#he is going to give her a card and some random item someone gave him that he doesn’t want. guaranteed.

[fingertipsmp3]

Ah yes, my favourite time of year: the time when we figure out what the hell to get my grandma for her birthday

[olivia-anderson-fanfic]

Soulmarks, Part 2

First part

~~~

She sighed and rested her hands on her hips, her fingers carefully detaching her yoyo.

They were giving her orders, she could tell from their tone, but she couldn’t understand a word he was saying. She barely spoke English outside of a few vague lessons she’d had when she was a kid, and they were talking too fast for her to catch a single word.

“You know, I’d love to do that, but I don’t speak English.”

The person paused at this, and then they switched to fluent French: “Oh, sorry. Turn around slowly and don’t make any sudden moves.”

She slowly turned around, resting her hands behind her back. His gun lowered slightly to point at her legs and she let herself relax a little bit. A shot would be absolutely terrible, but at least he wasn’t actively trying to kill her.

She flashed Nightwing a bright smile. “Why, hello, sir!”

He raised his eyebrows slightly. “Who are you and what are you doing here?”

“I’m Ladybug...” They didn’t know who she was, so she didn’t have to hide her yoyo. She pulled it out from behind her back and started doing tricks with it to let out some of her nervous energy. “And, well, I’m here because I think my soulmate is in trouble. Apparently you, Batman, and Batgirl all know them.”

Nightwing’s eyebrows disappeared behind his bangs. “Uh… can you prove that?”

“See, the problem with that is most of my soulmarks have disappeared for them. All of them, actually.”

“Oh.” He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. “I guess I’ll explain it to you…”

“Oh! No, they’re not dead! I thought they were, but then a new soulmark appeared and it’s… weird? Weirder than their normal ones, at least...”

She trailed off. Her eyes narrowed slightly. He’d certainly phrased the ‘I’ll explain it to you’ thing oddly, it was almost as if there was someone else there that she didn’t know about.

Her eyes searched the area for a sign of movement as she continued: “I don’t know if you can make sense of it. It’s a gun, but it’s one of those fake ones with the little flags that say ‘BANG’ you see in cartoons…”

Her eyes spotted a flickering in the shadows and she cringed mentally. Damn, she hated it when she was right. Whoever they were, she couldn’t see a glint of metal. So it was probably safe to assume they didn’t have a weapon out --.

“Where was it?”

She pulled her attention back to Nightwing. “Over my heart. Do you know what it means?”

He obviously knew, but he seemed hesitant to say anything. This really didn’t help her anxiety about the situation. He’d been prepared to tell her that her soulmate was dead, so just how bad could this be?

He opened his mouth to tell her, but he was cut off as a gun went off a few blocks away.

Listen, she wasn’t proud of it. But she was anxious... and it was at least two-on-one... and he’d had a gun pointed at her. She latched her yoyo around his wrist.

His eyes found their way to the polka-dotted yoyo and shock flickered across his face. “You’re-- oh sh --!”

She threw him to the next building without thinking and brought her hands up to her mouth as he crashed into a wall. Oops. He was a human.

She wheeled around to find Batgirl and held up her hands with a weak smile. What was the English word? “Sor-ree,” she said. She pointed the woman in the direction of the gunshot. “Can you? I’ll fix ‘im.”

Batgirl was apparently stunned enough by what Marinette had said that she complied.

She quickly hopped over to where Nightwing was and cringed as she summoned her lucky charm. The first thing she thought of popped into her hand: a computer mouse. “Sorrysorrysorrysorrysorry,” she mumbled.

He could only groan in response.

“Miraculous Ladybug,” she said.

He was enveloped in ladybugs and, when they cleared, he was patting himself with a shocked expression. “What the-- how did-- why--?”

“I really didn’t mean to hurt you, I swear. Are you alright?”

“I’m… fine, apparently,” he assured her. He slowly pushed himself to his feet and gave her a weak smile. “Well… that was certainly one way to meet the inlaws.”

“HUH?”

~

She let them escort her, blindfolded, to the batcave.

Did she think it was stupid and unnecessary? Yes, she was already lost enough without the whole blindfold thing. Did she care? No, if this is what it would take to figure out if her soulmate was okay she would do it.

The blindfold was whipped off her face and a gasp left her lips.

“Oh, I need to get me one of these.”

Nightwing laughed and Marinette felt her face warm. She’d meant to be quieter.

She was allowed to wander around while Nightwing explained the situation to Batman and Batgirl. She tried not to laugh at all the names on plaques starting with ‘Bat’. She wondered if Nightwing was actually called BatNightwing.

“Ladybug!” Called possibly-BatNightwing.

She smiled awkwardly as she walked over. She perched herself on a railing.

Batman handed her a tiny device and she raised her eyebrows.

“It’ll translate everything so we can all speak in our native languages,” he explained calmly.

She nodded and placed it in her ear and pressed on. Lights flickered in front of her eyes and she stared at the interface in front of her with a stunned expression.

She reached up and selected her language and then waved for them to go ahead.

“Your soulmate is Tim Drake. He went missing on patrols about three weeks ago,” explained Batman.

Her eyes widened at the text in front of her and she pulled out her yoyo again. Her soulmate was a vigilante? You’d think she know about it from her soulmarks...

“What was his hero name?”

Nightwing shook his head. “Vigilante, not hero. And Robin.”

She hit herself in the face with her yoyo. Ah, so he wasn’t an avid birdwatcher, he was a bird-themed vigilante. She supposed that did make sense, considering her chosen career path.

Batgirl crossed her arms over her chest. “And you swear it’s a gag gun?”

“Do I have a reason to lie?”

Batgirl shrugged a little bit.

Batman seemed to think for a minute before sighing. “She’s a child, we can’t tell her this.”

“A child who launched that guy --” she jabbed a finger towards Nightwing “-- across some rooftops.” She smiled brightly. “So, how about we start talking, please?”

Batman sighed again. “No need for threats. We think he’s been captured by Joker.”

“And Joker is…?”

“A Rogue -- or I guess you would know of him as a criminal or villain. He’s pretty big here,” explained Batgirl.

She nodded slowly. That explained the deck of cards that had been on her back since she was a child. She started messing with her yoyo again.

“So, he was captured by Joker and…?”

Everyone looked at the oldest to explain, and Batman shook his head slightly. “He’s seemed to have lost his identity, if everything has disappeared.”

She thought about this for a minute and her face paled. What could Joker have done to him for him to lose his identity? She found herself hoping he’d just gotten hit too hard on the head once and lost his memory. That was the best case scenario.

Somehow, she doubted it.

“Right, so how do we save him?”

~

The Batmobile was… cramped.

The thing was huge, but there was very little actual room to sit for anyone besides Batman. Nightwing joked that it was almost as if he didn’t want anyone else in there.

In the end, Marinette got to sit in the passenger’s seat while Nightwing and Batgirl cursed their father out from the roof of the car. Sure, they were going slower than usual so no one would fall off and die, but it couldn’t be fun. She messed with her summoned yoyo (yes, she summoned a yoyo with her yoyo, what of it?) as she listened in to make sure they didn’t fall.

All too soon and yet far too late, they stopped at the gates to Arkham Asylum. She and Batman climbed out and helped the others down.

They all hopped the fence and Marinette sent a cheeky grin as she slipped through the bars.

Nightwing sighed. “I wish I was that tiny again.”

She gave a quiet laugh.

Everyone’s slight smiles dropped off their faces as they entered the asylum.

A shiver ran through her at the singing that floated through the mostly abandoned building. Everyone exchanged glances and then Nightwing and Batgirl split off.

She and Batman made their way through the halls, following the sound. She fought the temptation to curl in on herself or run away.

Batman sent her a look, a ‘stay back’, and then burst through the door.

Marinette slowly inched around the door as well, looking for cover. The place looked like Picasso had tried to make a house. There were walls where there shouldn’t be and an extra floor that just jutted out from the wall. Typical household items were placed around at random. It felt warped and… wrong.

The woman cut herself off and set a vase of flowers on the table. She turned around and looked up at the chair. “Puddin’, company!”

Marinette took the chance to dive under the table.

Her eyes landed on a… was that a bazooka? She’d never seen one in person before, and being so close to it made her anxious. She scooted as far away from it as she could. Her fingers pulled up the tablecloth slightly and she ducked down to see what was going on.

The man in the chair turned around to look and then smiled. “Hello there,” he said, stepping down. “Welcome to our happy abode!”

Joker and the woman embraced each other.

Batman didn’t humor them. “Where’s Robin?”

The couple looked at each other with mock confusion. “Robin? There’s no Robin here!”

“Maybe he means our little J!”

“Of course!” Joker snapped his fingers. “That’s it!”

They both looked at a blue curtain and Batman scowled as he strode towards it.

The woman giggled and reached under the table, her hand poking Marinette’s face. She made a quiet sound in the back of her throat and continued on, grabbing the bazooka. “Uh-uh! No peeking!”

Marinette’s eyes widened in horror as she pointed it at Batman but, before she could react, she pulled the trigger.

Ribbon wrapped around him.

She breathed a sigh of relief.

“Mommy’s little helper!” Said the woman brightly.

Joker pressed a kiss to her cheek. “You know, bats, we’ve been doing this little runaround of ours for years. It’s been loads of laughs, but the sad fact is…” He stepped towards the curtain. “None of us are getting any younger.”

“That old clock’s a-tickin!”

“Quite right, poo. And Harley and I were thinking it was time to start a family. Add a Joker Jr. to our merry brood.”

“But rather than go through all the joy of childbirth, we decided to adopt.”

“We couldn’t do it legally, but then we remembered you always had a few spare kids hanging around!”

Harley beamed and suddenly grabbed one of Marinette’s pigtails. A curse slipped from her lips as she was pulled out from under the table. “Whoops! There’s another one!”

“A surplus, really!” Joker grinned more widely than ever. “So we borrowed one.”

He pulled back the curtain with a dramatic flourish to reveal… an operating table?

She looked at the person on the table and felt bile rise in her throat. Their skin was blotchy white and paper-like from bleach treatments. Their eyes were unblinking and nearly pupil-less. The smile on their face was so wide that it had to have been stretched somehow.

“He needed a little molding, of course. What kid doesn’t? But, in time, we came to love him as our own. Say hello, J.J.”

The person started to laugh. The kind of laugh someone makes when they’re trying their hardest not to cry. They hopped down and laughed harder, their arms clutching their stomach as a few stray tears slid down his face.

~~~

Next part

Every time I think I know how long a fic is going to be I’m wrong help --

Taglist

@pawsitivelymiraculous @golden-promises @salty-fang @kitsunebell @sassakitty @octobitch @glastwime859 @miyla-lokidottir @onlyabatfan @ira-sairain @2confused-2doanything @ultimatetornshipper

[zintranslations]

Kaleidoscope of Death, Ch. 114

Kaleidoscope of Death by Xi Zixu Link to Chinese / Novel Updates

Chapter 114: Found

The numbers on the sticky notes Sun Yuanzhou passed out were different for each person.

Ruan Nanzhu got eight, Lin Qiushi got seven, and Liang Miye got six. These notes could distinguish which person opened which chests. Sun Yuanzhou had done this as a precaution, but now it had come of unexpected use.

In order to eliminate Sun Yuanzhou as a potential mole, Lin Qiushi had told Sun Yuanzhou in private the day before that he'd found the Doll Mary[1]. But the Hako Onna never used the "My Doll Mary" power until Ruan Nanzhu once again made the announcement in front of the entire group. This proved that Sun Yuanzhou wasn't on the Hako Onna's side, or the Hako Onna would've used the fastest method to eliminate Ruan Nanzhu. If he were dead, after all, they'd be down one powerful rival, and the group would be without a leader.

According to everybody’s behaviors these past few days, Ruan Nanzhu also guessed that there was a limit to how many chests the humans could open in a day, and they couldn't just open however many they liked. This was likely a rule to restrict the Hako Onna's partnership with the humans—she knew where all the Hakobito were, after all, and after avoiding all the Hakobito, that player could open every chest in one go and then destroy all useful items. This would be akin to a dead end for the human players.

Judging by their progress these past few days, the mole definitely could not just open however many chests they wanted. As for the mole's identity, Ruan Nanzhu also already had a guess.

After discussing matters with Sun Yuanzhou for another little while, he finally returned to the dining room.

Lin Qiushi was just about to ask after Ruan Nanzhu when he noticed Sun Yuanzhou looking at him oddly. It was a look a bit like disdain, flavored with some envy.

Slightly bewildered, Lin Qiushi wondered what exactly Ruan Nanzhu said to Sun Yuanzhou out there.

"Darling," Ruan Nanzhu said, leaning his head on Lin Qiushi's shoulder. "I want to talk to you about something."

"Alright," Lin Qiushi nodded.

So the three left the dining room and found a random empty room on the second floor to talk.

In order to confirm that the Hako Onna wasn't around, Lin Qiushi used the pen immortal in the hallway. It made sure she was on the first floor and couldn't hear what they were discussing.

Inside the room, Ruan Nanzhu gave them a simple rundown of Sun Yuanzhou's sticky notes.

"Oh he's good," Liang Miye complimented afterwards. "If he hadn't snuck in such a move, then we'd really have no other solutions."

If they couldn't even distinguish which chests were opened up by their people and which by the mole, then that would truly be the worst scenario.

"Mh. So now the problem is, who is the mole?" Ruan Nanzhu said.

Lin Qiushi gave it a thought.

"I think if the mole isn't all that brilliant, they're bound to leave some clues."

Ruan Nanzhu propped his chin up in his hand.

"I currently have a suspect. If it really is that person, then they really aren't all that smart."

"It's best if they aren't," Lin Qiushi said. "We only have to count up the number of chests that person's opened to confirm their identity."

They'd been here for three days. The number of opened chests per person, therefore, would not exceed three. Honestly, putting aside extenuating circumstances like the first day and possessing items, the number of chests opened per person ought to be between one and two. Since the mole was working with the Hako Onna, however, they'd definitely open as many chests as possible. Everybody's sticky notes were blank at a glance anyways—they could choose to write down the content of the chest, or they could not. The mole didn't know that Sun Yuanzhou had put his little trick on the sticky notes, and so in order to prevent the other players from opening unopened chests and gaining more items, they very well might have stuck on more sticky notes than one or two.

Had it not been for Sun Yuanzhou's precaution, then they truly might have been helpless against this kind of move.

"So do we know what the count is on that mole now?" Liang Miye asked.

"Let's count up every number on the chests first, and keep an eye out for number thirteen." He'd already gotten the number of the person he suspected, but they still had to do the confirmation work.

So the three took out the notebooks and pens they carried on their persons, along with the ultraviolet light Sun Yuanzhou had given them. They began combing over every single opened chest in the mansion.

Liang Miye was in charge of technicals, Ruan Nanzhu stood guard, and Lin Qiushi was the one who looked. The three worked together in clear capacities and very quickly gathered detailed records on every single number on the chests.

It was indeed as Ruan Nanzhu guessed: the number of chests most people opened were between one and two, but there were two numbers that opened three chests each, thirteen and seventeen.

The owner of number seventeen was Xiao Ji. Plus the chests he opened up on the first day, he'd opened six in total. The number checked out, because on day one alone, he'd single-handedly opened up three chests.

The owner of number thirteen, however, had also opened three chests.

"She put three sticky notes," Liang Miye said. "But it's currently noon of day four. If we give it a count...three's still reasonable, right? If this person is brave enough…"

"No," Ruan Nanzhu said. "It's her."

"How so?" Liang Miye asked.

"If she did open three boxes, then aside from the first day, she must have eaten every single day," Ruan Nanzhu said. "But not a single person got to eat on the first day. Day two, the number of people who could eat was small too. Most of the newbies chose to hold out."

Lin Qiushi said, "is it who I think it is?"

He too had a faint guess as to who the person was.

"She introduced herself as Tian Guxue," Ruan Nanzhu said. "Tell you the truth, she's had so little presence that I'd nearly forgotten her name. It's Sun Yuanzhou who wrote it down." Cocking his head, he thought back for a bit. "But I can recall a few of the things she's said. They were all dumb as hell."

Lin Qiushi asked, "is it the girl who suggested you put the key back in the safe?"

Ruan Nanzhu nodded.

The Hako Onna wouldn't dare to ask an experienced veteran to be her partner, because veterans typically came in groups, and those who came into the tenth door together were usually partners in life and death. The moment they turned their backs on her for their teammates, her plans would completely fall through.

That was why the Hako Onna chose a weak and timid newbie. The Hako Onna had likely promised Tian Guxue that she would be the last survivor, and then made her into a mole to provide intel.

Unfortunately, Tian Guxue didn't seem to be a very qualified agent at all. At least, before all the old foxes like them, her identity had been quickly discovered.

"Fuck her, she's really something else," Liang Miye groused. "Now that you mention it, wasn't there that girl who wondered if you'd forged a hint slip? If she can say something as stupid as that, then the way I see it, that person's got about the same IQ as your mole."

The hint slip was impossible to forge—there was no way of knowing the specific situation before entering the door, so a hint slip could only be faked once inside. Once inside, however, there were no conditions to do so[2]. The hint slip, then, was the optimal proof that Ruan Nanzhu wasn't the mole, and so had successfully convinced everybody.

Now that Lin Qiushi's conjecture had been confirmed, he spoke: "So it really is her. Should we reopen every chest she's already opened now?"

"We'll see," Ruan Nanzhu said. "I do think we can go search her room though, see if there are any other clues."

"Okay," Lin Qiushi nodded. He agreed with Ruan Nanzhu's thinking.

Ransacking someone else's room was unethical behavior outside the doors, but inside the doors, with their lives on the line? It was really nothing.

But they first had to be sure that Tian Guxue wouldn't return any time soon. Liang Miye happily volunteered to go stall Tian Guxue, so that Ruan Nanzhu and Lin Qiushi could go do the search.

With a nod, Ruan Nanzhu and Lin Qiushi came to Tian Guxue's room, unlocking the door with a hairpin.

Tian Guxue lived alone. Though she kept the presence of others when she opened chests, at night she slept by herself. This was truly inconsistent with her professed timidity, but because they didn't know the newbies well, Ruan Nanzhu’s group hadn't noticed.

Now though, all the oddities were surfacing one by one; Tian Guxue was the mole they were looking for.

Once inside Tian Guxue's room, Lin Qiushi inspected all the chests there and said, "all these chests have probably been opened."

"Mh," Ruan Nanzhu said. "She'd be scared to open those in other places and attract attention, so she opened all the ones in her room first…But the number of chests she can open must be limited by the day as well."

"I just hope she didn't find any important items," Lin Qiushi sighed. "Let's have a look first."

Together, the two searched throughout the room, and very quickly hit pay dirt underneath the bed. When Lin Qiushi's cell phone flashlight came upon something odd there, he reached in, felt about, and pulled out a card. When he saw what was on the card, he couldn't help but curse.

It was a hidden power card, and on it was written two words: Moving Things.

Moving Things was one of the Hako Onna's powers. It allowed her to inspect the contents of every chest in one room and also move them as she liked.

"Moving Things" wasn't particularly potent, but it was another brick boosting up the foundations of the Hako Onna's strongest power "I'm Behind You"—it brought them one step closer to unlocking that power.

Once they opened up two more of the Hako Onna's powers, then the Hako Onna could unleash "I'm Behind You." By that point, eliminating the entire group was only a matter of time.

They didn't think that Tian Guxue would've opened up such a power and then kept it hidden from public knowledge.

Lin Qiushi exhaled noisily, emotions quite complicated.

"What do we do now?"

Ruan Nanzhu said, "let me think about it."

Tian Guxue was actually a double-edged sword; she could help them open the chests, but she could also help the Hako Onna. Because the Hako Onna didn't know what was actually inside the chests either, whatever they opened up was based on luck.

They searched the room again, but didn't find anything else. Tian Guxue could be carrying something on her, or she might have already destroyed things outright.

"Why didn't she keep the card on her, but in the room instead?" Lin Qiushi asked.

"Who'd want to keep this kind of thing on them?" Ruan Nanzhu replied. "Plus she doesn't look very brave at all."

Lin Qiushi nodded.

Ruan Nanzhu said, "put the card away for now. When we tell them later, we'll leave it in the dining room. It's about time we asked her if she's opened up anything else."

Lin Qiushi put the card in his pocket. Once in his possession, the card carried a sort of chill that seeped into the bones—it was indeed uncomfortable to keep around. It was an item that had to do with the Hako Onna, after all.

With the power card in their hands, the two headed downstairs. They saw Liang Miye and Tian Guxue in avid conversation in the living room.

Liang Miye looked up and saw them. Lin Qiushi gave her a nod.

Seeing this, Liang Miye smiled and stood. Ruan Nanzhu took the time to make an announcement to everybody seated in the living room.

"Let's all go have a meeting on the second floor. There's something I want to tell everyone."

"What is it?" After killing Wei Xiude, Xiao Ji and Xiao Mei had stuck together. He asked casually, "have you found the mole or something?"

Ruan Nanzhu just smiled, not answering. During this dialogue, however, Lin Qiushi noticed Tian Guxue's face go pale beside them.

Everybody arrived in the second floor study, waiting for Ruan Nanzhu to make his announcement.

Straight away, Ruan Nanzhu tossed the power card they'd found in Tian Guxue's room onto the table. The first thing he pronounced was: "We found this in the mole's room."

Everybody looked toward the card—and instant hubbub. The smile Tian Guxue had managed to keep had completely disappeared as well; she was pale as a sheet, watching Ruan Nanzhu with a look of panic. Her body even began to unconsciously tremble.

"Fuck, who the hell is it!" Sun Yuanzhou had a temper to begin with. The instant he saw that somebody had hidden a power card, he exploded.

Before Ruan Nanzhu even spoke, Tian Guxue broke down. She began to sob and heave: "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, it wasn't on purpose—I'm so sorry, she forced me to do it! I had no other choice!"

At this, everybody turned to Tian Guxue in astonishment. They didn't think a newbie with such little presence would be the mole who'd been selling them out.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

Tian Guxue continued to apologize under the unfriendly gazes, but nobody said anything about forgiveness. After all, had Ruan Nanzhu not unearthed her identity by force, then they would all likely be screwed. They didn't even know how many powers she'd opened up for the Hako Onna.

"Oh shut the hell up," Xiao Ji snapped. "Why didn't you apologize when you were fucking screwing us over? What's the point of saying sorry now, huh? Tell us, what else have you been hiding!"

After being yelled at like this, Tian Guxue was trembling, but she didn't dare try to refute any of it. She looked pathetically at Ruan Nanzhu.

"Zhu Meng-jie, I only hid that one power card, I haven't kept anything else from you…"

"Oh," Ruan Nanzhu said faintly. "Well, since you haven't hidden anything, then you wouldn't mind if we searched your body, right?"

"On what basis?!" The moment she heard they wanted to search her, Tian Guxue panicked. She got up to run, but was immediately pressed to the ground by the people standing ready around her. Even when she was on the ground, she was yelling, "how dare you try to search me—this is illegal!"

At the word "illegal," everybody only scoffed. If there was such a thing as legality inside the doors, then would they be doing any of this? It really did take the contrast to understand that it was heaven outside.

"Go on." Ruan Nanzhu gestured for Liang Miye to search her with the lift of a chin.

Had Tian Guxue been a guy, Ruan Nanzhu would've done it himself already. She was a woman though, and despite having done such a thing, Ruan Nanzhu's group still let her keep a last bit of dignity.

Tian Guxue cried and struggled, but they held her down. Liang Miye inspected her pockets and backpack, very quickly finding something useful.

"It's an item!" Liang Miye exclaimed in excitement.

"Which item?" Lin Qiushi asked.

"The wooden stake!"

Liang Miye fished out a white stick of wood from Tian Guxue's pockets. It had one end sharpened to a point, and looked like the wooden stakes used to put down vampires.

This was a very critical item in the Hako Onna tabletop game, about as important as the gasoline.

In the game, there were only three items that could stop the Hako Onna. The first was the gasoline, the second was the rusty chain, and the third was the wooden stake currently in their hands.

"Aaaaah, give it back, give it back!!!"

When Tian Guxue saw the wooden stake in Liang Miye's hands, she began to scream like she'd gone crazy.

"Give it back," she said, "give it back to me! That's mine!"

"Shut your mouth! If I hit women, I'd've beaten you to death by now!" Xiao Ji yelled, already very irritated by Tian Guxue's screaming. "You have the nerve to ask for an item? We're already goddamn saints for leaving you alive!"

But Tian Guxue wasn't listening to Xiao Ji at all. She only continued to wail, and in the end, someone couldn't take it anymore—they ripped off a piece of tablecloth and stuffed it into her mouth.

"Uhhh…" Tears continued to stream down her face, and Tian Guxue could only keep moaning.

The gasoline could kill the Hakobito while the wooden stake and rusty chain could kill the Hako Onna. The precondition to using the items, however, was that they had to know which one was the Hako Onna's Weakness. If they used the wrong one, they would die immediately.

"She must have hidden something else." Disregarding Tian Guxue's muffled wailing beside him, Ruan Nanzhu continued to calmly analyze his current conclusions. "She's hidden the rulebook, at least."

But seeing Tian Guxue in such an unstable state, nobody wanted to release her. They got a rope from somewhere nearby and tied her to a chair.

They were going to wait until she'd calmed down to continue questioning her.

The atmosphere in the dining room was quiet. Beside Tian Guxue's moaning, everybody else had sunk into silence.

Then all of a sudden, Sun Yuanzhou spoke up.

"Say…Do you think there's only one mole?"

"She seems like the only one for now," Ruan Nanzhu said. "At least that's the case based on the evidence. Of course, let's not rule out extenuating circumstances."

In the numbers they recorded, only Tian Guxue's count was off.

"Let's just hope there's nobody else," someone mumbled.

Tian Guxue cried for well over half an hour. Finding no pity, however, she finally quieted her sobbing. She seemed to understand her position, eyes becoming lifeless and despondent before she finally gave up struggling, falling silent in her chair.

Ruan Nanzhu saw that she'd stopped crying and yanked the cloth out from her mouth.

"I know I'm in the wrong, but I had no other choice," Tian Guxue spoke lowly. "I was scared, I was so, so scared…"

"Who's not scared?" Ruan Nanzhu said. "We're all human. Go on then, where did you hide the rulebook?"

"In the furthest bathroom on the first floor, under the water tank," Tian Guxue said. She seemed to have truly given in, fessing up the location of the rulebook with honesty. "It's all Wei Xiude's fault, it's him!!! If he hadn't lied to us, we wouldn't have come in here, uwaa…"

Outside the door, Wei Xiude had promised to protect them and bring them through the tenth door.

But in reality, on the very first day they entered the door, they'd known they'd been lied to. This was the tenth door—Wei Xiude could barely protect himself, how could he possibly protect them? Tian Guxue had gotten through her first door on luck alone. She couldn't imagine that her second door would be so immediately difficult—difficult enough that she couldn't see any hope of surviving.

Then there came a voice from the chests to tempt her.

Tian Guxue had been possessed. In the end she became the ghost that lured in passersby for the tiger[3].

Ruan Nanzhu sent people to where Tian Guxue said, and indeed found the rulebook that Tian Guxue had hidden underneath the water tank.

"Why didn't you destroy the rulebook?"

The rulebook was wrapped up in a plastic bag and perfectly preserved. Xiao Ji flipped through it as he asked the question off the top of his head.

"I was scared I couldn't remember it," Tian Guxue answered quietly. She seemed quite stunned; being exposed like this had clearly been a huge shock to her. "I was so scared…"

Evidently, she didn't completely trust the Hako Onna, or else she wouldn't carry the wooden stake on her. Tian Guxue was neither brave nor very smart—she was indeed an easy target to manipulate. The only shame was that unclever people easily exposed their flaws. Lin Qiushi counted their luck that the Hako Onna hadn't set her eyes on anybody else.

Had it been one of the old guards like Ruan Nanzhu who'd been tempted, then the whole house might very well have been killed without knowing anything.

The rulebook was pretty much the same as the tabletop they knew. With this, the group had a much clearer understanding of the game.

"Are you hiding anything else?" Xiao Ji asked.

"No, no, I'm really not hiding anything else," Tian Guxue rushed to say.

But the way everybody looked at her was still filled with suspicion. She was currently bankrupt of all trust.

Then Ruan Nanzhu thought of something else.

"How many chests can you open per day?"

"Three," Tian Guxue answered. "I've only opened twelve so far…"

Twelve was a lot.

Ruan Nanzhu sank into silence.

"What are you thinking about?" Sun Yuanzhou asked him.

Ruan Nanzhu looked toward Tian Guxue, and replied placidly, "how to repurpose some trash, of course."

A look of fright appeared on Tian Guxue's face. She'd always been scared of Ruan Nanzhu. Now, after hearing what Ruan Nanzhu said, she started trembling like a mouse under the scrutiny of a cat; she looked like she could faint at any moment.

Translator’s Note:

RNZ had been the one to tell SYZ that, but it’s what the text said.

I suppose this means that if they wanted to fake a hint slip, they could only do it once they knew they situation inside, and once they were inside, they had no physical way of forging it. Is it because it’s printed? Or because they’d have no time/opportunity? It strikes me that someone like RNZ could forge a hint slip (unless it’s computer-printed, but that feels ironically anachronistic; if it’s a typewriter, then couldn’t they bring a typewriter in with them?), and that’d actually come in handy for a door like this one. Had RNZ come in alone, for instance, and partnered up with Hako Onna, he could hide the rulebook and fake his authority via a fake hint slip. But anyways, I assume the potential benefits of bringing in everything you need to forge a hint slip is too abstract; it wouldn’t actually be useful in any other door, so he’d have no reason to prepare for that. (Then again, does SYZ have any more reason to prepare the hidden numbers on the sticky notes? :thinking-emoji:)

There are a ton of different classifications of “ghosts” and “ghouls” and “monsters” in Chinese cosmology. This one is particular is 倀鬼 / chāng guǐ, and one of the myths about this classification of ghost is that people who are killed by tigers become changgui, which in turn help tigers lure in more prey.

Names in this chapter:

Tián Gúxuě / Tian(2) Gu(2) Xue(3) / 田穀雪

[Ch. 113] | [Ch. 115]

[dirtyoatmeall]

Badass (Bakugo x reader)

A/N: I have a like 4 WIPS and instead of finishing them I chugged this out. The ending is meh, I could make another part to this if you’d like! I hope you enjoy, please see warnings! Also this has spoilers for Bakugo’s hero name!!

Pairing: Pro hero!Bakugo x reader (gn pronouns I believe)

Word count: 2.5k

Warnings: Mentions of attempted assault, swearing, fighting, blood mentions

~

You walked down the street minding your business. You had just gotten off of work, a grueling 9 hour shift, and you were more than ready to collapse in bed, order takeout and fall asleep watching TV. You were considering where to get food from when a heavy hand landed on your shoulder and tried to pull you into the alley. You had your headphones in, music playing loud enough to where you couldn’t hear around you. They pushed you against the wall roughly and you scowled at the man in front of you.

He reeked of alcohol and the disgusting smirk on his face made you shiver. His hand moved lower to your upper arm, tightening his grip. You could see his mouth moving but your headphones were still drowning out anything he was saying. His face was getting closer to yours, like he was going in for a kiss. You slammed your head forward, headbutting him, and he staggered backwards. You took this opportunity to stomp on his foot, and put your weight into your swing as you threw a right hook, glad you wore your chunky rings as you watched him fall. You took out your headphones, hearing his yells of pain as blood leaked from his nose. He called you various slurs and insults as you rolled your eyes and backed out of the alley, only to bump into someone.

You reeled around, about to throw another punch when the person gripped your wrist before it could make contact. You grimaced at the tight grip, taking a step back and tugging your wrist, trying to break free. “Woah there, how about you take a fucking breath?” Your eyes focused, taking in the person holding your grip.

It was obvious they were a pro hero, with the getup they had on. They looked familiar, probably high ranking, and they matched your scowl as you narrowed your eyes at them. They had spiky blonde hair, and red eyes that stood out against the black eyeliner and mask they adorned. You took a deep breath, and they released your wrist as they watched you exhale. “Wow, you really did a number on this guy.”

You turned toward the new voice, not realizing there was another pro hero. He was crouched next to your attacker, who was still holding his nose. “That- That bitch punched me, you need to arrest her!” You rolled your eyes at the man, “Oh yeah, because you definitely didn’t pull me into an alley and try to assault me. You just happened to push me against the wall and you just happened to try to kiss me was that it? You’re lucky I just broke your nose you fucking creep, you got skin and blood in my rings.” You say with disgust as you looked them over, it was gonna be a bitch to clean them out. The man called you another slur, and tried to stand up, only to fall on his ass again.

You laughed and went to step forward towards him when the pro-hero behind you laid a hand on your shoulder. “Alright, alright. Chargebolt, stay here with the piece of shit until the police come, I’ll walk her home.” The yellow-haired hero deflated slightly, pouting, but nodded nonetheless. You shook his hand off of your shoulder, “I don’t need you to walk me home, I can obviously take care of myself.” He rolled his eyes, following you as you started back towards your apartment. “Just accept the fucking offer princess, who doesn’t want the number 2 hero walking them home?” You looked over your shoulder at the hero, raising an eyebrow at the smirk on his face.

“You say it like it means something. I could care less if you’re the number 2 or number whatever, I still don’t need you walking me home. I have no idea who you are, so it’s basically having some random dude follow me.” You pull out your phone and look at the hero rankings. “Dynamight huh? Number 2 ranking and your patrolling here?” He scoffs and matches your pace, walking besides you as he grumbles. “I’m actually here because I’m partnering with another agency over some disappearances that have been occurring around here. So I will be walking you home, since who knows what kind of quirks these assholes have, rings won't do anything against that.” You rolled your eyes but kept quiet. He was right, there have been girls disappearing more often recently.

As the two of you walked you made small talk, you talked about your job, he talked about life as a top 3 hero, and your mutual interests. You soon arrived at your apartment building and you stopped in front of the door. “Well this is me, thanks for walking with me I guess. Maybe I’ll see you around.” He nods, fishing a card out of a pocket and handing it to you. You looked it over, it was simple, his name, a phone number and an address under it. On the back was another number scrawled in chicken scratch. You looked back up to the hero, eyebrows raised. “In case you get into any more trouble. The number and address are for my agency and the one on the back is my personal number.” He rolled his eyes when you smirked at the last part of his sentence, “It’s not for what you think fuckface, it’s for emergencies.”

“Sure, whatever you say.” You drawl out as you watch a very faint blush settle over the hero’s cheeks. You said your goodbyes and you made your way into your apartment, cleaning your rings and heading to bed. Hoping you’d see the hero again.

You saw the pro hero 3 weeks later, on TV, standing next to a police officer as they discussed the case they just solved. They rescued 14 people from an abandoned factory, they had all disappeared within the last month. It didn’t say what or why they were taken but you let out a breath you didn’t know you were holding. You switched off the TV and got ready to leave for work.

You walked home in silence, ready for a drink. You didn’t work a long shift, but it was still tiring. You walked past an alley, and you gripped your keys when you heard footsteps begin behind you. You started walking slightly faster, cursing under your breath when they speed up as well. You discreetly shifted your purse in front of you and dug through it, grabbing what you needed before speeding up again and rounding a corner.

You quickly turned around just in time, spraying the mace in the eyes of the person following you. They cursed loudly, clawing at their eyes. You stepped backwards and whirled around to run, when you stumbled into another body. You looked up and saw another unfamiliar man, who did not look pleased. He harshly grabbed your arm and you cursed, sticking your other hand in your purse (After the last incident you acquired several items just in case).

You quickly pulled it out and hit him on the temple, the brass knuckles meeting his skull with a loud crack. He cried out and stumbled back and you quickly turned around, punching the other man who was still reeling  from the mace, knocking him out. You quickly ran from the alley, huffing as you refused to slow down.  You could hear the other guy running behind you, cursing into what you assumed was a phone. The thought there could be more worried you, and you fished out your phone, tapping on the contact and holding it up to your ear. It rang twice when a gruff voice answered, “What do you want?” You laughed a bit, you obviously had the right person. “Number 2! You said this number was for emergencies, and I’m kind of in an emergency right now.” You huffed, out of breath as you continued down the street. It was a desolate part of town, the only people on the street were you and your pursuer.

You explained the situation to the hero and he cursed, “Ok, explain the area you're at to me.” You gave him the street names you just passed, “ Great, like 2 streets over is a hero agency, turn left at the next street then right and it’ll be right there. They’ll be open, so just run inside. I’ll be there soon.” You agreed and hung up, clutching your phone as you followed his directions, glad you didn’t wear heels today.

You skidded around the corner, the hero agency in sights. There were 2 heroes outside and you yelled out to get their attention, waving your hand and you ran towards them. They looked over, surprised, steadying you as you bent over, out of breath. You quickly turned on your feet, pointing in the direction you ran from. You explained the situation and gave descriptions of the two men, still panting. They ran off in that direction and you walked inside the agency, plopping down in a chair near the entrance.

A few minutes later the door burst open, Dynamight rushing over when he spotted you. He wasn’t in uniform, he must have been off duty. Guilt swirled in your gut as he approached. “M’sorry, were you off?” His eyebrows furrowed at your apology. “Why are you apologizing? Who cares if I wasn’t on duty, I gave you my number for emergencies, I expect you to fucking use it. Now, are you okay?” You smile softly at his words, nodding. He exhaled, crouching down to your height.

“Good. Now c’mon, give your statement to the police and I’ll take you home.” You nodded again, standing and heading to the police officer that was near the door, talking to the two heroes you had sent after the man chasing you. You explained the situation for the third time that night, giving street names and detailed descriptions of your attackers. Once the police had everything they needed, you followed the blond hero outside, to what you assumed was his car. “Thanks for coming, and for taking me home. I know you said not to be sorry, but I do feel bad for making you come take me home on your day off.” He rolled his eyes yet again, looking at you with a deadpan expression before looking back at the road.

“I could care less if I had to come pick you up, I wasn’t doing anything, if I was I would’ve had someone else come pick you up. Don’t get all sad or whatever, it wasn’t a big deal. And call me Bakugo, you don’t have to call me by my hero name all the time, it’s weird.” You smiled, knowing you hadn’t called him by his hero name since your initial meeting. You agreed anyway, smiling the rest of the way.

Though your smile quickly left your face when you passed your apartment building. “Um Bakugo, you passed my building.” You started to quietly panic, had you just made a huge mistake? “I know, I’m not taking you to your apartment. Don’t go freaking out, we’re going to my place. I don’t like that the guy was on the phone. It seemed like they were waiting for you, they might know where you live. Do you live with anyone, have any pets?” You shook your head, calming down once you heard his explanation. He nodded, pulling onto the highway. “Good. You can stay the night tonight and tomorrow we can look at your place, I’ll look for any bugs or anything that might be there, and you’ll look to see if anything seems off.” You agree to the plan, watching out the window as he drove to the nicer part of town.

After a while he pulls into the garage of a high rise, you hadn’t really put together that the number two hero was probably pretty well off. You followed him into the elevator, going to one of the top floors. You walk with him down the hallway, and he punches in a code on the door and you follow him into the apartment. It was incredibly spacious, but scarcely decorated, though he had an assortment of cooking supplies, implying he was a decent cook. You placed your purse on the hook and took off your shoes, standing awkwardly near the door, not sure where to go.

He disappeared down a hallway, only to peek around the corner. “Well, are you coming?” You follow him into a room. “You can sleep here, it’s the guest room. I’ll get you some clothes to change into.” With that he left the room, going further down the hallway before reappearing with clothes. He nods out the door. “The next door down is a bathroom, you can shower if you want, if you’re hungry I can make you something, otherwise you’re free to do whatever. I need to finish some paperwork so I’ll be in the kitchen if you need anything.”

You nod, and quickly shower, rinsing off the night’s events, the hot water making you realize just how tired you were. You dress, noticing how baggy the shirt and sweatpants he gave you were. You headed back into the bedroom, looking around before climbing into the bed. It was extremely comfy, and it only took a few moments before you were drifting off to sleep.

You woke to the smell of cooking and a soft light coming through the curtains. You sat up and stretched, you hadn’t slept this soundly or this long, in a while. You pad down the hallway, pulling up the sweatpants occasionally. You greeted Bakugo with a quiet good morning, slipping into one of the chairs in front of the island. He looked up, a slight flush overtaking his features as he took your appearance in, grumbling his own greeting before getting back to cooking. You watched him contentedly, chin resting on your palm.

He set a plate of food down in front of you, and you dig in happily as Bakugo sat next to you, eyeing you as you ate. You thanked him for the meal and once both of you were done eating, you did the dishes while Bakugo showered. After he was done it was your turn, he had found an old pair of leggings a friend had left over a while ago, and gave you another old shirt of his for you to wear. Thankfully the leggings fit well and after you were ready the two of you headed back to his car to look at your apartment.

You arrived at your apartment and the two of you looked it over. Nothing seemed out of place, and Bakugo didn’t find any bugs or anything suspicious that made it seem that people were watching you. You kept the curtains drawn the whole time, paranoid someone could see through your window. After thoroughly searching, you and Bakugo sat on your couch. You turned to the blonde, grinning. “So, lunch? I’ll buy.” He smirked, scooching closer. “I came to your aid twice, and all I get is lunch?” You pretended to think for a moment, sliding to where your thigh touched his, leaning to whisper in his ear. “Well, since you did so graciously help me out, maybe something could be arranged.” He chuckled and leaned closer, ready to collect.

[ichigo-daifuku]

Ruffled Feathers

Fandom: Boku no Hero Academia Pairing: Hawks/Todoroki Fuyumi Genre: Fluff, (Attempt at) Humor, Secret Relationship Word Count: 2.1k | AO3 Link

Synopsis: Fuyumi receives a plush toy of a certain Pro Hero as a gift from her students. No, it isn’t Endeavor. It isn’t her secret boyfriend, Hawks, either. Much to Keigo’s dismay, her students picked someone else, and it’s Edgeshot.

It happened on a Friday evening.

Keigo and Fuyumi agreed to meet for dinner at a hole-in-the-wall restaurant he frequented when he dropped by Musutafu. No one knew of their relationship yet, and it was the perfect location for a date night. The restaurant was quaint, unassuming, and situated in a discreet street mainly those who resided nearby visited. Fuyumi had loved it at first sight. She was surprised at how Keigo knew of it when she didn’t—she was the one who grew up in Musutafu while he was from Fukuoka! He explained how it was all thanks to his excellent sense of direction, and that led from one subject to another. Soon, it became a regular spot for their secret rendezvous. The food was outstanding, and it came to be their goal to try every dish on the menu.

Tonight, that would be karaage, which Keigo had been looking forward to all week.

The two of them sat in front of each other, waiting for their orders. As they chatted about the recent happenings in their lives, the item on the extra seat, resting beside Fuyumi’s bag, piqued Keigo’s interest.

“Hm? What’s that?” he asked, his eyes trained on the object in question.

“This one?” Fuyumi’s eyes lit up at the mention of the gift bag. She placed it on the table and explained, “I was quite surprised, but it’s a gift from the kids in my class.”

She unfolded the card attached to the handle and showed it to him. The message inside, scribbled by the class president, said: Todoroki-sensei, thank you for everything! We hope you like it! Signed at the bottom was the name of her homeroom class with a happy face beside it.

“Cute,” Keigo noted with a pleasant smile, mentally taking a guess why her students would give her a surprise gift. “Was there an occasion?”

“We had a talent show last week. I guess the kids had a lot of fun.”

“I’m sure they did,” he said and meant every word. He knew how much Fuyumi enjoyed teaching at the elementary school and thought it was nice to see her receiving love from her students.

“I’m curious to see what’s inside.” She began to unseal the washi tape on top of the gift bag. “It’s from the kids, though, so I’m sure I’ll love it.”

Keigo, who had received training provided by the Hero Public Safety Commission instead of formal education during his younger years, wondered what kind of presents school kids gave their teachers.

It was, however, the last thing he expected it to be.

Fuyumi peeked inside the bag and exclaimed, “It’s Edgeshot!”

His eyes widened in shock and alarm, taken aback. “E-Edgeshot?!”

“That’s right.”

“No way! Haha! You don’t mean that Edgeshot, right?”

“There’s no other Edgeshot other than Pro Hero Edgeshot, I think.” She laughed at what she thought was a joke he made and pulled the item out of the gift bag, showing it to him with a sunny smile. “Look! Isn’t he cute?”

He did as she asked and stared at it, unable to believe his eyes.

It was truly Edgeshot—in his chibi plush toy form.

And he, most definitely, was not cute.

“Fuyumi,” Keigo began with feigned nonchalance, except if his laser-like gaze could burn a hole through the plush toy, it would already have one. He wondered why, out of all the Pro Heroes in Japan, her students picked Edgeshot. The strain in his voice betrayed his bluff as he asked, “Do you like… Edgeshot?”

“He’s great, I guess? I mean, he is the Number Four Hero. The kids are fans of him and—”

“I’m Number Two, though,” Keigo bragged, puffing up his feathers. “Between the two of us, I’m the cooler guy.”

She nodded, chuckling. “Why, yes, of course. That’s right.”

He grimaced, unable to confirm if she agreed a hundred percent with him when she sounded as if she was placating a hatchling. A certain thought popped inside his mind, uncovering a silver lining in this dark cloud. 

That’s it! Keigo thought. That’s the reason why her students chose that as a gift!

“I see,” he declared with a clap of his hands, pleased with his epiphany, “do you, perhaps, collect Pro Hero merch?”

“Not really,” she replied, creating a fracture on his optimistic fantasy, “Well, I do have a few of Dad’s, of course.”

“And?”

“That’s it.”

“Huh?” He leaned back, startled, but refused to let go of his last shred of hope. “How about the merch of a certain Wing Hero?”

“Er, about that…” Fuyumi fidgeted in her seat, finally understanding what he was getting at. She returned the Edgeshot plush toy back inside the gift bag and reluctantly admitted, “I… don’t have any.”

Keigo felt as if someone had poured cold water on him. 

“Oh,” he muttered lamely. Wings fluffed up, he sent one of his feathers into his hands and preened it while staring into space. Yes, Fuyumi didn’t look like the type of person to collect Pro Hero merchandise. Now that he thought about it, he had never seen her with one, either. He was reluctant to admit it, but he was jealous. How come her students thought an Edgeshot plush toy was a more suitable gift for Fuyumi than a Hawks one?

“Here’s your karaage!” the waiter chimed in, set their orders in front of them, and refilled their tea.

However, even the karaage, which Keigo had been eagerly anticipating, did nothing to cheer him up.

“I’m so sorry, Keigo,” Fuyumi lamented, rousing him from his reverie, “It just… never crossed my mind.”

“Don’t worry. It’s not your fault,” he replied, internally reproaching himself for making her feel responsible for his silly reaction. “Besides, even if you aren’t a Hawks fangirl, you’re my girlfriend.”

“That’s right, but I am a fan of you, though.” She picked up her chopsticks and placed a piece of chicken from her plate between them, lifting it near his lips. “You’re my number one. Don’t be sad, please?”

Ugh, how come she knew just what to say to raise his spirits? His lips twitched as he opened his mouth and received her peace offering. The karaage was delicious. Most importantly, she said he was her number one. Nothing could top that. His bleak mood dissipated, and his face broke into a genuine smile, one that she returned with a relieved one of her own.

Still, Keigo couldn’t help but think about it later that night. Fuyumi had Endeavor merchandise, which was to be expected. As a matter of fact, he thought it was great how they had another thing in common. Now, however, Fuyumi had Endeavor and Edgeshot goods, but zero Hawks collectibles.

That couldn’t be. He had to do something about it.

A few days later, a package was delivered to the Todoroki abode. It was a large box sealed with ‘fragile’ tapes and addressed to Fuyumi. Written in the sender’s address was the Hawks Hero Agency in Fukuoka.

Truth be told, Fuyumi expected something like this to happen and had an inkling of what the contents of the box would be. Although it was unintentional, a pang of guilt remained within her mind for making him feel dejected during their long-awaited dinner date. When she arrived home that night, she did her research on Hawks’s merchandise and found out they were some of the most sought-after and top-selling products. The ones she had her eyes on would be a challenge to obtain. She was planning to hunt for a few, but if her hunch were correct, it would seem he had beaten her to it. He was a man who was too fast, she had to agree.

She transferred the box to her room and sat on the tatami. With its size, she believed it would take a while to get to each item Keigo included. Carefully, she unsealed it and was welcomed by the sight of bubble wrap—lots of it. Her suspicions were confirmed; the package was filled with Pro Hero merchandise—all of them the Wing Hero’s. They came in different shapes and sizes, and several of them even had their own boxes.

Fuyumi picked a random box and gasped. It was one of the items she was planning to scour the shops for: a Hawks Nendoroid. Beside it was a Hawks Pop! Vinyl Figure, a prize figure, and another box which had a shiny ‘limited edition’ sticker in front of it. He sent her a set of socks, too. She couldn’t decide if the pair based on the colors of this hero costume or the pair with red wings as its pattern was the cutest. There was also an oversized t-shirt with the characters for ‘Fierce Wings’ in front and an illustration of red wings at the back. In a smaller container, she came across various rubber keystraps, a few acrylic standees, and other small trinkets. The item that stood out the most to Fuyumi and made her laugh was the Hawks chibi plush toy, which she recognized was from the same line as the Edgeshot one she received from her students.

If anyone saw these, she had no doubt they would take her to be a diehard Hawks fangirl, but Fuyumi found she wouldn’t mind it. As Keigo told her last time, she was more than that—she was his girlfriend. The memory of him stating it with such conviction made butterflies flutter inside her stomach.

Soon, Fuyumi was down to the final product in the package which was a long black rectangular box. She untied the ribbon, lifted the lid, and set them aside. Cushioned inside it was a single crimson feather.

“A quill?” she murmured, twirling it between her thumb and index finger in scrutiny. “Wow, it looks so realistic!”

The quill, however, was untapered and unprepared for use. Perhaps, this product was one of those ‘do-it-yourself’ projects? Upon double-checking the package, though, she found no ink pot to pair it with. Even so, she had no complaints, especially since these were gifts from Keigo. Confused, she typed the words ‘Hawks Quill’ on an online search engine but found irrelevant results. Did Keigo send her a product sample to try out in exchange for an honest review?

Unless…

Fuyumi raised the feather in her hand closer to her face and blinked.

Would he really do something like that? She mulled over the question for a moment, her cheeks setting aflame when she came to the conclusion. He would.

“Can you hear me?” she whispered into the feather, suddenly feeling silly, “Or maybe not?”

The vane close to her lips swayed. It tickled her cheek the way his finger would when he caressed her face.

“Keigo, I just wanted to say thank you,” she paused, certain he was able to sense her, at the very least, “See you soon.”

Before cold feet could set in, Fuyumi pressed a soft and quick kiss to the feather. Her heart raced as she rushed to return it to the box. Overtaken by shyness, she covered her face with her hands and turned the other way, wondering if he felt it.

Endeavor and Hawks made their way to the entrance of the Hero Public Safety Commission. They teamed up for a short mission a few days ago and were back to report to the higher-ups.

Hawks, who had been chatting incessantly about pigeons, stopped in his tracks all of a sudden, causing him to lag behind.

Endeavor had grown used to Hawks’s odd behavior and antics, but he was, nevertheless, still vexed. He spun around and snapped his fingers in front of the younger hero’s dazed and flushed face. Hawks practically had hearts in his eyes, and he had spread his wings without realizing it.

What a distasteful sight, Endeavor thought. “What are you staring into space for?! Focus, boy! We are going to an important meeting!”

“I can’t.”

“And why the hell not, you fool?”

“I just got a kiss from Fuyumi.”

“What does that have to do with—” The words Hawks uttered registered in Endeavor’s mind. “Fuyumi?”

“My girlfriend.”

“You got a what from who? Which Fuyumi are you talking about? Answer correctly, or else!”

“I just got a kiss from my girlfriend…” Still in a daze, the gravity of the situation failed to strike Hawks’s mind. If it did, he didn’t seem to mind it much, having the nerve to smile at Endeavor as he continued, “Todoroki Fuyumi.”

The flames on Endeavor’s mask and hero costume flared. He grabbed the lovestruck Hawks by the collar and roared, “WHAT?!”

Notes: I wrote this because of what happened in Chapter 303. If you know, you know! (｡•̀ᴗ-)✧

I hope this made you laugh—or smile, at least. Thank you for reading!

BNHA Masterlist | Main Masterlist

[dreamescapeswriting]

Young Forever ~ JJK [Request]

↬↬↬Word Count: 1.4k (It’s short I’m sorry)

↬↬↬Genre: Fluffy

↬↬↬Pairing: Jeon Jungkook x Fem!Reader

↬↬↬A/N: I hope this is alright for you, you didn’t say if Y/n was dating Jungkook or not so I hope this is okay with the way I went for it xx I took inspiration from @yoongisdumplingcheeks concert experience

It wasn't your first ever concert but it was going to be your first-ever concert in London which for some reason made you more anxious than anything before. You'd travelled the world with Jungkook but London was one of your dream places to go, you'd spent the entire day sightseeing - alone of course, since Jungkook couldn't be seen with you and he had practice for the show that night but you were used to it. Dating Jungkook was one of the best things in your life, you got to travel the world while being with the man you loved and held close to your heart.

"You're going out there tonight?" Jungkook asked as you got your camera ready to take out with you, you were going out into the crowd to watch him and the boys instead of sitting backstage.

"I want to, it'll be fun. Think of all the fans I'll meet," You laughed at the thought of it, it was something you and Jungkook loved about your secret relationship. You had a lot of close ARMY friends but none of them knew about your relationship, no one except for family and the boys knew because they didn't need to know yet.

"Alright, I'll text you when I can get to the side door and then you can come back to us," He whispered looking over at Jimin who was rushing around backstage shirtless as he tried to get ready, a stylist chasing after him as she attempted to apply some makeup to his face.

"I won't miss this at all," You groaned as Jin came up behind you and began tickling your sides, it had become a running gag that you were super ticklish causing them all to come up to you at random times and start tickling you.

"You're going to miss it! You love seeing us all sweaty!" Taehyung laughed and you groaned moving away from Jungkook and following one of the guards towards the changing room door,

"Text me!" He yelled as you walked out of the room and began following the guard through the crowded backstage area of the arena. He was a tall bald man that looked like he could punch his way out of a wall if he really wanted to,

"Would you like me to walk you to your seat?" You shook your head at him looking at the ticket someone had given to you, it was one of the stage managers who was going to watch from the crowd but decided to stay backstage instead.

"No I'm okay, I can find my own way. Thank you though," He nodded and you began walking in the same direction as some of the other fans, all talking amongst themselves as you suddenly began to feel a little sad you were doing this alone.

"Hi!" You almost dropped your camera as you jumped at the sound of someone's voice,

"I'm Lauren!" She held out her hand for you to shake and you smiled taking her hand and shaking it,

"y/n." You greeted, she looked down at your ticket and smiled brightly at you,

"You're next to us, want to walk with me? You looked a little lost," You thanked the heavens that ARMY were so nice and you nodded walking along with her towards a back door,

"Where have you travelled from tonight?" Before you could answer her another girl dressed in a Jimin hoodie came up to you both and handed you a small pink bag and a purple one to Lauren.

"What's this?" You laughed softly trying not to seem nervous about everything going on, you looked into the bag to see an array of items, photo cards, posters, even some sweets with the boy's names on them it was all adorable. Also stashed inside were some tissues and wipes in case anyone started crying,

"Thank you!" You called out as the girl who had given it to you walked off to give away some more of the small goody bags.

"Is this your first concert?" You asked Lauren as you waited for the whole show to start, you were standing towards the back of the arena but you still had a really good view of the stage and the boys.

"My second, what about you?" You shook your head neglecting to tell her that you'd been to all of the concerts on the tour that year since it was something you

"My first." You lied looking at the front of the stage as the music began to play, it was still bright outside though. All of the concerts you'd been to before were normally dark,

"It's an open roof, it'll feel weird until an hour in when it starts to get dark," Lauren told you as she took out her army bomb and smiled as it lit up.

"This is so exciting!" She screamed holding onto your arms and jumping up and down as the music began playing even louder and the boys appeared on stage. The whole crowd began screaming now and you were sure it was the loudest concert you'd been to so far.

"Whoa, is it always like this?!" You giggled as Lauren stared off at the stage as soon as Yoongi began rapping to his lines, you watched as her eyes lit up and you smirked at the thought of telling Yoongi about it when you went backstage later.

During the intermission you'd exchanged biases with other fans around you, exchanging social media so you could stay in touch when everything was done along with crying together whenever someone got emotional at a song. Magic Door had been the one to set you off, it didn't matter how many times you'd heard that song you would still sit and cry to Jungkook whenever he sang it or played it in front of you.

"Army Sing," Lauren whispered locking her arms with you as you waited for the song to start, you'd seen this before. Army would sing for the boys without the boys having any idea about it and it made you whimper at the thought. Normally you were hiding out backstage ready to comfort Jungkook since he got so emotional about these things.

"Forever we are young!" You all began to sing in time with the beat and the camera panned around the boys to capture their reactions, Hoseok had the biggest smile on his face as he looked at everyone singing for them in both English and Korean. Lauren's hand was linked tightly with yours as you began singing back loudly to the boys, joining in with all of the fans even if you were crying hysterically.

"Look at Jungkook," You heard someone yell as you looked down to wipe your eyes, gazing back up you sat Jungkook knelt on the floor crying into his hands as Namjoon tried to talk through his own tears.

"He's so precious!"  Lauren cooed bringing you into a hug as she realised how hard you were crying, comforting you in the best way that she could not questioning you on why it had hit you so hard since everyone had reacted differently to this tonight.

As soon as you got backstage with the guard you ran over to Jungkook who was still drenched in sweat and threw your arms around him, he gasped as you held onto him and kissed his cheek. You never ever touched him when he just came off stage, it was something that grossed you out but tonight was different.

"Baby? Something wrong?" You shook your head burying your face into his neck and smiling as you told him how amazing Army were to you and how amazing the boys had done.

"You cried," You laughed softly pushing him away as you wiped your eyes on the tissues someone had given you, that was when he noticed the bag.

"What's that?" He chuckled opening it to see everything the girl had put inside, along with scrap bits of paper with peoples Twitter handles scribbled across the top.

"I made friends." You laughed and Jungkook wrapped his arms around your shoulder bringing you into another side hug and kissing the top of your head.

"You had a good time then Jagi?" You nodded at his question and he chuckled at you as you began tearing up once again at the thought of being out there.

"You guys were great by the way," You said as Namjoon walked behind you and gave you a pat on the back of reassurance.

"Thank you Y/n," He chuckled, Jungkook smiled taking you over to one of the sofas in the back area and sat down with you, kissing your cheek and asking you to tell him everything that had happened out in the crowd. Starting with the gift bag and who you’d gotten it from.

Tagline: @snowy-meowl @jooniesdarlingdimples @lyoongx @mitzwinchester @fan-ati--c @rjsmochii @callingmyangel @kneel-begyourpardon​ @taestannie​ @innersooya​ @sw33tnight​

[sery-chan-13]

Burnt Out

Bitches... (1, I love you all very much. 2, .... read 1) it's time for some angst...

And the start of me making poly relationship things-

Request away lol (I'm working on a request and small project chapters :) )

Warnings: Toxic Relationship, mentions scars, burns, Manga spoilers, swearing, emotionally abusive behavior, mentally abusive behavior, gaslighting(?) Let me know if I missed any!

You giggled as both men chased after you through the halls of the hotel. "(Y/N), you're wearing socks! You're going to- shit!" Niragi yelled after you, cursing when he saw you fall. You slipped down the stairs. You landed with a thud at the bottom. Tears filled your eyes at the pain, but you swallowed them back, standing up. You yelped, falling back to the floor. Chishiya stared down at you, kneeling besides you,  squeezing your leg. "Ow! Shi-Shi, hurts," you whined, slapping his hand away. He glared up at you. "Maybe don't be stupid next time. I'm just trying to help you," he scoffed, going back to trying to find out what was wrong. "You don't have to be so mean to he-" "Shut up. You're dumber than her, you're the whole reason this happened anyways." He felt people stare, and stopped. "Take her back up to our room. I'll figure out what's wrong there," Chishiya stated, getting up, and walking away. You expected Niragi to yell after him, or repremand him for something, but we're met by silence. "Gi-Gi, you ok?" You whispered as he picked you up softly. He pressed a quick kiss to your forehead nodding.

"Niragi... this isn't the way back to our room," you said, noticing he was taking you the opposite way. "Clever girl," he praised with a smile. You laughed at his words. "I'm taking you to Ann. She has more equipment to help you. I'll get Chishiya after I take you to her though," he explained. You nodded.

_______________________________________

"And then it was like bam, then woosh, and like... wow!!" You exclaimed, trying to find the words to explain your game. Niragi laughed, patting the top of your head. "Sounds fun sweetheart. Tell me all about it after I take a shower," he said. You nodded with a smile, sitting on the edge of your bed. Chishiya had been on the bed, listening to your rambling. "Chishiya, I think it was really cool how you tried to-" you started. "Gods you're loud. Quiet down. And I know. I'm clever, after all. Neither of you would be here without me. Probably dead," he lectured. "But Chishiya, Niragi and I survived without you before we came to the Beach, remember? We were t-" you started, confused at his words. "I get it, he's your favorite out of us both! You make it so fucking obvious. I bet the only reason you wanted both of us is because you're an attention whore who needs multiple men to use her to feel good about herself. Shut up and let me sleep," he shouted. Tears filled your eyes as he turned away from you. Had you really shown favoritism? You didn't try to, if you had. You always made sure you tried to do things with both. Was he feeling left out? Is that why he was being a jerk?

Those were all thoughts running through your mind, not knowing that you weren't the problem. You had spent equal time with both, giving them equal attention. Chishiya just never wanted you around him.

_______________________________________

"(Y/N), come with me. Now," Chishiya ordered. Ten of Hearts. That was tonight's game. And you were terrified. He had pulled you away before anything got to out of hand. You thought that maybe he was trying to be nice. Maybe he had finally come around? Had you given him enough attention? "W-where's Niragi?" You asked, jogging to catch up with him. "Don't worry about him let's go."

You followed him around the whole time, watching as his hands quickly grabbed items. ''What are you making?" You asked, hoping he didn't snap at you. You feared his response. "Something to beat the game with. If you can't bring the witch to the fire, bring the fire to the witch," he said. You sighed in relief. He didn't yell at you, and you were happy about it. "Ok... so... you know who the witch is?" You questioned. "I have a hunch. Now stop asking questions," he stated. "So annoying..." you heard him mutter. You frowned, keeping your lips shut.

Following him up the stairs, you kept to yourself. You knew he wouldn't care about your thoughts. He might yell at you, or call you annoying. You didn't want to make him angry... He was just trying to protect you, right?

"Niragi!" You shouted happily, seeing he was at the rooftop. He wasn't dead. He looked over at you with a smirk. "Ah, so he did keep you safe. Where were you hiding?" He asked, picking up his gun from the floor. "There's many places for me to hide," Chishiya responded. You tried walking towards Niragi, but Chishiya grabbed your sleeve. You tugged at his hand, trying to get away. "Let me go," you said, struggling against him. "No."

The next few minutes went in a blur. All you remember was Chishiya and Niragi arguing a bit back and forth. You were so overwhelmed already, the game getting to you, and now your lovers were fighting. Cards flying, fire, screaming. You couldn't tell if it was your own scream or Niragi's, but it didn't matter.

"C-chishiya what the hell?! W-what?!" You yelled, shaking, stepping back from him. "Hmm... guess he wasn't the witch then,'' he stated, dropping the homemade flamethrower to the ground. He started picking up the cards on the floor. You however tried taking deep breaths, trying to calm yourself. You couldn't. Tears slipped off your face, hands scratching you your arms. You couldn't scream, couldn't talk, couldn't move. It was like you were living in a nightmare.

_______________________________________

There was more instances, of course, but you were so done with everything. Niragi was still alive, to your relief. After all that, he was alive. And that's all that mattered to you. Chishiya had been with you, and still was. Understandably, you were scared of him. Niragi was angry at him, but couldn't do anything about it.

"Look, just tell me I'm right, and we're fine," Chishiya stated bored of the conversation. Both you and Niragi were so tired of this. The constant fighting, gaslighting, and hateful words. Chishiya was just too prideful to admit he was wrong.

It was a relationship between you three. You and Niragi shouldn't be putting in all the work, while he didn't try. At the begin he had. He had tried to be a part of the relationship, giving you both kisses and hugs. Random bouts of energy at 3 am to go to a random room. It had all started slowly going down hill. He pushed you both away, but didn't want to leave. He never left, giving you hope that maybe he really loved you both, and just didn't know how to express it. He had told you about his parents, and you just always tried to excuse his behavior as his trauma, but it just got to a point where you couldn't anymore.

"You're right," you started. You saw him smirk, and continued. "We couldn't fix you," you said. Suddenly he wasn't so sure of where this was going. "You're right, we shouldn't have tried to. Your pride is what you're concerned about?" Niragi said. He was tired of dealing with this as well. All he wanted was to find someone who actually cared about him, and who showed it. He didn't want to be with someone who made him feel alone. You didn't make him feel alone... "I'm still right, he wo-" Chishiya started, getting ready to argue back and forth with you two until you finally gave into him. But that wasn't going to happen today.

"Is "you're right" really all you wanna hear right now?" You whimpered, sitting on your knees next to Niragi.

"Well, you're right, we should've walked away faster... should've know You would only break our hearts after we were already in love," You whispered. You were all hurt. Niragi had severe burns, and bullet wounds, Chishiya had bullet wounds as well. You had burns on your arms and legs, cuts and bruises adorned your (s/c) skin. Most of which Chishiya had caused when he put you in danger at games for his own gain. Or when he needed to test one of the weapons he made, you were his test subject. "Yeah, I guess I'm just not good enough for either of you then. All you two do is act scared of me like I'm the bad guy-"

"You're right, you aren't good enough," Niragi stated angrily, caughing up blood after. He winced in pain at the sudden movement. You felt tears fill your eyes, and shook them away. ''I kissed your scars even after you hurt me, and he held your hand, even when you fucking burned him-" you shouted angrily. "Do you know how embarrassing that was?" Niragi whispered, his voice hoarse and raspy.

"Oh, because it's all my fault?"

"Yeah! That's exactly what we're saying! When was the last time you actually tried acting like you liked us?"

''She's right. You agreed to be with us. This is just fucking embarrassing to be with somebody who hates us, and doesn't even try to hide it."

"I don't hate you two I-"

"Liar."

"We hoped things got better, we hoped that love could turn a monster into a man," you stated, getting angrier by him trying to defend himself. "But it doesn't and it won't

Because you're beyond repair

But there is still someone for her somewhere, who will treat her so nice, you'll wish that you did-" Niragi retorted to his words. He didn't hate you both? He sure did a horrible job at showing it. Niragi knew he would die with his injuries. You would live. You could find someone who would treat you better than either of them could. "For someone so smart you're so fucking stupid to think that we're really that dumb..." you interrupted Niragi. He was losing energy, and anytime he coughed you could tell it was so painful to him. "We love you, but we're done... Pretending this was gonna work... Pretending loving you didn't hurt... Pretending that it doesn't burn when you think you're always right..." Niragi ended. Those words were hard for him to say, and hard for you to realize. You three had just been pretending this was going to work after Chishiya started pushing you two away. You two tried so hard to stay with him, and tried so hard to fit all three of you together, that you didn't realize how much staying fucking hurt.

" 'Cause you're still stuck on your past...You hate him so much but you're just like your dad!!" You screamed, shouting the first thing that came to mind. It hurt him. That was a first. The first time someone's words hurt him. And you, (Y/N), his sweet (Y/N), said them. You could see the shock written all over his face when you said them, and it made you feel a bit bad. Niragi was secretly proud of you, but focused on the situation at hand. Tears feel from your eyes, and you cursed yourself. "(Y/N), I- I'm- I can't... I-" Chishiya stammered. For once, he was at a loss for words. You and Niragi had made him happy. He didn't feel alone with you two, and that scared him. So he tried to push you both away, scared of hurting either of you, but I'm the end, he hurt you more than he meant to. He tried, he really tried at the beginning, the feeling of being together with you two bringing him the feeling of love, understanding, and happiness he'd never felt. But he ruined that. He hurt himself in this instance, he hurt the people he loved, making them scared of him. He realized you were right. He was turning out to be just like his father. He didn't want that. He wanted to wake up, this was surely a nightmare. He would wake up and you would be squished in between him and Niragi. You would be playing with his hair, talking about your dream. You wouldn't be scared of him, and you would all be back at the beach. Like the 10 of hearts never happened. But he knew that was wishful thinking. This was real, and this was happening. Everything he used to laugh about people worrying about was happening to him right now. This was his karma. It had finally caught up to him.

"And I know, that you tried...Gave it all that you had," you whispered through tears. No. He couldn't let the one thing that made him happy slip through his fingers. But... he had to let you go. You wanted to leave. Niragi wanted to leave. It would be cruel to both of you to make you stay. So he stayed quiet. Did you really think he tried? That made him feel a tiny bit better. You thought he tried. That he tried to make things work. "And being a monster doesn't necessarily make you bad..." Niragi added quietly. He was a monster. The words he had said to not only you, but Niragi could back that up. Not just his words either. His actions. He was a horrible person to both of you. Why did he expect both of you to stay with him, when neither of you had anymore energy to put into the relationship.

"But...even if we could staple it back together now... we all know that you can't light a fire that's already burnt out," Chishiya whispered. You both looked up, shocked he was agreeing with you. Was he crying? Neither you nor Niragi had ever seen him cry. Niragi chuckled a bit, not at the fact that Chishiya was crying, but at the fact that this was what it took for him to care. "Fuck... it hurts," Chishiya muttered with a laugh. "My injuries hurt less than losing both of you... fuck... I-"

He was interrupted by a voice. The games were over. "Oh my gods... we can go home! I reject citizenship in the borderlands," you said. "Same. I don't want to stay here. Fuck that," Niragi stated. "I also reject citezenship of the borderlands. This is like a personal hell..." Chishiya muttered. A bright light obstructed your vision.

You walked on crutches into their hospital room with a smile. " 'M back!" You chirped. You had all been in an accident, as a lot of people that were currently in the hospital were. You didn't know why, but the seemed so familiar. You liked being around them, and constantly visited them. "Ah, finally a pleasant noise to hear," the blonde man complemented. You could hear the teasing tone directed towards the other man in the room. "I can't really help it can I? So... shaddup..." the other muttered. "My nurse told me... that my heart stopped... for a minute," you mentioned, sitting in a chair in between their beds careful to not hurt your legs more. They had burns and scars, nothing tho serious. "What a coincidence. Us too," Chishiya said. You nodded, humming in acknowledgement. "I um... I also... get released tomorrow..." you said sadly. "That's great (Y/N). You can head back to your home," Niragi said. You shook your head. "I wanna stay. I don't know why, but you two seem familiar to me. And... I want to know why... it feels like...I don't know how to explain it..." you stated. "I... I've felt that as well," Chishiya admitted. "Ok, good I'm not crazy then," Niragi joked, coughing slightly after. "Well... how about I come visit everyday until you both get released... then we can figure out why? Or get to know each other more? It feels like... I've loved you in a past life kinda thing. Silly of me to say, huh?" You giggled. "I think... we'd both enjoy that... and it's not silly, in fact, we've both been talking about it, and that's how we feel. About you, and each other. It's quite weird, I've never met either of you in my life. You're both rather attractive though," Chishiya said. Niragi snickered and you looked over at Chishiya, who's eats had turned red.

"I said that outloud, didn't I?"

"Yep."

"It's a good thing I find both of you attractive too, blondie."

"Hey, I think you're both cute too! Lemme join in on this!"

"Of course. Join in on it (Y/N)."

I couldn't let you guys be sad, I'm sorry-

Also, I'm going on a trip to Arizona this week, so there will probably not be many (or any) updates. Sorry, but I do hope you enjoy this!

[aros001]

First time read through light novel vol. 18. Random thoughts.

I somewhat suspect the author was hungry while writing this volume.

Also, wow, I knew Kizuna was short but the prior artworks never gave me the full idea of how short. She

is only chest-high compared to Naofumi and Glass (I suppose that could make Glass happy, though; ease of access for Kizuna and whatnot).

Given that, outside of the natural gluttons like Filo, S’yne, and the killer whale sisters, the only person on Naofumi's side with the "Eat food for EXP" matter is Itsuki, I think this is him falling dangerously close to thinking only in terms of game mechanics instead of reality, much like the other three heroes had been early on. Theoretically, yes, if you can gain levels and strength just by eating, why wouldn't you do a lot of it? But he's almost outright ignoring the physical discomfort and pain it's causing his allies and seeing only the numbers. Not to mention that he himself doesn't appear to be eating nearly as much, as he's focus on the cooking.

That said, it is cute that this is the first time in her life Filo is starting to feel full.

Chapter One: Sloth

OH SHI-! Oh, wait. Wrong franchise. We're good. I did not want to have to imagine Kizuna biting her fingers off (Kizuna: "My brain trembles!!!).

If Kizuna is indeed suffering under the curse of Sloth, I'm curious what triggered that specific sin for her. We only have the four heroes of Raphtalia's world to go off of but each sin applied to that specific hero for a reason. Naofumi: Wrath because of his hatred of what Witch and Trash put him through. Ren: Greed because he wanted more EXP, levels, and loot; a toxic extreme of his solo-adventuring. Itsuki: Pride because he believed only in his view of justice. And Motoyasu: lust and envy because of his obsession with Filo and being kept away from her. Kizuna's obsession with fishing, even when there's other important matters that need to be dealt with, I suppose could be considered lazy and thus lead to sloth as its extreme, but it feels a little bit like a stretch.

As he did so, the books from a nearby shelf whirled up into the air, forming . . . a dinosaur . . . perhaps. No, a dragon. The monster’s name was “Magical Tome Dragon.” Now things were really getting a bit crazy. A dragon created from books! Was this some kind of joke?

I want a Yu-Gi-Oh card of that.

“Don’t tell me, Glass is like the Raphtalia of this world? Could we really get that lucky?”

I mean, that's what the fandom likes to joke when it comes to her and Kizuna.

Breaking the sloth curse through Kizuna's love of fishing was about what I expected. Not complaining, of course. Again though, I'm just wonder what about her coincides with Sloth. She prefers talking it out and making allies as opposed to fighting but I wouldn't exactly call that lazy or slothful either.

Kizuna had a lot of folks like this among her allies—people who had started out as enemies but then became allies. If I fought someone as an enemy, there was generally no coming back—there were exceptions, like Sadeena and Shildina, so it was probably better not to generalize.

Glass and L'Arc are literally standing right next to Naofumi as he thinks this and Motoyasu, Ren, and Itsuki all tried to murder him at one point or another. S'yne was part of the gladiator fights too, now that I think about it, and while they never fought he and Trash were definitely enemies for a while. This dude turns more enemies into friends than freakin' Naruto. Being kind of oblivious is part of Naofumi's character but I suppose this could be seen as an interesting look as to how exactly he considers someone an enemy. If they fought him for reasons he eventually came to understand and sympathize with, then he perhaps doesn't consider them as ever having been a "true" enemy.

Aww, Glass is jealous of Tsugumi being close to Kizuna. And unlike Raphtalia with Naofumi, Kizuna doesn't have any kind of tragedy that keeps her opposed to relationship and would require Glass to be patient. I suppose Glass could simply be afraid of hurting their friendship by proposing romance or even that Kizuna doesn't swing that way. And this is from Naofumi's perspective, so Glass being gay could be completely off the mark. Still, it'd be nice to get a solid landing one way or another. Even Eclair unknowingly rejecting Ren at least give solid confirmation that he's into her and why they're not together.

“What! I’m the Hunting Hero! I don’t handle the cooking part!” Kizuna complained.

“And I’m the Shield Hero!” I retorted. Not the Stewpot Hero! If anyone called me that, I would kill them with cookery!

And technically, you're not even that right now. Not with that mirror on your arm. The mirror is cool and all but I am looking forward to Naofumi eventually getting his shield back. He just feels incomplete without it.

“Almost feeding time!” one of them said. Others proceeded to chime in.

“Yes . . . the time we’ve all been waiting for.”

“The moment we live for, basically!”

“Even if I only get to eat one mouthful . . . that is the fuel that will keep me alive!”

“I’ll never eat anything but his cooking ever again!”

“I think the schweiz is the best! It has to be!”

“No! The stietz!”

“Hey! No fighting! We’ve been warned about fighting!”

Did they stumble across a food cult?

“It isn’t bad,” Filo said. “It just isn’t as nice as yours, Master.”

“Well, okay . . .” I replied.

“All of the heroes have cooked in the village, Mr. Naofumi, but Filo and everyone else all feel the same way,” Raphtalia told me.

Filo also grew up with Naofumi's cooking since birth, so while he's already a good cook you get the added taste of home for her. I've said it before but out of everyone I consider Filo to be the most like Naofumi's daughter.

“Then you wish to settle the bill,” she replied. I thought it was free. As my suspicions intensified, the girl spread both of her hands and continued. “How was the food at Seya’s restaurant? It was so delicious, wasn’t it? If you wish to become a member, please leave all of your assets or hand over anything that can be turned into money. If you leave some personal items as collateral, you can have some time to go and fetch some offerings.”

Yep, that's a cult alright.

“Master’s food!” Filo said.

“They’ll get a surprise when they taste what you’re cooking, kiddo,” L’Arc said.

“Indeed. Your victory is assured, if that’s the best they can do,” Glass agreed. I was still concerned about how aggressive they were being. Were they hopped up on endorphins or something? They weren’t acting in character at all.

My first thought was that the OOC behavior was some side effect Naofumi didn't realize came with the Mirror weapon's power-up method, but then why wouldn't Raphtalia or Kizuna be effected when they have been eating the food too? Then I thought maybe they were more used to eating Naofumi's food in general and would have a tolerance to any addictive effects, but then why is Filo still effected?

“That’s the best dish Seya’s restaurant has to offer! Seya’s curry bag! And it’s Fifth Floor too!” one of the MCs shouted. I barely stopped myself from tipping over onto the ground. He really was just reheating a premade curry in a bag! So he was allowed to heat and serve already finished dishes? I mean, that might give me some ideas myself . . .

“The flavors that are normally lost in reheating have been sealed in the bag using proprietary technology! Now you get the maximized flavor from the moment you open the bag! This truly is the ultimate culinary technique! Everyone, watch this kitchen miracle closely as it unfolds before your astounded eyes!” The MCs continued their diatribe, but it just made it harder for me to keep a straight face. It was all a matter of perspective. Capturing the flavor in a bag was certainly a worse approach than making it on the spot.

“Naofumi . . . am I imagining things? It looks to me like he’s just adding or warming up instant ingredients using hot water,” Kizuna said.

So, like most other antagonists in this series lately, Seya is just an arrogant, entitled fraud high on his own stolen power. Why am I not surprised? Though he is giving me a bit of a Kazuma from Konosuba vibe with how he managed to figure out how to recreate items the old heroes would have talked about from Japan. It's odd to say he doesn't have nearly the same level of charisma as Kazuma give...well...it's Kazuma and he's deliberately written to be a massive scumbag.

I do like with his magic powers and awesome cape, Naofumi is basically the little muddy boy meeting a superhero, one who will save the day through cooking.

As for Kizuna . . . I handed her some of the fish we had brought in and had her cut it up. She’d finished with the poisonous fish already. Her life as a fishing fool was paying off now. She knew her way around a fish. The blood had been skillfully drained, and overall, she was a step ahead when it came to gutting and cleaning.

...You think the Hunting Tool can turn into something like the Wunder Boner

?

I explained pointedly, looking at Seya, Trash III, and the other MC. Trash III responded by flipping me off. I could taunt with the best of them, and I mouthed some swear words back.

I mean, one of my favorite scenes in Isekai Quartet was Naofumi and Shalltear sassing each other, so I can agree with that.

“Pollution?” Kizuna asked, looking puzzled.

“You didn’t notice that?” I replied. “Well, just watch.” She wasn’t the brightest bulb, that was for sure.

“Hmmm, I think I need to go wash up,” the rotund noble said. “I’ll be right back.” The judges proceeded to take turns visiting the washroom. Once they had all returned, it was time to eat Seya’s food.

“Huh?” Kizuna, L’Arc, and Therese were looking puzzled. The other diners around us too. I guess there was cause for a little suspicion.

...Did Naofumi give them laxatives?

“Ah!” Kizuna finally cottoned on. “So that’s why you used so many medicinal herbs in your dishes!”

“Exactly. The reason they all wanted to go to the washroom after eating was to expel the toxins. I also used other herbs to bolster the lethargic feeling that would bring on,” I explained.

He gave the judges f**king laxatives! That's hilarious! I get the actual explanation he gives is more complicated than that, relating to purifying and digestion and getting them to finally take notice of the toxins in Seya's food now that they're free from its hold, but it's funny to think that's basically what he did. He won a cooking competition through dishes that encouraged the judges to take a sh*t (or a p*ss, I suppose).

“Hey . . . you’ve been reading too many cooking manga. It’s an illusion that delicious and good things will be evaluated highly. What you need is popularity and demand,” I said. Of course, it had to taste good, but putting the emphasis on that as a bare requirement was also a problem. If you were planning on selling food in a restaurant, of course it had to taste good. Customers came because of other elements, because of popularity. If Seya’s restaurant collapsed here, it would cause trouble for all the judges. That was why I’d created an escape for them. In order to realize the future that boy wanted.

While we don't see Naofumi selling his wares so much anymore because he has far less of a need to, it is nice we do still get that cynical and merchant side of him. All that time didn't just go to waste and it's still a key part of his character.

“What, then? What do you want?” Seya asked.

“There’s someone behind all of this, correct? Someone pulling the strings. If you tell us all about that, we’ll let you go. Hey, I have an idea. Write it down on this piece of paper here. I want a record of this.” I said and passed a piece of paper to him. Seya’s expression immediately brightened.

“That’s all you want? Fine, I can—” But the rest of that sentence vanished into an awful grunt. The moment Seya tried to write a single word, his head simply crumpled in on itself. He managed a brief scream, and then his entire melon exploded. I didn’t want to traumatize my allies, so I quickly threw up a cage and blocked out the grisly scene. Then I gave a sigh.

Well...that was kind of f**ked up for Naofumi to do. Don't get me wrong, after what they had to do to get Takt to be willing to confess, this is much less horrific. But Naofumi did basically just give Seya false hope and then trick him into executing himself. I get why he did it and how dangerous the vanguards are, but it is interesting to think that while ROTSH isn't the darkest of the light novel series I've been reading, Naofumi, save for Ainz Ooal Gown, is definitely the most morally grey of the protagonists compared to Kazuma, Subaru, and Goblin Slayer.

“No matter how delicious the food is, if you eat the same thing every time, you’ll start to get sick of it. Once you get sick of it, you won’t overeat simply because you won’t want to. I’ve been applying that concept to my food,”

That is better than what I was thinking with Naofumi getting too into the game mechanics. And boy do I feel for his friends. It's the same thing that killed me off of soda for a few years. Obviously it's worse to starve than be overstuffed but it's still not a pleasant experience.

We were talking about the primary reason why Kizuna was summoned here in the first place. To put it simply, the idea was to revive the Demon Dragon.

YYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!

And they Tanya'd him too; reborn as an infant of the opposite gender. So does that make Kizuna or Naofumi Being X?

“Seriously . . . it brings dragon tears to my dragon eyes to see you, the great Shield Hero who defeated me, now reduced to this.” The Demon Dragon placed her front paws against her head and muttered sadly to herself.

“I hope you aren’t looking for sympathy,” I said harshly.

“Just think about it for a moment. The same bunch who shouted about defeating me and saving the world are now back, having screwed everything up, relying on me—their sworn enemy—to save them! Take a look around. Does this world look like it’s at peace to you? Well?” the dragon said, really coming for me now. What was worse, I didn’t really have a reply. This world was still plagued by humans fighting each other and had been ravaged by the vanguards of the waves. Everything the dragon had said so far had been so on the money that Kizuna and Glass probably didn’t have any response either. “Can you see how this might feel like something from your own past? Having been chased as a criminal, and then having to clean up after those very weaklings who were chasing you after they had been beaten down by the waves and people from another world?” That punch really landed hard. I wanted to call it a low blow, but she was basically providing a stunningly succinct summary of my life in these other worlds.

Seriously though, after Kyo, Takt, and the various other vanguards, it is so refreshing to have a villain who speaks with some dignity and can actually make a decent point or two, rather than "I'm strong so I can do whatever I want! Losers!" In my vol. 16 random thoughts I compared Takt to All For One from My Hero Academia and I still feel the same way. The two are not that much different goal-wise. They wanted the world and had the power to make it theirs, thus their actions. It is an immature goal when you think about it but AFO did not act anywhere near as immature as Takt and it made him feel so much more intimating. He would sometimes mock his enemy but when he did they were deep cuts that he knew would get under the skin of someone he truly hated, like All Might, rather than just throwing out insults and acting like a brat. And the Demon Dragon is the same (the High Priest too, now that I remember him, even if I don't talk about him as much). I liked Glass as an antagonist because she was intimidating, spoke only as much as she needed to, and was very powerful compared to the protagonists at that time, getting Naofumi to fear facing her again and giving her weight to the story and for the audience. Finding out later her motivations gave her some depth and added grey to the situation. The Demon Dragon is not nearly as sympathetic, but he still works for a lot of the reasons she did. There's presence to him, er, her. It's not a brat who needs to be knocked off their high horse but a genuine threat.

And being able to work with the heroes weirdly makes that even better. The Demon Dragon calls a 100 year truce, not because she's on the side of good, but because she wants there to still be a world around for her to take over. She's completely open about her goal, which ironically makes it easier to trust her.

“That should do for now,” the dragon said. “Hmmm, and this is a female body. Excellent. Shield Hero, under the condition that you will ultimately mate with me, I shall provide even greater cooperation.” So that was how long it took for things to take a crazy turn.

Still a little weird that she wants to f**k Naofumi though. And when the anime gets to this part there is almost definitely going to be a fanfic or doujin. Actually, now that I think about it, there are going to be creators getting some mileage out of when the Demon Dragon tried to take Naofumi over earlier in the series.

“Can’t you make do with Kizuna? She’s one of the four holies from this world. You’ll just have to overcome the gender barrier,” I said.

“Why me?!” Kizuna exclaimed.

“What are you planning on doing to Kizuna?” Now Glass turned a hostile gaze on me too.

Ahh, Naofumi's such a d*ck, I love it. Also, now that's two rivals in one book for Glass. She's almost caught up with Raphtalia.

It would have suited us better if the enemy was a bunch of morons. It was annoying that life never worked out quite so easily. We had no idea how bad it was going to get with the waves, so we had to plan our moves carefully and move to prevent this “fusion of the worlds,” whatever that meant.

Wouldn't that be a heck of a comeback to my bitching about the villains? The ones behind the vanguards have been sending out their idiots first, the ones arrogant and drunk off their power, to soften up the heroes first and cause a bunch of damage but that they know will ultimately just get killed. Takt and the others getting offered up as sacrificial lambs basically because those like S'yne's sister don't like them either.

“I’m starting to feel sorry for Naofumi,” Kizuna agreed.

“He probably thinks you two are in the ‘harem,’” I told them.

“I really don’t like that,” Glass responded. “No, I don’t. I don’t like that at all.” I wasn’t sure why she said it three times, but I didn’t like it either. Just for the record.

“Naofumi is a friend and a comrade, but we’re not like that!” Kizuna retorted. I wondered if she really understood the situation. She was the type who needed things to be said directly to her face.

“A shame we don’t have Fohl here. Even L’Arc would have worked,” I said. Just a few guys mixed in might have broken the group up a bit and prevented it from looking like a harem.

“Naofumi . . . even if we did have some guys, it would probably just give them some different ideas. Like . . . boys love?” Kizuna said. It sounded like, whatever the composition of the party, they would presume a lewd relationship with me at the center.

You know, you never hear about this kind of thing with Ren and Itsuki. Motoyasu went out of his way to have a harem and he still doesn't get it thrown at him as much as Naofumi does. Maybe it's one of those "He protest too much" kind of mindsets, where the more Naofumi denies it the more people think it's true.

“You got lucky. If a wave had occurred with the world of our illustrious leader, we were planning on shattering you. That’s the problem with this system; that’s the only way to get the reward for destroying a world,” the sister explained. I’d heard this talk about rewards for destroying worlds before, I vaguely recalled. I had no idea where that reward came from.

So there's a third world mixed up in all this. Obviously there already was the implication of multiple universes with S'yne and such but now there's a big spotlight on somewhere besides Raphtalia and Kizuna's worlds, where the big bad supposedly lives.

“That’s pretty much what I was expecting. Shield Hero, let me tell you something interesting,” the Demon Dragon began. Then she looked at the Artificial Behemoth’s chest again. “That part there houses a corrupted holy weapon from this world, which has artificially turned the monster into one of the four holy heroes and has allowed it all the power-up methods. It’s basically the monster version of a holy hero.”

I'm somewhat suspecting it's the Blunt Force Holy Weapon, given how easily that beast is smashing through barriers.

The soul that Raphtalia had pulled from the vanguard of the waves was not much like the body it had come from. Instead, it was a gloomy, Japanese-looking guy who was probably in his thirties.

...

“The vanguards of the waves are people who have been reborn or transferred over here after being selected by the one who assumes the name of God. They are given all sorts of abilities, such as the power to steal holy weapons or seven star weapons. They come into these worlds and start causing chaos,” I explained.

“Reborn? You mean like having spare bodies, like Kyo?” Raphtalia asked.

“No, something else. Just their souls were led to this world from Japan, and then they were reborn here as someone from this world. With their memories of the past,” I said. For example, they are people who died in unfortunate accidents—people like Ren, Itsuki, and Motoyasu. This “god” would whisper to them that they had died an untimely death and offer to reincarnate them in any world they liked. They were already dead and so had no reason to reject such an offer. If they did, the “god” probably claimed to be taken with their resolve and promised to give them additional cheat powers, basically forcing them to accept. In some cases, maybe they were just forced to be reborn, no matter what they felt. I’d read books like that, loads of them. Now that they knew being summoned to another world was actually a thing, why not getting reborn or transferred over?

So I was right about Takt being some OC f**kboy! They're all OCs! They're people from Japan who died and now are getting to live out their sh*tty power fantasy fanfiction as their equally sh*tty original character! As a source of useful but disposable minions, that's actually kind of brilliant. We saw how bad Motoyasu, Ren, and Itsuki had been at the beginning (with Naofumi himself potentially on that path as well before he was betrayed) and they were chosen by weapons that actually have the world's best interest at heart. Take those same people and have a malevolent entity constantly feeding their egos and pushing them to do terrible things because "it's their right to do so" and "they're the real heroes" and you've got an near endless source of wrenches to throw into the works of those trying to stop you.

Of course, now I just have this image in my head that the World Eater is Aqua from Konosuba. Which would actually be kind of amazing, not gonna lie. A godly being reincarnating otakus from Japan into a new fantasy-based world for a singular purpose and giving them special powers and tools in exchange.

“What if . . . and just hear me out . . . what if this one who assumes the name of a god is somehow responsible for my game knowledge?” Itsuki quietly suggested. That sounded possible to me now. Even if being summoned was the correct process, having some prior knowledge would change your actions once you arrived.

Before, when the Shield Spirit had explained to Naofumi that he was a first pick choice and the other three heroes were their weapons' third picks, I'd theorized as to why and how the final selection ended up. Assuming the weapons were telling the truth about being able to grant any wish once the waves were over, it could be assumed they have some power over reality even in the four's home universe. So I'd theorized the weapons set up a window to snag their picks, with the shield getting Naofumi and the other weapons, by sheer unfortunance, had their picks keep missing the window and thus they became more desperate, thus why their third picks had to die in order to reincarnate because the weapons couldn't leave things to chance anymore.

Now, with the new speculation and info, we can assume the World Eater has some influence over other universes too, including the heroes' original ones. So two new theories come to mind.

The first, and one I find most likely, is that the World Eater is causing video games that are similar to the worlds impacted by the waves to appear in the original worlds of the heroes. In theory, the butterfly effect could cause a chain of events that'd lead to such games existing, so it's not like the World Eater is just dropping them into each reality. It would just need to nudge things in the right direction. If video game knowledge is actually detrimental to the heroes, then that leaves less choices for the Holy Weapons (at least in regards to what their ideal candidates would be) and opens up more choices for the World Eater, since it wants arrogant and know-it-alls like that for vanguards.

The second, which could still work with the first, is that the World Eater is aware of humans the Holy Weapons have their eyes on and is actively sabotaging them. A weapon has a first choice, so the World Eater throws the game or other things in their path to turn them into a less desirable option, possibly even vanguard material.

After all my comments about the recent antagonists, S'yne's sister is starting to grow on me. She's filling a similar role as Witch; manipulating and using people before ultimately tossing them aside. But like the Demon Dragon and High Priest, there is more of an air of dignity about her than with Witch. With the exception of her sister, she's not really talking down and belittling anyone to try and promote her own strength. Like Glass she feels like someone who is genuinely powerful and doesn't need to prove it. How she's using the enemies of the week is curious and perhaps even a little scary because it does feel like she's testing and experimenting and these losses are not really a loss for her. And there's the added mystery Sadeena threw in over what she really wants. Whether bad guy with a bigger agenda or a secret good guy, she's more enjoyable to read about, as opposed to the vanguards where the biggest enjoyment they offer is watching them get taken down, and even that's not much with all the whining and tantrums they have after they're beaten. She's different from Witch and Kyo. She's not completely high off her own power and doesn't refuse to recognize her enemies' strength. Her casually teleporting away for a bit when she realized the battle was turning in the heroes' favor gave a ton to her character.

I'm just looking forward to when she gets a name other than S'yne's sister or Moron Woman. I appreciate Naofumi's completely lack of caring for learning the names of people who don't deserve it, but if she's going to be a serious antagonist or secret ally, a name would help.

Original Reddit post: https://www.reddit.com/r/shieldbro/comments/kdwai7/first_time_read_through_light_novel_vol_18_random/

[mor-beck-more-problems]

Flashback Friday || Morgan & Luis

TIMING: Distant past, in the days of yee-haw

LOCATION: The Magick Cauldron, Houston, Texas

PARTIES: @ontheluis & @mor-beck-more-problems

SUMMARY: Luis wanders into a magic shop looking for some herbs, Morgan spies an opportunity, and the cards know more than either of them reckon. 

CONTAINS: Mellow yee-haw vibes

“Welcome, traveler, to the Magick Cauldron! Browse at your pleasure and inquire if you have any questions!” Morgan had given the scripted greeting so many times, it came out of her in full customer service cheer every time the shop door opened. She didn’t even look up from the book she had open under the cash register anymore, but flipped another page and let the customers let her know if there was something worth talking about by shouting ‘lady!’ or coming into her peripheral view.

The Magick Cauldron was the only occult shop still standing West Houston after the Y2K stress fads had died away and the first bout of shiny, corporate development had found its way into Montrose and bulldozed a crystal shop, a Greek deli, and one of the few ladies-only gay bars in favor of a mixed use building that so far only housed a nail salon and a Jamba Juice. Ralf, the fine proprietor of the Cauldron as he called himself, said that this space was protected. As the door chimed open again and Morgan made her welcome speech, bright and shiny as the plastic plate armor hanging in the kid’s section, she wondered if he was right. She never seemed to serve more than a dozen or so customers during her shifts, but the lights stayed on, day after sweltering day. If Ralf was right, it might just be the one piece of real magic in the place, not that she could say that to anyone’s face.

The warped outline of a boy rippled over the glass counter and Morgan blinked up from her book. “Is there something I can help you with, weary traveler?” She asked wryly.

“Sorry ma’am,” Luis assured, “didn’t mean to bring the stray in here,”

Evening had fallen outside, heat from the blistering still wafting off the pavement. Telephone poles and streetlights were thin black columns that stood stark against the blazing orange and wane blues of sunset.  

“Go on, git!”

At the Magick Cauldron’s threshold was an enormous black dog. Even while quietly sitting on its haunches the shaggy canine was easily as tall as the teenage boy snapped at it. Pupiless red eyes regarded Luis impassively, only an ear twitch showing that the dog wasn’t just a statue.

When the black dog gave no indication of actually entering the store nor stopping its scrutiny of Luis, the young man cut his losses and regarded the woman at the counter again.

“Here,” Luis reached into a pocket of his jeans and withdrew a crumpled piece of paper, smoothing it on the counter. The names of herbs and powders were written in someone else’s prime neat handwriting. “I uh don’t know what any of this is…,” he confessed.

Morgan took the paper carefully between her fingers, trying not to let her discomfort at how damp and sweaty it was show too much. It didn’t take much to figure out she was looking at an herbalist mixture for anxiety and sleeplessness. She looked up and the boy, and down to the list again. “We’ve got everything you need over here,” she said. She lead the boy over to the bulk aisle where the dried herbs and bottled oils were kept and alphabetized. “Did you want these bagged separate or together? Or--you probably don’t know how these work huh? We’ll do separate, so you can use any excess as you wish. But fair warning, we have a purchase minimum of one ounce for each item.” She put a small paper bag on the shelf in the middle of the display and started shovelling the herbs in. As she worked, she glanded sidelong at the kid and the dog that had decided to become instantly fond of him. Someone cared about them, to throw together this recipe, and he looked embarrassed enough for a kid his age to seem like he needed help. Would it be wrong to squeeze a few more dollars out of him if it so happened to brighten his day or give him some direction? Sure, he was scruffy, but not so much as to be desperate. He could afford a few extra bucks, right?

“Hey, you okay there?” Morgan asked him. “You seem a little lost. I��m getting some ‘needs direction’ vibes from you.” She gestured vaguely. “If you’re looking for Niko Niko’s, it’s just further down the street. You’re not supposed to leave your car here while you go over there, but I won’t tell. And if you need something a little less literal, I might be able to help you with that.” She nodded toward the oracle room at the back of the shop, with its hand painted sign hanging crooked from a nail and entryway draped with lavender beads. “I do have sliding scale rates, if it helps you make up your mind.”

The great black dog continued to watch Luis in silent stillness, the Barghest’s posture poised as if waiting for something.

“No offense ma’am but I don’t believe in…,” the teenager half-turned but caught sight of the enormous stray waiting for him in the darkening sunset. Those pupiless red eyes immediately filled Luis with a nameless dread. Cold sweat stained the back of his T-shirt as Luis’ skin went clammy despite the Texan heat. Luis couldn’t process why some random big-ass dog would wig him out so much. He wasn’t even afraid of it biting him or even the dog itself.

So why was his heart pounding in his temples?

“Yeah uh..s-seperate would be great,” Luis reaffirmed to Morgan needlessly. The labels on the tinctures and herbal selections blurred in his vision as Luis tried to get a handle on his thoughts. “Direction like, oh you mean to the interstate,” Luis replied in a misinterpretation of Morgan’s broader meaning. “I’m alright thanks, yeah merging on that triple hairpin by Foster is a pain in the ass but it's chill.”

Luis looked over to the oracle room with the dubiety of someone for whom the occult was just a vague ‘other’ mentioned at Mass or when abuela suggested a Sonora Market cure for whatever new cold was going around. He seemed about to decline again until the creeping skin-crawl of Barghest’s glare boring into his back made Luis amenable to any distraction.

“Yeah uh sure,” he said, taking a step towards the beaded shroud. “I’ll give it a shot.”

Morgan followed the boy’s eyes to the dog. He was looking pretty well fed for a stray, and his eyes--red, alert, sharp with an uncommon intelligence--made her shiver. Definitely supernatural. She didn’t know, how, or what, but it didn’t look good. “And I mean--” How to put this in just the right way? Or at least the more convincing way? “I mean your spirit, your chakras. Believe in your connection to the universe or not, but are you really going to say to my face that you know how you’re going to make your life worthwhile to yourself? That you know how to reach your greatest good?” No one did. Heck, she was a devout wiccan most days out of the year and even she didn’t know what her highest, greatest good looked like. “And if you’ve got the cash, I’ll throw in a cleansing, something to make--” she gestured at him vaguely, “Whatever negative heavy energy this is that’s stuck to you. Seriously, do you ever feel tired out of nowhere?” It was summer and the sun was exhausting; everyone got tired out of nowhere.

Maybe she was laying it on a little thick, but Morgan was tired of ordering off the dollar menu for dinner and she felt like she was taking her life into her own hands when she conjured money from school pens and laundry lint cotton. This kid’s money might get her a pot pie that didn’t come from the freezer, or enough tacos to last her a week, or maybe she’d blow it all on seafood, or a dress that hadn’t been worn by someone else. “I’ll ring you up first, and then we’ll see about getting the rest of you squared away.” Morgan did, and when that part of the transaction was over, she lead him into the oracle room.

In truth, the oracle room was an old storage closet with the door taken out. Morgan breezed through them and went to the antique flea market find armoire, where all the necessary items were kept. Morgan took out a small tray of tarot decks and took the one she liked best, a well loved Raider-Waite with stars on the backs and gold-gilt edges. “I’ll shuffle them myself, but you should tell me when to cut and start again and when to stop. When I’m done, you’ll spread them. You’re the one who needs to connect with the deck, after all.”

Rafael Martininez had given his son that smirking half-smile while Malia had given Luis the pale blue eyes watching Morgan shuffle cards. Sweaty light brown hair clung to his forehead beneath the Dallas Burn hat, stray strands dangling back his eyes. The lanky teenager sat awkwardly across from the cartomancer, doubting not only her veracity but that a term like destiny could even apply to someone like him.

Like many children who’re so profoundly blessed to grow up in a home of unconditional love, Luis had no idea that Rafael and Malia given him a protection rarer than talismans, weirds, or wards. Rafael had come to this country for a better life, and Malia had wanted a home that was safer then the hell she’d left. Together they’d given both dreams to their children, so Luis and his siblings would never have to go through what they had.

The freckled face that lifted to Morgan’s was innocent of hate, abuse, or fear of abandonment. Even in following a strange woman into a shrouded back room, it’d never occurred to Luis to worry about anything more sinister than carnival charlantry.

“So uh...like this ma’am,” Luis asked as he placed some cards face down on the table.

It was this very innocence in Louis that dulled the edge off Morgan’s guilt. It was wrong (if wrong was a real concept) to spoil something pure, but if she was really the worst thing that was going to happen to this kid in his teenage years, he was pretty darn lucky. At least he was getting some introspection out of the deal. Could he have gotten a tarot deck from the discount bookstore two blocks over for a quarter of what she was going to charge him, or thought everything out on his own for free? Yes. But he was also some bushy tailed high school kid; could happen wasn’t the same thing as would happen.

She’d had more instructions to give, some arbitrary waving of hands and maybe some visualization in what one of her co-workers called her ‘yoga voice’, but Louis, in his eagerness, had taken more than the requisite three cards she had planned on, wich just meant she had a ready-made excuse for the forty dollars she was going to take from him. “My, my, aren’t we eager?” She said. “What’s interesting to me already is that you have intuitively drawn out one of the more complex and energy taxing card spreads. Imperfectly, but--” She straightened them out at random until they made more of a geometric pattern. “See? I barely did anything at all. These cards must really like you. I don’t normally do something this involved, but it looks like there’s something here that wants to come out, and I’m not in the business of stifling anyone’s growth or energy.”

Morgan flipped the first card over to reveal The Fool and managed to keep her laughter light and soft. “Well, even if I hadn’t been doing this for so long, this is you, where you are right now. Don’t take the title personally, these are antiquated terms. He’s just young, and at the start of a great journey, not even begun, just on the precipice. He’s got his whole life ahead of him, and the sun, see? It’s shining on him to show that the universe is aligned with his desires. The world wants you to support you, wants to see you succeed.”

The second card. The Tower. Morgan’s eyes widened. Not really vibing with the story she’d been telling, but maybe the one after… Eight of Cups. Morgan flipped over the last ones. Death and The Moon. “Hmm...Fascinating...” Morgan said, stalling for a way to spin this. “The thing about the major arcana is the magnitude of forces. Forces like destiny and fate and the collective consciousness. These forces are bigger than a ten minute fight with your friends or what you want to do after graduation, these are ‘beyond your control’. And you have four. The universe really does have plans for you, that’s kind of exciting, right?” She smiled, hoping to get some confirmation from him, or at least some more of his trust. “What does your intuition tell you about this journey, honey?”

Morgan’s performative coaxing elicited a dubious look, but the striking illustrations of the Tarot drew Luis’ attention regardless. The fool was poised with one foot over the cliff, smiling blissfully as the sun warmed his back. The tower’s blackened crenellations tumbled down the cliffside as the once indomitable edifice was battered into ruins by a storm. A haggard traveler slumped down in relief on a river bank as eight golden chalice stood resplendent over the churning rapids. Death rode on its pale horse, a scythe clutched in one skeletal hand while offering an exquisitely detailed rose. The Moon slept in the sky above a verdant shore. Wolves howled in its light while pelagic creatures breached on the lunar tide.

“Woah that art on these is something else,” admitted Luis as he squinted at the intricate illuminations, clearly sensitive to aesthetics but not the higher esoteric meaning.

Unfortunately intuition is only as good as the experiences which inform it and Luis Martinez had been sheltered from the world’s cruelty. It was a blessing to be sure, but it also made Luis unable to imagine that evil doesn’t need consent to claim you.

“My intuition is uh,” floundered the young man who had about as much affinity for divination as the average block of cedar. “The ranch’ll catch on fire, maybe a relative will die, but we’ll find like eight things that’ll make it better before the next full moon,” Luis posited.

Morgan’s stomach rumbled as the boy ogled the artwork on the cards. She was tempted to commend the kid on his ‘uncanny insight’ into the realm of the divine and take her money and run down the street for a hot stack of tacos. But the kid was so bright eyed and easily awed. She felt like she owed him at least some of her knowledge, even if she thought the tarot was psychological self-talk at best.

“Fortunately for your relatives, nothing here is quite that literal,” she said, laughing warmly. “But this journey you’re on, both within and without, is going to be perilous.” Perilous to the point of being seriously dangerous and traumatic, if this really was his subconscious sensing something on the horizon. But that wasn’t something she was going to say to his face. She wanted money without having to lie to her mother about where it came from later. “Even though your desires are upheld by the earth and stars, there will come a time when it feels as though you’ve been cast out and lost everything. But the key to staying your course is to…” What was a precious uplift-y way to spin this? “Hold fast to your sense of self. Remember the core of who you are and what you want. Because, if you do, then you will survive the upheavals, and you will be able to choose wisely what to keep, what to leave behind, and end up so strong, it’ll feel like you’ve been resurrected and leveled up into a new, better, cooler version of yourself!” She had no idea how to make sense of the moon card in a positive five star customer service rating sort of way, so she moved it underneath the spread, smiling like this had been her master plan all along.

“This card with the moon and the wolves isn’t your endgame, it’s an indicator of the vehicle, the thing that encompases the whole. All this massive change ahead of you isn’t necessarily going to be visible to everyone. It comes from within, sometimes hidden, like how you can only see the stars when it’s dark out and most of the world is asleep, and wolves howl when the world is in shadows. It’s like that. And it’s going to be amazing.”

Morgan checked her watch and slumped back in her chair as if she were exhausted. Not a hard thing to do when it was this hot out. “So, that’s gonna be forty dollars for the energy and the insight. Technically, with how many cards you pulled, it should be a little more, but I can tell you’re taking a risk on something new here and I want to honor that. But we can keep going if you have any more questions!”

“Vehicle huh...not sure dad’s gonna let me spraypaint moons and wolves on the truck,” Luis mused, perhaps taking the ‘vehicle’ thing a bit too literally or not wanting to think too hard about the possibility of his life changing.

Luis looked over the intricately illustrated cards, eyebrows wrinkling as he tried to parse through the profound chicanery Morgan had spouted. A bite of the lower lip hinted that Luis had never really encountered those who could appear to say everything while stating nothing particularly specific.

“Well shiiiii..,” the teenager breathed before glancing up at Morgan and catching himself with a small hssk of inhalation, as if some inner parental voice had scolded him about cursing in front of a lady. “That was pretty cool,” he amended, clearly at a loss before everything he’d been told, too polite to claim he didn’t believe any of it, but also too much a child of modernity to heed the weird feeling in his gut that recognized something...hit different...about this chance prophecy.

Luis grinned bashfully and unknowingly let fate’s final warning pass him by.

“Forty bucks huh, I’ll havta explain that somehow,” the young man noted with the mild consternation of someone blessed enough to just worry about a family member who’d be more peeved about gas money going to “fortuneteller” then the actual cash itself.

The bills slid across the table after some awkward wallet-riffling. “Thank you ma’am.”

Morgan snatched up the bills and shoved them down her shirt before the kid could change his mind. Whatever ominous feelings his subconscious were trying to air out was no concern for her. She had too many problems of her own to bother with anyone else’s. “It takes a long time to read the cards,” she drawled smugly. “And lots of energy, to open oneself and reach beyond the veil.” She waved her fingers as if to say tootles, and went back to fanning herself until he was gone.

She helped a lady find some yarrow and made up a policy about consultation fees to get another $10 in her pocket. She was using her agency to bridge the gap between minimum shop girl wage and living wage, working her will to get the right kind of energy flowing her way. Mostly, the energy of not-starving and not invoking the ire of darkness from using alchemy to get ahead. It didn’t line up with the rest of what she understood, neutral magic forces should be lining up to help her right her cosmic access and be less chronically miserable, but that was a problem to untangle another day.

At the end of her shift, Morgan shuffled the cards once again and lined them up on the cleansing plate the shopkeeper wanted the used decks put on. By chance, or so she told herself, she picked up the topmost card to see what was there for her. But it was just the death card, and Morgan knew the last thing that was gonna happen to her life was a hard reset. She stuck it back in the middle of the deck and slipped away into the long shadows that marked the summer evening.

[marriael]

Be my Latibule? (Changbin x Reader)

@skzrequests​

Request: My pace 24 w changbin? uwu im a sucker for the idea of tattooist bin lmao I so vibed with this request, I love thinking about tattoist bin

Word count: 3717

a/n: part of the reason this took so long is I had to restart it twice :(

You walk into work at Insomnia Coffee Shop and your co-worker, Sohee, greets you.

“Anyone fun yet?” You ask. She's usually in when the store opens and often gets the most interesting customers.

“Not today. But yesterday a cute guy came in and ordered 3 americanos. Turns out it was for him and 2 friends. I tried to give them for free cause he looked half dead but he wouldn't let me. Who even does that?“

While she was talking you had slipped on the ugly orange apron and scowl when you noticed someone double knotted and didn't untie the strings.

You shake your head, “probably a college student pulling an all-nighter. What college student turns down free anything? Ugh, I wish some cute barista offered me free coffee, just, ever.”

Sohee turns and passes the drink over the counter. “For Jeno!”

A cute guy comes up to grab and winks at her before he turns to the door. Your jaw drops a little and you slap her shoulder.

“Is he a regular?” You ask.

“Nope. Said he got a recommendation from a friend and went out of his way to come. Weird day to do it though.”

You hum as the next customer comes in and you get thoroughly distracted. It isn’t until he comes up to the counter and speaks that you stop staring blankly.

“1 latte, 1 americano,” his voice is low and rough and he’s a little bit intimidating honestly. He’s got a small bit of a tattoo poking out one of the sleeves and you try and look at it before you have to turn around.

“Is that a tattoo?” You ask him when you turn around.

He rolls the short sleeve up to his shoulder to expose the full tattoo and you stare at the simple beauty of the moon and stars.

“Woah, that’s cool!” Sohee must’ve seen him just in her peripheral… or she was staring like you. You nod emphatically in agreement.

He blushes a little and says “thanks. Couldn’t reach this part of my arm or else I would’ve done it myself, but I still drew it.”

“Do you work at a tattoo parlour then?”

“Yeah, I do a lot of the designs for our place,”

You gasp, “can I come look at them? Please?” You pout trying to convince him to accept your strange request. You just felt something pulling you towards these drawings and the man who made them.

He looks at you for a moment then says, “yeah, let me give you the address. When you come in just ask for Changbin.”

He pulls out a random business card, not his unfortunately, and writes down the address. He slides it over and covers his smile with a sip.

You turn back to the coffee machines as he walks out the door but Mina stops you.

“Changbin huh? He was pretty cute,” she smirks.

“Hush your mouth and get back to work, brat.”

“Nuh-uh! I get to leave now but if, no no not if when, you meet him we're talking about this later.”

The next day was Tuesday and, thankfully, it was mostly empty of things for you. So you pull out the piece of paper Changbin gave you and looked up the address.

It was just a couple blocks down from the coffee shop and you head out. The building is small and squished right between a bakery and a florist, basically some cheesy romance just waiting to happen.

You walked in and looked around. There were corkboards on either sidewall and they were filled with drawings pinned to them. The bottoms of them fluttered a little at the draft you brought with you.

When you looked at him the man behind the counter raised an eyebrow at you. Ah, so it was very obvious you wouldn't be in here often.

You let out a little nervous laugh, “hi, Changbin told me to come see him here?”

The man raised both eyebrows at that. You fiddled as he looked you over again then laughed a little. “Changbin!” He suddenly yelled.

From one of the closed side rooms comes a muffled voice “go away Chan, I’m busy!”

The man at the desk, Chan, turns back to you “sorry, he’s always like this. He’s probably just sketching a custom.”

“Oh, I can come back later if he’s busy.”

Chan doesn’t answer you and instead yells at Changbin again “I know you’re not actually busy. Your partner is here to see you!”

“Hey!” You protest but Chan just grins at you as you hear the door open.

“Chan what the hell are you-” Changbin cuts himself off and gently smiles when he sees you “hey, didn’t think you were actually gonna come.”

You smile back at him. He looks much softer when he’s smiling and you were briefly caught off guard.

“Tell me again about how you’re not dating or at least interested, “ Chan’s eyes flick between the shy but wide smiles on yours and Changbin’s faces.

Changbin rolls his eyes but inclines his head towards the door he was behind and you follow behind him. He closes the door most of the way behind you and then moves to sit at the desk in the far corner. There are more drawings in here and you assume all of them are his. It’s a wide variety of subjects, from small sketches of animals and plants to large and detailed fantasy creatures.

“Sorry about Chan, he’s always delighted in teasing anyone who’s younger than him,” Changbin shakes his head, probably at Chan even though he can’t see or hear in the room.

“Have you two known each other a long time then?” You ask and tilt your head a little.

“Ah, yeah,” Changbin looks at you again, “most of us met in high school and a couple joined right at the start of college. College was really when our whole group started getting close, too.”

“Sounds nice,” you were paying attention to him, promise, but with such wonderful drawings surrounding you, you really couldn’t help it if your attention drifted a bit.

Changbin notices and raises an eyebrow slightly, “interested in getting one?”

“What? Oh, no no, not right now at least. They’re just… really, really good.”

Changbin immediately looks down and smiles, and you could swear he was blushing a bit but when he looks back up it's gone.

“There’s a couple hidden ones in here that aren’t mine. Think you can spot ‘em?” He challenges.

You immediately head up to one of the boards and stand about 5 centimetres away. You push a couple of them up and out of the way, making sure to be careful. There really is all sorts of stuff, Changbin must be pretty busy. A rushing river done with such detail you can almost see it moving. Swirls that when you look just right suddenly snap into focus to make an abstract, soaring bird. Nature moulded with a person or item in such a seamless way that there is not a difference between them, they are simply one continuous sight.

You’re looking for hidden drawings, not ogling at Changbin’s skills. Right. When you move one more there is a small piece of paper. There is… something on it. Either Changbin drew this when he was about 5 years old or it was someone else.

“Hey, I found one. I don’t even know what this is though, it looks like a squiggle.”

Changbin laughs, “hold on.”

He comes and looks right over your shoulder. You can feel his hot breath on your ear and feel his chest move when he laughs at the drawing again. You quickly reign in the slight disappointment when he moves away.

“Yeah, that’s the thing Chan keeps trying to make our mascot. Felix and I won’t let him so until one of us breaks it’s two against one,” he shrugs and it doesn’t look like he feels bad at all.

“Do all your friends have a drawing stashed in here somewhere?”

“Well, I’ve seen at least 16 drawings put in here so yes they all have one. Some of them and Felix, Jisung’s special twin, has hidden at least 4. There’s probably more that he did when I wasn’t paying attention.”

“Ugh, how many friends do you even have. If it’s more than, like, 6 I might be genuinely angry.”

Changbin practically cackles, “well then get ready to be absolutely furious. There’s 9 of us, including myself and everyone I’ve already mentioned.”

“That’s not even fair! How have you all been friends for so long without someone murdering someone else.”

“Oh, believe me. Seungmin’s wanted to. Unfortunately, his best friends are some of our greatest problem children. Though sometimes I'm pretty sure he'll murder them first.”

“Any other possible murderers I should worry about seeing?” You flip a couple more pictures up, still passively looking for any other weird drawings.  

“Hm, Minho's murderous intentions are usually directed at Jisung. He'd do it for his cats too, though. He definitely fits in well.”

“Were there concerns about him not fitting in?”

“Yeah 'cause, he was the last one to join us, but he’s just as chaotic if not more. For Chan’s graduation night he insisted on using some mini firework things he found. Nearly lit himself and Jisung on fire with the very first one.”

Something clicks in your brain. You’ve heard this story before, from one of your random classmates. He was… interesting, to put it politely.

“Are you talking about Lee Minho? The smug bastard who tried to get everyone to call him Lee Know for like 5 months? And Han Jisung, my co-worker kind of, that I’m pretty sure hates me for some reason?”

“Wait, you know them? And why do you think Jisung hates you?”

“Yeah, Minho was my weird classmate. I’m like 90% sure Jisung hates me because he barely looks at me and gives one-word answers to all of my questions. I don’t really see him other than during shift switches but still!”

“I think Minho actually might have mentioned you before. And Jisung is just like that around people he doesn’t know. Trust me, he actually has the capacity to be the loudest person in the room. By far.”

“Huh, I wonder how many of your friends I actually know.”

"Well, we're hanging out on Thursday. Do you want to come with and meet some more of them?”

You hum thoughtfully, thinking of any possible commitments you had made lately, “I probably can but can I bring Sohee? Just so I know someone there?”

“Do I still not count as someone you know?” He whines and pouts a little for the extra effect.

“Not enough. If you all go off on some inside joke I need someone to be confused with.”

“Actually fair, because it might happen. I’ll let you know when and where we’re going later then.”

You pull out your phone and extend it to him, when he looks at it confused you raise an eyebrow, “unless you plan to send it by bird I recommend putting your number in my phone.”

He makes a surprised noise and keeps his eyes away from you and on your phone. It has not spread to his face but under his dark hair his bright red ears peek out just enough for you to see. Even when handing it back he doesn’t look at you and you smile at his bashfulness.

“See ya soon, Bin. I work again tomorrow.”

Directions are not always your strong suit. You’d like to believe they are and that’s how you end up like this, no map and unsure of what direction you should even look in.

“You look lost,” a voice comes from behind you.

You spin around. A tall puppy-like guy is standing behind you, he looks slightly amused and you’re betting it’s at your expense.

“Yeah, do you know where M.I.A Café is?”

“Oh,” he nods, “yeah I’m going there. Let’s go.”

It’s slightly awkward, walking this distance with someone you don’t know. You search your brain with how to start a conversation with someone.

“Are you… meeting someone at the café?” You ask, slightly awkward.

“Yeah, a couple of my friends.”

“Huh, so am I. Well, actually, it’s someone else’s friends and I’m just kinda tagging along,” you shrug, realizing how awkward this will probably be.

“Good luck with that,” he says as he holds the door for you.

You enter and scan the tables for Changbin’s face. You wave and slip into the chair opposite him. On the edge of the table thankfully, hopefully Sohee can recognize the back of your head. Someone sits next to you and you get a little shock seeing who it is.

He grins at you, “hey stranger.”

The guy you walked all that way with one of Changbin’s friends!

Changbin looks between you confusedly, “you know Seungmin?”

“He helped me get here. I might have gotten a little lost.”

“A little, ok. You had no idea where you were,” Seungmin snarks.

“Maybe so!”

“Well good to know you get along with another one of my friends already,” Changbin interjects.

Someone comes up and sits beside Changbin.

“Hey, I’m Hyunjin,” he greets you simply.

You give him a little wave. You don’t like judging people so fast but he’s a little intimidating.

You hear a little scrape of a chair beside and Sohee pops down at the end of the table.

“Sohee, you made it!”

“Yeah, no thanks to you,” she sticks out her tongue at you.

“I’ve seen you somewhere before,” Hyunjin speaks up and you whip your head towards him.

Sohee looks at him and squints for a moment. They start looking at each other for so long that you think they’re actually just having a staring contest. You think you recognize someone walking outside but when you actually look out the window you have no idea who any of them are. It’s still a nice day out, maybe you can go out somewhere after this.

“Oh! You’re the guy I thought was going to drink 3 americanos the other day!”

“Sohee~” you sing.

“What?” She looks at you, annoyed.

“You forgot an important detail that you told me about him.”

She looks genuinely confused for a moment before catching on and shaking her head, “shut up, nope nope nope.”

“You think he’s cute!” You cackle.

You, Changbin, and Seungmin make fun of Sohee and Hyunjin for a little while. It backfires when Sohee manages to sneakily turn the attention on you, well you and Changbin. Together, you being together.

“Yeah, and you stared at him for so long when he came in!” Sohee says.

“Sohee, kindly shut your mouth,” you reply, smiling the most pained and fake smile ever.

“Ok, please don’t pour your drink on me, I’m afraid. Also we work together so I’m coming for you.”

You just roll your eyes at her, you didn’t actually scare her and you both know that. She just likes to be some sort of annoying sister to you.

Hyunjin clears his throat and when you look at him his eyes are bright. He smiles sneakily and says, “you should hear about the time Changbin actually poured his drink on someone.”

“Hyunjin that was an accident and you know it!” Changbin exclaims, attempting to shoulder check a giggling Hyunjin.

You breeze into Blueprint Tattoos and Chan looks up in surprise.

“Hey there, didn’t know you were coming in today.”

You let out a single, unnatural ‘ha’, “I didn’t know either but uh, here I am.”

“Well, Changbin’s in his usual spot. I don’t think he has anything today.”

“Thanks,” you nod stiffly.

Looking around at the cork boards you can see some of them definitely done in Changbin’s style and a handful more you suspect would be his. You breathe out heavily and slouch a little before straightening and walking towards where Changbin should be, full of false confidence.

“Are you ok?” Chan asks and when you look over his eyebrows are furrowed and his forehead pinched down a little. The concern from someone you barely know is a little unusual but the warmth you get from it is welcoming.

“Yeah, just a little nervous you know?” You force a small laugh but you know it’s not convincing.

“Oh!” Chan exclaims, “well if this is what I think it is then good luck.”

Chan’s face is completely relaxed and you feel a little bit bad for making him worry so much. You’re not entirely sure what he thinks you’re doing but you smile at his kindness as you open Changbin’s door.

He has headphones in and doesn’t hear when you close the door behind you. You stand there for a minute, back against the door, just looking at him. Most people move to what they’re listening to but the only thing moving is his hand and it glides across the page. You have no idea what he’s doing but you just hope he’ll show it to you when he’s done.

You take a big breath in and out before approaching him. Tapping his shoulder gently you hope not to cause him to jerk his arm and ruin a line or anything. He stops completely and pulls his headphones out. He looks a little annoyed but then he looks up to see you and his face eases.

“Hi! I didn’t know you were coming today. Anything specific on the brain or did you just want to hang out with Best Friend Binnie?” He gives you an exaggerated and comical wink.

“Give me a tattoo?” You say, surprisingly calm for how jittery you actually feel.

“Wait, what? Are you sure? Like really sure?”

You roll your eyes like a stereotypical teenager would at their parents, that is to say, so far back it felt like they would disappear into your head, “no, Changbin, I’m not sure. I’ve really only been thinking about it basically since the first time I walked into this room.”

“That was only a week ago,” Changbin deadpans.

“Yeah, and?”

Changbin shakes his head, “I’m not going to give you a tattoo you’ll regret.”

You look around at the drawings. Feeling like that one action gave this decision away as way more spontaneous than it had originally seemed. Yes, you had been thinking about getting one and getting Changbin to do it for you but doing it today specifically was a complete impulse.

“I’m not going to regret it! Bin, please,” you pout at him.

Changbin tilts his head to look at the ceiling as if it will give him some guidance.

“What do you want?”

You clap your hands excitedly and then hesitate again.

“Well, I know I want a flower but… I want you to choose which one. I want it to be a flower with a good meaning behind it.”

Changbin nods and stands there considering your request. You take the time to look around his office again. Staring at all the intricate drawings on the walls you feel a bit dorky choosing to get a simple flower. Your eyes briefly catch on two stylized drawings of the word SpearB. One of them has a cute little ‘Binnie~’ under it and the other has a messy ‘Chanathan’ in English and Korean.

There are a couple of flowers scattered throughout the room so you’re a bit surprised when you hear Changbin ripping a page out of his sketchbook. His back is to you so you can’t see him cutting it down to a size to la and trace on your body. You can hear the gentle snips of scissors as you distract yourself with rows of flowers connected and individual petals with such detail you could believe them being real.

You watch as he gently traces the pattern onto your skin. You don’t recognize the flower right away but it looks delicate and beautiful. You think you catch him glancing up at you a few times but you’re pretty sure the clock is behind you and he’s looking at that.

You zone out almost entirely as he prepares. Well, it’s not exactly zoning out. You’d say it’s appreciation of an attractive man, your friends would say that you’re just checking him out.

Ok, so what if you are? Changbin’s shirt has no sleeves which means his arms are on full display which means that you can’t stop looking at the muscles flexing as he moves. Thankfully you’re conscious enough to look away when he turns back around.

The buzz of the gun wakes you up and Changbin is looking at you.

“All good?” He asks.

“Yeah, let’s do this.”

You watch for a moment as he starts going and the ink sinks permanently into your skin. It’s a strange thing to conceptualize, something being on your body forever. You catch a glimpse of Changbin’s concentrated face and you get completely distracted by him. If this is what he looks like everytime he gives a tattoo then you want to observe, even study, him.

His mouth is set in a firm line and eyebrows pinched slight inwards and downwards. His eyes are wide and focused and if you look closely enough you can see every slight movement of his irises following his hand around.

Neither of you say a word and you don’t dare move to try and look at the clock or your phone. Just watching and waiting in silence, but together. A shared silence is different than one had alone.

Silences by yourself can feel wrong sometimes but this kind of silence with Changbin feels so right that you almost never want it to end.

Good things often come quicker than they should and soon the buzzing stops. You can hear phantom buzzing still and suspect you will for quite a while. You lift your arm and look at it, it’s finished now but you’re still not sure what it is and certainly not what it means.

“What is it?” You ask.

“An almond blossom. It, uh, it means promise.”

“Promise, huh?” You grin and look at Changbin's pink-ish face.

You expect him to have some witty comment but instead, he just smiles goofily and breathlessly says, “yeah.”

[sparkexplosive]

Sentiment [Izuku Midoriya] ; 06

Precious Chapters in Sentiment [Izuku Midoriya] SERIES

Warning: Mental Health

Word Count: 2,010

Midoriya Izuku was standing in front of the invention room with his hero costume case because he broke his shoes once again. He is afraid to look at your face, but he needs to face you. Perhaps he isn’t ready to face you yet. He was about to turn around to walk away to ask Mei to fix his shoes instead. To only get startled by the sliding door opening to reveal Misaka. 

“Oh! Midoriya. What may I help you?” Misaka calmly gave off the customer service voice along with a smile. 

Midoriya couldn’t speak properly to the only rush through his word which leads it to be a scrambled mess. 

Misaka’s eye twitches in annoyance. She could never really deal with his random rambles. She looks on both sides of the hallway before grabbing his collar and yanking him inside. Midoriya was about to fall on his face due to the sudden pull into the room. She walks away from him to sit down on her chair to continue working on Kirishima shoulder designs, after testing it would be sustainable enough against Kirishima unbreakable form without shattering into pieces from her previous prototypes. 

She is just ignoring his presence until he learns how to speak. She is already irritated by him how Midoriya is not even standing up for (Name), her best friend. His friends are speaking to her best friend with hurtful words that would break anyone down especially under his watch is unacceptable. A screwdriver floats towards her which reminded him of his mother's quirk. 

Midoriya gulps down his saliva, sensing tension in the air and looks over to your desk to find it surprisingly neat and cleaned as if it hasn’t been touched for a few days. It's an unusual sight to see it so organized compared to the times he has been in here. His eyes wander off to Misaka's side of the room to see her blueprints on the cardboard. He does recall that you did mention that Misaka switched with Hatsume Mei because her room was a lot closer to the inventory room. 

The blueprints of her designs and items for Kirishima Eijirou upgraded costume pinned on the cardboard. She has a mannequin that was holding fabric that could be for his lower cape. In front of her were pauldrons blueprints with the design details. Misaka was adding the details on his pauldrons and messing with internal parts that seem to contain wires. 

“It’s coming out very well, Misaka.” Midoriya tries to break the tension in the air, before speaking for the real reason for his trip here. “Could you perhaps fix my shoes?”  

Misaka glances over to him and walks over to him to hastily take the case from him to evaluate the damage. She did catch his eyes looking over to your working station earlier. 

“She is banned from using this room for fighting one of your fangirls along with damaged property.” 

Misaka answers without him saying it out loud and takes the black metal shoes off his case to only collapse into different small pieces. Both of them just stare at the floor where the metal pieces collapsed into smaller pieces. “Well then. I could make a replica for you. It might be ready in the late afternoon tomorrow, b-” 

Midoriya brims up at the news with a small smile instead of his usual big grins. “Thank you!” 

She stops to turn to face him. “But!”

She stares closes the case hastily, before turning her blue eyes back into his green eyes. “Do you know about the rumors going around about (Name)?” 

Midoriya was taken back at the question but narrowed his eyebrows. “I only know about the check, but it turns out to be true.” 

Midoriya unconsciously flinches recalling the rumor was true and all the emotions that he has been pushing down resurface at once. She evacuates his body language and his eyes to see he is telling the truth. He seems to hang on by accepting the fact that your relationship was building on the bride. 

“Well, your friends are belittling (name) by telling her. She is a whore to slut because of the rumors going around. They are getting dramatized and getting out of hand. The rumors are getting worse every passing day. Unless you set it straight. It would calm down the rumors.” She carefully watches his body language and his eyes. 

From the dark lines underneath his eyes and more messy hair than usual. It seems he has been wrecked as well. The evidence is physical that he hasn’t been sleeping very well. Midoriya hasn't been able to sleep for the past couple of days due to getting nightmares repeatedly. 

But from his expression, he didn’t know at all, filled with shock, and a mixture of surprise was written all over his face. His eyes were wide open and his mouth agape. Before he closes his mouth before licking them and gulping down his saliva. “I haven’t been paying attention of late.”

‘I have been in mind all day and night,’ He thought to himself. 

His demons belittling why him and losing destroying himself confidence. The only time he can distract himself is by burying himself in schoolwork and training to quiet down that voice in his head. The other times, he unconsciously is blocking the world around him which makes his friends and classmates worry about him since he has been a less talkative and energetic ball of energy who is an excellent observer and analyzing at hand. 

Aizawa asks him to go to the counselor's office today or tomorrow. He knows that Aizawa is worried about him to personally ask him to look for help.  

His fingers fidget with the side of his tie as he licks his dry lips to confess.“I have mostly been in my world-”

“You have been in your mind. Midoriya. You are being your own worst enemy. Overthinking to thinking the worst possibilities. That's what you usually do.” Misaka interrupts him, before walking into your work station. 

She opens a drawer to go through it to see your blueprint on what your design to offer to Midoriya. She stares at it for a second before taking it out and reaching underneath the table to pull out brown boxes that contain two metal cases with one of them has a red ribbon. She places the blueprint inside and holds out to him if only he wants to accept. 

“[Name] might murder me for giving this to you. Its new equipment that they overworked themselves making sure this gift to you would be on time. But you know…. This would have been a future design blueprint. Just take a look and give those babies a try.”

Midoriya didn’t know what to say. His throats were dried up but his eyes landed on a red envelope attached to the metal case with red ribbon. It was possible the anniversary gift that she would have given him today. He forgot today was their anniversary before all this happened. They had plans but everything changed. He needed space and time to think. Y/N gave him the space that he asked and respected his decision. 

But the curiosity is killing him wanting to know what they are inside those metal cases. He unconsciously reaches over to grab onto the box to find it surprising a little heavy. 

“Take them and think would someone go through deep ends to create something so accurate for your liking and safety if they didn’t care about you. If you think you don’t want to accept it, you can go back and return them to me. I will have your replacements here waiting for you.” Misaka light heart comments. 

Midoriya looks up from the box to look into her eyes. “Thank you.”

____________________________________

The day before getting emotional after school, surprisingly you had a wonderful time with the loudmouth student from Class A-3, Bakugou Katsuki. He had surprisingly cheered you up with some food and fun time at the arcade. It was memorable and the most fun you had ever experienced in an arcade. The two of you were being competitive trying to beat each other's scores. 

You did realize in his way, he was distracting you from what happened the day before.

“Don’t let those extras get into your head. The only person you need to approve is yourself.” Bakugou advises while pointing at you with his chopsticks. 

Your eyes had widened shows bewildered at his words as if he was speaking from experience, once his words sucked in which brought a wide grin on your lips. 

“Thank you.” Your eyes were starting to shine like before the incident happened with the rumors. Your eyes are a portal to how you feel. 

Bakugou rolls his eyes, “You should know this by now. Extra's opinions shouldn’t matter.” 

He knew you were hurting inside while putting on a strong face in front of everyone. But everyone has their limits by putting on that armor to make people intimate from messing with you. He knows it very well. 

As he refused for you to pay for the dinner bill to pay him back from playing in the arcade. You know arcades are not cheap but expensive. However, he beat you from paying by taking his credit card before you could. 

“Save that money for your mouth-” He exclaims calmly. 

“Bakugou, that's a lot of money. Let m-.” You tried to reason with him, but he continues to shoot you down. 

“It’s fine. Don’t worry about it. Get it through your thick brain!” Bakugou slashing out, clearly getting irritated by you bugging him about paying him back. He clearly refuses to accept your money.  

At the end of the day, you were conflicted about how to feel about Bakugou since you saw another side of Bakugou that you haven’t seen until now. It's like Kirishima said to you before when you asked for Bakugou help for the gloves that you created for Midoriya. 

“He has a good heart, he just roughs around the edges. Give him time, he will get comfortable with you.” 

You had witnessed what Kirishima was talking about yesterday. Bakugou has a different way of showing he cares. However what caught you off guard when he had walked you back to your dorms like your bodyguard intimidating any students from looking over to you. 

You turn around in front of the steps of your dorm to thank him. “Thank you for everything. Bakugou.” 

Bakugou simply nods, like typical behavior for him. When you were turning around to walk up the stairs. He had grasped your wrist stopping you at your tracks. 

“You can call me. Katsuki, only if you want to... Have a nice night.” He lets go from your wrist. 

You were shocked that Bakugou even suggested it, but knew it's a big deal for him to permit him to call him by his first name. It could mean numerous things, but that is the moment you thought. He trusts you. 

Once you had sucked in his words, you only smiled back at him.

“I will be taking up that offer. Good night, Katsuki!” 

Unknown to you, Bakugoug Katsuki could feel his heart skip a beat from hearing your voice calling him by his first name. He couldn’t explain it, but it makes him feel weird in a way that is not normal for him. 

A small smile curls up to his lips while he was walking back to his dorms while recalling what happened that afternoon. He did have a lot of fun playing video games with you in an attempt to distract you from what is happening in school. 

He does care about you but is unsure why he is feeling this sort of way ever since the two of you started working together for your project of gloves. He has gotten comfortable with your presence more than he would like to admit. 

Perhaps, he has a crush on you….

It can’t be…, right?

______________________________

I would love to hear any predictions or theories, you guys have!

Feedback is appreciated!

Please be kind within the comments. I hope you are enjoying the story. Sorry for any spelling or grammar errors.

if anyone wishes to be tagged, either send me an ask or comment below this post! Taglist will be in the comments.

[jenoptimist]

he had the personality, looks and kids loved him? the universe was really testing you, huh?

The day you were having was fantastic; the barista gave you three stamps on your loyalty card, the test that you took for your module went smoother than you thought it would, the group project that you had for another module went surprisingly well, and you even found some change on the ground. However as you sat in the diner with your cousin, you had a creeping suspicion that the day you had was to lull you into a false sense of security. 

“I think there’s something wrong with my hearing,” you said in disbelief, slowly dropping your cutlery, “because it sounded like you just said that you want me to babysit.”

Yangyang did nothing but smile sweetly at you. “Nope! You heard right!”

You couldn’t believe it. You and kids? Yeah, you guys did not mix. It was as if you and children were the same opposites of a magnet which was a shame because you actually adored kids. You weren’t ready to have your own at the moment so you became a plant parent instead–your succulents were your pride and joy. You had six in total and as sappy as it was, you named each of them after your friends. Although admittedly, you were missing a plant for Kunhang. Not that he knew, of course. Or, well, at least you didn’t think he knew?

You hummed. “Whose kids are they?” Yangyang gave the name of your aunt, the one with triplets and you swore your cousin was trying to get back at you for something. “No. You know how I feel about those kids, Yang! They’re the frickin’ spawns of the Devil!”

Even though the triplets were only four years old, they have caused nothing but trouble for you. Before, you were swayed by their cute little faces but as time went on, you figured that they had some sort of vendetta against you. Other children usually stared blankly at you when you tried to play with them, clearly unamused by your attempts, but those three? They lived to make your life difficult. But to everyone else? They were absolute angels! It was infuriating. What had you done to warrant that behavior from them?

Yangyang winced. “Well,” you arched a brow at him which had him sagging his shoulders, “yeah.” You nodded triumphantly. “But”–you groaned–“please, y/n?” You declined with a shake of your head. Yangyang pouted at you and clasped his hands together, “oh come on, y/n! Please!”

“Nope! There’s nothing you can do to change my mind.” There was absolutely no way you were going to expose yourself to their beady little eyes. “It’s your own fault you said yes.”

The pouting didn’t stop for the next few minutes. When it did, however, there was a mischievous gleam in his eyes that you could idenitfy. It was the look he had when he used drag you in whatever shenanigans he was planning which, more often than not, resulted the two of you getting into trouble.

“I’ll tell Kunhang that you were the one who knitted him that horrible scarf!” Yangyang wasn’t wrong. The scarf was horrible because when you gave it to him, you had only knitted one or two items during a few weeks at that point. The stitches weren’t anywhere near perfect and there was a slight difference in color because the yarn that you originally used was sold out. But even with your awful craftsmanship, Kunhang never said anything bad about it. Instead he said that he was thankful that someone took the time to make it for him. Those words, paired with his angelic smile, was enough to make your heart flutter.

“You wouldn’t.” You said back, narrowing your eyes. All you got was a smirk in return. “Fine,” you sighed, “I’ll do it.” It was hard to fight your smile at his nonstop cheering.

*

You stood at the driveway of your aunt’s house, gathering the willpower to walk inside and make your presence known. You had spent the whole night mentally preparing yourself but now that you were there, you wanted to book it. You could do this. It was only six hours. What could they possibly do to you in that timespan that they haven’t already?

“Thanks for doing this on such a short notice.” Your aunt said as she moved in a flurry, wrapping her scarf around her neck before shrugging on her coat. The triplets were watching her and you were glad that their attention wasn’t on you yet. That was short lived because as she was hugging her children goodbye, they were watching you like a hawk. You internally cursed at your cousin, typing him a quick text.

from: y/n

to: yang2

you so owe me for this >:(

from: yang2

to: y/n

don’t worry, i already got it covered~

from: y/n

to: yang2

what’s that supposed to mean?????

from: yang2

to: y/n

(>ω^)

You took a moment to pull at face at his response before stuffing your phone back into your pocket. What was he up to now?

“I left some money on the shelf in case you want to order some food,” your aunt informed you as she pulled you into a quick hug. “Thanks again, see you later!”

The sound of the door slamming shut behind you officially sealed your fate. It left you and the triplets staring at each other and you shifted from foot to foot as you thought of something to do to pass the time. When you managed to smile at them awkwardly, your hand going up for a wave, one of them started screaming and ran off. It had a domino effect on the other two and so you were stuck in a house with three screaming children.

You scrambled after them, trying to capture them in your arms and maybe hoist them into the air–kids normally liked that, didn’t they? Unfortunately, they would somehow escape your grasp and blew raspberries at you before running off again. By the time you got them all to sit on the couch to watch a Disney movie, you were extremely exhausted.

When the doorbell rang you groaned, unsure if you could even walk to the door. Your legs felt like jelly and you were sure that if you were to look at yourself in the mirror, your appearance would be haggard. Another ring had you up, eyeing the triplets just in case they made any sudden moves, and made your way to the door.

“Um,” were your eyes deceiving you right now? “Kunhang! Hi!” He was wearing the scarf you knitted which just about covered his entire neck.

“Hey,” he smiled brightly, “sorry I’m late. I had to pick up a few things.”

“Late?”

“Yeah. Yangyang said you wanted my help with the kids?” So this is what that brat meant when he texted you. You didn’t know whether you wanted to yell at him or hug him. Maybe both, in that order.

“Oh, yep! I did. That’s what I said.” You replied with an awkward laugh at the end, stepping aside to let him in. The beautiful smile he was wearing still hadn’t disappeared. In fact, it seemed to grow larger as you led him into the living room where the triplets were, by some miracle, still watching Ice Age.

When the movie ended, Kunhang took the opportunity to introduce himself to them. You watched with a fond smile as they immediately took to him, your thoughts going haywire. Of course the kids liked him. How could they not? The three of them clung onto him and you didn’t know how he managed, but he stood up and started spinning them slowly. They erupted in giggles, excitedly calling out his name.

From there every little thing that Kunhang did with them made your heart melt. The way he paid attention to every single one of them, the way he praised them and his exaggerated reactions that had the kids stumbling in laughter. In turn, the triplets imitated him to get him to laugh and fought for his attention. Kunhang even took to helping them feed themselves, encouraging them enthusiastically and motivating them to finish the entire plate with the promise of ice cream.

The ice cream was a mistake. The children were practically bouncing from wall to wall, leaving havoc in their wake; cushions were thrown in different directions along with their toys. You and Kunhang sent each other twin expressions of horror as they started disappearing up the stairs. By the time they were tucked into bed, Kunhang was looking worse for wear than you were with his hair spewn in different directions and his hoodie had a couple of stains on them.

“We should probably get cleaning.” You suggested, already dreading the mess you were going to face when you stepped downstairs.

Cleaning the house was quicker than you expected. It was probably because you were actually having fun since Kunhang kept making you laugh. By the end of it, the two of you were talking about random things as you collapsed on the sofa. There was a brief period of silence that took over as he leaned his head back to rest on the back of the counch, closing his eyes.

With a soft smile, he murmured, “I hope our kids are as cute as they are.” That had your heart racing as you stared at him incredulously. That had to mean that he had some feelings for you too, right? But as soon as you were about to reply, he seemed to come back to himself. Kunhang shot up from the couch with an awkward laugh. “I mean–! That–! Um.” He groaned loudly, hand rubbing his face.

Again, you couldn’t even begin to respond because your aunt’s voice came from somewhere, announcing her arrival, as she shut the front door. She barely batted an eyelash at Kunhang’s presence, instead thanking the two of you and handed over some cash. She kept talking to the two of you until you exited her house and then a heavy silence blanketed the atmosphere. From the way Kunhang was gripping onto the straps of his backpack, you could tell that he was feeling just as nervous as you were.

“I’ll drive you home.” You nodded mutely at his offer.

How were you going to approach the situation? Clearly he was embarrassed, what with the way he was avoiding your eyes. But he didn’t even give you any time to answer. Knowing him, he was probably thinking that you would reject him or something. Which was entirely false. You have had a crush on him for as long as you could remember and to find out that he was possibly feeling the same? You fought the smile that threatened to creep up on your face. Was him mentioning your imaginary future kids a red flag? Maybe, if you didn’t know him.

After he parked somewhere near your apartment, neither of you made a move to say your goodbyes. Sunflower by Post Malone and Swae Lee was playing loudly until he drastically lowered the volume.

“So,” he started, after clearing his throat. “about, um, what I said earlier.” He trailed off after that, as if he was unsure of what he wanted to say.

“Well,” you said as you felt a surge of courage, powered by the thoughts of Kunhang–about how cute he was, how you have had a crush on him for the longest time and how you had dreamed about telling him how you felt. “You could at least take me on a date first.”

If it were any other circumastance you would have laughed at how his eyes practically popped out of their sockets, his mouth agape. But as it was, you were practically shaking with nerves. All you could hear was the pounding of your heart and your hands were starting to get clammy.

“Date?” The word came out like he was testing it out. “You and me? On a date?” There was a beat of silence and then, “seriously?” You nodded. “Oh wow. That’s– I can’t believe this.”

You gave him a winning smile. “Are you free tomorrow?” Then you frowned slightly. What if he thought that you were too eager? “You know what, how about next week?”

“No! Tomorrow is great! I’m totally free!”

“Great!” The two of you erupted in laughter after a moment of silence. “Well. I guess I better get going.”

“Yeah,” he agreed, sounding dazed. “I guess you should.” You went for a hug and shot him a quick smile after you shut the door of his car.

Just as you were about to walk up the stairs to your apartment, you heard him calling out your name. When you spun around, you found him running up to you with something in his hand that you couldn’t make out.

Kunhang heaved. “Got this for you.” He told you as he bent over to catch his breath, his right arm extending towards you. It was a succulent. A very pretty one at that. “I was gonna give it to you after we left ‘cause I was gonna ask you on a date. But then I said that.”

“I love it.” You took it from his hand gently, staring it at adoringly. “Thank you so much, Kunhang!” Now you had one to name after him. You would put it next to the one you named after Dejun, on the small table next to your bed.

“Now you can have one named after me.”

In your shock, you almost dropped your new plant. “What? How do you know about that?” You didn’t give him time to respond, already knowing the answer. “Yangyang.” You grumbled. When you got your hands on that kid, he was going to get it.

“Yangyang.” Kunhang confirmed, eyes twinkling with amusement. With a quick peck on your cheek, he quickly spun around and sped off to his car. As soon as he drove away, you took out your phone.

from: y/n

to: yang2

you are SO dead

from: yang2

to: y/n

snagged a date though didn’t you? now you can stop telling me about how much you like him ۹⌤_⌤۹

from: y/n

to: yang2

yeah i did but it doesn’t mean that you’ll get away with telling him i didn’t have a plant named after him >:(

from: yang2

to: y/n

ღゝ◡╹)ノ♡

[lgbtyrus]

TJ’s Playlist (Final Ep Anniversary Bonus)

So it's been a year since I cried to the finale because tyrus was canon, and I wanted to travel back in time to some of the happiest memories I had because of this show. I had a thing in Macaroni's POV, but it was a little lame and didn't want to finish it so I went this route instead. It's also always bothered me that this story ended on 19 chapters, and I thought this was the perfect chance to even it out with a perfect 20. If you're reading this, I love you very much and thank you for coming back (or getting here for the first time). Goodbye to TJ's Playlist for real now <3 

Ao3 Link | Wattpad Link

-

TJ ran down the hall, pushing by students who couldn’t get out of his way fast enough. It was the last day of middle school, and everyone was lingering behind to say goodbye to their friends who might go to a different high school. TJ had been doing the same before remembering he had promised Cyrus he would meet him up front.

Cyrus was standing with Buffy and Marty, laughing at something one of them said when TJ caught up. “Hi,” TJ told him, bending over to catch his breath. “Sorry I’m late. I forgot how fast time can go.”

“It’s fine.” Cyrus smiled. “I wasn’t going to leave without you.” Cyrus reached over to hold TJ’s hand, making him smile.

Buffy said to Cyrus with a grin, “So yard sale?” Cyrus’s neighborhood had a large yard sale once a year, and they chose the last day of school to do it. Cyrus’ parents invited all of them to take their things to sell.

“Yes! Come by with anything you want to get rid of,” Cyrus replied. “I’m so excited. It feels like a cleanse and the first step into high school.”

“Can’t wait,” Buffy said. “I’m going to stop by home first for my stuff, pick up Andi, and meet you guys there.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Cyrus said and gave her a thumbs up. They said bye to Marty and Buffy who walked off holding hands, leaving TJ with his boyfriend. Cyrus turned to look at him and asked, “So. Did you think about it?”

TJ bit at the inside of his cheek for a moment. “I did.”

“And?”

“I think I’m going to sell them.”

Cyrus jumped up. “Yes? Really?”

“Just the repeats!” TJ smiled, taking a step back to avoid getting stepped on.

“Yes, that’s amazing. That’s perfect. The people in the neighborhood are going to love you,” Cyrus said. “We’ll look up the value of every single one before we set them out.”

“Already did that. That’s actually the reason why I decided to sell them.”

“Are they worth a lot?”

“Not as much as the cameras would be, but it’s a decent amount of money to pay for basketball camp.” TJ and Cyrus started walking away from their now former middle school, not looking back.

“How long would you be gone for?” Cyrus asked him.

“Three weeks. We can handle that, right?” TJ asked him, squeezing his hand. The coach at Grant High School recommended he go to basketball camp to secure a spot on the varsity team the next year, but it was a little pricey even with both of his parents working at the time.

“Of course.” Cyrus squeezed his hands back, smiling at him. “Let’s go get your things.” After going through his GG’s stuff for the first time, TJ realized there was a lot of valuable items that included comic books and vinyls. He was letting go of all the comic books because he wasn’t interested in that, but he didn’t have the desire to let go of any music. There was more vinyl’s in the attic than he realized and even though he didn’t have a player, he wanted them for the day he did have one.

Cyrus was talking to TJ about his last day of dance and how he wasn’t looking forward to regular PE at all as they headed to the Kippen’s house. “I need to have PE with Buffy at all costs next year. If not, I’ll definitely get picked last for every team.”

“You’re already stressed out for PE next year?” TJ snickered. He knew Cyrus well enough at this point to know his fear of public humiliation in PE was insurmountable “You need to relax a little. It’s summer break.”

“I know, but I tend to plan every minute of my future and PE is an inevitable part of it.”

“Let’s make a deal. You put off thinking about PE until a month before school, and I’ll let you be there when I get my report card in the mail.” TJ liked to open his report card alone considering he has done really bad in math in the past, but Cyrus really wanted to see how much TJ had improved now that he had a proper tutor.

Cyrus hummed to himself before saying, “Deal. But only because I can’t wait to see the look on your face when you see how well you did.”

“My C average does bring out my best smile.”

“All of your smiles are your best smiles.”

“You literally told me my dancing to old music is my best smile.”

“It’s a little biased because you dance with me.”

“It does make me smile when you slow dance with me,” TJ admitted to him. Cyrus smiled, blushing at the comment and making TJ’s heart skip a beat. There hadn’t been a single day where TJ doubted his feelings for him.

-

They got to the Kippen’s empty house, Macaroni the cat waiting in the yard. He was jumping after a grasshopper before he saw Cyrus and TJ come up. He ran to Cyrus and meowed, making him grin. “Hello, friend,” Cyrus said as he bent over to pick him up.

“Needy,” TJ muttered to Macaroni as he roughly petted his ears. Macaroni swatted at TJ who pulled his hand away on time.

Cyrus held Macaroni closer and said, “You have to be gentle with him. He’s old.”

“He’s okay,” TJ said, sticking his tongue out at the cat. He went to go unlock the door while Cyrus asked Macaroni about his day. The cat simply purred in his arms.

Inside, Cyrus put him down and followed TJ without asking upstairs to his room, little footprints tapping against the wood floors. Cyrus felt like the Kippen’s gothic house was his second home. It was Halloween themed according to his parents, but he liked the charm it gave off. TJ’s parents were younger than his after all and when the air was clear, it was fun to be there.

TJ had two boxes on the floor ready to go. “Can you take the vinyl one? It’s lighter,” TJ asked Cyrus as he picked up a box.

“For sure,” Cyrus said. He got the box and looked around the room that seemed to be more crowded as TJ dug out things from the attic. It made Cyrus smile every time TJ called him with a new discovery. A new photo album from the 70s. More polaroid photos he took of TJ and Amber when they were little. A random trinket TJ thought was cool. One time he didn’t find anything of his GG’s. He found a bunch of new t-shirts from his dad’s old band and a few CD’s TJ couldn’t stop laughing at for an hour. His dad was in makeup that really did make him look like a vampire.

Cyrus said goodbye to Macaroni who rubbed against his leg before walking out with TJ and walking down to his house. Around the block, people already had their yard sales open and people from all over Shadyside were visiting there. Even though TJ lived so close to him, his neighborhood seemed to be a completely different world from his. TJ didn’t know his next door neighbors, and he had just found out a month ago that Marty had lived across the street from him practically his entire life.

They got to Cyrus’ house where his parents had set out tables. Cyrus’ old toys and clothes were out and ready to go to new homes. He gave up most of his children’s books, but he kept a few favorites just in case he ever had kids to read them to one day. “You’re selling all your Pokemon cards?” TJ asked him as he set his box on an empty table.

“There will be someone who appreciates them more.” Cyrus then added, “They’re also fake.”

“Dollar store packets?” TJ smiled knowingly.

“Yes!” Cyrus laughed. “I always wondered why the ones at Kmart were more expensive and now I know why.”

“They were still fun to play with, though.”

“I honestly never learned how to play with them,” Cyrus admitted. “I just liked looking at them.”

“That’s me with my vinyl records right now,” TJ said. “I opened every single one of them because some had notes and receipts from GG. Some silly stuff like saying to pick up my grandma from school or just lists of other singers.” Cyrus stared at TJ as he set out the records, wondering if now was the time to give him what he just bought him. He wanted to hold out for his birthday but watching TJ talk about the vinyl’s made him realize how much listening to that music meant to him.

“There’s actually something I want to give you,” Cyrus said.

“Now?” TJ raised an eyebrow.

“Think of it as the first part of your birthday present.”

“First part? Of my birthday present? My birthday that’s in July?”

“Yes. Yes. Yes,” Cyrus nodded. “So, do you want it or not?”

“Can it be the only gift you give me?” TJ asked him.

“Of course not. The other thing is on its way already.”

“Oh god, Cyrus. You really didn’t have to get me anything.”

“Says the guy that gave me a present everyday of the week leading up to my birthday.” TJ smiled, Cyrus knowing that he finally got him to give in.

“Fine. Surprise me.”

Cyrus took TJ’s hand. “Come on! I can’t wait for you to see it.” Cyrus led TJ inside his house where they walked past his parents, TJ barely able to say a full hello to them. They went into his room where Cyrus let go of his hand and dug through his t-shirt drawer where he pulled out a wrapped present.

“You already wrapped it?” TJ asked, smiling as Cyrus handed him the box.

“Had to be ready just in case you ever found it.”

“You’re the one that snoops through my things, not me,” TJ reminded him.

“Just open in,” Cyrus said impatiently. TJ put the present on the bed and started ripping the wrapper. With a single tear down the middle, TJ knew what it was and gasped.

“Cyrus,” he whispered. “You really shouldn’t have.”

“I wanted to. Really badly.” TJ finished unwrapping the green record player and held out the box in his hands, staring at it in awe. “Now you can listen to everything your GG left you.”

“Yeah,” TJ said with a smile. “I really can.” He put the box down and went over to face Cyrus. “Thank you so much.” TJ bent down and kissed him, both smiling into the kiss.

“You are very welcome.”

TJ held onto Cyrus’ hand and told him, “Let’s go play some music.”

[foreficfandom]

Mystic Messenger - Buying MC A Gift

– Zen –

For years, Zen dreamed of buying his love a classic, dainty necklace, romantically delivered in a box all wrapped up in a silk bow. And now he has you! A chance to fulfill this boyfriend dream of his!

He tends to kind of, enforce an image of cuteness on you, even if it’s not your aesthetic. He just likes his love to be innocent and girly. It’s okay if you’re not, he loves you just as much. But when he buys you things, it almost always swings in that direction ‘cause he’s a little unconsciously stubborn like that. 

So he checks his savings and decides that, yep, he’s got enough to splurge a bit, and buys a gold heart necklace. It wasn’t luxurious, nor designer, it was just this teeny 24k gold pendent on a gold-colored chain. The best he could afford at the moment. He asks the store to gift wrap it with the most ‘romantic ribbon’ they have available.

The two of you go on one of your many lunch dates, where Zen has to tuck his hair underneath a hat to make sure the both of you aren’t hassled, and you eat sandwiches with coffee in a cute little shop. 

He slides the box over to you, and there’s this huge smile on his face when you open it to fawn over your gift. 

“It’s only a small thing, but I hope you like it. One day, I’ll be rich enough to afford what you deserve, jagiya.” 

He reaches over and pulls your hair aside to put it around your neck. You touch it with your fingers. It’s all just like his old fantasies. Zen’s romantic dream #35329 fulfilled!

Romantic dream #35330 was when you eventually mentioned to someone in passing, “Oh this necklace? My boyfriend bought it for me.” He just about melted. 

– Yoosung –

For many years, Yoosung didn’t have much money to his name. But he still wanted to buy you gifts because he couldn’t stop thinking about you? Every day he’d daydream about the two of you, about what kind of stuff you’d like to do?? He’d pass by windows of shops and think, “Would MC like this?”

Once he decided to start giving you gifts, he’d kind of freak out a bit because he was worried he’d give you something stupid. He googled for ideas, and talked to Zen, but couldn’t decide what sort of trinkets to shower you with. 

He couldn’t afford good chocolates, and he didn’t know how to buy clothing for another person without going up to you and being like, “Oh, by the way, MC ... what’s your shirt size? Asking for a friend - wait no that’s not what I meant -”

One day, he walks into a bookstore to shop for more mechanical pencils, and by coincidence found large selections of gift items. There’s scented candles! Creative desk toys! Gag gifts of flavored bubble gum and imported mints! 

He ends up choosing what he thought was the cutest. You’d like cute things, right? Cute stuff is universally cheery, so he’d thought you’d enjoy the character-designed set of highlighter markers. 

Turns out that yes, you did enjoy them, and he puffs up with pride all day because yay!! He did a boyfriend thing!

His later gifts were of similar caliber, like sticker sheets or pretty notepads. And later, he finally branches out of the bookstore and looks as jewelry, chocolate boxes, and flower bouquets. Regardless of what he chose, you always loved them. 

– Jaehee –

Most of her ‘gifts’ tend to be of the practical bend. Like stuff for the house both of you end up using, or a set of nice socks because she remembered you mentioning that you needed to replenish your stock.

Not the most romantic gifts, but arguably more appreciated because of how useful they were. Jaehee’s your Functional Adult™ girlfriend and it brings you plenty of joy.

But sometimes she’s compelled to be more whimsical. Her job at C&R didn’t leave her with nothing, and the cafe’s been going so well her wallet’s been more stacked than ever before. So it didn’t take much for her to walk into that gourmet chocolate boutique and purchase a sample box of their best truffles.

Managing your own small business means evenings are usually free. You and Jaehee enjoy a homemade meal, and settle down to drink some beer and watch dramas. Before you can relax completely, she goes, “Oh, I remembered something,” goes to the bedroom, and walks out with a small paper bag. 

“Just a little thing I bought earlier today. I saw it and thought of you.” You opened to reveal your chocolates, your smile making Jaehee’s eyes light up.

You insisted she share them with you, but she refused. She got a smaller box especially to avoid you wanting to share a portion with her. The two of you share most of her gifts already, this is intended to be for you and only you.

So instead you enjoyed your chocolates, biting them in half and showing Jaehee how the chefs filled each one, and discussing the flavors. It gave her inspiration for a new seasonal mocha blend for the cafe!

– Jumin –

Rip in fucking pieces your old commoner life. If a month doesn’t go by where Jumin doesn’t try get you at least two designer items, the world is ending. 

Salvatore handbags. Jewelry from Prada. Balmain dresses. Vuitton shoes. Gourmet boxed strawberries, giant influencer sets of luxury makeup, oh Valentino is producing these cute teddy bears for some reason? Here’s five. 

He’s pretty unpredictable about it, too. Some days, he comes home from a business trip with only one piece for you, for which you’re almost thankful for the lack of a heart attack. And sometimes, he just ups and gets you a car or something, or five new Saint Laurent blouses.

Depending on who you are, it can get pretty overwhelming, or even troubling. All this worth sitting in your room, and is it even towards a productive cause? You remember the days when your family had to struggle with debt and insurance and student loans, you think of all you know who have to deal with eviction and EBT cards, you think of those who starve or die from sickness because they have no money.

You try to explain to Jumin that all this excess is so ... it’s too much. “But my love, I just want to spoil you,” he says. 

 “Then spend more time with me. Don’t blow all this money on material things. I want you.”

That’s a harder thing for Jumin to grant. He’s a perfectionist when it comes to his work, and it’s an internal struggle for him to forgo his crowded schedule to make room for you. 

But it’s a gift that rewards you both. Jumin’s time clears up a bit more, and he stops trying to bury you in luxury you don’t need. You get to wake up next to him more, and spend afternoons and evenings and nights with him. It’s the best gift he could ever give you. 

– Saeyoung –

No, this is not a shitpost. This boy gifts you a fucking gun. Which, depending on who you are, could even spark an argument where Saeyoung insists strongly that he just wants to keep you safe. Carrying guns is highly illegal in South Korea, but since when did Saeyoung care about the law?

You woke up one morning to Saeyoung already five hours deep into his work, because his sleep schedule is still fucked up even though he’s no longer part of the agency. A strange black box was next to your handbag, and you opened it to reveal a small plastic pistol with ammo cartridges. 

“It should be small enough to fit in your purse. Keep the safety on unless you want to shoot. Stay safe, baby - S”

Saeyoung already gives you crazy gifts of robot cats, automatic night lights, talking dolls, and even at one point a taser. But this was crossing a line. If you got caught with this in your purse, it’d be a legal disaster. 

Now granted, Saeyoung didn’t actually intend for you to be carrying a concealed firearm whenever you go to the cornerstore to buy milk. He just kinda thought it’d be an extra precaution during more troubled times. Being slightly sleep deprived and hopped up on soda at the time didn’t help his decision making. 

You wait until he leaves his hacker den to testily shove the gun under his nose and demand an explanation. He pleads his case, and tries to insist that he was only thinking of your safety.

If you’re not comfortable carrying the gun around, he helps you tuck it away in an accessible part of the bunker. 

“Please, baby, just let me know you’re protected.” He hugs you, and you thank him for his thoughtfulness. Even if its a bit weird. 

– Saeran –

His Ray alter would have scoured the globe for anything you asked of him. Saeran today still wants to spoil you as much as he can. Which, as his life slowly stabilizes, begins to grow in opportunity.

Like his brother, he makes tech for you. Mostly software, such as tricking out your laptop to have firewall defense that no money could buy, or hotwiring your phone to run quicker and faster than new.

His money begins to flow in from freelance work, and he starts to look for more classically romantic gifts. First, it was bouquets of flowers he’d surprise you with, then it was little wrapped boxes of macaroons, and then he would shop for crystal jewelry and expensive perfumes.

He wanted to pursue that ‘princess’ image. He no longer tried to force you into it, but instead let it inspire his romantic bent. Every holiday or occasion that allowed for the slightest excuse for gift giving, and he was guaranteed to give you something or another. On Chuseok, he gave you a silk shawl. For Halloween, it was a large box of decorated sweets. On Christmas, it was a pressed flower pendent. New Years was a smart watch that he reprogrammed. 

And on random occasions, he’ll still come home with a large bouquet of carefully arranged flowers, or perhaps a new potted plant to decorate the house. 

You always reward him with a kiss, and it makes him feel really appreciated. A bit of loving normalcy in his otherwise troubled life. 

– Jihyun –

While Jumin tends to be very ostentatious with his wealth, Jumin is a lot more reserved. He may not buy you Chanel coats on a whim, but he still shells out quite large amounts of money for dinner at a fancy restaurant, or a beautiful hand-printed silk scarf he bought while working in Shanghai.

When he buys you smaller gifts, he picks up things from co-ops and other independent, artsy places, usually while he’s running other errands. He’d be shopping for kitchen gadgets and touring the wellness section, and he spotted this beautiful set of bath salts that he’d thought you enjoy. Or, he’s on his way back from the gym and passed a natural produce boutique, and saw a gorgeous gift box of unique tea mixes. 

He’s a believer of sustainable living, so most of what he buys he tries to put his money towards ethical practices. So if you’re getting something from him, expect it to be natural-grade, vegan, fair-trade, etc. Whether its a bag of candied oranges, or a pearl necklace. 

He likes to be spontaneous with his casual trinkets, and traditional when it comes to occasions. You never know if he’s gonna come back from grocery shopping with a scented candle for you, but it’s for sure that he’s got some special bracelet or hair barrettes for Valentine’s. 

To him, these are all just evidences of his newfound peace and tranquility. There’s nothing like being out and about, seeing something, and being able to go, “Hm! I wonder if my love would like this?” So it propels him to buy it and test out the hypothesis. And it almost always results in your smile, which to him is the best reward.

[phantoms-lair]

❧

“Another day, another mystery solved!” Fred cheered as they drove the Mystery Machine home.

“Like speak for yourself. I would love to have a quiet trip for once,” Shaggy complained. “I thought that Mole Monster was gonna carve me up like a turkey.” He shuddered in the memory.

“Okay, I know we’ve been doing our best not to bring this up,” Velma interjected. “But Shaggy, you’re an honest to goodness werewolf.”

“So what?” Shaggy asked confused.

“You can turn into a giant mass of muscles, claws, and teeth just by taking off your necklace. Yet you’re terrified by someone in a rubber mask.” Velma raised her eyebrow.

“Monsters are scary!” Shaggy defended.

“Give it up Velma, werewolf or not, Shaggy’s still Shaggy.” Daphne stated. “Something which we’re all very grateful for.” she added

“I guess you have a point,” Velma ceded.

“Besides, as long as I’ve got this amulet, I’m as good as human.” Shaggy proudly displayed the brightly glowing moonstone. “And I’m not taking this off for any reason.”

“Not even in the shower?” Daphne asked, aghast.

“Wet fur.”

“I revoke my objection.”

“I dunno, I think it would be kind of cool to be a werewolf.” said Fred.

“It’s not.” Shaggy’s voice was strangely flat. “It’s weird and creepy. At least with this I can actually be norma-” As he spoke the amulet pulsed a ring of pale golden light. “That wasn’t good, was it?” As he spoke his teeth and nails began sharpening.

Velma turned in her seat and saw the now brilliantly glowing pendant and the slow transformation her friend was undergoing. “Freddy...step on it.

~

By the time they had reached the house they shared, the transformation was almost complete. They hurried inside, Scooby keeping a watch so that no one saw them. On the way in, Velma noticed an envelope by the front door. Grabbing it, she noted the strange texture of the paper. She was the last inside, studying the the envelope intently.

Daphne was flinging the curtains closed. While they weren’t famous enough to warrant paparazzi, the occasional reporter would stop by unannounced to ask about their latest case and none of them wanted them to make a scoop out of Shaggy’s curse. “Velma, can you put that down, we have a much bigger problem on our hands.” Shaggy made a small whining noise.

“I’m not so sure it’s unrelated.” Velma broke the wax seal and began untying the string. “This envelope is vellum, sealed with string and wax. I’ve only seen one like it once before. The envelope that copy of Bisclavret was in.”

Shaggy’s ears perked up “The one which gave you the clue on how to turn me back.”

“Exactly. The note inside said it was left by someone I had spoken to about werewolf lore. Since we were at a werewolf festival, that could have meant anyone. I didn’t want to look a gift horse in the mouth, but it’s been bothering me for some time. What are the odds that out of the twenty or so people who heard the prayer, only Shaggy became a werewolf? My guess is not as high as me just so happening to buy a magic amulet that would reverse the effects, at least temporarily. And then having an anonymous well wisher leave me a book that explains how to use said amulet.”

Freddy’s eyes narrowed, “What are you saying Velma?”

“That someone arranged, or at the very least knew this was going to happen. These envelopes are a way of sharing information when he or she thinks we need it. Aha!” The envelope opened and a few pieces of paper fell out, followed by a note card.

The pages were photocopies of a much older book. Prominently displayed on the page were drawings of a familiar moonstone necklace. On the card was printed: Why did Bisclavret run through the woods for days? Mayhaps the time would have been lessened if another would bear his yoke.

Velma read the card out loud for the other. “Bisclavret again. And this proves that there was no coincidence with the pendant.”

“But what language is this?” Daphne was looking at one of the photo pages. “It’s certainly not English, but it doesn’t look like Latin, or Cyrillic, or anything else I’ve seen.”

“It’ll take some time to decipher,” Velma agreed. “But I think the note is what’s important. The timing can’t be coincidental. If we received the book before Shaggy was permanently transformed, we might not have been focused on how Bisclavret returned to normal - or forgotten it under all the other werewolf stories we’d been hearing. Likewise we just so happened to receive this package on the day the amulet failed. Since it would take too long to decipher the pages, the note is the key.”

“‘Why did Bisclavret run through the wood for days?’ Well, he was a werewolf. He wasn’t affected by the moon, like in more modern variants. He could transform by taking his clothes on and off. Hmm,” Velma began pacing in full analytical mode. “But why for days? If he could transform back just by putting his clothes on...That’s it!”

“What’s it?” Shaggy asked hopefully.

“Why would Bisclavret stay as a wolf for days if he didn’t have to? Because he did have to. He had control over the mechanism of his transformation, but he couldn’t halt it completely. At some point he had to transform.”

“The amulet probably works the same way. Or rather it gives Shaggy the ability to be normal, but it’s not a cure. He has to spend some time as a werewolf, or it stops working. When I bought it, it looked like an ordinary necklace. But it’s been glowing steadily more and more. I think that was it’s way of showing it was ‘full’.”

“Great, so how do we, like, change me back?” The pleading in Shaggy’s tone was obvious. Which made Velma’s answer all the harder to say.

“We wait it out. Allow the amulet to discharge. When it stops glowing, it should be able to change you back.”

“How long do you think that would take?”

“I’m not sure, but given the whole parallel with Bisclavret…”

“Days?” Shaggy whimpered.

“Could be.” Velma admitted. That werewolf moaned and curled up into a ball.

“Rut arout re eggs?” Scooby asked.

“Eggs?” Daphne asked.

Shaggy uncurled slightly “The note said something about yolks, right?”

Velma shook her head. “Not those kind of yokes. It means...” She stopped. “Shaggy, toss me the necklace.”

He hesitated, he hadn’t taken the thing off since the festival he’d been cursed at. Still, it wasn’t exactly doing him any good as it was.

Shaggy tossed it over. Velma’s arm tingled as she caught it, which hopefully was evidence for her theory. She slipped it over her head and the necklace pulsed again. A strange tingly feeling swept through her body as bones and muscles rearranged. Fur grew in, along with claws, fangs, and a tail.

“Okay Shaggy, I see what you were talking about. This is weird.” Velma commented as she looked at her new self. “Wait, I have a muzzle, how am I even talking normally?”

Shaggy’s jaw opened and closed, no words coming out.

“Velma, are you okay?” Fred asked, concerned.

“Fine. A little weirded out, but fine. I have so many tests to run.”

“Tests? Velma what is going on?” Daphne asked, “You were wearing that necklace the day you got it and nothing like this happened.”

“It wasn’t ‘charged’ then,” Velma explained. “The key to the note was the word ‘yoke’. It has two meanings. The literal one is a harness farm animals use to pull plows and other equipment worn around their necks. This gave way to the second meaning of yoke - to have a burden on you. The note uses both of them, referring to Shaggy’s being a werewolf as his ‘burden’, which can be ‘harnessed’ by the item he wears on his neck.

“Why did Bisclavret run through the woods for days? Mayhaps the time would have been lessened if another would bear his yoke.’ In two sentences it tells us that Shaggy does have to spend some time transformed, but the amount of time can be shortened if someone else is willing to be a werewolf with him, and that wearing the amulet will achieve that.

“You know, I think you just said that in one sentence a lot more clearly.” Daphne said dryly.

“Our informant isn’t exactly trying to be clear. The first contact was meant to be seen as coincidental. My guess is the only reason this message is as overt as it is is he couldn’t figure out a way to-” Velma broke off. “Shaggy, are you okay?”

Shaggy did not look okay. He was bent over hold his head in his hands, his tail seeming to be trying to wrap around his waist. “Someone did this to me.” He finally said. “I thought it was some random magic thing, could've happened to anyone. But it wasn’t. Someone meant to turn me into a werewolf. Why? What did I do to them?”

~~~~

This is from ‘A Shaggy Wolf Story’, which was the original werewolf Shaggy thing I was going to write, but wanted to wait until Mirror’s Gaze was finished. Then Fangs happened

[daretosnoop]

The Final Scene Review:

Atmosphere/Layout:

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the Nancy Drew games do a stellar job at placing the player within the game. FIN is often given the due credit of being one of the best atmospheric games. The artists effectively portrayed a theater that is long past its prime. Everything is tattered and dusty. Things are old and rusty. How long has that popcorn been sitting there? Or that bubble gum? Who knows? It’s gorgeous! It’s incredible how they manage to make the theater so nostalgic to the player despite it being fictional. It really reminds you of old buildings that are destroyed to make way for corporate offices or businesses. It’s one of the few Nancy Drew games that sets the tone right from the start – dangerous and fast-paced. Maya’s kidnapping sets in the urgency, but right from the start players are required to navigate through an abandoned and creepy backroom only to pop out of a closet. It’s these two scenes that really hammer into the reader that this game is playing no nonsense. It’s like that moment in all horror movies/games where the characters realize this is for real. It really makes sense for the stage rooms to have a bunch of junk lying around here and there because it’s been abandoned. Allowing Nancy to look at them just continues to hammer that in. I mean, did anyone else feel slightly grossed out at the sink with a plunger in it? You really resonate with Nick Falcone’s commitment of protecting America from becoming Generica. Despite its dilapidated state, I’m pretty sure we all can agree that the theater commanded a presence. This game reminded me of the old Scooby Doo episode where they go to the puppet theater and are haunted by that creepy puppet master. And just like the Scooby doo gang, you always felt like someone was watching you—especially in areas like the underground basement and the main theater room.

Music:

Another stellar masterpiece. I don’t think there is a single track I hated. Each title retained the jazzy elements of the theater’s ritzy days, yet there is always something creepy intermixed within it. It really set in the feeling that someone was following you around. Tracks like “Lobby” and “Maya” really brought this feeling home, especially at end game when the danger music is playing and it intermixes with Maya’s theme. OMG, when that music started playing, I really got chills and started to become frantic. I forgot that the axe and hammer don’t work on the ice cube cupboard, which made me waste time. I actually finished this game with seconds to spare because I didn’t know that time didn’t stop when you read the letters.

In terms of little noises, I loved the sound of the doors as you opened it and the rustle of the curtains as you moved them aside. The noise the key make makes and the papers on Nick Falcone’s desk!

Characters:

Nancy: I think everyone agrees that FIN Nancy is a Nancy we rarely ever see. She is taking no crap from anyone. Not only does it reinstate the sense of urgency, but it also shows a Nancy who refuses to be pushed around by others. I mean, not one character dumps their chores onto Nancy! Well Nick Falcone sort of does, but Nancy has the option of calling him out on this!

Simone Muller: Ah, who can forget the best introduction lines ever, “I’m going to have to call you back, someone just stepped out of my closet”. That one line gives you everything you need to know about Simone. She’s busy, has no time for strange occurrences, and doesn’t let anything get in the way of her plans. I love her rudeness, especially when you combine it with Brady and the book he’s reading on “being your own self”. The fact that she refuses to talk to Nancy until the end of day one enforces that “I’ve got no time for you” managerial, Hollywood attitude. One thing this game does well is in making each character suspicious. There is no object or goal the characters are trying to attain, but rather, the game focuses on the lengths they would go to in order to satisfy their desires. Simone wants to make Brady famous because that would make her rich. Thus, from her dealings with Brady’s fans and the floral card, it makes sense that she might kidnap Maya. BTW, I just want to say how amazing this game is by making all the suspicious evidence be everyday items. For Simone, it’s messages and a floral business card. In other words, the suspicion is put on the character’s motives and their personality, as in, how they would achieve said goals.

Brady Armstrong: Total Hottie, am I right? Oh wait, wrong game. Out of the 4 suspects, Brady is the weakest because he really has no reason to kidnap Maya. Even if it was a publicity stunt it wouldn’t be him doing the kidnapping, Simone would make sure of that! But the plot twist they gave to his character was really cool and unexpected. It did bring some new questions, but within the context of the game, it was really great because it took the character with the lowest suspicion rate and made him super suspicious! I know some people might feel like it’s random and came out of nowhere, but I disagree. Brady is shown to have qualms with the amount of control Simone has over his life, not to mention his own fears of a waning career (which btw, nicely ties in with a theater past its prime theme). After Joseph, he shows the most amount of concern for Maya but it feels superficial, like it’s for a press. Later you see him reading the assert yourself book which builds his confidence not only to get out of Simone’s grasps but to go down a different path. Finally, he keeps everything in an office briefcase. It’s a subtle growth, but it’s there.

Nick Falcone: Probably the person the game wanted you to think is the most suspicious because Maya’s kidnapping falls right into his plans, and his past borderline illegal activates to preserve the theater. Honestly, even knowing the true criminal, I think the game did a good job at making Nick suspicious. He gives off the aura of one of those people who make you feel included and then next thing you know you helped someone out in a crime. One of those I’ll be nice and make you trust me, but I have ulterior motives and don’t trust you types. And yet, the game did something so clever with his character that connects him to the real criminal. You see, Nick is relatively nice to Nancy and actually works alongside her a bit, kind of like someone else we know. It’s a clever trick to make Joseph’s eventually reveal seem less jarring because the game has already shown a nice character who is extremely shady.

Joseph Huges: One of those tragic yet scary villains. You really sympathize with his desire to save the theater and his desperation. I felt really bad when the note about his brother’s death was discovered. He’s nice, but the game uses his niceness against you. He’s always there when you need help (he’s watching you). He tries to help you find Maya (he’s making sure you don’t find her before the demolition is due). He’s definitely one of the more dangerous villains because of his desire to be your friend. And yet, I kind of felt like they weren’t intentionally trying to hide this side of Joseph. One of the most obvious things about Maya’s kidnapping is that it would require someone to have intense knowledge of the theater’s layouts, and out of all the characters, Joseph has the most. So from the start, the finger was already on Joseph, but either his “kindness” makes you forget it or makes you deny it because it’s hard to believe. I still wonder if his denial confrontation is intentional or not, or a mix of both. It’s hard to say, he’s definitely a villain that’s exhausted. But it certainly made him one of the best, if not the best, villains in the series.

Puzzles: This game had a nice balance between the puzzles and game. The puzzles weren’t super complicated but they nicely integrated with the theater. I mean, it really wouldn’t make sense for a theater to have complicated puzzles here and there. I think the most complicated puzzle would be the one to get access to the magician’s room. The only puzzle that was a disappointment was using the keys in the attic to get past the door. There were so many keys and they were of similar colour which just made everything chaotic. The end game puzzle was hilarious because it wasn’t a puzzle at all. It was just a magic trick, yet it worked because of the setting! Simone’s phone was a little daunting because I didn’t know what the objective was. I knew you had to put the number from the lipstick card, but where and how wasn’t clear. I kind of guessed a few times then got it.

This game really hammered in the magical phrase “Appearances can be deceiving”.

One funny thing was with the electric door. I forgot to look into the chest to get the rubber gloves, so when I came to the electric door I started to improvise. Instead of going back to get the gloves, my brain went “Well, wood isn’t a good conductor of electricity so if we use the magic wand which is most likely made of wood as a stick and press the numbers with it, we should be good”….. I had to hear Nancy’s scream 3 times before I remembered the gloves.

There were a lot of phone calls, but I like talking to people and gathering bits of clues here and there and having to put everything together. Also, I loved Houdini’s cousin’s morbid humour, LOVED IT!

Graphics:

They show their age here and there, but like the theater, sometimes old is gold. This game doesn’t have little animations that are unique to the character. You could argue for Simone and Joseph as they both had something that was related to their work, but neither revealed much about their character. Graphics is something you can only talk about with the later games, but this game still provided unique angles like Joseph’s head peering into the trap door/magician’s room area.

Plot: It was fantastic. Everything is high stakes and instead of receiving help, Nancy receives reluctance and incompetence. No wonder she tags alongside the villain, he’s the only one who tries to help.

The only thing that I don’t completely get is why Brady felt threatened by Maya. So what if she exposes the fact that he’s the owner of the theater? How does that affect his popularity? If anything, planet Tinseltown would make a bigger dent in it.

Overall, loved this game. 10/10