#hehehehe i took forever. i had to think about how to word this. i hope it makes sense 😭

[immren]

7!! im curious about immrens arc

7. Describe their arc. How would a player help resolve it? What choices can be made? Can your Tav be turned down a dark path, or pulled to a lighter one?

so! if immren was a companion, his arc is pretty much the dark urge storyline, like resisting or giving into the dark urges, defying or staying loyal to bhaal.

HOWEVER! immren is a warlock AND he's a doomed character. 😁

he would only vaguely tell you about his condition in act 1, and you might feel a looming sense of dread about him - he appears so haunted, and it's not just because of the bhaalspawn part. he also seems angry, and seeking revenge, but you don't know why yet.

act 2 is where you can learn more about his condition and his relationship to his patron. you'll find out its not like wyll + mizora's relationship, where you can speak to mizora into freeing wyll from his pact. you find out immren's patron is a malevolent elder god, and you can't communicate with it at all. pieces of that eldritch being's flesh is slowly replacing immren's from the inside.

he tells you that his condition had a reset when he woke up on the nautiloid. he explains this when you guys go to moonrise towers and meet kressa, because he also tells you about how she's the one who vivisected him over and over, which weakened his patron's power in him immensely.

also, he incorrectly made the assumption that kressa was the one who drove the knife into his skull to cause his memory loss + tadpole in his brain. (his drive to get revenge is largely why he sticks by you even when you're playing a good aligned character despite him being very evil.) (also his patron restored some memories upon him waking up on the nautiloid.) (then he figures out it was orin who did that and directs his vengeance towards her in act 3.)

there's no way to save him, by the way.

you have to make the proper decisions throughout the game that will lead to the option of him rejecting bhaal, and if he rejects him, bhaal kills him. withers does not revive him because immren has done nothing worth being saved for.

you let him stay faithful to bhaal, the eldritch flesh remains inside him + congrats you have an evil bhaalspawn in your party you will be forced to kill at the end of the game (unless you romance him AND take the crown for you two to be evil together ❤️)

the eldritch flesh is slowly destroying him the more powerful he becomes (higher the level, more flesh his patron replaces.)

[appleflavoredkitkats]

A List of Underrated Penis SMP Quotes

Made a list of Penis SMP quotes that I don't see people talk about often!! Hope you enjoy :D

“Penis, my Penis, before I succumb to my death, remember this: this electric chair won't be as electrifying as the time we first met. I will love you forever and always, my dearest Penis." — Shitty in “Am I a Dilf...? (Penis SMP) (lore)”

“Pisstopia shall not stand for such tyranny, Milfboss! Everything our piss touches is OURS.” — Pisskink420 in “The Mommy Milkers VS Testicle Tribe Part 2 || PENIS SMP”

“BECAUSE MILFS KILLED MY GRANDMA, OKAY?” — Pisskink420 in “Confronting Milfboss' Vore Addiction || PENIS SMP”

“You think I'm fine, Penis? I CAN'T LOOK AT CHAIRS THE SAME WHY AGAIN? WHY? I CAN— *sniff*— I CAN ONLY SIT ON TOILETS NOW... o-on TOILETS, Penis. Penis I... I think I might have to ask Milfboss to— to— sorry, it's hard to say the c-word, but I— I'm cancelling you. On Twitter. If you... if you still care about me, find me on the shitter. This is your last warning, Penis. I'm expecting an apologist video tomorrow by 10:00 EST.” — Shitty in “My Tenth Breakup? (Penis SMP) (semi-lore)”

“Shitty, I know that I've blabbered continuously about my parents, and I deeply apologize that I— that I've bothered you with my troublesome past. My memory is a bit hazy—I think I inherited that from my mother—but before we must part ways, I have to tell you these inspirational words my mother has whispered to me whenever I felt depressed when I was younger—“ “What is it, Penis?” “...Cock and balls." — Penis in “i'm leaving the penis smp. (penis smp)”

“The discrimination you've presented to us dilfs has been strong, but it will never extinguish our population! We will keep protesting peacefully for you to recognize our worth. Dilfs aren't items— they are people." — Turbothruster in “Dilfphobia Remains Rampant... (Lore)”

“Dilfs, pisskinkers, children of the rectum, testicle tribemen, mommy milkers, despite our differences, we need to join together as one harmonious orchestra to defeat the corrupted Cum Siblings. After all, we all follow the same god to believe in: the Holy Tapeworm." — Shitty in “THE CUM SIBLINGS VORED MY CHILD”

“Heheheh, sorry it took so long— had a difficult time trying to crawl out Quackity's asshole, but how d'ya like my new look? Watch out for your Y/N's, pathetic humans, because it's time to infect this place!” — Tapeworm in “:) secret stream :) i'm back :)”

[honey-milk-depresso]

Meanie (Azul Ashengrotto x Reader) 8

Part 1,

part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Part 7

Part 8 (END)

The final chapter. Congratulations for surviving this long with my bullshit-

“Everyone, please place the flower we have given you in their coffin.”

The sunlight was shining brightly in the early morning of NRC’s campus, 

but no happiness was to be found.

Just yesterday, you have died.

And it took a moment for Azul to realize that you were truly gone.

Everyone in NRC lined up in a single file to pay their final respects to you, one by one placing their flower in your coffin.

When it came to Azul’s turn, he had to hold himself from crying. He felt as if you were watching him. If he cried, you’ll cry too, and he doesn’t want you to fully leave this world with sadness and guilt.

He looked at you. Even if you’re dead, you looked as beautiful as ever.

He grabbed your cold hands, and placed the flower in the middle of your chest, before he gently used your hands to cover the flower, as if you are holding it.

“I love you,” he whispered, “I hope you go to a safe place.” And he walked away.

=============================================================

Azul walked back to Octavinelle with Jade and Floyd. They were silent. Yes, even Floyd stayed quiet.

The atmosphere was solemn.

Azul was solemn.

Never in his life have he came across death, let alone, someone he hold close to.

He used to love before.

He went back to his office alone and tilted his head up. Jade and Floyd went back to their rooms.

He’s not crying. He won’t cry for you.

Read it.

He heard something whisper.

“What..?”

The notebook.

He glanced to his right, the notebook labelled “ To Azul Ashengrotto”.

“Read it after they die,” Trey’s words echoed in his head as he recalls.

He grabbed the book.

To Azul Ashengrotto.

He stared at it, hesitantly flipping to the first page.

“I’m rewriting this from the accounts of Y/n, Azul. She asked for it. I hope you’re reading this.

- Trey Clover”

So Trey wrote this book for you to him.

“Azul and I were chilling at Monstro Lounge in the VIP room.

Lmao, he was soooo unlucky with his pulls, and had to answer all my questions and stuff. Apparently he thinks Idia is more handsome than Jade. Ooh~ 

I really loved the fact he wanted to spend time with me although he looks so done. I really appreciate it!”

He snorted. That was so you.

“Azul and I hanged out at the Rose Kingdom. I’m so glad Headmaster allowed me to hang out with him! Sometimes I feel like Headmaster is a dad. 

I had so much fun! Though, it’s kinda embarrassing that Azul spoilt me with so many gifts, and all I did was drag him around. I love the octopus plushie he won for me. It’s so chubby, soft and cute, just like him! 

He also bought me food from Trey’s awesome family bakery, and a really expensive pendent. I feel guilty, but I love it! It’s so pretty!”

He sighed. Really? Chubby?

“Headmaster told me I’m going to die in five months time. I’m really scared. I know I’ve joked about I feel like dying cuz of Professor Crewel’s homework, now facing with death, it feels really scary.

I have to tell everyone right? Headmaster told me he’ll tell my friends, that includes Azul. How would he feel? I don’t want him to feel sad..”

He flipped to the next page.

“Azul, Jade and Floyd came to visit me. Actually EVERYONE did! Even Leona and Idia! Can you believe it?? But I was so happy that Azul and the tweels came.

I rubbed my eyes so hard because I didn’t want them to see me cry. I was just so happy to see them!”

“Trey told me something. Well, an offered to do something for me. 

He knew I had a superrrr big crush on Azul, and he said I should tell him. I was so embarrassed at first, but I’m going to die soon, so I have to confess sooner or later right? 

He told me he’ll write a whole record of me of what I want to tell him, and then I can give it for him to read after I die.

Sounds like a good idea, but also kind of cruel. After I die????

What should I do?”

So that’s what you were talking about with him.

“I got to be discharged!

FINALLY OH MY SEVENSSSSS-

I CAN GET FRESH AIR BEFORE I DIE

DO YOU KNOW HOW BORING IT IS TO BE CHAINED TO A BED, DOING NOTHING UNTIL SOMEONE COMES TO VISIT???

PROFESSOR TREIN’S CLASS IS WAY BETTER-

Azul brought me around the entire campus, and to Octavinelle! And we played UNO! Although I lost a lot... But I’m happy I got to spend time with him and see everyone outside of the infirmary! ^^”

“I went to NRC’s Halloween Celebration!

IT. WAS. SO. COOL!!

There were like flying decorations and good food,

I got to see NRC become so lively and colorful! It was amazing!

Also I got to hang out with Azul and the tweels, and of course, everyone else!

I even got to be part of all the scaring and stuff at the Octavinelle’s scare house! heheheh~ 

I love the big finale, I wish it could last forever.”

“I made up my mind. 

I’m gonna ask Trey to help me write that book. I want Azul to have a piece of me even when I’m gone. I won’t leave him alone, and I’ll do everything in my power to do so.

If Trey is giving me the opportunity to do so, I’ll take it! Though, I should’ve done it from the beginning..”

“Azul kissed me. 

Oh my shit-

MMM I SHOULDN’T HAVE DRANK THE PLUM WINE HE GAVE ME BEFORE WE KISSED, I PROBABLY SMELT BAD-

BUT HE SAID HE LIKES IT??? WAS IT A GOOD CALL I DON’T KNOW-

But... I’m happy.. I got the courage to confess to him! On top of that, he said yes! I’m so happy I could cry..”

“I’m going to be giving the notebook to Trey. He’s gonna record it all down for me today. 

Azul, I hope you’re reading this. I want you to flip to the back. I asked Trey to attached something really important I want to share with you.”

He flipped to the back. There was a slip of paper folded, stapled to the page. It also held the pendent he bought for you. He grabbed it, and unfolded the paper.

“Azul, 

I’m writing this to you 5 months before I die. Crowley told me to tell everyone about my condition, but I wrote this for you specially.

Remember I told you in that truth or dare game?

“If I told you I was scared to die, what would you do?”

To tell you now, I’m still kind of scared. But I won’t show it! Pretending not being scared isn’t like lying.

Okay, but a practical thing, you could do anything you want with this book.

You can tear it up, throw it away, hide it or even show to everyone! Totally up to you!

I’m gonna be honest with you, I was and still jealous of you.

You were and are the picture perfect honor student of NRC. I haven’t been in NRC as long as you, but I’m just so jealous you manage to be so cool and flawless in everything you do! Well, maybe except for flying..

But still! You were and still are my role model! You always manage to amaze me! But not only that, you treated me like your best friend no matter what position you are! Maybe that’s why I fell for you, you didn’t show biasness towards me to become my friend. I hope you were genuine about our friendship!

But, I like the fact you actually sometimes don’t need other people to reflect about yourself, unlike me. I can’t reflect about me all by myself. If I were like you, maybe I could’ve been able to live entirely by myself, with my own unique worth and responsibilities. Of course, while still being friends with others!

But when it comes to self reflection, you are down to earth with yourself, you speak to yourself, and that’s very independent of you. Ever since you were little you were like that too, and that’s what made you hardworking and diligent!

I’ll end it right here, to tell you I love you. Ehehe~ Sorry it’s so sudden.

I love you, meanie.”

drip.

Pitter, patter, pitter, patter.

Slowly, Azul felt tears rolling down his face.

He broke. Except... that wasn’t true.

He’d been broken when he first heard you were about to die. He just kept strong for you, as you did for him.

He was so glad, he had spent his time with you.

You needed him. You felt like he’d done everything for you.

But now, you’re gone.

It was thanks to you, he never felt insecure about his past anymore. For the first time he met you, his really lived for the first time. He existed in this world.

“Thank you, y/n..” he choked, smiling meekly at your final goodbye letter to him, as he clutched the pendent he gave you.

“I love you so much...”

From Ramshackle dorm, your slightly dusty octopus plushie rest on the side of your pillow.

From far away, he sensed you hugging it, whispering so close to him although so far,

“I love you too, meanie..”

END

============================================================

HO SHIT-

REBLOG IT I FELT MY TEARS I-

Ok I’m joking

thank you for surviving and following with the story. 

Azul loves you. Bye, have a good day!

@magicpumpkin3 don’t kill me pls-

[smellsfaintlyofvanilla]

“Hiii how are you!!!!! Can you please make one with Annie and Hange (They/them) (Separately please if u’d like!) because of something the reader did (Totally for u to decide!) and it becomes a whole deal and the reader ends up apologizing with cute tears in their eyes AND it SOMEHOW became a hot make-out session😏 so a lil bit of smut (HEHEHEHE) for the rest u can do anything u like! Oh and please fem!reader, tysm🥺🥺 enjoy ur day sweetheart!”

@claxrazy

Gotcha! I’m gonna have to cut the smut part a little short because there are two people (so it’d make it too long if I did finish the smut parts), but you can totally request a continuation of this post in a separate request if you’d like!

Anyway, I’ll be starting them both off the same because it’s the same scenario, but I’ll label them when I get to each individual person.

Stupid Decisions

(Annie Leonhart x Reader) (Zoe Hange x Reader)

AU: Canon

Category: Fluff, hurt/comfort (maybe?), some smut

Warnings: None

Summary: You make a risky decision while on a mission, and it ends up worrying your partner to no end. Still, when you two reunite, things go... a little different than expected.

Words: 3.0K

You knew you were in for it once your squadron returned to base.

Your squad, or, more so, you specifically, had disobeyed direct orders from commander Erwin. He had ordered for all troops to retreat, but you had been insistent to him that there was still a squad held up by titans that needed to be saved. He showed no remorse, and his unwavering decision to retreat stayed on. So, in the only thing you could think to do at the time, you pivoted your horse and charged straight at the titans and to the rescue of the stranded soldiers, your squad following after you short thereafter, despite their angry yelling.

The group of soldiers thanked you immensely for your help, but everyone else was displeased. You knew the reaction from your superiors wasn’t going to be especially pleasant, but that was nothing compared to what you had to do next.

Annie Leonhart:

You approached the door hesitantly, taking a deep breath and readying yourself for what waited you on the other side of the door; your girlfriend.

After collecting yourself, you balled up your fist and quietly knocked on the wooden door.

“Who is it?” A muffled voice asked from the other side of the door apprehensively.

You cleared your throat nervously before you began speaking. “Uh, it’s Y/n.” There was a short but heavy silence before you heard shuffling on the other side of the door.

It creaked open wordlessly, and your girlfriend, Annie, stood there staring up at you with a less than pleased expression. Still, she turned her body and opened the door just a little wider in order to allow you inside, and you stepped in quietly, and took a seat on her bed. She closed the door, but instead of joining you on the bed, she leaned against the door, arms folded firmly across her chest.

Somehow, you already knew what was on her mind before she even said anything. “Annie I-”

“What on Earth were you thinking.” She spat out, not even looking at you. Your jaw snapped shut immediately, silenced by Annie’s words. Just as you had thought - she was upset with you.

A tense, almost uncomfortable silence passed over the room, with Annie quieting once again, and you at a loss for words. You almost wondered how long it would be until someone spoke, because you were sure you could’ve heard a pin drop in the silence.

Finally she continued. “You were given direct orders to retreat, weren’t you?” She brought herself up off the wall and faced you directly, and you shrunk helplessly under her glare. “But you just had to go back for those idiots, didn’t you?”

She wouldn’t even lie to herself for a moment. It was just like you to go back and save people - somehow, that was just in your nature. But she couldn’t mask her disappointment. Truthfully, she was proud of your bravery and skills. But, more than anything, she was worried for you, and for your safety. She couldn’t imagine her world without you. She needed to make sure she never lost you.

“Don’t you understand it, Y/n?” She bit her fingernails - a bad habit she had been meaning to kick - with a troubled look on her face, and it almost seemed like she was talking to herself more so than you. Almost.

“You could’ve gotten seriously hurt! Don’t you realize how stupid that was?!” She raised her volume more and more, her tone getting considerably angrier. “What could have possibly gone through your head to convince you that that was a good idea?! Did you- did you even bother thinking at all?! About how quickly you could’ve led yourself and your squad to their deaths?! How easily you could’ve added ten more lives to the list of casualties?!”

She stepped forward suddenly, gripping your shoulders firmly. She didn’t want to sound so harsh, but she really needed to get the idea through your head.

“Did you even bother thinking at all?!” She shook your shoulders lightly, trying to pry a reaction out of you as you hung you head low, not showing your face at all. “Well?!”

She waited impatiently for a response, but she heard none. She was about to continue on about your lack of regard for yourself, and your blind hopefulness in battle, but her words died in her throat when a drop of something fell from your face, landing silently on your thigh. Her expression softened as a twinge of sympathy made it’s way to her chest. 

She dropped down to one knee to confirm for herself, and her eyes widened as she was deemed correct.

You were crying.

You choked back quiet sobs as tears fell silently from your face, making your vision far too blurry to make out Annie’s sorrowful expression.

Well shit. 

She knew she needed to be firm in her stance if she wanted you to listen, but making you cry was never a part of the plan.

She ditched the uncaring persona immediately, an overwhelming urge to comfort you overtaking her. She wrapped an arm around your back to pull your crying face into her chest, quietly shushing you.

“Y/n? Y/n, I’m sorry... I didn’t mean to make you upset... Please stop crying...” She pulled your head closer into her, rubbing soothing circles into your back as you sobbed quietly.

You weren’t oblivious to anything she was saying. You knew it was dangerous, unsafe, and most of all, a stupid decision. It had been eating you up, the thought of what would’ve happened if it had gone wrong. As much as you wanted to keep your composure in front of your girlfriend, the stress and the yelling just broke the barrier of tears from your eyes as you sniffled into her chest.

After a moment, she shifted the two of you to lie on your sides, and she reached her hand down to pull a blanket over top of the two of you, warmth enveloping you comfortingly.

“Y/n... I didn’t mean to upset you. I just... I was just worried about you. If something ever happened to you...” She paused, and you could practically feel her breathing hitch from your spot on her chest.

She didn’t finish her sentence, but she didn’t need to. You understand what she meant.

She continued to cuddle into you, cradling your head into her chest and shushing you soothingly. One hand ran delicately through your loose locks of hair while the other slipped under your shirt to rub circles on your bare back. After a while of silent comfort, your cries died down to quiet sniffling.

Finally, you turned your face to peer up at her from her chest, gazing into her eyes sorrowfully. Despite the harsh, icy coloring of her irises, you looked into them and saw nothing but gentle admiration, mixed with a twinge of sympathy.

“Annie...” You said faintly, the first words that either of you had spoke for at least the past twenty minutes. “Sorry... I... I understand now that what I did was risky and stupid, I just wasn’t thinking. I didn’t mean to make you worry. I’m sorry...” You muttered out an apology, and the vulnerability and intimacy of it made a pink blush rise to your cheeks.

“No no,” Annie interjected quickly, wasting no time to respond to your apology. “You don’t need to apologize, Y/n. I was being way too harsh to you. I didn’t mean to make you cry, I’m sorry.”

You smiled up at her, glad that she was no longer angry at you. You always hated fighting with the blonde, and you knew she hated it too.

A beat of silence passed whilst you two stared into each others’ eyes longingly, before Annie made a move on the tense silence, grabbing your chin and moving your face closer to hers. Her eyes fluttered shut as your lips neared, and you did the same, before closing the gap in an affectionate, apologetic kiss.

Her lips were as soft as they always were, and just the presence of her lips against your own calmed you down, a warm aura soon filling the room. You wished the moment could last forever, simply basking in the moment while you had the time. You were so caught up in the kiss that you failed to realize the hand under your shirt was slowly slinking up your back and...

*SNAP*

Annie had brought the back of your bra up and off your skin, before letting go and letting the fabric snap against your back harshly. You squeaked at the contact, pulling away from the kiss instinctively, as a small stinging sensation spreading from the spot on your upper back.

She only smiled at your cute reaction, before pulling your lips back to hers more hungrily this time. She bit your bottom lip as if asking for entrance of her tongue in your mouth, and you gave in right away. She grazed the wet muscle against your teeth teasingly, before diving in further to explore your mouth.

After a moment of unexpected, but heated passion, you pulled away from her to catch your breath, pants falling from your lips as a thin trail of saliva still connected you to her.

“Annie?” You question breathlessly. “What’s... what’s this about?”

She only chuckled, and looked to the side, hiding the pink blush on her cheeks. “Ah, Y/n, you’re just too cute. I couldn’t help myself.”

She gazed down at your flustered face, and took note of the bewilderment on your features. “We can stop if you-”

“No!” You responded, perhaps sounding too eager. You covered the lower portion of your face with your arm in embarrassment before continuing. “We can... we can keep going.”

“Are you sure?” She questioned once again. “I’m only gonna do this if you want me to Y/n-”

“I want to, don’t worry.” You sighed, already feeling the warm, wet arousal pool in between your legs.

Annie smiled at the opportunity before shifting positions a bit, landing you on your back, pinned under her. She brought her mouth to your neck, trailing ghosting kisses along the skin as you whimpered quietly. Slowly, she worked her way down your abdomen, slinking under the blanket as she groped your breasts hungrily and brought her mouth to the area where your lower stomach and groin region met. She pulled down your trousers, along with whatever underwear you were wearing, down to your ankles, before planting a kiss directly on your swollen clit, eliciting a moan from you, which only seemed to encourage her more.

You had no idea how things had escalated into this, but damn, you were not apologizing.

Zoe Hange:

You hesitated in front of the section commander’s door, your closed fist hovering over the wood vacantly stagnantly. You had to knock, of course, you needed to talk with your partner, but you knew how scary they were when they were angry. They would never hurt you, you knew that, but that didn’t stop them from being intimidating.

A loud crash from the other side of the door startled you out of your thoughts as you let out a subtle gasp. Yeah, they’re pissed... You sighed internally, being loudly reminded of their habit of throwing furniture when angry.

Still, you swallowed your fear and braced yourself, taking a deep breath before knocking on the door quietly.

The ruckus on the other side abruptly stopped, almost like the chaos itself got curious by the noise.

The door opened wordlessly, and Hange stood tall on the other side of the doorframe, staring down at you, their usual bright face stained with frustration and annoyance. Your eyes shifted over their shoulder and gazed on in amusement at the upturned table in the corner of the room.

After a moment of silence, you expected at the very least for Hange to step aside and let you inside, but they didn’t budge.

“Hange?” You spoke up curiously.

They provided no verbal response, instead grabbing you by the shoulders and pulling you into the room, before shutting the door and slamming you against it harshly.

“Y/n!” Hange spat, their face hovering inches away from yours. Most of the times, such close proximity would be a welcome development, but at this moment, it was terrifying. They had not the optimistic grin they usually did, but instead an angry scowl. “What were you thinking?! Disobeying Erwin’s orders like that, I can’t believe you Y/N!!” They shook your shoulders, rattling you against the doorframe.

“Do you not have respect for him as a commander?! Don’t you realize there’s a reason he had ordered to you to retreat, dammit!” They released their grip on your shoulders, turning around to throw their hands in the air dramatically, before balling them up and punching a nearby bookshelf, breaking the wood and causing a multitude of books to fall to the floor.

They continued pacing around angrily, eyes fixed on the ground, seemingly lost in thought. They continued to walk in circles, their energy alone filling the room with a tense air. It stayed this way until they heard a quiet sound from the direction of the door.

Was that... Hange thought, turning around to face you, a sniffle?

Their eyes widened as they were proved correct, the tears in your eyes being a very distressing sight to them.

“Y/n!” Hange half-shouted, running over to you to survey what was going on. “What is it?!”

You sniffled again and wiped your eyes with your sleeve, struggling to find words for what you were thinking. You knew Hange didn’t mean to be, but they were incredibly scary when angry. Watching them march around and throw or punch things couldn’t help but make you frightened.

“I... I...” You sniffled. You expected more pushing from Hange, but you were caught off guard by arms wrapping around your neck and your face being pressed into the cloth of Hange’s shirt as she held you delicately.

Suddenly calmed down from their little tantrum, they held your head into your chest and soothingly shushed your cries.

“I’m sorry, did I scare you darling?” They whispered, concern lacing their voice. “I... I didn’t mean to do that. I’m sorry, Y/n.” They continued stroking your hair, and you latched your arms onto them, tugging at the back of their shirt.

“S-Sorry Hange...” You whimpered. “I didn’t mean to worry you... or disobey orders... I just... I couldn’t let them...” You couldn’t find it in you to continue, but Hange knew what you where going to say nonetheless.

“Don’t apologize.” Hange responded almost immediately. “You have nothing to apologize for.” They lulled, rubbing your back tenderly in a way that made you sigh into their chest as you felt the stress and tension dissolve off of your body. “I understand why you did it. I... I let my emotions get ahold of me. I shouldn’t be so aggressive around you like that.” They said, swallowing their pride in order to issue a proper apology.

You sniffled into their chest, your crying dying down as they continued to comfort you in a way that only a lover could do.

You stayed like that for a while, until you felt a small tug on the back of your head as Hange gently pulled your head out of their chest. They slouched over slightly, coming so close that your faces were inches apart, staring shamelessly at your lips.

“Can I?” They asked permission politely, and got their answer immediately as you closed the gap, colliding your lips with theirs.

The shock on Hange’s face lasted a microsecond at most, easing into the sudden kiss aimlessly, glad to enjoy this moment with you.

The kiss was only sensual for a moment, before Hange suddenly pushed their tongue past your lips easily, causing you to whine into their mouth.

You felt their hands slink lower down your back, and before long, they were seated comfortably on your ass. They lifted you up off the ground quickly, and you wrapped your legs around Hange’s waist securely so you didn’t fall. You felt Hange walking somewhere, but you were too caught up in making out to notice.

You finally felt them stop and set you down somewhere, and, to your dismay, they disconnected your lips from theirs, a trail of saliva still connecting your lips. You took a moment to both catch your breath and survey your surroundings.

Quickly, you realized that you had been set down right on Hange’s work desk, many scattered papers and documents lay flat right under where you sat.

Without warning, their lips returned to yours harshly, and your mouth immediately opened in submissiveness, allowing Hange more access to the inside of your mouth. You felt one of their large hands trail over the fabric of your shirt before dipping into the waistband of your pants and into your panties.

They slowly ran their finger up and down your clit, causing you to whine and whimper into their mouth as you continued to make out. Your arms flew around Hange’s neck to pull them closer to you, and your hips bucked into their hand to get more pressure on your clit.

Hange obliged to your silent pleas, dipping a finger into your folds, the wetness allowing it to slide in all the way up to the knuckle effortlessly. A strangled gasp left your lips as you disconnected from them abruptly, shutting your eyes in pleasure.

“You’re so wet for me, hm?” They cooed, sliding their finger out once again. You had no chance to give any sort of response, though, before they thrust their finger into you again, harsher this time. The sudden action and the spark of pleasure it sent up your spine caused a lewd moan to spill from your throat. You immediately blushed at the noise, though, covering your mouth in shame.

Your eyes finally met Hange’s, and they had a very primal, sadistic look on their face, a coy grin plastered across their face.

“You’re so cute, Y/n.” They smiled, pulling their finger out, leaving you feeling empty.

They walked over to a drawer on their nightside table, and you raised an eyebrow in confusion, before you remembered what they kept in the drawer.

They looked through, before picking up two strap-ons. One long and thick, and the other smaller with textured bumps on it.

“So,” they smiled, “Do we want the blue one or the green one today?

Sorry, this is kinda bad lol

Also, this took like too weeks lolllll whoops

[fairestwriting]

Wait a second! I absolutely adore that hcs where the boys helped mc get together with their vice dorm head. Then, what if its the other way around? 👀 may I request the vice dorm head's crush asking to set them up with their dorm heads now? You can exclude Ortho since well...he's a baby lol. Hehehehe. Thank you! Angst we go~

YEAHHH pain time lets go. im reusing the trey/riddle/reader childhood friend love triangle from that post btw because i liked that one so much. this is once again, So fucking long.

+ if you like my writing, you can buy me a ko-fi to support me!

Trey Clover

Trey was the one who introduced you to Riddle, all those years ago, when you were all just brats running around in the Country of Roses. Since then, the three of you had been pretty much inseparable.

Unlike Riddle, who was more on the reserved side when it came to affection, Trey was rather open with it. People just knew you were close, you spent most of your time off classes together, occasionally joined by Riddle. You all meant so much to each other, it felt like you'd just be together forever, just like this.

But things start to change when you find yourself wanting to be closer to Riddle. You saw him often, but it never felt like it was enough, he wouldn't leave your mind... you were starting to develop serious feelings for him, yet you didn't know what to do about it.

Riddle had become Heartslabyul's dorm leader recently, and he was taking his duties seriously, as seriously as he took everything else. He'd have less and less time for you and Trey, you didn't know how you could get your feelings through to him, who always had his head on his work. It just felt hopeless.

You couldn't handle all the pining anymore, so you decide to ask Trey for help. How could you communicate your feelings to Riddle when he felt so distant? You feel like the only person who could possibly know what to do would be Trey.

You come to him when he's baking by himself, lingering around the kitchen as you beat around the bush for a bit, but eventually spit out that you were in love with Riddle, and didn't know how to confess to him when things were like this. Trey stops his work for a second, surprised once he hears you had fallen for him... but then he looks at you with a smile in his face, and promises to help.

Of course, helping doesn't come without some teasing, but Trey does sincerely want to assist you. He'll ask you questions to understand the situation as well as he could, finding out how you two had been getting along lately.

So you spill all your worries to him, about how Riddle had barely been talking to you recently, how you were worried he’d reject you and it’d ruin your group’s chemistry. Trey takes in your words with an attentive stare, it somehow feels sour to hear them, like an unwanted change. Had he believed the three of you would have the same sort of relationship forever? That seemed so childish, but now that he had to think about this...

When you’re done venting, Trey ruffles your hair and declares you should bake him a tart, with his help of course -- Which is met with confusion, but as he begins getting the ingredients out, he explains how catching Riddle’s attention with something that would get the stress out of him would be a good way to start your confession.

You’re a bit overwhelmed by the idea of doing this now and today, but you go along with him. While you two are making the dessert, you go over what you should tell him. Trey guesses that Riddle’s distance did come from him not doing well lately, and he reassures that you three would still be friends no matter what, even if you got rejected. You were all mature enough to accept things as they are, weren’t you? You shouldn’t let your bond be shaken by something like this.

When you’re done, you have a tart in your arms and a plan in your head, feeling calm. Trey really did know how to help people, he’s such a good friend -- You make sure to tell him that as you hug him tight. Just a couple hours ago you had no idea what to do, now you knew the exact words to use when confessing your feelings to Riddle. You really did owe him one.

Trey just laughs it off as he hugs you back, wishing you good luck and saying he’ll be there for you no matter what. You pick the tart up and turn on your heel to leave, and his smile just dies immediately.

He feels like he’s missed an opportunity he never even really considered, but one might suppose you don’t know what you’ve lost until you’ve had it taken away -- Still, it’s you and Riddle, he can’t go against you. He just hopes you two are happy if you get together.

Jade Leech

Jade knows all of Azul’s friends, and you were no exception. Whether it was because Azul ordered him to keep an eye on you or because he was just curious, even though you didn’t talk much by yourselves, he did know who you were.

Being very observant, Jade’s already caught on to the fact that you liked Azul. It was funny watching you two dance around each other, he might have placed a bet with Floyd on when you’d get together -- But he definitely didn’t expect for you to come to him to ask for help on setting you two up.

That sparks Jade’s interest. You’d think he was suspicious, with how quickly he’s willing to help you, but the proposal just amuses him too much to deny it. He likes putting plans together, he’d been interested in your relationship with Azul, what more could he ask for?

You might not trust him that much initially, even if you came to him for help. It’s easy to be suspicious of Jade, after all, no one can tell what he’s thinking behind that poker faced smile after all. But he assures you that he had nothing to win if he messed up your relationship with Azul, and setting you two up seemed amusing, so he’d do it.

And so, Jade becomes your very own Azul teacher. Jade knows him as well as the palm of his hand, so he’ll explain some of his manneirisms to you, tell you about things he likes that he hides from the public, help you plot dates. He thinks it's cute how excited you get when you feel like you've gotten a new piece to your puzzle.

Early on, he doesn't see you as much more than someone to toy with, honestly. But your reactions are more interesting to watch than anyone else, you have this sparkle to you that sets you apart from other people. And he supposes that's the sort of person who would be good for Azul, yet...

He knows he's getting attached when it feels like the game grows stale. Soon, seeing Azul's rare flustered expressions and your determination paired together as you spent time with each other wasn't fun anymore. He was still helping, but even as he picked your outfit for this date, he can't help but feel jealous. He wants this to be for him.

Jade isn't nice enough that he'll play along until you feel like you've gotten close enough to Azul. No, whether they worked together or not, he wanted you to be his, he's more angry than anguished -- Painfully jealous.

One day, he simply declares that he won't be helping you anymore, cutting your long scheme short. You're shocked, asking why, and Jade tells you that from now on, you'd both be planning your own separate games. You could still try to win Azul's affections, but that would go on as he tried to win yours.

Rook Hunt

Everyone who knew about your crush on Vil had been telling you, he’s way out of everyone’s league, he probably gets thousands of confessions a day, he’s so popular and above this lowly world, one can’t just come up to him and ask him out.

Yet your feelings just don’t go away. You know it’s not some celebrity worship thing, that wasn’t why you got close to him -- Since you noticed how off he seemed to be during the VDC, you had wanted to know the real Vil, and from being a manager to the NRC performance, you two did end up close, and your curiosity was quickly turning into something else, as you caught more glimpses of his off-camera self...

But it all still felt so hopeless. As much as you didn’t want to believe others, you knew what they said held some truth to it, you couldn’t just walk up to Vil and confess your feelings, that wouldn’t work with someone who’s experienced that countless times. You needed to do something special, and you needed to get close to him properly.

You had spent some time thinking about this already, and came to the conclusion you just couldn’t do it alone, you needed help to go near Vil’s heart -- And what better helper than the one who seemed to be his best henchman, Rook Hunt himself? You weren’t all that close to him, but he seemed well intentioned enough, so he’d hopefully at least give you some tips...

You approach Rook at Pomefiore, embarrassed you were doing something like this, but you swallow down all your pride. When you tell him you have a problem you needed his help to solve, he’s already all ears, but when you tell him that it’s about you falling in love with Vil and not knowing what to do about it, it’s like something sparks inside of him.

There’s nothing more beautiful than love, Rook is immediately willing to help you win Vil’s heart. He’s dealt with Vil’s admirers before, but never like this, they just blurted out their feelings to him and didn’t seem capable of playing a longer game -- You, though, were different, and that told him you might just be the one for his oh-so-cold queen.

He’ll ask you about what you had in mind for the confession, what you knew about Vil already, all while taking you out for a walk near the dorm building. You two have a long conversation about Vil, and Rook doesn’t want you to spare a single detail about your feelings, he wants to know precisely and vividly why you’d fallen for him.

You two meet a couple times to talk about him. Rook tells you all the things he knows about Vil, so numerous you feel a little jealous, which he notices. He can’t get enough of all the expressions your emotions cause, you begin to look so radiant for him. A dedicated protagonist, working hard towards achieving the love of someone who seemed so far away from them... it just feels poetic, the thought of you shows up more and more often in his head.

Even though he’s teaching you the ways of a specific type of beauty, he learns that the one you have is even brighter than it. The one thing more beautiful than love is your yearning, it seems, your dedication and determination, the pure dreams you had of just making Vil happy. 

The two of you plot an elaborate confession, he’d make sure you’d have a table in the Pomefiore building’s garden just to yourselves, so you could have tea together as the sun sets. You’re counting the days until your date excitedly, confident that you’ll get your feelings through to Vil, and Rook realizes he’ll have to let you go soon.

Oh, he does not want that -- Even if the thought of you in love with Vil was so stunning, the light of it felt like it blinded him. He thinks of all your expressions of affection towards the queen, and he wishes these were towards him, but he knows he has to accept his fate.

When he’s dropping you off at the date location, he kisses your hand and wishes you luck, telling you he’s so happy for you, though he admits that, as shameful as that was, he wishes nothing more than to be Vil right now. Your eyes go wide at the confession, you’re about to apologize, but Rook dismisses it, saying that he really is happy for you, and hopes you’re happy, too. It’s all genuine, just like your wish to win Vil’s affections that made you come to him.

Lilia Vanrouge

You two don't really know each other, at first. Even though you'd been meeting up with Malleus near Ramshackle often for a couple months now, you didn't really have other friends in the Diasomnia dorm -- You didn't tell Malleus about it, but you did find them intimidating.

You were catching some serious feelings for Malleus, though, and he seemed completely blind to every hint you dropped, intentional and unintentional, and desperate times requer desperate measures. You go over all Diasomnia members you knew, and Lilia seems like the most approachable one. You swallow down your unease, and tell him you needed to talk about something.

Lilia, being the decently welcoming person, agrees to meet you away from prying eyes, where you admit that you had been crushing on Malleus for months now, but had no idea what to do about it because he seemed completely immune to any of your hints and flirting. Lilia listens to you attentively, up until the point where you say that you wanted his help on asking him out properly.

He’s honestly surprised at your actions. There’s a sincerity and boldness to them he rarely sees on anyone else, it leaves an impression in his mind. Plus, the idea of Malleus finally being with someone makes him happy, look at him, he grew up so fast! Yeah, he’s definitely up for helping you.

You two talk it out for a while, he asks about what you had been doing to try to catch Malleus’ attention. You explain all the implications you’d been slipping into your speech, all the compliments and the casual touching that made your heart explode everytime you engaged in, but you still did it because you wanted Malleus to know that hey, you liked him. When you’re done spilling your woes, Lilia chuckles, and asks you if you wanted to try doing this in a way he’d understand better.

You don’t know what he means at first, but before you can ask it, Lilia tells you he’d teach you how dragon fae court each other, that would surely get the message through to Malleus! Your eyes go wide at the suggestion, and you immediately agree to it. That’s a plan that wouldn’t fail, right?

And Lilia is nothing if not a good teacher. He takes you to the library to skim books, making sure you have some of the basics about fae culture down before getting to the real stuff. You turn out to be one of his best students, too, you two end up becoming quite the undefeatable pair -- And you become friends, too, your studying sessions are peppered with small conversations about unrelated things.

Lilia just gets fascinated with you. He finds you so interesting to be around, with your willingness to learn and diligence, but he really grows to love the idealistic, sort of hopeless romantic side of you, who was so in love with Malleus and willing to put all this work to make everything go well with him. You just seem so pure, not as in naive, but as in kind and genuine. People like that are surprisingly rare.

When you get to the gift giving portion, the most important one, you’re learning faster than ever, the excitement in your eyes never leaving. Lilia is happy and proud of you -- But when he starts seeing you wear Malleus’ jewelry gifts around, even though he instructed you to do so, he finds himself not liking to stare at it.

He knows himself enough to know what this means, and, really, how stupidly ironic it was. Lilia really did get attached to you while trying to set you up with someone else, this didn’t even feel like something that should happen in real life. It stings, but he goes on with his mission, he wouldn’t just leave things as they were.

Your confession would involve gifting him a gem Lilia got you, one meant specifically for love confessions like these, as he instructed. Your eyes glitter when he puts it in your hands, telling you that now you were ready to actually ask Malleus out -- And with how things looked like, it seemed he was trying to get his feeling through to you too. He’s sure you won’t be rejected, and makes sure you know that.

You thank Lilia, saying you wouldn’t forget how helpful he’d been to you. Lilia smiles and says you don’t have to thank him -- Just make sure Malleus and you are a happy couple, even if he hates to look at it. 

You don’t understand what he means with this, but when you’re about to ask, he disappears into thin air, leaving nothing but a glittering trail behind. He never mentions what he’d said again, even when you stay friends after the confession.

[cobaltusami]

Superhiro

bleh! Finally It's finished! This took so fricking long to write- But It was a lot of fun. It reminded me of when I was a kid and would play heroes and villains with my friends. I could have fleshed out the ending t word scenes more but I was afraid It would be too long because I could literally go on forever. Besides, I think there's going to be more installments to this with more focus on a single villain instead of multiple ones. That's my plan anyway!

Word count: 4467

Characters: Ler!Hiro, Switch!Chihiro, Lee!Leon, Switch!Taka(briefly), Lee!Mondo(briefly), Lee!Makoto(briefly), Ler!Hina(briefly), Ler!Sayaka(briefly), Sakura, Celeste, Byakuya

The air In the school was heavier today than usual, and the atmosphere was filled with negative energy. Everyone seemed to be affected by It, being less cheerful and more agitated than usual.

Even people like Makoto weren’t impervious to it’s lingering effects. Apparently he and Byakuya had gotten into an argument in the dining hall in front of the other students.

Hiro hadn’t witnessed any of It, having slept In this morning. He was just on his way to join his classmates when he spotted Chihiro exiting the hall. He waved to them but they seemingly didn’t notice. “Hey Chihiro!” He greeted cheerfully in spite of the looming negativity.

That’s when he noticed It.

Chihiro looked up at him with tears in their eyes, stuttering and trying to greet him back. They gave up on their failed attempt after a moment.

“Chi? What’s wrong buddy?” He asked, concerned as he approached the smaller student.

Chihiro shook their head and went running past him, most likely to the solitude of their room.

Hiro was about to go after them but heard yelling coming from the dining hall, he sighed. So that’s why Chihiro was so upset. He took a calming breath and entered the room.

“You fuckin dumbasses! Will you stop fighting!? You scared Chihiro!” Mondo yelled at the two students in question.

“It’s not my fault! He started it!” Makoto pointed a finger accusingly at the affluent progeny.

Byakuya opened his mouth to say something but Taka interjected first. “I don’t care who started the yelling, I am giving you both an order to STOP YELLING!” He snapped.

“Jeez, The hell did I just walk In on?” Hiro muttered under his breath, still going unnoticed by his classmates. He lingered In the doorway for another moment before deciding to turn around and go after Chihiro.

“Chihiro? You In there?” He asked through the door after not getting a response from ringing the doorbell. “It’s me, Hiro.”

There was some shuffling from inside the room for a moment before silence, As if they were hesitating on whether to let him in or not.

“If you don’t wanna open the door, I’ll just sit here and wait until you’re ready.” He said reassuringly, Leaning against the wall next to the door.

Leon approached the Clairvoyant, coming from the direction of the dining hall. He nodded a greeting to the taller student and knocked on the door in a short random tune. “Yo, Chi. It’s Leon. I’m here too.” He announced.

Hiro smiled at the red head and sat down on the floor, Leon followed his lead and sat on the other side of the door. “Mondo was gonna come check on you too, But he didn’t wanna scare you because he’s pretty mad right now.” The Aspiring rockstar said.

“What were those two fighting about anyways?” Hiro asked.

Leon sighed and rolled his eyes. “Stupid shit. Byakuya’s being…”

“Byakuya?”

“I was gonna say a total dick, But yeah.” Leon snickered. “Anyway, He was being a dick and came in insulting us. Mondo started to get mad but Makoto’s the one who got In his face. And Chi tried to diffuse the situation but Byakuya…”

“Lemme guess, He said something really mean didn’t he?”

“Yeah.” Leon replied with a soft sigh.

The door unlocked and slowly opened, revealing a shaking and tearful Chihiro. “H-He said… No o-one asked me, a-and n-no one wanted m-me there. He-He said… He...” They shook their head and backed up into the room, leaving the door open for the two students.

Hiro was the first to spring up and go Inside the room, pulling the programmer Into a hug. Leon was only a few seconds behind him. He closed the door as he entered the room, hearing the yelling picking back up in the dining hall.

He sat down on the foot of the bed quietly, trying not to outwardly show how angry he was for how his friend was treated.

“It’s okay Chi…” Hiro said softly to the crying student.

After a few minutes they pulled back from Hiro, wiping their eyes with their sleeves. “He said… That no one likes m-me...” they choked out.

“Hey! That’s not true! Since when did Byakuya have a good take on anything?” Hiro retorted, picking the programmer up and setting them on the bed next to Leon. “We all love you!”

Chihiro sniffled, Looking up at Hiro with hopeful eyes. “R-Really?”

Hiro crouched down so he was at eye level with them. “Really!” he smiled, ruffling their hair.

“Yeah, That prick doesn’t speak for us! You should know that by now.” Leon added.

Chihiro wiped their face with their sleeves again, tears still leaking down their cheeks.

“That doesn’t mean It doesn’t still hurt to hear things like that.” Hiro interjected. “It’s okay to be sad.”

“Right.”

Chihiro nodded wordlessly.

Hiro looked at Leon silently, trying to come up with a way to cheer the programmer up. The rockstar offered a small shrug as a response.

He racked his brain for a minute before coming up with an idea, He grinned and stood back up to full height. “I got It!”

Chihiro jumped at the sudden exclamation. “W-What?”

The eldest student grabbed the sleeves of the jacket draped over his shoulders and tied them in a knot around his neck, mimicking a superhero’s cape. “I think It’s about time I revealed my secret identity to you!”

Chihiro and Leon exchanged confused looks. “W-What Is he talking about?”

“You’re asking me as If I know?” Leon retorted.

“Well, My name Is still Hiro… But I’m actually a superhero! Ooh! Superhiro If you will!” Hiro grinned, making a superhero pose.

“Oh booooo! That was horrible man!”

Chihiro, to both the mens surprise, giggled at this. “W-What’s your power?”

“I sense when people are feeling down. My superpower Is…” Hiro suddenly scooped up the programmer, cradling them in his arms. “Cheer up tickles!”

He lightly began tickling Chihiro’s sides and belly, causing them to squeal and erupt into bright giggles. “Hehehehe! Hiro! stooop!” they giggled, playfully pushing at his hand.

“Sorry buddy, No can do! I can’t stop until you’ve been effectively cheered up.” Hiro grinned, pinching at their side.

Chihiro’s giggles soon turned into happy laughter as they squirmed.

“Squirm all you want, You can’t escape!” Hiro sang teasingly, spidering his fingers along their ribs. “Another power of mine Is keeping sad friends trapped while I tickle them happy again!”

They laughed harder and gently pushed at his hand. “Okahahahay! H-Hiro plehehehease! I’m hahahappy!”

“Are you sure? Because Superhiro doesn’t like being lied to.” He chuckled.

“I-Ihihihihi’m sure!” they tittered.

“Alright,” He paused, withdrawing his hand. “One more thing though!”

“W-What?”

Hiro readjusted his hold on the still slightly giggling programmer, now holding them bridal style instead of holding them with one arm. He lifted them higher into the air closer to his face, and blew a long raspberry against their belly.

They shrieked and pushed at Hiro’s head, dissolving into fits of loud laughter in his grip.

After blowing a second one, he relented, laying Chihiro down on their bed as they recovered from their fit. “You feel better now kiddo?” He smiled as he untied his jacket sleeves.

Chihiro nodded, still giggling breathlessly. “Yehes… Thank you H-Hiro…”

As Hiro held his jacket In his hands, about to drape it back over his shoulders, an idea struck him. Maybe there was a way to help with the negativity problem…

“I have an idea.” He hummed, throwing the article of clothing over one shoulder as he knelt down on the floor. He leaned against the foot of the bed facing the other two students. “I think I might be able to fix everyone’s bad moods.”

“R-Really? How?” Chihiro asked, their face lighting up as they sat up.

“Don’t tell me…” Leon sighed. Already seeing where this was going.

“Maybe Superhiro should go pay the grumpy students a visit.” he winked, confirming Leon’s suspicions.

Chihiro giggled. “I think so too!”

“I’m not sure that’s gonna work, I mean, There’s no changing Byakuya’s mood from what I’ve seen.” Leon mumbled.

“You know,” Hiro started, seemingly ignoring Leon’s reasoning. “I’m gonna need a sidekick If I’m gonna take down all these evildoers…”

“H-Hey! Are you even listening to me??”

The answer Is no. Not that anyone should be shocked that Hiro isn’t listening to reason.

“What do you say, Chi? Wanna help me get the negative meanies?” He asked.

Chihiro’s eyes widened with excitement, a big smile overtaking their features. “S-Sure!” they beamed.

Leon sighed, throwing his hands up as he was continuously ignored. “Why do I even bother?”

Chihiro bounced up off the bed excitedly and retrieved another sweater from their closet, draping It over their shoulders and tying it at the sleeves just as Hiro had earlier. “I’m ready!”

Hiro laughed at the unusual behavior from the normally meek programmer. “Now you need a super name…”

“Hmm… How about The Decoder?”

“If that’s what you want, that’s fine with me!” He smiled.

Chihiro nodded, giggling happily as Hiro stood and tied his jacket into a cape again. “Well then, Decoder! For our first assignment…”

Hiro spun around on his heels, facing Leon now. “We must defeat the Red Rocker!” He declared, mimicking a superhero voice.

“Th-The Red Rocker?” Leon parroted, feeling a wave of happiness flood him at being recognized as a rockstar. Though that was short lived once what he said sank In. “W-Wait! Nonononono!”

Leon shot up and went running for the door but Hiro was right after him, hooking his arms around his waist and carrying him back over to the bed with ease. “Not so fast, Evil doer!”

“Hiro! I swear to god, If youhuhuhuhuhu-- Hahahahahaha!” Leon burst out laughing as he felt Hiro’s hands descend upon his sides.

“Okay Decoder, Help me vanquish this evil doer!” He grinned. “Through my super vision, I can tell his feet are pretty ticklish.”

“Dohohohon’t you dahahahare!” Leon laughed, struggling in his grasp. “I wihihill burn your cohohohomic collection you neheheherd!”

“No you won’t.” Hiro laughed, squeezing his hips.

Leon shrieked, throwing his head back laughing. “SHIHIHIHIHIT! HIHIHIRO STAHAHAP!”

“Hey, That’s Superhiro to you, Villain!” Hiro grinned, massaging his thumbs in circles against the dips of his hips.

Chihiro pulled off his shoes and socks and started lightly wiggling their fingers all over his right foot. “Yeah, Don’t disrespect Superhiro!” they giggled.

Leon tried to kick Chihiro’s hands away, but couldn’t thanks to Hiro sitting on his legs. All he could do was wiggle his feet in vain and laugh. “HEHEHE HIRO! CH-CHIHI! NOT THEHEHEHERE!”

Between his feet and his hips he couldn’t decide which spot was worse for him.

Hiro snickered, speeding up. “We’ll only stop If you give up being a criminal and come to our side!”

“WHAHAHAHAT THE HEHEHEHELL ARE YOU TAHAHAHALKING ABOUT!?”

“I think what he means Is, Help us and we’ll let you go…” Chihiro explained.

“THEHEHERE’S NO WAHAHAY IN HEHEHELL I’M HELPING YOU!” Leon laughed, sending the best glare he could to Hiro.

‘Superhiro’ smirked and rolled his eyes, reaching back with one hand and targeting his left foot, specifically his arch, a spot he knew would make the redhead convulse with unapologetically loud laughter. “You sure about that?”

Leon screeched, his body jolting sharply at the sensation. “FUHUHUHUHAHAHAHAHACK!” He swore, trying to wiggle his foot away from Hiro’s skilled fingers.

Chihiro took notice of the reaction and mimicked what Hiro was doing, making Leon’s laughter turn silent.

“Are you going to give In now, Red Rocker?” Chihiro smiled, their question was met with frantic nods from the baseball star.

“Are you suuuuuure?” Hiro teased, Still torturing the poor redhead.

“IHIHIHIM SUHUHUHURE!” He choked out, tears welling up in his eyes from laughing too hard.

Hiro relented and signaled for Chihiro to stop as well. Chihiro giggled and stood up. “Who’s our next target, Superhiro?”

Hiro stood up too, humming thoughtfully as he considered their options. “Got any Ideas, Red Rocker?” He asked with a playful smile.

“Oh, I have a few ideas alright…” Leon panted, glaring tiredly at the older man.

“Watch It… Unless you wanna go for round two.” He wiggled his fingers threateningly at the rockstar who flinched and hugged his knees to his chest as he sat up.

“U-Uh… Makoto?” Leon suggested, shrugging his shoulders a bit.

Hiro looked at Chihiro, whose eyes seemed to light up at the mention. “Alright, The Lucky Charm It Is.”

“Th-The lucky charm…?”

“Duh, Everyone has a super name.” Hiro snickered, handing Leon his shoes and socks back. “C’mon Red Rocker, pull yourself together.”

After that, they headed back to the dining hall to retrieve Makoto, but he was nowhere to be found. It looks like the altercation had broken itself up and most of the students had left the hall.

“LifeGuard! Where did The Lucky Charm go?”

“What are you three doing?” Celeste asked, confused.

“Who needs a lifeguard?? And why??” Aoi asked.

“They’re playing super hero.” Leon explained. “He’s talking about Makoto.”

“I’m assuming he’s referring to Hina when he says LifeGuard?” Sakura asked, to which Hiro nodded.

“Ooh! I want a super name!” Sayaka giggled excitedly.

“Hmm… How about… The Platinum Siren?”

“Oooh! I like It!”

“Um… right.” Hina smiled in exasperation, rubbing the back of her head. “Anyway, Makoto went back to his room so try checking there?”

“Thank you, LifeGuard!” Hiro said In a superhero voice. “Come, Decoder and Red Rocker. Let us go apprehend the criminal!”

He turned and left the room, Chihiro following closely behind, Leon sighed and hesitated. Why did he get involved in this silly game again?

He followed not so enthusiastically behind the two joyous students as they hurried down the hall, their jackets flying behind them like actual capes from how fast they were running.

Chihiro rang the doorbell while Hiro and Leon hid on either side of the door against the wall so that Makoto wouldn’t immediately spot them.

After a few minutes Makoto opened the door. “Chihiro, Hey… Are you okay?”

“Mhm. I’m doing much better now.” They smiled up at the lucky student.

“Good… I’m sorry about earlier, Byakuya was way out of line with what he-- ACK! H-Hey!” He yelped in surprise as Hiro suddenly came into view and scooped him up, carrying him inside his own room and dropping him on the bed as the other two followed and closed the door behind them. “What the hell!?”

“Evil doer, Your fight earlier with Byakuya upset The Decoder so I’m here to help them exact revenge!”

Makoto blinked, absolutely lost as to what was going on. His eyes flickered to Leon, who seemed uninterested. “What is he going on about now?”

“They’re playing a game.” Leon explained in a deadpan manner. “They’re superheroes and you and Byakuya are the villains.”

“Oh.” Makoto couldn’t help but smile a little at how happy Chihiro seemed, It seemed like they both were having a lot of fun… Who was he to ruin it for them? “Well, Foolish heroes. I won’t be thwarted by the likes of both of you!”

Makoto leapt off the bed and made a break for the door.

“He’s getting away Superhiro!” Chihiro gasped.

“Stop him, Red Rocker!”

“Why do I gotta do It?”

“The Red Rocker Is no match for me!” Makoto grinned, grabbing Leon as he sprinted out the door. “In fact, I’ll take him with me!”

He gave his best evil laugh as he pulled the door shut and went running with Leon down the hall.

He pulled Leon Into the Gym with him and doubled over to catch his breath. “Man, I need to start working out…” He wheezed.

Leon leaned against the wall, also catching his breath. “Y-Yeah, I’m not really used to running anymore either.”

“It’s really nice of you to play along with them.” Makoto smiled, standing up straight again.

“Y-Yeah well… I didn’t have much choice. They kind of forced me Into It.” Leon blushed, recalling how he got into this mess to begin with. “It was nice of you to go along with it without being coerced.”

“I can tell they’re having fun, I didn’t wanna ruin it.” He replied. “So, let me get things straight… You’re the Red Rocker, He’s Superhiro, Chihiro Is The Decoder… Who am I?”

“Hiro called you The Lucky Charm, I think he was thinking of cereal.” Leon chuckled.

“The… Lucky charm? Ehh, Not exactly the worst name I’ve heard…” Makoto smiled and shook his head. “Is anyone else playing along villain wise?”

“Nope. Me, You and Byakuya were the only villains. Apparently Hina and Sayaka are heroes.”

Makoto smiled mischievously. “Let’s go recruit some baddies then, Red Rocker.”

“Aye Aye, Captain.” Leon smirked in response.

The two set out on their sneaky mission to rope their friends into the silly game, they managed to avoid Chihiro and Hiro quite easily, surprisingly to the both of them.

“You want me to do what?” Mondo asked, blinking in utter confusion.

“Join in on our game as a villain.” Makoto repeated.

“Why the fuck would I do that?”

“For Chihiro.” Leon replied. “Hiro started this goofy superhero game to cheer them up after this morning’s blow up. It’s working so far.”

“We need some backup, Because by now Hiro’s probably convinced Sayaka and Hina to join in-- Maybe more.”

Mondo sighed. “Alright. But only because It’s for Chihiro.”

“Let’s go get Taka onboard too.” Leon grinned.

They went off In search of said student, But they were too late. Somehow Hiro and Chihiro had convinced the strict student to join in on their game as a hero.

So they went back to the dining hall to see If Hina would join them instead but didn’t find either of the girls there.

Though they did find Sakura and Celeste drinking tea.

“Where’s Hina and Sayaka?” Makoto asked curiously.

“They went running off with Hiro and Chihiro, saying something about apprehending the villains?” Celeste recalled. “I’m assuming they meant you three.”

“Yeah.” Leon confirmed.

“Celeste? You wanna--”

“No.”

“Hey Sakura,” Mondo leaned against the back of her chair, whispering something to her. She made a confused face, asking him if he was sure, expecting him to change his mind. But he doubled down, asking her again.

“I do not wish to be involved in this chaotic game of yours.” Celeste smiled, taking a sip of her tea.

Sakura sighed. “If you’re absolutely sure you want me to…”

Makoto and Leon exchanged confused looks. “What?”

“Hell yeah I do, Sakura’s gonna join us.” Mondo grinned as she stood up.

“Alright Sakura!” Makoto beamed at the unsure Martial artist. They went back to her room (Makoto cheesily referred to It as their ‘lair’, Sakura politely asked him not to call her room that again.), since the heroes would be less likely to find them there, and they devised a plan.

“Hmm, They appear to be really good at hiding.” Taka frowned.

“You can say that again.” Hina said after checking a closet.

Hiro hummed thoughtfully as he went over every spot they’d checked. “Maybe they’re hiding in a bedroom?”

“Oh heroes~ This Is a school announcement,” Leon’s voice bounced off of the walls, He had set up his amps In the main area outside the dining hall and spoke through a microphone. “We villains are gonna kick your asses!” He smirked.

“Where’s that coming from?” Sayaka asked.

“Sounds like It’s coming from the commons.” Chihiro answered. “Let’s go!”

The four took off running towards the commons area but only found Leon’s amps with no sign of the rockstar around.

“They’re totally messing with us.” Hina huffed.

“Yeah-- Hey, Where’d Taka go??” Hiro realized they lost the red eyed student and scanned around looking for him.

Little did they know, Mondo had been hiding around the corner and nabbed him when they were heading to the commons, The Biker dragged him back to their ‘lair’. “M-Mondo! How could you betray me bro!? We could’ve been heroes together!” He frowned as Mondo taped his hands with bandage wrap.

“Oh, I’m not Mondo. My name Is The Crazy Diamond.” He winked, Taka seemed unimpressed.

“Seriously? Your gang name? That’s sort of lame…”

“Yeah? Well what’s your super name?”

Taka smiled defiantly at the ‘villain.’ “My name Is The Hall Monitor, Villain!”

Mondo was going to diss on his name, But Taka seemed proud of It and he looked like he was enjoying this game too, So he let it go.

“Alright Hall Monitor.” Makoto started his villainous monologue. “Here’s what’s going to happen… We’re going to capture every one of you lousy heroes and torture you. Once you’re out of your minds, There will be no heroes left to stop us!”

“You won’t be able to catch all of us! I assure you of that!” Taka said confidently, though his confidence wavered once he looked around the room. “W-Wait a minute… Where am I?”

“Oh, This? You’re in our secret lair.” Leon smirked.

“But Sakura asked us to stop calling It that so… You’re In her room.” Makoto added.

Taka flinched in surprise. “W-What?! She’s a villain!?”

“That’s right, Kyoudai…” Mondo hummed evilly. “And the others have no idea.”

“You dastardly fiends! How could you do this!?”

“Quite easily, Actually.” Mondo smiled, jabbing his fingers into Taka’s sides. “Just think, all you guys had to do was ask her nicely and she probably would have joined your side.”

Taka shrieked and convulsed with laughter, trying to squirm away from Mondo’s wiggling fingers. “Nohohoho! Mondo! Stahahahap tihihickling me!”

“Sorry bro, There’s no Mondo here.” Mondo chuckled darkly.

“Thihihihis isn’t fahahahahair! I cahahahan’t move!” He complained.

“Since when have villains played fair~?”

While this carried on in their lair, Sakura had grouped up with the other heroes under the guise of helping them. She suggested that Hiro and Chihiro check the boys locker room while the girls would check over the commons area again. Chihiro and Hiro didn’t suspect a thing so they did as suggested.

“That’s really weird, It’s like they vanished Into thin air...” Sayaka pondered.

“They’ve gotta be hiding in either the boys locker room or a bedroom, We’ve checked everywhere else.” Hina said, turning to her best friend. “I think we should start checking rooms, Where should we start?”

Sakura pretended to think about It. “They could be In any room, Even one not belonging to them.”

“What would be the point of that?” Hina asked, walking towards the dorm rooms with the two girls.

“To throw us off, We should check any open room.” she said, smiling in amusement as Hina nodded In agreement, They began checking for unlocked rooms when they heard Taka shouting.

“HINA! SAYAKA! DON’T TRUST--” He was abruptly cut off, Most likely by someone covering his mouth.

“Taka??” Hina listened carefully for his voice again but heard nothing.

“I think It came from down the hall…” Sayaka said as they hurried down the hall towards Sakura’s room, finding the door was slightly open but It was dark inside so they couldn’t tell If anyone was In there or not.

Hina pushed the door open and crept In, feeling along the walls for a light switch. “Taka? Are you in here?” She whispered cautiously.

She finally found the light switch and hit It, finding Taka on the bed with Makoto covering his mouth. “Heya, LifeGuard.” He grinned.

Hina whipped around hearing shuffling behind her, not really to her surprise but definitely to the shock of the villains, Sakura had Mondo pinned to the floor with a knee in his back and his arms above his head against the floor.

Sayaka had also pinned Leon down.

“W-What?! No way! You betrayed us!?” Makoto gasped.

“Sorry, Makoto.” She smiled. “They had already asked me to join the heroes.”

Hina grinned victoriously as she tackled Makoto onto the bed, pinning him easily. “It was a good strategy, But did you really think Sakura was going to betray me? Seriously?”

“Sakura, I swear to god… When I get out of this hold, You’re soooo gonna get It.” Mondo growled, sending a glare over his shoulder.

“You don’t fight girls.” She reminded him cockily.

“DECODER! SUPERHIRO! WE’RE IN HERE!” Sayaka called upon hearing their voices down the hall, They came running in and looked on in surprise at the scene before them.

“Wow! You girls kick serious butt.” Chihiro giggled.

Hiro went over to Taka and undid the bandage wrap around his wrists. “You okay, Hall Monitor?” He asked.

“Y-Yeah, Crazy Diamond over there was tickling me.” he huffed.

Hiro looked over at Mondo and grinned. “Is that so? Well, You should return the favor.”

Sakura nodded at her cue, removing her knee and flipping him over onto his back. She pinned his arms above his head firmly, there was no way he was getting out of her hold.

“This Is such bullshit.” Mondo sighed in defeat. “Sakura, I promise you as a man, I’m gonna get you back for this.”

“Goodluck.” She smiled in amusement, Her tone borderline teasing. “I’m stronger than you.”

Before Mondo could further threaten the Martial artist, Taka pounced, digging his fingers into every ticklish spot he could find, Making the Biker shriek with laughter.

“It’s okay LifeGuard, We got Lucky Charm. Go help Siren remind Red Rocker why It’s a bad idea to conspire against us.” Hiro smirked as Leon yelped.

“You got It, Boss.” Hina giggled, Hopping off the bed giddily, approaching the struggling Leon.

“Nononono-- NAHAHAHAHA!”

Makoto tried to escape but Hiro caught him in his arms and pinned him down. “Nice try! You gave us a lot of trouble today, Lucky Charm.”

“W-Wait, H-Hiro, C’mon… You don’t have to--” Makoto squeaked as he felt fingers wiggling against his ribs, He looked over to see Chihiro smiling mischievously as they tickled him. “Hehehehey! Ahahahahaha! Don’t tihihihickle me!”

“You were one of the main villains who was being super negative earlier, So yes, We do have to do this.” Hiro sighed dramatically, using one hand to tickle Makoto’s belly while the other still held him down.

“WAHAHAHAIT! WHAHAHAT ABOUT BYAKUYAHAHAHA!?” Makoto laughed, trying to squirm his stomach out of reach.

“Oh, Don’t worry. We’ll get him too.” Hiro smirked. “But not before we completely wreck you.”

This went on for a while, Mondo was pretty pissed at them when he could think clearly again, But seeing the happy looks on Chihiro and Taka’s face's calmed him down immediately.

After that, The negativity that plagued the school seemed to evaporate. Everyone was in much higher spirits.

It seemed like one thing was for sure, when everything was upsetting and everyone was feeling down, they could count on a Superhiro to save the day and lift everyone’s spirits.

[hopelessly-me]

Winterhawk in a haunted house

Hehehehe. Okay so- I didn't know what flavor of haunted house you wanted- like paranormal or jump scare. But I went with paranormal. Anyway, I hope you enjoy! Winterhawk, rated T. Mostly silly and goofy but probably contains a swear word or twelve. 1868 words.

“Spooky spooky spooky,” Clint muttered as he climbed the stairs inside the old Victorian house, using his flashlight to check the floor below them, half expecting someone to be standing there ominously. Just the thought of it raised the hairs on the back of his neck.

“Clint,” Bucky said, half annoyed from the sounds of it. “There’s no such thing as ghosts.”

“Yeah, I used to not believe in aliens too,” Clint said as Bucky reached the top floor and looked either way before turning right. “And then I met gods and had an alien try to makeout with me, and then Venom did makeout with me.”

“Not sure those things correlate, doll,” Bucky said gently as he opened a door and peeked into a room. “Oh hey look, it’s you,” Bucky said brightly before he flashed a light into the room, illuminating a few dozen dolls. “You’re my doll, and these are some dead person’s dolls.” Clint glowered at Bucky, not amused. “Come on. Six hours and we can go.”

“I really don’t see why I have to be punished for you losing a bet with Sam,” Clint grumbled, leaving that room and hoping that was the only room with those porcelain abominations in it.

“Yeah, I thought that was implied in the whole ‘til death do us part’ part of our marriage contract,” Bucky replied, closing the door after Clint. “I have to deal with your stupid shit, so you are stuck doing my stupid shit. Forever.”

“Charming. Romantic even. Ten out of ten recommend,” Clint rambled on.

Everything about this house screams demon in the basement. The furniture was old and covered in fabric which was under inches of dust. The shades on the lamps were at least from the fifties, cobwebs in the shades and gleaming off the metallic bases, shimmering in the dim light. The floorboards creaked under even the slightest amount of pressure.

It was spooky and Clint hated spooky. It was right up there with magic, might even be tied for first place. He could handle fake haunted houses- he had done them when he was in the circus, learned how to pickpocket that way even. But places that were rumored to be haunted? Yeah- that’s where Clint threw in the towel.

“Spooky spooky spooky,” Clint whispered as he followed behind Bucky as they toured the house, Bucky holding a camcorder like the old man he was. But was Clint going to comment on it? No. Because that old man was the only thing between him and whatever creature from hell lived in the basement. If push came to shove, Clint was fairly certain he would sacrifice Bucky and take off running. That might result in a divorce but… Clint had been divorced before, right? He could handle being divorced.

“Clint.”

“Leave me alone,” Clint sang as he peered into a bathroom. Back in the day, Clint had a feeling this bathroom was glorious- the tub alone was so deep he was pretty sure he could properly soak in it. Now- it was lackluster at best. Clint closed the door and caught a glimpse of Bucky as he went to go back downstairs.

“Why do you believe in ghosts anyway?” Bucky asked as they walked into the kitchen. The kitchen from hell. The murder room. It looked like a murder room.

“Agnes from the circus,” Clint answered.

“She was a con.”

“Oh, she was definitely a con when it came to reading people, but she wasn’t a con when it came to a lot of other things,” Clint answered. “She’s the one who taught me not to whistle in the woods, and to leave weird things found in the woods alone.” Bucky reached to pick something up and Clint slapped his hand. “No.”

“You’re lucky you’re cute,” Bucky said, turning around, camera coming closer to Clint. “Tell everyone how much fun you are having, sunshine.”

Clint narrowed his eyes. “I would rather drink bleach than stay in here overnight.”

“Clint.”

“I mean, yay, look at me, having so much fun,” Clint said in a monotone voice. Bucky rolled his eyes. “Just so we are clear, if Mothman climbs out of the basement, I am shoving you down the stairs and running for it.”

“You know what? If Mothman comes out from that basement, you don’t even have to push me,” Bucky said with far too much confidence for Clint’s taste. “I will gladly stand between you and a Lunar moth.” Bucky turned around and walked. “How about this? Why don’t we talk about something else to get your mind off of whatever Agnes traumatized you with.”

“Yeah, sure- let’s make that attempt,” Clint said.

“Since I am forced to do this as punishment… why don’t we gossip about the others?” Bucky asked. “Like… did you know Sam actually owns more Avengers merch than he admits to?”

“... he what?” Clint asked.

“Yep. I raided his apartment one day when he was gone because I was going to set up a prank and I looked in his closet. He has a Captain America teddy bear,” Bucky said.

“You’re lying.”

“Swear on my mother’s grave,” Bucky said. “He has Cap bear, and a Iron Man figurine.”

For what it was worth, Bucky was very good at distracting Clint from their situation. Clint was into the gossip, whether it was Bucky telling him things or Clint sharing what he knew, careful to skirt over anything about Natasha because he didn’t have a death wish. And when they weren’t gossiping, they were talking about needing to go for a grocery run and needing to buy new pet beds because Lucky had decided the beds were stuffed animals. Which then turned into needing to send Lucky to Kate and America’s for a bit so they could take a vacation. Clint wanted a beach vacation- any excuse to lay under the sun was his favorite thing. Bucky wanted to go tour historical sites, which Clint knew he would cave to because he liked seeing the wonder in Bucky’s eyes when he toured sites he had only heard about or seen on television. Scratch that- he was a sucker for anything that Bucky did. Since when did he become a sap?

They finally settled down and were sitting in the living room, both of them wordlessly agreeing that sitting on the furniture wasn’t an option so they cuddled up in a corner. Bucky had set up a lantern so they could see what was around them, and they used their sleeping bags under their legs to prop them up better. Clint reached over and held Bucky’s hand and fiddled with his wedding ring, smiling as it gleamed. Bucky took care of that ring like he did his arm. He was constantly cleaning it, checking to make sure it was perfect. Clint was currently on replacement ring number three- which averaged to one ring per year so he was taking that as a win.

The conversation fell and Clint snuggled up, resting his head against Bucky’s shoulder. He was exhausted, unable to sleep the night before. Clint went to close his eyes, maybe take a nap, and that’s when he heard it- a creak on the floor above them. He tightened his hold on Bucky’s hand and looked up.

“Its an old house,” Bucky reminded Clint. “And it’s windy out. Creaks are going to happen.”

Clint nodded and settled in again. Bucky was right- houses settled and creaks, and the wind was howling outside occasionally. But then the creak happened again before he heard what sounded like a boot step, followed by another step, and another. And they had toured that house, twice, top to bottom, minus the basement because Clint outright refused, and there was nowhere anyone could have hidden that they wouldn’t have seen. They were trained, for goodness sake- if there was a place to hide, they would have checked it.

The creaking ended at the top of the stairs and Clint and Bucky both leaned over to peer up the stairs. “Someone probably snuck in here and is trying to mess with us. Probably Natasha.”

“Probably my sleep paralysis demon catching up to me,” Clint muttered.

Bucky turned his head to look at Clint. “I understood that reference and I worry about you.” Bucky got up. “I’m going to go check.”

“You’re kidding me, right? I know you have watched horror movies. That never ends well,” Clint insisted.

“I love you but you need to start taking therapy seriously,” Bucky said, grabbing his flashlight and heading towards the stairs.

“As if you are one to talk. How many knives you got on you?” Clint retorted. “Not that you can stab a ghost to death.” Bucky waved him off and stood at the bottom of the stairs and looked up, slowly moving his flashlight to get a better image. Clint half-assed crawled over a few places to take a peek for himself.

“Well, I don’t get to stab a ghost because there is no such thing as-” Bucky began to say before there was a noise from the kitchen. Bucky frowned and turned his flashlight. “... definitely Natasha. She uses windows.”

“Hey! Hey! You can’t just leave me here,” Clint said, scrambling to get us. “Again. Horror movies. Respect the horror movies.” Bucky just waved him off and disappeared into the kitchen. “... dammit.” Clint snatched his flashlight on his way to the kitchen to follow Bucky. “Listen, I know you think it’s dumb but I really think- Buck?”

Bucky was staring at the floor, his head tilted to the side. Clint walked over to him and looked at a knife that was on the floor. Clint’s eyes traveled from the knife over the cabinets, every single one of them open.

“You alright?” Clint asked.

“It… just came flying out,” Bucky said. He reached out and waved his hand around before he picked up the knife, using his flashlight to inspect it. “But there’s no string attached.” Clint leaned over Bucky and looked at the knife as well, frowning.

“Spooky.”

A noise caught their attention and they both looked over at the basement door. It sounded like someone coming up the stairs, heavy footsteps and creaking boards. Clint slowly started to stand up, ready to run at a moment’s notice.

But just as quickly as all the noises came, everything seemed to stop. Clint hadn’t realized he was gripping onto the back of Bucky’s shirt, slowly letting it go and smoothing it out. Bucky was starting to lose his tension, his muscles starting to relax it seemed.

“So… that was weird,” Bucky commented. “Should we go-”

“You will have to drag my corpse to that basement if you want me to go with you,” Clint said. “I want to go find a corner, I want to take my hearing aids out, and I want to sleep. Or try to sleep.”

Bucky turned and smiled, reaching a hand up to hold Clint’s face. “I promise that if I see Mothman or… whatever… I will wake you up and let you have the headstart.”

Clint smiled a little and leaned down and kissed him. “My hero,” he murmured against Bucky’s lips.

[elias-veturius-laia-of-serra]

Do you think that Musa and Helene would end up in a relationship in the future? They seem to have bonded over the loss of their loves 🤷🏻‍♀️

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In response to this submission!

In my humble and personal opinion I would LOVE for them to get together. Helene tends to be very distant and closed off and defensive when she first meets someone and it takes a while to get her to trust you. Literally took Laia all four books and Avitas two and a half to get her to open up to them. However she felt comfortable around Musa in an instant and was even able to joke around and laugh with him despite not knowing him for that long. She would even open up to him about things and if she didn't he had a keen eye where he'd already know what she was thinking or what she needed to hear in certain situations. Like one of the main reasons she was finally able to allow herself to love Harper is because Musa kept pushing her and encouraging her that it's okay to let herself be loved and that she can love something other than the empire.

Plus I think some people misunderstood when Helene vowed to never get married or have children. They thought it's because of Harper but Helene has always showed disinterest in marriage and especially kids. Avitas literally states that she complains about kids all the time hence why he made her that tea that one time in book 4. Also it's for zach. If she had children, since she's empress, then her child would be the next heir instead of Zach. Or if she had a husband and she were to pass away then he would be the emperor instead of Zach. So she doesn't want to take away his rightful throne. Therefore it makes sense that she doesn't want marriage or kids.

Which is fine since Musa's last marriage ended in tragedy so I don't think he's looking for marriage either. ALSO Helene is young. She's even younger than me and I don't find it fair or realistic that she'd stay single forever or never try at love again. Even in book 4 it states how she's happy at the thought that she can still feel a thrill at a guy making her laugh and smile.

(In which by the way if she does want to stay single that's completely fine. She doesn't need a man to experience love. That is not at all what I'm saying! Basically I mean: if she does stay single I hope it's for her and not because she's hung up on someone she honestly barely knew and was only romantically involved with for a couple weeks. And I say barely knew cause even us as readers we didn't get to know much about Harper and his life or his backstory. And what we do know is very limited.)

Also Sabaa said she specifically left some things open for if she ever wants to come back and write novellas. Annnnnd in book 4 Musa reminds Helene she still owes him a favor soooooo. There's a possibility there! Plus I adore their dynamic together. It's one of my favorites. Plus I think they're the only two people who understand what the other is going through and what it feels like. Helene lost her whole family except Zach. Musa has lost his whole family and has no one left. Even his kingdom and people were mascaraed. So if there's one person who can understand them it's each other.

(P.S: I also think people got confused by the end thinking Helene moved on quickly. I just want people to know it does state in the book word for word that she mourned for months and by the time its the moon festival it's been several months and she's still mourning but has come to terms with Avitas's passing. Cause I saw a lot of people hating for that when in reality much time has passed! And if you don't agree with me - that's fine! Sadly a lot of ppl hate the ship ); but hopefully in time maybe we can get some new members - heheheh)

[sugarmaplewings-fics]

Milkshakes and Existential Contemplation

Pairing: Kirishima x reader

Warnings: A single no-no word, tooth rotting fluff, dairy consumption (???), sleep deprived chats, and maybe some cold nostalgia

Author’s Note:

Hello! This is the promised Kirishima birthday fic I’ve been looking forward to since fOrEvEr (and it’s also taken me forever to write, goodness).

I’ll pretend like it isn’t wildly obvious that I wrote this during wildly different moods and levels of sleep deprivation.

Huge thank you and shout out to my buddies @sasha-annelie-quinn​ and @izzinks​ for helping me get this fic out on time! Especially Izzy, go check out her blog. She’s got some amazing original art! The ending was her idea :)

Not much to say other than Happy birthday, Kirishima! He’s undeniably my personal best boi and I love him with all my heart <3

Anyways, I hope you enjoy!

-Sugar

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══════✮❁•°♛°•❁✮ ══════

Eijirou knew he was in for quite a night when he awoke to your dark form hanging over him. Your hands gripped his shoulders from your stance at the side of his bed, and it took him a moment to even register that it was, in fact, you.

“(Y/N)? What time is it?” He yawned and rolled to his side, tugging his camo-print blanket over his shoulder. “Do you need cuddles again?” His voice made it evidently clear how deep a sleep he’d just come out of.

“Nah. It’s like—two AM? I don’t know, I was just thinking to myself and stuff and then it hit me that today is a very important day.”

“. . . It’s nighttime.”

You rolled your eyes in the dark. “Yeah, buuuut, it’s also your birthday! Yay!”

Kirishima ran a hand over his face, wondering if/when he would be able to go back to sleep. “Yep. It’s my birthday.”

You ignored the less-than-enthused tone in his voice. “I better have been the first person to wish you a happy birthday. You know, on your birthday. You didn’t get any phone calls yet or anything?”

“Nope. You’re the first.”

“Yeah!” You pumped your fist in the air.

“Is that what you wanted?" he asked. "Because I’ve got a pretty good idea of what I would like as my first present.” Eijirou shuffled over a bit to make more room for you, lifting the blanket next to him. “Snuggles with my pebble.”

You paused at his proposition, looking into the shadowy abyss that was Kirishima’s bed. There was a part of you that wanted to curl up in his warm arms, falling together with him into the realm that is sleep. You could already feel the kisses he’d leave on your cheeks, whispering broken ‘good night’s and ‘I love you’s as you drifted off. But no, you had something a little different in mind.

“Actuallyyy,” you said, drawing out the word. “I was wondering if you wanted to go on a little date.”

Kirishima furrowed his eyebrows together in the dark. “Like . . . right now?”

“Yeah.”

“. . . where?”

“I was thinking Denny’s. You know how it’s got that certain vibe right about now? It’ll be like we’re stepping into a whole other world.”

Kirishima looked at your shadowy face. It was clear that you were almost as tired and sleep deprived as him, and your brain probably wasn’t all there. A part of him could recognize that he wasn’t exactly being himself either due to his cut-off sleep. He wasn’t as peppy as usual (though, to be honest, who is at this hour of the morning?). However, Kirishima had to admit that he was intrigued by the idea. You had both discussed this concept once a few weeks ago while you were scheming date ideas. He’d thought it sounded fun at the time, but he certainly hadn’t expected it tonight.

“If you really don’t want to, we don’t have to,” you said, growing a little anxious at his lack of response. “I just thought it could be something different that we could do together.”

Eijirou sighed quietly to himself, considering. It was Friday night—no, Saturday morning—so it wasn’t as though you had classes in a few hours. He peeled the blanket off himself and sat up, rubbing at the back of his head. “Why not? Let’s go.”

“Yayyyyy!” you lowered your voice to a stage whisper, watching as he got up and fumbled around for his crocs and a pair of pants.

It was then that he looked to you. “Were you wanting to get dressed first?”

He’d noticed your choice to keep on your pajama pants, baggy and sweeping just at your ankles. These were your favorites—sinfully fuzzy and comfortable and absolutely adorable.

“This is my fashion statement,” you said, all serious.

Eijirou shrugged. “Cool.”

He opened his door for you, exaggerating a bow as he let you through. You feigned importance, nodding and curtseying at his gesture. The two of you giggled as Kirishima quietly shut the door behind himself.

“We have to be really quiet,” you whispered, taking out your phone and turning on the flashlight. You padded down the hall with Kirishima in tow, making your way to the stairs. It wasn’t long before you were at the door on the ground level, finding your own shoes while Eijirou slid on his crocs. You double checked that you had your bag containing your wallet around your shoulder before sidling up to Kirishima and intertwining his hand with yours.

“Isn’t this exciting?” you asked, grinning at him.

“Yeah, this is crazy.”

You giggled and opened the door, grateful that there wasn’t an alarm system.

The night air hit your skin deliciously, flooding your lungs as you inhaled. A chill October breeze ruffled your hair, and a light spattering of gooseflesh arose on your arms. You started down the sidewalk leading away from the Heights Alliance building, taking a moment to look up above you. Stars spattered the canvas of the night sky, and you found yourself enraptured by their profound beauty. Eijirou followed your gaze, looking from the diamond-studded tapestry of the atmosphere to its reflection in your soft, wide eyes.

“I can never get over how beautiful the world we live in is.”

Shit, why did you have to be so cute? Eijirou watched you gaze up at the sky for a few moments longer before you reached for his hand.

“Sorry,” you whispered. “I just love being out at night.”

Kirishima grinned. “Me too.”

You walked in the dark, hand in hand as you navigated to the local Denny’s. You’d been there before, but never as late as this. You’d especially never gone out alone with someone like Eijirou at such an hour. It was . . . beyond thrilling; wandering the chilled empty streets with none other than your beloved. It was as if you were the only two in existence—lost in a dream—and a part of you liked it that way.

Both you and Kirishima passed under a street lamp. You took the opportunity to get a good look at him in the yellow glow. His red hair was undone and framed his face in familiar spikes. The sight made you giddy, and you couldn’t help but reach up to touch him.

“Your hair looks so cute when it’s down like this. So soft.” You began to attempt to run your fingers through it when they found a slightly more tousled patch. “Ope, you’ve still got some bed-head there. My bedhead redhead. Heheheh.”

Kirishima snorted at your choice of words, letting you finger comb out the little tangle on the back of his scalp. “Um, thanks.”

One block later, you caught sight of a familiar yellow sign. You happily patted Kirishima’s arm. “We’re almost there!”

Now that he was up and moving around, Eijirou felt a little more awake. You had been right; he did almost feel as though he were in another world, being out so late. The streets were almost completely void of activity on this side of town, and street lamps lit warm pools of light onto the pavement to break up the darkness.

Eijirou walked you to the front entrance, pulling open the glass door for you to go in. You stood with him in the waiting area, and he let you lean against his arm while you watched for someone to come over and seat you.

Sure enough, a young man a few years your senior came around the counter. He looked from you to the screen of the device before him. “Just the two of you tonight?”

“Yeah,” Kirishima said.

Your waiter grabbed two menus and led you to a table in the back by a window. The only other person in there with you was an older man sitting at the other end of the restaurant. He looked just as half-asleep as the two of you were as he sipped at a mug of coffee.

Kirishima slid into the booth first, and you decided to sit down right next to him. He tenderly wrapped a warm arm around your shoulders and pulled you closer to his side. “So what were you thinking about getting?” he asked as the waiter walked off.

“It’s your birthday. You pick.”

“Oh, right.” Kirishima picked up one of the menus, thumbing through the laminated pages. “Do you want to split a milkshake? I’m not super hungry.”

“Ooh, that sounds good. What flavor should we get? Whatever you want.”

“Hmm.” The redhead next to you scanned over the kinds of ice cream listed. “How about . . . vanilla strawberry swirl?”

“Yummy.” You settled in closer beside him, letting his warmth envelop you. A wave of tiredness decided to settle onto your eyelids, and you fought to keep them from closing all the way. You had to admit to yourself that you were tired, but this was still something you’d wanted to do with your boyfriend for some time. You’d stay here chatting and enjoying yourselves, and then you’d go back to his room and cuddle until you fell asleep. That sounded so nice . . . .

The waiter came up to your table again, and it was only now that you realized that you were practically shoved up into Eijirou’s armpit. The sleepy haze that clouded your mind made you feel a little more lenient about your display of affection, but even so, you moved to straighten yourself.

“What’ll you have to drink?” he asked, taking out a small pad of paper.

“I don’t think we’ll need anything.” Kirishima looked to you to confirm. “We’re ready to order.” He placed his milkshake request and watched as the other man made his way back to the kitchen. “So.” Eijirou wrapped his arm around you again, pulling you back to your previous position. “Denny’s at an ungodly hour of the morning. Thoughts?”

“This is kind of a vibe,” you said, looking at all the empty tables bathed in fluorescent light. “It’s even weirder because I’m tired. Otherwise it would just be an empty restaurant.”

“It’s pretty neat,” Eijirou agreed, taking a look out the dark windows. It was nearly impossible to see out of them due to the bright light within the building.

“So how does it feel to be a whole year older?” you asked, adjusting yourself so you could look at his face.

“Um, the same, kinda? I don’t think I’ve changed all that much this past year.”

“Look at us,” you said. “Closer to being adults, to going pro and being heroes . . . . I’m kind of scared.”

“Scared? But isn’t it exciting too?”

“Of course, yeah.” You began to fiddle with one of the paper placemats, studying the color-printed image on it. It depicted one of the meals on the menu, and you let your eyes trace over every detail of it. “I guess the concept of being all grown up and independent is starting to hit me. There’s so much I don’t know yet.”

The redhead nodded at your musings. “We can be there for each other, you know. You shouldn’t ever have to feel like you’re on your own in everything.”

You hummed, examining the shading on a portion of rice depicted on the paper mat in front of you. “Are you thinking that we’d . . . still be together then? After we graduate?”

Kirishima flushed at your question. “I mean—I’d like to. It’s all a matter of time, but . . . .” He trailed off, unwilling to be so vulnerable yet to voice his visions.

“I’d love that too,” you said, hoping you hadn’t come across as implying that you wanted your relationship to be cut short after high school. “What’s your dream? A smaller one that’s beside the pro-hero one. What do you want our future to look like?”

Eijirou shrugged, tracing his fingertips down your arm. “I don’t know.”

“Oh, come on, of course you do,” you teased. “It’s alright. Just tell me about the thoughts that make you the happiest. I don’t care how realistic they might be. Let's just say we could do anything.”

Emboldened by your words, your boyfriend took a quick breath. “Maybe we could move in together some time. Be heroes by day and then come home and see each other. I’d like to wake up with you in my arms . . . every day.” His cheeks had flushed a bit at voicing his fantasy, avoiding your eyes in case you decided it sounded silly.

“That sounds wonderful,” you said, finally catching his crimson gaze with your own. His face melted into a sweet smile and he took hold of your hand in his, making a point of intertwining your fingers together.

The atmosphere around you felt a little strange. You were alone and yet so exposed at the same time. The man at the opposite end could glance over at any time. Your waiter could come back with your milkshake. And yet at the same time it felt as though it was just you and Kirishima, sharing your private musings.

“Do you ever miss being a kid?” you asked, turning to look out the inky black window.

Eijirou winced a bit, his expression growing a little distant and troubled at your words. This, however, went unnoticed by you, and you merely continued to mindlessly stroke at the side of his hand with your thumb. “I guess there are some parts I miss . . . ,” he began. “But I like who I am now a lot better.”

He hadn’t told you about the majority of his self views yet. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust you, he simply didn’t think you needed to know about that side of him. It was in the past and it didn’t matter anymore, right?

“I like how you are too, but like, the nostalgic stuff. You know—tv shows, games, people who you don’t talk to anymore. I still think about my Nintendogs and cry sometimes.”

Eijirou looked back at you. “For real?”

“Yeah,” you said. “They’re just . . . there. In the game. Waiting for me. And who knows if I’ll ever even put the game back in again?” You put your elbows on the table and your chin in your hands, letting your mind wander back to thoughts of them. An unexpectedly large wave of disproportionate sadness crashed into you, and it was as if you couldn’t think of anything else for a moment.

“Hey, are you good?” Eijirou asked.

“I don’t know.”

He put a hand on your back. “Do you still have your DS? You could show them to me sometime.”

Your focus shifted dramatically at his words. “Really?”

“Yeah, I’d like to see them.”

A little part of you began to buzz with an odd spike of happiness. You must have been really sleep-deprived to be feeling emotional like this.

Just then, your waiter came out of the kitchen with your milkshake. “There you are,” he said as he put it down in front of you. “Enjoy.”

It really did look good, in a tall clear glass with the vanilla ice cream swirled within stripes of pink strawberry.

“Would you like me to sing you Happy Birthday?” you asked.

“You don’t have to,” Kirishima said with a chuckle.

“You can’t stop me.” You took a breath and began to sing, quiet enough so the entire restaurant wouldn’t be disturbed by your volume, but obnoxious enough to pull some laughs from Eijirou. “‘Aight, go ahead,” you said, handing him a spoon.

He dipped it into the strawberry ice cream, catching some of the whipped cream on the end. You watched as he put it to his lips, grinning at the taste. You followed suit right after him, taking your own spoon and helping yourself.

The conversation shifted to a lighter-hearted one. The sleepy hum of exhaustion buzzing in the backs of your heads seemed to make everything funnier, and numerous times one of you would say something to make the other crack up. Even the dumbest things that weren’t even funny at all forced you to clap your hands over your mouths to keep the otherwise silent atmosphere around you as such.

You slowly made your way through your shake, occasionally changing it up by feeding each other spoonfuls of ice cream. Eijirou even had the audacity to deliberately get some on the tip of your nose, only to lean in and kiss it off of you himself.

“Tasty,” he remarked, pressing his forehead against yours. His voice suddenly dropped as he met your eyes. “I think I want more.”

As if you weren’t enough of a flustered mess already, he met his lips to yours. He tasted sweet, with remnants of the ice cream lingering on his mouth. You felt secluded in your booth in the back of the restaurant, but even so, a new thrill coursed through you. It was rare for the both of you to have such moments as these in public, and your heart sped even further as your spine pressed into the cushioned back of the seat.

Nothing too extreme happened, just three sweet pecks against your lips, but even so, you couldn’t help but flush a bit with these feelings of excitement and adoration for him.

A few minutes later, you had finished your ice cream and were ready to go. You went to the front and paid for the shake (it was your treat since it was his birthday, and he only protested for a brief minute about letting you pay). Eventually you were back outside in the cool night air, hand in hand as you walked back to the dorms. At this point, the two of you were about ready to crash, and you couldn’t wait to get back inside and fall asleep in each other’s arms.

Which is exactly what you did. Back in his room, you found yourself tucked snugly under his multi-colored blanket, face buried in his warm chest. The darkness was silent and peaceful, and now the weight of your eyelids pressed down tenfold. Your consciousness began to peter out, drifting from thought to thought, breaths deepening within your lungs.

Yet the same couldn’t be said for the man around you. His mind had decided to wander to something you’d said to him earlier, and now he couldn’t think of anything else. He couldn’t quite see your face in the absence of light, but he knew you were probably on the verge of sleep. He felt you shift around a bit in his arms, and that prompted him to speak up.

“(Y/N)?” he whispered.

“Hmm?”

“Um, you know how we were talking earlier about what we missed from being a kid?”

“Yeah?” Your voice was faint, only functioning because you wanted to hear what he had to say.

“Well I guess I . . . thought of something.”

“What’s that?”

Kirishima chose to ignore the slight slur in your voice, stroking the top of your head absentmindedly with his fingertips. “I miss . . . feeling safe. I was thinking about how when you’re a kid you don’t really know anything about what the world is really like. Your parents protect you and there isn’t anything you really need to worry about. The choices you make don’t change the lives of other people, you can just . . . be. We don’t—we can’t have that anymore.”

His words had stirred you awake, and now you were more intent on what he had said. He was right. Back then, there was almost no fear. You hadn’t needed to worry about villain attacks, or kidnappings, or saving the lives of others. Ignorance was bliss, and every day that sweet bliss seemed to slip further and further from being your reality anymore.

“You’re right,” you muttered, taking his large hand and beginning to fidget with his fingers. Your voice was now more solid, more focused and awake. “As heroes and adults, we need to take on more responsibility. The world isn’t a safe place.” You pulled his hand closer to your face, letting your lips graze his knuckles as you mused to the solid form in front of you. “Taking on this job . . . we had to give up on that. We have to bear a burden so others don’t have to. We chose this job to protect those people, to make sure no one else had to live in fear. The things we’ve had to go through, as a class and as a society—it sucks. But that’s simply how our world works now. We just need to do our best to correct it.”

Eijirou brought up his hand a bit to caress your cheek. You leaned into his touch, gazing into the space you assumed his scarlet eyes were staring back. You turned to press a kiss into the palm of his hand.

“I guess I do still feel safe sometimes, though,” he muttered, voice scarcely daring to break the silence of the room around you.

“Yeah?”

“I feel safe when I’m with you.”

Your breath caught in your throat as you grew flustered at his words. “Really?” you asked.

“Well, yeah.” Eijirou wrapped his arms around you again, pulling you back into his chest. He pressed a soft kiss to the top of your hair, pausing to inhale the faint smell of your shampoo.

“But you’re the one holding me,” you chuckled, gripping the front of his shirt loosely with your fingers.

“Yeah, and I love it. I feel safe.” He began to move a hand in circles over your back, the soothing motion causing you to relax even more into his touch. “Besides, it’s the manly thing to do.”

You giggled again, faint and drowsy. “You are manly. The manliest boyfriend I could ask for. But you don’t need to be manly all the time with me. You know I’d hold you at any time you needed it, right?”

He rested his chin on the top of your head. “Mm, but it’s my turn tonight.”

You rubbed at his back with your own hand. “Happy birthday, Eiji," you whispered into his ear. “I love you.”

“I love you too," he murmured back. "Thanks for being my Pebble. That’s the best gift I could have asked for.”

You smiled and hummed, the patterns you had been tracing onto his back growing ever lighter.

He chuckled to himself. “My sleepy Pebble.” He planted one last kiss at the top of your forehead. “Good night.”

“Goodbth nigh,” you responded, not bothering to fix the exhausted yet contented slur in your voice.

He hugged you tight and let his eyes drift closed. His birthday had hardly even started yet, but it was already turning out to be his best one yet.

══════✮❁•°♛°•❁✮ ══════

There’s a bonus part to this too! Find it here!

Taglist: @basicaegyo​ @iiminibattlehero​ @katsugay​ @nabo39​ @pyrofanatic​​ @sendhelpimstupid​ @sokkasangel​ @xoxopam4​ @aahilovetheatre​ @heartpaw12​ @todoroki-waifu​

[strange-changes-ln]

“Strange Changes.”

Chapter Three: “Late At Night.”

.

.

.

Pacing. Holding his head, his mind racing. This is- this is IMPOSSIBLE. He has to be dreaming, he- he COULDN’T SEE after the incident, they- they RIPPED his eyes out! How was this happening-??

He had abruptly shut the television off and exited the room as fast as possible. Left the poor kid hanging.

That- That doesn’t matter. He kept trying methods to try and wake himself up. C’mon, Roger, stop dreaming! That- that kid might’ve been apart of this dream too…

Wake up.

Wake up.

WAKE UP.

You AREN’T able- or even supposed to see, this isn’t real! This is NOT REAL. Snap out of it, you-

He swerves into a bookshelf, unconsciously. Books, small items fell from the wooden holders. He backed away, blinking. He immediately went to the other side, and started to pick up all of the things that had fallen. He…paused to eye a book. It was…he can’t remember what it was about. It was dusty. A maroon, hard-covered, dusty book. Before- carefully settling it back with everything else. He rubs his eyes, what- what’s going ON..

..Is- Is this not a dream?? Is- this actually happening..? He can…he can see…

..He quietly laughed, smiling a tiny bit. Despite the immense confusion, he was… he missed this for so long…

aH- NO. No. He shook his head, that tiny bit of bliss snapping away. This isn’t logical, this isn’t normal- then again…nothing is- b-but THIS-

His chest expanded, and shrank back as he breathed at a quick pace. He turned to exit the room, his thoughts still spiraling along in his mind. Okay- this isn’t a dream, this isn’t a dream.

This…isn’t… a dream.

…

He- won’t focus on that for now. Despite it being both a miracle, and a bug in nature, he’ll just- try and remember what he had to. Think..

He could go check on the children. Yeah.. that’ll work.

. . .

Shoot. He’s getting the feeling he’s being watched again. Just- Just ignore it, Roger. It’s fine. It’s nothing. It’s fine. It’s alright. You’re being paranoid.

. . . He- hopes so at least.

It had been at least half an hour, and he STILL felt as if he was being- WATCHED. He kept looking around, actually trying to see what could possibly have been watching him, but there was nothing. It wasn’t as weird when he was around the kids, as they kind of eyed him once he had taken a bit of care of them- but even THEN, the feeling wouldn’t go away. He turned around, nothing. How long was this going keep up? It couldn’t keep going forever.

. . .

That’s what he thought until another few hours past, and he still, felt it. It’s getting darker, and darker by now. He- still needs to get things done, he still hasn’t- UGH! He audibly groaned into his hands. He’s- he’s just gonna have to wait until tomorrow. God, the boat’s gonna be here soon, and sure he’s- semi prepared, but semi isn’t enough!

..No— no, this can’t wait until tomorrow.

But- sure it can! He can just- get up early, and-

N-No— he has to do it now. At least some of it. It’s the least he can possibly do right now.

But it’s getting late, and he’s gonna need that energy for tomorrow.

..Why is he so torn?? Just pick the sensible option and go with that!

…

He swears, he’s gonna drive himself temporarily mad if he keeps going like this. He huffs, okay. He’ll come to a compromise with himself; he’ll send a few packages up where he needed to take them, and…and the rest can wait for another day.

..Yeah. That sits with him well. He remembers he had left those packages in his little living quarters. In the corner. He’ll go get them.

Walking along, rubbing one of his eyes with a hand. He’s- still so bewildered by this- sight. He can see again!

But..But how? It’s not like blind people getting their sight back is a normal thing, especially if they got their own eyes ripped out of their head.

That was… bad. It hurt. It hurt a lot. It’s not like they cared.

…

Actually let’s not think about that anymore!!!

It’s not worth even mentioning at all anyways, heheheh-

Heh…

…

He blanks out. So much so, that his unaware self bumped into his own door on accident. He stumbled back. Ow.

You know what? Whatever, it’s fine. He’s over it. He twists the knob on the door, and pushes it open. Ah yes, his room. His solitude. It’s wonderful. In the far, right corner, he sees-

Aha! The packages. Just where they were. Perfect. He goes over, and takes them into his arms. This is fine.

Totally.

Just leaving out of his room, beginning to head to where he was supposed to take them. Most of them were for the Kitchen, but… there’s one. A small box.

For the Lady.

He doesn’t know what it’s for, but- it was kind of out of nowhere. Nobody knows why it was sent, but…geez, he doesn’t think he should said this one to her right now. Especially when it’s rather dark outside by now.

That’s just- eugh. He doesn’t wanna risk it, but at the same time— maybe to get it out of the way, he can check..?

The thought makes him kind of nervous, but- he might…as well? Hm.

Over time, he went through elevator by elevator, until he made it up to the Kitchen. He begins towards the work-premises of the Chefs, humming the ‘Veronica’ song a bit. Surprisingly— he spotted Marcus. He was still working. Huh. He kind of expected to not see him, but- here they are.

” Hey, uh- Marc. “ Roger waved, squinting just a bit. Having not seen in…a while, the bright light of the Kitchen was…jarring. The chef paused, and turned towards the entering employee. He blinked.

“ ..Roger? What’re you doing here?- “ He stops what he’s doing all together, and approaches the shorter man. He…seems to look confused, upon getting a closer look at him. “ ..Jesus, what happened to your eyes? They’re just- gone. “ He sounded concerned. Wait—oh- uh- he- forgot about that. Uh, shoot.

” ..Uhh… yeah, something, um-uh— happened one time, when I was younger, and- y-y’know how some people are, eheheh- ah- “ He did not like talking about the empty, black sockets he once- and sort of now considers his eyes. “ Some people got together, and uh…d-did a number on me. Now, I- don’t have any eyes, ha! “ Trying to laugh it off as much as it makes him uncomfortable.

Marcus… narrowed his eyes, he didn’t get why he was laughing this off. “ ..Who? “

” ..u-uh…w-what..? “ The awkward toned worker glanced to the side, though it would’ve been hard to tell to someone else, since, he…doesn’t have pupils. Christ, why didn’t he pull the skin back down earlier??? Marcus, just take the damn packages and don’t make me stand here and stumble on my words like an idiot about this.

“ Who did that to you? They sound like jerks. “ The chef interrogated. Roger…simply stammered, why was this a conversation they were having.

“ Ahhh—w-well- it was a long time ago, I-I don’t know even know what they look like right now, I was pretty young.. w-when that happened, heh- uh— just a group of citizens who didn’t enjoy my existence and- uh- a-and decided to take it out on me! B-But it’s nothing, it’s fine, it’s in the past now, we don’t have to keep going on about it, it’s just a waste of time, c-can you just take th-the packages so I can go, this is really taking up the night, and we both gotta-um- get some rest!-Ahahaaha- “

“ Roger, for the love of god, slow down. Jeez, what’s making you so jumpy?? “ Marcus pinched the bridge of his nose.

The Janitor- looked down, at this point, embarrassed.

“ ..Sorry- I- don’t like talking about this stuff, Y’know..? “ Looking to the side, he holds out the packages. “ Just- take these already, okay? I forgot to give them to you before. “

Marcus.. casually took them from his co-worker’s grasp. “ Right. What made you forget, exactly? These were supposed to be sent to me ages ago, man! “ He frowned, glaring at Roger.

” ..fell asleep. Was watching tv. Met— “ He stopped himself at ‘met.’ Nono, he didn’t need to know about Mono. But the Chef had already caught it, and asked-

“ ..Met who? “

…Of course he had to catch it, Roger thought.

” ..nobody. Nobody important. “ This is getting ridiculous, the longer they stand here, the less things get done, and the less things they get done, the less prepared they’ll be when the boat arrives, and if they aren’t all-the-way prepared, something is bound to go wrong, and the Lady’s gonna have their heads.

“ ..Somebody, Roger. Did someone else get into the damn ship somehow? Are they still roaming, did you- “

” I said it was nobody important. “ The Janitor huffed. Eyeing the pile of packages.

“ ..Alright, sheesh. “ Marcus rolled his eyes and started walking away, off to the second intersecting room. The former blind man blanked out for a second, before snapping back into awareness, blinking. Wait. Did he-

He left the smaller package on the pile, oh my god-

“ -Hey- wait up! “ He quickly followed behind. He’s so scattershot right now, it’s unbelievable.

” -What?? You’re halting time here. “ Marcus puffed, turning around and beginning to stare his co-worker down.

“ Wh— “ Roger was going to protest, but he just brushed it off. “ Okay-sure-whatever- I need this. “ Snatching the smaller box from atop the pile. “ ..Uhh.. where’s your brother? “

” Thomas? He’s asleep, I told him I could take over. And.. is that the- “

” Yeah. The package for the Lady. I- I don’t know if I should go now, or wait… “ He still contemplated. He thought he was going to bring it to her tonight but… he’s hesitant. The older Chef sucked a breath through his teeth. Just saying-

“ ..I’m not gonna lie, Roger; you might just wanna wait. “

“ I know, but— maybe I can just get it out of the way real fast. “

“ But do you realize that could probably actually be a bad idea. “

“ I- uh-huh, yeah— I dunno. “

…

There’s an awkward silence for a moment. They both glanced at each other, and at the ground every few seconds. Marcus had his face all scrunched up in thought. Were people outside the Maw really that bad?? He and Thomas don’t even know, or remember what it’s like out there. They’ve only known this place most of their lives. But Roger…definitely seemed to have it a different way than from he and his brother. He’s lived outside before, for more of his life. And.. that happened. The eyeballs-being-gone thing.

Sheesh.

Meanwhile Roger had a point blank expression. He didn’t know what he was even thinking. Everything’s tangled up. Scrambled. There’s not much to say.

” … “

” … “

“ ..should I go send it up now, or.. “

“ —Ugh. You do what you want, I guess. But don’t say I didn’t warn you. “ Marcus once again rolled his eyes.

Mhm. Right. Roger scooted around him, and head off. Is he seriously doing this? Should he turn around?? He’s already going forward. But he’s not too far, he just left! He can just-

..Y’know what? No. He’s- he’s just gonna do it. Get it done, out of the way, never gonna do again. Possibly.

…He’s curious, anyways.

[marigold-dreams99]

Disney Songs That Would Represent Their Relationships

I thought it’d be fun to let you guys know what Disney songs I think would represent the boys’ relationship. Just an fyi I tried to stick to love songs but some non-love ones slipped in there so sorry about that. I also didn’t do this with anyone in mind I just had everything on shuffle and picked the characters based on who I felt like fit the song. I just thought it’d be fun so I hope you guys like it! 

Keigo Takami (Hawks) 

A Whole New World - Aladdin 

For this song I was honestly going back and forth between Hawks and Kirishima, but the more I thought about it the more I felt like it fit Hawks the best. 

He would want to show the many things that life would have to offer, he would especially want to take you flying every where if you weren’t scared.

Once he is comfortable enough to let you in on all of the things he had to go through you would want to show him that there is kindness in the world. 

It would be a mutual feeling of wanting each other to know that there are amazing thing in this world and you would both want to experience it with each other.  

It’ll make him happy just to see you liking and experiencing new things with him. 

He would just want to travel the world with you 

Eijiro Kirishima 

Go the Distance - Hercules 

I did not mean for these two to come one after the other since I was debating on who fit the first song more, but that’s the way the cookie crumbled. Anyway, I feel like this song describes him as a person and his outlook on his life in general, which I guess could also go for his love life. 

He is just like everyone else, he has days where he truly believes in himself and he has days where he does not know what he’s doing at all, but he never stops trying, which is also true for his relationships. 

He doesn’t have much experience when it comes to relationships so there are times where he might feel like he is doing everything wrong, but does not want to give up because he can go the distance hehehehe. 

Even you guys are going through a rough patch he would not be one to give up so easily, he would definitely do everything he can to fight for you and the love you have. 

Honestly just has the title of the song says he would truly go the distance for you and your relationship 

Denki Kaminari

I See the Light - Tangled 

I have seen so many tik toks where people have said they feel like this song sounds like Denki and Jirou singing together, but I swear that did not influence my decision for this song lol. I feel like since Denki will never stop being a flirt like that is just engraved in his personality forever now, but once he finds the person he wants to spend the rest of his life with it’ll be an eye opener hence why I chose him for this song.

It’s going to take Denki a while before he finds his forever person because of how much of a flirt he is, but once he finds you it’s going to hit him right then and there that you are the one for him. 

When he sees you he is automatically going to be attracted to you but when he realizes that you are the one I feel like it would play out like it does in the movie where you are doing something so simple and he just looks at you and is like “I see myself spending forever with you” 

He would truly love and cherish you and treat you the way you deserve to be treated

Once you are his, he is never letting you, it took him a while to find but he is going to make sure he is never going to lose you. 

Shoto Todoroki

You’ll Be In My Heart - Tarzan 

As soon as this song came on I immediately thought of Todoroki 

He would not be one to express his love for you in words it would mainly be through actions (kind of like tarzan hehehe). 

Just know that his love for you runs down to his core and he holds you to such a high regard since you are the first person to show him love in that way. 

He would always apologize for not being able to express his love for you the way that you are probably used to but he really is trying. 

You would constantly be on his mind and he would just want to make sure that you are okay and taken care of

His world would really revolve around you (in a healthy way lol) 

[8makes1cheese]

Mr. Handsome Stranger

Pairing: Yeosang X Reader

Tags: cursing, shitty attempts at comedy, fluff

Words: 1.7k

A/N: YAY my first fic! Go easy on me HEHehehe... ahem. ANyways, I hope it’s decent. The Ateez boys deserve more love and Atinys need more content dammit. Even if it’s my shitty writing hahahaHA. I promise to (try) to get better with my writing. Like seriously I feel like this is so shitty, but I’m having some blocks on ideas and having trouble starting stories. Also If I didn’t decide to just post this, nothing was going to be posted. ALSO, gotta give credit where credit is due of course, I got the inspiration for this story here. Well, enjoy?

"Okay, deep breathes. In and out. Inhale...exhale." I was currently parked curbside waiting for the time to hit noon. I had a job interview at my local library and was in the process of trying to psych myself up and calm my nerves at the same time. I glanced at the clock on my dashboard and it read 11:02 A.M. They like it when you show up early right? It shows that your punctual and responsible and shit. I rolled my eyes at myself. Why the hell did I show up so early? 

I wanted this job so bad. Working at this library has always been a dream of mine. They also have never had an open position here for years. Sure, you could volunteer your time here, but it has always been the same women working here for more than a decade. One of the ladies is good friends with my mother and knew that I would jump at the chance to land a job at my favorite place in town. I sighed and looked at the clock again. 11:06. I whined to myself and turned the heater on in my car. If I wasn't going to woman up and get my ass out of this vehicle, I might as well get cozy since I seem to be too chicken shit to hang out in the building I've spent the majority of my life in. I know I could just go in and browse through the isles of books before my interview. All the librarians know me by name, I know all of theirs. Like my mother and Thalia, my mothers friend who works at the library, said when they told me about the job opening, I'm guaranteed to get it. But, I still have anxiety and it seems like one of my favorite things to do is worry and assume the worse. I wrapped my cardigan tighter around me and turned up my heater. It was definitely a cold one today. It wasn't raining just yet, but the sky was steely gray with storm clouds. It was pretty calming actually, my favorite weather was stormy weather and grabbing a hot chocolate from the neighboring cafe and snuggling up in the warm library was sounding so good right now. Yes, keep thinking that way, maybe it'll actually get you to get the hell out of this car. As I was convincing myself that a hot chocolate sounded perfect a car pulled up and parked behind me. I didn't pay much attention to it, at least not until the person who was driving the car got out of it. I herd the door slam shut and glanced at my side-view mirror. Well, shit. The man that had exited the car was probably one of the most beautiful men I had ever seen. His hair was light brown. Dark blonde? Light brown. Whatever, you know what I mean. He had on a silky looking dark brown button up tucked into black skinny jeans and a black suit jacket to complete the ensemble. A simple black string wrapped around his throat. Damn, he has no business looking that good. I chuckled to myself. Thirsty bitch. I watched as he pointed his key fob at his car to lock his door and started walking to my side of the car. Wonder where he- My eyes widened and my heart sped up for a second when he stopped at my car door. What is he...? He turned his body towards me and bent over slightly looking right into my car window. I started to freak out when I remembered. Wait, my windows are tinted... holy shit, he can't see me. I smirked, enjoying a better look at this handsome man. It seemed like he decided to stop and use my car window as a mirror to check himself out. I observed him as he straightened out his shirt and ran his fingers through is hair. Damn, he looks even better up close. He seemed to have a bit of a nervous air about him. Maybe an important meeting? Maybe a ...date? I was tempted to roll down the window and scare the pants off him. (Oh, Mister Handsome Stranger with no pants...okay (y/n) get your mind out of the gutter for once.) And so I did. The look he had was absolutely priceless when he noticed the window start to roll down. Shock and embarrassment were written all over his perfect face. I plastered on a giant grin as most of my face became visible. He opened and closed his mouth a few times like a fishy Adonis and before he could say anything, I somehow had the confidence to say, "Don't worry, you look really good. Honestly you are unnaturally beautiful for a man. Like, seriously, you're prettier than my sister; and trust me, she's so pretty that she got a acting gig for a commercial advertising medicine for genital warts.", but you know, I have absolutely no confidence in myself to get a job that I'm almost guaranteed to get. Mister Handsome Strangers face turned red and he started busting up laughing. Oh no, your laugh sounds as beautiful as you are. "Thank you, I think I should take that as a compliment?" He said through his laughter. Jesus Fucking Christ, your voice sounds even better. "Oh yeah, it's definitely a compliment." Once he caught his breath he cleared his throat he scratched the back of his neck. "I'm really sorry." he told me. "I had no idea someone was in the car- your car. I-I mean- I didn't know you were in..." he stuttered out. I chuckled as his cheeks became just a little pinker. "It's alright really. My windows are obviously tinted so nobody would be able to tell that I'm just sitting in my car being a creep." He slightly smiled at me. "Why are you just sitting in your car being a creep?" he asked. Is he really starting a conversation with me? I glanced at the clock on my dash. 11:14. "Oh. I'm sorry." He let out a nervous chuckle. "I'm probably keeping you from something, and also being a creep I guess just randomly asking why your in your own car. I should-" "NO! I-I mean, no, it's okay. I just have a job interview at the library at noon and I was just making sure I wasn't going to be late for it." I let out a small breathy laugh and rubbed my hands on the steering wheel. His shoulders looked like they lost most of their tension and he sent a small smile my way. "Well your awfully early. Don't want to make them think your too eager now do you?" I snorted. "Well I haven't even entered the building yet. I have to leave the car for them to think that now don't I?" He grinned at me. "I guess that's true." Your smile is giving me heart palpitations. I took a deep breath as discreetly as I could. Bad Idea. Holy shit, he smells like heaven. "SO STRANGER-" Dear Gods, could you have been any louder!? "Ahem- so, you look dressed for some sort of occasion." His eyes widened and he had the look like he just remembered something. "O-oh, right, I'm-" He coughed into his balled up fist. "I-uh I have a... blind date at noon." I raised my eyebrow at him then grinned. "Well your awfully early. Don't want to make them think your too eager now do you?" I could tell he tried to suppress a grin and he rolled his eyes. "Ah, but I haven't even entered the building. I have to be in the cafe for anyone to think that now don't I?" I laughed and he laughed along, when we both calmed down he told me that him and his blind date were actually supposed to meet at 11:00 but that she was running late and texted him before he left and that she'll be at the cafe a little before noon.  He took his phone out of his pocket, glanced at it, and sighed. He looked almost.. disappointed. "I should probably head in, just in case she gets here a little early." I nodded a little too enthusiastically. Don't make your disappointment obvious. You have literally known this man for like 20 minutes. "Well, I hope you have a fantastic time on your date, who knows, maybe she'll be the one." I winked at him and immediately regretted it. By the Gods, why are you so lame. That was so damn cringey. My cringey-ness seemed to go over his head as he softly smiled at me and said, "And I hope you get this job. You're going to do great in the interview. Make sure to tell them about your sister that was in that genital warts commercial, you'll get the job for sure with that." This boy is making my cheeks hurt with all the smiling he's making me do. "I'll be sure to lead with that. It was nice to meet you..." He held his hand just outside my car window. "Yeosang." I took his hand in mine and softly shook it. I want to hold your hand forever. "Yeosang..I'm (y/n)." "(y/n)...it was a pleasure to meet you too." he said softly. My name sounds incredible coming from you, please say it again. He smiled at me and backed away, walking around my car to get to the sidewalk and making his way into the cafe that was neighbors with the library. I watched Yeosang enter the cafe and I took a deep breath. It wasn't often that I met someone that was literally perfect. I rested my head against the seats head rest (I mean that is what it is for right?) and closed my eyes for a moment. I couldn't believe I struck up a conversation (If you could even call it that.) with a random stranger. I don't do that. Why did I do that? I opened my eyes and looked at the clock. 11:34. If I have the confidence to do that, then dammit, I have the confidence to kill this interview. An interview that I'M GUARANTEED to kill in the first place, but still. I shut my car off and grabbed my phone and wallet from my center console. I exited the car and smiled at my future place of work. Alright, lets do this shit.

A/N pt2: spEAKING OF PT.2, I wanna do a pt. 2 to this? I’m still unsure of this story but I immediately had a idea of how to continue this as I was spell checking through it? So yeah. Hope you liked it <3 Anyone reading this, feel free to shoot me a request! I could always use new ideas and inspiration to keep me going. Have a good day/night~

[imaginedisish]

I’ll Be Your Mirror (Colin Ritman x Reader) (Bandersnatch)

A/N: I’M SORRY FOR NOT POSTING ANYTHING AAHHHH!!! I’m sorry guys...I just got so busy and I lost track of time. But don’t fret, I’ll be going back to posting at least once a day hehehehe! Tomorrow will be some Stefan smut, and if we’re lucky I’ll have the Otis smut as well. If not, then the Otis smut will be released the day after tomorrow. ANYWAY, I wrote this one because I wanted to. I needed some Colin fluff. The title and parts of the imagine are heavily based on I’ll Be Your Mirror by The Velvet Underground and Nico. GO listen to it PLS! ALSO I HIT 600! THANK YOU SO MUCH I LOVE YOU ALL! Okay on with the show...

Summary: Colin helps you through your trust issues, reassuring you that he’ll be there for you no matter what.

Warnings: Language! Some (semi) angst, references to cheating (not Colin though, the reader’s parents), reference to sex, FLUFF MEGA FLUFF OMG FLUFFFFFF!!! 

Word Count: 2,179

Also someone send me gifs pls i need more.

The harsh wind cuts through the tension in your body like a knife. The cold bites aggressively at your nose, and it begins to feel as though icicles are growing upon the tip. You curl your knees into your chest in retaliation to the less than pleasant weather as you look over the city street below from the balcony, fidgeting uncomfortably in your old, white, wrought iron chair.

You try to forget your problems as you watch the couples below walk hand in hand, one occasionally resting his or her head on their partner’s shoulder. However, it was no use. Nothing seemed to change. You still felt destroyed, disgusted, and empty. 

At times like these, moments of sheer hopelessness and helplessness, you took yourself out to the balcony. You would sit there, taking deep breaths as you tried your best to understand whatever situation you were in. This time, however, things seemed impossible. 

Earlier that day, your mother had told you the unbelievable, the unfathomable:

Your father had cheated on your mother.

The two people in your life you thought were in such true and real love were not. It felt almost as if your life was one big lie. It hurt like hell. 

While you recognized that cheating was an unfortunate, yet real aspect of life, the idea that your father could do that to your mother was haunting. You felt terrible for your mother, and on top of that, you felt as though you and your siblings weren’t good enough to make your father want to stay. 

You felt betrayed, hurt, damaged. 

Worst of all, the situation made you question everything, even your relationship with Colin. You felt a sense of insuperable paranoia. 

What if he doesn’t love me anymore? What if he leaves? What if he’s been cheating this whole time? You think to yourself. 

You wrap your arms tightly around your knees. Your eyes begin to sting as tears quickly surface. Breathing deeply, you attempt to hold them back. 

Suddenly, you hear the front door of your flat slam shut, causing you to jump in your seat.

“(Y/N)?” Colin calls out. “I’m home!”

You don’t move, nor do you say a thing. You stay exactly where you are as the tears you once held in begin to stream down your cheeks at free will. 

“(Y/N)? Where are you?” Colin asks, shouting now. You don’t respond. You can’t bring yourself to say anything. 

Then, almost involuntarily, your tears quickly turn to heavy, audible sobs. It was all too much to keep locked away inside of you. The sobs must have given away your secret hiding spot, as the glass doors swoosh open behind you, and you feel a warm, familiar presence come to your side.

“Oh my God, what happened?” Colin whispers, kneeling down by your side. He adjusts his silver rims, pushing them a bit higher on the bridge of his nose. 

Not a word comes out of your mouth as your thoughts continue to plague you. 

Colin furrows his eyebrows, concern plastered across his face. “Talk to me, please,” Colin begs pain prevalent in his voice. He brings a hand to your knee, rubbing it softly with his thumb. 

“M-my parents,” You finally mutter in between sobs, “a-are getting a divorce b-because…” You trail off. The sentence hurt far too much to finish.

“Take your time, love,” Colin coos, his hand still on your knee. He looks up at you with wide eyes, a small, reassuring smile stretching across his face. 

“M-my dad cheated.” You choke on your words, closing your eyes tightly, still in disbelief at the news. 

Unexpectedly, you feel two strong, comforting arms wrap around you. You push your face into Colin’s chest, and you sob into him. He squeezes you tightly, trying to help release the obvious tension and stress that had extended throughout your body.

“C-Colin I-I-,” You stutter, unable to form a sentence.

“Shhhh, love. I’m here, it’s okay,” Colin whispers in your ear. 

In that moment, you almost feel the need to pull away from him. You kept thinking about the “other woman,” from your father’s affair. She was a family friend who knew you, your mother and your siblings so well. You had called her your aunt for years. It was as though you could no longer trust anyone, including Colin. 

You lightly push him off of you, but he immediately gets the hint and steps back completely. He looks at you, confusion spreading across his face. 

“I don’t know who I can trust, Colin,” You say firmly as his intense blue gaze meets yours. 

Colin furrows his eyebrows. “You can trust me, (Y/N), you know that.” He steps towards you again. You get up in response, quickly walking towards the edge of the balcony. Colin follows behind you. “Say something,” Colin says, concern heavy in his voice. 

You place your right hand on the railing of the balcony, and look down to the streets below. “I-If my parents were truly in love, how could something like this happen?” You ask, turning to Colin. The sadness in your voice now replaced by extreme anger. “How do I know if…” You pause, trying to collect your thoughts.

“How do you know if, what?” Colin asks, walking closer to you. He places his hand on top of yours, but you instantly pull it away. “Tell me what the bloody hell is going on!” Colin’s voice is now filled with vex. 

Tears fill your eyes yet again. “Colin, I’m worried you’re going to leave me,” You mumble, the tears now pouring down your cheeks. “I’m worried that I’m not good enough, that you’re going to cheat on me, that you don’t really love me.” 

Colin shakes his head, and walks to the other side of the balcony. He sits down in the chair you had been sitting in before. He takes off his glasses, and places them on the matching white, wrought iron table in front of him. He rubs his eyes. He’s clearly exhausted and frustrated as he rests his head in his hands. 

“You really think I’d do or believe all of that?” He says, looking back up towards you, staring deeply into your eyes. “Because if you do, you’re so incredibly wrong.”

He pushes the chair back, the wrought iron scraping roughly against the concrete below. Colin stands up, and rushes over to you. 

“I’ve been in love with you from the very second I met you, and I can promise to God,” He pauses, pointing his finger towards the grey clouds above, “or whatever the hell is up there, be it some person controlling us or an omniscient being, that I will love you, and stay in love with you forever.” 

You’re at a loss for words. Colin had told you a million times that he loved you, but it was never anything like this. It was never anything so definite, so serious. You knew you wanted to spend the rest of your life with him, but you never truly knew how he felt on the matter of the future. 

“And as for that cheating bullshit,” Colin pauses, pressing his lips together as he arches a brow in your direction. “I would never cheat on you because no one on this planet, or in any other universe, for that matter, will ever amount to your worth. You’re more than good enough. I’m the one who doesn’t deserve you.” 

You feel a droplet of rain fall from the dark, thick clouds above, and then it slowly begins to drizzle. 

“Colin I’m so sor-,”

He cuts you off. “No, I’m not finished yet.” Colin’s face is slowly turning red. He takes another step towards you as the rain grows heavier. “Our love isn’t defined by other people’s failed relationships. You aren’t your parents, and I sure hope to hell I’m not mine.” 

Your stomach churns at the mention of Colin’s parents. Colin’s mother was just fine, but his father was a physically and mentally abusive, horrendous person. He made Colin’s childhood a living hell, and you wanted to kill the man for it.

Colin lowers his voice, almost as if he doesn’t want to be heard. “I mean hell, if I was my fucking father we would never be able to have children, and I would hate that.” 

The rain begins to pour. “Colin wh-wha-,”

Colin cuts you off again. “You heard me. I said it before and I’ll say it again,” He steps closer to you, so that his nose brushes against yours. He brings his hands up to cup your cheeks. “I want to spend the rest of my life with you, and nothing can ever change that. You’re always on my mind, (Y/N), and I’m so sorry if it doesn’t seem like that.”

Colin’s lips suddenly come crashing down on yours, and you hum in response. The kiss is languid and warm, yet passionate at the same time. You pull away for some air, but Colin pulls you right back in. 

“You really thought you could get away, didn’t you?” Colin mumbles against your lips, smiling. You can’t help but giggle. He finally pulls away, combing a hand through his soaking wet, platinum blonde hair. 

“I’m sorry Colin. I don’t know why I would assume all of that,” You say softly. 

“Don’t worry, love. You heard about what your father had done, and everything suddenly changed for you. It happens, and you don’t need to apologize,” Colin coos, wrapping his arms around you once again. “Promise me something though, okay?” Colin asks.

“Of course.” You say back, ignoring the fact that the rain had completely drenched your hair and clothes. None of that mattered, because you were with Colin.

“Let me be your mirror,” Colin says matter of factly, swaying you side to side, humming the tune of “I’ll Be Your Mirror,” by The Velvet Underground and Nico softly in your ear. It was your favorite song off of the The Velvet Underground and Nico record, and one of your favorite songs of all time. 

“I find it hard to believe you don't know, the beauty you are. But, if you don’t, let me be your eyes,” Colin sings softly, and you can’t help but smile. “I’m not going to stop until you promise me you’ll let me be your mirror, reflecting all that you are, just in case you don’t know,” Colin says, chuckling lightly, still swaying with you. 

“I promise,” You giggle. 

“Good,” Colin says, pulling apart from you. “Now let’s get inside and dry off, yeah?” You nod, and Colin grabs your hands with his, pulling you inside the flat. 

You shake off the rain, quickly running into your bedroom to grab a change of clothes. Oddly enough, Colin hadn’t followed you into the room. You get changed, and walk back into the living room. 

There was Colin, standing in front of the record player. His The Cure shirt was completely soaked, his blue jeans, drenched. He turns around to you, a smile plastered on his face. 

“I’ll be your mirror, reflect what you are, in case you don’t know…” Nico’s voice echoes through the apartment. Colin had put the record on. 

You laugh a bit. “Colin, I already said yes. I promise, I promise that you can be my-,” 

You stop talking as you realize Colin is down on one knee. 

“I’m so deeply in love with you, and I figured there was no better time than the present to do this…” Colin trails off nervously. “(Y/N), I can guarantee to you that if there are a million timelines, a million universes, this is the only one I’m truly happy in, and that’s because in this one, I have you.” He pauses again, swallowing harshly. 

“Marry me, (Y/N).” 

Your heart flutters in your chest, the way it did on your first date, the way it did when you and Colin shared your first time together. Everyday felt like the first with Colin. He was your mirror, and you’d be an idiot to say no to the person who wanted to show you how special you were, the person who wanted to be there for you no matter what. 

“Yes Colin, of course yes,” You practical shout, running over to him. You press your lips against his, but all you can do is smile into the kiss. You were so unbelievably happy. “I love you so much,” you say, pulling your lips from his. 

“And I’m so deeply in love with you, (Y/N).”

“When you think the night has seen your mind

That inside you're twisted and unkind

Let me stand to show that you are blind

Please put down your hands

'Cause I see you

I'll be your mirror

(reflect what you are)

I'll be your mirror

(reflect what you are)

I'll be your mirror

(reflect what you are)

I'll be your mirror

(reflect what you are)

I'll be your mirror

(reflect what you are)”

[badfanfics]

fallback - chapter five

series masterlist

chapter five: awakened

The sunlight crept in from the curtains, shining on them and reminding her it’s a new year. Suddenly, the light felt revitalizing and awakening – the New Year genuinely felt new, even if she had only slept for three hours.

While rubbing her palms over her eyes, trying to rub out the sleepy daze from her body; she attributed this refreshed feeling to Winnie, to her new lifestyle regime, and to the fact that she hasn’t thought of Tom the whole night, even in her dreams – so maybe she’s newly and deeply in love with Noah.

Ignoring the smell of alcohol, Bea rolled over so she’d be planking over the sleeping man. Bea pressed her lips against Noah’s forehead to wake him up gently. “I need to feed Winnie and then I’m taking her on a hike.” His eyes fluttered open, “Come with me?”

Noah lifted his heads upwards with a grin, pressing his lips against hers. All his own doubts of the relationship seemed to dissipate – this is the first time Bea asked him to go on a hike rather than vice versa. Bea has always spoken about she likes for thinking time, and that needed to be alone. Noah was always understanding. “Of course.” He grinned with a shit-eating grin, “I thought you’d never ask.”

The girl slapped her boyfriend in a joking manner. “Wipe that smile off your face.” She fell back so she’d sit on the bottom of her feet, “I’ll pour the water bottles, can you get the bags and Winnie’s Sherpa backpack?” Noah nodded, eyes still heavy with sleep.

Bea ignored that fact and instead made her way downstairs, letting Winnie follow her down. “Hey pretty girl,” She smiled, pouring the dog food into the bowl before Winnie pounced on the food.

One of Bea’s rules is that her personal phone remains downstairs at night. Her work phone is allowed upstairs, but must be on do not disturb with exceptions for some people (such as her agent). She saw a red notification on her lock screen.

Snapchat from tomholland1996

Her heart skipped a beat. Maybe even two.

It was like that one notification was an on switch and all the feelings came flooding back. She even had to grip the table to prevent her knees from giving out on her. She felt like a school girl who just messaged their crush.

Opening up her phone, she clicked on the notification. In the blurry and grainy video, she saw Tom’s face – clearly intoxicated. His hair was a mess, his eyes were bloodshot, and his shirt was discarded into the corner – something she saw in the video. Harrison was also in the video, chasing after Tom before he locked the door.

She noticed that the first time she opened the notification, she was caught up staring at his eyes – at how cute he was with his red face – at his lopsided smile. Bea panicked – quickly holding onto the notification to replay it, now ashamed that Tom will receive the news she watched it twice. Bea wishes she was there, wanting to take care of him and not fully trusting Harrison in taking care of him. She desired to ensure she drank the tea he always drank when he was feeling unwell, to leave the pain medication in the bed beside him and ensure he drinks it before sleeping, to prepare the best anti-hangover meal on the dining table for breakfast.

“Hey darli-Bea,” Tom burped out, and Bea could hear Haz behind the door, knocking loudly and viciously – screaming at him to go to bed. “Hehehehe, I should probably listen to him but I…I really don’t want to… I miss youuuu” He sang. “I wantchu here, beside me, right there.” He pointed at the floor as he blabbered. “I reallllly don’t know what I’d do without you but I want to wich you a happy new yur but my year won’t be so happy witchout you,” He started giggling, aimlessly staring around the room, “I miss how you crinkle your nose at the smell of alcol or even flinch or how you scunch up your eyes when you trying to remember sumting and honest everything aboot you. I’m not me widj out you. I love you” Suddenly the door opened once more, “NOOOO!” He screamed, “Harrisonnnnn! Pass it backkkk.” Harrison left the bathroom with the phone and rested his back against the door, blocking Tom.

“Hey Bea,” Bea noticed Haz wasn’t as drunk. “I need to be a better sober…well, semi-sober friend. You were always the best with him.” He teased, “Happy New Year! Tom got wasted, I’m sorry – you know he’s never usually like this. Call this Sunday instead of our usual Tuesday? I have a possible date.”

And that marks the end of her new day.

But the day was only beginning. “Hey Noah!” Bea called, hearing a light thump from her room. “I’ll actually go on a walk, do you think you can take Winnie for that hike?”

Noah shout out a small and disappointed approval, before Bea ran out the door – leaving the water bottles at the table, empty.

She took her car and found herself aimlessly driving around, until she was at a home not far away, but still quite a bit away from her own. It was early, she knows. She’s never up this early, she knows that much too. But William had an important case today and Logan always, and Bea means always, cooks a special breakfast on the morning of a crucial day.

She was right. The door opened to a grumpy, yet very much awake, Logan. “I need to hear you. I cannot put up with this anymore but I really need to tell you something or else I might go insane.”

Logan sighed, opening up the door to her maid of honor. Bea had done this countless times for her, Logan is not only obligated as her best friend – but she cares about her and wants to make sure she is okay. “Good morning to you too.” She said with snark. Logan was in no way a morning person – it’s why she picked a job with such flexible hours.

She made her way immediately to her couch, falling into position as if she was the classic therapy patient in film – despite the fact that it never happens in real life unless she is sleep deprived. “I’d show you a video, but I can’t so…” Bea started to explain everything; the full story of how they broke up, how she moved on too fast, how she has been thinking of Tom every day, how he kissed her at the premiere, how she was offered the Gwen Stacy role, how she has been dreaming of him every night, and how this exact message only reawakened her love for the British boy. She didn’t realize that Logan has noticed the small telltale signs of Bea lying through her feelings all this time.

Logan was just nodding throughout her ramble. Bea has reached her burnout. When Bea cannot handle her feelings, it all comes out as words strung along in sentences that seem useless – something that only Logan can decipher.

Once Bea shut her mouth and tears started falling from her eyes, Logan took over. “I know you don’t like big confrontations or interventions, so I’ll do what Tom always did. I’m going to call it out as I have saw it. And I’m just asking you to listen.”

And then Logan went off.

“Bea, I never hated Noah. I don’t think it’s possible to hate Noah.” She started, remembering the first time she met Noah and instantly fell in love with his charms. “I hate what he is to you and what he has made you do and what me made you.” Bea furrowed her eyebrows. “My God girl! Did you not hear what you just told me? You’re playing him.” The realization of what she was doing hit her just as hard as if Logan had slapped her. “You are not cheating on him, I mean, maybe a little. But you’re playing him. You were too busy being Tom’s to be his. You were too busy loving Tom to ever love someone else, in this case Noah. He’s a rebound, and an unsuccessful one at that.”

“Do you know how I knew William was the one?” She asked, making Bea shake her head. “Remember he was finishing his law degree abroad. I haven’t seen him in a year, and literally every second I spent wondering what would life be like, what would the situation be like if he was with me. I noticed I have never smiled as much as I did when I was with him. I noticed all these small nuances about myself and strived to make myself better, for him.” Logan stumbled, “Do you not realize this is how you talk about Tom?” Bea’s face remained empty. “You love him. You never stopped.”

“Now, if you love Noah – if you even love him like you did before you started dating, if you love him like you loved him as a friend – you’d stop pulling on his heart strings and let him go. You’d call Tom and tell him you love him because we both know he loves and misses you. Do the right thing.”

Logan paused once more. “Do it before he finds someone else. If he finds someone else. But he may not wait around for you forever. Yes, you two are made for each other. But not everyone who is made for each other actually stays or ends up together.”

Bea burst out in tears. She thought of the one she loved. The face she trained herself to see – Noah’s – slowly became Tom’s. Afterall, she was ‘in love’ with Noah’s puppy dog eyes when really, she just saw Tom’s in them. She was ‘in love’ with the smile that’d light up his whole face, just like Tom’s. She was ‘in love’ with Noah’s effort, which was no way as extensive as Tom’s. She thought of everything she loved about Noah and realized that Tom executed the same trait, but in her eyes – more than Noah did.

“I thought I could learn to love him, y’know?” Bea explained, “I loved him so much and we became so close and I dind’t want to reject his date offer and he was obvious about his crush on me and I thought I could learn.” She cried into her shoulder. “It’s Noah! The most lovable guy I know.”

Logan smirked sadly, “Exactly. He’s Noah. He’s not Tom Holland.”  

taglist :

 @charismas-world @athermosofsad (it didn’t let me tag you so i linked you and hoped it work?)

[popatochisssp]

Make Your Mark, 1/10

Series: Undertale Relationship(s): Sans/Reader, Sans & Papyrus Chapter Warnings: none

AO3 Link

In a world where soulmates exist, monsters and humans have one thing in common: the first time two soulmates touch, a mark randomly appears somewhere--anywhere-- on their bodies to represent their match.

It still doesn't make relationships easier...but maybe it does make them a little more interesting!

“DON’T YOU BEND SPACE-TIME ON ME, SANS! AND FAR LESS LIKELY, DON’T YOU DARE RUN EITHER!”

Sans was certainly not considering anything so childish…not the least because Papyrus was too fast for him and had already caught him by the hood of his jacket.

Still, he did keep trying to pull away, awkwardly batting at his brother’s hand trying to make him let go.

“c’mon, Pap,” he pleaded, “it’s fine, just leave it…”

Papyrus wasn’t having any of it. “IT’S BEEN AT LEAST TWO MONTHS,” he snapped, tugging harder and nearly yanking Sans right off his mattress. “THIS THING IS FILTHY AND I’M GOING TO WASH IT. ACCEPT YOUR FATE!”

To go hoodie-less? For as much as an hour? Maybe more?

“death before dishonor,” Sans said, and proceeded to go limp—a sudden dead-weight that made Papyrus stagger forward a step if his sputtering was any indication.

“OH MY GOD, SANS, ARE YOU REALLY THIS CHILDISH?” he demanded. “I COMPLETELY BELIEVE THAT YOU ARE, BUT I WANT YOU TO THINK LONG AND HARD ABOUT THE KIND OF PERSON YOU’RE BEING RIGHT NOW!”

“heheheh… that’s what sh—”

“IF YOU SAY ‘THAT’S WHAT SHE SAID,’ SANS, I SWEAR, I’M GOING TO—”

Whatever he was going to threaten, Sans never found out.

Papyrus gasped and suddenly, Sans was facedown on the bed, unceremoniously dropped like a sack of potatoes.

Confused, Sans tried to sit up and turn to see what caused that reaction, only for Papyrus to catch him by the shoulders and keep him turned around.

“uhhh…Papyrus?” he asked a little helplessly. “what—”

“SHUT UP!” Papyrus exclaimed. “OH MY GOD??? SANS! WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN?! WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME?!”

Sans frowned, confusion mounting. “be…cause…i have no idea what you’re talkin’ about…?”

He knows his brother pretty well by now and he can physically feel Papyrus’ look of disbelief from behind him.

“YOU MEAN YOU HAVEN’T EVEN SEEN IT?!”

“…no?” Sans laughed. “what, did i lay in somethin’? big, terrible stain that i definitely need to take off my hoodie for, or…?”

Papyrus tsk-ed. “FORGET YOUR FITLHY HOODIE, SANS, THIS IS MORE IMPORTANT!”

Before the shock could even set in—the eternal neat-freak that was Papyrus so swiftly brushing off the dirty jacket Sans had been wearing for two and a half months— Sans heard the unmistakable click of a photo and a phone being shoved in his face.

It took Sans an embarrassingly long time to realize what he was looking at.

His own vertebrae, a little blurry from the lightning speed at which Papyrus had taken the picture, but not unidentifiably so.

And right there, swooping and twisting across his C7 innocent as can be, is an infinity symbol.

His soulmark.

“wh…”

He tries to form a sentence, even just a single word, but finds himself…utterly speechless.

Sans never thought…

Sure, soulmates were a thing, people found them all the time, but he wasn’t… he didn’t…

He suddenly realizes that he never thought he’d be one of them. He has no plan for this; not even a reaction.

As always, Papyrus seemed ready to bail him out.

“CAN YOU THINK OF WHEN IT MIGHT’VE HAPPENED?” he asks.

Slowly, still staring at the picture, Sans shakes his head.

No, he has no idea.

He can’t remember touching anyone new in months and even then…in such a weird spot, the mark could’ve showed up years ago and he’d have been none the wiser.

He wavers on the edge of defeatism for a moment—of course, this is more like it, a soulmate he had only to never know them, opportunity snatched away right in front of him once again, just like always—but Papyrus asks another question.

“WHAT ABOUT THE MARK?” he prompts. “DOES IT…REMIND YOU OF ANYONE? CAN YOU THINK OF WHO IT MIGHT BE FOR?”

And, oh…

Oh…

He can.

There is someone, somebody that comes to mind right away—a beautiful laugh and warm eyes and a feeling of hope that’s been painfully elusive until…

“yeah,” he says out loud. “i think…i think maybe……”

There’s really only one person in his skull when Sans even dares to think about ‘forever.’

And you’re just a shortcut away.

-

You startle pretty badly when Sans suddenly appears in your living room.

“Sans!” you snap at him, protectively holding your bowl to your chest. “Don’t do that, I almost spilled my popcorn!”

It gives you pause when the pun you’re expecting just…doesn’t come. You take a closer look at the skeleton standing before you and frown.

Sans looks tense, to say the least. His shoulders are stiff and his permanent grin is tight and the lights in his eye-sockets won’t quite meet your gaze.

“…Sans?” you try, a little more gently. “Are you… is everything okay?”

“uh. yeah,” he says. “yeah, it’s…m’fine…”

“You don’t sound fine.”

You set your popcorn aside and get up, walking over to him.

“Seriously,” you insist, “what’s up? You know you can talk to me, right? We’re friends.”

And nothing more. No matter what you…

That's not important.

“…yeah. yeah, i know.”

Sans finally looks at you and you spare half a second to feel self-conscious—you weren’t planning on seeing anybody today and you’re only dressed for a solo movie-marathon, in sweats and as minimally groomed as you’ve ever been—but if something’s wrong, you know that doesn’t matter either.

Sans’ eye-lights shrink a little. “i, uh…i……found somethin’…today…jus’ now, actually, heheh…”

That’s…much too vague for you to work with. “Yeah…?” you prompt.

And he says the words that make your heartbeat stutter.

“a soulmark.”

………oh.

You’d known, in the back of your mind, that…this…was only a matter of time. In the few short years since monsters hit the surface, people were finding their matches all the time, and somebody like Sans… funny and kind and effortlessly charming… Of course he had a soulmate out there for him, even if…

Even if it wasn’t you, the way he was yours.

You’d been quietly devastated when you found your mark and went days, weeks, months without hearing a single thing from the skeleton you knew it’d come from. Mismatches were rare, but they happened and…you’d done your best to make peace with the fact that you were one such unlucky case.

Your skin still feels unaccountably hot right where you know your soulmark to be and your heart aches a little in your chest.

“O-oh,” you manage to get out, sounding mostly normal, “that’s great! Who, uh…who are they? Do I know them?”

Sans’ grin inexplicably goes a little crooked, sweat starting to bead along his skull.

“shit, i hope so,” he mutters. Then louder, “actually, i…i think i probably musta had it…awhile? it’s…um…hard to look at…”

You frown again. “Is it really that bad?”

“heheheheheh…no, it’s, y’know, it’s literally hard to look at. ’less if i were an owl or somethin’, i guess.”

Sans turns, putting his back to you and tugging his hood down a little further and you get what he means.

The bright little infinity stamped on the knobby vertebra of his neck is beautiful.

You’re already jealous.

You remember his words, ‘i hope so,’ and think you know why he’s here: he wants your help figuring out who his soulmate might be because maybe you know them, and that hurts like hell, but you’re going to give it to him.

If nothing else, Sans is your friend and he deserves to be happy.

“Okay… alright, um…do you have any leads?” you ask.

“yeah.”

“………” Sans doesn’t say anything else, though, just staring at you. “And…?”

“and i’m here.”

Duh, you can see that—but how are you supposed to help if he doesn’t tell you anything?

You don’t realize what he’s saying until he starts to squirm under your gaze, sweating even worse than before and backtracking.

“i…! i mean! i don’t…s’not like i know for sure, uhh…i just…maybe you don’t, actually…an’ that’s fine, ‘cause i still…! even if you don’t, uh…have one, you’re my…we’re pals, obviously, an’ i like that, i like it a lot, i just kinda hoped maybe…maybe………”

Your heart does more than stutter when it dawns on you. It actually feels like it full-on stops, just for a second.

Your voice is hushed and tight with hope and disbelief as you say, “You think it’s me…?”

Sans swallows audibly and you still have no idea how that works, but then he says, “i hope it’s you,” and your face begins to feel very warm.

It’s nothing compared to your soulmark though, which is definitely starting to feel like it’s actually on fire.

“it’s…really okay if it’s…not the same for, for you,” Sans says, even as an unmistakably dejected look comes over his skull. “i just…y’know, i couldn’t think of anybody else it’d be, an’ you…you deserve to know that you, uh…that you’re………”

His cheekbones start to color an embarrassed blue.

“heheheh, may’ve jumped the gun a little on this one,” he admits. “i’ll just—”

“No!”

Sans’ eye-sockets go wide at your outburst and you hasten to clarify.

“You didn’t, it’s not, you’re…!” Your emotions feel like a flood, too strong to weather, and you find yourself floundering for words.

But you can’t just not say anything, you need to make Sans understand, and there’s only one way you can think of.

You grab the waistband of your sweatpants and start to tug them down.

You didn’t think Sans’ sockets could go any wider, but they do.

He says your name, sounding kind of alarmed and a lot flustered, but you cut him off.

“No, shut up, it’s, just look!”

You don’t pull your pants down far—just enough to expose the modest little shooting star that Sans unwittingly marked you with, streaking across your rear in cyan-blue.

His eye-lights disappear entirely when he spots it.

There’s dead silence for only a few seconds, and then…

“…heheheh…hahahahahaha, i was expectin’ a full moon, not a star.”

You resist the urge to sigh.

Yeeep…

Even as you jerk your pants back up, you have to press your lips together to keep from smiling while Sans’ grin gets brighter and broader.

“gotta say, that really eclipses my reveal, doesn’t it?” He snickers a little. “little relieved, though, comin’ over here like i did, thought you’d think i was a lunar somethin’.”

“Yeah, yeah,” you say, “get ‘em all out now.”

“oh, don’t worry,” Sans assures you, “this’ll be a quick phase, i won’t get too cheeky.”

You huff and storm over to your couch, mostly to hide the fact that you’re definitely smiling.

“This is how I knew it was yours,” you say, plopping down and scooping up your popcorn bowl. “Endless pun potential.”

You pointedly don’t jump when Sans appears right beside you, but the sassy comment you were gearing up to make dies on your tongue when you look at him.

His expression is so…soft, so warm. One of his hands is rubbing idly at the back of his neck and all he says to you is, “yeah. endless.”

Oh…oh, hell.

Face feeling hot again, you whip towards the TV and wordlessly cue up the movie you were going to watch before Sans wandered in and turned your whole day upside down and put this stupid fluttering feeling in your stomach.

Sans shamelessly shovels some of your popcorn into his mouth and asks, “wha’are we wa’in’?”

“A movie,” you reply flatly.

Thankfully, he swallows before speaking this time. “no way, i love those, how’d you know?”

You decide not to dignify that with a response.

“aw, c’mon,” he says, smiling wide and nudging you in the ribs, “you’re not still mad about the punnin’, are ya’? i don’t want ya’ to be mad on our first date ‘cause you were the butt of the joke for awhile.”

“…Pfft!”

Your poker-face shatters and you burst out laughing.

You don’t resist when Sans throws an arm around you and tugs you to his side, or protest when he blatantly shifts the popcorn to his lap instead of yours.

Your first date with your soulmate…

You think you can put up with a lot for that.

UT!Papyrus | US!Sans | US!Papyrus | UF!Sans | UF!Papyrus | SF!Sans | SF!Papyrus | HT!Sans | HT!Papyrus

[scarlettlawyer]

Phantoms and Mirages Fic Commentary, Part 1

So. I’ve basically written up over six thousand words of reaction/commentary of @renegadewangs‘s fanfic Chasing Phantoms, the first instalment in the Phantoms and Mirages series. This post’s commentary covers the first ten chapters, but I still reference parts beyond that excluding Tracking Ghosts, which I still have yet to read (so the commentary itself is spoilery in the sense that it jumps about at times and references stuff beyond the chapter at hand). So please no spoilers regarding the final instalment! Meowzy, I hope this was okay for me to do, please let me know if it’s not! The way I’ve written this up is kind of like a review where I’m talking to you, but other fans are more than welcome to comment on and engage with this post if they wish. I plan to cover the series at least up until the end of Lifting Spirits with these commentary posts.

Sorry for Very Long Post!

Chasing Phantoms, Chapter 1

First off, already, in the first few sentences, you present us with something to contrast SO strongly with the changed Bobby we see later – specifically to contrast as much as possible, basically. The difference here between this Bobby and Randy Liberate, it’s, aaaah…! You specifically draw attention to this, in the very beginning of the very first chapter… You didn’t HAVE to make the contrast so stark, but you did, and god damn it hit me hard. XD. NOT GONNA LIE IT MADE ME KINDA “ANGRY” THAT YOU DID THIS LIKE, hahaha. You did this on purpose, didn’t have to make that the content of the first few lines of dialogue.

Man, you know what occurred to me when I was starting to read this fic? In the past there was at least one fic on the PWKM that a friend linked me to that was also a Bobby Lives AU where Bobby was also traumatised – but it was basically one where Bobby had been held captive during that whole year. And I read a little bit of it then basically shoved it aside and couldn’t read it anymore. It was just too off-putting for me, the horror and level of trauma Bobby must have suffered over such a long period of time too much to think about, making me feel ill and sick to my stomach at the time. Now that fic – based on what my friend told me and what little I read of it – focused on Bobby and his slow recovery. The phantom was not really present, they were not a character – they were merely a part of the fic’s background formation, the referred-to and merely alluded to entity whose prime influence over the fic was being the source of – having inflicted Bobby’s trauma, the trauma already having played out.

Now there’s more than one reason I didn’t continue reading that fic, and what they have in common is that they stem from the fact that I like the phantom a lot as a character. Therefore, I want to read fic with a focus on the phantom and with the phantom as an actual character who does stuff in the fic, and that fic did not meet those requirements. SECONDLY… I was not, and until reading Phantoms and Mirages, was never really in the habit of giving Bobby Fulbright as a character much focus. Reading about Bobby shell-shocked and traumatised was a fundamentally uncomfortable experience (as it should be) because naturally it made me feel very very bad for the guy, but also because the fic wanted to (rightfully) position the phantom as an abhorrent and detestable being. Now usually I got no problem with that but the way that fic went about it felt somehow different – it made my insides twist, perhaps because it was shining a spotlight on the phantom’s victim(s) as opposed to the phantom themself. It did not encourage my love for this awful fictional character, it did not give me anything to “fangirl” over, it just made me dislike the phantom in the context of that fic, and I wasn’t about that life.

So back when I’m starting out this fic written by you, where Bobby is actually a player on the chessboard getting a bunch of focus, and I’m like oh, boy. Is it going to be like that again? Is this fic(s) going to make me feel super, duper bad about Bobby Fulbright and by extension, just make me feel sick when thinking about the phantom? Is this series going to encourage me to hate the phantom and have a certain degree of success? I was a little worried.

…Phwwhwhh…. Bahahaha. Oh, past me. If this fic series has a thesis, I can tell you it’s NOT “this person known as the phantom is bad forever and you should hate them.” Can you believe this was ever one of my concerns? : D Hehehehe.

--

Oh my god… Oh my god… Reading over this again, it just hit me – the IRONY of that corpse being labelled a “John Doe” and referred to as such… goshdangit Meowzy!!! I know you love your irony an awful lot. Is there no end to your amusing twists and reversals?! XD. I’M TRYING TO THINK, DID THEY ACTUALLY CALL THE CORPSE A JOHN DOE IN TURNABOUT FOR TOMORROW? THAT MIGHT’VE BEEN WHAT GAVE YOU THE BEGINNINGS OF THE SHELLY IDEA… HMMMM.

--

Now as much as I poked fun above about the possibility that this series would make me dislike the phantom, man did this chapter make me feel bad for Bobby Fulbright. It really manages to put you in his shoes. Struck me REALLY heavily just how absolutely mind-breaking it must be for your captive to step into the room and they’re, well, you. To have the spitting image of yourself calmly and coldly hold you at gunpoint… goddamn. That’s some shattering stuff. Honestly even if none of the Shelly death happened, poor Bobby, the guy would already have a lot of baggage that would take a lot of time to work through based on that alone.

The “highly respected nobody” and “devoted your life to justice, but in doing so forgot to pursue close bonds with loved ones” comments and Bobby’s reaction was flippin’ heartbreaking for me. I’ve seen plenty of meta written before supposing about Bobby not having any real close loved ones and how that would have made impersonation easier, and for the people doing that analysis there is always an air of “huh that’s kind of sad/depressing, actually” – a level of acknowledgement there that I would register when reading such analysis, but here in this chapter I’m hit with the absolute full force of it and just how depressing it is when Mr Bobby Fulbright himself is confronted with that analysis (or at least, that’s what it really felt like the first time I read it!). It really hurt to think about! This is what I mean when I say I’m impressed that you gave Bobby Fulbright agency as a character – in fics where he is dead, or in meta passively analysing him, this analysis is basically applied to him post-mortem. He’s an idea, a thing to be dissected, with no concrete shape or form (because we can never know how accurate the phantom’s impersonation was). And in later chapters the text itself lampshades this. Bobby’s later comments about being treated as a martyr of justice by the public struck me as basically how the fandom as a whole tends to treat him, and that may have been intentional on your part. We, the fandom and the players, just like Simon Blackquill, never actually got to meet the real Bobby Fulbright. But here, here? As a character in your fic, Bobby gets to take shape as a concrete entity as opposed to the multitude of possibilities that he is in much of fandom. But importantly, he gets to react. He gets to react to things, and he is the one reacting to this very analysis of himself. As shattering as it is for him, in this chapter he gets to basically hear a solemn takeaway that parts of the fandom have made about his person. And in subsequent chapters, he is given the chance both to respond and overcome it.

It’s kinda funny, you know what these scenes made me think and wish? “Man, it really sucks that Bobby Fulbright died, actually. It really, really sucks. I wish he hadn’t died.” Keep in mind that I was kind of, err… too distracted by the phantom to be truly sad over Bobby when playing the ending of Dual Destinies for the first time. Hmm. Well, this chapter certainly helped me out with feeling the anguish that the average player did over Bobby!

“Wish Bobby didn’t die. It’s not fair! Wish that Bobby was, you know… still alive. Somehow.” Hah! Meowzy, you were just standing there like “don’t worry bro I got you covered.”

When I read this chapter for the first time, I didn’t actually know for certain that it was a Bobby Lives AU. I mean, it was telling me that Bobby Fulbright was gonna be a character, but all signs so far seemed to point to “yeah, he’s a character… in flashbacks.” The fic tags were saying Blackbright, and yet the entire setup seemed to be saying otherwise. It left me kinda confused and wondering how, in what capacity would our man Bobby Fulbright be playing a role. This chapter had made me so certain he was dead, that I actually thought supernatural elements would be involved. Ghost Bobby! : D

And I honestly don’t know why, but for some reason I’d always assumed Phantoms and Mirages as a series was some Fun Wacky AU With Actual Supernatural Elements for the longest time back when I didn’t know anything about it. It’s part of why it took me so long to finally get around to reading it. I blame both the chosen titles involved (why I failed to realise back then that they were not actually meant to be taken literally, seeing as the canon “phantom” character has no supernatural elements, I really don’t know) and the fact that “Bobby Fulbright” and “the phantom” were both listed as characters co-existing in the same fic. My mind just went “does not compute” to the point where it straight-up assumed it mustn’t be canon compliant and/or have fantastical elements. Heh. Joke’s on me.

So yeah, you made me really sad and wish Bobby hadn’t died and he was still alive… in an AU where he lives! Excellent work ;D

Just also want to randomly say again(?) that I can’t believe you managed to write canon compliant Bobby Lives “AU” fic. You took two of the main issues/problems I’ve seen raised by fans; “why did it take a year for Bobby’s body to be found” and “why did the phantom allow that evidence to be discoverable”, and managed to actually solve them in a manner that supports a Bobby Lives “AU”. Brilliant!

Chasing Phantoms, Chapter 3

The guard by the man’s side exchanged a meaningful look with his fellows on the other side of the glass as the tirade was still ongoing, though the next few words were in a foreign language. French? Then Cohdopian? He switched back to English soon enough, which didn’t diminish the oddity one bit.

The Phantom was losing it.

Gosh, I can’t emphasise enough how much I loved the language switching here. That’s another thing this series does REALLY well: acknowledging other languages and having characters change between them. An international spy is naturally going to know more than one language, that’s just kind of a given, and I don’t see much meta or fics acknowledge that, so I really do adore how strongly it’s a given in your fics. The way language switching is done and discussed, and just discussion of listening to other languages etc is usually really well done in this series and I always enjoy it.

But I just especially love this particular scene – the phantom inadvertently changing languages because he’s just that far gone is… iconic. I’d almost say it’s kind of a miracle that they were able to stick to the one language throughout their entire breakdown at the end of Dual Destinies, but then again, they only used the faces of “English” speaking characters I guess, flitting between their voices, so it does make sense!

Interesting that, when I read through this chapter for the first time, when the phantom started actually making threats and being like “I’M GOING TO BREAK OUT OF HERE AND YOU WILL PAY, SEE YOU SOON!!” I was, well, sceptical. I was like, hmmm, huuh…? “That doesn’t really, um, make sense, does it? Isn’t that a little out of character for the phantom?” and yet, the narrative itself acknowledges this, through Blackquill, later on when things come to a head. I was awfully foolish to ever doubt the Great Meowzy. :P

Now this time around, of course I know exactly what’s going on here and register precisely how this seemingly odd behaviour slots into the phantom now.

Chasing Phantoms, Chapter 4

”Bobby Fulbright.”

Fulbright stiffened at the mention of his own name, just for a few seconds.

OH, HERE WE GO. YEAH. HERE WE GO, HUH???

Yeah, you might have seen/noticed from my posting in the discord chat, but this? This inspired quite the reaction in me. This made me livid, frothing at the mouth. Not in any way towards you, the author or the writing, but towards the character. Mission accomplished via good writing!

Well, I wasn’t angry at first, I don’t think. Initially it was just a kind of, delighted bewilderment when he showed up – I am pretty sure I found it pretty, well, amusing. Funny but in a sense you’re laughing out of shock and bewilderment more than anything. LIKE… IT /IS/ PRETTY FUNNY IN A SUPER WACKY KIND OF WAY… the narrative has kind of said in no uncertain terms over and over again, that this character is dead. And here he is, in the flesh, alive, just like that.

The phantom: lol Bobby Fulbright is dead and I killed him

(Except he’s lying through his teeth.)

Like, YES, we have the narrative undercurrent of Simon’s creeping suspicions leading up to this point – it’s most certainly not something that happens out of nowhere, textually speaking. The groundwork HAS been laid, and alternative explanations have been hinted and implied. (An AU of this AU would be some grimdark angsty thing where Simon follows the “maybe he’s not actually dead though” trail and gets his hopes up only for it to end in despair because nah, he’s really gone dude, and it was all your imagination and yearning for something that will never be, but anyway).

It’s awkwardly funny and funny in an awkward way. This guy presumed dead, another guy claiming to have killed him, the funeral has taken place, THE BODY SUPPOSEDLY IDENTIFIED AND /BURIED/, THE LOCATION OF THE MURDER SUPPOSEDLY IDENTIFIED- People are in mourning.

Bobby: Oh. Hey. Hello, um, yes. I’m alive haha

Part of it is that it’s so sudden too. I kind of love it. He’s just there at the cemetery, Simon chases this random man down and it’s Bobby flippin’ Fulbright.

So at first it’s like

:O [laughing confusedly] what the heck? Bobby, you’re aliiive! : D

Then it’s like

Bobby, how the hell are you alive?

…And what the hell are you doing here?!

Then finally reaches a crescendo in a sort of WAIT, HOW DARE YOU BE ALIVE?!

My standard expectation for a fic scenario like this – “Bobby is alive post-DD” is him being found, hidden away somewhere – him having been forcibly hidden away from the outside world with no way to make contact with it if he wanted to. He needs to be uncovered. He’s certainly not casually hanging out in the background at cemeteries, walking around outside freely, that’s for sure, hahaha.

But no, he was not discovered in some dark cellar, chained to the wall. He was discovered walking around out in the open, nothing really preventing him from making contact with people.

My amused surprise quickly and rapidly gave way to rage.

Rage at this man!!! Rage, as the story progressed and unfolded in the immediate aftermath of this initial scene.

All thoughts of the phantom – the god damn phantom, the entire reason I started reading this fic in the first place – vanished from my mind. Stuff the phantom. Who cares about the phantom?! All of my thoughts and feelings and reactions were all focused on Bobby. For the next small chunk of the fic, the phantom is not relevant, and I couldn’t care less, because he was completely irrelevant to me at that point too, and for me that’s kind of a big accomplishment writing-wise in and of itself.

“You’re a real doll”

“Y o u ‘ r e a r e a l d o l l”

HMMMMMMMMMMM

Me: BOBBY FULBRIGHT ARE YOU OKA

“shooting her a playful. WINK”

UHHHHGNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN

I FORGOT HE ACTUALLY SAYS THAT BEFORE THE SMOKING REVEAL but I was already blind rage at that point anyway sdklsdklsd like… Bobby Fulbright just… Existing “freely” and not having contacted the authories or anything… was more than enough to tip me off that something was horribly wrong, that this Fulbright had fundamentally betrayed himself and what he stands for in some capacity. That much was already clear to me – I was essentially infuriated over certain reveals before they even happened. I already Knew, really. Looking back, the “doll” line MIGHT not have been intentional? But basically: I am Very Certain it really doesn’t suit Bobby’s character back before the phantom happened and kinda ruined his life for a while there. When he said that to Olga… It was really Randy Liberate speaking imo. Post-phantom Bobby though, I guess would possibly say that line too. But it was a line that just made me uncomfortable and be like [holds out cross in self-defence] “I Don’t Trust Like That.” (And my friend agreed when I told her about the line hahaha). The main point is it’s a small but stark contrast to Original!Bobby and I was like bro. oh no.

Wait no what am I saying – as far as Phantoms and Mirages has established, Bobby is Very Gay (unless he’s also attracted to women but I don’t recall it being mentioned. Huh!) and also had never acted on his sexuality originally. He just wouldn’t be the type to Wink And Act Like That. Post-Randy-Liberate-Bobby would but probably only in a purely playful and innocent sense, obviously with no actual interest there. I could be wrong but Yeah! Anyway

”What’s this?” He snatched the last item up with one hand to inspect it. “You don’t smoke.”

”Bobby Fulbright didn’t smoke. Randy Liberate took it up last year,” the other man corrected him. “It relieves stress.”

OH MY GOOOOOOD HERE IT IS……………..THE H

YEAH. YEAH YOU PROBABLY SAW ME TALK ABOUT THIS IN DISCORD I GUESS FOR SURE.

CONGRATULATIONS, this just……. The narrative absolutely achieved its goal here. This, I was so… The IMAGE. The image just gave me such a visceral reaction it was just like yeah, yeah, okay. Bobby would Never, but here we are I guess, I was ready to throw hands. Man I was so mad, this man I swear… Once again… The good writing absolutely resulted in Mission Accomplished for what it was going for.

Worth noting that there was a kinda misconception I had here initially – from the information the fics give us later on, it seems that Bobby actually had pretty free reign when it came to shaping who Randy Liberate was? Even if he had some rough guidelines he needed to follow maybe, guy was pretty free to do and be what he wanted. At this point I actually thought that Randy Liberate was already a set personality that Bobby had to fake, and that he Could Not Stray from the mould that was given to him. I figured that Randy Liberate smoked, and when Bobby became him, he’d no real choice in the matter (but also genuinely wanted to just Become this new person so ultimately, he didn’t care, he just did it cause Whatever, if he’s Randy Liberate then smoking is cool now, who cares! Not Bobby Randy!) Guess the “took it up last year” should have tipped me off? But oh well.

…Oh! I also just want to say it’s worth noting that the “Bobby found, was kept prisoner in a cellar for a year”-type scenarios don’t work for me, and they’re part of why previously I was never really able to accept Bobby Lives AUs – I just found it too unrealistic for the phantom to hold Bobby captive for so long, cause it was like, why? For what reason? The scenario you give is so much better imo and I can, yeah, I can buy it! I love Blackquill kind of actively lampshading it though hahaha. “Literally what reason would the phantom keep you alive for? You’re a liability, it would be Too Dangerous for them, makes no sense to me” – Simon Blackquill, anticipating my objections ahead of time and voicing them. God, I love that.

Simon watched as Fulbright slipped a cigarette into his mouth and lit it.

Skjnsdndskjnsd thanks, I hate it! SDKJDKJDKJB OK SORRY I JUST. I just have to put this here for the extra “Oh my God… this is really happening huh… the level of discord shoved into a single sentence.” Simon comments on Fulbright acting nonchalant. You know what else is nonchalant? This sentence. And it’s all the more effective as a result.

I should pull up some of Ye Olde Liveblogging messages I sent to my friend over this, consisting hugely of “[cocks gun] you’re not Bobby. Who are you.” Exactly the point, of course.

(”the two of us” here refers to my friend and I).

Heh, don’t worry, I won’t kill Bobby. Bobby is fantastic. At this point of the fic it was really something though

”[…] it was the only life I could still have. A second chance for a dead man. I was lucky to be given even that much.”

Just like the phantom gets in Lifting Spirits.

WAIT I FORGOT ABOUT THE CASUAL SWEARING TOO OH YM GOOOOD. The “I stopped trusting in justice” I just CAN’T.

Me, screaming: GET OUT!!!! HOW DARE YOU STAND WHERE HE STOOD

Sdlnsdlknsdkl

I always just think about this one AskAceAttorney post where they go “Bobby would never swear. It’s not just.”

The casual marriage reveal too just slays it, hits it out of the park… “Crashing parties” Bobby,,, is gone. He’s not here anymore. I can tell you that. That was Randy.

”Pathetic!” he slammed his fist against the wall behind him, causing both Fulbright and Taka to give a start. “Absolutely pathetic! I’ve yet to decide who is more detestable, you or the Phantom!”

I AM BLACKQUILL, BLACKQUILL IS MEEEEE, at least the first time I read through this, that is. Love when the POV character is on the exact same wavelength reaction-wise.

The newcomer seemed confused for a few seconds, if only because despite their viably different situations, there were two men in the room who looked virtually identical.

IN SPITE OF EVERYTHING THIS IS LITERALLY SO FUNNY… LIKE LITERALLY NOTHING ELSE ABOUT THE SITUATION IS FUNNY BUT THIS ONE SPLIT SECOND? HILARIOUS. I LOVE IT. The image of Shelly just pausing and looking at what he’d just abruptly burst in on is GOLD. Ahahaha. “oh GEEZ which one is the target?!” (that quickly becomes kinda obvious, but the brief confusion is everything to me). Well I suppose it would have been bad news for Bobby if he’d been able to subdue phantom by some miracle and the situation WAS reversed, that’s for sure!

God. Literally everyone in the room at this point is in an awkward situation tho im

Shelly, having come across this weird scene with Two Identical Men: what

The phantom, his almost-murder he was about to commit having been interrupted and his Secret Hideout having been intruded on without warning by an annoyingly persistent assassin that just won’t go away: what

Bobby, being held at gunpoint and About To Be Murdered: what

It’s so great.

Still, fast as he was, the stitched man was faster.

I concur. I always figured that, if at point-blank range or whatever, Shelly would win. Killing is his trade, after all. It’s his specialty. It’s not the phantom’s specialty in the way that it’s Shelly’s specialty – the phantom has his Cool Spy Moves and is good at being a spy but like, that’s just not equal to Shelly and his craft, man. The phantom’s only hopes with Shelly are just to avoid being caught amidst his many identities. Or an unlikely person saving his life.

Oh and it’s super interesting because there’s actually fanart of Shelly and the phantom (fully decked out as Bobby Fulbright) running at each other for a throwdown match, the text of the post just saying “killer vs killer”. I wonder, have you stumbled across this fanart before? Could it have at all served as a kind of inspiration, perhaps? Or maybe your fic actually predates it, and the inspiration was the other way around. Or maybe it’s just an amusing coincidence, and neither influenced the other – there just happens to be fic of a certain piece of fanart and fanart of a certain scene from a fic, this unintentional on everyone’s behalf. I actually think that’s pretty damn cool. Well, no matter what the truth is: neat!

Anyway, there is honestly so much that happens in this series – it is so completely filled to the brim and action-packed that I essentially forgot that Shelly de Killer got killed way back at the start until it became relevant again. In the grand scheme of things, it just feels so… understated, almost. When I read it, I was like “whoa, dude, you just killed off Shelly de Killer. Whoa. What!” And then it promptly got swept away amidst everything else, you know? My mind just had SO MANY other things to focus on.

Well no, it’s not understated – Bobby suffers severe trauma, and he can never truly purge that horrific scene from his mind. BUT what I mean is, from the way the narrative handles it, it becomes more “that thing Bobby was traumatised by and needs counselling for” and “that event that led to a body being confused for Bobby’s own corpse” (I swear I literally kept forgetting that was Shelly, that’s actually Shelly’s corpse). The powerful impact of “SHELLY DE KILLER IS DEAD!!!” got lost somewhere along the way, and then fast forward to Lifting Spirits and Benny shows up and OHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

And by the way, the fact that it even becomes relevant again, in the first place? Storytelling and writing at its finest. Like… You didn’t have to make everything come full circle like you did. I had long-dismissed the Shelly incident as, well, a wacky incident where an iconic canon ace attorney character gets killed off and practically FORGOTTEN about it, never actually expecting it to really get expanded upon beyond that, but by hell it sure did. You are awesome. I would never have guessed this one scene would send out shockwaves that would come back full force to haunt the phantom fics later. At that point, he’s no longer the phantom of course, but well, we’ll get there… : ) But it really goes to show that Nothing is really wasted in this series, honest-to-goodness, and that’s such good writing, it’s so cool.

I also forgot that, even back here, way back then, Bobby saved the phantom’s life. He really Did that huh.

ALSO I FEEL LIKE THERE’S LOWKEY IMPLICATIONS THAT THIS IS JUST, an average day in the life of the phantom, and that’s really funny to me too. ‘Cause it kinda IS standard to an extent, I guess.

Chasing Phantoms, Chapter 5

”Aura, I have a question. Do you believe it’s right to start a second life when your first one has gone to hell?”

Oh? You mean kinda like… Lex does in the end? :P

Well I suppose this fic series raises that debate early on. XP

”Of course I don’t think it’s right. Who would even get a second life? Cheats like the Phantom, that’s who!”

OH,..

Now obviously the first time reading this I read it in the context of “yeah, bc shedding identities and all” BUT THIS TIME AROUND, IT TAKES ON A SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT MEANING… HEH. Actually you know what, the first time reading this I don’t think I even dwelled on it or how it connects to the phantom having so many identities he sheds and takes up, it just seemed like an easily-overlooked “the phantom is awful and a cheat” comment and I’m kinda. Yelling at the resonance of this line now.

Oh, and her bringing the word “cheat” into it, and I think I recall a line in Lifting Spirits at the end where it says they “felt like they were cheating”… heh. Heh.

”Genuine humans only get one life and we have to make the best of it.”

Her exact sentiments in Lifting Spirits… I didn’t even think about how this aspect also comes full circle. A similar kind of question is posed, first about Bobby Fulbright (or rather, “Randy Liberate”) in the beginning, and then about The Man Currently Known As The Phantom in the end. The answers and the outcomes that the fic provides to these rather similar kind of questions are quite different. Aura’s stance never wavers, not even once.

…This fic series’s meta writes itself tbh.

OKAY. ANYWAY I LEGIT TEARED UP A LITTLE READING THE MESSAGES THAT WERE WRITTEN TO BOBBY IN THAT BOOK, NOT GONNA LIE. The feels.

Chasing Phantoms, Chapter 6

Anyway yeah this is just so good and well-written, the whole play on Bobby actually needing to fake his old persona for the sake of other people…

Chasing Phantoms, Chapter 7

…You know, I just realised, I’d actually been very sceptical of Bobby’s level of proficiency in Borginian, given his job and lack of opportunity to use it previously when he was a detective, the fact that he learned it years ago and thus a lot of the knowledge had probably faded over time (although obviously I know it had the chance to be brought up to speed again over the past year, I just had strong doubts over that being enough). But then I realised that my only experience with knowing another language is Mandarin Chinese, so uhh…. It’s OBVIOUSLY going to be far easier if the other language Bobby knows is, in fact, much closer to English. Huh.

Me, with a smarmy voice: actually Bobby being fluent in Borginian is unrealistic, there’s no way given that he would have had so little opportunity to use Borginian over the years

Me, realising that Borginian would probably be way easier to learn for an English-speaker than Chinese is and therefore my perception is skewered: …OH.

I actually felt so bad for Fulbright’s “wife”, because tsk tsk, just like Simon I too had made an assumption there. But imagine marrying this guy and DURING the divorce proceedings you find out the identity was fake and the circumstances that led to it… that’s so screwed up.

Me now @ past me, thinking about how Domestique already knew: HAHAHA

--

[narrows eyes] oh. Here we are. Our first phantomquill. …………..hmph. I’ve still not the full capacity to confront this – I’m still trying to figure it out for myself.  Nnh. Well, more on… this later, I suppose. It will come up again. ;P

I uh, wonder how long it was until you changed gears on your original plans. Kinda feels like you were still gunning for full-blown one-sided phantomquill at this point, ahaha.

When was the last time anyone had touched him with such kind intentions?

>kind intentions.

Yes, I am sure the intentions are wholly kind, I’m sure there is nothing awful or twisted or empty about them. God damn it, Meowzy. :P

Chasing Phantoms, Chapter 8

”Don’t worry, detective. I’ll put you out of your misery now.”

“Ok you helped save my life but I’m still gonna kill you lol.”

--

Whew… So we have the phantom outlining the full extent of Randy Liberate’s exploits. By this point though, I’d basically already dealt with and come to terms with, well, just how much Bobby had changed. I’d already presumed most of the phantom’s bombshells regarding that, but the extent of it still came as a surprise. I also hadn’t expected the text to make it this explicitly clear, and truly highlight it all, underscoring just how much it positions Bobby at the opposite end of a scale compared to how he was before.

Although, it didn’t really affect me too much, since I’d already done my fierce reactions to changed!Bobby towards the start – even if it was even worse than I’d assumed, I’d already mourned TotallyInnocent!Bobby, to the extent that hearing all this resulted in a kind of deadpan “well this may as well be the case, huh” within me – the most impactful fact was that Innocent!Bobby was gone, back towards the start. To what extent he had vanished, how far gone Bobby was, therefore didn’t change that fact, if that makes sense.

Chasing Phantoms, Chapter 10

Athena’s “phantom menace” comment really cracked me up. It’s little things like that which are not only funny, but they’re authentic, and I love that.

I really like how the narrative of this series handles names and identities, how in the flashback scene they’re called Randy Liberate and Bobby Fulbright – that’s just how it is. Because those ARE effectively their identities at that point.

…Okay this is random but I’ve needed to go through airports recently and digital fingerprinting was part of the process to get through at one point; it’s a relatively new addition though. Though I still took flights that didn’t involve it, but I just thought, man, Randy Liberate would be screwed, what with having no fingerprints. Although maybe Mr Liberate has a valid reason and there’s an alternative security check he could use – I’m sure the phantom would have thought it through and had everything covered for him. What a great guy! Very helpful, very considerate, amirite? And generous for allowing Randy to use his funds, too! Okay I’m done XD

No actually I’m not – one more joke:

”Don’t lose track of your phone, alright? You never know when I might call to check up on you.”

Awww he really cares uwu uwu uwu how sweet!

”Now Randy, remember to behave yourself. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!”

THAT was unnecessary, phantom, stuff you. This and the “stress could be the death of you” comment… HMPH.

So this chapter really drills home just how formidable and terrifying the phantom on the loose can really be. A horror movie thriller really could just pick up this whole concept and run with it freely – needing to keep your loved ones in sight at all times, lest they be replaced by an emotionless killer. The constant fears and paranoia and always second-guessing yourself whether such and such loved one is REALLY them or not or someone who would kill you without a second thought. Hmm! I was kinda excited/thrilled at reading of the phantom’s escape, only for it to all come crashing down on me how genuinely scary and awful that is for all of our protagonists and the characters that I actually, you know, care about!

THE SUSPENSE IS REALLY GOOD, WITH TIME PASSING AND NOTHING HAPPENING AND THE QUESTION BEING BEGGED “where is the phantom? What are they up to? What do they plan? They could be lying in wait anywhere. They could be just outside or in another country.” It’s SO GOOD.

At this point, I actually didn’t really… care about the phantom? I felt a kind of disconnect, wherein I had this absolutely hilarious and unfounded in retrospect assumption that the author didn’t really care too much for the phantom as a character, and would rather just focus on Bobby and Simon while the phantom terrorizes them somewhere far off in the background.

Me at the time: don’t get me wrong this fic is pretty fantastic and well-written, it’s just a shame that the phantom’s role is kinda minor I guess

(PFFFFFFF)

Yeah because the phantom will totally never have a prominent or pinnacle role in this series with “phantom” namechecked in the title – suuuure.

Well, to be clearer… The fic was/is still 100% my thing. The narrative was calling him a monster because he kinda is. This is the exact thing I’m usually looking for to read. So why was I feeling weirdly… hurt over that at the time of reading this initially? Well, it just so happens that around that time I’d just reread over the bulk of another phantom fic which in no way excuses the phantom’s crimes, but does portray them rather sympathetically. And it has them faux-getting along with Blackquill except some blurred lines where it becomes genuine getting along. Blackquill uncovers some tragic truths about the phantom’s past and you know, that kind of thing, where Blackquill finds themself caring and they hate that they do but they can’t help it (I’m not talking about Pengy’s fic if that’s what you’re wondering, pff).

So I was still stuck in “sympathetic phantom” mode from that fic where they’d been, well, kinda humanised. Even though I usually love the standard (accurate) “they’re a killer, they’re a monster” take, at that time I was sitting there kinda like “…aww. Right now, I kinda want just a slightly lighter take? Kinda bittersweet, like that fic… I kinda want. MORE.”

I bring this up because it amuses me to no end that I was, on some level feeling complain-y over the phantom a) not getting enough focus and b) not being… humanised enough??? IN THE SAME SERIES WHERE LIFTING SPIRITS LIKE… EXISTS. CAN YOU BELIEVE. I really had No Idea huh, was just completely and utterly clueless. But I never would have thought, never would have guessed in a million years what the endgame was actually going to be. Like, @ past me please have a tiny bit of patience and sit the hell down. You’re reading Chasing Phantoms and feeling lowkey sad because the phantom’s got such a bad rep (that they totally earned btw)? You’re actually assuming the author wants us to only ever see them as a monster? Pff, please. Honey, you’ve got a big storm comin’.

Little did I know that this series ultimately makes the phantom even MORE “friendly” and MORE likable than the other fic that made me crave that...

But yeah ‘cause of that at the time I was kinda like “ok I’m just gonna, tune out the phantom and how they’re an empty monster for a while cause it makes me kinda sad to think about.” LOL. Well Meowzy will leave no stone unturned, rest assured!

It’s the equivalent of having a nice pizza and the pizza’s absolutely great, there’s nothing wrong with it, but you just happen to not be feeling it at that very moment and are kinda craving icecream instead. (But on a normal day, you’re usually 100% down for pizza!)

[Meowzy voice] “not to worry, I brought pizza AND ice cream. The best damn ice cream you’ve ever had. But you have to finish your pizza first!”