#but our names are 1 letter off so if he does i’ll just steal it

[blue-orangeade]

finding out keita was the one who made up ‘i love you, i want you, seok matthew!’ AND ‘chen kuan rrrrui’ AND ‘face jjang (best), talent jjang, charisma jjang hao-imnida’ like damn can he do one for me too

[beels-burger-babe]

The Façade of the Suitor - Pt. 2

***Wow! You guys are really digging this series! Thank you so much for your support 🥰🥰🥰 I don't get to share OCs often, so it's really reassuring to see you guys take to Harlow. She's a character, that's for sure 😅😅 Thanks for all the love! - B*** Summary: MC catches the eye of Lady Harlow, a higher demoness who has had a small feud with the brothers for centuries. She's determined to steal MC from them and keep MC under her wing. The brothers, however, are determined not to let that happen. Part 1, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6

After a week had passed since the ball, Lucifer had dared to hope that maybe that had been the end of things and that Harlow would just leave him and you alone. But fate had never been on his side. A letter arrived in the mail, sealed with a horrifyingly familiar purple stamp and her nauseating fragrance. It was, of course, addressed to you.

Lucifer's nose wrinkled in distaste. He'd have to dispose of this before you ever caught sight of it. He had turned to do exactly that when he bumped into Satan and dropped the letter. Satan sighed and bent down to pick it up. "I thought that you of all people would be capable of watching where you're," he stopped short as he finally looked at the letter. Satan's jaw clenched as he looked back at Lucifer. "Why in Diavolo's name are you in contact with her again?" Lucifer sighed and tried to take the letter back, Satan stepped out of his reach. He glared at the angry demon. "Not that it's any of your business-" "Not my business?!" Satan snapped before Lucifer could finish his explanation. "She turned you against all of us and nearly tore this family a part and you don't think it's my business if you're in contact with that- that- that snake again?!"

Lucifer growled at the reminder of his past failure. "If I had a choice, I would wipe her foul existence from the face of this realm, but I can't. I loath that woman as much as you do. The letter isn't addressed to me. It's to MC."

Satan's eyes widened and quickly looked down at the letter, seeing your name scrawled in her disgustingly perfect cursive font. He dropped the letter as though it had burned him. "We can't let them see this. Harlow shouldn't even know MC exists! How the fuck did this happen?"

Lucifer picked up the letter, " The exchange program ball. Near the end of the evening, MC and I were relaxing near a wall and Harlow approached us." Satan looked at his brother as though he had two heads. "And you just let her?" This quickly earned the younger demon another glare. "We were at a public event where I was representing our House and Diavolo and MC was representing the human realm. There wasn't much I could do without causing a scene." Satan rolled his eyes and threw his hands up in the air. "Of course! You'd let Harlow sink her claws into MC just so you can protect your reputation. I forgot who I was talking to for a moment." Beel stepped out of the kitchen and into the room at the sound of the yelling. "What's going on?" "Noth-" "Harlow's trying to get to MC." The "father and son" duo sneered at each other. Beel's eyes widened as his face paled. "Well, we aren't going to let her, right? We can stop her this time. Now we know her tricks. It won't be like last time?" he was staring directly at Lucifer. The eldest felt his stomach twist and churn guiltily at the desperation in Beel's stare. They all knew from experience just how cunning and manipulative Harlow could be. She had targeted Lucifer specifically, and because he let down his guard, his whole family soon became infected by the demoness venom. He refused to let the same happen to you. Lucifer turned on his heel and threw the letter into the fireplace. The three brothers watched as it slowly was consumed by the flames and turned to ash. "Tell the others about what happened. There's no doubt that Harlow will attempt to reach MC again. It's our duty to stop that from happening," Lucifer spoke up. Beel nodded right away before taking off to obey the command. Satan sighed and glanced at Lucifer, "You know this won't stop her. She'll figure out a way to get to MC." Lucifer continued watching the flames. The fire's glow reflecting in his obsidian eyes like a memory flickering in the darkness. "Maybe so, but at the very least it will give us time to come up with a plan on what to do when she does." In the end, Satan had been right. The brothers worked tirelessly together to intercept any letters, bouquets, or baskets that had been sent for you. Asmo kept a collection of the bouquets and gifts in his room, and simply told you that they were objects of admiration from his fans. You had walked in on Beel shuffling through the mail one day, and he had managed to fluster out an excuse before hurrying out of the room and shoving the most recent letter into his mouth. Mammon became even clingier than usual and was always by your side. Although he was physically with you, his mind and eyes were always looking around you for any signs of the demoness that he was trying to avoid. Satan had worked with Solomon to put an enchantment on the House's gates that caused anything that had recently touched Harlow's hands to be incinerated as it passed through the gate. Levi had been forcing you to watch the top ten anime betrayals and any anime with a manipulative or toxic antagonist in hopes that it would help you recognize them in Harlow if she ever got to you and that you would do the right thing and choose your real best friend him (and I suppose the others as well). Belphegor would purposefully fall asleep on you as much as possible to prevent you from leaving the House and therefore heightening the risk of Harlow coming to meet you personally. Lucifer had begun to do his own research on Harlow, once more, and was looking back on his own past experiences with the demoness to gain wisdom on how to outwit her. Despite all of their efforts, it wasn't enough. You came down to breakfast, looking complexed but intrigued as you held a piece of paper with a dreadfully purple broken seal on the top. The brothers froze as Harlow's familiar perfume reached their noses. Levi swallowed his food as he looked at you nervously. "M-MC, what...what do you have there?" You blinked up at them and held up the paper. "It's a letter from

Lady Harlow. A bat flew through my window this morning with this attached to its foot. According to the letter, she's tried more normal means of communication, but had no luck. Hmm, I wonder why?" you pondered out loud as you continued reading the letter. The brothers exchanged worried looks. Lucifer straightened his posture. "What else does it say?" You barely looked over at him as you responded. "Oh, she has invited me to a private luncheon at her manor. Apparently, she'd like to get to know me better." Your words caused everyone at the table to stiffen. "Seems suspicious to me," Belphie stated as he rested his head on your shoulder. "You shouldn't go. She's probably planning to kill you or something but is just pretending to be nice to get you to let your guard down." You smirked down at him. "Hmmm, sounds familiar," despite your joking tone, you noticed the room tense and Belphie looked away in shame. You frowned and placed a hand on his arm. "I...I was joking, Belphie. You know I've forgiven you for that. You've proved that you've changed. We're okay," you looked around at the others, finally picking up on the tension in the room. "What's going on? Why is everyone acting so weird?" Satan sighed and met your eyes. "Harlow is the Lady of Manipulation. She thrives off of playing with others' emotions and desires to get her own twisted wants." "She's dangerous," Lucifer added. You were shocked to see that he was seemingly unable to meet your eyes. Instead, he stared at his plate as though lost in a memory. "She's incredibly skilled at what she does and will worm her way into your thoughts before you're even aware of what's happening. She's cunning and sly," he finally lifted his head to look at you. You shivered at the intense urgency and regret in his gaze. "Lady Harlow is not one that you should give even a second of your time to. If you give her even a single inch, she will take a mile." You frowned and looked back at the letter. It was filled with so many kind words and eloquent phrasing. She had seemed nice enough at the ball, and she went through all this trouble just to send you an invitation. "Thank you for the warning," you spoke sincerely as you looked at the others. "I'll be sure to keep your words in mind and be careful." Mammon scoffed and crossed his arms. "You make it sound as if you're going." "I am." The room burst into a mix of angry proclamations, commands that you were not going, and pleas for you to listen to them. You smiled sympathetically at the brothers. "I know you're worried, but it would be extremely rude to reject a personal invitation like this from a noble, especially after all the effort she went through to have it delivered. I should at least go to see what she wants. I'll have my D.D.D. on me and you can guys can ask me all the questions you want as soon as I get back." Lucifer's eyes searched your expression in a mix of frustration and desperation. "MC did you not hear a single word I just said? One visit is all she'll need. I really must urge you not-" "Lucifer stop," the room fell silent as Lucifer's mouth snapped shut. His gaze hardened at your use of a command. You sighed and ran a hand over your face. "I'm sorry, but this isn't your choice. I know you seem to have...something going on with Harlow, and I will take caution from your words during my visit. But I'm sure I'll be fine. I live with and have befriended seven of the most powerful demons in the Devildom. What's a silly noblewoman going to do to me?" You gently lifted Belphie's head off of you and rose. "I should get ready for the school day. I'm sorry guys. I'll see you all later." As you left, a small piece of hope from within the brothers left with you. Lucifer snarled and downed a glass of wine. "Right," he said bitterly and looked over at Satan, "onto plan c."

*** I hope you guys enjoyed it! I promise you will find out exactly what went down between Harlow and the brothers later on. But for now, let the games begin 😈 Thanks again for all the support and love you've all been giving this series!***

Taglist: @cosmixbun @sufzku @simeonspebble @lovevictoire @obey-mes-treasure @kissed-by-a-dementor @yukihaie @justtiarra @mammoneybb @obeys-world @peachyeevee13 @otome-scribbles @azureusmoonie @poly-bi-mf

[zukuist]

in the moment [hcs]

“they are desperate for help when admirers swarm them, and they choose to seek for your assistance”

fandom/s : 僕のヘロアカデミア // boku no hero academia (bnha)

includes: h. shinsō, k. bakugō, i. midoriya

your name is shortened to y/n, last name is shortened to l/n gender neutral, use of the pretend lover trope, they’re actually pining.

further note: yes i’ve been gone for more than a week, and yes it’s because of school. i promise i’ll be posting more!!

REQUESTS ;; OPEN !!

© IZUKULIE 2021, HORIKOSHI KOHEI OWNS BNHA, DO NOT STEAL ❕

—

shinsō hitoshi

finds it super annoying

and this is coming from him, someone that’s not easy to irritate

he’s conscious and aware that people find him attractive (which for some reason, he still questions why)

eventually, admirers are bound to appear like it or not, but they’re not this insistent as this girl, nope.

shinsō has never experienced something like this, in his entire life.

noriko was a familiar face, but not in the best way for shinsō hitoshi.

she used to be one of those girls that’d band wagon with her opinions. whenever people were hostile towards him

she would be hostile too

but as soon as everyone started finding him attractive, she’d change too.

and it’s.. a mess. what more when he himself is pining on someone that’s not noriko

let alone, a student from class 1-A?

and it’s not like he could brainwash her into leaving him alone

as soon as she would be released by his quirk, she’d tell everyone what he did. therefore, leaving that out of the many solutions

and now he’s backed up into a corner, with her chasing him all across the hallways.

he can only hope for a solution.

— scene —

“this is ridiculous..” taking another turn in the hallway, shinsō mutters to himself quietly, the sleep deprived student can still hear her shrill voice

and by ‘her’, he’s referring to the admirer that has been tailing him down ever since the day had started.

“there are times like this where i wished i didn’t care about looking villainous” is what he’s really thinking. damn quirk stereotypes, and curse him for not having a quirk like iida tenya

“what.. are you doing?” was he lucky, or unlucky? it just so happened to be that he bumped into y/n l/n, out of all people

“i’m in a bit of a situation,” his palm rests against his nape, and he has to hope that you get the message, when noriko’s nearly deafening voice cuts through the air

“you’re quite popular with the ladies, huh?” you joke, and shinsō would’ve laughed if he wasn’t being trailed down.

“as much as i—”

“there you are !” noriko exclaims, slightly out of breath from the insistent chase, “you still haven’t answered !”

“i have, and i said no.” he makes his intentions concrete, compared to earlier (which was a mistake) when he rejected her in the nicest way he could’ve done so, but it wasn’t enough to make her quit.

“well earlier, you’ve said you appreciated it !” the whine pains both of your ears, and you contemplate if you should just grab his hand, and make a run for it.

but, she’d just chase you down again. so maybe not.

“yes, but i also said i can’t accept your feelings.” in instinct, he backs up so he could stand next to you, and he looks at you with his own style of desperation, which was obviously different than noriko’s desperation.

“i happen to be taken.” shinsō claims, hooking his hand along yours. which might’ve been done because he’s desperate, but could’ve been done because he wanted to

getting the motive, you lock away your shock, and play along, accepting his touch.

“i don’t believe you.” noriko blurts, “you two look like best friends more than anything. i’m not stupid !”

you didn’t think it would have to resort to this.

with not much of a thought, you grabbed shinsō by the collar, and smashed your lips together. his lips are warmer than you’ve anticipated, the distinct taste of coffee makes you lean into him further. while at first taken aback, shinsō decides to accept the act by pushing you even closer to him

you let go, deciding it was enough, and when you stare back at noriko, tears dotting at her waterline, and she sputters in humiliation and rejection.

“i never liked you anyway !” she uses as a defense, before storming off. the both of you feel a sense of relief when her figure turns at the end of the hallway

“sorry for kissing you like that. it was kind of in the moment,”

shinsō chuckles, “didn’t expect our first kiss to be like that.”

“well, there are more opportunities to come for you, you’re quite popular.” you tease, and shinsō flicks your forehead in retaliation. in return, you hiss at the sudden sting of pain.

“we’ll have more opportunities when i take you out for lunch on saturday.” he pats you on the shoulder, before he presses a quick real kiss on your cheekbone.

bakugō katsuki

also finds it super annoying. actually, he might as well just fight them and move on.

bakugō knows it well that he’s.. well-known, for all the right and wrong reasons

but what he doesn’t know is that he’s also known for his good looks, rough and boyish in nature.

so eventually, there’ll be that one brave and fearless soul that’ll take one for the team. or even two, or three.

he hates it. doesn’t his aura and demeanor alone scare off all of the suitors?

since when were they super persistent, smh.

it didn’t help that he was trying to drown and suffocate his feelings down the pipeline.

because curse bakugō katsuki for having normal, teenage feelings. he had other important things in life, right?

but he couldn’t help but wonder if you’d ever confess to him like that

(not that it would happen any time soon. you were too busy being a tough training partner)

but everything aside, he wishes that people would just take the hint already.

because ignoring doesn’t help all the time.

the girl named fumiko would be a dreadful sight he’d be constantly reminded of.

from his shoe locker being flooded with love letters that speak nothing to him, and to the obnoxious commentary on his looks

he’d think that they were just harassing him to get a reaction, but bakugō katsuki will remain unbothered!

but he spoke too soon, because he was approached directly right after his late training session.

—scene—

bakugō hates it

he hates extras, he hates being outshined, and he hates distractions. what more was there to dislike in the world? everything clearly.

he can handle things properly, and with that tough demeanor of his, and he definitely doesn’t need a quick and easy solution, from the girl that’s glued to his side.

he told himself that a persistent extra is nothing, he can just simply ignore them and look at them, like how he always looks at useless pebbles, and they’d go away. but clearly not this girl

“get off, you fucking extra” he pushes her off, grabbing his water bottle and immediately storming off, but it doesn’t convince fumiko (he learned her name unfortuantely) to finally lay off.

“c’mon katsuki! this would’ve all been over if you just went out with me!”

bakugō can’t hide the cringe on his face, hearing his first name, ugh. he doesn’t know how she found out about his late training sessions, considering that she wasn’t in his class or class 1-b

he doubts that he’d run into anyone at this hour, they’d be all in the common room, and he did say that he wanted all of them to ‘fuck off’. but luck does work in mysterious ways.

“..what’re you doing here?” he questions, clearly surprised by your presence, and his frustration would’ve disappeared at that exact mom“dinner’s almost ready. actually, why do you look so.. alarmed? is there a villain?—”

his palms are starting to sweat, and it’s not because of his training, or because of the girl that won’t leave him alone. “no! fuck no. okay, there’s just some shitty extra that’s been following me around like some obsessed freak.”

you decide to be smug, “i knew there was going to be a brave soul out there, ready to sacrifice themselves.” you rest your hand on your left side, like it was heart warming, but the blond is not amused with your gesture.

“right, right!” you hold your hands up, surrendering. “okay, what do you want me to do?”

“just don’t say a fucking thing.” you can hear foot steps get closer and closer to the both of you, and in a hurry, he pushes you closer to him, the smell of caramel evading your senses.

before you could even say a word, he kisses you. it’s rough, and it makes you feel warm, and it’s definitely not because of his quirk, or because of the large, warm palms that rest against your sides.

you get a grip on him, holding onto his shoulder when you feel your knees buck because of the butterflies in your stomach, and it seems to get worse when bakugō holds you even tighter

“okay geez, i get it. you’re taken!” you can hear the girl exclaim in humiliation and disgust, “ugh, a guy like you wouldn’t be able to handle me anyway.”

and when she finally scurries away, the both of you break the kisses, the wind out of you being knocked out cold from his sudden act of ‘romance’

“i sorta understand the hype now.” you grin, your lips still tingle from the kiss, and you’re convinced that you want more, despite the kiss being out of spite, and for fumiko to back off.

“shut up.” you would’ve laughed at him if it was any other day, but for now, you’re left silent. your heart flutters once more, when his lips press against your cheekbone briefly.

“c’mon, idiot. we’re gonna miss dinner.”

midoriya izuku

he’s so alarmed, and honestly very scared

he wasn’t popular, or well known to begin with, and people only started treating him like he was a real person in highschool

he’s just so used to being looked at like a background character, or a npc in a video game.

so the sudden swarm of suitors, and people that want to date him shocked him to the core.

he was never treated like this in middle school, or elementary!

it flatters him, and he’s glad that people actually like him. but.. he’d never actually think about being with either of them

because they’re not you, obviously. but wait, what’s so different about you exactly?

well.. you’ve treated him with kindness, even when he looked like this.. really awkward kid that sat at the back of the classroom.

so yeah, he’d never think about accepting anyone else’s confessions, as long as they’re not you

but still, midoriya has treated all of his admirers with kindness, despite not wanting to be with any of them

knowing how it feels to be humiliated, he wouldn’t want to do that on any of them

but.. this one particular girl was one he’d never truly be comfortable with, as much as he’d like to fake it.

rieko was.. something. probably the most persistent one out of all of them.

he would’ve appreciated it, if it weren’t for the fact that she was super obnoxious to other people.

and most importantly, he didn’t understand what she’d get out of it, and it wrecked his nerves!

— scene —

standing next to you, all lined up for lunch, midoriya shifts uncomfortably as he tries his best to ignore the loud and obvious commentary that’s being directed to him.

at first, it was flattering. but now? he just wishes things would go back to the times where people had no interest in him, whatsoever.

he knows what rieko really like him for, and it’s honestly disheartening. the girl would compliment him on things like his looks, and even his new moves!

but as soon as he elaborated on how he did it, the interest would fade away from her eyes

not that it did matter though. midoriya didn’t really have any feelings for any of the people that’ve approached him, wanting to date him. he’s been kind, and they’ve been kind in return, getting the hint and backing off.

the freckled boy was flattered but, not interested

but clearly, rieko didn’t get the message, despite the way midoriya would back away uncomfortably. how he’d immediately excuse himself whenever he’d see the girl.

just.. all signs of disinterest

“go! just ask him already!” he can hear her friends encourage her, but he’s not very enthusiastic to know what they’re cheering her on for

“he won’t be able to resist! just walk right in and do it, you guys will be an attractive couple anyway!”

midoriya’s palms are shaky, and he tries his best to calm his nerves down by clenching his fists. this doesn’t go un-noticed by you.

“you okay, midoriya?” you ask, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder, and the green haired boy hopes that his cheeks aren’t turning red.

the both of you guys are awfully close! not that he’s complaining, it’s just that—

“is it about them?” you ask in a nearly quiet tone, and midoriya’s aware that you’re talking about them.

“uhm..” midoriya tries to formulate a proper answer, not wanting to sound as bothered as he actually is. how would he be able to explain this? “don’t worry about it,” midoriya reassures, “it’s just—”

“do you think that he’s dating that person? you know, the one beside them?” he hears that the topic of the conversation has shifted, and the group of girls are referring to you.

midoriya wasn’t planning on telling anyone about the dilemma. let alone his crush. it was something he was going to ignore, until the mess calmed down.

but now? you’re roped into it, and his nerves didn’t calm down at all.

“izuku dating them? no, it can’t be. he’s too good for them!”

“that’s the spirit, rieko. you should just go like.. now!”

to him, it’s the other way around. you’re too good for him, and you’re out of his league. so, this comment upsets him to all ends.

he’s pondering on what he should do, and before he could take you out of the line to get food at some other place, he feels something warm enlace his hand.

he slightly shivers when he realizes that it’s your hand he’s holding, cheeks flushed with crimson.

your eyes are ahead, a lot more composed than he is clearly, but if he looked hard enough, he could sense the nervousness in your hold.

“you wanna leave the line, izu?” his first name sounds different when you say it, and he thinks to himself that he prefers it a lot more when it comes from you

“y-yes.” and you smile, pressing your lips against his cheek quickly, before tugging his hand and pulling him out of the line, walking away from the group.

it’s a miracle that he didn’t drop onto the cafeteria’s floors.

you can feel his anxiety subsiding. despite his flushed cheeks remaining, he looks better than he did a few seconds ago, and you’re glad.

deciding the both of you were at a safe distance, you peek over your shoulder. you can see the absolute defeat on rieko’s face, and the scowl on her friends’ faces as they attempted to comfort their heartbroken friend.

“thank you, y/n.”

“no, it’s nothing, really. anyhow, what do you plan on eating for lunch?”

[writingwhimsey]

Kitsune's Love Ch. 1

A/N: My Mitsuhide fanfic based off the dramatic ending (because that may just be my all time favorite route ending in IkeSen).

Chapter 1

"Lady Ava, what do you think of this fabric?"

I turned at the sound of Saki, speaking to me. She was another seamstress that I worked with in Azuchi castle. I smiled at her a I looked at the beautiful silken fabric she held up. "The color pattern is quite beautiful." I agreed with her. I then spotted another fabric which would compliment this one perfectly. "Oh and then this one would be great with it."

"You have such an eye for colors, Lady Ava." Saki said, looking at me in an almost admiring way.

"You were the one to spot the first fabric." I told her. "In fact, I think that these will be perfect for the commission we are working on."

"You really think so?"

I nodded. "Now we'll just need these and a few more supplies and we'll be ready."

"Can we take a tea break?" Saki asked me. "I don't know about you, but I am getting a little hungry."

"Getting some tea and snack does sound nice." I agreed as we made our purchases.

Once we had finished with the fabric merchant, we were heading to a tea house. It was the same tea house I usually went to with Mitsuhide. It was definitely the best in town, though I am sure some of my fondness for it stemmed from the memories I shared with Mitsuhide.

"Is something wrong, Lady Ava?" Saki asked me.

"Oh, nothing." I answered, as I sipped my tea.

"Do you not like this tea shop? I thought I heard that you and Lord Mitsuhide come to it often."

I smiled at her. "Oh, I do love this tea house. I was just lost in thought."

"Oh, I should I have known." Saki replied. "This place probably makes you think of Lord Mitsuhide and miss him."

"It's alright. I know he'll be home again soon." I told her. Mitsuhide had left a week ago for a mission. There were rumors of rebellion and unrest in one of Nobunaga's recently acquired territories. Naturally he went to investigate.

"You must worry terribly about him while he is gone. He does take on dangerous missions, doesn't he?" Saki asked.

"I worry...but I know he'll always come back to me." I answered. "More than anything, I just miss him."

We sat and talked for a little while longer and enjoyed our food. Then we were heading back to the castle and the other seamstresses. The head seamstress gave her seal of approval on the fabrics we had purchased and we were all soon getting to work on the recent order.

We worked well into the afternoon. Everyone was departing before it got too dark out for them all to walk to their homes. I walked through the streets of Azuchi now myself, the setting sun painting the sky beautiful colors of red and gold. Normally I stayed and worked later and would walk home with Mitsuhide, but while he was gone I knew I had to leave earlier. Though Azuchi was relatively safe, it was still best not to be wandering the streets alone at night.

I wonder if there will be a letter from Mitsuhide. I thought as I walked to his manor which was now my home as much as it was his. The maids welcomed me home and even had dinner ready for me. I was a bit disappointed when I found no letter from Mitsuhide. It had been a couple of days since I had last heard anything from him.

After I finished dinner, I headed for the bath. I washed up and then enjoyed a bit of a soak before getting out and drying off. I slipped into my night robes and began walking to the room I shared with Mitsuhide, toweling my hair dry as I went.

I stayed up for a little while longer. I had brought my sewing work home with me and continued to work on it. When I got into a project, it was hard to stop and also having something to work on helped keep me distracted from the loneliness I felt with Mitsuhide's absence.

I had another few nights spent this way, staying up late and working. There were even a few nights I stayed in my room in the main castle. Nobunaga had insisted the room remain mine even though I was living with Mitsuhide now.

There had still been no letter from Mitsuhide. I was in my room in the castle working quietly alone when there was a knock on the door. "Come in." I called.

Hideyoshi walked in the room. "I thought I would find you still here. Aren't you supposed to be taking the day off?"

"I know, but we got a really big order in and I couldn't just not do my part." I countered.

Hideyoshi sighed and shook his head. "Well, you're done for the day."

"What?"

"You're coming with me." He said, holding out his hand for me.

I placed a loose stitch in my work to save my place and set it aside. I took his hand and allowed him to help me up. "So, where are we going?" I asked as I let him lead me out of the room.

"To the audience hall." He answered. "Council ran over and now we are having dinner."

"And you definitely need to eat, Lass."

I looked up as I saw Masamune coming to join us, carrying a tray of food. The three of us walked into the audience hall together and all took our seats.

"Ah, I am glad to see you were able to succeed in your mission, Hideyoshi." Nobunaga said from his seat above everyone.

"What mission was that?" I asked.

"Bringing you here, of course." Nobunaga answered.

"You've been working yourself too hard lately." Masamune said.

"And if you're not careful you're going to end up making yourself sick and then I'll have to take care of you." Ieyasu grumbled.

"We would all hate for you to get sick, Lady Ava." Mitsunari agreed.

"Wait...so Hideyoshi, what you said was a lie?" I asked.

"Not entirely." Hideyoshi answered. "Council did run over, but we've been planning to have you take a break and join us for dinner all day."

"I cooked all of your favorites." Masamune said, grinning at me.

I smiled at them. "You guys...thank you."

I dug into the delicious food and enjoyed a nice evening with my friends. I still felt a bit lonely without Mitsuhide there, but I definitely felt lighter than I had since he'd left.

"Oh, Ava I think you'll want this." Masamune said, handing me a letter.

"Is this from..."

"Mitsuhide yes." Masamune answered. "Came in just as I was finishing up dinner."

I smiled as I looked at the folded paper, my name written on the outside in Mitsuhide's clear and elegant penmanship. I swear even the way he wrote my name was with the utmost care.

"I'm surprised you're not opening it right now." Hideyoshi said from beside me.

"Well...some things are better left for private enjoyment." I answered.

"Oh, does Mitsuhide write you some naughty things, lass?" Masamune teased.

I felt my cheeks redden. "No." I said. "It's just that I prefer to read his letters to me in private is all."

There was more teasing and banter back and forth before the night was over. Soon it was clearly too late for me to walk back the Mitsuhide's manor. So it was decided that I would stay the night in the castle. I decided to turn in and headed to my room for the evening.

Once I was alone, I eagerly opened my letter from Mitsuhide.

Ava,

I am sorry that this trip has taken longer than expected. I do hope you're behaving while I am away. I believe I am close to being finished with my business and that I will be home in the next few days. Do take care of yourself for me...I promise when I return I will reward you for your patience. I love you always.

Love,

Mitsuhide

"You better be coming home soon, Mitsuhide." I said, as I finished reading the letter. I could hear the teasing and yet sweet tone of his voice as I read the letter...and the steamy promise in the last lines.

I fell asleep that night with a smile on my face as I hugged his letter to my chest. It was a couple of days later, I woke up in the room Mitsuhide and I shared. My head was pounding and my body ached all over.

"Lady Ava..." A familiar voice called from outside my door.

"Saki?" I asked.

She opened the door and smiled brightly at me. "I thought we could walk to the castle together today." She then noticed my appearance. "You're still in bed? You're face looks quite red as well. Are you feeling alright?"

"Just a little...headache." I answered, though I knew it was more.

She walked over and knelt down by the futon. She placed her hand gently over my forehead. "Goodness you have a terrible fever, Lady Ava."

"A fever?" came the voice of one the maids.

It was decided that I would stay home and in bed, resting. Saki agreed to take word of my fever to the castle. I wanted to argue, but I knew everyone was right. I was also feeling terribly weak and unable to get up from the bed.

"I hope I'm better before Mitsuhide comes home." I muttered to myself right before I fell back to sleep.

Mitsuhide...

Mitsuhide arrived back in Azuchi in the morning light. It was still rather early, the merchants were just opening up their shops in the market. He quickly made his way to the castle to report to Nobunaga and finish up any work he would have for the day. Then his goal was to find Ava and steal her away for the rest of the day.

"Ah, I see you have returned, Mitsuhide." Nobunaga greeted him as he walked into the tenshu.

"My lord." Mitsuhide greeted with a bow.

"I take it your mission was successful?"

"Indeed. The rebellion was taken care of before it could ever truly begin."

"Good." Nobunaga said, smiling.

Mitsuhide continued giving his report and the two discussed some other matters before Nobunaga was excusing Mitsuhide. Once he left the tenshu, he was greeted by his most loyal vassal, Kyubei. Mitsuhide had set for him as soon as he had arrived.

"Welcome back, my lord." Kyubei greeted him.

"Thank you and did you bring me those reports I asked you for?"

"Yes." Kyubei answered handing him the reports. "You are wanting to get your work all taken care of so you can spend the day with Lady Ava?"

Mitsuhide eyed his vassal. "You are becoming quite bold, Kyubei."

"I was only asking because I have something to tell you about Lady Ava."

"What is it? Is something wrong?" Mitsuhide asked, having a hard time concealing his worry.

"She has a fever. She's stayed home in bed today."

Just as Mitsuhide was about to turn towards the exit, he was greeted by a familiar voice. "There you are, Mitsuhide. You have a lot of explaining to do."

Mitsuhide turned to see Hideyoshi coming up to him. "You've come to scold me again, mother?" He teased.

"You listen here, Mitsuhide. You disappeared off to who knows where and then just popped back in. You had better give me a detailed explanation of what happened."

"I just finished giving our lord my report. If you'd like to know, I am sure he would be happy to share the details with you. Now if you'll excuse me, I have just been informed that my dear bride-to-be is in need of my care." Then without giving Hideyoshi time to stop him, Mitsuhide headed off.

He went to Ieyasu first to get some medicine. "She worked herself too hard again and made herself sick?" Ieyasu asked as he handed Mitsuhide the medicine.

"It would appear that way." Mitsuhide answered. "Thank you."

Once he had the medicine, Mitsuhide was heading towards his manor and the room he shared with Ava. When he walked in, she was sound asleep in their futon. She had kicked the heavy futon cover off in her sleep and her kimono was in disarray. Her face was clearly flushed with the fever and a light sweat coated her skin.

Mitsuhide looked at her with tender concern in his eyes. He left the room to grab a few more things and then returned with a bowl of cool water and two hand towels. He knelt down in the futon and gently pulled his beloved closer and rested her head in his lap. He picked up a hand towel and rung out the excess water before folding it up and placing it gently on her forehead. He then grabbed the other and dipped it in the cool water before dabbing at her face and then the exposed skin of her neck and chest.

"Ng..." Ava groaned and then her bleary eyes opened.

"Shh, it's alright little one." Mitsuhide spoke to her, his voice gentle.

"Mi..tsu...hide?" She asked, her eyes unable to focus from the fever. "Are you...home or am I dreaming?"

Mitsuhide smiled at her. "I assure you, I am home."

"Mmm...I'm sorry." She mumbled. "You're finally home...and I'm sick."

"You have nothing to apologize for. Though if you wouldn't push yourself so hard, you wouldn't get so sick."

"You've got...room to...talk." Ava countered.

Mitsuhide chuckled lightly. "True, but I would like to see better for my beloved." He was then gently running his fingers through her hair.

"Hmm...feels nice." Ava murmured sleepily.

Mitsuhide reached over for the medicine and spoon he had brought from Ieyasu. "Before you fall back to sleep you need to take this."

"Is that...Ieyasu's?" Ava asked.

"Yes."

Ava made a face. "No...tastes gross."

Mitsuhide chuckled. "My dear you have to take it to bring down this fever. Be a good girl now and I'll make sure you get a reward."

Ava grumbled unintelligibly but then parted her lips as Mitsuhide brought the spoon of medicine closer. She took it and swallowed, making another face as it hit her tongue.

"There, now have some water." He said, helping her to sit up just a bit more and then holding a cup of water to her lips.

Ava drank the cool water and then was settling back down onto the futon, Mitsuhide's lap serving as her pillow.

He bent down and kissed her forehead. "See, now that wasn't so bad."

Ava gave a sleepy smile to him. "Guess not."

Mitsuhide began stroking her hair once again. "Just rest now, I'll be right here with you." He assured her.

"Hmm...love you.. Mitsuhide." Ava said, her eyes already closing.

He smiled. "And I love you, Ava."

Mitsuhide continued to sit there with Ava's head resting in his lap. He kept the towel dampened on her forehead with cool water and used the other to keep dabbing at her face, neck, and chest. He gazed at her tenderly, watching as the redness in her cheeks slowly began to cool, signaling the fever also coming down.

"While I would much rather you be well, coming home to care for you is quite...enjoyable." He mused to her sleeping form. "Seeing you rest so peacefully on me."

He wasn't sure how long he had been sitting there like that when there was a knock on the door. It slid open before he had a chance to reply and Masamune was entering carrying a tray with a covered dish on it.

Mitsuhide quickly pulled the futon cover back over Ava to hide the disarray her kimono was in. "Why must you always barge in here as if it is your home?" Mitsuhide asked.

"Ah, you're back. I hadn't heard that." Masamune said with a smile, ignoring Mitsuhide's question. "Did hear that the lass was sick with a fever again. Thought she could use some nice soup to help her recover."

Masamune was then walking over to sit the tray down beside Ava's sick bed. He was then taking a seat there as well.

"You've delivered the soup, you can go now." Mitsuhide said.

Masamune smiled at his friend. "Now, now here I am trying to help and you're trying to get rid of me. Don't tell me she's not really sick and knew you were back before anyone else and took the day off to spend with you?" He said, a teasing smile on his face.

Mitsuhide just glared at him. "Trust me if that were the case, you wouldn't have come in the door because...well it would have been rather obvious."

Masamune chuckled. He stayed for a while to chat with Mitsuhide before leaving, giving him the instructions on warming the soup up whenever Ava stirred.

Ava...

I woke up and looked at the room around me. The walls were all modern and decorated with posters of my favorite fashion designers and a couple of idol groups I loved as a teenager.

"Awe, you're awake. I'm so happy to see that."

I turned my head and saw my grandmother sitting beside my bed, smiling at me. "Obaasan?"

"You gave me quite the scare you know that. Your work called and told me you collapsed with a fever. You've been working yourself too hard again."

"I just...I know things are tight. I just...I really need to save up for design school."

Obaasan smiled at me. "You're so much like your mother at her age. She would work herself sick all the time."

"I know." I replied.

"You just have to slow down and take better care if yourself, alright? And don't worry, I'll be right here with you." Obaasan was then taking my hand and giving it a squeeze before kissing me gently on the forehead.

"Obaa-san?" I murmured sleepily, as consciousness slowly came to me.

I heard a faint chuckle from above me. "I think you're a bit off, my dear little mouse."

My eyes popped open and Mitsuhide's face came into view. He was leaning over me, a teasing smile on his lips. "When did you get home?" I asked.

"This morning." He answered. "I gave my report to Lord Nobunaga and when Kyubei found me, he told me you were sick in bed with a fever."

"Have...you...have you been taking care of me since you got home?" I asked.

"Of course." Mitsuhide answered. "I see you don't remember when I first got here and you woke up."

"I remember waking up this morning and feeling terrible." I said. "Did...did I say anything embarrassing?" I'd been having some crazy fever dreams since I had fallen back to sleep.

"Oh nothing too terrible." Mitsuhide answered, mischief in his eyes. "Just your undying love for me and how much you missed me. You even tried to disrobe, telling me you needed me so."

I felt my face heating up. "I...I did not. You're teasing me right now."

Mitsuhide laughed. "Don't be so sure. Just look at the state your kimono is in. It took everything in my power to push you back into bed and keep your clothes on you."

I looked down at myself and my kimono was definitely in a state, for sure. My shoulders were bared and one leg was sticking out. My breasts were just barely contained in my night robes. Though I knew that this could easily happen from sleeping not-so-peacefully, my mind couldn't concretely deny the possibility that Mitsuhide's words were the truth.

Mitsuhide's laughter pulled me from my thoughts. "I see the conflict in your eyes. You can't tell if you believe me or not."

I glared up at him. "Okay, now I know you're just teasing me."

"Well, you did just call me grandmother. I couldn't let you get by with that." He replied, that teasing smile still on his face.

"I was still dreaming." I replied, huffily.

Mitsuhide bent down, removing a towel from my forehead as he did, and then placing a gentle kiss there. "Your fever seems to be gone." He said with relief. "How are you feeling?"

I couldn't help but to melt a little at the tenderness in his eyes. He must have been so worried about me. I thought. "My head still hurts and my body aches a bit still, but definitely better than I felt this morning."

"Good." He said. "Are you hungry? Masamune brought over some soup a little while ago for you."

"I could eat." I replied.

Mitsuhide was then helping me to sit up, only then did I realize I had been using his lap as my pillow. He remain sitting behind me and then pulled me into his lap and brought the tray over for me. I thought about telling him I could sit up on my own, but decided against it and leaned back into him.

"And here I half expected you to tell me you didn't need to use me as your chair." He teased.

"Hm...well I missed you and being in your arms after so long apart...it's nice."

I felt his arms wrap around me then, pulling me closer. His lips were at my ear. "Then in my arms you shall stay."

I snuggled into Mitsuhide's embrace as he hugged me tighter and kissed the top of my head. "I love you, Mitsuhide."

"And I you, Ava." He replied. He was hen reaching for the spoon on the tray of soup. "Now, here let me continue to take care of you."

"I can feed myself." I said, feeling my cheeks redden.

"Now, now you have to keep your strength up, which means conserving your energy, which means allowing me to do these little things for you." He said, his voice soothing.

I relented and allowed Mitsuhide to feed me. When I had finished, Mitsuhide set the tray aside and gathered me into his arms all the more tightly.

"Now what were you dreaming about?" Mitsuhide asked, stroking my hair.

"Hmm?"

"When you were waking up, and called me your grandmother, you said you were dreaming." He answered. "What were you dreaming about?"

"Oh...well it was...kind of more of a memory." I answered. "Just about a time my Obaasan took care of me when I was sick when I was younger."

"Was that a rare occurrence?"

"No." I answered. "My mother died in an accident when I was young and my dad...he didn't have any idea how to take care of a young daughter...so my grandmother raised me."

"I see." Mitsuhide replied. "Well, at least I know I don't remind you of your grandmother."

I looked up at the sound of his teasing voice. "Oh I would never make that mistake."

Mitsuhide chuckled and kissed my forehead.

Though he was usually good about hiding his thoughts, I could tell there was something hiding in his eyes. I lifted my hand up to touch his cheek. "What's wrong?" I asked.

"Nothing, my dear."

"I know there's something bothering you, what is it?"

"It's nothing...I just missed you." He replied, though I wasn't quite sure that was all that was bothering him. He was then kissing the palm of my hand.

"I missed you, too." I replied, figuring that I would drop the subject for now. Partly because he didn't seem to want to talk about it and partly because I was so tired.

He was then lifting his hand up and his thumb was stroking beneath my eyes. "You look sleepy. You need to rest."

"Hmm, but then I'll miss you." I replied before letting out a yawn.

"I will stay right here with you." He reassured me. He was then lying us both back in the futon and pulling the cover over us. He kept me in his arms.

I snuggled close, breathing in his scent. His hands were rubbing soothing circles in my back. I soon found myself falling into a dreamless sleep.

Mitsuhide...

Mitsuhide laid there holding his love in his arms. She slept soundly, a peaceful expression on her face. A twinge of sadness was in his heart as he looked at her, so many thoughts swirling through his head.

He stroked her hair and kissed her forehead. "You've given up far more than I anticipated, my little mouse." He murmured to her sleeping form.

Read chapter 2 below!

https://writingwhimsey.tumblr.com/post/659954486319726592/kitsunes-love-ch-2

[official-weasley]

Meant to Be (Charlie Weasley x OC)

What happens when Bill brings home a girl and Charlie is completely awestruck by her?

Dear reader,

what's the number one bro code? Never steal your brother's girl. Ever. Just don't do it. It's wrong!

But what if- No.

Just forget about it. It's too much work. And the drama that comes after. And then the whole family is involved. It's just not worth it. Leave it alone. Walk away. End of story.

But what if she is the most beautiful girl you have ever seen? And you have a lot in common? And you have a connection? Not the cheesy kind. The real kind. The one that everybody dreams about but never wants to admit it. What if you feel something you never did before and somehow, without knowing how, you know that she feels the same? What if she is everything you ever wanted? And is the first girl that you can see yourself having a future with?

What do you do then? Do you tell your brother?

Is it going to be easy? No. It's going to be hell but you ride through it anyway.

Love, Charlie

CHAPTER 1

Bill

“Bill.” I lifted my head, hearing my name. My boss was standing in the doorway, his expression telling me I will not like what he is about to say. I nodded my head, inviting him in.

“I am sorry to barge in on you like this and trust me if I could, I would ask anyone else, but…” He sighed and stopped avoiding my eyes. “This must get into the right hands and I trust you the most.” My eyes went from his to the pile in his hands.

“You want me to go to Gringotts and deliver these papers?” I smiled. It really wasn’t a big deal. I did it all the time and I had an excuse to see her.

“I know you’re supposed to go home tomorrow for the Christmas holidays and I always do this to you and…”

Derek was an amazing boss. He was strict and knew how to be harsh but deep inside he was the nicest person you can meet.

“Derek, it’s not a problem, really.” I reassured him. I could see relief in his expression. “I wanted to go there before I leave to the Burrow anyway.”

“You’re finally going to do it?” He smirked at me. I felt my cheeks turn pink and I sucked in a breath. I had to keep it together in front of him even though he was the only one who knew I had a thing for Rhylee.

“I’m just inviting her to spend the holidays with my family. Nothing big.” I lied.

“Oh, c’mon! Ask her out already!” Derek rolled his eyes. “I don’t have enough paperwork for you to apparate from Egypt to London once per week to see her.” He laughed.

“Ha-ha. Very funny. I’ll ask her once we get back.” I took the papers from his hands. “If she’ll say yes, of course.”

“You have been friends with her for almost 3 years and you fancy her for more than half of that, what’s with the stalling?” He crossed his arms on his chest.

“Give me a break, it’s complicated.” I sighed.

“That’s an excuse and you know it.” He tapped my shoulder and started towards the door. “Just do it before you get even deeper into the friendzone.” He said and walked out.

—

He was right. I was stalling and at this point, I didn’t even know why I was doing it.

I met Rhylee almost 3 years ago when I was bringing a treasure chest to Gringotts. Because it was really valuable, I had to take it all the way down to the most secured vault. That was the first time I saw a dragon. I heard a rumor that the Bank had them guarding the most secured vaults in the entire facility but I thought it wasn’t true.

I wasn’t as big on dragons as my brother Charlie, but even I thought it wasn’t fair to them. They were keeping them in the damp, dark corners of the cave systems. No sunlight, no freedom. And they were keeping them a secret. Only people who worked at Gringotts and a few others, Curse Breakers like me, knew about them.

I wasn’t careful when I approached the vault I had to store the chest in. They forgot to tell me that I was supposed to announce myself to one of the dragon tamers so that they would hold off the creature. The dragon launched at me, almost roasting me with its flames. It was Rhylee who saved me. I was lucky she was there to feed it.

She came out of nowhere and handled that dragon like it was nobody’s business and she still managed to look absolutely beautiful while doing so. She asked me if I was insane and what I was doing so deep down, her wand ready to duel me.

She thought I was trying to break into one of the vaults. I didn’t blame her. I was probably the only idiot who went so deep under the Bank without an escort. I explained my business and she started laughing when she realized that nobody told me about the procedure of getting to the high-security vaults.

After telling me that I can’t come down here unannounced, badge or no badge and that I always have to have one of the Dragonologists with me if I don’t want to be eaten, she accompanied me to the vault.

I encountered her a few more times after that and we always ended up chatting. Her determination and love for her job grew on me and I invited her for launch. We quickly became really good friends and I visited her every time I happened to be at the Bank.

My boss, Derek, accompanied me a few months ago when I was supposed to deliver another chest. I introduced him to Rhylee and he quickly caught on that I fancy her and I haven’t heard the end of it since.

Because we discovered a new tomb, there was a lot of paperwork that needed to be delivered to Gringotts lately. Derek, knowing that I would be able to see her and because he trusted me the most, gave the job to me almost every time. I went from visiting Diagon Alley a couple of times per month to a couple of times per week. I felt like a mailman but I didn’t mind. I could see and talk to Rhylee and I could have launch with her.

We became such good friends and I had trouble reading her that's why I was so hesitant to ask her out. I didn't want to ruin our friendship or make her uncomfortable but it was getting quite hard being just her friend. We are both single and at this point, I have nothing to lose.

She once told me that she is not that close with her family and wrote in one of her letters that she will probably work for Christmas. I think it's the perfect opportunity to finally ask her out.

I had everything planned out. I would visit her at her work before I leave for the Burrow. Or, since I have to go to Gringotts anyway when I take the papers I will visit her then. I will invite her to spend Christmas with me and my family. Even if I didn't fancy her, I wouldn't want a friend spending Christmas at work or alone. I will introduce her to my family and when we return I will ask her out before we part ways once we get back.

To say that I was nervous was an understatement. I had no idea what to expect. I don't know how she will react or what her answer will be. Rhylee puts animals above everything else. She loves her job more than anything and those two dragons in the vaults were more family to her than all her relatives combined.

She was very talkative but never told you more than you needed to know. I know all about her family and how annoyed she is that her co-workers don't care about the creatures as much as she does. I know she owns a Kneazle and lives with a roommate in a small apartment in London. She graduated from Beauxbatons Academy of Magic a year after I graduated from Hogwarts and she was sorted into Bellefeuille.

She never talked about any of her friends besides her roommate Lyla. I wouldn't even know she was single if I haven't met Lyla one day when Rhylee and I were having coffee in Diagon Alley and she teased her about one of her co-workers.

She didn't seem particularly interested in dating and never gave any signs that she might fancy me back.

That was probably the reason I was so hesitant to ask her out. I was afraid she would reject me, simply seeing me as a friend, and then it would get awkward between us. But as I said, my feelings for her are growing and I am willing to take the risk. If I can't gather up the courage to ask a girl out then I was sorted into the wrong house at school!

—

I took my jacket, grabbed the papers Derek left on my desk, and apparated to London. Firstly, I took the papers to the goblin, which probably found me suspicious that I was always there.

“What is this?” The goblin bowed his head, looking at the papers I laid in front of him.

“Mr. Boweman said these need to be filed right away.” I answered.

“And this is concerning?” The goblin continued, his eyes still on the pile.

“The new tomb in Luxor.” I dreaded talking to him. He always looked at me as if I was up to something and it was making me uncomfortable.

“Right.” He nodded. “Is there a reason he is always sending you?” He narrowed his eyes at me.

“He told me that he trusts me the most.” I swallowed hard. This was worse than when mum was mad.

“Isn’t he aware of the rule that the messenger should always be a different person?” He questioned.

I simply shook my head. I had no idea if Derek knew this or not but I made a mental note to mention it to him. I didn’t want him to get in trouble and I definitely didn’t want to be interrogated by a goblin again.

“I don’t know. I will make sure to ask him when I get back.” I said quietly.

“Very well.” The goblin sighed and swung his hand, indicating that I should leave.

I took a step backward before turning on my heel and leaving his office. I closed the door and leaned on the wall next to it. I waited for my breath to steady and for my heart to get back to normal. I don’t know why but I was always intimidated by goblins. I would rather spend a week in a tomb fighting mummies in the dark than repeat that conversation.

Since I was at the office section of Gringotts I decided to check if Rhylee was at her desk before I go looking for her down at the vaults.

I made my way across the corridor and one floor up. I stopped in front of Rhylee’s office and knocked on the door.

“Rhylee, you in there?” I checked my watch. A quarter to five. Of course, she wasn’t. It was feeding time. “Damn it.” I didn’t like going down there.

“Bill!” I turned around and saw Lizzie, one of Rhylee’s co-workers. “Are you looking for Rhylee?”

“Yes. She’s with the dragons, isn’t she?” I tried to smile.

“Yeah. She and the rest of the team are preparing for our new arrival.” She grinned.

“A new arrival?” I asked puzzled.

“Didn’t she tell you? We’re getting a new dragon after the holidays.” I wish I could look as excited as she sounded.

“Another thing to fear when I take the treasure down.” I sighed.

“Don’t worry, we’ll protect you.” Lizzie chuckled and tapped my shoulder. “Come on, I’ll take you to her.”

We made our way down to the vaults and I was relieved that we didn’t encounter either of the dragons. It was a rare occasion and when I brought chests down here, I was always happy when it was feeding time. It was the only time I didn’t fear for my life. Once you get attacked by the biggest species of dragons, you don’t get over your fear so easily.

“Rhylee, Bill’s here to see you.” Lizzie shouted when we came to her group and took over for her.

“Bill! I thought you were supposed to travel home today.” She beamed at me. Her smile was priceless and I couldn’t stop my lips from spreading into one too.

“Paperwork, what can you do.” I shrugged my shoulders.

“Derek can’t let you go, huh.” She chuckled. “Want to feed Kyan?” Her question sent shivers down my spine.

Kyan was the Ukranian Ironbelly that almost turned me into dinner the day I’ve met Rhylee. She always did this to me if I came to see her during feeding time. She acted like the dragons weren’t one of the most dangerous creatures on the planet and wanted to help me get over my fear.

“No, thank you.” My voice barely audible, my eyes on the dragon.

“So what are you going to do for the holidays?” I decided to change the topic.

“As I wrote to you, I’ll be working.” Her eyes turning from me to Kyan.

“Why don’t you come with me?” I was proud of myself for how confident I sounded.

“What?” Rhylee looked back at me.

“I’m inviting you to spend Christmas with my family.” My heart started beating faster.

I hated that I couldn’t read her expression at all. This is why I didn’t ask her out yet. I could never figure out what was happening inside her head.

“Oh, Bill.” A smile spread over her lips.

That was a good sign, right?

“That is so kind of you.” She looked back at the dragon. “But I can’t. Lizzie is taking time off and she is the only one I really trust around here. You know that.” She whispered, careful not to be overheard.

“Come on. When was the last time you had a day off?” I tried convincing her.

I liked the confidence boost I got all of a sudden.

“True.” She sighed and bit her lip, thinking. “But I don’t know how long it will take to prepare everything today. We are getting a new dragon.” She jumped, clapping her hands.

“I heard. Lizzie told me.” I smiled.

Seeing her so excited fluttered the butterflies in my stomach.

“I am sorry that I have to turn you down, Bill.” She shook her head after a moment of silence. “I would love to meet your family but it’s really a bad time.”

I tried hiding the disappointment for which I was sure could be seen on my face. This was not what I’ve planned. I didn’t know they were getting a new dragon and I didn’t know Lizzie wouldn’t be here during the holidays. I was sure she would say yes and now I was without a plan.

“Listen.” Rhylee’s hand around my lower arm snapped me out of my thoughts as I was thinking of anything that could convince her to come with me. “Let me see how things go today. Perhaps I can take a few days off if we finish preparing everything. Merlin knows I could use some free time.” She said softly.

That made my day. There was still hope!

“Okay. I’m leaving tomorrow after work. Owl me?” I smiled and she nodded.

I told her that I will go back myself. I didn’t want to disturb her work and the sooner she gets back to it, the sooner they can finish. I apparated back to Egypt and entered my tent. I didn’t even have the time to take off my shoes when Derek entered.

“So, how did it go?” A smirk on his face.

“She’ll owl me tomorrow. They are getting a new dragon, so I don’t think she’ll be able to get time off.” I didn’t want to get my hopes up.

It was better to think that she will have to decline my offer.

“A bunch of rubbish.” Derek scoffed. “Why does she even have a team if she has to do everything on her own?”

“The only person she really trusts is visiting family for the holidays.” I answered.

“Then she needs a better team.” Derek said.

I don’t think that would help. Rhylee cared for those dragons more than I have seen anyone care for any animal. They were like her children and there was nobody good enough to trust them with except Lizzie. It was a miracle she even let her in charge from time to time.

“The goblins are getting suspicious.” I changed the subject.

I really didn’t want to talk about Rhylee anymore. It was enough that nothing went according to my plan.

“What about?” Derek frowned.

“Apparently, there is a rule that the paperwork needs to be delivered by a different person every time.” I raised my eyebrows.

“They’re joking!” He laughed. He disliked the goblins as much as I did. “I’ll send my grandmother next time, will that be better?” We both laughed.

—

The next morning I woke up to fluttering.

“What the…” I opened my eyes and saw an owl staring at me, its head tilted, with a letter in its beak.

“Thank you.” I said sleepily and gently took the envelope. I got up and reached for owl food on the top shelf in my kitchen. “Here you go. For your journey back.” I smiled.

I wish all creatures would be as lovely as owls.

I looked at the letter that I left on my bed and took a deep breath. I knew it was from Rhylee and I wasn’t sure I was ready to read the answer. I wanted to tell her how I feel. I was ready.

I wanted to do it after the holidays and yesterday when I couldn’t sleep I made up my mind that even if she would say no to going with me I would tell her when I get back. I had to at this point. I never had such problems with girls, not that I had many but I never hesitated so much to ask a girl out.

There was just something about Rhylee that made her stand out from all the rest. It wasn’t just that she was the most beautiful girl I have ever seen. It was the way she laughed. She never did if she didn’t find something funny. She never faked it.

It was the way she spoke about animals. With sparks in her eyes. It was how she made you belong and how honest she was no matter what you asked her. It was her positivity. She always made me feel like everything was going to be alright no matter what problems I had.

If there was anyone I saw spending the rest of my life with it was her.

I sighed and opened the envelope. “Come on, Bill. Don’t be such a coward.” I said to myself and spread open her letter.

Dear Bill,

I couldn’t stop thinking about your invitation yesterday. I don’t care much for the holidays but even I can’t deny that Christmas at the Burrow, your home about which you told me so much about, sounds so enticing.

We managed to prepare most of the things for our new arrival and I hope I didn’t make a mistake trusting Erica and Simon with Dash and Kyan. I told them that if anything happens to my babies I will do much worse to them than just fire them!

So I guess I am saying yes to your invitation. I hope this letter gets to you before you leave. Apparate to my apartment before you go home so we can go together, if your invitation still stands, of course.

Love, Rhylee

PS. I might bring some paperwork with me. I have to fill out about 20 forms for the Norwegian Ridgeback we are getting. I might get a few days off but unfortunately, I can’t avoid that! But you’re right. I do need some time off. I would probably work 365 days a year if it wasn’t for you.

I couldn’t believe it. I looked up from the letter, my mouth open. I started reading it again just in case I missed her saying no. She said yes! She’s coming with me. We’re spending the holidays together!

This means so much more than just her going to meet my family. Even though she was quite a private person, I knew I was one of her closest friends and I knew how hard it had to be for her to leave her work and leave the dragons with her team.

They were good at their job but they didn’t care as much as she did. They did what had to be done and left the second they could. She never did that. She always stayed. Always checked everything twice, three times even. She always made sure everything was okay before she went home. Made sure the dragons were as comfortable as they could be down there.

This was a big deal, leaving them behind. Leaving them with Erica and Simon, to not only take some time off, but to spend that time with me and my family. She could’ve easily stayed behind and said that she couldn’t leave the dragons alone. But she did it for me and she was excited to meet my family.

I had to sit down, my heart was beating so fast as I read the letter for what seemed like the fourth time. I sucked in a breath and exhaled slowly. I must keep it together.

I was now completely awake and I finally stopped thinking about her. A thought came to mind as if I was forgetting something. What was I forgetting? Was there something I had to do?

PACK!

I didn’t pack yet! I was so tired yesterday as I got late from work and I was going on and on in my head what would I do if Rhylee said no to my invitation that I completely forgot. I finally put the letter down, grabbed my wand, and started levitating clothes from my closet to my bag.

“So?” Derek barged into my tent as if he was living here. “I saw an owl flying out of your tent. What’s her answer?”

“She’s coming with me.” I buried my head into my sock drawer, pretending to look for something so that I could hide my red cheeks.

“I knew it!” He jumped. “I knew she fancied you back!”

“Slow down!” I laughed. “She only said yes to spending Christmas with me, I didn’t ask her out yet.”

“Right.” Derek said slowly. “Spending the most family-like holiday with you and your family in your cozy and loving home, as if you even need to ask her.” He winked at me.

I rolled my eyes at him. He might be right but I didn’t want to get my hopes up. She could still just see me as a friend and just want to escape her work for a few days. This didn’t mean anything.

“Can you get out so I can pack? You’re worse than my mum!” I narrowed my eyes at him, my hands on my hips.

“I can’t be. I love your mum but she can be scary.” Derek took a step back.

He met my family twice and seen my parents a few times when they visited me. He was my boss and I respected him. He was one of the best Curse Breakers I have ever met and I was humbled that he was my friend.

But it was the funniest thing ever to see him afraid of my mum. Not only did I tell him stories of her rage when my siblings and I were younger but he experienced it first-hand when he visited the Burrow with me last Summer and my mum lost it when Fred and George set an entire box of fireworks loose in the bathroom while she was in the shower.

“Stop nagging me and let me pack in peace!” I tried imitating my mum but I don’t think there was a person in the world who could do an impersonation of her.

“Alright, alright!” He laughed. “Say hi to Rhylee for me, will you!” He hurried out of the tent before I could throw a pair of socks at him.

I regret ever admitting to him I had a thing for her.

Now, where was I?

Packing, right!

[spideeysense]

The cat sitter falls in love with it's owner. A Bucky Barnes/Reader fic! Chapter 1.

A/N: Hey y'all!! I'm back with a brand NEW fic for y'all! This will be a multipart series. Obviously, for fic reason, it will not follow the TFATWS plot to a T. There will most likely be plot points taken from it however. With that being said, each chapter will have a varying degree of spoilers (I'm so sorry!!), but I hope you all enjoy it! (P.S This fic will be a SLOOW BURN!) Please let me know if you'd like me to start a taglist for this series! Feedback is always welcome and appreciated. Don't be afraid to request! Edit: this is will not be released following every TFATWS episode.

This first chapter centers around James (Bucky), the start of his friendship.

Word Count: 1520

Warnings: None!

“Hand me your phone James.” The therapist says, rather sternly. Bucky pauses as if to speak. But decides against it, and defeatedly hands her his phone.

He watches her scroll through his minimal contact and text messages and sighs when her eyebrows shoot upwards.

“Well, this is new. Who’s Y/N?”

Bucky fumbles for a bit before speaking, ”She’s my neighbor, moved in right after the Blip.” He murmurs. The therapist scrolls through the messages between Bucky and you.

“You-“ The therapist pauses “watch her cat?”

Bucky nods. “Yeah, when she’s out of town, she visits her sister, cause she’s pregnant with her second kid.” The therapist purses her lips together and smiles. “Well this is progress, James. This is good”. James shakes his head. “I barely know her, I just watch her cat!” The therapist narrows her eyes as she scans the text. A few pictures of a fluffy gray cat appear the cat by the door, by the window, sleeping on a couch. All of these Bucky had sent.

[Bucky]: Sardine misses you. He keeps asking me when you’re coming home.

[Y/N]: Aw. Since when can you talk to my cat?

[Bucky]: We can speak through our eyes, he’s a kindred spirit you know.

[Y/N]: Good, Sardine needs some friends other than me.

[Bucky]: I think I’m his new favorite person.

[Y/N]: Shut up

He catches his phone with ease when the therapist tosses it back. “From what you just told me, and from what I just saw, you know her pretty well.” Bucky avoids her knowing stare and instead fixates on his leather gloves.

“Is she pretty?” He groans, and sinks into the couch.

“I-,yeah I guess she’s really pretty.” He mumbles, flexing his hands. “I’m not gonna say she’s ugly.” The therapist smiles at him and puts her small notebook to the side.

“You should a-” She starts.

“Can we go back to talking about making amends?” Bucky interrupts, knowing where this conversation was headed.

The therapist sighs and leans back into her chair. Defeated.

Later, while Bucky is walking home, his phone chimes. He fumbles with it in his pocket, before pulling it out.

[Y/N]: How did your thing go?

Bucky feels himself smiling as he types out a short message.

[Bucky]: Good.

At his apartment, he takes off his jacket and cleans up the few things he has. The TV is still on from when he left this morning, but he doesn’t mind. The sound is welcome in the neverending silence. He grabs a plastic water bottle from the fridge, and then leaves his apartment. He arrives in front of your door and fishes your key from out of his pocket. It takes a few tries to get the door open, and for a second he’s worried someone is going to think he is breaking in, but he sighs of relief when it swings open.

MroOOAAAAOOOOW. Bucky cringes at the long, angry, meowl of Sardine.

“Look buddy, I’m sorry I’m late.” He closes the door behind him and crouches down to pet Sardine. The cat walked in between his legs and rubs his head against Bucky’s outstretched hand. Mroooow. Sardine says, hungrily. “Ok, ok, I’ll feed you right away.” Bucky turns on the light in your apartment, and once again is taken aback. Your apartment is lively compared to his. There are plants by the window, on the coffee table, and on the counter. There are a few boxes still lying around from when you had moved in. The couch is a bit old but has a few knitted blankets strewn across it. Not much has changed since the first time he took care of Sardine.

It was already dark outside, and Bucky internally punched himself from arriving so late. He flicks on a light switch, and the kitchen lightens up. It’s quaint, and he can tell not everything is unpacked and put into place yet. He feels movement against his legs and looks down to find, a fluffy grey cat, circling around his legs calmly.

“Hey Buddy.” He whispers.

Soon, he’s rereading your texts to make sure he’s doing everything right. He feeds Sardine, gives him water, and rubs his head a little bit. Tentatively, he sits on the couch, careful not to disturb anything. Sardine hops onto his lap, and settles, purring softly. Smiling to himself, Bucky opts to use his flesh hand and strokes Sardine’s back. He stares around your apartment some more, but careful not to look too much, he didn’t want to pry. Bucky studies the few photos you have strung up, but in the mess of things, he spots a partially wrapped wedding photo. He assumes it’s yours, but secretly hopes it’s your sisters. He goes back to staring at the empty, black void of the television. Not really sure what to do next. He just sits and waits. He didn’t really want to cross some imaginary boundary and touch your stuff.

And as if she can sense his uncomfortableness from miles and miles away, his phone alerts him of a text message.

[Y/N]: Feel free to watch TV, I have Netflix set up. No cable. Sorry :(

Bucky smiles again.

[Bucky]: Ok, thanks.

He fumbles with the sleek remote control but figures it out eventually. He ends up putting on some random show he had found earlier. Bucky doesn’t really pay attention and instead relaxes a bit more into the couch. Sardine gingerly hops onto his lap and settles.

Bucky wanders around your apartment, before settling himself on the couch, like he always does. And as if on cue, Sardine hops into his lap. The two settle comfortably. Bucky turns on the TV, and shoes some random show. It’s alright. Sardine purrs softly on his lap.

You had told him that he didn’t need to spend hours with Sardine, but he had chose to (with your permission of course). He liked his mostly quiet companion. Sardine never judged, and sometimes he would find himself mumbling stories of his past to the cat, and Sardine never hissed, or scratched, or ran away. It’s almost as if Sardine could understand the guilt Bucky felt, the sadness, and sometimes the utter emptiness.

Hours later, a soft knock at your door pulled Bucky down from the dark expanse of his head and back down to earth.

He peered through the peep hole, and opened the door.

“Hey Y/N” The way your name fell off his tongue made your heart palpitate.

“Hi,” You breathed, and for a moment you and Bucky stayed in each others trance The color of his eyes always seemed to steal your breath away. “Thank you for taking care of Sardine, you didn’t have to stay up.” You finally spoke.

“No it’s fine, I wanted to.” Bucky said softly with a smile, “I mean- I wanted to make sure you got home safe. You know, long drive and all.” Bucky turned around and quickly grabbed his coat and pulled it on.

“You need any help with your luggage?” He asked kindly, and you politely declined. “No it’s alright, thank you though.” Bucky responded with a curt nod and a soft smile. “Here I got these for you!” You push a box into his hands enthusiastically. Bucky looks down, and finds a box labeled ‘Vermont Maple Syrup Cookies’. You look up at him expanctantly.

Bucky’s a bit shocked by the sudden gift, not many people have gifted him things. “Thank you.” He murmurs softly, his thumb tracing the lettering on the box.

“Now, if you excuse me, I probably need to see my son.” You chuckle and push past him. “Sardineeee! My baby!” You dote, rubbing your cat’s head with your cheek, and cradling him in your arms. Bucky smiles and gently shuts your apartment door.

Once inside his own apartment, Bucky can feel his heart beating out of his chest. He never feels this way. This isn’t normal for him. It has his head reeling, and for a moment he needs to lean against the counter and gather his thoughts. And his heart.

He stares down at the box of cookies in his hand, and puts the box on the counter. Gently opening the top, he pulls out the plastic cookie tray. The cookies are beige, and shaped like maple leaves, and the scent of maple syrup is heavy and sweet. He gingerly takes a bite, and chews slowly. Unlike the scent, the taste of maple syrup isn’t overpowering, it’s soft. The icing sandwiched between two cookies coats his tongue.

“Damn, these are good.” He says to nobody.

Deep down inside his stomach, a feeling is scartching at his insides. Is it jealousy? No. It’s a wanting. It’s a wanting for the warmth your apartment offers, the quiet and amicable peace. He sadly looks around his dim, grey apartment. It is definetly lacking.

But like he’s done most of his life. Bucky packs those feelings inside a brain box, and locks it. Tossing it into the void of his brain. Never to be opened again. At least, that’s what he tells himself.

[inkslingersworld]

Zusammen: Part I

The setting sun illuminated the city of Paris with a warm orange glow, and although the rest of Adrien’s friends had gone home already, Kagami had made the proposition that the two of them should take a walk along the Seine before night fell. Adrien felt inclined to agree, seeing as he had canceled several of their previous dates for superhero reasons, and even though he’d since told Kagami of his identity as Chat Noir and she’d acted as though the date cancellations didn’t bother her, Adrien could see beneath the happy facial expression she put on to find the disappointment. 

It was only fair to partially make it up to Kagami by taking a walk with her - besides, the weather was fantastic. There weren’t many people out. They’d stopped by a little cafe they enjoyed going to and purchased coffees for themselves. The atmosphere was near-perfect.

Kagami didn’t say anything until they approached the Eiffel Tower.

“Adrien?”

He turned his head towards hers. “Yeah?”

She opened her mouth, but then closed it again. “Never mind.”

“What is it?” Adrien asked.

“I don’t want to intrude upon your privacy,” said Kagami flatly.

“Kagami, anything you want to ask me, I’ll tell you the answer.”

Kagami stared into his eyes and sighed. “What happened to your mother?”

This was not what Adrien had expected. It was now his turn to sigh.

“I wish I could tell you,” he said, “but the truth is, I don’t know myself.”

“She just disappeared?” asked Kagami. 

Adrien sighed again. “Not exactly.”

He stopped walking. Kagami stopped as well, gazing at him with a concerned expression. Adrien looked back gravely.

“What I’m about to tell you, I haven’t told anyone,” he said solemnly. “Not Nino, not Marinette, not any of my friends. I’m not ready for them to know yet, so you don’t repeat this to anyone, okay?”

Kagami nodded. Adrien sighed a third time.

“I was at a photoshoot with Nathalie. Father said he couldn’t make it, said he had some important business to attend to. After we’d wrapped up, we returned to see police cars outside my house. Someone had tried to assassinate my father.”

Kagami let out a small gasp. 

“He was fine,” Adrien continued, starting to walk again, with Kagami joining him. “He’d knocked out the would-be assassinator and took his gun, tied him up so he couldn’t escape.”

“Who was it?” Kagami asked fearfully.

“A mentally disturbed fan of his,” said Adrien. “I never did learn his name, but Father had apparently had experience with him in the past. The fan started getting paranoid, said my father was stealing his designs. Anyways, according to my father, the fan opened fire on the house. Father told Mother to run, and so she ran.”

After ten seconds of silence, Kagami said, “That’s all you ever found out?”

Adrien nodded. “She never came home.”

A few more seconds passed.

“I’m so sorry,” said Kagami. “I really am. Nobody ever found out about the assassination attempt?”

“Nope,” said Adrien, sniffing. “It was gonna be on the news, but Father made a few deals to keep it from going public. Said that someone trying to shoot him was bad publicity. All anybody ever found out was that my mother had vanished off the face of the Earth.”

“Did you ever, like, hate the shooter?” Kagami asked softly.

“Strangely enough, no,” said Adrien contemplatively. “I felt sorry for him, actually. I mean, yeah, I did kinda loath him, cause he was indirectly responsible for my mother’s disappearance, but you should’ve seen the guy. Most pitiful person I’ve ever seen. At his criminal trial, he actually asked to be put on death row.”

“He what?”

“I know, right?” Adrien said. “In the end, he received a fifteen year prison sentence.”

They walked in silence for a while, letting Adrien’s tale soak in. After a couple minutes, Kagami spoke.

“Would you like to hear about my father?”

“Sorry?”

“My father,” repeated Kagami. “You told me about your mom, so I should tell you about my dad.”

Adrien had a bad feeling that the story of Kagami’s father would be a sad one indeed, but got the impression that Kagami wanted to tell him. So, he voiced that.

“Do you want to tell me?”

Kagami took a deep breath. “It might be nice to get it off of my chest, but I wouldn’t want to burden you with the story if you’re not willing.”

“I wouldn’t be burdened,” said Adrien quickly. “In fact, I was curious as to why I’ve only seen your mother.”

“I used to live with my father,” Kagami said sorrowfully. “He was a painter. When I was four years old, he took me to an art museum in Sapporo, which was where we lived in Japan. I remember my feelings of awe at the sight of such beautiful artwork, and I asked him whether we could go there every day. We did not end up going there daily, but the two of us would head there every Tuesday, because they’d have a guest speaker there on that day of the week.”

They were crossing the Pont Marie now. The sun was only a half-circle in the distance.

“When I was nine,” Kagami went on, “he experienced his first psychotic break. He was convinced that he was on a boat that was sinking, and he was admitted to a psychiatric institution the following day. The doctors told my mother that my father possessed a previously unknown psychological disorder, and that he may need to stay at the institution permanently.”

“Is he still there?” Adrien asked worriedly.

Kagami shook her head. “No, um, he stayed at the institution for another five years. My mother and I visited him regularly. Most of the time, he didn’t recognize us and mistook us for someone else. Sometimes he didn’t see us at all. His last night at the institution, he recognized me. He let me ride piggyback on his shoulders, like he used to. While we were walking, he said to me, ‘Gami, look at those sculptures! Aren’t they exquisite?’”

Kagami let out a shaky breath. “There were no sculptures.”

“Then what happened?” asked Adrien.

A single tear slid down Kagami’s cheek. “Our visit ended, we went home, and the next morning, he hung himself with his own clothes.”

“Oh my god,” Adrien said, horrified. “I’m so sorry.”

Kagami wiped her face. “The last words he said to me were, ‘Tomorrow’s Tuesday. I hear they’re going to have a very prolific photographer at the museum. Won’t that be fun?’”

More tears spilled out of Kagami’s eyes, and she hugged Adrien at the same time he hugged her. They stood there for what felt like days.

When they finally parted, Adrien asked, “Is that why you moved to Paris?”

Kagami nodded.

“How did you survive something like that?”

Kagami gave him a watery smile. “I met you.”

Adrien could almost hear his heart go ping. He smiled back and placed his lips on hers.

“I’m never going to leave you,” he whispered into her mouth.

It was nighttime now. The stars were unusually bright in the sky as Adrien and Kagami made their way through the streets of Paris. They were nearing the Louvre when Kagami pointed to their right.

“Look!” 

Adrien turned. She was pointing at the Pont des Arts.

“Do you want to go that way?” he asked her.

Kagami nodded. 

As they crossed the bridge, Kagami said, “Did you know couples used to attach padlocks with their initials carved into them on this bridge?”

“That does sound familiar, yeah,” said Adrien. “Wouldn’t they throw the key into the Seine?”

“Yep,” said Kagami. “Too bad all those locks posed a safety hazard due to extra weight on the bridge and the city prevented other people from doing it. Otherwise, I would’ve brought one with me.”

Adrien stopped walking. “Hang on.”

Without warning, he trotted off in the opposite direction.

“Adrien?” called Kagami. “What are you doing?”

“Just hang on a sec!” Adrien called back.

Kagami saw a flash of green light. Another flash came about five seconds later, and she saw Adrien come running back.

“What was that?” Kagami asked.

Adrien only smiled. “I’ll tell you in the morning. It’s late now. Let’s go home.”

===========

Long after Adrien and Kagami had returned to their respective dwellings, just as the sun was preparing to rise after a good night’s sleep, a woman decided to walk across the Pont des Arts. She was used to getting up early in the morning and enjoyed picking up any litter night owls had left behind. However, when she got to the bridge, she didn’t see any litter. She saw something quite different.

Someone had carved something into the bridge’s wood. The letters weren’t particularly large, but passersby would have a hard time not seeing them.

A+K.

The woman frowned. She wondered who those two were.

An Adrigami piece for the end of monday. Hope you enjoyed it! (For those who don’t know, “zusammen” is German for “together”.

Hi again! I’ve decided to build on this for my own AU! 

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

[misslilli]

Felix Felicis

MSR. AU. PG-13. | tagging @today-in-fic | AO3

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 | Chapter 13

Chapter 14 - Last Chance For Spotting A Rainbow

If you know you know ;)

[ FM ]

The second Friday in school marks the end of the grace period for the first-grade parents where they can accompany their kids all the way to the classroom. From now on, we wait for them in front of the school with the other parents.

It also ends the grace period where I can “casually” bump into Miss Scully in front of her classroom and I’m a little disappointed, to say the least.

This morning though, I get lucky because when we enter the school, we run into her on the way from the teacher’s lounge to the classroom, a stack of books in her arms and a cup of coffee perched perilously on top of them.

Felix is ecstatic. “Good morning, Miss Scully!,” he yells from across the front hall and tugs me towards her.

She stops and waits for us, her coffee cup wobbling. “Good morning, Felix! Mr. Mulder!”

“Good morning! Do you need help with that?” I gesture towards her books but the shakes her head no.

“No, no, I’m fine, thanks. So Felix, you got any big plans for this weekend?” They’re walking in front of me and I’m proud of myself that I steal a glance at her ass only once. Okay and one at her legs. ‘Those heels, oh boy. Another pair to add to my inappropriate fantasies, in most of which she always wears heels. And nothing else.’

“Yeah, we’re going to the farmer’s market tomorrow! Have you ever been there Miss Scully?” Felix swigs his schoolbag along, his gaze never leaving her.

“Actually, me and my friends go there every Saturday, so maybe we’ll run into you guys there!” I somehow get the feeling that if Felix gets any say in this, we’ll be spending the whole day there until we run into her.

When we reach the classrooms, she finally lets me help her out. “Could you get my keys please? They’re in my back pocket. Just pull on the lanyard.” ‘Oh Lord. They’re in the freaking back pocket of her jeans. Of course they are. I just can’t seem to catch a break.’

Biting back a dirty joke – which I’m 100% positive she wouldn’t appreciate – I do as told and tug on the lanyard, unlocking her classroom door and opening the door for her. I briefly wonder if I should just put the keys back where they were, but the thought alone almost gives me a heart attack, so instead, I loop the lanyard with her keys around her neck and she smiles thankfully.

“Thanks. Have a good weekend, Mulder boys!”

After school, I don’t see her again because they’re, as Felix informs me, in the gym already. But I’m treated to a story about her in recess in the car.

“So I was sitting on the teacher’s bench again today and Miss Scully was talking to Miss Anderson and you know how they’re kind of weird and only ever use the first letters of their names? Miss Anderson always calls her “D” and I’ve been wondering forever what it stands for.” Yes I do know, I had to get him the book of first names from our library’s top shelf. Also, a kid’s definition of forever will never cease to amaze me. It’s been a few days, tops. I wait for him to continue.

“… and then, Miss Anderson said it, dad! She said: ‘Dana, I’m not sure this is gonna work!’ Now I finally know! …Dana.”

I nod, but on the inside, I sincerely hope that he hasn’t made the obvious connection, that her name is almost eerily similar to his mother’s first name. Just one letter.

---------

[ DS ]

That night, we order Chinese takeout, none of us particularly interested in cooking and we gather around the kitchen table. Sarah passes out the chopsticks while Holly opens a bottle of Shiraz, our classes clinking together for a toast. “Two weeks down! So girls, how was your week? Any juicy stories?,” Sarah asks, looking around at us expectantly.

“Well… I could tell you about that really awful date I had this week with Mark the banker, on which he made a move 10 minutes into the conversation buuuut I get the feeling someone else might have more interesting stories.” Holly points her chopsticks at me and grins, waggling her eyebrows. My own chopsticks pause halfway to my mouth.

“Me? Why?” I ask innocently, stuffing a piece of spring roll into my mouth.

“Very funny! You wanna tell me why I saw a very handsome dad leave your classroom all smiley faced on Tuesday?” ‘Busted.’

“What?! Mr. Mulder? How did I miss this?” Sarah looks at the both of us incredulously.

“Because your classroom isn’t across from D’s and you didn’t happen to look out through the window to see Dopey McSmileypants leave! So D, spill it, and don’t leave anything out!” I shrug nonchalantly.

“I asked a mom to help with read-alouds but her kid was sick, so since Mr. Mulder happened to stand there, I asked him if he could do it. Of course, the kids were all over him with questions, who are you, what are you doing here, you know how curious they are. He was a big hit with them, though, they absolutely loved him.” ‘They’re not the only ones though’

“Bet they weren’t the only ones who loved him, huh?” Damn Sarah for reading my mind! I laugh uncomfortably, shifting in my seat, but I nod. It was really nice to have him in my classroom. To cover for the fact that I’m not telling them the whole story, I help myself to some Kung-Pao Chicken. Sarah catches on anyway, of course she does.

“Wow, that’s mighty nice of him, to take an hour out of his workday to help you out! But I get the feeling that there’s more to the story, what aren’t you telling us, D?”

“Well… after he left, the kids had even more questions, they practically fell over each other, why are your cheeks so red Miss Scully, is he my boyfriend, or is he my husband? And… I caught myself thinking ‘Ya, I wish!’ …” I trail off, a little embarrassed at my admission.

“Man this is some serious Romeo and Juliet shit that’s going on here, D. So we’ve established that you like him, we suspect that he likes you too, judging by the glazed over look on his face when you walk by and he thinks no-one is watching. What’s the hold-up then?”

“Please don’t tell me we’re still hung up on the people talk – good reputation bs!” If I had hoped that the conversation would not take this turn, Holly quickly extinguishes it.

“I don’t know, guys… it’s not complete bs though, you know how I hate when people gossip about me behind my back, and dating the new guy in town puts me in a spotlight that I’m not particularly comfortable being in. I guess what’s worse however is that I’m scared. Like, terrified, of putting my heart out there again after that 2 year on-again-off-again shitshow with Steve last year.”

“That narcissistic asshole…,” Holly mutters under her breath and the others nod, remembering when I had finally hit emotional rock-bottom last year, after I realized that he’d gaslighted me over and over again, resulting in me having a mental breakdown curled up on the cold bathroom floor.

“My anxiety has been badever since, it’s getting better with therapy, but still… I just know I’ll screw it up. I’m damaged goods.” Alex, who hasn’t said anything yet, listening intently, finally speaks up.

“That’s not true, D. You’re getting help and you know we’re always there for you.” – “Yeah, we’ll kick anybody’s ass who dares to hurt you!” – “Don’t interrupt me, S. If he’d ask you out on a date, do you think you’ll say yes?” I consider this for a moment.

“I’m not sure. I don’t really know anything about him except that he seems to be a great dad and that he believes in aliens…” Holly bursts out laughing at the last part.

“What? Aliens?” I tell them the story that took place with the PTA parents in front of the school and the others join Holly’s laughter and I’m grateful that the conversation has taken a lighter turn.

“That’s too funny... You know, he could really learn a thing or two from his son, he asked us to his and his dad’s birthday party today at recess! It was so sweet, guys, I can’t even… We’re all invited, by the way – I think it’s going to be quite the event!” Felix had come up to Sarah and me today, holding out an official invitation and one that he had made himself, just for us.

“Yay, a party, I love me a good party! So, are we going to go?” Holly looks at us questioningly. Sarah only scoffs, rolling her eyes.

“Are you kidding? Of course we’re going to go!”

[inkandpen22]

Somewhere (9/?)

Pairing: Sirius Black x Female!Reader  

Warnings: swearing 

Word Count: 1.6k

Part Summary: Almost a year has passed since Sirius and Y/N have seen one another. Things get interesting when Y/N runs into an old friend. 

Masterlist

1 year and 5 months later... 

As I walk down the sidewalk, I blast the new Elton John album on my Walkman. I just finished with classes for the day and am heading back to my apartment. Staying in London was the best decision I ever made. I've found myself while living independently in the city. I, of course, still talk to my brother and Lauren, except now I have more freedom. I have my own friends, a casual thing going with a guy, I'm doing well in school. I'm really thriving. 

I move to cross the street as I bop my head to some Elton. Then, I suddenly feel someone yank on my arm to pull me back to the sidewalk. 

"Hey!" A voice echoes over my music. 

I stumble back onto the platform with a huff. "What the actual hell?!" I snap as I yank down my headphones. 

"You nearly got hit by a car, you should be thanking me!" A male voice argues behind me. 

"Gee, thanks for nearly dislocating my arm!" I sass as I whip my head around to meet my "savior."

When my eyes land on the familiar pair of glasses my heart sinks. The eyes behind them grow wide with amazement. 

“Y/N?” James mumbles my name in breathless astonishment. 

“James?” I stutter, sounding a tad too shocked. I hope he doesn't notice. 

“W...Wow!" He grins ear to ear and takes in my appearance. "I... how have you been?!”

For a time, I forgot we even lived on the same planet. The time in my life when he was a part of it feels so long ago, almost two years now. 

 “I’m... uh... I'm well," I laugh nervously. "How are you? How’s Lily?” 

“She’s good! I’m good!” He gushes like a giddy schoolboy. 

I'm glad they're well. They cross my mind from time to time and I still worry for them. Even in the human world, it's clear that things aren't right. Most don't know it, but I know that the strange occurrences lately must be because of Voldemort. If I can see some of the damage leaking over into the human world, I can't imagine what his world must be like now. 

“Oh my goodness, you must’ve had the baby!" I recall suddenly. "How is the little thing?” 

“He’s incredible! Yeah, we named him Harry," James tells me, enthused. 

“That’s a lovely name!” I compliment. 

“Harry James Potter,” he describes further. 

I giggle, James would name his child after himself. “Of course you did," I tease. 

“I wanted it to be Harry Sirius but Lily refused," he playfully rolls his eyes, but then his features shift with worry. “I’m sorry I didn't mean to-“ 

Oh... Sirius. 

“Oh don’t be silly, it’s fine!" I assure him. "You can mention Sirius.” 

It would be impossible to ask James to not mention his best friend with me around. He adores Sirius. James nods briefly and rocks on his heels anxiously. There's a prolonged pause between us before he speaks again. 

“He was a mess after you left," he tells me, melancholy. 

“And now?” I inquire, my curiosity getting the best of me. 

“He’s... settled. Well, as settled as Sirius can be," he chuckles lightly. 

“I didn’t want to leave," I tell James honestly. "He pushed and gave way. Is he-“ 

“No, no he’s not seeing anyone," he guesses my question correctly. He could hide that smug smirk though. 

"You should come by to the house sometime," James offers. "To see Harry! You know, we still call you his godmother." 

His words leave me stunned. After all this time, they still consider me Harry's godmother? After everything last year? 

"You're kidding," I mutter. 

The boy shakes his head as he releases a hint of a snicker. "Just because you and Sirius didn't work out doesn't mean Lily and I stopped considering you a friend. Well, it was more Lily," he winks jokingly. 

I giggle, after all this time, James and I still have this frienemies trend going. It was kind of him though to still consider me Harry's godmother. 

"I'd love to," I accept his offer. 

Perhaps it would do me some good to see Lily and Harry. James is right, even though Sirius and I didn't work out I still consider the Potters my friends. 

"I'll send you a letter tomorrow with the address. Lily will be ecstatic!" He suggests, leaning in for a quick hug. "I hate to hurry off, but I have to return home before Harry wakes from his nap." 

I give James a genuine hug and after a few extra seconds, I comprehend that our hug is a bit longer than usual. I suppose he has missed him as much as I missed them. When we part, he gives the outside of my arms a light squeezes and expresses a weak smile. 

"I'm so glad we ran into each other, Y/N," he tells me. 

"Me too, James," I smile. 

_____________________________

I arrive at the address James gave me at seven sharp. The brown, cottage-like home, is very Lily and James. The neighborhood is perfect for a young boy to grow up in. The streets are dimly lit as I step out of my car. Approaching the front door, the brisk night air of fall sends a chill down my spine. I give the door a knock and almost immediately James opens the door. 

"Who is it?" Lily calls from within the house. 

"Ms. Bagshot!" James lies and pulls me inside. "She doesn't know you're coming," he whispers to me giddily. 

"Is it alright that I'm here?" I double-check. I don't want to startle poor Lily. 

"Oh of course! She'll be so happy when she sees you," he assures me. "You can join her in the kitchen! She's with Harry and finishing up dinner." He takes my coat and hangs it on the hook behind me. 

I move down the hall with James, but before we can make it to the kitchen someone else knocks at the door. Based on James's bewildered expression, he wasn't excepting anyone else. My heart sinks, this can't be good. 

"Is that old Bathilda again?" Lily calls from the kitchen and I hear a little Harry giggle through the door. 

James looks at me and quietly lifts his finger in front of his lips. I nod in agreement as he slowly moves toward the door and pulls his wand from his back pocket. 

"Yes, probably Darling!" He shouts to Lily so she doesn't worry. 

I linger down the hall by the kitchen, too afraid to move an inch. James glances back at me once he has his hand around the doorknob again. He releases a deep, anxious, sigh and builds up the courage to open it. Right, when he does, the swinging door to the kitchen opens and Lily reveals herself. 

"What is taking so long out here?" She questions James, not noticing me beside her right away. 

When she does notice me, she jumps up and down with joy. The wind gets knocked out of me briefly as Lily yanks me into a tight embrace. "Oh my goodness! Y/N, what are you doing here?! This is such a lovely surprise! I can't even-" 

A commotion from the front door causes steals Lily and my's attention away from each other. James's laughter and banter with someone else fill the air. When I glance toward the door, my heart really sinks, along with my jaw to the floor. My eyes meet an all too familiar black pair. 

I gasp, "Holy-" 

"Fuck," Sirius curses. 

I always wondered what this moment would be like, what it would be like to see Sirius again. I had hoped one day I would see him again, to see how he's doing. I never imagined it would be tonight. I imagined it years down the road, when we're old, grown, and have lived separate lives. 

James switches his gazes between Sirius and me like he's watching a tennis match. Then, he addresses his wife. "What did-" 

"I invited Sirius over for dinner!" She explains.  

"I invited Y/N!" James points out a matter-of-factly. 

"Well, you didn't tell me you invited Y/N!" Lily defends. 

"You didn't tell me you invited Sirius!" James argues. 

"He's here every other day! I didn't think it mattered!" Lily mentions a fair point. 

Unfazed, Sirius and I approach one another, meeting halfway in the middle of the entry hall. 

"Hi," I mutter. 

"Hi," he whispers. 

"How have-" We say in unison, causing both of us to laugh. 

"No, you first!" We speak together again. 

"No, I insist-" We do it a third time. 

After almost two years we still manage to think so in sync. Sirius and I chuckle lightly together, shaking our heads at the silly moment. 

"I've been decent..." I answer after a moment's pause. 

"Me too..." Sirius nods. "You look great," he compliments with a nervous nod. 

"You too," I return the compliment anxiously. 

"Still in school?" He questions. 

So, we're doing small talk now? 

"Yeah, but I got my own place," I describe civilly. 

"Wow," Sirius raises his brows. "That's... that's really great!" 

"Yeah, I like it a lot!" I mirror his enthusiasm. 

"Still studying business?" He inquires. 

"No actually, I switched to international affairs so I work in the magical-human relations department like my brother," I explain, finding it easy to talk to him still. "I hope to improve the system. I think Parliament should do more to help the Ministry of Magic with the war." 

"I always knew you'd do great things," he charms, offering me one of his perfect smirks. 

James appears beside us out of my peripheral vision. "Hi, could we possibly get started on dinner?" 

"Come on, Honey. Let's give them a moment to catch up," Lily smirks as she locks arms with her husband and starts ushering him away into the kitchen. 

"Shall we?" Sirius gestures to the empty family room behind me. 

"I'd love to," I smile. 

Sirius grins as he presses his palm to my lower back and leads me into the family room to catch up. 

_____________________

Masterlist

Tags: @princess-jules47

[wtffundiefamilies]

This is from 2013, but holy hell I hope Anna finds it.  Entirety of the post beneath the cut; it’s both long and not something people should read with no warning.  But I wanted to copypaste in case the link goes down one day.  It’s insane to me that these “little details” and “clues” are obvious and screaming red flags to people raised in a normal world.  (And no, looking at legal porn is not a “red flag” that someone is a child molester.  But, like...again, given the circumstances I’m not sure what we’d expect; we all saw what Jessa said.)  It’s part one of a series, and it’s amazing just how much this dude sounds like Josh.  And how much their “courtship” sounds like Josh and Anna’s.

Part of my mission, my purpose in life, is to educate others about child predators.  I’m not here to stir up some kind of crazy hype, but to present the facts and to give you a bit of insight as to what happened in my own life.  How was I so blinded to the fact that for forty years I was living with a practicing pedophile?  How did I not see the signs?  How did I not pick up on something being very wrong with the man I married?  

The truth is that I sensed something was wrong even before we got married, but I didn’t listen to my inner being.  I didn’t pay attention to those nudgings that something was wrong.  Why?  Because as a Christian it had been taught to me from little up that people who went to church were good, honest, moral people.  I was taught to trust people who said they believed in God and followed His teachings.  And, I did just that.  I was, unfortunately, one of the most trusting women who ever walked the face of the earth!

Pay attention to this, please!  Just because a person tells you that they walk by the teachings of God does not mean it’s true.  In fact, the word of God warns us against “wolves in sheep’s clothing”, and I learned first-hand just what that meant.  But, it would be years before my eyes were totally opened to this fact. As a bit of background information, I came from a broken home.  My parents divorced when I was fourteen, a sister of mine died when she was thirteen, my mother was an alcoholic, and my father was by today’s terms a “dead beat dad.”  Needless to say, I longed for a different life, and I prayed constantly that God would send a good, righteous, faithful Christian into my life so that I could build a home on godly principles and a firm foundation.

I worked hard all through high school so that I could go to college.  But, I didn’t want to go to just any college.  It had to be a Christian college because I sincerely believed that was the only place I would ever meet a Christian man to marry.  Because I worked so hard all through high school, I earned a four-year scholarship to a four-year state school.  BUT, you guessed it!  The idea of finding and marrying a Christian man was so ingrained in my heart and mind by now that I passed up the scholarship and instead went to a very small, two-year Christian College.  Little did I know that this one decision would lead to so much heartache for me and for those who are most special in my life — my children.  While it’s true that we can’t see around every bend in the road, there are signs and signals along the way.  I didn’t pay attention to anyone who tried to talk to me.  One thing was on my mind — finding a Christian mate!

Every person wants to feel special, and longs to be told that they stand out among all of the rest.  During the summer between my first and second year of college I met a young man who was articulate, bright, funny, witty, and who also told me that I stood out.  He was spending the summer at college and so was I.  A friendship developed, and even though I was engaged to marry someone else, this young man worked very hard every day to convince me that I was with the wrong person.  He pointed out all of the flaws of the man whose ring I was wearing until he finally convinced me to break off the engagement.  That’s a story in and of itself — maybe I’ll share that with you another day.

What was a bit strange to me was that the man I would soon marry had a quiet control over me like nobody ever had before.  Even though I had low self-esteem I was used to making my own decisions and being very independent.  For the first time in my life I found I was reporting my every move to this quiet, shy young man. He told me I was special.  He said out of all the girls on campus I was the only one that he thought was pretty and was a true Christian.  He told me just what I wanted to hear.  It was the word “Christian” that nailed me!  I knew he was the one I had been praying about since my youth!

One of the greatest stories my now ex-husband loved to tell was how he spotted me from across campus and said to his roommate, “See that girl?  I’m going to marry her.”  This was totally absurd because at the time he said that we had not even met!  He later told me he would hide and watch me — study me — and he knew my schedule, when I was going to eat, when I’d walk back to campus, when I would go to work.  He said, “I knew everything about you.  I knew where you were from morning until night. I knew I would marry you.”

Instead of being freaked out and thinking this guy was some kind of stalker psycho, I was flattered.  “He chose me.”  Out of all of the girls around, he chose me and that again was more evidence of answered prayers.  Deep inside, though, was a gnawing feeling that something wasn’t right.  He didn’t talk much.  And, for a man who said he loved God, he made fun of people in a mean way.  He mocked people’s insecurities.  Yes, you guessed it!  He mocked me on several occasions and I felt like a piece of dirt he had stepped on.  He made fun of the size of my nose.  He made fun of my feet calling them “hammer head toes.”  He made fun of the space I have between my teeth.  I cried myself to sleep many, many nights, but still……..he was a Christian man, and he was so nice when we were together in public.  He opened the car door for me (it was my car, by the way).  He paid the bill when we went out to eat and left a nice tip.  (It was my money that he used.)  He talked me into giving him my car (which I had since I was 16) and I found myself asking him for permission to use my own car.  This was really weird!

Why did I put up with it?  Why does anybody put up with abuse?  Because they’ve been so used to being beaten down that they think this is the norm. Please, please — if you’re in a situation like this run for your life!!!  This is NOT the way a good relationship works!  And, it’s a red flag indicator of many other problems — in my case, it was a big red flag that I was being masterfully manipulated.  Groomed to be the wife of a pedophile who was already deeply involved in porn and child sexual molestation!  

Learn to listen for “clues” that a decision you’re making might not be right.  I had BIG clues that I passed off as “odd”, “not making much sense”, “silly”, or “not that big of a deal.”

Clue 1:  For the last four months we dated, my fiance was in Israel doing overseas study.  We corresponded by letter only.  We were to get married less than one week after he arrived back in the states.  In his letters he would write to tell me how he would hide behind the grasses on the beach and watch girls changing out of their clothes and swimming nude.  He said he’d skip class and stay there all day.  In other words, he was openly telling me he was a “peeping Tom.”  This was a test of how far he could manipulate me and I passed with flying colors! I never questioned him about it.  Oh, I cried lots, but I never questioned him!

Clue 2:  He told me while we were dating that he and one of his cousins spent the summers together and they would steal cartons of cigarettes from stores and sneak out of the house at night and smoke the cigarettes and look at “porn” all night long.  Another test!  I looked at him quietly but never questioned him.  If you want to know the truth — I didn’t even know what porn was!!!!!  I had to ask my college roommates.  Again, I was being tested.  Could he get away with doing things right under my nose?  Sure he could. I’d never question a man of God!

Clue 3:  He was almost 21 and his favorite job was to “babysit all the little kids at church for free because he loved to give them baths and powder their little butts.”  I’m totally sick now as I write these words.  Why in heaven’s name didn’t I run from this man? There were so many clues that something was wrong, and I passed them off as being a little odd.  Nothing more — just a little bit odd. In fact, I actually thought this was kind of nice.  I never saw my father get involved in parenting like that, and I thought, “Wow!  This man will make a wonderful father!”    

Porn.  Lying.  Peeping Tom.  A young man who loves bathing and powdering little kids.  Masterfully manipulating.  Gaining the trust of adults. (Church people loved him babysitting their kids!)

I was another one of his victims.  I was being set up. I was being groomed  I would be the perfect alibi for his continued evil behavior.  He was calculating.  He studied me.  He used me.  He used my faith as a means to get what he wanted.  He knew what he was doing! His actions were no mistake.  He worked very hard to plan every detail.  

Listen up everyone!  Please don’t do as I did!  If your gut is telling you something is wrong, it probably is!!! Pay attention to the little details and the little voice that is whispering something is wrong!!!

This is just the beginning of my story.  I will share more in the weeks to come in hopes that others will not be blinded to the facts as I was.   We must get educated about child sexual molesters so that we can protect life’s most precious blessings — our children!

Why am I sharing the ugly, sad parts of my life?  That’s simple.  Because children are beautiful.  Children are precious.  Children deserve to be protected.  Statistics (according to information found here ) tell us that 1 in every 3 girls and 1 in every 6 boys are molested by the age of 18.  Please help me to stop this!  Let’s get educated!  Let’s do all we can to make it incredibly difficult for the molester!  Let’s be vigilant on behalf of our children — at all times!!!

Every child should have the ability to grow up feeling safe and loved and whole and pure!

It isn’t easy or comfortable for me to write about this, but I must.  I must take this terribleness and do something positive with it.  I must work for the safety of our children. Thanks so much for stopping by and for taking the time to read this.  Thanks even more for making yourself more aware of what is going on right under our noses — in our schools, our churches, our camps, our homes.  Let’s do all we can to work together to make this a safe place for our children!  

Love, Clara

[pangolin-404]

Endeavors in trying to play pokemon rejuvenated:

spoilers: it’s hard

(long post + spoilers up to just after the 1st gym. it took me 8 hours to get to the first gym. the website does not lie about 70+ hours of gameplay.)

OH GOD SOMEONE’S ALREADY DEAD?? the startup warned viewer discretion but I did not anticipate blood

what just happened was that a dream or a prophecy

So someone just bombed this cruise ship, MC was teleported off, and MC just wanders off to start their Pokemon journey?? We don’t know if our mom is even alive?? Um???

if you keep agreeing to this scammer you can get a free trip to hoenn and ditch the game. you get a game over if you go through with it, and once you say no you can’t get the offer again

I lost like my first 5 trainer battles (you get battled before you even step foot in tall grass) and let me tell you. get used to losing in this game bc it’s so much harder than any official pokemon game ever

And I’m playing on normal mode

While completing a side quest I had to rescue this Pidove and this strange lady swooped in and earthbended(???), impaling their getaway ship and telekinesis-ing the thieves away. she was like “oh the pilot of the ship? who I just impaled with rocks? probably had friends and family :) what’s with that look? Don’t be scared I’d never hurt a child. Unless they were a brat. :)” and then she f’s off and i haven’t seen her since and I’m very scared of her

I got a nidoran by chasing her around the city and then cornering her. mine now >:)

there’s a dashcon reference in the mission building and it gave me whiplash

pokemon rejuvenation says gay rights. i had to deliver a love letter AND buy the recipient a gift. and they say romance is dead

there’s a level cap (20 if you haven’t beaten any gyms, 25 after the first) so my strat of overleveling at the slightest challenge is thrown out the window. I am turned into paste every other trainer battle

There’s a lot of stuff before Route 1 even appears, the pokemon there are around level 10.

The first trip to Route 1 is free. then you have to pay a hundred pokedollaroonies to take the train each time you want to go

there are shadow pokemon and MC is given this thing to steal them back from grunts. it’s optional. I was too busy trying to stay alive to catch some, and after beating some higher up he was like “wow you didn’t even try catching my corrupted grimer >:)” and I’m just “*dr phil voice*: shut the hell up bitch”

then I got turned into paste by a boss shadow gyarados and had to be rescued

I somehow completely missed both Gearen City Garden and a whole hotel and almost beat the first gym without finding them. but I did so >:). My current objective as of this point is to step foot on route 2 so I can run back to the hotel and get a Shinx that someone from the hotel is giving away

People will straight up give you pokemon they’re unable to care for. mostly they’re sad depressed office workers

My team at this point is a quilava, fletchinder, rockruff, nidorina, bellsprout, and noibat. I think the rockruff’s gonna go once I get my shinx. surprisingly bellsprout’s been a savior and very useful addition and probably gonna stick around until I find a cooler grass-type. having two fire types on my team has been hard but they’re both cool pokemon sooooo i’ll take that challenge thank you very much

I got a secret seviper egg but sadly I’m more of a zangoose fan

Ok so the rejuvenation fandom wiki is like half-done and all of the pokemon articles are pulled from bulbapedia with some extra stuff thrown in like locations and effectiveness against shadow pokemon etc etc. But i SWEAR the type matchups are different. either than or mareanie’s just a powerhouse and I’m bad at battling without the little words telling me what’s effective and what’s not

So get this. all of the first gym’s pokemon are around level 15. I’ve got a team of nearly level 17-20s at this point. I beat the gym on roughly the 3rd try, barely. I’m awarded the badge and am eager to get moving to route to. if the wiki’s correct (and I think it is) all I have to do is walk onto Route 2, which until now has been locked, and then I’ll get a Shinx. But the person supposed to give my the Rock Smash I need is like “no youre helping me with a job before I do this” and I’m like ok I don’t have a choice

So I follow this stranger to the bridge near Route 2 and we head into a lab. the scientist is rumored to be experimenting on pokemon. the door’s unlocked. two people are speaking to each other. as we near, the illusion of one person fades out. the other person’s name is Dr. Jenkal.

We have (supposedly) two doctors: One fades out of view. One is more eccentric than the other. One is named Dr. Jenkal. place your bets folks: is it a Jeckal and Hyde situation? Well, I don’t know because,

I (that’s right, me alone in a double battle, having not at all trained since winning the gym, the person who dragged me out here is Not Helping) am immediately thrust into battle with this guy. Just a couple Munna. Definitely going to ignore the Musharna he was experimenting on. huh okay this battle’s tough but I think I’ll- oh he sent out the Musharna? hm it’s high leveled but I might just be able to-

ah there are custom mega evolutions in this game that’s cool

[i am turned to paste yet again]

and that’s as far as i’ve gotten so far

[shadowywerewolfqueen]

Favorite

For Suptober Day 23.

“Sam, I can’t just tell Cas how I feel! What if he doesn’t feel the same way? We are roommates and I can’t afford for Cas to leave because he doesn’t want to be around me,” Dean said, laying on his bed while talking to his brother.

“If Cas’ money is the only reason why you want him as a roommate, then maybe he should leave,” Sam replied.

“Ugh, of course that’s not the only reason why I like having Cas around! The dude might be my roommate but he’s also my best friend! I can’t risk telling Cas the truth and losing him. I don’t know what I’d do without Cas,” Dean exclaimed, annoyed that his brother would insinuate that he only liked Cas for his money.

“Woah, dude, calm down! I didn’t mean to upset you. Dean, you’ve been crushing on Cas for years and you still haven’t made a move. If you don’t, someone else will,” Sam pointed out.

Dean groaned. “You don’t think I don’t know that! Hell, Crowley, Balthazar, and Meg have all asked him out multiple times. Thankfully, he’s turned all of them down.”

“So, what happens when he finally says yes to somebody?” Sam asked.

Dean buried his face in his pillow and screamed. When he was done, he answered his brother’s question. “Get really jealous and probably give the person the stink eye anytime they are around Cas.”

Dean could practically see the bitch face he knew Sam was giving him. “Exactly, so why don’t you grow a pair and tell Cas how you feel!”

“I don’t even know what to tell him!”

“Why don’t you make a list of all the things you like about Cas. Pick out a couple and come up with a way to spend some together focused around those things. Then, maybe hint at the possibility of it being a date and see how Cas reacts,” Sam suggested.

Dean frowned. “Dude, that sounds so fucking girly!”

“Then keep pining like a lovesick teenager and don’t ask me for anymore help,” Sam said, obviously annoyed.

“Fine, don’t get your panties in a knot. I’ll try, but we both know that all this mushy crap isn’t my thing,” Dean said.

“Well, if you want Cas to be your boyfriend, then you better make it your thing. Look, I’ve gotta go, but I’ll talk to you later. Love you,” Sam said.

“Yeah, alright. Love you too and good luck on your test.”

“Thanks Dean, bye jerk.”

“Bye bitch,” Dean replied, softly. He dropped his phone on the bed and lay there, contemplating if he could just jump in a hole and let it swallow him. He finally rolled out of bed and walked over to his desk. He grabbed a pen and paper and started writing.

A few days later, Castiel walked into the apartment he shared with Dean. He headed into the kitchen and grabbed a soda from the fridge. He drank half of it before walking to his bedroom and grabbing his overflowing laundry basket. He paused by Dean’s door before deciding to see if Dean had any dirty clothes. He opened the door and walked inside. He grabbed the few clothes he saw lying on the floor and then walked to Dean’s desk to grab the shirt that was lying on top. 

He picked the shirt up and something flew onto the floor. Cas went to drop the clothes into his basket before walking back into the room. He picked the piece of paper up and was surprised to see his name written on it. His curiosity was too strong to be ignored. As he read, his eyes widened with every bullet point.

My Cas List aka All My Favorite Things About My Roommate/Best Friend/Guy I’m In Love With

His hair. I love how it’s shining black, almost like a raven’s wings. Also love how no matter how hard he tries to make it lie flat, it always gives him a perpetually just got laid look.

His eyes. Holy shit, I could write an entire essay on Cas’ eyes. They are the deepest, purest, most gorgeous fucking blue I’ve ever seen. They remind me of the ocean when the sun is reflecting off the water.

His smile. I mean his real smile, where his gums show and his eyes and nose scrunch up. I love it so much because he rarely smiles that big. It’s like a freakin ray of sunshine! Although, I’ve noticed he smiles a lot like that when we hang out. Ha, suck it Crowley!

His body! Man Cas, has a killer fucking body with those broad shoulders, flat stomach, and them thighs! Oh my God, he could crush a watermelon with those things. Hell, I wish he would crush me with them. And he’s got a pretty impressive cock (what can I say, I was a peeping Tom a few times!) I wish I knew what it felt like to have it buried in my ass, man I bet he would fill me up just right!

His hands! He’s got huge ass hands and man I love to just watch him pick shit up. When he touches me with them, I get goosebumps all over. I just wished he’d touch me more often with them.

His voice. Whiskey on gravel and man the things it does to me! Man, what I would give to be in bed with Cas and have him order me around with that voice of his. Ughh, I get hard just thinking about it.

His fascination with bees. He’s so passionate and I love listening to him talk about how important they are for the environment and how they make their honey. I might not love bees, but I would listen to Cas all day because when he talks his eyes light up and he gets one of his gummy smiles.

His utter lack of understanding of pop culture references. I mean he literally gets none of my references but that just means I get to educate him. I love our movie marathon weekends because of all the time I get to spend with him!

He can’t cook worth a shit! That just means he loves my cooking all the more, especially my burgers! They make him very happy haha.

His baking skills! Dude might burn spaghetti noodles but he makes the best darn pies, cakes, and cookies I’ve ever tasted! The best thing in the world is coming home to a freshly baked apple pie made by Cas. It’s even better than Ellen’s (not that I would tell her that.)

He loves Sam as much as I do! Sammy means the world to me and to know that Cas loves him and treats him like his own brother means everything! Cas will hang out with Sam just as much as me and that earns major brownie points in my book!

He knows nothing about cars but he loves Baby! Enough said!

He loves animals. I never thought I would enjoy giving up a couple Saturday’s a month to go volunteer at the humane society but boy do I love it! I think I’ll ask Cas about adopting a pet and see what he says. I bet he’ll say yes.

His head tilts when he’s confused. It’s just so damn cute.

That damn trench coat of his. He’s the only person in the world who looks so darn sexy in a plain brown coat.

The fact that he will steal my clothes and wear them before wearing his own. God he looks sexy when he wears my stuff.

All the times we spend hanging out. Cas is always down to do anything whether it's going to the arcade, or the zoo or a football game. Hell we spent an entire day at a car museum and then at a natural history museum just so we could do what each other likes! Besides Sam, there’s no other person I would want to hang out with.

His personality! Wow, that’s a huge one but it’s true. Cas is the most caring, thoughtful, loyal, smart, funny, kind, awesome, brave, generous, etc, etc. Cas is the best friend a guy could ask for and I can’t imagine not having him in my life. He’s a freaking angel and I just wished I deserved him. I wish I had the freaking nerve to tell him how I feel because getting to spend the rest of my life with someone as amazing as Cas is better than all the free burgers and pie in the world.

I could keep going but my hand is getting tired and I’ve got work to get to or else Bobby will have my hide. Maybe, one day, I’ll actually show this to Cas but probably not. I only did this because Sam suggested it would help come up with a way to ask Cas out, but all it’s done is made me realize why I don’t deserve him in the first place.

Cas plopped down on Dean’s bed and just stared at the note, unable to believe what he just read. He sat there for nearly ten minutes trying to process his thoughts. Finally, he grabbed a piece of paper off Dean’s desk and started writing a letter of his own.

“Cas, I’m home! I figured I would make my burgers for dinner along with some homemade fries. Afterwards, we can watch that bee documentary you recorded,” Dean called as he headed to the kitchen. He smiled when he saw his friend sitting at the table, a cup of hot tea nestled between his hands. Cas had a real fondness for the stuff.

“Hello Dean,” Cas said.

Dean paused, Cas’ tone not the pleasant sound it normally was. “Uh, everything alright?”

Cas nodded and took a sip of his drink. “It is.” He sat his cup back down before reaching into his pocket and taking a piece of paper out. He unfolded it and slid it to the opposite side of the table. “Sit down, and read this please.”

Dean couldn’t help but eye his roommate as he took a seat and grabbed the paper. The blood drained from his face when he read the top line.

All My Favorite Things About My Favorite Person aka The Person I’m In Love With

Dean’s stomach was in knots as he looked at Cas. “Uh, what is this?”

“Just read it Dean,” Cas replied.

Dean sighed before looking at the paper once more.

       1. His looks. I am a sucker for blonde hair and he has dark golden locks that always seem to lie perfectly even when he just runs his fingers through it. His eyes are the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. They are like a forest on a warm spring day.        2. His laugh. He doesn’t laugh overly much but when he does, he has a smile that lights up his face and his whole body shakes with joy. I could listen to his laugh from sunrise to sunset. I’ve noticed he laughs a lot around me and it always makes my heart beat faster when I hear it.        3. His body! The Greek sculptors couldn’t find a better specimen if they looked. He has the perfect face with plump lips, high cheekbones, and a strong jaw. Then he’s got wonderfully muscled shoulders, a wide chest, a toned stomach, and bow legs (which I find freaking adorable. I may or may not have seen his cock which is extremely impressive and I dream about wrapping my mouth around it and bringing him to orgasm.

Dean couldn’t help his thoughts as he read. “This dude sounds perfect but hell, I’ve got all of that. I mean my hair may not be gold and my eyes are just a plain green but I’ve got a pretty good body. I definitely have the damn bow legs and my dick is pretty spectacular.” He continued reading.

       4. Did I mention his bow legs? I know he hates them, but I think it just adds  to his overall physique. I wouldn’t mind having them wrapped around me any day!

       5. His voice. When he sings, it’s like water running over rocks. It’s clear and smooth and I wish he'd sing more often!

       6. His love of cars! He’s got the most awesome vintage car in the world and there’s nothing better than just going on long drives in her. I can spend hours listening to him talk about cars even if I don’t have a fucking clue what he’s talking about.

Dean tried to keep the scowl from his face as he thought, “Now wait a damn minute! Baby is the best car in the world and whoever this guy is can bite me! Maybe Cas doesn’t like Baby as much as I thought. I guess he was just pretending about enjoying our car rides together.”

       7. His ridiculous amount of knowledge about all pop culture related things. I don’t think he can say more than three sentences without referencing a movie, or TV show, or band. It’s ridiculous and sometimes talking to him is like trying to learn a foreign language! But that just gives me all the more reasons to have movie marathons with him so that maybe one day, I can be as savvy as he is.

       8. His obsession with cowboys! The man dresses as Clint Eastwood every year for Halloween! Need I say more?

Dean glanced at Cas, but he was looking to the side towards the kitchen window. “I want to meet this dude and show him I know more about pop culture than he ever could! I also bet my Clint Eastwood costume is better! I don’t understand why Cas is so caught up on this dude! I have all of this and I bet I do it better!”

       9. His cooking! If I could only eat his burgers for the rest of my life, I’d die a happy man!

“I thought my burgers were the best, though! Cas has said multiple times how they’re practically orgasmic,” Dean said inside his head.

       10. His love of sweets, especially pie! He would live on pie if he could and I love to spend all day baking sweets and watch him enjoy the fruits of my labor!

       11. He’s a family man and loves his brother with everything he has! They have one of the strongest sibling bonds I’ve ever seen and I’m so happy they took me in and include me in all their adventures.

       12. He knows nothing about bees but will listen to me ramble about them all day. He gets this almost dreamy look as he listens and it makes my heart melt to know that he pays attention even if it isn’t his thing.

Dean frowned as he thought, “I fucking enjoy Cas’ baking and I will listen to him all damn day talk about bees! Why is Cas so hung up on this dude when I’ll do all the same shit! What if Sam was right and Cas got tired of waiting for me, so found someone else that was a lot like me?”

       13. He loves coming to the animal shelter with me! He didn’t at first but now he never says no! Maybe one day, we’ll have our very own dog or cat.

       14. He has this small pudge above his waist from all the burgers and pie he eats that won’t go away no matter what! Again he hates it, but it’s the comfiest spot to rest my head on when we’re lying on the couch together.

Dean dropped his hand to his stomach and pushed against his own small pooch. Cas always used it for a pillow, but this mystery guy’s must be better. Since when did Cas go to the animal shelter with anybody but Dean? Dean thought it was their thing, but obviously he was wrong.

       15. His love of all things plaid! Like I’m pretty sure his wardrobe is 90% flannel and 10% everything else! Although, me stealing about ten of his old band t-shirts didn’t help, but they smell like him so I just had to.

       16. His necklace that he always wears. His brother gave it to him and he never takes it off. 

Dean wrapped his fingers around the amulet hanging from his neck. Sam had given it to him for Christmas when they were kids after their dad failed to show up yet again. It meant the world to him and if he ever lost it, he would be heartbroken.

       17. All the time we spend hanging out together. There’s never any telling where we’ll end up! It could be a zoo or a museum or some kind of sports game! We’ve gone bowling, golfing, and I even convinced him to go on a rollercoaster with me. He held onto me the entire time because he’s afraid of heights. Of course I went with him to a car show the following week to even it out.

“I thought hanging out with me was special,” Dean thought sadly. His shoulders dropped as he realized that maybe Cas didn’t enjoy hanging out as much as he thought. It was obvious that Cas enjoyed spending time with his crush more than Dean.

       18. His personality! There isn’t enough paper in the world to write everything I love about him. He’s wicked smart and has a great sense of humor! He’s loyal and kind hearted! He will help anybody who needs a helping hand whether it’s mowing their lawn or taking them to the store because their car broke down. He’s stubborn, sure, but he’s also brave and ambitious and full of life. He’s definitely the life of every party we go to! He’s the extrovert to my introvert. He’s extremely dependable and responsible. He’s strong but also gentle! He can be a little cocky but hey, he’s earned it! He’s the best guy I’ve ever met and I would never want to live another day of my life without him. There’s not another guy on this Earth that I love like I do him and I just wish he realized how much I care for him. He can be very self doubtful about himself even though he can also be the most confident person in the world. I love him with all of my heart and I just hope when I finally tell him how I feel, he won’t turn me down.

Dean dropped the paper to the table, unable to look at it any longer. He was barely keeping the tears from falling as his heart shattered into pieces. He had everything on Cas’ list, yet Cas had chosen another person instead of him. All because Dean had been too chicken to admit his feelings. He looked up at Cas and tried to plaster a smile on his face. “I hope this guy realizes just what a gift he has waiting for him. You’re amazing Cas and anybody would be lucky to call you theirs.”

Cas smiled. “Thank you, Dean. He is a pretty awesome guy, and there’s no one else I’d rather be with.”

Dean sighed, trying to keep the bitterness from leaking into his voice. “Then why aren’t you with him? Why didn’t you show him this list instead of me? Do you want me to proofread the damn thing for you?” So, he was being a bit of an ass. He just found out the guy he was in love with didn’t like him back. How else was he supposed to respond?

Cas laughed softly. “No, I don’t want you to proofread it. As far as why I didn’t just hand it to the guy, I actually just did. He’s being a little dense right now.”

“Wait, what?” Dean exclaimed, his eyes locking with Cas’. Had Cas just said what he thought he said? Dean tried to keep his hopes in check in case he had heard wrong.

Cas stood to his feet and walked over to stand beside Dean. He reached for Dean’s hand and wrapped his fingers around Dean’s. “You are the guy in that letter.”

Dean opened and closed his mouth a few times before squeaking out, “Me?”

“Yes, you. I saw your letter to me when I went to get your dirty clothes and figured I’d write one of my own,” Cas explained. He squeezed Dean’s fingers and smiled brightly at him.

Dean stared at Cas before reaching up and cupping his cheek in his hand. “You really mean it?” he asked as he searched Cas’ eyes for any sort of lie.

“Every word,” Cas said softly. “I love you Dean, so much it hurts.”

“I love you too, Cas! I’m sorry it took so long,” Dean said, a tear sliding down his cheek.

“That’s ok, we just have lots of time to make up for! There’s a few things on our lists that I want to make a reality ASAP,” Cas replied with a smirk.

Dean’s eyes went wide as a smile stretched his lips. “Oh fuck yes,” he cried before crashing his lips against Cas’. Cas responded immediately, sliding his hands into Dean’s hair and slotting their mouths ever tighter together. They finally had their favorite person in their arms!

[mytwitterisdogtoast1]

Kingdom Hearts 3 broke my heart.

I am a fan of Kingdom Hearts. i've been here through the first game and even though I grew up without the money to play every game I stuck with the series as best I could. In fact I've bought multiple copies of games on multiple systems and beat a couple of the games not just once but 3 or more times. Here is a list of the things I've done involving this series.

1: I bought KH1/2/COM on more than one system such as ps2,3, and 4. 2: I've played and beaten on the hardest difficulty on each main installment (except critical mode of 3) 3: I have 100% KH1 which might not seem like a big deal but it is the only game I have 100% ever. Got all the trophies and so on. 4: I stuck with the story and even recently before 3 came out played and beat most of the games. (except DDD since it wasn't my kind of deal since I don't like the flowmotion part of the combat.)

You could say I'm a fan of the games and have done what I can to in general keep up with the series as well as have enjoyed the series.

But then 3 came out and I was just not happy with it. After waiting for so long and playing the game and screaming and ranting about certain plot points that just don't make sense to me (KH is notoriously hard to keep up with plot wise and I am just not the brightest person in the world when it comes to shit. Like I really need some things explained outright for me and to some degree do not mind spoilers for some things) I swore off KH the entirety from now on cause it was just that bad of a game for me. It wasn't a horrible game but the direction they started taking it in was just so far removed from what the original 2 games in the numerical series were that this was just NOT Kingdom Hearts at all. Sure you can say it is a love letter to the biggest of fans but I can say that a letter to regular fans was something it needed to do more than cater to such a rabid fanbase compared to a regular fanbase. I thought this was unfair and then bought Memory of Melody. That is now the worst game in the series to me. So I dived into what people thought and looked at a ton of youtubers who played the game and saw what they thought. I looked at reviews of non youtubers and read what they thought and the game has made the fanbase more divided than anything I'd ever seen from a fanbase. So I replayed the game with the intent to write down all I felt on the game to give it a fair review. Like I said I'm a filthy casual and I can give stuff a large break when it comes to media and have a large understanding of what that thing is meant to be. Sometimes a product is meant to be a certain way and we have to enjoy it for what it is and I can try and do that. I mean I love the WWE and Yugioh and anyone who is a part of those fanbases knows in their hearts (kek hearts) how bad those things can be at times. So I played the game and wrote down all the thoughts I had on it and Some might be easy to explain while others are in general probably at least fair on how I feel about it.

Kingdom Hearts is a series not meant for the new comer. It knows what it wants to be and does that thing. It isn't here to make everyone happy and that is just absolutely fine in general. I've been a fan and it makes me happy that the game is one long story that I can appreciate and make call backs to in stuff. I remember being so rewarded when I looked at my then best friend who skipped over chain of memories (I had to emulate it but I think it was fair of me to do so since I bought the game 3 times since now that I have the money to do so) and said he knew what happened because he saw the cutscene of Sora reaching the top and Namine betraying him by putting him into a pod. I laughed at him cause he was a fool who knew nothing of how the story went cause he foolishly just thought he didn't NEED to play the game. This made me more invested into the series than he was. I stuck with the series reading up articles and even watching videos on the series for stuff I missed out on since again i couldn't afford everything. They were building a story over a decade long and at the end it just didn't do it for me. It's not that the story wasn't the end of the series in general. Heck gotta make dat' money Y'all but in general this was the end of a saga for Xehanort and it just didn't cut it. But maybe I'm not starting at the right spot to give my feelings on it. Maybe I'm coming fresh off a game play and feeling a rant building for multiple reasons. So let me start with the positives before I bury the list under a pile of problems for me.

So I'll be putting things in order of good, mixed, bad. They will be somewhat fair and if they have an answer you have my sincerest apologies but remember I'm slightly the "dumb" and would in general like to just get simple straight answers. Something simple and clean if you would. On that note

1: The starting song is a god damned banger - Face my fears is up there with sanctuary which is better than Simple and clean. To be fair though simple and clean was made in like a flight and pretty much is nonsensical to the game in general. However it is a good song. How could it not be with one of japans best pop artists? Have you heard sakura drops? Colors? Traveling? Apples and cinnamon? Fuck man this song is just really good. 2: The game looks great - Sure the game might not look like ps2 graphics anymore but this isn't a bad thing it just is a different thing. The only time I thought it looked bad was during the pirates area where they had to make real people. Sometimes it is better to have a different art theme and even if something is just ok at best during it it can still be over all great. Everyone looked good during it. It just in general looked like a new version of KH entirely. 3: You can power up keyblades - One of the best parts of the game is powering up keyblades. Now sure mickey saying "we should have powered up our keyblades" is a stupid line in general when they are magic items and not fully meant to break form normal stuff but i think the ability to latch onto a key and make that sucker your main key is a great idea. Finally I can power up keys like sweet memories or the kingdom key and go through the cutscenes with the keyblade never changing and it look like it's meant to be there. 4: The whole getting treasure for sinking ships - Even if in general people might not like the ship combat the idea of being a pirate and stealing treasure from a ship when you sink one of the large ones is one of the best thematical ideas in the game. You can just sail the ocean and just pirate ship for loot if you wanted to and since you get xp during it and get your ship to be better it just is a great idea in its entirety. 5: Rikus keyblade - That is one of the better keyblades. I'm not gonna lie but the final fantasy cloud based keyblades where they are more realistic have been one of my favorite designs and I am sad i can't throw it on sora. I like the idea of an actual blade instead of a blunt weapon in the game since it just feels cooler sometimes. Riku getting a keyblade that not only looks more like a sword but is also still a key for a more modern car is one of the cooler things they have ever put in. 6: The call back to union cross players - This was a little lover note to people who played the game. They grabbed a ton of names and threw them in as you threw hundreds of keyblades at the giant heartless storm mob thing. I think it is great and even if I didn't play one of the names that pops up is my actual name so I find that pretty cool whenever I see it.

And that is it. Those are the best parts of KH3 to me. Everything else is either a mixed bag or just not good. I'm sure you can tell which one has more in it. As for the stuff that is in the middle of both good and bad let me make it clear that some stuff that is bad will probably be talked about in the bad section because it needs its own commentary.

1: All the party members - I always was a little sad having to remove one of the characters in my party to add the one new person they wanted to add in and was always sad at that limitation but with 3 you can now have ALL THE MEMBERS. This is great because now I have access to all of my forms with donal...... Oh right, they're not in the game anymore. 2: Nice to one and done an area - Back in the day when I first played the original first game I never went back cause I beat the level and thought it was extra stuff. When I got older and playued through 2 I was a little impatient and just didn't want to keep going back. Now as I am older and wiser and more patient I just do the thing cause it's a part of the game and deal. Thankfully it is all in one trip which is good CAUSE I DON'T WANNA FUCKING PLAY THESE LEVELS EVER AGAIN. 3: I'm gonna say it and people are gonna question me (probably not I'm not a large content creator thus people probably don't care about my opinion so strange of you to be here reading this) but I fucking hate winnie the pooh. I don't like him as a person and I'm just not a fan of his entire world. I only like Eeyore and not cause "gosh that's how I feel" Eeyore is the fucking man. He never lets his bad mood get him down and he powers through even when life is shit. Good for him man. Love that guy. Such a trooper. I just don't like pooh but the levels. God Kingdom Hearts mini games are just mostly not fun in general so not having to play so many mini games in poohs level is fantastic. EXCEPT EVERY WORLD HAS A DAMNED MINI GAME IN IT. 4: Speaking of mini games the ship combat is fine. - It's just, fine. 5: I had so much money - I don't remember playing any other game having so much money. I remember caring and investing and even trying to get money to spend on stuff in some points and in here it just.... I never spent it until i got bored and started using food. I didn't use food until the last world and beyond cause I wanted to finish the game faster. I mean the change of pace having money is nice but there was nothing really to do with it. Maybe I should have bought Hayner, Pence and Olette a ton of pretzels with it. 6: Playing as any other keyblade wielder - Man this was one of those great moments that I was excited to do. Having played as many other characters during other games was always nice and refreshing and being able to do so here was great. It got me excited to play as Mickey again since I got to use him a few times in KH2 or to be able to use Ventus or Aqua again cause they were gonna be saved and be able to fight in the upcoming battle. That is you know. If they are used in the game more than one time each. 7: Giant heartless battle - One of the best moments in the game was the "goofy just died" moment. Not because The goof man "died" but because you got to solo fight a crowd of enemies and in this game it was so cool to have that call back. The shit icing on that beautiful cake was having to use the train to win. Like it just felt like I was making no progress and I can't on my own fight the enemies and no matter how hard you try you can never stop the enemies ever. 8: The what if scenario - The group dying was pretty cool and was a great what if but would have been better if they didn't come back to the past and have Ventus run up and think it was Terra again. It was cool for the lingering will to step in and help but even then the whole situation was so stupid that it could have been written better. What if instead of doing the whole scenario it was a mind fuckery to sora to put him down mentally like they had been trying to entire game. What if it showed him losing and that it was possible? Instead we got this long winded scenario where people didn't learn from their first mistake and tried to go run up to Terra when in that moment Aqua when Ven tried going should have grabbed his shoulder and said "you know it's not him so let's just get ready to fight"

Those are the mixed bag moments I was commenting on. Some things are fine and aren't really an issue except the are a part of a bigger problem in itself which makes them a mixed bag. The last part's I'll be writing about are pretty much a giant rant or asking questions to things. There are problematic points I'll be making as well. So now let's look at the bad stuff in KH3. However, before I get into it, I want to also write down the not as bad stuff as well as some of the really big stuff so I'll make sure to point out when it is a gripe that isn't the worst thing in the world compared to it actually being not good.

1: Nitpick/The social media is dumb - Look I'm not much of a social media person and I know todays kids and teens are all about that jazz and such but man this part of the game is pretty dumb. I am in no way too old to "get hip with it grandpa" and think social media is a bad thing. Times and things change but WHY IS THIS A THING? Sora and friends are out saving the world and probably do not know about current phones since they are so busy. They would be like really old people trying to catch up with todays world and just in general should not have time enough to do it. Sure giving a phone is fine which whatever they can just add in ways to contact which again makes the phone fine but social media is dumb. What platform are they on? Who is following them? What world is this being sent to in general? Does anyone really care?

2: Nitpick/Why 7 VS 13? - I think the number is just really off. Ok look the original organization 13 was fine. Having 14 members in it wasn't a big deal and sure fighting them seperately and not all in one game made me a little sad until final mix came out but at least i got to fight Marluxia in all his pretty boy glory. The point I make is they just seem to have stuck with the 13 which is fine I guess? It just seemed like it was more or less there for no real reason. Sure we would have to fight every single Xehanort around such as Ansem, Xemnas, Terranort, Xigbar who works with old man Xehanort, Young Xehanort, Old man Xehanort. If you also in general wanted him to have each good guy fight a bad guy we would need one for each single keyblade wielder to come out. So let's say Kairi and Axel were just gonna join in so we can have for whatever reason Xion and Roxas just pop out to fight people. We would have need for a total of 7 enemies to fight. Let's just use these guys here as people for people to fight. We can have terranort fight someone before he comes back as lingering will to fight and get his body back. We can have Kairi fight Xion until she defects in general and fights another person with her. We can have axel fight Xemnas so he can get revenge and then have him lose and Roxas can come out. So on and so forth until we have just enough for each person to be matched with another person. You wouldn't need to stretch and find whatever you can and just fill the numbers. You could have at that point just filled it with villains you knew you wanted on your team. Not just bring back generic dudes who don't even need to be here. I'll get more into that in a moment but the numbers just seem off and could have been anything not 7 v 13 but like I said. Nitpick.

3: The plot of Sora flying around this time is a little weak. - So Sora lost his powers and needs to get them back. So he fucks off for a bit until he can regain the powers. Wouldn't it be better if he also trained with Kairi and Axel? What about just going into the realm of darkness to help the others get Aqua? What if instead of just going back and forth to each Disney world like he normally did he in general just.....trained. See the point of the other games was "close the keyholes of the world so heartless stop getting in. Stop those nobodies from opening Kindom Hearts." Kind like saving the world is a great motivation to have compared to "fuck off until you are good or something". It's one of the biggest issues in general. Now if he was told something more substantial than "you need the power of waking" than it would have made the grind through much better. Add in a new plot element for him to need to travel to lands in general so he can earn the power of waking. Send him to places to get that shit instead of "get stronger". You think I can't just do that shit with story? Shit's boring man lemme do stuff.

4: You cannot turn off attractions - That is without playing critical mode. Man Attractions are in general one of the worst parts of the game. Sure I find it hilarious when I'm fighting an important boss (such as Xemnas) and I last hit him with a merry go round but in general they just suck. They aren't fun and they slow the games combat down with a cinematic. Sure they can be "avoided" and I "don't have to use them" but they exist in the game. They are the creators vision and he wants you to use them. If they didn't want it to be a huge part of the games combat system they wouldn't add it in and the fact that it shows up so often just kinda proves they want you to use the thing. Combat in here is very floaty if you haven't noticed and a more grounded approach is sometimes best. This is what the attractions do since they still try and attack you thus getting closer to the attraction in the first place. It's really a jarring object. Telling me not to use it while having the chance to actually accidentally press the button is frustrating. It's the smaller version of telling someone don't be mad when they are mad or try not to be depressed. It's hard to avoid and the answer isn't just "don't do it." Especially when the game puts in abilities to make them more prominent such as extending the time on them. Another point on this is that if the developer wanted them to be optional they wouldn't sometimes be mandatory or even show up during boss fights. Either this was an added on horse shit thing where Disney was like "add attractions or we're done" or Nomura just was like "i recently went to disney land and you gotta put this in it's dope". Joke aside it is one of the worst parts of the game since I can't turn them off and it is hard to get around them. Let me turn them off fully or let them be used as an ability where you can add them in if you want it. Customization should be more of a thing than a gimmick you keep getting. Also they show up so often and I believe in every enemy spawn group. Multiple times even if you miss it the first time. Having so much prominence placed onto this one mechanic just shows they went in hard on it and sure if it was just the rock titan or just the horde of heartless at the end or maybe even rare I wouldn't find it much of a problem but it is EVERY FREAKING COMBAT. I hit that button on accident more times than I wanted to that in general I was trying to use a spell but I missed it by seconds or something and the carnival ride started up and I just said "god dammit" and had to end it dealing a burst of damage since you can't just stop it, it has to go full swing. Also only in critical mode is kind of bullshit. Add it to every mode in the game and it'll be less of an issue.

5: Nitpick/Sora is an idiot - Look I don't mean the whole "he's so stupid now he just is always happy or has dumb dialogue" I mean the idiot tried to touch fire and instead of water magic which he now has and I spammed on the fire balls he walked up to a freaking inferno of flames and just tried to see if it was hot by touching it with his bare hands. Shit Sora you dumb fuck Goofy had a better idea than the mage and the main character and he's not always the brightest. Fuck you.

6: There is too much stuff in this game - Way too many mechanics and most of them are on forever. You have so much you can do such as the shotlock, Flowmotion, Carnival rides, Extra forms, Summoning the fat cat dream pokemon, so many mini games,  just so much shit and I'm sure I forgot something. Now look I can let go of the whole "cat" thing because it is a summon and those are normal but in general it just feels like the entire game was overloaded with everything from every other game EXCEPT for cards and if we don't have cards for character upgrades or something it feels like a waste. (that's a joke) The point is that there is too much stuff and it's all filler and fluff and we can just have a nice game without 10,000 things to learn in the first section of the game.

7: Nitpick/ I think the selfies are just dumb - I've taken a total of maybe 5 selfies. All of which are to show a single person in that specific moment. Selfies don't really do much in the world we play in for KH3 and I just think it is in general a dumb game mechanic. However it is not required to do so it's not a big deal to have in. Just another nitpick.

8: Food and cooking - Look, this is not monster hunter. This is not another game where food is an important detail and sure I don't mind the addition of it if you really wanna put it in but it does make the game easier when used. In that direction fine making a game easier isn't a bad thing, however, constantly telling me now is a good time to find ingredients for little chef is annoying every time. I could figure it out if I really wanted it but in general since it is an optional mechanic to which I can just buy the parts for it and even the food at a kupo shop than what is the point in adding in the game play mechanics for it? The mini games are dumb and take too long to do for such a small mini game. Crack and egg get soup. Nothing else but crack an egg. So than the game is too short for a mechanic I'm supposed to do often? Why not add in a larger game so that I can help him create the object one time to see if he likes it and then when he adds it on I can order the object from him. Don't add it into the kupo store if I you want me to make it and don't make me make it be so tedious if you want me to make it. Also why is sora cooking at all? It's Remys passion not mine. He's even shown to run a packed restaurant all on his own at the end of the game in the credits scene.

9: More customization please - Here's a major issue I have with the game. There is less customization compared to other games. This is strange as in general it seems to be the same. The problem is this. I have to use flowmotion in the game. It is not an option because in certain levels it is a legitimate requirement to use for moving elsas castle. It is required in a couple other places as well but the point still stands. I need to have them equipped in order to make progress. The fact that in KH2 I could turn off big moves from team members but cannot now takes the agency away from me from making my fighting style more what I want to do. This means in order for me to really enjoy the game I have to really accept mechanics I was not a fan of in DDD. Maybe having an option for character customization such as turning off forms, and what special attacks you wanna do would be nice instead of giving everything under the sun. Do I want to be a fast mobile fighter? Than make that a character level abiliy choice instead of just making me have it from the start and also making it mandatory for levels. Allow me to remove the big moves with my team and stop making them always on since I never liked them. Sure I can ignore them but it comes down to the same thing as the attractions. Sometimes you cannot avoid hitting the wrong thing. This also goes into the whole magic sucking ass in this game. Every spell is offensive and thus it just feels like it is the same. Wanna do a little small thing with some damage? Wanna do massive damage comparatively? It just feels like they wanted to simplify the whole having a summon, having a spell, having 2 items on or something along those lines. This stops you from having more options on your character and just stream lines you in to a generic build. I didn't use ice once past the first time finding out its pretty much a fire ball. I used cure, fire, water, thunder. Thunder for crowds, fire for damage, water for crowds also because I just stopped caring and cura cause I heal all my damage cause DONALD NEVER HEALS YOU. WE'RE 4000 GAMES IN MAKE DONALD HEAL BETTER. This again comes back to the limits. Let me turn them off since I do not like them. If they worked as magic they would be better cause the magic sucks ass in the game. I mostly after a while stopped doing any real care in magic and just used healing. This also comes back to the original abilities in second form that you can unlock via smacking them with your keyblade. They would be nice since the magic in the game again sucks ass so having something to use magic bar that is not cure would be a nice touch.

10: For a guy who lost his powers I sure have a ton of abilities right away - Remember when in the beginning of each game you lost all your powers and had to slowly unlock everything and it would come to you not just willy nilly? Man those were the days. Could earn powers for reasons. I'm not helpless in the game if I can run up mountains or sky scrapers. If I can glide with the shotlock from one spot to another. I'm too strong if anything at the start and it just makes you feel like the game is padding time before the small amount of story at the end that matters. This could have literally been with the final chapter prologue and it would have worked fine. But no, we didn't get that. That leads into us just spending time until something happens. The story has its own issues (which I will touch up on near the end) and it has some really bad pacing issues. There is bad pacing, and then there is bad writing because of bad pacing. Why not put some shit in the middle. Show I'm getting better instead of just having me just do everything all at once.  That's not really an issue if they space parts of it in or let me play as the other characters while sora is fucking off for power. Imagine if they added in more parts with Riku while Sora quests for strength. Imagine us going through the land of darkness instead of just Disney world after Disney world. Imagine what we could have had had it not just been all the Disney stuff then the finale all at once. It wasn't bad pacing for the end to pick up, it was bad pacing for there to be nothing in the middle. This is where the final fantasy characters could have been nice. Adding in the end of the Cloud and Sephiroth stuff so we can fight for more power there. Having us talk with Leon and the gang while they battle with some heartless just in the area and needing help. This would have made better pacing since it would have cut the monotony of the Disney grind. There are times when you just sit there waiting for stuff to happen as you run through world after world waiting for plot in general to just move forward. This does not mean it is bad pacing, this just means there is nothing important going on and leads to the story just falling short of being gripping and engaging. I again bring up the final fantasy characters because let's face it, if they did exist it would give something in general more time to flesh out. There is nothing to do but repeated disney movies that either play out like normal or that you play no real part in since it is after the story in the whole movie. Sure it was great to see what happened with boo and the monsters but Randall just is there and I'm sure he was gone at the end of the first movie. In fact after using my Disney plus account (#notsponsored) to just hit the end of the movie it shows him in a trailer getting beat with a shovel. He probably got back but still.

11: The combat is too "floaty" - I'm in the sky like fucking constantly man. Like all the time. Which is a bad thing since the fucking god damned level creation is now just a tall hallway. See I say tallway (patent pending) beause the level of the game is still pretty small but now it just also goes up a long way. I know this because there are so many flashing walls that there should be seizure warnings in the beginning of the game. It doesn't stop either since in general you have to climb high and doing so brings you ledges and if you have to hit people flying then you are gonna fall. Sure we can use magic but magic runs out and is complete ass. Now look this isn't just me saying it can happen since it does right in the hercules area. The first area where they could have been testing thing and probably did which means someone dealt with this shit and said it was fine enough to pass. That's just bad game mechanics right there. If you want me to be floaty in combat that do not put ledges I can fall down in your game. I do not want to climb all the way back to the top just to get into more fights I might fall down because of. Maybe make the parts I'm on bigger platforms. It just seems they want us to use the attractions because you can't fall off the safe attractions. Another thing is that it isn't just combat that is "floaty" but your movement is also a little too fast. Making larger areas and then making us speed up into a sprint is fine but having me stop right next to a save spot inches too short of touching it only for me to Vroom Vroom right over it because of how fast and far I move is god damned infuriating. It also continues combat wise as an issue in that once you get the ability to knock people up you start going into air combat and smacking them away and you can do that so much since in general the areas you fight in are so large that you can knock a single heartless out of the spawning area enough that you have to run back to fight it.

12: Proud mode is a fucking joke - I think I died a total of one time in proud mode which is probably more than others. See the difficulty has been said to be really easy on this games play through and I'm inclined to believe them. Here is the thing. I know critical mode now exists. I just don't like it. See critical mode was doable in 2 since it was just again harder stuff but in this it is no longer you playing KH3. It is you playing Dark Souls which if I wanted to play that kind of game I'd pop in my copy of bloodborne or turn on my copy of dakr souls 2 which in general I'm not a huge fan of so I stopped playing those games. Difficulty in a game is fine but there is going from hard to fuck why am I playing dark souls? No I'm not the kind of guy who says anything hard is dark souls because I grew up in the era of gaming where games had one difficulty and you had to learn to "get gud" or deal with never winning. Even if I was never good at games I didn't shy away from things being difficult. There is however an exception that the game changes so drastically that there is no happy medium between pants shittingly hard or baby mode. The other thing is that in general DLC should not dictate if a game is good on its own. DLC is meant to enhance the fucking experience and should not make me want to have to buy something (this was free) to get a god damned happy experience out of something that cost me top dollar to begin with. If I need your DLC to have fun or enjoy the story than you clearly missed the damned mark. DLC is extra boss battles. It is final mix of the game when it comes out. It turns your vanilla play through into more than what it once was. It adds aesthetics to the game not makes the game difficult and if it does it doesn't make the game different to such a degree that I'd rather fucking play a game that was created to be that difficult because their combat system is hand crafted for said difficulty. Secondly on that list of being too easy who the fuck thought kupo coins was a good idea. I literally just stopped giving a shit since I could use my now always full magic bar since magic is ass to heal when I needed it and to just run away with my big fucking area during battles and not take damage until I could go in and do slappies for a while before running away and gauging if I need to heal and then if I died come back to life. With all the power moves and free attractions each combat I could have beaten proud mode without gimping myself by trying to not use attractions. The forms didn't help with that either because I would just second form and have a brand new powerful thing to do since it was right there. Not only that but rage form is a full heal and why am I heartless sora again? Either way rage form into run away fast because I run like I'm form kenya with all the movement abilities and then with kupo coin and magic makes the difficulty in here easier than "just don't use it". Mostly because it is implemented in the game and they want you to use it. Telling someone not to use the thing is again stupid because if they didn't want me to use it they would remove the feature. This is no longer a kids game. I'm over 10 years older than I once was and I'm a big boy and want to not be treated like a child. Sure they could be putting it in for kids but why not just have it in easy mode since kids will either do easy mode or know they want that extra challenge.

13: Many of the fights and heartless are just not that good compared to earlier games - So firstly the giant horde of heartless was cool one time. Each time you fight it it gets more and more boring and feels like a cop out on trying to make a good battle and a "oh man this is such a cool idea lets use it alot more than we need to". For a game that was in development for 6 years you think they would have more varied enemies and fights and by that I mean more better heartless. Also some of the heartless are just kinda eh in general. Not only that but the places we visit feel like the heartless are kinda thrown in there and they just made way less enemies than normal. Maybe that is me forgetting if other games did the same thing but I can remember many places having more unique enemies that made more sense. Like why is the monkey heartless here? This is not the time to return to monke or some shit like that and it makes 0 sense when I have to fight it in more than one area. How about the lady heartless with the umbrella. Doesn't fit in every single place it shows up and just feels like it is there. Sometimes they do a nice job putting in certain heartless such as the reindeer which I thought was a nice touch but i don't remember them interacting at all with the reindeer from frozen. I also in general remember each heartless having a newer form such as the fat heartless eventually turned into fire breathers and then eventually into shield dudes. They do not make a reappearance but the fat ones show up all over the place and it would be nice to fight things that are great for the area. Some just also have eh designs and the game just feels poorly made because of it. Some bosses are just boring as well. In fact off the top of my head I can't really remember one I like but I sure as shit can remember the one I hated most which happens to be the airship section where you board a machine gun heartless to fight that sky bird thing in the pirates section. I even found the robots in general tedious because they were hard to beat without the use of the robot suits and felt like another tacked on gimmick to use to make combat more easy. Had they been a single section and not everywhere in the store it would have been cooler but instead we had many fights to do with robots who almost always wrecked my shit. In fact it ruined combat a little for me in general and made the section of toy story a little less good. See most of these issues I have with the places are the grand scale of things and having to go back and forth with them with having really unmemorable heartless for the most part and just not finding the game to be that great with some of the more important parts. Enemies help to flesh the game out to be cooler and as much as I love the generic heartless the worlds make the heartless cooler by making them change to be better suited for the world they are in. Having extra enemies like nobodies and unversed without having much of a reason to have them there other than "you remember this right?" seems like a waste of design chances. Some just either were frustrating tank sponges and the others were just not good. The other issue is some bosses appeared numerous times and just didn't feel impressive when fighting them since they just keep coming back. The giant heartless who I saw in hercules mode coming back on the bridge where you first meet Baymax makes the scene not great since it is a simple color swap at most and it is the same thing again. A lot of the bosses in general just feel ok at best too design wise. I can look back at many of the designs and just name really enjoyable ones who are better than the ones we got here. Honestly the designs are just so much of a let down I don't even wanna revisit the stages which is good because the game just isnt that much fun. One of the more unfun parts of enemies is also the shield stuff they have sometimes which is just more ways to give them extra health. Why not just in general just give them more health since it is just a way to beef them up? Not only are they now mostly damage sponges but the fact that some turn into shielded damage sponges just makes me less happy to fight things. The worst version of unfun boss happens to be the lich at the end when you need to rescue everyone from it. The thing is that it not only takes forever and makes you have to fight it numerous times but it also has the ability to make you unlock from it and in such large areas that becomes tedious to deal with lengthening the entire fight from the already long fight it is.

14: Quick speed round of things I don't like that are just not as good as earlier games - Magic sucks in this game. It's all relatively the same since it is all offensive. Aero was in general the same as thunder since it is aoe with a secondary effect. Water, Fire, Ice are all the same as they shoot a ball of the element that homing devices onto an enemy and when not in general locked on fucks off wherever. I miss the older spells and how they worked and felt more unique in 2 while also having more than just offense. Maybe introduce more spells to the next main entry based on the spells of every other game? I'm just not a fan of some of these worlds as they are all new. I haven't had a chance to catch most of the new movies (even thought I have disney plus which is great you should totally buy it #stillnotsponsored) I just don't like some of the places and the mini games in the don't help. Slight inconvenience but making me have to press x as I load new levels is kinda dumb. Maximus should be a party member. Give me him instead of eugene. Why do I need the flowmotion to progress? Hooray WATER LEVELS MY FAVORITE. Crabs. Watch me beat davy jones in a 4 on 1 battle.Darkubes are dumb. Jesus christ Jiminy shut up I'm trying to grind in the best place for the end game. Oh look it's an organization member maybe I can figh....nah they gone now. THERE ARE SO MANY CUTSCENES.

15: 2 final things before the story issues - Playing as other characters, keyblade forms. One of the biggest gripes I had in this was each time I used a new keyblade i wanted to fight with it and not transform into a new form because I do not like the new forms. They do nothing for me and since they kind of all are ok at best that it just kinda feels meh to me to use them. I pretty much used the kingdom key because second form was fine and stayed a keyblade. If anything I would rather have a new style of fighting like second form in general like the original forms are in KH2. I like valor and wisdom form and as cool of a call back as it was for the 2 first keyblades to be given to you I don't like the final ability to be used which makes me less inclined to find a weapon I do like. Which leads into my second final gripe. I was really excited to play as multiple keyblade wielders. Playing as mickey in 2 was super fucking cool and I miss that. Playing as Aqua and Riku in this made me hope for eventual fights at the end where it was each person fought someone else and you would get an ability to play through a final area for extra boss fights as any character for extra gameplay. I was excited to see what Axel and Kairi could do since in general they finally had moments to shine. You could make them fight and even if they did win just have them lose via cutscene and bring back Roxas and have Xion turn to your side. So many issues I have with that because it goes into another issue of.......

16: Everyone but Sora is fucking worthless - I have seen Dragonball GT and the main main main main main issue I have with that show is no one matters except Goku. See in other series characters could fight and kill or do something against the not main villain and be worth a damn but when GT happened everyone kinda just. Became worthless. No one could win a fight except Goku especially near the end when they had him fight 7 dragons. Sora does the same here when he has to be involved the final boss rush in the game. I'd have liked to see other characters stand out but even then he is the only one who can fight Xehanort when Mickey failed to do anything. It was all sora. Even waking Aqua was all sora. The only time someone did something was when Aqua fought Vanitas and still got her shit kicked in at the end during the cinematic and at that point he just didn't wanna fight 3 people. This is a shame because as I already said it would have been cooler to have those characters fight people and it matter. Let's break down the people who would be on our side Riku Kairi Axel Roxas Terra Ven Aqua Xion Sora Mickey Thats a total of 10 different people to play as. That would have made the final boss fights unique and super cool. You say that would have taken so much time and I say "Cool" but it would have been cooler to fight as these different characters. If they put in 2 extra just do them all. It is the most let down of let downs in gameplay mechanics. Who could they have fought in the game? Let's look at the villains Xigbar Marluxia Terranort Young Xehanort Xemnas Ansem Larxene Luxord Older Xehanort Evil Clone Riku Vanitas Saix Xion There are 12 total people to fight that are not the original Xehanort and each one could be fought with someone totally different. If Xion fights twice but wasn't really trying the first time she can be fine for the second battle. Let's give everyone a person to fight. Let's get the easy ones out of the way. Remember the ones who we fight first don't matter as much because each person not Older Xehanort do not matter even if they are him in other forms. Terra as the lingering will is gonna fight Terranort and get his body back. Riku can fight Ansem who tries to use his darkness and their past against him. Kairi can fight Xion who is noticed to not even be trying and then kairi can be captured to still do the ending they planned for. Xion who now defects can join and fight Larxene Axel can fight Xemnas and lose leaving him almost die while Roxas can jump out and fight him instead Ventus can finally defeat Vanitas Aqua can fight and defeat Xigbar who she has some history with Sora can fight and defeat Luxord so he can give him the card he was going to give. This fight can be more simple than the others and Sora can have to fight against the other Riku Mickey can fight Marluxia Before losing his fight with Xemnas Axel can fight and beat Saix We get to the final battle and while Sora who ran off to find Kairi he has to get through Younger Xehanort to get to the older one.

Look at that clean battle line up. Throw them in the correct order and you can have fights with so many people and even do the stuff needed for it to make the story go smoothly. Everyone gets to be unique and have their day in the sun. The final fight would be sora and gang fighting Xehanort and since the end game would be choose who fights who you can literally have over 120 different fights total if you leave out Donald and Goofy from the sora versions of fights. Heck allow us to fight the final boss final main form and we can in general have even more as we fight him with each character.

17: What is the difference between a heart and a soul? - This is a simple question because they keep saying we don't need the bodies cause we still have their hearts and I'm just having troubles figuring out if the story writers know the damn difference between a heart which is a physical thing or a concept of the soul which is the metaphysical thing. You know like what makes you you.

18: Why doesn't Axel have 2 keyblades? - Like I like that he holds it the way he does, it's very him very unique and all that but if Roxas can have 2 and he gets one from Xion who is no longer a part of him because she is right there than why can't Axel who is specifically a dual wielder of weapons get 2 of them? I mean give the main a sword that is like a Chinese Dao sword combo. It literally is a blade that turns into 2 blades. Like don't even tell me that shit is unable to happen cause Ventus fucking gets that strange keyblade because it is unique to his style so if that is how it works and they all have based on their personality he should have two. Especially since it would be a great call back to my favorite Axel line in the entire series. "Two!?"

19: Clone Riku should not be a boss - Remember when we beat the shit out of Riku as Sora and then Riku clone and then Riku beat Riku clones ass? He's not a challenge. "He was given more darkness powers" Nice, cool cop out there. Fuck you.

20: Why kill everyone just to set up a story line when you could just do it better - So this one is a little subjective. Need sora to meet Chirithy or whatever its name is and maybe set up remind dlc or whatever but in the end you could have just broke his spirit from his body and put him in the other world by making Xehanort who tried taking him over show him everyone dying and it causing Sora to blank out and travel there as a spirit or some shit. It could have worked just as fine allowing the rest of everyone else to go fight the enemies at the end giving sora time to eventually wake up and join in while Donald and Goofy protect him. Then when he wakes up Luxord who could have said "I'll handle the boy when he wakes up could have just did what he wanted to do with the card then. It's just a dumb moment and we could have instead of dumb gameplay where we have to put ourselves back together and have to save everyone and re watch a stupid ass cutscene just watched a cutscene and went back while everyone handled what they needed to.

So before I get into the final 4 parts to get into I hope that you know I was trying to be really fair with a bunch of these and not just looking for things to gripe about. When I didn't understand things I made myself look up to make sure I understood and didn't just bitch about it for the sake of bitching. These last 4 things are kind of in general I beleive super fair.

1: The battles stop as you talk with each person - Nothing kills a fight sequence like starting it, defeating a single enemy in it, talking with a full blown conversation to them, then as they die restart with another fight scene to do it with every single person in the fight. WHY WOULD MARLUXIA AND LARXENE ALLOW LUXORD TO GIVE HIM A CARD? Why would they stop fighting? Why would Ansem, Xemnas, and Young Xehanort watch as one of the others fell and talked? Why would any sane fucking person do that? It makes 0 sense and ruins that boss rush.

2: I know you need to set up another game but fuck you - You literally made the happiest of endings where everything is the best for everyone ever and I MEAN EVERYONE except for Sora and Kairi. Fucking fuck you man. I'm not even mad that that was the ending but when everyone comes up fucking peaches and cream I tend to question the product even if they need to set up story. They can do it better, do what you did at the end of 2 and send a message in a bottle and say "there are still other worlds out there that need us, just not in this universe" or some shit like that. Shit if in general they can have emotions in games than have sora have to jump into the game. You already said my microwave can feel love so than if he can be in that rex universe than he can just go in after he has a nice break with all of his friends.

3: No - Xehanort was not a good guy the entire time. He literally murdered people and stole a childs body and ripped the emotions out of another child and made them not whole. He got a child so angry he murdered his new sorta dad. He pretty much was the whole reason anything bad happened and he was "misguided and wanted to good but did bad to do so". Then in the end he's forgiven and everything is fucking fine? Then he turns into a good guy and goes into the big heart in the sky. This is the kind of writing that literally kills off stories for at least me. Not everyone needs a second chance and sometimes people are just evil. We need stories that have people die at the end sometimes. I know it is fantasy and it can be all rainbows and butterflies but dear god Steven Universe was literally "no you" and that was the end of the entire fucking series. This is the same thing. It might not be "no you" but fuck this ending. This was a story that was supposed to end a 17 year long story and the end of this single part literally spits in the face of people who played it by saying "hey guys, he wasn't bad, he is sorry now". That is complete and utter horse shit. I don't mind that this is not the end of the series. I don't care because if I stuck around this long I would do the same if the story had a satisfying ending. Fuck man in the new game he's even evil then unless that is just how Kairi remembers him but let's face it. The gang would have told her what happened and this is just horse shit in general. This is a fucking stupid story and I literally am fine with alternate realities since time travel and other dumb stuff has been the main name of the game the entire fucking time but let's face it. This is one of the worst ideas for an ending for a villain. The buold up is fucking massive and the payout is just sad.

4: NO - Fucking xigbar. I don't even know how to put this into words how much of a let down it is for Xigbar, Fucking XIGBAR to be the next main enemy. (or at least it looks that way). Fucking we could have had Luxord. We could have had Marluxia. We could have had Demyx. We could have had fucking I don't know Vexen. We could have had fucking anyone but we get Xigbar. You could have slapped any other character onto his scenes and gotten the same amount of out of nowhere shit to explain him being next but it is fucking xigbar. Fucking unreal.

So yeah. That's my massive wrap up on KH3 and I personally do not know where I stand from here. Maybe if the next game doesn't play like shit in 400 years when Nomura gets off his ass and lets us have kingdom hearts 3.76 tie in to 4 which is oddly enough a main title and not a second part of 3 I'll see how it plays. Until then I think I'm gonna sit hereand never touch 3 again and never finish Melody of Memory.

[thatforgottenbasilisk]

what i know about mha

from only looking at fanon content

this is thru the USJ incident bc im tired and i’ll make another post

okay so basic summary of the main plot:

midoriya is a quirkless boi until Sludge Villain blah blah blah 10-month-long-training for One for All which breaks his  b o n e s

i did see that episode and only that episode

so first day of school it opens on baku-hoe with his feet up and iida being like ‘hows about stop the FUCKING  D I S R E S P E C T’

and iida thinks midoriya knew about the rescue points, which he didnt but whatever

bakugo cursing a lot is probably not actually canon??? probably????

that said he probably does give ridiculous nicknames

so Quirk Assessment is a logical ruse by aizawa

love aizawa btw

he says the kid in last place gets expelled but not actually

midoriya breaks his finger to make a point

battle assessment with baku-hoe and midoriya

midoriya has fucking bunny ears on his costume?? bro??

something something the gauntlets go off even tho all-might said  n o

day ends blah blah blah

midoriya gets elected class prebident

he’s like ‘no??? dont do that???’

then reporters get in but it’s Actually a cover for the LoV to get in and steal the schedules for an attack on the USJ but shhhhh

iida is calm and directs classmates to safety and midoriya’s like ‘now That’s What I Call a Class Prebident’

so iida is class prebident and yaomomo (i cant spell her name i tried and now im sob) is vice presidente

then USJ which is the  t h i r d  d a y  o f  s c h o o l ?

b r o ?

our plot is moving  h e l l a  f a s t

so all-might was supposed to be there and he wasnt because he ran out of time

also midoriya has a crisis on the bus because he has friends???

so it’s just aizawa and thirteen

who the fuck is thirteen btw like they exist for one (1) event and just

never mentioned again

i think that they might have died in this attack but nobody cared to tell me

like they’re not a homeroom teacher or a first-year teacher of any kind??? whomst????????????

so the LoV warps in and everybody’s separated

our boi midoriya is sent to the Shipwreck zone with tsuyu and mineta 

(fuck mineta all my homies hate mineta)

mineta gropes tsuyu like what the fuck

so minor villains r there blah blah blah

something something AIZAWA GETS FUCKING  W R E C K E D

LIKE ONSCREEN WHAT THE FUCK

MIDORIYA CANONICALLY  S E E S  I T  WHICH MEANS  W E   SEE IT

LIKE HE GETS POUNDED INTO THE GROUND BY A FUCKING QUIRK FRANKENSTEIN

dang heart been broke so many times

all-might arrives tho it’s fine it’s fine everything’s  f i n e

he turns into small-might after defeating the LoV and the nomu but  e v e r y t h i n g  i s  f i n e

aizawa’s quirk is damaged because HIS SKULL WAS TURNED INTO FUCKING SPATTER JESUS CHRIST

he do be a mummy rn

so that’s all on the main events for this post rn (like i said im tired) but here’s some misc (there might be spoilers?????):

i know that it’s not technically canon but like erasermic’s totally canon right

like not according to “the manga” or “the anime” but it is in my heart

shiggy’s a weirdo who just. has midoriya’s picture and carries it around to show to serial killers like wtf dude

AfO is midoriya hisashi No I Do Not Accept Criticism

todoroki is my conspiracy man like bro you go with your secret lovechild theories

(ngl he’s actually smart like this is the most logical conclusion bc who’s gonna say ‘all-might gave you a legendary quirk passed on through generations and that’s why the quirks are identical and why y’all r so close’ like no you’d think that all-might had a secret kid and that’s why they have a close relationship and have the same quirk)

i also love dabihawks like hell yeah

we have an Actual Canon Trans Character??? Holy Shit??????

do you know how annoying it is to see literally the same fucking name a bunch of times but one (1) letter changes in a handful of them and u gotta be like sherlock fucking holmes like “is this a new character or a typo??? nobody fucking knows!!!”

lookin at you, shota/shoto

and you, hisashi/hizashi

and you, kirishima/kaminari

ok the last one wasnt as bad but i wanted to complain bc i got them mixed up SO MUCH at first like GOD

i only remember kaminari because calamari :(

bakugo and kirishima are like,,, a Thing, right? like canon? canon-ish? canon in our hearts?

they literally have someone named tetsutetsu tetsutetsu like i fucking give up

[cryingcow]

Rikiya, Kiryu, & Haruka - Rikiya’s Lonely Struggle [RGGO] - Ch.4, Epilogue

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3

.

Doing this made me realize I miss the suspense of these multichaptered stories <3 Don’t be fooled by the “Prologue” “Epilogue” terms, they’re just as long as the regular chapters, just without the player input :D

Previously: The rumors have gotten worse, but Rikiya thinks he’s finally pinpointed the source. He also thinks Kiryu’s kinda at fault, with his penchant for talking like a scary yakuza no matter how domestic the task. (Also Kiryu really needs to take lessons from Dead Souls Ryuji on how to kill an octopus, cuz 2 hours is just excessive, man.)

.

CHAPTER 4

.

Rikiya: “What the hell are you . . . ?! Why are you posting false rumors about my Aniki . . . ?!”

Woman Passing By: “It’s not a false rumor! Kiryu Kazuma comes to the shop I work at every week.”

Rikiya: “Shop?”

Woman Passing By: “I’m a waitress at a coffee shop on the outskirts of Ryukyu City.”

Rikiya: “Kiryu-no-aniki going to a coffee shop? I’ve never heard a word of that from him! In the first place, why does an ordinary kid like you know who Kiryu-no-aniki is?”

Waitress: “Because that’s the name he calls himself by, on the phone . . .”

Rikiya: “The phone?”

Waitress: “Kiryu is always talking on the phone. At one time, I heard him saying, ‘It’s me. Kiryu Kazuma.’ . . .”

Rikiya: “My Aniki doesn’t refer to himself that way. So who is the person on the phone?”

Waitress: “I don’t know. But every time that person talks, it’s to make plans for the market takeover . . . First, to try and brainwash the young captain of the Ryudo Family. After that, to poison the head of the Ryudo Family.”

Rikiya: “So you heard that and wrote a letter about it?”

Waitress: “Yes. I have to tell someone to protect the market, was what I thought. But if I announced what I told you, Kiryu could kill me . . .”

Rikiya: “So you put it in an opinion box where you can post anonymously?”

Waitress: “Yes. I heard the Youth Club in the market are very strong people. If they knew about it, they could stop Kiryu’s invasion . . .”

Rikiya: “Miss Waitress. The man who comes to your coffee shop is not Kiryu Kazuma. It’s a fake.”

Waitress: “Even if you claim that . . . please come to the coffee shop now to check Kiryu’s face.”

Rikiya: “He’s in the shop now?”

Waitress: “Yes.”

Middle-Aged Man: “Can I say something? Did you say that Kiryu Kazuma is in a coffee shop right now? That’s strange. Because Kiryu Kazuma was at a convenience store just now.”

Rikiya: “Eh?”

Middle-Aged Man: “I’m the manager of a convenience store in Ryukyu, and sometimes Kiryu Kazuma comes to the store.”

Rikiya: “Was that Kiryu Kazuma on the phone as well . . . ?”

Convenience Store Manager: “Yeah. He was talking to someone. About the market takeover plan. So I eavesdropped on what he said, wrote it down, and came here to the opinion box.”

Elderly Man: “The same is true for me, I came here from Tarekomi Street to post a letter . . .”

Rikiya: “You too . . . ??”

Elderly Man: “Kiryu was in my barber shop a while ago. Talking with someone on the phone about taking over the market . . .”

Rikiya: “Oi, oi! Is there a fake Kiryu Kazuma in town . . . ?! Let’s go to the coffee shop, Ma’am! Lead the way!”

Waitress: “Yes!”

----

Bad Guy A: “How was the convenience store?”

Bad Guy B: “It worked. The store manager pretended not to, but I could see he was listening in!”

Bad Guy C: “The barber shop owner too. He was sneakily taking notes while I was on the phone!”

Bad Guy A: “Hehehe . . . Those idiots. No one was on the other side of the phone.”

Bad Guy C: “By the way, did the letter already reach the Youth Club?”

Bad Guy A: “Yeah. The Youth Club hired thugs and made them into bouncers, but those thugs aren’t reliable. They were defeated by Rikiya of the Ryudo Family.”

Bad Guy C: “Well, why don’t they hire a stronger guy next time? They can’t choose the means for the market they love.”

Bad Guy A: “Eventually someone’s going to take Kiryu down. If Kiryu is gone, the Ryudo Family will lose their supporter. Then the Ryudo Family will be scared. The market, which is their territory, can be easily hijacked. By us . . . the Tamashiro Family. Hehehe . . . instigating the citizens into getting rid of Kiryu is a good strategy. Isn’t it a good idea? This way we don’t even have to get our hands dirty and get arrested. As a longtime member of the Tamashiro Family, if this goes well, I might get a promotion.”

Tamashiro Family member C: “Yeah, but we have to keep it a secret from the higher ups until we succeed. Can’t have them stealing the credit.”

Tamashiro Family member A: “I know . . . Alright. Let’s head back to the office. Hey! Give us the bill!”

 Rikiya: “Yes. Your three iced coffees cost 1500 yen.”

Tamashiro Family member A: “Oh. Hand me that receipt, I’ll receive it.”

Rikiya: “Right now we have a limited time offer for Tamashiro Family members, where you get half-killed by me.”

Tamashiro Family member A: “Oh, yes. Half-killed . . .”

Tamashiro Family member A: “. . . You! Rikiya of the Ryudo family!”

Rikiya: “You really thought this was a good idea. Are you stupid? That’s why you’re still a low-ranking member even after so long! Your only salvation is that you didn’t tell your higher ups! If the executives knew about your plan, you know all of you will be expelled, right?”

Tamashiro Family member A: “What are you saying! The plan is going well! As long as Kiryu drops dead, the market is ours!”

Rikiya: “Idiot. You’re the ones who’re going to drop dead.”

Tamashiro Family member A: “You have a bad habit despite being a kid. Die a little earlier than Kiryu then!”

{Rikiya kicks their ass.}

Tamashiro Family member A: “D-Damn it . . . ! Don’t think this is over! We will definitely take the market!”

{The Tamashiro Family runs off.}

Waitress: “Is it okay to let them escape? They might spread false rumors around the city again . . .”

Rikiya: “Don’t worry. No one will believe rumors about Kiryu-no-aniki from now on.”

Waitress: “You mean by telling the truth to the people in the market, right?”

Rikiya: “Yeah. But I shouldn’t be the one to tell them about it. They think I’ve been brainwashed. So, Miss Waitress. Can the explanation to the people in the market come from you?”

Waitress: “Come from me . . . ?”

Rikiya: “Originally, it was a misunderstanding that stemmed from your story. If you tell the truth, the twisted string will unravel.”

Waitress: “I understand. Let’s go tell the truth in the market.”

{Rikiya’s phone rings. He answers.}

Rikiya: “Hello?”

Man’s voice: “Rikiya! You asshole! You did so well!”

Rikiya: “This voice . . . the director of the Youth Club?”

Youth Director: “It’s dirty to launch a surprise attack!”

Rikiya: “Surprise? What are you talking about?”

Youth Director: “Right now, the members of the Tamashiro Family are inside the market!”

Rikiya: “What?!”

Youth Director: “I can’t believe Kiryu is brainwashing even the Tamashiro Family!”

Tamashiro Family member A: “Ora! I’m destroying everything! It’s all because of Kiryu-no-aniki’s command!”

Youth Director: “N-No, stop . . . !!”

{The call gets cut off.}

Rikiya: “. . . Damn it! Those bastards from the Tamashiro Family are causing chaos! I have to get to the market right away!!”

.

-END-

.

EPILOGUE

.

Waitress: “What was that phone call just now . . . ?”

Rikiya: “The Tamashiro Family members are rampaging in the market! I have to stop them right away!”

----

Tamashiro Family member A: “Everyone! From now on, this market belongs to Kiryu-no-aniki! 1 million yen for protection racket per store! Give me the list of the store names!”

Greengrocer: “I can’t believe Kiryu even brainwashed the Tamashiro Family . . . ! 1 million yen is messed up!”

Tamashiro Family member A: “You’re lucky it’s only 1 million yen!”

{The guy standing next to the talking Tamashiro Family member sees a certain someone approaching, and runs away in panic, unbeknownst to his companion.}

Tamashiro Family member A: “If Kiryu-no-aniki came back from his business trip, do you think he won’t kill all of you? Pay up quick before that happens! Kiryu-no-aniki is slowly coming closer . . .”

Kiryu: “What was that about me?”

Tamashiro Family member A: “Oh, here is Kiryu-no-aniki. Just now, I said you were . . .”

Tamashiro Family member A: “. . . Eh?! Kiryu?! Why are you here?!”

Kiryu: “Is it wrong to come shopping? Isn’t the market for everyone?”

Tamashiro Family member A: “Th-That’s right . . . ! The market is for everyone . . . ! And now, it belongs to you, Aniki! Hahaha! Enjoy shopping as much as you like!! We’re thrilled!!”

{The guy tries to slowly sneak away.}

Kiryu: “Wait. How about you don’t take one more step? You can’t get away with that.”

Tamashiro Family member A: “Y-Yes . . .”

Tamashiro Family member A: (This is the first time I’ve seen him up close, but what a powerful presence . . . ! It’s scary . . . !)

Kiryu: “Me brainwashing you Tamashiro Family members? Taking over the market? Well, looking back on Rikiya’s recent words and actions, I can guess it was about this current situation.”

Meat Vendor: “Fi-Finally Kiryu has arrived . . . !! My life up till now . . . !!”

Kiryu: “I have no intention of hijacking the market, or of hurting you. It’s all a lie made by those Tamashiro Family members over there.”

Meat Vendor: “You won’t win! You evil mainlander! Just because someone can’t pay the protection racket, you’re going to kill them?! But I won’t let you kill me just like that! I’ll stab you and kill you . . . with this knife!”

{The meat vendor brandishes his butcher’s knife.}

Kiryu: “So if I let you kill me, only then will you believe my words?”

Meat Vendor: “Yeah. I’ll believe you if you let me stab you quietly without any resistance! But you won’t do such a thing! Do you have a hidden weapon somewhere? Is it a pistol? A dagger! That’s why I’m going to kill you!”

Kiryu: “No, I have nothing on me. Now stab. My heart is on your right side.”

Meat Vendor: “I-I’m not messing around . . . ! I really will stab you!”

Kiryu: “Yeah. I’m ready.”

Meat Vendor: “Ugh . . . ! Ugh . . . ! Dieeeee!!!!”

{The meat vendor rushes at Kiryu with the knife.}

Tamashiro Family member A: (Oh! He went for it! This is the end of Kiryu!)

Kiryu: “. . . What’s wrong? Why did you stop right before?”

Meat Vendor: “Why?! Why didn’t you move?!”

Kiryu: “I wanted to believe in you. That’s all.”

Meat Vendor: “You’re willing to throw your life away, just for that reason . . . ?”

Kiryu: “Believing in other people shouldn’t be done half-heartedly. Especially if you’re a stranger like me. But I have to believe. For the sake of the children at the Morning Glory orphanage. If the caretaker is accused of a crime, those kids won’t be allowed to live on this land.”

Meat Vendor: “So, you did it for the kids . . . ?”

Kiryu: “Yeah. I’ll risk my life just to take care of them.”

Meat Vendor: “That urge to take care of your children is genuine . . . I don’t think you’re trying to take over the market . . .”

Greengrocer: “I agree. You’re not the kind of person we heard about!”

Meat Vendor: “I’ve decided! I believe in Kiryu!”

Greengrocer: “Yeah, me too!”

Tamashiro Family member A: (Shit . . . ! I have to escape quickly . . . !)

Kiryu: “Wait. You there from the Tamashiro Family.”

Tamashiro Family member A: “Wh-What do you want . . . ?!”

Kiryu: “It’s not me who wants something from you, it’s them.”

Greengrocer: “Who are you guys? Why did you confuse us with false rumors?”

Meat Vendor: “How dare you try to imitate someone! You can’t get the better of us people of Okinawa!”

{The screen goes black as the people of the market collectively kick the Tamashiro Family’s asses.}

Rikiya: “Haa, haa . . . ! Where? Where’s the Tamashiro Family guys?”

Tamashiro Family member A: “P-Please help me . . . !”

Rikiya: “You, aren’t you from the Tamashiro Family?!”

Tamashiro Family member A: “I’m never coming back to such a terrifying market again . . . !”

{The Tamashiro Family runs away.}

Rikiya: “What does that mean . . . ??”

Meat Vendor: “Rikiya.”

Rikiya: “Mister Meat Vendor?”

Meat Vendor: “You didn’t get brainwashed . . . I’m sorry I believed that. Forgive me!”

Rikiya: “What on earth is going on . . . ?”

Meat Vendor: “I woke up. Thanks to this person’s honorable spirit.”

Rikiya: “A-Aniki!! Why are you here?!”

Kiryu: “Because you weren’t available to show me around the market, I decided to go for it.”

Rikiya: “What does waking everyone up with your honorable spirit even mean?”

Kiryu: “It’s no big deal. But there’s one thing I don’t understand. You knew about the bad rumors circulating about me. Why did you try to hide it? If you told me about it early, it never would have gotten this bad.”

Rikiya: “That is . . . I couldn’t tell you right after I preached that ‘the people of Okinawa are kind’. Besides, my pride as your younger brother won’t let me allow my Aniki to deal with such an incident . . . I wanted to solve it on my own! Not rely on my Aniki!”

Kiryu: “You and I are not bound by the sake cup. You just started calling me Aniki on your own.”

Rikiya: “. . .”

Kiryu: “But, if we were really brothers, then you’re supposed to give your big brother a lot of trouble. That’s a brother’s duty.”

Rikiya: “Eh . . . ?”

Kiryu: “Didn’t you say you couldn’t allow it on account of your pride as a younger brother? Then the same is true for the big brother. My pride won’t allow me to be taken care of by my younger brother. So next time you have trouble, come talk to me right away.  . . . If not, then I don’t want you to call me ‘Aniki’ again in the future.”

Rikiya: “. . . Aniki! Thank you very much!”

Meat Vendor: “Heh, you have a good Aniki there, Rikiya! Kiryu-san, we also want to apologize to you too. I swallowed the rumors and thought you were a terrifying person. I’m sorry.”

Kiryu: “Don’t worry about it. Rather, are you a butcher?”

Meat Vendor: “Yeah. I’ve got some delicious pork leg, so I’ll be happy to serve you!”

Kiryu: “No. I wanted to borrow something . . . that kitchen knife you had earlier.”

Meat Vendor: “Kitchen knife . . . ? Wh-What are you using it for . . . ?”

Kiryu: “To off him.”

Meat Vendor: “O-Off him . . . ?!”

Kiryu: “I didn’t know earlier. So now I’m going to kill him.”

Meat Vendor: “After all that . . . you really are that kind of a man! P-P-Please help me!”

{The meat vendor runs away.}

Rikiya: “Wait, what do you mean?! Why are you killing?!”

Kiryu: “Hm? No, I bought this from the fish shop over there . . .”

Rikiya: “That’s . . . gurukun?!”

Kiryu: “I came here to buy it because you wouldn’t let me join you in the market for so long. When I asked the fish seller to sell me a very fresh one, he gave me a live fish. However, it’s hard to carry with it flopping around in the bag. I’m sorry, but I have no choice but to off him.”

Rikiya: “Is that so . . . Aniki, remember what I advised? Please keep in mind to speak more gently.”

Kiryu: “Yeah. I’ve been keeping that in mind since then.”

Rikiya: “In what way?! In the first place, half of this uproar is because of you, Aniki! If you always talked more gently, no one would have believed the rumors!”

Kiryu: “Heh, I guess that sudden authority means the usual Rikiya is back. Alright, now I can finally enjoy Rikiya’s market tour. Please guide me well. Let’s start.”

{Kiryu walks off.}

Rikiya: “Wait, Aniki! I haven’t agreed . . . ! Already~ Guess it can’t be helped~.”

.

-END-

.

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3

Masterlist

[ineffable-endearments]

Waking up in July

(Rating: G. Approx. 1917 words.)

July 1, 2020.

On reaching for the snooze, Crowley discovers an envelope he definitely didn’t leave on top of his phone. (Mail doesn’t usually get delivered to his bedside, of course, but given the handwriting on the front, Crowley has the impression divine intervention was involved this time.)

Dear Crowley,

I am writing to you in frustration. Not with you, you must understand, but with myself. There are a few things I do believe need clarifying.

Given everything that’s happened, I feel strongly that I ought to be behaving in solidarity with the guidelines the people of London have set for themselves. I must admit, it was a surprise to hear you express the same sentiment. I’ve always known you aren’t cruel enough to want to see innocent people fall ill (don’t you roll your eyes at this letter; you said it yourself), but I thought surely you would have your own ways of getting around the lockdown, carrying on outside the rules and indulging in mischief as you always do. Were this the case, it would only be responsible to invite you over here, to decrease your bad influence.

And yet, this was not the case. Still, after declining your offer when we spoke, I felt somehow unsatisfied, or perhaps at loose ends. It would have been very nice to share my baking with someone who is not attempting to steal my cashbox.

If you read this letter before July, do know you’re encouraged to reach out. We could at least speak telephonically. And if you don’t read this before July, know I will be immensely happy to meet with you again as soon as you awaken.

(There’s a long gap between the end of the paragraph and the end of the letter itself.)

Crowley...I suppose the truth is I miss you very much.

Yours, always,

Aziraphale

“Sentimental old sap,” Crowley says out loud. How else is he going to dislodge the painfully fond lump in his throat? “Right. Time to see what’s going on, then.”

=

Continue below or read the rest on AO3

One rushed mobile search and five minutes later, Crowley has an approximate idea of where the humans stand. They haven’t done the greatest job of getting the virus under control, but they seem to have made...progress? Arguably? Ugh, they could have done better. At any rate, if he and Aziraphale want to see each other, they’re going to have to form a...a “support bubble.”

The notion of asking Aziraphale out loud if he would like to be in something called a “support bubble” together almost makes Crowley want to turn around and go back to sleep.

On second thought, the angel would probably get a kick out of it, and the awful naming scheme would give Crowley something to gripe about, so all’s well that ends well, really.

The bookshop phone barely rings before Aziraphale’s voice is on the line. “Hello. I’m afraid we’re closing early--”

“Good,” Crowley says. “I’m not calling you to buy books.”

“Crowley!”

Oh, that’s a familiar delight in his voice. That’s rescuing-from-the-Bastille, cleaning-paint-off-his-coat, showing-up-for-Armageddon-in-a-flaming-car delight.

“Good morning, angel.”

“So very much has happened. I’d like to fill you in, but oh, I don’t even know where to begin...”

Crowley frowns at his phone, worried. “A lot has happened? What, at the shop?”

“No, no, I mean in the world.”

“All right. Well. Just start in...I dunno, start off from our last conversation, I fell asleep pretty much right away--”

“Come to the shop,” Aziraphale blurts. “You have to wear a mask, and-- and don’t go anywhere else, but it’s allowed. It...it’s okay now.”

“I’ll be there in five,” Crowley says, grinning, ready to ignore any admonishments about speed limits.

“Wait! Crowley?”

“Hmm?”

“Actually. If you come see me before July 4, we...we have to be in, ah. A support bubble.” There it is. “Have you heard about that yet?”

“Sure I have.” Crowley does his best to sound gruff and unaffected.

“You couldn’t be in anyone’s place but mine, you know. And even after the fourth, you couldn’t...get closer than two metres to anyone but me, even though you could visit--”

“Aside from the fact that all this is totally for show anyway, stop worrying, it’s fine,” Crowley insists. He miracles himself the least-ugly mask he can contemplate and bustles out the door, hurrying irritatedly back a minute later to grab the “something drinkable” he forgot.

They don’t even sit down right away, much less get within the 2 metres of each other. Aziraphale does, however, give Crowley a long, pleasantly intense look (it appears to be a proper drinking-in) when he enters the shop.

“Did you, ah,” Aziraphale clasps his hands together. “Did you get my letter?”

“I did,” Crowley says. “Got a bit bored, did you?”

Aziraphale sighs, impatient. “I suppose you could put it that way.”

“I’d have come over, you know,” Crowley says softly, just loud enough for Aziraphale to hear. “You could have called. Had my phone right by the bed.”

“I know,” Aziraphale responds, not any louder. He looks away to the table next to him, makes a show of studying a book that wouldn’t have moved from the shelf since 1949 if it weren’t for Adam’s reorganization. “But if you’d...stayed here, wouldn’t you have been bored?”

Crowley shrugs. “Maybe. I’m sure being bored here wouldn’t be worse than being bored at home.”

“If you were here, hunkering down as you put it, we might have got in each other’s way. I’m sure it would have been lovely for a while, but what about after a day or two? Or after a week? A month?”

“You have always liked being left alone with your work,” Crowley muses. “I could have gone to sleep here, too, though. I know you’ve got that little flat with the single bed you haven’t used since 1993 upstairs.”

At this, something in Aziraphale’s face loosens, and he looks almost as if he might smile. “Oh, now what kind of host banishes his guest upstairs for bedtime?”

“You absolutely would. Or I could just come visit and leave. Rules only apply to us if we decide they should, right?”

“Well, that’s the thing,” Aziraphale says. “I was stuck. It seems silly, I know, I know, but it’s such a strange time, everyone out there struggling - I would have felt terrible for choosing not to align with the humans’ rules myself. I was hoping…”

“That I’d help you get around them,” Crowley finishes.

“As you always have,” Aziraphale admits. That confession alone pushes the air out of Crowley’s lungs, a surprising sensation even considering his breath is optional.

“Those were...stupid rules. Dangerous for an angel to break. I felt like I was sort of doing you favors while also being a proper demon when I did that. This isn’t quite the same.”

Aziraphale nods. “No. Perhaps it’s not.”

“Aziraphale,” Crowley says, urgently needing eye contact. Aziraphale cooperates, drifting even a little closer as he does. Not quite 2 metres away now. “This is our side.” Crowley gestures vaguely at Aziraphale and everything around them. “I can sneak around other people’s rules all you want, but I’m not gonna force my way around yours.”

“I don’t know what’s right,” Aziraphale says, plaintive. “People aren’t supposed to be seeing each other, so if we’re going to live here, neither should we. I missed you every day, though, Crowley. Isn’t that strange? We don’t even meet every day under normal circumstances, but something about being forced to stay apart reminded me so much of old times - bad old times…”

The angel is getting himself worked up. “No point worrying about it now,” Crowley interjects. “We’re a...we’re a ‘bubble,’ aren’t we? We’re following the rules just fine and I’m even allowed to come and go. Problems solved.”

Aziraphale purses his lips. “For now,” he agrees, smiling in earnest this time. “It did get me thinking about an awful lot of things, though.”

“And none of them have to be resolved this second,” Crowley reassures. “Would you like to talk over wine? I’ve been thinking about this bottle since April.”

“Certainly, yes.” Aziraphale waves his hand. “One more thing before we do, though. You know, it’s alright for people in a bubble to get close to each other.”

“You sure?” Crowley asks, not because he doesn’t know the rule, but because he doesn’t know what Aziraphale’s rule is going to be.

“Yes. I was actually hoping you might - and you can refuse, Crowley, really, it’s a bizarre request - but I was hoping you might allow me to hug you.”

Crowley feels a big, undignified grin breaking out on his face. He schools it into the best semblance of a smirk he can manage, but he’s definitely not going to fool Aziraphale. That’s fine. “All right,” he says. “If it makes you happy.”

There is a different sort of delight on Aziraphale’s face as he sidles nervously up to Crowley. It’s not as blatant as what he’d sounded like on the phone. It’s quieter, but deeper. It’s rescued-books-after-a-fallen-bomb delight.

“Come here,” Crowley murmurs, pulling his very favorite fusspot into a hug. Upon resting his head on Aziraphale’s shoulder, breathing in that cologne and the scent of various baking experiments, soaking in Aziraphale’s warmth like a...well, like a serpent in the sun, Crowley realizes this is as much for him as it is for Aziraphale.

And he doesn’t want to stop. Sod the wine; let this take hours.

“Do you still get the feeling we’re not supposed to be doing this, no matter how safe it is?” Aziraphale asks, voice muffled. He’s sort of talking into Crowley’s jacket.

“Not really the same for me,” Crowley says. “My lot weren’t big on guilt. Fear, more like. Terror, yes. Not guilt.” He lifts his head so he can rest his cheek against the angel’s ridiculous fluffy hair.

“Oh. Yes, that makes sense. Sorry.” Aziraphale presses his head into Crowley’s shoulder.

Crowley rolls his eyes, knowing Aziraphale won’t see it, more attempting to reassure himself that he hasn’t gone completely, entirely soft. “Let’s take it one moral crisis at a time,” he whispers, stroking Aziraphale’s back. Aziraphale shifts and breathes out, snorting very lightly (although he’d never, ever allow it to be called a ‘snort’ out loud) in a way that indicates he’s trying not to giggle.

“You know,” Aziraphale says, apparently regaining his composure, “they might tighten restrictions again.”

“It’s possible. It might be the smartest option,” Crowley agrees.

“We should consider what we’re going to do if that happens.” Aziraphale has not removed himself from Crowley’s grip. “If you’re really sure you wouldn’t mind…”

Crowley finds himself chuckling, progressing to a full-throated laugh. “What, sleeping upstairs?”

“Well, no--”

“We’ll cross that bridge if we get to it, but if there’s one thing I can guarantee, it’s that I wouldn’t want to sit around and chatter 24/7. You’d have your reading time.”

Aziraphale sighs. “And wouldn’t you miss your things?”

“Sure, possibly. Not like I was using them when I was sleeping the months away, though, was I?”

“All right.” Aziraphale pulls away enough to gesture toward the sofa, leaving Crowley wanting more. Days. Days more. Aziraphale is beaming, though, and Crowley might be, too, and Aziraphale doesn’t end the hold entirely because now their hands are clasped. “Now, bring the wine over here and let’s go sample the desserts. I’m especially interested to hear what you think of the devil’s food cake.”