#but it’s one of the most iconic exchanges of eye contact between them in the series

[butraura]

Bobby: I’m pretty sure the christening is the last scene in the Godfather

Buck and Eddie exchanging that look only an episode after Eddie tells Buck that he made him Chris’ godfather: 😏

[kingdaddydaichi]

☆ title: redefining (ch. 8) | ( ch. 7 ) ☆ ( ch. 9 )

☆ pairing: cop!daichi sawamura x single mom!reader

☆ wc: 3.4k

☆ synopsis: four years after leaving your toxic ex, you find yourself a single mom to a 10-year-old boy named musubi, who harbors a lot of misdirected anger. you hear from his fifth grade teacher, mr. suga, more often than your own mother and a resulting friendship is born. meeting suga’s best friend wages a war between your head and your heart - one that challenges everything you think you know about love and police officers. neither are to be trusted. both have left you lost and scared when you needed them the most. so, when a cop comes knocking at love’s door, just how strong is your resolve to keep your heart under lock and key?

☆ warnings/notes: nsfw. mdni. cop!daichi. use of blindfold (in a non-sexual way). fluff. a hint of angst. y/n gets a glimpse of what love is supposed to feel like. outdoor sex. this chapter made me laugh out loud. it also made me cry out loud.

She’s falling in love now, losing control now Fighting the truth, trying to hide But I think it’s alright, girl Yeah, I think it’s alright, girl

Losin’ Control - Russ

You’d been having the work week from hell, and it was only Tuesday morning. As you groaned at yet another email, one for which the reply was going to require a shit ton of research, you heard the ZZZT of a new notification on your silenced phone. Longing for a break from the mind-numbing analysis, you reached for it, your heart skipping far too many beats to be considered healthy before nearly leaping out of your throat. It was the first time you’d heard from Daichi Sawamura since he left your house Sunday morning.

Yeahhhh. You still hadn’t deleted his contact info. Yet!

You eagerly swiped to see his text.

Officer Big Dick: Hey, lady. How’s your day going?

You: My whole week has been shit so far, but hi! How are you?

Officer Big Dick: Pretty good, but I’m sorry to hear that. Is it cool if I call you?

You: Now?

Officer Big Dick: Yeah. Or later. Whatever’s best for you.

Rather than replying with a ‘yes’, you tapped the phone icon and nearly slid right out of your chair when you heard his baritone voice, smooth and warm like melted butter.

“Hi.” You could hear him smiling.

“Hi,” you mimicked, knowing full well he could also hear your idiotic grin.

“I’m sorry you’re having a shitty week. Is there anything I can do?”

You politely declined his offer and exchanged a few niceties before he got down to brass tacks.

“So, I was wondering if you’re gonna be free either Friday or Saturday night?”

“Daichi…” You hoped he couldn’t hear your smile morph into a grimace. “I…I’m not going out on a date with you.”

“It’s not a date. We’ll just hang out. There’s something I want to show you.”

“Oh, really?” A smile began to tug at the corners of your mouth again as your eyebrows knitted with curiosity. “What’s that?”

“Well, it’s a surprise.”

“Damn it, Daichi,” you snickered. “You tease.”

“So will you be free?”

It was your ex’s weekend with your son. “Yes, both nights.”

“Okay, good. Be ready at twenty-one hund - sorry, my brain is in work mode - nine o’clock Friday night. I’ll come pick you up and take you to a super-secret location.”

You giggled, but you were intrigued. “You’re not gonna tell me where though?”

“No. It wouldn’t be a super-secret location if I told you.”

You rolled your eyes, but the happiness was plastered all over your face. “Thanks, Captain Obvious.” You heard the laugh in his breath before you went on. “Can you at least give me an idea as to how I should dress?”

“Just wear something comfortable. Casual. Oh, and warm.”

Friday night rolled around and even though you were tired from the hellacious work week you’d had, you were also excited to find out what Daichi had up his sleeve. If you were honest with yourself, which you weren’t, you were also giddy about seeing the sweet cop again. You huffed a quiet laugh to yourself. ‘Sweet’ and ‘cop’ - two words that didn’t belong in the same thought, let alone the same sentence.

The butterflies in your gut went into a frenzy when you saw the Interceptor’s low beams approaching in your driveway. You would never begin to understand how armpits can get stone cold and sweaty at the same damn time. 

You opened your front door as Daichi walked up the stairs and onto your porch, both of you beaming brighter than his headlights. As soon as he crossed the threshold, he pulled his hands out of his jacket pockets and cupped your face. The coolness of his touch offered soothing relief to the heat that had risen in your cheeks as he leaned down to kiss you, but it did nothing for the freefall. You grabbed onto his arms to steady yourself as you swayed in your boots.

Pulling away, he said, “You ready?”

“Yes,” you said, still breathless from his kiss. “And just so we’re clear, this is not a date!”

“Right.” He smiled and nodded. “This is not a date.” It sounded suspiciously equivalent to a man’s secret to a happy marriage - just nod and say ‘yes, dear’.

After you locked up, he took your hand and walked you out into the chilly night air towards his vehicle. However, rather than opening your car door, he pulled something out of his back pocket. 

“Alright,” he said, “I’m gonna put this blindfold on y-”

“Wh-what? No!”

He dropped his arms. “I can’t take you to a super-secret location if you can see where we’re going!” He tried and failed to suppress his inner smartass. “If you’d rather, I can put a bag over your head instead.”

You burst into laughter and slapped at his chest. “Shut up, Daichi!” You went to poke him in his ribs, but he dodged, wheezing. You crossed your arms, your lips twisting to the side. “Fine, go ahead. Put it on me.”

“The blindfold or the bag?”

“I SWEAR TO GOD, DAICHI, I WILL MARCH RIGHT BACK INTO THAT HOUSE AND YOU CAN TRY AGAIN TOMORROW, SIR!” You’d never get tired of the way he smiled when he laughed. 

After carefully tying the black cloth behind your head, he waved his hand in front of your face before helping you into the front passenger seat. He closed your door before joining you on the driver side. 

“No peeking!” he warned.

Daichi had been driving for what felt like about twenty minutes when you huffed, “Are we there yet?”

“Almost,” he assured you. “Just a few more miles.”

“Miles?! We’ve already been driving for so long!”

“I know. Just try to be patient…”

Eventually, you felt the car slow down as Daichi took a turn, the smooth pavement giving way to gravel judging by the way it crunched under the tires. You felt the SUV make another slow turn, the crunching of the gravel disappearing as the terrain became a little bumpier. Daichi brought it to a stop and put the steering gear into park before killing the engine.

“Where the hell are we?”

“Hang on, I’ll come around and help you out,” he said, unbuckling.

Your door opened and Daichi took your hand as you swung your legs around. He had you put your hands on his shoulders before gripping your waist in his big hands and safely lowering your feet to the ground. 

You were outside, that much was obvious. There were no other voices, so you accurately surmised that it was just the two of you. As he guided you, you could faintly make out the occasional swoosh of a car driving down the distant highway, but otherwise there were only the sounds of your and Daichi’s footsteps and the gentle whisper of a breeze as it passed through some nearby trees. 

You hadn’t walked very far when he stopped and turned you ninety degrees before strategically lifting your chin a little.

“Okay, stay just like that. Don’t even move your head,” he spoke in a hushed tone.

“This is ridiculous, but okay.” You felt him untying the knot behind your head, careful not to pull any of your hair. When the dark material was lifted from your eyes, you opened them only to have your breath taken away in exchange for your sight. Your hands flew to your mouth as if to try and keep what little air remained in your lungs from escaping as ancient light reflected in your watery eyes.

“What is that?” you whispered as one might when standing on hallowed ground.

“It’s the spiral arm of our galaxy. Well, one of them anyway.”

It was a hazy band of white light some thirty degrees wide, splitting the night sky like a sheet, spinning at an imperceptible rate of 130 miles per second.

“No fucking way.” You were still speaking in hushed tones as though it was a rare sighting of a small animal that could dash away at any moment. “It’s not even possible to see that from Earth, is it? Not with the naked eye.”

“Sure, it is. At a dark sky site such as this,” Daichi clarified, looking around at the other celestial bodies. “Far away from all the light pollution of the city, you can see all kinds of deep space objects.” Your wide, wandering eyes never left the sky when he squeezed your shoulder. “I’ll be right back. Gonna grab a few things from the car.”

He returned moments later, a soft chortle leaving his lips as he watched you turn this way and that with your chin tilted up towards the stars. You’d never seen so many at once. Daichi spread one of the blankets out over the short grass and sat down, crossing one ankle over the other. Following the sound of his voice, you finally looked away from the sky, so dark you could barely see him. You went to sit down next to him, but he opened his legs and pulled you to sit between them instead.

After draping a blanket over you, he reached over and handed you a pair of binoculars so you could get an even more intimate view of the universe from your Earthly position.

“You see that constellation that looks like a W?”

You squinted through the binocular lenses, trying to follow the trajectory of his pointed finger. “Oh! Yeah, I see it.”

“Alright, following the line from the right tip of it, look up a bit. Can you see an orange, fuzzy-looking blur? It’s really faint.”

It took you a few seconds, but you finally zeroed in on it. “Yeah? But barely.” It was too blurry to be a star. “What is that?”

“That’s Andromeda.”

“Andromeda? You mean the galaxy?”

“Mmhmm.”

“Shut the fuck up,” you said, smiling. “There are trillions of stars in that tiny orange blur…”

What kind of man brings you out to a super-secret location and shows you not one, but two fucking galaxies? It was the single most romantic thing a guy had ever done for you. 

You handed the binoculars back to Daichi in favor of taking in the majesty of the heavens through your naked eyes. Planting his palms on the ground, he leaned back so you could comfortably recline with the back of your head resting on his chest. 

Sniffling, you looked out at things that were real, but that you never thought you’d see with your own eyes. 

“Are you cold?” he asked, hand rubbing up and down your arm.

With your back still turned to him, you shook your head no.

Why was he doing this? You’d already had sex with him several times. You’d given him more pussy in the last few weeks than you’d given at all in the prior few years. You both knew he didn’t have to do all this to get his dick wet. So why would he do this for you?

He planned this. He prepared for this. He noticed something special about you…and remembered. He thought of you and called you in advance. He made you laugh, and as hard as you tried to fight it, he made you cry. Trying not to sniffle again forced you to breathe through your mouth, your attempt to mask your feelings only backfiring when you drew a turbulent breath. You squeezed your eyes shut as the first tears rolled down your cheeks.

“You okay?”

Searing tears pricked at the corners of your eyes and before you could stop yourself, you sniffled again, and his hand stopped caressing your arm.

“Y/n, are you crying?” 

“S-shut up,” you gasped, interlacing your fingers with his and bringing his arm to rest across your waist.

His arm flexed around you, pulling you closer. “Is something wrong?”

Maintaining your silence, you shook your head truthfully. There was nothing wrong. Everything was right. 

As he was prone to do, rather than force the issue or pry it out of you, he let it go, trusting that you would tell him if you wanted him to know. 

As you sat in comfortable silence with Daichi, you realized it was becoming increasingly possible that you could lose this battle with him. This battle that either he didn’t know existed, or one for which he was using his strategy of fearless honesty to beat you at your own game - not by force, but by disarmament. Perhaps the joke was on you and Daichi was the one who was in control.

“You know what my favorite thing is about stargazing?” he asked thoughtfully, brushing his thumb along yours. Something you’d noticed about him is that he almost never speaks more loudly than is necessary to be heard.

“Hm?”

“Not only are we looking out into space, but we’re also looking back in time. Andromeda is roughly two and a half million light years away. The light reaching our eyes took that long to get here. So, we’re seeing that galaxy as it existed two and a half million years ago. Betelgeuse could explode tonight and we wouldn’t be able to see it from Earth for over 500 years.”

“Wow,” you whispered. 

“Pretty crazy that we’re looking at the stars as they used to be, not as they are right now.” You turned slightly and looked up at Daichi, who looked back down at you with a small smile. “It reminds me that I’m alive; to have the rare opportunity to see something so profound. Somehow this relatively insignificant human existence feels rather exclusive, doesn’t it?”

You reached up behind his neck to bring him closer for a kiss. His tender lips lingered on yours, in no hurry at all as though the two of you had millions of light years for this one kiss. 

You pulled away and turned around to straddle his lap. His bulky arms pulled you in for a hug, your arms holding fast around his neck as you buried your face in it. 

“Are you happy?” Daichi asked, rubbing your back. 

Shivering, you nodded. “I am now.” 

You hadn’t spoken ten words in as many minutes, and both of you were perfectly okay with that. Words weren’t necessary for the conversation the two of you were having. You were sharing more than words could ever say and you wanted to be closer. You kissed Daichi’s neck, making him hum as you trailed your way to his waiting lips to kiss him again, this time more deeply. 

He rolled you onto your back, your tongues exploring each other’s mouths, hands roaming one another’s bodies, removing articles of clothing in the process. You shivered in the cool night air, your nipples tightly pebbled against Daichi’s bare chest. He pulled the blankets over the tangled mess of your bodies as best he could until your hand guided his face to look at you as the other reached between his legs. 

“Please…Daichi. Need you inside,” you sighed, the warmth of your breath tickling his ear. 

Exhaling, he quickly nodded as two pairs of socked feet peeked out from the bottom, blankets be damned. He hissed a little at the feeling of his cold fingertips as he guided his hard length to your warm, waiting entrance. He pushed his wet tip inside, his fluttering brown eyes melting as your liquid heat embraced him, welcoming him deeper and deeper within. 

“Mm y/n…you feel amazing,” Daichi praised.

He propped himself on his forearms, his large hands framing the sides of your face, watching your lips part with a sigh as he slowly sheathed his full length deep inside you. He held himself there for a moment, admiring your beauty in the faint glow of ancient starlight while basking in the soft warmth that enveloped him. 

You squirmed beneath him, eagerly anticipating the first powerful snap of his hips. “Fuck me, Daichi,” you breathed, a hint of urgency in your quiet voice.

Brushing his thumb across your cheek, he shook his head. “No. I don’t wanna fuck you tonight, y/n. I wanna go slow and make you feel everything.”

Making love was dangerous at best. It made you feel too much; too many things that felt unsafe and uncomfortable - intimacy, vulnerability, tenderness.

“Y/n, look at me,” he whispered. 

You opened your eyes to find yourself falling into his. There it was again, something so overwhelming that it took courage to hold his gaze. As he began to roll his hips, you became intensely aware that he was seeing all the way inside you, a wordless exchange between you as he communicated directly with your soul. It was familiar, comfortable, and all so terrifying.

You knew you should’ve pulled away or put a hand up to stop him. But your body bid him passage, opening up to him again and again.

He wasn’t supposed to be here - in your life, your mind, your body, and certainly not in your heart. So why couldn’t you just let him go already? You kept pushing him away, but when it came time to let your hands fall away from him and part ways, rather than let him go, you’d do the exact opposite and pull him closer again.

With his hips snug between your thighs, you wrapped your legs around his waist, moving with him as his manhood dragged deliciously along your slick walls. He looped his strong arms behind your back, putting a little more of his weight on you, but you didn’t mind. You felt safer this way, chest heaving against his as his girthy tip bumped your sweet spot. 

Your breathless whimpers of his name traveled at light speed from his ears to the base of his spine, compelling his body to move a little faster. Faint wet noises emanated from where your earthly bodies collided sweetly, Daichi’s thighs flexing as he made love to you with the stars as your witness. 

You were grateful for the ambient darkness so he couldn’t see the fresh tears welling in your eyes. However, the stars shone in them like moonlight flickering across the surface of a lake, belying the depth of its ripples in its superficial stillness. Daichi knew but kept it to himself lest you close your eyes or look away from him again. 

You felt every inch of him as he rolled his languid hips against you, strong and naked. The coarse black hairs that covered his pubic bone teased and tickled your clit as he rutted into you.

“Nnhm…Dai-“ Your voice was little more than a whine against his open lips when your orgasm hit, your pulsing heat sending him as well. His hips stilled as a low groan accompanied the spilling of his warm seed inside you. 

“Am I crushing you? I can move-“ he offered hoarsely as he shifted. But you shook your head and tightened your hold on him. You could feel him smile against your skin as he buried his face in the crook of your neck. You still weren’t ready to let go. Not yet. You wanted to keep him close just a little while longer. 

You stayed just like that, your bodies melded together, gasping, twitching, not wanting to part. Tender kisses, brushes of lips and noses, lazy fingers tracing affection on one another’s skin. Both of you had learned a new definition of ‘warm’, one which promised that neither of you would ever have to know the meaning of cold ever again if you would but accept it.

When the time came Daichi rolled off of you and the two of you cuddled for a few minutes when you yawned. He insisted on getting dressed and taking you home before you fell asleep. But you didn’t want him to take you home. You wanted him to take you to his bed, back where this all began. If this was to be your last night together, you wanted to be immersed in Daichi’s space, his scent, him. 

You’d just snuggled up to the police officer in his bed, yawning as he held you close. 

You could hear his amused smirk when he said, “The sex tonight was … stellar.” 

“Oh my god, has anyone ever told you that you tell dad jokes?” you laughed with a playful push of his shoulder. 

He recoiled in genuine surprise. “R-really? Are they that bad?””

But before he could finish, his face was in your hands. “I’m laughing, aren’t I?”

“Maybe you have a really bad sense of humor…”

Both of you were drunk on exhaustion, but the delirium soon gave way to sleep. That night, you dreamt that Daichi plucked stars from the sky and put them in your heart. 

ch. 7 ☆ ch. 9

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[impulsea]

How do you feel about how the Disney Princess franchise has treated Ariel's character? This is a question that sparked upon a debate about how the franchise portraits the princesses vs how they are in the movies - ie, all the princesses are resolute and brave and kind in their own ways yet the franchise during the 2000s used to focus more in giving them sparkling dresses (not saying sparlking dresses are bad though!) and I remember back the Disney Princess magazine had lots of stories featuring the princesses and while some were good, others were kinda OOC (I remember a story where Ariel found out a note of a little human girl she saved wishing she could be a mermaid and Ariel was like "Yeah, being a mermaid is amazing!"...which really contradicts her canon characterization in the movie in how she didn't liked to be a mermaid!). I have noticed in recent times the Disney Princess franchise is now focusing more in the more empowering themes surrounding the princesses and their stories (their new "Dream big princess" slogan for example), but overall how do you feel Ariel has been handled?

PS: If you wish you can also comment on how the franchise has treated your other princess muses! (Snow, Cindy and Aurora).

This is such an interesting question- thanks for sending this in, friend! My relationship with the princess line is very layered. On one hand, I was a very feminine child who worshipped pink and believed the bigger the ballgown, the closer to God. I totally benefited from them glamourizing Ariel, as a child, to an extent but I also think there's a huge difference between what happened in the beginning of the line and what's been happening for the past fifteen years.

The conceit of the Disney Princess line was an exciting premise- they sought to reunite strong female leads from the most iconic Disney films, almost in the same manner as those screen legend documentaries centered around the top actresses of Old Hollywood. They wanted to maintain who the characters were from the films (Ariel's clipart, for instance, was mostly reused from the 1997 rerelease of the film in the beginning of the Disney Princess line) and, while they attempted to provide a cohesion to the characters, I feel like they still succeeded in allowing their individual voices, appearances, and temperaments be shown. Disney really did want to keep each princess separate, to the point where they famously weren't allowed to interact or exchange eye contact and even when Glen Keane proposed a film based on The Twelve Dancing Princesses, he was told that would be too many princesses in one film to keep separate and unique. However, as the line went on, they began to homogenize them and, unfortunately, aim them toward a younger base which is where a huge dip in quality started. As I mentioned previously, there was always a cohesion to the line, but the late 2000s and 2010s took it to a whole new level. It was the byproduct of Disney becoming increasingly commercialized and making the princesses in the films, themselves, more similar to one another and infantilized.

The older princesses were very mature, and we can see that in their fine art merchandise and the elevated discourse surrounding them. The newer princesses, we all meet as children and just seem more made for an audience under twelve. We can observe this in their design, their character treatments, and the writing of their films. Also, we saw this strange phenomenon where the later princesses were seemingly made to rebel against the line itself, like when Moana famously proclaimed she wasn't a princess in her film...yet was still inducted into the princess line? It's very confusing to me, and I feel like there's no reason why anyone is or isn't a princess anymore. The very mold of the line has become breaking the mold, in a sense, as a delayed response to battling the patriarchy but I feel like it's only succeeding in coming across as belittling femininity. I have so many more things to say about this...like the fact that the princesses are one of the most successful franchise in the world but never get their dues (they're the only reason Ralph Breaks the Internet had any buzz around it, sorry) or that they wouldn't even face a fraction of the criticism they do if they were comprised of male characters or that the line is being led of misogynists parading around as feminists that are meanspirited and want to pit the princesses against one around.

In terms of how the princesses were handled, it definitely depends on the era of the line we're discussing. The 2010s were by far the worst and their horrific redesigns still plague the parks costumes. Take Cinderella, for instance. She's such a lovely character that's drawn with a realistic body type, sensible features, and nothing about her is overtly ornate or unnecessary. The clipart from the 2010s slimmed her down considerably and even went as far as airbrushing bones into her upper chest to make her look more thin. They did that for a lot of princesses and it was honestly disturbing, reducing them to an archetype. In this era, Ariel pretty much had no function outside of the "resident mermaid", Cinderella represented the power of makeovers, Aurora was "nap queen", and Snow White was largely omitted/forgotten about. I think Ariel was more true to herself in the beginning, and despite the fact that the newer artwork that has surfaced is hideous, I think with the biographies and shift in marketing, it seems like a change in the right direction? Ariel's about, for instance, on the princess website is very similar to the character description Jodi received for Ariel all the way back in '85. So, I definitely think that it's getting better than what it devolved to in the 2010s, but I think they're still missing that princess energy that made so much of the princesses special. You felt enchanted by them, that it was magical to be in their presence or to just see them. Now, it's very mundane and I feel like anyone could churn out the content that's being produced- nothing's unique about it.

I definitely see the value in maintaining the line, as I think putting certain characters that have dwindled in popular against the "new, cool ones" keep them relevant, to an extent and prevent them from being forgotten about. But I genuinely do wish that they returned to marketing the movies as individual franchises and The Little Mermaid had easily the best franchise in all of Disneydom! The comics, the read along storybooks, the chapter books, the television show, the magazine line- there was so much and it was mostly great! I also think it will allow us to start seeing them as individual characters, as opposed to viewing each princess as a mascot for the Disney Princess line, and then lobbying criticisms against that. If we took the approach I just described, we'd also get to further explore their universes and use characters that are in dire need of new life that never get to see the light of day! For instance, focusing on Sleeping Beauty's universe would allow us to see more of Flora, Fauna, Merryweather and Phillip! Snow White has sadly been parted from the Dwarfs, as they have no place in the princess line, and I wish we would get to see Ariel's sisters as they originally were and not how the prequel made them out to be.

How I feel each individual princess was handled is as follows:

Snow White: She had beautiful merchandise when the line began, and it was right around the time her film was released on DVD first, so I really adored how she was marketed in the beginning! However, as the line went on, she was largely neglected and forgotten so there isn't much to say in the way of a depiction so she wasn't really depicted. I remember one of the voice replacements for Snow White was even told, "You're not Cinderella. You're not going to be making a living off of Snow White or be able to buy a home from this job- we'll probably only use you once a quarter."

Cinderella: I thought her likeness is the beginning of the line was appropriately mature, appealing, and comforting. I liked that they used her as the representative of the line, but I felt that often led to them making her character too general and they were very quick to exchange her personality for more popular renditions of the character (post the third film, they changed her to reflect that Cinderella and then after the live action, they used her interchangeably with the 2015 Cinderella which is a huge mistake that never should've happened). Also, while Jennifer Hale isn’t horrible, her take on the character isn’t really the character and she’s said things recently that leave a bad taste in my mouth about Cinderella.

Aurora: I think Aurora maintained charm in the beginning with her likeness, but as the line progressed, they never really saw her as anything but a pretty girl in a pretty dress and it kind of shows. I think she probably get shortchanged the most for having to be infantilized because she is among the most mature of the princesses in her sensibilities, temperament, and design.

Ariel: Ariel has always been one of the most popular princesses, so they never messed with her too badly, but they did sometimes make her empty-headed and her sole purpose to be: "let me tell you about my exciting life under the sea!" Which, I guess I understand because many children do want to be mermaids and like Ariel because she is one, but as you mentioned it's counterintuitive to her character. Ariel, and all the princesses, fair better or worse depending on what age range the line is being marketed to. When it was wider and more inclusive to adults in the early 2000s, I felt like they kept her intact pretty well, but as it progressed, she got more and more glittery and interchangeable and it makes me sad.

My personal recommendation is from to begin splitting the marketing up! I think Snow White, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty should be marketed together as "Walt's Princesses." Aimed for an older audience of art lovers that are collectors, the line would feature authentic items and continue the tradition of hand drawn animation. A lot of integration about Walt would be abundant here, as his hand was paramount to their creation. I want them to be marketed as the women they are, instead of the weird baby hybrids they sometimes become. I think this move would be able to retain Aurora's operative quality, Cinderella's soft jazz voice, and Snow White's coloratura that is eradicated so often for a generic "pop" feel. They'd also just be able to feel like themselves and they, with the aim of this franchise being marketed to a 30-90+ age base, would help animation be seen as a category of film, as opposed to kids' stuff, the way Walt intended. Another line- "Ready to Stand" would feature Ariel, Belle, Jasmine, Esmeralda, Meg, Mulan, Tiana, and Pocahontas! So much great diversity, and keeping them with one another would really allow them to continue looking like products of the 90s, as opposed to whatever they're currently turning into. They're also all Broadway girls! It'd be aimed to a base that's in the 20-40ish age range. It's fancy, has sing along values, and the nostalgia, but also the adult factor with characters like Esmeralda, Pocahontas, and Meg bringing a more serious tone. Lastly, the 3D girls: Rapunzel, Frozen sisters, Moana, Merida, and Raya. They're all 3D and should be aimed toward like a preK-early 20s audience because I feel like they mostly cater to that age range? Part of me almost wants to spilt them up into Rapunzel, Frozen sisters, Giselle, and Merida and then have Raya, Moana, Kida...maybe a grown up Eilowny and Nakoma too???

[junicai]

Relationship with Stray Kids

➣ CHAN ☾ dachan

daeun is chan’s baby and the fact that she’s only two years younger than him changes nothing 

really really dependent on his approval. especially on mixing during the first few songs for skz 

skz has a completely different sound to what daeun was used to, and changing her production style to mirror that was a challenge

there are a lot of clips in the first few episodes of the survival show of daeun sidling up to chan with a notebook in her hand

and them sitting beside each other on the sofa while they worked

you can find dozens of ‘Bang Chan doing the Proud Dad smile because Daeun existed’ videos on youtube

its a very common occurrence 

hence why daeun hates hates hates being told off by him 

its never anything serious 

but she always feels so guilty afterwards, and then she’ll cry and then chan feels guilty

and it’s a whole guilt-fest 

so daeun usually tries to avoid having to be told off

now that doesn’t stop her from telling him off

can and will drag him out by the ear if he stays in his studio for too long

that’s a lie

she’ll just stand in the doorway and pout until he saves his work down and leaves 

works every time

sorry but this man loves to pick her up? 

its a problem 

girl isn’t even hurt or tired just piggybacks 

always 

he said he likes to carry her because he knows that she dances in heels for so long so her feet must hurt more than theirs does

YEAH-

FAN FAVOURITE MOMENT.

chan walks at the end of the group, we all know this. but the one time he wasn’t, was when daeun was the second last getting out of the van, and had to dip back in to snag the bag she had left behind. already three strides into the building, 

chan - upon realizing that he had seven heads in  front of him, and not eight - spun around in a circle, eyes wide and shoulders pushed back as he tried to peer over the crowds. when he spotted daeun, he took her bag from her hand, snagging her hand in his other one, and refused to let go of her until they made it safely into the venue.  

➣ MINHO ☾ mieun

actually attached at the hip?

genuinely

like, no one was going to peg the very intimidating and sullen looking-fellow with the bubbly bitch with pink in her hair and yet: 

✨besties✨ 

it’s comical 

minho’s dry humor perfectly balances with daeun’s unique blend of absolute buffoonery

 they have a lil tradition before they go onstage of exchanging bracelets

yes, they have matching bracelets

it was minho’s idea and yes, stays freaked out

it’s like a little, ‘see you on the other side’ thing

because lord knows daeun spent hours upon hours running herself ragged in practices until all hours of the night 

and minho Wasn’t Having It

so the bracelets are a little. U Got This. from him

really doesn’t like it when she cries 

to the point where he’ll do absolutely anything to get her to stop crying

it was then, that daeun discovered that minho gives god tier hugs 

God. Tier. 

minho and daeun cuddling when they’re drunk? more likely than you’d think 

they’re hilarious together, and probably one of stays most preferred ships with daeun and any of the boys 

the twt threadfics here are Legendary

the most popular one is a coffee shop au - where daeun is a struggling literature grad, and minho is a long-suffering night shift worker

absolutely does not tolerate any kind of hate towards daeun - verbal or otherwise. he blew a fuse the first time she trended for sexy pictures someone had taken of her at a fansign 

daeun had to tell him it was fine twelve times before he calmed down

FAN FAVOURITE MOMENT.

daeun pulled down her skirt again for the nth time, shifting uncomfortably in her seat. she had her ankles tucked behind the leg of the chair and her hands folded over her lap to try and prevent anyone getting a glimpse up further into her skirt than was strictly necessary, but was - ultimately - doing a poor job of protecting her modesty. 

leaning over, minho took a glance at daeun shifting uncomfortably in her seat again, and shucked off his jacket - leaving him in a thin t-shirt in the cold breeze. before daeun could protest, he had laid the jacket over her legs, tucking it in and then sliding his hand in between hers and holding it tightly over his own lap. 

➣ CHANGBIN ☾ dabin

same age siblings !

both being in the ‘99 line, and with daeun originally training to be a main rapper than a vocalist

they were pretty comfortable around each other having spent so long training in each other’s presence

in fact

they even performed a duet together for one of the monthly evaluations

that was when they really became friends so to speak 

daeun fell asleep during one of their rehearsals on the floor of the studio

and changbin couldn’t just, leave her

so he ended up staying with her the whole night

was she embarrassed in the morning? yeah. and then changbin told her off for not prioritizing sleep more, and then she was more embarrassed.

now in the group, their dynamic settled into something extremely comfortable

when daeun was first introduced to the boys as a team, changbin was the only one she was completely comfortable rooming with 

his studio? nah, their studio 

did daeun sit in on a lot of the 3RACHA work prior to debut? yes, solely because she wanted the experience, and changbin said she could stay

it is actually his studio, but there’s a small collection (read: four) of soft pillows in the corner of the room for daeun to sit on as they work

according to her, she works better on the floor

changbin can’t find it in him to refute the argument, so he always ends up down there with her, with sheets sprawled over the carpet

when he started working out, he started taking daeun to the gym

swole buddies 

except daeun wasn’t allowed to build muscle and just had to run on the treadmill the whole time and changbin wasn’t made about that. he wasn’t.

FAN FAVOURITE MOMENT.

changbin and daeun being the mafia when playing with skz and neither of them being able to look at each other without laughing. every time they’d make eye contact, daeun’s lips would twitch up, and changbin would have to turn away to cough into his arm lest he give himself away. 

ultimately, they lost - much to the chagrin of the pair, who wailed at their loss and proceeded to drink their sorrows away with the coca cola that they were sponsored for. 

product placement at it’s finest, even if it was a metaphor for alcoholism. 

➣ HYUNJIN ☾ dajin

lil beans

babies

awh

not at the start but now, yes.

he was wary around her, at first because hyunjin knows he’s attractive and the Last Thing He Wants is a groupmate that has a crush on him

so he was a bit, cold and aloof with daeun at the beginning of the survival show

he didn’t want to give her the wrong impression !

but then 

then 

daeun apologized to him in her video message after her elimination for ‘upsetting him, and making him feel like he couldn’t be comfortable around her’ and dear god

hyunjin’s heart = broken. destroyed. shattered into pieces. 

he still feels Very Guilty about this sometimes because he knows that his attitude towards her played a huge part in her feeling alienated and not like she belonged in the group

daeun tells him it doesn’t bother her but he knows

they talked through it though

good communication besties 

A+

he doesn’t call her noona though

he did, once upon a time, but then daeun felt weird because realistically, there’s only four months between them and that’s not enough to make her any more of a noona to him than he is a hyung to jisung and felix? 

they have a little rountine now, when either of them are upset

they pack up all the emotions for a little bit

into a little box

get out a laptop (doesn’t matter whos)

and just cuddle, with some blankets, and a terrible show or movie that they’re not really watching until the person is ok to talk 

arguably the most healthy friendship you will ever find

therapists around the country are giving standing ovations 

FAN FAVOURITE MOMENT. 

felix padded into hyunjin’s room to shake the boy awake, before catching sight of an already-awake daeun wrapped in his arms.

“noona?”

“help-” she gasped out, patting frantically at hyunjin’s arm that was firmly wrapped around her middle. “he won’t let go. it’s been an hour.” 

felix bit his lip, trying to stifle the laugh that was threatening to burst out. “i don’t know, you look pretty comfortable.” he began backing out the door.

“felix. lee felix. lee felix you come back here!” the harsh whisper-shouts echoed down the hallway after the giggling boy. 

➣ JISUNG ☾ jidae

partners in crime

probably have committed some crime together at some point but there’s no proof so chan can’t yell at them for it

they met when daeun first sat in on the 3RACHA meetings 

did someone say: soulmates 

changbin is convinced that the angel choir played when they first locked eyes

like this

jisung kicked the angel off of daeun’s shoulder and now it’s just him and the devil racking up reverse-brownie points in daeun’s conscience 

he’s been a wonderful influence, truly

to be fair though, daeun did attempt to convince him to stop eating ramen every day (to a varying degree of success)

to no degree of success actually. she just takes him out of the dorm to eat it now, but chan doesn’t need to know that bit

daeun? did you mean: jisung’s pillow?

anywhere, any place - he just flops down onto her

many head pats

they are both givers and receivers 

no words spoken only HEAD PATS 

the comfort is exchanged through osmosis

jisung is wholeheartedly against her ever getting a boyfriend 

Absolutely Not. she is theirs, and he will glare at anyone else who dares to Look At Her

nap buddies 

they get a combined total of negative six hours of sleep per week so they always end up napping together 

it’s very cute

FAN FAVOURITE MOMENT. 

less of a ‘moment’ and more of a series of events that STAY found hilarious?

we all know han jisung’s iconic converse. they’re legendary. unofficial skz merch. 

right well, daeun was seen wearing them out and around a few times by fansites, and one of them asked had she bought her own pair after seeing jisung’s at a fansign.

daeun laughed and said no, they were almost the same size in shoe so she just borrowed his. 

daeun stole jisung’s shoes. 

➣ FELIX ☾ daelix

stop they love each other so much 

felix said once in a vlive that he finds daeun really comforting to be around because she’s so calm 

‘calm’ 

he had a lot of anxiety about debuting because of what jyp said to him upon his elimination *angry noises*

so daeun tried her best to alleviate as much of his worries as possible

even if that meant sacrificing her own sleep to sit with him in the kitchen and talk things out

sorry i’d like to revisit the point that They Love Each Other Very Much 

felix says that he was worried about leaving his sisters behind, so having another noona was really comforting to him 

daeun absolutely has an australian accent when she speaks english now and it is completely felix’s fault 

he’d actively correct her pronunciation to make her sound more australian because he thinks the accent is so cute on her  

aggressively cute together 

you will get a toothache if you watch them for too long 

someone stop them they’re so adorable 

he likes to give out random compliments to see how red he can make her face go before she whacks him to get him to stop 

the results conclude: a pretty nice cherry-cheeked colour

felix really lives up to his koala nickname when he’s around daeun

will latch on and will not let go until he has to 

you thought chan loved felix? now see: chan watching daeun and felix 

pain

its so painful he just smiles like everything is right with the world and it IS because felix and daeun are there and aaaaaAAAA-

FAN FAVOURITE MOMENT.

a sad moment, but one that features in every compilation of daelix’s interactions anyway. when daeun’s name was called for her elimination, she closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath and schooling her face into something impassive. the boys were all staring at her with devastated looks on their faces, but nothing was matching the look that felix was giving her from his position right by her side. 

he choked out her name, stumbling forwards into her arms as she caught him and wrapped him in a hug. felix apologized profusely for being the one in need of comfort, while daeun just ran a hand over his hair and told him it was alright, she was alright. 

➣ SEUNGMIN ☾ daseung

protector of daeun’s sanity

she has One (1) well behaved dongsaeng and its kim seungmin

it’s not that he’s less likely to act out than the others, really. it’s that he’s the least likely to die while doing it, so that = most well behaved, in daeun’s books 

daeun likes to squish his cheeks

no reason

other than, soft cheeks go squish and seungmin lets her so why would she forsake this golden opportunity

now if he wants to sit on the couch beside her he has to resign himself to cheek-smooshing 

also cheek kisses, rarely. usually when daeun’s intoxicated.

the boys had figured that both of their personalities together would just merge and create an even more chill environment

calm²

but NO

pemdas

it cancelled out

they’re not Chaotic but they’re certainly not Calm 

it’s a unique vibe that can only be described by this -> link

sorry

scholars but minus the education 

profound visionaries but they’re blind, type beat 

have the combined brainpower of the librarian gary from that one spongebob episode but they choose not to utilize it for the memes 

in all seriousness though, they’re very comfortable around each other 

seungmin struggled a lot with confidence during their debut months, and daeun was the only person who really knew the full extent of it all 

there was a Hefty Amount of nighttime talks on daeun’s bed under blankets stolen from the living room 

FAN FAVOURITE MOMENT. 

seungmin can sing, we all know that. but stray kids’ style rarely allows for full ballad songs on an album, so seungmin being given the opportunity to perform ‘Love Poem’ on Kingdom was truly a blessing in disguise. (the disguise being daeun’s re-occuring vocal nodules that left her unable to perform). 

after the performance, seungmin had barely taken a foot off the stage before he was being tackled by a teary-eyed daeun, who immediately buried her face into his shoulder to stop the cameras getting a good look at her crying. 

“n-noona?” 

“you can sing.” 

“yeah?”

“you sing so beautifully, minnie, oh my god.” 

➣ JEONGIN ☾ jeondae

the first thing you have to realize about daeun and jeongin’s relationship is that both of them can be the Biggest Babies in the world 

now with that out of the way

jeongin ADORES daeun 

im sorry did someone say ‘noona who wholeheartedly finds it impossible to say no to him’?

i think they did

he doesn’t take advantage of it, persay

but he Does and Will use it to others detriment - especially during games

“jeongin! you told me you weren’t the mafia! i believed you! this is a betrayal!”

she’s so so smitten with him and everything he does 

it is virtually impossible for her to be mad at him 

he just gets a little scowl and then a soft flick on his ear at the PEAK of scolding 

is the world’s worst enabler for All His Bad Ideas 

often complains that he’s growing up too fast and it isn’t fair that he’s taller than her now 

which he’ll then respond to by resting his elbow on her head and leaning on her, so. it never goes down very well 

daeun checks his micpack for him before every stage

every. stage. 

daeun is the only person who is allowed to coddle him as much as she does 

hyunjin is Bitter and daeun is Smug 

jeongin needs help with schoolwork? daeun would do it for him if she had been any good at school either, but alas 

 FAN FAVOURITE MOMENT. 

chan stepped into the kitchen, camera in hand. 

“what are you doing?” 

daeun and jeongin shove his backpack off the table, the coloured permanent markers rolling off immediately after, two black ones uncapped in their hands. 

“NOTHING” 

chan looked pointedly at them, and then to the backpack that had slid underneath the table. there, written all over the straps and the front pocket were small drawings, ranging from dinosours to the words (written in very terrible handwriting, so he couldn’t be sure which one of them wrote it): “skool suks!”

chan looked over to the pair. they scrambled off the chairs, abandoning the evidence in their break for safety. 

[sereia1313]

10 ♠️!

10♠️ - A fluffy scenario for SessKag

Oh man... I literally have half a notebook full of one shots of them. I'll give you a snippet of the one that's been running around in my head the most lately though. I have a feeling this one might end up as more than one chapter (I'm sorry this took so long! I was only planning on giving you a snippet and then I got started and couldn't stop lol).

Summary

Kags and Sess happen across each other in her time (she never went back through the well) and end up exchanging numbers. Sess is away on a business trip and Kags is at a friend's house for a girl's night. Said friends have been wondering/bugging her about this "mystery guy" she's been texting on the regular. Kags denies he's anything special (just that he's the brother of her ex), but they don't believe her, so they steal her phone and send "I miss you" to him. Kags is horrified as she watches the icon that shows he's replying/typing something appear and disappear multiple times before disappearing completely. She's worried and is trying to mentally come up with a response but then gets distracted by her friends and forgets about her phone. She goes home that night, slightly tipsy and falls asleep, only to have her phone ring in the middle of the night.

Kagome jerked awake to the sound of her phone going off, fumbling in the dark to silence the offensive noise. She eventually found it under her bed, stuffed in one of her shoes. Clearly she'd had more to drink than she thought. Closing her eyes to the bright light of the screen, her thumb managed to find the small green button.

"This better be important," she snapped, having to clear her throat halfway through. Silence greeted her on the other end and she was two seconds away from throwing her phone at the wall before a low voiced rumbled in her ear.

“I apologize for the late hour.”

Blue eyes shot open as she gripped her phone with both hands. “S-Sesshoumaru?”

“I…forgot about the time difference. I should have checked before—”

“No no! It’s fine! It’s not like I’ve got anything planned for tomorrow anyway.” Propping her phone between her shoulder and her ear, she reached for the glass of water on her nightstand, downing half of it before crossing her legs under her. “How’s your trip been so far?”

“Tedious. But that is to be expected.” A stagnant pause stretched between them and Kagome physically winced. She knew this was coming. She should’ve just explained that her friends were the ones who’d sent the text in the first place. He was probably calling to tell her to lose his number.

“Look, Sesshoumaru,” she said, not wanting to prolong an awkward situation. “About earlier…”

“I must apologize again. I was pulled into a meeting before I was able to respond to your message. It appears that those in charge here are more incompetent than I initially presumed.”

Kagome couldn’t help the smile that pulled at her lips. “That’s two apologies in one night Sesshoumaru, are you sure youhaven’t been drinking?”

A soft chuckle sounded in her ear and suddenly her chest felt tight. She would miss that sound, when he inevitably told her never to contact him again.

“You seem to have that effect on people, miko.”

She opened her mouth to ask what he meant, then bit her lip to stop herself. She had to stop this. She didn’t want any more memories between them to reminisce about—any more reasons to miss him for real.

She cleared her throat and tried again. “I’m sorry if my text from earlier—well—I wasn’t the one who sent it. We were talking about you, and they misunderstood the situation and thought I was too scared to…confess, so they thought they were doing me a favour.”

Silence greeted her again and she pulled her knees into her chest, hiding her face as she stifled a groan. She’d had such a great thing going with him; he’d even been the one to suggest exchanging numbers in the first place. When had she started looking forward to talking with him every day? Checking her phone for notifications under his name?

Her friends were so nosy and always seemed to come the wrong conclusion. They assumed the worst with Inuyasha without understanding the complexity of his relationship with Kikyou—though she was still trying to figure that out herself, even after the well had been closed for five years. And now they’d gone and done the same thing with Sesshoumaru.

Why couldn’t they let her figure things out for herself?

“So, your friends sent the message.”

Kagome nodded, then remembered he couldn’t actually see her. “Yes.”

“And yet you did not amend the statement in the hours following.”

“I-I…” Her head shot up, her eyes widening as his words sank in. “No… No, I didn’t.” Why hadn’t she? Sure, she’d been distracted by Yuka’s sudden outburst, but that didn’t account for the remaining time she’d spent with her friends. Or how long she’d been home afterwards.

“Was it untrue?”

Kagome bit her lip, her hand tightening around her phone, the answer already clear in her mind. She could lie. She could pretend that nothing had changed and that it was just her friends overstepping. But she refused to be dishonest when he’d always been truthful with her.

“No.”

“Then it is irrelevant who sent it.”

“You’re not…mad?”

“Do I have a reason to be?”

“Well, not when you put it that way.”

“Indeed.”

He was mocking her. “Wipe that smirk off your face, you pompous ass.”

“You are imagining things, miko.”

A laugh finally escaped her lips, and she ran a hand through her hair, her fingers getting caught in the dark tangles. “I’m not imagining anything. You enjoy being right too much to not be smirking right now.”

“Perhaps.”

She laughed again, the sound getting cut off by a jaw-cracking yawn.

“You should rest.”

“Perhaps,” she said, mocking his previous response. “But I have nothing else to do today, so I can sleep in. Tell me about your trip so far.”

“Another time. Text me when you wake, and I will update you on my progress.”

“Alright,” she sighed, stifling another yawn. “Are you still coming back on Friday?”

“Unless the powers that be insist on wasting my time more than necessary.”

“You could always threaten them if they do.”

“You have expressed on previous occasions that that is frowned upon.”

“Oh, I’m sure you could come up with a legitimate reason to get away with it. Again…”

“If it will get me home on time, I will consider it.”

She wasn’t sure if he was joking or not—it was Sesshoumaru after all—but the image of him threatening CEOs with Bakusaiga or even his true form made her smile.

“Give ‘em hell.”

A soft chuckle sounded on the other end. “Go to sleep, miko.”

She hummed in agreement, laying down on her side, the tension in her muscles slowly receding.

“And miko?”

“Yes, youkai?”

“Your company has also been missed.”

She shot back up into a sitting position, staring at her phone as the connection ended and the screen went dark. A blush crept up her neck, turning her cheeks bright crimson.

Maybe her friends had done her a favour.

[melodiesofblueroses]

𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘤𝘴 𝘸/ 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴

-𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘺: basically general eyesight and glasses hcs for each of the demon bros

-𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘳𝘦: general

Lucifer

he doesn’t like the look of glasses, so he often doesn’t wear them

he thinks that glasses are an unsightly look on him, and as diavolo’s right-hand man, lucifer wanted to look both frightening and presentable

thus, he opts for contacts most times, though he may put on his glasses once in a while when he was alone

contacts were his go to option since they were practically hidden. he doesn’t like the idea of others knowing that he had a weakness: his eyesight

(spending hours reading documents at a dimly lit desk is sure to strain anyone’s eyesight)

lucifer is farsighted, so he often doesn’t see the need to wear his prescription since he’s often standing up and presenting

plus, he had to rest his eyes every once in a while

and when he does need to see close up objects, it was usually when he was alone, so lucifer really had no trouble putting on his glasses then

since it was sort of a secret, sometimes his brothers forgot he wore them since lucifer was rarely seen with them on

whenever he did wear his glasses, they were always slightly taken aback until they remember that his eyesight sucks

when the exchange student sees him with glasses, they get a slight heart attack just from how attractive he looked (seriously, who gave him the right?)

probably pesters him to wear it more often since he looked rather dashing in them, to which he complies after much annoyance

wouldn’t admit it, but lucifer loved to see you swooning over him, so he often found himself wearing his glasses whenever you were around (only if the two of you were alone though)

Mammon

he is seen wearing glasses only when sporting his casual look, so most often others think that they’re just for show

he likes the pop of color they add to his outfit, so in a sense, they were an accessory, but they were also perscription lenses

i think that mammon has astigmatism, so he definitely needs to wear either glasses or contacts if he wants to see anything

he prefers contacts over glasses, which is why he’s often seen without his iconic tinted glasses

like lucifer, mammon didn’t think that he looked good in glasses, and he was a bit insecure of the fact that he even needed glasses, so he often chose contacts instead

(the only reason he wore glasses on his casual attire was because the tint matched the rest of the outfit. plus, he agreed that it was the only time that glasses looked good on him)

he also believes that contacts are a lot less work since he didn’t have to worry about misplacing them throughout the day

he just had to put them on in the morning then could wear his contacts all day. and they were invisible, so they wouldn’t get in the way of his usual antics

definitely has slept with his contacts on a few times since he forgot to take them out

thus, he sometimes woke up with dry and irritated eyes

when you came to the devildom, mammon realized that you seemed to absolutely love his tinted glasses, so he made it a point to wear them around much more often, if only to impress you

you think that they’re just for show at first, until you put them on and realize that they’re prescription lenses

mammon is embarrassed that you found out, but you reassure him that it didn’t matter in the slightest

Leviathan

my guy definitely has some eyesight problems from how often he strains them playing games or watching anime

since he’s nearsighted, he doesn’t really wear his prescription often since he’s always seeing things that are close to him, such as the computer monitor or manga

the only time he really wears them is if he needs to go out, but even then that’s not often

he alternates between glasses and contacts since he doesn’t really mind either. it entirely depends on his mood and whether or not he wanted to try and put in his contacts that he often struggled with

although he wears both and alternates, i feel like he may prefer glasses because he thinks that they make him look cooler

thinks it makes him look like one of those cool anime guys so levi ofc loves it

(levi definitely has pushed up his glasses more than a few times to imitate the glowing glasses thing)

plus, glasses were way easier to take on and off (levi would admit that he’s slept in his contacts a few times because he was dead tired)

he also has his glasses and contacts match up with the characters that he’s cosplaying, including wearing colored contacts in order to match the character’s eye color

levi also loves to design new glasses to go along with them

when you pointed out how cute he looked in glasses, levi swears he had an out-of-body experience

he’d never had anyone compliment him on his glasses before, so levi really takes it to heart

whenever he wears his glasses, he remembers that one compliment and becomes all flustered. you played with his heart way too much

Satan

satan always made it a habit of his to wear glasses when reading or even doing his RAD homework

although satan has 20/20 vision (he’s one of those lucky people), he still absolutely adored the look of glasses

in his mind, glasses made him look like an intellectual

since satan believed that knowledge made a person respectable, he extended that to glasses as well, falling into the generic way of thinking that those who wear glasses appear to be smarter

so he always carried decorative glasses on hand to wear whenever he was reading something

also fits with that entire academia aesthetic he was going for lol i believe that satan cares very much for looks and wants to appear put together

(plus, in his mind, he looked damn attractive in them)

for a while, his brothers think that he’s farsighted for how often they see him wearing glasses whenever he’s reading

when they gift him reading glasses for his birthday, satan laughs and says that they’re merely a fashion accessory 

everyone always forgets that and mistakes him for being farsighted, as well as the exchange student when they first meet him

when you comment on how sexy you think he looks with glasses, satan feels accomplished in a sense

it’s not like he needed the validation, but it felt nice either way

he does feel a bit guilty though since you seem to believe that he was also farsighted lol

Asmodeus

asmo absolutely hates wearing his glasses

for one, he thinks that he looks absolutely dorky in them (asmo knew that he looked good in them; he just didn’t like their style)

secondly, he was embarrassed to admit that he needed prescription lenses even if it was totally normal

the only time he ever wore them was if they complimented his outfit, and even then he’d insist that it was nothing more than a fashion statement

would also wear them if he forgot to put on his contacts that morning. he didn’t want to seem like a fool as he constantly ran into things and squinted at objects from afar (one time that happened and his brothers never let him live it down)

more often than not, asmo chose to wear contacts since they never got in the way

asmo is nearsighted, so he tries his best to sit as close to objects as possible, such as always sitting in the front row of RAD (he still can’t see the board but i digress) or bringing his books way too close to his eyes

his eyesight isn’t as bad as the others though, so he could sometimes afford to go a day or so without them. things were just going to look a bit blurry from afar

one day when asmo forgot his contacts and wore glasses, you pointed out how good he looked in them and asked why he didn’t wear them more often, to which asmo is a bit taken aback

like yeah, he did look good, but you liked them? really?? it was such a strange thing to hear

when he looked in the mirror, asmo would realize that you were right

damn, he did look amazing. why didn’t he wear them more often?

would definitely make an effort to use them more afterwards

Beelzebub

like satan, beel is one of the lucky few in the house of lamentation that didn’t need glasses or contacts

his eyesight was perfect as is, so he could never understand the struggles his other brothers went through

i feel like he’d try out his one his brother’s glasses at some point just to get a feel for it

his perception would immediately falter and the entire world seemed so round. plus, wearing such strong lenses gave him a headache (seriously, what was up with levi’s eyesight?)

felt sympathetic for his brothers since their eyesight was blurry as hell

he’s the type that would help them out such as looking for their misplaced glasses 

(he may have sat on them on more than one occasion since he wouldn’t have noticed them)

even if beel is practically a gentle giant, i can see him accidentally destroying his brother’s backup glasses more than once since his grip was so strong

as for fake glasses, beel wasn’t too fond of them

he really didn’t like how they looked on him. they looked bulky and a bit tacky, at least that’s what he saw

if on the off chance you complimented how well he looked in them when you once put some on him, beel would be confused

beel wouldn’t really change his mind on them, but if you said that he looked good, then maybe he should give them a second chance

Belphegor

he was the last of the trio that had perfect vision, so belphie often made it a point to rub it in his older brother’s faces

(particularly asmo who seemed to be extrememly jealous of his eyesight. he loved hiding asmo’s contacts so that he would be forced to wear his glasses that he hated so much)

though asmo was the easiest to tease, belphie absolutely loved making fun of lucifer and his “deteriorating eyesight”

belphie always had some snarky remark to comment whenever he saw lucifer passing by, such as to watch out for that little rock on the road before he tripped over it, since he couldn’t see anything in front of him

sure he may be lectured afterwards, but belphie found it to be worthwhile

he also played pranks on them, such as hiding their glasses and amusing himself as he watched them trip over their own feet as they tried to find them

he always acted innocent whenever the others asked where he hid them, acting as if he had absolutely no idea what they meant

belphie hated fake glasses with a passion since they always looked way too tacky for his tastes

not only that, but whenever he put them on, he was reminded of his older brothers, and belphie couldn’t stand that

one day when he was napping, you secretly slipped on some glasses on him to which he woke up to

he grumbled to take them off, way too tired and sleepy to move, and ignoring your comments that he looked so cute in them

when he was alone, however, belphie would put some on due to your compliments, and look at himself in the mirror with them on

as much as he hated to admit it, you did have a point, but he’d never let anyone know that

[its-monster-mash]

Paul(The Lost Boys) X Michael’s Ex!Fem!Reader Imagine(Part 1)

Content Warnings: Vaguely Love-Triangley? (Reader and Michael are still good friends and broke up a while before Mike moved, but things are a little awkward because they were each other’s first serious relationship; so he’s more protective than he needs to be, and there might be a few hurt feelings, but I wouldn’t quite call it a love triangle), Brief Sexual Harassment

Part 2

This turned out SUPER long so I’m putting it under a readmore; also I think I’m going to make it a series because I want to go a lot further with this but I suspect I’m going to run out of space soon

• Michael Emerson had been your best friend since you were kids, growing up in Phoenix only a ten minute walk from eachother...if you knew the right shortcuts. You knew all of them, thought you knew everything when you were younger, and you got yourself and Mike into a fair amount of trouble because of it...but he had always been a good kid, and was able to temper your more destructive elements.

• It surprised exactly no one when the two of you eventually started dating, nor did it surprise them when you broke up a few years later. You had always been inseparable, and the love had always been there, but over time you just couldn’t help but feel stifled. You had spent your entire teen years with him, and so many people liked to joke that Mike tamed you...at the rate you were going it seemed like sundresses, picket fences, and a couple of kids weren’t far off in your future...and that scared you.

• Mike was heartbroken when you left him, and for the first few weeks he absolutely held it against you, but due to your shared friends and history your friendship survived. Unfortunately, his parents’ divorce separated your iconic duo once again.

• When Mike’s dad showed up on your doorstep a few days after the move, you tore him a new one for basically abandoning his sons. He set a box on your porch, Mike’s Tools...his Grandpa gave them to him when he was just a little kid and they were one of his most treasured possessions...they were forgotten in the chaos of the move...His dad thought you might visit him sometime...

• That’s what led to you hopping in your shitass El Camino and making the drive to Santa Carla. Lucy had given you their new address before they left...you knew she hoped that maybe you and Mike would get back together some day, but that just wasn’t in the cards. At the end of the day he was just too good, too normal, for you.

• Driving through Santa Carla, you can’t help but be drawn to the sheer...strangeness of it all. Looking at the people, you feel like you actually fit in here. You definitely plan on hanging around the town for a while.

• Mike isn’t home when you get to his Grandpa’s house, but his mom could not be happier to see you. It’s a bittersweet reunion for you; she had been more of a mother to you growing up than your own parents, but after breaking her son’s heart you just don’t feel like it‘s right for you to call her “Mom” like you used to. She has a million questions, and she even suggests you stay with them for a while...you politely decline.

• You didn’t tell her that sleeping in your beat-up old car was preferable to her hospitality, but it would just be too weird, with how recent your breakup was. You and Mike are still friends, but you think sleeping under the same roof might be weird for him

• You still want to see him though, so you decide to explore the town on foot for a while; maybe run into him. You’re wandering around when you hear a familiar voice coming from the open door of a comic book store.

• As soon as you walk in you see the unmistakably garish patterns of Sammy Emerson’s signature style and break into a wide smile. “Long time no see, huh kid?” Almost the second he sees you he practically knocks you over with a hug, backing away in embarrassment after a second of thought. You and Mike were already best friends by the time he was born, so Sam was almost as much your little brother as he is Mike’s.

• “Now What was that about Vampires?” You had overheard Sam and the Frog brothers when you walked into the store...Sam rolls his eyes, and the Frogs assail you with some insane story about how the town is overrun with vampires. Some imaginations these kids have.

• You bail out of there pretty quick in favor of wandering the boardwalk, seeing what Santa Carla had to offer...before you know it, the sun is starting to set

• Maybe going out alone in “The Murder Capital of The World” wasn’t your smartest decision, but you weren’t exactly known for your self preservation; that had always been Mike’s job...but he isn’t here now.

• You grimace as you notice a group of surfers take notice of you. You had wandered a bit aways from the main crowd, so you aren’t sure anyone would notice if things went south... “Hey Sweetie.”

• “Get Bent.” You sneer as they close in on you. “Awe well that’s not very polite,” the leader says, giving your ass a firm squeeze. “You should try being a little nicer.”

• You humor him with the sweetest smile you can muster as you stomp as hard as you can on his foot. He calls you a bitch and you flinch as his fist flies toward you.

• You open your eyes when the hit never comes, and are shocked to see that someone had caught the guy’s fist. You look up at him and your cheeks flush; when was the last time you saw a guy this handsome? “This guy bothering you, babe?” He asks as he squeezes the guy’s fist so tight you hear something pop. The guy falls to his knees and gasps in pain as his friends back away nervously. You smile wickedly. “Not anymore.”

• You watch the douchbags storm away with their wounded pride, shouting empty threats, only distracted when your Knight in Shining Tight-Pants tucks your hair affectionately behind your ear. “So what’s a pretty thing like you doing alone in a town like this?”

• You bite your lip, eyeing him appreciatively; now that you could get a good look at him you can tell he is definitely your type...and you hadn’t been with anyone since you broke things off with Michael. “Hoping to run into an old friend, but I haven’t seen him.”

• He grins, clearly appreciating your look. “That’s too bad, wanna make some new friends?” His eyes are fixed on you with a certain hunger, there’s a palpable danger to him; it excites you.

• You shift your stance flirtatiously, leaning into him ever so slightly. “That depends, are they all as cute as you?” He pokes his tongue into his cheek with an amused grin. “Almost.”

• He takes your mischievous smirk as agreement, and throws an arm around you, leading you back to where his friends are gathered by their bikes. “This the chick you ditched us for?” The curly-headed blond asks, humor in his tone.

• “Well I for one am grateful for the timely rescue.” You grin. “How grateful?” The blond on the bike asks, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively; making you laugh. Your hero slaps at him playfully, and the favor is returned.

• Seemingly the leader of the group, the spiky-headed blond interrupts the roughhousing. “Paul, Marko, knock it off and let’s go.”

• Paul nods, climbing onto his bike and grinning at you seductively. “You wanna go for a ride, babe?”

• His smile is infectious, and his innuendo isn’t lost on you. Maybe it’s not your safest decision, but you climb on the back of his bike; earning a loud “HELL YES.” From him, and hooting and hollering from Marko.

• “Make sure you hold on tight babe, I’m about to take you on a ride you’ll never forget.” “Shut up and drive,” you tease as you wrap your arms tightly around his midsection.

• They all laugh deviously as they rev their motors to life, and you’re glad you’re holding on tight, nearly falling off when they take off from 0 to 100. “HOLY SHIT!” “What’s the matter sweetheart, can’t handle a little speed?”

• “That all you got?!” You ask, acting tough. It was a mistake though. “That all you got, Paul?” Marko asks, mocking you. “I dunno girl, I think that’s all he’s got.” The big brunette says, first time he’s spoken since you met the boys. “Fuck off, Dwayne!” Paul shouts. The leader gives his engine a rev, egging Paul on. You scream, forced to cling tightly to his back as his bike tears into the night. Marko pulls up next to you, mimicking you with a falsetto squeal.

• “Damn babe, already screaming for me,” Paul teases over the roar of his motor. You’d sass him back if you weren’t too busy burying your face in his back for dear life. You’d ridden on the back of Mike’s bike plenty of times before, but he was never this reckless. You’re as terrified as you are thrilled.

• By the time you start to get used to the speed, the boys are slowing down, and much to your surprise, they pull right up to Michael, who is standing with a girl you haven’t met. His eyes snap to you instantly and go wide with confusion, he hadn’t even been aware you’d come to town. “(Y/N)?”

• “This that friend you were looking for?” Paul asks. “Yeah, (Y/N), care to introduce us to Star’s new friend?” “David please.” You watch the exchange a bit uncomfortably, shifting on the bike, arms still around Paul. “Yeah...Hey Mike, I uh, your old man dropped your tools off at my place so I took them up to your mom.” Your chest feels impossibly tight. You aren’t jealous to see him with a new girl, but you had hoped that maybe he’d be a little happier to see you here...and him, the earring and that jacket...it doesn’t feel like Mike at all. Paul can feel you shrink against him.

• “Hope I’m not stepping on any toes here,” Paul says, giving your thigh an unsubtle squeeze; deliberately antagonizing Michael. You smile a bit awkwardly as Mike scratches the back of his head in discomfort. Star looks between the two of you, avoiding eye contact with David. “No, Mike and I used to date but...” “But it’s over,” Mike says, a bit too shortly, trying to cover the awkwardness with an unconvincing smile.

• David shoots him a not-all together-friendly look. “Well, you seem to be moving on well enough,” he says, gesturing to Star, who shrinks beside him. “So’s (Y/N),” Paul interjects, looking over his shoulder to smile at you. You smile back at him, despite the awkwardness.

• “We should go, Star,” David urges. Star hesitates, but climbs on the back of his bike. Michael looks mortified, and you can’t help but feel awful for him. You’re shocked when David nods his head toward Mike’s bike. “Come with us, Michael.”

• You know the look on Mike’s face; his first instinct is to back out, avoid trouble...but then he looks at you, and he looks at Star; like he’s worried what will happen to you if he doesn’t come along. “Mike,” You don’t have to come, you start to say, feeling Paul tense in your arms. “I’m coming.”

• “This is gonna be so sick,” Marko says with a practically manic grin, before Dwayne swats him upside the head. “Don’t be an ass.”

• “Don’t forget, (Y/N), hold on tight,” Paul says, side eyeing Michael a little less than subtly. Mike rolls his eyes and you shrug apologetically. This is awkward, for sure, but one way or another you want to see this through. Paul and the boys seem cool as hell, and at the very least seem like a good way to get back on the horse after getting over a long relationship.

• You squeeze Paul a little tighter, heart pounding against his back. He revs his engine. “You ready, babe?”

[uwua3]

hello hello would it be okay to ask for some fluffy and romantic headcanons for tenma with a childhood s/o? they were both in the entertainment industry, but s/o is now playing music in a band (like bang dream!) thank you thank you!

hi anon~ of course!!! 🥺 i never actually got into rhythm beat games because i simply Lack The Talent to play them T___T please excuse me if i say anything wrong~

summary: tenma promised he’d perform with you at your first stadium show, but will he keep his word?

warnings: unhealthy/strict parents

author’s note: i incorporated So Much Stan Twt culture in this, i swear. please look forward to fanboy! tenma and this super cliché, cute headcanon with you as tenma’s first friend/crush!!! sunshine x sunflower couple rise up ♡ this may be slightly ooc + i used poppin’ party’s sunflower dreams lyrics towards the end!!!

word count: 6,795

music: sunflower dreams – poppin’ party

sunflower dreams!

🌻☀️ sumeragi tenma

you were born to be on stage

tenma remembered thinking that the first time he saw you singing into that off mic, absolutely living out your idol dreams in that music room with a guitar much too big for your tiny kid self

you and tenma were about eight years old, and that was the first time he had a crush on anyone before

it was elementary. tenma was already recognized country wide, he was the it child star of the decade, his fame catapulted him to great success early on with two acting parents in the entertainment business

but, why didn’t he have friends, then?

everyone he talked to as a child suddenly didn’t look at him the next day. every time tenma asked his parents, it was always the same answer: “they’ll do nothing for your career, focus on acting”

so when he found you sneaking into the music classroom and stealing one of the teacher’s guitars to use, strumming even if you didn’t know any notes, tenma hid behind the door as he listened

you had a voice made for stardom. you sang like you were performing for a stadium of thousands of fans, you did it confidently as if you’ve been in the industry for years, and you jumped around like this was the last song of your life

you loved music, and before you knew it, tenma became your first and biggest fan. he arrived at the same time everyday after school to sit outside the music practice room and hear you sing again

eight–year–old tenma didn’t know why he lied to his parents, claiming he was just catching up on schoolwork due to his acting career. his grades didn’t change, but it didn’t matter when he got to hide in the corner of the corridor and push his short frame to the ledge of the window to see you playing the guitar

one day, tenma was back again in his usual spot, standing on his tippy–toes to peek into the classroom as always, knowing he was in for a show for the next hour or so before his driver picked him up

it was supposed to be another regular one–man concert all for himself, where he applauded silently for the aspiring musician. but, as you were singing a song you had practiced for a while now, your eyes met his mid–strum of the guitar

you stumbled on your notes and fell silent, eyes wide at the bright orange hair that disappeared behind the wall instantly. before you could react, you heard the squeak of sneakers against the floor as a blur of the school uniform ran past the door and away into the hall

you recognized that face immediately, who wouldn’t? sumeragi tenma was the most popular elementary student ever in the district despite always being alone. you contemplatively stared at the spot where tenma hid, wondering how long he had always been there.

it was the next day and tenma was hesitant, nervousness taking over as his face flushed from yesterday’s events. he was so careless, he couldn’t believe he let himself be discovered like that! tenma rubbed his face, groaning with the stress of an adult as he stood at the entrance of the music hallway

it’s not like he could go anywhere else without getting in trouble, so here he was, returning to visit the school’s secret singer because he wanted to hear the music. but, he seemed like a stalker! tenma swore he just wanted to hear guitar (he pretended like you weren’t his first crush)

before tenma could become chicken and run away from the confrontation, he heard a few familiar notes before you began singing. the recognition kicked in as tenma creeped closer, poking his head around the open door frame with a curious look as you stood dancing around in the middle of the room, already smiling at him

you were singing the ost of the latest drama he was in!

did you learn it just for him? tenma was about to ask, but you ran over, not letting him get away this time as you tossed him a fake mic (which he embarrassingly almost didn’t catch)

were you asking for a duet? your guitar skills had gotten much better over time, in fact, little tenma couldn’t tell the difference between you and the professional who originally played it! tenma felt himself get into the music as you dragged him to the center, giving him an opening to join

tenma took it, and before you two knew it, there was no need to exchange any words as you two sang your heart out without any care in the world to the pop ost

for once in his life, tenma felt like this was what it was like having a friend! he always had those on screen, but this felt real. like, these were the childhood memories he always had to act out for the camera, just yelling lyrics loudly surrounded by instruments and a friend who learned his ost just to make him happy!

out of breath, tenma panted as you played the final notes, letting it hang in the air as the incoming warm air entered through the open windows. you two’s shadows struck final idol poses, like you were actually on stage

a moment of silence passed before you grinned, yelling a celebratory “yes!” as you held your hand out for a high five. tenma just weakly put his palm against yours, trying not to blush from the contact (was this what it was like, holding your hand?)

“dude, we need to start a band!” you exclaimed, not even looking tired as tenma wiped the sweat from his forehead with a grimance. maybe not the right decision if he didn’t have the stamina to be a chart–topping singer

“i... i don’t play any instruments—” tenma started shyly, wringing his hands together before you shook your head rapidly, putting your hands on your hips with an exasperated expression

“but we’re friends!” you insisted, not giving him time to answer as you threw him another water bottle (you had brought an extra, hoping tenma would come by again)

tenma stared at you, shocked as he gripped the water bottle between his small hands. friends? already? was... was this tenma’s first real friend? and his first band, apparently?

you rearranged your items, setting up your music sheets as you quickly glanced over the notes. you could sight read, and you learned it all by yourself, you were so talented, but you wanted to be friends with him?

when you lifted your head with a bright grin, passion within your eyes for music, tenma nodded with determination as he tightened his grip on the bottle. it was his first gift from his first friend

“yeah, we’re friends! let’s do it!” tenma said, watching as you cheered again and confidently high–fiving you this time (last second, you switched your hand to a fist and called it a ‘turkey’. whatever that was)

and that, was the start of the two–man duo band as tenma made his first friend (and crush)

you two grew up together, with tenma prospering in his fame as a multitalented child prodigy

despite his hard–earned popularity as an actor, tenma was never ever late to band practice! you two came to the unlocked music room every day after school, with props as microphones and animatedly daydreaming about stage costumes and the feeling of the lights upon your glowing faces

“do you ever dream about being on stage, ten?” you’d ask, gazing out at the sunset as you fiddled around with the drumsticks, attempting to pick up the beat as your eyes flickered from the orange sky to the worn down drums. tenma would just shrug, laying on the floor after a particularly hard song as he lazily strummed your favorite guitar

(this explained the callouses on your fingers despite being so young, you had rougher hands than him)

“i don’t know, i’m already on t.v.” tenma would justify, just staring at the ceiling as he’d watch the shadows of the trees outside against the surface. these were the moments he remembered the most, where you two took a break from the music and talked endlessly until it was time to go home

“i mean, it’s all scripted, right?” you asked, satisfied as you put your sticks down after finally acing that one technique you struggled with. tenma unstrapped the guitar and rolled to his side, propping his head up with his arm as he considered your question

“yeah... i guess it is.” tenma figured, about to go back to play with the strings before you landed next to him, facing him in the same position as you smiled

you always had that smile whenever you ranted about your ‘big break’, your rise to stardom and dreams to be the #1 global singer in the world (tenma never brought you down to earth, not even for a second)

“on t.v., you can just edit it out, right? but on stage, it’s all live. if i make a mistake, everyone knows.” you furrowed your eyebrows, looking too serious for a young child as you looked past him, as if you were imagining what could go wrong

before tenma could snap you out of it, your eyes landed back on him and you giggled, flopping onto your back as you put your arms across your chest

“that’s what’s so exciting about the stage, ten. every time i go out there, i’m always gonna do my best! i’m gonna be the best performer on the whole entire planet!” you suddenly jumped up, acting out your idol persona as you faked holding a mic, striking your iconic pose you had perfected over time

(tenma just stared up at you, wondering why you shined so much in the light. he wanted to see you under stage lights, though. if you glowed this much now, you would be blinding in front of a crowd)

“and you’ll be with me!” you pointed your invisible mic at tenma as he smiled, not considering any other future as he pushed himself up with his own mic

“i’ll be on stage with you forever!” tenma guarenteed, performing your complex secret handshake as you two made explosion sounds at the end, pretending to fall back from the boom

“come on, let’s practice for when our first show comes!” you ended break time as you took your guitar back. tenma kicked back on the keyboard, not knowing a thing about it but wanting to try his best for you

as you two rocked on, tenma knew you two had were beyond any battle of the bands competition. you two were unstoppable, you two would sell out arenas and pose for the papparazzi together, you two would perform together!

or at least, that’s what tenma thought before one day, his parents came to pick him up

when his famous, high–standard, professional parents arrived to surprise him, they didn’t expect to search the building with a teacher who had no idea she was tutoring him. when they heard the loud singing, all they had to do was coldly glare at their son to make tenma quiet down and obediently follow them to the car

“sumeragi tenma, we raised you better than this. we’ve given you the perfect life, how could you lie to us?!” tenma’s mother cursed, grabbing his hair once they were out of sight of any witnesses. tenma flinched as his parents dragged him to the car, looking back to see you had ran to the entrance with wide eyes

“wait!” you insisted, catching up with his parents with a stubborn expression, holding onto tenma’s blazer sleeve and staring tenma’s father right in his strict face (tenma wished he was as brave and cool as you)

“get off, kid.” tenma’s father spat out, trying to shake you off as tenma kept his head down, attempting not to cry as he bunched his hands into fists. he pretended like this was just some scene, he had to keep his emotions in check behind a mask. he was raised to act like the best son

“no! tenma’s my friend!” you declared and tenma whipped his head up, staring at you with a sad smile as his father scoffed, prying your tight fingers off tenma’s school uniform as you stumbled back. when you hit the ground and sat up, tenma almost escaped his parents’ clutches as he called your name, being shoved into the backseat against his will

“tenma’s not friends with nobodies.” tenma’s father laughed maliciously, slamming the door closed as the family car swerved out of the parking lot

as you put your hand down from blocking the dust, you helplessly watched as tenma performed his end of the secret handshake as he faded into the distance. you stood back up, brushed down your uniform, and made your way back to the music room with tears in your eyes

you were going to be the best lead singer in the world, and tenma was going to sit front row for every show. tenma was gonna be your friend forever

(even if he mysteriously transferred schools the next day)

you began auditions to be involved in the entertainment industry as well

you wanted to be famous just like tenma, if you had become as popular and talented, maybe his parents would let you keep seeing him

entering middle school, you dedicated all your time to improving as an artist outside of your academic studies and transforming the abandoned elementary music room into your practice area

you practiced everyday until your throat was sore, you snuck into the local theatre stage and pretended like it was your concert, you tried to master every instrument that was available to you (though, you never forgot about your original guitar) just to become famous

it wasn’t until you gained your second fan, that your band took off

it was midway through middle school, after countless failed auditions for entertainment companies, that you turned and saw someone hiding in the same spot tenma claimed all those years ago. you blinked, but instead of an orange hue, you found a future bandmate who was just as enthusiastic about music as you

slowly but surely, your band became special to five students as their bond strengthened the core of your group: NATSU-mmer!

(the name flowed naturally since your group’s energetic, poppy, bright music became your image and was a happiness boost for anyone who listened)

although you guys weren’t experienced, your crazy energy and unbreakable friendship sold you to the public as your online covers and self–composed tracks became viral hits over time

you were on guitar and vocals with the support of more guitar, drums, keyboard, and tambourine! as you five practiced until the end of the day, your dedication and passion to music shined as you became famous as the lead singer of NATSU-mmer!

as years passed, you kept tabs on tenma every now and then. you would binge every show he was on, even if he had a minor background role, and couldn’t believe this was the same boy who sang proudly in the afternoon sun like it was a spotlight

tenma was older now, but he still had the same arrogant smirk he wore when he got competitive about beating other bands or who could shriek the highest note. he still had the same orange hair you noticed that one day from behind the window and he still acted like he was the best (maybe, because he was to you)

although you always answered his name when asked who your favorite actor was, you never told anyone your history with him. it felt almost too personal to say anything, when your friendship with him was still close to your heart and would always be associated with those practices after school

you respected his privacy and let him be, knowing damn well you wouldn’t have made it this far without his absence pushing you to be the best possible

(when asked about why you began singing and becoming the leader of your band, you never mentioned the truth: how you wanted to become famous to be tenma’s friend again)

although you two were both now in the entertainment industry, you never reached out to him again because it felt like acting and music was in two different worlds. as tenma dominated the billboards and popularity ratings in magazines, you strummed your guitar and sang with all your heart to your fanbase on stage

you forgot about the promise you had with tenma, until it was time

NATSU-mmer was having its first stadium show as an anniversary gift to the fans, selling out within minutes as you were processing the news. your bandmates screamed around you, jumping up and down as they loudly discussed how this was an once–in–a–lifetime opportunity

you smiled, but you had a distant look in your eyes. you were remembering tenma, even though he hadn’t crossed your mind in months, with the pressure and business of rehearsals and concerts and all that

it was nearing summer, you two were on break again after tenma’s voice cracked from a tune. you did your best not to laugh as you two sat on the desks, staring out at the sunset nearing in silence, just the sound of you two’s slightly heavy breathing from the work out

“do you think we’ll ever become big, ten?” you asked innocently, always talking about your dreams together as if tenma wasn’t a renowned actor already. tenma didn’t answer right away, resting his face against the window pane on his folded arms as he blew a strand of hair out of his face

“i don’t know, my parents want me to become a famous actor.” tenma sighed and you laughed, nudging him slightly with your elbow

“you’re already famous, ten! that’s why i call you ten, because you’re a 10/10 in every review!” you brought up again as tenma laughed with you, finding the whole situation funny for no reason

“yeah, but an even bigger actor. i’m gonna win best lead actor in every country.” tenma huffed, puffing his chest out like he was those big hotshot teen “heart–throb” actors while flexing his non–existent muscles

“and i’m gonna win every music award show trophy!” you added and tenma nodded, like he was so sure these were your fates. like nothing could change, like it was a matter of fact

“you will...” tenma trailed off, suddenly thinking about something. before you could ask, he fully turned his body towards you as he grinned, holding his pinky out

“but really, once you get that stadium, imma be front row and center!” tenma promised and you looped your finger around his, believing in him 100%

“no, you’ll be backstage! or better yet, on stage with me!” you fantasized as you two dreamily imagined it, shaking your pinkies before letting go with a secret promise you could never break

“we should spit shake.” tenma spat in his hand as you shrieked, ranting about how gross he was as he chased after you like every annoying little boy did. your laughter faded in your memory as you remembered the promise you and tenma made that day

“ten, it’s my first stadium show.” you whispered under your breath, not noticing the sunset outside the practice room

tenma sometimes wondered what would’ve happened if he ended up in a band with you. by no means was he idol material, but at night, he liked to lay down and stare at the ceiling, in the same position whenever he needed to cool down after practice

he had forgotten your name at this point, overwhelmed and exhausted from his acting career and lack of childhood that he had to skip over. from the scarce memories of his youth, all he could distinguish between the blurs was your face grinning happily at him as you jumped in the air with your guitar

(and something about how rough your hands were against his own)

all tenma knew was that he wanted to be on stage with you, and his younger self would’ve done anything to do so

tenma continued acting, forgetting all about his dream to be in a two–man band with you and kept his roles to the camera, skyrocketing into fame faster than anyone before him and staying in the limelight

in a way, both of you had accomplished your dream, just not together

tenma had joined mankai company, to the shock of every media outlet ever. the starlet had overcome his fear of making mistakes, he remembered clearly before he went onto the theatre stage for water me! the first time, a young voice echoed in his ears

“that’s what’s so exciting about the stage, ten. every time i go out there, i’m always gonna do my best! i’m gonna be the best performer on the whole entire planet!”

tenma remembered seeing your face clearly for the first time in a while, remembering every detail of your childhood self as he bunched his two hands into fists, staring at the spotlight upon the stage with the same determination he had when you two became friends

“i’m going to do my best.” tenma said and the rest was left on the stage until closing night

adjusting to mankai was a process. growing up with no true friends, both in school and in the entertainment industry, had surprisingly taken a toll on his behavior without him realizing it. to mankai, he wasn’t the famous star tenma, he was just the really not–put–together teen who wanted to take care of his bonsai in peace

so this is what having friends is like, tenma once thought as he glanced upon the entourage. it was the last time he truly remembered your friendship before he moved on, hoping one day he’d see you someday again

it wasn’t until he happened upon kazunari and misumi’s hanging out session that he was struck with memory of your name

the two were excitedly talking to one another, kazunari rapidly tapping on his phone screen and holding it up to misumi’s attentive face. tenma was about to walk away from the everyday meet–up before kazunari hyped up some group, letting a music video blast from his speaker

over the exaggerated “wow~ that’s a triangle!”, tenma stopped dead in his tracks as he heard a strong, enthusiastic voice belt out a familiar lyric. tenma jumped over to kazunari on the sofa, grabbing both his shoulders with desperation. misumi even paused the video to stare at tenma with shock

“who’s singing this?!” tenma rushed out as kazunari just grinned, finding nothing wrong with being trampled by his troupe leader

“ah! tenten~ are you interested, too?! it’s NATSU-mmer, i was thinking to ask them to sing our next play theme!” kazunari joked before misumi tugged him out of tenma’s grip. as the two went back to watching, tenma repeated the band name multiple times before running to his room and slamming the door

“what the hell do you—” yuki started, looking up from his sewing machine before tenma threw himself onto his bed, fumbling for his phone as he began typing something. tenma paused, zooming in on a group photo before dropping his phone

“THAT’S MY FRIEND!” tenma yelled, swiping through the photos as he finally recognized your name. it was you, the guitarist soloist back in elementary who was his first friend. you had done it, you actually became a full blown band leader who was rising in popularity. he was right in not questioning your dreams

yuki leaned his chair back to sneak a glance at the screen, furrowing his eyebrows as he stared at tenma with disbelief

saying your name, yuki scoffed as he crossed his arms, “the lead vocal of NATSU-mmer, one of the most popular bands in japan right now, is your friend? yeah, right.”

tenma furiously shook his head, sitting up and launching into the full story he didn’t even know he remembered about how you were his bandmate in elementary. yuki barely listened, but got the gist of the tale as he pinched the bridge of his nose with a sigh

“you’re telling me... you grew up with NATSU-mmer’s powerhouse vocalist... and you didn’t even know?!”

tenma sheepishly kicked at the floor, rubbing the back of his neck with an awkward laugh

“maybe?”

(tenma yelped when yuki threw a pillow at his dumb face with perfect aim)

turns out, everyone in mankai had either known of NATSU-mmer or were huge fans, there was no in between. most of the high schoolers actively followed your band account across multiple platforms, gushing about your performances and how you were a fresh group that came from nothing

the university students knew an album or two, the adults mainly had an idea, and matsukawa even sang along to their songs this entire time! tenma was the last person to find out who your group even was (he was out of the loop all the time)

now that he knew, he was becoming aware of how prominent you had always been in his life. yuki took fashion inspiration from your stage outfits for the plays (they were as spectacular as he remembered imagining them), kazunari kept repeating your title tracks during breaks at practice to keep the mood up (tenma stopped telling him to turn it off), muku’s favorite anime he watched at night had an ost sang by you (tenma listened to it every night through the walls), misumi even pointed out the five people in your band formed a triangle when you all did a group photo (tenma guessed he was onto something, he noticed you were always at the center)

it was like you were still his friend, after all this time, still apart of his life despite the distance

because of this, tenma remained your biggest fan of all time. at first, he intended to follow your music casually, but after going down a rabbit hole of videos (such as interviews, streamed concerts/events, even fan–edited videos of your cute/funny moments or “meet NATSU-mmer” style of “crack edits”), tenma would consider himself a proud “sunflower”

(it was ironic that was your fanbase’s name, because he called you that after you got your first official guitar and you two painted sunflowers on the surface. in a way, he stayed in your life too, since you were both each other’s sunflower and sunshine)

tenma even made a stan twitter account for you! he made it with no intention to dm other sunflowers, but he turned on notifications for your band’s sns and replied to your posts with encouraging messages and reminders to take care of yourself

(he became known in the fandom as “ten”, the sunflower who was practically in love with you) (his icon was always you)

(tenma even bought merch with his own money. yes, he had a jersey with your birth year and last name, tenma admitted from his “early stan” days) (his home screen was a hq fansite picture of you holding a microphone towards the camera, as if you were still inviting him to sing along after all these years)

(he also somehow got roped into downloading your beat rhythm game, knowing you probably crushed all the levels as he struggled with beginner’s) (he got distracted by your voice singing in the background)

(one time, you had a live ig q&a and when you answered his question by saying his username “summerten”, he nearly fell over from excitement) (yuki had to kick him to shut tenma up with his internal freak–out)

tenma’s favorite thing to do as a stan was to watch your performances as if he was there. he had bought your group’s lightstick (a sunflower with spinning petals, how cute!), shaking it in front of his laptop screen and posting pictures with the “TT” sad emoticon

(summerten: TT just want to go to a concert so bad ~ 14 likes)

you were the same as you were before back in elementary. you still danced and sang with all the energy in the world, with uncontainable excitement to be doing what you love and your raw honest personality with your fans was admirable. you were open and the perfect idol since you were so passionate and uplifting with your self–produced/written music

you took the stage by storm, acting like it was your own and wildly playing your guitar like it was your last. you still had the same electric smile and sunny happiness, of course you had become famous for being in a band, you were born to be a star

present day, tenma was practicing his lines with the rest of the summer troupe before his phone buzzed in his pocket, making him automatically check it as summer snickered about his obsession with NATSU-mmer (only yuki really knew why as he refused to tell anybody else, just claiming it was teenage boy hormones)

tenma’s face paled and he looked like he was about to pass out. before anyone could ask, tenma sprinted out of the practice room with an urgent stride to his steps

everyone automatically followed him, yelling about how practice wasn’t over as tenma stumbled to his desk, opening his laptop with such determination it was admirable how one–minded he truly was

“why did you run like someone died?!” yuki whacked him over the head but tenma didn’t react, just logged into a ticketing website with intensity

“someone will die if i don’t get tickets to NATSU-mmer’s second anniversary stadium concert!” tenma insisted, memorizing what he was supposed to do as he sat down, biting his nails as he stared at his spot in the queue. oh god

understandably so, no one understood why tenma had to go to the concert so bad (“why doesn’t he just use his connections to get tickets?” “he really loves NATSU-mmer, huh...” “they do form a triangle!” “shut up”). yet, they resigned themselves to this predicament and let tenma end practice early, knowing pulling him away from his screen would make things way worse

sitting around him, the summer troupe kept light conversation as tenma tapped his foot against the floorboards, willing himself to stare straight ahead to react the fastest

i have to keep my promise, tenma thought as he impulsively bought five tickets without warning, all front row and didn’t wince at his bank balance

tenma promised he’d see you front row at your first stadium concert, and on god, he was going to keep it

when the troupe cheered and rambunctiously discussed tenma’s generousity to take them to the concert with him, yuki stood in the back with his arms crossed and eyes watching tenma carefully

“you hack... you still like them, don’t you?” yuki mumbled, not catching anyone’s attention. it didn’t take a genius to piece together the puzzle, he knew you were much more than just tenma’s first childhood friend, but he didn’t say anything else as tenma breathed a sigh of relief at the mercy of the ticket gods

(when tenma tweeted how he was going to the stadium show, his mutuals showered him in congratulations and your official account even liked it) (he keyboard–smashed like the fanboy he was)

while you were preparing for your opening stadium event for the first time in your professional career, tenma was planning the entire trip as best as he could

(yuki felt so bad for him and his very obvious crush that he made him a sunflower headband for the concert, it was so nice tenma almost went in for a hug before yuki smacked him)

the night of the stadium concert, you were sitting backstage dressed in your group’s common bright fun colors as you fiddled with your guitar, playing a tune you hadn’t remembered until recently. you thought of a little boy with orange hair and purple eyes as you stared off into the distance, just nonchalantly playing the song you two had wrote together back then

as you kept strumming, you imagined him sitting front row, cheering you on

(maybe, you shouldn’t have stalked his official sns accounts before going to sleep last night)

you knew it was last second. but for some reason, even if he never heard it, you had to honor your relationship with tenma

in a way, you would have never been here without his friendship, and you wanted to thank him even if he wouldn’t be there

it took a lot of convincing for your solo stage to be moved to last with no backing track whatsoever (your manager was suspicious of what you had up your sleeve, but you promised it wouldn’t hurt your group’s image), but you did it!

your group pestered you obnoxiously about the change, their sibling–esque bond with you as their “parent” making you laugh as you played it off like it was no big deal.

(as you opened a guitar case you hadn’t brought along in a long time, you smiled down at the worn sunflower–painted guitar)

this was your first stadium show and you could only dream of tenma being right beside you

summer troupe arrived at the stadium hours early, but there was already a long line with campers filling the streets (“why are people sleeping outside just to see some cute people?!” “stan culture, man...”)

tenma was excited in line, not even bothered by the length of the wait as he rambled about your group discography to the boys, subconsciously waving around his sign as he pushed up his sunglasses

(how no one recognized his bright orange hair was beyond anyone’s common sense)

when the group made it past security with a few mishaps (muku making himself look like he was highly suspicious by stuttering and kazunari having to come in to save the day with his social media presence) (misumi almost stripping down for no apparent reason) (yuki actually walked like a normal person with nothing to hide), tenma practically ran to his seat like he was a child again

“everyone say NATSU!” kazunari held his phone up for a group selfie, the five making a triangle as he posted it to his story, tagging it with the group hashtag and the location as always

your band member was scrolling through the hashtag with the group account, showing everyone fan pictures and providing over–the–top commentary, as you all sat in a circle waiting for the show to begin

“oh~ it’s that kazu guy! he usually posts stories with our songs!” your band member said, swiping to their most recent story and your eyes widened

was that a shock of orange hair?

you couldn’t have missed it. that had to be tenma, no other fan would just show up with sunglasses front row like he promised before

did he remember you? before you could react, everyone moved onto the next fan and complimented them endlessly, your mind still stuck on that orange hair

it couldn’t have been... but yet, you smiled

at least you could imagine singing to someone for your stage at the end

when the concert began with a strum of your guitar, tenma let out the most excited scream of all time as his voice was drowned out by the rest of the fans. summer troupe side–eyed him but ignored his frantic lightstick waving as they watched the five members of NATSU–mmer rise from the stage in their iconic poses (yours was the same from childhood)

“who’s ready to start this summer off right?!” you shouted into your mic, your voice vibrating the open stadium as the fans cheered in response. tenma was quiet this time, staring up at you with such admiration yuki had to shove him out of it (“don’t be so dumb right now, enjoy the show!” “shut up, i wasn’t staring!” “i didn’t say you were...”)

you guys opened with your debut song, going back to your humble beginnings in the elementary practice room as everyone danced the night away. everyone online was right; streams could never compare to the real thing. tenma didn’t care about being “cool” for once as he jumped up and down

(kazunari definitely got multiple videos of him singing every song word for word at the top of his lungs like his life depended on it) (there’s also a video of him crying to an emotional ballad song, just full sobbing as muku awkwardly patted his back while worriedly glancing at the camera)

(“it’s so sad...” tenma sniffled as yuki practically shoved his own hands into his mouth, trying not to laugh for once)

the event passed in a flash, your stamina crazy high as you didn’t even seem tired. you looked more alive than ever, especially when you began giving your final speech of the night as NATSU-mmer’s leader

“hi, sunflowers!” you giggled, the fans awww–ing in unison and tenma was staring at you like you were the sun. he was right, you were so bright under the spotlight, it was blinding

“thank you so much for coming to our first stadium show.” you bowed and tenma noticed your hand was shaking around the mic. he was worried, were you okay?

“actually, this is very special to me, not because it’s a stadium, but because you’re all here to share it with me~” you cutely said, laughing when everyone cooed. you kept going, all the attention on you as the background musicians began filing out backstage. murmurs filled the stadium, what was going on?

“but also... i made a promise back then, to my very first fan, band mate, and dear friend of mine, someone i’ll call sunshine for now.” you said and yuki’s head snapped to tenma, who was looking at you with a small smile

“he said he’d be front row when i had my stadium show, and...” you trailed off, turning to the summer’s troupe location as the group members excluding yuki and tenma excitedly talked amongst themselves (“oh my god, does NATSU-mmer recognize us?! let’s invite them to our opening night next month!”)

“he is.” you finished, smiling as the tears you kept in glistened under the light. tenma roughly wiped under his eyes, hoping no one noticed as he made eye contact with you for the first time in years

“this is for sunshine, the first song we ever wrote, called sunflower dreams.”

you stepped up and placed the mic on the stand decorated with vines and yellow petals, swinging your guitar around to the front as tenma recognized its sunflower pattern. he knew both your names was signed behind it

“hide all the feelings in your heart, someday the season will go on and change.” you sang, the whole stadium silent with the single spotlight on you. you stood center, like it was the elementary music room again

tenma held his breath, trying not to sing along to avoid the confused looks of his friends. he knew every word, even though it was unreleased. you two worked on the song so hard, it became the only song you two finished to completion

“as i looked at the sky, it was a faraway dream,” you opened your eyes and looked directly at him, like he was still the same shy kid who hid behind the wall just to hear you sing. for a moment, tenma went back to that time like it was just you two again

“we’ll reach that sky someday.” you smiled before you heard your own voice, remembering something about the promise: “no, you’ll be backstage! or better yet, on stage with me!”

without thinking, you quickly grabbed a microphone left on stage and turned it on, tossing it to tenma who didn’t drop it this time

sunmer troupe exchanged wild glances between each other as you went to their side of the stage, holding your hand out with a shaky smile

“you know the rest, right, ten?” you asked, afraid to move back before tenma nodded, not caring about hiding his identity as security let him through

although there were tens of thousands of people, tenma took your hand and felt like you two were back in school together, just practicing like always

(your hand was smoother, but you still had the same callouses from playing guitar)

you started strumming again and it didn’t take any effort before you two bounced off each other like before, singing sunflower dreams like it was just yesterday as fans made the connection sumeragi tenma was on stage

(“oh my god, tenten!!!” kazunari shrieked, recording despite his full phone storage. muku was sparkling, dreamily calling it a manga moment as misumi said something about you being one of tenma’s three happinesses. yuki just smiled, he knew it)

when you two ended the song with your (not so) secret handshake like no time has passed, you and tenma grinned as you two immediately hugged on stage

“ten, i knew you’d remember.” you whispered, and tenma just smiled even bigger as he ignored the crowd’s volume

“i knew you’d become a famous singer and win every single music award. you were born for the stage.” tenma said, and you were blinding under the spotlight

you two accomplished your dream for your childhood selves this time: performing on stage together

[belpheroo]

home again home again

Pairing: Mammon x MC Rating: T Summary: A follow-up to the last day. MC Adjusts to life back in the human realm, but Devildom just can’t stay away.

As Lucifer had promised, when she returned home, no time had passed. It was as if that year, that time she spent in Devildom, belonged wholly to a time and a place outside of the realm of her human reality.

He had warned her some memories might soften, fading around the edges until she would start to question whether they had happened… but given her celestial heritage, perhaps she would have a different experience. She was no magic user like Solomon, but Lilith’s blood was magic in itself and that blood was in her veins, no matter how small.

She left her bags packed on her floor, venturing out her bedroom door and into the hallway. It was twilight, just like when she left, warm amber sunlight shining just barely over the edges of the window frames.

A clock ticked. Her cat mrrowed curiously from their sleeping spot. Her college texts laid on the small kitchen table, notebooks and pens scattered where she had left them.

Quietly, deliberately, she moved through her small kitchenette, putting on her electric kettle and taking down a familiar mug and a familiar bag of tea. She ripped open the package, set the bag in the mug and waited.

And waited.

And waited for it to feel real.

---

A week went by and then another. Her morning classes came and went. She found herself falling behind her friends, not even listening to their chatter as she focused out on the people passing by on their street and across it.

“Who are you looking for?”

One of them had asked, smiling and cheeky.

“You have a date?”

There was no shock of white among the crowd, no familiar voice.

“... no, I’m just… people watching.”

By the time she got home and set down to study she noted all the doodles in her margins were of tiny lesser demons, with their top-hats and little horns.

She sighed, dropping her pencil in defeat and picking up her phone to check Devilgram. In front of her eyes, the screen displayed one sentence in a grey box:

Out of Service Zone

Mammon had said it would work, that it would still connect… but it seemed he was wrong. Instead, she navigated to her saved chats, flicking through lines of conversations and messages going back the course of the year. It was easy to get lost, to read and to laugh and think of those past conversations and of her boys, somewhere in a realm between worlds.

She knew it wasn’t a good idea to get too caught up, not when there was work still to be done. With a heart, no less heavy, she moved to set the device face down on her desk when she noted the screen had illuminated, the pale blue-green color showing against the table surface.

She held her breath as she turned it over.

Signal Found Reestablishing Connection…

…

…

Connection Reestablished

The access was slow, nothing had changed on the screen, no new notifications or chats. She waited, eager to see the little pink birds that would soon dot her screen. She wondered how they all had been doing, whether they missed her and how things were.

She had expected a few notifications, maybe even none. It had only been a week now. Instead, she opened the message center to a proverbial flood of little bird notifications. It was enough to make her laugh, the joy in her chest bursting forward as she opened the main chat group “House of Lamentation”. There were all the same questions she had for them- how are you? What have you been doing? Do you miss us?

Before responding though, her eyes caught to one of those messages with a little gold eye icon. The messages she was not supposed to be included on but for whatever reason her settings gave her access. She hadn’t seen this title before… the chat subject line simply her name followed by Absence Support Group

She clicked it.

Asmodeus: As discussed! This chat is for the support of all of us who miss our dearly departed exchange student.

Asmodeus: This is a judgement free zone <3

Satan: When you say it like that it sounds like she’s dead… couldn’t we all just text her when we miss her?

Asmodeus: Judgement. Free. Zone. ~<3

Levi: Unless your name is Stupid Mammon.

Mammon: HEY

Mammon: NO

Levi: sTuPiD mAmMoN

Belphie: Great. Another chat for me to mute. Zzz

Beel: Has anyone else texted her? I texted her. It isn’t open.

Asmodeus: Hmm? Yes, she hasn’t opened my pics either.

Mammon: PICS?

Asmodeus: Oh yes <3

Mammon: THE HELL KINDA PICS YOU SENDIN’ MY GIRL, ASSMO?

Asmodeus: Judgement Free Zone <3 <3 <3

Mammon has been muted for One minute.

Levi: You have GOT to show me how to do that!!!

Beel: I text her when I am thinking of her.

Beel: Yesterday, I got up for a snack. I stopped at her room and knocked to see if she wanted any.

Beel:  I had forgotten.

Mammon’s muted minute had been up even, judging by the time stamps, but there was still a prolonged pause before someone else responded.

Satan: I remembered I lent her a book. The Corpus Hermetica. She left it in my room sometime before she left… her bookmark was still in it.

Beel: Are you using it?

Satan: I-- yes.

Belphie: I took a nap in her old bed the other day. The sheets don’t smell like her anymore.

Levi: … I’ve been playing her really crappy low leveled character in Memoirs of the Samurai-Ninja, Warriors of Dynasty 6. So she doesn’t get even MORE behind in events.

Mammon: Oi, back up. Belphie, you did WHAT now?!

Mammon has been muted for Two minutes.

Asmodeus: No judgment zone!!

And it went on like that. Day after day. One of them would post a thought or a feeling or a moment that struck them, that reminded them of her. It shocked her a bit when the dots of something typing began to appear, then disappear, then appear and… then disappear. And this carried on for a long time before finally a new message appeared.

Mammon: So. I’m totally NOT super completely upset but the other day I was doing some a m a z i n g modeling work and the camera lady asked me where my “human friend” was.

Mammon: Threw even me, THE Mammon, off his game.

Asmodeus: Because they called her your “friend” instead of your “girlfriend”? <3

Mammon: No!

Mammon: But she is. 😈

Belphie: What if she gets a human boyfriend?

Mammon: EH?! No way! No human boy can compare to ME.

Satan: Well, you are here. She is there. Do you really expect her to wait for you?

Mammon: …

Belphie: Maybe she’d wait for one of us. But Mammon?

Mammon: H-hey! What happened to the judgment free zone?!

Satan: Would explain why she hasn’t called.

Belphie: Or texted.

Mammon: …

She felt her heart sink. She didn’t have a human boyfriend! She’d just had absolutely no SIGNAL since she had gotten back to the human realm! Panicking, she hurried to the phone section of the D.D.D and pulled Mammon’s contact up.

Hurriedly she pressed the dial, listening to the faint tone as it rang.

And rang.

And rang.

The connection was in and out again, sometimes the ring distorted with feedback. The call dropped and quickly she re-dialed again.

“C’mon… c’mon! Mammon! Pick up!”

Click.

The ringing stopped. The timer flickered on. Call Ongoing 00:03.

“Mammon?! Are you there? Can you hear me?”

There was a voice, but it was choppy and undecipherable.

“My D.D.D. isn’t working right! I can’t understand you, but if you can understand me I-- I wanted to call and say-- um. I wanted to say--!”

The line was quiet.

“I miss you all so much! S-so… please convince Lucifer to let me visit! Or come visit me!”

The phone made a sound, a strangled static burst. The battery flickered even though it had been nearly full just moments ago.

“The connection is draining my stupid phone! Ugh, I’m sorry! Tell everyone I said hello and I miss them!” she paused, words stuck on her tongue as she tried to get them out, “And Mammon… I miss you most! And I love--”

The phone made a ding sound as the battery finally and truly died. She dove to her bag, digging out the charger and desperately trying to plug it in. The first time in weeks she managed to get a call in and the human realm to Devildom signal was that bad?!

“Stupid phone. Stupid stupid stupid…”

There was a faint smell, like sulphur or burning wood. She made a face, looking over the device for any sign of damage and finding none at all. That was odd… but still she could smell an ever growing scent like something had caught fire.

Standing up, she turned half towards the hall and abruptly dropped her phone in sheer shock, the device clattering loudly.

Mammon was breathing heavily, steam coming off his body in waves. He was in his devil-form, all horns and wings.

“Wh...what… was that… last bit?” he panted, leaning against the hallway wall, “I didn’t… hear all of it!”

“You came all the way here just to finish a phone call?” she said teasingly, knowing full well what it was he really came for.

“Please! A… transport like that… is ah- nothing! To the Great Mammon!” he was still out of breath, but catching it quickly, “Now. What did you say?”

There was nothing suave in his question, nothing concealed or charming. There was something more desperate in his eyes, something needy. Her lips curled into a fond smile as she found the words came so much easier the second time.

“Mammon, I love you.”

“... of course ya do.” Mammon said, crossing the space between her both until she was snuggly in his arms. He was warm, warmer than usual after his trip, but that smell would HAVE to go.

“You need a bath.”

“Tch… then give me one.” he grumbled in reply.

Who would possibly say no?

[tinyshinysylveon]

i suddenly got this idea where izuku is an anonymous famous editor for youtubers who hire him to edit their videos because he’s a professional at doing it, and katsuki is an upcoming youtube vlogger who travels around the world and yet doesn’t know how to edit his own videos to save his life, so no matter what he does, he always seem to mess up even the basics of editing (part 1/??)

“i think you need professional help” kirishima says as he watches katsuki trying to drag an edited cut on to his video for the umpteenth time that day “shut up, shitty hair just give me a minute-” an error popup. “did you just.. deleted the video?” “....”

katsuki keeps trying, he even watched tutorials on youtube (while skipping important segments ofc because he can totally do that all on his own!) but his patience is wearing thin until kirishima recommended him to someone who’s known in the youtube community for their famous editing skills 

“..deku?” katsuki stares at his screen showing a youtube profile with the name deku as their username and an icon of all might with edited-in sunglasses “okay look, he may seem suspicious to you, but i gotta tell you bakugou, he’s legit, i’ve seen his videos and they look awesome!” well katsuki will be the judge of that despite this deku having 5 mil+ subscribers than him!

the blonde spent the whole day watching deku’s videos which mostly consists of amvs (anime music videos) and games, especially the ones that required a lot of effort to make, plus he even made tutorials! so he gotta give him credit for that, but alas, katsuki is still somehow having trouble following directions and gave up on the latest tutorial video on how to add an easy transition 

when kirishima came to check in with katsuki, all he heard were multiple clicks and grumbled noises, he let out an exasperated sigh “i can’t believe you’re still trying..” “what the fuck do you want me to do kirishima?” katsuki was trying not to flip his table at this point. “hire him obviously!” the red head yells out as if that’s the answer to their problems “..and how do you suppose i do that?” 

it actually took a lot of convincing in kirishima’s part, but katsuki finally threw away his pride and decided to send a message to deku’s business email that was left under his about page on youtube 

“..i want you to become my editor and help me in becoming the #1 youtube travel vlogger in the community” kirishima reads the message out loud that’s displayed on the screen, “you sure you want to send it like this?” “i don’t see anything wrong with it?” “but don’t you think it’s too.. blunt? no formalities or anything like, hello i’ve seen your videos and i would be honored to have you as my editor, you know?” katsuki just shrugged, “it’s too late, i already sent it to him”

about half a day later, deku replied back, “Good afternoon Mr.Explosionmurder, I appreciate that you requested me to become your editor and would like to discuss further details about our agreement via discord. You can contact me by adding my username, deku#2463. I look forward to hearing from you.” to this day, kirishima still can’t believe his eyes when he read the message

“oi shitty hair, what’s a discord?” 

it wasn’t katsuki’s fault that the majority of time he spent in high school was doing his best to stay on top of assignments and projects, plus being in the A honor roll, he didn’t really get to decide on his career until after he graduated, thanks to the courtesy of his parents owning their own modeling industry, he put the money he saved up to good use in traveling around the world and vlogging it for people to see with kirishima as his traveling partner

he explained all of this and his reasonings to deku on discord once he reached out to him and figured out how to use the platform, but katsuki was still suspicious regarding his video editing skills and wanted to see it firsthand on how his videos would look like as a finished product

deku: fair enough, send me your videos and i’ll see what i can do, until then, if you deem it satisfactory, which i’m confident that you will, i request a 50/50 payment on your revenue. take it or leave it. 

for some reason, katsuki agreed to it without a second thought due to the challenging tone from the message; “i can’t believe you! i told you to trust him! why do you have to doubt him?! haven’t you already seen his videos?!” kirishima was full on panicking at this point, how were they going to make money?! “shut up, i know what i’m doing! i know what’s best for my videos!” it was a good chance too since they’re currently in hong kong and planning to shoot the top 10 tourist spots to visit as claimed by an article he found online

a few days later, katsuki finally got all the videos piled up in one folder and sent them all in a google drive to share with deku just as he requested, he even mentioned to him thru discord message to follow the cues he was giving him on his videos such as when he and kirishima took a stroll and tried foods in the temple street night market; “hey deku, i want you to do a close up of kirishima eating the curry fish ball with erotic music playing in the background” he smirks while focusing the camera on the red head eating without a care in the world and not noticing katsuki making the comment, “mmm dude, mmm you gotta try this, it’s so freakin’ good- wait bro, how long have you been pointing the camera at me?” 

in less than a week, deku sent a reply back with the link to the fully edited video; deku: hmm, not gonna lie, but your cues were actually helpful and dare I say, creative? katsuki took it as a compliment and opened the link to the video file, it was about a few GB so it shouldn’t take a long time to upload on youtube, but.. was it ready? he called in kirishima to watch it with him and was actually prepared for it to look horrible despite deku’s obvious talent except.. it was actually pretty good?? better even?! “what did i tell ya katsuki? i told you he was legit,” his partner boasted, just earlier he was embarrassed when the part about him eating the curry fish ball with the “let’s get it on” music in the background showed up while the blonde just rolled his eyes. 

explosionmurder: thanks, and i just saw it, consider yourself hired deku: happy to be of service! i’m looking forward to working with you, mr.explosionmurder! it would be helpful again if you provided the cues during your journey! :)  explosionmurder: don’t mention it and also don’t call me that, call me katsuki  deku: okay, mr.katsuki! [all might emoji]

kastuki found it odd that he became really eager during the exchange but thought nothing of it

a couple of months flew by and katsuki with kirishima in tow have already travelled in 4 other different countries, he even received about 500k+ subscribers, he’s almost to 1 million! as per agreement, he gives half of his revenue to deku which was okay with him since he still has a lot of saved up money in the bank including kirishima’s since they’re sharing it anyway, most of the time, his communication with deku have been entirely professional with a few emojis in between (usually deku’s part), until today that is 

deku: it must be nice to travel 0:  explosionmurder: pfft, what are you talking about? you now have over 7 mil+ subscribers in your channel since i met you, you can go traveling whenever or wherever you want  deku: i can’t  explosionmurder: what do you mean you can’t?

no reply

since then, katsuki didn’t want to think too much on what deku said and focused mostly on traveling, those videos won’t work themselves! after he finished, he sent over the videos of his recent trip from india over to deku and as usual, deku delivered it back beautifully edited along with a message 

deku: that’s so cool! you guys went to india? *o* [link to video edit] explosionmurder: yeah, you should’ve seen shitty hair when he tried that really spicy curry, which reminds me, you did what i asked right? deku: of course mr. katsuki! as always, i’ve paid attention to every cue you asked for! [saluting pepe emoji] explosionmurder: good good, i didn’t just hire you to sit on your ass all day  deku: haha you’re not my only contractor you know ^^”  explosionmurder: is that what you meant when you said you couldn’t travel because you’ve been busy? way to be blunt katsuki, he mentally berated himself, but at least deku answered this time, although reluctantly deku: ...let’s just say im stuck at home  in that very moment, is when everything changed between them explosionmurder: alright nerd, you sound depressed as hell so i’m going to give you the decision to decide on where we’re going to travel to next, think of it as a reward for all you’ve done for us  deku: asdkjflas that’s too much! T_T are you sure mr. katsuki??? explosionmurder: i’m waiting, you got 3 seconds starting now, 3  deku: america! i’ve been wanting to go to america...

katsuki told kirishima his plans, then the spiky red head gave him a pat on the back and a thumbs up, “so you do have a sentimental bone in your body!” kirishima was almost close to being dead that very same day 

when they arrived to america, he asked deku the list of things he wanted to see and most of them were, “all might amusement park, all might cafe, all might- is there anything else the nerd likes besides all might and superheroes?” katsuki says while viewing the list in the hotel they’re staying at. “give him a break, you said so yourself that he couldn’t leave his house, so this is the least we can do for him and for all the hard work he put in our videos,” kirishima reasoned with him

on the last day of their trip, katsuki did his routine in piling the videos together and sending them to deku with the attached message, “i actually bought you a souvenir if you want it, looked like the type of shit you would like, you’ll see what it is in the videos i’ve sent you” they’ve known each other long enough so he thought why the hell not, it’s just a matter of getting his PO address, and the response to this was immediate, “AAA I SAW IT! THANK YOU THANK YOU!” <3<3 <(^w^<)

it was an all might limited edition figurine only available in the US 

for the first time, deku took two days longer to finish than katsuki expected him to since they’ve started because he always goes through them pretty quickly, maybe he’s too busy making them look up-to-par? whatever the case was, when katsuki received the video, it already had a title for it, “MY AWESOME TRIP TO AMERICA PLUS ULTRA!” kirishima just laughed and told him to keep it in honor of deku so he left it like that, “this better give me some views,” he grumbled and uploaded it the night before they went to bed, he wasn’t really worried in checking it out either because he has faith in deku’s abilities  

the morning after was hectic, katsuki has been receiving notifications upon notifications on the “travel bros” (courtesy of kirishima) twitter since last night, one in particular caught his eye, “i can’t believe deku and katsuki are dating! who would’ve thought!” what?

a short video appeared underneath that came from the video he uploaded, and regretfully never took a look at, showing katsuki saying to the camera as he held the AM figurine, “deku, you should’ve been here, look at what i got you, nerd,” at first glance, it was supposed to look normal (from the original video!) except hearts and sparkles began appearing around katsuki as he smirks up at the camera, what the fuck? besides, deku was suppose to edit that all out! for every cue in every part where he says deku’s name, he was expected to delete them like he usually does! even though it was no secret that deku was his video editor, he distinctly remembers mentioning about him in a video they took way back when they first started out their contract agreement

meanwhile, kirishima was having a field day, he finally saw their video while katsuki kept on seeing other short videos of him on twitter from different segments of the trip in which he either had sparkles or hearts around him, especially when he mentions deku’s name; “bro you won’t believe this, our subscribers grew up to over 1 million last night!” kirishima yells enthusiastically, but when he noticed katsuki not paying attention to him, he looked over his shoulder to check what he was looking at. “oh that, you know those aren’t fanmade videos, right?” katsuki unblinkingly turned to look at him, “you mean..?” kirishima gave him a toothy grin, “yep!” 

a video call from discord, “dekuuuu, what is the meaning of this?” a squeaky voice, “i-I’m so sorry i got carried away and i couldn’t help it! all might was too beautiful including you and-!” “..what did you just say?”

TBC maybe?

[alitaimagines]

“I was in a Haikyuu mood last night so my dumbass wanted to watch the cringy English dub of it so I wrote this while watching it. please give me a break if you see any mistakes, it was hella late when I wrote it.” 

character: kyoutani kentarou 

fandom: haikyuu!! 

song recommendation: home by catie turner 

you walked inside the gym, not completely realizing that there was a sports practice going on. both you and your friend were setting out posters for a mock trial Aoba Johsai was holding. 

you were apart of the schools student government so part of it was going around and setting posters and flyers on boards to inform the school on the up coming trial. 

a boy ran up to you as their coach screamed to continue their practice. 

"what are you lovely ladies doing at our practice?" you raised an eyebrow. you knew who Oikawa was. the pretty boy of Aoba Johsai. he was the ground that many girls would kill to walk on but you weren't exactly keen on the 'popular' kids at Aoba Johsai. your friend on the other hand was ready to have a heart attack from the small comment. 

"we're setting posters out. the principal allowed us to put them wherever we liked," with that, you left your friend on her own as you went to the few bulletins that were inside the gym and put a few flyers on each of them.

just as you finished putting the last flyer on the bulletin, you felt a harsh wind pass by you. the ball smacked the wall, a few centimeters from your face. you let out a scream of bloody murder. 

"watch it!" You heard a player scream to another. you bent down and grabbed the stray papers that had fallen on the floor as one of the players grabbed the one who smacked the ball near you and shoved him to you. 

"apologize, Kyotani," the brown hair boy stated. you looked up to the one who you assumed was named Kyotani and gave him a small smile, "sorry." 

you waved him off, "you're fine. It didn't hit me so no harm no foul, right?" you mentioned as you got back to picking up the papers from the floor. he shrugged as he watched you for a bit longer than you expected. you gave him one more smile before turning around to head out the door. your friend, after finishing her conversation with Oikawa, walked back towards you. 

"I leave you for one second and you're already getting hit with volleyballs," she joked as the two of you walked out of the gym. "It's not like he tried to hit me intentionally. we just have a few more hallways and we can head out." 

she stopped you in the middle of the deserted hallway, "ah, ah, ah. don't think we didn't see the eye contact between the two of you. what happened?" 

"who? the boy with the black highlights?" "yes! Kyotani! I seen the way the two of you looked at each other. he goes by Mad-Dog by the school and his teammates." 

you rolled your eyes as the two of you walked out of the building. 

"nothing! everyone seen what happened! all he did was apologize? If anyone took it another way, that's their problem." you argued, clearly evident that you were done with the conversation. "tomorrow, lunch time!" she nodded as the two of you hopped into both of your cars.

//

the next morning came and you lazily got up. your mom was already out the door by the time you were finished getting ready.

Seijoh forced their student government members to wear completely different uniforms on days that called for it. It was an ugly blue blazer with the Seijoh school crest on the right. underneath it was a white button up with a matching blue tie. the boys were forced to wear their regular school pants while the girls were supposed to wear their regular uniformed skirts. 

"wow, you clean up nicely for the uniforms we're demanded to wear," Midori said as she handed you a coffee, "I know we were supposed to meet during lunch but the school is allowing us to prepare for the trial and exempted us from class." 

you gave a sigh of relief as the two of you walked into the huge student government conference room. the club was made up of eight members. Four girls and four boys. the mock trial was against Karasuno's student government. the topic was on sports and academic clubs and how they could interact to where they both could get the same amount of funding. 

"I know but listen, this trial is huge for us. Aoba Johsai hasn't had many successful trials before and Karasuno is known for their lengthy arguments and counter arguments," you stated to the seven members, "If the trial ends in our favor, this argument could possibly land in the hands of the actual school board." 

everyone crossed their fingers, hoping Seijoh could actually pull this off. your club had been working towards the trial for months now and being that you were club president, you put a lot of effort and long nights into the arguments. 

-

"listen," You stated to the crowd of faculty and students, "It is marginally known that sports clubs are widely favored compared to those in academic and scholarly clubs. look at the attendance for our volleyball team for example. the boys have a bigger attendance during practice games alone. It is in Karasuno's and Seijoh's best favor to start having both clubs start interacting with their respective sports division. In the case for both of our schools, the volleyball club are the biggest sports so any academic club should be going after the team. Seijoh's student government is already planning a partnership with the team and we should assume to see a drastic change in the attendance for any meetings that our student government should hold." 

the moderators nodded their heads as they looked to Karasuno for their final statement. you went back to your seat as Midori gave you a high five from underneath the table. after Karasuno's team finished their statement, they called a half hour recess. 

"jesus, that was the most terrifying five minutes of my life," you sighed in relief before taking a drink of water, "you did great! I had never seen you so determined in your life!" you heard someone say from behind you.

you smiled as you noticed familiar faces approaching you. It was at least half of the boys volleyball team. 

"nice argument out there!" Oikawa mentioned as Midori felt her heart immediately flutter, "are you guys serious about actually partnering up?" 

You nodded, "of course. your coach gave us a paper with your up coming games and we're planning on hosting your game against Date Tech," Oikawa looked surprised as he realized that the game your club was planning on hosting was coming up rather soon, "since I am the captain, we should make cool flyers and hang them around the school!" 

you couldn't help but laugh at the enthusiasm that Oikawa was showing. 

"we'll talk about that soon. for now, have your team start thinking of ideas," Oikawa nodded as he felt a little intimidated by your stern attitude, "we'll meet up tomorrow during lunch to start combining ideas." 

ss you went back inside of the auditorium, you went past Kyotani. you felt your face flush as your face became warm. Midori nudged your side as she whispered that Kyotani was looking at you once again. 

-

Aoba Johsai had won the mock trial and you were over the moon. everyone was handed a certificate of excellence as well as a trophy that would go next to the plethora of awards in the main entrance. your trophy was standing next to one of the many awards that the volleyball team had. 

you walked into the student government office and noticed Kyotani sitting on one of the couches. 

"Hey!" you said a little giddy for your own liking, "what has you on our neck of the woods?" 

"well isn't your club collaborating with our team?" he asked rather bluntly, "I'm here for the planning." you didn't expect the Mad-Dog of Seijoh to be apart of the planning committee. you ushered for him to follow you in the conference room as you started to set out your planner, a few notepads, and stickies on the table. 

"I never took you as the one to be apart of this kind of thing," You admitted before reaching into the small fridge the conference room had, "but nevertheless, we're excited to have you here! I know Oikawa and Iwaizumi offered to help." on command, he scoffed at Oikawa's name. "so, have you thought of anything?" 

Kyotani shook his head no. you remained silent as tried to think of a quick idea. 

"well, posters are a must. we can hang them around the school as well as the stores around here. secondly, we're planning on expediting an order of t-shirts. since the game lands this Friday, our graphic designer has already made a design for the shirts and they should be ready to hand out during the game." you explained. 

"If your graphic designer already made a design, why not put the design on the posters as well?" Kyotani mentioned. you nodded excitedly, "and we can have the video announcements club make a segment for us! I know it's going to be rushed but with the right amount of advertising, we can actually pull this off." 

before you could say anything else, Midori, Oikawa, Iwaizumi, and your vice president, Rendai, walked into the room. 

"did we interrupt anything?" Midori asked jokingly. you shook your head no, "no but we have a few ideas already! Kyotani had the idea of slapping the design of the shirts we're handing out on the posters as well. we could also have the video announcements club make a segment to promote the game!" 

they nodded as everyone remained in disbelief that Kyotani was even here nonetheless actually contributing to ideas. you were way too engrossed into the planning that you weren't catching the exchange of looks between your club and the volleyball team.

when the meeting ended, you had papers scattered everywhere as everyone already left home. Kyotani offered to help you clean up which was a sigh of relief. 

"hey, thanks for all the help today!" you said as the two of you walked out of the school. the breeze of the October air made you annoyed that you bother to bring a jacket in the morning. Kyotani noticed and put the iconic white and teal blue sweater over your shoulders. you felt your face getting instantly warm, "I know we don't have anything planned tomorrow but if you'd like, we can meet up before class to see if we came up with anything else." 

Kyotani nodded as he shoved his phone into your hands, "give me your number. It's easier to communicate," you blushed realizing that he actually wanted YOUR number. you put your number into his contacts and made sure your name stood out compared to the others. 

"text me. I'm usually available to message at any time." 

as you got into your car, you realized that you had kept Kyotani's jacket. without a second thought, you sort of snuggled into the warmth of the sweater. his sweater smelled that of a distinct woodsy or outdoors odor. It wasn't a gross smell, it was more of a woodsy smell. 

once you got home, you had set your phone down on the counter as you offered to help your mom with anything she needed. Kyotani messaged you as soon as he got home but because you were busy, you didn't realize that you got a text. he kept checking his phone but to his dismay, you weren't answering. 

as he felt that he blew any shot of even going on a date with you, his phone rang. 

"sorry I didn't text back! I was helping my mom with dinner and left my phone on the counter." 

Kyotani showed the slightest smile as he gave you back a simple reply. with that, the two of you were texting until Kyotani literally passed out asleep. you knew if you even mentioned that you had Kyotani's number, Midori was bound to have a fit. 

-

the morning came and you were off to school with excitement. the thought of meeting with Kyotani and you still sporting his sweater made you want to get to Seijoh a lot quicker than usual. 

you got off the car and seen Kyotani waiting for you at the gate. he was leaning against the gate as he didn't bother to check if his school blazer was getting dirty. you tightened the straps of your backpack out of nervousness as you approached him.

"hey Kyotani! How was your evening?" you asked as the two of you walked inside. 

he shrugged, "Kentarou. Call me Kentarou," you smiled at the fact that he was letting you call you by his first name so early on. 

many of the students were talking amongst themselves. the Mad-Dog of Seijoh and the student government president hanging out? you weren't necessarily popular but you had a great reputation and seeing you with someone like Kyotani made everyone confused. 

"hey!" you heard Midori say as she noticed Kyotani next to you, "Rendai is looking for you. He wanted to make sure that we're still on for putting the design on the posters but I'll tell him you're busy." 

you gave her a confused look before she scattered off, "don't you ever wonder why you're friends with the people that you are sometimes?" Kyotani laughed as the two of you wandered to the second year floor, "well, I'll see you later! I need to ask my teacher about one of my homework assignments." 

"see you at lunch," was all Kyotani said before he went to his respective homeroom. you nodded as you went to your seat. a few of those who sat next to you kept glancing at the fact that you were still wearing Kyotani's sweater. 

"so are you and Kyotani a thing?" your friend asked as she gestured to the sweater. you shook your head no, "I don't think so. we're just friends. we're just working on something to together! I don't understand why people think that we're dating just because we're hanging out together." 

"bullshit," she countered, "I see the way the two of you are with each other. these last few days have been very evident that there's something going on. Kyotani might not show it but it isn't exactly hard to see. plus, he had his arm around you when the two of you were walking in this morning." 

did he? You thought back and he did. you had no idea when you did it but now that she pointed it out, Kenta did have his arm tightly wrapped around you. the warm feeling soon started creeping up on your face as you tried to hide your face in the sweater. 

"shut up," you threatened as your friend started laughing, "we're not saying anything! just be careful, there's a reason why he's called Mad-Dog." 

you gave her a look before finally deciding to drop the conversation. It didn't sit right with you that she used Kyotani's nickname in such a negative way. 

-

lunch finally came and you were going towards your locker when you came in contact with the last person you wanted to see. 

your ex boyfriend was an ex for a reason. he wasn't the greatest person to be around nor was he someone you potentially wanted your mom to meet. he was toxic in the sense that all he wanted from you was sex. he thought that telling you that he loved you so early on in the relationship would get you to open your legs but you weren't an idiot. you knew the game he played. 

"what?" You asked harshly, "I have nothing to say to you so be on your way." 

he laughed as he put you in a kabedon position, "what the hell is up with you and that idiot from the volleyball team?" you growled as you tried to remove his hand from your locker. you had a decent amount of strength but it wasn't enough to move his hand, "none of your fucking business. what I do on my free time shouldn't affect you in anyway." 

finally getting enough strength to move his hand, you instantly freed yourself but he managed to wrangle you back into the same position. 

"It does concern me. especially because you're walking around Seijoh with that idiot's sweater. I thought I told you that you were mine," he threatened as he got closer to you, "and I don't like it when people get close to what is mine." 

just as you were about to argue back, you noticed a very angry Kyotani standing behind him. you gave him a slight wave as your ex turned around to see who exactly you were waving to at a time like this. 

"move," Kyotani didn’t bother to wait for his reply. he pushed him off of you and grabbed you by the hand, "let's go." 

because of the strength in Kyotani's push, your ex hit the lockers harshly. you couldn't help but laugh at the whimpering you heard. 

"thanks Kenta. hopefully he actually gets the message this time," Kyotani raised an eyebrow, "he's an ex boyfriend if you’re wondering. we dated for a bit last year but he kind of dumped me when he realized that I wasn't planning on giving into sex so quickly. he's had this kind of possessive thing going on with me ever since we broke up. the minute he realizes that someone is getting near me, he'll attack them or bombard me with questions." 

"he's a fucking idiot who needs to learn a lesson," Kyotani threatened. you laughed as you tried to hide your face, thanks for helping me though. I know you're not the kind of person to be helping people out for no reason." 

"I will when it comes to people that I like." 

-

the festivities were in full swing as the student government table was filled with students crowding around it. maybe it was because of the free merch, maybe it was because you actually managed to get the students to listen for once but whatever the case was, you were excited at the outcome. 

you and Rendai were sitting at the table as Midori was in the stands handing out different prizes to the attendee's. you were wearing regular blue jeans with rips across the pants and a black v-neck. 

"so, how are you and Mad-Dog?" ee asked as he noticed the team coming into the gym, "has he finally asked you out yet?"

"not yet," you said, “there's no rush. Kenta isn't exactly the one for PDA nor is the kind of person to be rushing into things." 

Rendai laughed, "wow, already on a first name basis? he must be thinking of asking you really soon," just as you wanted to say anything back, you noticed Kyotani coming towards the table. he was holding what looked like the Seijoh away jersey. 

"hey Kenta! What's up?" you asked with a smile that made Kyotani's heart flutter, "here, wear this," you took the jersey from Kyotani's hand and gave him a silent thank you. the redness on his face was very evident but you knew not to call it out. 

"ohoho, shit. I'm glad I'm the one who witnessed that," Rendai said as he started making fun of you, "the two of you are so in love! It's amazing!" 

you punched him in the arm as you got up from the table, "shut up. I'm going to change and if half of these buttons are still here by the time I get back, I'll kick you so hard you'll be gone for the next two weeks." 

Rendai put his arms up in defense as you walked out of the gym. finding the nearest bathroom, you took off the warm peacoat you had on and tried to make the rather large jersey fit your frame. you tried to tuck the jersey into your pants and tried to get the jersey look decent on you. 

you walked back into the gym with Rendai and Midori looking at you shit eating grins. you tried to hide your face in the jersey but as you made it to the table, you heard the comments coming from the two of you. 

"I guess Rendai wasn't lying!" Midori said as she looked at the way the jersey fit you, "It looks good! just fix the back, the number isn't really showing." 

you let her fix the jersey as the three of you eventually sat down. you weren't really the kind of person to watch volleyball but you were almost mesmerized to see the way Kyotani played. he played with such a force that it caught you off guard. 

//

the game went towards Seijoh's favor. they completely murdered Date Tech and to say you were happy was beyond words. with the elation of the team winning, you got a text from Kyotani to wait for him until he was done getting dressed. 

the game thankfully landed on a Friday so your curfew was pushed back a little later on the weekend. you were planning on catching dinner with Kyotani so as he was getting ready, you stayed back talking to few students who were interested in becoming apart of student government. 

you were able to tell that one of the boys were trying to flirt with you but you kept denying any advances. you wondered what part of you wearing Kyotani's jersey didn't sit with him but you basically tried to tell him that you were already in the process of dating someone else. 

"well, it looks like your friends are waiting for you," you mentioned as you pointed to the group of boys at the front of the gym, "I'll have one of my club members email you any information that you might want." 

the boy sighed, "I'll be waiting on your email." with that, he grabbed your hand and kissed the back of it before running off with his friends. you rolled your eyes as you stood in the empty gym. just as you went to sit on the first set of bleachers, you noticed a very angry Kyotani walking in. 

"hey, what's wrong?" you asked as you grabbed his hand, "did someone say something?" 

"who was that boy?" Kyotani growled as he completely towered over you, "the boy who just left? Some first year who was trying to join the student government." 

he laughed which caught you off guard, "I seen him kissing your hand." 

"he was trying to flirt with me but I wasn't going for it." You said as grabbed Kyotani's hand, "Kenta, you know more than anyone how I feel about you. some first year kid won't ever amount to you." 

Kyotani immediately blushed as he dropped down to his knees. he might be one of the shortest on the team but considering he was basically towering over you, seeing him fall on his knees caused you to panic. 

"hey, what happened?" you asked as you lifted his head up, "what's wrong, Kenta?" 

he looked into your eyes with a serious expression, "I've worked too hard to get you for me just to lose you. I won't have anyone come in between us," you gave him a sympathetic smile, "Kenta, no one is going to come between us. I like you and you like me. yeah this might be your first relationship but it isn't my first. whatever insecurities you have, we'll work through them together." 

Kyotani did the only thing he could think of and kissed you. he trapped you between himself and the bleachers. your arms instantly wrapped themselves around his neck and you deepened the kiss. not long after, you moved your hands to run through his hair. It was ironically softer than you expected. 

"Kenta, not here and not now. I might give in and I really don't want my first time to be in the Seijoh gym," you said as you went in for another kiss. After Kyotani released you again, he chuckled, "I can assure you that our first time won't be in this gym. now let's go, I'm hungry."

you laughed as Kyotani got off of you. as soon as you landed back on your feet, he pushed you against him. the night had already came in and the parking lot was completely empty aside from the two of you. you realized that you and Kyotani were matching clothes in a sense. you were wearing his away jersey with the spare volleyball sweater he gave you as he was still wearing the jersey he was playing in and the current sweater they were supposed to wear. 

"where are we getting food?" you asked as you jumped into the drivers seat. Kyotani made himself comfortable in your passenger seat as he shrugged. "wherever. I don't care." 

you smiled and leaned over for a kiss which caught Kyotani off guard. he returned the kiss before he let you go. as you started the car, Kyotani grabbed your right hand and kissed it as you started driving to the nearest restaurant. 

maybe the two of you weren't exactly a couple that Seijoh would have seen coming but at the moment, you were happiest you had ever been. you had your boyfriend sitting next to you, holding your hand and to think that this all started off because of a measly mock trial.

ALITA 

[sylvanfreckles]

Don’t Look (FebuWhump 23)

Fandom: Supernatural Summary: Sam and Dean are ambushed and captured by a powerful demon with an ancient lineage. Help is on the way...if they can survive.

(CW for some body horror/sores. Basically, skip if something like rashes and sores would upset you. It’s not terribly graphic, but I know this can be a real phobia for some people).

* * *

“This is obviously a trap, Dean!”

Dean rolled his eyes and sandwiched his phone between his head and shoulder, flapping his fingers at Sam in the universal “won't stop talking” gesture. Sam didn't look impressed.

“Look, man, it's just a bunch of demons,” Dean replied. He checked the clip in his gun, tucked a couple spares into his belt, and reached for an angel blade. “Don't see what has you so worked up.”

“Will you please just wait for me?” Cas's voice was strained, and Dean could practically see the impatience in every line of the angel's face. “I'm less than two hours away.”

“Are you talking while driving?” Dean smirked at Sam, though Sam just shook his head and started double-checking his own gear. “Always the little rebel, ain't ya?”

He waited while Cas spluttered in outrage. “We'll be done before you even get here,” he said, talking right over whatever point Cas was about to make. “And, hey, they've got a drive-in movie theater in this town. We can make a field trip, I think they're playing one of the new Star Wars movies.”

Cas was still talking when Dean hung up the call. He shoved the phone into his pocket with a chuckle, then caught Sam staring at him. “What?”

Sam shook his head again and shoved the trunk of the car closed. “Would it kill you to wait for him anyway?”

“And miss all the fun?” Dean slapped his brother on the arm. “Dude. It's demons. Practically kindergarten stuff for us.” Anyway all the big players were downstairs—or dead—so it wasn't like they had anything to worry about.

His brother was still bitch-facing about it when Dean shoved him down the path toward the abandoned hotel. “All right, I'll buy him a root beer float or something, and he'll get over it by the time that little rolling droid he loves so much shows up on screen.”

“BB-8?”

“Dude, I'm getting second-hand embarrassment just knowing you know that.”

Sam turned around and spread his arms out, walking backward down the path. “At least I don't know all the Starfleet captains by first name.”

“Hey, Star Trek is an important part of our cultural history,” Dean retorted, shoving his brother in the chest to keep him moving. “Star Wars is for nerds.”

* * *

The old hotel was empty, apart from the faint dusty of sulfur on some of the decrepit furniture. There were some tracks in the dust, which was a little weird for a bunch of demons, Dean had to admit, but the tracks were recent enough to prove there was demonic activity here.

His phone buzzed in his pocket. Dean pulled it out and made a face at it, swiping over the icon to ignore the call.

“Dude, he's probably worried,” Sam whispered.

“Yeah, he does that,” Dean shot back. He turned his phone off and shoved it back into his pocket. “He does that too damn much. We can handle one little nest of demons.”

Predictably...at least for Cas and Sam...and Dean, too, though he was loathed to admit it...they could not handle the “little” nest of demons.

The tracks lead them down to the old pool house, but before they'd even crossed the yard they'd been swarmed. The brothers had fought valiantly, back-to-back, and taken out a handful of the attacking demons but there were just too many. They were overwhelmed, hauled into the pool house, and tied to a couple of rusty old poolside chairs.

Dean jerked against his bonds—he could probably work himself free, given enough time. One side of his face had swollen up and his lip was busted up. Sam wasn't much better off, between the gash on his forehead bleeding enough to cover most of his face and the obvious dislocation to his left shoulder.

Well. Now he was gonna have to apologize to Cas for going in without him AND for getting himself and his brother captured. And injured. It would have to be a root beer float and popcorn and downloading the rest of the Star Wars movies for the weekend.

The demons were lined up along the sides of the pool now. They'd put Sam and Dean on the side nearest the shallow end, looking down the length of murky, stagnant water. Dean exchanged a look with his brother—what now? They'd been captured and beat up and tied up for, what, the world's worst diving contest?

The water rippled. Dean stared down at it in shock when a woman's head appeared at the deep end of the pool. But she wasn't swimming, she was...walking? And each step brought her further and further out of the water, the algae and slime cascading off of her body without leaving a trace behind. She was tall, with long, wavy blonde hair that fell almost to her hips. Her body was wrapped in a flowing green dress with a plunging neckline that showed off her...er, other features.

And she was walking on the water now. Because of course. Dean rolled his eyes so hard he almost sprained something. While there was something otherwordly about this whole thing, it was so obviously some demon princess bitch pretending to be a minor goddess or something.

She reached the shallow end of the pool and just stood there, looking at them. Dean glanced down at her bare feet, which were resting on the rippling water as easily as though she was standing on solid ground. “Nice trick,” he commented, smirking up at her. “Special power or just full of hot air?”

The demon in the green dress tilted her head to study him—nice try, bitch, that's Cas's thing—and blinked, her eyes clicking to beetle-black. “I am Vephar. Lord of the waters.”

“I'm Dean,” Dean replied, ignoring Sam's hissed warning. “Lord of the highway.”

Vephar studied for a moment, then raised one arm to point at his face. Pain erupted from his forehead to his chin and his brother called his name in a panicked voice. Vephar turned to face Sam next. “Who are you?”

Gritting his teeth, Dean rolled his head back enough to make eye contact with his brother. Sammy was shooting him a panicked look, obviously concerned by whatever the bitch had done. God, it still hurt. Most of the time when these bastards attacked telepathically it was like a cut from a razor, or a punch that somehow bypassed your muscle to hit you right in the organs. This was just...this was wrong. It ached and burned and felt wet somehow.

“I'm Sam,” his brother finally said, when Vephar took a step toward him. “Just Sam.”

“And why are you here, 'Just Sam'?”

Sam shot a look at Dean, who tried to shake his head subtly. “We were just looking around,” Sam finally stammered out. “The-the hotel. It's abandoned, we thought we could find something to sell in it. You know, the market for copper wire is pretty high right now.”

Vephar tilted her head to the other side. “No,” she intoned after a few seconds. “You're lying.” She raised her hand again and Sam jerked back with a cry of pain. Now Dean could see why his brother had looked so horrified. Instead of cutting or bruising, Vephar had raised an angry-looking line of oozing sores on his brother's face. It reminded him of nothing so much as Nick's face when Lucifer was burning through him...or Cas when he'd taken the souls from Purgatory.

“I was once a grand duke of hell,” Vephar explained, walking back down the length of the pool. “I commanded my legions and churned the mighty waters. I rode the seas in glorious battle, until I was betrayed and bound in this place.”

Dean grunted, tugging at the bonds on his wrists as the urge to dig his fingers into his face became nearly unbearable. “Sucks to be you.”

Vephar turned back to face him and raised one delicate eyebrow. “Indeed.”

Then she raised her hand and Dean threw his head back with a scream as another line of pain lanced up the other side of his face.

“What's binding you here?” Sam asked. “Maybe we can break it? Set you free?”

She tilted her head again, her black gaze boring into Sam's. “You're lying again.”

“Sammy, no!” Dean surged against the ropes uselessly as sores burst into existence around his brother's neck. “You bitch!”

“Temper,” Vephar replied calmly, and then the horrible, burning, wet pain was streaking down his chest under his shirt. Every shift in position made the fabric of his clothing rub against the sores, until it felt like he'd covered himself in sandpaper instead of a t-shirt.

“I don't get much to play with here,” the demon bitch said. She had that damn hand up in the air again, her index finger extended, and she waved it back and forth between the brothers as though trying to choose which one to torture. “I hope you last longer than the last ones.”

Dean was steeling himself to shout—distract the bitch, insult her, make her focus all her anger on him to give Sammy a chance to escape—when the door to the pool house exploded inward.

“Cas!” Sam's voice was thick with warning as the demons that had been lining the sides of the pool turned to swarm the angel. Dean grit his teeth and refocused his efforts on freeing himself. Cas was good—damn good—but there were well over a dozen demons, and heaven wasn't exactly running on full power these days.

He saw Cas go down. Dean threw himself backward with a jerk, finally crashing the chair into the stained tile of the pool deck. Something in the chair had cracked and his ropes were a little looser, and he fought to break himself free.

“Close your eyes!”

Dean swore and tucked his head toward his shoulder, squeezing his eyes shut. Even then the burst of grace was almost enough to blind him. Damn, Cas hadn't done that in a long time. He hoped his friend still had the juice to recover from an attack like that.

Blinking back the sparks in his vision, Dean rolled onto his side and tried to push himself to his feet. He could see the smoking, empty meatsuits of the demons scattered in a half-circle around Cas, but Cas wasn't looking so good. He had sunk to one knee, and several bloody tears in his trench coat showed where the demons had gotten a few hits in before he'd smited them. Smote them. Whatever.

“Angel!”

Dean threw himself forward and tried to grab Vephar around the ankles as she stalked out of the water toward Cas. The smiting hadn't been enough to end her, though she seemed to be staggering a little and there was black sludge trickling out of her nose.

Cas struggled to his feet, but he was empty-handed—Dean could see a glint of silver just a few feet away, but Cas couldn't reach it before Vephar had a hand around his throat, backing him into the wall.

“I'm going to enjoy this,” the demon bitch sneered. “Angels are so much more...resilient...than humans. Don't you agree, 'lord of the highway'?”

Dean let out a cry as more pain tore through the side of his face. It felt like the sores were swelling, and his stomach nearly revolted when he felt liquid oozing down his neck.

“Hey! Bitch!”

Vephar whirled around, just in time to catch Sam's knife in her throat. Damn, but the kid had good aim. They'd been trying to copy Ruby's blade for years now, and while Sam had never come up with something to match it in power, the runes he'd started carving into the knife he tucked into his boot still did some damage.

The demon released Cas to tug uselessly at the knife in her throat. She glowered at Sam and started to raised her hand, but Cas tackled her from behind.

He'd gotten his angel blade back, during her moment of distraction, and drove it deep into her back, giving it a vicious twist as she screamed out her dying breath.

Dean collapsed in relief. It felt like the sores were still on his face, but the pain had faded significantly. It no longer felt like his skin was going to erupt and peel away from his bone—more like he had a bad case of road rash.

He rolled himself over to check on Sammy. The kid had only worked his right arm free and thrown his knife from there. He sagged in his ropes, panting for breath, but gave Dean a thumb's up when he realized his brother was looking.

Before he could roll back to check on Cas, a firm hand gripped him by the shoulder and rolled him onto his back. Dean found himself staring up at the angel's bruised, angry face. “Next time I tell you it's a trap,” Cas ground out, even as his fingers brushed feather-light over Dean's forehead to heal his wounds, “do me a favor and wait for me.”

Okay. Root beer float, popcorn, the rest of the Star Wars movies, AND another couple pairs of those novelty socks Cas liked so much. The angel had definitely earned it today.

* * *

You guessed it, Vephar is from the Key of Solomon. They’re described as being able to make the seas rough or calm, guiding ships to their destination, and killing by putrefying wounds and sores (fun!). They take the form of a mermaid, so I gave them a female meatsuit and the power to walk on water.

(For those of you who don’t know, the Key of Solomon is my favorite resource for extra-powerful demons. Vephar is the third I’ve used so far, so there’s just 69 to go!)

[benjimirthursby]

"See How They Run. (FFXIV Write Prompt #4 "Baleful." - The Book of Thursby: Scions of Numenor.

“Fate takes a deposit against one’s life. You get the deposit back afterward, or apply it to the next one.” - Katryn Vaunter, “Personal Logs.” The all consuming glow faded. The ground met Bandia’s feet. But the hand pressing on the small of her back remained. As the Aetheryte plaza in Ul’Dah came into full focus she instinctively turned to the right looking for this errand boy of Tatania brought her too, only he wasn’t there. “Madam Sulistian.” her escort said curtly to her left, startling Bandia enough that she jumped in fright. Recovering her indignity cast a baleful glare at the middleman. “Will you please. I have had quite enough of this.” She spat at the man. “Have you now? My heart bleeds. I weep for your inconvenience, and could you demonstrate more tact in speaking aloud than you do your mode of dress. Let us away from here and it’s many eyes and ears.” The man gripped Bandia’s arm with enough force to brook no resistance from Bandia. He lead her out of the Aetheryte plaza and towards the city gate beyond.

As they neared the gate their progress was halted by a caravan from the merchants' district departing under escort. The escort consisted of a pair of riders at the front and others interspersed between wagons, all making open show of the arms the bore. Many of these riders wore patches of a white tree on a black field. Volunteers and militia from the Scions of Numenor. Others displayed the more stylized winged sword and tree icon of the Thursby Company. The courier became agitated as the riders and wagons kept him from the Chocobo porter beyond. Bandia took no pleasure at the sight either. Her rivals had gained greatly as caravans escorted such as this and for her part she could not manage to secure contracts for escorting or the goods being transported. It was maybe the chief reason she had consented to working with the Umberbreakers. “Twinkinrykers.” Bandia muttered. To her surprise the courier nodded and his expression hardened at her saying the name. “Best not forget that either.” The caravan having passed, he continued with Bandia to the porter. “Where are you absconding with me to now?” She asked bitterly. “Noplace thankfully. I am returning to my duties. You however are to return to your business and make ready to assemble the next shipment of Linkpearl sets. I will return with to exchange the companies pearls for our own in a week. Good day miss Sulistian.” With that the courier turned for the porter from whom he rented a Chocobo and he rode away. Bandia considered if she had made a mistake in becoming part of these peoples plotting. But spying the lingering end of the caravan her resentment of her rivals in business was stoked again and she cast those reservations aside and returned to her quarters.

*******

Thirty miles north of Kugane and by design the caravans from the port split into several sections and rode toward different destinations. Each retained a mounted escort. Pitched attempts to extort the caravans, much less overt attacks, had almost ceased over the past year thanks to the efforts of contract escorts. The largest of the groups from the convoy to Kugane was escorted by the Sons of Numenor. The guards were newer, less seasoned and most felt their purpose had largely been filled when attacks by people had ceased. As such the normal routine of scouts and guards riding on ridgelines had fallen out of practice. Drunken Garleans were the most dangerous thing seen in months and easy to see coming. Sober raiders keeping discipline went unobserved. Such was the case again tonight. A pair of riders concealed themselfs, making careful notes of the composition of the escorts. They would break-off once the convoy reached the village ahead and report to their commander in Kugane. *******

Following dinner, Aubreen forsook the Bokaisen Onsen for the more exclusive, traditional Crystal Spring. A considerable walk beyond Bokaisen, it was still segregated by gender. Private suites afforded couples and the working men and women space for rendezvous. The springs themselves were cultured stone and built decades prior by a retiring warlord. The men and women’s springs each had views of the port miles below. The distance ensured the cliente were not the average sailors and relationships of situational convenience.

For the uninitiated an Onsen could be a condensed and unnerving experience. There were kindred experiences in other regions, and anyone serving in uniform learned to lose modest quickly enough. But the tradition steeped details and freedom from distractions could focus people on their insecurities. This began with bathing in a traditional open room with the female patrons. Katryn was far from a prude by any measure, but she never failed to feel more self conscious as she and Aubreen disrobed and placed their cloths in the small baskets which would sit in the dressing space outside the bathing room.

Women were similarly unclad and using the flow of hot water spigots to bathe before and after entering the hot springs themselves sitting on the small stools around the edge of the room. Aubreen and Katryn occupied two of these and as was common enough between them, washed each others hair. The Crystal Sky provided the customary towels to its patrons. The towels were little more than washcloths in size. Not large enough to fully wrap around a waist much less also cover one’s upper body. Each patron had their own traditions of using these towels according to their sense of modesty. Those senses ranged from preserving some modest with wrapping some of one’s body, to folding the town and placing it on ones head to keep it from falling in the water.

Aubreen and Katryn shared the practice of walking their towels in-hand, rolled. They took their time and selected a quite corner of the least occupied springs in the women’s half. Half or more of the women bathing moments ago had proceeded to couples suites. Only a few women had taken to the other spring pools. Aubreen observed Katryn looking around as they sunk into the water. “Were all of those women leaving? I did not think there were many suites here?” Katryn asked. “Guild women mostly, a few women of independent standing.” Aubreen explained. Katryn looked surprised. “Working women you mean, they have a guild?” she asked. Aubreen nodded. “I do not use the term but yes and there is a guild. They have considerable influence in the merchant and hospitality trade here.” Katryn pondered and shook her head. “I’ve never considered such work in the sense of being business, I couldn’t see myself doing that.” She said. “Of course not.” Aubreen said. “Because you have had a path laid before you since you were born. Mind your thoughts though. When you unjustly judge another's station in life, fate has a habit of booking a ticket to the same place.” she finished. Katryn nodded, her eyes focused on her lover as she spoke. But Aubreen’s eyes were affixed on something on the dark horizon. A great shape was dimly backlit by the crescent moon’s light. The airship was a massive, nonsensical mass in the shadows. “There is our mystery contact from yesterday.” Aubreen said. Katryn rose some in the water and looked out. “He’s not alone” She added. Aubreen stood and walked to the end of the spring pool. Like all of her blood, her sight was manyfold better than Katryn’s. “Gunships. The Garlean variety we have been seeing. Also, four smaller vessels, walker skifts.” Aubreen reported. Katryn could not see the could not see the smaller vessels and so sat back into the water her own eyes fixing on Aubreen as she turned and walked back to her. Intimate activities were expressly not allowed in onsens but she allowed herself the privilege of observation for the moment. Aubreen smirked and sat near her.” “Log and report it tomorrow. Where were we?” She said.

“You are saying we are fated to be what we are?” Katryn asked. Aubreen shook her head. “Sometimes, yes. I think we choose to live. In doing so we make a covenant with the great mystery and its sovereign.” Aubreen said. “So some have purpose but not all?” Katryn asked. Aubreen shrugged. “Some find their purpose, or make it. Others have it thrust upon them. Be it by happenstance or design.”

“So we live more than once?” Katryn asked.

“We can, but do we? That again is a choice. In my races’ tradition it is possible but not obligatory. “ She looked at Katryn inquisitively, wondering what was pressing on her mind to be on about this now. “Your own race does too. Many faces, many names but always them.” Aubreen said.

“By that do you mean Benjimir?” Katryn asked Aubreen.

“It does.” She said.

“Does he know?” Katryn followed-up. “Not that he has demonstrated but I believe he has begun to suspect. He had despaired for years before Haydaelyn. No sense he would have a chance to contribute a chapter to the long Thursby story. That sat ill with him. But Dalamud. And over these past six years he senses his purpose for this life.” Aubreen said.

*******

Xyncalla approached Wayng Chun’Chunyt.at the ally near her rickshaw. “The tacky woman was taken. Ul’Dah if I had to guess but that is not my department.” She said. In his even and almost expressionless tone Wang nodded and commented. “Too many elements to reconcile. We need a primer to be able to read these tea leafs.” “I was able to learn the entire Onsen was secured for this evening.” Xyncalla reported. “Umberbreaker?” Wayng asked. “Scheer.” She told Wayng. He nodded. “Very well. It would suggest he commands the beast, it is putting into port as we speak.” He paused. “Return to the Onsen. Find favorable means to know whom is there tonight and what business is conducted. I am off to present my card to the Commodore. We may not have chance to meet again for a time.” Wayng ordered. Xyncalla nodded. “At once. Light’s path Wayng.” She said. “See with the Crystal’s eyes my friend.” Wayng said, bowing his head slightly.

******* The rented Chocobo trailed the caravan from Ul’Dah until it reached the first village beyond. Leaving it with the porter he withdrew his own mount from the village stables he resumed following the caravan studying it and the escorts protecting it until satisfied. He turned back for the village and by it’s Aetheryte plaza jaunted to Umberbreaker compound many miles away.

*******

Wayng sat quietly in the lobby space of the Onsen. As Aubreen and Katryn emerged from the change rooms he stood up and approached the women. With a slight bow he presented a small card with his name to Aubreen. “Well met mister Chu’chunyt. Captain Vaunter of the SNS Andustar.” she said to Wayng. Katryn clicked her boot heels with a smile and bowed. “Your servant captain.” Wayng said. “The beast has returned mister Chu’chunyt.” Aubreen said. “Yes commodore. My observer has made me aware of a gathering of officers and a member of the Umberbreaker clan in Kugane this night.” He reported. “Miss Duskarie?” she asked Wayng. And paused in thought and continued. “I would ask you to have her join us in Tondera Hall, but first may I ask you to have her see what more she can learn of this meeting?” “It has already been so ordered Commodore.” Wayng answered.

“Excellent. We sail for Ul’Dah at dawn, report to me aboard Andustar. We will await you there.” Aubreen said.

*******

Tatania Umberbreaker favored making her briefs with a certain amount of professional decorum and subty. An onsen bought-out for his officers were neither professional nor proper. If she knew he would not overstep his boundaries given her family name, Fleet Legatus Lucium Scheer was a creature who insisted on the full measure of entitlement his rank afforded him. Her orders were to return the Umberbreaker compound which had the function of ensuring she would not linger. However she did not have time to maneuver around this. Knowing this Scheer had ensured the customary separation of genders in the onsens did not apply as he held court

in the main spring pool with his officers. Tatania strood from the bathing room to the steps of the spring pool without any sign of self consciousness. Scheer and the commanders of the escorts accompanying the airship Ascendancy were already soaking in the pool awaiting her arrival.

The officers managed to suppress crass comments and cat calls but their lingering eyes conveyed their sentiments. “We are graced with your presence Lady Umberbreaker.” Scheer said with a smile. “Can your men breathe under water or do you stand periodically so they may kiss your arse Lucium?” Tatania said and walked into the spring pool to and sunk into the water to mid-chest depth, leaving her towel at the ledge. Tatania ignored the officers entirely and locked eyes with Scheer. She fenced with Scheer, arching her back or rising in the water daring him to shift his focus. Above them in an ornamental balcony feature, concealed by shadow and the night, Xyncalla looked listened intently the next two hours as Tatania and Scheer traded crass barbs between discussing dispatches and orders for the Ascendancy. She found it excellent theater.

*******

Some forty miles outside of Kugane the largest of the caravans escorted by the Scions of Numenor reached its destination. A small village, hit hard by the actions of the off duty Garlean troops from the consulate guard in Kugane. Merchants had only begun to restock their wares, trusting in the Scions to protect their orders. The eldars saw to the distribution of food stuffs sent gratis by the Thursby Company. The escorts remained mounted, circulating up and down the wagons. This had the effect of keeping off-duty Garlean troopers from nearing the caravan save for two whom newly arrived were sauntering toward a wagon when the hands of their sargent gripped their shoulders. A stern look and shake of his head sent them back to the pub entrance where several others chastised them as they approach, making off-handed gestures to the Chocobos and their riders.

*******

“Wayng is not a veteran of uniformed service and has not led a naval battle before. However his analytical prowess is extraordinary. “ Aubreen said to Katryn as she drew a large finely crafted wooden box from her sea chest. “He is to be commissioned then?” Katryn asked carrying the courier envelope to the chart table. “Yes,” she replied, taking the envelope and placing it atop of the box. “He has several bright prospects that could serve us well at need and Benjimir is adamant that we improve our intelligence stance.” A knock on the stateroom door concluded their discussion. Answering the knocks Katryn opened the door and welcomed Wayng Chun’nyte into the quarters.

“Good day captain,” said as he stepped in. Bowing his head he greeted Aubreen. “Commodore T’Subaki. Reporting as ordered.”

“Enter, welcome aboard the Andustar. Tea?” Aubreen offered as Wayng joined her at the chart table.

“Please. “ He answered.

Katryn stepped to the serving table near the main chart table. “Sugar?” she asked

“Yes, one lump please.”

Handing Wayng his tea Katryn joined them at the chart table.

“Xyncalla has resumed observations in Kugane, she will report as she learns more about the Garlean.” “Very well. It is well you are able to join us for this crossing to Ul’Dah there is work to be done.”

“Orders?” Wayng asked. Aubreen gestured to the box and courier envelope.

“Take these dispatches and report to Admiral Thursby at Tondera Hall. For yourself, take these. This is my personal set of wargaming pieces and such.” Wayng seemed surprised. He took a moment to open the hinged lid to the box and viewed the contents. Placing his open hand over his chest he bowed his head. “You honor me with this.” Wayng said. “You may thank me by making good use of them. From among your dispatches you will have returned to you scenarios which I want you to begin to work through. Report your results to the admiral, he will review them and complete your training as we have discussed.”

“By your command.”

Katryn flared her brow but chooses to discount the comment. “Anything further commodore?” Wayng asked. “Not at this time, we will speak further during the crossing.” Aubreen replied.

“I will take my leave of you then ma’am.” He said and bowed his head to Katryn. “Excellent tea.”

“Good journey Wayng.”

“Safe journey commodore. Good night.” Wayng bowed slightly and carried the box and dispatches to his quarters.

Katryn replaced the tea cups for the cabin steward to take from the serving cart.

“You will not be training him further?” She asked Aubreen. “Not directly, I am aligned with Benjimir in that we need to build our own domestic source of skilled war and strategic planners. Wayng is part of that plan.” Aubreen replied.

Aubreen sensed the uncertainty in Katryn, another rising star within the chain of command might cause that. “Peace my dear. As we spoke of today. Yours is a different path and true to only you. Let us make ours for tonight to bed.” Aubreen kissed Katryn and led her to their quarters.

*******

Aubreen’s personal journal would later reflect that she fell into a deep sleep that night. In the early watches aboard Andustar her mind was filled with a dream. As her vision began she found herself walking down a green slope below a great hall of white stone. The grass was cool on her feet and moist with morning dew. The hall seemed to stretch beyond the horizon to the north and south.

The slope led her through trees and down into a morning haze until the great hall seemed to loom above her as if set on a cloud. Finally she came through the mists to the edge of a narrow stream. Beyond and high above the fog on the opposite bank was a hall of very great size but entirely different form. On the opposing bank a shadow grew in the fog. Slowly it emerged from the vail. The form was of a woman, dark long hair, limp in posture and head seemingly looking about. The face was yet undefined in Aubreen’s vision and if she thought she felt she recognized it, clearly it knew her. As form came free of the fog it’s shoulder stiffened and head rose at once. A hand rose, palm extended. It began to wave as the vision ended.

Aubreen rose in bed. Choosing not to disturb Katryn beside her, she drew her legs up and wrapped her arms around them. A gentle, contented smile formed on her lips, but also a slight tear in her eye. The dreams were visions of peace and beauty. However with the beauty came sadness. It meant her gift of foresight had returned.

******* https://archiveofourown.org/works/24865591

[pear-pies]

音像世界 [Audiovisual World] - Sept 2006

a very wonky but delightful translation under the cut

Placebo ; We are the 21st century modern rock band                        Text/Interview with Zhang Weiwei/Xingyue 

On the first day of "2006 Beijing Pop Music Festival", "Placebo" Perform on the main stage of the company. "Placebo" is hailed as "the most Record the distinctive British music yin", this is their first time on the Chinese stage. Long talk will undoubtedly be a feast for listening to you. Mission to the last century In 1996, one named Brian Moco )lkO) boy,’ painted Seven eyes Liangying, leaving pitch black  Childish behavior:  ‘The violent red color I'm learning girls like a demon Sing a song "Nancy Kid" When I vent without hesitation Stupid material life and The emotion brought by the ft world. From the moment on stage, cloth Who is the backlog in my heart Thrown in front of the world, lead Shoulder, reputation, obsession and even People band one by one "placebo" Horribly turned out, "(Radiohead)s" "'Oasis" (Oasis) Three The altar adds a stunning                                                             Household Don't one by one Lane was born into a wealthy Bank entrepreneur, mother Christianity. Childhood, Tossed in Scotland, Libby Between Schlossburg. Serious  , And moved countless times Dogs have no fixed partners in childhood Jidu is lonely, even learning

The classmates and teachers in the school are also particularly alienated, plus , My parents ignored because of busy banking  , The physical and psychological growth of his son, Bryan from 11 I have been learning from the streets, newspapers and magazines since I was Factory women give themselves makeup and always like to surround  Women go round and round.     When he was 16 years old, his parents gave him a copy  Telecaster guitar, very sensitive to music  Brian soon bought a real price  A real guitar, and I've been obsessed with playing guitar ever since,  So that everyone can often see it on stage  Brian gently hugged the guitar one by one  He plays the role of a mother in his life  Important role. But in fact, Bryan’s parents  Straightforwardly oppose him to engage in art-father-  I want to let Brian inherit his career and become a  Bankers one by one Blaine began to use gender boundaries  Vaguely neutral dress to resist father and family  Against pressure. Until the end, Brian and his father  There is no longer any contact or exchange. In 1990, 18-year-old Brian left the family.  Came to London alone and entered Gold  Smiths Academy of Art and Drama Studies (British  The prestigious Royal Academy of Art, "Blur"  Former guitarist Graham Coxon  Coxon) also graduated from the college J. Cloth at this time  Ryan has been able to skillfully play a variety of instruments such as Ji  Him, keyboard, bass, drums, saxophone, and even DJing,  He also worked as a DJ in several clubs, but he was honest  Say that I am not very good at being a DJ0    By chance in 1994, Brian Kensington subway station encountered a later career ride   Stefan Olsdal,}     Invite him to form a band with himself and join in one,   Club performance. Osdo listened to Brian   Immediately after the song was attracted, not only that, he   , Put his Swedish friend Robert Schutz   (Robert Schultzberg) pulls into the music    Be a drummer (until 1996). Until later   , Bryan also emphasized that Osdo accepted his The moment I invited to the band was my whole life E one of the unforgettable moments. During this period, Bligh En called the band "Ashtray Heart" (Ashtray Heart) Heart)0   After quickly gaining awareness, they The band was renamed "placebo". Soon, Caroline Records has recognized this and A different young band.   In 1996, Robert Schutzberger The conflict with Brian increased and left the band, from Therefore, the position of the drummer has always been Steve Huey 特 (Steve Hewitt) instead. In the same year, the band The first album of the same name "Placebo" (Placebo) released Row. Singles "Nancy Kid" and "Young Rage" (Teertage Angst) immediately became a hit single, The stubborn and rebellious children of the entire Yao British Empire Was boosted by this three-person band, "placebo" It seems that they have been able to relieve their psychological barriers A great pill for manic heart. Just as Brian is different from   Ordinary costumes-mascara, eyeshadow, full lips, ～ Nail polish, skirts, this series will only show up The characteristics of a woman’s body are now affected by a height,The British man who is less than 1.75 meters boldly and naturally used to dress himself up. The British media took advantage of the trend and gave him the title of "fashionable Bowie". "Media reporters like to make boo heads. Maybe it's because life in the UK has always been so dull and boring. That's why they were surprised when they met me and yelled. I like "Sonic Youth" and "Sonic Youth". "Pixies", I prefer to dress myself up as I want to appear on the stage, in the MV and even in life. I just enjoy such an open-self lifestyle." Brian shrugged and said softly. In a tedious and lengthy interview after a TV show performance, Brian deliberately pointed the guard ｝l to the male reporter’s chest, so that the reporter was tossed by the sly Brian that he had no intention of continuing the interview. Go on, while Hewitt and Stephen are laughing together. After the album of the same name was released, the band easily got the mainstream record company Virgin In November 1998, he quickly recorded and released the second album "No "Without You I'm Nothing". This album has a rare change in the depth of the lyrics and Brian’s vocals compared to the first album. Brian in "Pure Morning" lowered his throat and reluctantly sang "Send charcoal in the snow." "A Friend in Need A Friend Indeed" (A Friend in Need A Friend Indeed). A famous sentence like household. Bryan, dressed in black, jumped out of the building and walked straight down the wall. The MV for this song was also planned by Bryan. A keen listener can find from this Xin album that the alcohol, drugs, and erosive relationships in "Nancy Kid" have changed to the mixed emotions and emotions toward urban men and women in "Every You Every Me".

The rhetoric of the low-level media is more intense. Every large-scale live performance, "placebo" In order to pursue the perfect sound effect comparable to the recording studio, Always bring fixed musicians with them Stage performance, and these fixed musicians also accompanied Placement has gone through a worthy 10 years. Although But on the stage they always hide without light In the dark, but they are the same as the "placebo" three The relationship between the members is like a formal team member. Observant Fans will also find that "Velvet Gold Mine" These regular musicians also participated. And "Ann Placement" "Believe in Me" held in Paris (Soulmates Never Die) large concert now The DVD and MV compilation are everybody’s Placement" a precious treasure that loyal fans must collect, The Paris concert not only included the "placebo" essence Cham’s hot live performance also hides a 30 Minute tour documentary, including how the three escaped Avoid the chase of fans and talk about the fun in the lounge Bryan teaches you how to draw eyeshadow and sightseeing Precious fragments of time crazy Stefan. "Placebo" will play an electrified style The ultimate is the new album released this year Meds; compile the album cover with "Sleep with the Elves"

It’s exactly the same, it seems to come from the same designer              hand. As Brian said, in the past 10 years he’              We work hard to find a position and style that suits us,              Looking for an invisible limit. Bryan and Le              The team has been trying to get out of this restriction, out of them              Have experienced, followed, intoxicated, avoided              A sensitive area that has been and moved by. Although cloth              Leith now has a child named Cody              Zihe ~ a touching wife who maintains a stable relationship with him              One by one wife, son, and teammates are all Bligh              En is deeply loved one by one, but Brian is uneasy in his blood              The molecules make him feel full of emotion and sensitive heart              The world has never changed. Now the "placebo" starts              Putting aside some long-standing conventions, in the new album              Significantly reduced the iconic guitar distortion, the band              Focus boldly with a more fashionable electrified style              With drugs, alcohol, and love, it’s like a giant record jacket              The naked, twisted, and shouting woman, "Ann              The placebo" bravely broke free from the past              System", more calmly standing in the British rock music              front.The growth of the Bone Association Band? I am very happy with the growth of the band. Our growth and success are all through long-term hardship...Shan:1 Linde. It’s been an almost uninterrupted tour for 10 years. This is a relatively old-fashioned way of running Cantonese. "(The tail is also what we like very much. The live performance of the mountain and the constant currency" requires that you can get yourself in it. In the early days of the band’s establishment, we had already decided to deliver the music to our listeners in the most direct way. What do you think of the development of Yaoi’i Gun Music? "Lonz Ferdinand" (1,s,i Pordinand), "Arctic Monkeys" (Arctic Monkeys). "The Kooki"; do you think they really have "material"? Just because they are from the same island does not mean they are anointing Le Buya! What is in common. Of course "Franz Ferdinand" and "Arctic Monkey" must be influenced by the music of IJ Moji {Fei, in my heart! Bu! . He is a very good band in J1IJ4 II. Especially the L tail, "Arctic Monkey r", their "material" lies in the quality of their Shule creations. They are very humorous, full of the strong vitality of the factory, modern city, and very British creative style. What they are telling Very interesting, but also very "human", very    A true story is a very realistic expression Present form. I think if the "street boy" (The Streets) is a rock band, they          '   It will be the "Arctic Monkey". I personally have always been very happy   Happy "Franz Ferdinand", from their first    An album begins. They are from Scotland and also   It brings another kind of cultural experience.      What I want to say is that although there are so many    Success bands are all from the UK, but they don’t    Not necessarily have something in common, nor is it necessarily    It means that rock music in the UK will be more    Good or worse. Good is good, bad is good    Is bad, there is no need to divide by region   Standards.      What kind of concept do you hold on creation?      We are a rock band, just like I    We are a modern rock music    team. We enjoy using various tools and equipment    The possibility of creating music. Rock music is not only    It’s a simple guitar with electronic elements    Not only can be used in a certain kind of special music    In the category. The key to its function depends on you    How to use it and how to integrate it better   In your own music category.     Was the grunge trend in the U.S.    Has any influence on you or a British band? You like   Is Grunge Fun?     I never really liked it   Grunge, I have never heard of "Nirvana" (Nirvana)    Music until Kurt Coben (Kurt Cobain) passed away. For me, "nirvana"     Too mainstream T0 I am more interested in those very Alternative bands, like "Sonic Youth" (Sonic Youth), or the late 70s, 80s   Post-punk band in the early years.      What do you think of as a British band   American culture?      We ourselves think that "placebo" is a    European bands. Of course we were founded in London.    Half of my blood is Scottish, history of drummer   The name "Friend (Steve Hewitt) is of British descent,   Stefan Olsdal is a Swedish. We   Speaks many languages, Stephen speaks 5 languages,    I speak French and English. We grew up in Europe  There are K people from the I1 family in Zhou, we see ourselves as Europeans,    I don’t think I have any special UK   Pity. We can, will historically and geographically    The music of the country and the era is biased. Ok    Meeting the music and blood should be interpreted, and it is truly   I found it at Ill lii.} I don’t care if the music comes from Which country, as long as it can move people. but I I want to say: "I'm very happy that I will be in Europe Life".   Countless tours and publicity all over the world make people Enjoy it?   I enjoy the tour, but not the publicity. But it is equally important. In the past 10 years, We have been through live performances all over the world Accumulated a group of very loyal and sincere fans. Every year, the number of our fans grows very much View. Although it takes a lot of time to do this, it also gives me We added a lot of fun.   You know there are many "placebos" in China Fans? They are very obsessed with "placebo" The violent distortion guitar and your charming voice, even Even when playing the piano is hot, many fans want to know the invitation, What do you think of your fans.   Ah, haha, of course I hope so. "I must wait until Ij comes to Beijing in September to learn about Chinese musicWhat a fan is like, I look forward to it very much.   It’s not just heterosexual people. Placement", many gays also like you We, what do you think is the reason that makes "Ann Does "Placement" attract different fascinating groups?   Great! I think this is great! I think For our honesty in emotions and the truth in life Desire to communicate, um, if our music can move people, it must be physically,There are three aspects, both mentally and emotionally.    You are now a father What kind of impact? The kind of perplexed and perverted Dong Is Xijijing completely far away from you?   Honestly, no. As for myself Those who are confused and perverse, maybe less A little bit. But now there is another person Let me care, need my protection, so that it will not be this Hurt by a huge bad world.   You have always loved to dress up, you still Do you love applying black nail polish to yourself?   I have not bought black nail polish for many years Yes, but I still paint eyeliner and eye shadow. I do Did not try to do anything special through these performances Communication, in addition to thinking that people should dress up, Freedom in dress, choice and preference, not affected by Constrained by any established standard. If hard If any message is conveyed, it is freedom. But I do this entirely because I like it, I think I look great like that, like a The mentality of a lady with makeup.  How do you think a man should make his evening watch more cultured and tasteful? I think in the 21st century, men should be free, Wear what they like and dress up like they like Huan look. In comparison, women are more They can wear skirts or they can wear Pants, they can make up or not, They can look bright and beautiful, or they can watch Go up and take control. In the 20th century, men’s The choice has become so small. Looking back, Louis France in the fourteenth period, and the restoration period In Great Britain, men used to love makeup that much, Their clothes are so gorgeous and they look so good elegant. So we just trace the roots in history.  The media will use it when evaluating "placebo" Keep your eyes on such things as "male and female", "gorgeous", ) If you have to symbolize, how can you give yourself Has it been defined and classified?  A modern rock band. A 21 The modern rock band of the century. Let me show you and all Some magazine readers confirmed that "placebo" is not Hermaphrodite, the "placebo" members are all men, Everyone is.

In addition to work, the three of you often Play together? The three of us spend time together Family and love have more time. So when we After we got home, we gave all the time Family material lover, ha ha. Can you chat online? No, it never happened. I know net Some people on the network will call themselves Brian Mok, Husband ,,’’No~1 million That would definitely not be me. If you are online I met someone like that and I visited Brian Mo But my blog or Myspace, I read my Diary, you have to believe that it is definitely a lie. I Will not publish their life information on the Internet, I am a privacy-conscious person. What's the story of the performance in China this time ? What are your expectations for the Chinese record market What? Just like going to Thailand and Korea, through hosting Party’s invitation, we’ll come and we know people We like our music, so we can play for them We are also very happy to play. As for the record market, I Really have no idea. I just look forward to acting I hope to bring an outstanding performance. Please describe you in one word or sentence " 3 people. Just one sentence. Have you seen "Starship Fans Is this TV show "Star Trek"? Oh, your country may not broadcast it. Stephen It's "Mr. Spock" (Mr. Spock) It’s ‘Dr. McCoy’ and I’m "K Captain Kirk" (Captain Kirk)

[strangenightsofdaydreams]

Happy Birthday Sarah!

@theheavycrown Thank you for existing. That there are so many of us that appreciate this says a lot. Hopefully you had a good day and your body offered respite. You my dear, are a penguin of great significance. So here is your gift- not late, it’s still the 3rd in some part of the world. This ended up a lil over 1K which maybe can be expect to make up for the potential belated-ness.

__________________________

Jughead absentmindedly reaches for his prize. The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane is generally stocked but he snoozed on his alarm this morning and ever since his day had been harried. It was imperative he found a book store close by to the subway. He needed to take to get to JB’s dinner on time. And thanks to the brisk pace of his walk, he had- now he could relax for a moment. He jerked back when he touched a soft, warm hand and not the thin paper spine he expected. Pretty green eyes met his as he looked down before he registered any of her other lovely features. The blonde woman that was browsing the nearby shelf had apparently come to a decision while he daydreamed. 

“Here.” She spoke into the accumulating silence and Jughead cleared his throat to hide his embarrassment. A second passed and then he fumbled to take the book from her. 

“Thank you.” At least his voice kept itself together. He was 26, cracking should not be an issue anymore despite his earlier woolheaded mishap. 

“It’s the last one out, are you sure?” He took two steps back to give her space. Sometimes he looked imposing but he was without his leather and at his most spiffy today so hopefully that should do it. 

“Oh, I’m sure they have extras in the back. Unless... you don’t want it?” 

“I do. Well it’s not exactly for me but yes.” 

She laughed, “It’s not for me either. I’m getting a book each for my niece and nephew’s upcoming birthday. I loved this book as a kid so it seemed an obvious choice. It’s an ugly world they’ll need the beautiful themes within to help navigate. But I have weeks, early shopping so go ahead.” 

“Thank you.” He scratched the back of his neck, tugging on the edge of his beanie. Jughead felt honored instead of his typical annoyance that she shared. 

“It’s my sister’s birthday tomorrow and something this year had me feeling nostalgic. Maybe it’s because she’ll be twenty, no longer a teen. I know she’ll like it. We  both have fond memories of when I used to read this to her.” Obviously leaving out how both of their parents were passed out or drinking as they did this. He wasn’t feral enough to not understand polite conversation despite Toni’s teasing. And scowls were adequate communication!

“That’s sweet. May I make a suggestion?” 

“Yeah sure, proceed.” 

“You should get her something for this year too. If you can financially, to show her you also see her now. And even if she doesn’t subscribe to that reasoning, two presents instead of one is always nice.”

“Huh, alright. Any recommendations?” 

“What are her interests?” Her spine straightens and she leans in, the picture of attentiveness. 

“She likes rock music, zombie video games... I think she has an interest in historical settings and still reads ya fantasy occasionally. We saw all of the Hunger Games movies in theaters. There were a lot of thoughts to be shared afterwards.” 

They laugh. Hers is surprisingly throaty and he adds it to his steadily growing list of things he finds great about this stranger. A big accomplishment for a people hating hermit like him. “JB also is in her college’s feminist union and is majoring in chemical engineering. She’s a bright kid.” 

Betty smiles at him and then claps her hands. “Okay so how about-” Betty walks a few rows down and comes back. “Frankenstein. I think she can handle the horror and invasive ramifications of science and consent handled in the book. Sounds up her alley.”

Jughead nods, agreeing while processing that he doesn’t think he’s ever been so attracted to someone. “I’ve read it. I wouldn’t have thought about it but that’s perfect. And by Mary Shelley feminist icon that she is. I recognize teh layers.” 

His book muse beams, “I’m so happy to help.” Jughead searches for something to say, not wanting the conversation to end. 

“If that’s for your niece, what did you pick for your nephew? 

“I’m debating between From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler or A Wrinkle in Time. He is ten but his reading level is a bit higher than average so I think he could handle either.”

“I would wait on A Wrinkle In Time, I believe you about his capability but he might appreciate the themes more in a year. The Mixed Up Files are more exciting without making you think.”

“You know I think you're right Mister…” 

“Jones. Jughead Jones.” She nodded grabbing, her second book before turning back to face him. “Betty Cooper at your literary service.” 

“Well don’t worry Betts, I’m sure he’ll be ready to read it in no time and you can share your good taste with them more.”

“I may need more advice down the road. Christmas is in four months and all. We could exchange numbers if convenient.”

Jughead smirked, impressed and relieved that she beat him to it. “I would like nothing more, Miss Cooper. Uh, ignore the screen crack.” 

They both unlocked and then switched phones, putting in their contacts. He finished putting in his information and then went to home screen startling at the time written. 

“Shit. I have to go. I need to make the metro soon. Can’t be late to her party.” Betty handed him his phone back, brow slightly furrowed. “I thought it was tomorrow. I wouldn't have taken up your time otherwise.” 

He put his phone in his pocket and pulled up the suspenders, prepping to book it and delighting in her eyes on his arms. “I know, my bad for the confusion. We don’t celebrate the day of- family tradition. And I enjoyed this, don’t feel bad. I have to pay, we’ll talk later.” 

The look in her eyes pinned him down. “Don’t be the guy who runs. Walk fast. Bye for now Jug.” 

Jughead grinned at her stern warning, he liked her bossy. He rushed to the cashier and made his way down the street, reaching the subway entrance and went on with the normal routine. Even the heat didn’t put him in a bad mood and when he sat down in an almost empty car, he checked his contacts. Betty had put a book emoji next to her name. He hoped she thought his crown was half as cute. He fiddled with his suspenders, unused to having them put on correctly for once and then replied to a couple rapid fire texts from JB’s girlfriend asking about his status. He assured Annie that he would be on time to the restaurant that only seated parties of three if they were all in admittance at once, understanding her anxiety. JB deserved a nice time. 

________________________

Jughead left the restaurant hours later, full and happy to see JB bloom under Annie’s loving attention. He took out his phone when he was back on the subway. 

JB loved her gifts. And her girlfriend told me about the showing of the original Frankenstein movie at a local art house theater next Friday. Interested?

[katukutataka]

Ghost in Time - Ch. 4

A/N: Stars, this chapter was the most agonizing on-the-fly chapter! I struggled so hard to come up with this, but I pushed thru cuz I know this is important. Damnit. 

Anyway! This chapter features more Katsuyu, Tsunade, and Jiraiya interactions so hope y’all like it! 

Shoutout and huge thanks to my friend who helped me with this bloody chapter!  

Chapter 4:

Private Booth

​​It's silent in the private booth after Katsuyu declared her statement. Tsunade and Jiraiya briefly exchanged glances with a mixture of tension and uneasiness.

"What do you mean she's on a mission to change everything?" Amber eyes refocus onto the slug. "What's her real mission objective?"

"It's as I've stated previously. Unfortunately, I can't give you specific details at the moment. Both of you will need to meet with Lady Sakura to hear the full truth."

Jiraiya leans one elbow on the table's surface to peer into the slug's gray optical tentacles. "Then what details can you give us until then?"

Katsuyu becomes silent for a couple of minutes, allowing the adults to mull over what just transpired.

Haruno? The last person with that last name left months ago for a trade post to help direct supplies for the War. He's about what, sixteen years old? He can have a kid at his age but…something doesn’t add up. Jiraiya eyes the slug for a second then looks at his partner, who’s also in deep thought. When her amber eyes made contact with his, there's a sense of mutual understanding exchanged between them.

How did this person gain approval from the Slugs to sign the Contract? When did they sign it? Tsunade looks down at the Contract in front of her to examine the new signature. The pigment is bright red much like her own, but the Seal above it is concerning. She can sense something powerful about it - almost ancient.

Besides, the family name puzzles her. The Haruno's are a civilian merchant family that was one of the early settlers after Konoha opened its Gates to welcome outsiders. While the family members are charismatic and sociable business people, they aren't suited to become Shinobi. Many of their men and few of their women enlisted to become Shinobi before the Shinobi Academy was built; however, they didn't meet the standard requirements at the time. Since then, the family have been contributing their help and knowledge in establishing trade diplomacy amongst other merchants and Clans within the village, foreign trade negotiations, trade posts in other regions of the Fire Country, and helping map out trade routes not only for civilians and merchants to use but also for their Shinobi forces.

How did a member of the Haruno family sign the Contact? Who exactly is this person anyway? The last person of the same name left for a trade post months ago and he didn't mention having a child with some woman. Then again, he probably isn't aware that his partner might have been pregnant. So is this 'Sakura' person a younger sister? Maybe a younger relative? The corner of Tsunade's red-painted lips dip down.

When her eyes make contact with her partner, he slightly nods his head down to affirm their mutual understanding.

There's something suspicious going on and Katsuyu is withholding the information. For now. 

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

​Hashirama Forest

The Katsuyu that's resting on Sakura's left palm perks up upon the new memories flooding into her mind.

"Milady," She hastily calls out to gain her summoner's attention, "I've been summoned by Lady Tsunade. She's alone with Lord Jiraiya in a private booth A privacy  seal was already in place by the time I arrived."

Full version @:https://dreamywrites.weebly.com/home/ghost-in-time-chapter-4

A/N: Follow me on Twitter (same tumblr name and icon) for a faster update of when a new chapter is posted! Feedback on the story so far is strongly encouraged! It’ll help me improve on any mistakes I might’ve missed and I want to know what y’all think! You can leave your comments on Tumblr posts for each chapter or you can leave them on my actual website! 

[Also, I swear you’ll see Kakashi soon! This is a Kakasaku fanfic!]