowing you into his room.

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

A few more days passed, and you were once again in Tony’s room, with a pack of vocabulary cards. “Okay Tony, what does this one mean?” You smiled as you held up a card with the word ‘Stark’ on it. You’d planned this card as a surprise, because you knew Tony had problems in believing in himself sometimes. (And a drinking problem but that wasn’t going to be solved with a simple card.)

“Hmm.” Tony tilted his head to the side, before he said, “Cold?” You shook your head, and he hummed again. “Irritating?” You once again shook your head, feeling a slight pang of sadness at his choice of words.

“One more guess Tony.” You said gently, shaking the card slightly, and Tony ran a hand through his hair.

“…Alone?” He said after a while, a smile on his face, but sadness flitted across his face, before his expression was replaced by his usual cockiness.

You shook your head again, and flipped the card around, showing Tony the real definition. “It means ‘strong’.” You said quietly, eyes filling with admiration for the man infront of you. Tony opened his mouth to reply, but when for once no noise came out, he closed it again, and sat there. You put the card down, and shifted across the bed so you were closer to Tony. You leaned over and pressed a quick kiss to his cheek. “I think the card is right.” You whispered, before moving back to your place. “You good to continue?” You asked, shuffling the cards.

“Yep.” Tony replied, in a gruff voice, and you looked away, pretending not to notice when he tried to discreetly wipe away his tears.

[somenewsarah]

Always Been You

Requested:  Yes: “Hey luv x  I was wondering if you could write an imagine with Dracoxreader where Draco gets in a fight with this dude the reader is dating bc he’s just using her but after Draco beats him up he acts like nothing happened bc he doesn’t want the reader to know he likes her.”

Pairings: Draco Malfoy x Reader

Warnings: Fighting, soft!draco

Genre: Fluffy Fluff

Word Count: 2.1K

It didn’t take long for Draco to notice you; no, in fact, the first time he laid eyes on you was in second year. Professor Quirrell had just announced that there was a troll in the castle, and you’d bumped into Draco in your haste to get out of the Great Hall, and back to the Ravenclaw common room. He’d never forget how wide your eyes were, or how your voice sounded when you apologized for the collision. He’d never forget the way you looked at him, and from that day on, he was almost infatuated with you.

Now, in sixth year, at the height of Lord Voldemort’s return, you find yourself bumping into the Malfoy boy a lot, almost like he followed you wherever he went. You’d find little fixes on a tear in your bag, or a new book addressed to you in your common room. At first, you thought it was your boyfriend, Marcus Belby, who was your secret advocate, but you were beginning to wonder… No, you were being silly again.

 You sit in the common room, reading through that night’s potions homework from Professor Slughorn when Marcus himself enters. He plops down beside you, and you offer him a small smile.

 “Hello, handsome,” you tease.

 “Hi,” he says, giving you a tight smile. “Doing homework? Great, mind if I grab my books and study with you? These potions lessons are giving me so much grief.”

 “Sure,” you say, sighing softly. He ruffles your hair as he gets up. This was normal for you. It wasn’t a secret that you were one of the cleverest witches in your year, tailing closely behind Hermione Granger, but Marcus usually only appeared when you were doing your homework. You didn’t mind it, though. He’d been busy with the “Slug Club”, a club made by Professor Slughorn for his star pupils. You weren’t in it, but you were happy for Marcus, nonetheless.

 “Got it,” he smiles, sitting next to you on the small couch. He opens his books and begins looking over your own homework, fixing his wrong answers and almost copying word for word what you’d written.

 “How’s the Slug Club?” You ask, hoping just for a small conversation.

 “That? Yeah, it’s alright,” he says, pulling his lip between his teeth as he continues writing.

 “Would you maybe want to tell me about it?” You prod.

 “Y/N, we don’t have to talk about everything, do we? I mean, why can’t we just sit quietly and study together?”

 “I suppose you’re right,” you breathe, not wanting to argue. You go back to your own homework, trying to refocus your brain.

 Weeks go by, and soon the ground is covered in snow, the air is frosty, and you wanted nothing more than to stay outside and enjoy the fresh air. You walk towards the Black Lake, one of your favorite spots to read and think because of the seclusion, when you bump into the blond himself.

 “Draco, hi,” you smile, waving at him.

 “Y/N,” he smiles sweetly; it wasn’t a smile anyone saw often, but you were glad when you got to see it. “I was just heading back into the castle, care to join me?”

 “No, sorry,” you say. “I was heading to the Black Lake to do some reading. Maybe some other time?”

 “Sure,” Draco says. He hesitates as if he wants to say something more, but turns on his heels and continues towards the castle.

 As you continue on your way, Draco turns back once to look at you once, then straightens himself up. He walks briskly through the snow, but he doesn’t make it far when he hears your name from a group of Ravenclaws sitting on the stairs.

 “Y/N’s really great,” Marcus Belby, Y/N’s boyfriend, starts. “Honestly, she lets me copy all of her homework and always asks me about my day. I don’t have to put in much effort. I just need to prepare for my N.E.W.T.S and then I’ll be able to get out of this.”

 “Why would you get out of it?” Another Ravenclaw boy, Terry Boot, chuckles. “Sounds like you’ve got it made, Belby.”

 “Oh, I do, believe me. This is my most brilliant idea yet,” he laughs.

Draco straightens himself up and marches over to the group of boys, still laughing and talking about you like you were nothing but a tool for them to move forward.

 “Gentlemen,” Draco starts, clearing his throat. “Might I have a word with Belby, here?”

 “What’s this about, Malfoy?” Marcus starts, standing him from the bench he was perched on. “Anything you need to speak with me about, you can do in front of everyone.”

 “Very well. I couldn’t help but overhearing you talking about Y/N?”

 “Yeah, what about her? Need some homework help? Belby’s got some tips,” David Hilliard roars. The boys laugh, and Draco huffs, trying his hardest to compose himself.

 “No, I came to tell you to keep her name out of your grimy, selfish mouths,” he says, gritting his teeth as he watches them roar even harder with laughter.

 “I don’t know who you think you are, Malfoy, but I’ll talk about my girlfriend anyway I’d like,” Marcus says, puffing his chest out at Draco. His face was dangerously close to the blond boy’s. “Now run along, mate, before you say something you regret.”

 The laughter had died down and now everyone in the group was staring between Marcus and Draco. The air is tense as Draco’s jaw locks. Almost as if he can feel your presence coming from the black lake, he tries calming himself, but the glint in Marcus Belby’s eyes was enough to piss him off.

 You watch from the top of the hill as Marcus shoulders up to Draco, and you cannot bear it to move. You clutch your books against your chest, watching. Marcus says something through his teeth, but you can’t hear what, and lucky that you didn’t, because Draco takes the first swing.

 His fist connects with a loud ‘pop’, and before you know it, you’re running to the scene. Marcus recoils back, but leans forward with all his weight and tackles Draco to the ground.

 “Draco!” You shout, running faster to get to the group.

 The fight is in full swing now, Draco and Marcus are rolling around in the snow, each getting in cheap punches where they can. Marcus is on top now, railing his fist into Draco’s face, but he doesn’t stay there long. Draco pushes him off just as you reach the scene. You grab Draco’s arm, pulling him out of the snow just as Marcus lunges again. You insert yourself in the middle, glaring up at Marcus.

 “What are you two idiots thinking? You’re going to get expelled!”

 “He took the first hit,” Marcus growls, pointing at Draco. “He should be the one expelled!”

 You turn to look at Draco, but he simple spits some blood from his mouth and turns, walking back towards the castle. You move to follow him, but Marcus grabs your arm.

 “What?” You snap, your eyes ablaze as you glare up at him.

 “Don’t chase after him,” he warns. “I mean it, Y/N.”

 “Don’t presume to tell me what to do,” you say. You snatch your arm away, and turn on your heels. “I’m going inside, we’ll talk about this later.”

 You stalk behind Draco, following him as he turns corners in corridors. You turn the last corner, and he’s stopped, waiting for you with folded arms.

 “You’re following me because?”

 “Draco, what happened?” You demand, crossing your own arms and staring up at him.

 “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Y/N. Just leave me alone, alright?”

 “No!” You push. “Not until you tell me what happened out there! Why did you punch Marcus?”

 “It’s none of your business. Just go, I mean it,” he says, running his fingers through his blond hair. You sigh and reach up, wiping a bit of blood from his cheek.

 “Draco,” you whisper. He looks down at you, his eyes stormy and grey as ever, his jaw clenched.  “At least let me take you to the hospital wing to get this taken care of. You’re bleeding everywhere.”

 “Y/N, it’s fine. Just let it go. I’ll be fine,” he assures you. “Just go.”

 “Draco,” you finally explode, stamping your foot like a petulant child. “You don’t get to have a full-on fight with my boyfriend, then tell me that it’s none of my business and to just go away. Stop shutting me out, dammit!”

 “You don’t know the things he was saying about you! You don’t know what I stood there and listened to. Trust me,” he says darkly. “He deserved every hit I gave him.”

 “Wha- you hit him because of me?”

 “Just drop it, Y/N.”

 “Draco, please,” you beg, trying a different approach now. You give him your biggest eyes, your lips forming a perfect pout. The pout does the trick.

 “Y/N,” he sighs, rubbing his hand down his face. “He’s using you. Okay? He’s using you because knows how incredible you are.”

 “Incredible?” You ask, tiling your head.

 “Yes, incredible,” his voice is almost a whisper. “He’s using you to help him study for his N.E.W.T.S, because he knows that no matter what, if he’s using your notes, he’s going to pass because he knows how incredibly smart you are. Everybody knows how incredibly smart you are. And funny, and brave, and stubborn.”

 You look up at Draco, your mind swimming as you process his every word.

 “So,” you start, swallowing hard. “He… he doesn’t like me?”

 Draco shakes his head sadly. “I’m sorry.”

 “Don’t be. I just thought- I guess I thought that after all the gifts and the little things that kept happening this year, that maybe it was him… But I guess not,” you say, your eyes searching the floor.

 “You gave him credit for that?” Draco asks, a mild taste of disgust in his tone. “Forgive me for saying, but he hasn’t been the most romantic creature.”

 “How do you even know that?” You ask, your voice raising an octave.

 “Because no real romantic would take credit for someone else’s work,” he scoffs, dismissing the thought with a wave of his hand.

 “It was you,” you say suddenly, the thought coming from absolutely nowhere.

 “Of course it was me!” He explodes again. He paces the length of the hallway. “Who do you think gave you that green bag you liked so much in Hogsmead a few months ago? How do you think that same green bag continues to be repaired seemingly out of nowhere every time you rip it by putting too many books in it? Where do you think all of those books come from?”

 “Draco-“ He stops in front of you, taking your hands in his own.

 “It’s always been me, Y/N, because it’s always been you. Since that moment in second year- do you remember? You bumped into me trying to get out of the Great Hall because of the troll,” he says, his eyes searching yours.

 “Yes, I remember.”

 “Ever since then, Y/N. Every time something bad almost happened… When Professor Slughorn first started teaching and you couldn’t get the potion right, I dropped the right ingredient in to keep in from exploding in your face while you were in the cupboard. And when your robes ripped because Pansy stepped on them, I repaired them. And when you went with the Durmstrang boy to the Yule Ball and he left you, who was there?”

 “You,” you whisper, your eyes locked on his. He pulls you towards him slowly, and his hand reaches up to brush a loose strand of hair from your face. “But, why?”

 “Because you’re special to me, darling. You always have been. You intrigue me without even trying,” he says softly, letting his index finger trail down your cheek.

 “Why did you never say anything?”

 “Because I knew who I was destined to be. Who I am now, is not someone I’m proud of- is not someone you can be proud of. Because you deserve more than who I am now,” he says, dropping his hand. He steps away from you and fixes the collar of his shirt. He turns to walk away.

 “Draco wait,” you say. You grab his arm and, dropping the bag off your shoulder, you pull him to you, wrapping your arms around his neck and kissing him softly.

 He doesn’t kiss you back at first, almost as if he were still registering that it was even happening. But soon, he’s holding onto you like you’re his lifeline, kissing you back hungrily.

 “It’s always been you,” he whispers, finally pulling away from you. “And it’ll always be you.”

 “I’m gonna hold you to that,” you whisper back, smiling up at him.

 He grins down at you, then pulls your face back up to his and kisses you softly. Finally, your world feels like it’s spinning on the right axis, and you feel at home.

[capricornus-rex]

Perseverance Over Pride (2 - End)

Requested by: @stellar-trinity​ | Prompt:

Hey Hon! I was wondering if you could do a request? No rush on this one :) I will say this one is a bit personal bc I tend to do this A LOT 😅 Cal comforting the reader after being hard on herself? Maybe the reader was working on Cal’s saber, ends up breaking it more (unintentionally) and once everyone is asleep, she locks herself in her own room and cries? Thanks hon! 🥺💖

Tags: Self-doubting! Reader

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2 of 2

Oh no… No, no… NO! Your mind, anxious and panicked, screamed. You wanted to let the words out but you can’t because it’ll alarm the crew.

You covered your mouth with your entire hand, bottling up all of the emotions that’s thrashing and storming inside your core right now.

“No… That’s impossible! What went wrong?!” you gasped, the weapon shook in your trembling hand.

You set it down on the workbench again. You don’t know what to do first: tear it apart again and redo everything or mentally assess what steps you could’ve possibly mixed up. Though, to save your pride, you didn’t do the latter.

You were back to where you started—taking it apart piece by piece, except with the newly-replaced parts this time. You examined and inspected every single component that you’ve detached from the very structure of the saber and looked for possible errors.

Blinded by confusion, you can’t seem to find what’s wrong. Everything seemed to be in place. You can’t pinpoint what you may have overlooked. You repeated everything you did—and perhaps adjusting a little bit of the parts in each step—and then tested the ignition again.

The result remained the same: a short-lived flicker of the blade.

You couldn’t control yourself when you flung your fist to the workbench, hoping nobody from outside heard that—which they obviously did—you jerked your hand away and rubbed the sore part; all of a sudden, your heart felt heavy, your stomach churned, and your breathing was shaky and rapid.

“What’s the matter with me?”

Trying to relax even felt tedious. The doubt in your conscience was beginning to chew its way into you, but your fought it off along with the words that were gradually forming in your mind—the words that you dread to hear, even if it was just in your imagination.

Nothing.

There was no concentration, no calmness… nothing.

Your mind was in a total disarray.

“This is bad,” you muttered fearfully.

You examined the disassembled lightsaber again, thought long and hard as you stared at it, and then wagered which of the new parts must be replaced to better, functioning ones. The next places that could possibly have some components are the Imperial station near the weathered monument and the ice caves. Asking Greez to take the Mantis to Coruscant is the farthest stretch of an option, so you put that as the last resort—even if the Jedi Temple has the best selection of parts, albeit abandoned.

“It’s highly likely graverobbers have looted the temple though,” you assessed.

Afraid to show your face, and scared to be incapable of answering Cal’s questions about his lightsaber, you couldn’t dare to step out of the room—though you badly need to if you want to get your components. You took a deep breath as if preparing yourself to speed through a row of Auger pulverizers, you rehearsed your general response if ever Cal asks, and coached yourself to keep your eyes on the door.

“Okay, just waltz out. Don’t maintain eye contact, eyes on the door. Just say you’re going out to get more parts, and that’s it. Simple.”

The line became your mantra in the next three minutes. Afterwards, you pulled yourself together and followed your mantra physically to a tee.

“I’m going out again, just need more parts,”

You practically ate your words as you briskly walked past Cal sitting on the couch with Cere in the middle of a hallikset lesson. The two Jedi followed you with their eyes until you disappeared out of the ship. Cal was able to sense something from you, it was faint yet noticeable; he contemplated whether to bring it up to you or wait and see if it would worsen or subside.

You gave the shed on the edge of the landing pad a try, but it turned out to be a disappointment when it was just crates of the same materials as the ones in the derelict hangar; and so off you go to where you needed to be.

You take the shortcut at the turbine facility leading out to the ice slide before the weathered monument. You surprisingly mowed down the dispatched unit of Stormtroopers just on the other side of that blaster door.

“Okay, gotta get to that station fast,” you tell yourself.

You’ve reached your destination: the Imperial command center with a landing platform. You had hoped that with a station this big, you hoped you’d find something worth of all this short trip.

You took every Stormtrooper stationed there singlehandedly by surprise; banking their shots right back at them until all that remains is the black R2 unit strolling across the metal halls.

Now that you’re in the clear, you scoured all of the supply crates that you can find, taking apart the control panels and power terminals for possible substitutes, and even harvesting the parts of a Stormtrooper’s blaster and a Scout Trooper’s staff. By sheer luck, the staff ran on a diatium power cell and prayed that this could be your key to actually fixing the saber.

When you got back, you came in with such a burst that the crew just watched you speed past them. Understandably so, you were too indulged in getting that lightsaber fixed—but they don’t know that you’re protecting your ugly secret of busting it a second time after the Jotaz did.

Cal walked in on you and found you on your second attempt.

“[y/n]?”

You jumped, startled by the softest call of your name.

“You startled me right there!” you gasped, clutching on your chest while sucking in air.

“Oh sorry, I figured you didn’t hear me the first time so I went closer. Sorry…”

“It’s okay,” you tried to hide the saber by blocking his view of it with your back. “Look, it’s not ready yet. I thought I finished it but turns out I had to do it again. I… I’m still fitting the power cells underneath the sleeve of the second saber.”

“Look, I’m more worried about you than the saber itself. Could you please do me a favor and don’t stress out on this? Like I said: don’t rush on this.”

“I’m sorry, I… I suppose I just got a bit worked up. Won’t rest until the job’s done—force of habit.”

He raised his lips to your forehead.

“Well, there’s no need to be worked up, okay?”

You nodded and replied in a hushed tone. He dismissed himself, saying Cere owes him another hour of hallikset lessons, and then walked out of the bedroom, leaving you again with his busted saber and in your solitude.

More hours have passed, at this point in time, your confidence has deteriorated. While the power-related parts—namely the diatium power cell, conductor, power vortex ring, and inert power insulator—were finally replaced with the whole, new ones supplied by your inventory and the ones you’ve picked up, it appeared that they weren’t the answers to your question.

You repeated again, tweaking some of the parts that you assumed could have gone wrong.

The same feeling that you had on the first attempt return—only this time, it was five times worse on the third and fourth tries. You wished that you knew what the problem was.

“No… NO!” you growled, pounding the edge of the worktable out of frustration. The force of your outburst was so strong that you managed to make the thin pipe railings creak.

The crew kept it quiet between one another whenever they would hear one of your outbursts: the grunts, startled cries, and groans of frustration. An hour later, you were still stuck in the loop of trying to figure out the mistake. Cal decided to pull you away from that spiraling mess you’ve gotten into.

“[y/n]…?” he called as he knocked. “Dinner’s ready. Are you coming?”

“N-No, Cal… I… I’m not hungry,” you spoke to him through the sealed door, your voice is muffled but still coherent. “I’m not hungry.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. Sorry, Cal. Please, I just want some time alone to finish this,”

“Alright then. Call me if you need anything, okay?”

“Oh… okay. Thanks, Cal…”

Cal appeared out of the small annex to join the crew at the dinner table. Cere started to get worried when he appeared without you.

“Where’s [y/n]?”

He repeated your reason to everyone as he took his seat. There was awkward air that somehow exuded the empty chair next to Cal—where you usually sit.

Cal left some food for you and personally put them away on his own after dinner. Cere watched him prepare your serving in case you finally decide to come out of the room and eat, as he sealed off the food container, she confronted him gently.

“Cal, is [y/n] okay? She’s been acting… unusual lately. She’s been locked up in your room for hours now and missed dinner. The last time we saw her outside that room is when she came to scavenge for spare parts.”

“Something’s off about her ever since the last time she went out. She didn’t even open the door to talk to me, she just spoke through the door. I didn’t think that she’d put that much pressure on herself to repair my lightsaber… but now I do.”

“Go talk to her. I am absolutely sure she needs it,” Cere clapped him on the shoulder before retreating to the cockpit.

While they were eating, you have already gone through your fifth attempt. You’ve given up in the middle of the sixth try and ended up sitting on the floor, hugging your knees, and just succumb to crying. When Cal got close enough, he could hear you weeping in the room and that further confirmed his presumption about you.

He knocked on the door again, calling your name.

“Come on, I saved you some dinner,” he coaxed. “Greez made your favorite.”

“Please just… go away, Cal…” you replied.

Cal noticed the change of tone in your voice and the sniffles.

“No, I won’t,”

The two of you conversed with a sealed blast door in the middle. You wanted it that way because you didn’t want him to see the teary-eyed mess that you are and his still-busted lightsaber.

“Look, I couldn’t fix your lightsaber; I could have broken it but not on purpose—you should be hating me right now!”

“I don’t hate you,” he coolly said. “I could never hate you.”

There was no response from your end at the door, you buried your face in your knees in shame, letting tears pool on your pant legs in the process. He decided to open the door via the control keypad on his side. When the door whizzed open, he saw you curled up on the floor by the workbench; you didn’t look to him when he got in.

“Oh, [y/n]…” he purred, sitting on the floor and then taking you into his arms.

“I’m sorry, I thought I could do it…!” you sobbed. “I didn’t mean to break it, honest. I really wanted to fix it but I just couldn’t… I thought I could!”

He shushed. He rested his cheek over your head after kissing your forehead. “Please don’t cry. It’s okay. I’m not mad, I promise.”

“I was too afraid to ask help from you…” you hiccupped. “I was afraid you’d think of me as incompetent.”

“Aww, no,” he cooed. “Baby, no—I’d never think of you as something like that! What made you think that?”

“Cal, look at me: I’m a Jedi who can’t fix a lightsaber! I’m the perfect definition of that word. What else would I call myself if I’m incapable of rebuilding the most vital part of a Jedi?”

He cradled your head to his chest and allowed you to let it all out whether through tears or lashing out.

“You know, back in Dathomir—when I was opening the door to the Tomb of Kujet—I got myself into a Force vision,”

You listened, prompting him to continue with soft grunts.

“Master Tapal was standing there in front of me. When he saw that I didn’t fight back, he said something to me,”

“What was that?” you asked, your voice has calmed down and the sobbing hiccups have gotten lesser.

“He told me that persistence reveals the path. And you know what I’ve gotten from that?”

You look up at him to find sincere eyes staring back lovingly at you and a small yet reassuring smile. The word “What?” was a mere blow of air between your lips when you urged him to continue.

“When failure hasn’t deterred you from trying again and again, no matter how many times,” he spoke as he stroked your hair. “You’ll find your answer at the end of the path sooner than you think.”

“But I’m afraid. I’m afraid to fail… like I always have been, secretly.”

“But have you really given up?”

Your eyes wandered blankly into space, pondering on his question as well as your own answer—the true answer. Your eyebrows furrowed as you somberly reflected upon it. In response, you shake your head. You promptly stood up from the floor, Cal followed and stood by your side; you let him watch you work and to his surprise, you’ve picked up a soldering iron you found back in the Imperial command center.

From time to time, he would help out in certain parts of rebuilding it—handing out the parts and components that you need, giving you an extra hand when needing to hold something really still until you’ve perfectly fitted it into place as well as helping with a few of the trickier steps in the procedure.

The last part of fixing it was refitting the blade energy chamber—the narrow tube that bridges the kyber crystal and the emitter—and when you presume everything is finally done, Cal let you do the honors of meditating once more on the lightsaber.

“Go on,” he coaxed. “Relax and concentrate.”

“Okay…”

It may not be yours, indeed, but your connection with Cal—that you have unconsciously overlooked and shut out this whole time—was soothing the whole time up until this very moment. For a moment, that anxiety that was flooding your entire being was gone and all you could think of was thoughts that signify tranquility: the waterfalls, the sunrise at Bogano, the empty abode, and even an image of Cal himself.

Click…

Your heart skipped a beat when you hear that tiniest of sounds. You fought off the hesitation of opening your eyes. In face value, the lightsaber looked normal. You stared blankly at it, not even realizing that your hand was gravitating to it; once again, your fingers clamped around the handle and lifted it up from the workbench placemat. You shoot a look at Cal.

“Together?”

He placed his hand over your hand, his thumb over yours on the switch.

“Together.”

He squeezed on your thumb downwards, subsequently doubling onto the pressure applied on the switch button. A sharp buzz snarled out of the polished hilt. Cal removed his hand from the hilt and stood back, while examining the beam of light that shone in the room. You exchanged glances with him, you swallowed the nervous lump in your throat, and your heart was pounding that you couldn’t catch up with your breathing. Steadily, you waved the weapon around the small space where you stood.

More than ten seconds have passed and the blade of light didn’t die out. Your official sixth attempt finally was a success!

You exhaled laughingly. Finally! You thought. We did it!

You looked over the blade and found Cal smiling with a sense of pride in you. You pressed the switch again and the blade retracted back into the emitter to set it down on the workbench. You hopped toward Cal and—in an uncontrollable urge—threw yourself in his arms.

“We did it!” you beamed, relieved and happy.

“But you did most of the work, I only helped on the sidelines,”

“Don’t be silly. Well… I was silly myself,” you shrugged. “I guess I had too much pride earlier. Thanks, Cal, you’ve helped me a whole lot—more than enough, in fact.”

You yawned and rubbed your eyes, apologizing thereafter.

“It’s okay, sweetie, rest as much as you need. I’ll be here,” Cal planted another kiss on your head as he cradled you like a baby, trapping you in an embrace as your puffy eyes felt heavy. He continued to stroke your hair until you drifted off to sleep. “I’ll always be here. I promise.”

[persephonescat]

Birds and Other Supernatural Phenomenons

Hiiii! This is… long. Probably the longest chapter I’m going to have, but it’s all only one scene and I just couldn’t cut it in half. Thank you for your comments! They make my whole week! Some of you pointed out a few mistakes in the last chapter, I hope it’s all good now! ^^ And please tell me if there are any weird sentences or typos or anything. Multiple people told me that the last chapter’s storm came very suddenly, so I re-read the sixth chapter and as it turns out, the sentence about the weather was lost in the editing. It all looked very dark and moody in my head, so I didn’t notice there was no description of it. Thank you for telling me, I’m definitely going to correct that.

(I think we should call this fic BaOSP in the future when we’re just talking about it in the comments or on Discord or just in general, bc this title is really long… The title and the tags will stay the same of course, it’s just that from now on, BaOSP is the official (???) shortened version of it.)

Damian meets Marinette, I REPEAT, DAMIAN MEETS MARINETTE.

Ch. 1    Previous    Masterpost    AO3 

________________

Ch. 8: Lord Annoyance

It was Monday night and Damian Wayne already hated the week.

Tim finally passed out on Saturday and did nothing but sleep all weekend, so on one hand, now he was capable of speaking in full sentences. On the other hand, all of his sentences were about the process of etching and nobody knew why, so it wasn’t any less problematic.

Dick came home with several holes in his shoe and refused to speak about it.

Jason didn’t eat anything but pork for a week straight and this morning he swore to go vegetarian.

Bruce was in the process of finding new hobbies - Tim said it was midlife crisis, Jason said the old man was finally going crazy and Cass was out of town, so she just yelled at them via video chat. Barbara and Steph laughing their asses off every time the topic came up didn’t help either, but after seeing the anvil in the living room while going to get breakfast, Damian was starting to agree with Jason.

On top of it all, some idiot under the name of Dark Nomad killed a chicken, painted obscene pictures on the walls of one of Bruce’s apartments with its blood, then for some reason, they stole some garden interior and part of the fence. Just fantastic.

And guess who had to track him down and arrest him? Robin. Because his family was a bunch of freaking sadists.

On top of it all, when he finally arrived on the rooftop where the petty villain was spotted two days in a row, the idiot wasn’t alone.

Robin landed quietly, hid behind a metal staircase leading the upper parts of the building and stopped to listen to the conversation going down between the two shadowy forms. He was already planning revenge in the back of his mind - it would’ve been ridiculously easy to poison at least two out of his three brothers. Not too badly but enough for them to have an unpleasant couple of days.

“Did you manage to sleep during the day, or should I be worried about you suddenly falling down from here because of exhaustion?” one of the forms asked flatly, a young girl sitting on the edge of the roof. She looked tiny compared to the Nomad sitting beside her, but she didn’t seem to be afraid at all. Her body language was taunting and open, her dark hair shimmered in the light coming from the streets below as she turned her head towards the boy. She had a slight French accent.

“Nah, I had double English in the afternoon, so I’m good,” the Nomad said, playing with a stray thread on his hoodie. “You?”

“I slept on the bus…” the girl started, trailing off. She tilted her head, concentrating on something. “Could you give me a minute?” she asked, standing up. For a moment, Damian felt relieved. She was already leaving.

Then she turned towards him.

She could’ve just heard something. She could’ve just checked out the area. It could’ve been a coincidence, but she was staring right at him, even though he was sure he wasn’t visible in the dark.

She walked towards his hiding place with no hesitation or fear. He was standing there motionlessly as she got closer. He studied her form, looking for weapons and weak points. She was wearing a warm cardigan with jeans and dark boots. He eyed her scarf and gloves suspiciously. It wasn’t that cold, but he didn’t see anything hidden in them.

Her red lipstick matched her scarf, her hair was tied into a loose braid coming forward at the side of her neck, dancing gracefully when a light breeze caught it. Her body language was still way too open and she foolishly grabbed the railing of the staircase before peeking behind it, leaving her torso even more vulnerable.

If he was ever planning on confronting her, he would’ve changed his mind after that. She was clearly harmless when it came to physical combat.

What the hell was she doing here, then?

“Can I help you?” she asked, looking at where his mask covered his eyes. Her voice was toneless and her accent was gone. Robin wondered if he was just imagining it earlier. Maybe he was too deep in his thoughts to pay attention.

It happened a lot nowadays. Him, getting lost in his thoughts and not paying attention. At first, it annoyed him - and scared the living daylight out of him, not as if he was about to tell that to anyone. Now he knew it was part of being human. It meant he was getting healthier, as Alfred put it. Making mistakes was part of life and he wanted to have a life, right?

Yes, he did.

Sometimes he looked at Bruce and his sorry brothers and realized that he already had a one. It made him feel weird. Happy, probably, but it was a new kind of happy. It made him want to smile at the most random times and help Alfred with chores. It made him have this… desire to go after Bruce when he disappeared to his garden to calm down, to bring home some donuts for Dick every time he passed that shop he liked, to take Jason to Disneyland on his birthday, to make Cass smile more often, to pull up the security footages from the Cave on his computer, so he could check on Tim without him knowing.

It was terrifying and he wouldn’t have changed it for anything in the world.

“Robin?” the girl asked impatiently. Damn, he zoned out. He cleared his throat, trying to find the right thing to say.

“Errm… do you realize you are sitting with a criminal?” Good job, Damian, your brothers would be proud. Why not ask her her favorite color too, maybe that will help. He was prepared to hear Jason’s amused words through the comms, but surprisingly, his brother stayed quiet.

“Are you concerned about my safety?” The girl narrowed her eyes.

He straightened his back and cleared his mind.

“Actually, I’m here to arrest the Dark Nomad,” he told her, trying to sound professional. Not as if it mattered anymore.

“Why?”

“Damaging private property, theft, and vandalism.”

“Could you elaborate? Picking flowers in a park could be considered all three of those.” Her voice was mocking now.

Damian stared at her. She was at least a head shorter than him, with no weapons. He was Robin. She was either incredibly dangerous or very stupid, and he had a hard time believing in the first scenario.

“He killed an animal, draw obscene pictures on the street with its blood, did damage that’s repairing will take hundreds of dollars, stole garden interior… should I continue?”

“When did he do all that?” the girl asked. She didn’t seem surprised at all.

“Why would I tell you?” frowned Robin. “I’m here to arrest him, that’s the only important thing.” Harmless or not, she was getting annoying.

“Well, you can’t legally make arrests given that you’re not a police officer, which means that you have absolutely no reason to be here. You might as well go home,” she explained simply. Her voice was toneless again, she spoke as if she was just stating facts, - which she did, after all.

Damian’s blood was starting to boil. Did the psychopaths roaming this city have a right to murder people? No. Did they have any right to hurt civilians? No. Was any of the things they did legal? No.

Who was this kid to come and tell him about rights, when his family seemed to be the only ones protecting them?

The girl was looking at him as if she was staring into his soul, then suddenly, she smirked.

“Not as if that would stop you,” she said, and Robin looked at her quizzically. “But I have a feeling that you’re after the wrong guy, so if you told me when he did all that, it would clear a few things.”

He was lost. What did this girl want? She was too weird to be stupid. She let the railing go now and was standing with her arms at her sides, her head slightly tilted.

“Today, between two and three AM,” he told her finally, curious about her reaction.

She stared right into his eyes, even though his mask was hiding them and said, “He was with me.”

Robin didn’t see anything about her body language betraying her, but she must’ve noticed he didn’t believe her because she continued.

“We were talking about Tamás Vekerdy and Bruno Bettelheim. They’re psychologists who often write about children. He arrived around midnight, and when he left it was already past five in the morning, so there is no way he could’ve done anything unless he has an evil twin.”

He scoffed angrily. When he spoke again, he was hissing the words from behind his clenched teeth.

“These things don’t take long. He might’ve just slipped away for a few minutes and came back, unless of course if you were in the same position for five hours.” He might’ve also growled a little. He was standing only inches from her now, looming over her.

“That’s not too hard to check, your Highness.” She cocked her head and held his gaze fearlessly. “Where did all this happen?”

He was about to bite back but he stopped abruptly.

Okay, so he might’ve been a little wrong. If the girl was telling the truth, the guy should’ve disappeared for at least one and a half hours to get to the scene from here. Not as if that meant anything, she could’ve easily lied. He just didn’t notice it.

A voice saved him from having to answer.

“Marinette? Is everything okay?” The Dark Nomad was walking towards them. When he noticed Robin, a terrified expression took over his confused one. He was about to go and stand between the girl and the vigilante when she lifted her arm to stop him, not moving her gaze away from Robin. The Nomad looked like a caged animal but didn’t try to fight her.

“Lord Annoyance here states that last night, you cloned yourself between The Book of Diaries and NurtureShock, and went to draw booties and steal a bunch of garden gnomes.”

The Nomad opened his mouth to say something but Robin beat him to it.

“Okay, so first of all, it wasn’t just "booties” and they were drawn with blood, which makes it considerably worse.“ Jason, who was listening to everything he said trough the comms the whole time, chose that moment to burst out laughing. He did his best to ignore him.

"Second of all, a lot of things were stolen, not just…” yep, that sentence was a bad idea, “Garden gnomes.”

“Why do you think he did it in the first place?” the girl, - Marinette cut back.

“It was private property. There was a camera.”

“Whose?”

He took a second to consider the possible fallback of the answer. The existence of Bruce Wayne wasn’t a secret. Neither was the fact that he owned multiple buildings around the city. Maybe it was going to scare the villain enough that he confesses.

“Bruce Wayne’s,” he said finally. The girl’s undisturbed expression made him feel uneasy. “Have you heard of him?”

“Oh, you mean that’s who the big ass tower in the middle of the city is named after? I thought it was the ship name of watery rain or way of pain or something.” Her words were dripping from sarcasm.

‘Who are you talking to? What did they say?’ asked Jason like an excited child but Damian once again ignored him.

“Well, I’m sorry, but his alibi is pretty shaky, you know. Villains can be very convincing here, in case you didn’t notice.” He didn’t think this guy could convince anyone, but it was possible.

“Yeah, his ski mask really makes me shake in fear,” Marinette said flatly.

The villain finally got a chance to say something but his moment didn’t last long.

“It’s not a-”

“Yes, it is. Shut up.” Marinette pinched the bridge of her nose. “He is wearing a hoodie and a mask ever since… birth, probably. How did anyone recognize him?”

“He left his signature,” Robin told her. He wasn’t even angry anymore, he was just very annoyed.

Marinette froze. She almost seemed to forget about Robin as she finally broke eye contact and turned around.

“You… have a signature?” she asked the Dark Nomad, who was still standing behind her, ready to jump at any moment.

He opened and closed his mouth a few times. It reminded Robin of a distressed duck.

“Kinda,” he said quietly.

“Why would you do that?” asked Marinette, gesticulating wildly.

“It’s part of the aesthetic, okay?” he explained with a hurt expression.

“Hey, I’m accusing you of a crime here!” reminded them Robin. This was taking way longer than he wanted it to.

Marinette once again turned to him, let out a deep breath and arranged her face into a more professional expression.

Finally.

“Right,” she started seriously. She gave him a second to compose himself, then continued. “Boobs.”

The Dark Nomad snorted, but Marinette just gave him an unimpressed look and let out an exasperated sigh.

“Okay, so tell Mr. Wayne, that he should be looking for another idiot because I was looking after this one at the time.”

Before he could answer, he heard Jason’s voice in his ear.

'There is a robbery going down at Chucko’s. I’m going in.’

Damian cursed quietly.

“Don’t. Wait for me. I’ll be there in two,” he told him, placing his fingers on the comm so the two people standing in front of him knew he wasn’t speaking to them.

“I have to go,” he told them quickly, then took off before they could do as much as blink.

***

Marinette ran after the vigilante but stopped at the edge of the roof. She saw a dark form jumping over rooftops. After a few seconds, it disappeared and relief rushed over her body.

She was way too tired to think about how she just got into an argument with one of Gotham’s heroes.

She closed her eyes and turned to go back to her room. She needed to sleep. A lot.

“You’re kinda terrifying when you’re sleep-deprived, did you know that?” said Jeremy, coming out from behind the metal staircase.

“I always am,” answered Marinette, still not opening her eyes.

“Do you mean terrifying or sleep-deprived?” asked Jeremy confusedly.

Marinette gave him a small wave, then climbed back to the hotel without a word.

________________

*Quiet chanting* comments, comments, comments

*Chanting intensifies* comMEnts, COMments, coMMENTS

*Thunder*

*The flattering of wings and the sounds of scared birds*

*Chanting* COMMENTS, COMMENTS, COMMENTS, COMMENTS

  Ch. 1    Previous   Masterpost    AO3

Tag list: (You want to get on the tag list? Send a comment! You should be on the tag list but you aren’t? Send a comment! You would like to discuss world peace and/or brownies? Send a comment!)

@northernbluetongue @vgirl-10123 @theatreandcomicfreak @interobanginyourmom @crazylittlemunchkin @zerotosiki @worlds-tiniest-spook-pastry @my-name-is-michell @shreky-boi@coltaire @7-sage-7 @kris-pines04 @winter-gardenflower

[trepidatious]

(   natalia  dyer  &  alexandra daddario   )   bopping  along  to  vanilla twilight  by  owl city  is  vienna schuyler  ,  the  twenty-one  year  old  cisfemale  thrown  back  to  their  sports journalism  days  with  none  of  her  memories  .  voted  most  likely  to  break  into  area  51  ,  vienna  was  known  for  being  passionate  &  bashful  ,  go  figures  you’d  always  find  them  on  the  ice  rink  ,  but  grew  up  to  be  tranquil  &  withdrawn  .   ✎   kaya  ,  22  ,  she/her  ,  pst  . 

P A R A L L E L S

mia thermapolis ( princess diaries ) , hyuuga hinata ( naruto ) , casey carlyle ( ice princess ) , amy antsler ( booksmart ) , nadine franklin ( the edge of seventeen )

T R O P E S

shrinking violet , grew a spine , adorkable , homeschooled kid , geek , she is all grown up , extreme doormat , the confidant , eyes always averted , nice girl , shy finger twiddling

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          born in albany, new york to philip and danielle schuyler, the schuyler twins had been the center of their parents’ world from the moment they took their very first breath. they never had to want for anything and their childhood was often spent in upstate new york, visiting a family cabin during the holidays. it was those winter adventures that inspired vienna to pick up her first pair of skates, wanting to join the teens who’d she see skating across a frozen lake. at first she stumbled through, barely being able to keep herself upright, but by the end of the holidays she had mastered how to glide across the frozen landscape. after that it was only a matter of time before she started begging for lessons which inevitably lead to small competitions and private coaching.

          after developing a familiar routine on and off the ice, her parents getting transferred to bellevue, washington caused the schuyler family to move across the country and a seed of doubt to be placed in vienna’s head. while at first apprehensive that her ice skating career would never get to see the light of day, her nerves were quick to dissipate once she joined a local rink and continued her budding career as a skater. homeschooled so she could have time for her private coaching, vienna never got to socialize with others her age, often sticking to the sidelines and offering shy smiles to her fellow competitors. instead her downtime was spent alone, although sometimes in the company of her twin, as she binged movie franchises from star wars to lord of the rings.

             by the time she was a freshmen in high school, most of her summers were spent in san diego for a weekend, attending comic con whenever the dates didn’t coincide with her skating life. socially inept with no skills other than skating, vienna’s parents made it a point for her to attend a university like them, not believing that their daughter’s skating career would be enough to keep her afloat despite the success of her international junior career. vienna found herself reluctantly agreeing, being too timid to argue and chose to join rvu knowing her old coach from new york had moved down to california.

            a wallflower entering university, attempting to make friends and being in a school setting had felt like a rug being pulled right from under her. in her classes she was hardly acknowledged, only having her presence known whenever she was paired up for a group project. without the private tutor she was used to having her whole life, class settings were often spent with her lost in thought, filling her mind with daydreams of the future and random thoughts about whatever film she had watched the night prior. even when confronted outside of class, she’d often have a soft tone with whoever she was talking to, her eyes cast down as if she was only a few minutes away from stuttering. when you did notice her, it wasn’t uncommon to find a beginning of a blush forming on her face, a nervous smile becoming her default expression whenever interacting with someone.

            stretched thin with her studies and unable to qualify for the 2009 u.s. nationals championship, it was common knowledge within the skating community that vienna would still continue training during the current cycle of competitions instead of participating. skipping most of the major international competitions, she instead put her energy and skills into having a set of polished routines ready for the 2011 circuit. but with her degree being in sports broadcasting, espn had invited her to be a co-commentator for the 2009 world championships held in los angeles. with the conversation being about a topic she knew like the back of her hand, her commentary came fluidly and her usually bashful nature was nowhere to be seen as she observed the performances before her. with that attempt successful, it was no surprise that she was invited to vancouver to once again commentate on the competition.

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            graduating from rom valley university in 2010, she became a paid intern at espn, attending different competitions whenever she wasn’t competing in them. the internship only lasted a year, with her putting her broadcast career on pause to focus full-time on the 2014 olympic circuit. the next few years passed by in a breeze with her getting silver at the 2013 u.s. nationals and sixth place in the world championship, earning the united states a third spot in the olympics. during the 2014 u.s. championships, vienna placed first in the short and free programs, winning the national title and securing a spot on the u.s. olympic team. the rest of her career followed similarly, with her once again competing and placing in world’s as well as winning a bronze team medal in the 2018 olympics.

            before the throwback to 2010 happened, vienna had taken another pause in her competitive career, having suffered a stress fracture that put her out of commission. however, as a now internationally decorated medalist, she found herself returning to her broadcast roots, once again commentating at the different competitions and being interviewed on numerous talk shows. throughout her years post-graduation, she had kept in touch with a few people but for the most has kept to herself, preferring her own company over any amount of people. now able to turn on her charisma in situations non-related to skating, she had found herself content with where she was in life, with her days of smiling bashfully at the ground long gone, instead being replaced with confidence.

Q U I C K  F A C T S

unfortunately she’s one of the few who DOES NOT remember anything after 2010

all the self-growth and confidence she developed post-graduation??? long gone and home girl doesn’t even realize it sdfghj

definitely still a bashful mess who is avoiding eye contact whenever possible but hey, she’s definitely approachable and currently lacks the ability to be rude to anyone

doesn’t realize the whole marvel cinematic universe becomes as big and major as it is now so if anyone spoils anything she’d either think they’re an oracle of sorts or a secret writer for the mcu

she’s the biggest nerd and fan girl like i saw a few actors/oscar winners on the taken list and if any of your muses were a part of a marvel, lord of the rings, star wars, etc ( if it was at comic con then consider her a fan tbh ) she would have lost her shit being like “i went to school with this person omg” or “my friend is the scarlet witch!!!”

knows random facts about the stars and outer space and probably used to tweet at nasa a lot

her favorite barbie movie is the rapunzel one solely bc homegirl is staring and singing about the stars sdfghjk

probably asked her acting friends to be an extra in whatever movie they’re in

she says it as a joke but one of those “ get me in the movie. jk.... unless ????”

believes aliens are real and probably talked about it in 2010 and in 2020

like her theories about area 51??? and the government???? she could talk about them for days tbh

avoids drugs like the plague. will not even be anywhere where there’s weed smoke bc she’s scared it’ll pop up on her drug test bc she’s a paranoid dumb lil bean

probably doesn’t really drink that often but when she does it’s tito’s vodka

big nerd who speaks sindarin, can read aurebesh, and can somewhat speak togruta despite the limited amount of words that are known

named after the billy joel song and proud of it

ANYWAYS PLS PLOT WITH ME !!!!! my discord is medieval 4loko gang#5402 but feel free to hmu on here <3

i have a stats page here and wc page here !!!

but also come check out her pinterest board here

[bluboothalassophile]

So bc we’re both forgetful lmao 😂 I’m reminding us about the hellhound puppy that Raven gets as a gift from Luci and all the shenanigans that come with it! Love you! 💕

Hello,

We are forgetful, we keep talking about this! So I do hope you enjoy, with a cameo of Rae’s soon to be familiar, Sylvester from Looney Tunes! =)

Inspired by this Very Handsome, Good Boy!:

Bagheera Licorice Roth the Six Hundred Sixty-Sixth…

Lucifer stood there in Lux, looking over his books when he felt her walk in. His heart stopped and he turned to her with a smile upon his lips.

He was enraptured by her serine beauty once, the beautiful sorrow hidden in the depths of her black eyes. He didn’t tell Maze, but he knew his bonded was aware that there was a time he’d have bonded with Death. And Maze hated that reality, but they both loved Death.

“Hello darling, it has been a while,” Lucifer said as he looked over Death.

Death was dressed in her typical black garb, but with a black skirt rather than her skinny jeans, and she twirled her umbrella as she walked up to him. “Hello Lucifer,” she smiled softly. “It has been a while.”

“Care for a drink, love?” he asked her casually while sending reassurance to his demon through their bond that they were good. He would always be a bit in love with Death, but she was his first love, and from that they had bore a terrible weapon for his father’s war.

“No thank you,” she said as she took a seat at the lounge. “I would like to discuss our grandchild actually.”

“Oh?”

“Yes, I feel that in her vulnerable state she should have protection,” Death said.

“Already taken care of, Maze is currently collecting it from the latest batch as we speak.”

“It?”

“A Hellhound puppy of course, no finer guard in all the realms,” he chuckled.

~~~*~*~*~~~

Maze walked through Bobby Singer’s Salvage Yard with a sack, as she headed for the Bunker’s hidden entrance through a car trunk. It was a good think Luci had moved the bunker, it made it so much easier. Rachel had always returned to the Bunker or the House of Mystery in New Orleans, depending on what mission she was running.

“I’m here!” Maze called out through the massive Bunker. It was still impressive that the Men of Letters; as stagnated as they were, had accumulated this sort of knowledge.

“Hey Maze!” Rachel appeared with a smile, her hair was braided back, and she looked comfortable.

“Just the witch I was looking for!” Maze said as she skipped over to Rae, she had adopted Rae as her grandchild with gusto, she loved this little witch more than she could put into actions. “I have something for you!”

Yanking her sack around she pulled it open and picked up the little, wriggling puppy, which squirmed in her grasp. The little guy looked close to a panther, or a pitbull, sleek and the purest of blacks. So black he looked like a beautiful void with brilliant yellow eyes filled with Hellfire looked around curiously.

“He’s yours!” Maze stated handing the pup to Rachel. She had a soft spot for the Hellhounds, and figured her granddaughter would possess the same fondness.

“Oh my! He’s so cute!” Rachel smiled at the puppy as she held it in her arms.

“That is a Hellhound, from the latest liter Ramsey had, Luci wants you protected,” Maze smiled as the pup took a liking to his new mistress with gusto and was trying to lick her face.

~~~*~*~*~~~

Between her familiar Sylvester; the talking black and white cat who had adopted her when she saved him from his own antics to catch a Tweety-Bird, and the puppy, Rachel found her hands full. She hadn’t quite settled on a name for the Hellhound.

Dean had voted to name it Hell’s Bells, which she had shot down immediately.

Sam thought of Licorice, Jack and Cas both liked that one.

Bobby informed her that it would have to be something terrifying, and not to be too soft on the Hellhound pup or else he wouldn’t be ferocious, but she had also seen Bobby sneaking her puppy bites of steak and sips of beer.

She had ruled out most names, and had started going through literature for ideas. So far the name that seemed to resonate with her and ‘Jay’ was Bagheera.

And Thus… Bagheera Licorice Roth the Six Hundred Sixty-Sixth was named (the Six Hundred Sixty-Sixth was from Clair who wouldn’t leave her puppy alone, calling it the spawn of hell), also he was the six hundredth and sixty-sixth pup Ramsey had birthed according to Lucifer.

~~~*~*~*~~~

Rachel yelped as she was yanked down the street by the hellhound, her familiar wrapped around her throat.

“Bagheera! Slow down!” Rachel pleaded as they ran through New Orleans hunting a ghoul. “Bagheera Licorice STOP!” Rachel screamed as she was dragged into the street in the path of an on coming bus; she was going to die!

~~~*~*~*~~~

They were lounging on the porch of Grimwood’s Finishing School for Ghouls, when the two year old puppy lumbered up with a slobbery tennis ball in his mouth, smoke radiating off his excited form as he did the dog stretch with his butt in the air, tail wagging excitedly.

Rachel sighed as she set her book aside and went to get the tennis ball he was chewing like bubble gum away from him.

He leapt up and enticed her to chase him.

“If you want me to throw it Licorice you have to give it to me!” Rachel tried to reason as she chased the massive Hellhound.

~~~*~*~*~~~

She moaned in pain as she rolled over on her bed and blinked at the greeting of the floor, then looked over her shoulder at Bagheera’s stretched out form, his paws in the air, and Sylvester curled up on his belly.

“How do you always get three quarters of the bed and I wake up looking at the floor?” she asked the dog who had cracked a yellow eye to look at her. His tail thumbed and then the worst stink bomb ever was released which had her gagging and her eyes watering as she yanked at her sheets to cover her nose and mouth.

“Gross! That shouldn’t be legal!” she gasped.

“Should weaponize that but chemical warfare is illegal,” she croaked, scrambling from her bed and running for the door.

[just-a-tiny-ghost]

Blind to lover

Demon Slayer fic

Because I simped for someone in demon slayer. The character has a name and features, but not a lot, can be replaced by reader.

Disclaimers: battle scene, (little little little) mention of nsfw, light cursing (bc Sanemi)

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Kasumi didn’t have as much luck as the others thought she had. If she did, she wouldn’t be in this peculiar situation. Careful not to let the enemy escape, she stopped dead in her track and prompted the crow accompanying her. “Momotan, go ask for help, pillars, be fast.” He obeyed and flew away, eyeing the powerful demon in order not to get killed, which would lead to him not being able to ask for reinforcement and ultimately, would cause the death of his assigned demon slayer.

‘I’m not that far from the estate, they should be there in ten minutes at most. Focus, girl, you have to stand your ground until they come.’ She unsheathed her katana and while breathing deeply, spread her legs a little bit, gaining a solid balance. The kinoto was ready to fight.

“Oh, how have you been doing Kasumi?” Unexpectedly her enemy asked, a pleased smile on his lips. She ignored him. “Did you become a mute?”. Was he trying to confuse her? As he continued to stand still, she decided that, for her safety, it was wiser not to attack first. She stepped back; sharp golden eyes set on him. Seconds of stillness dragged into minutes; once relaxed shoulders tensed as the flow of time remained undisrupted. The enemy wasn’t moving at all, signs of an upcoming attack were nowhere to be seen. Two minutes had passed, Kasumi gripped her katana tighter between her sweating palms. The demon made the first move.

He walked toward her. ‘Mist breathing first form, Low clouds, distant haze’. Her response was a straightforward attack. Maybe it was too confrontational, she was often told that she had to be more careful when fighting, however, she had to attack and maybe even harm the dark-haired monster in front of her. Needless to say, he dodged and made it seem so effortless that a scowl appeared on Kasumi’s face, her blood beginning to boil. However, no matter how insulted she felt, she had to restlessly attack until reinforcements arrive, so that he could not flee away, so that the pillars could hopefully make him disappear for good.

Five minutes since Momotan left. Kasumi had warmed up, her breaths had shortened, and her mind strangely drifted away, leaving her body swinging mechanically her sword towards the demon.

________________________

Merchants shouting form behind their stalls and people gathering around them contributed to fill the streets with life. Mothers were swarming around the louder and more interesting stalls, their children playing tag with each other, ignoring the hushed directives they should be listening to. The night had fallen an hour or so ago, but this busy city was bright, light bulbs and decorative lanterns illuminating the streets. A woman near her twenties whimpered, as her hair got caught in a curious place. Thus, she was standing strangely, bending her knees, and approaching her head to the source of her pain to reduce the insistent tugging. Purple strands had gotten into the intricate hairstyle of the person sitting behind her.

“Could you please disentangle our hair?” She heard the person mumble.

“Owner?” Indeed, Kasumi could, now, recognize the owner of the shop she worked in. She hastily raised her hands towards the knot and did her best to quickly separate the strands while being careful in not harming her or her boss more. The other person sighed, “Only you are able to put yourself and other people in situations like this. How do you manage to even live alone?”

“Eh,” a nervous laugh, “I just do it? Anyway, what are you doing here, madam?” She changed the subject.

“I was conversing with the people who just left.” A pause. Kasumi didn’t know what topic to abord, so she focused on her task. She let out a victorious exclamation as she successfully completed it. “Would you like to go have some drinks with me?” The merchant proposed.

They drank a lot.

________________________

Embarrassment creeped over her previously focused face as she recalled the rest of the night, and her cheeks, already painted with colours seemed to dive further into a new of shade of pink. She backed away, almost tripping on nothing—a rookie’s mistake. And she definitively wasn’t one. ‘The enemy is right in front of you, what are you thinking about, girl. Focus, and think fast.’ She went back to her initial stance. ‘First won’t do, I stopped attacking, he can no longer be distracted by all the fast attacks and I can’t just hope that a simple single thrust will get him.’ A single swing of his arm and Kasumi had to dodge to the left; she couldn’t go back to her previous position as the ground became a danger to her balance. ‘This will have to work.’ The woman disappeared in the fog.

‘Mist breathing, fifth form, Sea of Clouds and Haze.’

She charged and unleashed a flurry of slashes on the demon. Quickly, she got away, dodging at the same time, a punch that would have been fatal had she taken it. The dust floating in the air settled on the ground, and the silhouette of the enemy was a mere illusion, for he was no longer there. Kasumi looked around her, from left to right, even to the sky, she found no trace of the enemy.

“Come on”, a voice raised from behind her, “stop being so aggressive.” It was awfully close to her. ‘Sixth form, Lunar dispersing mist’, she jumped high. But she was blocked before she was able to attack downward, a hand maintaining hers, along with her sword. “I guess I should teach you a lesson. You should not die if you fall from a little higher.”

He tossed her towards the sky. Her wrist broke from the sheer force of the throw, but she stubbornly gripped the hilt, her pride as a demon slayer not allowing her to abandon the fight. Kasumi could see strands of her hair now, floating and twirling around her eyes like she was in water, why not in a bath in which she had decided to dive in. Yet, the wind flowing around her indicated that it was obviously not a good sign, she was getting closer to ground. She could see him now, a little black spot not that long ago and her human nature pushed her to cling desperately to life, the little remaining of conscience encouraging her to move her aching body. ‘Once again.’ She held on the hilt tighter. ‘Sixth form, Lunar dispersing mist.’ This time, her attack was not blocked. Still, it never reached her target and she fell on the ground, still alive thanks to her precious technique.

“You are not too hurt now, are you my dear?”

________________________

The room was plunged into the darkness, two little candles not being able to provide so much light. Doors were closed and, at the end of the room, hidden behind the folding screen two bodies were interlaced. A moan passed through the barrier of red-painted lips, the woman squirming under her lover’s sweet treatment. Her breath, already uneven, became shorter and shorter and more moans, whispers, pleas, escaped her as she approached her climax. She closed her legs, but they were firmly maintained open by delicate hands—she wanted to break free as much as she wanted to stay here forever. Her senses were in alert; however, she was no longer receiving any stimuli. Her eyes wandered to the apex of her legs, only to meet with two unnatural, glowing plum red irises.

“What is it, dear? Can’t you bear it a little longer?”

________________________

“Don’t call me that!” Kasumi shouted, how dared this demon use this nickname?

She contracted her muscles, gritted her teeth. ‘Mist breathing, third form, scattering mist splash’ The little rocks, created due to the impact that cracked the ground, were thrown towards the demon. They could not do much harm, but it would buy her some precious seconds. By now, her opponent was clearly irritated. “Would you please, stop moving around so much?” he brought his hand to his face.

‘Water breathing, seventh form, piercing raindrop’

The demon sidestepped in order not to be stabbed by the newcomer. A strange half-and-half haori, and unruly black hair attached into a low ponytail, the water pillar had arrived. Adopting a protective position toward the woman, he stood in front of her and spoke. “You did well Kasumi, the insect pillar is near here, and the others are coming as fast as possible. Can you still fight?”

The kinoto got up and readied herself, a smile lighting up her face, “Of course!”. They both prepared to attack again, sharing a quick glance.

                              ‘Mist breathing’, ’Water breathing’

           ‘Second form, Eight-layered Mist’, ‘Fourth form, Striking tide’

They decided to strike together. Kasumi was the first to go for the demon’s neck, approaching him enough for her slashes to attain him, Giyu fast behind determined to eliminate this menace even though they both knew it couldn’t be that simple. The demon king had to dodge both three attacks. ‘Three?’ The kinoto turned her head towards the unknown attacker, discovering the insect pillar, Shinobu. With her ever smiling face in view, Kasumi was able to let out a relieved, albeit shaky breath.

“How troublesome.”

Muzan was rather talkative today. “All these insects crawling here. It’s rather tiring to deal with you Kasumi.” With that said, the demon leaped forward, giving the slayers no time to react. Upon seeing the enemy’s disappearance, Kasumi stupidly shut down her eyes, moving her arms in front of her. Pain didn’t come, her life didn’t flash before her eyes either. However, what she felt was a kiss pressed on her forehead and her arms being pushed down a little.

She opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was a strand of her hair placed in a delicate hand. The second thing was… the beautiful woman holding and cutting the said strand of hair. Plum-red eyes looking at her, and a smile floating on her face, the extra woman spoke, “I take this with me my dear. However, what kind of lover are you, to not even recognize your beloved?”

“W-what?” The demon slayer was defeated. She fell on the ground, shaking. Her hand flew to her mouth, she leaned forward, and her eyes fluttered in an attempt to fight off her blurry vision. Images flashed in front of her eyes, information swarming in her mind. The bustling street of Asakusa, overlapped with the owner’s delicate face; herself or more like an image of herself but with a posture, with clothes even with expressions that were foreign to her. The investigation in Asakusa, her fake identity as well as her undercover job. As she reached her conclusion, she raised her head, meeting Shinobu’s worried face.

“I fucked Lady Muzan.”

The world became black.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The atmosphere was tense, eight people sitting next to each other, plus one person in front of the others were silently staring at the woman opposing them. Hair tied neatly, haori perfectly worn and sublime posture. Stress was radiating from her.

Seconds passed and, as the last pillar still wasn’t here, Kagaya decided to start without waiting for him. “Kasumi, dear child,” he started, “I,” he took a pause, reflecting on his next words. “I heard, something rather unsettling from Shinobu first, and it was confirmed by Giyu. How did that happen?” Rather than judging, or condemning, his voice was filled with concern.

The light-purple-haired woman closed her eyes shut and took a deep breath, gathering her thoughts. She prostrated herself, forehead on the ground, and spoke as clearly as she could. “I… am deeply sorry for that incident. I request that you understand my circumstances. Hopefully, I will be able to converse on that matter privately with you later.”

“Kasumi, it’s a matter that needs the pillars’ opinion, as much as I don’t want to give punishment, I cannot just let it pass.” The head of the Demon Slayer corps stated.

“I understand.” She answered hastily. “Please forgive my rudeness, I don’t think I can stay here any longer, if you don’t mind, I will run for my life.” She was already standing by the wooden doors as she pronounced her words. The sliding doors slammed open; a sword cut the air where the woman’s neck was an instant ago, leaving behind a black and green blur. She swiftly dodged the attack, passed behind her aggressor, and swiped him off his feet in a single movement before running past the corridor, reaching the gardens.

“You demon fucker!”

The words thrown by Sanemi were almost whispers-like to Kasumi, who had already jumped over the wall surrounding the estate.

[eurosong]

My ESC 2019 ranking

Hey there, folks - after a lot of deliberation, I’ve decided upon my ranking of this year’s songs. I feel quite passionately about this year’s field, as always, and make some trenchant remarks, but a lot of them are tongue in cheek, and no shade is intended on those who like the songs I don’t or vice versa. Here’s my ranking with my thoughts on why I put each song where I did.

41. Croatia – The Dream I try to find a redeeming quality in every song, but sometimes the task proves impossible. This ironically-named nightmare of a track sounds like a poorly-produced early 00s track that tried to straddle the line between classic and futuristic and failed at both. The usual things that I hear in its defence are that Roko has a good voice, and that the Croatian segment is better. To the first point, maybe, but it doesn’t take away from the fact that the voice doesn’t shine through the scream mode of most of the song; to the latter point, if you know some BCS, you’ll know that the Croatian language bit is as cloyingly cliché as the English part. Some people are saying that this could be a surprise qualifier. If that happens, I will shed tears of blood.

40. France – Roi If France don’t change their national final system to equalise the jury and televote more after this year, I don’t know when they will. Destination Eurovision had a bunch of good songs, but thanks to the power of a Youtuber’s fanbase, one of the least remarkable and most cloying songs got the nod instead. Roi is an unabashed hymn to self with the most criminal franglais abominations (rhyming beaucoup with boo, really?) to which I’ve ever been subjected.  Now it’s supposedly got a chance of winning thanks to a gimmicky staging, which I feel uses people as props. I wouldn’t even mind the antipathetic performer and cringey, self-centred lyrics so much if the tune were interested, but it’s equally empty and pompous.

39. San Marino – Say na na na Well, this song certainly does get me saying nah, nah, nah. I do not get the amount of good will for it, as I neither find it a good track, nor enjoyable ironically like Who we are or Chain of lights were. It’s a “party track”, but the party in question is the kind I want to flee where the food is bad, the music is obnoxious and overbearing and the ambiance is that of an uncomfortable throwback. Bewildering how this is considered a worthy qualifier.

38. Moldova – Stay I swear Eurovision has songs like this just to be able to detect extra-terrestrials, because if anyone says this song is their favourite, and they’re neither Moldovan nor Romanian, then it confirms to me that they are aliens because this is banality writ large. Three minutes of contradictory and cliché rhymes (“it’s now or never, it’s forever”. Ok then mate), dull music, little progression, an oddly unpleasant vocal and even a staging that comes second-hand.

37. Finland – Look away My impulse is to look away from this song indeed – a dated slice of repetitive, oddly downbeat despite being uptempo EDM slathered with a simultaneously overwrought and undercooked social message and brought to us by an uncomfortable duo who look like two acquaintances whose fishing trip got interrupted abruptly and they had to cook up a Eurovision song last minute. There is nothing about this I like at all.

36. Israel – Home The one faintly interesting thing about this song is the remarkable wailing in its first few seconds, but they removed even that. This has to be one of the most maudlin songs I have ever heard, delivered gratingly. A friend of mine nicknamed Kobi the “Joystealer”, and the name is very apt. I feel like all the joy in the world is out of reach when listening to this lament, which is syrupy and bitter at the same time, like a coarse cough medicine. The “I am someone” has to be one of the most cloying lines of the entire year, too.

35. Estonia – Storm Estonia having to resort to sending a croaky renta-Swede to sing a budget Avicii b-side in front of a Windows XP screensaver with lyrics that imaginatively rhyme “this” with, well, “this” is like seeing someone who had always dressed elegantly having to resort to sporting torn, worn, ill-fitting hand-me-downs that were already out of fashion when bought first hand. This land of song and art can and should be doing so much better.

34. Montenegro – Heaven The fact this ironically infernal song is not just not bottom but also almost avoided my bottom 10 just goes to show how deep the bottom is this year. Sounds like Podgorica’s 56th best sixth form choir got some cassette tapes of bad late 90s R&B-lite, got a donation of a dodgy Casio keyboard and, at the last minute, got their granddad to do a bit of fiddling, mixed it all together and the result was this chaötic hot mess on ice. It’s a shame, because these kids seem genuinely nice, and they don’t deserve to be lumbered with the albatross around their neck of this song and the resultant cast iron “last in the semi” result it will achieve.

33. Switzerland – She got me There’s little separating the female attempt at a duego and the male one for me. Luca radiates a smug energy that annoys me more, but the song is a smidgen less generic, but then using the same dancers as from Fuego made the decision easier. I’m not sure what she got him, but it certainly wasn’t a grammar book, as the song is filled with bizarrely affected ungrammatical English, because I guess it’s uncool to properly conjugate.

32. Cyprus – Replay It seems almost self-parodising that Cyprus lamely returned to try to catch lightning in the same jar with a song that is entitled, and feels like, a giant replay. Fuego was an encapsulation of many things I really don’t like at Eurovision – a lyrically empty song with limited musical merit or memorability that got a lot further than it would off the basis, mostly, of staging. This year, the staging is worse and the performer is less charismatic. If it does as well, I will be astounded.

31. Norway – Spirit in the sky What if Aqua came back – perish the thought – and, for their comeback single, took a rejected b-side from the late 90s of theirs in their typical bubblegum style, but injected it with a dreadful attempt at joik and an aesthetic inspired by their newfound animal spirits? It would sound something like this bizarre Norwegian song, whose victory over En livredd mann still bewilders me. It’s a bit infectious, but so are many diseases, and part of the reason that it buries itself into your mind is because of its pretty flagrant lifting of last year’s “Monsters”’ chorus, which in itself was all too familiar. One of the year’s biggest cringefests for me.

30. Lithuania – Run with the lions Take a guy most noted until now for screeching in the world’s worst falsetto whilst pretending not to sing, while a drag act that barely qualified as a baroness let alone a queen wás pretending to sing, also badly. Give him a song that advocates running alongside large carnivores who’d probably find humans an attractive snack. That combination should at least be interesting, but it’s one of the dullest propositions of the year. The only real interesting thing is that dodgy falsetto making a reappearance. It’s pleasant enough but forgotten instantly.

29. Russia – Scream Russia confined themselves to a few fruitless years in the desert with the Samojlova charade, and now they look to return to ESC superpower status by bringing back the guy who won them the public vote back in 2016. Their logic in trying to go one step further, though, was rather flawed. Concentrating on winning over the juries, they took for granted that the public was going to enjoy this rather melodramatic effort as much as they did You are the only one. I doubt they will, and I doubt the jury will be much swayed from last time. Musically, its orchestral touches represent a step up from YATOO for me, but it is let down by the emo lyrics and some bombastic staging.

28. Belarus – Like it When I first heard this song, where “you gonna like it” is repeated approximately 14 thousand times, my first impression was “no, I certainly am not going to.” It’s a bizarre stream of non-sequiturs dolled up with a technicolour assault to the eyes. I’ve softened to it somewhat, in part because of a reimagining of the lyrics as being a call for help after getting drafted into Eurovision by Lukaszenka, but I’ll still be stunned if it qualifies.

27. United Kingdom – Bigger than us I had a Freudian slip a few days ago when writing the “Undo my ESC” post – I wrote “Bigger than us” as “Better than us”. A fair swathe of the year’s field very much is more remarkable than this anodyne X factor winner’s single which seems to be aiming for 19th rather than first. Michael is a likeable character, but unfortunately that doesn’t come across too much in his live performance, most notable for him flapping around his arms as though they were on fire.

26. Iceland – Hatrið mun sigra Musically, there are elements of this that are really up my street. Decent throwbacks are rare, but the 80s’ techno ambience of the track is pretty good. I just wish it were not accompanied with a disdainful hauteur and the OTT attitude of a bunch of sophomore arts students who’ve just discovered irony. The last thing the world needs now is more hate, ironic or not.

25. Sweden – Too late for love Sweden made one step in the right direction this year – they’ve sent a man rather than an overgrown embryo, and someone with a bit more humility than Grosso last year. It’s a much better song for me than the past two attempts, but that’s not saying much – manufactured gospel has little soul, and there’s a charisma chasm here only partially filled by drafting in American mammas to sell the song as something more than what it is.

24. Poland – Pali się This is one that I wish I liked more. It’s middle of the pack for me. I like the fact that there are clear heritage influences but find the song itself to be rather too linear and the voices too shrill – and I am a fan of white voice.

23. Macedonia – Proud I had high hopes for Macedonia as I adored their artist, Tamara’s, imperious Brod što tone back in Skopjefest 2014 – a song that frankly got robbed of representing Macedonia. Where BST was subtle and poëtic in its message, Proud, which I regret wasn’t in Macedonian also, is rather too much on the nose for me and sounds a little like a charity single. This is augmented by the rather basic video which reminded me a little too much of Bebe’s “Ella.” Nonetheless, it’s a nice composition and well sung.

22. Spain – La venda Spain this year had a selection that they called “eurotemazos”. It’s difficult to translate, but Eurobangers, smashes or hits all carry a shade of the meaning. As soon as I heard that, I knew it was an ill omen, and indeed, the list of songs was full of bad attempts at bops and a few soporific ballads-by-computer. La venda was the best of a bad lot. Miki has energy but the song is completely inconsequential.

21. Germany – Sister Germany have once again invited disaster by inviting Chaosmeisterin, Barbara “Wild Eyes” Schönberger back to compère the national final. The end result was this inexperienced wildcard (when will you ever learn, Germany?) clinching the win with two gals who’d never met before this year singing about sisterhood in a group called S!sters with their song Sister. This is hotly tipped for last place in the final, but I feel it has sóme merit. The verses, and especially the bridge, are lovely, and seem to be building to something great – until we get a really generic, squawked chorus where the two non-sisters try to outshriek one another.

20. Australia – Zero gravity I’ll never get over the fact that we could have had something truly Australian in all senses of the word for once, and instead we got this. It’s catchy but repetitive and rather gimmicky, and I lament that it will qualify over better songs thanks to a rather cringey staging gimmick.

19. Belgium – Wake up This truly is a musical coitus interruptus. The moody verses get you in the mood, building a sense of urgency and direction, only for everything to get abandoned without warning with a very dreary, incongruous chorus. “City Lights” this ain’t, and it’s a shame, as it’s still decent, but could have been so much more satisfying.

18. Czechia – Friend of a friend Some countries take decades to find their niche at the contest. It seems like Czechia has found theirs in the space of a year and a bit, and found a particularly narrow niche. Field a cutesy lad with a retro-inspired, somewhat catchy but also somewhat problematic song inspired by infidelity. Last year’s “Lie to me” was written from the perspective of the cheated; this year’s, from a potential cheater who spends half the song listening with his girlfriend to his neighbours having noisy sex and the other half protesting he barely knows the female neighbour anymore. Truly weird.

17. Denmark – Love is forever This song reminds me of one time I was by the seaside and got offered to try a freakshake. It was one of the most OTT sweetest things I’ve ever had in my life. I enjoyed it, but it’s something I could only enjoy on an annual basis. This song is much the same. It’s bringing the Gallic cuteness where France failed, and the fact Leonora looks into your soul unnervingly whilst singing just adds more interest to the song for me.

16. Azerbaijan – Truth Azerbaijan bring a halfway decent song for the 2nd time so far, by my count. This is nowhere as near as good as “Skeletons”, but still strong. I like the atypical lyrical matter and the fact that the Symphonix crew created something contemporary but wearing Azeri traditional influences on its sleeve. The unplugged version of this is even better.

15. Netherlands – Arcade Perhaps I would enjoy this more were it not for the intense amount of hype, the hubristic arrogance of many people in thinking the win is already in the bag, and the amount of condescending barbs flung my way on other corners of the net for not considering this some transcendental masterpiece that deserves to win more than any other song. It’s not in the same league as the oft-compared, timeless Amar pelos dois for me. It’s a nice, heartfelt song – albeit one that relies too much on a head voice that I find rather unappealing – and it has a few clever turns of phrase, but I will never understand why this one has been singled out when there are several songs I consider more moving in this final.

14. Georgia – Sul tsin iare This song has really grown on me. It has an incredible, almost scary intensity and was written on an epic, orchestral scale. It feels like the music to the climax of a war film. I felt what it meant before I understood the Georgian. I particularly love the chorus backing Oto and the staging that matches the song’s drama.

13. Hungary – Az én apam I expected a lot of things from a Joci Papai return, and this song only delivers some of them, but it’s a song worthy of enjoying in its own right. If Origo was fire and had an undercurrent of hurt, Az én apam is water, but is warm in its own right. It’s a nostalgic song with the same poetry I expected of Joci.

12. Latvia – That night Latvia’s song has been criticised for not being very impactful, and it isn’t, but therein lies its charm. It’s a low-key, saudadic effort that beautifully occupies three minutes. It is the kind of track I imagine listening to whilst, and which makes me imagine as a result, driving down a long, lonely road at night in the rain. It’s hushed, it’s delicate, and it sounds to me like petrichor smells.

11. Greece – Better love Greece is sending something very atypical from them, almost as an allergic reaction to doing so badly with the more ostensibly ethnic “Oneiro mou” last year. I’d be disappointed, but this is really quite good indeed, a very professional and rounded effort that has produced a soaring, anthemic song. Katerine’s voice has a beautiful, dark and deep huskiness that imbues a certain quality too. My only problem with this song are the careless lyrics that seem like a compilation of Instagram clichés.

10. Ireland – 22 My dear Ireland sneaks into my top 10 for the first time in a few years thanks to a full-on earworm of a song that has become one of my most played tracks this year. This song is very simple, but sometimes unassuming simplicity is elegant. It’s got a retro, blue-eyed soul feel and is at once nostalgic and catchy. It deserved a lot better than the slot of death to which Björkman consigned it.

09. Malta – Chameleon Malta getting into my top 10 for the first time since 2014, with a song that is even more contrary to our expectations of Maltese songs than “Tomorrow” was. This song is aptly named, as it is an explosion of colour – not just in the clever video, but also, the music itself is so vibrant and fun. The only part I don’t like is the rather cliché bridge, because both the drop-based chorus, the slow build of the verses and the exuberant post-chorus are really good. GIVE ME X I’M A Y is one of the lyrical memes of the year and is infectious. From beige to a rainbow; well done, Malta.

08. Slovenia – Sebi Slovenia are on the money for the second year in a row. Whilst “Hvala ne” was an in your face, high-octane buzz of a song, this year, we’ve gone in the completely opposite direction: a very contemplative, intimate song that imbues a sense of peace and harmony. What they do have in common is some of the best lyrics of the year. In Sebi’s case, the text is graceful in its effortless simplicity and minimalism. It feels like the only thing that matters during those 3 minutes for the song’s performers are each other, which creates a particular atmosphere indeed.

07. Albania – Ktheju tokës When I heard the venerable Festival i këngës, Albania’s selection process, was essentially going to revamp itself, I was worried that it would lose its magic, but in the end, I needn’t have so much. For the second year running, the best song by far won – a song full of dramatic potential. Thank heavens they left the song in the wonderful mellifluous Albanian language and did not dig out the song’s heart with a needless revamp. I hope Shqipëria can keep this trend and momentum up. Ktheju tokës is a heartrending song about immigration and divided families, inspired by true experience, and performed with power and style by the enigmatic Jonida.

06. Armenia – Walking out Another country for whom I have a lot of time at the contest is Armenia, who always tend to bring something different to the show. I was initially a bit confused by their effort this year because of its abrupt stops between different parts of the song which at first sounded rather jarring. Now, this, and the great variation in tone and style between the verses, the gentle bridge and the ferocious choruses are part of what make the song for me. Srbuk has charisma and a fierce set of pipes. All these elements have made Walking out one of the major earworms of the year for me.

05. Austria – Limits The first time I heard this, I was underwhelmed. It’s a nice song, but it is lacking a bit in instant impact. Nonetheless, something about it demanded repeated listens; with each one, my appreciation for this confessional, Kate Bush-inspired slice of heartrending emotion grew exponentially. I am hoping that the live performance will give it the instancy it needs to bring to life how exceptionally good a song this is. It’s up there with the very best in terms of the lyrics. It’s so personal, so intimate, so searing and one of the most underrated tracks of the year. 04. Serbia – Kruna Pretty much everyone who knows my ESC predilections knows I am a huge fan of Serbia. They generally stick with their own language, and bring songs that highlight their rich musical traditions. My support isn’t categorical – I despised “Beauty never lies” and felt let down by last year’s style pastiche, though I felt Balkanika were wonderful contestants – so this year, I was relieved to see them back at the height of their powers with an unassumingly lovely ballad, performed with power and purpose by the mesmerising Nevena. It’s a song of few words, and it feels like every single one was weighed out carefully to pack the most meaning. Delightful.

03. Romania – On a Sunday One of the biggest surprises of the season for me has been Romania. I had no interest in their national selection, and was nonplussed when this won, albeit grateful that it beat two truly dreadful frontrunners. My first impression was that it was an odd but catchy song, and that it was weird and a little funny how the grown woman singing it seemed to throw a tantrum in the middle of the performance. Something about it made me listen again, and again, and again – and then the amazingly theatrical and imaginative video came out, which added to my appreciation even more. It’s a really emotional song, which somehow invigorates rather than saddens me, perhaps because of the bewitching power of Ester’s performance. She delivers this with an unbelievable intensity and has such a singular voice. I fear for its chances because it’s not the most accessible song – but I really hope this will at least qualify.

02. Portugal – Telemóveis I remember my first reäction to this well. I was confused and a little perturbed – it seemed like the rantings of a madman over highly dissonant, if rather bewitching, music. It stuck in my head, though, and very soon, the confusion grew into appreciation and then full on love for probably the most singular, sui generis offering of the entire year. This is a song that sounds timeless but futuristic; that could not have been composed by any other country, but which blends influence of fado with sounds from the subcontinent, the near and far east and what seem to be other planets. The text – all too often dismissed as “lol he’s singing about cellphones, how random lmao” – is a deep, introspective, metaphorical look at mortality that is gushing with saudade. The fact that this, the most forward-thinking proposal of 2019, might not even qualify is scandalous; it should be in it to win it.

01. Italy – Soldi As much as I adore Telemóveis, there’s a song that I love even more. The first time I saw Soldi performed live, it was like a punch to the gut in the best possible way. This song about a deadbeat dad and how money can tear a family apart is just one example of how Italy is brimming with exceptional lyricists. I’d translate some of my favourite lyrics, but firstly, I find every line to be powerfully moving, and secondly, the English can’t quite do justice to the perfectly measured rhythm and cadence of the original as well as the emotion. On top of that, musically, it’s one of the freshest tracks of the year, with super modern production but symphonic touches. Who thinks of making a trap-inspired song, but with an orchestra? Italy, that is who, and I so, so hope they finish this barnstormer of a decade for them with a much awaited win.

[frisbee-camp]

What’s Hidden Can Be Found|Tyrus Summer Camp AU

AO3 link/Wattpad link

Camp Lowland sleepaway camp is an hour drive from Shadyside, where tensions and disagreements have been left for time to mend. But what will Tj and Cyrus do when the past comes chasing after them? Follow the Good Hair Crew and The Good Boys through their annual two-month stay in the wilderness where nature does not care for petty arguments and time has only worsened their situation.

Chapter 1: Deja Vu

///*takes place about one to two years after the finale**summer after freshman year of high school bcs idk if they're in 7th or 8th lol thx disney//

Disclaimer: ive never been to summer camp lmao but I did go to camp in sixth grade so forgive me if my knowledge of summer camp culture is off. FOR TYRUS WEEK!! ////

TJ squinted when the hot forest sun hit his eyes. It was hot. Actually properly hot. Another degree up and the pine trees would have kindled and Camp Lowland would have burned down. TJ’s duffle bag pinched his shoulder as he walked towards the main camp lawn where the rest of Sunnyside teens congregated around the flagpole. He always enjoyed this weird annual tradition where parents sent their kids to the middle of nowhere to annoy other slightly older teenagers. Anyone who was anyone went to Camp Lowland, this meant all of his school friends would be there. His smiled widened as he was met with hugs from William, Lucas, Grant and his other basketball friends. There were about a hundred or so campers this year, a little less than last year thought TJ.

“YO, TJ!!” Someone to his right called out to him. It was Marty, trailed by Jonah. Marty’s hair had gotten fluffier, he had grown taller since middle school. Jonah had also gotten taller and now had a soccer players body since he switched from Frisbee to the more recognized sport. TJ jogged to his friends and gave them hugs.

“Hey guys, what’s up? Where are we this year?” He dropped his bag around the compact grassy field and looked around. Camp Lowland was set in a valley surrounded by tall prickly pine trees. There was a river on the east side and a lake in the north, and a soccer field and basketball in the west. There were four cabins at Camp Lowland: Redwood, Aspen, Oak, and Willow. All situated on the edges of the grassy field in a rhombus layout with Redwood in the north, Aspen in the east, Oak in the west, and Willow in the south. They were big and luxurious as someone had recently donated an excessive amount of money to them. TJ loved it. No school. No teachers. No stress. Just him, his friends, the wilderness, and fun. He felt like a dog let loose in a flower field.

“We’re Redwood, all three of us. Cool right?” Jonah smiled his classic smile. Tj, Marty, and Jonah had formed their own little posse Andi had named The Good Boys. Tj didn’t even remember how they became such good friends, one day he just found himself in a group chat with the three of them and no one else. In a year they were inseparable. He had a feeling they had been set up by Andi and Buffy, but no one complained. They were some of the only people TJ could completely trust.

“Yeah, cool,” TJ said cooly and looked around in the crowd. He couldn’t see Andi or Buffy or even…

“You looking for Cyrus?” Marty had noticed him looking around, “he’s already in WIllow with Andi and Buffy.” Marty gave him a sympathetic smile. He always kept an eye on Cyrus since he was still with Buffy. Tj returned with a shy smile.

“You ready to go?” Jonah said as he dragged his bag towards Redwood.

“Yeah let’s go,” TJ said without looking back.

Tj loved the new renovations, now it meant that there were four people per room in each cabin with ten rooms in each cabin. Five for boys and five for girls on opposite sides of the hall. By some glorious luck, the Good Boys were all in one room. There were two bunk beds but no one came to claim the last bed. Marty and Jonah took the top bunks, leaving TJ alone on the bottom. Once they settled in, TJ opened the window that overlooked the lake. It was glistening and alive and it took all of TJ’s will to not jump in right now. It wasn’t as hot as it was when he got to Camp, but it was still enough to cause his t-shirt to cling to him. At least the breeze cooled as the sun started going down.

Later that evening, when the camp counselors had introduced themselves and their ridiculous camp names, Tj found himself searching the mass of teenagers for a boy with dark hair. Each cabin had their own fire pit and was roasting marshmallows and introducing themselves to each other, but that didn’t mean Tj couldn’t see the other campers in adjacent fire pits. During high school, TJ had tried to move away from the mean jock stereotype but it was impossible to control how people saw him. He still played basketball, was the best on the team and the captain of JV, but that didn’t make him any less self-conscious. He didn’t have much more to hide really, except maybe his dyscalculia, but everyone knew he was gay or questioning or whatever you want to call it. But they still didn’t know him like, like him. Tj found the back of Cyrus’ head on Andi’s shoulder around the Willow fire. He knew he probably hated being outdoors, probably hated the dirt and the sun. He gave himself a sad smile and burnt his marshmallow on purpose.

After introductions and camp songs Tj had sung a million times, the cabins were allowed to mill about and socialize. The Good Boys and the Good Hair Crew immediately found each other in the crowd.

“Hey!” Andi said, “Aren’t the renovations awesome! We all get our own bathrooms now!”

TJ zoned out after that. They laughed and talked while Tj hid his hands in his pockets. He tried to catch eyes with Cyrus, but he kept looking away from him at the last second. Tj decided that he couldn’t be there anymore and said, “I’m gonna get some chocolate.”

Tj found himself mindlessly chewing on a gummy bear at the snack table. There were all sorts of goodies laid out in front of him, sour candies and chocolate bars, a big bowl of fluffy marshmallows, strawberries, crispy mountain apples, and lots of chips and popcorn. Any other day and Tj would have devoured the entire table, but not today. He reached for a marshmallow to roast and brushed hands with someone familiar.

Tj’s eyes fluttered up.

“Hey,” Cyrus said shyly.

“Hi,” Tj said just as quietly. Tj had his glasses on, the flame from the fire reflected over them and half of his face making him look a little warmer than usual.

“Um,” Cyrus looked down at their still touching hands and inched his way. Tj missed the sensation. “I think there are enough marshmallows to go around,” Cyrus joked. It was nice to hear him laugh, even it if was just a small one.

“Yeah, but who knows. You know I could eat an entire bowl of this stuff,” Tj said.

“Yeah I know,” Cyrus was staring at him. It made him shuffle his feet and look towards his friends.

“How’s your room?” TJ asked trying to ease the tension but if Andi came over right now she’d be able to cut it with scissors.

“Probably not as nice as yours,” Cyrus blinked once. Tj thought he saw his cheeks pinked, but it could have been the heat from the fire.

“Well, you are in Willow…” Tj teased. It was camp tradition that the opposite cabins were rivals. This meant Redwood rivaled Willow and Aspen rivaled Oak. At the end of the summer, whichever camp amassed the most points would have a tree named after the cabin leader. Tj was sure it was just an excuse to plant two trees every year, but it wasn’t about who won at the end, he just loved the competition. Sometimes the cabins would form alliances, last year Aspen won because Redwood helped them during a scavenger hunt, and in return, they let rabbits loose in Willow. Not the fluffy cute rabbits, these ones had rabies. The camp almost shut down because of the scandal but no one found out that it was all Amber and Tj’s idea.

Cyrus laughed a little, “Whatever cabin leader, don’t let the power get to your head.” Being cabin leader meant TJ and the other cabin leaders, Amber for Aspen (again), Iris in Oak, and Buffy in Willow, could choose what days the cabin wide competitions would be held. It may seem small, but every cabin had a strategy. Even the ones with alliances.

“Oh don’t worry Cyrus, it already has,” Tj knew he was looking for too long. He probably had that dumb grin he got around Cyrus.

Cyrus hummed softly and poked a marshmallow through his marshmallow skewer and walked back towards the group. TJ’s heart rate finally calmed down when he left.

The next day began cabin competition or ‘Cabin Comp’ preparations. One competition worth 200 points held at the end of each week and culminating in the final competition which was yet to be determined by the cabin leaders. But during the week each cabin could win up to 50 points, two max for each cabin member that exhibited good behavior, excellent camping skills, or any other skill that the counselors felt deserved an award. That meant there was a maximum of 2,000 points. Tj’s cabin last year had won 1,582 but Amber’s had won a perfect 2,000. He didn’t care though, because he still beat Willow. It was sort of like Hogwarts, except the only magic came from the adrenalin rush he got from playing basketball with his friends.

Tj spent most of the week playing basketball and soccer with the Good Boys. He tried concentrating on figuring out a strategy for the first game: capture the flag. It seemed like Buffy was working on a strategy too since she kept giving him cold glances during morning announcements and in the mess hall. Last year she had gotten only 50 points less than Tj, a little too close for Tj’s taste. He had a feeling she was keeping her cabin members away from the Redwoods, which was understandable since he was doing the same with the Willows. During the first week, campers usually stuck to their own cabins and through the summer tensions calmed until a couple of weeks to the last Cabin Comp.

“Yo T!” He heard Jonah call to him, “you good dude?” Jonah held the basketball on his hip, his blue eyes the same color as the river he was staring into.

“Yeah, I’m good just thinking,” He said absentmindedly.

“Yeah? About CC1?” Marty said a little out of breath. CC1 stood for Cabin Competition One.

Tj just sighed and nodded. “Bro if you need help thinking you know you can ask us right?” Jonah added. Tj’s lip quirked up. For some reason, he thought he could do it alone. He tried not to get caught up in the cabin leader mentality where he only thought the competition was between him and the other leaders.

“How ‘bout now?” Tj said, surprising even himself.

The rest of the night Tj, Jonah, and Marty spent sitting on the floor of their room. Tj had to step out to do room inspections with the cabin counselor Luke, a 20 something with way too much energy and who always smelled like some illegal substance. TJ liked him nonetheless, he was cool and never talked down to his campers.

“Hey, TJ. Don’t worry about all that CC stuff I know we’ll win like last year” Luke whispered as they tiptoed around the cabin with flashlights making sure all the campers were accounted for.

“I don’t know Luke, this year feels different, like a bad version of deja vu or something,” Tj breathed out.

“Just think positive and you’ll attract those good vibes,” Luke said. He had a habit of trying to give everyone he met a psychic reading. Let’s just say that he was 0% psychic.

“I don’t even know why I’m cabin leader again,” Tj was surprised when he was voted as cabin leader around the campfire last night. This would be the third year in a row he’d been elected.  Same with the other cabin leaders.

“Just think of it as the universe rewarding you, you know you can always give it to someone else,” Luke trailed, “like I don’t know, Jonah or even Marty or something. I know you guys are basically the same person.” Luke gave an airy laugh and clicked his flashlight off.

“I don’t know dude,” TJ said, “I guess they trust me or whatever.” Tj actually thought his cabin members were just playing a trick on him. It wasn’t that he was mean anymore, he just thought that they thought he was still a jerk. Maybe he had been wrong. Maybe he was leveled and a good leader.

When he got back to his room Jonah and Marty had perfected the strategy. Tj smiled as it was laid out in front of him in his friends’ messy boyish handwriting. “Perfect” he finally said after examining it.

When CC1 day came, the mess hall buzzed with excitement. Everyone was nervously chittering away as TJ slurped down two bowls of cereal. He found himself staring at Buffy’s table, more specifically to Cyrus who looked tired but content as he bit into a slice of bacon.

“Tj,” Jonah said to him, “Focus, we need you.”

“You’re right, sorry” Tj felt his nose pink just as Cyrus met his eyes and quickly looked away.

Tj stood on the steps of the Redwood cabin as he explained the rules and strategy of CC1: capture the flag. The plan was simple. They would not ally themselves with either Oak or Aspen, they were to directly look for Willows flag. Half of them would defend and the other half would go searching spread out evenly and with whistles to use as signals and to blow if any of them were in trouble. A third of the searchers would run at full speed and while Willow was distracted another third would follow and when they least expected it the last third would storm. Tj had only a faint idea of where the flag was. He knew that Redwoods' flag was on the dock in the middle of the lake, Aspen’s would probably be on the other side of the river, Willows would be somewhere around the willow tree they were named after, and Oak’s would be on the top of the hill their cabin was in front of. This meant that all the flags would be behind the cabins, they’d have to run through the open field. Once they ran, Willow would know their plan.

He looked out at his cabin members, kids he had known since he was a toddler. They knew him and trusted him and Tj felt his heart soar like when it does when he captains the basketball team. He took a deep breath and looked out at the other cabins. The sun was just as hot as the first day they were there. Hot. Not warm or steamy but a humid sticky hot. Here we go he thought.

“Change of plans,” Tj said suddenly. “Searchers, go in your ambush groups but sneak behind Aspen and Oak before going into Willow’s territory."

It was a good thing he changed the plan because Buffy had chosen to use the strategy he abandoned at last minute. He didn’t know how she had learned it, but once the whistle blew from Head Counselor Moose she and 10 other cabin members stormed. TJ laughed knowing that his cabin would know exactly how to get them out. Marty had volunteered to guard the flag himself. Tj lead one of the ambush groups behind Oak and Jonah behind Aspen. They were sneaky but even then some of them were tagged out leaving only Jonah and Tj to quietly look for the Willow tree. And then it was there. After what felt like thirty years of walking and a gallon of sweat, Tj saw the enormous and beautiful Willow tree. Andi’s sculptures could never compare to the real thing. This one was tall, with branches that hung low and swayed in the wind. It was incredibly green and lush and just slightly tinged pink along the borders. The suns' heat didn’t even phase this part of the forest. It’s rays gently seeped through the leaves, leaving a fuzzy warm light. The grass was taller than normal here, rising above Tj’s ankles. Wildflowers dotted the base of the tree, light purple, and yellow and pink. TJ crept closer to the tree, it must have been a trick, this was too easy. He saw the flag peaking around the corner of the trunk, it was neon orange and foreign in such a natural environment. Tj went to grab it but someone also poked their head around the trunk.

“You didn’t think you’d be able to just take it did you?” Squinted up an already sunburnt Cyrus. Tj jumped back. He wasn’t expecting to talk to Cyrus today, especially not have him holding the flag that could get him 200 points.

“I uh-“ Tj blinked in surprise as Cyrus stood up to his full height. He wasn’t holding the flag, he was the flag. Buffy had tied it around his waist. Not against the rules but fowl play. Of course she would do this. She knew Tj would come himself and she knew he couldn’t just snatch it from Cyrus’ body. Tj vowed to take revenge.

But Cyrus looked so cute in the Weeping Willow tree’s soft light. He had a blue wildflower behind his ear and had tried weaving himself a flower crown. It was crooked on his head. He must have been here for a long time. Probably before the cabin leaders even explained the rules.

“Yes?” Cyrus swayed slightly, he seemed proud of the predicament he had put Tj in.

“I uh,” Tj swallowed and saw Jonah out of the corner of his eye, “I came for the flag.”

Cyrus considered this for a moment and then saw Jonah in Tj’s line of sight, “Tell Jonah that if he comes any closer I’ll tag you out and run. You know you can’t afford that because Buffy is probably just as close to your flag.” He was right. Geez. Cyrus was enjoying this, his eyes glinted and he had a small smile.

“Marty’s guarding ours.”

“Yeah, she knows,” Cyrus sighed slightly, “do you think she cares?” Tj knew Marty and Buffy were so in love it disgusted him, but he also knew Buffy would take the flag without hesitation.

“So what do you want me to say that will make you give me the flag?” Tj blurted. He hated this weird tension they had.

Cyrus looked angry now, “I don’t want you to say anything. Why are you being a jerk?”

Tj grunted in frustration, his win was a foot away from him but he couldn’t get it because of his feelings.

“I don’t know Cyrus?! Why are you so weird around me?!” Tj could tell that his voice had raised. It made Cyrus cower a bit, but he quickly regained his angry face.

“You broke me TJ! You know that.” Cyrus was about the cry, TJ could tell by the way he spit out every word.

“What? Wh-“

And then Camp Counselor Moose’s whistle blew. Buffy had won.